A Soul With Flesh Novel 

“Do not lie to me!” The head maid yelled at Ohta 

 

“I’m not lying! I haven't entered the main house all this week, and I have no idea who stole them.” Ohta screamed back.

 

“It's always you, who else has the guts to steal from your own family! This never happens when you are away but all of a sudden you appear and it’s chaos! So tell me right now where are the sweet buns I prepared for dinner.” she chided before insulting “You best not have given them to those revolting, filthy kids you look after,” 

 

“I'm being serious when I say that I have no idea where they are.” Ohta crossed his arms and glared at the maid before a sharp pain envelopes the right side of his face and he hits the bottom of the floor. 

 

"You shameful child, you never learn your place. Your parents will be informed of this.” She walks by Ohta, stepping on his finger.

 

Ohta grits his teeth and stands up after he hears her steps were far enough away. He hasn't seen his family in a while, and though he doesn't like to acknowledge it, he misses them. He really did have pure intentions for tonight's dinner with them.

 

He guesses he should head back early then, if the head maid is mad at him this much then it wouldn’t do anyone any good by staying and waiting for his punishment moreover, another false accusation. 

 

He really didn’t steal anything, he wonders what gods he had disrespected in his past life to always be a beacon for trouble in this life. 

 

His pinky is swollen and most likely will be bruised for a while. He should head to the infirmary to get some bandages and pain medicine but if he goes deeper within the estate who knows what kind of trouble he would get himself into. Besides that, he swears he spotted a couple of herbs that are effective in treating common types of pain, deeper within the Mosswood forest; he believes they were known as Moonblessings Bloom?

 

“Should I take the risk?” Ohta wonders if he is trying to locate the Moonblessings Bloom, the flower would need him to wait until midnight for them to open up and for the liquid substance to fall out. He groans again, ‘It's not like I have anything else to do anyways..’

 

He is familiar with the Mosswoods, like the back of his hand so hes not scared of staying the night. He picks up a twig, smashes the surrounding bushes like they're monsters, hops across rocks that bridge a tiny stream, and he's sure that this will be a fun adventure. He swings his stick like a long sword and uses it to move hanging vines or small rocks. He searches for the flower which should be the color of the sky; baby blue, its a rare color in the Mosswoods so he sure he would be able to find it before nightfall. 

 

Ohta discovers a patch of the Moonblessings close to a fallen tree as the sun is setting. He swings his legs while seated and begins to compose a little tune while holding a leaf to his lips. He picked up this skill from one of the butcher's lads; while he visits their shop, they would continually keep him amused and teach him new things all the time.

 

He watches the flowers grow in size as the sun slowly falls in the distance, now only being illuminated through the trees. 

 

A howl could be heard in the distance but Ohta was pretty sure that they wouldn’t pass the Oso’s clan territory if they valued their lives. His clan always had hunting parties and kept the wolves in a corner of the Mosswoods just enough for both of them to be comfortable.

 

He waits some more before finally seeing the Bloom of the flower open up and liquid start dripping, Ohta grabs a vial that he had in his small pouch and fills it up with the liquid, It has a okay smell, not too herb-like like medicine but it didn't smell appealing either. He then closes the vial and places it in his pouch.

 

"Well, I suppose that settles that." 

 

He starts to turn around before being pushed to the ground. He sees a child on top of him and he hisses in pain. He instantly pulled off Ohta and grabbed his arm, exclaiming, "We need to hurry!" He had wild, dark hair, and his bright green eyes were wide. He pulls Ohta to emphasize that they should begin moving, but when Ohta eventually hears a pack of paws thumping on the ground and wolves growling behind him, Ohta scoops up the child and sprints straight toward the clan.

 

Ohta was skilled with speed and agility but when it comes down to strength he lacks it to a disappointing degree. He leaps over the small creek while rushing against brushes that graze his flesh. He holds the child as tight as he could making sure that minimal damage would be inflicted, his hold of him falters at times but Ohta just tells him while panting to grab onto his neck and hook his legs to his back and to hold tight before he starts to increase his speed. 

 

Ohta’s legs are straining to obey by the time they reach the final opening of trees. He trips while he is celebrating getting back to the clan safe and clutches the child tight as he falls and rolls, he injures his back on a tree stump as they slam into it. He goes to stand up again but his legs have finally given out and he falls back down with the child. 

 

If he shouts, his family should be able to hear him, right? He's so close to the clan there will definitely be someone to rescue them! 

