Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So, what’s your reason for going?”

Nazuna looked ahead at the slowly-approaching island, her white cloak flapping in the wind. She had grown more and more doubtful every day since leaving home, and she certainly wasn’t happy about handing over all of her savings to a shady weasel, but the only alternative she could see was hiding and waiting for things to solve themselves. And she was just so tired of hiding.

“I’m looking for my friend,” she said after a few moments.

“Oh really?” Marie pulled a wad of bills out of Nazuna’s wallet, and started to meticulously calculate her earnings. “What do they look like? Maybe I gave them a bit of charity like I’m giving you now.”

“I don’t think so,” Nazuna said, resting her head on the boat’s handrail. In all honesty, she didn’t even know what Michiru looked like anymore. And besides… “Last time I saw her, she was being kidnapped.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” the weasel said in the most condescending way possible. “But you know, I have a few regulars that might’ve heard about that sort of thing. If you’re interested, I could-”

“I already gave you all my money,” Nazuna snapped, glaring over her shoulder.

Marie put a paw over her heart dramatically. “You wound me! I was just going to ask if you wanted to help out with my ‘volunteer’ work. Who knows, you might hear a thing or two about your friend.”

“What?” What kind of scam artist asks a random runaway teenager to be her accomplice?

“I’m offering you a job, kid,” she said, waving her ill-gotten gains in Nazuna’s face. “Anima City might be the best place for a Beastman to live, but you’re still gonna need cash if you want to survive.” She shoved the empty wallet into Nazuna’s paws. “Don’t worry, you can take your time to think about it. I’ve got somewhere I want to be once we hit the shore, so meet me by the harbor at sunrise if you want to hear more, ‘kay?”

No less baffled, Nazuna stammered, “Okay, but… why?”

“Didn’t I already tell you?” Marie smirked. “I’m a volunteer worker helping out my fellow Beastmen. I could never let a poor little fox without any yen to her name struggle alone in this cold, unforgiving world.”

“You can stop now,” Nazuna said, cringing.

Soon enough, they arrived at an abandoned harbor. As everyone on board split off in different directions, Marie looked over a cheaply-made ID card she’d ‘accidentally’ pulled out of Nazuna’s wallet with her service charge. “You’d better make yourself useful, Miss Hiwatashi,” she muttered to herself. “Smuggling in humans isn’t really my kind of business.”

Walking down an eerily quiet street, Nazuna started to pull off her cloak, looking for a trash bin or dumpster to throw it into. It was an uncomfortable thing that she’d made for a cosplay years ago, and she wouldn’t miss it anytime soon. The only reason she wore it in the first place was because it was the only thing she could find that could both hide her big, fluffy fox tail and disappear from her house without her parents noticing right away. Besides, her fur and hoodie were more than enough to stave off the cold.

“Where is everyone?” Nazuna asked nobody in particular. This was supposed to be a bustling city, but the place was even emptier than the small town she was born and raised in. Then, as if waiting for a cue, Nazuna heard footsteps behind her. Lots of them. On reflex, she dove into a nearby alley, and peeked out at whoever was passing by, waiting for a chance to slip past unseen. What she saw was nothing short of haunting; A procession of countless cloaked figures marching down the street, each of them wearing a wolf mask with glowing yellow eyes. They spoke in hushed, excited whispers that Nazuna couldn’t properly make out from her safe distance.

Reluctantly, Nazuna put the cloak back on. Whatever was going on, she didn’t want to stand out too much if she somehow got swept up into it. She didn’t have a mask like the rest of them, but it was a better disguise than the ensemble of a grey hoodie, black leggings, and pink leg warmers she wore under it. Staying hidden away left a bad taste in her mouth, but she had only survived long enough to reach Anima City by doing so. She didn’t understand what all those people on the street were doing all covered up, though. Wasn’t Anima City supposed to be a place where Beastmen could live openly as themselves? The worst-case scenario would be everyone in the crowd was actually a human, but that couldn’t be possible. Could it? Her back pressed against a wall, Nazuna crept up to the edge of the alley, and tried to listen in on the strange people.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long…”

“Do you think the mayor’s going to be there?”

“Mommy, I’m tired!”

“Oh hey, you also trying to dodge the loonies?”

“What!?” Nazuna whipped around, and saw a familiar face. “W-weasel!?”

“I am not a weasel, I’m a mink,” Marie hissed. “If you’re that unobservant, maybe I should rescind my little offer.”

Nazuna was too tired from the day and too spooked by Marie’s sudden appearance to press the issue. “Okay, sorry, you’ve just got that sort of vibe.”

“Hmph!” Marie crossed her arms. “Maybe I should go tell the entire city that a pink raccoon girl just showed up.”

“But I don’t look anything like a raccoon!”

“And I don’t look anything like a weasel!”

“Alright, fine, I get it!” Nazuna groaned, and pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “Can you tell me what that is?”

Marie took a deep breath, and immediately switched back to her usual smug attitude. "That would be the start of a festival.”

“Really?” Nazuna glanced back toward the street, to find that the crowd had finally moved past. “But aren’t festivals supposed to be bright and fun and less… creepy?”

“They are. This is just people paying respects to the Silver Wolf,” Marie said, slinking out of the alley. “Personally, I don’t buy into superstitions like that, so I’m just going to hang back until the actual party starts.”

Nazuna followed the remarkably weasel-like mink down the street. “So, um… What’s the Silver Wolf?”

“Just an old myth,” Marie remarked dismissively. “Something about an immortal Beastman. Ask someone who cares if you want the details. But I’m surprised you never heard,” she said, smirking. “I thought every Beastman was at least a little familiar.”

