Sixteen years later, in 2034
A brat with messy sharp black hair with natural navy-blue end-strands. Dark blue eyes with a hint of dark purple. Mix Asian and Caucasian. Around five-foot four-inches tall. With a cyan hoodie, long pants, and lace-less black shoes.
He's standing in the middle of a parking lot of his middle school. He was surrounded by other students, crowds of people watching him. Within the circle of spectators were four other students. They look the same age as him. They looked nervous. Sweating profusely, breathing heavily. The brat was calm and collected, he was able to keep a level head despite the insane bloodlust he's currently suppressing.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" the brat taunted, a giant smirk on his face as he stared down at his opponents. To him, they were no longer individuals but rather mere obstacles to overcome, prey to be defeated. He was a predator that hunts for sport.
With a single blink, his eyes were filled with bloodlust, he ran at his first opponent, grinning as he approached. The kid attempted to block the incoming punch but was too slow, resulting in a brutal blow that sent him crashing to the ground. Blood trickled from his nostrils, leaving him incapacitated. It was almost like being hit by a metal baseball bat.
"Down already?" He was genuinely confused. He examined his hand he used to punch. Nothing peculiar. He ponders.
Unfazed, the brat heard footsteps behind him and swiftly turned to face the next challenger, landing a powerful punch to the kid's face before following up with a blow to his abdomen. The victim staggered backward, gasping for air, as the brat continued his relentless assault. The brat dashes forward while lifting his left foot up and crashed it into the kid's chest. Causing him to crumple the ground.
The other two kids ran in from the brat's left and right. The brat focused his sight on the kid on his right. When they got close enough, he lifted his right fist and punched the kid on his left. Then sent his elbow backward to the kid on his right. Then sending his right fist forward to the other kid and hitting his abdomen. He turned to his left and pushed the kid in front of him. He lifted his right leg and landed an unguarded front kick to the kid's stomach, sending him sprawling.
Without putting his leg down, he sent his leg behind him. Whipping it. Then landing a spinning hook kick to the kid's face. He flipped backward and fell down quick. He looks at his hands, flexing his fingers, wondering why there was nothing coming out.
The brat looked down at the four, he felt disappointed. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, but he felt a tinge of disappointment, as if the fight hadn't fully satisfied him.
"That's it?" He says heartbroken. Not really. "I thought you'd put up a fight. You didn't even land a hit," he exhaled his disappointment. He looked at the crowd, slowly dispersing, leaving him alone. He didn't care that people were watching, he longed for a good fight where he could go all out. Rushing through the crowd, a classmate.
"Dan!" A familiar voice called out his name.
"Oh, hey, Sam," Dan greeted him casually, seemingly unfazed by the chaos he had caused.
"What the hell is this?" Sam's concern was evident as he confronted his friend.
"What?" Dan answered with his own question.
"You just beat up four people!" He states. "That I know for damn well were innocent!"
"Were they?" Dan retorted, his indifference shows on his face.
"You always do this!" Sam's anger boiled over as he expressed his frustration with Dan's reckless behavior.
"So, what?" Dan blurted out his indifference to the consequences of his actions.
"What do you mean so, what?" Sam was in disbelief to Dan's dismissive attitude.
"You and I will be leaving school in a few days anyways, so who cares?" Dan brushed off.
A teacher came rushing in. He panted as he arrived. Mr. Sakato, Sam and Dan's Japanese language teacher.
"Danieru, nandayo!?" Mr. Sakato exclaimed in a panic as he looked at the four students slowly getting back up from the brutal fight. However, Dan seemed unfazed by their condition, barely batting an eye at their suffering.
Danieru, nandayo!? = Daniel, what the hell!?
Dan turns to the teacher with an apathetic face. He then suddenly lifts a smile, "Sakato-Sensei, konbanwa," Dan greeted casually, as if nothing unusual had just happened.
Konbanwa = Evening
"Watashi no ofisu, ima!" Mr. Sakato demanded with anger in his voice, Dan then followed him to his office. Sam, Dan's classmate, followed closely behind.
