Summary: Kentas was fiddling with his cloak, frowning. M-21 had noticed he'd been doing that for a while, and hadn't stopped.
"Heeey, Kentas," Tao said, looking at him over his laptop, "do you want a spare change of clothes?"
It had been a simple question that lead M-21 to realisations he didn't expect.

Contains: M-21/Kentas

Set after season 8.

Well, this ended up a hell of a lot longer than anticipated, aaha.

Meaning prompt for the Noblesse Let's Fix It event.

Not tied to Adapt-verse. Basically because I tried to fit it in there, but things had progressed too far for this to make sense, ahah.

Found out some stuff about canon in 532. And promptly ignored it, because that makes no sense.

Somewhere in Between

By Dark Ice Dragon

Kentas was fiddling with his cloak, frowning. M-21 had noticed he'd been doing that for a while, and hadn't stopped. The cloak didn't need patched up, and had been washed the day before, so it wasn't that. Was it too warm in the house for the cloak? Kentas only wore the one layer so that was unlikely.

"Heeey, Kentas," Tao said, looking at him over his laptop, "do you want a spare change of clothes?"

Ah, it could be that. But... Frankenstein should have already given him some?

"I've got some," Kentas said, still frowning. "But they're too tight - I can't move that well in them."

Tao snickered. "Yeah, I guess Boss prefers fitted clothes." He looked across at M-21 and Takeo. "We've got more clothes for you to try, in case they feel better?"

M-21 snorted. "You would know what we've got in our closets." They still hadn't properly sorted out whose clothes were whose. Most of their clothes were similar, and they'd now worn each other's clothes so much it belonged to all three of them.

Tao stuck his tongue out at him. "Not really - only through the mix-ups. I don't go rifling through there unless I'm trying to find out who got my off-shoulder top."

M-21 shook his head. Unlikely.

"I think we're the closest in body size," Takeo said, "so my clothes should fit you the best out of the three of us."

Out of the entire house, but the image of Kentas trying Regis' clothes was amusing.

[-]

"That's the biggest shirt I have," Takeo said, and that was still stretched far across Kentas' chest. Maybe something with buttons would be better that Kentas wouldn't have to do up fully.

Which reminded M-21...

"If that doesn't work-" M-21 started. And it didn't look like it, since Kentas was already pulling it off again. "-I've still got my trenchcoat." He'd never gotten around to throwing it away.

Tao whirled on him, eyes wide, jaw hanging open a little. "You have a trenchcoat?" he demanded. He paused. "Still? When'd you get it?"

M-21 huffed. "In the Union. I never got rid of it." Kentas handed the shirt back and they headed for M-21's room.

Tao was still staring at him. "Your uniform was a trenchcoat? Huh, I never saw anyone wearing those."

This time, M-21 grimaced as he looked away from them. "We didn't have a uniform - it was cheap and durable." The cheapness was what mattered when they didn't get much money for themselves. "I stopped wearing it when I came here since I could buy other clothes, and it reminded me too much of the Union." He should have burned it, but... While it was a reminder of his time at the Union, it was also a reminder of M-24 and their time together.

Kentas made a sound of acknowledgement, and when M-21 looked over, Kentas was tugging at his cloak again.

...Right. "It's the same with you, isn't it?" he asked. All the werewolves he'd seen had worn a similar cloak. Had that been their uniform?

"Yeah," Kentas murmured. "These identify warriors."

Hm. Probably something to be prideful of, but after what Kentas saw...

A reminder of how far the other warriors had fallen to try and get more power?

Kentas didn't elaborate further, and the four of them moved to M-21's room.

The trenchcoat was right at the back of his wardrobe where M-21 had left it, but it seemed fine when M-21 brought it out.

Kentas pulled it on and after a few seconds of stretching his arms across his body, Kentas grinned and flung it off with ease.

"Wha-" Tao squawked.

M-21 sighed as Kentas snatched the trenchcoat in the air and slipped it back on. "I should have known that was it," M-21 said. He'd seen enough werewolves fighting to know getting their tops off as fast as possible seemed like a fighting tradition and had to be important when they were assessing clothes.

"I like it!" Kentas said, letting the jacket hang open and right, Kentas didn't wear anything underneath his cloak. Which was normally fine, but if he kept it open like that... Well, it wouldn't matter much. Kentas kept to the rooftops so he wouldn't draw any attention being dressed like that.

Tao grinned. "Is how fast you take your clothes off part of what you have to consider when choosing 'em?"

Kentas nodded, not looking like he realised Tao was teasing. "Yes."

Tao snickered, waving a hand. "Good to know," he said as he and Takeo left M-21's room.

Kentas was looking at M-21 though, his gaze thoughtful. "How fast can you take off your clothes?" Kentas asked M-21.

"What?" That was a weird question.

"How fast can you take off your top?" Kentas repeated, and there was a soft exclamation by M-21's door and M-21 glanced at it with a sigh. Tao must have thought of a new idea again.

"For a fight?" M-21 guessed, seeing Kentas' gaze at all the buttons on his shirt.

"Of course."

He snorted. "Enemies don't care to wait for me to take my top off - it would get shredded one way or another anyway." If he took it off, he would never find it again; if he didn't, his transformation or the fight would take care of it.

Kentas' expression was horrified, his eyes wide. "That's why you need to take your top off before the fight!"

Was clothes really that precious to them? But if they didn't have that many or travelled a lot, that would make sense.

"And I said," M-21 said ,"my enemies don't wait around for me to take my top off first." That was just inviting them to take potshots while he was distracted.

Kentas frowned at M-21's clothes. "Then you need less layers."

"Two layers isn't that much." Which he already knew Kentas' answer to that. The top and cardigan were earlier to take off in comparison to his suit though.

