David walked through the streets humming to himself as he held the bag with the caramel mocha boba in it for Gregori. He walked through the streets sipping his mango mocha as he wandered about. He stretched his arms out, having tired himself after the beatdown.
He couldn't deny that he felt bad about the things he had done, but it just happened without his volition. And the worst of all was that they went after Gregori. If he should ever think of me as a problem and decide to stop being friends with me, I'll lose a good ticket to success.
As he went through his routine, he noticed a guy with blond hair and a fade, wearing glasses that suggested a studious or otherwise bookwormish temperament, selling samples of food outside of his shop. He was wearing a high-class waiter outfit, which even came with white, ironed gloves. David had a quick pang of nostalgia about his first life after his mom passed away far too soon.
He remembered the hardships of his first life: how he had to toil away at job after job, bouncing from one to another to make a meager sum until that eventually became his life. He couldn't find the time to keep the few friends he had left until one day, he realized they had already left for somewhere unperceivable.
No time for hobbies, no time for socializing, or even trying to make a girlfriend—a vicious cycle of loneliness. Heh, at least this guy seemed like he didn't have it so bad. David smiled as he approached the young blondie.
David noticed the tattoo of a snake biting its own tail on the guy's neck. The guy noticed David and gave a cursory bow, extending the server tray toward him. David reached down and took the brownie, impaled with a toothpick, putting it in his mouth as he chewed.
"Hmm, I'll take a box."
The blondie looked up at David, maintaining his steady expression. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." He left for a few moments, returning with a paper bag bearing an elegant seal.
David's lips curled as he spoke. "Hey, you."
The blond waiter looked back. "Yes, sir?"
"Keep working, and someday you'll reach the place you want."
The waiter's eyes widened as David walked away. Unbeknownst to him, the waiter kept his eyes locked onto David like a snake.
David smiled as he walked down the street. "I've done something good after doing something bad. My karma is balanced," David thought as he sauntered down the street with mixed emotions.
As David walked, however, his hair stood on end, and his eyes glowed blue as his future sight activated of its own volition. David held his breath as he saw the scene: an oil truck with a red paint job running into a kid.
David was terrified, not only because he was witnessing the death of a child but because he knew the time difference between his visions and real-time was about four seconds. As the vision ended, David dropped both his packages, twisting his neck around in an erratic manner as he spotted the speeding truck.
He jumped into a sprint, diving right in front, using the surroundings as reference to pinpoint the kid's location. He felt the fragile body of the child enter his embrace as he rolled out of the way of the truck.
The surrounding pedestrians, seeing this, instinctively took out their phones to record him and the kid. David began panting as the adrenaline began to wear off his system. In contrast, however, the kid was completely calm and even seemed more worried about his ice cream.
David glanced at the kid, noticing his white hair and peculiar red eyes, which were completely natural despite appearances.
"Phew, you alright, kid?"
The boy looked at David as if puzzled about something. "You seriously don't know who I am?"
"..."
"I know it's bad to have thoughts such as this, but damn, do I wanna strangle this kid. Didn't I just save his life?" David lampooned inwardly as he smiled and patted the kid's head.
"Are you an Instagram star or something?" David chuckled a little as he spoke to the kid.
"NO!" The kid said firmly. "Looking at Instagram made me an Ultron sympathizer." The kid spoke with a steady and neutral expression as he stood back up, swiping the dust off his lap.
He then looked back. "So you're only a First?" The boy spoke with a slight smile as he walked off.
David tilted his head to the side at the kid's comments.
In the crowd of people recording, a man with wavy black hair, who had his hood up, sniffed the air. "This smell..." He licked his lips as he held something in his pocket.
David slowly walked back to the university as kids were exiting after a long day. Gregori was waiting anxiously for him, and when he saw David approach, Gregori's face beamed as he ran to him.
"David, are you alright?" Gregori asked with worry.
David sighed. "No, but not for the reason you think." David handed him his boba as they both sat down. David explained what had happened.
Gregori nearly choked on a boba ball when he heard the story. "Sounds like you've had a tough day."
David nodded as he lampooned, "Seems like I'll have to skip any parties I had planned."
Gregori chuckled. "Idiot, it's Monday. No one has a party on Monday night."
David nodded. "Hey, mind telling the professor I'm taking an early leave today?"
Gregori nodded. "Sure."
David made it back to his apartment, walking through the hallways with his sunglasses on and the top button of his shirt undone. His hair was a bit disheveled. As he took out his keys, he heard a voice.
"Excuse me."
David turned his head, seeing a man wearing a black hoodie with long black hair covering some of his facial features.
"Who are you?" David asked with suspicion.
"I'm the brother of the kid you saved today, sir," the man replied.
"Really? You look nothing alike," David spoke, skepticism in his voice, as the man slowly approached.
"Yes, you see, he had an illness when he was a baby, sir. Anyway, I just wanted to express my gratitude." The man held something in his pocket as he closed the distance. He then took out a small pocket knife.
When David saw it, he scoffed. "He dares try something so simple? If you're trying to kill me, make an effort at least," David lampooned inwardly as he habitually activated future sight and received a vision.
As David saw the vision, his face twisted with an indescribable amount of horror. The man lunged forward, and David bent his body back, narrowly dodging the wide horizontal swing.
A crash echoed as David saw his sunglasses sliced in half. He fell to the floor, breathing heavily. Looking around, he noticed clean cuts in the walls, as if something unnaturally sharp had been launched at high speeds.
The man's obscene cackling filled the hallway as David's face contorted in fear.
"So you dodged it? That's fine—great, actually. Makes this a whole lot more fun."
David's eyes fell on the man's teeth—they were obscenely sharp, and the light seemed to reflect off them.