Cato
I can tell when something is made with love.
What does it mean, you may ask?
You tell by the care with which the food is made, for the sole purpose of being served to others, and made with the desire to see those who eat it fulfilled, figuratively and literally.
It's like soul food on this side of the world, amazing, and comforting.
This feast, as we're wrapping it up, is a prime example.
Like hugs on a plate.
I wash down the last vestiges of my meal with my iced water, setting down the glass as my friends finish up their meals.
"Wow..." I utter.
"Awesome, huh?" Michiru asks, turning to me in her satisfaction.
"Invigorating."
"Told you..." Nazuna adds.
"This is, hands down, the best meal I've had in a bit." I say.
"Tell it to Mr. Kuro. He's the one who made it." Michiru replies.
"Definitely will."
I then look at my 'Firebull' bottle, the substance looking like a light orange soda or Indonesian Jamu Juice (basically a turmeric/ginger tea).
I pop open the moonshine-like top and give it a whiff.
I have to suppress some recoil at the distinct stinging sensation of the abundance of ginger.
Michiru notices.
"Yeah, wait until you try it." She chuckles.
As much as I want to at this very moment, I suddenly get an idea.
I know I haven't done this in a while...
But...
Now I feel as if I could give it a chance...
For the first time in almost half a year...
Albeit slowly, I hold out my bottle for a toast.
The girls notice it.
"Didn't know we were having toasts this soon." Michiru laughs.
"I guess you could say I found myself in toast-worthy company." I say.
"Aw." Nazuna put her hand over her heart.
"For friends, family. For brothers, and sisters in arms." I declare.
She and Michiru take their drinks and hold them up.
"Cheers!" The girls chant, touching them together.
I chuckle, being filled with a feeling I can only describe as nostalgia.
"Vitae." I join them in the toast, clinking our glasses together.
(It means 'For life')
It's just like how we used to be...
While the girls drink their tea, I drink from the bottle.
Suddenly, my senses are slightly overwhelmed the overabundance of citrus and ginger flavor.
Tastes more like a mixture of the aforementioned orange soda and Jamu Juice, just without the turmeric flavor.
Spicy...yet strangely familiar.
When I lower the bottle, and exhale, the burning sensation goes through my nose, causing me to cough slightly.
"Damn, strong..." I utter, Michiru giggles.
"I said something along those lines the first time I tried it." She smiles, but raises an eyebrow. "Is it good?"
I nod.
"Yeah, just didn't know this drink had so much ginger in there. Almost like ginger beer, or Parvas Infernus." I say, looking at the orange liquid.
"Parvas-what?" Nazuna asks, confused.
"It's a drink my people enjoy. This tastes similar, I'd assume it's your guys' version of it." I explain. "I don't have any on me, if you might ask."
"That's alright." Michiru assures me.
As we finish our little exchange, Mr. Kuro shows up.
"Enjoyed the food, I presume?" He asks, smiling.
"Yes..." The girls manage to say.
"I'll take care of the check." Nazuna says, raising her hand. She slowly reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out her wallet, and then a card to pay for the food.
Good on Nazuna.
They may be people who help protect the city, but they're still citizens, and are not above not paying for the food other people make for us.
Speaking of citizenship, I'm legitimately surprised of how easily Mayor Rose granted it to me even though I was only there for less than a day...
Then again, you could argue I earned it after I stopped that Boris guy.
Mr. Kuro then disappears briefly, and returns with the receipt and Nazuna's card.
"Thank you so much, girls. And thank you too, Cato." He nods to us, we return the gesture.
"Your food was divine." I proclaim to him.
"You never fail to impress." Michiru says.
"You're why we come back." Nazuna adds, putting her card back in her wallet, of which she then puts back in her pocket.
"Means a lot." The father figure smiles as he goes back into the kitchen.
It only takes a few moments before Michiru comments again.
"So, we still gonna go visit the orphanage?" She asks.
"Whenever you girls are ready." I say.
"Then let's go!" Nazuna declares.
We soon get up from our seats, and make our way outside.
"Come again!" Mr. Kuro waves.
"We will!" Nazuna returns the wave.
Soon, we're back in the world once more.
