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“Shinsou! Shinsou!” Hitoshi looked up from the sand castle he was making to see his best friend sprinting over to him, waving his arms wildly.He managed to stand up right as his friend got to the sand box, barely avoiding being run down by the other. “What Haruto? What happened?”“I-I-” The young boy struggled to get the words out in his excitement, “I got-I got my quirk!”“You-wow! Your quirk! You got your quirk?” Hitoshi beamed, “What is it? What did you do?”“So, I was. We were at my grandma’s house and I was playing with her-with her dog. And, and then I got it!” He bounced in place.“What’s your quirk?” He squealed in excitement.“I can make things glow! Look!” Haruto reached down and picked up one of the toys Hitoshi was playing with a second ago. His face screwed up in concentration and a few seconds later the toy changed color slightly. It was hard to see in the sunlight, but Hitoshi thought it got a little brighter too.His eyes widened in amazement. “THAT’S SO COOL! Haruto! You have a quirk now!”“I KNOW!” He yelled back. “My mom says it could get even stronger when I get older. I might be able to make things glow per-perma…for a long time!”“Let’s-Let’s go tell Teacher! She’ll be so happy and then you can show everyone!”“Yeah!” He grabbed Hitoshi’s hand and they ran off to find their teacher.It was hard to tell her what happened. They were both buzzing with too much excitement and ended up stumbling over each other in an effort to explain. Haruto had to start the story over more than once to get it all out. It was only after they finished explaining and Haruto showed her his new trick that she finally understood what they were trying to say.“Oh, Haruto! I’m so happy for you!” She cheered, wrapping his friend in a hug. “This is great news! Do you want to show the rest of the class?”He nodded enthusiastically and their teacher smiled back, “How about after reading time? The whole class will already be together and we can turn off the lights to see your quirk better.”“Okay!” He agreed, already dragging Hitoshi off to play again.“I’m so jealous.” Hitoshi said once they got to the playground. “I want to get my quirk so bad.”Haruto laughed, “You will. Everyone does, don’t they?” He climbed up onto the monkey bars and started swinging around. Hitoshi noticed that the bars turned a shade lighter when he touched them–meaning that his friend was using his new-found quirk.“What do you think it will be?” He asked, the possibilities running through his head.It was a conversation they’d had millions of times, but they never really got tired of it. “I mean…my mom can read people’s minds, and my-my dad can…he does something with emotions.”“Oh!” Haruto jumped down, “Like, he can change them, right? I think you told me.”Hitoshi nodded, “Yeah. He said he can make people happy.”“That’s cool! So do you think you’ll get his quirk?”“Maybe! Then I can make villains scared of me when I’m a hero.”Haruto laughed, “And then they’ll be too scared to fight you when you beat them up!”Hitoshi giggled at the image that made. He hoped he got his dad’s quirk. He could become such a cool hero with it.They messed around with different ideas until their teacher called them in from recess. Haruto was basically vibrating with his eagerness to show the rest of their class his quirk, and Hitoshi was right there next to him.It was always exciting when his classmates showed their new quirk, and he just couldn’t wait for his turn. So many of them already had really cool quirks and he was so excited to show off his own. It was going to be amazing, he just knew it.Hitoshi beamed again when the teacher turned off the lights and Haruto made his pencil glow. The whole class erupted into shouts of amazement at his new quirk and he giggled again at their reaction.Hitoshi was confident that his turn would be soon. He was going to be the next person to get his quirk and then he would get to show it to the rest of his class. And he couldn’t wait.•••••“Hitoshi!” He looked up to see his mom waving at him at the door to his classroom.“Mom!” He yelled across the room, standing up and racing over to her. She wrapped him in a hug as soon as he got close enough.“How was school, sweetie?” She asked while helping him put his backpack on.“Guess what?” He yelled, grabbing a hold of her hand and bouncing.She laughed at his excitement, “What?”“Haruto-Haruto got his quirk!” He announced. He was so excited to tell her that he forgot to say goodbye to said friend, following his mom out of the classroom and onto the crowded sidewalk instead.“Haruto? Your friend?” He nodded enthusiastically. “Wow! That’s amazing sweetheart! Is he happy?”“Yup!” He skipped next to her, “He can make things glow! He’s like a glow stick, but to other things. He showed the class today and they were all so surprised!” He laughed.“Well, tell him that’s a really cool quirk for me, okay?”“I will! He said that I could be the next person to get their quirk too! A lot of people in my class already have theirs, so I’ll be next, right?”“Of course, Hitoshi, it could happen any day now.” The thought filled him with joy.“What do you think I’ll get?” He asked his mom, just for conversation purposes. Yet again, they’ve had this conversation so many times that they’ve exhausted the topic.She hummed thoughtfully. “It could be anything, Hitoshi. But, based on mine and your father’s quirks, it’ll likely be a mental quirk of some sort. We’ll just have to be prepared for anything, won’t we?” She smiled down at him.“I want Dad’s quirk!” He continued, “Haruto said his quirk would be good for fighting villains. I could make them scared and then beat them up!”“Yeah,” She laughed, “That would be a great way to use his quirk.”Shinsou nodded again, rambling about how he could use his dad’s quirk to become a hero. His mom simply nodded along as she lead him in the direction of their house, happy to listen to Hitoshi’s many theories.He suddenly stopped when he saw an ice cream truck parked near their house. He wanted ice cream now, and it was just right there. “Hey, Mom, look! There’s an ice cream truck, can we get ice cream?”“I don’t know, sweetie. We’re going to have dinner soon, and I don’t want you to be too full to eat.”“But I won’t be! I promise!” He pulled on her hand. “Please?”“Not today.” She decided, “But maybe some other time, okay?”“But why?!” He complained, throwing his arms up in frustration.“I told you, we’re going to-“His mom suddenly stopped talking and stared blankly ahead. She’d let go of his hand too, and Hitoshi looked down to see her hand lax at her side.“Mom?” He asked, looking back up at her face. “Mom? What happened?”She didn’t answer–she didn’t even move at his question. Weird.“Mom? Can-Can we get ice cream?” He tried again. Maybe she stopped moving because she changed her mind. That would make sense.His mom suddenly started moving again, walking slowly toward the ice cream truck. She wasn’t holding Hitoshi’s hand anymore, but he didn’t mind. He just ran to catch up to her, happily grabbing her hand in a tight grip.He bounced while they waited in line, too excited to stand still. He was actually going to get ice cream. His mom was the best.She didn’t say anything the whole wait, but Hitoshi barely noticed. Instead, he spent the whole time looking over the menu to see what he wanted.“Hey, Mom! Can I-Can I get the caramel popsicle? I want that one.” She didn’t acknowledge him, but he was sure she heard him.“Hi there! What can I get for you?” The cashier asked once they got to the front of the line. Weirdly, his mom didn’t answer him, simply pointing to the caramel popsicle on the menu in front of them.“You want the caramel popsicle?” He clarified and Shinsou nodded, already forgetting the weird way his mom ordered his food.“Alrighty, one caramel popsicle, coming right up!” The cashier smiled, turning to grab something. “That’ll be 70 yen.”His mom reached into her purse mindlessly, pulling out her card and handing it to the man. It was a short transaction, and soon enough, Hitoshi had his ice cream.