Work Text:
7:00 AM
- Wake up.
- Get up from the bed.
- Fix the bed.
- Yawn...?
"I don't want to go to work." The man mummers to himself as he slips on his fluffy slippers. "I want to stay in bed."
7:15 AM
- Open the door.
- Head to the kitchen.
- Open the fridge.
"I need to buy food." The man hopes his manager won't ask him to stay behind just like yesterday.
- Grab the single piece of egg within and start making breakfast (Don't forget to make sure that the fridge is really closed. The electricity bill increased last month.).
- Grab a pan and turn on the stove.
- Pour some oil and let it heat up.
- Crack and fry the egg.
"..." The man looked over the kitchen counter and walked over towards his rice cooker. "...I forgot to make rice." He feels miserable.
- Eat the egg out of the pan.
- Wonder why you didn't just buy breakfast outside.
- Remember that it is because you don't want to spend money and that you don't want the eggs to go bad.
8:00AM
- Enter the bathroom and take a shower.
- Get dressed.
- Yawn again. (You're tired. You shouldn't have stayed up late. Your body can not take it, you know that you are strong but everyone has limits.)
9:00 AM
- Wait at the bus stop.
- ...
- ...
- ...
The man contemplated teleporting to work, but the mundane routine is what kept him grounded to reality. If he breaks it constantly, then what is the point of existing right here?
He can see it, the layers that make up the world, the trust and fear that flows, alters, and shapes the very foundation of the world around him. Destabilising and cracking it open little by little, similar to what he does but with a lack of finest and care to put the pieces back together on where they belong.
It's overwhelming sometimes, especially when everything is too quiet, that's why he sings and imagines music playing around him to fill in the gaps that make the wait a little less boring.
- Enter the bus.
As the bus moves and as more people get in and get out of their stops, the man leans back to his seat and just watches the life around him. He doesn't need the music anymore since the chatter around him is enough to ground him. He listens in on them, making sure to stare out of the window to not make it obvious that he is a gossip.
The chatter of the people around him varies from talking about work, school, the latest trends, and heroes. He even heard a pair of friends ranting about him being boring for not doing anything engaging for his stream chat, which made him roll his eyes.
A few seconds later, an old couple entered the bus and took the seats right in front of him. They are talking about their daughter and how much she's grown compared to when she was their little girl. The man can feel the fondness in their every word.
- Tell your boss later that you'd like to take a vacation leave. (You haven't seen or called your parents for a while now. You miss them.)
9:50 AM
- Enter the building.
- Swipe in your ID to clock in.
- Enter the elevator
9:58 AM
- Go to your desk. (Shit, where is your mug- oh it's in the drawer.)
10:00 AM
- Work.
The man took out his folder and pen, setting it perfectly on the table before grabbing his mug and heading straight to the coffee machine. There really isn't much to do today, it's a Tuesday afterall. Before he heads back to the table he grabs a handful of sugar packets from the counter.
- Work
Balancing accounts is monotonous work. The man yawned. He occasionally listens to his coworkers' gossip, with the tournament coming close some of his coworkers are talking heatedly about their favorite heroes. Yesterday, he was the topic around the office. One of his coworkers is ....not a fan of his and is going around asking everyone in the office if anyone even liked him.
It's not an interesting conversation to listen to until one of them actually brought up that they are a fan of his. It's flattering to say the least.
Being a hero is not as easy as he thought it would be. From an outside perspective, it looks gratifying. The trust of the masses given to you, blessing you with power to do whatever it is expected of you. Making everyone safe and happy.
However it is honestly just as monotonous as what he is doing right now. All the interviews, brand deals, photoshoots and commercials done to maintain one's trust value can all be equated to the repeated cycle of going to work in a 9-5 and getting paid.
The expectations are different but the need to fulfil and succeed are there. As a normal person, you have to keep up appearances and conform to society so as to not be an outcast. It's the intensity of expectations that varies the higher the trust value an individual attains, consequently, the more restrictive the choices one can make becomes.
The man knows he's lucky, even more lucky than the singer he gave a coin to a few years back. Because compared to everyone else, he isn't bound by the expectation of others. He believes that he can change it for everyone though, but acting recklessly will get him nowhere, he needs to stick with the plan.
He can make it work.
Right now, however, he made a typo somewhere on the excel because the total balance came out in negatives.
He sighs.
12: 00 PM
- LUNCH GET YOUR LUNCH (You want the greasiest burger you can find, you'll also kill for some donuts.)
- EAT YOUR LUNCH (You feel extremely full and satisfied.)
1:00 PM
- Work.
The man's coworker asked him about his opinion towards Queen. "I like her." The man smiled and didn't elaborate.
She has a good heart and the right goals, he didn't say. He feels bad for her but he cannot let her win. Not yet.
2:00 PM
- Work.
3:00 PM
- Send a leave request to your manager.
4:00 PM
- Work. (Your back hurts, you're getting old.)
5:00 PM
- Close your laptop and leave.
- Pass by the vending machine and buy strawberry milk. (You have enough time.)
5:11 PM
- ...
"You looked shocked." Smile said grinning wider at the man's baffled expression.
"I told you I'll pick you up this week, didn't I?" Smile said as he tossed a helmet and a jacket towards the man, which he effortlessly caught.
"I didn't think you'd mean in front of my day job." The man grumbled, removing his glasses and putting on the Smile branded gear. "This is really reckless. If I get exposed as X because of your shenanigans, I'll send you further than the moon."
Smile laughed. "You've seen the interview?" The man rolled his eyes underneath the helmet. Smile can't see it but he laughed louder.
"How did I do? I tried to act as if you're a mystery to me." Smile placed on his helmet and rode his motorcycle, the man following suit.
