𝓫𝓸𝓻𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓲𝓮.

The silence stretched unbearably long while you tried to figure out what had brought this on. Hattori cooed softly and you looked toward the bird settled on his chair before deciding that if he was actually intending anything, he likely wouldn’t have mentioned it. Probably.

“Do you maybe want to sleep on the couch tonight then or…?”

“I’m not struggling to stop myself from doing so,” he said. “It’s nothing so instinctual. This is far more practical. Your life is at risk as long as I am here. If I kill you now, the danger will disappear immediately. No need to concern yourself with it any longer.”

“I like the danger,” you said. “It keeps me young.”

“You won’t enjoy it anymore if the wrong person finds out who you are.”

Alright, this conversation wasn’t about killing you then. You recognised the patterns even if the words themselves sounded threatening.

“I suppose I’ll have to learn how to run away then.”

He stood and closed the distance to your sun lounger; his shadow cast long over your legs as you tilted your head back to look up at him. Hattori fluttered over and landed on his shoulder and, for just a second, he looked as he did the first time you met. Terrifyingly cold.

Then you held out your finger and clicked your tongue, calling Hattori over to you instead, breaking the image before it could take root.

He flew over to your hand and you lifted him to your shoulder, letting him puff against your neck where it was still warm. You picked up the orange slice from your drink and held it close so he could peck at the segments.

“If they told me to kill you, running would be ineffective,” Lucci said.

“Would you give me a head start?” you asked.

You were feeling more certain now of what was actually causing this conversation. At least, it didn’t seem he had suddenly developed the urge to take your heart from your chest.

“It wouldn’t matter even if I did.”

“Love,” you said. “You’re being incredibly menacing for somebody trying to hold a normal conversation.”

He breathed out slowly through his nose and then sat beside your knees, one arm resting on the other side of your legs. That was considerably better.

“It’s not unintentional,” he said. “I’m perfectly capable of pretending if you prefer. I could make this conversation much sweeter.” He reached out and ran his finger down the side of your neck, nail sharpening as he did so until it stung. “But sugared words will change nothing.”

“Would they really order you to kill me?” you asked. “Wouldn’t they just ban you from seeing me?”

“If they didn’t tell me to do it, then they would give the instruction to another. I would prefer it to be me. Better something quick than a slow suffocation or the headache-inducing stink of soap.”

You sighed and reached out to catch a stray strand of hair that hung beside his face, tucking it behind his ear. “Normal people worry about that. Not try to beat their colleagues to it.”

“I don’t worry about it.”

“Clearly you do,” you pointed out. “Otherwise, you’d be enjoying your drink and watching me swim in a few minutes. Not considering my murder.”

He watched you steadily before his attention dropped to Hattori who had begun to make a soft, pleased sound now that he’d finished with the orange. You dropped it back into the glass and wondered what was moving behind Lucci’s eyes.

“You would be awful at running away. You’re far too attached to this house,” he said.

You huffed and crossed your arms. “Okay, that’s just not fair even if you’re right. But in my defence, it’s a nice house. It has a pool. Plenty of the others have devil fruits, right? I’ve got my mitigation strategy right here.”

He didn’t appear amused. Then again, he rarely did. Even when he was.

“Kaku has asked where I take absences,” he said. “They are starting to become suspicious even though none of them have dared to follow me yet.”

You smiled. Alright then, so that was what had unnerved him.

You rested your hand against his jaw, thumb brushing over his cheek gently. “You’re incredibly skilled, love. I doubt anybody could have tracked you all the way here, even if they tried to. And I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong by having a drink next to the pool.”

“A drink might be seen as evidence of my compromised judgement. Correctly so.”

“So, in response to their hypothetical accusation, you’re hypothetically thinking about killing me to prove them wrong?”

“I’m exploring the extent of the hypothetical accusation,” he clarified. “And I’ve concluded that I can consider your death from certain angles. But not from others. I’m not sure how long it will take for that to change entirely.”

“Hattori would miss me.”

“I think he would be thinner without you feeding him scraps constantly.”

You scratched under the pigeon’s chin and he cooed happily. “I think he’d get even fatter from the depression. I really don’t like the idea of you killing me, by the way. Hypothetically or not.”

