An Old Story

Louis lived most of his childhood on a remote island surrounded by nature.

Hundreds of insects inhabited the island and many species that wouldn't be found in a single ecosystem lived in a single place. The island was the dream for any biologist.

The plant life wasn't far behind, especially flowers that created a myriad of colorful sceneries wherever one looked.

Such a place with wildlife so varied shouldn't be naturally possible yet it was.

And, since it was an island, Louis could also just take a five-minute walk to the nearby coast and reach the beach, feel the warm sand under his feet, and watch a beautiful sunset every day of his life…

However, despite living in such a magnificent environment, one of his earliest memories was when his father came home late from working in the medical facility on the island as he almost always does.

The tired figure of his with slightly disheveled black raven hair and groggily ruby eyes was one of the first things he could recall.

That, and the ever-so-bright smile that pushed those tired eyes up when little Louis ran towards his father as soon as he arrived from work.

"Dad!" And run he did, almost as if he waited the entire day for his dad to get back home.

"There you ar-omtphg!" The man took the force of a kid-sized cannonball to the chest.

"Aren't- mph" He struggled with his words as his lungs attempted to draw in oxygen after it was forced out of them.

"Aren't you too energetic this late at night?" He picked up the koala hugging his chest by putting his hands under Louis' arms.

"Ah," Louis felt his dad's hands tremble and give out from just holding him up a few seconds.

"You have been eating too much candy, kiddo. I can barely pick you up!" The man complained as he collapsed on the nearby sofa with Louis on top of him.

"Hah!" Louis snorted as he sat up on his father's belly, much to the man's dismay. "Stevia sweetened candy is not like other candy-" The kid immediately started to excuse his candy addiction.

Not that he was wrong. Stevia-based candy had better nutritional value and its impact on blood sugar levels was considerably lower. It is derived from a plant, so, unlike sugar, it also doesn't cause toothache, obesity, or diabetes. It was the perfect replacement for sugar for any person who craves sweets without compromising a healthy lifestyle.

"-so I'm not heavier!" Louis concluded.

"Uhuh." His father agreed with a knowing smile.

"Where did you learn that?" The sly smirk didn't slip off his face and ruffled his son's hair.

Louis shook his head to escape his father's grasp. He huffed and crossed his arms, "Secret!"

"Sureee."

A secret?

How can his dad not know?

There were some slurred big words in Louis' detailed excuse. Words that he was sure Louis hadn't learned from his tutor. That, and certain science terms that shouldn't be in books made for children. He had obviously memorized them, not that he even understood them.

"Dad," A small girl walked down the stairs to the living room where Louis and his father were, "We only have this book left."

Her little hands held a red book, a cover with engraved golden lines that showed eastern dragons, giants, and other fantastical creatures. It was a book of old folklore and myths, the decoloring cover and its peeling leather were noticeable.

"Ah, don't worry, Karen. I will ask the nanny to get more." The man stood up and patted the silk black hair of his daughter whose eyes were just the same red as his.

Karen carried the book obediently as her dad already had his hands full with a kid not letting go of his back.

His steps were slow and steady as he climbed and walked up the stairs, a coordinated breath in his every movement…

"Dad?" Louis questioned when he noticed the man stopping to take a breath after reaching the second floor.

It was silent for a second.

Karen didn't say a word in that instance of stillness.

"The moon is breathtaking." His father said with a smile, looking at the window near the stairs.

"What moon?" Louis looked at the night sky, covered in nothing but clouds.

"Heh, you were too slow," He reached to his back with his hand to ruffle the hair of a koala named Louis, "This BIG cloud acted faster than you did."

Louis glared at the biggest cloud he could see…

"Let's go." The man chuckled and resumed his way.

Karen and Louis made the bed as their father browsed the old book.

"Ah…" A spark of fondness flashed across his eyes as he saw a certain story.

"Dad?"

The man looked at the two kids already snuggled in the bed. His tired eyes filled with a certain doubt.

"...You might be too young for this one… but I remember my father reading this one to me."

…

In ancient Kyoto, a devout Buddhist monk lived a simple life like many of his peers.

But he was often distracted from his meditation by the bustling city. Old men cackled, children ran laughing, and merchants loudly bragged about their fresh products.

So much noise came from bargains and shatter, many hastily walked past each other to reach their destinations, so many people, and barely any of them minded others as they did with themselves.

The monk felt that his neighbors were polluting his soul and sought to perform a personal Harae, a purification ritual that would cleanse his body and mind.

