A young teenager of about thirteen, dressed in a gray hoodie and blue jeans, walked lazily down one of the busiest streets in North Carolina's capital city. He nodded his head in time with the music playing from the gray headphones resting on his head. Occasionally, the song's lyrics escaped his lips.
*In the pitch black darkness, days shine bright,*
*When, free of worries,*
*We could spend our time,*
*A perfect world with no problems,*
*But no excitement.*
His red eyes drifted lazily over the glass skyscrapers of major companies and the numerous restaurants with outdoor seating. Despite it being the end of September, the city was still full of tourists wanting to experience the "Oak City" and one of America's technology hubs.
*We have become completely lazy, completely.*
*Illuminated in the pitch black darkness,*
*Our path is laid out*
*We know not where,*
*Only the hands of the clock move like a bone in the throat,*
*And there is no fire,*
*Only warmth remains.*
The names of famous scientists who had worked here kept the city's fame and popularity alive. The teenager's figure moved smoothly through the crowd toward a large building with a tall glass dome in place of a roof. Many tourists stopped nearby to take photos or pay at a terminal to get entry inside.
*From where we can see*
*The dance of the bonfire's glow,*
*A forgotten melody*
*I can hear it now...*
His eyes filled with greater interest as he read the sign: "Exhibition of Research by the American Scientific Research Community."
*They say, "Nothing is eternal,*
*Nothing on Earth is eternal!"*
*But I find it funny, because I am quite satisfied*
*With things as they are.*
*Let the fuel run out,*
*Let the light go out,*
*As long as we have fire in our chests,*
*We will continue toward our goal*
*Moving lightly.*
He quickly made his way to a short line near one of the terminals, after looking at a projected visitor schedule and tour information.
*And jingly trinkets, and magic,*
*That will turn pain to dust —*
*My treasures in trembling hands.*
*They say, "Nothing is eternal,*
*Nothing on Earth is eternal!"*
*As long as we have fire in our chests,*
*We will continue toward our goal*
*Moving lightly.*
(Mrs. Green Apple — Inferno)
*
*
*
I finished singing quietly, receiving my temporary pass and taking off my headphones. I had wanted to visit this exhibition ever since I arrived in this city.
When I was asked to help deliver a suitcase of contraband, my first thought was to stash it somewhere before the flight. I had to give up on that idea for two reasons. First, I did not know the plane's structure or where I could hide the suitcase unnoticed. Second, there was the possibility of a thorough inspection before takeoff.
So I used a simple and effective method. I took the suitcase from the nondescript man Giran had assigned, made it permeable to light and everything around it, and blatantly walked through the checkpoint. Then came several hours of flight, which blended into an improvised training session for me. After landing, the suitcase became visible again in a bathroom stall. I should become a magician.
The only problem was that we landed in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina. I had to wait a couple of days for my official "guardian" for this trip to hand over the suitcase. Then we took a high speed train to Raleigh. After arriving, my "guardian" quickly rented an apartment for me and disappeared on some business. He told me to call him only for important reasons. Officially, he was an acquaintance of my official uncle who had allowed him to take me on this trip. After asking him what to tell the cops if they had questions, I lost interest in him. I had more serious problems. My equipment and gear were still in Japan, so I would have to make or buy new gear here, and also find a place to hide it all. How could I even think about finding my father under these conditions?
So I had been wandering around the city for a week, buying spare parts and components from various shops. Fortunately, I had been able to bring the fabric for my costume without any problems.
And this exhibition had really caught my interest. The phenomenon of Quirks had severely slowed down the development of science, but at the same time, it had helped scientists enormously. Absurd? Not when you consider the permission granted to build and fully control the international research association island. Before the Quirk phenomenon, the government could have suppressed projects that openly interfered with the profits of oligarchs or large companies connected to the bureaucratic apparatus. But during the time of total chaos with the mass emergence of the first people with superpowers, all the rich people and organizations panicked and began investing insane amounts of money into researching Quirks and ways to counter them.
Then one might ask, why did scientific development slow down if huge sums were being invested in research? The answer turned out to be simple. They could not do it. They did not find a simple or technical solution to fight Quirks. The Quirk users were too strong and too diverse. And although governments continued to invest huge sums in scientific communities, the first satisfactory results appeared relatively recently, in the form of defensive systems for places like Tartarus Prison. That is, roughly ten to twenty years ago.
So the governments of different countries had to find another solution to this "problem" during the mass uprisings of "mutants," the witch hunts by crazed citizens led by sects springing up like mushrooms after rain, and the vigilante justice of newly emerged lynch mobs. And the government of one US state, at that time the country most affected by the Quirk phenomenon, found an elegant solution. They chose loyal lynch mob members or simply people with superpowers, signed contracts with them, organized them, and later declared them heroes, and their opponents villains, thus introducing for the first time in history the profession of "hero."
All other countries quickly picked up the idea and even began calling mutations "Quirks" more harmlessly. Soon after, the International Hero Association and national hero rankings appeared. The peak of all this came with the arrival of All Might. Becoming literally an ideal and an idol to be emulated, he increased the popularity and support of heroes among the populations of various countries several times over. That is why he is considered the Symbol of Peace. With his strength, which allowed him to defeat any villain, he created a precedent similar to the first appearance and use of the atomic bomb. There were and probably still are a few people with similar strength, but among them he was absolutely the first. And the name of All Might still hangs like the sword of Damocles over all villains.
As I recalled these historical facts, I looked with curiosity at the exhibits and inventions of modern scientific thought on display. The desire to find my father still burned fiercely in my chest. But I was in no hurry. I could not afford to make a mistake. Due to constant training and studying, one can burn out. So I decided to be an ordinary tourist, and besides, the topic of technology had always been interesting to me. I even had the stupid idea of enrolling in the U.A. support course. On one hand, there was the risk of being discovered by one of the country's smartest beings, Principal Nezu. On the other hand, it would be amusing that a villain would be studying practically under the noses of future heroes, and I also wanted to develop my skills with the help of professionals in the field.
My further thoughts were interrupted by a running blonde girl of about fifteen. What interrupted them? She tripped and knocked me off my feet.
From the sudden embrace, I panicked, rolled to the side, and sprang to my feet with a knife at the ready. However, I hid it just as quickly, hoping no one had noticed, and stared at her with eyes still wide from fright. In response, I got a confused, flustered female voice:
"Sorry."
**
A/N: The awkward first meeting trope of knocking the protagonist off their feet with an unknown girl. Check.