This is it! This is the final chapter for part 1 of this story! I am quite sad about it. The rest will still be uploaded under this story though and NOT a separate story. This chapter kinda skips ahead in time a few times.

Anyways, this chapter requires a TRIGGER WARNING! Due to a detailed scene of the kind of abuse Jaz suffers. Daddy's home...

As Jaz walked home, he stared up at the cloudy sky. The crisp breezy autumn had taken over in summer's place, turning clouds gray and leaves orange and brown. He quite liked fall during this point in his life. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him at that moment, that day would end up carving a dreadful memory in his mind and heart, and that memory would return every year to torment him each time fall came around.

As he reached the driveway of his small home, he froze. The sight of an old, pale blue truck resting in the driveway sent an icy rush of fear down his spine. Father was home. It had been a few months since last he saw his father. Since they did not communicate outside of being face-to-face, he never had any inclination of when his father would return from jobs.

Jaz stood there, rooted to the spot, for a long while before finally forcing himself to move. He stopped in front of the door and stared at the doorknob. For a moment, he considered turning around and going to Michiru's home instead, but he knew that he could not avoid his father for long; he would go looking for him. Holding his breath, Jaz reached a shaky hand out and grabbed the doorknob, turning it slowly and opening the door as quietly as he possibly could and closing it in just the same manner. The lights were off, so he wondered if perhaps his father was resting. Jaz silently made his way past the living room and towards the hallway, only to be stopped by the rough voice he so dreaded to hear.

"Boy. Come here."

Jaz remained where he was in the dark of the hallway, trying to breathe quietly. His heart was pounding.

"Did you hear me? Come here," the voice said, more sternly.

Like a frightened pet obeying its master, Jaz immediately turned around and entered the living room, stopping abruptly and looking up at him while managing to avoid eye contact. "Hello, Father," he said timidly.

Jaz took after his mother in all ways and resembled his father very little. His father was a large, rough-looking man with dark hair and cold eyes that expressed no feeling other than contempt or such similar things. His personality was even worse, and Jaz truly hated everything about him.

"When did you get home?" Jaz asked carefully. He tried to ask as little questions as possible when speaking to his father, as the man was easily agitated. As he asked the question, Jaz's eyes slowly looked over at the bottle of alcohol sitting on the small table beside his father's chair.

"Two days ago."

Jaz stiffened. He had been away from home for four days. "I see…"

"Where have you been?" His father was watching him carefully through his permanent glare.

"School," he replied quickly. "And with Michiru." He held his breath as his father took a sip from the bottle.

"News said something about that annoying bastard Tsume having gone missing. That true?"

Jaz looked at the floor. "Y-Yes…"

"Hmph." He took another sip. "And you…" He stood up. "What else have you been doing?"

"I… I'm not sure what you –"

"Don't lie to me, boy!" He suddenly swung at him so hard that he smashed the bottle over his head and nearly knocked him over.

Jaz caught himself and grabbed his head. His hair was wet with alcohol and he could feel a searing pain on his head. He was dizzy now and mistook the blood running down his face for alcohol until he saw a red drop fall and splat on the floor.

"Tch!" His father looked at the mess of liquid and glass on the floor as if he had not been the one to cause it. "Look at this! And you." He grabbed a fistful of Jaz's hair and roughly bent his head back to force him to look at him. "I was in town yesterday. I saw you with that other boy. You and him got some sick thing going on, hm? What'd you do? Or maybe it was him? Still, I know for a fact that you're sick in the head." He shoved Jaz away then reached down to pick something up.

Jaz practically stumbled over the nearby couch and perhaps would have fallen on it if not for his father suddenly grabbing him by the wrist and yanking him back over. Jaz suddenly found his words again as his vision cleared and he saw the sharp piece of broken glass he was holding. "No, Father, please, I –"

"Be quiet! This better be the last time I have to remind you!" He roughly pulled Jaz's sleeve back and stabbed the glass into the boy's arm, causing him to shout out in pain. "I've had enough of dealing with your sick ass self! Listen carefully, boy." He pushed the glass in deeper. "You're leaving. For good! Far away! But before that," he began to drag the glass through his arm, "you're going to fix the mess you made or else I will! Understood?"

