Unleashed Natura: Wings, Paws, & Scales.

Chapter 18: ℱ𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀𝓎

"Oh dear..." Upon the sight of the two boys lying on the ground in the middle of the hallway, Anri was shocked and worried at the same time.

They looked like a mess, tangled up with each other. The brown-haired male being especially disheveled. His skin looked like it was forcefully torn off his flesh. Anri was really concerned for Tsuruji. She knew how he was like, afterall she was the one who took him in.

Hearing multiple sets of footsteps coming from the locker room of Bastard Munchen, Anri looked up to see the whole Bastard Munchen's stunned expressions. Which all immediately went grim.

"What happened?!!" Ness immediately rushed to Chouka's side. "I... Don't know... Quick! Find Tsuruji's teammates!"

Riku moved quick, immediately getting on to the search for the rest of Tsuruji's team. "W-wait! Riku wait for me!" Hayato quickly followed.

Ness holds Chouka close, while Anri does the same to Tsuruji in a motherly way. In the German's gentle and warm hold, the pink haired male slowly opened his eyes open. "A-Alex..." Chouka grabs onto the fabric above the male's chest, and voluntarily cuddles closer to him.

Ness comforts the male by combining through his tangled hair with his fingers. "Oh Chou... You let your hair get tangled..."

Anri held Tsuruji tightly with a heart full of worry. The visible harm he caused to himself spiked the anxious meter in Anri. She has seen Tsuruji in his ups and downs. She knows why Tsuruji acts like this and it hurts to be reminded of that lifeless figure she had seen,  the one in the alleyway on the brink of death.

"What happened again...what happened, Tsuruji..." Yet Tsuruji remained unresponsive and hurt.

After a few minutes, Riku and Hayato came back with the rest of FC Barcha. The whole team was shocked to see their player in that kind of state.

Except Lavinho wasn't with them. Since they were in a rush and the master striker wasn't with his team, they forgot to look for him.

"Where is Lavinho?!" The boys panicked as they realized they forgot about their own coach. "Ugh, don't bother! Help me take care of Tsuruji... You guys are his teammates aren't you?"

Bachira and Otoya immediately went to Tsuruji's aid. While the commotion was going on, all Anri could do was worry.

Her "son" was still unconscious and wasn't aware of the commotion around. But that was a good thing, if not Tsuruji would have freaked out, especially when otoya piggybacked him.

Otoya walked with heavy strides with Tsuruji on his back to carry him to a room to rest and heal. Bachira walked along side Otoya, worry etched all over his face. Tsuruji was a strong person and one challenging player even before the Neo-egoist program started.

With most of the people focused on Tsuruji, Chouka feels... Disgusted. He feels disgusted of himself. He hates how he feels envious of Tsuruji's situation. What was wrong with him?

Seeing how Tsuruji is in a worse state than he is... Chouka can't help but feel invalidated.

Maybe... He was just an attention seeker. Tsuruji is in a worse state than he is, why is he still curled up into a pathetic ball? He's fine now, why is he not standing up? Why does he want to be in the brown haired male's place so damn bad?

What is wrong with him? Why is he so desperate for attention? He's nothing but a stupid attention seeker. Maybe if he didn't have that stupid panic attack on the field... Maybe all this wouldn't have happened.

This is all his fault. Only his.

Noa approaches the two males on the ground. “Get up.” With support, Chouka shakily stands up. He was feeling quite sore. Probably because he was curled up into a ball for quite some time.