On the following morning, they have the cakes that they bought from the restaurant.

  “Lee, these are really good,” says Kenji between bites.

  “Okay, but can you make less of a mess?” complains Sue, as the powdered sugar on Kenji’s cake is all over the place. “Seriously, look at this.”

  “You try your half, then we will talk,” says Kenji. Sue looks at him and takes her half of the cake; as she is about to eat it, she exhales through the nose and the powder goes flying. “Now look at who is making a mess,” Kenji adds, and both him and Lee stifle a laugh.

  “Where is my cake?” ask Sakura, joining them in the kitchen.

  Lee reaches into the box, takes a Portuguese custard tart, and places it on a plate. “Here you go, Saki,” he says as he passes it to her with a spoon. “Eat the cream first or you will make a mess like mum.” Hearing this, Kenji laughs, and Sakura notices the white sugar powder on the counter.

  At school, before the class starts, Lee is making another keychain with the strings.

  Suhan approaches him shyly. “Lee, this is for you,” she says, extending an envelope with both hands. Lee looks at it then at Suhan’s face, but still takes it.

  He looks around and finds the six students already in class looking at them. “Is this a love letter?” Lee thinks as he opens the envelope; then he sees that it is an invitation for her birthday party on the following weekend. Lee looks at her then smiles. “Thank you, Suhan; I will ask my mum if I can go,” he says, and the girl nods with a smile, the top of her ears turning reddish.

  Later in the day, on the lesson before lunch, Lee’s class gets Physical Education. As they are heading to the field, a boy approaches Lee. “Hey, I heard Suhan gave you a letter today. Some people are saying that it was a love letter; was it?”

  Lee shakes his head. “No, Naxy; it was an invitation to her birthday party.”

  “She invited you? Why?” the boy asks, scratching his head in confusion.

  Lee shrugs. “I don't know. She did invite me last year too, but I couldn't make it.”

  Being a sunny day, the class will have boys' and girls' lessons together, also due to the male teacher being absent.

  During warm-ups, as they will be running, Naxy keeps losing his trainers. Suhan, having approached him and Lee, complains. “I don't like it when we have to run in P.E. my feet hurt at the back when I get home,” she says, rubbing her heel.

  Lee sits on the ground and extends his hand. “Show me your foot.”

  Suhan takes half a step back. “Why? What are you going to do?”

  “Just give me your foot,” says Lee, reaching to her foot and grabbing it. “Your shoelaces are not done the right way.” He then undoes the laces, removes them from the first hole, and wires them differently. Then, looking at Suhan’s face, says, “Move your foot to the back of the trainers.” When Suhan does it like Lee said, he tightens the shoelaces; the trainers adjust to the foot and lock it in place.

  “Wow, it is really tight but comfortable,” Suhan says, shaking her foot then comparing it with the other one. “Can you do the same to this one?” she asks, extending the other foot to Lee, and he nods.

  “Wait, how did you do that? It might help to stop my trainers from coming off,” says Naxy, sitting on the ground next to Lee.

  “You do it like this,” Lee says and shows him and Suhan how to lace the shoelaces the right way so that it doesn't rub at their heels.

  Once done, Naxy continues his warm-ups and the trainers don't come off anymore.

  “Lee Watson,” the teacher calls out, and Lee approaches her. “What did you do to Narboxy’s trainers?”

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  “Nothing, Miss,” Lee says with a shake of his head.

  “Sorry, I am not saying you did something wrong,” the teacher says with a wave of her hand. “What I want to know is, what did you do for his trainers not to come out anymore?”

  “Ah, that!” Lee exclaims, then points at his own trainers. “All I did was put his laces like this; they make the trainer lock at the foot without making it too tight.”

  “Can you show me how you do that?” the teacher says, and Lee nods and shows her how he laced his shoelaces. When the teacher stands up and tests it, she smiles. “You are right; the foot locks in the trainer. You can go finish the warm-up.”

  At home, after having done his homework, Lee heads downstairs and makes a sandwich.

  “Lee, come here,” says Kenji from the back door.

  “Yes, dad?” Lee says and looks at Kenji.

  “Can you promise me you will be safe, and don't try anything crazy?” Kenji asks, and Lee is confused but still nods. “If you like, you can go hunt again in the woods. Just make sure you take your phone with you.”

  “Thank you, dad,” Lee says, hugging his dad, and runs into the shed to get his bow and arrows.