"I think it's this way." Michiru points down the street to our right.
"I can warp us there." I suggest.
"Yeah..." She starts, suddenly remembering what happened yesterday.
"But you know we just ate." Nazuna advises me.
I put my hand up.
"Understood." I say, wanting to respect the fact that they're not used to Warping yet. "Shall we take flight instead?"
FFFSSSSHHHHH!!!!!!
FFFSSSSHHHHH!!!!!!
The girls activate their wings, stretching them out as the answer to my question.
"So be it." I nod, allowing the force of my flight technique to emanate in agreeance.
The girls flap their wings, carrying themselves into the air as I launch off the ground, skyrocketing towards them. They start flying down the street Michiru pointed out, and I follow close by.
"Shouldn't be too far." She says.
"Can't wait to see Youta again." Nazuna replies, smiling.
"Do they have someone to protect them?" I ask.
"Well...not exactly. The orphanage is city sanctioned, but it's only overseen by volunteers. There's no dedicated staff yet." Nazuna explains.
"There better be soon. Kids need someone to look after them." I say.
As I do, something comes from Nazuna, I don't know how to explain it other than...
The feeling of being reminded of something...
"Yeah..." She utters.
I'm debating on whether or not I want to ask her more about that.
I'll probably just change the subject for now.
"Apologies if this seems random, but what would you say your greatest feats are?" I ask.
The girls turn to me in confusion.
"Huh?" Michiru asks.
"In terms of your abilities. I've seen you fight and survive earlier, but what would your greatest feats of strength, speed, and the like, be?" I ask.
"I mean, I haven't had much of a career in terms of fighting, nor have I really had time to. I guess it'd be when used my gorilla arms against Boris." Nazuna says.
"I survived a fall from Sylvasta, though I doubt it counts because Shirou did cushion my fall. But I'm pretty agile, I was able to use metal lids to block Anti-Beastman darts using trash can lids. I even managed to throw them at the drones to destroy them." Michiru summarizes.
"If you have shapeshifting abilities, what can you do with them beyond shifting to and from human and animal?" I ask.
"Well, I have this one form I can assume that's basically a false version of Ginrou, but I kind of stopped using it after the Silver Wolf Order was disbanded. I can also turn into a wolf that's basically just a change in appearance on my part, but I haven't explored that either." Nazuna says.
"I'm...kind of a mixed bag." Michiru says, thinking heavily. "I can shift different parts of my body for certain purposes. You obviously see me with my wings, for the purpose of flight. Though I can also turn my legs into cheetah legs for better running speed, I can also turn my ears into bunny ears to hear better, I can even make my snout like Shirou's to increase my sense of smell. Oh, and I can also make myself into a rooster to shout extremely loud."
Seems that the winner of this contest is the versatile nature of Michiru.
Meanwhile Nazuna's slightly pouting at her lack of variety in terms of abilities.
So far the chemistry between the two is, cute. Not in a condescending way, it's legitimately nice.
"Here I thought a racoon was only a trash panda, but here you are, being a Kung Fu Panda." I quip, turning to Michiru as Nazuna begins laughing hysterically.
The emotions that plaster across the former's face at that moment instantly show offended, flattered, and confused all at the same time.
But mostly her face turns red.
Meanwhile the latter's is also red, but with her laughing too hard.
Michiru soon gives me the clarity I've absentmindedly needed.
"I'm a Tanuki!!" She frowns, Nazuna having to stop hers lf from laughing to dry a tear coming down.
Ah...
That makes sense.
My eyes widening slightly shows my realization to its fullest.
"My bad." I apologize.
"You're good..." She rolls her eyes.
"H-How did you not know she was a Tanuki?!" Nazuna asks, still giggling and recovering from her laughing episode.
"She's not exactly black and white, so that should've been the dead giveaway. I could argue that I could've mistaken you for a wolf." I reply, pointing that out.
Nazuna also gives a look as she ceases her laughing that says, 'true'.
"Now I know how Marie feels..." Michiru whispers to herself.
Guessing the two of them had the same issue.
"Going back to what we were talking about earlier, have you experimented with these abilities that you have?" I ask.
"Not...really..." Michiru utters. "Haven't really given it much thought."
