Chapter 8
Aurora was petrified, her limbs frozen were she was trapped in the carrier on the bench. Then there was the crack of apparition and there was bone white skin and hateful red eyes burrowing into her head again and all she could hear was the other animals. The pained, terrified sounds from His mere presence and the sound of scales on tile and the whimpering-
She woke up... was awake... whichever. It had been a dream.
She wasn't back there. She wasn't helpless in a cage. She wasn't cold and hungry and surrounded by other terrified creatures of different stripes. She was safe. She was warm. She was still stuck as a cat but-
She could still hear quiet, terrified whimpering.
Eyes narrowed, ears twitching, she crept silently through the apartment towards the sound. She was nothing more than a shadow, steps light as the kiss of moonlight. Nothing could see her... nothing could touch her...
Her Bear was in a canopy nest of some kind, snuggled among some . He didn't look comfy. A paw was twitching and she could see his claws out. The whimpering was definitely coming from him. Her paw caught on the rug, nails catching on the weave.
Her tail twitched as she considered her options. She could get up there. She could even get in there. Probably without waking him up, even. But he was having a nightmare and he had claws and it was an enclosed space where she couldn't dodge if he lashed out. Mentally, she scowled.
A whine came from the nest.
Moonlight and shadow, she crept up to the top of the platform giving access to his nest and settled into a bright spot, easily visible from the nest entrance, and began to purr. Deep and soothing and promising safety.
He jerked slightly, a glazed black eye staring at her briefly. She kept her purring up as the eye slowly slid closed and he settled a bit.
Wrapping her tail tightly around herself, she settled down to keep vigil, her gentle rumble filling the room until dawn.
-/-
Nezu woke up to the morning bird song feeling exceptionally well rested. He stretched out in his hammock, feeling the stretch as muscles uncoiled. It had been a while since he hadn't woken up stressed from half remembered nightmares.
Koi was fast asleep just outside the hammock entrance, her tail just brushing the tip of her nose. He eyed her fondly before scrambling out of the nest and hopping down to start the day. She shifted sleepily behind him, ears tracking his progress even as her eyes stayed closed.
By the time he was dressed, she'd finished her own morning stretches and was ready to trail after him as he headed off to his office.
Nezu hummed quietly to himself. The tune had been stuck in his head since he woke up, and brought to mind old green trees, cool breezes and open meadows. Perhaps it was a lingering remnant from whatever he had been dreaming of...
-/-
In contrast to the previous day, Koi didn't try to leave or go explore any where. Instead she seemed to be almost clingy, sticking to the same room he was in for most of the morning, padding quietly behind him in his shadow when he reluctantly made a trip to his office to collect some papers, and then curling up on top of the bookshelf when they were back. It was a tall corner structure where Nezu kept some of his less commonly used texts and gave her a perch where she could see him, and any visitors would find it rather difficult to see her.
Nezu made a point to keep her food and water bowl topped up, but otherwise left her to her own devices and concentrated on catching up with his paperwork. There were a few cases that he'd put off yesterday that required some attention. All told, he had a quiet productive morning.
Shuzenji turned up with a suspicious look after lunch, her cane tapping on the floor as she strolled in.
Nezu looked up from his paperwork with a beaming grin. "Recovery Girl! What a pleasant surprise?"
She huffed at him, sharp eyes scanning the room. Koi was currently curled up and dozing however, safely tucked into the shadows at the top of the bookcase, and the school doctor didn't notice her.
"So. What's this about you getting UA a tiger?"
Nezu blinked calmly, "I'm quite sure I don't know what you mean. Would you like some tea?"
"Please," she watched him collect the tea tray before continuing. "If you didn't get a tiger then I'm rather curious what you have got. Snipe, Lunch Rush and Present Mic all had... encounters. The descriptions didn't always line up."
Nezu clasped his paws in front of him and smiled, a flick of an ear acknowledging the pair of green eyes that had appeared and were peering down at the diminutive healer.
"Oh? And what are our wonderful faculty saying?"
She huffed, "That apparently you have got a baby ghost tiger with a stealth quirk to terrorise the school. Snipe found a potential match with an escapee from a zoo in Indonesia and is taking the fact that tigers can swim as proof of his theory."
"Really?"
Shuzenji rolled her eyes, "Oh don't give me that."
