Author's Note: Busy busy busy. I'm trying to keep pace, but life's been so hectic. Apologies for the delay.
In other news, I'm looking for a character artist! Someone who can capture the cast of Thawing Permafrost. If you know someone who might be interested (or can recommend someone who's open for commissions), hit me up in PM's!
I hope you enjoy!
He'd seen those eyes before. Knew that look. His first day shattered like a broken looking glass in his mind. He sat before Mizore again. Waited outside Mikogami's office. He recalled the fear he'd felt. It ate at the pit of his stomach, making way for the far fresher sight of Susumu.
Ikko snapped back to the classroom. Susumu stared at him, black glove covering her mouth. "You're… it can't- you can't be…"
He thought he'd be prepared. In this world of magic and monsters, he would surely encounter those who guessed his nature before he could hide it. Ikko opened his mouth to speak – to answer her, to assuage her, to beg her silence, to say anything only to have a strangled cry gurgle forth. "No, wait- Sasahara!"
She fled, door slamming. Ikko froze, hand outstretched.
Naoko broke the silence, for the first time speaking softly. "What was that about?"
Kia stared at Ikko's back, her face a blend of horror and dread, a mirror of his own. She recovered, forcing composure to countenance Naoko's question. "No idea. I'm sure she's mistaken – just a misunderstanding. Ikko?"
Ikko twitched. "Ikko!" Kia's voice pitched up, betraying the strain. "Maybe you should go clear it up?"
Even Nori looked up from his screen at the sound. Ikko's mind sped ahead of him, chasing Susumu down the hall, begging her to stop. What would she say? How might she spill the secret? If he was exposed…!
"Ikko – Ikko!" Kia pushed him. He stumbled, span to face her.
"What?"
"Get moving!" She hissed, pointing at the door. "Find Ruby! Come on!"
Ruby! Of course! "R-right!"
He barrelled out of the classroom, back into the dwindling crowds of the late afternoon. Even though everyone filtered into their new clubs or back to their dorms, they still numbered too many to pluck a face from them. Ikko's panic started to dwindle. Find Ruby – she could clear this up, surely, but how?
His shikigami quivered, feeding on his tension. The bracelet tightened. He stared at it, turning to face the wall to hide it from view. "Can you find her?" he whispered. "I-If your twin can find you, then surely…"
White's eye popped open, staring at him. It trembled, shook, then snapped down, pointing directly behind him. Ikko turned, and the eye swivelled to maintain its direction. "Yes! Thank you thank you thank you!"
He set off at a jog, checking the eye's direction as discretely as he could, around corners and dipping into empty classrooms. White's eye snapped left, right, each time snaking him away from crowds, as if aware of his needs.
Run ragged, Ikko slipped into another classroom on the second floor, clutching his side. "Where are you…?"
He checked White. She pointed straight ahead, to the door sectioning off a private office. In his panic and the failing light of the afternoon, he barely recognised it. Ikko approached the door, examining the brass strip and laminated name plate.
M. Shirayuki.
The door flew open behind him. Ikko lashed about, backing into the corner. Susumu stood in the hall, eyes wild, amazed. "H-how did you…?"
"Sasahara!" Ikko gasped. "Please – please, you have to listen to me-"
"I looked everywhere." Susumu panted. "How did you know she's here?"
"It's not what you think." He pushed off from the corner, staggering towards her. Affording himself a moment's respite turned his legs to jelly. He lurched forward. "Please, let me explain!"
"Stay back!" She screeched, holding her gloved hand out. Ikko flinched, throwing his arms up to shield himself, legs giving out.
"Don't hurt me!" He cowered, fear curling him into a ball, desperation fuelling his begging. "Please, Sasahara, please just listen."
He plea became the mantra that wracked his gulping breaths. The stitch from his rushing caught up to him, straining his voice. Susumu stared, dumbfounded, arm stretched out to keep Ikko at bay. It flopped to her side, and she to her knees, both catching their breath.
"Your fear," Susumu sighed, after the longest minute sharing naught but their exhaustion. "God, Ikko, your fear. When I felt that, I knew…"
"Knew…?" Ikko unfolded, slumping back against the leg of the nearest table.
