Chapter Text
Chapter One
The ground was soft beneath his feet, years of tag and playing games made a path in it almost. The rest of the jungle soared by him and the sound of nature passed by in a blur. He was almost there, just a little bit farther and he would make it. Just a few more meters-
“I got you!” a voice yelled and Hinata fell to the ground with a hard thud. Twisting his neck around he saw Yuu, a wolf in his pack that seemed to have taken a strong liking to him when he was introduced as a little boy. At the moment though, he was holding Shoyo down with all his might, holding him still.
“Get off of me already,” Hinata yelled and tried to push the wolf off his back with no luck.
“Admit that I won this game then or I’m gonna make Ryuu pull a prank on you again,” the short boy smirked.
“Fine fine, you won, alright,” Hinata giggled and felt the weight of his friend leave his body. Shouyo shook out his hair and brushed down his clothes, getting the plants and dirt off of him. They started walking forward and he sighed as they passed the big Sugi tree covered by smaller plants. “So close,” he whispered.
“What was that?” Nishinoya questioned and bent over to look at Hinata’s face.
“Nothing, I was just saying how I’m totally going to beat your ass next time! I was just warming up this round. You better believe you’re going down, Yuu!!!” He grinned and shoved the wolf in front of him harshly.
“Oh you’re gonna pay for that, Shou!” Yuu exclaimed and jumped on Hinata’s back, biting his ear and wrapping his legs and tail around the younger boy. Hinata yelped and tried to pull him off but ended up falling back down on the ground and laughing. They ended up wrestling on the ground, covered in mud until a judgemental voice interrupted them.
“Would you two stop messing around and go back to the pack. You’re always playing this dumb game of trying to ‘get’ the other before reaching the Sugi. Everyone stopped doing that at least five years ago.”
“Shut up, Kei. At least Shou and I get out and do things. All you do is complain and barely help during hunts!” Nishinoya yelled and Tsukishima’s blonde ears turned down for a split second. He didn’t let his emotions get to him and turned around and stalked off.
“Sawamura-san wants you guys back. Now,” He said coldly as he left.
“Geez what’s his problem. After knowing us basically two thirds of his life, he could at least treat us more nicely,” Hinata pouted.
“He’s nice to those he wants to be nice to. He even adds honorifics when talking about some of us. He should call me senpai, I am his senior after all!” Noya shouted.
“He doesn’t call you senpai because he doesn’t realize how awesome you are, Yuu,” Shoyo smiled and pushed himself off the ground. He reached a hand out to Noya and he took it gratefully.
“This is why you’re always going to be my favorite kouhai,” Noya concluded and pulled himself up. They turned away from the tall Sugi tree and started walking back to their pack.
Their home wasn’t far away. A few hundred meters or so, and both of them could hear the pack soon after they started dragging themselves towards home. It was a nice area, surrounded by trees and had a small pond next to the few cave-houses. It fell into the rocks that made up the houses, making it look almost like a pool. The houses were covered in mosses and different grasses, but Hinata couldn’t say anything else felt more like home. Small lanterns were held from each house by protruding vines or branches. The houses all slanted at different directions, following the natural slope of the rock they were made out of. It was like a little village, though only ten people lived there all together.
Most of the wolves barely used the shelters unless there was rain or storms. They didn’t have much in them anyway, a gas oven, storage, the necessities in case of emergencies. For the majority of the time, everyone slept outside under the canopy on the neighboring trees and looked up at the stars. Their futons stayed outside because of this, and were ragged with countless years of wear and tear.
Hinata didn’t know how other types of Semifers lived. He assumed it was similar to his pack, though he was never certain. Daichi and Sugawara kept a close eye on him since he first was rescued. He had met some other semifers though; Akaashi, a panther that had cold eyes, and Kenma, his friend that had the eyes and tongue of a snake.
