The sound of numerous students chattering is disturbingly loud, their excitement for the end of the school year- their high school graduation, is palpable. Some making plans for the summer, others preparing for college, and others for an entirely different future. Teachers go around giving their students a final goodbye before the graduation ceremony, expressing their shared content of being able to guide their students' futures in a brighter direction. Well… all but one.
Mr. Nakamura, the tired and exhausted teacher of class 3-B, slumps over at his desk, his head resting in his arms as he allows his students their final-day freedom. Calling class 3-B a rowdy bunch is a bit of an understatement, their class being known as the 'insufferable geniuses'. They didn't get this name out of arrogance or lack of respect for others because they're considered geniuses, but because of their… hyperactive nature. Sometimes Mr. Nakamura wouldn't even be able to teach this class because they'd be too engrossed in their own disputes and debates, so saying they gave him a hard time would be saying the least.
"How the hell are you even comparing the two? Baseball is probably the easiest sport there is. All you have to do is hit a ball and run." said a taller boy as he crossed his muscular arms over his chest, his voice full of a complete lack of interest in the sport. "Football is a real man's sport, all physical contact and strategy. That's where it's at!"
"All I have to do is hit a ball and- are you, by chance, a fucking idiot?" the shorter boy retorted, his brow furrowed as he stepped closer. He held his hand up to his side, his fingers spread wide. "Well, since your sport is nothing but a glorified game of catch, you should be good at catching shit, right?" His voice dripped with annoyance and malice, his chin held high as he gazed up at the taller boy with disdain.
A faint crackling sound stirs as the shorter boy's hand fills with what seems to be a small explosion. The sounds get louder and more intense as the explosive display grows within his hand, a clear threat using his reliable ability- Combustion.
Combustion- the ability to produce explosions at will on a small-to-moderate scale. Not a common ability to possess, but definitely not a rare one. If there was a rarity scale it'd sit in the "uncommon" category. Abilities, typically awakened around the ages of 10-13, are the use of supernatural abilities that nearly every human is born with. They tend to be random, no real deciding factor at play to determine which ability you will awaken. For instance, if your mother has a fire ability and your father has a plasma ability, you could still end up with something like wind or water.
The taller boy scoffed, clearly not intimidated by the other boy's display. "Bring it on, sparkler. I've seen fireworks scarier than you." he said with a smirk as he stepped forward, his voice laced with confidence. Their classmates encouraged the dispute, cheering and instigating the situation.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" some of them chanted with big, stupid grins across their faces.
"Yo dude, if that was me, I would not be taking that shit. Beat his ass!" a boy who was also on the baseball team said as he placed his hand on his fellow teammate's shoulder, softly shaking his head.
Feeding into the encouragement and instigation, he grits his teeth in annoyance and agitation. "Catch this, dick!" In a flash of impressive speed he thrusts his arm towards the other's chest, aiming to hit his chest with a barrage of small, controller yet strong explosions. The taller boy simply swats his hand away with his own, his skin unaffected by the attack despite making direct contact. The reason for this being that he is an 'Unpowered'.
As stated before, most humans are born with supernatural abilities, but some aren't lucky enough to experience such things. Though nobody dared to consider those people to be unlucky. Those who are without abilities are born with enhanced physical capabilities and a far greater resistance to supernatural abilities. With these in their arsenal, their growth rate is noticeably more significant, making them almost superior to those with power. These people are called the 'Unpowered'. Scientists have tried to figure out the reasoning behind this for a long time, but have come out empty handed. That or they're very good at hiding their findings.
As the shorter boy's hand gets swatted away, it hits an even shorter boy in his back, damaging his clothes and leaving burns on him. The boy has a lack of reaction despite getting hit with the strong explosion, his attention elsewhere. The class falls silent, even Mr. Nakamura looked up from his slumped position. They all exchange sympathetic glances, but Mr. Nakamura just looks relieved.
"Watch what you're doing, Kotaro. You almost killed them." His messy black hair falls around his shoulders as he looks down where his arms are shielding a wolf spider carrying her newly hatched babies on her back. The boy noticed the altercation while he was watching the spider and instinctively moved to protect them, not worried about his own safety.
Kotaro, the short boy, looks down at him with empathy and guilt, his combustion ability already deactivated after realizing he hit this bystander. "A-ah… sorry, Yūrei. We'll make sure to be more mindful next time. Won't we, Junpei?" His voice held an obvious accusatory tone as he looked at the taller boy, his eyes narrowed as he silently insisted he apologize as well.
Junpei let out a small huff of annoyance but complied, giving a half-assed apology as he crossed his arms behind his head, the fabric of his white t-shirt stretching over his muscular chest. "Yeah, whatever. Sorry."
Yūrei turned around and stepped to the side as he looked at the taller boys, his mismatched eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "Don't apologize to me. Apologize to her." he said as he pointed at the wolf spider, which is now crawling down the side of his desk.
Both of the boys complied, the taller one of the two softly blushing as they leaned down to face the spider.
