1 This Is My Life

Present Day.

Ashley looked at himself in the mirror. He had done his hair up in a long ponytail. No matter how he looked at himself, he could only say one word - "unbelievable!" Surprisingly, despite his lack of genetic ether ability, he wasn't bullied as much as you would think. This was mostly because he had one powerful thing to make up for it - his looks. Even in the 22nd century, people still highly valued how you looked. Heather and Ken both encouraged Ashley to take his studies seriously. After all, he had no ether ability, so he could be considered to be an incredibly rare Old One in an age where humans had all become Evolved already.

By this point in time Ashley had already struggled through and reached high school age. He was a second year high school student. Heather and Ken had actually decided to settle in Japan, mostly due to Ken's wishes. Heather respected them and had no objections. Thus, Yuri and Ashley could be considered to be Japanese students. This was also why Ashley's looks were a big bonus. As he looked very much like a girl, many people decided they would hit on him rather than outright bully him, which Ashley didn't mind too much.

He was a smart fellow, and reasonably tough despite his feminine form, but due to his lack of ether power, he couldn't actually fight toe-to-toe with literally anybody in his school. Even those much younger than him could trash him given the appropriate ability. Despite this, and without his knowledge, Ashley's body hungrily took in the ether from his surroundings, a phenomenon that was exactly the two words spoken to Ken when he was discovered in the secret facility back in the US - Ether Resonance.

Day by day, Ashley's body would absorb and nurture itself with the ether, almost as if his body itself was much like Primogenitor technology. However, how could anyone in this age know about this phenomenon? Even Ken and Heather wouldn't know, as they were not as scientifically adept as the others in their Excavator team, let alone Ashley himself. Classes at his school went on as usual, however, during lunch break, a group of boys in his class approached him as he sat at his desk alone, about to eat from his lunch box.

"Oi, Ashley." one of them spoke out in a rather rough tone.

"What is it, Noriaki?" Ashley spoke back softly, but his voice seemed cold. Evidently, this wasn't his first time being approached in such a manner.

"You sure are lucky, having the looks of someone straight out of some trashy anime," the boy named Noriaki continued. "It would be a shame if someone ruined it!"

Ashley's complexion remained calm. He didn't pale nor did he cower. While he had no powers of his own, Ken and Heather encouraged him to undergo physical training so he could protect himself. Ashley simply stared at Noriaki and his three friends. "Just tell me what it is you want." Ashley asked plainly.

"Give me some money." Noriaki plainly demanded, with a tinge of derision. "An Old One like you doesn't deserve to study at this school, let alone anywhere else."

"How much?" Ashley wasn't in the mood to fight or argue, so he just took it, though his eyes betrayed his stoic emotions. There was rage and fury in his eyes. He didn't like being humiliated like this, but what could he do? He was only one person, and he couldn't fight against four others who all possessed their own special abilities. If Noriaki was alone, Ashley was confident he could take him on, but this was different. Ashley had already learned the hard way that he could only pick his battles.

"Two thousand yen."

Ashley's brows furrowed. Is this fellow trying to rob me?

His body betrayed his thoughts as he took his own wallet out and handed two thousand yen to Noriaki without blinking. His hands were trembling in anger, but nobody noticed. Noriaki smiled evilly at Ashley and gave a mocking bow to him, "Thanks, bro." he grinned.

"Let's go, boys." Noriaki urged his cadre to join him as they left Ashley alone. Soon, a girl entered the classroom from god knows where and saw Ashley looking a little downcast. As he thought he was alone, he let his inner emotions leak out.

The girl frowned and rushed over to him. "Ashley..."

Ashley shook his head. "How much of that did you see, Rin?"

"Er... Everything..." Rin was a bit upset and embarrassed seeing her friend in such a pitiful state.

Ashley hung his head low. "This is my life," he said with resignation. "Unlike everyone here, I am an Old One. All I can do is grit my teeth and move on."

"It's alright, Ashley. The end of the school year is coming. You deserve a break. We can hang out during the holidays." Rin smiled and attempted to comfort Ashley, who seemed to cheer up a little. Ashley looked up and saw Rin's cheerful face, her pretty brown eyes, her long, lustrous black hair...

Ashley was very happy to have a friend like Rin - kind, understanding, tough when she needed to be... In fact, it was very likely that Noriaki and his group were bullying Ashley not because of his being an Old One, but rather that Noriaki had a well-known crush on Rin, yet she didn't pay attention to him and instead was quite chummy with Ashley.

However, Ashley was too caught up in his insecurities being an Old One and couldn't stop to think that perhaps it was because Noriaki was jealous. This was his life - struggling to make each day count because he was an Old One. He could be considered to be a minority. Ashley didn't know anybody who was like him, a human with no ether ability.

Ashley attempted to view the silver lining - he had some friends at least, and the school year was coming to an end. He would spend his holidays trying to study his family's history. It could be said that Ashley had legendary heritage, being descended from the combined lineage of two of the famous excavators from before the Age of Evolution.

Thinking about this, Ashley's composure relaxed and he smiled gently at Rin. It was that time of the year after all - the weather was getting better, the sky was beautiful as always... Sure, Ashley might be an Old One, but he had plenty of things to be happy about. Thinking about Rin being one of the only people to treat him as an equal, Ashley recovered his mood. "Yeah... Thanks for being there for me!" Ashley grinned.

The school bell rung again, indicating the end of the break. Back to class! Rin wasn't in the same class as Ashley, so all she could do was leave after bidding him goodbye. Classes were back in session for the day again, and Ashley tried his best to follow through the rest of day.

By the time the school day was over, he was already hurriedly leaving the classroom. Despite wearing the traditional boys school uniform, his nymph-like charm still leaked out, and he was approached by a bunch of the more friendly students inviting him to join them on some shopping session.

Ashley wanted to join them, but he soon saw the eyes of some envious other students - a mixture of unsavory boys and girls, glaring at him, and he quickly changed his mind. Ashley and the others could only split apart, both parties evidently disappointed. He couldn't even live a normal life like the other Evolved due to this. He couldn't fight back precisely due to his status as an Old One. This was a crap feeling to the extreme.

This was Ashley's life...