#sorry about ending on a slightly tense note! the next scene is a smash cut to the car after Eddie lifts a vibe on the way out

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 62: Final Exam Part 4: Short Essay

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!    Please note, this chapter may undergo more extensive editing before it gets posted to AO3/FF.net, as there’s a lot of fight scenes that may need clarity editing.

Earlier chapters can be found here

The last blast of her Jetpack brought Sora to the ground, where some of her classmates, including Toshi, were waiting.  Ordinarily, she might remove her helmet in order to have a clearer conversation or to wipe the sweat from her brown, but with a potential sniper on the loose, it seemed an undue risk.  Instead, she used her tongue to adjust the small straw on the helmet’s right cheek and sipped from the juice it offered.  

Satisfied with that, she tapped the side of her helmet and activated the communicator.  “This is Jet-Red,” she announced.  “I spotted nothing on my sweep of the western sector and have returned to base camp.”

Her brother’s voice quickly followed.  “Jet-Blue responding,” he said.  “Eastern sector air sweep is complete.  No sign of any additional civilians or the Villains.  They appear to have gone to ground.”

“Slyde here, nothing on the ground sweep of the north sector either,” Haimawari reported.  “Heading back home.”

“You’re listening to Channel Stick ‘Em Up,” came Sero’s voice. “Nothing on my aerial view either.  Where the hell are they?  I didn’t expect to be playing Hide the Villain today.  Totally unfair!  Midoriya, I thought you said they were coming for us!”

Kirishima-Bakugo’s voice cut in.  She was up on the roof of the civilian defense shelter with Kaminari, Aoyama, Izumi, and Shinso.   Their ranged fighters, who could rain firepower down on any attackers or more easily shoot Raptor out of the air if it came to it. “Cut the chatter, you damn sorry excuse for a tape dispenser!”  

“Okay,” Toshi said, his communicator filled with static. She’d done what she could to repair it, but it had gotten very damaged when he’d smacked into the building. Hopefully, her patch job would hold. “When you guys get back, we’ll brainstorm a new plan.  With Shadow-Thief, they could be anywhere.”

As he clicked off the communicator, Toshi let out a sigh.  “So much for that plan.”  He was discouraged, she could tell.  It had been nearly thirty minutes since they had regrouped and he had dispatched the speedier and more mobile members of the class to look for where the Villains might be coming from and they had nothing to show for it.

So many times, she and her classmates looked to him for direction.  They always had.  Toshi had always been the one looking out for all of them, even when they were small, making sure everyone was getting along, making sure everyone’s needs were met.  With the fate of everyone’s passing being tied to this exam, it was little wonder he seemed to be feeling that even more strongly.

“When one hypothesis fails,” she said, “you must select another.”   Slightly cautiously, she put her hands on his shoulders.  He didn’t flinch away from the contact, which was good. Since they had last talked about it, he had been getting better about not being as anxious when they touched. “We believe in you, Toshi.  And we will figure this out.”

Toshi nodded.  “Okay, yeah, you’re right.  Thanks, Sora.”

“Of course,” she said. “One of the requirements of being your girlfriend is supporting you in your endeavors.”   She’d been reading excessively on “how to be a good girlfriend” on the internet.  Much of the advice was contradictory and confusing, but she was attempting to sort through it all.  If need be, there were more experienced sources of advice within the class as well. “Also, I am as invested in our success as a class as anyone.”

Above, she could hear Shinso’s sonar scream, sent out at regular intervals per Toshi’s directions, sweeping in a wide arc from west to east.  The noise would probably let any Villains know they were being watched, but it was better than being caught completely unawares.

“I think I saw something this time!” Shinso reported.  “Just a blip though.  Like when Shadow-Thief was doing her shadow thing! Big group though…  I think she’s moving all of them!”

“It looks like your hypothesis was correct after all,” Sora told Toshi.  “Your time scale was merely inaccurate.”

Time scale… time scale… That had to be important…

Oh no.

