The day finally came for Raito to meet with Soul and get a better understanding of this new world he was going to be a part of. The second Raito’s alarm went off he quickly jumped out of bed and began to get ready. He picked out his outfit and wondered about the kind of person Soul was.

How would Soul change his mind? Would he be like Flight? How long has Soul been a Gif? These thoughts and many more ran through his head.

Even if Soul was able to change his mind. At least Raito was able to make a friend from this whole situation. Raito’s mother had never seen him as happy and full of smiles ever since he met Flight. She had always worried about Raito. Being a military child wasn’t easy and made it difficult for him to make any permanent friends.

Raito tried to finish his breakfast as fast as he could. He coughed a few times because he wasn’t chewing enough and the food was starting to choke him. The doorbell rang and Raito’s mother answered the door to meet Flight for the first time.

“Hello, my name is Flight. I’m here for Raito.” Flight immediately won over Raito’s mother with a simple greeting and a smile. Seeing a handsome man with a charming smile and pleasant-sounding voice melted her heart. Wanting to make a good impression herself, she tried to introduce herself the best she could.

“Hi. Oh ummm, my name…is…Ringo. I ummm heard. Much about. You! I go…get Raito.” Jun stuttered. She wanted to make sure Flight understood her before inviting him into the house.

Raito had put away his dishes and ran out the door but not before giving his mom a goodbye hug. “Sorry mom! Don’t have time to chat, we have plans.”

“So where exactly are we going?” Asked Raito.

“You brought a mask with you like I told you too, right?” Flight responded back with.

“Yah! It’s right here. I bought a simple plastic one from a dollar store. No point in wearing the one I made if I can’t wear the whole outfit.” Raito said as he showed Flight the mask.

Flight looked around the area before grabbing Raito’s arm and pulled him into a nearby alley. Flight then put on his own mask. “Flying will be faster than going by car. Especially since I can’t have you driving with a blindfold on.”

“Why would I wear a blindfold!?” Raito yelled in confusion.

“Shhhhhh! Don’t be so loud. I can’t have someone know the location of the leader of the Alliance when they’re not apart of it.” Flight said as he snapped his fingers.

“Alliance?”

“Put your mask on and make sure you hold on to me. We’re going to first get high into the air to make it harder for people to see us.” Flight explained as both of them started to float into the air.

“Is this a bad time to mention I hate heights?” Raito asked while putting on his mask.

With another snap of his fingers. Flight and Raito accelerated into the sky at a faster pace. The fastest Flight could move in the air was about 25 miles per hour. Not as fast as a car on the highway but the ability to not be restricted to the road balanced it out.

“I thought you said you couldn’t control your speed when flying!” Raito screamed as he held on tightly to Flight’s arm.

“I can’t really but for some reason the higher I’m in the sky. The faster I’m able to move. A Gift’s power requires a lot of trial and error remember?”

The journey felt like it took hours but really it only took about 30 minutes to reach the area. Because of the extreme height that they were both flying in. Raito was completely lost and had no idea that Soul just so happened to live in the same state as he did. He continued to survey the area, trying to get a better understanding of where he was. Directly in front of him was a large white building. The entire area was also deserted as if the house was in the middle of nowhere.

“You can take off your mask now. There’s no point in hiding your identity from him.” Flight said as he made his way towards the door with Raito following behind.

Flight rang the doorbell and waited about a minute before it opened. Revealing a man wearing a white suit, with pants to match, and a white luchador mask. “Welcome to my home Wave. Please come in and make yourself comfortable.” Soul said as he turned around and guided the party into the living room. The living room was just as white as the house. A white couch, white carpet, white walls, and even a white bar. If it wasn’t for the shadows it would have been easy to run into a wall or trip over the furniture.

“You sure do like white a lot,” Raito said nervously.

“White is such a pure and innocent color. Emphasis on color. White people can be the complete opposite.” Soul replied as he made his way over to the bar. He poured himself a glass of bourbon before making himself comfortable on a chair.

Flight made his own drink before sitting himself on the couch. Raito felt like a fish out of water and didn’t know what to do. Was it okay to sit down? Was he supposed to make himself a drink too? Should he introduce himself? Does her address Soul as mister?

“You’re not used to being in the presence of such a lifestyle, are you?” Soul questioned while taking a sip from his drink.

“Not really. I’m sure Flight told you all about me.” Raito replied before sitting himself down near Flight.

