AN: Oops, I lied, there was another chapter. Now is caught up to AO3's Chapter count.

With that said, enjoy~

:)

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Chapter 8: Yesterday was Sunday

"We think poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty."

Mother Theresa

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It was a few months later when Touya saw the golden-eyed bird boy again.

Or at least, he guessed it had been a few months. Time wasn't exactly giving to its recruits at the Commission.

After … that happening with the envelope, the Handlers continued to isolate him from the other children.

The orange-haired Handler (his handler) had decided that he was well-enough behaved to be introduced to the other children of the Breeding Program.

(To the other prisoners.)

Apparently, from what he had gathered from the … agents? Members? Of the Commission, the Breeding Program was a subdivision of the Hero Public Safety Commission, and by extension, practically the government.

The Breeding Program itself had categories of its own. There were the children the Commission was aiming to breed into the perfect hero, the children they were aiming to breed into perfect spies, and then there were the children that directly became members of either the Commission or some other powerful, influential organization.

But anyway, a few months had passed before Touya saw the golden-eyed bird boy again.

It was lunchtime, in the cafeteria. His handler had led him to a part of the building where he had never ventured to before, told him to socialize, and made her leave.

It was also the first time in months Touya had seen another kid his age.

Touya… didn't know how to feel. He walked with his head down and a slouch, seemingly bored.

It was all going fine. He had grabbed a bowl of soba and was wandering over to the fried food section.

But then he spotted a pair of crimson red wings.

He had paused, then.

That boy… the one with the clear golden eyes and the kind voice. The one with the beautiful red wings. (The boy's red was nothing like His red—)

...the boy who Touya had yelled at, despite only having good intentions

Oh, joy.

He paused, unsure of what to do.

Should he ignore him? Continue on pretending he never caught sight of him in the first place? It would definitely be the most convenient, and the most simple. Ignore the problem.

But before he could come to a conclusion, the winged-boy twisted in his seat, his eyes zeroing in on Touya's position.

Molten gold met aquamarine, and Touya froze.

Is he-

The boy's face then broke into a smile, and he raised his arms to wave, gesturing in an over here! kind of way.

He was 50% sure his feet had betrayed him when he started moving towards the boy without a second thought.

Touya wasn't exactly sure why he obeyed.

He just … did.

No one gave him a second glance as he left the lunch line to head towards the table the boy was occupying.

The entire way there, the boy's eyes did not stray from his own, and his grin did not slip the slightest.

"Hi! You're the new guy, right? So, what's your name? Are you here to become a special hero too? Do you want to be friends? Is it-"

Why was he not mentioning the bathroom incident?

"Bird boy, you're scaring him," another voice cut in.

Touya blinked, startled. He hadn't even realized the person was there… sitting beside the golden-eyed boy, was a girl around his age with short brown hair and dark brown eyes, board posture and picking at her food.

Plain, almost. Forgettable.

But then her eyes zeros in on his figure… and Touya's took his earlier statement back.

Her eyes went from bored to analyzing within the span of a second, and under her gaze, Touya felt as if she could see right through him. Very suddenly, he received a new meaning to the saying; the eyes are the window to the soul.

Thinking back, the only word to describe the feeling was 'unsettling'.

She seemed to notice him staring, because she glanced up, to meet his eyes.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"He's the New Guy the Trainers have been talking about!" the boy answered, practically chirping. "So Blue, tell us a bit more about yourself!"

Before Touya could answer though, the girl cut in. "Blue?"

The boy laughed, embarrassed. "He didn't give me a name, so I'm just calling him Blue."

"But why blue? He had red hair."

"But his eyes are a pretty blue colour!"

The girl narrowed her eyes, leaning towards the red-winged boy. "Oh? Is that so?"

The boy, in turn, leaned away from the girl. "Um… yes?"

The girl chose not to comment any further and instead turned her gaze onto Touya. "Sit down," she said. "You are new, right?"

"...Yes," he replied, sliding into a seat facing the boy.

If anything, the boy brightened further, wings ruffling. "I'm Hawks, what's your name?"

(You are to be referred to as Agent Nova, and nothing more. Is that understood?)

(His baby brother's hair- consequences for his actions-)

"...Nova," Touya finally replied, hesitating.

"Wow," the girl commented. "That's a nice name. Better than mine."

"Really? What is your name?"

The girl smirked. "It's long, I'll tell you that. Long, and complicated."

The boy, or Hawks, snorted.

"Do tell," Touya shot back, letting a touch of sarcasm slip into his words.

She sighed, resting a cheek in her palm. "Ready? It's Evanescence."

"...what."

"Eh-vah-nes-sence," she repeated. "It takes some time to get used to. Not really sure what they were thinking, giving me such a complicated name. I doubt half of the Trainers and Handlers can actually pronounce it."

