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Joe woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of clutter downstairs. Eyes finding the clock on his nightstand, he read: 3:20 AM.
Joe let out a small groan, pushing his blankets off and swinging his feet over the side of the bed.
Was that kid already rummaging through Joe’s pantry this early in the morning? That didn’t come to much of a surprise. Joe was more surprised he hadn’t done so the moment his injuries healed enough for him to walk.
Feeling irritation bubble up inside, Joe took a deep breath, reminding himself not to yell at the kid.
Joe didn’t want him here. He was merely doing this as a favor to the girls and Ira supposedly had been the one helping them, having gotten hurt protecting them.
That had been the biggest shock when he heard that the mysterious new Precure ended up being a Mercenare.
As far as Joe had learned and experienced, Mercenares were beings who thrived on chaos and destruction. Spreading selfishness wherever they went. So to think a Mercenare had risked his life for the Precures sake…it was unthinkable.
There must be some endgame…or at least a sense of pride to not be indebted to the Precure.
Hiding his distaste for the boy was…fairly easy. Especially when Ira also avoided him like the plague; preferring to stay in his room, and with the cats that Joe for some reason allowed to stay.
Heck, the only reason he allowed Ira to stay in the first place stemmed from pity at the sight of him bleeding a gallons worth of blood and his foot and wrist bending in unnatural ways.
It’s fine…. Once he’s healed he won’t be your problem anymore…
However, when Joe finally stepped downstairs into the kitchen, he was surprised to find it pitch black. He could hardly see his own hand.
Could Mercenares see in the dark?
But even when he flicked the light on in the pantry area, Ira wasn’t there either. And there wasn’t a mess indicating he rummaged through it.
Thats when Joe heard a small mew. Turning his head, he saw the black cat Ira had named Shadow staring back at him. Flicking its tail, it jumped past Joe and towards the bathroom door, which was shut tight and only now did Joe hear the faint sound of running water and see the light from under the door.
”Ira…?” Joe asked carefully. No response. “Ira.” Joe called again, his voice becoming sterner.
”If you don’t answer me, I’m coming in.” After getting no response again, Joe couldn’t help but feel a small wave of anxiety hit him and he grabbed the master key.
Part of Joe didn’t like invading his privacy like this but it was better be safe than sorry.
He opened the door to find the boy by the sink, facing away from Joe as he focused on his hand. Said hand was dunked in water and he was scrubbing at vehemently.
”Why…won’t…you…come…off?!” Ira muttered angrily to himself, words coming out sharply between breaths. “Just- why won’t you- DAMNIT!”
He didn’t even seem aware of Joes presence as he brought up his finger to his mouth, putting his teeth on it and began pulling. Only now did Joe see the silver ring on his finger, the area around it raw and bleeding. How long had he’d been scrubbing at it?
Joe stepped forward, reaching out and putting his hand on Ira’s shoulder.
”Ira! What’s-“ his voice was cut off as Ira whipped his head around to face Joe, backing away from his touch like it burned.
”DON’T TOUCH ME!”
The ends of the boys hair were darker and sticking to his head from sweat and his eyes were rimmed with red circles, streaks trailing down from them.
He pressed himself against the wall like a cornered animal, breathing heavily, the hand with the ring on it came to touch his throat and the other hand covered the ring.
”They can’t- They know- He knows- I’m stuck- I can’t…they’ll find me…!”
Joe stared at Ira in shock. What happened?
”Ira…” He tried to speak softly, keeping a distance. “You’re okay. No one’s here. The only people here are me and Ai…”
”No!” Ira shook his head, hands coming up to his ears. “They know where I am! They can find me- they’ll find me and take me back-“ he sucked in a breath like he was gasping for air.
“I don’t want to go back…” he mumbled weakly, his still injured legs finally giving out as he fell to the floor. Immediately curling up into a ball as his shoulders began to shake with sobs.
Joe’s seen these before; a soldier is no stranger to panic attacks. But..what triggered it? He crouched down, a few feet away from where Ira was still taking deep, quick breaths.
”Ira…. It’s me, Joe. You know that.., right?”
After a few moments of silence, Ira finally choked out some words.
”I can’t breathe…” his hand came up to his throat. “My throat…it’s tight…what’s happening..?” His voice broke at the end.
”You can breathe,” Joe reassured him. “You’re not choking….”
”I am…” the boy whispered.
“You’re speaking. That’s a sign you’re breathing. Don’t worry…this is, well I wouldn’t call it normal…, but you’re not dying.”
They fell into silence again; Ira’s sobbing didn’t lift.
”Did you have a nightmare?” Joe asked. Ira hesitated before nodding his head.
“Can you…tell me what it’s about..?” Joe inquired. Ira paused.
”It was dark…I was…chased…they grabbed me…I couldn’t get away…and they-” His hand came to touch the ring on his finger. “It burns….”
Well that was obvious. It looked like he scratched the surrounding skin off in an attempt to pull the ring off.
“I wanna go home…” Ira’s voice came suddenly, painfully small. It took Joe a moment to process his words.
”Home..? Where’s that..?” Ira shrugged.
”Do you…have a home?” Ira shook his head.
