Chapter 2: Boring conversations and a part-time job as a loader

Once inside, me was greeted by a rather opulent arrangement of the house: a bakaut(1) shoe cabinet; a buffalo leather couch; a floor made of quartz vinyl tile; even a 95-inch TV.

So the information was completely accurate; the father is a businessman, and the mother watches over the house.

As we moved down the hallway, I felt a manly, rapid heartbeat. Even the children near the parent were disturbed, with the exception of the one-year-old who was sleeping peacefully on the second floor. Noticing my gaze, panic appeared on the mother's face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, the rapid heartbeat and panic in her voice gave her away.

When I reached the room where my father and children were seated, my mother decided to announce me.

- Darling... It's Alex.

The man's eyes opened wide as his worst nightmare of the return of his son came true.

- Well, hello, father.

I smiled broadly, spreading my arms out to hug him, to which he moved tentatively toward me as his anxiety grew.

- Hello, son.

I grabbed him, starting to squeeze his back, gradually increasing in strength, causing the adults' faces to look excited.

* Crunch.

My father and mother stared at me in shock while the children stared at us curiously, and I was still smiling. But their fear quickly dissipated as the man sighed in relief.

- Ugh, it was like he was ten years younger.

Letting him out of his embrace, he bent and straightened a few times, checking the work of his back.

- I noticed you had a slight curvature and decided to remove it.

There was a brief silence, as they seemed to be digesting what had happened.

- Well, have a seat at the table, I'll set it up, and you introduce them.

The white-haired woman left us, leaving the father and the children alone with me. I glanced around at the children, who were in their seats watching television. Finally the black-haired man, who was also my blood father, decided to introduce me to the children.

- Akayo, Akihiko, this is your... older brother, Alex.

Surprise and delight appeared on their innocent faces, pointing their fingers at me as they asked their father.

- Really? / Wow, what a big guy, are we going to be like that when we grow up?

- Of course, if you eat well and exercise, you'll be just as handsome.

- Huh, thanks for the compliment, it's been a long time since anyone has said that to me. Are these your own kids?

- Yes.

- How old is the baby on the second floor? Probably eight or nine?

Swallowing his saliva, the father answered with a little concern.

- Eight.

- I see, how are you doing anyway? You certainly have plenty of money in the house, judging by the environment.

- Well, I have a small business that provides enough money for this kind of life. My mother, on the other hand, is a simple housewife, cleaning the house and taking care of the kids.

- Ah, that's funny.

- What are your plans? Maybe enroll somewhere? We have one of the best academies around here that teaches how to be a great hero. With your abilities you'll probably be the greatest hero ever!

Father said with a smile on his face. His words made me smile involuntarily, but at the same time I had my doubts.

- To become a hero? I do not think that I will be the greatest... I don't think I can live up to your expectations.

- What's the matter with you? You can beat any villain, you're already incredibly strong and invulnerable, so no one can beat you.

The mother intervened and came out of the kitchen with a multi-tiered tray. On the first tier were five plates of rice, as many plates of misosiru(2), which I had tasted only once, when studying Japanese cuisine. On the second tier were rolls of fish unknown to me, but from the smell it might have been salmon, and next to them were a couple of bowls of soy sauce. There were also steamed vegetables, on top of this tray was a ceramic kettle, kyushu(3), it had a brown color which looked quite nice.

Such teapots are most often used to make green tea, and the smell confirms it.

- But I don't have the paperwork...

- No need to worry about that, I'll make a call now and everything will be there.

The man left the table and headed into the hallway, leaving me, my mother laying the dishes on the table and the children watching cartoons on TV. A minute later, my father began a conversation with an old acquaintance, who was a man of about forty, but that was only based on his voice and manner of speech. At this point they were already negotiating a moment about creating documents, to which his interlocutor quickly agreed and the conversation was over, after which my father returned.

- I've made all the arrangements, but I have to leave now, so have dinner without me.

He said with a smile on his face as he made his way to the second floor.

- Oh, well, let's start without him.

Mother said, thinking about something, and her blood pressure was rising, probably because of the excitement.

- Why don't you do some breathing exercises? Your condition could get worse.

- No need, I'm just glad you're back, so I was nervous.

She answered with a slight smile, which masked the fear I felt.

