Note: Thank you to @NlaslyZurish for translating this book from english to spanish. To those who wanted to check it out, go ahead! Give them some love and support <3 Much appreciated.
Kirai's POV
This young gal is insulted by many people. All of which bear similar meaning. And each of it all, every name she is called represents what she is. May it be an outsider, a stranger, an outcast, a misfit, an alien, a pathetic girl, a nobody, a nuisance.
Hated.
That girl does not remember her original name. She is given one. They named her Kirai. It stands for Hated or Dislike. The young and innocent girl does not know what that name stands for, nor even be bothered by it... Until she herself experienced it.
My name is Kirai, and I have nowhere to belong.
"Hashirama, what is the meaning of this!?" An older man's voice boomed throughout the dark forest, loud and dominating. The young boys brought something– or rather, someone unexpected. The old man stared at the unwelcoming presence, looking down at such a young person who does not appear to have a life. This man, who appeared to be these boys' father, stared at his own sons who had brought what looked like death itself.
Oh, yes... That was me. I am death.
"Father! We found her. S-She is the source of the voice that seemed to echo within the forest!" The boy, Hashirama, patted my dirty head. He looked at the old man in a hurry and quite desperately as he exclaimed, "She is pale, father, she needs medical assistance! Immediately–"
"You dare raise your voice to me, boy!? Look at whom you're holding. This child, rather, this girl is dead!" There is a look of disgust on the man's face, clearly disturbed that his own son picked up something that he rather did not expect.
"She is not dead, father." The boy merely looked at the man ghastly, like he's offended by something his father said. "The girl is very much alive. I mean, look, she's right in front of you. I-It just– it seems that she is lost and has... wandered to the forest aimlessly." Hashirama looked at me with such sadness that I forgot it was aimed at me, leaving me breathless. "She needs to go home."
"Home? And where do you think is her home, boy?" The old man narrowed his eyes on Hashirama. Then, his sharp eyes flickered back to mine. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't.
The kind boy, whose arms are still encircled around me, stared at me helplessly, "Um..." He looked utterly lost, "C-Can you talk?"
Then the old man suddenly laughed. The voice he emitted was so loud that I took a step back, frightened. "The girl has yet to speak? It will be our dismay if she never talks in the first place! Hashirama, what are you going to do?"
He responded by biting his lip, still not looking away from me. "We have heard her cry, so I assume that she can talk." Hashirama breathed in and out, calming himself. "So, please... speak to me." Now, he is addressing me. His soft voice eased me, a perfect melody and softness that nearly made me cry. Such gentleness in his voice that I desire to hear more, "Whoever you are, I will help you with all my might."
Somehow, I can understand this boy, like I can feel his emotions and thoughts. His voice, despite being filled with gentleness and such vulnerability, is sad and quite eager. I do not want to talk, still frightened at the presence of the other boys, especially this towering man, yet for the sake of him... I will have to speak.
Slowly, I lifted my frail arm, and pointed in the opposite direction. His eyes gleamed in happiness at my weak attempt of a response. My shoulders tenses when he smiles, and for some reason, I want to see him happy. It made my heart melt, so I spoke. "There." Light and almost inaudible.
I heard light footsteps behind me. My heart rate sped. I turn around to see another boy who has strange-looking hair and eyes, looking straight at the direction I pointed. The strange boy crossed his arms as he closed his eyes, lowering his head as if he was focusing on something. "I do not sense any presence in that direction. It appears there is no life from what I can detect." The boy snapped his head to me, I blinked in wonder as I analyzed his crimson eyes. "Girl, are you sure you know where your home is?"
Those red eyes bored deeply into my eyes, I couldn't help but look away uncomfortably and nodded, "Yes."
"You are wrong. There is no one there." He said.
Hashirama took a step closer to him, "Tobirama, what do you mean?"
"She pointed in that direction, but there was no one there. I can only assume that she has lost her sense of direction. The girl is clueless, brother. She does not know where she lived." The boy declared.
However, something in his words frustrates me. I do not like how he pointed out that I am lost. I know where I came from, I know what I'm doing. Tears were making their way in my eyes, but I persistently shook my head and pointed in the same direction. "No! There."
Hashirama is now looking at me with concern. I do not like that look he gave me, so I kept pointing out of desperation. "There. There!"
Another boy stepped up, sharing his thoughts. "We should go check it ourselves. Look at her, I believe she knows where she lives." The younger boy looked at the person beside him, which is Tobirama, "Tobi-nii, I have no doubts about your sensory ability. But we should go see it ourselves if she is so sure. Although there are risks, this girl needs our help."
Hashirama did not hesitate to agree, "Itama is right. We need to see the place immediately."
"And what if we saw nothing? What should we do then?" And another boy beside Hashirama, questions, looking anxiously at me. I merely gave him a blank look.
Hashirama's grip tightened in my arm. I looked at him, but his eyes were not on me. I frowned at that. "I-I do not–"
"We leave her here." His father declared.
The four boys snapped their heads to the old man, flabbergasted. I did nothing. "What!?"
