Chapter Text
His fingers trembled,
His voice wavered,
His body couldn't stay still.
Kimi hated having to change schools so often, but he never had a choice; if he wanted to keep his secret, he had to stay away from all potential threats, not get attached to anyone, and above all, remain discreet, not draw attention to himself, listen to authority, and never make waves.
It was clear, and Kimi had perfectly understood it; for years, he had followed his rules to the letter to never put a single person in his family in danger. And for now, he had perfectly held up.
It was a secret kept for decades in their families, and anyone who discovered their secrets was either killed or became part of the family, an unchangeable rule.
Kimi had tried everything to slip through the net, but in the end, he realised that no matter how much effort he put into it, it always ended badly.
He had lost two people because of him, a teacher who had unfortunately dug too deep and stumbled upon the violent truth, and a childhood friend who had discovered it by accident while his family had already decided her fate.
Kimi had fought for her, he had tried everything, all the negotiations, and even though his parents had supported him, the rest of his lineage had decided her fate.
Kimi had never really gotten over it, just like his parents who had fled the only people who could never have understood them. Kimi had no other choice but to accept his parents' request and change his way of life. If his safety had to be equal to constant changes, he had accepted it.
But in front of the door, accompanid by the principal, walking straight ahead, he had to endure the piercing gazes of the other students. Kimi tried to ignore them, but it was much more complicated than he had thought.
He looked straight ahead, ignoring the many gazes directed at his back as he stopped in the middle of the room. The principal spoke for a few seconds with the teacher who had stood up just as he arrived.
When the principal left, the teacher walked towards him with a smile on her lips, extending her hand which he gently grasped and shook.
"Well, let me introduce you to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, he will be part of our class for an undetermined period."
Kimi raised his face, letting his hand give a general wave to the entire class with an embarrassed smile. "You can call me Kimi."
The students' gazes were almost unbearable, impossible for him to endure their judgements, Kimi heard laughter, prying eyes, and even voices.
He moved quickly towards one of the empty tables in the middle of the classroom, against the wall where the window was, surely one of the only ones still free. Kimi quickly sat down at it while the stares didn't seem to calm down.
The teacher, on the other hand, had returned to writing her lesson on the board while the two blondes behind him called out his name, trying to get his attention.
"You shouldn't." Started the girl against the wall, leaning on her unsteady arm.
"Why?" Asked Kimi, his expression neutral, avoiding speaking too loudly.
Just at that moment, the door swung open suddenly, surprising Kimi, who just as quickly missed a heartbeat. Apparently, not all the crazy people were institutionalised, and that one was surely one of them.
"Oliver, we don't slam doors!" Half-shouted the teacher as the boy quickly apologised. He walked backward, facing her as if trying to find excuses while trying to reach his desk. Kimi, after some thought, still took a moment to observe him; his hair was slightly forward, shamefully hiding the top of his forehead.
Either he hadn't combed his hair, or he was trying to hide a receding hairline.
After this thought, Kimi held back a laugh, putting his hand over his mouth to hide his mocking smile, but it was right in front of him that Oliver had decided to stop, staring at him intently.
"That's my spot, move." Coldly, Oliver said, placing his hand on his desk, visibly annoyed by his presence.
"Oliver, behave better for once and go sit somewhere else."
Oliver's gaze lowered towards him as his eyebrows furrowed and his fingers gripped the wood of the table with an aggressive force. Kimi managed to catch a glimpse of the brown in his eyes, which was clearly filled with hatred towards him.
"Mr. Bearman, go to the back." Ordered the teacher as Oliver finally pushed his back straight, preparing to leave, but before he started to walk away from him, Oliver took the time to throw his pencil case against the wall, making it fall coldly to the ground, returning to settle on the tables behind them.
"For him." Finished the other blond, gently getting up from his chair. "He's a real stubborn mule, you should ignore him."
Kimi nodded timidly before looking around him, he analysed the few passing faces, apart from the madman who had just fallen on him, this class seemed much calmer than all the ones he had had before, a calm reigned in the room, Kimi tried to appreciate it as best he could, not to make waves, not to stand out, inwardly he prayed to any existing god to be left in peace.
