Holding Everything

Chapter 2: Start at an End

My name is Koubio Inku, I'm a sophomore in high school, and I'm 5 feet 11 inches, dark brown hair and brown eyes. The town I live in isn't flashy, but it's not dead. Stuff happens but not big stuff. I like it here, I wouldn't survive in the city because I'd be stressed over the fast pace, and everything being so crowded. But I'd be bored out of my mind if I had to live in some small town with only a few streets. It's complicated, but I like it, at least I thought I did. I make decent grades, and I'm not really involved with anything at school except the library. A couple of days ago, I saw my classmate commit suicide after school, but throughout that day I could've sworn I saw his body engulfed in a black flame. Hard to believe since I'm the only one who seemed to notice. Yesterday my grandfather visited with a stack of books and explained that they would be very useful to me, he showed me an old book that was a strange timeline of my ancestors. It was thin, and not everyone was in it, but I only recognized my grandfather and mom in the list which have X's next to their names. He explained so many weird things to me; I don't even have much of a grip on what he said.

"What you saw, did the boy seem odd in any way, and did he have a certain smell or feel to him? Maybe he looked different from everyone else." He asked, as if gathering information to put together.

"Yeah, he had a black haze around him all day, like a flame, I only have one class with him, so I don't know if he was like that all day, but I noticed it since seeing him that morning before classes started, and it was only him." I decide to answer everything honestly as best as I could, if he says I have a Gift that will eventually feel like a curse, that means he probably experienced the same thing I'm dealing with on some level, or can at least give me answers to all the weird things happening.

He looks down at a book and hands it to me, the title reads, 'Not A Dream', "read it later if you can. It should help in some way I believe." I nod and take the book, judging by the title this must be some beginners guide type of thing.

"Grandpa what's a Handler?"

"A Handler is connected to the reason you saw the faded flame on your classmate, it's part of your awakening to your Gift, the flames are called One's Path, or just Path; there are four Path's: Black, Red, Blue and White. In order for your Gift to awaken, someone must die, and the Black Path must open to someone in your presence in order for your Gift to, you know, be awakened. That is the only Path you will not be able to change or interfere with because it signifies the beginning of your awakening."

"You are a Natural Handler, meaning you were born with this Gift, we honestly thought it would die out since mine, your grandfathers and your great grandfather's gift never fully awakened, we thought it would die out but apparently not." says mom, cutting grandpa off a bit.

"Ah that's where I have something to confess, I awakened my but never fulfilled the Sealing."

"What's the Sealing?"

"Everything will be explained soon. Firstly, the first part of your awakening is witnessing someone's end with the Black Path, that is when you soul becomes aware of its duty as a Handler, which explains why you are confused because your body and mind are different in that sense; the second part is finding your Given Handler, also known as a partner basically. They must also be awakened, but their awakening is a bit different."

"So now I have a partner, who is it?"

"We don't know, we don't make that decision, they're called 'Given' literally because their Gift was given to them at birth, that's where you and them differ. The first awakening happens to us Naturals no matter what, it's the second and third that it becomes less forceful in a way."