Black and White

Life, I don’t want to grow up please life don’t leave me behind. The colors are fading like a blurry photograph.

I release the button that closes the limousine’s tinted window. I shut out all the cries from my fellow students-mostly girls who parade me everyday for my phone number. I remember when there was a time it wasn’t like this. When it was quiet, peaceful, and tranquil etcetera, etcetera.

Back home, where the birds didn’t poop on vehicles, there weren’t people flocking you, back when you didn’t worry about anything.

I miss those days, now I’m a teen whose name is known all over Japan. It’s frightening-it amazes how someone like me who once lived in a nice peaceful structured home could move into this hectic rich lifestyle. At times I feel lost in a whirlwind of meetings, social gatherings, school and homework. Man, I just wish I can turn back the hands of time but sadly I know it’s true.

I guess adding the death of my mother into this equation won’t help either. I can’t complain because I know out there someone-is never going to have these opportunities. Yup, but still…so much… four years gone. Already.

All beginning with my mother’s death, the ripe age of fifteen. Glad that’s over, because back then that was a time of change, of growth, too many things were going through my head. I just had to get out-find a way out really. It was like something came over me- God?

I don’t know it was strange-one minute stable, everything perfect, the next- everything falling apart. I guess fate worked for the good, because next thing I knew I had reached my grandfather, Heihachi Mishima. Crude man really, but I can’t rely without him.

I’m not trying to sound like a baby but he’s the only one I have left. Mother’s gone, father’s lying six feet under somewhere. Heihachi was determined to not screw up the Mishima Zaibatsu with me - like he did with his two sons-one of them being my father. He taught me how to what he would call “defending oneself” with the Mishima karate style because he told me what I had learn from mother’s style was no good. I didn’t agree with that statement, but went along with his “enhancing”

Soon after the training Heihachi enrolled me in his school-literally ‘his’ school. There. That place-full of well-off children decked out in conservative uniforms, this was all strange and new. I was an outsider but nobody knew it.

They didn’t know I lived with just my mother for fifteen years…or that I lived in forest and got attack by some demonic enmity. They weren’t aware of this because I didn’t tell them. I was an outsider as it was-first day girls stared at me when they were done with that they stalked me. I had to fight them off every period until I made my last. My last period of that first day was THEATRE 101.

First stepping in I asked myself why I signed myself up for that class because 1.) I do not partake in public speaking 2.) number one’s the best answer. I sat myself in the nearest corner ,head down, wishing that day would just end. As the bell rang I began to count down the minutes until class was over. I tried to ignore the sound of kids rushing through door to their seats talking about what they did over summer vacation or greeting one another.

“Good morning class I’ll be your teacher for this year. I’m Mrs. Takuya and you’ll be learning the basics of theatre this year. I will now go over roll so class may begin.”

I yawn and hope no one notices me. I feel a tap on my shoulder, I raise my head up to meet the face of a smiling girl with pigtails. Oh great another stalker…

“Bonjour Je m’appelle Xiaoyu! Es-tu?” The pig-tailed girl, spoke French and. I admit I did know some French, after a trip to Paris with Heihachi.

“Je m’appelle Jin. J’ai fatigue.” I lay my head down, I was tired and didn’t want any questions. But to my surprise the little girl left it like that, turning forward to her seat. I was shocked, intrigued, and abit embarrassed. That was my chance to make a friend and I blew it, damn…

Little did I know that was the start of a new friendship, Xiao spoke to me more and more each day. Simple things-she owned a panda, she liked to draw comics (some even starring me), and lived with her mom and grandpa. I liked her-she was sweet and polite.

Never worrisome, no complaints, no baggage. The kind of girl a guy could married. But marriage was big of a matter to think about at the time, well just being boyfriend and girlfriend was too much to think about. The good ole days where, Xiao would come over and talk me to death and I didn’t mind.

The days Heihachi went on trips and went absent for days on end. But now it’s time to grow up-the tournament’s coming up, graduation is coming, destiny awaits. More and more everything seems black and white, with the fading colors but that’s apart of growing up.

Je m'appelle - my name is...

Es-tu?- you are?

J'ai fatigue- I am tired.