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Animal Attacks | MFM

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Genre: Werewolf AU!, strangers to friends to lovers, action, fantasy, kinda slowburn, instructor&student, angst, fluff

Warning: animal attacks (wolves), self defense, mention of blood, sweat, dirt and injuries, violence (in self defense)

Word count: 12.500

Pairing: Werewolf!Murata Fuma (&Team) x gn reader

Synopsis: With the increasing rate of unexplained animal attacks in your town, you grew more restless as a single woman, living alone in a sketchy part of town. So after coming across a (hopefully serious) advertisement for self defence basic courses, you spontaneously decided to join. Little did you know, Fuma, your too-hot-to-be-allowed instructor not only made your heart stupidly flutter with his gentle smile, but seemed to be dragging you right into the danger you’ve been wanting to avoid all together.

AKA. How you fall in love headfirst with your hot, polite self defense instructor Fuma, who bears more secrets than you thought.

Note: Hiiii I hope you’re all doing amazing and enjoying the hot weather! I come here finally with another werewolf fanfic, this time of Fuma (it plays in the same universe as Taki’s story). I just love seeing Fuma in sport related fields, seeing his dedication and passion shine through, so I thought of instructor!Fuma hehe :) I don’t know a lot about Self Defense lessons or wolf attacks but I tried to write it as realistically as possible… I hope you enjoy the long story! Make sure to leave feedback and interact somehow with me <3 I LOVE hearing back from you!

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“-of two more victims have been discovered. With ongoing police investigations, it is still unclear under what motivation these attacks seem to happen. Local authorities stay in close contact with wildlife research centres and park rangers to ensure utmost safety for civilians living in endangered zones. By restrictive-“

The static of the cheap radio speakers suddenly interrupted the continuous flow of the monotonous voice, echoing through the shallow walls of your tiny flat. The same four walls with old fashioned, floral wallpaper slowly peeling off its edges.

With an annoyed groan, your hand immediately found the plastic surface of the device, slamming your palm frustratedly against it. “Not again…” you mumbled to yourself and let out an audible sound of surprise when the radio indeed decided to play fair for once and let you listen to the rather important news report of your local radio channel. At this point, you were used to the inconsistency.

“-advised to not leave residential areas after 8pm. If any further sightings of wild animals such as wolves, bears or coyotes are made, please immediately contact local police authorities.”

You furrowed your brows, still finding it hard to believe the recent accumulating cases of animal attacks on humans the last months. This town had never been so much disturbed by bees, more the less wolves or bears in the last two years of living here. Sure, there had been the occasional fox family trotting through a nearby hiking path at dawn, but never had there been any issues known to you about rabies infected animals, ready to attack human beings.

Honestly, it scared you more than you were willing to admit. Living alone as a single woman in her mid twenties wasn’t an ideal situation in any way under these circumstances. But living alone in one of the more affordable outskirts of town in a flat with a perfect view on the bordering darkness of the woods was… rather freaking you increasingly out.

It was painfully obvious by the half-broken radio to the peeling wallpaper and wobbly lock that you were in no position to afford any extra protection. A pepper spray immediately came to your mind but seeing the horrendously inflated prices in the store just yesterday had you turn around in less than five seconds.

You were going to be fine, right? Even without a dumb life saving pepper spray for 60 dollars. Yes, you told yourself on the way home, you were going to be just fine.

With a swift click of the button, silence replaced the familiar static, leaving you lean back onto the backrest of your flimsy couch-bed with a long sigh.

You had a ton of other problems to fix at work, a dozen of other things to check off your long to do list for the fresh day. And you were already dreading it. With all this extra stress, you were sure a breakdown might arrive soon. You were used to this dynamic by now. Work, work, work, tears, lots of tears. And again. Your tendencies of overworking had never done you any favour. Physically or emotionally. Yet, you were doomed for another day of pure chaos.

With just about the last bit of energy left in your system after yet another sleepless night, you pushed yourself up, grabbed your work bag and quickly left the suffocating flat. You’d rather not stay inside for too long.

The walk to work was nice and the fresh morning air was hitting your face like a refreshing slap. You noticed the lack of cars whizzing by at this early hour. A cat silently licked her fur in the corner of a house. She didn’t seem fazed at all by your sudden appearance. The coat around your frame flowed in the wind, the light, green material just right for the slowly warming weather of April.

Yes, you definitely were more fond of the outsides than the insides. Here, under the cool spring morning, the light blue sky, you felt free and unburdened. You felt like the world belonged to you.

When you passed by the local bulletin board of your community centre, as usual, you took your sweet time scanning the note littered surface. Just the usual, it appeared. A new missing poster of a grey cat with black ears, a recently graduate offering tutoring lessons in Math and Chemistry and a guy named Maki selling his used laptop.

And then there, right over the tutoring lessons and besides the cat poster, was a bright yellow paper with a wolf drawing, delicate and skilled, definitely drawn by hand. The words ‘Self Defense Courses’ and ‘Free’ immediately jumped to your eye, having you intriguedly interrogating the flyer with more care.

“For free?” You muttered to yourself, hiking the brown leather bag further up your shoulder as it appeared to slip down. You let out a curious hum, imprinting the details to your mind and snapping a photo of it anyways just moments later.

It wasn’t unusual for the community centre to host free of charge courses from time to time. Either to gain a more interested clientele or to make a statement in times like these; dangerous times.

Every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. 5pm. In the back room of the community centre. Starting today. No registration needed. You nodded to yourself again, finding the offer more and more appealing by the second. It wouldn’t be bad at all to learn some basic defensive skills, protecting you from any possible harm there might be lurking in these sketchy back alleys. As a woman, you couldn’t be prepared enough. Fighting evil spirits and rowdy men and now apparently also wild animals.

With one last glance, you began moving your feet again, off to your awaiting workplace. But not without a firm plan festering inside your head to join said course. You prayed to all gods this wasn’t some kind of religious cult you were about to join but more so an opportunity to learn.

—

Afternoon couldn’t come quick enough when you finally stepped outside the grey office building with just enough time to go change into sport clothings at your flat and rushing towards the community centre. It was a miracle how you managed to leave in time all together. Sven, the local Swedish employee (and probably only Swedish person in this town), had given you a tower of papers as tall as your fridge in the morning for you to look through, cross reference, sign, whatever else needed to be done. And for the first time in ages, you actually had plans to be somewhere, as unusual as it was. You couldn’t help but skip lunch break in order to finish these papers.

But you did it. You did it phenomenally if you may say so yourself. Sven’s eyes were as big as saucers when he saw you clock off just 10 minutes after your apparent working end time, unlike your usual hours.

And somehow, you did it. You changed, you pulled your flailing hair into a quick ponytail, snatched your keys, a water bottle and a towel, put them into your bag and basically bolted outside. In no more than 10 minutes had you reached the centres back room with two minutes left on the clock.

You were drenched in sweat already, even though the lessons hadn’t started yet. But you did it.

A strong nostalgic scent of gym mats, leather and something like centuries old dried sweat welcomed you the moment you pushed the door open. The sight of an old gymnasium, a large hall with wooden racks on the sides and metal bars hanging above had you stunned for a second. Never would you have guessed something like this, hidden behind the inconspicuous back door. One you were passing everyday. The interior seemed like it was taken straight from your elementary school days, nothing really having changed.

