The smell of food drifted through the temple halls.
Warm rice.
Miso soup.
Something lightly grilled.
Sora didn't notice how hungry he was until his stomach reminded him.
A wooden knock echoed against the storage room door.
"Sora."
The familiar voice carried through the thin wood.
"You've been hiding in there all morning."
He blinked, pulling his attention away from his thoughts.
"Yes, Ms. Kasumi."
"Breakfast is ready."
Sora glanced around the dusty room. Metallic residue had long since faded, leaving only scattered footprints in the dust and a few old crates shifted out of place.
He stretched his arms once and slid the door open.
Sunlight washed over the courtyard.
The morning air felt cool compared to the warm storage room.
Across the courtyard stood the temple's dining hall. The sliding doors were already open, and the lively chatter of children spilled outside.
Sora walked over quietly.
Inside, the room was already filled with movement.
Children sat in small groups around low wooden tables. Bowls clinked against trays while conversations overlapped in cheerful noise.
Some were very young.
A small girl who looked barely four struggled to hold her chopsticks correctly while a slightly older boy tried to show her how.
Further down the table, a few older children were already eating quickly before running outside.
Sora recognized most of them.
Yumi sat near the corner, her feet swinging under the table as she talked loudly about something she had seen outside.
Beside her, Daisuke and Satoshi were arguing about who had eaten more dumplings.
Mika simply listened quietly, occasionally laughing at their exaggerated claims.
Sora paused for a moment at the doorway.
The room felt a little different today.
Still lively.
Still warm.
But… quieter.
There were fewer children than before.
A few beds had been empty lately.
Adoptions happened often.
Some children left quickly.
Some stayed for years.
It was simply how things worked.
Sora walked over and sat down at the table across from Ms. Kasumi.
She placed a tray in front of him.
Rice.
Soup.
Pickled vegetables. Not his favourite.
Simple food, but it smelled good.
"Eat before it gets cold," she said gently.
Sora nodded.
"Yes, Ms. Kasumi."
Around them, the children continued talking and laughing.
Satoshi tried to steal one of Daisuke's dumplings and immediately got smacked with chopsticks.
Yumi laughed loudly at the scene while Mika covered her mouth politely.
Sora ate quietly for a few moments.
Across the table, Ms. Kasumi watched him.
Her eyes drifted briefly to the bandages on his arm.
"You're moving better today."
Sora paused mid-bite.
"A little bit."
She tilted her head slightly.
"And you're already training again."
Sora shrugged.
"Its fine.l can manage."
"Only you, maybe."
Her tone wasn't scolding.
Just curious.
"What exactly are you training for?"
Sora stirred his soup slowly.
"…Just practicing."
"Practicing what?"
"Self defence."
That answer wasn't technically a lie.
Thw strength he could now muster was pretty much self defence.
He simply avoided explaining what he was trying to defend against.
Ms. Kasumi studied him for a moment.
"You've always trained very seriously."
Sora didn't respond.
The clatter of bowls and excited chatter continued around them.
Yumi suddenly stood up on her knees to tell an animated story about a bird she had chased earlier that morning.
Ms. Kasumi glanced toward the children briefly before speaking again.
"You remind me of someone."
Sora looked up slightly.
"Who?"
She thought for a moment.
"…Modern shamans."
Sora froze.
His chopsticks stopped halfway to his mouth.
For a second he thought he had misheard.
"…What?"
Ms. Kasumi calmly took a sip of tea.
"The kind who fight things ordinary people cannot see."
Sora stared at her.
His mind stalled completely.
"...How—"
The question slipped out before he could stop it.
"How do you know that?"
Ms. Kasumi smiled gently.
The kind of smile adults used when children thought they were hiding something well.
"Sora."
Her voice was soft.
"You were born eleven years ago."
She pointed lightly toward herself.
"And I've taken care of you for eleven years. I know you better than you know yourself."
Sora looked down at the table.
She continued calmly.
"I suspected something from the day you first visited the temple."
Sora's fingers tightened slightly around his chopsticks.
"You came back… different."
"Insecure."
"You wanted to be alone all the time."
"For reasons you didn't want to explain."
Sora remained silent.
The sounds of children laughing filled the space between them.
Ms. Kasumi continued.
"A long time ago, I saw something strange once."
Sora looked up again.
"A man visited the temple."
"He was asked to exorcise the evil spirit in the orphanage when my mother was the one managing."
"He asked to be not disturbed."
"After some time, he came back, saying the exorcism was complete. But I didn't believe in spirit or exorcism. So I checked what had happened in the area using the cell phone I had hidden before hand."
She paused.
"He was fighting air."
Ms Kasumi said with a straight face.
"..but the damage said something else. Broken ground and the sorcerer flying away as if hit with a bus."
Sora blinked.
Her expression remained calm.
"I didn't understand what I saw at the time."
"But later I heard people whisper about shamans."
"People who fought unseen things."
She smiled softly.
"And when you started acting strange after that temple visit…"
Her eyes rested on him.
"I simply guessed."
Sora lowered his gaze.
For a long moment, he didn't speak.
Then quietly—
"…I'm sorry."
Ms. Kasumi blinked slightly.
"Sorry?"
Sora kept his head down.
"I should have told you."
"I wasn't honest."
Across the table, Ms. Kasumi stared at him for a second.
Then she laughed softly.
Before Sora could react, her hand reached across the table and ruffled his hair.
Sora stiffened slightly.
"You're a child, Sora."
Her voice carried gentle warmth.
"You don't need to tell me everything."
He remained silent.
Ms. Kasumi leaned back slightly.
"What matters more is something else."
Sora looked up.
Her expression had grown a little more serious.
"Power like that can change people."
"It can make them arrogant."
"Or cruel."
Her eyes softened again.
"So promise me something."
Sora waited quietly.
She smiled.
"Don't let that power change the person you are."
"Your judgment matters more than your strength."
The dining hall remained full of cheerful noise.
Daisuke had now stolen Satoshi's dumpling in revenge.
Yumi cheered loudly.
Mika sighed as if she expected nothing less.
Sora sat quietly for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"…Okay."
Across the table—
Ms. Kasumi smiled again.