“Thank you!” He called to the man in the truck, pulling his mom away from the stand. “Let’s-Let’s go sit over there!” He didn’t want to wait to eat his ice cream, and he’d probably drop it if he was walking.Again, his mom didn’t say anything when she turned toward the bench he’d pointed out. And again, it was weird, but he was too invested in his ice cream to actually notice it.They sat in silence while he ate. He’d occasionally say something or point out a funny thing he saw, but his mom never said anything back so he’d just happily go back to eating after. For some reason, she didn’t want to talk to him. But that was fine, because then he got to eat his ice cream.“I’m done!” Hitoshi announced, wiping his sticky hands on his pants and crumpling the wrapper up. “We can go home now!”Almost immediately, his mom stood up again and turned toward the direction of their house. She didn’t reach down to hold his hand or even look at him, but that was okay. She couldn’t be that mad at him if she bought him ice cream, right?So Hitoshi simply ran to catch up with her, giggling at the way she was acting. “Mom! Wait for me!” He laughed.She was probably teasing him, that was it.He played along with her the rest of the walk home. When he noticed that she was walking a little weird, Hitoshi did his best to copy her, laughing when he messed up. It was a new game that he’d never played with her, and he found that it was kind of fun.“Mom! You’re silly!” He giggled when she reached for the door to their house and missed. “You know how to open a door! Look, I’ll show you!”He reached for the doorknob, turning it and opening the door. “See!” He laughed again. His mom ignored him and stepped into the house, stopping as soon as she was inside.“Okay, I‘ll go get changed then.” He announced, knowing that was the next thing he was supposed to do. He made it a few steps up the stairs before remembering something.“Oh, wait!” He turned back and ran to his mom, colliding with her as he wrapped her in a hug. “Thank you for the ice cream! I love you!”His mom suddenly gasped, tensing in his hold. “Get away from me!” She shoved Hitoshi away from her and he stumbled before falling on the ground.“Mom?” His eyes watered, confused at the sudden change.“Go away! Get out of my sight, you-you-“Hitoshi stood up hesitantly. He didn’t know what he did wrong, but he should try to fix it. “Mom, I-I’m sorry. What-What-“ He reached up to grab her pant leg.“Don’t touch me!” She pushed him away from her again. “I…I can’t even look at you right now! Go to your room!”Tears started to fall from Hitoshi’s eyes as he watched his mother turn her back to him. “What do you mean?” He asked hesitantly.“Go away!” She yelled again and he stumbled back. “Why aren’t you listening to me! Go to your room!”He hesitated one more time, sure his mom was just upset about something. She’d been fine just a second ago–they were playing a fun new game she’d come up with, weren’t they? But then his mom sent him another glare and he nodded quickly, running to his room and slamming the door.
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Hitoshi curled up against his bedroom door at the sound of his mom yelling loudly. He couldn’t understand what she was saying, but his mom was definitely upset at something he’d done.“You weren’t there, Ritsu!” His mom yelled again. She sounded like she was on the phone with his dad. “That boy is a monster!”Hitoshi flinched at the word. What did he do wrong? He felt his eyes start to tear up.There was a scraping noise on the other side of the door, getting louder as his mom’s voice got closer. “He forced me to buy him ice cream. Who knows what he can do next? He could make me do anything! Ritsu, I can’t–I can’t bear being in the same house as this-this…thing!” The noise stopped right outside of his door.“Don’t tell me to calm down!” He tensed again when his mom shouted. By now he was full on crying–scared and guilty about something he didn’t even know he did.Hitoshi didn’t understand. Just a few minutes ago, he was eating ice cream and playing games with his mom. They were having so much fun, so why was she so mad at him? Why did she suddenly hate him so much?He whimpered when there was another bang. “Just-Just get home so we can deal with this.” His mom said, her voice getting further away, “If this is his quirk, we need to find a way to…”She was too quiet and too far away for Hitoshi to hear the rest of what she said, but he’d heard enough.He got his quirk. That must have been what happened. But what was it? He didn’t even know. And it was supposed to be a happy thing when he got his quirk, so why was his mom so mad at him? He was just so confused and so scared.Hitoshi waited a little longer while he calmed down. Maybe, he figured if he really did get his quirk, then his mom probably was just surprised. If she had time to calm down and think about it, she would definitely realize that she should be happy for him. Right?That’s how it was supposed to go.So he steeled himself, reaching up to open the door so he could go find his mom. Or, at least that’s what he tried to do. He turned the doorknob and pushed, but other than moving a tiny bit, the door was stuck. Hitoshi panicked, pushing harder on the door, but it wouldn’t budge.Something was in front of the door, blocking him from leaving.“Mom!” He cried, “Mom what’s happening? Let me out, please?”Why would she lock him in here? She couldn’t be scared of him, could she? He was her son, she was supposed to love him.“Don’t-Don’t you dare move!” He heard his mom yell. “I can’t let you out, not with what you can do!”“What do you mean?” He begged.“You’re a monster! A villain!” After that, she stopped yelling and everything went silent.“…Mom?” He asked hesitantly after a long time without any noise. “What…What happened? Can you please let me out?”It was quiet for another second and then he heard the scraping noise outside of his door. Hitoshi tried to open it again, and this time, it worked.Hesitantly, he peered around the door to see his mom standing on the other side, staring blankly ahead.It was just how she’d been when she bought him ice cream, Hitoshi realized. Was that…What that his quirk?He waved his hand as high as he could to see if his mom would respond.Nothing.The way she wasn’t moving, and the empty look in her eyes, was no longer amusing to him. He’d found it funny on the way home, but now it was just terrifying. It was like his mom was no longer there, replaced with something else.“Mom?” He cried, “I’m scared! Come back!”She blinked, and suddenly her eyes were normal. Except, they weren’t exactly. There was a level of anger and fear on her face that Hitoshi had never seen before. It was almost as scary as the blank look.His mom screamed, looking between him and her hands. “What did you do?” She yelled, covering her face, “What did you do?!”He moved to take another step toward her, but she shoved him backwards again. Hitoshi stumbled and fell hard on his elbows, crying out in pain. But his mom didn’t come to help him.He’d hoped she’d come to her senses when she saw him again, but all he got was the sound of his bedroom door slamming shut again, and the scraping noise locking him in.He was full on sobbing at this point. He still couldn’t understand what his quirk was, and why did his mom hate it so much? He didn’t know what he did.Hitoshi spent the next however long calling out to his mom. He’d ask over and over again what it was that he did to make her so mad at him. He apologized to her for something he didn’t even know he did, and he begged her to let him out so he could make it better.But she never responded. Hitoshi didn’t hear her say anything else to him after she shoved him back into his room.He yelled and cried until his voice was sore and his eyes stung. His small hands had been pounding on his door for so long that they were starting to bruise and turn purple.But still, his mom never replied.Eventually, Hitoshi decided to try something else. His mom could read minds–that’s what she always did when he was in trouble. And he was probably in trouble right now, so maybe…maybe she would read his mind.That way, he could show her that he didn’t mean to do anything bad. She would understand that he was sorry and would let him out…right?So, Hitoshi started sending his thoughts out. If he was loud enough, maybe she’d hear him.