Jaz cried out as the glass sliced through his arm. When it was over, he quickly retracted and held his arm close to his body.

"And clean up this mess, too!" His father shouted as he threw the bloodied piece of glass on the floor and left the house, slamming the door behind himself.

Jaz stood there hunched over his bleeding arm for a while as blood and tears fell to the floor. After adjusting a bit to the pain, he slowly made his way through the house and to the bathroom, leaving a trail of large blood splotches along the way. In the bathroom, he made it over to the sink and practically collapsed on it, shoved his arm under the tap, and turned on the water. He let out a short sound of pain but held his arm under the water for a while before turning it off and letting himself slowly slide down to the floor. He sat there, taking a moment to shakily catch his breath before reaching with his other arm and opening the cabinet located below the sink. From within, he produced several first aid items and bandages and got to work cleaning and wrapping up his arm. When he had finished, he laid down on the cold floor for several minutes before forcing himself to get up and go clean the mess.

The next day, Jaz remained quiet and kept to himself the entire school day. At the end of the day, on the way home, he was stopped by Hizashi, like usual.

"Yo, Jaz! What's up with you today? You've been quieter than usual and all down in the dumps or something."

"I'm fine," Jaz said shortly.

Hizashi tilted his head a little. "You sure?"

"I said I'm fine! Just leave me alone!"

He jumped, surprised by Jaz's sudden outburst. "Whoa, hey, relax. I was just checking to see if you were okay, but clearly you're not…"

"I'd be fine if it wasn't for you!"

"What?"

"It had been so long since he… And then you come along and ruin it!" Jaz was clutching at the sleeve of his secretly injured arm. "This is your fault! I should've known better!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I should have never listened to you! You just made everything worse, leading me to behave in such an awful and disgusting manner!"

He seemed to realize what Jaz was talking about, or at least part of it. "Me!? I didn't force you to do anything! If you didn't like it then you could've said so at any time! I would've backed off if you said so!"

Michiru stopped and looked back, listening. "What is it?" Shota asked her.

"I thought I heard shouting."

He listened and they heard Hizashi now. "It's just Yamada. Nothing new."

"What the hell is your problem!?"

Michiru and Shota stopped and looked at each other, surprised, then quickly made their way towards the source of the shouting. Sure enough, Hizashi was there, but so was Jaz. The two of them appeared distressed and angry, yelling things at each other that were borderline cruel. Michiru was quickly upon them, turning into her large beast form and shoving herself between them. "What is going on?!" she demanded.

"Hell if I know!" Hizashi snapped at her. "He's the one who started yelling crazy shit at me!"

"Because it's your fault! All of it!" Jaz shouted.

"Like hell it is! You –"

"That's enough! Both of you!" Michiru snarled at them.

Jaz suddenly turned into his tiger form and ran off.

"Jaz!"

"You go," Shota told her calmly. She chased after her cousin while Shota looked over at Hizashi. "What the hell was that about? You're acting like children." Hizashi sent him a quick glare that surprised Shota. He had not heard the beginning of the argument, and, clearly, he had not heard the worst of it either. He did not say or do anything to stop Hizashi as the other boy stormed away but he wondered what they were arguing about and how bad it really was.

Jaz did not return to school the next day, nor the rest of the week. Hizashi had gotten quiet and unhappy looking. At the end of the week, on a Saturday, Michiru and Shota met with Jaz just before he was to board a train. Michiru had told Shota that she had managed to get Jaz to explain a little to her about what was going on. Jaz's father had apparently done something to cause Jaz to regress and lash out, leading to some kind of terrible argument with Hizashi that neither Shota nor Michiru could ascertain the details of. His father was also having him sent away to another school in a city far off from them. Michiru had tried to convince Jaz otherwise, but his fear of his father was far too strong. At least, Shota thought, it would mean that Jaz would be separated from his father as well. Still, neither of them could get Jaz or Hizashi to make up or even contact each other. It came as no real surprise to Shota that Hizashi was not there to see Jaz off, and Jaz did not ask about it or even mention him.

