Growing

"What do you think you're doing!" Hige shouted, clearly outraged, and Toboe jumped in surprise, unaware of what he'd done to deserve such anger.

The pup had arrived to their usual meeting place at the end of the block from his school a little later than normal. He had walked there with a new friend who lived in the same direction and the talk had slowed them both down. However one crucial fact which had gone seemingly unnoticed by the boy was immediately apparent to the three older, more experienced wolves. This 'friend' was of the female persuasion. She was rather pretty (in a gawky, pubescent kind of way) and quite obviously pleased to be walking and talking with their runt. Toboe was certainly not objecting either. Needless to say the pack was surprised when he waved goodbye to the girl and walked towards them with a smile and a "Hey, guys!"

Now Toboe was left confused and a little hurt by his friend's behavior; Hige may have been the only one to speak out, but neither Tsume nor Kiba moved to defend him and their disapproving looks actually seemed to say they agreed with the sentiment.

"Wh-what?" Toboe asked, too surprised to be mad, but quickly reaching upset. He had been having such a good day, he had no homework for the weekend, all of his grades were up and (most of all) talking with Charlotte had been so very nice. He simply couldn't fathom what he had done to get on the pack's bad side.

Hige's eyes widened in exasperation, then shouted, "Why aren't you walking her home!" he gestured severely with his arms emphasize his point, waving them in the general direction of the girl.

Now Toboe was just confused. What could he possibly mean?

"Hige's got a point, runt." Now Tsume was against him, too! Toboe shook his head. He was already confused and now Tsume was agreeing with Hige about something!

"What are you guys talking about?" His eyes were wide with shock and slightly hurt. The three older wolves then realized he honestly had no clue what they were talking about. Hige rolled his eyes at the pup's ignorance.

"That girl you were with, why did you come here instead of taking her home? You live that way, right? She was totally into you." Toboe almost denied it, but he saw his friend was being honest and a bit of hope welled up in him.

"She was, how do you know?" he asked timidly, his cheeks coloring slightly. He did have a bit of a crush on her, but his limited experience with girls lead him to be very unsure if she liked him back. Until recently he hadn't had much interest in girls, or any one else for that matter. Before he the pack were reunited he had felt incomplete and had not really had any drive to make friends with the people around him. Now that he was back with his pack and the hole he had not realized was present in his heart was finally filled, he was finding it much easier to build friendships with other kids his age. Of course, girls were still a difficulty.

"Anyone with eyes could see it." Tsume said in a bored tone. "Just go and walk with her."

Toboe, still unsure, looked to Kiba who nodded and said. "We'll meet at your place later. Might as well take advantage of the opportunity while it's here."

Toboe smiled, but was still wasn't sure of himself. "Are you guys sure I should-"

Hige draped a brotherly arm over the smaller wolf's shoulder's and began to forcefully walk him in the right direction, "Look, runt, it's simple. Offer to walk her home, turn up that I'm-so-sweet-and-innocent charm of yours and don't come back to us without a date."

Hige then gave him a push, causing the boy to stumble a bit. Toboe caught his balance then turned, a bright, confident smile now lighting up his face.

"Thanks, see you guys later!" He took off at a run, hoping to catch her before she turned the corner. "Charlotte! Wait up!" Toboe called; the girl stopped and turned, a glowing smile akin to his showing on her face as well. The boy finally caught up with her and after a second to catch his breath, he began talking animatedly, she smiled and nodded in reply and together they began to walk.

The older members of the pack watched the interaction from a distance, then Kiba and Hige exchanged knowing looks. Tsume just muttered something along the lines of 'disgustingly cute' but even he couldn't quite hide the bit of pride that wormed it's way into his eyes. Toboe might always be their runt, their little brother, but one thing was undeniable:

The pup was finally growing up.

AN: Thanks for reading. I may continue this, or at least do a follow-up one shot of the actual walk home, but I'm not sure yet. It all depends on how much I feel like developing Charolette, at the moment she's really just a blank-slate... Meh, we'll see.

Anyway, drop a reply if you would please, let me know how you felt and if there's anything else you'd like to see. :)

Much love,

BBear