Some weird shit happens in this chapter. This one actually saw the most changes compared to the previous three. A total of seven chapters are already written and edited and I'm currently writing number eight. But I'm going to steadily upload them to space them out a bit.

I'm also re-reading the My Hero manga at the same time. I got so behind that I had no idea what was going on, so I just started over, haha. (I read online then buy physical copies as they come out.) The plans for distant future chapters of this story are subject to change depending on what happens in the irl manga.

It was early morning when Shota woke up; it was still a little dark out and very cold. Today was Friday and the first day of the two-week winter break. They would have this weekend, all week, next weekend and that week, then a third weekend before returning to school on that Monday. Most people were likely still going to do their work studies and internships over the break, but he had stopped all of that after…

He breathed out through his mouth and hunched his shoulders, shoving his hands between his legs to try and warm them. He was intending to stay home in the apartment, maybe train a bit later on, but he had woken up early knowing that Hizashi would stay true to his word about coming to get him. Why was he being so annoying lately? Even more than usual… Though, he had to admit that he certainly did not mind the company of Jaz and Michiru; Michiru in particular… He felt strange and oddly warm thinking about it and decided to leave his room and head into the kitchen.

The apartment was dark, cold, and silent with a lonely and empty atmosphere. Of course, he was the only one living there, so… Similar to Michiru, his mother had passed away when he was only a baby, not long after his birth in fact. Due to work, his father was never around, not that they were ever really close anyway… Sometimes he would call to check in on Shota, but the conversations were short and emotionless. Actually, Shota could not really recall the last time he actually saw his father. Oh well, he thought.

Money was tight, so he made a cup of hot tea instead of turning on the tiny space heater; he was about to leave soon anyway whenever it was that Hizashi would show up. Shota made his way into the living area and sat down, holding the hot cup in both hands and letting the steam warm his face. About forty or so minutes later, the doorbell rang, disturbing the silence. Shota placed the now empty cup on the table then got up and went to open the door, surprised to find that no one was there.

*Mrroww*

He looked down at the black cat staring up at him with smiling yellow eyes. It was sitting politely on the doormat with its tail curled over its paws.

"…Pan?"

The cat stood up and began to curl around his legs, purring loudly.

"Hey!" Hizashi appeared from around the corner, a big grin on his face. He was wearing regular glasses instead of his shades.

"Yamada," Shota pointed down at the cat. "Why is Pan here?"

"I borrowed him!"

"…You borrowed Michi's cat? Does she know?"

"Of course she knows! I didn't catnap him!" He bent down and picked the cat up, holding him out to Shota to let Pan swat playfully at Shota's long hair hanging down his face. "He's a pretty cool cat. Crazy smart, too! I could swear he knows exactly what you say to him." He bent his elbows and held Pan closer to his chest. "Anyways, are you ready to go? All packed?"

Shota grabbed a bag resting inside by the door and slung it over his shoulder. "Sure. Where's your stuff?"

"I dropped it off at Michiru's yesterday and spent the night there." He waited for Shota to lock the door before turning to lead the way along the sidewalk.

Even this early in the morning, the streetsweepers had already passed and cleared the snow from the roads and sidewalks, but the houses and their yards were still coated in a decent layer of white that would only build up more until warmer weather came or someone decided to remove it. Oddly enough, Shota found that it was not as cold outside as it was in his apartment.

The trail leading up to the forest clearing where Michiru lived was cleared of snow and ice and Shota wondered if Tsume maybe cleared it before leaving for his hero work. The clearing itself was blanketed in an even layer of soft snow, and he could make out little animal footprint trails near the edges, including deer, rabbit, and what was very likely Pan's pawprints. As they crossed the little bridge, Shota peered down at the pond to find its surface frozen with a thin layer of ice, but the koi were still swimming beneath without concern.

He stopped for a moment to watch them while Hizashi went to knock on the front door and ring the bell. Shota felt something watching him and turned to spot a large white buck staring at him from the other side of the clearing near the trees. It stood tall, ears forward and tail up, staring at him with big pale eyes, a remarkably impressive set of wide antlers atop its head.

They stared at each other for a long minute, as if entranced, before the deer's ear twitched and it rolled its head back and turned, leaping silently into the forest.

"Aren't you cold standing out there?"

