Chapter 1-2

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Kiwi shuffled to the front door of the teahouse and eased the door open, peering into the crack. As expected, it was completely empty save for a single table, where a figure lay slumped among several sheets of paper. In the dim light of the evening, Kiwi could make out the black ponytail and blue apron of his mother.

Holding his aching midsection, Kiwi shuffled into the teahouse, trying his best not to make any noise. Right as he stepped into the room, he stubbed his toe on the leg of a chair, causing him to stumble and collide with one of the few tables in the room. Kiwi and the table crashed to the wooden floor, knocking down two chairs in the process.

“Who’s there?” shouted Kiwi’s mother, shooting to her feet. Immediately, she grabbed her head and winced, gingerly setting the bottle of wine she held onto the table.

“I’m back, Mother,” Kiwi said, turning away from his mother and placing the furniture back on their legs.

“You’re covered in mud,” said Kiwi’s mother, taking a few steps forward.

Kiwi quickly finished with the last chair and hurried towards the stairs behind the counter. Before he could escape, his mother grabbed onto his tunic and stopped him.

“Your face too…” said his mother. “Did you get in another fight?”

Kiwi simply stood there, head hanging.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to do anything crazy?” Kiwi’s mother said, voice rising in pitch and intensity. “You should know how hard it is for us after your antics at the Island! I still can’t believe you would give up a chance at being one of the Possessed!”

“I know,” Kiwi mumbled.

“You know they only select candidates every four years right? And only one per village at that! Who in the right mind would give that up?”

“You’ve told me before,” said Kiwi.

“And where in the world is that pesky cat of yours? Usually it would be howling and screeching for food at this hour.”

Kiwi tightened his jaw and tried to calm his breathing.

“You took it with you to work today, right? Good riddance if it finally ran away!”

“Shut up!’ Kiwi roared, lashing out with a fist and knocking over the chair he had just placed. “You know what? She’s dead! Just like you always wanted!”

Without giving his mother a chance to respond, Kiwi turned and glared down at her. “Everyone always asks me the same question: ‘Why couldn’t you just kill the cat? It’s so easy, right?’ Well let me tell you what. When you’re the one who takes that knife in your hand and looks down on something so helpless…no person in the right mind could do that! Only a demon!”

Having said his words, Kiwi turned to go, wiping furiously at his eyes. This time, his mother didn’t stop him. Kiwi stormed up the stairs to the room he shared with his little sister. When he reached the door, he paused and sighed, letting his head fall against the door. I shouldn’t have said those things to Mother, he thought. After all, I really am the cause of all of our troubles. Body and heart aching, Kiwi pushed the door open.

The room was completely empty save for several blankets spread out over the floor. His little sister Rin was nowhere to be found.

“Mother, what happened to the beds?” Kiwi asked, hurrying down the stairs.

“Hmm?” his mother asked, amid taking a swig from her bottle of wine. “Heh, we don’t have any more money to pay for the teahouse. Gave the beds away to get us an extra week.”

“Why sell the beds now?” Kiwi asked. “We need them to help pay for where we’re living next!”

Kiwi’s mother slammed her wine bottle onto the tabletop. “I will never give up this teahouse willingly. You should know better than that, Kiwikata!”

Kiwi winced. I’m sorry, Father.

“You do know why we’re in this situation, right?” his mother asked, swaying unsteadily to her feet. “It’s because you’re the first one to ever fail the test to become one of the Possessed. Oh I bet the people in the village were so happy to hear that. You shamed the village, you shamed your family, and you shamed yourself. Now no one comes to the teahouse anymore, leaving us completely broke. You and your sister both get bullied daily. If only you died along with that cat!”

This time, Kiwi felt no anger, only sadness mixed with regret. Maybe it would’ve been better if I had.

“Mother, where’s Rin?” Kiwi asked, trying to change the subject.

“Rin?” his mother asked, surprised. She blinked several times. “Rin…she was supposed to be back ages ago! What is that girl up to at this hour?”

“I’ll go look for her,” said Kiwi, knowing exactly where his little sister was.

Kiwi’s mother scowled. “I hope you don’t come back with her.”

Kiwi nodded and left the teahouse without a word.

-

Kiwi limped to the edge of Turtle Pond, a giant pond whose name had been earned through an infestation of its namesake. He could make out the shells of several turtles relaxing in the pond as the sun set in the distance. On the island in middle of the pond, huddled within a grove of small bushes, sat his little sister Rin.

“It’s time to go home, Rin,” Kiwi called.

Silence.

“What are you doing here at this hour?” Kiwi asked. “It’s late even for you.”

Still nothing.

Grumbling, Kiwi pulled off his sandals and lifted his tunic above his knees. He reached out with a foot and felt underneath the surface of the water. Once he felt the first stone under his foot, Kiwi remembered the first time Raona had showed him the secret path to the island. With a small smile, Kiwi sprang off the edge of the pond and into the water, where he used a chain of raised stones to skip to the island in the middle of the pond. To his surprise, even after all the years, he didn’t miss a step.

