GHOST RIDER X DEMON SLAYER: Book 1: Imps and Prayers

2-1: Rural Retreat

"There's a fawn inside the house..." Ritsuki blankly states to his mother when he heard her enter.

Akiko frowned curiously before following her's sons eyes towards a baby animal who seemed to be limping one of its hoofs in the corner.

It was too big to be a baby deer, so it must have been an elk; though she could understand her son's error. The woman quickly marched over while Ritsuki slowly followed behind.

"Not a fawn, Ritsu, a calf. This is a baby elk," Akiko corrected with a soft chuckle.

"Mmm-hmm..." the boy absently nodded along, "What is wrong with it?"

The woman scanned the left hind leg which had been limping.

"He is injured..." moving in, the calf seemed to try to jump but Akiko managed to close the distance in time.

Her mouth turned flat when she felt an abnormality in the leg, a joint was sprained no doubt the cause of its limping and discomfort.

Akiko signalled for her boy to hold the calf's head and as the boy obliged, she adjusted her grip on its left hind leg.

"Ready?" she turned towards her right.

"Mmm-hmm..." the boy lightly nods.

Gritting with a jerk, she snapped the bone back in place and painful squeaks began to erupt from the calf. Ritsuki did his best to hold its head in place.

"It won't be able to walk properly at first," his mother began, "We'll need time for this to heal. Ritsu, stay here while I fetch some braces."

Akiko got to her feet and marched back to the entrance. They had left their bags and moving baskets here and she began to dig through the disassembled furniture pieces.

Finding the items she needed she inspected them for a moment before a squeak alerted her to head back, two narrow sticks and a knife in hand.

"Oh..." she uttered when she saw Ritsuki, the boy had managed to get comfortable with the calf it seemed. It was resting its head on his lap while the boy leaned his back on the wall.

"He has named me friend..." he stated, almost with a chuckle.

Akiko looked glazed at first, but soon she couldn't hold back her stun. It had been so long since Ritsuki had smiled.

"So, he's a boy, is he?" she tried to rouse his cheer. It was so dark inside the house that Akiko was unable to notice the calf's gender for herself.

The boy nods as he gestures to the animal resting on his lap.

"When I tried to move him closer to the wall I accidentally grabbed the precious jewels between his legs."

"Aha, was he amused?" Akiko stifled a laugh, she bent down as she began to position the improvised wooden braces.

"He was angry, he scolded me very harshly." the boy shook his head with his eyes shut.

"So that was the squeak I heard...?" Both mother and son shared a small laugh.

Tieing the braces with a strap from one of Ritsuki's bracers, they ensured it wasn't too tight before nodding satisfied.

"Let's have him stretch his legs." Ritsuki was the one who had suggested this, and Akiko immediately nodded.

The calf must have weighed a little over 3 kan (貫), and both mother and son had to be careful so as not to harm it.

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"He loves the water..." Ritsuki noted to his mother, they both sat on standing logs overlooking the reservoir.

The calf had taken to the shallow pool despite his brace and was joyfully swimming around while the boy and his mother watched.