Pororo and I were talking about Aki and the eerie feeling I got from his presence.
"Yeah, I felt it too," Pororo said, nibbling on a cracker. "But it could be that he just has a strong spiritual presence. Few people do, like you. I mean, you opened the book using your spiritual energy without any training."
"He even mentioned a magical beast in my bag," I said, glancing at Pororo.
"That's unlikely," Pororo replied, raising an eyebrow. "In my current form, I emit almost negligible spiritual energy. You should just brush it off."
"Easy for you to say," I muttered, biting my lip. "A strong feeling gnaws at my gut about this weird kid."
The following morning at school, Aki greeted me with his usual expressionless smile. "Good morning, Kyle!"
I didn't even bother to return it. Instead, I just nodded curtly. The day turned out uneventful, but I was determined to follow my instincts and investigate Aki. I stalked him at school, following him around like a dog's tail. The kid was really good at socializing, I give him that. It was just his first week at school, and he was already a rockstar, making friends left and right, including teachers. Meanwhile, I'd been at this stupid school since I learned how to walk, and I only had Rowie as my friend.
Speaking of the devil, Rowie saw me stalking Aki at the playground. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Caught red-handed, I pretended to be admiring the view. "Uh, just enjoying the scenery," I said, looking around.
He looked at the playground and saw nobody there but Aki. "You mean you like Aki too, like the rest? I couldn't blame you. He's really a good kid. Last day, he gave me chocolate bars, and we became friends."
My ears turned red, and I blushed. "Hell no!" I retorted angrily and walked away.
"But we're not done talking yet," Rowie called after me.
"We'll talk in the classroom. I have something to do," I lied. Rowie knew it. He wasn't being nosy; he just knew me so well since we'd been friends forever.
Later, when school was over, I followed Aki through the streets of New York, determined to uncover his secrets. I was glad I didn't bring Pororo with me. Right now, he was probably playing video games on my PS5 and losing, which was a comical thought. I lost focus for a moment, and bam! I lost sight of the Japanese boy. I looked left and right, trying to find him, but he had disappeared. Just when I was about to give up and go home, Aki appeared behind me.
"Who are you looking for, Kyle?" he asked.
Startled, I lost my balance and fell into a pile of trash bags, grazing my arms. Aki looked alarmed and knelt to inspect my injuries. I pushed him away, causing him to fall on his butt. It was an instinctive reaction; I'm not touchy, and my natural instinct is to push strangers when they touch me.
Feeling guilty, I mumbled an apology without looking at him. Aki brushed it off, smiling. "You're quite strong."
I blushed, stood up, and ran away, leaving him behind.
At home, I saw Pororo still playing video games in my room. As usual, he wasn't winning, and as usual, he was beyond pissed. I opened the fridge in my room to grab a snack but found it empty. Pororo had eaten all my snacks! I confronted him about it, and he had the nerve to tell me not to disturb him since he was playing.
"Pororo, you ate all my snacks!" I shouted.
"Yeah, and your point is?" Pororo shot back, not even looking up from the screen.
I unplugged the PS5, making him angry. "Hey! I was about to beat that level!" he yelled, his little paws flailing.
We started our usual banter when Dad knocked on my door, asking if I had anyone with me and who I was talking to. "Kyle, everything okay in there?"
"Just talking to myself, Dad," I called back, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Okay, but you've been acting strange these past few days," Dad said through the door.
"Everything's fine," I replied.
Dad knocked again and entered, bringing my favorite snacks. The fries were burnt, and the burger patties looked like charcoal, but I didn't want to invalidate his efforts. I knew it had been hard for him since Mom was gone, balancing work and the house, acting as both mother and father to Kanao and me. I grabbed the food tray and thanked him. I even showed him I liked the food by eating the fries in front of him. They tasted terrible, but I complimented him.
"Kanao has been telling your Dad to just buy food," Pororo remarked, appearing beside me. "But he says he's been practicing his cooking skills to match your Mom's."
"You're close enough," I told Dad, making him happy.
He said I should try the burger too, but I couldn't lest I vomit. "I will eat it after I study," I lied.
When Dad left, Pororo asked if he could eat the food Dad cooked. "More burnt fries for me!" he said gleefully, and he ate all of it, flopping down with a bulging stomach on the sofa.
"So, about this Aki kid," Pororo said, belching loudly. "Excuse me."
"Yeah, what about him?" I asked, still feeling uneasy.
Pororo had done some research and confirmed it was possible I wasn't the only beast seeker on earth. The barrier between the physical and spiritual worlds was becoming thinner, allowing more beasts to escape to the physical world. As a result, more humans with innate spiritual aptitude were becoming beast seekers of course with the assistance of familiars like himself. It was nature's way of maintaining balance. He warned that if more beasts ran wild and uncaptured, the two worlds could collide. Humans with weak spiritual energy would suffer, as the physical and spirit worlds were not meant to merge.
"Many years ago, the great wizard Eldritch and other master beast seekers fought and confronted the evil witch Elektra," Pororo explained. "She aimed to expand the spirit realm's boundaries and merge the two worlds. Eldritch and the others stopped her, but she escaped. She's been missing for some time now, but signs of the merger have started showing again. The spirit realm sent detectives to investigate, but they were never heard from again."
Pororo's warning hung heavy in the air. Aki's sudden appearance, his strange aura, and his knowledge of magical beasts—everything pointed to something bigger, something I wasn't prepared for. And as the days went on, that feeling of foreboding grew stronger, like a storm cloud gathering on the horizon.