"Hnng," Kentas grumbled, still eyeing his clothes. "All right. Then you should practice taking them off so you can be faster."

It really wasn't going to help. "Just that?"

A small smile grew on Kentas' face, revealing a sharp fang. "We could spar as well."

M-21 smiled softly back as well. "All right."

Kentas beamed at him.

[-]

"Hey," M-21 said as he and Kentas walked through the living room, passing Takeo and Tao, "we're going to-" He paused, changing what he was about to say. "-spar." Because saying they were going to practice taking his clothes off would sound weird.

"Okay!" Tao squeaked it, and M-21 glanced at him. Tao had a huge grin and damn, what was Tao planning now? Takeo would have a better idea, so he would ask when they got back.

"Have fun!"

Getting the shit beat out of him wasn't M-21's idea of fun, but M-21 waved goodbye to them anyway.

[-]

They found an island off the coast that hadn't been touched by a fight yet, and there was a decent clearing in the forest. There was the usual sounds of animal life around them, but it was little soothing to not hear cars and other traffic around him.

Kentas was staring at his chest, which felt a little weird, but it wasn't the sharp assessment of a Union scientist. He could deal with it.

M-21 took the cardigan off, dropping it to the side, and then pulled his top off.

Kentas didn't seem like he had a mocking expression on his face, mostly just concentrated.

"Not fast enough for you?" M-21 said, raising an eyebrow.

"Could you do it one more time?"

Not fast enough, but M-21 pulled his top and cardigan on again.

This time M-21 was faster, knowing exactly where the buttons were, and all right, if his top was looser, it would be easier to take off, he could admit that. It was still unlikely he would be allowed to do that before a fight.

Kentas' coat was already off and flung to the side by the time he was finished, and Kentas grinned at him, raising his fists in front of him. That was different from how M-21 was used to starting a spar.

But there was still a question on M-21's mind as he stepped away from his pile of clothes. "How do we find our clothes again?" Since that was the entire point of taking them off in the first place. It was pointless to take their tops off and then not retrieve them afterwards.

Kentas blinked at him, his fists lowering a little. Hm. Easily distractable with words? "We remember where we put them?"

M-21 grimaced. "I'm sometimes not standing after a fight." Or most of the time. "I'm not going to be able to find it again afterwards."

Kentas was studying him again, this time his eyebrows at a confused slant. "You're...not used to spars, are you?"

"Not really." He'd used to spar with M-24, when they had first discovered they could do more than expected, he was able to spar with Takeo and Tao in the brief periods between the Union sending someone else after them, and sparring with Frankenstein hadn't lasted long either.

"What's that got to do with finding our clothes afterwards?" M-21 said.

"Because we shouldn't be so exhausted or lost so much control after a spar that we can't find our clothes.

"Sparring until we can't fight anymore is good," Kentas continued, "but we should be stopping before one of us is completely exhausted."

M-21 frowned, not understanding. Where had that come from? "Why?"

"Because..." Kentas sighed, straightening a little as he ran his hand over his hair. "Because if we're too tired, then we'll start making mistakes."

M-21 huffed, a smile curling his lips. "You really are a training dork." To reject easy power just because he wanted to get the power himself.

Kentas tilted his head at the word 'dork'. "If I hadn't trained as hard, I wouldn't have become a..." He trailed off, frowning.

"You wouldn't have been as strong as you are now," M-21 finished, seeing where Kentas' thoughts were going. Kentas didn't want to think about becoming a warrior and the associations that had with his people.

Kentas closed his eyes and took in a breath. "Yeah." He shook his head, looking elsewhere. "Do you want to keep your clothes there?"

M-21 looked across to where his clothes were, and then to where Kentas' trenchcoat was. ...Huh. It had fallen to the edge of the clearing, and was Kentas flinging his tops that far away to get it to a specific place, rather than in any direction? "...I'll move them."

He didn't throw them to the edge of the clearing, but carried them there. The whole time he kept his awareness of Kentas, but Kentas didn't attack him while he was distracted or try to press an advantage.

Once he was done, Kentas was waiting for him, fists raised and grinning at him.

M-21 frowned as he walked over, and Kentas furrowed his brow, making an inquiring noise.

He pursed his lips. "Am I that weak to you? You haven't transformed."

Kentas' head jerked back a little, like M-21 had punched him, his eyes wide. "Huh? Why would I transform straight away?"

Well, shit. Kentas really did think-

"The whole point of a..." Kentas trailed off, studying him again. "Is that what you do in a spar?"

M-21 grimaced. "If I didn't transform as soon as it started, it was over." Frankenstein hadn't been kidding when he said he couldn't hold back.

Kentas wrinkled his nose. "Did you learn a lot like that?"

M-21 paused, thinking it over. "I learned to dodge and to attack when I could." Which...he already knew since he'd always been at the bottom of the trash heap, but sparring against Frankenstein had helped push his speed that little bit further.

"Hn." Kentas didn't look convinced. "Anyway, when werewolves spar, we don't start transformed - it's a test to see who can force the other to transform." Kentas grinned, showing off a fang.

Huh. "It ends when someone transforms?" That sounded...simple.

Kentas' grin widened. "That's when it begins."

Kentas was bouncing on his toes a little and M-21 shrugged, getting ready. Kentas seemed excited and he would see how werewolves sparred.

[-]

M-21 panted, staring up at Kentas, trying not to move too much. Not when Kentas had pinned him with a knee to the chest, one hand to his shoulder, while the other hand kept a steady pressure to M-21's throat. The fight hadn't been close, Kentas blocking most of M-21's attacks and it had been over quickly.

