I haven't written a Wolf's Rain fic in a long, long time...It's my first KibaHige, though, 'cause back in the day, I was an anti-yaoi freak. But okay! Moving on. This is a light and fluffy oneshot; there aren't many light and fluffy oneshots around, so I feel it's my duty to write some, even if they do suck. Beware OOCness--I'm sorry, I did my fucking best. Well, I put in some effort at least. I don't own Wolf's Rain, 'cause if I did, the ending wouldn't have made me cry as hard as it did. ...:sniff: And yes, it's short. Get over it.

BEWARE THE FLUFF! ID

Your Warmth

It was raining, but inside it was warm. "Inside" was a dark little cave, and of course it was warmer than outside, with a small fire going--but hey, compare freezing rain to a cozy little campfire with four wolves snuggling together and take a pick. Toboe had already fallen asleep, sprawled against Tsume, who fell asleep soon after; they were all exhausted. Hige felt his eyelids droop and shifted so he could lay against Kiba; it always made him feel a whole lot safer, more secure, being around the white wolf. He frowned when he felt no warm fur and rolled over to find the spot next to him vacant.

Alarm filled him swiftly and he jumped up. Lifting his snout to the air, he was relieved to find that Kiba's scent was nearby. Padding silently away from the warmth of the fire to the mouth of the cave, Hige sat next to his leader, who was staring out into the rain with his back to the fire.

"You'll make yourself sick, you know," Hige said off-handedly, eyeing the black-haired boy. He wasn't surprised when Kiba didn't reply, only sighed inwardly at the thought of the warmth he'd surrendered.

Kiba noticed and said, "You should get some rest." His brilliant blue eyes were piercing. "We start early tomorrow."

"You are one of the most hypocritical people I've ever met," Hige muttered, not moving except to shift into a more comfortable position.

Kiba looked puzzled; Hige took pride in knowing that he was one of the few who knew what to say to take that calm mask from his leader's face. "How so?"

Sounding world-weary, Hige replied, "You never sleep." Kiba opened his mouth but Hige continued, "Don't try to argue with me, because you know it's true as well as I do, and when you're arguing for no reason your voice has no conviction--it's easy to see through your lies, so you might as well just tell the truth."

Kiba blinked at him. "You seem to know a lot," he said, smiling. Hige felt himself melt a little, and shook himself.

"Out of everyone here, who the hell do you think pays the most attention to your bullshit?" Hige grinned at him, poking him in the shoulder. "I'm the only one who listens, you know. Tsume tunes you out and politics don't matter to the runt--those two'll just follow you no matter what."

Kiba's blue eyes were impenetrable when they held Hige's gaze. "And you?"

Hige grinned uneasily, aware of their close proximity. "And me?"

"Will you follow me, too?"

Hige was taken aback; Is he honestly asking me that? He felt fury rise inside him and tried to bite it back with no success. "What in the hell kind of question is that?" he snapped, crimson eyes flashing. Kiba blinked again, confused; it only pissed Hige off more. Standing and dusting his pants off, he turned to go back into the cave. "If my loyalty's so questionable, I guess I should stay behind!" He stalked back to the flames and flopped himself down, staring hard into the fire. A few moments of tense silence passed; Toboe shifted in his sleep, whimpering, before quieting again with a sigh.

"Hige," the quiet voice called. "Come here." Hige didn't move; his body yearned to answer the call, but his mind was far too stubborn to allow it. "Hige...Hige, please?"

At the soft pleading, Hige struggled for a moment, then sighed. It was no use trying to ignore it; and in any case, he'd have to deal with Kiba a lot the next day (and the day after, and so on) because he was the only one in the pack Kiba would hear reason from. So he stood again, making his way towards the mouth of the cave. When he sat, he made sure to let Kiba know with body language that he was not happy at being called back out into the cold, and even less so at being made to sit with him. No words passed for several minutes; the tension built up like bricks between them.

"I'm sorry."

Hige blinked, caught off-guard; he was sure he'd heard wrong. "Eh?" he said before he could help it. Keeping quiet had never really been his strong-suit in the first place. A quick glance at Kiba showed the boy to be fully facing him, face almost earnest...but no, not Kiba.

"I didn't mean to make you angry," the boy said softly, leaning around to look into Hige's face. "I just wanted to be sure. I wanted you to tell me you wouldn't leave."

Hige's expression was bitter. "That should've gone without saying."

"I wanted to hear you say it." Kiba's eyes were fixated on him, even though he faced away. "I wanted to hear you say you wouldn't leave me."

Hige's eyes widened in a sudden realization--he inhaled sharply and spun. "Kiba, I'm--" He broke off, and glanced out into the rain; this would not become a soppy sorry-fest. No. "I get it now," he said easily, trying to ease his frustration and having limited success. "Shouldn't have gotten so upset--but you should explain yourself better."

Kiba watched him for a moment, before he turned away again. "Right. Get some sleep, Hige." And all of a sudden, just like that, the warmth in his voice was gone; his eyes were distant and cool. He'd opened himself up, and was disappointed; so, naturally, he closed himself off from the world once more. Hige almost flinched at his tone. So easily he fell back into that cold regal air--the same one he used to win a silent fight against Tsume, or to warn potentially dangerous strangers away from his pack. It had been turned on Hige before, but never without good reason--usually when Hige was being foolish or put the lot of them in danger somehow, or refused to keep moving if it proved too much for Toboe to handle; in any case, he hated to be on the receiving end of that emotionless expression.

