January 3rd, 2089.
"He's cute, isn't he?"
The woman held the small baby in her hands. The woman's hair was long and jet-black. Her crystal-blue eyes had redness under them from crying.
This woman had just given birth.
The man next to her smiled relieved. He lightly touched the baby's head.
"Yeah. I can tell that he looks like you."
He said.
"Don't be silly, he looks like you."
The woman stopped smiling. She looked the man in his eyes.
"Hey, I don't want him to be the heir. I want him and Kiara to live a normal life."
"..."
The man stared at the baby. He was at peace. The man shook his head.
"I'm sorry, as the oldest, he'll have to."
"You said you wanted to make the Kyouya Family a prosperous one. I agreed to become your wife regardless. I love you and you love me but I still want to see you achieve your dream even if..."
She trailed off.
To make the family prosperous, one would have to take on many concubines. It wasn't necessarily cheating but it was something that was out of date. People stopped doing such things when the world entered its Early Modern Period.
"I won't say that it's fine. I'm just lucky enough to have a wife like you. No matter what, I'd never fall in love with anyone else, even if they are concubines."
The woman smiled.
"I know that."
She kissed the man and baby on the cheek.
"I love you both, Goto, Ayato."
"Ayato? Is that what you're going to name him?"
"He's going to be a kind and expressive boy after all."
The baby wailed. It seemed like he accepted the name.
"Ayato..."
The man repeated with a smile.
·———·
(2092)
"Haha! You can do better than that, Yato-chan!"
A 4-year-old girl ran around the garden with a 3-year-old boy chasing her. They were both giggling and smiling in their yukata.
"I can't run like this!"
The boy named Ayato whined, struggling to run. The girl stopped in front of the pond and stuck her tongue out with a giggle. She put her hands on her hips.
"Alright then, I win this round of tag!"
"Kii-chan, isn't it that firefly festival today all over the city? Why do we have to play now? You know I'm not good at running games?"
The boy pouted while catching his breath. The girl smiled and ran over to him. She hugged him with a big smile.
"You're so cute, Yato-chan!"
"Ah, d-don't do that so suddenly!"
These were the children of Goto and Saya Kyouya. The oldest was a girl named Kiara Kyouya and the youngest was a boy named Ayato Kyouya.
"And it's not a firefly festival, it's a lantern festival! Master told me about it!"
"Mae-chan did? What did she say?"
"It's called the Star Lantern Festival! She said that all of Japan does it because the era of wars has ended."
"Era of wars?"
Ayato repeated but Kiara continued to explain.
"They say that everyone, magician or not, buys special lanterns that float into the sky. All of Japan lights up like stars in the sky!"
"Eh? Why haven't we seen it yet?"
The boy asked.
"That's because we've had troubles over these three years. This time, it's being done just because we haven't had it for a long time."
A voice said. The two children turned to the engawa behind them. A woman stood in a white and gold yukata.
Her complexion was darker than the average person. This was because she was a foreigner. Despite that fact, her Japanese was fluent even though she had only been in the country for 5 years.
Her hair was mid-length and snowlike. It beautifully contrasted with her skin. Her eyes were yellow like a feline. She was a beautiful woman. Her yukata emphasised her seductive body line.
Ayato unknowingly blushed when looking at the woman. Kiara noticed this and jumped in front of him.
"Master, you can't be wearing something like that. Why is your yukata so short? It doesn't reach your knees! You can't go out there and seduce Japanese men like that!"
She scolded the dark-skinned woman. The woman sat down on the edge of the engawa. She crossed her legs and looked up with her hands keeping her stable.
"It's not my fault that the Japanese sizes are too small for me."
"How old are you again, Master?"
"I'm turning 20 this year, what about it?"
Kiara was focusing on her seductive body. It wasn't exactly the right thinking for a 4-year-old but she was somewhat jealous. Kiara was more mature than other children so she couldn't help but feel jealous.
"Anyway, they're doing the festival this year to avoid backlash from the public. A pretty shi—bad reason if you ask me."
The woman stopped herself from swearing.
The woman's name was Maenis Aster. She was a magician hired by the Kyouya Family to be the children's master.
She saved Saya Kyouya when she was pregnant and the story and connections went from there.
"Well, we might as well enjoy ourselves."
Maenis said.
"First, you should probably change, M-a-e-chan!"
The woman was picked up by another.
"Mother!"
It was Saya Kyouya. Maenis turned away, feigning ignorance. Saya scowled at the young woman.
"That's not the type of outfit you should wear around children."
"Hey, I'm just showing a bit of leg, that's it! There's nothing sexy about that!"
The black-haired woman scoffed.
"You'd be surprised at the Japanese community."
"It's perfectly fine in Europe and America! Isn't this like wearing shorts?!"
"This ain't Europe or America. It's Japan, ya goddamn whore!"
"You know, I'm still a virgin!"
Maenis was dragged along by Saya. Saya's Kansai dialect slipped out.
"Ah, dear. What're you doing here?"
"I just wanted to check up on the children."
"Okay, I'm going to get this foreign whore here to change."
"Hey, Saya-chan! Weren't you listening to me, I'm a—!"
"Yes and here's a foot in your mouth."
"Mmph!"
"We can't let the children hear such things, am I right?"
Saya and Maenis left while a man walked into the garden. That man was Goto Kyouya, the father of the two children.
He looked back at Saya with a nervous smile before he turned to the children.
"Father!"
"Hey, Kiara, what were you doing?"
Kiara ran over to the man and was picked up by him.
"Have you been a good girl?"
"Yes!"
Ayato timidly stood frozen in place. He looked down at the ground. Kiara glanced over at him.
"Yato-chan? Aren't you going to come?"
"N-no, I'll... I'll go with Mae-chan."
The girl looked worried. Ayato wasn't making eye contact.
"Aha, you like Maenis a lot, don't you?"
Goto asked.
Ayato was avoiding his gaze. Goto was glaring at the boy. The two didn't get along.
No, that wasn't the right way to describe it. Ayato wanted to get along with his father. He wanted to impress him. Goto didn't accept Ayato.
He believed that the heir should be strong. Ayato wasn't at the age where magician abilities would surface. Goto put impossible expectations on Ayato, ones that couldn't be met.
Because of that, it distanced their relationship as father and son.
"Well, see you later, Ayato."
"Bye, Yato-chan! Let's meet up and launch lanterns together!"
"Y-yeah..."
They went.
Ayato Kyouya was a boy who wanted to be loved. He was loved enough by his family but he wanted his father's love.