Shoji watched from the branches below as Aya leaped from limb to limb, digging her hands into the branches before swinging up and establishing her balance.
They were scouting the forest, both of them on the look out for the hurt animal Pixie-Bob had mentioned in their meeting this morning. It was his first time staying with them and being sent out on the first morning had shocked him. He appreciated their trust in him, but was grateful he had managed to get assigned to scout with Aya.
She pushed off of the branch she was on and moved further in, the claws along her climbing equipment digging in as she swung above him. He had been surprised when she pulled them out along with her hero costume. They were giant cat paw looking things, but as they travelled he saw that she used them successfully to move through the forest within the upper part of the trees.
She smiled down at him and leapt down, landing next to him and swaying slightly until she regained her balance. "Hear anything yet?"
"No, not yet." He had multiple ears and eyes swinging around them as he followed her, trying to pinpoint if there was an injured creature out here. "Did Pixie-Bob say what it was?"
"She thinks it might be a fox or maybe a larger cat. She said one of her beasts saw it limping with a path of blood following it. Find the blood, find the creature. Let's hope we're not too late." She ran off the edge of the branch and free fell until her paw grabbed onto another branch and she swung up again.
He followed after her and slowed down as his ears caught on a soft sound close by. "Hang on, I hear something."
He turned his ears and eyes towards the sound and felt her land on a branch below him. "What is it?"
One of his eyes caught sight of something moving within the bush, he held a hand up to her so she would quiet down. They waited and soon enough an orange blur limped out of the bush and raced further into the trees, away from them. "I think it's a fox, it's orange and bigger than a cat. It's definitely limping but I don't see any blood trail."
"Come on then! We need to get it back to base so Mandalay can take care of it." She leaped to the next tree and followed where his eyes were pointing.
He followed her at a slower pace, still using most of his efforts in keeping track of the animal as they continued on. He reached one of his hands further out and placed it in front of her, stopping her from moving. She froze, looking like she was ready to jump and he turned his hand into a mouth so he could whisper. "It's a few trees away now. We should go slow and be as quiet as possible. Let me go first, I have a few limbs I can spare if it tries to attack."
Aya frowned but nodded at him, using her paws to slowly climb down the tree. Shoji used his arms to help him down and soon they were both walking as quietly as possible on the forest floor. He saw a bush ahead of them move and he reached out two of his extra arms to grab it, hissing in pain as it began to bite and scratch at him. "Ouch! Help!"
She raced forward, pulling out a needle full of tranquilizer out of the pouch along her side. He pulled his hands back, red with his blood as the fox struggled against him. "Oh! Your hands!"
"I'm fine, just put him under." He said, moving more hands over to push the creature to lay down and try and keep it still. "I'll hold him as best I can."
She nodded tossing her paws off and pulling the cap off the needle, grabbing the foxes neck pushing the needle in. "Sorry little fella, you'll feel better when you wake up."
It's struggles grew weaker and weaker until Shoji was able to release it and it slumped to the forest floor. He walked closer and changed his limbs fully back, the ones bleeding and full of wounds disappearing into his body. Aya watched him curiously and then grabbed at his hand, looking it over. "Oh wow, not a scratch on you."
Her cold hands felt nice against his and he nodded. "As long as it's not one of my main hands, if it gets hurt I only feel the pain, but it's not there once I pull them all back."
"That's so cool!" She said, smiling at him before releasing his hand and looking down at the creature. "We better get it back to base."
Shoji nodded and picked it up, using two of his extra limbs to hold it close to his chest. She moved over to look over its legs and she frowned down at the blood cover back leg. "There it is, poor thing. We'll need to get a closer look but it looks like it was attacked."
She turned and walked towards the path a bit away and he followed after her, an extra eye looking over the creature. "What could have attacked it to cause this?"
She shrugged leading them further until her foot touched the shorter grass mixed with gravel and then turned around as she tried to figure out which way they needed to go. "A bigger fox, a snake, maybe even a dog of some kind. We have all kinds of animals out here so I really have no idea."
He stopped beside her and looked at her. "What are you looking for?"
She glanced at him and then continued to look around. "A ribbon, they help us tell which way we're going. Red means the base, Orange means the training area, Blue means the springs, and Green means the main road. I wasn't paying attention to how far out we were going. That's my fault."
"Oh, I didn't realize that was a thing you did here." He said, making more eyes and turning them all around as he helped her search.
