AN: I've happily accepted my fate that I'm going to be chased around by readers with pitch-forks and murder in their eyes after the beginning ;)
Kotori found herself frozen again, but this time it wasn't from any foul-play from the vampire and truthfully, she couldn't decide which one was worse. All she knew right now was that it was over, everything was over.
Something in Kotori mimicked the glass of her window as it shattered into a thousand pieces.
The frustration in Umi's growl changed to an almost wild roar just before it was silenced by the crack of an earshattering gunshot.
A/N: I accept my fate Xd
Nico looked blankly down at the assignment that somehow her professor had covered in a lecture and yet here she was, completely lost. At least her current surroundings were nice, much nicer than her small apartment anyhow.
Nico slumped backward into the comfortable cushions of the couch and rubbed her temples in a hope to release the building tension she could feel in her shoulders. Give her an acting gig, a young child to comfort to cheer up, or even an assignment to strike a conversation with a complete stranger and Nico could breeze through it like it was nothing. But give her a math assignment like the one sitting on the lapdesk resting on her knees and she guessed she would grow a few gray hairs before she managed to work her way through the damn thing.
A frustrated groan escaped the ravenette's lips and Nico let her head loll back against the couch while her hands dropped unceremoniously into her lap. The clock on the wall behind her read seven-thirty from her upside down reading skills and the only reason she was even awake in the first place was the complete chaos that had happened earlier that morning, courtesy of Nozomi.
A peaceful sort of ambiance had fallen over the large house since everyone, well almost everyone, had left for their flights to someplace even Nozomi hadn't mentioned. It probably had to do with being an extra layer of protection toward the angel liaison who lived here as well.
Nico exhaled slowly and closed her eyes as she tried for at least a few moments to simply relax.
Deep breaths Nico, she told herself and followed her own directions, in…
And out…
She had plenty of time before the acting tryouts this afternoon to complete this assignment so there was no reason to stress about it, right?
In…
And out…
She had plenty of time… at least she thought she did.
In…
And out…
Maybe she was forgetting about something, something that she was supposed to be doing before the tryouts and between her two classes today.
In…
And out...
"I give up," Nico deadpanned aloud and fixed the source of her irritation with a glare as she sat up straight and opened her eyes. "Screw you and your stupid-ass pressure, dumb math assignment as seven-thirty in the morning," she grumbled as she picked it up with a scowl.
"Cursing your assignment isn't going to relieve any of your stress."
Nico nearly lit the paper in her hands on fire in sheer instinctive fright at the sudden English with a mild rasp.
Remember when she had said almost everyone had left for their flights? Well there was one other person who didn't have a flight and Nico was supposed to be in a way, babysitting.
Nico's head and upper body whipped around to look over her shoulder and get a clear view of the messy red-haired Maki Nishikino walking casually up the end of the basement stairs.
The sheer volume of the werewolf's footsteps explained why Nico hadn't noticed her earlier, as the supernatural creature's footsteps were almost inaudible to Nico's human ears.
"How do you know that it doesn't?" Nico instinctively shot back at the reserved redhead with a temper. "Is there some scientific research that says verbally cursing something doesn't relieve stress?"
Maki, with her hands tucked casually into fleece pj pants in an irritatingly cool manner, offered a shrug of her slim shoulders covered by a lab coat. "It depends on the sort of stress you're under, and it's only healthy verbally discussing stressors with people, not cursing physical objects."
"Well if you're asking to be my counselor or something I have to say no," Nico deadpanned and settled back in her seat. She did keep an eye on the redhead out of the corner of her eye, thoroughly annoyed at how she could look cooly fashionable in an odd combination of a lab worker and casual pjs.
"I'm not asking to be your counselor Nico," Maki replied flatly as she veered away from Nico and toward the kitchen, "though I don't envy the person who would have to be that."
Nico narrowed her eyes, "I'll have you know, Nico does her best to be nice to everyone she meets, unlike you, Maki."
Maki stopped abruptly.
The sudden movement surprised Nico, "what're-"
Maki turned around and Nico's sentence got stuck in her throat as Maki's amethyst colored eyes studied her in a half-boredly lazy, half- intensely curious sort of way.
Nico shifted her weight a little, rather uncomfortable under the redhead's silent stare. She replayed the last few parts of their conversation in her head and still found herself stumped. The redhead hadn't been sensitive to anything so far in their admittedly, half-argument conversations, and she hadn't said anything too intense had she? So why was the med-student analyzing her like she was right now?
"Why do you care what other people think?" Maki suddenly asked and effectively startled Nico from her headspace.
"Say that again?" Nico requested, just to confirm that the redhead had just asked her essentially why did she care about people's thoughts.
Maki sighed and leaned back on the balls of her feet in a lazy and relaxed stance, a flicker of more curiosity gleamed in her purple eyes. "It's a simple question Nico, why do you care about what other people think?"
Nico's eyebrows knitted together, "because I want to make everyone smile? So in order to make someone smile I have to know and be aware of what they're thinking or feeling?"
"So you don't care about what they think of you?"
"Of course I do!" Nico retorted back, "how can I be a proper actress without caring about what someone else thinks of me and my performance?"
Maki shrugged and stayed relaxed, "you can be a proper actress without any of that by believing in yourself. Having that and an ego is better than tailoring your actions toward other people."
Maki had a point, a very valid one at that. Sure, Nico believed in herself, that was a given, but it was exhausting at times portraying herself a certain way.
"Is that how you think Maki?" It also made sense if that was how Maki viewed the world, since the redhead was easily a genius and yet outside of the pack, Nico hadn't seen her interact much outside of some mild casual conversation with students on the campus.
"More or less," Maki shrugged and mindlessly twirled a lock of red hair around a finger, "it's a werewolf thing really, something Kotori taught me and a younger werewolf back before she and Umi formed the pack."
The more she learned about this pack the more Nico felt like it was more than what humans saw werewolf packs as. If all packs were like this one, then they weren't just communities, werewolf packs were strong families.
"Come on," Maki turned toward another part of the house, somewhere where Nico hadn't been yet and began to walk.