“Rin, what’s wrong?” Kiwi asked, pushing the bushes to the side.

Rin, arms wrapped around her knees, turned her face away from him, but not before Kiwi made out a line of red across her left cheek. Kiwi set his mouth and reached down, trying to hold his little sister still as she struggled. Finally, he managed to grab hold of her wrists and held her still. In the fading sunlight, Kiwi made out the thin gash running from the corner of her eye to the bottom of her nose.

“Let me go!” Rin shouted, tears streaming down her face. “I’m never going back home!”

“Who did this to you?” Kiwi asked.

“It’s all your fault!’ Rin screamed, words mixing with her sobs. “All my friends left me! They don’t want to be friends with a sister of a failure!”

Rin lashed out with a leg, booting Kiwi in the bruised abdomen. He recoiled with pain and released her. Wiping at her eyes, Rin leapt across the pond using the secret path. But when she reached the middle of the pond, her foot slipped off the slippery rock and she went tumbling into the water.

She can’t swim! Kiwi leaped into the water and paddled frantically towards Rin, who was flailing and gasping for air. After getting battered in the face multiple times by her wild limbs, Kiwi managed to wrap an arm around her waist and haul her towards the shallows. When they finally reached shore, Kiwi set Rin on the grass and collapsed next to her, wheezing with exhaustion.

With no signs of fear whatsoever, Rin sprang to her feet and kicked him in the leg. “Why didn’t you come sooner? I nearly died!”

Kiwi chuckled despite the pain and pulled himself to his feet. “Let’s go home.”

“It’s pretty late for swimming, Kiwikata the Failure!”

Kiwi froze. Slowly he turned, pulling Rin behind him. Standing at the top of the grassy hill was Plunkett and his two goons. Together, the three strolled down towards Kiwi and Rin.

“Oh yer here too, Little Sister!” said Plunkett, clapping his hands with glee. “Do ya feel prettier now?”

Rin whimpered and pressed her face against Kiwi’s back.

“You did that to her?” Kiwi asked. For some reason, he didn’t feel afraid. All he felt was a strange coldness inside of the pit of his stomach.

Plunkett pulled out a knife and spun it in his hand. “I wanted to carve a nice word onto her face. Pity she don’t keep still.”

The coldness in Kiwi’s stomach spread to his chest. “What do you want, Plunkett?”

Plunkett continued his approach. “I just want the world to know what a poor choice it made, choosin’ you over me as the candidate to go to the Island. If it was me instead of you, things woulda turned out different for the village. They woulda turned out different for my family!”

Plunkett lunged forward, slicing his knife at Kiwi. Kiwi shoved Rin to the side, barely dodging the blow in the process. Plunkett immediately whipped the knife in the opposite direction, gashing Kiwi across the shoulder.

“Help me get him!” Plunkett roared at his goons. The two of them glanced at each other but did not move. Plunkett spat. “Fine! I’ll get him myself!”

Plunkett launched himself at Kiwi, stabbing and slicing with his knife. Any other time Kiwi would’ve fled, but in his current injured state and with Rin in danger, he had no choice but to engage Plunkett. Kiwi managed to throw himself out of the way of a stab, sending Plunkett stumbling forward with momentum. Reaching down, Kiwi’s hand curled around a rock. As Plunkett turned to face him once more, Kiwi hurled the rock, nailing Plunkett in the torso.

“You little bugger!” Plunkett roared, stumbling towards Kiwi.

For some reason, Kiwi felt calm. Normally, when Plunkett was attacking him with both of his goons, there wasn’t anything Kiwi could do. But seeing Plunkett by himself, Kiwi finally noticed how wild and uncontrolled his opponent seemed to be.

I can take advantage of that. Kiwi snatched another rock off the ground as Plunkett neared. When Plunkett drew his knife back, Kiwi feinted a throw with the rock. Plunkett flinched and raised his arms to protect his face. With Plunkett’s lower body exposed, Kiwi pelted the bully in the groin.

Plunkett screamed and dropped his knife, collapsing to the ground and clutching at his privates. Kiwi felt the coldness flood his body once more. He charged forward and kicked Plunkett in the face, crushing his nose and spraying blood everywhere.

“That’s for Saya!" Kiwi screamed, kicking again and again at Plunkett’s body. “That’s for my sister!”

Two pairs of arms grabbed Kiwi from behind and hauled him off of Plunkett before too much damage was done. Kiwi struggled against Plunkett’s two goons but could not break free.

“Boss!” one of the goons called. “You okay?”

Plunkett coughed and hacked, spitting out a loose tooth along with a glob of blood. Trembling, the bully clambered to his feet, fingers curling around the knife at his feet.

“You’ve done it now,” whispered Plunkett, limping towards Kiwi. “Imma carve you up real good.”

