Some of this chapter is funny. Some of it is...not. Uh, so, yeah! Potential abuse-related triggers? I like drama. The fictional kind, I mean. And this story, as whole, is focused on dramatic weird stuff and romantic garbage lol.
After returning to school, it did not take Shota, nor Michiru, much time to catch up. Michiru in particular proved to be completely unhindered by her recent absence when she was the last one standing in a particularly difficult practical exam. Their teacher had given her high praises, which she accepted humbly; but she appeared thoughtful about something. Their teacher was then rather harsh towards the rest of the class as he pointed out their mistakes; Shota, Hizashi, and Ueno, the harpy girl, were scolded the least. Jaz was told off for his timidness and hesitation to attack his classmates, but the feedback only seemed to make him even more timid somehow. Though, Hizashi had pointed out to Shota about how he had recently noticed that Jaz acted nervous and quiet around large males. When Shota observed him later that day, he noticed that Jaz would sometimes flinch when other guys near him moved too quickly. Something about this bothered Shota, and when he asked Michiru…
"Ah, so you noticed," she said with a sad smile.
"What? What's his deal?"
Hizashi overheard them and walked over to listen.
"It's his father," Michiru told them.
"His father?"
"Oh," Hizashi said. "Jaz said something once about his dad being pretty harsh or something."
Michiru shook her head. "It's more than that. He's much worse than 'harsh'." They looked curiously at her and she sighed. "Jaz doesn't like us to tell anyone…"
"Us?" Shota echoed. "You mean Tsume, right?"
"Yeah. …Jaz's father is not harsh. He's cruel." She tapped a finger to her forearm. "Have either of you ever seen Jaz's arms?"
"No," Shota replied."
"I have," Hizashi said. "Once. That was back at my cousin's hot springs. He's got these crazy-looking scars. One of them, a really big one, goes down his whole forearm to the wrist!"
Shota stared at him for a moment then turned back to Michiru with a furrowed brow. "Michi…"
She nodded. "Jaz's father did that to him."
"Why!?" Hizashi shouted. He flinched then glanced around; no one seemed to be paying them any mind or listening and Jaz was still nowhere in sight.
"Well…" Michiru began but she stopped and looked worried. "Mm… I really shouldn't have told you that much. Jaz will be upset with me if I say…"
"Shouldn't that have been reported or something?" Shota muttered.
"There's no proof Jaz didn't do it to himself," she told him. "Jaz is too afraid of his father to stand up to or against him. Tsume and I have tried, but Jaz gets…erm, angry about it, to say the least."
"It explains a lot, though," Shota mused. He glanced at Hizashi, who was practically shaking.
"That's messed up!"
"Yes," Michiru said, "but still… Please be careful what you say to him."
"Hear that?" Shota leered at Hizashi. "Watch yourself."
"Tch!"
…
On the last day before summer break, they were brought to one of the school's many training grounds where they would have to do joint exercises with another class. A few of the other class's students were quick to gather around Michiru, who greeted them all by their names with a friendly smile.
"When did you become all chummy with those guys?" Shota asked.
She shrugged. "I'm friendly with most people."
He did not appear satisfied with that answer, but before he could further question her, a large burly boy came over. "Mi-chan!" the boy greeted her. Shota tensed and made an odd face; he did not get along well with this boy.
Michiru's white tiger ears twitched at the sound of her name and she turned around curiously. "Hm? Oh, hello Sensoji." She looked up at him; he was rather tall.
"Been a while," he said. "You weren't around for the last joint training we did."
"Ah, that must have been when I was looking after Shota."
Shota cringed behind her. He had sincerely hoped to walk away before being noticed, but the mention of his name brought Sensoji's attention over to him.
"Hmph. Stuck looking after a loser, huh?"
Shota looked over his shoulder at him. "You're still like that, huh?"
"Like what? You got something to say!? And you!" He suddenly pointed at Jaz, who jumped and nearly yelped. "What are you gawking at!?"
"N-Nothing!"
"Hey, hey," Hizashi said. "Jaz, don't respond to that!"
"Sorry! Er, I'm going to go stand…somewhere else."
Michiru watched Jaz scurry away then turned to look back up at the large young man. "Rather rude of you, don't you think?"
"I don't have time for losers like that," he told her. "What do you see in these guys anyway?"