In the middle of the hall, a circle of people had formed, seeing the back of two heads peak out from the center. You guessed these must be the instructors. With swift hurried steps, you joined the group with trained lightness on your feet, not to attract any unnecessary attention to you.

Still breathing heavier than you’d liked, you stripped off your coat, putting it on the sidelines of the room alongside your bag and other people’s belongings. You carefully folded your coat on top of it and returned to the group.

Looking around, the amount of women was undeniable. Some were older with greying hair and even wrinkles adorning their eyes, others seemed as young as middle or elementary school children, braids and pigtails with pink scrunchies in them. You smiled at the diverse community surrounding you, finding a surprising contentment in female representation. You spotted a few men here and there as well. Some seemed to accompany their spouses or were tightly pressed against their best friend, chatting quietly.

It was fine. You felt fine. It was the first time you were doing something like this intuitively, but you felt surprisingly fine. Like a newly found peace inside of you mixed with a sprinkle of excitement and nervousness. Positively mainly. You were still surprised at your unusually bold initiative, but somehow doing this felt right.

“Good afternoon everyone! Welcome to our Self Defense Course. We are very happy to see so many faces here today. We didn’t expect so many of you.” The slightly taller man suddenly managed to gather the attention of everyone in the room with such ease, his voice confident and charismatic. Seeing him smile comfortably, as if the spotlight was his home, was admirable to witness.

“So,” he clapped his hands with such a rarely seen energy, practically radiating spirit. His longish brown hair was framing his small face just in the right way, making him appear rather youthful. His big boba eyes scanned the crowd with much interest, catching the eyes of each of us for at least a moment. “Before we start, we should probably introduce ourselves, right?” He grinned brightly, finding yourself and others nod along his words. You could already see the way he influenced the people around him by just his mere presence.

“My name is Koga Yudai, but you can call me K. I was born and raised in this lovely town of ours and am currently doing some freelancing jobs of all kinds.” He explained with square shoulders, confident and comfortable in his position.

“And I’m Murata Fuma. I also grew up here and work as a personal coach. It’s nice to meet you.” The second man now spoke, voice lower and words briefer than the male before. You felt your mouth go dry when your eyes finally zoned in on the dark haired, muscular man. You hadn’t payed him much attention before, but now that you did, you couldn’t seem to tear your eyes off his figure.

Oh damn, he so was your type.

He bend down for a polite bow, finding yourself instinctively reciprocating the gesture. When he looked up again and your eyes met for the very first time, you felt your breath hitch in surprise, quickly averting yours with thrumming heartbeat.

You would blatantly lie to yourself if you claim he wasn’t handsome, it was painfully obvious how the elder women were openly smearing honey around their mouths and how the girls were quietly giggling to themselves after making eye contact with K. No, the effect they had on women, an even the present men, was undeniable.

After quick introductions were over, the two of them paired each of the participants into groups of two, leaving you working together with a woman in her fourties. She seemed more than friendly with her snuggle teeth and bright, motherly smile. You exchanged quick hellos.

“Before we start with the basics, it is necessary to know the five A’s of Self Defense. These built the key framework to every critical situation you may find yourself in.” Fuma was standing firmly in the middle of the gymnasium as solid as a rock. Authority was oozing out of every pore, making him seem like the most gorgeous man alive. Skin fair, thick dark hair and built chest. You felt your body prickle.

Over half a dozen pairs were scattered all around him, standing opposite of each other. His eyes wandered around with care. “Awareness, Alertness, Avoidance, Anticipation,” his eyes stopped at yours. “And Action.”

You almost stumbled back a step but caught yourself just in time. You were beginning to grow embarrassed of the apparent, undeniable effect this man had on you. He was just looking at you for Christ’s sake. You had men looking your way countless of times before. At the hair salon, on the streets, at the convenience store. It was no big deal at all. Just eyes. Very pretty dark eyes.

“Meaning, before you jump into action, which you will learn here, it is always necessary to first, be aware of your surroundings. Awareness and Attentiveness are key elements to Self Defense. Noticing where you are, with whom, what you are carrying with you and so on.” He continued with such professionalism, it momentarily stunned you, blinking repeatedly.

“Alertness comes next when you get the feeling something isn’t right. Your body usually notices these small cues pretty quickly. In this moment, it is necessary to stay calm and collected. Don’t panic.” K took over, strolling past a few pairs opposite of you.

“Avoidance of any sort of dangerous situation is first and foremost the first reaction you should have. It is the safest and the most instinctive response.” The tall man seamlessly continued, now glancing at his colleague again with a curt nod.

Fuma continued, “If flight does not seem possible or failed, Anticipation is your next call. Staying mentally stable and grounded in such moment of high adrenaline is probably one of the most challenging parts you must tackle.” He licked his lips briefly, shifting his weight onto his left foot.

“But it is absolutely essential for the next step, that is Action. And with these Basic defensive actions will we begin today’s lessons.” He nodded to himself, feeling his eyes graze over you for a swift moment.

“After learning some of the most effective and energy efficient ways to escape, you will repeat them over and over until they become almost second nature.” He said with much presicion. “And by doing this, self-confidence and a calm and collected mindset will aid you even more whenever encountering danger.” The buff male concluded with a content smile, having your mind reeling at the unexpectedly charming sight.

Hearing them speak so confidently, so sure and convinced, you were feeling a surge of motivation course through you. The feeling made you feel giddy with anticipation and for the first time in a long while, you felt as if you were grasping some sort of control over your own life back. It was a scratch of power perhaps, but it was something you were holding onto, not wanting the sensation to fade away back into the darkness under your couch. You felt like this course might actually be the best thing you had done in ages.

The first exercises were easy to follow along. K and Fuma demonstrated the moves in slow motion and in actual speed, having you stunned to say the least. The way they moved seemed as if they had done so many many times before, now almost seemingly as easy as breathing. It was incredible to watch.

But above all, you hated how hyper focused you were on the way Fuma’s shirt stretched tightly across his broad chest with every skilled movement he practiced. It was no wonder that he was built like this when he was a personal trainer as profession.

You were awkward and didn’t know where to put your hands in a polite manner when it was finally your turn to imitate the men’s movements. Yuuko, your partner, assured you with a warm grasp on your hands that it was okay to touch her. It was still painfully obvious how new you were to all this. But you gathered all your confidence and went for it anyways.

A twist of your arm and body, pinning it to the back of the other person was what you trained repeatedly for the first part. After a few tries, you felt more comfortable and sure in your abilities. Yuuko cheered loudly when she finally managed to pin your arm down in the right way. You congratulated her with a bright grin yourself.

The taller instructor had stopped in front of you, being overly warmly pulled into a warm embrace by the cheery women. Just a second you were confused at the sudden situation, but as you listened to their friendly conversation you figured they knew each other on a more personal level. It almost looked funny how the male bend down to match the woman’s height. She was even smaller than you.

“K son, it is so lovely to see you again. You should come to eat over again. How is everything going?” Yuuko seemed so excited, patting your instructor’s head. “Everything is good. I definitely will come by. Your Yakisoba is the best.” He replied with ease, a big pearly smile on his face. From up close, he looked even younger and quite handsome.

“Yuma mentioned you wanting to join this course. It’s so nice to see you here.” He gave you a quick look of acknowledgment, a small smile paired with it. You watched their interaction politely from the sidelines, not wanting to intrude. “Oh yes, it’s really wonderful that you’re doing this. Especially with all the animal attacks recently. So many people feel unsafe going out right now.” She explained with a frown on her forehead, sending you a look. You nodded curtly, agreeing with her.

