It was bright and warm out, the best type of day to lounge around after a power stressed day. His arms refused to move from his hoodie's center pocket and his legs barely had the strength to step forward again. But with all things considered, it was nice to move freely. His new shoes needed to be broken in any way. And to be outside of a school uniform and any prison get up felt relieving.
His smile almost disappeared from his face. The sight of Maria didn't make him want to turn to disgust, but it wasn't pleasant either. Things were so strange between them, neither of them knew the correct way to handle it. Geus just wanted to see her as a familiar face from school, yet soon he could have to call her mom. And Maria, she sees the boy responsible for everything terrible in her life, her son, her departure from the family. The happy memories were not there yet. The smile she placed was forced and fake. Luckily for her, her telling eyes were covered by her shades. She waited by the side of her car, a big SUV painted in a gloss black with brand new like chrome rims. The fashion statement was also on her clothes with all black profession clothing with silver accents and jewelry.
Once Geus got up to her, they had no idea what to do. The frozen awkwardness built into both of their minds with no clue on what to do. Geus sighed after minutes past and walked to the passenger side door. "What's the plan for today?" He asked as he pulled on the door.
"Since you have an afternoon free, I thought we could get you all spiffed up." Maria walked to the driver side and hopped up to the seat. The hight of the car made it impossible for her to comfortably wear small skirts with it. And high heels in case if she ever slipped off the foot rail. "Get some new clothes, find some interests you may be into. Transform you into, well you." Geus didn't answer her back. When she turned to the boy in her passenger seat, all she saw was a dead gaze out the windshield. "Things... Are awkward aren't they?" She asked with a small nervous laugh.
"Counting before all this happened, the last words you said to me were 'you're parents will see you on your way to hell as you will die in this prison.'. I'd say things are tense."
"I know I can never take things back. And you know the rest of the family's views, really all our views. I'm not going to lie to you, Geus. If it wasn't for my son, I'd still hope you were in the cave of a cell. But every time I look at you, I see my little boy by your side. He was going to become you, and I was going to become your parents."
Geus looked at the woman. "How? You regret the birth of your son? Did the doctors look at his pink and said 'sorry he was born'?" Geus's tone shifted up notches till he was yelling. "Did your own aunt look at you after the first breath of air and gave him the forbidden damn name?! Gee You!" He found himself out of his seat with one arm propped up on the armrest. He collected himself and returned to his old position. "I miss him. And in a couple months, I get to have his title. I'm going to have to rely on you like he did."
"Once all the paperwork goes through, you don't have to call me 'mom'. I can always just be Maria, it wasn't like I wanted this. The family already cast me out once they saw the news with you and me. I'll never forgive the hero society. Hell, I'll still take every case against them. But you're all I got. And if this is required to keep you out and away from all those psychology tests. I'll do it." Her head lowered. "Just for him." She whispered.
Geus felt bad, he didn't want to direct his feelings to her. It all just sorta happened. He reached back into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a tube and his glove from his hero costume. "Watch this." Geus pulled off his right filter and attached the tube to his mask. The other end was already connected to the wrist of the glove. He slipped it on and showed off the palm. "I got a good connection in the hero department and slipped this by." The clear tube was able to clearly show the flow of his gas and down to his glove. Seconds later and a puff of gas hovered just off his hand. "I call it Na Style. His body's gone from the hero society. But his actions will forever be here with me. Whenever you see me on tv, and you see me use these. Just think of him."
Maria quickly rummaged through her purse and pulled out a tissue. She tried to discreetly wipe the tears from her face before they trailed down her cheek. "Our relationship won't ever be normal. But I'm going to take care of you. Just like how your mom and dad wanted."
"What? What do you mean they wanted to take care of me? Telling me those bastards wanted to abandon me?"
"They never wanted to abandon you, Geus." Maria gently rubbed her hand against the underside of his. Geus had stopped the movement of his quirk but still did what she did. "Your parents thought if the surgery was unsuccessful and all this hero business got them killed. They wanted me to take care of you in case if anything happened."
"But yet you kept in that place."
"I didn't know about this until the hearing. Your grandfather read their wills first and decided to leave that part out from everyone else hearing it. I'm not going to lie when I say, I probably wouldn't have even taken you in."
"If you don't want to make anything more of this than paperwork it's fine. I don't mind."
Miria's hands tightened around the steering wheel. Her foot pressed on the gas and drove forward. The words she said didn't say it, but she tried to make this work. She was forced out of the family for her action and had to change to make things work. If this was the bottom of her life, all she could do at this point was to make it better. It pained her heart and caused it to race.
She moved her hand away from the wheel and moved it perfectly over Geus's shoulder. "I, I do want this Geus." Her hand tensed around and dug her fingers through his sweatshirt. Geus felt the heartbeat pulse through each finger. She wasn't lying when she said that. "Ever since Keena discovered his quirk... I felt it when I first saw him do it. Mom and dad." She choked up. Freedom from the brainwashing from years of conditioning made it hurt more. "They're the ones that ruined his hands. Stained them in hopes to cure him." Her eyes left the road and moved the sunglasses down. "You need to learn about him."