Nazuna’s pulse shot up. Just stay calm, she thought, remember your lines. “Well, you see, I… I was actually raised by humans.”

Marie raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Yes,” Nazuna said, nodding. “My parents died when I was little, but a human couple found me and took me in.” She gave a pleading look. “Please keep it a secret. I don’t want people to think I’m some kind of spy for the humans, I..." She sniffled. "I just want to live as myself!” Nailed it!

Marie looked over the pink fox. “Hmm… Sure, I’ll keep your little secret. In exchange for a little favor, of course.”

It wasn’t as if Nazuna expected to get any help for free. “That’s fine. What do you want?”

The mink flashed a devious grin. “Come to the festival with me. That’s all I want from you right now.”

For the second time that day, Nazuna was dumbfounded. There had to be some ulterior motive, but she couldn’t fathom what it might be. And sure, she was curious about this festival, but going with the most suspicious person she’d ever met was not her idea of a fun night.

But Marie was the only person she knew in the city. Even if she didn’t trust the mink, she had some idea of what to expect.

Nazuna sighed. “If there’s snacks, can you get me some? I haven’t eaten anything all day…” Her empty wallet felt especially light in that moment.

“Ooh, that might be pushing it.” Marie scratched her chin. “I guess I can give you a freebie this time. We’ll call it a welcoming present.”

As the two got closer to the middle of Anima City, Nazuna heard a familiar blur of loud music and countless voices, and her inhibitions started to melt ever so slightly. Of course, she had every right to be excited; She hadn’t been to a party in over a year. When they finally reached the festival itself, Nazuna could only stare, starstruck. So many lights, so many colors, and more Beastmen than she had ever seen in her life.

“Don’t just stand there,” Marie said, glancing over her shoulder. “We’ve got an entire night to live up.”

With a wide grin on her face, Nazuna grabbed the seam of her cloak, and tore it right off! Her small claws ripped the fabric, but she didn’t care. She let the wind carry the old thing somewhere else as she ran ahead into the festival.

Chapter Text

“Those things will go right to your thighs, you know.”

“No one asked you,” Nazuna said, looking wistfully at the paper tray in her paws. Not long ago it was full of sugar-coated, deep-fried something-or-others, but now all that was left were crumbs and regrets. “And I haven’t gotten a good meal since I left home. This is just making up for lost calories!” It wasn’t that flimsy of a justification. With the adrenaline of being on the run wearing off, Nazuna was only now starting to realize how empty her stomach was. It sure wasn’t just because her sweet tooth had been starved after days of nothing but granola bars and whatever vending machines weren’t sold out of, obviously not!

“Whatever you say, kid,” Marie said, smirking.

Before Nazuna could return the mink’s sass, something caught her eye. There were a couple of live bands playing, but one of them looked like they were bringing people from the audience on stage. “Hey Marie, let’s check that out,” she said, pointing.

The mink raised an eyebrow. “The karaoke band? I’m too sober for that, but if you want to…”

More than anything in the world! “Yeah, I kinda want to try,” Nazuna said, looking away bashfully.

Marie shrugged. “Alright. But I get to pick what we do next.”

“Deal!” Grinning like an idiot, Nazuna ran for the stage.

The line turned out to be miraculously short, and Nazuna soon found herself standing over a raucous crowd of Beastmen, with a full band backing her up. It was so close to the life she always dreamed of having; All that was missing was one Michiru in that crowd. Maybe that was why a small part of her wanted to jump off the stage just as quickly as she ran onto it. Of course, the thrill of being in the spotlight was more than enough to keep her anchored down. And if she wanted to dream, maybe Michiru was out there watching, and they just couldn’t see each other past all the other Beastmen.

She scanned the list of songs the band could play, and found one that her friend would always sing along to when she thought no one was watching.

Nazuna struck a pose, and pointed toward the audience. “Hello, Anima City~! My name’s Nazuna, and this one’s going out to my best friend in the world!” The music started playing, and the song lyrics popped up on a small screen in front of her - not that she needed them. “Hey! Are you ready to go?”

By the end of the song, Nazuna was beaming. For the first time in way too long, she wasn’t worried about how her head wasn’t the right shape, or how her claws could tear up the insides of her pockets if she wasn't careful, or how she didn’t know what to do with the tail stuck to her back; For one small moment, she felt like just Nazuna again.

“That wasn’t a fair deal.”

“But you agreed to it.”

“You didn’t tell me I’d be doing crimes!” If they weren’t hiding out in an alley off to the side of the festival, someone probably would’ve overheard that.

Regardless, Marie clamped her paw over the fox’s mouth. “Quiet! And you didn’t do any crimes. You just walked up to that shrew guy and started a friendly conversation.”

Nazuna pulled the mink’s paw off her face. “Yeah, so that monkey guy could run off with his wallet,” she huffed. “Why did I have to be the distraction, anyways?”

“What, it wasn’t obvious? I could tell from a couple miles away that schmuck had never talked to a cute girl in his entire life.” Marie shrugged with a smug smirk. “And you seem like the type to just eat up attention, Miss Karaoke Star.”

Nazuna’s tail fluffed up indignantly, and she bit back a comeback, knowing the weasley mink would just turn it into another jab. “I’m not that cute,” she eventually spat out.

“If you say so.” Marie started walking back toward the festival. “My partner should be hiding out behind that giant TV. C’mon, don’t wanna keep him waiting. And once you’ve got your cut, you can get more of those sugar-fried-things.”

More snacks did sound nice. So did having a wallet that wasn’t empty. “Alright, don’t rush me,” she said as she caught up to Marie.

