June 10th, 2007

Japanese schools began their school years in April, and ended in March the following year. It was broken into three semesters with breaks in between. The first break was summer vacation, which normally began July 20th and the students would return some time in August. More prestigious—or higher academically ranked schools—tended to have shorter vacations than the others.

Since Yūta had just turned six that year, he was enrolled in his first year at elementary school.

It was still an adapting process for Yūta. He had been homeschooled by Lilly all of his life up to that point, only ever interacting with children his own age when Lilly took him to parks. He didn't even want to attend, but Lilly would hear none of it. He needed socialization; she would not allow him to skip school until he had finished his middle school education at least.

He needed to learn to be around normal humans so he would have the option of normalcy over their supernatural life when he was an adult.

Lilly waited for Yūta outside the gates of his school, along with several other parents. At her feet sat the nekomata who had morphed into a perfect disguise of a golden tabby cat. He wore a blue collar Yūta had picked out for him with his name written on the tags: Tora.

Yūta had chosen the name for the nekomata. The name—which literally meant tiger—was inspired by the nekomata's true form.

Although the nekomata was significantly larger than a true tiger, had six eyes, and was golden and white instead of orange and black. Close enough in the eyes of a child, Lilly guessed.

The nekomata's eyes were half-lidded as he watched the children come out of the school.

Lilly and Tora did not need to pick Yūta up from school. Lilly had woven a magical blessing into Yūta's hands that allowed him to turn any door into a door that would lead him home. All he needed to do was touch a door handle, want to go home, and voilà. He'd be walking through that magical red door that lead to the café.

But Lilly wanted to give Yūta a chance for normalcy. The other children had their parents or older siblings pick them up, so Yūta should be given the same right.

Lilly's body was born in 1993, which put her at only fourteen years old (physically). Far too young to be considered a normal mother. Therefore, when she enrolled Yūta into school—and came to pick him up—she transformed herself into a young woman.

While she did not wear an apron to school, she continued to tie her gradient pink hair off to the side like any good Dead Anime Mom™ and wear simple, modest, and delightfully comfortable clothes—such as sweaters or blouses with skirts. 

Yūta came out of the school with the rest of the students, he did not walk beside anyone in particular or with a group. It was clear her son had not made any friends (yet).

Which surprised her. Her son was obviously the cutest and sweetest.

Yūta's whole face lit up when he saw Lilly and Tora. He rushed over to them, eager to accept Lilly's hug and kiss on the top of his head.

"Hello my sweet pea," said Lilly. "Did you have a good day at school?"

Yūta shrugged.

"Where's your little toy?" she asked. Yūta had brought one of his superhero toys to school that day.

Yūta scowled. "Stupide garçon l'a cassé."

Lilly blinked, surprised that one of the boys in his class would break his toy. She glanced around, wondering if a Masamichi would want to grab her attention, but found there were no teachers in sight. Which meant either the teachers didn't care... or didn't know.

"Oh no. What happened, baby?"

Yūta shrugged, abashed. "Nothin', Mama."

"Baby..."

"Mmm... can we go home now?" he asked.

"Okay," she said, gently brushing his bangs out of his face. Even angry, her son was adorable. He looked so precious in that little sailor uniform! It was actually quite hard to find a good elementary school in Japan that still used that uniform.

Yes, Lilly went out of her way to pick a school based on how cute her son would look in the uniform. She had albums to fill with his cutie patootie pictures!

Yūta would look good in anything, but Lilly had a nostalgic love for the sailor uniform. So many reincarnated lives spent in that uniform. Going to school in a sailor uniform coupled with a non-traditional hairstyle meant she was bound to have an adventure that year.

From tragic magical girl to thrilling ghost detective and everything in between. Thinking back on those years always put a smile on her face.

She could vividly recall the absolute terror she felt in some of those worlds. Worlds she was actually afraid of dying in. Death wasn't a scary concept to the old soul when she had her memories, so it always amused her to think back on times when she was actually afraid.

