It was my second week of being the new student from America at
Juuban High School in Japan. It was now friday and my last class was
just about ready to end. In order to leave, we had to demonstrate our
ability to preform an over-the-hip throw off of an attacker punching
at you. I moved to the very end of the line, hoping that everyone
would be gone by the time I got up to the front of the line. Unlike
everyone else in the class, I had never once taken a karate class and
I wasn't very athletic either. To my horror, Lita Kino decided to
wait in line right behind me with her friend Amy. Lita was the tallest
girl in the class and could easily take on any guy in the whole room.
I really didn't want to look stupid in front of her when I wouldn't be
able to toss the attacker. I had tried endlessly with my partner the
entire class period and couldn't manage to do it. I turned sideways
and rested my back up against the wall. This gave me the perfect view
of her without staring directly at her. She really was gorgeous. I
loved the way her brown hair was put into a stylish ponytail. It was the
whole cute-without-trying-to-be look and it really did work well for
her. Unfortunetly, I had no chance with her. I wasn't athletic or a
fighter by any stretch of the imagination. Besides, she seemed to have
a steady relationship with Ken, even if they had only been together
for a little under a month.
" Hi, Ryan. Are you enjoying Japan so far?" Amy asked, bringing me out
of my daydream of Lita.
" It's...different," I replied, not really wanting to give her my real
answer.
Currently, I had moved to Japan to live with my father, who hated me
with a passion. The only reason I came was because mom was going through
rehab again and my grandparents were touring Europe right now. Because
of my father, I hated being here. I only knew a few people and my
Japanese was a little rusty.
" Oh, well...I'm sure if you give it time, you'll enjoy it here," Amy
said.
" I went surfing in America about a year ago. You guys get such good
waves. I bet you surfed like every single day back home didn't you?"
Lita questioned, her eyes sparkling with the memory.
" Um, no. Surfing's really not my thing."
" Oh," she responded. She looked down at the ground for a minute before
asking," Hey, there's a group of us heading down to the Crown Arcade
after class ends. You want to come?"
" It'll be fun," Amy added.
" Sure, why not," I said after taking a minute to decide how much
arriving home late without calling would piss my dad off.
That's when I realized that I was next in line. I stepped onto the mat
as the person infront of me exited after completing a perfect throw.
'What I would give to be able to do this right now,' I thought as I
I got into the ready position. I glanced over to see if Lita was
watching. She was.
I blocked the punch okay and slid my foot into place. I hooked the
persons head and pulled as hard as I could to get them to flip over
my hip. I failed miserably and fell over because I was off balance.
Jason, who was my pretend attacker currently, started laughing at me.
Of course, he had every reason to. He was one of the best in the class.
The teacher let out a loud sigh as I pulled myself back up.
" Keep trying, Ryan. You'll get it eventually. Have you considered maybe
lifting weights or something? You know, just to get you a bit stronger?"
the teacher asked while Jason shoved me off of the mat, causing me to
trip.
Embarrased that I had tripped over the mat, I quickly walked out of the
gym with my head down, trying my hardest to not hear the laughter coming
from the small group of people left inside.
* * *
It was seven at night and I was stuck sitting in front of the tv with my
father. After class had ended, I ditched the whole arcade idea and just
came straight home. On the tv, some stupid sports program was on.
Suddenly, my dad looks over at me with this disgusted look on his face.
" Boy, how come you don't do anything great like that?" he questioned me
while pointing his finger at the tv screen," Ya know, I was an all-state
champ for football in my Junior year. How come you haven't done anything
great with your life?"
I rolled my eyes as I picked up my black jacket, CD player,and
sketchbook. With a quick goodbye, I left the house and headed towards a
park I had gone to everynight for the past week. It was fully of cherry
blossoms and if I went in far enough, I could sit by a small lake and
draw peacefully.
I sat down with my back against a large tree and started to draw
absentmindedly. The sounds of heavy metal filled my ears as I cranked
the volume on my CD player up high. After a few moments, I realized
that there was someone standing beside me. I pulled off my headphones
and glanced over to see a tall man wearing a white suit. His long,
redish-brown hair took flight behind him when the wind suddenly picked
up.
