Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

Where's Shouri and the others? Well they're fast asleep, tuckered out as it were. Today it is just you and I.

Who am I you ask? Why, I am Seres, the Time Sage. I am the keeper of the flow of time, preventing those who wish to sully its flow with their greed or regret. Though it flows like a river there are many branches in this delta.

Today I have a special treat - a small glimpse into one of those branches. Despite this being an alternate scenario than the one you have witnessed up to this point many things hold true - I ask you keep that in mind as we go.

With that preamble out of the way, perhaps you all have misjudged a certain woman. What if circumstances had aligned to allow a destined pair to meet much sooner?

What would change?

This is just one possible way it could go...

"Your child has discordant willpower."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a serious condition, but thankfully one which can be treated."

"What are the treatments?"

"The most natural treatment is of course a duet – a Resonator with the opposite stave alignment from your son. That will resolve the issue with the least fuss."

"No, my son-!"

"James wait. Let's try it. The worst thing that will happen is we just have to find the Resonator a new home."

"…Fine."

Shouri kept his head down. It was too much effort to raise it. He wasn't sure why he had been brought to this place. It was hard getting out of bed this morning.

Other kids played and laughed and enjoyed themselves, but he just felt… empty. So very empty…

He didn't even know the words to express himself. The only thing that spurred him forward was that bright yellow curiosity. He was only curious so he could tell someone anyone how he felt. He knew very well that at his young age he shouldn't feel like this, but he did and didn't understand any of it.

"Alright Shouri," his mom spoke up. "You're gonna play with these Resonators today."

With great effort, he lifted his head. All around him were them; the magnificent magical beings of their world: Resonators. Kids like him, but they had tails, horns, wings, and other body parts he didn't possess.

"Find a friend Shouri, go on! I'll come pick you up later!" His mom was abandoning him. He should have figured someone as broken as he was would earn his parent's ire.

Who'd want a creepy child like him anyway? He punched well above his mental weight class – all in a vain attempt to express himself. All it did was alienate him from other kids his age.

Five-year-olds shouldn't have these thoughts. His brain shouldn't be this loud, he shouldn't have depression. His stave…

…was a curse.

His head fell once more. The ground was his only friend. Not by choice, but by obligation. It was always there, and so his vision trained there. People were cruel. People were hard. People were exhausting.

"Oof!"

Shouri rubbed his head, having fallen on his rear after walking into someone. As expected, a Resonator greeted his vision. A girl with short black hair, and a pair of canine ears poking up from atop her head. In her arms she carried a thick book. A soft fluffy tail curled around the inside of her legs.

"S-sorry!" squeaked the girl. "I-I was reading and didn't hear you!"

Shouri blinked. Something was odd… but he couldn't place what exactly. His eyes rested on the book in her arms. She was so small, the book was far too big for her.

But… she said she was reading?

Maybe she was a kindred spirit?

"What are you reading?" asked Shouri. His hands found their way to his mouth as if he couldn't believe the words that escaped.

The girl's eyes sparkled in awe. "I-I'm reading the uh…" she tried to mouth the words but her face rapidly flushed. After a moment of struggling, she just held out the book's cover for Shouri to read.

"Whispers of the Faelands: A Resonator's Melody"

Despite the book's title, it wasn't one detailing the finer traits of Fairy Resonators. It was a book older kids read, a fiction book about an older Maestro stumbling onto a fairy Resonator and their adventures together. Shouri hadn't read it himself, but he noticed a lot of girls tended to read it. He wasn't one to care about that sort of thing. If a book could teach him new ways to express himself, he'd turn the pages.

Perhaps it was that which made him act.

"Can we read it together?" he asked.

The little vixen couldn't figure out the words, her mouth agape. She nodded eagerly before Shouri got cold feet and left her.

