Kyo Kaneko: Creative Endeavors

Everyday was the same for me. Chronic pain, isolation, hospitals. That's why I always liked games. They were an escape for me, an escape where I could be and do what I want. Where I could get away from my failing grades and chronic pain. What I deeply want is to be…

An inspiration.

If I were to be anything, an inspiration is what I would choose. Overcoming challenges and making people smile. Someone people can admire, that's what I want. Is it so hard to become someone like that? I guess so. With the life I led, it wasn't even possible. I was looked down upon, mocked everyday, dealt with bullying. I never cared so much when they talked crap about me, but...

It still hurt.

Losing hope is so easy. I was never optimistic. I mean, clearly, I never had a reason to be positive. It's kind of hard to when all that happens is crap.

Laying in a hospital bed, I stared into deep space, wondering how long I might last. Was there any point in fighting anymore? Maybe...I could just rest now. I at least want to know what real peace is like.

"God damn it," I covered myself with blankets. The moon was shining so bright. I wish I could shine like that...

I can't sleep. A part of me thought it was mocking me somehow.

"What the hell?" I sat up in my bed, throwing the covers off. The moon's light felt warmer when I looked at it. At first, I thought it was making fun of me, but now, it felt as though it was pulling me. I felt goo on my hands, as if it was secreting from my skin. 

The goo traveled throughout the room, like it was a trail that needed to be followed. Copies of myself started to form from the blue goo. They looked happy, smiling at me and laughing gently.

"Follow us," One of them said, then laughed softly. "Hehehehe."

I followed them, the only thing crossing my mind was how beautiful the world looked around me. I followed them through the empty hallways, the trail starting to glow even brighter. Everyone was asleep, the quiet making things all the more amazing.

The copies of me had guided me all they was up to the roof. Now that I was there, the moon had completely changed. I could see it clearly, feel the warmth of the light on my skin. 

Blue streaks started to blow around me, like a gentle breeze. It looked so beautiful and radiant. As the blue wind swirled around me, I started to feel my body float off the ground. The copies of myself smiled at me when I looked back down at them. They started to blow away like dust, their gentle laughs now silent.

"Wha- What the fu-"

In a blur, almost too quickly, the world disappeared in a flash of blue. Everything suddenly dissipated into nothing. Where did everything go? Did I leave the hospital?

-------------

Opening my eyes, everything was blurry. I had to squint for a bit to get the blurriness to go away. I sat up, noticing that I was lying in a bed. The room looked different, different compared to the usual hospital I was always in and out of. It looked more like a dorm of sort, unusually bright and light colored.

Was I just dreaming? I thought to myself. But I don't have a dorm. I dropped out, didn't I?

I actually felt okay. I didn't sense any pain, I didn't have a headache or anything. I felt so refreshed.

"It's time to get up!" A voice called out, someone knocking on the door. 

I jumped at the sound, startled by the sudden voice. Where was this? It was so different. I've never heard this voice before. Am I dreaming again? There's no way. I was just dreaming about being lifted into the sky and disappearing to god knows where. 

"Don't make me say it again!" The voice shouted even louder this time.

Still unaware of where I was, I scrambled out of bed and rushed to what seemed to be the closet. I opened it and saw all the clothing I had, for whatever reason that may be. All the clothes looked so colorful and expressive. There was a bag hung up in it's own space, holding clothes, to keep it from getting wrinkled I think. I took it out and gazed at it for a few moments. Bluish gray, plaid pants and a white jacket. The hoodie caught my eye, consisting of the colors blue, white, and yellow. A black tie was loosely wrapped around the hanger, just dangling. It's probably going to be a pain to put on.

Was this a uniform? This place sure did look like a dorm. Am I a college or high school student maybe? Makes sense since I dropped out of school around that time. I am on the younger side anyways. 

"Last call for first years! Ten minute warning!" The voice yelled. 

Taking the uniform out of the bag, I hurried to change my clothes. I looked pretty cool when I saw myself in the mirror. I partially liked the drip and the shoes. And the uniform really made my blue, pink and black hair stick out. Wait...