“Stop it. Stop it!” He startled when he heard his mom cry out for the first time in hours. It worked, he almost smiled to himself.“Get out of my head! I don’t want to hear you!” It worked, but she still didn’t understand. He started to cry again. All he’d done was make his mom even more angry at him.With nothing else to try, Hitoshi curled up in his bed and stared at the wall. He was too exhausted to do anything more, and he hurt all over. His elbows were sore from falling, his head hurt from trying to get his mom to read his mind. And he was still so lost.His mom was acting like he was some horrible monster, just because of a quirk he didn’t even know about yet. He hugged his blanket, blinking heavily. The world around him suddenly started to blur and the last thing Hitoshi thought before falling asleep was that he wished his mother would understand how he was scared, too.•••••When Hitoshi woke up, it was dark outside. He could hear a hushed conversation right outside his door and he quietly moved to press his ear against it.“-on’t know what to do.” He could hear his mom whisper. “You weren’t there, it didn’t happen to you. It was terrifying. I was just watching myself do things but I couldn’t control anything.”His dad was quiet for a long time, “…How about this. I’ll take him to a quirk specialist tomorrow and see what’s up. We can figure it out from there.”“He can’t go back to school.” Hitoshi’s eyes widened. What did they mean? He was supposed to show his friends. “I don’t trust him around the other kids. He could destroy them if he wanted to.”“I know.” His dad sighed. “We’ll have to be careful until we know how his quirk activates too. We can’t let him take control of us either.”But then, it sounded like his parents were scared of him. Or at least scared of his quirk. But why? What was his quirk?“Let’s get some sleep.” His dad said, “We can figure more out in the morning.”Hitoshi listened to his parents’ quiet footsteps as they walked down the hall and toward their own bedroom. He fought the urge to call out to them–he wasn’t sure they would even answer him anymore.Instead, he waited until they were gone and then climbed back into bed, curling up against the wall. He felt his eyes well up with tears and quickly swiped them away.His parents didn’t even tuck him in. His dad always read him a story before bed, but they didn’t so much as check on him. He tried to tell himself that it was because they were busy, but it didn’t help. He’d never missed a single night for as long as Hitoshi could remember, and his absence hurt.Hitoshi curled up even tighter when his stomach grumbled, cramping painfully. Right, he hadn’t eaten dinner either. His mom freaked out and locked him in here before he got the chance. He whimpered quietly. The door was still stuck, so he couldn’t even sneak down to get food. He was trapped and alone.Once again, Hitoshi was forced to wait. He didn’t know what time it was when he woke up, and he didn’t know how long he waited. But by the time the sun started shining through his window, his was so hungry it felt like his stomach was eating itself. He wasn’t able to sleep all night because it hurt so much.He bolted upright when he heard footsteps outside of his door. Scared to be left alone for even longer, Hitoshi quickly ran to the door and pounded on it, wincing slightly when he hit his new bruises. “Mom? Dad? Can you let me out, I’m really hungry!” He wailed. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.The footsteps paused for a second before continuing past his room. Desperation filled him at the thought of not getting food soon. He really needed to eat.“Wait! Please, I’m hungry!” He pounded on the door again, tears streaming down his face. Was he so bad that his parents wouldn’t even feed him? What did he do to get in trouble?He stopped calling through the door when he heard footsteps coming back. There was a scraping sound again and then the door suddenly opened. Hitoshi backed up in surprise when his dad stepped in the room. He didn’t acknowledge Hitoshi at all–didn’t even look at him while he walked toward his desk. Hitoshi watched him set a plate of food down on his desk and he suddenly didn’t care about anything else.He ran over, scrambling up on the chair and frantically taking a large bite of food. It had to be the best food he’s ever eaten. He smiled, taking another bite. He was so focused on his food that he didn’t hear his dad leaving the room until the door shut and he heard something moving in front of it again.He wanted to ignore the fact that his parents weren’t even looking at him. But he really wished they would at least spend some time with him still, he was getting really lonely.Hitoshi set his chopsticks down, suddenly not very hungry.Was his quirk really so bad that it made his parents hate him? He felt like he was going to cry again. If his parents didn’t like his quirk, did that mean everyone in his class would hate it too? Would Haruto?Hitoshi wiped at his face again, upset. He got his quirk, which meant he was supposed to show it to the rest of his class now. It was something that he’d been looking forward to his entire life. So why was he suddenly terrified to show them it? Would he even get to? His mom said they weren’t going to send him to school today.He sniffed, climbing off the chair and walking back to his bed. But he stopped when he saw a new set of clothes laid out for him. His dad probably put it there when he brought Hitoshi’s food in. Hitoshi quickly made a decision and picked up the shirt. If his dad wanted him to get dressed, then he would.He just needed to be good and then he could fix this. If they didn’t like his quirk, he would simply have to show them that he hadn’t changed. That he was still the person they loved. That would work. Probably.Mind made up, he quickly got dressed and sat back down at his desk. He wasn’t hungry anymore, but his dad would want him to eat everything on his plate. And if he did that, he could show them just how obedient and good he was. He smiled, forcing himself to take another bite. He was going to be the perfect son, and then everything would go back to how it was supposed to.
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His dad came in a couple hours later. By then, Hitoshi had finished all his food and was even practicing him math because he didn’t have his homework with him.“Look Dad!” He yelled once the door opened, “I’ve been practicing! I can add sixes and sevens together now!” Once again, his dad didn’t say anything.“And-And I ate all of my food! And got dressed, see? Just like you wanted me to!” He smiled up at him, hoping his dad would notice just how hard he’d been working.Finally, his dad looked at him. But he didn’t give him the praise he normally would. He just nodded simply and reached down to take Hitoshi’s hand. Eager to show just how good he could be, Hitoshi jumped to take the offered hand. His dad started to lead him out of the room and he followed quickly, not entirely sure where they were going.He was too scared to ask, in case he got yelled at again, so he stayed quiet as his dad buckled him into his car seat and drove away. It was quiet the entire way. His dad still hadn’t said anything, and Hitoshi didn’t want to get in trouble if he talked.Eventually, they pulled into a parking lot of some sort of building. He couldn’t read what the sign outside said, but he thought it might be some sort of doctor’s office, maybe?