Aroooo! A Werewolf TF, in Two Acts

by Spinland-The-Sixth and GinTheWerewolf

~~~

Act One

~~~

Leon Anderson knew of what was beyond the door. Lots and lots of what was beyond that innocuous little door. He could practically hear them raving for his blood. But there was no way to avoid them. Shuddering to himself, the little boy opened the door, stepped outside...

...and was mobbed by reporters of all shapes and sizes, trying to interview him. It was natural, really: being a nine-year-old child star, everyone was out for a taste of him. The problem was that Leon was incredibly shy, and hated being in large crowds. Especially where HE was the center of attention.

"What's it like to be working on the English dub of a popular anime?!" one of the reporters all but screeched, shoving his microphone in Leon's face. Leon blanched.

He wasn't able even to answer. The first word he said, another reporter was already asking other things, like "Are you nervous about this line of work?". Another reporter asked, struggling to not be pushed away by the others, "How do you deal with stress on the job?"

"I.. um... a-ah..." Leon stammered.

"Do you think this will be hard?" a fourth reporter asked. That question was followed by a flurry of more questions and screams.

"P-please, s-s-stop! I... I h-have to go!" Before the vicious mob of reporters could react, Leon dashed away, running through the streets of Quebec with wild abandon.

~~~

Once Leon was far enough away from the reporters, he slowed to a walk. Soon, he caught notice of something.

"A... dog?" He was facing a large, wolf-like dog, that looked slightly... awkward walking on four legs.

The dog slowly went closer to Leon. When he was close enough, in a sudden move, the dog bit Leon.

"Ow!" Leon cradled his bit hand. It was bleeding a little, but the dog wasn't rabid, so he'd be fine. Still, he'd need to get it bandaged and treated.

Eventually, Leon came back to his home. To his relief, the reporters were already gone. As he entered the house, Marie, his twenty-three-year-old sister, was waiting for him.

"So, there you are. Did the reporters come here again?" she asked.

"Y-yes..." Leon answered. "Th-they're scary..."

"Well, don't worry. I think they won't come here for some time," Marie said, smiling. If you looked closely enough, you could, perhaps, notice a trace of craftiness on her face.

"...um... o-okay, if you s-s-say so.. how was your day?"

"The same as most other days... Study, avoid some boys- seriously, I'm bored of them always doing the same thing everyday..."

"They're still proposing to you?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know if they'll EVER notice that I'm not interested in any of them..." Marie replied, sighing.

"I see... um... also... c-could you t-t-take a look at this..?" Leon held his bitten hand up. Marie took it, looking at it with mild concern and amusement.

"Wow. Did you get attacked by a dog while you were out?" she jokingly asked. "Don't worry, just come with me to treat this wound." Marie walked out of the room, Leon trotting behind.

~~~

"All better!" Marie declared. Leon looked at the bandage that now covered the bite wound with a small smile.

"T-Thanks, Marie..." Leon said. His sister ruffled his ash-blond hair.

"There we go. Why don't you go and get some rest, little guy? It's late."

"Okay," Leon said, walking to his room.

~~~

Though he was a child star, the boy didn't really have too much in his room: no television (he didn't like much of what was broadcasted), and no special gadgets (save for a nightlight and a ceiling fan). There was a serviceable bed in one corner of the room. Along the wall was a large-ish bookshelf. Propped up against that bookshelf was a shovel. (You don't want to know why Leon had a shovel in his room.) His favorite hat, shaped like the head of a wolf, hung on a wooden hook on his door.

"F-finally... some rest," Leon sighed. He was completely tired out. After running away from reporters from the whole day, he could, at long last, get some respite. He laid down on his bed. Sure, the dog's bite was a little painful, but he was able to ignore it. As he drifted off into sleep, he thought about how he would handle the reporters again, the next day...

~~~

Leon could only only sleep for a little while. After a rather strange nightmare, he tried to sleep again, but it was useless. In an attempt to relax a little, Leon walked to the forest right behind his house.

The forest was quiet at night. The tree branches slightly moved as the wind blew, filtering the light of the moon. The full moon.

Now, the pain of the dog's bite came back. This time, the pain was a little bigger. Leon tried to ignore it again, but he wasn't able. The pain grew bigger and bigger, until...

"YIPE!"