Lucci inclined his head to the side. “It will become impossible to consider soon. That’s why I’m debating the option with myself now. While it remains.”

You sighed. “Love, I’m going to ask this as nicely as I can but please stop considering killing me.”

His jaw twitched. A movement so small you wouldn’t have noticed it if your hand hadn’t rested on the side of his face. You brushed your thumb over his cheek again.

“Will it even change anything?” you asked. “There are other ways to get rid of your… what do you always call visiting me?”

“An operational liability.”

“Alright,” you said. “If it is that, you can just decide to no longer visit. What happens then? You stop taking as many free days so people stop suspecting you’re doing something weird. And then what happens? I know I’ll be miserable because I’ll miss you.”

“It’s not as simple as no longer visiting,” he said.

“Why not? Nobody knows I live here.”

“Actually, many do. Every person on this island is accounted for in our data.”

“Nobody that wants me dead knows I live here.”

“Yet.”

You sighed and reached for your drink. The condensation on the glass made it far too slippery, dropping from your fingers. Lucci reached for it the second it moved, steadying it before it could fall.

“Thank you,” you said and he released the stem. “Rather than thinking about if you could or should, I think you should wonder if you want me dead.”

He stared at you for far too long. As though he was thinking about the question from every possible angle before he dared to think of an answer.

“I,” you said as you took a sip. “Don’t like the thought of you being dead. It’s why I worry so much when you’re away. And don’t say you’re more capable than I think because I know but it doesn’t make it less scary.”

“You’re far easier to kill than I am,” he said. “I’ve survived enough to know that death won’t come to me easily. But you’re different. I don’t even need to use my claws to make you bleed.”

You rolled your eyes. “You can bleed too. Don’t act like I’m the only one here with skin… although, maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have your claws because if I did, your back would be mauled.”

He offered you a long, flat stare in return before he answered. “You don’t need claws for that.”

You smiled innocently and nodded. “Exactly. But back to what I was saying. You could kill me but that’s not really an achievement. Plenty of people could kill me if they wanted to. It wouldn’t even need to be somebody who worked with you. But the key thing is that you don’t want me dead which answers your question, doesn’t it?”

“If they want you dead, it will be one of us,” he said. “They would send me. That would be the appropriate response to the attachment. And only if that failed, would they send another.”

“Why would it fail?” you asked.

Another question that went unanswered.

You sighed and put your glass down. “Love, this is a very strange discussion but I am getting the feeling that you wouldn’t want to kill me. And you would miss me if you did.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Really? Not even a little bit?”

He stayed silent for a second before he looked over your shoulder to your house. His attention flicked over the windows before he moved onto the pool and the garden. And then he turned to you, eyes dragging over your body before he met your gaze again.

He still said nothing. He barely seemed to be breathing.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” you said.

You leaned forward to kiss him and that, he responded to. His hand closed around the back of your neck, firm enough to hold you still without forcing you closer. His lips tasted faintly of blood, the familiar rust of a bitten cheek. He’d been thinking hard enough to nip his cheek again.

“How about, while I swim, you think about what you want for dinner instead?” you requested.

Dinner went normally but later that night, you awoke at an ungodly hour with the bed cold beside you.

Lucci had lain beside you as you fell asleep like he normally did but he couldn’t have remained for long. The blankets were heavy over you and the sheets smooth under your skin as you sat up.

He stood beside your bedroom window, unmoving, as though you’d bought a brooding statue and propped it against the glass.

“Go back to sleep,” he said.

Instead, you sat up and squinted past him toward the moonlit garden. The pool caught strips of silver between the hedges, its surface breaking whenever the breeze moved over it. Leaves whispered against one another near the far wall. Nothing shifted with enough purpose to explain why he stood fully dressed beside the window.

You curled your legs under you and stretched dramatically before you got up, blanket still hanging over your shoulders.

“I have a fox problem,” you said. “My neighbours keep birds and… they somehow keep finding food here. If you heard something moving, it was probably them.”

“I saw them,” he said. “There are two. Their den is at the far corner of the garden.”

“Aw,” you said, shuffling closer to look past him though you couldn’t even make out that corner of the garden. “That’s adorable. Maybe I’ll get to see some babies soon.”

