JACK

I winced as the metal rod grazed my bloodied cheek. I reared back, the taste of more blood filling my mouth. I was losing this fight. I weakly swung all I had to defend myself, which was a crowbar that I had found on the ground. The metal rod hit me square in the chest this time, causing me to drop my weapon. My opponent sneered as blood dripped from my mouth.

"I always knew you were a bad fighter Jack, but not this bad." He pushed the rod into my chest causing me to cringe. I hated him. Chris was always someone who thought he was better than everyone else. Almost everyone hated him as well, but now that I was practically at his mercy, I hated him to the core.

"Well? Are you going to get up or what?" I simply responded with a sniff, moving myself up against the wall of the alley. I stood up trying to not show any pain, but my leg was cut in several places from his relentless attacks. I wiped my forehead, picking up my crowbar. I closed my eyes, taking a swing. Chris just barely managed to escape it, it slightly cutting his arm. He went in for another attack, which was blocked with a meet of powers. The metal clanged together echoing through the alley. I felt a second wind, allowing me to put in a ton lot more of strength to the parry. Chris was thrown back into the wall from the force of me winning the struggle. He sank down against the cold brick, him losing consciousness. I dropped my crowbar, it landing with a clang. I left, wiping blood off my face.

When I arrived home, I went to first wipe off my face. I stared down at the bloodied rag, which was now almost fully red from my blood. I sighed, throwing it in the trash. I looked at the rest of my wounds, which were, luckily, few in numbers. I bandaged those that looked bad enough to get infected. I changed my clothes next, trying to relax from what just happened. I had beaten Chris, but I knew this wouldn't be the end of the hate between us. How would I know this? I had beaten him, in a fight. Besides being known for acting like a jerk, he has a reputation for being a good fighter. I laid down on my bed, staring at the ceiling for what seemed to be hours. I couldn't just go getting into fights like this again, especially since it was only the second day of Christmas break. I got up eventually, moving to my fridge. I pulled out a can of cola, which I drank in a short time. I also had noticed I needed more groceries, so I went out to pick some up. As I was walking to the grocery store, I knocked into someone who would change my life. Forever.

I had bumped into someone who was at least two inches taller than me. He was strangely wearing a white bandana with red markings over his mouth, along with headphones that completely covered his ears. He looked down at me with bright hazel eyes, his matching brown hair covering his left eye.

"Uh.. Sorry?" He looked up, gave the slightest of a nod, and began past me. I watched him move away from me, processing how peculiar he was. As I turned to continue my trip, I noticed something shining on the ground. It was the necklace that belonged to the person. As I picked it up, the cyan shards that were locked into it began to glow. White light filled my eyes, then almost immediately left, causing me to see spots. As my vision began to clear, I realized I was no longer in the city. The necklace was gone, and it appeared that I was in some sort of dark place. I stepped forward, which caused rocks to crumble below me. Unlike normal rocks, these were rust red in color. They landed with a splash into a giant lake of pure magma. I rubbed my eyes, hoping that this was all just me being delusional. When I opened them, I saw a faint building in the distance. It sat upon a large plain, with lava flowing out of the cliff below. I looked behind me, but I was only able to catch a glimpse of my surroundings before being lifted into the air. I tried frantically to escape, but settled after realizing that if I were to escape, I would fall into lava. I was set down in the citadel quietly roughly, as I stumbled forward to catch myself from falling. The thing that picked me up landed beside me. I stared at it-at her for about a minute. She was a girl with auburn hair, shining viridian eyes, and most importantly she had wings that seemed to be white as snow, except that we were probably in hell and there probably isn't any snow in hell. She held out her hand, which I glanced at. I looked back up at her, and she motioned me to take it. I put my hand in hers, us soaring into the air again. I covered my eyes as we began to wobble while in flight. I opened them to see myself being put down again in a different part of the castle-like building. This time, in front of me stood a boy who looked about my age. He had white hair with harsh looking crimson eyes that seemed to stare into my very soul.

"Sori, who is this clown?" The boy asked.

"Oh, him? I don't know, I found him by the Plain of Echoes." The girl whose name was apparently "Sori" replied.

"So you just picked him up and brought him here. He's probably human, you know that, right?"

"Don't you get mad at me Aro! You're the one who always suggests killing mortals!"

"That's because they have no special talents or abilities whatsoever, and you should know that! You didn't have any powers as an angel!" I watched the two argue back and forth with a somewhat confused stare. The male, Aro, looked to me and gave a scowl. I sighed, a bit stressed that someone was insulting me while I was watching. I stepped back as a third person joined the group. I realized that he was the one who had ran into me and dropped his necklace. He took off his headphones, letting them slide to his neck.

"You two stop arguing about him, I brought him here for a reason." he said in a quiet voice.

"Really?" Said Aro, "What will bringing a puny human do fo-" His words were cut off as the mysterious man's hand was slapped over his mouth.

"I said shut up, Aroein. He's supposed to be here, because he's a reaper."

"I'm a what now?" I responded.

"Wait, he doesn't know he was supposed to be a reaper?" said Sori. She put her hands over her mouth as she gasped, and the tall boy let out a sigh. I caught a small glimpse at Aroein sitting over in the corner muttering something.

"If he knew he was a reaper, do you think he wouldn't know what the word 'reaper' meant?"

"Well, no, but I was just making sure!" said the girl in an upbeat tone. The still unknown male let out another sigh, and reached into his pocket. He held out his hand, a ruby crystal die sitting in his palm. Instead of being like normal dice, it had three white dots on every side.
"Uh, what is that thing?" I asked in a slightly confused manner.

