The thin line between life and death.
The sin of disobedience.
The curse of survival.
The birth left unwanted.
The innocence forever lost.
Five fruits ripped from their tree all too quickly. Left to rot away within the shadows of society.
One more falls amongst them.
2163/04/08 08:15
Hot. Way too hot for the current month. Only makes the thought of the coming summer all the more unpleasant. At least the thick woods of my old home blocked out the sun. Sadly none of the buildings around here are tall enough to give me that little bit of respite.
I always had the idea that it was heat like this that played a role in the rise of villain activity throughout Japan. In that case, could we perhaps blame global warming as the greatest villain in our time? Guess All for One has his work cut out for him if he's still alive.
Of course, it's because of this rise in villain activity that I have to deal with loonies like this guy.
"Look kid, all I want to know is what you got in the bag. Is that so much to ask? Come on i'm suffocating in this suit. I'd rather not stand around all day waiting for you to give me a clear answer."
Why wouldn't you just wear a lighter costume? It's your fault for dressing up like a bear in this heat.
"I've given you a clear answer. I'm coming from my old home, and I'm on my way to my new home, where I have an important meeting to attend to. How clearer can I possibly be?"
"You've told me that already, but you haven't told me exactly who you're meeting up with, or the location of your 'new home' as you put it, and you still won't consent to a search of that bag! That tells me you're hiding something. A knife? A gun? Contraband?"
In a world where top heroes have revenues in the billions of yen off of merchandising and fanfare alone, all the suckers stuck being a sidekick for the rest of their lives tend to act especially bossy.
As my defenses begin to crack under my own impatience, I start to wonder if I should just unpack my bag and be done with it. Thankfully, a distraction comes in the form of-
"AAAAGH Thief! Help! Someone!"
The sound of a woman crying for help rings through the busy street. Moments later, a man wearing a hockey mask and a christmas sweater barrels towards us.
"H-huh? What's happening?"
As I thought, bear crap for brains here has probably never actually dealt with a situation like this before. The telltale sign that a particular area is rather peaceful. Not a bad thing in all honestly, but in moments like these it really comes to bite you in the ass.
"Out of my way! Unless you want to come face to face against the power of the Ski Lord!"
The Ski Lord is it? Guess he missed the memo that spring was last month.
"H-hold it right there Ski Lord! Your evil is nothing against Bear Claw!"
If I didn't have a maniac sprinting towards me at the moment, I probably would have pressed a palm to my face. Is this how the hero-villain dynamic plays out at this low a level? I feel like i'm watching a rerun of tunafish man.
"Shut up Bear Claw! I'll tear you apart with my ultimate move! SkiiiIIIII- AGH!"
As the fearsome Ski Lord retrieved his slung hockey stick, I stepped in front of him at the last moment, and grabbed ahold of his face with my right arm.
"BLGH!"
Banking on the fact that he can't see very well in that thing, I use my free hand to grab onto his sweater, and hoist him up and over, slamming him onto the pavement. A little grab and twist of the arm, and he lets the stick and purse go.
"A-AGH! You stupid kid! Let go of me! I'll kill you!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, instead of killing me, you should turn that rage towards your calender. Ugly sweater season is long gone my friend."
"Bastaaaard!"
After a few seconds of me applying pressure to the holiday villain's arm, I notice the distinct lack of someone being arrested.
"Kid…your arm."
"What are you doing!? Cuff this guy up already! Or do I have to do that part of your job for you too?"
Ignoring his comment on my now grotesque looking right arm, I wait for him to finally walk over and place the man in handcuffs.
"Ah. Well, thank you for the assist."
"No problem Bear Claw. Now, maybe you can return a favor with a favor and let me go?"
He stares a bit too intently for my liking as my arm returns to normal, then shakes his head.
"Sorry, no can do. I'll need to bring you to the nearest station so you can fill out a report. What kind of hero would I be if I didn't follow proper procedure?"
Sounds like a certain someone I know.
"Alright fine, let's make this quick. I'm already late anyway."
BANG
"Tch! Stop playing around with me kid! You think i'm stupid!?"
