Knox stood over the railing, looking down at the river below. After the long interview, he was exhausted; all those questions on mortality and the ambiguity of his life's work were too much.
"Damn it," he cursed under his breath.
He had lived his entire life being told he was special—that he was his parents' kid, so he had to be. He was special, in fact; he was intelligent and logical, living up to his parents' expectations and then some. When he did have shortcomings, he was always told, "You'll get 'em next time," or "They have no vision for your work."
Being a prodigy meant people expected you to succeed. Failure was a foreign concept to men like Knox, because anything other than success meant you were a letdown. That's why today stung.
He couldn't live up to those expectations. When he was outclassed and lashed out, he got riled up—leading him to do what he did. The media apology lasted too long for his liking.
Now, he stood at a riverbank, watching fish swim under the bridge.
"It's pointless to swim against the current," he said to the fish.
He looked down at his hands.
He could still feel the impact of his first punch—it stung. He'd never punched anyone before. He'd always been in control of his emotions.
But everyone has a breaking point.
Keeping everything inside tends to build pressure, even for the gentlest of souls.
He buried his head in his arms.
In the moment, he had every right. That boy had stolen work that didn't belong to him, and in a blind attack, Knox decked him. The media saw and covered it. It was seen as an act of jealousy, that he was angry he had lost.
That was at first… until they started saying:
"Oh, he must have his reasons."
"That boy always seemed fishy to me."
It didn't take long for them to take his side once more. He had been cleared, and for some reason…
"That's my boy."
"I knew you could do it."
"I'm proud of you, son."
All of it rang back and forth in his head.
He hung his forehead slightly against the railing.
"What is frustration? I can't pin it down… I'm the logical and rational one, so why can't I…"
"Yo Knox, there you are!" a voice came, trotting up behind him. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Knox sighed. He knew that voice all too well.
"I wanna be alone, Kiyo."
They put their hands behind their head.
"Man, it was rough in there, huh? Asking all sorts of questions like that. I wouldn't have been able to do it!"
Knox lifted his head. "Didn't you just hear me?"
Then he put it back down.
"Come on, don't be like that! I wanted to check in on how you're doing."
Knox's foot began to bounce up and down.
"I frankly don't care for your pity."
"Pffft. Who said anything about pity?" Kiyo snorted.
"Then why the hell are you even here anyway?" he barked, annoyed.
They put their hands behind their back and stood beside him, their black ponytail bouncing in the wind.
"I wanted you to see what you looked like when you cried," they smirked.
He sighed. "I ain't crying. It's not like something bad came out of all this. I got off the hook pretty cleanly."
Kiyo pursed their lips, put their hands behind their head, and looked at the sunset.
"I'm not gonna pretend like I understood what happened. I'm not smart enough for that. But I think it's not right…" they said.
"Hmm? Oh… I don't care what you think. I've already heard enough from everyone else. 'It wasn't your fault.' 'You were justified.' 'Everyone has an off day.' Blah blah. If you're gonna spout the same crap as everyone else, I don't wanna hear it. I know already."
He looked at the sun.
"Eh? I wasn't gonna say all that."
"…"
He looked at them.
"I think you pulled a boner."
He looked at them and blinked… then blinked again, squinting their way.
This was Kiyo we were talking about, so it couldn't mean what he thought it did.
"You get that term from Nero?"
"Yup!" they smiled.
He nodded.
"Explain what you think that means."
"A foolish mistake, of course." Kiyo tilted their head with a big question mark hovering above their expression.
He sighed.
"Continue," he said, rubbing his temples.
"You decked that guy with a WHAHM right in front of everyone. You knocked him on his butt. The way he was bleeding and started crying and shak—"
"Focus," he cut them off.
"What I'm trying to say is… you reacted badly to something that could've been avoided. You made a mistake. You were wholeheartedly in the wrong.
Someone else was better than you, and that made you angry, right?" she looked at him. "I know how that feels. I'm not all that strong or talented compared to my siblings, so I try hard. And I get frustrated when I don't get my way. It's hard when you think you're good at something, but someone does better than you. However—you use that to work even harder."
They pointed their finger at the sky.
"Though, coming from me telling you not to use violence must be silly," they rubbed the back of their head with a toothy grin.
"You're wrong, Kiyo. I know… No, I have to be better. You don't understand at all what it's like to be me—to have people expect you to be smart, to achieve great things as I have, to keep them proud, to keep them as their son!" he banged his fist against the railing.
"…"
"I won't begin or even try to understand what you're going through. I can't do alchemy or use big words like you can. I get worked up easily and overreact. I've never had many people expect much from me…
My birth parents left me because I wasn't born the way they wanted me to be. I was a failure from the moment I was born."
"From one failure to a genius," they started.
"There's always gonna be someone better than you, Knox. No matter how hard you try, there's always a taller ceiling and a steeper mountain in the way. That's what my old man says anyway.
So there's no point stressing over being the best. Only stress over being the best you.
If they're your parents, they'll be proud of you always—whether you succeed or fail. As long as you try your best… they'll never love you any less."
"…And Knox."
"…Yeah?"
"You tried your best."
"…"
His lip quivered.
"…Kiyo."
"Yes?"
He turned away.
"…Thank you."
"Hm… what do I say? Did I say something cool?"
"…Shut up before you ruin it, you dummy."
"Yo, you two coming or what? We got a job to do!"
A tall young man waved his arm, his white hair flowing in the wind. His beast-like yellow eyes locked onto them with a cocky grin.
"Ow!" he yelped, shapely elbowed in the ribs by the swordswoman Akiruki beside him.
"They were having a moment, Nero, and you had to go and ruin it with your shouting!"
"You're shouting louder than me, princess!"
That did it.
"I told you not to call me that, wolf-breath!"
The two of them began grappling at the end of the bridge like bickering siblings.
To the side, seated on the railing and reading a book, was the leader of this ragtag group of misfits. He sighed as he closed the page.
"Hey guys, we have a new job to do… So let's get going, shall we?"
Knox wiped his face dry, then stood.
"I suppose you can't do anything without me, eh, Cassius?"
"Nope," the man replied with a grin. "You're the only other sane person in this group. We can't function without you — it just isn't the same."
He smiled.
"Let's go, Knox."
Kiyo held out their hand.
Knox took it.
And just like that, Odd Jobs was off on their next great adventure.