Djinn - Thanks for the support. I still haven't decided what class to put him in though. I'll think of something... eventually.
kunanonyantakanok - Thank you and I have some ideas of how Lewis could fight, but you have to wait and see.
Language keys:
"English,"
"Japanese,"
Quirk analysis
Chapter 2: At The Gates of U.A
The Park
It has been two weeks since the incident and Lewis has settled into life in Japan.
The police were informed of how Lewis saved the young girl and Tsukauchi called him later that night about what he said about using quirks in public. He gave him a warning since it was a life or death situation which Lewis was relieved about. Xaphan called to check in on him that night (around midday for Xaphan with the 9 hour time difference) and Lewis told him about how he already got a warning from the police. His uncle laughed it off and told him how Tsukauchi has always been a stickler to rules.
Since then Lewis has been trying to fix his new house from giving it a new layer of paint to cleaning the carpet to making sure the plumbing is up to standard. He has already met his new neighbours and elderly couple to his left and a family with two young children to his right. They were very welcoming and the children were very excited that he was going to U.A. He didn't tell them that he hasn't gotten in yet as he didn't want to disappoint them. Since he didn't have have school and had nothing better to do, he decided to explore Musutafu. He ever took a day trip to Kyoto on a bullet train. He always wanted to see the Imperial Palace.
He decided since the entrance exams where drawing near that he should focus on his training. Which is why he was jogging around the local park.
It was a bright, but cold day meaning there wasn't many people about. Lewis had been jogging for ten minutes now while listening to Queen's 'News Of The World'.
However, instead of listening to 'Sheer Heart Attack', Lewis was thinking about the entrance exam.
'This might be a bit difficult. Since we're not allowed any special gear, I won't be able to use my quirk as easily. This is, of course, assuming we are working with others,' Lewis thought.
The practical exam is different every year and so what will be expected is a mystery. Nevertheless, Lewis had to prepare for anything that would be thrown at him. However since he can't use any special gear, it would make using his quirk difficult when working with other people.
'Of course, then there is the examiners who would be looking me at,' Lewis sighed.
He was so lost in thought that he almost crashed into somebody on a Segway. He managed to get out of the way in time.
"Sorry," he called out to person giving them an apologetic wave.
"It's alright, make sure you look out next time," the man said stopping for a moment.
Lewis took a good look at the man. He was skinny, very skinny, with pointy blond hair which looked like it hasn't been brushed in a while. His blue eyes had sunken into his skull and seemed to have no eyebrows. He wore a long brown trench coat to keep out the cold. Lewis can't help but think he has seen him somewhere.
The man drove of on his Segway which was followed by boy about Lewis's age. He was far shorter than him with fluffy green hair, green eyes and freckles dotted around his face. He wore tracksuit and as he passed Lewis he gave a friendly smile and carried on jogging after the skinny man.
Lewis carried on running down the path.
He wanted to keep thinking for a solution, but his mind kept wondering back to his encounter.
It wasn't that the man or the boy were unusual looking. With the flexibility of quirks nowadays many more people have some unique attributes like horns, extra limbs and so on. Heck, there was hero back in England with the head of a lion. An overly skinny man and green haired boy seemed tamed in comparison.
'Perhaps,' Lewis thought, 'it was what they were wearing.'
But again, there was nothing unusual about that. Wearing a tracksuit was standard for anybody in training and it was cold enough to wear a...
Lewis stopped.
'...trench coat!' Lewis exclaimed internally.
Lewis checked around to see if anybody was looking.
Happy that the coast was clear. He ran behind a tree and disappeared back to his house.
Lewis had no idea how to describe his quirk.
He rarely had anybody to talk about it to and nobody really bothered asking. However, on one rainy night back in Oxford, he decided to finally find a way and this was the best he could come with.
Imagine an archer preparing to fire an arrow. As long as the archer's fingers are keeping a hold on the arrow, it will not launch. The archer can feel the bowstring push against his fingers, but the fingers are strong enough to resist it. However, when the archer releases his fingers the arrow flies out of the bow in a blink of an eye and hits the target. Now image Lewis as the archer, his quirk is the arrow and bow string and the archer's fingers is any person looking at him. Lewis can feel his quirk wanting to work, but as long as somebody is watching him it won't activate.
