9

Ata blinked at her before sitting up in bed."Huh? Oh yeah! Sorry, Kiyoko, I overslept again. That's really unfair."He sighed as he got off his bed."I know, it's okay. It happens too often. I was wondering where you ran off too yesterday." He scratched his head."I dunno. I guess I was lost in thought or something."He lied.He hated lying. It felt wrong to him. Especially to Kiyoko. He tried telling himself that she wasn't going to judge him, but he knew deep down that she would. He hated when he couldn't lie to himself. He sighed before running a hand through his hair. "Well, I'm gonna head outside and check up on the animals." "Alright." With that said, he walked out of the hut and went off on his journey to check up on the animals. He had been neglecting his work lately due to the fact that he was too afraid that Kiyoko would find out he was lying to her.But he had to do his duty to her as the leader of the village, and that included helping out the animals. He walked to the enclosure, checking all of the cages in hopes to find a specific animal. He had no luck so far, and honestly it was starting to frustrate him.He was almost at the end of his quest when he finally found a certain bird in one of the cages. As he neared it, he saw that it was struggling.Its wings were flapping wildly but were being held tight by the bars. He knelt down beside the cage and pulled out a knife to slice the bonds holding its wings closed.As the last bit of rope was cut apart, the creature jumped free and landed on the ground gracefully. He stood up with a smile on his face as the bird chirped happily. After looking at the cage, his smile instantly dropped."Ugh!" He cried, dropping the knife. In the cage lay a large white wolf, and although it seemed pretty docile, it kept growling and snarling at anything that came close."Damnit! This is not good! I can't take these two back. If I take these both home, Kiyoko will skin me alive!"Ata paced around the enclosure.How would he manage to save two injured wolves?!"I should've taken both of them back...but how can I possibly get either one back? They're both so damn stubborn! I could never catch either one by myself."Ata sighed loudly before turning round and facing the direction of the entrance to the enclosure."Well, well, well. It looks like we finally found the stray that'e been hiding in this hut for weeks.""Shut up! You're not supposed to be here anyway! And why are you always sneaking into my house?"He retorted angrily, glaring at the wolf who was currently licking its bloody paw."Ooh, I smell blood! Is that your blood I smell?! How sweet~" Ata froze in place as he felt his body stiffen. He turned around to see an old man dressed in black robes standing before him. He raised his head up as his gaze locked onto the old man.His eyes were wide, and his breath quickened as a sudden wave of fear washed over him."W-why...why are you here...?"Ata stammered.The man laughed coldly at this. Ata clenched his fists as he glared at the man. "You shouldn't question the master, dog." He mocked.With that, he stepped forward, raising his hand towards Ata.Ata backed away as far as he could, taking several steps backward until his back hit a tree. "Y-you're the master...of...?"He trailed off.The old man laughed once more, and suddenly his form started changing."Yes, you might ask. But the truth of the matter is I'm the devil himself. My name is Ouma Kokichi. Nice to meet you, dog.""P-""That means nothing to me anymore. I'm nothing but pure evil." The old man smirked. Ata stared at him, frozen in fear.Suddenly, an arrow came flying towards him, hitting the old man straight in the neck."Don't be rude! You killed him! You killed our master!"An angry voice shouted."Shhh...I don't care what happens to him."Ouma laughed again before disappearing, leaving behind a pile of dead bodies and a large dent in the tree."No!!" Ata yelled as tears streamed down his cheeks."No!! Stop it! Stop it!! No! No!!! NO!!"He continued screaming while shaking his head rapidly, hoping to wake himself up from this nightmare.After what seemed like hours, Ata realized that he was actually awake now. Tears still stained his face as he sat upright. He glanced around the room and saw the empty space that Ouma used to occupy earlier. He breathed heavily, feeling completely drained from that strange dream.He stood up, took some water from a pitcher next to the door, and splashed some cold water over his face.It had to have been one of the worst ones he'd had recently. He had always been having nightmares, but this one was definitely worse than most of them. Usually if there was any hint of danger, he'e wake up right away."Ahem."Ata looked over his shoulder to see Ouma standing behind him."Heyyy, Ata..."Ouma smiled mischievously. "Are you scared again?" Ata frowned and shook his head."Why did you come back? Did you get bored already?" He asked with a frown. Ouma shrugged."Nope! I just wanted to say hello to you!" He grinned at him brightly, making him shudder slightly."Stop it. You know I hate it when you stare at me like that." Ata scolded him harshly."Yeah, well, you hate everything else. That's pretty much true." Ouma said with a grin."You little-" Ata didn't finish his sentence because another loud cry made him freeze in place."Did someone call?" He questioned, looking around.After hearing that cry, he had instantly recognized it as one belonging to a rabbit."Maybe it's that rabbit I told you about," Ouma said."Yeah, maybe."Ata muttered, walking to the open doorway of the hut and peering out. There in front of him were two rabbits that looked exactly alike, both looking at him expectantly. He sighed and scratched the back of his head."Okay, fine, give me a minute."He called out, closing the door.As soon as he shut the door