Happy reading!
Chapter 3: 3 Years from Now
A bowl of rice with miso soup from yesterday morning was everything that Kazuna got for breakfast on her second day of school. Right when she woke up, she had a plan to make a pan-roasted salmon until she found out that she had no oil left, new or used. How could she forget about one of the most essential ingredients in cooking? She had no idea. All she knew was that she wouldn't be content if the skin of her fish wasn't extra crispy to the point of almost being burned.
Once she was done eating, she washed her plates and wiped her dining table, then she went back to her bedroom to change her wrinkled pajama into her well-ironed uniform and wear a pair of black gloves she got from one of her wardrobe's drawers. She grabbed her bag from her study desk and headed to the entryway to do the finishing touch, which would be her black socks and red sneakers. She'd been using these worn-out shoes for three years, but she hadn't had time to shop for a better one. Maybe this weekend she could spend one day exploring the city.
The same as always, her eyes were glued to the phone in her hand. She clicked on some random emails about promotions that she never remembered registering and unsubscribing from all them. When she got into the elevator, it stopped on the seventh floor after two seconds. She wished it wouldn't be a loud woman with a crying baby again. Yesterday, they were already there before she went in. They must be living on some floor above her, but who knew what could happen today? It wasn't like there was only one married lady with their infants in this place. She'd seen some when she moved here the first time.
The elevator's door opened as she focused back on her phone, but it didn't last her a second to look back to the front. Her heart stopped when she saw a guy wearing the same uniform as her and she dared to bet that he felt the same too—she could see it from his crystal clear expression. Instead of calming down, her heart thumped faster when he stepped forward and positioned himself on the empty spot to her right. Just a centimeter closer and their covered arms would brush against each other.
It was Hitoshi.
She took a quick glimpse at the person beside her and her eyes didn't tell a single lie. It really was Shinsou Hitoshi from her class.
She didn't expect herself to meet him this early, so all that she could think about was too many questions that wouldn't have an answer before she let out the words that were stuck in her throat.
All this time, he'd been living under her? There were only two elevators in the entire building, so wasn't it bizarre that they never stumbled upon each other by accident? Did he perhaps always take the stairs before today? No, that would be dumb beyond words. But what was he thinking right now? Why didn't he say something? Why couldn't she do the favor first?
Before she could process everything, they had quietly arrived at the first floor. Hitoshi appeared to ignore her existence as he left the elevator without even looking at her. She could only watch him change his route to the parking lot in the east of the building while she went ahead to the main gate. She felt bad and sad at the same time, but she wouldn't let him take all the blame. She remembered how she wanted to thank him, but she miserably bailed when she had the ten-second chance to do it. She would come to him later when they were in the class. She must.
She smiled at the two security guards near the opened gate and made her way out, seeing slightly more people than yesterday. The time in her phone showed that she did in fact leave almost ten minutes later. She felt silly for not realizing this until now—maybe if Hitoshi didn't randomly show up, she wouldn't even get it until the school ended. That must be why she could meet him, because she was the one who unconsciously changed her schedule to match his.
"Ito," a familiar voice called her right after she reached a turnoff that'd bring her to the main street, followed by a jolly sound of a bicycle's bell.
She stopped moving her feet and dragged her head to her right. With all her heart, she had no idea how to react to the scene that seemed to freshly come out of a movie.
Hitoshi was there with both hands tightly gripping both handle bars of his navy bicycle. His long left leg was supporting his entire weight, while the other one was loosely settling on the pedal. The description might seem normal at first, but blooming sakura trees were adorning the city and since spring just began, the beautiful petals were falling all over the place. It was breathtaking. It wouldn't happen to just about everybody in Japan today.
"…yes?" Kazuna replied after almost losing herself in her own dreamy thought.
"Let's go together. It's faster with bicycle," Hitoshi said and she immediately widened her eyes. That was when he realized his own recklessness and foolishness, perhaps also conceitedness. Before this, he never offered a girl a ride to school. He didn't mean anything shoddy, but now that he did it to Kazuna, it might seem too sudden, even if they weren't total strangers to each other.
"What…? You want me to… go with you?" Instead of answering, Kazuna inquired more and made Hitoshi drop his eyes to the ground, chest pounding and uneasiness crawling in. Maybe it really was a mistake. He wouldn't really mind if Kazuna perceived him as nothing less than a creepy man.
Hitoshi sighed as he prepared to leave. "I'm sorry. You don't have to if you don't—"
"Eh…? No, it's okay… I don't mind… Thank you for offering…" Kazuna slammed Hitoshi's doubt, waving her unoccupied hand in front of her chest. "Um, but… is it okay? You know there's a law that doesn't allow two people on a bicycle, right?"
