Feral

Chapter 3

Time Skip into winter: Oikawa's POV
I sighed, cuddling Yui close to me to try and keep her warm. Every winter was hard. But this one was worse than any of the other winters thus far. There was no food I could hunt and my daughter was freezing.. I growled slightly to myself in thought. The only place I could try and go to get food or anything like that was into the nearest village. But I didn't really have any of their money so I couldn't pay. And I couldn't steal. But I've gone out 3 times today already in unsuccessful hunts.

"Come on pup... hang onto me." I said, my daughter clinging to me for all the warmth she could get. I crawled out of the burrow with her, hunching a bit to keep as much of the fast falling snow from freezing her to death. The snow was freezing my feet and the old clothing I had provided little warmth, but eventually I made it to the village.

It was pretty much empty, most people probably hiding away in their homes to keep warm. Yui started shivering more now that we weren't in our little burrow. I sighed and just trudged my way to a place marked 'tavern'. I couldn't afford anything here but at least it was warmer and there were people here drinking, talking, dancing, and just doing all sorts of strange things. I shook my head and just went over to where it was warmest in the corner and sitting down.

Some people stared but I just shook my head of snow before fluffing my tail to drape over Yui. Maybe I shouldn't have brought her out here. Her skin was cold and her fur wasn't exactly super warm since it was only on her ears and tail. I kept my eyes on her when someone walked over.

"Hey. What are you two doing here." I looked up, tilting my head before recognizing the man.

"Iwaizumi! Oh.. well, there's no food to hunt and my burrow was getting filled with snow I had to keep digging out. So.. I thought I'd try my luck here but I don't think it was a good idea." I said, Iwaizumi glancing at Yui before nodding.

"Yeah, the food is scarce in the winter. Why don't you two come back with me?"

"Huh?"

"My family doesn't have a lot of food right now either. But. We have a warm house that's less noisy." He offered. I hesitated, Iwaizumi shrugging.

"Think of it as a thanks for saving me." He said with a small smile. I bit my lip but nodded and got up. We trudged back to his home, Iwaizumi shutting the door and securing it while I looked around curiously. Iwaizumi walked over to the fireplace, dusting out some old coal and burnt wood before putting a few new logs in and lighting it.

The area suddenly got warmer, so I rushed over and sat down in front of it with Yui to try and keep her warm. Iwaizumi brought some warm broth over and a blanket, setting it down on one side of me before sitting next to me on my other side.

"So. Who's the kid." He asked while I situated Yui to sit up in my lap, giving her the small wooden bowl of broth that she was quick to start eating.

"Yui. She's my daughter."

"Oh??"

"Mhm.." I mumbled with a sigh. Yui was quick to finish what was in the bowl and snuggling up to me as I set the bowl aside and wrapped her tightly in the blanket. It wasn't long until she fell asleep from the warmth and hopefully lack of hunger pains. I thumped my tail gently, staring at the fire when suddenly something touched my ears. I jolted and looked over at Iwaizumi who pulled his hand away.

"Ah.. sorry. I was just curious what they felt like." He muttered with embarrassment. I smiled slightly, shaking my head.

"It's okay, you just startled me.. You can pet them." I said, tilting my head towards him. He looked at me a moment before going back to petting my ears. After asking my permission, I smiled faintly and let him pet my tail too. I've never had someone pet me those places, and it felt really nice. I yawned, sleepily staring at the fire while my ears were being scratched again. Eventually, the warmth and affectionate pets got me to fall asleep too.

Iwaizumi's POV
I stopped petting Oikawa's ears, instead staring at him now leaning against me sleeping quietly. I sighed and looked around. Hopefully neither of my parents would wake up any time soon. Who knows what they'd do if they saw that I had brought in a werewolf and his daughter. And I couldn't kick them out, it was freezing and the snow was piling up.

I sighed, very carefully taking Yui from Oikawa's arms. She was light, so I held her in one arm while laying Oikawa down for a moment on the floor as he slept. I carried Yui to my room and laid her on the bed before returning to get Oikawa and lay him down next to her. I covered the two in my blanket and walked out, shutting the door. My parents never really checked on me. Why would they, I was an adult they didn't need to check up on me.

I returned to the fire, letting it burn and just using the other blanket on the floor to lay on. My bed was already small enough. So three people wouldn't fit on it without us all basically laying on each other. I already had enough trouble hunting to make money right now, I'm sure it was just as hard, if not more, for Oikawa. He was hunting for two and didn't have the same tools as I did.

And he looks a lot thinner than he did when I ran into him during the fall. Maybe he isn't eating. He did give all the broth to his daughter. There was enough in it for them both to have a bit, but he ended up letting her eat it all. So maybe anything he could catch went to her. What was I going to do with them. The snow looked like it has no intentions of stopping overnight. And my parents could very easily notice Oikawa and Yui if either of them make to much noise or venture out of my room. Well.. That will be a problem for tomorrow.