I slip into the dark store and quickly grab a plain t-shirt, a pair of jeans, socks, and sneakers. I run out and slink into the forest. After walking about half an hour, I crouch next to the small creek and splash my face with water. I change into the fresh clothes and wash off my old clothes. I hear a rustle behind me and I look over my shoulder "Shit, he saw us!" "Shut up or he'll hear us too!" People hiss. "Am I a rumor now?" I say cooly. "Shit…" Someone is pushed out behind the bush and I stay in my crouched position as she stares at me. "U-uh…sorry to bother you." "No, it's okay. What's your name?" I ask. "Rana." She says. "Why the hood?" "I…uh…" She puts down the hood and I see two gray cat ears. "I'm a nyan cat hybrid." "Oh. I'm a hybrid also…sort of." "Oh? What kind of hybrid?" She asks. I go on all fours and feel my clothes melt into my fur. My nose grows long and the colors turn gray and yellow. "A wolf?" I shake out my fur and nod. I turn back into a human and crouch again. "Yes. I can't speak though. Were's your friend?" "Come out scaredey cat." Another girl walks out, dark brown spiky hair with red dyed tips and one red eye and one brown. "Hey…" She says. "Hello. I'm…I uh…I don't have a name." I say, blushing, I look at the ground. "How about…oh! How about Ōkami? It's Japanese for wolf." The new girl says. I nod. "I like it. What's your name?" I ask her. "My name is Blaze." "Nice name." "Thanks." We talk for a while till I hear a soft noise. Rana digs into her pocket and pulls out a phone. "Oh, we have to go now." She says. "Okay. Bye then." I say. "Hey, Ōkami...want to live at my house? From the liiks of it you don't have one." Blaze says. "You would let me? Thank you." I stand up and grab my clothes and shoes. I follow her into the city and we walk to a tall building, maybe 30 stories tall. We walk in and people at a desk welcome her. "Who is this?" One woman asks. "Someone." Blaze replies. She hits a button on the wall and a bing sounds and the wall opens up. I go wide eyed in awe and she smiles. "Never seen an elevator?" I shake my head and we walk in. She hits a button with the number 28 on it and the door closes. She leans on the rail and sighs. "My parents are going to over think this so don't say anything and stand diagonally from behind me okay?" She says. I nod and the elevator bings again. The wall slides open again and we step into a hallway. She gets a key from her pocket and we walk down the hall to a room. She unlocks the door and peaks inside. "Helloooo?" She says. No one replied and we walk in. There were five rooms, a bathroom, three bedrooms, and a room with two big blocks on a desk. "Uh, what are those?" I ask, pointing at the blocks. "Oh, those?" She walks over and presses a button on the thinner box and it lights up like the sun. "This is a computer. We use it to look things up we don't know. We watch videos, write essays and books, and lots of other cool stuff." "You have to know how to read to be able to look things up and make books correct?" I ask. "Yeah. Why? Can you not read?" "No. I've been homeless ever since I could learn. I taught myself math but I didn't get writing." Blaze's eyes widen. "You taught yourself math?!" I nod. She writes something down on a white surface and picks it up. "Solve this." I look at the symbols and figure it out quickly. "17 to the fourth power." "Genius..." She says. The door opens and heavy footsteps tell me a man has walked in. "Blaze I'm- who is this...?" He says. "Oh, this is Ōkami. He doesn't have a home so I though maybe he could live here!" She says. He looks me up and down suspiciously. "Not a boyfriend?" "Nope!" He sighs and nods. "I'm fine with it, but we both know the final desision is up to your mom." Blaze claps and smiles. "Thank you!" She pulls out her phone and taps the screen. "Could we take a picture together? I want to put it online!" She asks. "Sure." I say. She holds the phone up and smiles. I smile with my mouth closed, knowing how bad my teeth must look. I haven't brushed them for a while, I haven't been able to sneak into the drug store I get the toothpaste from in a while. "Nice! Now I just need a filter and I'll put it up." I nod and look around. I open a door and Blaze comes over and closes it. "Sorry, that's my room." She says. "Oh, okay then. Which one will be mine?" I ask. She leads me to the end of the hall and into a tan room with a bed pushed up against the wall. "This will be your room." I sit on the bed and nervously rub my index finger and thumb together. "Thanks." "No problem. By the way, the picture