M-21 could see how Kentas' pupils had narrowed down to slits, all the fur that had crept over his cheeks. There was a trickle of blood over his eyebrow where M-21 had been able to catch him with a slash. Kentas wasn't wild though, still himself to know where to punch rather than just lashing out at the closest living thing around him. There really was a huge gulf between a pureblooded werewolf warrior and whatever he was, huh.

But he could also clearly see Kentas' pleased grin and flushed cheeks. Kentas had enjoyed the spar.

"Do you yield?" Kentas asked, voice rougher, like he was growling from the chest at the same time. With the transformation, maybe he was.

"And if I don't?" M-21 said, smirking. Which was fucking stupid, not when Kentas could tear his his throat out with a flex of his fingers, but M-21 used whatever weapons he could a fight to off-balance the other, especially when they had the upper hand. He'd exhausted himself, letting go of his transformation when Kentas had slammed him to the ground; there was no way he could win this with strength alone when Kentas was still transformed.

Kentas blinked at him, hiding his fangs behind his lips again. "We keep sparring?" He furrowed his brows. "Do you want to?"

...Kentas wasn't holding his win over his head like a trophy, taunting him with it. "No." M-21 blinked again when Kentas removed his hands and stood up. That was it? The spar ended just like that? And then he stared when Kentas held a hand out towards him, his transformation gone.

M-21 slowly took it, waiting for the turn, but Kentas pulled him to his feet, his grin back. "That was great!"

Was it? M-21 watched as Kentas walked away. "You were holding back." Kentas had slashed him a few times, and those areas burned as he healed, but he didn't have any broken bones, and he knew Kentas could hit harder. And M-21 could stand on his own two feet after a spar.

It was frustrating. Kentas had held back, and he'd still won.

Kentas turned around again. "Yeah. We were sparring."

That again. Maybe that was just how werewolves sparred. He couldn't call whatever happened at the Union normal, he knew that now, and Frankenstein was...Frankenstein. Nothing was normal about him either, but in a different way.

As Kentas pulled his trenchcoat on, M-21 looked across to where he'd put his tops. They were also undisturbed, the area around it untouched. ...Huh. He hadn't paid attention to where they were fighting, more focused on getting out the way or retaliating when he could, but Kentas must have kept an eye on where they were.

He pulled his tops on, feeling the tug of muscles, but it was nice to be able to do that after a spar rather than waking up in the recovery room again.

Kentas was grinning as he walked over, the trenchcoat swishing. "That was a great spar," he said again, clapping M-21 on the shoulder, and it must have been M-21 still coming down from the fight and residual aura that Kentas still had around him that made M-21 hyper aware of where Kentas touched him, his skin almost tingling.

M-21 knew Kentas was straightforward. He said whatever was on his mind with almost no filter; he wasn't as bad as Tao, whose thought processes were more random and jumpy. The only people M-21 had seen make Kentas pause and be careful over his words was Frankenstein and Raizel-nim, which made sense.

So if Kentas said they had a good spar...then he thought it was a good spar. He didn't sugarcoat or lie.

M-21 was tired after the fight, aching in places, but he could stand afterwards without leaning on someone else. He'd learned how Kentas fought, how a werewolf warrior fought, and he had a better idea how to react to certain attacks.

A small smile grow on M-21's face as they went back home. The spar had seemed to go well.

[-]

"Hn," Kentas said as M-21 took his shoes off. "You need to practice taking your clothes off faster."He had already toed out of his boots while M-21 was still undoing his shoelaces.

M-21 rolled his eyes, getting his slippers. "You said that already - and I don't need to take my shoes off for that." Unless he used them as a weapon. It could surprise his opponent, but standing on debris would cut his feet up and distract him at the worst times. But if he needed something to confuse his opponent at a critical second, it was something he could do.

"Hnnn," Kentas rumbled as they walked in, and M-21 saw Tao in the kitchen.

Tao's gaze flicked down, and when M-21 followed where he was looking, he grimaced. His tops might have survived the fight, but they were still dusty even after the travel back, and his trousers were covered in grass stains and mud.

"I need a shower," M-21 muttered, resisting the urge to try and sweep the dirt away. Too late now, since he was in the house, and had he really been that distracted enough to not clean up before getting in?

"Sooo," Tao said, leaning an elbow on the counter as he peered at them, a wide grin stretched across his face, "you two been rolling around in the dirt, huh?"

"Yes!" Kentas answered before M-21 could react.

"You could call it that," M-21 said, wanting to shake his head, but that would dislodge more of the dirt. There had been a few times where they literally had rolled in the dirt though, trying to get the upper hand on the other. Hm. He'd had enough strength to not be instantly pinned the first few times. Kentas had been holding back but...he was stronger than he thought he was? Huh.

That was something to think about for later. Every move made M-21 more conscious of how much dirt he was tracking into the house. Shower. He needed one.

He headed in before he paused, looking back at Kentas. "Do you know how to work the shower?" Kentas hadn't been there for long, and M-21 wasn't sure how familiar he was with human technology. Or Frankenstein technology, which was sometimes completely different from what it was based off of.

Kentas shook his head. "No?"

"Hn, all right," M-21 said, walking further into the house. Get to where it was okay to shed dirt, which was their own rooms. "I'll show you."

"Just...don't make too much of a mess," Tao said, and M-21 grimaced.

"We'll try not to move around too much." He was sure Frankenstein could sense dirt molecules in the air though, so no matter how much he tried, it wouldn't be enough.

The shower in Kentas' room was the same as M-21's and once it was running, M-21 held a hand out under the spray to check the temperature.

"Just turn this," he said, waving towards the knob, "to whatever temperature you want."

Kentas was looking at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You're really good with technology!" Kentas said, holding his hand out into the spray as well.

M-21 snorted. "I'm used to it." It was easy since he'd been around Frankenstein's inventions long enough. He looked at Kentas' clothes, which was also rumpled and muddy. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go for a spar when Kentas only had one set of clothes he was comfortable with...