"Yeah, but everyone does it." Hitoshi pointed somewhere random behind him as he slowly brought his eyes up again. "I think this area is a special case because there are a lot of students living here. Back in my place, kids do that too. I'm not sure about yours."
Kazuna's eyes scanned the street around and Hitoshi was right. Once more, she felt like a fool for not being aware of all the small yet obvious things in her new life. First, she forgot to buy an oil. Second, she didn't notice that she left her apartment ten minutes later. Third, she never knew that people did cycle with a friend or partner behind them. Some adults did it too, although not as many as the young kids. They must prefer to take a car or bus to go somewhere further than Yuuei.
"Then… okay…" Kazuna walked closer to Hitoshi before seating herself on the backseat. It was good that her skirt wasn't too tight and that she wore safety shorts. She didn't have to worry about flashing anything she didn't want public to see.
"Watch your skirt," Hitoshi remarked.
"What?" Kazuna attempted to bring her face closer to Hitoshi's mouth she could hear what he said better, but it appeared to be impossible since his shoulders were just too high and wide.
Hitoshi gazed over his shoulder, staring at Kazuna's thigh then back at her face. "Your skirt. The wind. Be careful."
"The wind? Oh…" Kazuna was quite amazed of Hitoshi's concern over the tiniest detail that many guys would overlook. "It's fine… I wear shorts inside, so it's all good…"
"If you say so," Hitoshi muttered before he began cycling forward. If the trip by foot would take fifteen minutes, then it would be five minutes or less with bicycle. Kazuna remembered Hitoshi was sort of racing yesterday when she saw him, but this time he was within the normal speed. She was very sure that the reason was because he didn't want to frighten her. He was very kind. She somehow sensed that ever since he stood up for her.
"Shin… sou?" When she remembered a very crucial thing that'd been weighing her mind, Kazuna called Hitoshi's name for the first time in history.
"Yes?"
"Thank you… for defending me yesterday…" She went from staring blankly at Hitoshi's back to watching people around the town doing their morning routine like opening their store, accompanying their children to school, and some more. "You're very nice, Shinsou… I really appreciated that…"
There was a pregnant pause before Hitoshi responded, "Don't mind it. Do you want me to drop you off somewhere before the school?"
Kazuna furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"
"Maybe you don't want anyone to see us."
"…why?" she repeated her question.
"People can gossip about us being a couple. You know… little kids. You don't mind that?"
That was true.
Kazuna thought of the nosy kids in their class who most likely would fabricate six or seven things about them. The two of them had only known each other for twenty-four hours, yet they were already riding a bicycle together. What if people also found out that they lived in the same building? She knew it very well how untrue words could spread faster than fire and when she tried to tell the truth, only a few would believe her. After all, many people loved to hear about someone else's mishap more than someone else's success.
"It's okay, Shinsou," Kazuna straightaway made a decision. "I try not to mind them too much. We know that we're not doing anything bad and whatever is going behind our back, I think we shouldn't worry too much about that… We can't hide this fact forever, anyway… Sooner or later, people will find out…"
"True." This time, Hitoshi replied fast before changing the topic, "What did you buy yesterday? Takoyaki?"
Kazuna was surprised, but fortunately, Hitoshi wasn't able to see her funny face. "You saw me?"
"I did."
"You knew it was me from that far?"
"It wasn't that far, but yes, I just knew it was you."
"I see…" Kazuna sounded softer. "It's okonomiyaki."
"Okonimiyaki? Did it taste good?"
"It could use more salt, but maybe it's because I like salty food… Try it yourself. Who knows you'll like it?"
Hitoshi grinned. "I will."
Yuzuru frowned when she saw Hitoshi entering their classroom side by side with Kazuna, but she almost chocked on her drink when she saw them talking so casually to each other like they'd been friends for years as they walked to their desk. Yesterday, she was with Kazuna all the time until they had to part ways in front of the gate because she and Yuuta had to take a bus, while Kazuna went to her apartment. She knew that Kazuna didn't have any interaction with Hitoshi, not even a simple "hi". So what exactly happened?
"Hang on… Did you two go to the school together?" Yuzuru being Yuzuru, she immediately interrogated Kazuna and Hitoshi as she watched them sit on their chair. Her eyes constantly jumped between the two suspects who managed to keep a stoic face. She should applaud them when this was over.
"Um… yeah…" Kazuna spoke first. "We just found out that we live in the same apartment."
Yuzuru's mouth agape and Kazuna felt that she might have told the wrong person.
She didn't think about this beforehand, but even if Yuzuru was the nicest girl on earth, she couldn't wholeheartedly declare to everyone that she trusted her with all she had. They just met and they'd never shared even the smallest secret before. She could only wish that for the next five seconds, Yuzuru wouldn't dramatically shout "you live together with Shinsou?!" and made their classmates misunderstand the real story. Yuzuru was a loud girl, so this could happen for sure.
