Realistic or Modern Unity of the Gifted

[Kyero]

Daichiro’s eyes slid open as the sound of his cousin banging on his bedroom door began to cut through the stillness of the early morning.


“Hey cos!! Wake up already! If you don’t get out of bed and shower in the next fifteen minutes you’re skipping breakfast!”


Well that would suck…


Daichiro threw his covers off and slid out of bed, misjudging the distance to the ground with his feet as he slipped and fell flat on his face and his alarm clock, which he’d turned off on purpose, fell onto his head with a loud “smack!”


“… Ow…” he mumbled.


He picked up the clock and put it back on the small table next to his bed as he stood up. He was wearing typical long pant pajamas and preferred to sleep without a shirt on. His pj’s were an indigo blue coloration, and as he made his way to the bathroom he slipped them off and enjoyed a short shower. Once out, he ran a comb through his hair, giving one backwards rake and shaking his head to let all of his hair fall and spike out as it would. He really cared nothing for his hair though it always seemed to end up looking kind of cool in its mixture of spikes and cascades.


He made his way to his room and put on his school uniform, leaving the top two buttons undone as he hated ties and only kept one on loosely to satisfy the teacher’s desire for him to wear it. They never asked him to fix it, so why not? It just got in the way anyhow.


He made his way to the kitchen downstairs and ate his breakfast, with his cousin Saeko leaning on his right shoulder as he ate.


“So, what’s the word cos? You gonna actually make a friend today?” She asked, giving him a scratch on the head.


“You know I don’t care for that,” he said coldly.


She scoffed.


“You’re no fun cos. If you don’t let anyone in, you’ll never experience the joys of friendship.”


“Nobody cares to be friends with something like me,” he replied flatly.


“Oh cos, you really don’t get it do you? You can hear people’s thoughts and move objects with your mind, but that doesn’t mean you have to make yourself miserable. If you don’t use your telekinesis and you don’t respond to people’s thoughts you have a chance to make some friends. At least promise me you’ll speak to someone today all right? Just one person, even if it’s just a single “hey” or something like that. Promise?”


He was silent and still for a moment, and then nodded.


“Great!” She cried.


She grabbed him around the neck, causing him to choke on his food for a moment before giving him a hard slap on the back to help clear it.


Saeko’s version of affection was treating Daichiro like a rag doll whenever he did what she asked of him. It was her way of saying “Damn right you see things my way!” Saeko was letting him stay with her in her apartment out of the kindness of her heart, the only person who ever actually wanted to do so. As such, Daichiro gave her a hard time every so often but always he remembered her kindness and acceptance of him and eventually would do as she asked. However, when it came to silly or downright stupid things, he would not budge for anything. Even if he was something of a recluse, he still had some dignity to maintain.


When he was finished with breakfast he gathered up his backpack and walked outside. The sun was bright, the skies clear, and all the signs of another average and un-extraordinary day were present and accounted for. He walked down the streets, soon catching up to a lot of other kids his age on their way to Mizuno High as well. It was the first day of their second full week in school, and with all the new freshman having settled into their classes and routines, the school was beginning to calm down a bit which was ideal for him as he enjoyed the peace and quiet of school during the middle of the year the most.


Still, it wasn’t all bad. All around him the other kids were enjoying themselves, laughing, telling or sharing stories, and more. On one hand, he almost wished that he had people like that to talk to but nobody cared to know him. On the other hand, that was fine by him. He felt it’d be nice to have friends, as he just barely remembered the feeling from when he was little before the world turned on him, but at the same time he didn’t care for the possibility of them learning about what he was and hurting him like his parents did. He made his way to class and sat down in the back row by the window, his favorite seat. Even during seating changes, he manipulated the “random” choice of drawing your seat number from a bowl so that he always had that seat.


Once he sat down he placed his chin in one hand and looked out the window, completely spacing out as class began and paying the teacher and his fellow classmates absolutely zero attention. They didn’t seem to mind, as he could hear the thoughts and whispers loud and clear.


“What a weirdo,” “Does he ever pay attention?” “Why does he never talk to anyone?” “He’s so arrogant, not listening to the teacher like that…”


None of it bothered him. He had grown used to it and though he wished he could tune it out the best he could do was just look the other way. He never got involved or bothered to acknowledge the things they thought about him or said about him behind his back s he knew he’d just get in trouble which was more trouble than it was worth.


Still… part of him wished that someone understood him. Just one person he could talk to from time to time would be nice.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


I woke up slowly to the sound of Mom coughing. I groaned and tiredly sat up, looking around my dark room. My eyes fell on the green lit number on my alarm clock. It was four-thirty three am. I sighed and swung my legs out of the bed, quietly padding to her room. I passed a mirror as I walked and looked at my reflection for a moment, taking in my tired appearance. My thin tank top and my bootie shorts hung loosely on my small frame, and the thin, gold bracelet that hung from my wrist sparkled from the dim light shining from the tiny bathroom. My fine hair was pin straight, although I had done nothing to style it, and there were dark circles under my eyes. I sighed and walked to Mom's room, gently shaking her awake.


