A/N: I would like to thank everyone, who added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
"Your class wasn't in the entrance ceremony."
Naruto put down her bowl of ramen and tilted her head when Shinsou stared at her with blank eyes. She could practically taste the curiosity in his tone, almost as if he was concern about her and her classmates but she knew it wasn't the case. Her friend was the type to pry and probe when things interested him.
She wiped away the sweat clinging to her skin, pushed up her sleeves and stared at her clear reflection. There wasn't any glow in her eyes, almost reflecting misery and that wasn't what she wanted to see in her eyes. But I don't know if I can be happy. In none of her memories, could she ever recall letting out a loud-belly laugh like the other children.
But this was not the time for her to allow the ghosts of her past to wrap her sensation again.
"Aizawa-sensei wanted us to do a Quirk Assessment Test." She stretched her lips and attempted to make a nervous, awkward laugh. It was wrong. The whole laugh felt wrong but it wasn't like she could rant about the man scaring her to death. I still think he was being serious about expelling us. For the first time in years, her whole body trembled with fear at the idea of her atonement being taken away from her.
The world around her crashed when he declared what would happen if they came last place.
"That was harsh," Shinsou commented with a thoughtful tone.
It was harsh. Not once did she expected a teacher would say something like this, but then again teachers constantly lied. They never told the truth but she didn't know why she expected Aizawa-sensei to be different. Maybe I'm still being a naïve fool again. Her lips twitched and the desire to offer him a bitter smile was great but she smoothed out the wrinkles of her smile.
"It was fun," Naruto lifted up a dangling ramen and flashed him a grin. "Nerve-wrecking…but fun."
Shinsou snorted and shook his head. "Only you can find some way of making it something positive."
"What can I say? I've a gift." Naruto shrugged her shoulders and slurped on her ramen. It wasn't a good gift, not particularly useful but one had to try and look at the positive. After all, if I keep being cynical and outwardly show it then people won't be reassured. That was the most important aspect of the job when she considered what All Might kept doing in his interviews.
All Might wasn't a hero that she looked up to…but no one could deny his crippling charisma.
"So…what did you do in the Quirk Assessment Test?" Shinsou asked.
"The same, boring physical education tests from middle school except with Quirks." She grinned and shook her head when her friend twisted his facial expression to one of horror. Of course the older boy would have that kind of reaction. Until she forcibly dragged him to train with her, the boy was the complete opposite of a gym freak.
Shinsou nodded and looked at her with weary amusement. "Considering how I've seen you stop a eat-and-dash, you must have scored one of the highest scores in the Quirk Assessment Test."
"I did alright," she admitted with a reluctant shrug and a smile on her face. It had been expected for her to get first place. Most of those tests were testing strength and speed, something that she had in spades. All those times I ran away from Iruka did pay off in the long run. Her Academy teacher had been an ass but there was no denying that he could figure out where she would hide.
It had been fun to run away from him and during those times, she would reach to the gates and then an insane thought would come to her mind. Run until you are free from this cage of hate. The thought would linger in her head and she would pack her bag, ready to leave the village but something always stopped her.
Maybe it had been hope that she could be loved by someone in the village and that had been a stupid hope.
"Alright as in you got one of the highest scores, or alright in that you got first place in the test?" Shinsou sounded almost amused.
Naruto blinked and rubbed the back of her neck as she struggled to keep the smile plastered on her face. Every muscle on her lips begged for her to release them from the torture that was smiling, but it wasn't safe for her to drop her smile. If she didn't smile then what could she be? People saw her as this smiling, ball of sunshine and that was an act that needed to continue on.
It needed to continue on even if her hairs stood up with the irritation that Shinsou seemed to be confident about her skill. Why? Why couldn't he just think that she sucked? Would he think like this if he knew the truth about her? No, he would be terrified of me and the same goes for everyone else in my life. Monsters weren't loved.
Monsters didn't deserve to be treated with kindness, not when they killed so many people.
"I didn't get first place in every test," she offered him a pout and the male looked unconvinced by her words. He only rolled his eyes and offered her an expecting look as several of their classmates glanced at them. "One of my classmates can nullify gravity so imagine how easy it is to beat a score of infinite."
He paused. "Infinite?"
"The meter actually recorded the score as infinite," Naruto confirmed with a laugh. Her jaw had nearly dropped when she saw the score but it was to be expected that things in this part of the world was different. While the outsiders lacked chakra, they had something else that could give them some special power.
