The next morning was a very quiet one. Nobody but Sehun really looked me in the eyes and I could sense that they were frustrated with me in some way or another so I got dressed and waited outside for them to be ready. Today was a big contrast to yesterday, it seemed like they didn’t want anything to do with me, they had me lead rather than be a part of their group and once we reached school I was left to stand on the side as girls swarmed them per usual.

“I see you must have found Kai am I right?” I hear as a pretty girl walks up beside me.

“Ah good morning Sooyoung-shi, yeah I found that jerk hiding behind a waterfall.” I say to the fairy princess. “Please thank your mother again for me, she really helped me out.”

“I will for sure. Come sit with me at lunch will you? I feel like we could be good friends!” She says with a smile and heads toward the school with her friends giggling around her. There is one boy following her and I can tell he is her body guard by the look he is giving me, probably thinks I’m trying to court her, maybe I’m too convincing as a dude, I can’t help but let out a chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

“Huh? Oh that was the princess of the fairies that live in the forest, she wants to hang out at lunch and I don’t think her guard likes me very much.” I sigh as I look up to see Sehun with a grumpy Kai behind him.

“I didn’t realize you knew them, lets head to class before we are late.” He lightly smiles at me as the bell begins to chime and we sprint toward the classroom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So far the day has gone just fine but rather boring to say the least. With the wolves barely talking to me and only taking me around as if I’m their misfortune has really started to piss me off. After everything I had said to them now it seems like they are deliberately making me into exactly what I didn’t want to be, a burden.

When lunch came around I didn’t wait around to sit with them. I looked around for Sooyoung and she was waving me over to a table not too far from Exo’s so I headed that way. As I passed the boys I whispered to Sehun that I would be sitting over there and he gave a slight nod.

“Here sit right next to me.” Sooyoung said as she made room.

Before I could even place my tray on the table the boy quickly slipped into the spot eyeing me to sit across from her and not next to her.

“Thank you again for inviting me, I really owe your mother my gratitude.” I say trying my best to be as respectful as possible without pissing off her guard.

“Please ignore my guard, he takes his job a little too seriously.” She giggles as her few girlfriends do as well.

“My name is Kyung, the fairy king made me promise to protect you, please don’t write me off so quickly.”  He proclaims looking at me. “Don’t think just anyone can approach her majesty and act so improper!”

“I do apologize for my behavior. Your majesty, would it be alright for me to accompany you during this lunch period?” I say with a slight bow. I can see some girls swoon over me and I just, ugh it’s for the sake of getting along and not causing a scene. I know how to be proper, to a terrifying extent, my upbringing before I came to the Hyungs was not a pleasant one.

“Oh stop it Kyungie! He doesn’t need to be that way. I just want to be friends and get to know the person my mother spoke so highly of.” She says giving him a light slap on the arm. He seems surprised by the notion of me being acquainted with the Queen on a more intimate level.

“I remember making her so mad when I ran through the forest and trampled her flower bed, she even took me to the Hyungs’ and had me explain myself to them. She always had a firm grip which is why I’m surprised she let the King become so recluse.” I say hoping to learn more about what was going on.

“He has been so different since the last visit from the Elves. He told us they came to discuss the matter of them no longer living in the Forest and returning to the Elder Court. I think he is afraid of who will be taking over.” She smiles sadly and I can see the concern on Kyung’s face. I imagine this isn’t the only race of SN’s in the forest that are worried about who will continue to protect them.

“Did you tell him it may end up being Exo, as they protect the Forest now anyways?” I ask her. So the Hyungs went around telling everyone they were leaving but not informing them of who will take over? I thought they would say it was Donghae or Eunhyuk who would take over leadership with the maknaes staying as well. Well they could be planning to announce the pack as the new protectors with the remaining Suju members staying to supervise them. With Exo being well known by those who live in this forest, having a Pack of Wolves protect you is quite an honor. Wolves used to be well known for their territorial protection, that and Exo is a large pack to begin with, talk about extra protection, that and having every member a power user, honestly I’m shocked they are allowed away from their paternal territory, they are a strong force to let roam free.

“I told him that as well, I even mentioned that they had a new member and that he was a Yaksha but he seems on edge almost all the time. He mumbles and says things like “its coming or it waits in darkness to engulf us”. Honestly I’m super worried and I think he is scaring Soohyun. I just want my father back” She says with a sigh, a lone tear down her cheek. I can tell this has been on her mind for a long time, even Kyung looks out of sorts when she discussed the King’s behavior.

“I’m so sorry I can’t comfort you or make things easier on your brother but I promised your mom I would come see him and if you wait for me at the gate, I’d be honored to walk with you and have a visit with him.” I say to her. Immediately her face brightens up and she takes my hand thanking me with tears in her eyes again and even Kyung has a face that shows gratitude toward me for helping appease the heart of his princess. As I look around I notice a few groups staring at us. Most likely those that are SN’s in this school, but I ignore it and make my leave from her table. I head out to the back of the school where all the athletic stuff is hoping to find a quiet spot to think. I also hope to get away from the eyes of Exo, I’m tired of the resentful feeling I get when I’m near them.

