The Gift - Volume #1

Bright Light

The meeting with Soul fueled Raito's obsession. Learning the truth about Gifts and Timekeeper both frighten and excited him. Flight seemed to have vanished the day after the meeting. No matter how hard Raito tried to call him. It kept on saying the number was out of service. He wasn't worried though, Flight had been a Gift longer than he has after all.

Raito was prepared himself for his first night out as Wave. He did nightly practice runs in his neighborhood by changing into his costume as fast as he could. Used his hearing ability to locate nearby people. And most importantly. Using his Gift to never make a sound when walking or hiding.

He also figured out the best way to store his outfit. Originally, he tried wearing it underneath his regular clothes, but it wasn't very comfortable and got hot really fast. The only other option was to put it in a small backpack.

All this talk about superheroes and being a Gift made him nearly forget about his future after High School. If it wasn't for his mom, he would have forgotten that he had already signed up for classes at a nearby community college. But there was a problem. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to go to college. To him, he believed that he could accomplish more if he went straight to making comics for a website. The website he had in mind was a community website that was incredibly popular thanks to a few success stories. If you're able to reach a certain number of followers and readers. It was possible to start making money off your own comics. That was his dream and he knew he had to talk to his parents about this.

The next morning, Raito got ready and looked at himself in the mirror. He knew that today was the day to talk to his mom about what he really wanted to do. He went downstairs and took a deep breath before talking to his mom.

In Japanese, "Mom can I talk to you?" Raito asked.

In Japanese, "Of course, what is it hunny?"

"It's about college, I think not want to go. Instead do comic webs I think for the best."

Giggling slightly Raito's mother said, "Raito, your Japanese has gotten much better. But you always do this when you want something. What is it?"

Speaking in English now Raito continued on with, "I don't want to go to college but start a career in doing webcomics instead. I feel like I can learn more doing that instead of going to college to do exactly the same thing."

Raito's mother proceeded to make a disappointed expression on her face. She really wanted Raito to pursue a college degree. "I really want you to go to school. I know your father will agree with me on this since we both have degrees. We want what's best for you." This time she said those words in English. Her English was always at its best when she was serious.

"But this is what's best for me. I can make money doing this instead of putting myself in debt to basically do the same thing," Raito exclaimed.

"Persuade me then, explain to me what webcomics are and how doing this instead is for the best. If you can do that. I'll talk to your father about it." Raito's mom replied as she was speaking Japanese once again.

The talk went on better than he thought. He even showed his mom some of his drawings and comic book ideas. She was truly impressed and just like any other supportive parent. She decided to believe in him and agreed to talk to his dad.

For the rest of the day until it was dark enough to go out on his patrol. He started working on his comic book idea that he believed would get him followers. Creating stories about lesser-known heroes in the I Am Hero world. There was already an audience and he knew that world like the back of his hand. Expanding to it was going to be easy for him. Before he knew it, the first chapter was posted, and he waited eagerly to read his first comment.