"Really? It's like a story coming out of a shoujo manga." Yuzuru acted as cool as a cucumber, breaking all the doubts Kazuna had. "Just to make sure, Shinsou. Don't do anything bad to her. She's very innocent."
"What would I do to her?" Hitoshi grimly responded and Yuzuru cackled.
"I'm just joking, Shinsou. Don't look that tense. I know you're a nice person."
Hitoshi didn't play along with Yuzuru as he opened his bag and took out thick science books that they were going to have as their first class. The way he reacted to Yuzuru's words wasn't too nice in Kazuna's eyes. His lips curled upward and there was a negativity shrouding his face.
And she understood why.
She recalled the memory from yesterday. Hitoshi also had it the same when people came and joked about him using his quirk to do immoral things, such as molesting a girl he liked. For many people, those words were tongue-in-cheek, but he wasn't one of them. No matter how a painless a joke was, it could wring his heart. Kazuna understood that.
"Anyway, did you hear about class 1-A and 1-B?" the insensitive Yuzuru went to a new topic.
"Uh… No. What about them?" Kazuna kept her eyes on Hitoshi for another second before she looked at Yuzuru.
"Apparently yesterday they had a physical test where they could use their quirk. Maybe today is our turn. We also have our uniform since we have a PE class before lunch," Yuzuru continued.
"Really? I don't think our class will get what they get…"
"You think so? I think we will. We're not the support and business departments that already have their own focus. We're somewhere in the middle. We even get some heroic classes, although they're all theories. I'm not sure if support and business also get them."
"But you can run fast, Yuzuru… Isn't that nice? You and Yuuta are going to score the best."
"Hahaha, yeah, and that's about it," Yuzuru accepted Kazuna's prediction. "I have no other talent. I don't exercise at home. I really don't aim to become a pro hero, so why should I work hard in that field?"
"Hahaha, I think so…" Kazuna balled her hands into one. "Now I can't wait for Komatsu-sensei to come and tell us about that."
Yuzuru was almost right. Almost, because when everyone was preparing their heart to welcome the new PE teacher, Jun was the one who showed up with a broad grin and red tracksuit. He ordered the class to switch to their gym uniform and left them all questioning whether he'd changed from teaching English to teaching PE. They went to the changing rooms that were located in the corner of the floor. No one told them to rush things, but they did it anyway because they were too excited of what's going to happen. Not all, but most.
Jun then brought them to a training ground that was connected to a massive gym, right behind their building. This wasn't the only one in Yuuei as some had seen the exact landscape being made for the second and third year students. There were just too many people here that one single ground wouldn't be enough, especially for those from the heroic departments who always needed a vast land to showcase their flashy ability.
"Does anyone have any idea of what's going to happen?" Jun asked once his students had lined up cleanly.
"We're going to have a physical test, am I right?" Yuzuru who stood between Kazuna and Yuuta said out loud, raising one hand up in the air.
"Correct, Yuzuru," Jun replied, not forgetting that he must call the girl with her first name and not last. "The test is compulsory for all classes, even the business. The homeroom teachers aren't obliged to handle the test, but I want to. Just think of it as your health test. However, you're allowed to use your quirk."
Words such as "ugh" and "yes" were heard all over the place, but Hitoshi and Kazuna weren't too impressed. As the only two who had a non-lethal quirk, what could they do? If they were told to run, they wouldn't be able to win against the Yanagi siblings. Hitoshi couldn't just force someone to carry him without scaring the others. Kazuna had it worse since she couldn't do anything physical with her quirk.
"Sensei, how long will the test take and will there be any class afterward?" Yuzuru asked Jun back and was met with everyone's laughter. It was strange that no one thought about these two important questions before her.
Jun noticed his students' hopeful gaze, but he smirked. "The test will be until lunch break. After that, the class will continue like—"
Jun hadn't finished his sentence when everyone mournfully mumbled. He even heard some mentioned about their doomed fate, which was beyond weird and ungrateful. But Jun didn't scold any of them because he knew he'd reacted the same if he were part of gang. He was a student once and even back in the day, getting one holiday almost felt like getting a decent score for the hardest subject in his final exam.
"Let's do our best." Yuzuru tapped Kazuna's back twice. "I can only run and no more, so we're doomed together. Happy dooming together!"
Kazuna didn't know what to say to Yuzuru's peculiar cheer. She sighed when Jun told them to prepare for the first test, which would be a 50-meter dash. She simply followed the others warming up their body by stretching her arms, bending her knees, touching her toes, and some more. She did everything she could, although she knew that this wouldn't increase her speed nor power. Sometimes she checked on Hitoshi and Yuuta who stood a few meters beside her. She had to admit, both of them looked lazier than anyone in this place.
