Mio Famiglia, Mio Scudo

Episode VI

It was Saturday when Naoki finally was released from the hospital, but he wasn't allowed to return to school for another week. HT kept visiting him during the week, occasionally a brown haired woman wearing a traditional kimono was accompanying them. Naoki didn't know how to react to her, but it wasn't like she did anything really save for staring him. There was just something slightly unsettling about her, maybe it was how dim her eyes looked, maybe it was her doll like posture, maybe it was that fixated smile that appeared to be disowned by her whole being, but one thing he was sure of. She was hurt just as badly as he was, maybe even more.

After the first full week of school was done and over with, the woman finally decided to speak.

"I am Tomofuji Nanami, the former leader of the Tomofuji group, currently out of action sky and a housewife", her voice was a little higher than Naoki had expected, but that didn't really answer his other questions. Like what was she doing there, why was she broken, could he help her in some way. "I will be your teacher regarding flame usage. I may not be able to use mine effectively anymore, but I can still teach you what I know, I will also visit you twice a week, but if anyone asks, I am your English tutor, do you understand?"

Naoki nodded in silence, noting that the woman was indeed in higher ranking than he was, even Tetsuya was giving her space and it wasn't the normal "this person is older than I am" crap, it was the kind of respect that had to be earned. Naoki shot a glance towards the older boy, who answered to his stare with a steady glare. "She is the only known Sky within Sumiyoshi-kai to have been able to survive loosing their Guardians. Most of the Skies become completely vegetative or lose their minds after losing half of them, from her set only one remains alive", Tetsuya shuddered, he didn't want to even imagine what that felt, not to mention that he as a sky whose ability was to bond with other Skies was at higher risk of coming across such pains. Skies were rare for one reason and one reason alone.

They were often hunted down like beasts.

Nanami coughed politely, assuming the attention to herself once again. "I will ask for one thing in return from you, Oda", her voice turned lower and more dangerous, "I am housing a man with a curse that might be broken temporarily by your flames, I will teach you the means, and you will be testing the technique on him. I owe that man a lot for he has been there for my son when I myself haven't been able to. At least not yet, I am not fully well, I need to find a new set to make sure that my recovery will go smoothly", Naoki nodded, still not quite understanding what the hell was going on. But sure, it made sense. Maybe. In some other universe.

Practising these "flames" onto someone else sounded bad and immoral, surely miss Tomofuji had asked the man about it previously, right? Right? Shit.

Valentino was there with Naoki all the way, the young sky offering his support to his confused brother in all but blood. He didn't really know why he wanted to root for the other boy, nor did he really understand what had moved him to worry about him. It just... The second he'd seen the boy, he'd known that he liked espresso, preferred sandwiches over cake and had time periods he needed to spend alone.
It was as if he'd met him before. But he knew that he hadn't. It had been like that for every member of the HT Club. They'd somehow felt familiar. Maybe they just reminded them of someone else.

"Naoki, would you like to go visit this new café with me? I don't really feel comfortable going by myself", the purple eyed boy said as he pulled the Japanese boy onto his feet after his training session. The sessions were brutal in many senses. Naoki had to concentrate a lot of energy and will to bring out his flames and each time he needed to stay in that stance for hours. It was no wonder that the Amber-eyed teen was exhausted by the time his mentor allowed him to stop.

Valentino recognised the training technique, it was commonly applied on female flame users due to their inability to put up enough muscle and by that build stamina. That was also the secret behind women being more efficient with flames and being capable of bringing them up in their full glory even on their silver years where men could barely make a spark.