The technician, a woman with an impassive face and spectacles perched on her nose, read the results from the glowing screen without a flicker of emotion. "Blood type: SO Positive. Ingot Manifestation Capability: Null."
Akari’s breath hitched. "SO Positive… he is… he is one of us then," she whispered, a hopeful tremor in her voice, choosing to focus on the first part. She squeezed Taguchi’s small hand.
Kenji’s expression was harder to read. A deep line etched itself between his brows. "Null capability," he repeated, the words heavy. He had hoped, against his better judgment, that the boy might possess some aptitude, some way to earn his place in a society that valued such things. SO Positive was a relief, certainly. It meant Taguchi wasn't entirely alien to their lineage, but 'null' was a stark label.
Taguchi, now eight years old, looked from his mother’s strained smile to his father’s grim face. He didn't understand "ingot capability," but "null" sounded like "nothing," and the tension coiling in the air was palpable. The pins had hurt, but this quiet, heavy atmosphere was worse.
"It's alright, sweetie," Akari said, kneeling again to fuss with his collar, her smile a little too bright. "It just means… well, it doesn't mean anything bad. You're still our Taguchi."
The drive back to the dark castle was thick with unspoken thoughts. Akari hummed a cheerful tune, occasionally pointing out sights in Kansai, but her cheerfulness felt like a thin veil over a simmering pot. Kenji drove, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. Taguchi sat in the back, tracing patterns on the window with his finger, feeling a familiar knot of anxiety tighten in his stomach. He knew, with a child's unerring instinct, that this 'null' was not a good thing.
As they pulled up to the imposing structure of their home, Isamu, now a lanky thirteen-year-old with the same spiky red hair, was practicing with a wooden sword in the courtyard. He paused, wiping sweat from his brow, his green eyes immediately curious as they landed on Taguchi. Akio, a young man of seventeen, lean and carrying an air of disdainful superiority, emerged from the shadows of the doorway, arms crossed. His gaze was like ice.
"Well?" Akio’s voice, deeper now, cut through the silence. "What did the grand test reveal about our little stray?"
Kenji got out of the car, his face set. "Taguchi is SO Positive, Akio. He has Soul Clan blood."
A flicker of surprise, quickly masked, crossed Akio’s face. Isamu’s eyes widened slightly. "SO Positive?" Isamu echoed, a note of disbelief in his voice.
Akari, helping Taguchi out of the car, added, "Yes, isn't that wonderful?"
"And his ingot?" Akio pressed, a sneer playing on his lips. "Don't tell me the trash actually has an aptitude."
Kenji’s jaw tightened. "His ingot capability is null."
Akio let out a short, barking laugh. "Null! Of course! So, he’s confirmed Soul Clan, but a useless one. A dud. How fitting."
"Akio!" Akari’s voice was sharp. "That's enough! It doesn't make him any less a part of this family."
"Doesn't it, Mother?" Akio retorted, stepping forward. "We are Soul Users. Our lineage, our power, is what defines us. He carries the blood, apparently, but he's an empty vessel. A blank. What good is he?"
"He's your brother!" Akari insisted, her eyes flashing.
Isamu looked from Akio to Taguchi, then down at his wooden sword. He didn't say anything, but his earlier curiosity had been replaced by a familiar, guarded expression.
"He's a drain on our resources, a constant reminder of your misplaced sentimentality," Akio continued, his venom directed at Akari, then shifting to Kenji. "And you, Father, you allow this. You bring this… this nothing into our home and expect us to treat him as an equal?"
"He is to be treated with respect, Akio," Kenji said, his voice low and dangerous. "The matter of his capability is unfortunate, but his bloodline is confirmed. He is a Yuki by name and now, by blood. That is final."
"Final for you perhaps," Akio scoffed. He gave Taguchi a look of utter contempt. "Stay out of my way, null." With that, he turned and stalked back into the castle.
Isamu hesitated, then offered a curt, "Congratulations on the blood part, Taguchi," before following his older brother, though his tone lacked any genuine warmth. It was more an acknowledgement of fact than a welcoming sentiment.
Taguchi stood beside Akari, his small shoulders slumped. He felt the sting of Akio's words like a physical blow. "Null." The word echoed in his mind. He was Soul Clan, but he was also nothing.
Akari pulled him into a hug. "Don't listen to him, Uchi," she murmured, stroking his dark hair. "He's just… being Akio. You are special to me, and to your father. That's all that matters."
But Taguchi knew it wasn't all that mattered. He saw the worry in his father's eyes, the way Kenji looked at him now – a mixture of resignation and perhaps a new kind of disappointment. He was a Yuki by name, and now by blood, but he was a Yuki without the soul of one.
Later that evening, Taguchi retreated to the library, his sanctuary. The scent of old paper and binding glue was comforting. He ran his fingers over the spines of books, their titles mostly incomprehensible to him. He remembered Akari laughing when he’d misread "Blood Flow" as "Blood Fucker." He hadn’t understood the joke then, but he understood Akio’s sneer now.
He found the book Akari had mentioned before – "The Illuminated Lineages of the Soul Clans." He couldn't read much of it, but it was filled with intricate symbols and drawings of people wielding glowing energies, their eyes bright with power. Ingots, he presumed. He traced one of the symbols, a swirling vortex of light. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine that power inside him, but all he felt was a hollow ache.
The library door creaked open, and Kenji stepped in. He looked tired. He sat down in one of the large leather armchairs, not looking at Taguchi directly at first.
"Akio was harsh," Kenji said finally, his voice quiet.
Taguchi nodded, not trusting his own voice.
"Being SO Positive… it means you carry the legacy of our ancestors, Taguchi. It's a significant thing. Many would be envious of that lineage alone."
Taguchi looked at his adoptive father. "But… the ingot? Null?"
Kenji sighed, running a hand over his face. "Yes. It means you won't manifest the common abilities of our clan. You won't be able to manipulate soul energy in the way Akio or Isamu are learning to." He paused. "Life in the Soul of Peace, especially for someone of a known clan, can be… challenging without an ingot. People will judge. Akio is proof of that."
"Am I… bad?" Taguchi asked, the question small and trembling.
Kenji looked at him then, his gaze direct and surprisingly gentle. "No, Taguchi. You are not bad. You are… different. And difference is not always understood, or welcomed." He stood up and walked over to the boy, placing a large hand on his shoulder. "Your mother loves you fiercely. And I… I will protect you. But you will need to be strong, Uchi. Stronger than others might expect."
Taguchi looked down at his small hands. He didn't feel strong. He felt like the foundling from the trashcan, the outsider, the 'null'. But as Kenji's hand rested on his shoulder, a tiny, defiant spark ignited within him. He might be null, but he was Taguchi Yuki. And somehow, he would find his own way to be more than nothing. The path ahead was dark and uncertain, but for the first time, he felt a flicker not of power, but of resolve.
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