"Hm?" He turned to see Michiru watching him from the front door. It appeared that Hizashi had already gone inside. He walked over to her. "There was a white deer over there."

"Oh, you saw the Forest Ghost," she smiled.

"Ghost?"

"That's just what we call him. He's pretty elusive for a big snow-white buck, even outside of winter. The other deer avoid him because he's different, poor thing. So, he's a bit of a loner as a result. He's the biggest buck in the whole forest, though."

"He looked big enough to ride."

She moved to let him inside and chuckled. "Are you tempted to try?"

"No. Definitely not. Those antlers aren't just for show, I'm sure."

"I planted carrots around the edge of the clearing so I could watch him dig them up. That's probably why he was there."

They found Hizashi talking to Jaz in the kitchen. Jaz was examining Hizashi's face, leaning over the table a little bit to get a good look. "You have regular glasses, too?"

He smiled and waved his hand in front of his own face. "I'm a little farsighted. Stuff up close is kind of fuzzy." He shrugged. "I normally just wear these at home when I read or something." He grinned. "My doctor said it'll probably get worse as I get older. Haha!"

"T-That's not funny!"

He grinned more at Jaz's reaction. "Aw, are you worried about me?"

Jaz grunted and looked away.

Shota noticed the pink tinge to Hizashi's smiling face.

"I just have to check something in the garden really quick before we leave," Michiru said, making her way into the hall.

Without really thinking, Shota followed her down the hall and into the sunroom. It was a fairly-sized room; the upper halves of three of the four walls were screens, too closely knit for insects or anything to get in, but enough for the outside air to pass through. There were many different plants lined all along the walls, with vines creeping up one corner near the door; most of them looked dormant. There was also a screen door leading outside adjacent to the door connected to the house. And standing in the very center of the room was a beautifully kept grand piano the color of polished obsidian.

Michiru was shutting the windows to block out the cold air. "The sunroom is also a little garden of sorts," she explained. "Most of these plants are sleeping for the winter, but they'll grow some lovely flowers come spring."

He looked around at the plants then walked over to the piano. There wasn't a single speck of dust on the thing, and it shined as if it had been recently polished. "So, this is the piano Yamada mentioned."

"Yes," she pulled down the last window. "Tsume thinks it's funny how well I take care of it, always cleaning and polishing it. Well, really, I take care of everything in this room just as well. The plants and the piano belonged to my grandmother."

Shota pressed one of the piano's keys and it rang out a lovely mellow sound. "It looks brand new," he remarked. "Do you use it often?"

She nodded. "Actually, yes. I'll have to play you something when we get back." She led the way back out of the room and down the hall. Jaz and Hizashi were still talking at the table while Pan entertained himself with a piece of string beneath them.

"Are you really going to stay here for the whole break?" Jaz was asking him.

"Yeah! …Why? Do you not want me to?"

"I-I didn't say that! I don't mind, I was just wondering why?"

"Well, why are you?"

He winced. "W-Well, they're my cousins…"

Michiru chuckled. "Are you two ready? I've finished shutting the windows in the sunroom."

"Right on time!" Hizashi jumped up to his feet. "The train leaves at seven. We get off at the third stop. My cousin will pick us up there."

"How long is the ride?" Jaz asked.

"About three hours."

Michiru was the last to exit the house, stopping to look down at the cat sitting in the entranceway. "Pan, you look after the house while we're gone. I put your food in the automated feeder."

*Mrrrow*

"Good kitty. Love you!" She used both hands to blow a kiss to the cat, who closed his eyes contentedly.

…

They boarded the bullet train and claimed a group of four seats, both pairs facing each other. After securing most of their things in the overhead compartment, they took their seats and waited for the train to depart. Hizashi had quickly claimed the seat between Jaz and the window and Shota sat across from him beside Michiru, suddenly feeling a bit awkward about being so close to her.

Jaz looked around curiously while Michiru quickly settled into a novel that she appeared to be halfway finished with. As the train began to move, Hizashi plugged a set of earbuds into his phone, placing one in his ear and offering the other to Jaz who looked curiously at it before accepting. His fuzzy tiger ear flicked a little as he placed the earbud, not used to having something there, but he quickly adjusted to it and watched Hizashi scroll through a playlist before settling on something.

Shota yawned and stared out the window, watching the buildings fly by. After a little while, his eyelids became heavy and it was hard to keep them open. Finally, he gave in to sleep and rested his head against the side of the window.

