If I had Powers, I would Hide It (Work In Progress)

Chapter 1: Abstract

The year was 2025.

It was a normal night like any other. I was sitting in a white, brightly lit room, doing exactly what I've enjoyed for the last six years since I started working here. I had just put in some of the new samples for my research to find a general cure for cancer. Sitting there, I thought to myself what I always thought every time I did this in the past:

"What if these are the ones?"

I let out a smirk.

The clock hit 8 PM, and as I was lounging around, one of my colleagues came up to me.

"Hoshigami-sensei, are you busy by any chance?"

This is Shirokawa Sakura, a 28-year-old girl and a very good friend of mine. She's a very outgoing person-she always talks to people like she's known them for years. We met back in my freshman year of college, and her charm reeled me in like a fishing pole. The reason she got into this job was because she had, in her own words, "for the longest time, felt helpless." She had a very weak body for most of her life, barely attending classes during college, but still managed to pull through. Thanks to a recent breakthrough two years ago, she gained a much healthier physique and is now working at this very institute.

Me: "Not particularly. What's up?"

Sakura: "Well, me and a few others are planning to hang out at an izakaya to celebrate Otagawa-sensei's birthday, and he asked me to invite you."

Me, with a smile: "Oh, is that so?"

I'm not much of a people person. I'm always too busy with my experiments to be bothered by such events. Still, I acknowledge the fact that as a human-a social creature-I can't live completely by myself and therefore need other people as well. So, I spent some time in my childhood studying human psychology and behavior. It's really quite simple: as long as you don't deviate too far from the norm, people will accept you as a friend. Over time, I've learned how to move through life at everyone else's pace and adapt to any social environment. That way, there's absolutely no reason for anyone to hate me.

Despite this, I still maintain boundaries and usually decline meaningless gatherings like the one I'm being invited to right now. But... for whatever reason...

Me, with a smile: "Sure, I'll go."

Sakura, a little perplexed: "Whoa, you're actually going? Okay, I definitely didn't expect that from you."

Me: "Oh, come on. What do you take me for? I'm not some heartless person who'd get in the way of someone else's happiness. Even I'd hate it if that happened to me."

Sakura: "Well, alright then. I'll go tell the others. We're heading out at 10 PM, 'kay?"

Me: "Alright. Say hi to Otagawa-sensei for me."

Sakura: "'Kay!"

As she ran off to tell the others, I couldn't help but wonder why I'd decided to participate in this event.

10 PM rolled around. I packed my bag and headed down from the 7th floor to the ground floor using the elevator and met up with everyone else. The group was buzzing with whispers.

Male scientist, whispering to his colleague: "Whoa, Hoshigami-sensei really is pretty."

Female doctor, whispering to her friend: "I can't believe she's actually coming with us. I thought she was too important."

Another male scientist: "I kinda don't feel worthy..."

I could feel some tension between me and everyone else. Personally, I don't think I'm that important. I'm just doing what I enjoy and what I'm tasked to do-just like everyone else. I always feel like praise like this is a bit much, just because I did slightly better than the rest.