Jason Sanders, BAMF (Finished)

• Nicknames/Alias’ | Kenshin - “God Of Swords”
• DOB | August 7th, 1987
• Age | 25
• Sexuality | Straight
• Ethnicity | Japanese-American
• Occupation | Assistant to the Prime Minister of Japan, Bounty Hunter
• Loyalty | Himself

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• Height |Jason is 5'9" tall...
• Weight | ... And weighs 143 lbs.
• Hair color & Style | ason’s hair is off white in color, and has absolutely no styling to it what so ever, as Jason prefers to just let it hang wherever gravity decides to take it, although it should be noted his hair is in excellent condition, seeing as having dirty hair would look bad. His hair extends down to just below his ears, and has a slight natural part to it, which generally takes his hair to his right side.
• Eye color | Jason’s eyes are a deep, powerful red, and appear almost as if they were made out of blood. It should be noted that he has unusually shaped pupils, almost as if they were vulpine in nature.
• Overall Appearance | The first thing that people notice when they first lay their eyes on Jason is his unusual clothing. Instead of a simple pair of pants and a T-shirt, or even a business suit (as is the norm for most Japanese men his age), Jason chooses to wear an ornate, almost regal looking military uniform, which is reminiscent of the style of garb worn by the elite officers of the Prussian military, which consisted of everal layers of elegantly crafted shirts, sashes, tunics, and golden adornments. However, for the sake of simplicity, as well as so he wouldn’t suffocate to death while wearing the outfit, Jason has cut most of these garments out, instead keeping the three most elegant pieces (not including adornments) and using them to create his current outfit.

The three pieces that Jason kept as part of his outfit are as follows: The first piece is a simple white cotton undershirt, which is slightly too large for his frame, and is therefore tucked into his pants and then twisted, giving the appearance that the shirt is actually just a single piece of sloth wrapped around his torso. The second piece is a black overcoat that extends all the way down to Jason’s ankles, with two lengths of gold colored rope on the shoulders, each length wrapped around themselves so that they take on the appearance of two literal bars of gold. In addition to these two golden shoulder mounts, Jason’s overcoat also has a single piece of white leather attached to the left edge, on which are three golden buttons, one at the very top, which is almost always buttoned, one in the very middle, which is buttoned less frequently than the one at the top, and one very close to the bottom, which is purely for decoration. There is also a second piece of white leather, which is attached to the golden rope bar on his left shoulder on both sides. This second piece of leather sits on top of the first, and is also adorned with golden buttons, although these are purely for decoration. The coat also has sleeves that reach all the way to Jason’s wrists, with two white cuffs held in place by a pair of golden cuff links.

The third and final piece of Jason’s outfit is rather simple compared to the other two pieces, and consists solely of a pair of white pants, accentuated with a pair of simple, yet stylish, black shoes. However, before moving onto Jason’s physical appearance, it should be noted that Jason has a small leather bracelet attached to his right wrist, and, if one looks closely, they can see a small silver cross jutting out from underneath the cuff.

Moving onto Jason’s actual physical appearance, it should come as no surprise to anyone who looks at Jason that he prefers to use the words “Tall and Lean” to describe himself. From his thin but toned arms, to his equally lean torso, Jason is the epitome of anatomical efficiency, with not even a single ounce of muscle going unused, a trait gained from years upon years of intense physical training to go along with his already heightened mental capabilities. This sheer perfection (at least in terms of physical fitness) is both a negative and a positive thing to Jason, as it allows him to appear much weaker than he actually is, but at the same time, it also labels him as a “Bishounen”, which is a label no one wants, no matter how much it helps him get laid.

Spoiler:

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• Positive Traits |

• Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. I make shit happen. - To say that Jason is “extremely confident” in himself would be an understatement. To say that he believes in himself absolutely, and that he views everything he does as what is right would be a more accurate description, but it would still not quite describe the sheer amount of confidence Jason has in himself and his ideals
  
• He takes the blazing sun in his bare hands and endures the searing heat; a man's man sustained by strength of will alone! - Under normal circumstances, most people would consider the type of stubbornness Jason possess to be a negative trait, but, like with so many of his other traits, Jason somehow manages to make it into something positive by the fact that he refuses, under any circumstance, to give in, and pushes through even the toughest of situation with sheer willpower.
  
