Tonight, the Universe Would Shine for Him

After leaving the old gymnasium, Hawk headed toward the parking lot.

He had no idea what had happened behind him.

But even if he had known, he would not have cared.

Although Spider-Man was hailed as the number-one IP in American comics, honestly, Hawk was not familiar with Peter.

Even though he and Peter were in the same grade.

By the time Hawk arrived at the parking lot with his messenger bag slung over one shoulder, the doors of the last orange school bus had already opened.

A bearded driver in a school uniform was lying bored over the steering wheel, fiddling with a portable radio.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hall." Hawk boarded the bus and politely greeted him. "Any special news today?"

The bearded Mr. Hall looked exceptionally fierce.

But Mr. Hall was not actually fierce.

Quite the opposite.

He was a good man.

"Still the news about the Quantico Building collapse. They say it was a terrorist attack." Mr. Hall, who was fiddling with his radio, looked at Hawk as he boarded, checked the time on his watch, and said, "Hawk, you came two minutes later than yesterday."

Hawk shrugged.

"Sorry, my shower held me up."

"Good thing I know you take my bus home every day, or I would have driven to the school gate already. Take a seat. We're leaving."

"Okay."

Hawk remained polite, carrying his backpack as he walked toward the back.

Mr. Hall had already started the bus and was preparing to close the doors before heading to the school gate to pick up more students.

Just then.

Peter darted over from afar and squeezed aboard just as the bus doors were about to close.

Mr. Hall jumped in fright.

"Holy..."

Seemingly realizing that swearing was impolite, Mr. Hall swallowed the words that had reached his lips. Then he looked at the panting Peter who had squeezed aboard, before looking at Flash Thompson and the other three who had also run over outside.

Flash Thompson and his lackeys did not get on the bus. They simply stood outside and watched Peter board.

Mr. Hall swept his gaze between Peter on the bus and Flash Thompson outside, then frowned at Flash Thompson. "Hey, are you getting on or not?"

Flash Thompson glanced at Mr. Hall without saying anything. He merely turned around and left resentfully with his three lackeys.

Bullying a classmate was one thing. Doing it in front of school staff was another.

He was a bully, not an idiot.

Peter was not an idiot either, so after Mr. Hall closed the bus doors, he thanked him.

Mr. Hall glanced at Peter but said nothing.

He knew what was going on, but as long as there was no bullying on his bus, that was enough.

As for elsewhere?

He was only a school bus driver. It was beyond his authority, and not his responsibility.

Peter did not say anything else. He turned around, intending to find a seat, then spotted Hawk sitting by the window in the very back. After thinking for a moment, he walked over.

"Thank you."

"..."

Hawk, who had been staring blankly out the window and thinking that dawn also counted as the next day, came back to himself. Looking at Peter standing before him, he said expressionlessly, "I didn't help you with anything. You don't need to thank me."

After saying that, he turned his gaze back outside and ignored Peter.

He did not know whether Peter had mutated yet.

Most likely, he had not yet become the Spider-Man from Hawk's memories.

But...

Even if Peter had mutated, Hawk did not want anything to do with him.

More precisely, he did not want anything to do with any superhero.

Superheroes sounded great, but in reality, they were closely tied to all kinds of disasters.

Before getting his cheat ability, he had never planned to go out of his way to associate with these superheroes. He only wanted to live longer. Since he had been reborn, he should at least live out his natural lifespan.

If possible, he would study hard, improve every day, and strive to live more freely.

Now that his cheat ability had come online, Hawk's original intention had not changed.

It was just that...

What had begun as wanting to live more freely had become, if possible, wanting to live longer and more freely.

But either way, the prerequisite for achieving that goal was the same.

In one sentence.

Stay out of superheroes' bullshit.

So even after learning about Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy after enrolling, he had never had any intention of getting to know them proactively.

But Gwen was different.

There was no helping it.

Gwen was the student assistant for their eleventh grade class, but dating Gwen Stacy, the universally acknowledged number-one girlfriend in American comics?

Hawk had no such intention, at least not yet.

He was not qualified to talk about love yet.

Peter looked at Hawk, who had turned back to the scenery after saying that, and opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something more. But after thinking it over, he ultimately chose to stay silent, turned around, and sat down in a seat on the right.

Soon.

The school bus reached the school gate. When Mr. Hall opened the doors, the students waiting outside for the last free school bus boarded one after another.

The previously quiet bus quickly became filled with chatter.

An hour later.

They arrived at Jackson Heights.

Mr. Hall opened the doors and smiled as he said goodbye to Hawk, who was already standing by the exit.

"See you tomorrow, Hawk."

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Hall."

Hawk politely said goodbye as well. After getting off the bus, he walked toward an old five-story apartment building nearby, its orange exterior walls weathered and peeling.

The old apartment building belonged to the New York City Housing Authority.

Hawk's apartment was on the fifth floor. It was not very large, but it had one advantage: he could easily reach the apartment rooftop through the fire escape outside his window.

Soon.

After returning home, Hawk placed his backpack on the table. Then he took out the plastic bag containing his washed clothes, found two hangers, opened the window, and climbed up to the apartment rooftop via the fire escape outside.

After hanging his clothes out on the rooftop, Hawk walked to the railing, braced both hands against it, and looked up at the planes that occasionally passed overhead, preparing to land at nearby LaGuardia Airport or taking off from LaGuardia Airport.

Feeling the breeze while counting planes.

It was one of the few hobbies he used to relax.

But recently, he had picked up another hobby.

Stargazing!

Night fell.

Hawk sat on the ground with his back against the apartment's ventilation shaft, enjoying the summer evening breeze as he looked up at the starry sky that had emerged with the night.

The starry sky was vast.

Stars dotted it like scattered jewels.

Perhaps it was just an illusion.

But ever since half a year ago, Hawk had felt that as he persisted in throwing ten thousand punches every day, he had somehow begun to connect with the boundless starry sky.

That feeling was even stronger today.

The constellations that had still looked somewhat blurry to the naked eye last night had become exceptionally clear today.

Pegasus!

Draco!

Cygnus!

Andromeda!

Phoenix!

Lacerta!

The forty-eight constellations representing the forty-eight Bronze Saints were now before Hawk's eyes.

It seemed...

Tonight.

The entire universe would shine for him!!