Author's Note:

Hello, lovely readers. Just a quick warning: this episode contains depictions of bullying and depression. You can skip the italicized section if you want to avoid the brunt of it. Also, thanks for reading and commenting! I'll let you get back to it!

~The Cursed One

In the morning, I did my usual exercise, but we ate breakfast a little later than usual. We'd been missing out; always used to eating in the near-empty cafeteria, it was a surprise to run into Ida.

"Good morning, Manderly." He glanced down, "Ah, this must be your younger brother." He held his hand out stiffly to shake. Moe obliged, and I think he liked being treated like a big kid, "Good to meet you. Would you mind if your sister and I discussed some class representative duties while the three of us eat?" Moe shook his head, "Very well, then."

I had Moe color while Ida and I organized the week's duties. I idly thought it might be nice to decorate the classroom a bit. Then, Ida said,
"Well, I'm off to the track to test my running speeds."

"Fun!" I said, "I'm gonna sit in a quiet place and try to brainstorm new applications for my quirk."

"And Moe?" Ida looked at him, "If your sister is otherwise occupied, I'd be happy to show you the training grounds."

"You don't have to do that!" I said quickly, but Moe had already started to nod. He froze when he heard me. "Oh, if you want to, then of course you can, Moe."

"I can time you." Moe told Ida, making him blink.

"Much obliged! Clearly, you've been aiding your sister!"

The two of them walked off, thick as thieves. I was more shocked than anything else. The other kids had never wanted to talk to Moe, much less spend one-on-one time with him. How was everyone here so nice?

I pondered this while I wandered the mostly empty main building. Lots of people went home or to the mall during the weekend. Lots of people trained on the training grounds. But only a few used the classrooms themselves for studying.

Me, I found an abandoned hallway up on the top floor and pulled out a fresh pack of crackers.

When staring pleadingly at the crackers for answers didn't work, I started goofing off with them. Ate a few, named a few, accidentally ate one of the named ones… I was lying on my back holding one in the air, when I slowed down time to analyze it. I let it go when my arm got tired, planning to just eat it.

Wait.

I sat up. The cracker barely moved, seemingly hovering in the air. If I poked the center it would shatter… what if I…

I gently pushed one of the corners and resumed time. The cracker spun and landed onto my hand intact.

Scrambling to my feet, I dashed to find Mr. Aizawa. I knew exactly how to win this time. I burst into the teacher's lounge…

Deku stood beside a frail-looking man with yellow hair and sunken eyes. The pair looked at me in alarm.

"Oh, sorry." I said as the man ducked to cover his face, "I was looking for our homeroom teacher."

"Not here!" Deku said quickly, voice high and pitchy, "Sorry, we're busy, tell you if I see him okay bye!" He slammed the door. I was going to leave, but on a whim I called through the door,

"You promise you're okay, Deku?"

"Ah, I promise!"

"Okay…"

Unsure where else to look for a teacher, and not wanting to interrupt Moe's fun time with Ida, I found myself walking and thinking. School hallways, fancy or otherwise, were all essentially the same. These were bigger than the ones back home, but...

I wondered how I'd forgotten about this.

.

Several Years Earlier...

Second period and I already wanted the day to end. I pictured myself packing my things and walking back. If I left early like this, I could hide out in the back courtyard and take a nap before the other kids returned. Wouldn't that be nice?
"Hey, Juju." I steeled myself. One of the kids at the home had called me that once, and it had been cute. But when my classmates used the nickname, it sounded like a dog's name. I made a point to ignore them whenever they used it.

Still, Lauren put her hands on my desk, so I peered up at her.

"I'd really rather you didn't call me that." I told her.

"But it's cute! We all have nicknames!" She insisted, "Anyway, we've been meaning to ask you, a few of us are missing our community service hours." Ah, were they going to volunteer at the dog shelter? I'd been thinking of doing that myself. I wondered if going with them would sour the experience. "We were wondering if we could visit the orphanage an afternoon and you could hook us up."

I raised my eyebrows.

"You want to help out at the orphanage?" I asked, "I'd have to talk to Mrs. Bead, but it would take more than just an afternoon. It would be a lot of cooking, cleaning, maybe playing with the kids. Want me to get the info for you guys?"