• Would you die if I wished hard enough? - Jason, while intelligent, is not overly so, instead rely more on the sheer speed at which his mind operates on to “level the playing field”. In essence, Jason’s mind is sharp, but his quick wits are what define him.
  
• I would do that now... except I already did it ten minutes ago. - While most would view being a “Lazy Bastard” as somewhat of a bad thing, Jason once again defies expectations and manages to turn what should be a negative aspect of his personality into something positive. How, might you ask? Easy. By being, as Jason puts it, “The most efficient bastard on the face of the Earth”. After all, it isn’t hard to be lazy when you have nothing to do!
  
• A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent. - The truth is something that Jason has always enjoyed telling, regardless of the consequences involved. After all, as Charles Edward Montague once said, “A lie will easily get you out of a scrape, and yet, strangely and beautifully, rapture possesses you when you have taken the scrape and left out the lie.”
  
• Charm is a way of getting be at least the answer yes without asking a clear question. - A man without charm is like a sandwich without bread. A sloppy, disgusting mess not worth any ones time. Thusly, even if it means keeping his opinion to himself, Jason has learned to be at least somewhat tactful, which enhances his natural charm, if only a little.
  
• I've always had an inquisitive mind about everything from flowers to television sets to motor cars. Always pulled them apart... - Jason has always been an inquisitive person, ever since he was a child. How, this inquisitiveness is not just a small, passing urge that comes and goes like with most people. No, with Jason, the desire to not only know something, but to understand it, to comprehend it on every level of it’s existence, borders on obsession, to the point that he practically needs to find out whatever he is looking into.

• Negative Traits

• Ha! You act like I should be afraid of you and your stupid popguns. - To say that Jason is “over confident” “on occasion” is like saying peanut butter and jelly are and “Okay” combination. It fits in the broadest of ways, but upon closer inspection, it just doesn’t hold up to the sheer amount of Arrogance Jason displays on a daily basis.
  
• You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could have, would have, and should have happened.. - We’ve all done it. Thought about something so much, put such concentration and effort into that one thing, that we end up over thinking the entire situation, possibly turning what should have been a simple, easy to fix problem into a complicated, impossible mess. For Jason, a man who literally thinks about everything that he does before, during, and after he does it, this is one problem that isn’t going away anytime soon.
  
• Burn in the everlasting hellfire of creation! Be utterly annihilated down to the very last scrap of D.N.A! - Anger has always been a key problem area with Jason. While he has control over himself, anyone who knows which buttons to push can easily goad him into lashing out without thinking, proving that, while he has made great strides in gaining control over his emotions, he is still very far from where he wants to be.
  
• Someone who thinks logically, provides a nice contrast to the real world. - Sarcasm. Everyone uses it. In moderation, it can be a good thing. Used on a consistent basis to express your opinion, even though there are ways to go about it without using sarcasm? That is definitely a bad thing, and not just for Jason. But you knew that already, didn’t you?
  
• A Mini-Skirt should be just like a paper, long enough to cover everything, but short enough to keep in interesting. - To put it bluntly, Jason is a pervert. He is, thankfully, at the level of perversion where he would stoop to being a peeping tom to get his kicks, but does not mean that he isn’ still pretty high up there in terms of perverted-ness.
  
• The root of all obsessions is a lack of Knowledge. - Truth be told, Jason is more than just ‘Inquisitive’. Deep down, Jason is obsessed. Obsessed with knowing. He is addicted to the feeling he gets when he finally understands something to it’s fullest extent, to the point that he physically needs to feel the rush of comprehension, else he begins to suffer... withdraw.

• Fears | THe only real “Fear” jason has is the fear of not being strong enough to achieve his goals.
• Goals | Jason’s overall goal is simple: Survive. Survive, and find a way to avenge his family. This is the sole, driving force behind all of Jason’s actions.
• Overall Personality | Jason is a man who thinks. And thinks. And thinks. In fact, he thinks so much, he sometimes ignores everything else around him. However, this does not mean Jason is indecisive, in fact, he is far from it. Despite the fact that he loves to thinks, Jason is extremely impatient, usually coming to a decision in a few seconds when it would take most other people a few minutes. In most situations, Jason prefers to think first and then act on his thoughts, but in some rare cases when his temper flares up, he will act first and think later. In these rare instances, Jason's thought process becomes extremely single minded, and if he fights angry for too long, he may shut out all other outside forces from his mind and focus solely on killing his opponent in the most gruesome and painful way possible.

