"— Mr. Kakai, would you like a game of paddleball?"
Neret's voice was warm and inviting.
Kakai smiled, the focus that had hardened his face instantly dissolving.
"Only if it's now!"
"Gosh, how can those guys be so childish!"
Rarita Agarin muttered, her lips curled in disgust as she watched her husband and his friend.
Rarita pulled Neret in for a kiss, right in the middle of the game.
"Ew, Mom, stop being gross!"
Ugorin rolled her eyes with palpable contempt.
"What's wrong, honey? That's how we had you!"
Rarita replied, with a smile laden with sweetness.
"Okay, but please stop showing all that affection in public!"
Ugorin backed away, her entire body expressing revulsion.
"Oh, honey, when you fall in love..."
Neret began.
"When I fall in love, it won't be a guy like you, Dad, it will be a god!"
Ugorin's reply was quick, loaded with defensive arrogance.
On the day Ugorin was born, Rarita's parents, in a cruel act, cursed their daughter with a forbidden magic. This magic imprisons the heart of Ugorin, who was born without the vital organ.
Because of this, her parents constantly have to replace her heart, living under the weight of this secret and this daily maintenance.
However, Ugorin inherited her clan's forbidden jutsu, the Infernal Coffin. The Infernal Coffin is an almost impossible prison to escape, where the only way out is to be stronger than the user who imprisoned you.
"Kakai, you cheat too much! One day I'm going to beat you!"
Neret protested, but there was amusement in his tone.
"I'd like to see you try!"
Kakai replied, and his laughter echoed down the hallway.
Sensei Yagato compulsively inhaled his cigarette, the smoke obscuring his face.
"Stop smoking!"
Nobaru snapped, irritation evident in his voice.
Yagato slowly released the smoke, an air of defiance.
"You know I like you, but if I have to choose, I choose the cigarette."
Nobaru crossed his arms, his forehead furrowed in suspicion.
"Don't you find it strange that your only son is coming to this school? I feel like this is going to be bad, I can't explain it, but I feel it."
With a forced laugh, Yagato replied, trying to ease the tension:
"Stop being paranoid, you need a date."
Suddenly, the lightness disappeared. His eyes darkened, becoming serious.
"Anyway, we should be very
attentive."
Yoshi, Kakai's son, was raised by his mother, a human, who never knew the truth about the child's father. The day of his birth was enveloped in a thick fog. Now, the boy was about to start at the Tatoro Preparation School.
"Fukuoka, hello, anybody home?"
Yagato's voice was strangely smooth.
They entered the room. Fukuoka was fast asleep. Yagato and Yoshi approached with caution.
"Wake up, sweetie, Mommy made your favorite little breakfast."
Yagato used a sweet and syrupy, almost ridiculous, tone.
"Ah, Mom, give me 30 more minutes..."
Fukuoka mumbled, barely opening his eyes.
"But the coffee will get cold, sweetie."
Fukuoka jumped out of bed, the sleepiness replaced by a flash of irritation.
"I'm awake, okay? You're not my mom, you know? That was awkward."
Yagato shrugged, masking his amusement.
"This is your colleague, Yoshi. I hope you two get along, okay? I'm out of here."
The teacher left, the haste in his departure almost comical.
"It's just like him to run from trouble. So, you goofball, are you going to stand there in the doorway staring or are you coming in?"
Fukuoka's rudeness was instant, a barrier raised.
Yoshi blinked, embarrassed and overwhelmed by the large suitcases he was carrying.
"H-help me with these bags."
The whole school was already whispering about the entry of Kakai's son.
"Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
Yoshi asked, feeling the outside eyes weighing on him.
Fukuoka let out a dry, bitter laugh.
"I don't know, maybe it's because of your father, who is the school's biggest enemy, and his son is in it."
Yoshi frowned, confusion mixed with pain.
"But I only saw my father once, I don't even remember what he was really like."
"He's powerful, like everyone says. He's evil."
Fukuoka's word was a judgment.
"I don't know, I don't remember."
Yoshi looked at the floor, the weight of his father's reputation crushing him.
Fukuoka, seeing the vulnerability in the other, softened his tone, perhaps due to a flash of empathy.
"It's okay, my parents were weird too."