A fool.
I am a fool.
I disregarded my inheritance.
Yes, I am a fool.
But I am a free fool.
---
"Young Master Rei.
It's time to wake up."
A knock introduces the start of where it all truly began.
"Young Master Rei, it's time to wake up. As you know, you have four classes to attend this morning.
And both piano and calligraphy lessons later too."
"I'm tired."
"I wanna stay in bed.
Let time pass by me as I lay rested."
He was seventeen.
He was tired.
Slowly, he got up from where he lay rested.
Even his bedhead couldn't hide his beauty.
His light blue hair was rough yet graceful, while long lashes rested above his pure silver eyes.
He got up and checked himself in the mirror.
Even with all the beauty it reflected,
his facial expression was disgust.
Another knock.
"Young Master."
"Quiet. I'll be down soon."
"Yes, Young Master."
Perfectly dressed, he wore a tailored suit.
As he walked down the stairs with elegance, his mother sat alone at the dining table.
Rei joined her.
"Good morning, Mother."
"Hmm. Morning."
As Rei sat, the maids served him.
His mother gazed at him.
"Oh, that's right. How old are you, my dear son?"
"I just turned seventeen last month, Mother."
"Seventeen already?"
She paused.
"Do the days really go by that fast?"
"Arg, whatever. Since I forgot, take one of my cards and go buy something as a late present."
"Yes, Mother."
"But do not miss your classes, or else your father will punish you again."
"I understand, Mother."
They both ate quietly.
Then Rei raised a question.
"Won't Father be joining us?"
"No. He will not.
He is busy."
Rei looked down at his plate.
"He is always busy."
"Of course he is. He has a company to run."
"Oh, yes. Since you will be turning eighteen next year, your grandfather will be coming to give you your inheritance."
His mother continued eating.
"Remember to transfer it to your father after he leaves.
Too much money spoils the child."
"Yes, Mother."
"Now go to your room and start your lessons."
As the steps of Rei disappeared up the stairs, his cold, dark room laid in wait for him.
Prokofiev — Toccata, Op. 11.
A knock came at his door.
"Young Master, I have to prepare you for your piano lessons."
She turned on a laptop and sat Rei toward a piano.
Then she put a collar around his neck.
The laptop connected, and a man appeared on the screen.
"Well, Young Master Rei.
Shall we continue with our lesson?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well then, we continue.
Prokofiev — Toccata, Op. 11."
As musical notes filled the room, Rei played.
I am tired.
I want to disappear.
And never return.
Rei played gracefully.
Until he heard the laughter of children outside.
He missed a note.
"Oh dear. Yet again, Young Master Rei.
How long must you continue to be flawed?"
The man on the screen brought out a remote and pressed a button.
Instantly, Rei's collar reacted, shocking him to an unbearable extent.
"Again."
"We will not stop until you get it right."
"Again."
Rei raised his head, gasping, and prepared to start again.
But he was distracted by the laughter yet again.
The man sighed.
"Oh, Young Master."
He pressed the button again.
Again, Rei was shocked.
"Now, let's go again, Young Master."
A half-smile appeared on Rei's face.
As he played, the laughter outside grew louder.
And this time, Rei joined in.
His own cracked laughter mixing with theirs.
As he was about to finish his piece—
something shattered the window.
"Rei."
"Young Master, are you alright?"
"Hey."
"Heey."
"Heeeeeey!"
Rei snapped out of it.
He walked toward the window.
Someone was calling out from the other side.
"Um, excuse me. Could you pass our ball back?
Oh, and sorry about the window."
A girl about the same age shouted from outside.
Rei couldn't make out her face.
"Erm… hello? Can you hear me?"
"Young Master Rei, we must continue with our lesson," the man from the screen shouted.
"Young Master Rei, this is your last warning. Please return now."
Rei continued to stare at the girl.
The man on the screen pressed the button.
An electric feeling surged through Rei, even more than it usually did.
Rei struggled through the pain as he fell.
And yet—
he struggled to get back to his feet.
