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Yahaba wakes up with a nasty hangover.
He silently curses himself for letting Oikawa talk him into trying the elven mead he’d procured. His head won’t stop pounding, and his stomach feels like jelly. Gingerly, he sits up. His stomach rolls violently in response, and he stumbles to the bathroom as quickly as possible.
He’s never drinking with Oikawa again, he thinks before throwing up.
After expelling what little was in his stomach, Yahaba drags himself to the kitchen to make tea and find something to eat. He starts the kettle and pulls down the wooden box of green tea leaves that Kyoutani got for him, just like he does every morning.
Today, the scent of the leaves gives him pause. Normally, he’d breathe in deeply, savoring the smell of the dried tea leaves. But now, all he can think about is how Kyoutani ran away after they kissed. Kyoutani, who’d made the very box that Yahaba’s holding in his hands. Who brought him the tea that Yahaba’s going to drink.
Kyoutani Kentaro, who ran away because they kissed and Yahaba hasn’t seen him for a little over a week since.
Coward, Yahaba thinks. He’s going to punch Kyoutani next time he sees him. Or kiss him. Or both.
He scowls at the box and considers throwing the tea away.
The thing is, the wood is smooth under Yahaba’s fingertips, and the tea leaves are fragrant. Even now, when Yahaba is viscerally pissed and hungover and considering whether or not he should get rid of every last trace of Kyoutani, he can still feel the care Kyoutani had put into making the box.
And he doesn’t have the heart to get rid of it.
Yahaba scowls harder, as if scowling at the box will make his anger go away, and aggressively measures out his tea leaves, then throws the box back on his shelf.
Then he takes the box back down, checks it over to make sure nothing broke, and gently places it back on its regular spot on the shelf.
His tea is hot and soothing, just the way he likes it.
Kyoutani always did spoil him. It makes him all the more mad about the situation.
Yahaba curls his hands around his mug and tries not to think about it too much. With his tea made, he starts shuffling around his cottage to check on the house and the wards, and to see if Oikawa is still here, or if he had to leave.
There’s no sign of Oikawa, except for a hastily scribbled note tacked on the door. Yahaba takes it down and reads it.
Yahaba,
Hope the hangover isn’t too bad. Iwa-chan called me back to court this morning, so I had to go. Apparently there’s been an emergency of some kind. Or maybe Iwa-chan doesn’t want me to have any fun.
Come visit me next time!
Your favorite court mage,
Oikawa
Yahaba sighs and puts the note down. Favorite court mage. Well, he thinks, it’s true. Yahaba wasn’t really close with any of the other witches who’d become court mages. Once, Yahaba had thought that he’d enjoy that sort of life, had dreamed of the glitter and glamor of the courts.
He hadn’t been good enough for that, though, so he’d settled on the cozy charm of giving children elementary magic lessons.
Between teaching the children and providing various supplies for different shops in town, Yahaba’s kept busy. He’s not sure if he’ll have the time to visit Oikawa. But it's a nice thought. Maybe he will take some time off and visit him.
He sets the note down and goes to check on the wards. The house seems okay, but one can never be too careful.
He’s not convinced that he didn’t do something extremely stupid again. Something curls in his gut, and he vaguely recalls a discussion on summoning. Besides, the last time he and Oikawa got drunk on elven mead, they rearranged his wards to leave out everyone but the two of them. Funny at the time, but bad for business (and for Iwaizumi’s mental state). And Oikawa did some nasty spellwork that Yahaba had been loath to undo.
He shuffles outside. Fog greets him as soon as he steps outside. It presses loosely against the ground, and he can’t see very far.
Yahaba groans. He takes another sip of tea and silently promises to make himself another mug once he’s done checking the wards.
He shuffles along, periodically pressing his hand into the dirt to feel the magic there. So far, nothing’s changed, to his relief, but he can never be too careful. He moves through the front garden and makes his way to the back garden, checking the fence and the wards and hoping that nothing happened to them.
He pauses once he reaches the back garden, because there’s something just outside the wards. He can feel the shape of it, sitting just beyond the wood fence, currently obscured by the fog.
