The Okami Hero: Amaterasu
Arc 6: Birth of a Hero
Chapter 2: Do Not Provoke the Sleeping Wolf
[Saturday23rdApril 2281]
[Musutafu General Hospital]
The moment that Doctor Kanetsu casually pulled an empty syringe out of her pocket, everyone in the room, save for the Doctor herself and her nurses, knew that she'd just made a major mistake. The sight of the needle made Little Eri completely freeze, her previously content and curious expression falling into one of pure terror. Himiko and Sakuya, who were still holding Eri's hands, felt her pulse sky rocket and Ishiko felt it as Eri seemed to stop breathing. It was quite a horrible sight to see, especially as the already fair skinned Eri became deathly pale.
The Doctor either didn't notice the depths of Eri's fear, or simply chalked it up to the usual children's fear of needles, as she simply put on a sympathetic smile; "This will be the last test Eri. We just need a little bit of blood, so we can test it and make sure you're all healthy on the inside too."
At the mention of blood, Eri unfroze and began shaking her head in fear; "N-No… please don't."
"It's alright dear, it'll be okay. It's just a little scratch and then its over. It'll only take a few seconds." Doctor Kanetsu said gently, taking a step closer.
Eri whimpered and pulled her hands away from Himiko and Sakuya, then pulled them close to her chest so the Doctor couldn't easily reach them. "I-I don't want to… please..."
Everyone in the room was getting tense now, especially Toshinori and the Onikawa Brothers, who had seen Eri's past in the memories Orochi projected onto his barrier. They knew full well why Eri was reacting in such a way, but they also knew that the Doctor probably really needed to do some blood work to ensure Eri was healthy, so they were frozen by indecision.
Katsuki, who had no idea why Eri was reacting like she was, nonetheless decided that if Eri said no, then that meant no. "Hey Doc, back off. She's scared and you waving that needle around isn't helping!"
Doctor Kanetsu sighed; "I'm not trying to scare or upset Eri, but this is standard procedure. We need a DNA sample to see if she has a medical record, so we can tell if she has any existing conditions. We also need it to test her for various infections and maladies. I don't like taking blood from children, but I wouldn't do it if it wasn't necessary."
She took another step towards Eri, and the little girl pressed herself against the headboard of her bed again, shaking her head and whispering "No, no, no!" over and over in fear. Her reactions were beginning to really worry everyone, and the family was gradually growing more agitated.
"If you needed blood, you should have taken it while she was asleep! You're stressing her our!" Dabi growled, getting to his feet. He would have marched over and snatched the syringe, if Keigo hadn't calmly grabbed his hand to stop him acting rashly.
"Eri showed symptoms of anaemia before, and combined with the exhaustion affecting her body, we decided it was too dangerous to take any blood until she'd recovered more. Now that I've examined her and know she's healthy, I can take the blood we need. As I said, I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't necessary." Doctor Kanetsu snapped. She didn't like being painted as the bad guy here, but she had to follow procedure.
The Doctor turned back to Eri and took another step, which made Eri begin to hyperventilate. Ishiko and Himiko began panicking and trying to calm her down, but Eri didn't appear to notice they were there, her terrified red eyes focused entirely on the tiny piece of pointed metal in the Doctor's hands. Sakuya tried to get control of the situation;
"Doctor, I think we should leave this for now. Everyone is wound up and the poor girl is moments from having a panic attack." she said evenly, trying to be the voice of reason.
Unfortunately, Doctor Kanetsu was having none of it; "With all due respect to you, Miss Konohana, you are not the child's legal guardian, as such you cannot make decisions about her medical treatment. Until the police have designated a guardian, Young Eri is a ward of the state and I am required by law to follow certain procedures, which includes taking blood for testing purposes. Forgive me, but I have my orders." the Doctor said, clearly sympathetic to Eri's troubles but not willing to defy her mandated role for the child's comfort.
She took another step, Eri began shaking like a leaf, and the volume in the room grew louder as everyone began protesting.