The boy shook his head. "No one can beat an infinite score, not even you."
Naruto nodded and poked her food as her friend stared at her with blank eyes. It felt nice to talk to him outside of work, but it felt exhausting too when she thought about it. The whole keeping-up-a-smiling-font was draining the life out of her when she thought about it. It sucked the energy out of her but there wasn't anyone that she could talk to about her problems.
The horrible thing about the outside world was that no one could understand what it was like to wake up and not see yourself…as yourself. I don't think many people have identity crisis. She looked human, had human features but she was apparently the Kyuubi. She was supposed to have nine-tails and maybe even have red hair, but she didn't have those things.
So what was she?
No, this wasn't the time to ponder over her identity.
"So how are your classmates?" She took a deep breath and leaned her body forward, hand clutching her face as she offered what she hoped was a curious smile. Distraction. This was a distraction that she definitely needed because if they don't continue to talk then her mind would wander into dangerous territories again.
Shinsou inspected her for the longest time before he offered her a weak shrug. "Most of them don't seem to care about my Quirk."
"And isn't that good?" She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows together. With all his complaining about discrimination, you would think her friend would be pleased about this but there was an odd look on his face. It was hard for her to describe what was going through his mind but she didn't really care what was on his mind.
It was selfish but her sanity was important.
"It would be good if I didn't have a few of them giving me weary looks," he sighed. "But you can't have everything, can you?"
But it is better than not having anyone by your side. She only swallowed the words and offered him a weak shrug before playing with her food. What could she even say to him? Those words were all about her and not about her friend's problem. Besides, everyone had their problems and being discriminated for his Quirk was horrible.
It was wrong.
"No but maybe they won't be weary of you if you just offer them a smile," she shrugged her shoulders and tucked a strand of a stray blond-hair before offering him a grin. "Your air of gloom is going to affect them, Shinsou."
Her friend inspected her for the longest time and Naruto kept the smile on her face. It was a joke but there were people out there that couldn't stand being around gloomy people. Was it wrong? Maybe but people had every right to choose who they wanted to hang out with someone, even if it hurt people's feelings. It hurts but it was a reality that she had to accept.
A reality that Shinsou needed to acknowledge.
"If that was true then you would have been affected by now," Shinsou observed, putting down his chopsticks.
I have been infected by someone else. She swallowed down those hurtful words and chose instead to looked down at her food. The few times that Shikamaru allowed her to hang around him and Choji, had been enough times for her to notice that the male didn't have a bone of positivity in him. Choji was better but he didn't really do anything to get rid of the boy's lazy disposition or make him look at the positive.
The chair beside her rustled and Naruto turned around to find Midoriya, that brown-haired girl and that jerk taking their seats beside her and Shinsou. Midoriya looked at her with hopeful, joyful eyes as if he had so many things to say to her. Maybe he did have something to say. From the few times she passed him in the hallway, she knew that the boy didn't have an easy time.
People were unnecessary cruel to him and she didn't know why.
The chairs rustled again and Naruto blinked when the jerk stood up from his seat. She was ready to ask him about why he was standing, when the blue-haired boy lowered his upper half of his body to a bow. This was weird. This was extremely weird and mortification threatened to flood her as several people turned their bodies to face them.
"Uzumaki-san!" His voice boomed and her cheeks heated up with embarrassment when more heads turned around to face them. Must he be so public? People were gawking at them. "I wish to apologize for my behavior in the entrance exam."
You could have pick any time to apologize for being an asshole and you decided now? The irritation threatened to claw out of her throat, ready to stab the bowing boy right in front of her but Naruto dug her nails into the palm of her hand. It stung but it was enough for her to regain control of her stupid temper.
"It's fine." Those words had never tasted so bitter but it was worth it when she saw the relief in the boy's eyes. I won't look like a bad person. That was the most important thing in the world right now. Even if it was tempting to drag out the apology, she could keep her head up high with the knowledge that she had done the right thing.
It was the right thing.
It was the right thing to do even though Shinsou stared at her like she was an absolute idiot for accepting such a half-baked apology. He wouldn't understand. No one would understand why she accepted these apologies. Apologies were like gifts to her, not something that she expected to get from people.
"She is definitely a goody-two shoes," Shinsou muttered.
If only you knew that I was the troublemaker in Konoha, the one that parents blamed whenever their children get into stupid fights.
But no one knew the truth and no one was ever going to find out the truth until she made a name for herself.