Watashi no ofisu, ima! = My office, now!
"Why do you have to do this?" Sam whispered to Dan.
Dan played dumb, asking, "what do you mean?" But Sam wasn't fooled.
"Don't act stupid!" He called Dan out. "You can't keep ruining your life like this," he said disappointed.
"My life?" Dan scoffed, seemingly unconcerned about how others perceived him.
"Why can't people for once see you as the good guy?" Sam wonders aloud.
"As the good guy?" Dan retorts.
"In elementary, now middle school. What, high school too? I get it, you want that kind of thrill, but you can't keep doing this," Sam continued, frustrated with his friend.
"Okay, mom," Dan rolled his eyes in annoyance, he cared nothing of it."God, you're helpless," Sam sighed, exasperated.
Dan rolled his eyes again, shrugged it off as if it was meaningless. Walking from the parking lot to the school's main building, people were glaring at Dan. An atmosphere that was dense in disgust, dislike, and loathe. They didn't like how awful he is.
He paid it no mind because he knew that no one in that school can actually tell him "No". No one would even dare to come his way. Everyone withdrew from him.
Dan entered Mr. Sakato's office after him. Sam waited outside. Mr. Sakato walked behind his desk and perched his hands on the edge. Dan sat in front of his desk and leaned all the way back.
"Naze?" Mr. Sakato asked impatiently.
Naze? = Why?
"Shitakatta," Dan shrugged his shoulders. He sounded disappointed. Well, he was, about the fight.
Shitakatta = I wanted to
"Setsumei shite!" Mr. Sakato grew irritated.
Setsumei Shite! = Explain!
"They started it. I was defending myself," Dan claimed.
He actually did start the fight. He actually provoked the four into fighting him. Mr. Sakato persisted, accusing Dan of lying about being provoked. "Liar," he stated, not believing Dan's claim that he was merely defending himself.
Dan finally admitted, "maybe," but remained evasive about his motivations.
"Why do you have to do this? Do you enjoy hurting other people?" Mr. Sakato questions.
Dan responded with a shrug and looked away from Mr. Sakato. He let his mind ran free. Thinking about what better things to do besides listening to his teacher get upset at him.
"This is the fourth time you've been called to my office this month," Mr. Sakato sat down in his chair, "is everything okay at home with you?"
Dan sighed. He was fed up with that question. The same question every time he was called to the office. Always something to put blame other than himself.
"Now don't give me a none answer. Listen— "
"No, you listen," Dan leaned forward to Mr. Sakato, "don't act like you really care. You just want to be seen as a good teacher and get points from your boss and get a bonus pay."
"What's wrong with that? And don't deflect. I want to know why you did what you did. You don't want to talk about your family, that's fine. I'll just call your parents."
Parents? Sure, I'd like to meet my dad who I hoped died when I was born, Dan raised his eyebrows.
After a moment of silence, Mr. Sakato sighs and face palms. "Are you doing this because you can?" Mr. Sakato realized. He sighed again and leaned back to his seat. He bowed his head low and rubbed his eyes. "You're smart, aren't ya?" Mr. Sakato acknowledged Dan's intelligence and intuition.
Dan didn't respond with words, he simply made a condescending smile. It was true, that was his reasoning. He did it because he could get away from it. Even if the school punishes him for it, it wouldn't affect his profile as a student at all because it's an obligation for the sorcerer school to take him in.
"Academically smart and you have good intuition too. Speaking freely, you've got shit for attitude."
"You think so?" Dan chuckled. He himself knows this.
"I can't say anything to the faculty of the sorcerer school you're going to, but I hope you turn into a better person and not die a pointless death," Mr. Sakato meant what he said, "now get out of my office."
"Thanks," Dan stood up and immediately head to the door. "See ya, Sensei."
Dan left the office, feeling no remorse nor regret. Sam was leaning to a wall, beside the door. "Let me guess, you got away with it?"
"Yup," Dan nodded.
"You're really lucky, you know that?" Sam remarked, seemingly frustrated with Dan's fortunate situation.