Much to her elation, he found a spot for her to sit with him. The young fox noticed something strange about the boy though. Whenever she got stuck on a word, he spoke up and told her what it was without her having to ask. He was reading faster than her but was infinitely patient - waiting for her to finish the page before they turned to the next one.

Her mind felt so clear, the buzz that made focus difficult steadily faded away. The world became so serene as it was just her and him with their shared book. She didn't even realize her tail had snaked around and cushioned her bookmate's back.

Neither of the kids paid the passage of time any mind – they might as well have exited the flow of time itself. However, the world was cruel and time marched on without their express consent.

"Shouri Tomoshibi, your mother is here to pick you up!" boomed the loudspeaker over them.

"Ow…" the girl whimpered, flattening her ears as the rude sky box ceased its horrible noise.

Shouri remained still for a moment, no longer reading with his book buddy.

"That's you… isn't it?"

He turned to face the fox-girl by his side. Her ears remained flattened, the hurt shimmering in her eyes. The pain of the impending departure was especially poignant as the young vixen fought her emotions in a rapidly losing battle.

It hurt. It hurt so much. It was horrible. He didn't want to move, and not because of his broken stave, but out of stubborn refusal of the call. However, he knew he had to – there was little choice in the matter. His eyes welled up with anguished frustration he was barely able to contain.

Heartbreak.

He had read that word once in his studies.

That's what this was.

He was heartbroken, she was heartbroken. That's what this was.

"Find a friend!"

His mother's words rang out like law in his head. What was this feeling but of friendship? This girl met the requirements of the assignment given to him.

"Find a friend!"

"Eh?" the girl was suddenly yanked to her feet, her hand taken by Shouri's. She didn't say a word as she was pulled along towards the front of the building.

Imagine Lila Tomoshibi's surprise when her discordant son walked to the front with purpose in his step – his head raised, his gaze focused, his gait expedient.

He dragged a small girl along with him, raven-clad as she was, her hand was interlinked with his and she followed along as a willing participant.

Lila opened her mouth to greet her child, but he spoke first.

"I want her." The voice that came from his lips wasn't like anything she had heard from him before. It was so confident; it knew what it desired.

The research center's employees were stunned silent. They had watched the boy when he came in, and this was not the same sullen child.

Lila smiled warmly, she turned her head back to the caretaker. "Well? Can he have her?" she asked.

"We'll need to run a quick tempo test to ensure compatibility, especially since this is a medical treatment, but that's quick enough to do."

Lila ushered the two children along, taking an appraising look at her son's selection. The first thing she noticed was the distinct sensation of darkness wafting from the girl. It was one she was familiar with – that of the Lunar element. The woman smiled. "Yeah, you're my son alright," she whispered.

The facility itself was massive and outside of the housing for the Resonators to be adopted out to perspective Maestros, there were many other wings, like the medical wing they were currently visiting.

It was a very impressive state-of-the-art building now that Lila was allowed to properly take in its various amenities. They were led into a room with two exam tables and a computer terminal. There were a couple of chairs for family or caretakers to sit and watch and the usual assortment of medical equipment one would expect in an exam room.

Lila took a seat while the two children were helped up to their respective tables.

"What are you doing?" her inquisitive son asked. The doctors were attaching diodes to both him and the fox Resonator who they still didn't have a name for.

"Excuse me," Lila spoke up.

"Yes ma'am?" One of the attending nurses asked. She was a bovid, a cow – a Resonator commonly found in medical offices and professions due to their particular affinity towards healing magic. That much Lila knew.

"Do you have a file on her I could look at?" requested the mother.

"Oh yes, Doctor, can she-?"

"Yes, go ahead and give it to her."

With no further fuss, the mother was handed the file on the girl her son had chosen. Lila perused the contents of the folder. There was much that was outwardly obvious. She was a fox, a Lunar element. The woman's eyes rose to see the little girl being stuck with several diodes that matched her son's.

"Gonna have to talk James into this one," she muttered under her breath, returning to the documents before her.