"Noted." Kimi smiled at the blond sitting behind him. "Thank you."
"I'm Liam and she is-"
“Doriane. My name is Doriane." She smiled, extending her hand towards him, Kimi quickly complied, shaking her hand.
Behind them, a noise echoed, like a projectile that had been thrown from a nearby table towards, Oliver, who was still nestled behind them with a conspiratorial smile on his face. It was in front of him that a boy had a wad of paper in his hand, aiming at him while pulling his arm back.
"If you do it again, you’re going outside." Resumed the teacher, cutting off her walk towards Kimi. She delicately placed a few textbooks on his table, turning to Olivier and giving him an icy glare. "Mathematics, English, history, science, and biology. Normally, that's all you need." She smiled gently before looking at the two blondes behind him who were trying their best to hide the mess behind them that wouldn't stop.
"I count on you to help him integrate." She asked as they both nodded in unison.
She walked away from them before grabbing the chalk again on the board as Kimi turned his head one last time to try to see what might be happening in the back. Oliver had his phone in his hands, smiling at the boy on the other side of the table, holding back laughter.
There was an ink stain on his cheek, probably caused by their previous fight, and his hair was now tousled and sticking out in all directions.
Oliver ran his hand through his still slightly curly brown hair, trying to tame his mane. When he finally managed to get a somewhat decent cut, he lowered his eyes to meet Kimi's.
A few seconds passed in a fleeting eye contact, and it only took that brief moment for him to understand that he was the person he absolutely had to avoid; the farther he was from him, the farther he would be from trouble.
Kimi took a moment to catch his breath, quickly realising that his eye contact might have been a bit too long when he saw the change in Oliver's gaze, which had become much colder, his furrowed brows etched on his face as if telling him to fuck off.
An intuition that was quickly confirmed when he noticed the discreet middle finger Oliver had given him.
If he already hated him, at least he wouldn't have any trouble staying away from him.
That night, the full moon was out, the rain hadn't stopped falling, and Kimi couldn't take his eyes off the view. Through the large bay window of his room, still stuck in bed unable to sleep, Kimi admired the big full moon accompanied by a fine rain that had settled right in front, the drops cascading on the roof leaving a slight background noise to lull his mind.
The view was always beautiful from here, Kimi had seen it at any time of the day and it never disappointed him, but that night, the steady sound of the rain and the gentle light provided by the moon gently lulled him into the arms of Morpheus, and within minutes his mind had shut down to venture into another universe.
Only his peace was short-lived when a part of his brain had refused to let him sleep, as if danger constantly surrounded him, a constant alarm reigned in his brain and that night, it had done its job perfectly, sending warning signals to his own body. A pain in his heart pierced through him before Kimi finally woke up abruptly, trying to catch his breath while looking around.
Reality was much more frightening than his nightmares.
Around him, all the objects normally lying on the floor were swirling in the air—clothes, cables, video games—all spinning in the room around him.
Kimi squinted his eyes, blinking once more; he knew what was happening to him, that sooner or later this curse would catch up with him, but he preferred to ensure the reality of things by giving himself a light slap on the cheek, he was not dreaming. It was indeed the day when his powers were going to manifest.
Kimi had not yet realised the entirety of the situation; his eyes had been raised for a few minutes already, and he had not yet thought to lower them. A reflex he quickly had before finally realising the situation he was in, not only the objects were levitating in the room around him, but he was levitating too.
He must have been about a meter above himself and the bed on which he had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago, floating above as if all this were normal, but flying had never been anticipated by his parents among his potential abilities.
Overcome by panic, he let his voice break free and screamed at the top of his lungs, his cry echoing throughout his room and making its way to the living room, abruptly waking his parents who had half-fallen asleep in front of the television.
Both of them got up at lightning speed while his mother, barely putting a foot on the ground, aided by her speed power, ran at an unimaginable pace towards her son's room.
She finally stopped in front of the room, opening the door just as quickly to find her son in a position very different from the one she had left him in.
