CHAPTER 1

It was a cold day. As the rain slowly drizzled down the window, a young boy of about eleven years quietly counted the pearl-like drops. His mother had switched on the radio to disperse the awkward atmosphere that was created while she was with her son. However, Ren didn't mind. In fact, he'd never admit it, but he felt a bit happy seeing her uncomfortable.

"Hmph. I'll ignore you just as you did to me back then." He angrily puffed up his cheeks and continued tracing the falling drops with his finger. Nora looked at her child through the rear view mirror and a small smile formed on her face. Rather than feeling angry, she only felt that he was too cute. However, the smile that had just formed was quickly wiped off again. She knew she was responsible for her son's dismal mood.

She and her husband had only recently divorced, and before Ren could even recover from the shock of that, they suddenly had to move countries . Of course he'd feel betrayed. Of course he'd feel sad. She could only hope he wouldn't hold this against her for too long,and that he would eventually forgive her. As the rain rhythmically pounded outside, the car drove on in a silence that was only interrupted by two men arguing over whether cereal should be put in before or after the milk. A very important conversation, of course. One that could change humanity as we know it.

***

"Wow, there's a forest over there!"

"Those are meadows, sweetie"

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes..."

"Doesn't matter." Ren giggled as he flew towards the house. Nova sped up in an attempt to catch up with him.

"Come on, wait for me!"

The two toured the house. It was quite a large house, and had clearly seen many generations of people. Ren looked at his mother suspiciously. "How can you afford all this?"He asked with his eyes narrowed."Don't tell me... you STOLE it?" He gasped dramatically and pretended to faint.

Seeing her son back to normal, Nova quietly heaved a sigh of relief before going along with his antics. "And if I did? What would you do?"

"Tsk tsk. The children of today really are too daring" Ren said sadly. A look of pity surfaced on his face as he dried his imaginary tears with one hand while the other clutched at his chest. Nova chortled at his exaggerated actions. What exactly did she do in a past life to deserve this child? "It belonged to my dad" She finally explained after catching her breath. "We weren't on good terms, so I was surprised he gave it to me. But I guess since I am... his only... child..." She stopped after noticing the atmosphere was off. Ren's eyes now wandered the room, looking at anywhere but her.

"Ah, why did I have to go and ruin it by mentioning dad?" She still remembered the distraught looking his face when he

found out he would no longer live with his father. "..Tell you what, you can go explore while I unpack-"Before she could even finish her sentence, he'd already dashed out the doors. "Hey-Just don't go too far, yeah?" She called out after him. "Sure!" Ren didn't slow down even as he replied.

***

"Whoaaa..." as he took in the beautiful scenery, Ren couldn't help but exclaim out loud. He ran through the grass laughing, all previous signs of sadness gone from his expression, as only the unrestrained joy of a child remained. After frolicking a while longer, his excitement calmed down, and he finally became aware of his surroundings . Arms and legs spread apart like a starfish, he lay down to take a rest.

It was at this time he noticed a gurgling not too far from him. Curious, he crawled over and lay in the grass as he calmly stared at a rushing stream not too far away from. A peaceful tranquility washed over him as the stream water rushed over the rocks. There was a distant chirping of birds, and a faraway look appeared in his eyes. It was extremely sunny despite the earlier rain, and a little mist slowly formed, producing an inscrutable feeling .

This was when he saw her. He thought he was dreaming at first, as he hadn't expected anyone to be there - but there she was. She was dressed strangely , in a garment he recognised but had never seen in real life. He knew what it was called though. A yukata. Hidden in the grass, he quietly observed her movements.

She knelt down by the stream and brought out a book. His eyes widened when she turned around and he noticed she had a rabbit mask on. It looked quite plain, but was inexplicably cute. Seeing the way she curiously yet shyly looked around, he suddenly had the ridiculous notion she really was a rabbit. Cute and innocent, with an aura that makes one want to protect her. "I should say hi. It's weird to spy like this". That was what Ren thought as he stood up. However, before he could even introduce himself, the girl let out a small squeal and ran away. "Hi..." Ren stared at her rapidly disappearing figure before awkwardly placing his hand down. His face was flushed red as he ran home in embarrassment.