Chapter 19.

  “Thus, like the balance between heaven and earth, these antagonistic emotions, love and hate, are the forces that shape reiki. In their cosmic dance, they intertwine, creating a symphony of energies that reflects the duality inherent in human existence.”

  “He who seeks to understand the art of reiki must contemplate these emotions as two sides of the same coin, for only in the acceptance of polarity can spiritual harmony be found.”

  “The path of reiki is not straight as the arrow,

  but circular as the seasons.

  Seek not to separate what the heavens have joined:

  light does not exist without shadow,

  strength does not exist without softness,

  love does not exist without its opposite.”

  “Yin and Yang”

  The Path

  Grand Master Kong

  The shadow of his “incident” with Katsuo loomed over him like a bird of prey. Professor Soda kept a close eye on him, looking for any excuse, no matter how ridiculous, to expel him from the academy. The headmaster’s warnings had been useless, as Soda was stubborn and cruel by nature. He enjoyed making him suffer, and that would never change.

  That day, luck had turned its back on him.

  Professor Hikari had fallen ill, and Soda had taken her place.

  That meant he would have to endure an hour of humiliation, mockery, and threats.

  “Today we are going to practice the Feather Needles,” the professor announced. “A reiki technique that consists of concentrating vital energy in the fingertips and launching it in the form of invisible and lethal projectiles. It requires great skill, mental power, and absolute precision. Of course, it is a technique that none of you will ever master,” he added disdainfully.

  Everyone looked at each other nervously and confused. The Feather Needles were a very high-level technique, which only reiki masters could perform. None of them had even learned its fundamentals, much less practiced its execution.

  Why was Soda asking them to do something so impossible?

  The old man mocked their expressions and continued speaking.

  “Young Keiji, if you would be so kind as to give a demonstration for the class,” said Soda, with venom in his voice.

  The boy stood up, trembling. Then, he extended his vibrant hands in front of the professor and tried to concentrate his reiki, as Soda had explained.

  Ritsu did not see any flow of power in the boy.

  Only fear.

  Fortunately for Keiji, suddenly, a loud bang shook the classroom, and everyone looked up, startled, towards the window. A bird had crashed into the glass, falling stunned to the ground.

  “Oh, poor little bird,” said Soda, feigning sorrow. “Allow me to help it.”

  He walked towards the window and picked up the bird with false delicacy. Then, before everyone’s astonished gaze, he threw the bird into the sky.

  Soda raised his right hand and extended his fingers. Ritsu saw how a bluish light formed at the tips of his fingers and how it shot forward, piercing the air with a sharp whistle.

  Soda aimed at the bird and hit its body with each of his needles. The bird convulsed in the air as the invisible projectiles pierced it. A tiny stream of blood fell to the ground with a soft splash.

  The bird fell lifeless.

  “That’s how it’s done,” said Soda coldly. “Maybe one day you will achieve even a fraction of this. But I highly doubt it.”

  The students were speechless, and some applauded, impressed by the demonstration of power. Others remained silent, fearful of this display of cruelty.

  “Get out of my sight, Keiji,” Soda ordered. “We will continue with the lesson.”

  The professor smiled smugly and lowered his hand. Then he pointed at them and ordered them to form a line.

  “Now it’s your turn,” he announced. “I want to see if you are capable of doing something worthy of my teaching, or if you are hopeless failures. Form pairs, and face each other. Responsibly,” he clarified, with a mocking tone. “I don’t want any of you to die in a ridiculous way.”

  The students obeyed and lined up. Ritsu stayed at the end, hoping to go unnoticed.

  But, of course, Soda was not going to let him escape so easily.

  “Ritsu,” he called, with a malevolent voice. “I see you don’t have a partner, do you?”

  Ritsu looked around, searching for an exit.

  There was no trace of Shiori or Shinji.

  Since those two had become friends again, they were inseparable. Sometimes, they skipped classes to escape to some secluded corner, where no one could interrupt them, who knows what they were doing.

  He looked for Aki, his other friend, but he was already busy with a girl who was smiling at him with admiration. He was showing her his broken nose, which he had received in the last confrontation with Katsuo, as if it were a war trophy.