Sora looked up and tracked the position of the sun in the sky, relative to where it had been early. Her eyes darted to the buildings across the street, where long shadows were starting to draw.  Of course.  The Villains had waited until they had opportunity to use the shadows to their advantage.

“Aoyama!” she shouted. “We need as much light as you can muster!  Across the street!  Now!”

But it was too late. The shadows across the street rippled as four figures began to rise out of it.   The same Villains Shinso had identified before.   Jawbreaker.  Raptor. Kamuy.  Shadow-Thief.  

There was no time. The Villains were here.

“Okay, everybody!” Toshi called out.  “Just like we planned it!   Let’s take these guys down!”

***

Shinso, Todoroki, Aoyama, Kaminari, and Kirishima-Bakugo were still on the roof, ready to rain their firepower down from above.   Tensei Iida, Sero, and Haimawari were still out in the field, heading back to the basecamp.   On the ground, that left Midoriya, Sora Iida, Koda, Sato, Ojiro, Mineta, Tokoyami, and Daisuke.  He’d been tense, waiting for the moment when the Villains appeared.  He was strong, he knew.  He was no Deku, of course, but still powerfully built.  In training, he was used to be being able to take care of most simulated opponents with just a few blows.

Strength was hardly everything.  It was why he trained his reflexes and his senses to their utmost and why he tried to maximize the range and mobility his Extendo-Arms offered him.  He doubted that he would ever be a particularly highly ranked Hero, he shied away from the spotlight too much for that without factoring in anything else, but he was determined to be an effective one.

But for the first time, when fighting that Kamuy woman, his strength had been useless.  Worse than useless, it had been turned against him. She’d thrown all the strength of his punches right back at him.  Not a feeling he relished, nor one he hoped to experience again.

There was barely a moment between the Villains appearing, Midoriya’s direction, and the move by both sides to attack.  A barrage of ranged attacks flew forth first: focused laser beams from Aoyama, explosive-infused disks from Kirishima-Bakugo, electrical blasts from Kaminari, waves of sonic-force from Shinso, and gouts of flame from Todoroki.  They had the desired effect and the Villains scattered, with Raptor taking to the air on a giant gust of wind, Kamuy going right, and Jawbreaker going left.  Shadow-Thief vanished back into the shadows… something that probably wasn’t going to be good.

He saw Sora Iida jetting into the air to fight Raptor, with Tokoyami dispatching Frog-Shadow to fight alongside her.  He saw Mineta firing those sticky balls from her horns, trying to tag Kamuy. And before him, he saw Jawbreaker.

The Villain was more massive than Midoriya had described him, now made of both stone and metal, blending unevenly across his form.  Daisuke glanced briefly to his right and saw Midoriya, then nodded.

Daisuke was too tall to go low, but he darted this way and that, dodging out of the way of Jawbreaker’s fists. Even weighed down with the extra mass, the big Villain was fast.  He swung his second set of arms high and his third set of arms low and extended them out as fast as he could, smacking the Villain with a series of rapid-fire blows. Again and again, like pistons, he fired his four fists out, smacking hard against metal and rock.

“Argh!” He let out a cry of pain as his fists bounced uselessly against the Villain’s hide, not even denting the metal or cracking the rock.

“Was that supposed to hurt?” Jawbreaker taunted.  He launched a powerful blow, but Daisuke got all three of his right side-arms in place to block it.  That blow hurt too, but not as bad as it would have if he’d taken it full on.  He held his ground at least.

“Would have been nice if it had,” he said.  “But I’m just the distraction.”

Midoriya’s gravity enhanced fist smashed into the side of Jawbreaker’s head, sending him flying.  Daisuke would be lying if he said he didn’t envy the gravity-backed powers Midoriya could put behind his blows.  They made his best triple-haymaker look like a love tap. Jawbreaker skipped like a stone across the street for a moment, before digging in his fingers to stop himself. When he was stable, he jaw opened wide and he took a huge bite out of the street, his scoop like jaw shoveling in cement.  As he did, he got bigger still, patches of cement spreading across his body.

