Kiseki sighed with a smile and patted her back to soothe her in hopes that it would help. Suddenly, a horn went off and an announcement said, “Team Todoroki, Kiseki, and Yaoyorozu have passed the final exam.”
Kiseki’s smile grew wider and she looked over to her two teammates who looked relieved to have passed the exam. She turned to walk over to them but an overpowering pain and dizziness engulfed her senses and before she knew it everything went black again. She felt her body hit the floor and the muffled voices of Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Mr. Aizawa yelled at her in panic. Her entire body went limp and she tried to resist the urge to rest, but soon enough she fell unconscious.
********************
It's dark again…
Why is it dark again?
Oh…
I fell unconscious again.
The words were being written in the air just as she thought of them. Usually, there would be an embodied voice narrating the scene, but it was completely silent. Kiseki hoped she would hear her own voice, but just like she predicted, there wasn't a single peep.
Of course, she wouldn't hear own voice. She hasn't spoken a single word in years. How would she even know what her own voice sounded like?
Just like before, she looked down at herself to see a faint glow around her body that illuminated a small area around her. It took her a moment to register the fact that she was unconscious and just having a lucid dream, but she couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread and anxiousness crawling up her back.
She decided that it would be best to look around rather than stand there doing nothing, so she aimlessly walked forward. Every cautious step she took made her wish she could wake up soon, but she knew that she wouldn’t wake up as long as her body was drained of energy. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.
Could she use her quirk while she was unconscious?
She doubted that it was possible, but it didn’t hurt to try. She cleared her mind of everything and focused on every muscle, clothing and atom in her body and waited. The familiar sense of a wave pulsing through her body made her eyes widen in surprise. She looked down at her body to see that she was indeed transparent. She was elated and proud of herself to have been able to use her quirk even in her unconscious state, but she deduced that she was able to use it since she was lucid dreaming.
********************
After school…
Shinso walked through the halls looking for Kiseki. He usually went to her classroom to pick her up so they could walk home together, but no one was in the classroom. He assumed her class was still doing their exams so he waited by the entrance of the classroom. Eventually, class 1-A arrived in their class to collect their belongings to go home but Kiseki wasn’t with them. He caught sight of Tokoyami and Shoji and walked over to them.
“Hey, where’s Kiseki?” He asked.
Tokoyami and Shoji shared a look of concern and Shoji replied, “She’s in Recovery Girl’s office.”
Shinso grew concerned and his voice turned grim almost as if he was intimidating them, “What happened?”
After a brief explanation provided by Tokoyami, Shinso walked away and immediately headed to Recovery Girl’s office. Before he could open the door, Midoriya opened it, surprising the both of them.
“Shinso?!” Midoriya exclaimed in shock before immediately covering his mouth to shut himself up. “What are you doing here?” He asked in a whisper.
“Where is Kiseki?” Shinso asked, completely ignoring Midoriya’s question.
“Oh! Um-” Midoriya looked behind him and pointed to the bed closest to the window. “She’s right there, next to the window.”
Shinso nodded and Midoriya moved to the side to allow Shinso to walk inside the room. As he walked toward her bed he noticed someone else was unconscious on the bed closest to Recovery Girl's desk. He stopped for a moment to see who it was, only to see an unusual scene before him: Bakugo's sleeping face. Shinso ignored him and walked over to the bed near the window and moved the curtains aside to see Kiseki. She was unconscious and she was still dressed in her hero costume but her face mask, head accessories, and her communication device were removed and set aside on the bedside table. Her forehead, neck and back were bandaged intricately which showed how skilled Recovery Girl was in her line of work. Shinso felt a pain in his chest when he saw the bandages wrapped around her but he knew that heroes were bound to get injured. Luckily, they were considered minor injuries so she would heal in no time. The afternoon light shone through the windows onto her and her silver hair seemed to reflect the orange light like a mirror making the scene more serene.
Shinso felt a sense of déjà vu seeing the sight before him but he just brushed it off and grabbed a chair to sit on. While settling down in his chair, he noticed Kiseki’s messenger bag was on the floor, completely wide open.
“Dr. Kawase must have been here.” Shinso thought. Shinso noticed Dr. Kawase has been at the school a number of times but he couldn’t find a reason as to why he visited UA so often. “Is it so he can check up on Kiseki? Or maybe he comes to help the support department with their inventions?” He moved that thought to the back of his mind to think about later and looked back over to the open bag on the floor.
He bent down to pick it up, but the bag tipped over and a few folders and notebooks fell out onto the floor with a loud crash. He immediately looked over to Kiseki to see if she had woken up from the noise, but thankfully she was still asleep. He let out a sigh of relief and he started to pick up the folders and notebooks from the floor. Every notebook and folder he picked up were different colors and each of them had a different label, indicating the subject they were used for. Kiseki was a fairly organised person so he didn’t expect anything less of her. However, only one of the many notebooks caught his eye.
