CHAPTER 76: EX 76. CONCERN

The Yakomoto family was vast, sprawling like a royal dynasty rooted in power, dominance, and prestige, but within its many branches, only a few were ever allowed to bask in the presence of Governor Yakomoto himself. The rest? They were treated as excess. Background actors in a grander story, left to fend for themselves with scraps of recognition. Some weren’t even granted the authority afforded to a noble family’s dog, let alone the dignity of being called a Yakomoto.

Nikko was one of them.

The stigma didn’t begin with her lineage alone, it began with time. In the Yakomoto household, the most gifted children received their Trial Resonance before their first birthday. The truly exceptional, the ones destined to awaken Supreme Talents, received it the moment they took their first breath. But Nikko?

Nikko didn’t awaken until she was five.

In the eyes of the family, that wasn’t delay, it was disgrace. A defect. A warning label stamped onto her soul. And in a place where weakness was met with mockery, and mockery with mercilessness, her late awakening was like bleeding into a shark tank.

---

The sun burned high above the training grounds, but its warmth did little to ease the cold sneers from the gathering crowd. At the center of the ring stood Nikko, eighteen, her dark hair tied back, her black clawed gauntlets glinting under the sun. She wore standard Yakomoto training armor, scratched and dented from past battles, and still too loose around the arms. Her opponent stood opposite her, Daikichi Yakomoto, he wore a broad, heavyset training armor and wielded a massive battle hammer nearly as thick as his waist. Despite his bulk, he radiated confidence. The same confidence that came from years of being treated like real Yakomoto blood.

Surrounding the ring were their half-siblings, leaning against the railings, smirking with thinly veiled contempt.

"The Fifth-Year’s about to embarrass herself again,"

"What do you expect from a concubine’s daughter?"

"It’s disgusting breathing the same air as her," "Hope I don’t get infected by how talentless she is."

The trainer, a grizzled ex-combatant with a scar running across his lips, stood by unmoved. He heard the comments. But he didn’t care. This was the Yakomoto family. Survival was the test. Sensitivity had no place here.

"Begin," he barked.

Daikichi charged. His size gave him the look of a slow brute, but that was a deception, he was trained, and he was fast.

BOOM!

His hammer came crashing down. Nikko side-stepped, barely avoiding it, but she was too slow to react to what came next. A powerful shoulder slam crashed into her chest, throwing her back. Before she could reorient, a brutal hammer strike came down hard on her face.

CRACK.

Blood burst from her nose as she crumpled, her vision turning red and black in waves.

She hit the dirt.

But it didn’t end there.

"Is that all you’ve got, disgrace?!" Daikichi roared, tossing his hammer aside.

He stood above her, fists raining down like hammers themselves. One, two, three relentless punches slammed into her arms, shoulders, ribs.

"Why don’t you just kill yourself?!"

"Your presence is a stain on our noble name!"

Her body curled tighter, arms shielding her face. Each word was a blade. Each blow, a branding iron. A final kick to her gut sent her sliding across the arena like discarded trash, her body crumpled near the edge.

Finally, the trainer raised a hand.

"Enough. Victor, Daikichi Yakomoto."

Daikichi clicked his tongue, grabbed his hammer, and walked away without a glance.

Nikko didn’t move.

Her face was bloodied, her breathing shallow. If not for the Yakomoto family’s brutal physical conditioning and combat training, she would’ve died. Even so, she looked more like a corpse than a cadet.

The trainer glanced at her, but there was no concern in his eyes.

"Get her to the healer," he said flatly, already calling for the next match.

No one clapped. No one mourned.

In the Yakomoto family, this wasn’t cruelty.

It was normal.

****

Nikko’s eyes fluttered open to the sterile white light of the Manor’s clinic. The humming of the medical equipment around her was low and rhythmic, barely enough to drown out the voices in her head. Her body, previously bruised, broken, and beaten, had been restored, flawless as ever thanks to the Federation’s advanced healing methods. Not a single scratch remained.

But not all wounds could be seen.

Her gaze was hollow as she stared up at the ceiling, unmoving. No sigh of relief. No expression of gratitude. Just silence. A stillness born not from peace, but from defeat.

And then, the echo.

"Why don’t you just kill yourself?"

The words Daikichi had screamed at her in front of their siblings rang again louder and sharper. Like knives dipped in acid, they scraped across the surface of her heart. Her lips trembled, and without realizing it, tears began to form.

She didn’t wipe them away.

She let them fall.

"Mom..." she whispered hoarsely, her voice cracking like shattered glass. "I really want to join you..."

Her fists clenched the sheets beneath her, eyes squeezed shut.

"I don’t belong here... not in that place... not in this family."

In that moment, something inside her stilled, not peace, but resolve. Not the kind that fuels ambition or courage... but the kind that leads to endings.

With quiet steps and no questions asked, she walked out of the clinic room. No one stopped her. No alarms were raised. In the Yakomoto estate, children like her didn’t get watched. No one kept tabs on the failed daughter of a concubine. As far as they were concerned, if she disappeared, it was just one less mouth to feed.

And so, unnoticed and unwanted, Nikko Yakomoto vanished from the halls of her family home.

****

The wind was sharp atop the bridge at the outskirts of the sector. The moon hung low and pale in the sky, casting silver light over the rushing waters below. Nikko stood at the edge, her black training boots inches from the drop, her dark hair swaying gently in the breeze.

She looked down into the void.

"Mom... I’m about to join you..." she whispered, voice quivering, but resolute.

She closed her eyes.

Took a deep breath.

Stepped forward,

And then a hand, firm, strong, grabbed her arm and yanked her back with force.

She gasped as she hit the ground, her back scraping against the cold metal of the bridge floor.

A shadow loomed over her.

"What... the hell do you think you’re doing?" a voice asked, stern, clear, and filled with something she hadn’t heard in a long time:

Concern.

****

A/N: I wonder who that might be(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

Also, regarding the competition for the top fan getting a character in the book: it’s still going on, so you guys should show your support!