"Ren, Kaori, come here." The tall and handsome man with dark hair called his children, gently. The twins were playing on the garden of the castle. It was a beautiful spring morning and there were flowers everywhere. They were 5 years old.
"Yes, Chichiue?" the little girl was the first to come. Her father kneeled in front of her. On his arms there was a small baby, wrapped inside a wool blanket. He had shiny black hair, just like their father. The child was sleeping soundly.
"What is that?" Ren asked, seeing the baby boy.
"This is Ryoma." Their father said, with kind eyes. "He is your little brother."
"Little brother?!" Kaori was amazed. The baby moved inside his father's arms and yawned. "He is so cute!"
"Can you two help me out to take care of him?"
"Yes!" Kaori grinned, but Ren made a face.
"You have me and Kaori." He crossed his small arms. "Why one more?"
"You will be a big brother now. Isn't nice?" he tried to touch his son's hair but the little boy distanced himself.
"Don't wanna." He said, before giving the baby a small slap, making the child cry.
"Ren!" his father called out, but he had already ran away, returning to the insides of the castle.
"Don't cry, don't cry. It's okay, I'm your big sister and I will take care of you." Kaori said, gently caressing the baby's hair. He stopped crying and looked at her with his curious golden eyes.
"Thank you, Kaori." He hugged his daughter with his free arm and kissed her forehead.
##############
"Ren, stop it!" Kaori screamed at her twin while he rolled on the floor of the living room, fighting with Ryoma. The twins were 15 and their half-brother was 10. "You are going to hurt him!"
The boys were grabbing each other's clothes and growling to one another. Even being younger and shorter, Ryoma didn't give up. He tried to hit his brother with a punch, but Ren dodged and laughed at him. He was on top and punched Ryoma on his face, making a bruise on his cheek. He was about to hit him again when their father's hand stopped him, pulling the boy up.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, seriously, a deep frown on his face.
"Ryoma, are you okay?" his sister asked, coming close and trying to examinated his face. The boy ran away from her, ashamed.
"That is right!' Ren grinned. "Run away, you coward!"
His father held him firmly by his shoulders.
"You were the one who hit someone smaller than you. It is shameful, Ren, your behavior."
Ren averted his eyes, angrily and the Muramasa lord released his older son. Kaori came close to her father, worried.
"Chichiue, Ryoma is…"
"That is okay." He smiled gently at her. "I will talk to him."
Ryoma was sitting under a big tree in the gardens, his black bangs covering his eyes. His father came close and sat by his side, touching the boy's back.
"Are you okay? Let me see your face."
"I am fine." He replied, quietly.
"I am sorry for what happened. I will make sure Ren apologizes to you, but you cannot give in on his teasing. No matter what he does or say, you…"
"He called me a bastard." He looked at his father and he noticed the glistering of tears on his golden eyes. "What is that? Kaori got mad and grabbed his collar. He was about to slap her, when I stopped him."
"You defended your sister." His hand caressed the boy's hair. "I am proud of you."
"What is a bastard, Chichiue? Why does Ren hate me so much?"
"He does not hate you."
"He does!" the boy stood up. "He is always beating me, destroying my books and calling me names! Why is that so? Is about the bastard thing he said?"
"Ryoma…" his father gently touched his bruised face. He didn't know things were that bad between them. "A bastard is someone who was born outside a wedding lock. It means your mother and I were not married. And, indeed, we were not."
"So… I am really a bastard." The boy looked down, sadly.
"Listen to me." his father touched his chin, making him look at his dark eyes. "Yes, the relationship with your mother was an indiscretion of mine but, I wanted you in the moment I knew you existed. I waited anxiously to bring you here."
"Ren said my mother did not want me."
"The kind of job she had, it was hard for her to raise a child. She entrusted you to me."
"What do you mean?"
"I will explain better when you are older." He hugged his son. "And I will make sure your brother never says such thing to you anymore. You are not a bastard. You are my child, just like Ren and Kaori. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Chichiue." His little heart was happy.
"Let's go back and apply some ice on that face of yours, okay? Your sister is worried about you." he stood up with a smile and Ryoma held his father's hand, returning home by his side.
###########
"Can I talk to you?" the Muramasa's lord entered his older son's room. Ren was on the outside porch, his purple hair moving slowly with the wind.
"Did you finish coddling your favorite son?" he asked, sarcastically , when his father sat by his side.
"He told me about the things you did. Why do you treat him like that? You are his older brother; you have the obligation of protecting him."
"I do not want to be around a whore's son." He scoffed and his father grabbed the arm, making the teen look at him.
"He is your brother." His words were dead serious. "You both have my blood on your veins. Ryoma, like Kaori, will be your ally someday when I am gone. Life as a lord is hard. You will need as much help as you can possibly find."
"I do not need them." The boy replied, pulling his arm and releasing himself. "I will be a proper ruler with my own strength."
His father took a deep breath. That boy still had much to mature. He stood up, tired, and looked at Ren.
"Do not ever raise your hand against your siblings again or do anything bad towards Ryoma. That is your first and last warning."
Ren's pink eyes accompanied his father's figure as he left, his heart beating fast, filled with anger.
##############
"Do not." Kaori's trembling hands held Ren's sword blade tightly. Her blood mixed with Ryoma's. She had stopped the sword from crossing his body and her twin to kill their younger brother. "Please, do not hurt him." She begged, the pink eyes looking at his.
"Get out of my way, Kaori!" he shouted, enraged.
"Kaori…" Ryoma whispered his sister's name, his clenched teeth from the deep pain he was feeling for having the side of his abdomen perforated.
Things between them only got worse after their father's death. Ryoma had become Muramasa's doctor and, on that night, Ren had returned home completely drunk and destroyed everything on his office, his books and the medicine he had prepared to help their people. Ryoma entered the place and they started to argue terribly.
When Kaori arrived at the room, Ren had already attacked Ryoma and was about to kill him when she put herself between them.
"He is our brother. Please, Ren! I will do anything. Please."
He looked at her for a few minutes and retrieved the sword. Kaori hugged her younger brother and tried to stop the bleeding, pressing her hands on the wound.
"Ryoma!"
"I wonder if you would do the same for me." Ren said, looking at them, his eyes glistering with the fire of the lanterns swinging on the walls. "Take him out of my sight and away from my city. If I ever see him in Muramasa again, I will take off his head."
##########
Ryoma opened his eyes and his heart was racing with the memories that return to his mind on that night. Two days had passed since he got poisoned from the mushrooms and he was feeling much better.
The blizzards had stopped for good and a gentle snow was falling outside. A new day was almost beginning. Looking down, he smiled. Sakuno was there, under the heavy blanket, sleeping soundly on his chest. He had explained it was not okay for them to be naked around each other and she understood. But, since that night, she would sleep by his side. Maybe she was just afraid of him being sick again.
He had left Muramasa as soon as his wound was better enough for him to walk and he didn't even get the chance to Kaori to say goodbye. He was sure his sister would hate him for it.
He looked at Sakuno's relaxed expression, her long eyelashes and the slight parted lips. After so many months living alone on that forsaken side of land, her company was able to erase some of his loneliness. Soon she would be gone. The wound on her leg was completely healed and Ryoma knew that, very soon, he would wake up to an empty house again.
The presence of someone could be addicted, he thought to himself. But, after so many horrible things happening on a short period of his life, he would enjoy it to the end. Hugging her tight, Ryoma took a deep breath, allowing himself to return to sleep with the warmth of her body close.