“Yes, we heard. Giving these courses is the least we can do to give people a sense of safety.” K now seemed much more serious than moments before.

“So, let me have a look at your arm twist.” He grinned with a challenging glint in his eyes, crossing his arms expectantly. You and Yuuko got into position, you attacking first. She twisted her arm with ease now, smiling triumphantly.

When it was your turn, you felt your sweaty palms grabbing your partner’s arm, twisting it to the side. But something went wrong and somehow you ended up a tangled mess, your arm bent in a weird angle. You laughed awkwardly when K tried to talk you through the exercise.

“It’s a bit tricky.” He had explained soothingly. You watched him highly concentrated when he proceeded by demonstrating the technique once again on himself. You tried to imitate his fluid movements, but failed again.

“You can do it! You did it earlier.” Yuuko silently cheered for you as you kept misdirecting her arm.

“Can I?” The male stepped up with a questioning look in his eyes, waiting patiently for your approval. You nodded curtly, expecting him to show you the correct way.

He, however, stopped in his tracks just as he was about to lay his hand on your elbow. A second tall shadow fell over you, making you glance up surprised at the other instructor who had joined you. His hand laid flat on the taller male’s shoulder. Your heart unwillingly took a stumble, speeding up right afterwards.

K’s eyes quickly drifted from you towards his friend and back again. If you weren’t so overwhelmed by Fuma’s close presence as he loomed next to you, you would have guessed Yudai looked almost shocked.

A smile sneaked onto his lips and he retreated his hand, pushing the other man slightly forward with a strong palm between his shoulder blades. K grinned at you with an unexpected amount of excitement. You were momentarily taken aback by the sudden change in mood.

“Fuma here is much better at explaining these things.” He turned towards the kind woman, gesturing for her to follow him. “I will show you the next exercise in the meantime.”

As they wandered off to another part in the vast hall, you stood unsure. Your palms were still sweaty, if not even more, and you simply didn’t know where to look when a man like him stood in his full glory right in front of you. It’s embarrassing how fast your heart was beating when your eyes finally locked. You discretely pinched yourself to calm down your raging hormones. Get it together, he was just a man!

“Hi” his voice sounded like velvet, incredibly difficult to restrain from touching. There was a sweet smile on his lips now, he almost looked shy. You cleared your throat to not embarrass yourself any further and reciprocated the greeting in a similar manner.

“Do you want me to show you the twist again?” He asked carefully, still leaving you enough of your personal space. At this point, all you managed to do was nod. Your throat felt way too dry all of a sudden. He was breathtaking from up close.

He hesitated for a second, eyes dark and big as if they could communicate without any words. “Are you comfortable with me touching you for that purpose?” His tone and words were so very gentle that the sudden profound pang of affection nearly took your breath away. It was the way he asked, the way he looked at you.

“Yeah” you took it back: he did take your breath away. “I’m okay” he nodded at your response, following with his instruction. It was strange how shy you behaved around him all of a sudden. You had been a rather shy child but you thought you had it under control by now. Perhaps it was the lack of recent relationships or handsome men in your vicinity. Or it was just him.

He was indeed just… wow.

“Try choking me from behind and I will show you first again how I do it.” He said this so casually, it was you who almost choked. Heat rushed to your cheeks in masses. Just then it dawned to him how ambiguous his words must’ve sounded. He looked to the floor momentarily, hastily rubbing his reddening neck.

“I mean-“ you interrupted him with a breathless giggle and a nod, feeling a bit more at ease knowing he seemed to be just as flustered as you were.

Carefully you stepped closer to the tall man and awkwardly laid your hands around the base of his neck. Your skin tingled warmly when yours made contact with his. It felt hot against your sweaty, cool palms. His shoulders dropped slightly, indicating a certain previous tenseness.

And then he spun around, much gentler and slower than he had earlier demonstrated with his co-instructor. His grasp on your arms was as light as if he was handling an actual delicate feather. The movements itself however, we’re done with purpose and confidence. There was no uncertainty. No hesitance. The action was second nature to him.

He stopped when your arm was twisted to your back before letting go again. You felt the heat radiating from his body close behind you. You let out a small puff of air.

“Did you get that? Just twist it to the outside and then dive underneath your arm. It shouldn’t feel forced. Just follow your natural body direction.” He stepped around you when you turned your head to him, cheeks still flushed. You nodded along his words. You were only halfway registering what he was telling you.

“Just twist and dive… okay.” You tried to recap again to at least seem like you were actually listening. The corner of his lips rose just the slightest but you caught in nonetheless. He nodded curtly again and with another questioning look and asking for your consent, he stepped closer again and now reversed your previous positions with your consent.

His hands felt big and warm and the touch made your heart flutter uncontrollably, you had to clench your stomache not to squeal. Honestly, this was barely a choke as he was handling you so very softly. You would imagine a real threat perhaps looking much more dangerous.

You swallowed down the dryness in your throat, taking a deep steadying breath before imitating the handsome instructor’s movements. You failed the first time, ending up facing him in an awkward position with a frustrated pout on your lips. He encouraged you to try it again, gently taking hold of your elbow, guiding it in the right direction. “Like this…” he had mumbled under his breath next to your ear. You swore, the closer he came, the crazier he drove you… in a good sense of course.

When you tried again this time, you actually managed to get the twist right as you did in the practice before. You pinned his arm behind his back with more energy from your enthusiasm of the success than you imagined. You couldn’t stop the excited squeal from escaping your mouth. Fuma turned to look at you with a bright smile then. The amused giggle coming from him was so unexpected and sudden that you almost stumbled in your step. You were so enarmoured with the way his whole face lit up, so contrary to his tough, fit exterior. It made him look incredibly soft and endearing. It was this moment that you felt the strangest emotion of all, as if you had known his smile, his laugh, his voice for decades already. As if you’d known him for more than merely half an hour.

Only when it was too late, you noticed you were still staring blatantly at him. Quickly you removed your hands, fiddling with them in your font. You felt silly.

“Just like that.” Fuma had praised you to the moon and back. You felt even sillier knowing it was simply for something everyone probably had managed to do ten minutes prior to you. Still, his bright smile let you absolutely no room for any form of self doubt. In the end, you even felt a bit proud.

The next exercises weren’t much easier but with Yuuko’s patience and the instructors’ help, you were able to duck attacks efficiently and block harsh strikes from your possible opponent.

You were acutely aware of Fuma’s watchful eyes on you, looking at you from afar, when he thought you weren’t looking, when your eyes accidentally met after a successful sequence. And when you were struggling again and again, it was him who was the first one to stop by and give you gentle and well-guided advices.

Fuma was a great instructor, that was what you’d come up with at the end of today’s lesson. He was attentive and gentle and skilled. He never made you feel stupid or pressured. He had this secure aura around him, this stable yet warm personality. He and K were simply phenomenal at what they were doing and it felt illegal not paying them for such high qualitative service.

When you packed your things and slipped your light coat over your sweaty clothes, you bid your partner Yuuko a warm goodbye. Her high spirits still managed to make you smile.

You were about to head out, door handle already clutched in your hand, when you heard someone hurriedly calling your name. You turned around with a swoosh of your coat, almost feeling like the main lead in a romantic drama when you saw Fuma lightly jog up to you. God he looked good.

