The back of my head hit the wall.
It was hard enough to see white. My teeth clicked together and I tasted copper. Bucky's sneaker caught my ribs again for the third time.
I hate them all.
"That's for looking at Kate, you Blank piece of shit."
I didn't look at Kate. I was walking past the vending machine in C-hall, and she happened to be standing in front of it.
Apparently that's "looking at her wrong." Apparently existing in the same hallway as Kate while being a Blank is a crime punishable by death.
Bucky pulled his foot back for a fourth kick. I curled up tighter, and it landed on my forearm instead. That was better. Arms heal faster than ribs.
I hate them all.
Ron stood at the mouth of the alley with his hands in his pockets, watching both directions with a bored look on his face. His eyes flicked toward the back of the alley for a second, then back to the street. "Don't overdo it."
Bucky laughed. "Why the fuck not? Who's gonna stop us?"
He was right.
Nobody was coming to help me. Even if someone saw this, they wouldn't give a shit.
Not cops. Not teachers. No one cares about some random Blank kid.
Nobody was coming. Nobody ever was.
"Get his wallet," Bucky said to nobody in particular. Ron didn't move. He never did the small stuff himself. So Bucky crouched down and went through my hoodie pocket with his quick, rat-like fingers.
He counted the bills, made a face like he'd stepped in something wet, and pocketed them anyway.
"Tsk. Just eleven fucking dollars?" He snorted. "Your mom makes more than that in ten minutes, right?"
...
This son of a bitch.
Ron laughed from the alley entrance. "Way more than that. I've seen the website."
"The escort one?" Bucky leaned in close enough that I could smell the cheap energy drink on his breath. His rat-teeth showed when he grinned. "The one where she's posing with her ass out? With the tagline... what was it, Ron?"
"'Elite companionship for discerning gentlemen.'" Ron let out a chuckle.
I hate them all.
"Elite companionship." Bucky repeated it slowly, then snorted. "That's rich-people talk for 'I fuck for money,' right, buddy?"
Up close, his face was even worse. His long pink nose kept twitching while he sniffed at me. A few thick, wiry hairs poked out of his cheeks. Freckles covered every inch of his skin. His two front teeth were long and yellow, and they pressed into his bottom lip so hard the skin there was cracked and raw. His eyes were small, black, and wet, with almost no white in them. They directly stared at me, darting a little every time I moved.
"Buddy? Noel~? Still alive?"
He wanted a reaction. I didn't give him one.
...Fuck.
My ribs hurt too much to breathe right. Blood was running from somewhere above my left eyebrow into my eye. I wiped it with my sleeve and stared at the concrete between my knees.
"Come on, man. At least say something." He slapped the back of my head casually, the way you'd swat a bug. "This is boring."
Boring, huh.
That's the whole thing, isn't it? I'm so far beneath them that beating me up isn't even a big deal. It's just... entertainment.
"Are you guys done yet?"
A bored voice came from the back of the alley.
Bucky shot up to his feet so fast he almost tripped over me. Ron pulled his hands out of his pockets.
A guy with purple hair and slightly dark skin, wearing clothes that probably cost more than everything I owned, had been leaning against the dumpster the whole time, scrolling through his phone like none of this was happening.
"Almost, boss." Bucky rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "He's not even crying this time. Kinda pisses me off, y'know?"
The purple-haired guy didn't answer. He didn't even look up.
Bucky's laugh died out. He glanced at Ron. Ron was suddenly very interested in the street.
"Oh! Uh, here." Bucky dug my eleven dollars back out of his pocket and held it out with both hands. "From the Blank. It ain't much, but..."
The guy finally looked up from his phone. He looked at the crumpled bills. Then at Bucky.
Bucky slowly put the money back in his pocket.
"...Right. Yeah. My bad, boss."
The purple-haired guy sighed, annoyed.
Then he lifted two fingers.
"Hk...!!!"
My whole body slammed into the ground, face first into a dirty puddle. Everything got heavy all at once. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bucky take a big step back. Like he didn't want to be anywhere near where I was lying.
"Kate said you were staring at her ass," the guy said with a yawn.
"...!" I tried to answer, but nothing came out.
"I don't really care if you did." He pressed his fingers down a little more, and I heard something in my back pop.
Click!
"Gkh... AAAAARGH!!!"
