Chapter Text
"Damn it, Iwaizumi, why did you let Kyoutani out without you or Daishou to keep him grounded?" snapped a voice that sounded incredibly exasperated. Oikawa frowned; he didn't recognize the voice, and now that he opened his eyes and looked around, he realized he didn't recognize his surroundings, either. He did know that name, though. Daishou. Why did he know that name? There was a cluster of people by the door, one of which had his hands on his hips as he stared down slightly into the scowling face of a man with spiky black hair, who looked like he could break the first guy in half if he wanted.
"He was just running the border. It's not his fault that idiot crossed the line into our territory. He was just defending the pack's land," the shorter one growled.
"That idiot is human," the taller one exclaimed. "He might have some latent powers, but he wasn't a threat. Hinata is more of a threat than the idiot, and Hinata can't do anything except speed himself up!"
"He still stank like magic, and crossed the border," a third man, blond and almost exactly the same height as the shorter of the first two, grumbled. "Besides, it's not like I meant to maul him. I just wanted to scare him, but he thought I was a stray dog and tried to pet me." There was a moment of silence.
"I don't blame you for attacking him," the spiky-haired one sighed. "But damn it, Kyoutani, you have claws. You didn't need to use your teeth; you know what biting humans does."
"Oops?" the blond said with a shrug.
"Oops? If Iwaizumi doesn't kick your ass, I will!" The blond didn't seem impressed, so the taller one added, "You know Daishou is going to find out about this." That seemed to have an impression on the blond, because he hunched his shoulders and turned away. By chance, he happened to glance in Oikawa's direction and scowled.
"The idiot is awake," the blond announced. "Can we please pick on him instead of me?" The other two tensed.
"Daishou isn't here, yet," the tall one muttered.
"It's fine. I'll handle it," the spiky one replied. He crossed the room. "You okay?" Oikawa blinked. He was fine; why wouldn't he be? He sat up to face the three men, and realized several things simultaneously:
One. He wasn't wearing a shirt, when he distinctly remembered being fully clothed, last thing he knew.
Two. There was what appeared to be a rather large scar of what looked like a bite from an oversized dog on his side, just below his ribs.
Three. The last thing he remembered, he'd been walking in the woods outside of the town he'd just moved to, and then he'd come across a rather ragged-looking dog. Actually, it was more like a wolf, now that he thought about it. Whatever it was, the animal had attacked him when he'd tried to greet it in a very friendly manner.
"Um." Really, his own eloquence astounded him. "Where am I?"
"You're at my pack's den," the spiky one told him. "I'm Iwaizumi Hajime, pack leader." Oikawa stared at him.
"What? Pack? What are you talking about? Is this some kind of cult?" The three men exchanged confused looks.
"Please tell me you didn't just move here," Iwaizumi sighed, running a hand though his spiked hair.
"Yes, I did. What does that have to do with anything?" Oikawa snapped.
"We should really wait for Daishou. Maybe he can convince him this whole thing was a dream," the tall one suggested with a sigh. There was that name again. Daishou. Who was Daishou, and why did that name sound familiar?
"Can't. He healed up almost instantly. The bite took," Iwaizumi replied. "He's one of us now."
"But I don't want to join your cult," Oikawa protested. "I just want to go-"
"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere," Iwaizumi informed him. "Not until you learn some control, at least. One of my wolves turned you, so you're under my protection until further notice."
"Wolves? Turned? What...?"
"Congratulations, idiot. You walked across the border into werewolf territory and got yourself bitten," the blond one growled. "You're one of us now." The words 'werewolf,' 'bitten,' and 'turned' swirled around in Oikawa's head.
"Welcome to the Blue Forest Pack," Iwaizumi added.
"What the fuck?" Oikawa whispered. "If this is a joke that Makki put you up to..."
"Makki?" The three of them exchanged confused glances.
"Hanamaki Takahiro? I'm staying with him for the summer?" Oikawa prompted, frowning.
"Oh! No wonder you smelled a little like a fox," the blond one realized.
"Fox?"
"You'd think a kitsune's roommate would know better than to cross into werewolf territory," the tall one said with a frown. Oikawa stared at them blankly.
"Kitsune?" he repeated.
"Shit, he doesn't even know," Iwaizumi realized.
"Who doesn't know what?" a strangely familiar voice asked. Oikawa glanced toward the doorway, hoping he'd see someone who would save him from this cult of freaks who apparently thought they were werewolves and that Hanamaki was a kitsune. Instead, he saw one of the few people he'd been introduced to when he first arrived in town, a very polite, well-kept man who smiled calmly as he walked into the room. The blond one suddenly grinned and darted to the newcomer's side.
