Purotekuta

CHAPTER EIGHT

I am woken by the sound of Father yelling down the hallway for me to get out of bed. Groggily, I open my eyes. For a moment, I forget where I am. I shoot up, taking in my surroundings until I realize that I had fallen asleep on the platform with Akio.
          Akio! I look over at him and see him still sound asleep. How is he still asleep? I wonder as I crawl over to him, my wings dragging on the ground next to me.
          When I reach his side, I gently shake him awake, not wanting to hurt his injuries. He slowly opens his eyes, and grunts in pain as he sits up and looks up at me with tired eyes.
          "Hmm...?" He groans, squinting at me with eyes that sparkle like the night sky. 
          He looks so tired, I think to myself, smiling as he rubs his eyes and waves at me. I laugh a little, waiting for him to realize where he is. It doesn't take long. He shoots his head up and bares his teeth, trying to spread his wings menacingly, but failing. I reach out my arms and hold his shoulders.
          "Hey, hey! Akio! It's alright! You're not in danger," I whisper, looking deep into his eyes. I have to be careful not to touch his injuries, I don't want to hurt him.
          He calms down once he realizes, and a faint blush finds his cheeks.
          "Sorry..." He mumbles, embarrassed, averting his gaze from me.
          "It's alright, Akio; It's no big deal," I assure him as I stand up and offer him my hand. He takes it and stands up.
          Lifting Akio into my arms, I fly him down to the ground and place him gently down on his feet. "You know what day it is today?" I ask him gently, smiling down at him, my big, black wings fluttering in my joy. My wolf-like ears and tail perk up as well.
          "Uhh... Maybe?" Akio responds nervously, his wings twitching as he fidgets with his hands.
          I chuckle a little at him as I walk over to my dresser to pull out some clothes.
          "It's the first day of school!" I exclaim, hearing a small laugh behind me. I can feel the joy radiating off of Akio as I grab some clothes for myself and place them on the top of the dresser.
          Moving over to another dresser with my old clothes in it that we never gave away, I search for some to lend Akio. Surely there's something in here that'll fit him.
          The larger stuff is on the top, so it doesn't take long to find him some clothes.
          I pick out my old dragon t-shirt and some black sweatpants. I'll bring an extra sweatshirt in case he gets cold, but It'll be harder for him to get anything over his wings other than a t-shirt since they're broken. 
          Turning around, I start walking towards Akio, holding the clothes in my arms. "Here, Try these," I say, handing the clothes to Akio. "They don't match, but they'll do the job for now."
          He takes the clothes from me, looking up at me with a big smile on his face. "Thanks!" He exclaims. "Uhm, where can I change?" He asks awkwardly.
          I point him in the direction of the bathroom so he can have some privacy to change. Once he's in the bathroom, I start changing into my clothes.

Akio and I are walking down the long hallway, sliding bamboo doors lining both sides, the tatami flooring gentle but firm underfoot. At the end of the hall lies one of the larger rooms, the dining room, where Father waits for us, breakfast already on the table.
          Akio slides his hand into mine, the fear radiating off him growing by the second. His hand is shaking badly, and there's not much I can do about it.
          "Hello, Father." I raise my ears, unfurl my wings, and bow my head. Akio does the same, wincing at the movement pulling on his wounds.
          Father nods, and gestures for us to sit down. I lead Akio to an empty seat and sit down next to him. He holds my hand whenever he's nervous, but it doesn't seem to help as much as he thinks it does... I guess as long as it helps him even a little right now, that's a start.
          "Akio, your father dropped off your luggage last night with all your clothes and stuff in it; Hajime will show you where I put it." He states, staring intensely at Akio.
          He nods, his eyes fixed on the table, not daring to look Father in the eyes. As father takes the first bite, we start eating. Akio barely touches his food, but it's understandable since he's in a house he's never been in. I'm not even sure when the last time he ate was; he looks so—broken.
          Breakfast doesn't last long since we have to get to Mamoru High at 7:00 sharp, preferable a little earlier. I pick up our luggage since Akio's injuries would just get worse is he carried his, and we set off towards Mamoru High School, the first sliver of light peeking over the mountains behind my house.
          I take one look back at the place I've called my house for so long.—the place where Father burned me, the place where I witnessed my mother go crazy. This place carried so many bad memories, and I'm not upset to leave all of it behind for four years.
          "Let's go, Akio" I say. I gaze down at him and see a true smile on his face, a bright, happy smile. I grin back down at him, and we walk off towards Mamoru High, the sun rising in front of us.