She cried out and thrashed as she woke, and ended up hitting me in the face. I fell to the ground and looked at her, holding my cheek. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry..." she said, dropping to her knees beside me. "I didn't mean to, I was just having a bad dream..."


I stood and quietly just walked away while she sighed, her head dropping. I went into the bathroom and turned on a hot shower, undressing and stepping under the hot spray of water. I took an hour long shower, not caring when the hot water ran out. I just didn't feel like getting out, because that would mean that I'd have to get ready for another day. I didn't want to go to school where everybody just ignored me like I wasn't there, or just whispered about me behind my back. I got made fun of a lot because I had skipped ahead two grade levels and whenever I did speak, my accent got mocked.


I took a deep breath and finally emerged, looking in the mirror for a few moments before wrapping a towel around myself and walking to my room to get dressed. It was five forty five now, and I quickly got into my uniform before running downstairs to eat breakfast and check over the homework I had done the night before. As usual, I found no mistakes, as I always took very special care while doing my homework. At seven o' clock, I started walking to the school, clutching my books to my chest. I walked into my first class and quietly sat, opening my notebook as I waited until the rest of the class filed in.


Not long after, a boy sat in the seat behind me. Almost immediately, people started whispering about him. I frowned a bit. 'Why are those people being so mean?' I thought to myself, and turned slightly in my seat to look at the boy. I took in his appearance for a moment, studying his carelessly spiky hair and cold, distant look. "Hello...?" I softly said, my voice soft and airy.

 

[Kyero]

"Hello...?" came a soft voice from in front of him.


His eyes slid to the side and looked at the girl who spoke.


She was tiny, barely even five feet tall by the looks of it with flowing white/silver hair. Her eyes were a similar shade, and she was very pale and slender. It wasn't really sickly slender, but it was close. Her voice definitely matched her appearance, and Daichiro's gaze shifted back to the outside world beyond the window.


... At least she doesn't speak ill of me in her mind, yet... He thought.


"Hi," was his flat and only response.

 

[divyansh]

" Uruk-kai! Uruk-kai! ", the chants came from Kazou's room. It seemed that he was about to full another all-nighter playing one of his favorite Role playing games. Indeed it was weird for a excellent and disciplined student to be acting immature like this can not sleeping at time but for Kazou's case it was not a choice but a need. Now he couldn't sleep in a room filled with spirits whispering to him, could he ? So instead of facing the misery of lying in the bed hoping to fall asleep while getting scared by that seldom scare by a spirit. Nights were surely hell for Kazou. Though since his acquaintance with his new computer, everything did change. ' Sleep is for the weak ' was Kazou's new moto, one that helped him conquest over many a games playing for hours at a stretch, though he did study enough and his grades stayed consistent....consistently high to be exact. Kazou was enjoying his new lifestyle since he came to Japan, he loved the food and enjoyed living all alone, well preferred living alone. It had just been a week since he had moved here but he seemed to have adjusted to his new home very fast and that too for good.


Kazou looked out of the window as he glanced the first rays of the morning son. " Aww its morning already! Well a new day, a new school, a new adventure! " he said with a cheeky smile. Well Kazou just had to impress the teachers and that would certainly not be much of a triumph for Kazou, after all, he has his gift to help him.


Kazou closed his computer with some disapproval. He surely didn't desire to do so but he would not like to miss his first day in school or at least get late for it. Kazou slouched as he normally did when he was tired. He walked to the bathroom for a quick bath. Shortly a few screams followed " AHHHH! COLD COLD COLD! " but they ended soon as the water turned hot. Though that lead to another scream, " TOO HOT! DAMMIT! ". Indeed, today did not seem too fine for Kazou.


The irritated brat after finishing his bath, began to wear his new schoool's uniform and tried to cook himself a meal while doing so. He was cooking nothing special but just an omelet. Surely nothing could go wrong and nothing did till he picked his plate and went towards the dining table. A load thud reached a Kazou's ears with a surge of pain. It seemed that his toe had fallen in love with the table's leg. This did lead to another scream which seemed to now be a part of Kazou's day. Kazou's foot rose up in pain as he jumped on his other leg, soon losing his balance and falling with the egg dropping over his face. It seemed that today's menu had an egg sunny side down instead of being up.


Kazou groaned in anger as he got back up. " Well that can't be a good omen, now can it? Well meh....I am awesome. I doubt puny luck can trouble me", He said with a laugh. Well one of Kazou's good things was his positive and optimistic nature. It seemed that with optimistic thoughts and good luck came in a package for him. " Well Lets cook something fast and get to school. Being late is not something a punctual student should do " thought Kazou.


After cooking a ready made meal and feasting on it, Kazou decided that it was time for him to go to school. Though to his suprise, he didn't see a single fellow student on the street walking next to him. " Huh, am I too early " he thought. Well according to Kazou's watch he certainly was, thought his watch and was about an hour back. Poor Kazou never realized this as he leisurely took short stride, walking merrily towards the school enjoying the look of his new neighborhood.

