➪Of sleepless nights and rare beauties|| SUNGTARO

𝐓𝐰𝐨

Shotaro was on his merry way to the town thirty minutes away from their house. How does he know it would take thirty minutes? His dada told him so. One time when his dada took him to town for the very first time so that he could be enrolled in the local preschool and familiarise himself with the road.

The road was just a dirt path the merchants would use as they rode their horses. Sometimes the rich and noble would use magic-fueled vehicles to pass through there.

But early in the morning, mornings like this, there were rarely people on the road. Everyone in their kingdom preferred to travel on the road in the late mornings and late afternoons to avoid the heat.

Shotaro gripped the strap of his backpack lightly. His dada had placed the gifts he was to give inside his bag. It was now inside a box rather than the basket to make it fit. He hummed a happy tune.

He was scared, he wouldn't lie. This would be his first time going to meet the kids of the town. He would also meet other adults, but he wasn't scared of them. His dada said that they only look mean, but that doesn't mean they all are.

“I wonder if I'll make a friend today.” Shotaro only knew his Dada as his friend. There weren't any other houses near there and his dada was scared of him being outside the house alone. So his dada would usually keep him inside if he was out of the house.

He also had a metal canary from a clock that could talk, but he was debating if he could call the metal bird his friend.

“Hopefully they don't find me weird.” He wanted to make sure that every kid would like him. He didn't want to stand out and scare the other kids away because he was from outside the town.

He wondered why his dada made them live outside the town as it was easier to live there. Adults are weird.

Unbeknownst to Shotaro, a dark figure was observing him front behind the trees and bushes. Their keen eyes trailed after his stubby figure.

Hands with long and sharp fingernails gripped the tree they were hiding behind as they liked their lips.

A loud crunch echoed throughout the silent forest. Shotaro paused, looking behind him worriedly before looking forward again.

Maybe he stepped on a leaf, he tried to convince himself as he looked down at his shoes. He lifted his right foot and looked at the group below it before looking at the underside of his shoes. No leaves. He did the same with his left and found no crunched-up leaves.

Another loud crunch echoed again, making his breath hitch. His dada never told him what to do at times like this. He gripped tightly on the straps of his backpack.

“I-I should go.” He stammered, walking again at a faster pace, closely running. He could sense that he wasn't alone. “Dada~” he nearly sobbed, “Da—”

He felt himself be lifted off the ground. He was being raised by his back collar. He kicked his legs in the air, hands leaving the straps of his bags and on the hand that was holding him up.

“h-hey! Let go!”

He felt a deep chuckle from behind him, “Not a chance kid.”

Shotaro froze, his body going limp and his blood running cold. His papa said that other than wild animals, hybrids such as werewolves lived and roamed in the forest as well. Werewolves were known to share the same diet as their animal counterpart. Meat and flesh.

He looked down at the ground, seeing a dark shadow over him. He felt himself hiccup and his eyes water. He just wanted to go to school but knew he was going to get hurt by this person.