Three thugs lay down on the cold pavement in the middle of an alley. Their arms were lined in bubbling blisters and small signs of smoke were rising off of their bodies. Some of the thugs started to mumble in pain as the blisters started to become more numerous. In the center of it all, the last of the thugs stood in the middle holding a large knife towards a person.

"W...Who the hell do you think you are interfering with our business?" yelled out the thug as his body started to tremble.

The young man in front of him looked to be about sixteen. His hair was a dark shade of brown and a shaggy mess at that. On his chin there was a slight amount of stubble which made it looked like he hadn't shaved this morning. The teenager's attire was that of an ordinary school school uniform, a white top tinted slightly blue with an elegant emblem on the right breast. The black tie on his uniform was barely done up and nearly falling apart. In general, he looked very relaxed and lazy for the situation he was in.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but I've never seen business like that before," the young man said those words as if he was laughing as a cocky grin replaced his once serious expression. Taking his right hand out of his pocket he gestured over to a worried wreck of a girl.

"If I remember correctly, I saw all four of you thugs surrounding her," the cocky boy stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb.

"What was it you guys were saying... Oh yeah! You started hitting on her saying stuff like 'I bet you look better with your skirt off'," a tone of sarcasm escaped with his words.

"Shut up!"

"Says the pedophile~"

"You're really starting to piss me off..." the nameless thug's grip on the knife grew tighter.

"Sigh... Do you idiots from Skill-Out ever learn? Didn't you see what just happened to your friends over there," placing his hands on his hips, the young man motioned his head to the thugs on the ground.

"I... I don't care! You're a monster attacking us Level 0's like that," thoughtlessly shouted the thug.

"I'm the monster here? Ha! You're the one trying to take advantage of a girl!" stepping forward the boy shouted at the thug.

"You're the esper scum exploiting your abilities by attacking level 0's!" the thug did the same and stepped closer.

The two got in each others face with the ferocity of an enraged bull.

"You think you're better than Level 0's just because of your goddamn ability!" the thug lunged his knife slightly forward to intimidate his foe in front of him.

"You think just because you're a piece of shit Skill-Out that you can take advantage of young women and cause havoc in this city!" suddenly flame pillars shot out of the young teenager's palms

The thug fell back in utter fear and started to crawl backwards, until he hit the edge of a wall. In front of him the boy walked towards him with a cocky smile on his face. Squirming around and starting to sweat slightly, the thug began to mutter under his breath.

"Who the hell are you!?" the thug threw his hands in front of his face to protect himself from the heat.

The mysterious sixteen year old walked closer to the cowering thug. Once he was close enough, the boy dropped down to the height of the thug. A comical smile still lit up his face despite his current situation.

"Who? Me? My name's Akiyama Arata. Level 3 pyrokinesis esper," the flames on Arata's palms dissipated. Smoke started to trail off the ends of his fingers as he outstretched his hand to the criminal.

Opening his eyes slowly, the thug realized that he was not being burnt like his comrades. To his surprise his hand was being shook by the level 3 in front of him.

"Y... You're not going to burn me?" whimpered the low life.

"Nah, I'm still going to burn you just not yet!"

"Aaaaaaaaahh!" cried out the thug in fear as he tried to run away, only to realize that his hand was being tightly clutched by the esper.

"I'm just kidding! No need to scr-" Arata was cut off.

A blood curdling scream rang out within the alley. It came from the schoolgirl who was being attacked in the first place. She started trembling in fear and worriedly looked Arata and the thug in the eyes.

"I... I've called Anti-Skill... Y... You're both going to be arrested..." she muttered.

Arata and the thug looked at the school girl with wide eyes full of fear. Arata sighed and put a hand on his hip while gesturing his hand to the girl.

"Look, I was trying to help you out he-" Arata was cut off again.

"LISTEN UP CRIMINALS! ANTI-SKILL IS HERE NOW AND YOU BOTH ARE UNDER ARREST!" suddenly boomed a strong and powerful female voice out of a microphone.

"Th... That's right! P... Please come peacefully..." echoed a lighter more timid voice.

"Dammit! Why am I getting cut off so often today!" frustratedly yelled the pyrokinetic esper as he started to make a mad dash down the alleyway.

"SHIT! What a perfect way to start a morning... Ahhh I'm late for school now..." thought Arata as he ran down the alley.

Arata soon started to notice that a certain thug was running right next to him, also trying to escape.

"Come on! Haven't you caused enough trouble today?" sighed the ever so annoyed Arata Akiyama.

The flame esper started to notice a few trash cans across the side of the exit of the alley. He smirked to himself and continued to run as fast as he could.

Just as the thug and Arata got to the exit, Arata outstretched his hand and forcefully pushed the criminal into the collection of trash cans.

CLANG!

The nameless thug lost his balance and fell into the trash cans. The thug was knocked out first thing as he fell face first into the hard, metal cans.

Arata continued to run until he got in the middle of a crowded sidewalk full of students. He put his hands on his knees and panted loudly as sweat dripped from his brow.

He lived in Academy City. It was a city of students one could say as 80% of the population consisted of students.

That was because of the city's Power Curriculum Program.

Academy City developed espers, or a student within Academy City who has undergone the Power Curriculum Program and developed a super human ability.

This city was one of science and technology, it is said that Academy City is 20-30 years ahead of the rest of the world.

Arata looked at his wrist watch and sunk even lower into the abyss of depression.

"Already 15 minutes late sigh... I'm going to get killed... By the time I get there I'll be 30 minutes late," mumbled the level 3.

"There really is never a single boring day in this city... It's going to take awhile to get to class, might as well enjoy my way there!" Arata turned the situation around and brought a brighter perspective on things.

The flame esper began to whistle casually as he put his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the average boy school he attended.