Leon couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He had a TAIL. A real, honest to God TAIL, with light grey fur and a white tip.

Then, the fur began to appear in OTHER places on his body. Notably, his feet, which were deforming and reshaping.

"W-w-wah... what's g-g-going on?!" Leon asked himself, completely terrified. He didn't have the slightest idea of what triggered this weird transformation. However, when he looked up...

"A... a f-f-f-full moon... is it... am I..?"

It was in this instant that he realized why he was transforming.

"I'm... oh, n-no..." Spying a small creek, Leon dashed over to it, stumbling over his new paws. When he saw his reflection in the water, his eyes widened in horror. "I'm... a werewolf."

Then, he heard a child's laughter.

"W-who is there?!" Leon squeaked.

"Me!" Before Leon could react, he was knocked over by something furry, almost exactly his size.

"W-w-who... a-are y-y-you..?"

"My name is Jake, and you must be Leon! Am I right?" the furry something asked. It was another werewolf boy, like Leon! However, instead of having grey-and-white fur, Jake's was brown, through and through.

"U-um... y-yes... I'm L-Leon Anderson..." VERY nervously, the child star's eyes darted from side to side.

"Hey, calm down, okay? I'm not gonna hurt you," Jake said, trying to calm Leon.

"H-how do I kn-know you a-aren't l-l-lying to me..?" Leon whimpered.

"Werewolves are actually a really peaceful species. Don't believe Hollywood- we DON'T turn into slavering, blood-thirsty monsters at the full moon." Jake smiled at Leon. "I guess I'd better explain the whole thing, huh?"

"Um... y-yes, please..."

~~~

"T-That's a lot to take in," Leon murmured after Jake had finished explaining. As it turned out, werewolves were actually very playful. Any given werewolf, apparently, could only make one other person a werewolf in their entire life, and didn't need a full moon to take the form of a rather cute, bipedal wolf/human hybrid.

"Don't worry, Leon. After a while, it'll get easier to understand," reassured Jake. He put a hand on Leon's shoulder, and flicked the new werewolf's nose. "For now, let's play together!"

"O-okay..?"

They played for a good while, having a lot of fun. Before either could notice, the moon was already disappearing from the sky, as the first light of dawn could be seen shining on the horizon.

"It's already morning..." Jake complained. "No fair! I was having so much fun with you!"

"D-don't worry... I'll c-c-come back when I can.." Leon promised. "...a-are we... friends?"

"Of course we are!" Jake said, smiling. Leon smiled back.

"W-w-well... bye, I guess..." The shy boy yawned, and walked away, changing back to his human form like Jake had taught him how.

When Leon got near his house, he wished it was still night. He could hear those reporters on the other side of the house, and his sister holding them off. He gulped, before a plan came into his head. Silently, Leon spun on his heel, and went back the way he came.

~~~

The reporters clamored around Marie, who was still beating them off.

"I TOLD you!" she growled. "Leon DOESN'T want to talk to you slavering, blood-thirsty monsters!"

Marie wasn't able to hold the reporters for much longer, but just in the nick of time, Leon and Jake, in their human forms, appeared, and in a few seconds, both were surrounded by them.

"Who is THIS person you're with?" one reporter asked. Jake smiled happily at her.

"I'm Jake, Leon's new best friend!"

"Leon, how did you meet your... friend?" another reporter asked.

"I c-couldn't sleep last night, so I t-took a walk, and we... bumped into one another." Leon had a sheepish grin on his face. "J-Jake's really a n-n-nice guy... um... I think I'm g-going to take a nap, so... p-please leave." With that, he escorted Marie and Jake inside...

...and SLAMMED the door. Evidently, being around Jake gave him more confidence than when he was alone.

"So... you have to deal with these guys every day?" Jake asked. Leon and Marie nodded grimly.

"Y-yes. They're half the r-reason w-why I k-k-keep a shovel in my room."

"Wow! A shovel in your room? You're really prepared!"

Leon blushed.

"Th-thanks, Jake. Um... w-where do you live, b-by the way?"

"Oh, me?" Jake chuckled. "I live a few houses down."

"Leon, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you have to do something right now? Something that was attracting the reporters here?" Marie reminded Leon. His eyes widened, and he gasped.

"Oh, NO!" he shouted. "I've gotta g-get to the studio to record for that anime! I'm sorry! B-bye, Jake! Bye, big sister!"

