PROMETHIUM (mha)

one

The therapist her parents sent Izumi to was odd. For starters, he wasn't a therapist. A fact he constantly repeated when Izumi would ask for his advice. (Despite that, sometimes he relented in giving it.) He was young as well. Though the dark circles that carved beneath his eyes aged him at least five years, no wrinkles matted his face.

And finally, the oddest thing about him was the creature he had with him. It was a mix of different creatures, with a long jagged scar along its face. Red in the sea of all white. What unnerved Izumi about it was its eyes. All knowing, dark eyes, the attention of which made Izumi's skin crawl, a familiar sensation to her now.

"Hi Miss Shinso!" The creature would beam with a grin that didn't reach its beady eyes. "What's going on with your quirk this week?" Izumi wouldn't answer. Instead, she'd talk about what she presumed to be her parents' impending divorce. The not-therapist would lean back in his chair, dropping his pen so his fingers could fiddle with the scarf around his neck. The creature wouldn't pester her more about her quirk, instead letting her ramble through her week.

"I miss school." Izumi said one session, after almost a year of sessions the six year old hadn't given them any information they needed. Granted, for a six year old, she's exceedingly cautious. "I skipped two grades. So it was kinda hard. But I'd rather that than cooped up with Mom and Dad."

For the first time, Not-Therapist leaned forwards. Interested in the words of the child in front of him. "What do you miss about school? Did you have friends?"

Izumi shook her head, "I was quirkless. Besides Abel, I was alone." The man in front of her gives a short hum. The creature next to him chimes in, making Izumi's shoulders tense. The high pitch of his voice scraped against her ears. Even though he hasn't spoken, his constant stream of thoughts makes Izumi's ears ring. "Was Abel not a friend?"

Izumi shook her head no. Her small hands mindlessly weaving yarn with her fingers. "I miss being busy. That's what I miss about school. I've learned English. I know the periodic table, I can do algebra. I'm bored." The man hummed again, lazily yawning as he leaned back again. Closing his eyes to nap, something he did often. In contrast, the creature looked thrilled.

"You're bored?" It asked in English, a grin overtaking a majority of its face. "Why don't you let us help that?" Izumi remembers scowling. "You could be a hero, Miss Shinso! Wouldn't you like that?"

'No.' Izumi thought, 'she wouldn't like that.' Especially because she knew what it had in mind. And even more importantly, would betray what she promised Abel. "I know about your little secret." If possible, its grin grew. Bile rose in her throat, coating her vocal cords with the acidity of her last meal. "...you know..?" Her voice came out detached, small, and weak. As if the creature before her had ripped her heart out and was showing the organ to her in his hand. A sight Izumi never wanted to see again.

"You can help people. People who were hurt or even kidnapped, like you were."  He glances at the cat's cradle made of white yarn Izumi has created, her fingers expertly entangled in the web. "If you don't help us, who's to say the people you care about will be safe? What was your brother's name?"

Izumi swallowed, forcing the acidic phlegm down her throat. Her small fingers began to untangle themselves from the thread. She tries to ignore the voices getting louder, roaring in her ears as images of The Lab flash through her mind. Hitoshi wouldn't ever survive. With his quirk? They'd make him into a monster. Or even worse in his eyes, a villian.

But hadn't the heroes shut down The Lab? Or maybe that's the lie they fed the already drugged out five year old last year. To make her feel...safe? But Izumi hasn't ever felt safe after what happened in The Lab. With her parents she feels translucent, basking in a life she can't reconcile. With the heroes? Well. There are no Heroes. Izumi had decided. Her mentor was correct, 'Evil is the only commonality within humanity. Heroes are those only lucky enough to not see the world through the lens of reality.'

"What do you need?" Izumi asked, instead of crying. Instead of screaming for a boy who had died four-hundred eighty-six days ago. She neatly sets the reformed bundle of yarn in her lap, forcing a smile through her scowl. "I wanna help. I wanna be a hero." She tries to ignore the pit in her stomach. The Not-Therapist before her finally opening his eyes.  Above all, she tries to ignore the sound of Abel turning over in his grave.

————
A/N
Three updates in one week! Wow! Look at me!