She looked both bewildered and exasperated. "Er, well, Jaz is my cousin, for one…"
"Enough nonsense!" Their teacher shouted over the crowd. "It's time to get to work! Today is going to be a little different than our typical training exercises. It'll be a four on one free for all of sorts. We'll be dividing you all into groups of five. In each group, you'll have one runner and four chasers. As a chaser, you'll have to catch the runner and immobilize them before any of your fellow chasers do. As the runner, obviously, you're goal is to not get caught for the entire fifteen-minute interval."
"Fifteen minutes?" Jaz groaned quietly.
Their teacher continued. "Do whatever you need to catch, escape, or hinder each other. What we're judging you on is specific to each individual, so the groups are predetermined."
"Personally," said the other class's teacher, "I think this first group will be the most entertaining." He was looking at a paper on his clipboard.
"Kubo! Sensoji! Sekijiro! Aizawa! You four are in the first group!"
"Shit," Shota muttered, but only Michiru heard him; she almost laughed.
"You'll be trying to catch Michiru."
Her ears perked up and she looked almost excited. "Fun!"
"How is it 'fun'?" Shota looked at her oddly.
"I love a game of chase," she replied with a grin.
"…You and Tsume are a lot alike sometimes."
"Call it a Tora thing, then."
"You'll all be starting at the same point," their teacher continued. "When we say so, you start. Now, get to positions!"
On the way into the training ground, Sensoji roughly brushed past Shota to catch up to Michiru. "Hey, Mi-chan!"
"Yes?" She continued to walk.
"How about a wager?"
Her interest seemed peaked and she stopped to look at him.
He pointed a thumb at himself and grinned. "Whichever one of us catches you, you'll have to go on a date with!"
Kubo and Sekijiro looked mildly intrigued while Shota tensed. Michiru stared up at Sensoji for a moment before smiling. "Okay then."
They were all surprised. "Really?" Kubo asked.
"Sure," was her response.
"You're seriously going to agree to something like that?" Shota furrowed his brow.
"Yeah," she told him. Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and grinned, giving her an almost dangerous look. "As if any of you are actually going to catch me."
He was momentarily caught off guard. Suddenly, he remembered Tsume mentioning once how, apparently, no one has ever bested Michiru in a game of chase. "Still," he grunted. "I don't want any part of some stupid wager."
"As if you stand a chance anyway," Sensoji huffed.
Michiru walked away from them and transformed into the giant white tiger with lavender stripes. After walking a few yards away, she stopped and turned to look at them. At the teacher's call, she was rushed at by three of her opponents; Shota went off somewhere to her left. He was smart, she thought, but then again, he knew her better than the other three did. Her whiskers twitched with amusement and she sprung up into the air, dodging both Sensoji and Sekijiro. Kubo flew around them, attempting to cut her off, but he had forgotten how agile the tigress was. She turned on a dime and bolted away from them all into the mock city.
The first to catch up to her was Kubo, with his large bat wings. As he did, she suddenly turned and leapt up at him, surprising him. She caught his pants leg with her claws and tore down until her claws stuck into his boot. The weight of her tiger form yanked him down from the air and she slammed him on the ground on his back.
"Pinned you," she said with a smile.
She suddenly glanced up then leapt away from him as something red covered Kubo's body and hardened, trapping him to the ground.
"Whoops," Sekijiro said. "Oh well. One less competitor."
"Blood," Michiru said with a sniff. "I don't quite like the idea of it on my fur. Still, it's interesting how you can expel so much without getting dizzy."
"I can tell you all about it later." He aimed his hand at her.
"Cheeky." She jumped out of the way and bounded off again, giggling to herself.
He watched her leap up into the air and spring off of a few purple platforms all the way to the roof of a tall building.
After leaping from several rooftops, she paused on one and took a moment to enjoy the wind in her fur. Suddenly, Sensoji jumped up from the edge of the building and shot a blast of bright light from his hand at her. Michiru shouted in surprise, shutting her eyes tightly.
"Gotcha!" His triumphant grin was quickly replaced, however, when she spun around and slammed her tail into his midsection. It was not a particularly powerful hit, nor did it hurt in any way, but it was just enough force with the wind to knock him sideways off the roof.
She rubbed a paw at her eyes then opened them and peered over the edge of the roof to see what had become of him. He had fallen on Sekijiro, but both appeared relatively unharmed. With a laugh, she bounded off again, sticking to the rooftops.
