The cooling rain from the previous night's storm had done little to quell the August heat, a situation only made worse by the city-wide power outage the storm had caused. The lack of air conditioning only dampened Toru's spirits further as she gazed around her new bedroom, idly wiping sweat from her brow. She and her dad, Kaito, had spent the past few hours unpacking the more essential boxes on the first floor, mostly consisting of kitchenware and food. After that ordeal, the last thing she wanted to think about was even more unpacking. She spent a minute shuffling some of the boxes around, trying to build up some level of motivation to get started before eventually giving up and making her way back downstairs.
Her dad was still in the living room, kneeling by a box of books and muttering a little to himself as he sifted through them. "Need a hand?" she asked, padding over towards him and plopping down on the couch. "I'm not really in the mood to go through my stuff just yet."
A light chuckle came from her dad as he turned away from the box fully, leaning his back against the couch near her. "I'm just going through old textbooks for work, deciding what to keep." He gestured towards another box across the room beside the TV stand. "The games and movies are in there if you want to pick something out. Though I'm not sure if the power will be back on tonight or not."
"I'm thinking I'll probably just head to bed after dinner tonight," Toru replied, pushing herself up from the couch and heading over to the box. "Maybe tomorrow?"
"Fine by me." Kaito turned back to the box of books as Toru peeled the tape off of her own box. The movies and games had been packed a little haphazardly, so she took her time organizing them as she pulled them out. The near-silence in the room dragged on for a few minutes before her dad spoke again. "Feeling any better now that we're getting more settled?"
The question made Toru pause. She had been feeling fairly apprehensive about moving for the past few weeks, and had told her dad as much the day before. It had taken until the moving truck left for the reality of the situation to fully set in. Even with her apprehension, however, the time spent unpacking with her dad had done wonders to help her feel more at home. Now the only true anxiety remaining was with starting at a new school. "I think so," she finally responded, pulling the last few movies out of the box and setting them aside. "It's gonna take some time, but… I'm getting there."
Kaito nodded in understanding, pushing his box aside as he slid his way over to sit beside his daughter and wrap an arm around her. Instinctively, she leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder. "Take all the time you need," he hummed. "I'll be here whenever you need me. Promise."
The two of them sat like that for a long moment, simply enjoying each other's company. Before long, Kaito turned and placed a soft kiss on the top of his daughter's head before pulling back. "You should probably get at least some of your clothes unpacked," he chuckled, ruffling Toru's hair. "And your bath stuff, cause you're a little stinky."
"Dad!" Toru pushed at the man half-heartedly in response to his teasing, only making him laugh harder. After her dad helped her to her feet, she made her way back towards the staircase. "Fine! I'll go get started. Let me know when we're having dinner."
After a simple affirmative from her dad, she took the stairs two at a time until she reached her bedroom. When she opened her door, she was once again faced with the assorted pile of boxes and bags containing her belongings, only now she knew where she wanted to begin. Toru knelt in front of the pile, sliding one of the smaller boxes towards her and peeling off the tape to get it open.
This first box held her more treasured possessions, things she had come to associate with a sense of comfort and home. A soft smile formed on her face as she pulled each one out and carefully removed their protective coverings. One by one, she returned the items to their rightful homes; the salt lamp was set on her nightstand, the alabaster bookends were placed on top of her shelves, and the old, worn panda plush was laid gently on her unmade bed. Satisfied, Toru turned back and opened up the next box in her mental list, this one filled with her other various bedroom décor. She began pulling the items out to remind herself of the contents, setting them near where they would eventually be hung up.
At the bottom of the box was an item she had almost forgotten about. Undoing the layers of bubble wrap revealed a frame holding a picture that had been taken just a few months ago. It showed Toru with a group of her friends in front of the Shurijo Castle in Okinawa, a trip they had gone on together just after finishing junior high. The group had grown incredibly close during their junior high years, spending birthdays and vacations together at every opportunity. Yet even with all the happy memories, Toru couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness as she looked over the photo.
"What will they see when they think of me?" she wondered aloud, her gaze fixed on her own figure, visible only due to the clothes and accessories she had been wearing. She had always tried hard to leave a good impression on anyone she met, especially with her friends at school. Even with all her efforts, however, she always worried that she would be easily forgettable, since no one would ever have a face to associate her with. "Will they even think about me?"
She set the picture frame face down beside the bookends, trying to push the intrusive thoughts aside as she pulled a new box towards her. Try as she might, insecurities continued to gnaw at her even as she tried to distract herself. Eventually she gave up and simply let herself cry silently for a while.