Barely ten minutes later, Jun called two random names to stand on the running track. He didn't do it in alphabetical order and just picked whoever he felt like calling.
With Yuzuru, Kazuna spent time watching people did their job quite well, with or without their quirk. When Yuuta's called, he could reach the end of the track in less than three seconds, crowning him the fastest person by far. Yuzuru murmured mixed things between complaints and praises, like how Yuuta could have a sturdy physique if he wanted to work out a bit. Kazuna could only smile, but inwardly agreed with that.
"Ito!"
Kazuna took a deep breath when it was her turn. She studied a tall guy who stood beside her. If she wasn't wrong, he had a quirk that had something to do with destroying objects. She knew nothing about the way he could implement his power to the series of tests they were currently facing, but she chose to not worry about beating anyone. This wasn't a competition with a real prize that could mean life and death.
"Ready?" a black detector near the finish line spoke with its robotic voice. "Set…? Go!"
Kazuna sprinted as fast as she could. Seconds later, she passed the detector as it announced her result, which was five point twenty-one seconds. She couldn't contain the satisfaction she felt as she framed her face with delight. Other people who didn't use their quirk scored somewhere around eight to twelve seconds. The guy beside her finished in almost ten seconds, although his legs were very long and could help him a lot.
"You're quick. Nice job," Jun who stood nearby praised Kazuna. The girl looked at her teacher and blissfully smiled. She didn't mean to become bigheaded, but it was really nice to know that she'd done something right and better than the rest of her classmates.
Questions after questions creeped into everyone's mind as they watched Kazuna succeed in almost all the tests given to them. Her quirk was memory reading, yet she'd had done some decent job in jumping, throwing, and even gripping. Maybe she could walk through fire and shards if she wanted to.
She had a normal figure for a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl. Not too tall, not too short. Not too huge, not too small. Definitely not muscled like Jun or some athletes they saw on TV, but the more she moved her body, the more people believed that she was well-trained. She wasn't an inexperienced person when it came to be drenched in sweat.
"You're ranked eleventh without using any quirk? Congratulations!" Yuzuru nudged Kazuna's side as they saw the class' ranks on the blue holographic board displayed through their teacher's portable projector. They were surrounded by the others who seemed to be okay with the result. The majority of them were here because they had to graduate from a high school, not to come out as a pro hero.
"Thank you…" Kazuna smiled once again as she read everyone's name and result. Yuzuru waa ranked fourteenth, Yuuta was ranked tenth, and Hitoshi was ranked seventeenth. Yuuta was simply blessed with inborn speed, kind of the same as his sister, while Hitoshi couldn't do much for himself. Those who came after him were the quirkless ones, but since he didn't have any discernible advantage, Kazuna assumed he still did a great job.
"I'm curious about the heroic department. I think our first equals to their fifteenth," Yuzuru commented, rubbing her chin as if she really ruminated on this matter.
"I believe so, yeah…" Kazuna muttered an agreement.
"Does anyone here have any experience with martial arts or any form of combat sports?" Jun's question made everyone ignore the board in front of them for a moment.
Among twenty kids, two guys and Kazuna raised their hand, making it only three in total. Yuzuru looked at Kazuna with a tilted eyebrow, somehow not feeling surprised that this girl had had some sort of training from professionals or at least people who knew exactly what they were doing.
The first guy said that he went to a karate school when he was in his fourth and fifth grade of elementary school. He was too busy with his other after school classes, so his parents decided to drop his karate class for math, piano, and whatever they considered to be more important. The second guy said that his older brother was a jiujitsu champion in their prefecture. He got a private lesson from him at home, but he didn't like it as he stopped only after a few months. Both claimed that they were never good enough.
"What about you?" Jun asked Kazuna.
"I've been doing Muay Thai for the past five years," Kazuna answered confidentally. It wasn't long before she heard some whispers regarding what's a Muay Thai. She didn't feel like explaining because there was a thing called the internet. Though it was kind of strange for someone to have never heard about it before, since it was a very popular sport.
"Ah? Is that why you're very athletic?" Jun looked amazed. "Did you take Muay Thai classes back in your hometown?"
"Yes."
Jun nodded his head several times. "I see. That's very nice to hear. Keep doing that."
"Sensei, Ito has done very well during the test, so why don't we ask her to demonstrate her quirk? Doesn't everyone want to know? I personally do," a girl in ponytail suddenly suggested.
"Hahaha, sure. Do you want your memory to be read? I personally don't," Jun elatedly replied and made the girl squirm, realizing her mistake for not thinking twice before asking. No one in the right mind would want someone to know everything they've done so far in life. It'd be very embarrassing that they could do plastic surgery and transfer to another country.
"Sensei, can we go back to the class?" another girl asked a normal question this time.