That being said, most days Jason is in near perfect control of his emotions, keeping calm in almost any situation, and reaching rational decisions when others are either too scared to think or too angry to care. This, along with his speaking ability and Semi-Handsome figure, make him a natural born leader, and as such, he was chosen to be one of the many candidates to take part in the first Japanese mission to the moon. He wears the title proudly, and won't hesitate to mention it to anyone he meets. Being a mainly level headed person, Jason prefers to prepare in advance for as many thing as he possibly can, so that everything goes as expected. During fights, unexpected or otherwise, he will usually lure his quarry into an what seems to be a poor choice of location, but in reality, Jason has usually prepared the area in advance so that any advantage he/she might have in almost completely neutralized. Jason can then basically rip his enemy to pieces in any way he pleases. Jason takes great pleasure in demoralizing his enemy and watching them as they slowly realize that nothing they can do will save them from their fate, especially in hollows.

Jason has a particularly strong hatred for Hollows, on the account that a hollow murdered his entire family when he was only 5, just so it could try and swallow his soul, only failing to do so because of the timely activation of his powers and the appearance of the Town Shinigami. Despite the fact that the Shinigami helped save him, Jason now bears a deep distrust for most Shinigami, bordering on hatred. He personally blames both the Shinigami and the Hollows for the murder of his entire family, although he will tolerate being near a Shinigami for a short time if it means killing many Hollows, or one very powerful one, such as an Vasto Lordes.

That being said, Jason gets along with most other races, and has several Quincy friends, as well as (surprisingly) having cordial relations with other Spiritually aware humans. Despite being a good guys most days, Jason still has very few normal human friends, since most cannot get past his sense of humor and sarcasm. Those who do however, are rewarded with a very loyal, albeit slightly zany, friend for life. Unless, of course, they happen to be a pretty girl. IN THAT case, Jason will go out of his way to get into their pants, usually ending with disastrous results. Despite his lack of luck with women, Jason is ever optimistic, always thinking up new ways to impress women, most of which are extremely complicated and doomed to failure right from the start.

Despite Jason's young age, he is extremely wise at heart, and is actually an accomplished Psychologist, able to perceive people's true thoughts and emotions at a glance, even when they are lying or attempting to hide them away. All of his friends call him "Doc" on account of his Degree in Psychology, and his willingness to give out free advice on everything from Dating to Depression. Despite having a degree in Psychology and Physics, Jason refuses to see his own Psychological problems, denying that he even has any, which leads to many heated discussions with the few friends that know about what happened to his family, or at least the version he tells his non-spiritually aware friends anyway.

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• Jason’s Fullbring: Rlebok | ] Jason’s Fullbring is called “Rulebook”, and is a very simplistic ability.His Fullbring object is an ornate silver cross, similar in appearance to the standard Quincy Cross. However, this cross is different from most other crosses of its kind, seeing as it contains a small portion of his brother's ashes. Upon activating his Fullbring, this cross transforms it into an elegantly crafted steel saber capable of preforming beautifully as both a stabbing and a slashing weapon thanks to the slight curve imparted into the blade. The blade is similar in appearance to one that his father owned (which he greatly admired), and is a literal manifestation of his desire to both avenge and protect his family.

However, a Fullbring is more than just what it turns into, and Jason’s Fullbring is no different. Fueled by his intense desire to protect his brother, Jason’s Fullbring has the ability to not just bend the laws of reality as most other Fullbrings do, but to break it, by applying a specific concept (or Rule, as Jason calls them) onto his saber, allowing it to, for a brief period of time, do things that should not ordinarily be possible, such as applying the concept of “Natural Life” onto something that should, under ordinary circumstances, be immortal. As a note, this Fullbring power can do NOTHING on it’s own. All ‘Rules” must be made through techniques.

