Name of Story: Meeting
Characters: Steelheart (Daniel Jones), Nightwielder (Chin Suziku)
Rating: K+
Genre: Friendship
When: Before Calamity
Summary: The day Steelheart and Nightwielder met was an eventful one…
Daniel probably shouldn't have walked through the rain to the front door if he hadn't wanted to get sopping wet. Ah, well.
He burst through the doors to the school, hoping to avoid his teammates after his coach had kept him after practice. Teamwork again. It wasn't his fault the captain was so snobby!
Daniel's footsteps echoed through the halls. It was kind of weird to see the school so empty, but also kind of nice. No one would bother him, no one telling him what do you think you're doing, you do it like this, worthless untalented boy. It was just him, the echoes of his own footsteps, and the sound of his teammates sneering at some poor kid.
Wait. What?
Daniel stopped to listen. The sound was real - he heard the quarterback's snobby voice calling out insults to an unknown tauntee. Daniel quietly crept towards the scuffle, not wanting to attract attention.
As he rounded a corner, he saw the quarterback's blond hair in the middle of a group of three. Ugly laughter echoed all around them. The kid in the middle was scrawny and weak, with glasses, Asian features, and black hair sticking out everywhere. The classic nerd.
Daniel's first thought was I'm glad it's not me.
Then the kid on the floor noticed him behind the gang in front of him. The look on his face completely changed Daniel's mind.
Resignation.
"Go pick on someone your own size," Daniel growled before he realized what was happening.
The quarterback turned around and laughed. "Excuse me?"
Daniel felt his fist clench. "I said, go pick on someone your own size!" His arm swung up and across the quarterback's face almost of its own volition. The quarterback stumbled back, then retaliated with a punch of his own. His goons joined in, trying to land a hit on Daniel.
But Daniel had had a lot of practice fighting. Within minutes, all three were on the floor, moaning in pain. At one point, he had heard something crack. Daniel stepped over them to help the nerd gather up his papers.
"Hey. You okay?"
The scrawny kid nodded. "Yea. Yea, I'm fine." He adjusted his glasses nervously. Daniel knelt down and spotted something out of place. He picked up the paper.
"You got a D plus on a math test?"
The nerd snatched it out of his hands. "Don't look at that! It's… embarrassing." He hugged it to his chest.
Daniel held up his hands. "Okay, okay. I won't look." He gathered up the rest of his papers and handed them to the nerd.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." Daniel thought for a bit. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Chin."
"Daniel."
Chin looked over behind him. "We should probably call 911."
Daniel shook his head. "Coach'll find 'em. We should probably leave."
"O-okay." Chin pushed up his glasses and started walking with the football player.
They walked in silence for a while before Daniel got up the nerve to ask Chin what he wanted to say. "You know, I could help you out with math. You know, if you need it."
Chin smiled. "Yea. Thanks. Um, I've got to go the other way."
"Okay, then. See ya."
"See ya." The two parted ways, but not for long…