Hidden Soul

0.1 (Prologue) | Ordinary School Day

The school bell rang, and the students walked to their classrooms without hesitation, the white uniforms and gray jeans and skirts flowing in the bustle of students. A black messy-haired boy in Grade 10 was strolling by, his right hand holding a pile of books, winding his way through the white-and-blue corridor, passing by brown doors as he reached for his classroom. The moment he managed to grasp the door handle of his classroom, he pulled on it, opening it and dragging himself in and away from the crowd.

He placed his books down on his table, along with his pencil case, and looked out the window. The trees were blocking the clouds, but the blue sky outshone the two sceneries. He took a seat just as the teacher came into the room, ready to start the class.

Speedily flipping book pages, the boy got to a page which was about Legend Power, something he hadn't heard of in a while. The bland classroom was filled with his classmates talking with one another, but he ignored it and went on studying. As he continued reading, his mind wandered to a lesson in his History class about the World Leader, Mu-Jin. His name felt familiar to him, yet distant at the same time. However, his attempts to gather more thoughts were cut off when the teacher slammed her book shut and placed it on the table.

"We're having a new student today." she said without hesitation. The entire class shut their mouths and got back to their seats, and the boy knew nothing good would come out of it.

"Her name is Mei. She's a little timid and such, but she's quite good in academics. Just like John over here."

The boy cringed upon hearing his name, and held his head low, but not without catching a glance at Mei, who appeared from below the teacher's table. The only thing differing her from the rest of the class was her wooly blue-and-cyan beanie which she wore on top. Not even her long, brown hair could make her any different from a few girls there. She walked over to an empty seat next to him and sat down without saying a word. 

"First one to take her beanie off gets a coupon!"

She instinctively ducked to brace for something to happen, only to see John put his hand above her beanie, stopping everyone in the class from trying to take it off.

"Let her wear it, alright?" he asked, not moving his hand until everyone got back to their place. "Thank you." he said as he slowly got back to his seat, before fully sitting down. He breathed a sigh of relief as he got back to reading the textbook. He ignored quiet gossips about him at that very moment, and waited for the teacher to continue.

He remembered the time he was a new student in the school. His class mercilessly beat him up, and the teacher was powerless to stop them. In the end, he still stayed, mainly because he knew he could beat them up someday.

The lesson ended as quick as it started, and as the others got out from their seats and started running around like the tables and chairs didn't exist, John was blankly staring out the window on the left while Mei was reading a book.

"Why not spice things in your life up a little?" one of their classmates said, before pointing a finger at John's head. A small ball made of light charged up at its end, becoming a beam which shot towards him. He dodged it by tilting his head to the left, leaving only a scratch on his cheek. He looked back, and said, "I assume it's Legend Power, right?"

"How did you know?" his classmate replied in shock.

"You've seriously forgotten about weeks ago when we went somewhere to learn more about Legend Power?"

"Well of course. Did you expect me to pay attention?"

"To be honest, I did."

"Whatever. I'll make you pay attention in remembering not to talk back to me!"

Another beam shot out, and John dodged it by tilting his body backwards. "It's not as strong as Charles', and it's a little too predictable. Maybe train your stamina?" he said, examining the beam as it whizzed by. This made his classmate mad, only for two of his classmates to restrain him while dragging him back.

"You should stop, Timothy. You're causing a lot of trouble these days." the one on the right said.

"Shut it, Alfredo. I do what I want."

Timothy was basically John, but a little shorter and more stubborn. Alfredo was one of the two students who tried to keep order in the class. He can make people listen to him just because of his orange hair, a rare genetic specialty found in few people in the city. Timothy wielded Charles' Legend Power, which consisted of light beams, and Alfredo held Translation, which is an incredibly useful skill for those traveling overseas.

As Timothy struggled, Mei couldn't keep her cool and tossed her book at him. It landed straight in his face, knocking him out, before falling onto his feet, where John took it and placed it on her table. "Not everyone here's like him." he said to her, before going back to staring out the window.

"Why do you like staring at the clouds?"

He looked back and saw Mei looking at him, having asked a question. "I don't know." he replied, "It just reminds me of something distant."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Just a younger brother named Noah."

"Do you mind if I stay with you?"

"Wait, what?"

John stared at Mei in disbelief. Sure, a visit was normal, but a sleepover was anything but normal to him.

"Oh, uh... Sorry if that made you uncomfortable." Mei said, looking away shyly.

"Nah, don't worry. It's fine."

"This feels like romance." he thought, covering it up with a smile. "I have the impulse to stand up and shout something, but why am I holding back?"

"I'll let you come over, but please don't mess with anything, alright?"

"Okay."

They stopped talking there and got back to doing their stuff. The next lesson went on like usual, and not long after, school ended. Mei was walking home with John, and they took continuous steps towards the latter's house.

"It feels just like yesterday when the sky became red." Mei said, starting a conversation.

"Yeah. Gives me bad memories, thinking about how many people died in the battle."

"I heard only a few people survived, like World Leader Mu-Jin and Major Theresa."

"Who's Theresa again?"

"The former Major of the Government of Worldly Abilities or something. It got disbanded in the end due to the low amount of people."

"Ah, the same ones who tried to kill him."

"Yeah. Either way, it does seem like a miracle, seeing Mu-Jin rebuild this entire place."

"Seems like it."

The two continued walking until they came to a house that looked badly built. A few bricks were in the wrong position here and there, yet the place seemed lively. "Welcome to our house." John said, stretching his hands outward as he turned to face Mei, "The only luxurious thing here is the bed."

As they got inside, Mei looked everywhere in awe at how well John and Noah improvised everything. The pan looked like a thin piece of metal that was curved in, the plates were made out of stone, and the light came from a nearby fireplace instead of overhead lights, yet John still managed to dress so elegantly in his uniform.

"Damn, you live like this?"

"Been that way since I found him and we became brothers in the fact that we supported each other. Although, it's a huge improvement from a ruined house."

"So you improvised?"

"Everything except for the bed is improvised."

"How'd you get the bed?"

"It was the only thing intact from the entire house when I got here."

"I see. Shall we get to fixing up a few things?"

"Sure. Where do we start?"