Chapter 4

No time had been wasted on beginning the training of young Shin. First, however, he would go through what every Kai child would—school. Only Shin would learn from the servants and gods themselves instead of mingling with peers and being taught by one person alone.

Getting Shin to focus, however, was the true problem. Derikaikay, although a servant, was highly educated and was ordered by Dai Kaioshin to teach Shin everything he knew—from holding a writing utensil the proper way to reading to creating his own works of literary art.

"Now, make the letter K," Derikaikay said sitting next to Shin at the desk in one of the smaller study rooms.

"Like this?" Shin asked as he made a sloppy looking L with another line attached.

"No Shin," Derikaikay corrected as he drew the letter himself. "Pay more attention. You're letting yourself jump ahead."

"Can I go play now? Please?" Shin begged, having spent the past two hours going over letters like he had for a week straight.

"Not yet." Derikaikay knew it was hard for the young boy to learn when others his age would be out playing. "When you get them right, then you may go."

Shin let out a heavy sigh as he reached up to the table, scooting to sit on the edge of the books that raised him up on the chair. "K," he said as he drew the letter out. "L, M, N."

When it wasn't learning to write or read, it was learning manners suitable for a Kaioshin. "Shin, we never slouch!" East Kaioshin said poking the young boy in the back. "Stand up straight, for heaven's sake."

"But I'm tired, Master East," Shin moaned as he tried his best to stand up straight.

"That's no excuse. I've been tired for the past 50,000 years. Now, stand up straight. When you're greeted by anyone, always bow—like this." East Kaioshin demonstrated by putting his right hand over his heart and bending forward ever so slightly. "Now you try."

Shin did the exact same movement that East Kaioshin had just shown him, but was ready to cry when the god yelled, "You have to bow, Shin! Not lean."

"You did that!" Shin said defensively.

"I'm also thirty times your age and my back isn't as good as it used to be! You bow, keeping your back straight, so your eyes would go down and meet the floor."

"But we're outside, Master East. There is no floor," Shin said after being poked in the back again because he was beginning to slouch.

"Floor, ground, grass, mud," East Kaioshin said. "Doesn't matter! Now do it again."

Shin bowed over, hearing a quick correction of, "Keep your back straight boy." His eyes looked at the ground and as he started to stand back up, they caught something small and yellow fluttering past his feet. A small butterfly had journeyed over to the two Kais and soon Shin was chasing after it.

"Shin! Shin, not now!" East Kaioshin called helplessly from where he stood as Shin chased the butterfly around, giggling up a storm. East Kaioshin sat down and sighed. "Lot of spunk and spirit in that boy, but how do you keep his attention?" He asked himself.

By the time Shin had given up on the butterfly, he was no longer playing alone. Shina, the successor of West Kaioshin had joined him after her own training had finished for the day. Shina was a good eight years older than Shin, but they had already become friends.

"Chasing butterflies isn't that much fun," she told Shin after he had stopped. "It's childish."

"Why?" Shin asked.

"Because it just is," Shina replied picking a flower from the ground and looking it at dreamingly.

"Why?" Shin asked wanting an answer.

"Don't bother me Shin," Shina said. "Hey, you want to see what I learned today?"

"Yeah!" Shin said excitedly as he sat down in front of Shina.

Shina sat on her knees and held out her hands, positioning them as if she were holding an invisible ball. She stared at her hands for several moments, her face focused and stern as she tried with all her might to recreate what West Kaioshin had shown her only a few hours earlier.

"What are you doing?"

"Shh," Shina said quickly. "I'm concentrating."

"What's concentrating…?" But then Shin became silent as he saw a little glowing ball appear between Shina's hands. "Wow!"

"Its energy," Shina said. "You'll learn it too, someday."

"Tomorrow?"

"No, you're not old enough."

"You teach me!"

"I can't teach you, Shin. East Kaioshin has to do that."

"When?"

"When you're older, silly. You can't even read yet," Shina said rolling her eyes.

"I can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!" Shin said standing up and going over to tag Shina, although her reflexes were quicker and she dodged out of his way. Soon, they had engaged in a game of tag mixed with hide and seek. They would play this often and it would normally last until they were called for dinner.

ù ù ù

Shina had been right. East Kaioshin would be the one to teach him such techniques as to create a small ball of energy with his hands when he was older. And by age eleven, Shin had learned not only that, but how to fly using his mind and energy, fight basic martial arts and even do all this while hovering in the air. And all in all, he was very good at it.

Even at his age, Shin was in top form, extremely smart, and very strong. His skills were growing every day, and Dai Kaioshin was impressed and satisfied with his choice of replacement for East Kaioshin.

"Look at him," Dai Kaioshin said to his old friend of the East. "So young, yet so powerful. I don't think he'll ever be as strong as South Kaioshin, but for his size, he's up there in strength."

"Yes, he is," East replied. "The little brat he once was has grown out of him. Give him another decade and he'll be a fine boy. I'm sure the ladies will flock over him like he was some sort of prince."

"Yes, well he knows the rules concerning such elements," Dai Kaioshin replied. "Yet I don't think I'll have to worry about him in that respect. He's much too polite and quiet to ever get himself tangled in a web of mischief and misuse. Now Shina, that's another story. She certainly loves to joke around."

By the time Shin was eighteen, East Kaioshin had finally decided it was time to teach him the most treasured abilities of the Kaioshins.