"It was Ragdolls idea. It helps us when we've been scouting for a long time and lose track of where we are, kind of like this. Hopefully we find a red ribbon, but any of them will do. I don't mind walking, I just want to make sure we can get back before the drugs wear off." She turned away from him and looked above them, smiling and pointing up. "There, it's up there."
His eyes followed her point and he caught sight of a wide orange ribbon moving in the breeze. "It's orange. That mean's we're near the training area?"
"Correct, come on. If we go the other way we should see red ribbons and then the base." She walked the opposite direction and he followed after her. "We can talk along the way, help the walk go by faster."
"Talk? About what?" He walked further and slowed down his pace so they were walking side by side. She smiled up at him and he noticed their height difference. He was currently the tallest boy in the first year, looking down at people wasn't new to him. But he surprisingly liked it when she looked up at him, her blue eyes demanding his attention which he happily gave.
"Anything." She attached her climbing paws onto the belt along her hips and reached into a pocket in her skirt. She pulled out some gauze and wrapping cloth and held it out to him. "Can you wrap its leg while we walk or do you want to stop so I can do it real quick?"
He stopped and moved his arms so she could reach the leg. She walked closer to him and gently moved the fox until it's leg stuck out and she placed the gauze along where it had begun to bleed again. He watched her curiously as she wrapped the fabric around its leg until she tied the two ends together. "Where did you learn how to do that?"
"My classes, you learn about rescuing and caring for injuries during your second year in great detail. You'll be getting some soon with Mister Aizawa. I also learned how to do it for animals from Ragdoll and Mandalay. Did you know Mandalay went to college to be a vet? She decided to become a hero instead, but she still remembers and puts the knowledge to good use out here." She grabbed a knife from her belt and used it to cut off the extra fabric. She put the remaining wrap into her pocket and pushed the knife back into its holder.
"I had no idea, I wonder how she got into hero work then." Shoji questioned aloud. She moved her hands along the orange fur and he watched fascinated as her fingers pushed and pressed against the creature. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for more injuries, I only see the one. That's very rare." She frowned and then turned away to keep walking down the path.
"Rare? I thought you said you had all kinds of animals here, I would think animals get hurt all the time." He followed after her, wrapping his arms back around the creature and moving it close to his abdomen again.
"We save animals from wounds almost every week, none of which only have one wound. Even a snack bite has two holes, this one doesn't. So that's incredibly odd." She raised her hand to her chin in thought. "It makes me wonder what else could have done it."
"Like what?" She looked back at him and then back towards the path.
"I'm not sure."
Aya stood near Mandalay, helping her by grabbing tools and cleaning them as they went on. "So, what do you think it is?"
"A hunter. This looks like a gun shot wound." Mandalay said, her face showing annoyance.
"A hunter? But these are private lands." Aya said, looking from her to Tiger.
Tiger nodded, gently patching up the bite Shoji had gotten on his hand when the fox had woken up when they were still walking towards the med area. It had mostly gotten his extra limbs, but its teeth had sunken deep into his true hand while Mandalay ran over with another dose of drugs.
"They are private, but we've had plenty of hunters at the edges of the forest trying to get easy prey from protected lands. We've had to fight and arrest quite a few in the past. It's been awhile since one got this far in, that just means we have to find them quickly." Tiger said, wrapping gauze around Shoji's hand and then securing it in place with tape. "There you go Tentacole, that should help."
"Thanks. Sorry you had to do that, I should have been quicker." Shoji said, looking down at his hand and then over to the fox sleeping on the table.
"Faster than a frightened fox? Good luck." Aya said, rolling her eyes at him and then handing a needle and stitching to Mandalay. "Here, it's ready to go."
"Thanks." Mandalay said. She stitched it up and then grabbed the wrapping from Tiger as he walked over. She wrapped it tightly and then grabbed a cone from under the table, clasping it around the fox's neck. "He's good to go. He'll need to stay in the recovery area but should be good to go in a couple weeks."
"I'll take him, you guys can make a plan for how to get the hunter." Aya picked it up and walked out of the room. "Come on Tentacole, leave the team to make a plan."
Shoji nodded and followed her, holding his injured hand close to his chest. "Recovery area?"
"Yep. We actually have a couple, two big ones and two small ones. So we can observe the injured creatures while they rest and heal. Plus make sure they get food and medicine should they need it." Aya opened the door next to the med area and he followed her down a long hall. She stopped at the only door on the left side. "Can you grab out one of the chickens in there? It's going to be gross I'm sorry, but he'll need the food when he wakes up."
