Chapter Text
His agent needed help managing him, that much was obvious even without her outright admitting it. His time spent in foster houses was becoming shorter and shorter. The vow of silence he had taken helped for a while and when that didn’t work anymore, the muzzle proved to be even more effective. Now though, there wasn’t much else that he could do to ease people's fears. Either he was too much of a risk to keep around or he was more trouble than he was worth, no matter how hard he tried to be worth the trouble.
He knew he was destined to be a villain, he didn’t necessarily understand why. He knew it had something to do with his quirk. The people who forced him to wear the muzzle, who pushed him down at recess, who stole his homework and his pencils and even his shoes, made it very clear. He was nothing more than a villain. Never was and never will be.
He didn’t feel like one. He didn’t like hurting people like the people who hurt him seemed to. They seemed to revel in it. He supposed though that if he was truly meant to be a villain then they were right to put him in his place.
His foster agent seemed a little too thrilled when she had found a place that, in her words, was “more suitable for kids like him”.
It was overwhelming at first. All Shinsou had to bring was a small suitcase with very few clothes, his keychain with a cat plushie on it that could easily fit in his small hands, and the muzzle that was almost always strapped to his face. His foster parents had woken him up early that morning, shoved the suitcase in his hands and, before he could even fully wake up and process what was happening, he was in the car with his foster agent, driving away from one of the nicest houses he had ever lived in. When they arrived, he was greeted by a lady with long brown hair, who seemed nice enough, but by the time his agent drove away, it seemed she had completely forgotten he was even there, rushing off to take care of someone else whose quirk couldn’t be so easily contained.
Shinsou shifted on his feet, eyes darting around the room. He was trying to decide if he should get someone's attention, remind them that he was here, that he existed. It was something he was fairly used to. He was a quiet kid, not just because he couldn’t didn’t talk, but because he knew how to shrink in on himself and hold so still that he’d be practically invisible.
He looked to his left and considered peeking in one of the rooms or grabbing the attention of one of the few people who shuffled around the room he was in before quickly deciding against it. This was new territory, new people. He would have to wait and learn the rules.
He stood there for a few more minutes, standing straighter anytime someone stepped out and wandered past him, before a tall tan man squatted in front of him holding a folder open asking “You Shinsou Hitoshi?” Shinsou hesitated before nodding and the man looked at the folder a moment longer before directing him to follow. Shinsou shuffled behind him, following the man into an elevator and pressing himself into the corner. The man didn’t look at Shinsou the whole way up, instead, he just watched as the number above the door slowly climbed until it stopped at six. The man glanced down at the boy as the doors opened and tilted his head towards the opening motioning for him to follow.
Kids, all of whom looked bigger than himself, bustled around the space and, luckily, hardly anyone paid Shinsou any mind. Still, he pulled into himself, hoping to pass by unnoticed. Chatter filled the hall and he found it hard to follow any one conversation.
“Takashi!” The man called out, causing Shinsou to jump slightly behind him, so much for being unnoticed. A young boy with wild white hair and pale skin pressed his way through the crowd and stopped in front of the two. He looked exhausted, like he might pass out if he held still for more than a second.
His gaze dropped to Shinsou before it rose back up to the man. “Yeah? What do you want?”
The man grabbed Shinsou's shoulder, pulled him out from behind him, and pushed him towards the boy. “This is Shinsou. He’ll be staying in your room.” The kid's gaze dropped to Shinsou again. “Show him around and make sure he’s on time to breakfast.” At that, Shinsou could feel the man leave and he turned and watched as he walked back into the elevator without another word.
Shinsou slowly turned back to the boy and he pointed to the room where most kids seemed to be flocking around. “That's the bathroom. It’s pretty popular in the morning”. He motioned for Shinsou to follow him and he followed the best he could, stopping suddenly when another kid ran in front of him, before picking up the pace to catch up.
He was led around a corner and he attempted to peek into the door they passed before they stopped in front of the last door on the right.