Hattori cooed from Lucci’s shoulder and you reached out to rub his head. You really hoped this sudden vigil at your window didn’t have anything to do with the conversation from earlier. As many things as you’d grown used to in this relationship, discussing your death unnerved you.

“What time is it?” you asked.

“Too early for you to be awake.”

“Then that’s too early for you too,” you said. “We can sleep in tomorrow but you don’t sleep enough as it is.”

“I sleep more than enough for function.”

“No, you don’t.”

He looked at the blanket on your shoulders briefly before he returned to watching the sleeping garden. His expression was unreadable but his eyes lingered on every reflection of light or brush of the wind.

His clear unsettlement was enough to make you nervous too.

“Do you really think there’s a threat out there?” you asked.

“It’s always a possibility.”

“What’s the chance you missed something?” you asked.

“Less than a percent.”

That was more reassuring though not quite enough to shake the unease from your limbs. So, instead of having him stand guard at your window, you decided to move somewhere more comfortable.

You reached for his hand and he did turn. His fingers didn’t even twitch. You pulled lightly and he followed you, shoes clicking against the ground.  

You led him downstairs into the eerily still heart of the house. The living room windows stretched from floor to ceiling, giving him a clear view of the garden and front entrance. Lucci took the corner of the couch with his back to the wall, eyes moving once over every doorway and dark reflection. You tossed a pillow onto the opposite end and sprawled across it.

“At least you can be somewhat comfortable now,” you muttered. “And you can see the whole garden much easier.”

He nodded. You stretched out onto your back and Hattori fluttered over almost immediately. The pigeon positioned himself on your chest, puffing up as he settled atop the blanket you’d wrapped yourself in.

You sighed as he shifted to get comfortable.

“If I roll, don’t let me crush him please,” you said.

“He’ll move before then.”

Your eyes were beginning to drift closed already. You snuggled into the couch, promising yourself you would return upstairs once you got too close to sleep. A lie so obvious, you couldn’t even pretend to believe it.

Hattori made a soft sound and you reached up to scratch him once more before you fell asleep.

Lucci was gone by the morning.

You’d had an idea that he would be. Sometimes, despite his best efforts, he was predictable.

It still disappointed you. He had at least three more nights before he had to return and yet the house looked untouched by anybody other than you. Not even a speck of dirt lingered in the halls. You tried to shake the slight melancholy from you with breakfast, bringing out the remaining scraps to leave for the foxes.  

Maybe you should stop doing that. But if they were going to be in the garden, it was nice to know they weren’t starving.

You paused when you saw a pawprint in the dirt outside.

Interesting.

You knelt beside it, fingers brushing over the mark. It wasn’t Lucci’s. He almost never transformed near you (one accidental waking to golden fur aside) but you knew with absolute surety that he wouldn’t leave prints.

You followed the path of them through the bushes, surprised to find yourself nervous. He was rubbing off on you too much.  

A very big nose popped out next to you and your heart stopped for only a second before you laughed. The dog was adorable, soaking wet, yet clearly very happy to see you. And you already knew where he’d come from.  

“Have you gotten out of your house to steal my foxes’ treats again?” you cooed.

You brought him inside and tossed a towel on the furniture as he clambered up there, lounging like he belonged. You laughed, scratched his ears, put out a bowl of water, and went over to call your neighbour who apologised far more than was needed.

It was the type of banal moment you wouldn’t have bothered remembering. Wouldn’t have cared about.

If you hadn’t woken that night to a loud cooing next to your ear.

Hattori sat on your pillow, chest practically pressing against the bridge of your nose, cooing loudly enough to drag you awake. You startled for a moment when you saw Lucci’s silhouette against the wall, still and unmoving.

“Hello,” you mumbled. “I thought you left.”

“I had planned to.”

“And then?” you asked.

“I came back to ensure there was sufficient security around your house. It seems there is not. I will arrange for somewhere to be set up for you on a different island. You may pack one bag.”

You blinked. “Love,” you said. “It’s like three in the morning. Can we move a little slower on why I’m moving?”

“It’s for your safety.”

“I don’t want to move.”

“I knew you would say that.”

