Hayate Igarashi is a Tokyo rich kid who finds life extraordinarily boring, that is until his attention is gripped by the angel-faced Touma Kirigaya who ebbs him every time he looks at him. Why can's he forget about Touma?
Not only that, but one nig...
Katsu sat in the office spanning all of the top floor of the ERIS building. He looked out at the city below. Behind him, around three metres tall and three metres wide, was the Akano family crest of a snake eating its own tail.
He stared out the window, but really he was absorbed within his thoughts... and his memories.
When Katsu of Akano was only thirteen years old, his father forced him into a marriage with the then nineteen lady Momoka. What was worse was that she was a distant cousin of Katsu's. Katsu was disgusted with the match, but Momoka seemed to be infatuated with him.
He despised her, but he despised Hideyoshi more. The scars from his lessons still studded his palms.
As much as Katsu tried, he could not be comfortable around Momoka. He was still only a child, and Momoka was far too enthusiastic for his young mind to comprehend.
The first child she gave him was a girl named Chie. She died a week after she was born. Katsu was the one who buried her. He did it alone. It seemed he had been the only one who had gotten attached to the child.
On Katsu's first battlefield, he met a lone soldier by the name of Chiga. He was a mute. This soldier was shunned by those around him because of his disability. He was perhaps a year or two older than Katsu, and yet he towered above those around him. Katsu, being a kind soul, opened his heart to Chiga. He attempted to communicate with Chiga by drawing words in the sand. And this small act of acceptance lead to Chiga becoming his loyal servant for the coming years.
Katsu befriended Noboru of Naguchi when he was fifteen and Noboru was twenty. From the moment Katsu met Noboru he knew he disliked him. He was selfish and acted like he, himself, was a Wielder despite being an ordinary human. However, sensing the hostility between Noboru's father and his own, Katsu felt the best course of action was to befriend him.
He met Noboru through his old friend the lady Hisako of Inoue. She was a year older than Katsu.
At that time, Momoka had just announced she was with child. Katsu wanted to stay away from her. She became violent when she was pregnant.
Noboru was the one who took him to a brothel. He, who already had a four-year-old son, explained that a pleasure house was the best for a pregnant wife.
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The madam of the pleasure house treated them like honoured guests. Noboru was already a regular at the brothel. It saddened Katsu to see his oldest friend mistreated in such a way.
"My lord," the madam said, "allow me to introduce you to our star courtesan."
Katsu would never forget the day he met her. Her hair was long and dark like the wings of a raven. She had a heart shaped face. Her lips were full, and the shape reminded him of a flower. Her eyes—those that her son would inherit—were of the lightest amber. She was the most beautiful woman—or rather girl—Katsu had ever seen. She was only fifteen at the time.