Geus didn't ask who she referred to. Now wasn't the moment and she made it clear. Eventually, he'll learn about the whole thing about his family. The side of the family he didn't know about.
The rest of the ride was quiet. The music a casually road sounds played their sounds. In less than an hour, they arrived at her desired destination. A small strip mall that was the opposite of middle life. The only people that walked the streets dressed exactly like Miria. Gold, white, black clothes with designer labels. For Geus, this was probably the most extravagant place he's ever visited. His family growing up wasn't poor but was more of a fast pace city life.
This place carried a special affect on Maria. The style she was in with Geus was always casual. And this place released her rich side. Her leg shrugged her hip forward, her arms stayed at her side while her hand flicked out.
Geus scratched the side of his head. He wanted to say something about this, yet his voice remained silent. His lips moved but his voice kept being mute. He sighed and rolled his eyes and walked up to her side. "I'm sure you know this. But this isn't my scene."
"Honey."
'Hunny?'
"I'm going to treat you well. Get all the gadgets for your phone, new gaming things, whatever you want for your room is yours. They have electronic books nowadays so you don't need to keep boxes of those."
"I grew up poor." His face shrunk down with his eyes narrowing and lip raised. "And only locked up for a year."
"Wait, wait! Did you say a year?" The Sansei's looked behind him. A boy half Geus's age rushed up to him from the other side of the parking lot. He wore one of the brightest white shirts and darkest black shorts he's seen. And had on a pair of shoes exactly like Midoriya. His one hand swung forward with his phone out. "I know you! I've seen you before!"
"Is that someone from the penitentiary?" Maria asked.
"Never seen the kid before in my life."
The boy caught up to Geus. He wasted no time and turned away from him with his phone stuck out into the air and the camera open. His other hand held out over his mouth and shaped his fingers into a long 'o' shape. "Can't believe you're in this location! Your looks never showed this side of you."
"I don't get it. Who are you?"
"I'm Misoka. I saw you at the festival, then the videos dude! My online chat is going to be so mad."
"Yeah, it was fun."
Misoka turned over to Geus. His face was large and bright like his shirt. He had something he wanted to say and just wanted it heard. His hand movements were subtle at his side, yet noticeable to see him mess with his phone. Which made Geus very skeptical of the kid. Maria showed no signs and instead busy on her own device.
"I gotta know, message boards over every hero scene wants to know. While you were tied on that bed, were you aware of your attack on those people?"
Maira grabbed Geus's hood and tugged him behind her side like a child. This gave him a great view of the reflection on the inside of her glasses. The death stare her eyes gave were the same ones she gave during the meetings in the center.
The reason behind the phone and her disinterest from before showed. It felt so good for Geus to see this performed on someone else than himself. She grabbed the locks of his curled ended brown hair and shoved him back.
"You really want to get information out of your subjects? Don't use your real name! And don't use your source's agency for a phone case."
The boy's mood changed over, his arms flung out as he stepped back. "You know how much these shoes costed me alone? More yen than that school costs!" One hand remained out in the air as the other pointed after Geus. "The people wants to know if that school is training a killer or an idiot! And that tape is just one piece of our evidence!" The boy leaned on his back heel and spun around as both his middle fingers rose into the air. "We'll learn the truth eventually... Freak."
"That kid is like, ten."
"His mother is a lead journalist for some online news agency. Expect a few of those shitheads to pull things like this." She grabbed Geus's arm and tugged him close to her side. "They have computers that are really thin and fits on your back."
Geus shook his head and started their walk from the parking lot. "One year."
Hours past and the shopping trip ended. Half of the class organized in his room to see the bounty he retrieved. His room became like nearly the rest of his class. His was still able to stand apart from the rest of the class. Nothing inside it had a specific theme or layout.
"You got a lot of stuff for one trip." Ochoco awed at the shiny new gear. She knelt down at the bass in the corner and plucked the string.
"The style of the room often times resembles what dwells in the soul of the owner." Fumikage pulled off the sword close to the door and inspected the blade. "And one such as this shows how chaotic and dysfunctional yours is."
Geus shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet. Along the top of the room lined a full 360 scope of books. A desk with a brand new laptop and a miniature 3D printer, one corner had the bass with a dual amp, his door had a fantasy sword on each side, his bed was new with positional controls. The last corner had an art design desk with a prop-able easel. What parts the walls didn't have posters with had different prototypes of his masks and filters hung.
"I call it money." Geus walked over to Momo. "You'll have to teach me how to handle it."
She started to blush and waved him off. "It's not really any different than how you were living. You'll have to take me to your places before I can properly show you how I do things."
"I like the simple look you started with, with all the homework you'll get this won't really matter." Shoji pulled open the door. "Another day of quirk training's about to start."
"I'll catch up." He turned from Shoji but looked back after he grabbed one of the masks off the wall. "Don't worry, I'll be there before sensei wants to kill me." He looked back down at the mask. Another one of Hatsume's babies she created. In a span of 48 hours she created a catalog of masks with far-out looks. The one he held was a goof design he asked for when Halloween came around. A brownish-tan bone skull mask with tumor like humps for the filters. "I got it." He shoved the mask back on the hook and stormed out of his room.
