#Looking at Shiba next haha jk....unless?

[otterlyfoolish]

White Sealskin

(Hakuri Sazanami x GN!reader)

Warnings: Animal abuse, child abuse, Soya Sazanami, murder, blood and violence, mentions of cannibalism, death, many inaccuracies about a little bit of everything, ambiguous ending, not edited

Tags: AU - Shapeshifters, Animal transformation, Oneshot, one-sided pining, slow build

Word count: 8k

Summary: In the thick of a snowstorm, you come across a wounded harp seal. You just wish you had a warning of what was to come before deciding to help it.

If you like reading on Ao3 more, here!

A/N: Selkie!Hakuri? It's more likely than you think. I know that he's more of a dog, but like... this sounded more fun in my head to write.

-----

I'll have to wait for him tomorrow again.

You trudge through the thick blanket of snow on the ground, squinting your eyes through the harsh weather conditions as you try to navigate back to your wooden lodge for the night. Your hand felt numb as you continued to march with them exposed to the cold air, not tucked away like your other one was as you carried your naginata. Occasionally, you'd pierce it a little deeper into the snow to gain some better footing treating it like a trekking pole.

Off in the distance, you think you catch onto the faint outline of the abandoned house as it flickers through the blizzard.

You march on, aware of the fact that if you don't make it soon, you'll freeze to death. Unfortunately, your eyes catch onto something more alarming as you force yourself further forward. Blood.

While you're used to the sight of it, it's still a warning sight nevertheless. You stop in your tracks for just a moment, taking a deep breath as you followed the patch of red with your eyes. You don't dare move until you carefully analysed where it was coming from.

There was a small furry white lump in the snow, stained with what seemed to be blood to the left ahead of you. It was probably leftovers of a dead animal that some predator left behind. Which was strange to you - if you were a wild animal in such a punishing environment, you'd think that you wouldn't leave anything behind when eating prey.

Maybe my target had left it behind...?

You stared at it a while longer, before taking a few cautious steps towards, repositioning your weapon to your proper stance as you approached. As you got closer, you could tell that it was a seal, not an arctic fox of some kind. How strange - why is it so far from the water? Do this live this far in land? Was it dragged here from the ocean?

No matter - you're hungry, and it seems like there's still some meat left for you to eat. Surely you could cook it over a fire. Even if you couldn't you could skin it for its fur-

You froze up as you saw it roll onto its front, and slowly shuffle forward seeming desperate to move even as it was bleeding out. You couldn't tell at first, but it was surprisingly larger than you had thought baby harp seals were.

...Huh, it's still alive.

You took bigger steps towards it as you moved your polearm back to your marching position, feeling braver as you felt that it wasn't a trap of some sort.

I wonder if its trying to get back to its family even in that condition.

You turned your head back behind you as you frowned.

But it's going the wrong direction from the ocean.

As you got close enough to it, it let out a startled sound, almost sounding like a human cry before trying to paddle through the snow, leaving a small trail of blood after itself. It was louder than you expected. You would think that the snow or maybe its fur would help clog the wound, but it seems like that it wasn't really doing anything to help it.

"You know you're going to attract wolves soon, right?" You ask it, despite knowing fully well that it probably couldn't understand you. In this weather, even a human would probably struggle to hear you.

Even so, the seal jolts in place, as if understanding what you're saying and tilts its head to face you, its big wide eyes blinking at you in what you could only describe as horrified shock.

You only motion towards the patches of red on its otherwise snow white fur coat in response to the animal. It seemed to understand what you were saying as it proceeded to roll in the snow, perhaps to rub the scent away.

...I don't think that's going to work.

It repeated the action a couple more times, not even crying out in pain as it seemed to be able to hold it in before crawling through the thick piles of snow. You watched it for a while, no longer caring about the cold air sapping away the warmth from your body. It barely made it one meter before you let out a loud sigh.

"...Oh, what the hell..." You let out a loud grumble then proceeded to tuck your weapon under your arm before crouching down to scoop up the animal with your thick winter gloves. "Come on, then..."

It froze up in your hold, seemingly unsure of what to do as you carried it, returning back to your original route back to your lodgings. "You know that as a seal, your talents are in swimming right? Why are you even so far inland?"

Just like before, you didn't expect an answer from it, but it seemed to lower its head with some sort of expression you couldn't explain as its watery eyes seemed to dull at your words. There's a part of you that's sure that seals aren't capable of complex thought, but that was currently being questioned as you watched the animal in your arms.

...Whatever...

You marched on, reaching the little abandoned hut later than you had expected with the extra weight you were carrying. Thankfully, the seal didn't seem to make much fuss over being carried - whether that was because of the fact it was injured and too tired to, or was because it somewhat trusted you, didn't matter. It changes nothing to you know that it's feeling.