" I couldn't help but notice your picture. Is she somebody that you
know?"
I looked down, suprised to see a perfect drawing of Lita. I hadn't even
realized that I was drawing her.
" Um...yeah."
" Is she that pretty or are you just that good at drawing people?"
" Oh no, she is...pretty," I said, suddenly embarrased to be talking
about Lita to a total stranger when I didn't even know her that well.
" I see that you like her a lot. Her name is Lita, isn't it? She has
two classes with you up at the high school."
" How'd you know that? Who are you?"
" You can call me Nephrite, Ryan. I know everything. I know that you
want to join the air force and fly planes when you turn 18. I know that
you hate your father. You feel out of place here. You wish you were
stronger. You wish to please both your father and Lita. You wish your
middle name wasn't Francis. I know you stole ten bucks from your mother
when you were six so that you could buy some comic book that you threw
away a year later, even though it would have been worth a bundle right
now. You've played the guitar since you were ten. Want me to tell you
anything else?"
" How...how did you know all of that?"
" Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. Does it matter? I'm here to make you a deal."
" Deal? I don't know how you knew all that stuff about me, but I'm
really not interested in anything you could offer me right now."
" Quite the contrary. I can give you everything you want. Just name it,
and it's yours! Anything you could possibly want. How about Lita? Do
you want her to fall head over heels for you? How about your dad? You
want him to show you respect? Consider it done! Anything you could
dream of!"
" You can't do all of that! Besides, there's got to be a catch
somewhere."
" Hm... I see I have a non believer here. Let's just do something
simple here."
He held out his hand towards me. A yellow ball began to grow on his
outstrecthed palm. He chanted a few words, causing the ball to expand
to twice its size. Suddenly, it came flying at me and hit my forehead
before I had a chance to get out of its way. My forehead stung for a
few seconds, but the pain instantly went away.
" What the hell did you just do?" I questioned as I ran my fingers
over the area.
" To prove my power to you. Now, start flying."
" Excuse me?"
" Try flying. Just jump in the air and go soar around for a bit."
I looked at the man like he was crazy. He gave me an impacient stare
before he grabbed my jacket and pulled me off of the ground. The next
thing I knew, I was tossed in the air towards the lake. As I started
to move in a downwards arc towards the water, I started to wish to
go up instead of down into the water. Right before I hit the water, I
suddenly felt the wind fly by my face. I was flying upwards! As soon
as I was flying over ground again, I suddenly lost control and fell
back down to the ground.
" Do you believe me now, Ryan? Of course you do. Now about this deal.
You are still interested of course?" Nephrite asked as he helped me up.
" Um.. Maybe. What's the deal?"
" Quite simple actually. You help me and I'll help you. I'll give
you whatever you want if you promise to help me. All I want from you
in exchange is a little help. You see, I need energy. Human energy.
Don't ask why, I just need it, okay? That's where you come in. You
can pick anyone you want, boy, girl, whatever. I'll give you some
powers to help you too. All you have to do is suck it out of them.
Sort of like a vampire would. Same way even, with the teeth and all.
When you do, it will collect into this little necklace thingy and
it will be sent to me. It doesn't even kill people, it's as good
as harmless. So what do you say? You've heard my deal, so what do
you think? You game?"
" It doesn't kill people?"
" Not at all. It puts them asleep for a few hours. That's all."
" And you'll give me whatever I want? No matter how much I ask for?"
" Don't get greedy on me. I will do what I can. Name what you want,
and I'll grant you it right now. Deal?"
" Um...I guess so."
" Perfect. What'll it be?"
" I want to be stronger. I want my dad to treat me with respect. I
want to have all of the qualities that it would take for Lita to
fall in love with me...."
" Good start for now. If you think of anything else, we will take
care of it later. Now, go home and go to sleep. I'll talk to you
tomorrow when you wake up. By then, you should be the ' new you'."
