Chapter Text
A navy-colored tear formed on the wall in a quiet bedroom. Out came two dust covered people, one a young man with shoulder length black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck and silver rimmed glasses. He is wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt, grey denim jeans, and brown boots, and the other is a young teen with long silver hair with black streaks throughout it in a braid down her back. She is wearing a similar outfit to her older brother, the only difference being her black boots.
“Alright Amaya, let’s get cleaned up before we go join Father for supper.” He says ruffling her hair.
Amaya looked around her bedroom as her big brother went to his own across the hall. Her desk sat next to the dresser and her bed was on the opposite wall with an empty space at the foot, where she occasionally relaxed on the rug, reading or drawing if she didn’t want to be at her desk. After removing her boots and putting them under her bed, Amaya moved to the dresser pulling out a tank top and comfortable pair of sweatpants before going to her bathroom to take a shower and wash off the dust from the site they just came back from. As she got clean, she went over the details in her mind.
Ryusei and Amaya had been helping clean up after an earthquake brought down a couple of buildings, luckily, they were condemned and empty as they were scheduled to be demolished in the near future. The work was just clearing the rubble that ended up in the road and repairing the small amount of damage that happened to nearby structures, but she still ended up needing to heal a few of the volunteers as they had ignored the safety officers when they went over the rules and plan. It was a small group of teens, just a bit older than Amaya herself. They had thought it smart to climb into the remains of the collapsed building and ended up with a large piece of debris landing on them. They had gotten lucky none of them had any critical injuries, meaning Amaya was able heal their injuries near instantaneously. Once they were healed the safety officers had them removed from the site.
After that, the work went by with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. As she helped clear away the rubble Amaya couldn’t help feeling that something was amiss. She felt as though someone was watching her and had since shortly after she and Ryusei had gone out that morning. The presence felt familiar, as though she knew the individual who was watching her. Obviously, her older brother was watching her, Ryusei had been there with her and had been watching over her for as long as she could remember. It couldn’t have been Father as he was working a shift at the hospital, with his strong healing ability he often was on call at all hours. Hopefully it wasn’t Mother, she wasn’t supposed to be back in Japan until the end of the week. If it was her though things were going to be bad.
The woman was never in a good mood when she came home to discover that she and Ryusei had been out helping the nearby communities. Last time it resulted in both Ryusei and Amaya being beaten, and Mother swore that that would be the last “warning” she would give them. Amaya shuddered at the memory hoping that she hadn’t been the one watching them work. Amaya looked in the mirror above the sink, noting the numerous scars covering her arms and visible portions of her chest that weren’t covered by the tank top and had to repress another shudder at the memory of the many beatings that caused most of her scars. Amaya shook her head to clear such awful memories and revealed her black wolf-like ears and tail as she left her bedroom to join Ryusei and Father in the kitchen.
When she came into the kitchen, she found her father chopping vegetables as Ryusei was telling him about their day, letting him know how Amaya did during her lessons and training. Father was smiling and nodding along whilst listening to his child. Once he had the knife and cutting board rinsed, and in the dishwasher, he came over to Amaya giving her a hug signing, “Well done” before moving to hand Ryusei a couple of spices as he stirred the chicken and vegetables in a large skillet. Ryusei thanked him, as he added them to the pan.
While they made supper Amaya went to the cabinets and pulled out the dishes, going ahead and setting the table before getting the kettle ready so that they could have tea while they ate. As she finished and went to sit at the table, her father turned to face her. Amaya’s eyes were drawn to the silvery scar across his neck that had rendered him mute after a fight with their mother long before she or Ryusei were born. His silver hair so similar to her own was cut short and his kind indigo eyes bright and observant crinkled at the corners as he smiled and signed, “How did the day go for you?”
“It went well enough father.” Amaya said smiling, “My lessons were fun, aside from math, and I had a blast training and sparring with Ryusei before we went out to help in town,” Amaya’s smile fell, and her ears drooped slightly as she thought of something. “But while we were out, I couldn’t help feeling as though someone was watching us. Normally I wouldn’t be bothered but this seemed familiar. It has me a bit worried. What if she returned early again?” Amaya sat at the table and played with her tail in her lap, a nervous habit of hers revealing just how worried she was. Father and Ryusei looked at one another for a long moment before going back to finish making supper. As they brought the food to the table Father put a gentle hand on Amaya’s head giving her a small smile and signed “It will be okay.” before gently tugging on her ear making her smile and giggle as she smacked at his hand.
Supper was quiet, the three of them conversing via JSL. At her father’s request Amaya explained how she had healed the three teens at the warehouse. The men watched with small smiles as she described the different “feeling” she got with each of the boys and the way her energy flowed as she worked to heal them. As he had done with every other time, she healed someone without his supervision, her father drilled her on what she could have done in that situation without her healing quirk and the different ways it could have gone wrong. Teaching her to be prepared for anything by quizzing her on as many situations as he could between bites.
As they finished eating there was a knock at the door. Ryusei got up his tail giving away his excitement, and with a quick “I’ll get it” he was gone. While Ryusei went to answer the door, Amaya cleared away the dishes, taking them to the kitchen and loading the dishwasher. As she worked, she heard her brother talking with his fiancé, Tara, in the other room. Excited, she wiped down the counters and the table as fast as she could so she would be able to join the rest of the family in the living room.
Post supper cleanup done, she hurried to the living room. Amaya was eager to hear about Tara’s day and to practice playing her guitar with Ryusei. As she entered, she noticed Father was in his favorite chair by the window, watching the news as he pulled out his flute from its case beside the chair. Amaya smiled, her tail wagging slightly as she settled herself on the ground next to him and leaned her head against his knee as she waited for Ryusei and Tara to join them.
When they finally came in Amaya waved from her spot where she sat listening to Father play his flute. Ryusei came over and joined her on the floor before opening a small rift and pulling out two guitars. He then passed a lavender stained guitar to Amaya who pulled a pick from her pocket. Once they were all set up, Ryusei started going over chords with Amaya, occasionally correcting her fingering. As they practiced Tara told Amaya about her studies and the classes she was taking at the local college, and Amaya in turn told Tara about her lessons and what she and Ryusei had been up to that afternoon.
After they put away the instruments, they all moved to the couches, getting comfortable before watching TV together. Ryusei and Tara were cuddled on one couch and Amaya snuggled into their father’s side on the other. He had one arm over her, and she relaxed with her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat and the quiet comments of the others as they decided what to put on. After a few minutes of indecision, they picked a cooking show and settled in to enjoy a few episodes together. Around nine o’clock, however, they paused the episode they were on, as Amaya had to go to bed. She got up and hugged her father, Tara, and Ryusei on the way out of the room.
She hummed the song Father had played for them as she brushed her teeth and curled up under her purple quilt, and stroked a hand over the black, green, red, and blue designs that were stitched into it. The quilt had been a present from her father a couple of years ago, made using her favorite colors. Despite the comfort of the blanket, Amaya laid awake, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The bad feeling she had had since that afternoon had gotten stronger as the evening progressed. Hoping to calm herself she crossed the room and pulled her favorite stuffed animal from the top of the dresser. It was a grey wolf with a deep green ribbon tied around its neck. She hugged it close and climbed back under her quilt, eventually as she played with the stuffie’s ears, she finally fell asleep.