Sorrow and guilt underlined Kaze's eyes, his mother slept peacefully, her grey hairs and wrinkles were idle as the moonlight shone from the dusty window. Kaze decided to let her rest instead of waking her for no reason, he didn't mind waiting for her to wake herself up. Kaze took a deep breath and he averted his attention away from his mother. He spoke more with the caretaker, they both sat around the small table in the corner.
"I laid her here since the bed in the bedroom broke recently, I hate to say this but… Kaze. Your mother, she isn't getting much better." The caretaker's eyes glistened with tears, her hands held tightly onto each other, the room was clouded with tension. Kaze's eyes were focused on the caretaker, his eyes had widened a bit, in his heart he had hoped when he returned that his mother would be better.
"Soon it'll be the fourth year since your father passed. The fourth year of this terrible illness." The caretaker clamped her eyelids shut, some tears escaped the tight clamp. The caretaker sniffed, and a single teardrop fell onto the dress the caretaker wore. Kaze's lungs expanded as he inhaled deeply, he could smell the dust in the room, he exhaled and gripped at the fabric of his jacket as a way to cope with the intense atmosphere.
"The medicine doesn't work?" Kaze spoke quietly. The illness his mother caught was mysterious, several doctors were clueless, some said it was a bacterial infection so they prescribed medicines to ease the pain, not combat the bacteria. There were no known medicines that would combat whatever illness was present.
The caretaker slowly shook her head. Kaze's heart sank, he couldn't imagine the state of his mother's body if she had been suffering for the last few years.
"I'll take her to a doctor I know." Kaze referred to Shinobu, he had a tight grip on hope. He was sure if he took his mother to Shinobu, she would be able to cure his mother. The caretaker didn't have the same intense optimism Kaze had.
"Your mother can barely walk… How will you take her?" The caretaker gave a realistic approach to Kaze's statement. Kaze's heartbeat, blood flowed into every artery, vein and capillary, Kaze's mind was overwhelmed with possible solutions, he was not going to give up.
"I'll carry her all the way if I have to." Kaze was insistent on taking his mother to Shinobu. His eyes burned with determination and hope, he would not give up. After all the death he had seen, he had to prevent all he could.
"She's frail. If you do… Please be careful." the caretaker whispered, the clock on the faded timber walls ticked slowly as both of them stayed silent.
"Why does it have to be so hard?.. Only… if I had a car." Kaze realised the value and efficiency of a car, he didn't care about the selfish nature of one, it would make it easier for him to transport his mother. Kaze's elbows rested on the table, his hands held his head as he closed his eyes and faced down.
"The money that your mother got from selling the dojo is soon to run out as well. I want to thank you for your monthly contributions, you're very kind to send whatever money you make to us." The caretaker only added fuel to Kaze's sadness, a feeling of stress and sorrow expanded in Kaze's heart. He missed his father. He missed the dojo. Suddenly, a small spark of happiness eliminated the growing darkness.
"Oh, I got officially hired as a Demon Slayer. I'll be getting paid much more now." Kaze's face finally found a reason to smile. When he was simply an unofficial Demon Slayer, he was usually paid by random villagers who wanted to express their gratitude. It was enough to live on, and whatever he had left he sent back to his mother.
"Well, that's wonderful." The caretaker smiled.
"You can take a bigger share now. Maybe buy some new clothes as well, sorry if the money till now wasn't sufficient enough for your fees." Kaze apologised to the caretaker.
"Oh please, I enjoy helping others. I would work for free if your mother wasn't so persistent in paying me." The caretaker smiled, "Don't have anything better to do. No family of my own."
After a couple of minutes of conversation, Kaze decided to rest as well, he lay in the broken bed of the bedroom. The room had a horrible scent, but Kaze didn't complain. He stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath. The town brought so many memories back to him. He started to think about his whole life. Kaze's black hair lay softly on the bed as he slowly drifted away into sleep, his entire life seemed to be replaying in his mind, as if he was reliving it.
Kaze. His name meant wind. On the day he was born, a terrible hurricane swept across the country, although it didn't affect the area where Kaze's father and mother lived at that moment severely, the strong winds still made objects go flying. They decided to name Kaze after the strong winds, hoping one day he too would be as powerful as the winds, there was also the fact that it meshed well with his father's name.