Upon opening the door, you placed the seal onto the cold wooden floors, and swiftly slammed the thick door shut behind you. The seal flopped onto the ground, looking around before moving out of the way as you pushed the small table in front of the door, making sure that the door wouldn't randomly open due to the wind. You propped your weapon down by the door then shuffled around the small room.

The place was cold - though it wasn't colder per say, it certainly wasn't warmer than the outside. So it didn't take you long for you to stumble over to the shabby fireplace and throw on whatever kindling was leftover on top of the cobbled interior.

"This might last me enough for tonight." You mumble out, catching the seals curious expression as you try to start a fire as you kneeled down onto the floorboards. It shuffled away from you when it realised that you were looking back at it, hiding under the table now. "...Though, it definitely won't be enough for tomorrow."

The embers were small, and struggled to stay alive, even so, you seemed satisfied with it and scooted away from the fireplace, opening your small travel bag to pull out a first aid kit, practically slamming it onto the table before doing the same with your flashlight. The sound was loud and sharp as it collided with the furniture, startling the animal hiding underneath.

Then, suddenly, you stuck your head under the table to lock eyes with the seal.

It wasn't given much time before it was lifted up into the air. It froze up in your hands, turning stiff as it anticipated being flung against the table just like your other equipment was.

You carefully laid it down on the table, on top of what feels like a towel.

Even so, it couldn't help but stay frozen stiff, not daring to make a sound - it was still expecting there to be a impact somehow, some way. There wasn't anything it had ever experienced for it to expect anything otherwise.

There was a long moment of silence from the both of you as you stared down at the animal, your eyes narrowing in on something about the seal.

"...Hm." You uttered as you then wrapped the towel around its head, blocking its vision and quickly got to work. You didn't really know what to do, but considering that it was probably going to die whether you help it or not, helped soothe you as you cleaned the gash on its torso. Surprisingly, throughout your rough patch work, it stayed completely still, not even bothering to make a sound as you wrapped what little medical equipment you had around the wound.

...Is it already dead? I mean, the wound isn't that big, but...

"...Okay." You say with a finish, tying it up neatly together before pulling the towel away from its head. "Good job."

It blinked at you blankly as you now proceeded to sit down in front of the growing fire and close your eyes, no longer caring about it as it laid on the table with the bloodied towel, relishing in the heat from the fire.

You could sense the seal slowly regaining the will to move again as you felt it looking at you with confusion even with your back turned. You don't care, so you fall asleep sitting upright in front of the fire.

---

It didn't take long for morning to come along, and you were already packing your things the second there was even a glimmer of light from peeking in the iced over windows.

Just before you left, you picked up the sleeping seal off of the table and gently placed it onto the floor, waking it up. You kicked the table back into its original place and then grabbed your naginata that was resting against the door. "I'm going. Bye." You say, the opened the door and walked out, leaving it open for the seal to leave anytime it wanted to.

Once more, you trudged through the (now thicker) snow, the storm now passed over and was bright enough for you to see once more.

You glanced over to the forest far off in the distance, and began walking towards it before your body felt somewhat weak.

I must be hungry. I should try to find food first.

You pushed yourself forward as you scanned the near entirely white landscape with a tired expression.

...How do I do that?

---

As you stood in front of yet another failed attempt of you trying to catch an arctic hare by using your naginata as a spear, you scratched your head in thought. Your eyes looking down at the hole in the ground. You had thought that it was hiding in here as it ran away from you, but it seems that was not the case as there was nothing in the small pit.

I didn't expect my work to last this long to begin with. I've never needed to hunt for food like this.

You turned away from the fake burrow, catching the sight of the hare running off from you in the distance as you stared at it with a blank expression. There was a part of you that wished you had studied how to use a long range weapon instead of a stick with a blade on the end.

*I should just head back at this point. The money isn't worth the effort to come all the way over here just to kill one man.

Then you remember that if you headed back, you'd probably be just as hungry as you are right now. After all, you came here for a reason. Besides, not many other people had your particular experience in this type of target.

You let out a sigh, blowing out a cloud of white air from the freezing temperatures before turning back to your position were you were yesterday. It didn't help your nerves that you had felt that you were being watched earlier when you entered the forest. It didn't feel malicious, but at this point, you felt like the cold was dulling down your senses.

The sooner I kill this werewolf, the sooner I get to eat.

As you left the forest clearing to head to the other part, you spot a humanoid figure out in the open, stumbling about on the vast sheets of snow with something in his hands.

Without even needing to think about it, you readied your naginata at your side, eyes fixed on the figure as you crept forward.

