Samurai Flamenco (Nightbreed) - Gifts & Curses [13] [Gotoyoshi]

[scriveyner]

Title: gifts & curses [13]
Fandom: Samurai Flamenco
AU: Nightbreed
Characters/Pairing: Gotou/Masayoshi, Keiko, Masanori
Rating: T
Length: 1513
Summary: He was a werewolf.



He was a werewolf.

Masayoshi sat on the bed, knees pulled to his chest, and stared at the wall opposite him without even seeing it. He knew this with utter truth, with certainty; even with his memory still patchy he knew, he remembered the brush of teeth across his shoulder, sharp and unforgiving, golden eyes and dark fur - but werewolves were bound to the moon, and - Masayoshi laid his cheek on his knees, stared at the mid-afternoon sun streaking through the dingy windows, and knew if he wanted to he could be on four legs right now, sunbeams caught in his fur.

It was strange and terrifying and he was completely, utterly, lost.

Masayoshi closed his eyes and thought about how calming the dark wolf’s presence was, how he smelled familiar and like home, and wanted to snarl at the way his memories turned him away from that, how they settled firmly around grey wolves and white fur and blood spilling across the pavement, wet and dark. He didn’t know what was happening.

What if you’re not, the dark-haired boy had said.

He was.

#

“I still don’t know your name,” Masayoshi said to the dark-haired boy as he brought food in. Burgers, again - cheap ones, from a chain store but they still smelled delicious. It wasn’t what Masayoshi wanted, the the barely-cooked beef served its purpose. He didn’t care that he was being watched as he inhaled the burgers, the boy leaning against the dresser again, arms crossed. “Or why you’re doing this.”

“It’s, ah,” he looked away, toward the window - Masayoshi had opened the blinds in the room, and the sun was well past its zenith now, reflecting in the glass of the next building over. Masayoshi licked his fingers, another burger down his gullet, and looked up at him, recognizing that he was stalling. “A long story.”

“You’re not a werewolf.” Masayoshi held the third burger in his hands, thought idly that he never used to eat this much, thought of Ishihara’s face scolding him for not watching his intake, and realized, name, he remembered a name.

“No.” Masayoshi glanced up at the thinly-veiled disgust, and he waved a hand in front of his face. “Never been a big fan,” he said, casting an eye over Masayoshi, wearing nothing but his underwear and empty burger wrappers open on the bed in front of him.

Masayoshi leaned forward on one hand, staring at him - and he looked toward Masayoshi, startled. “You’re,” he said, his mind struggling, Ishihara was there, somehow - connected not like she was with the witch, but…. He couldn’t quite grasp that thread. “You’re a vampire,” he said, eyes wide as pieces fell into place.

“Ah.” The boy tapped his nose with one finger. “That took longer than I expected.”

“There’s no such thing as vampires,” Masayoshi protested, eyes still wide.

“Speaks the werewolf,” there was derision in the others’ voice.

He was a werewolf. Masayoshi put down his burger, braced both his hands now. “That’s why I haven’t seen you eat,” he said, astounded. “You haven’t, you know….” Masayoshi put a hand on his neck, and the boy snorted and waved his hand in front of his face.

“Ugh, no. You’d probably poison me, you and your fucked up physiology.”

Masayoshi exhaled, felt deeply relieved and wasn’t certain why. “Why are you helping me, then, if you don’t like wolves?”

“Returning a favor,” the vampire said, straightening. “Eat your food before it gets cold, Hazama-san.”

“Masayoshi,” Masayoshi corrected softly, as the dark-haired vampire closed the door behind him.

#

Gotou sat bleary-eyed on the couch. They’d been over everything he could think of and more besides, and they were no closer to figuring out what was going on. Werewolf hunters, and Masayoshi going missing, and these white wolves … werewolves were almost never white, what were these, the white wolves?

He reached into his shirt and pulled out his chain. He’d slipped Masayoshi’s ring onto his chain for safe-keeping - the two identical silver bands glinted in the overhead light, and the ache sprung up in his throat again, Masayoshi waving and smiling as the doors on the train closed, Gotou waving carelessly back…

And now he was gone too.

Deep breaths, through his nose. This was different. This was worlds different, he was a different person, Masayoshi knew how to take care of himself (mostly), he shouldn’t be fighting against this clawing, incapacitating fear that had carved out a place in his lungs, but it was impossible not to. He should have never let Masayoshi go alone.

Koji had gone out to get something to eat. The cubs still hadn’t emerged from the room they’d fallen asleep in - once they did emerge they would be ravenous. Kennichi sat opposite Gotou, a fresh mug of tea in his hand and watching Gotou silently.

Do you know if his parents were-?

His parents died when he was two, he doesn’t know anything about them.

It’s in his blood, somehow. Maybe the witch….

All his fault. All of it, if Masayoshi hadn’t gotten involved with him, he’d be safe, if he’d been able to walk away….

“There’s something we haven’t told you,” Kennichi said quietly, breaking the silence, the heaviness that was surrounding Gotou’s thoughts. “About the cubs.”

Gotou’s head snapped up. “Did you find their parents?” Masayoshi would be heartbroken but happy, they needed to be back with their real family.

Kennichi took a deep breath, looking down at his tea. “We meant to tell you both earlier, but - there’s so much going on here, Gotou-kun, you must understand.”

“That doesn’t sound like a yes,” Gotou said.

“Truth is that they don’t have parents,” Kennichi said finally. “Not in the sense that you would think.”

Gotou stared at him, silent, waiting for him to continue.

“They were bred in a lab,” he said. “Along with probably fifteen or so other wolf cubs. They were the only ones we were able to rescue, the others-” Kennichi took a breath and looked away.

“Why,” Gotou said. “Why lie for so long?”

“There was confusion,” Kennichi said softly. “They remembered parents. False memories, we had to track down leads - and other things came up. I didn’t expect it to turn into this.”

“You mean to tell me,” Gotou said, voice deadly calm. “That all this could have been prevented, if you had told the truth years ago?”

“I wanted to be certain,” Kennichi said, meeting Gotou’s eye. “That we were doing the right thing.”

“God dammit,” Gotou hissed, standing up quickly enough that he disturbed the table between the furniture. He stalked - went toward the far wall, hands curled into fists. “God dammit!”

“Please,” Kennichi said, still seated, still staring at the spot that Gotou had vacated. “Keep looking after them. They need you and Hazama-san.”

“I’m not going to,” Gotou said raggedly, facing the far wall. “I’m not gonna abandon fucking kids, you colossal asshole.”

“I’m sorry,” Kennichi said. “For all of this.”

Gotou slammed his fist into the wall, felt his knuckles split against the concrete, and closed his eyes.

#

In the bedroom, Masanori sat naked at the cracked-open door, light falling across his face, eyes wide. He looked back at his sister, still curled underneath the bed, and crossed his arms over his chest.

Bred.

Masanori shivered, pressed his face to the door’s frame, and closed his eyes.

#

He dreamed of the dark wolf with the gold eyes, comfort and familiarity and something else besides - a caress in the night, warm broad hand and hot mouth and oh, oh…. Masayoshi woke up with a tear-stained pillow and a straining ache between his legs, but most of all he woke with a name on his lips.

“Gotou-san,” Masayoshi said softly into the darkness, and suddenly the world made sense again.