“Okay…”

You sat up and Hattori immediately flew to the warmth where your head had been. Little traitor. He hadn’t woken you up for any other reason.

“There is a distinct animal presence here that doesn’t fit any of the known creatures that visit you. I’ve checked but you must realise that this isn’t the time for wants.”

You frowned. “What animal presence?”

“Downstairs.”

“Was it dog-like?”

“Yes.”

“Then it was the dog that showed up this morning. I brought it inside before calling its owner.” You lifted the pillow with Hattori still on it and put it to the side. Then you took what was effectively meant to be Lucci’s pillow to flop your head onto. “I would have told you but… well, you had left.”

He was silent for a deadly length of time. Long enough that you almost fell back asleep before you opened your eyes and found him sitting on the bed next to you.

You almost jumped out of your skin.

“Don’t do that!”

He remained quiet before he spoke. “Distance was ineffective. While I was here, I considered your death only when I chose to. Once I left, the thought became persistent.”

You rubbed at your chest, heart still pounding from the scare. “Alright. See, I think that’s more of a sign that you would miss me.”

“This dog-incident has created a further problem,” he said. “Aside from the knowledge that you are immune to how foul dogs stink.”

“I threw the towel in the wash,” you said.

“The problem remains that I assumed a threat.”

“Well, I mean, you could have asked if I’d noticed a dog inside my house,” you said. “And I would have told you. Also, sorry, I did forget that you would be able to smell it but I also didn’t think you’d come back so soon. Normally you stay away for weeks at a time.”

“That’s when I’m working.”

You hummed in acknowledgment. “I’ll deep clean better next time.”

“The smell is not truly the issue,” he said. “The dog could have been one of us and you invited it in. Jabra looks fairly convincing as a common cur when he has fully transformed if you ignore his bulbous nose.”

“If it was one of your coworkers, would they really have needed an invitation?” you asked.

“No. But it remains far too easy to get past your senses. You must ensure you never let them.”

“I don’t know what your coworkers look like,” you defended yourself. “Transformed or not. You can’t ask me to keep them out when I’ve never met them.”

“You aren’t entirely wrong.”

“I know,” you said, putting a hand on his cheek. “Now come love. You clearly haven’t slept and there’s no danger right now.”

“You only have one pillow.”

“I can sleep on your chest?”

“No.”

You sighed and shuffled up, moving Hattori closer to the right side so there was enough space for you to share the pillow. You’d known the cuddling option was a shot in the dark. Cuddling apparently kept him too restricted.  

Lucci remained still for a minute longer before he lay down on his back, shoulders always purposefully relaxed and hands folded in front of him. You often told him he slept like a corpse.

You should have known that wasn’t the end of it.

When you woke, the bed had been replaced by the slow pull of a hammock beneath your spine.

Rope creaked overhead. Somewhere beyond the narrow cabin, water slapped against wood in a steady rhythm, and the air tasted faintly of salt and old varnish. Panic arrived before the rest of you did. You bolted upright, sending the hammock swinging around your hips.

“You’re safe.”

You looked toward Lucci, heart screaming in your chest and patted yourself down, realising you were fully dressed in one of your favourite outfits. Confusion and panic mixed into the strangest cocktail of emotions as you stared at your clothes.

A slow look around revealed the inside of a boat and you allowed it to come together before you gave a perfectly reasonable response.

“What the fuck?”

“I’m not forcefully moving your home. Don’t worry about it.”

“You better not be. What is this? You couldn’t have woken me up?”

“You’ve already been woken two nights in a row.”

You swung yourself out of the hammock, boots landing on the ground as mild annoyance (mild being an understatement) overrode the fear. “You can’t just kidnap me! Where are we even going?”

“I’ve made arrangements,” he said. “We’ll be home before dinner. I ensured we left early enough that your day won’t be ruined.”

“What if I was going to do something?”

“You never plan things while I have free time,” he said.

He… he had a point. But still.

“That doesn’t mean you can abduct me,” you said. “I probably would have said yes if you’d just asked to go somewhere.”

“Then there’s no change to the outcome.”

You glared at him, boot tapping on the ground when he nodded toward a basket sitting beside your hammock. You offered it only a quick glance but didn’t reach for it.

