Broken: Tale of a twisted blade

How do I start, I'm guessing you all want to know my story, well here it goes.

I was four when I was brought here from my homeland in Africa, me and this other kid, we both had braided hair which were black as coal, he had brown eyes while mine were an icy blue, he was as scared as could be and to tell you the truth so was i. Well of course I was, I was four.

The boy started to cry because he missed his parents and that made me more scared so tears began to stream down my cheeks I looked at him and said "are you scared too?" he looked at me and nodded, then I asked "what's your name?" he looked at me and wiped his tears "Jay" he said "what's yours?" He asked, then I replied "my name is....."

The door slammed open and there he was the man who had taken us he wore a sort of black uniform with a hood he looked at us with an icy cold stare that put chills down our spines.

he removed the hood and the face i saw is not the kind I'm used to seeing, he looked different from us his skin was pale and his hair was black as cole and short, almost looked like silk, he was not from the same place we were.

"where are we?" I asked trying not to cry while my voice cracked up he looked at me and smiled like he had found a new toy to play with "i wanna go home!" I yelled trying to hide the fact that i was scared yet tears still still filled my eyes trying to escape and roll down my cheeks..... his smile disappeared as if i had just offended him "you are a long way from Nigeria little boys, from now on you belong to us a school of assassination called nejire no ha, in Japanese that means twisted blade".

I looked at him with tears about to fall out, I couldn't understand what he was saying, I don't know whether it was because I was four or cause his accent was messed up it sounded very different from hiw the peoplein my homeland would speak to me.

jay stood there quietly bowing his head staring at the ground as tears began to fall I started to cry too then I screamed "i wanna go home!".

He got angry, he picked up a rod and struck me, that must have been the most painful thing i had felt in my short life back then, little did i kmow there was worse to come, then he said "two things we will not tolerate in this school and that is indiscipline and weakness so stop crying".

but I couldn't the tears kept coming, i was feeling so many emotions at once, i was scared and i was lost, i was in pain and i felt hatred but he didn't stop no matter how much i cried he just continued to strike me for an hour.

then i finally stopped crying it was like the strokes just stopped hurting so I glared at him with a look of pure hatred as if saying I will kill you, he flinched then said "good you've stopped crying now bow your head do not glare at me, know your superior.

but I didn't stop he was a monster I hated him with every fibre of my being. "you brat!" He said as he was about to strike me again one of his colleagues stopped him "Stop!" he said.

"The boy is stubborn there is no use of this take him to the master" he continued.

So they did.

in the masters den I saw a man seated on a thrown surrounded by flames with a giant statue of a dragon and another of a wolf behind him, he asked me "what is your name boy".

so I just glared at him with all my spite so he smiled and said to his men "beat him".

so I was beaten and flogged for another hour. When he saw the flogging had no effect he said to his men "Tase him" so I was tased for hours.

what kind of monsters were they? I was only four, and what kind of parents raised me so stubborn.

when they saw there was no use in tasing me the master walked down from his thrown walked towards me picked me up and said" if you will not tell us your name forget it ever existed lose all hope of ever seeing life outside this school and you will be fine here from now on your name is kai nashi in Japanese it means hopeless now say it, what is your name?".

i glared at him with spite. Then he said "alright then let me show you something".

he took me to the islands edge, my eyes opened wide as I saw no hope of escape, in the darkness of night the water looked pitch black and there was nothing beyond and then the master held me up and said "if you wanna go home.......... swim".

then he threw me in the water and in that moment I struggled and struggled but there was no use I kept sinking and grasping for breath. In that moment I started to realize I would never see my homeland again, I would never see my family again, at that moment I lost all hope and I stopped struggling and only one thing went through my mind. I was going to survive no matter what, so I swam and I swam and I swam till I reached the shore where to my surprise the master was still waiting for me he asked me again "what is your name?" And I replied him trying to catch my breath "kai.. Na ..shi" he raised his voice do not stutter when speaking to me, then I yelled

"My name is kai nashi!!!".