A bit like an adult looking back on a childhood memory of being scared of the boogeyman who hid under the bed.

Tora wrapped himself around Yūta's legs, a deep, rumbling purr in his chest. He was not allowed to speak in the presence of normal humans, but his actions conveyed his desire to comfort Yūta.

Yūta bent down to pick Tora up, carrying the nekomata over his shoulder. "Thanks, Tora."

Tora purred again, and the three went home.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

While Lilly was trimming Yūta's hair that evening—he got fussy when his bangs grew too long—Yūta slowly divulged to her what happened.

"The teacher praised me," said Yūta. "At lunch the âne—

"No foul language," Lilly reprimanded lightly. It was not that Lilly was against crass language, but she was teaching her son a variety of words. She wanted creativity in his insults, not the same droll that drunks used.

Yūta pulled a face and continued, "—fine, the dummy called me a teacher's pet."

Lilly made an acknowledging noise.

"I told him I wasn't, he then asked why I got two gold stars in one day," Yūta went on. "'Cause he hadn't gotten any all week."

"Mm-hmm?"

"I said it was 'cause I was smart and he wasn't," said Yūta. "He got mad and broke my toy."

"Oh dear. Did you tell the teacher?"

"No," said Yūta. "'Cause at reeces I pushed him into the sand and sat on top of him 'til he said he was sorry."

"Oh." Lilly combed through his hair. "My little spiteful baby."

"What does spiteful mean?" Yūta asked.

"To be malicious—do you remember what that means? Good—at the slightest provocation."

Yūta's face scrunched. "Provocation... Oh, I remember! Mm... Comment dit-on ça en français?"

Lilly repeated the word. "Provocation is the same in English, French, and very close to Spanish."

"What's the difference?"

Lilly said the word in three languages. "Provocation—English. Provocation—French. Provocación—Spanish."

Yūta alternated between saying the word in Japanese, then English, then French, then Spanish.

Through either the power of being born a genius or Protagonist Blessing™ her son had an excellent memory. Since Lilly had been fluently switching between several languages while raising Yūta, he was comfortable in all of them. Although he sometimes had an endearing habit of melding the languages in the same sentence. He could start a conversation in Japanese, switch to French midway, and end in English without really realizing he was doing so.

It had caused a couple of issues at school. Nothing detriment, but his teachers had to remind him to only speak in Japanese when answering their questions.

"Mandarin?" he asked.

"Tiâoxìn," Lilly answered.

Yūta started to mumble the word in each language. He continued to do so until Lilly finished cutting his hair.

"Do you have any homework today?" she asked, brushing off the hair that had fallen onto his shoulders.

"Yeah," he said.

"Need any help with it?"

"No," he said.

"Okay. I'll clean this up and get started on dinner. If you have your homework done by the time dinner is ready, you can have some cheesecake."

Yūta beamed. "Con frambuesas?"

"Yes, with raspberries," promised Lilly.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

While Yūta enjoyed his cheesecake—which he happily shared with Tora—Lilly and Ame went hunting.

She was in search of a Curse that Yūta could try to tame with his own spiritual energy. It had to be weak enough that Yūta would be in no danger of it if left unsupervised.

Lilly had a good feeling that Tora would protect Yūta to the best of his abilities, but Lilly didn't want to take a needless risk with her son.

From the memories of the Jujutsu Sorcerers she had encountered, she was looking for something that barely qualified as Grade 4.

On top of being weak, it had to be small. Small enough for Yūta to hold in his hands, ideally.

Yūta had kindly agreed to partake in this experiment. He had expressed his own curiosity about the results.

When Lilly ventured into the world to actively interact with Curses, she always wore her disguise.

Her Dead Anime Mom™ hairstyle was swapped into an elegant bun. Her apron and sweaters were exchanged for a beautifully intricate yukata. She wore a blank mask to cover her face, and she always summoned a part of her kaleidoscope to accompany her.