The Cross:

Rulebook:

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• Birthplace | Karakura Town, Japan
• Mother | Sara Satou (Deceased)
• Father | Karl Sanders (Deceased)
• Siblings | Matthew Sanders (Deceased)
• Other Relations | N/a
• Companion | N/a
• Overall history | Birth/Early Childhood
Jason was born on August 7, 1987, in the Tokyo Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, just 2 minutes before his twin brother, Matthew, was born. He was born into an average middle class family, with an average income and an average number of children. In fact, the only thing NOT average about his family was the fact that he was a part of it. As a child, Jason was always the adventurous one, always crawling around and looking for new things to examine and play with, while his Brother seemed content to just sit back and play with what he had in front of him. Jason Began Walking at the early age of just 4 months old, and began to run and speak coherently at only 8 months of age, although his sentences were simple until he turned two. When his parent took him to the doctor to get his shots, he did not cry, but looked on curiously trying to understand his parents odd behavior. By the time Jason was 2 years old, he was already reading well above his age level, dressing himself, and was able to take care of his little brother all by himself. Jason treated his slightly younger brother as if he was a glass vase, small and fragile. He was always helping Matthew with things he could not yet do, and was always encouraging him to try new things.

Jason acted as Matthew's Protector whenever their Parents weren't around, always helping him with his coloring or protecting him from bullies, but he was always there for him, no matter what. And In turn, Matthew helped Jason out whenever he needed, whether it was because Kids would make fun of his brothers White hair, or just helping him up when he fell down. They were the best of friends, inseparable. His parents, still somewhat shocked that they had birthed such a prodigy, continued to treat him as they would any other two year old, which made Jason quite frustrated most days. However, things got easier as he got older, and by the time he was 4, his parents had adjusted to his intelligence and allowed him much more freedom than most 4 year olds got, as long as he took his brother with him wherever he went.

At an early age Jason learned that he could see and speak to spirits, and even though none of his family could do this, he never once thought he was odd or different from them. The spirits where kind to him, because he was only a little boy, and they taught him things, like how to ride a bike, or how to do that coin out of a person's ear trick that he never could get right. In a way, the spirits became his friends, and although he didn't know it at the time, he was also helping them get over many of the problems that kept them anchored to this world. One however, never went away, Old Man Chen was always at the corner, always waiting for him to come over and talk to him for a little bit. Old man Chen taught him many things, including how to be a "Ladies Man"(a trait he would hold onto for the rest of his natural life). However one day, Old man Chen despaired from his street corner, and Jason had thought he had finally passed on. He could not have known how wrong he was.

"That Day"
Two days after Old Man Chen disappeared, it was Matthew and Jason's 5th Birthday, and their parents had prepared a surprise for them, they were going to visit their Uncle Arthur out in the country! Jason and Matthew were both very excited, because they hadn't seen their Uncle since before they turned 4, and as an added bonus, Jason had over heard his parents talking about convincing his Uncle to let Jason inherit the fascinating sword he had seen hanging up on the wall the last time that they had visited him out in the country. Piling into the car, they drove for almost 6 hours through the Japanese countryside, and the entire way Jason felt uneasy. he could not understand why but he had this nagging feeling in the back of his head that something horrible was following them, something beyond evil lingering just behind them out of sight. He felt it the entire way to his uncles house, for 8 straight hours it followed them. and then, just before they reached Uncle Arthurs house, it vanished. Relieved, Jason helped his brother out of the car, who was almost asleep, and followed his mother and Father to his uncles front door. It was ajar, and Jason's Father remarked that his brother was getting careless.

The family entered the house, and the second Jason stepped into the house, the evil presence he had felt before suddenly returned, this time stronger and more powerful than ever. Scared out of his mind, he looked around for what could be sending out such an evil aura. To his surprise, he turned around to find Old Man Chen just outside the house, but something about him was... different. His usually clean shirt was covered in blood, as was his face and arms, and the evil presence he had felt before hand was emanating form the Old Man. Feeling very scared, he tried to turn away, but found that his arms and legs could not move at all. Old Man Chen walked closer and closer, his entire body morphing and changing into a grotesque, Spider like creature with huge red eyes and a teeth the size of three Jason's. He was terrified.

Running inside, he shut the door and locked it hiding underneath the couch. when his mother tried to pull him out from underneath it, Jason heard a loud roaring sound and it felt as if his ears where going to explode. Screaming, he heard a massive crash as the hollow that used to be Old Man Chen crashed through the roof of the house, His uncle Arthur dangling lifelessly in between its jaws. The sheer force of the impact had blown away much of the furniture around them, including the couch above him, and the Hollow roared again, moving its way towards Jason. However, before it could reach him, Matthew crawled up to Jason, crying and pointing to their mother and Father, who lay dead on the floor just behind them. His protective instincts kicking in, Jason told his brother to hide behind him and stay calm, because he was going to protect him.

