Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/3354959.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Choose_Not_To_Use_Archive_Warnings, Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence,
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      DRAMAtical_Murder_-_All_Media_Types
  Relationship:
      Ren/Seragaki_Aoba
  Character:
      Seragaki_Tae, Koujaku_(DRAMAtical_Murder), Clear_(DRAMAtical_Murder),
      Noiz_(DRAMAtical_Murder), Mink_(DRAMAtical_Murder)
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_Werewolf, Fluff, Growing_Up, Aftermath_of_Violence,
      Blood_and_Violence, Graphic_Description_of_Corpses, Minor_Character
      Death, Mating_Bond, Slow_Build, Slow_Burn, Frottage, Rimming, Anal
      Fingering, Anal_Sex, Explicit_Sexual_Content
  Series:
      Part 15 of DRAMAtical_Murder_Short_Stories_by_EmilyY, Part 11 of Fantasy
      Alternate_Universes/Multiverse
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-02-16 Words: 9078
****** Worst Things in the World are Justified ******
by GilgaNyan_(NarryEm)
Summary
     Aoba is on his way home from his part time job when he sees a dark
     lump of something crouched in the street corner. When he finds out
     what (or rather who) it is, he can’t abandon the little guy. Which is
     exactly how he came about raising a werewolf pup.
Notes
     Title from “Raised by Wolves” by U2.
     So this is the second growing up AU that I’ve written in this fandom
     and like I’ve said in the NoiAo one, I love me some growing up AU’s.
     Just in case you didn’t read through the tags, there will be several
     mentions/descriptions of death and genocide throughout the story so
     if that is a trigger for you, PLEASE
     leave
     now
     .
     Also, Aoba will be referencing Ren as a pup or a wolf frequently
     throughout the story so if that extent of dehumanization offends you,
     don’t say I didn’t say I didn’t warn ya~♬
See the end of the work for more notes
 
Aoba yawns, stretching his arms out as well. It’s been a long day and for once,
work was pretty busy and he had to answer a bunch of phone calls as well as
deal with customers in-store. He’s got to start applying for college soon, so
he won’t be getting much sleep if he remembers to look into colleges on
mainland and stuff. Besides, Granny will be having a field day if she discovers
that Aoba is planning on putting off college for another year.
He is about a block from his house when a small, almost undetectable sound
catches his attention. It came from a dark, unlit alleyway but against his
better judgment, Aoba decides to go check it out. If it comes to the worst-case
scenario, he knows a bit of self-defence and stuff so yeah.
What he finds is a small, trembling figure crouched at the corner of the filthy
street. It’s a back alleyway, littered with junk and it smells pretty rank too.
Repressing the urge to turn around and go home, Aoba approaches the small thing
slowly.
In the next split second, he finds himself flattened onto the ground, pinned to
it by the same figure he’d been looking at a moment earlier. Round, glowing
amber eyes glare at him with fear and Aoba tries to think calm, soothing
thoughts. It takes a while for Aoba’s human eyes to adjust to the dark and when
he can finally see, he can’t help but gasp loudly.
On top of him is a small boy with dark hair and . . . furry wolf-like ears?
Surely enough, when Aoba twists around to see further back, there is a large
fluffy tail on this boy’s rear as well. His petit frame is covered by a poncho
that seems to go down to his ankles and he is barefoot.
Before Aoba can do or say something, the little boy burrows his face into
Aoba’s neck and bites down onto the pulse. Aoba yelps and he grabs the little
boy by his waist and picks him up and away from his body. He struggles to sit
and when he does, gently places the wolf-boy on the ground next to him and
frowns as he brings his hand up to where the wolf-boy bit him. His hand comes
away wet and warm, so he supposes that the toddler bit him.
A werewolf. A fucking werewolf.
Midorijima has an urban legend about a pack of werewolves that supposedly live
up in the forest beyond the North District but Aoba has always thought that it
was a stupid story meant to keep the kids from wandering into the woods. He’s
never thought that he’s see one of the ‘savage, bloodthirsty creatures’ in real
life.
He picks up the little pup again and carries him to the nearest lamppost. The
pup seems to be docile at the moment, on the verge of falling asleep. He’s damn
adorable, really. Aside from the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth,
symmetrical sapphire blue tribal markings on his cheeks, his glowing amber
eyes, wolf-like ears atop his head and the bushy, fluffy tail, the pup looks
like any other toddler. The poncho-like clothing seems to be made out of some
animal hide and dyed various colours.
Aoba can’t just leave him here. Winter is coming; this little guy will die on
his own if left alone on the streets! Determined to help this small creature
somehow, he readjusts the boy in his arms so that he is more comfortable and
resumes walking home.
 
