Author: Kiya Sama

Rating: PG

Pairings: Implied Kiba/Tsume, implied Hige/Blue

Warnings: None

Genre: Humor

Disclaimers: Main characters are property of Bones. I make no money off them.

Beta: Zan-Louise ^^

Author’s Notes: I was in the mood to write something silly…at least I hoped it turned out to be funny. Ah well, in honor of a new episode finally out after being deprived for four weeks – enjoy! ^______^

The Case of the Missing Dinner:

Sitting in the afternoon sun was like sitting within a furnace as the young wolf struggled hard to remain awake. All he wanted to do was find a nice cool spot to fall asleep in, but their journey had taken them to this place with practically little or no shelter in sight. Another annoying insect buzzed by his ear, and flicking it away with a paw, he whimpered softly and laid his head upon his fore legs again. His tail flickered back and forth, more to cool himself and to chase the bugs away than anything else.  

It was hard being the youngest.  

Everyone thought he was too young to do this or that. They kept treating him like he was some fragile thing. Well, it didn’t help that he wasn’t the strongest when it came to the little battles they fought along the way, but he could hold his own. He just wished that they would begin to see him in a better light.  

“Oi…Toboe.” 

He sat upright at the familiar drawl, a ready smile on his face as his gaze fell on the older wolf that had sauntered up to him. “Tsume! You came back!” He cried out happily, as he got to his feet to meet the other. For all his toughness, Toboe knew that the world-wise wolf was actually kind at heart. Tsume had left last night after another argument with their ‘leader’, Kiba and Toboe had wandered if he would ever return. Their fight had gotten to a point where fangs had been bared and it had taken all of he and Hige’s strength to stop them both before they could kill each other.

But this morning…Kiba, who had refused to speak to anyone after Tsume’s disappearance, had not been seen in his usual sleeping spot. Hige’s sharp sense of smell had picked up the aloof wolf’s scent a few miles away and assuring Toboe that everything was okay, they had resolved themselves to waiting for the two older wolves to cool their heated blood and return back to them.  

And now, Tsume had come back, but standing a few feet away from him was Kiba and there was something that Toboe could feel between the two that had nothing to do with… 

“If you are done staring, chibi,” Tsume drawled lazily as Kiba stepped closer to drop several pieces of meat to the ground. 

“Uuuuuuwaaaaaaah! Food!! Where did you…?”  

“Doesn’t matter now,” came the flippant reply from the silver-haired wolf. “Just have a piece with Hige…where is he anyway?” 

Toboe shrugged and licked his lips again. He hadn’t eaten in days and now… this feast!

 “He said he was going to go find some shade to rest in for a while. He should be back soon.” 

Tsume made an exasperated sound and nodded. “Fine. Just make sure he gets only his share when he gets back. We divided them into equal parts for each of us, okay?” 

Toboe blinked and stared at the two wolves in confusion. “Aren’t you eating now?” 

Kiba and Tsume exchanged a look that had Toboe knowing without a doubt that his suspicions were correct after all. And before any of them could say anything, he spoke up a bit too cheerfully. “It’s okay! I will make sure Hige gets his share and I will look after the rest until you both return.” 

Tsume gave a curt nod, while Kiba finally said something. “We will be back soon. We just need to find a place that we can stay for the night. Be careful.” 

And with that, the youngest wolf soon found himself alone in the almost barren landscape with the large slabs of meat sitting before him. With a soft sigh, he dug into his share and began to eat without tasting anything at all.  

It didn’t take long for the smell of the meat to reach the sensitive nostrils of Hige as he lay beneath the large rock that barely prevented the punishing sunlight from hitting him. 

~ Hmm…seems to be coming from over there… Whoohoo!! Mealtime! ~

Bounding across the plain, he finally caught up to the half-dozing wolf and nudging him gently, he paced around the meat with barely concealed excitement. “Where did you find this, chibi?” 

“The name is Toboe!” came the irritated reply as the red-haired wolf shoved the other’s share towards him. “This is yours and you had better not ask for anymore because they belong to Tsume and Kiba.” 

Hige gave an absentminded nod as he began to chew with a zealousness that had Toboe gaping at him in awe. In less than ten minutes, the entire ration was gone. Even Toboe had been unable to finish his share, but the bigger wolf clearly had a much bigger stomach.  

Hige licked his lips in satisfaction and fell back onto the ground with a sigh. “Aaaah! Sugoi! That felt really good!” For several minutes, both wolves remained silent as they listened to the relative peace and quiet, finally Hige broke the silence. 

“Where did they…?” 

“To find us some place for the night.” 

“Oh.” 

