A group of women gathered in the Japanese-style courtyard, their smirks betraying an anticipation that felt almost electric. The sound of metal hitting flesh resounded throughout the air.
"Stand up, turd!" shouted a tall woman, swinging a metal bat toward the boy. Her long black hair cascaded into crimson tips, and her dark eyes glinted with fierce determination. She was a voluptuous figure draped in white pleated pants and a red baseball vest.
The young boy rose unsteadily, his knees buckling beneath him. With crimson hair and matching eyes set against his pale skin, littered with dark markings, he whispered, "Mom, I'm sorry."
"Don't say sorry! Do something, turd!" She struck him, and the air warped into darkness. "Do something! Anything!" An onslaught of strikes followed, each blow stronger than the last, sending tremors through the leaves surrounding them. Each hit darkened his skin further. "And stop calling me mom!" She rammed the bat into his abdomen, and the resulting gust knocked down several women on the sidelines. He was suspended on the bat for a moment before she swung again, smashing it into his face. He twisted through the air before she struck again, sending his head crashing into the brick courtyard, creating a crater. "Did I say you could die?" Her eyes glowed crimson.
He fell to his knees and bowed his head. "I'm sorry."
She ground her teeth, her patience thinning. "What are you apologizing for?!" Her bat ignited with a red aura as she swung again. "Get out of my sight!" He flew across the courtyard.
Another woman caught him with her cane, and he ricocheted off the ground. "How are you feeling, grandson?"
Looking up at his grandmother, a short woman cloaked in gray, he managed a weak smile. "I'm okay." He laid there, skin now pitch black.
A brick suddenly smashed into his back. "Did I say you could rest? Come clean this mess up." She turned away.
He pushed himself to his feet. "Yes, ma'am!" Everyone cringed as he ran off.
"Damn, she was really rough on him today," whispered a bystander.
"She even used her aura."
"He could've died!"
"He should have died! She hits him as hard as she'd hit us."
The women exchanged glances. "I don't think she's ever hit any of us that hard."
"He's pretty tough for a male. I've never seen a boy from our clan take hits and still stand."
"I don't think any man could withstand that."
"Yeah, our Future Clan Leader is pretty amazing, huh?"
They nodded in agreement. "Yeah."
"If only he'd fight back instead of being cursed to be a pacifist like the rest of our clan's males," they murmured, their tone shifting to a sympathetic whisper.
He returned with concrete, bricks, and a gardening shovel, his arms trembling as he laid the bricks down.
Wow, he's such a diligent worker, thought the women. He glanced at them, aware of their pity.
"Pathetic, isn't he?"
"Look at how he shakes after a little practice."
"The Clan Leader wasn't even using a tenth of her strength."
"A disgrace to our clan."
"Useless."
"Aren't all men like that?" the women mumbled, brushing past him.
"He better finish the laundry."
"Has he made dinner yet?"
"The south wall broke again. I swear he never fixes anything right."
He continued working, droplets landing on his hands as he wiped his eyes. It's okay, I'm used to this.
"You've got cement in your eyes again, Kai." The old woman appeared, holding a bucket and a wet cloth. Gently, she wiped his eyes. "Let Grandma help while you tell me how the Fourth Great Ninja War is ending." They continued laying bricks together.
Later, he pushed a cart around the mansion. "The stars seem brighter tonight. Maybe I'll eat out on the roof."
"Just don't fall asleep up there again, Future Clan Leader," called a woman in a kimono. Her dark hair spilled into crimson ends, matching her dark eyes that watched from the doorway to one of the side houses. "You don't need to give me so much; I can still cook, you know."
"I know, Aunt Kiko, but you've been a Yamaguchi for five years now. It hasn't been that long since Uncle died. I thought it'd be better to ease the load however I can..." He placed a pot at her feet.
She glared at him. "And you thought taking over my womanly duties, as you have with the rest of this family, would help?" She slammed her fist on the ground, creating a small crater. "I think about him every day, every night. I long for him every time I breathe. I don't want to eat, sleep, or even live if he isn't with me. But somehow, I do. It doesn't make sense! I feel all these overwhelming feelings—so strong that I shouldn't be able to function as a person. And yet, I can. I can set those feelings aside to do what needs to be done, and it disgusts me. It's as if I'm not human anymore. The worst part? I completely accept it all: my husband's death, how I feel, that I can still function, and my loss of interest in the work at home. I don't truly have any regrets. I would have still forced him to marry into this family and have my two wonderful daughters." She looked away, smiling as she observed a little girl tossing a baby high into the air, their laughter echoing.
Turning from her, he headed toward the main building in the center of the property. "Future Clan Leader! Could you hurry up with the food? Your mother is overreacting again," a voice rang out from inside.
"Oh no, if Aunt Sayuri is looking for me, Mom must be really angry about dinner being late." He stared down at his arms, now mottled with small patches of white on his otherwise blackened skin. "And just when my bruises were starting to fade." He sighed.
"Come on, nephew! My sister's threatening to break your arms and legs again," came the same voice.
He flinched, rubbing his arms. "Coming—"
A hand covered his mouth.
Moments later, a woman stepped out. Her long black hair was pulled into a ponytail tinged with crimson at the tips. Clad in jeans and a blue tank top, her necktie hung loosely around her neck. While she resembled Kai's mother with her hourglass figure, she wasn't as tall or voluptuous. "Where are you—" she paused, glancing around. "Huh? Wasn't he just here?" She looked up, shrugging. "Whatever, it's dinner time." She carried all the food inside, where everyone waited around a dining table. Three seats were empty.
