This is that last finished chapter for a bit. I've been pretty motivated to write this though, since I've been re-reading the manga.

During spring, Shota began to spend a lot of time on the Tora's property. The school gym was his usual go-to place for training, but the different layouts of land on the Tora property proved to be useful, not to mention a bit more practical at times. Hizashi spent a lot of time around there too, when he was not busy with his work studies or other things. Though, he spent his time in their house or the main clearing where he could pester Jaz the most; Shota found that Jaz spent a lot of time there instead of going home. Sometimes, Jaz and Michiru would disappear with Tsume for a day or two. It turned out that they did their work under Tsume, which made sense to Shota, all things considered.

Many times, when they were around, Tsume, Michiru, and even the black cat Pan would find Shota wherever he was on the property and either watch or actively participate in his training. Michiru had been particularly surprised about how often and how late he stayed up, training until he could no longer move. As a result of this, however, he often ended up staying the night on their sofa since Michiru would insist that it was too much for him to walk home so exhausted at such an hour of the night. He would fall asleep to her fretting over him while Tsume tried to insist to her that the boy was fine. This often resulted in her telling her brother off, however. Shota would then wake up in the morning to find Pan curled up asleep on him, purring loudly, and Michiru asleep in the adjacent chair, having refused to leave him during the night.

One day, while he was deep within the forest and working with the capture cloth, he felt a presence and froze. He slowly turned to look over his shoulder and saw the great white stag, the Forest Ghost, watching him carefully. Something about the large buck made him almost nervous, and he held his breath and did not move.

The deer stared at him, ears angled forward, and it did not move either for a long time. Finally, the animal stepped lightly out from the shadows and approached him. He was surprised but kept himself motionless, exhaling slowly. When it was near enough, the Forest Ghost leaned forward and pushed its nose against him, sniffing and snorting all around his torso and face. It took one particularly deep sniff of his face and then snorted so strongly that some of Shota's hair flew into his face. After, the deer straightened up and walked away calmly, disappearing into the shadows of the trees once more. Michi will be jealous of that, he thought to himself.

Later in the day, when Michiru had returned with Tsume and Jaz, she turned and headed into the woods instead of entering their house. In her tigress form, she stalked silently, weaving around tree trunks and avoiding thick bushes and brambles. Finally, she found him. Shota was taking a break, it seemed, and was untangling the capture cloth from a tree. She moved into position and lowered herself, careful not to touch the ground with her belly. Her ears were folded flat against her head, tail tip twitching slightly with anticipation, and amethyst eyes locked on target. The moment he stepped back from the tree, she pounced.

"Ha! Pinned you!" she declared after tackling him to the ground.

He looked startled for a small moment before relaxing. "Ow. That hurt." He let out an involuntary huff as she plopped herself down on him.

She chuckled. "Sorry."

"No you're not."

"No, I'm not. Heheh. You still don't ever see that coming? I certainly hope none of the deer get any ideas about charging you," she teased.

"Well, the Forest Ghost approached me earlier."

"What!? Are you lying?"

"No. Why would I lie?"

"Oh, no fair!"

"It just smelled me and walked away. It's no big deal."

"That's it? Heh, you do kind of smell like the forest right now," she had returned to playfully teasing him.

He was silent for a moment and stared up at the sky through the treetops. "…Michi."

"Yeah?"

"You never talk about the future."

She tilted her head to the side. "I don't? I certainly think about it."

"Do you?" he asked rather casually.

"You don't mention it yourself, you know," she told him.

"I don't really see the point. Things always happen to change your plans."

"Then why are you bringing it up?" She brought one of her paws up to paw at her ear.

"Dunno. Guess I was just curious about you." He was still staring at the sky.

"Me?" She placed her paw back down. "Hm, well… I plan to become a hero. Though, I suppose my reasons aren't as noble as others. I do want to help people, but the real reason is –"

"The Ōkami-Kage. That's right…"

"You remember Tsume mentioning how, every so often, a hero in the world just mysteriously disappears? Never to be seen or heard from again? It happens most often here in Japan. Second most in the United States. That's the Ōkami-Kage."

"How do you know that for sure?"

"Ro told us."

He looked at her now.

"You see," she said, "the Tora and Ōkami-Kage were both once very close, but they betrayed the Tora. Their leader, Chino-Kage, murdered the leader of the Tora and ordered the Ōkami-Kage to kill the rest. Anyways, Ro told us that they're out there somewhere, and that they're the cause of most such disappearances. Sometimes it's heroes. Other times, it's civilians. Always, it's someone with a Quirk. Sometimes, there are reports of wolf-like beasts."

