School was closed the day after the attack to give us all a chance to recuperate. Papa was still being watched in the hospital and dad was with him so it was just me at the house all day. I laid in my bed and stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours before I finally decided to get up and do something. It was a horrible thing that happened, but even still no one was seriously injured so it could have been worse. I honestly didn't want to be stuck in the house all day, so after I fixed myself a snack I decided to go out for a walk. Honestly I think one of the biggest reasons I didn't want to stay home was because of how quiet it was. As soon as I headed outside, I closed my eyes and listened to the people in the streets talk and converse. I honestly had no particular destination in mind when I left the house. So no particular destination is where I went.
"Songbird...." I hear someone say in a sing song tone as I walk and I turn to see who it was, but I never saw anyone. Giving my head a small shake, assuming I was just hearing things, I shove my hands into my pants pockets and continue walking. "Sing for me little songbird...." There it was again, even though everyone around me kept going about their normal business. I give another shake of my head before taking a deep breath. I continue walking again, crossing my arms over my chest instead of keeping my hands in my pockets. That way just in case, it would be easier to swing.
The next thing I knew, there was a hand on my shoulder. Without even looking to see who it was who grabbed my shoulder, I turned on my heel and attempted to punch whomever it was behind me. My punch however, was greeted with a soft and squishy resistance. I blink and look up at who I had just hit. I was greeted with someone who was at least three feet taller than I am. A small sigh passed my lips as I realized it was actually one of the pro heroes that patrolled around here. Taishiro Toyomitsu, aka Fat Gum.
"You alright there kid? Seem kind of out of it like someone might be following you or something." I look up at him, having forgotten just how big this hero was, and give a smile before tapping the side of my head a bit.
"I'm alright. Think I bumped my head at some point yesterday during the attack or something. I thought that I heard someone calling me when there wasn't anyone there." He looks at me funny for a minute before it seemed to register just who I am.
"Ah, you're Hizashi's daughter aren't you?" I smiled again and give a small nod. "Well pleasure to meet you. I'm...."
"Fat Gum, hero rank number 58." I finished without thinking. Once I realize what I did, I chuckle and rub the back of my head. "Heh... Sorry about that I didn't mean to cut you off like that. Also... Sorry about hitting you. I don't do well with people randomly coming up behind me you see." He nods his head in response before smiles once again.
"That was partially my fault as well. Should have made sure you knew I was there. As for the punch, don't worry about it any. I barely even felt it. Hey.... Have you eaten lunch yet by chance? I'm supposed to be meeting up with my recruit for lunch. Why don't you join us?" I blink and look at him for a moment, unsure if he was being genuine or if it was just because he felt bad for startling me.
"I don't want to impose..."
"Nonsense. I invited you. You look like you could use some thing to eat after all." He cut me off with a laugh. I sighed softly in response, having the feeling that he wouldn't take no for an answer, no matter how many excuses I gave. I motion for him to lead the way.
"So who is your recruit?" I ask after a few minutes of silence as I walked beside the giant hero, trying to ignore the whispers of the people around us. It was exactly like when I went somewhere with Hawks. People whispering and wondering what a pro hero is doing with a villains kid.
"His hero name is Suneater. He's actually a student at UA as well. He's a third year so maybe you've seen him around."
"Sing little birdie...." That sing song tone starts again and I shake my head, attempting to ignore it.
"I don't really know anyone outside of my class honestly."
"So why are you wandering around by yourself anyway kid? Where's your dad at?"
"He's at the hospital with papa Aizawa. He got hurt pretty bad yesterday during the attack so they kept him overnight. I told him I would be alright and to go check on him. Then I got bored so I decided to go for a walk." Some more whispers and I sighed softly, seeming to shrink into myself even more. Normally I didn't care what people said about me, but I was always either with Hawks or by myself. This time I'm with someone totally different who really doesn't know that much about me and it was more embarrassing than anything else. Fat Gum noticed my change and looked down at me slightly confused at first, before he caught onto what was going on.
"Don't let them bother you kid. People who don't know you will always have things to say." He says with a smile and I looked up at him again.
