Shou’s eyes blinked with every tick of the clock, and with the passing of every minute, his ears lost sight of another word coming from Mr. Takamori’s mouth. And so he squints his eyes, stabbing the clock with them, that way he won't blink, and shuts his ears with his hands, leaning towards the clock.

But then, after that accursed clock sounds the hour, Mr. Takemori utters a word, that even though it may have sounded like any other, it made Shou’s ears stick out to listen.

The word ‘Helen’.

He Moved his look from the dented clock to Mr. Takemori and the Samurai's conversation, yet Shou still couldn't decipher their words as more than background humming.

“Come on Boy, we need to get moving.” Mr. Takemori starts walking towards the exit, cursing and shaking his head. He gives the clock a quick look before storming out of the Samurai's office. “You better go, he seems quite moody.” The Samurai said.

Shou tries to get up, but the floor doesn’t seem to be getting any further away. The clock also looks like it has developed eyes and followed Shou around, even the dinosaur-shaped plushie made him feel unsettled. As he was walking towards the exit he stumbled and fell to the ground, he noticed the floor was also kind of uneven, sloped, in a way. “You probably gave the architecture of this place a real talk huh?” he looks at the Samurai, his anterior is looking wider than usual.

“What are you talking about, Shou? Heijirou is waiting for you, I think you should get moving” his voice sounds a bit worried, Shou spins around and starts walking to the door, then gives a quick look behind his shoulder “See you here next week, yeah? I will probably be back with less wood because of my father… would you like me to visit here first?” Shou’s voice was his regular Sunday evening pitch, but his lips tightened, and his eyes seemed puffed.

“Hahaha, don't worry about it, Shou! I will be here waiting for you” The Samurai finally shows a grin behind that sketchy mustache, like he always used to. “Heijirou is quite the case, take care of him for me, will you?”

Shou waves goodbye before heading out. Step by step he approached the door, trying not to fall again. The sigh he released when he opened the door seemed reassuring, but still, he felt the need to look back at the office. He noticed none of the abnormal designs he had seen earlier, as if his observation was just the sea’s waves coming to a calm.

Mr. Takemori’s newly purchased caravan was dragging and moving heavily in the snow, despite that, his horse’s legs looked stronger and stronger with each push, he was not shivering or stumbling, as horses do in the snow, and he was not slowing down either. “How is your horse still so Spirited? I've never seen a horse move like that in the snow before.” Shou’s sudden voice filled the air and made Mr. Takemori jump out of his seat.

He glimpses at Yami then turns to Shou, and says “Yami is a different kind of horse, he's a horse born with scarce mana levels, even though he is a Sleipnir, so he had to rely on his strength, and because of that he has become much more athletic than the other Slepnirys."

Shou’s face gives color, and his eyes glitter in excitement, ‘finally, a conversation!’ He reflects.

“A Sleipnir? Wow…” Shou scratches the back of his head and adds “I heard from my father that these horses are white with their specific path’s color embedded on their feet all the way to their ankles… how come your horse is black all around?”

Mr. Takemori rubs his eyes trying to wake his senses fully “Yami is… one of a kind. He wasn't treated very well because he looks so different. He doesn't have any Shinto kami’s blessing that we know of either… and I've never even seen him use proper magic. I'm even beginning to doubt whether he can use magic at all.”

a few moments pass before Takamori speaks again “I heard from his former caretaker that he wasn't really born black, but rather he was born white, as all Slepnirys are born, and his feet being black, but that color started spreading more than usual, and soon enough he became completely black!" Mr. Takemori had a wide smile.

“Where can I get a horse like that?” Shou Asks.

An absurdly wicked giggle comes out of Mr.Takemori’s mouth. his eyes start scanning Shou from head to toe. “Hehehe… you want a Sleipnir? Well, only if you join the corps can you get one!”

But then, he stops with the tail wiggles and goofy chuckles, sits down, and mumbles to himself “But I don't think you want any of that... I doubt your father would.”

When they arrived they found a charcoal-like stench filling the air. The house's windows lit the night, and smoke was climbing out the chimney. The Sato Household looked like the traditional Japanese house, with tatami mats, and wooden engawa verandas facing the house’s garden, where Shou would go to knock while Mr. Takemori hitched his horse.

A woman, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a slim character opened the door. She looks at Shou with a smile. “Oh dear! You're home so early! How we've missed you,” Shou’s mother’s eyes were half crossed, her eyes were swollen and bags formed under them, the look she gave Shou made a shiver run down his spine.

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And then, she notices Takemori, having trouble hitching his horse, cursing his favorite words, with the covered body of Shou’s father right next to him.

Then she turns to Shou, and the first tear falls down her cheeks, “Your father is gone.” her voice can barely hold its structure, and the rain of tears starts covering her red cheeks. She tries to fight, and keep her smile, but she fails, and breaks down to her knees from sorrow.

After long minutes of conciliating from Shou and Mr. Takemori, Shou’s mother, settled down. She and Mr. Takemori sat down on the tatami floor and chatted about stuff Shou could not grasp. They were sitting in the living room while Shou went to make them tea.“Well, Helen, I’ve been thinking..." Mr. Takemori whispers, Shou’s mind was too focused on the tea to overhear anything.

