Unwanted Elements

Chapter One

According to legends, elemental powers are a blessing. They are obtained when the master is born, and the power is usually fully in their control by adolescence. Their cause is unknown. Some claim that the gods choose anybody worthy, gifting unto them a destiny filled with wonder. Others insist we are all descendants of elemental masters, and those with powers are descended from the greatest of them all. A few say elemental masters are reincarnations of powerful deities, long dead from wars.

Whatever their cause, so many people say they'd love to have powers. After all, being able to control, say, fire from your palms sounds really cool, right? Of course, there's more than one element. Fire, wind, ice, water, electricity, life, earth, poison, and more. Usually, elemental masters first get signs of their powers at age five, starting off unable to control it, but they get better with age. Of course, it takes a lot of training and patience. They experience tingling in their fingertips, like when your foot falls asleep, but constant and not bothersome in the slightest.

By the time an elemental master reaches adulthood, they are fully able to control their power, and usually swear to only use it for good. Some go rouge, contributing to the rumors that every single elemental master is evil, and will use their powers for unprovoked evil. This harms any master looking to use their powers for good. However, most remain neutral. It is said elemental powers define you and your personality.

About point five percent of people are born with elemental powers. They're not rare, nor common. They're in a strange level between rare and uncommon. Legends speak about how great fortune, wealth and luck will be bestowed upon you if you are born with one of the elements. God, if only that part about wealth and luck was actually true.

You were probably wondering how I knew all of this if this isn't exactly public domain stuff. You think I'm some kind of legend buff? Some kind of person who studies the myths behind unexplained phenomena that even the best scientists in the world can't answer? I'm not really one for the myths, anyways. I could care less.

My name is Matsuno Ichimatsu, fourth born of the Matsuno family sextuplets. And I am an elemental master.

More specifically, my element is ice. It feels like some kind of let-down, if I'm gonna be one hundred percent honest. I could have been born with smoke, poison, or even shadow! Something that could fit me better than ice. But alas, beggars can't be choosers. I definitely did NOT ask to be born with five brothers sharing the same face, and I certainly didn't ask to have ice powers.

Me and my brothers are quite the anomaly, when you think about it. It's really rare to have natural sextuplets, like our parents managed to, and it's also considered rare to have elemental powers. Considering we're a set of sextuplets with elemental powers? People would probably try to sell us out for cash, if they knew. Thankfully, we've managed to keep our secret from everybody. Well, mostly everybody.

And no, we don't all have the same power. We have six different powers. Osomatsu-niisan has fire, Karamatsu has wind, Choromatsu has life. His element is more tied with plants and animals, though. I have ice, Jyushimatsu has electricity and Todomatsu has water. Pretty basic, for shitty losers such as ourselves.

You couldn't tell we have powers at first glance. Most elemental masters' appearances don't give any hints that they're elementals, nor does it imply their power. The same goes for me and my siblings. Well, mostly. Jyushimatsu's hair constantly stands on end, even his single cowlick tends to stick straight up. That's from the static electricity his body produces on occasion. I've been told that cold radiates from me, like I'm some sort of living air conditioner. I've never felt it, maybe because it's radiating from me or maybe it's because of my natural resistance to anything cold. I'm surprised cats want to come anywhere near me if the air I apparently radiate is that cold.

We only told one person our secret, our childhood friend Chibita. It'd happened at his oden stand, late one night. We were all drunk. Well, only me and Todomatsu weren't. I don't drink alcohol. It tastes disgusting to me. I don't remember which one of us did it, but one of us dropped the bomb. I still remember Chibita's bug eyed stare before he just waved us off. "Aw, hell, ya idjits, ya can't all have powers!" he'd said, doing that skeptical scoff. I just sat there, slumped over with a cold soda trickling down my throat. 