Unlike the other generic notebooks, this notebook had a plain, solid black cover and had no label to indicate what it was used for. He wanted to open the notebook to see what was inside, but it felt wrong to just go looking through her things without her permission. For all he knew, the notebook could be blank and it would have been a waste of time. But if he did see what was inside the notebook, he would most likely find out more about her. It was a known fact that Kiseki hardly ever talked about herself or the things she liked unless she was asked about it. But even then, she always seemed down and closed off whenever she was asked. Shinso was extremely good at reading people but when it came to Kiseki, she was practically an impenetrable brick wall that he couldn’t get through.
Despite how easily Kiseki broke through his own wall, Shinso contemplated how he would get through to her and get her to open up to him. The sound of rustling next to him snapped him out of his thoughts and Shinso immediately turned to Kiseki. Kiseki slowly opened her eyes only to be met with a white ceiling. She was confused as to where she was until she realized she was in a bed and tried to get up, but a thumping pain in her head stopped her.
“You shouldn’t get up yet.”
At the sound of a familiar voice, Kiseki turned her head to see Shinso sitting in a chair next to her bed. A wave of relief washed over her and she smiled at him weakly. She attempted to use her device to talk to him but when nothing came out of the device, she put a hand behind her ear in bewilderment and realized that her device wasn’t there.
“You can’t use your device since you hit your head pretty hard earlier. So I don’t recommend using it right now.” Shinso clarified.
Kiseki nodded in understanding and looked around the room. She recognized the room was Recovery Girl’s office which she figured was normal until she noticed Bakugo unconscious on the bed closest to the door. Kiseki pointed in Bakugo’s direction questioningly, and Shinso looked over to where she was pointing.
What happened to Bakugo?- Kiseki signed.
“I heard All Might beat up Midoriya and Bakugo pretty badly during their exam. But they managed to pass.” Shinso explained.
Kiseki’s body eased at the thought of them being able to pass the exam despite them having to go up against the number one hero in Japan. Kiseki was worried that they might not pass, but she also felt guilty that she had unknowingly underestimated them. Shinso saw her demeanor change from worried to guilty and he knew he should say something.
“Hey, they passed. Shouldn’t you be happy for them?” Shinso asked.
Of course I am! I’m happy for them, but- Kiseki hesitated for a moment to gather her thoughts and started signing again. But I feel guilty that I thought that they would fail.
“You shouldn’t feel guilty.” Shinso reassured her. “You were just worried for them right?”
Kiseki nodded with her head hung low. She still felt a little guilty, but she knew Shinso was right. Suddenly, Shinso ruffled her hair and Kiseki flinched from both surprise and pain since he had accidentally touched the spot she hit her head earlier.
“Ah! Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Shinso apologized, immediately regretting his actions.
It's alright! I’m fine.- Kiseki quickly reassured in sign.
Kiseki smiled having thought the situation was funny and looked over to him silently laughing. That was until she looked down and noticed he was holding her black notebook. She quickly snatched the notebook out of his hands and hugged it tightly to her chest in embarrassment, leaving Shinso bewildered. He didn't expect her to snatch the notebook out of his hand like that, but he assumed Kiseki just didn't want anyone touching her belongings.
“Sorry. I dropped your bag and all of your notebooks and folders fell out so I was putting them away.” Shinso explained calmly in his usual stoic tone. “I didn’t go snooping through your notebook, just so you know. I know my boundaries.”
Kiseki's arms tightened around her notebook as her face burned a light shade of pink. She stayed silent for a few moments before taking a deep breath in to calm herself. She set the notebook on her lap and stared at it for a moment before signing again.
I know you wouldn't go through my things without permission. It's not like you.
Shinso's eyes widened and he looked genuinely surprised by her reaction. Normally, people would automatically assume Shinso was a manipulative, controlling, mind-reading villain in the making because of his quirk. So he wouldn't blame her if she thought he was at least one of those things. But in just the short time that he's known her, not once has she ever said anything bad about him. Well, except for the fact that scolded him about his sleep schedule once or twice. Even though her sleep schedule was just as messed up as his. She always seemed to never have any signs of a lack of sleep. Unlike Shinso with his eye bags, Kiseki looked normal. No eye bags, no droopy eyes, although she did yawn but that was rare. And to be completely honest, Shinso thought that was quite impressive. But he did worry about her health and safety since her quirk relied heavily on her stamina.
Kiseki tapped Shinso's forehead, successfully snapping him out of his thoughts.
You spaced out for a bit. Are you alright?- She signed as worry spread across her face.