“Flight hasn’t told me a thing about you. All he requested was for a meeting.”

“But earlier you called me Wave. That’s the name I gave myself and only Flight knew that.”

“You know why I’m named Soul?” Before Raito could respond, Soul continued talking. “Just like you. It’s a name I gave myself. Every Gift has a name they go by other than their birth name. Well. Everyone except Flight. He actually had his legal name changed to that. It’s an excellent way to separate one’s personal life from their Gift life. And much like my name, it gives you a hint into what my Gift is. The Gift of Souls.”

“The Gift. Of Souls?”

“With it. I can manipulate one’s, own soul. Inflict pain that would not leave any physical markings and even read a person’s soul. Your soul told me everything about you. I know your real name, where you live, your guilt, your weaknesses, your happiness, your everything.”

Raito’s mask slowly slipped off. His eyes were wide, mouth opened, and fear spread throughout his whole body. A Gift like this exist? This is who Flight works with. Was this a trap? Am I going to die? He thought to himself.

“Before you ask let’s get through the typical questions. No, I don’t know if an afterlife exists. No, I can’t create life. Just like other Gifts, I too have limitations. No, I can’t destroy life. That belongs to the Gift of Death”

Flight turned his head towards Raito to see how he was doing. Raito’s hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably as if he was trying to shake off bugs that had climbed all over him. His skin was covered in goosebumps from fear. His entire mind went blank and transported him into a black void. He was only a Gift that controlled sound. The worst thing he thought that might have existed was a Gift that controlled nature. Not life and death. Only Flight’s words were able to bring him back into reality.

“Wave…Wave…Raito!”

“Huh?” Raito yelped.

“You okay?”

“Kind of. I guess?”

Soul just continued to quietly take sips from his drink until Raito looked as if he was ready for more information. “I’ll cut to the chase about what’s important. I’m the leader of the Alliance which is a group for Gifts. Gifts tend to either join me, Timekeeper, or death.”

“Death?” Raito repeated.

“Gifts in the Alliance have protection from Timekeeper.” Flight answered.

“A war between a Gift who controls souls and a Gift who controls time would end in a lot of deaths. I don’t go after his Gifts and in return he won’t go after mine. Gift’s that belong to no one…well. You get the point. I deal with Gifts using their powers for wealth and fame. Timekeeper deals with crime. You can trace almost every type of crime back to Timekeeper. The only exceptions are petty crimes, sex, and domestic violence.” With those final words. Soul got up from his chair to lend out his hand for Raito. “Good luck on your adventures and if you ever change your mind. I’ll welcome you into my group.”

“You’re not going to offer him a spot now!?” Flight questioned as he jumped out of his seat.

“I read the guys soul. I put the fear in him, but his mind hasn’t changed. I can even tell you the exact date he had in mind for his first trail run.”

Flight looked back at Raito and could see he was still shaking but something was different. He had a smile on his face. “I know what to do now. Stick to small crimes and I should be okay,” Raito said as be bopped his head up and down. “I can do that.” Raito grabbed Soul’s hand and shook it.

“See?” Soul said.

This wasn’t the outcome Flight had hoped for. If Soul couldn’t change his mind. Nothing was going too. But before they left, Raito had a few more questions he wanted to be answered.

Who was Timekeeper and what are Gifts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The time was 11:00 pm when Soul decided to go to the kitchen to get a snack. As he walked down the stairs, he spotted Leech on his couch. Drinking directly from the bottle of his expensive wine.

“May I help you?” Soul asked while making his way towards the fridge.

“I thought I treat myself to a bonus for doing that job. I also wanted to see what you were hiding from me. It’s not often you FORBID me from coming here at a set time.”

“I had company and didn’t want you scaring them off.” He replied as he took a bite from his snack.

“Must be pretty important then.” Leeched paused to chug the rest of the wine before continuing to speak. “My gut tells me it’s a new Gift. You’re going to need one. You’re little Alliance is lacking in Gifts compared to Timekeeper.”

“I didn’t offer him a spot. I could tell he wouldn’t follow the strict guidelines of no superheroing around.”

“He’s one of those huh!? Let’s see if he can survive the three-month challenge. I think we’re due for one. The score is 0 – 20. Not even one has lived past that third month.” Those were Leech’s final words before passing out on Soul’s couch.

“Goodnight Leech,” Soul said as he made his way back to bed.