“Are we going to the doctor?” He asked before he could stop himself. He realized that he talked right after, and slapped a hand over his mouth as a form of apology.Almost as quickly, his dad froze and shot him a nervous look, as if he was expecting something to happen at the question. They stayed like that for a second until he was sure Hitoshi’s quirk didn’t activate, and then climbed out of the car and helped Hitoshi out as well.Aware of his mistake, and now positive that his parents didn’t want him talking, Hitoshi made a point to stay quiet as he got out and followed his dad into the building.There was a lady at the desk right inside, and Hitoshi watched his dad greet her and check them in. Hitoshi looked around the room until something caught his eye. There was a play set in the corner of the waiting area, and he really wanted to play with them.So he nudged his dad and pointed at the toys as a way to ask if he could go play. His dad waved him off, so Hitoshi figured it was okay to go play with them and ran to the corner.The toys were so cool. They weren’t like the ones he had at home, which made them even more fun to play with. And even better, there weren’t any other kids around that he had to share with.He happily played around, making different noises that he thought the toys might do if they made sound, until he heard his name being called out.“Shinsou Hitoshi?” Some woman called into the room. He looked up to see his dad standing by a nurse and waving him over. Quickly, he set the toys down and followed them through another set of doors.The lady led them into a different room–this one looked exactly like a doctor’s room, which meant that he was right. The lady, probably a nurse, took a few measurements from him and left the room.They waited again until a new person in a doctors jacket came into the room.“Why, hello there!” He sat down on a chair across from them, “I hear that someone got their quirk?”Hitoshi nodded and looked at his dad. “Yes, my wife said it manifested yesterday after school. But we have some…concerns.”The doctor hummed, “That’s normal. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about his quirk?”“We think he can control minds. My wife said that he made her buy him ice cream, and that she had no control over her actions. It happened again later in the day, but it didn’t last long enough for him to make her do anything.”The other man rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Brainwashing…that’s quite a unique ability, isn’t it.” His dad nodded, “Do you have any idea how it might have activated?”“We think it’s voice activated, but other than that, we’re not sure.”“I see. How about I call a nurse in here and we can test it a little bit?” They both looked nervous at the idea, but Hitoshi couldn’t understand why. It was just his quirk.Another nurse came in and was quickly brought up to speed. She then hesitantly approached Hitoshi and kneeled down next to him.“Why don’t you go ahead and try to say something?” The doctor instructed him.“Uh…” Hitoshi started, “Hi?”They waited in tense silence, but nothing happened.“Okay, so it’s got to be more specific than that.” Someone said. “Nurse Hiroki, try asking him something.”“Hey, Hitoshi.” The nurse brought his attention back to her, “What’s your favorite animal?”He beamed, “I really like cats! They’re so cute and they love to snuggle!” He could go on about them for a long time. “They have really sharp claws, but-““That didn’t work either.” His dad cut him off, still on edge.“That’s not a problem.” The doctor replied, “We’ll try a few more things and if those don’t work we can just use my quirk to speed it along. Though it would be better to figure out the activation before then.”“I can try having him ask me something?” The nurse offered.“Yes, let’s see if that’ll work.”“Hey, Hitoshi.” He brought his attention back to the nurse, “How about you ask me about my favorite animal?”He nodded, giggling slightly. This was a weird way to have a conversation. “What’s your favorite animal?”The nurse took a deep breath, “I really like dolphins-“She suddenly cut off and her eyes went blank. Everyone in the room tensed and his dad shifted uncomfortably next to him.“That’s quite interesting, now isn’t it.” The doctor mumbled, scribbling something down. “Hitoshi, did you feel anything when you did that?”He thought hard, but couldn’t think of anything. “No, it just happened. I don’t know how.”The doctor hummed, “Try getting her to stand up.”Hitoshi looked back at the nurse, who was still staring blankly at him. It was getting scary again. “S-Stand up?” He tried.The nurse immediately stood up, now staring at the wall.“It appears to be entirely voice activated then.” The doctor said. “He takes control of them by asking questions, and he can order them to do things the same way.”His dad sighed, rubbing his forehead. “This is horrible.”“As a doctor, I can’t normally give my opinion, but I’m inclined to agree.”Horrible? Hitoshi thought that meant something bad. Did that mean he was bad?“Go ahead and release her, Hitoshi.”“H-How?” He didn’t know how to do that.“Tell her to go back to normal.” His dad suggested.“G-Go back to normal?” Nothing happened.The doctor inched forward, nudging the nurse. But she was still staring with those scary eyes.“Nurse Hiroki?” The doctor pushed her a little harder and she suddenly blinked.“Oh.” She shuddered, holding her head, “I didn’t like that.”“Interesting.” The doctor said. “It appears the connection can be broken through physical force as well. I’d normally suggest running a few more tests, but in this case I don’t necessarily want to risk it.”“That’s perfectly alright, doctor. This should be enough for us to start with, anyway. Thank you.”He nodded and they all stood up. Hitoshi looked around before doing the same.“I have a few pamphlets that I can give you with some resources for your type of situation. I’d also suggest fitting him with some sort of muzzle or device to prevent him from speaking–at least in the early years. We don’t want him doing anything harmful to others.”Hitoshi blinked. The doctor thought he was going to do bad stuff with his quirk too? Why?“I understand.”“I’ll get in touch with a company that works with us, they should be able to get it to you in a couple days. I’d suggest being careful until then.”“Right. Thank you so much.” His dad bowed to them, taking Hitoshi’s hand and leading him out of the room.They made it all the way back to the car before his dad sagged. He sighed, rubbing his hand down his face, “This is worse than I could’ve thought.”Hitoshi couldn’t help but feel guilty at the disappointment in his dad’s voice. “I’m sorry.” He said. “I didn’t mean to get a bad quirk.”His dad didn’t reply.Once they got home, his dad quickly led him back to his room and locked him inside once again. Hitoshi didn’t try to fight him, already aware that he’d done something wrong to make him upset. And he didn’t want to make it worse.A few minutes later, he heard shouting coming from downstairs and he tried to cover his ears. They were yelling about him again, he was sure of it. His vision swam and he ran to his bed so he could hide from the scary noises.He’d always been so excited to get his quirk. Everyone who did always had such a fun time showing it off and getting praised, so he wanted to do that too. But now, with his parents shouting downstairs and the memory of his mother’s eyes filled with fear when he’d used his quirk, Hitoshi wished he never got one.
