A Japanese wolf

After he calmed down a bit, Takemura Eiji left the hallways and exited the school. When he was at the gate he noticed Furuya Dai and the other guy who was also there that day. They were chatting leisurely, leaning on a wall. He approached them, Dai squinting his eyes at him when he noticed him.

– Hey, who would’ve thought we would be assigned to the same class. – Eiji said.

– Yeah, crazy coincidence, huh. – the taller one said. – I didn’t catch your name, I’m Mihara Tamotsu.

– I’m Takemura Eiji. – he said, turning to Dai. – You?

– Didn’t you pay attention during introductions? – Dai said with a hostile expression. – What’s it to you anyway?

– I just thought we could get along since we are in the same class. – he said, before bowing. – I’m sorry for what I did to you. I may have butted in when the situation would have resolved itself.

Dai had a weird expression, he didn’t expect Eiji would apologize so openly. Tamotsu laughed slightly.

– Why so formal, Takemura-kun? You did the right thing, I should have stopped him long before you did anything.

– Who’s side are you even on? – Dai said indignantly.

– Right now? Takemura-kun’s. You gotta admit, he was right.

– Yeah I guess… – Dai said, looking down.

– So we’re good now, right? – Eiji said.

– Yeah… – Dai said, hesitantly.

– And you? – Eiji looked at Tamotsu.

– I wasn’t even a part of this, of course we’re good. – Tamotsu said, slightly surprised.

– And with that, I’ll be heading home. – Eiji said, walking away, but stopping after a few steps and turning back. – Also, what’s your name?

– Furuya Dai, you happy now?

– I’ll definitely forget it, so you’ll have to remind me many times. – Eiji turned around. – But that’s for tomorrow. Bye.

– See you tomorrow, Takemura-kun. – Tamotsu said.

– You’re weird as hell, you know that? – Dai shouted towards Eiji who was already a few meters away.

– Of course, what are you going to do about it? – Eiji said, turning his head back.

Eiji walked away leisurely while Dai and Tamotsu could only look at his back.

– He’s quite an interesting guy, isn’t he?

– More like weird, who doesn’t wear their jacket in this weather? – Dai said.

The guys’ voices became quieter as Eiji turned around the street and got farther and farther. At some point he got to the edge of town, he continued his way on a small dirt road into the middle of the forest. In the forest, he felt a heavy presence. He didn’t know what it was, but he kept vigilant the whole way. Then, he finally got home.

It was a traditional Japanese building, with its slanted roof and elegant exterior. When he entered, he was greeted by a familiar voice.

– Yo, Eiji, how was the first day?

It was Ishida Masato, his childhood friend with whom he came to Japan. He was in the room after the entrance, which served as a living room to them.

– It was alright, are you better now? – Eiji replied.

– Yeah, I’ll probably be able to come to school the day after tomorrow. – Masato said with a slightly stuffy nose.

– I don’t even understand how you got sick, it’s not even cold outside. – Eiji was now sitting down by Masato.

– You know, not everyone is immune to the cold like you, Eiji! – Masato said, faking indignance.

– It’s not my fault that I’m too resilient for this world! – Eiji overdramatically said.

– If I had the tardigrade too… – Masato pondered.

– You wouldn’t be able to contain it with that sleep schedule, you’d go six arms within a month. – Eiji scolded. – Unlike me, who can discipline myself and always get a good night’s sleep. – he added in a proud tone.

– Yeah yeah, I know. But it would be really cool if I could have it though… – Masato finally added, a bit down.

– It’s a great burden, you know, but that’s not important right now. Did you feel that echo too?

– Of course, what are we going to do about it? – Masato was more serious now.

– I don’t know, we should probably let the organization handle it. – Eiji pondered.

– I agree. Let’s just eat and hit the sack, I’m quite tired…

– Weren’t you in bed all day? – Eiji raised an eyebrow

– Yes, but I’m sick, you know, it’s not easy. – Masato said offended.

– Yeah, whatever.

After eating, Eiji and Masato both went to their rooms and slept on their futons. Eiji still wasn’t used to sleeping on the ground but it was getting easier day by day

𐲂𐲀𐲢𐲀𐲙𐲦𐲀

It was the middle of the night when Eiji was woken up by the howl of a wolf outside. It wasn’t like anything he’d heard before, it was bone-chilling. He got up from his futon and exited his room. He could hear Masato sleeping soundly from the living room.

– Sleeping like nothing’s going on, I guess I’ll settle this myself… – he thought.

He exited the house, the cold wind blew over his face, making his clothes and hair sway in the wind.

– Damn, I should’ve at least changed from my pajamas… Too late now, let’s see where this echo is. – Eiji thought.

He stepped into the forest, it was dead silent. Then, a wolf howl could be heard again. Eiji started running towards the source of the howl as it got louder and louder in his ears.

Finally, he could see it. It was a wolf but not like any other. It was small, with short legs and slim body, but what was most unusual was its color. It was slightly translucent with a slight ghostly color. The moon shone through its fur and gave it an otherworldly feeling.

However, Eiji was not taken aback by the wolf’s appearance, he already saw other animals in a similar state. It was an echo, the materialization of an animal’s soul that sometimes formed.

– Why did it have to appear now… – Eiji sighed. – Aren’t these, like, super rare?

As he approached it, marks on his body started glowing with a white light, like they’re responding to the wolf. When he was just 4 to 5 meters away from it, it started growling at him as its physical form started flickering.

– Well, this is my chance to strike, right? – Eiji thought, summoning a power in himself with a thought. – Speed mite!

He burst forward with immense speed, the marks on his body becoming slightly gray in color. The wolf howled once more and also attacked Eiji. But Eiji was faster and quickly got behind it and, before it could turn around, he grabbed its neck from behind and put it in a choke hold. It started biting the air in an attempt to reach Eiji and squirmed trying to make him let go.

But he didn’t let go, in contrast strengthening his hold. The wolf’s struggle started to weaken a bit and Eiji pushed it to the ground suddenly, catching it off-guard. He held it there, his eyes darting across its body, Eiji was looking for something.

He finally found it. It was a sphere that was slightly glowing, in the place where the wolf’s heart used to be. He pushed harder with his left arm and raised his right, preparing to strike. The wolf, sensing the pressure on it has decreased, started moving around, trying to break free.

However, Eiji was faster.

He struck with his right arm and as it got closer to the body of the wolf, the marks on his arm started glowing brighter and brighter. When his arm got to the body of the wolf, it passed right through it and he grasped its “heart”.

– I got you! – Eiji exclaimed.

He crushed it in his hand and the wolf turned into a light mist. The marks on his body turned pitch black as a white light started surging towards his heart, running along his marks. The mist in the air was absorbed into his body, and he felt the wolf’s soul being absorbed.

– A Japanese wolf, but how did its soul survive for so long? – Eiji pondered, yawning. – Whatever, I’ll think about it tomorrow…

He returned to his room and went to bed, but he couldn’t sleep. The wolf’s soul was still raging inside him, refusing to be tamed.

– It’s going to be a long night, it seems. – Eiji sighed as he thought.

He couldn’t sleep for many more hours and when he finally did, he dreamt of being a wolf.

He was running through forests, hunting for food. He felt a slight breeze on his face and a scent of freshness hit his nose.

He endlessly ran through forests and plains until he woke up.

Author’s note:

Hey guys, thank you for reading chapter 2!

This is the chapter that I start really introducing supernatural elements into the story, so hang around to find out more!

With lots of passion,

𐲖𐲉 LE