• A.K.A Wolf Act XIX- Recovery.


    It was truly darker before the dawn. Really dark. I kept stumbling on pieces of pieces of my heart. But, there he was to pick them all back up.

    Have you ever woken up on your stomach only to realize that you’ve been injured worse than a war hero? I had completely forgotten about what happened. I was actually surprised I was alive, due to the amount of pain I was in. My shirt had been completely taken off and as I shot up, I could feel the scabs on my back slowly tearing open again, I gasped and layed back down on my side. I was in a small shelter that consisted of about five thick branches leaning up against a massive tree trunk. Near the back, I could barely see what was in front of me. I groaned before I spoke. “Heeeyyyy….” My voice was monotone and kind of ghostly moan-like.

    The first thing I saw was Hotaka’s smiling face and soft mahogany hair. “It’s about time you’ve woken up. Sparks was beginning to get nervous.” I looked at him and then down at myself, “Where’s my shirt?!”

    “Kumori fixed it up. She didn’t to that good of a job though.”

    I heard her say something like; ‘you owe me’ before a piece of flimsy fabric flew at Hotaka. He held it up so that I could see it entirely. She had taken Hotaka’s massive scarf and made a crude patch over where it had originally been burned away. I still wanted to give her a piece of my mind but I could barely sit up without hurting myself.

    I slid on my new, softer top. Just then, Sparks blonde wolf muzzle poked into my field of vision. I would have been more happy to see him if he wasn’t so bloody. His poor face was all scratched up and some pieces of his ears were gone. He whimpered towards me and pounced on my chest. In his frantic celebration of my merely waking up, he knocked down the small lean-to I was sheltered in.

    I saw Kumori throwing what seemed to be a Scraper carcass into a blazing bon-fire. The group had not moved from the cleared out circle where the Scrapers had congregated. Flashbacks of the night previous blackened my vision and hearing. And for a split second, I thought that Zero was still alive. But, as I search all around me, I see him not.

    I stood up and silenced Sparks’s onslaught of happy words and actions.

    “Hotaka…” I continued with my eyes stinging with tears that would soon show.

    “Hm?” he replied happily.

    “Where’s Zero?” I looked at his and the small burns near my neck stung again.

    “You mean jackass? He’s uhm…hm…”

    Just by his tone I could tell that Zero was either fine or simply alive.

    “He…is done getting the food Hotaka so desperately needed,” said a voice from behind me. Then, I heard a thud and then the smell of a dead animal. I turned my head just slightly enough to see a boar’s snout close to my feet. As if in a lucid dream, my eye ventured upward until they beheld the face that was Zero.

    I wanted to scream, cry, laugh, smile, hit, stop time. But all I could do was stand in awe. Such an overdose of emotions can’t be healthy and I was sure I was going to die. I felt the ground beneath my cut knees. My once day face was streamed with small beads of tears. I barely noticed Hotaka picking Sparks up and walking away with Kumori and Ichio giving us our privacy.

    Zero simply smiled at me and I could see that he was as emotional as me only; he did a horrible job of showing them all at once. I uncontrollably sniffled like a little girl as he made his way over to my pathetic self. He got down on the balls of his feet so he could see me. Even though I couldn’t see him from wiping my eyes away with the overflowing tears. I thought he was gone. Kumori had shot his I.S with water and that kills all Scrapers. Butt not him. Why? Why was Zero spared? By some freak twist of events? Is there someone up there who just doesn’t want me to suffer any more loss? Or was Zero just that strong in resisting death?

    You could say I didn’t care. Just as long as he can keep saying my name and holding me close, I’m fine.

    “Hey,” he beckoned softly. His tone was like he was speaking to a little girl who just awoke from a nightmare. “It’s ok, KiKi. You’re ok. Kumori said that the burns would go away in a few d—”

    Zero was really stupid sometimes; okay…most of the time when it came to things like this. He could be stone cold dead right now but instead, he was worrying about my injuries.

    My lips interrupted his. I practically shot myself at him, eager for his touch. Even though I continued to cry, he molded his mouth to mine. How I wanted his to hold me closer but with my burns, he wouldn’t dare touch my back. I could barely lift my arm to his neck with out hurting myself. But, the pain will fade. I’ll heal and I will have scars but this feeling of Zero kissing me will never fade from my subconscious.

    His boar fur sprinkled hands found my cheeks and he deepened our kiss. I wasn’t going to go too far on account that everyone was within ear shot and, if I were to do anything remotely close to vigorous work, I just may peel all of the frail skin from my back and shoulders.

    I separated out lips and Zero groaned with disappointment, “How are you still alive?”

    “Kumori just didn’t hit me hard enough.”

    I bonked him on the head with a fist. “You scared me so bad! I wake up from our night at the waterfall only to find you gone! Then I hear you were a complete Scraper and then I live day by day fro three days. I got rolled into a fire, ran after you aimlessly, get kidnapped and dropped off to you. You almost kill me and now…”

    My voice walked away from my lungs when I saw hoe hurt Zero looked. I knew he couldn’t control when he changed or what he did afterwards. I just had to vent and it just happened to be him.

    “I’m sorry… I know you didn’t mean it. I’m just so happy you’re ok.” I kissed him again. And again. And again.

    “Did you like it…?” he asked looking away.

    I tilted me head to the left, “huh?”

    He cleared his throat and fell to his bottom, still not looking at me. “A-at the waterfall…was it good?”

    My whole body stiffened and I forgot how to speak for a second. He was asking me if when he and I…if it was enjoyable? I could feel my whole face grow searing hot as I blushed intensely. What kind of question was that? I took a lock of my hair and played with it in both of my hands. I, too, avoided eye contact with Zero.

    “W-well,” I began shakily. “I- I had never…that was my first time s-so…I wouldn’t really know what ‘g-good’ was. B-but yeah, I did l-like it. Very much.”

    I could feel his gaze on me. He was actually kind of surprised. “Your first…?” he whispered as it if was top-secret information.

    I nodded. “It was memorable to say the least…”

    There was a long pause and the one who broke it, Hotaka. He was laughing his pervy a** off. I fell forward into the dirt in self-pity. He would never let us live it down. Zero grumbled something profane before rising to his feet and helping me up as well. He pecked my cheek from behind me, “I love you.”

    “Me too.”

    “GET A ROOM!!” Hotaka shouted from a distance.

    End of Act XIX