"What about Shirou? What can he do?"
"As you saw earlier, he tried to heal quickly, but due to you-know-who, he wasn't able to. He normally has a rapid healing factor that's fast enough to allow him to survive even being impaled. His bones can snap right back into place if broken, he can access his Ginrou form (the real form of Nazuna's false form), he's got the Sonic Howl you saw, his sense of smell even allows him to sense someone's history, as he did to me, or figure out where they are..." She explains, but suddenly gets a look of realization. "Wait, I've actually been meaning to ask this..."
She turns to me as I listen.
"How did you manage to see Shirou when he was tracking you? That shouldn't even make sense, but you did it anyways." She asks me, Nazuna also turns to see this.
I have, for lack of better words, a quick answer for this.
"Simple. I sensed there was a presence, or eyes, watching me, and I looked to where it was." I say.
The mention of 'eyes', seems to make Nazuna uneasy, to a degree.
Almost as if she was reminded of something yet again, but in the more...
Traumatized, way...
I'll have to ask her about that...
"How...do you even do that?" Michiru asks.
"Some can innately do it, but others can just learn." I say.
"That something you're gonna teach us?" Nazuna asks.
"It's a necessary skill to survive..." I utter.
"What's it like? Out there in the...Omniverse..." Michiru asks.
"Yeah, you're going to whole different planes of reality. How does that even work?" Nazuna asks as well.
A couple of the many questions I'm asked when I do this...
I need to think about the specifics, or how to accurately put this...
I spend a few moments doing so, making sure what I'm saying is true...
"Your whole life is an adventure, and you need to be an anywhere person. Depending on where you go, you might need to solve problems that world has never seen." I say. "Some are easier than others, but that's how it is. Moreover, it's fulfilling work, so the result is the reward."
"What's the strangest places you've been to?" Michiru asks.
"Actually, my friend right now is on his own mission. Around the time I was sent here, he was sent to investigate something else going on with the Demons. Far as he's told me, he's come across a society...kind of similar to yours." I say.
"How so?" Nazuna asks.
"Animalistic beings, cut off from the outside world, you know? He got there because he encountered a woman who, as he concluded, is deathly afraid of animals. He volunteered to accompany her when she had to be relocated for her job. Apparently, he knew something was off about the interviewer. Turns out, he was right. She was tricked into going to that world where, as of right now, she can't go back. It's fortunate he went with her because she at least has someone to lean on. He told me was going to get to work as soon as possible to teach that world our ways. But things have been kind of slow, it's been a week since he went there."
Michiru almost chuckles.
"Imagine her reaction if she saw us..." She utters, looking at her form.
"Probably would have an ear-bleeding scream." I speculate.
"Hopefully he can help her conquer her fear..." Nazuna says.
"I don't doubt his abilities." I reply.
"Oh! We're here." Michiru says, pointing to a distinctly orphanage-like structure, pulling us out of our conversation.
We descend to the ground, my power dissipating as the girls do the same to their wings.
FFFSSSSHHHHH!!!!!!
FFFSSSSHHHHH!!!!!!
We walk up to the door, Michiru soon placing her hands on the door.
"Now remember, they're just kids, so please be patient with them." She implores me.
"Understood." I say, nodding.
She pushes the door open, preparing to introduce me to the children...
That she bravely saved.
Nazuna
Oh my gosh!
They're so adorable!
I only ever caught glimpses of Youta's friends, but now that they're so up close...
I'm just can't stop smiling!
We walk closer to a little play area right now and after Michiru called Youta and his friends, our little admirers swarmed us instantly as they transformed, much to Cato's surprise. Some of them began hugging our legs, Cato picked up Youta and held him like he was his son, I carried the dog girl who looked like Michiru in her human form, strangely. Michiru herself starts play-wresting with the rest of the kids, Youta and the girl I'm carrying soon wants to be put down, which we do, and they join their friends in playfully swarming Michiru.
I guess they're still filled with gratitude with her saving them from Gram Grandma.
Their chattering over each other is invoking some insane motherly instincts from me right now.
I JUST WANT TO ABOSLUTELY SLAUGHTER ANYTHING THAT TOUCHES THEM!!!
Huh, where'd that come from?