Dinner was a simple affair that evening. The power had come back not long after sunset, a change Toru and her dad had used as a good excuse to take a break from unpacking. Together they cooked up a simple meal of curry over rice, using up some of the leftover food they'd brought with them in the process. Since they didn't have a full dinner table just yet, the two of them decided to eat in the living room, chatting about plans for the next few days before work and school once again took over.
Times like this had always been a great comfort to Toru, especially after her mom and dad had separated. Even on her lowest days, she knew there would be a light at the end. Of course, there were occasions where her dad had to work later than usual, and she would end up either cooking for herself or spending more time with a nearby friend. She could only hope there wouldn't be too many nights like that before she was able to make at least a few friends at her new school.
As they ate, her dad quickly caught on to her relative silence and muted tone. He let out a soft sigh and reached over to rub Toru's back, a gesture she leaned into. "I know how hard it can be," he eventually said, breaking the silence that had grown between them. "I wish there was something I could do to make this all easier for you."
Toru turned her head and made a simple hand gesture to indicate her soft smile, waiting to finish the last little bit of her dinner before responding. "I'm just hoping it's not gonna be like the movies, where the new girl starts off as one of the outcasts just because she got there late."
"Reminds me of something a coworker told me not too long ago," her dad chuckled softly as he leaned back on the couch, laying his arm along the back. "He said starting a new job felt like being a new character getting introduced in season five of a show, or something along those lines."
The description sent Toru into a brief fit of giggles, her smile brightening a little as she pulled her legs in and curled up beside her dad. It did little to assuage any of her worries about her new school, but the shared laughter did help her feel just a little more at home. "So, awkward at first but then you get used to having them around and forget they're new. Got it."
Kaito grinned down at her. "Sounds a bit better when you put it that way, doesn't it? Though it'd probably take some time to get the whole 'I've always been here' act to be convincing."
"Here's hoping I can find at least one super friendly person right off the bat, then." Even as she shared a laugh with her dad, she felt there was little hope in that being a possibility. The start of her junior high had been incredibly rough, since most of her older friends had ended up going to a different school, leaving her all but alone. It had taken over two weeks of class for her to make any lasting friendships, even with how extroverted she tried to be. A good part of her was certain she would have an even harder time now, with it being the middle of the year already.
With a gentle kiss to the top of Toru's head, her dad reached over and stacked her plate on top of his before moving to stand up. Toru followed shortly to help with the clean up, still lost in her worries. "I have a feeling you'll be just fine," her dad said simply as he turned on the sink. "But for what it's worth, I'll be right here with you every step of the way."
Once again, Toru indicated her smile with a gesture and gave her dad a tight hug. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow. Thanks, daddy."
He patted her back gently for a moment before she pulled away. "Why don't you go get ready for bed. I'll take care of the dishes."
She offered one more thank you before heading back upstairs, silently grateful she had been able to get her bed made before dinner. There was no doubt she would be ready to collapse by the time she had showered and gotten ready for bed.
In the bathroom, Toru wasted no time getting out of her clothes and starting up the shower, letting the water heat up a bit before stepping under the stream. The warmth slowly seeped into her body, seeking out pockets of tension and forcing it loose. She stood still for a long moment, eyes closed and breathing slowly, letting the warm water wash the sweat and stress from the day away. Once she was sure most of the dried sweat had been rinsed off, she stepped clear of the water in order to soap herself up. As she washed, she couldn't help but go back over the conversation she and her dad just had over dinner, feeling her uneasiness slowly returning.
Her gaze dropped, looking over the light lather that now outlined her figure. Years ago, she had been proud of her Quirk, especially with how intrigued and even jealous many of her peers had seemed when it had first manifested. It had been so easy then to enjoy the simple, harmless jokes and comments about her appearance, but that hadn't lasted very long. The jokes soon grew stale, hurtful even, and Toru steadily grew more and more conscious of some of the side effects of her non-appearance. Awkward high-fives, compliments that felt hollow, eye-contact that was always a little off, even times when people would look straight through her at someone else. All of these steadily chipped away at her, eventually turning her bubbly, outgoing personality into little more than a mask she wore.
'I just hope things will be different. I just want people to see me.' Toru slowly stepped back under the shower head, closing her eyes as she let the water rinse her from head to toe. She watched through her eyelids as the soap slowly disappeared, silently wishing her insecurity would drain away with it.
There was still ten minutes before the alarm clock was set to go off when Izuku pushed himself out of bed and shut the device off. He had spent nearly the entire night listening to talk shows and Quirk analysts discussing two new heroes that had debuted the day prior. One of the heroes, who had introduced herself as Mt. Lady, had a fairly straightforward gigantification Quirk, meaning that most of the discussion focused more on her personality as a hero and who she would be most compatible with. On the other hand, Kamui Woods, the other newcomer, had a much more unique Quirk which had been the source of most of the speculation Izuku had been listening to. His body was apparently entirely wooden, though he seemed to be able to alter and even extend his limbs at will, with his super move pushing that growth to an insane degree.