"Well, we do. I can fuckin prove it-" Osomatsu belched, standing up and nearly falling over from his lack of balance. "Pff, this should be good," Todomatsu snickered from my left, turning around and pulling out his phone, getting ready to record. I pushed his arm down, slamming my glass on the wooden stand so hard it might as well have shattered in my clenched fist. 

"No," I said to him, and he pouted. "If you record it and put it online, we'll be in more danger," said Choromatsu, giving Todomatsu a glare so malicious it could have put him on the most wanted list. Todomatsu pouted, sticking out his bottom lip and curling it to meet his top lip, turning his back. Osomatsu, before any of had a chance to stop him, lit a small flame at the tip of his finger. Chibita's eyes widened to the point where they, if not for the things holding our eyeballs in, would have popped right out of his skull.

"Y.. you shitty NEETs weren't lyin..." Chibita said, looking down at his feet, his palms firmly planted on the wooden cart. "Oi, Chibita, could I.. could I talk to you for a second?" I asked, slowly rising, keeping my eyes low, focusing them on my sandals. "Eh? Oh, of course!" he chirped, hopping down from the stool he stood on. Without thinking, I grabbed him by his wrist and began tugging him by my side as I dashed through the night. 

"Wh- oi! Kittymatsu! Calm down!" he screeched, kicking his tiny legs at me. I have to admit, he's scary when he's mad. Not like that mattered in this moment, anyways. After dragging him to the space underneath the bridge, I paused to take a breather. God, I'm out of shape. His eyes glared into me, rage burning within those glossy orbs. "WHAT THE HELL IDJIT!" he screeched. Without skipping a beat, I placed my hands on his shoulders and squeezed tightly, and I could tell he sensed the fear in my eyes.

"Do NOT tell anybody what you saw tonight." I said sternly, my eyes widening. Chibita squirmed from my tight grasp and stared at me. "Why not!" he said. I pressed my thumbs and index fingers to my temples. "If you do, you might as well be sentencing us to death! They're murdering people like us!" I said calmly, resisting my urge to scream it, just in case there were people within the radius. "What? How do you know this?" Chibita demanded, staring directly up at me. I have to admit, it's scary staring into the rage-flooded eyes of someone half your size.

"I heard it on the news," I said, not really lying but not really telling the truth. Chibita raised his eyebrow, his eyes unchanging. "If you're so worried, why not just tell your parents!" Chibita snapped, his eyes narrowing. A shiver ran down my spine, and as a master of ice who is resistant to the cold, that's a sign of fear within me. "I-I can't!" I stuttered, my voice catching within my throat. "Wh- why not!" Chibita shouted, causing me to flinch. "They support the slaughters." I said, rushed and quick.

It was true. I was the only one of my siblings to know, and harboring this secret made my blood run cold. I found out by eavesdropping. I had been searching my home from the top to the bottom, looking for my pet cat. I'd been walking past the TV room when I heard the announcer say something about elemental powers. Pausing, I peeked into the room, and found my parents watching something on the news. I could hear snippets of talk on elemental masters. "The slaughterer himself has admitted it is to save humanity. Most of these so called masters," the anchor said, curling his fingers as he said masters. 

"Have been a threat to society for years, and he has said this would save our society" he continued, and his words became slurred to me, horror crossing it out of my brain. My father turned to my mother, his signature bucktoothed grin flashing wide. "This man's got the right mindset!" he smirked, and I could tell he was serious. I ran as fast as I could, using my arm to wipe the tears.

The memory faded, and I noticed Chibita's eyes glaze over with worry. "I see," he said. He turned to me. "Take care, ya hear? Tell your parents, they've gotta accept their own kids!" he said. I shook my head as we began to return. Telling my parents I'm an ice master, and my brothers are also elemental masters? That'd be so much harder than coming out of the closet as bi. 

Now you can see, this ain't fun and games. I see I should probably tell you the story of how I wound up the hero in a near death situation. I guess stick around, and my tale will unravel. Or not, I gotta feed my cat, anyways.