Festival

"Aka! You made it!" Gloria raised her hand in greeting as soon as she saw Akatora in the distance. Her long hair was tied up into braids that are traditionally done in times like these. Having learned from her mother all these years, she could say that she's an expert in doing them. As for her clothes, they were just a pair of silk, black pants and a rather colorful blouse.

"Hey, am I late?" Akatora wasn't even aware of any sort of dress code, but it didn't matter. His usual style of clothing was a plain white shirt and black pants, something that can suffice for the occasion. His hair was combed back, since it irritated him when his bangs reach the front of his eyes. He needs to see clearly after all, or he might miss the movements of his teachers.

"Not really, you're actually pretty early. I think that Bre-" Just as Gloria was about to try and get closer to Akatora, a booming voice came from behind. Making the girl frown in displeasure as her moment with Akatora got ruined.

"Hey! We're over here!" Brendon's jovial voice was so attention grabbing that a lot of people ended up looking his way. Their faces weren't condescending, however, as they were all in a festive mood. But it did make the boy feel embarrassed when he realized his rambunctiousness.

"Gloria! You look so pretty! Akatora! Why didn't you dress up?" Diana went to her best friend's side and gave her an approving look. She herself wore a pink dress with her hair tied into similar braids. What stood out was that she wore a black belt that cut through the dress and emphasized her waist. Combined with her hills, she looked different from her usual appearance.

"Ahaha. It's no big deal, is it?" Akatora rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment. Even Brandon looked quite good with a his green long sleeve shirt and silk black pants. Comparatively, he was under dressed.

"Yeah, let's go get to the party in the village square! I heard from my father that ther-" Brendon placed his arms around Akatora's neck while pointing towards the north of the Village. As a young boy, he was always hungry for food. But the boy was surprised when Akatora suddenly grabbed him and pulled both of them to the side.

"Ow. Ah! What was that for?!" Brendon was about to berate Akatora when he looked at the expression on the girls' faces. One of absolute shock and horror. He looked at where they were focusing on and saw it for himself, a sickening image.

"Help me! Please!" A man in his twenties was holding on to his stomach. His body was wounded, evident by the trail of blood he left behind as he crawled on the ground. Earlier, he was running for his life and was about to bump into Brendon, that's why Akatora did what he did.

"Larry?! What's wrong?! What happened to you?!" A passing man suddenly arrived to the wounded man's side. He looked at Larry's hand and tried to move it away so he can see the wound clearly. He wasn't aware of the fact that there was another wound on Larry's body. One that made the two girls vomit at the side.

"Hi, His back! There's something sticking out of it!" Brendon couldn't hold himself back and pointed out at the abnormality in Larry's body. A bone, one of Larry's ribs, was sticking out of his back. It was so gruesome that Akatora had moved his eyes away as soon as he saw it and wasn't even able to keep his wits about him.

"No! I don't want to die!" A heart wrecking scene unfolded as soon as Larry himself heard Brendon's words. It was only now that he felt the pain, the sheer anguish that came from behind him. He could feel his body breaking down, but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Stop moving!" The passing man, Ivan, tried to keep Larry still, but he couldn't do it. It was then that a pair of hands went to his side and held Larry's shoulder down with one hand. His other hand was raised in the air as a blistering heat came from it.

"If you don't want to die, don't move." Akatora didn't know how, but he could see the inside of Larry's body. The bones, his blood, his organs, it was as if the man had no skin. In particular, his rib looked like it could be inserted back in if he pushed it in a specific way. He had no idea why, but he felt like he could push it back in.

He didn't know that his body had marks showing on his skin, black stripes that contrasted against his brown skin. The iris of his eyes were glowing red while the white was replaced by a black tint. It was a talent that arise from those who are from the Tiger Tribe, a skill he didn't know he had. But there were a few people in the world who knew about it, it was the reason he is alive after all.

"What are you doing!?" Ivan was about to move Akatora away due to the danger he was presenting with that hand of his. The heat it emitted was no joke, and he knew that it would hurt him if he got touched. But he didn't dare to stop Akatora, as sis appearance scared Ivan. Thankfully, Akatora didn't mind him at all and suddenly did what he planned to do.

"Ahh!" Larry screamed at the top of his lungs due to the pain, passing out afterwards. His pale skin from before was turning back to a healthy pink. The wound on his back was burned by Akatora's hand, closing it in a hurry.