The Rocky of UA.
Chapter 2: Back to Square One.
Running through the streets on the back of Mr. Shiozaki, it's really weird how focused he is. He leaps onto the rooftops.
"Uhh… Mr. Shiozaki?!" I yell, barely hanging on, "What's the plan?!"
"The plan, my lad, is that you'll get Ibara back home safe. I shall handle this." he lands before a big house on a massive hill, his green eyes flash a bright red and he takes off his glasses.
"You're a good lad, Renaru. May the Lord bless and keep you, there's a break in the fence a skosh that way. Get Ibara and no matter what you run like the devil is after your immortal soul." he smiles down at me, his hand warm and massive on my head, ruffling my hair.
"What about you?" I ask.
He whips off his coat, his cassock collar snaps, and his shirt falls to his waist. His body is torn and burnt with scars, his face has a pretty big and solid rip from jaw to eye. His eyes burn into the front gate.
"I'm going to war."
At that I dash towards the wall, my phone ringing and I fumble it out of my pocket, "Mom?! I'm kinda bus-"
"The hell you are! Get home now!"
"But Ibara-"
"She'll be fine! Just get home!" she yells, "Fucking Bible-thumping jackass taking you! You know what?! Just sit tight! I'll come get'cha!"
Mom hung up.
This is insane! Why am I standing up against Hayao?! In his home territory? With men that are under his orders no matter what?! But I hop, loosening up from earlier. Hayao's tortured me for long enough, no matter what happens.
I'm gonna save Ibara, and I'm gonna be a hero. I smile.
"What? Do you really think you can take us all down?" Hayao asks, "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face."
"No, but I'll give it a shot. You took someone that's very important to me. But MORE THAN THAT!" I charge in, throwing a big right straight into his lackeys' face. Flames blast out of my fist, sending the guy screaming backward.
"You messed with me for years, took my pride!" my flames flow and bend around me, hardening my stance, "Now you got the balls to try to mess with my girlfriend?!" Weaving, dodging, dancing through the throng, my body still shaking but everything becomes clear even with the hits I weather.
He's scared. Terrified. He's moving through the crowd shitting his pants because he thought he could just keep Ibara here? My fists burn and break their way through the crowd, my pain is secondary, my bands strain but I don't care.
Quirks hit me hard, sending me spilling down onto the floor. Nothing broken but I rise and spit some blood out of my mouth. My flames build, heat burning inside me just waiting to tear out and tear some shit up.
"Whew! Alright…" I punch my fists together, "Hoo! Hoo! Let's go!" In my head there's Gonna Fly Now, in my fists there's nothing but flames. Bending them, blasting them. The army of men rush me down but I let my fists fly.
I'm not done. I didn't hear the bell. I didn't hear a bell. A hit comes screaming close, then everything goes blurry, bunching up and trying to weather the storm. Everything fades into a hot storm of blows, just trying to fend them off.
My arms and legs go numb, my motions dull out and I go flying into the wall, thrusting my elbows backward and my flames blast through it. Shredding my bands at the elbows. My body shudders, cracks appear underneath the black mesh material. Charge! Feet slamming into them, my hair going insane with the heat, my breath leaking out smoke. Blurs of color overtake my sight an' all I can do is just keep punching and kicking. That's all I can do and all I need to do.
She needs me. I can't just leave her here with this bastard! I can't give up! Push a little harder! Push a little harder! Do it! The men around me crash like a tide, swallowing me down in a wave of quirks, but as much as my body cracks and shows more and more flames, my mind is focused on one thing. Ibara. My best friend. The first friend I ever had. The day I asked her to be my falls on my face, upside down against the chain link fence. Everything on its bases, the rain hisses against my hair.
"Well shit." I mumble, "That didn't go well."
The rain stops falling on me and the papping of canvas takes over. Sitting over me is Ibara, smiling down, and untangling me from the fence. Sitting there under the umbrella, she sits me up and checks me over. Always taking care of me. Her hands soft and her eyes gazing at every bruise and cut like it was a personal offense. Silence takes over everything before she breaks it with her soft voice becoming much more worried, her ragged vines reaching for me almost like she wants to hold me.
"If you could just stop charging in, I'd be much less stressed." she sighs, sitting with me as the rain falls around us.
"Ibara…"
"I know what you did was for me, but I worry! I worry about you and how you are and what you do and I-" she's sputtering, her eyes wide and almost filled with tears. My heart clenches hard and all I want to do is hug her.