After being brought to a police station, the most stereotypical looking detective i've ever seen has attempted a total of eight different movie quotes in his crusade to intimidate me. And now he's resorted to taking out his anger on the innocent table between us.
"I mean, look at this record! Clean as a whistle! And not only that, no recorded information on a quirk! And yet Bear Claw clearly described something out of the ordinary. Every school in the nation records and submits information on the quirks of their alumni. Just who are you!?"
"Kazami Yuuji. Occupation: Student."
"And around again. It's like riding a carousel and expecting myself to get anywhere with a brat like you!"
Says the one who won't get the hint. I'm probably just as annoyed as he is at the moment.
"Detective! A moment if you will."
From the door, a plump older man calls the detective over, whispering to his ear. The detective's face lights up in shock, and after bowing to the older man, who I assume is his superior, he returns.
"Ahem. You're going to be released now. We received a call from a woman looking for you."
His tone shifted to awkward complacency. Quite the turn around if I say so myself. But as I begin to rummage around in my main pack, making sure that it's tight and distributed well in the event they messed around with it, the superior from before enters the room.
"Ah please excuse my subordinates. They can get a bit hot under the collar sometimes i'm sure you understand haha!"
"Sure."
"You could have imagined my surprise when I realized we were holding onto the prized dog of the Hero Public Safety Commission! Guess we're all coworkers here right!? Hahaha!"
The Hero Public Safety Commission does run the police precincts in Japan for sure, but the world I live in is far too different to call us coworkers in any capacity.
After Ensuring there was nothing left for me to do, I left the station without hesitation. His well kept veneer of friendliness was starting to make me uncomfortable.
"Hm?"
Not far down the road, a familiar looking woman waves me over.
"Seriously, only you could get into trouble with the police within minutes of reentering society."
The somewhat too adorable for her age woman driving me is Tachibana Chizuru. An old acquaintance of mine, and the current principal of the school i'll be living at. Notice I didn't say attending.
"I hardly think you could call walking along the road minding my own business as reentering society, or getting into trouble for that matter."
"It's more about the way you talk to people than the things you do."
"Hm? Is there something wrong about the way I talk?"
She looked over at me with a sour face.
"What isn't wrong about the way you talk to people?"
"Hrm…would you rather I tell you in detail about how I plan to make sweet love to you when we arrive?"
"A-AUGH!?"
"Hands on the steering wheel woman!"
After nearly losing control of the damn thing, she grips the wheel with increased fervor, then attempts to will away the blush on her face through anger.
"And you wonder why people dislike you."
Back at the station, after Chizuru called in, and they got some idea of where I was headed, some of the deputies referred to this place as the following: Prison, Mental Asylum, Landfill, Nuthouse, and the social reject rehab. Needless to say, I start to wonder if my request to come out here was a mistake.
"Yeah. Prison sounds about right."
The academy grounds were completely surrounded on all sides with thick concrete walls, with the sole exception being the front entrance, which instead had a tall metal gate. Cameras were installed in virtually every location you can think of, along the walls, around corners, you name it.
"Oh come on. It's beautiful isn't it? It's the newest school in the city! Where's your excitement?"
"I literally just got here. And besides, it's not really anything to write home about compared to an actual hero academy."
"Hrm, you seriously are a dull person you know that?"
"By the way, some of the police before mentioned this place being something like an asylum. What can you tell me about the other students?"
"An asylum was it? Haha…haha."
She sheepishly scratched at the back of her head before continuing.
"I suggest you forget everything that was said. Our students are not only bright, but are some of the nicest and-"
"NoooOoooOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Eh?"
Interrupting her passionate speech about her students, two girls in matching school uniforms come sprinting from one side of the school to the other, completely ignoring the two of us watching across the fence.
"Heeeeey! Where do ya think you're goin!?"
Wielding some sort of beatle, the far smaller of the two girls cackled maniacally as she chased her taller friend around.
"NO! MAKINA! GET AWAY! YOU KNOW I HATE BUGS! NOOOOO! NO SNACKS FOR YOU! FORGET IT!"
