Only a few days passed since the events in the forest ensued, Ao had drifted in and out of consciousness repeatedly, his body was tangled in a nest of blankets. He hadn't opened his eyes fully since the day he passed out, though he had a damp cloth on his forehead, and the gentle weight of his mother's hand against his cheek.
Koi remained sitting by his side for hours, brushing stray strands of his dark hair away from his brow. Shiro had been equally attentive, bringing bowls of warm broth and small bites of bread, encouraging him to eat, though Ao's responses were little more than weak murmurs. The boy needed rest, nourishment, and, above all, time.
Despite the initial panic, Koi wasn't furious with Shiro. She had known about the training, had agreed to let Kuro test Ao's mettle in a safe, controlled environment. She trusted Kuro, the young Tachi spirit beast who had become something of a second son to her. She had nursed him back to health when he was a pup, back when he was attacked by a group of rogue hunters. Over the years, he had repaid that kindness tenfold, acting as a guardian to their home and a companion to Shiro during his hunts, aiding Koi in getting food for her dishes and tending to the crops by keeping pests, animals and even other spirit beasts at bay.
What she didn't know—what Shiro left out—was just how close Ao had come to breaking. How his small body had endured burns, bruises, and fractured bones. Shiro had used his white flames to mend Ao's injuries before they returned home. Koi had no reason to suspect anything more than fatigue, and Shiro intended to keep it that way.
Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, when Koi was in the kitchen cooking breakfast and Shiro was in the midst of cleaning, Ao stirred. His eyelids fluttered, and the sunlight filtered through the wooden shutters of his room, casting soft lines over his quilt. His body felt both heavy and hollow. His stomach churned with hunger that twisted uncomfortably. He groaned, clutching his belly.
Man... My stomach... I feel like I'm gonna eat myself... and my head... It feels as if it's going to explode...
He sat up slowly, every movement a small battle against the weight of his own body. The room swayed around him, and he pressed a hand to his forehead, trying to steady himself. His lips felt dry, and his throat ached, but before he could call out for his mom, a warm puff of air blew against his cheek.
"Are you well, manling?"
The voice was deep, resonant, and entirely too close. Ao's vision focused, and his heart stuttered in his chest. Inches from his face, filling his entire field of view, was a massive snout, a wet one at that, and eyes that glowed a soft amber. The beast's breath, warm and oddly sweet, washed over him, and all sense of calm shattered.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The room erupted into chaos.
Ao scrambled backward, his legs tangling in the blankets as he launched himself off the bed. He hit the floor with a soft thud, but the pain barely registered over the pounding of his heart. His instincts screamed at him to run, to fight, to do anything but freeze. His spiritual energy pooled in his palms, and he reacted without thought.
"GO AWAY! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
A ball of compressed spiritual energy formed in his hand, the bright blue light illuminating the room with an eerie glow.
Kuro's eyes widened, and with a swift flick of his tail, the ball of energy dissipated into harmless sparks. The Tachi took a step back, lowering his head to appear less threatening. His voice remained calm, trying to be soothing. "Manling, please! I'm not here to harm you! I swear by Gaia, I mean you no harm!"
But Ao heard none of it. His ears flattened against his head, his tail puffed up in pure terror, and he bolted around the room, his feet slipping on the wooden floor as he snatched random objects—pillows, a small toy, a stick—and threw them at Kuro.
Kuro, to his credit, managed to dispel each projectile with a soft wave of spiritual energy, the objects gently floating to the floor. He tried to approach, his movements slow almost like approaching a scared cat, but every step forward only made Ao's panic worsen.
"No! No! Stay away!" Ao's voice cracked, his breathing erratic as he helped a wooden spoon he found on the floor, pointing it at Kuro.
The door burst open before Kuro could speak, and Koi rushed in, her face pale and her hair slightly disheveled. "Ao? Baby, what's wrong? I heard—oh, honey relax. That's just Kuro." Her gaze landed on the scene before her. Kuro, his massive form crouched low, his tail tucked to appear less threatening, and Ao, a trembling ball of fear, clutching a spoon like it was a sword.
Ao glanced over towards Koi and quickly rushed over towards her while dropping the wooden spoon, he clung tightly to Koi, his small hands gripping her tunic like a lifeline, his entire body trembling against hers. His heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst through his ribs. His wide, light blue eyes flicked between his mother and the massive beast that had, last time he saw it, tried to rip him apart.
"Kuro? Last time I saw that beast, it tried to kill me!!" Ao practically shrieked, his entire body recoiling as he scrambled to put his mother between himself and the spirit beast. Every survival instinct screamed at him to run, but at the same time, another thought clawed its way through his panic—Mom! What if it attacks her?!
Without hesitation, Ao let go of Koi just long enough to summon two condensed balls of spiritual energy, their bright glow illuminating the fear-stricken expression on his young face. At the same time, a sharp piece of wood, most likely a stray splinter from the old wooden flooring, floated into the air beside him, ready to strike at his command. His mind raced for a plan. I can't run, not without leaving her behind. If I can keep it's focus on me…
Kuro's eye twitched in frustration as he took an instinctive step forward, his deep voice trying to sound calm but due to the situation it wasn't working. "Manling, I am not going to attack you! I was ordered by your father to test you! It was to help you awaken your element!"