- Well, as you like.

At this moment my father came down, who was already wearing a black cape and a gangster hat, which made me slightly surprised by his appearance.

- Okay, I'm going to run, I'll be back in the morning, so lock the door.

He said goodbye, waving his hand before leaving the house, heading to the garage, where there were two cars: a Dodge Charger and a Mazda Demio. My father expectedly got into the American car, which roared, to which the rest of the family paid no attention as they began to eat. As I looked down, I saw my reflection in the soup, nearby was a plate of boiled white rice and chopsticks, which I had been wielding for quite some time, so I had to get a little more accustomed to using them.

After eating all the contents of the soup, I drank the broth, enjoying the good taste of the dish with a blissful face, swallowing all the rice in a volley, which made the whole family stare at me with shock on their faces, the children even had their mouths open at such a stunt.

The boy with white hair, Akihiko, looked several times at the bowl of rice and at me, finally deciding to do it again, to which his mother quickly responded.

- Stop!!! You'll choke on it, God forbid.

- But, ma'am, why is he allowed and I'm not?

- You compare him and yourself, he's so big.

Instead of further bickering, the child began to silently devour the rice while I began to hover in thought about the hero schools.

I don't know much about them, just basic information. And going to such an institution is probably such an idea, since I'm probably already wanted by all the secret services, though...

I looked at my palm, which I began to slowly squeeze, until in a moment it turned into a fist, capable of breaking through any barrier.

What was there to fear? There are no weapons in this world capable of at least scratching me, let alone wounding me.

I dipped the roll into the soy sauce while the kids ate the rice at a rapid pace, glancing at me constantly. At one point they were done with their Japanese bread and began quickly shoveling a type of sushi into their mouths, which I saw as a dueling eating contest, so I decided to take advantage of my super-speed advantage. Before their eyes in an instant all the rolls disappeared from my plate, even the soy sauce left a little at the bottom, which made their mouths open wide, even my mother's face was surprised when she heard a question.

- Super speed?

- That's right.

- Waaaaaah! You are so cool!!!

- Yeah, but I can do better than that, my quirk is flying.

After these words, the boy flew up from his chair and sat back down without moving a single muscle.

- Not bad, but I can fly, too.

I got up from the table and flew to the ceiling, which was about five meters high, did a five-point somersault in the air, and landed back. The sight made everyone's mouths water again as the two kids turned to their mother.

- Mom, you said a man can only have one quirk, so why does he have two?

- He has one quirk too, it just gives him the ability to move fast and fly.

- That's funny... I wish I could do that.

At the same time the children, who appeared to be twins, differed only in the light of their hair, one was white, like their mother's, and the other was black, like their father and me. After figuring out the whimsy of the white-haired boy, I decided to ask the other one.

- What can you do?

Panic appeared on the woman's face, but she was silent while the boy opened his mouth and still answered my question.

- I can see the future ten seconds ahead.

- What an interesting quirk, it seems simple, but it has good potential.

At that moment, I had the thought that I could use such an ability, even though I have a great reaction time.

- All right, that's enough, now that everyone's finished, let's get to tea.

In the usual clear glasses, green tea rested quietly, which emitted a lovely aroma and steam that warned of the drink's high temperature. Without further ado, I began to slowly drink the contents of the cup while the rest of the crowd stared at me again with shock on their faces. After draining the glass in 10 seconds, I looked at the others while they turned to their mother with a question in their eyes.

- Maam.

But further questioning was denied as their mother sent them off to bed.

- Enough questions, it's eleven o'clock, go to bed quickly, you're lucky we're home so late.

Reluctantly, the children headed up the stairs, while mother silently returned the dishes back to the huge tray, feeling bored, I decided to help her by putting the cups in their places.

- No need, I can do it myself, I'll put it all in the dishwasher and we'll decide where you're going to sleep.

- I don't need sleep.

- ... Oh, well, just a private room then.

- Okay.

She turned away and went into the kitchen while I looked back at the TV, which was still running the same cartoon that had been on for half an hour. After sitting like that for five minutes, I noticed that my mother had headed across the other stairs to another floor while I waited for her to do more, but after picking up the phone on the third floor, she headed downstairs, soon returning here.

- Here, it's your dad's old phone, although it's not that old, he just had to change them every time a new model came out.