The man in front of you had soft white hair, and you noticed as he nervously glanced around the place there was a bit of his hair dangling around to the side of his face tied together by hair ties. (You wonder why he doesn't just cut it off but you've always been told you don't have an eye for style, so whatever.) He wore a white button up shirt underneath and light-coloured trousers with two straps dangling off them as well. On one of the straps, there was something white and furry hanging off the strap. Something about his physical appearance that brought a dreadful sense of familiarness.

He is not equipped for the weather. What is he wearing?

He carried a large cod in his hands as he fidgeted, seemingly wating for something.

I don't think this is my target.

You stared at him in utter befuddlement as he continued standing outside of the forest you were now hiding in. With your body crouched low to the ground, you took cover in the snow as you observed him from afar.

My target's details: Human-wolf shifter. Male. 37 years old. Black hair. 187cm tall. List of crimes: First degree murders, manslaughter, assault and battery, Kidnapping, Torture, vandalism.

There was an air of anxiousness about the man in front of you, but he seemed determined to stay were he was currently. There was still that cod in his hands. He held it like a prized possession.

...There is no way this is my target.

After waiting in the snow for a couple minutes, you couldn't stand it anymore and just stood up from where you were standing and exited the forest, trying to give this stranger as little attention as possible.

Unfortunately, he spots you instantly, his grey-blue eyes lighting up at the sight of you. Your grip tightened on your weapon as you tensed up at the fact he tried to run up to you, something about the way he walked made you think he was injured in someway.

"Ah...! Hello!" He calls out, making his way over to you as you locked eyes with him. Upon closer inspection, he looked a little beaten up.

You don't say a single word back in response, instead, you waited for him to continue speaking. When he got too close, you took a step back.

After a while of him taking one step forward, and you taking one step back, he decides to stop trying to close the distance, eyeing your blade with mild trepidation. "My name is Hakuri Sazanami...!" He bravely continues on despite your utter silence towards him.

Sazanami.

When he realised that you wouldn't say anything else, he tried prompting a response from you. "...What's your name?"

"...Do you need something from me?" You ask him back in response as he stays put now, no longer bothering to try to approach you. Did you go too far when following your target? Were you not supposed to be here? "I'm willing to leave."

"Huh? No, not at all, I was just..." He says, trailing off as he tries to think of what to say next. There was a lopsided smile on his face as if he was getting anxious over the fact that he wasn't able to answer your question back to him. But he also seemed too scared to back away now out of possibly offending you. Or maybe he was just gathering the nerves to try to have a proper conversation with you.

To you, Hakuri is rather confusing. You don't really know what he wants. Before you were just confused by his behaviour, but with his name revealed now, you hold onto your weapon even tighter, eyes focused on him. It seems like your cold stare isn't doing anything to ease his nerves either.

"...Mantis."

He blinks at you, still clutching the fish in his hands close to his chest. "Huh?"

"People at work call me mantis. It's an alias." You tell him, watching his body untense the slightest amount from your words. "I didn't pick it."

"...Oh, Okay!" He nods at you, looking a little more relaxed as you finally talk to him. You don't dare make any sort of movement to even try to soothe him right now. "Anyways..." He shuffles on his feet, kicking the snow a bit as he lowered his head downwards to the cod in his hands. "Here!" He says with as clear and loud of a voice he could manage, nearly bowing as he extended the fish out to you like a offering.

The cod basically stared back at you with its dead eyes, the black circle in the middle locked onto yours.

You stared at him with furrowed eyebrows, eyes darting aback and forth from his body and back to the item in his hands. There was a flashing thought in your mind to just attack him - you didn't have a single clue what the hell he was doing. What was a member of one of the biggest crime families doing? Giving you a cod?

"...What?" You ask him, still trying to process what's going on as your mind raced to every single possibility on what was going on.

"For you!" He says, unmoving from his position. The only thing you had noticed had changed was the fact his fingers hand reached further out to offer it to you. Perhaps he even straightened his back more.

"No." You say, shaking your head, standing firmly in the snow. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears as you tried to calm yourself, resisting the urge to fight - running was never an option for you.

He didn't move for a moment, and you didn't move either, the two of you standing in the cold air like statues until he lifted his head up with a surprised expression. "...Aren't you hungry?"

How does he know? Has he been watching me? Has the whole family been watching me? Are they waiting to kill me? Do they want to add me to the collection? No, I'm not that valuable as merchandise - then do they want to hire me? That makes no sense either.

Hakuri's eyes shifted over your expression and general body language nervously, his eyes lingering on your naginata before landing back on you.

What does he want?

He still seemed insistent on trying to give you the fish.