After she finally stopped again, she began to rub a paw at her eyes once more. Animals that could see in the dark as well as a tiger could were especially sensitive to bright lights. She groaned as she tried to stop seeing spots. While doing so, she attempted to use her Aura Power to keep track of her surroundings but found that she could not. She quickly opened her eyes and leapt away from the capture cloth.
"Your eyes bothering you?" Shota asked as he jumped back.
"Not anymore," she replied. "You're not playing this game, right?"
"You mean their ridiculous wager? No. I'm just trying to complete the task."
"Well, don't think I'll go easy on you just because of that, Shota."
He smirked a little. "I wasn't expecting you to."
She dodged him again then jumped onto the next roof. With a quick glance back, she noticed that he was purposefully keeping his distance. She smiled to herself, bounded forward a bit more, then, the moment she felt his Quirk release, she spun around and bolted towards him, springing herself off of a barrier.
He clenched his teeth and made to move, but she had already reached him. Truthfully, he had expected her to tackle him to the roof, so he was completely stunned when she instead landed beside him, curled around behind him, then transformed into a human all in just a brief moment.
"Shota." She leaned close to his face and softly kissed his cheek.
He tensed and froze, his face burning. Suddenly, his feet were swept from under him and he was knocked onto his back as she transformed and darted away again. He quickly sat up and stared after her, his mouth still hanging open. When she stopped to send him a cheeky smirk, he jumped to his feet and scolded himself inwardly.
"Ah! You see that?!" Hizashi pointed to the screen they were watching.
"Oh," Jaz said. "She's being rather playful today, isn't she?"
For the remainder of the time they had left, the white tigress practically danced circles around her pursuers, always managing to avoid capture. The only one who came close was Shota, as he nearly caught her twice. Still, she managed to twist and slip away before the cloth could bind her. Throughout it all, Michiru was smiling, clearly enjoying the whole thing. She ended up creating a large barrier on her head like a shield and charging at Sekijiro, ramming him into Sensoji, and plowing the two of them into a mock police phone booth. After, Shota caught up to her for a third time. She dodged him but allowed the cloth to tighten around her tail then ran ahead and spun, using her tail and the cloth to throw him. Whether it was coincidence or her intuition, she threw him right into Kubo, who had flown around the corner at that very moment only to be slammed into and knocked from the air. Immediately after, a loud buzzer sounded and their teacher's voice shouted over the intercoms, "Time's up!"
"That was incredibly sloppy, all of you!" their teacher scolded the four boys. He turned to Michiru and gave her a thumbs up, speaking calmly. "Good job, Michiru. You did great."
"I think Aizawa broke my ribs…" Kubo groaned, holding his side.
"It's not my fault," Shota grunted. "I didn't ask to be thrown…"
Sekijiro approached Michiru and offered his hand. "Fair play. Great job!"
She smiled and shook his hand. "Thank you. You're hero name… it's Vlad King, right? How fitting."
"Yeah. Thanks!" He smiled, gave her a thumbs up, and went to join his own classmates.
"Michiru," Jaz ran over to her. "You were so rough with them!"
She seemed a tad surprised at him then chuckled. "That's only because they were serious!"
"Still… You threw poor Shota at Kubo like that!"
"Are you fussing me?!"
Hizashi laughed with her while Jaz huffed.
Later, as they were leaving school in the afternoon, Hizashi pushed himself between Jaz and Shota and grabbed them both around the necks with his arms. "So, what are you guys doing for summer break?"
Jaz practically fell to the ground, and probably would have if not for Hizashi clinging to him. "Why do you have to be so physical?" he whined.
"I like being in your business," was the reply. "Up close and personal!"
"Huh?!"
He let them both go. "I've got some more work studies to keep up with, but I only have to check in three times a week. What about you guys? You going with Tora niisan?"
"Tsume is busy in faraway towns right now," Michiru told him. "But, if something nearby comes up, they'll let us know."
"Oh yeah. Wonder when he'll be back?"
"Not for a while," Shota muttered.
"Hey, what's your deal? You've been all glum and gloom ever since Mi-chan kicked yours and those other guys' tails!"
"Oh?" Michiru looked over at Shota. "Shota, are you mad at me?"
"No." He continued walking.
"…Are you sure? You seem annoyed."
He stopped and looked back at her, pointing a finger at her. "That was a dirty trick you pulled."
