ATOMIC STRUGGLE

0「new home」2

Mihoko didn't know what to think. The day before, she had been notified that she was going to a new home, and the next day, a friendly man came to pick her up along with another person that was kind of familiar, but barely so. The friendly man had chatted a lot while the other person drove, but Mihoko hadn't really listened to much.

They'd just throw her away like everyone else had, eventually.

When they had arrived at the apartment building, Mihoko hadn't expected that the people with her weren't going to be her guardians. She guessed that was part of what the man was talking about in the car, considering a teenage boy was who she was being left with. It didn't make sense to her, how could a teenager take care of her? She doubted he'd be able to take care of himself.

How had the government allowed this? Wasn't there an age requirement before one could adopt a child? She really couldn't understand this situation. "This is my room," Izak gestured to the first door on the left once he and Mihoko were inside and the front door was shut and locked. "There are two other rooms, so you can choose from those," He told her. Nodding, she glanced around for a few moments as her new guardian walked through the door ahead of them and headed into the living room.

Even though this arrangement was weird, Mihoko didn't want to go back to the orphanage. Here, at least the air wasn't stifling. "Oh, I should probably show you where those rooms are," Izak recalled suddenly, returning to Mihoko's side and opening the first door on the right. "Here's one of them. The other is over there," He pointed into the living room to the door parallel to the entrance. Nodding again, the little girl moved her head into the room he had opened for her, looking back and forth.

It was better than any of the other rooms she'd had before, was Mihoko's first thought. The others had all been small and pink because the families she had gone with wanted to help her out of her shell and pamper her into becoming a sweet little girl they could love. That hadn't gone so well, as the scars on her legs and back could attest.

Izak took a second to go open the other bedroom door in case there was any confusion, then went inside it and reemerged with a bunch of clothes floating behind him. Mihoko blinked as he passed her and went to his designated room, the clothes following him inside it. So his quirk is to make things float, the little girl guessed.

Quirks, or in other words, superpowers. It all began in China, in Qingqing City. There was news that a baby that gave off light was born. Ever since then, super powers were discovered in various places, and time passed without the cause being identified.

Before the world knew it, the supernatural became normal, and dreams became reality. The world had become a superhuman society, and about 80% of the world's population now has some kind of special trait. In this world swirling with chaos, the profession that everyone once dreamed about and admired came into the limelight.

That profession was heroes.

Along with the superpowers came an explosive increase in crime. As the country was stuck in the slow progress of drastic law reforms, courageous people started performing heroic acts from out of comic books. Guarding against superpowers and defending against evil; heroes were soon accepted by the public, and it was established as an official position. Based on their performance, they are paid by the government and gain renown among the masses.

In this supercharged world, having what they call a 'quirk' was everything. That's why those without powers, the quirkless, were looked down upon most of the time. Mihoko was one of those people without a power. Usually people manifest their quirks by the time they reach five years old, but she was seven now, and still nothing. Some of the people at the orphanage had said she was cursed with the power of unnerving everyone around her, but the doctor in charge of the orphanage had said she just didn't have a power at all.

Mihoko quickly shook her head of those thoughts, it didn't matter and she needed to focus. Inching towards the open door of the third bedroom, she peeked inside. It was bigger than the one she had just seen, and had a bigger bed, and had a balcony door?! She twisted around to look at where Izak had disappeared into, her mouth agape slightly. Why wasn't he using this bedroom when it was obviously the master? Was someone else occupying this room so that he couldn't use it? If so, why did he tell her she could choose between the two bedrooms? Mihoko was so confused.

"What do you want for lunch?" Izak asked as he reappeared from the depths of his room, closing the door behind him before striding forwards and into the kitchen. Sitting at the table, he cocked his head at her. They stared at each other for a few moments, the first to look away being Mihoko.

"A-anything's fine," She said quietly, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Okay," Izak snapped with his left hand, and suddenly there were two plates on the table filled with several slices of pizza. Mihoko blinked again, even more confused. Just what was this person's quirk? "Oh," He suddenly grimaced, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"A-about what?" She asked, stepping back slightly.

"I'm not technically allowed to use my power," He told her. "But it's easier for me to just do this than go shopping and get food like a normal person."

"What..." She decided to be brave, this time taking two steps forward. "Is your quirk, mister?"

"You can call me Izak, or Iz, if you want. Mister is too formal," Izak said, then tilted his head as he picked up one of the slices on his plate. "Come eat with me, and I'll tell you after we finish. Alright?"

"...Okay," Mihoko slowly walked to the unoccupied chair, hoisting herself onto it and looking down at the food now in front of her. The pizza looked really good, and the smell was just as enticing as it had ever been. Thus, she tossed out any lingering concerns and took a bite.