 

“Help! HELP!” He yells, but he should have known better given his luck since the wolves heard him before his clan did and are now closing in on them. Ohta pulls the young child behind him while his body trembles. 

 

‘This is where I die’

 

Unexpectedly, a blade slashes across one of the wolves' necks, removing its head. Ohta, knowing who it is, turns away and looks towards the small boy, he then covers the scared emerald eyes with his palm. Ohta could hear the canines snarling and the splattering of blood before they proceeded to retreat. He could smell the iron in the air but he can’t do anything about it for the child so he just mentally apologizes that he had to go through something this horrific. 

 

Ohta feels a hand on his shoulder after a while and he looks back to see his best friends “Hitoshi! Wuya!” He exclaims happily. 

 

"We're so happy we found you before anything happened." Wuya smiled and gave him a warm hug, but then she was pulled away and a hand wacks him on the head “What the hell were you thinking going into the Mosswoods this late at night!” Hitoshi yells at him.

 

“Ah! Don't hit me!” He whined in a lighthearted tone, before shouting, "Oh!” He turns to the young boy behind him squished between Ohta and the tree trunk. “Are you okay? Are you injured?” He begins to examine the boy looking at him up and down, he could only identify a couple of scratches on his arms and a few scrapes to the hands and knees. “Well, you're in luck! I have just the stuff to help you.” He pulls out the vial from his pouch and dangles it in front of the other boy then says “We should get your cuts cleaned before putting this on though.” Ohta begins to stand up but falls back to his knees instantly.

 

“Ohta! Are you all right?" Wuya panics and kneels, "Aya, don't worry about me, I'm just tired." He brushes her off, and she wraps her arm around his waist to help him stand up. "What's your name?" Hitoshi asks as he leans down to pick up the child. Don't worry, nothing will harm you while you're with us." He smiles mighty and walks towards the clan's worn-down courtyard on the far side. The small boy does not respond right away, but he does answer back as they approach the small home filled with children's laughter and screams. “Takashi…” He murmurs. "What was that?" hums Hitoshi.

 

“My name is Takashi Noboru.”

 

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After cleaning Takashi’s wounds Ohta goes to dab some of the Moonblessing’s liquid onto his scrapes and bandage him up. “So what were you doing in the woods anyways?” Hitoshi asks again. 

 

“Ah, well you know… I was just getting some more medical herbs and stuff for you guys.” He smiles before Hitoshi grabs his hand and Ohta winces. 

 

“Who hurt you?” Hitoshi trembles in rage. 

 

“It's fine. It’s fine, I just fell and hurt it.” Ohta refutes.

 

“Hitosh, He went back to the main estate today.” Wuya tugs on Hitoshi’s sleeve and grabs Ohta’s hand gently to see the damage. Hitoshi punches a nearby wall then slumps down into a chair behind him “Of course it was them.” He mumbles and bounces his leg.

 

“What happened?” Wuya draws him closer to put some of the liquid he had left on his pinky finger. Wuya was great at opening Ohta up and having him talk about things that were uncomfortable, Ohta was sure it was because she was more of a motherly figure than his own mom and so he clung to that image.

 

“I'd only just entered the main hall when the head maid accused me of stealing some sweet buns, but I wouldn't have even gotten to the kitchen because I couldn't even enter the estate without her accusing me of something.” Ohta complains then continues “She slapped me and stomped on my finger before leaving.” 

 

“I’m going to kill her one of these days.” Wuya darkly says before shaking her head and smiling at Ohta “You're so brave.” She pats him on the head and strokes his hair “Don’t move your pinky for a while, i'm afraid that it's broken.”

 

“Okay.” Ohta replies. 

 

“The head maid said that she was going to tell my parents…”

 

Wuya sighs “Don’t worry about that, we have plenty of room here so you can stay for as long as you want.”

 

“Thanks.” Ohta snuggles closer to her soaking up her heat before being grabbed by the collar and tossed back on the bed that Takashi was sitting on “I'll need to create a room particularly for you because this is where your home is, so stay here whether you get into trouble or not.” He grumbles then gives Ohta a hug. Ohta starts to feel his throat ache and he can't stop the tears that rip out of his eyes. He weeps and hugs Hitoshi closer.