 
-
 
 
Granny wasn’t too mad when she saw the werewolf pup bundled up in Aoba’s arms.
She told him that the kid would be his responsibility and that this was not to
be taken lightly but other than that, she seemed to be okay with Aoba pretty
much raising a werewolf kid. The pup was soundly asleep by the time Aoba
carefully put in on the centre of the bed on his side. His oversized, bushy
tail twitched occasionally and he would let out this quiet barks that was
decidedly animalistic rather than a human throat mimicking a dog’s bark. Aoba
removes the dirty poncho from the pup and throws it in his laundry basket and
covers him with a clean towel instead. He then tucks the pup in under the
covers before he goes to the bathroom to take a quick bath.
As he waits for the tub to fill up with steaming, hot water, he examines the
wound on his neck. It’s not nasty or anything. Just a shallow wound on the skin
over his carotid artery that should heal within the week. Blood has stopped
oozing out of the bite mark and to be honest, it already looks days old as
opposed to freshly bitten. He wipes it with an alcohol sterilization sheet and
then slowly climbs into the tub.
He closes his eyes and lets his body go lax in the hot water. Okay, so it was
pretty stupid of him to pick up a stray werewolf pup and bring him into his
house, a house occupied by only his Granny and himself. Aoba’s only nineteen,
and the reason he took a couple years off before going off to college was so
that he could earn some money and also keep an eye on Granny’s health. With
this werewolf in his life, he probably can’t go off to college for another
couple years at least—not that he’s upset over it. He’s never been that good at
school anyway.
Immersed in thoughts and doubts, Aoba doesn’t hear the bathroom door creak
open. Nor does he see the small pup sneaking up on him unintentionally and
climbing into the tub with him. Aoba jumps in surprised when he feels someone’s
small weight on his lap and when he re-opens his eyes, they open to the sight
of a pair of tender amber eyes. They are sleepy yet so focused on Aoba’s
butterscotch brown eyes.
“Hey, what are you doing here, kid?” Aoba blurts out loudly.
The pup’s ears droop, his tail dropping as well. He lets out a whinging
whimper, which softens up Aoba’s expression immediately.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. Let’s get you cleaned up while you’re
here, yeah?” he prompts, placing him hands under the werewolf’s armpits. The
little boy cocks his head just like a confused little puppy would. Laughing,
Aoba sets him down next on the tiled floor next to the tub and climbs out of
the tub as well. He takes the showerhead from the wall and sets the warm to a
warm temperature that should be feel comfortable on anyone and sprays the water
all over the werewolf. The little boy looks happy, at least, to be doused with
warm water. Not so much when Aoba starts to put shampoo on his fluffy, matted
hair but still. Aoba is mindful of the large wolf-like ears as he works to
detangle the dark blue-black hair and carefully washes the outside of the ears
as well.
Now that the pup’s hair is clean and smells of Aoba’s favourite shampoo, he
moves on to the pup’s body. He’s really skinny and pale, almost to the extent
of looking unhealthy with his skin appearing to be almost translucent under the
glaring lights. Aoba was half-expecting to see more of the tribal markings like
the ones on the pup’s cheeks but he finds none. He figures that the facial
markings is something that marks the pup special or something. The little boy
has started to wag his tail in contentment, its movement vigorous enough to
make washing his tail quite the challenge. Aoba tries everything from begging
to bribing to cajoling. In the end, he has to sit the pup down on his lap and
distract the boy by scratching him behind the wolf-like ears as he washes the
bushy tail.
“Okay, all done,” Aoba announces as he rinses the pup’s body a final time. “Now
stay here while I wash up, ‘kay?”
The pup nods. So he can understand human language, huh?
After the shower, Aoba wraps up the boy in a towel and brings him back to his
own bedroom. He blow-dries his hair and then does the same for the werewolf
boy. Or tries. He doesn’t seem so happy about it, choosing to shake the water
out of his hair and tail instead—which is so fucking cute, by the way.
“You’ll catch a cold if you go to sleep with wet hair though,” Aoba says
firmly.
The pup looks up at him with wide, tender amber eyes. Aoba sighs. “Fine. Wait,
I still don’t know your name. Crap. I can’t just call you ‘pup’ in my head all
the time. Do you have a name by any chance?”
The little cocks his head in a decidedly puppy-like manner. After a couple
moments of silence, he yips out: “Ren.”
Then he yawns loudly and promptly falls asleep.
Aoba shakes his head. He picks up Ren so that he can put Ren’s head on the
pillow (covered by a towel) and then lies down on the bed as well. He can wait
until tomorrow to ask a few more questions.
 
 
-
 
 
Ren is . . . uncooperative to put it mildly.
Other than to tell Aoba his name, Ren hasn’t spoken another word to Aoba yet.
He thought that maybe Ren was scared, so he tried leaving Ren alone in the
bedroom for a bit. That worked out spectacularly as the younger boy started to
wail and howl the instant Aoba shut the door behind him. He had to come running
back and hug Ren until the howling petered out into soft sobs. It’s exhausting
as hell, taking care of a small kid. Actually, Aoba hasn’t the faintest clue
how old Ren really is. All of his knowledge of werewolves comes from the urban
legend and shitty films so yeah, not very helpful.
“How old are you, Ren?” Aoba asks gently, preparing them some late breakfast.
He doesn’t know what kind of food Ren likes, so he settles for omelettes with
some bacon and ham in it. He figures that Ren would like meat.
Ren pouts, obviously too hungry to care for Aoba’s question. The older male
sighs. “If you answer me, I’ll give you food.” Okay, so maybe it’s really mean
of him to withhold food for information but he’s getting real desperate. Plus,
it wasn’t quite fair of Ren to bite him on the neck, so there’s that.
“Three,” Ren squeaks out, “Food!”
Aoba tries to hide his surprise and does a decent job for the most part. He
turns off the stove and transfers the not-half-bad omelettes into two plates.
He places one of them in front of Ren and then one in front of him. He’s sat
down next to Ren so that he can feed the little boy. Three, huh? He’s suspected
that Ren was around the age of five to seven but maybe werewolves grow at a
different rate than humans?
He forks up some of the omelette and brings it to Ren’s mouth. Ren looks
confused and he instead grabs the bit of food with both his hands and pops it
into his mouth. He doesn’t seem to mind the still-hot temperature as he wolfs
it down—pun fully intended.
“You’re supposed to use the—never mind,” Aoba cuts himself off. He’s not gonna
try to teach Ren to use tableware, not this early in the day. He focuses on
eating his own breakfast, grateful for the extra-strong coffee that is brewing
in the coffee pot behind them.
He is, however, pleasantly surprised to see Ren picking up a fork. It appears
that Ren is trying to copy Aoba’s movements. Something warm and fuzzy, akin to
happiness, blooms in his heart. Is this how parents feel when their child
accomplish great things? Aoba sure feels that way. He is proud of Ren and
himself that Ren is sort of learning how to use a fork.
“Good boy,’ Aoba blurts out, ruffling the hair behind Ren’s ears. Ren leans his
head back so that Aoba’s hand is directly on his ear, so Aoba scratches the
pointy ear instead. Ren’s tail speeds up in its wagging, almost enough to cause
the chair to rock backwards a tiny degree.
Other than the initial excitement, breakfast is an otherwise uneventful affair.
Aoba doesn’t have to work today so he decides to spend the day trying to get
Ren to talk more about himself. He starts off by washing Ren’s poncho and
dressing him in an old t-shirt that is two sizes too small for himself. On Ren,
though, the tee shirt looks like a short dress thing some girls wear.
“This is a t-shirt,” Aoba explains as he rifles through his drawers for a pair
of boxers. Granted, the waistband would be like a dozen sizes too big for Ren
but if Aoba tied some cloth around Ren’s waist, the makeshift trousers would
hold. He’s planning to order some clothes for Ren to wear online later in the
day, or even go shopping with Ren once darkness falls. “You normally wear it to
cover your torso but since I haven’t a pair of trousers that can fit you,
this’ll do nicely.”
“T-shirt,” Ren repeats, enunciating each syllable as if to taste the words
rolling around in the cute little mouth of his. He grins, flashing his tiny but
prominent fangs. “T-shirt!” Ren exclaims, pointing at Aoba’s ratty black t-
shirt.
“Good! You’re a fast learner, ain’t ya? My name is Aoba. And yours is Ren,
yeah?”
Ren nods enthusiastically. He points to Aoba. “Ow-ba.” He then points at
himself. “Ren!”
Aoba chuckles. Okay, so maybe three-syllabled word are too advanced for the
little pup. “It’s A-o-ba,” Aoba tries again.
“Ow-ba,” Ren repeats.
Aoba shakes his head in exasperation. It’s fine. He’ll probably be able to
teach Ren how to say his name properly as he learns more and more.
 
