CH. 43 - A Day Off

The early morning of a different day…

Moshiro lays in bed sleeping peacefully when a knock is heard at her door. She pays it no mind when a few more knocks are heard. She twitches a little as the knocks then come repeatedly, over and over without stopping. Moshiro slowly opens her eyes as she groans awake.

“Come on, Moshi! I want to go out!” Yoko says excitedly from the other side of the door.

Moshiro sits up as she holds her head with a look of pain. She pulls the blankets back and puts her feet on the floor as she tries to stand up, but as soon as she does, she winces in pain, grabbing her side and almost falling down. She keeps herself up as she takes a deep breath before standing up straight and getting dressed.

As Moshiro leaves her room and turns around, Yoko is right up close to her with an excited look, still dressed only in an oversized shirt and panties.

“Good mornin’, human partner! Today’s gonna be a good day since we don’t have class today! We get to go out and explore!” Yoko says happily.

“No technical classes but we’re still on duty. We might have missions.” Moshiro says clearly, walking past Yoko into their kitchen. “Besides, we’re not supposed to leave the ASA.” Moshiro explains as she goes into the fridge. Yoko looks shocked and disappointed by her words.

“No way! I got these big wings to fly and be free!” Yoko complains. Moshiro comes out of the fridge with a bottle of orange juice and closes the fridge door.

“You are free. To leave if you want. But if you want to stay here, you gotta follow the rules.” Moshiro says as Yoko snickers smugly in response.

“Just like when you lied to let me come here with you?” They ask. Moshiro rolls her eyes and turns around, but as she does, something catches her attention. She looks over on their counter and sees a piece of wood placed on a stand. Confused, she just stares at it for a moment when Yoko steps next to her with a smug look.

“I see you find my home decor choices quite appealing.” Yoko says.

“Wood.” Moshiro says plainly. Yoko gets excited and floats over next to it, looking at her.

“Yeah! The piece that was stuck to my horns when Abalm threw me against that tree! Phoenix and Saika helped me get a stand for it.” Yoko explains with a warm smile. Moshiro stares at them for a moment before rolling her eyes and looking away.

“Whatever.” She says. Yoko is stunned by her lack of care.

“How could you say that?? You hate me or something?” Yoko asks loudly and overly dramatic as Moshiro walks to a couch by the door. Yoko follows, floating along, when Moshiro notices something about them. Their shirt falls forward revealing their hips a bit and Moshiro sees something scars along their hips. She stares for a moment as Yoko pouts. “Are you listening to me, dumb human??” They ask.

“Yoko.. those scars.” Moshiro says directly but softly. Yoko is surprised.

“Scars? Where? I’ve got scars on me?” They ask before landing and lifting their shirt, noticing the scars on their hips. Their eyes flicker subtly as they see them. “I do…” they say softly. Moshiro stares at them for a moment before speaking.

“You really don’t remember.” She says. Yoko pauses before dropping their shirt and smiling at her.

“Nope! But it must not be too important if I can’t remember. Only important things matter to someone like me!” Yoko says with a bold laugh. Despite their smile, Moshiro stares at them with a serious yet slightly concerned look.

“Yoko, if… you ever remember how you got them, you can tell me.” She says directly, not quite expressing her feelings and thoughts. Despite this, Yoko stops and blushes a little, looking down with a soft smile.

“Okay.” They say with shining pink eyes. They then shake their head and lift it proudly. “Dumb human, of course! I’ll make sure everyone knows when I remember my awesome and epic backstory!” Yoko says loudly. Moshiro sweats and droops.

“Right…” she mutters as the day continues on.

Elsewhere in the academy, specifically in the cafeteria, the pack is all gathered as they prepare to eat a good breakfast. Killian and Alston stand in line as the chef Mr. Takahashi serves the students.

“Good morning, Mr. Takahashi!” Killian says happily.

“Morning, sir.” Alston says. Takahashi looks at them with a smile.

“Good morning, you two. What’s your palette feeling today?” He asks.

“I’ll take the usual.” Alston says. Killian looks at her interested as Takahashi fills her tray with a potato skillet with bacon and eggs. Killian begins salivating.

“I’m sure you know where the spice sauce and such is.” Takahashi says as Alston nods and walks away happily. Killian then steps up as Takahashi looks at him.

“Can I really just order anything I want??” Killian asks excitedly.

“More or less. My ability to manipulate ingredients allows me to make just about any meal on the menu. So long as there’s enough raw food here to make it.” Takahashi explains with a cool look. Killian salivates as he thinks of the possibilities.

“Right… Two of everything please!” Killian says excitedly. Takahashi sweats at his words.

“Yeah, that’s not how it works…”

Back with the others, they sit around at a table as they eat well on this calm day. Killian takes a big bite of his food before looking at Cole with a smile.

“Oh, hey Cole, I wanted to ask about you and Alston. You guys didn’t pick a home the night we all did. Why is that?” He asks. As he speaks, Saika and Phoenix look at his with a sweat.

“You’re just thinking about that now?..” they mumble.

“Hey, I forget sometimes, give me a break.” Killian says with a smirk. Cole sips his drink before speaking with his eyes closed.

“Yes, he is quite forgetful sometimes, is he not?” Cole asks as Saika laughs awkwardly. “But, to answer your question simply, our home was already selected a long time ago.” Cole says before opening his eyes a little and smirking a bit. “Makes us seem pretty cool, does it not?” Cole asks with a smirk.

