The sun beat down relentlessly, casting a golden veil over the ripened fields. Autumn had reached its peak, the air rich with the scent of harvest and distant woodsmoke. The world glowed in quiet balance — unaware that a single new life had tilted its fate.
In a small wooden home, a newborn girl slept soundly, her breath soft as silk.
Akira — Kaito's sister.
A fragile thread in the vast weave of his destiny.
Kaito watched her from the doorway, his eyes devoid of warmth yet filled with calculation.
A new variable… another piece on the board.
He turned away, his thoughts moving like clockwork gears — slow, deliberate, inevitable. Every addition to his life meant new contingencies, new risks, new sacrifices.
---
Luo Wei's gentle voice cut through his silence.
"Kaito, would you like to hold Akira? She's so sweet."
Kaito's tone was flat. "I'll hold her."
The infant stirred as he lifted her. Her warmth bled through his hands — fragile, alive, innocent. For a fleeting instant, something almost human flickered within him. Then it vanished.
A weakness… or a tool, depending on how I play it.
He handed Akira back with steady hands. "I'll go study."
Luo Wei smiled faintly, though her eyes betrayed a mother's quiet worry. "Dinner will be ready soon, Kaito."
He nodded, already halfway gone in thought.
---
The seasons shifted like a held breath.
The golden fields turned to frost.
Autumn's hum softened into winter's silence.
Five months later, the cold had deepened. Smoke curled above rooftops as the first snow began to fall. The world waited — still, expectant, trembling beneath grey skies.
Then came the sound of footsteps. Heavy. Purposeful.
Luo Wei appeared, her voice edged with unease.
"Kaito, the Fei Clan is here. They're in the living room, speaking with your father."
Kaito's expression didn't waver, but the rhythm of his thoughts sharpened. Earlier than expected… but that changes nothing.
He entered the living room, composed and quiet.
Thread Weaver Wei Chen, the Fei Clan's representative, turned at his approach.
"Ah, Kaito. You've grown. We're here to confirm your adoption and enrollment in the Min Academy. Your new guardians couldn't attend, so I've come in their stead."
Kaito met his gaze, unflinching.
"I'm ready."
Wei Chen smiled faintly. "Good. The clan has high hopes for you."
Kaito's voice was calm, but his words carried a faint chill.
"The Fei Clan will be a stepping stone. If my karma ever bursts here… it would be unfortunate, wouldn't it?"
Wei Chen's composure faltered for a heartbeat before he nodded curtly. "We'll be in touch soon."
---
As the Fei Clan's envoy departed, Feng Huang looked at his son — pride and worry warring in his eyes.
"Kaito, are you sure this is what you want?"
Kaito's reply was steady. "It's the best option."
Luo Wei stood beside him, watching quietly, her expression soft but unreadable. Behind them, Akira cooed — a tiny sound, fragile yet bright against the winter hush.
Kaito looked once toward his sister, then away.
Each heartbeat, each decision, added weight to the invisible scales of karma.
---
Days passed in measured silence.
Kaito trained harder, slept less, thought more. His movements were mechanical; his mind, a storm of precision and patience. The Fei Clan's visit had set everything in motion — the academy, the awakening, the unseen reckoning to come.
Luo Wei often watched him through the frost-covered window, pride and fear mingling in her chest.
"Kaito, don't forget to eat," she called softly.
"I'll eat later," he answered without turning.
She sighed. Beside her, Akira babbled at the edge of her crib, small fingers reaching toward a drifting snowflake that had found its way indoors.
---
That night, Kaito stepped outside. The cold bit into his skin, sharp and clean. Above, the clouds swirled — heavy, waiting.
He exhaled, his breath a ghost in the freezing air.
Everything is aligning. The storm will come soon.
And as the first snow began to fall, each flake whispered of what was to come —
karma's reckoning, slowly, inevitably, drawing near.
---