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All good things come with a price.
The hunting dogs knew that especially well. Their inhumanly strong powers weren’t simply a result of genetics as most other abilities were.
No, they had to go through painful surgeries once every month to maintain these abilities. If they even missed one of those surgeries, and their bodies would fall apart at the seams. Literally.
Teruko laid curled up on the hard floor of her room. Sometimes laying on the floor was the only way to relieve the physical pain that came with the surgeries. She rolled onto her back, her limbs sprawled out against the rough carpet as she stared up at the ceiling. Her limbs ached, a bone-deep ache that most people wouldn’t even be able to bear. Not to mention the throbbing headaches the surgeries would cause - those were already enough to drive one insane.
She felt tears prick up in the corner of her eyes, which she quickly wiped away. No, she was a hunting dog. Hunting dogs didn’t cry from mere pain, right?
After laying there for what felt like forever and a half, she slowly propped herself up onto her hands as she sat up. She looked around her room - it was dark. The only light in the room being the faint orange light that peaked through the cracks in the blinds. Though, that was enough to see all of the details of her room. One of the better side affects of those surgeries was heightened eyesight, which teruko found particularly helpful especially in these sort of situations.
She glanced over at her bed which was already neatly made. All of her pillows were neatly in order and a small plush bear sat in front of them - one that tecchou had gotten for her for her birthday last year. She then looked over at the clock fastened to her wall. 7:47 pm, just 15 minutes past when she came in. The sun was already setting despite it being early since it was still winter, which explained the light orange glow cast on the room. Time had been moving so slow recently, but she couldn’t quite figure out why that was. Maybe it was from the constant physical pain she was enduring. ‘Time flys when you’re having fun’ or something, right? Well, safe to say she was definitely not having fun.
She let her upper body fall back against the ground, with a sigh. She wished she could just sink into the floor and disappear at this point. She let her eyes fall shut, her mind wandering a bit as she thought of just everything and nothing. Her mind was always racing like that, she had never known calm since she could remember.
She heard her door slowly creak open, interrupting her thoughts. A small crack of light coming from the hallways shone against the ground, a stark contrast from the rather dark room. She wanted to look up to see who had came in, but her eyes just wouldn’t cooperate. She was beyond exhausted.
She soon saw the faint line of light against the floor disappear, as the door was shut again. Faint footsteps could be heard against the carpeted floor, as they made their way closer to her. Once the footsteps ceased, she felt a gentle hand ruffle her hair.
Just from that alone, she knew just who it was.
“..why are you here..”
She said, despite her words her tone wasn’t harsh at all as it usually was. She looked up at tachihara, her eyes tired.
He stayed quiet for a moment, letting his hand linger in her hair.
“I wanted to check on you after your surgery is all.. I know how physically taxing they can be.”
He said, as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. And well, it was. Teruko simply wanted to hear that from him. He wanted to check on her. She gave a weak chuckle at the thought, letting her eyes close again.
“Yeah.. I guess they can be.”
Teruko leaned against his hand, her body relaxing a bit more. She always felt so safe around him, for a reason she couldn’t quite explain.
He carefully picked her up off of the hard ground, letting her rest in his lap. She rested her head under his chin, her arms immediately wrapping around him. He was always so warm, like sitting next to a fireplace on a cold day.
He laid his head against the top of hers, letting them both bask in the peaceful;warm silence that filled the room.
After what felt like an hour (which in reality was only a few minutes) tachihara carefully stood up, easily lifting her with him.
He sat on the edge of her bed, laying her down on it and covering her up. He really was like a proper big brother.
He couldn’t help but wonder if his own big brother would be proud of him now, for taking care of another as he once was taken care of.
But that was simply a flickering idea, that he didn’t want to put much thought into.
He finished tucking teruko in, ruffling her hair one last time. Assuming she was asleep, he stood up and began walking away to leave the room.
But, he quickly stopped when he felt a small hand grabbing his wrist. He turned back to look, seeing those big purple eyes staring right back at him.
“Stay?”
She said, simply. And nothing more needed to be said. He stared back at her for a moment, before nodding and wordlessly sitting back down on the edge of the bed.
She lifted up the duvet, allowing him to lay beside her. He laid down, quite close to the edge as to be respectful and give her space. But, she ended up pulling him closer herself anyways, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
She was like a koala, tachihara thought with a small chuckle. He settled himself under the covers, resting his head against hers.
“Night teruko..”
He mumbled, letting out a calm breath. The room was still and quiet for a moment. He didn’t really expect a response back, but that was okay. He just kept softly rubbing her back, hoping to give that ache even a bit of relief. He knew he wished he had someone to do this for him after his monthly surgeries. Cutting through the silence he heard a small, almost inaudible whisper.
“Night michi.. love you.”
His heart stopped for a second as he processed her words. He hadn’t felt such a connection to anyone like this since his brother.. he never thought he’d hear those words again. He honestly wished he could freeze this moment forever, not wanting to let this - not wanting to let her slip away. But he couldn’t, so instead he simply tightened his hold on her, whispering back against her hair.
“love you too, teruko.. sleep well.”
She gave a small hum in response, her body relaxing further as sleep took hold of her. He yawned, his body relaxing against hers as he followed her into sleep.