"Only a human fears monsters so." Susumu whispered. "It's instinct. You're like rabbits staring down a fox, you can't help it. A stress unlike any other." She pushed her hair back, dragging the bangs loosed from the knot of her hair back behind her ears. Susumu rested a dark palm against her forehead, looking to Ikko. "Akada, what are you doing here? This is Yokai Academy, it's-"
"I know!" Ikko cut in. "I know where I am. I know what this is – what, what you are…"
Susumu's jaw slackened, her questions stuttering. He spoke before she could recover. "How did you know? You said that you, what, you felt my fear? What does that mean?"
"I-it's one of my gifts. I'm a – no, never mind that! Ikko, if you're here, if you know where you are…! Oh, this is so messed up. How did you even enrol?"
"I'm-" Ikko's heart stopped and Susumu's breath cut off. A door opened, lock clicking.
Ruby's voice echoed out into the classroom. "Who's there?"
Ikko shot to his feet, head colliding with the desk. "Ru-augh… ow…"
"Ikko!?" The witch hurried forward. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?" As she rounded the table, she spied Susumu, staring wild-eyed at the bent-double boy. "Wait – Su?"
"Ruby?"
"Su?" Mizore's head popped out of the office.
"Ow…" Ikko rubbed the stars from his eyes.
"Mizore?" Susumu flicked between the three, slowly picking herself up. "What's going on? Ikko's – he's a human…!"
"Yeah." Mizore stepped out properly, leaning on the doorframe. She replaced her lollipop.
Helped by Ruby, Ikko perched on the desk, still soothing the sharp pain of an unexpected table. "You know?" Susumu blanched. "Ruby- you too?"
"If I didn't, I do now, with how you two have been shouting." Ruby sighed, patting Ikko's shoulder. "What's going on here?"
"Su – Sasahara, I mean. She touched me and kinda… freaked out. Then I freaked out. She ran. I chased. Now we're here."
"You didn't chase me." Susumu corrected.
"W-well, no. I went to find Ruby. I was hoping you'd find me first, what with that uh…"
"He's been quiet. I didn't think you were in trouble." Ruby exposed her wrist, checking her shikigami. Like White, his eye snapped to Ikko's location. "Did you tell her to find me?" When Ikko nodded, Ruby sighed. "That's why – Ikko, she can't do more than one thing. She either monitors you or she locks onto Black."
"Can someone explain why this isn't a reason for me to be freaking out?" Susumu blurted. Ikko covered his wrist. "This isn't like Tsukune, is it? He's not-"
"You know Tsukune?" asked Ikko. Mizore folded her arms.
"She enrolled in our graduating year – and no, Su, this isn't like Tsukune. Ikko's here on an outreach program."
"Experimental outreach," Ruby added. "Very experimental. So experimental it mostly happened by accident."
"Accident?"
"My parents dumped me here." Ikko explained, scratching the back of his neck. "The headmaster asked if I wanted to stay on or go home."
"You chose to stay? Akada, that's madness!"
"I said that." Mizore piped up.
"Mizore, don't tell me you're okay with this. He'll face hell!"
"I said that, too." Mizore closed her eyes. "Remember that student who got attacked by Kotsubo?"
"Y-yeah, the Times had a-" Susumu stopped short, following Mizore's finger as it unfurled, pointing to Ikko. "That was you?"
Ikko nodded, avoiding Susumu's stare as it shifted from shock to abject horror. "And you're still here?" she asked.
"I am."
"Why?"
"I can't leave." Ikko mumbled. "I can't – I don't want to leave my friend."
Susumu pushed her hair back, gawping at him. "Kia? Really?" He nodded. She blew her cheeks out. "God… so…"
"Please, don't tell anyone," Ikko urged. "I-if word got out that I'm human, then…"
"Su's a friend," Ruby assured, "She wouldn't be so hasty. Would you?"
"I-I don't know! I mean, this is big. It's huge! Another human…" Susumu shifted her attention to Mizore. "And you're okay with this? Protecting him?"
"Ikko made his choice." Mizore affirmed, closing her arms around her chest. "It is what it is."