Nico sat up straighter, leaning toward the werewolf, "where exactly?"
"I'm going to help you relax," Maki replied with a mild smirk sent in Nico's direction, "or are you too scared?"
Nico narrowed her eyes at the jab and set the lapdesk aside before she followed after the red-haired werewolf, "Nico's never scared, bring it on wolf-brain!"
The bitter smell of torn metal and gasoline were pungent in the air and stung Eli's nose as her shoes slapped harshly against the asphalt. There was no real way to expect what would've happened, even if they had managed to change the future Nozomi had seen like Umi had insisted she would've.
Nothing would tell them what happened to their pack alpha and luna till Eli got them to the location where Umi's scent trail ended with Nozomi carried in her arms.
Normally Eli would've been glad to let Nozomi run and walk alongside her, but in circumstances as unpredictable as these, time was too precious and she had had no choice.
Anything Nozomi? Eli asked her for what was probably the tenth time. A part of her hoped and pleaded with the goddess that blessed her kind that Nozomi's unique supernatural powers would tell them if they were both truly okay or not.
I'm sorry Elichi, Nozomi's voice was quiet and guilt-ridden, the spirits still aren't showing me anything.
Eli found her feet pushing just that millimeter further with each stride at the repeated confirmation. It's alright, I know you tried your best Non-ton.
Werewolves were hard to kill yes, but they weren't invincible. Their sheer size, strength, speed, and teamwork mindset often made it seem as though they were, but they definitely weren't invincible as Eli well knew.
The smell of blood and vicious snarling flashed briefly through Eli's mind and the blonde brushed it aside with a sharp shake of her head. What happened in the past didn't matter now, what mattered was that she wasn't going to let one of those she cared for die, not this time. Never again would she subject herself and others to a demise like that and besides, if push came to shove, she owed Kotori her life and the angel was too precious to too many people to lose.
With her heightened senses Eli could see the car now and it wasn't a pretty sight.
From what Eli could see, the vehicle looked mangled and turned over. As though it had crashed directly into an invisible wall, and she could see just the faintest flash of what looked like blue around a flicker of the black of shadows on the ground.
The flicker of movement sparked the hope that at least one of her friends was okay.
What can you see? Nozomi had definitely picked up on the relief that Eli no doubt showed off in the inner parts of her mind.
I can see Umi I think, Eli replied quickly as she put on more speed to approach the car faster.
What about Kotori?
Eli stayed silent, if Kotori was gone she didn't want to confirm it, not to the angel's closest friend besides Umi.
Eli? Nozomi sounded a little nervous and Eli could smell the more concern in her mate's scent.
Luckily Eli didn't have to tell her anything, not when she felt the air cool just enough to make the hair on her arms stand up and the short hair at the nape of her neck bristle.
It was sunny and bright, without a single cloud in the sky yet the temperature had dropped to a temperature Eli would've been more familiar with if there had been many clouds.
Eli hadn't felt this more than a handful of times since she had joined the pack that had essentially become her family. Yet it was so distinct she knew exactly what was coming.
So Eli instinctively hunched her shoulders toward Nozomi and spun on her heels so her back was to the car, shut your eyes!
She didn't have time to check if Nozomi had indeed closed her eyes as she caught a flash of a bright spark in her peripherals and was forced to squeeze her own blue eyes shut to protect them.
There was an unnatural sensation of having every wall and defense protecting her soul, not her mind, instantly pierced through. Before something seized her by her very being and Eli was rendered useless and frozen, the very essence of her life being analyzed in the span of what felt like forever.
Eli's mind was freaking out. Not so much by what was happening to her, since she had had it done on her before in the past, but over why it was happening.
Eli?
That's right, Nozomi had no experience in this.
Kotori's okay, Eli quickly splurged, feeling the relief that both of her packmates and friends were alive wash over her despite her frozen state. If Kotori can reach us from here with a spell of this magnitude she has to be okay Nozomi.
Okay, Nozomi sounded just as relieved as Eli felt, but what is this Elichi?
Now that was the complicated part, not even Umi had been willing to explain what the spell was much less Kotori who was as always, rather tight-lipped about her magic.
Umi once explained it to me as a spell that forced life to stand still and reveal all of it's secrets, Eli explained, but Kotori never mentioned anything other than it's usually a last resort spell and it consumes a lot of energy.
The warm, but unnatural hold on Eli's life essence vanished and Eli found herself lurching forward in a stumble as she found herself in control of her body once more.
Eli caught herself half-way through the stumble and shifted her stance to spin around on one foot. Pebbles of the asphalt ground beneath the heel of her shoe as she turned back toward where the flash of light had originated and began to run.
Eli felt Nozomi's nose nuzzle into her shirt in a form of worry, but she could smell the worry and minor fear in her before she said anything aloud. "They're okay, right Eli?"
Eli felt the indescribable feeling of something urging her, urging her with the words beginning to tumble over her tongue.
'It's alright, everyone's safe… we just have to relax…' It was the small bit of Nozomi's powers Eli was blessed with from their bond. They didn't surface often, but when they did, Eli knew better than to put them aside and feign ignorance over the urging of a spirit who knew what was to come.
"Umi's strong enough to keep Kotori safe from any harm," Eli decided on after a moment as she ran toward where she could now easily see Kotori's tired form kneeling on the asphalt near the overturned car and the reek of metal and motor oil. "This isn't the first time this has happened to her- to either of them really, so let's not overreact." Eli glanced down at the future scryer in her arms with a mild smile toward the gentle hearted girl who could get glimpses of the future whenever a spirit sought to give her the knowledge.
"Umi-chan!" Kotori's voice sharply dragged their attention toward the car as they got within a few yards of the damaged vehicle. The angel's high pitched voice sounded abnormally nasally, almost like she was speaking through some kind of liquid that was likely getting into her mouth.
Eli's pace quickened at the sharp tang of fresh blood that overwhelmed her nose. Okay, screw the spiritual nudge, now Eli was more than a little concerned.
Kotori was kneeling on the ground near the totaled car, the angel's body was trembling and Eli could smell the bitter scent of the shock that the angel's body had settled into. However the smell was heavily masked by the metallic tang of blood.
