Chapter IV – Housing Strays

Zenko peeks inside as she opens the door to her home, looking both ways and listening for any sounds.

"You can come in. It's clear."

Garou listens and walks in quietly, standing in place as he creates a puddle beneath his feet. Zenko closes the door behind him before knocking off her shoes and pushing pass him, hanging her raincoat on the rack by the door.

"Stay here." She whispers, setting off upstairs towards her brother's room with the bag of snacks and medicine in tow.

Garou does as he's told and keeps still as his eyes move across the house. It was a simple home, minimalist in style and taste. An open kitchen with a separate counter, a half-bathroom downstairs for guests and a couch and table with a television. He gazes up at the walls, seeing the array of framed pictures lining it. Pictures of Zenko at piano lessons and her together with Badd when she was but a baby and her brother a youngster. There's one in particular of the hero trying his best to handle a wooden bat while a boisterous and muscular man smiles and laughs behind him, trying to help.

Garou smirks. So there was a time when he was cute.

Back upstairs, Zenko makes her way to the bathroom, unpacking the pain killes and placing them in the cabinet with the first aid kit that she later grabs. Heading out, she tip toes over to her brother who is all but sleeping soundly with the exception of the light snoring he was making. His head was turned from her, facing the window by his room and his phone laid against his chest, rising and lowering with his breathing.

Zenko grabs it and tries to turn it on only for the light on the bottom to flicker red. His phone died...She frowns, finding herself a bit upset at the situation. Such a simple mistake, had Garou not been there, might have cost her but it soon quickly faded when she saw the empty pill bottle sitting on the stand next to his bed. That's right, the pills...Perhaps it wasn't too bad. The drowsiness the pills put him in could work in her favor and most certainly Garou's.

She walks out, closing her brother's door.

"Big Bro's asleep so we're fine for now."

Garou raises a questionable eyebrow. "And how you know that? What's to stop him from waking up and bashing my head in?"

"Big Bro's on pain pills...alot of 'em and the prescription one in particular causes him to get really drowsy. Once he's asleep, he's not waking up for a few hours unless the house falls or I scream."

"Really now? Is that why he wasn't there when you were cornered by that monster?"

Zenko averts her eyes from him for a moment. A bit shameful it seems. "Y-yeah..." She looks back to him, catching his smell. "You stink! And your dirty too!"

"Sorry, should've asked the monster to let me take a bath once we were done fighting."

"Take off your clothes..." she looks him up and down. "At least what's left of them."

"Right here? Now?"

"Well of course! Can't have you leaving traces throughout the house can we? I'll get a bag to put them in and get you some new ones."

New ones? Garou strips down to his boxers as Zenko runs off to the kitchen, reaching into the cabinet to get a white trash bag. He balls his clothes up and holds them, feeling a little exposed in front of the young girl. Was she used to this? Zenko opens the bag for him and he dumps the clothes in them. His wounds have already stopped bleeding, beginning to scab and was now damp on the skin instead of dripping wet. His clothes having absorbed most of the moisture.

She grabs his hand. "I'll take you to the bathroom upstairs so you can shower."

Garou follows her wincing with every step. The wound on his leg still hurting and bright red. They both walk quietly up, Garou always aware of his surroundings, noticing one of the doors shut tightly closed wondering if it was Badd's. He groans as he steps into the bathroom, the bright whiteness and lights enough to blind him.

"You can go ahead and shower, I'll get you some clothes."

"I can't fit whatever you have kid." He teases.

"Duh, I'm not gonna let you wear my clothes. I'll get some of Big Bro-"

"No." He spits. Not interested in wearing whatever belonged to the hero.

"Well do you have any other clothes?"

"I don't care if I do or don't. I'm not wearing anything that belongs to that bastard."

Zenko points a finger at him, eyebrows furrowing. "Language first and second, what are you gonna wear coming out of the shower? Your not gonna walk around naked are you?"

Garou doesn't answer.

"Big Bro's clothes it is."

"H-hey! I didn't say yes!"

"Too late." she laughs, heading into the laundry room next to the bathroom. "Theres towels in the closet behind you, you can use one of those she whispers."

Garou blinks and sucks his teeth, turning around to snatch a towel and washcloth from the closet. He's about to go in the bathroom before he stops, turning to walk to the laundry room and cracks the door open, seeing Zenko digging through a black construction bag. "Oi, what am I'm suppose to wash myself with?"

"You can use my wash. It's the pink bottles with a strawberry on it."

Garou leaves and goes back to the bathroom, searching for the bottles. When he finds them, he picks one of them up and reads them. Strawberry scented...The corner of his mouth twitches. How lovely. He looks to see some black bottles and grabs one of those, comparing the two. Helps hide heat smells and natural scent...He pops the cap open and sniffs it, instantly recoiling.

