The Exchange Hero

Episode 7

After I got off the train on the way back to the Jiro house from the matsuri, I decided to go for a stroll. I had enjoyed the company of Pony and the Hados (which, coincidentally, is also the name of my second favorite new-wave klezmer band) and wasn't yet ready to reenter the arctic realms of my host sister's disapprobation. I chose a direction more or less at random when I exited the station.

Tokyo at night is a different place than when the sun is shining. But even in the darkest hours it feels safer than New York's mean streets do at high noon. So I wasn't worried. Even if I came across something bad, I was confident in my own abilities. Sometimes I wondered if I share by brother's love of fighting. The few times I had used my powers it had felt good. Natural. But it also made me nervous. I picked up a couple of stones and started a one handed roll in as I walked. There were few people on the street. I was thinking about something Nee-chan had said just before I got on the train that evening.

"If you really don't want to be a hero, don't."

It sounded so simple when the blue-haired pixie had laid it out. "No one can force you to be a hero. Do not waste time in a hero course because you need a license to use your Quirk. In Japan, if you don't have a license you just get on with what you do want to do, without using your Quirk. It is different in the US. But you can decide to deal with the muting and move on with your life. Or find a different way. It is up to you."

What she said made sense. Why was I putting myself through this? Even at home, the choice was really mine. Dad could convince the Board to admit me to Hero High. They could even force me to attend. But I could use passive resistance. If I refused to participate in the hero classes, they would eventually have to kick me out of the program. Hero High could no more afford to waste a space on an unwilling students that UA could. Not even as a favor for Captain Armstrong.

It would probably take less than a year for me to get kicked out of Hero High. Less time than this exchange program lasts. If I just go home now I could be in Turnbuckle High before the end of my first year. Did I want to do that?

That's where my thought train derailed for a while. I couldn't force an answer. I stopped by a convenience store and picked up an ice cream cone. As I exited, I noticed a few drones flying in a well-lit park across the street. I wandered over to a bench and sat. Three kids were flying their drones. As I ate my cone I watched two of the boys team up on the third. They were forcing his drone into the trees where it tangled and got stuck. They laughed at him as he tried unsuccessfully to fly his vehicle free.

I pulled out two or my ro-balls (I was still working on the right name for hem). I carried several of them with me to tinker on in my spare time. Using my phone, I took a picture of the tangled drone and sent the robots a search and rescue program, with the drone as the target. This was similar to the sorts of challenges used in some of the robot games.

I activated the ro-balls and watched the flying bot make a magnetic connection to the ground bot, lifting it into the air. Watching through the camera feed, I could see the robots search for the drone. Upon finding it the aerial bot looked for a place to set the ground bot down. It dropped it on a branch.

All three kids were watching my robots at work, fascinated. The ground bot rolled up the branch to the tangled drone. I had added a layer of extra tacky exterior to it allowing it more traction. The roller bot rammed the drone, trying to knock it free. At the same time, its airborne partner lowered its magnet on a thin cable, trying to attach it to the rescue target. Working together, the two bots managed to free the drone in under three minutes.

"Robots save the day!" The boys cheered, even the ones that had forced the drone into the tree.

It felt good to help people. Which inevitably brought my thoughts back to my earlier dilemma. I collected my toys and headed back to the Jiros' place. The parents greeted me and asked about my day, but Kyoka-chan was still avoiding me. I put my ro-balls on their charger before I went to bed.