Midoriya gave him a concerned look.  “You up for hitting him some more?  We’ve got to get him closer to our ranged attackers.”

Daisuke shrugged.  He was definitely going to have sore knuckles after this.  “Might as well…”

***

Mika let out a whoop as her sticky balls successfully pinned Kamuy’s feet to the ground.   “In your face, giant lady!” she taunted, making a face. The massive woman was struggling to free her feet, shooting daggers in her direction.

“Ah, maybe don’t taunt the giant woman, Mineta?” Sato suggested.

“Definitely not a good idea,” Ojiro agreed.

There was a non-zero chance they were right.  At the end of the day, her balls were very sticky, but they weren’t the universal sealant. On the other hand, seeing the woman fume was so much fun!

“When I get out of here,” Kamuy growled, “I am going to send you to the glue-factory, horse girl!”

“Oh, whatever,” she said, waving a hand dismissively.  “And I keep telling people, I’m a cow, now a horse!”  

She pointed to Kamuy, turning her head to their snipers.  “Todoroki!  How about you show her how to chill?”

Above, Todoroki pointed and ice began to form around Kamuy.  Mika wasn’t exactly sure on what her range was, but whatever it was, it was good.  Being able to draw in heat and form ice just by pointing was a damn useful talent.  

“Dammit,” Kamuy said. “Didn’t want to do this this early…   Going to make you regret it, kid.” She seemed to shimmer for a second, then slammed a fist into the ground.  The resultant shockwave rippled outward, blowing Mika, Ojiro, and Sato off their feet, and shattering both the her balls and Todoroki’s ice.

When Mika’s head stopped spinning, she could see Kamuy approaching her.  She looked noticeably smaller, though still just as tall and still built like a truck.  But noticeably less bulky all the same.   She’d probably had to expend a lot of power to do that shockwave then.

Shinso had been surprisingly light on the details of Kamuy’s Quirk.  She’d apparently only had a handful of public conflicts with Heroes before being imprisoned.  But if they could get her to keep expending energy, maybe she’d run out?  

She tried to prop herself up, but Kamuy was faster.  The giant woman lifted her by her neck, squeezing just enough to hurt, but not so bad that she couldn’t breathe.   Obviously, these guys weren’t allowed to kill them.  No matter how much Aizawa had threatened to kick all their asses over the course of the term.

“No smartass remarks now, huh?�� Kamuy asked, holding her at eye level.  “You got me a little mad, but when I get mad, things get broken.”  She raised Mika up a little higher, ready to give her a toss.  “This is your last roundup, Hero.”

If she wasn’t about to get slammed into the pavement, Mika would really have appreciated the taunt. As far as those went, it was a good one. She kicked, ineffectively, slamming her hooves into Kamuy’s stomach.  Of course, with her Quirk, it wasn’t doing much.

“You know,” Mika grunted, “you’re forgetting something…”

“Am I?” Kamuy’s lips pulled back in a sneer.  “What’s that?”

“This close, I don’t gotta aim my balls. What goes up… comes down!”

She fired off a ball from her left horn and jerked her own head back.  It didn’t go far, but it did distract Kamuy enough to look up.  The ball smacked her right in the face.   It wasn’t a big one, barely the size of a softball, but it did cover one eye and hit her with a pretty solid plop!  The shock made her release Mika, who fell to the ground on her butt in an undignified heap.

Which was when Ojiro struck. Or at least, that’s what Mika assumed happened.  Something struck Kamuy’s legs anyway, causing her to topple over backwards into a hole that definitely wasn’t there before.  

“…What?”

“Sorry,” Sato said, suddenly at her side and offering her a hand up.  She noticed he had some dirt on his face around his lips.  The hole had to be his doing then.  Beside him, Ojiro came back into view.   “Didn’t mean for that to take so long.”

“Had to wait for a moment where we could actually do something,” Ojiro said.  “Even if she didn’t see me, not much I could do unless she was off-balance.”

Mika waved it off. “Nah, you guys did good.”

