Chapter 27 Unbelief

"Can everyone pass these over to everyone?" Knighthawk announced as soon as he entered the room.

The sun was beginning to wane right by the horizon as the first school day has finally come to an end. It was a normal school day and yet everyone seemed exhausted, evident by their sleepy expression and the way they dragged their body while moving. Just when all of them were starting to head out, Knighthawk came to the classroom and announced that a paper be passed to everyone. This caused everyone to return to their seats, hoping that everything will all be over soon so they could head home and rest.

"Since you're all in the first year of high school, I'm guessing that your superpowers are not yet listed with the government, right? Or maybe they're already registered and you needed to update it. Whatever the case, I want those forms filled and passed by tomorrow. And let me emphasize that they needed to be turned in tomorrow. It's incredibly important." Knighthawk stretched his explanation before heading out of the door where he came in a few seconds ago. "Class dismissed."

Everyone got their paper and stuffed them into their bags. Finally, they could head home and take some rest.

"Bye!"

"See you tomorrow!"

"Aaah, wanna go to the arcade?"

"Sure thing!"

"Satoshi, are you heading home?" Shiroi came up behind Satoshi with a smile on her face.

'Too close.' Satoshi said to himself. He could feel his face reddening as he got flustered. "Yes, why?"

"Then let's head home together!"

"Um ah... sure, I guess," Satoshi answered, trying to avert his gaze from Shiroi's face. 'Don't she realize that her face is too close? And why am I the one getting embarrassed? Relax! Calm down, Satoshi!' He thought to himself as he stood up.

"O-! You're heading home, then let me come with you!" Midori laughed out loud after speaking. No one knows why he laughed loudly and no one dared to ask for fear that it would just make him talk more. This was just the first day of school and Midori already had quite a reputation.

"We're all riding the school bus, right? I guess I'll go with you then." Hiroshi offered as well, slinging his bag on his shoulder as if doing so would make him look cooler.

The party walked out of the school along with an influx of students who were going home as well. Satoshi studied every face of the students, thinking that all of them have superpowers. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of superpowers everyone in the school had, and as he continued thinking, his gaze landed on the form that Knighthawk handed to them a few minutes ago. "I wonder what I'll put here." He said to himself, not realizing that he said it out loud.

"What do you mean? You have to put your superpower and specify how it works on there. And then, you'll be registered with that superpower. If your superpower is powerful, however, government officials will come to the school and they'll try to prove if you're telling the truth on the paper or not... well, not like anyone would lie about their superpower." Hiroshi lengthily said. "There's also the option of not putting anything on the paper since some superpower's better kept a secret. The SAO made sure that such a law is passed so it wouldn't necessarily endanger the life of a superhero."

"Yeah, if every single superpower is recorded by the government. That would just force people with superpowers to rebel against the government. It would also make the government a prime target for villains who needs a certain superhero's identity so they could use his or her superpower against him. By the way, Satoshi, you might not know this but although your parents are affiliated with the SAO, their superpowers are not actually recorded by the government. In fact, not a lot of people know what their actual superpowers are." This time, the ever-talkative Midori continued what Hiroshi was speaking. "The only thing we know about them is that your dad can copy certain superpowers and that your mom can shield herself from any attack."

"Does that mean, it's all right if we don't answer the form and pass it tomorrow?" Satoshi asked out of the blue. Just like his parents, he didn't want to tell anyone about his superpower, much less the government. Besides, he currently doesn't know the extent of his superpower so if he were to write something on the form and that's not how his superpower actually worked, he might get in trouble.

"Why, is your superpower that great? You can only control metal, right? And now that I think about it, you can only control some nails, so I'm guessing you can't handle metals with a much heavier weight?" Hiroshi continued. "Well, you do you, Satoshi. I guess with your superpowers, it'd be better if you hide it from the government. It's not worth bragging about anyways."

"Yeah, says the one who lost to that said superpower. Next time, why don't you try defeating me with that lava thing of yours?" Satoshi patted him on the shoulder before walking forward. "Let's go, the bus is waiting."

"Heh, you only caught me off guard. When we get a rematch, I'll be sure to defeat you." Hiroshi didn't feel offended at all. He knew well for himself that his superpower is superior to Satoshi no matter how he looked at it.

"Bro, didn't you see what happened yesterday?! This dude took care of an alien with his bare hands! Even his parents couldn't hold a candle to the alien! I'm surprised you haven't seen the news, his face is all over the internet and the papers!" Midori screamed right at Hiroshi's ear, making him flinch in surprise.

"Argh! Of course, I did. But he was only able to fight them by using his parents' gear and their lion familiar. If he only had his superpower back then, he would've lost a hundred times over."

"Yeah, right," Shiroi mumbled to herself. "Don't mind them, Satoshi, let's just head home." She continued, grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him towards the school.

"A— " Satoshi let out as air escaped his lungs. Shiroi pulled on his arm quite hard.