(3 weeks after meeting Mezo Shoji.)
It's been about… two or three weeks ever since I met Mezo-san, and we've been getting along pretty well.
We talked about a lot of things, mostly about how we lived back in town, and let's just say people treated him much worse than me.
The other kids usually tormented him because of how different he looked, and the adults never really stopped or scolded them whenever they did.
In fact, they would always ignore him, treating him like he wasn't even a person. I, on the other hand, was treated much better because of that stupid rumor that I was born from some god.
But that would be ridiculous. In a world where basically everyone has superpowers, why do people still believe in gods and spirits? I mean, it's not like quirks themselves have souls.
But enough about our past. Mezo and I usually hang out at the park or at my house. Mezo and I usually get weird looks from the other kids.
One even approached us and started poking our arms, and another even began climbing my wheel.
Thankfully, the parents of those kids eventually saw what was happening and scolded their kids before leaving with them.
Of course, our parents were there to make sure the kids didn't go too far and didn't intervene that much, since we weren't really getting bullied and the kids were just being curious about our mutations.
Speaking of mutations, Mezo-san's quirk was really cool, all things considered. He could shape and change the multiple arms he had into different body parts like eyes, mouths, and even ears.
He could even summon multiple arms to boost his strength, but that usually takes too much energy, so he doesn't really do it that much.
As time passed, Mezo-san and I grew a bit closer as friends, and because of this, Mother and Mezo-san's parents enrolled us in the same preschool.
I wasn't all too keen on going to preschool since… well, it was quite obvious by now that I wasn't a normal or dumb child who needed a simple education.
But as Mother explained that I needed a proper education to become a pro hero, Mezo-san arrived really excited.
"Toji-san! Mom said we're going to the same school! Isn't that awesome?" Mezo-san said excitedly.
Turning to him, I replied,
"Yeah… I'm really excited," I told him, trying my best to fake being excited.
"Oh, just think about all the heroes we could meet! The city has so many heroes here—maybe one could even visit our school!" Mezo-san said, even more excited than before.
"Maybe, if they aren't too busy, we could even see All Might again," I told Mezo-san.
"Yeah! And maybe we could even see—" but before Mezo-san could finish his sentence, his mom decided to call him.
"Mezo! It's time for dinner!" Miss Shoji called.
"Aw, man… we'll see you tomorrow then, Toji-san," Mezo-san said, waving goodbye and running out the door.
Waving him goodbye and turning back to Mother, she had already left for the kitchen, getting ready to prepare dinner.
As I walked toward the dining room, I thought about what Mezo-san said. Maybe this wasn't too bad. I could even learn what the different heroes are like and what it really means to be a hero.
---
(On the way to preschool.)
It was quite early in the morning, and Mezo-san and I were standing in front of our house wearing our school uniforms. We both wore this silly little hat that sat uncomfortably on mine and shook a bit whenever I walked.
As we stood in front of our houses, the door to my house suddenly opened and revealed Mother running out, holding a pack of food for me.
"I'm really sorry, dear. We've never really gotten up this early for school," she said with a smile before placing the packed lunch inside my bag.
"It's okay, Mother. Mezo-san and I were just waiting for the bus to arrive," I said to her.
"Well, just make sure you have fun, okay? It's your first day, so you should make the most of it," Mother said after finally securing the packed lunch in my bag.
"Will do, Mother."
"Toji-san, the bus is here!" Mezo-san said excitedly.
Looking ahead of us, the bus was indeed approaching, and after only a few seconds it was now directly in front of us.
The bus doors opened, and the lady driving it greeted us and told us to get inside.
Walking inside the bus, I immediately saw the multiple other kids sitting patiently in their seats. This felt… rather weird.
Not because the bus was mainly filled with preschoolers, but because they were so well-behaved.
Back in Brooklyn, the bus would always be crowded, and people would always be loud and all-around assholes.
But not here. As Mezo-san and I walked past the other kids, I noticed one by one that they all seemed to be staring at us.
Not that shocking, as most kids would either be curious or scared of us. Sitting in the back, Mezo-san and I sat together, and looking at each other, we stayed silent in order to not draw any more attention to ourselves.
(15 minutes later.)
After riding the bus for a few minutes, we finally made it to school. For a preschool, the building was rather… large.
The building itself wasn't all that fancy, but the fact that it was quite tall was impressive.
Going inside with Mezo-san, we pushed the door open to reveal a rather spacious classroom with multiple kids running and flying around.
Some were stuck to the walls, some were running around throwing fireballs, and one was… just sleeping on the floor.
"Natsu! Stop throwing fireballs!" the lady wearing glasses said to one of the kids.
She must be our teacher.
"Haru, get off the walls!" our teacher said while holding the fireball-throwing kid around her arms.
First day in school, and already I want to go home.