As the people around me start to increase, they yell at me, saying;
“Why are you here?”
“Have you come to curse us?”
“You’re the one making the minuses stronger, aren’t you.”
“Don’t you know how your existence has brought ruin to our businesses?”
“Stop destroying our lives!”
“Why did you have to be born into our village.”
“Was it not enough destroying your parent’s lives.”
“GET OUT!” Someone screams at me as they throw a stone my way. But as the stone comes towards me, Orb knocks it away as he and Cyrus arrive.
“What are you people doing?”
“Stay out of this foreigner.”
“How can I stay out of this when my friend.”
“Friend, do you even know what that child is?”
“She must have tricked him.”
“To think she has been trying to bewitch all the travellers all this time.”
“Even after we put up with her existence in our village, she still pulls stunts like this. I have had enough of this, let us remove her.”
Cyrus smashes his foot into the ground, which releases a mighty shockwave pushing people back and onto their knees. Then he says in a primal voice, “Don’t hurt children.”
The crowd around him grows fearful, I can feel it. But soon, the fear is replaced with even more rage as they say, “Look, she is controlling those boys. We have to appeal to the queen to remove her from this city. She is too dangerous.”
“GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!” They shout at me constantly.
“What the hell is wrong with you people?”
My headache gets worse as the number of people increases. Their thoughts are so intense that two more of my tails fully grow back. Looking up, I see their faces of disgust at my presence here. I can’t take this. Why do I have to feel all this hate I think as tears fall from my eyes. I can’t stay here anymore so I convert my tails into spiritual energy and then use all my strength to take off faster than anyone could keep up.
Φ “Dammit, wait up,” Orb says. “Cyrus, I am going to go after her. Please figure out why these people are acting like this.” Then Orb takes off after her.
This is my chance, I got to do my job. “Why are you guys saying such horrible things to her? S-S-She hasn’t done anything.”
“It is because her very existence is a blight on this nation and all our lives.”
“As long as she is here, we can never truly be safe.”
“You know nothing, so stay away from her foreigner.”
As they continue to shout, I hear a voice louder than the others. Coming through the crowd, I see Muneko, and she says, “I have already told the twin stars that the Norowareta-ko has left her space. Now disperse and calm yourselves. Nothing you do from this point on will do anything except make a minus appear.”
Following her words, they all disperse, and I say to Muneko, “T-T-Thank you.”
“No problem. I said I would help you if we met again, but Cyrus, more importantly, where you really with the Norowareta-ko?”
“I was with m-m-miss Gozen, but I don’t know w-w-w-why people are scared of her. Muneko, please tell me.”
“Well, it is complicated, so let’s find someplace to sit down.”
-Break-
Φ She is fast. I can’t even keep up. I would be lost entirely if I didn’t know where she was headed. As I keep running through trees in the forest towards miss Gozens house, I hear something, but before I can react, I am knocked from the tops of the trees to the ground below.
“What the hell was that?” When I look up, I see someone standing in front of me. Making out who it was, I saw the commander of the twin stars in front of me.
As he opens his mouth to say something, he starts to laugh. “Sorry about this, but I just remembered how you were found, and I couldn’t stop laughing.”
Out of sheer embarrassment, I say, “Forget about that right this instant.”
“Ok, princess. Now would you please do me a favour and leave that girl alone.”
“Not a chance.”
“What, you in love?”
“Gross, don’t make me puke.”
“Wow, you are a little boy.”
“I don’t have time for games so unless you can tell me why everyone hates her, I need get out of my way.”
“OK, ok, then I will tell you.”
Φ “Cyrus, this nation, as you know, has a curse on it that makes emotions take a form we call spirits. Spirits are beneficial and are one reason our country is so self-sufficient.
Φ “But for all those benefits, little boy. There is a trade-off, and that is the Norowareta-ko.”
Φ “Every twenty years, a child is born with a curse. The child is granted the ability to interact, alter and shape spirit energy. They can manipulate the souls of all life and control them, but more worryingly, they can create spirits whenever and wherever they want, even outside the boundaries of this country.”
Φ “That sounds like a blessing that power could be used to help people everywhere,” I say.
“You are correct about the little boy, but that isn’t the only power they are granted.
Φ “Spiritual energy is drawn to Norowareta-kos. This means they are constantly bombarded with emotions, and eventually, people’s thoughts.