He’s surprised he didn’t notice it sooner.
Yahaba groans, but he follows the fence and walks towards the other side of his garden. As he approaches, he starts to see a shape emerge from the fog.
He stops once he’s close enough to see the figure, and groans.
A golden wolf is sitting just outside his fence. The wolf stares at Yahaba expectantly, like it’s been waiting for him.
“Good morning,” Yahaba says, even though it’s not a good morning. Not for him, anyways. His head hurts, the fog is out, and there is a wolf outside his house. He would much rather be in bed.
Once he’s taken care of the house, Yahaba promises himself.
The wolf looks at Yahaba like he knows exactly what sort of morning Yahaba is having.
“Well, I’ll be on my way, and you best be on yours,” Yahaba tells the wolf. “I’ve got things to take care of.”
The wolf yips sharply at him.
Yahaba squints at the wolf and starts reappraising the situation. A wolf, sitting at the edge of his wards, like he knew not to enter the garden without Yahaba’s permission. The semi-intelligent stare, yipping when Yahaba went to leave.
He groans again.
“I’m not a mind-reader,” he says. “I don’t think I can help you.”
The wolf yips at him. Again.
“I’m just a…witch,” Yahaba says. “I teach children. Sometimes I provide supplies for the shops in town. I can’t help you.”
The wolf just snarls and raises its leg. From here, Yahaba can see that it’s a bloody mess, the leg torn, likely from getting caught in some kind of trap. It looks nasty. Yahaba feels a twinge of sympathy for the wolf.
“I’m not…ugh.” The protests die on his lips, and Yahaba knows he’s going to invite the wolf inside. The wolf is looking pointedly at him, bloody leg still extended. It’s a mess. The wolf’s leg could be infected by now.
Yahaba’s not heartless. Taking care of wolves isn’t what he usually does, but he supposes that there’s a first for everything.
“Fine.” Yahaba would throw his hands in the air, but he’s still got his mug of tea. “I’m too hungover for this. Come in.”
The wolf hops over the fence, taking care to hold up its injured leg. It hops over to Yahaba and looks up at him expectantly.
“Again,” Yahaba says, “I’m hungover.”
He swears the wolf rolls its eyes at him. Yahaba shakes his head and walks back into his cottage, the wolf in tow.
“Okay, let me see,” Yahaba tells the wolf once they’re both inside and Yahaba’s made himself a second mug of tea. The wolf lies down on the floor immediately, injured leg extended out for easy access. Yahaba would laugh if he wasn’t so tired.
“This is going to hurt,” Yahaba tells the wolf, and then he starts cleaning the wound.
The wolf howls the moment the disinfectant touches its leg and starts thrashing wildly.
“Hold still!” Yahaba snaps. Even so, he’s already getting up and grabbing a thick piece of rope for the wolf to bite on.
“Bite this,” he says flatly. “Now, I need to look at your leg properly.”
To his credit, the wolf does its very best to not thrash as Yahaba cleans the wound and shaves off the wolf’s fur to get a better look at the injury. He hisses between his teeth as the extent of the wound becomes more and more visible to him.
The bone’s been broken. Yahaba winces internally. That has to have hurt, and who knows how long the wolf was limping before it made it to Yahaba’s place.
“You should stay off your leg for a bit,” he tells the wolf. “Your leg’s been broken.”
The wolf looks at him as if to say, I knew that, idiot.
Yahaba rolls his eyes.
“I’m going to set the bone,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be re-broken, thankfully. Hold still.”
To his surprise, the wolf nods. Or rather, it moves its head up and down while maintaining eye contact with him (that’s a nod, he thinks. The wolf is nodding at him). Yahaba takes it as an agreement to hold still, and gets started on setting the bone.
The wolf whimpers the whole time, but it is surprisingly well-behaved and doesn’t move too much. Fixing the wolf’s leg is easier than Yahaba had expected.
“I should give you some meat or something for being such a good patient,” Yahaba mutters. “Most wolves wouldn’t be so quiet.” He pauses, thinking of how Kyoutani always grunted and swore at Yahaba when he came back injured from another adventure, and shakes his head. “Or humans, I suppose.”
