Hibiki

There was once a shy child who lived in a quiet village. They didn’t know their parents’ faces, but the warmth of their grandparents and younger brothers was more than enough. Their family wasn't human, but the villagers accepted and loved them as if they were. Those idyllic days passed by...then their parents returned. Honeyed words spilled over their lips, promising that they’ve changed and that they’ll take proper care of the children from now on. Lies, lies, lies. Gambling addicts through and through, they sold their children so they could alleviate their debt. Souta had the makings of a talented card shark, so they kept him in order to make more money, but Hibiki and Ren were thrown into a child brothel. Abandoned. Forgotten. Alone.

He had to protect Ren. He'd pay whatever price he had to. He wouldn’t let them touch the only family he had left.

Year after year, he beared with the abuse, shielding his brother with his own body. Hibiki was the perfect product. Even child hierlyics aged slowly, so they could sell him for much longer than an ordinary child. Fear turned into sadness. Sadness turned into anger. He was always burning up inside, rage struggling to hide under a layer of sweetness. One day he snapped. They were going to sell him. They were going to rip apart the tiny family that he had worked so hard to save. Ice shot up around him, tearing through flesh and bone alike, and he killed. He killed until all he could feel was empty coldness. They were free. Still alone, but they were free. It's alright now. Hibiki would take care of everything. He’s the big brother. Just trust in him.

While living on the street, Hibiki heard a rumor. There was, people whispered, a group of people looking for the unnatural. Who were unnatural. He followed it, threw away his old world, and never looked back at. Hibiki dove into his new life like a fish into water. What he craved most was control and that’s what he found at the Association. Harnessed his wind and ice. Learned to lie even better than his parents. Sharpened his talent for murder. Despite his focus on rising through the ranks, Hibiki never lost sight of what was truly important to him. Ren, his only family. Drew and Lilia, two children whose eyes were just as empty as his when they first met. His arms are small and weak but he will protect the few people he can hold.

That’s his greatest strength.

That’s his greatest weakness.

Hibiki doesn’t want the people he cares about to be in danger so he puts himself in danger instead. Just like how he shielded Ren back in the brothel, he continued to protect others by taking all the damage for them. He cheerfully volunteered for risky jobs in their stead with the excuse that “I’ll get to the next rank faster this way, y’know?” He quietly meddled in the background so that he’s the one who ends up with the dangerous positions. If everyone else was fine, then Hibiki would be as well. But he wasn’t. No matter how determined someone is, hundreds of years worth of trauma would wear down their will to fight. Hibiki was a soul with a tattered heart and a shattered body that was barely held together by a single fragile string. When Ren’s eyes were stolen, that string snapped. He failed. He fucking failed. Useless, useless, everything was useless, he was useless. Hibiki threw himself further into danger because it no longer mattered if he lived or died.

It was within this suicidal spiral that Shad reached out to him. Slowly, slowly, Hibiki was dragged out of his pit of shadows by friends both old and new. Somehow, life was worth experiencing again. He pledged himself to Shad and the newly created Ace of Spades, becoming its sharpest knife. Even now, he continues to hunt, searching for his brother’s eyes and baring his teeth at those who dare threaten his family.