WHEN THE RAIN FALLS

There was a village called Hakone, nestled in the dense woods near the western border of the kingdom of Akakawa.

It was isolated and quiet, a place where everyone knew each other. A boy named Rin lived there with his mother, Hana, in a small cottage. He was six years old, with pale skin, blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes too sharp for a child his age.

Hana was a gentle but distant young woman, who carried the same golden hair as Rin.

She never allowed him to play with the other village children. She kept him close, tending to her herbs, and read him old story books that looked like they belonged to a different age. She smiled often, but her eyes never smiled with her. And she would stare out the window at night, as if expecting someone, or something, to come through the trees.

To Rin, this life felt normal. He never knew or asked about his father. He never asked why the villagers whispered when they saw them.

Hana would leave him alone when she went to work, disappearing into the village with a satchel of herbs slung over her shoulder.

Rin would simply sit by the window, watching the sky shift, or wander briefly into the small forest behind their cottage. That forest, where his mother gathered her herbs, was the only place outside their home that felt familiar. The rest of the world might as well have been a dream.

Rin was a quiet boy. He rarely spoke and hardly seemed to care for the freedom and noise of other children. He had grown used to silence and solitude.

Then came the day that everything changed.

It began with dark smoke rising from the heart of Hakone. Rin had never seen fire like that. Not orange and warm, but blue and unnatural.

Screams followed, first faint, then piercing. The ground trembled beneath him, and the air smelled like blood.

Demonic creatures.

A horde of them, with horns, fangs, and eyes like burning coals. They descended on the village without warning and dragged the villagers into the streets. Fire erupted. Children cried. Steel rang, but it was useless against the monsters that came from the underworld.

Rin stood frozen in the forest's edge, watching it all. What was happening?

He made his way back to their cottage, where he had left his mother. Little was left of it.

His small hands pushed through the broken door as it creaked and splintered. The smoke inside burned his throat and eyes, but he moved like he wasn't even aware of it. He was looking for her.

And he found her.

His mother lay on the floor beside the half-cooked stew she'd been preparing, but the pot was shattered, its contents forgotten. Her golden hair was darkened with soot, her pale dress soaked in blood. A dagger was lodged in her side.

She wasn't breathing.

Her eyes were open, staring at him.

Not with fear. Not even pain.

Just... shock.

Rin stood there, unmoving, the heat creeping closer. The world was silent in that moment.

His eyes were fixed on the dagger that had stolen her from him.

Above him, part of the ceiling gave way. A heavy beam loosened and was about to fall.

But he didn't notice, eyes fixated on his mother.

Just before the burning wood struck him, an arm wrapped around his small body and pulled him back. Rin was carried through the smoke and out of the cottage.

After being set down outside, he collapsed forward, then he looked up.

A man stood before him. Tall, composed, and untouched by the chaos behind them. He looked human. His eyes, sharp, and a light grey. Rin didn't speak.

In the distance, men with swords moved through the smoke. They were fighting the demonic creatures.

The man standing before Rin did not look back at them. He looked down instead, "What is your name?" he asked.

"Rin"

For the briefest moment, the man's eyes darkened. He glanced once toward the burning village. "We need to get you somewhere safe."

Before Rin could respond, the man lifted him with ease and carried him over his shoulder. Rin did not resist. As young as he was, he understood one thing clearly: his mother was gone and there was nothing he could do.

The man moved quickly through the trees, towards a group of other men. Over his shoulder, Rin watched the cottage collapse into flames. The roof caved in, and sparks rose into the dark sky.

He stared at it for a long moment.

Then he slowly turned his head away, leaving Hakone behind.

The man brought Rin to Fuyuki, the Northern capital, far beyond Hakone. They went past mountains and ancient roads, to a great stone estate nestled deep within the frozen forests. It was a place untouched by war, and protected by powers older than most dared to speak of.

The man was Lord Yukimura, a noble among demons. He had great authority, and was feared in the North.

He was a close relative to the Demon King of Akakawa. He had a wife, and six sons. Seven now since he took Rin in as his own.

It was unknown whom his real father was. But as Rin grew, his abilities revealed a truth that could not be ignored. He was no ordinary child, but a hybrid: half human, half demon.

Whether he got the demon side from his mother or father was unclear. But judging by past human-demon relationships, it was naturally assumed his mother had been human.

Nonetheless, Rin grew up in silence and isolation. He never really felt home. Lord Yukimura treated him fairly, but the cold castle walls and the colder eyes of the others constantly reminded him that he didn't belong.

Five of his six 'brothers' barely spoke to him. They resented him, not just because he was human-born, but also because he was skilled despite having less 'demon power'. In combat training, strategy, and raw instinct, Rin surpassed most of them despite being at a disadvantage. His presence, once pitied, became a threat.

Only Kotaro, the fourth oldest brother, had been the first to speak to Rin without condescension. The day Rin was brought to the castle, he had been excited. He was a very outgoing, observant, and kind demon noble.

While the others saw Rin as a stain on their legacy, Kotaro saw someone who might understand him.

The two trained together, talked late into the night, and often vanished just to breathe, away from the tension.

For Rin, Kotaro became more than a brother.

He was his closest friend.

His only friend.

Years passed, but still, Rin never forgot that day. The day he was left behind by Hana.

He remembered everything: the smell of the smoke, the glow of fire on her face, the way her eyes had stared into his like they were frozen in time, the pool of blood, the dagger.

Night after night.

It was more than a memory. It was a wound that never healed. The ache in his chest never left, it only settled into him like a second soul. He might have been young when it all happened, but he missed her, and the more time passed, the harder it became to carry.

He started avoiding things that reminded him of her. He let books collect dust, remembering how she used to read aloud to him. Even certain foods, anything with herbs she used to gather, he barely touched.

And most of all, he hated spring.

Its warmth, its life, its scent of flowers... it had been her favourite season. A time of hope and rebirth.

But in the North, where the winter never truly left, he felt safe. Numb, maybe. But safe. In Fuyuki, the land of eternal winter, there were no flowers. No spring. Just ever falling snow and gloomy skies.

Just how he needed it to be.