He was in a room drowned in heavy silence. Nothing could be heard except Akio's uneven breaths. He was lying on the white bed with a closed eyes, half of his face wrapped in bandages, but his expression wasn't calm… it was tense, like someone fighting something inside him.
In his restless sleep, his fingers twitched slightly, his eyelids trembled, then his breathing began to speed up. His body wasn't fighting pain this time, but memory. Within the folds of darkness, the old sound returned. The sound of rain striking wooden roofs, and the flashes of lightning glowing at the horizon. There, somewhere far away in his childhood, everything was different… and more innocent.
He whispered in his sleep with a hoarse faint voice:
"Mother…"
Then the scene slowly formed in his mind, as if returning through a gate of light and forgotten memories…
There was only one man walking on the road. He was dressed in a full black suit, hiding most of his features from head to toe. He held a newborn baby in his arms, wrapped in a white cradle that revealed nothing but his crying which mixed with the endless scream of the storm.
That baby was Akio.
But the man holding him didn't react to his crying at all. He continued walking while glancing into the houses of the neighborhood through their windows, until he spotted a home with a family of parents and a small girl playing in the living room. When he reached the door, the faint golden light of his eyes showed under the lamp.
He placed the infant in front of the door, knocked the bell quickly, then vanished before anyone could see him. The homeowner opened the door, and the lamp light reflected on his short purple hair and dark chocolate eyes, but he found no one in front of him. That man was Vanco.
"Who's there? Zaiko you troublemaker again? If you show up at my door one more time you'll get a beating you'll never forget!"
He said it in a tone full of anger and annoyance. Only moments later, he noticed a crying baby wrapped in a cradle on the ground. His eyes widened and he bent down to pick him up, then he spotted the fleeing man in the distance, and shouted while running instinctively with Akio in his arms:
"Hey you! Come back here!"
Vanco ran after the man for a few moments, his footsteps splashing into the rain water as he shouted nonstop:
"Come back here!"
But the fleeing man's trace quickly disappeared. Vanco stopped to catch his breath, then returned back home in surrender.
When Vanco entered the house, shock filled the eyes of his wife and daughter as they stared at the baby he was holding. He placed the infant gently on the couch and lifted the cradle's cloth to reveal his face. The poor baby hadn't even reached one day old, and now he was abandoned beside a stranger's house away from his family.
His cries grew louder and filled the living room. Noria and Murasaki approached. Noria stared at her husband in shock and said with a trembling voice:
"Vanco, where did you get this baby from?!"
Vanco sighed, then replied nervously:
"Some stranger left him at our door and ran away, I don't know what to do now!"
Noria examined the baby's face carefully. The golden lightning-shaped mark on his forehead caught her attention from the start. She didn't hesitate for long, and headed straight to the kitchen to prepare milk in the bottle.
She returned moments later holding the bottle, then approached the infant and removed the cradle completely, revealing his small arms. And on his right arm, a name was clearly engraved: "Sakamoto Akio."
Her eyes widened in shock as she whispered:
"Sakamoto Akio… so this is your name…?"
She gently lifted him into her arms and fed him. His loud crying slowly faded, and he began to drink quietly. Little Murasaki approached her mother with curiosity and placed her hand softly on Akio's hair to explore it. She didn't understand what was happening, but her innocent smile revealed that she loved that little baby from the very first moment.
She looked up at her mother and said with pure childlike innocence:
"Mom, did you give birth to my brother?"
Noria was stunned by her daughter's question, she stuttered before replying:
"Actually… we don't even know who his real family is, we must take him to the orphanage."
The family tried repeatedly to leave Akio in several orphanages in the area, but each time they were refused. Everyone was wary of the strange mark on his forehead, the lightning mark that seemed to them like a sign of misfortune.
And before all those closed doors, there was only one option left… to raise him as if he was truly their son. And from that moment on, Akio became part of the family.
When Akio reached school age, he went with excitement, believing he would make friends from the very first day. Before he placed his hand on the classroom door handle, he remembered his father's advice that never left his mind:
"Remember son… there will always be those who hate you for no reason, but no one can take the light of your smile away. Smile always, and you will find someone who smiles back."
His smile grew wider, then he pushed the door and entered, finding the seats crowded with students. He raised his voice with childlike enthusiasm:
"Hello! I'm Sakamoto Akio, nice to meet you all, I hope we all become friends!"
A short silence fell, followed by whispers and muffled laughter between the students. Then a tall boy with black hair and tan skin stepped forward and said mockingly:
"Huh? Looks like someone needs to be sent back to the kindergarten!"
But Akio didn't understand what he meant. He extended his hand to shake his, his golden eyes were shining with the same excitement, and his smile not fading.