Turning to face the hollow, he began hurling small pieces of wood at its face screaming at it to leave them alone and let go of his Uncle. The hollow simply ignored his cries, and knocked him away easily with one of its legs, moving towards his little brother. Screaming in pain, he jumped in front of the hollow just as it was about to kill his brother, and getting clawed in the backed in the same instance. He landed about 3 feet away from his brother, unable to move and barely conscious. He watched, helplessly, as his little brother was mercilessly stabbed through the heart and eaten whole by the hollow, which soon turned it's attentions onto him. Losing consciousness, Jason began to cry for the first time in his life, and at that very moment, he felt a force inside of him that he had never noticed before. Frantic for a way to save himself, he reached out to this force, which flooded into him like a river of pure power for just a single, brief moment. Unbeknowst to him, Jason had somehow managed to grab onto the sword his uncle had owned, and in that moment he raised himself up off of the floor, and screamed at the Hollow to leave him and his family alone, his vision blurring for a moment. Suddenly the hollows face was bleeding, a large cut running down its mask, the sword in his hands shattered into a thousand pieces.

Jason then collapsed, completely exhausted. The Hollow, raging over how a mere human could injure him, raised its front legs to destroy him, only to have them cut off by something extremely sharp. Screaming in pain, it looked around for what could have possibly cut him, only to see a Shinigami right in front of him, its sword drawn, standing right in front of Jason, who was barely conscious. The Shinigami entered into battle with the hollow, killing it with ease, and sheathing his sword, turning his attention to the only remaining human left alive, Jason. fading in and out of consciousness, Jason asked who was the stranger, but before he could hear the answer, he blacked out, and when he woke up once more, he was in a hospital, his wounds bandaged and an oxygen mask on his face.

Aftermath/Discovery
When Jason had finally regained consciousness, the full reality of what had just happened hit him square in the face. He had just lost his entire family, in one night. No more Mother to tuck him in at night. No more Father to help him reach the top shelf. No more Matthew. He couldn't figure out what hurt more, the memories of watching his brother die right in front of him, or the fact that he did nothing to stop it. But, as he lay in his hospital bed, tears streaming down his face form the shear anguish that he felt, a single question entered his mind, one who's importance eclipsed everything else that he was feeling. Reaching back into his memories, Jason recalled feeling an immense power just before he blacked out, and looking up at the.. creature to see its face torn up, with a cut going down its right eye. He wondered how had it happened. Had the stranger done it? No, he didn't come until AFTER that had happened. So... did he do it? He must have. He was the only one left alive.

So... he must have done it. No, that was Impossible. Wasn't it? As Jason laid there, pondering what exactly had occurred that night, he heard a noise near the window. Fearing that perhaps the spider creature had returned, his heart rate increased tremendously, and at once he could feel the strange force once more. He reached for it, only to have his breathe completely knocked out of him, his arms pinned exactly where they were. His breath came ragged, and he looked around the room for what could be causing this. In the right hand corner he saw a cloaked figure, his outfit almost blending in with the shadows. He asked who he was, and what he wanted, the fear showing in his voice, although he tried to hide it as best he could. The man chuckled, walking towards Jason slowly, removing the hood.

Jason looked upon the now slightly less frightening man. He was an older man, perhaps in his mid-thirties. His face was weather worn, to say the least, and he had a scar going across the entire right side of his face. He looked at Jason with a mix of pity, excitement, sadness, and several other emotions Jason couldn't understand. Pulling up a chair next to him and telling him that he wasn't going to hurt him. The force that had pinned Jason to his bed was suddenly lifted, and Jason turned to face the stranger, who began to ask Jason some questions about what had happened the night before. Jason answered them as best as he could remember, which wasn't as good as he had thought. The stranger nodded and listened, not even bothering to take notes.