"You have been reading the same file."
Aizawa tore his eyes away from the file and focused his gaze on his childhood friend. Hizashi eyed the file with an innocent curiosity but he knew his friend's curiosity was anything but innocent. The man was going to dig and dig for information until he got the information that he wanted or until he threw the file at him.
And considering the fact that there was also just a tiny shine of concern in Hizashi's eyes, Aizawa just knew that the man would bug him until he spilled everything to him. He was grateful for his friend sticking by him even when he pushed and shoved him away from his life. Nothing stopped his friend from sticking by his side, but right now he just wanted the man to go away.
He sighed, put down the file on the table and stated, "Uzumaki Naruto is a concern."
There was a little bit of concern when he noticed the way she was forcing herself to smile, but the red flags weren't the fake smiles. It wasn't the fake laughs. If he had seen her everyday then it was concern, but for now…that wasn't a concern. What was concerning was the lack of names on her file. It was odd. It also made his stomach churned with concern when several possibilities came to his mind.
Possibilities that made his stomach tossed and turned with concern.
"A concern?" Hizashi repeated and the easy-going smile on his face faded. "What is there to be concern about? We have seen her file and that kid is probably one of the most well-qualified applicants that we ever had. Her credentials are amazing."
I know it is amazing. Irritation bubbled inside of him but for the sake of their long friendship, he was going to swallow it down and be civil towards his friend. Instead, he allowed the irritated sigh to escape from his lips before looking down at the file. Even in the photo, he could see that Uzumaki wasn't even truly smiling from her heart.
"I don't see any names when it comes to her guardian," he admitted, dropping his shoulder just a little bit. "I don't see any names when it comes to her parents."
There was a moment of silence before Hizashi snatched the file from his hand. He only thinned his lips and watched with exhausted eyes as his friend flipped through the files, probably searching for any sign that he was wrong about Uzumaki. They both knew when there were no guardians on the file meant that there was only possibility about her living situation.
"Shit, you're right." Hizashi dropped the file and slumped his shoulder. "Do you really think that she is living by herself?"
That was the only possibility in his mind and it was a possibility that made his blood boil up with fear. Not for himself, of course but for his fifteen-year-old student. It was cruel for a teenager to live by her lonesome self, for the child to learn from a young age to take care of herself. She couldn't be relax if she had to worry about her own survival.
She might end up doing something that would ruin her future. Images of the young girl making her way through the red-light district, sleeping with grown man in order to make her ends-meet and that knowledge was enough to make the bile inside of his stomach to rise up. This was unacceptable. That girl had a bright future ahead of herself and if he didn't intervene now then…
"We need to intervene," he steadied his voice and looked down at the piece of paper. "There is definitely something wrong if she didn't put the name of her parents or guardians on her application form."
Hizashi eyed him. "All Might knows her so you can ask him what he knows about her."
"I doubt he knows everything about her," Aizawa shook his head and placed his hands on his head. As irrational and annoying All Might could be, he sincerely doubt that the man would take the time to ask his waitress about her personal life. It would be too creepy. The girl probably wouldn't apply if the man had acted creepy towards her.
But it wouldn't hurt to ask All Might about what he did know about their student.
"What are you going to do if it turns out that she is living by herself?" Hizashi asked suddenly. Aizawa blinked and glanced at his friend. The man leaned his whole body forward, clasped his fingers together as his eyes focused on him. Even though the sunglasses covered his eyes, the black-haired man could practically feel the burning curiosity in his friend.
He paused and stared down at the file. If he was an irresponsible man then he would stop right here and let Uzumaki deal with her problem, but the girl was under his care now. She was his responsibility and he couldn't slack off on his responsibility, even if the answer to the question made his skin itched with fear.
Children were odd creatures and unlike Hizashi, he had never been good with them.
"She can't live by herself," he whispered, running his hand through his hair. It was wrong and would provide a damage to the child that could never be reversed even with therapy. Did she even have a guardian during Middle School? It was doubtful but it wouldn't hurt for him to check. "And if she doesn't have guardians then I need to take responsibility for her."
Hizashi didn't smile and only looked at him. "Are you sure you can take care of a 15-year-old girl?"
They have emotional needs that you might not be able to handle. Those words weren't spoken but it was hidden behind that tone, and Aizawa paused. He wasn't an emotional man, hadn't been one since Shirakumo died but he could try for the sake of his student. He had to try because that girl needed someone to look after her.