The kettle whistled and Nezu hid his smirk with a convenient trip to fill the teapot. "I admit that I have acquired a feline companion. I am rather surprised she's made such an impression already however."
"She broke into the security office while Snipe was reviewing the settings. And then raided Lunch Rush's kitchen."
"Did she?" Nezu blinked in surprise. "Yamada-San didn't mention where he found her..." The green eyes had begun to slide down the edge of the bookcase. "Why a stealth quirk?"
"The ability to creep into secured room through laser secured vents." The response was as dry as the Sahara. "And the ability to move unnoticed by Lunch Rush in their own kitchen _while they're their_. What is this Cryptid's quirk exactly?"
"Aizawa and I suspect some sort of empathy, primarily. Presumably bidirectional." Nezu hesitated, "Although how to complete a proper assessment is an interesting question in and of itself. For now I am limiting such efforts to observation only."
Shuzenji hummed agreement, her eyes narrowing in thought. "It is difficult when the participant cannot explain their own perspective."
A cold nose poked her ankle and she jolted slightly. Nezu carefully took another sip from his cup, enjoying the subtle aroma as Shuzenji's hands fluttered slightly. Semi-retired or not, she should be a little more aware of her surroundings.
"Oh, you're a beautiful young lady. Shame on Nezu for keeping you to himself for so long."
"It is only her second day here." Nezu protested, his eyes crinkling in amusement. "She needs a chance to settle."
"Psh, that's what photos are for."
Gratifyingly, Koi lost interest in her quickly, turning to join him on his cushion. Nezu raised a paw as Koi snuggled under it, pushing herself into his side and wrapping her tail around his back possessively.
Shuzenji followed her movements with a soft smile on her face. "I suppose photos would have done a poor job of showing how adorable she is. Although they would have squashed the tiger theory."
"Was that a genuine concern?" Nezu asked curiously. "I was unsure what conclusions would be drawn but a tiger seems... slightly outlandish."
Shuzenji's expression said it all. Nezu sighed, feeling oddly put upon. He wasn't that bad. Besides...
"There would be a number of logistical concerns that would make it impractical. If we required a tiger, I'm sure a suitable facsimile could be built by the support department for the role..."
"That would still be a tiger." Shuzenji said firmly. "Although one that also had the risk of being able to breath lasers, fly and see in the dark."
"...natural born tigers do have excellent night vision."
"Not my point."
Koi nudged his paw with her head, eyes wide and piteous. Nezu glanced at the clock and hummed. It was about time for her next meal. He jumped up to head to the cupboard.
... Shuzenji was smirking into the hands clasped over the top of her cane.
"Is something wrong?"
She chuckled, "No no, do continue. What do we know about our newest resident - seeing as she is very clearly not a tiger..."
Koi was staring her down from her position, one ear tracking him while she kept the rest of her attention on his school doctor. Nezu watched the two of them thoughtfully for a second before continuing to the cupboards and fishing out her specially prescribed cat food. She really was a touch too thin.
"The vet couldn't narrow down her exact breed but suspects she might be at least partly an American shorthair." He called over his shoulder, "She has demonstrated a higher level of intelligence than an average cat, has an empathy type quirk and doesn't appear to understand Japanese spoken or written but is remarkably sensitive to an individual's tone."
He waited until Koi had vacated the room to eat her food, before returning to his seat and folding his paws together. The look he levelled at Shuzenji was... cold, and sharp, and neither it nor the words matched his voice's casual, cheerful lilt.
"Her past history is... more concerning. While at one point she was clearly well cared for, she is now severely undernourished and has a number of recent scrapes that were left untreated. This is in addition to a series of quirk induced injuries from over the last few months, including induced essential tremors and what is possibly signs of some mental quirk induced trauma. It's unclear if the former are a result of the later, but Itoh-Sensei does not believe so."
"Experimentation?"
Nezu wrinkled his nose. "Perhaps if the individual in question was particularly unskilled in the scientific disciplines. I am more inclined to think malice." He met her eyes steadily. "Itoh-Sensei has healed what he could but there may well be some lingering issues. Please bare this in mind."
Recovery Girl nodded back at him, the steely eyed hero matching him toothed grin to fanged grin from Shuzenji's kind face.
It was so good to have such competent and understanding colleagues.