"Just fucking wait! The poor kid's gonna have a fucking panic attack!" Katsuki yelled.
"Doc, you really need to rethink this. This isn't gonna be good." Hawks said, becoming very serious.
"Eri doesn't want it, so step back!" Dabi growled.
"Everyone, please calm down. Young Eri and Young Izumi still need their rest." Toshinori cut in, trying to be the voice of reason.
"Yeah, let's chill a little. We can always wait for Eri to fall asleep again before taking blood, right? Force it from her and she won't be the only one who bleeds." Jin suggested while Twice threatened.
"Guys, the yelling is making things worse! Can't we all step back and relax before things get out of hand?" Himiko asked desperately, feeling Eri's heart beating like a hummingbird through her pulse as the blonde tried to hold her hand comfortingly.
"Listen to Himiko! Yelling and waving that needle around is going to give Eri a panic attack, and if her quirk goes haywire in this state, people could be hurt!" Ishiko warned, trying to calm Eri by whispering gentle words in her ear, assuring her she would be okay.
Doctor Kanetsu's nurses looked at each other fearfully, both cowed by the anger in the room. The Onikawa brothers looked at each other, wondering if they should reveal what Orochi had shown them, so the Doctor would understand why Eri was so against the needle, but they also worried that talking about it while Eri was in such a delicate mental state would make things worse. Finally, the Doctor had enough and decided to end the situation by simply doing what she had to do.
"Enough. The best way to resolve this quickly and with minimal problems is to simply take some blood and leave. Nurses, please hold the child gently so I may begin." Kanetsu ordered.
Reluctantly, the Nurses stepped forward. Everyone began shouting, demanding the Doctor and Nurses stop, with Katsuki, Himiko, and Dabi looking to be on the verge of physically intervening.
Eri, however, was trapped in a nightmare. The bed beneath her became a familiar chair, the gentle hands of Himiko and Sakuya became leather straps holding her down, the regretful expressions of the Nurses became the cold, expressionless masks of Chronostasis and Rikiya Katsukame, and the face of the Doctor melted away to reveal the evil yellow eyes and signature mask of Kai Chisaki. The syringe was lifted, becoming a scalpel in Eri's mind, and for one awful moment, Eri was back in the lab, about to be dissected again with no one to save her.
In that moment, Eri cried out for the one person who always saved her.
"NO! GO AWAY! HELP ME! MAMA!" Eri cried, just as the Nurses reached forward to hold her.
Before anyone could make a move or react to the sobbing child's cry for help, there was a blinding flash of light that left everyone but Eri seeing spots. Then there was a low, vicious growl. Rubbing the spots from their eyes, everyone turned to the origin of the light and growl; Izumi's bed. There, standing on the bed on all fours was Izumi, transformed into her Full Wolf Mode and poised like she was about to pounce.
The Wolf's eyes darted back and forth across the room as she growled, then landed on Eri, who had curled up into a ball and begun sobbing from fear. The Wolf's eyes turned to slits and with a single mighty bound, she leapt from her bed, over the Doctor and everyone surrounding Eri's bed, and landed beside the white haired child. Immediately, Eri uncurled herself and threw herself at Izumi, nestling into her side and burying her face in the fur of Izumi's neck. Izumi lifted her head slightly so Eri could more comfortably cuddle up to her, but her eyes were firmly focused on Doctor Kanetsu, and her growling had only grown more vicious.
The Doctor was shocked, but swallowed her fear and tried to keep going; "Y-Young Miss Midoriya, I'm glad you're awake. This is honestly just a misunderstanding, but perhaps its for the best? You can cuddle with Little Eri so she's comfortable while we take some blood."
The other adults all face-palmed; as foolish as the Doctor was being, they couldn't deny she was dedicated.
Of course, the moment Eri realised the needle was still approaching, she screamed and her sobs intensified, which REALLY set Izumi off.