 
-
 
 
Night has fallen and Aoba is trying is damnedest to pull a beanie over Ren’s
head so they can head out.
“But, Ren,” Aoba says in the most patient tone he can muster, “we can’t let the
other people see your ears because I don’t know how they’ll react.”
Ren makes a whining sound, lips jutting out to form a cute little pout. “Ears
tight,” he mumbles. Aoba guesses that Ren is attempting to tell him that the
hat is tight around his ears.
“Alright. How about we try something else?” he digs into the pile of clothes he
used to wear as a kid. He spent a good chunk of the afternoon going through the
stuff in the storage room to find clothes Ren could wear while they wait for
the ordered clothes to arrive. The poncho washed up and stuff but Aoba wants to
dress Ren in normal clothes to raise less suspicions. He smiles triumphantly
when he finds the coat that he used to wear all the time as a kid. Ren has come
up behind him, nose twitching as he sniffs at the coat. Aoba puts the coat on
Ren and even though it’s two sizes too large on Ren, it’ll have to do.
“Okay, let’s go,” Aoba holds his hand out towards Ren. Ren stares at it for a
moment before he grasps it, his little hand completely enveloped by Aoba’s.
Aoba leads Ren out the house and to the Southern District. Even though it’s the
middle of the night, the streets are full of people and very lively. If Aoba
looks closely enough, he can see Ren’s ears flicking back and forth underneath
the hood, attentive and picking up the sounds that Aoba himself can’t hear.
Aoba goes into the first children’s clothing shop that he sees and spends less
than half an hour picking out clothes for Ren. Ren doesn’t seem to have much of
a preference as to what he wants to wear so Aoba sticks to neutral colours.
“That wasn’t too bad, was it?” Aoba asks, half-rhetorical.
“No,” Ren replies. He looks up at Aoba and opens his arms as if asking for Aoba
to pick him up. Aoba obliges gladly even though he has to juggle the shopping
bags and Ren all at the same time. “No killing. No blood. Good.”
A chill runs down Aoba’s spine. Just what had happened to Ren before Aoba found
him?
He doesn’t ask the thousand questions brewing in his head, not until he is back
home in the Eastern District. Granny is back from her work and greets both of
them briskly in her typical manner. Thankfully, Aoba didn’t forget to lock the
front door otherwise he would have gotten an earful.
“I thought you were going to order clothes for him online,” Granny comments,
eyes trained on the shopping bags Aoba is carrying. Halfway home, Ren had
nimbly leapt out of Aoba’s arms and then walked by himself. Aoba has already
noticed that Ren is pretty impatient like most kids his age.
“I did, but I thought I’d buy him a couple outfits since the clothes won’t be
arriving for at least three days.” He shrugs.
“Alright. There’s some doughnuts on the table if you want.”
Aoba laughs. “I can never say no to your doughnuts, Granny, you know that.”
He sits down at the table and seats Ren on his lap. “Ren, this is a doughnut.
It’s really sweet but also hot at the moment so wait for it too cool, okay?”
Ren nods, his eyes fixated on the sweets. They smell as delicious as always and
Aoba chuckles as he wipes the drool off Ren’s chin. He hasn’t forgotten all the
questions he needs answered but they can wait until after this little late
night snack.
The little werewolf boy chows down half of what Granny has made, much to her
delight. She mumbles about how Ren at least has good tastes. Aoba then gently
sets Ren on the floor before going upstairs, Ren walking closely by his side.
Aoba wonders if Ren now sees him as a parental figure. He doesn’t really know
much about werewolves or even regular wolves so this has all been nothing less
than confusing.
As soon as they reach the top of the stairs, Ren speeds off to Aoba’s room and
jumps into the bed, the oversized shoes still on his feet.
“No, Ren. You can’t be on the bed with your shoes still on,” Aoba reprimands
him firmly. He pulls the hood down before reaching down to undo the buckles on
the shoes—the ones that Aoba used to wear as a kid that a couple sizes too big
on Ren. Ren’s ears move around restlessly as though they are basking in the
freedom they now have. Aoba can’t blame him—he’s felt terrible about having to
hide Ren’s true nature but there is no telling of how people in Midorijima will
react when they learn that werewolves are not just urban legend stories to
scare the kids away from wandering into the forests.
Ren yawns widely, his pointy fangs on full display as he does so. He brings his
small fists up to his eyes to rub at the sluggishly.
“Ren,” Aoba says gently. Ren’s ears perk up, his eyes wide and curious on Aoba.
“I need to know some things, and you’re going to have to answer me in words.
Can you do that for me, please?”
“No. Sleepy,” Ren says petulantly. Well, at least Ren said that so that’s a
start.
“Aren’t werewolves supposed to be nocturnal?” Aoba mumbles to himself.
“Noct-urn-al?” Ren repeats slowly, surprising Aoba with the accuracy of his
pronunciation.
“It means that someone likes to stay awake during the night, when the moon is
up in the sky.”
“Aoba sleep night,” Ren says quizzically. Aoba hasn’t got much experience
deciphering toddler speak so it takes him few moments to fill in the blank.
“You mean I sleep at night?” he asks. Ren nods. “And you want to sleep at the
same time that I do?” Another nod.
“Lonely. Sad,” Ren slurs, his eyelids drooping. He blinks slowly until,
eventually, they remain shut.
Aoba sighs quietly. The answers can wait until the morning. He just hates
having this ominous, heavy feeling in his gut. It’s almost as though he knows
that something bad happened to Ren’s family, and that’s how Aoba discovered
Ren.
He hopes that his gut feelings are wrong.
 