Φ “At first, it is just the people around them, but as they grow older, the range of this ability also grows. It goes from the people around them, then to all the people in the city, then all the people in the country, then everyone in the world.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Φ “Can you imagine constantly taking on the emotions and thoughts of everyone worldwide? It is simply too much for anyone to bear, so every Norowareta-ko eventually goes insane.”
Φ “When they eventually lose it, they use their powers to destroy everything. They make a nearly infinite legion of spirits, and by manipulating people’s souls, they can turn them against each other.
Φ “People are rightfully scared of them for such a reason, and where fear comes, so does discrimination. By law, they aren’t allowed to harm Norowareta-kos physically, but as you can see, there are other ways they can.”
Φ “The hatred runs so deep it is even considered standard practice to abandon your child if they are born one. Norowareta-kos are kept isolated from everyone else in whatever city they’re held in to ensure there aren't any incidents.
“She didn’t ask to have any of this and is treated like a monster for something she can’t control.”
“I can’t control people’s hearts, but she is dangerous and must be separated from everyone.”
“So what? She should spend her life hiding away alone in the forest. What kind of life is it that, you people have no right! If she has to live like this, she would be better off dead.”
“Your spot on. Kids can’t be executed for any reason in this country, so when the little miss in that forest reaches age fifteen, her head will be lobbed right off. For this reason, I want you to fuck off and go away.”
“Bastard, how the hell can you be so heartless.”
Walking up to me and grabbing me by the collar, he says, “YOU’RE THE HEARTLESS ONE, BRAT. She has no family, friends, or anything to attach herself to this world, so at the very least, I am sure she would also like to leave this world.
But then you come in and make it harder for her. Do you realise the worst thing you could do is to give her any form of affection because when she has to die in less than a year, it will only make it harder for her?”
Letting me down, he says, “So if you care about her on any level, you will leave her alone and not get her involved in your self-righteousness. Now, bye,” with that, the commander leaves.
Φ “So please, Cyrus, leave this girl alone. Don’t make her exit from this world harder than when she lived in it.”
“Muneko, can you answer one question?”
“What would that be.”
“W-W-Why do they hate her so much?”
“I already told you it is because she is a norowareta-ko.”
“I’m sorry, but that l-l-level hatred can’t be just because of that. That wasn’t f-f-fear; it was disgust at her existence.”
Letting out a sigh, Muneko says, “Among norowareta-kos, she has it especially bad, and that is because the legacy she was born with is-.”
-Break-
Seven years ago
Φ “You, our precious star,” are the words my mom and dad told me daily when I was young. Over and over, they called me precious, beautiful and unique. “No matter what anyone says, you’re our greatest blessing,” I loved receiving all these compliments, but I loved being with my mom and dad even more.
My dad owned a dojo where he taught me how to fight, every day was intense, but it was much fun going up against him every day.
Whenever we trained too hard, mom punished dad and made me draw with her. All of mom’s drawings were so wonderful that I wanted to try to recreate them, so I always did my best to focus, but my dad got lonely and tried to bother us. It was a fun time, but my favourite part was that right before we went to bed, my mom told me how this country’s founder defeated the evil demon fox that cursed this nation. Waiting to hear this story always got me excited to go to bed.
We lived in our house in the forest, away from all the people in the city. We lived right beside my father's dojo, which was really big, making it hard to clean. My dad said our family had been running this dojo since the start of our nation’s founding, and our family took great pride in it.
So, we always had to make sure it was in perfect condition. We had to clean it, but whenever we did, I found pictures of fathers other students, so I asked him.
“Why don’t your students help us clean this house?”
“Well, I want us to do this as a family. I can never spend enough time with you,” he says as he picks up my petite body and tosses me into the air.
I always liked that answer because it made me feel like the most important person in the world.
One of my favourite activities was when we would go into the city to do some shopping. It was always fun since I was never able to come here usually. Mom and dad both hold my hand and swing me around whenever we shop. I have lots of fun with them, but the people around me always give us strange looks, and I feel they don’t like me. I don’t understand why but I have always been able to understand people’s emotions.
While shopping, I saw some kids playing close to us during one of our outings. So unbeknownst to my parents, I slipped out to play with them.
Seeing them kick a ball around in utter excitement, I walk up to them and ask, “Can I play as well?”
But they looked scared at my presence, and one of the kids says, “It’s the monster.”