She seemed confused for just a moment before remembering the kiss on the cheek. "That? You're mad about that?"
"I'm not mad!" He turned and kept walking. They followed.
"I didn't think you of all people would be so bothered by a trick like that," she continued. "Why is it bugging you so much?"
He did not respond and kept walking.
Hizashi muttered something in Jaz's ear. "He's probably all peeved because it was a trick."
Jaz giggled. "Oh, poor Shota."
"Shota, come back!" Michiru hurried after him. "Stop being so moody!"
"Hey!" Hizashi called. "We'll come hang out Sunday!"
She waved her hand back at him to indicate that she had heard.
"That cool with you?" Hizashi asked Jaz.
"Sure. But you could have asked before you said it, you know."
He grinned. "Just like with Aizawa, telling you instead of asking is the best way to make sure it happens!"
"Hizashi…that's just rude."
"Haha!"
"Hey," Michiru said as she caught up with Shota. "I'm sorry."
He stopped and looked at her. "I'm really not mad."
"Are you sure? I really don't want you to be mad at me!"
He smiled a little and looked away, scratching his head. "I'm not. I swear."
"Well then… Don't mess with me like that! I thought you were really mad at me!" She rapidly but lightly started hitting his arm.
"Ah, hey, stop!"
"No!" She started hitting faster. "Since when do you have a sense of humor!?"
He snorted then started laughing.
Michiru stopped and stared at him in shock. "Shota! You can laugh?"
He winced and turned away. "Of course I can laugh! What kind of question is that?"
"Sorry. I've just never seen it before." She smiled. "Hm. I like seeing you so happy."
"Mm, er, yeah. Heh."
They started walking again. "What do you want for dinner today?"
"Whatever you want to make is fine," he told her.
"Udon or soba?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Fine. You're going to have udon and you're going to like it!"
"Okay, Michi," he said with a soft smile.
…
On a particularly warm day, Hizashi followed Jaz out into the woods on the Tora property. Along the way, he complained quite a bit about woods in general. "All the dirt, and mud, and critters!"
"Critters?" Jaz questioned. "You don't like animals? You seem to get along with Pan. And you have birds, too."
"Those aren't the critters I'm talkin' about. I mean bugs! I can't stand them!"
"Really?" Jaz chuckled a little. "I didn't think you were afraid of little creepy crawlies."
"Emphasis on the creepy part. Egh! You're telling me that you're not freaked out by them?"
"Not really. Well, centipedes scare me a bit, and spiders are intimidating, but I still like them."
"Huh?!"
"I appreciate the role they play, despite their appearances."
"Gross!"
Jaz laughed. "Hizashi, if you hate the woods, or rather, the bugs in the woods so much, then why did you follow me all the way out here?"
"I like…bugging you."
"That was a terrible joke!"
"Then why are you smiling?" He laughed.
"Heh. Hey, the other night, I tuned in to that radio station you told me about. The one you host, I mean."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Jaz smiled at him. "I really liked it!"
"You want an autograph?" Hizashi joked. "Hey, if you ever decide to go with that popstar thing, I'll play your songs on my station!"
"I'm not sure if I could ever get the nerve… But I appreciate it."
"I think you'll get it. One day. Anyways, you said you wanted to go for a walk. Do you really enjoy walking in the woods like this?"
"Of course! It's so beautiful and calm."
"Hmm. I prefer noise. Talking, singing, music… something!"
Jaz stopped and held a finger up. "Yeah? Do you have to be making the noise?"
"Not necessarily…"
"Then listen for a moment."
"Hm?"
"Shh."
They stood silently in the woods for a while, listening. There was the sound of tree leaves rustling slightly in the gentle breeze. Amongst them were the chirps and whistles of various birds and the call of a crow. Nearby, but out of sight, was the sound of a deer scraping its antlers against a tree to mark its territory.
"These are different kinds of noises," Hizashi told him. "Serene and soft. Ah, but I guess that makes sense as to why you like them. You and I are pretty opposite, huh?"
"Hm? Opposite? Yeah, we are. You're far bolder than I am. More confident. Happier."
Hizashi was going to question his last remark, but he ended up accidentally walking into a spiderweb and panicking instead. "Agh! Gross! Get it off!"
Jaz could not help but laugh at him jumping around trying to brush off the spider silk. "Hiza – hehe – Hizashi! Wait – hehehe – stay still!"
