Jamais Vu

Bathtime

“Ara? It's okay.. let me help you" Jin's voice croons sweetly  to her, even though she can't understand him.

Ara backs away and scurries against the floor back to her room.

Yoongi can't worry about her right now, he needs to see what happened so he can deal with it.
“Hoba-"

“i'm on it. Jimin, Jin, come with me. Joon-ah, Jungkookie, can you dig a hole in the backyard? Tae and Yoongi can deal with whatever happened downstairs.” Hobi walks towards the room Ara disappeared into while Yoongi trudges downstairs.

He doesn't need to see the body to smell the amount of blood that is collecting in the basement.

“there's no way she survived this" Tae whispers, hot on his heels.

“if she did, she won't for long" Yoongi confirms, walking over to where he smells the most blood.
He doesn't find human, instead he finds a larger than Ara sized fox, her throat ripped out and her eyes red and glazed over.

Yoongi kneels anyways to feel for a pulse he knows isn't there.

“why didn't Jin do this? He's the doctor" Tae says quietly, making Yoongi look up at the younger man.

“hyung sees blood everyday, and even more death. It didn't take a genius to smell that she is dead.” Yoongi looks back over at the body, sighing as he closes her eyes for her. “I just wish I knew what happened to make Ara snap like that"

“are foxes territorial?” Tae tilts his head as he asks.

“extremely. Especially if they are both dominant and in this case, Ara was technically in her own territory. She may have felt threatened. I'm guessing by the state of Dr. Lee here, they may have injected her with the same shit they did Ara. To shut her up? Who knows"

“I don't know much about her.. but no one deserves that" Tae says softly as he bends to scoop up the hybrid while Yoongi cleans up all the blood in the basement.

“I agree with you. She was a victim of circumstance in this case. He knew exactly what he was doing" Yoongi whispers, his eyes hard and cold as he plans for his revenge.

-

“Ara let me clean you" Hobi pleads, reaching for Ara who is under the bed, curled in a ball.

“hyung.. let me..” Jimin whispers, shedding his clothes and shifting. He crawls slowly under the bed until he is nose to nose with Ara who simply stares at him.

Jimin hears the other two quietly leave the room and Jimin forms a plan.

He playfully nips at Ara's nose, pushing back the bile in his throat once he tastes the blood.
When Ara doesn't move, he yips at her, wagging his tail in the air like a dog so his smell perfumes the air.

This seems to calm her enough to slowly rise to her feet. Jimin uses this chance to dart from under the bed as if he is wanting to play, happily Ara joins him.

He runs out of the room, looking over his shoulder to make sure Ara is following him.

When she almost reaches his tail, he darts right into the bathroom. Once Ara follows, the bathroom door slams closed, startling Ara from their little game.

“she's gonna hate you for that" Hobi comments as he gets the water warm enough to feel good, making sure to go easy on the bubbles since they are both small.

Jin sneaks up behind Ara and grips her so he can deposit her in the bathtub, Jimin crawling in after her to keep her calm.
It takes a few struggling minutes before Ara realizes she isn't getting out of this bath.

Once she settles, a bubble tickles her nose which makes her sneeze, clearing a path in the bubbles.

Jin throws his head back and laughs before looking down at her with the softest most adoring eyes Jimin has ever seen on his hyung.

“how is she so cute, even covered in blood?” he smiles, reaching out to gently pet her head.

“if you could develop heart eyes, you would hyung" Jungkook chides from the doorway, quickly closing it behind him.

“yah! Everyone else's platonic soulmates are nice to them. They help them. Mine just insults me and reminds me how old I am" Jin grumbles, making Hobi laugh.

“did you forget mine is Namjoon and Yoongi?” Hobi grins, watching Jungkook shed his dirty clothes and shift almost immediately.

He pushes past the two older members and helps himself in the bath, getting mud all over Jimin's white fur.

“Jimin is gonna hate you for dirtying his fur" Hobi laughs harder when Jimin glares at the spots on his tail from where Jungkook’s large dog hybrid brushes against it.

Jungkook grins as best as he can, his tongue lolling out of his mouth cutely.

“let's get them cleaned up so we can discuss our next move" Jin says quietly, soaping up Ara's fur and scrubbing the blood put of it as best as he can, Hobi following suit with the dirt on the other boys fur.

“what is our next move hyung?” Hobi whispers, his eyes staying focused on the dirt on Jungkook before he can spread it anywhere else.

“honestly? We need to find the real Mr. Lee, and end this"

“what about..” Hobi looks at Ara pointedly, making Jin's hands still on her body.

“I wish I knew" Jin's voice is soft and emotional as he gazes at their girlfriend. “everyday she slips further and further away, Hoseokie"

They resume their task of washing the others in a sad silence, the only noise is of Ara yiping to be left go.

Somehow, Jin feels his heart breaking at that thought. That she wants to be let go.

He isn't sure he ever could.