Juuban High School in Japan. It was now friday and my last class was
just about ready to end. In order to leave, we had to demonstrate our
ability to preform an over-the-hip throw off of an attacker punching
at you. I moved to the very end of the line, hoping that everyone
would be gone by the time I got up to the front of the line. Unlike
everyone else in the class, I had never once taken a karate class and
I wasn't very athletic either. To my horror, Lita Kino decided to
wait in line right behind me with her friend Amy. Lita was the tallest
girl in the class and could easily take on any guy in the whole room.
I really didn't want to look stupid in front of her when I wouldn't be
able to toss the attacker. I had tried endlessly with my partner the
entire class period and couldn't manage to do it. I turned sideways
and rested my back up against the wall. This gave me the perfect view
of her without staring directly at her. She really was gorgeous. I
loved the way her brown hair was put into a stylish ponytail. It was the
whole cute-without-trying-to-be look and it really did work well for
her. Unfortunetly, I had no chance with her. I wasn't athletic or a
fighter by any stretch of the imagination. Besides, she seemed to have
a steady relationship with Ken, even if they had only been together
for a little under a month.
" Hi, Ryan. Are you enjoying Japan so far?" Amy asked, bringing me out
of my daydream of Lita.
" It's...different," I replied, not really wanting to give her my real
answer.
Currently, I had moved to Japan to live with my father, who hated me
with a passion. The only reason I came was because mom was going through
rehab again and my grandparents were touring Europe right now. Because
of my father, I hated being here. I only knew a few people and my
Japanese was a little rusty.
" Oh, well...I'm sure if you give it time, you'll enjoy it here," Amy
said.
" I went surfing in America about a year ago. You guys get such good
waves. I bet you surfed like every single day back home didn't you?"
Lita questioned, her eyes sparkling with the memory.
" Um, no. Surfing's really not my thing."
" Oh," she responded. She looked down at the ground for a minute before
asking," Hey, there's a group of us heading down to the Crown Arcade
after class ends. You want to come?"
" It'll be fun," Amy added.
" Sure, why not," I said after taking a minute to decide how much
arriving home late without calling would piss my dad off.
That's when I realized that I was next in line. I stepped onto the mat
as the person infront of me exited after completing a perfect throw.
'What I would give to be able to do this right now,' I thought as I
I got into the ready position. I glanced over to see if Lita was
watching. She was.
I blocked the punch okay and slid my foot into place. I hooked the
persons head and pulled as hard as I could to get them to flip over
my hip. I failed miserably and fell over because I was off balance.
Jason, who was my pretend attacker currently, started laughing at me.
Of course, he had every reason to. He was one of the best in the class.
The teacher let out a loud sigh as I pulled myself back up.
" Keep trying, Ryan. You'll get it eventually. Have you considered maybe
lifting weights or something? You know, just to get you a bit stronger?"
the teacher asked while Jason shoved me off of the mat, causing me to
trip.
Embarrased that I had tripped over the mat, I quickly walked out of the
gym with my head down, trying my hardest to not hear the laughter coming
from the small group of people left inside.
* * *
It was seven at night and I was stuck sitting in front of the tv with my
father. After class had ended, I ditched the whole arcade idea and just
came straight home. On the tv, some stupid sports program was on.
Suddenly, my dad looks over at me with this disgusted look on his face.
" Boy, how come you don't do anything great like that?" he questioned me
while pointing his finger at the tv screen," Ya know, I was an all-state
champ for football in my Junior year. How come you haven't done anything
great with your life?"
I rolled my eyes as I picked up my black jacket, CD player,and
sketchbook. With a quick goodbye, I left the house and headed towards a
park I had gone to everynight for the past week. It was fully of cherry
blossoms and if I went in far enough, I could sit by a small lake and
draw peacefully.
I sat down with my back against a large tree and started to draw
absentmindedly. The sounds of heavy metal filled my ears as I cranked
the volume on my CD player up high. After a few moments, I realized
that there was someone standing beside me. I pulled off my headphones
and glanced over to see a tall man wearing a white suit. His long,
redish-brown hair took flight behind him when the wind suddenly picked
up.