Compared to the rest of the festival, the underside of the giant TV was cold, dark, and empty. In the corner of her eye, Nazuna saw a coyote holding a toolbox walking in the opposite direction of her. Probably just some maintenance guy. “So,” she said, trying to fill the uncomfortable emptiness, “is this what the job you offered me will be like?”

“Sometimes,” Marie replied. “Mostly I just want someone to be in one place when I need to be somewhere else. And that someone can’t belong to any of the gangs.” She flashed a wicked smirk. “You’re not scared, are you?”

Nazuna gulped. “You never said anything about gangs.”

“Oh, did I forget to mention that? Sorry.” There wasn’t a hint of a hint of remorse in her tone. “Don’t worry, my job won’t get you into gang wars if you do it right. In fact, I’m usually the one selling stuff to the gangs,” Marie said, chuckling proudly. Then she looked up at the scaffolding, and said, “But seriously, what’s taking him so long?”

BA-BOOM!!

A cloud of fire and smoke burst out, blowing Nazuna and Marie both off their feet. Nazuna stood up just in time for the scaffolding to creak, bend, and finally give way. The giant TV screen was falling!

Marie was already scampering away on all fours. She looked over her shoulder and shouted “Run, kid!”

That was all she could do. But as she got closer to safety, and as the TV got closer to the ground, all she could see was the people that weren’t out of danger. There were older people who couldn’t move as fast, families trying to stay together through the chaos, and at least one person who was paralyzed in fear.

And this was supposed to be a paradise for Beastmen.

Nazuna felt something growing deep within herself. A rising heat in every cell of her body as her heart pounded faster and faster. She’d felt it before, the first couple of times she saw someone else’s face in the mirror, and whenever she had to run from the Beastman-hunters. But those times, she managed to push it down before anything could come of it. Stay calm, she’d told herself, don’t panic. Not now. Not when not just her life, but the lives of others were on the line. Not when her blood was boiling and her body was shaking and all the pain and frustration of being absolutely helpless was swelling within her. Red light consumed her eyes, and a pink glow spread over the rest of her form.

Glowing red veins pulsed across her body as she started growing at a rapid pace. Her paws slammed into the ground as her form became less and less human. Where a teenage Beastman girl once stood, there was now a colossal, monstrous fox, shining with a light that flooded the area. Without thinking, she lunged into the TV’s path just in time for it to crash and break against her back. She barely felt the impact. But right after, her pulse started to slow down, and just as suddenly as it happened, the transformation undid itself.

In her last moments before passing out, Nazuna said breathlessly, “What just happened?”

When the dust had settled and people had started dispersing, Marie made her way back into the festival venue. “Some stunt you pulled,” she murmured as she slipped her white coat over Nazuna’s unconscious body - her transformation had more or less shredded the outfit she was wearing.

“So you know her,” said a stern voice.

The mink looked up, and saw the fearsome white wolf himself. “And what about it, Ogami? I can assure you, I didn’t know she could do that.”

Ogami shoved a wad of bills into Marie’s paws. “Take her somewhere safe, and where I can find her. Be subtle about it.”

“What a gentleman, paying me before I even ask.” The mink slipped the money into her pocket. “You better just want to talk to her.”

“I do. After I’ve found the scum that did this.” Without another word, he bolted down an alley.

Marie scoffed. “Drama queen.” It took a few tries, but eventually she managed to hoist Nazuna over her shoulder. After quickly making sure she wasn’t being followed, she left the scene as fast as she could carrying dead weight.

Chapter Text

“I really did it! I passed the audition!”

“That’s… That’s great, Nazuna…” Michiru forced a smile, but that couldn’t hide how much she was trembling.

Nazuna sighed. “Michiru, if something’s wrong, you know you can tell me.”

“It’s n-nothing… Just a head cold, I’m…” Suddenly, she gasped and fell onto her hands and knees, groaning uncomfortably.

“Michiru!?” Nazuna bent down and put Michiru’s arm around her shoulders. “Hang in there, I’ll get you to the nurse’s office, just… huh?” Right as Nazuna lifted her friend back onto her feet, she felt coarse brown fur pushing up between her fingers. Michiru could only stare in dumbfounded horror at the clawed paws where her hands should’ve been.

Nazuna wanted to say “Don’t panic, I’m right here” or “Everything’s going to be okay.” But instead, in her shock, she pulled her hand off Michiru’s furry arm, and said, “Y-you’re a Beastman?”

Michiru looked at her friend like she’d just been stabbed. Her eyes had changed from their normal brown color to a strange, two-tone teal. She stared for a few seconds, then turned and ran away.

“No, wait!” Nazuna woke up suddenly, reaching out at nothing. She groaned, and pulled the bedsheet over her head. “...hate that dream,” she murmured.

Then she realized that she didn’t remember going to sleep on a bed, and bolted upright. Frantically looking around, she found herself resting on a cot in a small, cluttered room. Really, it looked more like a closet. A set of neatly folded clothes were on top of a few boxes, and her wallet was on top of that. That was the point when Nazuna noticed that she was wearing a bathrobe instead of the outfit she’d had on the night before.

“Think, Nazuna,” she whispered to herself, trying to remember the night before. Her memories only started getting hazy at the festival. There was… an explosion, she was pretty sure of that. And then she transformed into some kind of giant monster fox thing? That couldn’t be right… Maybe it was a hallucination from hitting her head on the ground? That sounded reasonable; She was pretty close to the explosion, after all. In any case, that was where the memories stopped.

