"I don't know why, but I've always had this feeling I was... different."
"Akira! Come inside sweetie, it's getting late!"
"Just a minute, ma!"
"I don't know when it began, but at an early age, I was feared by people in my village."
"Look, there she is..."
"It's that hybrid girl. Do you think she's as strong as they say?"
"I heard she killed those packs of wolves that were terrorizing our village not too long ago."
"But... she's only 6 years old."
"Everywhere I went, whispers followed me behind. I could never run away from it."
"Now, Aki, I don't want you going back out there without wearing this, okay?" Her mother said, placing a unique set of earrings on her tiny ears, "This'll help you handle the pain, okay?"
"Okay, ma. Bye, I'm going out now, Akashi said he wanted my help by the fields."
Her mother smiled softly, wrapping a scarf around her neck from behind, planting a kiss on the crown of her head, "Aren't you forgetting something, young lady?"
Akira giggled as she turned and hugged her, "I love you, ma."
"I love you too, sweetie. More than I could ever hope to show you."
Akira laughed softly, walking out to her brother waiting by the gate, "You always say that, ma."
"And I'll always mean it, sweetie..."
"My mom was always gentle with me. Maybe that's why I missed her so much when she died..."
Multiple people gathered by the bonfire, Akira's mother's body was covered by a thin layer of glowing yellow energy as young Akira clung to her mother:
"Please don't leave me, not you too, ma. You promised you'd stay. You promised you'd always be there when I needed you!"
"Smallie..."
"No, LEAVE MY MOTHER ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE, AKASHI!"
Akashi held back tears as the rest of the villagers watched him pull her back from her mother's corpse, "She's gone, Akira!"
"NO, SHE CAN'T BE! SHE PROMISED SHE'D STAY—!"
"Smallie, not all promises can be kept..." Akashi whispered in her ear, tears mingling with hers as he pressed his forehead against hers, "We can't change that. Some things aren't meant to always be the same..."
The fire crackled, the smell of smoke mixing with the freezing cold of the snow beneath their feet, "But...she promised me, Shi..."
"I know...but let me make a promise to you, Aki."
He placed her hand on his chest, "No matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, I promise that I'll always be by your side..."
Her eyes squeezed shut as the tears fell quietly as she surrendered herself into his embrace.
The corpse was then taken, laid down on the fire and then the village head chanted a mantra, dispelling the energy that had encased her mother's body in tiny particles of gentle yellow Energicules that dissolved into the air of that cold night.
"She was sick. Dad left us. I always thought it was my fault he did, but...Akashi taught me better than that..."
"Push through, Aki! You can do it! Just one more!!"
She groaned in pain as she lifted her body up, chin hitting the top of the ledge before she finally lifted herself up, "Gaaah! Two HUNDRED!!"
She flopped onto the dirt, untied the three boulders half the size of a tree from her waist and let them fall down the cliff into the rushing river below.
She huffed for air, the smell of dirt in her nostrils, moist and familiar, as Akashi sat beside her, offering her a drink, "Here, take it."
"Hah, thanks." She rasped.
They sat by the cliff's ledge, watching the scenery. The air was fresh, clean, pure and just beyond the enormous mountain range, they saw the city walls— gigantic and unsettlingly peaceful.
"Hey, Shi, ever wonder what those gates are for?"
Akashi chuckled, "I don't wonder things, Aki. I search 'em up."
"Well what is it? To keep us poor village folk out?"
He laughed, "Oh man, is that what goes on in that little head of yours all day? The fact that we're from the country?"
Akira pouted, the wind brushing past as she pulled a strand of hair behind her hair, "I just hate the fact that we don't have all those fancy stuff that the other city folk do."
"Well lemme tell ya'"
"Mhm?"
He sighed contently, "See those walls are actually to protect us from Junchiki Shrill attacks."
"Junchiki? What are those? I know about Shrills in general, but not Junchiki."
"Oh yeah? What'dya know?"