"Tell me your name… can we be friends?"
The tall boy exploded with laughter, then smacked Akio's arm away and said arrogantly:
"Of course not, you idiot. Do you really think I, Kora, would become your friend that easily?!"
But Akio wasn't affected. He lifted his head and replied with the same excitement:
"Yes!"
Kora noticed something glowing faintly on Akio's forehead, but his long bangs were covering it. He reached out with curiosity and moved the hair aside, revealing the golden lightning mark glowing under the light.
Some students stepped back in shock, while others whispered with muffled laughs. Kora couldn't hold himself and shouted while laughing in mockery:
"What is this?! Did your mother crave thunder when she was pregnant with you?! How ridiculous!"
Akio answered simply:
"I don't understand what you mean, but my father told me I should be friends with everyone here!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Kora punched him in the face, and Akio fell to the ground. His smile faded for a moment from the shock, and he stared at Kora then at the eyes of the children around him. But within seconds, the smile returned again as he slowly stood up. Then he said:
"You're very strong… isn't that an even better reason for me to want to be your friend?"
Kora froze for a moment from Akio's strange words, then his eyebrows twisted in anger as he shouted:
"Hah?! Are you mocking me, kid?! Or are you just completely stupid?!"
In a swift movement, Kora landed another punch on Akio's face. The rest of the kids sat watching silently, none daring to interfere. Then he hit him again, but Akio didn't try to block these hits, and he didn't let out a single scream. He just closed his eyes… and that smile was still there.
Inside, Akio was thinking:
'Why is he hitting me? I just… wanted to be his friend. But… I don't want to cry…'
After school ended, Vanco came to take Akio home. But he froze in his place when he saw his young son's face full of scratches, and some bandages covering his forehead and arms. He never expected Akio to return from his first day like this… especially since he knew his son wasn't the type to pick fights.
He bent down with worry and asked desperately:
"Akio… what happened to you?!"
Akio smiled, then replied in his usual tone:
"It's nothing, father… I was just looking for friends."
Vanco clenched his fists, looked at Akio with seriousness mixed with affection, and said:
"I didn't think you were this naive, son! I swear I will go to school tomorrow and teach every single one of them a lesson they won't forget!"
Vanco and Akio returned home. And the moment the door opened, Noria stood in front of them. Her eyes fell on Akio's scratched face, and she froze from shock, then quickly turned to Vanco, her expression shifting into raging anger.
She shouted:
"Wait Vanco! Don't tell me you gave him your stupid advice again! Are you insane?!"
She clenched her fists and waved them in the air, then rushed at him with quick hits, more like a comedic ridiculous scene than an actual fight. Akio stood there confused, not knowing whether he should intervene or laugh.
Finally, the mother grabbed her son's hand and pulled him inside gently, leaving Vanco twisting in pain at the door, dizzy and staggering. She sat him on the couch and began wiping his face with a wet cloth.
She looked at his innocent face that didn't know what was happening, and said seriously:
"My son, the world is not always a kind place… and you must learn the difference between a friend and a bully."
Then she turned to Vanco who was groaning at the door:
"And you… stop filling his head with nonsense! If this happens again, I'll go to that school myself and show them the proper way to deal with my son!"
A voice echoed inside Akio, still dreaming in his sleep:
'I still remember clearly… when everyone mocked me because of my dream of becoming the Shogun.'
The scene formed again:
Akio was walking in the school hallways before opening the bathroom door. He entered one of the small stalls and closed it tightly behind him. He sighed as he looked around… but then his eyes widened.
On the white walls, ugly words were written in messy handwriting:
"Akio the idiot"
"The stupid smiler"
"The laughable Shogun"
"Street trash"
He froze in place, staring at the words mocking him from every side. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching, then his classmates stormed into the bathroom talking loudly. None of them realized he was behind the door.
"Can you believe what he said? He wants to become Shogun!"
"Haha! I heard he's adopted, that explains the stupidity, probably his real parents never bothered raising him!"
"Idiot… just a pathetic stray!"
Akio clenched his small fists, trying to hold himself together. He slowly and quietly closed the toilet lid, then sat on it curling himself up, hugging his knees.
Moments later, he felt a choke blocking his throat like he held inside more than he could take. He didn't know how, but tears began falling without permission. They filled his eyes, then slid down his cheeks. Inside, broken words echoed between his silent sobs:
'Did I say something wrong?'
'Why… does nobody like me?'
'I just… wanted friends…'
Akio wiped his tears with his trembling hand, then slowly lifted his head. He tried to draw a smile… but it was cracked, weak, burdened with fracture. A smile that convinced no one, not even himself.