"Ibara! Listen…" I start, "Listen, I… I…"
"Don't worry about me. Just focus on what's in front of you."
Vines lash me out of the way from a quirk and suddenly Ibara is standing there, glaring at Hayao's back, her eyes wide and anger clear on her face. Everything settles into an almost pleasant calm, the men all bound and leaving me alone to face him.
"Kaenshita…" he growls, "You have no chance."
"Oh yeah? Don't threaten me with a good time." I dash in, his quirk trying to stop me but the thing is… I don't. A jab to the chin hits home, his body goes stiff and falls backward, before his leg lashes out and hits my guard.
"Khkk!" I wheeze, "Wow, that wasn't that bad!"
"How?! How did you break my-"
I smile, "Well, it's a little something called willpower." my arm stiffens, burning lancing through my muscles, cracks appearing in my arm. I don't waver for a second, Ibara still holding back the men with her vines, using more to tie them down. My legs heat up, blasting me forward and hitting him hard in the stomach with a condensed spear of flame shooting through his stomach, burning through the room and burning through Ibara's vines, leaving them short but he crumples.
"Haaah…" I breathe out, then the bands on me snap and break, my body almost dropping completely, until one of the last vines carries me to Ibara's loving arms.
"I love you." I said.
"Finally." she said.
And we kissed. Just like now. Then a blinding pain hits me, burning and searing, eating through my body.
"Aaagh!" I scream, the pain growing to be too much as Hayao's body fades away and he stands there completely undamaged. Ibara holds me close, her grip strong.
"I have you, it's going to be okay. Just…"
Heat builds quickly outside, "Renaru! Renaru, baby!" Mom screams in, before Ibara cuts in.
"Mrs. Kaenshita, please! It's… it's Renaru!" The sound and the fury fades out, my body burning and my sight fades out.
Years ago, I failed. My life changed forever the instant I came here. To this hallowed nation and to this place. Cracking, popping, my branches spread as I grip the steel gate, I clear my throat.
"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…" My muscles swell and strengthen, a rush of adrenaline heralds the coming of more power, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!"
The gate breaks off the tracks and I dash in, my fist flying and decking the security out front. What fools. What utter trash. Moving fast, my branches snarling around them and lifting them high.
I have no time, I have to end this now! Deep within me something stirs, my muscles bunch and loosen, contracting and expanding. Branches reaching for the sky, twisting and moving with the anger pumping my heart. A thunder guided me on, the town my wife loved sickened by this family that I was too blind to see, making things darker until I was driven to the ground and forced t'give my daughter's hand in marriage to this scumbag's child.
There's something in my mind…
"Krieg."
"Kreig."
"Krieg!"
"KRIEG!"
My branches heed my call, sharpening and ripping the men to shreds. I had been through worse. Battlefronts, villain attacks, I grab a sword from the wall and run a poor bastard through. The rest all back up.
"It's him!"
"Hatchetation!"
"Wait, like Carry Nation?!"
"He's WORSE!"
I smile and pull the sword out of the man, "In the name of God, our father in heaven. I, Colm Ryker-Shiozaki, will cleanse you of all sin and grant you safe passage outta here if ye surrender now."
I shoulder my blade, "If you do not wish to surrender, ye can die here."
They all back up, but one of them dares to rush from behind. In one stroke he's gone. Another crushed by my hand. My body responded to them, creating the monster all over again. Break their spirits, dash their hopes with my blade of iron. A storm of death and rage, a storm of terror and peril. All of it crashes upon them. When I'm done, there's nothing but memories coursing through my mind. My wife's hand on my cheek, Ibara's tiny little giggles as a little'un, and the loss.
"Ah, if it isn't Colm!" a rough voice exclaims behind me, two sets of footsteps echo on the marble, before a window busts in and the other man goes to deal with the issue. All I do is clean the blood off my blade. The man standing before me is Daisaku Kuroda, old and with silvering gold hair and similar golden eyes. He's not the man who ruined everything in my life, but he DID raise a boy who'd cause my daughter to suffer.
"Kuroda…" I snarl.
He raises his hands, "Now I get there was a misunderstanding here. Your daughter came here to settle a disagreement between my son and Kaenshita's crippled little whelp. But-" all I want to do is crush him.