 
-
 
 
Aoba groans when the bright morning sun streams in through the gap in the
curtains. Stupid veranda and stupid mornings. He stretches out his arms and
rolls over to his side, yawning loudly. His stretch is cut short when he hears
a soft whimpering sound.
Crap! Aoba is dragged into complete wakefulness and he looks to where he heard
the sound. Thankfully, he didn’t roll over right on top of Ren or anything
horrible like that.
But what he is seeing right in this moment is much worse and more heart-
wrenching than that.
Ren is tossing and turning in bed, his face scrunched up in that of utmost
terror. Tears pour down his face as the soft whimpers from before transition
into long howls and broken sobs.
“Ren what’s wrong?’ Aoba tries not to panic as he puts his arms around the
toddler. The whimpers quiet down, but only momentarily. And during those short
moments, Ren’s eyes snap open. Tender amber eyes seems to glow as they stare
into Aoba’s eyes. Aoba is about to ask Ren if he’s had a nightmare when Ren
reaches out and touches his palm to Aoba’s cheek.
Aoba’s vision is swallowed up by amber and black, which swirl together until
all that remains is a black void.
The black nothingness doesn’t last forever, thank goodness. Its replacement,
however, is even more terrifying.
Aoba is stood in the middle of a forest. The night skies are black like a
perfect storm and he can’t see much. It has to be the night of new moon or
maybe it’s just shitty weather.
A shrill scream slices through the chilled night air and it only adds to Aoba’s
ominous feelings about whatever is happening to him. He decides to follow the
sound and regrets it instantly.
He has stepped into a small clearing that is occupied by small huts. Or more
precisely, pitiful, charred remains of huts and whatever else residential
buildings that used to stand here. To add to the grotesque scenery, there are
piles of bodies strewn about everywhere. Aoba tries not to take close looks at
them but it’s impossible to block them all out. Some of them are fully human,
some in the form of wolves, and some are little children in the half-and-half
form similar to the form that Aoba grew used to seeing with Ren. He sees people
armed with guns running around the small village, rounding up the bodies and
shouting amongst themselves. They throw the dead people into a careless pile as
though they are nothing more than mere animal carcasses. Blood is pooling
beneath the bodies, illuminated by the dying flames in the utmost sinister way.
Aoba feels the bile rise to his throat but surprisingly, none of it makes it
past the top of his throat.
From the corner of his eye, he sees a small figure dart out from behind an
undergrowth. Aoba’s heart sinks; he would recognise that tiny and familiar
figure anywhere! Ren sprints away from the site and Aoba runs after the
werewolf. He half-expects for some of the murderers to give chase and to his
dismay, he is proven right. The murderers run in the direction that Ren
disappeared off to and they don’t seem to notice Aoba at all even though Aoba
is only a few paces behind Ren.
To Aoba’s relief, Ren’s pursuers aren’t as familiar with the dark woods as Ren
is, nor do they have the advantage of a toddler’s body and supernatural
agility. As they race through the woods, Aoba is terrified and mournful. No,
those aren’t his own emotions; they have to be Ren’s and Aoba is somehow
sharing them. The chase seems to stretch out over eternity but eventually, Ren
manages to lose his pursuers.
By the end of the chase, Ren has gotten himself far away from the comforts of
his home and to the outskirts of an urbanized area, where humans live. The
strange smells and sounds scare Ren. He is exhausted but his instincts are
telling him to keep moving. The moon is covered by the clouds tonight and Ren
is so cold and alone. He’ll never see his tribe again. He’ll never be an alpha
like his father was.
Aoba can’t understand why he is having all these thoughts. Could it be that he
is in Ren’s head right now? He remembers Ren reaching out and touching his
cheek. Maybe it was more of a psychic projection then. That’s his best bet at
the moment. Whatever the hell that was, he is still seeing Ren’s memories and
feeling everything that was going through Ren’s mind. Despair fills Aoba’s
heart and it’s hard for him to conclude if it’s just Ren’s or if there is a bit
of his own despair mixed in as well.
Another flash of black and amber swallows up Aoba’s vision and this time, it is
accompanied by the sensation of falling, falling, falling . . . .
 