“This is your room,” The boy said as he pushed the door open. The two headed into the room and Shinsou stopped when he noticed a girl’s eyes on him. She looked him up and down then turned to Takashi, eyebrows raised questioningly. He only shrugged in response and the girl pushed past the two, darting out of the room.
Takashi’s eyes scanned the room and he pointed to the last bed in the left corner. “That’s the only bed left so, I guess that’s yours.” His green eyes scanned Shinsou again before stopping at his muzzle. “I’m guessing you don’t talk much.” He coughed out an awkward laugh and grabbed Shinsou's suitcase. Shinsou staggered a bit further into the room and watched the boy carefully as he threw the suitcase onto the bed.
He gestured to the bed to the left of his. “That’s where I sleep. My quirk’s called Projection. Basically I can push images into peoples minds. I can control it fairly well but sometimes it slips out while I'm sleeping so, sorry in advance if you see some of my nightmares.” He looked down at Shinsou with tired eyes and added, “There's a reason that's the only bed left.”
Takashi made his way around the beds and opened a drawer of the dresser that sat there. “This’ll be yours. Don’t go through other people's drawers.” He deadpanned before kicking the drawer closed and turning to Shinsou. His forehead wrinkled for a second before he asked, “How old are you anyway?”
He pushed the small plushie into his pocket, held up nine fingers and the boy's eyebrows rose.
“Damn. You might be the youngest here. Kimiko is also nine but I think her birthday is soon.”
Shinsou rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and squeezed his plushie in his pocket with the other. He had so many questions. Too many. Instead, he just climbed and sat on his bed, staring at his hand and fiddling with his fingers, waiting for the boy to either leave or penetrate the heavy silence.
“I, uh-” the kid started, moving to sit on the bed across from him, “I usually would ask how much you know already but seeing as-” He gestured to the muzzle and swallowed. “So um-” He stared out the window clearly in thought.
A scream echoed down the hall moments later and the boy snapped out of his thoughts, swearing under his breath.
“Did- do you know what this place is?” Shinsou shook his head quickly. “Okay well. Basically, it's like a school for kids who have annoying quirks.” The boy sighed heavily before continuing, “But all the kids you’ve seen running around so far, we all stay here permanently. I’m assuming you’re in the foster system?” Shinsou nodded softly. “Yeah, so basically, most of us couldn’t get into houses because of our quirks. They say it's because our quirks are dangerous but mostly, at least in my case, it's just because they hate it.”
At that, he finally glanced up at the boy again. His tired eyes stared at the floor and he was silent for a long moment, either gathering his thoughts or lost in them.
Finally, he met Shinsou’s gaze and continued. “Anyway, In about an hour a lot more kids are going to show up. They’re the ones that come just for classes. Some of them actually have dangerous quirks, but mostly they’re under control, the ones that can seriously hurt someone are managed so you don’t need to worry about that.”
The boy's eyes left Shinsou’s and he sighed. “I think that's most of it. Breakfast is in like,” he glanced at the clock on the wall behind him, “ten minutes so.” The boy stood up and went to leave but stopped. “Do- you know how to read a clock?” A thumb jabbed over his shoulder at the time. Shinsou shook his head and the boy inhaled deeply. “Alright, I gotta finish getting ready but I’ll send someone to come get you when it's time.” He paused and Shinsou nodded slightly. “I’ll take you to grab some sheets and other shit after classes.”
At that, the boy walked out of the room and Shinsou found himself alone. He gripped the plushie in his pocket tightly and examined the barren room. The room was actually rather large but the six mattresses and two dressers filled most of the space. The side of the room across from him had four beds lined up next to each other with only a small amount of room between them. On his side, there were only two beds, but beyond the beds, there were two identical dressers with three drawers each. He distantly wondered if he was supposed to unpack or if he should be doing something to get ready for breakfast.
