Lawrence looked down at the clock on his computer. 6:26 in the morning. Nobody else was awake, and utter silence filled the house. Perfect, he could finally get some work done. In between his misadventures with Youkai, he was really just trying to pass his classes at this point. Grades didn’t mean much to him, but at least getting the credits was still important. Since moving out of the dorm they’d had a lot more space, personal space, which was more than welcome. He typed up another few sentences for his essay and clicked submit. Going to sleep around ten each night was starting to save his grades.

“I wonder if I can even make it on the dean's list?”

He thought aloud but, remembering his personal space wasn’t always personal, made sure his de facto roommates weren’t awakened. Oku had been through a lot lately, and Lawrence wanted her to get all the sleep she needed. It was around half past, so he got out of his chair and stretched, opening the window and listening to the cool breeze rustle the leaves of the tree next to the building. Might as well get something to eat!

After quietly closing the door, Lawrence found his way to the main street. The cobblestone street was a change from what he was used to, and no tall buildings loomed over him. Ever since moving, things really had taken a u-turn towards the peaceful. Not many towns still had a walking main street that thrived as much as this one did, even now before seven in the morning shops were hopping and customers lined up to get anything from cinnamon rolls to cardboard boxes. It was nice to see. After breaking Oku out of prison, he had time to simply walk down the street and buy a loaf of almond bread. Simply to let himself breathe. He didn’t regret any of his adventures, but this wasn’t so bad.

“Oh hey, Lawrence!”

A familiar voice broke his silence. It was Pat, one of the store owners who had begun to recognize him.

“Hello Mrs. Tania, anything good today?”

She smiled and pulled up a pastry from under the class.

“I just made them this morning, it’s been a while since I made a danish, but just look at the results!”

Lawrence’s mouth began to water and he quickly paid for it. Pat’s pastries were something of a legend in the small town, and many came to her each morning for a similar fattening breakfast.

“Good luck with final tests young man!”

Lawrence smiled and waved as he walked down the street, pastry in hand. There was a small park just ahead, and he found a place to sit down and focus on his… wait, where was it? It had been in his hand only seconds ago but sometime while he had down it had disappeared! The danish was gone!

He looked underneath the table, on the chair, everywhere, but it was simply gone.

“But my perfect morning…”

Lawrence sighed as he got out of his seat, but a small chirp caught his attention. Of course, there was a small Youkai next to the fence post, nibbling on his well earned dessert. He slowly approached it and smiled. Being non-threatening was important when talking to a Youkai smaller than you.

“Hey there little guy, would you mind giving my prize back?”

It looked up at him and tilted its head. It was a small bird with human hands and legs, something he’d gotten used to seeing by now.

“It’s yours? But I found it in that guy’s hand…”

It pointed towards the table where Lawrence had been sitting mere moments ago. Lawrence sighed in his mind.

“Yes, that was me, I got up and am now here. You can’t just go taking things from people’s hands, at least wait until they drop it!”

“Are you a human?”

“Yes, but that isn’t-”

“Eep! You can see me!”

The little creature, with pastry in tow, scurried through a small hole in the fence and took off down an alley.

“Is it really gonna be one of these mornings…”

Lawrence sighed for a fourth or fifth time and jumped the fence to chase after the little Youkai, it was definitely small but quite fast, even with the large pastry. Once it realized Lawrence was chasing it, the Youkai ducked down a smaller alley and began trying to lose him. He hit his head on a drying rack but that only fueled him more. If he wasn’t going to get the stupid pastry back he was at least going to give that little guy a piece of his mind. Youkai couldn’t just go around stealing pastries! Actions like that would quickly spiral into anarchy in the peaceful little town!

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Nevertheless, the little Youkai ducked into a smaller alley which led back onto the main street, which was quite smart since Lawrence was the only one that could see the Youkai. Hiding among the bodies of humans passing by was annoying, but Lawrence managed to keep track of him. They passed the pastry shop and Pat looked over the counter.

“Back alre- Oh! What’s the rush about kid?”

“I um, I forgot about an assignment!”

Lawrence waved behind him as he kept his eyes glued to the tiny wings beating in front of him. Near the middle of town, where there was an old fountain, the bird turned right onto a smaller street then scurried quickly up a tree and into a hole.

Standing at the bottom of the tree, Lawrence shouted up to the little Youkai.

“Hey you! Don’t go around stealing stuff from people!”

