Since he was young, he had a weak physique which forbade him from doing something as simple as walking without panting heavily.
Just walking was hard enough for him, so he steeled his mind to train his body and become stronger.
'Play, huh…' Jin thought of the foreign word that should have been the norm for children his age.
"Okay!" He smiled excitedly.
Tanya smiled and pulled her brother by his hand, "Let's go!"
* * *
A few minutes later…
"Brother Jin, you're so good!"
"Kyahhhh! I'm behind the rock at your left, come find me Brother Jin!"
"W-What!? How did you find me!? Oh no~"
"Me too, find me! I'm here!!"
…
Tanya, who was currently hiding behind a rock, was frowning so deep that it formed wrinkles on her face.
'Why are they like that towards my brother…' She thought as she looked at her girl friends who were practically throwing themselves at her brother.
When she pulled her brother to introduce him to them earlier, she knew that something was amiss.
Their eyes were unusually bright and they whispered things like "He's so handsome.." and such!
'Even Rowena began acting weirdly when she saw my brother up close… Tch!' Remembering how even her best friend acted towards Jin, Tanya's eyes blazed with wariness.
"Why are they so loud? I wonder what's going on…" Muttering to herself, Tanya tried to peek from the rock and see what was going on.
However, just as she took a peek, what greeted her sight was her brother's smiling face.
"Got you, hehe."
"W-What!? Brother, are you cheating!? How did you find me!?"
She was flabbergasted because she had always been the best at hide and seek!
Jin couldn't tell her that he could see her aura signatures around the rock. It was one of the ways he discovered while pondering about his ability to see this "special world".
The world where the worldly energies were visible and everything was slow.
In this world, he discovered that everyone had a unique aura signature.
Although the form of worldly energies in his eyes were in the form of particles, he could somehow tell how each aura was different from each other.
And through this ability, no one could hide from him in hide and seek!
Of course, he couldn't tell her all that so he said, "I just guessed."
Tanya pouted.
"H-Hey!"
However, before she could respond, a voice interrupted her.
The siblings turned to look at the source of the voice and saw a boy standing with a group of boys behind him.
"Y-You're the new kid, right?" The boy pretended to be calm. Though it was obvious that he was nervous.
Seeing the siblings silently stare at him, the boy felt unnerved.
But he steeled himself and said, "Why are you the only one who gets to play with the girls… I-I mean why are you playing with girls, real boys play dodgeball!"
He showed a ball made of soft wooden fibers as he smiled provocatively, "Are you going to play with us or are you scared?"
Tanya became angry, she knew that they were picking on her brother, "You idiots! Why don't I show you how dodgeball should be played…"
"Eek! It's Tanya!" The boy became unnerved as the group behind him retreated a step.
"Are you bullying our brother!?"
"Who do you think you are!?"
"Want to fight with us instead"
…
The girl friends of Tanya came to the rescue, making the boys more nervous.
Moreover, they could see Tanya's face getting more twisted, further scaring them.
"M-Maybe, we should give u—"
"Sure!"
Just as the boys were having second thoughts, a surprisingly eager voice sounded, breaking the tension in the atmosphere.
Everyone looked at Jin who had sparkling eyes.
The only words that he heard were "Do you want to play with us?" Nothing more, nothing less.
Although he had been playing with his sister and her friends, Jin still felt touched by the boy's words.
After all, he was a stranger.
Jin felt that that's how friendship between kids his age should start.
"Eh? Brother, are you sure?" Tanya didn't know what to feel.
Her girl friends also looked at "their brother" with worried expressions.
Tanya knew that her brother had always been sharp and smart. He couldn't possibly not notice the intentions of the other party.
Unbeknownst to her, Jin really only noticed that the other party wanted to play with him.
"Heh! You're going to be it, is that okay?" The boy regained his confidence.
"Sure! My name is Jin! What's yours?" Jin placed his hand in front of him.
The boy shook his hand and replied, "I'm Marco!"
* * *
A few minutes later…
Jin was standing a few meters away from the group.
As the "it", the group would all be able to throw balls at him. If he was hit, then he would lose. However, if he caught the ball in his hand, then he could throw it to anyone in the group and eliminate them.
"Hehe, he fell right into our trap!"
"You're right, it was so easy!!"
"We can punish him for getting the attention of all the girls!"
"He had the weakest physical attributes among all of us. This is going to be easy!"
…
A few boys in the group said with a sinister smile.
"Hey, don't you think this is too…" It was Marco who spoked.
"What? Are you chickening out?" A boy questioned him.
He scratched his head, "No. I'm just saying that we shouldn't be too rough on him…"
Marco remembered the conversation he had with Jin earlier while he was explaining the rules.
'He seemed nice…' He picked up the ball made of soft wooden fibers and aimed at Jin. 'Oh well, I'll just miss on purpose…'
Jin looked at the group of boys who were all aiming a ball at him.
"1, 2, 3… Go!" A boy from the side shouted.
Jin smirked as he saw the countless balls being thrown at him.
He was touched that they invited him to play.
However, he also didn't like losing.
The balls hurled towards him slowed down drastically as the world turned black and white. Particles of mana also appeared within his sight.