Sunbeams shone through my window and into my eyes, waking me. It was 11 A.M. and a vibrant hue of yellow as well as a pleasant warmth enveloped my room.

For the first time in forever, I woke up a shiny plate. Or perhaps a cold glass of lemonade. My joints were greased with oil and my eyelids were light as feathers. Sat up in my frankly uncomfortable bed, I greeted the sensation of a headache-less morning.

It was bliss.

I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and examined myself in the front-facing camera. I still looked awful, but I was certainly well-rested. The man in the camera flashed his version of a gigawatt smile.

For whatever reason, I wanted to go out for a jog. I had never jogged in my entire life, but I felt I could take on the world. I felt like I was born again in an interstellar burst. I was so gonna jog a mile or two today.

“Nothing’s gonna stop me!” I jumped out of my bed.

“What pray tell has gotten you all gung-ho, boy?” the girl in my ring spoke with a hint of grogginess in her voice.

“Yuki-san…” I looked at the ring, tears on the verge of pouring out of my eyes as if they were a cracked dam.

“What is it? You look as if your life was saved by an airbag.”

“Can I give you a hug?”

“Absolutely not.”

“C-come on! Get out of the ring, so I can give you a big ol’ bear hug.” I said as I held my arms out.

“I am low on magic as it is, you know? I would rather stay in this form as much as I can. And just what is this all about anyway? This was certainly not how I expected my morning to start.”

“You’ve done it… You’ve given me a good night’s rest! I’ve never felt so good in my life… It’s all thanks to you, Yuki-san…”

I couldn’t hold back the waterworks.

“Ah, so that is what this is about. You need not mention it, young Kumagawa-sama. I am simply fulfilling my duty… Still, if there is anything else you wish for, anything more substantial, more ambitious, do feel free to ask me. I am capable of so much more, you know.”

I stretched out my arms once more.

“No.”

They collapsed back to my sides.

“Capable does not mean willing, I should add.”

“Stingy.” I mumbled.

As I planned to go on a jog, I figured that I should wash up quick.

I headed over to the bathroom, towel and a change of clothes in tow, and took a swift cold shower. After I was done, I went downstairs for breakfast. My uncle sat on the living room couch, sipping his cup of coffee as he watched the morning news.

 “So-kun?” he looked at me as if I had two heads.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just that you’re never up this early. I guess your bed wouldn’t be too comfortable to sleep in… We should really get a new one.” My uncle said as he scratched his scraggly chin.

“Oh, no, no. The bed’s fine actually. A little cramped, but I’ve had worse. I just happened to go to bed early last night.”

“Huh, then I guess it’s all good, but I haven’t gotten breakfast ready for you yet.”

“That’s fine, uncle. I’ll just whip something up real quick.”

“Nonsense, I’ll prepare a nice meal for you!” he insisted.

“I’ll be cooking my own food eventually, uncle, so might as well get some practice in.” I shook my head.

“I guess you’re right, So-kun. What’ve you got planned? I can give you some pointers.”

“Don’t think I’ll need pointers for toast, uncle.”

I gave my uncle a little wave and headed to the kitchen.

My uncle’s castle was spotless, but also quite empty. Our new rice cooker stood on the kitchen counter alongside a bag of rice and a carton of milk, but there wasn’t much else. The few utensils, pots, and pans we had were tucked neatly into racks and holders. We haven't had a proper cooked meal here yet, so there were no dishes in the sink and the sponge had yet to touch water. I hated to desecrate such a neat kitchen, even if only a little bit, but I was sure my uncle would understand if it was for breakfast.

I took out a pan from the rack and inspected it up and down as if I were to find anything note-worthy. It was a plain old black pan. It hadn’t been used in a month, but my uncle had already cleaned it, so I was sure it was safe to use.

I rested it on the stovetop before pulling out a loaf of bread from a shopping bag that was sitting right below the kitchen sink.

“Oho, I did not know you could cook, young Kumagawa-sama. Color me impressed.” my ring spoke.

“Impressed? Why? Also, toast is just about the only thing I know how to make. You just gotta smear butter and lay it on some heat.” I said as I did just that.

“Your father certainly had trouble in the kitchen.”

“I don’t remember ever really tasting his cooking, but yeah, I believe that. He didn’t give off the impression of someone who cared about his cooking, unlike his brother.”

“Genzaburou-sama had concerns other than cooking, but I do wish he had read a cookbook or two. It was pitiful to watch him, fumbling about with two left hands.”

While waiting for my slice of bread to toast, I scanned the grocery bag for something to spice my meal up with.

Eggs on toast, the classic. I had never cooked eggs in my life, but surely I’d be able to end up with at least a quarter-way decent product on my first try. I more or less understood what you had to do. It was something that you were just born with the knowledge of, similar to how we all know the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody.

Anyway, I followed the recipe which I pulled from humanity’s collective egg-cooking consciousness and plopped an egg on a second frying pan.

“I see you are being ambitious, boy.”

You could hear a grin through her voice.

“Wouldn’t want to disappoint uncle.” I said as I seasoned my egg with salt.

“What is Kumagawa Keiji anyway? Could he perhaps be what you call a foodie?” Yuki-san asked.

“I’m surprised you know what a foodie is… Wait, you knew his name?”

“Well, yes. He was your father’s brother, so I have seen him from time to time. Enough times to remember his name, but not enough to know what kind of person he is. He has not aged one second since the time I last saw him though, that much I could tell you.”

…

“Yuki-san, how long have you been with my old man?”

“You phrase that as if we were lovers, but to answer your question, I would say that I had been his familiar for… a decade, perhaps? Maybe less, but maybe more. My memory escapes me.”

