Hitoshi Shinsou parked his bike outside of his usual haunt, Nekonomicon. The rack was a bit crooked, but it did the job well enough. The boy was exhausted, as always, and needed some coffee. This was the place for him. Good beverage menu, a decent library of books and curios to peruse, gothic atmosphere, a place to chain his purple ten-speed, and the main selling point: a whole lot of cats. That was what kept him coming here the most.
The purple-eyed boy might have had a quirk many would associate with villainy (especially before he entered UA) and was stuck in general studies, but he dreamed of being a hero one day. His heart couldn't help what it yearned for. That's something he had heard from his family, especially his grandmother. He thought back to her house and the litter of kittens she cared for. Their mother had died, so the old woman had adopted the orphaned kittens and reared them the best she could. He used to love visiting the old woman, up until her death two years ago. The cats luckily all went to good homes. He even got to keep one, whom he had named Brainiac, ironically, as the cat would constantly make bad judgement calls.
Places like this reminded him of that, albeit with better music. He ordered his coffee, a dark roast with a hint of hazelnut, and sat on an antique looking couch with black velvet cushions. Various gloomy and macabre images adorned the room, but with a comical feline twist. Shinsou appreciated this place for several reasons, its sense of humor being among them.
As he reclined in his seat, beckoning a pure black munchkin to his side with some provided treats, the door swung open. It hadn't distracted the brainwash boy at all. He was content with his cat friends.
What got his attention is that he thought he recognized the person who had entered. She was in the hero program, lucky girl.
He sighed to himself, trying not to get too bogged down in jealousy. There was no point to it and he was in too good a mood. Besides, he would get there eventually. He looked down at his Wild Wild Pussycats shirt, vintage from their early years, as a calico cat crawled onto his lap and curled up. This one knew him all too well.
"Sup, Maru-chan? How're you doing, old girl?" he sat his coffee down and stroked the chubby feline affectionately as she slowly closed her eyes and purred.
Shinsou directed his attention back to the hero course girl. She had short gray hair, with a bang over one of her blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a black pleated skirt, black hi-tops, matching thigh-highs with a ghost pattern adorning them, and a black and white striped top. Over the girl's shoulder was the strap of a dark purple messenger bag, covered in various buttons and charms, depicting various band logos, anime characters, pro hero emblems, and what looked to be a few depictions of yokai. Her posture was off, kind of like a ghost, though it also reminded him of if you held a cat a certain way, so their paws folded over. He might have had problems, he chuckled to himself.
He had no idea what this girl's quirk was. He heard it had something to do with ghosts. Seemed potent enough. He figured she was as blessed as some of the 1a students but figured if it had something to do with possession, she was probably not too different from him.
He had to smile, feeling bad slightly for hoping her quirk was like that. Possessing people, taking over their bodies. It almost seemed villainous. And yet, if she could make it into the hero program, surely, he could too.
He returned his attention to the cats. He had been to a few different cat cafes. He had a fondness for them all. He even had a top ten for them on his blog. This was his favorite though.
An ancient song played over the speaker. It was a classical piece from ages before quirks, by a band called Joy Division. It was a more recent rendition, having come out when he was ten. The band was local, so it was performed in Japanese.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some movement and thought nothing of it. Probably just more cats, or another patron on their way out. He bobbed his head to the music and pet Maru, the black cat from before joining in as well on Shinsou's left flank.
A soft coughing brought the purple-haired boy out of his feline trance.
"Hey. Um, were you looking at me earlier?" the girl asked in a sort of tired, yet awkward tone, like she had deliberated on whether or not to come over.
"Not really. I assure you, I'm not some pervert. Just saw someone come in and went back to my business."
"Ah. Ok." The girl exhaled. Kind of a dull answer. He figured she would leave. He looked up further to see her face. It was the girl from before.
"Oh. You. Yeah…. I saw you were here. Hero student, right?" he asked, barely indicating emotion.
"Yeah. Yanagi Reiko. Class 1-b. You're that kid from gen studies. The one who fought that Midoriya kid at the Sports Festival, right?" she asked, putting a finger to her lips, which were seemingly in a perpetual state of being slightly puckered.
"Yep. That's me. Shinsou Hitoshi. Wannabe hero. Still waiting on my shot." He sighed. "Not to be rude. I don't do small talk. I wasn't gawking at you I swear. Just… was thinking of something." He trailed off, realizing that those words practically invited investigation.
"Hey, chill. I didn't think you were stalking me, man. It's cool. I take it you come here often?" she asked, a small smile creeping across her lips. Shinsou almost rolled his eyes.
"Great. She's actually kind of cute. Goddammit, I didn't need this today." He thought as a slight blush crept into his cheeks. He kept both those thoughts and the blush to himself.
"You ok?" the gray-haired girl looked for a nearby seat and found a chair nearby. She took a seat and reclined comfortably, looking into his tired eyes.