Unfortunately, all it had bought them was a brief respite.  Kamuy jumped out of the hole, landing with a solid thump.

She cracked her knuckles noisily.  “You little Heroes used up your shot.  Now it’s my turn.”

***

In the time between Tensei’s communication with the others and his arrival back at the civilian defense shelter, the scene had become a warzone.  Below, he could see Shoji and Toshi fighting with Jawbreaker, with even Toshi’s gravity backed ricochet blows having little effect on the massive Villain. Haimawari arrived on the ground moments later, peppering Jawbreaker with his blasts, but he succeeded in only distracting him long enough to buy Toshi and Shoji a moment.

Also on the ground, Mineta, Sato, and Ojiro were dodging out of the way of Kamuy, mostly looking like they were trying to avoid giving her any additional power.  Based upon his observation, she had decreased in overall mass by at least fifteen percent since his previous encounter with her.  Tensei winced as Sato narrowly avoided another of the woman’s blows, but let out a sigh of relief as Takuma finally arrived on the scene, temporarily restraining Kamuy with his tape.

And in the air… Raptor was putting up a valiant fight against his sister and Tokoyami’s Frog-Shadow.   According to both Shinso and Takuma, the winged Villain could not actually “fly” like winged Heroes like Hawks or Kestrel, instead relying on his ability to generate powerful winds to keep himself aloft.  It required a continuous expenditure and forced him to keep himself in motion, much like his and his sister’s Jetpack Quirks.

But Raptor’s wind blasts were enough to keep both of his attacks from reaching him.  Tensei poured on his speed as he watched his sister fire the capture rope built into her gauntlet, but it too was buffeted by the winds and fell back harmlessly.  

Fortunately, Raptor did not see him.  With one final burst of speed, he came up on the Villain and swung out a fist for a high speed punch.  It connected with a solid clang of armored fist on flesh, sending Raptor tumbling out of the air.  

“Good to see you are safe, Little Brother!” Sora said, as they both jetted after the Villain, who was flapping his wings and calling up a gale to right himself.

“As I must remind you, I am a statistically insignificant amount of time younger than you!” he snapped back.  “That appellation is highly inappropriate!”

“Hey, argue later!” Frog-Shadow shouted after them, being recalled by Tokoyami. “Sheesh, when I’m being the sensible one…”

A sharp blade of wind split the air between them, forcing both Tensei and his sister into evasive maneuvers.  The familiar was right.  It was hardly the time for arguments.  Instead, it was time for…

Tensei turned his head slightly to look at his sister, who, seeming to have sensed his intent, was now looking at him.  “Double Rocket Attack?” he asked.

“Double Rocket Attack!” Sora confirmed, confidently.

Both adjusted their flight paths so they were facing each other, then linked hands and fired an extra boost of speed through their Jetpacks.  It sent them spinning and both stretched their legs out as far as they would go. Spinning around and around, Tensei’s legs smacked hard into Raptor, followed immediately by Sora’s, again and again.

“And make way for me!” Frog-Shadow shouted.  Tensei and Sora backed off as, at what appeared to be Tokoyami’s direction, Frog-Shadow-swooped in and rushed Raptor, slamming into his mid-section, her arms and hands extending to grab his wings. Pinned, he seemed helpless as he slammed into the ground not far from Tokoyami.

Tensei touched down, Sora right behind him.  “Is he subdued?” he asked.

“I am afraid not,” Tokoyami replied. “He is… struggling still.”

She was right. Frog-Shadow was strong, of course, but Raptor seemed to be a rather powerful Villain as well.  And while she had pinned his wings enough to prevent them from use in flight, she could not grasp every feather… The tips of his wings snapped forward, hitting Frog-Shadow with focused and sharp blades of wind. The familiar let out a cry of alarm and pain one echoed by Tokoyami, and snapped back, allowing him to rise again.   Raptor got back on his feet in an instant, wings spreading out behind him for another attack.   They snapped forward, shooting out another blade of air. But it sailed over their heads.

“Ha!” Sora taunted. “You missed, Villain!”