He saw movement from the small dark hole, and a head popped out.

“Go away! My daddy didn’t steal anything!”

“Gure, come back inside! Don’t talk to a human!”

Lawrence heard other voices coming from the hole, prodding this small Youkai to come back inside.

“I just want to make sure you know not to steal, wait did you say daddy?”

He heard shuffling from the small hole, and another Youkai came out. It was the one who had stolen the pastry. His hands still had a bit of frosting on them.

“I’m sorry, I just needed it for my family here.”

Lawrence sighed, he’d been in these situations more times than he could count at this point. Youkai could be mischievous, but it wasn’t often that they were evil. He used to expect either a fight or a curse, but a large majority of the Youkai he had met since gaining the ability to see them had been very docile. This one had played dumb a bit… but he’d let that slide.

“Listen alright, I know that I wasn’t supposed to be able to see you, but you can’t just go stealing from humans. They’ll start to notice.”

“How else am I supposed to get food? The humans used to leave food at the foot of this tree, but now all we get is the occasional acorn! They can’t see us so I can’t ask for food, what am I supposed to do?”

Lawrence thought for a bit. He hadn’t ever really encountered Youkai that were inconvenienced by humans not being able to see them. Youkai usually had plenty of food, or didn’t even need to eat… Or they got food from the Youkai world? He didn’t really want to tell them to just scrounge through the garbage either. It was definitely a predicament. He sat down at the base of the tree to think and stretched. Doing so got him thinking.

“Hmm… Would you be opposed to moving?”

“Moving? Where?”

The voice from above seemed less afraid than before.

“Well, there’s a tree outside of my place, I think it has a hole in it as well. I get fed by the landlords most of the time and the food is really good. I could ask them to leave some leftovers out for you guys, if you wanted?”

Lawrence heard soft cheering from up above, and suddenly forty or fifty of the little birds popped out of the hole.

“What the-?”

The small Youkai from before flew down to his shoulder and hugged his cheek.

“You would really do that for us? That would be wonderful! My name is Gurran by the way, pleasure to meet you!”

Lawrence smiled and shook the small Youkai’s hand, but wondered what he had gotten himself into. He’d definitely have to apologize to Mitch and Elaine, but he was sure they wouldn’t mind. They really were good people, Mark had made a great decision to move in with them. Once the small Youkai had gathered their things and were waiting outside the small hole, Lawrence asked them to follow him home. It was still only about three in the afternoon and the sun was high in the sky. Little human birds with luggage and briefcases filled the air around him, twitting about and a few came to rest on his shoulder now and again. He thought about Hato, she was somewhat similar to these Youkai, and everything that they had been through together. He always ended up helping the Youkai that seemed like they needed it the most. Sighing, he turned the corner back to his lovely new home. Well, new wasn’t the word for it anymore. It really was just home now.

“Here we are, home sweet home.”

Gurran immediately found the tree and stared into the hole.

“Oh, this is a wonderful tree! A lovely oak, still in its prime!”

“I’m glad you like it! If you need anything that’s my window… Well… Try not to bother me too often but if you’re in trouble you know.”

“Of course! Ok kids say thank you to the Youkai seeing human.”

He got a chorus of thanks, along with many tiny handshakes, then went back into his home.

He took his shoes off and looked around the bright building. Before coming here he’d been a bit lost, but ever since Oku appeared in his shower, things had been steadily getting more and more hectic, but better. He no longer worried about feeling tired all the time, he didn’t worry about his future… too much… and he tried not to worry about his family. If one thing had been proved to Lawrence over the last few months, it had been that family was who cared most about you, even if they weren’t blood related. He’d saved Hato, Oku, and many others since he started seeing Youkai, and the peace between the adventures was just as amazing.

He heard a yawn come from the doorway.

“Oh you’re back? I thought I heard you leave at six thirty, where were you?”

Oku stood, still in her pajamas, looking down at him.

“Well, I might have adopted a family of Youkai…”

“What?! Why would you do that?”

“They were starving and needed a new home so I thought the tree next to the street would work pretty well.”

Oku smiled and sat down next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Long ago I believed that no good humans existed, have I ever told you that?”

“Funny, I used to think all Youkai were out looking for trouble.”

She looked into his eyes and laughed.

“Of course we are! After all the trouble I’ve gotten you into you changed your mind about that?”

Lawrence smiled and put a hand on her head.

Home is where you’re loved, and he felt at home right here.