"We're sorry, miss. It won't happen again." Kotaro said softly, his lips forming a small, apologetic smile.
"S-sorry… miss."
Yūrei gave them a satisfied smile, his small and delicate hands coming up to pat the two on their heads, making them both blush. "That's better."
Mr. Nakamura, who had been worried about a fight breaking out (and planned to do absolutely nothing about it) silently thanked Yūrei for calming the boys down. He slumped back over his desk, arms laid out in front of him.
Everyone in class 3-B respected Yūrei on a level that nobody who attended this class dreamed of speaking against him, and this is for a few simple reasons. One, he is the smartest one in the class, never failing to get the highest scores on tests no matter the subject. Two, his blunt nature and indifference to useless arguments and people in general. And three, despite being a boy, he was prettier than 90% of girls attending this school. As for the people outside of this class, well, they don't give a fuck about any of these.
There's one thing about Yūrei that nobody in this school, other than class 3-B, can accept, and that's the fact that he has no power or any of the physical capabilities the Unpowered hold. He's the only person any of them know who's like this. And to make it worse, he's in the class of geniuses and they're not. This used to lead to bullying, ruining his notes, beating him up, and even breaking his ant farm. Once class 3-B found out, they quickly put a stop to it. Nobody dared mess with Yūrei again, especially since the strongest student in the school, Junpei of class 3-B, had stepped in. Although they definitely continued to talk shit behind his back.
The two boys shot irritated glares at each other before reluctantly taking their seats, their classmates snickering at how quickly the boys became obedient.
"Shut the hell up." Junpei snarled at his classmates, his face slightly red of embarrassment. "Like you guys wouldn't have done the same thing."
Before anyone could retort, Yūrei stood up from his seat and turned around, bringing attention to his damaged clothes and back. His skirt softly fluttered around his thighs before settling into place, the hem almost reaching his knees. "Uh, hello?" his voice came out soft, yet laced with mild annoyance. "Is anyone going to come do something about this?"
A very tall girl rose from her seat and made her way over to Yūrei, her hands held up to each other as a faint, purple light emanated from them. "Sorry, Yū. It's been a while since I've had to make you anything so it slipped my mind."
Creation- the ability of being able to conjure nearly anything within seconds as long as you understand its properties. Compared to Combustion, it's far more rare- sitting at what would be called an 'epic'. People who possess Creation tend to become engineers and scientists, being able to make and repair their equipment for free.
Yūrei turned to face the girl, his hands held out in front of him. His expression was mostly neutral, with his eyes holding a subtle expectancy. "Don't apologize. It's not as if you're obligated to help, Tsukura."
The girl stopped moving toward him, looking down at the freshly conjured shirt and bandages in her hands. "Oh, so I should just put these away then?" she said playfully, turning away from him.
"No, I want them!" He hurriedly blurted out as his hand reached out to grab the back of Tsukara's shirt, the sunlight entering the classroom and softly reflecting off of his thick glasses.
She spun back around with a teasing and triumphant smile as she handed the items over. "Then keep quiet and just say thank you next time. You should already know that I don't care about anything like obligations, I do it because I want to."
Yūrei blushed faintly, though he quickly masks it with annoyance as he hugs the shirt and bandages to his chest. "Fine. Thank you… meanie." He began to walk to the door to enter the bathroom with the intention of changing in there, but one of his classmates stopped him.
"Where are you going?" The student asked as he arose from his seat.
"Uh, the bathroom? Duh. If I change in here you guys will just make it all weird and shit."
A majority of the class groans in disappointment, but one of the boys makes a quick retort. "Don't you need a hall pass to go to the bathroom during class hours?"
"Dude, it's the last day of school. And Mr. Nakamura is out like a light." Yūrei responded as he pointed at the teacher's desk, who was indeed passed the fuck out.
Not wanting to give up, the student racks his brain for any excuse to see whether or not Yūrei is an actual boy. "W-well, don't you need help with the bandages? I doubt you can do it yourself, it'll be awkward and uncomfortable."
Yūrei rolled his eyes, somewhat astonished by the boy's persistence. He let out a long, exaggerated sigh of annoyance before saying, "Fine. Junpei, come help me with the bandages."
Junpei quickly rose from his seat, his face flushed between eagerness and hesitation. "W-why me? There's probably more qualified people here for something like this."
"Yeah, why him?! That's not fair- I mean it doesn't make sense!" The same boy who decided to speak out said with surprise and jealousy.
Eyes narrowing in even greater annoyance, Yūrei points to the area directly next to him. "Get your ass over here and let's go. I just wanna get this over with and you're probably the only person, out of the guys, who isn't going to make it weirder than I'm willing to put up with."
Junpei stood there for a second, his cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red before hesitantly complying, falling into step next to Yūrei. "Never. Again." he said sternly, avoiding looking in Yūrei's direction all together.
"Fine by me." He responded, the door to the classroom closing behind him as they made their way to the bathroom.