The Originals

An Insignificant Teacher

"Today we will be doing a team activity." Hirito says to the group of 20 students that took the test. They now stood outside, the world around them bathed in the soft glow of daylight. To Hirito's left, the stark white façade of the four-story school towered in quiet simplicity, its clean lines contrasting with the vibrant scene unfolding to his right. There, an open field stretched out, filled with graceful trees whose delicate pink leaves fluttered gently in the breeze, like whispers of spring. Beyond the trees, a weathered brick wall stood sentinel, its surface mottled with age, and at its center, a solitary iron gate gleamed, its cold metal catching the light as it stood like a portal to something unknown.
"What kind of activity, Sir Wu?" Ana asks.
"Let him finish explainin' and you'll find out!" Eugene laughs.
"Silence please." Hirito sternly says. "It will be capture the flag. We will split into two teams of my choosing. You will then attempt to steal the opposing teams flag. If you are carrying a flag, you can be tagged. If you are tagged, you will drop the flag where you were tagged and sit down with one hand raised. A teammate must come and hit your hand in order for you to be able to move again. This will teach you strategy and-" Hirito stops himself as he sees a man standing next to the school. The aura the man is exuding is tremendous, but not unfamiliar to Hirito. His white hair flows in the wind, silence engulfs Hirito's ears as he stands there is awe. The wind begins to howl in the trees.
"Sir?" A kid asks from the group.
"Sorry." Hirito shakes his head a little and clears his throat, "It will teach you strategy and teamwork. Now you ten." Hirito says pointing at the right side of the group.
"You will be team one. Team two, will be the remaining ten."
"Hell yeauhh!" Eugene exclaims, high fiving another male kid.
"We got this!" The kid responds. Eugene and the other kid go and grab one of the flags and run out into the field. Everyone else follows suit. Ana grabs the other flag and chuckles as she begins chasing after them.
"Wait for me!" She yells attempting to catch up to the boys. Hirito looks at the man again and begins walking over to him. Children's laughter fills the air. Their joy would lighten anyone's mood, but it doesn't change the emotionless faces of Hirito and the man. Hirito scoffs at the sound of the children laughing instead. 'I don't deserve this peace.' 'Why has he showed up all the sudden?' Hirito repeats in his mind. The emotions washing over Hirito's body are immense. The rage he feels, as well as the sadness of his past begin to reveal themselves. As he inches closer his vision shifts to a blood soaked battlefield where Hirito's hands are shaking, and covered in blood. The smell of blood fills Hirito's nose, making him feel sick to his stomach. All he can see besides blood on the battlefield is a head of white hair flowing in the wind. He shakes his head and snaps back to reality. He realizes his body is tensed and his fists are clenched. His breath had become shallow, but he fixes all that and hides his emotions once again. As Hirito is about 20 feet from the man, his eyes glow slightly purple and within a split second, he disappears. He appears behind the man with his hand on the man's back.
"Why the fuck are you here?" Hirito says, his voice trembling with rage. He is surrounded by a purple aura that glistens with particles of light.
"I came to speak with you, Hirito." The man responds. He turns his face towards Hirito, and the wind takes his hair away from his face. It reveals the pure mysterious white eyes of Yeon.
"You have no right to be here." Hirito says. Upon finishing his sentence, everything goes silent as the air in between Yeon's body and Hirito's hand repels itself. Sending Yeon flying, the sound of crushing bones can be heard as the force pushes into Yeon. The children all stand still, as if frozen in place. The tree leaves are no longer fluttering.
"So much hostility for an old comrade?" Yeon says from behind Hirito. Hirito whips his head around and sees Yeon, unscathed.
