For Survival’s Sake

Chirp, Chirp, Chirp… In the eve of dawn, the birds outside Takezushi's abode sounded off as his family's alarm clock. "Phew..." Disturbed out of his meditation, Takezushi's eyes snapped open as a sigh escaped his mouth. As he picked himself up from the ground, he thought to himself, 'I can't say for certain how long I was in meditation, but it had to be at least a good long hour, considering how much my reserves have grown in such a short amount of time...'

Of course, even if the tone of his thoughts implied that he had undergone a massive surge in strength, that couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, when he checked his Status, his "Nigh-Nonexistent"? Chakra Stat only changed to "Early Fetal Stage;" meaning his chakra reserves were comparable to fetuses of "The Ninja World" not yet developed even to the second trimester of pregnancy.

"WRGHHH..." Gurgling noises accompanied the twists and turns within Takezushi's stomach as his growing body craved sustenance. "This… I need to address this sooner rather than later..." Outloud, Takezushi spoke without noticing as his eyes narrowed. Now possessing a chakra network and the body of an Otsutsuki, a celestial being, his body would need more and more food of higher and higher quality as he became stronger; especially as a child where his growth could be stunted and Yang — or physical — energy was easiest to grow and understand.

Pondering off to the side as to what he was going to do to get the extra food his body required, Takezushi stared off into the world outside his wooden house through the front door as his mother quietly awoke, herself. Aiko Sakuraboshi, Takezushi's mother got up from the cold and rugged wooden floor. Like Takezushi and her late husband, she didn't have the luxury of a bed and slept on the floor; fitting for a slave laborer to a foreign country that made her life a miserable hellscape.

Looking to her right, she found Takezushi walking over to the door and for just a split second, a slight smile dawned on her face. Only, for the next moment to completely eradicate any semblance of joy as she came across the sight of her recently deceased husband. 'W-what am I going to do now… Taichiro…'

'Without you… how will we survive… How will I tell Zushi...' Lost in her own thoughts, Aiko didn't notice that Takezushi had walked over to her side. Only after he stood right before her, looking intently into her eyes did Aiko snap out of her depression. Seeing her register his existence, Takezushi took his mother's hands and said, "Mom, I want to help you out in the field."

The only first thing he needed to do for now was survive. But by helping her with her slave work, he would be acting to improve his body and also have a shot at securing extra rations of food for his growth. After all, if he showed his worth as a "good little slave," he would be taken care of to maximize his efficiency. And for as cynical as the thought was, it was equally rational. So for the time being, while he was still nothing but a child, it was best to feign servitude and grown right underneath his enemy's noses.

Gasping, it was as if Aiko didn't hear him as she pulled him closer to her face. With a cold sweat running down her face and a look of horror, Aiko asked "Z-zushi… Y-your eyes… What happened to your eyes!" A fanatical look of hysteria seemed to bring her to the brink of insanity as the thought of Takezushi suffering from some sort of illness right after her husband died became a dangerous catalyst with her current set of unstable emotions.

"My eyes?" Confused, Takezushi drew a blank look as he thought to himself, 'What could be wrong with my ey...' Then it struck him like thunder, 'Dojutsu — or Eye Techniques!' He couldn't be certain of which special Eye Technique had activated as he neither had a mirror nor the experience with different Eye Techniques to instantly feel which one was currently being used, so the first thing he could think to say was, "Calm down, mom. It's just my quirk! Last night, I had a dream and awakened my quirk."

"Your quirk? How could that be?! Both your dad and I are quirkless!" To anyone with common sense, the offspring of two quirkless parents couldn't be anything but another quirkless person. Thus, it was unfathomable for Aiko to learn that her son was blessed with a quirk spontaneously.

"Mhmm… I don't know, but this much is true; I do have a quirk. But more importantly, it's a super-strong quirk that can help us at the moment!" Choosing his words carefully, Takezushi did his best to calm his mother whilst keeping a childish tone as he spoke. He didn't have to force himself to sound childish as the better half of his personality was that of the original three or so year old Takezushi.