She shook her head, and decided to worry about that later. Right now, she needed to figure out where she was. Nazuna quietly slipped out of bed, and without much else to do, she slipped on the clothes laid out for her - a plain t-shirt and black jeans - and then checked her wallet to make sure whoever brought her here hadn’t taken anything out. Of course, there wasn’t much of value left, just her student ID and a few gift cards that wouldn’t be useful in Anima City, but Nazuna liked to be careful whenever she could.

As it turned out, her student ID card was missing.

Her student ID that had her full name and species printed on it.

Someone must have swiped it while she was out cold.

Someone knew who she really was.

Someone knew what she really was.

A knock at the door snapped Nazuna back into reality. A deep voice on the other side said, “Are you awake yet?” She yelped in surprise. “I’ll take that as a yes. Come out whenever you’re decent. There’s food waiting for you.”

Nazuna waited until she couldn’t hear any footsteps to slip out the door. It wasn’t until she started walking that she realized how drained she felt, despite having just woken up. Her arms felt way too heavy, and her tail was hanging limply and dragging on the floor behind her. Probably just lingering trauma from the explosion, she figured.

Waiting for her in a common area just outside was a white-haired human - no, more likely a Beastman in his human morph - wearing a choker, sitting on a couch. “Sit down,” he said, barely looking in her direction.

You could at least pretend to be accommodating. Nazuna sat down on a couch across from the man, a coffee table in between them. True to his word, there was a plate of toaster waffles that hadn’t quite gone cold yet sitting on the table. “So, um… Where am I?”

“You’re at the Beastman Co-op.” He did not elaborate any further.

Nazuna waited a few seconds to respond. Partially because she was waiting for the stranger to keep going, but mostly because she was busy eating her meal as fast as she could without getting crumbs all stuck in her fur. “And who are you?”

“Shirou Ogami. I work for the mayor.” Well, at least he gave a bit more than just a name. “I’ll ask the questions now.” Shirou pulled his phone out of his pocket, and slid it across the table. “Can you tell me what this is?”

Confused, Nazuna picked up the phone. It was opened to a picture of last night’s festival… probably. The picture was blurry, like whoever took it was running. Which, considering the explosion, was pretty likely. But the important part was the enormous pink light that almost sort of looked like a fox.

So it wasn’t a dream?

Nazuna slid the phone back to Shirou. “I don’t know. It’s a pretty bad picture.”

Shirou chuckled as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I admire the attempt, but you can’t hide the truth from me. I saw you transform last night.” He absentmindedly tugged at his choker. “Obviously, ordinary Beastmen can’t do anything like that. All I want to know is how you did it.”

Nazuna looked down at her knees. She hated it, this feeling that someone was seeing straight through her. “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I had no idea I could do that until last night.” She sighed, and leaned back on the couch. “So I guess you brought me here, then?”

“No, that was Itami,” he said dismissively.

“Marie!?” On one hand, that meant Shirou probably didn’t dig through her wallet and take her ID. On the other hand, Marie Itami knew everything about her. Nazuna quickly composed herself. “That reminds me, I was going to meet up with Marie this morning. I’m probably already late, so I’ll get going, if you don’t have any other questions you need to ask.”

Shirou’s constant scowl didn’t change at all, and Nazuna wasn’t sure if that was good or not. “Do whatever business you have with her. I’ve already spoken with the owners of the Co-op about you, so you’re free to come back here if you don’t have a place to stay.” He stood up, and pulled on a trenchcoat that had been draped over the back of his couch. “I have a job of my own to attend to. I’ll see you around.”

Finding her way back to the large crossing where the festival had been held was easy enough, considering all the road work signs flagging traffic away from last night’s destruction. From there, Nazuna just had to retrace her steps to get back to the harbor. Of course, it was possible that Marie wanted to meet her at a different abandoned harbor, but that seemed unnecessarily complicated.

Sure enough, the weasley mink was there waiting. She was in her human morph, but that unapologetically smug look on her face was unmistakable. “Oh good, you made it,” Marie said as she saw Nazuna coming. “I was worried, you know. But look at you, you’re walking off that bomb like a champ!”

“Cut the act,” Nazuna snapped. “I want the money you promised me. And my student ID.”

Marie raised an eyebrow, and started thumbing through a wad of bills in her coat pocket. “And what gave you the idea that I’d have that? I mean, I could make some quick cash by selling fake IDs, but posing as a high schooler won’t get you anywhere fun.”

Nazuna crossed her arms. “You’re the only one who touched my wallet since I got here. You’re not as slick as you think.”

“Yeah, and neither are you.” Marie handed Nazuna a small pile of bills, with a familiar plastic card on top. “The whole ‘raised by humans’ thing’s a decent cover story, but you’re trying way too hard. Cut the sobbing, and maybe someone will actually buy it.” She snatched away a bill from the top of Nazuna’s pile. “You’re out of free tips, by the way.”

Nazuna stuffed her ill-gotten earnings in her pocket before Marie could whittle them down any more. “Just… don’t tell anyone about me, okay?”

Marie hummed. “I don’t know if I can do that. Plenty of my clients have a grudge against the humans, after all.” She grinned viciously. “But… if you decided to keep helping me out with jobs every now and then… Well, I wouldn’t want to sabotage my own assets, y’know?”

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“Call it whatever you want.” Marie held out her hand. “Do we have a deal, kid?”

Reluctantly, Nazuna shook her hand. “Yeah, fine.”

In an immaculately-kept meeting room, a blonde-haired man was holding a video conference with one of his subordinates on the other side of the world. “And how is your new guest holding up, Director Yaba? I certainly hope you’ve been accommodating.”

