Akari POV

Sunlight shined through my window as I woke up to the sweet singing of songbirds outside my window. I quickly got dressed, throwing on a pair of black sweatpants and my black Edgewing hoodie that I got Atlas to get signed for me. A scowl crossed my face as I noticed a pink envelope by my door. 

“Not another love confession,” I groaned out loud. “When are these dorks going to learn that I want nothing to do with them?”

Behind my door, I heard a muffled voice saying something. Choosing to ignore it, I instead grabbed the envelope and tore it open, not bothering to preserve its delicate beauty. My eyes widened as I read the contents. This wasn’t a confession. This was Atlas’ death wish.

“What the FUCK?” I screamed. “This is gross!”

“Aaaand there it is,” Byron’s voice came through from behind the door. 

I sprinted over and threw it open. Byron was crouched down, with his ear where the door was. He fell back in surprise, a goofy smile plastered across his face. 

“I assume you found Atlas’ letter?” he asked.

“Yeah, and it’s gross. Is he really gone?” 

“Yep.”

“Fucking dork!” I yelled as I threw the letter to the ground, stomping on it to ease my frustration.

“What’d he even write?” Byron asked as he smoothed the letter out over his thigh. His eyes widened as his grin became even wider as he began reading.

“Akari, it’s me. I didn’t know how to tell you, but Father’s shipping me off to Canada to live with my aunt. He says it’s to protect me from ‘villains’ but I think he just couldn’t stand the thought of me potentially also having Origin Disease. I feel like if I told you, you would try to come with me or something, so I kept it a secret. You’re strong. You have a great future as a hero ahead of you. Maybe you’ll be the one that finally dethrones Father from that number one spot. Thanks for everything.” 

My face was probably as red as my hair when Byron finished reading. He burst into laughter, clutching his sides as he collapsed, literally gasping for air. 

“Oh my god! That sounds exactly like something he would write! It’s so corny!” 

“Please stop. I think this is worse than any of the love letters you’ve written for me.” Byron shut up quickly as I reminded him that he was just as bad as Atlas, if not worse. At the very least, Atlas never purposefully flirted with me, but would say things that were just really corny. On the other hand, Byron was like public enemy number one when it came to the boys who had crushes on me. 

Against my wishes, tears began to fall from my eyes. Byron’s smile dropped instantly.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m just worried for him,” I said, wiping my face quickly. 

“Please, we both know the dude can fight. He’s been kicking my ass in training without a gift.” he said half-jokingly.

I activated my gift and punched him in the face, making sure to manipulate my own blood to make the punch faster. 

“You don’t understand,” I growled. “Haven’t you noticed how he never smiles?”

Byron’s brow furrowed as he scrunched his face in confusion. “Uh, I see him smile all the time. Especially around you.”

“No. It’s different.” 

My mind flashed back to when I first met Atlas. It was the first day of preschool. My dad told me before dropping me off that his friend’s kid was going to be starting at the same daycare as me, and that he was recently in an accident so to be nice to him. Apart from his underlings in Japan, the only friend I knew he had was Edgewing, the man who overtook him as the number 1 hero worldwide.

To my five-year old mind, this meant that the kid had to be strong, since his dad was stronger than my dad. Unfortunately, when the teacher brought a wimpy looking kid to the front of the class, my interest in him instantly faded. After all, what would some soft, cupid-looking dork be able to do to me in a fight?

As I turned my interest back to my coloring book, from the corner of my eye I noticed that there was a little scar visible from the neckline of his shirt. I let out a little hmph! as I pretended that I didn’t feel guilty for wanting to fight him. It didn’t matter to me though. If he was a wimp, that meant my position as the strongest in the class was safe.

That changed during recess, though. I was minding my own business, when Byron decided to hit me with a ball. I chased him across the playground, eventually cornering him against a fence. He cowered away from me, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how small he was. As he raised his arms to protect himself, he also activated his gift and made a small pink barrier to separate us. 

I snarled and activated my own gift, speeding up my blood flow to make me stronger. I punched right through the barrier and grabbed his collar, throwing him into the fence. 

“Ow!” he complained. “That hurt, you giant turd!” 

He glared at me from the ground with his stupid beady little green eyes. I cracked my knuckles before I responded.

“It’s about to hurt a whole lot more, nerd.”

I ran at him and drop-kicked him, then ground-and-pounded him. The sound of my fists against his forehead reminded me of throwing a bouncy ball at cement. Behind me, I could hear the teachers getting increasingly more worried, murmuring to each other about stopping the fight. 

“Yeah! Throw another ball at me, and find out what happens!” I taunted loudly. “I’m the strongest arou—”

“Stop it!” Atlas yelled as he pushed me off of Byron.

He ran in between us and threw his arms to the side. There were tears at the corners of his eyes and snot running down his nose as he pouted. 

“Leave him alone, you big bully!”

“What did you just call me?” My eye twitched in anger as I scowled at him. 

“You’re a bully!”

“Call me big again and find out what happens, you little baby.” I growled.

“Oh— Sorry. I didn’t mean to, but you’re being a meanie,” he mumbled. 

“Don’t back down now!” I screamed as I rushed him. 

