Seraphim is a Bystander

Naming
 
“…Mmm?”

When I opened my eyes, I found myself back in my spiritual space—a vast landscape of bookshelves, water, and a starry sky.
It seems I had dozed off, completely entranced by the fluffy white wolf. When Aoi woke up, he must’ve instinctively swapped with me and resumed control of the body.
…It’s been a while since I fell asleep like that. Something about Aoi sleeping makes me really sleepy, too.

“U~? Woof woof!”
Aoi had woken up with the fluffy wolf right in front of him. He still looked drowsy but was clearly overjoyed. …Adorable.
“…(slurp slurp)”

Maybe /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ trying to wake Aoi up, the wolf was licking his face and hands, which Aoi had eagerly reached out to touch.
Looking around, it didn’t seem much time had passed. Mom was still nearby reading a book. Once she noticed Aoi had woken up, she came over and picked him up.
“Aoi~? We need to talk with Daddy about the woof-woof, so let’s go together, okay?”

“Ahuu~!”
Aoi, still excited, was carried off by Mom—with the wolf naturally following alongside. Expanding my perception range a bit, I noticed that Grandpa and Grandma were no longer around. Dad, sitting alone, was intently looking over several documents when Mom arrived with Aoi and the wolf.
“Dear, have your parents already gone home?”

“Yeah, they said they’d handle the necessary cleanup and left ahead of us.”
“Jiji? Baaba?”
At Aoi’s voice, the serious look on Dad’s face softened.

“Yep, Grandpa and Grandma went to work for Aoi’s sake.”
“U~?”
Dad smiled and patted Aoi’s head before pulling out several small slips of paper. They all had names written on them, in kanji and katakana.
“Aoi, we need to give the woof-woof who joined our family today a name.”

“Woof-woof!”
“………”
Aoi grinned happily—whether he understood or not—and the wolf silently looked on. When Dad mentioned naming him, the wolf shifted its gaze toward him briefly, but then fixed its eyes on Aoi.
“…Yeah, looks like the woof-woof wants Aoi to choose. Which one do you like?”

“U~…”
Dad laid out about five papers on the table and showed them to Aoi. He looked between the papers, his parents, and the wolf with a thoughtful expression, and eventually reached out to one.
“U!”

“…Sou, huh. It even matches Aoi’s name. Not a bad choice.”
Aoi picked a slip with “Sou (蒼)” written on it in kanji—even though he probably couldn’t read it yet. Dad took the paper and showed it to the wolf.
“This will be your name. Is it alright if we call you Sou from now on?”

“…Guu.”
The wolf stared at the slip for a moment as if considering it, then gave a soft cry and gently nuzzled Aoi.
“Alright then, Sou. You’re part of our family from today. We’re counting on you.”

“Take care of Aoi, okay, Sou?”
“Chou~?”
…Sou, huh? I think it’s a good name. And it seems like Sou himself is pretty satisfied with it too.

And just like that, the mysterious, once-possessed virtual wolf, Sou, became part of our lives.
Tip: Sou is actually stronger after being purified.