The grand doors swung shut with a decisive thud.
In the dining hall, a suffocating silence descended over the room.
Noticing the tense atmosphere, Inyen flicked his wrist, subtly gesturing toward the attending servants. The servants bowed quietly and slipped out through the side exits, closing the doors behind them and leaving only the family inside.
Mikan was the first to break the stillness, her brows creased in confusion. "Tell us what, Merun? Does this have something to do with the spar? And what did she call you? Saiyan?"
Merun sat frozen, his fingers twitching against his knees.
He looked frantically to the left, then to the right, avoiding everyone's eyes. "Hmmm... well... I..."
His mind spiraled out of control. A suffocating wave of fear gripped his chest.
What would the people he loved and treasured most think once he told them the truth? That he wasn't human? That he was an alien from a distant world all this time?
Would they feel betrayed? Would they look at him with fear instead of warmth? Would his life—the peaceful, loving home he had built here—change for the worse?
Before his thoughts could spiral deeper, a soft, warm palm gently rested on his tense shoulder.
Merun blinked, turning his head. Nashi was looking at him with eyes full of quiet tenderness, her hand radiating unconditional warmth.
Across the table, Budo offered a steady, reassuring nod, while his siblings waited patiently.
In that single instant, the knot in his chest loosened. The unconditional love of his family washed over him, banishing his fear.
They deserve to know the truth.
Taking a long, deep breath to steady his racing heart, Merun pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Follow me."
Without waiting for a response, Merun walked out toward the central courtyard, gesturing for his family and Inyen to join him.
The night air was cool and crisp.
Fortunately, the sky above was a clear, absent of a full moon. Merun gestured for everyone to sit along the wide wooden porch overlooking the open courtyard.
Once everyone was settled, Merun walked out to the center of the yard, stopping under the open sky. He raised his hand, pointing his finger toward the void above, dotted with countless twinkling stars.
"There are an uncountable number of stars in the sky..." Merun began quietly. "Each one of those tiny, twinkling stars is actually a sun."
Ringo tilted her head, squinting up at the dark sky. "A sun? You mean like our sun?"
"Yes, exactly like that," Merun replied, looking up with them. "They're just so extraordinarily far away that they appear tiny to us."
He lowered his hand slightly, sweeping it across the horizon. "Now... much like our sun, planets surround them. They revolve around those suns. And much like us here in Gaia... some of those planets bear life."
Merun paused. Looking back at his family, he saw their bewildered, thoroughly confused expressions.
His voice faltered. "And I..."
Silence stretched.
Merun closed his eyes, squeezing them shut as a nervous sweat broke out on his neck.
"Fuck it," he whispered under his breath.
He opened his eyes and took a hard step forward. "I come from one of those planets."
With a quick motion, Merun reached for his waist and unfurled his furry brown tail, letting it swing freely behind him in the night breeze.
"PFFT!" Mikan burst out laughing, clapping her hands together. Beside her, Ringo let out a snort, and even Inyen smirked, shaking his head at the absurd sight.
"Merun... can you please be serious now?" Mikan giggled, shaking her head as she stood up. "You don't have to make up some grand story just to lift the mood after Master's warning—"
Mikan took a step toward him, intending to pat his shoulder, but Ichigo suddenly extended an arm, stopping her in her tracks.
Ichigo wasn't laughing. Her sharp eyes were locked onto Merun's face.
"Continue, Merun," Ichigo said softly, "Tell me about that planet."
Recalling the lore buried deep in his mind, Merun began to speak, his voice growing steady and resonant under the starlight.
"It's called Planet Vegeta. The skies there were a heavy, bloody red, lit by a crimson star," Merun said. "The terrain was mostly jagged badlands, desolate red deserts, and barren mountain ranges. But the real difference was the gravity. The gravitational pull of Planet Vegeta was ten times stronger than what you feel here."
He looked at his siblings. "Just sitting on the ground there would crush the lungs of an ordinary Martial Apprentice."
The laughter instantly died. Budo and Inyen's eyes sharpened, while Mikan and Ringo slowly sat back down, realizing he wasn't making up a story.
"Because of that extreme gravity," Merun continued, "every infant born on Planet Vegeta was built with hyper-dense bones, iron-like muscle fibers, and a heart that had to beat powerfully just to keep blood flowing. Each one of them was born a survivor..."
He paused, letting his tail swish through the air. "...They were called Saiyans."
The courtyard was dead quiet now.
His family listened with unbroken focus.
"The culture there was purely barbaric. It was a society run entirely by raw power levels," Merun explained, his eyes distant. "There were no farms, no sects, and no philosophical paths. Children weren't raised with warmth. The moment an infant was born, their power was measured. If it was too low, they were stuffed into a small capsule ship and launched across the stars to invade worlds alone. If they survived, they earned their place. If they died... they were forgotten."
Merun looked up at the moonless sky. "Planet Vegeta possessed advanced space-faring technology, but their minds remained primal. And whenever a full moon rose in the sky... triggered by a reaction in their tails, they would transform into a colossal, hulking beast."
Ichigo's eyes widened abruptly, as if a bolt of lightning had struck her mind.
Yet Merun kept speaking. "Saiyans were a race of conquerors, mercenaries, and gladiators. They fought for a galactic tyrant for many years... until that tyrant realized how terrifying their endless growth potential truly was. He pulverized the entire planet into cosmic dust in a single instant."
