The previous exorcism had scarred you deeply The Truth and Reason, it echoed to you everytime silent moment, or everytime you were alone. Everytime you thought you could finally forget the experience and move on, it comes back to hit you like a charging bull.

Even calm nights couldn’t allow you to rest! You had trouble sleeping. Events of that exorcism was still fresh in your mind. And each time it seemed as if you were finally drifting off, a nightmare befalls on you like a falling sake barrel, causing you to be wide awake again.

Such as now, you had just woken up from the same reoccurring nightmare. Bolted up from your futon, you curled up into a small ball, trying to calm yourself…The remnants of the dream clung to you like cobwebs. Your heart was racing, breath ragged, and body trembling.

The nightmare dissolved into shadows, but the dread it left behind coiled tight in your chest. You sat hunched on the futon, head in your hands, as the silence of the room pressed in—far too loud after the chaos in your dreams. You could never catch a break...

In the midst of your panic, you caught your master staring out the window. Oh, right…Whatever he was, he didn’t require sleep…or food. The soft breeze of spring’s night blew into the room, rustling your clothes and lightly blowing back your hair. Feeling your stare, he gazed over his shoulder to meet your eyes with his calm ocean blue ones.

His gaze lingered on you, observing you silently before turning back to the window. It’s as if he’s expected this. “Ho…? Thats the third time this week.” He hummed before reluctantly sliding from the window to you. He sat by your futon. For some who was so eerily calm and expressionless, his presence felt…comforting. In some very odd way.

“Was it because…of the last Mononoke in Hinamizawa village?” He inquired, his voice softening ever so slightly, you barely caught it. His gaze drifts from you, knowing his staring could make you feel even more uncomfortable than you already are now. “Take your time…Don’t force yourself to speak…”