The Gift - Volume #1

Learning the Tricks

As the final day of school wrapped up, Raito started the walk home when he spotted his group of friends. Assuming they were making plans, without including him as usual, his powers started to act up.

"This party will be epic!"

"I'll be surprised if we don't get laid."

"All the hot girls will be there. We just need a ride."

It was common for them to only invite Raito if they couldn't barrow their parent's car as a last resort. He had always just dealt with this kind of treatment but had finally reached his tipping point. He thought maybe after school was over, they would change and treat him like a real friend. Just as he was about to turn around, they looked up and spotted Raito.

"Yo, Raito! Over here buddy!" One of them shouted.

Raito clenched his teeth and grabbed onto his backpack strap tightly. Not wanting to make a scene, he reluctantly walked over to them. They started to tell him about the party and if he could give them a ride.

Trying to avoid eye contact so he wouldn't cave in to their request. "I can't, my mom wanted to go out and celebrate today. My dad won't be home tomorrow so it's the only time we can celebrate my graduation. I'm sure I can stop by the party around ten though." Some of what Raito said was true but most of it was a lie. They acted calmly and were itching their necks as if they had a rash. His friends were clearly annoyed.

"The party should still be happening by then...." one of them said while turning his head to the side. The rest of them started to pull out their phones and just stood there with silence.

"Sooo?" Raito asked.

"So what?" One of them said while his head was still deep into his phone.

"I can't exactly get there without the address. Text it to me, you have your phone out already."

Not wanting to expose themselves yet, "Oh yeah right....um here," one of them slowly texted Raito the address. As they walked away, Raito could still clearly hear them saying horrible things about him.

"I hope he doesn't show up."

"What a loser to choose family over us."

"We won't need his help with rides soon anyways."

"This will be the last time we see his ugly ass face."

Rage continued to build up inside of Raito, a type of rage he had never felt before. And yet. He could feel tears rolling down his face. High school was over and at the end of the day, he never had a single true friend.

"Those are some crappy friends." Raito quickly turned around to see Flight behind him wearing a masquerade mask with wings on the side of them. "Bet you they won't amount to much after school and only talk about how cool they were," he continued. Raito was so busy dealing with his friends that he didn't even hear Flight popping up behind him. "Cat got your tongue their mate?" Flight laughed as he removed his mask, "This is my mask I use when I go out using my powers. When you're a Gift you got to have one just in case you have to use your powers out in the open."

Raito just stared at Flight, unsure what to say. Flight, seeing how red Raito's eyes were, tried to cheer him up the best way he could. By giving him a shoulder to cry on.

The two started walking with Raito leading the way. "I've never really been good at making friends. I don't know what to say or how to act at times. So I spend most of my time working on my mangas and watching anime for inspiration on how to make my stories better." Cried Raito while trying to wipe away his tears.