"Am I? I'd say everything was pretty calculated. It wasn't easy provoking those four. Then getting the crowd," Dan said, emphasizing the strategic aspect of his actions.
"What do you want? A fight club?" Sam asked, half-jokingly.
"Nah, I wouldn't do it for people."
"Then who would you do it for?"
Dan didn't give Sam an answer.
The two started to walk through the school and headed towards their lockers. Dan unlocked his locker and grabbed everything in it. Sam did too. They were leaving the school in a week. They were going to fly there together. From Icade to Hursh. It was an hour flight. They had to start packing, Sam was half way done, Dan hadn't done anything yet.
They exited the school and went on their way to their houses. Dan headed west; Sam headed east. Both of them walked home.
Dan's house was a mile and a half from the school. He never minds walking from school, but he hates walking to school every morning. His mom usually takes him to school. A mile out from school, half a mile left, he felt his heart started beating slower but louder and harder. His mind was drowned by the sounds of his heartbeat.
He suddenly felt tired and could barely stand. His clothes started to soak in his sweat. He took off his hood and got on one knee. He started panting. It suddenly hurts to blink. He touched his neck and felt his body burning up.
What the hell? Dan reacted.
The world around him slowly grew darker. Despite the sun being out, he couldn't see anything other than darkness. He was suddenly in an endless space of darkness. The ground was filled with dark black liquid, a couple of centimeters deep. However, his shoes weren't wet nor his socks.
Great, a brat. A deep raspy voice echoed throughout the endless space.
Who said that? Dan called out. He stood up and looked around. Nothing but black.
Ushiro ni, the voice said.
Ushiro ni = Behind you
Dan turned behind him and met an upside-down smiling face. Dan was startled and fell to the ground. He inspects the smiling face, turns out it was a person sitting, crossing his legs, on thin air. It was floating. White hair gracefully brushed upwards. Eyes a white circle in a black sclera, black mouth with white outlined teeth.
What's up? The person spoke. Its voice was crisp, pleasant to the ears. Its smile glowed brighter when it uttered those words.
What is this? Dan asked distressfully.
Ore wa Jonathan Bayon. Call me Jon. He introduced himself.
Ore wa Jonathan Bayon = I'm Jonathan Bayon
Dan was confused and his head started hurting. Every time Jon spoke, he wasn't hearing his voice from his ears, it was directly to his mind.
Who are you? He asks.
Mmm... That doesn't matter. I'm here to guide you as a sorcerer.
As a sorcerer? Does everyone else have this?
No, just you.
What do you mean guide? He asks to clarify.
To put it simply, you're going to that sorcerer school, right? Yeah, and you have no idea how to use sorcery yet. But desperately begging that it would come out. That's not going to work I'm afraid. Jon spoke exactly Dan's motif.
Nuh uh, Dan denied.
I'm in your head, there's no way you could hide anything, Jon claimed.
Jon turned upright and slowly landed on the dark liquid. He leveled to Dan.
Fine, it was, he admits it bitterly. So, you're going to be my sensei? He presumes.
Yeah, I'll be your sensei. We'll train at midnight, got it?
Why midnight? He wonders. He doesn't like being up late, his mom yells at him for it.
No one's up in midnight.
I don't want to train in midnight.
Then, good luck sleeping tonight, he said in a threateningly playful tone.
The dark world around him started fading away and turned into the real world.
What was that place? Dan was still baffled.
That was an Imaginary Dimension, my Imaginary Dimension, Jon replied.
Care to explain, teach?
When the time comes, he said, feeling annoyed already.
Dan grabbed his hoodie on the brick sidewalk, tied it around his waist and continued walking to his house. He entered his house complex and found his house after two minutes of walking. It was on the right side of the road. His mom's car was parked out front.
Oh, she's home already, Dan thought.
Does she usually not come home at this hour? Jon said in a sarcastic tone.
Ya. Yoru ni. Dan was genuinely surprised she was home before nightfall.
Ya. Yoru ni = Nah, at night
What, did you forget? Jon was perplexed at Dan's obliviousness to what day it is today.
