The massive oak tree towered over the backyard, its thick branches stretching outward like arms embracing the sky. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering warm patches of gold across the bark and grass below.

  Akitsu Shouga and Kaoru were both climbing upward, gripping the rough surface of the trunk, while Seraphine Orion floated lazily beside Akitsu, her small fox-like form glowing faintly in the air.

  Akitsu’s hands trembled.

  His breathing grew uneven.

  Halfway up, he stopped climbing and carefully lowered himself onto a wide branch, hugging the trunk as if it were the only thing keeping him alive.

  “This is nerve-racking!” Akitsu Shouga shouted.

  Seraphine Orion crossed her tiny paws in midair.

  “You shouldn’t be afraid of heights. It’s pathetic!”

  “That’s easy for you to say!” Akitsu snapped back, clinging tighter.

  Above them, Kaoru paused and leaned over, peeking down through the leaves.

  “Shouga-kun!! Hurry up! You won’t get to the sunset if you don’t climb fast!”

  Akitsu swallowed hard.

  He forced himself to stand, his legs shaking, and continued climbing upward despite every instinct screaming at him to stop.

  Seraphine Orion floated beside him, tails swaying.

  “Be careful, or you’ll fall to your death!”

  “Shut up!” Akitsu barked.

  “I thought you were supposed to protect me?!”

  “I’m not obligated to protect you,” Seraphine Orion replied casually.

  “It’s a choice whether we protect the wish-maker or not.”

  Akitsu clicked his tongue.

  “If you’re a spirit… are there any others like you?”

  “Yes, there are,” she said.

  “But I’m a special type called a boundless spirit. I can roam freely. Other spirits are bound to specific locations, unable to adventure across the world.”

  Akitsu paused again, breathing heavily.

  “There are many types of spirits,” Seraphine Orion continued.

  “The most common are wandering spirits and vengeful spirits.”

  Akitsu Shouga stopped to catch his breath.

  “What’s the difference between them and you?”

  “Vengeful spirits and wandering spirits can do whatever they want,” she explained,

  “but they don’t truly think. They’re consumed by hatred or lingering emotions.”

  Her tone carried quiet pride.

  “Boundless spirits like me have minds, personalities, and freedom. We can travel the world and act on our own will.”

  “This world is so complicated!” Akitsu shouted.

  Kaoru tilted her head from above.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh—nothing!” Akitsu replied quickly.

  “Don’t mind me!”

  Seraphine Orion chuckled softly.

  “I know. It’s complicated—but also very simple once you understand it.”

  Akitsu climbed again, slower now.

  “Alright… but why did you grant my wish?” he asked quietly.

  “Aren’t there countless people around the world who want to make wishes?”

  “Yeah,” Seraphine Orion said thoughtfully.

  “I wonder why myself…”

  She hovered closer.

  “Maybe I was attracted to you somehow?”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “You give off a unique aroma,” she said lightly.

  “That’s probably why.”

  “Spirits don’t make any sense to me.”

  Finally, Akitsu reached the top branch and sat down beside Kaoru, his legs dangling over the edge.

  She smiled, eyes sparkling.

  “Isn’t this view pretty?”

  “Yeah,” Akitsu admitted.

  “But it takes way too much effort to climb up here every single day.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kaoru said cheerfully.

  “You’ll get used to it someday.”

  “I guess so.”

  “I can see the royal family’s mansion from here!” Kaoru pointed.

  “And the horse barn where we met!”

  Akitsu followed her gaze.

  “Yeah… we should get down before it gets dark.”

  “Okay. Let’s go down.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  They began climbing down carefully.

  Seraphine Orion looked around in awe.

  “Now that I think about it… how big is this tree? I’ve never seen one like it.”

  “Kaoru’s family is rich,” Akitsu replied.

  “They can get whatever they want whenever they want.”

  “Lucky,” Seraphine Orion said.

  “That girl is a gemstone. You better not lose her.”

  “I wasn’t planning on losing that precious gemstone,” Akitsu said quietly.

  “And can you please be quiet? I need to focus.”

  “Alright.”

  When they reached the ground, Akitsu headed straight to his room and collapsed onto his bed, arms spread wide.

  “Climbing trees is the thing I hate doing the most!” he groaned.

  “And I’ll never get used to it!”

  “Then why did you do it?” Seraphine Orion asked.

  “Because Kaoru asked me to climb with her.”

  “Oh?” she teased.

  “So you do whatever your maiden tells you to do, huh? Why not tell her you don’t like climbing trees?”

  “If I said that,” Akitsu muttered,

  “It would break her heart. She loves climbing trees.”

  “Ooooh,” Seraphine Orion hummed.

  “So… do you like her by any chance?”

  “I don’t know,” Akitsu replied.

  “She’s more like a sister to me.”

  “Nope. That’s a lie,” she said confidently.

  “I can smell your emotions—and it’s definitely something else!”

  “That’s impossible,” Akitsu snapped.

  “Spirits can’t smell emotions.”

  “How do you know?” Seraphine Orion asked.

  “I thought you didn’t know anything about spirits.”

  “I just guessed, that’s all!”

  “That didn’t sound like a guess.”

  “Shut up!” Akitsu turned on his side.

  “I’m going to sleep. I’m too tired to talk!”

  “Alright. Sweet dreams!”

  Not long after, Akitsu Shouga fell into a deep sleep.

  And his past returned to him.

  Flashback

  Akitsu Shouga was fourteen years old, newly entered into his second year of middle school.

  Rain poured relentlessly as he walked home alone, shoes splashing through puddles. When he arrived, he went straight to his room, tossed his bag onto the bed, and collapsed on top of it.

  Exhaustion swallowed him whole.

  When he woke up, shouting echoed from downstairs.

  His mother—Akitsu Kisuragi—and his father—Riyusei Arai—were arguing.

  Akitsu slowly descended the stairs.

  The moment he entered the living room, his breath caught.

  His father was punching his mother.

  Riyusei Arai turned and glared at him.

  “What are you looking at, brat?!” he yelled.

  Akitsu ran upstairs, heart pounding, and rushed into his little sister’s room.

  When he turned on the light—

  She wasn’t there.

  A large bloodstain soaked into the bedsheet.

  Fear and rage twisted inside him.

  With shaking hands, he grabbed the knife hidden under his bed.

  He returned downstairs.

  Both adults froze when they saw him.

  “Hey, brat…” Riyusei sneered.

  “What do you think you’re doing with that knife? Planning to stab me?”

  He laughed.

  “If you want to threaten me, you’ll need a gun.”

  Akitsu dashed forward.

  Riyusei tried to grab the knife.

  Akitsu stabbed his hand and dragged the blade downward.

  Riyusei screamed and staggered back.

  Akitsu Kisuragi shoved him from behind.

  Akitsu lunged again—

  and stabbed him straight in the heart.

  Blood sprayed.

  Riyusei collapsed, gasping.

  Akitsu stared at his trembling, blood-soaked hands.

  His mother approached and pressed a folded piece of paper into his palms.

  “Go get your sister, Shouga,” she said desperately.

  “Don’t look back. Go!”

  Rain poured as Akitsu ran from the house.

  Behind him, Akitsu Kisuragi sank to the floor beside her dying husband.

  “I’m sorry, Shouga…” she sobbed.

  “I wish I could’ve given you a better life.”