Ch. 18

.o0o.

Dad came into my room at 5:03, shaking me awake.

I tried to groggily push him away.

"Mmph...earlyyyy…" I moaned.

"I know," he said, "but I have a meeting and I need you to do some work for me in class while I'm there. Come on, get up."

He pulled me up by my arm and I whined in protest. By the time he dropped me, I was sitting upright anyway, so it didn't really matter what I thought or wanted to do.

So I dragged myself up and out of bed, getting dressed for the day.

Today, I wore a black skirt with black leggings (for safety reasons), my tennis shoes, and a off-white tuck-in halter top (with a collar??) that I found in my closet that I needed to wear eventually. I tied a navy blue tie professionally before loosening it just a bit. Over it, I wore a jean jacket.

Pretty classy for 5 in the morning.

I packed my bag and thanked dad for boiling my water for my tea this morning.

And with a final goodbye to Princess and Sleepy, we were off.

I don't normally eat too much in the mornings, save for a piece of toast or a small bowl of cereal. But today was different. Instead of walking straight to Class, Dad took me to the cafeteria.

Lunch Rush was getting ready for the day, and Dad and he (A/N: I'm not sure what Lunch Rush's gender is so sorry if I got it wrong and feel free to correct me if I did XP) engaged in polite conversation.

Since it was still before 6:00 A.M., I only partially listened.

As they were talking, though, Lunch Rush was making a small platter of food.

Dad took it gratefully and we headed out. I gave Lunch Rush a small smile and a wave. He waved back.

"Enjoy your food!"

I blinked.

...Okay…?

We made it to the classroom and I sat down in Dad's office chair. Before I could pull anything out to read, though, Dad set the food in front of me.

"Eat up. You'll need the calories."

Oh yeah. Training.

I sighed, looking up at him blankly. He glared right back at me, out of the corner of his eye.

I resigned to my fate and pulled the food out of the bag. Dad was sorting out some papers as I began snacking on the spinach and sausage omelette and pulled out my phone.

He set a stack of paper beside me. "I expect at least three-fourths of these completed by the time class starts."

I looked at the clock. I had three hours. That would be easy. "Yes, sir," I said with a nod.

He hummed in affirmation. "I'll be back. Don't leave the room, since the other teachers will be in the meeting."

"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" I asked snidely.

He looked at me pointedly. "Don't be irrational," he said, without skipping a beat. "Behave yourself."

I saluted him and went back to what I was doing. He left the door open, and I was then left to my own devices.

.o0o.

About an hour passed and I was almost done grading papers. I had about a third of them left. Three hours was more than enough time. I yawned and took a sip of my tea, humming to myself Isabella's Lullaby for my voice warm up.

I heard footsteps coming my way, and my hum slowly dissipated as I realized they belonged to a Class 1-A student.

Todoroki-San, to be exact.

He glanced awkwardly in my direction and I flashed a small smile and nodded to him politely, him returning the gesture.

He made his way to his seat in the back, quietly setting his things down and grabbing a small book to read in the meantime. It looked like some kind of manga that i was unfamiliar with.

The reason I was intrigued is because those come few and far between.

I looked over to try and see the title, but I couldn't make it out.

I really wanted to ask him. Perhaps it was something interesting. There was no harm in asking, right?

But I don't want to bother him. I know his family life isn't the greatest. He probably just wants to be left alone.

But...what if its an isekai?

I let out a long sigh and rolled my head around in my seat. He didn't seem to notice.

I took a brave breath in.

"Um…" I started quietly, "Sorry to bother you, Todoroki-San…"

He looked up at me slowly, his expression blank. I was strangely embarrassed and shy talking to him...perhaps it was early.

I sighed, forcing the tension out of my shoulders as I spoke as I normally do. "What's the title of the manga you're reading, if I may know?"

I looked down at the cover then back up at me. "The Faraway Paladin."

I nodded thoughtfully. I haven't heard of that one yet. "Is it any good?"

He nodded contemplatively. "I'd say so. They have an interesting take on religion."

I nodded again, pulling out my phone, writing down the title.

"I will keep that in mind," I said genuinely. "Thank you, Todoroki-San."

He nodded again and returned to his book. I returned to the worksheets.

There were like...three left, and I took another sip of my tea.

"What was the song you were singing?"

I choked.

It took me a moment to gather myself and I looked at him with wide eyes.

He tilted his head at me and looked at me worriedly. "A-are you okay?"

"Huh? O-oh, yeah, I'm uh….I'm fine. I just...You heard that?" I asked.