 

[jinkx]

Poor Philippa scarcely ever made it through the night without nightmares. Because as hard as she'd tried to turn her life around, what she'd seen still hid at the back of her mind. And at night, it came out and feasted on her brain. It was horrifying, a million bad futures at once. The good futures never seemed to be able to work their way into her dreams. She was always glad to wake up.


On this particular morning, she was shocked awake by the sound of her father slamming the door shut as he left for work. He was always working, and whilst she knew that it wasn't his fault, she wished he would spend more time with her. Sometimes, they had breakfast together on Saturdays- well, her father had breakfast and she just stared at hers- but that was as intimate as their relationship got. With a sigh, Philippa pushed herself up on her elbows. She raked one hand through her long hair and flopped back down. She lay there for a few more minutes before attempting to get up again; this time, she managed it.


She got dressed slowly, taking the time to look at herself in the mirror. She wasn't necessarily vain, she just liked the way her body looked. Except her chest; her chest was nearly as flat as a boy's. Turning away from the mirror, she continued getting dressed. When she was done hitching her skirt up just a tad higher than she was meant to, she turned back to the mirror. She slid a green hair pin into her hair to keep her hair from falling in her face.


She didn't ever eat breakfast but she always made it. She'd always make herself something to eat, stare at it for ten-fifteen minutes and then threw it away. Her father never mentioned it. Sometimes, she'd wish that he would. Just so they could talk a little. Slowly, she slid her books into her bag and stood up. Now, she'd go to school and pretend that she didn't have this weird feeling clinging to her like an emotional leech.


She slid her gloves on and pulled them up. She didn't want her hand to brush against anyone's personal belongings by accident and show her something horrible. That had happened before. She hoisted her school bag onto her shoulder and left the apartment, locking the door carefully behind her. This feeling she was having was a sort of emptiness. Not a depression or anything. Just an odd feeling that there was something she should be doing. Shouldn't she be saving people with her ability or something? But she never got anything specific enough; dates, times, people, nothing like that.


As she walked to Mizuno High, Philippa tried to fill that empty feeling by humming a song to herself quietly. She had to keep up appearances. So far, she'd been accepted at this school and she was very pleased about that. She didn't intend to start babbling about emptiness and futures and have to leave here too. Eventually, she reached school and found her class. She took her seat in the fifth row, where she would scarcely be noticed by anyone. She tapped her fingers on the top of her desk. Today was going to be a long day.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


"I'm sorry they are rude..." I said in the same tone and volume of voice. I waited for him to respond again, not caring that some of the whispering students' attention turned to me.


'How long had he been dealing with this that he looks like he doesn't care? I wonder if he does care. It matters to me when people do this sort of thing to me, but maybe I'm just over-sensitive or something...' I thought to myself.

 

[MittyMittens]

Vixie wakes up to the sound of her grandmother clanging pots and pans as she always did at the crack of dawn. She stares up at the ceiling for a bit while stroking the furry black tuft of cat on her chest.


"Vixie you're going to be late!!!" She heard coming from down the hall of the small two bedroom apartment. She sighs and picks the cat up, rolling out of bed and placing the cat back down on her pillow giving it another pat on the head. "Mornin' Boris" She says sleepily before rummaging through her closet to slip on the usual school attire. She looks at herself in the mirror briefly holding her chin up to look at her face at different angles before quickly looking away. She had a love hat relationship with her red hair, it stood out like a sore thumb at times, especially here in Japan but it was nice to not always blend into the background. She didn't mind the stares it was the talking she minded. Vixie slips into the bathroom on her way to the kitchen to brush her hair and her teeth as well apply a slight amount of make-up, mascara and eye-liner which she only wore at the insisting of her grandmother. She thought Vixie was too tomboyish and needed to act more like a lady. What was she to expect when it was her brother who was her constant companion growing up. She slides into the chair of the kitchen table only to get a whack across the shoulders for slouching.


"Sit up! Slouching is unlady-like!" Her grandmother states before placing a bowl in front of Vixie only to get a groan. "You're lucky you have anything at all to eat! Besides oatmeal sticks to your bones, you won't be hungry and you'll be able to focus on your studies! Not to mention-"


Vixie just sighs and zones out as her grandmother goes on another tangent about her childhood or making sure she got good marks and that she should "play nice" with the other kids. She gazes out the window while the crow-like noises of her grandmother blended in to themselves and she lost herself in her thoughts. She had wished she could turn into a bird and fly off to wherever she wanted, be alone on some warm island basking in the sun.


"Alright Miss Phoenix get yourself to school or you'll be late! Remember stand up straight and please try to smile once in a while" Her grandmother shoves her brown paper bagged lunch to her once she was through with breakfast. Vixie eyes her grandmother for a moment, she always freaked her out with some of the comments she'd say as if she was inside her mind but she supposed her face held a lot of expression when she day dreamed not to mention she was gazing out a window on the fifth floor of an apartment building, not to mention it was probably the new nickname of the weak for her pyrokinesis. "I'm never late babushka" She places a small kiss on her cheek, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Feed Boris for me please! He didn't want to get up this morning" She calls as she slips out of the apartment building, still hearing her grandmother complain that the cat was her responsibility and should have been fed already as she made way down the first flight of stairs.