“You have breakfast in there.”

“You… I… Why is it kill me or kidnap me? Why is there no go on a beach walk with me?”

“That can happen. But it requires you eating. This should not take long.”

“What is this?”

“I will explain more when we are safely away from potential eavesdropping. Now eat. There’s a walk once we’re off the boat and seeing as you object heavily to me carrying you, I will expect you to keep up.”

You crossed your arms. “I only object when you carry me without asking first.”

“You don’t object when I kiss you without asking first.”

“Very different things.”

But breakfast was good. Good enough that you forgave him enough to share half but not good enough that you didn’t purposefully give Hattori bites while daring Lucci with your eyes to comment on it.

He didn’t.

You stuffed extra bread into your jacket pocket before you left, fully planning on feeding Hattori throughout the walk to extend the annoyance.

You had no idea what island you stopped on. It seemed almost entirely uninhabited with a hill that you just knew he was going to make you climb. You gave him a look but at least he’d chosen appropriate walking boots when he’d dressed you without telling you.

It was sweet, in a weird way. It was also annoying, in a sensible way.

The boat sailed off and you had to wonder how he had organised all of this before the sun even rose.

You hated the walk. Not because it was uncomfortable but because apparently, your concept of a path and his were very different things. You preferred your ‘paths’ with fewer roots reaching for your ankles and spider webs hanging between tree trunks. Lucci did show you the best places to walk but his legs were considerably longer than yours and you were huffing slightly to try to follow him.

“So, what are we doing?” you asked when you were far enough from the coast.

“Taking pre-emptive action. If any of my colleagues wish to report the problem with you, I’m giving them full information and the chance to do it now, before it becomes impossible for me to control.”

“What?” you asked.

“It’s the easiest solution.”

“Does that mean…”

He glanced at you from the corner of his eye. “Do not touch Jabra. Even as a dog. You will not get the smell from your clothing and it’s bad enough that you already have the stink of one mutt in your house.”

You frowned. What? Surely he hadn’t…

He had. He absolutely had.

Sure enough, at the top of the hill, you stopped dead when you noticed there were far more people here than there should have been for an otherwise uninhabited island. Six of them, to be exact, some seated and others standing beneath the trees, all staring at your entrance with obvious confusion.

“Really?” you asked. “Not even a heads up so I could prepare an introduction?”

“You had appropriate time to prepare yourself when you realised during the walk.”

“I was trying to keep up.”

Lucci inclined his head briefly and then turned to the others. “This is the situation,” he said. “If any of you intend to report this, do it now. I will not tolerate hesitation later.”

There was silence, broken only by the sound of a bird fluttering somewhere in the trees. You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Hi, by the way,” you said to the group. “Nice to meet you all.”

The silence continued a beat too long before the one man who’d been staring flabbergasted at you suddenly stood up. “You called us on our day off for a woman? Who’s replaced you?”

“Fascinating,” the blonde woman said.

“This is the reason for your unexplained absences then?” asked another man with ginger hair.

“They’re not unexplained,” Lucci said. “I have no reason to justify where I go.”

You sighed. “We could have done this at home. I have room to entertain.”

“No.”

“Chapapa, Lucci’s taken more time off than ever before. Seventeen in the past –”

“Enough,” Lucci said.

“I’m Kaku,” the ginger man said, extending a hand and you shook it, grateful for some normalcy in whatever this situation is. “Sorry for the shock. I don’t think any of us expected an introduction today.”

“Pleasure,” you said. “And don’t worry, I didn’t even expect to leave the house today.”

You shot a look at Lucci who didn’t bother responding.

“You will need to show her your transformations,” he continued. “For identification purposes should you decide to remain quiet.”

Kaku released your hand and frowned. “Our… is she approved to know that kind of information?”

“No.”

“I see what this is!” The white-haired man’s voice was considerably louder than you expected and you startled. “It would seem our fearless leader has been caught by the most dangerous –”

“Quiet,” Lucci said. “This is not a social gathering.”

“Why have you brought a civilian woman here?” the woman asked, adjusting her glasses. “I imagine if this was something work-related, we would have done it during work hours.”