"She needs someone," he observed. "And I am her homeroom teacher."
Hizashi lowered his sunglasses and offered him a knowing look. Of course, his friend was going to think deeply about his actions and knowing the man, he was going to find a way to connect everything back to Shirakumo. His throat tightened and the black-haired man dug his nails into the palm of his hand. Blood dripped down into the floor but his friend would not budge from his look.
"He would be proud of ya," Hizashi commented, leaning his body forward and patting his back. "Of course he would also ask if you are ever going to smile because that kid need some sunshine in her life."
Aizawa's eyebrows twitched and he swallowed down the growl. "We both know that it is your opinion."
"We all know that Shirakumo would have agreed with me," his friend shrugged his shoulder and flashed him a grin. "But y'know out of everyone from our graduating class, you were the last one that I pictured having a kid."
Aizawa rolled his eyes and whacked his friend on the back of his head before looking at the photo of his smiling student. Kids? He could barely manage to take care of himself but this girl needed to be nurtured. She needed someone to be there for her and tell her that she didn't have to smile when she didn't want to smile.
He wanted to rescue his student before she fell through the cracks that society still had failed to fix.
It's the first day of school and Todoroki is already making his way to the library?
The thought lingered in Naruto's head as she watched her classmate swung the doors of the library opened. They didn't start any of their classes yet but it didn't mean that they haven't started talking to each other. Well most of their classmates did the talking, mostly the girls and Kaminari but that was fine for her.
Well…mostly fine. No matter how many years passed since she came to Japan, not a moment passed when she didn't look at people with wonder in her eyes. People were kind to her in this part of the world but they probably would give her those cold eyes once they knew that she was a monster in human form.
Humans feared monsters even if the monster couldn't remember any of her bad deeds.
Students rustled out of the doors and Naruto blinked when she realized that her heterochromatic-haired boy classmate disappeared from her line of sight. Well it didn't matter anyway if she couldn't see him. They were classmates and she could try the whole bubbly-girl act around him. Except maybe he is like Sasuke and is indifferent to that whole thing. He hadn't reacted when Ashido tried to get him to talk to her.
He didn't even talk to Yaoyorozu when she tried to chat with him.
Maybe I'm not the only one with problems in this class. She rubbed the back of her neck and stared out at the window. It would be rude of her if she tried to talk to her classmate about his potential problems but it wasn't like she could leave him alone to handle it. People should help each other and the fact that the boy was stoic meant he probably had problems.
Besides, no one would go to the library on the first day of school when they hadn't been given homework. Yeah, he is definitely trying to avoid going back home. If his living situation was anything like her own then it was understandable. Being only greeted by silence just reminded of the fact that they didn't matter.
In all of her memories, she had always been greeted by an empty apartment.
"Uzumaki!"
Naruto only blinked and turned around at the direction of the loud, excited voice calling out her name. Kaminari? She tilted her head and slipped on a smile as her fellow blond charged his way towards her. He seemed to be excited about something but there also seemed to be hints of nervous energy around him as if he had something to ask her.
"Kaminari, right?" She shuffled her bag behind her back and stared at the joyful brown eyes of her classmate. There was something familiar about the smile on his face. Actually, she had some idea of that smile from the amount of times that a customer came in to ask out one of her employees.
It took all of her power not to look away from him because she could be wrong about this. Despite what Shinsou believed, those boys weren't her fanboys. Why would people even want to be her fan? Being friendly wasn't enough reason for people to have those kind of weird feelings. Then again, Sasuke was a stoic ass but had a lot of fangirls.
So maybe Japan was where everything was upside-down?
"Uzumaki, would you like to have dinner with me?"
I have no idea of what to do in this situation. She wished she had someone to talk to about these things, someone who could tell her about navigating boys or even relationships because this was awkward. Relationships weren't new to her. With no parents to enforce curfew on her, she had been privy of scenes that could make a grown-man blush.
But accidentally seeing a couple have discreet sex in the darkest corner of the red-light district, was totally different from having a brazen boy ask her out on a date. Could she say no? Would she be in the wrong for saying no to him? She didn't feel like dating or rather it didn't feel right for her to go on a date when she didn't know herself.
Her voice wanted to say no but…
"You'll be lucky if someone even looks at you."
This might be her only chance of experiencing things that a normal human could experience.
"Do you want us to have dinner now?"
