Ichi's glum face under the evening sun cracked open to sigh.

""One girl made me her pet, another is trying to kill me, and another said she wanted to bear my child and she's a complete mess."

Grandpa gave him a hawk eye look again. Ichi noticed out of the corner of his eye how his Grandpa's eyebrows hovered like thunderclouds.

"'bear my child'?" Grandpa growled.

Ichi held out his palm to Grandpa, appealing to him as he avoided his gaze.

"You're not worried about the pet part? That's referring to your favorite new daughter who moved in this morning, after all."

"That's reassuring to hear," Grandpa said.

Ichi waved his hand in a lazy motion.

"Is there anyone normal in this town? I want to leave, immediately."

Ichi lifted his shirt. The seal Myon placed on him was still there across the center of his chest, he touched it gingerly like a wound. Grandpa's gaze drew to it.

"Myon gave you this?"

"Yeah"

"I think she likes you," Grandpa chuckled.

"Very aggressive way of showing it. Lifted me half off the floor last night."

"Your Mom used to complain about how you were fighting all the time. Aren't you into that sort of thing?"

"Not like this." Ichi moaned.

Grandpa shook his head.

"You want to choose how you would like the world to be, then seeing what's there is the first step. Resent your imagination of this world, and you resent yourself, you decay into weakness."

Ichi heard it before.

"More of this kind of talk? You'll make me run away from home at this rate."

Ichi blew out a heavy sigh like a cloud.

"Fine," Grandpa looked at Ichi. He stared at his garden nearby. Then, he nodded to himself.

"Then, let's change strategy."

Grandpa rose pushing on Ichi shoulder as a support. Ichi was used to that sort of behavior from him. Then, Grandpa kicked Ichi's lower back with the side of his foot.

"Good. Come with me. Might as well show you something."

Ichi welcomed the change of pace as he followed Grandpa's back. Grandpa lead him down a hallway towards the opening leading to the kitchen, then, he turned towards the wall. Ichi puzzled himself over Grandpa's movement until Grandpa punched through the wall. Instead of breaking, the wall bent around his hand slithering around it like slime.

"Access confirmed," a female voice said.

Ichi swore that sounded a lot like Renya. An older Renya. He kept silent as the wall pulled itself off Grandpa arms with a bounce, then melted rolling apart like slime from the center pulling off to the sides forming a perfect rectangle opening. Ichi's jaw dropped, but only a little, before he remembered again how upset he was about life.

Grandpa took the first step down the steep stairs into the darkness, as lights began to flicker on in the depths below.

"Don't try to punch that wall. It'll slap you."

Ichi nodded to Grandpa's back. He stepped onto the stairs after him, heart thumping.