<Bright>

 

 

 

This couldn’t be legal.

Lying in bed, Bright stared up at the extravagant ceiling.

This really couldn’t be legal.

“Who does this guy think he is?” (B)

Bright punched his pillow.

Sure. The man was a charming, superpowered multibillionaire, but that didn’t mean he could do whatever he wanted! There were rules for a reason! They serve as the only thing separating humans from the animals that crawled the earth. Due process must be followed in order to avoid rampant power abuses. Power abuses such as these.

Bright held his face in his hands.

Honestly.

He was so dumb.

How could he have not seen the writing on the wall? The soldier’s weird way of calling him, the moving of his things into the house, and the lack of access to his account all pointed to one thing. One terrible thing. He had been adopted.

“But, Bright!” you cry, isn’t this a good thing? Didn’t you originally plan to integrate with a wealthy family? Why not just take the win and eat quietly? Okay, okay, fair point, but listen. While originally that had been the plan, it had been formulated well before Bright awakened. After awakening and basically living by himself, the idea of brown-nosing his new parents for cash became increasingly undesirable. It would be humiliating for someone as old as him.

But, ultimately.

As bad as that was, it wasn’t the most pressing issue regarding the adoption. No, not by a long shot. The most pressing issue was the validity of the 10 million credit contract. Bright was a minor at the end of the day. He couldn’t legally enter a contract by himself. He needed the government to do that. To act as his guardian and add legitimacy to the contract.

With them no longer doing that….

The contract might be rendered void.

Invalid from its very inception.

“You little mutt! When did you get in here?” (B)

As Bright was lamenting, a little, fluffy white dog hovered over him.

“Get over here!” (B)

Grabbing the pup from midair, he dove under the covers. If it was going to stick around, it might as well provide some comfort to his plight.

“Calm down already! It’s not like I’m not going to eat you!” (B)

The pup continued to struggle in Bright’s arms, albeit not with any real intensity, before stilling and presumably falling asleep.

Bright turned on his phone.

He needed to find a way out of this adoption mess.

Buzz Buzz.

‘Come on, pick up! Pick up!’

The Director should know what to do.

She always did.

Bright spent the next fifteen minutes repeatedly calling her.

No answer.

Finally, with a heavy heart, Bright decided to call quits. Choosing to open the app store to alleviate his troubled mind. It had been two days since he started his unwilling detox. There was no better time to get back in the game. SuperbSportBet and CasinoGusher couldn’t play themselves.

Searching them brought nothing.

A natural result.

‘Ah, safe search’

Quickly going to disable it, Bright was met with something unexpected.

“Parental Control?” (B)

It wanted his password.

He swiftly put it in the first and second times, real slow on the third time, and stopped on the fourth.

Two more chances remained.

‘The hell?!’

Holding his breath, Bright tried, really, really slowly.

Incorrect password.

Again.

Incorrect password.

Bright blankly stared at his phone.

He was kicked out of the app store app.

Knock Knock.

“Breakfast.” (Y)

An announcement rang from the other side of the door.

Bright flinched.

A few seconds passed in silence until the sound of footsteps fading started.

The tension in Bright’s body instantly melted away. After arriving at the house in a daze yesterday, he hadn’t so much as spoken to either of them. And, frankly, he didn’t want. The stunt they pulled left quite the bad taste in his mouth. On top of not discussing the adoption, they go on to announce in front of the world about how it's already done.

‘I… I need to end this’

The rumours around the three of them had always been bad. After Bright agreed to mentor under Hero Sun, they got substantially worse. To the point he nearly deleted all his social media. Now though? They were straight-up unbearable. He was practically forced to uninstall all his social media in order to keep his sanity intact.

Bright threw off his covers.

A serious talk was long overdue.

These people were not his parents!

 

 

Bright hated beautiful people.

Eyeballing the pair that were sitting a little too close watching TV, he struggled to approach them.

They were dressed in civilian clothing, unlike usual—pyjamas specifically. A matching pair of PJs printed with countless tiny bananas across a white background. In them, their beauty combined to devastating levels. Despite acclimatising to their auras relatively quickly, Bright still felt his heart unwittingly race whenever he looked at them.

A fact he found deeply disturbing.

This level of beauty simply didn’t exist in his previous life.

Seeing these heroes, he realised why that was a good thing.

Too much of anything, no matter how good, was bad. How was it that he, a professional, was having such a hard time making simple eye contact?

“H-Hey, you two!” (B)

‘Goddamn it!’

His voice was uneven.

“I demand we have a serious conversation!” (B)

Two sets of eyes narrowed at Bright.

It lasted only for a moment before he spoke up again.

