In the Newspaper Room, Mizore, Moka, Tsukune, Kurumu, and Gin were sitting at the table, staring at Nathan intently. Nathan was standing at the front of the room, leaning against the chalkboard staring at the group. His eyes were closed, and his face remained straight. He let out a sigh, and opened his eyes to stare at everyone.
"So.. where do I start.." Nathan trailed off pacing around the room. He kept opening his mouth, but then closed it when no words would come out. Mizore gazed at him, and gave him a comforting smile. Nathan returned the smile and finally spoke up. "Alright, here is how it all went."
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6 years ago, December 7. The sun was beginning to rise, reflecting the vicinity of its presence an orange tint. The surroundings themselves were a densely populated forest, with a small clearing in the center of it. Within the clearing, there was a large, dark oak, two-story log cabin. The cabin was tinted orange from the sun's rays, giving it an early morning feel. The cabin was connected to a large porch, with large wooden beams supporting the roof of the porch. Next to the cabin, there is a playground set, consisting of three swings, a slide, a large snowbox, and a seesaw. The inhabitants of this area were all currently sleeping in their respective rooms, the children, one a boy and one a girl, both shared the same room. In the adjacent room, their parents were occupied with their own desires. As the morning light shone into the children's windows, the two of them gently opened their eyes and giggled to themselves, hopping out of bed and into their parent's bedroom. They creaked open the door, and immediately bounced on the sleeping forms lying in the bed.
"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!" The girl eagerly shouted at them. The boy was doing it as well, bouncing up and down, shaking the father. They groaned, and the father snatched up his son and was squeezing him gently in his arms, rubbing his hair furiously.
"What was that, kiddo? I couldn't hear you over your sister's laughter." The father played with his son, tossing him onto the spot that he was previously laying in. He then moved on to his sister who was giggling and running away.
"Get back here, the big bad wolf is coming for you." Their father shapeshifted his body into a large, bulky, white wolf, running in the direction of the little girl, who was currently laughing loudly as she ran downstairs. The boy looked over at his mom, who was disorientated, and trying to sit up straight.
"Mommy!" The boy grabbed onto his mother's arm, "Can you do it now, please!" The boy clasped his hands together, begging his mother. She tiredly wiped her eyes as she gave a small smile.
"Sure, Nathan," She lifted her palm to Nathan's face, and specks of ice and snow started
to conjure together, designing itself into the shape of an ice snow globe. She handed the globe to Nathan, as he stared into the icy globe and watched the continuously snowflakes swarm around inside. He grinned delightedly, hugging his mother tightly.
"Thank you, mommy, I love it." Nathan said before he rushed out of the room and into his room, where he put the icy snow globe amongst other ice sculptures he had on desk next to his bed. The sculptures were all unique and different in their own aspects. Amidst the sculptures, there was: a wolf, a piano, a reindeer, a miniature version himself and his sister, and a snowman. From the bottom of downstairs, he heard his sister playfully screaming and instantly rushed down there to join the fun. Running into the room, he saw his father, in wolf form, gripping a hold of sister. His sister was laughing as she saw Nathan.
"Save me, Nathan." She giggled at Nathan, who laughed with her. He nodded his head, and shifted into his wolf form, as he came and tackled his dad over to the ground, releasing his sister from his grasps. He landed with a thud and his booming laughter echoed through the house.
"Ahh, you got me." He said to Nathan, who was triumphantly gloated. He stood over his dad, smiling down on him.
"All right children, that's enough, let your father up now." They heard the voice of their mother coming from the bottom of the stairs. They moved aside as their father slowly lifted himself up, and drifted back into human form.
"Hehe, that was great son." He patted Nathan on the back, boosting Nathan's ego. The little girl puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms.
"I could've done it too." She glared at her father, who chuckled in exchange. He ruffled the little girl's hair. "I'm sure you could've Crystal. Once you get those ice powers mastered, you might even be better than your own mother." This made Crystal smile brightly and nodded her head. "I'll show you one day, I'll be great!" Crystal exclaimed.
"Okay kids, breakfast is ready!" Their mother shouted from the kitchen. Nathan and Crystal rushed into the kitchen and immediately devoured down their plate of food.