"W-wha!? No waaii!"
As their voices dwindle in the distance, I turn my suspicious gaze to Chizuru.
"A-as I was saying, our students are not only nice and uh, friendly. But normal too. Did I mention friendly?"
"Normal is it? Normal. Would you describe that to me? Is this a town where screaming and chasing each other around with bugs is considered normal?"
"N-not exactly. Look, they have their erm, quirks, for sure. But all the students here are good people. I know you'll see it the same as I do once you get to meet them."
"Hrm."
Before I get an in person tour of the dorms itself, Chizuru brings me to her office for a rundown of things. Mostly small details and a bit of history like the company who built this school, an engineering and real estate development grouping known as the East Beach Railway Corporation. With the president of said company, Sakaki Michiaki, specifically ordering the building of this academy.
"Orders from the top eh? But what's the deal with me?"
Unlike the rest of the student body, this placed only served as a living quarters for me. My actual school was a short drive away.
"I don't know the entire story behind it, but I believe it has to do with your request. I haven't forgotten it. 'I want to go to a normal school, and be a hero one day'. But this academy isn't for heroes. Besides, it's more appropriate for someone like you to be attending the best in the nation isn't it?"
The best in the nation huh.
"Tell me about it. The academy i'm going to."
"Huh? You weren't briefed on it?"
"Nope."
Of course I was briefed on it. And did an adequate amount of research on my own time. And it seemingly lives up to the public hype surrounding it, if what I learned is true. However, I just want to hear what Chizuru has to say about it herself.
"Well, you probably already know its called U.A. It's where the top hero in the country went to school, All Might."
Ahh All Might. He sure manages to get the photogenics of being a hero down. Though I wonder if he even knows about all the work me and my coworkers do behind the scenes that makes his job so easy and lighthearted.
"Thanks to a generous deal with your superiors, they managed to slip you in with the incoming hero class."
"So it's like that huh? No need for an entrance exam?"
Catching onto my joke, she doesn't even dignify it with a response.
"I know you're still working part time, but as long as you're living here, I will never ask anything more from you than to enjoy your time, and to try and get along and make friends with the others here. I'm sure those at U.A. will want the same."
A part of me hopes that the supposed best hero academy in Japan expects more out of me than making some friends.
As we approach the dorms I'll be staying at, I suddenly realize something odd about this whole picture.
"Isn't today friday? Where's all the students? With three whole floors of classes you'd expect things to be a bit more lively than this."
"Our school is home to an elite few. There are a total of six students including you."
"Six? That's it? And two of them happen to be the bug sisters from earlier am I right?"
"Naturally."
"You going to explain why that is?"
"Our student body is composed of an elite few. It's not like just anyone can be admitted here."
The dorm itself is quite spacious on the inside. As usual I do my best to count things like the numbers of exits, sprinklers, anything that can be useful to know in advanced. The common area consist of a sofa, some chairs and tables, and a single television.
While the principal heads to grab the key to my room, I feel a strange sensation on my arm.
"Um, excuse me sir."
Finally, I realize someone is tugging me on my sleeve. But when I turn to look I feel like I only gained a new question instead of an answer. A younger girl with short pink hair looks up at me with curiosity. The strangest thing, is that she's dressed up entirely like a maid. Complete with head dress and frilly designs.
"Hm? Did you need something?"
"Would you happen to be an intruder?"
"...? What kind of person would actually tell you if they were?"
"Oh!? I didn't even think of that. Mhm. Mhm. I see now."
She must not be the go to for common sense around here.
"Ah! Komine, great timing as usual. This is our new transfer student!"
When the principal returns, she smiles brightly at the maid girl, named Komine. So she's a student here after all.
"Kazami Yuuji, nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine!"
"..."
"Did you need something?"
"Are you going to introduce yourself back?"
"Ah! Forgive me. I'm Komine Sachi, the class representative."
"Mind if I ask what's with the maid getup?"
"Of course! You see, as the class representative, I tend to do the most housework around the dorms. From there, the suggestion was made that I am something akin to a maid! Eventually a conversation arose where I was encouraged to wear a maid outfit. They thought I looked rather cute in it, so I was told to wear it when I can."
