Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

“PACIFICA!”

Deep crimson warmth splattered across his face - he hadn’t made it in time. Blood dripped from the killer’s massive claws as they set their cold murderous gaze on him.

“Hah?!” And suddenly Shouri was awake. The bright fluorescent lights of the hallway filtered in from underneath the door giving him some visibility of his surroundings. It was still dark outside. The slowing beats of his heart monitor filled his ears. Despite being here for a day now the smell of bleach and antiseptic filled his nose; he silently hoped not to carry that scent after he was discharged.

Speaking of, he was still healing - the dull pain in his gut was a harsh reminder of that. Once more he was thankful for the painkillers that had been regularly administered to him since the completion of his surgery. They had to rhythm burn him to save his life and give the surgeons the time they needed to patch him up. The downside was now he had to wait for his body to naturally heal or for the rhythm burn to wear off, whatever happened first.

They didn’t let him eat solid foods in fear of upsetting his torn-up digestive system. No, it was very bland drinks that had no chance of upsetting his injuries but enough to satiate his hunger and fulfill his nutritional needs.

Going through so much fluid presented a problem: a certain pressure which was only exacerbating the pain he was in.

He looked at the small guest couch that sat next to the bed. Pacifica laid curled up on it as the only place she could sleep. The doctors were very stern with her when she suggested the possibility of sharing the bed with him for an etude. The little obedient otter she was quickly acquiesced to their demands, despite how badly she wanted to provide her warmth to him.

Gently drawing in a breath, Shouri spoke her name, “Pacifica.”

It was evident that she was not sleeping soundly, as she instantly sprung up at attention. “Sho?!” she called back.

“Bathroom,” he replied, pointing at the door across the room.

“Right.” The otter sat up and stretched, though Shouri could see as clear as day the exhaustion on her face. Her eyes were red and puffy, with dark bags surrounding them. Her shoulders were tense and hunched over, her gait was shaky and unstable as she stepped over to assist him.

It looked as if ten years had been shaved off her life in just the past twenty-four hours. He hated seeing her like this – she wasn’t taking care of herself; he could see her dry cracked lips from the lack of water she’d been drinking. It wasn’t noble to him. If anything, her sacrificing her well-being for a decision he made only served to further deflate his mood.

Pacifica helped him up and supported his weight as she moved the IV over to the bathroom door. Before Shouri hobbled inside though, he turned to her; studying her deteriorating condition. He had to get her to take care of herself; but how? His eyes met her chapped lips. With a smirk, he moistened his own and stepped forward.

“Yes-mmph?!” Pacifica was silenced as he pulled her close and kissed her.

“Sho?!” she yelped covering her mouth, face reddening.

“If you eat breakfast and drink some water, you’ll get another one.” He smirked before dismissing himself to the bathroom.

“Ah… how…?” The otter fell to her knees. Her heart raced, face flushed. Shouri wasn’t allowed to be that smooth.

As it turned out, Shouri now had a new tool to get at least Pacifica to do things. The otter had a full plate of breakfast foods and not one but two bottles of water.

He wagered he could pull the same stunt with Taika if need be. Certainly, a trick to keep in his back pocket.

Though Shouri needed to talk to Rebecca about all of this – it was unfair to her to leave her out, but in the same respect, he didn’t want to cross any boundaries with her that she wouldn’t be comfortable with. Pacifica and Taika had made their intentions clear with him, and now he could use that to his advantage. Not that he hated the act - chuckling to himself whilst stealing a glance at the flustered otter who was poorly hiding her blush with her plate of food.

“H-how are you feeling today Sho?” Pacifica squeaked.

“Still a dull pain, better than yesterday,” he said.

Her eyes fell upon his hands where they lay over the bandages. A pang of guilt struck her again – why was she so useless?

To say Pacifica was wearing her heart on her sleeve was an understatement. Shouri easily picked up on her melancholy demeanor and changed the subject: “What do you think about his offer?” the Maestro asked.

She lifted her head. “Mr. Klein’s?” The otter hummed. “We did cure Zino.” Her eyes drifted back to Shouri’s injury. “One way or another,” she mumbled.

“I’m all for better treatment of Resonators – you know that.” Shouri paused, mulling over his choice of words. “I don’t hold this against either of them. Neither of them knew any better – Elijah didn’t consider Zino’s feelings, and Zino didn’t know how to express himself without lashing out,” he reasoned out.

Pacifica slowly nodded in agreement.

“And you didn’t do anything wrong,” he added sharply. The otter trembled, resisting the urge to disagree with him. If only I was stronger, was the thought coursing through her head. After all, if she was more powerful than Zino, she could have easily dissuaded him from attacking her and then Shouri wouldn’t have had to step in.

If it was Rebecca or Taika this wouldn’t have happened – Rebecca is a professionally trained fighter and would have easily earned Zino’s respect or made him respect her. Meanwhile, Taika hides her raw strength under her bubbly, almost naïve demeanor, she’d have put him in his place if it called for it.