And I do. Grabbing him and slamming him clear through the floor, "May you never darken these streets again!" I snarl, "And if I ever see your face here again, I will tear you to shreds and DASH YOUR BLOODLINE UPON THE STONES!"
"Mmrgh! Mrrmg." he struggles against my hold but I hoist him up with some more branches.
"Or, better yet…" My branches take him as I walk away. Going towards the sounds of flames and punctuated hits like curse words. Blood just drips on the stones. He'll live, just not here. Not in this gaudy edifice to sin. Not in my town.
The window shatters and I rush on in, my fists sending flames throughout the room and burning through the men stationed there. All I want is my son back. That's all I want and nothing else. Shiozaki dragged him into this probably because he trusts Renaru to bring Ibara back safe and sound.
"Well aren't you a specimen?" Kuroda's brother, Goro, whistles as his sleazy voice sends shivers down my spine. But that ain't the problem. His eyes rove my body and that just won't fly! My fist finds its mark but he blocks it with his hand.
Sparks and smoke swirl from my fist and normally my quirk'd turn this bastard into nothing but a shitty pile of ashes but his quirk shoots out and binds my body. Chains of Light kinda works like that American Comic Hero, who was it? Wonder Woman, yeah!
"Now now, Ms. Kaenshita, we won't have that." my mind calms down.
'Wait… no! My body! I can't-' I grit my teeth as I sit down, 'No! Get back up, Tekka! While you still can! Find Renaru, find your son!'
"At least you're a sensible little thing, aren't you? Fierce and determined, not as much of a pushover compared to the Shiozaki woman."
"What the fuck's that supposed to mean? I'm here for my son! And I'm married, Dickless!" I snarl and the guy touches my chin, lifting my face.
"And you'll get your son back, gorgeous." he says, one more word outta his slimy mouth an' I'm pummeling him! I jerk my face away, spitting on him.
"Fuck you." getting to my feet, even though the quirk he's got is telling me not to. My hair billows like fire, "Sweet talkin' misogynist… I'm gonna enjoy beatin' the shit outta you." reaching into my coat I bring it out.
A white bound sheath with a hilt sticking out of the top, my old sword newly sharpened. I didn't know when it'd come in handy, but considerin' Shiozaki's the hero in the situation… lethal force can be applied.
But I know better. Renaru needs me. He's outnumbered, and I don't think Ibara's in a position to help either considering what kind of damage this guy's brother's brat can do. I grab the hilt and fire rips through my arm.
"Haaa…" I breathe in, unsheathing it as the Golden Chains shatter, "Feels so good to be back!" I grab my sword in both hands, the weight familiar like an old friend. The sword that was forged in my own fire.
The sword I used to think would be a good fit for my son. But I close the distance, slashing through the broken wall bits from the fight with the senior Kuroda and Colm tossed at me by Goro.
I used to be an Eighth Dan in Kendo. It all comes back to me, just thinking about those days brings tears to my eyes. Thinking of my Dad, thinking of my brother… actually, screw it and screw HIM!
The only days when I'll cry are when my baby boy gets married or when I see my dad off of this wild ride called life! My arms burn as my tattoo lights up, burning off my right sleeve and hand, cracking like magma veins.
"Pele's Blessing, first form! Pele's Hair!" my sword flashes with my quirk, cutting the guy's clothes to fine strands. He stumbles on his feet, butt naked.
"Uh…" he starts, "Wow."
"Ugh." I whirl and nail him with a heavy left hook. I belt my sword back onto my waist, it's not half bad. But it could've been better.
"Aaagh!" my son screams.
"Renaru! Mommy's coming!" I squeak, breaking into a sprint, 'Did I seriously call myself Mommy?! Fucking lame!' I run to the room, hearing a whimpering crying.
"Renaru! Renaru, baby!" I yell getting to the room and see my boy on the floor, shaking all over, cracks appearing in his body with the Kuroda's little brat holding the shreds of his bands. Not only that but Ibara's holding him.
"Mrs. Kaenshita, please! It's… it's Renaru!"
"I know!" I snap, closing in fast.
I stomp on the brat's head, kicking him away from my baby boy, looking down at him. He's thrashing, sweating, fire and smoke wheezing out of his mouth as the cracks spread, Ibara gathers him near her chest, almost as if her body would stop what's happening. The little brat snaps his fingers and the men gather around me.
"You fucker… you waste of GODDAMN SPERM." my voice thunders, rumbling like the earth, "What the hell did you do to my boy?!" I grab my sword hilt, but then I calm down.
