"You've birthed a monster!" Akkio heard her husband shout after she finally got their baby out of her.
"Give me my baby... Let me see my baby..." She demanded.
One of the servants did as she asked and within her arms she cradled a child unlike any other in the world. Despite this obvious abnormal condition, Akkio didn't feel any less love for her child. She gently rocked them with her weakened arms, calming them down and stopping them from crying. Akkio will give this child all the love they need and more. Even if he had more than one head.
"She's given birth to a demon in our household! We need to deal with it before anyone finds out!" Taigen shouted, placing everyone in an agitated mood.
"Taigen! I will kill you myself if you dare call our child a demon again!" Akkio's ki directed itself straight towards Taigen like a deadly sword. If he dared to utter a peep, his head would go flying and he would be helpless to stop it.
"Now, give our beautiful sons a name." She commanded with a heavy presence. Everyone in the room instantly understood why Akkio was the Matriarch's daughter and the future head of the Snake Clan.
Taigen gave several names that were immediately rejected by Akkio. He still refused to see the innocence and kindness radiating off of the boys by trying to give them evil names. Eventually they came to an understanding after Taigen was beaten nearly to death by his wife. They chose to call them Hiroyuki and Hiroki. The head on the left that's pulling his brother's finger with a smile was called Hiroki and the boy about to cry from his brother pulling his finger too hard was called Hiroyuki.
Five years passed and the development of the boys was something that could only be called monstrous. At first, they developed far slower than other children their age. It took them until they were 3 years old to learn how to properly walk and the next two years learning how to control their bodies. Akkio figured that having two brains control one body was difficult for the two boys. She gave them as much support, love, and care that a mother could.
"Mother. Are we evil?" Hiroki politely asked.
"No. Why in the world would you think that, sweety? You two are the goodest, nicest, sweetest boys I've ever met." She hugged them close and rubbed her face against theirs.
"The other kids said that we were demons... Because we have two heads and everyone else has one, we have to be evil." Hiroyuki revealed.
Akkio felt like pummeling all of those children until they were bruised and bloody for what they said to her child. For their parents, they'd be bedridden for several months to satisfy her wrath. They don't know how hard she's worked to make sure that her loveable boys were the kindest and smartest children within the clan. She's thoroughly reminded them of what they should do and what they shouldn't do and why. Why do they have to be good, do good, and want good. Why shouldn't they be evil, do evil, and want evil. The difference between the two and more.
"I don't understand why they would call us evil then. Just because we look different doesn't mean we want bad things." Hiroki tried to reason their behavior.
"Hiroki, Hiroyuki. Some people are frightened of people that are different from them." Akkio tried to explain.
"Why are they scared of us?" Hiroyuki asked.
"Just because you don't look like them."
"I dislike being called evil, Mother." Hiroki calmly stated.
"That's perfectly normal, my child. You should never want to be called evil. To those mean kids calling you evil, just prove to them how good you really are. I'll even help you! We can do some good deeds every day starting tomorrow. To show that our family is nothing but goodness!"
"I like being good because it makes Mommy happy." Hiroyuki hugged her back.
"I don't want you to be good for my sake. I want you to want to be good for yourself." She shook her head. Hiroyuki titled his head at this statement.
"Mother means she wants us to enjoy being good for ourselves. By doing acts of good, we should feel good as well and be satisfied with that." Hiroki explained to his brother.
"Oh, I think I get it now." He smiled.
"Are you boys going back out?" Akkio asked.
"No. We're going to train in the dojo." They answered simultaneously. "Our swordsmanship needs more work."
"This super secret sword style, you've yet to show me?" Akkio's lips turned up at this.
"We don't want to show anyone until its presentable." Hiroyuki shyly giggled.
"How in the world is it going to be presentable if a real talented sword user isn't watching it?" She questioned.
"I suppose that makes sense. You can watch Mother but don't tell anyone else not even Grandmother." Hiroki stated.
"It's gonna be our little secret." Akkio's heart warmed at sharing a secret with her sons.
This secret technique watched over by one of the most talented swordsmen around along with the ingenious mind of two innocent boys with a heart filled with good, was something that no one could predict 5 years later. Akkio couldn't believe her boys' talent when it came to the sword. With just a wooden sword, he could perform amazing feats that most adults couldn't with a real sword! As a mother filled with nothing but an overwhelming amount of love for her child, she didn't hold anything back as she trained them in the ways of the sword.