He looked to his right, then back at me. "Was I not supposed to?"

I sighed, feeling my cheeks flush in embarrassment. "I mean...no, but yes…? It's just….embarrassing."

"Oh...Well, I apologize then."

I shook my head. "It's not your fault. And uh…" I said added, "It's Isabella's Lullaby from Promised Neverland. Have you seen it?"

He searched his memory bank. "No, I don't think I have."

I shook my head. "Me neither. Dad won't let me watch it yet, but the song is a good warm up for my voice."

"Hm."

There was another kind of awkward silence and I quietly resumed grading my last two papers.

"Uh--Samiko-Kohai?"

I looked up at him again.

"Your voice is very pretty."

I smiled at him--a real smile--and felt myself blush again. "Thank you. And, you can call me Samiko, if you would like. I'm not really a...Kohai, yet."

He let a wane smile onto his face as well, nodding in affirmation.

"What mangas do you typically read?" He asked next.

Imma be honest with you: that sudden interest surprised me. But, I was finished grading, so after shuffling through the papers one last time and placing the key on top on a nice stack, I leaned over the desk.

"Uh….I typically read action ones, mystery is more my style, but I appreciate the creativity of Isekais...which is why I asked, hah."

"Hm…"

"What about you?"

"Typically I like slice of life, but the occasional shonen is nice as well."

"Oh. Interesting." I was not expecting that from him.

"But, I've also read all the All Might Mangas that have been made."

"I've seen them around...haven't actually read them. Are they any good?"

"I think they are. They have a bunch of crazy plotlines and theories though...I can't help but think that some of them are true."

I cocked my head to the side. "Like what?"

"Like….All Might has a secret love child or something. I mean, ifAizawa has a kid, then who knows? Anything could be possible."

I couldn't help myself. I started laughing.

That was a good one.

"Hey, what's so funny?" I heard a gruff voice chime in playfully.

I looked over, my smile plastered on my face like an idiot. Kirishima-San and Ashido-San walked in, Sero-San behind them.

Todoroki had a small, neutral smug look on his face. "I was just mentioning how absurd it is that Aizawa is her father."

"Yeah, that didn't make sense to me either," Ashido-San said with a small look on her face. "I can't really imagine him being engaged with someone like that."

"Yeah," Kirishima huffed a chuckle. "I thought he was always the kind of 'That's irrational behavior' kind of type."

I chuckled. "Oh, he is, don't worry. But people can always make mistakes, can't they?" I finished slyly.

Kirishima-San and Ashido-San nodded contemplatively. I was waiting for them to get it.

I saw Sero-San's eyes widen and his jaw drop. Todoroki-San was trying to hide his smile.

Finally, Kirishima looked at me, his mouth widening. "Wait--"

I laughed.

He sauntered up to the desk and put his fists up. "You're not a mistake!" he insisted, "You are very smart and never should consider yourself as a mistake! It's unmanly and cruel to yourself!"

I had to scoot back in my chair, "Woah," I said, "Okay, then. I was just playing around."

"I know, but still! That wasn't very funny," he said, concern etched in his features.

Sero-San started laughing. "I thought it was. Good one, Samiko."

I nodded, almost like a bow. "Thank you, Sero-San."

"Well, I think that you were supposed to be here, Sami-Chan," Ashido-San said cheerfully, sitting on my (Dad's) desk. "Things should be a lot more fun with you around."

"Ha!" I laughed once. "I'm going to be silent up here."

"Yeah, but you can come join us at lunch and stuff," she said with a sly shrug. "We can talk and make friends with you. It'd be cool to be Aizawa-Sensei's daughter's friend, right?"

"You aren't getting any answers, Ashido-San, just so you know," I said to her.

Her mood visibly dropped. "Well, that backfired."

Kirishima and Sero started laughing again.

More students progressively started walking in and I tried not to talk to them as I still needed to finish organizing my things.

"Dude, what was Aizawa even doing back in the day? Was he still a teacher?"

"Yeah, having and raising kids is kind of hard as a hero, right?"

That was true.

"Did he have a nanny? He had to have had a nanny for Samiko."

"Nah, I don't think that he would be the kind of person to hand off his kid to a caretaker too easily."

A pang hit my heart. They were right, but also wrong.

"Yeah, who knows…"

"...Hey, Samiko!"

I looked up, trying not to cringe.

"Did you ever have a nanny?" Kaminari-San asked.

"I mean...no?" I answered. "There was a neighbor we had that would check up on me sometimes. Then I moved in with my grandmother for a little bit. Then I ran away."