"This isn't funny! Don't you know where this stuff comes out of the spider!?"
Jaz was practically in tears now. "Hahaha! Be – haha – Be careful. The spider – haha – it might –"
"What?!" He noticed something moving in the corner of his eye and looked to see a small spider on his sleeve. "JAAAAZZ!" He flailed his arm and suddenly took off.
"W-Wait! Hizashi!" Jaz ran after him. "Hizashi, it's okay! It's just a common orb weaver!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"
He stopped only when he reached a barren dry area of stone, where he tripped on an uneven bit of the ground and nearly fell over. As Jaz caught up, he found him throwing his jacket away from himself.
"That's his jacket now!"
Jaz laughed and went over to him. "Are you okay?"
"No!"
"I mean, are you hurt?"
"…No."
"Ah, that's good." He looked over at the jacket. "I don't think the spider was going to harm you, but these jagged lands on the property are pretty dangerous. There are a lot of cracks and fissures you could fall into."
"Eh, I know." Hizashi was recomposing himself and fixing his hair. "I come here sometimes to train."
"Oh, so this is where you go? I really don't think you should be here when you're alone, though."
"Well, I'm not alone this time." He shrugged, still adjusting his breathing a little. "Not that I had any intention of coming here today, but Charlotte over there decided otherwise."
Jaz chuckled.
"That reminds me!"
"Your mood certainly changes fast."
Hizashi continued. "Remember that time at school, when you let out that big roar and summoned a bolt of lightning down from the sky?"
"How could I forget?" He looked worried. "I nearly fried you…"
"But you didn't! Anyways, you said at the time that you didn't even know you could do that, right? Have you tried it again since?"
"No, I haven't tried. I'm not sure how I even did it. My Lightning Pelt stores static in my tiger fur. I can only use it in that form. Still, the electricity comes from my body. That bolt came from the sky. It doesn't make sense to me."
"Maybe there's something to it? Try it now!"
"Now?"
"Why not?" He held his arms out to gesture to the surrounding area. "There's nothing here but us. You won't hurt any animals or burn down any trees."
"Still…" Jaz transformed and followed him further into the jagged lands. "I don't know how I did it."
"Try to recreate the feeling from that time," Hizashi told him. "What were you feeling?"
"Honestly…annoyed because my ears were hurting."
"Want me to yell at you again?"
"No thank you."
"Ha! I was joking anyway. So, maybe you did it because you were angry? Think you can make yourself angry for a moment? Enough to do it again?"
Jaz thought about it. "…Maybe. I don't usually get angry, though."
He stepped forward with one forepaw, lowered himself slightly, and began to growl. As he growled, sparks of electricity began to dance along his pelt, practically in sync with the vibrations of his growl. Finally, after building up more static along his back, his fur began to bristle and small dark clouds began to form overhead. With a sudden loud roar, a spark that was hardly visible flew up from his back into the clouds then immediately crashed down to the earth with well over ten times its original force. Both his roar and the crack of thunder echoed loudly across the jagged lands, and the force of the sonic boom nearly knocked Hizashi over from where he was standing to watch.
"Whoa! You did it!"
The ground beneath them suddenly shuddered and split apart with a loud sound, and a fissure opened to swallow them. They both fell in with a shout. The impact of landing on the hard bottom forced Jaz back into his human form, but his large tiger form had already taken most of the shock into fur and muscle, so he was relatively unharmed. When the shaking and noise finally ceased, Jaz coughed and waved his hand to push dust out of his face as he called out to Hizashi.
"Here… I'm over here."
Still coughing, Jaz crawled through the tight space over to where he had heard the other boy's voice. He managed to reach him just as the last of the dust and debris settled, allowing him to fully open his eyes. He gasped. "You're arm!"
"It's fine. I don't think it's broken." Hizashi was laying in an uncomfortable position atop some rocks and holding his right arm close to his chest. He gritted his teeth. "Hurts like hell, though."
"You're bleeding!"
"What about you?"
"I'm fine, I think." Jaz reached over and helped him get down from the jagged rocks.
Hizashi lifted his head and shouted, using his Quirk to try to call for help, but the amplified sounds reverberated throughout the fissure, causing Jaz to cringe and hold his ears and the fissure itself to rumble and drop more debris. "Shit, look out!" Hizashi grabbed Jaz's arm and yanked him over to himself just as large stones and chunks of earth crashed down next to them. They were now even more sandwiched in. "We'll be buried if I do that again… You okay?"