I find a nice spot near the soccer field, behind it is a small part of the forest so I wander off and as per my usual, I find a nice tree to hide in. I knew ignoring the small sides was a good idea for once I was up in the tree I could see Tae-Sung and his group smoking, at least I don’t have to worry about that trouble today.

What is really worrying me is what Sooyoung said about the King. Could this calamity be in reference to me? Am I a danger to everyone here? I told the Hyungs I would leave if I caused trouble again but they told me not to run anymore. I want nothing more than to finally settle into a place and try living a more normal life. Not that it’s normal to begin with but something more permanent would be great, but this darkness haunts me and I’m afraid. I don’t know if I can beat it, the shadows have followed behind me for so long that I dread letting them consume me.

“You know you aren’t supposed to go off alone, can’t you listen for once?”

I look down to see Baekhyun looking up at me while tapping his foot impatiently.

“Sorry I had some thoughts that I needed silence to focus on.” I say as I swing from branch to branch till I’m back on the ground.

“Yeah well you need to think before you wander off, I thought Kris was going to explode when he saw you not sitting at the table anymore. The bells about to ring so let’s head to music class before Kyungsoo thinks we both ditched.”

“Why would he think you would ditch, I thought you liked Music Class?” I ask, yesterday he seemed enthusiastic about it.

“Yeah well the teacher told me it was my job to help you learn the new song and make sure you don’t ruin the performance in a week, like I need more babysitting duty.” He says with distain. “I imagine you don’t even know the song, do you even listen to music?”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, don’t bother ok, I can learn it on my own or ask Henry Hyung to help me. Just because I’m not well acquainted with what is considered normal knowledge nowadays doesn’t mean I don’t listen to music. It’s actually one of my biggest escapes from reality, without music I probably wouldn’t have survived for as long as I have.” I say and enter the classroom before he can even respond.

I see Chen and Kyungsoo in their seats, they both lightly smile at me as I sit in my seat, at least some of them can make an effort to act nice, makes me feel like my doing the same is worth it, unlike some of the members.

“Today we will be going over the songs for our rehearsal next week in front of the school assemble. I will let the class rep take it from here, and Natsume, please ask for help, a chain is only as strong as their weakest link.” The teacher says as he heads to the window in the back to smoke and watch the class. He is pretty lazy for a teacher but so far I have noticed that his critics are usually on point.

“Well as the teacher said let’s get to work. But first we should see how good the new kid is, we need to know his tone so we can place him into the proper group. Why don’t you just sing the whole song and by your performance we will decide.” The class rep says and I notice he is looking at me with smirk, he doesn’t look familiar and I’m not exactly sure why he’s trying to pick on me. I’m obviously not getting any support from the teacher so might as well try to make the best of it.

“Can I pick any song from the list, I just got it yesterday so I haven’t learned every song yet.” I say to him hoping he will catch my discomfort. Unfortunately it seems to please him even more and I can see some enjoyment of my torture in the eyes of others in class, the boys mostly and that includes Exo.

“Sing the song that Baekhyun is scheduled to sing with SooYoung, you can change the scale, we really just want to know if you are a Base, soprano or alto so choose your best tone and go for it.” He says slightly sour and a fierce look toward Baekhyun. Oh ok he has a thing for Sooyoung and he thinks I’m going to steal her away so he’s trying to embarrass me. Well I’m kind of done playing nice with everyone here and as my voice is typically lower than most females, an Alto usually so my pitch shouldn’t give away the fact that I’m a girl. Even as a female my voice is far from girly, sometimes even I think I sound like a dude, another reason why I didn’t bother fighting the whole idea of me playing a boy.

“First I think it would be best if  Baekhyun and Sooyoung sing it to give you an idea of how high our skills are and then go ahead and sing it with Sooyoung and you can take Baekhyun’ s parts.” Says the teacher from the back of the room. Seriously how is he even allowed to smoke in school let alone as a teacher? I can tell the class rep doesn’t think I can do it and Baekhyun has this smirk on his face like he pities me for having to go after he does, I hope they realize that I didn’t take this class just for s and giggles or to be convenient for them to keep watching me and that I actually get music, it is a passion I have.

“Alright class begin, let’s think of this as a chance to see how we sound to an outsider.” The Rep says as Baekhyun begins his part.

