A/N: Happy reminder that I'm not native English, and that my works are not beta-read. Expect errors, typos, and weird phrasing. I try my best, but I'm not perfect.

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The silence was deafening, covering even the sounds of the night that should have easily filtered through the thin walls. It weighted against Satoru's shoulders, oppressive, causing his muscle to tense and ache dully.

In front of him sat the still unnamed boy, looking troubled and in denial. He was fidgeting almost spasmodically, with mouth trying to work words that would not come and eyes that could not focus on anything for more than a few heartbeats. There was a thin sheen of sweat covering his face, and Satoru could not decide if it was due to the still lingering sickness, or if it was because of a shocking realization.

Either way, the eldest Norisawa knew he would have to make this meeting brief. Mostly for the kid's benefit, but also because Tadashi would spend a good part of the night lecturing him about how the ill should not be forced to walk around during the coldest part of the day. Perhaps he would cover the most important questions, while the less urgent ones could be kept for a later time.

Satoru nodded to himself with the barest of movements that went unnoticed by his guest. It was the best course of action at the moment. For the kid, but also for himself as the recent days had been nothing short of tiring.

The markings on his arm might not cause any itching or dull ache anymore, but they were still a visible testament of what had happened.

"You have nothing to fear from me." He forced his voice to convey a calm that was not there, but the ruse seemed to calm the agitated boy enough for a conversation. "I merely wish to talk. Will you answer my questions?"

He saw the kid nod uncertainly, probably still torn between his internal conflict and trying to be honest to his host.

"There is much to discuss," Satoru said once he had the child's undivided attention. "Many things I wish to know of you, but I am willing to start with the easiest one. Who are you? A name would be of help, as I do not wish to continue referring to you as 'boy' or 'child' whenever you are part of a conversation."

He must have chosen the right words, because the boy in question was frowning deeply at the idea of being referred to with nothing but general words. Still, he could see a glimpse of reluctance written across his face.

"I..." he started slowly, one hand going to his mouth so that he could chew at his thumbnail. "You... you really don't know?"

The eldest Norisawa felt the desperation in that question as the child tried to deny the truth of the situation. "I cannot know what I have never seen," he replied, eyes softening. Leader he might be, but he also was the oldest brother to a bunch of youngsters, some of which were barely older than his guest. "Or heard of."

His words cemented the fact that this was no joke at all, and the boy in front of him slumped with hands pressed against the floor and head bowed in defeat. Still, he was able to retain the few shreds of peace he had -a commendable quality in Satoru's eyes- though he did start to mutter something under his breath nonetheless.

It did take some time, but eventually the child came to terms with his inner conflict and looked up. His defeat was replaced by some sort of mix between confusion and determination that made Satoru's spirit strangely lighter.

"Alright, alright," his voice was shaky and nervous, but he looked ready to force his own mouth into working for him rather than against him. "Look, don't get this the wrong way... I'm all for talking with you, but... uh... I don't know if it's a good thing?"

He passed a hand through his messy hair and gave one of the heaviest sight Satoru had ever heard come from someone his size. "I mean... this... this whole thing is wonky by itself alone," he continued. His hands were now waving into the air, and the wild motions caused the blanket around his shoulders to fall to the ground unnoticed. "Me. Being here. I still think it's all a dream, or an illusion, or whatever. Only it's not. You're real. This house is real. No amount of magic could create this level of... of realness."

Satoru didn't dare interrupt this sudden burst of rambling. Though it wasn't answering any of the questions he had in mind, it still gave him a glimpse to who the boy was and why he acted the way he did.

"And... and saying things?" the kid asked more to himself than to Satoru. "I don't know if it'll be good or bad. Or worse than bad. I've seen so many movies... stories that deal with this kind of situation. And every time someone did something, it wonked things so badly that they had to undo it just to set things back to normal! How am I supposed to fix things when I don't even know how I got here in the first place?"

Those were confusing words, but Satoru was starting to understand the kid's plight. Somehow, he had ended up in a situation where the information he held could spin fate off its intended path. Being a clan leader, he was no stranger to the political machinations where one single word could sentence the land to a future of peace and prosperity or one of war and destruction.

Especially when magic was involved.