Dan walked up the stairs to his front porch and reached for the door. He reached out his knuckled and was about to knock. Right before he knocked, the door was unlocked from the inside. His mom opened the door, then opened the fly screen door.
"Okaeri, Dan!" His mom greeted with a big smile.
Okaeri = Welcome back
"Thanks. You're back early," Dan replied nonchalantly.
"Of course, how could I forget?" His mom was excited.
"Forget… What?" Dan glances right and left to try and figure out what he was missing.
He actually forgot, his mom and Jon thought at the same time.
"Anta no tanjobi desu, baka," his mom laughed at him.
Anta no tanjobi desu, baka = It's your birthday, dummy
"Ohh…" Dan realized. It was May eighteen. Sam hadn't mentioned his birthday at all today. Maybe he forgot too.
"Hey," Sam greeted Dan from behind him.
Dan turned around and was surprised to see Sam. "What the hell are you doing here?" Dan questions, very slow on the uptake.
"It's your birthday!" Sam replied. He looked at Dan's mom and asked, "he forgot?" Sam disappointedly sighed.
"He forgot," Dan's mom nodded, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Alright, alright, my bad," Dan apologized for himself, "let's just get inside."
They all went inside and sat at the dining table. The table was a floor table. The three of them sat on the floor. Dan across from Sam, and Dan's mom on Dan's right, Sam's left.
The food prepared was made by Dan's mom, she spent two hours preparing all of it. It was beef curry ramen, a lot of ramen. Perhaps too much. Also with a bunch of sides; ebi, katsu, gyoza, and more.
They all brought their hands together and spoke in unison, "itadakimasu."
Itadakimasu = Let's eat
Then Dan's mom continued, "hope my son on his fifteenth birthday becomes a better person than he is now."
"Keyword: better," Sam said.
Dan's mom chuckled. "Yeah, I agree."
"Thanks…" Dan sighed. "No, I'm serious, thanks."
"Aww, gratitude," Sam teased.
"Urusai," Dan was visibly annoyed.
Urusai = Shut it
"Alright, alright, let's eat," Dan's mom laughed.
The three ate while conversing about Dan's embarrassing childhood. Dan finished all of the sides. He said it would be a waste to leave them uneaten. Sam and Dan's mom could barely finish their ramen. They were confused with Dan's body, no matter how much he ate, even without exercising, he never grew fat.
After they finished eating, Dan's mom and Sam decided to surprise Dan with a gift and reveal Dan's custom ordered sorcerer uniform.
His mom's gift was in a small delicate white box. Sam's wasn't wrapped at all. Sam's gift was a book. Help! I have an attitude problem was the title. A pocket edition. Dan and his mom burst out laughing at Sam's gift.
"How do you find these things?" Dan wondered.
"The number of things you can find on the internet…"
His mother's gift was something she made herself. She had been working on it for quite some time. It was a white headband with a blue X pattern.
"Wow... This is really well made."
"Thanks."
Dan tried it on. It fit perfectly. His hair is up. He didn't like it; as it revealed how big his forehead was. He decided to let a few strands of hair to fold under it. It looked better to him.
"This is awesome," he admired.
"Glad you like it."
"What prompted you to make this?" Dan asked his mom.
"Remember when you were eight? You had extremely thick hair coz you didn't want a haircut?"
"Yeah?" Dan tried recalling.
"We went to a store to buy some clothes for you, passing by the accessories, you grabbed a headband and wore it like a blindfold."
"Oh, yeah I remember now. Then you fixed it, right?"
"Yeah, I still I have the photo still."
"Ouh, baby pics? I'd like to see that."
Dan's mom got up and looked for a photo album. She found it immediately and started scrolling page for page to find the photo while walking back to them.
Dan decided to stack all the plates and bowls, Sam helped him out. Dan carried the plates and Sam carried the bowls and utensils to the dishwasher. They got back to the table and looked at the photos.
"Thanks, boys," Dan's mom replied.
"Douitashimashite," the two replied.
