Fox Boy

Jingchuan froze.

He clenched his hands, unsure how to explain himself to Senju Haruko.

Senju Haruko had always been opposed to him taking off his gloves.

She didn't want Jingchuan to go outside.

Seeing what was happening, how could Senju Haruko not know what Jingchuan was trying to do?

But, to Jingchuan's surprise, Senju Haruko didn't yell at him or scold him.

The white-haired, red-eyed woman simply pulled back the covers, then slowly and weakly got out of bed. She made her way to Jingchuan, crouched beside him, and gently wrapped her arms around her child. In a soft voice, she said:

"I'm sorry, Jingchuan..."

I'm sorry that I, your mother, can't let you run freely beneath the sun.

Tears slowly slid down Senju Haruko's cheeks and fell onto the head of the child whose hair was the same color as hers.

Jingchuan froze. He felt Senju Haruko gently stroking his back, as if trying to comfort him.

The room was dim, but the moment felt peaceful and serene.

After that day, Senju Haruko kept an even closer watch on him. Even when she lost consciousness, she kept him trapped in her arms.

That's right, unconscious.

These days, Senju Haruko was awake for no more than five hours at a time. Her health was getting worse and worse, and she often fell fast asleep in the middle of a conversation.

Even when Senju Haruko was unconscious, Jingchuan still couldn't break free from her embrace. She was simply too strong.

He didn't know why a woman who was gravely ill could be so strong. Even though Jingchuan wanted to escape, he didn't have the strength to get away.

When Senju Haruko was awake, doctors would take her out for treatment, but it was clear that it wasn't doing much good.

Jingchuan kept searching the System Shop for medicine to cure her, but those potions cost tens of thousands of points or more. There was no way he could afford them.

Jingchuan spent the Cuddle Points he'd saved up over a long time on a single chance to draw a card, hoping he'd get lucky and draw medicine for Senju Haruko.

Basic Healing.

Jingchuan drew it. Every day, curled up in Senju Haruko's arms, he used the skill, hoping it might help.

After he used the skill so many times, it automatically upgraded to Intermediate Healing.

But it only managed to prolong Senju Haruko's life by a little over a year.

Perhaps it was because of old injuries from her years on the battlefield, or perhaps having one child after another after marriage had worn down her body. In the end, Senju Haruko passed away, leaving Jingchuan when he was four.

Before she died, Senju Haruko rallied for a brief moment and said many things to Jingchuan. She told him that he was the one she worried about most.

It was also on the day Senju Haruko died that Jingchuan finally learned his surname—and that he had four older brothers.

Senju Kyogawa met many people that day: his father and brothers, as well as other members of the Senju clan.

Jingchuan saw his biological father's eyes redden. He saw his brothers burst into tears, and the Senju clanspeople mourn in silence.

But Jingchuan couldn't cry.

Some Senju clansmen called him a cold-blooded monster. Senju Kyogawa thought, Maybe I am. Otherwise, why can't I shed a single tear?

In his previous life, Jingchuan had been an orphan. In this life, he had felt a mother's love through Senju Haruko, only to lose it soon after.

On the day Senju Haruko was buried, Senju Kyogawa was finally set free.

Senju Haruko had traded her life for Senju Kyogawa's freedom.

I'm really free now... Jingchuan said to the system, overwhelmed.

The emotionless system didn't understand what "freedom" meant, so it didn't answer him.

As Jingchuan walked down the road, the clanspeople ignored him. Every one of them looked like they wanted to steer clear of him.

Jingchuan didn't care how the clanspeople treated him. To him, transmigrating was like being dropped into a game, and the Senju clansmen he barely knew were like NPCs. Why would a player care what NPCs thought?

Right now, Jingchuan was actually thinking about a dream he'd had a few days ago. He couldn't remember what it was about after waking up, but he couldn't figure out why he'd inexplicably received so many Cuddle Points afterward.

Suddenly, someone tapped Jingchuan on the back, interrupting his thoughts.

[ Ding! Cuddle Points +6 ]

Senju Kyogawa knew who it was without even turning around. Not just anyone could give him six Cuddle Points at once.

Jingchuan turned around, and sure enough, it was Senju Hashirama, his older brother in name.

Jingchuan stopped thinking about that nonsensical dream. It wasn't as if getting free Cuddle Points was a bad deal.

"Come on, Jingchuan, let's go home and eat!" Senju Hashirama said, grinning broadly beneath his bowl-cut hair.

Inspired by Senju Hashirama's smile, Jingchuan couldn't help smiling too. He and Senju Hashirama headed toward the place called "home."

The shadows on the ground slowly grew longer. This time, though, the small child had a tall figure walking beside him, and he no longer seemed alone.

On the night he regained his freedom, Jingchuan had a strange dream.

In the dream, he was still the same age and looked the same as he did now.

It was the first time Jingchuan had seen his present-day appearance so clearly in a dream. Curious, he spent a long time looking at his reflection in the lake.

"Hmph, a monster's a monster! Why would we ever play with one?"

A boy's taunting voice suddenly rang out. Jingchuan thought he was talking about him and turned to look, only to see several children gathered in a circle up ahead.

"My mom told me not to play with you!"

"Tenten's always filthy. Don't even think about playing with us!"

A few more boys piped up.

"Go get our ball, or I'll beat you up!" shouted the tallest boy in the group.

So this is bullying, huh? Tch, becoming scum at such a young age. Jingchuan, who had been bullied in his previous life for being an orphan, couldn't stand bullies like these.

Jingchuan stepped forward and happened to step on the little ball lying on the ground. It let out a deflating hiss.

The boys who heard it immediately looked over.

"Big bro! The ball's gone flat!"

"Strange. It's like someone stepped on it."

Can't they see me? Jingchuan wondered.

"Hmph! That monster must've brought us bad luck! Now our ball's gone flat!"

"Big bro! Beat up the monster!"

"I'm not a monster! The ball didn't go flat because of me!" a childish voice came from the middle of the group.

"He dares to talk back! Big bro, beat him up!"

Jingchuan was getting angry. He picked up the ball and prepared to throw it at the boys to scare them.

One of the boys was facing Jingchuan. Suddenly, he saw the deflated ball floating in midair. Already afraid of ghosts and spirits, the little boy let out a terrified scream.

"Ah—Big bro, l-look! The ball's floating!!"

The other boys heard him and turned around too.

The ball, which had been floating in midair, suddenly began moving toward them.

"Aaah! It's a ghost!"

In an instant, the woods rang with the boys' terrified shrieks.

The boys scattered in every direction, leaving behind the little boy they'd been surrounding. He looked about the same age as Jingchuan.

The boy wore an old orange shirt covered in several patches. He had scrapes all over him and looked thoroughly disheveled.

But he was quite cute, with golden-yellow hair, sky-blue eyes, and six whisker-like marks on his cheeks. He looked just like a little fox.

Jingchuan put the ball down and prepared to leave.

"Wait! Um... thank you for saving me," the boy said in a childish voice.

What! He can see me? Jingchuan turned around in shock and saw the Fox Boy staring intently in the direction where he stood.