She preferred the stairs rather than the elevator, you weren't standing around expecting to make conversation and hardly anyone took the stairs. She exits the building and turns the corner towards the school. The first week went by pretty uneventful and she hoped the next would as well. Though it had been rather boring. She raises an eyebrow curiously at the sprig of a boy who was walking some distance ahead of her, she couldn't place him or his name, perhaps he was new. Either way she had no intention of being school tourists nor become a social butterfly today. She pushes some of her red hair out of her face that the wind decided to awkwardly cover, her grandmother hated everything about her hair, often telling her so when she was in one of her foul moves. She had considered dying it but never had the heart to go through with it, red hair never came back the same once dyed.

 

[Kyero]

Daichiro let a small huff of air escape his nose.


"People will always talk about those who don't follow socially normal behavior. I tend not to speak to others nor do I really engage in classroom activities all that much, so they whisper and think I am strange. But it doesn't bother me."


He looked back to the tiny girl, taking note of how she thought that it was rude of everyone to do so and that she was honestly sad for him that he had to deal with it.


But now there was a larger issue at hand and it was beginning to annoy him. All around the whispers were switching from him to her, and the thoughts of whether or not she was as weird as he was began to spread. He looked around the room slowly, glaring dangerously at those who were thinking such thoughts and they quickly looked away and tried to stop thinking about it.


Daichiro's red eyes were not normal to begin with, but when he used them to really glare at people, coupled with the fact that he could use his telepathy to implant thoughts into their minds, the intimidation factor skyrocketed.


More than once students had to excuse themselves from class to cry in the hallway or the bathroom because of how horrible the thoughts he implanted were and how much those thoughts scared them. Daichiro even once used such thoughts to intimidate a group of school bullies so badly that they withdrew from school within a week. Implanting thoughts of doubt, regret, despair, and fear easily overwhelmed the weaker human mind and thus those bullies didn't stand a chance. It took less than three days for them to lose their minds and withdraw from school. One of them had even made the newspapers and was now in a mental institution.


The whispers around the room began to quiet, and Daichiro's attention turned back to the girl.


"I appreciate your kindness, miss Alexandria. However, I advise you not to speak with me again if you care about people saying such things about you. If you associate with me, their attention will shift from me to you. Such is the nature of the human condition. When one object of attention becomes known and commonplace, the next newest focus is rapidly acquired at first opportunity."


He looked back out the window as the teacher came back from the small in between class break and called for everyone to go to their seats.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


I gave him a small smile. "They will find another reason to mock me, so why should I refuse to talk to someone I may potentially like?" I said, noting to myself that that as the most I'd said at once in a long time.


I turned when the teacher came back in and picked up my pencil to take notes, forcing myself to pay no mind to the people around me that continued to whisper about me. I dated my paper and wrote the topic of discussion at the top of the page, my pencil gliding across the paper in perfect cursive, which I still found easier to write in, despite the different language written on the board.

 

[Kyero]

Daichiro thought about saying something, but the teacher's entrance prevented him from doing so which was fine.


He enjoyed the quiet of the class during the lecture period, gazing out the window at the open sky and the clouds floating past as he thought about other things. Mostly, he wondered how he would prevent the other class members from talking about miss Alexandria. He was not keen on the idea that they were already thinking about her in a similar way that they thought about him... There were a few individuals in particular who's thoughts were nastier than others, and Daichiro felt it was more than past time for them to learn a lesson.


Daichiro turned his head, looking at one girl towards the front of the class whom he had heard in his mind thinking about calling miss Alexandria out and trying to humiliate her in front of the class. Taking a moment to lock in on her mind, Daichiro began flooding her mind with subtle messages and whispers. Doubts, fears brought to light, and many more things helped him assault her consciousness. Visibly the change was immediate. She began to sweat, and she started looking about the room nervously. She wiped her brow, and Daichiro felt it was enough. He let up, and she started to calm down but she still glanced around the room which earned her a good tongue lashing from the teacher when he saw her looking about during his lecture.


Daichiro's mouth contorted into a smile as he watched her be ejected from class when she tried to explain what was going on, being forced to go fill up and hold a bucket of water in each hand.


It was sweet to see them squirm, but Daichiro was not done yet. He focused next on one of the boys, a young man also near the front of the class who'd been thinking rather crude and lewd thoughts about miss Alexandria. Daichiro again focused in on the boy, flooding his mind with whispers and subconscious threats. The pressure on the boy's mind was growing, and before long he too began to sweat and look about confused and somewhat disoriented thanks to Daichiro's applied mental pressure. It only took a moment longer for him to snap, and Daichiro let up just as he stood up and asked to be excused. The teacher wasn't pleased, but he was allowed to leave and as Daichiro listened to his mind he knew that the boy had begun to cry as he ran through the halls to the bathroom ready to throw up.


