AN: Ah! I'm so sorry that it's been forever... I'm in Rome, so we have limited internet, plus I haven't been inspired to do much on Wolf's Rain because I forgot the entire anime and manga at home (melts and dies). So! Here's a bit more, and I guarantee that this will get finished eventually.

Toboe opened his eyes and sat up from the cot he was sleeping on. He was no longer on the streets, but he wasn’t sure exactly where he was. One person was on his mind, however, the wolf with the X scarred on his chest, the one with the fierce eyes. Toboe couldn’t figure out how he knew him, but somehow he remembered the wolf, and he was drawn to him.

“Hey, runt, you’re up,” a cool voice said from the corner. Toboe whipped his head around and found the wolf, the only wolf he thought about anymore, standing there.

“Who are you?” Toboe asked frantically. “How the hell do I know you? Why do you know my name?”

The scarred wolf frowned. “Are you still the Toboe I knew?” he growled, cocking his head to one side.

“You knew me?” Toboe asked, glaring. “I wasn’t drunk, right?” Toboe narrowed his eyes even more. “What’s your name, anyway?”

The gray wolf stared at his old friend. “My name’s Tsume,” he said slowly. “But you don’t remember who you are, do you?”

“Of course I know who I am!” Toboe snarled at Tsume. “I’ve lived in this damned city all my life! My name is Toboe!” Then Toboe calmed down, and smirked a little. “I sell, too, if that’s what you’re looking for, but I’ve never tried it with another wolf before.”

Tsume continued to stare, and then shook his head. “But all that’s only half true,” Tsume insisted. “Before, in the last world, you had been raised by some old human woman, who gave you bracelets.” Tsume paused and saw that Toboe didn’t have the usual bangles on his front leg. “You were constantly looking for the next human to attach yourself to.” Tsume paused to laugh bitterly. “You were the nicest, most trusting wolf I’d ever met, and at first, I thought you were crazy.”

“I think you’re very confused,” Toboe said, amusement in his voice. “I never lived with an old woman, I just lived here, and I don’t have any bracelets, and I… I hate humans… but I need the money, and… they’re eager to buy.”

“Humans sell their bodies, not wolves,” Toboe hissed. “Who are you kidding, runt?”

“I’m not a runt!” Toboe shouted. “And I can take care of myself. I don’t even know why I came here.” Toboe stood from the cot and staggered to the door, but he fell again before he could go any further.

“Something’s wrong with me,” Toboe muttered, and lay on the floor. Tsume rushed to his side.

“Are you hurt?” Tsume asked, trying to sound coarse.

“No!” Toboe snarled. “I’m fine, I’m just a little hot. Or maybe cold.” Toboe paused and closed his eyes. “Just leave me alone.”

“That’s not happening, runt,” Tsume growled, a human again, leaning against the wall. He was staring down at the runt, who still looked like a wolf. “Can’t you disguise yourself?”

“This happens sometimes, just give me a minute, all right?” Toboe whined, trying to appear human. The human appearance kept flashing, so Toboe stayed a wolf and sighed. “I just need to… sleep a little first.” He opened his eyes weakly and gazed up at Tsume wearily. “What do you want? I don’t have any money.” His eyes narrowed. “And if you’re some crazy pervert, I just want you to know that I don’t… care anymore.” Toboe lay back on the floor.

“Kid, just call me a friend,” Tsume said, shaking his head. “You’re beginning to sound like me, you know? You should cut it out.”

Toboe was silent for a few minutes. “You know,” he said finally, his eyes still closed, “I saw you on the street, I recognized you. I mean, I didn’t even know you, but my mind pulled these memories from the back of my head. They’re not mine.”

“Yes they are!” Tsume hissed. “You just don’t remember like the rest of us wolves do.”

Toboe perked up. “There are others?” he asked, suspicious.

“Can’t you see them on the streets?” Tsume asked, cocking his head.

“Maybe show them to me… sometime,” Toboe said feebly, and lay back down on the floor to sleep.

“Hey, don’t sleep on the floor… you’re blocking the doorway,” Tsume growled. Well, he’d made that up. Toboe wasn’t really blocking the door, he just couldn’t stand to see the frail, dusty-red wolf on the cold cement floor. “Come on, kid, move it.” Toboe was dead asleep, however, so Tsume picked him up gently for the second time that day, cradling the wolf in his arms. “Stupid runt,” Tsume muttered, watching the small wolf fondly. The harshness of his features faded when he slept, and he looked like Toboe had before: sweet and… innocent. Tsume lay the wolf down on his cot and glanced at the sky out the window. It was the middle of the day, but the rain was coming down, just like Tsume had predicted. He was probably late to meet the gang, but he didn’t care anymore. He didn’t want to run a mob of disgusting humans anymore, but he also couldn’t stand to be apart from them. Would Kiba go searching for paradise again in this life? Was it a never-ending quest? And if Kiba did go, would Tsume go with him this time? Would the runt, and Hige, and Blue, and… Darcia? Would the world end again so soon? What use was another chance if they were not continually searching for paradise? But if they were going to go searching again, Tsume wasn’t leaving the runt, because the runt hadn’t left him before.