Chapter 4: The Power of Magic.

  Taiyo kept finding himself going back to touch his forehead over and over again. He was absolutely sure he had been shot in between the eyes and he was just as sure that he had died. The doctors were just as surprised to see Taiyo alive when they had walked in again. His mysterious family member paid for the medical fees and they released him shortly after a final check-up.

  The three of them quietly walked back to Taiyo's apartment, not saying much of anything to each other. Kendall tried to break the silence a couple of times and Taiyo would respond with his usual rude remarks but Lyra wouldn't say a word.

  "Hey, so what are we doing today? Kendall asked, sitting on the kitchen island as he pulled out his phone.

  "Hopefully nothing, it's been a crazy weekend and it's only Saturday," Taiyo sat on the couch.

  "Hey, Lyra... What do you want to do?" Kendall said carefully as she walked into the apartment.

  She walked into the room and immediately locked eyes with Tai. He noticed that her eyes were still red and she was on the verge of crying again so he looked away nervously, trying his best to not make the situation worse.

  "Jerk," she walked to the bedroom and slammed the door.

  "What's all that about?" Taiyo asked.

  "Well... What would you think if one of your only friends was accused of a suicide attempt after complaining all day about being with you... Because from her point of view, you tried to kill yourself after hanging out with her," Kendall said.

  "Wait but that's not what happened! I was attacked by some lunatic woman wearing a mask!"

  "To be fair that's a lot different than what the evidence said. Also, you haven't put down that gun since you were found."

  Taiyo looked down at his hands and quietly put the gun down on the kitchen island. "It… wasn't like that... I... I have to tell you guys something to clear all of this up. You have to promise me you won't say anything about it though."

  "Look, bro, I'm all ears. I'd love to put my faith in you but it isn't me you should be worrying about. Go talk to Lyra, please. That girl... Really loves you Tai and you should make things right."

  Taiyo's eyes widened and his face turned red. "You can't be serious right? That annoying woman is always in my business and we argue a lot. There's no way."

  Kendall looked at Taiyo and broke out into hysterical laughter as he clutched at his stomach and leaned over.

  "What's so funny?! I'm being dead serious!"

  "Oh, it's nothing..." He smiled. "Just that you admit you recognize her as a woman and you seemed really happy that she might like you."

  "Sh-Shut up Kendall. Don't be obnoxious," Tai stuttered as he stood up.

  "Aww, t-the l-little k-kid is c-catching f-feelings," Kendall mocked Taiyo's stutter and broke out into more laughter from his own joke.

  "You're so obnoxious, man, seriously. Grade S comedian you know."

  "Haha, that's great, getting to see you flustered like this is a once in a lifetime thing. I just had to take advantage of it, sorry. All jokes aside, go talk to Lyra now. I wasn't kidding when I said she cared about you."

  "Whatever dude," Taiyo stood up and walked to his bedroom.

  Thoughts started to flood through his head as time seemed to slow down. He was thinking what would he tell those two. How would he explain that he has powers and for some reason, he just knew he could use them now. After all that struggling it took a bullet to the head for him to understand everything. It was as if he had been using them his entire life.

  Taiyo walked up to the door and took a deep breath. He stared at the doorknob, wondering what he was going to say to her.

  "When the heck did my life become a drama..." he muttered looking up as if he was trying to talk to some unknown force controlling his life.

  (Author's Note: My bad bro. I'm just having too much fun with this.)

  Taiyo sighed and opened the door to see Lyra on the bed as she looked through her phone.

  "Have you ever heard of knocking?" she said without looking at him.

  "Don't be annoying. It's my room," Taiyo said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm here to apologize... for everything."

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  "Great way to start your apology," She laughed. "Calling someone annoying before you do really works."

  "Yeah, whatever. I just wanted to make sure you don't have the wrong idea about anything."

  "I'm pretty sure I have the right idea of what's going on," she muttered quietly. "You didn't enjoy the day the three of us went on and you snuck out and attempted to kill yourself because it was just that unbearable..."

  "You’ve got to realize how stupid that sounds… That isn't what happened at all..." Tai said softly as he reached his hand out towards her.

  "Don't touch me!" she shouted as she knocked his hand away, throwing her phone down. "Then what happened, huh? How are you going to weasel out of this one? You never want to have a good time and you won't even open up to the only two people who care about you."

  "Can you shut up and listen to me!" Tai yelled at the top of his lungs. However, he immediately regretted it when he saw the disbelief and hurt on her face.

  "I knew this was a waste of time. I'm going home."

  "Wait, I'm sorry. Look I'm new to this friend thing and I've never had people look out for me as much as you and Kendall do. So please just come with me and I can try to explain everything."

