Empty room, Infirmary, U.A, 6:08 PM

April 7th, 2149.

I followed All Might into one of the empty rooms and took a seat when directed.

“Young Higawara,” All Might said, smiling tiredly, “I’m glad to find you unhurt after today’s events. Your haste likely saved a great many of your classmates.”

I wondered how much strain the man was under while attempting to keep himself in his larger form.

“But not all of them—I had an opportunity at the start of the invasion,” I said slowly, thinking back. “I could have ignored Thirteen’s orders and moved to aid—”

All Might held up a hand, and I trailed off.

“You are not responsible for that, Young Higawara.” All Might said gently, “You did exactly what you were supposed to do, and nobody can fault you for that. The ones to blame are those who chose to attack a school full of children completely unprovoked.”

A school that was full of children training to be heroes. All Might coughed into his hand for a moment derailing my thought pattern.

“Does it cause you additional strain to maintain that form?” I asked evenly, “I do not mind if you wish to drop it during our discussion.”

All Might hesitated for several moments before erupting into a cloud of steam and leaving his lanky gaunt form present in the room. The man suddenly looked every bit of his fifty years of age, and I couldn’t help but study the man’s sunken eyes.

“I admit this is in part what I wished to discuss with you, Young Higawara,” All Might admitted, rasping slightly. “How is it you came to discover my secret?”

“My quirk allows me to view areas remotely, from anywhere that my sand is present,” I said quietly, “I’ve long since developed a habit of spreading it out through my surroundings, and I noticed your approach to the classroom.”

All Might sat on the edge of the medical bed and cupped his rather pointed chin.

“You must have noticed me several times then,” All Might sighed, “I was attempting to limit how much time I spent in that form to avoid accumulating too much strain over the course of the day.”

“Many times,” I admitted, “All Might, are you dying?”

All Might appeared alarmed for a moment before he shook his head quickly.

“No, Young Higawara, I am not dying.” All Might assured, holding a hand over his ribs, almost an unconscious gesture. “I was simply injured in a battle, and this is the result.”

He was injured badly enough to damage his ability to use his quirk for more than a short period.

“I see.” I said in understanding, “I feel I should tell you that when I first discovered you, I made the incorrect assumption that you were an imposter. I spoke to my uncle about the situation, so he is aware of it as well.”

All Might once more appeared alarmed.

“He is aware of your ability to change between the two body states,” I revealed, “But he has suggested that I keep quiet about this knowledge to avoid the information getting out and inciting villains to attack you. It occurs to me now, however, that this knowledge must already be known for the attack today to have taken place.”

“Your uncle is a good man, Young Higawara. Thank you both for being considerate in this matter,” All Might said, smiling, visibly relieved before he hesitated. “You are correct; the villains that attacked today were somehow aware of my current weakened state. The method by which they discovered this is currently unknown to me, but it is a very volatile situation now.”

I nodded evenly.

“Perhaps it was the person who injured you that revealed it to them,” I said simply, and All Might flinched—a very noteworthy reaction. “However the information was revealed to them, it should be expected that if this many villains participated in an attempt on your life, they must have absolutely spread that information to others. I believe it’s also reasonable to assume that further attempts will be made.”

“You are very astute, Young Higawara,” All Might said quietly, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. “I see a great many discussions in the future with the staff of U.A about the likelihood of further attacks. I am beginning to wonder if coming here was a mistake in the end.”

I found that I disliked the idea of All Might being chased away from U.A because violent criminals had decided to attack him.

“Do you intend to leave U.A because of what occurred today?” I asked, frowning.

“I cannot,” All Might murmured before shaking his head and rephrasing. “I have no intention of leaving, but it may not be up to me to make that decision. Today’s events will weigh heavy on everyone’s minds for a long time. Koji Koda and Rikido Sato… it is a tragedy that should never have happened.”

There was a small silence where All Might hung his head, and I took a moment to scrutinize his wording. The difference between ‘cannot’ and ‘I have no intention of’ was telling. It left an implication hanging in the air that there was something he needed to be here for, something outside of his normal teaching duties.

“Young Higawara,” All Might said, pulling himself back on track. “While I did want to speak with you about this, and you have greatly alleviated my concerns in this regard—my main purpose here is to talk to you about what happened today. I want to let you know that many resources will be made available to you and your classmates to help you—”

I’d heard this several times before—from the school counselor after Nanami had vanished and again after the Bamboo villain had attacked the school—not everybody had been as lucky as our classroom had been.