"I'm fine. I just remembered something." Shinso replied as she put a hand behind his neck and looked down awkwardly.
She raised a brow that made her face practically say ‘I don’t believe you’ but she mentally noted it to ask him about it later. She looked down at her notebook and her brows furrowed in thought. Hesitantly, she held out her notebook to Shinso. He eyed the notebook curiously, and looked at Kiseki to see her bangs casting a shadow over her eyes but there was a noticeable shade of pink across her cheeks.
“Why are you giving me this?” He asked, hesitantly receiving the notebook.
I trust that you won’t tease me for what you will find in this notebook.- Kiseki signed keeping her head low to hide her face.
Shinso’s eyes widened in surprise and a smile grew on his lips. “I won’t tease you, I promise.”
Kiseki lifted her head slightly to meet his eyes. His eyes showed honesty and sincerity, and it reassured her that he had no thoughts of teasing her. She weakly nodded in response and Shinso took it as her, giving him permission to open the notebook.
He turned over the cover of the notebook to show the first page. The first page had her full name written in big letters to show who the notebook belonged to. He flipped to the next page and what he read surprised him.
This night is cold in the kingdom
I can feel you fade away
From the kitchen to the bathroom sink and your steps keep me awake
Don’t cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste
I once was a woman with dignity and grace
Now I’m slipping through the cracks of your cold embrace
So please, please
Could you find a way to let me down slowly?
A little sympathy, I hope you can show me
If you wanna go then I’ll be so lonely
If you’re leaving then let me down slowly
Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down (x2)
If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely
If you're leaving then let me down slowly
Cold skin, drag me feet on the tile
As I'm walking down the corridor
And I know we haven't talked in a while
So I'm looking for a open door
Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste
I once was a woman with dignity and grace
Now I'm slipping through the cracks of your cold embrace
So please, please
Could you find a way to let me down slowly?
A little sympathy, I hope you can show me
If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely
If you're leaving then let me down slowly
Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down (x2)
If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely
If you're leaving then let me down slowly
And I can't stop myself from falling (down) down (x4)
Could you find a way to let me down slowly?
A little sympathy, I hope you can show me
If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely
If you're leaving then let me down slowly
Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down (x2)
If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely
If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly (x2)
Shinso lifted his head up to look at Kiseki and asked, "Are these lyrics that you've written?" Kiseki bashfully nodded in response with a pink blush still evident on her cheeks.
"They're really good." Shinso complemented it with a small smile as his eyes were fixated on the notebook and he flipped to the next page.
Kiseki stared at him with a soft smile, it was rare for her to see the lavenderette’s stoic demeanor falter. It made her both happy and flustered when he smiled sincerely.
Thank you- She signed.
Suddenly, the door to the nurse’s office slid open, alarming Kiseki and Shinso. A girl– who was clearly a first year student due to her school uniform– with shoulder-blade long, burgundy hair and pastel pink eyes, and a black face mask that covered the lower half of her face stood at the entrance. Her eyes held an irritated glare as she looked around the room, until her eyes landed on Bakugo who was still unconscious. She walked over to his bed and looked at him with a furious glare. Not once has she said a single word, but just her eyes alone showed just how furious she was and it made Kiseki and Shinso gulp out of nervousness. After a few moments of the girl's intense glaring at Bakugo, she let out a sigh and rubbed her temple to ease the tension in her head.
"You reckless idiot…" The girl muttered hopelessly.
Kiseki and Shinso stared at her in confusion until Kiseki tapped Shinso on his shoulder to get his attention.
Can you ask her if she's okay for me, please?- Kiseki signed.
Shinso nodded reluctantly and turned to the girl. "Hey," he called stoically, getting the girl's attention, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that this guy was too stubborn to have a level head, and now he's stuck here unconscious. And it's irritating how stubborn he is." She replied with a groan, causing Shinso and Kiseki’s eyes to widen in surprise by the sudden insult towards Bakugo. "But from what I heard, he managed to cooperate with the one person he hates the most. So at least he's growing-despite his stubbornness- and I'm proud of him for that." The girl said with a fond smile. Then her eyes widened in shock and she nervously laughed and said, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to vent to you like that."
It's alright, I don't mind- Kiseki signed.
The girl looked at her in confusion and Shinso translated for her. "She said 'It's alright, I don't mind.'"
"Oh, okay. So what’s your name?” The girl asked.
“Hitoshi Shinso. Her name is Hisako Kiseki.” Shinso replied in a monotone, and Kiseki waved her hand with a smile
“Wait a second." The girl said before quickly walking over to them and staring at Kiseki.