And so, he decided to travel to the Hie Shrine, a holy place set at the top of a mountain, away from the people and closer to heaven.

His trip was an arduous climb that took all day. His legs were numb from the countless steps, nonetheless, that didn't stop him from bringing his hands together and bowing once he reached the old temple.

He felt delighted that the endeavor of reaching the Hie Shrine afforded him the solitude he desired.

The peace that filled his soul once he returned home was profound. It was as calm as the still water of a lake but deep as the ocean itself. The Buddhist monk was determined to maintain such clarity as long as possible, thus, he decided to set a goal for himself, to make a pilgrimage for another ninety-nine times.

He would walk the same path, ignoring any distractions in his quest for balance, and never straying from his purpose. The man was true to his word, and as the days stretched into weeks, he walked through driving rain and searing sun.

Over time, his devotion revealed the invisible world of spirits that exist alongside our own. He began to sense the Kami that dwelled in the soil he walked on, the breeze that cooled him, and the animals grazing the field.

Still, with a new world being revealed through his deep spiritual state, he sought for his clarity to remain undisturbed. Hence, he spoke to no one, spirit or animal.

He was resolute in maintaining distance from those who had strayed from the path and were polluted with Kegare. This taboo defilement hung over the sick and deceased, as well as those who defiled the land and committed violent crimes.

Of all the threats to the Buddhist monk's quest for spiritual purity, Kegare is the greatest by far.

One day, after paying his respects for the eightieth time, he set out home again. But as darkness fell, he heard strained sobs in the night air. The man tries to push forward and ignore the moans, but the desperate cries end up overwhelming him.

Grimacing, he left his path to follow the sound to its source.

He soon came to a scraped cottage with a woman crumpled outside. Filled with pity, the monk implored the woman to share her sorrow.

The pitiful woman explained that her mother had just passed away and no one would help with her burial.

The monk's heart sank as he learned of her situation.

Touching the dead would defile his spirit, draining his life force and leaving him forsaken by the Kami. But as he listened to her cries, his sympathy soared.

And so, they buried the old woman together to ensure her safe passage into the spirit world.

With the burial complete, he continued on his path. However, the taboo of death weighed heavily on the monk. How could he be so foolish, to shrink his most important rule and corrupt his divine journey?

After a tormented night, he resolved to go back to the shrine and cleanse himself from Kagare.

However, he was surprised at the sight that welcomed him the next day. The usually quiet temple was filled with people, all gathering around the medium who communicated directly with the Kami.

The monk hid himself from their eyes, lest they see his polluted soul. But the medium had other ways of seeing and called him forward to the crowd. Ready to be forsaken, the monk approached the holy woman.

The medium merely smiled with gentleness as she saw the monk come near.

She took his impure hand in hers and whispered a blessing only he could hear, thanking him for his kindness.

At that moment, the monk discovered a great spiritual secret.

Contamination and corruption are two very different things.

The enlightened monk set himself back on his journey, but this time, he stopped to help those he met.

He began to see the beauty of the spirit world everywhere he went, even in the city he previously avoided associating with.

The Buddhist laughed along with the old folk, he heard their stories and learned from the people who came from different paths in life.

He held the hand of an old sick lady to guide her to the merchant and find her grandson, the man helped a troubled fisherman find his fishing rod, he helped nurse the wound of a kid who ran too much, he educated a poor and mischievous child about morals despite the latter being too crass.

The monk didn't avoid the deceased anymore as he helped the old woman clean the headstone where her son and daughter lay to rest. He didn't sway away from the disadvantaged child and taught him how to clean and communicate.

His peers cautioned that he risked Kegare and would be of polluted soul, but he never told them why he mingled so freely with the destitute and the ill. For he knew that people could only understand Harae through a journey of their own.

…

After finishing the old tale, the man was surprised to find Louis and Karen attentively staring at him.

He thought that the story would be too much for them. Especially for Louis.

After all, he is too young-

"What's a Buddhist?" Louis asked and Karen nodded along.

"Ah-" That train of thought was out of the window the moment the man realized that Louis was simply fixated on the meaning of a word he hadn't heard of before.

"-AHahahah!" He laughed a bit oddly before ruffling the hair of his two children.

"I'll just read you the story when you get older." He kisses them on the forehead and turns off the light before leaving the bedroom.

'...the man from the story sounded like a doctor…' Louis didn't know much about his mother nor did he have memories of her.

But he knew she wasn't anywhere to be seen because she was 'sick.' Whether his father became a doctor because his mother was ill is something he doesn't know. Most people on the island he lives in are doctors or scientists.