Hawks shrugged. "It's the Commission, what did you expect?"

"Point. But still. He got 'Nova,' and I got 'Evanescence'?"

Hawks laughed. "Hey, Nova?" He asked, voice bright and clear. "What to be friends?"

Touya raised an eyebrow at his question, but did not answer.

Why are you trying to make friends, was left unsaid.

But either the winged boy could not take a hint, would not take the hint, or was stubborn as hell because his only response to Touya's silence was to smile even brighter.

"Well, nice to meet you, Nova!"

And even though he never officially accepted Hawk's request… later, Touya would say that moment in the cafeteria was the day he made his first friends.

(He and Hawks never mentioned the panic attack again.)

(A part of him was ashamed. His siblings were out there, suffering, and he was here making friends? What kind of older brother was he?

But the other part of him...he longed for this feeling. Of acceptance. He could be selfish, just for a little while, just this once...right? Just once.

Just once, then he'll escape this prison.)

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It didn't happen right away. Almost half a year, long enough for the seasons to start changing, did it happen.

From the moment Touya saw them, he knew the two had some sort of past.

But he also knew they knew he had a past, and they didn't question him, so he didn't question them.

Either way, it was nice to have friends.

But… for the first time since, well, forever, really, Touya found that he trusted them.

It was… strange, the feeling. He had never needed such a feeling before.

But now, he couldn't imagine a life without it.

It started small. The days at the Commission were repetitive. Routine. And most importantly for a trio of 13-year-olds, boring.

Touya wasn't sure how the topic came up, but he was willing to bet Vanes (short for Evanescence, since Touya really couldn't think of anything better, and 'Evanescence' was long) had a hand in it. The girl had a way of steering conversations.

"Hey, Nova," the Bird had asked one lunch period. "How did you end up here?"

Touya blinked. "Mm?"

"It's been ages since there was a new programmée," Vanes explained. "Why did the Commission take you?"

"Ages? Why?" Touya asked, not so discreetly dodging her question.

"The older you get, the harder it is to get recruited by the Commission," Birdie piped in. "They like to train us young."

"Really? How long have you guys been here for?"

"Since I was seven," Birdie answered. "Saved some people from a car crash and I guess the act caught the Commission's eye. Then my parents signed away their legal rights over me, and here I am."

"I came a year later than Birdbrain here. I was hungry, and I was taught to never steal from lower or middle classes. So, I was being stupid and snuck into the main Government building of the backbone of Hero Society."

Touya's eyes widened. Just getting through the Commission's first line of security, that was… impressive, no doubt. And from an eight-year-old. "And you got caught?"

If anything, her smirk widened. "Nope. Not at first. Made it all the way to the kitchens and made it back out. That night, a friend and I feasted."

Inwardly, Touya shivered. This girl… he really didn't want to get on her bad side.

"Of course, I was caught, but that was like, a month later. And since I'm an orphan that was living out on the streets, and I'm pretty sure my birth was never officially recorded, so they just scooped me up and faced no obstacles in their way."

"...wow," was all Touya managed out. Personally, he thought the word pretty much summed her actions up.

Birdie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, 'Vanes here is scary. So Nova, stop dodging the question. How did you get here?"

Touya's expression hardened. "My sperm donor sought out the Commission and sold me to them."

A pause.

"...that's rough, buddy," Vanes muttered.

"Why?" Birdie asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "He didn't want me tainting his masterpiece. How am I supposed to understand the inner workings of obsessive, power-hungry lunatics?"

"True, true. Though," Vanes said, lowering her voice. "I don't doubt the Commission would have had no trouble at all understanding him. Takes one to know one, no?"

Touya laughed.

Trust Birdie and Vanes to turn any situation around.

(Touya was really thankful for them.)

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The Commission had a way of twisting their recruit's emotions, into believing that yes, they deserved this and that yes, us repeatedly using a quirk that makes it feel like we're slicing open your back with a rusted knife is for your own good.

Of course, pain resistant training only happened once a week, since they didn't want to break the kid too badly.

The mornings were for academic studies.

After lunch was what they called 'Hero Training'.

Each day, Touya would limp back to his assigned room aching all over, dead on his feet.

But it was the hour between dinner and lights out that Touya truly lived.

Essentially, the hour was free time. Most fell right asleep. Others chose to do whatever mundane housekeeping chore they needed to do, and in some rare cases, hobbies.

This hour was the time when Birdie and Vanes collectively decided (without Touya's input, mind you) to all clamber into his dorm room and just… be kids.

To just talk and mess around. Obviously, the three knew the Commission was watching their every step because there was a security camera right there, but it really did feel nice to just unwind and relax.

