Pull Chapter 1: Fly Away

“Aaaaaaaahhh, I’m so excited!” You squealed internally as you quickly made your way through the busy airport to the departure lounge with bag slung haphazardly over one shoulder while you held a take away cup in the other hand.

It was stupid o’clock in the morning and you were headed to New York for a teachers conference, stoked to have been given this opportunity.

“Ok so, long flight, then get to hotel, then I can sleep for a bit, conference is the following day…” You monologued internally, mentally checking off the things you had to do as you plopped yourself down in one of the departure lounge chairs and sat your bags at your feet.

You had just finished your teaching degree and had been released into the big wide world of ‘qualified and unemployed’, joining the throngs of people who were desperately seeking work but as luck would have it you were hand picked to attend this conference so you were going to get out there with your resume and hopefully land your dream job – teaching at UA.

A number of your friends from high school had gone on to become successful heroes and although you possessed a quirk that would have been very fitting for a hero you thought it was much more fun to train the heroes instead; getting a kick out of watching them grow and become a beacon of hope for the rest of the country.

As part of your studies you trained one of the more up and coming heroes; Kamui Woods, helping him hone his skills at stretching his limbs and whenever he was interviewed about his training he would mention your name which you greatly appreciated.

“Now I just gotta get into UA!” You thought as you took another sip from your takeaway cup. “Then I can spend the rest of my days training all the young hopefuls that will be the next generation of heroes!”

As you sat there smiling off into nowhere, a very disheveled person ambled over to you, promptly tripping over your bags and slumping down in the seat opposite you, not even bothering to apologize as he fell apathetically into the chair.

“Oh, sorry!” You gasped, quickly leaning forward to clutch your bags and get them out of his way but he was already in the seat and had pulled an eye mask from somewhere then put it on, seemingly fast asleep within seconds.

“What the fuck?” You thought as you looked up at him.

The man looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few months, clothes looked old and oversized while his shoulder length hair looked like it had had a fight with a blender filled with oil and was greasy and messy.

“The only vibe I’m getting from this guy is homelessness.” You thought as you looked him over again, a bit of pity creeping in. “I wonder if he’s ok?”

Seeing as he was now fast asleep in the chair with his head lolled to the side you decided to not wake him, and turned your attention to your phone to pass the time instead.

It wasn’t long before the overhead intercom crackled to life and your flight was called out.

“Passengers of flight 765 to New York, please make your way to gate D, we will be commencing boarding soon.” The voice called, rousing people to action as they responded to the call.

You got up and picked up your bags, looking at the guy still asleep opposite you.

“Should I wake him?” You thought as you paused for a second.

“Umm, excuse me?” You said softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

The minute your fingers touched his shirt he jumped, grabbing your wrist and holding it firmly as he quickly slipped the eye mask up to his forehead, giving you a dead stare with his half lidded black eyes.

You froze. 

His eyes were bloodshot and intense and now that his mask had been removed you got a good look at his face as a whole. His jawline was so sharp it could kill someone easily and you stared with surprise, not expecting him to have such definition in his features.

Still within his strong grip you sucked a breath in sharply and continued to stare at him.

“What?” He asked in an uninterested voice as he let your wrist go.

“Uh… umm… a-are you going to New York?” You asked softly, “because we’re boarding now.”

He looked at you then past you to the flight board and saw that the box next to the New York flight had a ‘now boarding’ sign flashing on it.

Without saying another word to you he got up and walked past you, making a beeline for the departure gate.

“Rude?” You thought as you watched him go. “Oh well, won’t ever see him again so I don’t have to worry about his lack of manners.”

You followed after him, lining up at the end of the line and watching as he walked straight past everyone and flashed a card at one of the air hostesses that was manning the gates.

She nodded and unhooked a chain that was blocking the entrance and he walked on through, boarding the plane first before anyone else.

Your jaw hit the floor.

“Who is that guy? How come he got to go in first? Is he a celebrity or something?”

You waited patiently in line, shuffling along as person after person was let through in an orderly fashion.

Finally it was your turn and you handed over your boarding pass and passport, thanking the attendants politely when they handed your items back and let you though.

You followed the corridor down to the plane and entered, the low hum of the plane engines making you excited all over again as the reality of being on your way set in. Kindly you greeting the air hostesses as you stepped across the threshold and into the plane, holding your boarding ticket out to the lady in charge.

“Good morning.” The well dressed head hostess greeted you, taking your pass and looking down at it. “You’re in row 27A.” She happily indicated what side of the plane you were on. “Please head down and find your seat, I will be down shortly to help you.”

You thanked her one more time and happily bumbled down the narrow walkway, looking up at the overhead lockers to find your row.

Finding it easily you looked down to see who was in the seat next to you and your face fell when you realized it was Mr Rude Homeless man from earlier, slumped in his seat with his eye mask on again.

“What is UP with this guy?!” You screamed internally, “why is he here again?!”

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