"When you can? So what does that look like?"
"Well, every hour of the day not including when i'm in school."
"..."
The elite eh?
Laying down in my bed, I recall the small tour I received. Maybe it was just me, but this place rather well equipped for only six students to be here. Though a lot of the research I do on the East Beach Railway Corporation brings up nothing out of the ordinary. But for the president of a large organization to request something like this and not even advertise it is dripping in suspicion.
Not like I should be worrying myself about that though. Tomorrow I'll have to see about meeting the rest of my neighbors. As I close my eyes, I slowly fade into sleep.
2163/04/09 05:00
After waking up at the usual time of 4:45 and running the usual course I had made for myself, I returned to eat the usual breakfast.
Different place, same routine.
The entire time I couldn't help but let my mind drift towards my actual school. U.A. and their hero courses are specially tailored for producing the best heroes in the nation. Still, a part of me has a hard time believing its going to be anywhere near as difficult as any of my old schools.
After spending a few hours reading in my room, I hear the first signs of life outside of this rather drab room.
"Nmmm! N-not too hard! Amane! Not too hard! I'll bweak~! I'll bweaaak!"
"Stop moving already, and spare me the 'i'll bweak' nonsense would you?"
Poking my head around the corner, I see the bug sisters from yesterday sitting on the sofa. The smaller of the two tearing up as her hair is brushed rather harshly. I'm not sure what the 'Bweaking' is all about, but this scene completely confuses me. The rituals of modern society are nothing more than an enigma to a country hick like myself.
"So, what's going on here? Pagan ritual?"
"Huh? Um, who are you?"
A fair question since they didn't notice me yesterday. The taller girl in front has eyes like sapphires, along with a ridiculously long head of light maroon colored hair. Although the most memorable thing about her is the 'assets' she possesses. As for the smaller girl cowering behind her like a puppy, she looks half my age to boot, with short brown hair and mismatched socks.
"Hmm, a younger guy around your age hanging out in the dorm of a boarding school. Who do you think I am?"
"Heh, someone once told me that answering a question with another question is proof of stupidity."
"That so? Alright. Henceforth, I shall be known as King Moron. Feel free to bow when you wish bug girl."
"Bug girl?"
"I noticed the two of you screaming like lunatics yesterday. Something about bugs."
She began to laugh nervously.
"A-ah, saw that huh? You mind forgetting about that?"
"Maybe. I'll see if I can work it into my schedule."
"Oh, now I remember! You're the transfer student boarding here right?"
"That I am. Kazami Yuuji, nice to meet you."
"!?"
I put my arm forward for a handshake, but get nothing in return but a weird stare. She doesn't make a sound, like she's stuck in time.
"Something wrong?"
"N-no! Not at all! I'm Suou Amane, pleased to meet you."
After sucking in a sudden breath, she finally returns my handshake.
"Kazami Yuuji was it? Kazami Yuuji. Guess I'll call you Yuuji!"
First names already eh?
Afterwards, I do the same for the girl behind her, but she makes no sign of moving aside from a slight tremble. Guess she's not exactly used to new people?
"Ah, well it's alright. I won't force her."
"No wait, she won't get over her fear of people if she doesn't try. Go ahead Makina. Aren't you going to introduce yourself? Or did you want snacks taken away for two nights in a row?"
"Hnnn, should I even bother?" She says mostly to herself as she's overcome with the simple fear of taking my hand.
"You can start with your name y'know."
"Uu…Makina…Irisu Makina. Nice ta meetcha."
"Kazami Yuuji, nice to meet you too."
After some deliberation, she finally takes hold of my hand. It's unexpectedly hot, like a child's hand. Combined with her lisp and the threatening of taking away snacks, its hard to see her little more than an actual child.
"How about you two talk for a bit?"
Makina hears those words and inwardly panics for a second before blurting out something random.
"Mff. Whats ya favorite animal?"
"Well, I'm a fan of dogs I'd say."
"Oho, an actual answer this time." Amane says.