There are many ways to stop somebody from looking at him. The average person blinks 28,800 times a day which is 15-20 times a minute meaning if he was against one person he could easily disappear.
But what happens if there are a group of people?
Lewis would then have to use misdirection.
Tom Waters in his book 'The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians' (1988) describes misdirection as 'the cornerstone of nearly all successful magic; without it, even the most skilled Sleight of Hand or mechanical device is unlikely to create an illusion of real magic'.
If magicians, for centuries, have pulled off tricks using misdirection, that why can't Lewis use it for his quirk.
This is why Lewis decided that his special gear was going to be a normal deck of playing cards. Lewis' father had taught him how to throw cards and after eight years of practicing he can firmly call himself a master at it. Lewis could use his cards to misdirect one or more people long enough to use his quirk.
Or he could simply throw them at peoples' eyes and make them flinch. Either was is good.
He also had plans to turn some of his cards into tracking devices or give of small explosions, however he lacks the material to do anything like that. Other special gear Lewis had planned include: smoke bombs, firecrackers, tasers, batons and so on. Carrying them wouldn't be an issue since he could make them disappear and reappear at single flick of his hand or out of his hat. However, since he wasn't allowed special gear or anything that is not part of his quirk he was (literally) stuck.
This is until that skinny man's trench coat gave him an idea.
If Lewis was able to time it just right; he can use a long coat to conceal himself form view and disappear. His clothes (thankfully) disappear with him, but they do not apply to only disappearing when not seen rule. Which means if Lewis was able lift the hem of a long coat over his head and turn into it, a person looking at him would only see him hide behind his coat and vanish with a flick of his coat. And since the no special gear rule doesn't apply to items of clothing; he can use his quirk.
It was brilliant, but it will also take a lot of practice.
Which is where we return to the hero of this story.
Lewis' house
Lewis was currently searching though his suitcase; pulling out clothing, books and other miscellaneous items placing them to side.
"Come on, come on. I know it's in here somewhere," he mumbled to himself as he threw a football over his shoulder.
"Ah ha!" he declared as he pulled out a long black trench coat. It was a little big for Lewis and would require some tailoring, but it was still long enough to reach to bottom of his ankles. It had belonged to his uncle when he was ten years old (yes really) and he gave it Lewis with the hope he would grow into it.
Lewis put on the coat, feeling the material and the weight of it. This will be the key to him getting into U.A and the first step into becoming a hero.
He took a step backwards, lifted the hem above his head, spun into the coat... and instantly tripped over his feet, falling on his face with a loud thud.
"Ow," Lewis groaned from the floor.
He needs to practice a bit.
U.A High School
One month later
Lewis stood in front of gates of U.A. He looked up at tall H-shaped glass building. He knew it was big, but now, looking up at it, it was enormous.
He took a deep breath and stepped into the school grounds. Looking around he could see kids his age walking towards the building. They looked much more confident than him.
It had been a busy month for Lewis as he was trying to perfect using his coat to make him disappear. Once he stopped tripping over his own feet; he needed somebody to witness the move to actually be sure it works. So he called his uncle via video call to watch him while he practiced. It wasn't ideal for Xaphan considering the time difference and that fact he was busy with work, but it was important for Lewis so he helped. Xaphan had watched his nephew twirl around in a trench coat in his back garden for two hours every day for a month.
'He better get into this bloody school,' Xaphan dryly thought as he watched Lewis twirl for the umpteenth time.
It wasn't long until Lewis had mastered it and he and Xaphan celebrated. Xaphan even had tears in his eyes, but Lewis reckoned there more to do with the fact he didn't have to watch him anymore rather than him being proud that he did it.
Lewis, now wearing the trench coat, looked at the building once more and decided to ignore the other students for now. He has worked too hard to turn around now.
'Mum, dad. This is for you,' he thought as he walked forwards...
