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Ch. 4: Thanks

Hizashi was still shaken up from the night before as he taught throughout the day. It showed. His energy was much lower than it had been and he'd often get caught daydreaming or staring with nothing going on in his mind. He knew Tigris was down the hall in Recovery Girl's room for most of the day. It seemed as though her injuries were deep, probably would leave a scar as well.

"Hey." Shota popped into Mic's office without a paper stack today. "No need to run for me. I gave it to her while she was here."

"She left?"

"Why are you so surprised? She can't spend her whole day here." He leaned on the door frame.

"I was going to see how she was doing. She kind of saved my ass last night."

"Just thank her tomorrow."

"I guess you have more paperwork for me," Mic leaned on his elbow.

"Better you than me."

________________________

Shota pulled open the door to Recovery Girl's room to see her talking to Tigris.

"Shota, I thought you left for the day?"

"No, I told Mic you did."

She paused for a moment, "Thanks."

Shota pulled up a chair and flipped it backward, straddling it and leaning on the backrest. "It's not your fault, you know."

"Of course it is." She smirked, "I almost lost control again."

"You did the right thing. You saved Mic and sent him to get me."

"I killed an entire pack of wolves."

It tore her apart more than anyone else to destroy parts of nature that didn't need to be. She hated hurting animals, she could almost feel their pain.

Her hands gripped the sheets tightly.

"Hey," Shota spoke up. "Remember when we met?"

She began to smile, "Yeah I do. Seems like forever ago."

"Tell me what happened."

"How is this —"

"Tell me."

"Fine," She breathed. "When I first got here I often cut my antlers off and roamed the city as a cat to familiarize myself with it. One day I fell into a trap in the ally. If I would have turned back I would have hurt myself even further. So I sat there and started mewling non stop."

"For how many hours?"

"Six hours. Then some weird-ass homeless guy—" She teased Shota. "— found me and broke open the cage. When I tried to run away he picked me up and just took me with him. I was kidnapped."

"You know I didn't know."

"I was cat-napped. He took me to his home across the city from me and I find out this guy loves cats. I was fed and given a warm place to sleep."

"And the next morning?"

"You woke up to a human sleeping in a cat bed that was a quarter the size of her. Hung her upside down by your damn ropes and interrogated her for a few hours until Toshi stepped in and explained everything."

"I did what I had to do."

"Who knew a rat bastard like you would end up with a new friend." She laughed.

"Feel better?"

"A lot," She paused. "I think I want to thank Mic."

"He probably left, besides, what did he do?"