Kinko Jinn

2023, February 13th.

Just another chilly morning, nothing out of the ordinary. It's sunny, the birds are singing... Not. Yeah, if only. It's cold outside and the sun's blocked by thick black clouds. Great. Let's just hope it won't rain or something.

An alarm is ringing throughout the whole house, at just 7:10 AM. Why, you might ask? Well, if you're that curious, I might just tell you.

First off, the alarms been ringing since 6:10 AM. An hour before. But it was never turned off. Why is that? In short, he overslept. Through an entire alarm, too. Impressive, to be honest. Shit's loud.

Ah, back to the point. It's now 7:15, his train leaves at 7:35 and school starts at 8 sharp. Uh, again, in short... He's gonna be late unless he plans on doing his mourning routine in 10 minutes.

Oh, um, sorry again. Who is he? Oh, but of course, he is our beloved dumb little Jinn, who is only now waking up. Congrats, dude! Right, right, back to narrating.

Jinn closes his surprisingly loud alarm, notices the time, panics and proceeds to, in this exact order, scream, throw his blanket across the room, panic more, get up and sprint to the door, trip on said blanket, curse, get back in bed, and enter the dream world.

Basically he decided to skip first class. It's math anyway. He's still bad at math.

Half an hour later, he's up and about, tying his shoes at the front door. While he's doing that, let's take a look around, shall we?

His family's house, definitely hand-picked by his dad, has a very strong japanese feeling. Everything gives a Japanese vibe, from the house itself to it's interior design. They also have the little step at the front door, where people leave their shoes. His mom's never been that huge a fan, though. Jinn on the other hand thinks it's great, so she's cool with it.

Back on topic, Jinn, who just got done tying his shoes, opened the front door and took off. He missed the 7:35 train but he could still catch the 8:05 one, guaranteed!... Right?

Yes, yes he could. Sheesh. Great job, Jinn, y'had me panicked for a second.

It was Monday, so Jinn was especially tired. Thankfully, he didn't fall asleep on the train, and made it to school safely... Not. He completely forgot he was skipping math, and walked right in, in the middle of the lesson. If I had a face and a hand, I would facepalm right now.

"Ah, look who finally showed up. Welcome, Mr. Kinko. Would you care to explain why you're half an hour late?"

"Uhh... I... Really, really had to poop in the morning?"

"Is that the best you could think of? Seriously?"

"...Yes?"

Nice try, Jinn. Nice try.

"Just... Take your seat. Actually, no, come solve this problem. We were in the middle of it when someone walked in."

"Y-Yessir..."

Math teacher was seriously scary, dude. 187 cm, he hits the gym, and he teaches math! Tell me that ain't cool... Cooler than Mr. "Skipping class" over there anyway.

Back to the problem at hand, literally. It wasn't that hard, so Jinn eventually got it right. Teacher was still pissed but it was Monday, he didn't finish his coffee in the morning, and he wasn't about to deal with all that, so he just looked the other way.

For the rest of class, Jinn just minded his own business and waited for his brain to fully wake up. Too bad, he was having a beautiful dream too.

...All right. We've been avoiding it. But I think it's time to talk about the actual problem. What's been going on all these years? Well, let's start with the beginning, obviously.

December 7th, 2015.

Right after leaving the A.C.T.P.

The car ride home was... More than painful. For all three family members.

"Jinn... Honey... Please stop crying, alright?"

"Sigh..."

The mom comforted the kid, while the dad stood quiet.

"B-But mom! I-I-I've been trying really hard! All this time! And they kicked me out!"

The mom was just about to cry as well. Seeing this was breaking her heart. And not just in two. More like in two million.

"It's... Not fair! A-At all!"

"I know honey... I know..."

The mom looked desperately at the dad, who looked just as in pain an Jinn. Did he fell at fault, the mom wondered...?

"Yani...? Are you all right?"

"...Not really. Is... Is this my fault? That Jinn doesn't have any Agily?"

"How could that be? You did nothing wrong."

"That's true. But still. You already know my story."

In case anyone forgot, he was the last gateling to come out of The Gates. And a few days late, at that.

"I'm sure that has nothing to do with this. Stop worrying."

"Dad, mom... It's fine."

"J-Jinn?"

"Mom, please don't cry either. It's not your guys' fault. It must be that I simply didn't try hard enough."

After hearing those words, the mom's burden only got heavier. Have she not been driving, she would've been on the floor, sobbing.

"But... That's fine. I'm sure it is. I'm sure I'll get it soon. I must just be late because dad was late too, right? Surely..."

Jinn didn't believe that himself. Made no sense, to be honest. The dad's arrival time shouldn't matter nor intervene with his Agily. So it must've been something on Jinn's end. But, if he didn't say those words to his parents, he would've probably only cried harder.

His dream of getting a cool Agily was gone. And he knew it.

No, that's a lie.

He knew for a while now.

After Jinn stopped going to the A.C.T.P. for four hours a day, he could actually start studying for school, at every subject. Except math. He... Still... Really disliked math...

