Special Birthday

The 7th February. It is Togiris birthday. He used the birthday date of his former life. Physically he would be around 9, but in total, he would be 23 years old.

The sun was rising and the day already started, but for the first time birthday kid is still sleeping.

"Hehe" giggled a boy in his pajamas.

"WAKE UP!" Fang jumped on Togiri to hug him. He reacted in time and rolled out of the way making Fang hit his head on the floor.

Of course, Fang was shrouded in Ten. Ten increases your defense makes you less tired and slows down your aging, but he still hurt his head a little bit.

"Ouch! Hahaha. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOGIRI!" exclaimed Fang smiling from ear to ear.

"SHHHH! Do you want to wake up the whole neighborhood" whispered Togiri.

" Hehe...I know you don't want anything, but here is my present" Fang went quickly outside the room and brought back a big wrapped present.

"Wow! Thank you man!" Togiri fist-bumped Fang.

"Brother! I thought about it long and hard. You not only live with us but also help and so much more. I asked Dad and Mom if they could officially adopt you. Of course, you can say no again like back then." Fang smile was filled with sincerity and happiness.

Back when Togiri started working and then living with Fang and his family, Fang's Dad wanted to adopt Togiri, but Togiri declined.

He was struggling to trust them and he was scared of letting people near his heart.

Togiri started crying. '23 years old and I am still crying like a kid'. Tears were dripping down on his clenched fists.

"Y-Yeah. I would love that" His snot also started running to his mouth. "Gross haha!"

"Haha" "Hehe" Both laughed while Togiri wiped his tears and snot away.

"Now. Let us look at what bad gift my brother gave me this year. Haha" Togiri's smile changed slightly as if the burden he carried lessened.

Togiri opened the big box. "Wow!" Togiri took several books outside of the box. He touched them delicately.

The books were old, fragile and just judging by their appearances you could tell they were very expensive and hard to find antics.

There were 3 books with the following titles:

The Abyss

The Garden

The floating Palace

The Abyss which was a book covered in some kind of very dark black animal skin, but felt like a smooth and cold brick almost as if it was made out of iron, but Togiri as a blacksmith could tell it was not metallic.

The title of the book was written with some kind of white-like substance that seemed like it could be erased with simple wiping over it, but couldn't since Togiri instantly tried.

The writing was hypnotizing and in the short moment Togiri looked at it, he felt a suction effect and fell into a light trance.

He also could swear that he saw a little bit of black smoke coming out from the book even though he didn't open it. The book didn't look like a book but like a big black brick.

The second book title was The Garden. The whole book was covered in different, beautiful, and realistic drawn flowers and herbs.

The title of the book changed its color by itself. This fascinated Togiri even more than the first book.

The drawings looked so realistic that at first glance it looked like you could stretch your hand into the world where the flowers were growing.

The outside texture of the book felt different and was changing because some parts felt very smooth like jade and porcelain or were rough enough to make you scrape your hand bloody.

The book was a small drawn world. The Garden looked like a book unlike The Abyss but was very thin. It was heavier than the thickest 2 thousand page book Togiri had.

The last book was even more surprising and mesmerizing, simply because of its name, The Floating Palace.

The color of the book cover was very fitting of its name referencing the sky. The beginning of the book title was written in clear white but then became greyish.

It was written using cursive in such a way that the two words looked like different clouds. The back of the book was a strong color orange.

Togiri noticed it glowed slightly. He darkened the room to see the shining of the book better.

Togiri saw the book shining more brightly and the orange color started moving slowly, little by little as if it wanted to form a shape.

The part of the book connecting the front and back was made out of cold and hard metal. The material was Tangsten. It is the hardest metal and very expensive.

It was the hardest metal to process, Togiri should know since he tried to make himself equipment out of it and was never satisfied with the result.

"Wow.... When-How much-How did you even..."

"Hehe! Will these books also get written into your Review Notebook?" Fang looked embarrassed while Togiri was completely confused.

The Review Notebook that Fang mention was a book series that Togiri started. His reviews weren't posted via the internet, but simply written in his notebook.

Togiri already filled more than a dozen books with just his reviews of good books he read.

He loved to read anything because even if it was about plants, it wasn't his original world, and that made it more interesting and mysterious not to mention useful later on in his journey.

"Thank you, Fang. I am sure they were hard to get." Togiri put his fist up to fist bump like they usually do but Fang hugged Togiri and they stayed like that for a whole minute while Fang was smiling.

Togiri instead looked as if he saw a flying pig roundhouse kick a lion. After a short moment, Togiri hugged back Fang and regained his composure.

"I am happy. It always feels like one day you will disappear." "H-Haha" 'What crazy good intuition Fang has like always'.

Togiri was very cautious and didn't fully trust even his close friends in his old life, but the last few years with Fang and his family slowly healed his distrustful heart.

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After a regular day at work, it was already evening and the whole family gathered to celebrate.

Fang, his mother Julia, his father Arthur, and of course the guest of honor Togiri were all sitting in the living room around the dinner table.

