Not Alone Anymore

Xino was tired, to say the least. He hadn't slept so well in years, his bed was soft and his room was dark. The walls weren't bright any longer and the stars overhead made just enough glow to be seen but not to disturb him. He was having the most amazing dream of unicorns and his pet cloud, Rain, solving a murder mystery. The creativity of his mind was strange, almost like another person living inside him. Of course, all creativity ends when you hear the annoying "beep, beep, beep" of your alarm clock.

Xino groaned as he got out of bed, following his new schedule. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, got into his uniform, and headed downstairs. Leaf was just exiting his room as the two greeted each other, rushing to grab all their things. Alon was already awake, a granola bar in hand and a phone in the other. He laughed as a flower grew out of Leaf's hair.

"Have you guys seen my bag?" Leaf whined, running around the dorm. Xino shrugged and turned to Alon who was laughing even more now.

"Did you check the table, Leaf?" Leaf turned to Alon and glared before running to the dining room, returning with his bag.

Xino rolled his eyes and turned to exit the room, not bothering to wait for the others. He was feeling drowsy and really wanted some coffee. The other day in the cafeteria, Jig had ordered him a cup and it was the best thing he had ever tried. Of course, Alon warned him that he shouldn't have too much while Leaf went on about all the different types. Xino tried another few coffees, loving the sweet ones and hating the bitter ones. He knocked out as soon as they got into the dorm.

Xino was so busy looking at all the different outdoor dorm designs that he barely noticed the girl in front of him. He continued walking and slammed straight into her, both of them falling to the ground. The boy quickly got up and apologized, trying his best to help her. She just laughed at his nervousness.

"It's fine, I'm okay!" She laughed, straightening her skirt and standing tall. Her hair was dark, poofy and curly while her eyes were a beautiful gold.

"Hey, you were the girl beside Leaf during the assembly." Xino vaguely remembered the girl, she seemed really nervous.

"The green haired guy? Yeah, that was me! I'm Lori."

"I'm Xino, assuming you are in class 1-A then."

"Yep!" Lori started walking, Xino following.

The two talked about school, how everything was going. Lori explained her power and how she could alter people's emotions. Xino thought that was cool, emotions were valuable. It was always so hard keeping your emotions in check, but being able to alter other's feelings? Lori must've felt special!

Soon enough they had to split as Lori walked to her classroom door. Xino said his goodbyes as a few other students entered the room. He quickly made his way to class and took his seat, Alon and Leaf had somehow beat him. Once everyone was seated, Nymphalid entered the room.

"Good morning, students!" She smiled, lifting her wings and fluttering to her desk. She sat on the edge and picked up some papers. "Let's see…today is a good day. Now, does anyone know why working in groups rather than being alone is good?"

"Because being in groups could give you an advantage?" Reed asked, a few hums being heard around the classroom.

"Very good, Reed, but I need a little more than that."

"Being in a group gives you a better plan. If you get ganged up on by two or three villains, you have at least one other person with you. And that would also give one of you the chance to call for backup." Alon spoke up, Nymphalid clapping her hands.

"Yes! You never know what you're dealing with, whether it's the villain's skill or the amount of them. Having backup and someone with you will help in that situation." She stood up and walked around the room.

Xino watched carefully as she made her way over to him, picking up his notebook and beckoned him over. He stood up silently, all eyes on him as he walked to the front of the room. He looked over at Leaf who made a goofy face, a small smile forming on Xino.

"Xino, what have you learned about your art?" Nymphalid carefully flipped through the pages, admiring his work.

"Um…I can make them real. Like my cloud."

"Very good, and what about your mind?"

"Not much, honestly. I have the strangest imagination though, like another person inside of me."

"Wonderful. Fonzo, come here." Fonzo stood up from his seat and happily walked over to the front of the room. He was in the middle of light and dark skin, brown curly hair and hazel eyes. "You can shift into anything at all?"

"Just say it and I will make it!"

"And our little artist here has an imagination beyond human quality. If he were to draw…here, draw something."

Xino tilted his head as he carefully received his book. Everyone's eyes were on him as he scribbled something down. He let his mind wander, zoning out as his hand moved on its own. Within thirty seconds he had a crazy detailed drawing of a sea serpent.