Kaminari let out a high squeak and stumbled as if he hadn't expected her to even consider it. She didn't really have a choice. This might be a rare chance for her to experience what human girls would experience at this age. Most of the men in her workplace were either former criminals or couldn't look her in the eyes. The male customers couldn't even look her in the eye, always staring at her breasts with a hunger that made her stomach curled with disgust.
"I-If you are free then yeah," Kaminari pushed his hair back and smiled with an excitement that reminded her of a puppy. He leaned his body closer to her and the scent of rain and lightning began to clog her nose. It was a pleasant smell but not one that she totally loved. It wasn't enough for her to lean closer to him but not enough for her to back away from him.
She cleared her throat and was ready to say yes when a pair of turquoise eyes flashed behind her eyes. I didn't make him any dinner and he is still badly injured. As tempting as it was to experience human things, there was just no way she could abandon Dabi inside her empty apartment. It was painful for her in an ordinary day but it must be excruciating for him.
"I'm not free now."
Kaminari slumped his shoulders and then let out a laugh. "It would have been a miracle if I could get you to have dinner with me on the first day of school."
"I'm free tomorrow after-school," she flashed him a smile and tightened her grip on the bag strap when the boy let out a sigh of relief. "So we can have dinner tomorrow."
The boy grinned and looked ready to pump his fist up in the air. She kept the smile plastered on her face, even though her eyebrows begged to be stitched together. Why would he be happy about her having dinner with him? This whole thing didn't make sense. This whole human interaction thing didn't make sense but if she wanted to fit in then she had to do this.
Even if her whole body was numb at the idea of going on a date.
"Great, then it is date!"
The boy offered her a wink before walking away from her. His whistles echoed in the air but Naruto was certain that as soon as he was out of her line of sight that Kaminari was going to be bouncing with happiness. It's funny because I would have been bouncing with joy if someone asked me out when I was 12. Not because she liked the guy but because someone seemed interested in her.
Boys had always been interested in girls like Ino and Sakura while she was the one that people ignored.
Actually, people seemed to like girls like Ino and Sakura even though they were more like delinquents then her. At least, I didn't go far as to stalk someone because I liked them. Even if there was something about Sasuke that rubbed her the wrong way, she had never felt more pity for him until he pleaded for her to hide him from his fangirls.
Well pleaded in the way that only an Uchiha could give.
She shook her head and stared up at the ceiling. I should focus on my date instead of the past. It was going to be weird to go on a date but it shouldn't be so difficult for her to prepare for a date. There should be books about how to date people. A good guide on what to do and even if those books were crap, she probably could do some research on the internet.
And if worse comes to worse then I'll ask Shinsou or one of my friends.
Naruto paused and shook her head.
Shinsou would be the better option because he wouldn't suggest anything to do with hormones.
"You're really studying that book like there is no tomorrow."
Naruto put down the book and quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Dabi leaning against her bathroom door. His spikey hair was barely hidden from her white towel but she could see a little glimpse of white hair. So he dyes his hair black? That is an interesting fact. Most people went for vibrant colors but it seemed like Dabi preferred mute colors.
Or maybe he was trying to send a message with his hair because god knew that was what people preferred to do with their hair color.
"And you're still here even though you made a big deal about leaving this apartment." Dabi only glowered and offered her the middle finger before stalking his way to the fridge. If this had been yesterday, she would have been flinching from his furious eyes and weird smile but she came to realize that the man literally could not scowl.
It was like there was something preventing his cheeks muscles from turning the other way.
"Your apartment ain't bad," he explained as if that was reason enough for him to spend another night in her apartment. If she considered the fact the man didn't like to disclose anything about himself then she supposed that it was enough reason for him to stay here. Besides, if she asked him to elaborate then Dabi would just stalk away from her.
She shook her head and traced the hard lines of her book before licking her dried lips. If the man could explain why he was sticking around then she could elaborate why her eyes were glued on this book. "My classmate asked me out on a date."
Dabi didn't turn around and that was fine for her, because it was nice to say those words out loud to someone. If this had been Konoha then it would have been the Hokage and even then…the man wouldn't care. He never really visited her. He only really talked to me once a year, other then that I can spend a whole year not seeing him. It had been understandable.
The Hokage was a busy man, who couldn't attend to the needs of a monster disguised orphan.
"You don't seem happy about it," Dabi finally commented with a tone as dry as sand.
She offered a weak shrug and looked down at the book with furrowed eyebrows. She should be happy for all intents and purposes because it meant she was considered attractive in the eyes of society. It should make her bounce now that the shock was gone, but nothing seemed to be filling her system.