Ikko thought back to the newspaper club, to the photo of her smiling with her friends. Seeing Mizore now, he struggled to link the two. He might as well have found the photo buried in a basement, faded from exposure and folded a thousand times, for how much the bright smile in the photo resembled the guarded teacher perched in front of him. His head hung. "Please, Sasahara. I don't- I don't want to leave. Yokai's as much my home as it is yours."
Susumu turned her back to him, walking away. She set her hands on her hips. "No pressure, huh?" Her shoulders slumped. "Who else knows?"
"No-one." Ikko replied. "W-well, Kia, but that's it. No-one else. Just us."
"And you want to join my club?"
"What?" He boggled. "Uh- I mean, if I can. If it's not too much trouble. I'll understand if it-"
"Yes or no, are you joining my club?"
"Yes!" Ikko shouted. Then quieter, reclaiming his sense. "Sorry. Yes. I'd like to join."
Susumu sighed. She ran her black hands through her hair – and they were black, Ikko realised, not gloved. He saw where darkened skin ended and pale wrists began as she unknotted her hair, retying it into a loose ponytail long enough to hit the back of her waist. She turned back to him, smiling. "Then it's our secret. Susumu Sasahara, president of the Writing Club. Pleasure to meet you."
She held out a hand. Ikko reached out, stopping an inch from her. Susumu bridged the gap, clasping his hand firmly and shaking it for him. A soft touch, but somehow rough, too, like old leather. "I-Ikko Akada," he stammered, "Thank you for your hospitality, President Sasahara."
"Please, call me Su. Most people give up halfway through my full name, unless I'm in trouble.
"Su. Alright. I'm Ikko, then."
"That you are." Susumu grinned, releasing his hand.
"How come you're not freaking out this time?"
"I was ready for it. Like how you get used to hot water. Now – we should probably get back to the clubroom, greet the rest of our new members. If we're excused, Miss Shirayuki?"
The last question came with a teasing lilt. Mizore rolled her eyes. "Fine by me. I'll leave the rest in your hands."
"You're not coming back?" Ikko asked.
"Ruby's orders." Mizore yawned. She released from the tension of the encounter, and for the first time Ikko realised just how tired she looked, eyes emptied of their curious shimmer, lips quiet, set in an exhausted frown, bags under her eyes darkened a shade by the dim light of the classroom. "I'm to take the day off and rest."
"It's like finals week all over again." Su quipped, patting Ikko's shoulder. "C'mon. Let's go."
"A-alright."
They left Ruby and Mizore to whatever business occupied them. Once outside, Susumu checked the corridor for onlookers before rounding on Ikko, head bowed. "I owe you an apology, Akada. I didn't realise…"
"No, it's okay. Really. How could you have known?"
"Even so; I acted rashly, and that put you at risk. You're not like Tsukune, so I thought…"
Ikko arched his brow. "That's the second time you've said that. What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" Susumu lifted her head. Her eyes – chocolate brown, he noted, seeing her up close – shifted. "You don't know?"
"Mizore doesn't talk about him," he offered with a half-hearted shrug. Seeing the photo in the newspaper club, he understood why – and resolved not to push the issue, however much his curiosity burned.
"Makes sense…" Susumu hummed. She flapped her hand. "It's no big deal. What matters is that we're on the same page. So – friends?"
"Friends." Ikko nodded, trying a smile.
"Great! Let's go!"
Ikko fell face first onto his bed, duvet stifling his groan. He noised frustration, relief, exhaustion – all of his day – into the unfeeling chill of washed linens, until his lungs burned and begged for air. "Good god…"
He stared at the ceiling. White trilled on his wrist – he tapped her eye, releasing the shikigami so that she could claim her favourite perch in his room, atop his console. She flopped with uncharacteristic drama. "Tough day for you too, huh? All that running around."
White closed her eye. "Thank you." Ikko whispered. He rolled onto his side, aching all over.
Someone knocked on his door. Ikko seriously contemplated feigning sleep – but then remembering the flights of stairs that separated him from anyone who possibly thought it worth visiting, grumbled out. "Who is it?"
"It's me." Kia.
"Door's open." He hoped.
Rattle-rattle. "No it's not."