You still haven't moved a inch. Still staring at him with the same emotionless expression that you always seemed to have. "I am."

He nodded, his mood picking up slightly again, "then-"

"No." You cut him off, still refusing.

He deflated again, holding it closer to himself this time. "...Do you not like fish?"

"I do like fish." You clarify. You see the confusion on his face as your words seem to contradict your actions.

It doesn't seem like he knows how to respond to that has he blinks at you with his bright eyes. "...Why won't you take it then?" He asks, seeming completely sincere.

You're almost completely certain that he doesn't have bad or ulterior intentions, but even so, you don't accept his offer. "I can't take it without giving you something in return."

"Oh! No, you don't have to give me anything!" He shakes his head, the tied up strands of hair wagging back and forth with his movement. "I don't want anything in retur-"

"I will not take advantage of your kindness." You say, trying to speak more firmly. "I will not be in your debt."

"You don't need to, I'm the-" He then cuts himself off, stuck midsentence as he rethinks something in his mind. You just want to leave the situation at this point - whatever information Hakuri Sazanami was about to say doesn't seem bright for your future, no matter how shifty the jobs you take on are. He doesn't say anything for a moment, one hand on his chin as the other holds the cod by the gills, seemingly thinking hard about something. "...Then... will you accept it if you give me something in return...?"

"...What do you want?" You ask him, slowly relaxing your body.

He blinks at you, eyes moving across your body and the bag on your back, carefully examining what he could possibly ask for in return. "...Can I stay with you? Like as in, just hang around with you for a bit?"

"No." You say, shaking your head. He doesn't seem shocked that you rejected his offer, but looked a little downtrodden. "How about I give you my inner coat?" You offer, looking at his collared shirt.

"Huh? But you'll get cold." He says, seemingly not concerned over the fact that he was only wearing a shirt himself.

"I still have my outer one." You say, taking off your winter jacket to retrieve the black one inside. "Do we have a deal?"

His lip twitched as if he wanted to fight back, but nodded in the end. "We have a deal."

You handed your black coat over to him, not bothering to fold it as you expected him to immediately put it on himself. As soon as he took it you put your winter coat back on, desperate to reclaim the heat lost to the cold air already.

Hakuri didn't put your coat on straight away like you expected, instead waiting for you to zip up your winter coat before handing over the fish to you. It had a good heft to it. "Here," he says, looking happy over the transaction that the two of you just done.

You nod at him, holding the cod in your hands with your other hand as you still held your weapon by your side. "Okay." You say, acknowledging your trade then walked away from him without another word, taking a few steps backwards then turning your back on him and going back into the forest.

You could sense him staring at you leaving, you knew that he wanted to follow you, but was able to sense that you wouldn't be open to that idea.

Hakuri isn't a bad person - you can tell that much. It's safe to assume that he saw you struggling to catch anything, and went out of his way to give you food, waiting outside the forest for you (for who knows how long) in his rather cold attire just so he could give you something to eat. Even after you kept shooting him down out of fear of being, well, killed or worse, he persisted because he probably knew that you wouldn't be able to get any type of nourishment anywhere else.

But that's completely irrelevant.

It doesn't matter to you how earnest or sincere he seems. You knew just what type of business his family ran, and just what types of people sold the most at their yearly events. And while you doubt they would be interested in you, they would probably be interested in what you knew about their most popular 'merchandise'.

Maybe that's why even as you go deeper into this snowy forest, you couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

You reach a spot where a log had fallen down and after checking out the general area for any signs of life nearby, you settle down, the rather slimy fish still in your hands. You wonder if it's safe to eat raw. If possible, you don't want to start a fire here - before it would have just been because you don't want to get your target on edge by letting them know there's someone nearby. But now you're worried if you'll alert the Sazanami family somehow. You doubt that Hakuri would snitch you out - he just doesn't seem like that type of person - but if he could find you, then couldn't any of them.

Besides, there's no guarantee that the werewolf is still on the roam. They could have already captured or killed him.

...Maybe it really would be better for me to run back now. Just cut my losses now.

Turning your head to face the sky, you squinted your eyes as you looked up, watching the sun's path. It seems like you've spent the whole morning trying to get something to eat.

"...I am not built for the cold." You mumble to yourself, realising how much of a mistake it was to come here to try to do your job when your usual movements and senses have been so dulled. The fact your realisation took so long also made you wonder if your thinking had slowed down too. After just a moment of considering, you decide to try to start a fire. Fuck it. You might get captured any second anyways, might as well try to eat the cod you had negotiated.

As the pitiful fire starts, and you use your polearm as a kitchen knife and skewer, there's a low mumble to the right of you. You're on your feet instantly, all of your senses honed in as you dart your eyes towards the sound.

