I still couldn't believe my eyes, in front of me sat Okaa-san and Otou-san. We were having breakfast together like we always did, Otou-san was making flirtatious jokes towards Okaa-san, Okaa-san was giggling and blushing while always talking to me and I was just happy to be with them.
"So I heard your pictures and small sculptures have been selling well in the city. Your Okaa-san tells me that sometimes a young man buys all of them from you" Otou-san said.
"Mm, Sanemi-san. He looks really mean, scary and has a few scars but he is actually really kind deep down" I smiled happily. For some reason instead of the young version of Sanemi I was used to seeing an image of an older man with more scars and an even scarier face flashed in my mind.
"Well he sounds like he is nice, though if he makes any advances towards you he had better come and meet us first" Otou-san teased and I blushed brightly. Even at the age of twelve I already knew that I had no feelings towards women. My parents had both told me that it probably mean that I was gay and preferred the company or love of males. At first I thought that they were going to be upset at me since I couldn't carry on the family name unless I had a wife to have a baby with. My worry was unjustified since they just held me close and peppered my face with kisses telling me that I was their beloved baby boy and they would never force me to carry on the family if I felt uncomfortable being with women.
"Baby? You look like you're hundreds of miles away" Okaa-san said while gently caressing my hair that was in a plait.
"Sorry, I got a little lost in thought. Oh Otou-san, are you going to tell me more about our family today?" I asked with a beaming smile. I wanted to know more about my family more than anything.
"Hikaru, you know that there is a time and place for anything right?" Otou-san enquired and I slumped down. When he normally asked me that he would tell me that it wasn't the time for me to know the things I wanted to know.
"I know," I sighed.
"Sometimes son, time can pass us by and we won't even notice it. I know that you are looking for answers to a lot of questions and I promise you will get the answers" Otou-san said.
"And today is the day, finish your breakfast and then meet your Otou-san in the sitting room and he will talk to you about our family" Okaa-san and instantly a smile brightened on my face. I quickly finished breakfast and even though I really wanted to hear about our family I had enough manners to help Okaa-san with the clean up before heading to the sitting room.
Arriving at the sitting room I saw that Otou-san was sitting down around and had a scroll in his hands. Walking over I sat down on the cushion in front of him and waited for him to start.
"Hikaru, the first thing I want to tell you is that there are a lot of things you aren't going to be able to control in this world. There will be times when things happen that you can't stop, things that you will wish to change but you can't. If something like this happens, no matter what happens I want you to let go of what happened and continue to move on with your life" Otou-san said seriously. The only other time I had seen Otou-san so serious was when he was going over the rules for when I was in his blacksmith forge.
"I know Otou-san," I smiled.
"I'm sure you do. Now I will begin to tell you about the Akatsueki family like I should have done years ago" Otou-san said with a strange smile on his face. It was bittersweet.
"As you know everyone with Akatsueki blood flowing through their veins possess red hair and golden eyes no matter how little the percentage of blood is. This marks us and points us out to people, things, out there that are after us" He started.
"Things that are after us?" I questioned.
"Demons," Otou-san said. My eyes widened and I had flashes of a man with black hair and red eyes appear, as well as a sad boy with white hair and crying crystal blue eyes.
"I know you probably think that demons are just folk law but they are very real and they will target you as you grow older. Our blood sings to them but as soon as a single drop enters their bloodstream it poisons them and makes them feel immeasurable pain driving them insane" Otou-san continued.
"I know this scares you but your Okaa-san and I won't always be here to protect you so you must learn to protect yourself and those that you care about. If your blood is given to a demon it will help you either get away or to destroy them. On the other hand if your blood is given to a human it will boost their healing ability but it won't work on yourself unless you mix it with medicines. This is the curse that our family bears," He said.
"Curse?" I asked.
"Yes, a curse. Our ancestor made a vow to the person that he loved that he would stop their endless bloodlust no matter the cost. He begged, pleaded, vowed, screamed, yelled and threatened the very gods themselves but they were silent. It was at this time our ancestor turned from the path of the gods and looked for his own way to stop his lover. In the end he created a medicine that he thought would help him. His white hair turned red, his red eyes turned golden and he now had the power to help his lover but it was not the power that he wanted. Instead of the medicine giving him the ability to save the person he loved, the medicine had given him the ability to destroy his lover and there was no way to take back what he had done" Otou-san said. My thoughts were running a mile an hour, for some reason I thought that this conversation shouldn't be happening but I didn't know why.
"What happened to him?" I questioned as I saw Okaa-san gave us some biscuits and tea so we poured our tea and nibbled the snacks.
"The lover of our ancestors didn't understand what he had done, they thought it was a betrayal and so they left him vowing to destroy his whole family line. It was at that moment that our ancestor saw the true colors of his lover so he decided that he would put an end to their devious deeds by destroying him using the abilities that he now possessed. He came close to killing his lover but in the end he couldn't bring himself to do it and his lover killed him. That wasn't the end though since our ancestor left behind three sons and four daughters. These children grew up and had children of their own and each generation at least one person would take on our ancestors' work and try to stop his lover. Everyone has failed so far," Otou-san said. I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Was Otou-san telling me this because he wanted me to try and kill this man? My hands shook just thinking about that. Seeming to understand my thoughts, Otou-san reached forward and grabbed my hands, squeezing them.
"I am not telling you this so that you will take up this mantle. For the past few generations demons have hunted our family to near extinction, in fact there is only you and I left. I will not ask you to put your life on the line to hunt that person down. I am telling you this so you will understand that demons will not stop, they will hunt us down no matter what we do" Otou-san said as he pulled me into a hug and gently stroked my head as I hugged him back.
"I wish we had more time together" I heard whispered but I didn't understand that at all, we had plenty of time together.