It hurts more when Kiba shuts himself down than it would if he'd just get mad. Hige averted his gaze for a moment; he wanted to just leave the situation entirely and go to sleep beside the fire, but he knew that he would always regret it somewhere, somehow--he needed to get it settled then and there. And as a personal law, he usually never acted on a whim and let someone else do the deciding for him--which was why he'd make a poor leader.

But this time, he would act on instinct.

He took a deep breath, preparing beforehand most of what he'd need to say so he wouldn't have to hesitate or falter--or sound like more of an idiot than he usually did--and said quietly, "Kiba, I'll never leave you." He felt the boy beside him stiffen, and didn't pause. "I love traveling with you--following your lead. Tsume and Toboe do, too, but Tsume would make it on his own and he'd take care of the runt. That's not how it is with me. I'm kind of a dependent guy. If you weren't around I'd probably starve, which would suck." His tongue got heavy; this was so stupid. "An...Anyway, I want you to know that I'm going to follow you--I will until you don't want me...around...anymore." A quick save; I don't think I'd ever recover from that; I don't know what I'd do if you didn't want me anymore. He knew Kiba's eyes were on him, but suddenly the rain seemed very fascinating, and his eyes didn't seem to want to leave the sight of the gray drizzle. "So don't worry, okay?" The silence he was met with was not reassuring; he couldn't make himself look over at Kiba, and instead made to stand. "Well, I'm gonna take your advice now and--"

A hand caught his wrist and dragged him back down. He'd been afraid Kiba would have something more to say to him, and cursed inwardly; this was going to be a very awkward conversation. He turned and opened his mouth, to be caught abruptly in a sudden kiss. His eyes widened, and his body tensed; Kiba's hands slid to his neck and pulled him closer, forcing him back onto the ground.

This was not what he'd expected; he lived his life reading people and watching them follow through with how he'd figured they'd react--which was why it was so much fun taunting them. But this completely out-stepped anything he'd seen coming, and he was at a loss. Kiba's eyes were so close and so blue; they pulled him in deeper and deeper, until resistance seemed futile--and just as he was ready to give himself over completely to whatever it was that burned in his chest, Kiba pulled back. He was straddling him and seemed in no hurry to get off.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

Why is he so eager to apologize? Could it be...? "Kiba, what are you afraid of?" Hige asked quietly, trying to catch his breath. He brought his hands up to the ones that held his face, and wrapped his fingers around Kiba's. "No matter how many times you piss me off, I'm not going to disappear, I promise. The only thing that could take me away from you is death." Hige was gratified to see Kiba's eyes widen a little; Kiba had stolen his first kiss, after all, so he might as well give him what came with it, whether he liked it or not--though Hige had a feeling he might. "'Cause I love you, moron."

And when Kiba's eyes flashed suddenly at his words, Hige saw for just an instant all the insecurities and fear and uncertainties the black-haired boy hid from the rest of the world, before they were gone again, covered up by a sea of blue ice. And it hurt to see how much Kiba could suffer without saying a word, and hurt even more still knowing Kiba suffered without saying a word to him. He brought a hand up slowly to trace Kiba's lips with gossamer fingers, and Kiba lowered his face until their mouths met. This time, Hige slid his arms around his waist and stroked his back gently, resting his head on Kiba's shoulder. He could feel his leader trembling, from more than cold and wet, and decided there would be more time later for kisses.

"Kiba, you will get sick out here," he said abruptly, scowling up at the somewhat startled youth on top of him. "And you'll get me sick, too. Why can't we go inside?"

Kiba still didn't move off him; he leaned down to kiss and lick at Hige's face some more, and Hige waited for an answer. Finally, Kiba muttered, "I don't like fire."

And it was the silent agony in those simple words that wrenched at Hige's heart and filled him with a burning regret. He stroked Kiba's face, earning several more kisses, and said, "There's a way to be safe and warm without a fire. Come on." And he wriggled out from beneath him; Kiba didn't seem to like that much--almost as much as he didn't seem to like going near the orange and yellow flames.

"I'll be fine out here," he said quietly.

Hige held a hand out to him with no hesitation at all. "Don't you trust me?" He felt his heart go gooey when Kiba reached out for his hand at once, blue eyes a little lost, which only turned into a strong and fierce desire to make sure nothing in their world or the next ever hurt him again. And he pulled Kiba to his feet, leading him back to where Tsume and Toboe were snuggled warmly together and asleep. Hige edged into their midst and started nudging at them; they responded without waking, shifting to make room for the remaining two of their pack. Hige sat down and then gestured for Kiba to do the same.

He sat close to Hige, who waited for him to get comfortable, and then wrapped his arms around his waist and sighed contentedly. He felt Kiba's arm move under him to wrap around him as well, and lips press phantom kisses into his hair. And then Tsume and Toboe were shifting closer, and the pack shared its warmth.

Owari

A/N: This took me forEVER. Cause I kept stopping, then starting, and tacking random crap on...6.6 Ohh, well. Hope you enjoyed my KxH fluff, please tune in next time for--click.

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