... and ran into somebody.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking when I should of been. I'm so sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked in panic as he looked down at the girl he crashed into.
Not the greatest of beginnings.
She was short (which might explain how Lewis didn't see her) and had brown hair cut into along bob-cut that covered the top half of her face and made he look like a mushroom. Most of her features were obscured by her long bangs, but what could he could see was that she had fair skin, a wide mouth and an oval shaped face. She was dressed in leggings and a large hoodie with a toadstool mushroom on it. Lewis thought she looked cute and was dazzled by her appearance for a moment.
The girl looked up at him and blushed slightly.
"Don't worry it was my fault. I shouldn't have stopped so abruptly," the girl replied meekly from the ground.
Lewis offered his hand to help her up and she took it with a little hesitation.
"Please don't apologise. It was completely my fault and now I feel bad that you had to apologise," Lewis said awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.
He doesn't have much experience talking to girls... or anybody thinking about it. So his instinct was to apologise as much as possible and hopefully something will work out.
"Well now I feel bad that you feel bad," the girl replied. It seemed like she hasn't had much experience talking to boys as well.
"Please don't," Lewis said back.
Before the girl could reply the school's tannoy turned on making them face the school.
'CAN ALL CANDIDATES MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE EXAMINATION HALL FOR THE WRITTEN EXAM, PLEASE' it said before turning off.
They faced each other again and gave each other awkward smiles.
"Let's just say we were both at fault," Lewis suggested.
"Agreed," she said with a small smile.
They both made their way towards the school building in uncomfortable silence.
'Come on Lewis say something to her,' he thought trying to break the silence.
"Umm..." Lewis hummed catching her attention. She looked up at him to; curious what he was going to say.
'I know I say anything, but maybe something a bit more intelligent,' Lewis' inner dialogue criticised dryly.
"... my name is Lewis Fleetwood, by the way," was the only thing he could think of.
'For goodness sake,' the inner dialogue moaned.
The girl gave a shy smile, happy that he introduced himself.
"My name is Komori Kinoko. Good luck on your exams, Fleetwood," the girl now known as Komori said before giving a timid wave and as she entered the exam hall.
"You too," he replied back.
Lewis stood there with a goofy smile on his face.
"That went well," he said to himself before also walking in.
The written exam wasn't too difficult. It mainly involved short answer questions and 'what would you do in this situation' questions. Lewis had tried to see Komori over the crowd to see how she was doing, but he couldn't see her. He hoped she was doing alright. This was the first person his age he talked to since coming to Japan.
The candidates had now all gathered in a large auditorium waiting to hear about their practical exam. Lewis could feel how tense the atmosphere was looking around. Once everybody had settled in, the house lights had switched off. Suddenly spotlights shone down on the front podium revealing a tall man with blond hair pointing upwards and small moustache. His hero costume consisted of a leather jacket and trousers and yellow triangular sunglasses even though he was inside. Around his neck was a large grey metallic speaker which he would use for his quirk. Lewis recognised the man from T.V and magazine interviews as the voice hero Present Mic. He also runs a morning radio show, but Lewis rarely tunes in.
"What's up U.A candidates, thanks for tuning in to me your school DJ. Come on and let me hear yer!" he announced, waiting for a response from the crowd of teenagers.
Silence was all that greeted him. Lewis also stayed silent. Incidentally, audience participation is one Lewis' greatest fears behind being the centre of attention. Which, thinking about it, are basically the same thing.
It didn't seem to effect Present Mic though as he continued on with his presentation.
"Keeping it mellow, huh. That's fine I'll skip straight to the main show," the hero said with enthusiasm, "Let's talk about how this practical exam's gonna go down. Are you ready!" Present Mic tried to gain another response.
Like before there was only silence.
A few rows behind him, Lewis heard a rapid mumbling.
Lewis glanced behind and saw it was that boy with green hair he passed by in the park.
He seemed to give of a pink aura as his hands were placed against his mouth. He was mumbling about how cool it was to see Present Mic and how he listens to his show every morning. Lewis sweat dropped at the fanboy's actions. He seemed more chilled the last time they met
He turned back to Present Mic as he started speaking again.