The wolf’s head does jerk up at that, and to his surprise, it startles a laugh out of Yahaba.
“You like that, huh,” he says, and pats the wolf’s side approvingly. “Well then. Sit still while I finish this, and then let’s see what I’ve got that’s suitable for wolves.”
The wolf yips cheerfully and bites back on the rope while Yahaba finishes bandaging the wolf’s leg. It’s surprisingly easy, considering that Yahaba’s bandaging a random wolf’s leg without sedating the creature first.
But, well, the wolf is astonishingly well-behaved.
Yahaba ties the cloth bandages, and gets up to see what he could possibly offer a wolf.
To Yahaba’s surprise, the wolf doesn’t leave. It takes to limping after him as he does his chores, and when Yahaba’s small class of children come by during the afternoon, the wolf even greets them.
“Is that a wolf?” the children ask, crowding around the wolf to get a better look at it.
“Yes, and be careful, wolves have sharp teeth,” Yahaba reminds them.
“He’s letting me pet him!” someone yells, and Yahaba groans. Separating the children from the wolf just got a lot harder.
It takes him fifteen minutes to separate the children from the wolf. The wolf seems to enjoy the attention, carefully sniffing at each of the children’s palms until Yahaba tells it to sit in the front and not get in the way of lessons.
He’s not sure why he’s surprised that the wolf listens. The wolf has demonstrated considerable intelligence so far.
So the wolf stays, and Yahaba gets used to having the wolf trail after him. His students also get used to the wolf, and continually press Yahaba about the wolf’s name, and where it came from, and if they can play with the wolf. The last one Yahaba’s wary about, but when the wolf lets little Hitori ride on its back, well…
He adapts to having a wolf for a pet, and the wolf somehow becomes a constant companion as Yahaba waits for its leg to heal.
Even so, Yahaba offers to get a different witch to look him over, and cure him of whatever magical ailments he might have. The wolf refuses every time. One night, he even calls Oikawa through the mirror, and the wolf actually growls at him.
“Is that a wolf?” Oikawa demands, and Yahaba tilts the small mirror down so Oikawa can see the wolf better.
The wolf snarls, teeth bared and lips curled back, a clear act of aggression.
“Yeah,” Yahaba says, and pats the wolf’s head absently. “I bandaged its leg. It’s been hanging around here for some reason.”
“I could help it,” Oikawa says.
“So could Yahaba.” Yahaba and Oikawa both jump as Iwaizumi enters, seemingly out of nowhere. “Hello, Yahaba. What’s with the wolf?”
The wolf yips at Iwaizumi, almost happily. Iwaizumi grins and waves through the mirror.
“No idea,” Yahaba tells him. “He was growling at Oikawa. I fixed his leg, and he’s been hanging around here.”
Iwaizumi snickers. When Yahaba looks down at the wolf, he would say that the wolf almost seems pleased with itself.
“Watari’s coming over in a few days,” Yahaba tells them. “He might have some ideas.”
The wolf visibly perks up at the mention of Watari. Yahaba doesn’t think about it, until the day Watari shows up at his cottage and the wolf actually races to the door and then whines until Yahaba lets Watari in.
“Why do you have a wolf?” Watari demands as soon as the door is open.
Yahaba shrugs. “Found it one day. It never left.”
Watari stares at the wolf, who’s currently butting its head against Watari’s legs. “And you haven’t helped it with…whatever it needs?”
The wolf, oddly, shakes its head.
“Did it just shake its head at me?” Watari demands.
“It’s a smart wolf.” Yahaba snaps his fingers, and the wolf sits. “It’s also more like an extremely large dog, if I’m being honest. I should probably name it. I can’t keep calling it ‘the wolf’.”
Watari stares at the wolf for a few moments, then shrugs. “If the wolf is happy, then I suppose I don’t see the harm. Congrats on fatherhood.”
Yahaba scowls at him. Watari giggles.
The wolf snorts too. Yahaba didn’t know wolves could laugh. This one, apparently, can.
“I’m not your father,” he says to the wolf.
