Chapter Text
(Y/n) was bored of her mundane job as a photographer for the city paper. Sure it wasn’t the worse gig in the world, she got to go to all kinds of different events in the city but she longed for something bigger, something more! Something that would make it so her name would go down in history! Fortunately her big break seemed to be just on the horizon. After almost a century of no contact with the human world, the local cryptids of the countryside, the sun-maned wolves, were making their presence known.
Every single photographer at the newspaper desperately wanted to be the lucky soul chosen to go out and photograph these mythical creatures. The competition was so fierce the head editors had no choice but to run a lottery to pick out who would get to go to the main hub of the crytid’s community on Rising Dawn Mountain for a one-in-a-lifetime scoop. (Y/n) prayed and hoped with all her might and destiny saw fit to have her name drawn for the job.
Eagerly she packed up a bag of her equipment and clothes and headed out to her destination. As she approached the foot of the mountain she found her way being obscured by narrow roads that her car couldn't squeeze through. She had no choice but to park it and make the rest of the journey on foot. She wasn’t too worried about her car though, as there were several other vehicles parked nearby.
After what felt like forever the sight of her destination was within sight, a cozy looking town fenced in on one side by the mountain and two sides by an untamed looking forest. Nestled on the side of town closest to the mountain was an inn that would be her base of operations for this job. The old and modest inn was known as the Kasugai, and was run by an elderly man and his three children. Her company had booked her a room here for a few months as part of the lottery.
“You’re new here.” The elderly man said, looking at her with concern as he checked behind the counter for (Y/n)’s room key. “Has anyone told you the rules yet?”
“What rules?” (Y/n) asked. “You mean like… about the inn or?” Her mouth puckered in bemusement.
Urokodaki sighed. “The rules of the mountain, and of this town.” He said as if this should have been obvious. “You damn reporters keep coming up here and going missing every month because you refuse to listen and heed the warnings.” He added clearly thinking out loud instead of speaking to his customer at that moment.
“Listen closely, young lady. The mountains have many rules.” He said, putting a hold on his rummaging around for the room key to provide some wisdom.
“Hold on! What do you mean reporters have been going missing?!” (Y/n) asked with raised eyebrows.
“Those of us born and raised in the town have memorized these rules from the days we could walk.” Makomo added in that dreamy tone of hers, clearly having decided to ignore (Y/n)’s contribution to this conversation. “But the tourists never seem to learn, no matter how many times we tell them. Rule number one: Don’t be or go outside after the sun sets. That’s when they come out.” She went on with a dramatic flourish of her hand.
“Hold on! Hold the hell on! When who comes out?! Who’s coming out after dark?!” (Y/n) asked, raising her hands up to try and get some less cryptic answers.
“Rule number two: Don’t whistle once it’s dark. It attracts them.” Giyu continued.
“Okay?” (Y/n) said with a shrug of her shoulders, feeling her gut starting to bubble with irritation at the repeated ignoring happening to her.
“Rule number three: You don’t see or hear anything. You ignore it and go on about your day.” Sabito instructed her sternly.
“Wow, you’re really anti-social in this town huh?” (Y/n) joked trying to lighten the mood.
“Rule number four: Always keep your doors and windows locked. Don't let them in, even if they are outside begging to be let in. Don’t. They aren’t what they seem.” Makomo’s dreamy tone took on a much more strict voice as she gave (Y/n) a serious stare.
“Okay scratch the anti-social comment, this town is just weird.” (Y/n) said under her breath.
“And the last and most important rule,” Urokodaki finished. “Rule number five: If you hear your name being called. Don’t. Respond. Back. It’s not who you think it might be. Ignore it and don’t entertain it. If you want to see the light of day again.” he concluded flatly.
“If you think such rules are beneath you, then we wish you all the luck in the world, and wash our hands of you.” Sabito declared.
“Right, okay… good to know? All very good to know.” (Y/n) said with an awkward thumbs-up. “So can I have my room key or?” she trailed off and began fidgeting anxiously.
“Oh, right.” Urokodaki finally managed to locate it and hand it over. (Y/n) almost yanked the key in her haste to get away from the unnerving group.
As (Y/n) hurried to her room, she could hear the conversation continue behind her.
“She’ll leave town before the week is over.” Sabito scoffed.
“No, I suspect she’ll be lost to the woods by then.” Giyu replied.
“What the fuck is up with these locals?” (Y/n) said to herself once she was in the safety of her room with the door locked. “I’m starting to think that there’s no cryptids and this is just a fucking weird cult.” She added as she sat down on the bed to start decompressing. “There is no way I’m wasting my time here, I'm going to prove there’s nothing here and go home as soon as possible.” She decided to herself before settling down to sleep.
She was roused from sleep a few hours later by someone knocking on the door. “Excuse me? Is anyone in there! I could really use some help right now!” An unfamiliar voice called. “I just need some bandages, my little brother cut his hand while we were cooking!”
“Um? Sure?” (Y/n) said bemusedly. “I think I have some bandages in my bag?” She added, turning to check her bag and plucking a box of bandaids from her first aid kit. Walking back over to the door, she lifted her hand to turn the knob and open the door. However she still had some common sense in her head, and she locked the chain on the door before opening it so that she could pass the bandages through the crack of the door. “Here you go.” she said, handing off the box to the stranger.
“Thank you! I went to the front desk, but they’ve already turned in for the night…” A pair of wide eyes managed to somehow widen even further at the sight of her face. (Y/n)’s eyes in contrast, were squinted almost shut since she hadn't bothered to put on her glasses for this encounter.