"Oh, right. There's still around two hours before the lunch break started at twelve. You can rest anywhere you want, but don't be too loud and bother other classes. You can go to the cafeteria too," Jun said and the students instantly walked away from the training ground. They still still felt miserable for not being able to go home now, but when they thought about it more, wasn't it better to have a half day off than none at all?
"Are you hungry? Do you want to grab lunch now?" Yuzuru poked Kazuna's arm, taking her full attention. "I'm actually quite hungry, but I don't mind waiting for another hour if you want to."
"No, it's okay to eat now. There'll be less people than yesterday," Kazuna quickly made up her mind. She knew she never had to wait for more than five minutes to get her food, but she wouldn't refuse if it could happen within sixty seconds.
"Okay, where's Yuuta—" As soon as Yuzuru turned to find her brother, Kazuna grabbed the end of her dark blue gym top. Yuzuru didn't have any choice but to look back at Kazuna, eyebrows a tad going up.
"Can we… bring Shinsou with us?" Kazuna requested as she lowered her head, hiding herself from an inexplicable sheepishness, away from Yuzuru's piercing gaze.
"Eh? Shinsou?" Yuzuru made sure as her eyes went around the field. She spotted the purple-haired guy currently heading toward the main building with people who talked to everyone else but him. She didn't register this one thing during the test because there were just too many funner things to watch, but now she realized that Hitoshi had never had someone to hang out with.
"Yes," Kazuna confirmed that she didn't utter a wrong name. "Shinsou's alone… so let's ask him to eat with us."
"Sure! Why do you even have to ask? Go fetch him. I'll be waiting here. You're not shy to ask him, are you?"
"No… He's not going to bite me…" Kazuna said, smiling when she remembered what happened between her and Hitoshi this morning.
"Then go."
Kazuna nodded before passing by Yuzuru, running slowly to Hitoshi who's twenty meters or so ahead of her. Similar to what she did to Yuzuru, she pulled the back of Hitoshi's shirt, stopping him from going any further. He gazed at her over his shoulder. A few people who were around seemed to wonder what's going on, but as always, Kazuna chose to see them as shadows that'd fade once they left this place in peace.
"Yes?" Only a syllable was said by Hitoshi.
"Let's have lunch together," Kazuna's invitation came out of her mouth so effortlessly and Hitoshi's first reaction was to be speechless.
Besides her full name and hometown, he didn't know a thing about the girl standing in front of him. He thought she was a very reserved and timid person who'd run and hide behind a wall when a stranger came unnoticed. Seeing the way her eyes strongly linked into his, he knew he couldn't be more wrong.
"Lunch?" he repeated one of her words. "Okay."
Kazuna instantly brightened up as she showed the sweetest smile that no stranger had ever given him. As the result, he couldn't stop himself from feeling very warm inside.
He waited.
He thought it'd decrease to null by the time they headed to the cafeteria, but it didn't.
He felt it more every time she looked back at him and kindly beamed with happiness. Before today, he never knew that one simple word from him was enough to make a person look this radiant.
Yuuei's cafeteria could serve three hundred students at the same time. Since there were more than six hundred students from all grades, sometimes it could become too cramped until people who didn't know each other must share a table. This time, it didn't happen to the students from 1-C as they entered the place when it was empty. There wasn't even one academic staff inside, unless if the chefs were counted as one.
Yuzuru helped herself by ordering oyakodon, while Kazuna, Hitoshi, and Yuuta had the same preference by getting gyudon. They sat somewhere in the corner, far from those who already had their own exclusive group. It was incredible to witness how specific people could become this close in less than two days, all thanks to Jun's desks arrangement and perhaps when they accidentally stood near each other during the opening ceremony.
"Ito, why did you decide to learn Muay Thai?" Yuzuru asked when Kazuna was removing her gloves, folding them, and then putting them down on the wide open spot to her left. The table they were occupying was too vacant to the point of them having no problem to let twenty objects lying around. It'd be different if they were here two hours later.
"I want to protect myself since I can't depend on anyone," Kazuna stated the truth fluently, not adding even one false fact.
"Oh?" Yuzuru elevates her tone. "I assume you're an only child?"
Kazuna rocked her head up and down as she took her wooden chopsticks and mixed the beef, rice, broth, and other toppings inside her red ceramic bowl. When she realized that her three friends used a spoon because they didn't order noodle, she dropped her chopsticks on her tray and switched to the same utensil as them. Sometimes she felt like an alien for continually making small yet senseless mistakes like this.
Maybe she needed more sleep. Maybe she needed to eat salmon this morning.
"I have a younger sister. Two years younger than me." Without anyone asking, Yuzuru shared an additional information about her life, but there was nothing much to do about an extrovert like her. "What about you, Shinsou?"
