Crossing Fates : Book 1 - Escape (BakuDeku)

14 - Rippling

Shaken by such a rude awakening, Izuku rolled off the bed and lurched into the bathroom to take a shower.

He hadn't carried any toiletries in his backpack so he had to make do with the motel's paper-wrapped sliver of plain soap. The skin at the side of his neck felt tender as he scrubbed himself.

He paused and rubbed at the tender area. What was that?

After a quick final rinse, he grabbed a towel to dry off and then wiped the fogged sink mirror to peer at his neck.

Bite. It was a bite mark.

He fingered the area at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. The skin wasn't broken but there was an impression of teeth, and a suck-bruise was already forming.

He whispered, "The man gave me a hickey?"

In a dream?

Goosebumps rose on his skin. He rubbed his arms and avoided looking at his white face with the dark-circled eyes.

Somehow, that horrible dream had been real. The man's magic had found him. He knew what Izuku looked like. He told the dragon his name.

Get out now.

Good thing he had three other names, with picture IDs that said so, because he had to hit delete on the one he'd lived with his whole life.

Izuku had to go.

He felt another pang, another loss.

His mother had given him that name since birth from long-held fondness for the time she had spent in medieval Japan. It was a name that can complete his Nyr name.

How much more did Izuku have to lose?

Apparently, everything.

It was too much for his tired mind. He yanked a brush through his hair and then got dressed in his dirty clothes.

When he started the car, the dashboard clock said 6:30 A.M. He had slept just under two hours.

He went through another drive-thru and bought juice, more tea and apple slices, although he could only choke down a few bites. He drove south as the sky grew pastel and brightened into full day.

The temperature warmed the farther he went until he rolled down the windows and opened the car's moon roof.

If he'd been making the trip for any other reason, he would have enjoyed himself. The sky was cloudless.

The scenery in Kuju was different from what he was used to. The foliage was a couple weeks farther along in bloom than in Musutafu, and the land felt strange to his senses.

Kuju and the surrounding area had a grace and beauty that was quite different from the brisk urban setting he had just left.

He had given an ironic chuckle when Shinso had handed him directions to a beach house in a place called Takoba Beach.

Beach. Ha. It was about twenty minutes south of Kuju. Most of the houses, Shinso told him, were vacation rentals.

Shinso had owned his for over thirty years and kept it furnished and stocked with linens and kitchenware.

When he got close to his destination, he stopped at a superstore to buy clothing essentials and toiletries, aspirin, a prepaid cell phone and food supplies.

When he reached the checkout lane by the liquor aisle, he caved and bought a bottle of scotch as well. A man's got to have priorities. If he didn't deserve a drink after the nightmare week he had just suffered, he didn't know who did.