She covered her mouth, trying to contain her astonishment, soon joined by his father who sighed as he looked at the chaos in which his room was. After a few seconds, the objects floating around him fell to the ground, leaving a shrill noise echoing throughout the house.
His mother was struck by a wave of panic, realising that what had happened to his belongings would surely happen to her son. Suddenly, she had the reflex to move underneath him when she understood that the magic had suddenly deactivated from Kimi's body. An intuition that proved correct when her son fall into her arms, breathing in panic and a few tears running down his cheeks.
They had trained for this their whole lives.
That was what Marco and Véronica had said to each other upon discovering that they would have a child together, the first and only child born to two people who possessed magical powers. A greater responsibility, a greater chaos, more powerful abilities, everything needed to complicate their lives.
But undeniably, they loved their children, and if they had to undergo a second education to do it, they would.
"I would have preferred to have the awkward talk about sex rather than this." Sighed her mother, running her hand over her forehead while his father sat beside her, biting his nails.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." His father laughed as she turned her face towards him, leaving a cold silence.
"Honestly, shut up."
Kimi was lost, scratching his elbow anxiously, letting his leg tremble as he sat on the couch right in front of his parents. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the ticking of the clock that echoed every second, as if it were trying to drive him mad.
"Well, my dear...Now life is going to be... More complicated." His mother began, looking visibly stressed.
"More complicated than it already is?"
"You haven't even gotten past the first level of problems, Kimi." Replied Marco, trying to lighten the mood, which clearly wasn't working given Kimi's face that was just crumbling.
Veronica tapped her knee against her husband's, trying to discreetly tell him to be quiet; he finally decided to cut his joke short, letting his wife take the reins of the conversation.
"Listen, it's 2 a.m., we're all tired, and you have class tomorrow. We need to establish some rules that you will have to follow.”
Kimi nodded as his father took the notebook right next to him, it was the same one they had been using for years.
Their family was cursed, and they could only accept that. When his parents met, they knew nothing about magic; his mother had ended up at the police station after a car accident to testify, and his father had been arrested for fraud.
They just crossed paths but spoke for the first time in the waiting room, and after that, they saw each other again, and again, and again.
It was also together that they had discovered the existence of their magical powers; for his mother, it was hereditary, and for his father, an unfortunate accident had forced him to receive a blood transfusion.
Only Veronica's mother had been compatible, and upon waking up, he had powers in turn. Something abnormal since despite all the blood donations she had made, only he had gotten powers out of it.
Their families were cursed; when his mother's parents found out, they banished them from the city and especially from the family.
Marco was not natural, not normal, his magic was false. And above all, they had always been against Kimi's very existence; he had no grandparents, no uncles, no aunts, or cousins.
So yes, his life was already pretty shaky, two deaths because of him, one of them a friend, the obligation to stay silent for life, the prohibition to get attached to anyone. But nothing had prepared him for the damn list his parents had created between them to protect their secrets. He had a complete copy in his room, but his parents had especially insisted on three of them that he had stubbornly memorised.
Never talk about it to anyone.
Do not use it in public.
Never use it to do harm.
It was after the longest conversation of his life that Kimi had tried to return to his bed to lie down again, he had gone over his three rules in his head, he had tried counting sheep, thinking of anything else, but it was too late.
Kimi was terrified of his powers and his only fear was using them in the worst possible way. So, immersed in his insomnia, he had turned on the light and sat on his bed, Kimi had spent his evening staring at the lamp right in front of him and practicing making it levitate.
Five minutes before he woke up, Kimi had learned to make all the objects in his room fly, even his own bed.
It wasn't any more complicated than writing or drawing; he was even already enjoying it, a rather peculiar feeling because he had seen his parents do the same thing all his life. He was even quite jealous of seeing them do it while he was incapable. This time he finally felt truly at home in the family.
He was finally like them.
Liam and Doriane were... Similar. That's the least one can say, they were almost completely synchronised and sometimes Kimi wondered if they weren't brother and sister in another life, they hated each other half the time and tolerated each other the other half.
