Spirit of a Vagrant
Chapter 1 - A Day in the Life
Mornings. The bane of my existence. I'm cold but the warm rays of morning light piercing the trees are not welcome as I'm brutally blinded. The sun effortlessly stuns me and I collapse onto my back staring directly up at the sky. The only positive to sleeping outside is that I never sleep in. It's probably safer that way, actually. Life on the streets would be difficult for most people nowadays. No less a 16 year old girl. I've found the park is a relatively safe place to sleep compared to the city. There are way fewer people here in the mornings and the villains tend to favour the inner city more.
"What a beautiful day," I say sarcastically as I rub the sleep from my eyes. My messy blond bangs fall down in front of my eyes so I pull them back and arrange them with little success. Sometimes, my hair is just too wild to deal with. I groan in frustration. My stomach rumbles angrily, as if it agrees with me.
I get onto my feet and start my daily morning routine, always have to start with breathing exercises! I take a deep breath, and I hold it for as long as I can. I count in my head as time goes by. Once I get to about 50 seconds, I really begin to strain. I release the breath as slowly as I can in a controlled manner and repeat this another few times. By the time I'm finished, I feel very relaxed.
Next up, a lap around the park. I always enjoyed running! In school, I did qualify for the cross country team and the park (being about a mile long) is a perfect warm up for my daily activities. I run across a whole host of animals as I'm going but none seem to mind my presence. The morning is still cool so it's probably a good idea to get my blood pumping. The crisp air also feels fantastic when I breathe. It's actually pretty invigorating! I finish my run and remove the last of my clean clothes from my trusty burgundy rucksack. These are the last clean clothes that I own. They aren't anything special, just a pair of denim jeans with some egregious holes and a plain black hoodie that I'd worn almost every day since I ran away.
Once again my stomach growled angrily. Ignoring the hunger pangs, I plan out the rest of my morning. I'd have to break into someone's house and borrow their shower and washer later. Right now, I needed food.
My stomach grumbles once again as I make my way into Hosu. The hustle and bustle of daily life would make it easier to nab a free breakfast. I'm thinking the market would be a great place to start. It should be a piece of cake.
Pulling my hoodie over my head, I meander through the crowd as I begin to walk to the market. It would probably be quicker for me to use my quirk but I really can't guarantee everyone's safety if I did. As well as that, I don't want to attract any unwanted attention to myself. The last thing I need is a hero trying to catch me.
Thankfully, the walk to the market is a short one. I walk at a brisk pace and begin to map out all the various stands and easy targets for me. I would most like to grab an apple or two but I think the guy at the stand has noticed his stock going missing. He looks alert as I sachet past his stand. I guess, I'll see what else is on offer.
I'm upset about the lack of apples, however, the smell of freshly baked bread sends me into a reverie. I suddenly know what I want for my breakfast. The baker is a friendly looking man in his mid 40s. He wears a large apron covered in flour and his jolly laughter can be heard as I get closer. He's talking to another customer. Going by the wide smile on his face, I'd certainly say he's distracted enough for me to get some breakfast.
I understand that what I'm doing is wrong… he's laughing with gusto but once he realises some of his bread is gone, that'll surely change. I don't have any money, maybe I should just ask him for a roll? My stomach growls again. This time, it's painfully loud.
I can't risk it. I really need this food. Despite knowing full well I'm a little scumbag, I eye up a large tiger roll as I nonchalantly approach the stand. Reaching out my hand, I score a still warm tiger roll, freshly baked! I feel awful -stealing never gets any easier- but at least I won't be hungry after this.
All is well, I'm almost away from the stand when to my surprise, I hear the baker shout.
"Hey! Did you pay for that?!"
It hardly takes a moment for me to blindly run into the crowd. I barge past a couple of women as I get away from the baker's stand and make a beeline for the train station. I glance back and the confused people in my wake really don't have a clue what just happened. The baker, however, is still following me.
Through the masses I go, I'm not even looking back at this point. I dash down the steps into the train station, bread in hand and crash into the women's toilets. I'm half expecting the baker to come charging in after me, but I think I may have lost him.
It seems that my regular morning runs have really helped train my body. I can't hear any angry shouting outside so I'd assume that I got scot free on this occasion. I open the toilet doors to glance at whoever might be outside and I see no sign of the baker. I'm happy I evaded him for now but I'm not entirely happy he isn't in the area still.
Shrugging my shoulders, I disappear back into the toilets and proceed to eat my bread roll. I couldn't care that I'm eating in a toilet, I slept outside last night so this might as well be a cafe. Even though I am worried about how far my personal hygiene has degraded, I am transported to another world when the bread roll hits my taste buds.
It tastes wonderful. I could die and go to heaven happy knowing I would probably never eat anything that tasted this good again. I may be eating it in a toilet, but when life gives you free bread, you take it!
It's midday, the sun is shining and I am still feeling good about my bread roll. It was honestly fantastic. If only the baker had been as good at running as he was at baking.
I waited about an hour before leaving the toilets. (You can't be too careful!) After that, I headed into the residential district to find a place to get a shower. This was about the right time for me to go because everyone should have just started work. It gave me a perfect window where there would be next to one around and I could use my quirk without the fear of too many people seeing me.
Also, I wouldn't literally be breaking into someone's home and trashing the place. If I use my quirk properly, I could get in, have a shower, clean my clothes and get out without leaving a trace. I'm not pretending like I haven't made mistakes doing this though.
One time, I got into someone's house and was immediately chased out by the two large dogs they had. I screamed the whole time. It was terrifying.
Putting past traumas aside, I needed a place to clean up. The house I was currently staring at looked like a decent bet. No cars outside, all the curtains were open so it didn't look like anyone was asleep. A quick glance in through the window also did not reveal any pets. Yep, this looks pretty decent to me.
Preparing my quirk, I close my eyes and begin to breathe in. I shouldn't need to power it up all that much considering the house is only a few feet in front of me. Closing my eyes doesn't do a lot to help me aim my quirk, however, it does help me to focus. With this said, it probably wasn't a good time to get tapped on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, Mi-"
He didn't get time to finish his sentence. The surprise of a stranger sneaking up on me was enough to completely screw up my aim. I whipped my head around in surprise and I felt the earth move around me as my quirk teleported me 10 feet in the wrong direction.
Thankfully, my teleport would not have hurt the poor guy. It was the aftermath that I was worrying about. As I reappeared in my new position. I knew two things would happen. In the space I had just moved to, a weak gust of air would push out in all directions away from me.
Fortunately, it's only strong enough to move leaves or papers on the floor around me. Nothing ridiculous.
On the other end of the spectrum, in the place that I'd previously been standing in, a vortex is created. It's not very strong, but that guy had been standing immediately behind me! I don't really know what it could do to someone!
I turn around feeling very fatigued and I honestly expected the worst. Well done, me. You've probably just seriously injured someone! Imagine my surprise when…
...he's standing there...completely unharmed.
It takes me a second before I realise exactly who I'm looking at. Tall. Engines protruding from his elbows. Covered in pearly white armour. There's only one person I know who dresses like this. And he's one of Hosu's finest.
"Wow, that's an incredible quirk you have!" He says with a friendly amount of enthusiasm.
"I am the hero Ingenium! I have some questions for you if you don't mind, miss."
Author's Note
Hello all! I wrote this in approximately 3 hours so I do apologise if there are any glaring mistakes. May continue based on feedback, but don't be shy to give me criticism. I haven't posted here for a while so it would probably help! I hope you all enjoy what I have to offer. Good night, I am going to bed now! :)
Thanks!
~Bari