With a vicious snarl, Izumi snapped at Doctor Kanetsu, just barely missing the woman's wrist thanks to one of the Nurses pulling her back at the last moment. Izumi wasn't deterred though and darted forward to wrap her jaws around the syringe. Doctor Kanetsu wasn't about to play a game of Tug of War with a furious wolf, so she let the syringe go, whereupon it was immediately crunched and chewed up in Izumi's powerful jaws, before spat out on the floor in a wet chunk of plastic, its needle twisted up like a pretzel.
Now that the offending object was gone, Eri began to calm down a little bit, but she was still scared and sobbing, and Izumi was still growling and snarling at the doctor and her nurses; the three hapless medical professionals huddling together in fear. One bite from Izumi's jaws was enough to rip through flesh and bone, and the Wolf seemed more than willing to take a few parts from them.
"Hey now, Izumi? It's okay… you can calm down." Himiko said, slowly reaching a hand towards Izumi's head. The Wolf didn't stop growling or snarling, her eyes still focused on the Doctor, and she didn't react at all when Himiko's hand made contact with her fur and lightly petted her. It was if Izumi didn't even know Himiko was there…
Then Himiko reached for Eri, hoping to calm the crying girl.
Instantly, Izumi snarled and snapped at Himiko, forcing the blonde girl to pull her hand back with a gasp. Izumi's attempted bite was clearly less intense that the one she'd used against the Doctor, making it obvious that it was a warning and not an attack, but that didn't change the shock everyone felt. Izumi would never snap at Himiko like that normally. Seeing this, Sakuya narrowed her eyes and moved so she could see Izumi's eyes better, confirming her theory as she did so.
"I thought this might be the case..." Sakuya frowned.
"Auntie, what's going on? Why'd she snap at me? She doesn't think I'd hurt Eri, does she!?" Himiko asked fearfully. She didn't want anyone to think she'd hurt the adorable little girl; she just wanted to comfort her!
"It's okay, Himiko. Izumi isn't actually awake right now." Sakuya explained, "Look at her eyes."
Cautiously, everyone turned or tilted so they could clearly see Izumi's eyes, and were mildly surprised by what they saw. Firstly, they were silver as opposed to green; something that only happened when Izumi's animal instincts took control over her human instincts. The eyes were the windows to the soul, and in the case of Spiritual beings, you can tell a lot about them by the colour of their eyes. Izumi's were green when she was calm and in control, silver when her animal side was taking over, and red when she was falling to corruption. On top of this, Izumi's pupils were slits, indicating high aggression, and mostly strangely of all, her eyes were somewhat glassy or blurry.
"S-So she's sleepwalking?" Toshinori asked, not having experienced this side of Izumi. He was in the same boat as the Doctor and Nurses since he didn't really know Izumi very well yet.
"Essentially. Izumi is still too exhausted to fully awaken, but Eri's cry for help managed to awaken her feral instincts. Right now, Izumi is nothing but a Mother Wolf protecting her Pup. She doesn't recognise any of us." Sakuya explained. "Something similar has happened in the past, when Izumi had a bad nightmare. Her feral instincts awaken in response to perceived danger."
"So that's why she snapped at me… but then why not snap when I touched her?" Himiko asked.
Sakuya shrugged; "I can't say for sure. Maybe she didn't consider you to be a threat to her, but did see you as a threat to Eri."
"S-So what do we do? Should I get Security?" Doctor Kanetsu asked shakily. Izumi was still glaring at her, growling loudly and occasionally snarling with her teeth bared.
"That's a bad idea, unless you want a hospital full of one-handed security guards." the Tree Spirit said, only half joking. Sakuya then looked to the Onikawa Brothers; "Please open the door."
Aokiji promptly obeyed and opened the door that lead to the rest of the hospital. Sakuya nodded in thanks and turned back to the Doctor and Nurses; "Izumi has identified you three as threats to Eri. Keep your hands where she can see them and slowly back out of the room. Do not turn your back and do not look her in the eye; she may see the former as a chance to attack and the latter as a challenge."