  Lyra didn't say anything and looked up at him sadly. "No more secrets?"

  "I guess I'll try," Tai grabbed her hand and pulled her up. He tried letting go but she squeezed it tighter and avoided eye contact as she hid her face.

  ***

  "Aww the lovebirds made up," Kendall smiled as the two of them walked out of the room, still holding each other's hands.

  Lyra dropped Tai's hand quickly. Tai turned around to check on her. He shrugged and didn't think any more about it.

  "Shut up Kendall. Now that we're all here I need to tell you guys what I was hiding," Taiyo said.

  "Yeah yeah, let's hear it. I'm excited to know," he responded.

  Kendall and Lyra sat down on the couch while Taiyo stood up in front of them. Kendall slung his arm around Lyra and stared straight into her eyes without saying anything. Her face turned red as she looked away.

  "W-What...? You should know how to respect personal space..."

  "Oh it's nothing, It's just that you've changed a bit since we first met and It's kinda cute."

  "Shut it Kendall. I haven't changed at all."

  "Whatever you say, princess~" Kendall sang as he let go of her with a smile.

  "You're the one who's changed. You've been teasing us a lot more and have seemed to have gotten a lot more comfortable," she said through gritted teeth. "And I don't think I like the princess you added in there."

  "I think it's a good nickname," Taiyo yawned. For some reason, his drowsiness was threatening to take over. It was as if every limb weighed twice as much."It's about time one of you got an annoying nickname too so I don't have to be the only one living with one. Anyways, to get back on topic, I need to tell you guys what I've been hiding."

  Lyra and Kendall looked at him skeptically, doubting whether or not he would tell the truth but decided to hear him out.

  "Recently, some weird stuff has started happening to me and I think it's some kind of magic or superpower thing. You know when I broke the hoop and disappeared? I could feel some weird energy that flowed through me like blood or something. I've only assumed it's magic because of some other circumstances that occurred..."

  Kendall and Lyra looked at each other then back at him. They didn't say anything but it was pretty obvious to Taiyo what they were thinking.

  "You aren't messing with us, right? You're being a hundred percent serious?" Kendall asked.

  "I'm dead serious."

  "Okay then show us," Lyra leaned forward with a grin. She had a look on her face as if she had forgotten everything that had happened between them. Her eyes lit up in excitement as she gave a mischievous but interested smile. "That should be easy if you aren't lying."

  "Okay whatever, give me a second," Tai sighed.

  He closed his eyes and slowly imagined a slow-burning fire. He had realized that his crazy, emotion-filled approach from before wouldn't cut it to control the even more intense flames. As wild as he could get, his own flames could get ten times wilder. He slowly imagined the fire getting larger and larger until it felt like his blood was boiling. But for some reason, it didn't hurt at all. Taiyo had finally gotten to the point where he could feel his own fire. He could feel it raging inside of his own body but for some reason, it just wouldn't come out.

  "Don't be shy now you piece of crap. Come out now," Taiyo mumbled as if he was talking to his own fire. He felt a hot pierce in his chest like his flames were talking back to him with their own personality.

  "You wanna have an attitude then? Alright, bet. This calm approach was becoming bothersome anyway!" Tai yelled.

  Lyra and Kendall looked at him as if he was insane and slowly stood up.

  "Hey bro... Are you okay? You're talking to yourself..." Kendall asked as he slowly approached him.

  "You have a screw loose or something? Did you hit your head too hard?" Lyra asked, concerned.

  "Yeah... I'm just fine," he said through a forced smile. "Real question is... will they be?"

  "They?" Lyra crossed her arms, cocking her head to the side.

  "Yeah, my fire."

  Taiyo felt a tugging sensation to the revolver this time but he had now decided that he would act on it. Finally giving in, Taiyo swiftly grabbed the gun and aimed it at his heart. Lyra and Kendall freaked out and immediately started to dash towards him, screaming. Taiyo sighed as he nervously sweated.

  "This brought you out last time so you better do something..." he gulped. "Get your act together, or we both die."

  Taiyo pulled the trigger just before his friends reached him. The bullet pierced his heart as it went completely through him. Blood flew behind him, pain spreading like wildfire throughout his body. His head started throbbing while his vision blurred with dark spots dancing around in his eyes. He slowly started to close his eyes as he fell.

  'I guess this is it huh? This world doesn't cease to amaze me in how much of a pain it is...' Tai thought to himself. Taiyo turned his attention back to his flames as he slowly died, talking to them in his head. 'If I die here that would mean you would too. So before we go, I have to ask... How was life? It must've been annoying to have to live with someone as boring as me right? I bet there are a ton of people you would rather have been born with but you got someone who didn't even know you existed. Ha sucks to be you.'

  'Jeez, what a troublesome master.'