Kotori was looking from side to side, slouching with exhaustion and looking at the ground while crimson blood trickled from a cut in her forehead and stained the side of her face and part of her shirt.
Since when did Kotori end up actually injured?! Umi was notorious for keeping Kotori safe from any non-citizen situations and Eli hadn't seen Kotori actually injured in a very long time.
Her face… Eli trailed, blue eyes focused on the heavy amount of dried blood on the side of Kotori's face and head. Did she hit herself on something? Maybe the blood on her face was from the crash itself. However, even if that was the case, how come there was blood on Kotori's shirt and flecked over the rest of her face?
The angel's soft vanilla scent was almost smothered by the sheer amount of blood that was assaulting Eli's sensitive nose. If the blonde hadn't seen Kotori for herself she wouldn't have been able to tell that it was her by scent alone and that wasn't acceptable.
Who dangered her pack? Her family? Whoever it was was going to pay and it wasn't going to be pretty if Eli got her hands, or paws depending on her mood at the time, on them. Even if she wasn't the pack's alpha, Eli would make sure to repair the shield that had been keeping her family safe between her and Umi.
I think her nose is just bleeding, Nozomi broke in, breaking Eli's over protective darker lurking line of thought.
Eli tried to keep a level head and instinctively found herself drawing Nozomi closer in her hold to protect her. Maki did mention head wounds bleed a lot last time we were guarding with Umi. Eli took a calming breath before she gently set Nozomi down on her feet and began walking toward Kotori with her.
"Kotori, you alright?" Nozomi asked, the future scryer's eyebrows and face were scrunched with concern and worry for the angel despite her earlier words.
"I'm fine," Kotori's voice was broken up by blood bubbling up at her lips as she spoke. "Where's Umi-chan?" She asked and weakly looked toward both of them, exhaustion weighing down her normally rather high pitched and soft voice.
Right, where was Umi?
Eli's muscles instinctively tensed up at the reminder of her alpha being missing while the pack luna and the liaison of supernaturals was here. Kotori and Umi rarely split up, out of protection for Kotori but also for more expansive spells and magic for Kotori to use, so where was she?
Stand down, a cool voice broke through the blood-induced worry tainting Eli's mind and by the way Kotori's shoulders seemed to release tension she guessed Umi was talking to all of them. I am alright.
Sure enough Umi came slowly out from around behind the car, the werewolf clothed in the backup clothes Kotori always kept in her bag along with a hastily borrowed slightly torn up and bloody blazer that didn't fit the werewolf's slender shoulders all that well.
Eli took careful note of how slow, and almost carefully, the other werewolf was moving. Till Umi seemed to purposely adjust the speed as Eli waited beside Kotori and Nozomi for the alpha.
"You should be tilting your head forward," Umi's voice rasped lightly over the English words as she approached her mate at a careful but swift pace, "and pinching your nose, Kotori." There was something lurking in her voice Eli couldn't properly analyze beneath the alpha's meticulously maintained barriers that she hadn't ever really seen her fully drop before.
"Umi-" Kotori tried to disagree with her mate but Umi gently but stubbornly cut her off by tilting her head forward and pinching the bridge of her nose to stem the bleeding of the mage's nose.
"Stay still," Umi rasped and to Eli the alpha looked completely drained and more than a little beat up. She had blood matted in her blue hair, cuts along her cheeks and neck and her canines were extended, hidden in her lower lip unless she was talking. By the canines, cuts on her face and the way her hands were bloodied up and her fingernails were uneven at the edges, Eli could tell the alpha had been in her wolf form, fighting even, at some point.
"No, Umi-" Kotori struggled to escape Umi's grasp and reached toward the werewolf, fingertips glowing with soft wisps of greenish blue energy Eli recognized as the angel's magic.
"I'm fine Kotori," Umi cut her off again and stubbornly refused to let her head go.
Eli narrowed her eyes in suspicion when the other werewolf's gaze flickered to her and Nozomi as if defending her actions to the angel who apparently wasn't in the mood to listen.
"Umi-!" Kotori's worried golden eyes were glowing, swirls of green and… silver? Why did she have traces of moonlight in her eyes?
"I'm fine," Umi stressed the second word with a hint of irritation in the rasp of her voice.
Then soft, almost clumsy footsteps distracted Eli as they trotted up from behind her. The owner of the footsteps along with the faint scent of bread mixed with the tang of scent camoflauge and Eli instantly turned around.
There was a woman now standing there about five feet away from Umi and Kotori in a camo jacket that was way too big for her, just like Umi and her blazer, and had a similar situation with the pants.
She had shoulder length ginger hair currently loose and free with lightly tanned skin, crystal blue eyes that held swirls of silver moonlight, and seemed to be rather thin in body type. Her scent however told Eli that she was a werewolf, the almost sugar tainted smell of something freshly baked masking most of the wildness of the forest embedded into her body just like Umi and Eli herself.
The ginger carefully placed the rather broken sniper in her hands onto the asphalt and while she showed no signs of aggression, Eli couldn't help the cautious shifting of her weight.
Umi's gaze flickered to the ginger and she straightened up slightly around her kneeling down partially hunched over keeping Kotori still. The alpha werewolf broke into a wry grin and Eli could see the relief in the way the corners of the alpha's amber eyes lessened. "Took you long enough," Umi spoke in English, her voice still carried the thick rasp and a little blood bubbled up at her lips which made more alarms go off in Eli's head. Umi and Kotori smelled intensely of blood, the metallic scent hiding anything else including their emotions, not that Eli could ever really smell Umi's. The question was, who was the main source of all the blood?
The ginger's observant expression shattered into something close to a serious but also goofy grin and they stepped over the gun. "You're so mean Umi," the ginger chuckled, "the guy was on a roof who knows how far away."
Kotori's head jerked out of Umi's hands, toward the person at the sound of their voice and her golden eyes widened in something akin to shock. "Honoka-chan?" The angel's voice was still nasally, and at Umi's noise of disapproval she pinched her bleeding nose to slow the bleeding further down.