"I'm fully able to answer most questions thrown at me. I wouldn't call myself the indecisive kind, especially in a tense situation."
"Ooh, very cool hehe!"
"You mocking me woman?"
"Who? Me?" she says with a smug look on her face.
"I was told recently that answering a question with a question is sure proof of stupidity."
"In that case I guess I'm Queen Moron. Feel free to bow to me at any time."
"Maybe next time Queen Moron."
"Haha, not bad. But keep calling me that and you'll regret it."
When she says a sentence like that with a big smile on her face, it makes me feel weird things.
"Well, I guess I should get going."
"Oh? Going somewhere? If you want I can give you a walk around the shopping center if you haven't already?"
"Maybe tomorrow. I'm going to try introducing myself to everyone else."
With these two girls down, that only leaves two students left in the entire grounds. I heard someone leave the dorm a bit before these two came out, so I'm sure they're nearby if I look hard enough.
"Ah! Ah! Aaaahhh!"
Luckily, I don't have to look too hard, since my ears do the job just fine.
"Ah! Ah! Aaaah!"
What I first thought of as a scream, was actually something akin to something you'd hear in your nightmares if you went to a Yoko Ono concert.
And as I slowly crept towards a grand fountain surrounded by rose bushes, a single girl with blonde pigtails stood by, eyes fixed on a card she held in her hand.
"Alright, moving on to the next exercise. AEIUEOAOAEIUEOAOAEIUEOAO!"
She doesn't notice me at all as she begins going through what I can only assume are vocal exercises of some sort.
"Nice! I did that all in one breath! Good going me! Alright, next up. Ahem. I'm telling you to do what I tell you!
…
Nope. Ahem. I'm telling you to do what I'm telling you!...Yeah! Way better! Moving on. I-it's not like I like you or anything!"
The girl in front of me continues to mouth of random phrases one after another. What I first assumed was a student of a singing club, switches to a drama club member. Guess there's nothing to do but to get her attention.
"Good morning, are you part of a drama club by any chance?"
The girl turns around at the speed of light with wide eyes.
"UUWAAaaaaAAAeHH!"
She jolts backwards so hard she nearly falls into the fountain.
"At first I thought a singing club of some sort, but now I'm sure you're part of a drama club."
"W-who ar- no! Who do you think you are!?"
Before I can answer, she switches up her question to a demand. However what catches my eye is the…object? Pulsating on her head.
"I'm Kazami Yuuji. I'm a transfer student living here from now on."
"Transfer student? Here?"
"Yep. Also, how did you do that with your head? That weird red symbol that showed up."
"A-ah."
Whenever she makes a face and speaks, random 'particles' and glowing effects seem to appear and disappear in sync with her emotions.
"That's my uh…my quirk."
"Your quirk boils down to getting your own personal anime effects?"
"Shut up! I know it's not that useful! Hmph!"
"Sorry, that was a bit insensitive of me. Did I interrupt your rehearsal?"
"Rehear- ? I'm not rehearsing or acting! This is the real me, got it!? So don't worry about it. Er…worry about it!"
"...uh?"
"Just stop talking already and sit down! Aga!"
Realizing her mistake too late, she begins to blush heavily at the fact that there isn't actually any seats here. But to humor her, I go ahead and sit down right onto the dirt.
"Y-you don't have- actually yeah! Go ahead and sit right there! Haa, okay Michiru. You can do this. He's a transfer so the first impression has to be your strongest!"
"Why are you speaking to yourself that loudly?"
"Zip it! My name is, no. I'm Matsushima Michiru, nice to meet you."
This girl cannot get a single sentence out without either tripping over her words or deciding she wants to use a different vernacular.
"M.M. huh?"
"Don't get it twisted! I'm not a massive masochist if that's what you're thinking!"
"What? Who said anything even remotely close to that?"
"That's what you were implying!"
"Do you want me to call you a masochist?"
"Absolutely not!"
Her face morphs into something cartoonish as she bellows out. This girl is a handful.
"Anyways, I don't let just anyone call me by my first name. They usually all call me Lady Matsushima. Buuut I guess I can make an exception for you."
