Feral

Chapter 19

Iwaizumi's POV
"Mom?"  I said, stepping into her room. She looked over at me quietly as I walked over, setting down a small glass of water for her. I helped her sit up and sip the water. Her illnesses have only gotten worse. And the weather outside is even worse than last winter so there was little to no food for anyone. She thanked me and laid back down to rest. I sighed gently and tried to make sure she was comfortable before hearing a knock at the door.

I walked off, opening the door since my father wasn't here. He seriously had decided to come out of his little retirement to join the hunters in hunting the werewolves. He joined nearly a year ago. I refused to kill any werewolves, much against my father's wishes. But I found other ways to make money. And my father loved killing the werewolves, so he brought home some money too..

The entire species of werewolves had thinned out terribly. Almost to the point of extinction I'd think. At least around here. It made me wonder what happened to Oikawa and Yui. I would have gone to visit them. But I couldn't leave my mother and my father was never home anymore and only out on hunts. So I was the only one here to take care of her. After I reached the door and opened it, I was shocked to see who stood there.

"Iwaizumi...!" Yui cried out, crashing into me. I held her close, Kenma with her. Both were wearing cloaks to hide their ears and tails. Kenma was not werewolf, but I'm sure a hunter would stick an arrow through him to see what price his body could fetch.

"Yui... What, what are you doing here? Where's Oikawa??" I said, pulling her inside and letting Kenma come in out of the cold. Yui just clung onto me while Kenma explained. I felt like I was going to cry.. It happened to Oikawa.. Kenma stayed a bit longer before heading out. Yui has grown much in the last year.. but she still seemed like a little baby to me.

I picked her up, giving her cheek a reassuring kiss as she cried slightly. She threw her arms around my neck and nuzzled her face into my neck for comfort. I patted her back, walking around with her when my mom weakly called out and asked who it was. I glanced at Yui before taking her to see my mother. My mom looked over, sitting up slowly.

"Is that.. Yui??"

"Yeah."

"Oh baby, what's the matter?" My mom asked as Yui shook her head.

"Do you remember Oikawa? Her father..."

"Of course I do." She said softly, looking like she was expecting to hear the worst. I slowly reached up, pulling the cloak hood off of Yui's head. My mom looked at her ears quietly before looking at me.

"...Werewolves?"

"Yeah.. mom. They're both werewolves."

"What happened to Oikawa?"

"Whatever afflicted all the others finally afflicted him. Yui ran away to stay safe." I mumbled, my mother nodding. She had nothing against the werewolves. In fact, she showed sympathy to their kind. She was bothered that they were all being hunted, and I was too. But neither of us could fix it.

"Hajime... go after him." My mom said. I looked at her concerned. I wanted to go see him.. see if I could find him. But I didn't want to leave her alone.

"Mom..."

"I'll be alright sweetheart. Come here." She said as I slowly sat down on her bed next to her. She smiled softly at me as I held one of her hands.

"You loved Oikawa.. right?"

"...Yeah."

"Then you need to go find him."

"But-"

"No. You need to. And I want you to find him. Here.. take this." She said, shakily taking the necklace off around her neck and giving it to me. She laid it in my palm and closed my hand around it.

"Mom, I can't take this.."

"I want you to take it. I want you to keep it as yours. It will always keep me with you. So.. On your wedding day, you better wear it so I can be with you okay?" She said, tears welling in her eyes. She slowly started laying back down, looking up at me. I held back my own tears as she smiled, weakly cupping my cheek with her hand.

"I love you Hajime.. Please go find Oikawa... Find who you love." She said, her eyes slowly closing more with each word. Her hand fell to her side as her breathing went still. I looked down at my beloved mother before taking in a shaky breath. I held Yui close to me as I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before getting up. I tucked her necklace into my pocket safely and put both arms back around Yui.

My bastard father could come home and find this himself. If he hadn't wasted all his earned money on more and more hunting equipment and his own wants, then I could've made sure that my mother was more comfortable. But he didn't care. I left my father a note saying I left before going to my room and grabbing my own equipment.

I would need help. And there was someone I could go ask for it. But we'd need to get through the woods first to get to them. Yui looked up at me as I put her cloak back over her head and ensured none of her werewolf features were visible. She hugged me tighter when a few tears fell down my cheeks. I walked to the door, opening it and stepping out into the snow.

"...Goodbye mom. I promise I'll find Oikawa."