Even if she had not encountered anything truly dangerous—

Well, okay, Satoru Gojō had the potential to kill her for sure, but she didn't count him.

—she would rather be safe than sorry.

After all, something caused the Curses. Something triggered a literal tear in reality in Japan.

In an ideal world, that something would already be gone.

But Lilly doubted she was so lucky.

With the birth of a Protagonist (or was her baby meant to be an antagonist?), a Story™ was about to begin.

I really hope it's not a tragedy, Lilly thought.

She wouldn't let any harm happen to her son. Regardless of what came their way because of the Story, she would protect him. But fighting off tragedies was unjustly difficult.

If a regular story was a normal difficulty—Mario or Pokémon level—then anything with a tragedy tag jumped to Dark Souls level in trying to obtain a happy ending.

Horror could easily turn to comedy. Psychological could turn into parody. Adventures into friendships or romance.

Tragedy... tragedy did not mix well with happiness. Bittersweet at best.

Perhaps if Lilly knew what was coming she could prepare better, but she was going into the events completely blind. It was a situation she was not used to and wasn't sure if she liked it or not. The challenge was nice, although it would have been better appreciated if she only had to worry about herself.

On top of her son, she had encountered a soul she was familiar with. One that frequently reincarnated with her to keep her company, even if they rarely remembered their past lives.

What else would become precious to her in this life? What else would be at risk?

The uncertainty made her anxious.

Worst case, she could take them both and flee to another world.

Well, no. Worst case is—

She didn't want to finish that thought.

She landed lightly on one of the rooftops, her spiritual energy repressed as she tried to sense for weak Curses in Tokyo.

She felt a twinge in the air, the sensation of feeling someone light a fire in the distance.

A Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Lilly would refrain from attacking anyone on his side, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious about them. With a light step across the air, she closed the distance to where she felt that energy.

She was disappointed it was not the white-haired boy with sunglasses, but rather someone new. Another boy with dark hair, close to Satoru's age. Lilly glanced around and saw a girl of similar age.

They were in the same uniform as Satoru.

His classmates? Lilly thought, leaning over the rooftop to watch the two fight against a variety of Curses that oozed out of the abandoned building.

The Curses were fairly strong—by their standards—and Lilly wondered if the students would be okay.

They fought with mediocre experience. The kind earned after a few years of fighting. Incomparable to a veteran with decades—centuries—millennias.

Lilly shifted through the memories she had stolen from that Jujutsu Sorcerer.

There were two schools in Japan that trained Jujutsu Sorcerers. One in Tokyo, and the other in Kyoto.

Satoru was in a class of three. It was he, a boy named Suguru Getō, and a girl named Shōko Ieiri. The three were in their second year at the Tokyo school. Lilly's face scrunched up. The memories were vague—the Sorcerer only cared about the students who came from important families.

Lilly watched the two further, listening to them speak.

They did not give their identities away very easily, but she guessed they were Suguru and Shōko. Not only did they have matching uniforms, but it seemed like a logical conclusion. First-year students didn't hunt solo often, and Lilly could not sense any other Sorcerers. She had to conclude they were second or third-year students at the Tokyo school.

For them to be together meant they were likely classmates.

Where's Satoru? Lilly wondered. Was he in trouble? From the memories, she had stolen she knew he wasn't supposed to go leave the campus without permission. Apparently, he was a valued heir or some such nonsense.

There was a surge of Cursed energy from the ground beneath the students. The girl stumbled, falling forward. Losing her balance left her vulnerable, the boy turned to her in alarm.

The Curse, a mutated amalgamation of oozing animals, sped to the girl.

Lilly stepped in between the two. She twirled Ame in her right hand before she opened the wagasa umbrella and let it feed upon her spiritual energy. Ame shuddered in delight as it devoured her energy, eagerly manipulating its own energy to mimic Lilly's desire.

The Curse bounced against Ame like a rubbery shield. It flew back into the air, colliding into a nearby dumpster.