 
-
 
 
Aoba wakes up seriously disoriented and confused, obnoxiously bright amber
spots still dancing around in his vision. Ren is sat on his chest, and his
amber eyes appear apologetic as he stares into Aoba’s eyes. There are no words
to describe the turmoil of emotions rushing through his him, nor is there an
apt way to soothe the poor kid. In fact, he can’t even separate his own
reactive emotions from the residual emotions from the ones he felt in Ren’s
memories. Nonetheless, he has to try, doesn’t he? He didn’t know what he had
signed up for by bringing Ren home with him but now he understands his role in
Ren’s life better.
He sits up in his bed and cradles Ren to his chest. Ren emits a whimpering
sound and Aoba attempts to soothe him by stroking his ears. “Ren,” he starts
off in a gentle, quiet tone. “I believe that the worst things that still happen
in the world are justified by beliefs, beliefs that are so strongly engrained
within this society we live in. In no way does it mean that what those werewolf
haters did to your family was right. Hell, it was plainly wrong and disgusting,
hating on werewolves based purely on how different you look and behave.
“But the thing is: people in Midorijima really don’t like changes, and that
doesn’t always bode well for us as a whole. I know from urban legends that
there or generations of one or two families who have devoted their lives to
hunting down werewolves. I’m sorry that their target was you and everyone else
who lived in the woods. I . . . I want you to understand that even though
nothing can change the past—change the fact that your family is dead because of
those ignorant jerks—I’ll never be like them.
Tears escape his eyes and instead of hiding them, Aoba moves Ren so that they
are looking at each other in the eyes. Ren’s eyes are wet as well, his face
tinged pink from sobbing and howling earlier. “I promise that I will protect
you no matter what, Ren. In return, please make me one promise.”
Never has Ren looked so unsure and vulnerable as he does right in this moment.
His round amber eyes are filled with uncertainty and fear of his past but he
surprises Aoba with a nod.
“Please promise me that you won’t go after those bad people. If they find out
that you escaped and lived, they won’t just let you go. I care about you, Ren,
and I don’t want to lose you. I’d be really sad if I lost you to a fit of fury
and vengeance.”
He kisses the tip of one soft, furry ear and waits for Ren to respond in any
way. A few heartbeats’ worth of time passes and finally, Ren looks up and says,
“Promise.”
 