Hinata himself was not a semifer. He was the only human in his pack. It was a miracle that the wolves had taken him in. It was dangerous for them to raise him, Shoyo was grateful that they did though. He probably would have died if not for the previous Alphas of the pack, Ukai and Takeda. After Daichi, Sugawara, and Azumane reached maturity, they took over and Ukai and Takeda left. Hinata was 7 at the time, and the three seniors were only 10, though they looked more about 15.
The wolves aged differently than humans, and Hinata failed to realize that he wasn’t a wolf. He never believed he was different, even though he didn’t have fuzzy ears at the top of his head, and no tail on his backside. He merely assumed that he was a different type of wolf. He mostly clung to Sugawara-san, the most approachable wolf in the pack, and next in line for command if anything happened to Daichi. After nearly a full year after switching over to Daichi as the alpha, Suga broke the news to Hinata. About how he was found by a river nearby in a basket. That he was not a semifer, but a human. Part of a species that despised Semifers, a species that believed they were superior. A species that actively hunted semifers. A species that called Semifers half breeds, monsters, and touched by demons. Hinata was devastated, and swore to never seek out his kind.
He had a couple years with Yuu, Tanaka, Kinoshita, Chikara, and Narita when they were around the same maturation as him but then they all grew up in the blink of an eye, and Shoyo was stuck as a human child at 9 years old. It was confusing to have all your friends surpass you and have to catch up to them in a span of a few years. Hinata never hated his species more during that time. Everyone babied him, when all he wanted to do was hang with his friends who now were more interested in shaving their new body hair than playing hide and seek.
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi joined the pack when Hinata was 11, they were the same age. Actually, Hinata was a few months older than each of them, but they still didn’t hang with him.
On his 13th birthday, Shouyou was considered up to scratch to join the pack for hunts and other business. His packmates soon returned to talking to him when he went through puberty, and Hinata was starting to feel a part of a family again.
It was good that the wolves only aged quickly during older child years and puberty. If they continued to age quickly, Hinata would have been left behind and would have to fend for himself by the time he was 15. They’re physical maturation plateaued after their quick puberty and they aged quite slowly. They looked quite the same from 10 to 25, just to keep themselves in prime physical condition for hunts. In 15 years, they only aged about 10 years in human terms.
Now at 18, Hinata never felt better. Though he looked like he was barely 15 to his peers, Hinata finally felt like he was catching up to his friends and family. He wasn’t babied anymore, though he still didn’t feel as connected to his pack as he should be. The past few years have been the most frustrating thing in the world but now. Now, everything was right. Now it just had to stay the same.
But the world never stopped changing, not even for Shouyou. Hinata’s perfect world would be crashing down. And soon.
***
There was something evidently wrong when Noya and Hinata arrived back at home. The air was heavy, too heavy. Hinata looked at Noya and found him staring right back at him, a question on his lips.
“What’s going on?” He whispered.
“I have no clue-”
“Shouyou, you’re back! Thank goodness. I thought they got you already,” Suga came rushing out of the house when he spotted them. The rest of the pack followed him and encircled the two boys that finally came back. Suga enveloped Hinata in a tight hug. When he pulled away, Hinata saw that his tail was between his legs and his ears were back in fear. Actually, almost everyone’s ears were back. Something was wrong.
“What, you don’t care to see me?!” Noya joked but the only people laughing were him and Hinata.
“Dude, not the time,” Tanaka said quietly while looking at the ground. Hinata’s heart sank and his furrowed brows raised in awe. If even Tanaka was acting serious, nothing good was in store.
“We’ll explain inside,” Daichi said and motioned for Shouyou to enter as he held the door open to their cave hut. Tanaka pulled Noya to the side and the rest of the pack dispersed once they all made sure that Hinata was back.
“What’s going on?” Hinata questioned as soon as the door closed behind them. He noticed three dirty futons were squished in the tiny space next to the table Suga was sitting at. “Why are the futons inside?”
