The Cloud Over The Leaf

"You are me?!"

Hii stared at the puppy, trying to figure out whether he is lying or telling the truth. He holds his gaze, as if trying to stare through the puppy.

"Pft."

The puppy starts to chuckle.

"Bwahahahahaha!!!"

Only to go into full on laughter.

"W-what's so funny?!"

"Haa. Haa. Both of us."

Hii looked confused while he proceeded to explain.

"We thought the end was finally here for us only to be put in a new life. Life sure is strange."

The puppy shook his head, letting his ears flop from side to side. Hii had the urge to pet him, but held it back. He still wasn't sure what this ...dog was.

"Hey! I'm a wolf,dammit! Get it right!"

"You can read my mind?!"

Hii floated backwards in shock.

"No. Your face said it all. Let me tell you though, my fur is fluffy and soft. It's the best feeling ever.

Hii appeared right in front of the pup, stretching out his tiny arms and hands. The pup wondered how he moved so fast before laughing once again

"Let me touch it! Pleeease?!"

The pup laughed at the huge shift in caution.

"Fine, but only for 10 seconds."

Hii pounced on the pup and rubbed the soft fur. 

'This! This is so soft!'

Hii lost himself in the soft sensation as he continued to rub the wolf. The wolf soon disappeared and reappeared a few feet away.

"Time's up! Hope you enjoyed yourself."

Hii stared at the pup with tear filled eyes. The wanted nothing more than to continue to pet the wolf. The wolf flinched at those eyes and turned away.

"... Once a day."

"?!"

"I'll let you pet me once a day as long as you listen to what i have say."

Hii agreed almost instantly. The pup sighed as he felt he should've just started with that in the first place.

*****

"So... You are me, but not exactly me?"

"Right. I guess I'm considered the boon you got from that oddball with the book."

The two sat side by side as they gazed at the grey and black horizon. 

"But why are you a wolf?"

" I have an idea why I'm an animal. I'm probably a biju."

"...A..biju?"

"Aah. You don't need to know that right now. Just now I'm really strong and i got your back. Well, since you are me."

The pup laid his head down on the floor as Hii thought about what he said.

"The best way i can explain our relationship is like this. I'm you, or more precisely, I'm you with the memories you had before we died. You are a blank slate of me."

Hii slowly nodded as he tried to piece the situation together. 

"So... What can you do exactly?"

"As far as the memories I got from the weird guy, nothing. We're too young for me to have a power yet. I'll let you know when I get somewhere with it all."

"Is there...anything I can do to help?"

The puppy faced Hii with what looked like a shocked expression,but slowly turned into a strange smile. 

"Just live and help me change somethings that happen in this world. We owe it to-"

Hii looked at the wolf pup to continue, but he never did. He just seemed to look out into nothing. Hii felt something strange when he saw this. He felt...like he knew who or what the pup was thinking about. Everything seemed so blurry as his head started to hurt.

"Stop!!!"

Hii shook as he looked up, startled by the outburst.

"What happened? What was that?"

"Don't try to understand me! Just...not yet. It's too soon to see what happened to us. Just be happy. As much as you can."

The puppy looked at Hii with the saddest expression the baby had seen before.

'What happened to us?'

Hii couldn't help, but think about it again, prompting the pup to swatt him with his paw.

"Stop."

Hii sighed as he felt oddly happy over how soft his paws were.

"I hope I get a dog."

"What?! Am I not good enough for you?!"

"That's not it! Haaa. Well, I'm Hii now. I'll just live like that then."

"That's the spirit. Live it up like any decent baby would!"

Hii nodded his head, and soon thought of another question.

"What should I call you?"

"Me? Hmmmm...."

The pup thought for a while, tilting his head back and forth. Hii mustered whatever will power he could to not float over and pet him. He had a feeling if he went too far, his privilege would be revoked. After an agonizing amount of time for Hii, the pup stopped and came to a decision.

"My name will be Akumu. It kinda fits, I guess."

Hii wanted to say something, but soon found specks of light floating around him.

"What is this?"

"Ah, you must be waking up."

Hii began to float up into the air as more lights began to appear.

"Wait?! When will we meet again?"

Akumu started to chuckle.

"Did you forget? It's everytime you sleep! I'll see you in the next few hours."

"Whaaat?! Can I pet you when I'm back?!"

"Once everyday. Don't push it."

'Haaa. So this will a thing,huh?'

The lights enveloped Hii as they fired him off into the distance.

" I heard that!"

Akumu chuckled as he watched the ball of light slowly disappear into the distance. He watched as the grey tones around him were swallowed by the darkness, making everything pitch black around him. Akumu did nothing as the vast darkness surrounded him. He muttered softly to himself as he laid his head down.

 "I'll stop all the tragedies I can. Just you wait and see, my little devil."

The last bits of gray were devoured by the darkness as Akumu disappeared in its depths.