How strong does it need to be?! He groans and sits the bottle back. He'll stick to smelling like overly ripe fruit. Besides, the brat was right about not leaving a trace anyway. He strips off his boxers and throws them outside the door before cutting the water on. Sitting on one of the stools, he washes off the leftover dirt and grime that he has collected through his fights and over the weeks before moving over to his hair using the matching shampoo and conditioner. He scrubs viciously, hard enough to scratch the skin from his scalp. He watches as the collected grime, dirt, sweat, and even bugs come out. He sighs in relief, enjoying the way the hot water goes against his skin.

The soap drips down and stings at his wounds but he ignores it, use to the pain. However he grimaces when he finally notices the soap sliding down his left leg, burning the wound that the the monster had made. He inspects it, seeing how it's fleshy and red.

It should have begun healing by now. It hasn't even scabbed...

His other wounds have already completely scabbed over but this one was taking it's time. It hurts, but the hot water provides a subtle painful relief. He looks at his arms and around his legs, small red bite marks littered all over. Sleeping on a lice and bed bug infested couch had done him in, snacking on him whenever they had a chance.

He hears a knock at the door and jerks up, startled out of his trance.

"Mister Garou, it's me Zenko. I took your boxers and clothes and threw them away. There's some clean ones outside the door for you."

"Whatever you say." He spends some more time showering, enjoying the hot water and the feel of finally being able to take a proper bath. It wasn't so hard in his early days of hero hunting, when he was taking down small fries that no one cared for. He was still unknown to the populace and much of the Hero Association and would just go to a bathhouse. Unfortunately, that changed when he finally went to A and S class heroes. Now he was known and wanted everywhere and a person would recognize those golden eyes a mile away.

He turns off the water and dries himself off, putting on the clothes that Zenko had laid outside the door for him, a pair of black sweatpants and a matching shirt. It's baggy on him, making him wonder if Badd could possibly be bigger than him for someone so short.

"Oh, your finished. I was wondering how long you were gonna stay in there." He looks down to see Zenko, dressed in a frilly long sleeve pink night gown.

"How long was I?"

"A good forty-five minutes. I was about to come and get you." She smiles. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Garou rolls his eyes, handing the towel to her. Zenko takes it and dumps it on the floor in the laundry room, returning to get the first aid kit out from the bathroom cabinet before grabbing his hand. "Come." She pulls him back downstairs where he seats himself on the couch and Zenko opens the first aid kit. Pulling out a plethora of bandages and a bottle of alcohol. It was rather large, almost half the size of the young girl. Didn't seem like the typical kit a small family carried in their house.

"Mind if I patch up your scars?"

Garou shrugs. "Does it matter what I say? You decided that before we got here."

Zenko simply smiles, a wide toothed one at that. Shes about to climb on the couch before Garou slides off and onto the floor, allowing her to easily access him. She looks over his wounds, seeing the multiple nips littering his arms and legs. The deep gashes have been completely covered by crusty, black scabs, while others that merely had the top layer of skin peeled back had already healed in full.

"You heal fast. Wounds never scab this quickly."

"It was fifteen minutes to get to your house. Thats more than enough time."

"Not for bleeding to stop and a scab to cover in full!"

Garou scratches the back of his neck. "Eh, does for me."

"I'll just put some antibiotic ointment on them and wrap 'em. Hopefully they won't get in infected." She grabs a large tube of the ointment, puts on a pair of gloves and rubs it all over, forgetting to ask if she should at possible pain. When she remembers she dismisses the thought, seeing Garou reacting just fine. "Mind if I put alcohol?"

Garou shrugs.

"Sure? Alcohol burns you know?"

"Yeah. Sure. I'll be fine."

"If you say so." She unscrews the top, wets some cotton balls and dabs the soaked balls all over his wounds. Garou keeps absolutely still, showing no sign of flinching or fidgeting to her surprise. Throwing the used cotton balls into a plastic bag before finally finishing up, wrapping them. "You look like a mummy."

"That makes me a monster right?"

"Not a very scary one."

Garou blinks at her wide eyed, a bit taken aback. Aren't you bold brat.

"You have a scar on your leg right? Mind if I take a look?"

Garou pulls up his left pants leg carefully and shows the wound, still fleshy, red and tender to the touch. Zenko pokes it causing Garou to hiss through his teeth and flinch. "Oi, be careful." The wound is deep, and seems as though acid was poured onto his body, skin completely torn through and muscle tendons barely holding on.

"Your other wounds didn't hurt and scabbed why not this one?"

"Like I know."

"I would think! It's your body."

"My body usually heals pretty fast..." He pauses. "Usually."