Water, I'm drowning in a pitch black ocean that's all I see, it's cold as ice water fresh out of the freezer, I continue to sink lower and lower but the lower I go the hotter it gets I look to the bottom and see light, blue flames at the very bottom of the ocean the water continues to heat up then a voice from the flames starts to yell "kai!" I look to the bottom and try to answer it but water fills my lungs, i feel the agonizing pain of drowning I hear it again "kai!!" I look again and see dead bodies burning in the flames, some still alive burning in agony then I see jay standing on top off

them with a dead look in his eyes and he says "you did this kai its all your fault you did this" I sink closer and closer until I'm close enough to grab, Jay grabs onto my leg it burns his hands were hot as magma I try to scream but water continues to fill my lungs he drags me down and continues to yell "kai! Kai!! Kai!!!".

" kai wake up!!!"

I wake up to see jay standing beside my bed, it was only just a dream but it made me uneasy its been 4 years since we were brought here i remember that day like it was yesterday *flashback of him being beaten tazed and drowned* "it's lunch time sleeping beauty let's go" Jay said snapping me back to reality.

Nejire no ha, my new home... well, not new anymore. Cafeteria is located at the top floor. But we don't have stairs you wanna eat you have to know how to run on walls and climb ropes, everything is an obstacle coarse here, everything is training.

me and Jay run into the halls and shots are fired, arrows from the training equipment, we easily evade them other students follow behind us we ran for the wall at the end of the hall there was a spring trap up ahead so we ran on the walls to our sides and dashed through avoiding the trap, then we land our feet firmly on the ground we continue to run, then out of no where giant axe like blades swinging from side to side we run straight to them then slide under we continue to run until we reach the wall, we run up the wall as high as we can then jump off to grab the ropes hanging, we look down and some students are injured they were lucky over the years some died the moment they stepped out of their doors, me and jay and the others that make it to the rope climb to the top.

In the cafeteria we ate ramen with fried chicken on the side I saw Jay staring at my piece "Here Bud you can have it" I said to him ,"thanks!" He said with a wide stupid looking smile.

A Japanese boy next to me looked at me then said to his friend "kare agemasu soto niwatori? Watashi shikou kokujin hitobito ai niwatori" translation "he gave out his chicken? I thought black people loved chicken" then I replied in Japanese "anata jinshusabetsushugisha haohaoya......!!!" That's when Jay stood up and yelled "kai!" Before I could finish my sentence

"Careful with your words" he said. so your not confused the translation of what I said was "you racist mother....!!!" Now you can guess why he didn't let me finish and if you can't you're brainless , I know what your thinking, jinsu what now? All that just to say racist? What can I say, Japanese. Now back to the story. So this guy he looks shocked hearing me speak Japanese ,the hell I've been here for 4 years hell yeah I speak Japanese, so he looks at me and says "you speak Japanese?" With one of the worst accents ever so I laughed hard ,he looks at me angrily and says "what so funny?" And I reply "I don't know" mocking his accent, which aggravated him further he came at me with a punch I leaned back and dodged I then grabbed my ramen and threw in his face then I stood up and back flipped of the table it wasn't necessary... but it looked cool, he stood up wiped some ramen off himself grabbed a fork and came at me, he slashed at the top of my head I ducked under did a 180 then elbowed his torso then I put one hand on the ground to support my body then gave him a swift kick to the head he skillfully got up quickly and drop kicked me to the ground it was so fast I didn't have time to react he tried to stomp me so I rolled to my side and knocked him to the ground performing a windmill then I got on top of him and punched him in the face then he turned the tables and punched me five times before one of the assassins watching us came to separate the fight.

He took us to the master who scolded us heavily "fighting without permission will not be tolerated here!" He said "but he..." The boy tried to reply the master but was silenced "I should not see this kind of behavior from you especially, you are his superior in class, as his superior and my son you are supposed to leave a better example" he said, and as I heard that my heart dropped I was screwed I just fought with the masters son, crap is that a black eye on his face? I thought forgetting the fact that I also had one on my face. That's it they're gonna make me dig my own grave "ten strokes of the whip for kai nashi" phew I got off easy.... WAIT!!! Ten that whip is friggin huge I might as well be dead I bet his son will get 1 or 2 tops "fifty for hijiro" said the master, my eyes widened in shock fifty to his own son this man had no mercy , hijiro so that was his name as I was lost in thought I didn't know when the first stroke landed on my back I screamed in pain and he said "cry and I add ten for every tear drop, no weakness here" so I took the ten without crying but what shocked me was hijiro taking fifty without making a sound he was obviously in pain it was written on his face but he would not make a sound and would not cry he truly was the masters son.