…

He blinked open his eyes to find himself standing in a forest. It looked oddly familiar, but everything was covered with snow this time. He heard a noise and quickly turned to see the huge deer-like beast staring down at him.

"It's you again," he said. Or was it?

Last time he had dreamed of this creature, it was green and leafy, with mossy antlers. This time, however, it was white and thick-furred, with brown antlers devoid of moss or other vegetation and the scaly forelimbs were a matching shade of brown; it blended well with the snow-covered trees. The eyes, however, remained the same, so he was positive that it was the same being.

"Who are you?" He thought for a moment. "…Are you Seishin Ro?"

The creature's ears angled forward upon hearing the name.

"What do you want?" He felt ridiculous. Was he really talking to a dream? This was obviously just another weird dream. This creature was not really there. …Was it? There were too many questions and no answers.

Ro let out a long, slow bellow. Its breath did not fog the cold air, actually… Shota suddenly realized that he did not feel cold at all. Of course not, he thought. It's just a dream. Ro snorted and shook his head, his antlers shaking the low boughs of the trees and dropping snow.

"I don't understand you," Shota told him. "Why do you keep coming to me? Am I supposed to know?"

Ro shook his head more, then stopped and opened his toothless mouth. There was an orb of some kind in his mouth, not unlike the kind Michiru had used to contain the sparrow that one time… He opened his mouth until the orb fell, landing in the snow with a soft sound before popping and leaving something there.

Shota stared at where it had landed, then looked up at the beast. Ro moved his head forward a little as if to tell him to pick it up. Cautiously, Shota stepped over to the object, watching Ro all the while until he reached down to pick it up and examine it. It was a small, perfectly round object about the size of a large marble, swirling with green, pink, white, and orange.

"What is this?" He stared down at it in his hand.

Suddenly, he jerked awake and found himself slouched against the train window. He looked around at the others, but Jaz was asleep and Michiru and Hizashi appeared distracted as the train was coming to a stop.

"This is our stop," Hizashi said then turned to nudge Jaz awake.

Still a little dazed, Shota took a moment to get up and grab his bag. As he made to get up, he realized that he was holding something tightly in his hand and opened it to see the strange marble. What? He felt a chill run down his spine.

"Are you okay?" Michiru turned to him.

"Hm?" He instinctually shut his hand and shoved it in his pocket. "Uh, yeah. I'm still waking up."

Her ear flicked but she said nothing more about it and stepped out of the way after retrieving her bag.

In the station, there was a young adult, blonde-haired woman waiting for them. She smiled upon spotting Hizashi and embraced him in a tight hug. "Hey little cousin!"

"Agh! Hey, Mari." He was still smiling but looked as though it was hard to breathe. "Woman, you're crushing my ribs!"

She released him, laughing as he gasped for air. "So, these are your friends? Aw, you're all so cute!"

Jaz blushed and stepped behind Michiru.

"Cute?" Shota looked mildly confused at the thought of being considered 'cute'.

Mari smiled and waved at them. "Hi! I'm Mari. You must be, mm, Shota," she pointed at him, "Michiru, and Jaz. I'm just going to call you guys that if that's okay."

"Er," Shota still looked bewildered.

Michiru chuckled. "That's fine. Jaz and I usually just go by our given names anyway, since we have the same surname."

"Us too!" She gestured between herself and Hizashi. "Our dads are brothers." She pointed at her and smiled over at Hizashi. "Is this your girlfriend?"

For some reason, her question made Shota feel a bit irritated, but Hizashi only laughed.

"Heh, nah. We're just friends." He leered at her with a sly grin. "Have you found a boyfriend yet, Mari?"

She looked as though she had been struck by something. "Don't even bring that up to me! You boys are nothing but trouble!"

He shrugged. "Okay then. Get a girlfriend."

Jaz flinched a little behind Michiru, his ears perking up curiously.

"Bah," Mari turned and began to lead them. "I'm not like that. Besides, that sounds worse. Come on. The ride up the mountainside is only about twenty minutes from here. I got a new car!"

Hizashi offered the front passenger seat to Michiru when they reached Mari's little silver car, then joined the other boys in the back after placing their things in the trunk. The ride brought them up along a narrow mountainside road that made Jaz nervous and glad to be sitting in the middle. The road was more of an old trail than an actual road and was incredibly bumpy.