“You forgot your bottle.” He held up your bumpy metal bottle, a big Totoro sticker adorning half of the surface. The sticker was already faded by too much sunlight and peeled off on the edges. But it was definitely your bottle. You hastily looked inside your bag and soon noticed it missing indeed. Wide eyed, you took the flask from his hands, thanking him profoundly.

“Do you-“ he started, hands reaching towards his neck, diverting his eyes for a second. “I mean…. Did you enjoy today’s lesson?” He voiced out more hesitantly than you would have expected. Your head nodded rather dramatically. “It was amazing, really. You’re a great instructor.” Your voice grew quieter towards the end. “Thank you.” You added with a grateful smile, biting the inside of your cheek and clutching your bag handles tightly.

His chest rose with relief, smile blooming across his lips. “I’m glad.” Was all he muttered, yet it felt like a joys and more words of a language you couldn’t quite decipher yet.

He lingered a moment longer, searching for more words in his mouth. Your feet firmly planted on the ground. “Will you join next time?” He asked you with a masked expression, though you could see the hopeful sparkle in his eyes. It left you in awe, how could you not join again when he was looking at you like that?

You nodded. He nodded. You smiled. He smiled.

He took half a step backwards, head turning, when he heard K calling him over to help him store the gym mats. He glanced back at you with another acknowledging nod. “It’s getting dark, you should stay on the main street on your way home.” He adviced you with a certain strength laced among the gentle words. You nodded again and bid your final goodbye before turning around and rushing out the door.

Outside again, the cool evening air hit your warm cheeks almost like a slap into the face, like waking up from a dream. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

You didn’t move for a few moments, his sweet voice still echoing in your mind, his scent still tickling your nose.

With another sigh you pushed yourself off your heels and made your way back home, towards the tiny flat on the outskirts of town. Fuma was right as the sun begun setting lower and lower as your feet kept going. Cars were now buzzing by with more energy than in the morning and cats were out strolling in the last rays of sunshine, trying to catch a glimpse of a mouse on the sidewalk.

By the time darkness had started rolling over, night replacing the day, you had finally reached your front door, rattling your keys noisily against the rusty lock. It was dark inside but you felt relieved to have arrived inside your four walls once again.

Your work bag was still sprawn across the couch, where you had left it in a hurry. The small fridge was humming and the moonlight streamed inside through the gaps of the shutters.

Still encased by the darkness, you plopped down onto the spot next to your bag, sinking deep into the used cushions with an exhausted sigh.

Today had been a lot.

You felt like you had run a marathon, physically as well as emotionally. Your arms strained when lifting them and your mind was still hung up on the handsome instructor’s smile.

“He’s so cute…” you mumbled incomprehensible to yourself, knowing how silly it must look as there was no one to answer you. Only you, yourself and your good old sleep sofa.

Your head lolled to the side. You glanced out the peaceful window. The tops of closeby trees were slowly swaying with the wind. You heard a motorcycle whizz by, sounding like a quiet insect.

You ended that day with a warmish shower, the heated up residues from yesterday’s dinner and more thoughts about Fuma, Fuma and Fuma again.

—

When you saw Fuma again on Wednesday afternoon, stepping with high spirits into the slowly filling gymnasium, it felt like finally waking up from a dream again. As soon as your eyes met over the hall and his mouth curled up into a welcoming smile, all your senses were hyper aware of your surroundings. As if water was removed from your ears, as if you could finally see clearly again. Just seeing him made you feel more alive than you had been in the last two years.

Today you were learning the basics of a safe fall and rolling off over your shoulder. It was more of an individual task, however after a while of falling and getting up and rolling around and doing it again and again and again, you felt quite dizzy and decided to take a break on the bench at the sidelines.

You closed your eyes for a second. Your head was still spinning in circles and you felt your skin burning up underneath the tight peels of fabric. You felt the dizziness everywhere, in your upset stomache, your wobbly feet and your sweating temples.

You just needed to breathe for a second longer.

Somehow, you felt his presence before you even saw him. Maybe it was the waft of his subtle cologne or the shadow he brought along. “Are you feeling alright?”

You cracked your eye open, just a bit, to see Fuma crouch in front of you with a worried look etched onto his handsome features. His hand laid on the bench just besides your knee. You quickly closed your eyes again when you felt the aggressive overhead lights assault your eyes.

“It’s okay… I just got a bit dizzy.” You managed to wheeze out with one hand against your head. You felt it pulsating rhythmically.

“Do you have water to drink? I can get it for you.” His voice was so sweet, it almost felt surreal thinking he was talking to you like that. You barely shook your head, reminding yourself of your first mishap of many today. “I forgot to bring one.”

Before you even finished speaking, the man already stood up with determined steps and swiftly returned with a light blue bottle in his hand. You saw the many Pokémon stickers all around the bottle, reminiscing you strangely of your own one. Your heart twinged in adoration when he handed it to you with the instruction to drink plenty.

“Oh I couldn’t, it’s yo-“ he nodded encouragingly, gently nudging the flask more towards you.

“Thank you, Fuma.” You had said before drowning down half the content with big, needy gulps. Fuma had taken his place next to you on the bench, watching you with a seldom seen fondness.

“Better?” He asked you after having finished drinking and now pressing the cool surface against your temple. Meeting his soft eyes, you managed to nod with a thankful smile and handed him back the bottle. He insisted you to keep it with an amused crinkle around his eyes.

The both of you didn’t say anything after that. The space between you felt like sparkles, waiting to be lit and your mouth was itching to say something, anything really. But still, you enjoyed the comfort he brought with him, the feeling as if you could let yourself fall from a cliff and he would be there to catch you. Everything about him screamed reliable.

You bridged the time by watching Yuuko and the other participants repeatedly fall onto the padded mats, some grunting, some squealing, some even shouting in encouragement.

You giggled when you saw the other instructor roll like a stone over and over again to teach a group of young girls to master the technique.

“You should probably go help your friend.” You suggested with a smirk while instinctively nudging his side with your elbow.

Fuma let out a breathy laugh after seeing the mob of girls practically hang onto every word K was saying. There were definitely more teenage girls flocking around today than there were last time. You had the strong suspicion that both of them were the talk of town right now.

He nodded amusedly. “Yes, perhaps I should.” He snickered silently, his gaze coming back to you. His bottle was still tightly clutched inside your palms. “Are you going to be alright?” His eyes shifted towards something more sincere again. You nodded reassuringly. “Yes, I’ll be alright thanks to you.” You were momentarily surprised by your boldness but blamed it onto courtesy. He really did save you from dehydration.

“Drink some more. I’ll come check on you again in a while.” He stood up, legs strong and hair pushed back. Your heart was already beating frantically when he glanced at you for a last time before joining K.

You let out a long breath, fanning yourself some air to cool down your blushing cheeks. Again, you blamed it on your stupidity to drink enough water that day.

At the end of today’s lesson, you felt much better and were proud to have given the exercises another shot after resting for a while longer. You were rather confident by then, falling and rolling over securely. It was truly an empowering sensation to master sequences with ease, that looked impossible at the beginning.

It almost felt like a deja-vu when now you approached Fuma with his refilled bottle as he was in the process of lacing up his shoes. “Thank you again. It was very kind.” You probably looked at him as if he personally hung the stars. “I refilled it with water from the restroom, I hope you don’t mind.”