The ginger, apparently named Honoka Eli noted, gave the pair a lazy mock salute before she trotted closer to them both and carefully took the angel's face into her hands with an expression of concern. "Geez, you sure your nose isn't broken?" She looked at Umi out of the corner of her eye, "Umi never mentioned anything about how bad your nose was."
"I have half a mind to pull you away from her by the ear Honoka," Umi warned but it was half-hearted. Just like her warnings back home to Rin when the lone werewolf got her too hard in the leg or shoulder when playing. Instead of showing irritation or anything of the sort, the bluenette merely looked a little more tired and relaxed even as she lifted a hand toward Honoka in the beginnings of a handshake.
"Relaax, I'm just teasing Umi," Honoka grinned and instead of grabbing the alpha's offered hand in a typical handshake, she slapped her hand against Umi's palm. Then both of them knocked the backs of their hands together, interlinked their fingers into an almost paw-like shape, released each other's hands, and then finished off the elaborate handshake with a simple tap of their knuckles in the form of a fist bump.
Eli reeled, what was going on? She had been in this pack and around Umi for close to five years, gone on many trips with her and Kotori as a guard, and yet she had never seen this ginger before. Never seen the ginger, never had a near kidnap happen, and had never smelled so much blood in one place before.Q
Kotori had watched the handshake and to Eli's surprise, the angel then pulled the ginger into a tight hug, fingers still clamped around her nose. "It's so good to see you!" Admittedly the angel sounded nothing short of hilarious with a high pitched squeaky from excitement and very nasally voice, but Eli managed to keep her bubbling laughter inside as to not get her butt kicked by the alpha.
With her laughter contained, Eli then addressed the question floating around her and Nozomi, "sorry Umi, but who is this?"
"Ah, meet Honoka Kosuka," Umi formally introduced the ginger after sharing a look of mutual resignation with Kotori and the ginger. Who offered Eli and Nozomi a goofy smile, in fact the woman almost seemed to have cheer and curiosity oozing out of her. "My childhood packmate and a childhood friend of Kotori and I," Umi explained simply.
"Childhood…" Eli paused, "how come we're never heard of or seen her before?" The bond between childhood packmates were difficult to break naturally, but with the reactions she had just witnessed from Umi and Kotori, it was hard to see why she was so much of a mystery to anyone but the three of them in front of her.
"Honoka was my mom's body guard," it looked like Kotori's nose had finally stopped bleeding, "and she links Umi-chan to me on a personal level."
"It's like how you two only know anything about me excluding my reputation because you're both my packmates," Umi explained, "Honoka's relations to Kotori and I are kept secret to anyone who hasn't been involved in our careers from the beginning back when we were all kids."
"Keeps people from finding a way to get to Kotori-chan," Honoka shrugged but gave the ash-blonde a gentle hug with a grin.
"How come you asked me to come if she's already here?" Eli couldn't help but feel a little disgruntled when she was supposed to be there to help protect her pack Luna when there was another who was already trained in guarding just like Umi.
"I wasn't aware she would be here till late last night," Umi replied with a mild cough that made Eli more concerned over the alpha's wellbeing. "Besides, Honoka has her own responsibilities."
"After this there's no way you could stop me from calling Tsubasa to get Anju and Erena to protect Mrs. Minami while I help you with Kotori-chan, Umi," Honoka balked.
"What? I can protect her just fine-" Umi retorted indignantly, but Eli didn't miss the way Umi moved more of the blazer into overlapping, no doubt to hide her injury more from them.
Honoka's blue eyes narrowed, "I'm not saying you can't Umi, I'm saying I want to be there on standby in case you call for my help again."
"Umi-chan, you called her here?" Kotori slowly spoke the words Eli wanted to say before she could utter a single word.
Umi's amber eyes shifted just slightly to one side but it seemed to give Kotori enough information without her speaking aloud.
Kotori whirled on Honoka, her voice rather icy and Eli took a step back at the unintentional power behind the angel's words. "When did she call you? Was that before or after the meeting my mom's supposed to be in right now?"
"I assigned Erin to her," Honoka quickly smoothed out the blonde's feathers, or at least she tried to, "when I heard what was going on over here we had all of the important figures go into hiding in the basement with guards-"
"Then did Umi-chan call you before she noticed a sniper trying to kill her?"
"She contacted me just after she was removed from the car," Honoka answered quickly, "I was just within telepathic range when she alerted me about the sniper."
Kotori's anger broke and the ash-blonde grabbed onto her friend's shoulders, "then will you please help me convince her to let me do something about her injury Honoka-chan?!"
"Injury?" Honoka looked a little bewildered, "what injury?"
"Umi-chan!" Kotori looked over at the alpha who's flinch was only visible in the edges of her amber eyes, "you-"
"I'm fine, Umi stressed the word, then flinched and hastened to grab Kotori's hand when Kotori pressed her fingers into Umi's lower chest through the blazer, "Kotori-"
"You got shot, by a sniper!" Kotori hissed and Eli cringed at her tone, if Kotori had been angry earlier, she was furious now.
"It's nothing-"
"You fell into the cabin of the car," Umi winced when Kotori put more pressure, "used magic to allow you to stand, and I used my own magic when you fell and could barely sit up!"
Umi flinched again, the alpha's body curling in slightly on itself at the pressure there and some color leaked from her face, "Kotori-"
"Don't 'Kotori' me Umi-chan!" Kotori growled, wolfish, Kotori was angry enough to be speaking in wolf tongue and Eli could see the tears in the luna's golden eyes.
Honoka didn't get involved. Even if Eli could see it on the ginger werewolf's face that she wanted to step in and defend her childhood packmate, she didn't.
"Breathe Kotori," Umi ignored Kotori's exclamation even though Eli could see the telltale signs of excruciating pain that now glazed over the alpha's eyes by the luna's pressure against where no doubt her injury was. "It can't kill me," Umi made a low crooning noise, something soft and loving that rumbled through the alpha's entire throat and exited through her nose and mouth. It was a sound that Eli had never heard before, not when the alpha was naturally more reserved around the pack as a whole.