"Yes."
"Got a phone on you?"
"I left it in the house."
"Mine is somewhere under those rocks I fell on. Probably smashed to bits, along with my shades."
"Hizashi… I'm so sorry."
"Ahh, don't be like that." He gave him a grin. "It was my dumb idea, right? Sure is cramped in here, though."
"What do we do? I can't transform now. The space is too small."
"Wait it out, I guess."
Jaz looked startled at him.
Hizashi shrugged and leaned his head back against the rock wall. "What else? They'll realize something's up."
"When?"
"Probably around dinner."
"That's a few hours from now! And your arm!"
"It's just cut up from the rocks. We'll be fine, Jaz."
Jaz watched him for a minute, noticing that Hizashi was breathing oddly and looking tired. "Are you okay? Besides your arm, what's wrong?"
"…I think I hit my head pretty hard. Hurts. Lots of dust, too…"
Jaz also found it difficult to breathe properly in the dusty cramped fissure. He looked back down at Hizashi's arm; it was still oozing fresh blood. After thinking about it for a while, Jaz took off the jacket he was wearing, though it was difficult in the tight space, put it aside, then bit into the long sleeve of his shirt, nicking it with his sharp canine tooth.
"What are you doing?" Hizashi asked as he watched him tear the sleeve away.
"You're bleeding. My jacket kept the dust off of my sleeves…" He took Hizashi's arm and carefully but firmly wrapped it. "I wish I could have cleaned it first, but… Better than nothing. It might not be broken, but the wound is pretty deep."
"Thanks…" He held his arm to his chest again and closed his eyes.
After a long time in silence, perhaps thirty or more minutes, Jaz spoke again. His voice cracked a little and he cleared his throat. "Hizashi? Are you asleep?"
"No… Why?"
"Just checking. I'm sorry, again."
He opened his eyes and looked over at him. "'S'okay." Hizashi looked him over. They were very close, due to the cramped conditions, and they did not have much leg room. Jaz was huddled up beside him and staring blankly at the wall in front of them. His left arm was exposed, revealing the many strange scars along his forearm. That was the arm that had that one particular scar, the very long one that ran all the way down. "…Hey, Jaz… What's with those scars on your arms?"
Arms? Hizashi could only see one arm, so why did he mention both? Jaz did not respond right away, but Hizashi knew he had heard because Jaz's fuzzy tiger ears always flicked towards whoever was speaking to him. "…They're not important," he said at last.
"You sure? They look pretty crazy. …Definitely don't look like surgical scars." He noticed how Jaz grabbed his other sleeve and held it tightly. "Your dad do that to you?"
Jaz suddenly turned to stare at him, shocked. His mouth opened but no words came out.
"That's a yeah, then?"
"Did…Michiru…"
"Don't be mad at her," Hizashi told him. "Aizawa and I…we noticed how you are around certain people. So, we asked what was up. She didn't really want to say, but…"
Jaz turned back to the wall. "Don't ask me about my father."
"But…what did he do exactly? Why?"
"Stop!" Jaz held his head and shut his eyes tightly. "I can't tell you!"
"You afraid he'll find out or something?"
"No."
"Then wh-"
"Stop it!"
"…"
"I… I can't. If I tell you, you'll hate me too…"
"Huh?"
"Michiru and Tsume…they know, but they're…" He shook his head. "No, no."
"Jaz…I don't think it's even possible for me to hate you."
"Please stop…"
"…You don't trust me?"
"It's not that! I just – I… Father says I'm sick. Sick in the head. That I shouldn't…"
"No offense to you or anything, but your dad…kind of sounds like an asshole."
"… I… Father punishes me when I… because I… because I like…"
"Hm? Like what? Guys?"
Jaz turned and stared at him, looking horrified.
"Is that what it is? So…he's one of those… So, that's how you were raised, huh?" He pointed with his left hand at Jaz's arm. "He hurt you just 'cause of that? Do you realize how messed up that is?"
"It's… It's because I'm not right. I'm not…what I was supposed to be. Because I'm sick."
"The only sick one is your dad!"
Jaz flinched.
"People seriously still care about that kind of crap?"
Jaz turned away and curled up into himself again, falling silent.
