The Villain's Daughter

21 - Childhood Friendship

(Quera's POV)

It feels so weird to be back in school after internships. I think I got so used to training with Endeavor, I forgot what training at school really felt like. I can tell I'm stronger, but I still have little stamina with flying. I think training with Endeavor was something I truly needed, not only for closure, but also to feel more comfortable with using my quirk. We stand in front of All Might once again in our hero outfits as he explains what we'll be doing today. He intends on testing our abilities, now that we've been training under real pros. We're doing rescue training, racing to get to a specific target first. We're being scored based on our performance and when we get there. We go out in teams of five. There are 26 people in the class, but Eros isn't here. All Might had excused her to talk to the other teachers. We all show off our new moves during our turns. I don't end up first in my race, but I do get a pretty good score. I really could've just flown over the terrain, but I don't have that kind on endurance.

After school, while everyone is leaving, I notice that Midoriya's not going home. Curiously, I follow him down the halls to the teacher's lounge. I wonder what he's doing there. Maybe a teacher wants to talk to him. Who knows. He enters the teacher's lounge and shuts the door behind him, so I sit on the floor and lean on the door, plugging an earbud into my left ear, but not playing any music and listen. I hear All Might talking to Midoriya about Stain. Something about passing on quirks and-

No... No way...

(Chiyo's  POV)

The school day ended quicker than expected. I didn't manage to get to class today because I had to clear the schedule for tomorrow. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother's death. Tomorrow is my birthday. For all intents and purposes, I celebrate those events on separate days. When depends on what my dad does that day. For her family, my mom has been missing for over seven years, but after four, they've stopped searching. Mom died when she was 29, too young for anyone to die. Since then, I've been stuck with my dad, always afraid of what he might do to me. Along with his cleaning obsession, he's also constantly getting obsessive over things like love. The only reason I'm alive is because I've managed to replace my mother. I asked him why he killed her and he told me it's because I grew to outshine her beauty, so she tried to run away with me. The day she died, Dad was going to prepare a birthday dinner for me. They were apparently planning a lot, but, whatever happened, dad chose to kill her, instead. I miss my mom so much.

On my way home, I stop at a flower store to buy some tulips and daisies for my mom. They were her favorite, but my dad hates them. I pull my mask and gloves on, then open the door and discard the gloves. I stuff my mask into my pocket and head into the bathroom to take a shower. Once that's done, I head out in clothes I had prepared for myself and go straight to my room and lock the door. I tap around the floor, listening for the metallic clanging of the door hidden under my rug. I pull it up and open the hatch, dropping down into the room where my mom was hidden. My dad forgot about it, but I didn't. I bring the tulips and daisies to her and lay them on her lap, then grieve, quietly, tears running down my face. A few minutes later, I leave and disinfect myself. Corpse germs. Don't want those. Eventually, I go to sleep. 

I wake up the next day to my dad shaking me. It takes me a while, but I sit up and rub my eyes, tiredly. My dad is standing over me with a wide smile and a cupcake. He does this whenever he has something planned for today. I bet he's going to give me "special treatment" today, which only occasionally means letting me go out. He restricts me from going anywhere on the weekends because all of the outside world is "filthy."

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," he says. "You teachers called to tell me you took the day off."

I nod, silently. "I intended on mourning mom today."