"Like your application says, today you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting ten minute mock battles into super hip urban settings," behind Present Mic the screen showed the seven settings labelled from A to G, "After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle centre, sound good?"
Lewis picked up the card he was given before the exam and looked at where he was.
The card read 'Battle Centre: F'.
"Okay, okay, okay, Present Mic continued, "let's check out your targets," behind him the screen showed three robot-like silhouettes labelled 1P, 2P and 3P.
"There are three types of of villains in every battle centre. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulties. So you'll better choose wisely. Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a big song guitar solo. But check it, make sure you keep things heroic. Attacking other examines at the U.A are a big no, no, ya dig," Present Mic explained.
"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question," a new voice called out from a couple of rows in front of Lewis.
A spot light revealed that it was a boy about the same height as him with short blue hair, fair skin and a blue eyes hidden behind thin-framed glasses. He had a stern face with a pointed chin, sharp intelligent eyes and thin eyebrows. He stood up straight and moved around rigidly as if he was a robot. He wore a brown school uniform which Lewis assumed was his old school uniform.
The boy continued, "On the printout you've listed four types not three. With all respect if this is an error on official U.A material it is shameful. We are exemplary students we expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do," he declared in an authoritative voice Lewis can only dream of copying.
The boy turned around and pointed at someone behind Lewis.
"Additionally, you with the unkempt hair," he said firmly. Lewis turned around to see he was pointing at the green haired boy who, when called out, gave a frightened squeak.
"You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us," he scoured the green haired boy firmly.
The green haired boy squeaked out a sorry making some students giggle.
'Damn,' Lewis thought in pity, 'hate to be in that guy's place.'
"All right, all right, examinee number 7111," Present Mic said making the spectacled boy turn back to him, "thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way; there's one in every battle. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten. There's... kinda no point. I recommend my listeners ignore it and focus on the ones up it the charts," Present Mic explained.
The spectacled boy bowed in thanks and sat down.
Lewis seemed unsettled by the test. He understood it and everything, but there was just the nagging thing he just couldn't ignore. Usually her would just ignore, but if he didn't ask he would be betraying the reason why he wanted to become a hero.
His concern outweighing his fears, Lewis raised an nervous hand.
"Um sorry for the interruption," he called out.
Present Mic and the entire audience turned to him as a spotlight shone down on Lewis. Lewis gulped at being in this situation, but he took a deep breath, stood up and asked his question.
"Sorry again, but I was just wondering... what did the villains... do?" he asked with a little hesitation.
The silence that followed was so dense he could cut it with a knife. Some of the other candidates looked at him in confusion, others in curiosity, but the majority looked at him as if he was stupid.
"What do you mean, listener?" Present Mic asked in his usual upbeat tone, but with a hint of confusion.
Lewis gulped again, "I was just wondering if there was any... context to the test. I mean like the are the robot villains controlled by one...evil...person...or...or...had the robots escaped from a research lab? Also have the citizens of the city been evacuated or...are we assuming they are still...there..." he explained.
Silence fell again as he trailed off. The spot light beaming down on him was starting to get hot.
Present Mic didn't really know how to respond. He looked to the side at someone Lewis couldn't see. Well Lewis couldn't see anything at all except from the eyes of the audience bearing into him.
"Err... well," Present Mic said looking back at him seemingly not getting a firm answer, "does it matter?" he asked.
Lewis was taken aback by this answer. He felt from deep within him a slither of confidence he didn't know he had. Maybe he was getting heat stroke from the bright spot light.
"Yes, I think it is," he said with a little anger, "if I was going to attack anything, robot or human, I would want to know why I was doing it. Heroes are supposed to protect and uphold peace, not attack wildly and hopefully save the day from evil. I would feel better if I knew what the situation was and if they were any innocent people that I have to keep in mind before going in for the attack. I mean it's not like everybody here was going into the exam and just destroy the villains without thinking of the consequences..." he declared looking around to his fellow candidates to see if they would agree with him.