"Jaz…" Hizashi said, incredibly softly. "Hey. You're not sick or messed up. Tsume and Michiru have told you that before, too, haven't they? Maybe you don't believe them because they're family, so I'll tell you myself. You're an amazing person." He leaned against him in a soft, comforting way. "If you're going to believe him and hate yourself… Then, I guess I'll have to love you twice as much."
Jaz let out a shaky breath as tears escaped him.
…
"What is it, Pan?" Shota asked as he followed the cat. Pan had gone into Shota's room and started yowling at him. When he had gone over to see what was wrong, the black cat left the room then turned to look back at him and yowl again.
"Rrrrowwww!" Pan led him all the way to the front door and began to walk in a quick circle.
"You want to go outside?" He opened the door and Pan stepped out, looked back at him, then yowled again until he stepped outside as well. "Seriously. You're being really noisy today…" Shota froze when he saw the large white stag standing in the clearing and staring directly at him.
"Rowwww!" Pan said.
The deer let out a snort and kicked up one of his front hooves, pawing at the ground as he moved his head up and down.
"What is going on with the animals?" Shota grunted. He remembered that Pan was the host of a Seishin, as was the Forest Ghost, this white stag standing before him. Were they trying to tell him something? "What is it?" he asked the deer.
The Forest Ghost let out a high-pitched bellow and began to walk away. When he reached the edge of the trees, he turned to look back at the boy and bellowed again, waiting. Pan meowed and bounded after the deer. Shota decided to follow them.
The white stag was stepping with purpose through the forest, only stopping every now and then to check that Shota was still following. Eventually, the deer led him straight to the place where the forest cut off and the land was nothing but exposed rock and fissures. The deer paused a moment to look around before stepping carefully into the jagged lands. Shota made sure to follow his lead, avoiding well-hidden cracks and holes that could have twisted his ankle. As he followed the Forest Ghost, he began to wonder if it was the deer itself trying to show him something or if it was the spirit taking refuge within it. Surly it must be like Pan, where the spirit granted him intelligence and understanding beyond that of a typical animal of his kind, but still allowed him to act as he pleased?
Finally, the deer stopped and waited for Shota again. When he came to the deer's side, the Forest Ghost peered down at a large fissure below them. He followed his gaze and peered over the edge to see two figures far down below.
"Jaz! Yamada!"
"Aizawa!" Hizashi looked up at him. "Er, who's your friend there?"
"Never mind that," he gave him an incredulous look. "What the hell are you doing down there?"
"The ground split open after it was struck by lightning!"
"Lightning?" He looked up, but the sky was clear. He had heard the sounds earlier, but assumed they were training. Perhaps they were, but it clearly went very wrong. "Didn't I tell you not to hang around this area? You two would have been stuck down there for much longer if the Forest Ghost didn't come get me."
"Forest Ghost? Oh, you mean the deer. Thanks, deer!"
"Hang on," Shota told them. "I'm going to go get my capture cloth. I'll be right back." He looked to the Forest Ghost and Pan now. "Can you two stay here while I go?"
Pan meowed and sat down while the deer blinked knowingly.
"Thanks." When he returned, both Pan and the Forest Ghost were exactly as he had left them, waiting patiently. "Can you climb up with this from down there?" he asked as he lowered the cloth to them.
"My arm's pretty messed up," Hizashi told him. "I don't think it's broken, though."
"Just hold on with your other arm then and use your legs. I'll pull you up. What about Jaz?"
"I'm fine," came the quiet reply.
"You can go first," Hizashi told him.
Jaz looked as though he was going to argue, but remained silent and began to pull himself up the narrow fissure with the cloth. When he reached the top and pulled himself free, Hizashi took a deep breath and grabbed the cloth. It was a bit of an effort to get him out, considering some parts were narrower than others. Not to mention, he was still pretty dizzy. When he reached the top, the Forest Ghost leaned forward and grabbed the back of the boy's shirt in his teeth, then pulled him free. When he did not get up right away, the deer used its snout to nudge his shoulder.
"I'm okay, just…hold on a sec…"
When he finally got up, Shota allowed him to use his shoulder for support as they made their way back to the house. When they reached the front door, Shota paused a moment to look when Pan meowed at something. The Forest Ghost snorted in response, shook his head, then strutted away into the trees.
Inside, Michiru was surprised when they walked in. "What happened? I just got home and this is what I get?"