  Ritsu sighed. Indeed, Aki was having luck with the girls.

  So yes, he was indeed alone.

  Completely alone.

  “Juro, join Ritsu at the end of the line,” Soda ordered with feigned casualness. “You will be partners for this exercise.”

  Ritsu felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw Juro with eyes full of hatred. That bully was one of Soda’s favorites, famous for his cruelty and ferocity in training, where he had no mercy on anyone.

  He swallowed hard, feeling his throat dry up.

  Without using his fire reiki, he had no chance against Juro.

  Soda had paired him on purpose to humiliate him once again, to remind him how weak and useless he was.

  It wasn’t going to be a fair fight.

  It was going to be a massacre.

  “Get ready, little rat,” Juro mocked, approaching him with a firm step. “I’m going to make you into a pulp.”

  Ritsu took a defensive position, trying to hide his anxiety.

  He couldn’t afford to show weakness in front of Juro, or Soda, or anyone.

  He had to resist.

  “Begin!” Soda shouted, giving the signal to start.

  Juro spread his legs and pointed at him with his middle and index fingers, concentrating his reiki. Ritsu could feel the energy flowing in the air, like a threatening electric current. But there was something different in Juro’s posture and concentration of power; it didn’t seem very similar to Soda’s.

  His movements were as smooth as silk; they had an elegance that had not been present in the professor’s attack.

  Like an arrow shot from the strongest bow, Juro lunged at him. His feet barely touched the ground; he moved with the grace of a cheetah.

  Ritsu instinctively stepped back, trying to put distance between them. But Juro gave him no respite and pursued him with a shower of quick and accurate blows. Ritsu blocked some with his arms, but others hit him with devastating force.

  One, two... three blows hit him in the chest, stomach, and legs. Each contact was like the bite of a poisonous snake, injecting pain that spread like fire through his limbs.

  He could feel his reiki weakening. His body became slow and clumsy, with his muscles cramping and refusing to obey his desperate orders.

  At the tenth blow, his legs buckled, unable to stand any longer. He fell to his knees, with his breath coming in gasps and sweat dripping down his forehead.

  He felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

  Juro finished his attack with a final blow, the strongest of all. He struck him in the chest, right in the center of his heart.

  “Single Palm of the Blue Insect!” Juro shouted, using all his reiki.

  The impact lifted him off the ground and sent him flying several meters back. He rolled in the dust and finally stopped on his back, with his arms and legs extended. The room spun dizzily before his eyes.

  He tried to move, but his body did not respond. He felt no broken bones, no bleeding, no external injuries. But inside, it was as if every organ, every blood vessel, and every nerve ending were wrapped in burning lava.

  With supreme effort, he gathered his reiki to try to relieve himself. But it was like looking for water in a dry well. He found no energy, felt no internal flow.

  He was dry, empty, completely sealed.

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  Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced his chest like a spear. He coughed, and a metallic taste flooded his mouth. He spat out blood that dripped down his chin.

  Was his body full of internal injuries?

  With just those few blows? How was that possible?

  He was defeated, there was no doubt.

  Juro stood over him, with an expression of triumph and contempt. His eyes flashed like those of a demon.

  “What’s wrong, bastard?” he mocked, stepping on his right arm. “You’re not so brave without your fire reiki? You’re weak. Pathetic. You don’t deserve to be here.”

  Ritsu looked at him with hatred, but also with impotence.

  He could do nothing.

  He was at his mercy.

  Lying in the dust like a beaten dog.

  The humiliation burned as strong as the blows, but he was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing him beg.

  He would endure in silence.

  Juro gave a twisted smile.

  “I suppose you think your stubbornness honors you in some way,” he said. “But it is nothing more than the arrogance of a commoner. You think you can erase years of training and discipline with a little obstinacy.”

  He began to walk in a circle around him.

  “Let me tell you a secret, bastard. Those of your kind can never match us. From the cradle, my blood has been prepared for combat, polished to become a lethal sword. While you played in the mud like a pig, I was mastering martial arts under the tutelage of the best masters of the empire.”