"One sec…"
He turned the lock and went back to the bed before Kia so much as opened the door. He heard her lock it behind her as he crashed back on the mattress. "What a day."
"What a day." He agreed.
"I thought you'd be gaming," she slouched on his desk chair.
"Are you joking?" Ikko grumbled, rolling once more onto his back. "I can barely move. All that walking – all that running. Chasing Su, listening to Naoko…"
"I can see why Nori's so quiet. She's noise enough for the pair of 'em." They shared a laugh, enough to restore some spark to his weary soul. Once they'd made their introductions, the bell rang for the clubs to dissolve and close for the day – with only a classroom to strip, that gave the newly-populated Writing Club time to sit and chat; or, more accurately, sit and listen to Naoko harping on about her excitement.
"I don't think I've ever seen you that quiet." He mused.
"I wasn't quiet!" Kia protested through her laughter.
"Could've fooled me."
She puffed her cheeks out, throwing her arms across her chest. "I had a lot on my mind."
"You did? Like what?" Ikko forced himself to at least face Kia, rolling onto his side. Her eyes darted from his.
"Stuff."
"Stuff?"
"Girl stuff!"
"Girl stuff?"
"Would you stop that? Yes, girl stuff!" Kia huffed.
"Right... You hungry?" Ikko offered, sitting up. She raised a hand.
"M'alright. Not when you're so tired."
"I don't mind. I can whip something up-"
"It's okay, Ikko. Thank you." She smiled, clutching to her skirt. "I…"
The way she began hollowed out his chest. "What's wrong?"
"Ikko – are you still afraid?"
"Afraid?" He scratched the back of his neck. "I mean, it's kinda natural, isn't it?"
"I guess…" Her head fell. "Does that mean you're afraid of me?"
"You?"
She nodded, stiff. Her eyes vanished behind her bangs, and he missed them straight away. "Before. When we – when you- when-"
Ikko's cheeks burned. "When… with Ruby?"
"Yeah! With Ruby. You asked if I was losing control again – and I don't know. I guess that…" Kia covered her chest with her hand, bunching a fistful of her shirt. "It hurt. A little. I get why, but…"
"Kia…"
"Can I prove it?"
"Eh?" Ikko's sat up a little straighter. "P-prove it…? Prove what?"
She looked up, baby blues gleaming not with tears, as had been her wont in the shade of her breakup. She set her eyes on her friend, determined. "I want to prove that I'm in control. That I can keep control. That you can trust me, Ikko. We spend so much time together that- that I thought, maybe… but if you're still scared of me, how can I call myself your friend?"
Ikko listened, frowning. He cast his eyes to the floor. "I don't think my fear is your problem."
"It is!" Kia insisted. "If I can just – if you'd just let me show you. Please, Ikko. You don't have to be afraid of me. I don't want you to sit next to me worried that I'm gonna – that it's gonna be like your first day, y'know? You don't need that…"
Ikko rubbed his eye. He understood, in part, the reason for her asking. Knowing that she wanted to push past the walls their instincts put up between them. He wished they could. His arms crossed, one across his stomach, one over his chest, hand covering his mouth. "Kia… it's okay. Really, it is."
"Ikko…"
"I trust you." He nodded, trying to sound sincere. "I know you won't lose control. You don't need to prove it. How would you even do that?"
Kia's cheeks flushed, dark red. Her eyes shot away to the corner of the room, hair lashing violently with the shaking of her head. "N-no, it's okay. It doesn't matter…"
"Kia?"
"It doesn't!" She snapped. "You trust me, right? S-so there's no need to, to…" She trailed off. Ikko curled tighter about himself. As good as the outcome sounded in his head, it didn't dislodge the hollowing of his chest, nor did it soothe his heart's attempt to tie itself into a knot.
"Is this the 'girl stuff'?" He whispered. Kia's gaze inched back towards his, head dipping in a tiny nod. "It's that important?"
She left the chair, standing before him with hands clasped tight, breath aquiver. "M-maybe it's more about… proving to myself that I can do it. Even if you believe that I can – especially because you believe that, actually. I want to know. For sure."
