CHAPTER 13: WHAT REMAINS OF THE BOY
**(Gosei's POV)**
It takes months.
Months before my nephew—Naoki—spoke a single word.
He wouldn't respond. Not to the nurses. Not to the doctors. Not even to me.
He wouldn't blink when you waved in front of his face. Wouldn't move unless you physically lifted him. He just sat there—no, existed there—like some hollow thing occupying a shell that used to be a boy.
The boy I used to know.
My nephew is broken.
And it tears at something inside me. Every goddamn day.
I sit in the plastic chair by his hospital bed. Every day. Morning until midnight. He never turns his head. Never looks at me. But I sit. Because it's the only thing I *can* do now.
I keep wondering why.
Why didn't they contact me sooner? My sister. Her son. My only family outside my wife and kids.
Why didn't I know?
I punch the wall one night when the nurse says he refused to eat again. My knuckles bleed. No one stops me.
My nephew is unresponsive.
My sister is in a coma.
And no one's doing a damn thing about it.
How could the world let this happen?
How could people in power be *this* evil?
---
**FLASHBACK**
It was a peaceful afternoon.
I was home.
My kids were playing on the rug—my twins, a boy and a girl. My wife was in the kitchen, humming something I couldn't name.
I was reading the paper. Mundane. Simple. Happy.
Until my phone rang.
I didn't answer at first. It was a hospital number. Then I saw my wife walk toward me, pale as a ghost, her hands shaking.
"Gosei," she whispered. Her voice cracked. "There's something you need to hear."
I took the phone from her.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end said one name.
Naoki.
I remember my knees giving out. I barely got the full explanation before I grabbed my coat and rushed out the door.
I remember driving like a madman.
I remember praying like I hadn't in years.
I remember *screaming* when I saw him.
My sister's boy.
The child I held as a baby.
He was... unrecognizable.
Blood.
Burns.
Wounds that looked weeks old and minutes fresh at the same time.
Marks.
Inhumane carvings. Burned words. Someone had taken a heated metal rod and branded him like livestock. *WORTHLESS.* *DOG.* *TOY.*
I hit the floor.
Me, a trained soldier.
Me, who'd seen warzones, death, chaos.
I fell to my knees like a child and *wept.*
---
"Who did this to him?!" I roared. Nurses tried to calm me. They couldn't.
Then I saw him.
**Kazuki.**
A police officer. My childhood friend. My old comrade-in-arms.
I charged at him and grabbed his collar. "Kazuki! Do you have any idea who did this?! WHO?!"
His eyes... they held something dark. Heavy. Resigned.
He said, quietly, "Forget it."
I shook him. Hard. "HOW THE HELL CAN I FORGET THIS?! HUH?! LOOK AT HIM!!"
He shoved me back. Then—punched me. Hard. I fell.
He looked down at me. "You've grown weak since the battlefield, huh?"
I wiped the blood off my chin. Glaring.
"I'm going to tell you this as a friend, Gosei," Kazuki said. His voice was cold. "You can't touch those demons. You try, and they'll squash you like a bug. Not just you. Your kids. Your wife. Your *whole* goddamn family."
He threw two briefcases at my feet.
"What the hell is this?" I barked.
"Money. Enough to start over. Anywhere. There's also a credit card. Take your nephew. Take your sister. Leave."
"You think I want your blood money?!"
He didn't flinch. "I think you want your kids to live. You want your nephew to have a chance. You want your wife to survive. This isn't a war you can win."
I stared at the cases. Trembling.
"Take them. Or bury your family. Your choice."
He turned to leave.
At the door, he paused.
"I hope I never see your ugly mug again."
---
**FLASHBACK ENDS**
I shake the memory away as I sit beside Naoki again.
His eyes stare past me.
I lean forward. Quietly. Desperately.
"Naoki... do you remember me?"
Silence.
I place a hand gently on his shoulder. "It's me... Uncle Gosei. Remember? I used to bring you those toy soldiers? You liked the one with the broken arm. Said he was strong despite it."
No response.
I whisper again. "I'm here now, kid. I should've been there sooner. I know. I know I failed you. But I'm here now."
His eyes twitch.
Just once.
Then still.
I stare at the boy in front of me.
A shell.
What remain
s of Naoki.
And I swear—
*I will make them pay.*
All of them.
For every burn.
Every scar.
Every tear.
They will know what it's like to break.
**To be continued...**