"My old car couldn't handle this rough terrain," Mari said. "This one takes it like a champ, though!"

"Does it?" Shota made a face as they hit a particularly large bump and he fell against the door.

"Believe me," Hizashi told him, "it's MUCH better than her old car."

Finally, they reached a somewhat flatter area and drove more smoothly for a while until coming to a stop at a small building with a covered porch and exiting the car. The ground was mostly devoid of snow here, save for a few patches of it, and they were surrounded by a thin forest of tall pine trees.

"This will be you guys' place for the weekend," Mari told them. She pulled out a key from her pocket and unlocked the front door. "The others are pretty close-knit, but this one is a bit farther off. I'll still have someone come bring you meals and fresh towels, so don't worry about that." She led them into the small building. "This little area is where the meals will be set up at this table here. There's a nice size room down the hall there and a bathroom over here. Down the hall also leads to the changing area and hot spring. Oh, and there's hiking trails nearby and, something I don't tell other guests, a lovely waterfall and cool water down the hill from here." She dropped the key into Hizashi's hand and made her way to the door, stopping to wave back at them. "Someone will be over with lunch in about two hours. Enjoy!"

"It's a bit of an odd setup," Shota muttered.

"Yeah, but my cousin's odd, too, so it works. Haha!"

Michiru returned from placing her bag in the other room. "The building itself is quaint. Almost reminds me of the log house cabins in America."

"You've been to America?" Shota raised an eyebrow.

"Once with my brother. We visited fourteen of the states. One of them, um, Tennessee, has a lot of log cabins up in the mountains. Most are for tourists. The location here reminds me of it." She chuckled. "Ah, but black bears were common there."

"Eh, I don't think there are any bears around here," Hizashi said. "…I hope."

"Why are you worried about bears?" Jaz looked surprised. "I think any beast would turn tail and run from your shouting!"

Michiru smiled. "I agree. They wouldn't even know where to run to get away!"

"Ha – ha," Hizashi mocked. "Okay, okay, I get it. Hey, Mi-chan. Do you want to go in the hot spring now before us or later after us? I mean, if you want to go together, then I don't mind," he joked.

Shota did not find his joke amusing.

She chuckled again. "I suppose I'll go now. It'll be nice after that long train ride and bumpy car ride. Later, I'll go for a walk outside."

"Cool," he nodded. "I like going an hour before dinner anyway."

Michiru left down the hall to the changing area while the boys went into the bedroom to watch Hizashi pull out futons from the closet.

"There are only two big ones," he said as he rolled one of the mattresses out. "But I'm guessing you brought your own?" He was looking at Shota.

He pulled a yellow sleeping bag out from his bag, pausing a moment to look at him. "…Yes."

Hizashi chortled while Jaz appeared bewildered by the bag's sudden appearance.

Michiru had returned about an hour or less later, looking quite refreshed. At around noon, someone knocked on the door and Hizashi opened it to allow a woman in. She was carrying a large platter that she then placed upon the table and removed the lid.

"Here is your lunch, darlings. Enjoy."

"Thanks!" Hizashi said, politely seeing her out as she left.

She stopped a moment at the door to turn to him and bow. "Miss Mari said to bring your favorite for lunch since it's so simple. Dinner will consist mostly of seafood tonight."

"Awesome. Thanks, ma'am."

"I love seafood," Jaz said absently as he looked over the lunch. "Hizashi, what's your favorite out of this?"

"Fried chicken!" He snatched up a piece. "Is seafood your favorite?"

"I like yellowtail," he said. "Michiru likes sushi."

"I knew someone whose favorite was sushi," he mused and sat down at the table.

Shota winced a tiny bit.

"What Jaz is not telling you," Michiru said as she joined them, "is that his favorite thing to eat is actually strawberries. Of course, that's not really a meal I suppose."

"That ice cream parlor back home has really good strawberry milkshakes," Jaz said.

"I like the cookie one," Hizashi said.

Shota sat at the end of the table and grabbed a rice ball, silently listening to the others talk. The rest of the afternoon he spent alone in the corner of the main room, looking down at the odd marble he was holding in his lap. When invited to go in the spring, he refused and remained where he was while Hizashi shrugged and left with Jaz. Michiru sat in a chair on the other side of the room to read the rest of her book.

