Eight years prior to the fateful match with his sworn rival, Xi Jaejin decided to enroll in an elementary school within the city center of Fujiishima. The colorful sights peppered by floating cherry blossom petals and the ticklish sounds coming from the playful accents of conversing Jihonian locals were all new to him. The complexity of the foreign environment would have been such a scary place for a child barely grasping what true consciousness meant, but he would not have had it another way.
Even if Jax shared a special bond with his eldest brother, Jianlin, the pleasantly chaotic Jihonian atmosphere was a breath of fresh air from his family's suffocating standards. Also, being away from the Orient's capital meant he could spend more time with his beloved Peninsular mother without taking any precautions to avoid the watchful eye of his homeland's public scrutiny.