“Calm down. And please, sit down,” Daichi said cautiously and pulled a chair up on the opposite side of Suga. Hinata reluctantly sat down and stared at his adoptive parents, waiting for them to explain.
“You know Aoba Johsai, the group of tiger-semifers, right?” Daichi asked.
“Yeah, you told me to stay away from their territory, and I always do.”
“Well, they came to our territory today...” Daichi continued but looked away, as if trying to figure out what to say.
“They found out about you,” Suga whispered. His head that was in his hands looked up and met Shouyou’s eyes for the first time. Suga’s hands fell onto the wood table and his nails dug into it, creating small pricks marks.
Hinata looked at him and then to Daichi, who was now attempting to pace around the crowded room. “So?”
“They know you’re a human. And they know you have the mark,” Suga said defeatedly.
“I still don’t understand why that’s so bad? You said that every human has a mark on their body. That each human has been given power by the Kami specifically for them.”
“Some powers are more dangerous than others, Shou,” Daichi intervened. “And Blue Castle doesn’t like yours. No, they don’t like any of them. They don’t like humans.”
“Well I don’t like humans either!”
“It’s not the same, Shouyou! It’s not the same! They’ve been targeted by humans before and have been hurt. They’re not a clan that will easily forgive or allow a human to walk in their jungle,” Koushi exclaimed. There were tears in his eyes.
“Then just tell them I’m not like other humans-”
“That's enough!” Suga stood up and slammed his hands on the table resulting in a loud bang.
“Koushi,” Daichi stood behind Suga and rubbed his back, trying to calm him down. Suga back away from his touch.
“They want you gone. We have until the end of the drought,” Suga said and dropped down into his seat again, a look of numbness plastered on his face.
“Well obviously that’s not happening,” Shouyou smiled and looked at both of them. His face dropped when they said nothing. “That’s not happening right?”
Daichi spoke up, “Shouyou, we have no choice-”
“No! There’s always a choice!” Shouyou yelled and realization hit him. They were sending him away. Things just got back to normal in the past couple years and now it was being torn apart again. He felt tears prick the backs of his eyes.
Daichi tried again. “It’s not forever. Just until we find another solution. Tiger’s are brutal. We don’t want the pack to be hurt. Everyone is freaked out. At least five of the tigers came on our territory not too long ago. The aura that they brought with them was incredible.”
“We thought they killed you already. Nishinoya never told any of us that you guys were going to play by the Sugi tree,” Suga cried.
Suddenly playing games and chasing Yuu felt far away. It felt childish and like a waste of time to Shouyou. Just then, they were all happy. Everything was normal. And now this. Hinata felt his body go numb. He sat there blankly while Daichi explained what would happen next. He stared at Koushi’s hunched over form that was sobbing silently into his palms. His life seemed to be ending.
Tomorrow he would be leaving with Akaashi and he would take him to the nearest human village where he would be safe. Hinata despised the idea but kept his mouth shut. It didn’t seem real.
Late that night he laid down on his futon, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. He looked over at Suga, he seemed to be taking this the hardest. He didn’t know how Yuu and his other seniors reacted when they found out that Hinata had to leave, but Shoyo was sure that Suga was the most upset. Sure, he had Daichi and Asahi, but Shouyou was basically his child. He raised Shouyou and watched him grow up the past 11 years. He knew Daichi was upset as well, having raised him as well, but he concealed it better. He had to, not only for himself, but for his pack.
Feeling very small again, Hinata scooted over into Suga’s futon and buried his head in the man's chest. He felt warm arms wrap around him and hold his body close. A hand ran through his hair repeatedly and brushed his dirty hair behind his ear. Shouyou reached down and grabbed Koushi’s tail. He held it in his fist, something he used to do years ago when he was frightened. Suga was always there for him, someone who would love him no matter what. Shouyou recalled a memory of Suga kissing one of his boo-boo’s when he was around 7 years old and he wondered if Suga could make the wound on his heart feel better.
He let the tears fall quietly and the arms around him tightened.