From a young age, Kaze trained with his father. His father was a powerful man, a master of the martial their family prided themselves in, the Motion of the Shadow. Kaze had extreme respect for him. At five years old, he would train for an hour with his father and then by himself for a few more hours. He would often showcase his skills at school and to his town friends. As he grew, Kaze was driven by his desire to gain his father's admiration, and another thing, to be specific a certain title…
Kaze still remembered the shock that came with the discovery that his father's name wasn't 'Dad'. It was at eight years old when Kaze woke up late at night, shocked by a nightmare. He wandered and saw his father asleep on the living room floor, next to him a long paper. Out of curiosity, Kaze tiptoed around the room, the moonlight cast a bold shadow as Kaze quietly grabbed the paper. The letter was to a friend of his fathers, about some business ideas and spread knowledge about the Motion of the Shadow. Kaze's eyes were glued onto the very end of the letter, where Kaze's father had signed off, "Sincerely, Kazuya. The Shadow."
Kaze's eyes glistened at the letter. As he put the letter down from his face he saw his father looking at him smiling. Kaze immediately stood up straight in fear and yelped in surprise.
"Oh... Dad…" Kaze awkwardly smiled and put the letter down quickly. His father's aged, kind eyes narrowed as the wrinkles on his face lifted. He smiled.
"The Shadow. It's a title I got from my father. The former Shadow. It's given to the head of the dojo. Once you're a master of Motion of the Shadow" His father gently spoke. The gentle nature was completely destroyed when his father stretched and started groaning loudly as if he had awoken from a six-year slumber. Kaze laughed.
"The title reassures my strength. That I'm not afraid of anyone." Kaze's father smiled with pride. Kaze's eyes sparkled with awe.
Suddenly, a door creaked, Kaze's mother stood there, her eyes wide as she stared at the two sitting in the living room. The darkness on her face only illuminated her eyes. Kaze felt his stomach drop.
"Who was the one who obnoxiously screamed just now?" Kaze's mother's voice was soft, yet so extremely hostile. Fear was struck into Kaze's heart, it was struck tenfold into Kazuya The Shadow's heart. He lied, he feared no one, with the exception of his wife.
"Kaze… I told you not to do that." Kaze's father shook his head and sighed. Kaze's entire body jolted with fear, he opened his mouth but before he could say anything to his defence Kaze was sniped by a flying sandal. Kaze's father shook his head and sighed, this was going unbelievably well for him, his framing of innocent Kaze had gone well, so what if he framed an eight year old for his crimes? He was safe!
Another flying sandal sniped Kaze's father. Father and son alike rubbed their heads and learnt the vital lesson of never disturbing a woman's beauty sleep ever again.
At eleven years of age, Kaze and his family moved to the city, they tearfully said goodbye to their relatives, Kaze waved goodbye to his friends and family as he boarded on the train. He disliked the fact he had to move. The entire train trip he stared outside the window teary eyed reminiscing on the memories of his hometown.
The city was still in development when they moved, they had bought the apartment that was to house them for the years to come as a temporary residence til the bigger houses finished being built.
Kaze had a vivid memory of the first day in the city. After a long train ride, everyone was pent up with fatigue and stress, and as soon as a single twitch occurred the whole pressure cooker would explode. That day Kaze's father and mother argued a lot, they argued while they moved their luggage in, argued as they unpacked, every second they would be shouting at each other. Kaze decided to explore the city while his parents clashed. That's when he found them. A group of kids playing football.
"Hi, you guys mind if I join in?" Kaze walked up to the group, the ball stopped and everyone stared at him. The crickets chirped and the sun shone harshly on the ground. Kaze's heart beat as the situation quickly became uncomfortable, as their eyes pierced Kaze it was as if Kaze realised every single one of his flaws. Was he sweating too much? Did his hair look bad?
Suddenly, a large boy stepped forward, he wore a white shirt dirtied into a brown-stained mess.
"Let's give the new guy the welcoming ceremony." The boy smiled, his eyes seemed to disappear as he smiled, a horrifying sight, Kaze was still in shock.
Kaze was in no way weak, he was extremely proficient in Motion of the Shadow, but when the fist of the large boy struck his stomach, he was more paralysed at the fact that people could be so… cruel. Kaze lay on the ground, several people ganged on Kaze as his body thumped to the ground, he felt hate-filled strikes collide all over his body. Kicks primarily came in a flurry at the eleven-year-old Kaze.
Although the strikes didn't hurt Kaze much, it wasn't the physical attacks that affected Kaze so deeply, it was the overwhelming cruelty and unnecessary hate. Kaze, who had been surrounded by kindness his whole life, had faced a lot of new experiences today. His parents displayed hate and anger but they had reason. These boys had no reason to display such ferocious hate and violence.
Were some people not born with kindness in their hearts?
Were some people just inherently cruel?
These were the thoughts as Kaze's body was beaten by the group of boys.