He was gone. My brother vanished right in front of my eyes.

Without a goodbye, without a word... just like that day, the day I cried and clung to him for ages, begging him not to go, and he slipped away at dawn like he was running.

“Brother...!! Brother Temar!”

No, right? You’re messing with me, right?? You’re coming back, right?

“Brother!”

My breathing sped up. My chest heaved. I bit my lip hard and looked around wildly.

Brother. Did you abandon me? Again? No, right?

“Brother! Brother Temar!”

“Ren! Temar will be right back.”

He went. Brother really left.

Without even giving me a chance to stop him, right in front of me... my brother, my brother left me again.

“Waaaah... brotheeer! Brother!!”

“Ren! He’ll be right back. He just stepped away for a second. Ren!”

I’m alone. I’m alone again.... I thought this time would be different, but it wasn’t. I’ll always be someone who can be abandoned at any moment... and Brother still... he’s still someone who can leave me behind whenever he wants.

“Brotheeer! Brother!!”

“Ren!! Calm down!”

“Again, without saying anything... Brother!! Brotheeer! Hic... waaah....”

“Ren! If there’s danger in the mountains, we could get hurt too. He didn’t leave you behind—he went to check the danger. He’ll come back. Ren! Ren!”

“Hhk... hhk, hic.... hu, huu....”

“Ren? Ren!! What’s wrong? You have to breathe. Ren, calm down.... Good God. ‘Luvien.’”

“Hic.... huu.... hh....”

“Ren, calm down and look at me. Ren! Look at me.”

I couldn’t get enough air.... I’d thought it was hard to hold myself up, but Luman was carrying me. When he muttered something, that cluster of light I’d seen before appeared again, circled around me once, then slowly gathered together into a shape.

It felt warm. Safe.

“Ren. Look at me.”

I slowly rolled my eyes toward Luman.

His eyes looked clearer and brighter than usual. They were glowing pale platinum... and beside him was some animal that looked like a fox.

“Temar will be back soon. And I’ll be here beside you.”

“Hic.... huu....”

My throat, which had been clenched tight, loosened again, and the sobbing leaked through the gap.

“Ren. Answer me.”

“...Huu.... yes....”

“Good.”

Only then did I notice the hand patting my arm.

I blinked several times, and tears dripped down as my vision cleared. The fox-like creature circled around me, and every time it moved, bits of light scattered and fell away. Watching it made me sleepy. It made me feel calm.

“Sniff.... hic... huu....”

“...?”

The fox, running with its long ears and tail streaming behind it...

was cute.

When I stared blankly at Luman, still holding me, he gave me a puzzled look. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Uncomfortable?”

“Th-that....”

“Even so, I can’t put you down. You can’t even stand properly.”

His voice sounded like he was holding back his irritation and trying to soothe me anyway.

No, that wasn’t it....

I kept looking back and forth between the fox spinning around me and Luman’s face.

“Your eyes are all swollen... kgh....”

Luman, who had been worrying about me, suddenly clamped his mouth shut like laughter had burst out of him.

What, why are you laughing.... Forget it! I won’t ask. That’d be humiliating.

But my mouth opened on its own.

“C-can I touch it? Would that be okay...?”

Gulp. I swallowed hard. It’s fine if you say no. I-I mean, it can’t be helped, right?

“Pahahaha! Hahahahaha!”

“......”

Fuck!

Shouldn’t have said anything.

The fox that had been circling me stopped for a moment and stared at me.

Somehow, it looked like it was looking down on me.

The fox sprang up, body-slammed Luman in the chest, then stared at me again.

Its tail was wagging fast from side to side....

It was definitely displeased!

But still... even though its body had been made out of light, its fur looked fluffy.

“Huu.... Kids really are weird.”

“And how much of an adult are you?! It doesn’t look like there’s even that much of an age gap.... sniff.”

Snff. I secretly kept sniffling back my snot and grumbling. I wiped some of it on Luman’s clothes too.

Even while I grumbled, there wasn’t much force behind my voice.

Why?

Because I have a conscience too...! I couldn’t just snap at someone who’d helped me.

Luman was still laughing.

Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want.

I glared at the emblem pinned to Luman’s chest.

Why did I react like that? Once I calmed down, I started thinking I’d gone way too far just now. My heart was still pounding. It was like I’d gotten swept up by the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ thoughts and emotions that hit me in that moment....

I was being oversensitive. Don’t get mad at Brother. You can handle it. I forced myself to shake the thoughts off.

“Hoo. Haa. Ren.”

“What.”

Goddammit! Why is my voice shaking!! There was still crying left in it.

As I cleared my throat and scratched at it, Luman patted my chest like he was trying to calm me down.

“Normally I wouldn’t allow it, but since you’re cute, I’ll make an exception.”

