𝑅𝐸𝐽𝐸𝐶𝑇 ┊ 𝐻𝐼𝑇𝑂𝑆𝐻𝐼 𝑆𝐻𝐼𝑁𝑆𝑂

𝗢𝗡𝗘

Shinso found himself flinching when his eyes caught first sight of her. She had moved in two weeks ago and he hadn't seen anyone in or out of the house yet, only a black car leaving from the garage.
He paused in front of the gate and looked at her. She was sitting on the ground, playing with a bright orange cat. It would walk a little bit around the yard and then come back to her as she held up little toys for it to fiddle with.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she spoke up, startling him.
"Sorry, it's just- that's a pretty cat."
"His name is Sunny. My mom named it."
Shinso continued to look at it as it walked away from her and rolled in the grass. It liked the rays the sun was emitting and was getting soaked up in all its warmth.
"You can pet it, stop standing there like a creep."

He cleared his throat and thanked her, allowing himself in her yard.
Sunny didn't care as he approached him and instead kept lying in the grass.
Shinso squatted down and held his hand out, finally resting his palm against the warm fur of the cat's belly.
"He's really cute."
"Lots of cats like me. I warm them up."
"How so?"

She held her palm out flat and her skin heated up to where it started to glow. Before too much heat was absorbed and held in her hand, she lied it on the cat's head, making him purr.
"Some fresh warmth."
"You manipulate sun-rays?"
"Light, heat in general. I can fry an egg in my hand."
He chuckled, feeling the cat squirm closer to his owner instead. He didn't notice that her body was emitting its own warmth. It felt like he was sitting next to a radiator or a fireplace, instead, it was just this girl.

"That's cool. You got lucky."
Lucky. Sure.
"What about you? What did you get saddled with?"
"Nothing interesting," he commented, not exactly wanting to tell her the truth.
"You go to U.A so it must be at least a bit intriguing."
"How do you-"
"Uniform."
He forgot he was wearing it.
"I'm Shinso Hitoshi. What's your name?"
"Do you plan to see me again?"
"Huh?"
"No reason to tell you my name if I'll never see you again."
"I live next door."
"Really? Never noticed you."
"Never noticed you either."

She smiled and pulled the cat to her chest. It purred loudly and rubbed its head into her neck.
"I'm L/N Y/N."
"What school do you go to?"
"It's just a public school. Nothing special."
"You've got an interesting quirk. You've never tried to take it anywhere?"
"Nope."

She stood up and cradled the cat in both her arms like a baby.
"See you around Shinso."
She hummed as she turned around and entered her house, leaving him in her yard, feeling rather cheated out of the conversation.
Shinso shook his head and walked next door, entering his own home.
He had to eat a proper meal before going to bed. He had practice with Mr. Aizawa early in the morning and then a big day at school.
Everything was tiring him, but it's not like he hasn't dealt with long nights and days before.

As he entered his room with a bowl of cereal, he got to thinking about the cat girl next door.
Her name. He felt like he had heard it before. It wasn't particularly common, so it wasn't just some name he mistook for someone else.
He felt like he had seen her face before too. It was distinct, just like her quirk and it's unique aspects.
He hadn't ever seen her at school, but he could've sworn she was associated with it in some way.
He was only a first year, however, so if there ever was a kid with her name there, he wouldn't know.

While eating his cereal and listening to an audiobook, he noticed a bright light shining outside his window.
It crept through the thin fabric of his curtains and cast onto the floor. It was 9 pm, why does it look like the sun is out?
He set his stuff down and pulled the curtain away, yelling as the light blinded him momentarily.
It shifted away and once he was finally able to see again, he saw the girl from before, covering her mouth.

He opened up the window, still struggling to see. Black splotches danced in his vision.
"Sorry!" She called, "I didn't realize you'd look directly outside."
"No..no problem," he mumbled.
She was standing out on the roof ledge, her own window open, so he assumed she just slid down onto it.
He had one himself, but he never went outside, not at night.
"Why were you doing that?" He mumbled again, rubbing his eyes.
"Well, I was trying to get your attention. I think I succeeded."
"You succeeded."

She motioned for him to come out, so he rolled his eyes and climbed out the window, cautious as he let his body slide down the roof.
The two edges were rather close to each other. If you jumped, you could probably make it to the other side.
"Why did you need me?"
"I don't know the area at all. Is there anything cool around here?"
"Not really. There's an open park and a noodle place. Other than that you'd be out of luck."
She sighed as he continued to rub his eyes. They still stung and his skin burned a little at the touch.
"So this place really is as secluded as they say?"
"As who says?"
"My parents. They wanted to pick the most secluded part of the city, far away from anything populated."
"Yeah, it's pretty boring. That's why I have a bike. I take it everywhere."
"How do you get to school? U.A is really far away from here."
"It's only like an hour. I take my bike with me on the train."

She had curled her knees up to her chest, resting her face atop.
Shinso could tell how bummed she looked at this new information.
Somehow, someway, he could still feel the heat radiating off of her. It was traveling over to himself.
"Do you take the train?" He asked, hoping to get her to stop looking so depressed.
"Nope. Not allowed to."
"Why not?"
"My parents don't want me to."
"How old are you? That's kinda weird."
"I'm sixteen."
"You're a second-year then? They're that strict on a second-year?"
"Mmmhmm."

He scoffed and copied her position.
"I thought my parents were strict. My mom has an annoying quirk. I can't really say no to her because of it."
"What is it?"
"It's brainwashing. She just has to touch you. She doesn't use it a bunch though."
"That's cool. Never heard of a quirk like that."
Her voice kept getting sadder by the minute. Why'd she suddenly get all moody? Earlier she had seemed perky and even a bit sarcastic.

"Are you upset about moving?" He asked, running his fingers through his thick hair.
"Nah. It's just that when it's nighttime, it's really cold. It makes me sleepy."
"Oh. Gotcha."
"I am upset about moving though."
"Where do you come from?"
"Far away."
A pure lie, but she knew he had lied too. She still didn't know his quirk.
"How far?"
"Really far."
"Interesting."

It was rather silent outside, he noticed. Only really the sounds of bugs and nearby cars driving by filled the emptiness.
He noticed she had a million candles in her room along with two lamps. She really likes her warmth, huh?
"I assume your parents are why you've never done anything with your quirk. It's really cool, so I thought you'd jump on that."
"I've never had an interest in being a hero, but I did want to be able to use it for good purposes."
"And your parents just told you no?"
"A lot of people told me no."
She looked up at the sky for a moment before shivering and slowly pushing herself back up the slanted roof.

"I need to go back inside before I catch a cold. Goodnight, Shinso."
"Goodnight."
He had made it back inside his own room by the time she closed her window.
She was weird, definitely.
Not just because of the strictness of her parents or the neediness of her quirk.

No, she was weird because he can't help but feel like he's heard of her before. He didn't know where from. He didn't know why.
He just felt like she was hiding something, but he guessed, so was he.