Fuma giggled endearingly and accepted the bottle with shaking shoulders. Your cheeks begun aching from the constant smile around him. And when he casually blurted out that “you’re adorable”, you almost choked again on pure air.

Fuma had insisted that evening on accompanying you home as he didn’t want to “risk you fainting unsupervised from overexertion” even if you told him you were fine.

Fuma was a sweetheart, but you’d learn that Wednesday. He offered you his only bottle without hesitation, he held doors open as if it was pure instinct and he carried your bag on the whole way back to your Appartement. Fuma was a gentleman like no other.

Usually, you would have been extra careful with showing guys you only met, where you lived, but with Fuma, it just felt right. You felt like you could trust him with that information.

“So you work at the gym when you’re not doing the classes?” You had asked him with a subtle smirk when you rounded another corner. The sun was again beginning to set lower and lower. His eyes crinkled when he nodded as an answer, the golden hues of the vanishing light delicately painted his features, making him out to be some sort of god right in front of you. You tried to hide the slight hitch in your breath when your fingers accidentally brushed.

“Yes, it sort of happened after I frequented there since a teenager. The owner offered me a job as a personal trainer.” The evident pride in his voice made it almost impossible not to fawn about him more than you already did.

“I see…” you chuckled with warm cheeks, diverting your gaze to the ground, reminiscing your past now. “When I was younger, I also tried going to the gym with a friend but since I moved, I haven’t really gotten the time to.” You admitted, “Work is swallowing me up more than I’d like to.”

Fuma was silent for a moment. You could see from the corner of your vision, that he was looking at you. “If you’d like to start again, I can give you a little tour at our gym. It’s the one right next to the Frozen Yoghurt store in the city centre.” He offered you kindly, which made you spin your head back to him, wide eyed. He giggled seeing your reaction, bringing his fist up to cover his mouth.

“You would do that? I wouldn’t want to disturb your job though…” before you could even finish the sentence, he was already shaking his head strongly in denial, assuring you otherwise. He was the sweetest man you had met in a long, long time. Maybe the sweetest man ever. But then, you only really got to know him.

“The location is perfect actually. I work pretty close.” You mused with the softest smile towards the black haired boy. He cocked his head intrigued. “You do?” You nodded. “You should definitely stop by then.” He hesitated before continuing more careful now.

“We could have lunch if you like.” His proposal made your heart skip several beats, making your stomache feel strangely tingly laced with nerves and anticipation. “Lunch” you had trouble forming a coherent enough sentence when he was looking at you like that again, eyes big and shining with hope. When had someone ever looked at you like that really? Truthfully, you wouldn’t want anyone else looking at you like he did in that moment.

You nodded, finding it difficult to hide the incoming shy smile. “Yeah, sure, lunch. I would love that.” You rambled in need to give him the answer he waited for. His smile widened impossibly and my god, did he look like every girl’s daydream fantasy come true.

Not only did you had a lunch meeting with Fuma scheduled for Friday, but he also securely dropped you off in front of your Apartment, waiting patiently for you to head in after bidding you the softest goodnight. You were a bit embarrassed by the condition of the run down housing complex, ivy whithering upwards the dirty facade and a leaking pipe in the back.

But again, Fuma made you feel everything but embarrassed of the houses state. In fact, he complimented the cozy location near the forest. You didn’t want to admit it, but his presence alone made you feel much more secure on your way home.

You were reminded once again by a large poster on an electrician store to stay alarmed and collaborate with local police authorities in the case of any animal sightings. The bold red font didn’t manage exactly to ease your creeping anxiety.

And Fuma knew a lot about the recent animal attacks. He said, he likes to keep up with the news, making sure his loved ones are safe. He had told you about the most recent developments on the other side of town, where a couple was disturbed by a large wolf during a picnic. Luckily, nobody was hurt, yet apparently it made the citizens grow more restless by the second.

More people bought animal traps and emergency first-aid kits. And less people left the house after dawn or before dusk. Local clubs closed earlier than ever and bakeries or butchers were advised to avoid open doors and food residues in fear of attracting wild animals.

Just after the first cases of rabies were discovered after unpredictable bites, that was when the town really started to freak out. Advices were now beginning to become prohibitions and legally reinforced laws.

Seeing firsthandedly how fear can turn people so easily to reckless reactions and uncharacteristic behaviour was alarming and scary at the same time. No one knew what was going on exactly, what was wrong with the wildlife. And everyone was afraid.

But meeting Fuma and participating in the self defense courses unexpectedly brought a ray of light and optimism into your dull life. Over the next few weeks, you and Fuma met up for not one lunch, but several ones after that. Both of you would fall into the easy habit of walking back home after work since he’d reassured you his shared flat with K and two other friends was located just in the same direction.

You got to know how he preferred to drink his coffee, when his leg day was in gym and how he and K became friends in school. He told you fun stories of his upbringing in this town and you told him how you had moved away from your hometown at the age of 19.

You loved how Fuma made you smile impossibly bright after a long and exhausting day at work. And you loved how ever day, you got to know more pieces of him, his past, his future, his ambitions, his pet peeves. Just like a puzzle, your picture of Fuma was growing steadily day by day and just like that, you found yourself growing increasingly attached to the kind hearted man behind his buff build.

And with your growing fondness, your attraction to him was evolving just the same. You fairly quickly got to see glimpses of his innocent, childlike side, which just made you feel incredibly enarmoured with the multifaceted man. His undying love for Pokémon goods and cute silly games on his Switch were only the tip of the iceberg of his huge softie personality.

It was painfully obvious so, just how deep you were falling for Fuma. It was evident in the heart shaped eyes, the girly giggles and the sneaky touches shared in between exercises. K, who you also got to know better over the time, had teased you two a fair share and turned you into a blushing mess each and every time.

Once, Fuma had assisted you in a rather difficult exercise, which consisted of an intense sequence, ending in flipping the other person onto the floor, pinning their arms behind their body. You had gotten much more comfortable in touching him and so has he. He still was very much more gentle than necessary, but when your hand was brushing his arms and gripping his waist, the small space between you was now shared with amused giggles instead of nervous breaths.

K, the menace he was, had whistled teasingly in the bypassing when you were about to straddle his friend before pinning his arm backwards. You still wanted to get back at him for that as dozen of eye pairs were latched onto your flustered figure.

But still, he and Fuma really did complement each other well in their goofiness and their dedication. You admired their friendship more than often and were truly happy they had found each other.

You liked K. The first time Fuma had invited you over to movie night at his apartment, you had the opportunity to talk lots more with the tall male and soon together joked over the cheesy lines of the movie’s protagonist.

Their flat was decorated very comfortable and cleaner than you would have expected with four guys living together. There were fairy lights hung across the kitchen ceiling and framed hand painted drawings of flowers, mountains and wolves on the walls and counters.

Two big piles of books were situated besides one of the doors in the hallway, which belonged to Euijoo, one of their other flatmates, who you’d met one evening. Three things you had noticed about the shy guy in an instant, were: 1. He was just as sweet and soft spoken as Fuma, 2. He was currently studying in the last year of becoming an elementary school teacher and 3. Euijoo loved tangerines.

Meeting their their last remaining flatmate was a bit more difficult as he either rarely appeared to be home or slept until dawn. K jokingly called him a vampire once and that image had stuck since then. But more than a vampire, you thought Nicholas looked strikingly similar to a fierce looking cat when you first met him weeks later.