How did it work? What kind of a toll would that put on him? What kind of biology would a wooden human have? All these questions had been thrown around over and over, spawning countless theories and arguments. Eventually, Izuku had decided he would need to wait until more official information could be found out before he could add an extended entry in his hero journals.
It didn't take too long for him to get ready for the day, opting for only a brief shower to freshen up and help with his fatigue before pulling on his school uniform. As he tried in vain to get his unruly hair at least slightly under control, he could hear his mom starting up the coffee maker just beyond his bedroom door. He couldn't help but smile at the sound, knowing that it meant he was less likely to be a total zombie at school. After one more check over his uniform to make sure he hadn't missed anything, Izuku headed out to the kitchen.
His mom looked up from her phone as he made his way over to the table. "Coffee should be ready soon," she said with her usual gentle smile. "You look like you're gonna need it."
"That's because I already need it," Izuku admitted, stifling a yawn behind his hand before standing to get a pair of mugs from one of the cabinets. He could hear his mom chuckling and shaking her head behind him as she turned to work on breakfast for the two of them. Before long, the smells and sounds of eggs and bacon began to fill the air. "Mind throwing some cheese on my eggs?" The only reply his mom gave was to shake the bag of cheese she'd preemptively grabbed from the fridge, obviously expecting the request.
With a smile, Izuku carefully poured both of their cups of coffee, distributing sugar and cream according to their individual tastes. He set his mom's mug near where she was cooking before taking his own back to the dining table, blowing gently over it to help it cool faster. Before long, his mom was plating up their breakfasts, carrying them over with a handful of silverware, then fetching her own mug. "So," she said, breaking the silence as she sat at the table across from him, "how late were you up?"
"I, uh…" Izuku could feel his face heating up as he stared down at his plate. "I kinda got distracted."
A mild chuckle wasn't the reaction he'd expected, but he certainly wouldn't complain about it either. "I figured as much. You were pretty excited about the new heroes yesterday."
"Can you blame me?" he replied, a little louder than he intended. It never took too much prompting for Izuku's 'hero-fanboy-switch' to flip. "A double debut like that hasn't happened in years, and the cohesion they had even though they were from completely different agencies is unheard of for newcomers like that. No wonder they've gotten so much attention, though Mt. Lady seems to get a bit more inappropriate attention than Kamui Woods, but apparently she seems to make that happen intentionally and I think I'm done following that train of thought."
Inko wore a bemused expression as Izuku wolfed down his breakfast in an attempt to quell his rambling. She sipped at her coffee even as a loud knock on their front door echoed down the hall. "I'll just let Katsuki berate you for staying up too late this time," she chuckled as Izuku picked up his last piece of bacon and went to let his friend in. "No need for you to get chewed out by both of us."
Izuku shook his head as he made his way down the hall to let Kacchan in, more than a little relieved his mom wasn't too upset with him pulling an all-nighter. As he reached the door, he grinned a little to himself and called out, "Who is it?"
Predictably, Kacchan half-shouted in reply. "It's me, dumbass. Who else would it be?" Laughing quietly, Izuku pulled the door open, letting the other boy in. Kacchan looked him over briefly and scowled. "You look like a corpse. Did you even sle—"
"I didn't sleep last night, no," Izuku interrupted, shutting the door behind them before leading the way back towards the kitchen to grab his backpack. He barely paid any attention to his mom and friend exchanging simple pleasantries as he shoved his books and school supplies into his bag, slipping his arms through the straps before turning back towards them.
His mom stood to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before hugging Kacchan as well, something the other boy still never seemed comfortable with. "You two be safe," she urged, ushering them back down the hall to the front door.
"We will, auntie," Kacchan grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'll make sure Deku here doesn't get into any trouble."
"You're so sweet to me, Kacchan." The boy shuddered at Izuku's teasing tone, making him only laugh harder in reply. "Love you, mom. I'll text you when I get home." With a farewell wave, the two boys hurried off, not wanting to be late to the start of the new term.
This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title. The idea originally came from a comment my wife made about how rough it would be on a social level to be invisible. That, combined with some ideas pulled from various other fics, resulted in Now You See Me. After getting a good ways into the previous version, I felt I was digressing from the original concept I'd wanted to write (not to mention a change in my writing style) and decided to start over. That way I could flush out some more details and make sure things were planned out a little better.