“All Might,” I said quietly, “Thank you for speaking with me, but this is not the first time I have had someone that I know die. I have spent several years speaking with mental health professionals about this, and today’s events will most likely come up in our next session.”

All Might smiled sadly.

“This society of heroes and villains is a difficult one to live in, Young Higawara,” All Might said quietly, “Tragedies continue to occur every day, despite our best efforts. That does not mean we will stop trying, however, and the efforts of aspiring heroes such as yourself are what will pave the way for a brighter future, one where these kinds of things will no longer happen.”

A noble sentiment, and one I could respect—but it wasn’t one I had internalized. I wasn’t the type of aspiring hero All Might was talking about—I was just a boy who couldn’t let go.

“I understand,” I said evenly, “All Might, may I ask you another question?

“Of course,” All Might said, nodding.

The discussion with Midnight had gone better than I had expected, but there was a chance here to get All Might, who had much more pull in the hero world on my side and perhaps secure my place here once more.

“Today, I returned to the USJ, despite the warnings to remain inside.” I said calmly, “I have spoken to Midnight already, but she did not indicate whether or not my enrolment would be terminated as a result of my actions.”

All Might shook his head.

“While I have not had a chance to speak to anyone about this,” All Might admitted, “I can say with a high likelihood that you will remain at U.A. You did, however, break a rule, so I would not be surprised if you receive a lesser punishment.”

It wasn’t a definite answer either way, but it served to alleviate my fears slightly.

“Thank you,” I said evenly.

“You are most welcome, Young Higawara,” All Might smiled, “Is there anything else you would like to ask me while I am here?”

I thought for a moment before nodding.

“Is Izuku Midoriya your son?” I asked curiously, “I have noticed you engage in several private meetings with him during school hours, and you both have an absurd level of superstrength—a weak connection, but it does exist.”

All Might started coughing in alarm before he leaped off the bed.

“I’m afraid I’ve misjudged how much time I had at my disposal!” All Might said, erupting into his muscular form in panic. “Farwell, young Higawara!”

A moment later, I was left alone in the empty room—how curious.

Hayami’s Home, Musutafu, 7:12 PM

April 7th, 2149.

“It’s unbelievable that anyone would just attack a school full of children to get at him,” Hayami said, horrified. “Those poor boys, their families must be inconsolable.”

“It’s far more unbelievable that only two children died with that many villains involved,” Sajin said solemnly, “They must have been planning this for months.”

I nodded.

“It seemed highly organized, the arrival and strategy of attack, the signal jamming.” I said quietly, “The portal user moving people in prepared groups to places they would excel within the building.”

Hayami sipped at her tea, still quite upset.

“They had to have figured most of that out in advance,” Sajin said, frowning, “That attack at U.A, the one to find out where he would be—this level of coordination amongst villains is frightening. It’s one of the advantages that heroes possess over them—we are all willing to work together, and they usually aren’t, at least not these days.”

“Did villains work together more often in the past?” I asked curiously, having not heard anything like that.

“Things have changed a lot since I was a kid,” Sajin admitted, “Remember I told you how we didn’t get into the city until we were teenagers?”

I nodded, recalling the story about Hayami he had told me long ago. Hayami gave the both of them a curious stare, unaware of the discussion that had once taken place.

“Well, villains aren’t too interested in the farmers and other people out in the sticks,” Sajin said simply, “We grew up hearing about stuff though—there was always stories in the papers, and whenever one of the villagers came back from the city they’d bring more bad news.”

“It’s easy to forget how different it was,” Hayami said, frowning, “I don’t like thinking about it—it makes me feel old.”

Sajin snorted at the comment and weathered the sharp look he received bravely.

“Before All Might came along, things weren’t as peaceful as they are now,” Sajin continued, “There were no laws about quirk usage back then, at least none that the majority of people would follow. The police lacked the ability to deal with the quirk-powered gangs that appeared.”

I tried to picture a society where quirk users were completely unrestricted and did what they wanted through the threat of violence or retaliation if anyone tried to stop them. I’d see what people like the Bamboo killer could accomplish when they went off the rails—but an entire city filled with people like that?

“How old were you when All Might first appeared?” I asked curiously.