Killian looks at him before smiling and nodding happily. Alston bumps him a little as she takes a bite of her food.

“Stop gloating. It really isn’t all that.” Alston says as Cole stiffens up. “It’s not like we’re special or anything. We’ve just been at the academy since we were kids.” She says. As they speak, Yoko grabs a chicken nugget from their plate and looks at it then decides to blow some fire on it for a moment, cooking it even more. Saika looks surprised by Alston’s words.

“Really? So you two have been partners for a long time?” He asks as Alston nods.

“Yep.”

“Must be easy keeping your souls in sync. Wolf and I haven’t exactly been on the same wavelength since we’ve got here…” Phoenix says with a droop. Yoko stares at the burnt nugget before popping it into their mouth, chewing with a displeased look so they grab another and repeat.

“You’re a brave one. Having her as your partner cannot be easy.” Moshiro says casually.

“I don’t know what’s the big deal. I match with Tadashi just fine and I barely know the guy.” Dante says with a mouthful of food.

“You do not…” Cole says with a droop. Saika perks up at his words.

“Speaking of Tadashi, where is he?” Saika asks as Dante shrugs. Yoko then looks at the burnt chicken nugget before eating it with a disappointed face again before going to repeat the process with another nugget.

“He had to talk to Ms. Nazuna about something. I guess Wolf wanted to go with him to ask something too.” Phoenix says. Saika nods as he turns and sees Yoko staring at another nugget less burnt but still overcooked. He sweats as he speaks.

“Yoko, what’re you doing?..” Saika asks.

“I’m trying to find the right way to cook this odd looking chicken.” Yoko asks, examining the nugget.

“It’s called a chicken nugget. It’s already cooked.” Moshiro says with a slightly annoyed look. Yoko looks surprised before sniffing the nugget and tossing it in their mouth. Instantly, their eyes light up happily.

“Oh wow! I’ve never tasted something so good! This is my new favorite food ever!!” Yoko shouts before gobbling up the pile of chicken nuggets in front of them.

“You’ve never heard of them before?” Killian asks.

“Nuh uh. Back where I’m from, dragons just ate the chicken whole and spat out the feathers later… I think?” Yoko answers, crumbs on their cheeks. Moshiro rolls her eyes as Killian smiles. Phoenix giggles a bit before her look slowly begins to drop to a much more anxious look.

Elsewhere in the academy, Wolf leans against the wall by the classroom doors. She has a look on her face as if in intense thought as she stares at her hand.

“-and what? A Hunter Vanguard pair completely incapable of working together? You lot are pathetic excuses for students of the ASA!” Crystal’s words, fake or not, echo in Wolf’s mind. Her face tightens a bit.

‘I’m not… I need to be stronger.’ Wolf thinks, activating her black mist on her left hand. While she does this, she looks at her right hand and activates her purple lightning for a moment before it shocks her, causing her to jump a bit in pain and shake her hand out.

“Ow! Damnit…” She sighs in frustration as the doors to the class open up and Tadashi walks through. He looks at her for a moment before stepping next to her.

“You gonna tell me what you talked about now?” Wolf asks, a deflecting smirk on her face. Tadashi, not reading into her, smirks back while closing his eyes walking past her.

“Nah.” He responds as Wolf follows next to him. He looks at her with a bit of surprise. “I thought you had something you wanted to talk about too.” Tadashi says. Wolf lowers her head a bit while looking at her hand.

“Yeah… maybe some other time.” Wolf says softly. Tadashi looks at her for a moment, noticing her hand, when suddenly someone bumps into Wolf aggressively, shoving her into the wall. Wolf gasps a moment before growling back aggressively. “Ah! Hey, what’s your problem!?” Wolf shouts. She stares at the large boy standing before her as he turns and looks down at her, smirking intensely.

“Oh, sorry, totally saw you there. Just had to put you in your place.” Marcus, with the other Reps behind him, says meanly. Wolf glares angrily as Tadashi speaks.

“Marcus. Representative Zero. Known as the Strongest Student.” Tadashi says. Wolf looks at him before smirking back at Marcus.

“Wow, look at you. You must be special. My friend knows your name and everything.” Wolf mocks. Marcus clicks his tongue annoyed as Keigo steps forward when Henry stops him.

“No, I like this girl. Reminds me of me in my younger years.” Henry says with a smirk.

“You runt. This is exactly the kind of attitude I expected from a little monster like you.” Marcus says sharply. Wolf’s eyes get intense, the same way as they did before.

“Do not call me that.” Wolf says intensely. The Reps snicker amongst themselves as Tadashi places a hand on her shoulder.

“Forget them, Wolf. They’re just picking a fight you can’t win.” Tadashi says as Wolf glares at the Reps. “Win or lose, you’re the one who will end up in trouble.” Tadashi warns.

Wolf glares a moment longer before she lets her body relax a little and lets out a breath. Her eyes return to normal as she turns away from them and starts walking away with Tadashi.

“Yeah, whatever.” Wolf says.

“Yeah, whatever, mutt.” Marcus says back as Wolf growls under her breath. As the Representatives walk away in the other direction, down the hall stands another student.

He has dark shoulder length hair pulled back and a scar on the side of his face. He watches as the two parties part ways with eyes as if analyzing everything that just occurred before smirking and walking away.