Learning to Fly [PSL, Gohan and Futaba]

[greatsaiyanerd]

Gohan’s years throughout high school were filled with new experiences - but he had never been terribly close to many of his classmates. He had friends, sure - mostly boys, because for the first two years he had found it difficult to speak much to the girls. But this year he had resolved to do things differently.

And through that, he met Futaba Sakura. All it had taken for them to wind up becoming friends was someone piping up about sentai shows. The two geeked out about their favorite series, talked on the phone through IM consistently and even hung out after high school a few times. They weren’t super super close, their friendship mostly lasting due to their similar tastes. But when Futaba found out that Gohan was able to fly, the boy wasn’t surprised to hear her suddenly ask him to train her. Of course, he had said, anyone could learn to do it if they practiced and knew the trick - but it wouldn’t be easy.

Of course, the reason Gohan flew so much had been due to his fighting as the masked Great Saiyaman, but he did his best to ensure no-one else knew it was him. Futaba was no exception, but he felt as though she had an inkling. Regardless, he couldn’t turn down her request to learn to fly, and so he waited outside the local park, in a more secluded area so they hopefully wouldn’t be watched. She’d be here any minute, and the lesson would begin.

Comments

[i_will_live]

While Futaba had made great strides in her confidence, overcoming much of her agoraphobia with the help of her friends, she still could get quite nervous around others. It was especially bad around large groups but she also had a hard time getting to know new people mostly sticking with people she knew.

The one thing that knocked her out of it was when one of her devoted interests came up, sentai shows being one of them. That discussion came up and she found out that one of the newer students she really didn't know, Gohan, also liked the older sentai shows. Futaba wasn't a snob, she liked the new stuff just fine, but she had a hard time finding people that really appreciated the older shows for what they were.

Their conversations expanded beyond that. The longer they talked the more easy she found it to talk to him. She even forcefully dragged him to Leblanc for some curry. Sojiro eyed him up, but decided he was a good enough guy. He'd get to learn more about Futaba's interests and more personally things about her living situation and who her Mom was. She of course didn't go into how her Mom passed, it was more excited conversation about how smart she was.

Gohan had managed to keep who his Dad was secret enough to avoid other students bugging him about it, but events forced Gohan to at least reveal his ability to fly to Futaba. It was a random happenstance, a car hit a curb a little too fast while the two of them walked to school and it was headed straight for Futaba. Gohan swiftly grabbed her and shot straight up in the air quick enough no one saw them.

After Futaba's heart stopped racing she had so many questions, including of course wanting to learn how to do it herself. She arrived shortly after him, practically bouncing on her heels. The red-haired girl grinned up at him "Hey! Ready to start?"

[greatsaiyanerd]

Honestly, given all the circumstances, it's amazing that no-one had ever made the connection between Gohan and his father. But that was for the better - he didn't want to be treated differently just because of who his father was, or looked at weirdly because of the powers he had. But when it came down to saving someone's life, especially someone he cared about, using them was a no-brainer, as dangerous as it was.

He grinned back at her as he saw her coming towards him. "Yep. Are you? This isn't going to be easy, but I think you'll get it down with some practice." He scanned the area again, just trying to make sure no-one was too nearby - and at the very least, no-one was watching them. He'd tried to pick as secluded an area as he could without being in the middle of nowhere.

[i_will_live]

"Definitely! It's going to be so cool." Futaba had dreamed of doing things like flying around. She had of course prepared, well as best as she could given the circumstances. She opted for a shirt that was a little tight on her and tight shorts. She figured anything too flowing, other than a cape, would be a bad idea. Of course it had the unintended consequence of showing off her body a bit more than her school uniform did.

Futaba walked up a few in front of him "So what do I need to do first?"

[greatsaiyanerd]

"Well, it's more complicated than it sounds, but... you need to draw out your ki." A beat passed before he continued. "Every living person has latent energy inside them. By tapping into that power, you can do things like levitate, and eventually fly. But for today I think we need to focus on levitation."

He then demonstrated by putting his hands together, and closing his eyes. A small white orb appeared between his hands as he slowly pulled them apart. Opening his eyes, he spoke again: "It's not a visible energy on its own - but you can manipulate it to create that. It's kind of like you're manipulating the air around you to be lighter so that you can float. Like an air bubble. You know what I mean?" While explaining, he'd started floating into the air a little bit.

"Before you can float, you have to find your ki. So that'll be your first task. Close your eyes, look deep inside yourself, and try to find it."

[i_will_live]

Gohan might see it as he's explaining about ki, a sort of flash of recognition in her expression. Something about it seemed familiar to her, did it have something to do with Personas?

"Alright I'll give it a try!" She sits on the ground cross-legged, closing her eyes.

However despite her recognition she still makes the mistake of just trying to brute-force it. Brows furrowed in concentration as she tries to force something out that she doesn't even know where it began.

She groans in annoyance "I think all I'm doing is giving myself a headache, got any other tips?"

[greatsaiyanerd]

He did notice it just a bit - maybe she understood it better than he thought.

But he wound up unsurprised to see her get annoyed at it. Not that he expected her to fail! "You're trying way too hard! You don't have to try and force it out like it's a bad spirit or something, it just needs to be found. Here, let's try something."

He sat down in front of her, and gently put her hands together, palms facing up, with his own hands under hers. Before long, a small ball of energy appeared above her hands - and she may be able to feel some of that energy flowing through her. "Try now. I've given you some of my ki, so you can hopefully find the source of yours." If she did, that ball of energy should definitely react to it!

[i_will_live]

Her pout turned into slight surprise as he got close and placed his hands on her own. It made Futaba's face warm up slightly, but she did her best to listen to Gohan. Especially when that ball of energy appeared.

She gave a nod "Alright I'll try again. I think I've got an idea now."

Futaba took a deep breath as she shut her eyes. She calmed down and thought back to everything that came before. While she hadn't used her Persona in a while she still remembered the feeling. She muttered under her breath "I am thou, thou art I."

Finally a reaction the energy turned green and about doubled in size. She had found it!