Hayami let out a hmph and turned away, refusing to answer anything age-related.

“It was around twenty-one-eleven when he first showed up in the news—think I’d have been about nine or ten?” Sajin wondered, “He wasn’t the legendary figure he is now at the time—just a particularly strong hero that worked alongside Gran Torino and some others, and at some point, in the next couple of years, he left Japan entirely.”

I’d done some research on All Might in the past, and that would be the time he’d spent in America. I’d seen the name Gran Torino in passing, but I hadn’t looked into him—something to investigate later.

“That’s when he was working with David Shield,” Hayami said, smiling. “I met him once, you know? He is a lovely man.”

“You only mention it every other day,” Sajin said, amused. “It’s like clockwork.”

Hayami scowled at him, but I smiled at the phrase.

“Was it still as bad when you first moved here?”I asked, trying to steer them back on topic.

Sajin hummed for a moment, frowning.

“It was pretty bad when we first moved, but there was a period of time, a couple of years after,” Sajin wondered, “Where the villains suddenly stopped being so disorganized.”

“What happened?” I wondered.

“There was a change in how they operated; they began cooperating with each other in groups,” Sajin frowned, “The crimes changed from robberies or break and enters; it turned to organized criminal activity. Drug distribution, protection rackets, abduction, and human trafficking.”

“Why did it change?” I asked, feeling my focus sharpen.

“There were rumors about a boogyman villain behind it all, but they never identified if the mastermind ever existed,” Sajin admitted, “All Might came back a few years later, and it started to change again. What year did the hero rankings start?”

The question was directed at Hayami, and she closed her eyes in concentration.

“Twenty-one-twenty-two, I think,” Hayami said eventually, nodding at her own answer.

“Sounds about right,” Sajin nodded, “That was around the time All Might began to get really famous; he came back to Japan and started to deal with the criminals here systematically. Hero agencies started popping up afterward. The unlicensed quirk restriction law was passed in Twenty-one-thirty-three, which got most of the regular troublemakers off the streets entirely.”

I found it incredibly interesting that a single man could have been the catalyst for so much societal change. The relatively peaceful and safe state of Japan was almost entirely thanks to his unwavering efforts—no wonder he had become such an icon.

“Since then, it’s been pretty good here,” Sajin sighed, “There are always exceptions though, almost everybody has a quirk these days, and not everyone can be trusted to use it responsibly. Some of those powers can’t even be used responsibly in the first place. How are you going to fit into society when your quirk drives anybody who looks at you to extreme aggression, or you set everything on fire in a fifty-meter radius whenever you get upset?”

I’d heard about that last case before, a young woman who couldn’t control her quirk and had burned down an entire neighborhood in her anguish.

“Poor girl,” Hayami said quietly, shaking her head.

I nodded in agreement, but my mind was thinking about the general trend that Sajin had been explaining. In a society that had become uncontrollable with everyone suddenly gaining quirks, criminal activity had grown organized over a period of time. Heroes had countered them, and Japan was led into a period of relative peace as the criminals retreated into the shadows and hid from the light—Until today, when over a hundred villains worked in concert in an attempt to kill All Might.

“Is Japan changing again?” I asked quietly. “Swinging back into the villain’s favor?”

Hayami looked uncomfortable at the idea.

“Not if I can help it—That’s why us heroes do what we do, Hisoka,” Sajin said seriously. “So hurry up and become one already, will you? I could use the help.”

Hayami’s Home, Musutafu, 11:12 AM

April 8th, 2149.

“The eyes are off,” Hayami said critically, “Tighten the corner of the left one—it’s drooping, and raise the right upper eyelid.”

I studied the statue I’d made and made the minor adjustments with my power, the sand moving with my will. Friday’s classes had been canceled due to the events at U.A and wouldn’t be back up until Monday.

I’d been encouraged to stay the night due to the events that had transpired, and I had agreed without argument. Hayami had seemed quite upset about what had happened at the school but seemed to be holding herself back from saying anything.

“Much better,” Hayami said smiling; her own stone statue looked perfect by comparison. “You’re getting pretty good.”

“I feel like I’m worlds away from the level of detail you are capable of,” I confessed, “It seems as if I always miss something, and it’s never perfect.”

