breaking little twigs with my feet, and underneath is a road that's so steep

[distrustful]

It had only been a few hours since I woke up to find myself fully human on a night other than the new moon, and I was already starting to crawl out of my skin. It wouldn't have been so bad if all that happened was me losing my powers — frustrating though it would have been, there was some part of me that wondered if life would have been easier as a human. Not just in childhood, but also since deciding to live with Kagome. To live among humans. The longevity of a hanyou made that difficult.

You knew, in your heart, that you would eventually lose everyone.

The problem was, I knew at least one person who had become a hanyou in my stead. And all around the city were people who were picking up strange abilities, clearly without any idea how to manage them, or where they even came from. The chaos put everyone in danger, civilian or law enforcement or otherwise.

And there I was, seated in the park without any additional powers of my own, with nothing but a rusty, chipped sword at my side to show for it.

On the bright side, now that my hair was black and ears had shifted down into a human position, fewer people stared. No one immediately marked me as a danger if I decided to make another round through the city, looking for any other telltale glints of silver hair.

I heaved a deep breath, expression thunderous as I sat. And thought. I almost missed that pesky little Myouga bouncing around on my shoulder. Even if he didn't always have a solution to my problems, he was decent for tossing ideas at.

Comments

[unseentides]

"I know better than to judge someone for their anger," I told him, more fiercely than I'd said just about anything else. So many dismissed Tommy on the basis of his rages, so many didn't get to see the softer side of him as a consequence. Not even Ruth, I don't think. It was their loss. I only wish it hadn't taken me so long to gain in turn. "Not without knowing what prompts it, at least." I shook my head.

[distrustful]

There was someone that Kathy was thinking of. Her gaze alone reflected it, gazing straight past me and towards someone who wasn't in the city. Someone that she might have parted ways with even before arriving in Darrow. The faith that she offered me was heartwarming, but there was a twist of something like shame in my stomach, and I stared down at my hands.

Even though it had been years, there were times when I swore I could still smell the human blood under my claws.

"I wouldn't want to be forgiven for some of the things I did. I hurt people. A lot of people," I admitted, clenching a hand into a fist. "But now all that matters is that I remain strong enough never to give into those weaknesses again. Having people like you around reminds me of that."