“It’s no problem.” (Y/n) said dismissively and yawned loudly as she rubbed her eyes. “Nice fuzzy pajamas.” She added, gesturing at the blurry mass of his body.
“Good morning! I’m Kyojuro, and you are?” the stranger asked with a grin.
“Going to bed.” (Y/n) declared, shutting the door on him, or at least she tried to shut the door on him but something was stuck in the door preventing her from getting it closed. Bewildered, she looked down to see what was blocking the door’s way and her eyes flew wide in utter confusion. “Is that your hand?” She asked dumbly.
“Yes, an astute observation! You keep squinting, can you not see?” Kyojuro asked with a tilt of his head.
“Not really? I can’t see beyond my nose without my glasses.” (Y/n) confessed with a shrug.
“Thats not good, you should be wearing them.” Kyojuro commented with a frown.
“Well I don’t normally wear them to bed, and then I was in a hurry to get those bandages for your brother. Shouldn’t you get those to him?” (Y/n) asked with a frown of her own.
“Uh? Oh! Yes! I should do that. My brother, yes.” Kyojuro said, but his grip on the door had not loosened. “You should come along with me, to help apply the bandages.” He added after a moment.
“I’m sure you can do it on your own.” (Y/n) insisted. “It’s late and I haven’t had a lot of sleep.” She said starting to feel her patience fizzle out.
“You seem very well-meaning, I’m sorry about what’s going to happen.” Kyojuro said with a sigh before suddenly sending the door flying and ripping the chain out of the wall. “Where do you keep your glasses?” Kyojuro asked as he entered the room and began looking around.
“What?!” (Y/n) yelped, blinking, still standing in the spot where she had been most of this conversation.
“Your glasses, where are they? You need them don’t you? I want to make sure we bring them with us?” Kyojuro said as if that should have been obvious to (Y/n). “What’s in this bag?” He asked as he poked and prodded around and accidentally triggered the flash of one of the cameras the young woman had brought. “Ah! I’ve been blinded!” The stranger yelped, covering his eyes after being flashbanged by the camera.
“Don’t mess with that bag! My equipment is in there! I need it to do my work!” (Y/n) scolded moving to shoo Kyojuro away from her things and for the first time making physical contact with his body and the furry outfit he was wearing.
“I think we’re going to leave it behind, I’m blinking spots out of my vision.” Kyojuro declared.
“I think you are going to leave after you bring me back my door.” (Y/n) said, checking for any damage to the cameras. “I don’t care how much those villagers try to scare me off, I am going to get some photos of the sun-manned wolves if it is the last thing I do!” She added determinedly.
“Photos? What are photos?” Kyojuro said bemusedly, rubbing his eyes in an effort to clear his vision faster.
“You don’t know what photos are? Wow this really is a backwater town… uh… it's like a painting but its from real life?” (Y/n) offered dumbly. “I want to prove that the sun-maned wolves are real and write about them so the whole world can learn about them.” She added after a moment.
“I see! I see! Well as long as it doesnt blind me again I suppose we can take it along.” Kyojuro said, picking up the camera bag and (Y/n)’s personal bag to sling them both over one shoulder. “You should grab your glasses so we can go.” He implored gently.
“What are you talking about?! Go where?!” (Y/n) asked, finally finding her glasses and sliding them on. Almost immediately she regretted putting them on as she was finally able to comprehend what the intruder looked like.
He wasn’t weaning yellow fuzzy pajamas, he was the fuzzy pajamas! It was fur, he was covered in fur! A pair of red eyes blinked patiently at her as attentive ears piqued and turned at any sound.
“That’s better, I like having your eyes focused on me.” Kyojuro said, his tongue popping out of his mouth to lick his chops contentedly. “I couldn’t see your eyes properly, but now I can and they are simply beautiful.” He added, letting out a purr.
(Y/n) felt her blood run cold and her muscles get all tensed up as a singular desire filled her: run. “Don’t run, you’ll get me all excited and I want to get you home before the sun rises so you can meet my father and my brother.” Kyojuro said, having easily read (Y/n)’s intentions from her body posture.
Despite the warning, (Y/n) couldn't stop herself from trying to make a break for it. However,u before she could even make it past the intruder, he had swept her off her feet and thrown her over one shoulder.
“Sweet one i know you’re excited but we really shouldn't tarry here, i promise once we’re home we can play tag as much as you want. I’m also a skilled hide and seek player~” Kyojuro purred softly. After saying this he turned on his heel and began making his way out of the inn with his prize in tow. As they made their way downstairs, (Y/n) looked for any way to escape her fate. As they entered the lobby, she caught sight of Giyu leaning against the front counter reading a book.
“Hey! HEY!” She called out, trying to get his attention and possibly escape this situation.
“Hey, looks like I was wrong. You didn’t even make it to the forest.” Giyu said, not looking up from the book he was buried in.
“I need help! Please!” (Y/n) said, squirming with all her might.
“You broke the rules, I can't help you.” Giyu replied flatly. “You’re lucky that Kyo’s hard of hearing or hearing you call out to another man might have made him tear the building down.” He added drily as he turned the page of his book.
“I broke a door, sorry Giyu!” Kyojuro called apologetically as he left with a pep in his step, missing out on the cursing that followed after him. “Giyu’s a good fellow, he just hasn’t found the right person yet.” He said, trying to engage (Y/n) in conversation. She refused to acknowledge the attempt and spent the entire trek to the monster’s lair in silent horror.