The flame that ignites the gate
Osaka, Japan — 10 Years Ago
The air hummed with the scent of cherry blossoms and smoldering incense as six-year-old Ren Sato balanced on his father's shoulders, giggling while reaching for a branch of the ancient sakura tree shading their family dojo. Hiroshi Sato, a bear of a man with eyes like tempered steel, steadied him with one hand and pointed to the horizon.
"See that, Ren? The sun sets where the *Nine Gates* begin," Hiroshi said, his voice low and reverent.
"Nine gates?" Ren tilted his head, plucking a blossom. "Like… doors?"
"More than doors. They're thresholds between worlds—Entropy and Stasis, chaos and order. Only the Sovereign can walk them." Hiroshi lowered Ren to the ground and knelt, pressing a pendant into the boy's palm—a black stone etched with a serpent devouring its own tail, encircling a lotus. "This belonged to your grandfather. Guard it. One day, it'll guide you."
Ren frowned at the pendant's faint glow. "Is Grandpa a Sovereign?"
Before Hiroshi could answer, Anna Sato called from the dojo's kitchen, her voice warm but edged with worry. "Dinner's ready! And Hiroshi—*stop filling his head with legends."
Hiroshi winked. "Legends are just truths waiting to be lived, *neh*?"
---
Nightfall
The fire began in the walls.
A spark, born of frayed wires and forgotten prayers, slithered through the dojo's aged bones. Ren woke to screams and smoke, his father's silhouette framed by flames at the end of the hallway.
"*Take Ren and RUN!" Hiroshi roared as Anna snatched their son into her arms.
"Dad!" Ren clawed at the air, the pendant searing his chest.
Hiroshi's final act was not a prayer, but a kata—a martial form that split the flames like a blade. For a heartbeat, the fire recoiled, carving a path for Anna to escape. Then the roof collapsed, burying Hiroshi and his secrets.
---
Aftermath
Tokyo's rain fell in sheets as Ren huddled in the cramped apartment Anna had scrounged with her nurse's salary. The pendant pulsed against his skin, its glow brighter now, *hungry*.
"Your father… believed in impossible things," Anna whispered, bandaging Ren's blistered hands. "But you are my truth. Promise me you'll never chase his ghosts."
Ren nodded, fingering the journal he'd stolen from her closet—Hiroshi's writings, filled with sketches of gates and a name: Wang Longtian.
Entry 43: The 1st Gate is Mercy. The 9th is Sovereignty. Longtian guards it, undefeated for a millennium. To open the final gate… one must become both destroyer and savior.*
---
First Day at Kōsei Academy
Bullies swarmed Ren at lunch, mocking his Kansai dialect and the rumors of the "arsonist orphan." His fists shook, but Hiroshi's words echoed: "Mercy first."
Then a girl's voice cut through the taunts. "Pick on someone your own size, maggots."
Kiyomi Hara stood in the hallway, her uniform pristine, eyes sharp as broken glass. A black ribbon tied her wrist—a mourning symbol. The bullies scattered.
"Thanks," Ren muttered.
Kiyomi eyed his pendant. "That thing… it's wrong. Like it's not fully here." Before he could ask, she vanished.
That night, Ren dreamed of a gate—a colossal arch of obsidian and light. Behind it, a shadowed figure murmured, "Wang Longtian awaits."
End Hook:
In a Kyoto temple, a man with ageless eyes and snow-white hair unrolled a centuries-old scroll. The ink shifted, forming a new name: Ren Sato. Wang Longtian smiled. "The 9th Gate stirs."
Next Chapter Preview:
Ren's pendant triggers a chaotic outburst during a fight, catching Kiyomi's attention. Anna discovers the journal—and burns it.