His grades stayed pretty good throughout school, eventually getting him into a pretty damn good highschool. Good for you, Jinn.

His Agily never developed, not in the slightest. He was just like your average kid. Just... Normal. Smart, but overall, normal.

Given that he was 10, and had no cellphone, when he left the A.C.T.P., he never got the chance to exchange contact information with his friends. So he got out of touch with everyone the second he got into that car. That was a pretty big mental hit for for Jinn, but he managed to pull through.

Even now, seven years later, he does not, and will not, blame his parents for his lack of Agily. He's just thankful to them for supporting him all this time.

After thinking it over a bit too, he realized that having no Agily wasn't that big of a deal. He just got to live his normal life. After all, what's so wrong with that?

Boring. This life of his was extremely boring. He had to sit on his ass all day, being a good boy, while other kids of his generation were out and about using superpowers?

Great. Just... Great.

While Jinn was in his seat, looking out the window, he heard something... Interesting, for once. On one of his classmates' phone, there was the news playing. And they were talking about gatelings.

Jinn could only make out some words, though...

"Gateling... TGG... Today... Calculations... Wrong... Russia and..."

Fuck... Why does his hearing suck so much?!

He had to do the impossible. He had to... Talk to a classmate! Don't panic Jinn, you got this!

"Hey, umm... What's going on there?"

"Ah, Jinn. 'Sup. This? Apparently the gatelings' number was all fucked up. Y'know how there were only 10.000 of 'em, right? Well, apparently, that was fuckin' lies!"

"Wait... For real? How?"

"Look for yourself, man..."

The classmate replayed the video, and Jinn looked at the lady presenting the news and listened closely.

"Good evening to you all. We come presenting some important gateling news today. Apparently, TGG's gatelings' calculations were all wrong. Well, partially."

Wow, TGG failed to do their job. Big surprise.

"There has just been reports that the gatelings' number far surpasses the estimated 10.000, as originally thought. That's because, TGG couldn't find all the Gates in time."

...Wait, what? For real?

"Apparently, at least 15.000 other gatelings existed, hidden away from TGG all of these years! And the cause? Russia, China, and other countries of the like, for example North Korea."

Wait, wait, wait, this cannot be happening? How did TGG miss more than double of the Gates?!

"Thanks to these countries, all of our estimated numbers are now useless. We now have zero idea on the numbers of hybrids in existence. But that's not even the worst part... Thanks to some inside intel we obtained, we found out that more than 63% of all hybrids left their country of origin."

Oh c'mon, what is this, some K-drama?!

"Given that they were kept hidden most of their lives, we have no idea what their intentions are. We advice that you please keep an eye out for suspicious individuals. They might've been in your friend groups for years now. Please beware."

Ah, so, like, thousands of angry hormonal teenagers with superpowers are wondering up and about. Huh. That's cool. No, it's not!? Why are they only telling us now?!

"Woah... Is this real?"

"Sure is dude. You wanna see the rest?"

"Yeah, thanks."

The classmate hit play once again.

"Now, we have a special guest with us to talk about the matter. The current head of TGG."

Woah, this must be super serious then... I wonder what he has to sa-

"What's up, citizens of America!"

We're fucked.

"As y'all know by now, some suuuper suspicious individuals with dangerous Agilys are roaming our streets! And not just ours, they're everywhere! From an estimated 7.000 hybrids, the number jumped to like a 15.500! Crazy, right? That's just speculation, though."

The number basically doubled, and then some... This is quite troublesome.

"So! Here's our advice for ya'! Don't piss off any angry and suspicious looking dudes, and stay safe!"

That's something you'd say to a kindergartener...

"Oh. And also. Attention to all hybrids."

Woah, he got serious for a second. Scary.

"Absolutely do not engage other hybrids. No matter if they're from the first or second generation. The second generation being the ones that weren't discovered by TGG on time. I repeat, don't fight them. We do not want casualties or city destruction, nor do we want an Agily battle breaking out in the middle of the city. Good day to you all."

I mean, it's an entirely fair thing to ask from someone. But all hybrids are, again, angry, hormonal teens... I don't think this is gonna turn out pretty.

"I see..."

"Ain't your dad a gateling, dude? And you a hybrid?"

"Don't go shittin' your pants, alright? I'm Agiless."

"If ya' say so."

Something wasn't right though. How could a few countries keep 15.000 people hidden away? No, actually, even more, because of the children. It doesn't make sense. None of them slipped up for the past 23 years? Something's fishy here. And it isn't this dude's lunch. This classmate really likes fish sandwiches.

After that, the day passed pretty fast. Nothing of note goes down. When Jinn gets home, he sees his dad and mom on the sofa, in front of the TV. They're watching the exact same thing he saw at school. Is it a recording or something...? Those news were aired yesterday evening...

"Hey uh, mom, dad? What'cha watching?"

"Ah, hello Jinn! Just the news from yesterday, your father was interested."

"Mm, I see."

His father never really cared for the news though... This was fishy as well.