The boy sighed. "Just don't make me hear about it again. It's kinda annoying, dude."
"Y-yeah! You hear that, Blank?" Bucky said, a little too loud. "Boss doesn't wanna hear about it again!"
... Fuck.
I hate them all.
He kept me pinned to the ground until my vision started going dark.
"Mmnghh...!"
"Uh, boss?" Ron said carefully. "If he passes out here, someone might call it in..."
The guy looked at Ron for a second.
Ron shut his mouth.
Then the guy dropped his hand and the weight was gone just like that. Air rushed back into my lungs so fast I choked on it.
He was already back on his phone, walking toward the street. "Let's go. Kate's waiting, and she gets pissy when I'm late."
"Right behind you, boss!"
Bucky jogged to catch up. Ron moved out of the way to let him pass first, then followed two steps behind.
They left without looking back. Bucky kicked a can at my head on his way out.
The can bounced off the wall next to my head and rolled into the puddle.
Their laughter faded down the street until I couldn't hear it anymore.
I lay there on the wet concrete. I didn't even try to get up. My back hurt too much, and honestly, what was the point?
"...?"
Pzzz!
My phone buzzed. The screen was cracked, but I could still read it.
[Stephanie: Don't come home before midnight. I have company.]
... Of course she did.
I hate them all.
Jack, who didn't even bother to remember my name. Kate, who probably told him I looked at her just to get his attention. Bucky and Ron, who'd be waiting for me again next week.
I hate them all.
I hate my older sisters.
Sylvie, who calls me a loser every morning before I even get my shoes on. Bethany, who only talks to me when she needs someone to laugh at. Gracie, who doesn't even care to do that much.
I hate my mother too.
Stephanie. That woman who took me in after dad died and made sure I knew every single day that she didn't have to.
I hate them all.
I hate them all!
I hate them all!!!
They can all die and burn in hell for all I care!
The wet concrete had soaked through my hoodie by the time I finally pushed myself up. My back screamed in protest, and I bit down on my tongue until I tasted more copper.
"Pfft... ha... hahaha!"
A slight chuckle left my mouth, then it turned into a hysterical laugh.
"...Fucking gravity."
He could control the fucking gravity just by moving his fingers.
I felt my eyes getting wet as I clenched my fist.
How was that fair?
I sat there with my back against the grimy alley wall, staring at the graffiti and the rusted dumpster.
"...What did I ever do wrong?"
Is it just because I'm weak?
Is that it?
I looked down at my hands. Pale, thin, covered in scrapes from being tossed around like garbage.
Pathetic.
These hands couldn't do anything. They couldn't fight back, couldn't protect, couldn't change a goddamn thing.
Why was I even born?
Why did some random asshole get born with the ability to crush me into the pavement like a bug, and I got... what? A dead dad, a whore for a stepmother, three stepsisters who treated me like shit, and a social status so low that everyone looked down on me.
"Fuck this shit..."
I dragged myself up and leaned against the wall, spitting blood onto the ground. It mixed with the puddle water and swirled down a drain.
"--FUCK!"
I immediately felt an intense pain in my back as I leaned against the wall.
"This is gonna hurt for a while..."
I can't afford to visit a doctor.
The only way would be asking my stepmother for help...
"Not a fucking chance..."
I gritted my teeth. I'd rather die than get humiliated by her again.
"...hk!"
As I felt the immense pain again, I couldn't help but think of the boy who caused it.
Jack...
Jack fucking Williams.
He was a B-rank gravity esper. Son of the former hero Darktorch and heir to the Williams family fortune.
B-rank, wealthy, connected, and a complete piece of shit. He's going to get his license and his agency and his fans, and someday he's going to be standing on a podium giving some speech about courage and justice, and everyone's going to clap.
Meanwhile, someone like me?
I'll be lucky to get a minimum wage job hauling monster cores for a third of what they're worth. I'll be invisible, insignificant, nothing.
I couldn't help but stare at a sharp piece of glass in the alley.
"..."
I slowly took it into my hand.
At this point, I might as well--
No. I shook my head hard, raking a hand through my hair.
Stop. You can't do this to yourself.
I knew the spiral. I'd been down this road a hundred times, and it always ended the same way. Me sitting alone in my room, staring at the ceiling, feeling the weight of my own uselessness pressing down on my chest until I couldn't breathe.
I'm not even useful enough to do this...