The three medical professionals gulped and obediently began slowly backing out of the room, keeping their hands up as if a gun was pointed at them, while staring at the ground to avoid looking the enraged Mother Wolf in the eye. Izumi's stopped snarling and her growls became quieter and quieter as the three moved away, finally stopping when they left and Aokiji closed the door.
As soon as the trio were gone, Izumi swept her eyes over everyone in the room, gauging them for threats. Her eyes lingered on Toshinori for a moment longer than they had for the others, but then Izumi took a deep sniff of the air and seemed to relax, before continuing on. Once she's looked at everyone and deemed them to not currently be a threat, Izumi lay down on Eri's bed and curled around the little girl, who was still hiding her face in Izumi's fur.
It was a cute and sad sight; Eri shaking with quiet sobs as she clung to Izumi's fur, while Izumi wrapped herself around her precious pup, watching her carefully. Eventually Eri calmed down just enough to pull her face away from Izumi and turn to the rest of the room, who gave her understanding expressions.
"I-I'm sorry..." Eri whispered, still sobbing softly.
"It's okay, Little One. No one here is upset with you; Doctor Kanetsu was in the wrong." Keigo said, his signature smile back in place.
"The Doctor meant well, but she didn't know what you went through, so she didn't truly understand why you were so against the needle." Toshinori explained, feeling like he had to defend the Doctor a bit. The woman had been overzealous and should have picked up on the signs Eri was showing, but she had ultimately meant no harm.
Eri sniffled; "M-Mama won't get in trouble will she? For growling and biting at people?"
Sakuya smiled kindly; "Of course not; she was protecting her child after all. Now, let's dry those eyes." she said, pulling a finely embroidered handkerchief from her pocket. She reached to hand it to Eri, but Wolf Izumi raised her head at the approaching hand. Sakuya paused, and instead of directing her hand towards Eri, she directed it to Izumi and waited for the Wolf to sniff it.
Wolf Izumi sniffed the hand, relaxing as Sakuya's familiar scent filled her nose. She didn't seem to like the handkerchief though, and huffed at it before turning back to Eri's face. Gently, the Mother Wolf began to lick Eri's cheeks, then working her way up the child's face so she was ever-so-gently licking over Eri's eyes (which the child naturally closed). Everyone in the room felt their hearts melt as Izumi quiet literally kissed away Eri's tears, leading to Eri giggling quietly, which immediately improved everyone's mood and wiped away the tension of the last few minutes. Eri thanked her Wolf Mama by scratching her behind the ears, which relaxed the Wolf so much that slowly, she began to fall back asleep. Once Izumi was unconscious again, she remained in her Wolf Form and basically became a big furry beanbag for Eri to sit against.
Sakuya put her handkerchief away and offered her hand to Eri. With her Mama at her back, Eri felt much braver, so she shyly took the offered hand.
"Are you feeling better now, Eri?" Sakuya asked.
"Um, yes… I don't know what I should call you all… I know your names, and I know Auntie 'Miko but I don't know what I'm supposed to call you. The Bad People before didn't like me using their names." Eri said sadly.
Katsuki growled; "Well those bast-, er, jerks are in prison now, so who cares about them. Call me Katsuki, or Uncle Katsuki, since your Mom is basically my dopey little sis."
"Kat… Kat-tu-su…Um..." Eri tried, but couldn't quite get the name right, which began to make her blush in embarrassment.
"Katsuki. Actually, you know what? Forget it… you can use the nickname your Mom uses; Kacchan." the explosive boy huffed, a faint blush to his cheeks, especially at the grins the rest of the family were giving him.
Eri seemed happy though; "Kacchan… Uncle Kacchan. I can say that!"
"Good girl. Only you and your Mom are allowed to use that nickname, so its special." Katsuki grinned, enjoying the way Eri's eyes lit up.
Eri, now completely cheered up, looked to everyone with a tiny, shy smile and excited eyes "What do I call everyone else?" she asked eagerly.
"Uncle Keigo! Or just Uncle Kei if that's easier." Hawks demanded.