Douitashimashita = You're welcome
They went to look at the photo of Dan wearing the headband. "Aww! you were so cute when you're little," Sam said.
"What about him now?" Dan's mom asked.
"Absolutely disgusting," Sam replied jokingly. Dan rolled his eyes and let out a disappointed sigh. He hates when someone mentions his shitty personality. He hates it not because he thought it was annoying that people are just poking at him, but rather because each poke faintly stabbed his heart every time it's mentioned.
To him it's an agonizing pain that he'd rather turn a blind eye to. He knew for a fact he had no one to blame other than himself. And that's what scares him. Accountability for his actions.
"Well, it's getting late. I should be going. Thanks for the meal. And happy birthday, Dan," Sam congratulates.
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks for coming. Need me to walk you out?"
"Nah, I'm good. See ya."
Dan watched Sam leave his house. Raised his hand to say goodbye. Then he perched his face on his right palm on top of the table. He blankly stared at the doorway.
"You okay, honey?" She asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, mom," he dismissed.
"Are you sure?" She asked again.
"I am."
"Really? Coz you don't sound nor look like you're okay," she knew he was hiding something.
"I just hate being poked at about my stupid personality, 'kay?" Dan complained
"You can't blame anyone for that," she chuckled.
"Ugh… Everyone's the same," Dan complained as he lay on the floor with his legs stretched under the table.
She raised an eye brow, "what does that mean?" she asked, "are you saying I'm just like every other mother?"
"I'd never equivocate you with any other mother. I just…" Dan lost the words to describe his feelings. "I don't know… I kind of feel like no one gets me. Like, I get it. It's just not easy," he blurted it out but not quite what he wanted what to say.
It's kind of my fault, Dan. I was the one who didn't want your dad around. With a father figure, Dan would definitely be a better person. However, his mom couldn't bring herself to find another man to be with. She tends to withdraw in personal relationships.
"I also just really like fighting," Dan pointed out.
"You're a meat-head," she laughs.
"Demo, ore wa baka janai," Dan was certain of it.
Demo, ore wa baka janai = But, I'm not an idiot
"I know you aren't," she smiled.
"By the way, I'm fifteen now. Tell me about that tattoo on your right arm."
Dan first saw his mom's tattoo on her right arm, when he was six, and he always wanted to know its story. They said tattoos should have meaning. His mom told him that he needs to be old enough to understand it. They agreed that fifteen was enough.
"Alright, that was our deal."
"Yay," Dan exclaimed, his lack of excitement evident in his tone. However, he was still very curious about the tattoo.
She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a striking tattoo of higanbana flower, its dark allure depicted in intricate black ink.
No way… A higanbana tattoo? Jon's interest piques.
BLACK ROOM
In a blink of an eye, Dan found himself seated on a sofa, directly across from Jon, who was also comfortably settled on a nearby sofa. A coffee table stood between them, the very same room they had been in just moments before.
What's that? Dan asked.
That's a really cool looking flower. I like it a lot.
Why?
I can't say why, Jon's voice took on a sudden, aggressive edge.
REVERT
The world around them turned back to the dining table they were at.
"I got this tattoo as a reminder of my old life and why I should never go back to it," his mom explained. "I left that life to have you."
"Did you ever regretted leaving that life?" Dan wonders.
"I miss it every now and then, but I know I made the right decision. And now that I have you, I won't regret it. No matter how it turns out."
"What was your old life exactly, a florist?" Dan said half-jokingly.
"Nah," she scoffs. "That I won't ever tell you," his mom replied with a playful smirk.
"Why?" Dan persisted.
"Your uniform arrived today by the way," she starts segueing the conversation.
"She's not going to answer… Best not to pry," Dan thought to himself, respecting his mom's decision to keep her secret. He was really curious of it.
"Really? Where is it?" Dan acted a little excited.
"It's in your room, let's go."
