Gaining the skill from eating the steel gauntlets, Kenta stands up and walks towards the tree with the cut leaves. Half a meter away, Kenta raises his fist, pulls it back, and shoots the cannonball of a fist, straight into the trunk of the tree.

*Shunk*

Splintering into a thousand pieces, a massive indentation is left in the trunk of the tree. Although not enough to knock the tree down, the power is still amazing.

With a punch like this, I could knock out a bear… if I get close.

*Huff* *Huff*

“Not again.” Kenta mumbles to himself.

Hearing the sniffing sound, Kenta turns around expecting another bear. What he saw, wasn’t what he was expecting. Behind him were two red furred baby bears, sniffing around.

When Kenta saw the two cubs, his heart immediately dropped. Realising that the bear from before was the mother of the babies.

She was looking… for food… so she could… feed her babies.

Seeing the young cubs, Kenta almost burst into tears.

“I’m sorry.” Kenta says regretfully.

*Roar*

Kenta’s heart dropped again. They were calling out for their mother, they were lost.

“You guys are probably hungry, right?” Kenta asks, “That’s why your mother came after me.”

…

Taking his shirt off, Kenta wades back into the water of the river, and jumps under. Swimming about, Kenta manages to catch six fish. He swims back to shore.

Seeing Kenta coming back to shore, the two cubs happily run up and meet him.

“Here you go, little guys.” Kenta says softly, “It mightn’t be much, but it’s the least I can do.”

Kneeling, Kenta carefully feeds the fish to the bear cubs. On closer inspection one of the cubs appears to have a white patch of fur under its chin.

Giving three fish to each cub, Kenta watches them happily eating.

The sun is setting laying a crimson blanket over the sky. Kenta stands up, and begins to walk up the riverbank. Following not so close behind are the two cubs.

“…guys.” Kenta sighs, “You can’t follow me.”

Kenta quickens his pace, trying to lose the bears. Alas, trotting behind not so close, the two bears are still following.

“Seriously now.” Kenta says, “I can’t bring you home with me.”

Walking up the trail, Kenta reaches the half way mark and turns around.

“Shoo!” Kenta yells intimidating the cubs.

Fearing Kenta’s oppressive aura, they quickly spin around and hightail it in to the surrounding bush. Kenta takes the opportunity to run away before they come looking again.

…

25 minutes later and with no bear cubs following, Kenta arrives home. Walking in the door, Hachi and the family are sitting around the table finishing dinner.

“What happened now?” Kaede says as she stands up, “Why is your shirt all torn?”

“Ahaha… about that.” Kenta explains, “I kinda ran into a bear. This is the result.”

“Considering you’re still standing here, we can guess the outcome.” Hachi says.

“Yeah…” Kenta says regretfully.

“I don’t know the details, and I don’t need to.” Hachi states, “However, I’m sure you did what you needed to do.”

Kenta nods his head dejectedly in agreement.

“Come, you’ve had a long day.” Hachi instructs, “There’s still some veggies and rice.”

Sitting down next to Hachi, Kenta immediately digs in finishing it in minutes, and with a mouthful of water he washes it all down.

Finishing up, Kenta goes into the kitchen and splashes his face with water.

Why do I feel so guilty…? I did what I had to.

Following Kenta in, Hachi sees Kenta splash his face and stare in to nothing.

“Something bothering you?” Hachi asks sympathetically.

“Oh… um, it’s nothing.” Kenta replies trying to shake his thoughts.

“If there is, I’m always here for you.” Hachi says, “I mightn’t be able to help, but I’ll listen.”

“Thanks but I’m fine.” Kenta responds.

…

Walking upstairs, entering his room, closing the door, and sitting on the bed.

I didn’t do anything wrong, did I? I even tried running away, but it followed me. I didn’t have a choice.

“Arghh!” Kenta groans.

So, why do I feel so guilty?

Tapping him on the shoulder, Hachi brings Kenta back to reality. Surprised Kenta quickly turns around only to see, Hachi standing there.

“I knew it, somethings troubling you.” Hachi states empathetically, “I think we should have a chat.”

Hachi sits down on the bed besides Kenta.

…

After a few minutes of silence, Kenta takes a deep breath.

“Okay.” Kenta says, “There has been something troubling me. Are you sure you want to listen?”

“Of course I do, Silly.” Hachi responds, “I’m your friend, aren’t I?”

“Yeah…” Kenta says preparing to spit it out, “Okay, so here’s what happened. After I’d finished fishing, I followed the riverbanks and began walking up the trail. As I got to the half way mark, I heard a ferocious roar come from behind me.”

“The bear, right?” Hachi inquires.

“Yes.” Kenta answers nodding his head, “Behind me, was a giant red furred bear. I figured it came, after smelling the fish, but I was scared. I knew that I could face it head on. So, I tried running away into the bush, trying to lose it and hide.”

“But it followed you, correct?” Hachi inquires again.

“Unfortunately.” Kenta replies, “After running and hiding for a while, with the bear not giving up, I finally managed to kill it. I didn’t have a choice.”

“It’s only natural.” Hachi states, “In times of survival, we do what we must.”

“I understand that, and I’m okay with that part.” Kenta says, “It’s what happened next that bothers me. After killing it, I went back to the fishing spot opposite the giant tree, and I began washing my clothes, trying to get rid of the blood and dirt… and then... two baby, red furred bear cubs showed up. I killed their mother.”

“Ah, I see now.” Hachi says, “That’s a tough situation. You feel guilty for killing their mother, even though you didn’t have a choice. Look… It might not mean much to you, but I believe what you did was the right thing. You didn’t have a choice; you did what you needed to do. So, I’ll tell you this; this isn’t the first time a baby animal has lost its mother and it won’t be the last either. These things happen and there’s not much we can do stop it. Don’t feel bad, you did the right thing.”

“Yeah… I guess so.” Kenta responds.

“With a goodnights’ rest, I’m sure you’ll feel better tomorrow.” Hachi exclaims looking confident.

“Alright, I guess I’ll get some sleep then.” Kenta agrees.

Lying down in the bed, Hachi walks out the door.

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot.” Hachi says as he comes back in, “Pass me your shirt, I’ll have it patched up by tomorrow.”