A sad reality.

"Let me tell you a story. It may be a short story, but it can be important for you." Isiah looked Taro in the eyes and told him the story.

"Once upon a time, even older than I am myself, a grim reaper existed. His name was unknown, his clan was unknown, and everything about him was unknown. But there were a few things that were known about him."

Taro listened to every word and would not say a single thing until Isaiah finished.

"He could see the fates of the people around him, not only humans, vampires, or grim reapers. He could see his own future. He could see them in his imagination. He did not dream about it; he just imagined the things to happen, and whatever his mind crafted together happened."

"At first, many thought that he used his Soulcycle to create this future, but he never did that. Everybody was clueless about what he did or why the things he said would come true. Became reality; one day he died, just the way he told everybody that it would happen. He died in a fight against a dreadharvester. Everybody thought that the time of his destiny was over, but a few hundred years later, someone exactly the same as him was born. He had not even evoked his Soulsycle, but he did what a grim reaper did back then, and everyone was confused."

Taro could somehow imagine how the people back then felt: being told that one thing is going to happen and that it always happens is something that would scare everyone. It was as if you could see someone's future.

Taro learned one thing from Haruka's movies: that someone who could see into the future never had a good future ahead of him.

"And this process repeated itself; someone got born with the ability to see the future. We studied the ability and then named it soul reading. It is a rare ability someone could possess—the ability to read a soul and the way it will look in the future, and if what you said is true, then you could possess this ability."

The moment he heard that, Taro's entire being was filled with fear. If what he saw was really his future, then he would either do everything he could to prevent that future or end his future here right now.

"I know what you are thinking right now, but what you saw was not your fate; it was just the future you are walking to right now, and I have to tell you something now."

Isaiah's expression got more serious, and Taro understood exactly why; he knew what was going to happen to him if he continued this way.

"I know what you are saying, and I want you to listen to me now too. I don't want to go to your clan or whatever. But only for as long as I need for my transformation, and if you force me to stay even one damn second, then I want to. I swear I will then hunt you down until you reach hell."

Taro tried to pull on Isaiah's collar, which didn't work; he was neither powerful enough to do that nor was his dog arm long enough to reach him.

"Until I reach hell, yes, you are right, that could really happen." Isaiah looked with sad eyes at the ceiling and thought about the things he had done and would do.

"And I promise that you can leave whenever you want."

Isaiah gave Taro the understanding that he would let him choose and respect this choice of his. He would never have to tell him that he would leave.

"Good, but say nothing about this. I want to tell them this myself."

These were Taro's last words before he crawled back to his guest house. It took him a little bit less time than it did before. But it was still hard. When he reached his home, he laid himself on the blanket that lay next to the bed where Haruka was still asleep.

And a few hours later, Haruka woke up. The first thing she noticed after waking up was that Taro no longer slept in the bed. She ruffled herself up and searched for him, only to find out that he waited in the living room.

But to her surprise, he was not alone; there were Thanatos, Morgana, Helene, and Areus. All of them were in the living room, and it looked as if they awaited her.

"Taro, why is everybody here? Did I miss something?" Haruka asked.

"Haruka sit down. I was the one who asked everyone to come here while you were sleeping. I have to tell you something."

Haruka heard the serious tone in Taro's voice and sat down.

"Everyone, what I am going to tell you now is not easy for me. Especially because of you, Haruka."

Taro took a deep breath and then continued.

"Haruka. I am going with Isaiah to the dog clan."

"Wait what?!" Haruka was confused and shouted at the same time.

"Haruka, I talked with Isaiah, and today he told me that my transformation is not going well and that I need to come with him or else my future can look even darker."

"But, but, that does not have to mean anything. He can lie to you, just so you go with him."

Haruka's world crumbled. She thought that she was going to stay together with Taro forever, and now they would get separated from each other.

"You are right. Maybe he is lying, but what if he is not? I am just concerned about my body, and I won't be away forever. When the transformation is done, I will come back, and do you understand me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, however you like, I just need to. Yeah, I am still tired. I will go to bed and sleep a little more."

Haruka said this while walking away with her gaze fixed on the floor. On the way back, she thrust open the door to her bedroom and cried into her pillow.

"Taro, you did the right thing." Areus said.

"Really, then why does it feel as if I did everything wrong?" Taro could have never imagined that he would ever feel this bad. For doing what had to be done.