Raptor simply sneered. “Did I?”

Tensei turned to look behind them, just in time to watch the wave of pressurized air slam into the roof of the civilian defense shelter, sending their classmates tumbling over the edge!

***

Koharu let out a sharp gasp as the members of Class 1-A who were on the roof were sent tumbling over the edge by the wind blast from Raptor.  The girl with the white and red hair—Todoroki, she remembered now—reacted quickly though, forming an ice slide that brought them down to the ground chillily and probably uncomfortably, but all in one piece.  The explosive girl, Kirishima-Bakugo, checked on Todoroki to make sure she was okay, but Todoroki pointed towards the fight.  With that, the students who had been on the roof joined the fight proper.

“Still waiting on that answer, Kocho,” Aizawa said.  “What would you do against these Villains?”

“Give the girl a break, Aizawa,” All Might said.  “She wasn’t expecting to get challenged like that.”

“Heroes have to think on their feet,” Aizawa said.  “If she can’t do that, she’s got no business joining my class.”

“She’s in the room, you two,” Vice-Principal Midnight reminded them.  

“It’s, it’s okay,” Koharu said.  “It’s a fair question.”   On the screens, she watched as Kirishima-Bakugo hit Jawbreaker with a series of explosive-backed punches, giving Midoriya, Haimawari, and Shoji a brief respite.  Even as he swatted her away, Shinso hit the Villain with a sonic blast of force.  

“That the best you can do, kid?” Jawbreaker taunted, looming large over the small boy, who suddenly seemed even smaller in the moment.  “You giving me the kid’s gloves treatment?”

There was a stillness in the room, a baited breath that told her this was a very important moment, even if she didn’t understand the context.

“Not… even… CLOSE!” Shinso made the word itself into a scream, hitting Jawbreaker with a much more powerful blast that knocked the Villain across the street.

“I knew he still had it in him!” Aizawa said, very nearly rising from his seat. Was he… proud? What was the story there?  All Might and Midnight were much less restrained, letting out louder cheers.

“Ahem,” Aizawa said. “Back to the question.”

“Er, yes, sir,” Koharu said. “Jawbreaker…  He’s got to see, right?  So I’d probably try to blind him with my String Shot.  I’m not strong enough to hurt him and he doesn’t look like he breathes, so I couldn’t use any of my scale powders, like my paralysis agent or my poison, so… I might be able to restrain him or at least keep him busy until somebody with a different Quirk comes along.”

Aizawa did not give her any indication as to whether or not that was the correct answer.

On the screens, the fights went on. Sero and Mineta combined their sticky Quirks to restrain Kamuy, setting up Kaminari and Todoroki to join the fight.  Todoroki flicked a hand, sending out a wave of ice that covered her legs and temporarily immobilizing her, while Kaminari unleashed an electrical blast from her gauntlets.  Kamuy jerked under the attack for a moment, but then began to laugh.

“Oh, yeah!” she cackled. “That’s the stuff!”   She was growing larger and more muscular, breaking out of the ice easily.  

“Oh, no fair!” Mineta shouted, dodging out of the way of Kamuy’s blows.  “She can absorb energy too?!  I know Shinso didn’t say that!”

“In his defense,” Aizawa said, seeming to come to the boy’s defense, “it didn’t come up much.  All of her recorded battles were with Heroes with more physical Quirks.”

Koharu winced at Kamuy tagged Mineta with a heavy punch.  The horned girl went flying, went down, and did not get up.  Sero wrapped a strip of tape around her arm, but she flicked her arm and pulled him to her instead, smashing her other fist into his face with enough force to crack his helmet and drop him instantly.