Lilly lowered Ame, closing the wagasa with a twirl. She glanced at the students. The boy had rushed over to the girl, helping her to her feet. Both were blatantly wary of Lilly.

Lilly understood why now.

From their perspective, Lilly was not human. Her presence was that of a Curse without malice which should be impossible. Additionally, the fact that she physically looked human but—to their mind—could not be human was an unsettling contradiction. She was a powerful unknown and that made her a threat.

"Bonjour," Lilly greeted, keeping her tone soft and low; something barely above a whisper.

Their eyes widened.

"You speak?" the girl asked in surprise. "Something besides die? I didn't know Curses could say hello."

Lilly cocked her head. "Voulez-vous que je vous dise de mourir?"

Both of them pulled a face very similar to what Yūta would make when it was bath time. Lilly kept her poker face even as she was filled with a surge of affection for those two children.

"That's French, right?" the girl whispered to the boy. "Ehh... A-A-Amie?"

"Amie," Lilly said.

"What's amie mean?" the boy asked.

"Friend," said the girl. "If I'm remembering correctly."

"That would make sense if it—er—she saved us," he said. "Maybe she's a Sorcerer?"

"Doesn't feel like any I've ever met," said the girl.

Do they think I cannot understand them? Lilly wondered, struggling to keep from smiling. This is one of the reasons why I love starting off with a foreign language. So many people don't suspect you can speak their language if you start with something else. Oh, the things I get to hear!

The girl tilted her head, turning to address Lilly again. "Um... Tokyo or—er—ou—Tokyo ou Kyoto?"

Lilly shook her head. "Ni."

The girl furrowed her brow. "Ni—neither? But you have to be. All Sorcerers are registered."

"Legal Sorcerers," corrected the boy.

"Why would a Curse User help us?" she retorted.

He shrugged, his posture defensive as he continued to warily eye Lilly. "Any number of reasons. We should leave while we can and report this."

"Yeah, I guess," she said. She bowed politely to Lilly. "Au revoir, merci."

"Soyez prudents sur le chemin du retour, les enfants," said Lilly.

"What does that mean?" asked the boy.

"I don't know! Google it!" snapped the girl. "Come on."

Lilly watched them leave, idly twirling Ame. She committed their faces to her memory, wondering if she'd be able to confirm their names the next time they met.

Time to continue my hunt.

As luck would have it, that night Lilly found the ideal Curse for Yūta to start feeding his spiritual energy to.

It was a tiny little black bird. It fit in the palm of her hand and had four eyes. She ranked it as Grade 4, and wondered how it would transform when it reached Special Grade.

Yūta was ecstatic upon his mother's return with the bird which he happily named Kurai.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

July 1st, 2007

Satoru had a smile on his face as he effortlessly destroyed the barrier created by the Cursed Spirit that had trapped Mei Mei and Utahime. The two were sent out days ago to take care of the spirit, but since they were taking so long, Satoru kindly decided to save them.

It was laughably easy. The barrier that had them trapped was barely a finger's worth of energy for Satoru to destroy. He really was going to be an amazing Sorcerer.

Hell. He already was an incredible Sorcerer.

He was invincible—

"Toujours et toujours."

—almost invincible.

By destroying the barrier he also destroyed the building the Cursed Spirit was in. He stood above the crater he created, smirking as he looked down at Utahime who struggled to free herself from the rubble. The dark-haired girl always dressed like a priestess. As if she was someone so important.

"Utahime," taunted Satoru, "you cryin'?"

"I'm not crying!" she snapped, scowling furiously at Satoru. "Respect your elders."

Mei Mei, a girl with light blue hair and cold eyes coyly said, "If I cry, will you console me?"

She had expertly dodged the debris and escaped completely unscathed from Satoru's attack. Satoru grinned at her.

"I wouldn't say no that," Mei Mei teased. Her words might have been sweet, but the chill in her eyes told a very different story. Satoru knew Mei Mei well enough to not continue that conversation. It was best to nip it in the bud.

"You wouldn't cry," he said. "'Cause you're strong."