"Beautiful!" Nymphalid showed the drawing to Fonzo who immediately knew what to do.

Without a single thought he took the form of a small serpent, just like the one in the book. He was gorgeous in Xino's mind. His creation in real life without being real. Fonzo had perfectly imitated his drawing, down to every last mark. He wondered if he could even imitate the powers he had in mind for him. Everyone seemed to watch in amazement as Fonzo turned back to his normal self, applause now echoing through the room.

"Wondrous performance, Fonzo and Xino! Creativity can do many things as long as you are paired with the right person. How about we try another duo? Lucifer and Inia." Xino went back to his desk, sitting down and folding through his notebook.

He noticed Fonzo giving him a thumbs up and he gave one back, maybe he could make a new friend. He wondered if everyone knew about super powers, about this school, or even that superheroes existed. All these different people and powers were special, yet they gave off something similar. All of them wanted to learn about themselves, to control what they had. Maybe there were others like Xino who didn't even know they had these powers. He hoped so, it was pretty embarrassing going to school here and not knowing why.

He somewhat snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to see Lucifer and Inia staring face to face. He wondered how the duo would interact, a mind reader and someone with telekinesis. He missed the first part of Nymphalid's speech and wasn't sure what exactly was going on. Then he noticed Inia slowly back away, her hair floating around her face.

"No more of that, Luci, is that nickname okay?" Nymphalid stepped in between and pulled Inia towards her, patting down her hair and checking in.

Lucifer mumbled something that Xino couldn't hear from the back of the classroom, but from the shocked look on Leaf's face he assumed it wasn't good. Nymphalid smiled at the two and sent them back to their desks, writing something down on a clipboard.

"Let's do a different take. Who here has met Leaf?" Xino raised his hand quickly, along with Alon. Misty, Jig, and Reed did the same as well. "Perfect. Riffer, come meet Leaf!"

"I won't be paired with Riffin?"

"Where's the fun in that? Besides, your powers don't exactly have much to correlate with." Nymphalid beckoned the two to the front of the classroom, Leaf doing a little dance as he waited. Xino couldn't help but laugh a little at his roommate.

"Hello, Riffer! Cool name, and teleportation powers? SO much better than mine." Xino rolled his eyes as he watched how energetic his friend was.

Nymphalid explained her thoughts on combining them, teleportation and nature. Xino eventually got bored though, he needed to let his mind roam free once more. Looking away he noticed someone outside of the window, they were running so fast he couldn't see their faces. He thought he saw the prettiest colors ever, all very light and each color of the rainbow. The person looked small, he couldn't quite tell though.

It was class time so it would be odd if someone was running around outside at this time, although on the second day he did see something moving around again. He had ignored it then, but now he was more curious. Maybe they were a teacher? He could've believed that, but something in him told him it wasn't that. Even his cloud seemed to whisper "Something is wrong." He didn't have the chance to say anything though as the bell rang and class was over.

He gathered his things and made his way out the door, almost being knocked over by a blinding light. Just another thing he would have to get used to. Smiling at his own thoughts, Xino made his way to his next class. And the best thing about today was that it was their first day of support class. This was supposedly one of the most important classes when it came to heroics. Having a support tool or a support hero by you at all times was just as good as having your own powers. Support heroes consisted of medics, toolmakers, enhancement, ect. Support tools could be anything, it all depended on the user.

As Xino made it to support class he noticed quite a few students he'd never met. Most of them were from the other hero training classes. He had met some in his regular classes but usually he was with students from his homeroom. The first person to really catch his attention was Lori and the girl sitting beside her. She was glowing, like the sun. If she was any brighter she might've blinded the entire class. Her hair was cut short and her clothes were all white, glowing so much they gave off a yellow look. He was reminded of the sun.

"Xino Ryu, are you planning to stand there all day or do you want to take a seat?" Xino jumped at his name being called, he was still getting used to hearing it from other people. The first night he woke up and patiently waited for his name to be called by his father before realizing he was far away from his home.

"S-sorry. Um…" Xino quickly scanned the room and took the last seat in the center. He wasn't a fan of being in the middle of the class, but he would have to deal with it.

