In the early part of the last few centuries, there was a certain group of scientists researching a man-made particle known as "Astra." It was a nonliving particle created when they were researching how to cure a certain disease. However, there were far more mysteries about it since the scientist who created it disappeared.

One day, an incident occurred and the laboratory exploded which resulted in releasing a huge amount of Astra in the atmosphere. Astras were nonliving but it could replicate itself if it came into contact with energy.

At first, there was no effect on the human population when they were hit with Astras. That was why there wasn't a lot of panic. Things were going well until that person was born.

A baby in Russia was born and had one complication. She had cat ears. When she was taken to a research lab, they found out that the Astras affected her genetic code and she became a cat-human hybrid.

That baby wasn't the only one. More and more babies had mutations thanks to the Astras in their bodies. Some of them were very obvious like physical traits while others could do miraculous things like telekinesis and telepathy. They were called Astranites.

Of course, the public was horrified by these monstrosities and racism was common. Not to mention that some Astranites used their abilities to create chaos in order to rebel against the racist society.

Things became chaotic. With Astranites having a much worse reputation, the regular people were pushing to have them exterminated.

And then the Coexisters was founded. They were a group of Astranites who fought against the bad ones and showed that they could be responsible with their Gifts. Public opinion slowly but surely changed as the Coexisters continued their activities.

Now, it is the year 2020. Astranites were given the same rights as a regular human and they were mostly accepted. However, there were still some laws that restricted them like every Astranite must be registered and their abilities shouldn't be used without a license.

Also, there were still some doubts about Astranites. The public knew what they were capable of and were afraid of them. That was normal. Not every Astranite was good and most dangerous Astranites were known worldwide.

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! an alarm clock said.

A hand knocked it off the night stand as a boy groaned. He had black hair that reached his jaws and blue eyes.

I'm already used to this but it still hurts! I'm just doing my job! It said.

Ah... Poor alarm clock. Sano-chan, control your temper. We have feelings too, the computer said.

More noise entered his ears as his consciousness became fully awake.

"Partner! Where are you?!" the boy asked.

I'm right here! You almost knocked me over too, his headphones replied.

It was a pair of blue headphones. It was his partner since it's a really important noise-canceling headphones that can even block his Gift.

The boy's name was Doyohito Sanosuke and he was an Astranite. His Gift was called Technopathy. To put it simply, he could "talk" to machines and they would "listen." Because he could understand machines, his life was pretty noisy, especially since he was living in a modern city.

Sanosuke's uncle created a special pair of headphones that could block out the machines' voices and he could control his Gift. It was a bit of a hassle but he had no other choice but to live with it.

Will it be the same as usual? his headphones asked.

"Yeah."

The usual setting was that his headphones would block out all noise except for regular ones. Machines were chatterboxes especially since other people couldn't hear them. Thanks to his headphones, Sanosuke could choose what machines he could listen to.

He walked downstairs to find his family eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Sano-nii!" his little sister, Miyako, greeted.

His father was reading the newspaper while drinking coffee and his mother was preparing the food.

They ate breakfast in peace and once they were done, Sanosuke and his sister walked towards their school. Akazakura North High School and Akazakura North Middle School were near each other. That's why the two of them would walk together during mornings.

"Hey, Sano-nii", Miyako called out.

"What is it?"

"Is my phone sick?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's starting to lag a bit. Can you talk to it?"

He sighed as she handed her phone.

"Hey. You okay, buddy?" Sanosuke asked it.

HELP! It shouted.

"Woah there. What's the matter?"

Your sister installed too many widgets and apps! It's overloading my RAM! Tell her to delete them!

"So... It's complaining that you have far too many widgets. You'd better delete some of them if you want it to be faster."

"I see... Can't you tell it to work harder?" she asked.

"You're a slave driver. Take good care of this guy", he returned her phone and she then fiddled with it.

They separated ways as Sanosuke entered his school. He prayed that it would be a regular day.

"Yo", a voice behind him said and he almost jumped back.

Sanosuke turned around and saw it was his friend, Hikari Nanora.

"Why do you like using your Gift to scare people, Nanora-san?" he asked.

"Cause it's fun", he grinned.