The master informed us that some of the upper class students would be taking an assassination test that night so we should stay in our rooms but hell no, I definitely wasn't going to miss that.

Later that night I woke Jay up "Jay wake up" Jay wakes up and says "what is it" I wanted us to go watch the assassination test together but he said "but master said stay inside" I replied "must you do everything your told?" Jay replied Sarcastically, "must you always be stubborn?" so I begged "come on jay just this once" , "fine but if we get caught I'll throw you under the bus" then I replied "deal".

We ran through the coarse with ease then we had to sneak past some assassins guarding the halls we used the shadows to our advantage like true assassins then we reached the training hall where the test took place we hid amongst the shadows to watch, the assassin assessing their tests said to them " today's test will be different, you will fight and you will kill, you are no longer babies, first two step forward " they stepped forward "face your opponent " they did as told "Begin!" Then the fight started their movements were like nothing I'd ever seen before they moved with such grace such agility such elegance. The fight went on for a while, one of the assassin students threw a shuriken at the other he caught it so easily and as he was about to throw it back he saw his opponent rush towards him with a kunai blade and slashed at him he jumped back and threw the shuriken at his opponents arm as his feet touched the ground without making a sound he ran behind his opponent swiftly and held the blade to his neck, then the assassin yelled "finished him" he yelled out a battle cry as he slit his opponents throat I had watched with such intrigue with innocent eyes but as I watched him kill his opponent using the brilliant art that is assassination only one thing went through my head

......... Amazing

Another two years had past the longer I stayed there the more I forgot about my homeland I don't even think I remember what my parents look like I had forgotten life out of najire no ha. Well good remembering life out of here still gives me a shred of hope and I have no use for that I'm bound to this place there's no escape. The assassins said we would be having some kind of test soon, "huh I wonder what it'll be like.....

I wonder if it's that test" I said *flashes back to the assassination test he saw senior assassination students do 2 years ago* I smirk "I may finally get my chance to perform the arts" smile widens "awesome" I say.

"Kai!!"

I see Jay running towards me, my thoughts were ' Jay its been 6 years here with him we've kept each other strong he's my best friend and greatest rival but I can't help but feel like something inside him is weak..... I hate weakness if my father wasn't so weak he could've have stopped them I wouldn't be here right now the only reason I'm stuck in this place is cause of his weakness that's why I can never be weak and I won't let Jay be weak I'll make sure he's strong I'll make sure were both strong I don't remember whether or not I have a brother but if I did I think he'd be like Jay so I'll protect him we will make it through this place and become true assassins so we'll never be weak again survival is key in a world like this and I will survive no matter what.

He came to meet me at the ledge where I was seated "hey kai" Jay said, I looked up at him "yeah" we speak Japanese a lot and I'm sure it gives some of you headache's so from now on I'll just tell you when we're speaking Japanese like now "you ready" jay asks and I reply "always am",

" then let's do this" said jay I stood up and we jumped off the ledge then hooked our grappling hooks on the ledge then we slide down the rope and land swiftly on The beach side "let the sparring begin your losing today I'm tired of all this ties" immediately he dashes forward and comes straight at me, I stand firm preparing for him to land a body blow but he switches technique on me "you fell for it" he says then jumps in the air performing a butterfly kick the force knocks me to the ground I immediately return the favour with a round house kick to the face then quickly getting on the floor and giving him a quick sweep knocking him to the ground then I get up to finish him off with a corkscrew he rolls to his side avoiding the attack then jumps up and as he does I kick sand into his face and dash towards him with heavy blow to his face knocking him down to the ground but he gets up with a back flip and as he does I stomp on his chest which pushes him back and he hits his back on a tree then I run towards him and jump trying to land another blow but he tilts his head avoiding the punch my fist cracks that part of the tree then I receive a kick to the stomach before my feet can touch the ground I fall to the ground .