  He stopped in front of him and bent down until their faces were inches apart, then grabbed his hair and lifted his head, forcing him to look into his eyes.

  Ritsu could smell the green tea on his breath.

  “This is the difference between commoners and nobility,” Juro whispered, contempt dripping from every syllable. “You practice for fun, as a hobby. For us, it is more vital than the air in our lungs. Part of our identity, of our lineage.”

  Juro released Ritsu’s hair with a push, straightened his back, and his countenance hardened, shaking an invisible speck from his immaculate robe.

  “You are nothing more than rats that crawl in the corners, imbeciles who think you’re worthy of our attention just because you memorized a few words on a silly exam,” he continued, his voice full of venom. “So don’t pretend to be my equal after a few months of preparation. You’re a colt playing at being a warhorse.”

  With a quick movement, he kicked him in the ribs, making Ritsu shrink in agony. But he kept biting his tongue until he tasted blood, refusing to show weakness.

  Juro let out a cold laugh and raised his fist, ready to deliver another blow. But suddenly, a familiar voice resounded in the environment.

  “Juro! You imbecile, stop it!” It was Aki.

  Ritsu looked away just in time to see Soda interpose himself between those two. With his arms, he took Juro and Aki by the shoulders, separating them. A cloud of dust rose with the struggle.

  “Class is over!” said Soda with a voice of thunder. “Everyone go to your next class!”

  Juro abruptly broke free from the teacher’s grip, his eyes flashing with indignation at the interruption. He cast a last disdainful look at him, who lay motionless.

  “I’m not done with you, bastard,” he hissed under his breath.

  But Ritsu did not answer, nor did he even look up.

  He heard the footsteps receding as the other students began to disperse, and Soda stood in front of him. From below, Ritsu could see his elegant sandals and his bony ankles.

  Seeing him, the professor let out a laugh that echoed off the walls.

  “Look at that! The great commoner lies defeated on the ground,” he mocked. “Where is all your arrogance now?”

  The teacher bent down, his enormous shadow completely covering Ritsu’s bruised figure. He placed a hand over his eyes, forcing him into darkness.

  “Are you still conscious, boy?” Soda asked ironically. “I hope this beating has taught you a lesson. Brute force is not everything in martial arts. A noble like Juro understands subtleties that you, a simple commoner, will never understand.”

  He burned with shame and helplessness.

  He wanted to scream, to curse Soda for his cruel words.

  “Give up already, boy,” said the professor, finally removing his hand from his eyes. “This is no place for you. Go back to your farm, marry a peasant girl, and raise pigs. The warrior’s path is beyond your reach.”

  With that, the old man stood up and walked away. His mocking laughter echoed even after he was out of sight.

  ***

  Aki walked slowly down the hall, carrying him on his shoulders. Professor Soda’s words continued to resound in Ritsu’s mind like sinister echoes, while the effects of Juro’s attack still made his body tremble. He felt dizzy and weak. His legs shook as if they were made of jelly, and his vision blurred at times.

  “Where the hell have Shiori and Shinji gotten to?” Aki muttered in frustration, pushing the door of the room open with his foot.

  The creak of the door as it turned on its hinges filled the silence of the hallway. Aki advanced with heavy steps on the wooden floor until he reached the bed, where he deposited Ritsu with a gentle and careful movement.

  “That bastard Soda...” Aki spat with rage. “Juro’s family is famous for their mastery of a secret and refined technique of the Feather Needles. Their clan are masters at blocking and attacking reiki points without leaving a visible trace, but with devastating effects. It was obvious that he would know how to use the technique, unlike the rest of us. There’s no way the professor didn’t know that!”

  Ritsu nodded slowly from the bed, his gaze lost.

  That only confirmed the suspicions he already harbored. Everything had been coldly planned by Soda.

  It wouldn’t surprise him to discover that he had something to do with Professor Hikari’s mysterious “illness,” all to take her place and humiliate him in front of the whole class.

  He hated them.

  He couldn’t stand them anymore.

