President Ichiryu had made a habit of seeking out disciples; young orphan boys from impoverished nations that would be grateful for his guidance and care. He already had 3, that was the usual number but one day he heard of one more that he knew he needed to meet. There had been a terrible fire at a crowded apartment building in on of the poorest districts of the city. Over 40 people died, from burns, smoke inhalation or being trampled by survivors. 25 survived, only 2 were children; a 7 year old boy who carried his 3 year old sister on his back and jumped off the roof.
Rumors flew about this incident. Some say the child was born with strange multicolored hair that gave him powers, but other say he was simply brave. But either way he was in the hospital, and had been for the past week. Ichiryu knew he had to see for himself. The hospital was already on his good will tour, it was one of many public facilities that received food and supplies from the government, so he would often to a photo shoot while shaking hands with the locals. He went to the front desk and asked about the mysterious boy. The receptionist could not hold back her tears. She told him the boy was very sick but since the children had no other family they would likely be sent to an orphanage. "I think the little girl might find a home, but that poor little boy...It's so much harder to get an older child adopted- and then there's the hair...some people find it adorable, but others see it as some kind of abomination.- anyway, I'm so sorry." She said reaching for a tissue, "Go to room 303, bed 5."
Now Ichiryu was even more curious, what was it about this child's hair? He went to the room, and saw a little girl with short black hair. "Are you here to help my brother?" she appeared to be wearing the same cloths from the fire; covered in the same dirt and ash.
"I'll try, little one." That answer felt right even if there was nothing special about this boy he could still use his power to get them placed in a orphanage in a better neighborhood "What's your name?"
"rin.." she said sitting up on the bed. "And this is sunny...because mama thought his hair looked pretty like the sunrise."
The boy, Sunny, had the most unusual blonde, pink, blue and green streaked hair. As he slept, his hair seemed to move on its own as if it was a separate entity. Ichiryu then turned his attention to the injuries, his arms were severely burned, as if he tried to cover his face and also broken in several places. The bandages were old and dirty, causing an infection and fever, and his broken bones were not even reset. The child's ribs were also broken, perhaps from the fall making it difficult for him to breathe. But through all this, the hair was stroking the child's face, as if to give some measure of comfort.
"can you tell me what happened in the fire?" he asked, if anyone knew the truth it would be her.
She nodded. "my mama and papa went to heaven; all I have is Sunny. It was so cold that night, I wanted to sleep inside. So we snuck in to the building with the broken locks, and we found a door that was open." she started to cry, what they did was wrong and perhaps it was why fate deemed it necessary to punish them.
"Sunny said if we were quiet we could sleep in a closet, just for today, and no one would even know we were there." And Sunny would be right, maybe a little too right. The owner was a drunk who stumbled in hours later, and while attempting to make a cup of coffee using a kettle and a gas stove, set the kitchen on fire.
"There was fire, and screaming, and running. Sunny carried me on his back. He ran through the fire like this." she said holding her arms in front of her face. It was then Ichiryu noticed Rin's face and body were completely unharmed. Perhaps the power of the hair was too busy protecting his sister, to shield Sunny's unprotected arms.
"We got to the hallway and people kept knocking Sunny down. Someone even stepped on him." That was less horrific then the truth. Sunny managed to shove Rin out of the way of the stampeding crowd, but he was trampled by no less than 5 people, breaking every rib in his tiny chest. But the pain and a powerful will to live energized his hair to suddenly toss people off of him, spring his body up and reunite with Rin. They needed to go in the opposite direction as the crowd; they needed to get to the roof.
At the roof Sunny told Rin to climb on his back one last time, hoping this was not good bye. "don't be scared, ok," he said to her, to hide the fact he was absolutely terrified. He closed his eyes and he could see his mother's face She had died of sickness less than a year ago, and their father had come and gone as he pleased-leaving them with nothing. But as she died she made sure her children knew they were loved.
"You are brave, you are strong, and you are beautiful." Those were his mother's last words to him. He recited them to Rin, almost as a prayer.
As he jumped, the hair made a net-like landing spot, to make the fall less fatal. But Sunny landed right on his already injured arms, breaking the bones so badly he could see bloody shards. Rin screamed for help but it was 30 minutes before anyone even acknowledged her cries.
"love you sunny" Rin curled back in to bed, holding her brother's hand.
Ichiryu looked at the two children in awe. They were destined for so much more. He would adopt the boy, train him as a disciple, and the girl, he would put through school and see what field she would grow to excel in.
He would not leave without them. Using his political authority he secured the adoption in a matter of hours, and the children were medically lifted to his estate via helicopter.
"Sunny!" Rin said looking out the window as their city disappeared in to the distance. "wake up sunny!"
Sunny's broken arms were reset and he was given stronger antibiotics for the fever. He would be ok. His hair was resting as well, laying normally like hair should. She kissed she forehead and started to braid his hair. "you need to wake up soon- we're going someplace... beautiful."