“I’ve been doing this for decades, Hisoka,” Hayami reminded; she gestured at her own statue. “If I leave this one here and come back in a week. I’ll find about two hundred things I missed. You get better at identifying them, but if you look hard enough, there’s always something—trust me. You shouldn’t be aiming for perfection; you should be aiming for constant growth.”

I nodded in understanding.

“Last night reminded me,” Hayami said suddenly, but somewhat hesitantly, “I’ve received two tickets for the official opening of I-Island to the public—It’s a gift for my past contributions to their feature gardens. The pieces there are older works of mine, three years back, perhaps? I don’t have any pictures of them either, and I thought you might like to join me, seeing as you went to so much trouble….”

Hayami trailed off, looking awkward. It was the first time she had actively invited me to any of the events she went to—and I was honestly surprised by it. I also knew that I wouldn’t be passing up the chance to go to I-Island.

Two of the ships, a passenger ship and a cargo ship, were currently a part of my investigation for Nanami’s abduction, and their destination had both been I-Island. They were the least likely suspects due to the nature of the I-Island security system being well known as impenetrable. I had no intention of overlooking them for that reason alone—this was an opportunity for me to gain access to the place legally and without having to pay for the privilege.

“Thank you, Hayami.” I said honestly, “I would love to come with you.”

Hayami looked a bit surprised I had agreed.

“Fantastic!” Hayami said, pleased. “It’s not for several months—July 13th if you wish to put it on your calendar, but I thought I would give you advance notice. I’ll talk to the school if there are any problems about overlap.”

“Thank you,” I repeated simply.

“Oh, you’re missing a fingernail on the left hand as well,” Hayami said happily, “In case you haven’t noticed it yet.”

I glanced down and frowned—there was always something.

Hisoka’s Apartment, Musutafu, 6:12 PM

April 8th, 2149.

A ringing sound that I had never heard before began playing, and I was lost as to what it could be before I noticed the notification at the bottom of my computer monitor. A paired application I’d never used outside of my phone, and when I clicked on it, the prompt read, ‘Eijiro Kirishima has invited you to a group call, would you like to answer?’

I accepted—a black screen appeared with five rectangles spread across it. Each contained a video feed from their respective user’s webcams. My own rectangle was black; I don’t even think I’d ever used the camera before.

“Why’d you take so long to answer?” Mina wondered, lacking her usual energy.

There were no longer any signs of her injuries, most likely dealt with by Recovery girl before she’d been allowed to leave yesterday.

“Perhaps he was busy.” Tsuyu said blandly, much the same as normal.

“You’re not even going to say hello first?” Eijiro said, bemused. “Hey, man.”

“Good afternoon, Hisoka,” Momo said politely, smiling.

“Hello,” I said evenly, a bit out of my depth. “I was unaware we would be participating in a discussion today.”

“Turn your camera on!” Mina insisted.

I scanned the settings for a moment before clicking the camera icon, and my rectangle grew a bit brighter.

“Your room is very dark,” Tsuyu said, “Can you turn a light on?”

I used some of the sand that was spread throughout the apartment to flip the switch on the ceiling light.

“Whoa, is that sand?” Eijiro said, surprised. “There’s so much of it—dude, your place looks like that cave from that one movie with the genie.”

I had absolutely no idea what he was referring to, so I just nodded.

“I see,” I said in understanding, “I’m afraid I didn’t get to see all of you before I left, but I am glad to see you are all unharmed. Do you mind if I ask about your experiences in the USJ?”

Everyone nodded or otherwise agreed to the request.

“I was lucky enough to get out without a scratch—my quirk is pretty good for that kind of thing, and the three villains that were waiting for me couldn’t even hurt me.” Eijiro admitted, sounding a bit guilty, “Yaoruyozo and Ida were in a nearby building, but I didn’t meet them until after the fighting.”

Momo nodded.

“We were attacked almost as soon as we appeared, and they were well prepared for our arrival,” Momo said seriously, “Ida and I appeared inside a building; rocks partially covered it—an avalanche simulation, I believe. We managed to fight off the villains there before meeting up with Kirishima outside.”

I could remember seeing the large building she described, earth spilling out of the bottom floors.

“Thank god, All Might arrive when he did,” Momo sighed in relief. “I witnessed some of the fighting between him and the large heteromorphic quirk user—it was incredibly destructive to think that such a strong villain has appeared without any apparent history.”