Vanes was calm. Like a river, who always managed to face the obstacles planted in her path, but always in a way that seemed graceful, and sometimes even cheeky.

She told them of her friend before the Commission. He was younger than her and hands down loved Heros. In ways, she saw him as a little brother.

The last time she saw him was the day the Government took her away.

("You know, It's been almost six years. I don't know where he is, or how he's doing."

Touya didn't need to ask why she never tried getting back to him.

Peppermint hair matted with blood-

Something similar had to have happened to her. Her eyes said it all.)

He learned that the foods she actually liked were very few, but she would eat almost anything edible.

But the most surprising thing he learned about her was that she was Quirkless.

("Are you serious? How?"

"What do you mean, how?"

"I mean what I mean, how?!"

"That makes no sense!"

"How did you manage to sneak into the Commission quirkless?!"

"Hey! Just because almost everybody in this society has some sort of Superpower, you don't need one to become great!"

Touya groaned. "Then how did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Sneak into the Commission, duh. What else?"

Vanes rolled her eyes. "The vents. Hid in the laundry truck thing. I'm light on my feet and really fast. A pretty deadly combination, but almost necessary to live out on the streets. I bypassed security because I stuck close to the janitor. But I'm pretty sure half the reason I even managed it was because no one expected a quirkless 8-year-old to sneak in. The element of surprise, am I right?"

Touya hummed. "... why would the Commission recruit someone Quirkless? Weren't they trying to create the Perfect Hero or whatnot?"

She snorted. "That's what I asked. Apparently, I had such the potential to make a perfect spy that couldn't let me go. Quirkless of no, they said."

A beat of silence.

Then, she spoke. "I don't think the world is fair."

"It isn't."

"Yeah, but it's just stupid at this point. You know, a long time ago, people used to hate each other due to something like skin colour?"

"But what difference does skin colour make?"

"Exactly! And when quirks first emerged, people hated the ones who welded those supernatural powers."

"...and now society hates people without supernatural powers."

"It really makes you think, what next? Strong quirks and weak quirks? I definitely know that 'heroic' quirk and 'villainous' quirk are a thing."

"...say, Vanes. Do you actually want to become a Hero?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

She was silent for a moment. Then, "...I think I would. Not a flashy one, like All Might or Best Jeanist or whoever. But like, uh… someone who isn't seen by the public eye, who saves all the children that society has left behind."

"'Children' like your friend you mentioned?"

"Yeah. … and being the world's first Quirkless Hero would be a great accomplishment!")

During these hours, he also learned about Birdie.

He was easily happy and absolutely terrible at hiding his emotions.

He really was like a bird, Touya supposed. But the Commission would make extra sure to stamp out all his bird-like traits.

Touya knew the feathers in his wings ruffled when he lied or was flustered, he would chirp when excited and trill when happy. When he was stressed, he had this kind of raptor stress grip or something, which only served to convince Touya further that the name 'Birdie' was a perfect fit.

He also told them of his desire to become a Hero.

("I want to save people. My home life wasn't … the best and a hero saved me. I want to be just like him."

One of the first Rules of the Commission is no names. No names from the Outside, no names for yourself. No names.

"Saved, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I think that's a noble goal. And with your feathers, you'd make a great Hero."

Birdie smiled.)

He learned of his (borderline cannibalistic) love for chicken wings.

("I'm a Hawk, not a Chicken!"

"You're both birds!"

"It doesn't work that way!"

"Doesn't matter! At this point, you're practically made of chicken!"

"You say it as if it's a bad thing!"

"It is!")

He also told them about himself. They never pushed him to tell, but in the company of his first two friends, he felt weirdly comfortable sharing with them.

("Father dearest was essential, the biggest asshole to ever walk the planet. Basically, he wanted a kid with the perfect quirk, as he called it."

"Then… Quirk Marriages?"

A nod from Touya.

"Aren't those, well… illegal?"

Touya sighed. "Human trafficking and Quirk trafficking are also illegal, but as seen with the Commission, it can be covered up."

"Especially easily, if you have the right knowledge and power at your disposal."

"Right. In his eyes, I'm a failure, because I got the wrong quirks."

From his position spread eagle on the bed, Birdie sent a questioning look. "You've got more than one quirk?"

"Yeah, I do." His words were short and curt.

"Which ones? You've told us about a fire one, but what's the other?"

Touya sighed. "He wanted a kid with both a fire and an ice quirk. A hybrid, so to speak. I've got fire, but… I'm not fireproof."

"Your fire burns you," Vanness concluded, a rare type of horror in her eyes.

"Yeah. The Commission people did a bunch of skin grafts or something of the like. I wasn't exactly conscious to disagree or anything."