Daichiro hadn't had this much fun in school for a good while. Not since near the ending of last year. It felt good to put the brats in their places, and he again turned his gaze outside to the great vastness of the sky as he waited for class to end.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


I watched with a frown as the girl was forced to stand and hold the buckets, and mentally sent her comforting images. When the boy practically ran from the classroom, I did the same thing again.


'Are they alright?' I thought to myself. 'The poor things seemed scared to death...' It wasn't often that I thought poorly of another person, let alone said anything, and as I was unaware of their thoughts about me, I felt sorry for the pair.


Tell it to the angels


You're already dead

 

[Imogen Sherbet]

Elena walked lethargically down the hallway. She was almost half an hour late for her first class, but she didn't see the use in rushing. What were they going to do, call her parents? The thought was almost laughable. It was only her first week of school, and she'd already been later than this before, so her teachers were sure to have an excellent first impression. However, she hadn't had this guy yet. Looking down at her schedule, and up at the door in front of her, she confirmed that she had arrived at the correct classroom, but as she reached for the doorknob, the door was flung open from the other side. A boy almost knocked her down as he hurried out of the room, a panicked expression on his face.


What the hell...? When Elena entered the classroom, things only got weirder. A girl was standing at the front of the classroom, a bucket of water in each hand, sweating and nervously glancing around. Just what had she missed in the first half hour? She seared her mind for the information that she knew would be there. Despite being able to see what had transpired-the girl suddenly beginning to freak out and panic, being punished, and the boy following shortly after, she had no idea what had caused it. Stepping inside, she glared around the classroom as she walked to her seat and offered no apology to the professor. He must have sensed that asking for one would be a bad idea, since he stayed silent.


The classroom was pretty packed, and the only available seat was right at the front. Not willing to accept that, Elena walked to the back of the classroom. As she walked, she raised her gaze, and her brown eyes met deep crimson. She froze, locked in place as his arresting stare pierced right through her, and her blood ran cold for a moment. His countenance was grim and icy-not hostile like hers, but empty and devoid of feeling. Dark black hair partially masked his eyes, but the glowing orbs came through them just fine.


Memories began to flood her mind- stinging, bitter memories. Rejection, sorrow and misery-she could see them clearly. A woman walking out of a door, tears in her eyes as she spat out final words. The boy was a psychic? This was not good. Dangerous. Within a second, she closed her eyes and focused on putting up the emotional wall she had learned for so long. She could only hope that it would be enough to keep him out of her mind, but it was unlikely considering how powerful this boy seemed to be. Elena opened her eyes again and shot him a guarded glare before turning and walking to the back, where she sat down on the ground and put down her bag.

 

[Kyero]

Daichiro's attention was drawn to the front of the class as another girl entered the room. Her short, cropped hair was dark at the root, and dyed pink on the ends. She seemed to be familiar with pain, as Daichiro instantly felt that familiar sensation of her being on guard. When her eyes landed on his, he both felt and heard the inner gasp of recognition and horror.


She was afraid of him.


Or rather, she wasn't afraid of him, but afraid of the fact that she guessed him to be a psychic. She could tell what he was, and she was afraid of the possibilities that reality brought to her life here in this classroom at this moment. She was afraid of exposure, afraid of connection... Much like him.


But what exactly did she know about psychics?


It took a moment, but daichiro was able to pierce her mental defenses and probe her thoughts. Bit by bit, he came to understand what was happening with this girl. She could see events that recently transpired. There seemed to be a bit more to it than that, but that information was really all he needed. He'd done research on psychics before when he was trying to understand what he was, and this was retrocognition, the ability to see the past by focusing one's attention on either a scene/event, a person, or an object.


It was a rather unique gift among psychics, to see the past. Even so, it seemed interesting so Daichiro decided to test something. She was defensive, so this might have been a bad move but if it meant finally connecting with someone as his cousin had wanted then it was worth the risk. Since she was like him, perhaps she'd be more receptive to who he was beyond his icy exterior.


... I see you have the gift of psychic power as well, miss Elena. He projected to her mentally.


Being in control of telepathy gave Daichiro the ability to both listen to thoughts both ways as well as project his own as a means of communication as if "speaking" through his mind to someone else. Learning her name was child's play.


If it's not too much trouble, I'd like a proper demonstration of your gift in private after school.

 

[jinkx]

Philippa was staring out of the window, her head resting on her arms. She wasn't thinking about anything in particular- certainly, not the subject that she was supposed to be learning- and was being reasonably quiet. A girl from across the row looked around for a moment before leaning over and poking Philippa in the arm.


"Hm?" Philippa looked up. The girl pointed at the front of the room. The teacher was motioning to Philippa's gloves.


"I- I can't take them off-" Philippa struggled to explain, "I-"


"You can't take them off because?" The teacher raised an eyebrow at them.


"Nothing." Philippa sighed, realising she didn't have a single logical reason to have gloves on inside.


"Go on, then. Take them off." By this point, people had turned to see why Philippa was making such a fuss. She looked down.


Slowly, Philippa grabbed her gloves by the tips of the fingers and tugged them off. The teacher took them from her and slid them into a drawer in his desk. Her skin suddenly felt much more exposed to everything. She wasn't sure where to put her hands, exactly. She rested her hands on her lap.