Our alien friend seems to notice me melting like he did earlier.
"Just brings joy to your heart, doesn't it? Seeing them happy?" He asks.
"Yeah. Michiru told me about the sweethearts they were when she first met them. Youta didn't know how to spell his name, and one of the students got Michiru's name insanely wrong." I say.
"What'd the kid say?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.
I have to hold back my laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of the boy's answer.
"He said 'Poop'." I say, a few snickers sneaking past my attempts to suppress them.
"Ha!" He exclaims. "Kids say the darndest things."
"They do, indeed." I say.
"You know, did you know that we view things as cute, because it invokes parental instincts and gives us a dopamine rush?"
"Really?" I ask.
"Yeah, same reason why everyone says 'Aw!' at a picture of a kitten or a puppy. It makes us happy, and we want to protect them and care for them in response." He explains.
"Whoa, cool...I didn't know that." I respond.
"And now you know."
"And knowing's half the battle." I say.
He chuckles.
We go back to watching Michiru wrestling with the kids. Youta is riding on the back of her neck, and he falls off like a little sloth. Michiru tries to get up, but the dog girl I held tackles her back to the ground, she gets piled on by the rest of the kids shouting adorably.
"This is the next generation we're witnessing right now." I say.
"Nothing's purer or has more potential than them." He adds ominously. "Moldable to the furthest degree."
"How so?" I ask.
"Children learn by imitation through their caretakers. They need parents, someone to watch over them and teach them, raise them." He says.
Actually, now that I think about it, Michiru said that Gram Grandma's associate Elsa described the kids callously as 'Brats who got separated from their parents when they came to Animacity'.
Whatever happened to those parents? Where are they, and how have they not found their children by now?
Do they even want to find them?
Unwanted children is a reality that legitimately makes me sick to my stomach. An innocent soul who is abandoned because the caretaker can't 'afford' to care for them...
What a bunch of bull.
I guarantee you anyone who abandons a child either doesn't want to own up to a 'mistake' or is just a deadbeat parent.
You DON'T leave a boy or a girl on their own. They depend on someone to care for them.
I...wonder....
I need to find a permanent residence anyway....
Could I...?
"Hey, Nazuna! Heads up!" Michiru shouts on the ground, the kids questionably absent from her.
I look down to see the children have had their fun with Michiru and are now swarming me. I try to keep my balance to avoid falling on them, but the little puppy Beastman known as Youta jumps on me and throws me off.
"Whoa!" I exclaim as I wind up comically falling on my butt.
They all begin groping my ears, (I'm still in my fox form right now), flapping them around like a bird's wings. The cat girls (both look eerily similar, only hair color being different) and the racoon boy slide down my legs like a slide. A platypus boy and the other dog boy who mispronounced Michiru's name pull on the strings on my hoodies.
So basically, they're treating me like a little playground right now.
I'm not really frustrated, just slightly uncomfortable with my positioning.
Yet it's overshadowed with the insane amount of cuteness surrounding me!
I find Youta on my belly, and I manage the room on my arm to ruffle the hair on his head, much to his joy. I seize a couple more of the kids with my arms, bringing them into a hug like pulling a bunch of giant plushies. Most go along with the hug, but a couple of the rowdier boys break up the hug quickly and change their attention to playing with the toys. Youta joins them and starts playing a cute game of tug of war with them in his dog form.
"Where's the shiny guy?!" The dog boy from earlier calls out.
Michiru stifles a chuckle at the innocent comment from the kid, referencing to our friend's armor he's wearing.
Suddenly, the kids leave my form, Youta gives me a quick hug, to which I return.
Cute guy.
He climbs off me and joins his friends in search of Cato, looking up, down, high, and low for him.
"Where is he?" Youta points out.
The kids instantly begin searching for our mischievous friend with wings, as do Michiru and I briefly.
Where DID he go?
Michiru walks up to me, nudging me by my shoulder, we get an exchange with our looks.
'Up'
'Up what?'
'Up there'
She gestures upwards, to which I follow my gaze.
Oh. My. Godfather.
I'm greeted with the sight of our friend hovering on the CEILING, looking like he's using his flight capabilities to make himself appear as a white bat standing on there.