"Oh?" Mei Mei chuckled without humor.

"Gojō! I DIDN'T CRY!" shouted Utahime as she stood up. "Ask for your—"

Because she was a stupid and weak sorcerer she was completely unaware of the Cursed Spirit that had emerged from the rubble behind her. Her expression of surprise amused Satoru when the Curse was abruptly—and loudly—slaughtered from a distance behind her.

Satoru's classmate, Suguru Getō, gracefully jumped into the crater. He casually approached the corpse of the spirit and Utahime. He said, "Don't swallow it. We'll take it in later." He glanced at Satoru. "Satoru. It's not nice to pick on the weak."

Utahime's expression darkened into fury at the casual admission of her power.

Satoru laughed. "Who the hell is gonna pick on someone strong? You're the one who's teasing her without even knowing it, Getō."

Suguru's eyes widened as he replayed what he had just said. He quickly turned to Utahime and said, "S-Sorry."

"Uta-hii-meee~ are you okay?" called out Shōko as she walked up beside Satoru. Shōko and Suguru were Satoru's classmates. 

"Shōko!" Utahime beamed, tears in her eyes.

Shōko waved at her with one hand and tucked her some of her short brown hair behind her one of her ears. "We were worried about you since you didn't call for two days."

Utahime leapt out of the crater, dashing to hug Shōko. "Shōko! Don't become like those two, okay?"

Lot of talk from someone who needed saving.

Shōko laughed. "No way I'll become trash like that."

Satoru wondered how'd they fare against the Special Grade. If "trash" like him was caught off guard then what about them?

He wanted to see it. He'd bet all his allowance Utahime would cry.

Utahime blinked as she processed what Shōko had said. "Wait—two days?"

"Oh, so it was something like the barrier messing with time. It's rare but it happens. We thought it was weird even though you're here, Mei."

Mei Mei shrugged. "Looks like it. Anyways, more importantly—where's the Curtain?"

The Curtain was a barrier technique that separated a set space from the outside via a black force field. They were essential for every mission as it hid Sorcerers and their abilities while they worked.

Shōko, Satoru, and Suguru froze as they all simultaneously realized they had forgotten about the Curtain and knew a lecture was incoming.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The three classmates returned to their school in Tokyo. They sat on their knees in front of their teacher, Masamichi Yaga. 

Masamichi was a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark hair that he kept cut and a face that made a lot of civilians avert their eyes in fear. For some reason people kept mistaking him as an intimidating yankee or whatever. In reality, he was a stoic softie.

Except when it came to lectures.

"There's someone here who said they put up a curtain and then up and left the Auxiliary Manager behind. And forgot about the curtain, too. Fess up."

Satoru raised his hand, channeling a cheerful tone in his voice as he said, "Teacher! We're better than pointing fingers at each other."

Of course, as he said that Suguru and Shōko were pointing at him.

"So it's you," said Masamichi.

And Masamchi's fist promptly connected with the top of Satoru's head.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

A sulky and grumpy Satoru nursed his tender head at his desk in the classroom.

To his right was Shōko who was brushing up on her French for whatever reason, and on his left was Suguru.

Satoru grumbled, "Are Curtains... even necessary in the first place? Does it even matter if regular people see us? It's not like they can see Cursed Spirits or Jujutsu anyway."

"Of course it matters," said Suguru. "The prevention of Cursed Spirits is most important for the citizens' peace of mind. For that reason, keeping it confidential is important. Not only tha—"

Ugh. Another lecture. No thanks.

"Yeah, yeah, gotcha," dismissed Satoru. He leaned back in his chair, sighing. "Ugh. It's such a pain looking out for the weak."

It really was. If everyone was at least decent Satoru wouldn't have to run around rescuing them. It was such a pain in the ass. He hardly had time for himself.

All everyone told him was that it was his job—his obligation because of the power he was born with.

So because he was strong, he had to spend his whole life cleaning up after ants?