He leaned back collapsing onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He wondered if the boy knew his quirk. Probably not considering he was introduced to him only minutes ago. Usually, people turned their backs the second they learned what his quirk was, and if they didn’t avoid him like the plague they sought him out as their own personal punching bag.
He was an easy target. Skinny, and with the muzzle on, quirkless. Even if someone cared enough to question the bruises, he couldn’t tell them who did it if he wanted to. An easy target who was unable to do anything about it.
He sat up and pushed the memories away. He didn't know about his quirk yet, he'd enjoy the kindness while he could.
He turned towards his suitcase and pulled it off his bed towards what Takashi said was his drawer. He unpacked quickly, not bothering to keep his clothes organized, and dragged the open suitcase back to his bed, tucking it safely under the frame. Looking around, he saw that other kids had similar thoughts. Small shoe boxes and bags stayed hidden under thin bed frames, probably shoved with extra clothes or personal items.
He stood up and fell back onto his bed again, stomach rumbling loudly. As if he was summoned, an older, much bigger kid, with buzzed hair opened the creaky door and told him it was time for breakfast. He quickly slid the cat plushie under the pillow and followed the kid from a safe distance.
The boy led him back out into the thin hallway with a total of four doors and through the little slits in the slightly open doors, he could tell that the rooms were exactly the same as the one he had just been in.
He followed the boy around the corner and crammed into the elevator with three other kids. When the elevator doors closed Shinsou pressed himself against them, trying to keep as much personal space as possible.
The elevator stopped at the fourth floor and he was dragged along with the crowd as they pushed their way out. The room was lined with four long tables but he noticed that only one table had food on it. Kids were talking, laughing, and shouting, the noise being only slightly more manageable than earlier thanks to the open space.
Other than the tables, there wasn’t anything else in the room and it was a rather bland area, just like most of this place he had seen so far. Straight ahead of him in the corner, there was another door that swung in both directions as people with aprons rushed in and out with plates of food. Across from that in the other corner was another room but no one seemed to have any need to be there.
He cautiously followed the loud crowd and quickly tried to spot an open seat.
He squeezed his way behind the table and sat in the only open chair, squished between a large red-skinned man and a small blue-haired girl. The plate in front of him already had food on it but he was unable to eat. Not because he wasn’t hungry, he was actually very very hungry, but the muzzle was stopping even the thought of eating.
So he just sat there. Carefully eyeing the other kids, trying to gauge any potential threats or friends. He counted 17 kids. Some of their quirks were obvious, either because they had some kind of mutation or because they also had restrictions. The red-skinned man next to him seemed to have some sort of mutant quirk. His skin was blood red and he had dark black horns sticking out his forehead. The other kid on his left seemed to have a quirk that was activated by sight because she was blindfolded by a dark cloth.
One kid, with short black hair, whose quirk he assumed had something to do with his nails, was laughing as his fork kept falling from his hand because of the metal cages that covered the top of each finger. Shinsou thought he seemed friendly enough. Another kid had what looked like a hood, but it was secured snug around his face. He seemed to get angry at anyone who even looked his way.
Stay away from that one, he noted.
Another kid with eyes that reminded him of a snake, was eating so fast that Shinsou briefly wondered if he even had time to breathe in between swallows. The snake eyes met his and Shinsou quickly looked away, terrified of getting on someone's bad side. He looked over the other half of the table, desperately avoiding the snake-eyed kid, and noticed that the only person at the table besides him that hadn’t even touched their food was an older girl with long brown hair, who was also wearing some kind of mask over the bottom half of her face.
Her mask looked different than Shinsou's though. While his was hard, a mixture of plastic and metal that made any movement of his jaw impossible, the girls' was made of some kind of fabric. It took up about as much of her face as Shinsou's did his, but that’s where the similarities ended.