Shoji opened the door and was shocked at the amount of dead animals. He looked around until he found the chickens and grabbed one, shuddering as his uninjured hand closed around its feet. He closed the door and followed her further.
They walked further down the hall and she stopped at the first door on the right, three more further down. "Here, it'll be fine in one of the smaller ones. Open it for me please?"
He opened the door and she walked it, gently placing the fox under the cover of a tree. She grabbed the chicken from his hand and placed it a few feet away, rubbing it's body along the grass as she did. "This will help it find the scent, until the drugs wear off his senses won't be as good."
She stood up and they both left the recovery area, closing the door behind them. They walked down the hall and she turned to their left, going towards the kitchen. "Come on, we'll wash our hands and see if Ragdoll needs any help with lunch."
Shoji's stomach made a loud growl and she laughed as he blushed under his mask. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize, I'm hungry too. We raced through the forest all morning. I'd be worried if you weren't hungry." She pointed at her stomach. "Mine's growling too."
He changed one of his arms into an ear and moved it closer to her stomach. She was indeed growling lowly. He changed it back and smiled. "Mine's louder."
"You're also bigger than me, and you used your quirk all this morning. From what I understand quirk use causes the food and fat within your body to dwindle quicker." She pressed her shoulder against a door and it swung open to reveal Ragdoll jumping to music as she stirred a pot on the stove. "Ragdoll! How's lunch going?"
Ragdoll looked over and smiled at them. "It's going good! We'll be having beef and vegetable stew, hope you like it!"
Aya smiled at her and moved over to the sink, turning on the water and washing her hands. "Do you need any help?"
"No I think I've got it, thanks though! If you want to set the table for us that'd be nice! It's a bit hot today to eat at the picnic tables, so set it up in the dining room yeah?" Ragdoll said, turning back to the stove.
"Got it, here Tentacole, wash your hand, make sure not to get your injured one wet." Shoji nodded and moved forward once she had moved out of the way. He changed one of his extra limbs into a hand and held his injured one above is shoulder as he washed his two hands. He shook them off and took the towel Aya held out to him, drying his hands.
She walked over to a cabinet and opened it to reveal plates and other dishware. He walked over and began to take the bowls she held out. She smiled up at him and he grabbed the cups before walking through the door leading to the dining room. She grabbed the silverware and the pitcher of water from the fridge before following him.
They set the table and she was pouring water into the glasses when the rest of the team walked through the door. She looked over and smiled at them. "Good timing! Ragdoll is just finishing the stew and we just finished setting the table. Come take a seat!"
Shoji stood back as they all found their seats, watching as they all laughed and pushed at each other. Ragdoll walked in, carrying the pot of stew and set it in the middle of the table before she sat down next to Pixie Bob. Mandalay sat down at one end of the table next to Ragdoll. Tiger took the other end of the table and Aya sat next to him. She looked over at him and smiled, patting the empty spot between her and Mandalay. "Come on! Foods ready."
He walked forward and pulled his chair out, sitting down and looking around. Ragdoll smiled from across the table and folded her hands, giving thanks for the meal. They all followed her lead and then Pixie reached forward to begin serving them. "Here Tentacole, hand me your bowl. You got hurt today so you get food first."
He held his bowl out and she gave him a couple scoops before turning to Mandalay and doing the same. He waited until she had gone around the table, ending with Aya. She finally sat back down and they all began to eat.
He changed one of his limbs into a mouth and began to feed it. Looking around to see everyone watching him curiously. He looked over at Aya and saw her frowning at them. She smiled and looked at Mandalay. "So do we have a plan for the hunter?"
"Not quite, the main idea we came up with is to have Pixie Bob's beasts patrol the forest until they find something, from there we can launch an attack and capture whoever it is. If they missed getting the fox today they'll probably be back tomorrow so we can try then." Mandalay answered, taking a bite of food once she finished talking.
"If I make smaller beasts they can go for the whole day! Hopefully we find them quick though, I don't want to use my quirk for a full day, it's so exhausting." Pixie Bob said, smiling and munching happily on the stew.
Aya nodded, covering her mouth while she chewed the food and then swallowing it. "Sounds like a good idea to me, do we have anything else we need to do today?"
"Not today, we need to fill out some paperwork and make a few calls to let the local authorities know what's happening, but we can handle that. You two take this time to get your class work done, or help him organize his room. You both did good this morning; you deserve to do something for yourselves." Tiger said, nodding at them and putting his lips to the bowl to drink down the delicious liquid.