"Better, Miss De Fortunesa. You can have them back at the end of the day." the teacher told her. She looked down at her hands in dismay. She didn't like the way her last name sounded in her teacher's mouth.


"Hey." That was the girl across the row, "You okay?"


"I'm okay." Philippa nodded without pause and offered the best smile that she could manage. The girl nodded to her before turning back to pay attention to whatever the hell they were supposed to be learning.


Philippa felt awkward without her gloves on. She rubbed her hands together under the desk as her palms began to sweat. She was suddenly aware of how much touching was involved in a school.


"Miss De Fortunesa!" Somehow, she came under fire from her teacher again. He seemed to enjoy picking on her.


"Yes, sir?" Philippa looked up, wondering what she could've done now.


"Can I ask why you haven't done any work?"


"Uh, I..." Philippa frowned, looking down at her book. She wished she had an answer to the question.


"Do you not have a pen?" her teacher raised an eyebrow. Philippa shifted in her seat, uncomfortably.


"No..." Philippa was on the verge of tears as she rummaged around on her desk. Her pencil case had disappeared. Somebody must've taken it. Eyes were on her again as she looked down to hide her tears. The odds were not in her favour today.


Her teacher strode across the room and held out a pen for her to take. Philippa stared at it as if he were handing her a knife. She shook her head.


"Do you have a pen, Miss De Fortunesa?"


"No, but-"


"Then, take the pen."


"I don't want-"


"Do you need a pen or not?"


"I can't!" Philippa was on her feet with no idea how she got there. Her voice had raised several pitches so that she was almost shrieking. Tears began to stream down her face.


"You're causing a disruption, Miss De Fortunesa. So, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room." her teacher said and Philippa didn't argue. She walked from the room, sniffling to herself.


Philippa waited outside the classroom, leaning awkwardly against the wall. She clenched and unclenched her fists. She buried her face in her hands, she rubbed her temples with her fingers. In the end, she resorted to sitting and leaning against the wall. She crossed her ankles and sighed. She needed to get her gloves back and soon.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


I didn't pay much mind to the girl who had walked in, simply writing the answers to the questions in my notebook that the teacher had written on the board. Once I had done so, I glanced at the girl in the front of the room. I'd been sending her subtle, calming images the entire time, and she seemed to be a lot less paranoid now, and a little more relaxed. "Once you have your answers written down, I want every other person to turn to the person behind them to compare answers..." the teacher said. I turned to look at the boy, finding that I was the only one who had done so. I glanced down for a second as I heard a few people whisper about me being a show off or know-it-all. It came with the territory of being the youngest person in the entire class.


I started braiding my long hair for something to do with my hands, my fingers moving quickly to braid the long strands of fine hair. By the time I'd finished braiding, I was still the only one with answers. I unbraided my hair and started over, hoping that the boy would be done soon so I could compare my answers to his.

 

[Kyero]

Daichiro's eyes shot from miss Elena to the teacher, who was at this point walking back to the front of the classroom.


Daichiro didn't understand why, but he was angry. That girl had been sitting quietly and wasn't bothering anyone, so why the display? Daichiro never bothered to pay attention either, nor did he do any in class work. So why not pick on him? Did this teacher have something against the girl?


He didn't even know the girl, but for some reason he felt sorry for her and was very angry at the teacher for the unjustified display. It was time for the teacher to end class early.


Daichiro focused on the teacher's mind as he approached the front of the class, and Daichiro's crimson eyes widened and began actually glowing as he focused almost all of his power on the teacher. He was in the middle of writing something on the board and explaining why it was important to always bring your materials to class when he suddenly froze, a look of pure terror in his eyes. Daichiro's eyes flashed, and the teacher looked as if he was thrown backwards against the wall when he actually had just fallen back into it. His knees buckled, and he had to grab his desk to stop himself from hitting the floor.


Finally, Daichiro released his grip on the teacher's mind and the teacher managed to stand up as sweat rolled down his face.


"... Cl-... Class is dismissed... Be sure to read pages 31-no, 33 through 48 in Chapter 6 of your textbook by Wednesday and be ready for a quiz."


One of the other kids in class raised his hand.


"Are you alright Mr. Ueta?"


"Y-Yes, I'm fine. I just realized that I have a meeting which I'm late to. You are all dismissed for the day," he said.


It was over twenty minutes before class was supposed to end, but now they were out early and it was their last class of the day. Officially, they were free to go home now. Daichiro stood up slowly, watching the teacher exit the room in a rush after hastily grabbing his briefcase. His eyes were no long glowing, but the look of scorn on his face was enough to freeze the Himalayas to absolute zero. He relaxed his gaze for a moment and let out a breath, that mental bombardment having taken quite a lot of his energy. He'd have to take it easy on the telepathy, though listening to people's thoughts took no effort at all so at least there was that.


He turned to miss Elena.


I apologize for that, He projected to her.


