Chapter Seven: Assumptions

Tome isn't shy like when she met aliens. The more she interacts with the supernatural the more overtly excited she becomes. "This is what quirks should be like." She continues to interact with Dark Shadow.

Serizawa thinks it's nice that Tome can express herself so freely here without the pressure of judgement and criticism. She would often complain how boring school is or how her classmates liked to talk about the same few uninteresting topics.

"You don't think it's weird?" Tokoyami may have recently begun his hero training at school, but he's still a little self-conscious. It was mostly fine when he was young but the changes people underwent during early adolescence changed the way people looked at him.

"Weird? It's super cool! The coolest quirk I've seen yet."

Serizawa considers the boy's words. He once thought his powers are weird and scary. It wasn't until he receive plenty of reassurance and practice using it that he became comfortable with them. "If I may." He jumps in. "In my experience, thinking negatively of your powers only contributes to further losing control. Harmony can only come from accepting yourself." Accepting yourself is different from liking yourself, but it's a first step. Serizawa waves his hands in front of him in a panic. "Not that I think you don't accept yourself. You just seem a little down."

Dark Shadow wraps around Tokoyami and pokes his cheek.

"Thank you, but though the darkness shrouds us one day we will see the light. I am aiming to be a hero after all." Tome's face deadpans while Dark Shadow wraps around him tighter. "Ah, we are aiming to be heroes." Dark Shadow relaxes his grip.

"What a waste." Screw becoming a hero. If she had a power like his, she would be off doing fun stuff every day.

A strange noise erupts from Tokoyami's mouth. "You think being a hero is 'a waste'?"

Tome shrugs her shoulder. "Sounds like high effort, low reward." She doesn't understand people who prioritize strength or popularity. She understands the value of law enforcement and people who can take care of situations but that's removed from her and therefore that value has zero bearings on her. Though…Her eyes zone in on Dark Shadow. It is an opportunity to show off quirks like this. Is she suppose to rely on luck and rumours to run into people like this?

Serizawa disagrees on this matter. "It would be best if heroes weren't needed but no role is an unneeded role!"

"You're sounding more and more like Reigen and Mob."

"I do?!" Serizawa stands straighter in delight oblivious to the dry tone it was said in. "Anyway, we should be leaving. You promised Aizawa to be back before dusk."

Tome crosses her arms and frowns. Just when she found someone interesting to hang out with.

Tokoyami stares at them. Aizawa. No surely it's a coincidence. Though Tome does have the same black hair, similar eyes, in colour and shape, and shares the same neutral and unamused expressions.

Huh? Maybe it's not so farfetched.

"Aizawa wouldn't happen to be a teacher at U.A., would he?"

Serizawa and Tome look at each other. "Eh? Him a teacher?" She puts her hands over her mouth in a thinking pose. "But he has been gone more often, so maybe? Is he this tall? Always looking tired? No fun at all?"

That sounds exactly like Aizawa. "Yes."

"You shouldn't talk about him that way," says Serizawa.

"It's his own fault! He didn't even want me. He feels stuck with me and he has a long list of rules."

Tokoyami feels like he shouldn't be hearing this conversation. How old is Aizawa exactly?

She sighs. "We should go though before he hunts me down." She waves. "It was nice meeting you."

Serizawa and Tome continue to walk back to Aizawa's apartment when Tome says, "Still no luck contacting Reigen?" Reigen may try to enforce his own set of rules but rarely intervenes even when she ignores them. She misses that compared to Aizawa who enforces every rule he sets. Despite all the wonders of this time it's the difference between feeling like there's some place to belong and being forced into a new box of conformity.

"No." Serizawa wishes he could do something. He tried putting up poorly drawn flyers when he first arrived, and Tsukauchi said he would help in the search, but he isn't sure what else to do. He doesn't have a photo of him and Reigen's phone is no doubt as useless as theirs which left it up to him to try and communicate every day to no avail. It seems at this point all they really can do is wait. If Tome eventually showed up, then that means Reigen should too.

The two split up to walk off in the directions of their respective hosts.

Serizawa enters Tsukauchi's apartment to smell of delicious food.

"Just in time. Come have some."

Serizawa bows. "Thank you!"

"I told you that you don't have to bow." Tsukauchi takes a bite of food. "Off studying again?" Tsukauchi was a little surprised by the man's dedication to education given the circumstances.

"For a bit, but I must ask something." Serizawa seems to be preparing to tell him whatever he needed to say. "There's a ghost in Nonome Park who seems quite lonely."

Tsukauchi hears ghost and Nonome Park and dismisses it. He's heard the rumours. "It's just an urban legend. Kids go there to get scared. No different than an ouija board."

"But I'm serious! There's really someone there. Been dead for over twenty years. I can't help but think that's a lonely experience." Serizawa had been a hikkomori for over eleven years and that had been lonely. It didn't matter if he would occasionally chat with people online or he still saw his mom. It was a very isolating experience.

"…and you're sure it's a ghost."

"Well he did say it may have been a quirk activated upon his death. He is much more human like then most spirits I've met, but I don't think it matters either way."

"…Can you take me to him tomorrow?" He works enough overtime as is. If there is a ghost whose been lingering around a couple decades then one more day won't hurt.

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, Tome is defending herself. She points to the window. "The sun is still up!"

"Barely. Just tell me you didn't get into anymore trouble." Aizawa pushes his fingers through his bangs. One moment Tome can be well adjusted and next she's like an eager toddler. He teaches his students. He doesn't babysit them.

"I'll have you know I made friends with not one but two people." Tome extends her hand with her index and middle finger raised emphasizing two.

"Tell me you didn't harass them."

Tome puffs. "How rude. I'll have you know one was very eager to let me fawn over their quirk. The other was simply interested in the same things I am and joined a conversation. Oh." She scratches her cheek. "I guess three if you count the ghost."

Aizawa doesn't look amused. "A ghost." He doesn't believe it. She has fantasies in that big head of hers. He doesn't care if everything comes across as truth when Tsukauchi is around.

"Yeah, runs around haunting people with nothing to do. Maybe I should have brought him back to me so he could haunt you."

You know what? No. Aizawa wants nothing to do with it. Tsukauchi can deal with this one.

Aizawa is eager to go to work the next day to go back to some normalcy when it's very clear that Tokoyami stares at him the whole time without paying attention to the announcements. He leaves class so Kayama can come and start her lesson when he catches the start of a conversation.

"What's up dude? You're staring at Aizawa pretty hard." Kirishima twists in his chair to speak to Tokoyami.

"How old do you think Aizawa is?"

"Uh…"

"Old enough to have a kid?"

Aizawa almost trips on air. Him? Have a kid? No way in hell. Why the hell does Tokoyami think that.

He's just going to ignore that and grab another coffee.

Too bad Kayama clearly hears the conversation as well because he can hear her laughter from down the hall.