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The following days were horrible and lonely. His parents didn’t let him out of his room except to use the bathroom and they were always so nervous around him. Every time he was left alone, Hitoshi could hear his parents arguing or talking about what they should do with his quirk.He hated it. He hated it so much. It always made him feel like he was in trouble even though he was pretty sure now that he didn’t actually do anything wrong.He kept trying to fix it by studying extra hard and cleaning his room or organizing his clothes the best he could. He really wanted to show his parents that he wouldn’t use his quirk to hurt people, and that was the best way he knew how.And it looked like it had been working. His parents had kind of started to relax a little bit and Hitoshi thought they’d finally been coming to terms with his quirk. His mom even asked if he wanted to come down for ice cream at one point. But then all of his efforts went down the drain when he accidentally took control of his dad.After that, Hitoshi didn’t see either of his parents for a long time. And the next time he did see them, his mom was holding some sort of face mask that she made him put on.She called it a “muzzle” and he hated it even more than being left alone in his room all the time. It covered his nose and mouth and locked behind his head so he couldn’t take it off. The muzzle put uncomfortable pressure on his jaw and he couldn’t open his mouth to talk even if he wanted to. The whole thing made it hard to breathe.He still tried to be good. At first, he didn’t fight them or complain about the uncomfortable muzzle, still hoping he could show them how obedient he was. Eventually, though, the pain got to be too much and he started to pull at the thing on his face, hoping it would come off–to no avail.A few nights after that, Hitoshi was wrestling with the muzzle yet again when he heard his parents talking outside his door. He forced himself to stop his efforts so he could press his ear to the door, listening in on what they were saying.“I can’t keep going on like this.” His dad whispered.“I know, but what else can we do?” Hitoshi could hear her voice shaking, like how his did when he was about to cry.“No, I…I refuse to have a villain for a son. And with a quirk like his…”“It’s only a matter of time.” His mom finished.“We’ve tried everything. I mean, I even contacted one of my coworkers to try and get quirk suppressants for him. But they said it was too harmful to give them to children his age. It’s just…his quirk is too dangerous. He can’t control it and even if he could, it would take no effort at all to get someone under his control. It’s-It’s evil. How are we supposed to raise something like that?”“I know…” His mom agreed and Hitoshi felt betrayal shoot through him. “My mom…My mom thinks we should send him away.”His dad sighed heavily. “…I think that might be for the best. We’re just not equipped for something like this.”“And when he does become a villain, it won’t fall back on us.”Hitoshi felt his heart start to pound. That couldn’t mean what he thought it meant, could it? His…His parents were thinking about giving him up, weren’t they. He was scared. He wanted to cry again.“…Okay. I’ll look into nearby organizations we can send him to.” His dad finally said. “But we need to be sure. Do you really think you can do this? There’ll be no going back.”His mom was quiet for a long time. “I think it’s for the best. I can barely even stand to look at him anymore, and it’s like you said. We don’t have the ability to care for him. They might be able to find a family that can.”No.They couldn’t do this to him. He’d been trying so hard to be good, why didn’t they see that?He let out a muffled cry, pounding on the door.“I think he heard us.” His mom whispered.“It’s fine. He probably didn’t understand most of what we said.” Their voices were getting fainter and Hitoshi hit his door even harder, shaking his head frantically.“But what if he did…”He didn’t hear the rest of their conversation. But even though he knew they were gone, Hitoshi continued to pound desperately on the door. They couldn’t send him away, they were his family. He thought he’d proven that he wasn’t evil. They had to let him stay.His parents gave no sign of acknowledging his muffled pleas, even hours after their conversation. In a frenzy, Hitoshi started looking for a way out of his room. But there was nowhere he could go. His room was on the second floor and the door was still blocked with something way too heavy for him to move by himself.He let out a panicked cry. This couldn’t be happening. His parents loved him, why were they going to do that to him?He stopped again when the door to his room suddenly opened, revealing his mom standing at the entrance. She took in his appearance and gave him a soft smile. Hitoshi hoped the tension he saw in her smile was only his imagination.“Hi, sweetie. Did you have a good day?” It was as if she didn’t even notice his tear-streaked face.In a desperate attempt, Hitoshi ran to her and wrapped his arms around her leg. He had to show her that he loved her. Then she wouldn’t send him away. His mom tensed under his grip and took a step back, breaking off the hug. His heart sank.“Hey Hitoshi.” She kneeled down next to him, “We’re going to go on a little trip, okay? It’ll be fun.”A trip? Where? He couldn’t even ask her.“Come on, your father already has our bags in the car.” She patted his back and stood up, leading him out of the room. Hitoshi had been so intent on escaping that he didn’t even realize a whole day had passed. It was already nighttime again.What trip were they going on? What kind of trip were they going on at night? Hitoshi was skeptical, but he didn’t think his parents were lying to him. They were his parents, and despite everything they’d done and said, Hitoshi still trusted them. And besides, they told him lying was bad.So he followed her out of the house and let her buckle him into his car seat. Maybe this trip was one more chance for him to prove himself. That was it, they changed their minds after hearing him crying. They had to. It was the only explanation that made sense to him.He tried to convince himself of that.His parents were quiet as they pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. They didn’t even look back at Hitoshi, but that was fine. This was already more than they’d done in the past week. He just had to be good and they would realize that he wasn’t a villain.So he stayed quiet the entire drive. At some point, his mom started crying, but he still didn’t try to comfort her. He really, really wanted to, but Hitoshi also knew that his parents liked it more if he was quiet. So he didn’t move.“We’re here.” His dad whispered, putting the car in park. It only made his mom cry harder, confusing Hitoshi even more. She said they were going on a trip, and trips were supposed to be fun. Why was she crying? It was making him want to cry too, but he didn’t understand why.His dad gave him mom a quick hug and got out of the car, opening the door next to Hitoshi.“Come on, bud. We got to get you out.”Hitoshi followed behind him silently, walking up the stairs and stopping by the door. He quietly peered into the building through the glass. Inside was some sort of lobby, it had a lot of colorful paintings and even some toys in the corner. There was a desk in a different corner of the room, but he couldn’t see if someone was sitting there or not.“Okay,” His dad kneeled down next to him and handed him some sort of paper. “I need you to stay right here, don’t move. And if someone asks you anything, give them this, okay? Can you do that?” Confused, Hitoshi nodded. What kind of trip was this? The memory of his parent’s conversation that morning pushed at the front of his mind and Hitoshi shook it away. They wouldn’t do that yet, they were giving him another chance first.But then his dad looked away guiltily and his mom was still crying in the car.What was going on?Hitoshi watched as his dad stood up and turned his back to him. He took a step toward his dad when he started walking away, but remembered what he asked him to do.If he did what he told him to, would they be happy with him again? Maybe staying here was the test and if he did it right, he could fix whatever he ruined. He hoped so.Reluctantly, Hitoshi forced himself to stand still while he watched his dad walk down the stairs and climb back into their car without him. He made sure not to move an inch as they drove away, hoping they would see how obedient he was and come back for him.Hitoshi stood there for a long time. No matter how uncomfortable it got, he never moved from his spot, sure that his parents would come back at any moment and bring him home.But they didn’t come back. His legs fell asleep from the lack of movement, and his face started to really hurt from both the cold and the muzzle biting into his skin, but they still didn’t come back. Eventually, the sun began to shine through the surrounding buildings, blinding him. He blinked back his tears, they had to come back soon, right? He couldn’t be here all day, he had things he needed to do.