Rikunai: Genesis

Chapter Thirteen: Reasons

Gyra's fingers flew across the keys of the laptop the school provided him. His exceptional skill with technology had allowed him to essentially override the school administration on the computer without them noticing, allowing him to have full reign over the device. It was dark in his bedroom, just how he liked it. It wasn't unusual for him to stay awake until the early hours of the morning, as he didn't sleep much. He hated sleeping.

Gyra's throat ached as he realized he hadn't drunk anything in several hours. Sighing, he shut his laptop and hopped off of his bed. His apartment was extremely bare, with the most basic furniture being present. It was only a one-bedroom flat, so there wasn't much walking to be had. He stepped into his kitchen and looked at the bare counters. The fridge wasn't covered in magnets or mementos signaling a life of adventure, but it was bare, white, and almost empty. Thankfully, it had a water dispenser, one of the few amenities Gyra was provided by the state. There simply wasn't enough infrastructure or people to take care of orphans like him and Tiomoyo, so Gyra lived alone. He had a roof over his head, sure, but this house wasn't a home.

Gyra obtained most of his food from the cafeteria building on the gargantuan Academy campus. The entire complex was the size of a small town with buildings towering over ten stories tall, and every single other potential academic need for the various types of students was filled. Gyra couldn't deny the grandeur of the site, but at the same time, he despised it. He hated the school system, and how it essentially prepared children from the age of six or seven to be a tool for the military state. He couldn't deny the extreme benefits of the job, as he was reluctantly pursuing it for his own personal gain and to stay with Tiomoyo, but still, he didn't like it. Then again, he never really had a choice. He was borderline forced into this lifestyle the moment his parents left this world. Nonetheless, he knew his parents would be more than happy to see Gyra just above the poverty line. When he was younger, his family was extremely poor after the exodus from Sinrami. Gyra was homeless for a couple of years, but he was always loved. When they finally settled into a half-decent apartment in the slums of the developing city, Gyra felt rich. Now, he felt poorer than when he moved to this city.

Gyra finished pouring himself a glass of water and looked at the training sword on his television supporting table. Tiomoyo had pestered Raja to buy him one when he was gifted his, and eventually, Gyra received this gift. At the time, Gyra was overjoyed, but as time went on... Well, he was beginning to see the world for what it truly was. It was a cold, hard, unforgiving place that harbored mostly evil, and the occasional good person was stamped out eventually.

I wonder what Tiomoyo is doing right now...

Gyra was reminded that he had set off with Raja to train for the upcoming duel. It dawned on him that Tiomoyo was likely already ahead of Gyra.

You deserve it.

Gyra slammed his fist against the wooden table he used as a dining table. It shook and splintered ever so slightly at the point of impact. One of the splinters lodged itself into Gyra's palm, digging deep into the skin of the almost fifteen-year-old boy. He pulled it out and watched as the moonlight lit the maroon liquid sliding down the shard of wood. Gyra used the small amount of Life-form he knew to fix the table, rearranging the wood and making it solid again. Blood ran down his palm and onto the tile with slow, rhythmic drops. Gyra didn't seem to be bothered by the wound, but he was bothered by the mess. He washed and wrapped his hand before taking a paper towel and wiping the tile clean of his blood.

Gyra returned to his bedroom and flipped open the laptop, staring at the many videos and images of the disaster in Jacansko. His notes were alongside them, forming a proper digital posterboard of a conspiracy he was researching. Recently, he had noticed a popular thread on an online forum for conspiracy theorists like himself showing the image of a man with black and silver hair glowing with an orange aura during the disaster. Another photo showed this man with orange, blazing hair not unlike Gyra's, but neon, and his eyes were as black as the night.