Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2015 06:22:13 +0000 (UTC)
From: Gaia Farnese <snoringsoftly@yahoo.com>
Subject: Koi no Yokan Chapter 1 (Revised)

A/N: There are two songs which largely shaped the imagery of this
installment: Summoning of the Muse by Dead Can Dance and Shadowplay by Joy
Division. If you want your experience enhanced, listen to them in that
order as you read.

Standard disclaimer and copyright notices apply.

Please consider donating to Nifty.

KOI NO YOKAN

The city spread wide, like a big black stain on otherwise unblemished white
surface. It spread on, its end being a jagged line that blended with the
burnt umber sky. It was a spent city, exploited and wasted, smelling of all
sorts of rot, and rust. As the lamps crackled to life, those few seen
walking the stretched-out streets seemed to vanish, leaving behind a sickly
sweet smell of activity.

In a city bereft of life even that was significant: the scarce shadow of a
person walking by.

When the clock showed 22:00 the only sound that made it through the
heaviness of the air was the continuous, slow clanking of boots. Those were
the boots of the guards, who had started their stroll anticipating a calm
night.

Not many attempted rebellion these days; not many dared go out past the
curfew.

But then, there were the homeless. Everyone feigned ignorance in the face
of their disappearances. Their numbers dwindled by the day yet no one
talked about it, not even in the privacy of their homes. The guards were
formally instructed to watch out for any signs pointing to the answer
behind these cases or the beginnings of repetitional endeavours, but their
fearful, disinterested eyes and tight mouths told a different story, that
one of unquestionable restriction.

There were those responsible for Estéril of Sivár and it was up to
them to take care of particular situations such as this one. The guards
themselves were a formality, necessary only for the theatre of
concealment. As soon as one took their eyes off the guards, one forgot
there was even a problem to begin with. Such was the state of inconsistency
in this dreamy world of darker shades.

With the ticking of minutes approached the sound of footsteps far different
to the crude ones of the uniformed ignorami. A lighter, quicker sort of
footsteps, ones that ensured safety yet meant danger far worse than that of
a human. It was either those or the obnoxious melody of the motorcycles,
ringing in the ears of the residents even some minutes after they had
passed.

The Wolves had come out.

Clad in the customary black leather jacket, Mike contemplated the view in
front of him, arms resting atop the handlebars of his bike. District V,
better known as the nightlife area, seemed empty of people. Being as old as
he was, Mike knew better.

Those who could afford to stay out of their homes for the night were
ensconced in the less obvious clubs and cabarets. He knew this after long
years of experience, having frequented the very same places after each
shift for many years, to the point when he knew all the people who enjoyed
the night leisure. District V had a lot to offer, if one knew where to
look.

Satisfied with the absence of shadows and stale breaths, Mike shifted in
his seat and started the engine. His next destination was the Main Square,
from where he would go back south-west and start his stroll through the
labyrinth, to the centre of the district, where he would find all the best
bars. Good beer and quality jazz were worth battling the gloom of the city
yet another night.

On the other side of the city, J and Nocens were bumping fists as they
parted ways, each heading deeper into their own district. It would take the
whole night, approximately 8 hours, to comb through Districts IV and VI,
big as they were.

Some would say it's unfair that certain Wolves got the smaller ones, but it
wasn't commonly known that they often went to help out their comrades in
districts that weren't their focus. After all, they moved about when
majority of the city was sound asleep or, at least, deeply focused on the
electronics in their homes.

This was the main reason why Nocens found it easy to check the Main
Residential area of the district – the respectable citizens seemed too
obedient to cause any ruckus. Minutes after 22:30 he was already nearing
the border which connected the MR to University Square, where he was to
meet up with Cipher, the Wolf responsible for District II.

It was quite bothersome, that in the past several months all the decrepit
ones chose to settle down in D.II, which happened to be the cultural and
educational district of Estéril; somewhere they had no right to be. The
commoners, as the Wolves called the guards of the city, lacked the insight
to figure it out, so it was up to them, the ancient guardians, to spot the
filthy leeches and take care of them.

Unbeknownst to them, however, there were people running on the streets east
from University Square, and those were none other than 3 young boys –
lost, confused and overcome with fear. They'd been playing in the gardens
of their school, having been promised by one father that he would pick them
up as soon as evening fell, yet he made no appearance and they had no way
to let their parents know about the ordeal. Possessing all the cleverness
of nine years olds, they headed to the father's office, which they found
locked from the inside. It took them a while, but they managed to enter
through the window opposite the door, finding the father fallen and cold.

The imprint of that coolness, left upon their tiny fingers, travelled to
their very cores, sending them on a mad dash to the residential area. They
needed to find a doctor but Estéril was a giant city and they were only
boys.

