3 Chapter 2: The Starborn
Sora Kiritsu POV
They always say that time changes things. How right they were. Almost two months passed by, and I was lying frail on what would soon be my deathbed.
"Do you want me to bring Junpei in to see you?" my mother said. I know that she didn't want to lose me either.
"No, I don't want his last memory of his mother being some frail and weak woman," I said with a heartfelt smile on my face.
In the past day, I have thought about my son and how great he is. I wasn't saying that just because I am his mother. No, it was because he was truly a great kid. I hope he stays like that.
Suddenly, everything started to fade away as I heard the ominous knock of the Shinigami on my door.
I could feel tears running down the side of my face as I looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling slowly faded to black and I felt myself being pulled towards the pure land. My mind shifted towards my son, and the sadness I felt as I began to accept my fate.
Narrator POV
It had been a few days since the passing of Junpei's mom. His cries echoed through the cemetery as he held the hand of his grandmother. His small, chubby hand curled around hers. The elderly woman tried her best to comfort her grandchild, her grip tightening around his hand as if she were trying to shield him from the pain of death. Yet, it was hard to do when standing in front of your child's freshly patched grave.
All of a sudden, a mysterious blue translucent screen appeared before Junpei, one that only he could see. It unfurled before him with words that were inscribed in bold font.
However, the screen faded away behind Junpei's vision, as the only thing his mind could focus on was the death of his mother.
[Loading...]
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have received the 'System'. The memories of your past life will be awakened.]
Suddenly, a warm and welcoming feeling washes through Junpei's mind, and the memories of his past life begin to resurface from their slumber.
The soft stream of memories that had been steadily flowing through Junpei's mind began to grow into a roaring river, flooding his consciousness with moments of pain from his past life. In seconds, Junpei faints from the overwhelming rush of memories.
His grandmother worriedly grabbed him and rushed him to the village's hospital. Her eyes were filled with tears as she held up her grandchild who suddenly collapsed.
But the system kept on ringing more notifications in Junpei's mind.
[New Function Added! Establishing a 'brother base' psychic connection with another reincarnator. The awakening of your 'brother memories' will occur shortly.]
*Ding!
[A world event has been detected.]
[The Weakest Duo: You and your bond have been given the privilege of awakening your memories earlier than the other reincarnators due to your status as the weakest reincarnation duo.]
[Alert!!]
[You have 9 years until the second reincarnator duo awakens their memories. Make the best of the time that is left, and prepare for the arrival of your possible enemies.]
. . . . .
A day has passed since Junpei fainted. His eyelids now flicker open and his vision slowly returns.
His hair, dark black with streaks of violet, covers his deep brown eyes as if trying to hide away the pain inside of him.
His head still feels slightly heavy and his body is somewhat sore.
As he climbs off his bed, he takes a moment to rub his head gently and try to ease the tension. He looks out the window, seeing the night outside. His thoughts suddenly turned to his mother, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of sorrow creeping back in.
He slowly got up, opened the door to his room, and then slowly started to make his way down the dark hallway. The only light, besides the moon's light that was slowly infiltrating the shadows, was coming from his mother's room.
As he opened the door of his mother's room, he saw that the room was just as he remembered it. His mother's drawings of trees and flowers were still pinned to the wall. Some clothes lay scattered on the floor around the bed as if her last moments were spent hastily putting everything away. He spotted an old picture of him and his mom on the floor, and he picked it up. He let out a sad smile as he put it in his pocket. He then took his mother's clothes from the floor and placed them on the bed.
Junpei wandered over to his mother's drawing board. His hands reached out to touch the frames and the sketches that were left behind.
His legs unconsciously carried him to the seat that his mother had used to sit at when she worked on her paintings. In a way, he was still that small child, watching her from his own miniature chair.
As he sat down, he realized that the last painting his mother had been working on before her death was still unfinished. He broke down in sobs, burying his face in his hands, drowning in his own grief.
After a few minutes, a quiet knock on the door pulled Junpei out of his grief-stricken state. Junpei dried his tears and turned to see a man who had a striking resemblance to him.
"Go away." Junpei snapped.
The man was just about to say something when Junpei cut him.
"Don't pretend like you know what I am going through," Junpei said sharply.
"You're right, I don't know what you are going through," Asuma replied. "But I know what it feels like to lose a mother."
Junpei stared at him, seething with anger. "Do you expect me to open up to you? Embrace you? If you had wanted to be my father, you could have done that four years ago."
"Wait..." Asuma muttered.
"Don't try to deny it," Junpei said in a coldly.
"I remember my mother crying over her bed as she read that f*cking letter you sent her. You abandoned me."
Asuma dropped down his gaze, his expression filled with shame.
Junpei gets up from the seat and walks towards his room, slamming the door shut behind him. He didn't want to talk to his father again, not right now, not ever.
Asuma walks to the bed and sits down. He brings a hand up to his head, as he begins to recall a day around 5 years ago.
He stood outside a bar, his hand trembling as he looked at the lit cigarette in his fingers. The cigarette's embers glowing in the night air, the smell of tobacco and tar filling his nose. A bitter taste crept up the back of his throat.
But he was only trying to escape, to bury himself in anything but the past. Yet he couldn't keep from being reminded of things he'd rather forget.
It had been a year since six members of the Guardian Ninja, a group that had been like brothers to Asuma, had each betrayed one another in the name of unity.
As he took a drag from his cigarette, the smoke curling around him, the events replayed in his mind like a movie. The faces of his dead comrades appeared every time he closed his eyes.
'Nothing I can do is going to bring them back,' he thought, as he exhaled slowly, the smoke mingling with the night air, carrying away a fraction of his remorse. Taking one final drag, Asuma flicked the cigarette butt to the ground and watched it smolder.
'So, why?' Asuma thought as he stepped into the dimly lit bar that evening. He heard the sounds of laughter and clinking glasses.
'Why do I still hear their dying screams.' His own words echoed in his head. 'It's because they were all right. I am a monster.'
Seeking a drink to escape from those thoughts, Asuma found a seat at the bar. It was then that he noticed a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye. A woman had entered the bar, her beauty instantly catching his eye.
He slowly got up and walked over to her. He struck up a conversation and was surprised at how easy it was to talk to her. Their laughter joined the noise of the bar. It was a fleeting connection, a short escape from the memories that haunted him.
Hours passed, and as the night grew late, Asuma knew it was time to say goodbye to the woman. Stepping outside the bar, he was greeted by the cool night air. He reached for a pack of cigarettes, wanting a quick drag to help clear his head.
But just as he was about to light one, he heard a voice behind him. It was her, the woman from the bar, Sora. She was smiling at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"I was hoping we could continue our conversation from earlier at my place," her voice inviting.
With a faint smile, he placed the cigarette back into the box and turned towards Sora.
As the sun rose the next day, Asuma slowly woke up and quietly exited the room where Sora's figure was highlighted by the dark green sheet. He had let himself get caught up in the moment, but now he had to get back to his duties as a shinobi. He headed out into the streets of the village, leaving Sora's house behind. He then headed for the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
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The title is somewhat of a reference to Starfield.
So you don't have to look it up, here's what I'm referring to. "The Starborn are people who have passed through The Unity, which allows an individual to be reborn." — Google