The speakers within the man's helmet flared to life. " Although it's getting harder after I saw you soaked like a wet cat last week."
Before the man could retort and threaten the blonde hero, Smile revved up the engine and immediately drived, causing the man to panic and grab onto Smile's waist. He can hear Smile's laughter in the speakers as he tightens his grip.
Asshole.
??:?? PM
The man burped loudly as he stretched himself out on the sofa. "If you aren't a good cook, I would have punched you a long time ago."
"Mr. X? Actually punching a fellow hero?" Smile's smile turned into a challenging grin. "Let me record that, the HAC will freak out!"
Smile looked over for the man's reaction only to find him frowning. "My bad, I forgot you don't like the tournament." Smile said, trying to look apologetic.
"hm.” The man, now the famous X, looked Smile in the face, eyes settling down to the permanent smile cursed to him by the trust system.
"I know it's necessary to shuffle the ranks, and just to be clear, I actually do find it fun.”
"But?”
“But what?” X glared.
Smile pointed his can of beer at him, laughed and said. “You still don't like it."
Smile puts down the can of beer in his hand on the table. "You made sure that none of the matches against you are actually entertaining. Everyone can tell that. Well, I can't blame you either since I sometimes resent it too."
The man stayed silent, picking up the drink that Smile put down and drinking from it.
"Did you know my ranking dropped significantly after my loss to Bowa?" Smile leaned back in the sofa, raising up his wrist, he looked at his constantly changing trust value. "A lot of people didn't want her to win, mostly because she was a chick and because I'm a guy who lost to her, my trust value went down because of people thinking that I was weak for losing to a girl."
"A portion of my trust value came from my fans finding me hilarious and carefree. It wasn't until that fight that I experienced that wouldn't forever be the case.
After that tournament, I got bashed for not taking the fight seriously. I barely even made it in the top ten in the last tournament." Smile puts down his arm and places his hand on top of his chest.
"It eats away at you, you know? Constantly having to think about what you should do to make everyone happy." Smile frowned his brows, the smile stuck to his face didn't hinder him from expressing his feeling of irony. X studied his face for a while.
"I can take it away, if you like." X claimed, putting the, now, empty can back on the table. He looked at Smile's right hand.
"If you trust me." Smile looked at him skeptically. X stretched out his hand.
Smile raised the hand that was placed on his chest and reached out.
??:?? PM
Smile frowned. Then his eyes widened.
X laughed at Smile's bewilderment.
Smile quickly pulled back his hand.
??:?? PM
- Calm down Smile. (Tell him you mean well, that you are doing this all for them)
"So you can just do that?!" Smile asked, the permanent smile is back on his face as he grips his wrist and checks his everchanging trust value.
"Yeah."
"And you didn't tell me before?!" Smile glared at the man.
"Yeah."
X chuckled. "Calm down, idiot, I can't just do it willingly."
"What do you mean?" Smile inquired, slowly calming down.
"I need people to believe in me." X said, raising his right wrist, revealing his own trust value. "Since you believe in me, I can cut the system's connection to you." Upon registering his words, Smile stared at him in horror.
"Everyone is connected by the system, whether it's through fear or trust." X explained, letting his vision pass through the 3rd dimension and into the 2nd dimension where everything is more structured in pieces.
"I can see how trust and fear shifts and flows through the very fabric of reality. And if everyone's belief is connected to me-"
"Then you can cut everything off."
"-then I can free everyone."
12:00 AM
- Sleep.
The man wanted to sleep but Smile's scared expression kept him up. The other man immediately got up and left after he found out what X really wanted to do.
The trust system is heavily integrated and practically built the world, X knows that taking it away will cause a societal collapse.
He has a plan to prevent that though, he just never got the chance to explain that to Smile since the other man practically almost ran away.
He sat up from his bed and grabbed his phone on the bedside table.
His finger hovered to call Smile but he scrolled down and called his parents instead.
They picked up, asking why he's calling so late.
He told them that he misses them and asked if he can visit this weekend.
They are ecstatic.
He didn't realise that they probably missed him as much as he misses them.
- You took note of the fact that you've been wrong about a lot of things and that you still have a lot to learn.
8:00 AM
- Get to work
When the man stepped out of the house he found Smile in the road with his motorcycle.
"I thought about what happened yesterday."
"Me too."
Smile walked up to him and looked him straight in the eyes, as if trying to intimidate him.
"After that, what then?"
X blinked.
"If you do what you said, how can I trust you not to be another Zero when all is said and done?" Smile asked. Uncertainty in his gaze.
- He wants to believe in you.
- Make him believe in you.
"I'll be gone." X promised.
"After this, I'm just done."
Smile searched X's face for any hint of deception and he found none. Their faces are close enough that it caused X's glasses to fog.
Smile gave him one last look before stepping back.
"I trust you."
He means it.
He can feel the surge of Smile's belief in him.
8:24 AM
"It's still early." The man sadly said when he looked at his smart watch. His phone suddenly pinged, he unpocketed it and looked at the notifications. Smile sent him some money.
"Eat breakfast, I saw how barren your fridge is, I doubt you ate anything this morning." Smile said, before starting up the engine.
"You're not eating with me? And here I thought you loved me." The man teased.
"Dream on, man." Smile laughed, shaking his head.
"Smile."
"Hm?"
"Do you want to visit my parents with me?." X asked, looking away. "I'm planning on visiting them this weekend. If you wanna come with me, I'll greatly appreciate it."
Smile tilted his head and observed him. "Do you just want a free ride?"
X quickly shook his head. "No, I want you to meet them."
Smile's face is covered by his helmet but he can feel the bright mood that took over the man's posture.
"Sure."