Shota brought Hizashi to the sofa and sat him down before turning to her. "They were messing around in those jagged lands. They ended up causing a fissure to split the ground and fell in."
She was immediately upon Hizashi and Jaz. "What?! Let me see." She took Hizashi's arm and unwrapped the makeshift bandage.
"Do we need to bring them to the hospital?" Shota asked calmly.
"Hmm…" She carefully examined the cuts on his arm, then began to part his hair to see his head, finding a small cut that was already done bleeding. "No," she said at last. "I can take care of the flesh wounds, and Pan's got some leftover medicine that will help heal these up quickly."
"What if he has a concussion?"
"It'll help that, too, actually. Pan, dear, if you would?"
The cat trotted away down the hall with his tail up.
"I'll be right back, too." Michiru headed up the stairs somewhere. When she returned, she had a first-aid kit and some other supplies. Pan returned shortly after, carrying a small pouch in his teeth.
Shota recognized the pouch and shuddered. "Have fun with that…" he told Hizashi as the cat hopped onto the sofa and dropped the pouch on Hizashi's lap.
"Only take one," Michiru told Hizashi firmly.
He opened the pouch and produced a round object from it that looked like a perfectly round ball of sand or mud. He bit half of it away and immediately cringed. "ACK! What is this!?"
"The most disgusting, yet most effective medicine in the world," Shota told him.
"Make sure you eat the whole thing," Michiru said.
"But it's awful!" He forced himself to eat the other half and made a face. Pan's tail curled with amusement and he looked pleased.
Michiru took his arm again and began to carefully clean around the wounds. "This will sting." She placed a towel on his lap, put his arm on top, then poured something liquid and clear directly onto the gashes.
"OW!"
"Stay still!" She had to grab him by the wrist so that he did not jerk his arm away.
"That hurt!"
"I warned you it would."
"Making all of that fuss…" Shota muttered. "He'll definitely be fine."
After cleaning the wounds, Michiru produced a surgical suture and a pair of small pliers. "This part might hurt more."
"Can't you knock me out first?"
"No. And make sure you stay still."
He groaned but did not continue to protest. When she began to stitch the wounds, he gritted his teeth and kept still.
Shota was impressed by Michiru's skill and swiftness with the suture. Tsume had certainly meant it when he told Shota that Michiru could tend to nearly any wound.
When she had finished, she took some fresh bandages and wrapped his arm. After, she cleaned the small cut on the back of his head, but it did not require anything more than that. "There. Now lay down and rest. You too Jaz. Get some rest while I make dinner."
"I'll help," Shota said and followed her into the kitchen.
Pan remained on sofa, sitting between Hizashi and Jaz. The cat glanced between the two of them; they were both silent and staring at the floor. After an awkwardly long silence, the cat seemed to make a face before leaping down and going to the kitchen as well.
"Are you…okay?" Jaz asked timidly.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'll be fine. …What about you?"
"I didn't get hurt."
"That's not what I meant."
"I'm…not sure yet. I'm considering some things…"
"Right."
After dinner, Michiru insisted that Jaz and Hizashi both stay the night, especially Hizashi. Jaz did not protest. Hizashi agreed to stay but had to use Shota's phone to contact his parents and explain what had happened to his own phone. Shota left the house and went off into the woods somewhere with his capture cloth while Michiru tended to their guests. After setting them up with spare pillows and blankets, she went off down the hall towards the sunroom. They could hear the sound of the piano for a while.
Sometime later in the night, Shota returned. He made his way down the hall to the shower, and, shortly after, Michiru left the sunroom and went upstairs to her room. Pan appeared from under the coffee table and shot up the stairs past her, causing her to click her tongue in mild annoyance. A little while later, Shota exited the bathroom and went straight to his own room, once the spare bedroom on the first floor. This was their typical nightly routine.
As Hizashi was falling asleep, he heard Jaz's soft voice nearby. "Hizashi?"
"Hm? What's up?"
It took a while for Jaz to respond, and Hizashi was starting to think that maybe he had been hearing things in his half-asleep state. "…Could I… Would you mind if I laid down with you?"
"Not at all."
In the dark, Jaz carefully climbed onto the sofa with him and wedged himself between Hizashi and the back of the sofa. He placed a hand on Hizashi's abdomen and his head on his collar. Neither of them bothered to say anything and soon fell asleep.
To be continued…