"Take a breath," when Kotori did as she suggested, Umi continued in wolfish as she carefully pried Kotori's fingers from her body. "You can look it over once we get to the children's hospital, because they're waiting for you. They're looking forward to meet you, Kotori."
(This looks really confusing on I've decided XD)
Nico had to admit, one of the last places she had expected Maki to bring her to was what was likely Kotori and Umi's room if the neat and organized state of the bedroom was anything to go by.
While she was curious, especially about the authentic looking samurai katana displayed above a neatly organized desk, Nico felt as though she was violating the couple's space being in the room.
Kotori had been pretty easy to get along with as she found out after being stuck in the house overnight and shared some similar interests in regards to music. So a friendship with the mischievous but extremely gentle-hearted angel was easily kickstarted, unlike Nico's relationship with Maki, if they even really had one.
Umi on the other hand had been harder to really click with. The werewolf was naturally rather quiet around Nico, maintaining a wary but friendly atmosphere without seeming all that intimidating. She had tried to find something Umi was interested in, but Umi had been preoccupied with working out the last details of the trip the following morning or switching her attention between each member of her pack. All she had really gathered from the bluenette from purely being around Kotori with her around, was that she was fiercely loyal to her pack and put her full effort into whatever she was doing.
According to Kotori, Umi would simply take a little time to really show the sharp tongued but kind and playful traits the rest of the pack, particularly Kotori and Nozomi, saw from the alpha werewolf.
Nico furrowed her eyebrows, "Maki, why'd you bring me here? Nico's pretty sure this is Kotori and Umi's room. You might be fine with invading people's space but I'm not."
Maki rolled her eyes and continued to lead the way through the bedroom, "we're just passing through. Umi's fine with all of us going through here most of the time."
Nico's gaze flickered to the other desk in the room, this one messy with fabrics and various textbooks, and afterward to the clothes mannequin beside it with what looked like the beginnings of a soft pink dress on it. "Still tomato-head, what're we even doing here?"
"I told you, we're passing through," Maki sighed.
Nico rolled her eyes, the redhead was as eloquent as ever. "I know that, where are we going?"
"Fine, we're going to Umi's meditation room," Maki snapped and shot her a glare, "now just stop asking questions and come with me Nico."
Nico bit her tongue to keep from retorting back but reluctantly followed the redhead, it wasn't like she had anything better to do other than a crappy math assignment.
Maki reached the end of the neatly organized room and pushed another set of double doors open, this house was seriously too big, revealing their final destination.
Nico's eyes widened.
Maki's title for the room gave it no justice when it was so different from the rest of the house. It was almost earthy there in the meditation room, a perfect mix of earthy nature and refined human civilization all combined in one well designed room.
The air felt fresher here, something sustained by the miniature pine trees and trimmed small hedges in pots built into the floor near the walls.
The sound of gently trickling water hit Nico's ears and the faint glow of underlighting in the sleek rock based structures that bordered the walls caught her eye as the source of the sound and moisture in the air.
Maki flipped on a light switch near the double doors and the dim lighting brightened enough to match the tail end of a sunset. "Go sit down on the floor," the redhead requested and wandered over toward a group of bean bags that sat on top of a folded futon and a couple blankets.
Nico nodded a little numbly and stepped further into the room, taking care to avoid the square shaped shallow pool of water near the entrance built into the hardwood flooring in the process.
The place was in a way overwhelming to the mage of time and emotion. There had no doubt been so much thought and effort put into the creation of this room and it's upkeep as well for that matter. But the atmosphere was what really threw Nico off. The room's emotional energy levels were low and calm. A true peace surrounded the room and while it could've merely been a trick of Nico's mind, but the room felt timeless. As though time didn't pass the moment you stepped through the doors and into the room.
Nico carefully lowered herself onto the center of the floor, red eyes wandering around the beautiful room and especially the tiny bonsai trees so carefully shaped and trimmed throughout the place. "What… is this place?" She asked almost mindlessly, the words escaping her lips before she really thought about them.
"It's Umi's secret weapon," Maki shrugged and picked up two beanbags in one hand by the top edge of each.
"Seriously? Besides making you feel like you've just stepped into wonderland, what does this even do?" Nico questioned as she watched the redhead approach.
"The room's only part of it," Maki rolled her eyes and carefully stepped around a small bonsai tree, "the rest is something I'm going to teach you. It's good for stress relief."
Nico raised an eyebrow, "do I really want a werewolf, the creature known for being extremely impulsive, teaching me some whacky unknown technique for stress relief?"
Maki stopped a few feet away from her and gave her an unamused look before she tossed the beanbag directly into the ravenette. "Just sit down on the beanbag Nico, I have a class in an hour."
Nico shot her a glare for the beanbag being thrown at her. "Fine," the redhead had gone out of her way to show her something, oddly calm or not, and Nico recognized effort when she saw it so she did as the redhead asked.
Plus the beanbag was soft, a soft microfiber fabric and lightly cushy barrier between her and the rather cool hardwood flooring that she did find it more comfortable than the floor.
Maki took her time to settle down crosslegged on a beanbag beside her, the redhead werewolf taking her sweet ass time to relax and get comfortable despite her earlier comment.
"It's better when Umi's been around lately," Maki randomly pointed out as she leaned forward slightly on her elbows in a casually slouched manner. "The ceiling turns to the night sky with real stars and constellations so you can stargaze."
Nico's red eyes drifted toward the smooth flat ceiling above them both. With how reserved Umi seemed to be she wasn't exactly surprised to find out the werewolf liked to stargaze. Though with the fact that Maki brought it up, did she like to stargaze too?
"Anyway," Maki leaned forward on her arms in a relaxed position, "meditation, you ever heard of it?"
"Er, yeah," Nico wracked her brain for what the concept was. She had heard of it somewhere, but it hadn't really interested her at the time, hence the semi-struggle to remember what it was. Maki had mentioned it was good for stress relief right? So it probably had something to do with relaxation, but the big question was, what was it?
Nico saw Maki's nose twitch just slightly out of the corner of her eye before the redhead had rolled her eyes with a resigned sigh, "of course you don't know what it is."