"Hello, Daishou," the tall one greeted the newcomer. "Kyoutani, you're acting like an excited puppy." The blond one - Kyoutani, apparently - ignored the tall one and circled the newcomer, leaning close to bump shoulders with him lightly.
"Hello, Kentarou," the newcomer murmured, reaching out to scratch behind the blond's ear like he actually was an overgrown dog. And for some reason, everyone in the room seemed to take this as perfectly normal behavior. "So, what was so important you had to send Hinata at full speed to get me?" The newcomer's eyes found Oikawa, and he blinked. "Oh, dear. Kentarou, please tell me that bite mark doesn't match your teeth."
"That bite mark doesn't match my teeth," the blond replied dutifully. The tall one muttered something that sounded like 'puppy love', but Oikawa was a little distracted by the newcomer's gaze, because suddenly, he didn't seem so polite anymore. In fact, as he stepped closer, something in his posture was down right terrifying.
"I know you. You're the latent mage Hanamaki brought to town," he said. "Oikawa Tooru, right? What did you do to make Kentarou feel like he had to bite you?"
"Apparently I crossed a border into crazy cult territory," Oikawa relied faintly. "You're...Daishou, right?" The words seemed to surprise and relieve the newcomer.
"That's right. And you're not a latent mage anymore, are you?" Daishou realized. "You're a werewolf now."
"Why does everyone keep talking about werewolves and foxes and -" Oikawa broke off, because all of a sudden, Daishou's eyes were completely captivating.
"Calm down," Daishou murmured. "Relax." Oikawa's body responded before he even processed the words, his muscles relaxing instantly. "Now I need you to listen to me and believe what I'm saying. Can you do that?" Oikawa nodded slowly, because yeah, he could do that. He could listen. "Your friend, Hanamaki, is a kitsune. He invited you to stay with him for the summer because he could smell the latent magic on you, and wanted to see if your powers would awaken if you came here. Apparently he didn't tell you this, probably because if your pwoers didn't awaken, he didn't want you to know anything about magic. Now, Iwaizumi here is a werewolf. So is Kyoutani. Yahaba over there is a healer. You've been bitten by a werewolf, and the magic stuck, so you'll probably start having some strange instincts soon. But Iwaizumi is the pack leader, so he's going to help you through it, okay?" Oikawa nodded automatically. Of course that was okay. Of course the spiky-haired Iwaizumi and blond Kyoutani were werewolves. Of course the tall one, Yahaba, was a healer. "Good. I'm going to look away now, but you need to keep believing what I told you, okay?" Oikawa nodded, and Daishou blinked slowly. All of a sudden, his eyes weren't enthralling anymore. Oikawa frowned and lifted a hand to his forehead. He felt...dizzy, almost. But not quite. He felt like he'd been running in place, and all of a sudden he'd started to move forward, and the world was lurching around him just enough to throw off his balance.
"Oikawa?" The sound of his name made him look up. Iwaizumi was leaning closer to him. Iwaizumi, the werewolf. Werewolves were real. Iwaizumi was a werewolf. He apparently had a pack. There was a whole pack of werewolves. And Oikawa had supposedly been bitten and turned into one.
Oikawa was not okay with this, and he promptly flopped back onto the bed he'd woken up in.
"No. This can't be happening. This can't be real," he groaned. But Daishou had told him to believe it, so... Wait. If werewolves and kitsune and healers were real, then... Oikawa bolted back into a sitting position and gaped at Daishou. "Did you use magic on me?" he blurted out. There was a moment of silence.
"Keep him," Daishou said to Iwaizumi. "Want me to take Kentarou off your hands for a bit? Yuuji is back in town, and he has some new trinkets." Kyoutani beamed and looked to iwaizumi eagerly, practically vibrating with excitement.
"Fine. But keep him out of trouble, okay? I don't need any more pups to deal with," Iwaizumi replied. "Yahaba, you're free to go. The idiot seems to be healed up fine." Oikawa bit back an indignant squawk, because he was not an idiot, he just hadn't known anything about werewolves or magic or anything until just now. And pup? What the hell? Yahaba left, Daishou and Kyoutani not far behind.
"You and I need to have a talk about the proper times to bite people," Daishou said to Kyoutani as they left the room. Oikawa blinked - he was pretty sure that was not something he needed to overhear - and then turned toward Iwaizumi.
"When can I go home?" Oikawa asked. Iwaizumi tilted his head.
"You are home. Until you settle into your new instincts and abilities, you can't leave pack land," he answered. "And if you try to escape, I'll haul you back here by the scruff of your neck, even if you're in human form."
Oikawa realized then that this was going to be a very, very long summer.