"I'll get you another set of clothes," M-21 said, already having a vague idea what he could pull out.

Kentas blinked at him. "These are fine? I've only worn them once."

M-21 sighed. "They need cleaned after the spar - Frankenstein likes his house spotless. Plus," he added, wrinkling his nose a little, "they've been in my wardrobe for months now." He must have washed it before he put the trenchcoat in the cupboard, but he hadn't been very clean when he'd come to the house.

"Hnn..." Kentas pulled at the lapel a little, inhaling. "But that makes it better; it smells like you."

M-21 snorted. "If it's that noticeable then it should be washed." Why would Kentas want to smell his scent all over the trenchcoat?

"But I like your scent."

Right. "I don't smell that great."

"Yeah, you do."

Kentas really didn't stop with the compliments, did he?

"...Anyway." If Kentas wanted to keep the trenchcoat as it was, that was his choice; it was the trousers that were the main problem. "We could go shopping after we've cleaned up, so you can choose what you want to wear." Frankenstein could tailor clothes to Kentas' liking, but he was busy with Raizel-nim and M-21 didn't want to disturb either of them.

Kentas lit up at that.

"You'll need to wear something under the trenchcoat though, or button it up - people around here don't really like seeing bare chests. It draws attention." And that was the last thing they wanted to do right now.

Kentas wrinkled his noise, then tested the buttons. He undid them a few times before he seemed satisfied, nodding. "I'll keep it at one layer."

"All right. I'll see you once you're finished," M-21 said, leaving Kentas' bathroom.

[-]

M-21 stared at himself in his bathroom mirror. The dark shadows under his eyes had almost gone, and he didn't look as pale anymore, not as drained of his blood. Most of the aches from the spar with Kentas had already faded, and the wounds he'd gotten had healed over, leaving only dried blood where they used to be.

He traced a fingertip over one blood trail and there was no pinkness there, no hint of a scar.

A few months ago, it would have taken him hours, if not days to recover until there was no signs of what had happened. Now, he wasn't sure if an hour had passed yet.

M-21 frowned. He was becoming more and more like a werewolf with each passing day. Kentas had said his abilities were almost indistinguishable from a werewolf's.

If they were indistinguishable from a werewolf's, then what was left of him that was human?

He clenched his hands into fists on the counter, leaning on them. He felt his nails dig into his palm.

Was there anything that was still human? How much of a monster was he now?

But... M-21 continued staring at himself, studying his eyes, still with round pupils, his lip scar that refused to leave.

And he knew what werewolves were like now.

Which was similar to humans: they experimented on their own for more power.

M-21 knew not all humans were like the ones in the Union, but it was hard to understand and comprehend that after all the years he'd been there. When that was all he'd ever known.

Kentas and Lunark weren't monsters, and neither were the ones that had helped him and Kentas escape.

Maybe he wouldn't always lose his sense of self when his blood fully become a werewolf's. Kentas had stayed himself after transforming in their spar.

He could...hope.

He still remembered the brief flashes of when he'd transformed and attacked Takeo and Tao. He'd stopped doing that, he had control over himself now, but if that happened again... It could be that happened because he was still human.

He didn't know.

But maybe Kentas would have a better idea? Kentas had always been a werewolf - he would know if what had happened to him was normal.

M-21 breathed a huge sigh, getting ready for the shower. He would ask later.

[-]

M-21 knocked on Takeo's door, hearing both Takeo's and Tao's voices inside.

"Come in," Takeo called out, and when M-21 poked his head in, Tao was laying on his back on Takeo's bed, head over the edge, while Takeo sat at his desk.

"Me and Kentas are going shopping - are you coming?" The question was a courtesy, since they always-

"Sorry, M!" Tao said, waving his phone at him. "I've got security patches to upload - I'll be busy for hours."

Huh.

"Ah, yeah," Takeo said, nodding slowly. "I haven't been able to maintain my rifles recently, so I need to do that as well." Takeo's desk was clear.

M-21 hid his frown. "All right. I'll see you later."

"Yup!" Tao waggled his fingers at him. "Have fuuun!"

He closed the door behind him, seeing Kentas coming out of his room.

That was weird. They usually went shopping together. Tao updating security was important, but he usually did it as soon as he could, rather than putting it off. Takeo was the same. They wouldn't put something off that could endanger their lives.

Were they still recovering from the fight, and didn't want to worry him? Hnnn, that sounded like them.

"What's wrong?" Kentas asked him, studying his face.

M-21 shook his head. "It's fine." He wouldn't bother them, and the others would be able to hear his suspicions through the door if he said it here. "Let's go."

[-]

"You've...never been to a city before, huh?" M-21 murmured, omitting 'human' and hoping it just made Kentas sound like a country hick if there was anyone close enough to hear. He was sure Kentas understood what he meant.

Because Kentas was staring at everything like it was new, lifting his head every so often to sniff the air. He seemed interested in all the lights from everything trying to gain their attention.

"I tended to avoid them," Kentas admitted, looking at a stand across the street, food sizzling in view. "I was more focused on training and these were too loud and crowded. And when I did come, I kept to the rooftops, so I wouldn't see all...this." He nodded at the street around them. "Everything had seemed small and uninteresting from a distance."

"I think most things do," M-21 said. He'd used to look down from rooftops with M-24, sneering at people living their boring daily lives, unaware of how close they were to dying if he or M-24 were bored enough. "Once I-"

A flash to their right.

Kentas snapped to it, teeth bared and M-21 saw fur slide over his cheeks.

Shit. No screaming, no rushing from the people around them. Shit.