“If it’s not allowed... then forget it. More importantly, don’t call me cute. It pisses me off.”

I’m not trying to make things awkward here, okay?!

“Pfft. Hoo— ‘Luvien!’”

Luman let out a short breath, then called out “Luvien” in a stronger voice than before, and in that instant bright light burst out and the fox vanished.

What a waste.

“Ren.”

“What now....”

“You should look down.”

“...?”

Woooow!

“This is insane...!!”

Down below...

there it was, with snow-white fur and jet-black eyes and nose, the same fox from before!

“Pfft....”

“C-can I touch it? I-I mean, can I really?”

I smacked Luman’s arm while asking him once, then asked the fox too, since it somehow had this sulky look on its face.

It somehow looked like the fox sighed!

“I-if you don’t like it, I won’t touch—w-wow...!”

When Luman set me down, the fox nudged its head forward.

Like it was giving me permission to pet it!!

I dropped into a crouch at once. Like I was possessed, I reached out and carefully stroked the fox’s head, and softness so deep it felt like it could swallow my hand tickled at my fingertips!! Its little round head was unbelievably cute too! This was insane! Insane!

I stroked the fox’s head with both hands.

Its black nose twitched.

“Khk.... ughhh.... haa. This is killing me.”

“......”

“It’s so soft...!”

“Ptuh.”

“......?!”

That spit hadn’t come from me or Luman.

It came from the fox that had been summoned with “Luvien”!

Its black nose twitching, the fox spat sharply onto the ground and shook its head. Like its work was done and it was telling me that was enough! It looked like it was saying, Satisfied? Or maybe, Happy now? When I hesitantly pulled my hands back, the fox nodded like I’d done well.

I looked at Luman...

and he had a hand over his face, shoulders shaking.

“Don’t make a face like you’re about to cry, Ren. I’ll let you pet it again! Hahaha!”

“Who made that kind of face!? I didn’t, okay? I didn’t!!”

The fox was facing me, but it looked like it didn’t like something.

Animals can’t have expressions, you say?

They can! It definitely did!!

Its brows weren’t even thick, and the only dark, distinct parts of it were its eyes, nose, and mouth—but the way its eyes and nose and mouth kept twitching made it look like it was talking! The fox, twitching its muzzle like that right now! It was definitely annoyed at Luman!

“Ow. That hurts.”

“Ptuh.”

“Nice one!”

Ah, crap. That just slipped out... hehe.

The fox sprang up and bit down on Luman’s hand.

“Hey, Ren.”

Luman smiled with a furrow in his brow. He didn’t pull the fox off even though it was biting his hand. Instead, he petted its head.

The fox snorted and settled naturally onto Luman’s shoulder.

“So that name... is it Luvien?”

“...You heard the title?”

“Huh??”

What did he mean, heard it??

“......No. That’s just the language used to call it.”

“Then what’s its name?”

“Lante.”

“Can I say its name too??”

“Sure.”

“What? It’s a weird little thing.”

A low voice came out that didn’t suit that cute face at all!

“......?! It—it talks....”

“What, I’m not allowed to? Huhhh? I’m not allowed to talk?”

Lante sat on Luman’s shoulder and thrust its head toward me.

It was like some alley thug!

Its black nose twitched, and it poked my shoulder with its long snout.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant....”

“Lante. Stop teasing him.”

“Krhngh, puhahaha... kiiii.”

W-what? It was teasing me?

Lante’s tail was swaying happily.

The mix of animal noises and laughter sounded a little scary.

“That’s seriously weird. And you said you heard the title too?”

“The title...? You mean when you said Luvien? Why are you looking at me like that...?”

I quietly turned my head.

The fox talks! More accurately, it was an animal that looked like a fox...! Even more accurately, it was fluffier than a fox and a little bigger and cuter!

“Turn around.”

“Huh??”

Turn around? Like, spin in place?? Why?

But I did what Lante said. I stood up and slowly turned around on my trembling legs. What the hell?

If another person had told me to do that, I would’ve gotten pissed off and fought them over it—well, actually, I wouldn’t have listened in the first place.

But maybe because it was an animal?? I didn’t mind obeying.

More than anything...

cute wins.

“Looks pass!”

“???”

“Personality pass too!”

“......!? Personality??”

My personality passes?? Really??

I’ve spent my whole life hearing that I’m nasty, disobedient, a troublemaker, selfish, and rude!

My eyes went as wide as they possibly could, and my mouth dropped open. Actually, it wasn’t even that I opened it—it just fell open!

“Really??”

“Hey, Lante.... What are you doing, sounding like some street thug? Ren, you don’t need to listen to him. Is this what happens when you get old and bored...?”

“Thank you!!”

“......”

“Kiiii— krhng.”

Lante laughed in satisfaction, and Luman shut his mouth. He looked dumbfounded.

My personality passes!!