"Why the sudden interest in news, dad?"

"That's 'cuz they got something to do with me. Did ya' forget what your old man is?"

"Nope, not yet anyway."

Actually, he kinda does sometimes, given he can't use an Agily.

"TGG... They helped me so much in my life, yet they have this huge slipup... How's this possible?"

"I'm not sure either. This isn't exactly normal, y'know?"

The two looked so serious, the mom couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, c'mon you two, no need to get so serious now. It's just a few old people and a few kids on the run, it's gonna be alright."

"Yeah, that's not the issue. We're just surprised at how they were kept hidden so long. It puzzles me, at least."

"You're still a kid, Jinn... Focus on your studies, not on weird people."

It was now the dad's turn to chuckle.

"You know me and Jinn are both 'weird people', right?"

"A-Ah! No, I didn't..."

"Pfft, it's fine mom, he's just joking around."

"I am?"

All three were laughing now. Yeah... This was nice. Jinn wasn't unhappy at all with his life. He just had to focus on school, and worry about "weird people" later, just as his mom said.

2023, February 20th.

Eh? That's weird. Very weird. "Later" came way sooner than expected.

Ah, sorry. Please let me explain.

Half an hour earlier.

"Mom, dad, I'm leaving. See you later."

"Bye, Jinn. Be safe out there."

"Sure."

As Jinn left, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, and casually scrolled through his social apps while he walked to his station. Ah, would ya' look at that, he got three new followers...

Wait. Why does this even matter? Well, it does. Kinda. Because, in his Twitter-induced trance, he didn't notice a tall, scary looking dude, right in front of him, and bumped into him... Oops?

"Ah shi- My bad man."

"Eeeeh? Do you know who you're talking to right now?!"

Um, no? You're wearing sunglasses and a mask my guy. COVID's been outta trend for a while. Take it off. Who are you, a stalker?

"Uh, no, sorry."

"You little... Alright my guy... This'll teach ya'!"

"Huh? W-What're you doing?!"

The guy in the mask rose his arms up, started shaking them, and sparks started coming out. This guy... Was a hybrid. Jinn was scared, obviously. He didn't know how to fight someone with Agilys. His black belt in whatever self-defense class he took didn't mean shit right now!

"D-Dude! Stop! You'll kill me!"

"That's... The whole plan!"

As soon as he said that, his arms caught fire, and he put them on Jinn's shoulders. As soon as contact was made, Jinn caught fire, and it wasn't just a lil' spark either.

"N-No! Wait! It hurts! It fucking... Doesn't? The fu...?"

The guy in the mask immediately started laughing uncontrollably, and put out the "fire" with a wave of his hand.

"Did ya' get scared, Jinn?"

"What the fu... Wait... Sam?! Is that fucking you?!"

Yes, that Sam. If you don't remember him, he's basically the starting point of all Agilys. AKA the oldest hybrid. Not by that much, though. He was in Jinn's friend group from way back.

"Who else, Kinky? Ya' miss me?"

"Dude... It's been, what, 6, 7 years? How the hell have you been?"

"Not too shabby man! Not at all. I learned how to do some cool shit with my Agily."

"Yeah, I noticed first-hand... Ah, did you keep in touch with anyone from A.C.T.P.?"

"Hmm... Kinda? Not all that much though. I still talk to Chloe though."

"Huh? Really?!"

"Hahaha, nah, I'm just fucking with ya'. Why, you jealous?"

"Yeah, yeah, as if."

...He's not. Okay, maybe a little. Maybe a little more than usual.

Sigh... It's been 7 years dude, get over it.

"Look man, I have a train to catch, I gotta bounce. Gimme your number or somethin', aight?"

Oops. Too much idle chitchatting, his train was leaving soon.

"Sure, gimme a sec... Here."

"Thanks. Nice seeing you again, dude. I'll talk to y'soon."

"Sure, fine by me. See ya' later Kinky!"

As Jinn has already made some distance between them, he had to shout.

"It's Kinko you asshole!"

"Sure it is, Kinky! Sure it is!"

You guys think he has a superiority complex because he was the oldest at A.C.T.P.? Yeah, actually, I'm sure he does. It's Sam we're talking about after all.

Anyway, as soon as Kinky- Ah, sorry. As soon as Jinn got on the train, he couldn't help but crack a smile. He was happy he found someone from A.C.T.P. again, after all these years. Though it's pretty clear who he actually wanted to find... Sigh...

Anyway, he was happy and everything, but why were his hands itching so much? Not just palms, but from his shoulders down to the fingers.

Jinn couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Damn it... I'm sure that asshole did something to me... I'll ask him some other time."

Oh well, whatever. He was still overall happy. What he wasn't happy about, was the fact that he had math in about 20 minutes. I'm telling you all, this kid hates math more than anything else on this Earth...

Then he muttered to himself again.

"Oh well. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Pfft. Stop muttering to yourself dude, you're gonna look creepy, especially to that guy in the back of the train eyeing you, hahaha.

Wait.

Guy in the back of the train eyeing you?