Chapter 2

Predictably, the first thing Kaito saw through the window as he approached his house was his grandma nestled in the loveseat, a forgotten mug of what was probably herbal tea in her hands, and a lost look in her eyes. It took only a second for her to spot him.

Her eyes were lit up in recognition but she still sat there probably believing she was seeing things. It wasn’t until Kaito sent her a small smile that she shot up from her seat, spilling tea everywhere. Kaito had gotten to the porch by the time she flung the door open. She stepped forward as if to hug him but was suddenly halted by the body in his arms.

No. Not body. He needed to stop thinking of the girl as a body. He could feel her heart beating faintly against his body. She was definitely alive and not a body.

“Hi, grandma.” He greeted feebly.

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it. Then she stepped aside to let him enter the house.

Kaito had always thought his living room to be big. It wasn’t gigantic by any means just spacious enough for him and his immediate family members. At least, they could comfortably stay together in it. Even though there were always enough chairs for them to sit on during movie nights, they usually preferred to lie on the ground.

However, right there as he stood with the number of people crowded in it, a few pacing and looking out of the window for him in worry, his “spacious” living room didn’t look so big anymore. Recognizing most of the people there but whom he only knew some of their names, his mother and father stood a few feet away with a look of relief on their faces.

His elder brother, Haru, and his fiancé, a naiad named Murchadh, were huddled together with two other naiads and a fairy. His cousins, Boris and Conri, identical twins that he could never differentiate, knelt in front of a map alongside their parents and Johan.

Naomi, the only human in the room, sat in her wheelchair stroking a ginger cat the same color as her hair. The curled-up cat looked on edge as a result of being in a room half-filled with werewolves. Akiko looked up at him, her big brown eyes brimming with tears.

She was the first one to speak. “Kaito!” she exclaimed, shooting up from the ground and running towards him. She wrapped his legs in a hug.

“Hi, nugget.” He cooed, reaching down to stroke her hair.

“Where have you been?” Johan demanded. “We thought the hunters had you and then you just waltz in here with…” He paused and cocked his head to the side. There were no discernable features on the girl to determine her species. “Whoever that is. Did you not see our texts or the missed calls? Do you have any idea what it feel like knowing that you could be dead or dying?”

“That’s pretty rich coming from a guy who disappears for months on end.” Kaito retorted. Johan glared at him and was just seconds away from baring his fangs when his mother intervened.

“Stop it, you two,” she ordered sternly then she turned to her son with a softened expression. “Are you hurt in anyway?”

Kaito shook his head. “Not me. Her,” he said with a rather careless agitation. “I was driving and she just came out of nowhere. I would have taken her to a hospital but she didn’t have this form before and I don’t have a list of any NHE friendly hospitals.”

“She’s a therianthrope?” Murchadh inquired.

As the atmosphere was no longer as tense as it was when they had all thought Kaito was in trouble, he had returned to his regular sitting position on Haru’s lap.

Kaito shook his head again. “That would have been less complicated. The first time I saw her after I got out of the car, she wasn’t even as big as Akiko. When I started to pick her up, her necklace fell off and she turned into how she is now. And the thing is both versions of her look alike. Like the one the car hit and the ones here are the kid and adult versions.”

He had his gaze locked on his grandma as he spoke. As the oldest in the room, he felt that if anyone should have an idea of what was going on, it would be her.

“Where’s the necklace?” she asked after a long pause.

“My back pocket.” He had tried to put the necklace back on her neck, but the clasp was broken and it was no use. So he had shoved it in his pocket.

The ride back home had been slightly uncomfortable as the jagged emerald stone hanging from the necklace had dug into his bottom but he hadn’t taken it out. He had knocked down a person. He deserved a lot worse than being uncomfortable. He nodded to Akiko to signify that she could bring out the necklace from his pocket.

Akiko pulled out the necklace and let it dangle from her fingers. Slowly his grandma shook her head. “I can’t say I know what that is. What about you guys?” she asked, her question directed toward Haru and Murchadh’s group of friends.

Logically, if anyone in the room had any knowledge of magical items it would be one of them, most especially the fairy. The only mystical knowledge most werewolves were familiar with was the effect of different types of moons on their kind and how to treat someone infected with silver or wolfsbane. Magical talisman wasn’t exactly their area of specialization.

It was the fairy who spoke up. “I don’t know what that is. When we fairies use glamor to disguise ourselves, we don’t need an object to do it. And when we weave glamor for other people, we don’t give them any object to aid that glamor. We just weave the glamor and send them on their way. It would be safe to say that the necklace is the source of her transformation but it’s not the work of a fairy,” he explained.

Grandma Yoshida took a deep breath. “Okay, then we don’t know what the girl is. But she got hit by a car, so I can’t imagine she’s in top shape. Kaito, bring her to the guest room. Haru, go get my medicine bag, Fairy-boy,” She called pointing to the only one in the room with basic training in magical healing.

“Follow me.”