Lauren peeled her eyes at her friend Sophia and gave me a frosty smile.

"No yeah that's all fine, that'd be useful, I just meant if…" Now Sophia jumped in,

"You do some of the administration there too, don't you, Juju?" She piped up, "So we don't really need to go through Mrs. Bead."

Ah. I had a feeling that was what they were asking for. I decided to play dumb.

"Well I haven't completed my hours myself, since it would be kind of ironic for me to to them there, so I'm not really allowed to proctor it." They gave sighs of disappointment. I felt a little bad. "But really, I'll talk to Mrs. Bead about what you'd need to do to get your hours in. We're always happy for an extra set of hands."

"Oh… yeah." Lauren said with a forced smile, "Yeah, that'd be great thanks."

"Sure!"

But when I offered the meticulously gathered details to them the next day, they said they'd changed their minds. I knew Mrs. Bead would be upset I'd gotten her hopes up for more help. I'd have to make it up to her by helping out a bit more myself.

My nails dug into the palm of my hand.

I gave the information to the homeroom teacher, in case anyone was interested. Much to my mortification, he made an announcement to the class, saying I needed people to complete their hours at the orphanage. There were snickers.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Held it. I peeked.

It had worked. Now at this point in time, it had only happened to me a few times now. I tentatively walked through the frozen classroom, feeling like a was marching through jello, then I left it altogether.

Instead of fighting the strangeness of the air around me, I tried a more fluid movement, one that might fold me into it. I danced down the hallway. My arm extended then the air hugged it and pulled it further. I followed. I spun and dipped and posed to nonexistent music and then I suddenly stopped.

I was standing at a window, gripping the sides. After a moment, time resumed. The air no longer soft but sharp, slapping me in the face as I stared down at the dirt far below.

I stepped back and ran. I ran into the bathroom and I locked myself in for the rest of the day.

That's when rumors of my quirk began to spread.

.

I'd never danced again, after that day, just tried to move as I would normally, trying to ignore the resistance. I think I was frightened. I'd lost myself so completely and led myself right to the place I'd been thinking about.

But I was in a better place now, with better people. And this time I wouldn't be using it to escape, but to advance.

So instead of rushing to it, I practiced. All weekend, I practiced. Moe helped me and some of the others train as well, and he became a welcome presence amongst my peers. Whenever he wasn't doing homework or doodling in his notebook, he would follow someone from the class around to witness their training. He told me it helped him understand support better too.

My favorite moment was probably Sunday evening, when Moe and I were drinking some tea in the kitchen before bed.

Bakugo wandered in.

"Hey." He said, bored. It was odd to see him polite. I guess I didn't annoy him as much as some of the others. I gave a friendly wave and so did Moe, but his elbow hit is mug and it dropped off the counter. Moe pitched to try and catch it but lost balance. I was just breathing in when…

"Watch it." Bakugo caught Moe, hand flat on the kid's stomach, and I was so surprised, I didn't activate my quirk. The mug fell and shattered. Moe flinched at the sound.

"It's okay, sweetie, it was an accident." I said, standing to get the broom. "Stay there. I don't want you to get cut."

Ignoring me, Moe tried to hop down to help. But Bakugo caught the scruff of his collar.

"You heard her." Bakugo held him up and out of harm's way while I cleaned up the mess. Moe even tried to sip out of his shirt to get free. "The hell? You wanna clean so bad? Stay still!" In no time, Moe was pulling at Bakugo's hair while Bakugo somehow had Moe by the ankles.

Once it was safe, Moe was freed and glared at my classmate.

"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome"

"Thanks!" I provided at his retreating back. It was cute; to see Moe scrap with a big kid, and Bakugo show surprising care around kids.

.

Unfortunately, by the time Monday came, my built up enthusiasm was feeling stale. began second-guessing my excitement and progress. I tried to shake the feeling. I was sure I'd feel better during counseling. That is, until:

"It's a long day today so no counseling." Mr. Aizawa mentioned as he walked in and saw me.

"…Yes, sir."