 
-
 
 
About half a year has passed by and it is clear to Aoba that yeah, werewolf
growth rate definitely exceeds that of a human’s.
Ren had claimed to be three when Aoba asked him how old he was. However, a
month after their meeting, Aoba noticed that Ren had grown noticeably taller.
Afterwards, Aoba kept track of Ren’s height and he was able to confirm that Ren
was growing at a steady (albeit unusually rapid) rate. Now, Ren had he physical
appearance of a boy in his early teens. The change wasn’t solely in his
appearance either.
Aoba was excited to discover that Ren is very clever and eager to learn. After
about half a month, Ren could speak at the level of a kindergartener. Then,
after about two-month mark, he could speak with nearly flawless grammar and
with the vocabulary range of a typical elementary school student. His writing
skills were not as good as his speaking skills but that was on par with Aoba’s
initial expectations. Of course, Aoba wasn’t the sole teacher that Ren had to
rely on. On her days off, Granny would offer to spend an hour or two teaching
Ren how to communicate as well as other life skills such as using the house
appliances, cooking, and simplified school subjects such as math.
The blue-haired teen honestly loves looking after Ren. Sure, it was massive
amounts of work and more responsibility than he has ever had to shoulder, but
Ren truly made it all worth it. Ren sees Aoba as both a father figure and as an
older figure, Aoba knows that by heart. It means that Aoba has had to learn how
to be a parent and he enjoys the added responsibility these days. Ren’s
presence has somewhat forced regularity into Aoba’s life and he feels much more
like an adult that he did six months ago.
On the days that he has a shift at Heibon, he takes Ren with him because Haga-
san has allowed it. (He is so lucky to have an understanding and kind boss like
him.) Ren isn’t allowed to help out much with Aoba’s duties at work but the
company is what matters more. It’s a good thing that Ren has mastered his
control of his shapeshifting because otherwise, Aoba would have had to wrestle
hats on his head every time they left their house.
“Aoba,” Ren intones.
“Yes?” Aoba answers, eyes glued to the screen. Doing inventory is one of the
least favourite parts of his job description but at least it means that he
doesn’t have to deal with annoying customers who can behave like brats.
“Can we go for lunch? Granny mentioned—” Ren clamps his hand over his mouth
when his voice breaks in the middle of a word. His amber eyes grow all round
and alert with embarrassment. It takes all Aoba has not to burst out laughing
at Ren’s reaction.
“It’s okay,” Aoba coos. “Every boy goes through that when he’s your age. Your
voice is gonna keep doing that for the next few weeks as your voice deepens and
sound all grown-up.”
Ren’s eyes light up at the last word. Aoba can almost see his bushy tail wag.
“Is it gonna hurt?” Ren squeaks out.
Aoba shakes his head. “Not at all. And as for lunch, can you gimme five minutes
so I can finish categorizing?”
“Yes!”
Five painfully boring minutes later, Aoba and Ren are walking down the street.
As they are about the round the corner that will lead them to the street where
their home is at, Ren stops in his tracks and lets out a feral growl. Aoba
looks into his eyes and sees that they are glowing faintly even in the broad
daylight.
“Ren? What’s wrong?” Try as he might, he can’t stop the panic from creeping
into his voice.
Ren bares his teeth, which have sharpened into those belonging to a wolf, and
snarls out, “It’s them.”
Aoba’s heart drops like lead sinking in water. He grips Ren’s forearm tightly.
‘No, you promised, Ren. You can’t go after them. I don’t want you to get hurt
for the sake of revenge!”
Ren snaps his teeth at him and Aoba jumps backwards. Ren’s never done this to
him before (well, not unless he counts the night they met when Ren properly bit
him). His eyes soften the moment after with shame and remorse but the moment is
short-lived. There is a faint echoing of shouts and Ren darts towards it.
“Ren!” Aoba calls out futilely. Cursing their luck, Aoba sprints in the general
direction that Ren was headed to and prays that it isn’t too late already.
The scene that he runs into is so reminiscent that he almost gags. The stench
of blood is potent in the air and it’s all coming from the men’s blood-drenched
clothes. Ren is stood a few feet away from them, eyeing them up wordlessly.
”This ain’t none of your business, kid,” one of them spits out. He has got a
rifle slung over his shoulder and Aoba wants nothing more than to grab Ren’s
hand and get the hell out of here.
A low growl saturates the air around them. The mere sound of it raises
gooseflesh on Aoba’s arms and he can see the men’s face blanking with fear. He
swears that he sees the air around Ren ripple and shimmer as he bursts into
dazzling shards of light and changes into his wolf form.
“What the fuck?” one of the men yells. His buddy takes aim at the wolf but he’s
already too late. His arm is ripped cleanly out of the socket and he begins to
scream and wail in pain. The two other men start to run away but Ren is too
fast for them, fuelled by rage and sadness and the drive for revenge. In just
two pounces, their heads are ripped off their shoulders and rolling on the
ground, sticky trails of blood oozing out from their heads and necks. Aoba
forces his eyes away from them and that leads him to watch helplessly as the
gunman bleeds out to death, his skin going from a healthy colour to pale white,
then to ashen.
Aoba can’t handle it anymore. He doubles over and throws up on the ground and
tears are squeezed out of the corners of his eyes. He hasn’t eaten since early
breakfast so all that comes out is acid that burns his throat and mouth.
He opens his eyes slowly as sees a wolf sat on its haunches by Aoba’s side.
It—no, Ren—is so beautiful, is the thing. His fur is a sleek shade of a star-
filled sky and his eyes hold the same tenderness that human Ren’s do. The only
difference is that his muzzle is saturated with drying blood and there are
bodies strewn about on the ground like dolls.
Aoba whirls around and sprints away. He’s . . . he’s a witness to a crime,
isn’t he? Or is he even worse, an accomplice? He didn’t stop Ren from attacking
those men even though the outcome had been obvious. He didn’t call Ren back
from his pursuit and tried to save those men. No. Those men deserved it. They
murdered an entire village of people for the sheer fact that they were
different. Their deaths were mere punishment for a crime. Retribution.
No, no, no! Murders were murders regardless of reason. Just because Ren’s
family were eradicated didn’t mean—Ren had no right to—Ren promised—Ren was—.
“ARGHHHHHHHHH!” Aoba screams. He screams and screams until his lungs burns and
his head is no longer full of the thoughts that were running in circles and
bumping around everywhere. His legs must have given out because he is kneeling
on the ground and it occurs to him that he has ended up in the southern edges
of the forest that Ren used to call home.
The trees are packed together closely, the foliage too dense for sunlight to
stream through. Despite it being the middle of the day, it’s pretty dark and
Aoba can’t see more than ten feet in front of him. The air’s got a chill to it
as well and it doesn’t help with Aoba feeling at ease at all.   He’s grown up
hearing all sorts of horror stories about the forest; a few months of living
with a creature from the same legends wasn’t bound to undo it so easily.
Something rustles behind him and he jumps. He curls his hands into fists and
tries to scan for any danger.
The rustling comes again and to Aoba’s relief, it’s only a wolf. A black wolf.
No, his mind screams at him. You shouldn’t be trustful of him. He flashes back
to a few minutes ago when he saw Ren kill three grown men.
He’s an animal, his mind reminds him.
He’s not, though. Ren is just as human as him and his actions have proved that,
as twisted and morbid as they may be. Humans fixate on revenge, not heartless
animals.
The wolf whimpers and trots over to Aoba and looks at him with sadness shining
in his eyes. He howls pitifully and Aoba wants to reach out at pet his head so
badly.
The air between them ripples and Ren is a boy again. He is naked and there’s
still smudges of blood on his body and Aoba flinches when Ren outstretches an
arm.
“I’m sorry,” Ren whispers. “I’m sorry that I broke our promise.”
What’s he supposed to say? That it’s alright? That Ren is forgiven? Because
this isn’t something that Aoba can forgive and forget.
“I . . .” Aoba trails off.
“When I caught their scent, I lost my mind,” Ren explains. “My mind went back
to the time when my people were burning and dying all around me and I couldn’t
shake off the images of me killing them instead. And I did.”
Aoba looks up and sees that Ren’s amber eyes are wet with tears—tears for whom?
“I still wanna be with you, be protected by you and protect you,” Ren
continues. “Because you’re the closest thing to family that I’ve got left.”
Aoba sniffles at wipes at his eyes with the back of his hand. “You are family,
Ren. And I love you like I would a flesh-and-blood brother. I still think what
you did to those hunters is bad but that doesn’t mean that I don’t understand
why you did it. You killed them because you cared about your family and other
werewolves. And when you lose the people you love, there’s no right way to move
on past that. I—I am scared of you but also scared for you. If anyone finds out
what you did and how, they’ll take you away from me and I don’t want that to
happen.”
Standing up, Aoba offers his hand to Ren and helps him up. “Let’s go home.” Ren
nods and changes back into his wolf form (probably because of his lack of
clothes).
 
 
-
 
 
Five years later
 
“I’m ho—whoa!” Aoba has been home for a grand total of three seconds when he
finds himself flattened to the floor.
“Welcome back,” Ren greets him in his deep, comforting voice. Aoba smiles and
ruffles his hair.
He has gone away to college to pursue a degree in environmental sciences and
he’s back for the summer. The next term will be in last for the bachelor’s
program and if all goes well, he should be able to get into a master’s program.
“How’ve you been?” Aoba asks, laughing as he sits up. Ren shuffles off his lap
and grins.
“Alright. I wish that I could visit you at college some time though.” His smile
falters and Aoba has this strong urge to hug him and tell him that everything
is fine until they both feel that way instead of pretending.
Over the years, Ren has grown to be a strong young man (who is noticeably
taller than Aoba, he notes with a ping of jealousy). Aoba has never seen Ren
work out other than help Aoba with the inventory at Heibon but he has a highly
defined musculature and Aoba knows from experience that those muscles aren’t
just for show.
He sees that Ren is practically buzzing with energy and it dawns on him that
tonight will be a full moon. When Ren was younger, the full moon had little to
no effect on the pup. But as the months went on and Ren started to look like a
teenager on the outside, he began to act out and go away on the nights when the
full moon reigned in the sky.
 
