The fake city was gone.
Like… actually gone.
Smoke. Dust. A crater big enough to make God look down like "damn kid, relax".
And in the middle of all that? Me. Standing there glowing faint neon orange like some pissed off lantern.
Everyone was staring at me.
Not blinking. Not breathing. Not even hiding it.
I could practically hear their thoughts.
"Is he even human?"
"Did we just take an exam with a nuclear weapon?"
"He could sneeze and kill us all."
And honestly? Fair.
My glow kept flickering as I tried to shut it down. I tapped my own chest like I was hitting a stubborn TV.
It finally shut off, letting me breathe.
I fucked up big time. My one goal… ONLY goal. Forgotten because a golem got ONE good hit on Mawata.
'Well… justified crash out' I mused.
Weighing my plausible options, I came up with three.
Take responsibility for my actions like a man, take Mawata and run…
OR I can just nuke the entire area and kill all witnesses.
The first option won.
Barely
I walked through the crowd as they made way for me like I was a lion that recently discovered human rights violations.
I picked up Mawata and Eiji, both unconscious but still breathing, and walked out of the gate like a pissed-off gym teacher.
"One last thing before I leave," I looked over my shoulder "keep what you saw to yourselves and keep any questions you have to yourself till I can answer them myself" then I walked away.
And so… like that, the exams were over and only fourteen students passed.
HOURS LATER
Mawata woke up, hours later, arms and sides wrapped in bandages like she just survived a war crime. Most of her injuries were already healed anyways.
She sat up, groaning from the pain in her head as her eyes adjusted to the light.
I smiled softly and called her name, getting her attention.
"Good morning." I said, even though it's almost evening.
She tried standing up but groaned from exhaustion.
"No need to move too much. The exam is over and it seems I had to drag YOUR reckless ass out" I chuckled and she mirrored the gesture before stopping abruptly.
"T-The exams, did I-" she started before I interrupted saying "Don't worry, you were conscious up until five minutes after the time ran out."
She breathed a sigh of relief at that and she laid down on her bed before facing away from me.
I tried to look over her shoulder to see her but stopped when I heard her start talking "…m…ry" she murmured.
I leaned in and asked her to repeat before she burst out, louder this time. "I'm sorry! I talked big about saving you but you had to save ME instead… at the cost of exposing yourself." She curled back into a ball on her bed and sobbed "Please don't leave me, Tensei. You're my first and best friend."
I felt something warm twist in my chest.
Annoyance? Affection? A mild heart attack? Who knows?
"Dumbass" I said, though lacking venom "Don't worry Mawata. You did nothing wrong" I reassured her and she turned to face me.
"Plus, you're pretty much stuck with me; you can't get rid of me even if you tried" I continued, punctuating with a laugh at the end to try and lighten the mood.
It worked as I saw her smile, through the tears.
"Thank you Tensei" she said through sobs. I had never seen her like this before… even when she was bullied, she instead, opted to smile and give sadness (and me) the middle finger. This is the first time I've seen her cry.
I decided to give her some space. She'd be discharged soon anyway.
So, I wandered the hospital halls like a confused cockroach until—
"FUCKIN' HELL BRO" the person spat.
Huh… déjà vu.
The person I saw, standing in front of me was none other than the other guy with probably less self-preservation instincts than me, Eiji Tomura, hands wrapped in bandages but judging by the way he moved, they were mostly healed.
"Yo Eiji, are you sure you should be walking right now?" I asked while he flashed a grin.
"Probably not! Still, I have the pain resistance of an annoyed cow on crack and excess sugar so shit doesn't even hurt anymore!" he barked, rolling his wrists for emphasis.
He then lowered his head a bit and got all serious suddenly.
"Um, thanks for the exam, by the way, you really saved my ass back there" he continued, scratching the back of his head.
WHY THE HELL IS EVERYONE BEING EMOTIONALLY MATURE RIGHT NOW!?
"N-No problem, it's my fault you ended up in that situation anyways" I waved him off and started to walk off before he called out to me.
"Sooo… you gonna explain the whole orange glow nuclear mode or—"he started before I ran.
Nope.
I am spiritually allergic to this conversation.
I reached the exit in record time and breathed a sigh of relief before looking at my palm.
