In a courtroom, the judge flips through the papers on his desk and when he reads a paper, he looks at the defendant and speaks.
"It says here that you have been accused of sabotaging almost every business in this city, anything you want to say to this?"
The defendant's lawyer answered. "Your honor, there is no-"
"I only provided the equal effort for the pay I was getting."
The defendant spoke in a hushed tone, cutting off his own lawyer. The lawyer turned to look at his client.
"What do you think you're doing?"
He whispered to him. The judge, unsure if what he heard was actually said, asks: "You were providing equal effort for the pay you had?"
"Yes." The defendant answered.
He was a seventeen-year-old boy. He was thin from malnutrition. His skin was dirty and covered in blood in some places.
He had long, dirty, uncut hair that went down to his chin. His clothes were ragged, torn and covered in dirt.
"You should've been glad that you got any pay at all!"
One of the businessmen that Reiji Kurozuma, the defendant, worked for yelled out.
The other businessmen screamed in agreement. After a short while the judge raised his hand and the courtroom went quiet.
"It seems that we have eyewitnesses, and quite a lot of them. Anything you want to say in defence?"
"Your honor, there is absolutely no proof that this man sabotaged the businesses he worked for on purpose."
"Well, the number of eyewitnesses here should be enough proof."
The judge answered the defendant's lawyer.
"Your honor-"
"I have heard enough. Reiji Kurozuma, for the crime of intentional sabotage and many others you are to be exiled from this city and to never return."
The judge brought down his gavel and the room burst into screams of approval.
"Leave, you scum!" "Death is too good for you!"
He was dragged out by the guards. A crowd followed behind as he was dragged through the streets and he was tossed into the mud covering the road that led in and out of the city.
He slowly stood up and started walking away from the city. As he walked, some of them even started throwing stones at him.
After going a short distance, he turned to the city and pointed his finger at the crowd.
"And I sentence you to remain in your city till death takes you, all of you."
Seven years later.
The world was covered in a thick layer of snow and beneath it was frozen dirt and rock.
It wasn't snowing but there was powdered snow being carried by the wind just above the surface.
The snow that wasn't powder was frozen and cracked under every step Reiji took.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
His nose stung from the cold. His fingers were stiff and hard-to-move. He closed and opened his fists again and again, trying to warm his hands up.
The icy surface of the snow offered slight resistance before cracking under the weight of his boots.
He had a bow on him; the string pressed against his chest and the grip against his back.
The quiver was awkwardly on his right shoulder, his hand making sure it wouldn't fall off.
He had to steal some money shortly after getting exiled from his hometown.
He used it to put himself together and make his appearance more appealing.
His skin was clean and healthy. His hair was shorter, no longer filled with dirt and bugs. It was pulled back in a slightly rough manner.
He never stayed in one place and was lucky enough to find part-time jobs where the pay wasn't as terrible as it was in his home city.
He bought a bow and multiple arrows with the money he earned. But he stole a katana just in case.
It wasn't his proudest moment, stealing someone's work. Work that cost time and money.
…
The forest was quiet and still. Any movement stood out, making hunting easier.
The only thing keeping him warm was a white sleeveless kimono, white haori and winter boots.
He noticed a deer in the distance. He slowly crouched down, his gaze only on the deer as he ignored his surroundings.
He was too far away to shoot. He slowly moved forward, trying his best not to make any noises.
He took off his bow and gripped it with his left hand. He put the quiver on his back and pulled out an arrow.
He was still too far away but closing the distance would cause the deer to notice him.
He could probably catch it if it was summer and kill it with his katana, but the snow made it hard to move.
He slowly drew his bow back and aimed. Reiji Kurozuma put on a lot of muscle in seven years.
Compared to a normal human he was superhuman, but he didn't know that. How would he, when he spends all of his time in the forests and mountains.
He released his grip on the string, and the arrow flew at incredible speeds towards the deer.
Twang! Thud!
It pierced right through the deer's neck, landing somewhere behind it in the snow.
The deer fell into the snow, lifeless.
He approached it in a calm manner. First, he searched for his arrow.
He saw the blood that spilled from its neck when the arrow pierced it. It gave him a rough idea where it might've landed.
After searching for a short while he found it and put it back into his quiver. He put the quiver around his neck and put on his bow, so the string pressed against his chest and grip against his back.
He walked back to the deer and picked it up. He held it in his hands in front of him.
He then walked over to where he lived. The deer was heavy, but Reiji managed. A normal person would struggle much more to move the deer.
He got his living spot. It was a hole in the snow, exposing the frozen dirt underneath.
There was burnt wood in the middle, an unlit campfire. There were long, thin logs that Reiji slept on.
He dropped the deer inside of the hole and jumped in. The snow dug up was used to extend the walls of the hole, making it one meter high.
He picked up his katana from the logs and unsheathed it. He then cut up the deer.
He took its fat and threw it onto the burned-out campfire. He jumped out of the hole and gathered some sticks, using his katana to cut them off.
He then threw it into the hole, so it landed right on top of the fat.
After using a flint and steel he managed to set it on fire. He then put the smaller sticks right over it and broke the bigger ones.
After the fire got bigger, he threw all of the sticks on it and jumped out to gather actual firewood.
He used his katana as an axe and with one powerful strike he cut down a small tree.
He stared at it for a moment. "Sorry."
He then proceeded to cut it up into firewood which he took back and placed some of it into the fire.
He used a stick to stab a piece of meat and cook it over the flames. After a while he ate it and put on another piece of meat and started cooking it.
After eating for some time, he realized that the sun was setting. He stared at the sunset with an indifferent look.