Impossible to Foretell

Chapter 13: Dreams and Memories

Dad was on a mission and my mother opened up the door to reveal the face of a man around her age. So in my young eyes, he was simply old.

"Kaiyo, come here and say hello to our guest. He's going to be helping around the house while your father's gone."

I put my tiny hands on my hips, taking an immediate disliking to the man in front of me, "We don't need help."

"Be polite!" My mother snapped and then shot the man an apologetic look.

He bent down to my level, "Hello, my name in Kanaye Shourai. What's yours, little girl?"

"Kaiyo Kimura, and I turned four two days ago." I smirked in pride at my age.

He chuckled, but the sound did not put me at ease any. "Hey, Kaiyo, do you want me to do a magic trick for you? I'm pretty good."

I started to say no, but my mother shot me a menacing look so instead I looked at the ground, "Yes..."

He pulled out a stack of cards, "Here, draw any card from the stack."

I reached out and hesitantly took one of the thick cards into my left hand.

"Let me see." He put his finger to his forehead like he was reading the cosmic waves of the universe. "You drew the Broken Kunai."

I looked down at the card and sure enough, there was a kunai split lengthwise into two clean pieces on the card. I was not impressed, just really creeped out.

"Y-yes."

"Do you know what the Broken Kunai means?"

"Na-na-no..."

He grinned, "It symbolizes a life filled with regret and loss. Those who draw the Broken Kunai experience heartbreak on both sides. They both break the hearts of others and are heartbroken themselves."

I stood there in shock and fear like I had just received a death sentence. To my young ears, it sounded like an inescapable truth. Something that would certainly come to pass.

He stood up, and Kanaye and my mother laughed until tears were coming from their eyes.

He rubbed the top of my head, "I was just joking, kid. Don't worry about it too much, the cards are occasionally wrong."

With that, he and my mother walked away towards her room, laughing heartily the whole way.

I took a long shower that night to try and get rid of the feeling of his hand on the top of my head.

~

"Daddy! Daddy!" I clung to his leg sitting on his foot as he tried to walk forward.

"Yes, Yo-yo?"

"Are you going on a mission?"

He reached down and picked me up so that I was in line with his face. His hazel eyes were identical to my own, and I stared into them with pure adoration.

~

He stood at the door with his backpack on and ninja gear fully equipped.

"Dad, do you really have to leave?"

He knelt down in front of me and poked my nose, "I'm a ninja, Yo-yo. This is what I do. You've been at the Academy for a couple months now so you must know something about being a ninja and what it means to the village."