Jaz stood awkwardly in the changing room as Hizashi began to undress. He looked down at his arms pressed against his torso.

"You afraid of water or something?"

"Huh?" He looked up, flinching and quickly turning his gaze upon a rack of towels in the corner. "N-No! I just…" He heard him enter the water then turned to look back at him. "I guess I'm kind of…self-conscious or something."

Hizashi laughed and turned around, leaning back against the edge of the pool. "Okay then. I'll look this way until you're in the water." He swatted playfully at the steam resting above the water. "Or you could just jump in as a tiger. Tigers like water, right?"

"I don't want to do that! There's probably a rule against animals in the bath…"

"Maybe." He was trying to get the steam to swirl in one spot until he heard Jaz enter the water. "Hey, Jaz."

"Hm?"

"If being a hero's not actually your own choice… What do you want to do?"

"Oh, well…" he picked up a small leaf that had fallen into the pool. "I don't know… Something with music, maybe?"

"You wanna be a rock star?" he grinned.

"No." He shook his head. "I just –"

"A pop-star!"

"Er, I-I don't know about any of that…"

Hizashi chuckled. "I heard you singing the other day while Michiru was playing her piano."

He blushed furiously. "You did!? Oh…" Jaz lowered himself into the water until only the top half of his head was visible.

Hizashi laughed more. "Hey, what's that about? It was really good, you know!"

He lifted his mouth from the water to reply. "Michiru is better at singing than me. Ah, even Tsume is."

"No way. Maybe just as good, but come on! I was so amazed, I stopped what I was doing! In fact, I don't even remember what I was doing…"

"I think that was the day you were yelling weird nicknames at Tsume and he just stood there laughing."

"Oh yeah, heheh."

"I do like to sing," Jaz admitted. He was twirling the leaf in his fingers. "But I could never put myself out there like that."

"You gonna be one of them undercover heroes? Hey, I think you could do it. You just need to build up your confidence."

"…Maybe."

When Michiru called from the doorway for them to come to dinner, Hizashi was the first to leave the pool with Jaz following shortly after. As he was drying himself off, he turned to wipe the side of his head and noticed what looked like scars across Jaz's inner forearms. In fact, there were quite a few of them and many of them were rather long and straight, as if a sharp blade had been used to cut his arms many times over. Hizashi paused, quickly glancing over him with his eyes but not seeing any scars or cuts anywhere else on his body. He suddenly remembered the silver bracers that Jaz wore in his beast form and how Jaz always wore long-sleeves. He had originally thought the bracers to be a fashion choice and the long-sleeves to be due to the cold weather, but now he realized that Jaz was probably trying to hide those scars. He thought of mentioning it, but decided to hold his tongue for now. Something he would regret doing later…

They returned to the main room to find dinner already waiting for them. Michiru was sitting adjacent to Shota and talking to him about the big steamed lobster at the center of it all, which Shota was eyeing with an incredulous look as it stared at him.

"Leave it to my cousin to send more food than we can eat," Hizashi said as he joined them along with Jaz.

After dinner, Michiru left to go for a walk while Jaz went to the bedroom to go to sleep. Hizashi remained for a little while longer, fiddling with something on his phone with his earbuds in, before deciding to go join Jaz in the other room to sleep. Shota waited for another fifteen minutes or so before getting up and making his way to the changing room. Why not? Since he was alone now, he decided to take a dip in the spring, shoving the marble into his pocket before stripping and entering the hot water.

He went over to a decorative pile of stones with a large frog statue sitting atop, water falling from its mouth, and sat below it to let the water run over his head. The whole day, he couldn't stop thinking about that strange creature called Seishin Ro. The supposed forest spirit that dwelled in the forest that Michiru and Tsume lived in. It couldn't have been just some freak coincidence that it appeared in his dreams shortly before he saw a statue of it. Especially not since it had appeared to him a second time. He had so many questions but it seemed that Ro was not able to answer them. Maybe he should ask Michiru or Tsume about it? But Tsume reacted rather oddly that time Shota had mentioned something about the other beasts he had seen in his dream, and although he was becoming well acquainted with the Tora, they were still largely a mystery to him. Could he trust them? Hizashi certainly seemed to, and Shota did not think them to be untrustworthy or bad. Maybe Michiru would be the easiest to discuss it with. He could just show her the odd marble Ro had given him, not say where it was from, and see what she said about it or how she reacted. Yes, that might work.

