• osaka, japan
    • yuta was born in the outskirts of osaka to diplomats who quickly left him to be raised by his grandmother, a powerful and well-known airbender amongst her kind. in the privacy of the outer city, she taught yuta the basis of bending, which he quickly picked up as second nature. this continued until his grandmother eventually passed away, forcing him to join his parents in travelling around japan, attending international schools and slowly forgetting all that he had learnt about airbending due to his parents distaste in the practice of it.
  • san jose, united states of america
    • one of the first places yuta moved to outside of japan was california. although he only spent a brief year there, he met his proclaimed childhood best friend, jung yoonoh, who he tended to tease more than his other friends due to the fullness of his cheeks. it didn't take long for innocent teasing to turn into heated fights, much to his parent's dismay when yuta was sent home with dark bruises on his fists and arms. it wasn't that yuta was a particularly angry or sensitive child, if anything he was the complete opposite as an infant, but there was something about the fiery boy and his taunting words that made yuta want to see how far he could bend before he snapped. he wanted to show yoonoh how even someone so gentle could destroy with soft palms and lanky limbs. despite the rare occasions of a sweet childhood friendship that was shared between the two, their feud was never resolved by the time yuta was told to pack his bags to return to east asia.
  • london, united kingdom
    • after several years of international schools across japan, south korea, and china, yuta found himself at university in the heart of england, studying politics, philosophy, economics (ppe) at one of the most prestigious institutes in the city. he would hope to follow in his parents footsteps in diplomacy or a similar career path, not thinking twice about the elements. this was quickly changed when he stumbled into an informal lecture in regards to element benders within society and their use within statesmanship during his year abroad in seoul university, where he found a small group of those interested in element bending amongst the other international students he temporarily lived with.
  • seoul, south korea
    • deciding that this was the city for him on the combining factors of the beauty, the technology, the people, and the connections he had made, yuta had processed a postgraduate degree with seoul university to read international relations. despite being reminded about element bending, he did not think much of it, aware that airbending was something he should keep to himself, even among other benders. at seoul university he met lee jieun, an upperclassman who had approached him in regards to airbending, much to his surprise. he learnt that she possessed skills, specifically in earthbending, and soon understood that although it was in his best interest to keep it a secret from the public, bending was something he should be far from ashamed from.
  • hq, headquarters
    • just like his life past san jose, yuta lived a relatively calm life in seoul, one filled with diligent studying and a copious amounts of books to read. he was friendly amongst his classmates: a person amongst the crowd who you could trust to smile back at you. a smile that faltered when he strolled out from a two hour long lecture on behavioural economics and the theories behind nudging and made eye contact with a face recognisable that wasn't as round as it was. yoonoh. he remembers the muscle he has now, all sense of rationality out of the window, visualising what it would be life to beat him to the pulp. his name resounded off the walls of his brain and it was almost like all he could see was the colour red and yoonoh. in a violent spar against air and fire, the two were close to exposing bending to the entire campus and subsequently the world, yuta's angers had brought out abilities he was unaware he still had after years of hiding them. if not for a godsend known as jieun dragging them by the ears in a motherly fashion to what is now known as hq, they would both probably be dead. if you were to ask either one in regards as to what had happened that day or how they resolved their feud, neither one could answer you. its even debatable whether jieun even knows, but for yuta is happy that even if it is the earthbender that still continues to keep the two alive, 石の上にも三年.
  • san jose, united states of america
    • it's hard when your parents are the target of so many people all over the world and you're suddenly being ripped away from the home you built again. yuta's conditioned to think that this isn't a big deal: he's done this so many times before, leaving without a word and becoming a mere memory for those who knew him, so why did this sting so much? after an aggressive phone call with his parents, begging him to leave hq and to stop airbending forever, he's flown from seoul back to san jose at the early hours of the morning, tears falling down his face. there's a sense of awakening when he steps foot off the plane - he's been here before and he's now realising the reason why. someone's trying to kill him. it's not long that he regains his bright smile and studious habits, despite it being rather fake to convince his parents that he'll be fine in a small apartment that spills out onto a beach. he takes walk in solitude most afternoons. appreciates the warmth of the sun: yoonoh, the sand between his toes: jieun, the smell of the sea: lucas, and the sting of the wind, those that he abandoned. he never dared cry in fear that he'd never stop, so he smiled as bright as he did when he was surrounded by those who loved him.
  • hq, beachquse
    • seeing someone from your past, no matter how recent, is like starting at who you were. it's almost as if all that time away from them never happened and you're back to who you were. yuta stops breathing, the current book that has his attention he held falling onto the concrete ground when he spots a familiar pair of eyes on his way back from the small coffee and bookshop he works at. he doesn't breathe for what seems like hours and he's suddenly tempted to break into a sprint away from her. and he does. behind a rather small shrub that fails to cover his tall stature but he can breathe. so well that he tears that he'd held back alone demanded to be seen and his cheeks are now wet from tears. he doesn't dare to lift his head when he feels her presence in front of him. he only sobs harder when he feels her small arms wrap around her. he's dizzy, it's as if all the wind is knocked out of his system. he can't do much but follow her lead like the thousand of times he's done in the past and he feels safe. he knows that being at hq could kill him. could kill his entire biological family. but he feels safe.
mar 13 2018 ∞
mar 26 2018 +