In the back of Kyo’s mind, he still remembered back then on the day that had led him to lose the little wolf cub. It started like any other day when he went down the mountain to meet Renji’s adopted human parents. The husband and wife found Renji the previous year. They found him while he was being hunted by the human hunters from the village. They saved him and took Renji in as their adopted son. Because of Renji’s adopted father’s well-respected reputation in the village, the hunters had to hold themselves back from their pursuit of Renji. They only left with a warning that someday Renji would be the death of them and that werewolves would eventually lose their mind and kill humans.

But it had been many full moons since then. Renji had not lost his mind or killed anyone. And Kyo, who had been on his guard of him every full moon had eventually let his guard down. He didn’t know much about werewolves but Renji was pretty much harmless. At most, he would just turn into his animal form during a full moon. But he had not gone wild to hunt people and kill them. He was as docile as the little wolf cub that he was. 

“Master Miyamoto, thank you for taking care of our little Renji lately,” Renji’s mother thanked Kyo as she picked up empty plates from the dinner table where Kyo was seated.

“I didn’t do much, Madam,” Kyo modestly answered.

To the answer, the old woman smiled gently. The old man by her side then started speaking. “You are being way too polite, Master. I know that you’ve been looking out for him. Especially during the full moon. We are really indebted to you.”

Kyo hated people’s kindness the most. He was weak to these types of people. And these kinds of humans with kind and generous souls were rare. He guessed that that must be mostly why he was willing to help them. Not to mention, when he looked into Renji’s innocent golden eyes looking up to him back then, they shone brightly… He just couldn’t say no. “No mention, Sir. Renji is just a lost little wolf cub. I’m just doing whatever I can to help.”

The old man nodded his head before sighing slightly. “The villagers are highly suspicious of us husband and wife lately. There has been talks that they will take Renji away from us. If it comes to that, we don’t know what to do. Renji is just a kid. Even if he is a werewolf, I couldn’t let them harm a child like this. If they get to him, I’m sure they will execute him or use him to find his pack. There must be a good reason why he is also abandoned by his own pack. He has nowhere to go. I hope Master Miyamoto will consider taking him in if something were to happen to us. Besides, we all know that you are more suitable taking care of him compared to us humans. We could only do so much for him. When it comes to protecting him, I’m afraid we are quite useless,” the old man lamented.

This issue had been a nail in his heart for a while now. Kyo could never get that nail out. It was a worry that someday the villagers would still find ways to hand Renji over to the hunters. Werewolves were, after all, terrifying creatures for humans. Kyo himself couldn’t be bothered to be afraid or try to comprehend their fear but still, deep within him, he swore that he will protect the little wolf cub with his life when that time comes. “Don’t worry, Sir. I promise I will keep Renji safe,” Kyo promised. He then looked over towards the window to the sight of Renji playing outside with the chickens. The little boy was laughing all by himself chasing after the chickens. Kyo smiled a little to himself thinking of how cute Renji was.

The old man also turned to look at the boy from the window. He felt like a weight was lifted from his heart. “Then I can rest-assured if you said so, Master Miyamoto,” he finally spoke after a moment of silence.

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“Renji, I’m leaving now,” Kyo called out to Renji as he got out of the small house.

Renji nodded and smiled at him from the side of the house. “Be careful on your way, Master!”

“I’ll see you soon,” Kyo said.

“See you soon!” Renji grinned and waved goodbye with his small hand towards Kyo.

Kyo then left without looking back. Unbeknownst to him, the words ‘see you soon’ was like a curse. It was like a bad omen. That was because when he visited them again a few days later, he realized that he had made an empty promise. There was no Renji. The house that used to be filled with warmth and happiness was now soaked with dry blood.

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NEXT UPDATE: 2023/01/16