When he finally decided to leave the hot spring and dry off, he heard a faint, lovely sound coming from somewhere on the other side of the fence. It almost sounded like singing. Maybe it was, but he could not hear it clearly from where he was. After getting dressed, he made his way silently through the now dark building and out through the front door. He could hear more clearly now and followed the sound around to where Michiru was sitting at the edge of the porch and singing an unfamiliar tune to the night air.

She stopped, her ears angling backwards, then turned to look at him. "Oh, you're still awake?"

"Uh, y-yeah." He wondered if he interrupted, but he felt a strange desire to sit with her, so he did. He walked over and sat cross-legged beside her and they stared out at the night scenery.

"Your hair's wet," she remarked. "Did you enjoy the hot spring?"

He ran his fingers through his long black hair. "Um, yeah. …Did you enjoy your walk?"

"Of course," she nodded. "There is a lot of life in these woods."

He looked around at the cold, snow-brushed ground and silent woods. "It seems pretty dead to me. Unless you mean the trees."

"The trees too," she said, "but there is much more than what you see on the surface. As it is with all things," she chuckled. She pointed at a pine tree with a dark hole in the trunk. "You see that gaping wound in the tree? Some squirrels have made it their home. They're sleeping with the tree, curled up together in a little ball of warmth. There are some rabbits hiding in their burrows below the wet ground, and over that way is an owl scanning for a mouse that has yet to claim a dormant flower to sleep in."

"You saw all of that on your walk?"

"Yes."

"Mm." They sat in silence for a while until Shota spoke again. "What was that song you were singing? It didn't sound like any language I know."

"It's an old Tora song about life and death. The shortness of life but the eternal turning of time and seasons. It's a bit of an odd song to someone outside of the clan, I think. That part you heard was the bit sung at the beginning and the end of the song. There's a little more in the middle. My brother taught it to me and our father taught it to him. It's…like an ode to those who have died."

"Why were you singing it then? Did someone die?"

"Out there somewhere, yes. I'm sure someone did. So, I sing it for them and anyone else before them."

"…"

"The language is probably unfamiliar to you because it's the ancient language of the spirits. It's the language the Tora and Ookami-Kage used to speak." She turned her amethyst eyes upon Shota. "Ode to the Fallen, it's called. It makes me think of people I've never even met. Most importantly, it makes me think of my parents. Oh," she looked a little sad. "I must have reminded you of your lost friend with such depressing talk. I'm sorry."

He looked at her, surprised. "How do you -?"

She waved her hand. "Nothing so shocking. Hizashi told us about him the other day when he caught me singing that song to my piano. …He mentioned that you were particularly close with that friend."

He looked away, staring silently at a patch of snow on the ground. "I'll be better off alone anyway."

"Perhaps," she tilted her head. "But you don't really seem to like being alone."

"…Maybe not, but it seems like the universe wants me to be. Everyone has left me…in one way or another… It'd be a lot less…troublesome if I just don't let myself get close to anyone anymore."

"Troublesome… You must mean painful." She looked back out at the trees. "Tsume would be a better person to talk to about loss, than me. I didn't know our mother at all when she died and I can hardly remember our father. I think the only reason I remember his face is due to the photos I've seen. Still, that doesn't mean I don't feel pain or sorrow over it. …Tsume once told me that, no matter what anyone might say, you can never get over a loss like that. You can only carry on, but you will never forget. It's okay to hurt and feel sad or even angry. It means that we really cared." She looked at Shota and smiled. "Now, if he was implying that there was some kind of trick or clue on how to carry on like that, then I haven't got a clue. My brother can be oddly cryptic sometimes. …I don't know what I would do without him," she said quietly before looking at him again. "I know you just said that you think you'll be better off alone…but even so, I will always be there for you."

He looked up at her.

"We haven't known each other for very long, but that doesn't change anything, I assure you. Even if you don't want, I will be here for you. You can always come to me, or I can come to you. I hope you don't mind, Shota."

He blushed a bit and, feeling the heat in his face, he quickly looked away again. "…I don't mind."

To be continued…

Before it's asked, no, Jaz does not hurt himself. He hates those scars...