A new day

Kazuki slowly turns in his bed, under the warm covers. The sunlight filters through the windows. Kazuki turns around to avoid it as much as possible. The gentle light tickles the skin of the young boy's neck. Its soft warmth licks his face and wakes him up. He slightly opens his eyes and watches his room around. His eyes are partially covered by his messy hair. He stands up and looks around him, still in the process of waking up. 

He stretches his arms and gets up off his bed. He lazily puts on a white kimono and leaves his room. On his way to the stairs, words of the day before come back to him. It was Father's day. It had been a while since the last time he had so much fun with his master. But what marked this day as a very important day is the discussion they had. The memories of his father that Master Yi made when they were younger. And there is the promise. The promise Master Yi made when he took the young boy under his wing. Every word rings in his hands with the weight they mean for the old man. He'll do his best to be strong, so his master won't fail his promise.

Kazuki goes down the stairs quickly. As he arrives in another tiny corridor which leads to the main room, he sees Master Yi quitting the kitchen with a teapot. The old man warmly smiles at the young boy, who answers with a bigger smile. Kazuki runs to Master Yi and follows him into the main room. On the table, there is already some grilled fish, two plates, and two cups. Master Yi puts a hand on Kazuki's head.

"I thought you would be tired after yesterday's festivity. So I didn't bother you with this chore. Now, let's eat.. son. We have a lot of training ahead."

The way the old man calls him "son" makes Kazuki's face brighten. This new found relationship seems to make those times easier, despite the previous events. Both of them sit at the table. They eat and drink peacefully. Kazuki's hairs get in his mouth as he eats and drinks. He tries to put them out of the way by blowing them away or moving them with his hands. Master Yi smiles and sights, both amused and annoyed by the struggle of his student with his own hair.

"- Look at this mess, young man. I'll cut them right after breakfast, so you'll be able to see what you do.

-No, it's fine. I can handle them !

- Trust me when I say so. You have hair in your mouth every time you put something in it, silly."

They keep on eating. While eating, Kazuki tries to think of a plan to not get his hair cut by his master. They finish eating pretty quickly, so he doesn't have the time to think of something good. They clean the table and wash the dishes together in the kitchen. Right after, Master Yi prepares a chair and goes to the bathroom to take the tool he needs. In the meantime, Kazuki finds a hiding place among some furniture. It's the only thing he found when they were eating. When the old man comes back, he starts searching for Kazuki. But he couldn't contain some silly laughs, which leads to Master Yi finding him.

"- Ah ! You found me !

- Indeed. You're too predictable for me, little one, haha ! Now, stop playing. We got some work to do. Come over here."

Despites his pouting face, Kazuki surrenders and lets the old man lead him by the hand to the chair and puts a towel on his torso. Master Yi prepares everything needed on the kid's head and takes his scissor. He starts to cut with precision the hair of the young boy. Kazuki does his best to appear impassive, even though he actually hates it. The sensation of the cold metal and the hairs which are pulled. Master Yi isn't very gentle when it comes to cutting hair but Kazuki has to endure it anyway. As the scissors open and close with each precise snip, there's a crisp and clean "snip" sound. It's a short, sharp noise that carries a sense of precision and control in Master Ti's hands. It fills the silence with a very regular sound, like the "tick" of time itself. It is a consistent and measured cadence as each section of hair is carefully trimmed. After some time of carefully cutting and adjusting Kazuki's hairs, Master Yi gives a mirror to the young boy. And with pride, he shows the new haircut. He just made them shorter, nothing really special. After all, the old man is a martial artist, not a barber.

"So, what do you think ?"

Kazuki considers it for a short time. He pouts again but it's more like a silly face to tease his master than a really annoyed face. But he did in fact prefer them longer, even if they went in his mouth when he ate. But either way he is fine with having them long or short, as long as it's not ridiculous or not bald, which happened once.

"I preferred them long."

Master Yi rolls his eyes with a smile. He knows how his student likes to joke around. Therefore he plays along, because he himself finds it funny.

"Ah, of course."

Kazuki sticks out his tongue and Tian-Han mimics shock to the young boy's action. Both of them burst into laughter right after. And when they calm down, Master Yi starts to clean up the material and the hairs on the ground.

"Alright, wait for me outside. I'll show you some new things."

Excited, the young boy runs outside. Once in the yard, he feels the wind coming to kiss his skin now liberated by the cut hair. A cold but soft wind. Leaves float around him. He keeps running in a circle, his arms opened to imitate a bird. He doesn't really have a reason to be so happy. For him, it's just a beautiful day. The sky is clear and the sun is rising, shining bright in the horizon. His laughter fills the air and echoes through the domain, adding to the warmth of the sunlight over the whole place. He spins on himself. But as he is having fun, he pumps into something. A humanoid form, wearing armor. It stands there, before Kazuki, and casts a shadow over him. It doesn't move. Maybe it didn't really care about him. The sun prevents him from seeing what it is. He puts his hands to form a visor above his eyes. And then, he sees it. He jumps and his eyes widen in surprise when he realizes what he pumped into.