Leon rushed to the studio. He didn't even know how much time he had before he was late. As his fear rose, he began to imagine the worst. But then, he had an idea. In their wolf forms, werewolves were faster than humans, Jake had explained. Maybe..?

"H-here's hoping nobody notices me..." he muttered to himself. "One, two... THREE!"

In a flash of light, and with a small howl, he had changed into his werewolf form, and was running as fast as he could, hoping against hope that nobody would see an anthropomorphic wolf with blond hair rushing down the street whilst wearing a blue hoodie. ("That's probably a rare sentence," he commented to himself.)

After thirty seconds, Leon finally reached the studio, and luckily, he was just three minutes late. Then, one girl that was working with Leon asked him a question.

"Sorry if this sounds a little rude, but why are you wearing that... costume?"

Leon blanched.

"C-costume?" He looked down at himself, to find that he was still in werewolf form. He blushed. "O-oh... sorry. I was with a friend at a... place last night... I forgot to change into my regular clothes. Sorry... um... h-have I been asked to record yet, Sonya?"

Sonya shook her head. "Nope. You'd better go change, though. Really fast. We're wanted in five minutes."

"S-sure.." The shy star sped off to the changing room. Once there, he splashed a little water on his face, and resumed humanhood.

Leon got out of the changing room just a minute after entering.

"Wow, that was fast!" Sonya said. Leon shrugged.

"Well... we'd better s-start g-g-getting ready to r-record..." The two walked off. Inwardly, Leon berated himself. It was going to be very hard to keep his lycanthropy a secret, wasn't it..?

~~~

Act Two

~~~

"Bye, Marie!" Leon Anderson said, walking out the door, his backpack on.

Once he was out the door, Leon sighed in relief. He had almost gotten caught earlier in the day.

For, though he was a nine-year-old child star from Quebec, Canada... he was a werewolf.

Today, Leon was going to sleep over at his best friend Jake's house. When he reached the house, he could see Jake waiting for him. Jake, like Leon, was a werewolf. In fact, Jake had actually given Leon lycanthropy one day, in an attempt to befriend the shy boy. (But Leon didn't know that.)

"Hi, Leon!" Jake greeted happily. "How was your day?"

"N-nothing too special," Leon answered. He wasn't planning to tell Jake what really happened. It involved the shovel Leon kept in his room, and a crazed fanatic of Leon's. That's all you need to know.

"Oh. Well, you're here now, so we can have fun with some pals of mine! Plus, I've got a little secret..." Jake leaned in close, and whispered in Leon's ear, "They're all werewolves, like us!"

"All of them?" Leon asked, surprised. Jake nodded.

"Yup! There are four of them: Gin, Claire, Madeleine, and Sonya. I'm in a super-secret club with them!"

When Leon heard the name "Sonya", he stiffened.

"Sonya..?" the boy murmured. "As in S-Sonya Descartes? As in... m-m-my coworker..?"

"You're right. She's also part of the club," Jake answered. Then, he heard the doorbell ring. "Oh! They're here! Wait in the living room, while I tell them about you."

Leon walked to the living room, as Jake greeted the others, who entered. The first that entered was a girl older than Jake and Leon, about eleven years old, with distinctly French features.

"Hello, Jake," she greeted, her French accent strong. "How are you?"

"I'm okay. What about you, Madeleine?" Jake greeted back.

"Eh, bien. But... him, in the living room." Madeleine pointed to Leon, who was sitting on an armchair and humming to himself. "Is he... you know... loup-garou?"

"Oui." Jake nodded. "Leon makes a pretty good werewolf. Well, don't just stand there, the others are waiting!"

The next one was a boy, also a little older than the others. When he entered, he was mumbling something to himself- a little song, it sounded like.

"Eh? What are you singing, Gin?" Gin shrugged.

"Not much. Just a song I like... who's that sitting on the armchair?"

"That's Leon, the boy that I transformed," Jake explained. Gin gasped.

"You gave him lycanthropy?!"

"Uh-huh. He's fun to be around."

"...I see. I just hope he won't be a waste of your lycanthropy."

Leon stopped humming to himself, and turned to see Gin.

"Um... h-hello..." the boy said.

"Hi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Leon," Gin greeted back. The two shook hands, before the third of Jake's friends arrived.