“What’s it like?” Aoba once asked the night after a full moon.
“Like every nerve on my body is on fire and alive,” Ren replied after some
thought. “The moon’s energy makes my skin feel electrified and the only way to
endure it is if I’m in my wolf form. The wolf in me revels in the full control
that he has on full moon nights because during the transformation, I lose the
sense of my human self. That’s why I go hide out in the forests for the entire
night and come home after the sun has risen. It’s safer that way. And my
emotions are heightened as well.”
 
Ren leans in and nuzzles the hollow of Aoba’s neck, making soft pleased sounds.
Aoba laughs when Ren’s tongue snakes out and laps at his pulse.
“It tickles!” Aoba laughs.
“You smell so good,” Ren breathes out, hot breaths fanning over the column of
Aoba’s throat.
Aoba blushes and pushes Ren away gently. “Where’s Granny?” he asks.
Ren shrugs. “She went out to meet with her friends or something. Told me that
there’s doughnut on the kitchen counter just in case you come back before she
does.”
Aoba perks up. Store-bought doughnuts has got nothing on Granny’s homemade
ones.
As they share the basket of pastries, Aoba tells Ren all about his experience
at university. He’s made a few friends there: Noiz the computer science guy who
is obsessed with all things technology, Clear the sweetheart who is majoring in
marine biology, and Mink the teacher’s assistant for Aoba’s ecology course last
term.
“Sounds like you’ve had a lot of fun,” Ren comments. Ren himself might not hear
it, but Aoba can pick up the tone of wistfulness in his voice.
“I missed you lots though,” Aoba admits. He covers Ren’s hand on top of the
table and offers him a smile. Ren smiles back, a hint of fangs flashing as he
does so. “Love you, Ren.”
Ren blushes slightly. “I love you too.”
 
 
-
 
 
Aoba has just gotten out of the bathroom when he hears somewhere tumble in
Ren’s room. He rushes over, the worst-case scenario thoughts filling up his
mind.
It turns out that Ren has tripped over the corner of the bed frame. Aoba laughs
in relief and helps him up.
“I’m fine,” Ren half-growls.
“Okay,” Aoba acquiesces. He takes a step backwards. His cheeks heat up
vibrantly as he realises that he is standing only in a towel. He takes a few
more steps backwards before he finds himself backed up against a wall.
“Ren?” he asks, hating the obvious tremor in his voice.
“Aoba,” Ren rasps out. When Aoba glances up, he sees that Ren’s eyes are
glowing and that his ears are out.
“Something the matter?” he asks. He can smell Ren’s scent all over him, earthy
and comforting somehow. Ren buries his nose into the crook of Aoba’s neck and
inhales deeply. A wet and warm sensation seeps into the skin of Aoba’s neck and
he realises that Ren is licking at a spot.
“You taste so good too,” Ren breathes out. He sounds feverish and overwhelmed.
“What are you doing?” Aoba asks. He shoves at Ren’s shoulders just enough so
that they can see eye-to-eye. Faint red is mottling Ren’s cheeks and rapid,
shallow breaths are leaving his slackened mouth.
“You really don’t get it, do you?” Ren rasps out with a sigh and a laugh. “That
night when you found me, I bit you on the neck. Showing the neck in the
werewolf culture means submission and letting someone else bite it means that
the two of them share a bond—one forged through emotions. That’s how I managed
to transmit my memory of that night by accident. That’s how I can always find
you and recognize you regardless of what state I’m in.”
Ren takes in a long, shuddering breath and reveals, “I’ve been in love with you
for so long, Aoba. Ever since I was old enough to know what it means to love
someone with all my heart, it’s been you. And when wolves mate, it’s for life.”
“B-but—we’re both guys?” Aoba stutters.
Ren shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. The mating bond is instinctual and not
always about, ah, procreation. It’s about loving someone for all your life and
always being there for them in every possible way. I’ve been my pack’s alpha
since the moment my former alpha died and an alpha needs a mate who can support
him and nurture him. That’s you, it’s always been you.”
Ren tilts Aoba’s head up and presses their forehead together. The touch soothes
Aoba and he finds himself leaning into Ren’s touch. His hand is warm and
practically radiates safety and love.
He surprises himself by angling his face so that their lips brush for a brief
moment. It’s cute how Ren’s body goes rigid for a second before he regains his
control and crowds Aoba up against the wall. Every line and curve on their
bodies align and the heat that’s trapped between them is almost unbearable.
Aoba moves his lips a bit and Ren catches up quickly. The kiss is strangely
familiar and feels so right, almost as if Aoba has been anticipating it all
along.
And there is no mistaking the sensation of something solid pressing into Aoba’s
thigh.
“Sorry,” Ren rasps. His mouth veers off to Aoba’s jaw and then to his neck. He
gives the pulse a light nip and kisses it to soothe it. “Like I said, the full
moon intensifies my emotions and I can’t help it when you’re this close to me
doing these kinds of things.”
Aoba has to suppress the urge to laugh at Ren’s innocent reaction for he knows
that Ren will be offended. “It’s natural. And I don’t mind it.”
Ren pulls back and looks at Aoba, eyes wide with disbelief. “You mean it?”
“Of course I do. I’ve never lied to you and I’m not about to start now.”
Aoba brings their foreheads together and whispers, “I’m grateful that I was the
one who found you five years ago. I love you, Ren.”
“I love you too.”
 