"...dude."

"What makes it worse is that I'm not fire-resistant. I'm ice resistant."

"And you said he trained you?" Birdie piped up.

"Yeah."

"Even though he knew your fire would hurt you?!"

"Yes."

"...Blue, please mind my language, but that sperm donor of yours is a fucking asshole of a barbarian shoved in a shitty excuse for human skin. I hope you never have to go back to him."

"...you know," Vaness whispered to Touya. "I have no idea how he got written off as happy-go-lucky."

"I don't either," Touya replied. "Let us fear for whoever gets on his bad side. I don't think they'll be likely to survive it."

"Agreed."

"Hey! You guys!"

At the back of his mind, Touya still longed to go back to the house. Not for the Bastard, but for his siblings. Times like these made guilt settle itself in Touya's stomach, refusing to lessen its hold. Touya hated it.)

There was a story told, among the children of the Commission. Both Hawks and Vanes knew it, having been in the Program for so long, but since Touya himself was a new recruit, Hawks and Vanes took it upon themselves to give him the full story-telling experience.

("It's called the Legend of Shiryou," Nova said.

"Legend?" Touya asked. "Why so fancy wording?"

"It's 'cus they say it's a true story," Hawks butted in.

"No one asked you."

That comment earned him a face full of red feathers.

"Apparently," Vanes cut in. "This happened just a few months ago. It's relatively new."

"So what's it about?"

"Once upon a time-"

"That makes it sound so magic-y."

"Nova, shush! All the good stories start like this."

"Thank you, Hawks. Once upon a time, there was a woman named Shiryou. She worked for the Hero Public Safety Commission. Not in the Breeding Program, though. They say that she was ordinary. She was in charge of handling the Provisional Licence Exams for the Hero Students, and she had a small family and didn't exactly stand out much."

"Where is this story even going?"

Either the story itself was boring, or Vanes was just a terrible storyteller.

But he may be slightly biased; Yumi was always the best storyteller.

"Nova, shush!" Cried the chicken.

"And why should I-"

Face full of feathers.

"Vanes has gotta explain this part, or else the rest won't make sense!"

"Okay, okay, I'm shutting up now!"

"Anyways. She was ordinary. But. She had a very powerful mental based quirk."

"What was her quirk?"

"No one knows exactly. But it mental based, and it was powerful. So much so, that after her first meeting with the President of the Commission, she realized that there was something else going on."

Touya raised an eyebrow, propping his chin up with a bandaged palm. "What do you mean?"

At his question, Vanes practically brightened.

"To put it simply, this woman uncovered the existence of the Breeding Program."

"Yeah, that nice and all but-wait. What."

"Take you time."

"Shut up. When you say 'Breeding Program', you are talking about the government protected, doesn't exist on paper and has no records Breeding Program? Or did I just hear wrong?"

Her grin widened. "That's the one."

"I-" Touya cut himself off, steadying his breathing. "How?"

Vanes shrugged, far too casual for his liking. "No one knows," was her simple answer. "That's why it's a legend, idiot."

"...how do you even know about the story?"

Birdie was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Like, you said the story was most likely true, right?"

"...yes…?"

"Well, then wouldn't the Commission be trying to completely cover it up?"

At his question, Vanes huffed. "They did," she confirmed. "Not sure why they didn't cover it up completely; probably for some sort of lesson or whatever."

Touya hesitated. "How are you two even allowed to talk about this?"

The winged boy and brunette shared a glance.

A pause.

"...We don't know. We just… can."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, it's more like you know there are two ways to peel a banana, right? Anyhow, so-"

The next few minutes were spent completely off-topic featuring young teenagers debating bananas.

The content was too strange to be written, for it continued more than two-thirds of the entire conversation was slang, wing flapping, feathers in faces and gestures.

That, and interrupting each other.

But they did eventually get back on track.

"We don't know," Vanes started. "But we have and did, and they never punished us, so…" her voice trailed off. "We just kept doing it."

"We?"

Birdie grinned. "Everyone does it! It makes a great story to share since everyone's kinda isolated here."

"Huh."

The three never spoke of it again, but that doesn't mean either one of them forgot about it.

The Shiryou Legend was the first step towards Verity.)

All in all, despite the gruelling training of the Commission, Touya had his friends, and he felt … lighter. Like a burden shared.

He could also tell that in those hours, messing around, made Birdie and Vanes' day, too.

For a long time, he was strangely happy.

A bit more than a year passed this way, in a strange sort of limbo between good, bad, calm and constant vigilance.

But Touya knew, perhaps better than anybody, that the good things didn't last.

They almost never did.

And he was right; in the summer of Touya's 14th year, Agent Evanescence failed the Breeding Program.

Touya didn't like being right.