A/N: Just to remind again that Kourin's van is a camper van. It is that kind of van that you can modify and create the van into a moving house. You can search on google and youtube on how they function, they're the kind of van that you would want to use if you're a traveler.

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Aichi was awake, it was midnight. He found Kourin sleeping on the modified bed on the backseat. He could hear the sound of the radio playing songs, and a weather report right after that. The van was dimly lit with a light, and it was a bit cold due to the van's air conditioner.

Aichi slept on the front seat earlier, and this night has made him open his eyes due to not being able to sleep comfortably. He was covered in thick and fluffy blanket that Kourin lent him and a big comfortable pillow that he put on his back. He doesn't know what to do and he pulled the curtain of the van's side window and saw the night sky.

They are currently on a parking lot of a convenience store a few kilometers away from the mountain. The parking lot was dark, and the lights of the convenience store was the only other source of light. The road was quiet as well, there isn't that much vehicles driving there. It is because it was already midnight, and rarely everyone is awake at the hour.

Aichi sighed and heard shuffling, he glanced on his back and saw Kourin moved as she slept to embrace a pillow beside her. He smiled a little before he looked back at the window and rested his head on the headrest of the van chair.

The radio played an old music, and Aichi closed his eyes. He felt at ease and he was being sleepy.

Driving in your car,
Oh please don't drop me home
Because it's not my home,
It's their home and I'm welcome no more.

Aichi yawned and closed his eyes, he then went to sleep right after.

-

It was morning and Aichi woke up to the smell of coffee. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, he saw Kourin sitting on a chair and drinking coffee.

"Good morning… Kourin-san…" Aichi yawned as he greeted.

"Oh hey, good morning. Did you have a nice sleep?" Kourin asked as she took a sip.

Aichi nodded, he still felt sleepy and groggy. He kept yawning and having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

"You should've slept on the bed, it's spacious to fit two people." Kourin told him.

"Ah, it's… it's okay! I'm just… really sleepy. I woke up at midnight, so I think… that's why…" He explained, still yawning. He then took off the blanket and he rubbed his eyes. "Kourin-san…"

"Yes?"

"Um… do you have any food?" He asked.

Kourin smiled and went to him. "Are you hungry?" She ruffled his hair.

"Yes!" Aichi grinned. "I would like to eat something!"

"Then, let's eat noodles!"

"Noodles? I haven't eaten that!" Aichi excitingly said.

"Alright, let's go to the store." Kourin said to him and Aichi agreed.

They went out of the van and went inside the convenience store. Aichi looked around for the noodles while Kourin followed him.

"You're too excited, Aichi." Kourin said and giggled.

"It's my first time, actually!" Aichi replied.

Kourin then saw a pile of cup noodles on another aisle and she took four big cups. Aichi was surprised on how many that she took, he blinked in curiosity and watched her as she also took other foods.

"That's a lot of food, Kourin-san!"

"Well, we need a lot for our journey, you know? Might as well stock up a lot." Kourin explained to him, and Aichi quickly understood since his pack would do the same if they have to survive.

"Ah! Aichi, will you help me get some basket?"

"Basket? Oh, of course!" Aichi ran to get a shopping basket and went back to Kourin. Kourin smiled at him before putting the foods and other condiments on the basket.

After they paid for the stuff they bought, they went back to the van and rode off the place.

"Hey Aichi…" Kourin spoke, earning Aichi's attention, who was eating a cup of noodles.

"Yes?" He responded and slurped on the noodles.

"If you're a wolf, wouldn't you have a hard time knowing about human language and how they act? But you seem very good at it, you know?" Kourin asked.

Aichi took a bottle of water and drank before he spoke. "My parents are more civilized than some of the others, since they could transform into humans, they took advantage of learning basic human language and what they should do to act more as one. They're both curious about humans and did not see them as threats, so they were friendly to other humans and then they had enough knowledge for that. So when me and my little sister was born, we were taught by our parents."

"Really? That's nice!" Kourin was astonished by Aichi's story, she looked at him amazed.

Aichi looked back at her and he blushed in shyness, he just smiled back before going back to eat his noodles.

"Anyways, did you have a hard time being a human at first?" Kourin asked.

"Mhm, it was hard. I couldn't stop going back to being a wolf, so I had to struggle with that."

"Hmm…" Kourin then looked back at the road and saw that the traffic was gone and she drove.

As Aichi finished eating, he drank water and put the trash on a plastic bag. He turned the chair and put it on a trash bin, he turned the chair back and looked at the window. He was staring at the beautiful view of the plains.

"Hey Aichi," Kourin called. "Have you learned to read as well?"

"Yep! I love reading! Though, I haven't gone to read that much. I still have a hard time trying to read other words and sentences." Aichi replied.

Kourin let out a smile and giggled. "Well, I can teach you."

"Really?!" He looked at her and his tail wagged and ears perked up. "Thank you so much!"

Kourin smiled brightly and drove off. Aichi was excited along the way and couldn't help himself but to keep his tail wagging as he sat on the chair.

-

They arrived at another place, it was a riverside and there wasn't a lot of people there. It's still winter, so the place isn't what would be expected. It still looked like a winter wonderland or some sort, as the river became ice and the ground is still full of snow.

Aichi and Kourin are both amazed at the scenery. Aichi turned into a wolf and Kourin opened the van door. Aichi jumped out and ran around in circles.

"Ah… you're really more of a dog than a wolf, it's quite different." Kourin said as she smiled. She looked around the area and saw that it was a good scenery. Kourin then slid the van door open and installed a detachable roof.

She went back inside the van to take her phone, and as she went outside she took a picture of the lake and the surroundings and sent it to her group chat.

A howl was heard, Kourin glanced and saw that Aichi has a dead deer beside him.

"Aichi!" Kourin gasped in shock. The wolf grabbed the deer by his mouth and pulled it to the direction of where Kourin is. Kourin watched as Aichi did his actions; she was totally shocked but then she remembered that he's a wolf and that it will be expected that he'll do sorts of things like this.

"Is that supposed to be your food?" She asked him.

Aichi looked at her and bit on the deer's flesh; Kourin didn't feel any fear or disgust, instead she got really amazed and more curious about wolves in general.

Kourin's phone rang as someone called her and she went to answer it.

"Hello?" Kourin spoke.

'Hey Kourin, it's me Kai. I'm just here to ask if where you are right now?'

"I'm at the riverside, did you see my message?"

'Yes I did. Me and Misaki are heading over there as well.'

"Really? That's great!" Kourin exclaimed, she got excited and then remembered about Aichi. "U-um, well… there's a problem…"

'Problem? If it's about your companion, don't worry. We're not going to make him feel left out.' Kai told her.

"O-oh! That's… nice, I'll see you guys later. Say hi to Misaki for me." Kourin then ended the call and stared at the wolf Aichi.

'I'm scared that they're going to find a dead deer on this area.' Kourin thought and sweat dropped when she noticed the fur on her jacket. 'This one as well…'

She could only sigh.

===

End of Chapter 4