Part-Time Work in Progress

It was Saturday, the day of Inasa Yoarashi's recommendation entrance exam for U.A. High School.

"I'm definitely getting into U.A.!"

Jilan Jiyu opened his phone and read the confident declaration Inasa had sent him. Then he rubbed his face and silently closed his phone.

Honestly, he had a lot of confidence in Inasaku Yoarashi. With his insanely powerful Quirk and excellent ability to adapt, he could hold his own even against an ordinary Pro Hero. He shouldn't be worrying about Inasaku. He should be worrying about himself.

There was no way he could use his real Quirk, Killer Queen. If it were discovered, he would likely be branded an anti-hero. After all, people always feared what they couldn't understand, and nobody wanted their body to explode for no apparent reason.

Powerful Quirks that were easy to understand, on the other hand, earned people's trust. There was All Might's impossibly powerful strength, for example, and Endeavor, ranked second on the hero rankings, who had the power to control fire.

The same went for Yoarashi, who had the power to control wind. Simple, straightforward violence could give people a sense of security. A Pro Hero had to be like him.

As usual, Jilan Jiyu went to his part-time job at a movie theater. His parents had disappeared long ago, and he had always scraped by on government compensation and the money from his part-time job.

"All right, enjoy the movie. Next customer, please."

Jilan Jiyu handed the customer a ticket stub and greeted the next person with a broad smile.

"What movie would you like to see?"

Jilan Jiyu stared at the computer, waiting for the customer to make a choice. After a while, he still saw no movement from the customer and looked up in mild surprise.

The customer across from him was an eight-foot-tall, middle-aged man who looked like a rhinoceros. With him was a pink rhinoceros-like boy about the height of an ordinary person. For some reason, the two of them just looked awkwardly at the screen on the counter, apparently unable to choose a movie.

Jilan Jiyu wasn't surprised by their strange appearance. Quirks were divided into dominant and recessive types, and some families had transformation-type Quirks that allowed them to turn into all sorts of animals or monsters.

Once passed down to their descendants, those Quirks became traits that set them apart from ordinary people. This also showed that their ancestors had possessed powerful Quirks. Generally speaking, society didn't discriminate against them, though the same couldn't necessarily be said of individuals.

Maintaining a helpful attitude, Jilan Jiyu took the initiative to recommend a movie. "Are you two gentlemen having trouble deciding? I recommend Alien vs. Predator. It's about a Pro Hero with a transformation-type Quirk and his childhood friend, who are forced to become enemies because their ancestors held opposing beliefs."

Seeing that the boy seemed interested, Jilan Jiyu seized the chance to speak to the middle-aged man. "It looks like your son aspires to become a hero. This movie can help him learn more about the world of Pro Heroes and plan for his future career."

The middle-aged man thought for a moment, then accepted Jilan Jiyu's recommendation. He had taken ages to decide, but once he did, he acted quickly. He decisively picked two seats in the middle and smiled at Jilan Jiyu. "To tell you the truth, I have trouble making decisions, and my son is a little shy. You've been a huge help. I'll give you a five-star review."

"Don't mention it. It's my job." After the standard response, Jilan Jiyu continued, "By the way, the feedback book is on the notice board near the fire cabinet in the lobby. There are still twenty minutes before the movie starts, so you're free to spend the time as you like."

The rhinoceros-like middle-aged man clearly caught the implication. Smiling, he took the boy's hand and prepared to leave. "Is that so? Looks like I really should go take a look first."

Looks like I can get another raise... Jilan Jiyu thought silently.

It was only a minor episode. Nearly two hours later, just as Jilan Jiyu was about to take a short break, he heard screams and a person shouting hysterically from the theater lobby.

What happened?

Forget it. It doesn't matter. I should focus on doing my own job.

Though that was what Jilan Jiyu thought, people in this world generally loved watching a commotion and didn't care how serious it got.

"Jilan, please cover for me for a bit. I'm going to see what happened." Jilan Jiyu's junior coworker, a boy who had started working there less than a month ago, made the request excitedly. "I'll be right back. Wait for me."

Wasn't it time for the shift change? A guy with so little sense of responsibility wouldn't be entrusted with important work even after entering society.

Jilan Jiyu wasn't particularly tired, though, so he waved the boy off to watch the commotion.

A girl who was having her ticket checked looked at Jilan Jiyu curiously. "You don't seem surprised by this at all. Don't you want to go take a look?"

This counts as overtime, so I don't have to stay in work mode anymore, right?

Jilan Jiyu relaxed and leaned halfway across the counter, his eyes half-lidded. "I've seen this kind of thing plenty of times. No need to guess. Some people finished watching a movie and haven't switched gears yet, so they got carried away and wanted to do something illegal, like using their Quirks in public."

"Oh? You seem to have a pretty clear read on it." She seemed to give up on both watching the movie and checking out the commotion. Leaning on the counter too, she watched Jilan Jiyu with curiosity. "I'm Camie Utsushimi. Your name is..."

"Jilan Jiyu." They were the only two people by the counter at the moment, and Jilan Jiyu didn't mind talking to a girl with such a great figure.

Camie Utsushimi wore a leather outfit that showed off her figure, making her look like the kind of biker who might put on a helmet at any moment. Her eyes shone with intense curiosity. "You're a junior high graduate, right? Don't you want to become a Pro Hero?"

"I do." From where Jilan Jiyu stood, he could see the girl's curves clearly. He straightened up and began taking care of some odd jobs. "Heroes may be known for sticking their noses into other people's business, but surely they have to do their own jobs properly before taking action, right? If anything, big or small, could be called an unavoidable circumstance and forgiven, hero society would have fallen apart long ago."

Camie Utsushimi said thoughtfully, "True. Sticking your nose into other people's business is a Pro Hero's privilege. If people like us, who don't have any privileges, forced our way in and interfered, we'd probably get a warning. We might even be banned from taking the exam and never be able to get a hero license."

"That's about the size of it." Jilan Jiyu pointed casually toward the source of the disturbance. "Maybe a Pro Hero has already dealt with it."

"That fast?!" Camie Utsushimi was taken aback. Although she hadn't thought the incident would cause much of a disturbance, she hadn't expected a Pro Hero to be so quick. They had only been chatting for less than five minutes.

A man who looked like a pair of jeans come to life walked in front, his hands in his pockets and an indifferent expression on his face. He didn't seem to have done anything, but one of the criminal's hands was suspended in the air as if something had grabbed it. The criminal obediently followed behind him, his face ashen.