Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture.
When the bus stopped and its doors opened, a young girl stepped out accompanied by a small black cat. The bus stop was completely empty, the sign swaying slightly in the cold wind.
"Wow, wow, look, Chito! Snow!" she shouted to the small cat as she ran toward a pile of accumulated snow.
"Even though it's April, there's still so much…" With her small white hand, she grabbed a handful, shaping a small ball. "Wow, cold… I wonder if you can eat it?"
Chito: (⊙_⊙)
"Makoto!"
A calm voice caught her attention.
Walking slowly toward her, a handsome young man with black hair approached. "It really is Makoto!" He gave a relieved smile upon seeing the girl.
Makoto was a beautiful Japanese young woman with long black hair. She wore a black dress with a beige cardigan. Her beautiful green eyes observed the boy approaching.
"Hm… no way, it's you, Kei-kun!?" she smiled at the boy. "You grew so much I didn't even recognize you!"
The young man, named Kei, looked at Makoto's hand holding the snowball. "Were you playing with the snow?"
Makoto looked at her hand, blinking in confusion, as if she didn't know how that ended up there. She put the snow back on the small mound.
"Nyaaa!.."
Feeling something rubbing against his leg, Kei looked down. "Ah, it's you, Chito!" Lifting the small cat, he joked: "You grew too."
"You came to pick me up, Kei-kun?" Makoto interrupted. Kei was her cousin, and she had come to the Aomori region to live for a while with his family.
"Ah, that's right." He replied while still playing with Chito. "Since you don't have a good sense of direction, I thought you might get lost."
Makoto didn't get irritated by that; she simply smiled, placing her hand over her mouth. "It's not that bad, Kei, I still remember the way to your house!"
Without waiting for Kei or Chito, she began walking confidently in a certain direction. "So, shall we go? I want to see Chinatsu-chan already!"
"Makoto… you're already going the wrong way," Kei said calmly. His personality resembled that of an elder talking to someone younger.
---
The path toward Kei's house was very peaceful. The neighborhood was quiet and, since it was a rural area, everyone knew each other.
Kei and Makoto were talking calmly as they approached the entrance of the house until—
"Eh?!" Makoto rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing correctly. "Kei-kun… I think I'm seeing a man lying in front of your house…"
Kei turned his gaze toward Makoto and nodded twice. He remained strangely calm, as if nothing in the world could shake him.
Both approached slowly, step by step, toward the strange man lying at the entrance of the Kuramoto residence — Kei's family name.
The man was on the ground and seemed very young. His face was extremely beautiful; he looked like a god… His clothing, a ceremonial black haori, was very deteriorated, but there were no signs of wounds.
"Makoto, open the door for me, please!" Kei exclaimed as he lifted the man's body. He was a good boy, gentle and calm; if he could help, he wouldn't hesitate.
"Ok!"
After opening the door, Makoto waited for Kei to pass carrying the man's body, and then she entered, closing the door behind her.
The house was quite large, following a traditional Japanese model, with a wooden sliding door that led to the genkan — the area where shoes were left. Some rooms had fusuma — opaque sliding doors with drawings.
After removing their shoes at the entrance, Kei headed to the living room together with Makoto.
On the sofa, a cute little girl was sitting, resting her back against a cushion. "Chiiii-naaa-tsuuu-chan!" Makoto shouted as she approached.
The girl showed no reaction; her expression remained neutral. Without receiving a response, Makoto didn't give up trying to start a conversation.
"Hello!"
Tilting her head cutely, the girl responded, still confused. "Hello?"
"It's been a long time since we last saw each other, Chinatsu-chan!" Reaching the girl, Makoto sat in seiza, putting herself at Chinatsu's height. "Don't you remember me?"
"...."
"… Are you onii-chan's girlfriend?" she asked seriously. She really had no idea who that pretty older girl was.
"No, no, that's not it…" Makoto said. She couldn't blame Chinatsu; the last time they saw each other, the girl was only three years old.
"Nyah?!"
The conversation between the two girls ended when Chito interrupted them by jumping onto Chinatsu's lap, which made her let out a cute squeal.
"A kitty!" she exclaimed as she picked her up.
"Looks like Chito is happy to see you too," said Kei as he entered carrying the man they had found. Chinatsu didn't look at her brother; she simply kept staring at the strange "Makoto."
"Brother, who is she?"
"You don't remember her…? Makes sense, you were really young, after all…" With a dramatic pause, he added seriously: "She's your real mother!"
"Eh!!" Makoto was surprised by Kei's statement. Chinatsu, joining the joke, threw herself into Makoto's arms, hugging her tightly. "Mom!!"
"Eeeeh?? N-no, that's not it, wait, Chinatsu."
Only then did Chinatsu notice that her brother was carrying a body. "Onii-chan…"
Noticing his sister's gaze, Kei again spoke seriously: "Ah, this is your real father!"
"Eh?!" This time Makoto and Chinatsu were stunned.
Chito: (⊙_⊙)
---
After some time explaining the situation…
"I see, a guest," Chinatsu said.
"That's right, from today on, Kowata Makoto will start living with us," Kei said. Currently the three of them were sitting at a chabudai in the dining room. "She is our second cousin."
"Fuun…" Chinatsu nodded.
"I appreciate the hospitality!" Makoto said, bowing slightly in a polite gesture.
"Ah, she's the one Mom was talking about?"
"Yes, yes."
"The one with no sense of direction?"
"Yes, yes."
With Makoto's identity confirmed, Chinatsu focused on another topic that intrigued her.
"And that handsome man?" she asked, pointing at the man's body, which was lying on the tatami with a pillow under his head. He still hadn't woken up.
"Well, he seems to have fainted at the entrance of our house," Kei replied calmly. Did he think that was strange? Actually, he was already used to strange things.
"Well, let's show Makoto the house and wait for him to wake up!" With that, Kei began his tour through the house, taking Makoto to the room she would stay in.
---
In the living room…
The man currently lying there was none other than Beelzebub himself. Somehow, his crossing into this world didn't cause any phenomena — in fact, it was very smooth.
He simply appeared in front of the Kuramoto house.
Damn… No one ever told me it was this painful to cross the dimensions between worlds… Slowly opening his eyes, Beelzebub noticed a strange yet familiar environment.
"A Japanese house…" he murmured.
His vision was still blurry due to the long period asleep. With some difficulty, he slowly sat up on the tatami.
"Look, he woke up!" a childlike voice called his attention, followed by a soft poke on his cheek.
Beside him, Chinatsu poked his face as if he were some kind of rare animal. "Are you real? Your face is really pretty!"
Normally Chinatsu would be quite cautious with strangers, but that only happens if you, by chance, arrive at her house wearing strange clothes…
Seeing the child in front of him, Beelzebub quickly searched his memories for answers, and without much difficulty, he identified her.
"This is the world of Flying Witch…"