Out of all the things I've seen him do, this takes the cake, and the bacon, and the cherry on top, as the weirdest.
He gives a 'Shh' motion with his finger to us and begins moving ever so quietly over the searching children.
One of them, a platypus boy, throws up his hands and looks up in frustration, catching a glimpse of Cato.
"Up there!" He exclaims.
The children look at him, and then where he's pointing, but...
Cato already, honestly disturbingly quietly and quickly, dashed to the other side of the room to where the shadows are, allowing him to blend in.
"Don't lie!" The duck girl exclaims, failing to find our friend.
"I wasn't, Daisy! I saw him there!" The platypus boy retorts.
"Stop playing, Perry!" One of the cat girls says.
"I'm not!" The platypus boy exclaims.
VVREEE-WHOOOOSH!!!!!
"Are you?" He Warps right above them, standing upside down on the ceiling once more.
The requisite reactions from the children are about what you'd expect, they all jump back like little kittens being jump-scared and some fall over each other like baby goats.
"BA-A-A!!" The sheep girl high-pitched bleats when she tumbles.
It takes a few adorable seconds for the children to regain themselves and observe our ceiling-hanging friend, reminiscent of a distinct species I know of.
"OH MY GOD ARE YOU BATMAN??!!!" The dog boy next to Youta shouts as he comically trips over his friend. "WHOA!"
"Well, I could be. Do they have him here?" Cato says, asks in confusion, and then shakes his head. "You good?"
"Yeah..." The boys says as he recovers.
He stifles a laugh at the adorable humor of the children before releasing his lock on top of the room, flips right-side up, and descends to the ground. Still ignited with that white flame energy, he slowly descends to the ground.
By this time, the children have already scrambled to get themselves up and watch the spectacle in front of them. Our angelic friend lands gracefully on the ground and takes up a humble bow to finish.
"Ta-da..." He announces, still having his calm smile.
"AAH!" The children joyfully scream at finally meeting him, they swarm him like they did me and Michiru, but he remains steadfast.
"So cool!"
"The Angel!"
They're still calling him that...
Pretty sure they saw a news broadcast or something like that.
Was it Mayor Rose's idea to name him like that? Or was it something the media said?
They waste no time in hugging him, to which he returns, and bouncing up and down trying.
"Seems you're popular with everyone." I comment with my hand on my hip.
"It's one of those good instances." He replies.
I'm guessing 'good instances' means his appearance in another world is taken graciously...
"What about bad instances?" I curiously ask.
"I get attacked and/or shot at on sight." He bluntly says as he ruffles Youta's hair, much to his joy. "Those are what we call 'Dead Worlds'. Strong enough to repel Demons, but not worth risking our own."
"Oh... well, glad we're not trigger happy." I joke.
"That, I am thankful for." He says, grinning. He looks to the kids. "Anybody wanna see something cool?!"
"YEAH!" The kids exclaim.
"Alright! Oh! But hey, girls? I'm going to need you for a second before I forget." He says to us.
"Huh?"
He looks to the ground slightly somberly.
"After today, and after giving you the answers you needed, it's time I give you something else...long overdue. I promise, it'll work out for all of us." He tells us reassuringly, getting up and he holds his hands out.
"Okay." I say.
"We trust you, man." Michiru says.
The children move aside as we walk to Cato. We stand in front of him, I'm facing his left while Michiru is on the right.
"Give me your hands and hold still." He says. "It'll only take a moment."
He places his hands in my left hand and Michiru's right, closing his eyes and seemingly enters a focused state, much to the confusion of us and the children.
Subsequently, it's like we're in a void of nothingness, with just us being the only inhabitants.
Me and Michiru look around, confused on what's happening, and why we're now in the middle of nowhere.
There's no sound, no other light than around us, no nothing.
Suddenly, there's an initial slight glow of white in his hands. Then there's a tingling, buzzy, vibrating, powerful feeling where it is. It feels reminiscent of when he flies, and when his power is ignited around his body except this time its making way inwardly to my inner self.
Soon rays of the light seep outwards, and find their way into my veins, feeling...strange, to say the least.
My first instinct is to squirm, and Michiru shivers, but Cato's iron grip keep him in contact with us, and it quickly passes.