“Boss,” said one of the goons. “This ain’t a good idea…”

“Shut it!” shouted Plunkett. “This bugger has crossed the line! After I’m done with ‘im he won’t be able to see no more!”

Kiwi tried to pull away, but Plunkett reached out and grabbed him by the chin. Slowly, Plunkett leaned down, bringing the tip of his knife closer and closer to Kiwi’s eye…

“Stop!” A rock bounced off the back of Plunkett’s head.

“Eh?” Plunkett growled, turning around to meet the eyes of Rin.

“What are you still doing here, Rin?” Kiwi shouted. “You have to leave!”

Plunkett began to chuckle. Before anyone could move, Plunkett charged towards Rin. Her eyes widened and she turned to run, but her ten-year-old legs could not outpace those of a teenager’s. Plunkett snatched her by the neck and hauled her, kicking and screaming, in front of Kiwi.

“You wanna know what I’m about to do?” Plunkett asked Kiwi. “The last thing yer gonna see before I take your eyes out is your pretty little sister losing her fingers.”

“Stop it, Plunkett,” Kiwi said. “I’m begging you. I’ll do whatever you want me to. Just leave Rin out of this.”

“I’m not going to stop until you lose everything you ever loved,” whispered Plunkett, licking the blade of his knife. “Just like you did to me.”

“Don’t do this!” Kiwi begged. He struggled with all his might against the grip of the two goons, but he couldn’t do a thing. Tears sprang to his eyes as he screamed for Plunkett to stop. Why am I so useless? Why does my family have to suffer when they’ve done nothing wrong?

Plunkett grabbed Rin’s hand and brought the knife towards it. Rin wailed and tried to pull away but to no avail. As the blade of the knife touched the base of her index finger, Rin looked Kiwi in the eyes.

“Help me.”

The coldness in Kiwi’s body finally spread to his head. His vision blurred for a moment and he heard a single word.

Kill.

Kiwi saw his mother slumped over a table with a bottle of wine, giving away parts of their home to save what was left of their father. He saw Rin, sobbing in the middle of Turtle Pond, wishing she could live life like a normal ten-year-old. He saw the twisted body of Saya as he buried her in the middle of the rice paddy. He remembered the tears that had soaked his cheeks and the pain that still plagued his heart.

I don’t want to feel that pain anymore.

“Kill,” Kiwi whispered.

The coldness exploded in Kiwi’s head and his vision sharpened. The knife was still pressed against Rin’s finger – yet to make its first cut.

Kill, said the voice in Kiwi’s head, lustful and vicious.

The coldness in Kiwi’s head shot into his right arm. For some reason, the goon holding his right arm yelped and released it.

Kill.

Kiwi kept his eyes locked on Plunkett, allowing the hatred he held inside his heart to consume his body.

“KILL!” Kiwi roared, exploding forth and ramming his fist into Plunkett’s midsection.

Kiwi felt his hand sink into Plunkett’s soft flesh, pushing until his knuckles hit bone. Right as Kiwi felt he could not push any further, the coldness in his right arm detonated out of his fist in a conflagration of blue flames. The flames blasted through Plunkett, allowing Kiwi to propel forth with all his might, launching Plunkett at least twenty feet into the air. Plunkett hung in the air for a moment before he splashed into Turtle Pond.

“Boss!” shouted the two goons, leaping into the pond to save their leader.

Kill.

Kiwi turned to Rin, whose bright smile slowly slid off of her face.

Kill.

“Brother?” Rin asked, backing up.

Kiwi felt his right arm reaching towards Rin on its own free will. Quickly, Kiwi snatched his right arm with his left, pulling it back as it strained to grab Rin.

Kill.

“No kill!” Kiwi gasped, pulling his right hand to his chest and holding it there. “No kill!”

Kill? Said the voice, a little hesitant now.

“No kill!” Kiwi growled, feeling his right hand relax a bit.

No kill, said the voice, disappointment evident in its tone.

Chest heaving, Kiwi slowly opened and closed his right hand, making sure he was in control once again. When he had confirmed that his hand would no longer misbehave, he looked up to see Rin watching him with concern.

“What was that?” she asked.

“I…I don’t know,” said Kiwi, still panting. He glanced down at his right hand. It looked completely normal.

The two watched as Plunkett’s goons finally fished Plunkett out of the pond. Making sure to keep a safe distance from Kiwi, the bullies fled. As they left, Kiwi sighed and relaxed, allowing his body to slump to the ground.

“Bravo! Bravo!” called a muffled voice from behind.

Kiwi shot to his feet, only to waver and collapse again due to exhaustion.

“What a show!” said the newcomer, a tall man wearing a long black robe tied at the waist with a white sash. A white scarf was wrapped around the man’s lower face, covering his nose and his mouth. A rice hat sat on top of his head and he wore a black patch over one eye.

The stranger walked over, shuffling a deck of cards he held in his hands. He came to a stop right before Kiwi, meeting Kiwi’s brown eyes with a single piercing green eye.

“I’ve been looking for someone like you.”