Louis also knew that his father was 'sick,' and he had seen him drinking and eating medication. Medicine is for the sick… and Louis didn't want his father to be sick because that meant that he would stop knowing about him as it happened with his mother.

So, if his dad is a doctor who cures people, Louis will be a doctor who cures his father!

'It will be my secret mission.' He knew that his dad and sister would just tell him to study instead, so he wouldn't let them know his goal.

Anyway, the next day, he entered his father's study to read about medicine as he has done many times by politely asking the cleaning maid for the key. He just had to say that he wanted to be like his father and be a doctor. It worked like a charm.

However, this time, he was cautious!

He asked the maid to not tell his father and made her swear with a pinky promise!!!

Ah! The birth of a master manipulator!

Anyhow, Louis didn't know how to diagnose his father or look at his medication without making it obvious. But he had noticed his pale skin, so he went on with that lead.

The books were too complicated, but he didn't give up.

'That's it, vitamin D!' But he did understand one thing, at least…

Vitamin D is produced by the skin once it is exposed to sunlight. His father was a doctor and did his research indoors so it made sense. This vitamin helps the skin to maintain its barrier function which protects it from infections. Not only that, it also helped regulate skin cell growth and wound healing.

With this overcomplicated information that was composed of words he could barely read or even understand, Louis somewhat comprehended that it was good for his dad's pale skin!

So he woke up earlier than he usually does to do his chores. He snuck in the kitchen where his dad always made his morning coffee. That was the only thing he would ever do for himself early in the morning, breakfast was always made by the chefs.

While his father was talking to the chef, Louis stealthy dropped kneaded orange gummies containing Vitamin D into his steaming cup of coffee. The heat would quickly dissolve them and no evidence would be left of his intervention.

The perfect crime!

He made a quick escape and saw from afar how his dad took a tiny sip of his coffee…

"Kuhk!" He almost spilled it. The coffee in the cup shook as if an earthquake was happening.

Louis saw the effect of his 'remedy' and patted himself on the back. That much shaking meant that his father was filled with boundless energy. Who would've thought that his medicine was so effective and fast-acting?!

Maybe he should be a doctor already!

However, Louis totally ignored how the cleaning lady who gave him the key to the study and the chef talked with big smiles on their faces while looking at the father struggling to keep a straight face.

Unfortunately, his father would still come tired from work and be sluggish like always. So he had to learn more.

Louis studied more.

He learned the new meaning of a word!

Well, more like a new use of it.

Iron.

Who would've thought that such metal was good for the human body? Last time he ate a bolt he was rushed to the clinic…

It helps the production of blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body. So it ends up benefiting brain function, energy levels, and even the immune system!

Louis hadn't learned many words yet, but he knew that humans need oxygen to breathe.

His father does breathe a bit oddly at times, so Louis understood that he needed iron!

With a new lead, Louis went to the living room and asked the cleaning lady for the key to the chef's kitchen. He planned to tell her that he changed his mind and wanted to be a chef now in case she asked, but it turned out the lady was also apparently going there to mop the floor.

Haha!

Even luck was on his side!

Louis secretly moved most of the veggies and lettuce back into the fridge and brought the spinach forward. He did the same with meats like sardines, tuna, and salmon. All of the food that was a reliable source of iron was now the first thing that the chefs would grab to cook in the morning.

Such craftiness!

Regardless, it appeared that it didn't work either.

His father still retained that odd breath in basic activities…

But there was no reason to give up. Not for Louis.

He learned about exercise.

An activity performed for various reasons that include, growth and improvement of strength, develop a healthy cardiovascular system, and hone athletic skills. But most of all, it is overall healthy!

He asked his dad to walk outside with him in the sun to just breathe fresh air. The walks that they took were 'conveniently' made longer by Louis being distracted by unrelated things or wanting to catch an interesting insect. His father might've believed that he wanted to be a biologist.

Louis understood the value of hygiene.

Poor hygiene can easily lead to various illnesses and diseases. Even if it doesn't cure them, the prevention of sickness by simple cleanness is more than worth the effort. After all, the accumulation of bacteria is what leads to things such as athlete's foot and scabies.

He helped the cleaning staff wash and dry clothes of his dad's. Always made sure that his father's belongings were clean and that his study room was impeccable, almost as if he was the head maid.

And, finally, his dad's complexion showed positive results. He didn't look like a ghost anymore, his pale skin gaining a healthier tone.

But not everything was gone. That constant fatigue that doesn't leave his dad alone was still there.