"I'm fine… Yanagi was it?" he took his cup, taking another sip as Maru leapt out of his lap. He felt saddened slightly by this, but she would be back.
Or not. The old cat sniffed at Reiko for a few seconds, then leapt into the girl's lap, eliciting a soft laugh.
"Hey, you. You're affectionate, aren't you?"
"Traitor…" Shinsou chuckled under his breath, then looked back at the girl.
"Hey, weird thing to ask a random girl, but what's your quirk?"
Reiko stared back, blinking a few times.
"That's a personal, up front question, man. I take it you don't talk to girls often." She deadpanned.
"Cute. Nah, the one I talk to most is currently in your lap, having the time of her life… I guess…. This is stupid. Forget it." He sighed and prepared to take off.
"Try me. Can't be that dumb." She shrugged her shoulders, her hands folded on her knee. He noticed her messenger bag a lot better now that she was close. It seemed to depict a sort of tropical sunset, a bit odd given her aesthetic. He didn't think much of it though. Why should he? His eyes lingered on the coffee table, its clawed feet resembling a wood etching of some strange beast that never actually existed.
"Just…was kind of hoping your quirk was, like, possession or something. Meant that I might have a shot at being a hero if you got one. Forget about it." His eyes met with hers briefly before he stretched and got up, finishing his coffee and going to pay.
"Why are you hung up though." She asked, causing him to pause. He should have expected her not to understand. He was about to say as such but figured he shouldn't. Not worth it. She probably meant no harm. Then she continued.
"I mean, I probably don't totally get it, but you did seem to have a pretty warm reception from your classmates, if that helps. They were chanting your name pretty loud. Plus, I guess a few pros thought it was cool. And you announced your goals and stuff after that. Seems like you have a heroic spirit as is, dude."
This wasn't new information to him, at all. He had been there after all, and he hadn't lost his drive at all, but he supposed it was easy to lose sight of moments like that when you were so eager to succeed.
"If it helps though, yeah. I can. But only for, like 30 seconds. I can also go intangible, for about the same amount of time. Not really fond of possessing people. It feels kind of weird and rude, but it can be useful I guess. Guess your power is no different."
He could relate, he supposed. He had felt some guilt for his quirk growing up, especially being told how villainous it could be growing up. Being a hero meant different things to different people, but it always seemed so sinister that he even resented his quirk for a while.
Still, it was his power and if he really wanted this, he had to use it and find a way to make that work. He thought back to the sports festival, his fight with Izuku, and how Eraserhead had started talking to the general studies student. The boy with violet eyes wished he could smack his head right now for being so dense, but he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of a cute girl, especially when she was curled up on the lap of another one.
The boy smiled looking back at the gray-haired girl, a warm thankful one that he hadn't worn in some time.
"Thanks, Yanagi. Guess I needed to hear that."
"No problem." She smiled again, only this time her cheeks seemed flushed with pink and her eyes seemed to shift to the side.
"What brought you here anyway, gray?" Shinsou asked bluntly. He wasn't exactly good with talking to girls, but mainly because his focuses had been elsewhere. He wasn't a total, stuttering nitwit around them. Just out of his depth. With anyone really, when it came to crushes and such. He figured he might as well make that small talk he tried avoiding earlier.
"I was bored and felt like checking this place out. I had been here once with my friend, Tsunotori. She likes cute animals and I like these sorts of places, so we compromised. Plus, they have free wi-fi and a Ouija board."
Of course. She seemed like the kind of girl who would be into that sort of thing. Gloomy things, the internet, and the occult. Upon inspection, she also seemed to be wearing a tiki necklace. Shinsou felt odd being so observant about such silly things as her wardrobe. Between asking about her quirk and noticing asinine details, he supposed Midoriya had left his mark in more than just bruises.
"I like this song by the way." She spoke again, being not much better than Shinsou was at this. His go-tos were either "Cool song" or "I like your shirt." If he even bothered at all, that is. Less heroic people could use his quirk to bypass small talk for the most part, but the thought of using his power like that made his stomach turn.
"Yeah… me too."
They sat in silence as the song ended and the next one played, this time, fittingly enough for this establishment, another classical piece titled "Love Cats"
Both teens averted their gazes and twittled their thumbs. The gray-haired girl fiddled with her phone in contemplation, which had a few anime charms on it and a case depicting a large surfboard. Finally, Shinsou spoke first.
"Ouija board, huh? I take it you want to commune with the dead and fuck around with unseen forces?"
She nodded, a slight smile once again creeping onto her face. She wasn't used to this and it was making her blush a bit. Her smile faded back to her usual open-mouthed expression as she retreated into her seat slightly, stroking Maru for comfort from the social clumsiness of the situation.
"I thought you would never ask."
He picked up the small black cat next to him, who offered little resistance at getting attention, and stroked it casually. If he wished not to appear villainous, he certainly was doing a poor job. He let out a small chuckle, to himself and to this girl he had just met formally. He figured he could get used to her.
"You know what? Neither did I."