Aya looked over at Shoji and smiled. "What do you need to do? Room or class work?"
He blinked down at her, still feeding his mouth. He looked around and saw that the team was just eating their food, talking about the papers and calls they needed to work on once they were done. He looked back down at her and felt himself smile. "Either one works for me."
He watched as she leaned over the brand-new bed to tuck the fitted sheet into the corner across from him. He did the same on his side and they moved in sync to pull the other parts onto the two remaining corners. She tossed the pillows and cases at him. They put them in and he grabbed both to place at the head of his bed. She tossed the comforter over and he watched as she moved it around until it was flat and relatively even. "There! The bed is fully ready. Sorry you had to sleep on the shorter one last night."
"It's no problem. I've slept on worse things." Her head whipped around and she blinked at him.
"Like what?" She pulled the bags from outside the room into the room and sat down on the floor while she began to unpack them.
"Well my bed at school is just a fold up mattress that I lay out every night. The class has also had a sleepover in the common room when a few of them convinced us all to watch a couple horror movies one weekend. We all kind of slept where we dropped, I was sleeping against the wall then." She smiled up at him.
"That's adorable. Me and the big three have done that before, but we ended up sleeping in Tamaki's room." She finished unpacking the last bag and tossed them all into the hall. "I'll pick those up in a minute."
"You were allowed to sleep in a boys room?" He asked in confusion. She began to sort the items and he sat down to help her.
"Allowed is a strange word, I would just say we accidently forgot about the curfew and definitely fell asleep before it. Totally didn't stay up too late and then all of us were groggy for the rest of the day." He chuckled and grabbed his backpack from her.
"I'll organize this stuff, it's my clothes and personal items." She nodded and stood up grabbing the books she had purchased for him.
She walked over to his shelf and put them up, organizing them as she went. "I'd put these in our office, but it's full of files and books about the forest and different quirks. Helps with scouting and training the classes that come in. You're more than welcome to borrow anything in the office, as well as my personal books."
"You sure?" He asked, unpacking his backpack and putting the clothes away in his dresser.
"Absolutely! It's mostly fantasy and horror books, but if you're interested feel free! Just let me know so I'm not searching for it." She grabbed his freshly cleaned hero uniform and walked over to the closet, hanging it up. "You said Mister Aizawa will have a new one for you on Monday right?"
"That's what he said, if I don't have it by then it's no big deal. I'll just use the training uniform." He watched as she picked up two bags from outside and put the bathroom and office stuff she had purchased into them. He followed her out of the room as she made her way to the bathroom.
"Here, you can have the top shelf, and I'll take the lower one. It'll be easier for you to grab that way!" She grabbed some of the random items from the shower and moved them to under the sink. She reorganized the lower shelf and smiled as he handed her the bag that held his new items.
When they had gone to the store yesterday he had sworn not to let her buy too much stuff. Once there he had realized she was on a mission and he couldn't sway her much. He felt bad using the money, but she had insisted saying it was a card linked to the teams account. That Tiger himself had told her to buy whatever she thought necessary for their new trainee.
That's how he ended up carrying a new bed through the store while she packed the cart full of whatever bathroom supplies he said he used and plenty of pajamas that were size friendly and had wide arm holes. When he voiced his reluctance she had pushed the box in his arms to cause him to lose his balance and fight to gain it back, distracting him so she could toss more items in. After three times of this happening he had given up and just followed her around.
When they reached the snack and candy aisle he had shrugged at her, telling her he never really ate snacks besides fruits so he didn't know what he would like. She had gasped in horror at him, tossing way more into the cart than he thought necessary, stating 'Shoji we have to correct that at once! All teenagers eat food that's bad for them, I would be an awful mentor if I didn't expose you to the word of junk food.'
She had packed some of her favorites in as well so he didn't feel too bad. She had made her way to the undergarments area and he firmly stopped her and faced her away while he grabbed things in his size and buried them within the cart, blush permanent under his mask while she covered her eyes with a hand.
She then pointed at the shoes and told him to grab slippers, boots, and tennis shoes in his size. He obediently did, curious as to why he needed new ones when he could travel back and forth with the ones from school. As they travelled to the office section she answered his question. "There will be times when we have to rush from camp to the school, or from the school straight to a mission. It's better to have everything you'll need in both places so you don't always have to have a bag. I did the same when I first started my agency stuff."