Thus, they ended up facing dead-ends or streets so dark they didn't dare
explore them, until they found University Square, deserted and still,
illuminated, though suffused with smoke and dust.

There was no guard in sight and they were not very patient, so they hurried
back to the eastern border with the Main Residential Area, hoping they
would find their way back to their homes. They followed the signs but it
only confused them further, and they had no one to ask for directions. At
one point, one of them thought he saw a homeless man with vacant eyes. Fear
crept into their little hearts, cooling their bodies further and making
them break out in a run.

Following one another in that mad rush, they dazedly entered the lot of the
city library, pausing to take a breath in the adjoined playground. They
were followed by the sound of a motorbike, which only served to instill
more fear in them. Every child was taught to fear that sound.

The lights were turned off but even from the distance the boys could see
them clearly – the silhouettes of two men – wolves – as dark as
the night enveloping them.

Everything seemed to come to a still and turn thousand times scarier in
those several moments of silence, occasionally broken by the desperate
gulps of air echoing in the small throats of the children.

Then they moved.

The moment the bike engines sounded, Eiri's bewildered eyes cleared and he
started running out of the playground, toward the main road. Jonas and
Mallory followed him out of the secluded ground, but the bikes cut their
way, sending a cloud of dust toward them.

Mallory was quicker though, so he coughed and ran in the opposite
direction, leaving Jonas alone. He kept running until he reached the
entrance to the library, where he hid behind a column.

"It's not fair to leave your friend alone," someone from the shadows told
Mallory two heartbeats later. A tall, dark-skinned man descended the steps
and stood next to him. The boy knew it was too late when he spotted the
bike parked nearby, partially hidden by the low branches of a tree. His
eyes dilated, slowly filling up with the shape of the man towering over
him.

In the same time, guilt driven, Eiri stopped running and turned back to
walk toward the place where he'd left his friends, choosing to face danger
instead of losing them.

He walked back to a visibly distraught Jonas struggling out of the reach of
a man-wolf with unnaturally kind face. Eiri, much like Jonas, believed that
the Wolves were the most dangerous thing to exist in their world. That's
why the lack of hostility and the presence of the kind-faced man left them
nonplussed.

"Decided to join us, have you?" he heard on his left, turning to look in
the steely eyes of the second man-wolf. He knew he wouldn't be better off
answering so he kept his mouth shut, bending his head so that he looked as
if he was bowing to the great guardian.

He must have looked sweet and obedient in that moment, so much that the
lanky figure moved and took the boy in his arms. Eiri didn't protest and he
found it served him well when the man-wolf helped him sit down on the bike,
grasping his chin and turning it up.

Those eyes were steely from up-close as well, but they held a quiet sort of
amusement within.

"Now, would you like to tell me the reason you and your friends are out at
this hour?"

"Did you forget the rule?" the other one added.

Eiri looked from one to another and swallowed before answering.

"W-we were going home. We got lost."

His mother always made it a point to be honest, especially with people on
position. The ancient guardians of the city held the highest position in
their world, and that itself made his knees go weak. It didn't help that
his heart raced so much that he had trouble thinking. Only the focus on
those blue eyes kept him from screaming. The tendrils of panic seemed to
dissipate under their influence, but his head felt wooly and heavy, having
exhausted his young brain.

"My father... h-he was cold... We w-wanted to find a medic," sobbed Jonas,
located safe two feet from the other man. Eiri felt rather comfortable
being held by the pale wolf, so he didn't envy his friend.

"Cold?"

"Y-yes. He was on the ground, o-out and cold..."

The wolves exchanged a look, then turned each to the child in front of
them.

"We didn't w-want to disobey but..."

"You broke the rule."

Their verdict hit harder than a hand, both boys knowing that the wolves
knew no mercy. There was an old legend passed around, of two boys who
disrespected the rules of the elders, and found themselves hanged by their
ankles on the Methuselah tree, their bodies left as a reminder that justice
doesn't recognize the age of the culprit. Eventually, the vultures and the
winds caused the remains to disappear, leaving behind a dusty legend,
cleverly used by adults to scare children into obedience.

The ringing of the words was broken by the arrival of yet another wolf,
dark-skinned and grinning. It was then that the boys realized they were
missing a friend.

"W-where is Mallory?" Jonas asked Eiri as he wiped his eyes. The dark man
walked up to the group and grinned at everyone separately, making eye
contact that lasted a few seconds before continuing onto the next. It was
an odd way to greet somebody.

"Who is Mallory?" he asked Jonas. As the boy refused to answer the
newcomer, Eiri looked up at him and said: "Our friend. He ran after me."