"Hello," she said. She was a pretty girl, about ten years old, with black hair and dark eyes. "I'm Claire, Jake's friend. You must be Leon! Are you a..."

"A w-werewolf? Yes..." Leon answered.

"That's great! Did you enjoy your first transformation?" Claire asked. Leon nodded.

"Y-yes... J-Jake and I r-ran into one another that n-night... h-he showed me that w-w-werewolves aren't s-scary."

"Yeah. They make us look like mindless monsters." Then, the girl turned. "Eh, Sonya! C'mon in!"

"Uh-oh..." Leon froze up. How was he going to explain that he was a werewolf to his coworker? Impossible!

As soon as Sonya entered, she noticed Leon. She also froze up in surprise.

"...Leon? Is that you?"

"Looks like you already know each other. This'll make things a little easier," Claire commented.

"Um..." Leon was at a loss for words. "...I didn't know you were a..."

"Yeah..." Sonya said. "Wow... hard to believe that two werewolves are working on an anime dub together..."

Then, Jake interrupted the conversation with a howl and a big smile.

"Well, now everybody's here, so we can start the main event!"

"Main event?" Leon asked. "W-what's the... main event?"

"Wolfkateers, line up!" Gin commanded.

"What's a... Wolfkateer..?"

Jake, Claire, Sonya, Gin, and Madeleine formed a line.

"What's a Wolfka-" Claire began. "You didn't tell him, Jake?!"

"I think I forgot to," Jake said. "Anyway... WE'RE the Wolfkateers, Leon! That's the name of our club!"

To his surprise, Leon chuckled derisively.

"S-somebody's watched too much of The Mickey Mouse Club, apparently," the boy laughed, a sarcastic edge to his words.

Gin sighed. "We were out of ideas, and Jake came up with the name. Everyone liked it, so we accepted the idea."

"It's time to debate on whether Leon should join our club!" Jake announced. "All not in favor, raise their hands!"

Only Madeleine raised her hand. Jake did a quick count of those who were in favor versus those who weren't, and came up with one conclusion.