"You'd better keep in touch with me," Michiru told Jaz sternly and hugged him.

"I will," he said quietly and hugged her back.

Shota and Michiru remained where they were after Jaz boarded the train, and they did not begin to leave until the train had fully left the station.

"Shota," Michiru said as they walked.

"Hm?"

"That day on the cape, when you told me that you would always be here…"

"I meant it." He placed his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"I'm going to hold you to that." She leaned into him.

…

Years later…

Michiru was in the kitchen, preparing lunches. Weaving between her legs and rubbing against her was the black cat, demanding she drop something for him to eat. "Pan," she said, "I told you, there's no tuna. Only deli meat." She held a thin slice of meat up and dangled it for him to see. The cat stared up at it intently, mewling and spinning in place. She sighed. "Fine. But no more!" She dropped the slice of meat, which he caught in his jaws before running off somewhere with it. As she turned back to what she had been doing, she briefly glanced over at the man standing beside her. "Shota, are you trying to sneak up on me?"

"Maybe," he replied.

"What an awful attempt."

"That's okay. I caught you off guard once before."

She huffed. "Really? You mean when we were kids? That doesn't count."

"Oh?"

"You weren't even trying then! I'm not accepting it."

He smirked and moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. Before she could "complain" about the prickly feeling of his face stubble, he purposefully nuzzled his face into her neck, causing her to laugh and try to pull away.

"Shota! I'm trying to prepare lunch!"

He chuckled a bit and let her go, then sat himself at the table. Pan had returned and was now pawing at his leg for attention. "Jealous?" he asked the cat, who meowed at him in response. When Michiru joined him at the table, Pan quickly went over to her instead, leaping onto her lap and rubbing his face against her belly. "Didn't take long for you to get over me, huh?" Shota huffed.

Michiru chuckled. "Don't take it so personally, Shota. He's just obsessed with this unborn child. Pan, get down." The cat meowed in protest as she shooed him to the floor.

"When are you going to take a leave from work?" Shota grunted.

"I'm just learning of this child, you know." She sighed at the look he gave her. "Soon, love. Soon."

Later in the day, at approximately four in the afternoon, a breaking news report appeared on the television in the living room. "…reports of pro hero and popstar singer/stage performer Raiko missing!"

"Michi," Shota said.

She was already in the room upon hearing the television.

"…whereabouts are unknown, and he was reportedly last seen two days ago with his manager and friend, Fujita Chihiro, who has stated that she is unaware of what has happened or where he has gone, but she suspects foul play. No details are known at this time, but we –"

Shota turned off the television and stood up. At the same time, Michiru's phone began to ring and she answered it quickly. "Yes?"

"Tora Michiru… I presume you have already seen the news report?"

"Mr. Goro. What –"

"Forgive me. We were also not aware until now. That is a mistake on our part. We've already sent someone to speak with Raiko's manager and investigate further. But considering the recent spike in Ōkami-Kage activity, it's likely that he befell the same fate as Light Claw."

She took in a deep breath.

Goro continued. "We also have something for the two of you to look into today. Several individuals have gone missing in downtown Tokyo in a matter of three days. Descriptions of suspicious individuals match those of Ōkami-Kage members on record. Each missing individual had some kind of Quirk that could prove useful in stealth or search related tasks. Please go there immediately, and be careful. I will send updates on Raiko as I receive them."

"Of course." She hung up the phone and looked at her husband.