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It was now hitting the afternoon, the sky was clear, and the woods were very peaceful. Nathan and Crystal were running around the front of the yard, chasing on another around the cabin. Nathan was in the process of chasing Crystal when she stopped running and was staring at a deer, jumping around the outer edges of the woods.
"Nathan, look!" Crystal said with astonishment as she ran towards the deer. Nathan stopped running and stared at Crystal while she chased the deer. "Crystal! Don't go too far out!" Crystal didn't hear Nathan, and instead, ran into the woods, out of Nathan's view. Nathan groaned as he started running into the forest to try and find her.
"Crystal! Crystal!" Nathan shouted out, looking around for her. He stumbled deeper and deeper into the woods, finding no sign of Crystal. After a while, he gave up looking for any sign of her, and resorted to his sense of smell. As a werewolf, his sense of smell is increased majorly, allowing him to lock onto Crystal's scent. He began to follow it, stumbling farther and farther into the woods. The scent was starting to grow faint, and Nathan became worried.
"Crystal!" He shouted as loud as he could. After a moment of silence, he heard a gunshot fire in the distance, and then, the sound of Crystal screaming in fear. Nathan quickly dashed in the direction he heard the screaming, tripping over roots and slamming into trees, but his determination remained strong as he continued running. In thirty seconds, he found Crystal, leaning over the body of the deer she had been chasing, a bullet wound sticking out of its rib. It was still alive, but barely conscious. Crystal was crying as she had the deer's head in her lap, stroking it gently, whispering sweet words into its ear. Nathan looked to the left of him and saw two men. They were rather tall fellows, standing 6'3, taller than Nathan's father. They were wearing camouflage outfits and black leather boots. They each had a rifle in their hands and a look of anger on their faces. They reloaded the rifle and aimed it directly at Crystal and the deer.
"Kid, get away from that deer, I'm about to put the thing out of its misery." One of the men said, aiming the gun with his finger on the trigger. Crystal shook her head, crying her eyes out even more.
"No! I won't let you hurt it.." She cried out. The man grew angry, and shouted at her. "Move now, or you're getting shot as well." Crystal screamed and extended her arm out at the men, building an ice wall in between her and them. The men looked scared, but then grew sinister as they pulled out more bullets and thrusted them in their pockets.
"You're a freak, a monster!" They shouted, running around the ice and aimed their guns at Crystal now. Before they managed to shoot her though, Nathan had used his speed and scooped up Crystal, avoiding the firing gunshots as he did so. He then sprinted out of sight from the men, and back into the direction of their home. As he sprinted, he heard more gunshots from behind, resulting in him running in a zigzag motion. He sprinted for no more than two minutes before he got back to the safety of his home. He bursted inside, and set Crystal down on the couch before he ran over to his mother and father.
"Mommy! Daddy! There are hunters in the woods, they tried shooting Crystal and me." Nathan frantically told his parents. They looked at him with concerned glances. Then, his father looked at Nathan, his face serious.
"Son.. Where are they now?" His father sternly asked. Nathan pointed to the left wall, signaling that they were in that direction. His father nodded firmly, then looked at his wife.
"Honey, I'm going to go stop them before they get here. Take the kids, and barricade yourselves in the bedroom." He said to her. She nodded, then gave him an icy kiss on the cheek. "Be careful." He nodded, then ran out of the cabin, and into the direction the hunters were.
Nathan's mother walked over to Crystal and gently lifted her up into her arms, then she took Nathan by the hand, and guided him up the stairs and into the bedroom. She froze the lock and the door, and moved the kids over to the bed.
"Hide under here in case anything happens." She whispered to the kids as they worriedly crawled underneath the bed. From outside, they heard gunshots, and then the sound of anguish screaming, followed by another series of gunshots, and then finally, silence. The silence remained for what felt like hours, when then, they heard the sound of the front door open. The creaking noise grew fear into the family's hearts as the sounds of footsteps had begun up the stairs. Loud thuds were accompanying these footsteps, and then they finally stopped at the entrance of the bedroom. There was a soft knock on the door.
"Is that daddy..?" Crystal whispered to Nathan from under the bed. Nathan put his fingers to his lips, shushing her up. Then, the soft knocks turned into a louder set of knocks. When no one responded, the knocks have turned into a large series of slams against the door, breaking their way farther and farther inside. Finally, the door swung open, with no one at the door. Yet.