"WELCOME TO THE WOLFKATEERS, LEON!"

~~~

After some time:

"So, Madeleine... Do you have any reason you don't accept Leon being in the club?" Jake asked. Madeleine put a very sour face on.

"He is... not werewolf material."

Sorry, but what..?" Jake asked, a little confused.

"He's... he doesn't have that... that je ne sais quois," Madeleine said dourly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Do you... do you not like him?" Jake asked.

"...yes. I'm jealous of him."

"Are you serious? I saw what he has to deal with almost every day, Maddy. I think HE'S jealous of US!"

Madeleine's eyes widened.

"Jealous... of us? How so?"

"He's really shy, and he has to deal with a lot of reporters, asking him one question after another. He doesn't have time to answer a single one, and he even keeps a shovel in his room, just in case!" Jake explained. "If anything, I'll bet he envies us for not having all that attention!"

"Wow... that has to be difficult for him to deal with..."

"So, are you still jealous of him?" he asked. Slowly, Madeleine shook her head. It was obvious that she definitely didn't want all the attention placed on Leon.

However... a bit before they started talking, Leon had come near both, and he was able to hear why Madeleine voted against him to enter in the club.

"Y-you feel that way about me..?" Leon's eyes watered with tears.

"Uh-oh..." Jake gulped, noticing Leon. "I should have warned you... it's REALLY easy to make Leon cry..."

In a sudden move, Leon rushed over to Madeleine, hugging her. Tears were now streaming down his face. Madeleine was very surprised by this.

"Leon?" she asked, a bit shocked. "W-what are you doing?"

"You were jealous of me... I'm s-s-sorry for making you jealous..." he stammered. "C-c-can you forgive me...?"

"Uhh... sure, although making someone feel jealous isn't something you ask them to forgive..." Madeleine didn't really know what to do or say around such an emotional person.

"Th-th-th-thank you... I'm sorry..."

Jake came over to Leon, and patted him on the back reassuringly.

"It's cool, Leon. So... I just remembered something- you don't have your uniform yet!"

"Uniform?" Leon asked. Jake nodded.

"Yeah! Lemme show you mine, okay?" He scampered off to his room, and when he returned, he was holding an interesting outfit. It was white and green, resembling something a hero might wear.

"Not only does it look cool, it's really comfy!" Jake proclaimed. "Every Wolfkateer has one, so you need one, too! Any color preference?"

"Um.. uh... white and blue would be nice... I th-think..." Leon mumbled.

"Alright, just wait a little bit!" Jake said, going back to his room and returning with another outfit, the same colors Leon asked. Happily, he handed it to his shy friend.

"Um... it really is nice..."

"Yay! I'm glad you like it! Well, what are you waiting for, pal? Go put it on! I wanna see how it looks on you as a wolf!"

"Alright..." Leon said. He entered in the bathroom to change his clothes. After a minute, he got out, wearing the outfit in wolf form. "H-h-how do I look?"

Sonya looked impressed.

"Pretty boy," she teased. Leon blushed.

"She's got a point," Claire noted. "You look nice!"

"You're good in this uniform," Gin said stoically.

"T-thank you. Um... so what happens now?"

"I'll tell ya what happens!" Jake said, crossing his arms and grinning. "We're going on an adventure in the forest together, all six of us!"

"What adventure?" Leon asked.

Gin let an appropriately wolfish grin slide onto his face.

"One we've been planning for a long time," he said.

"And we were only waiting for another werewolf to join the club to do it," Claire continued. Sonya finished it.

"And now that you're here, we can do it properly!"

"What we are waiting for? Let's go!" Jake cheered. In a jiffy, he'd changed into both his Wolfkateer outfit and his wolf form, and DASHED out the door.

"Jake is right. Staying here is a waste of time!" Claire said. From her backpack, she pulled out her own outfit (white and light blue), and quickly threw it on, changing into her werewolf form.

"I'm not staying here anymore. See you later," Gin said. He got his outfit out of a courier bag. (His was white and bluish-purple.) Then, he changed his clothes and ran outside, already in werewolf form.

"Eh, I'd better go, too," Madeleine said. "Some privacy, s'il vous plait?"

Leon, being French-Canadian as well, recognized her French and walked into another room, motioning for Sonya to follow behind. Since he was already in wolf form and his outfit, only Sonya needed to change. When she did so...

"W-wow... you look really p-pretty as a wolf," Leon said, his cheeks blushing a vibrant red color- the same as Sonya's outfit, where it wasn't white. "C-c'est m-m-m-magnifique..."

"Thanks for the compliment," she replied.

"Um... s-so... l-l-let's go."

"Yeah." The two walked out of the house, trying to stifle any romantic urges they had.

~~~

While everybody was waiting for them outside, Jake began to get a little impatient.

"Sheesh! What's taking them so long!?" he complained.

"Calm down, Jake. Look, they're already coming!" Claire said, pointing to both.

"H-hi, Jake..." Leon said to his best friend. "S-s-sorry we took so l-long."

"Well, now we're all here," Sonya pointed out. "Let's go!"

"Wait, Sonya! Leon still don't know how it works!" Claire reprimanded. Leon shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

"I-it's okay, r-really..." he said.

"So, let's begin!" Madeleine interrupted decisively.

"...'kay. Onward, companions!" The group walked off into the forest.

~~~

"W-w-wow... that was so much fun..." Leon said once it was over.

"I know, right?" Jake laughed. "Remember that one incident with Gin and that salmon? It was HILARIOUS!"

Gin cast a dour look at Jake.

"I'm STILL getting that tree sap out of my fur, Jake," he grumbled.

"C'mon, Gin, you have to admit- it was pretty funny," Claire said.

"Alright, it was... a little. But still, I WILL have my revenge on a certain someone," Gin muttered, glaring at Jake.

Madeleine nudged Leon, and twirled her finger around her ear, to say "they're crazy",

"I saw that, Madeleine..." Jake said, trying to ignore Gin.

"You k-k-kind of are..." Leon mumbled. "N-no offense..."

"Ah, none taken, pal. We're all buddies here. So! My mom's making dinner in thirty minutes. Who likes steak?"

Claire quickly raised her hand. As did Gin, Sonya, and Madeleine. (Don't forget Jake.)

"I only started to like steak a few days ago..." Leon said, raising his hand tentatively.

"Comes with being a werewolf, I think," Claire said. "Wolves are carnivores, y'know."

"I guess lycanthropy does make you just a little feral," Gin said, shrugging. "Well, since we've got nothing better to do, let's go... draw, or something."

