A Seed in the Shadows

~ A few years earlier ~

The city of Aoshima shimmered under the dying light of the sun. Markets bustled. Courtyards glowed. And atop the terraced hills, where the lesser clans held court, a young lord traveled with his retinue, cloaked in pride and duty, his bronze skin shimmered underneath the evening sun, his long white hair blowing in the wind and his golden eyes reflected the rays of the sun.

Raizen Hoshigami, heir to the Hoshigami clan, had been sent to oversee diplomatic discussions with a minor house aligned to the sun goddess Amaterasu. The trip had gone smoothly. Honor was upheld. Alliances were affirmed. But duty was heavy, and Raizen—tired of robes and formality—slipped away one evening with only two trusted guards.

He descended into the lower district. An inn. A bottle of saké. The taste of rebellion, however slight.

And then she found him.

Her name was Sayaka. Sharp eyes, sharper smile. Her beauty was flawless, her tone deferential. She'd heard who he was before he even stepped through the doors.

She sat beside him. Poured his cup. Whispered flatteries honed by hunger and calculation. She wanted him, and she made sure he knew it.

Raizen, caught between boredom and loneliness, gave in. He didn't ask her name. He didn't ask where she came from. And before sunrise, he left her with nothing but a purse of coins.

He returned to the capital.

He never spoke of it again.

A year and nine months later, Sayaka arrived at the gates of the Hoshigami estate, clad in fine silk she hadn't earned, her arms cradling a child barely able to sit upright.

Today was the ceremony celebrating the birth Raizen Hoshigami's third child, a girl. It was a day of celebration, the members of the Hoshigami household showered Raizen and his wife, Ino praises.

" I forsee a prosperous future for the Hoshigami household" Raizen's father, Harunobu spoke with a smile while he gave Raizen light pats on the back.

This joyous event was interrupted by the presence of a woman in red, with dark hair like charcoal and a smile that would freeze a man's heart.

"I come bearing your heir's blood," she declared to the sentries, loud enough for the court to hear. "He is mine by womb, and yours by blood."

There wasn't much to be said, there are not many that bear the same genetics as those of the Hoshigami household. White hair like snow and golden eyes, a blessing from Amaterasu herself. Sayaka revealed the child in her arms to the eyes of the people.

" I only ask that my child be allowed his rights as a child of Amaterasu." Sayaka spoke, provoking Raizen to even more rage.

Although he didn't know her name, Raizen recognized her, those red lips, that entrancing smile was neigh impossible to forget. His wife Ino looked at him with pained eyes. Harunobu however, did not seem fased by the turn of events. He turned to Raizen , " you are going to take responsibility for this hiccup, and .... That " he said hinting at the child in Sayaka's arms.

The gates opened, but the hearts within remained closed.

Raizen descended the steps of the great hall, flanked by his wife, his father, and the noble elders.

The child did not cry. He only looked around, unblinking.

Sayaka smiled like someone who had already won.

Raizen's face paled. His fists clenched.

"You dare bring this to my doorstep?"

Sayaka lowered her gaze with a practiced bow. "Only the truth, my lord. I ask for recognition. Not for me... but for our child."

The elders murmured. Raizen's father, Lord Hoshigami the Elder, raised a hand.

"Let the boy stay. The clan will not suffer whispers of scandal. But he will bear no title, no honor, no inheritance."

Sayaka agreed. She had her coin. Her place. Her comfort. She handed off the child and vanished into the golden wing of the estate. She never looked back.

The boy was nameless.

For five years, he lived in the palace like a shadow. Sayaka never once called him her son. Never fed him. Never clothed him. The servants cared for him out of obligation, not love. And when the elder nobles looked at him, they saw shame clothed in a child's form.

It was Raizen's wife Ino who named him.

She found him one day in the garden, drawing shapes in the sand with a stick, alone beneath the sun.

"Does he have a name?" she asked a passing attendant.

"None that we know, my lady."

She looked at him, with his dull golden eyes and his silence.

"Then his name shall be Wasuren... The Forgotten."

And so, he became Wasuren.

At age ten, Wasuren began his lessons at the Noble Academy, where the children of the great families were trained in martial disciplines and divine arts. Tradition demanded that every child with the light of Amaterasu be taught to wield it.

But Wasuren was not welcomed.

Teachers ignored him. Students mocked him. Nobles whispered of his bastard blood. His powers were weak—barely a flicker of light in his palm, a faint warmth in his veins. The others conjured beams, shields, flames. He could barely light a torch.

He endured the beatings. The silence. The isolation. For two years, he tried.

At age twelve, he walked away.

He left the noble halls and entered the City Guard's training ground, a stone compound where commoners and minor soldiers trained under the sun's harsh eye.

There, too, some recognized his name. Some jeered. But most shrugged. He didn't act like a noble. He didn't demand privilege. He fought. He sweated. He learned.

His powers remained weak, but his will grew ironclad. His body hardened. His reflexes sharpened. And for the first time, he earned the respect of a few. Not all. But enough.

He trained with the city guard from age twelve to sixteen, forging himself into something not quite noble, not quite common. Something forgotten. But not broken.

Sometimes, he smiled.

Not because he was happy.

But because he survived.

And in surviving, he waited, in hope that one day things will change for him.