"Lieutenant Sayuri, where's the turd?" Kai's mother glared.
Sayuri served dinner. "Why are you asking me? And would it kill you to call me sis at the table?"
Kai's mother snapped a pair of chopsticks. "Didn't I tell you to go get him?"
"No, dear sister Ren, you said to get dinner. He ain't dinner; this is."
"That's not the point, Sayuri!" She ground her teeth together.
"It actually is—"
"Goddamnit, Sayuri! Where's my son?!"
"Why don't you ask your other kid?"
"Huh?"
"Your daughter?" She pointed at an empty seat.
Kai's mother shrugged. "Oh, she must not have felt like eating with us."
"Neglect much?"
"You don't see me telling you how to raise your kids," Sayuri shot back, gesturing to a girl sitting quietly while one of a pair of twins bashed the other's head into the dining table.
Sayuri turned her attention back to her sister. "Touché. Hey! I told you two to save that for sparring matches! And you, how could you just sit and watch this happen?" She reproached the eldest girl. "At least help the one winning to teach the other not to take this lying down." She slammed the heads of all three girls together. "Anyway, aren't you going to call them?"
"No. Let them be." Kai's mother sighed, which earned glances from Sayuri and Kai's grandmother.
On the roof, Kai breathed a sigh of relief when the hand was removed. "Nagisa, at least warn me when you're going to do that."
"What? Grab you and jump three stories in a single leap? That shouldn't have even phased you," said a girl whose hair draped over one eye, darkened by crimson tips. She wore a white hoodie and tights.
Kai looked down. "You know I'm not like you and the other women in our clan... Because of our cursed blood, the women are all superhumanly strong, while the men are weak pacifists."
"Yeah, I know. All men are useless. If only you could fight."
The trees below swayed along with her hair, causing Kai to shiver. Her hoodie hit him in the face as she glanced at him, now clad in a bra and tights. "Thank you." He wore the hoodie, hugging his legs. "…It's warm… Why did you bring me up here?"
She pressed him against the roof tiles. "To make use of you. It's the least you could do." She settled onto his lap.
With his head lowered, he gulped. "I know I'm useless and a burden… that I'm weak, a coward, and I'll never be as strong as you or Mom or Grandma or Aunt Sayuri and the others, or even an average man. Everyone wishes I would get married and have a girl so the curse would kill me in five years, or that you'd take my place as Future Clan Leader. Even so, I don't resent any of you. I still love you all like family—"
"Shut. Up."
"Nagisa, please calm down—"
"Shut up." Her left hand balled into a fist, pressing tightly against the stones.
"Whatever I said to upset you, I'm so—" She clamped her grip around his throat with her right hand, squeezing, and he gasped.
"Shut up!"
"Sorry!"
She leaped, shoving her palm against his face. He was dragged out of the sky and tossed over the wall, his head plunging into the ground as she ran, leaving a moat in her wake. She flung him, crashing through tree trunks and tumbling wildly. She pursued him, and he collided with a rock. She landed squarely on his chest. The rock shattered, and the earth trembled. "Look at you! I just dragged you through the ground, threw you through six trees, and smashed a boulder with your body, and you're still alive! No broken bones, no internal bleeding, no brain damage—none of that damage even made it past your epidermis!"
She loomed above him, his face marked in black. He lay against the rubble. "Do you think that's nothing? No other human male can withstand that, especially not one from our clan! You're the toughest man I know! If only you'd realize you're just as powerful as us women and stop being such a weakling!" She gazed down at him. "Tch. Every time it's like this. Every time you pass out, you forget everything tomorrow. Why does this have to happen every time I try to enlighten you, brother?! Why?!" Her voice broke. "I don't want to be alone." Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She wiped her face. "No. Not this again." She stared at her hands turning black and grabbed her hair, her locks jet black. "Come on, calm down, Nagisa, don't blackout, don't blackout." Wind began to swirl around her. She floated. "No, no, no! Big brother, wake up! Run! Get away from me! EEeEeOoOOOOoOOoO!" She wailed, touching a tree that withered beneath her fingertips. As she approached Kai, voices clamored in her mind. No, stay away! Stay away from my big brother! She hovered over him, coldly staring, her hands reaching for him. Get away from him!
Chapter End
Chapter Extra
She knelt beside him. Kai patted her head. "Hello, Dakunagisa. It's been a while since you've come to visit me." The dark-skinned Nagisa lowered her head submissively. "I hope you haven't been giving my little sister too much trouble." He continued to stroke her hair. "Right, Nagisa? I know you're still conscious in there." He met her gaze as his hair darkened.
"Kai? This doesn't make any sense... You're my gentle big brother. Why do you seem like a completely different person? What did you do to the brother I know?"
"You're probably surprised, as well as confused. It's nothing too complicated; just as you have a dark side you can't remember, so does your big brother. The only difference between him and you is that your dark side is just an out-of-control transformation because you suppress your true self and doubt yourself. That transformation will be yours to wield once you overcome that. For now, I've dubbed this transformation Dakunagi, or Dark Calm. You're like a shounen protagonist now! So cool!" He chuckled.
"Your brother's transformation, on the other hand, is a case of self-imposed dissociative identity disorder. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but the façade feels so real that it's like I'm watching another person."
"My name is Kaizen, the true face of your big brother. Not that you'll remember." His hand enveloped in black aura, he cupped her face.