That's what Kimi had deduced after spending a few days together; he hadn't talked much and analysed everything happening around, just to know how to react, how to behave with them.
With the two of them, it was rather simple, not making too much noise, not preventing them from arguing or shouting at each other. Liam and Doriane also seemed to enjoy his company; they found him caring, gentle, and funny.
All three of them had spent all their breaks together since the beginning of the week, but that day, Kimi had learned something interesting by watching Liam; he seemed to panic, look away, change the way he spoke—in fact, he completely changed his demeanour whenever Oliver's friend was not too far from them. What was his name again? Isack. It was Isack.
Kimi had never dared to ask him the question, maybe they weren't close enough or he thought he was homophobic. But that noon, Isack was alone in the courtyard, no sign of Oliver, which was not very reassuring; he was never alone.
As for the three of them, all sitting against one of the trees in the arboretum, they were enduring the summer sun that was violently tanning their skin.
They watched in the distance as Isack, looking visibly lost, scanned from right to left before he started running towards them, slightly panicking Liam who straightened up, pressing his back against the tree.
"Have you seen Ollie?" Asked Isack, panting.
"No." Doriane hadn't even bothered to lift her eyes, too busy reading the book nestled in her hands.
"And you, the new one?"
"No, actually I have to go. See you later.”
While Kimi had started walking towards the inside of the high school, he had seen Liam get up, smiling, to offer his help. He would have loved to stay and hear how Liam was doing, but his intuition told him otherwise.
Upon entering the high school, after barely a few steps on the floor, he spotted a tall figure in front of the restrooms that he guessed was Oliver's; that was what his intuition had told him to come and see.
Kimi could have turned back and retraced his steps to find Isack and tell him where his friend was, but his curiosity was quickly piqued when another man, who only vaguely reminded him of someone, gently pulled him into the restroom.
Kimi left his bag near the lockers before discreetly following them, he moved up to the door before opening it with the utmost care to avoid the slightest noise. When he entered, he hurriedly slipped inside the other restroom, hiding behind the door and trying to focus on their conversations.
“How many do you have?”
"The question is how much can you put in?" That voice, cold and icy, was Oliver's.
"30 bucks, no more."
A fucking dealer.
He should have suspected it, a moron like that could only do that kind of stupid thing.
Kimi had gotten what he had come for and, in the moment, made the somewhat hasty decision to leave, but his burst of courage was quickly halted by the next stall opening in turn. Kimi missed a heartbeat before closing the door in front of him, locking himself inside. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to think about what he could do.
Nothing, he wouldn't do anything and then he would leave.
"Next week, I've got something big, so get ready and let your friends know."
Kimi heard nothing but a slight mouth noise and footsteps heading towards the exit. He finally sighed in relief, relaxing his clenched fist of stress, he was finally going to leave and be able to find peace.
But as Kimi took a few steps back, his leg touched the metal trash can, causing it to fall to the ground. The crash was far too loud in the room; it was impossible that Oliver hadn't heard it.
Kimi, in his panic, put his hand over his mouth to avoid breathing too hard, he had no idea what to do, his levitation powers wouldn't help him get out of this situation, the only thing left for him to do was hope someone would get him out of here.
He felt a hand rest on the bathroom door before being slightly pushed forward, it was too late, Oliver was going to see him, understand that Kimi knew the truth about his secret, and would have to share it with him. In other words, an unimaginable number of problems were about to fall on him when all he wished was to stay away from them.
But surprisingly, when Olivier fully opened the door, his face remained neutral, he leaned his body forward acting as if he didn't exist, as if he weren't there.
Oliver's eyebrows furrowed in surprise at finding no one there, he took one last glance as Kimi finally realised, he moved his hand in front of Oliver's face, shaking it rhythmically, but nothing, he saw nothing.
Oliver sighed, shrugging his shoulders, put the bag in his backpack, and calmly retraced his steps slamming the bathroom door behind him. Kimi stepped forward in turn, casting several glances around him before spotting the mirror above the sinks.
Invisible.
He was invisible.
Fucking hell.