I nodded; I had also attempted to search out information on the stand-out members I’d observed but found little of anything so far. Tsuyu spoke up next, and I turned my attention to her square.

“I fainted almost as soon as I landed; everything was on fire, and the heat quickly overwhelmed me.” Tsuyu said honestly, sounding a bit upset. “I don’t remember anything after that. Midoriya and Shoji apparently defeated the villains there and protected me, but they were both injured heavily during the fighting.”

“I saw Midoriya afterward,” Eijiro nodded, “He somehow managed to break almost all of his fingers—and Shoji had a concussion, and most of his ribs were fractured. They were pretty much back okay when I left the infirmary, though, just covered in bandages.”

The question was passed on to Mina, and she spoke.

“I landed in the place with all the rain—Bakugo and Kaminari were with me,” Mina said frowning, “The rain screwed us over, though; Bakugo needs to sweat to use his quirk. Kaminari can’t use his quirk while wet without hitting himself really badly, and my acid sucks when it immediately gets watered down or washed off.”

If it had all been by design, that would have shown a terrifying level of battle preparation on the villain’s part.

“That you managed to escape speaks well to your ability to work under heavy restrictions,” Momo said impressed, “I doubt it is an easy task to deal with a villain without having access to your quirk.”

“Momo… we got our asses kicked,” Mina admitted, “I’m fast and pretty strong, but the villains were adults—Bakugo has insane hand-to-hand skills if anyone wants to know, even without his quirk he took down like four of them.”

“Did Kaminari participate in the fighting?” Tsuyu wondered.

“Yeah—he can’t do fistfights for shit,” Mina said outright, shaking her head. “But he ended up saving us all after we started losing we had to run, but he stayed behind and used his quirk, fried himself unconscious in the process, but he took the rest of them out. Bakugo was so mad afterward I thought he was going to explode even with all the rain.”

“I can imagine,” I said, picturing it.

“What happened to you, man?” Eijiro asked, interested.

I took a moment to formulate a response.

“I was outside of the portal attack that repositioned everyone, so I remained at the entrance with Thirteen. Fumikage, Hanta, Ochako, and Mashirao were also present.” I said simply, “Thirteen ordered me to alert the rest of the faculty, and I found All Might on his way to the USJ; he was unaware we were under attack at the time. I made it to the school afterward to inform the rest of the faculty before returning to the USJ afterward.”

“We saw Sero, Tokoyami, and yourself fighting on the stairs near the entrance,” Momo said, finger curled against her chin in thought.

“Yeah, but you left again—you weren’t at the top when we finally got there,” Kirishima nodded.

“I went to the desert zone, but when I arrived, Koji and Rikido were already dead.” I said quietly, “Toru was unconscious, and she had a concussion when she woke up. I met up with the teachers soon after, and then you know the rest.”

There was a silence as everyone took in the information. Mina looked away from the camera, blinking to clear her eyes. Tsuyu just watched quietly, looking downcast.

“Hisoka…” Momo said sadly but trailed off.

“Sorry, man,” Eijiro said quietly, “I didn’t know you were the one who found them.”

I remembered how Koda and Rikido had shown an exceptional level of cooperation and how they had come up with a solid strategy in the battle simulation. If they’d had time to learn and further grow into the hero role, I wondered what they might have been able to become.

Shizuoka Station, Shizuoka Prefecture, 7:01 AM.

April 9th, 2149.

The platform was as packed as I thought it would be, and I was glad to have arrived earlier than I needed to. I had assumed that our trip into the city would be forgotten or canceled after what had happened—but it was not the case.

Tsuyu surprisingly was the most adamant about keeping our plans; apparently, she had been very much looking forward to it. After she had expressed herself, Mina and Eijiro had quickly gotten back on board. I’d used the chance to speak with Momo as well—the invitation for Hayami and I to attend the dinner tonight was also still occurring.

Strangely enough, I had received three phone calls this morning from the same dogged reporter who had spoken to me after the incident with the school gate. The method by which the woman had located my phone number was unknown, but I intended to find out.

There was a full-blown investigation underway, or so Sajin had told me; they were pulling in quirk detectives, hero agencies, and every other resource to discover everything they could about the attack that had occurred. Whoever was in charge of the investigation had called an informational blackout regarding the press, though.