"You guys are after revenge for your ancestors?"

"Oh no, certainly not! But as the sister clan to the Ōkami-Kage, it is our duty to put a stop to them."

"You sound like Tsume. …It's dangerous though, isn't it?"

"Isn't all hero work potentially dangerous?" she inquired.

"Yeah. But you guys are really risking becoming one of those victims. Putting yourselves out there, searching for a clan that wants you dead…"

"Yes, but we stand the best chance of stopping them, too. For the sake of others, it's our duty to do just that."

He was silent now and stared back up at the sky.

"On the other paw," Michiru mused, "I said I would be there for you, didn't I? I meant that, you know. I'm sure I can manage both. Besides…" she turned back into her human form and leaned in close to his face.

They locked eyes, and he suddenly felt a wave of fluttery heat pass through his body. Their noses were practically touching.

She smiled. "You get pounced on so easily. I can't leave you on your own with those wolves stalking about now, can I?"

He suddenly could no longer find words and only stared dumbly at her. He opened his mouth and made a sound to speak, but quickly shut his mouth again. Michiru chuckled at his dumbfounded behavior and climbed off of him.

"Let's go back to the house," she said. "Tsume wants to talk to you."

"O-Okay." He got up awkwardly and followed after her.

…

"Ah, there you are," Tsume said as they entered the house. "What took you so long? Was my sister giving you a hard time again? Michi, this is a very serious matter. No time for playing."

"Well, you should have said that before I left!" she snapped at him.

Tsume flinched and held his hands up. "Sorry, sorry! Ahem." He recomposed himself. "Really, though. Shota, have you seen any of the deer recently?"

"The deer?" he echoed. "Only the white one, earlier today."

"Oh? How did he look?"

Shota was a bit confused. "Fine, I guess. Big."

"No injuries?"

"No. What's going on?"

"Recently, I've been finding blood on the property. A lot of it, too. But no bodies. Early this morning, though, I saw a deer with blood running down its face. Deer shed their antlers sometimes, you see, but this one… When I got a closer look, it appeared as though something had ripped them out. Nothing natural about it."

Michiru and Shota looked shocked. "Someone's poaching on our property?!" Michiru was clearly angered by this.

Tsume nodded. "It would seem so, yes."

"Probably stealing the antlers to sell for medicine," Shota mused aloud. "It doesn't make sense, though. Deer shed their antlers naturally and they'll regrow even if cut, so why bother killing them to take the antlers? So irrational…"

"Speaking of irrational," Tsume said. "Michi, calm down."

"I am calm!"

Tsume and Shota both flinched.

"Are you sure?" Tsume asked, looking a tad startled.

"Sorry," she apologized, mostly to Shota. "I get a bit too…protective of the deer here."

"We gather their shed antlers and sell them," Tsume explained. "Legally, I might add. They're technically like livestock, but we never harm or kill them." He began walking to the front door. "Before we track those poachers down, Shota, I would like your help with catching that injured deer."

"Me?"

He nodded. "An injured deer is unlikely to allow anyone to approach it. You've gotten pretty good with that capture cloth lately, haven't you?"

"I see." He and Michiru followed Tsume outside. "You want me to use the cloth to catch the deer."

"Yes. As harmlessly as possible, if you will. I can track the animal and lead you to him. Meanwhile, Michi…"

She looked up at him.

"Could you start looking for any signs of our intruders? If you find any, come get us. Don't confront anyone on your own."

She nodded, transformed into a tiger, and bounded off into the woods.

Tsume transformed as well and flicked his tail, gesturing for Shota to follow him. "This way, Shota. We'll start from the last place I saw the deer. Hopefully he's not any worse…"

As he followed Tsume through the trees, he noticed how silently the huge tiger moved. They were moving at a brisk pace, and yet, Tsume's paws made little to no sound as they walked. Living in a forest must have allowed Tsume to perfect the art of moving stealthily, twisting, bobbing, and weaving under and around foliage without making a sound or getting snagged. Despite the many differences between his two forms, Tsume seemed acutely aware of the position of each body part, tail included. It's no wonder Michiru was always getting the jump on Shota. She must practice the same techniques.

