The Devil's Playground (Kid X Reader)

City Life

Life in general was normal for everyone until about 40 years ago. One day people started popping up around the world, able to manipulate themselves or their surroundings in strange, terrifying ways. It started out small but soon spread until about 1 out of every 100 people developed these strange powers that were being labeled "the devil's abilities." Things were thrown into chaos as society attempted to adjust to the sudden changes.

Some people wanted to eradicate those with abilities for fear of what they'd want to do, others vouched for more peaceful alternatives. In the end, a system of checks and balances was created with the birth of the Marines, a group dedicated to keeping more dangerous criminals and people under control. While not all Marines had these abilities, those that did were high ranking and were able to keep a decent grasp on the devil user related crime.

That is everywhere except Grandline City. It was a gathering place for those with abilities and those interested by them. Having so many of those particular kinds of people in one area led to crimes that went on without trouble from the Marines. At least large scale crime. Anything small was handled about as well as in every other city but the Marines knew they held little power against crime lords and large gangs, so they turned a blind eye to a lot of the things they did.

So to anyone looking in, it was just a large, somewhat rundown city full of misfits and interesting people. But anyone who delved too deep into the veins of the city would know better, they would see what it was really like.

You came in to play as the first, someone oblivious to the inner workings of the city but still knew it wasn't the safest of places. Which brings you to the question you couldn't stop asking yourself. Why did you move here in the first place? Sure the flat you had was decent and at a great price, but some of the sounds you heard in the streets at night were scary to say the least. During the day it wasn't much better, traffic was loud, the neighbors were always arguing, unseen dogs barked madly at anything that smelled or sounded off. Don't even get started on the construction that happened right outside your window.

But it was supposed to be a good deal. A local highschool needed a new history teacher and it was exactly the kind of job you were looking for, just not here. There wasn't much of a choice though, no one else was in need of someone fresh out of college with your particular degree and you needed to make money. The school payed for your deposit and first months rent as well to get you to move nearby. They seemed desperate to find someone willing to work for them and that made you all the more unsure of it.

Yet you still went with it. Maybe it was because you wanted to know what lured some people to such a dangerous place or maybe you were one of those people, searching for something to keep your life interesting, keep you on your toes. Only time would tell.

You groaned as you woke up to the sounds of construction. It was still dark out but they had flood lights illuminating the half built structure across the street so they could work. The alarm clock by your bed said it was 4 in the morning. Perfect. You didn't plan on getting up for another two hours originally but those dreams of getting decent sleep were shattered. It was supposed to be your first day on the job and it was already going so well. You kicked the sheets away and rolled out of the small bed. Might as well get up and start getting ready.

You took your time going through your morning routine, shower, brush your teeth, throw on clothes, and find something to eat. The dress code for the school was very lax for students and teachers alike so you were happy to be able to wear a pair of faded blue jeans, a simple (f/c) blouse, and your favorite pair of sneakers. After making yourself a bowl of cereal, you plopped yourself down in the living room couch and switched on the TV to watch whatever caught your eye as you ate.

The volume had to be turned up a bit so you could hear over the sounds outside but you didn't get too loud with it, there were neighbors you didn't want to wake up. Not that you were trying to be considerate, they were obnoxiously noisy on a regular basis. But if you got them up they were bound to start arguing with each other and you didn't want to deal with hearing about how one cheated on the other again. You'd only been living here for a week and were already getting tired of the people next door. At least you lived in the corner apartment so there was only the one neighbor besides the ones above and below you.