Through trial and error, Louis concluded that his dad's tiredness could only be cured with the simplest solutions of all.

To take a break!

"Sure." His father casually accepted…

'That easy?!' Louis wondered. He even dragged his sister, Karen, from her makeup session or whatever she was doing with that mannequin head to help him convince his dad. He didn't have an idea of what girls did with that weird powder.

And, indeed, his father smiled a little brighter.

He didn't do more than walk, but he really went on a picnic with Louis and Karen.

They didn't make five-star meals, but they cooked together.

Louis couldn't narrate very well, but he listened when he read him a story.

Karen wasn't good at knitting, but the man still wore that stuffy sweater.

He didn't deny Louis' proposal for a movie night. Even when the kid himself proposed for his father to rest, he had just forgotten as he had too much fun.

Old classic movies, comedies, sci-fi, thrillers, horror, and other series were consumed on a quick marathon.

Through the movies, snacks, and the man's old stories of his youth, the afternoon had quickly turned into past midnight and everyone was falling asleep.

Karen had long gone into dreamland.

Louis himself felt his eyelids incredibly heavy.

The movie that was shown by the projector was becoming blurry, the sound slowly became muffled.

"... sorry…" Yet, he clearly heard something as he fought off the urge to sleep.

He could swear he heard his father say something before his consciousness faded, finally falling into slumber.

"Ah, morning already…" Louis woke up as his face was hit by the rays of sunlight. The sun was up in the sky, clearly past noon.

The curtain that should've saved his poor eyes from the waking sun was on the ground.

'What a mess…' The child rubbed his groggy eyes as he observed his surroundings.

'Still sleeping…' he saw his sister sleeping on a reclining couch while his father slept on a long sofa.

Many snacks and paper wrappers lay on the ground, a bunch of bowls of popcorn and fries was on the glass table between the furniture and the giant screen displaying a blue background… A faint scent of butter is still present.

'...right, time for tea.' After yawning, a lethargic Louis made his way to the kitchen.

"Ack!" The sluggish boy quickly sobered up the moment his bare feet touched the cold tiled floor of the kitchen.

He had experimented a lot with tea as he had read that it was better than coffee in an old Japanese book. Louis had tried all of the tea that could help his dad start his mornings with more energy.

Black tea, oolong tea, matcha tea, pu-erh tea, white tea, earl grey tea, yerba mate tea, and kombucha tea.

But of all of them, his dad has settled with the most basic, green tea. Mostly due to its smell.

As for his sister, she would just chuck a whole glass of milk directly from the fridge, she always did it since he could remember.

"Whoa…" Louis enjoyed the smell of the steaming cup of tea. Its scent alone was refreshing, a good way to start the morning… well, it was noon now, but it still was a way to wake up.

The kid was sure that the pleasant aroma would stir his father awake. The hint of sweetness and the floral smell filled the living room as he walked near the sofa where his dad lay dormant.

"Dad?"

But there was no reaction. His call was left unanswered.

Doesn't his dad snore often?

It didn't feel right.

Something was wrong, horribly so.

It was silent, too quiet. Louis usually found silence calming, but now he felt a growing pit in his stomach where his heart kept descending as he noticed more oddities.

He doesn't hear any breathing from the resting man…

"Ah…" Louis puts the teacup on the glass table with shaky fingers.

"...D…dad?" He called again.

He tried to stir him awake.

The warmth that he was so accustomed to was cold as his hands touched the man's chest.

"Dad…DAD!" Little Louis shook the face of the cold body resembling his father.

"Huh?" He felt something unfamiliar, a granny texture…

He rubbed the weird substance between his fingers.

"...Makeup?" His voice began to shake as it all dawned on him.

The face of his father had a noticeable white spot that contrasted greatly with the rest of his 'healthy' skin tone.

"DAD?!"

Life teaches you in a way that books can't. However, some lessons aren't something you want to be taught.

"I'm right here, please wake up!"

At the early age of ten, he was taught something important.

"Please!"

No amount of treatment could cure all diseases.

"Don't leave me!"

No medicine could beat old age nor could it do anything for his father.

His father was gone and a corpse remained.

He wouldn't be back no matter how many times he called for him.

The man who promised to teach him to ride a bike was no more.

No more bedtime stories from him would be told.

He won't be there to teach him about his research.

He will be absent every day of his life.

He will not be there to taste the tea Louis would brew for him.

Louis' achievements will not be seen by him.

Maybe because of the tears streaming down his face, but Louis couldn't remember much of what happened after. However, he would never forget the feeling of his life crashing down.