“Um,” she said, feeling slightly bad watching 1-A get beat up like that. “Kamuy absorbs physical attacks. So I wouldn’t want to engage directly. But my scales would probably work. Keep her distracted, keep her fighting and breathing hard, and I could paralyze her or put her to sleep.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option for the students fighting her.  Powerful blows quickly took down Sato, the poor guy not getting a chance to do much now that she was powered up and enraged.  Probably revenge for dropping the telephone pole on her. Kamuy turned her attention back to Kaminari and Todoroki, with Kaminari putting herself in front of the girl with the two-tone hair.  Koharu watched as she plugged her Extension Cords into other parts of her uniform, opening panels that revealed lights and speakers.  The resulting sound and light barrage stunned Kamuy for a moment, giving the girls a moment to retreat.  In the resultant confusion, Koharu realized she’d lost track of Ojiro…

On another screen, the Heroes fighting Raptor were doing a little better than the rest.  The glowing boy, Aoyama, had joined the Iida twins and Tokoyami, adding bolts of blinding light to the fight.  With Raptor disoriented, the twins both jetted around him, firing some kind of capture line from their gauntlets, circling him several times to pin his wings.  Tokoyami sent forth her frog thing again, and this time it let Raptor have it with a one-two punch that sent his head spinning, knocking the winged man down and out.

“And him,” Koharu said, “I’d probably end up fighting in the air, which isn’t great, even if I can actually fly and he’s just blasting himself around.  Because those winds could send anything I send at him back or somewhere else. I’m immune to my own scales, but other people wouldn’t be. Too risky.  He’s tough… but I might have to risk trying to out-fly-fight him. He doesn’t look like he’s meant for fighting someone who can stay up in the air with him.”

“Good answers!” All Might told her. The compliment made her smile.  “Two out of five down.  Think they can pull it off?”

***

Kimiko was about to do something incredibly stupid.  But Mineta and Kenta were down and nothing Todoroki or Kaminari were throwing at Kamuy was going anything to slow her down for more than a moment.  Plus, there was the whole absorbing energy thing to deal with, which nullified Kaminari’s best attacks.

She’d gone invisible as soon as the woman had started swinging.  It had kept her safe, but it wasn’t doing anybody else any good.  Kimiko considered herself pretty good in a fight and she was a master of hitting things (as Kenta and Takuma could tell you), but against Kamuy…

Todoroki unleashed a blast of flame and that was what finally made Kamuy falter, dodging out of the way of the fire.  Fire wasn’t really energy like Kaminari’s electricity was, so maybe she couldn’t absorb that?  Over her shoulder, she could see the group that had been fighting Raptor rushing to join the last two ongoing fights.  The Twins were jetting off to help Midoriya’s group, while Aoyama and Tokoyami were coming Kamuy’s direction.

Either way, she had an opening.  It was time to do something stupid.   Keeping herself invisible and silent, she took a running jump and landed on Kamuy’s back.

“What the hell?” Kamuy shouted, trying to reach back to dislodge her.  But as muscular as she was, she didn’t have the flexibility to dislodge her, especially since she couldn’t see her.  Her legs wrapped around Kamuy’s middle, Kimiko reached up and put her hands on Kamuy’s face and extended her Quirk.  Normally, when she extended her Quirk over someone else, if she did it right, she could allow them to continue to see, even though light was no longer reaching their eyes.  Some kind of layering thing, Doctor Izumi had said, where she wasn’t stopping all of it, just some of it.  

But if she pushed it just right…

She couldn’t see it, but she could only imagine the horror show that was Kamuy’s eyes disappearing from her face.   “I can’t see!” Kamuy screamed, thrashing this way and that to try shake Kimiko off, but she’d learned more than a few things from her dad about clinging like a monkey.   “Gonna kill you, brat…!”

“Hit her now, guys!” Kimiko yelled.  “Hit her now!”

“But, I can’t…” Kaminari started.  

“It would not be safe…” Todoroki added.

Right.  Dammit.  Kaminari’s electricity and Todoroki’s fire would probably hurt her too.  Her best idea yet in this fight and she hadn’t thought it all the way through!

“Then leave it to moi!” Aoyama called out.   She could hear a faint sound, growing louder, a high pitched whine as he powered up his light to intense levels.  “Blinding Dazzle Beam!” Focused on Kamuy, Kimiko couldn’t see him from her perch, but she could hear the sound of a powerful laser firing.