The fabric wrapped under her chin, climbed up her face in front of her ears, and rested at the bridge of her nose. Instead of a thick leather strap, hers seemed to be held on by a string that snaked its way over her ear and behind her head. She could clearly still talk, as she was chatting with the people around her, and he wondered if she had a pointed tongue or sharp teeth that needed covering up.
But when a woman came behind her and unlocked her mask, he didn’t see a pointed tongue or sharp teeth. Instead, he saw a light puff of smoke escape her mouth as she laughed before she quickly sucked the air back in.
A hand on his shoulder startled him back to his surroundings. He glanced up at the woman above him. She had golden skin, with hair that was cut to her ears and black, her eyes a twinkling blue. It was the same woman who had just removed the other girl's mask. She smiled lightly and he felt a slight tug as she grabbed the lock on the back of his muzzle
“Your name is Shinsou right?” He nodded. “My name is Shingi. I’m going to take this off so you can eat but don’t talk okay? We don’t want any accidents on your first day.” He nodded again and turned his head away so she could see the lock clearer. He was used to not talking, with or without the muzzle. He heard the familiar click and felt the weight fall away. He opened his jaw, stretching it as far as he could, and when he turned to look at the woman again she was gone. His attention shifted back to the food and he was about to take a bite when Shingi clapped her hands and cleared her throat, now at the head of the table. Surprisingly, everyone calmed down rather quickly and Shingi gestured to Shinsou.
“Some of you may have noticed that we have a new child here now. His quirk requires him to talk to you so please, if he isn’t wearing his mask, don’t attempt to talk to him. He can control you and make you do bad things, so for your safety, avoid talking to him.” He sank a little in his seat as all eyes glanced his way. He smiled lightly, hoping the kids would realize he was uncomfortable. Luckily a girl spoke up, pulling most eyes towards her.
“What kinds of bad things?”
“Anything.” Shingi answered. “He can control your mind and make you do anything”. Shinsou's stomach dropped. He didn’t miss the nervous glances that were still shot towards him and suddenly he didn’t feel too hungry.
Part of him was angry. Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe he could make them do good things? That maybe he wasn’t this terrible kid that wanted to go around collecting slaves to do his bidding?
Mostly though, he was upset that he didn’t even get two seconds with these kids before a familiar target was put on his back.
Luckily, that seemed to be the only question Shingi was willing to answer because after she quickly rushed off and the table erupted in noise again.
He didn’t miss how some of the conversations seemed to be about him though.
He silently ate the food in front of him and attempted to keep his eyes on his plate. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing over to Takashi though, hoping that the one person he knew here wouldn’t hate him. He couldn’t see any noticeable difference in the boy's demeanor. He still looked absolutely exhausted and only grunted in response to the conversation around him. Takashi himself never turned to acknowledge Shinsou but the yellow-haired kid to the right of him was shamelessly staring at Shinsou.
Shinsou didn’t try glancing in their direction again.
When everyone was finally finished, Shingi appeared behind Shinsou again, securing the muzzle to his face. A few kids sat and watched but mostly kids started rising from their chairs, throwing their plates in the bin by the end of the table, and making their way to the elevator and stairs.
As soon as he heard the lock click into place, he quickly followed suit letting himself be guided by the crowd. He had no idea where he was supposed to be heading but he knew he didn’t want to get left behind.
A hand grabbed his shoulder and he stiffened at the touch. Wearily, he turned his head to see Takashi and the spiky blond-haired kid who was staring at him earlier. Up close the blond one was less intimidating, but only slightly. He was very short, with sandy skin and brown eyes.
“You’re nine right?” Takashi questioned. Shinsou hesitated but nodded, slightly shocked that Takashi was even willing to talk to him still. It clicked for him not a second later.
He only felt safe because the mask was on again.
He let the tension in his shoulders fade and he turned to fully face the duo.
“So, are you in-” Takashi paused, thought for a second, before shaking his head. “What grade are you in?” He held up three fingers and the white-haired boy sighed. “That makes things slightly more difficult.”
