Akira opened the door.
The house he lived in was pretty small and old, the walls being made out of bricks that needed maintenance very often in order to not collapse, which was not cheap. But they couldn't afford to move elsewhere. Inside the house was quiet, which probably meant his sister was sleeping. She was 5, but despite that, she was still sleeping with her mom. The boy thought it was pretty weird. He knew it was because the house was small and had no place for her to have a room.
But it was much easier for him to ignore that.
As he was going towards his room, he heard a voice calling him.
"Akira, come here."
It came from the kitchen. He could see a faint light coming from there. 'Tsk' he thought, knowing he was about to get lectured.
The kitchen was pretty small, with a few drawers and a kind of stone furnace. It had a round table in the middle. On it there was a candle, and somewhere close to it sat his mom. She had red hair and looked older than she really was. The cause was stress.
The truth was that Akira caused a lot of problems for his parents along the years and no matter what they did, they couldn't stop him from doing what he wanted.
He knew all that.
"Sit down" said his mom in a tired tone. "Can I have some food?" Asked the boy as he sat at the round table, facing his mother.
"What have you been up to today?" His mom ignored the question. The boy wondered what she was talking about. "I played outside with my friends."
"Friends? Really?" Asked his mom with a cold look. Akira obviously had no friends as he just wanted everyone to do what he told them and saw them as inferior.
Just then, a man entered the room, his dad.
"I put Lili to sleep" he said, then turned his attention towards Akira. "Welcome home" he said as he sat somewhere near his mom, both facing him.
For some reason, something told the boy he wasn't getting any food.
"So..." said his dad. "I hear you like to make fun of other boys." Sweat started to roll down Akira's forehead 'They know? But how? How come they find out now? Was I too careless about something?' He started to panic a bit, but managed to look calm.
"What are you talking about?"
His dad slammed the table.
"You lied to us all this time, didn't you? Our neighbor came today and complained that their son went missing today. Apparently they were last seen running after you. And we know from some friends of ours what you like to do in your free time."
Akira was a bit shocked by how his dad was yelling at him.
"They are around the outskirts somewhere, don't worry." He didn't even finish talking that his dad punched him in the face.
It hurt. It hurt a lot.
He could see blood dripping from his nose.
"What the fuck did you do?" He told his dad, angry.
His dad punched the table. "Do you know how much money we had to pay over the years for all you've done, why do you think we don't have a better house? Why do you think Lili won't have a proper childhood? She is only five! She shouldn't live like this!" He snarled. "Look at us, we are so tired, we work so hard to fix up all of the shit you do!"
A loud cry came from another room, it was his sister. His mom quickly stood up and rushed out of the kitchen.
Akira turned to his dad. "See? You woke her up."
His dad punched him again. This time so hard that he lost his consciousness.
It was already day by the time he woke up. Akira looked around, he was in his room. It was a small room, with space only for a desk, bed and a wardrobe. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. Not simply locked, but with magic. He could tell since he had the same sensation as when he was using it.
He wondered if his parents also knew about that detail, the fact that he could use magic, but quickly changed his mind as he noticed the window wasn't reinforced.
Despite their house being small, they still had a second floor, and the only room there was Akira's.
The boy easily jumped out the window, frustarted and angry at his parents, using magic to prevent him from hurting himself. For some reason getting down without being hurt took a bigger toll on Akira than just jumping really high.
He was really hungry, and after stealing something to eat, he decided to go to the beach and experiment. He wanted to know the extent of what he could do with his magic. Luckily, he didn't have to walk too much as the beach was pretty close to his town and house.
It was a nice place, the sand was soft, the water calm and blue, and the view was beautiful.
When Akira got there, he sat down.
The boy tried to recall how what he was doing to use magic but although it felt like he was almost there, he just couldn't grasp it. Akira just knew he was gathering some sort of energy from around him and turned it into magic inside his body.
He started to punch the sand. Except this time nothing happened. Was it because he was actually trying to do something?
Usually, Akira would just do it instinctively.
Eventually, the boy gave up and laid on the shore, frustrated. He didn't even notice the footsteps behind him.
"Hey there." Said a man.
Akira jumped, surprised.
"Oh, hello. What do you want?" Said the boy, still frustrated.
In front of him stood a man. He was old, but had a well built body and a small scar above his eye. His hair was short and white, with a small part of it being burnt.
"I couldn't help but observe you." The man sat next to Akira. "Why are you punching the sand?"
"Who are you?" The boy ignored his question.
"Hey now, each one of us asks one question, we take turns. Ok?"
"Fine. I am trying to understand how magic works. Now your turn."
"Interesting." Said the man. He seemed a bit confused. "Anyway, I am but a mere traveller."
"You are lying." The old man did not look like a traveller, he looked like he was a warrior, and Akira assumed he must have known about magic.
"You know about magic, dont you?" Said the boy.
He paused. The old man didn't say anything. "Hey, teach me about magic!"
The man stood up. "No."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Akira. You are not ready. Nothing good awaits if you learn about magic now. You are not the type of person who deserves to possess magical powers."
He started to walk away.
"Hey, wait!"
"When you find out truly why you need magic, come find me. I will be here."
He disappeared.