“She… well, she hasn’t been very cooperative,” said the bald Beastman on his computer screen. “But so far, there haven’t been any unforeseen consequences. Everything’s going according to-” A phone started ringing, cutting him off. “S-sorry, Mr. Chairman, but do you mind if I-”

“No, go ahead,” the man said, waving his hand. “I don’t have any other meetings after this.”

Yaba turned away from the screen. “Yes, this is Yaba,” he said in a hushed tone, utterly failing to hide his growing anxiety. “Wh-what!?”

The blonde man smirked and crossed his arms. “Is something wrong, Director?”

“Th-the girl, she-” Yaba was cut off again, this time by the door behind him being sent flying into the room. Standing in the empty door frame was a tanuki girl, one arm swollen with muscle to absurd proportions.

She growled and pointed at Yaba. “You! You look like you’re in charge here. Where the hell am I!?”

The man sighed and shook his head. “Director… Don’t tell me you forgot to tell her why we’ve been keeping an eye on her. Why, it’s no wonder she’s so worked up!

The tanuki’s glare snapped toward the monitor in front of her. “And who are you supposed to be!?”

“Now now, there’s no need to be so aggressive.” The man gave an artificial smile. “Miss Kagemori, is it? My name is Alan Sylvasta. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

Chapter Text

It had been just over a week since Nazuna came to Anima City, and she had started to fall into something resembling a routine. Most days she would get a text from Marie telling her to go somewhere for a job - never explaining what the job was until she showed up, naturally - and that would take up most of the day. She’d spent her days off wandering the city, and by this point she had a pretty good idea of where everything important was. At some point she found the time to drop into the municipal building to officially register as a resident of Anima City, and on that same day the couple running the Co-op had bought her a new phone, to replace the one she’d left behind when she ran away from home. Frustratingly, it couldn’t connect to the Internet outside of Anima City, but it at least let her stay in contact with the few people she knew.

So far, she hadn’t needed to use her strange power again, and it seemed like she’d told Shirou “I don’t know how it works, I was a normal Beastman until that night” enough times for him to stop grilling her on it. But of course, that wasn’t enough to stop him from stopping by the Co-op to check on her at the end of each day. He said the mayor wanted him to make sure Nazuna was adapting well to the city, but it was painfully obvious that there was another motive. Whatever it was, Nazuna wouldn’t let the wolf know anything more about her past. It was bad enough that one person knew what she was.

It was just after sundown when Nazuna’s phone buzzed. She knew who was texting her before she even pulled the phone out of her pocket.

*Got a job for you tomorrow. Come to my place for info

*Now

“So pushy,” Nazuna muttered as she sent a quick reply. She shouted up to the Horners that she was leaving, and was out the door before she knew whether or not they actually heard her.

Navigating the streets of Anima City was getting easier, but it was still a bit of a challenge. It might’ve been a smaller city, but it was still on a totally different level from the country town she’d grown up in. The fact that Marie only showed Nazuna routes that awkwardly wound through alleys and backstreets wasn’t helping either, even if it did make sense considering that none of the work they did was legal.

Marie lived in an apartment that was run-down compared to how Nazuna was used to living, but not too bad if you compared it to the seriously run-down parts of Anima City. Nazuna wondered why she didn’t move somewhere nicer with all the money she swindled, but knew better than to ask.

“So, first things first,” the mink said, laying down so that she took up the entire couch. “Tell me everything I’ve told you about the Family.”

Nazuna leaned back in her chair. “Biggest gang in the city. Their boss is a guy named Flip and he has a grudge against humans. We sell them the stuff you smuggle in from the mainland.”

“That’s right, little fox.” Marie sat up and leaned forward, looking way more intense than usual. “So, this morning one of their goons rang me up. Sounds like they’re planning something big for tomorrow.”

Nazuna’s tail flicked around nervously. “And what does that have to do with me..?”

Marie switched back to her typical smug look. “Well y’see, Flip’s got a daughter around your age. Likes to sneak out, and crazy into humans. He wants you to keep her busy so she doesn’t wander off into the city while the Family’s doing their thing. Should be easy money, right?”

“You sure that’s it? Sounds like there’s a catch,” Nazuna said, crossing her arms.

“No catches for you.” Marie smirked. “Just don’t break anything too important. I like not owing anything to Anima City’s most notorious crime lord.”

Managing to keep her nervousness hidden, Nazuna said, “Alright… But what will you be doing?”

The mink chuckled. “That’s nothing you need to worry about, kid.”

Early the next morning, a truck carrying medical supplies exploded, and an anonymous bomb threat was sent to the mayor’s office and the medical center. None of this was public knowledge, but Marie wouldn’t be a half-decent informant if she didn’t have ways to hear things she wasn’t supposed to.

Using a terrorist threat at a smokescreen might’ve worked on the police, but there was no way it would work on Marie Itami.

As soon as she caught wind of the ploy, she went to stake out the medical center. Slipping past the watchman was hilariously easy, and then it was a matter of waiting in the parking structure for something unusual to happen.

Over the course of the day, three unusual things happened.

First, an unmarked black van picked up a tanuki girl. Not relevant to the current situation, but it might be relevant to her newest accomplice, given how young the tanuki looked. Marie snapped a picture.

Second, a pack of the Family’s goons showed up to pick up some kind of shipment. With a staff member coming down to help them, no less. Marie snapped another picture.

Third, an explosion went off directly above her. Marie scurried off to somewhere less likely to collapse on her head.

