ROCKETEER

Chapter 17: Flashback 2

"Brighter, Jackson!"

My eyes strained, focusing all my energy into the golden wings coming out of my back. My whole body was so sore; I'd been training for hours and it wasn't even lunch time. 

I gave one last squeeze of my energy before it collapsed into me, my knees buckling. I landed on all fours, the hard concrete ground tearing holes in my palms. My arms shook as I held myself up, and I lifted my head to look at my instructor. 

Mrs. Marina shook her head, her arms crossed. "Not good enough, Emma. You haven't improved as much as you should have these past couple of weeks."

I drew myself up on my knees, trying to draw aching breaths into my screaming muscles. "I-I'm sorry, Madam." I avoided eye contact with her, staring at her heel-clad feet. "I can't do as well when it's cloudy -"

"No excuses! You should be able to conjure fully-formed wings no matter the amount of light." Her heels clacked as she walked towards me. I felt a finger lift my chin up towards her stern face. "You have more talent than most of the other children here combined. I expect you to act like it."

I gulped. "But yesterday you said-" She slapped me across the face, pain blooming in my cheek. I jerked back. 

"We have talked about talking back, haven't we?" I lowered my eyes to the ground, cupping my cheek. 

"Yes ma'am. I'm sorry." 

She scoffed and walked away. "Take lunch and then meet the other children in your class in the courtyard. We'll be pairing you off for one-on-ones."

I stayed where I was on the ground until she had gone before slowly getting up, my bones creaking. My stomach panged with hunger and overexertion. 

I dragged my feet inside the dorm building, shivering when the cold air hits me. I head back to my room, and look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My eyes were no longer bright blue, they were sunken and murky. My cheek was colored with red, angry skin. 

At twelve years old I had already suffered broken ribs, several concussions, and a broken arm twice. And those are the injuries I can remember. I lifted my shirt and stared at the long, ugly scar across my stomach from when my uncle had broken a rib and it punctured through my chest, along with hundreds of other small scars and scratches from over the years.

I quickly dropped the shirt, looking away from the mirror. 

Heading towards the courtyard, I heard talking as the other children finished their lunches and followed suit. Melody had been moved to a different campus, better suited for her type of Quirk. I hadn't seen her in a couple years, but I think about her everyday. The old latin book we used was still hiding in my room, collecting dust. 

Me and the other kids formed two lines down the middle of the courtyard, girls on the left and boys on the right, ten kids each, in order of the numbers that were given to us when we started training. 

Mrs. Marina stood at the front, towering over all of us. I glanced around, and I noticed none of the other kids cowered away from her gaze. Nobody else had a bright red hand print on their cheek. 

Just me. 

Mrs. Marina cleared her throat. "Today will be focused in one-on-one combat. You have been paired based on your Quirks and weaknesses that need to be worked on. When I call out your team, head to your block number."

"Team one! Sato, Tanaka. Block one..." She continued calling out the rest of the teams, until only me and another boy was standing in line. 

"Team five! Jackson, Takami. Block five." Mrs. Marina skimmed her dark eyes over the two of us, and lowered her voice. "I selected you two personally. Your Quirks are, how you say, birds of a feather. I have cultivated you two individually to be the best ones here. Do not disappoint me." 

"Yes ma'am," me and the boy said in unison. She frowned, and walked away. 

I turned to the boy I got paired with and actually looked at him for the first time. HIs name didn't sound familiar. He had dirty blonde hair and- and wings. 

Big, red, beautiful wings. The edge feathers fluttered in the breeze, bright beacons. 

I must have been staring because the boy blushed and looked away. I looked down, embarassed. I heard him walk towards me, and a small hand was held out under my face. 

"I'm Keigo." I looked back up at him, raising my hand to shake his. 

"Emma." The boy smiled at me, his teeth showing sharp canines that a normal person would not have. His eyes were hooded, and he had avian markings around his eyes. 

"Nice to meet you, Emma." I nodded, dropped his hand gently and walked past him to our block. 

Mrs. Marina stood at the front of all the groups, a whistle in her hand. She blew it, and everyone turned to look at her. 

"While you spar, try to exploit your opponent's weaknesses. You will rotate partners every thirty minutes. Go!" She blew the whistle again, and the rest of the teachers dispersed among the groups. None of them came towards me and Keigo, though. 

I stood at the edge of our square, marked off by paint on the concrete ground. Keigo stood at the opposite end. I lowered myself into my defense position. He crouched down, too. 

And suddenly all I saw was red, and my head was being pulled towards the ground. I cried out, and my wings exploded from my back and flapped furiously to right me. The feathers around my eyes loosed, and I clawed them off my face. They were hard, not soft like I expected. Sharp enough to cut. 

I flapped my wings and shot up in the air, staring at my opponent. He had two of his largest feathers in his hands, also sharpened. He narrowed his golden eyes at me above him, and flapped his wings to match me in the air. 

I drew the knife I had gotten used to stuffing in my pocket before training, and twirled it between my fingers. 

Birds of a feather, all right.