However, he was everything you hadn’t expected him to be: extremely fashionable, very considerate and a literal kid at heart. His laugh had lit up the room in an instant and you could already see with your inner eye the crowd of admirers queuing behind him.

You had heard from Fuma about his other younger friends, who still lived with their parents but were eagerly planning to soon move out together. He had met them through a boy called Taki, who was almost like a brother to K, who you had yet to meet.

You then got to know that Yuuko, your trainings partner, was indeed the mother of one of their friends, Yuma.

You also decided to frequent the gym Fuma was working at after work in your free time, more often than not ending up training together with the handsome. No matter if you’d try, Fuma wouldn’t leave your side when you were together. He would create full training programs in consideration with your work schedule and write them neatly down for you. He spotted you patiently with his strong big arms, saving you from being crushed underneath the heavy bar. He would refill your water when you weren’t looking and switch the music in the gym to your liking.

If he wasn’t trying to make your heart flutter with every gesture, you wouldn’t know any further.

And somehow, you two had managed to not yet address the very big and obvious pink elephant in the room, which you were certain, both of you already knew about.

You simply didn’t know where to start. You enjoyed being with him very much and you liked how things were, how you subtly flirted with each other, acting as if you didn’t know what he was doing, how your knees literally became wobbly when seeing him dressed in a tight tank and fit shorts. Just, getting closer to him like that felt very natural and even if you hadn’t talked about it yet, both of you knew to approach this thing between you slowly and steadily. You had learned it’s better to not rush in relationships, especially when it felt so right.

But at one point, something had to change. And someone had to initiate that change.

And that someone was the boy named Taki.

It had been a fairly usual training day despite the self defense exercises leveling up in complexity and speed. You were laughing along with Yuuko’s and your failed attempts at a quite advanced Judo technique of flipping the opponent backwards onto the floor while kicking their feet effectively away. More than often you found yourself breathlessly wheezing on the padded mats, hair sticking onto your forehead with sweat.

Fuma had pulled you up each time with a proud and encouraging smile, chests almost touching from the unexpected pull. “You will get the hang of it soon”, he had told you while affectionately stroking away loose hair strands from your face.

You were about to try the sequence once again under Fuma’s watchful eyes, as a sudden slam of a door and a frantic boy running through them interrupted you. His dark hair strands flailed wildly around his head like untamable fire tongues.

He had ran straight to K, urgently gesticulating with hushed voices. Fuma immediately excused himself from you and joined their seemingly important discussion. They appeared to know each other rather well by the intimate kind of conversation, heads almost bumping together.

The gym fell silent, participants glancing around alarmed and confused due to the distraught boy’s appearance. You glanced at Yuuko, who watched them interact with a worried look on her face. That’s when you finally saw K’s shocked expression and Fuma’s stoic one, eyebrows drawn together, mouth forming a hard line, swallowing harshly.

His eyes immediately found yours and you just knew something was not right. Something had happened.

The younger boy soon ran out the door again with the taller instructor in tow. Fuma had turned to the crowd, announcing the unfortunate end of today’s lesson due to an unexpected emergency.

Obviously, you wouldn’t stop at that and joined Fuma’s side, who was already beginning to store away the used mats with an admirable strength and speed. You helped him strap the panels to the wall with uncoordinated, clumsy movements. The man’s mind however, seemed to be still somewhere else. You could see it in his excessive power and his tense shoulders. He wasn’t looking at you.

“Is everything alright?” You asked him much more careful now, watching his every reaction. Fuma took a deep and long breath, exhaling through his nose before sending you a tight lipped smile inbetween hurriedly gathering his and K’s belongings.

You didn’t want to let loose yet. Something wasn’t right and you saw it. You knew it. “Don’t worry about it y/n”, he had tried to shake you off. You persisted, following him around like a helpless puppy. It hurt you more than you’d like to admit, that he wasn’t willing to tell you what was going on. You’d thought that you were on the same page, beginning to open up about the good and the bad.

One evening, you remember, far after the gym’s closing hours, surrounded by walls of mirrors while laying flatly on the floor, you had talked about your biggest fears, told him about jealous ex best friends and your deepest insecurities. Everything you had never talked so openly with anyone about.

So why was he pulling away now?

“What is it for an emergency? Is everyone okay?” You tried again but he just shook his head in dismissal, almost making you scoff.

“It’s- it’s complicated. It’s something with one of our friends.” You felt your heart drop when he finally admitted part of it. You stayed silent, watching him throw the last remaining objects into their bags before zipping them shut and slinging them over his shoulder.

He was about to run off when his eyes met your disappointed ones, making him falter in his step. Something in your gaze managed to tear the wound inside him even farther. And he felt like punching himself for leaving you back alone like this. But this was an emergency. His brother needed him.

“I’m sorry.” He has told you quietly, reminding you of the calm before the storm. A cold shudder ran down your spine. “I have to go.” You had still not moved an inch, your fingers were tightly interwoven, signifying your bare nerves and confusion.

His hand slowly moved towards yours, hesitantly brushing his fingertips delicately over your knuckles like a feather in the wind, barely there. As if he was trying to communicate something unspoken.

You nodded, only slightly. A sort of bittersweet understanding settled inside of you. He needed to help his friend and that was his first priority right now. You understood. He would tell you when he felt it suitable. You didn’t want to put any more pressure on him than he already had.

“Okay…” your voice was only a hush. “Be safe?” You eyed him pleadingly and he nodded more sure of himself now. He squeezed your hand a last time, repeated your words of advice, before scurrying hurriedly out of the emptying gymnasium. You stood there for a few moments longer, eyes still lingering on his long gone form.

Then, you began packing your things as well. You checked if the lights were all off after everyone left and the doors tightly shut. That was the least you could do for Fuma and K.

On your walk back home, you repeatedly thought about Fuma’s uncharacteristic expression, the way he deliberately left you in the dark for whatever reason. It was okay. It really was okay.

You tried to not feel the sting when thinking about the moment he had brushed you off. He had his reasons, you were sure. It wouldn’t be fair to hold that against him.

You absentmindedly wrapped the fuzzy scarf around your neck tighter, feeling the familiar autumn breeze decreasing the evening temperature. Ever since the leaves started turning golden and red and the sun began setting much earlier, you felt the peacefulness return to you. Maybe it was the subtle foresty scent in the air or it were the lack of people on the streets at a time like this, but you liked autumn the most.

Some people claimed to find it difficult to dress in an ever changing season like this. But for you, it was just perfect. It was cozy and you had just the right clothing to wear. Your handmade fingerless gloves, your loose scarf, the flowy coat you had gotten from your grandma.

You loved your early morning and night tea and the fuzzy blanket you had snatched at a sales action last year. But still, you imagined enjoying this new season much more with Fuma by your side.

You would bake pumpkin pie, watch nostalgic Halloween movies and take small afternoon strolls through the forest.

But then again, you quickly shook your head in delusion as you were once again reminded of the ongoing wolf attacks. The situation was still fickle and all access points to the forest were legally barricaded. One of them being straight across your apartment complex. It still felt eerie passing by.

Your whole body jolted when you suddenly heard a loud noice coming from the nearby alley, just feet away from you. Your feet froze in their tracks. It had sounded like garbage cans clanking onto the concrete ground.

You didn’t dare moving, didn’t dare to breathe.

Something in the back of your neck prickled uncomfortably.

Your stomache dropped when you saw the growing shadow. Slowly.