  Soda, Juro, Katsuo, Tora, all of them had ganged up on him since the first day. All of them had humiliated him, beaten him, insulted him, for no reason. All of them hated him, just for being different, for being an outsider, for being a “peasant pig” in their perfect world of nobles.

  Nothing mattered to him anymore.

  He just longed for it all to end, for his torments to fade away like a bad dream upon waking.

  Then, something broke inside him. Something he had been holding back for a long time, since he had arrived in the Forbidden City. Something he had been repressing with naive hope.

  And he cried.

  He cried like he had never cried before. He cried with despair, with anguish, with rage. He cried for the pain of his wounds, for the shame of his defeat, for the loneliness of his existence.

  He cried for the lost years, for the useless sacrifices, for the broken promises. He cried because everything he had done, everything he had achieved, everything he had desired, had been for nothing!

  No matter what he did, he would never be one of them.

  He would never belong to that world.

  He was years behind all those arrogant nobles. They had everything from birth, wealth, power, prestige. They had grown up in luxury, with the best education and culture, surrounded by respect.

  They had everything, and he had nothing.

  He had no experience in martial arts or in the lineage abilities that only the ancient clans possessed. Not even one as simple as Katsuo’s.

  He had none.

  He hadn’t trained since childhood like Juro either.

  He was just an orphan, a nobody, a pariah in a world that did not accept him.

  He was a failure, a disgrace!

  A spasm of coughing shook his chest, tearing his throat with a sensation of fire. Aki ran to him with a glass of water, offering it to him with a look of concern. He drank in small sips, calming the burning.

  Knock, knock.

  A dry sound resounded on the wooden door. Aki looked up, hopeful.

  “Could it be Shinji or Shiori?” he whispered. “Come in, it’s open!”

  The door opened, and Ritsu felt his heart stop when he saw who was on the other side.

  It was Rei.

  Rei was sitting in a wheelchair, pushed by a stern-looking old woman he had never seen before.

  Was Rei paralyzed?

  Rei looked at Aki with a weak smile.

  “Hello. May I come in?” she said in a sweet voice.

  Aki seemed so surprised to see her that he just stepped aside from the door without saying a word. Then, the old woman maneuvered the wheelchair until Rei was next to his bed.

  Unable to move a single muscle, Ritsu pursed his lips and averted his eyes to the ceiling, refusing to face Rei’s gaze upon seeing him in such a sorry state.

  “I came as soon as I heard what happened to you in Professor Soda’s class,” she explained, trying to sound casual.

  Ritsu felt a lump in his throat.

  His humiliation was public.

  “I-I’m sorry...” Aki stammered, his voice cracking. “I-I don’t think he can talk. J-Juro hit him in the pressure points, blocking his vital energy and damaging him inside. That miserable...”

  “Is that so?” said Rei with an enigmatic tone. “Could you bring me some water?”

  Aki obeyed without question, bringing her an earthen jar with fresh water.

  Rei extended her hand to the old woman, and she handed her a clean cloth. Rei dipped it in the water and passed it delicately over Ritsu’s body, wiping the sweat that beaded his skin. Then, with one hand, she held his head and with the other, she pressed his chest, right over his heart.

  “What are you doing?” asked Aki with curiosity.

  “I’m looking for the tsubo,” Rei replied, focused on her task. “The pressure points that Juro has blocked. If I find them and release them, I can restore Ritsu’s balance and give him back his mobility.”

  “And how do you find them?” Aki insisted, amazed.

  “With intuition and sensitivity,” she replied, without ceasing to palpate him gently. “You have to have trained hands, capable of perceiving the most subtle vibrations. It’s like untangling a skein of silk, you must not pull the thread, because it can break or get more tangled. You must follow it patiently to the end.”

  “And you know how to do that?” asked Aki with childish admiration.

  “Yes,” Rei affirmed, with a weak smile. “My family specializes in it... Excuse me, I don’t want to sound rude, but could you leave us alone? I need to concentrate.”

  He saw Aki blush and nod awkwardly, retreating with the old woman and leaving them in privacy.

  Finally, he gathered the courage to look Rei in the eyes.

  She was as beautiful and perfect as ever.