Not what Kentas thought it was, and he had to do something before Kentas-

M-21 grabbed Kentas' hand, Kentas' claws pricking against his skin, giving him a sharp tug towards a nearby alley as Kentas lunged in the opposite direction.

"M-!"

"Look around," M-21 hissed, keeping a tight grip on Kentas' hand as he kept pulling Kentas towards the alley. "Nothing's changed. No-one's reacting."

"Wh..."

Good. Kentas was thinking. Looking.

"There's no attack," M-21 continued as they reached the safety in the shadows. Shit. He should have known Kentas would have assumed that - Kentas was a warrior: flashes meant someone summoning their aura. "It was something humans made." Fireworks made him, Takeo and Tao scrambling for weapons and looking for attackers - of course Kentas would react the same.

Kentas furrowed his brow, still gazing out across the street. No-one had spared them a second glance, still focused on wherever they were going.

Bit by bit, M-21 felt Kentas' claws recede, the coarse fur smoothen out to soft skin again.

"Why would humans make something that flashed like that?"

M-21 grimaced. "The flash helps their cameras see better. It's for better photos." Kentas should have been around Tao enough to know what those words meant. And Tao had taken pictures of them inside the house, so the flash had never been needed.

"Hnnn."

M-21 kept a hold of Kentas' hand, stepping a bit closer. When Kentas looked at him, M-21 said, "Just in case something like that happens again." Kentas knew now, but M-21 knew how hard it was to fight against instincts and snap decisions. Especially when reacting fast was what had kept him alive all these years. It was better to keep a hold of him instead of wasting seconds trying to grab him after noticing what had happened.

Kentas didn't scoff or pull away, stepping close enough to bump shoulders before stepping away again.

That...must have been acceptance? Kentas sometimes acted in ways that reminded M-21 he wasn't human, some body language Kentas did that M-21 had no idea how to interpret.

They walked the streets hand in hand. M-21 didn't really care to hurry them since Kentas was interested in what was around them. They had the time to just wander around: there was no school in the morning, and dinner wasn't for a while yet.

It was usually M-21 following Kentas to whatever had gotten Kentas' attention, but there were a few windows M-21 had paused at, Kentas waiting by his side. There had been a few more camera flashes, but M-21 tightening his hold on Kentas' hand was enough to stop him, rather than having to pull him away again.

They eventually made it to some clothes stores, and M-21 let go of Kentas' hand as Kentas wandered towards the clothes. Kentas made some inquisitive noises as he poked at some of the clothes. Some he dismissed as soon as he touched them, while others he pondered over, stretching them a bit.

"If you want to try them out," M-21 said when Kentas had two tops in his hands, "there's fitting rooms over there." He nodded in their direction.

"Fitting rooms?" Kentas repeated, looking over.

"People don't tend to like seeing other people take their clothes off in public."

Kentas' brow furrowed at that. "Really?"

"They wouldn't have private rooms to change if they didn't."

"Hn."

While Kentas tried the tops, M-21 tossed a few shirt packets into the basket; he was running low again. He found some toe socks for Tao, since he'd heard the other man complaining he couldn't use his foot mouse when it was colder, so maybe those would help. Hnnn. Takeo could need new oil to maintain his guns too - he couldn't buy that here, but he could get that on the way back.

"They fit," Kentas said when he got out of the fitting room, a pleased smile on his face.

M-21 nodded. "Do you want more?" Kentas would need spares, but if he could fight without destroying his tops every time, he wouldn't need that many?

"No?" Kentas said, peering at the basket as M-21 held it up to him. He wrinkled his nose when he saw the shirts M-21 had put there. "You need looser clothes than that."

Hmm. M-21 looked at them again, and then at the selection of clothes around them. He doubted looser clothes would help, but maybe it would. He could try it and hope they wouldn't be attacked again while he was in uniform.

[-]

While they were waiting in line to pay, Kentas was looking at everyone before he turned to M-21. "What are we doing here?"

"Waiting to pay for these," M-21 said.

Kentas blinked at him. "I don't have anything to pay with?"

"It's fine - I do."

Kentas frowned. "How do I pay you back?"

M-21 huffed. "You don't. I've got enough." More than enough; Frankenstein paid them too much and aside from shirts, M-21 didn't use his money for much else unless he, Takeo and Tao ate out somewhere.

"Hn..." Kentas stayed quiet the rest of the time they were waiting.

[-]

The entire cost hadn't been much, but for some reason Kentas insisted on carrying the bags. Which was a little weird only because M-21 was used to being the bag mule with Takeo if they were shopping with Tao or the children.

"You all right?" M-21 said. They'd collected the oil Takeo liked to use for his guns, and were walking back home. "You've been quiet." Kentas hadn't said that much on their way to the shops, but he'd been interested in what was around them. Now, he was keeping in step with M-21, following his lead.

Kentas pursed his lips. "You've done a lot for me, giving and buying me clothes, making sure I don't draw attention here. I don't have a way to repay you."

That was what was bothering him? But then...when M-21 had first come into Frankenstein and Raizel-nim's house, he'd wanted to be useful so they wouldn't throw them out. And he didn't want to owe them anything, in case they wanted favours he had to pay back.

"You've already 'paid'," M-21 said, shrugging a shoulder. "You tried to protect me and get me out of there. We wouldn't have gotten out in the first place without you."

"We didn't get very far," Kentas said, frowning.

"You still tried, rather than giving up, and you didn't try to hand me over to save your own skin." Not betraying him was a good reason to help Kentas, when Kentas had almost no-one else to turn to.

"Of course not!" Kentas said, indignant, drawing himself taller. "That would be dishonourable!"

M-21 smiled a little at Kentas' reaction. He really had no filter from his brain to his mouth.

"You're also helping me get better at fighting," M-21 added. "You're not paying me back directly, but you're helping in different ways."

