Chapter 178 Great Reset
Seeing Aira cozily enveloped with a warm blanket while drinking hot cocoa automatically dampened Satoshi's anxiety and a smile swept across his face as he approached the little kid. What she did was something that not a lot of people, much less children her age, could go through. She stayed calm and collected throughout the entire situation without even breaking a sweat. Inwardly, she was nervous to the point that she wanted to scream and die on the spot. However, she believed that Crispwisp and Satoshi would pull through and that she will be saved— that is, as long as she successfully did her part. If she couldn't do something so simple, then she's not worthy of being saved. That mindset was what saved her and made her face her fears head-on.
"Aira, how are you doing?" Satoshi asked, kneeling in front of the red-haired girl while scanning her face and her appendages. There weren't any signs of injuries, much to Satoshi's relief.
In response, Aira promptly set aside the hot cup of cocoa she was drinking and stood in front of Satoshi. In silence, she bowed, thanking Satoshi without speaking a single word.
"May I ask what your full name is?" Satoshi asked. From afar, he could see quite a few reporters lurking around, trying to find the right timing so they could interview the little girl who was rescued on the scene. They were keen on interviewing both Aira and Satoshi, but they didn't want to interrupt for fear that they'd get on Satoshi's bad side. They know the kid— the one and only son of the most powerful superheroes in all of Japan. Offending their son is the same as offending them and as a reporter, that wasn't something one wishes to achieve.
That's why they gave them space, waiting for their opportune moment before they could separately interview the two.
"Aira Lvensky," She continued. Actually, she doesn't know what her full name is, but she knew that her dad had a 'Lvensky' or something that sounded like that in his surname so she just added that to her name. She doesn't know if she got it correctly though.
"Right, so, Aira Lvensky, what are you planning to do now?" Satoshi asked, thinking that she might have some sort of plan or something she wanted to do once she was free from doing those illegal dealings. Even though she was an accomplice, there was no way she would get convicted for a crime that she was forced to do. Besides, she didn't know that it was illegal— even though she was aware that what she was doing was bad.
"Um... that one! That tastes delicious. I'm going to finish that." She simply responded, returning to where she was sitting and grabbing the hot cup of cocoa she set aside. She continued drinking it while Satoshi tried to talk to her. He kept on forgetting that he was talking to someone pretty young, at least four to five years in age. Still, he wasn't surprised that Aira answered his question easily, and she gave a simple answer at that.
"After that?"
"Aira is going back home to sleep." She answered.
"No, what I mean is... " Satoshi trailed off before asking his question once again. This time, he tried to clarify it as much as he could. "I mean... do you have a dream? Something that you want to do or achieve in the future? Do you want to be a superhero? Or do you want to study in school?"
She nodded. "Yes, Aira never attended school." As she spoke, she carefully set aside her cup once again, saving the drink for later. "My dad said that superheroes go to superhero school. Aira wanted to be a superhero but dad said superheroes are bad guys. I think you're not bad guys. You tried to save Aira when you didn't even know her name. Aira thinks that dad is one of the bad guys, but Aira doesn't want dad to be one of the bad guys." Crestfallen, she got her cup once again and drank from it. She seemed to be relishing the taste of the cocoa.
"So you want to be a superhero? Superheroes are not bad guys, you know." Satoshi commented, fully knowing that what he said wouldn't convince Aira in the least. He wasn't the type to quickly get along with kids but Aira was a different matter. Although she may seem distracted, always looking at a distance, she was one of the friendliest kids Satoshi met.
"Right, so you want to be cool like me?: Satoshi continued.
Aira nodded. "My dad said that I shouldn't use my superpowers because it's scary. How can I be a superhero if I'm afraid?"
Somehow, Satoshi saw himself in Aira when she asked that question. Back when his powers haven't manifested yet, he was also thinking somewhere along those lines. He wasn't afraid because of his powers, he was afraid because his powers haven't manifested... and yet he applied for United Superheroes Academy. Right now, Aira was having doubts about whether she should use her powers or not. The only thing that Satoshi could do was offer her advice, and then she can go from there.
"Hmmm... you know... you saw me fight on tv, right?"
"Yes!"
"Did you know that back then, I was afraid too? I was scared since I couldn't control my power. But here's what I learned after becoming a superhero— superpowers manifested for superheroes, not the other way around. You're the only one who can control your superpowers, no one else... and what better way to control it than practice it?"
"But... it's dangerous... my dad calls it The Great Reset." She uttered. "My dad said that with enough energy, I can turn back time to decades even hundreds of years. Aira doesn't know what a decade is... is it food?"
"Wait... you can turn back time?" Satoshi asked in disbelief.