You see a pair of bright eyes gazing at you nervously as you reflexively point your blade in the general direction of the sound. With its white fur and larger than expected body, you recognised it to be a harp seal. It didn't make another sound, only freezing up at the sight of you and your weapon.

"...Hello." You say, peering down at the animal that had decided to follow you. As you return your naginata to a safer position, it comes to you a bit closer, still cautiously moving. You realise that its the same one you found recently as you can see your mediocre wrappings around its wound. "We meet again." You sit back down, returning to trying to prepare your small meal for the day.

It made some sort of cry in response before seemingly settling down near you, about a foot away from where you sat.

"Go back to the ocean already." You say to it, throwing more wood into the tiny flame. "Seals aren't built for land travel."

It let out a low cry in response to you, the sound louder than you had expected as it seemed to protest against your words.

"You don't want to be on land." You try to convince it again, talking to the animal. "There's something dangerous up in these areas right now."

Maybe I really have gone nuts. What am I doing talking to this blubbery marine animal?

Surprisingly enough, it replied again to you, each sound coming out of its mouth sounding more and more human. Was it trying to ask for more information?

"What?" You ask, turning your eyes to meet its own, staring intently back until it scooted backwards away from you. That wasn't intentional - you've always had a rather intense stare. "...There's a werewolf in these parts." You say, relenting to the animal's curiosity as it still hasn't fully left you yet. Maybe this would finally be enough to make it go away back into the water since it seemed intelligent enough to somewhat understand your words.

Instead of backing away, it stretched its neck out towards you, no longer squishing its body up together to hear what you were saying better. It looked... interested in what you were saying.

You sigh at the sight of the animal. Though it was really towards yourself as you wonder why you were trying to rationalise what the seal was thinking - it obviously doesn't actually understand you, but you keep interpreting that it does.

"I'm going to kill it." You state plainly, gutting the fish messily as you try to prepare to cook it over the fire. "That's why I'm here."

Your words seem to illicit yet another response from the animal as it lifted its head up in what looked like shock to you then gave you a slow nod as it scooted even further backwards, sinking its neck back into its body.

You eye its movements, seeing it move further away from you due to your words. "...If it makes you feel better, he had it coming. He's killed and harmed many people." You add on, seeing if it really could understand you - if it came back, or seemed more comfortable by your words, then this was a extremely intelligent seal. (Or it could just be picking up on the tension in your body as you speak about more morbid topics - you don't know.)

The seal seemed to consider your words as it thought for a second and then slunk back over towards you, looking up at you with cautious yet admiring eyes.

...I get it. I'm going crazy in the cold.

As you cut deeper into the fish, carving out its guts in an attempt to regain your sanity, you pulled it out. "You wanna eat this?" You ask it, offering it over to the baby harp seal, dangling the cod's organs in the air.

It shook its head, so you just returned to trying to cook the fish peacefully, blissfully ignoring the fact that it was able to understand and answer you more adequately than some people you've met in your life.

Maybe this is the third man factor I've heard about. But instead of a random person I'm hallucinating, its a snow white seal.

Am I about to die then?

You blew out a puff of warm air, watching it instantly turn into a white cloud from the cold conditions.

I guess I'll just head home after eating this.

Using your naginata as a skewer, you rotated the fish as it cooked, trying to make sure that it wasn't burnt or undercooked. And with your lack of experience combined with the the lack of proper cooking equipment, the poor dead cod stood no chance as you (unintentionally) destroyed its body as you tried to cook it. Throughout the whole process, the seal had whined and cried at your actions, trying to guide you through it as you did worse and worse.

In the end, you stuffed the brunt, crumbled bits up into your mouth, settling for the fact that this was going to be your only source of subsistence until you got back home. You had tried offering a bit of the better cooked parts to the animal next to you, but it had once again rejected your offer (this time more adamantly).

"Alright." Upon finishing your meal(?), you then stood up, grabbing your weapon. Before walking away from the fire, you kicked a large amount of snow over the fire to put it out. "I'm going." You announced, turning to face the seal as you spoke to it, watching it carefully.

It looked... sad? At least it seemed like its eyes watered a little, but with winds as strong as today, maybe there was just something stuck there.

"How about I guide you back to the ocean?" You offer, starting to walk towards the direction of the forest's exit. "You seem lost."

It flopped forward as it tried to move, just giving up on using its flippers all together and just moving its body like a caterpillar to propel itself forward. It let out a cry, which you could only assume was a "no" by the way it yelled. (Much to your displeasure, you were getting quite good at interpreting what it was saying.)

"Is that so." You say, nodding back. As you stood still, waiting for it to catch up, you decided to just bend down and pick it up again, carrying it out of the woods. Once again, you tuck your blade away, freeing up your arms.