Nobody said anything.
"...or was that just me," Lewis said after a moment of painful silence, regretting saying anything.
Present Mic observed him for a while before his smile returned.
"Well, listener 8274, you make a good point. Let's say that the robots have escaped from a research facility and we have permission to destroy them. The citizens have already been evacuated so don't worry about them, ya got that," Present Mic told him.
"Yeah...t-t-that's good. Thanks," Lewis thanked and remembered to give a small bow.
The spot light turned off and Lewis had never been more glad to be in darkness.
He tried to listen to the rest of Present Mic's speech, but all he could hear was the mummers and giggles over what Lewis said. He looked down trying to look as small as possible.
"Hey," a voice next to him whispered.
He turned to his left to see a girl looking at him with a small smile. She was petite and had short dark purple hair and onyx eyes. The most notable thing about her was her earphone jacks hanging from each of her ear lobes. She had a pink rocker look which Lewis thought was really cool. He noticed her when he sat down in his seat, but didn't talk to her for reasons we have already established.
"That was cool what you said. Don't let those other idiots bring you down," she said lazily, but Lewis could tell she meant it.
Lewis looked at her for a moment before giving her a small smile in return.
"Thanks," he whispered back causing the girl to nod and turn back to Present Mic.
In Lewis's mind he was freaking out that he managed to talk to two cute girls in one day.
Sure he crashed into the first one and the second talked to him out of sympathy, but it's something.
'Maybe today wasn't so bad,' he thought joyfully.
Outside Battle Field: F
Lewis stood in front of the large gate of the Battle Field among the large crowd of candidates. As he looked around he can see the looks of determination of each of their faces. He played with the sleeve of his trench coat in nervousness.
"Hey American," a voice called out from behind him. He turned around to see a skinny boy with rock like hands looking back at him. Lewis looked around him trying to see where the 'American' can be when he realised he was actually talking to him.
"Oh I'm not American, I'm English," he replied as if that was going to help the situation.
"Whatever. Since you care so much about hurting the villains feelings why don't you go back home and get out of the real heroes way," he jeered with a mocking grin.
Some of the crowd chuckled at his remark while most just ignored what was going on.
'There's always one,' Lewis sighed internally.
Before Lewis could mumble a reply a new voice caught their attention.
"Hey shut up, he's entitled to his own opinion."
Lewis turned to see a pretty girl with long orange hair tied up in a side ponytail. She was a few inches shorter than him with fair skin and soft teal coloured eyes that were currently glaring at the stone-handed boy. She seemed to give off a aura of authority and intelligence and, judging by the fact that she was wearing a training outfit, was quite proficient in fighting. However, at the same time, she came off as gentle and kind as if she was willing to protect anybody who needed her.
'Cute girl tally: 3' Lewis couldn't help but think.
The rock handed boy snorted and got closer to the gates; pushing Lewis roughly as he passed. Lewis, naturally, just let it happen. The girl gave the stone-handed boy a warning glare as he stalked away before she walked up to him and offered him a warm smile.
"You ok? I'm sorry about that guy," she asked warmly.
"Yeah. Don't worry it wasn't your fault," he replied shyly, playing with the sleeve of his coat.
The girl noticed his nervousness with concern.
"My name is Kendo Itsuka," she introduced herself holding out her hand. Lewis shook her hand.
"Lewis Fleetwood. Thanks for...that," he said with a sheepish smile.
"It's fine..." Kendo was about to continue when Present Mic's voice called out through the speaker.
"Alright start. There are no countdowns in real life," he announced as the gates opened to reveal an mock city. Lewis and Kendo saw the other candidates rush towards the entrance. They turned to each other and smiled.
"Good luck," Kendo wished.
"You too," Lewis replied.
They both rushed to the entrance.
The exam had begun.
Sorry it took so long to publish this chapter. If you want to know why then look at the word count of 'The Puzzling Adventures of Edgar Cipher'. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Lewis had met some more characters (either directly or by passing) and next chapter he would meet more. Next time is the practical exam, obviously. Thanks.