"Now, focus your mind as you would normally do," East Kaioshin said as he sat down in front of Shin on the soft grass of Kaioshin-kai. "You must focus all of your energy towards me."

Shin sat with his legs folded and crossed, his fingers interlocked with his elbows resting on his thighs. With his eyes closed, he looked at East Kaioshin using his mind. He could see the outline of his master before him, darkness everywhere else.

"Now, listen carefully," East continued. "I will not say a word, but you will listen for me. I will speak to you with my mind and you will hear it. But you must remain calm."

Shin's ears listened hard for the words he might hear from the god. He could hear the thumping of his own heart, the wind sweeping across the tree next to them, and the birds chirping in the far distance. Shina was playing chess with North Kaioshin and losing miserably, South was fighting the air around him, and Dai Kaioshin was studying a crystal ball—a tool the Kaioshins used to see the universe.

Then he heard it. East Kaioshin was talking to himself, saying such things like, "He'll never grasp this so quickly. It's much to advance for someone his age."

"What is too advanced?" Shin asked, opening his eyes and breaking his concentration.

East Kaioshin looked at him with wide wrinkled eyes and his mouth hanging open. "You heard then? My thoughts…you actually read my thoughts?"

"Well, I'm not sure," Shin replied. "I heard your voice say that I won't grasp it so quickly. Did you mean I read your mind?"

"Yes! Yes you did my dear boy!" East Kaioshin said clapping his hands. "By Kai, I think you'll be a savior someday! So smart, yes so smart indeed! I must go tell Dai Kaioshin—he'll be thrilled!"

And with that he disappeared into thin air. Shin now sat alone with his own thoughts. He had come so far, yet he couldn't remember how this had all started. A part of him wanted to go exploring, to find the roots of his being, to know exactly why he was here learning all of this. The rest of him didn't care. He knew what he was destined to do for eternity, but what part of his life was missing?

Since he could remember, he had only lived on Kaioshin-kai. It was his home, where he grew up and made friends with the gods and some servants. He had learned to enjoy books to the point where he spent every day reading a book that was stashed away in the library. He wasn't jumpy and energetic like Shina was who enjoyed the thrill of a good joke— especially if she was doing the joking. West and East Kaioshin were old, yes, but very wise. He knew he could never be as wise as them.

And then there was North Kaioshin, who had his fishing and South Kaioshin who would spend his time training his mind and body. He was a playful Kai, but rather gullible. Shin knew he was the least like all of them—quiet, thoughtful, loving, and yes, even lazy.

Shin's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Shina, who found it extremely funny that he had jumped in place at her suddenness. "What's wrong? Thinking again?" She said mockingly.

"I was," Shin replied. "Did you win the game of chess?"

"Don't even mention it," Shina said holding up her hand. "North Kaioshin cheats, that's all there is to it."

"Or perhaps he knows what he's doing and you only think you do," Shin countered with a wink.

"Shin, I can't believe you said that to me," she told him. "I'm hurt, really I am."

"Why do I doubt that?"

Shin and Shina had become best friends, doing a good portion of their training together when it came to fighting and testing out special moves West and East Kaioshin taught them. But it wasn't just the time spent working their bodies to the max and straining themselves to do better than before. They spent a lot of time hanging around the gardens or near the lake that was a mile in front of the mansion. Whether it was talking, taking a nap while the other read a book, or meditating, it was rare to see the two apart.

"Dai Kaioshin told me that I'll take West Kaioshin's spot within the year," Shina said as she plucked a blade of green grass from the ground.

"Already?" Shin asked a little surprised with the news. "I'd thought I'd make it before you."

"You're younger than me, silly," Shina said with a laugh. "I'm almost twenty-six. Once I become a god, I won't age like I have been. I won't grow any taller, and my beautiful girlish figure will remain the same for eternity—well, until I'm really up there in age, then I'll start looking like East and West."

Shin laughed gently and looked at her. "You haven't grown taller since you were my age," he reminded her.

"Hey shorty, you're not exactly a tree, you know," she pointed out.

It was true. Shin barely stood at five feet three inches. However, height was the only thing he lacked. Shin had indeed grown up to be the handsome young man his unknown mother always thought he would be. His eyes were as black as ebony, his lavender skin flawless, and his hair was so thick that in its Mohawk style that the front locks leaned towards his right.

The two laughed and Shina lay back in the grass, her eyes looking up to the many moons in the purple sky. "Shin, what do you think it'll be like?"

"What?"

"Being one of them," she replied.

Shin thought for a moment and looked up at the sky as well. "I'm not quite sure. It seems easy enough. I mean, we don't worry about those wars that some planets have within themselves—that's what the guardians of the planets take care of. Perhaps we won't have that much to worry about. It's been quiet since I can remember."

"Yeah, but what if something bad does happen?"

Shin smiled at her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure we can handle it. We're the strongest beings in the universe. Nothing will get past us, Shina."

"I hope you're right," she replied sitting back up. "Anyway, I'm going to get some food. I'll see you later."

Shin nodded in reply and was once again by himself. He thought about what he said to Shina. What if something terrible did happen? And who would fight the battle? He understood that becoming the god of the east meant he looked over everything in the eastern quadrant of the universe, so that meant it would be his battle if it happened in his section.

Shin could only hope that nothing would happen that he couldn't take care of once and for all.