From Adachi's Perspective, 12 years later:

Adachi: "Kiichi, can you tell me about my father again?"

Kiichi grunts and sits back in his chair.

Kiichi: "Haven't I already told you everything I know? There's not much to say, Adachi. You know this."

I look at Kiichi with glimmering eyes, and I see his face soften.

Kiichi sighs and begins to depict the story of his brief meeting with my birth father and his battle with the midstless. I absentmindedly sit back on Kiichi's bed while absorbed in the story.

*CRACK*

Uh oh. I slowly look up at Kiichi, who has a stern look on his face. Shivers go down my spine.

Kiichi: "Adachi... How many times have I told you not to put weight on things that aren't designed to handle you?"

Adachi: "It's not my fault I'm so heavy!"

Kiichi shoots me a look that could kill.

Adachi: "I'm sorry, Kiichi... I'll fix it."

Kiichi: "That's right. You'll fix it if you want dinner tonight."

Kiichi may be strict with me, but my appreciation for him remains, nonetheless. After all, he took me in and looked after me when nobody else would. I do think he could stand to give me a bit of grace, though.

My weight has become a real problem in recent years. I'm relatively slender in build, which means that the horn on my right temple is the only explanation for the source of my weight. Kiichi calls it a 'treasure,' but I don't see the value in it at all. I wish I could rip it out of my skull. Believe me when I tell you I've tried. My weight is the cause of most problems in my life. When it snows, I sink all the way in. When I fall over, I get injured easily. I can't tell you how many broken bones I've received from this damned curse of a treasure. Unfortunately, I've been forced to grow accustomed to this weight.

Kiichi says that treasures are great gifts that grant various powers to those who wield them. He tells me this horn is one of those treasures, but I don't believe it. After all, it hasn't done a single good thing for me in my life so far. I suppose it's easier to pick up heavy objects as it doesn't add a lot to my weight by comparison, but Kiichi is stronger than me even without this treasure. Because of his hard-earned strength, it makes it hard to see this horn as a gift from heaven.

As I'm leaning over to fix Kiichi's bed, a thought arises in my mind.

Adachi: "Kiichi, do you know of any way to get rid of a treasure?"

Kiichi: "Hmm... Nope. Not that I know of. Sorry!"

I look at him, wearing my disappointment on my sleeve.

Kiichi: "Well, Adachi, keep this in mind. I may be a whole lot smarter than you, but this old man isn't an all-knowing being. This is why I've been training you to go and fit in with other people. You'll have a shot of getting rid of that horn if you can disguise your Cosmic appearance and seek assistance elsewhere."

Adachi: "And you'll come with me when I do go to Itamor, right Kiichi?"

Kiichi: "Pah! Don't be ridiculous. Haven't I done enough for you already? I've told you, Adachi, I have no desire to be around other humans. You're the only exception."

Adachi: "Why Kiichi? Why do you hate people so much?"

Kiichi looks away from me and walks towards the fireplace to cook dinner. He had no intention to grant me a response. I sigh and go back to fixing the bed. It must be nice having a raised bed. Unfortunately, my bed is on the ground because Kiichi couldn't manufacture a bed frame to hold my weight.

I look over at Kiichi, who is pensively watching dinner boil in the pot. I suppose my question put him in a foul mood. It does make me wonder what happened to him, though. What made him dislike people so much?

An hour or so passes.

Kiichi: "Dinner's ready, Adachi! Is my bed fixed yet? No dinner until it's fixed."

Adachi: "Yes, Kiichi! It's all fixed up."

Kiichi: "Good. Let's eat outside. The weather is nice today."

Kiichi and I bring our bowls to a few tree stumps on an overhang and begin to eat. The view from here is spectacular, but it's overshadowed by how serious Kiichi looks right now. His stern face is making my stomach turn. There's clearly something quite important on his mind.

Kiichi: "Adachi, I suppose I should probably tell you why I live away from others on this mountain."

I gulp down my bite, almost choking on it.

Adachi: "Kiichi, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Kiichi: "You deserve to know this much about me, Adachi. You're 12 years old now, and you can handle it. I forget that sometimes..."