The light soon fades, and when he retracts his hands, the sensation within me continues to linger. It feels like a small nuclear reactor in my heart, but in an unfamiliarly good way.
I grip my hand, and Michiru does the same, observing any potential differences on her that might be present.
There are none.
We look to him.
"What'd you do?" Michiru asks.
"You..." He says. "Have been Awakened."
I feel...better...somehow...
Stronger.
"I exposed you to my power, and it's awoken the dormant power within you. As you know, only those who are worthy receive this gift." He says. "You've proven yourselves that much."
"Thank you...Cato." Me and Michiru utter.
"I'd do it again, if I could." He says, the world slowly coming back to us, with the sound, light, and all of us returning to the Orphanage.
The children, as of right now, are exceedingly confused.
"Why were you guys standing still?" Perry asks.
Cato turns to him.
"I had to do something important. Do you want to see something cool?" He asks, the boy nods almost aggressively.
He walks over to the kids and sits down in front of them, motioning for us to follow suit.
We sit down right in front of him, flanking the children on each side as they watch.
"Watch this." He says, holding out his hands in...
The same manner as he did earlier!
"Could one of you turn off the light, please?" He asks.
"Why?" I ask.
"This needs darkness." He insists vaguely.
I walk over to the nearest light switch and turn off the light in the area, plunging us into darkness once more, and causing the children to exclaim in brief terror.
"Why'd you do that?!" Perry exclaims.
"I hate the dark!" Youta adds.
"So do I, but just keep looking ahead of you." Cato calmly says.
The children sound as if they do, and I manage to feel my way back to where I was initially.
Though not without tripping over, what I presume to be a toy car, and faceplanting on the ground.
"Nazuna? You good?" Michiru asks.
"Fine. I've taken worse." I hiss through my teeth.
I reach out my arms and I feel my friend in the darkness, she pulls me aside and we both sit down.
"Okay, let's fix this absence of light situation."
A miniscule, yet noticeable pulse is emitted from where he was. Subsequently, the room is no longer pitch black.
From the core of his form, the same light from earlier takes form, illuminating him and everything around him. The spark slowly crescendos into a miniature ball, reminiscent of the sun.
The subsequent awe of the children only intensifies as much as the sphere does, as Cato motions for it to hover higher in the air, making the brightness of it match that of the faces on the younglings.
At this point, the entire playroom is brightened up, the source of the light coming from Cato's literal essence in the middle of the room.
The children's jaws are just on the floor right now, and our angelic friend looks to them.
"You wish to see something real neat?" He asks, we all nod. He mutters to himself soon afterwards. "Always wanted to do this..."
He holds out his hands to the mini-sun, and it begins to emit solar flare-like pulses from it.
"Ha!" He motions his hands in a forcing together position, and thrusts them away from each other, the power suddenly dispersing into tiny fractals of its former self. The little shards all fly off in various directions like little moths drawn to infinite flames as we watch in awe. Some of them get close to the children, of whom start reaching out to try and catch them.
It's like the best magic show in the history of the world.
I feel like Owl City's Fireflies would go perfectly with this spectacle.
One piece approaches Youta, hovering close to his face, and he curiously pokes it, making it fly off in the other direction like Tinker Bell. He laughs at the apparent sentience of the light.
More of them come up to me and Michiru, circling around us as if they were sizing us up somehow. When they do, however, I can feel them brushing up against, as well as past, me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I feel as if some of the shards were assimilated into the children's forms, but I'm not sure if they did.
As I finish my train of thought, and I feel as if the show is going to end, I stand up. Using the illuminated room to carefully tread to the light switch once more, kicking away the dastardly toy car that was the bane of my existence.
When I arrive at the switch, he takes this moment to command the shards to all reassemble to his form, disappointing some of the kids who were close to catching the little lights. They merge back into the miniature sun, delving the room back into darkness once more, and he covers the brightness with his hands.
I take this initiative to turn the lights back on, and the children hiss like bats at the sudden overwhelming light.
As their eyes adjust, Cato dramatically closes.
"Thank you." He announces, bowing his head.
The applause is almost instant.