BaekHyun:

Now from A to B
Let’s go to the next chapter
Cut short the long words

The entire class:

 U & I, let’s speak informally

BH:

I don’t want to call you
Miss So-and-So
How about my babe

Then Sooyoung Starts:

A little carefully, not too fast
When things start, it’s always dangerous to over pace
But without knowing, I keep rushing too

Class Rep:

One Two Three
Girl, I just wanna get a little close

The males in the class:

Let’s cut it short, I don’t want to say “haeyo” but “hae”
So we can get a little closer

The females:

It’s okay, saying “hae” instead of “haeyo” is fine
But don’t put the words “sarang” in front of “hae” yet

The class as a whole:

Not Not Not Not Not Not Not
Not “haeyo” but “hae”
Not Not Not Not Not Not Not
Not “haeyo” but “hae”

Chen:

Do you have to put “haeyo” at the end of your words?
We don’t have any time to waste
Take another step
Smooth like Harley
I want to go all the way with you

D.O:

I feel the awkwardness as we exchange looks
I feel your heart like the cozy clouds
My days are more exciting than a rollercoaster ride, it’s too short
There’s not enough time, cut off all the extra words

SY:

A little far and not too close
We’re about to touch lips, face to face
But without knowing, I keep going closer to you

Class Rep:

One Two Three
Girl, I just wanna get a little close

Males:

Let’s cut it short, I don’t want to say “haeyo” but “hae”
So we can get a little closer

Females:

It’s okay, saying “hae” instead of “haeyo” is fine
But don’t put the words “sarang” in front of “hae” yet

SY and BH:

Speak comfortably to me, however you want
Speak comfortable, don’t be awkward now
One more thing I want is a kiss and hug
Class Rep:

You gotta swap the talk
You gotta flip the flop
Just do that exactly, don’t stop

Everyone:

Let’s cut it short, I don’t want to say “haeyo” but “hae”
So we can get a little closer

It’s okay, saying “hae” instead of “haeyo” is fine
But don’t put the words “sarang” in front of “hae” yet

Not Not Not Not Not Not Not
Not “haeyo” but “hae”
Not Not Not Not Not Not Not
Not “haeyo” but “hae”

Class Rep:

Now that we’re speaking informally, let’s go to the next level
Let’s move faster, close your eyes and make it beautiful

“As you can see we don’t really have anyone that is good at rapping or all that good at English, we have asked for Kris to help but he has a Basketball tournament and as you know athletics always beats out the arts so here we are. Now go ahead and prepare yourself as Sooyoung will sing with you but nobody else, I want to see what kind of styles you have.” The Teacher says.

As the song begins again I don’t hesitate to sing in a slightly lower tone than Baekhyun and sing all the parts including the small rap portion that had been divided between Chen and D.O, I hate to break it to them but I love this song, that and I have always enjoyed singing the guy parts more anyways. Honestly the class rep was annoying me so I did my best on his parts in the hopes to take them from him for being a jerk just because I talked to the girl he likes. I guess that means he is also a SN, but whatever if there is retaliation I will deal with it whether Exo helps or not.

“Wow, you have great English pronunciation, your voice is well suited for either singing or rap and I must say I am surprised at the tone of your voice, it’s both low yet soft and light, I imagine you can almost belt out a soprano voice no?” says the teacher and I can see the class rep just glaring at me. What I didn’t expect was the reactions from the Exo, which honestly was a complete lack of any sort reaction, they looked stoned faced and would not look me in the eyes, I thought I heard a huff from Baekhyun as if he was unimpressed with what I did. Even D.O’s face was unreadable, did I just burn more bridges.

“Thank you sir but no my voice isn’t made for high pitches.” I say just to acknowledge that the teacher had spoken.

“Well it would seem I have some reassigning to do before we make our final arrangements, when the bell rings you may head back to your classrooms.”

“Hey Natsume, I’ll meet you at the front gates after school is out ok?” Sooyoung says to me as I begin to pack my things.

“No problem, I will see you then.” I say as she walks back to her group of giggling girls.

“Just because she is being nice to you doesn’t mean she likes you, she is way outta your league, especially for a little Yaksha like yourself.” The Class Rep says from behind me. This smug little brat has been gunning for me all day and oh I wish I could put him in his place but I need to stop getting myself into trouble.

“What the hell was that?” Baekhyun starts as he and D.O and Chen head to their final class for the day.

“I know right not only did she know the song but her voice is so ugh, Im not sure how to describe it, I wouldn’t say it’s the best voice I mean I’m sure it cracked because she was trying to lower it even more to sound like a dude but even then, still it was…” Chen says in incomplete sentences.

“Honestly I’m very confused about how I feel after hearing her, like I want to hear her sing without trying to be fake or hide herself, an honest performance.” D.O confesses.

“I think that’s what I want too, I want to hear her real voice.” Chen agrees.

“Whatever, I just want her out of our hair, she is too much trouble. Honestly, you guys realize she might take one of your spots don’t you? Stop praising her!” Baekhyun grumbles as they meet up with some of the other guys.

