Black Or Blue

Lift Off

My mom
Is one of a kind.
She doesn't like going out, because she's different from everyone else. "They wouldn't understand.
Bad things would happen." She says.
So I'm the one who gets stuck with all the errands.
She's rarely seen,and because of this, some question her existence.
But I first handedly can tell you that she is very real, and very special to me.
You see, I have no biological parents.
I heard that they were killed in a very big explosion with no way of survival.
Apparently some had knowledge of this and had taken time to sneak infants like me out of the country.
Yea. It was that big.

The person who did it was held responsible for their actions though, and I have a very capable replacement for what i can't remember loosing so long ago.
To this day she has taken care of me and all my necessities. Including my expensive eating habits.

Mother tells me to keep my life in our house a secret. She says it's because the outside world is completely different and that we need to keep to their social practices and laws or very bad things could happen.
I didn't know what to say to that because gennjis, my best friend, has an abnormal life as well.
He is in fact my only friend and I had the feeling we might become close since the day I met him.

It was hot in the village that afternoon, when I was being kicked to the dirt.
Exhausted and beat from the scuffle I had with maybe under 7 other kids my age, I tried to crawl away.
"I can't help it if my hair sticks up in all directions! I tried to brush it out, gel, clips, everything!" I argued.
They didn't seem to care that much and wanted to get rid of their boredom or kill time.
Who tries to beat a kid up over their hair of all things anyway? It's illogical.

I was actually doing pretty well with all their punches and kicks until an undetected hand grabbed my hair while someone's foot knocked me to the ground.
That's when the baseball bat and hard stomps of their feet came in.
The wind was knocked right out of me.
I curled into a ball instinctively to protect all my vital organs while waiting for them to stop.
I didn't want to give them the satisfaction so I kept myself quiet as possible, only letting out a few huffs here and there while grinding my teeth.
Finally when they were out of energy and couldn't do another swing, I did the first thing my brain told me to, and immediately began crawling away.
"Shit, don't you ever stop?! It's impossible you're even moving you fucking freak!!"

A foot landed hard on my back to keep me in place. I expected more hits, but none came. That's when I heard someone scream out. Everything was a blur so I couldn't tell what they were saying but I did feel the weight on my back vanishing as the brutal heat of the sun replaced it.
Curiosity got the better of me so I rolled to my side and looked up to see a scraggly looking kid run up to me while the others were leaving.
At first I wanted to run away. No point in getting beat up a second time right?
But I saw and realized that he, in fact, wasn't here to harm me.
Then the familiarity set in.
This guy had messy brown hair, maybe not as wild as mine, but it was unmistakably similar in some weird way I couldn't explain.
"Hey you okay?" He offered a hand to me. Part of me wanted to swat it away in case it was some kind of trick or prank. His face seemed sincere though.
I took the leap of faith and reluctantly accepted, letting the stranger help me back to my feet.
So far I could stand but I didn't know how well I would do with walking just yet.
I finally took the first glance at the other kids face and was met with black orbs like mine.
For some reason this comforted me. It made me feel like maybe I wasn't alone.
Maybe I wasn't just a freak by some chance?
"I'm Gennjis"
He smiled at me.
I didn't really know what to say to that other than.
"I'm Uko"
Silence filled in and I expected it to get awkward from here, but Apparently I didn't have to say very much anyway because Gennjis just so happened to be quite a talker.
"Well nice to meet you Uko how about I walk you back to your home eh? And if those guys give you any trouble just call for me and I'll take care of em!"
I just stared at him for a minute as we began walking. The pained bruises on my back and legs were already starting to subside to a dull throbbing ache. I knew my mom was going to shit when she sees.
But Was he seriously offering to be my bodyguard ? A complete stranger was offering me help? It's gotta be some kind of trick.