“Or in a formal setting,” said the only other man who hadn’t said anything yet. He was quite tall, his hair shaped up into horn-like structures.

“As I said, she must see your transformations so she has an accurate understanding of what you all look like. In the situation where one of you might be ordered to kill her, it would be best if she understood what she was seeing.”

An awkward quiet stretched over the clearing. You took the opportunity to look over the group, curious about their unusual appearances. You had imagined Lucci’s colleagues to be far more like him and far less interesting than they actually were.

“Ordered to kill her, chapapa?” the man with the zip on his mouth asked.

“That’s the logical conclusion of what will happen if any of you choose to report the lapse.”

“Lapse is a hurtful one,” you said. “Situation was already pushing it.”

He glanced at you. “It’s accurate.”

“If we have a chance of being given orders to kill her,” Kaku said. “Would it not make more sense to preserve our secrecy? We haven’t even been formally reinstated yet.”

“And I don’t normally give away information to targets,” the woman added.

“She is not a target yet,” Lucci said. “So that is not a problem.”

“You’re very calm for a woman whose future is being discussed in front of her,” said the horned man as though he finally remembered you were present. Unlike the others. “Most are not as open to the possibility of death.”

“He was considering killing me yesterday,” you said. “I’ve had this conversation already. And as he said, it’s not an order yet. I’ll hold onto that.”

You couldn’t deny there was still a strange thump in your chest as you connected the two. Your nerves crept higher, making your clothes uncomfortable as fear curled next to you. But Lucci was standing next to you and you trusted he probably wouldn’t let the others make the decision lightly.

“Threatening her directly was unnecessarily crude,” the woman said.

“I know, right?” you agreed.

She smiled. “Kalifa. Has he told you our names? Or was that courtesy not provided?”

“I know that at least one of you can appear to be a dog,” you said. “But not much else. Classified information and all.”

“Wait? Why would you know that?!” another man snapped at you. “That’s just as classified!”

“You’re Jabra?” you asked.

“Yes! What do you mean a dog?! I am not a dog!”

“Before we get stuck on that,” Kaku said. “As much as I do think formal introductions should happen, I would like to establish the actual situation first.”

“Yoyoi! Is it not obvious?”

“No, it really isn’t,” the horned man mentioned. “Suspicious, yes, but not obvious.”

You looked to Lucci because really, this was his discussion to have. If he wanted to tell them then he could and you had a feeling he might not want to disclose it. If only because –

Hattori clearly took you looking at him as an invitation. He flew over and landed on your shoulder. He leaned his head against your neck and began to sink down as though he was collapsing slowly. Shame. Poor thing was starving.

“Do not.”

“He’s hungry,” you said.

“He is not. He is merely performing because he knows you are weak.”

You reached into your pocket and took out the bread. You didn’t look away from Lucci as you offered it to Hattori, who immediately swallowed the whole thing as though it might be snatched away. Lucci’s gaze narrowed in warning.

“You kidnapped me. I’m feeding him.”

“You kidnapped her?” Kalifa asked.

“She would have agreed to come regardless.”

“Yes but that’s not the point,” you huffed.

Kalifa shrugged. “Oh, if you would have agreed, it’s merely efficiency.”

You sighed.

Right. You did forget Lucci wasn’t alone in his strange behaviours sometimes. He had mentioned the majority of the others had been raised in a similar environment… But that didn’t make it any less frustrating.

“Kaku can begin,” Lucci said. “Though I would hope you would not allow random livestock into your house to start with, it’s important to be certain.”

“Lucci,” Kaku said. “I don’t know about this.”

“It’s important.”

“For what?”

“Okay, you know what, no. I am proving I do not look like a dog.”

Jabra stood up off the log he’d been sitting on and his body shifted. You almost startled, entirely unused to seeing a person randomly become an animal. He dropped down into a very large and very obvious wolf that looked nothing close to your neighbour’s pet. Grey fur bristled over his shoulders as he straightened, his lip curling back to bare massive canines.

You swallowed and looked at Lucci. “That is very clearly a wolf.”

“You allowed an unknown dog into your house.”

“Not unknown,” you said. “And also, not a very obvious wolf.”

Jabra shifted back into a mildly annoyed man and dropped back into his seat. “Exactly.”