…

They sat perched on the rooftops and looking down at the people below. Even at night, the lit streets of Tokyo were bustling with activity. Michiru was in her tiger form, staring intently at the crowds, her ears pricked forward. She was using her Aura Power to search for any individuals with suspicious auras. In a place filled with so many people, this required her undivided attention. As she did so, Shota remained at her side, keeping a look out around them. He remained silent to avoid disturbing her, but something inside of him was feeling off. He found himself actually hoping that they would not find any of their targets, for a fear was churning inside of him. He almost jumped when Michiru suddenly spoke.

"There!"

They stood up quickly and he followed her closely as she sprung across rooftops. She stopped, looking and listening carefully. Down below, in the corner of a dark alleyway, was a giant brown wolf walking calmly along. He stopped suddenly and glanced up, looking directly at them. Seemingly surprised, he took off further down the alley at a full sprint. Shota was surprised. The wolf had not been expecting them?

They took chase after the wolf and followed him until he reached a dead end. From there, the Ōkami-Kage quickly leapt up, springing himself off the side of a building, and landing on top of the roof across from them. He paused a moment and stared at them with wide yellow eyes, like he was stunned. Shota did not know what kind of Quirk this Ōkami-Kage had, but he had blocked it anyway. The wolf seemed to realize this. Oddly, he found that this Ōkami-Kage was not as calm and collected as others he had met before. Perhaps he was quite young?

The brown wolf chanced a quick glance over his shoulder. "You need to leave," he said suddenly.

"Don't move!" Shota told him, grabbing at the cloth around his neck.

The wolf froze, one paw off the roof as if he had been about to take a step back. He placed his paw back down and repeated, "You need to leave! They're hunting for more subjects! You," he looked at the white tigress. "You're Tora, right? This is what they want!"

"What are you –" Before Michiru could finish asking, another wolf suddenly sprung from seemingly nowhere and sunk his teeth deeply into the neck of the brown wolf. They heard a sickening crunch before he tossed the other wolf aside like a useless object and turned to face them. They were shocked but braced themselves.

"What a stupid boy," the new wolf growled. "Betraying his clan when he knows we're all around him." Several other wolves began to climb and leap onto the rooftops, surrounding Michiru and Shota in a large circle. They all lowered their heads, some baring their teeth, and stared intently at their prey like wild beasts stalking food. "Tora," the murderer said. "You're with a child, yes?" Michiru looked surprised at him. He flicked his muzzle up. "Come easy, or else you might lose it. We're not leaving without you."

She snarled at him, showing frighteningly large white fangs as her fur bristled and ears folded back. Shota pushed up against her side, readying himself. They had fallen into an ambush that the brown wolf had tried to get them away from.

"Fine," the wolf that was seemingly in charge snorted. "We're not supposed to kill it, but… If you lose it by fighting us, so be it." He lunged at them and several others followed suit.

Michiru was quick to put up a purple barrier all around herself and Shota. She spun around as it burst and slashed her claws through the pelt of the nearest Ōkami-Kage. He yelped in pain and suddenly found himself wrapped up and being thrown at two of his comrades, all three of them being knocked off the roof as a result. The leader aimed his fangs at Shota, who narrowly dodged as they snapped loudly near his leg. Reactively, he kicked the wolf hard in the face, causing him to whine and throw his head back. Shota jumped away from him and quickly found Michiru. The tigress was writhing beneath two wolves who had pounced her, one having sunk his teeth into the thick fur on her neck, and the other trying to weigh her down on her back. He snagged the one on her back and yanked him down, slamming his head on the rooftop while Michiru suddenly jumped up and threw herself down onto her shoulders, crushing the other wolf beneath her weight and causing him to release his hold and gasp for air.

Another wolf, one with strange spikes protruding from its back, confronted Shota, but stopped and looked over at something before quickly dashing out of the way. Shota turned to look but barely saw a thing as he was roughly knocked over by something large and heavy that roared so loudly at him his ribcage shuddered. When he recovered and got to his feet, he was completely stunned to see the dark tiger growling at him with furious emerald eyes. "Tsume?" The tiger roared and lunged at him, slashing sharp hooked claws through his thigh and sinking large fangs into his shoulder. Shota yelled and grabbed at Tsume's neck and face, but the giant tiger was far stronger and refused to let go. "What's gotten into you?!" Shota shouted. He suddenly remembered what he had read once about Chinō-Kage's Quirk.