"Yes I do!" Nico scowled, how the hell did she know that fast? "I know what that meditation thing is, don't treat me like I'm stupid tomatohead!"
Maki gave her a flat look then promptly ignored her outburst, "just shut up and listen Nico."
Nico growled under her breath but sat still and reluctantly kept her mouth closed as per the redhead's request. Her behavior was a little odd and speaking of which, hadn't she been acting rather weird all morning?
The red head was a klutzy fireball as far as Nico could tell and yet… She hadn't really seen much if any of that fire she had been unintentionally shoving in Nico's face since she met her yesterday morning even if it felt like she had known her for ages now. Maki had been boredly calm all morning after she seemed to wake up properly. Though according to Nozomi the redhead wasn't truly awake till she had gotten some caffeine into her system.
"Close your eyes," Maki gave no indications of being aware of her confusion as she closed her eyes with her hands clasped comfortably in her lap.
Nico took a quick glance at her before she mirrored her and closed her eyes.
Maki seemed to know when she closed her eyes as she spoke right after she closed them. "Focus on what's around you right now," she told the older college student in a calm voice, "disregard whatever's running through your mind right now and focus on what's really here around her."
Disregard whatever she was thinking about? That was kind of hard when the subject of her thoughts was sitting right next to her acting very weird.
Still, she kept her eyes closed and tried to focus on what Maki had asked her to do. She focused first on what she could hear. Trickling water hit her ears, the sound of tiny waterfalls and the sound of synthetic birds and wildlife. Nico could hear Maki's breathing, the werewolf's slow -almost rough- breathing that gave off a sense of peace and quiet control. The fabric of Maki's shirt and lab coat rustled with each breath and she smelled of peppermint and a warm campfire…
Maki sighed, "okay Nico, I'm flattered you're paying attention to me, but what the hell?"
Nico's eyes popped open and she turned her head toward the redhead with furrowed eyebrows, "excuse me? You should be thrilled to have the great Nico-Nico-Nii's attention!"
Maki gave her a flat look in return, "thrilled is an exaggeration Nico, but that's not the point." A finger went to her hair, idly twirling some of the thick silky red strands in an instinctive habit. "What's going on up there? You've been acting funny since I started heading over here with you."
Nico stared incredulously at her, "I've been acting weird? You've been the weird one Maki!"
Maki recoiled with a confused blink, "what? How have I been acting weird?"
"You're so flat!" Nico exclaimed and gestured toward the redhead, "where's the fire you were showing off and shoving in my face yesterday?"
Maki's expression smoothed into an, 'oh' expression before she gave a light chuckle and shake of the head. "I'm an alpha-beta Nico, so the occasional bout of calm attitude is normal." She raised a delicate eyebrow, "if being calm is that weird, would you rather I argued with you?"
Nico stared at her, what the hell was wrong with this girl? "What the fuck is with your attitude problems?" she asked grumpily and crossed her arms over her chest.
"It's called being an alpha-beta werewolf Nico-chan," Maki deadpanned but in a way that was more familiar to the ravenette.
"What does that mean though, do you have a split personality or something?" Nico was both interested and concerned, especially when she would have to live with her presence for likely the rest of her life if she valued her soul bond.
Maki shook her head, "no, it's more like my impulse control fluctuates up and down along with my energy levels. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I don't really have many days where my body's in 'beta' mode, or lower energy and calm like you were just whining about."
Nico scowled, "I wasn't whining! I was merely concerned, tomato-head!"
"Well you're welcome to be as much of a worry wart as you want," Maki rolled her eyes, "but asking questions and getting answers is always the better solution."
"I'm not a worry wart," Nico grumbled.
"Says the one who's worried about a minor personality shift," Maki deadpanned and Nico couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips as the arrival of Maki's natural attitude.
"Look," Nico obediently looked at the redhead, "don't worry so much." Maki twirled her finger in her red hair, "if I'm calm or quiet it's probably because I'm just tired and have more impulse control than normal."
"I'll keep the uncomfortableness with my lack of quips in mind though," Maki smirked and Nico's heart skipped a beat at the smug canine teeth showing smirk on the beautiful redhead's face. "Gotta know how to keep the dramatic actress happy now don't I?"
"you betcha," Nico smirked back, "Nico requires the utmost of attention."
Maki snorted, "fine, I'll play something for you later then, maybe then that'll be enough attention to satisfy you shortie."
Nico faltered, the redhead was going to play for her? The music genius who she was apparently destined to be with, after knowing her for just over a day was willing to play for her, just her.
Maki blinked at the lack of reply then her face flushed bright red and she stumbled to her feet, "erm, I'm just… gonna leave now…"
Before Nico could respond Maki was gone, tripping over the tiny pool in the front of the room and narrowly avoiding landing on her face, but left at the speed of lightning.
However even after Maki left, Nico couldn't help but smile. Maki Nishikino was quite the character and… Nico was finding herself more and more interested and dare she say, attached to the fiery redhead.
Nico settled comfortably in her beanbag and attempted to do what Maki had originally asked her to, closing her eyes and focusing on her senses. Even if she could still smell traces of the redhead's minty perfume.
"Umi, she's going to kill you," Honoka's statement didn't help reassure the alpha that her mate wasn't going to strangle her for her injury.
"No, she is going to kill you," Umi grunted and shot the ginger a glare from where she was sitting in front of her friend ontop of a desk in an unused office of the hospital, "you are the one who didn't stop the sniper."
Honoka rolled her eyes, lightly slugged Umi in the shoulder, and ignored Umi's scowl as the action sent pain ripple through her chest and abdomen. "You're lucky I didn't tell her you only called me to tell me to get the council into temporary hiding," she pointed out after a moment of silence while she helped clean out her friend's injury, "and that I came here on my own Umi."
"Thank you," Umi put down her pride and gruffly thanked the ginger.
At Honoka's lack of response Umi sighed and rolled her eyes, "thank you for coming here and helping me Honoka."
"We've always got each other's backs," Honoka replied and Umi invisibly winced at the sting of the rubbing alcohol, "grew up together..."