“Hey how was she? Horrible right, like a dying cow?” Kai asks as he swings his arm around Baekhyun.

“huhuhu you know it, I think it’s a good thing she was acting like a guy because if a girl gave that performance she would be in tears by all the hate.” Baek says as he continues to tell the boys about it.

“Well?” Kris says coming next to D.O.

“Honestly Hyung she can’t be a human, the Suju Hyungs must be protecting her from something. When she sang, I could feel this bit of energy that made the nature seem to sing with her, I don’t think the others felt it as much but whoa, it was kind of intense. I could feel myself wanting to howl at her like the moon, she entranced me so much and she didn’t even seem to be trying, imagine if she gets a part, the whole school will feel something much beyond the strength of a Yaksha.” D.O informed his Alpha as they walked down the halls.

“She became like the moon to you? There can’t be two moons D.O, how could she cause you to feel like she was as important as our mother?” Kris questions not believing the words coming from one of his most level headed pack member. When wolves are really young they are today that even if they all have different parents they all share on true mother, one they will obey and cherish for all of eternity, the Moon. It is the Moon that gave them the ability to transform into their true form of the wolf and they must pray to her to continue to be able to do so. Whenever there is a new moon and their mother isn’t seen in the night sky they can’t become their wolf selves and that is why this is so strongly believed.

“Well, all we can do is keep an eye on her and watch for anything that can help us piece together the puzzle that is Natsume.” Suho says as he was also listening. “I don’t think she is bad or would cause us trouble as she has only really helped us out even if we were in danger because of her which, honestly wasn’t her doing but the Hyungs. I know how important the Pack is to you Kris and I want to protect them as well but I think we need to trust her, it will make protecting her even easier if she feels she can rely on us.”

“Hyung, she really does want to trust us, she told me that it is hard for her to after what she has been through, I saw her tears, even felt her pain. I want to help her Hyung, she wants to be with us and I think we should let her in. I even showed her my wolf form.” Sehun says coming from behind them to tell them what had happened when he went to fetch her the other night.

“You did what?! Sehun I know you are the maknae but this is too stupid even for you. I know that because of Vixx she knows what we are but to have her see you like that without being an enemy is too vulnerable.” Kris yells as they all reached the outside courtyard where they would all head to their sports activities.

You don’t understand Hyung, she didn’t see me transform or anything, yet she knew which one of us I was out of all twelve of us.” Sehun says as all of their eyes widen and one set of eyes seems like they needed to know if this was true now.

“Never the less none of you are to show her our wolves unless it is called for, I don’t need her causing us anymore trouble. As for you Sehun, I’m sure she made a lucky guess, don’t think she is anything special and just watch her, don’t go looking at her. Kris says as he heads to the gym for basketball practice.

“Just be careful Sehun, Kris isn’t trying to be mean and he’s just trying to protect you the only way he knows how too.” Suho says as he dismisses the rest of them and heads to the Student Council office to get started on his work as the student council president.

“I wanted to tell him that she said she was going with Princess SooYoung to visit the King on the request of the Queen.” Sehun says as Kai drags him away to dance class.

As school was let out I found SooYoung by the gate with her guard waiting for me. As we met up I heard a lot of catcalls and whistling from boys and giggling and grumbling from other girls. I am going to have to clear this up sooner or later, I really don’t want to seem like a player or a jerk either, so troublesome.

“Well let’s mosey!” She says as we head into the forest toward the Fairy Tree.

Once we reached the tree I could feel eyes watching me, whoever it was had kept their distance but didn’t leave.

“Welcome home dear, Oh Natsume! So good to see you, are you hear to visit or just walking with SooYoung?” The Queen asks as she greats us.

“I’m here to see the King as promised. SooYoung was nice enough to let me walk with her after school.” I reply.

“That’s great, I will help you so you may visit but you must tell them the truth first before I do so.” The Queen states while she begins to tap her toes as if waiting for me already.

“OH yes ma’am right away. SooYoung, Kyung I wanted to tell you but I couldn’t do it unless it was necessary.” Right before I could say anything I feel myself shrinking to the size of a fairy, it has been a long time since I felt this sensation.

When the Queen was done, there I stood just as big as SooYoung and Kyung but in a beautiful spring dress with my hair free from its hair tie. Their faces, oh God.

“I’m actually a girl.”

Author Notes

What have I been doing?! This chapter took so long to write, I had a couple of ways I wanted this chapter to go but I couldn’t decide until I decided to just let it flow out and go in whichever direction it choose to go. I made some silly references in this chapter as well, I wonder if anybody will notice. I wanted to get some more background stuff in to help make connections later I just had to find out what those connections were lol. Hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner than this one, I really wanna complete this and get a whole story out and see how creative I can get with it. Thanks for sticking with me. Any suggestions or critic are welcome just don’t be a jerk lol.

Natsu