They all waited in their seats, people talking and getting to know each other. Xino felt jittery, as though his bones might turn to slush and he would fall out of his chair. The world seemed to distort, everyone becoming puddles of color and designs. He had to shut his eyes and do his very best to turn off his brain to make it stop, something that was surprisingly difficult. Sometimes his imagination took a hold of him so much that it hurt.

"Xino, are you listening to me?" Xino opened his eyes as the teacher stared at him, a few other students doing the same. The teacher's eyes were dark, like an endless abyss. He could imagine a tiny space person floating around.

"Um…sorry, you were a puddle." He blurted, flustering up immediately. A few people laughed as the teacher frowned in confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay…anyways, my name is Mr. Vineswail. I will be your support teacher this year, hopefully we all get along. And I also hope that we refrain from becoming puddles, right, Mr. Ryu?" Xino felt his face heat up as he got a few snickers and whispers from around the room.

"Y-yes, Mr. Vineswail…no m-more puddles.."

"Thank you. Who here knows what support is for?" His eyes swept the room and landed on someone in the back. "You there, Jay, was it?"

"Yes, and the support class is for heroes who are more defense than offense." Jay smiled and leaned back in his chair, except Xino swore he was hovering. He smiled to himself as he imagined little wings on his back.

"Yes and no. Narissa?"

"Support items help the hero who uses it gain full control or help with their power. Support heroes can be anyone as long as their power is used to help another hero." The girl next to Lori spoke clear and loud, no hesitation and pure confidence. Xino wished he could do that.

"Wonderful Miss Korelain. Support heroes should not be taken lightly either, just because not all of us do the fighting doesn't mean we aren't important to the cause."

Xino watched carefully as Mr. Vineswail picked up his clipboard, jotting something down. He was having trouble paying attention, his hands itched to pick up a pencil and start drawing. It was almost like an instinct. He finally gave up on restraint and picked up his marker, flipping open the notebook and drawing some flowers. Soon enough the flowers had eyes, party hats, and cake. It was a lovely little birthday garden.

"Xino! Do you want a red slip?" Xino shot his head back up and met Mr. Vineswail's eyes. He huffed and shook his head, mumbling out an apology. "What have you so entranced that you can't pay attention? Does this bore you?"

"Actually, sir, Xino's mind works differently and he can't pay attention to your class without his notebook. His brain is running constantly and he needs to get everything out onto that paper." Xino turned his head to see Inia, she was sitting behind him with a small smile on her face. Her cloak covered her eyes but he could see just enough to know she was reading through his mind.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Well, some people call it ADHD but in his case it also has to do with his power. He can't stop thinking, his brain is always working."

"And how do you know this?"

"Luci told me." Mr. Vineswail seemed confused but he just nodded and looked apologetically at Xino.

Xino whispered a thank you to Inia before closing his notebook and apologizing once again, to which Mr. Vineswail apologized back. He always knew he had trouble paying attention, that he did things without a second thought, but nobody had ever talked about it. His parents dismissed his behavior and he never got diagnosed with anything, so as far as he knew, he was doing something wrong. The way Inia defended him and explained that he couldn't control his thoughts as well as others gave him a feeling of normality.

He knew his past affected him in more ways than one. Being stuck in a place where he didn't know anything to a place where he feels like he has to know everything, it was hard. He understood so little about the world and school, he blurted out his thoughts and he constantly wanted to get lost in his little world of color and creativity. Xino quickly learned that he needed to be quiet during classes and he couldn't wander off in his mind without getting reprimanded. He was starting to feel like he was stuck in that same white room again, no way to express how he felt or what he was thinking.

Inia speaking about his conditions as though it was normal and perfectly okay made him feel like it was. It was a good feeling, he wasn't wrong for his behavior. It affected him of course, and learning to control it was something he needed, but in the end he was born this way and that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

The bell soon rang and Xino stood, gathering his things. He was just about to walk out the door when he felt a pat on his back, reaching and pulling off a sticky note. Such a simple note that made him smile, knowing that someone could truly know how you feel makes a big difference in someone's day. "I have trouble with it too" was all he needed to know. He wasn't alone.