 

It takes a while for Ohta to calm down and he's still sniffling before remembering there was a child behind him. The small boy was clutching the back of his robe and Ohta gave a soft smile to him “What happened back there? Do you have parents to go back to? We can help you find them.” Ohta throws out a couple of suggestions and reassures him. 

 

Takashi shakes his head from side to side, tears brewing in his eyes “Mom…Mom didn't make it…the wolves, they…” Ohta pulls the boy into his embrace and rocks him from side to side while rubbing the small boy's back. “I understand. You don't have to explain anymore.” Ohta rubs their heads together. With Wuya covering them with a blanket, they both eventually drift off to sleep in that position.

 

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“So, how old are you?” Ohta questions in the morning after having some breakfast. 

 

Takashi looks down at his fingers before he pulls up six fingers, Ohta nods and the young boy points back at Ohta. 

 

Ohta then realizes he never even introduced himself! "My name is Ohta Mamoru, and I am the fifth son of the Mamoru family. I am twelve years old. Since I'm the fifth son and I don't actually need to do much to help manage the Oso clan, since all those duties fall on my brothers and sister, so we can play and have fun, yeah? Ah, but we should get you in some classes,” Ohta says with a smile. He continues, "We have a selection to choose from, however the most of them involve combat... If you like, you can enroll in the clan's self-defense program in addition to having me teach you how to read and write.” Ohta exclaims. 

 

“Do you know how to read or write?” Ohta asks

 

Takashi pauses for a moment before responding, "I know a few words to write." 

 

Ohta then stands up and locates a sloppy scroll, some ink, and a brush before instructing Takashi to use them. “Show me what you know so far, don't worry if you mess up, you're still very young so it will be easy to teach you.” Ohta smiles and Takashi picks up the brush. He writes a couple of words, first his name ‘Takashi Noboru’ then his mothers name ‘Emio Noboru’ then a couple of things that his mother has taught him Takashi explains. 

 

‘Blossom’ ‘Green’‘Snow’‘Teeth’ ‘Eyes’‘Tongue’ ‘Mouth’ ‘Lips’ ‘Hunger’ ‘Light’ ‘Moon’ ‘Wind’ 

 

Ohta laughs at this, it appears that for a moment when his mother was teaching him, they became focused on facial traits before returning to the words that appeared to be in a variety

 

Ohta thinks that this a great start and pats him on the back to stop him from writing more. “You have a great base already. You are clearly smarter than anyone your age in this clan.” Ohta proudly states. 

 

It wasn't that the youth in his clan were stupid; rather, they just prided themselves on strength and fighting before reading a book. It was simply how they were raised and those who couldn’t stand their ground in this clan ended up being tossed to the side for being weak. Ohta, the youngest child and the runt of the family, learned the hard way that his inability to gain weight or become taller surely put him at the bottom of the food chain in his family. He doesn't mind, though, since he found reading more enjoyable than attempting to interact with his family, and if he needs to refuel his social battery, he goes to the main village where he is typically treated with love and affection by everyone. The orphans that his clan harbors also give Ohta plenty of things to keep him busy before he falls into any negative thoughts. 

 

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Although the fall was a busy season for his clan, Ohta determined that Takashi and he should train before Ohta put him in a combat class. Ohta began with the fundamentals, demonstrating easy stretching exercises before teaching him how to calm his mind. Takashi needed some assistance to develop the habit of meditation, but eventually they moved on to more customary activities. 

 

He regularly trained simple palm blows and kicks to develop the flexibility and movement necessary for some sparring. Takashi was still considerably smaller than Ohta, so it felt more like a play fighting for him.

 

After stretching one afternoon, Ohta requested another sparring session. Instead of trying to engage in the fight, Ohta chose to taunt Takashi by dodging every blow. Takashi huffed in effort and humiliation before setting up a punch to Ohta's right side of the head and leaping with his entire body in his direction before falling onto Ohta. Plum blossoms floated through the air around them as a result of Ohta slamming his back into a tree behind them. Before helping Takashi get up off the ground and return to their house, a laughing Ohta picked up a tiny petal that had fallen on Takashi's head and placed it softly on his lush lips as a kiss.

 

Days after that incident, Ohta continued to discover plum blossoms in Takashi's clothing and other places, leading him to rename the boy "Lil Blossom."

