[TAMIKO]
For thirty minutes, Tamiko enjoyed the luxury of the hot showers that were running in the house he had found himself in. He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a shower gladly or even loved staying there.
Most of the time, he was always nursing bruises, waiting for his lycan to heal him. There were times it took so long that Tamiko had to skip taking a bath for three or four days. It was horrible, but here and now, he was in a new reality, one that felt more like a dream.
'Hinata. Hinata. Hinata,' Tamiko said to himself as he tried to imagine what it would sound like, being called the name he had been given by a stranger. He shouldn't have been comfortable with the warriors and Sadako, just because he was a lycan, but Tamiko no longer cared.
He wanted to enjoy whatever was left of his limited freedom, because he knew for a fact that Alpha Ashton would turn the realm upside down to look for Tamiko, if Tamiko suddenly disappeared from Grealor.
There were also high chances that the cruel alpha would tell everyone that Tamiko was a defect of Kawai, and that was easily the most dangerous thing for any lycan in the reign of King Zaffuto. So the young lycan had to make a choice and make it fast.
'Will the lunch be as welcoming as the one I just had?' Tamiko asked himself again, as he put on a fresh pair of pants and a huge warm shirt that fit him a little too perfectly.
It was almost like someone had gone and brought him clothes that matched his body type. He didn't want to think too much of it, but he truly appreciated it. Maybe this was a beautiful fantasy he didn't want to be rid of, but wasn't reality a little too cruel?
Sighing, Tamiko walked out and headed to where the warriors were. He could tell they had heard him coming, because the conversation changed from the stiff one they were having to a useless conversation on the best type of weapon.
They were hiding something from Tamiko, and he knew it didn't have anything to do with him, so he wasn't going to bother himself with asking them questions. Instead, he took the chance to look at the house and how pretty it was.
"I'm done. Thank you," Tamiko voiced, knowing so well that it would get them to open the door and come to where he was. And as expected, the doors opened and Lord Sadako and the warriors walked though.
They looked awfully happy for people who had been having a tense conversation earlier but then Tamiko reminded himself not to be curious.
"Oh, you look good, Hinata. The clothes are a perfect fit, and your wounds are healing properly," Sadako said and Tamiko let out a fit of coughs.
"Wo… Wounds? Healed wounds? Who has heealing wounds?" Tamiko voiced, even though he hoped they wouldn't look much into it.
"I see you're not comfortable talking about your pain. So I'll spell it out for you, yeah?" Sadako said as he looked at Tamiko.
The Lycan Lord could see how tense the young lycan had gotten and he knew he was right. Earlier all he had was a hunch, but standing here with Tamiko looking like he was trying so hard to play the game of pretend, Sadako knew he was right.
"No one hurt me. I'm fine," Tamiko said, cursing himself out for adding the last bit.
Of course he wasn't fine, but he had never imagined someone else would care about his pain other than the Belova siblings. It just didn't make sense and Tamiko didn't want to lean into the strange comfort that he had suddenly come face to face with.
"That is what every hurt lycan insists on. You have cuts on your wrists, and some of them look involuntary. To the common eye, your wound has healed, but I can see the blood flow is still restricted and you're trying to smoothen your veins so there won't be clots.
"You have a lot of scars for a young lycan who shouldn't have stepped into the battlefield. Any lycan in their mid-twenties is subjected to soft labour since they're practically children, but you have so many mature scars.
"You look like you have been making frequent trips to a battlefield in hell and someone has been constantly sending out there. Now before you even say something along the lines of 'you're fine, or they've exhaled,' you smell like the woods.
"I don't quite know which woods in particular, but one thing I know is that they're not the Kawai woods. Kawai has only one large forest, and it's within Kawai, not even the border. So tell me, kid, who hurt you?" Sadako asked and Tamiko freaked out.
He hadn't expected that he would be under interrogation after all this while. He never imagined there would be someone who could see through his pain and frankly, it was more of a shocker to him than he could imagine.
He hadn't planned for this when he came through the Grealor werewolf woods and now, he had a lycan lord seeking answers from him.
What the hell was he supposed to say?
"You don't know me. Just because you gave me a name, doesn't mean you know shit about me. I see this was fun and clearly from the way you're raising your eyebrows at me, no lycan kid has talked to you like this.
"I appreciate the effort to try and make me feel better, but I'll have you know, I'm living my best life, without being restricted to a pack or anything like a huge home and stubborn rules. Thank you for the food and the clothes and for the warm shower, but I must take my leave.
"I know that won't sit well with your king, but as it is, you are smart enough to know I'm a rogue lycan. Please excuse me," Tamiko said as he began walking towards the door.
He had pulled quite the stunt and honestly, he was scared and terrified of what was going to happen to him. He knew he had just shot himself in the foot when he talked about being a rogue lycan, because lycan children were not allowed to be rogues, and yet here he was.
'Lycan rogue? Seriously Tamiko? Fuck,' Tamiko scolded himself as he put one foot in front of the other, carefully like he didn't want to wake the beasts. But then what use was that, when he was already in the den of beasts from the moment he had hit the unclaimed lands?
It was hard to explain and for the life of him, he hoped that they wouldn't grab him and force him to come clean. How would he even start or where would he start from when he didn't even know who he truly was, save for the fact that he was a lycan?
And that in itself was a reality he had just confirmed barely a day ago?
"You're not going anywhere," one of the warriors said and the rest joined in the staring contest at Tamiko. It was obvious they had outmanned the kid and were stronger and better than him in so many ways, btu Tamiko was willing to take the risk.
"You can't stop me f—" Tamiko began but Sadako just sighed before interrupting the kid.
"Let him leave."