"Hm...that nasty monster took a bite out of you and it's mouth stunk. It's probably good to sanitize it with something strong like alcohol. But..." She looks up at him. "This one may hurt if I do that."

"You think?" He frowns. "Go ahead. It's probably needed."

"Promise you won't scream?"

"I'm not a wimp kid. If I can take a bite from that sharp toothed thing than I can handle a little stinging."

"Alright. Your word is law."

Zenko readies some more cotton balls and places them to his wound. Garou hisses through his teeth, grimacing as the pain shoots through his leg. He's grinding his teeth together as Zenko works, worried but refuses to look at him in fear of distraction and concern. She grabs the antibiotic ointment and applies a generous amount, rubbing it all over before wrapping it tightly.

"There, all finished." She states, packing up the rest of the medical supplies and discarding the bag of used items in the trash.

Garou inspects her work, impressed to say the least. Perhaps she really does patch up her brothers wounds. He stands up, stumbling.

"Guess I'll head out now."

"Head out? Where? You can't back out there! Atleast not tonight!"

"Why can't I?"

"Cause your still very hurt and can barely walk or move on your leg! You were and still is, limping all the way here. Heroes are also patrolling!"

"This late?"

"You didn't hear the alarm go off? Once that goes off, heroes are sent to patrol that surrounding area throughout the night. They started doing that ever since all those monsters attacked three months ago."

Garou sucks his teeth. "Dammit." Which means my way of getting back home is screwed. "I can't exactly leave during the day either you know."

"Thats...true but I can give you a hoodie or something and you'll be properly healed. I just think it's better to wait than go out tonight. That monster did a number on you."

"Yeah yeah, don't remind me." He looks down at his patches. Back with my fight with Orochi and the monsters at the association I healed instantly. But I was undergoing monsterfication at that time. Do I only recover that instantly if I'm a monster? He sighs. "Fine brat I'll stay but I'm leaving first thing in the morning regardless if my wounds are healed or not."

"Hmph, I knew you'll listen."

"Only cause your a pest. Got a blanket for the couch beta?"

"You can't sleep on the couch alpha head. If he wakes up the first thing he gonna do is walk down here. Its too obvious. What your gonna do if he sees you anyway."

"Punch him."

"No!"

"I was only joking." He whines. Partially lying.

"You'll stay in my room."

"Oh goody."

"You just have to make sure you leave before he wakes up."

"I'll leave at the moment of first light. Trust me."

Zenko nods her head in approval at that and leads the limping alpha back upstairs. Garou nearly dies inside when he sees her room. Baby pink walls, a pink frilly bed and stuffed animals everywhere. On the bed, on the floor and on the shelves of the walls. His face twitches. He'll be remiss if he said the things didn't creep him out.

"You can sleep on my bed." The poor bed was barely the size he was.

"N-no." He stutters. "I can...sleep on the floor. Don't want to...intrude on your sleep."

"Oh alright." She grabs two spare blankets from her closet and hands them to Garou who holds them as though he was given something alien. Hes a stark contrast to the fluffy dungeon. A towering, six foot tall male alpha who could easily crush a skull in his bare hands, surrounded by soft, pastel demons.

"Here. You can make a pilot with this. Sorry I can't get you more."

"It's alright. You've done enough."

As Zenko crawls in bed, Garou sets a blanket on the floor and the other on top of him, feeling as though the girliness of the blanket was going to turn him into Puri Puri Prisoner. Zenko throws him a pillow, hitting him in the face with it. He plops down, feeling surprisingly comfortable against the hard floor. It was nice and welcomed. Being able to take a bath, to eat, and have some where he can finally put his head. He had gotten so use to being in constant survival mode and feral that he had all but forgotten what it meant to be in a domestic and warm setting.

"Whats that smell?"

Zenko lifts her head up from the bed. "Hm?"

"That...smell. Smells like a musky scent. Can't be you, you always smell sweet."

"Oh you mean this?" She shows him the plush bunny. Garou reaches out his hand towards it and she hands it to him.

"Big Bro bought it for me after our parents died. He rubs his scent on it so when he's away doing hero duty I have something to comfort me.

"His scent huh?" Garou sniffs it, taking in the pheromones all over it. Even though it's intertwined together he can make hers and Badd scent out distinctly. She always had a sweet smell but her brothers, it had a musky scent. Not unpleasant but hard and strong like he was but he can't help but notice it smelled a bit funny. Passing Badd's room he caught a whiff of it but couldn't make out what it was specifically.

Was he in heat? Maybe he could ask his sister..."She's asleep."

Garou forgoes the thought reluctantly and creeps over next to her, placing the stuffed animal between her arms which she instinctively grabs. He lays back down on the floor, drifting off to sleep.