"...stay together," Umi finished the phrase then lightly chuckled, "wasn't Kotori the one who came up with that saying?"
"I don't remember," Honoka giggled and finally put down the medical supplies before she hopped up next to the bluenette. There wasn't much else she could do for the injury without magic or high end medical equipment and Umi wouldn't agree to the latter unless she was forced to. "We were what, seven at the time?"
Umi nodded, "and Kotori was six," she confirmed, "back before we really knew what all of us were going to get all wrapped up in when we grew up."
Honoka swung her legs, "there's some good things that come with growing up," she pointed out and turned toward Umi who shifted her vision to be looking at her out of the corner of her eye. "I mean, you ended up with Kotori-chan right? And wow, none of us were expecting that!" She laughed, "plus you were so awkward and shy about it too!"
"Good grief," Umi grumbled but she couldn't help the mild smile that tugged at her lips, "I really don't need a reminder of how awkward I was, Kotori still teases me."
Umi felt Honoka nudge her with her elbow, "she teases you because she feels as ease around you, you know that Umi."
Umi leaned back on her arms just slightly, mind drifting slightly to the woman that had her focus due to her job but mostly due to the relationship and the bond between them. "I know, it's been that way since we were teenagers and it's not something that really bothers me or anything."
"Ah, see one of my favorite moments in regards to you two had to be back when we were… I don't know, sixteen? You guys were still new to the whole bonded minds thing. Anyway, we were all in this really important meeting during the winter and you were in charge of guarding the doors but you were struggling to keep focused-"
Umi shut her eyes and pleaded for patience and for her embarrassment to not show up on her face. She knew this story, she also knew the embarrassment of the incident and not to mention the embarrassment of the lecture she had gotten later from her parents about it.
"-and poor Kotori got asked why her face was red and she repeatedly had to brush it off. The startled look on Kotori's face in the beginning of the meeting was worth a hundred pictures, Umi," Honoka grinned and Umi rolled her eyes.
"The winter months screw with our heads Honoka, or need I remind you-"
Honoka quickly shook her head and held her hands up in a motion of surrender, "nope!"
"Good," Umi hummed with a strained sigh and tried to relax her body, even if it was just for a few precious moments.
Her injury throbbed, the sort of pain that pressed harshly behind her eyes and threatened to blind her. Only her werewolf blood and a lot of rigorous training was keeping her fully conscious and mentally cognitive. She had no doubt that the moment she let the walls blocking some of her pain receptors down she would lose the fight of keeping from falling to the ground and howling like a child, blind and deaf from pain.
Her chest spiked in pain and Umi winced. A hand instinctively went to the bottom of her sternum, or more accurately where her sternum would've been were it not for the now shattered bones that had given way under the sniper bullet.
I won't give in, not even when my wolf healing kicks in, Umi stubbornly told herself and mentally scolded herself for not being prepared for the sniper. She should've been ready, she should've thought about the possibility of a sniper's presence and taken action, not to have to be saved by someone. Even if the friend's presence was very welcome and dare she say comforting right now in particular.
She had been too focused on Kotori to have noticed the sniper till just before the bullet impacted her wolf form's back and exited through her chest. Her mind had been filled with protecting Kotori and the precious secret they shared that could break down the career Kotori had been involved with since she was just over eleven years old. So in a way, Umi was grateful for the pain. It served as a harsh reminder that she needed to keep better control over her emotions and center her focus, rare occurrence or not.
"Hey," Honoka's gentle nudge with her elbow made pain stab at Umi's chest at the jostling but she merely dropped her hand to her lap and looked over at the other werewolf. "Stop beating yourself up Umi," the ginger werewolf urged and lightly swung her legs back and forth in a restless manner. "You're a werewolf, not some all-seeing god, there's no way even you would be able to locate and take out a sniper multiple blocks away in bright daylight."
"I know," Umi begrudgingly sighed at the rare logic in her friend's statement, "but I could have been paying more attention from the beginning and stopped the whole thing."
"The car was stolen from the Minami's, Kotori's jacket was switched on the plane, Umi," Honoka turned to face the other body guard, "you can't be everywhere at once you know right? Besides, Kotori's safe like she always is when you're around."
Umi made a frustrated noise, "sure I could not have avoided it completely, but there are certain things here and there that just don't add up Honoka." The werewolf alpha hauled her throbbing body to her feet, despite Honoka's sharp breath of protest, and began to pace. "How did they know about Kotori's type of magic? The fact that most of her magic is an AoE type instead of DP is a hidden fact. There are few people that know about her near inability to pinpoint a specific target and not affect an entire room of people."
Umi rubbed at one of her aching temples, "and splitting us up? That's completely unheard of. I've been protecting Kotori as her body guard for over thirteen years and I've never had a situation where they split me from Kotori in order to incapacitate her. They knew that putting distance between Kotori and I would weaken Kotori's magic, so without her wings she would be completely helpless in protecting herself.
"It's public knowledge that Kotori's an angel, so is trying to manipulate her emotions backfires with internal injuries on the user, so why did they do it?" Umi paced a tighter path, silver flickering in the deep amber pools of her eyes.
Honoka sat up straighter, blue eyes narrowing in suspicion and worry as she caught on. "Kotori's emotions have always fiddled with her magic, so-
"-So they manipulated her at the cost of their own physical health in order to further weaken her," Umi confirmed the ginger's thoughts and gave a protective growl low in her throat. "This was organized, Honoka, I doubt the sniper was their first course of action. The sniper had to be a safety measure in case I showed up."
Honoka's eyes narrowed further, "but to do damage like it did to you Umi, the bullet must've been at least armor piercing and lined with silver. Seems kinda like we've got a- "
"I know," Umi breathed out a slow exhale and stood still, letting the adrenaline finally leave her system, "and I'll have someone look into this-" Agony suddenly ripped through Umi's chest and the bluenette lurched, her vision flickered violently in retaliation for the sheer intensity of the pain in her chest. Umi ignored the tingling in her fingers and toes as her vision flickered again.
