In an alley in the city of Saitama, a group of twelve high school boys in similar uniforms, ranging from first to third-years, were surrounding a first-year boy.

The one being surrounded was scrawny and wore a somewhat tattered uniform. That wasn’t an uncommon scene, aside from the fact that there wasn’t even a hint of fear on the scrawny boy’s face.

The scrawny boy looked at them. “What do you want?”

One of the older boys, a handsome kid and a good ten centimeters taller than the scrawny boy, laughed. “Is this hobo trash for real? You little shit, why the fuck were you hitting on my woman?”

The scrawny boy sighed, looking at the handsome kid with an expression between indifference and disgust. “Since when giving back an eraser that she dropped is me hitting on her? Fuck off with that, you just wanted to beat me up. Why the peanut gallery though? Are they here because you’re too much of a little bitch to take me on yourself?”

The handsome boy’s face twisted into an ugly expression, filled with anger. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

The scrawny boy clicked his tongue. “Are you deaf? I asked if you’re too much of a little bitch to take me on yourself. Maybe you really are insecure about your girlfriend, or maybe it’s the limp little worm between your legs. The girls were laughing really hard about that one.”

A couple seconds after the scrawny boy stopped speaking, the handsome boy exploded in anger. He darted towards the scrawny boy, throwing a right straight at his face.

As if he was expecting that, the scrawny boy slipped his head to his left to dodge, and using the handsome boy’s momentum, he struck the handsome boy’s chin with the base of his palm, knocking him out cold.

The handsome boy fell like a puppet that had its strings cut.

That wasn’t proper martial arts, since the scrawny boy wasn’t trained in anything. It was mix of pure talent, instincts, and experience. Although he had no experience against properly trained people, he had lost count of how many times another kid wanted to beat him up just because.

The scrawny boy looked at the rest of them, who were flabbergasted. Seeing their expression turn to anger, he dropped his backpack on the floor. “Alright, let’s do this. One at a time, or do you all have limp little worms like him?”

They immediately exploded in anger, and a torrent of curses ensued.

“Motherfucker!”

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

“You’re fucking dead.”

He took a deep breath, looking at them attentively, slowly rotating his body and paying attention to footsteps behind him.

As soon as he heard footsteps, he shifted his body to the side, because as he expected, a kick came aimed at his back.

He used the boy’s momentum to strike the boy’s face with his elbow, knocking him to the ground.

The next three suffered similar fates, but there were too many of them.

The scrawny boy got beaten until he was on the floor, bloody and barely conscious. The other boys however, were all hurt to various degrees, with fear in their eyes.

The scrawny boy mumbled one last word before losing consciousness.

“Trash…”

 

Asahi opened his eyes, slightly trembling.

‘Fuck. It had been a while since the last time I had one of those.’

He was in his underwear in Fumiko’s bed. She was lying beside him on his left, while Mayumi was on his right, both wearing pajamas.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the ceiling, remembering the dinner he had with Fumiko’s family. It was a delight, mostly talking about their university life.

Her father, Naoki, only arrived towards the end of the dinner. He was a man in his forties, in good shape, with average looks, and average height. He didn’t stand out in conventional ways, but he was smart, very attentive, and extremely kind to his family.

Asahi saw how much Fumiko’s parents were still very much in love with each other. When Naoki was parking his car in the garage, Kasumi got up and went to personally welcome him. They both stayed out there for a few minutes, hugging and trading light kisses.

Kasumi wasn’t a housewife, but she was the better cook by a decent margin, which was why during inventory nights she went home earlier.

They usually spent around four to six hours a day in their store, since they had a pretty good system and excellent employees. The two main reasons for the quality of their employees were good salaries and benefits, accompanied by bosses who treated them like human beings.

Neither one of them poked into Asahi’s affairs, and welcomed him and Mayumi with open arms.

‘Is that why I had that dream, because I was jealous? I just hope that I didn’t act weirdly with them or anything like that. They were so welcoming, even though I might as well be a complete stranger. No, I’m just projecting, I’m not really a stranger. Fumiko probably told them quite a bit about me. Fuck, I really need to find a therapist for powered people asap.’

He looked at the girls who were sound asleep and smiled.

‘It’s okay, everything will be fine.’

Although he was quite tired due to how much he worked throughout the week, with only a couple hours of sleep he was already at his peak again.

He could use his powers to get out of bed without waking them up, and use that time to work on his game, or do something else, be he still decided to stay there. He just relaxed and thought about the many things that he had going on, while enjoying their warmth.

 

Hours later, Mayumi woke up.

Slowly opening her eyes, she noticed that Asahi was still in bed with them.

She gently caressed his chest and whispered. “Good morning. I thought you’d be working on your novels or something else.”

He kissed her forehead. “Good morning. Nah, I wanted to enjoy being next to the two of you.”

She smiled with a tinge of red in her cheeks. “Although I really appreciate that, did something happen?”

He chuckled. “You see through me so easily. I had a bad dream, which reminded me how important moments like this are for me. I don’t want to wake up in a few years filled with regret.”