It was just pure emptiness inside of her.
"I don't think I'm ready for relationships," she admitted, putting her book down on the coffee table.
Dabi made no comment nor did he offer her a mocking smile. He only stared at her for a brief second before picking up the leftover bowl of fried rice that she had made for them. It was difficult for her to tell what was going through his mind. It was even more difficult for her to know if the man even cared about her own situation.
"Then tell him that you aren't ready for relationships," Dabi said bluntly as if that was the most obvious solution. Maybe it was the most obvious solution but it didn't feel right. What if he told people that she was a bad person for agreeing to go on a date, just to experience what normal girls would do? Boys were cruel.
"Why would you guys protect an outsider but still look at me like that?"
No, people were cruel and they didn't give a damn about the people that really needed help.
"This might be my only chance to go on a date," she admitted bitterly. Her throat burned and her eyes itched as the childhood memories flooded her mind again. Once people find out the truth about me then my chance of experiencing normal life is going to be taken away from me, because no one wants to be friends with a monster. And this was the time for her to experience normal stuff before her skin melted away, but—
Relationships required being vulnerable and opened, to be without baggage. She read books about those things and even if her date was going to go nowhere, that was something that she had to consider if one day she felt worthy of being in a relationship.
"Your only chance?" Dabi scoffed and tossed his towel at her. It smacked her hard on the face as if the man was trying to give her a wake-up call and those turquoise eyes offered her a blank look. "If you were ugly and a complete bitch then you are right, but you ain't bad on the eyes and your personality is decent."
It sounded like a compliment, a badly-worded compliment but it would do for now. Naruto lifted the towel from her face and stared at Dabi, who was now scurrying her fridge for what could be drinks. If the man hoped she had alcohol then he better look at a different apartment, because she didn't drink those stuff.
Drunk people did stupid things and lose their inhibition, which was the last thing she needed. She could control herself because of the fact that her tongue never tasted it. And I need control. She also needed to figure out how to activate her other form but that was something she could worry about in the morning.
Right now, she should also change the subject.
"So…do you have a brother?"
Dabi froze and his eyes wavered as if he was torn between irritation and regret. That didn't completely answered her question but judging from the stone-cold silence, it wasn't a denial. But I doubt that he is going to say anything to me. They had only met each other but her heterochromatic classmate had one eye that was the same shade as the man in front of her.
"One brother," he grunted. "Why?"
She picked up the book. "Does your brother have heterochromatic eyes?"
The man stiffened even more and Naruto could see the burning rage in his eyes. She waited for him to yell at her, to lash out at her like the others had done to her but to her surprise, the man only growled and shook his head. It can't be coincidence that you two look similar. Those words threatened to come out but she also knew that she pushed it with the personal question.
"Why do you fucking care if I have a siblings? Or if my brother have heterochromatic eyes?"
Because I think that he is lonely, just like you are. The words kept crawling out of her throat but it never seemed to escape from her throat. Maybe it was the crackle in the air that told her that Dabi didn't want to hear that answer. But what could she say to him? What could she say to open the man up to her? Nothing really came to her mind.
"I just thought that you might want to see him," she admitted with a soft tone. "Since Todoroki is my classmate and you two had similar eye colors, I thought you guys were related. I thought that maybe it would be comforting for you if you see him."
The man balled his hands into a fist and even though Dabi didn't have chakra, she could see little flicks of blue flames creeping out of his palm. Todoroki isn't someone that he wants to be around…and he is lying about not having a brother with heterochromatic eyes. Why? Why would he admit to having one brother but not say that he had a brother with heterochromatic eyes?
"You shouldn't get involved with people's business."
She knew that but…
"He seems to be a really lonely kid," she whispered. "And he looks just as miserable as you."
The man didn't react and he didn't seem to care about the fact that his brother was miserable. People say that the opposite of love is hate but the actual answer is indifference. With love and hate, you could sense that people cared about you in some way or form. That they acknowledged you in some way but with indifference…
It felt like you never existed.
"He took my place so why the fuck would he be lonely? He has his acknowledgment."
And that was the only thing that Dabi would say to her before stalking to her guest bedroom.
(It was weeks later when she found out the situation from her classmate's perception and all Naruto could think was that the two brothers were more alike than Dabi cared to admit).
A/N: Please do tell me of your thoughts about this chapter.