She hummed, thoughtful for a little,"Well, I know they're like these monsters that are big, sometimes super duper big and scary and look like people. Or animals or rare occasions."
Akashi laughed as he ruffled her messy long hair, "Yeah, I guess you could say that!"
He leaned back, shoulder against his cheeks as he took in a deep breath, "Look at this beautiful world, Aki. It's so vibrant and full of life. Every day is a day to be grateful for what we have with us."
His voice lowered a little, the birds flapping away in the distance, "And yet... it's not always so easy to enjoy that beauty. We all get caught up with the little things that make us unhappy , and whilst we do, we forget that...no matter how hard things may get, we've gotta have faith in each other. In love. In the beauty of love. That's what makes things like this worth protecting like the wall does."
He turned to look at Akira, voice softer now, "Aki... you're not a kid anymore, you're almost 13. You see the world in a way I don't. You have power that loads of people can dream of. And that...many people will want to misuse or take away from you."
Her eyes stared intently at him, "I know, Shi. I promise I won't ever let anyone misuse my powers for their own benefit."
His eyes softened further, a gentle smile on his face, "I believe you. I always will."
He then stared at the walls again, smiling ear to ear, "NOW about those Junchiki Shrills you were asking about."
"I promised that I'd never misuse my powers, Shi. But..."
Thud.
"Aww, are you gonna cry, little bitch?"
"Look at her, she's totally gonna cry..."
The other students kicked her again, her back crashing into the wall, causing cracks to spider web across the school's storeroom.
She was surrounded. Three of the top students in her class, who were also Essentials.
Shisui, the nastiest of the group, spat on her as she punched her in the gut again, sending her body crashing against the edge of the room and just before she hit the ground again, her forehead met her vicious uppercut.
She was stunned. Bleeding profusely from the nose as she coughed up blood, the metallic taste flooding her mouth.
Rina, the one who kicked her, walked up to the bleeding girl as she held her by the hair, "Quick, take a selfie, I wanna post this all over social media. People are gonna freak out when they see this." she squealed.
The other student, Feiko, grinned as she chuckled darkly, "Try dragging her by the nose"
Akira's eyes were hallow, dazed and unfocused as she was lost in thought.
[ "Why me? Did I say something wrong?...]
"That day, I never did say anything wrong..."
They kicked her again, ribs cracking under the force of impact.
[ "Maybe it's because... I'm the problem...right?"]
"No, it wasn't. They were..."
[ "All they did was defend me in class. They were the ones laughing at me. I didn't even know those guys..." ]
Shisui flashed her teeth in anger, "You think you can get Hinasuke to turn against me like that and not suffer the consequences? Who the hell do you think you are! You're nothing but a country bumpkin that got here on scholarship, you're so poor you can't even afford to pay for your own fees!!"
"So what? That wasn't why you beat me that day. You know it, Shisui..."
"We should cut her hair next, shave half and leave the other half smeared in blood!" Feiko suggested, taking a stone and imbuing it with her energy, making the stone sharp.
"That's so twisted. I love it!" Rina said, dragging Akira by the hair.
"Let's see how beautiful you'll be without your pretty long hair, bitch." Shisui said, taking another stone.
"I didn't even hear you say that, back then. I was so lost in my head.
[ "I wanna go home..." ]
They tied her down.
"But you wanna know what's funny?"
"SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR HAIR, ANITA!!"
"The same head that I was lost in..."
...she clenched her teeth, eyes springing up with life as violent purple sparks jolted from her body.
"My name..."
In the distance, a boy playing with a ball, suddenly looked up at the sky as a purple lightning streak rumbled through the sky, ball falling out of his hands.
"...is Akira Freakin' Hashinada."
The world held its breath. The animals paused.
The air stilled.
The wind hid.
Because somehow it knew...
"...Hehe. The same head you held in you grasp....went back home holding three of em'."
...That a demon had just been born.
A Demon Damned From Hell.