With visible exasperation plastered on his expression, Hashirama's other hand formed a ball, clenching it tight as he stared at his father in great disbelief. "What are you saying, father? We can't just leave her here alone."
"Yes, we can. If we bring her to our compound, our clansmen will not be pleased." The old man said, looking at them pointedly. "I am sure you all know the reason. We are at war. If they see her, what do you think will happen then?"
The boy beside me gulped, Hashirama looked away from him. Everyone looks quite upset. "T-Then, our only hope is to bring her back to her home." He then gave me a look of despair and happiness. I looked at him with such hope. "Come on, we cannot waste any more time."
"Impossible."
And so, in front of our very own eyes are massive chunks of rubbles. It portrayed an empty, desolated, and abandoned place. The sight made me remember the cruelty that had happened, that took place, here. When I recalled the cruel visions, I suddenly cried. Loud and ugly. Releasing everything that I kept in.
The noise echoed, making the young boys and their father snapped their heads to me, their attention on me once again. Hashirama clasped my arms, looking me in the eye. He is far too blurry for me to look at. I can't help but cry more.
"Calm down... It's alright. Everything is fine."
But that made me cry more. Everything is not fine.
"Hashirama, enough. You have seen the surroundings. Do not try to stop her from crying out of great loss. Instead, analyze the view that is laid in front of you. Imagine the events taking place that left this town into pieces. What do you think happened here, boy, what do you think happened to her?"
I can feel Hashirama's grip tightening and quivering on my arms, it almost hurts. When I felt that, I cried even more loudly.
Hashirama's breath wavered, "I-I..."
The white-haired boy interrupted him. "This place... is destroyed. The town is dead."
Their father looked at me with no emotions at all, I can feel his stare directed at my crying form. "Indeed... And so is she."
"Then what happened here?" Itama asked, his breath hitching at the horrifying sight.
"Look at the wood, the stone, the ground... It appears that this place has recently fallen. I cannot feel anything, not a presence besides us." Tobirama moved his head, now also looking at me. "But it is odd... for she is the only survivor who made it out alive."
"Do not say that, Tobirama. Perhaps there are other survivors who have fled. We cannot give up hope." Hashirama stated with forced positivity, yet his voice alone is enough to calm me down.
"But Hashirama-nii, no one is here. Tobi-nii said so himself. What is more odd is that she..." Kawarama paused, gulping anxiously. "She does not have a presence."
"Indeed, anija. I cannot sense her." Tobirama agreed.
Their father intruded, "What is your decision, boy. Your hope does not matter here, not when you already have a glimpse of what has happened to this devastating place. What will you do now?" He took a step closer towards us, only stopping in front of me. "Will you leave the girl here alone, or–"
Hashirama snapped, "I will not leave her here, father! I cannot do so."
His father glared at the boy in annoyance. "Let me continue, child." He scowled, shaking his head. "Listen to me very well. If you bring her along with us, we cannot promise anything but more sadness and pain."
"What? Why?"
"You are not an idiot, Hashirama. I am sure you know the consequences once you bring her along."
Hashirama shook his head, stubborn and unwilling. "None. There will be no consequences, father."
"Hm. Then I will tell you this... Bringing her will cause her to suffer even more. You can only promise her more pain, sadness, grief, and negativity. To bring her is to give her cruelty. Hashirama, you know what will happen if we bring her to our compound. Our clansmen will treat her negatively, your presence and friendship alone will not help her. She is already dead, but you will kill her more times than you think. Soon you will find out you are utterly helpless, thus, every choice you make will not help her as effectively as you think. It will only bring her the ultimate sadness... and in the end, she will fall. But this time, you cannot save her. Because what you can only do is to hurt her."
That day, Hashirama did not heed his father's warning. He brought me to their home... and all his father's words proved to be true. The people who lived there did not love me. They despised me, disliked me, treated me so horribly because I am not like them. I am not them. I do not have Senju blood.
And so, people named me a simple and common word. Though it sounds cruel, I believe it suited me well because that word– rather, that name, is what best describes me the most. That word is the most common and normal feeling I ever felt, an experience I have to deal with. A word, but a name I understand the most...
Hurt. Disliked.
My name is Kirai, and I am always hurting.
~~~
Hello! This chapter is quite short. But, hopefully you loved it! Huzzah! I do hope you loved the first chapter so far. It is quite boring, but hopefully, you will adapt to my oh-so-slow-process of writing haha!
Thank you for reading by the way. If you have read the notes, then I wanted to let you know that I won't be publishing a chapter daily. It will depend on my mood or well... if I am busy.
I kind of fixed my way of writing. The changes in the last two books are quite impressive. Hell, I am quite pleased! It's good because I'm reading Game of Thrones, and the author's way of writing is seriously good.
To those who don't know, English is not my first language. So, there might be grammatical errors you can spot ;) Please do tell me– rather, teach me if I am wrong.
You can check out my other two books (if you haven't yet) in my profile. Happy Halloween, everyone!
Bye ~