I swore never to raise my sword when my baby boy was born. I buried this deep, far away in a storage unit back in Mustafu. I only brought it because Illumicho was absolutely crawling with bastards like these.
"I just showed him how broken he is!" Kuroda laughs. I toss my sword away.
I crack my knuckles, "Okay kiddo. Time for Auntie Tekka to show you exactly what discipline is." My quirk burns bright, the men charge right on in and my fists burn through the room, the elaborate house bursts into flames from my body heat.
This piece of shit brat and his piece of shit family needs a real education on how this world works. He already looks burnt to hell from Renaru's hits but I make it all worse, my fists crush his bones, my flames scathe his good looks down to nothing. He'll never push my baby around again. This is all just too easy, and I pick my baby boy up, vines wrapped around his arms and legs as best as they could be, trying to stabilize him. This isn't good and the house is pretty much fucked.
Sirens blare and Shiozaki comes storming up half naked from the waist up and holding a two handed sword with one hand. It's not smart but he just wraps his arm around his daughter. We both go out the front, the news and authorities swarming the area because it's not normal here that a house all the sudden becomes a forest on one side and a firezone on the other.
"I'll handle this, you take Ibara and Renaru back to your place, Tekka." he says.
"Like hell I will! Renaru needs a hospital!" snapping at him makes him flinch and look at me like he got slapped, but damn right. He dragged my baby into this and there's no way I'm leaving my son in a QP Reset.
So I head out to my car, speeding off towards the nearest hospital, Massa General. I had to. Ibara's in the back with Renaru. More cracks appear on his arm and he groans. Quirk Palsy's got a lot of different effects.
This is his.
Enji Todoroki was not a patient man. But the minute the report from the Kuroda Family mansion raid came in, he stopped everything, eyes wide as dinner plates, shock going through his system a mile a minute.
"This… no… she…" he breathes, glaring at the smug smile of his little sister, Tekka, staring back at him. It was a mugshot but the report…
She cut the bastard's clothes off, definitely sounds like her. But that wasn't the only thing he was concerned about. Further on down the line the young heir Hayao Kuroda was beaten within an inch of his life.
The rest of the men there were beaten to a bloody pulp of burnt, shambling husks. Still alive, but barely. He didn't find it prudent to arrest her, but the real disquieting scene was with the head of the family. Daisaku Kuroda was crucified. His heart dropped like a stone, his throat goes dry. Hatchetation, Germany's top hero, always captured major villains that way. Executions were usually done with a hatchet.
But there he was, on the television, a kind face belying a monster. Charming, soft spoken, and a man of God doing his duty. He turned up the volume.
"Ah no, the fire was caused by a faulty wiring system, no quirk involved." he denies, the green eyes still glowing a slight bit red, "Other n' that, they took my daughter, and I couldn't let that go."
The reporter awws, and a text comes in on Endeavor's phone, reading: Found her at Massa General Hospital.
Endeavor extinguishes his flames and takes off his hero costume, putting on his suit and pausing at a family photo. His mother glaring at the camera, his father glaring at it too, but Tekka and him hugging each other both covered in flour with the entire kitchen covered in it. He chuffs, putting on a tie, "What have you done now, Tekka?" he sighs. Endeavor entered the office, and Enji left, going towards the parking garage.
Time to be a good uncle, Enji Todoroki.
The pressure of waiting isn't lost on me. But the thing is, how in the hell am I going to pay for this? It wasn't my fault, my baby boy got dragged into this and I don't know what to do and he's almost completely passed the fuck out. Then the cracks. God, the CRACKS. He's got them now. Ibara sits next to me, her hands clasped together, praying as quietly as she can. She's always been by his side. Always keeping an eye on him.
I finished the video projection. Playing back the part where he has to live in Mustafu. Far away from home. Far away from me. It'd take me six hours to drive there and back, not as long on the train but…
I needed to avoid it at all costs. Just… I'm not ready. Renaru lies in the bed, his eyes closed, the cracks on his skin are covered up by temporary sleeves. Ibara still sticks by our side though. She's a good girl. A good friend for Renaru. More than I could ever ask for.
"Hey, Ibara?" I ask.
"Hm? Oh, Mrs. Kaenshita! Sorry, I was praying." her cheeks redden and I know that look. She's got feelings for my boy. I don't get angry or upset. She's perfect.
