35

Chapter 35

9 years earlier...

There's a small family restaurant in the middle of the woods. It's been owned by the same family for generations, ever since the previous owners died in a tragic accident. It used to be a lovely place, but nowadays, it's become very empty. The place was boarded up and abandoned long ago, and most families avoided it because they're afraid of getting robbed or worse. The place was known as the haunted house by locals, and they claimed to hear strange noises at night whenever there was a storm. There's also rumours of ghosts haunting the building, but that's a story for another time, right? Today was not that day. The owner had gone on vacation with her family, leaving behind the restaurant to their employees and their children. The two kids ran around happily with the owner's dog while the adult went upstairs to get cleaned up and take a shower.

One kid was named Natsuo Todoroki and the other one was his younger sister Fuyumi Todoroki. Natsuo was five while Fuyumi was five and three months. They liked playing hide and seek together and making toys and stuff for their dog, Makka. It was summertime, so there weren't many customers during the day, so they had the opportunity to play outside without worrying about other customers' presence. They both loved animals. Natsuo always thought of Makka as his special friend and loved spending time with him whenever they were out playing together. He even considered Makka his best friend, but lately he felt sad that Makka didn't enjoy playing with him as much as he did. His feelings were complicated, but he wanted to ask his friend about what was wrong, so he followed Fuyumi and Makka into the forest. After a short walk, they arrived at a clearing. There was some equipment set up next to the trees. The equipment included several tents and picnic tables covered in different coloured cloths. Natsuo immediately knew what these places were for.

"Fuyumi! Come on!" he yelled excitedly as he dragged his sister along with him. She looked at him quizzically.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"We're going to play hide and seek! You know I love it!" Natsuo explained enthusiastically while dragging his sister towards one of the campsites. Before the two children could make it to the tent, Natsuo was stopped by his father.

"Natsuo! What are you doing over there?" he shouted angrily. As his father spoke, he grabbed Natsuo by the arm forcefully.

"Hey! Let me go! I'm gonna go hide with Makka!"

"No!