NEW YORK
TWO YEARS LATER…
Under the moonlight, atop a roof on the East Side, Zack knelt, watching the next building. His hoodie barely shielded him from the cold, but he wore a thick face mask for protection. He looked through his binoculars at the figures, deep in discussion.
He drew a deep breath. His cellphone buzzed in his pocket.
A text from his Uncle Saul: Where the hell are you? I give you five minutes to get home or you're a dead man. 😊😊😊
Followed by three blushing emojis? Maybe he meant angry faces. Zack rolled his eyes; Saul hadn't quite realized how to use them properly.
"Let's see what we're dealing with." Zack took a deep breath and drew into his powers.
He cringed from the noise, then it became a little bit clearer: he could never read minds from a far distance.
"Shipment arrives Friday..."
"Last kid was a disappointment..."
"The elders are becoming impatient..."
Zack took a deeper breath. A lot of kids had been disappearing, turning up as victims of a serial killer, leaving behind a symbol on their bodies.
A crimson red eye carved into a circle. It was a symbol of the Akugan clan, his family's rivals in ancient times.
If they were hunting down boys from ages 15 and up.
Then it was no coincidence.
He thought of his parents' deaths. Not a day passed that he didn't feel hurt about surviving that crash. The jade stone given to him was safely hidden.
They left a lot of money enough to pay for his college…he was barely 16 and already a millionaire.
A mental spike alerted him.
But not from the warehouse. He heard soft footsteps.
"... Probably a spy. I'll kill him just to be safe."
Zack spun just in time to dodge a knife aimed at his back. His attacker tried to grab him, but Zack jumped off the roof.
"HEY!" the man shouted.
Luckily, Zack crashed into the fire escape. He ignored the pain pulsing in his ribs and began to climb down as fast as he could.
"Oh shit!" Zack hissed as three men in suits ran down the alleyway, swearing at him in Japanese. In a few moments, they would have him surrounded.
He quickly slid a window up and climbed in; a woman in the living room screamed as Zack jogged past her.
"Sorry!" Zack shouted in apology.
Then he ran out of the apartment. He opened an elevator and climbed in, just in time to see the men hurrying into the hallway. Once they saw him, they pulled out their guns.
Zack began to push the lobby button desperately. "Oh crap! Come on!"
A bullet hit the doors as they began to slide shut. Zack crouched down, and thankfully, the doors closed before they could get closer.
He covered his face, breathing hard. Once he left the building, he didn't stop running down the sidewalk. New York was a busy city, especially at night. No one paid attention to the running kid.
He stopped a taxi and rode home.
* * * * * * * *
The next morning, Zack sat behind his desk half-asleep in first-period American History at Briarwood Academy. He had his earphones hanging in his ears. That was the only way to tune down the irritating thoughts of everyone around him.
A hand slammed on his desk hard, causing him to jump.
He looked up to see Mrs. Williams frowning at him, pointing at her ear.
He sighed and removed the earphones; everyone around him stared.
"Mr. Takashi, may I remind you again that music isn't allowed in my class!" She said, taking the earphones. "You can have these by the end of the semester... along with the graveyard of earphones I've collected from you this year."
Laughter rang out.
He leaned back in his seat and discovered his classmate, a light-skinned Black girl with a top bun wearing glasses, watching him.
"... What's with him?" She thought.
"Besides coffee, listening to Migos helps me stay alert all day." He said it out loud to her.
She frowned at him. "Okay?"
He narrowed his eyes, reading her mind. "It's Mary, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
Before he could say more, Mrs. Williams spoke up.
"Alright, everyone. Quiet down. We have a new student joining us today." She announced. "Please welcome Cody Takashi."
Zack lifted his head.
A tall boy with shoulders too broad strolled in like he owned the place. He looked maybe eighteen, with lead-black hair and sharp eyes. Too confident to be new, too old to be a sophomore.
He wore his uniform in a sloppy way. Something about him made a chill run down Zack's spine.
"Yo, it's Takashi's cousin." Someone called out.
"...So cute..." the girl in front of him thought.
"He's not my cousin!" Zack protested.
Cody looked at him and laughed. "Definitely not."
"Thank you, please have a seat." Mrs. Williams directed.
Cody slid into the seat next to Zack, met his gaze, and winked like they'd done it a hundred times before.
Zack recoiled in his seat. What in the hell?
* * * * * * * *
72 HOURS EARLIER
Kai opened his eyes to the smell of the earth. He was lying in a forest, on his belly. He sat up, looking down at himself.
