Aguinaldo City

"Make sure to take care of the plants properly okay?" Head Priest Juan said to Marita, a lively middle-aged woman.

Marita is one of the nuns working here along with Grandma Lola, a stern and strict old woman.

"You can count on me Father Juan! By the time you come home, all the plants here will be twice as healthy and shiny!" Marita replied with a guts pose, showing her determination.

"Good. But what do you mean by 'twice as shiny'? Did you watch something from the internet again?"

"Of course not Father Juan! Our wi-fi's too slow for that you know?" Marita shook her head while sighing.

"Just tell me already then!" Annoyed by her words, Head Priest Juan replied. Head Priest Juan is a dinosaur after all.

"Why, by using cooking oil of course!" She said with a proud smile with her hands on her hips.

"...."

So that's why the plants look burnt.

"So that's why the plants look burnt! You're making our orphanage look poor you idiot nun!"

…But we already are...

"Oooh!… So that's why the plants look burnt!... Oops...Tehee...?" She replied with the infamous 'tehee' pose.

Seeing that, Head Priest Juan was just about to lecture her again when,

"Now now, calm your angry arse down Juan, you know about her quirk. And we can always switch duties if that's what you'd like." Came an elderly voice from behind.

Speaking of her quirk, {Aniothability}, it makes her unable to feel negative emotions. Sadness, anger, fear, resentment, disgust, shame, loneliness, you name it. In a way, her quirk can be considered a curse. Plus, a side effect of it is that it makes her a bit of an airhead. (A/N: next paragraph's a little disturbing.)

Grandma Lola apparently found her in a random alleyway. Her clothes were drenched in blood; all over her body were cuts of different shapes and sizes, there were even carved words on her skin such as 'freak', 'monster', and the like.

When asked what happened to her, she said in a chirpy tone: 'For money to buy the next volume of a manga I'm reading ma'am~!'

After that incident, Grandma Lola took her in and her 'friends' that made her do that were arrested.

Turning around I see Grandma Lola with the ever-present frown on her wrinkled face. She was wearing her brown habit, same with Marita, and her back was slightly hunched.

Seeing her, Head Priest Juan released a sigh and replied, "Please, and thanks Grandma Lola. And please make sure to tell her how to take care of the plants properly."

"Sure sure. Anyhow, for how many days will you be staying in the city?"

"Hmm... Me and a friend that live there have some catching up to do... and with the time it takes to go home...we'll return by tomorrow lunch." The Head Priest replied after doing some calculations.

"Speaking of catching up, aren't we running late for the jeepney that we're supposed to ride to the city?" I said while glancing at my hand-me-downed watch.

Immediately after I said that, realization seemed to arrive in Head Priest Juan's head as he spoke urgently,

"Holy shit you're right!"

"We're in a church you asshole! Stop being disrespectful!" Exclaimed Grandma Lola angrily at the now running Head Priest.

…What about you then?

About two minutes later, Head Priest Juan came out of the run-down orphanage wearing a green polo shirt, denim pants, and crocs with socks.

"What're you looking at? Am I really that handsome~?" Head Priest Juan said with a complacent smirk on his face.

After cringing at what he said, I questioned honestly,

"You have clothes other than your priest outfit?"

"...."

15 minutes later, we're now waiting in line at a jeepney station not too far from our neighborhood. Though I say 'not too far' we had to run full speed for about ten minutes before arriving. It's not too bad though as I had the opportunity to gauge my speed and stamina.

Although far from Tenya Iida's 3.04s dash for 50 meters, I feel that with my quirk, it will only take a few months to reach that level if I train everyday.

"Pheww... That was quite a sprint wasn't it, Zach?" Behind me, Head Priest Juan said while passing me a bottle of water.

Taking the water bottle and drinking half of it, I nodded my head and give it back to him.

Receiving the water bottle and stuffing in inside his bag, Head Priest Juan looked around the station filled with people before saying with a teasing smile on his face,

"Center of attention as always huh~ Aren't you nervous?"

"It's okay, I'm already used to it."

Indeed, I'm already used to the attention. As I always go with one of the nuns to the supermarket whenever I can, I'm already accustomed to the various gazes of the people around me. Admiration, jealousy, anger, and believe it or not, even arousal.

"Tch. You're no fun~"

Right as he said that, the jeepney we've been waiting for finally arrived.

*VROOM*

With the jeepney stopping a few steps away from us, people immediately rushed to it, shoving and pushing each other around. As jeepneys only show up a total of four times a day in this jeepney station, near the time of their arrival, scenes like this are often seen. Although there are also trains here, going with the cheaper option has always been a creed of our church.

With this many people rushing in, we may have to wait for another fours before having a chance to go to the city. But did I come unprepared? Of course not!