"Hm. I suppose..." Kentas' brows were still furrowed, but he was more curious about their surroundings again as they walked back.

[-]

Tao had hugged him when M-21 gave him the toe socks, and Takeo had thanked him for the oil.

Kentas was looking thoughtful again when M-21 walked over to go to M-21's room - he had more things in the bag, so he would have less stuff to carry back.

"Everyone here is separated," Kentas noted, looking at all the doors in the corridor before going into M-21's room.

"Yeah, everyone gets their own room," M-21 said, shrugging as he pulled the folded pile of clothes out. But if Kentas was saying that- "Is that weird to you?"

Kentas was still looking thoughtful. "With werewolves, families sleep together."

There was a warmth in M-21's chest at Kentas' words. Yeah, his family. But as for what Kentas was saying... "I don't know about nobles-" Though Seira and Regis also had their own rooms. "-or other human families, but in the Union, me, Takeo and Tao slept in groups, but we weren't given a choice about it." He frowned as memories resurfaced. "We weren't allowed privacy - scientists would come and go as they pleased, take whoever they wanted." And sometimes, M-21 never saw them again. "We were just things for them to study and poke at whenever they wanted. We had no control.

"Here, we do. We have our own rooms and we can choose what we do in them. It's our own space if we want to get away from the others for a while." It was good having people around him, but there were times where M-21 just didn't want to talk to anyone. And the others let him be. Tao crashed into his room sometimes, but the rest of the time, Tao poked his head in first.

"Hnn." Kentas nodded, picking up his clothes from the bag.

As Kentas turned to leave, M-21 said, "What's it like, being a werewolf?" Which he was sure wasn't the right way to phrase it, because how would he answer if Kentas asked him 'What's it like being a human?'

Kentas didn't seem offended, only curious. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm turning into one." Kentas had said it himself he was almost indistinguishable from a werewolf warrior. "I want to know what I need to be aware of. I thought I was going to turn into a monster when I realised I was losing my humanity and..."

M-21 trailed off, seeing Kentas' face go blank for a second.

"Is that what a werewolf is to you? A monster?"

Ah, shit. M-21 sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "It was," he said. Tao had said his sarcasm was a weapon, but he hadn't meant to insult Kentas. "The werewolf stories we have are filled with the human losing control of themselves as the instincts take over. Eventually, the human's lost so much of themselves they have to be killed before they kill the people around them." And he'd been a fucking ass - he knew 'vampires' weren't the same as what human stories said they were, so why would werewolves be the same?

"Hnnn." Kentas was quiet for a few seconds, crossing his arms. Then he looked at M-21. "You're still human though," he said.

What?

"Why do you think you're losing your humanity?"

That question made no sense. "Because I'm becoming more like a werewolf," M-21 said, trying to understand what Kentas was saying, if he'd misheard. "You said my regeneration was like a werewolf warrior's." He was sure he'd heard that right.

Kentas nodded. "Just because you have some of our abilities, doesn't mean you're a werewolf. If you met a werewolf or a noble who, uh..." He sighed, glancing away for a second. "-could make lots of new inventions, would you say they were human?"

"What, no." That wasn't the same thing. "Inventing's different - it's something anyone can do with enough time and study." And Frankenstein had a lot of that.

Except Kentas was looking at him patiently, like he was waiting for M-21 to understand. But werewolf regeneration was different. That was something they could just do.

But...Kentas had said his regeneration abilities were like a werewolf warrior's, that a normal werewolf wouldn't compare.

And a werewolf became a warrior through training their abilities and skills.

M-21 grimaced. "Fuck." He'd been a complete ass the entire time. "Thanks for explaining to my stupid ass." He hadn't been thinking it through at all.

"You're not stupid."

"What?"

Kentas was frowning at him, his eyebrows drawn in. "You're not stupid," he repeated.

"I'd just insulted you because I thought-"

"You'd believed stories you'd been told for years." Not exactly, but there was something in Kentas' tone... "Like how I thought all humans were weak and experimented on each other to get power."

...Ah. Kentas hadn't been much different.

Kentas was watching him. "Do you blame me for thinking like that?"

"No." Kentas had found out and changed his opinions of humans.

"Then why should I blame you for the same?"

"Because..." M-21 trailed off. He should have known better, but even if he hadn't grown up with werewolf stories like other humans, he'd still heard stories of Union agents encountering werewolves. Those werewolves had probably not been true werewolves like the 'noblesse' agents had encountered but he'd heard about their savagery and how they'd acted like beasts and he'd never questioned it.

M-21 sighed. "All right." They'd both been wrong about each other's races and knew that now.

M-21 took in another breath, turning his head towards the door. "I think dinner's nearly ready." It smelled like it - there wasn't another reason why he would be smelling food right now.

Kentas nodded and they headed downstairs.

[-]

M-21 stared up at the ceiling as he lay on his bed after dinner. Kentas said he was human. But...he couldn't be.

He could do things unmodified humans couldn't. He could transform, he could heal in hours from injuries that would have killed most humans. But he wasn't a werewolf either. His heart had changed him, but not enough to replace everything about him.

So what was he?

He normally practiced his transformation at night, trying to push it so he could transform faster. But when he did, he picked at his bed linen, curling his hands into fists before he shredded them. Transforming now just reminded him of what he both was and wasn't.

With a sigh, M-21 let go of his transformation and turned around. He wasn't making any progress with how he was thinking, so he would try again later, when he wasn't feeling as tired.

[-]

M-21 tugged at the new top he'd bought the day before. It was loose enough he could pull it off in one smooth motion. It was also dark, covered in stars - he hadn't intended to buy the design, but it had been one of the most comfortable ones in the shop.

When he left his room, Tao was leaving his own, and Tao did a double-take when he saw him, a wide grin snapping into place.