It was a Quirk known nowadays as Berserker. He could set his will upon his target, enhancing their strength and forcing them to rampage uncontrollably, attacking indiscriminately, or even harming or tearing themselves apart to the point of fatality. Supposedly, Chinō-Kage could even determine specific triggers to cause these rampages even when he was not around. This is what had happened to the man they had apprehended years ago alongside Doku-Kage, to avoid the man revealing any vital information. Now, Tsume was under Chinō-Kage's Berserker and being used as a weapon.

"Tsume!?" Michiru gasped. The wolves had suddenly stopped attacking and only surrounded the area to prevent escape.

The Berserk Tsume threw Shota against the roof and brought down a heavy blow with his paw, hitting him in the head and nearly knocking him unconscious. Tsume then turned and lunged for Michiru, moving far too quickly for her to react. He roughly slammed her down and held her in place, growling and snarling ferociously. The wolves were quickly upon them.

Shota could barely see, his vision fading in and out of darkness. He tried to stand but stumbled and fell instead. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a hospital the next day, wrapped in bandages. Sitting in a chair nearby was Hizashi, who looked serious and sad.

"You're awake." He lifted his head to look at Shota.

"Where is Michi?"

Hizashi looked upset and looked away. "…We don't know. I'm sorry…"

…

Pan stared at the television in the living room with wide eyes. Within him, the Seishin that used him as a host spoke and told the cat how to turn on the TV. After doing so, a news report began to play.

"Hero, Tora Michi, has gone missing! That makes all three of the last members of the ancient Tora clan! …What? Ah! W-We're getting reports that she was also pregnant at the time of her disappearance!"

Pan immediately ran to the front door as it opened and began meowing and yowling frantically at Shota as he walked briskly up the stairs and returned. He seemed to be ignoring him, so Pan blocked his way to the front door and growled at him.

"Be quiet!" Shota yelled at the cat.

Pan flinched and stared at him, surprised, and no longer protested as Shota left the house.

Shota made his way through the forest and all the way to the old stone shrine, where he disturbed the still pool of water and shoved the four-colored marble into the slot at its base. He remained standing in the shallow water as the form of Seishin Ro appeared and looked down at him.

"You said you would keep her safe!" he snapped before the beast could say anything.

"She is safe." Ro said calmly.

"Safe!? She's been taken away by the Ōkami-Kage! You call that safe!? You lied! You don't even care about them, do you?! You only use them to keep yourself safe!"

"Silence!" Ro stomped a paw down, causing the nearby trees to tremble. The deer beast shook his antlers irritably. "How dare you suggest I not care for the Tora! Michiru is safe! Just because she is not present now does not mean she is unsafe. I have kept my word and I will continue to do so, even if you do not!" Without further argument, Ro vanished.

Shota snatched the orb from the shrine and stormed off back towards the house.

…

"Oh, Eraserhead!"

Shota looked over at the woman approaching him. "Midnight. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," she told him. "This city is quite far from home, hm?"

"Aren't you supposed to be going back to be a teacher or something?" He turned to walk away. "You and Yamada have been pretty annoying lately, trying to get me to join you guys."

"It'd be good for you," she said, following him. "I can't believe you left poor Pan behind!"

"He refused to leave."

"Of course he did. That's his home. Yours too." She waited a moment but did not receive a response. "First Shirakumo, then Michiru… You can't just keep running and avoiding everything."

He suddenly stopped and leered at her. "You think I'm out here screwing around and not actively searching for my wife?"

"N-No, that's not what I meant."

"You and Yamada need to learn to mind your own business."

She stopped and watched him continue walking before letting out a sigh.