The two walked upstairs and passed a few rooms to Dan's room. Dan opened his closet and there it was. Hanging. Dan grabbed it and admired it. He sized it up in front of the mirror. A dark grey suit. Thick enough for cold, thin enough for heat. Along with it, as the inner wear was a dark cyan turtle neck shirt. Dan revealed the turtle neck, and it was the sleeveless kind.
"Wow, the first suit you bought me is for being a sorcerer?" He said. His eyes visibly growing excited.
"Yeah, it's cool."
"What's special about it again?" Dan inquired.
"It's resistant to any kind of magic."
"Really? It's like the bullet proof suits from those movies?" Dan's eyes widened with excitement.
"Works exactly like that too. The suit is impervious, but you aren't," she reminded him. "So, still watch out for your neck."
"Naruhodo…"
Naruhodo = Understood
"Wear it."
"Okay," Dan replied. He went and changed in front of her. He wore the turtle neck, the suit along with the matching pants, wore the dark grey boots. He wore a belt he already had. Then fixed his headband. He checked himself out in the mirror.
"This oddly fits me," he liked his looks. "A lot."
"Yes, yes, no need to thank me, I designed it."
"It was a lot different than what I expected."
"What did you expect?" She wondered.
"A cloak or something," he threw out the first thing that came to his mind. "Ahh…" She understands. "Some wear those, although it's pretty impractical for combat. Especially for sorcerers that are more focused on close-quarter-combat. That suit is incredibly stretchy, breathable and adaptable in combat. It probably would only rip if you use ox to execute them," she explained.
Dan remembers the time he read an article about executing people via their ankles tied to two oxen and the oxen ran opposite directions and tore the person apart from the groin up. "Why'd you have to bring up that ox thing? I hate thinking about that," Dan cringed.
"I was just describing its durability."
"Do I only get one?" Dan asked.
"No, everyone gets three sets I'm pretty sure."
"How many other people are in that school?" Dan asked, curious about the size of the sorcerer school.
"Ten students, including you and Sam," she replied.
"The upperclassmen?"
"I heard that the three second years all died out. And there's only one third year."
"They probably weren't that good then," he states arrogantly. "Dying on a mission?"
He's not entirely wrong, she admits. But, the second years died because of a mana criminal. A very rare occurrence. Apparently, it was done by someone that's potentially a Supreme-Rank.
"That's how this thing goes, Dan. Don't get cocky, or you'll end up dead," she warned with a serious voice.
Dan was quite shaken with what his mom said to him. He never heard his mom that serious about something. She yells like any other mother does. She only ever got angry once, and that was at someone else, and she didn't even seem pissed off about it at all. Though Dan never saw the person ever again, he thought they just moved away suddenly. Not that he ever cared enough to check.
His mom walked to the door and turned to him, "oyasumi, Dan," She smiled warmly, "and happy birthday."
Oyasumi = Good night
"Thanks, mom," His voice was quite shaken from getting a certain rush of emotions. "Good night."
She left his room and he jumped on his bed and laid down. His mom came back to his room and turned off the lights and shut his door.
Dan stared at his ceiling. He slowly realizes that he can see in the dark a little better. It wasn't like night vision, rather he can see everything in darkness being outlined and highlighted. He now can differ what things are by their shape.
He thinks about the number of things he thought he could do with sorcery was a long list. It never went down a road of criminal thoughts. He is quite bloodthirsty, but not really into breaking the law. That would be the reason he makes the fights he gets into "self-defense".
You don't even know how to use magic yet.
What? Dan suddenly lost train of thought.
What are you trying to think about?
I dunno, I just like to think about things right before I sleep.
By the way, Jon segued. I found something peculiar in your memory.
What?
You only have your mother, he stated. Y'know, besides Sam.
Yeah, what's it to you? Dan defensively admitted.
I dunno. Lots of things happened ever since I was last alive.
Last alive?
I'm a soul fragment.
Right… Dan totally understood what that meant.
What was your father's name? Jon asked.
Eric, I think.
Eric… That name rang a loud bell in Jon's mind. Don't know a guy named Eric.
Cool. Neither.
Jon then falls silent. Dan let his mind go blank and his vision fade. He slowly fell asleep.