In his eyes, he saw himself perfectly, but in front of the mirror and in the eyes of others, he was completely invisible. A new power was already annoying enough as it was, but if he didn't know how to get rid of it, his life was ruined.
Kimi closed his eyes, shaking his desperate face, why did this kind of thing only happen to him, he could have been a teenager like everyone else or a poor loser who no one liked no matter what, but everything would have been easier than being... That.
If only he could become visible again.
It was only after this thought that he heard the bathroom door open, Liam came out and approached him, placing his hand on his shoulder and gently tapping it. "Watch out, little genius, you're going to be late." Taken by surprise, Kimi looked up to see his reflection in the mirror, once again he was there.
What the hell ?
Having powers and still being forced to hide in his room while the entire school was at a party, that was a damn punishment. Kimi had always had good grades, it was partly his condition to stay in regular classes and not in private tutoring locked up at home.
Only, due to the recent emergence of his powers and the little training he had received as a result, his parents had been clear, no outings until he could control them 100%.
Kimi let his face fall onto his desk, sighing deeply. He grabbed some geography study cards, trying to read them again, but nothing worked. He couldn't get them into his head, and especially the constant ringing of his phone interrupted him every time he managed to concentrate.
He stepped forward, angrily grabbing his phone to unlock it, Liam's name was displayed on the screen, Kimi had doubts about the percentage chance that returning this call would have no consequences.
He finally pressed the button to answer the call, placing the phone to his ear.
"What?"
"Come on Kimi. We miss you." On the other end of the phone, Liam was almost shouting, but his voice, compared to the rest of the noise, wasn't that loud.
"Liam, that's kind but I..."
"Kimi, please, you'll also get to discover Ollie's crazy house! I swear, it's out of this world.”
Oliver? If he was at home, it probably meant that his drugs were everywhere in his place and that there was a strong chance that Liam or Doriane had come into contact with them, and given the way Oliver described his stuff, he was far too afraid of the consequences it could have on his friends. Coming from him, it wouldn't surprise him.
"Ok, I'm coming Liam, did you get something?"
"Hmm..." "I don't remember anymore." Liam's voice was hesitant, hoarse, and slightly broken, it didn't reassure him.
Kimi hung up the phone just as quickly before getting up from his chair, he ran around his room from right to left, rummaging through his drawers as if he were looking for something, he had no idea what to take, he had never touched drugs and had even less idea of how to help someone.
However, he knew he had to go, he would improvise but it didn't matter, he didn't think he would save them or even have to help them, but if he wanted to keep his friends, he at least had to look out for them.
Kimi thought for a few seconds before looking at himself in the mirror, he closed his eyes before reopening them just as quickly. He was invisible.
At least this damn power was going to be useful to him, he had trained all evening yesterday with his parents to learn how to control it.
In reality, it was quite simple; he had to close his eyes for about ten seconds, think only about being visible or invisible, and when he opened them again, his wish was granted.
His body remained invisible indefinitely, but it wasn't transparent, it didn't pass through walls, you could still touch it and therefore locate it, and for now, he couldn't make anything else invisible either.
But none of that was going to help him.
He had to meet up with his friends.
…
Indeed, Oliver's house was big, far too big for his taste, he wondered how a family could even live in it, the house had two floors but from where he was, they seemed completely dark, only the ground floor was filled with light and obviously his big garden was... Full; that was the least he could say.
As he moved forward in his garden, Kimi, still invisible, avoided a girl lying on a deck chair, a guy speeding by on a bike, and even a dog sleeping behind a bush.
Had he perhaps fallen into a parallel universe? But reality quickly hit him in the face when he saw Liam in the distance, sitting on top of a dinner table right next to Isack, who was making grand gestures, explaining who knows what.
Liam leaned his head forward, nodding to everything he said, he too must not have known what he was talking about. But at least he was fine and not alone, now he was trying to find Doriane. In reality, he didn't even want to be here, not even to be seen, it was just a quick check and then he would go back home.
Well, that's what he was trying to tell himself, to convince himself, but he had to admit it, it had intrigued him a bit, what kind of guy had a house that big all to himself and did that.
