After Hawk left the old gym, he walked towards the parking lot.
He didn't know what was happening behind him.
But even if he did know, he wouldn't care.
Although Spider-Man is claimed to be the top IP character in American comics, to be honest, Hawk wasn't familiar with Peter.
Even though he and Peter were in the same grade.
By the time Hawk, carrying his shoulder bag, arrived at the parking lot, the door of the last orange school bus was already open.
A bearded driver, wearing a school uniform, was leaning on the steering wheel, fiddling with a portable radio.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hall." Hawk boarded the bus, politely greeting: "Any special news today?"
Bearded Mr. Hall looked unusually fierce.
But in fact, Mr. Hall wasn't fierce.
Quite the opposite.
He was a good person.
"Still the news about the collapse of the Quantico Building, rumored to be a terrorist attack." Mr. Hall, fiddling with his radio, looked at Hawk as he boarded, checked the time on his watch, and said, "Hawk, you're two minutes later than yesterday."
Hawk shrugged.
"Sorry, I got delayed taking a shower today."
"Luckily, I know you take my bus home every day, or I would've headed to the school gate. Sit tight, we're off."
"Okay."
Hawk maintained his politeness, carrying his backpack, and moved towards the back.
Mr. Hall had already started the bus, ready to close the door and head to the school gate to pick up students.
Just then.
Peter rushed out from afar, almost squeezing in from outside just as the school bus door was about to close.
Mr. Hall was startled.
"Damn!"
Possibly realizing it wouldn't be polite to curse, Mr. Hall forcibly swallowed his words, then looked at the breathless Peter who had squeezed in, and then at Flash Thompson and four others running over from outside.
Flash Thompson and his followers didn't get on the school bus but stood outside, watching Peter get on.
Mr. Hall's eyes swept over Peter, who had boarded, and Flash Thompson outside, and then frowned at Flash: "Hey, do you guys want to get on?"
Flash Thompson glanced at Mr. Hall, didn't say a word, just turned around, and left with his three followers.
Bullying classmates was one thing; doing it in front of school staff was another matter.
He was a bully, not an idiot.
Peter wasn't a fool either, so after Mr. Hall closed the door, he thanked Mr. Hall.
Mr. Hall glanced at Peter, said nothing.
He knew what was going on, but as long as no bullying was happening on his bus, it was fine.
As for elsewhere?
He was just a school bus driver, it wasn't his concern, nor was it his responsibility.
Peter didn't say anything further either, instead turning to find a place to sit, and then he saw Hawk sitting by the window at the back, thought for a bit, and walked over.
"Thank you."
"..."
Lost in thought, staring out the window and thinking about tomorrow, Hawk was brought back to reality, looking at Peter standing before him, expressionless: "I didn't help you, you don't need to thank me."
After saying this, he turned his gaze back outside, ignoring Peter.
He didn't know if Peter had mutated yet.
Most likely, he hadn't become the Spider Spirit in his memories yet.
But still...
Even if Peter had mutated, he didn't want to get involved with Peter.
To be precise, he didn't want to get involved with any superheroes.
Superheroes sound nice, but they are closely linked with all kinds of disasters.
Before he got any perks, he never thought about actively engaging with these superheroes; he just wanted to live longer and, having been reborn once, at least live to a ripe old age.
If possible, study well, strive for progress every day, and live more freely.
Now that he had a perk, Hawk's original intention hadn't changed.
Just that...
From wanting to live more freely, it became, if possible, to live even longer and more freely.
But no matter what, the premise for achieving this goal remained the same.
In a word.
Don't get involved in superheroes' mess.
So, even after enrolling and knowing who Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy were, he had no intention of actively getting to know them.
But Gwen was different.
There was no helping it.
Gwen was their eleventh-grade student assistant, but to date the universally acknowledged top girlfriend in American comics, Gwen Stacy?
Hawk had no such intention, at least not now.
He wasn't qualified for romance yet.
Peter looked at Hawk, who turned to gaze at the scenery after speaking, opened his mouth to say more, but after thinking about it, chose to stay silent and sat down in a seat on the right.
Soon.
The school bus drove to the school gate, and as Mr. Hall opened the door, students waiting for the last free school bus outside also boarded one after another.
The previously quiet environment inside the bus quickly became bustling with chatter.
An hour later.
Jackson Heights arrived.
As Mr. Hall opened the door, he smiled at Hawk, who was already standing at the bus door, and said goodbye.
"See you tomorrow, Hawk."
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Hall."
Hawk also politely bid farewell, got off the bus, and then walked towards an old five-story apartment building with chipped orange walls not far away.
This old apartment building was owned by the New York City Housing Authority.
Hawk's apartment was on the fifth floor, though not large, it had the advantage of giving him easy access to the rooftop via the fire escape outside the window.
Soon.
Back home, Hawk placed his backpack on the table, then took out a plastic bag of washed clothes from his backpack, found two hangers, opened the window, and climbed onto the rooftop via the fire escape.
After hanging his clothes to dry on the rooftop, Hawk walked to the edge of the rooftop, leaned on the railing with both hands, and looked up at the planes occasionally flying over, either preparing to land at nearby LaGuardia Airport or taking off from there.
While enjoying the breeze, he counted the planes.
This was one of his few relaxing hobbies.
However, recently he had developed a new hobby.
Stargazing!
As night fell.
Hawk, sitting on the ground with his back against the apartment's ventilation shaft, enjoyed the summer evening breeze and looked up at the stars appearing after dusk.
The starry sky was vast.
Stars twinkled everywhere.
Maybe it was an illusion.
From half a year ago, Hawk always felt that with his continuous practice of punching ten thousand times a day, he was somehow connecting with the vast starry sky.
Today, this feeling was even stronger.
The constellations, which were still a bit blurry when viewed with the naked eye last night, were particularly clear tonight.
Pegasus!
Celestial Dragon!
White Bird!
Andromeda!
Phoenix!
...
Scorpius!
...
Representing the forty-eight Bronze Saint Warriors, the forty-eight constellations were now in Hawk's eyes.
It seemed.
Tonight.
The entire cosmos would twinkle for him!!
...