If wolves could raise eyebrows, this one would. Yahaba can feel the judgment radiating off it.
Watari laughs harder. “You’re right; it is smart.” He nudges the wolf to the side and sits down on Yahaba’s couch. “Have you seen Kyoutani recently? I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
The wolf whines and drops its head on Watari’s lap.
Yahaba scowls and throws himself onto the spot next to Watari. “No,” he says. “That asshole disappeared about…” He trails down and looks at the wolf. The wolf’s been with him for a little over two weeks, so…
“Three weeks ago, I think," he finishes.
Watari nods. “That’s unlike him.”
Yahaba groans and drops his head onto Watari’s shoulder. “He kissed me, last time I saw him.”
“What.” Watari pulls away. The wolf is still firmly in his lap, and it whines as Watari moves. “He did?”
“And then he ran away!” Yahaba groans. “And now he’s gone, and no one’s seen him since. Tsukishima said that Kyoutani hasn’t come back in a while.”
Watari blinks. “That’s unusual.”
“I don’t know if I want to fight him or not,” Yahaba says mournfully. “He’s the worst. I want to kiss him again.”
“Oh?”
“I’m going to punch him, too. I haven’t decided what to do first,” Yahaba tells Watari, and his friend laughs, and even the wolf huffs in amusement.
So the wolf becomes a permanent fixture in Yahaba's life. He teaches his kids, and he still asks his friends for advice on the wolf, as well as asking for any word on Kyoutani, and the wolf accompanies him through all of it, content to be a…domesticated house-wolf? Yahaba doesn’t know.
“You’re a stubborn wolf,” Yahaba tells the wolf as it limps around, leg still bandaged but definitely healing. “Well, I don’t mind the company, so you can stay as long as you want.”
The wolf’s leg continues to heal nicely, and Yahaba doesn’t kick the wolf out, even when it becomes apparent that the wolf’s leg is fully healed, and it doesn’t need to stay in the cottage like it used to.
It’s a comfortable little routine, so just as Yahaba’s adjusted to the idea of having a wolf as a pet forever, his world shifts once again.
It’s a supply drop-off day for Yahaba. Tsukishima and Koganegawa had requested some more herbs, so as Yahaba packs herbs for The Frog’s Magic Cauldron–the rather large magic shop that sells a myriad of magical merchandise that Tsukishima, Koganegawa, and the notoriously absent Kyoutani run–the wolf comes ambling over, nosing at the herbs and Yahaba’s basket.
“I’m going to see Koganegawa,” Yahaba tells the wolf, packing up the bundles of dried herbs into his baskets. The wolf perks up at the mention of Koganegawa and walks over to the door, waiting for Yahaba to open it.
“You watch the house,” Yahaba says. After all, the wolf has stayed home before, its injured leg preventing it from traveling too far from home.
The wolf whines at him.
“You can’t come with me,” Yahaba says, placing the last bundles of herbs in his basket. “You’re a wolf.”
The wolf growls.
“See, you can’t be growling at people; you’ll scare them!” Yahaba gets up. “Watch the house.”
He walks out the door. The wolf, predictably, follows him out.
“Go back inside,” Yahaba says.
The wolf shakes its head.
“Inside,” Yahaba orders.
The wolf pointedly lifts its head and starts walking towards the town. It doesn’t even spare Yahaba a second glance.
Yahaba could summon the wolf back to him. He could wave his hand and put the wolf back in the house and hurry off before the wolf even realizes what happened.
For some reason, he does none of that. He just shakes his head, then locks his house and hurries after the wolf.
“Wait up,” he calls. The wolf doesn’t even look behind him.
“Bastard,” Yahaba mutters.
The wolf walks quickly, keeping its head down and ignoring Yahaba’s protests. Yahaba folds his arms but follows the wolf anyways, because it’s his wolf now and he’s looking after it.
Except the wolf seems to know where Koganegawa lives, because to Yahaba’s surprise, the wolf leads them directly to the shop, then looks at the door expectantly like he’s waiting for Yahaba to open it.
“You’re a really weird wolf,” Yahaba mutters, but he pushes open the door and calls out a cursory hello. The wolf follows in, close to his heels.
