Chapter Text
Mao mao opened his eyes with difficulty and takes in his surroundings noticing that he is in an familiar room.
He then realise that its his room after knowing this he wondered if his sisters are ok.
He decided to get up only to fall back down in pain coming from his back and look at himself only to widen his eyes in dread.
Only to see bandages covering his stomach before slowly getting up in pain and headed to the bathroom.
He checks to see if any of his sisters are around to only to hear them downstairs which he is thankful.
He really does not want to explain his older scars right now maybe later he will before entering the bathroom.
He found the mirror before removing the bandages and turn around while glancing at the mirror to only see an ugly scarred back.
But that isn't the only thing that gave him dread is that his cape is gone meaning his missing tail must be seen.
Also considering his sisters bandaged his back means they must have also seen his old scar on his stomach.
As he slowly headed to the kitchen he can hear talking and slowed his walking even further while he tries to explain his old scars.
As he got closer his sisters voices got louder but he stopped while looking at the living area.
Zhihui being mouth fed by ziyou with her eyes completely white while kowarenai flinches in pain every time she touches something.
Minori seems perfectly normal yet her movement is slower and more rigid while brunhilde is no where to be seen.
They haven't noticed him so he hid near the wall at the stairs while deciding whether to head to the kitchen or back to his room.
‐--------------------------------‐------‐------------------------------
"Everything hurts" kowarenai thought to herself though by zhihui the effects will dissapear in time.
But the same can be said for zhihui and minori even though brunhilde is weakened she still could regain her strength through training.
While ziyou will simply recover her ability to fly but minori seems to be fine or at least she stated that.
She could see her older sister struggling to move her arms and legs while occasionally freezing in place.
As for brunhilde even though she will naturally recover in time she still insist on training so she left the kitchen early after eating.
She glancing a little only to quickly look as she double checks that she just saw her little brother.
She got up while the rest of her sisters do their own things and rush towards the stairs.
She turns and sees he has already got out of sight upstairs and she followed him.
She knows that he already knew that his sisters have seen his old scars and tail after bandaging him up.
She arrived at his room door and softly knocked a few times "lil bro is me... kowarenai... you know your cool big sis" she spoke softly to not scare him.
She waited a bit "i know that you don't want to talk about your old scars... but you can't hide in here forever" she continued.
Still silence and with a soft sigh she turns around but stopped after hearing a soft click from the door.
She glances back and sees him shyly open the door coverly almost all of his face with a sad expression.
Her heart clenches see him with that look and she really wants to comfort him but remains still.
"Is it only you kowarenai?" He spoke softly while looking around which she quickly shakes her head "yup... just me" she replied.
He pulled the door wider before she entered inside and closed the door behind him.
They sat beside each other on the bed at simply stare at the same wall while both of them remain silent.
Kowarenai shuffled a bit as her body is still sensitive to pain making her uncomfortable on the bed.
Every once in a short while kowarenai would take quick glances at her little brother while mao map simply remain neutral with his expression.
"Hows your back?" She broke the silence while mao mao jumped slightly "its itchy and uncomfortable but not painful" he replied.
"Ok... good" she continued but stopped there and the silence returns but mao mao sighed deeply making her look at him.
"So... you saw... the scars?" He spoke while looking away at her to which she simply place her paw on his shoulder making him flinch.
She softly rub that spot making him relax a little bit "how did you... get that scar on your stomach?" She questioned with concern.
As much as she wants to know about his missing tail that can wait considering that is a more severe to him.
Because that missing tail is more painful then his other scar considering that the tail is sensitive.
She mentally flinch imagining having her tail severed from her but seeing it happened to her little brother.
It makes her feel guilty that out of all of her siblings it was the youngest that suffered the most.
"It... it happened when i was on my first adventure... encountered some bandits and..." mao mao stopped before looking away at his sister.
His first scar came from bandits which is humilating considering his sisters could have handle them with ease and without injury.
Kowarenei merely pulled him closer to perform a side hug and he leaned into her while staring at the window.
He waited for her to say something embarrssing or laugh at him for the scar but she kept silent.
"Was bao bao protecting you?" she finally spoke making mao mao jump a little bit before processing what she said.
He got over bao bao's betrayal and simply nodded making her hum before softly rubbing his head which is nice.
"You know i'm not the only one who saw your scars?" Kowarenei spoke making mao mao sigh.
"For now i'm just going to let you know that you don't need to rush explaining to them" she continued.
"Another time" he replied "...another time" she confirmed before she pulled him into her lap and hug him properly while he return the hug.