Korū was sitting in a tree in the middle of the forest, Kaguya snuggled beside him, as he played Cytus II. It was a wonder how his phone was still intact by how aggressively he was tapping the screen. At least it was better than punching trees, which Cayne might have done in his situation.
Cayne walked to the base of his tree, leaning against the trunk, hoping that his head would stay attached to his neck for a long while more. "You're right. I'm gay." He started off, cringing hard at his own awkwardness. Why, oh, why did his social skills have to be so bad? The only thing he was good at was pretending to be good at things.
Korū didn't look up from his phone screen, though his pupils dilated into slashes of black, a warning for Cayne to go away.
Cayne didn't see because he wasn't even looking up in the first place, but he could feel the anger radiating off him. Instead of walking away, however, he just sat down at the base of the tree. He was going to lose his head at this rate. It was only a matter of time.
"Why the hell are you here? If it's because you feel bad or something, I don't need your fucking apology."
"Did I even say anything?" Cayne asked lightly, closing his eyes. This guy was defensive. Understandably so, but still.
"Tch." Korū nudged one of Kaguya's soft black paws absently. "Why are you here?"
"I don't know." Cayne murmured. He really didn't. Maybe some of the group's craziness had rubbed off on him. But he felt relaxed, somehow. Even with a person who was extremely likely to beat him up some day soon sitting above him. Somehow.
"Huh." He was quiet for a while, then asked, "How many people know your sexuality?"
Cayne shrugged. "Most of the school, I think. It's obviously not something that I go announcing to everyone, though."
Korū leaned back against the tree, eyes closed, his hand resting on Kaguya. His phone slipped out of his hand, tumbling to the ground, but he honestly didn't quite care.
They stayed where they were for a very long time, both unmoving, deep in their own thoughts, until Linda sent both of them a mindlink, telling them to meet Hikari, Alina and herself in front of the pack house.
"Let's go." Cayne said, standing up. "Between Alina and Linda, the two of them get things done pretty fast."
Korū leaped down, snatched up his phone and a sleepy Kaguya, and raced away without a word.
Cayne sighed, and followed after.
"Korū!" Hikari called when she caught sight of her brother. He turned on her with slitted eyes, a growl rumbling in his throat. "I'm sorry," she raised her hands in surrender. "I shouldn't have brought that up."
Alina sighed, "I'm sorry too," she said, chewing her lip, thinking, "Damn, I'm bad at apologies."
Linda nodded slightly. "Me three."
"What the hell is the plan?" Korū growled, looking just slightly appeased. At least he didn't explode on everyone.
"We're going to go back to Earth to fly to Japan. It's easier to access the country this way." Alina said. "Then, we are going to meet a wizard that owes me a favour, and make him tell us where to go. From then, we'll see what happens."
"I'm coming with you." Cayne said.
Narrowed green eyes met Alina's. "When?" Korū asked, ignoring Cayne.
"We set off in a day. We're stopping by Bloodlust for more supplies first." Linda turned to Cayne, "Are you sure your parents will allow you to come?"
Cayne shrugged. "The rogues are a danger to just about everyone, and we have no idea how many moles they have in each pack, which means everyone is already involved, especially when this happened right in front of my dad's face."
"Caw!" a crow shrieked, dropping a small slip of paper into Hikari's hands, then wheeling away into the sky.
"Caw!" Alina shrieked back, just for fun. The crow gave her the stink eye from up high, while Cayne glanced at Alina weirdly. The others didn't react. Pretty typical of her, honestly.
"What is it?" Linda asked.
Kaguya batted at the crow as it swooped at him.
Hikari unfolded the note. "Ah, it's just my uncle saying that the dragons can help.'
Alina grinned. "Thank goodness. I long for the day that wolves fly."
"Still can't. Unless you're like my cousin, but that isn't even completely werewolf."
Korū looked like a master of evil with the crow perched on his arm, the cats standing around him, and his black and dark gray outfit. He was still radiating passive hostility.
"Why did we have to gather everyone here to say this again?" Alina asked, tugging at her hair, turning her attention to the pack members hurrying around.
Linda bumped her lightly with her shoulder. "Their mindlinks are much harder to create and maintain."
A smirk formed on Alina's face. She hadn't forgotten, really. She was just bored. "Oh yeah, those Earthlings grew too used to technology… you know what? I give up on this conversation." She just realised how bad her foresight was.
"Whatcha say?" Korū growled. He grabbed the crow and chucked it at her.
The crow frantically beat its wings to get away from this tiny human with the aura of Medusa.
Alina just laughed, pretending that she wasn't nervous at all that she had very nearly walked straight into a lion's mouth. Or a wolf's mouth, which is probably more accurate, "It's true though, I think we all know it. I wanted to ease into a discussion about history, but then I realised that it's a minefield of touchy subjects. So forget it."
"Minefield is an understatement," Hikari proclaimed. "I say warzone."
"Yeah, I guess. So I'm dropping it. What do you want to do for the rest of the day?"
The crow had escaped, and Korū was staring at the spot where it had disappeared.
"Korū? Hey. Hey. Hey." Hikari poked his shoulder with every 'hey'. "What're you thinking about?"
"Nothing that concerns you."
The other three frowned a little as they watched this exchange happening in front of them. Understanding how the twins worked without being one of them was near impossible. They were just too confusing. One moment they were twin hurricanes, the next they were an earth tremor, where the actual chaos was happening somewhere else.