 

 Ohta takes his time with teaching Takashi to read and write and before he knew it Takashi had a larger vocabulary than he did! Ohta had to go into town to get some more books to keep up with this little genius; he bought some that Ohta knew were a way to advance for him to teach but he knew that Takashi would be able to challenge himself more with these books and possibly keep him entertained for a little longer. They spent most of their time hiding beneath a cherry tree in the woods, reading to each other, analyzing the characters, and generally talking about various topics. Takashi's eyes started to fire with curiosity at this point, and Ohta, wishing to share what he knew with him, decided to ask the residents of the town for any intriguing tales or knowledge that had been handed down to them over the years.

 

Ohta began with the sweet, pretty woman who gave him head pats and a nice place to stay the night if he ever got into trouble. She described her profession as pleasing men and being attractive enough to take their money every night. Ohta wasn't sure if this story would pique Takashi's interest in the way he wanted it to. So he enquired as to if she was aware of anything special that only she was knowledgeable of. She pursed her lips but then sprang up joyfully before putting her hands to her mouth and producing the most lifelike bird sound. Ohta, who was in wonder, attempted to do the same thing before she made fun of him, and he gave up. He thanks her before moving on to the next person on his list.

 

He walks down outside the red light district and notices the old lady who bakes goods outside her shop sweeping. He greets her and asks the same question. She stares him down and fiddles with her leg beneath her robes before throwing it at him. He screams and falls, the leg landing on him. She laughs, then leans against the side of her shop to bend down and help Ohta back up, picking up her leg. It was a wooden prosthetic, and Ohta now understands why she walks with a limp. She tells him she is a war veteran who has been protecting this town since she was a child. Ohta kept his mouth open the entire time, and when she was done with him, she shoved a sweet breadinto his still open mouth and shooed him away because she was about to open shop.

 

Ohta, who was still nibbling on the sweet bread, took a different path to find the butcher's store. He then asked the butcher whether he had any fresh information to contribute. They ended up showing him how to take the intestines out and how to descale a fish and unfeather a bird and before Ohta's stomach had enough of observing the procedure and ran out, he thanked them for the new knowledge. He reached a bush at the shop's side and vomited the sweet bread he had just eaten. This should be enough for today, he reasons, so he makes his way back to the clan.

 

“Where have you been?” As he enters his room, he is met by the gaze of two emerald eyes. “I only walked down to the village to have a little fun, and today I learned quite a bit, wanna make our way to our tree?” Ohta takes an extra outer robe from his bag and removes his current one before donning the new one. He doesnt want Takashi to smell his vomit on his robe, he grabs a candied orange peel to chew on it on the way out. 

 

"Your family came today." After pausing, Takashi said, "They asked me to tell you to go to the main house when you got back."

 

"I'm sure it's nothing; I'll go head over later and see what they want." Ohta brushed the issue aside and took in the passing breeze.

 

“Are you certain you can do that?” 

 

“Hmm?” Ohta continues to move forward while making a slight turn to indicate that he was paying attention.

 

Takashi explains "Won't they punish you? They looked nice, and it seemed urgent. I don't want to monopolize your time if you have work to complete; they could need something that only you can do.”

 

“Aya, don't worry so much, trust me it's not that important” Ohta raises his hand to pat Takashi’s head "It doesn't matter if I show up a little later after hanging out with you since they know I'm not that reliable to show up when they ask and they don't know I'm here regardless, so they won't know that I’m ignoring their orders." Ohta beams a big smile at him.

 

Takshi thinks a bit in his head before nodding and walking again to their secret spot. 

 

A small breeze passes them by and Ohta shivers “It’s been getting colder lately hasn’t it. Winter is around the corner…I’ll try and get enough blankets for everyone this year, hopefully it’s not such a harsh winter like last year.”

 

Ohta starts out by telling Takashi about his adventure in the village as they are sitting down under the tree. Takashi is captivated by the story and his eyes light up with amazement. Takashi watched Ohta’s magnificent features—pale, creamy complexion, hair as dark as the night surrounding a beautiful face, large, plump lips, and long, dark eyelashes—were all taken in by Takashi's gaze. Ohta uses his hands to motion  and replicate the bird's whistle, stands up to show how the elderly woman startled him by tossing her prosthetic leg at him, and makes motions to cut and pluck the bird's feathers in the butcher shop when he tells his stories.

 

Takashi, who appears to be beyond pale and is pulling his legs together to absorb all the warmth from his body, is the subject of Ohta's stare when he feels a second breeze. "We should go back; perhaps we should stop coming here while the weather grows cooler." Ohta mentality creates a list for Takshi to get extra cozy clothing, as well as perhaps some sort of room-warming talisman.