Helen’s eyes widen and her voice rises “What?! What Are you talking about?!”

That sudden rise in Helen's voice made Shou shift his balance towards them, but in the process, he ends up pouring the tea on the ground “Oh! Shit!” Shou then hurries to grab a mop but his mother stops him.

“I am sorry Shou, but we adults need to talk about something private, could you please go to bed? I am sure you are tired from the journey you have been on..." His mother smiled her crooked smile, and again Shou felt the hellish freeze from head to toe.

“Alright, I will make my way to my room then, if you will excuse me,” Mr. Takemori Salutes Shou and he starts walking slowly, step by step, on his toes, afraid to wake up his slumbering sister. When Shou’s reach goes as far as his door’s handle, he stops, like a rabbit his ears straighten, And the sound of Mr. Takemori and Hellane’s conversation reaches him “Come on! You must’ve realized by now how gifted he is, his mana pool is bigger than some fully-fledged Slayers I know, even some mages! I wonder what has been going through you two's mind! How could you let such a child -”

Ms. Sato cuts his sentence short, and with her arms crossed and her blue eyes burning like fire she says “I understand your concern, but to be clear, it's none of your business, yes, we go way back, but you are in no place to gauge at our judgment.”

Takemori shakes his head “Sigh, hiding him? Well, look what happened! If I had not been traveling through here, what do you think would have happened?!” a few moments pass with no words, but the void is filled with their jarring silence.

“Okay, Listen, his mana is no joke, even though I see he has a natural instinct to conceal it, the more experienced demons like the one who attacked them can easily smell him out.” Takamori’s soothing voice breaks the air.

“I know what you are saying… it was selfish of us to have hid him for so long. Even though we sent his brother out, but him… we can not lose him, I can not lose Shou as well…” Hellane’s face started to swell, and like when the rain escaped gray clouds her eyes began to water.

Step after step, Shou walks towards the kitchen, the light from the windows reflects on the ground onto his eyes and makes him rub his eyes. The smell of home cooking filled the house.

Shou then witnesses some rare sight “Mizuhara? what are you doing…?”

“Huh? I'm making breakfast.” Shou’s sister flips the eggs in the pan and then says “What happened to good morning? One small trip and you forget all about mannerisms!” Shou, as groggy as ever, does not grasp a word “You probably shouldn't be flipping the egg…”

Shou rubs his eyes again trying to wake himself “Where is mom?” his sister's face fell pale for a moment “She went to… bury father” although her face was facing the kitchen Shou could see her tears hitting the boiling pan. “I see… and Mr. Takemori?”

“Mr. Takemori…? I don't know who that is.”

Shou sighs, if Mr. Takemori isn't here, then his mother won't be mad again. “I see.”

Shou starts walking towards the exit and starts putting on his tidy boots “I am going outside for a moment, I want to check stock.”

“Okay!” Mizuhara responds and continues mumbling “Just don't go running off somewhere…”

There was enough snow for Shou to dip his foot with every step of the way, the sky was sunny, reflecting on the white snow. With the direction of the sun, it seemed to be around noon, Shou reflected to himself. He had slept all morning. Shou starts walking towards their storage room “Ah! Yami!” Shou’s eyes finally open, and he rushes toward Yami and starts petting him.

“You must be hungry, I will bring you some apples right away!” Shou begins skipping towards the storage room with a huge grin on his face, but then, a thud was heard from the storage room.

What could that be? Shou thought to himself, he slowly approached the door, and opened it slightly to peak in.

“Helloooo?” Shou whispers into the dark, and suddenly a loud snore is heard from inside the room, sending chills down Shou’s spine.

‘A demon?’ Shou wonders.

“Okay! Be ready, demon! I am opening the door, you should be scared!” Shou releases a roar and barges into the room, he notices the hay patch more scattered than usual. He peeks behind it. “Mr. Takemori…?” Shou whispers. He raises his eyebrows in confusion “Oh yeah! That must be why Yami is still here!” Shou piecing the pieces together one by one “wait, so why are you still here?” Shou stares at slumbering Takemori in patience but only gets a snore in response. Shou then puts his hand around his mouth and screams “MR. TAKEMORI!”

But to no avail. Shou then wears a wide smirk and gets out of the storage room, he finds a bucket and starts filling it with snow from the ground.

“Hehehe…” his wicked grin would make you believe a murder is about to happen.

Shou drops the bucket of snow on Mr. Takemori’s head and breaks in laughter “Wha- what? Hey!” Mr. Takemori yells “Why did you do that?” he cries.

“You weren't waking up. Where is mom? Also-why-are-you-still-here.”

“Ha! Clearly you wouldn't care less about me so why bother asking?” Takemori responds

“I see”

“Okayyy, I hope you ready Shou!” Takemori’s voice starts becoming groggy, and his stance wobbles” “We are going to-” and so as if time had skipped a beat Mr. Takemori falls flat on his face.