(July 30th, 1990)
'Why are they so blue?' Haru thought as he looked at his eyes in the mirror.
He grabbed the bottom of his right eyelid and pulled it down, leaning closer to inspect it.
'I could have sworn they were dark brown before.'
The longer he stared, the more uncomfortable it became, until he finally had to look away.
'Man… aren't they a little too bright?'
Haru blinked, remembering why he'd come in here. He opened the cabinet for his toothbrush.
It wasn't there.
Instead, one of his dad's old pair of glasses sat inside.
Grabbing them, he said, "Did Pops misplace these again?"
He stared at the glasses for a moment, then shrugged. "What the heck, why not?"
He slipped them on.
"Huh… I don't look half bad." he muttered, turning his head slightly.
He grabbed his toothbrush from another cabinet, put some paste on it, and brushed. When he finished, he rinsed and spit into the sink.
Still wearing the glasses, he walked out of the bathroom, almost forgetting they were even on him.
He went back to his room, threw on some comfortable clothes, and headed straight for the door.
Reaching the front, he slipped on his shoes.
"I'm going out for a bit!" Haru called.
"Be careful!" his mom replied from the kitchen.
"I will!"
He pulled the door open and stepped outside, letting it close behind him.
The morning air was warm against his face. Haru adjusted his shirt and started walking down the sidewalk, taking in the quiet of the neighborhood and enjoying the summer breeze.
*****
At a crosswalk, Haru waited for the light.
When it finally changed, he stepped off the curb and began crossing.
The moment he reached the other side, his ears felt like they'd been hit by Darkseid's Omega Beams.
BARK!
HONK!
"HEY, I'M WALKING HERE!"
"наличные или карта!"
"Tomaré un café con leche."
Haru stumbled backward as every sound slammed into his ears, from squirrel claws scraping against bark to someone yelling in a thick British accent.
It was too much all at once. Panic took over before he could even process what was happening.
He bolted without thinking, weaving through the sidewalk, bumping into people as he desperately searched for somewhere quiet, somewhere to get this under control.
He ducked into a narrow alley between two buildings and pressed his back against the wall. The noise still thundered in his ears, but without people around, it was easier to focus.
Haru took a shaky breath and pressed his hands over his ears.
"Ugh… my ears!" he groaned. 'Is… is this how Superman feels all the time?'
His legs gave out, and he slid down the wall, sitting on the ground.
'Wait… Superman…' he thought. 'He controls his hearing by focusing on something… right?'
He searched for something, anything, and finally settled on his own heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
As he focused, the noise dulled, fading just enough to breathe again.
He exhaled shakily, opened his eyes, and lowered his hands.
"Okay… not bad."
He stayed on the ground for a bit.
After a while, he stood up and decided to test something, closing his eyes.
'Japanese only…'
Almost immediately, the world shifted. Japanese voices floated above the rest, kids laughing and running, a mother scolding her child for making another kid cry.
'It's still a lot, but… better than hearing everything at once-'
A faint voice cut through the noise.
"Jousuke… cough!cough! …You have to leave me here!"
Haru's focus snapped sharp.
He heard the crackling of flames.
"LIKE HELL I WILL!"
He turned toward the sound, peering past buildings and obstacles until he saw it, less than two blocks away.
An apartment building was on fire.
Smoke billowed into the sky as flames crawled up the walls. On an upper floor, a boy about his age, with strange hair, was dragging a woman who looked barely conscious.
Without realizing it, Haru started running.
By the time he reached the street in front of the building, a crowd had gathered. Firefighters were already on scene.
"We got most of the lower floors," one firefighter said. "Upper floors are too dangerous to go in right now."
"Copy. Keep everyone clear and wait for backup."
Haru swallowed, sweat forming on his brow.
He looked up.
On the fifth floor, the boy was shaking the woman desperately.
"MOM! …cough! …WAKE UP!!"
The glasses on Haru's face suddenly felt heavier than ever.
'Just trust the professionals… there's nothing I can do…'
He turned away.
Even though he told himself he could do nothing, he did not stop listening, not even for a second.
"Cough!Cough!"
BAM!
The sound of something falling made Haru stop and spin back around.
The boy was still moving. Even with no strength left, he crawled forward, one hand gripping his mother's shirt, tears streaking his face.
Then, barely louder than a whisper,
"Please… someone… anyone…"
His eyes began to lose their luster.
Haru's eyes darkened as shadows crept over them.
He took a step forward, but this time it wasn't to leave.
And without him realizing it, the world… seemed to come to a standstill.
Haru weaved through the crowd faster than a person could blink. The glasses on his face were ripped away by the wind.
Moving faster than a speeding bullet, he reached the entrance of the building, raced up the stairs to the fifth floor, and slammed into the apartment door, shattering it instantly.
Only to see the mother and her son about to be crushed by the collapsing roof above them.
Without thinking, he darted under the falling rubble and slammed his hands up, closing his eyes and bracing for impact.
He expected the weight on his arms to be immense, so instinctively he lowered them a bit as he felt the rubble land.
Haru opened his eyes, confused. 'Umm… this is kinda light…'
The boy with the strange hair, barely conscious and fading fast, clung to only one thought: 'Blue…' All he could see were two piercing blue eyes.
Haru saw the boy lose consciousness, and without hesitation, he shoved the rubble to the side and scooped both the boy and his mother into his arms.
He shot forward, moving faster than the eye could follow, weaving through debris and smoke as the apartment continued to collapse behind him.
Reaching the edge, he jumped off the building, hitting the ground with barely any impact, and kept moving. He gently set them down near an ambulance, then turned and ran before anyone could even realize what was happening.
WOOOSH!
"What the hell?!"
An EMT standing near the ambulance nearly got knocked over by the sudden gust of wind. He steadied himself and looked around, confused, only to freeze when he noticed a woman and a kid lying unconscious beside him.
'They hadn't been there a second ago.'
"Hey-HEY!" The EMT snapped to get the attention of the others, already dropping to a knee beside them. "We've got two down! Adult female, child-unconscious!"
He checked the woman's pulse, then the boy's, relief flashing across his face.
"They're breathing. Get me a stretcher, now!"