1 CHAPTER 0: Who am I?

Is there at least a single moment in your life that you looked in the mirror and asked out loud, 'who am I?'

For me, this question was asked soon after I was born, because I somehow managed to keep the memories of my previous life, the memories of a boy who was fascinated with manga, anime, and light novels.

It was surprising and at the same time scary, I asked myself whether or not that was normal, if I was dreaming, or if that was maybe an evil plot orchestrated by the Dark Claw, an evil organization who wanted to steal the power sealed in my right eye and unleash the fury of the heavens over the people to dominate the world!

[Cough!] Aham, either way, I soon discovered that I was living in an English speaking country since the nurses and the doctor were all speaking that language, honestly it felt intimidating since I wasn't from a country that had that language as the main one and I was still learning before suddenly reappearing somewhere in the world as a baby.

"Oh! Look at how cute he is, even though he was just born he doesn't cry and has this adorable face!" A nurse grabbed the fingers of my feet and started playing with them.

I didn't want to laugh, but there was something about this new body that somehow made me extremely sensitive to contact.

For a moment I wanted to tell her to stop, but no matter how much I opened my mouth, it was simply impossible to make any complex sound.

Then I was taken to someone's room where I discovered that my mother's name was Nora Allen, she was a beautiful woman with red hair and a gorgeous face which made me think that she was probably a professional model.

My father was also in the room, but he was so tired that he fell asleep on the couch. What surprised me was that he was also wearing a white coat just like the doctor taking care of my mother, and both of them had ID cards attached to their coats.

"Oh... I can't believe I'm really a mother, this gotta be the happiest moment of my life!" My mother took me in her arms, her genuine smile and tears falling from her face touched me deep in my heart.

It made me think of my previous family, unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time together as they died in a car accident when I was four, some drunk idiot who was going almost 80 miles per hour in a residential area hit us with full force, at the time, the police said it was a miracle that I survived the crash, apparently, my mother bending over me was what protected my body from the car's metal structure which unfortunately killed her and my father in the process.

I didn't cry but tears fell from my eyes as she hugged me, feeling her heart gave me such a strange feeling of drowsiness and comfort that I ended up sleeping.

Later on, I found out my name was Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen, and that I lived in a city I had never heard of before, Central City.

...

[Trim, Trim, Trim]

"Hello?" Nora picked up the phone on the table.

"Is this Mrs. Allen? I'm Vice Director Crawley from C.C. police school, I'm calling to notify you that Barry was late again."

Late, at this point, this was probably Barry's nickname, if someone said he had to be somewhere until 8 am, he would make sure to somehow get there half past 10... Nora sighed and shook her head.

"Thanks for letting me know Mr. Crawley, I'll make sure to have a talk with him when he gets home."

"Look, it's not my place to tell you how to look after your son, but really, maybe you should hire someone to give him a ride or something if you or your husband can't take him here."

'Well, indeed, it's not your place to tell me how I should deal with him...' Nora bit her lips but refrained from saying anything that could be interpreted in a bad light, instead she calmed down and slowly answered. "I'll see what I can do."

She hung up the phone and stood up with a frown on her face.

Henry was taking a sip of his coffee and reading the newspaper when he noticed the angry look on his wife's face, the bags under his eyes told a story that not many were aware of, but if they did know about it, they wouldn't be so quick to judge the fact that his son was always late due to him not being able to give him a ride.

"You look upset. Did something happened?"

"Barry's school's Vice called to tell me that Barry was late again... Ah... do you think I should take driving lessons? Maybe I could give him a ride to school and prevent this from happening again." She sat down on the sofa before using Henry's leg as a pillow for her head.

"I thought you were afraid of driving? Well, if you really decide to do it, I can help you learn, maybe teach you a few tips before you take the license test."

"Would you do that for me? I don't want to stress you more than you already are, those fourteen hours shifts of yours aren't healthy, and hey! Didn't I tell you to stop drinking coffee when you got home? How are you going to rest if you keep drinking this!"

Henry laughed slightly and avoided her eyes while his cheeks became slightly red, he couldn't deny at this point that he was addicted to caffeine, but it couldn't be helped, all those years working in the hospital meant he had to find something to keep him awake while he worked.

"Sorry..." He put down the mug, which was already empty, making Nora frown and pinch his belly.

"Oough, sorry, sorry..."

If Barry being late was the only problem though... But that's how life is, isn't it? People can always criticize you, but they will never notice their own mistakes.

And what better way to show them, if not by highlighting the problem?

[CRAk!] The sound of the locker getting hit traveled across the three corridors of C.C. Police High School.

"C'mon Barry! What you gonna do about it!? Huh? If I want your lunch you better give it to me without a second thought!" Tony, a boy with shaved hair, also known as Barry's personal bully, held him by the collar of his shirt on one of the school lockers.

"Ugh..." Barry groaned as he felt a painful feeling coming from his back, today was such a bright day, with no clouds, and so exciting, why was he so unlucky to bump into this donkey today? Of all the times he chose to skip classes, why didn't he chose today as well?

Tony dropped Barry on the ground and opened his lunchbox right in front of him, he took out the sandwiches and the apple and threw the empty box on his feet, before showing a grimace of amusement and leaving with his food.

Barry clenched his fists and hit the locker behind him, the tingling sensation reminding him of the time, so he quickly stood up and put on his backpack after storing his now empty lunchbox in it.

He ran up the stairs on the left, once he got on the first floor he took the right, and just a few seconds before reaching the door, just when a kid went inside, the alarm went off signaling the end of the break, he tried to get inside, but Mrs. Won was on the door, she shook her head and with a smile locked it before pointing up as she usually did when that happened, after so many times, it was pretty obvious what she meant, detention.

Barry stood there in silence as he looked incredulous towards the vixen who laughed as she went back to her chair.

'Great, as if Tony wasn't enough of a challenge already, now even the teacher has taken pleasure in torturing me!' Angered due to the situation which actually couldn't be blamed on him, he once again went up the stairs, but now towards the detention room.

Once he got there, he looked through the window and sighed in relief, at least Tony wasn't there, he opened the door and stepped inside, there, a bunch of kids were sitting on the chairs and doing pretty much anything they wanted, some were playing on their phones, others were reading literature books, some were drawing on their notebooks, and a few of them were just talking.

The detention teacher though was just sitting on his chair with his feet on the table while soundly sleeping.

Barry shook his head and took the pen on the table and for a moment, he hesitated, should he write his name on the report book this time? He never lied to his mother and father before, but it wasn't his fault today! Why did he have to be punished for being bullied!?

It wasn't like Mrs. Won would tell his parents that he got late for her class, right? Still enraged due to what happened, he decided to not write his name, so he just put down the pen and went to the back of the room to sit on one of the chairs next to the bookshelves. At least once, he would use this 50 minutes of detention time to relax and do whatever he wished.

Once he sat down on the chair, someone poked him in the arm without him noticing, almost making him gasp. He turned to his right and was about to angrily ask what that person wanted, but he didn't manage to.

"I saw what you did." The girl sitting on the chair next to his said with confidence.

Barry however remained silent as he admired that girl's beauty, she had shoulder-length sleek amber-colored hair with chestnut eyes, her smile was so pretty that made him startled somehow.

"So, the name is Iris, what should I call you? Sneaky boy?"

"Me? What?" Barry blinked his eyes as Iris laughed.

"You know what, slowpoke fits you better."

"Ah, no. Yes, I mean, my name is Barry, Barry Allen."