Cold fear washed over him and he looked away from the pair, confusion and dread whirling in his stomach. Being difficult was bad, he knew that from experience. What did he do though? He followed along without question, didn’t ask for anything more (not that he could), and did what he was told. Silently as usual.
Takashi glanced at the yellow-haired boy beside him. “You’re definitely the youngest. The girl I mentioned earlier, Kimiko, she’s in fourth.” Shinsou's stomach fell a little. Did this mean he would be the only student in the classroom? As much as he hated the noise and the whispering he still preferred to sink into a crowd. Being the only student a teacher had to focus on seemed like an actual nightmare.
“Doesn’t mean you get out of learning” The blond boy piped up. “They teach your grade here. Other kids come in to learn too. Just none of us permies are that young.” Shinsou scrunched his nose.
“He means the ones who stay here. Permies is short for permanent residents in his hollow head,” Takashi clarified.
“Hollow?” The boy gasped.
Takashi ignored him and continued. “First through third are on the same floor but fourth through sixth are three floors above it. Literally all of the ‘permies,’” he glared at the other boy, “go to class on the fifth floor.” He paused before adding, “well except you now.”
Shinsou's heart picked up pace. He’d be left alone to navigate the building? Did he even mention what floor his class was on? What room? Shinsou glanced around the cafeteria. It was entirely too loud. He could barely even think. Sure, he was used to noisy foster homes but this was crazy. There were too many kids, too many eyes on him.
Takashi's hand grabbed his shoulder and Shinsou's gaze snapped back to him. “I’ll go down with you, show you what room you’re going to be in. We’ve got to hurry though or I’m going to be late.”
“Seriously?” The blonde argued, “You’ll definitely be late. You can’t take the elevator, everyone's already taking it to five.”
“Grumps told me to show him around. Besides, it's not like I’m trying to ditch, I have a legit reason.” Takashi started pushing through the crowd, hand still secured on his shoulder.
The blonde followed closely behind them, “Ms. Saburo won’t see it that way.”
Takashi reached out for Shinsou's hand and he carefully took it. “Kenzo calm down, I’ll be fast, worry about yourself.” He pulled Shinsou through the crowd and pulled open a door next to the elevator, revealing a concrete staircase.
It took everything in Shinsou’s power not to land on his butt when his feet slipped under him as Takashi raced down the steps.
“Pay- attention.” Takashi huffed as he pulled Shinsou around a bend and raced down more stairs. “I’ll only huff I’ll only do this today. Can’t-can’t be late everyday.” They reached the third floor and another door but the two turned and continued down the stairs. Halfway down the next flight, Shinsou did stumble and if it wasn’t for Takashi pulling him along, he would’ve fallen on his face.
They finally stopped at the second floor and the white-haired boy pushed the door open and pointed to a room straight across from them. Kids that looked about his age, made their way into the room, some even chatting outside. “That’s your class.” The boy said, wheezing, struggling to breathe. “Second floor, straight across. Easy.” The boy huffed again, giving Shinsou a thumbs up as he turned back to the stairs. “Gotta go.”
Shinsou vaguely heard the boy mumble something about being ridiculously out of shape and watched as the door slammed shut behind him. Shinsou stopped for a moment, catching his breath, struggling to breathe through the muzzle. He closed his eyes and attempted to take three deep breaths.
As Shinsou’s eyes flitted open and he moved to enter the room Takashi had pointed out, a bell sound chimed behind him causing him to jump. He spun around, searching for where the sound came from, and just as the sound stopped, he spotted the source. It was a simple black clock hanging from the wall above the elevator. He panicked and turned back to head into his class.
He could not be late for his first day.
He pushed into the classroom with the few remaining students and stopped. Where should he sit? He definitely didn’t want to take someone else's seat, that could cause trouble. He could just wait until everyone else sat down and pick one, but what if the seats were assigned? At his last school, the seats were assigned and the teacher would get furious if any of the kids tried to switch seats.