She caressed his face. “It must’ve been a really bad one then. Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Yup, I’m fine.” He Then gave her a light kiss. “You have another hour to sleep. You’ve worked really hard this week, so make sure to rest properly.”

She smiled, gently cuddling with him, speaking with a sleepy tone. “Okay…”

He stroked her hair until she fell asleep again.

With a serene smile, he looked at the girls. ‘It always amazes me how just talking to them and being near them, can have such a healing effect on me.’

He closed his eyes, and as he did, he thought of something, making him open them again.

‘System, how thorough is the part about people not being able to leak your existence? I know that they’re not able to talk or write about it, their minds can’t be read and all that.’

[ Nothing they attempt to do to convey my existence, the breadth of my capabilities, or even their implications on you will bear fruit. Before you told Takagi Mayumi about my existence, how many times did she mention you having a System? ]

Asahi’s mouth went slightly agape. ‘Fuck, you’re right. Neither her nor Fumiko ever said anything like that, which in hindsight is really bizarre. They’re both familiar with content about the subject, and it would be natural to associate my rapid growth with something of the sort, even if as a joke to tease me.’

[ No being within this universe can deduce my existence, regardless of how intelligent or powerful they are. As I said before, no one will know unless you tell them. ]

He closed his eyes again, and thought about that.

 

Less than an hour later, Fumiko woke up.

She rubbed her eyes as he gently turned his body towards her, then whispered. “Good morning.”

He gave her a light kiss, whispering back. “Good morning.”

She covered her mouth with her hand. “My breath smells, my device is back at our place.”

He chuckled. “I don’t care, I just wanted to kiss you.”

She blushed slightly, gently slapping his chest and letting out a light chuckle. “Did you manage to sleep?”

He nodded. “I had a bad dream, about some kids beating me up, but I’m okay now. Having the two of you beside me generates one hell of a healing effect.”

She caressed his face. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Before he answered, Mayumi’s sleepy voice came from behind him, as she hugged him from behind, kissing the nape of his neck. “Talk about what?”

He smiled, caressing Mayumi’s thigh. “About my dream. It was just one of the many times that kids ganged up on me. Last night made me feel a lot of positive things, but some negative as well. I think the dream was my brain telling me to not get used to it, that I’m not worthy or whatever. I do know that it’s bullshit, but my brain is pretty fucking stupid. This week I’m gonna find a therapist that treats powered people, so I can talk openly about everything.”

Fumiko smiled. “Have you decided on how much you’re going to tell them?”

“Yup, everything.”

Both girls’ eyes widened.

Mayumi was the first to speak. “And you’re gonna use the System to select the therapist, right?”

He caressed Mayumi’s hand that was on his chest. “Of course, I won’t just do it blindly. I’m gonna have Aurora and the System compile a list of the therapists in Japan that are more likely to cope with it. After that, I’ll go fly to them while invisible and use Existential Analysis to decide on which one I should pick. I won’t do it if I can’t find one that won’t have their life too disturbed by it.”

Fumiko smiled. “That decision might be a bit of progress in and off itself. I’m surprised that you decided to go with that, but good for you.”

Mayumi kissed the nape of his neck. “Yeah, I’m happy that you decided to go with that route.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

After cuddling for a bit, the three of them took a shower, then got ready to have breakfast and leave.

 

After a quick breakfast, they walked to the orphanage alongside Keisuke and Tomoe, with all five of them wearing shorts and t-shirts, ready to get dirty.

The neighborhood was quite nice and peaceful, composed mainly of homes, with a few businesses here and there.

Upon arriving at the property, Asahi was incredibly surprised. It didn’t look anything like the orphanages he was used to.

It was a relatively large property, walled with an ornamental fence gate. There was a quite large two-story main building, a pool, a storage building, and a regular and a vegetable garden. The renovations would mostly consist of a new coat of painting, some plumbing and a few repairs here and there.

The gate was open, and a couple staff members could be seen busily moving around the property. It seemed that the actual work hadn’t started yet.

As they entered, Asahi looked around. “Are you sure that this is an orphanage?”

Fumiko smiled. “One of the really good ones.”

Mayumi whistled. “Damn, it’s really nice.”

A 1.66m-tall woman in her late twenties that was going from the main building towards the garden noticed them. She wore an old t-shirt, baggy shorts and hiking boots. Her short hair and almond eyes complimented her sharp features and slender body.

She walked towards them, smiling. “Fumiko-chan, Tomoe-chan, Keisuke-kun, you got here early. And who are your friends?”

Fumiko gestured towards Asahi and Mayumi. “Murata -san, this is Kinoshita Asahi and Takagi Mayumi. And this is Murata Umi, the owner of the property and head of the orphanage.”

Asahi and Mayumi greeted her with a small bow. “Nice to meet you.”

Umi smiled. “Likewise. The kids just had breakfast, have you eaten yet?”

Tomoe nodded. “Yup, we’re ready to help.”

“Great. Does any of you have any plumbing experience by any chance?”

Asahi nodded. “I do.”