Merun swallowed hard, his hands tightening into fists. "So... Planet Vegeta is gone. And I..."
Focusing his Ki directly into the base of his neck, Merun drew upon the sleeping power within his bloodline.
BZZZT—!
A roaring flame of golden aura erupted around his body, illuminating the entire courtyard in a blinding light. His long black hair stood on end, flashing into a brilliant, gleaming gold.
He opened his teal-blue eyes, filled with deep, lingering anxiety, as the golden aura crackled around him.
"...am one of those Saiyans."
For a long moment, nobody moved.
The golden light cast long shadows across the porch.
"The truth is," Merun added quietly, his voice echoing through the golden flames, "as an infant, I was originally sent to conquer another planet. But due to an issue with my ship, I crash-landed here in Gaia."
"Wait, wait, wait! Stop!" Mikan blurted out, holding her hands up as her head practically spun. "This is far too much information at once, Merun! First of all... what is that form?!"
"Yeah?!" Mikan yelled, pointing a trembling finger at him. "Why are you glowing like a torch?!"
Merun let out a breath, easing the aura slightly while maintaining the state. "This is one of the transformations granted by my bloodline... the Super Saiyan form. It multiplies my base power level by fifty."
Budo, Inyen, and the sisters all raised their eyebrows in stunned disbelief.
"Fifty...?" Inyen repeated, his voice barely a breath.
Ichigo, however, was piecing the timeline together at rapid speed. She stared at Merun, her eyes narrowing as the memory unlocked. "You mentioned a ship... and that you crash-landed as a baby... Was it... deep in the mountain valley near our old home?"
Merun blinked, dropping the golden state as his hair shifted back to black. "Yeah."
"That day..." Ichigo continued, her voice trembling slightly. "I'm guessing it was a full moon. Did you... turn into a beast, just like you said?"
Merun looked down, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "...Yes. And a powerful martial artist fought and defeated me when I lost control. That's when You, Mikan and Ringo found me in the crater."
Suddenly, a memory flashed in Merun's mind, and his eyes lit up. "Oh! Wait! That powerful martial artist... he was the same hooded man who saved us from that Boar back then!"
"Wait, the hooded man?!" Ringo gasped, her jaw dropping. "The handsome, mysterious hero who saved us and sliced through the boar like paper?!"
"Hold on, he was there when you were a baby?!" Mikan asked, leaning forward with sudden, intense curiosity. "What did he look like up close? Was he a wandering Martial Sage?!"
"Did he say anything to you?!" Ringo pressed, a sudden, visible blush rising on her cheeks as she clasped her hands together. "Is he still wandering around this region?!"
"Oho?" Mikan caught Ringo's blush immediately, elbowing her sister playfully. "Look at you! Do you have a crush on our mysterious savior, Ringo?"
"S-Shut up, Mikan! I do not!" Ringo stammered defensively, her face turning entirely red. "I'm just asking out of respect for a powerful senior!"
Budo let out a booming laugh, his chest expanding as he shook his head. "To think the savior who protected my children from the boar and cured my Nashi was also the one who brought young Merun to us... We owe that noble warrior a debt that can never be repaid."
Nashi nodded warmly in agreement. "We truly owe him too much..."
Merun stood in the middle of the courtyard, completely frozen, staring at his family in total bewilderment.
"Huh...?"
He blinked once, then twice.
Why did it feel like... they had just completely brushed off his life-altering confession?
They were focusing on the entirely wrong thing!
"You guys!" Merun yelled, holding his hands out in frustration. "I'm telling you the truth here! What do I have to do to make you guys actually process this?! I've been lying to you all this entire time! Pretending to be human... pretending to be like you!"
The air fell quiet again, but the heavy tension Merun feared never returned.
Instead, Budo and Nashi stepped off the Engawa together. They walked right up to Merun in the center of the courtyard as he couldn't meet their eyes in shame.
Before he could speak another word, both of his parents reached up and wrapped their arms around him, pulling him into a tight, fierce embrace.
Merun froze, burying his face into his mother's shoulder as her warm, familiar scent filled his senses.
"My boy," Budo said softly, his deep voice rumbling against Merun's back as he patted his head. "You've never hidden who you were from us."
"It doesn't matter if your blood comes from the stars or the earth," Nashi whispered, kissing the top of his head softly. "You've always been Merun Furutsu. Our son."
Mikan walked over, lightly punching Merun's arm with a grin. "Yeah, cocky little brother. Here we thought your tail was a birth defect! Did you think your special golden hair were going to change anything? You're still the same brat!"
"Besides," Ringo added, walking up and leaping to wrap her arm around his neck, "Nothing will change. You'll still train with us, right, Saiyan?"
Ichigo smiled warmly, crossing her arms as she looked at him. "Human or Saiyan... you are a Furutsu. Nothing will ever change that."
"Won't you tell us more about you?"
Inyen offered a quiet, respectful bow from the Engawa, a soft smile touching her lips.
Standing in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by the unconditional warmth of his family, the last lingering fear in Merun's heart shattered into nothingness.
He wrapped his arms around his parents, holding them tight, as a genuine, beautiful smile spread across his face beneath the starry sky.
It was time to teach them Ki.