You felt your ragged breathing fasten.

Even slower, you took a step back. Quietly.

You looked around, there was nothing. No one.

You took another step back.

A low growl, almost too low to hear, rippled through the sneaking darkness. You hadn’t noticed it becoming this dark.

Your breath hitched audibly. You quickly pressed your palm tightly onto your mouth.

Damnit, damnit.

You felt your heart beat violently against your ribs.

The sweat accumulating between your fingers was becoming unbearable.

Your brain was unsuccessfully trying to think of one helpful exercise you had learned in the course to help you in a situation like this.

You thought about Fuma’s voice, explaining to you the five A’s. The way you had flipped Yuuko over for the fifteenth time.

As you retreated further and further with slow steps, your fingers frantically searched for your phone inside your bag. As quietly as possible, you pulled it out, sweaty grasp around the device.

With half an eye onto the screen, you clumsily typed a quick message of distress to Fuma. He hadn’t been online since this morning.

Damnit, damnit.

Then, quicker than you could anticipate, a large animal on four paws and thick brownish fur appeared through the curtain of darkness, stepping onto the pavement with an aura of pride and authority.

You almost let out a whimper when you saw how huge the animal looked.

You bit your tongue to stay quiet.

Why me? Why now?

This whole situation seemed surreal.

You wished Fuma was here.

And K.

Anyone really.

A hundred meters down the street you could see a warmly lit window inside a house.

It was too far to reach in time. There was a silver car parked much closer to your right.

You could jump behind it and hide.

Your mind was racing up and down, left and right. In circles and backwards.

You just couldn’t seem to think straight.

The wolf crouched down, head low. Then his eyes narrowed down on you.

You stopped dead.

Oh no.

Nonononono

You felt your fingers shake uncontrollably.

What should you do?

You still hadn’t done everything you wanted to do.

You wanted to finish reading this one book, you wanted to visit your parents again and you wanted to kiss Fuma, tell him to stop play pretend and tell him how damn infatuated you are with him.

But there was a wolf in front of you now. A real, gigantic wolf.

And he was stalking closer to you.

You panicked.

You literally panicked.

And then, as if fate personally hated you, you fell backwards after tripping over a crooked pavement stone.

The wolf growled, not showing any sign of stopping. His form became bigger and bigger. You whinced in absolute agony, frantically scrambling on the ground to find some stability in your legs, but none found.

“Please don’t…” your voice was only left in broken whimpers. As if the wolf could understand you. As if he’d listen to your pathetic pleading. You only heard the blood rushing in your ears.

Your hands found your cold rectangular device. The screen was cracked but your fingers still fumbled helplessly to perhaps call 911. Everything felt like a mush, a big pile of useless nothingness. Your heart felt like breaking through your chest with the force it was hammering against.

With broken gasps, your fingers somehow managed to switch on the flashlight on your phone and immediately directed it instinctively towards the wolf. The animal whimpered and shook its head to avoid the harsh beam.

He was closer than you thought, brown long fur shimmering under the artificial light. The wolves mouth was agape, drool shimmering on his elongated fangs. The sight in front of you was purely animalistic, deeply terrifying. You let out a silent scream. Your throat had closed itself, making it hard to even breathe. Your chest felt suffocating. Never in your life had you seen something like that, been in a situation like that.

With whatever coordination and strength you had left, you finally pushed yourself up on your elbows and then your feet, skin ripping painfully. Your legs did not feel like your own, they just moved. Your body had no sensation, fingers numb, feet numb, tongue numb.

You smashed your body against the car the moment you had reached the vehicle. All air left your lungs. One glance backwards was all you needed to see before your foot suddenly rammed into the leaping animals chest. Your mind was empty, instincts taking over.

The wolf whinced at the impact, rolling to the side, growling more aggressive than before.

You desperately pulled against the car door handles but they didn’t budge in the slightest. You eyes widened in horror when you heard a horrifying snarl rippling down your spine. A sob finally managed to escape your closed off throat, you gasped needily for air. Everything felt too tight, you felt like standing beside yourself.

When the wild animal jumped again onto you, you were already squeezing your eyes shut, legs giving in underneath you with a painful wail.

That was it.

You almost waited for the impact with shuddering breaths, back pressed against the cold metal of the car, hands raw and scraped bloody from the pavement.

But it never came.

Only an even louder snarl and more growling. A pain stricken whine.

You almost couldn’t open your eyes, the tears you didn’t know where and when they came from were clouding your vision. Your ears were ringing.

But you could still notice the person swinging at the animal with much force, sending it flying backwards. A crack.

A howl.

A growl.

A grunt.

And then silence.

The wolf had limped away after the final blow, leaving you shocked.

Yes, you think you stood under severe shock.

You could only hear the heavy, irregular breathing from yourself.

Then the person was in front of you. He was touching your cheeks. Saying something, maybe your name, maybe not.

You gasped for air, feeling a cold hand on the backside of your neck. Your eyes focused on a white pendant in front of you. It was swinging with each movement. You kept following the necklace. It was a circle with holes inside.

You counted it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, you took another shaky breath, 7, 8, 9. 9 holes.

It dawned on you, that you had seen this necklace before. The hand on your cheek was urgently caressing your flesh.

Your eyes finally focused on the face of the person. Black hair, gentle dark eyes, strong eyebrows.

Fuma.

And as if a dam broke, you finally shattered, tearing every wall along with you. Your body slumped forwards against the male, bawling so painfully, it felt like hot needles pressed into Fuma’s heart.

His arms tightly wrapped around your body, caging you securely against his chest with wide eyes. No one would come between you ever again, he would make sure of that.

His hands were bloody, probably broken and everything from his hair to his clothing was drenched in sticky sweat. He couldn’t care less.

He pressed your face gently but with strong guidance inside the crook of his neck, where he felt your body convulse uncontrollably and shake with each soul ripping cry. His large hand was securely placed on the back of your head.

And he just held you.

“F-Fuma-“ your voice cracked uncomfortably. Your fists tightly gripped the damp material of his tank. He hummed with such calming energy, it sent waves of vibration through your whole body in ways you had never experienced. It felt as if you could let go of anything and everything. As if you could let yourself fall and always land in a fort made of the softest pillows.

You sobbed at the relieving sensation, pressing your lips flat against Fuma’s exposed skin against the side of his throat.

“Y-you c-came…” your words sounded hoarse and strange but slowly, you felt your erratic heartbeat calm down. Your senses steadily came back and you could form first thoughts again.

“You came…” you repeated, trying to work through your thick mind. Fuma came. And he saved you from that beast.

You felt him nod. His hand was stroking over the back of your head. He hummed again and you groaned immediately. You didn’t know how he did it, but the steady low vibrations made your muscles relax like nothing else could. You practically felt the shock and the stress and the panic melt away layer by layer.

You lifted your head only slightly to look at your saviour. His worried eyes were the first thing you noticed. His dark, deep, chocolate brown eyes.

He looked at you almost breathlessly, his brows furrowed in a broken frown.

And then your lips were on his.

You don’t know or care who leaned in first.

All you cared about that moment right then was Fuma. How well his lips formed against your wet ones, how he tasted of sweat and tears. How he dug his hand into your hair and pressed you closer to him. Underneath your hands, you could feel his fast heartbeat, matching yours perfectly.

You sobbed into the kiss, chasing after his sweet lips as he changed the angle of his face. It was a desperate kiss, a heated and long awaited one that you both evidently yearned for.

