1 Chapter 1: Rough Beginnings

Tokyo, Japan:

With orphanages overflowing with children, prominent men of the cloth sought to gain good standing with the public by "selflessly" taking in these troubled children. Thus blessing them with a new life or at least that's how it seemed through the public's eyes. The fact of the matter was far more gruesome.

Tokyo, Japan 1952, Westside Orphanage:

"Why hello there father, are you here to read the young boys and girls another passage of the holy scriptures on this splendid day?" Asked Tye, the owner of the Westside Orphanage.

The man she referred to as father was not her blood relative but rather the well known Gou Figimura, the lead priest at Tokyo's most well renowned super church.

Goi happily shook his head. "Not today I'm afraid, in fact today marks a very special occasion. After many discussions with family and friends I've come to the decision to adopt."

Upon hearing one of the children would be adopted Tye jumped with a squeal, "That wonderful news! Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Why yes, in fact I do." He waved over to a young boy with short black hair sitting alone.

With her softest motherly tone of voice Tye called for the child. "Suki, would you be so kind as to come over here for a moment."

Suki, a shy 12 year old boy who'd spent most of his life at the orphanage walked over, head tilted downwards watching his feet to avoid any and all eye contact. Suki, who wasn't too familiar with Father Gou latched onto Tye's pant leg using her body as a barrier. Father Gou crouched down to Suki's level and stuck a hand out to shake to politely introduce himself.

"Hello Suki remember me? I've stopped by a few times recently to read scriptures for you and your friends." The father naturally had a deep voice but made an effort to speak in a shallow manner to put the anxious boy at ease.

Making eye contact momentarily Suki nodded.

"Suki, what do we do when someone introduces themselves to us?"

Suki looked up at Tye and back to Father Gou trembling with anxiety.

"Hi m-my name i-is Suki."

"That's better." She reassured with a smile. "Now Suki, I have some very exciting news. Starting today you'll be moving in with Father Gou! Isn't that just great?"

Suki grasped Tye's pant leg squeezing on fearing she'd leave him forever. Father Gou wiggled his fingers to get him to let go but Suki hid his face from Gou's line of sight instead.

"I apologize for this Father, Suki here is a little slow to connect with others. Ever since Daichi—"

3 years prior:

Suki (9) and his best friend Daichi (11) were playing outside the orphanage.

"Daichi you think we'll ever get out of here and find families of our own?"

Daichi breathed hot air onto his red finger tips rubbing them together for warmth.

"Who cares if we do... Sure this place might be a craphole but who needs dumb old parents when I got my best pal by my side!"

Daichi wrapped his arms around Suki's shoulders and pulled his head over. "Noogie noogie noogie hahahaha."

Suki squeezed his head out, shoving him off. "Quit it already, I'm serious! Don't you ever think about how nice it'd be to have parents of your own that love you?"

Daichi quick to get moody thrusted his hands into his pockets. "Tsk parents? Who needs em…" Daichi reiterated kicking a nearby peeble on the ground. "Don't you listen I don't want no dumb fake parents. As long as I gots my bud I don't needs nobody else."

"....."

Not realizing how embarrassing of a statement he'd just made until after the fact, Daichi froze as they both just blushed in complete silence.

"Daichi—" Suki said breaking the silence. "You really mean all that stuff you said?"

Hmpf… Daichi turned away trying to play of his embarrassment from before. "Umm…yeah I guess."

"Then here!" Suki held out his right pinky finger. "Promise we'll stay here together then we can move somewhere far away just the two of us."

1 year prior:

"Let go of me I don't wanna go!"

Pulling Daichi with all her strength Tye ripped him from the door.

"Why are you making such a big fuss this kind man wishes to make you part of his family. What more could you ask for?"

Daichi squirmed till he slipped free running back to the orphanage with tears streaming down his eyes. "All I want is Suki!" He yelled as he was swooped up in the arms of a man of the cloth and taken to his car. As they drove off Suki looked down at his pinky. His lip curled puffing out as he broke down sobbing. Their promise…. forcibly broken.

Present day:

"Being here for so many years he's had to watch as his friends disappeared one after another. That can take a toll on a young child's psyche." Tye admitted with a note of regret for how Daichi exited their doors.

Father Gou placed his hand on Suki's head, patting him.

"Don't you worry, I have a sneaking suspicion that Suki and I will get along just fine isn't that right..... son?"

Suki's heart pounded as his eyes locked on the smile of the man he would soon call his dad. While those around him saw a sweet, middle-aged pastor who wished to better one poor orphan boy's life, Suki sensed a much darker motive looming. His mind envisioning Gou's face and eyes blacked out with a scribbled skull present. Suki's vision snapped as Tye lifted him up off her leg laying him down in his bedroom.

"Suki sit tight okay? I've got some important grown up stuff to discuss so just sit tight until dinners ready."

She pulled the door shut.

"Alright this way father. We've got to take care of some paperwork and then once you're approved, Suki's all yours."

A few days passed but since his brief encounter Suki had yet to leave his room for anything other than potty breaks and food. Tye paced around the living room trying to pinpoint the cause of Suki's strange change in behavior.

What could it be? He's always been a little shy around new people but he's never gone as far to completely isolate himself like this. This is bad, so very bad! If he doesn't shape up he's going to cost himself a chance to leave this place.

Tye tapped her fist into the palm of her other hand. Wait of course!

"He must be anxious, it's been almost a week and he hasn't seen Father Gou again. He must be worried Father changed his mind and doesn't want to take him any longer."