"It's a die." he responded in a flat tone, "It's used to signify myself as a reaper. You'll eventually get another object for yourself, don't worry." He looked upwards, then looked back at me. "Oh, my name is Kanji by the way. You also have to go now to see the Headmaster. Bye." I stuttered something before the floor dropped below me and I plunged into pure darkness.

AROEIN

I shrugged as I stood up from the corner.
"I still don't like that guy, even if he was supposed to be a reaper. He's still human now."

"That doesn't matter, he will become one shortly." said Kanji.

"I don't care, I spent my whole life training here, and he can just walk in and just be one." I retorted.

"He has practically been fighting his whole life too. He wasn't exactly the best student."

"Whatever." I looked over at Sori, who was busy messing with a Rubik's cube, despite her being colorblind. Kanji put his headphones back on, leaving the area. I let out a sigh, and dragged Sori by her wing out of the room.

"Come on, you slug."

"No, no! I almost got it!" She yelled in protest as she was pulled through the door.

"Aren't you tired? You know, from today's training?"

"No! Not at all!" She responded. I sighed again, as I let her try to finish her Rubik's cube. I opened the door to my room near the end of the hallway, stepping inside. My first instinct was to check the fridge, but I wasn't particularly hungry right now. Not very thirsty either. Luckily the rooms weren't steaming hot from the environment. I sat down on my bed. The mirror on my wall stared back at me almost sinisterly. I never really did like mirrors, something about them put me on edge. Several knick-knacks were sorted about my room, which I had collect over the years of training to become a reaper. I remembered when I had first met my greatest friend, Sori. She started training a little after I had first started. It seems like we don't talk as much as we used to, but we are like brother and sister. If I knew what that was like to have one...I'm sure it's close to that feeling. Almost everyone else here hates me. At least...I think. I don't get along well with anyone besides her. Sori burst into my room.

"Got it!" She shouted. She handed the Rubik's cube to me. Some of the colors were mixed up. "Nice job." I chuckled. I tossed it up into the air and caught it.

"Here. Take it." Sori replied with a nod and a laugh, and walked out of my room, shutting the door. I turned my head to my dresser. A metal mask, with various carvings, and two evenly set circles in the top. It helped me calm down at most moments when I wore it. For fun, I'd usually scratch different symbols into it, each having a different meaning.. I yawned loudly, forgetting how tired I was. I flopped backwards onto my bed, closing my eyes. My vision blurred as I fell into slumber.

My vision flashed to a hot summer day. I was in the middle of a forest. No. A park. The laughter of children echoed throughout the area.

"Aro? " A voice called for my attention, startling me. I turned to be greeted by Sori's face.

"Uh, wh-" I was quickly cut off, and I could notice she looked irritated. Maybe she had asked me a question?

"You weren't even paying attention, were you?" I scratched the back of my head nervously.

"Uh.." I muttered, "No, I wasn't." Sori let out a sigh.

"Well, what I was saying was that Sin wanted us to go to the training hall, so we need to stop by the forest for a secluded place to warp. Taking the route from the coffee shop and through the subway is the quickest way to get there."

"Maybe we can get a coffee when we pass by?" I responded.

"No, we won't have enough time to make a pit-stop." She sighed yet again. "I wish we could though, i'm worn out."

"Seems like Sin is working really hard though. He's sleeping all day after training!" I complained.

"Well I can't blame him. He really wants the respect from headmaster. I'm noticing you do too." She retorted.

Time had passed so quickly from the conversation that I didn't notice we already made it to the subway. It was surprisingly crowded.

"Work day?" I suggested. Too many mortals. I was absolutely craving bloodshed. It was almost unbearable how many there were. Voices raised as a robotic voice came over a speaker. "The train will arrive shortly. Please prepare your luggage and enter the train in an orderly fashion." The voice continued on to instructions, but I zoned it out. Sori had pushed her way through the crowd, trying to pass by to see the train pull in. I had a feeling a dread that punched me in the gut, and chilled me to the bone. Time almost stopped, and my legs felt weak. The train edged closer in my vision. But what felt wrong here? Something...was...missing...what was it that made me fe- Sori fell onto the tracks. The train screamed in the sparks of brakes. It was too late. Her body exploded in front of my very eyes. I screamed, as well as the humans did. Shock. Panic. Hatred. Guiltiness. Why wasn't I there!? I could have been there just to...stop it! I covered my ears as the sound made me almost insane. Why wouldn't the sound stop!? My fingers tore into my head. I wanted to rip my ears off, to just try to end the noise.

Red painted the walls as the train came to a halt. I screamed her name. Over. And over. And over. And over. The scene replayed in my mind, as a large grin spread across my face. I laughed. But the painting of the scene was beautiful.

It was then that I woke up. I fought the urge to scream. It happened again. Like before.

I was in total shock, I ran to my dresser and ripped my mask off of it's stand. I almost slammed it onto my face. The world turned to normal and became peaceful. It's just a dream. I told myself. But this couldn't last very long. This is not healthy, and these nightmares need to end. Before it gets all too real to be a dream.

I walked out from the hallway of our building later after the...mishap. Familiar faces greeted me with a wave and a nod. Was this another dream? I couldn't remember. Wait. No. This was real.

I looked horrible. I at least had my hair normal, but I knew panic and fear was a familiar sign in my eyes. Was this another thing that everyone could point out, and proceed to antagonize me about? I'd have to wait and see.

"Hey." I bluntly said. I had a feeling this was going to be a long morning...