"This is definitely not Musutafu," I muttered, scanning the unfamiliar buildings. The sun hung low in the sky, painting everything orange. I'd been wandering for... four hours? Five?
A group of kids with various animal features passed by, laughing about something. I caught fragments about a new hero ranking update. Normal conversation in 2224. Still weird.
My phone showed 15% battery. Great. I pulled up the map app again, squinting at the tiny street names. According to this, I was somewhere in... I zoomed out. Way out.
"How the fuck did I end up in Hosu?"
The screen went black. I pressed the power button. Nothing.
"You've got to be kidding me."
I pocketed the useless phone and looked around. Tall buildings blocked most of the view, but I caught glimpses of unfamiliar hero agency logos. Different district, different pros patrolling. A few people gave me odd looks as they passed - probably wondering why someone was standing around looking lost.
"Excuse me," I said to an old lady walking her dog (or what I hoped was a dog - might've been a quirk mutation). "Which way to the train station?"
She rattled off directions in rapid-fire. I caught maybe one word in three.
"Thanks," I said, walking in what I hoped was the right direction. The lotus pattern in my eyes spun faster, like it was laughing at me.
"Shut up," I told it. "Not like you're helping."
A hero zipped by - some guy in with engines on his legs. Must be nice, having powers that actually got you places. Meanwhile, I had infinite space manipulation and couldn't find my way home.
My stomach growled. The convenience store cash in my wallet wouldn't cover both food and a train ticket. Another thing the other me hadn't planned for - being broke in the future sucked just as much as being broke in the past.
I passed a TV store showing hero news. The anchor was talking about some incident with a giant villain and the debut of Mt Lady. I watched the footage, my eyes drawn to Mt. Lady's victory pose. The camera lingered as she shrank back to normal size, her costume leaving little to the imagination.
"Girl knows her angles," I said, appreciating both the tactical and aesthetic aspects of her performance. The costume probably cost a fortune in smart materials to grow and shrink with her, but the ROI had to be insane. One debut fight and she was already trending.
A couple of high school girls giggled as they passed, probably thinking I was just another fanboy drooling over the new hero. But I was seeing dollar signs. This was exactly the kind of thing I needed to study - how to turn power into profit, style into substance.
The station, when I finally found it, was packed. Rush hour crowds pushed toward the turnstiles. I checked my wallet again - barely enough for a ticket. No margin for error.
The ticket machine's English option was buried in submenus. I jabbed at the screen, trying to find Musutafu in the destination list.
"Need help?"
A girl about my age stood nearby. Purple hair, earphone jacks dangling from her earlobes. She looked amused.
"I got it," I said.
"You've been staring at the welcome screen for two minutes."
I glanced back at the machine. She was right.
"...maybe I could use some help."
She stepped over. "Where to?"
"Musutafu."
"Ah." She tapped through the menus. "You're applying to UA?"
I nodded.
"Same." She stepped back as the ticket printed. "I'm Jirou."
"Nakamura." I grabbed the ticket. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem. Try not to get lost on the train."
I watched her disappear into the crowd. First actual conversation I'd had all day that felt... normal. Well, as normal as anything could be when talking to someone with audio jacks growing from their head.
The train was crowded but cool. I found a spot to lean against the door, watching the city blur past. The lotus pattern in my eyes had settled into a lazy spin, like it was tired from all the walking too.
My dead phone weighed heavy in my pocket. Nakamura's mom - my mom now, I guess - had probably been trying to call. Another thing to deal with when I got home. Assuming I could find my way from the station.
The train announcer called out stops in Japanese and English. I counted them down, trying to remember the route from this morning. Three more to go. Two. One.
Tatooin Station looked different in the evening light. I picked a direction and walked. Fifty-fifty chance of being right, which meant I was definitely going the wrong way. The lotus pattern spun lazily, like it was half-asleep.
The streets near Tatooin Station looked different than I remembered from this morning. Had I passed that ramen shop before? The old guy sweeping out front gave me a friendly nod. I nodded back, stomach rumbling at the smell of broth.
My feet hurt. These shoes weren't made for walking half of Tokyo. I stopped at a vending machine, counting my remaining coins. Not even enough for the cheapest drink.
"Should've asked that Jirou girl for directions while I had the chance," I muttered. A salaryman giving me side-eye quickened his pace. Right, talking to myself in public. Real smooth.
I turned down a side street lined with small shops closing for the day. An old woman was bringing in her produce display, muttering about her back. I stepped forward to help, then stopped. Getting involved would just get me more lost.
The lotus pattern pulsed once, sharply.
A deep boom shook the ground. The old woman's apples went rolling. Down the street, a plume of smoke rose above the buildings.
More explosions followed, rapid-fire like firecrackers but deeper. The ground trembled. Car alarms joined the chaos.
People ran past me, away from the smoke. A mother dragged two crying kids. A teenager with dragonfly wings took off straight up, phone out to record.
I should have run too. That would have been the smart play. But my feet were already moving toward the smoke.
"Young man!" the old woman called. "The heroes will handle it!"
They probably would. But I was already jogging, then running. The lotus pattern spun faster, matching my pulse.
I sprinted through winding streets, following the smoke and screams. The lotus pattern in my eyes spun faster with each step, like a compass pointing toward trouble.
When I rounded the final corner, I almost ran straight into the crowd of onlookers. They packed the sidewalks three deep, phones raised high to capture the scene.
"Holy shit," someone whispered. "Is that thing made of slime?"
It was. A massive green blob monster filled the street, its body rippling and flowing like toxic jello. Two huge yellow eyes rolled wildly above what might have been a mouth. And trapped inside its body...
"Let me go, you fucking piece of shit!"