He didn't want to speak, not now. If he said anything about what just happened other people would begin to think he had something to do with it and more rumors would spread. If rumors of strange behavior of a teacher spread, that was nothing he needed to concern himself with.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


I stood up and held my books against my chest as I bowed my head towards the ground. Soon, I had seemingly disappeared into the crowd, and after collecting the materials I would need for the next day, began walking towards the doors. I saw the boy from earlier, the quiet one, and walked over. "Hello..." I said in my usual soft and airy tone. "I do not know your name..." I looked at him hesitantly, hoping he would tell me his name.


'Maybe he doesn't want to speak with me...' I thought. 'Maybe he finds me too weird, just like everyone else does. Maybe I'm annoying him right now by trying to talk to him...But he seemed nice earlier...I should probably just go, even if he doesn't find me weird now, he will in the future and I'd rather not have to deal with the day that he decides to ignore me or hate me or something...' I was chewing on the inside of my cheeks, and looked at him. "I will leave, if you want...?" I offered softly, my eyes trained on the suddenly very interesting floor.

 

[Imogen Sherbet]

As Elena made herself comfortable at the back of the classroom, a million thoughts were whirring in her mind. Just who was this guy? Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head, and she knew that her attempts to guard her mind had failed.


I see you have the gift of psychic power as well, Miss Elena. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like a proper demonstration of your gift in private after school.





For a moment, she was angry-who did he think he was, making such demands? About a power that she did not even care to have? But she reminded herself quickly about the boy and girl who had been caused such anguish by this guy, and decided that it was not in her best interest to decline the request. Although, he did not seem like the type to cause senseless harm to others. What could it have been which set him off to the point that he mentally tormented those kids?


Her attention was snapped back to the front of the classroom when the teacher raised his voice to snap at a thin, somewhat sickly looking girl. Elena couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Something about gloves? Yes, the teacher was forcing her to remove them, and the girl was clearly uncomfortable with it. She snorted inwardly, thinking to herself that if she was in the girl's place, she would have told him exactly where the gloves would end up if he didn't leave her alone. Evidently distressed, the girl ran out of the room. Thinking about her own unconventional hair colour, which was also against school rules, Elena couldn't help but think the teacher had been slightly unfair.


Moments later, said teacher began to exhibit rather familiar symptoms, and much to the delight of the class, they were let out early. She didn't even have to think to know who had caused it, and this was confirmed when the culprit apologised (in her head). It was a weird sensation, and one which would crating take some getting used to. She glanced over at him, regretful that she couldn't project her own thoughts back, but hoping that her stare said something along the lines of 'Thank god that's over. I guess I'll see you around?" She slung her bag over her shoulder, and forced her way through the crowd of students who were now filing their way out of the room.

 

[Kyero]

Daichiro watched the kids all file out en masse, happy to be released early for the day despite the teacher's odd behavior. There were a few whispers about it, and he couldn't help but smirk. Miss Elena clearly wasn't interested in giving him a demo of her abilities, but that was fine. He knew it was a long shot to start, given how defensive she'd been earlier.


All right, I'll see you around... I do hope you'll forgive the intrusions, but I prefer this to speaking aloud. And if you want to speak back, you have but to think about it and I'll hear you. He projected as Elena left the room.


That was when the girl from earlier suddenly came over and asked for his name, and whether or not he wanted her to leave.


"... You certainly are an interesting one miss Alexandria," he said quietly.


He waited for all of the other students to leave the room before speaking further.


"My name is Daichiro, and you're not annoying me." He said.


He mentally checked himself, flinching inside his mind as he knew he just basically revealed that he could hear her thoughts. She hadn't said anything about being annoying aloud, so it wouldn't take much of a leap of the imagination to know that Daichiro could read minds.


"... Well, you don't have to worry about me ignoring you or hating you. I've dealt with that same behavior from others my whole life, so I'm less than inclined to repeat it to others," he said calmly.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


I hesitantly smiled, not thinking anything of his words. "I am glad, Daichiro. Would you like to walk home with me? You live nine houses down from where my mother and I are..." That was the most I'd said at once in a while, and it kinda felt nice to talk to someone.


I tucked my hair behind my ear, still chewing on the inside of my cheek.


Tell it to the angels


You're already dead

 

[Kyero]

Daichiro nodded.


"Sure, why not?"


He leaned down and picked up his backpack, hoisting it over his right shoulder.


"Lead the way," he said.

 

[HonestlySurviving]

Alexandria


I started walking beside him, content with silence, if that was what he wanted. I clutched my books to my chest as we walked, the slight breeze making my fine hair seem to float beside me. I looked up at the nearly cloudless sky, and the smiled at how perfect the robin's egg blue color was. 'It is beautiful today...' I thought, unconsciously pulling the long sleeves of my uniform down lower. Even though it seemed like a nice day to most people, my lack of any sort of body fat on my bones made me constantly cold. I glanced over at Daichiro after a moment, studying his features.