Your hand naturally found its way over his chest and neck towards his jaw. You laid your forehead against his, chest heaving dramatically as if out of breath. You looked at him slightly disoriented through your lashes. He nuzzled his nose against yours, gently stroking over your cheekbone.

You sucked in a harsh breath when you felt the burning sensation in your leg spread and grow in intensity. You whimpered. Fuma’s piercing eyes scanned over your body, stopping at your leg.

There was a long tear in the fabric of your sweatpants. A large dark spot had formed around it, looking like you had been dragged through dirt.

Fuma’s hands were quicker than your mind and he carefully inspected the growing gash. You wailed in pain when he tried to move your leg into a better position but stopped once he heard in how much pain you were.

Quickly, without any hesitation, he tore a long strip from the bottom of his shirt and tied it securely around your wound. Your nails dug into his shoulder in distress while he whispered silent apologies. There was too much blood on him and on you which made your head spin terribly. The harsh smell of iron mingled in the air, almost making you gag in response.

Fuma heaved your slumped body up in his strong arms with ease, telling you to hold on tight. And then he carried you through the darkness. You couldn’t see a thing despite the few lampposts but Fuma seemed to know exactly where to take you.

Soon, the lights disappeared all together, leaving only the moonlight from above shining down on the two of you. The soft light illuminated Fuma’s features in the best way possible. The arch of his lip was pressed into a straight line, not in exhaustion but in frustration. His face was contoured in silent determination. He glanced down at you to reassure himself of your well-being.

You didn’t know how long you were walking through the forest but you weren’t worried. The journey went by as if in a daze, hazy around the edges, feeling of time completely gone.

His hands tightened around your legs when he saw your unresponsive behavior. “Don’t fall asleep y/n.” His voice was strong and louder than anticipated, it made you flinch. You nodded with a hum, feeling your eyelids growing heavier by the second.

“Y/n!” He sounded urgent and you nodded again. “-‘m not… not…” you murmured absently, hearing the birds sing songs of life and death. They were trying to pull you under, make you fall asleep.

“Stay awake!” Fuma’s loud voice startled you again. You blinked repeatedly. “We’re here.” He said. “Just stay awake please.” His tone grew softer, more vulnerable. You placed your hand against his chest, nodding again. You just had to close your eyes for a little bit. Just a moment.

You barely heard the other noices, knocking on wood, a door slamming open, bright light, frantic voices, a lot of voices. A painful cry. More voices and the smell of something burned.

You gagged, fingers grasping Fuma’s shirt. You felt something touch your back, or maybe you touched something with your back. Maybe you laid somewhere, maybe you were still floating. Fingers running over your tear stained cheeks, dried and red.

A mush of everything, the burn in your leg was growing unbearable, voices talked over each other. Your breathing was shallow and heavy at the same time. Your body felt cold and hot and sweaty.

You suddenly gasped for air as something cold hit your forehead, making you jump in shock. Your arm grabbed onto another arm you think. Perhaps it was a leg.

“Do something!” Was it Fuma you heard? “I’m trying, okay?”

“She’s in pain”

“Go get it from the pantry!”

“Can you stop pacing?”

“Shut up!”

“-just stitched up Maki”

“Bring her a towel!”

“-kill that beast for trying to-“

“Quick Taki!”

“-all over town”

“We have to give her-“

“-bad-“

“-too strong-“

“-only way-“

Your head was drowning in noices and bits and pieces of familiar and unfamiliar noices.

The pain was making you scream in agony. Never in you life had you felt something as bad as this.

And then you just slipped away.

Into the darkness.

And you didn’t even notice it.

It just came and you accepted the quietness and the nothingness.

—

The pounding in your head came before anything else. It started faintly but soon grew stronger and harsher. Your skull ached.

The orange sunlight made you squint your eyes back together as soon as you had opened them. You blinked repeatedly while your hand served as a shielding visor.

You felt the softness underneath you and over you. The smell of clean linen and pine. You were inside a bed. With some struggle, you managed to heave your body up in a sitting position with pulsating head. The sun was not shining in your eyes anymore.

You saw the room’s walls being dunked into reddish hues of light, making the wood appear more warm than anything. Dark blue bedsheets bunches up around your frail body. There was nothing else inside the room. Only a woven carpet made out of patchwork scraps on the bottom of the vast bed, which was located in the middle of the space. A bag was stored in the far right corner and the door was shut.

It was silent.

Nothing indicated where in the world you were. You watched the sun sink deeper behind the golden trees on the outside. They looked close.

All of a sudden, the intense rush of memories from yesterday night made your skin crawl and your eyes widen. The wolf, Fuma, the kiss, the gash, voices.

Fuma. The KISS.

The wolf?!

You repeatedly swallowed dry air, your throat hurt. A glance at your leg told you just as much. It was heavily bandaged from your angle up towards your knee. Suspicious dark spots of red occasionally shined through the white. It didn’t hurt however. You were glad it didn’t hurt.

A knock on the door made you turn around quickly, facing the now slowly opening door. When you saw Fumas dark head peek in with one of his familiar gentle smiles, you could have cried again on the spot. “Fuma!” Relief flooded you and you exhaled deeply, crawling closer to him on the bed.

He hurriedly rushed inside, before closing the door and joining you on the side of the mattress. It dipped down with his weight.

“How are you feeling?” He asked you with slightly furrowed eyebrows. He still looked worried. “I’m alright.” You nodded. “Where are we?” You continued, too curious. You had never seen such a place. You faintly remembered entering the forest draped in his arms.

“It’s my grandfather’s old hut. In the forest near town.” You craned your neck again to see the trees swaying in the wind outside. It had become even darker again, only small rays of reds shining through now.

“The forest?” He hummed, watching your every movement intently. Only then you noticed the glass of water inside his hand, thanking him before gladly gulping the cool liquid down. You sighted in relief.

You both sat there together in silence. With a tiny gesture, you motioned for him to join you underneath the warm blanket. He hesitated at first but snickered at your persistence when he finally caved in. His shoulder was pressed closely against yours, your heat was his heat.

He turned his head to look at you curiously. You looked back.

There were a million and one things to talk about, a dozen of questions immediately on the tip of your tongue. But you saying nothing, staying silent besides him, felt like the right thing to do. The comfort Fuma brought along, the feeling of being protected and cherished in silent confidence, that was the real truth that you needed right now. Not the action filled, emotional retelling of yesterday’s events, not the clumsy explanations of things your head couldn’t yet fully grasp.

Just him and the knowledge that he had saved you so selflessly, so bravely.

Without overthinking, your arms sneaked around Fuma’s torso. Your face was tightly pressed against his chest, cheek placed over his racing heart.

You felt him stiffen momentarily before his arms slowly and respectfully circled around you. He laid his cheek softly onto your head and you closed your eyes with a smile that never left your lips.

Never in a million years would you have guessed what fate had in store for you. And even despite the throbbing headache, the split leg and the lasting trauma of the attack, you felt okay in that moment with Fuma in your arms.

Even if nothing made sense, being with Fuma always made sense. So you suppressed those gnawing doubts and fears and simply accepted the fact silently that life was going to change, if you liked it or not. You maybe didn’t know yet just what mess you were dragged into, so instead of worrying yourself sick, you did the one thing, that made the most sense in that moment:

You kiss Fuma.

#&team ff

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#&team ff