He grabbed extra notebooks and writing supplies, gaping at her when she went to the computers and placed a new laptop into the cart. She turned to see him watching her and she frowned at him. "What? You'll need it to work on stuff for the team, plus you can use it in your room or the office. Do you want a desktop instead? I won't judge you if you do."
He shook his head and picked up the box for his new bed again as they made their way to the front to check out. At the register he watched as the price grew higher and higher and felt himself feel worse and worse. Aya pinched his arm and he flinched away glaring down at her. "Stop that. This is all so you feel as comfortable as possible at the agency. If you want to pay them back just work as hard as you can, okay?"
His glare changed into a small frown and he nodded at her, his minimalist upbringing fighting against him. "Yeah."
"Besides this is nothing, Tamaki tells me they spend way more during one week on snacks and take out food. Mirio says they use a ton of extra money on All Might merch too. Do you want something to drink?" She was pulling open a small see-through fridge and grabbing out a lemonade.
"Energy drink please." She smiled and grabbed a can placing it and her lemonade at the back of the register. She walked forward and swiped the card, not even looking at the price and he found himself frowning again. We live such different lives.
"Shoji? Shojiiii?" He blinked out of his daze and looked down at her. She looked worried and then waved her hand to the shower. "Is that okay?"
He looked over and saw that she had arranged the items in order of use, he smiled and looked down at her again an idea coming to his head. He pushed it away and nodded at her. "Good."
His toothbrush and other stuff he had used yesterday and this morning were already put away in the cabinet next to the sink next to her things. She pushed him out of the room and then walked towards the office. He followed behind, watching her closely.
She walked in and smiled at Tiger as he set up the new laptop. "Hello Uncle!"
"Hello Kitten, Tentacole. Your laptop is doing an update and then should be ready for use. We're also getting a fridge for in here so you guys don't always have to run to the kitchen or my office to grab drinks, hope that's okay." Tiger said as he stood up, walking past them and ruffling Aya's hair as he went. She laughed and swatted at his hand to no avail.
"Sounds good Uncle, just let me know when it comes in so I can grab stuff to stock it up." Tiger nodded and walked out of the room, turning to go towards his office.
Aya grabbed her chair from the desk and rolled it over to a shelving unit that had fabric boxes in it. She pulled them open and began tossing the snacks into them. "We can share the snacks if you want, since you don't know what kind you like yet."
"Sounds good." He said grabbing the bag once she was finished and organizing his stuff into his desk. She rolled back over to her desk and he blinked in surprise as she pulled a bag from behind it. She pulled out pens and organizers and then began to reorganize her desk. He frowned at this, confused that she would be reorganizing when it seemed to already be organized.
He finished putting his stuff away and looked over at his laptop to find it powered on and ready to use. He frowned at it, not used to having a laptop ready to use at all times. He used the school computers and borrowed Tokoyami's from time to time, but he had never had one completely to himself.
Aya finished getting her desk set up and rolled over to his side of the room. "What's wrong?"
He looked over at her. "What do you mean?"
"Your eyebrows are scrunched and your mask is pulled down slightly, so you're frowning. So what's wrong?" She leaned an elbow on the edge of his desk and he blinked in surprise at her. "Did you think I haven't been watching? Your mask moves up when you smile, it moves down when you're upset or confused. It's not hard to see."
"I didn't realize." He murmured, thankful that his mask was hiding the blush he knew was rising on his cheeks.
"No worries. But seriously, what's wrong?" She leaned forward and looked at his laptop. "Oh, Tiger didn't explain it to you."
She pulled the laptop between them and rolled closer until their arms were touching. He flushed deeper at the contact but watched as she began to pull up different things.
"This is for the team files and current missions. We have paper as well as digital copies. Just type in the date or name and it'll pull up. This next one is for talking to each other without having to find the other person, it's linked to our phones too. You'll just have to download the app in your phone and I'll help you sign in later. This one is for the school, you've probably seen and used it, but it makes sure the teachers can keep track of us at the agency and let us know if something happens." She clicked through the different things on the laptop and he watched with interest. She finished and smiled up at him. "Does that help?"
"Yes, thank you." He said smiling at her. Her smile brightened and she rolled back over to her desk.
"There's that smile. We don't have anything to do until dinner tonight, so feel free to work on class work stuff." She pulled a couple textbooks and notebooks out of her messenger bag. "I'm going to be doing the same."
He nodded and grabbed his bag, pulling out his textbook for history and his assignment.
They worked for a bit in silence before his head snapped up at the sound of instruments. She smiled over at him and pointed to her own laptop. "I don't like working in silence, hope this is okay?"