“K-Kindly… if you feel so inclined….” (B)

Right. He shouldn’t forget who he is speaking to. For all their fluff, they were not merely wealthy and influential people but hardened warriors capable of felling monsters. He shouldn’t let the youthful nature of his body cloud his judgement.

In the blink of an eye, Hero Sun stood next to Bright.

“Wow, you came down awfully fast. We hadn’t even noticed you…. Anyway, good morning.” (S)

‘Yeah, right’

Bright bet they knew the second he stepped out of the room.

“Good morning.” (Y)

A voice emerged beside Bright.

“Did you sleep well?” (Y)

Reining in the desire to complain about the sudden movements of both parties, Bright spoke up.

“I slept well…. Good morning.” (B)

Breaking their gaze, he forced out a greeting.

It was an action that was completely misunderstood.

“Ah, I get it, I get it.” (S)

Nodding his head up and down, Hero Sun circled Bright.

“No wonder you came down so early. You’re nervous about your first day at Highschool, right?” (S)

“H-Huh?” (B)

While today was the start of school, it wasn’t a concern for Bright.

He already decided he wasn’t going until he could solve this issue.

“Don’t worry. It’s a natural feeling.” (S)

“No, I—” (B)

A pair of hands lightly touch Bright’s shoulders.

It was Hero Yuki. She wore a sympathetic look.

“I know making friends is very hard, but it will work out this time. I’m sure.” (S)

‘How? W-Why are we talking about this?!’

It was totally irrelevant!

“Yes. We got something extra to help.” (Y)

Hero Yuki outstretched a hand.

Shadows were dancing on it.

Before long, a book appeared in her free hand. It was a tiny little thing.

She passed it on to Bright.

How to Make Friends for Beginners (Become a Conversation Expert Today!)

“I—I don’t need this!” (B)

Bright stared at the book in disbelief. Two days. He had known these people for two days. What kind of impression did he make to look like he needed this?!

He felt his cheeks burn up.

“Friends? Pfft. I've got so many, they don't even fit in my phone contacts! We're always doing something – just not, like, specific somethings, you know? Just... friend stuff!” (B)

“The bravest thing you can do is ask for help.” (Y)

“There’s no shame in needing a little assistance.” (S)

Words meant to comfort Bright merely added salt to the wound.

He couldn’t take it.

In a pang of frustration, he muttered out words he soon came to regret.

“I’m not even going!” (B)

The look Bright soon received was very telling.

“…Let’s discuss that at the table.” (Y)

“No, wait! I didn’t mean it like that!” (B)

It was evident the words fell on deaf ears.

An hour elapsed as Bright was lectured on the importance of an education.

 

 

“I hope you understand.” (Y)

“Yes….” (B)

Bright responded in a hollow voice. Anything else would result in the resumption of unnecessary words.

“May I speak now?” (B)

Hero Yuki nodded while slamming her hand down on the table.

Hero Sun opened his eyes.

That bastard had fallen asleep.

“I would like to discuss about the adoption.” (B)

Finally bringing the conversation to the right topic, Bright straightened his posture.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” (B)

“You were asleep.” (Y)

The flat response made Bright freeze.

‘What does that even mean!’

“I-I didn’t agree to this arrangement! You can’t just adopt a person without their permission!!” (B)

“But you did agree.” (Y)

Hero Yuki pulled out her phone, tapped on it for a bit, and then handed it to Bright.

On the screen was the 10 million credit contract he signed. It was zoomed in on a specific clause.

The client agrees to comply with any and all requests made by the contractor regarding their legal status and living arrangement during the term of this agreement. Furthermore, the client agrees that any request made by the contractor shall be assumed to be in the client’s best interest.

Bright paused reading.

‘Incompetent government workers!’

He had never actually read the entire thing. It wasn’t his job to. That responsibility fell on his guardian, the government, to make sure the terms were fair. They failed.

But.

Bright didn’t have to be a lawyer to know such terms wouldn’t hold up in court. This was merely oversight on the government’s end.

“This… this adoption is not legal!” (B)

“It very much is.” (Y)

Hero Yuki took back the phone.

“Now, enough of this. You need to get ready before it gets late.” (Y)

“What about my money then, huh?! The contract; it’s still valid, right?” (B)

“Of course, it's valid. The money will be paid into your account, from which, you will draw an allowance.” (Y)

Bright reached over the table.

“What do you mean—!” (B)

“No more questions. At least, not until you finish getting ready.” (Y)

‘We’re not done yet!’

An aura crushed into Bright.

‘F-Fine, then!’

Getting up from the chair, he started running to his room.

“Wait, Bright. Look over here!” (S)

Click

“Cute lock screen.” (S)

Bright looked down at his clothes.

Right. He was still in his monkey onesie. With the dog sleeping on his head.

‘Goddamn it!’

Rushing upstairs, Bright sought to finish getting ready.

This was not over.