Nanora was an Astranite and his Gift was his lack of presence. If he wanted to, he couldn't be detected by anyone and anything. Cameras wouldn't capture him, people wouldn't be able to see him, and many other things wouldn't notice him whenever he used his Gift. He could also make people forget about him and they wouldn't remember his existence unless he would make it so.

According to him, it was a pretty decent Gift since he could sleep in class without worrying about the teacher catching him. However, Sanosuke could imagine other unethical ways it could be used such as peeking and stealing. If he did those things, no one would ever know.

"By the way, are you done with the homework?" Nanora asked.

"What homework?"

"You know... The Math one."

"Ah.."

And so they spent the morning cramming their homework together before the teacher arrived.

###

School was finally over and Sanosuke slouched over his desk. It was tiring but it was finally over. Nothing new happened and he was pretty satisfied with his life.

Sanosuke wasn't part of any clubs so his afternoon should be free.

"Doyohito Sanosuke of Class 2-B, please proceed to the faculty room", the school's PA system announced.

No one was bothered by that announcement since it was a common occurrence especially since Sanosuke's Gift was pretty useful.

When he arrived there, he saw a teacher waiting for him.

"Doyohito-kun. Can you talk to the printer and see why it isn't working?" the teacher asked.

"Hey, buddy... What's wrong?" he walked towards the printer.

There's a loose screw here! If you force me to print, I'll end up jamming it!

"Can you tell me where it is?"

Sanosuke then opened the printer's insides and found the loose screw. After fixing it, the teacher thanked him and he was on his way out.

Even if Astranites weren't supposed to use their abilities without a license, this law wasn't strictly followed, especially if their Gifts were harmless. For example, Sanosuke's Technopathy wasn't that dangerous and he couldn't switch it off so others forgave him.

"What are you up to, dumb kid?" Sanosuke asked when a first year student was hiding behind a corner and was peeking at something.

He had black-white hair and amethyst eyes. A black-white fur coat was worn over his school uniform. His name was Hako Yuna, one of Sanosuke's friends.

"Ack! Sano-senpai!" he was surprised.

"Ooooh... Spying on Nokutoka-san huh?" Sanosuke grinned.

In the distance was a black-haired girl with lion ears. She was walking while reading a book. Her name was Nokutoka Momiji. She was an Astranite who had physical mutations.

"N-No. This isn't how it looks like!" Yuna shouted..

"Hey. Yuna's phone, how long has he been watching her?" he interrogated the boy's phone that was in his pocket.

He just saw her a few minutes ago and decided to hide and observe her.

"Your phone said that you've been watching her for a few minutes already."

"Don't use your Gift that way!"

Black flames wrapped around his fist and he threw a punch. However, Sanosuke easily avoided his attack.

"Hey hey. Dangerous Gifts like yours shouldn't be used without a license!" he said.

"It's your fault for teasing me! You know it's tied to my emotions!"

"Your fault for acting like a creepy stalker. Hey, Yuna's phone! Send a message to Nokutoka-san that Yuna has something important to tell her."

Sanosuke could talk to machines and they would always listen. He could even give commands to them and they would obey to the best of their abilities.

Error. Nokutoka is not part of Yuna's contacts. I cannot comply.

"Eh? You don't have her contact information? What kind of stalker are you?"

"I AM NOT A STALKER!"

Black and white flames surrounded Yuna and the school's fire alarm rang. Yuna immediately put out his flames as his face paled.

"Wanna bail?" Sanosuke asked and they ran away.

They saw a few fire trucks heading towards their school as they were running away.

"Oh dear. You started another incident. If the school found out you used your Gift again, you'll be in loads of trouble", Sanosuke said.

"I'll tell them that it's your fault for agitating me", Yuna replied.

"Are you sure about that? I wonder how would Nokutoka-san react if she finds out that the reason you used your Gift was because I was calling you a stalker~"

"... I hate you."

"No worries. I hate myself more."

They walked down the street in silence. Sanosuke thought he probably went a bit too far today since Yuna looked troubled.

"Burger or ramen?" he asked.

"What?"

"I'm in the mood for a burger or ramen. Help me choose and we can eat some."

"I'm trying to save up my money though."

"Idiot. Who said that you'll spend your money?"

"Burger is nice."

"Burger it is..."

And so the duo decided to eat in a burger shop. It was a regular day for Sanosuke even if he somehow caused an incident which made the fire department come.

May my days continue being peaceful, he chanted a prayer in his heart.