"...the earth takes as it gives," he whispered to himself. "The ancestors bless me with life again. Now I must fulfill the path for me."
His limbs were...oddly different.
He was also naked.
"No. No, no, no—" He shot up to his feet.
He groaned in disbelief. "Why am I a kid?!"
His only response was the chirping birds. He reached a deserted campground, found some clothes in the tent, and changed.
He didn't understand what he was doing, but he knew he had someone to get to. Images flashed through his mind: a life he once had, a baby, a wife…
In the nearest town, he passed by an elderly man sweeping the front of a store.
"What year is this, sir?" Kai asked.
The man stared at Kai, debating whether to speak to the dirty-looking kid, knowing what it felt like to be homeless a long time ago. He called off the date. Kai widened his eyes.
"Two years?" Kai muttered to himself. "Feels...too long for some reason."
The man, who felt generous, spared Kai some change, and he stopped by a phone booth, but his fingers froze over the dial pad.
"Uh, I can't remember..." His memories were far too deep. He was reborn, like a new baby still figuring out its environment.
He snuck into the public library and searched his name. Several records came back to him.
...Kai Takashi leads cancer medical research.
…Genius Doctor performs miracle surgery.
He found out his wife's name, Mariana.
He stared at her picture.
"Mariana." He whispered.
He had a child, but not with Mariana. He found his name...Zack. Then frowned at a discovery of Zack on the wrong side.
"Arrested for vandalism? Breaking and entering?" Kai clicked through the articles. Kai rubbed his face. Two years apart, and Zack had turned into the kind of kid who kept parents up at night.
He couldn't find anything on Mariana. He trusted Mariana knew how to handle herself. But first he had to find their son.
He found an address in Manhattan and a reference to his guardian, Saul Cho.
Kai exhaled and accessed an old offshore account. Thank goodness, it still worked. He forged paperwork for the transfer. Two days later, he hired actors to play his parents and enrolled at Briarwood Academy.
* * * * * * * *
PRESENT DAY
In the hallway after class, Kai cornered Zack. He couldn't believe he was staring at his son, but Kai was taller. Kai fought for words to say as he planted a palm on Zack's shoulder.
"Son." Kai blurted. "This could be the start of a new relationship."
Zack pushed his hand away. "Yeah, no."
Then walked around him.
Kai groaned. "That came out wrong. Damn this adolescent awkwardness... Hey, Zack!"
He jogged after Zack down the hallway. "Look, I know this sounds crazy, but...I'm your..."
"Takashi!" A voice boomed.
They both turned to see a huge guy cracking his knuckles with a glare.
"Oh great, it's Gareth Michaels." Zack muttered under his breath. "A.K.A. Moronus neanderthal."
Zack quickly ran into the boy's bathroom; Kai followed, and Zack slammed the door shut, pushing his body against it.
Kai stared at his son in confusion. "Why are you hiding from that kid?"
"Open the fucking door!" The kid pounded hard.
Zack grimaced. "Uh, because I don't want to get pounded? Quit following me!"
"No," Kai said firmly. "I'm reporting this bully to the headmaster, who'll have to take this matter seriously."
The kid was stronger and managed to push his way in. Kai and Zack stepped back into the wall.
"Think you're hot shit, Zack? Snitching on me!" The boy snapped, sizing Zack up.
"Look, man," Zack began. "Have you never heard of innocent until proven guilty?"
Gareth's face turned red. "Bullshit, Coach said you told him I was still smoking. Now I can't play football in the Finals!"
Zack shrugged. "Okay, maybe I did."
Kai felt a rush of pride in his son and shook his head at Gareth. Was "Unbelievable. Do you know what smoking does to your system? That's what's wrong with you kids today."
"Huh?" Zack muttered in confusion.
"Shut up!" Gareth snapped at Kai.
Kai didn't understand the sudden fear inside him, this child was larger than him. Gareth charged forward. With a quick reflex, Kai leapt up, grabbed his neck with his legs, and flipped him over.
The boy landed with a loud thud, while Kai rolled into a strike position.
Kai rose, while Zack stared at him with shock and laughed with delight.
Gareth, panting hard, struggled to his feet, grabbing his chest. He didn't have to speak. Kai caught a flicker in Gareth's eyes. Fear. Hurt. Rage. It was all there.
For a moment, he almost felt like he was on the wrong side.
Then Gareth left the bathroom.
Zack grabbed Kai with a victory whoop.
"Dude, that was awesome." Zack said. "I'm definitely keeping you."