Marie had done a respectable job getting everything arranged for Nazuna. Early in the morning, a limousine showed up at the Co-op to pick her up. The driver didn’t talk much at all - which Nazuna expected - and soon enough she was dropped off at a opalescent manor right on the water. Another Beastman escorted her inside, with a short but clear warning not to “try anything funny” while she was there.

Nazuna had long since accepted that she could never go back to her old life, and had cut most of her ties to her past when she left home. It was to protect her family, she would tell herself on those cold nights when she was still on the run. If the Beastman-hunters caught wind of her background, they would think her parents were passing off some fox girl as their human daughter. She couldn’t put them in danger like that. It was better this way.

So needless to say, she was rather surprised when the mafia princess she was supposed to look after turned out to be someone she recognized.

“Nazuna? No way,” the blue-haired girl said. “You were also pretending to be a human!?”

“Ehehe... Yeah.” Nazuna rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. She would take that cover story if Nina was offering. “You had me fooled, too.”

Around when she started high school, Nazuna met Nina on Facelook. At the time, she thought Nina was just a city girl with a dye job who matched her passion for music with a love of all things pop culture. That was before Nina started pushing products and her account exploded in popularity, but they stayed friends even afterwards.

“Why’d you stop posting? I was so worried about you!”

“How long have you been in Anima City?”

“Did you get to see the festival? My dad wouldn’t let me go.”

They fritted time away, talking about random things. It wasn’t exactly like the way things used to be, but Nina’s bubbly excitement was sort of like Michiru’s brash attitude, and the familiarity was comfortable. Nina pelted Nazuna with questions about life on the mainland, surrounded by humans, and Nazuna spun a more filled-in version of the story she gave Marie; She was adopted and raised by a human couple, pretending to be a human to protect herself and her parents from the scorn that would surely follow such a family. Eventually she just got fed up with hiding who she was from everyone, and ran away to Anime City.

“Nobody knew? Not even that girl you were always hanging out with?” Nina looked simultaneously enthralled and saddened.

“Well…” Of course she would ask about that. At least half of the pictures she posted were with Michiru. “She does now. She didn’t take it very well.”

Nina gasped. “But she’s your friend, isn’t she?”

“I’m not sure if we’re still friends.” Nazuna’s ears dropped sullenly. “She probably doesn’t want to see me anymore.”

“Things can’t be that bad between you,” Nina said, trying to bring the mood back up.

Hesitating, Nazuna knocked on the bedroom door. “Michiru? Are you in there” She heard shuffling from the other side, but no response. “Okay, fine, you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to.” She sighed. “Look, I was just freaking out. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a Beastman; You’re still my friend.” She heard a choked-back sob, and the sound of something getting knocked over. “Huh? What’s going on in there?” Still no response. With a frustrated groan, Nazuna braced herself to open the door.

She got inside just in time to see a blue-and-black tail drop out the window.

“You idiot,” she said under her breath, as she turned and ran back out of the house.

The fox shook her head. “No, it’s pretty bad. I want to apologize to her, but…”

“Wait! I just had a GREAT idea!” Nina sprang off the couch, flipped in midair, and landed in her animal form - a dolphin. “Is your town close to the water? I can take you there on my back! You can go see your friend again!”

Nazuna faked a laugh. “Ehehehe… What?”

“I can definitely get us back before dark if we leave now!” Her eyes almost looked like they were sparkling. “Plus, I’ve always wanted to see real humans! C’mon, let’s go!”

Nazuna turned away, and stared coldly at her reflection in the third-floor window. “Sorry, but I can’t go back.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“That’s not my life anymore.” She clenched her fists in her pockets. Don’t get mad, think rationally, she told herself. Nina doesn’t know what she’s talking about. But that didn’t change how hard it was to hear Nina acting so upbeat and casual about going back to her old life, the life she had tried so hard to cut herself off from. Despite how Nazuna prided herself on her ability to keep a grip on her emotions, anger was undeniably simmering within her. “I don’t belong with humans. It’s better for everyone if I stay away.”

Nina gasped a second time. “Is that what your friend said when she found out you’re a-”

That was the last straw. “No.” Nazuna whipped around, rage quietly burning in her eyes. “Michiru would never say that. I chose to leave that life behind.” Her hair fell to cover her eyes, and she didn’t bother brushing it away. It helped to hide the tears that were welling up. “I’m not a human anymore, and there’s no point pretending I am.”

“Anymore?”

Nazuna didn’t care enough to backpedal or correct herself. She stood up, and walked up to the large window overlooking the water. She glared at the red-eyed fox reflected back at her. “My old life vanished a year ago, and I won’t waste my time trying to get it back.” She bumped her fist against the glass. “I don’t have anywhere to come home to.” She lightly punched her reflection. “I don’t have any family looking after me, or any friends that care about me.”

Her vision was tinted red. “So don’t tell me to go back to a home I don’t have!” She wound back, and she punched the fox who stole everything from her with all her strength!

The window cracked, and shattered, her paw being torn up as it rammed through jagged shards. Nazuna fell out along with the glass.

“Nazuna!” Nina ran to the open ledge and reached out futilely.

For a few stretched-out moments, Nazuna felt weightless. It felt nice, letting loose with her feelings for once. That feeling was quickly replaced by the general fear and panic that comes with falling out a third-story window. She closed her eyes and tried to brace for the impact.

…

The impact didn’t hurt nearly as much as she expected. She could vaguely hear Nina shouting something from above. Still, it wasn’t as if people could just walk away from that sort of fall. Nazuna just kept laying down and waited for her consciousness to fade away.

When that didn’t happen, she opened her eyes and realized that she was an enormous glowing monster fox once again.

Chapter Text

For the first time since she came to Anima City, Nazuna had morphed into her human form.