"You don't really know me either you know..." After that it was silence for a while, until we arrived at the place where we were supposed to have lunch. It was a rather small kind of hidden away place that had a karaoke option for anyone who wanted to do it. There wasn't anyone outside waiting when we arrived, so we went ahead and headed inside. Sitting off at a table by himself was apparently who we were supposed to be meeting because Fat Gum made his way over to the boy who wore a white tunic as well as a matching cape and hood that features more gold plating on the top of the hood and a purple mask over his face. He looked up as we walked over. His gaze shifted over to me for a moment before he ducked his head back down again.
"Ah there you are Suneater. Sorry I'm late. Got held up by.... Say kid, have you chosen a hero name by chance?" Fat Gum asked, looking down at me once more.
"We haven't in class yet, but I'm going to go with Siren when we do. So you can just call me that I guess." He motions for me to take a seat before taking one for himself. "Pleasure to meet you Suneater." The boy simply nodded his head a bit.
"N-nice to m-meet you as well S-siren." He finally stuttered out after a minute, catching me off guard at just how shy he actually was.
There were a few other people inside, but it really wasn't all that busy for it being lunch time. A couple of the people went up to try their luck with the karaoke and quiet honestly, they were horrible. It made me want to go up there and sing even more. We placed our order and I watched as person after person gave it a try. I had apparently gotten so lost in watching the karaoke people, that I didn't realize that I was being spoken to until someone tapped on the top of my head. I jumped slightly and looked over at the two of them.
"Sorry, what?"
"I said why don't you go up there and sing? You seem pretty interested in it."
"I normally don't sing karaoke, only my own.... I could see if that would be alright I guess. I mean I have my music with me after all." I started rambling and stopped almost instantly when I realized I was doing it.
"Y-you can't be any w-worse than those who a-already went." Suneater says and I chuckled softly causing him to look away again.
"True I guess." I contemplated it for a minute before sighing and heading over to where the dj was at. I asked him a few questions about whether I could sing my own or not and he didn't really seem to care as long as I provided the music. That wasn't a problem for me as I handed over my music player I had brought with me.
When he asked who was up singing now, I simply told him Siren. I didn't see a point in giving my actual name if I didn't have to. The music began to play and I automatically began to sing along with it. I was honestly a little worried I might have accidentally activated my quirk at first with the way everyone's attention shot in my direction. Even Suneater lifted his head to look at me when I started singing. The only way I knew for a fact I didn't accidently active my quirk was when people turned their attention away from me for even a brief moment. The song came to an end and I stepped back off the stage, cheeks flushed slightly at the small round of applause I received.
"That was pretty good kid. You sure you don't sing professionally?" The dj, whose name is Mex, said as I went to grab my music player from him. I simply shook my head in response.
"Just lots of practice is all." More like I was used to singing in front of crowds so it didn't bother me at all to do so. After I retrieved my music player from him, I rejoined Fat Gum and Suneater at the table. As soon as I was close enough Fat Gum patted my back, causing me to stumble. I managed to catch myself by gripping the tables edge so I didn't accidently fall into it.
"That was really great there Siren." He said with a big smile and I rubbed the back of my head with a small chuckle. Before I could even respond, I overheard what a couple of people were saying as they passed.
"Yeah it was good and all, but what do you expect with someone with a song quirk?"
"Not just that, but she's also the daughter of that villain Songbird. They say she used her quirk to get people to do what she wanted. We got lucky the daughter didn't do that to us..."
"Oh that's true. There's no telling what would have happened." My grip on the edge of the table tightened to the point that my knuckles began to whiten. Both of the heroes around me noticed this as well. I was just going to ignore them until that last sentence came from one of their mouths. "They should have just locked her up with her mother, saved everyone the trouble of worrying whether she was going to become a villain or not." A growl passed my lips as I spun on my heel and walked over towards the two who were talking.
"Why don't the both of you just shut your fucking mouths. Neither of you know a damn thing and it's judgemental people like you who make people turn to villainy. I'm not just the child of a villain incase your pea brained selves had forgotten. I'm also the child of a pro hero. If you're going to allow shit to spew from that cum guzzler you call a mouth, at least make sure you have all of the facts. There's more to someone than who their parents are.... I..." I paused in my rant when someone placed their hand on my shoulder. Suneater stood to my right, looking at the two people I was just chewing out.
"They're not worth it. People will always h-have their opinions.... C-come eat." I looked at him for a moment before giving a small sigh. I normally just ignored everyone when they started talking trash, but even I can only take so much and it's been bubbling up for years now.
