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Throwing Stones

Chapter Two: Time Limit

The tension at the table could be cut with a knife.

Kagome glanced around at the vaguely familiar faces surrounding her. She'd read through all of their profiles extensively and could cite each of their histories back without thinking about it.

Just to her right was Toga Himiko. A seventeen year old girl who'd stabbed her classmate to death in a brutal attack. Everyone had called her a 'good girl' that'd just suddenly snapped. The boy she attacked did not survive and she'd gone on to take the lives of dozens more. Despite her history, the girl was all smiles and chatting away happily with the man next to her.

Kagome glanced at the figure towering over Toga. The one she was talking to was Bubaigawara Jin. A man with a doubling quirk who'd made so many copies of himself that he became an S-Class villain after robbing a seemingly endless number of banks. Unfortunately those copies eventually turned on him, leaving him with a frayed mental state.

Just to her left was Higuchi Shuichi. A heteromorph with a gecko quirk. He'd been attacked on the street for his appearance and Higuchi had wound up killing his attacker in the struggle. At the trial, the judge had completely thrown the book at him to 'make an example' out of him.

Then there was Shimura Tenko. Sitting across from Higuchi, his story was more tragic than terrifying. He'd suffered for years under his father's abuse. Even as an adult his father had raised his hand to him and tormented him. Eventually all that abuse led to Tenko taking a knife from the family's kitchen and ending the source of all his suffering.

Flanked on either side of Tenko were Hikishi Kenji and Sako Atsuhiro. The two were engaged in a pleasant conversation about current fashion trends while Tenko awkwardly ate his food in silence between them.

Kenji had, had several run ins with the law. Kenji preferred to go by a 'She' or 'They' pronoun but their masculine appearance often led to strangers making comments. In the face of discrimination, Kenji had racked up a rap sheet of violence longer than anyone else's at the table.

Atsuhiro on the other hand was the descendant of the peerless thief himself, Harima Oji. Atsuhiro had a fairly normal childhood but as he became an adult, he began using his quirk for thieving and eventually murder when he'd been cornered by authorities.

Last but not least was Todoroki Touya. The man sat at the head of the table opposite of Hawks. Most of his body was covered in deep burn scars. Staples and piercings dotted his flesh, helping to hold what was left of his tattered skin in place. His scars alone were a symbol of the hell he suffered in his youth. Born as the eldest son in the Todoroki family, he'd strived to earn his father's approval until the day he'd burned himself half to death. Even after being released from the hospital, he'd dropped out of school and eventually left home where he began committing arson. By the time Endeavor had arrested him, he'd committed more than thirty murders. Most of which where from those who sought to insult him over his appearance.

Kagome sat back in her seat.

Any normal person would've looked at this group and called them lost causes. They wouldn't think twice about locking them up and throwing away the key.

For her though, this was an opportunity. One that she didn't want to waste.

"Tomorrow we'll have breakfast at 8am," Kagome drew their attention. "After that we'll start your community service."

"Okay!" Jin piped up before his voice lowered, "No thanks, babe!"

The prison had notes in his file about his split personality so the contradiction did not surprise her.

"What sort of community service will we be doing?" Higuchi glanced at her, "Picking up trash and washing cars?"

Her smile turned wry, "Close but not quite. There's an elderly couple that lives in town that needs help with the upkeep on their house. We'll be visiting them this week to make repairs, clean everything up and get everything back in working order." Kagome explained, "To help the community, we're going to be helping individual families instead."

It was an idea she'd mentioned to Hawks several months back. He'd been adamantly opposed to it but in the end, she'd put every bit of effort into this 'passion project' of hers.

If she was going to help others, then she wanted them to see the difference their efforts made. She'd simply been lucky that the townspeople had been so accepting of her strange request when she'd announced her plan. So most of the village had joined hands and helped her with setting up a schedule to last through the year. By the time this program was finished, she wanted everyone who took part to feel as if their accomplishments mattered.

"You really think a bunch of civilians will be okay with freaks like us in their house?" Touya grouched from the far side of the table.

Tenko nodded with him.

Kagome's smile softened, "That part has already been handled. All the places you'll be volunteering at are those who have agreed to let you be there."