The door swung open, and walking inside, from the perspective of the children, were two pairs of feet, closely together. However the first ones were being dragged, and Nathan's mom screamed at the sight in front of her. The hunter was standing there, covered in blood, smiling as he held the lifeless corpse of Nathan's father, bullet holes covering his chest and one right in the forehead. The hunter laughed as he pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Nathan's mother. She had used her ice breath and shot it in the direction of the hunter. But, rather than make contact with him, it hit her husband's corpse, freezing him over instead. The hunter had used the husband's body as a human shield in case something like this would happen. In the shocking moments Nathan's mother took, she didn't have time to react to the bullet that was fired by the hunter, landing right in her forehead. She fell to the ground, her blood pouring under the bed, and leaking onto the children's clothes. Crystal began to hyperventilate and her tears spilled down her face. Her sobbing grew louder and louder, and that had alerted the hunter of their position.
"So there you are." He whispered, yanking Crystal out by her ankle and holding her there, upside down as she cried some more. "That damn father of yours, managed to get the best of my partner, but now we can finally dispose of you and your freakshow of a family." The hunter reached into his back and pulled out a machete from a sheath strapped on to his back. He maniacally laughed to himself as he watched her face contort with fear. As he raised the machete, Nathan crawled out of the bed, and watched as he brought down the machete into Nathan's shoulder. That's right, Nathan's shoulder. In the knick of time, Nathan had rushed in and took the fatal blow that would've sliced open Crystal. He landed on the ground with a thud, the machete sticking out of his shoulder and three inches deep into it. The hunter scowled at this heroic act, but didn't pay much attention as he grabbed the machete. But instead of pulling out, he continued to drive the blade deeper into Nathan's arm, breaking through the rest of the skin and bone, severing his arm completely.
"There, that's a much better look for you now." The hunter sneered at Nathan, taking his severed arm and rubbing his lifeless fingers in his face. Nathan's vision blurred as he was subjected to watch the hunter continue his devious act, raising the machete once more and this time, hitting its designated target. The blade had ripped open Crystal's stomach region, her intestines spilling out and pouring onto Nathan, soaking him in his mother's blood and his sister's blood. The shock was too much for Nathan, as he felt his body lose itself, and couldn't feel anything but the anger and adrenaline rushing through him. The hunter had dropped Crystal's corpse, landing with a sickening crunch right next to Nathan. The hunter smiled sinisterly on the still living child, stepping on his chest with his boot, crushing Nathan's lungs. Nathan spat out blood, attempting to catch his breath roughly. Then, he stamped his foot with a loud break, then, Nathan went numb. With that, the hunter began to walk away, past the corpses and to the doorway. However, he failed to notice when Nathan lifted himself up slowly, shaking violently as he did so. Once he managed to do so, he grabbed his severed arm, biting down on the split bone, pulling it out longer. Then, with it sticking a foot out, he ran right to the hunter. The hunter heard the sound of footsteps, but when he turned around, Nathan had shoved the bone deep into the hunter's Adam's apple, twisting it and turning it deeper as he did so. Nathan dropped the arm as he did, slowly shifting into his monster form as he loomed over the hunter. The hunter's eyes were staring at Nathan, wide eyed with fear. Nathan growled as he took his jaw, and snapped his teeth on the hunter's face, peeling it off his head, and spitting it out next to him. With that, he stepped over the hunter, and downstairs into the kitchen. Once he got there, he made his way to the stove top, and turned on the burner, cauterizing his arm. Then, he left the house, completely, never once turning back and moving far far away from it.
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Nathan had been wandering for an hour now, trying to find someone willing to help him. He stumbled deep into the woods, moving as far as he could hoping to encounter one person. But he couldn't find anyone. No matter where he looked, there was no one to be found. On the verge of giving up, Nathan collapsed next to a tree, looking up at the sky, embracing the hands of death. With one last sigh, he closed his eyes and lost all consciousness.
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Nathan opened his eyes to a soft, comfortable bed. Opening his eyes some more, he looked around and sat up. He moved his right arm to scratch his arm out of instinct. That's when he realized what he just did. He quickly looked down at his right arm, taking in it's new appearance. He moved it up to his eyes, taking in the robotic mechanics, moving his fingers and testing his mobility with it. He moved it around, clenched it, and flexed his fingers.