"I guess I can swing being called Uncle Dabi." the Burned Man offered, briefly making a few blue flames on the tips of his fingers, which Eri watched with delight. She'd never seen blue fire before, and she thought it was very pretty, like Dabi's eyes.
"Pretty! They look like your eyes, Uncle Dabi! I like it!" Eri giggled; "Mama and the Big Snake only made red fire!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I'll show you my blue fire any time you want, just don't touch it, 'kay?" Dabi said, his burn scars hiding what would have been a luminescent blush.
"Ooh! Me next! Call me Jin-chan!" Jin asked eagerly, his other half staying quiet. Jin didn't ask to be called Uncle, since he wasn't like a big brother to Izumi or Himiko. He was more like a kooky cousin that doubled as Himiko's best friend.
Ishiko was next. She was stood on Himiko's shoulder, having been forced to flee there while Izumi was in her feral state so as not to be snapped at. "You already know me as Ishiko, so just call me that, okay?"
Eri nodded in agreement, managing to say her name a lot more easily that the others had expected. Ishiko looked smug about that, though she was too small for anyone to notice.
The Onikawa Brothers quietly requested that Eri use their first names; Aokiji and Akainu, but since she had trouble pronouncing their names too, they settled for Ao and Aka. Of course, Eri already knew to refer to Himiko as Auntie 'Miko, so there was no need for a repeat of that introduction, which left just Toshinori and Izumi's two mothers.
Toshinori, knowing full well that he was really a stranger to the family, briefly considered asking to be called Mr Yagi, but since he wanted to learn more about the girl that had beaten an enemy even he as All-Might couldn't, he decided it would be best to endear himself to Eri. "Please call me Toshi. I might be seeing a lot of you and your Mama from now on." he grinned.
Eri looked at the skinny man with undisguised curiosity. Something about the man was making her feel funny… there was a familiar scent that was making her nose itch, but she couldn't think were she'd smelled it before. Eri had been hearing and smelling a lot of things since she woke up, more so than she had before with the Shie Hassaikai, but Eri just guessed that was what things were like outside.
"Hello Toshi." she finally said, getting a smile from the skinny man in return.
That just left what to call Sakuya and Inko.
Sakuya hummed in thought; "My names aren't the easiest to pronounce or shorten. Konohana is too formal, and Sakuya is a bit hard to say for someone so young… Ah! How about you call me Granny Flower?"
Eri blinked and everyone just looked at the woman in confusion. "Granny Flower? Did you hit your head or something?" Katsuki asked rudely.
Sakuya pouted; "Of course not! My name basically means Flower, and everyone at home calls Tsuru Kankitsu by the nickname Granny Citrus, since Kankitsu means citrus! Plus, I'm Izumi's foster mother, and since Izumi is now Eri's Mama, that makes me Eri's grandma! Since Inko is her grandma too, I'll go by Granny Flower since there's no way Inko will want to use that name!" the Wood Sprite explained, somewhat offended by everyone's incredulous expressions.
Eri didn't really get it, especially since she didn't know who Granny Citrus was, but she thought Granny Flower sounded cute, and she liked the idea of having a Grandma! "Um, I like Granny Flower." she said quietly.
As if a switch had been flipped, everyone's expressions changed. Now Sakuya looked like the cat that got the cream while everyone else was pouting slightly, still thinking the name was silly but unable to say so without potentially hurting Eri's feelings. It was remarkable how much power Eri already had over the group, and they could only hope she never realised, or they'd end up at her beck and call forever!
"Now that that's settled, we only need a name for Inko. But we still don't know why she won't wake up..." Sakuya frowned, "Orochi is beaten, so her soul should have returned."
Eri frowned and looked at Ishiko curiously; had the little person not told everyone what happened?
Ishiko noticed her look and became confused; "Eri? You okay there? You're staring kind of intensely."
"D-Didn't you tell everyone what happened? With Mama 'Zumi and that soul?" Eri asked.