While her intentions came from a kind place her actions could not have been more misguided.

She ran to her work desk in a hurry pen in hand.

"I just need to get Father Gou's adoption papers written up asap."

With her new found motivation pushing her along, by nightfall she had successfully gotten everything completed.

The next morning she gathered all the children and brought them to the church Father Gou ran. The kids oooo'd and awh'd at the massive building sporting an absurdly sized statue of Jesus on the cross outside of it's facility.

He opened the church doors to the main hall of the building which sat upwards of 15,000 guests at once welcoming them all with open arms. "Why hello there my children, hope you're ready to hear about our lord and savior."

Tye leaning down behind the children with her arms on their shoulders couldn't have been more pleased.

"I'm positive they all are, isn't that right kids?"

The children excluding Suki yelled "Yeah!" Pushing and shoving their ways into the stunning work of architecture.

As the sunday school session came to a close Suki grew increasingly nervous. Realizing the sweat running down his brow Tye pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead dry.

"There... there Suki, everything's going to be okay now. This amazing place is going to be your new home from now on. You should be happy, not many kids from the orphanage get so lucky."

Suki watched as his friends all left waving goodbye. Tears filled his eyes as he tried to scream but alas his words couldn't escape as his throat which tightened up in fear.

Please don't go, please don't leave me here.

That one sentence stuck in the back of his throat would come to be Suki's biggest regret in life. As the church doors closed Suki realized he was now all alone forced to endure this hellish fate that had been compelled upon him by the very god that he craved salvation from.

Tokyo, Japan 1957, New Hope Church

Five years had passed since the day Suki was adopted and taken in by Gou Figimura. During their stint together Suki underwent extreme psychological and physical damage. Constant abuse had taken an ill effect on his mental health resulting in worsening chronic depression. This had an adverse effect on his school studies as well. The boy who in the orphanage showed great promise as a fast and gifted learner began to lose focus during classes, forgetting homework assignments and skipping classes.

Kyoto, Japan 1958, Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine:

Suki, 18 at the time was on a school field trip visiting Kyoto. Everyone had split into groups per teacher's orders. Suki lagged behind placing some well needed distance between himself and the other students. He walked at a crawls pace, hands buried in his pockets just as Daichi had always done, his back hunched over and a blank almost lifeless expression craved in.

One of his classmates nudged her friend pointing to Suki. "Look at him, does he ever stop being miserable, god... it's pathetic."

The girl's friend chucked. "Do you blame him tho, he's got no friends in the entire school. I'd hate life too if I was a nobody like him."

As the class made its way to the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Suki chose to stray from the group setting off on his own. Being the black sheep of the group he knew he'd go unnoticed, wandering off into a small wooded area with not many around. Mixed in with the trees were some small streams, bridges and statues one of which caught Suki's attention. It wasn't the artwork however that had caught his eye but rather its size for it was quite tall.

A singular thought crossed his mind. Now... do it now you coward!

His palms began to sweat, his body trembling.

NOW!

Suki climbed up this statue as a few tourists spotted him, taking pictures, laughing while under the assumption that this was merely a rebellious teen acting out for attention.

Oh but how wrong they were…...

Elevated over 30 feet high, Suki struggled looking to find his footing on the head of the statue. By this point several tourists had made cries for security but it was too late.

His eyes closed… his foot slipping out from under him. Though he was only 30 feet in the air it seemed as if he fell for an eternity, smiling for the first time since being taken in by Gou all those years ago.

"God, if you're real I hope we can meet

someday— So I can spit in your face you rat bastard!"

Just before he collided with the stone he saw a vision of Daichi. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my

promi—"

SPLAT!

A loud clap like sound raised the attention of on-goers as those who had witnessed ran in a panic seeking assistance. For what lay on that cold hard ground was a teenage boy with skull fragments and blood spilling out in large quantities.

Kyoto, Japan 1961, Kyoto Drive Hospital:

Suki's eyes crept open for the first time since the incident.

"Wh-where am I?"

He could vaguely see blurred bodies looking at him all smiles with faint noises ringing in his ears.

"W-Who are you people." He wondered, still unable to speak out loud. "W-wa-wait.."

He lifted his hand in front of his face. "Wh-who am I?"

It had been a little over 3 year since Suki's attempted suicide at Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine. By what his adoptive father had described as an act of god, Suki had somehow survived his fall waking from his 3 year long coma with only minor brain damage and a case of amnesia.

He was alive but not the same Suki from before the accident. Having suffered a harsh case of amnesia he was like a broken jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces scattered waiting to be put back in place.

Once Suki had become more aware of his surroundings the doctors explained what had happened. "And in layman's terms that is why you're experiencing this confusion at the moment." The doctor explained.

"I fell off a statue that put me in a coma?"

"It would appear that is the case. However your brain seems to have somehow made it out of the accident fairly intact, it's a miracle to be honest. If that weren't the case it be almost unthinkable that you could regain your past memories but in your case I believe there is a high probability that it'll all return to you at some point down the line." Said Dr. Soyo as he walked out the room waving in Gou Figimura.

"Oh son! I'm so glad you're alright!" Gou cried out as he tightly embraced Suki in his arms.

"Son? That means my father is...you?"

Gou rubbed Suki's back.

"Yes my child you are very much my son."

"I'm sorry I-I don't remember you..."

"Worry not my son, God answered my prayers returning you to my arms. That is all I could ask for at this moment."