"...?"
I don't particularly mean anything by my silence, I'm simply so overwhelmed by her sporadic behavior that I'm left computing what to do.
"Crap…was it too much? I- I thought this would go smoothly…"
Her face crumples into despair as her voice changes almost to a completely opposite of the loud energetic airhorn I was dealing with before.
She takes out a container of some sort and swallows a couple pill shaped objects.
"So all in all you want me to call you Michiru?"
"Y-yeah! That'll do."
"By the way, what are you eating?"
"Huh? You can't have any! So don't ask! It's my special Ramune candy!"
"Then why did you take them out so brazenly in front of me?"
"Shut up! It's not like I was eating them for your sake or anything!...woah! That was pretty good right?"
I mentally groan as I realize where I've seen this before. It's a character archetype popular in different media. I remember hearing about how its a strategy to gain the affection of male peers.
"So let me get this straight, you're supposed to be a tsundere?"
CRACK!
A bolt of lightning emanating from Michiru lashed out, striking the ground around us. Though I realize that's simply a visual effect of sorts.
"A- you- W-why would you go out and say it!"
"Guess I was on the money. You must be after male interest right?"
"Ag- agaga…agaga…"
After being chased out of the rose garden by Michiru, I make the mental note that no matter how visually strange her quirk can go, from flames in her eyes, to lightning bolts, to beams of light, they are all virtually useless. Apparently she can't even control this. All in all, a useless quirk.
"One more to go. Hey Sachi."
"Ah, hello Kazami. Did you need something from me?"
"Yeah, just wanted to know where the last of us can be found."
"The last of us is a rather old video game for the playstation three. Would you like me to procure a copy?"
"...I'm talking about the last of the students who live here."
"Oh! Yes of course, my apologies for the confusion. Sakaki is most likely still in her room. Were you…going to try and introduce yourself?"
I may not have known her for that long, but already that hesitation in her voice and the weird look in her eye seem off character.
"Well, yeah. Why?"
"Kazami…i-its nothing! Nothing at all. If you'll excuse me."
With a fearful look on her face, she gives me a small bow, then leaves the dorm.
The hell? What was that all about? We setting up death flags this early?
Steeling my nerves, I head up to the second floor. She told me yesterday where everyone's rooms were, but at the time I decided against trying to talk to her.
With a light knock on the door, I take a step back and wait.
The door opens halfway, revealing a beautiful girl with long dark purple hair. Her room is completely dark except for the light of a computer I'm able to make out in the back.
"Would you mind-"
Thinking she was talking to someone else, she freezes up the moment she gets a good look at me.
"Yo."
Given her angry glare, I decide to go with a more casual greeting to lighten things up. When that doesn't work, I push through anyway.
"I'm Kazami Yuuji, nice to me-"
When I reach out my hand for a handshake, she suddenly slams the door, hoping to crush it in the process.
"Eh?"
She makes a sound of surprise when she realizes I've easily caught the door open. No matter how hard she tries, it doesn't budge. Finally, she lets it open enough to get a good look at my face.
"Look. All I want is to intro-"
SMACK
Realizing her purpose in letting the door open a bit more widely, I predict this very outcome. Grabbing her hand by the wrist mere inches before it lands across my cheek.
"W-what?"
"Is that anyway to treat a neighbor? All I want to do is know if you're Sakaki Yumiko."
"Tch."
I don't particularly want to be here, in fact I think I'd rather be out by the fountain getting my eardrums shattered. But it's important that I put myself forward here.
"So what if I am?" She finally lets out.
"Nice to meet you."
And with that sentence, I've officially started my "normal" life.
A.N. Hello all. This will have been my third attempt at writing a my hero fanfic. But thanks to all the writing experience I've gained recently, and a new perspective in how to tackle it, I think this one will go smoothly.
However I have to admit, who is this for? Is there anyone even remotely interested in something like this? either way this is more of something I'm writing for my own sake. What can I say, I love to write. And don't worry, this won't be getting in the way of my konosuba fanfic at all. Anyways, until next time.