"You ran away?" Midoriya-San asked, "Why is that?"

I kept quiet for a moment or two, memories flooding my head. "They...weren't very equipped to raise a child."

It wasn't false. Not to me, the child, who was abused by them.

"Oh," he said sadly.

I shrugged it off. "It's in the past. Things happen."

But they seem to always happen to me, was what I didn't say. That 'mistake' joke was dark enough for today.

"I suppose.." one of the girls said...I forgot her name, but her hero name was Uravity. "Where is Aizawa-Sensei?"

"He's at a faculty meeting. He'll be back around when class starts," I said.

"Oh hey," The invisible girl said, "What did you say your quirk was again?"

Uh, oh.

"Uh...mind reading...why?"

"Ooh! You should read our minds!" she suggested.

"Yeah, I think that'd be kind of fun," Kirishima said.

Oh no.

"Uh," I started nervously, "I mean...I can just...I don't want to overstep any boundaries or anything in doing so."

"It should be fine though, right everyone?"

Most of the class was very hesitant.

"If you guys give me permission to read your minds today, I will. Those of you who don't, I won't."

"Alright!" Half the class cheered.

Woah. You would have thought I'd given them a million dollars.

I looked at the clock. We had a solid hour before class started. It didn't surprise me that so many people arrived so early, however. Over half the class was here, and I expected several others to show up in a matter of seconds.

"Let's do this thang," Mina-San said, rubbing her hands together.

If Dad found out…

Eh, he wouldn't really care that much, would he?

I certainly hoped so.

Mina leaned on the desk, getting way into my personal space. Which was not okay with me, but I figured I would have to get used to it.

"I'll only try to read your immediate thoughts so I don't cross any boundaries."

"Go for it, sis."

"Okay…"

I activated my quirk.

I saw her thoughts almost like words, or pictures in a separate headspace in my brain. How I interpreted my quirk was different from how most people did. I saw colors, words, pictures, and even felt emotions that described what someone was feeling in my mind's eye.

And to me, someone's thoughts (or brain) was something like cutting into a cake or an onion, as I liked to describe it. If I only skimmed it, I would get the basic thoughts, feelings of the person, the 'outer layer' of the onion. The more intensely I use my quirk on the person, the more layers I would look into. After I got into layer 'two' or 'three,' the thoughts would turn into memories from the point of view of that person.

So, with my quirk, I merely skimmed the first layer of her mind, getting her thoughts at the moment.

It came pretty clearly to me. She must have been thinking it pretty strongly.

Who is your mother?

I deactivated my quirk with a roll of my eyes. "That's none of your business, Mina."

She gasped, almost like she was surprised. "Dude, she answered my question!! She knew what I wanted to ask!"

"What was it?"

"She wanted to know who my mom was," I rolled my eyes again with a chuckle.

"It's a great question, though!" Kaminari-San shrugged.

"Do it to me next!" Sero-San said with a sly smile. "You have my permission."

"Okay…"

I repeated the same thing. Maintaining control over my quirk over an extended period of time was difficult for me. So whenever I used it, it would always be in quick flashes to avoid me digging up someone's deep, dark secrets.

I stopped using my quirk on him and deadpanned.

"Really?"

He just laughed.

"Yo, what was he thinking, what did he say? What did he say??"

I crossed my arms, glaring straight at him. "'Penis' in Spanish."

The whole class started cackling.

.o0o.

I went down the line of students, and I could feel my quirk wearing out a little bit. It wasn't that bad, but every once in a while, I had to wipe my eyes. I didn't want to be looking like a crybaby, after all.

With Todoroki, (the eighth out of the fourteen I ended up reading), I ended up slipping and going farther into the 'onion' than anticipated. I deeply apologized, both for what I saw and seeing it without permission, but he seemed to shrug it off.

I should have stopped there, but I figured it didn't really matter. It was just one slip up, right?

Finally, Midoriya showed up. He had a bright smile on his face, and seemed a little bit nervous to do this.

I figured that I could handle my quirk. It wasn't that worn out and I was good about conserving it. Besides, it might be a good experience in practicing endurance for my quirk and control over it.

I activated it, only planning on going to the first layer.

And I got in way, way deeper than I could have ever anticipated.

.o0o.

A/N: OMG I know. It's been a while.

School just started full time so I'm trying to make my peace with that, I've also been doing a crap ton of reading and writing on other stories, so IM SORRY. I hope you liked this chapter! Things are going to diverge from canon coming up ;) Buckle up, everyone!

Have a good one. Stay Strong!