Walking through the sparsely populated streets, Kist noted the strange number of people roaming the cobblestone roads.

“Must be the star,” Looking up above for a short moment, Kist glanced at the radiant celestial body before turning his attention back onto the path in front of him.

“I wonder why that star is still even up, it’s been almost ten hours since my evaluation…eh, it’s a good thing it is, otherwise there’s no chance this stupid plan of Nue’s would work.”

Yawning, Kist wiped the tears from his eyes as he finally stood before his family’s shop.

“One more disaster for me to deal with and then I can finally rest.” Kist thought to himself.

Patting his pockets, Kist pulled out a key to enter the locked building, and once he stepped inside, he braced himself, and luckily so.

Met with a boulder of a fist that struck the center of his stomach, Kist silently and dramatically screamed in pain as he curled into himself.

“And that’s what you get for leaving me and pops alone in the shop!” Waving her stinging hand as she attempted to scold her brother, Skyler hissed in her self-inflicted pain.

“I love you too, Skyler.” Whined Kist.

“Don’t give me that…where the hell have you been?”

Standing straight, Kist smiled weakly at his sister, “I told you, I was out with a friend.”

Squinting her eyes with suspicion, Skyler opened her mouth to speak but hesitated momentarily.

“You okay? Not like you to hold your tongue.”

“Yeah, I know, I just, I just wanted to apologize for what I said before and I don’t know how to go about it.”

Beaming with joy, Kist’s smile widened before he responded, “Don’t worry about it. You were right in the end anyway, I can’t keep doing the same thing hoping for something to change.”

“Wait you actually listened-”

Cut off by the swinging of the door leading to the back kitchen, Skyler and Kist both turned to look.

“Well, well, look who finally showed up.” Shouted Dorian as he crossed his arms.

“Hey, pops!” Walking over to the bear of a man, Kist threw two playful punches, which bounced off the man’s tough exterior.

“Boy,” Grabbing Kist by the neck, Dorian placed him in a headlock before letting out a loud, gravelly laugh, “Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Okay, okay I give.” Laughing as his grandfather released him, Kist beamed with radiant joy.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Placing a heavy hand on Kist’s head, the older man took a more serious expression, quickly quieting his grandson.

“Uh, yes?”

“I trust Skyler’s already filled you in.” Raising one of his eyebrows, Dorian looked toward his granddaughter before returning to Kist.

“Yeah, sure, completely.” Knowing what the man was getting at, Kist pushed his hand off his head before responding in a sarcastic tone. “I’ll be here, day and night.”

Grinning through his thick bread, Dorian nodded, “Glad we’re all on the same page then, now go get in the shower and clean up. You look like shit and tomorrow’s gonna be busy, it’s the first of the month and there’s gonna be a lot of hungry folks.”

“I hear you.” Waving to his family, Kist went upstairs and bid them farewell. “See you in a few hours, I’m going to go clean up.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Kist attempted to motion toward the tattered clothing on his back, to which Dorian and Skyler nodded their heads, not bothering with a verbal response.

Rounding the corner, which opened up in a large hall brandishing multiple doors, Kist pulled off his shoes, leaving them in front of his door, before stepping into the bathroom.

Pressing his back against the closed door, he took a moment to himself, taking a deep breath in anticipation of all the pain and effort he was about to go through.

Taking care of all the small and tedious tasks first.

Brushing his teeth before scraping the grime from beneath his fingertips, along with discarding his clothing, which he threw away in the small bin they kept in the bathroom, Kist stepped in the shower, letting the hot water burn away at all the dried blood and dirt that coated his body.

Watching the blood-stained water run into the drain, Kist stared at it with disinterest and waited until the water ran clear.

Though the strange sensitivity to the water raining down on him hadn’t aided him in the process.

Caused by the residual effects of Nue’s static, the water threaded the line between pain and pleasure.

“Well that’s great, let’s hope that doesn’t last,” Grimacing as he spoke, Kist finished cleaning himself, noting his healed wounds before the start of the mess of curls on his head. “At least my body’s healing faster than I expected, guess all that manipulation of my energy sped up the process.”

Finishing the last of his routine, Kist emerged from the bathroom wrapped in towels, passing by his sister, who’d left from her own room.

“Put some clothes on.” Walking past her brother, Skyler scoffed at him in disgust before heading down the stairs.

Dismissing her comment, with a quick wave of his hand, Kist paid her no mind as he entered his room.

Tripping over an overturned rug, Kist stumbled forward, stepping on misplaced clothing and strewn-about blankets.

“God damnit,” Curing as he caught himself on the edge of his bed, Kist looked about his room breathing out a disappointed sigh, “Why the fuck is all the shit- Oh, yeah, I was in a hurry…”

Turning himself to be able to sit on the edge of his bed, Kist stared at the mess he’d left in his panic.

“This is ridiculous…I can’t believe I left things like this,” Pausing momentarily to get dressed before cleaning up his room; Kist organized his surroundings before continuing, “If things are gonna change for the better, I need to start with myself.”

Once he had finished, Kist fell onto his bed. The exhaustion from the day’s activities made his body feel like lead sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

“Sixty-three hours left… “Trying his best to fight against his heavy eyes, Kist tried to plan out the next handful of hours he’d been afforded. “How the hell am I supposed to teach Nue how to fight in that amount of time, more importantly how the hell am I supposed to do that and help around the shop?”

Knowing he’d had his hands full, juggling his home life and preparing for Nue’s plan, Kist pushed the thoughts aside as he knew nothing good would come from any idea he’d have in this state.

Instead, choosing to allow himself to rest.

Quickly drifting off, Kist fell into a deep sleep.