Chapter 8: For a Normal School Life?

“My god, this is so boring. Just how long do we have to wait here?”

“But you just said a while ago that this is quite fun.”

“That was earlier. Jesus, just how many Supes are there for the interviews to take this long?”

“I am not Jesus, sister. But do you still want me to answer your question?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Riley and Hannah, along with many other examinees, had just finished answering their assessment test and were just waiting to be called by one of the Academy’s staff. They were still in the same room where they took the written test, and so many others were also having their private conversation; making friends with future potential classmates.

The girl that Riley had hypothesized to be Mega Woman’s daughter, Silvie, was also in the same room, surrounded by a lot of examinees asking her different sets of questions.

Even without the official school year even starting, even without knowing if they will pass or not, most of the people in the room were already forming their own groups– the two siblings, however, seemed to be in a world of their own as they continued to only talk with one another. Some of the examinees that sat near them held signs of obviously wanting to converse with the two, but quickly backed out as soon as they heard Hannah cursing.

“Did you know that there are theories that Jesus is actually one of the earliest recorded super–“

“Please don’t. Just don’t ever tell that story to anyone if you want to gain even a single friend.”

Hannah quickly covered her brother’s mouth before he could start his ridiculous story. This actually wasn’t the first time she would be hearing that story from him, as he had already told that story once; when their mother had told Riley to share what he was up to lately one innocent dinner time.

And that one innocent dinner time had quickly turned into something gruesome; as Riley’s story did not really end on a good note.

“Oh, I think I have heard of that once!”

Riley quickly looked to the side as one of the examinees suddenly jumped between him and his sister, completely avoiding the examinee’s eyes.

“The fuck,” Hannah could not help but slightly raise an eyebrow with the sudden appearance of the young man, “Hello? Privacy?”

“Close, but my name is Gary,” the young man then reached out his hand towards Hannah as he let out a wide smile, “I already know your name, so you don’t really need to introduce yourself.”

“…Right, the name’s Hannah.” Hannah squinted her eyes as she shook the young man’s hand, “Did you need something?” She then said as she quickly let it go.

“No, not really,” Gary shrugged his shoulders as he turned his attention towards Riley, reaching his hand towards him, “I was just curious about your brother’s story…

…Riley, was it?”

“That is my name, yes.” Although Riley answered Gary’s question swiftly, he didn’t take his hand; which caused Gary to turn towards Hannah as if gesturing if he did something wrong.

“My brother’s just selective with people,” Hannah said as she squinted her eyebrows even further, “Especially to those who get too close.”

“Oh, I see,” Gary blinked a couple of times as he retracted his hand, “Is he autistic or something?”

“What the fuck did you say!?”

The other examinees present in the room quickly shut their mouths as the sound of a desk screeching on the floor rang through their ears. All of them quickly turned their eyes towards the direction of the noise, only to see a girl grabbing someone by their collars.

“What’s happening?”

Most of them began to whisper, wondering what was going on. They quickly recognized Hannah, making their whispers louder and more targeted. Those who were near the commotion started to tell their version of the events of what just transpired.

“Really? That guy called her brother like that?”

“Is it true, though? He does seem kind of off.”

“That… kinda makes him dangerous, right? He was the one who stabbed the supervisor earlier…”

Hearing the words that were reaching her ears, Hannah could not help but click her tongue as she looked Gary straight in the eyes.

As for Gary, he already had both his arms raised in surrender, letting out an awkward chuckle as he apologized to Hannah.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything rude by it,” he said, “I also have a friend that is in the spectrum, so I just assumed that you would be fine with me calling him that, I truly am sorry.”

“Stop fucking laughing. You think calling someone you just met autistic is fine?” Although the volume of her voice was low, the agitation in Hannah’s tone was clear for everyone to hear. A hint of smoke was also starting to emerge from the collar of Gary’s shirt.

“Sorry, I laugh when I’m nervous,” Gary once again chuckled awkwardly as a hint of sweat trailed from his face, “I really didn’t mean anything by it, please don’t burn my shirt; I just bought this.”

“You–“

“Please calm down, Ms. Ross.”

Before Hannah could say another word, she felt a light tap coming from her shoulder. She turned her head to see who it was, only to find Silvie shaking her head at her, “If a supervisor sees you doing this, it might affect your chances of getting into the Academy. The simpleton had also apologized, perhaps settle this at another time if it happens again?”

“O… Ouch,” Gary could not help but stutter as he was suddenly called a simpleton.

“Tch,” and so, with Silvie getting in between them, as well as the looks they were getting from the other examinees, Hannah could only let go of Gary.

“I really didn’t mean it,” Gary once again apologized towards Hannah, before turning his attention to Riley and apologizing to him as well. Seeing him sincerely regretting his action, Hannah finally let out a sigh as she waved her hand.

“I might have overreacted a little bit. Thank you for holding me back, Ms. Sav… Savelib?”

“Savelievna. But you can just call me Silvie, Ms. Ross,” Silvie let out a small hum as she let out a small smile.

“Then you can just call me Hannah as well.”

Hannah and Silvie then proceeded to shake each other’s hands as they introduced themselves.

“…Call me Gary?”

“Why are you still here?”

“R… right,” seeing Hannah glaring at him, the only thing that Gary could do was let out a sigh and turn around.

“Sorry for calling you autistic, Riley,” he then once again apologized before taking his leave. However, before he could even take 3 steps, Riley unexpectedly replied to him.

“Why do you keep on apologizing?” Riley muttered monotonously, “You’re right, I am diagnosed with autism, which indeed makes me autistic.”

“T… that’s…” Gary could only take in a gulp as another drop of sweat started to trail on his face.

Hannah, on the other hand, could not help but plant her palm on her face as she let out a long and deep sigh. It almost felt like she wasted her anger and agitation for nothing. Throughout their years together, she had only seen Riley lie once or twice, and it was for something totally ridiculous. Of course, he won’t lie even for his own sake.

As for Silvie, she just let out a small, “Oh,” as she finally realized why he was smiling at her earlier– he was probably just having a hard time trying to start up a conversation.

“He… is kinda cute, isn’t he?”

“I want to take him home.”

As for the other examinees, well… let’s just say all sorts of thoughts were starting to race through their minds. This weird atmosphere would have probably continued if not for the Academy supervisor that entered the room.

“Riley Ross, it’s your turn for the interview.”

And it just so happened that the center of all the attention was the next one to be called.

“Don’t say anything weird, alright?” Hannah quickly fixed Riley’s hair and straightened out his clothes, “Normal school life, let’s achieve a normal school life, please.”

“We are in a school for super-powered individuals, sister. I am afraid that’s impossible.”– was Riley’s answer as he followed the supervisor out of the room.

“…”

“Your brother is quite a handful, isn’t he?” Silvie let out a small giggle as she watched Riley’s back disappear from the door.

“Tell me about it,” Hannah’s sighs almost filled the entire room.

“You seem to really love your brother, though?” Gary said as he shook his head, “Man, I am jealous. I wish I could have–“

“What the fuck are you still doing here?”

***

“Riley Ross, Age 16… and your power is telekinesis?”

“I suppose.”

“And we were told that you caused an accident during the demonstration.”

“I suppose.”

Riley now found himself surrounded by 5 people, all wearing a unique set of clothes– costumes.

And, as a matter of course, Riley recognized the 5; they were all superheroes that he had encountered before in his adventurous life as Darkday.

“The people in this room all know who your father is,” one of the interviewers that had his eyes covered with a blindfold said, “So in respect to him, we are going to give it to you straight. With the answers you gave in the assessment test…

…you are not suited to be a superhero.”