“Yoyoi! I do not have a transformation to show and I am feeling very left out! But I can provide a different display!”

Kaku cleared his throat. “Kumadori, wait a moment. Jabra and I are the only ones with transformations she hasn’t already identified,” he said. “And, no offence, but I don’t think we would particularly need to use them to get close to a civilian woman if you believe we may need to kill her.”

“She can see both forms here,” Lucci said. “She now knows what each of you looks like.”

“Which might be a security breach, actually,” Kalifa pointed out. “I understand Fukurou doesn’t fit in to begin with but the rest of us might prefer to keep our appearances more hidden.”

“And we don’t even know why the reveal is occurring,” the horned man mentioned. “Nor who she is.”

“Blueno’s got a good point,” Jabra said. “Now that I think of it.”

“Kaku would stand out more transformed than as a man, chapapa,” Fukurou said.

Kaku nodded. “I would.”

“What can you become?” you asked. “Sorry if that sounds rude but I’ve heard a decent amount about the wolf but never about you.”

“I…” he paused. “That is technically classified information.”

“Isn’t your existence that?”

“Yes. That’s part of the problem with you being here.”

“He’s a giraffe,” Fukurou said eagerly. 

Kaku looked over his shoulder in disappointment. “Very good secrecy. Thank you.”

“That’s why we zip his mouth closed most of the time,” Blueno said and he sounded slightly amused.

“A giraffe?” you repeated. “Love, why the hell do you think I’m stupid enough to invite a random giraffe into my living room. That’s not a common animal to find in my garden.”

Lucci shrugged. “There’s a possibility for every situation.”

“Like… like a full-sized giraffe?” you asked. “I don’t even think that would fit through my doors.”

“Well once he transforms, you will know how to distinguish him from others who look similar.”

“I haven’t even seen you become a leopard properly.”

“I wouldn’t need to use that form.”

“Neither would they, I’m sure.”

The rest of the group had fallen very quiet. Suspiciously so. The clearing felt charged, their expressions far more obviously shocked now. Enough that you started running back over your thoughts in case you’d said something incriminating and –

“I warned you of that nickname,” Lucci said. “For situations exactly like this. It’s hard to hide your attachments when you throw them about so casually.”

You frowned, confused, for a moment.

Oh. Right. You called him love.

“Well, you’ve never told me I couldn’t use it. If I listened to all your warnings I would have moved like four times.”

“And you would be untraceable for it.”

“I don’t want to be untraceable. You still need to visit.”

He straightened. “Nothing in this world is untraceable to me. My earlier recommendation still applies. You should see what Kaku can disguise himself as in case he is the one they ask to kill you.”

Kaku cleared his throat. “I do think this conversation should have had a lot more context,” he said.

“Love?” Jabra repeated, his expression curling. “Woah. No. Just, absolutely not.”

“Ah, my point has been proven!” Kumadori declared. “I knew from the moment she arrived that this was not a relationship of convenience! For if so, the emotion bleeding between them would not be as fraught as it is. We have arrived –”

“Enough,” Kalifa said and he paused, looking thoroughly agitated at being interrupted again.

Though admittedly you appreciated each person that did it.

“I see the reason for the concern then,” Blueno mentioned, stepping away from the tree line to move closer. “You fear repercussions for this liability. But I don’t understand how this will help. If she is marked for elimination, for whatever reason, her knowing what we look like will not fix that. It will simply give her a name to know as she dies.”

Lucci said nothing and the discomfort in your stomach curled tighter. It was true. You could recognise them but it wouldn’t be helpful unless you had somewhere to run. Somewhere you could hide.  

“I doubt she’d even have time to know it happened,” Fukurou said.

“You’re all very reassuring,” you told them.

“We’re trying to understand the reasoning,” Kaku said. “You’ll forgive us for pointing it out but it’s true. I would not arrive as a giraffe. I would not need you to let me into your house.”

Lucci looked at each of them carefully. “She would be able to tell me. In case the orders were given without my knowledge or without the approval for you to inform me first.”

“And then what?” Kalifa asked. “You know so that you can hold one of us accountable for the rest of our lives?”

“Or kill us in return?” Jabra asked.