 
-
 
 
The next day, Aoba wakes to something warm lying half across his body. It’s Ren
and he is muddy and disheveled just like any other morning after a full moon’s
night. Chuckling, he rolls away from underneath Ren’s body so he can go fetch a
towel.
Except, he can’t do that when his arms are pinned to the mattress above his
head and there are knees braced on either side of his thighs to restrict his
movement. Ren is wide awake and his nose is skimming along Aoba’s neck and
taking in deep slow breaths.
“Morning to you too,” Aoba greets.
“Good morning,” Ren grumbles. It’s early morning and with both of them being
healthy young men, there is a slight problem that needs tending to. Ren is
still thrumming with energy, at least that’s how Aoba sees him as his hips rock
into Aoba’s mindlessly. The slight friction sends a shock of pleasure running
up his spine and he gasps loudly before he remembers that the house exactly
isn’t that large.
“Ren!” Aoba whisper-shouts. “Granny will hear if we—” the rest of his protest
is swallowed up by Ren’s lips as he kisses him with a feverish enthusiasm.
Ren’s touches burn up Aoba’s skin and soon, he can’t care less about where he
is and the implications it brings about.
“I’ve been waiting for so long,” Ren confesses as he reaches into Aoba’s boxers
and takes his erection out. Ren must have fallen asleep in the nude because he
goes straight to grasping their cocks together and rutting into his fist.
Aoba hasn’t been with a lot of guys, or had lots of sexual encounters in
general to be honest. But this takes the cake because it’s Ren and how right it
feels. Their cocks slip and slide against one another with wet sounds and
embarrassingly enough, Aoba finds himself nearing the edge all too quickly.
“Ren,” he pants, “I’m gonna . . .”
Ren’s eyes snap open and he takes his hand away. “Not yet,” he demands.
Without further explanation, Ren scoots down and flips Aoba’s body over. Aoba
has a vague idea as to what Ren will do and his suspicions are confirms when
Ren’s lips ghost over his entrance.
“Wait, wait,” Aoba suddenly comes to his senses. He knee-walks over to his
bedside and rifles through a drawer until he finds his target. Blushing, he
hands the small bottle of lube and a packet of condom to Ren. “If we’re doing
that this is gonna, uhm, make things easier for tha-that.”
Ren nods and Aoba returns to his former position. Even with the anticipation,
he can’t help but startle when the tip of Ren’s tongue circles his opening. He
does just that, lapping and kissing on the sensitive area until Aoba’s relaxed
enough for Ren to poke his tongue inside.
It’s a foreign feeling, Aoba decides. Ren’s tongue wiggles around
experimentally and is soon joined by a lube-coated finger. Aoba has to muffle a
particularly loud moan when the tip of Ren’s finger grazes a spot inside of him
that fires up his nerves. Ren continues to seek out that spot and it doesn’t
take long for Aoba to be rocking his hips backward to feel more of it.
“Hurry,” Aoba whines when Ren pushes in a third finger. His tongue is snaking
in between his fingers, only heightening Aoba’s pleasure.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Ren replies truthfully.
“I know you won’t,” Aoba reassure him, glancing over his shoulder. “And I trust
you that you’ll stop if it ever comes to that.”
Slowly, Ren withdraws his fingers and Aoba rolls over so that they can face
each other. He leans down to kiss Aoba again, all tender caresses and pure love
as their lips meet.  Aoba pats the bed to find the condom when he does, he
tears the package open and rolls it onto Ren’s erection as quickly as he can
manage. He then lies back down and hooks his ankles behind Ren’s back and
brings their hips flush together.
“I’m not gonna want to wait forever, you know,” he jokes.
“Sorry,” Ren murmurs. He kisses the tip of Aoba’s nose before he lines up his
cock and pushes in slowly.
It hurts as it’s been a long while for Aoba. He grits his teeth and when Ren is
seated all the way inside, he buries his face into Ren’s shoulder. Ren’s body
is trembling but he doesn’t move, not until Aoba raises his head back up and
nods for Ren to start moving.
Ren is so attentive and careful, is the thing. Every one of his movements is
slow, gentle and unhurried. It’s great for the first few minutes, of course.
But as his pleasure nears its peak, Aoba wants—no, needs more. He tries to hint
at it by pushing his hips back at a faster tempo than Ren’s but that doesn’t
help much. He groans in frustration and squeaks out, “Ren, can you . . . fuck
me harder?”
That brings out the desired effect as Ren’s hips stutter as he asks, “Are you
sure? You’re not hurting at all?”
Aoba smiles and cups the side of Ren’s face with his hand. “I’m fine, better
than fine, really.”
Ren twists his head around to kiss Aoba’s palm before he pulls out all the way
and slams back inside. Aoba yelps at the unexpected force and all he can do as
Ren pounds into him in earnest is tighten his arms around Ren’s shoulders and
muffle his enraptured cries into it.
His hips are numb and he goes to curl his fingers around it when Ren slaps his
hand away with a growl. Aoba glares at him reproachfully when Ren thrusts right
into that sweet spot.
“Ren,” Aoba whimpers. “I’m so close, I need to—nnghh.” It’s nearly impossible
to speak in full sentences when all his sense are overwhelmed with everything
that is Ren. Ren’s warm fingers stroke his erection and he can’t hold off for
long. He comes harder than he ever has in his life with Ren’s name on his lips
and Ren follows not too long after.
The afterglow is blissful. After Ren pulls out, he discards the condom and they
sprint into the bathroom. In the bath, they take turns washing each other and
no one is to blame when they go for a quick round two as they rinse off the
suds and let the tub drain.
By the time they are back in Aoba’s bed, they are happily exhausted and, well,
sexed out.
 
 
-
 
 
“I can’t say that surprised,” Granny snorts.
“Eh? Really Granny?” Aoba blurts out. Ren’s fingers tighten around Aoba’s.
“Ren’s always been moping when you’re away at college and it’s not uncommon for
orphaned kids to develop strong attachments to their caretakers,” Granny
shrugs. To Ren, she adds, “I’m glad that you’ve found happiness in a place that
could have caused you so much heartbreak and hardship. Now, is there anything
else you wanted to tell me?”
Aoba shakes his head. “Nope.” He looks to Ren and finds him smiling. “We’re all
good here.”
Ren smiles back. “Yes. We are.”
End Notes
     I know that I took a lot of artistic liberty with biology and
     physiology regarding Ren's body. My reasoning was that since he was
     the only one left in his werewolf pack, the magic or whatever of the
     wolf inside of him promoted his growth to be a fitting leader and
     hence the super-accelerated growth spurt that he went through as the
     story progressed. Yes, he is like 8-9 in human years but physically
     and mentally, he is a young man in late teens (17-19). This is why I
     tagged it underage . . . . Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this fic!
     Smutty NoiAo coming soon-ish~
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