Louis and Karen were taken in by an uncle who came as soon as he heard of the passing of their father.

His life felt like a rapid flash of images that suddenly dropped him to another place where would have to start his new life, far away from the island he grew up on.

Life would wait for no one to sort their feelings out, if one does not move on, they will be left behind.

It has barely been more than a year and he is now in school. He had been homeschooled all of his life, so one would expect him to at least show some excitement about meeting new people…

But he had buried himself in books, to be specific, the ones that his father owned and wrote.

His father was gone, but what he had left as a doctor and researcher wasn't so. Discoveries, experiments, drugs, theories, patents, and other research were left for Louis to read and study.

The man still lived through the science that helped many people.

It was a bit worrying about Louis' seeming disregard for a social life as he had buried in his father's research since his passing, especially for Karen.

But such concern wouldn't last long.

"What are you reading?" Louis heard a soft voice by his side.

"Hm?" He was somewhat surprised that he was approached by someone, enough to stop reading momentarily.

The rest of the kids played on the playgrounds or hung out at the cafeteria. None of them paid attention to Louis who sat by himself away from the noise right below a tree's shadow.

But he answered nonetheless without much thought, "Tales of Awakening by Kamo, it's a collection of Buddhist tales from the 13th century."

"Wow… that is way too old, does the school really have such books?" The girl expressed.

"Apparently so." Louis nodded and kept reading.

"..."

"..."

"... Do you want to read it?" The boy finally glanced at the girl standing by the tree where he sat and he found her oddly familiar despite her exotic looks.

Her short silver hair was barely below her shoulders but it did well in contrast with her tanned complexion, her eyes were similar to his, his were red and hers were crimson. She wore a similar uniform to Louis who wore a pair of black pants with a white button shirt and black tie, only that she wore a skirt reaching her knees.

"C-can I?" She asked despite her already making her spot beside him.

"What does 'Kami' mean?" She appeared excited at the prospect of reading a book with someone.

"Refers to God in Japanese, but in Buddhism it is also attributed to forces of nature such as flowing water and rushing wind.

"... What is Buddhism?"

"It's a religion focused on the achievement of Nirvana which can commonly refer to enlightenment through the temperament of the soul by getting rid of greed and other worldly desires."

"Woah… Do you take Japanese classes?"

"Sort of, I'm also half Japanese."

"Then, do you understand what this word means?"

"Yes, it means-"

Louis was bombarded by questions from the girl. He managed to answer them all but that seemed to make her even more excited as her questioning became more intense, it was as if Louis had become her new dictionary.

Thankfully, he was saved by the bell announcing the end of lunch.

"Ah- I have to get to the campus!" And just like that, she ran to the other side of the school.

As for Louis, he remained sitting in his spot without worries since his class was a few yards away.

It is silent once again…

'Understanding Harae through your own journey, huh…' Louis glanced at the last sentence of the story he was reading before closing the book.

The leaves of the tree were swayed by the warm wind of the ending summer and the strands of grass danced along.

Louis felt the warm glimmers of light reach him through the wavering leaves.

The pasture at the school might not be anywhere near as interesting as the one he had seen in his old home, but that didn't stop him from appreciating nature.

The grasshopper jumped between the greenery to find food while the ants scurried along gathering sap of plants to bring back to their nest.

A bunch of bees hovered over the sunflowers to pollinate while a wasp appeared to avoid them, preferring other insects less troublesome.

He saw a bark beetle building a small home under the tree while the other appeared to collect the seeds from the ground.

Louis took a breath as he appreciated his surroundings momentarily.

Lastly, he glanced at the other children going to their classes, some talking while others still played with a carefree attitude.

'I think I get it.' He got up and got ready to head to his class.

'....Right, I didn't even get her name.'

As expected, it wasn't hard to find the girl after classes.

"I'm Louis Amamiya." he introduced himself properly and held his hand for a handshake…

"Oh… ah!" She appeared to be baffled for a moment before shaking his hand with hers as a big smile adorned her face.

"Cruz Silva! Nice to meet you!!" The girl beamed. "Do you have any more classes?"

"No, I don't."

"Good!" Cruz led Louis by the hand to the school's main gate with a spring on her step.

The boy didn't appear flustered as one would expect, perhaps having a big sister who leads him everywhere and little to no interactions with other kids his age has a hand in this odd behavior of his.

"Oh, Louis," Cruz chuckled to herself for simply saying his name for some reason, "that book you were reading was super old, do you want to be a historian of sorts?"