"You filthy rat." Hirito exclaims. The purple aura around him becomes darker and bigger. He moves so fast it appears as if he disappeared. Within a split second he is directly in front of Yeon, pushing his hand towards Yeon's face. Yeon's lips curled into a sly smirk as they shifted effortlessly to the left, a mere fraction of movement that saved them from annihilation. The attack roared past, missing by a hair's breadth, before colliding with the forest behind. In an instant, the trees erupted into a violent explosion of splintering wood and fiery embers, the air thick with debris and heat. As the dust settled, a glowing trail of vibrant, dark hues—deep purples, blues, and blacks—swirled in the wake of the blast. It etched itself into the ground like the remnants of a shattered galaxy, pulsating with an otherworldly energy that scorched the earth beneath.
"We haven't spoken in 40 years, and this is how you treat your old commander?" Yeon asks, touching Hirito with just the tip of his index finger. Hirito's body becomes heavier than steel, and he drops to one knee, grunting.
"Wh- What the hell did you do?!" Hirito yells.
"I just made the gravity your body feels a little bit heavier. Just as the moon makes the waves move, I can make you not move." Yeon walks in front of Hirito and sits with his legs crossed.
"Can we have a conversation now, Hirito?" Yeon's condescending attitude just infuriates Hirito more, but he knows he can't win with his head clouded and full of thoughts like it is now.
"It's Hiro." Hirito says, releasing his resistance on the gravity pull. Upon Hirito stopping his resistance, the pull stops.
"Hm?" Yeon tilts his head a little to the right.
"It's Hiro. I changed my name to Hiro Wu." Hiro says, disgruntled. He sits in front of Yeon with his legs crossed.
"Why change the name of one of the most powerful Originals?" Yeon chuckles.
"I'm not that person anymore." Hiro says, avoiding Yeon's pure white eyes. Yeon looks behind him to see the aftermath of Hiro's one attack. The trees are still frozen in place, but a chunk is missing from them where the strike hit, making a circle out of them.
"I'm not sure about that." Yeon looks back to Hiro lunging forward and grabbing the collar of his nice white dress shirt.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Yeon?" Hiro's voice is trembling. The rage that has built up inside of him starting to pour out through the purple aura that now engulfs them both.
"I've kept in touch with everyone but you. We talked at least once a day." Yeon says, and for the first time during this interaction, his eyes are averting Hiro's.
"So?!" Hiro pulls up harder on the shirt, "What the fuck does that have to do with me?!" Yeon hits Hiro's hands up and jabs him in the throat. Hiro falls back and coughs, holding his throat.
"Calm down, please." Yeon asks, standing. He fixes the collar of his shirt and wipes his hand across his shoulder and shirt.
"Wh-" Hiro coughs again, "What the fuck man?" Hiro manages to get out in between coughs.
"I need you to just listen for a second. I've kept in contact with every Original besides you over the years. Since you have since disowned us all, and apparently yourself." Yeon says, glaring down at Hiro with those piercing white eyes.
"What about it?" Hiro asks, standing.
"Yumida."
"What about him?"
"I haven't heard from him in over a week. I went to where he lived, and it was thrashed, as if there was a fight." Yeon looks down at his feet.
"It's Yumida. He probably just got drunk and made a mess. Went somewhere and got lost. He'll show up." Hiro says, beginning to walk away.
"Hiri-" Yeon starts before clearing his throat, "Hiro." Hiro stops and turns just his head back to see Yeon.
"Yumida went sober over 15 years ago." Yeon says. The silence that fills the air is deafening. They stand in silence, eyes locked on one another. Neither uttering a word, or even breathing from the sounds of it. 
"Doesn't change the facts." Hiro says walking away again, "only an Original can kill and Original." As Yeon watched as Hiro walked away, his hands trembled ever so slightly. Yeon clenches his fist in an attempt to steady himself, but fails.
"I need you, Hiro. I need Hirito. I need the Original Galactic." Yeon yells, his voice cracking ever so slightly, as the weight of his words hangs in the silence. Hiro stops and looks down at his feet.
"He doesn't exist anymore. Hirito Wu is dead, all that remains is Hiro Wu; an insignificant Teacher." Hiro says as he walks back to the kids, who all begin playing and laughing again.