 

[divyansh]

Kazou had reached school in about twenty minutes. To his luck, no one was there to stop him or object on his lack of punctuality. Well he didn't realize he was late. Kazou took a few strides and entered the school building. The room that he had entered seemed weird to him, it was filled with many a shelf and all of them had shoes inside of them. " Weird .... " said Kazou, trying to make sense of what it was, but ended up giving his usual, ' meh.. ' and moving ahead.


Kazou then entered a hallway, it seemed clean as if it someone had just mopped it. Though thanks to Kazou's dirt infested shoes, the hallway's destiny was soon to take a entirely different turn. Kazou payed no attention to the trail that he was leaving behind. His attention was stolen by the excitement of a new term. For him it was just another opportunity to show off and be adored, something that he was never bored of. Though some might think that Kazou should be a little bit cautious and think what might happen if his power is revealed to the public. But Kazou never cared, to him " His competition was just dumb ". Maybe it was true or perhaps just a misconception that Kazou had, one that can bite right in his arse.


Kazou ended up walking for some time as he tried to figure out where was his new classroom. A though task for Kazou, after all he was new to this alien language. It was quite ironic, that someone claiming to be a genius doesn't even know the language from which his name is taken.


Kazou soon ended up stopping in front of a classroom, not because he finally understood what the name was or because he was tired because he finally saw another human who didn't seem to be belonging to the state. " Perhaps she could help me " He said with a smile, he was happy to finally see someone he might be able to converse with. Though he was doubtful of why the girl with white blonde hair was sitting in such an awkward way and that too outside o the class. But it was not enough of a reason to make Kazou give up his opportunity to finally meet someone of his kin.


Kazou slowly walked towards her and bended down next to her. Kazou was about to speak but paused, he knew well that one should not mess with a tigress. He still remembered the last time he surprised a girl. It had ended in laughs for the girl and a nail mark all over Kazou's face. Kazou hurriedly took out a pen from his pocket and poked the girl on his should, " OI! OI! speak English? French? German? " he asked, hopping that she knew at least one. Though if she didn't then Kazou might end up using his broken Japanese. It was a last resort for him, well a few days ago he had ended up calling a shopkeeper a cow, so indeed Kazou wished to prevent using a language in which he was rather pathetic in.

 

[Imogen Sherbet]

With her bag still slung over one shoulder, Elena walked out of the building and into the refreshing air. It felt good to have the breeze ruffling her hair, and she ran her hand through the short locks. Slowly, she began the walk home, and as she walked down the road she saw her 'friend' walking down the road next to a shorter girl with long white hair. She hesitated for a moment, and thought to herself;


'If you can hear me, meet me in room 311 tomorrow morning. Around 9." Would that be enough to get his attention, or did he have to look at her? The strength of his ability was not entirely clear to her.

 

[Kyero]

Daichiro walked next to miss Alexandria at a slow and steady pace. He was in no rush to go home today. Saeko was cooking tonight and she was awful at it. She knew it and accepted it, and sometimes cooked poorly on purpose just to make him appreciate lesser meals that much more. As he thought about how to avoid the meal that would be the end of him, he heard a voice in his head.


If you can hear me, meet me in room 311 tomorrow morning, around 9





He glanced over his shoulder, spotting miss Elena, and nodded.


I'll be there, he projected.


When he returned his gaze forward he noticed a group of men ahead standing at the corner of the street. He searched their thoughts, and it was a typical and rather cliche gathering of "thugs" waiting for helpless school kids to bully in order to feel powerful. Daichiro's eyes narrowed, and as he tried to avoid their gaze he heard them all look at him and miss Alexandria and start talking about targeting them. Daichiro sighed, clenching his right fist at his side and cracking his knuckles as the young men began to walk into their path and line up to block them from moving forward.


"Hey kids!" The one in the middle said.


"Watcha got in the backpacks? Anything good?" Another asked.


One of the others began walking forward, trying to get closer to miss Alexandria but Daichiro cut him off by standing in front of her. When the thug made an attempt to push Daichiro, he failed to move him. He used both hands against Daichiro's shoulders to try and shove him off his feet, but Daichiro didn't move. He just glared at the man, but it only took that glare to set the thug off. He threw a punch at Daichiro, landing it against his left cheek and forcing his face the other way. Daichiro took a single step to his right to balance himself, but otherwise was unfazed. He stood up straight and brushed the corner of his mouth with his left thumb, and glared at the man again who was taking a stance.


The others were "ooh"ing and backing up, prepping to fight but giving their friend enough space to be first. The one fighting moved in and tried to punch Daichiro again, but this time Daichiro didn't take it. He grabbed the man's wrist and wrenched it up and around in a circle, spinning underneath his arm in a full circle and forcing his arm into a figure 4 position behind his back. Daichiro positioned the thug in between himself and the others, before shoving upwards and forcing the arm out of the socket with a loud "POP." Daichiro pushed the man away, who fell to the ground grabbing his shoulder in pain as his friends hesitated.


Daichiro glared at them, lowering his head a bit and allowing his eyes to glow and flare with crimson light to intimidate them. It worked, and they all picked up their friend and ran off.


Daichiro let out a sigh through his nose and shook his head.


"Pathetic," he mumbled.