It let out a cry at your actions, but you ignore it, opting to save the both of you time instead. "Are you running from something?" You ask, feeling it jolt in your grasp as you spoke, securing it safely to your body, careful not to agitate its wounds. "Is there a killer whale in the water or something?"

It let out a low cry, in response, and you aren't so sure what this one meant this time.

"Hm." You nodded, taking slower steps as you tried not to jostle the precious cargo too much.

---

It takes you a little longer than you'd like, but you reach the end of the forest all while carrying the extra weight. If you had to say, this walk was actually somewhat enjoyable as you could feel the body warmth from the seal warming you up. Not to mention, you don't often get company while working - even if its an animal, this was probably the most you'd spend with another living thing for the rest of this year.

You hummed flatly as you trudged through the snow, trying to fill the air with anything but the selfish freezing breeze. The animal in your hands looked up at you as you cradled it with your arms, keeping its flippers on its torso as it rested.

As you walked back towards the direction of civilisation, you approached the little wooden lodge you had stayed in just a few hours ago. Though you had the intention of just walking past it, the animal in arms lifted its head up, then stiffened up, locking its muscles in place as it smelt the air.

At its movement, you slowed down, letting it inspect whatever it was picking up in the breeze of the wind.

"What is it?" You ask it after a minute of letting it try to pick up on whatever scent there was in the air. The more your walked forward, the more nervous it seemed to grow.

It let out a low cry in response, then tilted its head to its torso, where you had tried your best to clean its wounds.

Blood?

With each step, you felt the hair on the back of your neck start to bristle as you got closer. Moving the seal onto one hand, you held your weapon at the ready in your other.

You finally caught onto what your companion was trying to alert you to as your eyes focused on the view in front of you - there was a large furry grey lump on the ground, stained wet with crimson. You'd estimate it to be about 185cm approximately. It looked like a wolf.

...My target.

Near it was another grey lump, this time smoother and longer, about three meters long, probably a bit longer too. You watched for barely a moment as it tore out a chunk of the werewolf to spit it out onto the snow.

Now that's a powerful leopard seal.

"Is that what drove you out of the ocean?" You ask the seal in your hands, as it stopping moving altogether, you couldn't even feel it breath as you held it in your hands. At the sound of your voice, it turned over to your direction, and even though you thought you were a fair distance away beforehand, your instincts were now telling you that it wasn't enough. "...I'd leave too."

It raised its red-stained head high into the air and let out an echoing cry, almost sounding angry at the sight of you then started ploughing through the snow to get to you. it moved far faster than the animal in your hands, you'd think that it was swimming through water instead of land. The seal in your arms started to shake in fear.

As always, your first instinct is to fight, so you lower the harp seal in your hands onto the snow and started walking towards the leopard seal. "You should leave, harp seal." Blade at the ready. You heard it cry out behind you as you stepped forward.

Large blood dripping teeth, sharp focused eyes - it was clear to you why it would be considered the apex predator if the killer whale didn't exist.

"...Mind if I take a picture of that werewolf for confirmation?" You ask the larger animal, refusing to budge from your fighting stance. When it still charged forward, you took a deep breath - preparing to stab the seal.

it sprung forward, rising high up on its hind flippers, and you swung back, trying to keep your distance.

But as you slashed it across its face with your weapon, it didn't bleed or even flinch, but there was a visible gash in its grey coat. In that split moment, you realised that there was something very, very wrong.

Do seals have loose skin?

You let out a chocked gasp as it shed its large coat, throwing it onto your field of vision. In blind panic, you swung your naginata again, but before you could even finish your motion it slammed your entire body down onto the ground.

"Brother...!" You faintly heard in the background, before you hear your ribs cracking as another punch landed. "Stop!"

Selkie.

"Hakuri!" A masculine voice above you yelled out in patrial glee and anger. The onslaught on your body stopped as you got a moment to feel air in our lungs again as your skin burned from the pain.

Two selkies.

Without another thought, you tilted the weapon still in your hand and attempted to stab the man on top of you with your weapon, letting out a low hiss as you felt something in your body move that should not have.

I don't specialise in killing human shifters for no reason.

There was a low growl as you think you plunged the blade into his torso before you felt a heavy strike on your face.

---

Hakuri looked on in shock.

Just one minute ago, he was being carried in your arms. Something that was basically foreign to him. Even when he was injured back at home, no one bothered to try to help him walk when he couldn't - Soya had a possessive streak, and not many of his family members would dare provoke him.