She handed me a phone with a bitten pear on the back. I've almost used this kind of technology before, so I don't have much experience.

- Thanks, I guess.

- Well, I'm going to go to bed, too, and if you want to rest, pick any room on the fourth floor, they're all free. Good night.

- Uh, uh, good night.

I was alone with myself, wondering what I should do next, after sitting on the chair for a couple of minutes, I flew over to the padded couch, while simultaneously starting my phone, which had been reset to factory settings.

So that's why it took so long to come down, clearly.

I quickly flipped through all of the phone's settings, setting the settings I understood as needed. It didn't have a SIM card, but there was wi-fi in the house, which did give me access to the internet, and the first thing I decided to do was create a social networking page.

I had always wanted to do something like that, but I was always forbidden, and then the phones disappeared from all the employees altogether.

After figuring out the cumbersome registration process, I started filling out the page with information: age, gender, and the like. After that, a notification popped up asking me to choose topics of interest to me, and I ended up choosing music and TV series. The first post in the feed was a track with a very strange cover.

- Man, I have no headphones and no money to buy them. I'll have to do some extra work.

Instantly I disappeared from the couch, opening the window at speed, I ran out into the street and flew in search of any job ad. The result was not long in coming, when I found a flyer with a small job.

[Truck Loader Wanted. Wage for unloading one truck: 5,000 yen.]

- Not bad, I think if I unload 30 cars, it should be enough to buy good headphones.

When I looked at the address at the end of the advertisement, I immediately flew off to earn money. When I got to the point, I found a long traffic jam of trucks. They were all headed for some firm's warehouse, and quite rich, considering the number of warehouses, of which there were, according to preliminary calculations, more than a hundred.

I walked around the perimeter for a while, and then approached the first warehouse with the light on, and there were five cars around it. Here I met a chubby grandfather with very pumped up hands, too unnaturally large.

- Hello, I'm here for the ad.

The man looked at me appraisingly, and then shook his head affirmatively.

- Not perfect, of course, but it does not seem to be a dead man. Anyway, you unload one car, you get five thousand, got it?

I shook my head and looked at the warehouse, where the black boxes were stacked neatly, and then I looked at the boxes in the back of the car.

In the next second all the contents of the body were inside the warehouse, neatly stacked, and then the trunks of the next trucks began to be emptied, while the man with the belly was watching with his mouth open, unable to believe his eyes.

When I was done with the 5th truck I moved on. Unloading the truck took less than a second, I could have done it even faster, but there was an increased risk of destroying the surrounding warehouses, so I had to control my speed and force. In this way I unloaded all the cars that were on their way here until I was done with the fortieth one.

The reaction of my parents was not what I expected, but it was acceptable in principle, although for the most part the fear that had completely consumed them was at play here.

- Well, I think that's enough.

I went back to the man who was counting the cars I had unloaded. With trepidation in his eyes, he took his eyes off his notebook and walked over to me.

- Son, please, get a job here. You and I are going to be millionaires in a couple of days, and if you work like this for a few months...

- No, thanks for the offer, maybe I'll think about it, but now give me my paycheck and I'll go.

- O-okay, here's your 200,000 yen.

He handed me a wad of money, barely holding back the trepidation I didn't care for, but the man didn't.

- But you know, if you want to make some extra money, stop by here.

Without answering anything, I flew to the convenience store I'd made while still looking for ads. After stopping nearby, I made my way inside and started picking out some good quality wireless headphones. After looking at the whole available selection in less than 10 seconds the consultant didn't even have time to approach me when I picked up a headset for 30,000 yen. Walking up to the cash register with them, I counted out the money and paid for them, leaving the store.

- What a cool case, it also glowed red, and combined with the black case it was perfect.

After the purchase I immediately flew back home, noticing that my father never returned, thankfully with my telekinesis I was able to open the window while I was outside. I sat down on the soft sofa, turned on the track and closed my eyes, trying to enter a meditative state.

- Now let's find out what this fonk is.

_________

1. bacaut is a tree whose wood is very expensive.

2. Misoshiru - soup with miso paste dissolved in it.

3. Kyushu - Japanese ceramic teapot specifically for making green tea.

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From the author: There's a second day in the observations, you can read it.