“So you knew me as well? For all that time?” I glared at my ring.

“Hmm? What is this about? Yes, I have known of you. Do you not recall the first words I said to you when you woke me up?”

“You’ve seen my old man and me?”

She had seen it all… The relationship we had, his treatment of me, or lack thereof.

“…I see what you are getting at.”

“So you have.”

A torrent of blood rushed to my head. I trembled like a newborn fawn. People always said I was sleepy-eyed, but my eyes were wide as a doll’s.

“Feel free to resent me, young Kumagawa-sama… I will not ask for your forgiveness, but I would do anything in my power to-“

…

“I-I am sorry…”

“You shouldn’t be. You were his familiar after all, so you couldn’t go against him. It wasn’t your job to meddle in his affairs. I understand.”

The kitchen sank into a sullen silence.

My head pounded as if there was a jackhammer beating against my skull at full force. A lump closed my windpipe and my chest was burdened with a constricting weight. I was in complete disarray, my mind stuck in a mire. I couldn’t tell you what kind of face I wore.

“He was a great man, wasn’t he? Understandably, you or anyone else wouldn’t go against him or suspect anything of him. He was a hero, right? That’s why he had such a large turnout at his funeral. He’s done a lot of great things. Let’s just end it at that, shall we? I don’t blame you, I don’t resent you. Let’s just forget about it, okay, Yuki-san?”

…

“Okay, Yuki-san?” I repeated.

“Young Kumag-“

“That’s enough. You don’t need to cheer me up or do any of that crap. Just forget about it. It’s time for breakfast and I don’t want my mood spoiling the flavor.”

A brief sound of protest slipped out of her, but she stopped before she could turn whatever she wanted to say into words.

“Very well.”

I turned my attention back to the stove as the stench of something burning wafted about from it.

Ah.

While I was getting heated, it seemed that I had charred both my toast and my eggs.

Footsteps rushed in from behind me.

“So-kunnn, what’s that sme- Holy mother of- What did you do?!” my uncle ran towards the stove.

He promptly switched both of the burners off.

“Ah… Sorry, uncle, I was lost in thought.”

“L-lost in thought? That isn’t something you do while in the kitchen, you know? Ten-hut! It’s a battlefield out here, you have to focus and keep your head up at all times.” My uncle proclaimed as he straightened up his back.

“Yessir.” I said as I stood in attention.

“Head to the barracks and reflect on what you’ve done, soldier! About face! March!”

Following my commanding officer’s orders, I plopped onto the living room sofa and let out a deep, long sigh. My old man’s old CRT TV was still on the morning news. It was a weather report, forecasting the predictably warm weather in the days to come.

“Young Kumagawa-sama…” my ring spoke.

“What is it?”

“I-I just wanted to make sure you were still with me…”

That was adorable.

But some part of my id insisted that I had to stay aloof with her.

“What did you do anyway, with my old man?” I surfed through the TV channels. My old man didn’t even have cable.

“…In what way do you mean, young Kumagawa-sama?”

“I mean, as a familiar. How else? Wait, don’t answer that.”

“We exorcised spirits, your father and I.”

“Yeah, but what does that all mean? You go around looking for books for ghosts too?” I asked.

“No… most of the time we did not bother with harmless ghosts. We mainly went after vengeful and malevolent spirits. They have the highest potential to harm the living. I guess it would be wrong to call them not living… But you should understand what I’m trying to say.”

“Vengeful? Malevolent? What’s that all about?” I stopped surfing after I had cycled back to the morning news.

“It is quite simple. Magnum was a plain old earthbound spirit, as most ghosts are. Circumstances surrounding someone’s death may cause them to manifest as a ghost until they receive closure. If said circumstances were particularly heinous, then they might seek vengeance instead of simple closure. If left unchecked, a vengeful spirit, so filled with hatred and wrath, could in time lose all of its humanity, effectively becoming what could only be described as a demon. However, harmless spirits could also eventually grow vengeful or perhaps even malevolent too if not dealt with appropriately and in time, which is why I suggest we deal with Magnum as fast as possible.”

I leaned back into the sofa as I soaked in her words. I never intended to go so deep into this conversation. It was a surprise how she could go back to her usual talkative self after our little incident.

“How’d you two deal with spirits back in the day?”

“We slew them. As I said yesterday, it is simply more efficient to do so.”

“Without exception?”

“It would be appropriate to say so.”

…

“Ain’t that a bit cruel? Weren’t they all human once?”

“Not every ghost is like Magnum. At some point, it becomes a lot easier and safer to just slay them, especially so for malevolent spirits. There is no reasoning with them anymore.”

“Where do they go once you got rid of them?”

“Who is to say. Whether we give them closure, satiate their lust for vengeance, or simply dispose of them, it is not clear what happens afterwards.”

Our conversation ceased when my uncle came back with two plates. On his right hand was a stunning plate of toast and eggs, while on his other was the same dish, but with a third-degree burn.

I bowed my head in resignation towards my uncle and ate the breakfast he had prepared with humble gratitude.

“Got anything planned for today, kiddo? It’d be a waste to not do anything after getting an early start to the day.” my uncle said as he stared at the TV screen.

Plans?

Oh yeah, that jog.

“Yeah, I guess I was planning to go around town a little bit, see the sights, see what’s up.”

“Good. While you’re out, go get yourself a self-help cookbook. You definitely need one, So-kun.” He shot a stern glance at me.

“Are those a thing? Anyway, I’ll look for a regular cookbook if I pass by a bookstore.”

“Shall we kill two birds with one stone and look around for the ghost’s book as well, young Kumagawa-sama?” Yuki-san said.

I nodded in response.