“Hey, sweetie. What are you doing here?” Hitoshi jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder and he whipped around to see an unfamiliar woman standing next to him.“Oh,” She startled when she saw the muzzle on his face. Hitoshi suddenly remembered the instructions his dad gave him before he left and shoved the piece of paper in her hands.“What’s this?” She asked curiously, opening it up.He didn’t know what was written on the paper, so he could only watch as her face switched between a few different emotions. “…I see.” She said once she finished.“Your name is Hitoshi?” She asked, suddenly a bit wary of him. Confused, he nodded.“Okay. If you would come with me, I can get you set up in a room.”A room? What did she mean?Hesitantly, Histoshi followed her into the building and down a hallway. They met another lady on the way there and they started talking. About him.“Who’s the kid you have with you?” The new lady asked.“His name’s Hitoshi. Apparently his parents dropped him off sometime last night–they somehow avoided running into the night shift. I guess he developed his quirk last week and it was too much for them to handle, so they brought him here.”Wait. That’s what his parents had been talking about yesterday. Fear coursed through Hitoshi again.His parents lied to him. They’d given him away after all and all he’d done was stand there and watch them leave. He could feel tears forming in his eyes again and he blinked. He was so stupid.“Oh, that’s sad.” The other woman sympathized, “What’s his quirk?”“They said he can control people. It’s voice activated, so we should probably keep the muzzle on just to be safe.”The other lady turned to look at him with surprise, mixed with something else. “Well, I can see why they gave him up.” She hummed, “That’s an awful quirk.”“Yeah. Who knows what he could do with a quirk like that.”That’s exactly what his parents said, and the doctor. Why did everyone think he might do something bad? It’s not like he was a bad person just because of some quirk, right? Hitoshi blinked back even more tears as his eyes began to sting.“I’m not sure how long we can keep him here.” The other lady said, “We might need to send him to a home or something. I don’t like the idea of having him around so many kids.”“Agreed. I’ll set him up with some of the older boys for now, but until we know more, we can’t trust him with others.”Hitoshi was starting to really hate this. Not once had anyone asked him how he felt about all of this. It was as if they didn’t care about his own feelings, even though it was his quirk and his life.But then, Hitoshi still had the hope that his parents would come back for him. Which meant that no matter how much betrayal he felt, he still needed to be obedient for when they did. That way they would take him back home.“Well, good luck with that one.” The other lady waved at them, “I’ll see you for lunch?”“Yeah, sure. See you.” They said their goodbyes and turned down a different hallway. There were doors lining the walls and he looked around in surprise. It was almost like the hotel his family went to over the summer.The lady knocked on one of the doors and let herself in. Histoshi peeked around her and saw two bunk beds inside. There was a boy sitting in one of them.“Hey Hinata, can I come in?” She asked and the boy grunted.The lady ushered Hitoshi inside, making him bow in greeting. “This is Shinsou Hitoshi, he’ll be your new roommate.”“And why do I have to room with a baby?” The boy sounded really angry and Hitoshi curled in on himself. This was scary.“He has a really dangerous quirk and I’m not comfortable putting him with the younger ones.”“Oh really? What’s his quirk?”“Brain washing—mind control.”Hinata cringed. “Hell no. Ain’t no way I’m letting the freak take control of me.”The lady sighed, “I understand. But it’s only temporary and you’re our best option. You and the others should be able to control him until we can move him.”The boy groaned, rubbing his forehead. “…Ugh, fine. But only if you let us get first pick for meals.”“…Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Just make sure you don’t answer any of his questions, that’s how he uses his quirk.”“And get us a later curfew.” Hinata pushed.“Don’t try me, you’re already pushing it.” She looked at her watch, “Okay, I have a meeting I need to get to. He’s only allowed to take his muzzle off for meals, so make sure it stays on. I’ll leave you to get aquatinted.” And just like that, Hitoshi was left alone with the scary teen.He hugged himself, backing away until his back hit the bunk on the other side of the small room.“Wow, you really are pathetic, aren’t you?” The boy scoffed.Hitoshi felt his face flush and tried to respond, only to be stopped by the muzzle again. He really hated that thing.The door suddenly opened and they both looked up to see a blue-haired teen walk in. He jumped when he saw Hitoshi standing there and turned to glare at Hinata, “Dude. I’m gone for three minutes and you let a little rat in?”“Oh, hi Touki. Miss Hiromoto dropped him off. Said he couldn’t be with the younger ones because of his quirk and I thought he might be fun to play with.” He shrugged.“And what, exactly, is his quirk?” The boy walked the rest of the way in the room and leaned down to stare at Hitoshi.“She said it was mind control–voice activated. That’s why he’s got a muzzle.”“…Dude, that’s hilarious. He’s like a dog with that muzzle on.”Hitoshi looked away from the two, fiddling with his shirt. He really wanted to leave.“Yeah.” Hinata laughed, “It is pretty funny.”“Hey, I want to see what he can do.” Touki suddenly said, turning to the other boy in the room. “We should take it off.”“I don’t know.” Hinata hummed, “Miss Hiromoto said it had to stay on…maybe we should wait for the others to get back, just to be safe.” The blue-haired boy groaned, “They went out to smoke. You know they won’t be back for forever.”Hinata sighed, climbing off the bunk to stand next to them. The two taller boys surrounding Hitoshi made him feel so small.“Fine, as long as you’ll be the victim.” Hinata suddenly whipped out his hand, grabbing Hitoshi by the hair and he cried out in pain.“Oh, hold still. I’m just gonna take this off of you.” He could feel hands playing with the buckle on the back of the muzzle, yanking at his baby hairs while they struggled to take it off.“Man, this thing is on there.” Tears formed in Hitoshi’s eyes at the rough treatment. Finally, they managed to get it off and Hitoshi scratched at the back of his head as soon as they let him go. He was too scared to be relieved that the muzzle was off.“There. Now Shinsou? Was it?” Hinata said to him. “Take control of Touki over here.”Shinsou shook his head, not willing to look at either of them. “I don’t want to. It’s scary.” He voice cracked while he tried to explain.A hand suddenly grabbed a fistful of his hair again and he cried out, reaching up to try and get rid of it.“Aww, he doesn’t want to.” They mocked, “I guess we won’t be able to see his quirk then.”Hitoshi wanted to go home. He wanted his parents. Why would they leave him in an awful place like this?A loud slap resounded through the room and Hitoshi felt his head whip to the side, his cheek burning. Tears that were welling up in his eyes started spilling over and he whimpered.They hit him. No one had ever hit him before. It hurt way more than he thought it would.“Use your quirk on him.” Hinata demanded again. “Or next time, I’ll hit harder.”“I-I don’t want to. I g-get in trouble when I do.”“Well, it looks to me like you’re already in trouble, freak.” Touki sneered.Hitoshi was so scared. He didn’t want to get hit again, but why would they want him to use his quirk? It was bad, that’s what everyone said.“O-Okay.” He finally relented, sparing a glance at the two. “Bu-But he needs to answer a question I ask.”