“Yahaba,” Tsukishima says from behind the counter. He doesn’t look up from the book he’s reading. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Hello,” Yahaba greets him. “Where’s Koganegawa? I brought more herbs.”
Tsukishima–still not looking at Yahaba–calls, “Koganegawa! Yahaba’s here!”
There’s a loud crash, and both Tsukishima and Yahaba wince. Koganegawa comes running out, a wide smile on his face. He seems perfectly fine, as if nothing crashed.
“Yahaba!” he says cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re here!”
“Hello,” Yahaba says. “I brought some herbs.”
At his feet, the wolf yips.
Koganegawa gasps with delight. “Tsukki, he found Kyoutani!”
At that, Tsukishima puts his book down. “Kyoutani?” he asks. "I thought you hadn't seen him?" he says to Yahaba.
The wolf yips sharply.
“What?!” Yahaba demands. “I haven't seen him. What do you mean, I found Kyoutani?”
Koganegawa hops over the counter and crouches down to pet the wolf’s head. “Tsukki and I were getting worried about you,” he says to the wolf. To Yahaba’s surprise, the wolf licks at Koganegawa’s face. Koganegawa just laughs at it.
Yahaba can only stare.
“Kyoutani’s a werewolf now,” Tsukishima says. Yahaba's jaw drops. Tsukishima walks around the counter and crouches down so the wolf–Kyoutani, apparently (?!)–can sniff him.
"Since when?" Yahaba demands.
“I don’t know how it happened. He was staying with us while we waited for him to turn back, but he went hunting one night and never returned. We should’ve known he made his way to you.”
Kyoutani bumps his head against Tsukishima's hand.
Yahaba just stares at the wolf. “You're telling me that’s Kyoutani?”
“You didn’t know?” Koganegawa asks. “But it’s obvious. He acts just like him.”
“But I thought–he was injured!” Yahaba exclaims.
“He was injured?” Koganegawa starts looking over Kyoutani’s body. “Where?”
“He’s healed now, but his leg got caught in a trap or something.” Yahaba squints at the wolf. “Are you sure that’s Kyoutani?”
“Yes?” Koganegawa looks at Yahaba like he’s the crazy one. “Did you really not know?”
“Why is he a wolf?!”
“Well,” Tsukishima says, still stroking Kyoutani’s ears. “Oikawa always called him Mad Dog.”
Kyoutani growls at him. Tsukishima laughs.
Yahaba’s jaw drops. That’s definitely Kyoutani.
How did he miss it?
“He got turned into a wolf about a month or two ago,” Koganegawa tells Yahaba. “Tsukki and I were taking care of him, but a while ago he went hunting and never came back. We were really worried about him, but it turns out he made his way to you, so! We shouldn’t have been concerned!”
“Took you long enough to let us know that you were okay,” Tsukishima says to Kyoutani. “A note would’ve been nice.”
Kyoutani whines in response.
“How did he get turned into a wolf?” Yahaba demands, incredulous.
“I don’t know.” Koganegawa shrugs. “It’s not a spell, though; he’s a genuine werewolf. We’ve just got to wait for him to transform back on his own.”
“First transformation is always the hardest,” Tsukishima remarks. He hasn’t stopped petting Kyoutani. Kyoutani is silently accepting of the whole affair. Now that Yahaba is really looking at him, he can see it–the golden fur, the dark outlines around the eyes. The growling at Oikawa, the affection he gave to Watari…
“He’ll figure it out. Eventually.” Tsukishima scratches Kyoutani’s ears. “He’s too smart to be stuck as a wolf forever.”
“So why are you a wolf?” he demands the moment they return to his cottage. “And why are you here? Is that why you growled when I suggested Oikawa come over and look at you?”
Even as a wolf, Kyoutani looks incredibly judgemental of Yahaba’s (admittedly) late realization.
“I’m not a mind-reader, Kyoutani!” he shouts. “How was I supposed to know?”
He swears that Kyoutani rolls his eyes at him.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me!”