The blood in her cheeks didn't budge. Ikko could almost see the threads of her body, wound so tightly around each other, ready to turn and flee in embarrassment. How could he refuse her, knowing how she felt?
His gut twisted. How could he accept this, knowing that she might fail? "What… what do you want to do?"
Kia's breath quaked. She fought for every word that normally came so confidently, filled with such surety of purpose and welcoming warmth. "I… um… I think- I think I should… if you're okay, that is… I want to get used to your scent. Get close to it. No masking. And. Uh… Y'know…"
"Get used to it?" Ikko fidgeted, clasping and unclasping his hands. He looked up and down the room, around Kia. "Like… be near it?"
She nodded. Ikko's throat dried. "How near?"
"Very near." She mumbled, staring at the carpet. "As close as I can get. As close as- as you'll let me."
Ikko sucked inwards, breathing heavily through his nose. "I…"
"Only if you want to," Kia urged, "Only if – only if you're sure. After Kotsubo, after today, I'll get it if you can't."
"It's not that I can't. It's-" Ikko stared at the same spot of carpet she stared at. Perhaps it would catch fire, and distract from their need to confront their feelings. Finding no such relief, he mumbled. "That's really close."
"It is." Kia reached out, fingers scraping gently against his clasped hands. "So…?"
"So…" He dragged the noise out, giving himself room to think. "I'll- I'll need a shower. To get rid of the, um, the masking spell."
"'Kay. I'll wait here?"
"Sure." Ikko stood, sidling around Kia. Her expression defied explanation. He tried to match it to his own feelings. Nerves? Terror? Bewilderment? Wonder? He couldn't stop thinking about the implication, about what it meant to be that close.
"Ikko?" Kia noticed his gawping. "What's wrong? Is this too weird?"
"Yes." Ikko replied. Then, after a thought. "No. Yes. No – but yes, um. Good weird. Weird… good."
She stared. He tried to swallow the glut blocking his throat. "I'm gonna… shower."
"Okay."
"Could you put something on?" He nodded to the TV. "I'm kinda- this is freaking me out a little."
"Me too." Kia replied, her smile falling short of her eyes. She picked up the controller and started finding something on the internet, giving Ikko leave to flee into the bathroom.
He slumped against the door, catching his breath. What was happening? Was this happening? Really? Truly?
He threw himself out of his clothes and tumbled into the shower. Music fought with the rush of water. Gentle brass, a steady beat – just like the soundtrack at Black Cat. Remembering their favourite couch slowed his erratic washing, gave his mind something to chew on besides the possibilities of the next few minutes. They'd spent so much time together – and most of that cuddled up, or at least within arm's reach. Letting her this close wouldn't change that much, would it? She only wanted to get used to his scent. Right?
Ikko scoured the last inch of himself and switched off the water. He towelled off, dressed, and then stopped at the door.
No music. He exited into a dark hall. She'd switched the light off. His TV displayed a list of recommended videos, its bright, backlit screen the only harsh glare in the room. His feet padded, muffled by the carpet, and his hair clung messily to his face. "Kia…?"
She didn't respond. He looked around the room, drawn in particular to a lump on his bed. A blonde-haired lump, breathing softly, shoulders rising, hands curled in front of her. Kia slept soundly, fully-clothed atop his bed.
Ikko's heart stopped. He kneeled at the bedside, bringing his eyes level with hers. In the glare of his TV, her hair looked more platinum than blonde, spools of finest silver framing full, round cheeks. Her breath wisped warmly, evenly, sweet as her perfume. Her fingers curled up, but didn't close, half-open as if waiting to wrap around another's. Ikko wondered who her dreams filled that hand with.
His knees started to ache, reminding him of the reality the idyll of her slumber coaxed him from. Ikko smiled, whispering her name. "Kia… hey, Kia."
"Mngh?" She grumbled, one eye opening. "Ik…ohnoooo…"
He laughed, barely louder that the rustle of the bed. "You fell asleep."
"I did? Time'sit…?"
"It's not been that long. D'you want to head home?"
"Mm…" Kia's eye closed again. She curled tighter. "Buh… I wann'ed… I wanna… You…"
"Me?"