"YAY!" The children exclaim at having the thrill of their lives for the first time ever.
"Bravo, Cato!" Michiru says, clapping as well.
"That was probably one of the most spectacular things you've ever done, dude!" I congratulate him.
"I am pleased to be your entertainment for today." Cato nods his head.
"Hold up, you still have the...thing." I say, pointing to his other hand.
He does, indeed, still have the remains of the show from moments ago in his hand like a ball.
He gets slightly mischievous smile on his face.
"Hey, Perry." He says, looking to the platypus boy and the other kids. "Got a ball."
He tosses the ball to the now-transformed platypus boy, it lands in his lap, and the children instantly transform as well, charging at him like a cat going after a laser dot.
"Hey, what're you doing!? He gave it to me!" He exclaims, trying to keep the ball of light out of the hands of his friends.
"He said we're going to play catch! We're supposed to share it!" Youta shouts, reaching for the ball.
"Come on, Perry!" The other dog boy says, wrestling his friends.
I look to Cato for a say in this operation.
Our looks say it all.
'Intervene?'
'I'll let you handle it this time.'
I nod in agreeance with him.
"Children!" I shout to them, they stop their wrestling. I walk up to Perry, who surprisingly still has the ball in his hands. I gently hold out my hand, gesturing for him to give it to me. He looks to his friends, being wary of any of them who might attempt to swipe it, and carefully places the ball of light in my hand. I rub the top of his head, much to his joy.
Like the show and even before that, the white ball of light is still tingly and warm to the touch.
I look to the rest of the Rabbit Town children.
"You guys wanted to play catch?" I ask them.
"YEAH!" They shout.
"Why'd Perry have to hog it?" One of the cat children exclaim.
"Well, he might've shared if you didn't try and pile onto him. Would've you, Perry?" I ask.
"Uh...yeah! Totally!" He says with a suspicious look.
I raise my eyebrow, and he begins sweating audibly. But I only roll my eyes at the comic guilt the boy has.
"If you guys are going to play catch, then you have to share." I say, looking to Youta.
I underhand toss the ball to the dog boy, and he catches it. The other kids look like they're holding back the urge to charge him like they did Perry, but my stern look holds them back.
I gesture for Youta to toss it to someone else, and he looks at the other dog boy. Using both his arms, he adorably chucks it to his friend. The kids begin to disperse, and he throws it to the reptilian kid, who then pitches it to Perry, and then the cat girls, and so on.
"That's perfect. Keep doing it."
Dang, who knew I was so good at this?
You know, this kind of reminds me of another aspiration I had before being a star...
The children continue to play with each other, and Youta getting creative by bouncing the ball at the wall as a couple of the kids charge after it like an American football.
The next generation, our legacy on this planet, I hope that what happened in my dream will never come to fruition.
If it reminded me of anything, it's my mistakes, and my transgressions that have harmed others.
I don't think, I know, that it's time I start doing some good.
The mere thought of this...puts a smile on my face...
A very, big smile.
Cato
Adorableness all around. If I ever had children, I'd always teach them to be better. The same I'd say for these kids, as cute as they are, they have much growing to do. Same for Michiru and Nazuna. I may be only half a decade older than them, but I know enough to see that though they have had their own adventures and learned lessons, they still have growing UP to do.
However, I seem to sense that Nazuna is having an unusual feeling of content...
Almost like she's happy being here.
If she's planning on doing what I think she's going to do, it's going to be big for her growth as a person.
It could also be her first step in finding her transcendent purpose.
Admirable, and I can respect it.
She and Michiru still need to properly patch things up and talk about the nuances about their history, as that might cause unnecessary rifts later on. It won't be good for them, and it seems I'll need to help them address it.
Speaking of Michiru, she's still melting at the sight of the kids.
I look to her, she turns her head to me.
"What?" She asks.
"Could you tell me more about how you came across these kids? You said you had history with them." I ask.
"Didn't you already ask me that?" She asks.