This time Kyoutani definitely rolls his eyes at him. Who knew wolves could roll their eyes? Or is it a Kyoutani thing?
“You’re the worst,” Yahaba snaps. “I was worried for weeks and you’ve been here the whole time! Couldn’t you have left a sign or something?”
Kyoutani raises his formerly injured paw, as if that explains everything.
“And another thing!” Yahaba’s gaining steam now, all the pent-up rage and worry flooding through him now that it turns out Kyoutani’s right here, just in wolf form. “You ran away that night! Why?”
Kyoutani’s ears flatten against his head, a clear admission of guilt.
“I’ve liked you for ages, asshole,” Yahaba snaps. “You don’t just get to kiss me and run away.”
Kyoutani whines at him.
“And then you come back as a wolf! A wolf! How do you even get into these situations?” Yahaba demands. “And you couldn’t even leave me a message, like, hey, Yahaba, I got turned into a wolf on accident! I had to find out from Tsukishima and Koganegawa! What is wrong with you?”
There’s a moment of silence as Yahaba glares at Kyoutani. Then he sighs.
“And you won’t even shift back,” Yahaba says. “Are you sure that you’re not stuck like that? Because I can still call Oikawa–”
Kyoutani shakes his head and starts walking away, clearly deciding that Yahaba’s lecture is over.
“Shift back at some point, idiot,” Yahaba calls after him.
“I miss you.”
Kyoutani’s disappeared by the time Yahaba says that part. Yahaba sighs and throws himself on his couch.
Then he sits upright in horror as a thought occurs to him.
“Fuck,” he breathes out. “He knows exactly how I feel about him.”
The only thing to do, Yahaba decides, is throw himself back onto the couch and scream.
In spite of Yahaba’s newfound knowledge, nothing changes. Yahaba continues maintaining his gardens and teaches the children in the afternoons. Kyoutani seems content to remain a wolf, and pads after Yahaba as he goes about his day. Yahaba still talks to him. Kyoutani still listens to him.
Yahaba starts telling him to hurry up and transform, sometimes. Kyoutani never does.
And then, two weeks later, Yahaba walks into his kitchen and is handed a mug of tea.
“Careful, it’s hot,” Kyoutani says, voice rough and gravelly from disuse.
Yahaba stares at the mug, then at Kyoutani, who’s standing in front of him, so painfully human once again. Kyoutani, with his tanned skin and stupid gold hair with the black stripes dyed in it and too much eyeliner, who’s offering him hot tea and standing in his kitchen when he hasn’t been around in weeks.
His lower lip trembles.
“Yahaba?” Kyoutani asks.
Yahaba carefully takes the tea and places it on the counter. Then he turns to Kyoutani.
“You’re so stupid,” he tells him, and throws his arms around Kyoutani. “How did you become a wolf?”
“Werewolf,” Kyoutani corrects him. His arms come up around Yahaba, and he starts rubbing Yahaba’s back. It’s nice. “Got into a scrape; got bitten, you know how it goes.”
“You couldn’t even tell me?” Yahaba asks.
“I was a wolf. I couldn’t exactly talk.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t, actually.” Kyoutani’s grip tightens around Yahaba. Yahaba scowls into Kyoutani’s chest. “It’s fine. Shifting back for the first time takes a while.”
“I know,” Yahaba says. And then: “You just disappeared, though. I thought you were gone.”
“Sorry,” Kyoutani tells him. There’s genuine sorrow in his voice, and he’s still holding onto Yahaba, still has his hands wrapped in the back of Yahaba’s shirt.
“Thanks for taking care of me,” he says softly.
Always, Yahaba thinks, and some of his anger melts.
Instead, he asks, “Why did you come here? Koganegawa and Tsukki said you were with them when you first turned.”
“You summoned me to your place,” Kyoutani tells him.
At that, Yahaba finally manages to pull himself away from Kyoutani to glare at him. Kyoutani’s still holding onto him, so it’s a little hard, but Yahaba makes it work.
“I did nothing of the sort,” he says. “I would remember that.”
“You did.” Kyoutani scowls at him. “I went out to go hunting that night and got caught in a trap. Next thing I knew, I was outside your damn cottage with a mangled leg.”
