Later that day, Lee is at his computer finishing his homework when he hears a knock at the open door. So he turns around to find both his parents looking at him.

  “Hello, dad,” Lee says as Kenji only got home after Lee started doing his homework.

  “Hello son,” says Kenji, greeting Lee. “Your mum and I were talking, and we have to ask, did you do something in school today?”

  “I don’t think I did anything wrong, why?” Lee asks, confused.

  “Because I got a phone call from your school,” says Sue, concern in her tone, as in this era the schools hardly calls, unless it is an emergency.

  “Lee, when the school books parent-teacher meetings they do it though the school portal,” informs Kenji. “So for them to phone and for the following day.”

  “But I was well behaved, I even helped Miss Yan in class after the test,” says Lee scratching his head in confusion.

  “You helped the teacher after the test?” Sue asks and Lee nods in response. “And how well did you think you did?”

  “I did really good, it was only a class evaluation test,” says Lee reaching into his bag. “I even got an extra test because Miss Yan thought I cheated on the first one.” Lee gives his parents both tests.

  “S plus?!” Sue and Kenji gasp in surprise.

  “Yes,” Lee says with a shrug. “At the end of the class I asked miss Yan, she said that S plus is more and better than A plus, it’s because I did it fast without having had to correct anything.”

  Sue and Kenji look though the tests, then Sue speaks. “So you got them correct on the first attempt?” Lee nods. Sue and Kenji looks at one another, then looking at Lee they nod and leave the bedroom.

  The rest of the evening goes without any more questions, but Lee can tell that Sue and Kenji are still wondering what the school might want, having booked a meeting with such urgency, instead of the week notice as per usual.

  After dinner, Lee is about to head into his room when he notices three pairs of footwear on a pile next to the back door, he notices that they are old and the ones from Sakura are the ones that no longer fit her.

  His eyes for some reason are drawn to the shoelaces, and memory fragments of a young child doing something with shoelaces or a plastic like string surface in to his mind. Then looking at Sue, Lee asks, as he points at the footwear. “Mom, what are you going to do with the shoes?”

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  Sue looks to where Lee is pointing and says, “They are no good, I’m going to put them in the bin. Why?”

  Lee smiles. “I was wondering if I can have the laces to try and do an experiment.”

  “What kind of experiment?” asks Kenji, as Lee has his face like he started to have when he thought of the bows or how to prepare the rabbits.

  “It’s something that appeared in my head, and I would like to test if it works,” Lee says scratching the top of his head.

  “Is it dangerous?” Sue asks, concern etched in her tone and face.

  Lee shakes his head. “No, the idea was making a keychain or bracelet,” Lee says still not understanding what the memory fragments are exactly. “There is one small thing, when I finish, that can be dangerous, but I will ask for help.”

  Sue and Kenji exchange a look, then Sue looks at Lee and nods as she waves to the footwear. Lee thanks them and removes the six shoelaces, then goes in to his room.

  In his room he sits cross-legged with the laces, then closing his eyes he starts to recap what to do, and in instinct his hands move like with experience of years, experience of someone that has done this for years.

  “Lee, what are you doing?” Sakura asks entering the room.

  “I’m just doing something I thought of, and it actually looks really good, don’t you think?” Lee replies to Sakura automatically in Latin, as she spoke the question on it.

  “Sorry, Saki don't understand, you speak too fast.” Sakura says, this time speaking in Japanese.

  “Sorry Saki,” Lee says in Latin, then in Japanese he repeats what he said before.

  “Okay, can you teach?” Sakura asks. “It looks pretty, what is it?”

  “Yes I can teach you,” Lee says and Sakura smiles, her eyes fixated on Lee’s hands and the intertwining of the laces, that form a square. “This is very simple, and it’s a key chain.” Lee then lifts the final product and shows it to Sakura.

  Sakura takes the woven shoelaces and smiles. “Is it finished?” she asks and Lee nods. “Why is there a big string, are you going to cut them?”

  “No, not yet,” Lee says then reaches in to his draw and removes one of the small rabbit beast stones. “That can be finished like that, but I was wondering how I can put this in the middle.” Lee looks at the stone then at the keychain. “I know, but I will need your help.”

  Sakura holds the top bit and Lee starts to cross the laces ends as he keeps the stone in the middle, once the stone is all covered Lee tightens the laces to make sure that the stone remains in the middle, once the stone is properly secured, he weaves the laces a bit more continuing with the pattern on the start.

  “Give me.” Lee says and examines the final work, the stone is visible in the gaps of the laces, Lee then grabs on end and starts to shake the keychain and smiles when the stone doesn’t come out. “Now it is finished, what do you think Saki?”

  Sakura takes the keychain and lets out a happy scream, “It’s very beautiful.”

  “You like it?” Lee asks with a smile, as he used the laces from her old trainers. Sakura nods, as she smiles looking at the chain. “You can keep it, it’s yours.”

  “What happened?” asks Kenji entering Lee’s room, Sue trailing right behind him.

  “Look, Lee made this for Saki,” Sakura says, with a smile from ear to ear. “It’s very beautiful.” She says giving the keychain to Kenji so he and Sue can look at it.

  After examining it, they look at one another, then tagging at the key chain they notice the stone inside.

  Sue’s head looks at the stone then her head snaps to look at Lee. “Lee, is this one of the beast stones?”

  “Yes it is,” Lee says with a smile. “I have been wondering how to use them without making a hole in them, and now with this I tested it, and it works.”

  “So this one is finished?” asks Kenji, and Lee nods in affirmation.