M-21 sighed, knowing what Tao was going to comment on.

"Sooo," Tao drew out, his grin getting even wider as he rocked back and forth on his heels, "looser clothes, huh?"

...That was what Tao was commenting on? Not the night sky design?

"Yeah," he said, still trying to puzzle out Tao's reaction. "Kentas said I needed more of them."

"Reeeally," Tao said. "So they're easier to take off?"

"Yeah."

Tao perched an elbow on M-21's shoulder, spluttering with laughter.

M-21 raised an eyebrow at him. He hadn't said anything funny.

"Maaan," Tao said, wiping a tear away from the corner of his eyes, "you're being way more upfront about this than I thought you'd be."

What? "About what?"

"About dating Kentas!"

What. M-21 stared at him. "We're not dating." Where did Tao get that from?

Tao snickered, still leaning his weight on M-21's shoulder as he ticked his fingers off. "Kentas askin' how fast you take your clothes off, you showin' him how the shower works-" Tao waggled his eyebrows at this. "-going on dates, and now you're wearing looser clothes."

M-21 couldn't see it. How were those con - wait. Fuck. Did he really think-? "You think we're having sex?"

"I asked you if you'd been rolling around in the dirt and you said yes!"

Fucking- "I thought you meant literally - we were sparring!" All those comments and he hadn't noticed Tao's double meaning. Had he been that distracted?

"Sparring doesn't involve rolling around in the dirt!" Tao shot back.

...Which was true when he'd sparred with Takeo and Tao - they all tended to keep their distance from each other when they sparred, and getting close to Frankenstein meant getting taken out instantly.

M-21 huffed, seeing Kentas leave his room. "Oi, Kentas." Since Tao wasn't listening to him, maybe he'd listen more to Kentas.

"Huh?" Kentas looked between M-21 and Tao, who was still shaking a little from laughter.

"Are we dating?" Kentas' reaction would make it obvious.

Kentas blinked once. Twice. "No...?"

That wasn't the instant reaction M-21 had expected.

"But I'd like to?" Kentas said, slower than usual, like he was trying to pick each word carefully. "You're strong, smart and won't back down no matter what; I liked it when we held hands-" Tao squeaked and M-21 elbowed him, knowing what he was thinking. It hadn't been like that. "-and I've been trying to figure out how to show you how much I appreciate you.

"You hadn't been responding to my gestures-" Kentas continued. Wait, Kentas had been trying to get his attention and he hadn't noticed? "-but I realised after last night it could be because you didn't know how werewolves signal to each other they're interested, and I don't know how humans do that either."

What the fuck.

"I told ya!" Tao crowed, ducking behind M-21 and shoving him towards Kentas.

"You said we were dating," M-21 muttered, heat warming his cheeks, letting Tao move them closer.

"Fine," Tao said. "But I knew there was something happening. Anyway, Kentas," Tao said, patting M-21 on the shoulder, "M's one of the most quick-witted people I know-" Tao was saying that too? "-but if ya don't say something to him directly and bluntly, he's not gonna think it's about him."

"I've been complimenting him?" Kentas said, his expression a little uncertain.

"But you do that with everyone," M-21 said. That was just how Kentas was.

Tao snickered, patting M-21's shoulder again. "Nooope. Just you. When have you heard Kentas compliment anyone here?"

"Lots of times. There was..." M-21's mind drew a blank. As hard as he thought over Kentas' interactions with the rest of his family, none of them got compliments like the ones Kentas gave him. Or at all. "I...just assumed you did with others while I wasn't around." Because why would Kentas focus on him?

"Sooo, M's going into self-doubt mode," Tao said. He wasn't - he was just being realistic; no-one would want him when there were far better people available. "It's best to break him out of it before he gets stuck in there."

"But why would he doubt himself?" Kentas said, frowning. "He's amazing."

What. What was happening? Was this real?

"Heh, you're gonna do great!" Tao said, humming. He guided M-21 and Kentas to M-21's room, and M-21 let him do that in a daze, trying to understand what was going on. Someone wanted him?

Once they were in M-21's room, Tao said, "Also, like ya said, M is really stubborn and since he doesn't believe in himself at all, it can take a looot of repeating and reassurance before he starts taking in what you're saying.

"And M?" Tao said, turning to him, "Believe him when he compliments you, 'kay?" With that final piece of advice, Tao snapped out a quick salute and left, closing the door behind him.

M-21 wandered over to his bed, sinking onto it.

"You want to date me?" he asked, because maybe he'd misinterpreted everything again, like how he'd mistaken what Tao had been saying over the last couple days.

Kentas nodded. "Yes."

But...why would Kentas want to. He was a piece of shit, especially compared to other warriors. Oh. That had to be it. "If you're settling with me-" He stopped, seeing Kentas' confused look.

"Settling?"

"Yeah. You're no longer with your own people, so there's no other werewolves you can-"

"You think I like you because you're the only one around?"

"Yeah? Why else would you like me?" That had to be the reason. There was no reason a werewolf warrior would want something like him.

Kentas huffed and sat down on M-21's desk chair. "Because you're strong, resilient, calm in a situation. You never gave up. You're strong in not just your body." He gave M-21 a small smile. "You could do what I couldn't."

M-21 snorted. "I'm weaker than you." If he'd been stronger, he wouldn't have been taken down by Ignes so quickly. "And I wasn't calm that entire time." Far from it. M-21 took a breath, his hands slowly tightening into fists. It was his worst nightmare to be captured by a scientist again with no way to escape. And Ignes hadn't cared if he'd lived or died like the Union scientists had - she'd known he had werewolf healing and hadn't needed to hold back. She had been more interested in Kentas anyway; he'd just been something to distract herself with while Kentas recovered.