Akkio didn't think that the two would have much talent in the field of martial arts because of how slowly it took them to learn things when they were younger. Anything related to physical activity took them more than twice as long compared to other children their age. But eventually, this problem faded away as they got older. In fact, they started to learn things much faster than their peers. So much in fact that by the age of 10, no other child their age could be compared to them.
"We should help Grandmother today." Hiroki decided with a wooden sword hanging from his waist and a large basket strapped on his back.
"Grandma should have some work for us to do. She always says there is always something to help with around the clan." Hiroyuki agreed.
The basket created a soft metal jingle sound every step they took. As they walked through the clan grounds and met eyes with their fellow clan members, most averted their eyes at the sight of them while a few smiled and waved. Hiroyuki smiled and waved back to those that did so to him. Hiroki kept his face neutral and alert for any troublemakers. Lately there have been many troublesome cases occurring inside clan grounds without rhyme or reason. Previously very loving couples would suddenly start yelling at each other before engaging in a bloody fight that left one spouse severely injured and on the verge of death. Luckily there have been no deaths so far but that was only thanks to the timely interventions of the Disciplinary Branch.
The branch that Hiroyuki and Hiroki just got accepted into not too long ago as its youngest but also most feared member. They defeated the talented co-leader and became the second highest ranked member of the Disciplinary Branch just with skill alone. Many wanted to refute this and stop them from ever reaching a position of power but the rules were the rules. If they didn't want the boys to be the co-leader of the Disciplinary Branch then all they had to do was take it from them in a duel. That required a certain amount of power and skill that those who wanted to disagree with their rightfully gained position didn't possess.
"I've always hated you!" A woman screamed in the house next to them.
Hiroyuki and Hiroki calmly leaned back as a man's figure came crashing out of the house soaring straight towards them. His body flew overhead and tumbled across the ground. The boys looked at the black-haired woman with a strange purple aura around herself. She glared at them with a wary look in her eyes. She must recognize them.
"Eri. Please explain yourself. There are no physical disputes inside clan grounds without proper supervision from a member of the Disciplinary Branch." Hiroki lectured.
"Shut your mouth demon brat! I'm going to kill that useless piece of shit of a husband and no one is going to stop me!" She ran towards the injured figure of Katashi with the intent to kill.
As Eri was about to pass by them, their wooden sword swiftly stopped her mad dash. Eri suddenly found herself falling to the ground while staring up at the sky. She didn't fully comprehend what happened to her until the pain on her throat arrived and a wooden sword was pointed at her forehead. The insane wife growled like a beast before slapping the training weapon out of her face to get up and continue her way to murder her husband.
"You aren't Eri." Hiroki forced her back to the ground by shoving his sword into her throat.
She coughed, gagged, and scratched at the wooden tool but it was powerless against the boys' strength. The housewife could only be pressed to the ground.
"I feel something coming from their home..." Hiroyuki shared, frightened by the killer glare in Eri's eyes combined with the feeling coming from the house.
Hiroki stared in the direction of the house and saw an unfamiliar figure watching them from inside. Its eyes looked exactly the same as Eri's. This was enough for the brothers to understand that something unnatural was happening to Eri and Katashi. They suddenly broke off in a fast sprint towards the creature and Hiroki slashed down without any mercy or restraint.
"You damn freakish human! How could a child like you possibly sense me?!" The being blocked with its claws.
"What are you? Why are you trying to commit evil inside my clan?" Hiroki questioned, his blade somehow pushing back the non-human creature.
"Never seen a Spirit before child? How lucky for you. I was just passing by and noticed all these delicious looking humans to feed off of."
"Why would you want to make happily married husbands and wives kill each other?" Hiroki broke off their clash and aimed a horizontal swipe to the Spirit's head.
"I feed off of violence child! And violence made between lovers fills me so much more than just violence between strangers." The Spirit was sent flying into the wall with a grin on its face.
It licked its lips with its long tongue and smiled at the brothers.
"It would be good of us to deal with something like this, wouldn't it?" Hiroyuki asked.
"Exterminating evil will always be good." Hiroki responded.
"Mother will be proud of us when we tell her we killed an evil Spirit."
