The Rejected Family

Chapter 3

Reject failure, Part 1

In the bustling everyday life of the Foot of the Mountain, Toki, Kikyo, and Muro walk through the capital's narrow streets. Nico is on the adult's head.

Surrounded on both sides by houses, there is no room for any other construction. The houses are abruptly stuck together, in some cases even invading the neighboring space, with no apparent physical separation between their structures. As if they were grouped in vast blocks of eight houses or more, this arrangement ends up restricting the capital area to a chaotic jumble of homes with the smallest number of alleys and corridors.

Kikyo holds her daughter's hand as she walks through the area right behind Muro. The boy is still depressed, with his head down and his shoulders shaking.

"Repel—, Repell—" he mutters.

His mother asks him, "what's wrong with you this time?"

"The same as always. Muro took part in another fight today and didn't awaken his powers," Toki answered after her brother.

"A fight involving a developer... what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Oh, it was... a friendly fight. Yeah, like a competition! That fool loves a challenge."

"No fruit for you today. You're grounded."

"Huh? Muro, you idiot! It's your fault!" The girl throws a tantrum.

Muro gives in to sadness, muttering, "sorry. It's always my fault. It will always be my fault. After all, I'm not a Repeller."

"You destroyed your brother," Kikyo urges her daughter.

"W-what? It's not your fault, Muro. I'm the one who caused trouble!" 

Toki admits her mistakes while being stared at by her mother with a suspicious look on her face.

"Damn. I-I mean, it was Nico!" The child takes back what she said.

Kikyo observes her son, still depressed. She adopts a severe tone, comforting him.

"You know you're not a special case. The Foot of the Mountain is indeed the village with the most Repellers in the mountain but also the one with the most inhabitants. There are many others in the same situation."

"Are you trying to crush my hopes?" Muro stares at the ground.

"Just think of all the people you've picked fights with. You've faced several, and none of them had these powers."

"So, you're telling me to accept that I'll never make it?"

Toki whispers, trying to help her mother, "'n-no, not like that! You'll make things worse!"

Kikyo takes a deep breath, calming herself in an attempt to comfort the boy, who is getting further into the city's small streets.

"Listen, Muro. We tell you this every day: there's no need to rush. Everyone has agreed to wait for you, so take your time."

"If everyone is old when I become a Repeller, it won't make sense anymore," he replies.

"You can be sure that everyone will be waiting for you even then."

The boy's slow walk is interrupted. He stops moving, facing a large house. His shoulders — now rigid — hide his expression from the others behind him. 

"Hehe. That's a good one, Mom," Toki jokes.

"You're still grounded, don't even try to persuade me."

"Hey, that's unfair!"

Where Muro's eyes are fixed, on the edge of the narrow street, stands a house built of mud bricks, whose contrasting size would make anyone wonder how it was even standing. Its façade, in faded shades of white, and all the peeling paint mark the structure like the scars that worry the anxious boy so much. 

The two neighboring houses surround the residence, with no space between them, almost as if they were a single building; they are separated only by internal walls and the visible difference in height that sets them apart. 

The Mamoru family's house is the longest and widest on the street. It can be recognized from afar, even in the chaotic organization of the capital, which has an outrageous number of people per square meter.

Faced with walls that seem to use all their might to stay up and a roof lined with broken and worn tiles, as if it were threatening to collapse at any moment, Muro smiles.

"Well, you know how things work. I'll fix lunch; you take care of the rest," Kikyo says to her son.

"Right!" The boy replies, following his mother.

"Oh, one more thing... not a word about that Summit thing, you know how everyone will react."

"Did you hear that part!"

Kikyo opens the front door of her home, with Toki right behind her.

"Muro! You've come at a good time," a thick voice draws the boy's attention as he enters the bustling house.

"Uncle Saul! Do you need any help?"

"Oh, with that package? Not at all!" The man smiles at the sight of his nephew as he carries the weight of a large closed package about his height.

The muscles of this relaxed character abnormally show through his arms as if they could jump out of them at any moment. The rest of his body doesn't match this exaggerated physique, with his other limbs having a disproportionately ordinary stature, a mere middle-aged man.

"That's just my new punching bag. You know, I broke my old one. Hahahaha," he adds with a light laugh.

In the kitchen, Kikyo listens to the situation from afar as she washes the cutlery she bought earlier. There is no wall separating her from the room Saul is in, the dining room.

"You're wasting our money again," she comments.

"What can I do if they only sell these weak materials? The last one lasted quite a while, withstanding five punches."

Kikyo ignores him, turning her attention to another young man.

"Lev, why are you still here? It's about time you picked up your cousin from school. You know you can't leave him waiting alone," she asks.

The boy anxiously scratches his head, stumbling as he walks through the kitchen, given the unevenness of the floor.

"D-damn. Is it time already? I'm going to... I'm going to be late!" He gets nervous as he wanders from side to side, eventually bumping into a cooking bench.

A few tomatoes resting on the table fall onto the rough floor, onto worn wooden planks.

Toki makes a fuss, "hey! My berries!"

"Leave that to me. Hurry up, Lev," Kikyo orders, losing patience.

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

The boy inexplicably disappears from the scene at such an unbelievable speed that it makes it impossible to see his silhouette. Leaving nothing but wind behind him, Lev leaves, walking through the open front door without anyone noticing him.

Still in high spirits, Muro offers to help, "so, do you need me in the kitchen?"

"You should go straight upstairs. Things are pretty noisy today," his uncle replies.

The front door of the house closes abruptly.

"We're back!" Something escapes the eyes of everyone in the room.

Like falling dust that arrives in the dining room in milliseconds, Lev is back with a little boy by his side.