Suddenly, he stopped. Shota stopped, too. Tsume used his tail to gesture for him to look at something. There were patches of dry blood on the ground. "This is from this morning," Tsume told him.

"Do you think it went far since then?"

"Depends." He stood still and stared ahead, his ears angling in different directions. "You know about the other Quirk I have, right? It's the same as Michi's."

"Aura Power?"

"Hm. Yes. I can sense…birds…rabbit…beetle…ah, yes. A deer. This way." He began to move again.

"Michi says she can't distinguish things as accurately as you," Shota said as he followed. He was trying not to disturb the foliage too much as he kept pace.

"She will in time. Training and practice are important for all Quirks and skills." He stopped again and lowered himself, saying nothing.

Shota carefully moved to crouch beside him and peered out at what Tsume was looking at. In a tiny clearing, there was a single deer walking by. It stumbled and kept its head lowered, mouth gaping as it panted. Dark markings trailed down its face from the bleeding wounds on its head. Shota felt something press against his arm and looked to see Tsume staring at him. Without a word, Tsume leapt forward from cover and formed a blue barrier behind the deer. It let out a startled noise as it turned to flee but found the way blocked. Quickly, Shota wrapped the capture cloth around it, bringing it down as carefully as he could and preventing it from thrashing around.

"Good work," Tsume said as he turned into a human and approached the deer. He knelt beside it to examine it while Shota watched from the side.

The animal was breathing heavily, its eyes wide. Now that they were closer, Shota could see that the flesh and tissue of the head was exposed around two deep, bleeding holes.

"As I thought," Tsume said with a serious look.

"What is it?"

"If they would have just cut the antlers, then it wouldn't be such a big deal. They would grow back. But whoever it was seems to want the animal to die. Not only die, but suffer." He pointed at the wounds. "See this? They ripped the antlers out. Antlers are attached to the skull. This deer has two gaping wounds in its skull and the brain is exposed."

Shota felt a little sick but kept his composure.

"He won't last much longer."

"What are you going to do?" Shota asked.

Tsume sighed. "I'm going to put him out of his misery. This animal is beyond saving. The blood loss, the risk of infection, and so many other factors…" He gently stroked the animal's neck. "The pain will stop soon," he soothed. "Sleep now."

After putting the dying animal to rest and removing the cloth from its body, Tsume stood up and returned to his tiger form. "Best to leave it exposed so that nature can take care of it. Come now. Let's go meet up with Michi."

…

Michiru was waiting in the clearing, sitting in her regal-looking tiger form, when they arrived. "You're back," she said."

"Were you waiting long?" Tsume asked.

"No. Did you find the deer?"

He nodded. "We did. Unfortunately, I had to put him to rest."

"That bad, huh?" She looked sad. "I'll sing him the Ode to the Fallen later. But first… I found some evidence of trespassers, and my Aura Power tells me that they're still on the property."

"Where?"

She turned and pointed with her nose. "Over there. Near where the forest meets the barren area. I didn't confront them, but I did usher the deer away from that area."

Shota followed her gaze and spotted a few deer stepping around the edge of the clearing. Some of them were still small and covered in white spots.

"Right then," Tsume said as he began to head in the direction she had indicated. Michiru followed, with Shota at her side.

"You seem to like that song," Shota mentioned to her as they walked.

"Ode to the Fallen? Yes, but it's a sad song. Well, if you can understand the words, that is."

"Traditionally," Tsume chimed in, "we Tora, and even the Ōkami-Kage, would sing that song when a clanmate or close friend dies. But Michi likes it so much that she sings it all the time."

"It's not that I like it so much, rather… Well, I think it has a real impact, is all."

"Sure, sure," her brother teased. He then switched to teasing Shota instead. "You sure are curious about it, though, aren't you?"

"Er, well I –"

"Heh, you'll have to convince her to sing it in a language you can understand! That, or you can try learning the clan's ancient tongue. Admittedly, though, it's a bizarre language."

"Hush now," Michiru told him. "We're almost there."

At her command, they fell silent and began to move slower as they followed her. Shota noticed both Tora's ears flick forward and realized that he could hear voices up ahead.

"Nothing?" one said.

"Nothing," the other confirmed. "Do you think we killed 'em all?"

The other huffed. "Of course not! We've only gotten four, and I've seen plenty more than that around here."

Michiru, Tsume, and Shota stopped, crouching low in the foliage to peer out at the two intruders. They were two men; one was large and muscular while the other had long fingers that he was extending and retracting to entertain himself while he spoke.