"I heard." I smile, "You know Renaru loves you to bits, right?"
She nods, "Of course, he and my father came to help me!" she exclaims, "He put himself on the line just to save me from Hayao, and I'll never forget that." the soft beeping takes over the room, his chest rises and falls.
Okay, since he's not awake, guess I'll do it myself. Ibara nods though.
"I know what you're going to say, I've been looking into UA myself since he's been through the Special QP Exams, you have nothing to worry about." she grabs my hand, "I'll keep an eye on him, I swear I will."
Smiling, I slip an arm around her shoulders, "There's a good girl. I'm going out for a little bit, tell me if he wakes up."
I leave my phone with her and dig around my bag for the old vice I couldn't kick. Looking back at Ibara and my sleeping son. I put the cigarettes back. No time and no need. I wait outside in the hallway right by the door. Just to watch. I almost sense him before clapping eyes on him. What's that Bible story? Cain and Abel? Yeah, except I'm Abel. Walking up in a fancy Armani suit is my brother, probably coming out of that fire red armored Lambo and here to mock me for just being a good hero.
He stops right next to me, his red hair spiky and his turquoise eyes pinning me down with a similar glare to our mom. I glare right back and he doesn't break. He used to shatter like glass under the glare but here we are just daring each other to make a move.
"Tekka, what do you know about Hatchetation?" he asks, his voice like the growl of a volcano ready to blow.
"What? No 'hello?' No 'how are you?' No… no 'Hey I'm sorry about your kid?!' Really nice, Enji." my body itches for the slow calm of a cigarette, but I'm kicking the habit because Renaru needs me, "Also who the fuck cares? Shiozaki's a fossil."
"That's not why I'm concerned. He's dangerous." he continues, "Look, I'll pay for your bills and your son's new set of bands if you just tell me what you know." he looks desperate and I think back to the day Renaru was born, the same day my husband was arrested.
"Oh yeah? Anything else?" I raise an eyebrow, "Maybe an apology?"
"Fine. I'm sorry for arresting your husband," he huffs, "Now tell me."
I smile, "Well, he's pretty much a monster. Big, tall, has branches, and ah…" a shadow falls over him.
"It's very rude to talk about someone who is listening, Frau Todoroki." he says, smiling down at us with a pleasant air about him, body crackling like wood. Enji and I both nod and he leans back, standing at his full height.
"If ye must know, Endeavor, I mean no harm to this country or these people. I have no war to fight, nor a battle to win. I'm just a father raising his daughter in the way I have learned." he still smiles, but it doesn't meet his eyes.
It's like his eyes are burning into his soul, just tearing through him like a hot knife through butter. His smile wasn't fake at all but the eyes make the difference. It's telling us not to press it further. But…
Ibara comes out, "Mrs. Kaenshita! He's awake!" her voice snaps me out of the fear as I shove Colm out of my way and towards his room. Coming in, I see him looking down at his arms, his legs too. His right fingers have obsidian caked on the stems of his fingers and his right toes too.
His red-orange eyes meet mine, "Mom, did I win?" I hug him tightly and he laughs, "I guess I did!"
"Don't go running off with Mr. Shiozaki again, you hear me? You terrified the shit outta me! Just… how'd you…?"
"I just put all I had into my fist, the cracks appeared and everything fell into place." he looks up at me with a sheepish little smile, "I'm sorry I worried you, Mom. I just had to help, I couldn't let Ibara marry that jackoff!"
I loop my arm around his shoulders and squeeze him a little, "You're a good kid, Renaru." I sigh, one of the best in the world I bet.
"Really?!" he gasps, "Yay! I'm so happy you think that, Mom!" he hugs me again and I move him to the bed, Enji comes in right around that time though and watches from the doorway. Renaru glares at him.
"Enji, what are you doing?" I ask.
"I figured I could talk to my nephew." he says with a smile, it looks genuine enough but I'm not really sure I should leave him alone with my son. But then Ibara comes back in, still so concerned, still worried and she sits down by the side of the bed.
She's always there for my boy. Always there to make sure he's okay. But she should live for herself at least. Enji moves further in and Renaru still glares at him. Colm pops his head in.
"Tekka, let's leave our children alone fer now." he says, "We've done enough t'interfere."
Enji watches as I leave and I glare into his eyes, "You do one thing wrong and I'll ruin you, you got it?" I snarl.
"Right," Enji says, "I won't."
