1 Old shack

Matsuri mountant range.

"Bloody hell, do you have to be so stingy?!"

"Roar!"

With a rustle of tree leaves, and the crackles of dried branches, the birds resting on their nest took turns to fly into the air, as if they were escaping from something.

It was a clear morning brimming with sunlight and a peaceful atmosphere.

"Roar!"

"Damn it!"

Well, if one would ignore the figure of a teenage girl running in the middle of a forest with apples in her hands. Right behind her, was the towering silhouette of an adult bear.

It made one wonder what the little girl did, to attract the fury of such a beast.

"Roar!"

As the adult bear kept roaring to the sky, the teenage girl took a turn, her long blond hair flowing in the air like silk, she continued to run with her body half-turned in the bear's direction.

Then, she took an apple from her grip.

"You want some?!"

"Roar!"

"Yeah? Well...Come and take it you beast!"

Yelling out those words, the girl's clear blue eyes shimmered in a strange way as she stuffed the apple into her mouth while looking at the bear in a provocative way.

"Roar!"

It seems to have worked better than expected as the bear doubled its momentum. At this rate, it would be chewing on her legs soon.

'Gotta run faster!'

Just as she thought of this, she suddenly made a jump, then her body could be seen twirling in mid-air as one of her feet struck a tree by the side before her whole body was lifted higher using the tree as a support.

The bear was already closing in on her.

With another twirl of her body, she crashed down completely on the bear's back with her feet.

Bang!

"growl...!"

The sheer power behind her crash made the bear unable to get back up, it seemed that the blonde girl had broken quite a few of its bones since it refused to move an inch.

"Phew, you see big guy, you shouldn't go around chasing people because of food."

Stretching a little from the exercise, she looked as if nothing serious happened while dressed in her casual-style of leather jacket, a T-shirt that seemed to be hiding something underneath, and blue jeans.

Her brown boots tapped the bear's back before she jumped off.

"Growl..."

Looking at the poor bear still unable to move from the ground, she decided to give it a chance.

Tac!

With a hand, she threw an apple before the bear as it rolled to its nose. The bear snorted before staring a the blond teenage girl.

Till now, it couldn't believe it had been beaten by such a small brat.

"Well don't look at me like that will ya? I'm not that heartless after all so, you can take that one."

Then, the blonde girl turned around to run without looking back.

"As for the few ones in my hands, I'm taking them to my home!"

Looking at the departing figure of the girl, the bear snorted once more as a small branch fell to its head.

"Growl..."

It still couldn't move...

***

"So, you must be here to learn more about what happened?"

In a clear space surrounded by tall trees where the sun rays couldn't fully penetrate, was an old shack.

Situated at the top of the mountain, it was unknown how the cars parked by its side made it here.

"So it seems, mister Blythe."

Inside the old shack, an old man could be seen seated on a couch with a stern expression on his face.

On the opposite side, a man dressed in a black vest suit was facing him. Behind him, were two other figures in black suits acting like guards around him.

"Well then, what questions do you have for me?"

As the old man said this, a young-looking lady dressed in an apron approached the table in the middle of the people. Then, she placed two teacups, one for the old man and another for the mysterious visitor.

The vapor coming out of the teacup set made it enchanting to breathe in. The lady then went back to the kitchen, leaving the men at their business.

"To begin with, from all we know about your relationship with that man... things are not just related to the bloodline, correct?"

"Mn, you're right."

The old man nodded his head as he answered the young man's question while not forgetting to blow slightly on the tea.

"Alright, now for the part where he married off with that woman..."

Placing out a photo of a blond woman in her thirties before the old man, the young guy continued.

"Did you know about this?"

"Yeah, it was between a month or so after he married her. Said he met her in a brothel...that funny freak."

To the old man's reply, the young guy opted to continue his questioning however, the door of the shack was suddenly pushed open by a kick.

"Old man, I'm back!"

Hearing the voice and the sudden commotion that she brought along, the old man almost choked on his tea.

"F*ck! Can you not like, just kick my door each time you come back? Do you think I like gluing'em back again?!"

Watching the figure of the teenage blond girl barging in without any formalities whatsoever, the few people in the room were left speechless.

"And this is?"

Turning to the old man, the young guy in black suit inquired.

"Oh her, she's the granddaughter I've told you about. Don't mind this idiot's antics too much."

"Who ya calling stupid you leftover bones!"

"You!"

Hearing enough for the day, the man nodded his head.

"I see...since you are more preoccupied than expected, we shall not bother you anymore. In case you want to provide us with more info, you may use this card to contact us."

The young man smirked knowingly.

"I'm sure you understand why we came all this way for by now."

Leaving a card at the old man's table, the young guy took the teacup and gulped down the whole thing in a swing.

"Thanks for the tea. Let's go!"

Looking at the trio leaving the house for a moment, the blond girl closed the door as the sound of engines starting was heard.

"Allison, where did you get those apples by the way?"

The old man leaned tiredly on the couch as he called out to his granddaughter.

"Oh, those? Got'em along the way after stealing the bear's meat."

Casually saying this, Allison Blythe went to the kitchen with the apples at hand while taking out from her sleeves, the leaf-covered meat she stole from the bear's nest.

"Anyway where's Annie?"

Allison's mumble could be heard as she went to the kitchen.

The old man shook his head and took out his phone. There was a message typed on it.

"They came again, where are you?"

Bip.

After sending away the message, the old man sighed before closing his eyes.

***

Back in the kitchen, Allison, the blond-haired teenage girl was seated on a chair at the side and was munching on her second apple while watching Annie, the lady from before working on the meat.

"You know, it's been a long time since I've been out in the cities. Sometimes I thought about running away from here but..."

'That old man wouldn't be able to take care of himself without us.'

"Hey, what are you mumbling about?"

Smacking her lips while asking this, Allison threw the rest of the apple to the wastebasket.

It entered with extreme precision.

"Oh, nothing, really."

Sighing again, Annie knew that Allison wouldn't understand her 'complex' emotions.

"By the way, how far did you go this time? To come out with such little meat means that things aren't looking too good for the beasts this Fall."

Alison tilted her head at Annie's inquiry.

"Don't remember, I was too focused on escaping that bear back then..."

"Wait, what?"

"Anyway, I'm going to cut off woods for tonight, bye!"

Leaving after taking an Axe, Allison went outside to butcher off more wood.

Shaking her head with a smile, Annie, who had long brown hair and brown eyes, continued to prepare breakfast for the morning.

After all, the sun had just risen up a few hours ago.