First days of school were bad enough, but first days in the middle of the year?
He eased his way to the back and waited for everyone else to be seated before deciding to sit in an empty chair in the last row. Before he could sit down though, the soft voice of his teacher called his name and told him to come to the front.
Cold panic washed over Shinsou as his body tensed. All eyes were now on him. Any remaining chatter was mere whispers now and he found himself surprisingly wishing for the roar of conversation again. The teacher blinked at him expectantly, wide blue eyes never leaving him her pale cheeks burning red as she smiled at him.
Before he could fully process what he was doing, one foot was in front of the other and he was standing numbly facing the crowd of students. The teacher ruffled his hair and introduced him.
“This is Shinsou Hitoshi. This,” She gripped the muzzle and pulled his face up softly “is to protect you guys from his quirk.” Please don’t say it please don’t say it please don't say it ple- “His quirk is brainwashing.” Damn. “If he talks to you he can make you do anything he wants.” She let go of the muzzle, his neck fell and he let his shoulders droop.
He wouldn’t use it though. He hasn't used it in over a year. Thanks to this damn thing.
Familiar pain blossomed from behind his eyes and he pushed the tears down. He would not cry while everyone was staring at hime. For once, he found himself glad he was wearing the muzzle. Glad he had an excuse not to talk. “Does anyone have any questions?”
A few hands shot up and a small girl with pointy teeth asked “Can he make me fly?” Shinsou scoffed under the muzzle and the teacher chuckled.
“No, he can’t make you fly. It has to be something you can already do. Like if he wanted you to he could make you do all his homework whether you wanted to or not.”
What a terrible example.
“Could he make me do my homework?” Another boy in the back asked. The teacher laughed again.
“Of course.”
Another hand shot up and another girl asked “Since he doesn’t speak does he know sign language?”
Shinsou waited for the teacher to answer again but instead, he got a soft nudge. He glanced up at the teacher and then, for the first time, looked at the sea of students in front of him.
He shrugged slightly. He knew a little. One of the teachers in his first-grade class had a deaf kid or something and was more than willing to teach Shinsou. He only was able to learn the alphabet, numbers, and a few words and phrases before he was moved to a different family and subsequently to a different school. He really missed that teacher. Even if she only talked to him because he couldn’t brainwash her with sign language.
“Sign language is talking with your hands” The teacher clarified to him and he rolled his eyes.
Obviously he knew what sign language was.
Instead, he pulled his hands out of his pockets and signed 'My name' and fingerspelled 'S-H-I-N-S-O-U H-I-T-O-S-H-I'
“Woah!” The girl cheered. “That’s so cool! What did he say?” The teacher looked down at Shinsou again as if he could tell her. Instead, he turned towards the blackboard behind them and grabbed a stick of chalk. He rolled it between his fingers before giving a questioning glance to his teacher. She smiled and nodded.
He hesitated a moment more before writing “I said my name is Shinsou Hitoshi.” He set the chalk back in its place and stepped away from the board, gaze returning to the floor, hands once again taking shelter in his pockets.
“Wow! That’s so cool! Do it again! I want to see!” Shinsou's shoulders dropped but he was about to comply when his teacher interrupted. “No, I think that's enough questions, we need to get started with class now.” He let out a relieved breath and glanced back up to the teacher. She was shuffling in a drawer and Shinsou was about to walk back to the desk he had chosen before she stopped him again.
“Here,” She said, handing him a notebook and a pencil, “I don’t know what point you got to in your previous schooling but hopefully you’re not too far behind.” He took the items and looked at her again. “You can sit in any open seat you find.” Thank god.
He turned and walked to the back of the class, hairs on his neck rising as the stares followed him. He slumped down into the chair and didn’t look up when the teacher started talking again.
The class went by smoothly enough. Luckily, it seemed that not only was Shinsou’s previous class not behind this one, but they were actually quite a bit ahead. The only time he really found himself needing to pay attention was when they started science, it was not stuff he had been taught yet.