And now he was looking at what could be your final moments, your arm basically moving on nerve reflex as you sunk the blade into his brother's body. It didn't hit a single vital organ, but you were able to draw blood as it tore open his upper arm, twisting it as you-

Soya grabbed onto your hand and there was a loud crunch in the air before it flopped back onto the ground. There was no more movement from you.

"Mantis..." He utters out, his voice trembling along with his body.

He's seen violence before, both towards himself and other people, he was forcefully desensitised to it as he grew up. he grit his teeth and moved past it. But something within him finally snapped, something that was already near death's door, and he couldn't put up with his family's sins anymore. So he left - he had been resolved that he could die leaving, and that was okay with him. He was okay with dying before he could even moult his sealskin. But he hadn't anticipated that other people would die because of him.

"Hakuri!" Soya repeats, his eyes lighting up. "I was looking everywhere for you, I've been walking and swimming for about a day. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you had been taken away by a stranger...!" He says, letting you drop onto the ground as he let go of your coat. His grey sealskin laid on top of your body like a sheet on a dead person's face. "I thought at first that werewolf had eaten you, but he eventually told me that he spotted you with another person!"

Day. It took Hakuri about a week to get this far. It took him a month to try to get his sealskin back from his brother.

Upon seeing the expression on his little brother's face, Soya started speaking again. "Listen to me, they're a bad person - they hunt shifters like us for money!" Soya says, gripping his little brother's shoulders even tighter as he held him away from your bleeding form in the snow. "I did this for you, okay? Don't worry about it anymore!"

There was so many things happening at once so fast - two bleeding forms laid out on the pure white snow, one just barely fresher than the other as the smell of blood hit Hakuri like nothing before. The werewolf's blood was already caked onto Soya's hands, but now yours joined on, coating his brother's knuckles and fingers in the red liquid. Hakuri could feel his new black coat being stained as Soya refused to let him go.

I should have never stuck around Mantis.

Soya looking directly into his eyes, while all Hakuri could do is stare at the two bodies on the cold ground, already partially buried in the snow - he could hear his older brother speaking louder and louder as he was unable to get his attention but all Hakuri could hear right now was the sound of his heartbeat thudding so loud in his eardrums from utter fear.

"Come on, let's go home. If you're outside any longer, you might freeze to death." Soya says, squeezing Hakuri's arms so tight he could feel new bruises forming already, Soya's hand was already on his sealskin, trying to pull it away from his younger brother.

"...No." The word came out before he could properly process it, but before he doesn't regret it - he's ready to die.

"...Huh?" Soya says, then crouches down so he's at Hakuri's level, staring even deeper into his eyes as he realises what he just did.

"I'm not... I'm not going back." He says, doubling down on his words, looking Soya back in his eyes, as his voice stopped shaking.

"Hakuri, you..." This time, his brother's voice starting shaking, and his eyes started tearing up at his little brother's refusal. "They're dead, you don't need to worry anymore! You don't have to follow them, okay? I killed them, look, I'll show you, they're dead...!" Soya says, grabbing Hakuri by the shoulder, practically picking him up as he moved him over to where you laid.

"Stop! I don't- I don't want to...!" Hakuri shouts, pulling back from him, shutting his eyelids closed, hitting him as hard as he could in protest. He earned a firm fist into his stomach in response, forcing him to spit up bile.

"No, it's okay!" Soya reassures, his eyes blinking away tears as he tries to snap Hakuri out of his defiance towards him. "Here, look!" He says, pulling away his leopard seal skin from where you laid.

There was a long moment of silence before Hakuri opened his eyes, unsure of why his brother had suddenly went so quiet.

When he looked down, he saw that your body had gone missing - and the twp of them stared at the large indent in the snow - clear evidence that you were there, but where were you now?

...Did Mantis run away?

There was a feeling of both relief and envy from Hakuri as he gazed at the stained snow. He wanted more than anything for you to be safe, but he'd be lying if he said that he didn't also want to be alongside you, away from his insane brother.

"...Hakuri, I-" Soya stared, looking back over to his little brother, water still flowing from his cheeks as he spoke. But Hakuri didn't pay any attention to him as he spotted something on Soya's shoulder - barely bigger than the size of his palm, a dull green colour and a broken foreleg.

If that didn't convince him enough, the insect stared back at him with blank eyes that didn't betray any sort of emotion.

"...Mantis?" He murmured, his eyes fixed on the small form on his brother's shoulder, his bright eyes blinking at the small creature.

"What-" Soya started before he was forced onto the ground as you shifted back into a human, sinking your hands around his throat as you strangled him. Nails deep into his throat, your index drawing some blood out from the force you held him with.

He let go of Hakuri to try to hit you back, but in that moment of weakness, Hakuri grabbed onto his arm, preventing him from hitting you back.