"I'm also an only child," Hitoshi replied as he looked at Kazuna who sat across from him, hinting her a wordless message of "we're the same". Kazuna caught his intention, but she didn't give back any reaction. She was too busy blowing the heat off the food in her spoon.
"So do you work out every day? You said you've practiced Muay Thai for five years, but you don't look that buff. Do you have abs down there?" Ignoring Hitoshi, Yuzuru went back to interrogate Kazuna. She even made the effort to point at Kazuna's stomach, as if her sentences weren't clear enough.
"Abs…? Not really… but I guess… I've been working out at least five days a week since five years ago, so I guess my body fat percentage is quite low. I think I'm only slightly toned, but not like what you imagine. See?" Kazuna pulled a bit part of fabric covering her right arm. "There's nothing going on here. I'm not a bodybuilder. I eat anything that I want."
"You eat anything that you want, but you compensate it with enough exercise. That's why you look good. The last time I exercised excluding my PE class was never," Yuzuru continued as she goes back to enjoying her food. "We're just too different. I can't find the motivation to live that healthily."
Kazuna smiled. "Watching how much you eat should be good enough."
"Ugh, heard that before, but I still have no motiva—"
"Shinsou and Ito, Komatsu-sensei told you to meet him in the teacher's office after school." One of their male classmates suddenly appeared beside their table, shocking everyone including Yuuta who always acted indifferently. His hands were holding a tray of sliced New York strip steak, French fries, and one bottle of cold mineral water. It looked incredibly luxurious and expensive, although everything's made from the same cook behind the long counter.
"Why?" Hitoshi swiftly asked the most important question on behalf of both Kazuna and himself.
"Why? I'm not sure," the guy sharply replied before leaving the scene. Maybe he didn't mean to be that cold, but the way he excused himself without saying more things or at least wearing one lively expression proved the opposite.
"Hmm… Maybe Komatsu-sensei wants to talk about your quirk? He's our homeroom teacher, so he needs to know as much as possible," Yuzuru guessed before sighing. "Don't worry, okay?"
"Yes. You could be right," Kazuna responded as she continued chewing the food she almost forgot because of the brief suspense.
After the last bell of the day rang, Kazuna didn't immediately leave the classroom and become one big jumble with the kids in the long hallway. Yuzuru and Yuuta rushed out as fast as they could since they had to catch their bus if they didn't want to wait for another thirty minutes, while Kazuna silently leaned against her table. She watched Hitoshi shove his books and other things inside his backpack and when he was done, she sprinted to his way.
"Shinsou," she called the guy who didn't notice her vibrant presence up until this point. "Let's go together."
Hitoshi let a few seconds pass before he hesitantly nodded his head. Just like six hours ago, Kazuna widely smiled and yet again warmed his heart by doing so.
It wasn't nothing like a heart palpation. It didn't skip a beat. He didn't shiver or feel one thousand butterflies in his stomach. His cheeks weren't heating like how people would describe a feeling of attraction toward someone else. He just knew that he was touched by all the kindness she'd done so far.
"Come." Like a rabbit, Kazuna made her way to the door. Thanks to his long legs, Hitoshi didn't have a hard time matching her step and ended up walking next to her. It would take them less than three minutes to arrive at the teachers' office that was located a floor below where they were now.
Their eyes met as they headed toward the stairs, as if they were scrutinizing each other's condition in silence. Kazuna grinned at Hitoshi before looking back at the road ahead, making him the only one doing it for a couple of seconds longer when she didn't notice.
She looked like she just won an award for the best smile in Yuuei because she couldn't stop stretching the sides of her mouth.
That was maybe it.
He'd be lying if one day he said that he didn't treasure her smile. It was prepossessing. It was peaceful, charming, mysterious, and there wouldn't be enough words in the dictionary to describe its beauty.
"You're very friendly," Hitoshi started a conversation between them. He didn't intend to waste time by making small talk that he would forget the next day. He just wanted to declare what he felt, even when he wasn't usually being this open. He simply thought that she deserved to know this good personality of her.
"Friendly…?" She brought her sight to his face. "I don't have many—I mean… I've never had a good friend, so I'm not sure if that's true."
"'Friendliness' has nothing to do with 'having a good friend'," Hitoshi corrected her. Both of their voice was comprehensible even when there was an uproar surrounding their short trip. They could talk about the most dangerous secret in the world, but people around them wouldn't know since they were too busy chatting their own friend.
"…does it perhaps bother you?" Kazuna carefully asked. "I'm sorry—"
"No. You should know that I'm very thankful." Using his right hand, Hitoshi leisurely stroked his nape. "I'm just… not used to people coming to me like this. People who know my quirk always fear me. They think I'll do something bad to them. Even that guy who told us about Komatsu-sensei."
"That guy? You think he left our table that way because of you?"