“Well, go ahead.”Hitoshi frantically tried to come up with a good enough question through his fear. He quickly asked the first one that came to mind, “What’s your fa-favorite animal?”Touki laughed. “That’s what you decided to ask?” He huffed, “Okay, fine. My favorite animal…probably an elephant.”The boy suddenly froze, dropping his hands to his side and staring ahead. Hitoshi quickly looked away so he wouldn’t have to see the blank look in his eyes.“Woah.” Hinata finally let go of him and turned to look at his friend. “That’s freaky.”He waved his hand in front of Touki’s face before turning to look at Hitoshi again. “Make him do something.”“I-I don’t know how to.”“Oh come on. Of course you do. Tell him to do some jumping jacks or something.”Hitoshi thought back to the last time he used his quirk. All he’d done was say something and they usually did it. Maybe that was how his quirk worked.“Okay, uh…do some jumping jacks?” He said hesitantly. Immediately, Touki started jumping up and down, waving his arms in unison.“Hah! It worked!” Hinata cheered.It went on like that for a horribly long time. Hinata wouldn’t let Hitoshi drop his control over Touki, and instead ordered him to do more and more complicated things.Eventually, Hitoshi accidentally dropped his control when Hinata yelled, startling him. Almost immediately, a blinding headache surged behind his eyes and he grabbed his head to try and stop it.“Hey! I didn’t tell you to stop!” Hinata yelled. Hitoshi could vaguely hear Touki groaning in the background.“What happened?” He asked, shaking his head. “That was so weird.”“Take control of him again.” Hinata ordered.Hitoshi shook his head, backing away from the pair, “I can’t. My head hurts too much.” He whimpered.“Do I look like I care! You’re probably lying anyway!” Hinata slapped him hard across the face and he started crying. “Do it again!”Scared that he’d get hit again, Hitoshi tried. But as soon as Touki answered his question, a sharp pain coursed through his skull and he fell to the ground. It felt like someone was stabbing a knife in his head.“Ugh, he’s useless. No wonder his parents hate him.” They complained, kicking him in frustration. Hitoshi wanted to argue with them, tell them that his parents did love him, but he could barely move through the pain in his head.“Put the muzzle back on, we’ll try again later.”“Okay, yeah.” Someone grabbed him by the hair again and he cried out, black fading into his vision.“Once he stops being a baby about it, we should see what else he can do.”“Do you think he can control two people…”Hitoshi didn’t hear anything else that was said. The world faded away and the last thing he remembered before everything went black was that he really missed when he didn’t have a quirk.
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Things didn’t get better as the days went on. If anything, Hitoshi thought they got worse. Everyone treated him like he was lesser–a villain.Without an extra bed in their room, the older boys forced him to sleep on the floor between the two bunk beds. It was hard and uncomfortable–no one even tried to give him a pillow or a blanket.They would constantly tease him about it, joking that he was practically a dog–sleeping on the ground and wearing his muzzle. They never brought up the fact that he didn’t have a choice in the matter, nor did they care.Hitoshi was only allowed to take the muzzle off when he needed to eat or when the other boys he shared a room with wanted to “play” with him, as they put it. Hitoshi was starting to get painful blisters on his cheeks from how it rubbed awkwardly against his skin.And his roommates were really mean to him. There were two more boys other than Hinata and Touki, and those two were almost worse than them. Instead of simply playing around with his quirk, they would make him use it on others at the orphanage. They used Hitoshi as a way to control the kids they didn’t like and would hurt him if he didn’t. It only served as a reminder for the other kids to avoid him. He basically lost his chance to make friends before he even got one.Hitoshi would wake up almost every day with new bruises painting his skin. One time, after a particularly bad beating, he’d asked them why they were so mean to him and they’d just scoffed, hitting him again. Hinata told him later that he wasn’t allowed to be sad or upset about anything that was happening, because he was a villain with an evil quirk, and villains didn’t have feelings. That’s why they needed to be put in their place.That seemed to be what everyone thought. They all avoided Hitoshi like he had some horrible disease, and looked at him like he would attack them at any minute. Whenever he did have the chance to talk to someone, they would say something similar to Hinata–that he was a villain with no emotions, and that they didn’t make friends with villains.He was starting to think they might be right. He did take control of the other kids with his quirk, after all–even if he didn’t want to. And that’s something bad people did.The only thing that kept him going was the hope that his parents would come back for him. Because they had to, they were his parents and there was no other way that Hitoshi could think of to fix this. But each day that they didn’t come back, his resolve weakened. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He ran away.He snuck out right after roll call one night and didn’t look back. As soon as he was down the steps of the orphanage, Hitoshi ran as fast as he could away from the orphanage, away from the bullies, and away from everyone who yelled at him and called him a villain.He managed to make it a few blocks before he had to stop and breathe–he was still wearing the uncomfortable muzzle and it didn’t let him breathe through his mouth.After Hitoshi was sure he was safe, he started thinking of ways to find his parents. The only reason he could come up with for why they didn’t come back get him was that they couldn’t.Which meant that he would just need to go to them. He didn’t know where he was, but he did know the address to his house. His mom made him memorize it when he started going to school.Taking another breath, Hitoshi carefully reached behind him and felt for the buckle on his muzzle. It felt wrong to take it off by himself after wearing it for so long, but he couldn’t do what he needed to while wearing it.He struggled with the buckle for a long time. He didn’t realize how complicated it was until he had to do it himself–it took even longer because he couldn’t see what he was doing. But eventually–finally–he was able to get the muzzle off and he sighed in relief, taking a full breath of fresh air and smiling.This was going to work. He was going to find his parents and they would be so happy to see him again. Then they could all be happy together, just like they were before he got his quirk.The first thing Hitoshi did was find a bus station. He’d never been on one by himself, but he didn’t think it would be too hard to figure out. He’d seen his mom do it.So he waited. And waited. Hitoshi sat at the station for hours, searching for a bus that wasn’t coming. He looked around, a bit confused.Weren’t buses supposed to come every few minutes? He knew he was supposed to wait, but he didn’t think they would take this long. Slowly, Hitoshi laid down on the bench. He was exhausted, both from running away and from the stress that living at the orphanage gave him. It wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes while he waited, would it? He could just open again them when the bus came.•••••“Hey, kid. You okay?” Hitoshi jumped when a hand shook his shoulder and he sat up quickly, nearly toppling over in the process.“Woah, hey. Didn’t mean to scare you.” A voice said.Hitoshi rubbed his eyes, confused. Did he fall asleep? Had the bus come yet?“Are you okay?” The voice asked again. Finally, Hitoshi looked up to see someone kneeling in front of him. They looked like they were dressed in a hero costume.Relief flooded through him. If there was anyone who could help him find his parents, it was a hero.“I-I’m okay.” He answered them and the hero sighed in relief.“Thank goodness, I was starting to get a little scared there. What are you doing here so early in the morning?”