  Rei... Rei was like a ray of sunshine in winter; warm, comforting, the promise that spring would come. She was the first evening star, precursor of the night.

  You couldn’t help but look at her, you couldn’t help but want to be close to her light.

  She gave him a gentle smile and began to move her fingers over his chest, delicately searching for the blocked pressure points. Each touch of her hands was like an electric shock, which ran through his body and made him tremble.

  He couldn’t tell if it was pain or pleasure, but the truth is that he felt alive.

  Alive and connected with Rei, as if a fine invisible thread united them at that moment.

  They were not two, but one.

  Ritsu closed his eyes and surrendered to the flow of energy that emanated from those healing hands.

  “When I was little, my grandmother used to tell me a story about a great tiger that slept under the sun,” she said in a sweet and mellow voice, as if talking to a small child. “He was the king of the jungle, the bravest and the strongest. All the animals feared and respected him.”

  Ritsu listened to her with fascination, unable to articulate a word. His gaze was lost in hers, which shone with the intensity of seven suns.

  “But the tiger trusted too much in his power and fell asleep for a long time,” Rei continued, running her fingers through his hair, undoing invisible knots with delicacy. “And while he dreamed, the hyenas approached stealthily and took away the prey he had hunted. They mocked him and bit his paws, believing that he would not notice.”

  She paused and pressed hard on a sensitive point on the back of his neck, making him let out a muffled moan.

  “People are like those hyenas, Ritsu. They take advantage of your weakness and laugh at you. You must wake up from your dream and show them who you are. Otherwise, they will never stop tormenting you.”

  Ritsu felt immediate relief, and he could move his head.

  “You can be a tiger, Ritsu,” Her smile was more beautiful than ever. “Strong, proud... and quite grumpy when you wake up.”

  Ritsu felt a great weight lift from his shoulders, and he could nod his head, bewitched by the lullaby of her voice.

  How was it possible that it was the same Rei? She didn’t seem like it.

  What had become of the scared and lonely girl, who took refuge in books to forget the teasing of others?

  Her eyes sparkled with an inner fire, with a countenance so luminous and innocent that Ritsu felt the urge to kiss her, even with all the doubts that fluttered in his mind.

  “Close your eyes, Ritsu, close them.”

  He looked at her again, and all doubt vanished like the morning mist under the rising sun.

  He never tired of looking at her.

  There was nothing else in the world but her.

  Her beauty eclipsed everything.

  The light from the paper lamps spilled over her skin, making it glow like freshly fallen snow. Her eyes were two abysses of jet black, which attracted him with an irresistible force. They were bigger than the starry sky, deeper than the sea, darker than the forest at night.

  Every time he looked at her, he felt as if he were immersed in a dream from which he did not want to wake up.

  He wanted to take her hand in his, to caress the silk of her cheek. To tell her that she was the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth. That if he were hers, nothing bad would ever happen to him again.

  The wind whispered secrets through the open window. Indecipherable words that slid through the room like fallen leaves dancing in a current of air. Ritsu closed his eyes and allowed himself to get lost in the sweetness of that moment, letting the outside world fade away until it became nothing more than a distant memory.

  Only the two of them existed.

  Wrapped in each other like interwoven strands of silk.

  He could feel Rei’s heat radiating through her skin, merging their souls in an embrace that transcended the physical. It was as if their hearts were beating in unison, pumping the same vital essence through their intertwined veins.

  For a fleeting instant, Ritsu was certain that if he opened his eyes, he would be able to see the invisible threads of destiny that united them. Bright as filaments of light, weaving an unbreakable bond between them.

  It was an indescribable sensation, a deep and primordial connection with the fundamental rhythm of the universe. And at that precise moment, time froze.

  It was barely a blink. A sigh stolen from the cosmos. But when Ritsu opened his eyes, he found himself again in control of his body.

  Although this time, everything was different.

  Something had changed.

  He felt it in the firmness of his hands, which before trembled uncontrollably. His legs, which could barely support his weight, felt solid and agile. And his chest, that dark ocean of pain, expanded freely, filling with air and life.

  He was complete.

  Everything was working.

  He had been healed!