He stepped out of the way, sticking his foot out and pushing my back down to make sure that I tripped. I slid forward a few inches after I hit the ground. My hands and knees stung with cuts, and I could feel blood dripping down my nose.

“If you’re done now, I’ll go grab you a Band-Aid.” Atlas said. Looking back on it, he was probably saying it out of genuine concern, but to me, this was an insult.

I jumped to my feet and rushed him again, arms outstretched. I wanted to throttle him. Before I reached him though, I was looking at the sky. He grabbed my collar and using my own momentum, flipped me over his shoulder. As I landed, all of the air was expelled from my lungs, winding me. Apparently, deciding I wasn’t worth the time, he clicked his tongue and helped Byron up, taking him to the teachers.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I struggled to my feet. Atlas whipped around. He had a look of wonder on his face that was quickly replaced with recognition. It looked like he finally realized who I was. The blood that leaked out from the cuts on my hands and knees floated around me. I supplemented it by forcing more blood outside of my body in order to intimidate him.

I willed the blood towards him, following him as he dodged and rolled out of the way. Cursing his cat-like reflexes, I recalled the blood back in my body to speed myself up. I once again ran at him, but with much more speed. He barely had time to react, bringing his leg up for a kick aimed at my stomach. 

I smirked with glee. It was my win. As I used a little bit of blood to create a shield, I caught Atlas smirking as well. The next thing I knew, his foot switched directions instantly, whipping my temple and knocking me out.

When I came to, I was surrounded by the white walls of the first-aid office. Out of the two cots in the room, I occupied one and Atlas lay in the other. Atlas stared at me, absentmindedly picking dirt from underneath his nails, not giving me his full attention. When he finally snapped back to reality, he smiled at me. 

He had the face of an angel, but his smile carried an indescribable sadness behind it. It was like looking at a martyr forced to bear all the burdens of the world. It was the first time I’d ever seen him smile, but every other smile in the future would also be the same.

“What are you smiling about?” I snarled. “You happy you beat me without using your gift? Am I that pathetic?”

“No, I—” he began to say.

“Or is your gift a mutant-type that makes you super strong?” I cut him off.

“I don’t have a gift, you idiot!” Atlas yelled, incensed. 

Before I could accuse him of being a liar, a sharp whistle cut through the tension in the room. 

“Been a while since you’ve gotten angry like that, Atlas.” A deep voice said from the doorway. 

“E-Edgewing?” I stammered nervously. 

“Father?” Atlas asked at the same time. 

Behind Edgewing was Elemix, and both of my parents. I quickly smoothed out my skirt, dusting it off in an attempt to make myself presentable in front of my idol. My father may have been the third-ranked hero, but if I was asked who I wanted to be like, my answer would always be Atlas’ father.

My father quickly pushed past Edgewing’s folded wings and kneeled in front of me, clasping my hands. I rolled my eyes, ready to hear the stern lecture that would follow.

“Is it true, Akari? Tell me it’s not true!”

“Yes, papa. I’m sorry, I know you told me to be nice to him but he—”

“No, I mean did you seriously lose to Victor’s boy?” he interrupted.

I nodded my head silently. A look of pure misery washed over my father’s face. Edgewing let out a snort, trying to hold back his laughter. Despite trying to contain it, he quickly burst out into bellowing laughter.

“That’s hilarious! Hey Akaza, what was that you said? That no matter how prodigious my Atlas was, that Akari was better? What now, huh? Oh my god, this is priceless!” he howled as he crouched next to my father to poke him in the ribs with his elbow. 

“You’re not… mad?” I asked, although I wasn’t sure which of the fathers I was asking. 

Edgewing put a hand on my shoulder. “Of course not,” he said. “Do you even know how many fights I’ve had with your dad? I’m actually happy that it happened. It’s not like fighting is against the rules. After all, children should be able to learn how to use their gifts.”

Unfortunately, we weren’t off the hook yet. 

“What do you mean, it’s fine, you dolt!” Elemix said as she smacked her husband upside the head. “Atlas Obsidian, I raised you better than this. No video games for a month!”

“Yes, Mother,” Atlas said remorsefully.

“And you! Akari Chisuke,” my mother seethed. “I let you watch a little bit of my dramas and you take on the mindset of a villain? No TV for a month! You’re grounded!”

Our parents chatted among themselves for a while before agreeing that it would be nice to bring us to a restaurant to get us acquainted with each other. On our way out of the school, Edgewing pulled me to the side.

“Hey, kiddo. I just wanted to thank you for today. As you might know, Atlas was recently in an accident. Today’s the first time since then that I’ve seen him angry. It was like he was holding himself back for a while, and it was really beginning to worry Etsuko, so thank you.”

“Y-yes,” I stuttered nervously. 

“Earth to Akari!” Byron’s voice snapped me out of my memory. “What do you mean he doesn’t smile?”

“Doesn’t he always seem sad when he smiles?” I asked. “Like he thinks he’s not allowed to be happy?”

“I think you’re imagining things,” was all Byron said before skipping out of the room, warning me not to be late for class before leaving me with the letter.

“Whatever,” I said, slamming the letter on top of my desk. “Stupid Atlas.”