By the time lunch rolled around the nervous glances from his class seemed to have died down, but when they shuffled out of his class and squished his way into the elevator, he realized that the whispers definitely hadn’t.
The whispers only got worse when, after trying to sit down at the same table as the rest of his class, the teacher came over and told him he had to sit at a separate table for lunch.
He followed her to the last table in the cafeteria, the same one he had sat at for breakfast, and his stomach dropped when he saw that he would be the only one sitting at the table. Perfectly standing out and on display, far enough for them to feel confident in their whispers and staring.
“The foster kids have to sit separately.” She had said as she led him to the table. “It’s for safety reasons. I tried to convince them to let you sit with the others since you’re the only one young enough to be here during this hour but-” She trailed off as he sat in the chair and stared at the food. She eyed him for a minute longer, swallowing hard. “I’ll be back.”
Shinsou panicked for a moment. Did she forget that he couldn’t eat with this damn thing on his face? Or did she simply not care? It wouldn't be the first time.
He wasn’t particularly hungry. The breakfast was enough to keep him going for the day. He probably even ate a bit too much for his small stomach, but he never really knew how soon his next meal would be. But still, eating was one of the only times he’d ever been free of this goddamn mask strapped to his face. He was pressed to remember a day he didn’t wear it, ever since one of his foster parents brought it home and attached it to his face as punishment.
He buried the thoughts down and pushed the food around the bowl with the chopsticks. The food smelt good, and the scent must’ve been strong if he could smell it even through the mask. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before pushing the food away and resting his head on the table.
It wasn’t comfortable by any means. It pushed the jagged muzzle ends into his skin by his cheek and at the bridge of his nose but he was tired. Not physically, more emotionally. Today had already been a long day and they weren’t even halfway through it yet. First days at new schools and foster homes were always exhausting. Shrinking under glares and pretending like he couldn’t hear the whispers was harder than it should be. Especially when he should be used to it by now.
Shinsou turned his head, glancing at the other tables, packed with wild noisy kids. A few heads spun away from his direction and he sighed.
Would he even rather be over there? He wasn’t great with people, in fact, he was the opposite of great. He’d just be closer to the whispers and the stares, and being near the students would make it much easier for them to let him know exactly what they think of him. Neither situation was ideal, but at least over there he could blend in, and have some semblance of privacy among the crowds. Over here, all alone, he had nowhere to hide.
He turned his head back to his table and watched from the corner of his eye as his teacher strode over to him, shiny silver key in hand.
“Sorry Shinsou!” she started, “We haven’t been able to make copies of this little thing yet and I forgot to be sure I had it for lunch.” She paused in front of him, face twisted into some expression he didn’t recognize.
He picked his head up off the table as she reached for his lock. “They told you the rules this morning, right?” He nodded carefully. It’s not like they ever changed.
He felt the familiar click of the lock but the woman paused a moment before pulling the lock away.
“You’ve got like 20 minutes left to eat. Sorry it took so long. I’ll be sure to have it ready by tomorrow.”
At that, she pulled the lock off and the muzzle slid away. Shinsou glanced up at her, and she smiled a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She shuffled around the table and sat down a few seats away from him.
He pulled his food closer to him and stretched his jaw out again. His teacher glanced up at him nervously but quickly glared back down at her food and he realized, with a twinge of disappointment, that she was afraid of him too.
He shouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, he should've probably been thankful she wasn’t angry. Fear was the best response he was going to get.
He ate his food rather quickly and, despite there still being a few more minutes of lunch, as soon as he finished eating, the muzzle was fastened back in its place around his face. His shoulders drooped as he felt the muzzle lock around his jaw again and watched with tired eyes as his teacher made her way back around him, visibly more relaxed now that his quirk was shut down.
Shinsou sighed, leaned forward, crossed his arms on the table, and rested his face on them. He wanted to sleep but the noise from the tables, and the fact that his skin crawled as if someone was constantly watching him, discouraged the action.