When Jason was done speaking, the stranger began to tell get up, but Jason grabbed his hood and asked him what had attacked him that night. Sighing to himself, the stranger turned and sat back down, and slowly began to explain about Hollows and Shinigami and all the other races, including Fullbringers, which he explained about in great detail. Jason asked if he was a superhuman, and if so, if he could come with him, seeing as he had nowhere else to go anyway. The stranger said that he hadn't come for that, but upon looking at Jason's pitiful state once more, he decided to take the poor boy with him, if only because he had potential. From then on, Jason lived with that man, who trained him to become a powerful superhuman (although he still forced him to go to school), while explaining to him how the man had managed to survive so long on his own.

Growing up/College
Life with the strange man was hard, but Jason reviled in the challenge of it all, recovering form his trauma, for the most part, within a few months. The man quickly brought Jason’s thin body “up to par”, his physical abilities far exceeding those of his classmates by the time he had turned thirteen As a rule, he had to learn to control his Fullbring on his own, although the man imparted to Jason what little knowledge he had in using the universal version of it. However, things were not meant to last, and the day after Jason turned fifteen, the stranger departed, leaving Jason to himself once more. The very next year, Jason graduated from High School, eager to get out of the hellish nightmare of public schooling and begin his stay in academia.

He was quickly accepted into a prep school, and within six months he had not only managed to pass the examination to Tokyo University, he had even managed to get the highest score of any applicants that year. After a brief period in which Jason took a variety of classes to determine what exactly he was most interested in, Jason selected not one, but two Majors to pursue: Physics; which intrigued ad excited the logical portion of his mind, and Psychology, which fascinated the emotional part of him. He poured himself into his studies, putting his work on unlocking the full power of his Fullbring on hold until he had graduated from College. It was around this time that several important people began taking an interest in Jason, one of whom was Masamori Sachiro, the head of JAXA (the Japanese equivalent to NASA). Masamori had come to Tokyo U. to give a lecture on JAXA’s latest endeavor, a program know as SELENE II, which was scheduled to take a crew of experienced Physicists and astronauts to the Moon for several weeks to preform a variety of ‘confidential’ experiments. The lecture brought a sense of hope to Jason, who viewed the Mission as a chance to fulfill his brothers dream of becoming the first Japanese man on the moon, or, at the very least, get some of his ashes spread across it’s surface.

So, the day after the lecture, Jason took the day off from classes, and quite literally walked into Masamori’s hotel room, determined not to leave without getting at least some sort of idea if ti were even possible for him to get on the mission. Seven hours, and several heated discussions later, Jason walked out of Masamori’s room knowing two things. One was that he had a long way to go before he could argue his ideas in the world of theoretical physics. The other was that he and his brother were going to the moon. With that, Jason leaped into his work with an even greater drive than before, somehow finding time to pick up his Fullbring training once again, as well as juggle all of his classes, his job at the school bookstore, and sleep for more than three hours at a time.

Present Day
And that was Jason’s life. For the next eight years, Jason trained and studied, somehow managing to not only get himself onto the short Moon Mission, but also graduate from Tokyo U. with TWO degrees, and a job working as the Prime Minister's Assistant. His mastery over his Fullbring, while not as good as it could have been, was more than enough for him to manage against the average Hollows that attacked Karakura Town, especially once he combined it with the lessons in Akido he had begun taking.

Roleplaying Sample: I'm Jason motherfucking Sanders bitch! Look around for an RP Sample!

Nah, I’m just messin’ with ‘yah. Enjoy bitches!
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It was a cold, cloudy day out. The air felt thin and damp, the biting wind cutting through clothing both heavy and light as a small white haired boy walked along the empty sidewalk, his right arm wrapped around a navy blue as if it were the most precious thing in the entire world. The boys blood red eyes stared out at the frigid, empty space in front of them, the nearly lifeless orbs taking in every detail of the environment in front of them, from the number of cracks in the next block of cement, to the elderly couple that was slowly turning their nearly ancient BMW around the corner, the recent rains giving them ample reason to be cautious. Although he couldn’t see it, the boy knew that the sun was just barely beginning to touch the western horizon, the elderly couples car giving him all the information he needed in order to know what time it was. The Memari’s always left the funeral home at the same time every day. He had watched the sunset on the nearby hill enough times with Matthew to remember that.

