The afternoon sun hung high in the sky, casting long shadows over the rolling fields beyond the village.
Akitsu Shouga stood atop the familiar hill just outside the village—the same hill with a single old tree rooted firmly at its center. Its branches stretched outward like silent arms, leaves rustling softly as the wind passed through. From here, the entire village could be seen: wooden rooftops, dirt paths, smoke rising gently from chimneys.
Shouga stared into the distance, lost in thought.
“How do I use my powers…?” he muttered quietly. “There are heroes, elves, and powers in this world, so my guess is that there will be an academy used to train and raise heroes, right??”
Seraphine Orion floated beside him, her small white kitsune form shimmering faintly in the sunlight.
“That’s true,” she replied. “There are indeed academies that focus on that… and one of them is Fiester Academy. They mostly teach students how to use the sword, but they also teach them how to use their powers—if they have powers, of course.”
Shouga lowered his gaze to his hands.
“Yeah… but it looks like I can’t use my power like everyone else.”
“Don’t worry,” Seraphine said confidently. “Everyone can use their powers if they get proper training from a professional. I can teach you if you want.”
“No,” Shouga replied after a moment. “I think my powers can’t be controlled or used unless I’m in a specific situation.”
Seraphine tilted her head. “Oh?? I’ve never heard of a power like that. How does it work?”
“Well, my pow—”
The world suddenly went dark.
Not dim. Not shadowed.
Gone.
“Huh?” Shouga gasped. “What happened? Orion? Where did you go? Is anyone there?”
There was no wind. No ground beneath his feet. No sky.
Only darkness.
Then—far away—a faint light appeared. A tiny glow drifting toward him through the void. It grew brighter as it approached, moving slowly, deliberately, until it landed on his arm.
“What’s this…?”
The moment he spoke, his skin began to burn.
Red crept across his hand, spreading unnaturally fast up his arm, like living flame beneath his flesh.
Shouga panicked.
“What’s this!! What’s happening to me!!”
He tried to swat the light away, clawing at his arm in desperation—
And suddenly—
He was back.
Shouga collapsed backward onto the grass, gasping for air, chest heaving violently as if he had just surfaced from deep water.
“Oi!! What’s wrong?!” Seraphine shouted. “You just started to panic out of nowhere!”
Shouga stared at his arm.
The redness was gone.
His skin looked normal—except for his fingernails.
They were red.
Only on one hand.
“What… was that?” he whispered, slowly calming his breath.
“What was what??” Seraphine demanded.
“…Ahh,” Shouga said quietly. “I think I get it now.”
He clenched his fist.
“It’s warning me about something…? Or maybe it’s threatening me to keep my mouth shut.”
“What’s threatening you?? What happened?!” Seraphine pressed.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Shouga said calmly. “It’s nothing important.”
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“That makes me more curious about knowing what happened!!”
Before Seraphine could say more, Shouga noticed movement below the hill.
Kaoru was running toward him, her hair bouncing with every step.
“Sorry, Shouga-kun!” she called out. “I took a long time, didn’t I??”
“No,” he replied. “It’s alright.”
She stopped in front of him and sat down on the grass, slightly out of breath.
“What did you do that took so long??” Shouga asked.
Kaoru fidgeted, her cheeks turning pink.
“Well… I wanted to give you something special.”
“Oh? Is that so??” Shouga smiled faintly. “What’s so special that you’re willing to give it to me?”
“Don’t laugh or anything!” she said quickly.
She reached out and dropped something into his hand.
“Here. It’s a bracelet.”
Shouga looked down.
The bracelet was pink, decorated with small charms—flowers, beads, and tiny shapes carefully woven together.
“A bracelet, huh?” he said softly. “It’s very charming. Thank you, Kaoru!”
Her cheeks turned bright red.
“I… it’s okay since I’m giving it to you. That bracelet means a lot to me since I made it by hand when I was little.”
Shouga gently slipped it onto his wrist.
“I’ll take good care of it,” he said. “Since you cherish it so much.”
Seraphine floated around them in lazy circles. “This is entertaining!! The two innocent lovebirds!”
Shouga ignored her.
“Also…” Kaoru said quietly. “I love you! Shouga-kun!”
His cheeks flushed instantly.
“I—I’m still not used to hearing stuff like that,” he chuckled nervously.
Kaoru grew quiet, her fingers twisting together.
Shouga stood up and held out his hand.
“Let’s go walk around the village one last time before we leave??”
She took his hand and stood.
“Okay.”
They walked hand in hand through the village, the afternoon slowly fading into evening.
“Seeing a village reminds me of the past,” Shouga said.
“What do you mean?” Kaoru asked.
“I used to live in a village with my master,” he replied. “But then I had to leave for a certain reason.”
“Oh… now that I think about it,” she said gently, “you rarely mention anything about your past, Shouga-kun.”
“Oh?? I don’t like to talk much about my past.”
“That’s fine with me.”
They continued walking, chatting quietly.
Shouga stopped when he noticed a bottle displayed at a vendor’s stall.
“Excuse me,” he said. “How much for that bottle?”
“That’s a bottle of this village’s rice wine,” the vendor replied. “It’s costly since it’s hard to get… and I can’t sell it to you since you’re a kid.”
“Oh? Alright.”
“What are you looking at??” Kaoru asked, appearing behind him.
“The bottle of rice wine.”
“Do you want to try it?? I can buy it for you if you want?”
“No, no,” Shouga waved his hands. “The bottle is only sold to adults. We’re kids.”
“Oh… alright.”
The sun dipped low, painting the sky orange and red.
“Looks like the sun is about to set,” Shouga said. “Let’s go home.”
“Alright, let’s go!!”
They walked back together, hands still linked, unaware that their peaceful days were slowly coming to an end.