"Must hurt," the girl shouted.
"That thing you're wearing must hurt, huh?
Then why don't you just take it off?
You have hands. Use them."
She tilted her head.
"And why are you wearing a collar in the first place?
You're not a dog."
"Dog."
Rei repeated the word quietly.
The girl saw his expression and giggled.
"Of course you are not a dog.
A dog stays on a leash and obeys commands just so it will survive.
But you are human.
You are free."
"I am free?"
"Yes, idiot. We are all free in our own way."
She smiled.
"So be freeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Something inside Rei moved.
His hand reached toward the collar.
He grabbed it.
And with his drive and strength, he destroyed it.
The collar fell apart.
"See? There you go.
Isn't that better?"
She smiled.
"Now, erm… the ball, please."
Rei walked across the broken glass and picked up the ball.
He threw it back to her.
"Thank you."
She caught it.
"So, do you have a name, mrrrrrr?"
"My name is Re—"
"No."
Rei stopped.
"My name is Zero.
Absolute Zero."
"Weird, but okay."
She smiled.
"Nice meeting you, Zerooo.
See you."
As the girl disappeared, Rei turned toward the laptop.
"Hmmmm. Your father will know of this."
Rei closed the laptop without saying a word.
Night fell quickly.
Rei's father had returned.
"Welcome back, sir."
All the maids greeted him.
"Get me Rei. Now."
He shouted.
Rei walked down the stairs and met his father.
"Get me my cane."
A maid obeyed the order.
"What's this I hear?"
His father glared at him.
"You were not listening during class. Talking to some street girl."
"Show me your arm."
Rei unraveled his sleeve and stretched out his arm.
The maid passed the cane to his father.
And he struck Rei.
Again.
And again.
An endless row of strikes.
His mother simply watched while fixing her nails.
Strike after strike.
Until the cane broke.
"You wish to disgrace me in front of the family?"
His father breathed heavily.
"Well, I will not let you."
"Lock him in his room.
He is not to step out until I say so."
He turned away.
"Starve if you must."
"Now leave my sight.
Useless."
Rei walked back upstairs.
The pain lingered on his arm.
The doors of his room were locked from the outside.
Rei stared at the broken glass on the ground.
And smiled.
"I am free."
He whispered.
---
A day passed.
Then another.
And another.
A week.
Then two.
Rei remained locked inside his room.
His father expected obedience.
His mother expected silence.
The servants expected him to eventually break.
But Rei had already made his decision.
For the first time in his life,
he had something that belonged entirely to him.
A choice.
He began to plan.
He studied the routines of the household.
When the guards changed.
When the servants slept.
When his father left.
When his mother ate.
Every little detail.
He waited.
And waited.
Until a month had passed.
---
"Go let him down."
Rei's father said while eating at the dining table.
A maid approached Rei's room.
A knock.
"Young Master Rei.
Your father has asked you to come down."
Silence.
"Young Master Rei?"
She opened the door.
"Young Master?"
She rushed down the stairs.
"Sir! Ma'am!"
"What?"
"The young master…"
She struggled to speak.
"He is gone.
I cannot find him."
"What?"
"All I found was a note on his bed."
His father stood.
"What does it say?"
The maid handed him the note.
It read
I am free.
Child, oh child.
Born into wealth yet born without freedom.
A slave to a legacy he never asked for.
An heir to a name he never wanted.
While other children dreamed of kingdoms,
the boy only wished to run beneath the sun.
But fate had already chosen his path.
He was wanted for his inheritance,
yet unwanted as a son.
But now
O child is free.
Egotistical is he.
Free is he.
How could he be anything else?
He possessed wealth beyond measure.
Power beyond comprehension.
A name that could make kingdoms bow.
Yet none of it belonged to him.
So he did the impossible.
He threw it all away.
To return to the beginning.
To start from zero.
He was a prince of a nonexistent kingdom.
An heir without a home.
But that doesn't change the fact—
he is free.
He is Absolute Zero.
He is Kisaragi Rei.
"Oh wow.
What black hair you have."