Hitoshi shrugged, bringing his hand down. "I won't be shocked if it's true."
"People can feel whatever they want, but I'm not scared of you, Shinsou…"
Hitoshi opened his mouth, but he closed it when he realized that he didn't have anything smart to say. His eyes began darting to anywhere but the hushed girl beside him, then they stayed low, watching his white sneakers stepping on the vinyl tiles that were slightly darker.
I'm not scared of you.
When was the last time he heard that sentence?
Maybe three weeks ago, maybe last month—he'd lost count because people who heard his quirk for the first time would always say that sentence afterward. I'm not scared of you. It sounded nice and sweet, but people lied. An hour after faking their acceptance of his innate ability, they'd give him a cold shoulder. As if he'd commit a crime with no valid reason. As if he'd have the heart to take them for advantage by controlling their life and family.
Some lightly joked about how he'd abuse innocent people. He tried to see them as people who didn't know what they were doing. They didn't mean to laugh at him on purpose. They didn't mean to hurt him on purpose. He tried and tried, but he couldn't. There were funny jokes, meant to entertain people. There were ignorant jokes, meant to mock people, either accidentally or not. He never doubted that people who made fun of him were the second type.
Then some mischievously joked in order to shatter his heart and nothing more. When he walked to the school and met them, they would whistle and ask whether last night he'd forced a cute girl he just met in street to submit to his desire. When he had to join a group project, they begged him to control other people to finish their work for free. During graduation, no one told him that they'd miss him. No one asked him to keep in contact with them. They decreased his trust toward people to a one black hole that no one would be able to fill.
"Shinsou, careful," Kazuna alerted Hitoshi when they reached the first floor. His mind was all over the place until he didn't see a bunch of guys walking nearby. His shoulder hit one of them, but he apologized and no one made an issue out of it.
"Thank you," he said and Kazuna gave him another smile.
He didn't know what to do.
In his eyes, Kazuna was as pure as the driven snow, but in his heart, she could be the most ruthless two-faced angel he'd ever encountered so far. They had some things in common, but it never meant that she'd be any different from the people who'd left his life for good.
Hitoshi slid open the teachers' room door and let Kazuna enter first before him. She thanked him while feeling happier than when he warned her about her skirt this morning. If he kept doing these small courtesies, she wouldn't know how to stop admiring his gentleness.
They walked together to Jun's desk in the left side of the cold room. There were many teachers around, fixing their own belongings or talking to each other with a cup of sweet beverage in hand. Even though they were adult workers, it didn't mean that they wouldn't be squealing like a teenager when the day ended and they were allowed to rest.
"Ah, you're here." Without being called, Jun sensed his two students and rotated his chair to face them.
"What's wrong, Sensei?" Hitoshi asked, while Kazuna played with her lower lip, trying to figure out whether Yuzuru was right.
"I want to ask about your quirk."
"Oh." Kazuna bent her mouth into a circle. She began to wonder if starting from tomorrow, she should believe everything Yuzuru predicted for the future.
"Can you please tell me about it? Who goes first?"
"I'll go first," Hitoshi volunteered without thinking twice. "There's nothing much to my quirk. I can control people when they react to my word. I can tell them to walk somewhere, buy me something, clean my house, basically anything possible. They won't stop if I don't tell them to stop. It's very easy."
"How many people that you can control?"
"That… I'm not sure," Hitoshi said quieter. "I've never controlled more than six people and that was with my family. They allowed me to 'practice' using them."
"I see," Jun acquiesced before looking at Kazuna. "How about you?"
"When I touch someone's head, I can read their memory. They won't feel any pain when I do it and they don't have to give me permission. The speed depends on the people. Older and more experienced people will take more time. I'm not sure about how many seconds, it's because…" Kazuna stops for a moment before she cautiously proceeds, "I'm not sure, Sensei… I've… never really read someone's memory."
Jun frowned. "What do you mean?"
"…if I have to, I prefer not to read anyone's memory. The last time I tried to do it to 'sharpen' my skill, it didn't end very well…" Kazuna's fair tone wavers. "Um, anyway… you must know that I read backward. It's from your newest memory to your oldest. I can't choose which memory I want to read, so it's that not efficient…"
"Backward?" Jun repositioned himself, implying that he'd become very interested in Kazuna's story. "I'm a bit lost here. How do you read people's memory? Do you see collages of their life? Won't you feel dizzy afterward? I assume you will, because you literally absorb their knowledge."
"…it's like a movie… like flashbacks…" Kazuna enlightened her teacher with sentences she knew would explain the best. "What I mean by backward isn't a movie played in reverse, but it's like… I'll watch what happened this afternoon, then this morning, then last night…"
"And won't you feel dizzy?" Jun reminded that Kazuna hadn't answered one question.
