A white fluffy spirit jumped around Satori’s feet. Satori’s mouth curved into a smile at the sight of it. He went back inside, filled a small flat plate with a little bit of water, and gave it to the spirit. Satori had known that the white fluffy spirits liked the morning dew since he lived back in his hometown. One day, he tried to give them a little bit of water on a small plate, and they seemed to like it very much. Since then, Satori started to give them water every day.

Satori turned his gaze out the window unconsciously.

This place was completely different from the mountains that Satori knew back in his hometown. There was not much nature, and there weren’t many animals or insects here. Even the other fellow spirits were rarely seen here, compared to the mountain back in his hometown. But there was Sousuke in this place, and he could stay by his side.

He didn’t know how long the deal with the Dragon God would last, but as long as he was alive, he wanted to stay by Sousuke’s side.

Satori muttered, “Okay! I’ll do my best today!”

He opened the notebook that was on the table and reviewed the letters that he had just learned. When Sousuke found out Satori couldn’t read or write, he began to teach Satori after he had dinner and took a bath.

On the notebook, there were beautiful letters written by Sousuke as an example, and poorly written letters by Satori.

(How had he been living all this time?)

Sometimes Sousuke would think of that while interacting with Satori, but Satori couldn’t answer that question. His heart ached every time he remembered that he was deceiving Sousuke.

Of course, Sousuke didn’t know that Satori was actually a spirit. However, even if Satori didn’t know many common things that most people would know at this point in their life, Sousuke only showed some confusion. He never got angry or irritated at him, unlike other humans. While Satori didn’t know many other humans, he knew that this was a rare and special thing.

If Sousuke were to find out that I was actually a spirit; if he knew that I could read other’s minds, I wonder if he’ll come to hate me. I wonder if he’ll feel uncomfortable towards me.

Satori shook his head to shake off his depressing feelings. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch that was made from cloth. Inside the pouch was the number of Sousuke’s phone that he had written for him. Sousuke had told Satori that he could call the number to contact him. Sousuke had also taught Satori how to make a phone call, and let him practice. Satori was so fond of the small piece of torn paper that Sousuke gave him, that it made Sousuke smile as he searched for a pouch big enough to hold the memo. It was Satori’s precious treasure, along with the stone from the necklace that was always hung around his neck. Now, Satori could read those numbers on the paper. He never called Sousuke because he didn’t want to bother him at work, but theoretically, he could call him anytime if he wanted to.

Satori tried to imitate the example letters written and practiced them over and over again. As he was focused on his study, the time passed by quickly. When he realized it, his shoulder and neck had gone stiff, so Satori put his notebook away and stretched his body. When he went out to the balcony, he found that the laundry that he had hung up in the morning had become completely dry. He took them in and neatly folded only those that didn’t need to be ironed, such as T-shirts and towels. Satori then put the rest of it in a pile, while being careful not to cause any creases on them. Sousuke still forbade him from ironing clothes and doing things that required heat. Once, he was trying to practice making coffee after Sousuke had taught him. But then he forgot and left the kettle on the fire until it burned empty. Fortunately, Sousuke happened to come home earlier than usual that day, so it didn’t turn out to be a bigger problem. Naturally, he was scolded very harshly back then, to the point that he trembled. Still, even when Sousuke was so angry and frustrated at that time, Satori could feel that on the inside Sousuke felt relieved that he wasn’t hurt. With tears in his eyes, Satori swore firmly inside his heart that he would never do it again.

For dinner, they cooked together after Sousuke came home. After Sousuke had taught Satori how shopping works and the way to do it beforehand, he followed him to the supermarket and even let him practice it a few times. It seemed like the sight of Satori, a seemingly grown-up person that didn’t know how to shop was odd, for many people kept looking at him with curious looks. Even so, Sousuke didn’t rush Satori and he didn’t seem to mind. Even though he was still a little nervous, Satori was now able to go shopping on his own. He would go shopping with a memo that Sousuke had prepared for his practice. Whenever Satori was able to buy everything on the list without any mistake, Sousuke would ruffle his hair and praise him. Every time Sousuke did this, Satori’s heart became filled with warm feelings, but then he would feel a twinge of sadness.

“Let’s see, today I’m going to buy onions, curry powder, and bay leaves.. Huh? What was a bay leaf, again? Ah! It’s that leaf that smells nice!”

Satori still felt very nervous every time he had to go out alone to a place where many people would be gathered. Before going out for work, Sousuke had said that they were going to go out somewhere tomorrow for practice because tomorrow was his day off.

“Onions, curry powder, bay leaves, and some fruits. Onions, curry powder, bay leaves, and fruits.”

He was happy he could know what was written in Sousuke’s neat and easy-to-read handwriting.

Satori muttered “Okay!” and stood up with determination. The white fluffy spirits that were playing around near Satori jumped at the sound of his voice, and they fled somewhere just like that. While reflecting on what he had done wrong, he picked up the wallet that Sousuke had entrusted to him for shopping. He also put on the straw hat that Sousuke had bought for him along with a change of clothes at the large retail store. When he first met Sousuke, he wondered why he was wearing a blue cloth on his head. But now Satori knew that it was the same as the straw hat. After he checked his pockets again and again to make sure he hadn’t lost the memo, Satori left Sousuke’s house.