Haru strode into the Winslow High office. For all intents and purposes, Haru appeared to indeed be Taylor Hebert to anyone close enough to be affected by his illusion. Anyone looking or listening would only see Taylor in the clothes she had been wearing the previous day and hear Taylor's own voice as Haru remembered it.
"Hi! My parents want to see a copy of my class schedule. Can you print one out for me? My name is Taylor Hebert."
"Why don't you print out a copy online?" the secretary asked.
"We're having computer troubles at home. Why else would I bother coming in here?"
The secretary gave a suspicious look before turning to her computer. "I hope you know that you're late for class."
"Sorry I got to school late. I just want to get this done so my parents don't have to wait for me after school."
"Do you have your student ID?" she asked.
'Taylor' gave a smile and answered nonchalantly, "I lost it last week. They told me I'd have to wait a while to get a new one."
The office worker gave up, too busy to be concerned with such a minor request. She passed the illusionary Taylor a printout that Haru took in hand. "Happy? Now hurry up and get to class, Taylor."
"Thank you! Have a nice day!" Haru's illusion said cheerfully. Noting the time from the clock on the wall, he now knew where Taylor was supposed to be at the moment.
Apparently the real Taylor was skipping school today because Haru had filled in for the girl in most of her classes so far. No one had approached the illusion of the girl. As far as Haru could tell, people were content to completely ignore her, at least until world affairs class.
The male teacher had assigned group work for the class. Each group was supposed to analyze the biases of a news article that was passed out. Immediately, Haru's desk had been surrounded by the three girls who he had met the day before.
"How are you doing today, Taylor?" the dark skinned girl asked as she put her elbow into Haru's shoulder.
"I'm doing good. How are you?" Illusionary Taylor said. The response did not go over so well with the girls. "So for this article, how about we brainstorm a list of..."
"I'm surprised that you had the guts to show up today," Teenage Girl #2 said.
Apparently Haru was failing at pretending to be Taylor because when the illusion smiled, the girls became increasingly suspicious. Haru asked innocently, "Why? Did something happen?"
Girl #2 remarked, "How long did you cry afterward?"
Again, Haru failed to placate the girls when he stated, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Girl #1 put her hand on Haru's head and squeezed as hard as she could, digging her fingernails into his scalp. "Listen, wimp, you already know that no matter what you say, no one is going to listen to you. No matter what you do, nothing will change. You should just give up and learn your place."
In return, Haru gripped the girl's wrist and squeezed the limb far more strongly than any ordinary teenage girl was capable of. The girl yelped and tried vainly to pull her arm away. Most of the class had noticed the unusual altercation but they ignored it completely.
"Will do, boss," everyone heard Taylor's voice say.
Before Haru could snap the bones in her arms (not like he couldn't fix it), girl #3 shoved him from behind into his desk and girl #1's wrist slipped from his grip. The dark skinned girl landed on her behind. Haru couldn't figure out how the girl had escaped his grasp. But before he could dwell on it for long, he noticed a particular girl with long, curly black hair standing in the doorway to the classroom.
"Hey, Taylor," he said to the girl in reality. No one else would hear it, however, because of the genjutsu illusion.
"What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed loudly.
"Oh, I came by to see you. To see how you've been holding up." Haru idly intercepted a punch with his palm and curled his fingers forward, painfully forcing Girl #1's right hand to bend backward. "Your friends aren't really nice."
"They're not my friends." Taylor looked around. "Why can't anyone hear us?"
"Because people only see what they want to see and the subconscious is very good at tuning out things that it doesn't think is important."
"What?"
"It's an illusion. I was just having some fun while I waited for you to show up."
Taylor shouted at Haru, "Stop it! You can't use your powers like this!"
Haru shoved the bully that had attacked him backward onto the ground again. "Is that so? Fine."
Haru dispelled the genjutsu illusion and half the class, including the teacher, screamed in panic at the stranger who had suddenly appeared where Taylor used to be.
"I should have warned you that people often can't handle the truth..." Haru shouted over the din.
"So, Taylor and..."
"Haru, ma'am."
"Taylor and Haru. Care to explain exactly what happened during Mr. Gladly's class today?" asked Principal Blackwell to the duo seated in front of her desk.
"Sure thing. See, I was looking for Taylor and some girls started messing with me. I was going to teach them a lesson but Taylor said I shouldn't. Everyone made a fuss though and the teacher told us to see you."
"Is this true, Taylor?"
"...yes," the girl answered.
"Haru...are you even a student here?" Blackwell asked.
He shrugged with his hands in the air. "No. But I could be a teacher if you're hiring."
"What is your last name, Haru?" Blackwell asked, her patience quickly thinning.
Haru's cheeks puffed out as he thought about how to answer. "See, that's a complicated question. Let's just go with Ikari."
"Haru Ikari?"
"Or Ikari Haru depending on where in the world I am. But just call me Haru."
There was a knock on the door. An office worker popped her head into the office and said, "Excuse me, the PRT is here. They're asking for your assistance in locating an unknown cape that might have infiltrated the school. He's wearing a black coat...and has red hair..."
Haru waved at the woman from his seat. She gaped and slammed the door shut.
He pointed at the door and asked, "Should I follow her or...?"
Taylor spoke, "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Meh, what's the worst that could happen?"
Haru walked out the front doors of the high school to face about three vans worth of nearly identically uniformed minions holding some kind of energy weapon. There was a man covered in technological looking armor holding a futuristic weapon.
"Greetings, humans of Brockton Bay, I come in..." Haru managed to say before he was covered head to toe in containment foam. Inside the foam, Haru thought to himself. "Energy weapons, right. At least it's comfy in here."