"... No, just… an old story that I heard a while ago that I wanted to read for myself," Louis said with a slight tremble in his voice before becoming much firmer, "I want to be a doctor."

The girl stopped for a short instant and looked at him in surprise, "You too?!"

The two stood in the middle of the hallway holding hands.

Louis raised an eyebrow, "You want to be a doctor as well?"

"I… hehe. Sort of." She answered vaguely before resuming to lead Louis to the school gate.

"I wanted to be a soldier," she explained, "but Papa was REALLY not liking the idea."

"Oh."

The two continued to talk during their walk.

Louis couldn't help but notice how everyone made way for them. He was sure that it wasn't because of him, it was due to Cruz being with him…

The boy was confused.

Cruz was not unpleasant and by no means ugly, quite the opposite.

So why was she being avoided like the plague?

It wasn't long before he remembered that Cruz was the 'popular' girl who entered the school this new year. Right, there was a reason he somewhat found her familiar.

Indeed, he did 'see' her once but she was surrounded by a swarm of boys, which is why he couldn't put two and two together before as he only had gotten a glance of her back then.

The more he thought about it, the less sense it made to Louis for Cruz to be avoided.

'What is going on?'

But that confusion didn't last long.

"Look, Apa! I made a friend!!" The silver-haired girl let go of Louis and jumped towards a man who caught her midair.

His long white hair was adorned with some messy braids and wore a white shirt with red tiny hearts decorating every inch of it while pairing it with some cargo shorts.

A rather amusing sight as the other kids were being picked up by parents or butlers with fairly formal attire.

People might even laugh, but the build of the man wearing such clothes would make sure those laughs never went past their throats.

The man of tan complexion could easily put a bodybuilder to shame as he was a fortress of muscles and supported not-so-friendly facial features with sharp and thick eyebrows above a pair of piercing crimson eyes and a prominent goatee.

'Ah… I get it now.' Louis sized the man who had caught Cruz and carried her with one arm.

The resemblance was striking as one could easily tell that she was his daughter, only that the man's hair wasn't as pure as his daughter's, a rather simple white instead of silver, and his daughter was a kitten while he was a mountain lion.

With a sigh that made his bushy beard wobble, he ruffled Cruz' tiny little head with his hand. "I told you to not be jumping while wearing skirts."

"Hehehe!" She responded with a chuckle.

Cruz looked like a pretty doll in the hands of her father as he wasn't just a mountain of muscles, but he towered over every person at the gate waiting for their kids.

"Hm?" The man saw the expectant big 'ol eyes of his daughter sparkling as they moved between him and the 'friend' she had brought to him.

This led him to calmly land his eyes on the kid.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Louis Amamyia." And the kid held his hand forward, greeting the man quite oddly for a child.

And the father did notice it, something he appeared to find amusing if anyone could even find such sentiment on his face other than his own daughter.

The man kneeled just so he could see Louis from a proper level and reached out his hand, "Name's Gregorio Silva-"

…

"-I will leave her in your care." The giant had ruffled his black raven hair, making it a bit messier than before. But the gentleness that the hand held was unexpected.

"Will do," Louis answered, now standing taller than before.

Long gone was the small odd child Gergorio once met.

He was now in university and had been admitted to an adjunct military research center just like his father and was now an intern in the facility.

He was, by no means, under his father's shadow for he has renewed the research, books, and patents of his father as well as improved them further than anyone else.

Louis was an intern only on paper as the other researchers had no qualms about being helped by him nor him learning from their experiments as long as it wasn't top secret, they highly expected him to formally join their team in a couple of years.

But even with so many achievements and potential, for him, Louis was the same kid.

What's the difference? Gregorio still needed to kneel to make eye contact with Louis.

"Thank you." With those parting words, Gregorio went on his way down the white hallway.

A resemblance of a smile on his face, one that Louis could only recognize after knowing the man for almost a decade.

Louis stared at the man's back momentarily before going on his own way…

His day wasn't done, after the classes and being shown around by a group of excited researchers, he was finally about to meet Cruz after what felt so long ago.

The time for reminiscing was done, it was about time to regain some lost memories lost through many deaths.

____________________________________________________________________________

Word Count: 5,792

Damn, writing this chap took way too long to write.

The next one might not be ready for next week as I've spent most of my time writing a bit of Louis' backstory.

The game and Wiki don't tell you much from his past other than living on an island with plenty of nature, that he wants to be a doctor like his dad, and that he liked the time when his pops read him stories when he was a kid.