"Give up yet" Jay said while panting, I get up and reply "you say that while out of breath" trying to hide the fact that I was panting he runs towards me and attempts a spinning kick to my face I grab his leg and throw him towards the ocean then come at him with a karate chop he grabs my hand and flips me over himself I land on my feet and counter it by grabbing both his hands putting my back on the ground and kicking him over myself accidentally flinging him into the ocean and then I get up and laugh "ha looks like I won boy!!" Then I notice he's not coming up I know its most likely a prank but I can't be sure so I rush and dive in I don't see him I swim lower but its hard to see in this ocean. Then suddenly I was put in a headlock dragged to the top and punched in the face "you son of a...." I say in English then he laughs and interrupts me "what you are for falling for that" we see one of the students standing on the shore its Hijiro he says to us in Japanese "if you two idiots are done playing like a bunch of retarded 4 year olds the assassins are calling all of you juniors!!" I really hate that kid we swim to the sore and follow hijiro to see the assassins.

"You'll be going to a different location for your test today go to the shore and wear these blind folds" the assassins in form us in Japanese , we were just at the shore uhh so annoying. We do as they say we go to the shore and put on the blind folds while facing the ocean and then we just wait. We assume a vehicle would be picking us up like a boat or a helicopter or something like that but we waited for hours and nothing we just stood there I was about to say something when one of the assassins yelled in Japanese "step off the shore!!" We were riddled by this.... They had us stand on shore for hours blind folded just so they could tell us to walk into the ocean that has been in front of us for hours blind folded? These people are bastards. "Are you deaf I said step off the shore!!!" an assassin yelled in Japanese so we did as they said cause they are our superiors plus we had our backs turned to them and we were blind folded and well you know assassins but as we stepped of the shore we received such a shock our feet weren't wet the ground was dry and hard. I took another step to make sure I wasn't crazy but the ground wasn't even sandy it was rock hard solid ground what was going on "turn around and take off your blind folds!!" Yelled one of the assassins In Japanese so we turned around but as we took off our blind fold the real shock was revealed we were on a canyon we ran to the ledge to check the bottom our eyes widened in shock it was no where in sight , yes the island was gone "how is this possible" I said in English me and jay turned around at the same time and yelled in English "how is this possible?!! Where's the island?!!!" But as we did we saw two assassins dash towards us in an unmatched speed and stomped our chests and at that moment my thoughts were 'amazing that speed the strength of a true assassin amazing this is truly an art the art of assassination is truly a sight to behold then.... Wait a minute I'm about to fall down a mountain holy shhhh....' Me and Jay grabbed on to the ledge and one of the assassins yelled "this is the climb test who ever survives and climbs back to the top passes

.... Are they on weed since when is throwing someone down a canyon a test holy biscuits that's a long drop I see so all the students dropping like rain then I look up and those same assassins step on our fingers and we fall me and jay have seen it we were gonna die I never even got to assassinate anyone.

We then remember our grappling hooks but when we checked for them they were gone those bastards took them we look to the bottom and notice a branch but it had thorns so we couldn't just grab it with our hands they took our grappling hooks but they didn't take our belts thank God for these uniforms I take off my belt and throw the other end to Jay as we fall the belt gets caught on the branch good just as planned but i didn't plan for this other student Yuki he was falling pass Jay and Jay grabbed him " what are you doing Jay the branch isn't strong enough drop him!!" I yelled In English "we can't just let him die!!" Jay replied "why the hell not!!" I said "its not right!!!" Jay yelled "your gonna get us all killed you could have just left him to drop but now his life is literally In your hands if he dies now its on you!!!"I yell. Crackle , oh no the branch was breaking "drop him!!!" I yelled "no!!!" Jay replied, OK we were gonna die i look down and notice its only a 2 story drop we jump 1 story all the time 2 stories shouldn't be that different. The branch snaps and we fall to the ground I dislocate my leg it hurts like hell but I take it like a boss and didn't scream mainly cause I flashed back to hijiro's 50 strokes jay hurts his arm and yuki hurts his leg too I decided to pop my leg back into place it hurts like a bee with an itch on its back so I tie it with my belt and do the same for Jay and Yuki then comes the next challenge climbing we look around and see dead bodies but a lot more people survive than we expected so we start to climb it wasn't easy with our injuries it was unbearable but we kept on climbing cause we were gonna pass this test no matter what we were gonna survive so we climbed enduring the pain then we reached the top "congratulations you passed" said an assassin before we passed out from the pain.

I'm just glad we survived this.