"The whole clan will be proud of us when they understand we took care of the problem hiding in our clan."
"You're pretty cocky for a human, aren't you brat? You don't think you can kill me with that toy, do you?" The Spirit grew in size.
Previously it was the size of a small child like them but now it was twice the size of a fully grown man. Blue skin, long sharp claws, and a mouth filled with dagger-like teeth that could chew through wood and rock without a problem. Its knife-shaped tail whipped and swung through the air behind it with scary speed. Then it ran towards the two with its tongue waggling outside its mouth with saliva dripping from its tip.
"Open the basket." Hiroki instructed.
"Are we really going to show our true skills here?"
"We can't exterminate evil by holding back."
"Okay..." The basket was dropped from their back and within it was multiple swords.
Hiroki kicked the basket into the air, knocking all the swords across Eri and Katashi's home. The Spirit knocked the brothers away with its claws that managed to slice their wooden sword in half. As they were flying through the air, Hiroyuki picked up a sword lodged into the floor as Hiroki landed on top of a sword's hilt with perfect balance. They pointed the sharp metal blade towards the Spirit who had a hunger for domestic violence and focused their full attention on him.
"This is our Limitless Sword Style. This will be the first and last time you will ever see it." Hiroki glared.
"You got a lot of bark but no bite, kid. Let me tell you something before I kill you and get out of this place. Real swordsmen speak with their blades, not their mouths." He smiled.
A sword was kicked straight towards the Spirit with incredible speed. The sword pierced through the foot of the lover of violence and rooted him to the ground. He cried out in pain while trying to free himself from the floor only to realize that a sword was heading straight towards his neck to decapitate him! The ten-year-old's movements were smooth, calculated, and precise with almost no wasted energy present. They were not movements that a child only a decade old should be capable of performing.
The spirit ducked in complete fear for his life. That slash could've killed him! He could've been killed by a brat that hasn't even grown any hair on his testicles! What kind of clan could produce a monstrous kid like this when their adults are so pathetic!? This spirit had to split his foot in half from the blade that pierced it just to preserve his own life.
Hiroki took the advice of the evil creature and intended to bite this Spirit apart until there was nothing left. Its speed was drastically reduced now that its foot was crippled, allowing Hiroki to slash him continuously. They took its other leg to reduce its chances of escaping which made it curse them with vulgar words their mother forbade them from ever speaking. Even when they became adults, they still couldn't say them. After taking its leg, its eyes didn't show any signs of accepting its fate. It continued to fight with everything it had just to survive. Hiroyuki sliced its left arm with a blade as their foot grabbed another blade by the hilt in between their toes and tossed it through its throat before Hiroyuki severed the Spirit's head from its body with a quick spinning slash.
Its headless body rolled across the carpet, staining it with even more blood. This quaint nice little home was now covered in blood, organs, and swords. The feeling of taking a life was a first for the brothers. A feeling that normally would overwhelm the average child and make them feel like vomiting wasn't present in the dual-headed child. A sense of pride and satisfaction filled Hiroki's being. A sense of relief and calm centered within Hiroyuki. Killing evil felt right to the brothers. Both of them felt a strange force within their body surging while dealing with the Spirit. Something that seemed like it was beneficial to their growth.
"We should continue to do this, brother." Hiroki suggested.
"Maybe everyone would start to like us if we killed more evil beings." Hiroyuki suggested.
"Quit caring about what others say. Have you forgotten Mother's words? Do not allow others to judge us, let our heart judge our actions for itself."
"I just think that it'll be really great if we could get along with our clan... I want to make friends with other kids our age without them rejecting us because of how we look..."
"Making friends with the other children in our clan is impossible. They hate us too much. Mother and Grandmother won't let us leave the clan as well. So, you will have to wait until we can leave the clan to find other children to socialize with."
"Do you think if I plead with Mom to let us leave the clan grounds, she'll let us?"
"I believe Mother is ashamed of us because of how we look. That is why she hasn't taken us out of the clan yet."
"That can't be true! Mom loves us!"
"Mother can love us and be ashamed of us at the same time." Hiroku didn't believe it was impossible.
"I will ask her myself!"
"Then let's go find out why she has never taken us out of the clan."
The boys collected their swords back into their basket, left the unconscious bodies of Eri and Katashi on the ground, and returned home.