The hospital is familiar to me. Surgieries and appointments, everything really messed up and all kinds of weird. My mind's all fuzzy and all I have to ground me is my Mom and Ibara. Mostly Ibara. The guy standing there with his arms awkwardly at his sides, blue eyes searching for something to talk about with me is APPARENTLY my Uncle, Enji. He clears his throat and I give him the best smile I can.
"So, I'm your uncle," he says.
"Yeah, I know." my voice is flat, "And you're a jerk. I don't like jerks."
He looks at me in shock before smiling, "Ah, I see. Your mother told you everything, yes?"
"You're the reason why I don't have my dad around, anything you say is trash. You're a 'hero' but all you do is horrible things to people you're supposed to love." I rise a little, "I'll accept your help 'cause you didn't arrest my mom."
His flames light up and Ibara stands up, "Boy…" he snarls. He pretty much has a mane of fire and Ibara's really acting weird.
"I'm just saying. You should quit while you're ahead, I'm still healing. Also, Ibara here's a lot stronger than she looks." I wink at her and she glances back at me, she's bluffing but I continue on.
"I'll be the next big hero, there's no way I'll ever be a hero in a world made by men like you." I snarl, "I'll change the world!" He looks at me with a slight smirk.
"At least you have a strong spirit to make up for your faulty body." he nods and turns his back to me, "I hope you can keep marching on."
"Bet on it, old man." my shakes are worse off than before, but that's 'cause I don't have my new bands. Ibara's vines, if they were long enough, could replace them temporarily. But she's still here, still nearby.
"Ibara, you're okay!" I exclaim, she walks over and grabs my hand, quaking and shuddering even as I wrap it around hers. She lifts it to her lips and kisses my bandaged knuckles, tears welling in her eyes.
"I wish I could've done more for you, my love." she sniffles, "Just… I'm sorry."
"Hey, no need to apologize, you're way stronger than you think you are." I smile and she shakes her head.
"Then why couldn't I help?" she asks, "Why must you run in on your own?"
"Because your dad would kill me if he knew what you could do," I sigh, "Ibara, I know you have some kinda… strength enhancement thing. It's something I can tell." she sputters and her cheeks go beet red.
"S-strength enhancement?! What do you mean? I've never lifted-"
"You lifted me. I'm a hundred something pounds soaking wet, easy!" I smile, "Maybe my lovely girlfriend is super strong!"
Ibara starts forward, "Maybe… Maybe…" she sputters, "Maybe you're just imagining it!" she's got red cheeks and I grab her hands.
"If I am, I don't care. I would love you regardless. Because you're precious to me. You've been there since the beginning, my best friend." I lean forward and she kisses me, her lips soft and her grip around me stronger than the hits I took for her. Stronger than anything ever.
She pulls back, "I don't ever want to leave you." she says, "Whatever it is, we'll face it together."
Thinking back to the fact I gotta move closer to Mustafu, out of Ilimicho, out of her arms? I don't like it. But… she sits on the bed, expecting me to just tell her 'yeah, we'll get through it' or, 'Yeah we'll just face it together!'
I don't want to go. I don't want to leave my Mom or her. I don't want to leave everything I knew behind. It's scary, fear grabs my shoulders and shakes me. And my shoulders jolt. Breaking into tears, they burn down my cheeks, my eyes close and she pulls me back into her arms.
"Renaru, what's the matter?" she asks.
"I… I got accepted into UA, and… and I have to leave. I have to go closer to the school and…" I warble, squeezing her, "I don't want to lose you!"
"Oh." she states, "Well, you won't." she kisses me on the forehead, rocking me a little. Her heartbeat steady, her voice rising in a soft, lullaby-like hymnal.
"How?" I whisper, the fear still holding me tight, the idea that I could ever be on my own scaring me to death. But she runs her hand through my hair, softly burning with nothing more than a small, tiny little flame.
How long?
How long will I have to take to get back to fighting shape? Ibara still stays with me even though she's not supposed to.
"Because, darling. The normal practical exams are still coming, I'm sure I'll get a spot." she says, moving off towards the couch, "Now rest, I'm certain that when you recover you'll be training in no time."
I smile and look over at her, "I love you, Ibby."
"I love you too, Renaru." she lays down, the lights turn off and I close my eyes, finally asleep without any pain, probably because of all the painkillers. But at least she's safe. I have a new road to walk tomorrow.