Pacifica was just some city girl who has never experienced turmoil, or strife - a sheltered life. Both Rebecca and Taika, for lack of a better term, have been through some shit and they persevered through it becoming stronger individuals as a result.

The more she thought about it, the more Pacifica just felt plain inadequate when compared to her two foxy companions.

“Hey, stop that.” Shouri snapped her out of her self-admonishment; he didn’t know exactly what she was thinking but he had an inkling based on the face she was making.

“But-!”

“Stop it.”

Pacifica shook, grinding her teeth as she exchanged a tearful glare with her Maestro. “I’m just not strong I-”

“Can you not?” Shouri cut her off. The otter lowered her head shamefully.

“I didn’t understand before,” she whispered. “All my friends complained about their Maestros, but they still went along with them. I’m from a wealthy neighborhood – you saw it.” She paused for a moment, considering what she was trying to convey. “My Resonator friends willingly went with their Maestros for the most part. I couldn’t understand why they did it.” She shook her head before raising it. Her eyes shimmered with gathering tears. “Then you saved me and I knew you were the one for me, but not being able to protect my precious irreplaceable Maestro, my best friend in the entire world.”

“I’m scared Sho, you almost died because I was WEAK!” she cried out.

“Paci-!”

The poor girl trembled, holding herself and hunching over. “Weak weak weak…” she repeated. Before she knew it, Shouri was directly in front of her. There was a loud crash as they fell backward to the ground and the chair Pacifica was in toppled over with her in it.

“Owiee…. What the hell Sho?” Pacifica shook her head, though a weight on top of her. Shouri pushed himself up. He took hold of her hands, interlinking their digits as he pinned her there. Her eyes were drawn to his right arm, which dribbled blood from where his IV had been torn out.

“Sho oh my god!” Pacifica shrieked, though he cared not, gripping her hands tighter. It hit her all at once; his rhythm invaded her with such ferocity that it made her head spin. Her mind cleared, though in a way that caused her to blank out, her head giving up on being propped up and smacking back down on the ground with a soft thud.

Taika sighed as she laced up her shoes. It was the first time that she had felt fine since she got sick, though the lunar fox knew well enough that she was nowhere near back to perfect health.

It sucked being apart from Shouri for so long, especially given her current ailment. But it was okay! She was going to fix that problem right now!

As soon as Colette arrived to watch over Rebecca.

Last night had been pretty rough after the fire fox had come to. Taika suggested they share the bed for etude, but the other girl was standoffish about it. A wicked little smirk rose on the lunar’s lips, reading all those romance novels gave her a playbook on matters of the lips and otherwise. Though she couldn’t ever muster up the courage to try some of her bolder moves on her Maestro.

From Rebecca’s testimony though, Shouri seemed to be in a charitable mood; or at least that’s how Taika was interpreting it.

KNOCK KNOCK

Either way, Taika wouldn’t be satisfied without at least some hand-holding (for etude) at the bare minimum. That was the plan anyway. The lunar maiden addressed the door, checking the peephole first to confirm it was indeed Colette waiting outside.

Removing the chain and unbolting the door, Taika greeted the pair, and upon actually opening the door, she discovered Kaira had breakfast also.

“Good morning Taika,” Colette greeted the Resonator, failing to stifle a yawn.

“Buongiorno. Take care of Rebby please.” The fox tried to rush out the door, but her shoulder was caught by Kaira.

“Not a good idea,” Kaira advised sternly.

Taika batted the hand off her shoulder, spinning on her feet to face the jackal. “I can take care of myself,” she spoke, the stubborn blue rhythm visible from her eyes.

“Not a good idea,” Kaira repeated, her brows descending and a hand gently tugging the sand satchel at her waist open. The earth element’s eyes darted around, noting several shifts in the lunar’s body – Taika’s breathing shallowed, pupils dilated, fists clenched tight, weight shifted to her toes, tail fur bristled. She was ready to fight, even without the physical signs, Taika’s rhythm was bursting at the seams. “I will be accompanying you,” the jackal clarified. “Colette will stay here with Rebecca.”

The lunar fox remained rooted in place, still tensed up, her gaze studying the opposing Resonator. Her sand satchel had been covertly opened at some point in the conversation. Clever, Taika decided. “Fine, you can come with,” she gave in – having some extra muscle wouldn’t hurt in case someone decided to hassle her over her element. People in Lyreann were less vocal about it, but she rationalized that it only took someone having one bad day before they decided to act on their distorted worldviews.

“I’ll be back Colette,” Kaira replied, handing off the bagged breakfast to her Maestro.

“Oh ok,” said the Maestro, having not been informed of this course of action until the present moment. She’d accept the bags of food, regardless.

“Come.” Kaira led the way.

Taika stole one last glance at the bewildered Colette before following suit.