She nodded, bleary. Through the fog of her exhaustion, Kia's candour cut deeper. "You're scared of me…"
"I'm-" Ikko's throat strangled his reflexive answer. He unwound the knot, loosening its bonds with the right words – the words she wanted, the words he'd hidden with anxiety. He took a breath. Found a smile. A smile for her. "You're too cute to be scared of."
Kia's eyes opened again. "Really?"
"Least scary monster ever." Ikko nodded. "I'm surprised anyone's scared of you."
"Promise you're not?"
"I do." He whispered. Her fingers twitched, sliding slowly across the mattress to fumble at his wrist. Ikko set his hand in hers, letting her wriggle between the gaps in his grasp before closing. "I promise, Kia. I could never be scared of you."
A single bead dripped from her eyes. Kia's smile crept across her face, hampered by her half-sleep. "M'glad…"
He barely felt her squeezing his hand, but Ikko squeezed back all the same. She dozed – and he watched her, resting his head on the mattress. "I'm so tired." Kia murmured.
"Me too." He didn't fight the yawn that accentuated the point.
"Can I sleep here tonight?"
"There's only one bed…" Ikko mused.
"I'm really small. See?"
She wiggled, shuffled, and wormed her way back against the wall, leaving a space just under an Ikko Akada wide on the single mattress. "Small. We can… you can sleep too."
"Are you sure?" asked he, polite as he asked for permission to climb into his own bed. She nodded, releasing his hand so he could take his socks off and shuffle in next to her. He hid under the covers, duvet pressing his t-shirt against his chest, pushing his jeans up. He kept his arms at his sides, gluing his gaze to the ceiling as Kia pulled the covers up, struggling to get beneath them and lie next to him.
Her hand scraped his arm. "Ikko." She breathed in his ear, causing him to stiffen more. "Ikko."
"Mm?"
"You need to move."
"Mm." He didn't. "H-how?"
She laughed again, breathing washing over him. "Face me."
"Face you?"
"It's okay. Come on. I'm waking up."
He rolled onto his side, seeing the light of his TV reflecting in bright blue eyes. Kia's warmth spread into her smile, patiently guiding him. "Is this your first time sharing a bed?"
"Like… with a girl?"
"Like ever."
Ikko nodded, and would have done so whatever she specified. Kia exhaled. "Okay. Give me – put your hand… there."
She navigated his arm under her shoulder, and from there pushed him to lay on his back. She curled up at his side, nose buried into the crook of his neck. "Okay. Comfy?"
"Not really." Ikko croaked.
"What's wrong?"
"It's-" He struggled to find a phrase that didn't end in her potentially slapping him. "Warm."
"You are warm…" Kia mumbled, nestling closer. That didn't help. "You can take your top off."
"What!?"
"What?"
"I-I think I'll manage."
Kia sighed. "You're so weird."
"I'm not." He protested. "This is weird. Sharing a bed. Being… being…"
He looked down at her as she looked up. Their eyes met. Kia inhaled. "Being what?"
"Kia…" Ikko whispered, transfixed. Kia untangled herself from the embrace, propping herself up on her hands.
"What?"
His head tipped, making sure. "Your eyes…"
"My eyes?" Kia blinked. "Oh, god. They're not – they haven't changed, have they? Have they?"
"No, no!" He hastily added. "They're – they're normal. Completely. I just…"
She shrunk under his stare, flickering away. "You…?"
"They're so pretty." Ikko stated, flat and unromantic. A simple observation, but one that snapped her gaze to his. Even in the half-light, shifting as a notification popped onto his TV screen, Ikko saw her cheeks darken. The warmth of her breath caught on a stutter.
"You think?"
"I've never seen them so close."
"You haven't." Kia agreed. Her body twisted, bringing her leg properly over his lap. Ikko backed himself into a half-seat, propped up against the bed frame. "Want a closer look?"
She looked straight at him, now, eyes level. Ikko nodded, dislodging his hair, bringing bangs over his eyes. Before he could clear them away, Kia's palm swept them back. "You can," she breathed, touching her forehead to his, "Look at much as you like."
The TV cut out, plunging them into the dark. Ikko stared into her eyes, drinking deeply of those brilliant baby-blues until their eyes closed, and they pressed closer.