A painful awakening (Open)

[Kumori]

An eleven year old child made his way through a sordid avenue at night. The moon shined bright atop the buildings of the Suzukino District, in the sky accompanied by a million stars, all glancing down at the youngster. He was dressed in black, from head to toe, with a little red decoration here and there. Wearing a black hooded shirt, a grey bandit mask tied around his neck, black shinobi pants, accompanied by the average-looking shinobi sandals, and a red cape tied around his waist for decoration and who knows what else. His hair was silver, almost white, and the few strands that hanged out visible by the sky, shined in response to the moonlight. The boy stood at 4, 8” feet off the ground, and he remained still as he directed his blue eyes towards the sky, a tear went down his right cheek.

“Not again… I can feel it. It’s so warm… it hurts.”
[col]The public kept on their way, walking each direction in the street, and the boy was standing alone in an intersection of the lane right next to an alley that escaped the light He began to cry uncontrollably, and shout his heart out. It was hurting, his hands were bleeding. The scarlet, thick liquid dripped from his hands, which were wrapped in bandages, to the floor, creating puddles. It was an abnormal amount of blood; Miko was starting to feel dizzy. He leaned against the wall, placing his hand on the rock, only to make it explode. Not only was he wounded, but chakra was oozing out of the wound.

“Not again! Not again!”- He screamed, but most of the people just ignored him, or ran away, and those that weren’t just stood in silence looking at him like a freak. The boy began to run away from the onlookers, stumbling, and every few steps he fell, leaving another bloody patch on the road and causing yet another minor explosion. He repeated as he ran – “Not again! Not again!”|

[/col]

Finally he reached another alley. The boy let himself fall next to a wall. He worked himself into a sitting position, now leaning against that wall; he started to unwrap the bloody bandages. In all this time, the crying had not stopped- “It hurts…”

After taking them off, Miko threw them in front of him, staining yet again the floor in red. He looked at his hands, right at the middle of his palms. He focused his eyes on the openings that ran horizontally. They were not ordinary wounds, for if one looked hard enough, inside, covered in blood, there was a tongue.

“I’m a freak…”

 

[Naoki Yukimura]

The Susukino District was festive tonight. The atmosphere had been taken hostage by the aroma of delicious food, too much cologne, and cigarettes. Women and men could be seen falling over each other from drinking too much or from a long days of work and while this was no place for an eight year old Yuki always found himself around the District during the nights when the night life was the loudest, when the music could be felt vibrating through the streets no matter what avenue you were walking down or up and the smell of the food made your mouth water. The stars in the sky seemed to be dancing as the village people seemed to get away from their tired and boring lives to go and party or have a little bit of fun. The moon shone brightly in the sky as time stood still allowing the festivities to continue for another night without disturbance.Yukimura liked the feel, the vibe of how the District felt, he loved to watch as people enjoy themselves. He loved life and tonight was no different.

After a while of walking the boy grew tired and decided to head back to the Masaru clan complex, but before that he wanted to walk down the Sordid Ave. because he had never been through their on his countless walks down Susukino District. The boy began walking down the avenue gazing at the people who walked by as if they had seen an alien. Not a care in the world these people seemed to have as they dragged their worn out bodies around from party to party and bar to bar. The kid began walking faster, and just before he was about to start sprinting home he heard a scream and what seemed to be an explosion. The kid launched himself on top of a nearby building to see if he could see any sign of smoke. He noticed a few people running in the opposite direction of the sound.

The kid rocketed over to the next building, finding that his recent training has been paying off for his body felt lighter and he was quicker. The building the kid was on seemed to be right over the commotion. He could see people explaining what they saw to each other using hand gestures to show that it was an explosion that took place. The boy looked down into the alley way. It was dark and he couldn't quite make out what was taking place. All he heard was, "Not again" being said repeatedly and sniffling as if someone was crying. This could have just been a routine heart break that usually took place on night like this but what about the explosion. Moments later what looked like a small boy falling over himself could be seen staggering through the alleyway.

The white hair set off an alarm inside Yuki. Could this be one of the twins from class. Yukimura jumped from the building into the alley way and took off towards the boy dodging the onlookers as he gave chase. Yuki came to a halt as he noticed it was indeed one of the twins, Miko to be exact but where was his brother. Miko proceeded to take off the bandages on his hands and throw the wrappings to the floor and called himself a freak. "Miko, Are you ok?...Is everything okay man?"

{wc-550+}

 

[Kumori]

“Is everything okay…” – He was surprised to hear a familiar voice in the alley, just a couple meters away from him. The boy raised his head, revealing the teary face, already strained from the stress of the situation. Before speaking, Miko looked at his hands one more time, acknowledging the bloody mess.

“Nothing is ok… Can’t you see for yourself Yukimura?! I’m a freak! I am a freak!” – He yelled, just as he stared at his hands with a melancholic expression in his face. Miko was starting to go mad since the change took place, every day he bled like a slaughtered beast, his skin went pale, and the dizziness and despair of losing himself was starting to get to him. Inside the wound in both his hand-palms, the tongue was moving, he could move it to his will like a muscle, but doing it so just hurt even more.