Tokokyami’s voice joined in. “Verdant Cross-Slash!”

“Here I go!”

Kimiko jumped off just in time to see the combination of Aoyama’s laser and Tokoyami’s Frog-Shadow strike Kamuy, taking the big woman completely off guard and knocking her down.

“All right!” Kaminari shouted, doing what Kimiko hoped was supposed to be a victory dance.  “Go team!  Take that, scary giant lady!”

“Um, Chihiro…” Todoroki began, looking behind Kaminari.

“Not now, Izumi, I’m doing my victory dance!”

“I really think you should listen,” Tokoyami said.

“And look behind you,” Aoyama added.

“And please stop dancing,” Kimiko said.  “It’s just embarrassing.  And really not the time…!”

“Okay, I don’t know what I’m expecting to see, but I’m going to turn around and… aw, dammit!”

Kamuy was getting right back up.  She was steaming and shrinking a little, maybe using some of what she’d absorbed to keep herself going… but she was far from down.  The giant woman clapped her hands together faster than the eye could follow, unleashing a massive shockwave.  

Kimiko only had time to scream before everything went dark.

[tealquacks]

What is yet to come, and what is.

Docthor day 6: Unexpected Visitor

@lostcybertronian

—

The strings settled in the grooves they had carved in his fingers, buzzing against his flesh and carving deeper. Author pulled the bow across the strings again, swaying with the song, keeping a lazy rhythm. His violin was an old, well loved thing, but it sounded as fine the day he got it. Well, found it. He made a concert violinist a killer in one of his first novels, The Thursday Lighthouse. After she had been convicted, he broke into her apartment and took it.

The violin was well loved when he got it, he just loved it even more. Like walking an old road in the same way thousands of times, feet falling in the same place, stepping where footfalls once where. Like finding a record in a shop, like how he took Edward and made him love him with words, stole him away-

His hand slipped, the bow making a shrieking sound against the strings. Edward. His little doctor was asleep now. He left roses at his desk earlier, wondering what he thought of them. Maybe he smiled at them. Thought they were pretty. Author shut his eyes, and rose the bow high in the air, letting it glide along the strings and pierce the air with a clear, high note.

Music flowed like blood from a cut vein, filling the room and flooding his ears. Outside was as dark as his closed eyes, clouds hiding the stars fires, an omen of storms to come. He couldn’t see it, not with his eyes closed, no, but he could almost picture it. Dark clouds lined with shy, silver moonlight, rolling through the sky with every shuddering breath of wind. Birds held their breath, too scared to sleep, knowing that anything with teeth sharp enough to kill had its eyes wide open.

It flashed across his vision, and he could see the scene as clear as if his eyes were open. His arms were limp at his sides, mouth wide open with words yet to be spoken. He set down the bow, touching his lips. They were wet with spit. Had he been talking the whole time? Slowly, he took in a slow, slow breath, focusing on the clouds. How they flowed in the air like a river, anything with teeth sharp enough to kill with eyes wide open.

He saw a fox, crouching in the brush, perfectly still. A paused movie frame. It’s eyes were green and intelligent, shining even in such darkness. But still, not even blinking. Author described the field around it, feeling himself float away almost, eyes starting to itch. His fingers twitched. Tall, verdant grass bends to the will of the breeze, arching again and again. A rabbit sits in the grass, little nose twitching with frantic breaths.

Author frowned. If his words were allowing him to see, then what if he spoke his own words, changed what he was seeing? Controlling something directly, not just the events around it. Having full control. Like a god.

Smiling wickedly, he licked his lips.

“The fox, spotting his prey, flexes its muscles as it-“

His hands locked up. Arms following suit. Legs becoming stiff and tense. Shaking uncontrollably, head thrown back. His jaw clamped shut around his tongue, he could taste blood as it poured from his mouth. And his eyes, god, they burned. Burned. Scorching gold into his brain like a summer sun as he shook crazily, no control over himself anymore. Panic flooded his mind as he tried to breathe, desperate thoughts going directly to Edward, his mind jumping immediately to the man the moment he heard heavy footsteps.