"H-Hak-Hakuri...!" He choked out, a small waterfall leaking out of his eyes as he realises that he was helping you take him down. "You....!"

"...Brother...!" Hakuri says back in response, refusing to budge as he helped restrain him. There wasn't a need to grab onto his other arm as you had already weakened it earlier.

There wasn't a single ounce of mercy from you as you clutched onto his trachea tightly, staring right into his eyes as you prevented him from getting any more air. He attempted to attack you with his other arm, but you held on strong until he collapsed, head hitting the snow.

Hakuri panted heavily as he stared down at his own hands, refusing to believe what he had just done while you picked up your naginata and flexed your wrists and hands, checking the damage.

You stood over the unconscious white haired man with your weapon back in your non-dominant hand, taking deep breaths. This was the moment that Hakuri had been expecting since you knocked him out.

"-they hunt shifters like us for money!"

Soya wasn't a liar. He knew that he was telling the truth - besides, Hakuri wasn't stupid. He could probably guess that you weren't in the middle of nowhere just for fun. Knowing his brother, he probably beat that werewolf until it spat up everything about you then killed it.

Now, he just wasn't sure what to do - stop you from killing Soya? Should he have even helped you from taking down Soya since there was a chance you might kill him now?

"...It hurts." You say in the most monotone voice he's ever heard, closing your eyes as if you were resting standing up.

"...Eh?"

"My body hurts." You say, taking a shuddering breath before shifting your eyes over to him. "You?"

"Oh, uhm, I'm fine!" He says, nodding at you firmly. "I'm completely fine! The bandaging you gave me from last time is still there, and I took no external damage from this fight!"

You nodded at him, seemingly not minding the way he spoke to you like he was a cadet reporting for duty. "Then let's get going." You said, walking over to the werewolf and taking a picture with your flip phone.

"Huh?" He uttered, blinking at you in surprise. "...Are you...? Wait, you're not going to...?" He asked, motioning to his brother.

"No." You shook your head, already understanding what he was trying to say to you. "His death doesn't give me any money. I haven't seen anything on the bounty market for a leopard seal shifter."

"...Huh." He nodded at you, putting a hand to his chin.

"It's because you guys are part of the Sazanami family. No one wants to mess with you." You state blankly before walking away from him, trudging through the snow as if you weren't on the verge of death just a moment ago.

"...Ah." He says, still at a loss of words. He doesn't follow after you, just standing there as he examined at the situation.

He's not sure what to make of it. His abusive brother knocked cold on the ground, bleeding, a dead werewolf that apparently had a bounty on his head, and you - a complete stranger bringing all of these components together. He would have never seen the sight in front of him if you had never picked him up yesterday. He would probably been beaten half dead then dragged home by his brother, while you would have killed the werewolf and just went home.

...Is this destiny?

"Hakuri," you called out, about a meter away due to your slow steps. "Are you staying?"

"Huh?" He uttered again, then rapidly shook his head, running up to you, taking his sealskin in his arms like a towel as he ran. "No, I'm not...!"

You nodded at him before trying to walk again, your legs shaky as you tried to step forward, your jaw tight as you tried to hold back the pain you were feeling from the fight. Hakuri, as slow as he is, caught up to you, a nervous yet happy smile on his face.

The two of you took a couple steps before he got a little closer to you, eyes shifting about your posture with worry. "...Do you need help walking?"

"Yeah." You say, nodding at him. "Carry me."

"Oh!" He blinked at you in surprise. "I'll do my best! I don't know if I'm strong enough though, I am incredibly weak!"

You give him a firm nod before motioning him to hold his hand out. He instantly does so, and you place your weapon in his hand. In a blink you're also in the palm of his hand, staring up at him blankly.

"...Here." He says, moving you to rest on his white sealskin, somewhat shielding you from the cold as he readjusts his new black coat. "I'll just keep walking straight ahead...?"

You give him a firm nod.

-----

A/N: Points/details I'm putting here because if you got this far, you might enjoy this:

Hakuri has a white seal skin instead of the normal coating for a harp seal because Soya took away his seal skin when he was young and he never got to wear it enough for him to molt it. He's the size of a adult harp seal, but has the coat of a baby (until he molts it off).

The reader is a mantis shifter, but doesn't shift often because they find it useless most of the time

Hakuri would probably follow the Reader back to Cafe Haru Haru (where they get their job listings), and just work odd jobs for Hinao. He would live in where the Reader lives since they're not home often.

Reader relocates apartment to have a place with a bathtub so Hakuri can chill in the water. (But he's spend so much of his life in his human form that he doesn't really care anymore.)

Reader often fights with Shiba because they want the highest paying jobs, and so does he.