I was supposed to be normal… a normal person in a normal world so why the hell do I have this ability?
The hole in my palm stared back judgmentally.
"I gotta eat something" I said to myself as I started my search for the vending machine.
Two hours in, and I already wanted to give up. Like seriously, what the hell kind of place hides a vending machine so fucking well?
"Looking for this is worse than looking for the one piece" I muttered.
"What's a one piece?" Mawata asked as she appeared out of nowhere… again.
Out of shock, I made a sound that can only be described as something between a squeak and a dying microwave before whirling my head around and sighing.
"Nothing, just talking to myself" I waved her off (while ignoring her heinous crime of not knowing the greatest piece of fiction of all time).
"You're discharged?" I asked as we sat on a nearby bench. Kicking her legs back and forth, she smiled "Yep! Apparently I had five broken ribs, a fractured arm and a minor concussion!" she chirped, WAY too happily for someone who had all THAT happen to them.
I smiled to myself. She had no signs of her earlier attitude.
This was the same old Mawata I knew.
The girl who crashed into my life, stole my peace, and never once said sorry.
The girl who ran at hyper speed and pulled me along without permission.
My best friend.
As I sat there appreciating that Mawata was alive, unbroken (mostly), and still mentally feral, a wave of energy fell over us.
I activated my ability on instinct before seeing who it was.
Standing behind us was a familiar mop of grey hair and eyes, coupled with a neutral face that was more annoying than calming.
The infamous 'Mr. nonchalant.'
"Uh, Tensei Kurosaki?" he asked politely.
"Yeah?" I blinked.
He nodded, relieved. "Cool. Just wanted to say—thanks. For not blowing me up too."
Okay. That wasn't what I expected. I was expecting a threat, frostbite, maybe a PowerPoint presentation about revenge. Not… manners.
He extended a hand. Not cold. Not armed. Just a normal handshake.
I took it cautiously.
Up close, the dude didn't look threatening. If anything, he looked like he needed a nap, a therapist, and possibly a hug. His eyes were soft, tired, not cold and calculating.
"Senku Samui" He introduced in a monotonous voice and lightly shook my hand, moving on to Mawata, taking the back of her hand and kissing the back of her hand like some medieval prince.
She immediately turned BRIGHT red.
Like tomato red.
Like "did she swallow a heater" red.
"I—I just remembered I have to… to go… somewhere! Far away! For reasons!" she yelped, stood up too fast, almost tripped, saluted the air, and sprinted down the hallway at Mach 2.
Senku blinked "Did I scare her?" he muttered.
"Nah," I sighed. "That's just Mawata. She short-circuits around normal socially functioning humans."
"Oh," he said thoughtfully. "Same."
We both nodded at each other like two emotionally damaged laptops recognizing another corrupted unit.
After a few minutes of him directing me to the nearest vending machine, I continued my side quest of getting food.
Looking back now, I may have spent an hour, zoned out while looking through the beautiful and slightly overpriced array of snacks to choose from before picking basically this world's version of Doritos and… they were the cheapest snack here cuz there's no way in HELL I'm spending money on chips that's 90% air and 10% over salted chips.
While eating through my snack, I resumed my mental crisis.
Why did I get this power? Is there some big bad I have to fight? Or does the universe love fucking with me?
Probably the latter.
I mean, I get that I was reincarnated into a world with powers but mine are nothing like my parent's.
"Yeah, I know how it feels" a voice, a woman, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It was light and musical in a way that would be calming… if I knew where she was!
I ignored the voice.
'It's all in my head' I muttered.
"You got that right" another voice, masculine and gruff this time, answered.
I instantly attempted to sense anyone's energy, to see who the hell was talking to me.
For a moment, there was nothing but the faint traces of someone a few meters away.
Suddenly, a burst of energy, a swirl of blues, greens, oranges and purples, greater than what I've seen before, emanating from seemingly nowhere, swirling around in my vision.
"Looks like you've finally noticed us" the two voice exclaimed in unison.
I got ready for a fight. Whoever this was, they were no joke. I could feel it.
"Who the fuck are you" I spat.
The voices laughed for a bit before answering "Boy, we are your ancestors… and the original wielders of your powers."