Satoru found to be really appreciative of the effort the kid was putting into being honest without causing irreparable damage.

And perhaps it was time to approach this from another angle. One that was not as dangerous as the direct one. "Then what can you tell me? You speak of dangerous information that obviously causes you turmoil. Are you perhaps a seer?"

The thought was baffling at best, and it seemed to catch the kid off guard too because he stopped whatever he was doing to stare at Satoru with wide eyes. "Uhh... what's a seer?" After a moment something seemed to click in his mind and he returned to wave wildly. "No! Of course not! If I could see the future, I wouldn't end up having to fix things as much as I have to. And I could prevent incidents happening! And people would be happier! And the Sorcerer would not-"

A hand found itself against his mouth, stopping whatever he was going to say next. He looked mortified and somewhat scared for a moment, then cast his gaze to the ground with a grimace painted on his lips. "And I should stop talking..." he muttered.

"Not a seer, then," Satoru confirmed, trying to put his guest at ease once again. "But still someone that knows. Is that why you fight the Sorcerer and his monsters?"

The kid flinched visibly, and the eldest Norisawa knew he had gotten it right. The rumors from the village were not just rumors, after all. It was the truth. The kid had battled a monster and had not only won, but had saved the victim.

He desperately wanted to know how, but patience was essential here. A wrong move and the child would close himself more than he had already done.

"I... can I ask you something?" the boy was looking at him, blanket back around his body and so hunched on himself that he looked way smaller than any child his size should be. Yet, despite looking ready to collapse, his blue eyes were so focused that they felt like they were burning a hole in his soul.

Surprisingly, Satoru found himself nodding. Mostly curious, but somewhat eager to help the kid in whatever means he could.

"What... what am I supposed to do?"

Satoru frowned, suddenly at a loss. "That is... an interesting question." He brought a hand to his chin and narrowed his eyes in concentration. "And quite the dilemma. To preserve a calm stability, or to risk a destructive downfall for the slightest of chances for a better tomorrow?"

He stole a glance at the kid and was glad to notice he had relaxed, even if barely. He was nodding, big blue eyes wide and never straying away from him, and was probably glad that he understood his problem. If this wasn't an official meeting, Satoru would have smiled upon seeing that. In that moment, the kid had reminded him of the past, when his father was still alive and his youngest brothers listened to his lessons with attention born from curiosity.

Suddenly, being unable to answer that simple question became a burden that the eldest Norisawa didn't like to carry.

"You don't look... good..." his young guest murmured, probably saddened by not receiving an answer. "Sorry. I didn't meant to cause problems..."

Satoru shook his head. "Do not be sorry." He really wanted to know the kid's name, and wondered if it was part of that life-changing information he was talking about earlier. "I am merely..." He stopped and gave a little sigh upon realizing that he didn't actually know how he felt.

Confused. Lost. Curious. Desperate. Needy.

They were all emotions that had caught him off guard the moment Daisuke brought the kid back to the Norisawa household. Most of the time he was able to quell them thanks to his training. Sometimes, like now, they got the better of him no matter how much of a calm facade he put up. It was tiring. It was stressing.

In those moments, Satoru wanted nothing more than to give up and walk away.

"I cannot deny that you have a strange effect on me," he said after a while. A small smile appeared on his face at the realization. "I feel that I can trust you, yet I have no proof that you are trustworthy."

This conversation had spiraled away from its original purpose, but the eldest Norisawa was not too bothered about it. As much as confusing the boy's words were at the moment, he was finding all this to be refreshing. After all, there was only so much he could talk with his brothers during the day without falling into the topic of war, training, and foraging.

"I do not have an answer to your question, but perhaps a good night's rest will help both of us." He bowed lightly to his guest, and was genuinely surprised by the boy returning it with a small smile of his own. "You do look exhausted."

Satoru did feel exhausted too, only if for different reasons than being ill. A night's rest was truly in order, and maybe by tomorrow he would have found an answer to the kid's question.

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A/N: Cookies above only knows how many times I've rewritten this thing in the past week...

Anyway, just a boring conversation that had to get out of the way for buildup of sort, because, apparently, I can't jump right into any action of sort. Yes, I do have a plan. Mostly. It just... takes time?