Nodding to Head Priest Juan, I put on the most pitiful face I could make. After that, I wet the sides of my eyes with the water that we brought earlier.

*sob* *sob*

After making sobbing sounds for a few seconds, I peek through my hands that were covering my eyes.

Seeing that some people were now turning their eyes on me, I continue,

*sob* "D-Dad... why are there so many people...? how will we visit grandpa on time...? *sniff* w-what do we do if he's lonely by himself at the hospital?" With a sad and lonely voice, I pointed to the people.

My 'Dad' looked down at me with an equally downcast expression and said,

"I-It's alright my son... though we won't have time to visit your grandpa... we can still know if... if he can... survive his surgery or not..." Towards the latter part of his sentence, my 'Dad' also began to sob lightly while patting my back.

At this point, everyone in the station now had their eyes toward us with pity and guilt in their faces. After looking at each others' faces with a look that says, 'Are we really letting our selfishness first before a child?', they nodded to themselves and made a path to the jeepney.

Upon seeing their actions, my 'dad' showed surprise on his face before sobbing even more and sending a grateful look to the people.

After looking at each others' faces for a while, we smiled at each other.

The meaning of that smile though, was something the passengers misunderstood.

***

After about 3 hours on the road and switching to two more jeepneys, we finally arrive at Aguinaldo City, located in between the cities Manila and Quezon. (A/N: Fictional city)

Climbing down the steep two steps of the jeepney, I stretch my body as I look at the city before me.

Aguinaldo City.

Named after the first president of the country, it is the largest city in the whole Philippines. It is even larger than Manila, the capital. As it is not near any beach, forest, or mountain, Aguinaldo City is not known for its tourist spots. It is also not known as a trading hub since the Philippines is neither in a strategic location nor time zone.

Instead, it is known as the center of transportation, commerce, culture, and education of the country. As I was judged as a fast learner by Head Priest Juan, who also as a teaching license due to being a priest, I was already taught on various topics, including history.

Looking around the place, I see towering buildings, various restaurants, and even a park where families can be seen spending time with each other.

"This is your first time in a city so make sure to not get too far from me or you'll get lost." In contrast to his usual carefree smile, Head Priest Juan had a serious expression on his face.

Nodding my head, I once again look at my surroundings. I notice that about half of them have normal appearances.

The other half of the people are the mutants. And seeing them in person, I can definitely understand why they are targets of discrimination. Mutants are people with always active Quirks, which manifest in the form of controllable body parts. To better understand what I'm talking about, I further divided them into 4 types. (A/N: thought of these myself.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

+(1)The 'Nothing really changed'- People whose mutant quirks do not generally cause discrimination and is instead often envied. In fact, it is harder to believe that they are mutants. Manifested Quirks are often somewhere cannot be seen.

Examples are:

Mei Hatsume's 'Zoom'- Eyes are yellow, nothing really changed except for eyesight.

Gran Torino's 'Jet'- Has small holes on the soles of his feet. Nothing shoes can't fix.

Mitsuki Bakugo's 'Glycerin'- Produces a smooth liquid from her skin that makes her look younger.(A/N: Yes this is canon.)

----

+(2)The 'Added Parts'- From big noses and sharper ears to bird wings and bunny ears, they are often discriminated by some and admired by others. Often depends on what or where the mutated part is.

Examples are: Kyoka Jiro, Mezo Shijo, Minoru Mineta, Hawks, Mirko, etc.

----

+(3)The 'Major Added Parts'- When people describe 'mutant', they usually mean this. The majority, if not, the whole body of a person is mutated in some shape or form. Heavily discriminated.

Examples are: Toru Hagakure, Spinner, Gigantomachia, Gang Orca, Selkie, Ryo Inui, Nomus, Principal Nezu.

----

+(4)The 'Not sure if they're still human'- Mutations that do not take a humanoid form. Not sure if they're still human.

Examples: Sludge Villain(episode 1 of anime)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although this list may seem useless and even insulting at first glance, it actually helps a lot in identifying what quirk a specific person has and how different quirks are actually weaker or stronger variations of another.

This can also be used for people with mutant-like quirks like Tokoyami Fumikage and All For One, though it won't be nearly as accurate.

"OI ZACH!"

Jumping in surprise, I recover from my absent-mindedness and look directly in front of me, where Head Priest Juan's face is.

"Yes...?"

"I've been calling you for a minute now you know? We're already here at the City Hall, did you even notice?" Head Priest Juan said in a worried but angry tone.

"Sorry about that, Head Priest, I was just thinking really hard about something..."

"Oh? And what were you exactly thinking about so much that you forgot that you were in the middle of a city?" He said, now fully angered.

"About why you're called Head Priest even though we don't have other priests."

"...."