~~~

"Kids! Dinner's ready!" Jake's mother called. Jake got a wide-eyed look on his face.

"YEAH! Steak!" he cheered, running to the dining room and nearly trampling Leon.

"Hey, watch out, Jake!" Sonya said. She ran after him (more carefully, thank goodness.)

Gin, Madeleine, and Claire stared at Leon's traumatized form for a minute. Any and all traces of color seemed to have vanished from the child star, leaving him completely white.

"...Did Jake break him or something?" Claire asked. Her only reply was a bewildered look from Gin and a terrified, squeaky noise from Leon.

"Leon, can you hear us? It was just Jake..." Madeleine said, hoping he replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Leon began to chant suddenly, spooking the three.

"Leon, what are you talking about? It's Jake that has to say that..." Gin said, even more confused.

~~~

"S-sorry about that," Leon apologized, once he had recovered and gotten to the dinner table. "I... kind of suffer from something l-like post-traumatic stress disorder..."

"What?" Jake asked.

"Umm.... it's a long story... you don't m-mind if I tell you.. right?"

"Of course not, c'mon, tell it!"

"Well... um... I was once trampled by a bunch of people... I w-w-was hospitalized for months... even now, I have a f-few nightmares..." Leon shifted in his seat, stabbing his steak with a fork.

"Wow, I think that explains it..." Claire said. "Ouch."

"Ouch is right," commented Gin. "Apologize for trampling Leon, Jake."

"But I didn't want to... I just got careless!" argued Jake.

"Still, if you were a little more careful, this wouldn't have happened."

Jake sighed, picking at his steak. "Sorry, Leon."

"D-d-d-don't worry about that..." Leon said. "I f-forgive you...'

"Well, are we gonna keep chatting, or will we eat?" Madeleine asked.

"Oh, right!"

Everyone began to chow down, enjoying the meal.

~~~

Later that night...

"I'm so tired..." Jake yawned. "Today was fun, but I think we need our sleep..."

"You're right about that..." Gin said, almost falling asleep.

"Well, naturally... Haaah..." Claire paused, before saying, "We need to... fully induct Leon into the Wolfkateers. And you know what that means..."

"What are you... t-talking about?" Leon asked nervously.

"This!"

In a split second, Claire and Jake hugged Leon and jumped onto Jake's bed with him.

"Wha-?! What are you d-d-d-doing?!"

"This is what we were talking about!" Jake said.

"When we sleep in the same house, we sleep together!" Gin explained, joining the little group hug.

Madeleine also joined the hug.

Only Sonya was left. When she saw Leon smiling shyly and hugging Jake, she nearly had a nosebleed.

So cute! she thought. Then, she blushed. ...Get a hold of yourself, Descartes! Just join the group hug, and don't think about how absolutely adorable he is!

She joined the group hug at last, fearing someone would notice that she was acting a bit strange.

Leon was extremely happy now. At first, he'd been shocked by the sudden tackle-hug, but now, it felt very nice. The other five Wolfkateers were so kind and friendly...

"Thank you for letting me join..." he mumbled.

"What are you talking about? WE have to thank YOU for joining!" Jake laughed.