"Not sure, sometimes either I forget I asked someone something or I second guess myself as to whether I did and it makes the situation awkward." I ask. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"No, it's alright. When I first came here, actually it happened when I came across Marie the second time during that day, there was the Silver Wolf Festival that happened. During such, she came up to me, tried coaxing me into giving her more money, and a monkey pickpocket stole my wallet. It took about a day of craziness, but I managed to get it back at Rabbit Town. It was there I took a quick job of teaching these kids, but the one who was running the town, Gram Grandma, was going to sell them off to humans. I, unfortunately, was caught up in it. Not sure exactly why they wanted to sell ME off, but I think it's because I was a witness." I say.
"What'd you say?" I suddenly ask. "About what she did to the kids?"
"She...uh...tried to sell them." She says, confused.
"Why?" I ask suspiciously.
"I-I'm not sure, she had affiliations with the gangs and the yakuza, and I think I heard her say that she tried to repay some debt." She explains.
I sigh aggressively.
"Of course, it's the gangs and the yakuza, who else would it be?" I ask, shaking my head.
"I managed to free the kids and Shirou helped apprehend Gram Grandma and her associates, so at least there was justice." She finishes.
"Good, I don't care for any Sally Sobstory that whatever this lady who'd sell kids has. You don't put a price on life." I say.
"Exactly what Nazuna and I said." She agrees.
"How'd they end up here in the orphanage again?" I ask.
"Mayor Rose had this place commissioned specifically for them, she's trying to get members of the community to find kids like them so they can have a temporary home until they can find their forever homes." She says.
"Closest thing I had to a parental figure after I had to leave home was Shirou, he watched over me for a while."
"And that is something to give him credit for. His logic is usually based on saving all Beastmen, but I think with you, saving only one is what truly gave him strength." I say.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"It's just within our nature to care more about the few in our lives rather than the grand picture. If you can do that, that's all you need to save the world."
Michiru only ponders about what I could possibly mean when Nazuna walks up to us.
"I think the kids are happy right now." She says, smiling. She looks to me. "So, you're just going to let them keep that little ball of light?"
As she says that, Perry the platypus overthrows the ball over Youta, and it winds up bouncing to the ground, eventually rolling underneath him. He ends up stepping on it and he comically flips up into the air, also flinging the ball haphazardly all across the room.
Mid-air, and combined with some impressive reflexes on Nazuna's part, she lunges towards him, sliding on the ground and allowing him to land safely in her lap.
The ball, which is still power and is now energized, also is still ricocheting off the walls. Nazuna covers Youta with her form to protect him, Michiru is attempting to sidestep while children hit the dirt for just a few seconds before I predict where the ball goes. It hits the wall in front of us and bounces towards me, I thrust out my hand to catch it and it hits my palm. I soon grip it, dissipating the concentrated power back into my form for everyone's safety.
"I think it'd be best if I didn't." I admit with a smile.
"Yes." The girls, and even the kids agree, simultaneously.
As we all recompose ourselves, we let the children go back to playing with each other, though not without some tearful goodbyes coming from them towards me and the girls.
We leave the orphanage, happy at what we just experienced.
"That was fun." I say as we start walking indiscriminately down the street, passing by various civilians who give us favorable glances.
"Glad you were able to meet the children." Michiru says, smiling.
"Precious things." Nazuna says, sharing the same look.
"Managed to get your 'scoping out' for your candidates yet?" Michiru asks with a cheeky grin.
"I would say so, Michiru. Still waiting on the response from Marie though. Also need to talk to Shirou..." I say.
"Marie's probably at her stand right now selling either your peace offering or my merchandise." Nazuna says.
"Whether she'd keep her gift or not will determine whether she's worthy of being trained." I say.
"How do you know she'd keep it?" Nazuna asks.
"Because I see something in her, when I showed her at least a form of kindness, she seemed to have a bit of an identity crisis. The outcome of it, and if she retains possession of it, means that she has either changed, or has given changing a chance." I say.
"Then again, it's Marie." Michiru adds.
"I have faith in her."
"Interesting spot to place it, then." Nazuna agrees. "Especially when looking for the best in everyone."
I stop, the girls continuing walking for a little bit before stopping.
They stare at me as the wind blows up against us, confused on why I ceased walking.
They need to realize this.
"It may be seldom, but a little faith goes a long way. You'd be surprised at the places where you can find it."
Chapter End
(Thank you all for your support so far, your continued input is appreciated.)