"No…? I mean, I don't know… I don't know my limit…" Kazuna brought her hands to the front, all ten fingers fiddling. "So far, it's been good… but who knows I'll faint if I read ten people's memory without resting? Sorry, Sensei, I don't know a lot about my power because I've never really practiced like Shinsou. No one's willing to be read by me and I understand that. If I were them, I wouldn't want it to."
"Silly girl. Why are you apologizing? Your quirk is very rare and strong. Don't you feel like the chosen one? You two should feel like the chosen ones," Jun comforted Kazuna and Hitoshi. "Yeah… I think that's enough for now. I don't to ask more than needed. You may leave."
While saying "thank you" and "goodbye", Kazuna and Hitoshi simultaneously bowed to Jun. They headed back to the door where Hitoshi opened it first before Kazuna and allowed the girl to step out first.
"Ito! I forgot to tell you!" Jun shouted and made almost everyone in the room stare at him. "You can always use our gym to practice! It has everything you need!"
Kazuna mildly lifted one corner of her lips. "Thank you so much, Sensei."
Hitoshi closed the door behind him after both himself and Kazuna were out. They weren't inside for more than ten minutes, yet the hallway had turned into a morning market. One guy complained about his boring class, one cursed at the hanging lamp about forgetting to charge his phone, one mumbled about being allergic to spring. The area around the shoe lockers was the most crowded one and that was when they had to go next.
Both didn't say a thing as they went to their own locker that was only separated by three closets. They saw their classmates who were busy with their own world and friends. Neither Kazuna or Hitoshi could consider themselves as a part of their "world" and "friends", so they knew that they wouldn't be welcomed to join the clique. They changed their school shoes to their sneakers and left through the front gate with Kazuna trailing just a meter behind Hitoshi.
"Shinsou," Kazuna called her new friend, stopping him and making him turn around to see her. "Hey, uh… Thank you for today… Don't you have to go to the parking lot? I'll go to the other way, so… see you tomorrow…"
"You don't want to go home with me?"
Kazuna flinched and she was one hundred percent sure Hitoshi caught her involuntary movement. "Uh? Okay, if it's not a bother…"
"Silly girl," Hitoshi quoted what Jun said in the teachers' room before he continued moving his feet forward. He didn't have to check behind him to know that Kazuna was giggling like crazy.
"Hey, Shinsou…" Once she was done projecting the joyfulness she felt, she called Hitoshi again while running so she could be next to him. "Hey, question? What's the weirdest thing someone has ever asked you regarding of your quirk?
"The weirdest thing?" Hitoshi murmured. "I guess... not a question, but a request. And actually not the weirdest but the most memorable."
"I'm ready!" Kazuna exclaimed.
"Last year, the ceiling of my school's main building fell. It included the canteen and first years' classrooms. They had to renovate many parts, so we got a holiday from Monday until Friday. People from my class and other classes begged me to make the headmaster write an official letter, stating that that Saturday would be free as well. They wanted me to grant them one full week of holiday."
Kazuna hysteristically laughed and Hitoshi never knew that she could create a voice that loud before. He would never say this and creep her out, but even her laughter looked and sounded enchanting. Though if he had to choose, he'd go with her beautiful smile.
"What about you?" Hitoshi asked once Kazuna got a control of herself.
"Well, there's one." Kazuna scratched her nose from a sudden itchiness. "When I was in my first year of middle school, one of my female classmates asked if I could read the memory of an object."
"What? An object? What did you say then?" Hitoshi was astonished because he didn't expect that high level of stupidity.
"I only said 'no'. I was… holding my laughter the entire time." Kazuna sniggered as she replayed the scene in her mind. Even now, she could never forget that. It was too extraordinary—in a bad way—to be forgotten that easily.
"Like how come someone can be that stupid," Hitoshi added.
"Exactly." Kazuna tried to close her mouth from kept showing her teeth, but she couldn't. "But, Shinsou… This is great, don't you think? I know you can understand how I feel about people around me and I know—I hope I can do the same to you… I hope you're okay with that…"
"Is that why you keep coming to me?"
"Hahaha. You know it is," she answered and at that very moment, Hitoshi felt awful for doubting her, even if it was only for a moment. Just in six hours, she made everything clear.
She saw him as her own reflection, only that he was trapped in a different gender.
They both had a rare and abominable quirk. They didn't want to be born this way, but they didn't have an option to choose their fate. They had to live with this curse forever, unless if society could change their perspective.
But it'd never happen. Society would never change and who were they to change it?
They were the ones who had to apologize when people disregarded them. They were the ones who had to forget their dreams because no one trusted them enough to give them a second look. They were the ones who had to accept the fact that they had to suffer by living a life they didn't wish for, whether they liked it or not. By the end of everything, they were the ones who had to adapt to how the world treated them.
Thank you for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated! ❤
