The first two years of his life were a blur, blocked out into the depths within his mind. Young Mika Black Hand, son of Amon and Martha Black Hand, stood opposite the window with his hands behind his back. He peered into the garden, his eyes glancing along every blade of grass, deep in thought.

“Dear, don’t you think our Mika is a little…” Martha looked out towards her son, who was still standing as though he were an old man. “Special?”

“Of course he’s special,” Amon replied, and for once, a flash of insight struck his mind. “He is our son.”

“I don’t mean that,” Martha said, her eyes almost having twitched to her husband. Had he mentioned the fact that her son was basically crippled, he would have found his porridge to be extra salty. “I mean…”

‘I bided my time for two years, oh you damn gods above,’ Mika thought, watching as a mantis stalked the cicada. ‘Nay, to call you gods is to belittle you. You are laws beyond the gods, and yet you have come to play with my life? Why? Is ruling over si-,’

“Miki!” came the voice, causing Mika to shudder, before someone almost tackled him to the ground. His cheek was assaulted by another, but he remained firm, steadfast, as though he were an oak tree.

Ami continued to kiss her brother all over his face, showering him in her affection. “Let’s go play!” She dragged him away outside to play, playing all manner of games, from find the stone to toss the ball.

‘How simple is she?’ Mika thought, watching as she played. ‘No. She is a normal six year old girl, isn’t she?’ Mika’s eyes glanced around the estate.

The estate belonged to the right hand of the Black Hand family, Mika’s father, who was related to the head, though they were not siblings. Yet, as the right hand, Amon was the most trusted member of the head’s group of small elders.

‘The right hand and the left hand,’ Mika thought. ‘There is no patriarch so we are certainly a branch family.’ He had spent some time within the last two years understanding the situation of his family, for he was certain of it.

There was something off about this family.

They were nice. Too nice. They must have had something in their history which was irredeemably evil, why else would his sister smother him in needless affection.

‘Do they worship a demon? I see no traces of such ki. Is it something to do with mother and her side? No, her ki is much purer, it must be father’s side.’ He winced at calling them his mother and father, since he had no real mother and father before. ‘They’ll die soon and I will need to find someone else to rely on. No, no, it doesn’t happen until I’m at least five years old, so I have three years to prepare.’

A ball struck him in the side, beating away his thoughts.

“Miki, it’s your turn to toss the ball!” Ami declared, pointing at the ball.

Mika picked up the ball and tossed it only a few steps away. Ami looked at the ball and then to Mika, before clapping her hands and hugging him.

“You threw it so well!”

‘How dare you give me needless praise for so little.’ Mika sighed. ‘This must be their evil. They are trying to praise me for small things so that I grow too egotistical, and then when I am thrown into the cruel reality known as the real world, I will suffer. It is too bad I am your opponent, for I have already lived si-,’ Mika’s thoughts were once again broken by a ball which struck his side.

“It’s your turn again!” Ami’s smile was filled with the radiance of innocence.

‘No, that is not the evil, the true evil is her bullying.’

Ami continued to play with her brother until noon, and her teacher, appeared. She pouted, glaring at her teacher, an older, chubby woman, who had taught the children of the various families. She was adorned in white robes with a blue trim, and carried at her side a token which revealed her level of scholar, which was the rank of senior.

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“We must work on mastering the one thousand characters,” scholar Fora said, resistant to the looks of any young lord or lady after her years of teaching.

“I have to play with Miki,” Ami refuted.

“Is playing with the young sir more important than studying?”

Ami closed her eyes, falling deep in thought. “One should love and respect their family.” Ami smiled at her argument, which was sound in every way, she was sure of it.

“In order to love and respect your family, you must study,” the scholar replied, instantly.

Ami’s face dropped. “You are not allowed to reply!”

“Why not?”

“You did not say you would! That is illegal!”

“I said you should think of an argument, but I did not say I wouldn’t refute it.” The older woman smiled politely, before motioning with her arm. “Come.”

Ami puffed out her cheeks, but she had lost fairly, so she hugged her brother tight, kissed his forehead, and then marched away.

‘Your death will be painful and slow,’ Mika thought, washing his face to get rid of his sister’s saliva which had covered his face. ‘I need to find a way to survive once my family is destroyed.’

Mika entered the family library, picking up the book from the third shelf, before he flipped it open to the page he had left it at, and he continued to read the book. He had begun to absorb all the knowledge he could to learn the rules and laws of this world, finding about its history, which no doubt was written with a particular lean.

The door to the library opened and Lina wiped her brow. “Young sir, are you here?” she asked, before looking at his typical spot.

‘What a stupid question.’

“It’s time for dinner, young sir,” Lina said, noting that the young sir had pretended to finish his previous book and was almost finished with the book he was reading. ‘Even when you pretend to read you are the cutest, young sir!’

‘What foolishness is she thinking?’ Mika placed away his books exactly where they should go, with Lina long refusing to protest since he was so stubborn about the matter. Then he confidently waddled his toddler legs to dinner.

Ami was hunched over the dinner table, her face planted firmly on the table. She had been forced to learn ten of the thousand characters that day, but it had taken too much out of her health. ‘This is illegal!’ She still did not truly understand what it meant for something to be legal, but surely this must have been against the law, whatever that was. ‘I will infoam the Heavenly Emperor!’

Mika took his place beside her, climbing up the cushion, bringing up the handkerchief to form a bib for himself, sitting up tall and proud. ‘I must grow well in order to remove this worthless cushion from my glorious bottom. It isn’t even made of silk! What kind of young sir am I?’

“Ami, sit up,” Amon commanded, sighing, noting that his son at least behaved well in this regard. “You need to remember your etiquette at all times. You are a Black Hand.”

“Yes, father,” the girl replied, waiting for dinner to be served. “Miki, did you finish your book?”

“Yes.”

Amon was about to open his mouth, but he noted the look from his wife’s face, who took great pleasure in Mika pretending to read. ‘I won’t tell you off since you are still young. You might take an interest in reading…’ Amon frowned, hoping that his intuition was wrong. ‘You will certainly have a decent root, like your sister.’

As dinner was served, with at least twenty different dishes on offer, Ami commandeered the cheese, cutting into some of it before offering it to her brother. “Here, for finishing your book.” Ami beamed down at her brother.

Mika was sure there was no poison within the cheese, but he cautiously ate it. ‘She is too suspicious. Why is she so nice? There is no way she would share her cheese for no reason. Hmph, it doesn’t matter, since I’ll repay this debt later this evening anyway.’

Once dinner was finished, the children were forced to listen to the stories which informed them of the various families, speaking of their heroes and villains, and subtly, which families they could afford to offend.

When night came, Mika did as he always did, and he fell into meditation. However, he formed a link between himself and his sister, giving her all of his mana, which he used to transform her body. ‘It is fortunate that you fought to remain near me, for you will gain much glory.’

He sighed after an hour, having finished his magic. ‘In order to become more powerful, I will need to plan my contingencies. I still don’t have a way to cultivate the purest ki so I should just do that instead. Since it’s unlikely for mother to check tonight, I should do it now.’

Mika lay down, closing his eyes. He inhaled deeply, and used the tiniest trickle of ki he had formed, and forced it towards his dantian. Typically, one’s ki would cycle through their meridians, refining their ki. As muscles grow when one trains them, so does one’s ki. However, instead of cycling his ki, Mika forced his ki into his dantian, playing a dangerous game with his livelihood.

Of course, he, who had mastered so many techniques, skills, and magic, had no need to fear, for even as a two year old boy, he was in perfect control.

His meridians shrunk and his dantian broke apart, crippling him.