“I am no monster. I wouldn’t harm anyone,” I say as I walk closer.
One of them throws the ball at me, hitting me in the face. Then they say, “My mother told me about you. You’re the monster.”
“Leave us alone.”
“Get out of here.”
Then the kids start throwing stones at me. My head starts to hurt a lot. All of this angers me. I hit one of the kids in the face, which send them back. While the first kid starts crying on the floor, the other kids run over to him as his crying grows louder.
Suddenly an adult walks up and asks, “What happened?”
The kids say, “That monster attacked us,” while the one I punch is still crying. Soon lots of adults come here, including my parents.
When they arrived, my parents grabbed me and started apologising to everyone around them while bowing, their faces were filled with frustration. But all the people keep screaming and saying mean things to them. Suddenly my head starts to hurt so bad that I pass out.
-Break-
Walking up, I look around to see I am in my house. I walk around looking for mom and dad, and when I get to the house entrance, I see them both talking to an old woman. Getting close, I hear her say.
“Inari, I need you to listen to me and abandon the girl.”
“That girl is your granddaughter.”
“Don’t you understand you fool. You can have more kids. But the fact that you haven’t disowned her led to your dojo’s end. It used to be the largest dojo in all of Seirei, but now all your students have left, and our family’s over two thousand years of history have ended.”
“That’s enough, mother.”
“What about you, Kuzanoha? Your art used to sell in the capital to the rulers of our country, but now you sell them for scraps to get by. Don’t you see you both were incredibly blessed, and now you’re letting your life be destroyed due to this one child. You can have more, don’t let that girl’s cursed existence take you down with it.”
Hearing this, my chest feels tight as if it is about to explode, so I say, “Mommy, daddy, I am sorry for being born,” which causes them to turn around I but run off.
-Break-
After running for some time, I find a place to stay. As long as I stay here, I will be fine. Now both mommy and daddy will be happy. Even if I am alone, I will be ok as long as they’re ok. I won’t curse anyone anymore.
I suddenly feel myself being tackled then I hear, “Gotcha.”
That voice was, “Mommy, daddy.”
“My god, you are fast; It seems your father has been training you too hard.”
“How did you find me?”
“Your too simple, my daughter. As your father, I could read your mind five times over.”
“Let go of me. If we stay together, I will only hurt you.” Pushing them away, I say, “Everyone hates me, and if I stay with you, everyone will hate you too. Even grandma doesn’t like me.”
My mom slaps me across the face while my dad thonks me on the head, and they start to cry. “Why would you say such a thing? Don’t you know how sad our life would be without you?”
“Without my little princess, I would lose the strength to go on. Do you want your father to die?”
“No, I want you to be happy, please don’t cry,” but they start to cry louder “What do you want to stop? Please tell me what to do, and I will do it.”
“Then promise us that you will never leave us,” they say in unison,
“But I am a curse.”
“You are no such thing.”
“You are our princess, so stay with us forever.”
“Is that ok, mom and dad?” I say while crying.
They both hugged me and said, “Obviously,” and just like that, we cried the rest of the day away.
Later the following day, while walking through town, I saw a bunch of people snaring at my family, so I ran up to them and said, “Laugh all you want and make fun of us all you want, but we love each other more than anything so no matter what you say we DON’T CARE!”
When I say that, I feel a sudden sensation around my behind, and then, looking back, I see I have grown two tails. My mom says, “Inari her hair is partially pink.”
Suddenly everyone around me starts to scream. Looking up at my parents, I see mother crying. “Mom, what is wrong,” I say as dad holds her.
I hear my dad say, “Gods, what do you have against my daughter? What has she done.”
I didn’t understand why everyone was scared, but a few days later, I would realise as envoys from the capital arrived. They ripped me from my parents.
“GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER, YOU BASTARDS!”
“LET HER GO. SHE HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG.”
I cry, “DON’T HURT MOM AND DAD. THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!” Turning to the envoy from the capital, I say, “Why are you doing this to us?”
“They haven’t told you?”
“Told me what?”
“That on top of being a norowareta-ko, your legacy is that of the demon fox that places this curse on this nation. You have not only inherited its curse but its powers as a whole. You will be brought to the capital, where we shall figure out how to deal with you. Depending on the situation, it might be grounds for immediate execution.”
And just like that, I was taken.