"You're right... I'm sorry." I ducked my head a bit as I walked back over to the table and slunk back into the chair. I never lost my cool like that, ever. What was so different about today? I could feel the heat on my cheeks from both embarrassment and anger. "Sorry... I was out of line. I should have just kept quiet like I always do." I muttered, picking at the food I ordered slightly.
"You weren't in the wrong there kid. Everyone should stand up for themselves sometimes. Speaking of...." Fat Gum turns his attention from me and looked over at Suneater. "That was an awesome thing that you did as well Suneater. Good job." A blush crossed over Suneaters cheeks and he pulled his hood over his face in response. Fat Gum chuckled before turning his attention back to me. "They're not the first ones who have said stuff like that about you today so I'm guessing that's a normal thing?" I nod my head slightly, taking a small bite of rice.
"Almost every time I leave the house. It's worse when I'm around pro heroes though. Normally Hawks steps in so I don't have to deal with it." There was a small look of confusion when I mentioned Hawks, but it was covered pretty quickly.
Most of the rest of the meal was the two of them talking about their patrols or something like that. I honestly wasn't overly sure as I had wound up blocking them out and concentrated on my own food and such. A small squeak passed my lips when someone suddenly decided to use my head as an arm rest.
"You summoned me?" I hear and confusion crosses my face as I turned my head upwards to look at Hawks. Him and my dad were the only ones who thought it was funny to use me as an arm rest since I was so short.
"I didn't summon you.... Where did you even come from..." Hawks didn't seem to hear me as he looked over at Fat Gum and Suneater with a smile and a wave.
"Hey there Fst Gum. Appreciate you guys keeping an eye on my little bird here." Hawks says with a laugh, still leaning on the top of my head. It didn't take long for me to get annoyed by it, so I decided to move suddenly which almost caused him to face plant into the table below. Suneater let's out a small laugh and Hawks looks over at me as if I had just betrayed him.
"Little bird? Eh it's no problem there Hawks.... What are you doing here anyway?" Fat Gum asks and Hawks pointed over at me.
"... She signaled me. Thought there might have been trouble so I headed on over here to see what was going on."
"I never signaled for you Hawks..."
"You did though." I rubbed the bridge of my nose slightly as I try and think of when I could have possibly signaled for his assistance. Once I figured it out, I groaned and rested my face into the palm of my hand.
"I didn't mean to... Sorry Hawks. I must have grabbed the feather without thinking about it. Had a people issue..." Hawks simply nodded his head and ruffled up my hair, which I attempted to swat his hand away. "Sorry I pulled you away from your patrols for nothing."
"Eh buy me some chicken nuggets and we'll call it even. Maybe play something for me too." He laughed and I couldn't help but to sigh.
"You're lucky I've known you for so long Hawks... Anyway, I suppose I should let the two of you get back to your patrols. I apologize again for any issues I might have caused you.... Suneater, maybe I'll see you around in school when they reopen."
"You have been no problem at all Siren. It was nice to have a fresh face around. I think even Suneater can agree to that." Fat Gum says with a smile, causing Suneater to flush and cover his face again.
"You're picking on me again Fat Gum..." I laugh slightly and shake my head a bit. Standing again, I give a small bow before turning and shoving Hawks back out of the restaurant. As soon as we were outside, he asked what had happened and I told him as we walked to get him his damn chicken nuggets. He sighs and shakes his head a bit.
"Sorry you have to deal with that kid. It really isn't fair on your part." There was a genuine sadness in his tone when he apologized. I think part of it had to do with the fact that if people knew about his own past, there was a chance he would have been treated the same way. He managed to escape it due to the commission but I wasn't quite as lucky, they weren't able to completely wipe away my past like they did his. Besides the people in the commission, I was the only other person who knew about his past and who he actually was. I smiled a bit before bumping him with my hip.
"Don't worry about it. I'm tough. Ive got this no problem. I just lost my cool today. That's all it is." He looked over at me, slightly surprised by my words, and nods.
After we stop and get his nuggets, we head back to my house. Neither dad or papa were back yet, so the house is as silent as it was when I left earlier. As he ate his nuggets, I showed him one of the songs on the piano I had been working on. Afterwards, the two of chilled in the living room talking and flipping through random shows before eventually falling asleep.