Ishiko became even more confused for a few moments, before suddenly gasping; "Of course! When you and Izumi were still combined together, you guys were cradling a soul. Don't tell me… that was Inko!?"
Eri nodded; "Uh huh. Mama 'Zumi called the soul Mama. So it must have been Grandma."
Sakuya looked at Ishiko with mild annoyance; "Why didn't you tell us about this?" she demanded.
Ishiko shook her head desperately; "I didn't know! It looked to me like Izumi was just staring really intensely at this soul, and then the soul vanished. I didn't realise what was happening!"
"Didn't you hear it? Mama and Grandma were talking, then Grandma went into Mama, the same way Mama went into me when we were fighting the big Snake Monster." Eri said, trying to explain the best way she could.
Relief flooded everyone in the room. They'd all been extremely anxious and worried about Inko, wondering why she alone hadn't woken up, but now they knew the woman was safe, and that her soul was resting within Izumi. Of course, they still didn't know why.
"Eri, I'm sorry but no one other than you and Izumi heard what Inko's soul said. No one heard either of you speak at all! It just looked like Izumi was staring at the soul. Can you tell us what happened?" Ishiko asked.
Eri nodded and did her best to recount the conversation between Izumi and Inko. Her recollection of the event wasn't perfect, but it was enough to let everyone know why Inko hadn't awakened. The reason given was enough to make everyone in the room smile.
"So Inko wants her daughter's face to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up. I suppose after ten long years asleep, it'll be nice to wake up to a friendly face." Sakuya smiled lovingly, stroking the fur of the sleeping Wolf Izumi.
Katsuki chuckled; "Just be prepared for a flood. Izuchan's a crier, and so's Auntie Inko… those two will be flooding the hospital in tears within seconds, I guarantee it!"
Everyone laughed, and things began to calm down again. With no Doctors around to scare Eri or set off Izumi, and no more need to worry about Inko's continued coma, everyone could settle in and relax properly. The group began to chat quietly, avoiding any of the major events of the past and also avoiding the topic of Gods and other supernatural things, since Toshinori didn't know the truth yet. Neither did Eri for that matter, but the little girl would likely accept anything if it was Izumi who told her.
For about an hour, the group exchanged stories and jokes. Katsuki and Himiko spoke of their school and classmates, with Himiko showing Eri pictures on her phone that featured them and Izumi, all in their uniforms. Keigo told stories of some of his Heroic Exploits, with Toshinori responding with stories of All-Might's various adventures. Dabi mostly kept his life private, though he did tell Eri some stories of his first few days in a University Hero Course. Ishiko stuck to telling Eri about folk tales, and Sakuya took the opportunity to ask a few simple questions about Eri, namely what her favourite colour was (green), what Izumi had taught her in their little lessons, and what Eri's favourite animal was (Wolf, naturally).
As the afternoon crawled onward, there was a sudden knock at the door. Aokiji answered it, revealing a pretty blonde haired Doctor, who was rather well known to the Konohana Group; Doctor Sakamoto.
"Doctor Sakamoto, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?" Sakuya asked. Eri took one look at the Doctor and shrank back against the slumbering Izumi's fur, watching the woman cautiously. Doctor Sakamoto noticed her and winced slightly, before offering a kind smile.
"Hello everyone. I'm here to play messenger girl for the rest of the staff. The incident with Kanetsu has made its way around the hospital and now no one else is willing to come here. Izumi's healing power is too useful, and no one wants to risk upsetting her to the point where she won't come back here in future." Sakamoto explained, fully entering the room and making sure to show Eri her hands. One was empty, and the other held a large basket with a blanket thrown over the contents.
Eri watched her carefully as the Doctor exchanged short greetings with everyone she knew and introduced herself to those she didn't. Once she was done, Doctor Sakamoto turned to Eri and bowed politely.
"Hello Little One. My name is Doctor Sakamoto, and I'm one of the two Doctors that look after Izumi. The other is Doctor Tanaka, but he's currently busy running some tests on Izumi's blood. He found something unusual and wanted to check it." the Doctor said, saying the last part to Sakuya.