"What the hell is wrong with my hair?!" 

I looked like a cotton candy head. My hair is supposed to be black, now it only had the slightest amount of black.

"Five minutes!" 

Never minding the fact that I looked like fake cotton candy, I rushed out the door, ignoring how I didn't even fix my bed or anything. I looked fine, honestly, so it didn't bother me much.

"Good," I heard the previously shouting voice and turned to where it came from. It was a teacher from the look of it. She pushed her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose and started explaining things to the group of supposed first years.

"Welcome to your first day at Iluna, Institute of Mystics. Take note that this will be the first and last time a teacher will wake you up."

Wow, okay then. You only gave us, like 15 minutes to get ready. I didn't even get to brush my teeth.

"Today, you will be introduced to the school grounds," The teacher continued to explain. "Everyone will be assigned to groups that already have two second years and two third years. The reason for this, training for your magic classes. 50% of your classes will be based around your mystical powers, which is why you'll need more experienced students to help you. You'll learn how to use and protect yourself with your unique powers."

Magic? Mystical? Do I have magical powers? No way, was I isekai'd to a new world? Like in the video games and anime?! I've never seen a place like this so...

I looked around, seeing that everyone was someone I didn't know. They all had some unique thing that made them stick out. Horns, weird marks, really weird limbs, claws, all that stuff. There was one girl who caught me staring at here, trying to find something about her that was mystical. She had pink hair, with a two other locks consisting of a lighter pink and purple. I also noticed an eyepatch over her eye for god knows why. Is that a fashion sense in this world?

Her eyes shifted to look at me, catching me red handed. She waved at me, her smile really bright. I didn't really know what to do, so I just waved back. I think I might've been making some sort of weird expression because she looked like she was giggling. She gave me one last smile before paying her attention back to the teacher.

"Now, let's get started, shall we?" The teacher said. "When I call your name, you will come up to the front and we will send you off with your fellow first year.

She started calling out names and students started walking up. Some looked really hype while others just wanted to get it over with. Me, personally, I wasn't all that excited about my name being heard by literally everyone. 

"Maria Marionette," The teacher called out. The same girl, the pink haired one, smiled at her name being called and skipped to the front. She waited for the teacher to call another person's name, looking all happy and giddy. "Kyo Kaneko."

That's me, right? Of course it is. It sounded nice, honestly. I walked up to the front, seeing the girl known as Maria smile at me. I guess she's my partner, or fellow first year, whatever they called it.

"You must be Kyo, right?" Maria asked me as I approached her. 

"Yeah, and you're Maria?" I confirmed, followed by a question.

"Just call me Mari. We'll be working together from now on, so let's get to know each other, okay?"

Friendly.

"Yeah, sure. You can just call me Kyo, I don't really have any other names so, y'know."

Maria nodded, then took my hand and shook it, a handshake. "I can't wait to work with you."

Her smile was kinda nice, really bright and happy.

"Kaneko and Marionette," A different teacher called us by our last names. He stepped aside to show a vortex opening. It looked like a portal of some sort. "Go ahead and step through the portal, you'll see your group on the other side."

I gulped down the lump in my throat, nervous for whatever the hell would be on the other side. Was this just a trick? Would there really be other people on the other side? Wait, why did I phrase it that way?

"Come on," Maria took my hand and pulled me through the portal. "Let's go and meet our new friends!"

In just a few seconds, Maria pulled me into the portal with her. Closing my eyes, I felt my body soar through. I could hear Maria laughing joyfully. Was it nice? Could I open my eyes?

Slowy, I lifted my eyelids and saw what I thought were stars. I'm not sure what they were, but they looked like explosions of glitter, thousands of lights shining in a night sky. I could've sworn I was looking at the aurora borealis too. I looked to where Maria's laugh was coming from. She had her arms and legs spread out, like she was pretending to be a bird or something. She was just adding onto the amazing experience we were flying through.

At the end of the tunnel, a white light started to shine. As we got closer, it became brighter and brighter. I covered my eyes as we reached the end of the tunnel, the light blinding me.

Closer and closer, and finally...