A few minutes later he heard chairs sliding on tile and his head snapped up. Kids were being ushered by their teachers and took turns entering the stairwell as other, older kids pushed their way out of the elevator. He joined the crowd and let himself be pushed along by the group of kids his age into the staircase and down a flight of stairs. When he finally saw he was getting led through another doorway, he instinctively pulled himself away from the herd of kids and stood to the side, examining the new area.
This was one of the only rooms that seemed cared for enough to be decorated. The room was colorful and kids immediately rushed to the shelves on the right, scrambling to grab the game they wanted to play. Some settled at the few round tables that scattered the room, but most sat on the floor, dragging their desired friends with them.
Few students went straight and pushed open the large glass doors into what looked like a library. Every wall, except the glass wall that separated the main room from the library, was covered by tall shelves that were packed with books. In the center, there were three tables, two empty besides the students starting to occupy them, and one that held four computers.
Shinsou shuffled past the others and pushed his way into the library. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that most of the books were heavily used, some even losing their binding and cover. He wandered around the room, familiarizing himself with the organization of the books and looking for anything that caught his eye. He was reaching out for a book about cats when a familiar voice startled him.
“Shinsou right?” He tensed and turned slowly, hand stuck to the spine of the book he was about to read. He eyed the girl nervously and recognized her as the girl who had been a little too excited about his knowing sign language.
He didn’t answer her question but she didn’t seem to mind.
“Sorry to bother you but I just wanted to say, I think it’s really cool that you know sign language!” She beamed, bouncing up and down on her toes. “My brother dated some deaf girl for awhile and learned a bit but he broke up with her so I didn’t get to learn any, but I always thought it was really cool!” Shinsou sighed, pulling out the book and making his way to an empty armchair near the corner. To his dismay, she followed.
“I only got to meet her once, otherwise I would totally ask her, but I don’t think her and my brother are friends anymore. He called her a whore and mom says that's not a nice word so I guess she’s not actually that nice.”
He dropped into the chair, reading the back of the book, and then turned it to start reading the inside. He tuned her out, figuring she wouldn’t be expecting him to contribute to the conversation anyway. He was clearly wrong because a few moments later he heard her say, “but I was wondering if you could?”
Shit. If he could what?
Shinsou looked back up at her again. She was no longer bouncing, instead, she twisted her hair around her fingers and stared into the floor. He just stared at her, trying to catch up to the conversation but apparently, he had done a really good job at ignoring her rambles.
When she glanced back up at him again she let out a shaky “Shinsou?”
She was obviously wanting an answer, but she must be stupid if she thought he could give one even if he had paid attention to the question. She was talking about her brother's whore girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend, and then- and then.
And then what?
“Are you just going to keep staring at me?” She clearly did not get that he had no idea what she was talking about.
After another moment she huffed, expression twisting into anger. “If you didn’t want to, you could’ve just said so.”
She twisted on her heels and stormed out of the library, sitting down next to a group of girls on the floor. He watched as the group glanced his way, clearly not trying to hide the fact they were talking about him.
Great. He already managed to piss someone off.
It wasn’t even his fault. Well, he could’ve paid attention to what she was saying and maybe found a pen and paper and written his answer but she had strolled up to him and started talking without even questioning if he wanted some company.
He turned his attention back to his book and tried to focus on the words. The stupid voice in the back of his head wouldn’t shut up though.
She seemed nice. She actually walked up to him and talked to him and he managed to mess it up.
He lied and told himself he didn’t want friends anyway. That eventually she’d learn to fear or hate him and his quirk and turn her back away like they always did.
Another chime of the clock and the other students cleaned up their activities and lined up in front of the elevator. Shinsou slid the book back into its place and stood waiting at the back of the line for the elevator doors to open.
He pretended not to notice how the other kids inched away to put more distance between them.