 

Takashi nods and they both get up walking back to their small courtyard which holds about a dozen of orphans. 

 

Ohta… can I tell you something.” Takashi whispers quietly.

 

”What is it?” Ohta stops at the front of the entrance before entering their warm home. 

 

“I-” 

 

“Ohta Mamoru! Come over here this second!” Ohta turns to look when he hears his mother screaming and sees his entire family gathered at the courtyard gate. His mother had a furious expression, while his father, as usual, had a look of disappointment on his face. His sister looked at him as if he was repulsive to see, and his three brothers all appeared to be in a rage.

 

‘What did I do this time?’ Ohta opens the door to his home and beconds Takashi to go in, he doesn't want him to witness any of his family's mess.

 

Ohta then walks towards his mother bowing his head after a certain amount of distance “What is it, mother?” He whimpers when his mother snatches his hair in her hands and pulls him up to face her. Ohta being the runt in the family is barely on his tippy toes as she hold him up. His family, who were once people who he admired for their strength and prowess being taller than most and towering over anyone who stands in their way– now looked like monsters in Ohta’s eyes. 

 

“We know that you used to steal food and we never punished you harshly for it but now you steal jewels and money from us! Don't we give you enough allowance even when you don't contribute anything in our clan!” She pulls on his hair more harshly as she makes him look at his brothers and sisters “They all work hard in this clan, they contribute and are perfect in all their duties. Just where did I go wrong with you to be a lazy pig!” She lets him go and he falls to the floor. “No more allowance, and you will be taken to the punishment hall immediately. We have a room that you will be staying in so you have no need to come back to this filthy place and mess around.”

 

Ohta is then dragged by his two older brothers ‘Hayato Mamoru and Taichi Mamoru’. 

 

Despite his best efforts to convince them that he did not do any crime, he is then punished in the hall and before he knew it, he was being placed in a barren room with only a child's bed and a small low table in the middle.

 

Shortly later, his father enters and places a stack of papers in front of Ohta at the small table. "I'm disappointed that you would do this to us, your family. You will help with the paperwork to ease your brother's load. Be good and avoid making foolish decisions.” Then he turns around and leaves, Ohta was left with burning hands as a result of the ruler's 50 strikes and three whippings that burned his back.

 

Soon after, Ohta passed out on the bed because his body was unable to handle the agony. His body wasn't made to handle illness or discomfort well, and it takes a lot longer for him to recuperate than it would for his family. 

 

Ohta wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of a window opening and closing, raising his guard and preparing to attack just before he sees Hitoshi. Hitoshi places his hand over Ohta's mouth and motions for him to be quiet. Ohta nods, and Hitoshi examines his hands, with a small fire talisman. When he sees the damage, he hisses and pours a large amount of the liquid from the Moonblessing's healing serum onto them; he immediately feels relief, and Hitoshi pulls him close to hug him, only to back away when Ohta whimpers. When Hitoshi sees the whip markings, his face darkens and he trembles with rage. Only for him to open another pouch and find some herbs to apply to his back wound. "I can't do much about your back pain, but here," Hitoshi hands him a small vial. "Drink this and you'll be sleepy; rest on your stomach and try not to move to make your lacerations worse." Hitoshi gently urges him to move to the bed and have a rest before Ohta snaps his head up. 

 

“I need to finish the paperwork!” He whispers in a panicked voice 

 

Hitoshi examines the stack of papers that Ohta was staring at and takes a seat at the low table to begin working on them. Ohta starts to stand up when a low voice says, "Ohta, don't you dare get up. Stay in bed, I know how to do paperwork, and if I need your additional support with something, I'll ask." Hitoshi goes to work, and when morning arrives, he leaves no traces of himself in the room.

 

Ohta fell asleep shortly after Histoshi began doing his paperwork, and when he awoke in the morning, he discovered that more than half of the paperwork stack had been completed. Ohta guessed that the smaller half of the papers were things Takshi needed help with, and since Ohta wasn't there to assist him, he simply set it aside. Ohta mentally thanks Hitoshi and goes to finish his small half.

 

A servant comes in later in the day to pick up the paperwork and hand him another pile. Ohta groans and gets started on that pile also. He hasn't eaten all day and he's getting hungry. He walks out of his room before a guard who was standing nearby stops him. “You're not allowed out of your room, walk back in or else i'll throw you in.” The guard threatens.