”Then why-“
”I don’t know!” Ira snapped, head coming up from being buried in his knees. “I don’t know anything anymore!” He stood up, storming past Joe, who quickly followed, turning on the lights as he did.
Ira didn’t go upstairs but just began pacing around the store area of the building, one of his hands flapping.
“I don’t know what I want- or why I’m here and-! LOOK AT ME!” He gestured to his tear streaked face. “I don’t know why I feel like this or what’s happening and I just want to go home!” Ira finally came at stop, as though his own words finally sunk in.
“But I don’t have one….” Ira stood there in what Joe guessed was a state of shock. Reaching to the side, Joe dimmed the lights a bit, turning towards a tea kettle and grabbing a cup.
“Hey…” Joe kept his voice soft. “Why don’t you sit down…?” He didn’t turn his head but he heard Ira’s slow footsteps recede into the other room.
When the tea was done, Joe followed in to find Ira curled up on the couch, blanket pulled over him and his cats curled around him, purring.
He…truly was just a kid….
It was something that Joe only just realized.
He put the cup down in front of Ira who peeked his heads out from the blanket.
”Herbal tea can help ease stress.” Joe explained. Ira hesitated before reaching out, taking the cup in his hands.
He brought it to his lips, but his shaky hands caused it to spill a little onto the couch. Joe saw Ira’s face pale and he quickly put down the cup.
Normally Ira wouldn’t care if he knocked something over or spilled something but he seemed to curl into himself after the minor spill.
”It’s okay.” Joe reassured him. “I can always clean it up.”
“This is pathetic…” Ira muttered, his voice hoarse and weak.
“It’s not. You’ve been through a lot.” Joe didn’t know what. But this whole thing showed that clearly.
Joe thought for a moment over multiple things he used to calm himself in times like this.
”If you want…you can use the tv. Sometimes distractions can help take your mind off it…or if you don’t want noise…”
”I…don’t know….” He threw the blanket off him. “Just open the windows…. It’s kinda hot…”
It really wasn’t, at least not for Joe. But he walked over and opened the window nonetheless.
The two sat in silence, Joe tapping his foot against the floor.
“Can you stop that?” Ira asked. “Noise makes it worse…”
”Right…. Sorry.”
Another good five minutes of silence followed before…
”Hey…. Diamond talked about dogs and always called them by different names. Golden Retriever. Poodle. Pug. But…why aren’t there any special names for cats? Why’s it always their color?”
Joe blinked at Ira, surprised by the sudden change in topic.
”…what?”
“Like-“ he picked up Shadow. “She calls Shadow a black cat! And she calls Bowling gray! And she calls Orange an orange cat! But he’s not an ‘orange cat’! His name is Orange. By the way do you think that’s a stupid name? People keep looking at me weirdly every time I tell them his name. It’s not the color orange. It’s the fruit. I think it’s clever!”
Why…was this relevant? Ira looked at him like he was genuinely waiting for an answer. Despite Joe’s confusion, it seemed to help Ira’s mind get off what was worrying him…so he’d humor it.
”Well…it’s certainly a very unique name.” Joe responded.
”Exactly! No one else would name their cat Orange! And he likes it! That’s what matters! Also…Snowy is a stupid name right? Diamond named her, but it’s stupid and boring.”
“Why’d you keep it then?” Joe asked.
”I-“ Ira‘a cheeks began heating up. “I didn’t keep it- she just..wouldn’t respond to anything else.”
“Ah…”
By the time the sun came out, Joe was exhausted. Ira had talked until he fell asleep on the couch before Joe had carried him upstairs.
While carrying him, Joe noted that he was concerningly light for a boy his age.
After that, Joe had gotten whatever sleep he could before Ai’s early morning cries woke him up.
Ira had stayed in his room most of the day, Rikka and Mana had dropped by to pick up Ai for a day out. Rikka had asked about Ira, Joe had decided it was better not to inform her about the panic attack.
Joe had faith in the Precure and Ira seemed to trust Rikka, but that was a more personal thing Ira should choose to bring up.
It was only when Joe was making dinner that Ira finally emerged.
”What are you making?” Joe jumped a bit from the sudden appearance of the boy.
“Just some curry…,” Joe answered.
”…Can I help?” His offer surprised Joe even more.
”Well…I don’t know if Rikka would want you working with anything sharp given your wrist is still healing.”
“I can use both of my hands. I’ll just cut with my good one.” Ira insisted, lifting up his uninjured hand.
Joe sighed, relenting.
”Alright. Can you wash and cut the carrots?” Ira turned towards the laid out vegetables, staring dumbly at them.
Did he not know what a carrot looked like?
”It’s the long orange one,” Joe explained.
”I-I knew that!” Ira bristled defensively, picking up the carrot and running it under the sink.
”I knew that,” he reiterated.
”Mhm,” Joe agreed.
”I knew that…” He repeated a third time, just to get the point across.
”I believe you.” Joe assured him, as he passed by he half mindedly patted the boys head.
Ira’s eyes widened for a moment, his hand slowly coming up to touch his head.
Joe chuckled a bit. He didn’t know if he was fully ready to forgive him…but Ira still was…just a kid.