The inside of Mamoru High is massive, and my homeroom is somewhere in this massive building. This time, there aren't any signs pointing me in the direction of my class, so I will have to find it on my own. My homeroom is 3-A, so it should be on the third level. Akio has the same classes as me, per the request of Mr. Kaze.
          When we finally find the room for Class 3-A, most of the other students have already arrived. I recognize some of the faces from the entrance exam, but there are other students here I don't recognize. I can see Teinei, Ikari, and Himari.
          Teinei is trying to get Ikari to take his feet off the desk, and Himari is sitting on the counter reading a book.
          The sound of the door opening must have drawn the attention of the other students in the class, because everyone is looking at me and Akio. A girl rushes over to us, pieces of her long, blonde hair going flying into my face when she skids to a stop. She is a little shorter than me but taller than Akio. Her ice-blue eyes are boring into mine as she smiles ear to ear.
          "Hey! I'm Chinatsu! What's your name?" She asks excitedly, her eyes glimmering.
          "Hajime," I tell her as I back up, my wings twitching, ears tilting back. Akio shrank behind me, terrified. I reach my hand behind me, clasping his hand in mine, squeezing lightly. 
          She takes a step back from me, but her smile never wavers. Akio peeks out from behind me, his movements hesitant. He is observing the room and how safe he thinks it would be to come out from behind me all the way. He must have deemed it safe because he slowly comes out from behind me.
          "Oh! Who's this! He's adorable, Hajime!" She says, placing her hands behind her back, smiling in Akio's direction. I look down at Akio and see a look of awe on his face, the terror having completely disappeared.
          "H-Hello," Akio mumbles. He is nervous, I can tell, but at least he is talking to people. Maybe it's the fact that he doesn't have to deal with his father anymore. Now that Chinatsu has set the standard, everyone comes over to us and introduces themselves.
          "Hey, Hajime! I'm Kade! Nice to meet you!"
          "I'm Michi!"
          "Rio."
          "Shinju!"
          "My name is Akihiko! I hope to get to know you bro's better!"
          "Kane here!" I look at all of them surrounding me. The only ones that aren't here are Himari, Ikari, and Teinei.
          "Nice to meet you all. My name's Hajime, and this is Akio," I introduce.
          The chatter goes on around me as everyone makes their way back to where they were, and I lead Akio over to an empty corner. I barely know anybody's affinity here, this is dangerous. I only know one person's affinity, and I need to know all of them. I must figure them out. Hopefully, I can figure out how to do that today.
          "Alright everyone, in your seats," a deep voice speaks from the figure now standing in the doorway.
          We all take our seats.
          The seat I am assigned is placed near the windows on the left side of the room. Our professor steps into the room and takes his place at the front of the class.
          I don't know what I expected from a pro-protector, but it wasn't this. He has dark circles under his eyes, long black hair falling over his shoulders. He's wearing a simple protector costume, simply some black clothes, a belt with some cylinder-shaped tubes connected.
          I know this protector, his costume is made out of special materials that allow for a wider range of motion, and that are lighter. There are also hidden weapons hidden all underneath his costume.
          "Hello everyone, I am your homeroom teacher. You can call me Mr. Kaze," he states.
          The room is silent, everyone in shock that our teacher looks so worn down. I doubt anyone even knows who he is, I think to myself.
          He reaches into a bag on the floor and pulls out what looks like a gym uniform. "Alright everyone, put these on and meet me at the field outside." 
          Class has started.