Love Over Fear

Getting to Know Each Other

Kagami-kun had been talking for awhile now, not that I was paying attention. The last thing I had listened to was his lecture on the best-tasting fish that he regularly catches in the stream. I guess the one he brought me to earlier.

But no, I wasn't listening to him now, I was too busy thinking about my pack. The odd assortment of animals that gathered under the rule of him. I knew I had to get back soon, I don't know how long I was left wandering around in lands different from my own, but if Kagami-kun said it takes a week to get back, it must've been a long time. The alpha will certainly punish me.

Those dumb mountain lions. If they hadn't of tricked me, I wouldn't be lost and stuck with this idiot. I sighed. And to think it all started because I wanted to get some food supply for the pack.

I glanced to the side of me where Kagami-kun was walking. He hadn't noticed the fact that I had stopped encouraging the conversation with small nods and had kept talking on his own. I found it, almost, endearing. He had been kind to me, taking me to my pack. Although he seemed to have an aversion to me at the beginning, I kept this to myself. I had doubts in asking him about it.

I began to look elsewhere throughout the jungle. The sun had crossed the sky towards the west, but it hadn't set yet, so the leaves of the bushes, trees, and plants were still a bright, summery green, casting a deep and dark shadow that crossed the path. The flowers that popped out seemingly everywhere were colors of the rainbow with the occasional bee or two that lazily buzzed around them. Kagami-kun and I walked under the cool and pleasant shade of the big trees wrapped in vines that sheltered the path overhead. The breeze was a bonus as it kept the some of the humidity away.

It is beautiful here.

I realized that the jungle had become quiet, aside from the odd bird-call or insect chirping, of course. I looked back at Kagami-kun to see he had a curious expression on his face as if he was thinking about something. He sneaked a look at me, and when he realized that I too was looking at him, he glanced back down, his cheeks pinker than before.

"Kagami-kun, is something wrong?"

"N-no, just," he sighed loudly, he seemed to do this a lot, "I want to apologize."

"Apologize? For what, you already apologized to me, Kagami-kun, I forgive you." I noticed that we had slowed down, still walking, but at a much slower pace, almost a shuffle.

"I just, I feel as though I was rude before, without a good reason, I mean-"

"What do you mean, Kagami-kun?"

"What have I said before about waiting until someone else has finished? Whatever, what I'm trying to tell you is, I'm sorry for acting that way. Gangster as you called it. It's just..."

"It's just what, Kagami-kun?"

This time, he didn't try to correct me, but looked at the ground, suddenly forlorn. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but I was scared, and I didn't think that I should tell you."

"What is it, Kagami-kun?" I surprised myself by the sincerity in my voice.

He looked at me one last time, and then began, "I don't have my parents either. They were," he paused for a long moment, and when I placed my hand on his arm for encouragement, he continued, his face still sad, "they were murdered, by wolves. They came out of nowhere and demanded food, and when my mom and dad couldn't give them any, they killed them."

My eyebrows furrowed the slightest bit, a sign of my concern, but he kept going without a glance towards me. "They spared me because, I don't, I don't know."

The words hung in the air for several moments, my hand slipped from his arm and brought with it a need to fill the air, to keep the conversation going. This surprised me, scared me even, as I had never felt this before. Needing to comfort someone, especially someone I had just met. But it was just then I realized something.