Part 1

A little girl was kneeling on the floor, with her head pressed against her mother’s lap, while endless streams of tears gushed down her cheeks. The girl was no more than three years old and for her age her body was no bigger than children her age – in fact her muscles were more toned than children of her age.  The little girl’s red hair contrasted strongly with her mother’s features. The mother was unusually pale however her skin did not lack any lustre – it would be correct to describe her skin as white as snow. It was well complemented with the silky deep black hair that flowed down openly over her shoulders. The mother wore a difficult expression across her face as her daughter continue to dampen the white and red temple priestess dress she wore.

*Sob*

*Sob*

*Sob*

She slowly caressed her sobbing daughter, by patting her head smoothly.

“….everyone called me a liar after that…..no one believed that my family descended from the Heroes….” The red haired, twin pony tailed girl complained to her mother. 

“There ..there…everything will be alright…” Her mother made a wry smile while looking at her daughter. It was to be expected that no one would believe her if she began talking about Heroes. However, now was not the time to be correcting her daughter for her error. She apologetically continued to soothe her daughter. 

“I am not going to go back to school!” The little girl declared as she looked up at her mother. The black beady eyes of the little girl flashed with her determination.

“Rina-chan…This is something, I will have to discuss with your father….” Her mother did not outright reject her and tried her best to console her daughter.

“Rejected.” A loud man’s voice descended into the room.

The mother raised her eyebrows angrily as she glared at her husband.

 “I told you not to pay heed to your grandfather’s nonsensical tales. This is your fault for believing him. Do you now understand the consequences?” The man asked in a stern voice.

The little girl was baffled at her father’s sudden intrusion.

“Your grandfather will only lie and disappoint you if you continue to stick to him all day….” The man continued. His tone was cruel and domineering. It was obvious to everyone he held some kind of grudge towards his own father.

“Dear…” The wife spoke up to stop her husband from speaking further ill of his own father but didn’t say anything when the man raised his hand – he signalled her to be quiet.

“This is all ojiisan’s fault?” The girl muttered to herself inaudibly.  The old man whom she loved them most, the one who indulged her the most….wasn’t he responsible for her current dilemma? After all didn’t he tell her tall tales about her family having descended from Heroes? It was because she put his trust in him that she was hurt and humiliated? Of course for a little girl the thoughts didn’t connect in perfect order but the conclusion was what her father was driving her towards. 

“Rina-chan hates ojiisan.” The girl spoke up after a long silence.

Rina’s mother frowned however her father smiled with satisfaction.

Part 2

That day when her grandfather came to visit his granddaughter, he was stopped at the doors of the temple shrine by his son. “Sorry father, but today is not a good day to see Rina.” He was straight forward with his cruel words.

The brilliant smile of the old man vanished; he had especially come to visit his granddaughter. He clutched on tightly to a tiny box he had brought as a gift to celebrate his granddaughter’s first day in play-school.

“Why?” He asked with his wrinkled expressions hardening. He had no concern for the arrogant tone his son had assumed with him. Apparently, the old man seemed used to his son’s cruelty.  “Is Rina-chan unwell?”

“No…” The son replied while avoiding his father’s strong gaze. “She doesn’t want to see you.”

The old man’s face turned ashen. “I don’t believe you….”

The old man tried to push past his son however his son stood to his position firmly. The old man could barge through the door if he desired to. However, in that instant he was able to catch a glimpse of his daughter-in-law standing behind her husband. The woman’s eyes were red and she wore a sad smile as she bowed when she saw him. The old man instantly understood the situation.

“You….” The old man bitterly spoke as he turned his gaze back to his son. “You and I may have a bad relationship but there is no reason for you to involve Rina into this. Don’t make me angry….”

Completely ignoring his father, the son spoke in a monotonous tone, “Goodnight father, please come visit Rina when she is willing to…”

Saying that much the son slammed the door on his father’s face.  Looking back at the closed doors, the old man out a sigh of despair, no matter how much he tried he could never mend the relationship with his son. It was not his son’s fault that his son was so bitter towards him. Maybe to an extent it was his own fault that things turned out the way they did. However, there was no reason for the old man to lose his granddaughter too. The old man quietly left to avoid causing further trouble. However, his eyes gleamed in the moonlight as he thought of a sly trick.

Taking a few steps back, the old man eyed the boundary walls of the shrine temple. Then he took a deep breath and ran forth with all his might. Pressing against the vertical wall no more than two times, the old man instantly scaled the four meter tall wall. The scene of an old man scaling a high wall in a flash would shock onlookers – thankfully no one ever visited this temple.

The old man then ran along the length of the boundary wall, which was no more than a hand wide, with great ease. Even circus performers would stumble or fall if they tried to accomplish what the old man did in the dark. It was a cloudy night and not a single star was able to peep out the blanket of clouds. The temple was not well lit either. To be able to run on the boundary wall in such darkness was a feat considered good for any martial artist. However, what made it extraordinary was that the one running on the wall appeared to be close to seventy years of age!

