【Synopsis】

In a certain village, a boy was born.

However, this boy possessed animal-like ears and a tail—features impossible for a human.

To hide this fact, his family forced him to wear a hat, living in secret so the villagers would never notice. That was the only way to protect him.

But one day, when he turned fifteen, he was on his way home from the village. A strong wind blew, and his hat soared into the sky.

His hidden ears and tail were exposed. Seeing them, the villagers screamed in terror and disgust.

"He's a hideous child sent from hell!"

"This must be a warning from the heavens!"

Their fury was not directed at the boy alone. The mother who gave birth to him was murdered on the spot. Deciding the boy was next, someone threw a torch that struck him in the face.

Clutching the agonizing pain of his charred flesh, the boy ran for his life.

He ran and ran, simply trying to get as far away as possible.

Eventually, he arrived at an ancient, abandoned shrine where no one ever ventured. There, the boy lived on alone. With the hideous burn scar remaining on his face, he stayed for a hundred years, and then another hundred.

Time passed and the world changed, but he remained there, never moving.

━━━━━

One day, a human appears at the shrine.

It isn't unusual for humans to come. Many have wandered in before, and each time he has driven them away, sometimes even hurting them.

But this day was different.

For some reason... for some reason, he couldn't drive this human out. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to hurt them.