Not because she wanted to, or even because it was considered normal; It was just that her arm was oozing blood down to her elbows, and it was easier to clean and bandage it without fur to get in the way. Her dramatic transformation may have numbed the pain, but it did nothing for the actual injury. Whenever someone asked why she stayed morphed all the time - usually Shirou or Marie - Nazuna would just say she was more comfortable with her fox morph, or that staying human felt like having to constantly hold her breath. That wasn’t too far off from the truth.

The truth was that looking like a fox didn’t hurt as much as almost looking like a human.

Learning how to transform, how to flex those mental muscles she didn’t have before had taken a month or two, but she figured it out well before she decided to run away. Maybe she could’ve gone back to her old life by pretending to be human, but… it wouldn’t be the same. She wasn’t the same, and Michiru was unbearably absent. And now that she’d left that life behind, seeing the old Nazuna did nothing but tear open wounds she would rather ignore.

Once there were enough layers of bandages for the red to stop bleeding through, Nazuna morphed back into her fox form and said, “Sorry about the window.”

“Oh, that’s no big deal,” Nina said dismissively. “I’ve had to cover up way worse before. Like, at my sixteenth birthday party, someone broke my dad’s pool table in half!”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Nazuna couldn’t tell if Nina was just putting up a cheery front or not, but she appreciated it even if it was only an act. She had, accidentally or not, pushed away so many people in her life, even the one person she thought would never abandon her. “So, about… what just happened-”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me!” The dolphin gave a cute smile. “Honestly, I think it’s pretty cool that you’re a human, and how you can turn into a big wolf thing.”

“Pretty sure it’s still a fox,” Nazuna corrected.

Nina started scrolling on her phone. “You look sort of like a wolf, though. That’s what everyone online thinks, too. Here, check it out,” she said as she handed the phone to Nazuna.

It was opened to a page on Anima City’s public forums. Someone had posted the blurry picture of her at the festival, and the comments were full of people arguing over what exactly the glowing creature was. Some people claimed it was just lingering chemicals from the explosion mixing with the colored spotlights in a weird way, and others said it was obviously edited in. But the vast majority of comments seemed to think she was the “Silver Wolf,” or at least related to it.

Nazuna vaguely recalled Marie mentioning it on the night she arrived. She didn’t remember any details - it was a pretty eventful night, after all - but it seemed important to the Beastmen. “This is kind of embarrassing to ask, but… what’s the Silver Wolf?”

“Right, you probably wouldn’t know, ‘cause you’re a human.” Nazuna bit back her gut reaction to clarify that she used to be human. “So basically, there’s this Beastman who’s been around for over a thousand years that can turn into a huge silver wolf, and he shows up out of nowhere to protect Beastmen in need!”

“Huh.” Nazuna’s eyes narrowed. “And you believe that?”

Nina shrugged. “I mean, I get that it’s not very realistic, but I really like the idea.” She leaned back against the wall and added, “It’s mostly kids and old people who totally believe.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Nazuna thought back to the small shrine the Horners kept in the Co-op that she never bothered to ask about. “I hope he’s not mad about everyone mistaking me for him.”

“I think you’re in the clear,” Nina said with a giggle. “Like, if he protects all Beastmen, he’s gotta be a nice person.”

Nazuna let out a chuckle. “You’ve got a point. I bet he’s glad I was at the festival to give him a night off!”

“By the way, Ogami, what do you think of Miss Hiwatashi?”

That came out of nowhere. Of course, the mayor had a habit of using Shirou’s debriefings as a convenient excuse to discuss their off-the-books operations. Especially if they happened to be talking somewhere other than her office, where there weren’t any security tapes to record anything that wasn’t meant to be seen.

“She’s obviously hiding something,” Shirou said in his typical icy tone. “I just need to find out what.”

Mayor Rose scratched her chin. “Do you suspect she’s… like you?”

“No,” Shirou growled.

The mayor nodded. “I thought as much. I’ve done some research of my own, you know, and I’ve found something very interesting.” She produced a tablet, and started tapping away. “You see, I couldn’t find any records of a fox Beastman with both her name and approximate age, but I was able to find this.” She handed the tablet to Shirou.

It was opened to a local news website from a small town out in the country. The specific article was about a traffic accident involving two human high schoolers: the school’s star basketball player Michiru Kagemori, and an honors student named Nazuna Hiwatashi. Difference in species aside, the girl shown in a yearbook photo looked remarkably similar to the fox girl who insisted on staying morphed at all times.

All Shirou had to say was, “You can’t be serious.”

“The initial buzz has died down, but there are many who believe her to be the Silver Wolf.” Mayor Rose’s gaze hardened. “What do you think would happen if the people believed that a human was impersonating their protector?”

“There would be a mass panic, possibly riots. Even if what you’re suggesting turns out to be completely false, there would be no peace for the Beastmen until they put her head on a stake if any rumors spread too far.” Shirou groaned slightly - an injury from earlier in the day had decided to act up. “I know someone she sees quite often. If she knows anything, I’ll find out.”

“I’ll leave the investigation to you, then.” The mayor smiled, and departed from the Co-op.

All things considered, it hadn’t been the worst day Nazuna had since coming to Anima City. Sure, she’d be stuck wearing gross bandages for who-knows-how-many days, and she ruined a second outfit and had to steal one of Nina’s dresses, but she also made a friend. An actual friend, not a friend that constantly extorted her for profit. Because of that, Nazuna had a little bit more pep in her step when she returned to the Co-op.

Naturally, Shirou was waiting in the lobby. Nazuna could see some bandages under his shirt. “What happened to you?”