" I couldn't help but notice your picture. Is she somebody that you
know?"
I looked down, suprised to see a perfect drawing of Lita. I hadn't even
realized that I was drawing her.
" Um...yeah."
" Is she that pretty or are you just that good at drawing people?"
" Oh no, she is...pretty," I said, suddenly embarrased to be talking
about Lita to a total stranger when I didn't even know her that well.
" I see that you like her a lot. Her name is Lita, isn't it? She has
two classes with you up at the high school."
" How'd you know that? Who are you?"
" You can call me Nephrite, Ryan. I know everything. I know that you
want to join the air force and fly planes when you turn 18. I know that
you hate your father. You feel out of place here. You wish you were
stronger. You wish to please both your father and Lita. You wish your
middle name wasn't Francis. I know you stole ten bucks from your mother
when you were six so that you could buy some comic book that you threw
away a year later, even though it would have been worth a bundle right
now. You've played the guitar since you were ten. Want me to tell you
anything else?"
" How...how did you know all of that?"
" Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. Does it matter? I'm here to make you a deal."
" Deal? I don't know how you knew all that stuff about me, but I'm
really not interested in anything you could offer me right now."
" Quite the contrary. I can give you everything you want. Just name it,
and it's yours! Anything you could possibly want. How about Lita? Do
you want her to fall head over heels for you? How about your dad? You
want him to show you respect? Consider it done! Anything you could
dream of!"
" You can't do all of that! Besides, there's got to be a catch
somewhere."
" Hm... I see I have a non believer here. Let's just do something
simple here."
He held out his hand towards me. A yellow ball began to grow on his
outstrecthed palm. He chanted a few words, causing the ball to expand
to twice its size. Suddenly, it came flying at me and hit my forehead
before I had a chance to get out of its way. My forehead stung for a
few seconds, but the pain instantly went away.
" What the hell did you just do?" I questioned as I ran my fingers
over the area.
" To prove my power to you. Now, start flying."
" Excuse me?"
" Try flying. Just jump in the air and go soar around for a bit."
I looked at the man like he was crazy. He gave me an impacient stare
before he grabbed my jacket and pulled me off of the ground. The next
thing I knew, I was tossed in the air towards the lake. As I started
to move in a downwards arc towards the water, I started to wish to
go up instead of down into the water. Right before I hit the water, I
suddenly felt the wind fly by my face. I was flying upwards! As soon
as I was flying over ground again, I suddenly lost control and fell
back down to the ground.
" Do you believe me now, Ryan? Of course you do. Now about this deal.
You are still interested of course?" Nephrite asked as he helped me up.
" Um.. Maybe. What's the deal?"
" Quite simple actually. You help me and I'll help you. I'll give
you whatever you want if you promise to help me. All I want from you
in exchange is a little help. You see, I need energy. Human energy.
Don't ask why, I just need it, okay? That's where you come in. You
can pick anyone you want, boy, girl, whatever. I'll give you some
powers to help you too. All you have to do is suck it out of them.
Sort of like a vampire would. Same way even, with the teeth and all.
When you do, it will collect into this little necklace thingy and
it will be sent to me. It doesn't even kill people, it's as good
as harmless. So what do you say? You've heard my deal, so what do
you think? You game?"
" It doesn't kill people?"
" Not at all. It puts them asleep for a few hours. That's all."
" And you'll give me whatever I want? No matter how much I ask for?"
" Don't get greedy on me. I will do what I can. Name what you want,
and I'll grant you it right now. Deal?"
" Um...I guess so."
" Perfect. What'll it be?"
" I want to be stronger. I want my dad to treat me with respect. I
want to have all of the qualities that it would take for Lita to
fall in love with me...."
" Good start for now. If you think of anything else, we will take
care of it later. Now, go home and go to sleep. I'll talk to you
tomorrow when you wake up. By then, you should be the ' new you'."