Upon hearing that Doctors had taken some of Izumi's blood, Eri went pale and tried to move even further away from Sakamoto, though she was stopped by the hard muscle beneath Izumi's fur. Doctor Sakamoto saw her reaction and placed the basket on the ground before putting her hands in her pockets and pulling the insides out, showing Eri that she had no syringes or sharp objects of any kind.
"Don't be afraid Little One. I won't try to take any blood from you. Doctor Kanetsu actually asked me to pass along her sincere apologies." Sakamoto explained, taking a seat at the foot of Eri's bed, maintaining a bit of distance from the girl.
Eri, seeing no tools that reminded her of the Bad Men, relaxed a bit but didn't completely lower her guard. "Apologies?" she asked.
Sakamoto nodded; "That's right. You see, Doctor Kanetsu wasn't told about what happened to you when those awful people held you captive. She recognised signs of abuse, but didn't realise that the abuse was so strongly connected to the idea of syringes and taking blood. If she'd known, she'd have refused to attempt a blood test. As it stands, she feels awful for getting flustered and trying to push you into it, and offers her most sincere apologies. She's very sorry and asked me to deliver this as a token of her regrets."
The woman lifted the basket up and placed it on the bed, pulling the blanket covering off to reveal the contents; a huge amount of candy and fruit. There were bananas, grapes, oranges, mangoes, pineapples, chocolate bars, toffees, caramels, cupcakes, cookies, and all manner of other delights, but most appealing to Eri, was the sheer number of shiny red apples. There were more apples than anything else in the basket. Funnily enough, Doctor Sakamoto looked a little guilty about that.
"Ehehe, sorry there's so many apples. Doctor Kanetsu went around everyone here to gather the treats to put inside, and we had a lot more apples than anything else. People give us a lot of them, and you know what they say; an apple a day keeps the doctor away!" Sakamoto joked.
Eri's eyes lit up and she actually managed to smile in front of the newcomer; "Apples are my favourite!" she said excitedly.
Sakamoto grinned; "Oh really? Then I'm glad we have so many! Eat as much as you like; this basket is just for you, so you can do whatever you want with it! Just take it slow, so you don't get a tummy ache!"
Himiko reached into the basket and drew out an apple, shining it on her shirt before handing it to Eri; "You've been asleep for a long time, so you haven't had solid food for a while. There's a while before dinner, so eat up!" she said cheerily.
Eri took it happily; "Thank you!" she chirped, then dug in. Apples had been rare treats while she was a captive; usually only given to her because the thugs who bought her meals at the convenience store would see it and try to get brownie points with their boss by bribing Eri into liking them.
It never worked, but Eri still loved apples!
As Eri happily nibbled away at the juicy fruit, Sakamoto grinned; "So, can I report back to Doctor Kanetsu that you forgive her?"
Eri paused her meal and nodded, her expression becoming sheepish; "Uh huh. Um, tell her I'm sorry too… I didn't mean to be a brat; I was just scared."
Doctor Sakamoto slowly reached over and patted Eri's head, ensuring she moved slowly so Eri wasn't startled; "You weren't being a brat, Little One, but I'll pass along your message anyway. Now you eat your apple while I talk to Sakuya about the boring medical stuff."
Eri nodded and got back to her apple. Things had changed so much for the little girl, and they'd only be changing more soon.
Next Chapter: Good Morning
To be Released: July 28th 2021
So ends another chapter. This one was actually shortert than I thought it was, but then I checked the next four chapters and all are a lot longer than normal, so I think that'll make up for it.
This chapter was mostly fluff, as well as establishing Izumi's Feral instincts and their potential consequences. Doc Kanetsu got very lucky! Still, at least she learned her lesson and made up for it.
Next chapter will have Eri learn more about the family and their past, discuss what's going to happen to her in the future, and two very important awakenings will occur!
I hope you enjoyed! Please Comment and Review; it really encourages me!