"Uh... o-okay, if y-y-you insist..."

~~~

Leon was the first of the werewolves to awaken the next morning, feeling very comfortable next to his new friends. He pondered all of them: friendly Jake, mysterious Gin, uptight Madeleine, adventurous Claire, and sweet Sonya.

Maybe Jake wanted me to join because the group needed a shy kid, he thought.

After a few seconds, Jake woke up. He was still sleepy.

"Oh, you woke up. Did you sleep well?" he murmured.

Leon nodded.

"Y-yes... uh, also, I have a question..."

"What is it?" Jake tilted his head.

"Uh... I've b-b-been wondering... h-how did you know that I b-became a werewolf..?"

"Actually... I turned you into a werewolf," Jake revealed.

Leon's eyes widened. He gasped.

"YOU were the dog that bit me?!" he shrieked.

"Hey, not so loud!! You'll wake everyone up!" Jake warned. "Well, answering your little freak-out... yes, it was me. Sorry." He looked a bit sheepish.

"B-but how?"

"Well, I dropped on all fours, pretended I was a dog, and bit you. Easy!" Jake nodded and smiled. "Well... let's get you home. Your sister might be worried about you."

"Alright..." Leon said, a little disturbed by Jake's answer. He was about to go out of the room when someone grabbed his arm. It was Gin.

"Just wait a little," Gin said in a low voice.

Jake exited the room... and almost instantly, a gigantic pile of flour fell on him.

"NOT FUNNY, GIN!" he shouted angrily. Gin laughed meanly. Leon gasped.

"How could you, Gin?!"

"It was funny when I got covered with tree sap, and I know who laughed at me. This is just my retribution."

"..." The child star was speechless.

"Leon... are you alright? The prank was on Jake, not you," Gin said.

"W-w-well... J-Jake was my first f-friend, Gin.. th-that hurt..." Leon murmured.

"Uh... Sorry... I was angry when I prepared this prank. I didn't know it would end like this..." The older werewolf looked down at his paws. Leon put a hand on his back.

"It's okay... I forgive you, Gin..."

"So do I," Jake chimed in. "What's a little tension between friends, after all?"

Gin looked heartened, and smiled again. "Y-yeah. Um... well, I heard that you were going to leave, Leon?"

Leon nodded.

"I see. Have a nice day, I guess."

"B-bye!"

~~~

Leon was happy to see Marie again after his visit.

"H-hi, big sister..." he said, hugging Marie.

"So, how was your stay at Jake's house?" Marie asked. Leon smiled.

"It w-w-was fun!" he replied cheerfully. He laughed, something Marie hadn't seen him do in years. "I met J-J-Jake's other friends, a-and they were s-super nice!"

"Well, it's good to know that you liked it!" Marie said, smiling. She hugged her little brother back. "Also, I managed to talk those nasty people you're working with into giving you a week off of your recording! Great, huh?"

Leon nearly fainted. "Wh-wha..? You d-d-did that for me...? Marie, th-th-that's so nice of you!!!"

Then, he remembered something: Marie didn't know that he was a werewolf. He felt guilty keeping the secret from his sister, especially after she did such a nice thing for him. "Um... M-M-Marie...? C-can I tell you something, please..?"

"Of course! What do you want to tell me?" she asked. Leon started to get scared. Should he tell her? Should he not? If he told her, she might freak out, but if he didn't, he'd still feel guilty! What was a nine-year-old to do?!

"Uh... um... I'm... uh... th-that is... _{I'm a werewolf}..." he mumbled, almost too softly for Marie to hear.

"What? Could you repeat that, please?"

"I'm a _werewolf..."

"I didn't hear anything again. Could you speak a little louder?"

Leon repeated it, this time MUCH louder, as though he had trouble controlling the volume of his voice. "I'M A W-W-WEREWOLF."

"A werewolf? Prove it!" Marie demanded. She thought Leon was just kidding. But Leon gulped, and stood up straight.

"Don't s-s-say I d-d-didn't warn y-you..." he cautioned. Leon concentrated, and... Marie found her little brother looking much more lupine.

"That... But... How could this happen?" Marie shouted. Her little brother cast his eyes to the ground and shuffled his paws.

"I-i-it's.. kinda Jake's fault... h-he's a werewolf, too... I'm sorry, big sister... f-forgive me..." The little blond boy's eyes threatened to well up with tears.

"Don't... Don't worry, okay? It's not that I think you're a freak, or anything... in fact, I kinda like it!" Marie said, trying to reassure her brother. Leon wiped his eyes, and looked up.

"R-really?" he asked unsurely. "Um... b-but... uh... you're REALLY o-okay with my new f-form..?"

"Of course! Just watch out for fleas," Marie joked. The joke was so awful, in fact, that it made Leon laugh again.

"H-hahaha! Thanks..." Leon buried his face in the fabric of Marie's shirt, his tail wagging. "So... uh.. d'you want to play a video game with me?"

"Sure, why not?" Marie answered.

"Yay!"

Leon bounced away, acting more cheerful than he'd ever been in his life. Marie pondered this for a minute. Maybe it was a good thing that Leon was a werewolf now. He certainly seemed happy as one. In fact, Marie wouldn't be surprised if he asked her to let him make her a werewolf in the future.

She shrugged and followed her brother, ready to play with him. Thoughts like that could wait. Time to have fun.