Two hands, scarred, quivering, and cold as ice touch his face. They wipe the blood from his lips. The person sighs deeply. The panic doubles. It’s not Edward who is it who’s touching him why do his hands feel so strange eyes hurt eyes hurt eyes hurt.

“Not yet,” Author hears a familiar voice say, “The Host is sorry, he knows it hurts, but not yet.”

The cold fingers rub at his temples, and Author feels himself slowly relax, muscles unlocking one by one. Finally, his jaw, hanging open, drooling blood down his chin. His mind quiets, as if the thoughts were drawn out with the strange, locking force. He rubs his eyes like a tired child, finally opening them.

His hands were covered with a golden liquid, cold and shimmering before his very eyes. Cautiously, he touched them again, seeing more golden stuff on his hands.

The room is empty, and he is exhausted.

—

Rain pattered against the windows in a desperate frenzy to get inside, lightning cheering it on as thunder watched in the distance. Author laid awake in bed, licking his lips with a still painful tongue. His eyes hurt, too. It took every bit of willpower he had not to itch them, feeling like there was something behind his eyes. Which, by the way, was impossible. It had to be. The rain was calming, at least, the byproduct of the clouds from the night before. Without his control, his mind went to the fox he had seen in the glen.

“The fox,” he pondered, “Spotting his prey, flexes its muscles as it-“

“Look what the cat dragged in,” a sleepy voice said. Author smashed his jaw shut, biting his tongue. Again. He looked over. His lover was disheveled and tired looking, eyes half shut and sleepy, hair all in his face in soft looking waves Author forced himself not to touch. Edward was angelic like this, sleepy and at peace.

“Hi,” Author whispered. “It’s morning.”

Edward grumbled, moving closer to him. He put his head on his chest.

“Didn’t think I’d see you around these parts, stranger,” Edward joked in a country accent. Host rolled his eyes.

“Never do that again,” he pleaded.

“Now why not, partner?” He accentuated it with a kiss on the chest.

“You sound like Edgar.”

Edward groaned and laughed, burying his face in his chest, smiling like the sun behind the clouds.

“I didn’t think you’d be here. Next to me.”

“You want me here?”

“Of course.” Edward sat up, straddling Author, “I love you.”

“No, you-“

“I know about the pages.”

Author paled. Edward kept on talking.

“I know about the pages, what you wrote. Pushing us together, drawing me near. The scripted dates, everything.” Author tried to sit up, Edward gently pushing him back. “But that’s where it ended. Nothing more than a little push to get us closer. You’ve never influenced me to do something I hadn’t already planned on doing. Except for spilling the wine. That was all you.”

“And how do you know this?” Author whispered, glaring up at the kindness on Edwards face. “How do you know I haven’t done that to you?”

“Because-“ Edward pressed his hand against his chest, a warm smile on his face. “You have a heart. And I know that it would kill you to do anything more.”

“Doesn’t answer my question. How do you know?”

Edward laughed, thunder booming outside.

“That’s because I know your big secret,” he teased. Author smirked, despite himself.

“And what’s that?”

Edward leaned into him, their noses bumping into one another before they could right themselves, lips brushing ever so slightly and the blood pumping through Author’s veins like lightning. The fox, spotting its prey, flexes its muscles as it-

“Your secret,” Edward whispered against his lips, “Is that you love me.”

Author smiled, reaching out and touching Edwards hair, pulling him close to him and kissing him, to make up for all the times he had forgotten, all the times he was guilty. When he had left. Edward laid down on him, warm, sturdy hands caressing his cheek. Everything felt so far away, the kiss deepening as Edward tugged on Authors hair, a smile on his lips. Author did nothing but lean into it. And outside, warm rain fell on a growing, beautiful earth.

The memory of the fox and the Host faded with the pain in his eyes, and the pair fell asleep curled up in blankets. Together, they slept through the storm.