  Whilst in the woods, Lee finds some herbs and plants that he hadn't noticed before, he hears the rustle of the fauna, so he leans against a tree, arrow at the ready. He finds that the sound is coming from above; he aims and shoots, missing his target and knocking a branch above it. The beast, which is like a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel with reddish fur, looks down to where the arrow flew from. Blue lightning sparkles start to be visible on its fur, but before it can do anything, the branch snaps and lands on its head, and the beast tumbles in a free fall to the ground; but halfway down, it grows a pair of wings and dives straight at Lee.

  Thinking fast, Lee grabs a thick stick from the ground; as the beast approaches, Lee braces himself. “Batter’s up!” he shouts as he swings at the beast, hitting it straight on the side and sending it soaring against the tree trunk, killing it right away. “I need to get a way to store this game to make it easier to take home,” he says as he takes the small rope that he has attached to the sleeping bag converted into a quiver, and attaches an end to the back legs of the foot-long beast, and the other to his waist.

  Lee is about to shoot a bird-like pheasant but with four wings, but the bird doesn't try to run away like normal; then looking carefully behind it, he notices little chicks, so he just turns and walks away.

  He finds a secluded cave and takes a seat; then he hears a whimper not far away. Deciding to investigate what the sound is, Lee follows the sound, only to find a small wolf cub on the ledge of a cliff. Looking up, Lee sees a bigger wolf on top of the cliff, probably one of the parents of the cub.

  Going back to the cave, Lee grabs his bow and bag, then he starts to climb the cliff, finding gaps big enough for his small feet.

  When he gets near the cub, he hears snarls and barks from above; when he looks, he finds the bigger wolf showing its teeth threateningly. Lee ignores it and reaches for the cub, but this one, despite its small size, tries to bite Lee; so Lee, leaning against the cliff, manages to remove his shirt and wrap the wolf in it. Then quickly tying it on the rope, he descends the cliff as he hears the running of a few wolves above. As he gets down, he undoes his shirt but keeps the wolf's head covered as he examines it for any wounds.

  The cub seems to have some cuts on the body, probably from falling down the cliff. “Just stop moving, you mutt,” says Lee trying to keep the wolf steady; then he remembers what he read about the beasts and the beast gems, so he holds the wolf cub with his knee and, using an arrow tip, he opens the squirrel-rabbit beast and removes its beast stone. Then, after removing only the wolf's head from his shirt, he holds him tight and places the stone in its mouth when it tries to bite Lee.

  Just then, Lee hears the approaching wolf pack; when he looks up, he sees a huge black wolf that seems to blend with the shadows. Lee feels heat coming from the cub and lets go of it; then the cub frees itself from the shirt and it is glowing softly, his wounds glowing more as they heal before his eyes.

  Lee notices that the sound of the approaching wolves stopped; he looks up and sees them surrounding him. The black wolf approaches carefully from in front of him, and looking back, Lee notices a grey wolf with blue streaks approaching from behind.

  Lee stands still, his heart racing in his chest; the black wolf approaches the cub and Lee takes a step back. The wolf bends down its massive frame to the cub and smells it, then smells the dead beast on the side; finally, it looks at Lee. Leaning its body forward, ears up in the air, tail down and stiff, it approaches slowly, and Lee, for some reason, feels an uncontrollable impulse and extends his hands forward and lets the wolf smell them.

  After smelling Lee’s hands, the wolf circles Lee, sniffing him all around. It gives a small bark and rubs its head on Lee’s chest, then lets out a soft bark and the grey wolf approaches and it, too, smells Lee. Due to their massive size and Lee’s small one, he has a clear view to see that the black wolf is a male and the grey a female.

  Just then the cub approaches Lee, its lips pulled back in a snarl towards him, but with a bark from the black wolf, the cub's ears drop back and it whimpers. As it approaches Lee, head downward in shame, and when it is close enough, it licks Lee’s hands.

  Then from the circle another wolf approaches and barks towards the black wolf, then looks at Lee. Looking carefully, Lee recognises the brown wolf as the one that was chasing the boar that Lee killed with an arrow into the eye.

  The black wolf lifts his head to the sky and howls; then the rest follow in a group howl. Noticing that there is no danger, Lee reaches down and picks up his kill, removes the rope, and places it in front of the cub, now fully healed, which accepts it with a wag of its tail.