Suguru said, "Society should protect the weak and keep the strong in check. Jujutsu exists to protect non-Jujutsu users."

Satoru scoffed, feeling a surge of irritation. "Righteous, aren't you? I hate that stuff."

It was all bullshit talk anyway. If the weak died off, only the strong would be left, right? Then no one would need protecting—at least not for Satoru. What good did they bring? What did it matter?

They'd die anyway. Maybe from a cold. Maybe from a bus. Maybe from slipping in a puddle.

Everyone died eventually. Why did they have to go out of their way to prevent it?

What was that phrase—natural selection?

Satoru liked that.

"Okay, this is where I take my leave," said Shōko. She picked up her French Language book and flippantly added, "Enjoy the pissing contest."

They waved her off, glowering at one other.

"What? You're just reciting the same rhetoric used by old farts who can't even take on missions anymore," snidely argued Satoru. "Don't get all proud of yourself for spouting that garbage."

Suguru paled with fury. He stood up, his tone dark as he growled, "Let's take this outside, Satoru!"

"You lonely?" Satoru sneered. "Go by yourself."

The classroom door opened up as Masamichi entered. He glanced at the three desks, noticing one was empty. "Where's Shōko?"

Satoru and Suguru quickly covered up their anger and put on fake smiles. Suguru smoothly said, "Who knows?"

"Maybe the bathroom?" Satoru chirped, forcing cheer into his voice again.

Masamichi shook his head, moving to stand at his podium. "Doesn't matter. For this mission, I'm going to have you two go together."

Both made sour faces.

"What's with those faces?!"

"Nothing," said Suguru.

"To be honest," continued Masamichi, "it's quite the responsibility, this comes from Master Tengen."

That made both boys sit up sharply.

Master Tengen was an immortal Jujutsu Sorcerer that provided the barriers that protected both Jujutsu High School locations. They were responsible for preaching the foundation of Jujutsu Sorcerers and spawning religious groups that worshiped them as their deity.

"Two objectives," said Masamichi. "Master Tengen, the Star Plasma Vessel, has a perfect match. Escort the girl and erase her."

"Escort the girl... and erase her?" Satoru leaned back in his chair and scratched at his head.

"Correct," said Masamichi.

Satoru whispered to Suguru, "He's finally lost it."

"With him being the next principal and all, he's getting carried away," whispered Suguru.

"Oi."

"All jokes aside," Suguru began to ask, "are we resetting Master Tengen's Cursed technique?"

"What's that?"

Suguru and Masamichi stared at Satoru in disbelief.

"What?" Satoru asked.

Masamichi cleared his throat. "Master Tengen possesses the cursed technique of immortality, but it doesn't stop the aging process. Master Tengen doesn't have a particular issue with aging. However, once a certain age is reached, the cursed technique will try to change bodies."

"Hm?"

"Evolution. Master Tengen will no longer be human and will ascend to a higher state."

"So?"

"According to Master Tengen," Suguru began, "the will also cease to exist once you reach that level. Master Tengen will no longer be Master Tengen. The barriers that protect both Jujutsu schools in Japan, the pillars of the Jujutsu of the world, numerous auxiliary managers' barrier techniques... they're all strengthened by Master Tengen. Without Master Tengen, security and even undertaking missions would become more difficult. Worst case scenario, Master Tengen could become an enemy to humanity.

"That's why once every five hundred years, Master Tengen needs to merge with a compatible Star Plasma Vessel and rewrite the body's information. If the body is refreshed, then the cursed technique will follow suit. Evolution will not occur."

"Gotcha," Satoru said. "So becoming Metalgreymon is fine, but it'd be a problem if he became Skullgreymon. So we reset back to Koromon, right?"

"Uhh... right."

"The location of the star plasma vessel has been leaked. There are now two groups targeting the girl," said Masamichi. "The organization aiming to overturn the current Jujutsu world by having Master Tengen lose all reasons—the Curse User Group Q! And the group that worships Master Tengen as their deity, the star religious group known as the Time Vessel Association. Master Tengen and the star plasma vessel will merge in two days when the moon is full. Escort the girl and bring her to Master Tengen. If you fail, the repercussions would greatly affect society. Don't screw this up!"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Bonus:

"Honestly, how anyone can expect more than that is beyond me," the woman said.