I'm a bit apprehensive as to what I'm about to hear. After all the times I've wondered about Kiichi's past, I thought that finally hearing it would be exciting, but his expression makes me apprehensive.

Kiichi: "Adachi. Do you want to know or not?"

Adachi: "Oh! Sorry. Yes, I want to know."

Kiichi: "Alright then... It all started when I was a young man living in a smaller province outside Itamor. My father had recently passed away, and I had taken over being the lord of the province."

Kiichi was a noble of some sort? He's taught me all about how government and business work, but I'd never suspected he was involved to this degree. So this scruffy old man was really a lord at one point? That isn't easy to imagine.

Kiichi: "I had trained for many years to control my midst and become a Novan, but my father's untimely death left me with unexpected responsibilities. I never ended up fulfilling my aspirations because of it. So instead, I got married and had children as a Lord."

A family? He had never mentioned this sort of thing. He was a good father to me, so I suppose it makes sense that he had experience being a parent. But, if that's true, where is his family now?

Kiichi: "Although part of me still wished to adventure to other lands, another part of me loved my family and took pride in watching over them. My wife lived an easy life compared to when I met her. She used to be a barmaid of low status, but I didn't mind that at all. All that mattered was who she was... or who I thought she was. I thought everything would stay this way forever, but one day I woke up to armed Novans standing in my bedroom. My wife was in tears, standing behind them. They told me I was under arrest for sexually assaulting women in our province. My wife had apparently witnessed it all and had brought women who could testify against me as well. Into the room walked a few women, all of whom I recognized. My wife's friends and old coworkers stood before me, accusing me of various crimes I didn't commit. I suddenly realized what was happening. My wife had never really loved me. She had loved my money and status. For the years we were together, she had planned this all along, bringing the 'victims' into my home and giving them a convincing story to tell. That's when I saw my two little girls standing timidly behind my wife. When I looked at them, they hid behind her. They feared me, their own father! I knew then that it was far too late to plead my case now. I had been set up for far too long to make a convincing argument. The seeds of doubt she had sewn spread far wider than my influence could reach."

Before I knew it, tears were rolling down my cheek. The man who raised me, the man who has only ever done good things for others... he was betrayed in such a way? I find it hard to believe that such wicked people exist on this planet. I fully understand Kiichi's aversion to living among people now. They are selfish and untrustworthy.

Kiichi: "I knew that if I were arrested, I would be publicly executed. Sexual crimes are considered to be punishable by death in most cases in the nation of Itamor. So I had no choice left but to run. Using the midst technique of body enhancement that I had learned while training to be a Novan, I leaped from the window and ran into the woods, narrowly escaping the soldiers' grasp. I planned to return at some point and clear my name, so I returned a few days later to gather evidence. Unfortunately, what I saw there that day truly destroyed whatever hope I had left. Through the window of my old room, my wife and the bartender she used to work under were making love. It had only been three days since I had left. I had returned to take revenge on her, and yet I felt so much pain when I saw them together. I suppose I still had a love for that woman, even after what she'd done to me. Part of me still wishes we were together today. Even more than that, I wish I could have raised my little girls. Well, I suppose they aren't little anymore. They must be 14 and 15 now."

I feel my stomach knotting up. I wish I had never asked about this.

Kiichi: "After seeing my position filled, I returned to the wilderness, having lost all reason to return. Am I a bad person, Adachi? I left my daughters behind with that woman, and I allowed myself to be trampled on. Do you see me as a coward after what I've just told you, Adachi? Do you see me as a weak man?"

I'm trying to control my voice enough to speak. Tears are streaming down my face in full throttle now, and yet Kiichi is stone-faced and looking at the view from where we sit. Reliving the most painful moments of his life hasn't caused him to show even a moment's weakness. There was no angle from which I could view this man as a coward.

Adachi: "N-no Kiichi. You're not weak, nor are you a coward. What you went through would have broken any normal person permanently. I hope to one day be as strong as you."

Kiichi nods his head and then slowly stands up.

Kiichi: "I'm going to bed. Good night, Adachi."

It's been a while since he left, but I've composed myself now. So I suppose I'll go turn in for the day as well. One day I'll be as strong as you, Kiichi. One day.