At the thought off his dead younger brother, tears began to form along the edges of the boy’s eyes, his emotions threatening to burst through the walls he had erected up inside, the memories of that night flooding back as he- No. Thought the boy, his breath slightly ragged as he forced his emotions back down, bottling them away to be released later. I have to be strong, like Sensei. He wouldn’t cry. And neither will I. With a deep breath, the boy kept on walking, his eyes dry as he once again placed the emotionless mask over his face, glance to his right for barely a moment as he continued to walk forwards, the iron gate of the funeral home slowly coming into view. The man beside him looked the same as he had nearly two hours earlier. His rugged, beard covered face impassively staring forwards, never looking down at the boy even once, but somehow still managing to see everything and anything he did. It astounded the boy sometimes, how a man could do something so impossible with such ease.

But then again, the boy remembered how he had managed to do some equally impossible things, if not with the same level of prowess as his Sensei. It truly is remarkable how much I’ve grown in only three months. I feel so different from how I did back then. With effort, the boy forced himself not to remember the events that had brought him here, to this dark and gloomy place, filled with the decaying bodies of the dead. With the bodies of his family. A shiver ran up the boys spine as he thought about that. His parents bodies were buried there. As was his brothers. Or, they were. That would be fixed soon. The jar he held in his left arm would see to that. The boy’s Sensei held two similar jars, one in each arm, and although they were quite large, neither of the two complained about the weight. They would be much heavier in just a few minutes, after all. The boy set down his jar as he approached the gate, his small frame barely able to reach the latch that held the wrought iron gate in it’s place.

With a simple tug downwards, the latch came undone, and, after weathering through a powerful but short blast of chilling wind, the boy picked up the jar once more, his Sensei’s face somehow becoming even more stoic than it had been for the last several hours. It unnerved him how strange his Sensei looked. It’s almost as if just being here is as hard on him as it is for me... but that can’t be right. He’s Sensei. He never cries. Never. I must be imagining things again. But the feeling of something being... off with his Sensei didn’t leave. No, instead, the more the boy tried to deny it, the more the feeling persisted. Walking along the broken and worn out stone pathway to the crematorium in silence, the boy and his Sensei passed by many a tombstone, the names carved into the hunks of rock carrying little meaning to the boy, who, despite all his willpower, couldn’t help but turn his head to the left as they passed an old, but still decent looking mausoleum. He could see a place, perhaps ten or so yards from where he was walking, a place where three small plots of land had been dug up.

The sight pulled at the boys heartstrings, but he turned away, holding in his tears, for now. He could let them out later, when he was alone. For now, the boy had to appear strong. At least in front of Sensei. I can cry all I want when Sensei isn’t around, but when I’m with him, I have to be strong. He couldn’t let his Sensei see him as weak, not when he was just starting to learn about what he really was. The creak of an oiled door signaled their arrival at the crematorium, the boy’s Sensei having placed one of the two pots he was carrying on the ground in order to open the door, whose handle was above the reach of the small six year old. A brief moment of silence passed between them as the boy shuffled towards the dark hallway, his body somehow sluggish as he stared into the darkness in front of him. He felt like crying again, but held it in once more. With a deep breath, the boy took a step forwards, then another, and then another, his determination growing with each step.

He had to do this. He had to be there. He had to see them, one last time. Another step, and he would be in the hallway. Another step and he would be there. Just one more step... The boy stopped dead in his tracks, the powerful grip of his Sensei’s left hand holding onto his shoulder keeping him in place. For a brief second, the boy stood, motionless, his mind practically paralyzed by fear. Is he going to stop me? He can’t! I have to see! I have to see Matthew again before they cremate him! I have to! Tears began to well up in the boys eyes again, unhindered this time as he turned his head to look at his Sensei, the mans facial expression telling him all he needed to know, and, in turn, the expression on the boy’s face old his Sensei all he needed to know as well.. ‘It’s okay to cry Jason. It’s okay to feel the pain. You don’t have to do this.’ ‘I have to be strong. I have to be. I have to see them one more time. I have to.’

The silent exchange between the boy and his Sensei lasted for only a moment, but it was enough. The boy, the small, young boy, let go of his strangle hold on his emotions, his eyes almost immediately welling up with tears as he turned back to the hallway, his heart somehow less heavy than it had been before. And so, for the third time in his life, Jason Sanders cried. But he was still strong. Walking down the dark hallway towards the burning furnace inside, the boy; no, Jason, smiled for the first time in months. I’ve come Matthew. I’m ready to say goodbye.

Passing through to try-outs.