No one had advised me not to talk about the incident, so it left me believing that it wasn’t the school that wanted to control the information. Perhaps the investigation leader wished to starve the villains of any notoriety they may have gained from the general public from the attack.

I spotted Mina before the others, her pink skin drawing the eye almost unconsciously—I wasn’t the only one looking in her direction either. The bright skin color was almost like a lamp to a horde of moths, and I wondered how she could go anywhere in public with so many people constantly staring at her.

Rather than shy away from the attention, she seemed to lean into it—a mother with her child, who was rather rudely pointing at her with childish curiosity, received an exaggeratedly funny face for his trouble before his mother finally pulled the boy to face the other way. Mina huffed at the woman before turning and continuing to search the crowd.

I hadn’t moved from my place, and she spotted me a few seconds later, doing a double-take after glancing over my position.

“Hisoka!” Mina called, surprised, “How long have you been standing there?”

“A few minutes,” I said simply as she approached close enough that I didn’t have to raise my voice.

“I almost missed you,” Mina grinned, “If you weren’t standing perfectly still and staring directly at me, I might have.”

“Ah, I see,” I said evenly before hesitating. “May I ask you a question, Mina?”

She blinked before nodding.

“Sure—you don’t have to ask first, you know,” Mina said curiously, “I won’t bite your head off for asking a question.”

That did seem like an incredible overaction; I wouldn’t have sought any further engagement with her if she had visited such unprovoked violence upon me.

“I noticed that you were experiencing an abnormal amount of attention from the people around us,” I said, explaining the context, “Has this always been the case?”

“Uh, I guess?” Mina said, surprised, before shrugging.“The physical changes, the hair, the eyes, the pink skin, and the horns—I’ve had them since I was born, and I look pretty different, so people tend to stare.”

“Your acid quirk manifested later, separately from the physical mutations?” I asked thoughtfully.

I had always been curious about when the physical mutations of some quirk users manifested. I reminded myself to ask Fumikage about his own experience at a later date—was he born with his unique features, or had they developed later?

Mina scrunched her face up at the question.

“Yeah, when I was—uh, three or four?” Mina guessed before nodding more firmly, “Something like that anyway.”

“What was it like for you growing up?” I asked, curious about her experience. “Were you bullied for looking different from your peers?”

“Yeah! Well, they tried to anyway,” Mina said quickly, looking mad. “There was this one jackass in particular who wouldn’t quit pulling on my horns when I was in second grade—I had to beat him up before he finally left me alone.”

I nodded in understanding; she’d had a Haru of her own.

“After that, it was pretty touch and go,” Mina admitted, “I had a reputation as a trouble maker for a while, but it was better in high school. Oh! I was super popular right before I came here, so that was cool.”

“What changed?” I wondered.

She tapped herself on the cheek sheepishly.

“This giant asshole scared the crap out of my friends one day, and I managed to get him to go away,” Mina laughed before her cheeks darkened a few shades. “I was so scared that I cried like a little kid right after he finally left—it was super embarrassing.”

I avoided thinking too long about what a giant asshole would look like.

“You should not be embarrassed by crying; it is a very common and expected response to fear, especially in stressful or violent situations,” I said seriously, nodding firmly as I channeled my inner Sajin. “Everybody cries, Mina.”

“Yeah!” Mina grinned before laughing, “You’re so quiet all the time, but whenever you speak up, I get the impression of a short Aizawa.”

I found myself actually pleased by the comparison—I had a great deal of respect for the man, doubly so after his fearless interception of the main force of villains. I glanced over Mina’s shoulder and nodded in the direction.

“The others have arrived,” I said simply.

Mina spun around and spotted them. I followed her as she practically skipped over to the group and attempted to drag the three into a group hug. Tsuyu protested as her head was squished into Eijiro’s shoulder blade before she finally let them go.

“Hey!” Eijiro laughed, “Somebody’s excited.”

“What took you all so long?!” Mina complained, pulling Tsuyu into another more apologetic hug.

Tsuyu croaked at the attention but made no move to extract herself.

“I hope you weren’t waiting for us for too long,” Momo said, smiling, straightening her own jacket. “We were actually looking for you both at the entrance.”

I nodded in understanding.

“No, we were only here for a little while,” I said honestly.

An almost silent hum drew our attention, and we watched the train it pulled into the platform.

“Tokyo, here we come!” Eijiro cheered.