of me and you already has 24 likes. Want me to read you some of the comments?" She says. "Sure." "Alright, the first one is: 'Who's that? You got a boyfriend? GG' ha, we both know that's not going to happen. You're not really my type. You're a bit to quiet." "You're not really my type either." "Next comment says, oh...you sure you want me to read it?" She asks. "Yes." "Okay, 'wow, what a twig. He needs to learn what a shower is and eat some food. So turned off right now.'" "They are right, can't blame them." I hear the door open again and someone runs into Blazes room. "Blaze? Were are you?" I hear someone say. "In the spare room!" Blaze yells. They run in and stop when they see me. "Is this your boyfriend? Finally you got one, sheesh..." "No, he's not my boyfriend. His name is Ōkami so call him by that." "Hey." I say. "Hi. I'm Clare. Do you have a last name?" "Oh my god, still trying to see if that stupid notebook is really a death note? Give it up! No one has died!" "You don't know that!" She says. She runs out and Blaze sighs. "Sorry, that's my younger sister." She says. "No need to apologize. How old are you anyways?" "13." "Same." "Cool. So if we went to school we'd both be in 8th grade." "Yup." The door opens yet again and an older woman walks in. Blaze runs out. "Hey mom!" She says. "Hey sweetie. Who's that?" The woman says. "That's Ōkami. He doesn't have a home or family so I thought maybe he could live here!" The woman looks from Blaze to me and back. "I'll have to think about it but for now he can stay." Blaze smiles and hugs her mom. "Thank you." I say. "Now know this doesn't mean you will be able to stay." The woman says. "Yes, I know. I'll be prepared to leave if you say no." She nods. "You might want an educations so you won't end up like that in the long run. I'll sign you up for Blaze's school." I nod and walk back into my room. "Ōkami! Might want to take a shower so you'll be clean when mom takes you...well, for if you go any were." I hear Blaze say. "I...uh..." She walks in. "Oh, right. You don't know how. Well, you're not supposed to wear your clothes, but while I show you how to wash your hair please keep them on." I smile. "Of course." We walk into the bathroom and she takes out two bottles. "Alright, this is shampoo, and this is conditioner." She says, holding up the bottles in turn. "You rub the shampoo into your hair first, from the scalp to the ends. You rinse that out than put in the conditioner. You let that soak for a bit and then rinse that out really well, or your hair will get super oily. Got it?" I nod and take the bottles. She turns a knob and I jump as the water streams out of a metal funnel looking thing. "You turn the knob left for warmer water and right for cooler water." "Thank you." She walks out and I lock the door behind her. I strip and get into the shower. I follow her steps and turn off the water. "Ōkami? There should be towels on a rack to your left. They're made of cloth so they should be soft." I hear Blaze say through the door. I look to my left to see white folded sheets of cloth. "You should dry yourself with a towel and put your clothes back on. Tell me when you've done that." "Okay." I get the water out of my hair and then dry myself. I put on my clothes and wipe the ground clean. "Okay." I say. I unlock the door and Blaze walks in. "Okay, so your hair dries right I'll show you how to brush it. But just this once!" She says. I nod and she picks up what I'm guessing is a brush. "Wow, you really know nothing about keeping yourself clean huh?" I hear Clare say. "Well, how should I if I've been homeless for all my life?" Blaze laughes and Clare frowns. "Whatever." Clare says. "Okay, well, brushing your hair is pretty simple, you just gotta run the brush through all your hair until there are no knots. She brushes out my hair and when she's done I run my fingers through it. "It's soft." "Then you washed it right." I nod. Blaze looks down at her phone. "It's late. We should get to bed if you're going to school." I nod. Blaze's mom walks over. "Oh, there you are. I just wanted to tell you you got in. You'll be riding the bus with Blaze. We'll go shop for clothes for you tomorrow." I nod and walk into my room. I climb into the bed and rest my head on the pillow. I close my eyes and fall asleep quickly.
---Authors note---
I just want you to know, I do not own Blaze or Rana. They are OCs of people who let me use them. I will dedicate the chapters to them, Rana for this chapter and Blaze for chapter two which will come out tomorrow or later tonight. Wuv yall! ^_^
