[Keeno POV]

Fia and I quickly got used to our new home and before I knew it, a week and a half passed.  Like we decided the night we moved in, I was going to restart my training today.  I was currently standing behind our home while Fia was in front of me.

 

“Alright, to begin with, we need to get your conscious control of your heat.  Before moving on to the eggs, we’ll make sure you can stand or sit on the ground without melting the snow.” (Fia)

 

“So, what you’re telling me to do is basically just go play in the snow?” (Keeno)

 

Fia said nothing and just smiled.

 

{…Hehehehe.  Fia, I absolutely love you right now.}

 

“Go on, if you can’t control this, then you won’t get pets and when we get to magic it’ll be a lot harder to learn.” (Fia)

 

While still a little worried about Fia’s smile and Ama’s laughing I turned to the deep piles of snow that were everywhere behind the lodge.  The moment my eyes landed on the big piles, my entire being yelled at me.  I started to run and then I jumped as high as I could into the air before crashing headfirst into the snow pile, or whatever was left of it.

 

“Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.” (Fia)

 

{AAAAAHHHHHHH!  IT WAS SO CUTE!!!!}

 

Just hearing their words and laughter, I blushed and the snow all around me started to melt rapidly.  When all the snow around me was gone, I glared at Fia.

 

“FIAMETTA!” (Keeno)

 

“Now, now, hehe, don’t get all angry at me.  What better way to learn to control your heat than making you embarrassed?” (Fia)

 

“…” (Keeno)

 

While I was still embarrassed, her words did make some sense.  As I was about to get up from the soggy ground, I thought I heard the sound of a snapping twig or something coming from a bit away from us.  I turned in that direction but didn’t see anything, so I just shrugged the thought from my mind.  I eyed another deep pile of snow that hadn’t melted yet and just stared at it.  The urge to jump headfirst into it started to take over again, but I forced it down.  I slowly approached the snow pile, but the second I was too close, it started to rapidly melt.

 

“I’m actually surprised she’s still going for it.” (Fia)

 

{Well, it really is good training.  I still think the egg thing is good, but this will at least get her to the point where she can start to get a general feel for control.}

 

“K-” (Fia)

 

“Call me Okami.” (Keeno)

 

“…Okami, keep doing this for a while.  I’m going to head to the Guild and buy some monster eggs for later training.” (Fia)

 

“Ok.” (Keeno)

 

Several minutes after Fia left, I called out.

 

“You know that I can hear you, right!?” (Keeno)

 

A sound of surprise came from some of the bushes a bit away from where I was trying to train.  About a minute later, a little girl came out from the bushes.  She was a snow leopard beastkin with long grey and silver hair that went to just above the back of her knees, grey eyes that had a naturally sleepy look to them, and her bushy tail was held in her arms, and she seemed to be chewing on it a little.  When she looked into my eyes she seemed to start trembling and took a small step back.

 

“Well, what’s your name?” (Keeno)

 

The girl spoke softly and I couldn’t really make out what she said since it was muffled by her tail.

 

“Stop chewing on your tail, I can’t understand you.” (Keeno)

 

She reluctantly moved her tail from her mouth and spoke a little louder.

 

“M-my name is Pram.” (Pram)

 

“Ok, Pram.  What are you doing, spying on me like that?  Oh, and my name is Okami.” (Keeno)

 

“I-I heard th-that you moved here a b-bit ago and was wondering i-if you wanted to play with me?” (Pram)

 

I was actually taken aback by this.  While she seemed a little unsettled by me, she still managed to voice her question.

 

{Befriend this girl, Keeno.  If you do, she’ll stick with you for life.  My intuition is telling me so.}

 

“Well, Pram.  What do you want to play?” (Keeno)

 

At my question, her ears started to twitch happily, and she dropped her tail.  She ran closer to me and grabbed my hands in hers.

 

“You’ll really play with me!?” (Pram)

 

“I won’t if you don’t tell me what you want to play.  I mean, we can’t really do anything if we have no idea what to do.” (Keeno)

 

“Then, then I’ll make a big pile of snow and you have to jump in it!  Then, you make a big one and I’ll jump in it!” (Pram)

 

“But if I try that, it’ll just melt.” (Keeno)

 

“Then we just need to make the piles really big.  As big as a mountain!” (Pram)

 

I cracked a small smile at her enthusiasm.

 

“Ok, then let’s get to making that snow mountain.” (Keeno)

 

She nodded energetically and moved away from me to where there was more snow.  She crouched down and started to push snow into a pile in a childishly cute manner.

 

{This is adorable, Keeno.  Not as adorable as you losing to your instincts and diving into the snow, but adorable nonetheless.}

 

I nodded my head at Ama’s words while ignoring the part about me.

 

“Okami, come on!” (Pram)

 

I smiled another small smile and walked over to Pram.  As I did so, I tried to concentrate on not melting the snow, and though it wasn’t much, I think it was melting a little slower.

 

‘Well, it’s a start…I think.’

 

Time passed as Pram and I tried to pile up enough snow to build her snow mountain.  Pram got tired of failing, so she pouted and sat on the ground with her arms crossed.

 

“Okami, why isn’t it working?” (Pram)

 

“Because I’m too hot, literally.” (Keeno)

 

“Well stop it.” (Pram)

 

“…” (Keeno)

 

She looked over at me since I didn’t say anything and I guess she looked into my eyes again.  Though instead of backing away like I expected her to, she tilted her head and leaned closer to me.

 

“Weren’t you scared of my eyes before?” (Keeno)

 

“Yep.  But you played with me, so that means you aren’t scary now.” (Pram)

 

{Ah, the simpleness of a mortal child.}

 

I internally nodded at Ama’s words and Pram leaned in even closer as she stared into my eyes.

 

“What?” (Keeno)

 

“Okami warm.  Like the sunshine.” (Pram)

 

She then wrapped her arms around me and before I could even process what was going on, she was asleep.

 

‘…I have no idea what just happened.’

 

{Like I said, the simpleness of a mortal child.}

 

‘Well, well, well.  I leave for just about two hours, and I see that you have a friend.’ (Fia)

 

I looked at Fia and mouthed words so I didn’t wake Pram up.

 

“You need to teach me how to talk telepathically like that.” (Keeno)

 

‘Just say the words in your head like you do for Rasu and I can hear them.  You won’t actually be using telepathy, but it’ll be similar since I’ll just listen to your thoughts.’ (Fia)

 

‘Like this?’ (Keeno)

 

Fia nodded.

 

‘Anyway, this child appeared a little bit after you left and wanted to play with me, so I obliged.  I didn’t stop trying to control my heat though, though I don’t think I made much progress.’ (Keeno)

 

{Well, as someone with a similar constitution, I think you actually made a lot of progress.  At least for your age.  It’s far from being considered perfect, but it’s a start.}

 

‘And that’s all we can ask for.” (Fia)

 

Chaos Realm:

Atmos: I’m back!

…

Order: She didn’t yell extremely loud for once.

Same, it must be about to Chaos Quake.

Atmos: I’m capable of learning…eventually.

Tamamo: Then I’ll give you a proper introduction later.  For now, just watch Luna as she lectures and examines the newcomer.

Atmos: Don’t mind if I do.