“I literally did not.” It’s Yahaba’s turn to scowl. “I would have remembered that.”
“Well, you did.”
“When?”
“The first day I appeared at your cottage?” Kyoutani stares at him like he’s sprouted two heads. “How did you miss that, too?”
“I never summoned you; why would I summon you?”
“I know what your magic feels like, Yahaba. You summoned me and I very nicely stepped outside your wards and waited for you to let me in, since you didn’t even have the decency to come out and see if your spell worked.”
Now that Kyoutani mentions it, he does, vaguely, remember Oikawa telling him to summon Kyoutani. Something about how his avoidance didn’t mean that Yahaba had to accept it.
So that’s what they did all those nights ago. He should’ve known that they did something stupid.
“...I was drunk,” Yahaba says weakly. “And then I was hungover.”
Kyoutani gives him a wry grin. “Yeah,” he says. “I could tell.”
Yahaba scowls and shoves him. It’s not very effective.
“You’re the worst.”
“Yeah.” But Kyoutani’s grin softens. “But you like it.”
Yahaba can feel a smile of his own stretching across his face. “Yeah,” he says.
They’re silent for a moment, quietly breathing each other’s presence in. Kyoutani’s solid and human under Yahaba’s hands, and he hasn’t seen him in so long.
“I’m glad you’re back,” he says honestly.
Kyoutani smiles, corners of his eyes crinkling. It’s the most beautiful thing Yahaba’s ever seen.
“Me too,” he says. “It’s good to be human again.”
“So are you going to transform every full moon now?” Yahaba asks. “Start howling at the moon?”
“Probably.” Kyoutani shrugs. “And once I get the hang of it, I can transform whenever. Your kids will probably like that.”
“No wonder you were so nice to them.” Yahaba scowls. “You made lessons really hard, you know.”
“Hitori loved me.”
“Shut up.” Yahaba carefully extricates himself from Kyoutani’s grip. “You still haven’t explained yourself, you know.”
He pokes at Kyoutani’s chest.
“What was with you kissing me and disappearing off to become a werewolf? And don’t say that it was an accident; you heard me agonizing about it!”
Yahaba’s past embarrassment over talking to Kyoutani about the whole situation. After all, Kyoutani’s the one who ran away. Yahaba has nothing to be embarrassed about.
He can still feel his face turning red, though. To his relief, Kyoutani is also turning red.
“I didn’t ask to become a werewolf.”
“Not important.” Yahaba folds his arms. “You ran away.”
From me, he doesn’t say. It echoes around them anyways.
Kyoutani looks down, like the answer will be written on the floor. Yahaba raises an eyebrow and waits.
“It was an accident,” Kyoutani mumbles.
Yahaba is going to throttle him. “How do you accidentally kiss someone?”
Kyoutani scowls. He still won’t look at Yahaba.
“You looked really pretty that night,” he mumbles. “So I didn’t think.” He pauses, then adds, “And then I ran.”
“...and the werewolf thing?” Yahaba asks.
“I ran into the woods.” Kyoutani’s turning redder and redder by the second. Yahaba idly wonders if his ears are going to catch fire, just from how red they are.
“And then, yeah, I ran into a werewolf and got myself turned like an idiot. You know the rest.” Kyoutani’s glaring at the floor like it caused all of his problems.
“I would’ve kissed back, if you didn’t run off like a middle schooler.” Yahaba reaches out to cradle Kyoutani’s face. “Look at me?”
Kyoutani’s still scowling, but he does look up. His face is flushed and his chest is rising and falling rapidly, so it’s good enough for Yahaba.
“Can I kiss you?” Yahaba asks.
“Yeah.” Kyoutani’s eyes are wide now. “Yeah.”
Yahaba grins.
“Promise you won’t run away?” he asks.
Kyoutani glares at him, but–
“Promise,” he grits out.
Yahaba can feel his smile growing wider.
“You better not,” he says, and leans in to kiss him.
True to his word, Kyoutani doesn’t run away. Not this time, and not the next.
Not even when Yahaba gives him the promised punch.