The moment of excitement got interrupted by someone walking into the room. All the attention snapped to the newcomer.
"What's with all the noi—...what is he doing here?"
Haruto's mother pointed to Reiji who let out an irritated growl. He still couldn't turn his head, meaning he couldn't even look at the woman. Reiji grew a bit nervous at this new development.
"Aiko, I can explain."
"Then explain yourself, Takashi!"
The woman yelled, furious at her husband for letting in a stranger and letting them sleep in Haruto's bed. But not just any stranger—the strangest stranger possible.
"The man that you have been so wary of, the one who walks through our village every single night, all night actually killed a demon."
Aiko, Haruto's mother, stared at Takashi, Haruto's father, in utter shock—the kind of shock that you get when you hear something absurd, down right impossible, and it flips your world on its head.
"Takashi, are you feeling alright? Is there anything wr—"
"Everything is fine! I'm not going crazy. I buried the body in the snow in our backyard."
Takashi had expected this reaction from his wife. Demons and other supernatural creatures had fascinated him for a long time, and now he was the closest he's ever been to one. He saw the body and examined it himself, meaning he was going to defend the truth behind what he saw.
Aiko, on the other hand, looked at Takashi like he was a madman. She couldn't shake the feeling that he did something incredibly dangerous and reckless.
"You did what?!"
Reiji, who was listening to all of this playout, was getting tired of laying hopelessly on the bed when he was relevant to the conversation.
"Sorry to interrupt your argument, but I've got a few things to say."
Aiko, Takashi and Haruto all looked at him. He felt everyone staring at him even though he couldn't see them himself.
"I'm not crazy, I don't have ill intent and I don't stalk the village—I guard it. Plus, I would love to know who created the nickname The Ghost Who Learned to Breathe. It's annoying to hear every single night."
Aiko was taken aback by this. This strange man claimed he was guarding their village. She thought he was strange and maybe even unstable. Who walks with a katana up and down a village the whole night and then goes back into the mountains in the morning?
"How can we trust anything you say?!"
Aiko pointed a finger at Reiji again. She was starting to think that maybe he wasn't all that bad. Her husband and child did save him and trust him apparently. But her stubbornness still didn't allow her to trust him just yet.
The reason she is so shocked in the first place is because she was half-asleep when Haruto said that Reiji was outside and beat up a weirdly shaped man. She even thought it was a dream—but clearly, it wasn't.
"If you don't believe me then maybe you'll believe your husband. Takashi, I'm sorry that I forgot to ask your name, could you show your wife the body? I'll wait here. Not like I can do anything else."
Reiji blurted out in an annoyed tone. No one is going to spread lies about him when they might affect something that actually matters.
Haruto Hishino turned to his parents and saluted them with his classic silly, determined face.
"I'll protect our Taiji!"
"It's Reiji Kurozuma."
Reiji said in a flat tone. Haruto getting his name wrong only annoyed him to the extent that he felt the need to correct him. His earlier irritation was caused by him thinking Haruto did it on purpose.
After Aiko saw her son's determined face her gaze softened and she decided to believe both Reiji and her husband a bit more.
"Alright, I guess I can't be stubborn as a mule forever."
"Come, I'll show you."
Takashi led his wife out of the room. From behind the Noren rustling of clothes was heard—they were dressing up to go to the backyard where the body was buried beneath the snow.
They exited through the front door and made their way to the backyard where the body was buried in a way that hid it almost perfectly underneath the snow.
Earlier that night, right after the fight took place, Takashi dug out a body-size pit in the snow and threw in the body with its severed head. He then threw snow over it. The natural snow fall gave the already barely noticeable pile a smooth, icy surface, blending it in even more with the surrounding snow.
Takashi kneeled down and used his gloved hands to dig a small hole. Soon, crimson snow appeared beneath the white snow on the surface—caused by the monster's blood pouring out and turning the snow crimson.
After digging a large enough hole, he started to get more gentle, brushing away a small amount of snow to reveal an eye—the eye of the now dead demon.
Aiko gasped. She couldn't believe her own eyes. A dead demon, buried and frozen under the snow of their own backyard.
"H-how did—why…why us?"
Takashi quickly buried the exposed eye again. The only evidence that there was something underneath was the roughed-up surface of the snow where the hole was dug. Noticing his wife's worried expression, he stood up and tried to calm her down.
"Aiko, listen to me. It's fine. No one knows about this. When the lord comes to collect taxes, we'll tell him everything and—"
"How do you know how he's going to react? Yes, we are lucky to have such a benevolent lord but this a demon! A demon that was killed by a man, which is the first ever documented fight with a demon."
"We can't keep this a secret. This could save countless human lives! Think of the safe world our grandchildren would live in."
Aiko turned her back to Takashi, taking a moment to process everything. They just got involved with a demon, and she knew trying to act like it doesn't change anything would be foolish. She took a deep breath and turned back to him.
"Fine. But promise me our little Haruto won't be in any danger."
"I'll protect him with my life."
…
Shortly after Haruto's parents left through the front door, Reiji and Haruto engaged in a friendly conversation.
"How old are you, kid?"
"I'm four… Wait, didn't you ask my name because you didn't want to call me 'kid' and 'boy'?
"I said I don't want to call you that all the time. I'm twenty-four."
"You're that old?"
Reiji deadpanned for what felt like the hundredth time. The gears in his head froze stiff in the blink of an eye. He'd never met someone like Haruto and had no idea how to deal with him. He forced the gears to unfreeze and get his mind working again, trying to come up with a response
Old? Me? I want to cry.
Reiji took a moment, going over the few times he made conversation with Haruto.
I bet this kid could destroy the world's biggest egoist just by using his words. And better yet, he probably doesn't even know how rude he is! Relax, Reiji. It isn't intentional, so there is no reason to be mad.
"How old are your mother and father?"
"Mommy is thirty-two and daddy is the same age."
"Are they old by your standards?"
"No! They are both amazing. I couldn't ask for better parents!"
Well, he lost the point real fast. At least he's grateful and not a damn brat. I hate brats. Especially those damn royals. All of them should be—
Reiji got pulled out of his thoughts as the front door opened and Haruto's parents walked into the house. After some rustling of clothes, they stepped through the noren. Silence filled the room. Reiji was the first to speak.
"This silence doesn't hold any weight to me because all I can see is the damaged ceiling, geniuses."
Both of them got briefly embarrassed before Takashi walked over to the bed, grabbed Reiji's body, and turned it on its side, giving him a full view of the room again. Reiji looked at Aiko with an expression that said, "Well? What's it going to be?"
"Promise me you'll protect us. You're the first human in documented history to survive and win an encounter with a demon."
Aiko said with a pleading expression. She was worried for the village, her son and her husband. There was only one person that could protect them. That person is right in front of her, currently lying in bed, recovering.