It had all started a week ago, in a normally academy day. Miko was heading before getting ganged up by three more students just a couple years older than him. Apparently, one of them wanted to make a girl fall in love with him and asked Miko to make an origami worthy of his love. Of course, Miko refused, for his personality wouldn’t take any requests. The three boys proceeded to un-willingly drive him to a secluded spot, where they all attacked at once. This was the time where Miko discovered he had an affinity for the explosion element, after accidentally causing his paper origami to explode. Hours later, he was woken up by intense pain and bleeding in his hands. Little by little, the wounds started to develop, they became deeper, and they hurt even more. It was until this day that he found out that they weren’t actually wounds, but something worst, even.

He didn’t want Yukimura to see him cry, to stare at him with those eyes as if he wanted to help, but couldn’t. Dripping from the wound, masked by the thick blood, was something else, oozing from the mouth was something that looked like clay. Miko attempted to stand up, placing his hand on the wall in order to recline and push himself upward. Just as his palm touched the concrete, it exploded, releasing yet another flash that sent the boy stumbling in the opposite direction, having him bump into the other wall, causing the same effect. This time, he fell straight to the floor, crying.

“Again… and again… I can’t live like this. This is too much for me…” – He extended his hand towards Yukimura, of course, not the intention to have him take it, but to show him his reality. He revealed the palm of his hand for him to see, and exposed the bloody tongue, and to accompany it two sets of teeth.

 

[Naoki Yukimura]

Miko had not yet turned around to look at Yukimura he was still looking at his hands which were covered in blood. Miko then broke the silence of the situation picking up his head and revealing his face with tears falling like rain. Miko then shouted at Yuki calling himself a freak repeatedly. The stillness in the air could not be broken by just mere words now. The night smelt of blood and shrieking pain. Yukimura knew he couldn't help but he had to do something.

Miko's then attempted to stand up on his own and gather himself by pushing on the wall with his palm to help aid his balance. instantaneously the concreted wall exploded pushing Miko's body onto another wall and ultimately to the floor as his tears came pouring down. People were clearing the area out of fear of getting touched by the young boy with the explosive hands. Miko then cried out in pain saying he could not continue living with this pain. He then showed Yuki his palm which had what seemed to by a mouth in it with teeth and a tongue.

Upon being showed the bloody palm Yuki's body shook almost freezing him in time wandering what he should do. Yuki was afraid, his classmate was now bleeding profusely. Yukimura ran over to Miko who was now laying on the floor with an outstretched hand revealing what seemed to be the young boys curse. "Don't worry Miko! Your gonna be alright man hang on let me take you to the hospital!" Yuki's body was trembling. He then put his hand on Miko's shoulder and gave a light smile hoping to calm him down. "Listen tommorow your gonna be all good, hanging with Jun while i'm telling you how cool of a power that is you have! and asking where I can get it".

Yuki awaited the boy to accept the request to be taken.

 

[Kumori]

Yukimura placed his palm on Miko’s back, giving him a comforting feeling that everything would be ok.

"Don't worry Miko! You’re gonna be alright man, hang on let me take you to the hospital!" – The young boy said as he offered Miko his help. Miko was afraid that he would do the same thing he did to the walls, to Yukimura, who was doing his best to keep himself and his friend calm. This was an offer he could not refuse though, for if he did, it would certainly mean his death. He was bleeding heavily; the red puddles made a splashing sound as he stepped on them, trying to stand up, while doing his best to maintain balance without touching anything else. It had begun to drizzle, a calm cry that would soon become rain to wash over the crimson prints. Miko lifted his head, now gazing at the night sky as a lone street light flickered in the alleyway, illuminating the boys every now and then.

"Listen tomorrow you’re gonna be all good, hanging with Jun while I’m telling you how cool of a power that is you have and asking where I can get it!" – Yukimura tried to lift Miko’s hopes up,

“Cool…? This is hell…” – Miko replied, facing Yukimura’s empty promises. He was starting to feel dizzy, his mind was unclear. “Hospital… right… lets…” – He was cut short as he collapsed to the floor once again, now with the rain starting to drown the drizzle. He was no longer crying, the sky was doing it in his favor. He placed his palm on the floor in order to push himself upward, trying to regain his stance. It didn’t explode this time, he was either running short on chakra, or he had learned to prevent the spontaneous escape of the explosive chakra. It was a tough road ahead; the hospital was a long way from where they were, five districts away, and at last twenty-five minutes on foot. The boy could barely stand from all the blood-loss, let alone walk or run.

“Thanks Yuki… for… being here.” – He smiled, not sure if he should accept his fate and let the pain go away, or if he should keep fighting and hold on to the fading hopes that he could make it. The bleeding had stopped, now that the rain had washed away the blood in Miko’s hands, the mouth could be seen clearly with its lips shut, still resembling a weird-looking wound. He tried to stand up one last time, calling in all strength he had left, making the best use of the adrenaline rushing in his body. His feet were shaky, but no longer would he let himself fall, he didn’t want to die here… not in a deserted alley. He didn’t want his name to be forgotten, he didn’t want the tale of Tanaka Miko to end here. He grinned towards the way the alley ended and the street began, there was an air of misery, arrogance, and mystery in his expression, all at the same time. This was not the end of his story, instead, this was the start of his legend.

“Lets go…” – Miko took the first step. He made his way staggering towards the hospital, but surely he wouldn’t make it alone, he needed Yuki’s help.


[[MFT]]

 

[Kumori]

Leaving for innactivity. Will re-join if Yukimura replies.*