She couldn't let the pain trickle through her and Kotori's bond, especially right now. It had been a struggle to keep her calm and focused on her job and career in the first place, much less right now. The angel was meeting with the head of the hospital right now according to the shifted time frames Umi had redesigned upon their arrival. So this would be the worst time possible for her pain to leak over the bond and cause Kotori intense amounts of concern that Umi knew would make her excuse herself from the meeting to come find her.
Umi tightly clenched her jaw as her vision flickered again and her balance faltered.
"Umi-" Umi distantly heard Honoka speaking as she shakily lowered herself to the floor, "this isn't just some scratch of something, you would've died out there were it not for magic and were it an inch higher even as a werewolf!"
The pain was agonizing, mind numbing and hard to control even for someone who was notorious for maintaining and controlling their emotions and things they felt on a general basis with an iron grip.
"I know," Umi hissed around the dark spots in her vision and the material beneath her fingers crunched and threatened to give out beneath them, "but it wasn't deadly, Honoka." She was beginning to breathe hard and the sweat that had been developing over the journey here was getting worse, her body struggling to maintain normal levels of consciousness around the pain she felt like she was drowning in at the moment.
Honoka came into her vision as she knelt on the floor beside the other werewolf, "yeah but that doesn't mean you're going to be magically okay, we're still human right?"
Umi growled but didn't bother to speak as she tilted her head back against the desk behind her and clenched her jaw harder than before. That damn sniper from the vehicle was the reason she was sitting here having Honoka Kosaka of all people chiding her about the limits of her physical body.
Honoka had taken care of the sniper after she had heard the shot, Umi had felt it rip through her body, and Kotori had been narrowly missed by the offending bullet's tagetory. However, it was the sniper's fault that Umi's normally high control over her personal magic faltered and caused the actual car wreck that could've easily killed Kotori were it not for the wards Umi had placed over her mate before she had been removed from the car.
A groan slipped through Umi's gritted teeth and she squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to focus and find her center in peace for the moment, anything to muffle the pain going through her system.
"Why're you not using any magic?" Honoka questioned and effectively broke her concentration, but Umi could hear the worry in her voice. They both knew the injury couldn't kill her, but if Kotori's spell around keeping it from bleeding broke, the further blood loss definitely could.
"I can't," Umi panted through gritted teeth, struggling to breathe properly at this point.
"Why? I know you can use healing spells," Honoka asked in a stubborn way that reminded Umi of when they were kids and she had told Honoka no to surprising Kotori on her birthday.
"I don't… have any reserves," Umi managed as she opened her eyes to look blearily at her friend, "right… now."
Honoka's expression changed to one of surprise, "Kotori-chan used that much magic?" She questioned even as she stood up and Umi watched her through pain blurrily eyes walk a few steps away and toward the desk where she grabbed something from the top of the desk.
Honoka crouched down beside Umi, a thin injection needle held carefully in one hand with a disgruntled expression on her face as she glanced at the needle.
Umi couldn't help the internal amusement that bubbled up at Honoka's reluctance around the needle and lifted her arm toward the other guard. Honoka had been afraid of needles since they were kids and even though they both knew the shot was for pain relief, the needle clearly still made Honoka extremely uncomfortable.
Umi felt the needle prick her skin at her elbow before Honoka reached up and placed the now empty injection onto the desk.
"What did Kotori-chan do?" Honoka asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Umi took her time in responding. She merely shut her eyes and leant her head back against the desk's skirting. If given the choice she would never use drugs and medications simply because she couldn't afford to have her mind and senses be fuzzy and dysfunctional. If she was going to protect Kotori she needed all of her senses and her mind working at peak performance.
However in moments like right now without magic, something she had learned to rely on in regards to injuries, and barely able to stay conscious, she was forced to use it.
"She panicked like she did back when that necromancer attacked us in that meeting eight years ago." Umi eventually responded to her friend with her eyes still closed and the medication beginning to do it's work. She could feel the pain's iron grip on her conscious mind beginning to slacken, allowing herself some breathing room and space to really think.
Umi could hear Honoka's surprise through the long whistled exhale the ginger gave and didn't blame her. It wasn't often that Kotori showed the full power of her bloodline, in fact Umi had only seen it a handful of times herself and she had been watching over and been around the gentle-hearted angel since they were both young children. "Well that explains how you took care of that vampire despite your injury."
Umi felt guilt through the pain, guilt like she always did after she was in a situation where her only liable option was to take a life. If someone asked her if she'd kill to keep Kotori safe Umi would reply with a firm yes. However, if someone asked her if she enjoyed taking someone's life she'd instantly reply with a no. Because in her eyes, every life was precious and everyone, no matter the race or species, were still human some way or another. "I had to," she sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, "if the Minami family mission is compromised who knows how badly the relationships between different supernatural races could fall apart."
Honoka's blue were knowing as she spoke what Umi hadn't mentioned, "and your relationship with Kotori has to remain a secret."
Umi didn't show any signs of a negative reaction to the words. She heard the same words from Kotori's mother and step-father whenever she was there and over the many years, both she and Kotori were desensitized to them. It was almost second nature for both of them to instantly switch from an alpha and luna to outwardly nothing more than friends and coworkers, and there was a part of Umi that hated that it existed, but the larger part knew that it was important to keep.
Umi merely nodded, "like always, since Kotori's the queen left on our side of the chessboard."
Honoka rolled her eyes at the chess reference with that lopsided cheery grin of hers and offered the other werewolf a hand to get up, "been forever since I heard one of those Umi!"
Umi cracked a smirk. "It's probably been just as long since the last time I used one," she admitted and took Honoka's hand.
"Kotori-chan still wipe the floor with you at chess?" Honoka asked as she pulled the other werewolf to her feet.
Umi hid a wince at how much force Honoka accidentally put into the pull and how it caused pain to flare up in her chest. "Of course," she smiled at her old time friend who smirked.
"But you wouldn't have it any other way now would you Umi-chan?"
"Just don't tell Kotori," Umi conceded with a mild mannered smirk.
Honoka winked at the other werewolf, "well of course."
KotoUmi and NicoMaki sketches on archive.