Bottles on the ground, clothes everywhere, water all over the place, and above all, way too many humans rushing at him at lightning speed. Despite his invisibility, he had to avoid at least three drunks, and upon closer inspection of the other students present, some of them seemed... Nowhere.
It worried him even more, Doriane was not the type to be influenced, on the contrary, she was more the one who influenced others, but a little voice in his head worried him.
He moved his face closer, looking inside the house, but nothing, well, a lot of things, but not her. As he stepped into the living room, stepping his feet past the other side of the glass door, a girl stumbled, spilling part of her drink on his shoulder.
Fuck.
It was not discreet at all; seeing himself in the reflection of the glass, it was as if a stain was floating in the air. Kimi started to panic just as quickly, he ran desperately towards the farthest rooms of the house, frantically searching for the bathroom.
When he finally found it, he slipped inside discreetly, closing the door behind him. The bathroom was also immense, the light coming from the LEDs was a soft purple above two sinks and especially from a shower that was almost as big as his own bathroom.
Kimi focused on his stain problem and closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them and seeing his reflection in the mirror. He took the sponge that was lying there and wiped his shirt's shoulder.
He sighed before tossing the sponge into the sink and leaning against the edge, trying to catch his breath.
Kimi looked in the mirror for about ten seconds, checking some corners of his face, everything was fine except for a slight redness on his cheeks due to all the meters he had covered to reach him.
Kimi slowly managed to catch his breath and slowly his face was returning to normal. When he was about to close his eyes, the door suddenly swung open revealing a man with his back facing him, his hand above his phone next to his ear.
His voice was familiar to him, a cold but hoarse tone with a hint of anger in the back of his throat. When he straightened his back, he could see his slightly curly hair, into which he ran his hand.
Oliver.
"Okay, but when are you coming back? It's been five months since it's completely deserted!” Turning around, Oliver ended up facing Kimi, his hand still on his phone as if he had just hung up in the middle of a conversation.
Oliver furrowed his brows, letting the pressure on his back ease before sighing and putting his phone in his back pocket.
"Kimi...What are you doing here? I don't think I invited you." He began coldly, taking a slight step towards him, making him back away.
It was at that moment that Kimi truly realised their height difference; he had to look up to see him when he was too close.
"I was supposed to meet Doriane and Liam… Sorry, I'm going to leave.” Kimi, in a state of panic, had tried to slip past him, squeezing between him and the door, but Oliver's intentions were quite different.
Oliver calmly shifted a few centimetres to the side, preventing Kimi from going any further.
"It's strange because...I was right next to you and I didn't see you come in.” Oliver was almost… Menacing.
At least that's what Kimi told himself when he saw him approach him again. This time, seized by fear, Kimi took another step back, swallowing hard. He couldn't get caught now, not this early.
"It's not my fault if you're blind." Kimi usually had more wit, but caught between his fear and the pressure weighing down on him, he couldn't come up with anything better.
"You're weird... What were you doing there?”
"Mind your drug business instead of pissing me off." Replied Kimi coldly, starting to get angry.
"How... How do you know that?"
“Leave. Me. Alone." This time it was Kimi who stepped forward towards him, making him back up. Oliver panicked for a few seconds before he stopped reacting, letting him pass by, tapping his shoulder and bumping into him.
Kimi quickened his pace, passing through the door and walking towards the garden as fast as possible, but his arm was quickly stopped by Oliver's hand. His body got pulled back, held by his strength, preventing him from moving forward.
Oliver pulled him back, turning him to face him before leaning towards his ear.
"You better shut your mouth or else-"
The hallway was completely empty, only the music in the background and the swirl of colours surrounded them. Kimi tried to catch his breath before pulling his hand away from his arm.
"Otherwise what? Wake up, you have nothing against me." He finished coldly in front of his icy face. "Leave me alone and I'll do the same."
Oliver had nothing more to say; he had never been afraid of anyone, especially not a newcomer who could barely open their mouth to speak in class. But Kimi was much more surprising than he had imagined.
He didn't like this.
Not at all.