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After reaching close enough to one of the buildings housed within the temple shrine grounds, the old man jumped through the air – an astonishing ten feet wide gap. No it would be correct to say he flew over ten feet before landing with a soft ‘thud’ on the tiled oriental styled roof top. The way the man moved would make one believe that ninjas truly do exist. After jumping from one building to another, running through the shadows to avoid detection, the old man skilfully reached the window of a room on the third floor.

A yellow dim light continued to glow in the room. The old man stood at the edge of the window and then stole a quick glance inside the room – it was his granddaughter’s room. Further, his granddaughter was already asleep.

Quiet as a mouse, he snuck into the room and stood beside his granddaughter. Just as he was about to wake her up, he noticed how puffed her eyes were.

“This….” The old man languished as he realized his precious granddaughter cried herself to sleep. Who made his precious granddaughter cry? The old man asked himself in teething anger.  Even if it was his own son, the old man wouldn’t spare him. However, before the old man could unleash his rage, he caught a few words of his granddaughter sleep talking…

“Rina is not a liar….Rina hates ojiisan….”

The old man felt a moment of weakness and rested against the wall behind him for support. Why? Why does she hate me?

The old man was pained to hear the words his granddaughter carelessly mumbled in her sleep but alas what could he do? He was sure his son had some hand in this…but his granddaughter was more resolute than that. Surely, some sad and unfortunate events must have happened for her granddaughter to be saddened to this extent. Sighing at his miserable fortune when it came to relationships, the old man decided it was better to go back.  He would make enquiries to his daughter-in-law and understand what transpired today. With his shoulder’s drooping, the old man pulled out the little gift, he had brought with him, from his pocket. He quietly placed the gift in the little girl’s bag. He then kissed the forehead of his granddaughter before sneaking back out the window…

Part 3

“Sir? Sir?” Radcliff, the old man’s caretaker, called out several times before the old man’s eyes stirred into action. He was so lost in the memories of the past that he hadn’t taken notice of the time or his caretaker calling out to him.

The old man shifted his gaze from outside the car’s window towards Radcliff.

“Are you alright?” Radcliff asked.

“To be worried about me to this degree, you are working yourself too hard. Would you like me to put in a good word to the Defense Minister for your retirement?”

“Please don’t joke around, Sir.” Radcliff grumbled. “Also you may want to wipe the moistness from your eyes.” Radcliff suggested as he passed a handkerchief to the old man.

“Eh?” The old man was caught unawares.  He silently took the handkerchief and wiped away his glistening tears. “Could Radcliff-san do me a favour and please don’t include this in your report.”

“Please don’t joke around, Sir.” Radcliff muttered. “There is nothing to report about an old man crying…hmmm…could this have to do with tonight’s long awaited reunion with himesama?”

“Ah…” The old man smiled warmly. “I forgot Radcliff-san is one of the few who has met chiisai hime. Just thinking about how cute she must have grown makes my heart fuzzy and flutter.”

“Please say that with a little more restraint, Sir. If you were not her grandfather, I would have arrested you for being a pervert.”

The smile from the old man’s face vanished. “Hohohoho…for Radcliff-san to make such comments, means that Radcliff-san is ready to depart the world of the living.”

“Please don’t joke around, Sir….” Radcliff mumbled as he decided to keep his remarks to himself. If this old man wanted to, he could break a few bones of Radcliff without even trying. It would be a no contest. Just thinking about the old man breaking his bones made Radcliff sweat. “Himesama sure is cute….” He said hoping to improve the old man’s mood.

The effect was instantaneous.

“Hohohoho….she is the cutest girl ever!” Came back the hearty reply.

Radcliff exhaled in relief – it worked.

“Radcliff-san, do you want to marry her?”

Radcliff immediately stiffened up – where the heck did this question come from? Who would want to marry your six year old granddaughter? Didn’t he revert to his old self a little too quick? I should have let him just weep in the corner….

“Please don’t joke around, Sir.” Radcliff muttered for the umpteenth time as he brought the car to a stop. “We are here, Sir.”

“Radcliff-san if you answered with a ‘yes’, I would have no choice but to kill you.” The old man spoke with a huge smile however his expression did not match the contents of his sentence.  In fact, the entire mannerism of saying it made the threat more scarier and believable. “Thank you for your hard work, Radcliff-san!” The old man spoke as he closed the door behind him.

Radcliff-san broke out in cold sweat and collapsed back into the driver’s seat. The old man wasn’t kidding when he said he would have killed him.…Radcliff felt the killing intent.

‘Please let me know when I can retire from this job....I signed up to be a spy not a butler.’ – Radcliff sighed as his gaze followed the old man's back as the old man carried himself up the stairs of the shrine.