“Alright, you come with me then. Fumiko-chan, take them to the storage building. Masayoshi is there and he’ll give you guys some directions.”

Fumiko nodded as they left. “Will do.”

Umi gestured at Asahi for him to follow her.

As he did, he asked. “How many kids are you taking care of here?”

“Seventeen at the moment, but we have twenty rooms on the second floor. We also have a nursery, but no babies, the last one was adopted last month.”

Asahi nodded. “And how many people as staff?”

“Two chefs, five caretakers for the children, three cleaners and a gardener.”

Asahi smiled. “That’s a lot of people. Sorry about all the questions, but this is the last one. Why volunteers instead of hiring a crew? Money doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

Umi chortled. “It’s fine. The answer is the obvious one, to save money. All the money that we get from donations and the government, goes to pay the staff, basic expenses, and to make the children’s lives better. The more we save, the more we can spend on the children.”

That statement gave Asahi several conflicting emotions.

Entering the building, he was greeted by a cozy and homely interior.

As they passed by the living room, which was quite spacious, with several large couches, he saw a cute little girl. She was around five years old, with her hair tied in two buns and wearing overalls.

She was sitting on one of the couches by herself, hugging her knees, watching tv with a sad expression, which was only enhanced by her soft features.

Asahi stopped. “Did something happen to her?”

He didn’t ask why she was alone, and where were the other kids, because he could sense them in their rooms or the backyard behind the main building.

Umi sighed. “She had a bad experience with a couple that was interested in adopting her. She’s introverted, but really intelligent and when she speaks, she doesn’t mince her words. She called one of them out for being a phony and she yelled at her.”

Asahi looked at the little girl for a few seconds, then smiled. “Mind if I try to cheer her up? It won’t take long.”

Umi looked at him, intrigued. “Sure, go ahead.”

Asahi entered the living room, slowly approaching the little girl, but maintaining a two-meter distance. “Hi.”

The little girl looked at him, timidly. “Hi.”

“I’m Asahi, what’s your name?”

The little girl looked at Umi, who gave her a nod, smiling. “I’m Reina.”

He smiled. “Reina-chan, do you like magic?”

Reina looked at him with curiosity in her eyes. “I do.”

He gently sat down on the couch, leaving a meter between him and Reina, then made a fist and pretended to pull something from inside it, making a large sheet of purple fabric appear.

Reina’s little mouth went slightly agape.

Asahi opened the fabric and laid it on the couch. “I’ll need your help with the next part, okay?”

Reina nodded, letting go of her knees and turning towards Asahi.

“I need you to think really hard about your favorite animal.”

Reina looked at the fabric, then at Asahi. “Okay.”

She squinted her eyes, looking like she was almost trying to use telepathy to convey her thought.

Smiling, Asahi put his hand on top of the fabric, then started to raise it, bringing the fabric along with it.

It almost looked like a shape was taking form inside it, and by the time that he completely pulled it up, there was a giraffe plushie on the couch.

Not only Reina’s but also Umi’s mouth went completely agape.

Reina looked at the giraffe, then at Asahi.

Asahi pointed at the giraffe. “Reina-chan, this is your new friend.”

Reina smiled brightly, with sparkles in her eyes. “Really?”

Asahi nodded. “Really.”

Reina gently picked up the giraffe, giving it a warm hug.

Asahi chuckled. “The name is up to you as well.”

Reina got visibly even more excited. “I’ll call her Haruka!”

Asahi put the fabric back into his fist, making it disappear. “That’s a great name.”

Reina looked at Asahi, while hugging Haruka, then got up and walked on the couch towards Asahi, then gave him a hug. “Thank you. I’ll love her forever.”

Asahi had to exercise a lot of control in order for him not to tear up, hugging her. “You’re welcome.”

A lot of memories and emotions passed through his mind.

Reina kissed his cheek, letting go of the hug. “Asa-nii, can you play with us?”

He patted her head. “I came here today to help out with the painting and other stuff, but if I have some free time, I’ll come play with you, okay?”

Reina nodded. “Okay, I’ll play with Haruka then.”

Asahi raised his hand. “Wait, I almost forgot the most important part.” He then touched Haruka’s forehead. “Done. I put a spell on her, so she won’t get hurt, and if she somehow disappears, she’ll come back to you in less than a day.”

Reina looked at Haruka in awe. “Is she a magic giraffe?”

Asahi smiled. “She is. I’ll go help Murata-san now, okay?”

Reina nodded, before going back to her corner of the couch to play with Haruka. “Okay.”

He got up, now completely composed, and walked towards Umi. “What do you need me to do.”

Umi blinked, still trying to process what had transpired. “Come with me.”

As she guided Asahi towards the Kitchen, she spoke again. “I’ll set aside my questions for now. What you did there was great, but that last thing you said about the plushie not getting hurt wasn’t the best choice. It’ll eventually get torn up and she’ll have an even harder time dealing with it.”

Asahi smiled. “You don’t need to worry. If by the end of this semester Haruka is not in pristine condition, I’ll work for you for free during my break.”

Umi looked at him with an amused smile. “I’ll hold you to that.”