"And what were you doin' running out past curfew?" he asked again, his eyes
alight.

The man-wolf next to Jonas pulled the newcomer aside and told him something
in a few rushed sentences. He spoke so quietly the boys had no chance of
hearing what he said, but the pale man holding Eiri did. He winked at Eiri,
then brushed a lock away from his tiny face.

"You were a very naughty boy," he told Eiri, who immediately retorted that
he was not, that he was a good boy who only wanted to help his friends. As
a matter of fact that was why he walked back, even though he knew the
wolves were dangerous.

"You ran away and then you came back?" asked the third wolf, his eyes a bit
less fiery this time. Eiri nodded, feeling brave and dignified. He perched
on the seat, causing the wolves to break into chuckles. They were so weird,
behaving like they were all a merry bunch of friends. Shouldn't they have
hurt the boys by now? Wouldn't they hang them by the ankles on the
whirligigs?

"A pack animal," was the answer he got in return. Eiri was too young to
know what it meant but he nodded again, feeling like he'd accomplished
something grand. And he had, according to these ancient judges, who
communicated it through another shared look.

"We'll take you home now, but you have to promise us that you won't be out
past curfew ever again," the wolf spoke to the boys, his words as heavy as
the look in his eyes.

"But where is Mal?" asked Jonas, just as Eiri asked his wolf incredulously
"You won't hang us by the ankles to punish us?"

The wolf, who grinned down at him at first, turned to face his companions.

"I'll take this one home," he told them, earning a smirk from the black
wolf-man.

"Let's go find your Mallory. Cipher, you coming?"

They drove off, leaving behind Eiri and the wolf holding him.

"What's your name?" the wolf asked him. "Eiri" he puffed out, the
descending cold painting his breath. He got no verbal answer but the wolf
took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around Eiri, enveloping him in
heat that smelled of spice. "What's yours?" the boy asked him.

"Neko."

They both inspected each other until the wolf's deep voice broke the lull
between them. "Why did your parents leave you alone in the city so late in
the evening?"

"They're traveling. I went out with my friends to play and Mr. Bernard was
supposed to get us, but he didn't come so we went to his office and found
him on the ground. I... We didn't want to be out after dark... we just had
to find a hospital, or somebody to help us. Will you help Mr. Bernard? When
we find Mallory?"

"So you're home alone and you sneaked out to play with your friends?"

"No, no, no. My gran is at home. She's deaf."

The wolf, Neko, nodded at Eiri.

"All right. I'll take you home now and I won't punish your grandma for not
taking proper care of you, but you have to give me a kiss first." A smirk
blossomed at the corner of his mouth as he finished his sentence. A little
scared though he might have been, Eiri wasn't a fool.

"But you will help Jonas' dad?"

"We'll take care of that. Now give me a kiss."

What a strange wolf, the boy thought as he stretched his neck to bring his
face closer. He kissed the cheek above the smirk, then bashfully returned
to his old position. Whoever asked for a kiss before they helped people?

But they weren't done, he concluded when the wolf came after him, nuzzling
his face and smiling to him, barring wolfish teeth so close that Eiri
thought he wanted to bite his mouth. He did this for some time, saying
nothing with words but plenty with the small puffs of air that escaped his
lips. In the end, just as Eiri was about to ask the wolf what it was that
he was doing, he touched the back of his neck and kissed Eiri back, leaving
a dry little imprint on the corner of the small mouth. In a second he was
back to his former position, at a safe distance from the petite joy in his
arms. His eyes no longer held the dreamy quality like when they were
close. They had cleared and now they stared at Eiri, awake and alert.

"Thank you. Now sit back right and make some space for me."

"But, Mal—!"

"The others will take care of that. My task is to get you home
safely. There's evil on these streets at night, Eiri."

He wanted to protest, to make sure that the wolves would help his friends
and Mr. Bernard, but he had no choice because Neko settled behind him and
started the bike.

"Which part of Main Residential do you live in?"

"11, Lane 23, Block 14," he recited, mental eye picturing his
building. Before he could turn back to check if he could see Jonas, Mallory
or any of the other wolves, Neko had started driving away from the
playground, leaving a dusty trail behind.

Eiri felt like he was in one of the old films his father liked, the ones
where the protagonists wore black jackets, like the wolves, and rode bikes
to the tunes of Joy Division. Neko drove fast, his hands gripping the
handlebars securely, but the air was so cruel Eiri found that he had to
burrow his face in Neko's collarbones to avoid it. His eyes closed, Eiri
couldn't see the small smile which curved the wolf's lips.