She could at least understand their reservations. Many of them had wounds, both physical and emotional, that they didn't want to reopen. Many of them were likely wary about interacting with the public again. Especially given society's general views on villains.

Touya snorted but said nothing else.

Clearly, he wasn't convinced.

"A bus will be here at 9am to take us over to the house. Afterwards we'll divvy up responsibilities. We have a week to get their house in working order before we'll be assigned to move to the next location, so worker smarter rather than harder." Kagome met Touya's gaze, "Finishing early is also part of the goal."

Much of the town was dilapidated. The majority of the buildings had been constructed during the Edo period and had gone without proper care for years. People managed to get by with what they could here, but they needed the extra help to fix everything up like new. It didn't help that most of the town had a median age of seventy-five. So they were getting to be too elderly to take care of the more mundane tasks on their own. In all honesty, she wasn't sure if they could complete their current roster of assignments before the end of the program.

"We'll work until 3pm, afterwards we'll return here to the dorm. That way there'll be enough time for you to sort out dinner before meal time." Kagome finished explaining. Originally she'd wanted to schedule them to work until 4pm but it would cut too close to their evening meals. Especially with the bus trips taking anywhere between fifteen to thirty minutes each to reach their destinations depending on their assignment for the week. So she'd cut the working hours down to ensure that the participants would have enough time to eat and rest before the next day.

"You keep saying 'we'." Tenko perked his head up, "What, do you plan on picking up a hammer and working with us?" His tone was condescending as he sneered down his nose at her.

Kagome closed her eyes.

Actually, she wanted to do just that. She didn't see much point in organizing all of this if she wasn't working beside them. Unfortunately, that wasn't a possibility for her.

"She's been tasked with running interference in case you guys act up," Hawks intervened for her. "So she's going to have her hands full checking on everyone. I'll be rotating around to help you guys out."

She nodded at him in thanks.

It really was unfortunately that she couldn't join them. However Hawks had made it clear that the only way he'd agree to help her with this project would be if she didn't take on too much. This had been his line in the sand. So she'd heed his request. For now, at least.

Most of the group stood as they finished their meals.

"Don't forget to take care of your dishes." She smiled up at them, "I'll be at the end of the hall on the second floor if you need me but after you're done with dishes, you'll be free to do whatever you wish." She blinked for a moment, "As long as it's within the dorm though. The building locks after 6pm. That was also part of the prison's requirements so do try to get along."

The group gave a collective groan as they headed towards the kitchen sink. She watched them as they each passed each other dishes and washed them before they'd placed them in the dishwasher. It was a good start at least. There was no bickering or infighting about the distribution of chores yet, but she was sure that arguments would come up soon.

"You should head upstairs." Hawks came up beside her, "I'll take the watch tonight. So go get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be pretty hectic."

She nodded in return.

Hawks had tried to convince her to stay in the house so she could have some privacy, however she refused. If she was going to watch over these people, then she was going to do it with them. She was not going to separate herself from the group she was putting all of her savings into. She wanted to help them, so she would stay with them until the day came where this program came to its natural end.

Kagome silently made her way to the elevator and hit the button for the second floor. She passed all the doors and name plates.

She'd opted to use everyone's given names instead of their surnames as she'd wanted to foster a stronger sense of camaraderie. It would take time given everyone's lackadaisical reaction to the program in general, but she was still hopeful.

Kagome winced as a sharp pain twinged beneath her chest. She pressed her palm over collarbone as she tried to even out her breathing.

She'd nearly forgotten.

She made her way into her dorm and went directly to her medicine cabinet. She reached for the bottle titled Acebutolol. She popped the cap and with shaky hands, managed to take one pill from the bottle. Kagome quickly swallowed it and used the water from the faucet to wash it down.

She'd forgotten to grab herself a bottle of water before coming up.

Kagome clutched at the front of her chest as the waves of pain steadily began to ebb away. Once the worst subsided, she slowly climbed onto her bed and collapsed onto her side.

This was more than just a passion project. It was everything she'd hoped to achieve.

Her breathing grew steady as the medication slowly took effect.

She only had one year to make this work.