Another long silence fell before Hige tried again. “Are you going to fini…?” 

“Yes.” 

Fighting back a groan, the large wolf lay back on his side and pouted. The smell of the meat was beginning to drive him mad and it didn’t help that Toboe hadn’t finished his.

He slid a wary glance towards Kiba and Tsume’s rations. They were relatively large pieces and he was sure that if he took out a little bit neither of them would notice.  

“Don’t you think…” he began, only to have Toboe finish up wearily. 

“I told you to forget it, Hige. You aren’t having anymore.”

With a huff, the large wolf got to his feet and began to stalk off, causing Toboe, who had closed his eyes to open one warily. “Where are you going to?”  

“Obviously, there is nothing here for me to do is there, Toboe? I will be going back to my shade. See ya!” 

The redhead watched the other with a feeling of regret. Perhaps he should have given Hige just a piece of his, but it was too late now. And with a softly spoken apology to the other beast, Toboe finally closed his eyes and gave in to sleep. 

~*~*~*~*~*~ 

With a start, he woke up about ten minutes later, feeling something was very much amiss about him. The sun was beginning to make its’ way down the horizon and grateful that it wasn’t as hot anymore, he got to his feet to stretch, only to cry out in dismay as he noticed that Tsume and Kiba’s rations had been reduced considerably. 

“Who…who did this??”  

Well, it didn’t take a genius to figure out who the culprit was. “Hiiiiiiiiiiiigeeeeeeeeee!! You come back here, you thief!!! I thought I told you not to touch it!!” 

When no reply was forthcoming, Toboe stomped his foot in agitation and bellowed out even louder. “You come back here, Hige!! I know what you did!!” 

“And what exactly did I do?!” Came the bewildered question as Hige finally made an appearance with a look of wariness on his features. He eyed the scraps left and hissed in a sharp breath. 

“Oh suuuuuuuuuuuure, Toboe! Blame it all on me!” Hige cried out with an indignant expression on his features. How are we not so sure that you aren’t the one who ate the pieces of meat!” 

“Me??” the red head sputtered angrily, looking like he was about ready to blow steam out of his ears. “I did not eat it!! You were the one who wanted more and so you must have come back and eaten it!!”

“I might have been hungry, but I did not take it!! Hige bellowed back in defense. “Just because you are cute doesn’t mean that you are that innocent, CHIBI!!”

“My name is Toboe!!”

“Chibi!!”

“Toboe!! You, you…chubby…!”

“Oi, oi…what the hell is going on here?!” 

The arguing duo spun around to face the irritated look on Tsume’s features as the two older wolves had made their way back. Toboe was just about to open his mouth to complain, when Hige beat him to the punch. 

“He is accusing me of stealing your rations, when I did no such thing! He was the one here all the while and he must have eaten them and then he says it’s me!” 

“He’s lying!” came the vehement reply from the younger wolf as he moved closer to Kiba and Tsume with a pleading look in his eyes. “I didn’t take it, honest!” 

Kiba eyed the pieces and frowned. “Are you trying to tell me that even after all of that both of you couldn’t still look after our share without pouching off it?!” 

“BUT WE DIDN’T TAKE IT, KIBA!!” Both wolves said in unison, before turning to face each other with cold glares.  

Tsume made a small sound of exasperation and was just about to reprimand the two as well, when a lazy voice that sounded amused interrupted them. 

“I am sorry to break this lovely discussion up boys, but I hope you don’t mind me taking some of your food. It was really nice of you to get so much…” 

The males spun around with jaws agape as they took in the sheepish looking female standing a few feet away from them with something that looked eerily like… 

“SHE STOLE THEM!!” Hige cried out as he noticed the pieces of meat at her feet.

“Blue!! How could you?!” 

Tsume growled and began to stalk after her. “That’s it! I don’t care if she is a female or not, I am going to get back my food from her and make sure she…what the hell?? Let me go, Toboe!!”

The red head shook his head stubbornly and hung on to the other wolf’s leg like a lifeline.

 “Don’t do it, Tsume!! Please…just let her go…” 

“Let me go, now!!” Tsume roared angrily as he glared at the smaller wolf.

“Kiba!! Help me!!” Toboe cried out as Tsume began to drag him along the ground. Meanwhile, Kiba sighed and plopped down to the earth wearily. He reached for his own piece of meat, at least what was left of it as he watched Tsume try to ‘kill’ Toboe, while Hige chased Blue all across the plain with a look in his eyes that promised several obvious things if he ever got his paws on her.  He couldn’t help smiling a little as he finished and laid back on the ground to watch the stars that had begun to fill the sky.  

After all, this was just another day in a wolf’s life. 

~OWARI~