The empty streets stretched on, yet in less than ten minutes they were on
the lane where Eiri lived. This time Neko pushed more than drove the bike,
to minimize the noise. He found building number 11 and stopped in front of
it, maneuvering Eiri to turn around to face him fully. When the young
delight did, Neko gave him a rare, satisfied grin.

"Did you enjoy the ride?"

"Yes. Very much!" the boy responded excitedly, eyes curiously inspecting
the face of the grown up. Were they ever going to go on an adventure
together again?

"That's good to hear. Now, Eiri, I want you to promise me that you won't go
out past curfew ever again."

"But, but... how do I know if something like this won't happen again?"

"You'll have to make sure."

The world of adults was so complicated, Eiri thought. It seemed made up of
endless rules that restricted their behaviour and disciplined them into
something akin to robots. It was pretty far-fetched that he thought of the
future in those terms, but he was right about being unable to control the
circumstances which shaped his experience that very night. Still, Neko
wasn't being understanding about it, even though he was older, therefore
considered wiser.

These thoughts dispirited Eiri and the light in his eyes shuttered, leaving
behind a pair of eyes depicting sadness, conveying hundreds of years worth
of oppression.

"I can't promise," he replied brokenly, afraid now that he was openly
denying the wolf.

He didn't dare look up to check Neko's eyes.

"Eiri..."

In that moment they both heard a gasp from somewhere above. Turning their
heads up they spotted an old lady perched on one of the windows, flailing
wildly as if she was thanking some imaginary gods for the sight below.

"Grandma!" shouted Eiri, smiling at her as wide as he could, despite the
sadness in his little heart. She shouted that she would come down to take
him and disappeared inside the flat.

Neko touched his index finger to Eiri's cheek, prompting the young to turn
his head and look at him. "Eiri, look at me," he commanded when he noticed
the boy's hesitation.

Eiri then did, and felt incredibly relieved when he found that Neko wasn't
particularly angry.

"You may be too young to understand this, but I'm counting on you to be
clever now," he told Eiri in quick whispers. "There are horrible men and
wicked wolves out there. I am one of them. The difference is that when the
time comes, they won't care that you're an innocent cub – they'll maim
you and kill you. This is why I need you to take care of yourself and tell
your friends to do the same. You and your parents can't afford to be out
past the hour, not if you want to live. Do you understand me?"

Faced with such a massive challenge, Eiri could do nothing more than stare
at Neko, wondering why he called himself bad when he didn't hurt any of
them tonight.

"But why do people say that wolves are bad?"

"Don't think that we're good because of tonight. We aren't. We've the task
of keeping you safe and keeping the ancient order of Sivár. Tonight, we
could make an exception because there are far worse things lurking in the
shadows."

"So you'll hurt me next time?"

The white man-wolf sighed.

"I don't know. I've no idea what might happen."

"Then how can you ask me to promise I won't be out after hours again?"

The words resonated within Neko, leaving him with only enough strength to
smile grimly at the bright boy in his arms. He shook his head and
contemplated the philosophy behind their rushed words. There wasn't time.

They wouldn't wait.

Eiri's grandmother appeared at the door and walked hesitantly up to the
pair. In her hands she held a small, hastily wrapped parcel that smelled of
kitchen wonders.

She smiled to the wolf, fear evident in her body language, then offered the
parcel from a distance. "Just a bitsy snack, to thank you for bringing my
boy home safely," she told him.

He looked at her for several seconds, wondering if he should reprimand her,
then concluded that he had done enough and that it wasn't his place to
teach civilians appropriate parenting.

Ignoring her for the moment, he turned to Eiri, whose eyes expressed the
uncertainty that trailed his every day. He started pulling the jacket off
the boy's form, using up the moment of closeness to whisper "Promise?" in
his ear. Eiri's small hands reached to grab on his shirt as he whispered
back "Promise,", insecure and barely there.

He hardly wanted to let go but he had to, because he felt his grandmother
tensing up. He wanted to tell her that Neko wasn't really bad, that Neko
saved him tonight and treated him nicely, but he thought that the wolf
mightn't appreciate that. He wanted to show the world another side of
himself – a cruel, animalistic side, that one of a merciless guardian
who had locked up the kindness in his heart in favour of the laws that kept
everything going. And if he could do no more, Eiri could at least respect
that.

Neko held him up by the armpits and put him down beside the bike. His
grandmother's arms encircled him right away, pulling him a step back, then
two, from the dark shape-shifter.

Sensing that Neko wouldn't accept gratitude from her, Eiri took the parcel
from her hands and handed it to Neko.

"See you," was the only response he got after Neko had taken the dish and
started the bike.

The roaring left behind ensured that the night would indent itself among
the deepest, basic memories of Eiri's mind.


*~*