Lucci remained silent. You scratched Hattori’s head for lack of anything else to do, redoubling your attention on the bird rather than whatever situation you were standing in the middle of right now. At least he was one creature not considering how quickly your death would come. Probably because he would mourn the lack of snacks.

“This situation doesn’t exist yet,” Lucci said. “But should it happen, I want to be aware of it. My actions will be decided in the moment.”

“You’ve been compromised,” Kaku said.

“I already established that. This discussion occurred because of that fact.”

“I thought it was because I let a random dog into my house,” you said.

“That merely allowed the acknowledgement,” Lucci established. “I assumed a danger and searched for an attacker without knowing there was one. The dog allowed me to acknowledge the full extent of my corrupted judgement.”

Kalifa looked you over. “So, if they ask for her to disappear, you’re saying we move through you first?”

“A rite of recognition for both sides!” Kumadori cried. “She learns the faces of death, and we learn whose wrath awaits should her name ever appear in our orders! Truly, I couldn’t imagine a more dangerous and tragic relationship, swaying by a thread!”

“I’m not in danger,” you said. “It’s a hypothetical. Right?”

“It is currently,” Lucci said. “And it will remain that way.”

His words were firm enough to ease some of the anxiety from your chest. It loosened the coil that had been there since yesterday. He’d made his choice then. All the worrying and now… it felt strangely comforting even though you knew you shouldn’t have to concern yourself about this to begin with.

“Fine,” Kaku said and he took several steps back. “I don’t need to tell you how dangerous this is. But fine.”

His body shifted, rising so quickly that you stepped back on instinct. Heavy hooves struck the earth, sending dust rolling across the clearing as long, powerful legs lifted him above everyone around him. You had known giraffes were large. You had not understood how large until his shoulders towered over you and his neck stretched high between the trees.

He flicked his head, the movement cracking sharply through the air, then scraped one hoof through the dirt.

“That’s… that’s actually really cool,” you said.

He transformed back immediately, straightening his clothes. “Thank you. Now if you ever see a random giraffe, I suppose you’ll know it’s me.”

“I probably could have guessed,” you admitted.

“Shocking.”

“I will not pretend that this meeting didn’t occur,” Lucci said. “But if one of you speaks about it as mere gossip, I will remove their ability to do so.”

They all turned their heads to Fukurou who made a show of zipping his lips. You had a feeling that wasn’t enough.

By the time you reached the shore, the boat had already returned for you. You actually found you were decently close to your home island. You’d assumed Lucci had organised it all to be far away but it only took an hour’s ride and he sat in silence the whole time.

You didn’t quite know what to say either. Whether to thank him for introducing you to his coworkers or to complain about the sheer number of death threats.

Or to appreciate the somewhat official confirmation that he would stand between you and the others.

That was something you didn’t quite know how to handle.

So instead, you waited until you got home before you said, “I’m going to take a swim. It’s far too hot.”

He inclined his head toward you. You leaned up to kiss him on the cheek and went to change.

After hiking a hill unexpectedly, the water felt refreshing against your skin. You lingered under the surface, stress of the morning washing from your skin as you swam the length with slow kicks.

Only to come up on the other side, open your eyes and immediately meet a pair of yellow irises.

A leopard sat only a few feet away, close enough that you could see the slow rise of its chest beneath golden fur. Black rosettes disappeared over its shoulders and down powerful forelegs, ending in paws large enough to cover your face. Its tail flicked once behind it, but the rest of its body remained unnervingly still.

It was Lucci. You knew that.

Your body did not care.

“Fuck!” you spluttered.

The leopard rose. Muscle shifted beneath its coat as it padded toward the bar, each step silent despite its size. Its tail swept behind it before the animal disappeared, replaced in a second by the man you knew so well.

“Would you like a drink?”

You stared at him blankly for a moment, confused about what prompted that until your brain began to put things together. The earlier praise of the others and your request to see his transformed state.

“Yes, please,” you said. “That was terrifying, love.”

“It should have been.”

“Gorgeous though. Puts both of the others to shame.”

He hummed and you heard satisfaction seeping into his voice. You might regret feeding the ego of a man who was already so arrogant.

But you couldn’t find it in yourself to mind too much.