"It's fine. I usually study in the common room with some of the class so that's nothing." She laughed and turned back to her notebook.
Time passed quickly as they worked together, the music and sounds of pages turning and pens writing the only sound. Soon both their laptops gave identical ding noises and he turned to see a message on the team chat.
Dinner is served.
Aya tossed the towel over her chair after she had finished scrubbing it through her short hair. She pulled open her closet and grabbed out a couple bags of chips and popcorn. She turned off her light and walked across the hall, knocking gently. "Shoji? You're still up yeah?"
"Yeah. What's up?" The door opened and she blinked in surprise at the image before her. His hair was damp and he was running a towel through it. He had taken a shower before her but it was shocking because his hair wasn't styled. It was long, longer than hers just barely above touching his shoulder and as it dried she could se slight waves in it.
She smiled up at him and shook the bags. "Snack time! Want to come watch a movie with me?"
He shrugged and tossed the towel onto his bed, turning the light off and following her. "Sure, what movie?"
"No idea yet, figured we'd pick it out together." She led him further down the hall away from the bathroom and their rooms. She walked through a dark entry way and then flicked on a light. He walked forward and looked around curiously. "It's the entertainment room. If training goes well and the teachers approve we usually let the classes spend the last night in here."
She watched as he moved around the room, looking at the different items. There were two televisions. One bigger than the other that was against one wall by itself, and the other surrounded by different gaming systems. There was also an air hockey and pool table in the middle of the room. Bean bags were tossed around randomly and she frowned at the mess. "Sorry it's messy, Kota was supposed to clean it after he used it last but I guess he forgot."
"Where is Kota?" He asked, walking to the bigger television and sitting down on the large couch in front of it. "I haven't seen him this entire time."
"He joined a boarding school, Mandalay was super excited, but we all miss him of course." She walked over and sat a couple feet away, placing the snacks between them and picking up the remote from the side table. "What do you like to watch? Horror, fantasy, romance, action?"
"Fantasy is usually my thing, but I don't mind horror." She smiled at him and began flicking through the movie choices.
"Oh what about this? Have you seen it?" He looked at the television and saw the title.
"Harry Potter?" He looked over at her in confusion. "Isn't that an older movie?"
"Yeah! But it's really good. Me and Mandalay have watched them all, want to give it a shot?" She looked over at him hopefully and saw his shoulders slump as his mask tilted up. "Yay! You'll like it I promise. Plus we can watch the second one tomorrow if you get hooked."
She started the movie and then opened the two bags of snacks. "You've had popcorn before right?"
He nodded, grabbing the bag she held out to him and looking inside. "Yeah, when we have movie nights we make some microwave popcorn."
"Good, this is like that, but white cheddar flavored." He turned a raised eyebrow at her and she smiled pushing the bag closer to his face. "Just try it."
He shrugged and grabbed a few pieces, feeding them to a hand and chewing thoughtfully. His lips turned up in a smile and he turned his mouth to speak. "Really good!"
She laughed and held out the other bag to him. "These are chips, barbeque flavor."
He grabbed one and fed himself again, blinking in surprise at the tang that hit his senses. "These are good too."
She smiled and rolled the bag edges down so they looked like bowls. She placed them in the space between them and began to nibble on them as the movie started. "Good, then we'll call day one of snacks a success."
Having seen the movie already with Mandalay a couple times she found her attention drawn to the boy beside her. He was transfixed by it, multiple eyes and ears moving to catch every detail and she smiled to herself.
Her eyes moved to his hair and she was surprised again by how long it was, and that as it dried it had layers and a natural waviness to it. Her own hair was curled tight on her head, the water from her shower bringing it back to its natural state. But his, she longed to play with it. Ever since she was little she liked to play with hair, the team letting her go crazy once work was done for the day. Her own friends loved it when she braided or just pet and brushed their hair.
She put her hand into the popcorn bag and tossed another mouthful between her lips. Gripping her lounge pants tightly as she resisted the urge.
The ending credits rolled and Shoji looked over at her. She laughed and pushed on his shoulder. "I told you it was good!"
"That was amazing! Can we watch the second one?" She smiled at him and shook her head sadly.
"Sorry, it's getting late and we both have to be up to find that hunter tomorrow." His mask pulled down in a frown and he stood up and grabbed the snacks as she turned off the television. "But, we can watch the next one tomorrow night, promise."
His mask turned up as he looked at her over his shoulder. "That would be nice, snack day two?"
"Definitely."