 

Ohta holds his hands up and backs up towards the door “Can I at least get some food?” 

 

The guard then ignores him and Ohta gives up and goes back into his room. 

 

During the night’s Ohta was held up in his room. Hitoshi comes and brings him food or more healing medicine. “We saw what happened that day, Takashi was terrified and tried to run out to try and save you. I know you didn't steal like they said you did but can you tell me yourself.” Takashi asks 

 

“If I had stolen any money don’t you think I would have bought more blankets or warmer clothing for myself or the children.” Ohta sighs “I didn’t steal anything at all, I don’t know who is using my name every time something bad comes up but I know that someone has a particularly strong grudge against me.” Ohta lays back down on the bed “How is my Blossom holding up, i'm sure he was scared of what happened.” 

 

“He’s fine. A bit lonely but Wuya has been trying to talk to him to open himself up a bit but other than that he’s been reading the books you bought for him.” Hitoshi answers.

 

“Doesn’t he have friends with the others?” Ohta questions. 

 

Hitoshi laughs “He sticks with you like a baby chick, when do you ever see him interacting with anyone else but you? Though he was more open when you were with him, he seems very closed off lately.”

 

Ohta didn’t even notice that he was Takashi’s only friend, once he gets out of this room he will help Takashi make new friends, he declares in his head. 

 

“How long are they going to keep you here?” Takashi asks.

 

“Another month or so, I think…I’m not quite sure.” Ohta answers “If they keep me in this room any longer I might go crazy.” 

 

-A month passes- 

 

“Have you learned your lesson?” His mother looked down at Ohta who was kneeling on the ground. “Yes mother.” Ohta looked worn down by the end of his punishment but he was just playing the part. Hitoshi and Wuya have been taking care of him during the nights and since he felt the happiest at night he didn’t sleep often and would sleep during the day. Which is why his appearance was more fatigued this morning.

 

“Stay in the main estate and if I hear another word about any misdeed, I will not be this lenient next time.” His mother chides. 

 

Ohta bites his tongue ‘yeah right, like I’m going to stay in this place where someone will accuse me of something else.’ He bows his head before being dismissed and running out of the estate and back to his real home. 

 

Once he makes it to the courtyard he runs towards all the children playing a game together and gives them all a group hug. He sees Takashi in the corner of his eye and motions him to come closer before giving him a hug and swinging him from side to side. Hitoshi playfully ruffles his hair and welcomes him back home and Wuya gives him a kiss to the cheek and a hug before also welcoming him back. 

 

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“Takashi, are you okay? You look sick, let me go get Hitoshi. He is better at this stuff than I am.” Ohta panics when he sees Takashi was in bed all day, pale and shallowly breathing.  

 

"I'm all right." Takshi grasps Ohta's hand to keep him from leaving. "My body doesn't do well in the winter and when it gets cold." 

 

Takashi's palm feels as cold as ice, so Ohta gets up and dashes to his own room to retrieve some of his own worn blankets before returning to Takashi's room and smothering Takashi beneath the covers. “Do you still feel cold?” Ohta inquires, and Takashi nods.

 

Ohta then wiggles under the covers and holds Takashi close to him to provide warmth. 

 

That is how Wuya discovers them a while later. “Although you don't have a fever, you appear really unwell. Is this the result of any external factors?” Wuya questions. "Perhaps your body is more fickle to the cold," she murmurs to herself.  “I'll be right back to get you a warming talisman.” She stands to leave, and Takashi stares at Ohta as though he had something to say.

 

“What's wrong?” Ohta asks and backs away from him just a bit so he could see his face.

 

“Do you have a spiritual animal?” Takashi asks.

 

“No, my family is a host to black bear animal spirits,” Ohta laughs, “however I wasn't born with one. I might know a little about it if you have any questions, but you might need to ask Wuya or Hitoshi. Hitoshi has a brown bear as his spirit animal, while Wuya has a crow.” His mind then clicks “Wait! Do you have one!?” 

 

Ohta suddenly understands why Takashi has been struggling so much with the cold when Takashi nods. "The cold bothers your animal soul, which is why it affects you. You're a cold-blooded animal, right?

 

Takashi nods again but doesn’t talk any further. 

 

“What species of lizard are you? I've never seen one of those; perhaps it's a particular kind of jellyfish? No, it can't be that… we lack the water necessary to support it, maybe a bee or a butterfly. OH! You must