Chapter 12: The Transparent World X A Father and Son's Talk
"Whoa—!"
"That boar is HUGE!"
"Brother Eiichiro, did you guys find a whole nest of them?"
"Don't be silly, Shigeru," Takeo piped up, puffing out his chest. "Father said wild boars are dangerous and you should run if you see one. This one must have run into a tree and knocked itself out, right?"
Run into a tree? Roy only knew they had a habit of rubbing against them. He smiled and ruffled Takeo's hair. "You're the smart one, Takeo."
Takeo beamed, looking immensely proud. "See? I was right!" The proclamation earned him a slew of eye-rolls from his siblings.
"Yeah, yeah, you're a genius..." Nezuko, acting the part of the older sister, took charge, grabbing her little brother by the ear and playfully dragging him away from his moment of glory.
Kie just shook her head with a fond smile. She came over and helped Roy with the heavy basket of charcoal. "You're not hurt, are you?"
Roy shook his head and handed her the roe deer. He and Tanjiro brushed the snow off their clothes and stepped onto the warm veranda.
A small stove burned in the corner, a pot of hot tea warming on top of it. Tanjuro sat beside it, wrapped in a thick blanket. He beckoned Roy over.
Roy sat down beside him. A cup of steaming tea was passed into his hands. "You've worked hard, Eiichiro," Tanjuro said, his voice soft.
"It was nothing. Tanjiro was a big help." Roy took a sip, deflecting half the credit to his brother.
Tanjiro, who was busy making faces at baby Hanako in their grandmother's arms, looked up and scratched his head, embarrassed. "I didn't really do anything! It was all Bro."
An unspoken pact hung between the two brothers. Neither of them mentioned the demon, unwilling to bring that terror into their home.
But Tanjuro's mind was as clear and sharp as a winter sky. He knew his son. Tanjiro was incapable of lying. Which meant the deer, the pheasants, and the man-sized boar were indeed all Roy's doing.
A boy, barely a teenager, hunting a wild boar by himself...
Tanjuro looked at Roy with a deep, penetrating gaze. The boy simply sipped his tea, his expression calm. He reached out a free hand to gently poke Hanako's cheek, enjoying a rare, quiet moment of peace.
The moment was short-lived. Kie's voice called from the kitchen. "Eiichiro, Tanjiro, come help me butcher the pig!"
"Coming!" The two brothers went, with two small shadows, Takeo and Shigeru, trailing close behind, chanting, "We wanna watch! We wanna watch!"
In an instant, the main room was quiet, leaving only Tanjuro, Nezuko, and their grandmother with the baby. The evening passed, and soon the rich, savory smell of roasting meat filled the small courtyard.
For dinner, they had a feast. All pretense of table manners vanished. Everyone ate as if they were afraid the food would disappear, their bowls never empty. By the end, everyone except Roy had a round, tight belly. Even Tanjuro had a rare second helping.
"Oof, I'm stuffed! Takeo, you have to rub my tummy," Shigeru groaned, flopped on his back like a starfish. Takeo lay beside him in a similar state of blissful incapacitation.
After dinner, Roy, at his mother's request, herded the younger boys off to bed. As he left, he saw Nezuko was already helping her mother clear the dishes.
The night grew deeper. Takeo and Shigeru, after a brief wrestling match, fell into a deep sleep. Tanjiro, utterly exhausted from the most eventful day of his young life, mumbled a "good night" and was gone the moment his head hit the pillow.
The oil lamp was blown out, plunging the room into darkness. Only Roy remained awake.
He was waiting. And soon, the figure he was waiting for arrived.
A familiar, soft cough came from outside. The shadow of Tanjuro appeared on the paper screen of the window. He stood there for a long time without making a sound, as if he had no intention of coming in. He was about to turn and leave when Roy's voice cut through the silence.
"Father. Don't you have anything you want to ask?"
A boy his age couldn't possibly take down a boar that size. Roy could spin a lie for Tanjiro, telling him about the dream where he learned assassin techniques. But he knew he couldn't deceive Tanjuro. The man might seem frail, but he was the only non-swordsman in this world to have mastered the "Transparent World."
Narrator's Note: The Transparent World is a legendary state of perception, a level of mastery that allows the user to see through an opponent's body, observing the flow of blood, the contraction of muscles, and the shifting of organs. It is, in essence, a perfect, biological form of Gyo*, achieved without the use of Nen.*
Tanjuro's shadow froze. He was silent for a long moment before he chuckled softly. "No."
Now it was Roy's turn to be silent. If he'd held any hope that his father hadn't noticed anything strange, that hope was now gone. He scrambled for an explanation, running through a dozen scenarios in his head, discarding them all. He finally decided to just come clean. "Father, you must be wondering how I was able to hunt that boar. I can tell you..."
"I don't want to know."
The quiet but firm voice cut him off. Tanjuro repeated himself. "I don't want to know."
Silence fell again. Through the paper screen, Roy could see the thin, fragile silhouette of his father standing against the wind and snow, the sun-patterned earrings swaying gently.
After a long pause, his voice came again, filled with an unshakeable conviction. "Eiichiro. I know that you are my son."
"You love your grandmother, your mother, and your brothers and sisters."
"That... is enough."
"As for your secrets..."
Tanjuro slid the window open, his smile warm and gentle despite the cold. "When you are ready to tell me, then you can tell your father."
A sudden warmth pricked Roy's eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then, his mother appeared from around the corner. The ever-gentle Kie swatted Tanjuro's hand away from the window, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him away, her voice a fierce whisper, scolding him for bothering the children and letting the cold in.
A gust of wind blew into the room, and it was, indeed, cold. Roy pulled the blanket up to his nose, leaving only his eyes exposed as he stared up at the dark wooden beams of the ceiling.
Sometimes, a moment can be so good, so pure, it feels unreal.
He wouldn't mind staying like this until morning. At least then... he wouldn't have to wake up to his other family. That grand, powerful family with its hundred servants who would die on his command. That family with the cold father, the psychotic mother, the twisted brothers, and the grandfather who killed for a living.
So why am I here? And why do I have to leave?
Roy asked himself the questions over and over. As he stared into the darkness, the answer finally came.
That's it. I'm here to become strong. Strong enough to tear that other family down.
To become its true master.