Ao barely heard him, his body screaming at him to act. His breath came in short gasps, his muscles tight and ready to react at the slightest movement. I needed to focus, relax,think of a plan, if it attacked i'll have to unleash all I can to buy us some time.. Give mom time to run, if I can this should give Shiro time to come back and help... But before anything could escalate further, Koi finally spoke.
And she wasn't looking at Ao.
She was looking at Kuro, it wasn't normal for Ao to act like this, so scared, in the one year she had been with Ao he never cried nor cried wolf without reason so seeing him this horrified and then said that Kuro tried to kill him, was ringing all the bad bells in her head, there was something that she doesn't know, that's the only explanation for this, unless Ao was overreacting. Though, Ao rarely reacts at all, at least , not in this manner.
Her eyes, normally the soft, warm blue of the ocean, darkened into something unreadable. There was no anger in them. No outward aggression. But the moment her gaze locked onto the spirit beast; Kuro felt a sensation he never thought possible—a chill ran down his spine.
The room didn't change. The air wasn't charged with spiritual energy, and there was no suffocating pressure that came with killing intent. But the way Koi simply looked at him, her face still set in that gentle, motherly smile, made his stomach twist in knots.
"Kuro," she said, her voice soft, scarily soft. "I'll ask you once…" Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the weight behind them pressing into Kuro's very soul. "What happened in that forest?"
Kuro flinched. He had seen battle. He had fought spirit beasts twice his size and lived. He had even sparred with Shiro once and barely walked away in one piece. But never—not once—had he ever felt the kind of fear that he felt now. He had known Koi for years. She had taken care of him when he was younger, given him food, nursed his wounds, and even let him sleep near her during cold nights when he was still a pup.
But this?
This was not the Koi he remembered.
Kuro quickly lowered his head, his body shrinking even more. He had to be careful, so, so careful with his words. "M-Ma'am, I was tasked with testing your son by Shiro," he started, his voice wavering slightly. "It was meant to fulfill all the conditions necessary for awakening his element—forcing him to take in spiritual energy from the environment and see if he could manifest it."
He hesitated.
Koi didn't speak. She didn't move, that alone was an indicator for him to continue. Seeing that there was no getting out of this without telling the full truth, he gulped and continued.
"B-But your son… he didn't know how to absorb it the right way at first. A-and he wouldn't have figured it out unless he used all of his spiritual energy first. So I… I pushed him…"
Ao's grip on Koi's tunic loosened slightly. His ears twitched. Pushed me…?
Kuro swallowed hard before continuing, his voice barely above a whisper. "B-But his mastery over spiritual energy itself was already… i-it was beyond anything I'd seen before for someone so… young. He wasn't running out. No matter how much I pressured him, he kept finding ways to conserve energy, to avoid wasting it. So I had to make him use it continuously by keeping him on the defensive, by forcing his emotions to drain more energy." He shut his eyes, wincing as he admitted the next part.
"He was scared… I… I did hurt him…"
Ao froze. His breath hitched, his fingers gripping at Koi's tunic once more.
Koi's smile widened just slightly.
Kuro's fur stood on end. He quickly pressed his body lower to the floor, his tail curling even tighter. His mind screamed at him to fix this, to make her understand before she decided that ripping him apart was a better alternative.
"B-But he awakened his element!" Kuro blurted out quickly. "A-And he was unharmed! Shiro healed him! I-I never meant to actually h-hurt him! I just— I didn't know how else to push him! I swear on my life, I never intended to actually harm your cub, I—!" He cut himself off, his voice shaking as he desperately lowered his head, exposing his throat in a submissive gesture.
The room fell silent for a few seconds, which to Kuro felt like a few hours. Then, Koi spoke.
"So… you made my baby think he was going to die?" was all her mind got from that exchange.
Kuro felt his soul leave his body.
He shook his head rapidly, his ears flattening completely, his massive body trembling. "N-No! I—I—" He swallowed. "I'm s-sorry… h-he wouldn't have learned about his element otherwise, and I—I—"
He shook his head harder, trying to shake away the fear making it hard for him to say a full sentence."I swear… I won't let it happen again…"
Silence stretched between them.
Then, a small tug on Koi's sleeve pulled her gaze away from Kuro.
"…Mama," Ao whispered, his voice small.
Koi blinked, looking down at her son.
Ao wasn't trembling as much anymore, his ears still pinned back but not as stiff as before.
"Maybe… we should let him go," Ao muttered hesitantly. "He was just following orders… a-and he did hold back…"
Koi's gaze softened slightly, but she didn't say anything.
Ao let those words sink in for maximum effect before continuing. "A-And… a lot of people can't awaken their element without a life-or-death situation. S-So… it's better that it was him, right?"
Kuro's ears perked up slightly, his body still stiff but now mixed with a glimmer of hope.
And then, the finishing blow.
"…If anyone should take the blame, it's Daddy, right?" Ao said with a completely innocent, wide-eyed expression. "He's the one who planned it. A-And he was probably watching the whole time, even when I was really hurt, and he didn't intervene."
There was no way that Shiro intervened without my wounds getting worse that quickly unless he was watching the fight from afar. Sorry Shiro, but someone needs to take the blame, and I need Kuro in a condition to help me learn more about my element, consider us even after this. Ao thought.
Silence filled the room once more as Koi thought to herself, those few seconds made Kuro heart throb in his chest.
Then finally, after what felt like hours, Koi's smile turned sweet.
Kuro sighed in relief and with that, it solidified Shiro's death.