Kaito was surprised to see all the new people surrounding him.
He understood he had been reincarnated... but it was still shocking to experience it firsthand.
He couldn't understand a word they said.
Meanwhile, a little girl—his supposed elder sister—approached him with curious eyes. Without hesitation, she knocked on his head like it was some kind of door.
What... are you doing? he thought in disbelief.
Kaito slowly turned his head toward the woman who was smiling at him warmly—his mother.
Both parents called out to him affectionately, "Kyota Yoru!"
Kaito... no, Kyota Yoru, he corrected himself internally.
He shifted his gaze to the man who was smiling proudly at him—his father.
Meanwhile, his sister continued yelling, frustrated that he wasn't giving her enough attention.
Watching them, Kyota realized something deep inside—
This... is going to be a loud family.
Despite the chaos, the happiness within the family rose like a beacon into the night sky.
Two peaceful years passed without anything particularly special happening.
Kyota lived happily, spending his time learning the language slowly with the help of his gentle mother, Aqua.
He wandered around the countryside with his father, Raito, soaking in the colors and sounds of the new world.
Of course, he couldn't forget about his tsundere sister, Ayame Yoru, who had deep red hair like their father and eyes just like Kyota's own—black with a faint tint of red.
Kyota's hair was a mesmerizing blend:
Deep blue inherited from his mother, and streaks of deep red from his father, giving him a mysterious black-blue sheen with hints of crimson.
Life was simple, and life was warm.
But everything changed when Ayame turned five.
It was time for her elemental affinity to be revealed using the sacred magic crystal.
Their parents brought them to the family shrine, and Ayame touched the crystal first.
The glass orb glowed beautifully, showing two brilliant colors—fire and wind.
Their parents celebrated loudly.
Father, who possessed fire and earth elements, clapped proudly.
Mother, who wielded water and wind magic, smiled warmly.
While everyone was busy celebrating Ayame's results, Kyota, curious, toddled up to the crystal.
The moment his tiny fingers brushed the surface—
The crystal exploded in light.
A loud crash echoed through the room as Father dropped his cup, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Mother rushed into the room, hearing the commotion—and froze in shock.
She whispered, almost afraid to believe it,
"Impossible... how does he do that? Even the gods who ruled this world never had more than three elements... yet he possesses all five."
Here, in this world, there were five fundamental elements:
Fire, water, wind, earth, and thunder.
And yet Kyota was glowing with them all.
They were shocked—terrified—but also immensely proud.
While they spoke in rushed, worried tones, Kyota stared at the crystal.
Inside, the colors twisted.
The five elements stretched to five corners, like the points of a star...
And in the center, two strange colors—black and white—swirled around each other.
Before anyone could react—
The orb blasted outward with incredible force.
When the dust settled, Kyota's small body lay on the ground.
His hands and chest were burned with deep brown marks, patterned like some ancient, cursed symbol.
Even the best healing magic could not erase those marks.
They remained, a brand upon his body.
After that day, nothing particularly special occurred—
Until Kyota passed the age of three.
By then, Kyota had developed a small, mischievous habit.
He often snuck out of the house to try and reach the village library, searching for books about the strange black and white light he had seen.
But reality had other plans.
No matter how many times he tried, somehow, somebody would catch him.
The beautiful ladies of the town, the farmers, the hunters, even the grumpy old miners—
All of them would catch the adorable little runaway and return him straight to his mother, laughing all the way.
It took him thirty-three attempts before he finally managed to reach the library—on the twenty-fourth day.
Victory at last!
Or so he thought.
The moment he stepped inside, a familiar figure loomed over him.
His mother.
At the library.
She caught him red-handed.
Kyota braced for scolding, but instead, she chuckled and ruffled his hair.
Without a word, she gifted him an entire shelf of books related to magic—more treasure than he ever hoped for.
Kyota's days were filled with reading alongside his sister Ayame.
They often played in the countryside mountains, where they could see isolated houses scattered like stars against the earth, their own village nestled quietly between them, and far in the distance—the walls of the massive capital city.
Ayame would often use her wind magic to boost her speed, laughing as she raced ahead.
Kyota, meanwhile, stubbornly relied only on his physical strength to run.
I can't let her find out about my powers... it'll just cause problems, he thought.
Better to stay quiet.
Life seemed peaceful—until that day.
Kyota and Ayame had returned home after their usual secret workouts, muscles aching pleasantly when Kyota noticed something strange.
There, near their house, stood a man with deep blue hair—similar to his mother's.
Father was creating a large platform using earth magic.
Kyota narrowed his eyes, hiding himself and casting a weak wind spell to catch fragments of their conversation.
What he heard made his blood chill.
The blue-haired man shouted at his mother,
"After destroying you, I'll be the King! Someone like you, who abandoned us, has no right to hold the Water Stone!"
Kyota didn't fully understand, but he knew something was wrong.
The man unleashed a powerful spell—Water Dragon.
Mother responded casually.
With a wave of her hand, a Water Blast spell shot out.
The man sneered arrogantly.
But within moments, Mother's Water Blast completely overwhelmed his magic, knocking him to the ground.
Yet instead of finishing him off, she calmly tossed the Water Stone at his feet.
"I don't need it," she said coldly.
The man picked it up, defeated.
Still smirking bitterly, he said,
"See you, my dear sister," and left.
Kyota's heart pounded.
He had secretly analyzed the mana fluctuation from his mother during the fight.
Even while holding back... she had suppressed an aura so massive that it could have leveled the entire mountain they stood on.
Mother... just how strong are you...?
Kyota's mind raced with questions.
But before he could process it all—
"Found you, Kyota!"
He turned around—
Only to see Ayame grinning mischievously, her hand glowing with wind magic, ready to 'test' her spells on him.
Kyota sighed heavily.
He realized in that moment—
I'm so dead.