A boy with short, blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes of Asian descent wearing glasses sat on the rooftop on a high-rise building that overlooked the sprawling school grounds of Mantichorus Academy, the primary high school located on the main planet of the Bree Family, Animus, his legs swinging lazily over the edge. Despite being sixteen, the size of the boy could easily mistake him for being fourteen or younger. The top of his head was covered by a black hood. He wore a black and blue hoodie with a 3-D printed design that covered both the front and back. The hoodie was modeled after a trench coat, with the bottom of the hoodie reaching down to his knees.
The hoodie's design was that of a computer circuit board, with the computer chip in the dead-center, perfectly split between the two halves of the hoodie. Underneath, he wore a green short-sleeved shirt. Like the hoodie, it also had a 3-D printed design; this one depicting a computer motherboard, including all of its components. Around his neck, he wore a silver dog tag, like those used for identification in the military, attached to a bead necklace. Going down the tag vertically, it had strange symbols carved into it. In order, the symbols were "引", "き", and "こ".
These "symbols" were Japanese kanji, the form of written language that was used in Japan, a country that no longer existed on earth, being completely obliterated in the Dalki war, essentially their version of the English alphabet. Combined together, these symbols read "引きこ", which translated to "Hikiko". Around his right wrist, there was a sleek, digital wristwatch with a square face. On the upper right-hand side it displayed the time in a digital clock. A digital "1" could be seen taking up a majority of the watch's screen. In his hands, he held an archaic gaming console that LONG predated the Dalki War, having been manufactured during the early 21st century, which was WELL OVER 600 years ago. The console's artificial light illuminated his face and the game produced electronic noises as he played.
Below him, the school pulsed with life, people laughing and conversing with old acquaintances. Today was a turning point for the final year students below. It marked the beginning of their journey to one of the prestigious military bases, where they would be forged into warriors, humanity's last defense against the Dalki. Due to the strenuous-at-best ceasefire the humans and the Dalki have had for the last five years, after a grueling 25 years of war that had decimated both the planet and the populace, every teenager was required to take a mandatory two years of military training at one of the Military Bases, to prepare them for when the war inevitably broke out again.
The air buzzed with excitement and the students prepared for the monumental occasion. Yet among all the chatter and excitement, one boy, the same blonde-haired boy overlooking the academy from atop its highest building, felt nothing. No pride, no purpose. Devoid of any excitement like the other students below him. His name was Hikiko Tsukuru, the weakest and loneliest kid in the school. Not even his juniors could be compared to his pathetic self. Normally, someone as weak as him would be the target of bullying and harassment, but Tsukuru was a special case. The students knew he was off-limits.
Tsukuru's older sister, Hikiko Shizuka, was a high-ranking military figure serving under the Supreme Commander, Oscar White, himself, at Military Base 1. Tsukuru was also the surrogate son of Laura Green, one of the most influential women in the world, being the head of the illustrious Green Family, having been taken in by her when his own mother, Hikiko Reiju, died in the previous Dalki War, who died when he was eight. But despite the fact that they knew they couldn't confront him directly, that didn't stop them from shooting him hateful looks and whispering snide remarks under their breath.
Tsukuru simply ignored them, however. As a man in a previous era had once said "Your boos mean nothing when I've seen what makes you cheer". Because of this, Tsukuru tended to spend his free time of high buildings, to avoid people entirely. Tsukuru's attention shifted from his game to the sound of a commotion below. There, directly below the building whose roof he was sitting on, he saw three boys beating up a weaker one, who was pressed against the wall. Tsukuru's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "It's the LAST…FUCKING…DAY," He muttered, as he pressed the button to put his handheld in "sleep mode", causing the screen to go out, and deposited it in his pocket. "Can't they at least PRETEND to be civil?" He let out an annoyed sigh.
Even just 100 years ago, a teacher would have stepped in. Sure both the aggressors AND the victim would be punished equally, as the school system had ALWAYS been trash, but at least the aggressors WOULD face consequences. Now, though? That was all a thing of the past. Unfortunately, this was the way the world was now. During the Dalki War, when it seemed as though humanity would have been wiped out, a group of individuals stepped forward, possessing supernatural abilities. These people would go on to be called "Originals" in the annals of history. They taught others how to use their Abilities, and thus, the turning point of the war had begun.
However, the emergence of these "Abilities" would have far-reaching ramifications. For as soon as peace had re-emerged, so did the worst aspects of humanity. Specifically, greed. The concept of "all men being created equally" went flying out the fucking window, as the world devolved into a caste system where strength ranked supreme, with those with high "Ability Levels" at the top, as the upper-crusts of society. While those with low "Ability Levels", commonly referred to as "Level 1 trash" became the dregs of society. Even worse, learning an Ability wasn't cheap. Unless you were lucky enough to be born into an Original family, you had to pay a small fortune to purchase an Ability Book. And then, even that might not be good enough.
The amount of Mutant Cells, the source of all Abilities, varied from individual to individual. So having a high Ability Level was simply impossible for everyone. To top it off, due to the catastrophic amount of fatalities in the Dalki War, many children were left as orphans, being too poor to purchase an Ability Book, and thus being forced into the role of being Level 1s. Even TSUKURU, with all his backing, was a Level 1. For some strange reason, every time he had asked his surrogate mom, one of the richest women in the world who could purchase an Ability Book like it was chump change, for an Ability, she had always refused.
Something about "he would get his Ability when the time was right". The strangest part was, she always seemed…conflicted when she said it. As if it wasn't her decision that he wasn't allowed to learn an Ability. Tsukuru took one last look down at the boy being assaulted by three other students, before turning around. He walked towards the door leading down from the roof, and turned to door handle, causing an audible chunk. Tsukuru's blonde hair caught the sunlight as he moved down the hallway. As he walked, people around him would stop talking, and glare at him; as if Tsukuru's existence was some personal slight to them.
His blue eyes were devoid of the enthusiasm that radiated from those around him. As Tsukuru walked out of the school's entrance, he saw a sleek sportscar parked out front, painted with a silver and black paintjob. In front of the car, a man in his early twenties was waiting. He had short, brown hair with the top of his head covered by a black and gold cap. He wore a freshly-pressed black business suit with gold trim and black sneakers with gold laces and soles. When he and Tsukuru's eyes met, the man tilted his cap in a sign of greeting. Tsukuru nodded, and approached him. When Tsukuru reached the vehicle, the man opened the back passenger-side door.
The car made an electric whirl as the door slid upwards on a hinge on its upper-left corner. Without a word, Tsukuru stepped into the car and took a seat. He reached over and latched the seat-belt. As soon as the click of the seatbelt was heard, the door closed itself automatically. The man then walked around to the driver's seat door, which opened on a similar hinge, only this one was on the door's upper-right corner. The man took his seat in the car. He looked back at Tsukuru through the rear-view mirror.
"Where to, Master Tsukuru?" He asked. Tsukuru looked up at him. His face still bore the emotionless look.
"Take me to the Green Estate." Tsukuru muttered. The man tipped his cap in acknowledgement, and the car exited from the school's parking lot.