“I was-“ looking for his parents. But what if the hero just sent him back to the orphanage? He didn’t want that at all.“I got lost.” He said finally.“Oh, you poor thing.” The man sympathized. “Well, lucky for you, you ran into a hero! Pro hero Atlas at your service!” He made a show of bowing to Hitoshi.Despite the situation, Hitoshi could feel excitement bubbling up in him. He was still a huge fan of heroes, first and foremost, and he was sitting here talking to a real life hero. This kind of thing didn’t happen every day.He clapped his hands, starstruck. “So cool!”Atlas smiled back at him, “I’m glad you think so. And what would your name be?”“I-My name is Shinsou.”“Shinsou? That’s a very nice name you have. Now, do you know anything that might help me get you home?”His excitement dimmed a little, remembering how he met this hero in the first place. “Yeah, I-I know my address, but I don’t know how to get there.”“Well, that’s okay! I can help you find it. Why don’t you tell me where it is and I’ll get you there?”So Hitoshi did. He rambled off the street name and number of his house, just like his mom taught him to.The hero hummed, “That’s quite a long ways from here. How’d you get so far from home?” Hitoshi didn’t want to answer that, worried the hero would send him back to the orphanage. Or maybe he would find out Hitoshi was lying and send him to jail like a villain. The thought filled him with fear.So he just looked away, fiddling with his shirt.“No matter!” The hero waved him off, “The only thing that’s important is that we can get you back!”Hitoshi sagged in relief. The hero was still going to help him.“Now, it’s too early for the buses to be running, so how about we go to my headquarters? I have a cool car I can show you there.”“Yes!” Hitoshi beamed, already forgetting his fears. He was going to get to see actual hero gear!Atlas laughed at his reaction, easily picking him up and walking down the street. “I’m glad you’re excited!”The hero occupied Hitoshi’s time with stories of his adventures and villain fights. Hitoshi enjoyed hearing about the fights and had trouble forcing himself not to ask the man any questions about them–he didn’t want Atlas learning about his quirk and turning on him like everyone else. Luckily, it didn’t take long to get to Atlas’s headquarters, and from there he was brought to a cool garage filled with so many different cars.It was the best time Hitoshi had ever had, especially in the last month since he’d gotten his quirk. The hero was so nice and never asked about what his quirk was. And he didn’t treat him like a villain–that was probably the best part. He just played with Hitoshi like he was a normal person and showed him so many cool things that he used as a hero.By the time Atlas parked in front of Hitoshi’s family home, he was beaming from ear to ear and bouncing in excitement.“Well, looks like we’re here.” The hero announced. “I’ll come with you to make sure they’re home.”“Okay!” He climbed out of the car and stood next to the hero. They walked up the steps to his house and Hitoshi bounced with nervous energy while he knocked on the door.This was it. The door would open and his parents would be inside. Then everything would go back to normal, he was sure of it.“Hmm…doesn’t look like they’re home.” He looked down at Hitoshi, “You sure we got the right place?”He nodded, deflating a little. Where were they?“Okay…” Atlas hummed, “You stay right here, I’ll go check with the neighbors.”Hitoshi nodded again, watching as the hero walked to his neighbors door. They answered right after he knocked and he strained to hear their conversation.“Hello, sorry to bother you. I was wondering if the Shinsou’s lived in that house over there?”“Oh, yes.” She said, “They used to. But they moved out last week. It was so sudden that I didn’t have the chance to ask them where they were moving to.”“…I see. Well! Thank you for your time!” Atlas waved and turned back toward Hitoshi.He watched blankly at the hero walked over to him. This wasn’t right. Why would his parents leave?“I’m sorry, bud. It looks like they’re gone.” He sighed, “I’ll take you down to the police station so we can figure this out, that sound good?”He didn’t acknowledge him, simply following the hero back to his car.His parents were gone. They weren’t coming back, and now he would be sent back to that awful place forever. There was nothing else he could do.His eyes watered and he sniffed, wiping at his nose. It didn’t do anything to stop the tears spilling over and he fell apart. He’d been keeping it together for so long, but he couldn’t do it anymore.“Oh, bud. I’m sorry.” A hand patted him on the back. “But don’t worry, it’ll turn out okay.”The hero didn’t say anything else the rest of the car ride, simply patting Hitoshi’s back as he cried. His face was a mess by the time they made it to the police station, but he still couldn’t stop crying.“Hi there.” Atlas greeted the woman at the desk quietly, still holding his hand. “I have a missing child here. I brought him to his house, but the family moved out for some reason. I was hoping you could look them up, see what’s going on?”“Oh, of course. What was the name?”“His family name is Shinsou, but I didn’t catch his first name.”There was some typing before Hitoshi heard the lady at the desk sigh, “Yeah, I found him. Shinsou Hitoshi, that look right?”“Yeah, that’s him.”“His parents dropped him off at an orphanage a couple weeks ago. He’s labeled here as a risk. Looks like he can control people with his quirk.”Hitoshi filled with dread when the hero let go of his hand. Did Atlas think the same as his parents? Now that he knew his quirk, did he think Hitoshi was a villain too? The thought made him cry harder.“So that’s why his parents left, I understand.” He shifted further away from Hitoshi, “And to think, I was with him this whole time.” Atlas shuddered, and Hitoshi’s heart broke.“It’s quite a dangerous quirk.” The lady agreed, “If you don’t mind leaving him here, we can deal with the rest. I wouldn’t want to risk him brainwashing you, of all people. You have a reputation to uphold, after all.”He nodded, “Yes, thank you. I’ll leave you to it then, hopefully you can find a way to deal with this safely. Thank you for your time.” The hero turned to leave.Hitoshi frantically grabbed his pant leg, not willing to let him leave yet. “Wait!”“Let go of me.” Atlas yanked his leg away, “I’m sorry, but I won’t tolerate you wasting my time anymore.” He turned to leave. He caught the hero muttering something about a villain as he walked out the door.Hitoshi leaned against the wall after he was gone, defeated. Was that really all he was? Ever since he got his quirk, everyone said he was a villain, and treated him like he was one. Even a pro hero thought he was a villain because of his quirk, so they must be right.Hitoshi didn’t feel like a villain, but maybe that didn’t matter. Villains were bad people, no matter what they thought about themselves, and it was probably the same for him.Tears started streaming down his face again and he wiped at his eyes, trying to prevent himself from crying even more. Villains didn’t deserve to cry, he told himself.But he stopped suddenly when he saw the wet streak on his hand, eyes widening.Touki said that villains didn’t feel emotions, and that’s why they were evil. But-But Hitoshi could feel things. He felt lonely, he felt sad, he felt scared.And that must mean he wasn’t a villain like everyone said.He grasped onto that realization desperately, still sitting on the dirty floor of the police station.He wasn’t a villain. He couldn’t be, it just didn’t make sense. Villains were people who did evil things and didn’t feel bad about it. Hitoshi had an evil quirk, that much was true, but he didn’t do bad stuff like that. Except for he’d been forced to back at the orphanage, but he’d always felt bad about it afterwards. So he couldn’t be a villain.Bad quirks didn’t make villains–bad people made villains. He understood that now. And if people didn’t believe him, he would have to prove it to them.