"Compared to me you were," Kentas said. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten out of there."

M-21 shook his head. "The werewolf scientists released us because of you. That didn't happen because of me."

"No." M-21 looked up, confused about Kentas' certainty. Kentas' gaze was towards the floor as he frowned. "Even with their help, I wouldn't have escaped without you. I didn't know what to do or where to go; I'd never encountered anything like that before and I froze."

...Kentas had collapsed at the sight of the werewolf corpses, and then the other scientists had come across them soon after. If M-21 hadn't given him a heads up, what would have happened to him?

And, right, Kentas didn't lie about anything. So he was telling the truth.

...Fuck.

"I..." M-21 sighed, and tried again, trying to sort out his thoughts. "Okay." Where to start? Kentas was interested in him and he'd missed all the hints Kentas had given him. "You were being sincere about all those compliments."

"Of course!"

Because Kentas said exactly what was on his mind, and really, he should have remembered that.

"What are the other ways werewolves show they're interested in each other?" What had he missed?

"Through touch," Kentas said, rolling his hand in a circle.

Ah. That would explain all the times Kentas had touched him, and hadn't minded when he'd taken Kentas' hand. Had it seemed like he was interested when he'd taken Kentas' hand?

Kentas was watching him, and right.

"I don't know about humans in general," M-21 said. "But..." What did he like? "I enjoy other people's company." He'd spent so much time seeing his comrades being whittled down one by one, unsure when someone would disappear next that they comforted each other in what ways they could, reminding the others they were there. "And...touch? Maybe?" He wasn't sure. He hadn't reacted that much when Kentas had touched him, or Tao, but he'd assumed they'd meant nothing by it.

Kentas rumbled something from deep in his chest before he said, "So you're interested in being my sparring partner?"

M-21 stared at him, the phrase clicking with something in his mind, then he groaned, running a hand down his face. "That's what you meant before, wasn't it?" Kentas was devoted to getting stronger, and werewolves were attracted to strength. Of course they would have a different name for a significant other. Of course they would ask in a different way from humans. "You'd already asked me before when you wanted to spar with me."

"Yes."

Fuck. "I thought you were only asking to spar, not if I wanted to be your partner. And...yeah, I do." At least try? Kentas thought there was something of worth to him, and Kentas's company was nice.

A smile slowly grew on Kentas' face and when he came over, M-21 wasn't sure where to look, what to do.

When Kentas wrapped his arms around his shoulders, M-21 exhaled, his entire body relaxing as he felt Kentas' warmth seep into him. It felt good, and M-21 hugged him back, pulling him closer so Kentas didn't have to stand.

[-]

"So?" Tao was peeking at M-21's door through the stair banisters when M-21 and Kentas left his room. "Soooo?"

M-21 rolled his eyes, not hiding his smile. "What do you think?"

Tao punched the air. "Yessss!"

Tao hopped over and latched himself onto M-21's arm. "Now you gotta tell me how you ended up holding Kentas' hand and didn't think there was anything up with that!"

"Because I was trying to stop him from accidentally killing someone if he reacted to a flash," M-21 said.

"By holding his hand. Uh-huh." Tao peered at his face. "And that was the only option you had."

"It would be faster to keep a hold of him in case he reacted faster than I did." Which was what had nearly happened the first time.

"Aaand you obviously stopped when Kentas got used to the city," Tao said, his grin huge again as he looked between them.

"We stopped holding hands when we entered one of the shops," Kentas said, nodding.

"It was brighter inside, so flashes wouldn't be so obvious, and less people take pictures inside." And Kentas had needed both his hands while looking at all the tops.

"Mmhmmm." The way Tao drew it out, he didn't seem convinced. "And when you came back? Did ya hold hands then?"

"No," M-21 said. "Kentas wasn't reacting by then." Except when he looked over, Kentas' expression was thoughtful.

"I was carrying bags in both hands at that point."

Huh. So he was.

Tao hummed. "And if you hadn't, do ya think you would have held hands?"

Would they? They wouldn't have needed to, but M-21 had stayed as close to Kentas' side as if they'd been holding hands anyway.

"Probably," M-21 admitted.

Tao laughed.

[-]

M-21 panted, sweat trickling from every pore, but there was no stopping the fierce pride in his chest as he pinned Kentas against a rock, his claws at Kentas' throat. Kentas' skin was flushed and M-21 could hear as well as feel the rumble in Kentas' chest.

"Do you yield?" M-21 said, smirking.

Kentas swallowed and then tilted his head back a little, exposing his neck more. "Yeah."

Exhaling, M-21 let go of his transformation as he stood up, holding his hand out to Kentas.

Kentas took it, grinning, and as soon as he was standing, Kentas wrapped an arm around M-21's shoulders, pressing their foreheads together. They stayed like that for a while, just hearing each other breathe.

"I've never had a fight like that," Kentas said as they went back to their tops, Kentas rubbing dirt away from his eyes. "You don't fight like a werewolf warrior."

M-21 huffed. "Because I'm not." Attacking Kentas or anyone stronger than him head-on hadn't worked. It meant he put himself too close to where they could grab him or retaliate. So he had to fight in a different way.

And if that meant 'cheating' like throwing dirt in his opponent's eyes or hiding his aura enough to ambush his opponent in the back, then he would. It was a win and that was better than being captured or dead.

"Hnnn," Kentas said, nodding. His grin hadn't faded. "It was different! You always make me think harder how to fight and react."

M-21 smiled back as he pulled on his top. "I had to change the way I fight just to have a chance of beating you."

Kentas beamed at him. "The next spar's going to be great."

M-21 was no longer as human as he used to be before the Union got their hands on him, but he wasn't a werewolf either.

He was somewhere in between.

And that was fine. He would make it work.