"Come on, let's talk this out."
The little boy spoke to Shouta with a gentle voice.
"Go away… Why are you even caring? I don't even know you…" said Shouta.
"I don't know you either, but we can know each other if we talk! Drake always says that it's never late to make new friends!" said the boy.
"D-Drake? Who is he?" wondered Shouta. He actually didn't knew who was Drake.
"He is a big dragon! He is the best. He helped me out… He's my big brother… or like my uncle!" said the cat boy.
"Uncle…" Shouta sighed as he slowly walked outside.
He was almost double the size of the cat boy, the difference in size between the ice giant race and the cat-kin beast-people was big.
Cat-kin were already usually way smaller than other beast-kin to begin with…
"Wow you're so big! Why were you even crying then?" sighed the boy.
"Being big doesn't mean that I can't cry…" sighed Shouta.
"But you look strong! I bet you can steamroll anyone that comes your wat! Pow! Bam! Like that!" said the cat boy, hitting the air around.
"N-Not really…" sighed Shouta.
"Hmm… So what's your name?" asked the cat boy.
"My name's…. Shouta." Said Shouta.
"Mine's Cassim! Nice to meet you, Shouta!" said Cassim, a bright and cute smile emerged on his face, as his little tail waved around, Shouta blushed a bit, feeling embarrassed that he was being given such level of attention by such a friendly boy.
"N-Nice to meet you too…" sighed Shouta.
"So tell me why you were crying! Don't worry, we are pals, I won't tell anyone." Said Cassim.
"I-I… It is very complicated, it would take a long time to explain…" sighed Shouta.
"Oh…" said Cassim.
"B-But… I did bad things… I-I accidentally killed someone… and that only made things worse… it made things worse for everyone… I didn't wanted to kill him but… Sniff. He was hitting me hard… it really hurted… I was scared… so scared…" cried Shouta.
"…"
Cassim looked as Shouta sat over the cold snow, crying desperately.
He petted his shoulder as he jumped over his back.
"Uwah! W-What are you doing?" asked Shouta.
"I am giving you a hug! You need one, right?" asked the little boy.
"A hug…" Shouta muttered, as he saw the little boy trying to hug him, but his back was way too big for the little cat.
Shouta sighed, as he felt the warmth of Cassim spread through his back.
"…"
"You feel better?" asked Cassim.
"Hm… I-I am often very cold…" sighed Shouta.
"I can feel it, there's something over you, I can feel it, as if you were being haunted or something…" said Cassim.
"H-Haunted?" asked Shouta nervously.
"Maybe Drake can solve it for you!" said Cassim.
"He can?" asked Shouta.
"He's good at paranormal stuff." Said Cassim while nodding.
"Ooh… M-Maybe he can help me not feel so sad?" asked Shouta.
"Eehh… I-I don't know about that, but he can make it, so you have good dreams." Said Cassim.
"I always have nightmares… Maybe that could help too." Said Shouta.
"Yeah! Benladann always say that if we sleep well, we'll always be in a good mood, but if we sleep little, we'll wake up grumpy." Said Cassim.
"Hehe… You're always saying stuff like that…" said Shouta.
"Haha, I made you laugh?" asked Cassim cutely.
"Ah…! I-I guess…" said Shouta while blushing.
"Hehe, let's become besties! I'll show you all my friends too! You can become their friends, I'll let you!" said Cassim.
"O-Other friends? I-I don't know…" sighed Shouta.
"Come on! It will be fun- Oh! Look!"
"Eh?"
Cassim pointed out at a group of people approaching, there was his mother charging up front, rushing towards him while crying, meanwhile his grandfather's sister, which he often called grandma, was also there, as his original grandma, the wife of his grandfather, had died when she gave birth to his mother.
"M-Mama!"
Shouta rushed back to his mother, as he was hugged tightly.
"Shouta! Are you okay?" asked Kokoro.
"Yeah… I am fine… Sob…" cried Shouta.
"Shouta-kun!" Mikohime said, hugging the boy again.
"Grandma…" cried Shouta.
"I am so happy you're okay…" she sighed in relief.
Drake reached the group, as he looked down at Shouta.
"So you're Shouta- Oh? What is this?" wondered Drake.
We had reached Shouta after looking for him, I found that Cassim had found him first, the cat boy had been wandering around the sect with his friends, but maybe he went into the forest because he felt a boy crying, he has sharp senses, and developed an ability named [Presence Sense] and [Intention Detection], which allows him to sense others from far away and even sense their intentions, even emotions. He had developed these abilities naturally as he practiced magic and enhanced his cultivation. Perhaps this is part of the cat-kin's kin senses.
He perhaps heard his sadness and ran here to help.
"Shouta! Are you okay?" asked Kokoro.
"Yeah… I am fine… Sob…" cried Shouta.
"Shouta-kun!" Mikohime said, hugging the boy again.
"Grandma…" cried Shouta.
"I am so happy you're okay…" she sighed in relief.
"Papa…!" said Cassim.
Cassim jumped over my arms as I caught him and hugged him.
"You did a good job at helping him out." I said.
"He was very sad, so I wanted to help him…" sighed Cassim.
"I see, you're a nice boy." Said Benladann, petting Cassim.
"Indeed." Said Miranda.
"So you're Shouta- Oh? What is this?"
As everyone petted Cassim, I suddenly noticed something above the head of Shouta as I greeted him.
"Y-You damn kid! Kill yourself already! I hate you so much! Ugh! I can't believe I died to such a loser!"
There was the angry soul of Zephyr, the kid that Shouta had accidentally killed. I could already tell due to his status clearly stating his name as "Zephyr Jade Snake"…
So he has been haunting Shouta since he got killed? A resentful soul…
But this actually opens up a lot of possibilities…