I hate them all.
If only I had power...
The piece of glass was still in my hand. I'd been squeezing it so hard it cut into my palm, and I didn't even notice until I heard it.
"Boy."
I froze.
The voice sounded old. Really old, rough and scratchy, like some old man who'd smoked his whole life. And it didn't come from the street or from behind the dumpster. It came from everywhere at once.
"You want power, don't you?"
"...Who's there?" My voice cracked. I looked around, but the alley was empty. Just the dumpster, the graffiti, and the puddle I'd been lying in.
Great. Now I'm hearing voices. Jack must've cracked something in my head too.
"I asked you a question, boy. Do you want power?"
I should've ignored it. I should've gotten up and gone home like always.
"...Yes."
It came out before I could stop it.
"Even if the price is to kill? To rape? To do things that would make the devil himself look away?"
I looked down at my reflection in the puddle. A pale, beaten-up loser with blood on his face stared back at me.
"...Yes."
"Even if it turns you into someone like Jack Williams?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
That purple-haired bastard. The way he looked at me like I was dirt on his shoe. The way he crushed me into the ground with two fingers and then went right back to his phone.
Become... like him?
"..."
"Hah." The voice laughed. "Pathetic."
My fingers dug into my palm.
"You say you want power. You say you hate them. But the moment it costs you something, you freeze up like the worthless worm you are."
"Shut up! You don't know anything about me!"
"I know enough." The voice didn't even sound annoyed. It sounded bored, and somehow that was worse. "I know about that girl."
My breath stopped.
"Your childhood friend. The one who shared her lunch with you and patched up your scraped knees. The one who said you'd always be her best friend."
How did it know that?
Nobody knew about her. I never talked about her. I didn't even let myself think about her anymore.
"She awakened at fourteen, didn't she? One of the lucky few. And the moment she did, she stopped talking to you."
"Stop..."
"'I can't keep hanging out with a burden.' That's what she said, wasn't it? She's an A-rank now. Goes to some fancy hero academy up in the Heights. Has a pro-hero boyfriend. She's happy, boy. She doesn't even remember your name."
"Stop it!"
My head was pounding. Something warm ran out of my nose and dripped off my chin. I wiped it with my sleeve and it came back red.
"She didn't even leave because she was cruel. She just forgot you. You're so small that even the one person who cared about you stopped seeing you."
I didn't remember falling to my knees. But I was there, staring at the concrete, and I felt my eyes getting wet as my vision became cloudy.
"Why are you doing this...?"
"Because I won't waste my gift on a coward who flinches the second the price shows up. The world doesn't care about you, boy. It never did. The only way someone like you crawls out of the dirt is by being crueler than the people standing on him."
I hate them all.
Jack. Kate. Bucky. Ron. My stepmother. My stepsisters.
That girl.
I hate them.
And I hate me most of all. The weak, useless piece of shit who couldn't even answer a simple question.
"So I'll ask one more time," the voice said. "Even if it turns you into someone like Jack?"
I slammed my fist into the concrete.
It hurt like hell. I did it again anyway. And again. My knuckles split open and blood splattered across the ground.
"If that's the price, then fine!" I hit the ground again. "If I have to become someone like Jack, fine! If I have to hurt everyone who ever looked down on me, and everyone who never even noticed I was there... then fine!"
My voice broke halfway through.
"Whatever it takes... I'll do anything. Just... please. Give me power."
For a while, there was nothing. Just my own breathing and the sound of traffic somewhere far off.
Then the voice spoke again, quieter this time.
"...Very well, boy. I accept."
The headache vanished all at once.
A sharp pain shot through my left palm, right where the glass had cut me. I looked down and saw something dark moving under my skin. It wriggled once, then burrowed deeper and disappeared.
What the hell...
Then the screens came.
[Ding!]
[Verification complete.]
[Welcome, host. The Parasite System has been activated.]
[Host: Noel Blackwell]
[Rank: Blank]
[First parasite (Gen 0) has been seeded.]
[Lifespan: 19:59:59]
I stared at the floating blue text. My brain couldn't keep up.
...What?
"W-what is this? What does it do?"
[Plant the parasite in a host. It drains part of their power and breeds inside them. Recall it, and the stolen power becomes yours.]
[The parasite currently has no travel ability. It can only be planted through direct skin contact.]
"...!!?"