…

On the day he finally returned home, Shota stopped in the clearing where the Tora house was located and glanced around. A few deer lifted their heads to look at him before taking off into the forest. He turned back to the house and stared at it for a long while. After taking in a slow breath, he walked forward, stopping momentarily on the bridge to look down at the koi fish swimming below. A few of them swam up to the surface and opened their mouths expectantly.

Inside, the house was dark and quiet. He knew that Hizashi had been looking after the place in his absence, but Shota was somewhat surprised to find the plants in the sunroom to be so well-kept. Curled up on top of the closed piano in the sunroom was the black cat.

"Pan." He walked over and reached a hand out as the cat lifted his head curiously. Pan's ears folded back and he growled and hissed at him, pulling away. "That's fair…"

Shota left through the sunroom door and walked off into the forest. He made his way directly to the large hill where the giant tree was located and stopped to look up at it. Movement from around the tree pulled his attention back down, and he was momentarily surprised to see the large white buck. It stared at him, ears angled forward curiously. He reactively went to reach his hand out to the deer but stopped halfway, expecting the animal to not recognize him and shy away. Much to his surprise, the Forest Ghost stepped forward and welcomed him by pushing its nose into the palm of his hand. Shota slid his other hand along the deer's jaw then softly pressed his forehead against the deer's head and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Hello, old friend."

As Shota made his way along the rest of the property, the Forest Ghost accompanied him. They stopped at specific areas and landmarks such as the jagged lands, the cape, and even at Ro's shrine. Everything looked the same to Shota. At the shrine, he stopped and stared at it for some time, debating something, before gritting his teeth and walking away. When they returned to the clearing, the sun was setting on the other side of the property. Shota looked back at the white deer, who remained in the shadows of the trees.

"Thanks for walking with me."

The Forest Ghost watched him return to the house before turning and disappearing amongst the trees.

Shota made his way upstairs to the bedroom and laid down in the bed. He turned over and stared at the empty space next to him, feeling a sense of sadness and loneliness, until he heard something leap up onto the bed with him. Pan stepped lightly over towards Shota and paused to sniff at him. The cat mewed and shoved himself into Shota's arms, stretched his head up and back to push up against his chin, then began to purr.

"Pan… I haven't found her. Or any of them…"

In the early morning, Shota was awoken by Pan swatting him in the face with his paw and meowing at him. He grunted and tried to shoo the cat away with his hand. Pan paused then suddenly bit Shota's ear, causing him to shout and jump up.

"What? What do you want?" he grumbled, checking his hand for any blood from his ear.

The cat meowed and leapt up onto the nearby desk. Shota got up and went over to see what he wanted. Pan was meowing continuously and rubbing his face against a notebook on the desk. Shota recognized the white book with its golden silhouettes of deer. He had never known the contents of it and had never bothered to ask Michiru about it. Pan was pawing at a golden ribbon sticking out from the bottom from somewhere in the center of its pages. Shota grabbed the ribbon and opened the book to the marked page, surprised to find a note addressed to him.

Dearest Shota,

If you happen to be reading this, I am sure it is because of Pan pestering you to do so. I am writing this to apologize to you. Seishin Sa, the spirit residing within Pan, had Pan inform me that I would be captured and taken away. I do not know how or when. I have not told you for fear of making you worry, and because I hope I can manage to avoid this fate. If you are reading this, it is because I failed. I am terribly sorry for this selfishness. But know this: No matter what may happen, or how long it will last, I will return to you. I love you, always.

Michi.

Pan looked up after seeing a drop of water land on the page. The cat mewled and rubbed against Shota's torso upon seeing him crying.

End of Part 1.

To be continued…

Such an eventful chapter... Well, that concludes the end of the first arc (ark?) of this story. The second one will be much shorter and following a young, high school All Might and his encounters with a specific Ōkami-Kage. So, that technically takes place even further in the past from the first part. I'm anticipating 2 or 3 chapters, or maybe one big one. We'll see.

Don't worry, you'll see these guys again later.