Unwanted Elements

Chapter Four

- 10 years ago -

My life as I knew it was in danger of being over before it truly even began. I was clinging to the top of a rocky mountain, crumbling boulders plummeting to the unseen ground below me. If I let go, or heaven forbid slipped, I'd be toast. However, my grasp was slowly receding, and I couldn't use my ice. Either way, I was most likely dead. Grappling onto the outlook, I could feel my body lower into the freezing winds. Oh no, oh no, oh no. My brain was a frantic siren, a cacophony of noises and yells I could not decipher. Fear rode through my body as I kicked my legs into a blank abyss of air. 

My fingers barely grazed the rocky outcropping as I finally lost my grip, my small body freefalling into a plummet only enjoyable if you were skydiving. But, I wasn't skydiving, and I had no parachute. I made the mistake of looking down as the mountain rushed by in streaks of grey, brown and white. Spikes loomed under me, and I braced myself as I prepared to feel their jabs in only a matter of seconds' time.

"Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad. Goodbye, brothers," I uttered as my scrawny body came into contact with the spikes.

"Christ, Ichimatsu, do you have to be so dramatic?"

Professor Dekapan's voice cut through my daydreams, bringing my body back into the reality. I sat up, and I could see the "spikes", simply baseless traffic cones sprayed into a silver hue, had fallen and scattered around my point of impact. I glanced up, rubbing my head in an attempt to soothe the aching pains causing the acute throbbing. The rock climb loomed into the bright blue sky, mocking me with unheard laughter. I snarled. 

"Did I do well?" I asked, letting myself stand up and lean against the rocky wall for support, my head still dully aching as I spoke. "I don't know, young Ichimatsu. You're improving rapidly on the balance beams, and you excel with the icicle target practice, but you can never beat the rock climb. You need to get your head out of the clouds, or you'll never make it!" he said, his voice rolling into a disappointed scream after mentioning the icicle practice. I noticeably winced, and I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around my torso.

"It's okay, Ichimacchan, you did your best," Osomatsu's voice wafted into my ear, and I instantly clung onto my older brother. He looked up at Dekapan, his bright green eyes slits of honest anger. "Seriously, professor, why do you pick on him! It's not our fault, you told us to envision climbing a mountain on the rock wall, and that we can't do it! It's hard!" he retorted, and I couldn't believe that those words had come out of a twelve year old in that tone. We're not supposed to be backtalking to adults!

I heard Professor Dekapan sigh, and there was silence. "Listen, kids, you're never gonna have a full grasp on your powers by the time you're sixteen. Not at this rate, anyways." he said, and there was more silence. "Let us double team the course!" Osomatsu chirped, and I almost squawked. "Niisan!" I gasped, exasperated. The professor scratched the top of his hairless head, considering the proposition bestowed onto him by a twelve-year-old fire elemental. 

"I can't. All six of you have unique powers, and the courses are all specially designed to match your powers. I simply can't let a fire user onto an ice user's course," the professor deadpanned, absentmindedly making a twirling motion over his shiny head, possibly letting his lack of hair slip his mind.

I just let myself relax in my big brother's arms, my body releasing the tenseness it had previously upheld. "Professor?" a voice called from halfway across the open aired course, and our heads all whipped to its source. My youngest brother, Todomatsu, was starting towards us. "Yes, young one? What is it?" Professor Dekapan inquired, and both me and Osomatsu narrowed our eyes in his general direction. Todomatsu cleared his throat before speaking again. 

"We overheard from next door, but... what if you combined the course for all six of us?" he asked, and as if he'd summoned them, Karamatsu, Choromatsu and Jyushimatsu appeared from almost completely out of thin air. Professor Dekapan was silent, allowing the moment to glaze over all of us as we huddled together. After what felt like hours of him pondering the idea, he spoke. "Okay, fine, just hang on," he sighed, scuttling past Todomatsu into an unseen area.