“Had a bad fall,” he said coldly. “What about your arm?”

“Broke a window.” Nazuna walked right past him, up the stairs, and into her room. Maybe she’d ask the Horners about their shrine in the morning. It had been a nice day overall, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t tired out from both keeping a mafia princess entertained and transforming into a fox-wolf-thing. Unfortunately, she had only just started getting comfortable when her phone buzzed.

*Come to the docks

*I have your paycheck

*Also found something interesting

*Might be about your friend

*Hurry it up

“No way.” Nazuna ran out of her room and onto the rooftop, and nearly went back into the Co-op before remembering that Shirou was still there. She didn’t want to make him anymore suspicious than he already was, and she half-expected him to try and stop her from leaving so late. She could just wait for him to leave, but Marie got really annoyed when she showed up late. And besides, Nazuna didn’t want to waste any time when there might finally be a clue towards finding Michiru.

“This wouldn’t be a problem if I was a bird or something,” she muttered to herself, leaning on a handrail. “Why’d I have to be stuck as a fox?” Nazuna didn’t get desperate often, but this was different. She had to make things right with Michiru, even if things could never be the same again. Even if Michiru never forgave her.

Her fists tightened around the rail as a pink glow crept up her arms. By the time Nazuna noticed, her arms had grown larger and sprouted broad feathers down to her shoulders. “I have wings!?” It was confusing, but she wasn’t going to complain. A sly grin spread across her face. “Alright, let’s see that old dog try to catch me now." With a powerful wingbeat, she shot up into the sky.

As it turned out, there was more to flying than just flapping her wings. More times than Nazuna would like to admit, she was blown off-balance when the wind decided to change direction randomly. It was still faster than walking though, and Nazuna would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy the feeling of freedom just a little bit.

When she looked at Anima City from above, she didn’t feel quite as trapped there.

The abandoned docks were routinely used for shady business, which meant Nazuna knew her way there pretty well. She landed on a fire escape a block away, and her wings receded shortly after. Which was absolutely fine - Those wings were hers, and she didn’t want Marie to use them for some new scheme. As she walked the last stretch to her destination, she hastily fixed her hair and outfit, which had been blown all out of place mid-flight.

“Wow, you were almost on time,” the weasley mink cooed as Nazuna approached.

The fox rolled her eyes. “Shirou wouldn’t leave me alone. I had to get creative to make it here.”

“Is that so? You must be pretty scrappy to sneak past that guy.” She pulled a wad of bills out of her pocket. “By the way, I heard you wrecked one of Flip’s windows. Those things are expensive to replace, you know.”

Nazuna smirked. “You only said I couldn’t break anything important.”

“You make a good point! Guess that means you earned your cut.” Marie tossed a third of her stack to Nazuna. “And since you’ve made friends with the biggest influence on one of Anima City’s biggest influences, I’ve got a little bonus for you.”

Nazuna felt her heart stop for a second. Marie pulled out her phone, and continued, “I happened to be near the Medical Center earlier today, and I spotted these characters skulking around.” She passed the phone to Nazuna.

There was a picture of three men in black suits leading a tanuki Beastman into an unmarked van. It didn’t have a good view of her face, but Nazuna certainly recognized the brown fur and blue-and-black hair.

Her hands started shaking. “She really is here.”

Chapter Text

In addition to a state-of-the-art hospital and a pharmaceutical R&D lab, the Sylvasta Medical Center also housed an athletic facility. It was supposed to be for physical therapy, but Michiru had managed to get permission to use the basketball court when it was free. Even without anyone to play with or against, just dribbling around and shooting hoops helped to keep her mind off of the many worries eating away at her. Like if she could ever be human again, if Nazuna would ever look at her the same way she used to, or, most recently, if the medical center would stay open now that the director had been arrested. As much as she hated being confined to wherever the staff said she was allowed, an even more dreadful fate would be getting shipped off to some other facility hundreds of miles away like she was just the Sylvasta Conglomerate’s property.

Just as Michiru dunked a ball through the hoop, someone said, “Your form is lovely, Michiru.”

“Eh?” Still hanging from the rim, she spotted a familiar blonde man standing next to the door. “Alan!?” She dropped down, her tail spontaneously growing huge to cushion her fall. “But I thought only Beastmen were allowed in Anima City?”

“Normally that would be the case,” Alan explained, “but seeing as my company provides the city with most of its funding, I have certain privileges. Regardless, I’m glad to see you weren’t hurt in the bombing the other day.”

“Yeah…” Michiru looked off to the side dejectedly. “The director - er, former director had some guys drive me around when the explosion happened.” She still didn’t understand what made her so important that Yaba wouldn’t risk her safety; He clearly didn’t have the same concern for his subordinates.

“I see. How uncharacteristically proactive of him,” Alan said. “Now Michiru, my official reason for being here is to take over as director until we can find a suitable replacement. But you know my real reason for coming all the way here from Europe, yes?”

Michiru crossed her arms. These weird games he liked to play were annoying over the phone, and they were just as annoying in person. “You want to look into my disease personally, with the best equipment you have available.”

“Correct. And more importantly, now that we’re talking face-to-face in my own facility, I don’t need to worry about our conversations being monitored. Which means…” His icy blue eyes seemed to pierce right through the tanuki. “I can give you the answers you’ve been looking for. Why you became a Beastman, and why I had to take such drastic measures to track you down. However, I will warn you, the truth is quite disturbing, frightening even. Knowing that, do you still want the truth?”

Michiru gulped, but met Alan’s piercing gaze with her own. “Tell me everything.”