Gyuko

*Cough* Cough*

"K...Kira...I want you...to know...something."

The old man lay in his hospital bed, holding his grandson's hand. Akira just looked at his grandfather with a blank expression before he said, "Grandpa, you're not dying.

"Shut up!!" Grandpa shouted at him before gently laying down on his bed and continuing his show "Y..your parents.."

"Grandpa you're fine"

"CAN'T AN OLD MAN DIE IN STYLE!"

Akira knew they wouldn't get anywhere, so he just sat there and listened to his grandfather tell the sad story of his parents for the 500th time. His mother got pregnant with him when she was only 17, and his father when he was only 18. Grandfather disapproved and ended up kicking both of them out. His father was an orphan, so they had nowhere to go and ended up on the streets of Tokyo. Grandfather later felt bad and tried to correct his mistake, but it was too late, his mother and father had died. The least Grandfather could do was to raise Akira in a good home, asking his son and daughter for forgiveness every day and reminding their son of the kind-hearted people they were.

Akira grew up with Grandfather talking about them all the time, for a while it made him cry because he missed them so much and wished they were with him, but now he has pride and gratitude. He is thankful that they protected him even to the end.

"Kira!" Grandfather shouted at him, "My beautiful daughter, my baby, gave her life for you!"

His mother's name was Kira and his father's name was Aki, Grandfather named him after both of them, combining their names, but Grandfather mainly called him Kira, after his mother.

"Live Kira!!"

Akira listened to his grandfather and his sad last words every day, Grandfather had only been in hospital for 3 weeks because he had fallen down the stairs and broken his back. He had a strange death wish, and he prepared for it every day.

"K..Kira"

Akira finished his visit and decided to go back to school, there was an annual sports day and he did not want to miss it. He had to go to the hospital after the nurses called to complain about Grandpa.

He got back to school quickly and went to meet his friends.

"Aki!" he turned to see his friends waiting for him at the door of the school building. Weren't they going to watch the sports?" he thought before running to them.

"Aren't we..." he tried to speak before one of his friends cut him off.

"We found something!!"

Akira was confused and his friends looked at him excitedly before saying "We can't talk here".

They walked into the school building and up to one of the empty classrooms on the top floor. They made sure the door was closed before one of his friends pulled out a small black box with a strange symbol on it.

He placed it on the table and they all surrounded it to see. 

"What is it?" he asked.

His friend didn't answer, just opened the box and showed it to Akira. There was a crystal-like, blood-coloured stone inside, it had a faint glow and shimmer.

"How much money do you think we can make with this?" his friend asked excitedly with a mischievous grin.

Akira didn't answer and just asked his friends, "Where did you find this?"

His friends all looked at each other before one of them replied, "I found it in a canal on my way to school."

"Aki, how much money do you think we can make with this?"

"Yeah, it looks and feels real, so it has to go for at least 500 yen, considering how it looks, right?"

"I... I'm not sure, I've never seen a stone like this before," he said to his friends. They looked disappointed and one of them finally suggested, "Let's just take it to the jeweller, we can make a few bucks out of it".

The others agreed and they all got ready to leave, "Aki, aren't you coming?"

"I'm not sure, I don't think it's a good idea, just take it back to the canal and leave it there"

"Phew! So someone else can find it"

"I don't want any trouble"

"Yeah, because you're a loser"

Akira said nothing and walked angrily out to the sports field. He saw his friends sneaking out of the school and clenched his fist. He didn't know why he had such a bad feeling, he just didn't want any more trouble.

"Hey Aki!" someone suddenly called to him, "Wanna play?" he continued. He was holding a metal ball in his hand.

Akira went over to him and noticed that the ball was a shot.

"Let's play shot put," the guy said with a grin. He was tall with extensive and defined muscles, had amazing footwork and was a third year, Jo Gyuga.

"I hear you're pretty good at this sport," he said as he flexed his muscles and approached Akira.

Akira smiled, "I am."

"Let's play them."

Akira and Jo's faces were inches apart before Akira went to pick up a ball. The rest of the school came to watch and cheer.

Most of the students made fun of Akira. He couldn't blame them, he was up against a six-foot giant of a third year, while he was only a miserable first year, he wasn't skinny or muscular, he was in the middle, but extremely athletic. He could represent Japan in almost any sports final.

"OK!" shouted the coach, "I want a clean play," he continued.

"The shot must land within the designated 35-degree sector.

Neither athlete must touch the top of the toe board or step out of the circle before the shot lands.

Each athlete only gets three attempts and the longest valid throw is recorded.

 The winner is the athlete with the longest valid throw. In the event of a tie, the second best throw will count".

The boys took their positions as the crowd cheered. The big man went first as Akira watched with a grin.

Jo quickly took a strong stance, positioning his legs and arms before throwing. His throw was amazing and the ball landed 0.488 metres away. The crowd cheered and Jo sneered at Aki.

Aki just smiled at him, stepped forward, held the shot-put and used the glide technique.

He stood with his back to the throw, his weight on his left leg.

He placed the shot at the base of his fingers. His fingers were slightly apart, with the thumb providing support underneath.

The shot rested against the side of his neck, just below his jawline. 

He held his elbow up and out to the side, creating a strong and stable position.

He used pressure from his fingers and thumb to keep the shot in place. 

He threw the ball hard and everyone fell silent and gasped as the ball landed 0.785 metres away.

Aki just smiled as Jo looked at the distance. Aki was disqualified, but he was happy with his work.

He played and won a few more sports and decided to visit Grandpa to tell him about his victories and Jo.

He quickly packed his things and left the school.

A mysterious figure had been watching Aki the entire time. When the person saw Aki leaving the schoolyard, he walked behind him and called "Akira!

Aki quickly turned around and saw a boy about his age with short white hair, blood red eyes and rosy pale skin.

Aki didn't recognise the boy at all and just looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

I can sense it from him...' the boy thought as he looked at Aki.