Please, Handle With Care: Shaky and Explosive.
Chapter Ten: Of Wolves and Man Part Three: Stand By Me. The Wolfish Red Gaze.
Renaru was still lying in his bed. His eyes slowly opened as he saw Shio sitting on the edge of his bed. He saw her expression, he couldn't understand it, why was she worried?
"Shio? I'm... okay..." he said.
She immediately rushed to his side, hugging him tightly.
"You... feel... nice..." he muttered, running his hand through her hair gently.
"I'm glad you're awake, how's your arm?" she asked.
"Itchy... hate... casts..." he growled.
Shio laughed, making Renaru blush and close his eyes as his arm itched incessantly. He hated the smell of the hospital, and the feeling of being trapped. Shiozaki's sweet scent flooded his nose as she dropped off yet another set of work.
"Dominant... arm... injured... can't really write in this... state," Renaru said, his expression confused.
"You can do this, okay?" Shio encouraged, writing something on his cast.
Lovely Bone. In swirling black print.
Shio grinned, "Don't give up, okay? You've made it this far." she encouraged.
Renaru realized something, his heart skipped beat after beat, his mind was sent into thoughts of Shio that he wanted her... he wanted her by his side. He grabbed her hand.
"Stay... awhile..." Renaru said.
Shiozaki didn't expect Renaru to yank her into a passionate, earnest kiss. She didn't expect him to separate so soon either.
"Thank... you." He growled, smiling.
Shio grinned as she left him, feeling like he was making progress towards recovering from whatever All For One did to him.
Renaru worked quietly, his eyes wandering over the pages as he worked. He snapped the pencil. Not even knowing his own strength.
"Rrr. Crap..." he growled. His red eyes glancing over to the side table, picking up another pencil.
He finished his work pile quite efficiently. His handwriting was fairly legible. He saw a small bag next to his bed, it was his backpack. He saw the Endeavor plush that he used to cuddle when he had no one to cling to and grabbed it, smelling its familiar sweet and sour scent, a scent that made him feel secure. He held it in his shaking grasp and pulled it close, against his chest.
He closed his eyes, the sheer fact that he was doing that made his eyes involuntarily fly open as he let out a heavy gasp in fright. He didn't want to sleep. Nothing wanted him to sleep. He panted, trying to puzzle out what was happening. He closed his eyes and they flew open again, he didn't understand what was going on.
"Shio! Shio!" He called desperately.
No one came.
The door opened, and the same bloody ash smell wafted from it as the ash blond haired boy walked in.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked.
Renaru's eyes narrowed, his nose twitched as he smelled another scent underneath it. A burnt, sugary scent.
"Ka... Tsuki?" He tested the other boy's name on his tongue, it rolled off clumsily.
The boy didn't answer to that, so he tried to shorten it.
"Ka... tsu?" He asked tentatively.
"Yeah, it's me, don't worry," Katsuki said, plunking down in a chair, he wasn't wearing his uniform, instead he was wearing some sort of pajamas. He put his hand on Renaru's.
"I... can't sleep." Renaru sighed.
"That's why I'm here," Katsuki said.
"Huh? What are you gonna do?" Renaru asked, his speech speeding up.
"Just here to make sure you're okay, I heard you screamin'," Katsu commented, looking into his brother's eyes. His eyes were bright red and almost wolfish.
His hair was a long mess of brown hair arching down his back. His nails were sharp and pointed, yet he kept his gentle mannerisms. He was still Renaru. He clenched the plush Endeavor tightly.
"Are you just here to stare at how much of a monster I am?" he asked.
"What? No!" Katsu denied.
"Then why are you here?" Renaru asked.
"Because I care about you! You big... dumb... idiot. I'm responsible for you, Mom's not here. Every time you get hurt, I feel like that's on me." Katsu growled, looming over Renaru.
Renaru growled, rolling over and huffing angrily, "G'night, Katsu!" he snapped.
A few weeks later and the cast was off, Renaru couldn't find it in his heart to celebrate, there was nothing to celebrate after all. He wasn't happy about anything anymore, he was empty and apathetic. All he had was his normal. Before his... 'transformation' he was just a mostly normal teenager. Now, he was gone. Replaced by the old him again.
The ember was flickering.
Shiozaki sat down next to Renaru, who laid his head on her shoulder. They were in his dorm, just hanging out like they usually did.
"Shio, I love you..." He sighed, smiling.
"I do too, but you've changed in more than your appearance. What's the matter?" she asked.
"I... feel wrong. One of the things All For One showed me in my mind was him... choking the life out of you. Killing everyone thousands of times over and over... I want everything to stop. No one can fix me, no one can just... kiss this wound and make it better. I want to just blow this world away, destroy it and make it better and less rotten. I just... can't believe in a world where so many heroes and villains are perversions of their own motives." Renaru sighed.
"But you can change that, Ren," Shio said.
"No! Don't you get it? I saw my own family die, you die, everyone else die! I couldn't do anything... I was so powerless." Renaru hiccuped, his hands shaking mightily as he embraced Shio tightly.
"I can't be a hero... the only thing I'm good for is just being a burden! Just some dead weight that was lucky enough to make it this far! I can't face him while putting you all into harm's way! A hero faces impossible odds and triumphs, right? So I'll go do that!" Renaru turned to leave when Shio grabbed him, held him close, his head and face buried in her chest, as they did so long ago.
"No... don't go out there just to die!" she snarled, her obsessive nature coming out. She became very protective of Renaru, to the point of orbiting him constantly. She saw him as a child, a young, naive child.
"You're mine and mine alone! If you die then I'll die too!" Shiozaki said, using her weight to send the two of them crashing onto Renaru's bed.
"What are you doing?!" Renaru exclaimed.
"You lit a fire in me... a passion so hot and so painful... it burns me to my core," Shiozaki murmured, starting to plant small kisses down Renaru's exposed neck.
"S-stop... please, I don't understand," Renaru said, his shaking hands being held by the girl who was still kissing him, the girl he loved, yet he still struggled.
Why fight this?
Renaru felt embarrassed and well... confused.
"Mm... take me," Shiozaki crooned, smiling as the blush on her cheeks went redder.
"Uh... nope!" Renaru said.
"No? Aww... I'm afraid you don't have a choice," Shiozaki sighed, her hair wrapping around Renaru as he hoped that the door was unlocked at least.
Shiozaki's green eyes had a fire in them, and Renaru was honestly terrified.
She leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I love you... I won't let you die on me..."
She kissed him passionately as he wrapped his arms around her.
The two of them made out for a while, coming up for air a couple of times. Renaru was tangled in her hair and embrace as he smiled up at her.
"You're mine, let me reiterate that. Beast or no, shaky hands or no, you're MINE. That's all you need to be," Shiozaki said, kissing the bite marks Renaru would have to cover come tomorrow.
"Mmm... you smell amazing..." Shio crooned.
Renaru's eyes stared into her's. Leaning upwards towards her neck, he bit down gently.
"Renaru? What's... Ah!" Shiozaki gasped gently.
"Mm... Mmm..." Shiozaki moaned out.
Renaru's eyes started to shine in the dark, as he wrapped his arms around the flawless beauty, obsessed with him and only him.
He felt like he belonged.
A.N: Hello, my beautiful, beautiful Wanderers! We did it, we made it to the big ONE-OH! Thanks for being along for the ride so far, next up is the lead-up to the sports festival! Also, Yandere Ibara/Shiozaki is back! I don't know why I do it, but it fits. Please, don't be shy and leave a review! Even if it's just praise!
Thanks again, my Wanderers!
XIII.