"Muro!" The little boy greets his older brother.

"One! How was school?"

"Boring."

"I see."

Kikyo continues her busy work, preparing the food while warning Lev again.

"Now Toki's late. Take her to get ready, Lev."

"What!? Her too?"

The boy instantly disappears with the child, climbing long flights of stairs in the blink of an eye. Those steps, which provide a delicate path to the second floor,  shake with the boy's speed, creaking in protest after even the smallest step.

The distant voice of an angry girl — coming from above — is heard by everyone in the room, "mom! Grandma's at it again!"

"Muro!" Kikyo summons her son.

"Okay, okay. Go ahead."

He goes up right after the order, smearing his hands on the rusty railing. Quickly making his way up the large staircase — which looked as if it might collapse at any moment — Muro comes across something curious at the end of the stairs. The boy sees his own body moving right in front of him, turning down the corridor towards him.

"Grandma!" Muro calls out.

"I like your outfit today; it's a good choice!" Kelly — Muro's grandmother — speaks, taking on the boy's appearance, moving like a perfect copy of his look.

"You need to get back to normal. Wait here. I will find a mirror to sort this out."

The boy enters a long corridor, which seems to have been dropped into a void, with nothing but several doors on its sides and a tall hat stand. The second floor of the large house is like a single path connecting everyone's rooms, serving solely this specific purpose but with an efficiency close to perfection.

A middle-aged man stands next to the last remaining item to complete his usual style. The experienced adult is aiming for a charming hat but is hindered by a significant obstacle.

His goal is at the top of a tall stand, in direct contrast to his one-meter and forty-eight-centimeter weakness.

"Why do they put these things up so high?" Calos grumbles, stretching to reach the object.

Muro quickly interrupts him, "no, no. No stretching."

He runs towards his short father and picks up the hat for him, preventing him from straining himself to reach it.

"Oh! Thanks for the help, kid. Sometimes, I think they put these things there to spite me."

"No problem, Dad. Just be careful; you can't stretch out in the house."

"That wouldn't happen if these idiots made it easy. Come on, help me take down this stand!"

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry now. I promise to sort it out later!" He ends the conversation as he runs towards the door of his grandmother's room.

Walking through all those empty walls, Muro arrives at the entrance to the room he wants. As he turns the rigid handle — which can barely do its job — the access is blocked, and Kelly's room is locked.

"Come on..."

During the brief disappointment, an agitated voice is heard down the corridor, "Ahhh! Get out of here, you disgusting insect!"

An angry girl walks down the long corridor to Muro. Her long, matted hair and damp skin add to her apparent stress.

"Hey, Lua! You've come at a good time!"

"What are you doing standing there? Get rid of that thing!"

The young woman is chased by a persistent yellow wasp, actively running around the place.

Muro tries to communicate as she gets closer and closer, "wait! I need your help!"

In an attempt to grab his older sister's arm, the boy's hand goes entirely through the targeted body, unable to touch it even though it's directly over it.

"Hey, put that hand away! I've just had a nice bath, and you've come in from the street. You must be filthy!"

"Oh, come on!"

Lua walks straight through Muro's body, passing him as if nothing was in her way.

The wasp now rushes towards the boy, who dodges the attack and hits the insect with a sharp kick.

"Do you have a mirror somewhere?"

"Stay out of my room, brat!" Lua runs away down the stairs without looking back.

"Hey, this is important!" He talks to himself, left behind with the poor wasp, who falls to the ground, knocked out.

Even after being ignored, Muro raises his head, heading towards the last remaining doors in his path. All right, now I'm the only one left, he thinks resolutely.

One suddenly appears in front of the boy without any prior movement. The sudden appearance makes his older brother even more discouraged.

"Even you, One?"

"Ah, my bad. Mom asked me to take out the garbage. I ended up alone."

Muro takes a deep breath to calm down.

"It's okay, you can't control it. Now that you're here, is there a mirror in your room? I need one to get Grandma Kelly back to normal."

"Mirror?"

"Use that," a shaky voice comes from the last door in the corridor.

As her footsteps come closer, liquid dripping on the floor is heard. Strolling towards the boys, a woman walks forward with her arms along her body, a movement fueled by exhaustion.

"A-aunt Honda!" Muro recognizes her only by her voice.

From head to toe, the unrecognizable woman is covered in blood, with shards of glass stuck all over her limbs.

"Here, use that piece of glass. As long as she can see herself, it'll have the same effect," she offers with enviable calm, even in her deplorable state.

"What were you doing? How can there be so much blood!" The boy asks.

"That insect... is scary..." his aunt replies, the color fading from her eyes as she touches the delicate subject.

"How many wasps have you killed?"

"Don't worry, that's my blood. I just had a harder time than usual hitting those things. I also broke my window, which means there'll be more soon."

Faced with Honda's sad state, her nephew leaves her be, "well, just be more careful next time. And... show up in the dining room; it's lunchtime today."

"Relax, I just need to clean it up first."

After getting the shard of glass from the woman's hands, Muro is content amidst the Mamoru family's troubled daily life.

After a hectic morning, all ten house residents have a quiet lunch, a breather anticipated by all those in the house, who devour all the food laid out on that cramped table with no extra room for a single soul.

"Finally! This is the only day of the week that's any good!" Calos devours anything edible within his reach, enjoying every grain on his plate.

Amid that peaceful atmosphere, Kikyo puts her moderate meal aside and brings up the elephant in the room.

"Do you want to tell them what happened today, or shall I tell them myself?"

Toki scratches her head anxiously, "er... Nico gave us a hard time today, hahaha."