After celebrating Togiri's birthday and adoption the family was playing board games. Julia announced that she was going to address a very serious topic.

"Kids listen. We know how much money you made from fighting in the Heaven's Arena, but that money is meant for yourselves.

Our smithy is expanding and we now have more money to spend. We are already so happy, but we decided to have another kid." said Julia while looking at Arthur then Fang and Togiri.

"Congratulations! Fang, you are gonna be an older brother!" Togiri was surprised since for him serious news meant bad news.

"You too, congratulations Mom and Dad" Fang seemed happy. He was smiling brightly and then hugged his parents.

Togiri noticed Fang's exaggerated smile. Fang looked rather sad and distant after hugging his parents.

"We would like for you both to pick a name," said Arthur while holding his wife's hand.

"Really? Are you sure?" said Togiri looking at Fang.

"Yes! Not only have you been like a brother to Fang but also like a son to us. You also helped us in so many ways, even though we thought we would help you." chuckled Julia while a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Mis-" "Call me mom!" Julia interrupted Togiri. She then grabbed him and Fang and hugged them both. "Okey mom"  Togiri would lie if it didn't feel weird to hug a woman not that much older than him and call her mom, but she reminded him of his mom.

'I disappointed my original mother, I will not disappoint my adopted mother. I will keep Fang safe and help them bring back their other son Kastriot.'

Togiri helped Arthur to increase the business aspect of his store. Previously Arthur was working as a blacksmith and a clerk selling his weapons and armor.

Togiri not only lessened the workload as a blacksmith and researched ancient ways to make better products,  but was also very good at selling. He managed to get a direct distributor for the material.

He put up fliers, created an internet presence, and also generally made friends with people in the neighborhood and promoted the blacksmith shop to the fighters of the Heaven's Arena.

That everything still couldn't be compared to the fact that a small kid worked as a blacksmith and was creating products better than a regular blacksmith.

The Togiri's fame reached even other cities not as a fighter but as a blacksmith.

Togiri did all of this to repay his debt rather than giving them money from the Heaven's Arena, also they didn't accept the money.

The most impressive thing was that he earned some pretty big pocket change. Who wouldn't be impressed by a small boy doing things even adults can't do?

He showed how competent he was and made a small blacksmith shop into a soon becoming empire. Togiri himself was surprised himself that this was easier than he thought.

"Thank you." Togiri started tearing up. He felt like he had made a second family, made not by blood, but love.

They all hugged each other and started crying a bit except Fang who seemed to be distant and deep in thought.

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Several hours passed and Fang's parents and most of the city fell asleep. Both Togiri and Fang were dressed in black and covered themselves from head to toe.

The only thing visible was Togiris's dark brown eyes and Fang's blue eyes. Both were ready to go.

"Wait before we go, we need to talk," said Togiri while pulling his mask down.

"About what?" whispered Fang.

"Don't play dumb" Togiri looked at Fang worried and concerned.

"Sigh~....We're becoming big brothers, but we will leave in 2 years to become Hunters and search for Kastriot. Our little brother or sister won't even remember us and we don't even know how long it will take to find Kastriot." Fang clenched his fists and started crying.

Fang was very mature for his age, but at that moment he looked like any other 9-year-old kid.

"Don't worry we will visit as much as we can since rest is also a part of training. Also even if we aren't home we can use computers and phones to video call every day." said Togiri comforting Fang.

"Oh..I forgot that we can video call. T-Hehe, sorry for acting so dramatic" chuckled Fang while smiling his few tears away.

"Hahaha, don't worry. Now we need to go since we don't know how long it will take."

'Finding out where and who the criminals were was easy since they didn't particularly try to hide. These dumbasses' thought Togiri to himself.

"Let me quickly repeat the info again. The gang is called "The seven deadly sins". Their name comes from Christianity. Just like the seven deadly sins from the bible, they have seven executives that are Nen fighters."

"Their leader is a human named Akura. The Nen users are weak, but the reason this criminal organization thrives so much and hadn't been destroyed by the Hunter Association or others is that the leader Akura is the cousin of an executive high up in the Hunter Association."

"We both never killed and don't want to but in the worst-case scenario we have to do it." Togiri looked at Fang and he also had already steeled himself with this possibility.

"Like I said you don't need to do this. I could do it alone." Togiri gave Fang a way out.

@What are you doing? The kid already decided@ said Seven the Reviewer system.

'Shut up! You couldn't possibly understand us humans' Togiri tapped Fang on the shoulder.

@Yes! I can! Because I was built from your personality!@ 'I didn't know that my old personality before I changed was so annoying!'

They both traveled over rooftops while using Zetsu to conceal their presence. Togiri used hand signs and they both jumped onto the building next to the headquarters of the seven deadly sins.

Fang whispered " I remember that they weren't this bad... but since they have driven out the other criminals of this city, they have been more ruthless."

"They demand protection money and even put aunties and uncles in the hospital not to say the other things they did like destroying and robbing their shops."

"Today I heard that auntie Selma is going to close her shop and move away. If I can't stop these dirtbags. I won't be able to stop my brother."