Lilly nodded along in agreement. She had taken Yuuta to a park to play with other children, and while her son ran around she had congregated with other mothers. She recognized a few of them–they also had children at Yuuta's school, and two of them were mothers of his classmates–and so was able to easily fit into the group.

There was one single father who uncomfortably lingered in the group. If only because he didn't want to seem like a strange man at a children's park.

They were nice enough parents. Even if she did not agree with their viewpoints, she couldn't find fault with them. They loved their children and that was all that really mattered.

"Exactly? It's absurd. Like, if you want dinner on the table when you get home every night then maybe pick up the slack elsewhere? If I had time to make dinner, I'd make dinner, but I don't so–"

"Mm-hmm."

"How–how do you–" the father cleared his throat.

The mothers fell silent, turning their expectant gaze upon him.

The father coughed. "How do you–er–if you have to do it anyway—?"

"Ever heard of meal prep?" asked a mother.

He shook his head.

"Have a phone?" Lilly asked, and at that he nodded. "We can send you some recipes. Basically, just dedicate your Sunday afternoons to making meals for the week."

"And they last?"

"As long as you freeze them well," breezily answered another mother. "It's not glamorous and it gets old after a while–kids want fresh, hot meals, and so do we, you know?–but it gets the job done when work gets busy."

"Does it work with lunches?"

"If you can spare the funds, might be easier to have them buy lunch at school," Lilly said. "School lunch won't kill them, you know?"

"But it's... my wife always..." he mumbled.

The group was silent.

"You're not her," said Lilly. "All you can be is you, and that will be enough."

"How do you know?" he warily asked.

"Because if it isn't, then there's nothing you could do about it anyway," she said. Lilly adjusted her jacket, her red eyes swept over the playground. She frowned when she didn't see her son. "I'm going to head home. Stay safe, ladies and good sir."

"Goodbye Miss Suzuran," the group echoed.

Lilly moved across the playground, quickly searching for Yuuta. When she did not find him still, she tentatively released a small portion of her spiritual energy so she could try to sense him. She felt his presence at the far end of the park. She walked quickly, her hands curled into fists in her pocket as a sense of unease settled over her.

She found him in an isolated area of the park–between trees and in a shaded spot–where a man was crouched in front of him. The man was oddly covered head to toe. It was chilly, certainly, but not cold enough to be so heavily bundled. He spoke in a low voice to Yuuta–too quiet and far away for Lilily to hear without using any power–and as soon as he spotted Lilly he abruptly straightened up. The man turned on his heel and sped walked away from Yuuta.

Lilly casually approached her son, her eyes never leaving the stranger's back.

Lilly's instincts whispered a familiar phrase–

m.o.n.s.t.e.r.

–she smiled as she looked at Yuuta, and turned him around to face her.

"Look at me, sweet pea," she said. "Only me."

He did, his big eyes curious. She kissed his nose, and raised her right hand to point at the man who was quickly walking away.

There was a shift in the air. She shot a small bullet of spiritual energy from the tip of her finger. It went straight through the man's head and he fell forward, dead.

She picked Yuuta up, keeping him away from the body.

"Mama?" Yuuta asked, sensing something was off about the situation.

"Did Mama ever tell you about my favorite kidnapping adventures?" she asked lightly.

"Nah-uh."

"Well tonight seems like the perfect time," she said.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Tiâoxìn* / 挑衅 should have a down accent over the a but I'm having trouble getting it to consistently translate across platforms. Sorry. :(

Pictures of all characters added to the Wattpad chapters. Ao3 users please let me know if you would like character pictures included as well. Fanfic users... rip, sorry.

Answer: Kitsune or dragon.

Question: Favorite dessert?

Reviews are love!