"We've only found the one this morning," he said. Beside him was a blood-soaked sack on the ground, which he picked up with his long fingers and dangled. "One pair of antlers won't get us much. We should've taken the whole deer and sold the meat, too."

The larger man was hardly listening. "I saw a white deer the other day. A big bastard, it was. Impressive antlers."

Tsume glanced at Michiru, who looked at him with a serious expression. The two seemed to exchange their thoughts without words as Tsume nodded and silently stalked away. Shota was impressed by the coordination the two siblings always displayed. Whether it was because they were siblings or Tora or something else, they seemed to always know exactly what the other was thinking.

Michiru suddenly looked back at Shota and stared into his eyes with an intense gaze that somewhat surprised him. He stared back, unsure at first, then noticed the ever so slight signal she gave with her whiskers. That was it. The Tora spoke with their eyes and the most subtle of movements. He understood and moved forward so that he was even with her shoulder. From the corner of his eye, he could see her fur bristle, attracting his attention. When he looked at her, she angled her ears forward and lowered her head. It was time to move.

From the other side, Tsume suddenly leapt out with a roar, startling the two intruders who stood up quickly and stumbled back. Shota leapt out, too, and suddenly had the larger man wrapped tightly in cloth. The other intruder panicked and turned to flee, but was met with a purple barrier shortly before being pounced and held down by Michiru.

"What the hell's going on!?"

"You're trespassing on Tora property, that's what," Tsume told him. "Not only that, but you're illegally poaching in an animal sanctuary."

"W-We didn't know! Honest!"

"Did the fences with 'no trespassing' signs not give it away?" Tsume looked down at him. The stranger seemed lost for words. "I thought as much."

"If you're going to lie, then try harder than that," Shota grunted.

"I can't believe our deer were killed by fools like this," Michiru growled lowly.

"Shota," Tsume said. "Tie that one up, too. I take the big one. We'll drag them to the main clearing and wait for the police there. We have all the evidence we need." He carefully picked up the sack before walking over to the larger man who was struggling in the cloth. Tsume abruptly dropped the bloody sack on the man's head and began to drag him across the forest floor.

"You're just gonna drag us like that!?" the smaller man whined as he was tied up.

"Shut up," Shota said and roughly yanked the cloth tight, causing the man to yelp.

…

Shota and Michiru stood to the side and watched as Tsume spoke with the police. Once the police had arrived, both Tora had turned back into their human forms. Tsume was currently speaking with the officer in charge while the two men were being shoved into a vehicle. Suddenly, Michiru turned to Shota and smiled.

"Thanks for your help, Shota. You're really good with that capture cloth."

"It's nothing. It was the least I could do."

"And yet, it means a lot!"

He looked at her.

She smiled sweetly. "Now I can relax, knowing that the deer will be safe. Thanks!"

"Er, sure. It's no problem, really."

"You even caught on to our body language quick, too. That's really impressive. Heh, maybe some day you'll be able to avoid getting pounced on after all."

"And you're back to teasing me…" he sighed. She laughed, and he couldn't help but smile.

To be continued…

Here's some info about the OCs, cuz heck.

Michiru - Birthday: Feb 23; Hero Name: she just goes by Tora Michi, which translates to "Tiger Road" or "way of the tiger"; Likes: nature, deer, koi fish, cats; Dislikes: poachers, bullies; 3 Random Facts: She loves to play piano and sing and is really good at both! She can be playful and loves racing and startling people. She likes to dance to an old Tora song called Koi's Whisk, which mimics the graceful yet erratic motions of a koi swimming.

Tsume - Birthday: Sep 8; Hero Name: Light Claw; Likes: kids, full moons, rabbits; Dislikes: spicy food; 3 Random Facts: Tsume is asexual. He follows the Tora clan tradition of the youngest member (of the direct bloodline) being the leader; therefore, he often asks Michiru for her opinion on things before doing anything. Tsume views Shota and Hizashi as members of the clan/family.

Jaz - Birthday: May 12; Hero Name: Raiko; Likes: music, dancing, strawberries; Dislikes: fighting, being alone; 3 Random Facts: Jaz really loves to sing and dance, and he's amazing at both, but he's naturally timid and awkward in one-on-one interactions. Jaz never has his lower arms exposed; he always wears sleeves, jackets, or bracers to hide his scars, even in tiger form. Sometimes, people mistake Jaz for a girl at first glance.