Sunlight beamed through the windows of the study hall, as the teacher stood at the front, explaining a historic event. As he turned to face his class, hoping to see if they understood what he was talking about, he saw someone with their head against the desk in his arms. His white hair made it obvious as he frowned, "Dante!"
Dante quickly sat up, breathing heavily as his red eyes looked around. His eyes aimed towards the front of the study hall. "Sit up, no sleeping." The teacher said as the students around him turned their gazes toward him. Dante let out a sigh and waved his hand, "Yeah…sorry…" The teacher looked satisfied at the response and turned back to continue teaching the class. Dante leaned against his hand as his eyes watched the teacher and his ears slightly strained to try and pay attention to what he was explaining.
His eyelids struggled to stay open, but his mind wandered. His tiredness proved one thing, trying to keep up this double life he was living was going to be difficult. Trying to balance his usual patrol of the city and his college life. He didn't know it took him this long to realize how hard trying to balance this would be. His eyes tracked toward the window, and figured a hot cup of coffee would help him stay awake. Because, this wasn't going to work… He decided he should go to his favorite cafe, since the coffee here wasn't all that good. His other class didn't start for a while, and considering he had to walk, he hoped he had enough time to make it and make it back in time for his next. He turned back towards the teacher and tried his hardest to focus on the lesson.
Soon, the class ended, the bell ringing which woke Dante up further. He sighed and quickly stood, stuffing his books inside his bag. He rubbed his eyes, and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Everyone around began exiting the class and when Dante was ready to follow, his name was called by the professor. He closed his eyes and let out a sharp breath before turning around and heading towards the front of the study hall.
The teacher looked at him, concern laced in on his features, "You doing alright Dante? You're not one to fall asleep during class." He asked as Dante shook his head with a forced smile, "Y-yeah, I'm fine…You know, just some late-night studying, didn't get much sleep last night." He said, as the teacher folded his arms with a nod. "Alright, make sure to get some sleep, Dante."
He gave a nod and turned to leave, with a wave. Once he exited the study hall, he placed a hand on his forehead, and one question went through his mind. How was he gonna balance these two lives he was living? He honestly had no idea. On one hand, his secret vigilante life was important, he was doing what the Heroic League refused to do. But then, on the other hand, was his college life. While he didn't know what he wanted to do later down in life, he knew that he couldn't take this for granted. He had to find a common ground, but something that makes things much easier is how college will let him get away with things that something like high school wouldn't. But, he can worry about that later, right now he needed to keep himself awake, he could barely keep himself awake while walking.
He swung the doors open and stepped outside of the building. The cold air hit his face and he blinked himself awake further. This would definitely help his trip to the cafe much easier. He continued forward, but felt something. He looked around, and noticed someone staring back at him. With a closer look, he recognized who it was, it was that guy he saved yesterday. But, why was he staring at him like that? He stared at him for a while, before grabbing hold of his bike and walking forward. Dante frowned noticing the obvious nervous energy radiating off him.
Once he was closer the boy pointed toward Dante, "I'm sorry, but, have we…met?" He asked as Dante looked surprised. There was no way…right? He kept his composure, "No, I don't think so." he said as the boy rubbed his dirty blonde hair. "Are you sure…? I swear we've met somewhere before…" Dante shook his head again, and figured it would be better if he left before he confirmed his suspicion. He turned to leave.
With a few steps, "Oh! Yeah, I knew I recognized your voice! It's you!"
Dante came to a stop, and his eyes grew big. He turned back, and there was no denying it now. He…knew somehow…he knows that…that hero that saved him…was Dante. He stared back at the boy and a million thoughts swarmed in his mind. What should he do? And then, in the back of his mind, something sparked. A frown clouded his features and his hand twisted, a faint red glow illuminating his hands. All it took, was a flick of his wrist and this entire moment would never have happened. He was ready to erase his memories, ready to get rid of this thing that could potentially cause a problem for him later, but as he stared deep into the boy's eyes, something caught him off guard. It was, a genuine thankfulness.
"Thanks so much for helping me yesterday." Dante's eyes grew, and the glow around his hand flickered for a moment. He released the breath he wasn't aware he was holding. The boy looked off and placed a hand on his neck, "You know, most heroes wouldn't even bother with a crime that doesn't involve superpowers. But, you did," he grabbed hold of his hand and shook it, "and I have to thank you for that!" Dante was shocked for a moment as he watched the boy shake his hand.
"Man, when those guys came up on me like that when they were about to steal my bike, I really thought I was gonna die… I was terrified…" He steps back and waves his hand through the air in a downward motion. "But then you came in out of nowhere, like some kind of movie! It was so cool!" He explained as he tilted his head and pointed at Dante, "Do you work for a Heroic League faction?" Dante's expression darkened and the boy picked up on that with a faint smile. "I didn't think so, you didn't seem like one of them." He turned back to his bike and hopped on. "Say, do you have a name?" The white hair boy turned away, and whispered a simple no. The boy nodded and smiled big, "That's fine, hey, if you need help coming up with one, you can talk to me." He turned towards the city. "And hey, I saw your suit, I can see you want your identity hidden, you have nothing to worry about, I won't tell anyone." Dante looked surprised a bit and turned towards him. "Why?"
"Because, you helped me. So, I can help you by not telling anyone about your secret."
Dante frowned as the boy rode off towards the city. He watched him ride off, as he looked down at his hands. Something was wrong. He clenched his fist, why didn't he erase his memories? For all he knew, this could spiral into some kind of problem later down the line, but, after looking into his eyes and seeing how thankful he was…something just made him stop… But why…? He faceplamed, and turned back towards the city, "I need coffee…"