He continued, "Mom this is important… What about my eyes changed exactly?" Before anyone else asked him about it, it was best that he knew which Eye Technique was active. Any lies he told from here on would be predicated on what his mom told him.

"Your eyes… How do I say this… They've become blank, featureless, like a blank canvas. H-have you gone blind?" In earnest, she was partially terrified of whether this quirk's awakening had blinded her son. But a lesser part of the fear came from the intimidating look of Takezushi's featureless eyes.

'It must be the Byakugan...' Smiling, Takezushi realized which Eye Technique had activated alongside his quirk. He hugged his mom and said, "Actually, its the opposite! With these eyes, my vision will slowly improve as I grow older. Now..." Noticing her lose her worrying outlook, Takezushi continued, "About working with you… I know dad has, he's… he's passed away and I know we depend on his fieldwork for food… With dad gone, I want to help… I want to protect you, I want to survive, and with my quirk… I want to escape this place..."

The adult soul of the transmigrator had done his best, but in the end, the childish personality one out and spoke out more than was safe for the moment… As a result, Aiko froze. She became terrified at the final wish her son had proclaimed and couldn't help but try to admonish him; physically…

Slap! A deep red mark outlining Aiko's hand was evident on Takezushi's face, but what pained him was not the burning sensation in his face, rather his mother's heartbroken expression as she choked out, "N-never speak t-those words again… T-this is our l-life now and w-we should b-be glad to s-still even be alive..."

Now downcast, Takezushi faced the floor as he said, "Right..." And for a split second, something similar to murderous intent coated Takezushi's body before it dissipated as if it never existed to begin with. 'These worthless fucks...' Filled with curses for the people that had enslaved his family and made his only living relative this fearful, Takezushi's resolve for getting stronger only solidified further.

"About you helping me out..." Aiko was now standing over Takezushi as a half-smile covered her face, "Let me show you a couple things to get you started." Grabbing onto Takezushi's hand, Aiko pulled him out of their wooden house and left him by the door.

She returned inside and came back with her husband's corpse dangling on her back and told her son to follow her. Within a hundred meters of their wooden house, on an empty plot of land, Aiko dropped her deceased husband and began digging at the ground to make a grave. Takezushi helped her excavate a hole four feet deep and after the two of them gave a final prayer, they filled in the grave and returned to the field.

As disturbed as Takezushi felt the whole exchange to be, he understood his mother's line of thinking. They were already losing daylight and the last thing their deceased loved one would have wanted was for their hardships to get any worse because of his departure. It was sad that they couldn't mourn for longer, but it was either grieve and let off some pent up emotions, or get to work and PERHAPS earn enough to live another day, themselves…

Thus, Aiko brought Takezushi to learn how to tend to the fields. To make things quick, Aiko brought Takezushi to the biggest plot their family was in charge of, the paddy for rice, and explained, "Until the entire field is planted, I want you to follow these steps..." She showed Takezushi how to plant rice into the paddies as well as how to maintain the tools he used, along with where to get more grain.

Taking a deep breath after showing him all there was for him to begin planting, Aiko looked depressed as she said, "N-now Zushi… I… I'll have to go tend to the other fields… I'm so sorry I have to leave you, but… for us to survive… I..." She almost choked on her words, utterly full of shame as she thought of the words she knew Takezushi needed to hear for them to survive.

"It's fine. I just have to plant rice, right?" Though he could read his mother like an open book and the negativity he felt grew, Takezushi understood it was better to keep calm and support his mother in this critical time as best he could.

Looking at her son, Aiko didn't say anything else. She just nodded and left to tend to the other plots of land their family were assigned. A tear ran down her face when Takezushi could no longer see her face, and with a frail heart, Aiko left to complete as much work as she possibly could.