Are We Alive?

Twenty-Four: Venus Flytrap

Venus Flytrap–Caught at last

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Rin couldn't believe he'd kept his secret power a secret for so long. It had been around, what, six, seven months since the power popped up? Longer? Rin had always been shit at keeping secrets, but he supposed it was easy for him now because no one was really asking him if he had the power to manipulate heat, so that wasn't really his credit to take.

He trained it whenever he went out hunting, which was often. Marshal was one of their best hunters and she was stuck waddling around the house with a belly full of three kids all squirming and kicking her and probably each other all the time. And Marshal never wanted Shura to leave her side and was terrifyingly clingy, so there went another hunter. At the moment, it was only Rin, Ryuji, and Kinzou hunting for the whole group, plus extra food for marshal to keep the babies all healthy.

Over the Fall and past month of Winter, they'd struggled with food going scarce, so Rin had skipped more than a few meals to give Marshal enough to keep the babies alive inside her. He knew in his mind that life would be much easier without three new babies to have to care for in the future, but he couldn't be that cruel. Those babies had a right to live just as much as he did. So, as a result, Rin sacrificed a few pounds so Marshal could gain more as the babies grew.

Winter was ending very slowly. Marshal figured the Groundhog had seen it's shadow so there would be six more weeks of Winter, whatever that meant. Warm clothes and blankets were hard to come by, but Shiemi and Izumo had stumbled upon a warehouse with some thick yarn amongst other crafts supplies. Shiemi was now teaching both Marshal and Shura how to knit. Izumo already knew how, so virtually, the women were all knitting blankets or hats or anything else that could keep them warm. Izumo was secretly working on a few sets of clothes for the babies as a gift for Marshal.

Yukio was also working on something that seemed important, as he was often frustrated over whatever it was. Kinzou soothed him as best he could, but Yukio seemed very invested in whatever he was doing. Kinzou had found a good few breast-feeding tank tops in the closet of the master bedroom and was waiting until their surprise baby shower to give them to Marshal. Konekomeru had made several pairs baby booties out of deer hide, keeping the fur on the skin to make them warm and comfy. Shima had found a nice diaper bag in a house a few blocks over. Chelsea was working on making deerskin baby carriers. 

Rin himself was making swaddles for the babies in his spare time, having learned to knit for fun when he was younger. It was a free class and he didn't want to be home, sue him.

Of course, he could get them done faster if Ryuji didn't keep demanding his attention whenever he caught Rin alone in a secluded space. There wasn't much to do since they'd finished repairing and securing the house as best they could, so he supposed the boredom was setting in or maybe Ryuji just wanted to keep warm. Whatever the reason, Rin didn't mind all that much. It was nice to forget the pressures of life once in a while. Although, the looks and eyebrow raises he and Ryuji both got from everyone else when they saw the bite marks or dark bruises left behind from the fun times always made Rin blush heavily and look away. Ryuji didn't seem to care at all. He wore the marks like they were awards.

Izumo wasn't as....active as the boys were and rarely joined in on the fun, but she let loose occasionally.

She also seemed to wear the marks left over from the fun times like awards and Rin had no idea how she and Ryuji did it.

When Sachi asked about the newest bite mark on his shoulder, Rin's face burned so hot that he thought his powers might have flared up. "I'll tell you when you're older." He told her. She sighed and nodded and they went back to their training. She got that answer way too often to try pestering her father for it.