"Do you like it?" Nathan jumped, rotating his head to stare at the person who spoke to
him. It was an older man, with gray hair and a pair of blue goggles on his forehead. He wore a green apprentice cloak, and dark gray sweatpants. He smiled gently at Nathan.
"I specifically made it to connect to your nervous system, rendering your arm capable of full mobility." He continued smiling. Nathan got up and out of bed, sitting on the edge of the bed. Nathan then asked the old man.
"How did you find me?" Nathan asked him. He looked over at Nathan and stared intently.
"I was walking through the forest, trying to find some natural elements I could use for my inventions, as a type of fuel source. It was by chance, that when I was scavenging, I came across you, lying unconscious and on the verge of death." He told Nathan. Nathan nodded his head, processing the information. "How did you bring me here, considering your frail physique.." Nathan pointed out the man's body.
"I set you on the sled I was using to pile my resources, and I dragged you here to my home. Then, I bandaged you up, and started to create the arm you have now." The old man said, "You've been in a coma for about three days now, giving me plenty of time to perfect it." Nathan thought about everything that happened before he passed out. The old man saw his misery and got up.
"I have food downstairs. You can come down and eat when you are ready, and then we
can talk more." The old man left, giving Nathan his own space. Nathan was left to his own thoughts for ten minutes, crying as he relived the horrible events that ensued. Finally, after twenty minutes, he got out of bed, and went downstairs to eat.
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It was months that Nathan stayed at the old man's house. Over time, he began to learn that his name was Leo, and that he was a retired engineer who would occasionally create the average invention. Leo had made Nathan his first phone even. Nathan cared for Leo as a guardian, a loving parent. Leo had allowed Nathan to attend a human school, resulting in massive amounts of bullying for his arm. Leo had no idea though that Nathan was a werewolf, if Nathan would show him, he feared he would be abandoned and forced to live by himself. However, that second part had become a reality..
Leo had suffered a heart attack, and was rushed to the nearby hospital. On his deathbed,
Leo was lying there, Nathan sitting next to him, watching his father figure pass on. Before he did though, Leo had wanted to tell Nathan one thing.
"Nathan… when I found you.. it meant the world to me.. I finally found someone who I could consider a son.. thank you for letting me raise you like this.. I love you, son.." And with that, Leo had moved on to the afterlife, causing Nathan to become lonely again. Nathan left the hospital and back to Leo's home. After he got there, he cried his eyes out as he slammed his fists into the walls. In his state of anger, he noticed Leo's goggles lying on the desk, with his cloak laying atop the chair next to it. Nathan picked these up, and wore them, keeping the memory of Leo alive with these clothes.
With his new appearance set, Nathan ventured off into the real world. For 6 years, he had
transferred between many different schools, each one ending like the last, bullying and forever being alone. He had gone through his middle school and freshman year at human schools, being the outcast and loser of every one. He was about to move on to a different school, but that's when he found a certain pamphlet fall to the ground. He picked it up and read the name of it. Yokai Academy. Nathan shrugged his shoulders, and thought about it. Why not. It's worth a shot.
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Nathan had concluded his story to his friends, and was now taking in their reactions. They were all shocked at it, and crying to themselves. Mizore, Moka, and Kurumu crying more than Gin and Tsukune were. Mizore got out of her seat, and rushed up to Nathan, shoving her face into his chest and squeezing him with a hug. Kurumu and Moka followed suite, also stepping out of their chairs and running up to hug him. Tsukune was the third to go up and join the frey. Then there was Gin, who got up and was hesitant at first.
"Nathan, we are bros, and bros hug shit out, but you know I have to say this before I do.
No homo." Gin joined the hug and everyone stared up at Nathan with tears in their eyes. Mizore smiled gently at Nathan, and muttered to him, "You will never have to be alone again, Nathan. You now have a new family, and I promise you. We will never leave you." Nathan's eyes started watering as he broke down crying. He hasn't felt this loved in such a long time, it was coming at him all at once. He smiled through the tears, and said, "Thank you, all of you, thank you.." Their hug lasted a few minutes as they embraced Nathan, showing him his new family.