Kiseki nervously looked away from her out of awkwardness, and Shinso put his hand on top of Kiseki's protectively in case the girl tried to do anything. After a moment of awkward staring, the girl gasped and a large smile grew on her face.
"Kiseki?!" The girl exclaimed. Kiseki's and Shinso's eyes widened and Kiseki hesitantly nodded as a response. "You're really Hisako Kiseki?!" Kiseki nodded again more insistently, still a little confused as to how the girl knew her name. "Oh wow! It's been so long! How have you been?"
I'm so sorry, but how do you know me?- Kiseki signed and Shinso translated although he was still wary about the girl.
"Oh yeah, you probably don't remember me since it's been a few years." The girl said with an awkward giggle. She pulled down her mask and revealed her excited grin. Kiseki took a moment to look at her face hoping to recognize the girl, and she noticed the girl had a pair of small fangs. "My name is Izumi Hikari. We went to Umi Elementary together for a year before it closed down for renovations. And we all had to go to different schools for our last year since the renovation was taking a long time."
Suddenly, a memory flashed in Kiseki’s mind and Kiseki was able to immediately recognize the girl.
********************
5th grade, Umi Elementary.
[AN: In Japan, Elementary School lasts for 6 years instead of 5 like in the U.S.]
On the playground, an 11 year old Kiseki played alone by the pull up bars. She pulled herself over the bar and held her body vertically on top of the bar in an attempt to do a handstand on the bar. She felt her hand slip and she nearly fell to the ground face-first, but she managed to grab a firm hold on the bar. Her body swayed forwards and backwards gently as she calmed her silent breathing from the scare she gave herself.
Once her body came to a stop, she let go of the bar and landed safely onto the ground. She patted away any dirt that was on her clothing, but a sting on her hands forced her to stop with a wince. She looked down the small palms of her hands to see small blisters beginning to form. She planned to ignore them and wait until the end of playtime to go to the nurse’s office to get her hands treated, until a hand gently grabbed her wrist preventing her from walking away.
"Hi!" A girl her age with shoulder-length, burgundy hair, and pastel pink eyes greeted with a smile. "I saw what you were trying to do earlier, and I thought it was really cool!"
Kiseki tilted her head in confusion, and the girl quickly clarified, "The handstand on the bar! I thought it was really cool! Although you did stumble a bit on that last one. But that's why I came over here to talk to you!"
The girl grabbed both of Kiseki's wrists in her equally small hands and turned them over to show her blisters. "How long have you been on the bars to make these blisters?!” She exclaimed in shock.
Kiseki held up two of her fingers and made a zero with her other hand and the girl raised a brow in confusion. “Two, zero...? Do you mean twenty?” She asked, and Kiseki nodded in response, making the girl sweatdrop in concern. “Like twenty minutes?” Kiseki nodded again, and the girl yelled, “Why were you on the bar for that long?! If you keep this up, you’ll end up leaving scars on your hands!”
Kiseki’s eyes widened in shock and she flashed a look of guilt as she looked down at the ground. A pang of guilt stabbed through her heart for making the adorable girl sad and she sighed hopelessly. “Sorry for yelling at you.” She apologized.
Kiseki raised her head in alarm and waved her hands around nervously as a way to tell her it was alright. The girl seemed to get the message and smiled while trying to contain her laughter. She grabbed Kiseki’s wrists gently and pulled Kiseki’s hands towards her.
“Here, let me help you.”
The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath to clear her mind. Then, a bright, white light shone through her hands and Kiseki felt a comforting warmth envelop her palms. A few moments later, the light began to slowly dim and fade away. The girl opened her eyes with an exhausted sigh and looked at Kiseki with a smile. Kiseki gently moved her hands from the girl’s hold and inspected them. To her surprise, the blisters on the palms of her hands had disappeared without a trace. She looked at the girl with her mouth agape and eyes wide in surprise and the girl giggled.
“Pretty cool huh?” The girl asked with a hint of pride. “That’s only a part of my quirk. My quirk is called ‘Light Solidification’. Basically, I can turn light into a solid. But, I can also heal with light like my mom.”
Kiseki’s eyes widened in excitement and intrigue and she quickly bent down and started writing in the dirt. The girl walked over to look over her shoulder out of curiosity to see what she was writing. When she was finished, she looked at the girl over her shoulder with an excited expression and pointed down at the ground insistently.
Your quirk is amazing! You will be an amazing hero in the future!- Kiseki wrote in the sand.
“You think so?” The girl giggled as she rubbed the back of her head. “But I don’t want to be a hero.”
Kiseki tilted her head in confusion and the girl continued, “I do want to help people, but I prefer to be a doctor. My mom is an amazing doctor, and with her quirk she can heal people, and she helps a lot of people after a villain attack. And I want to be just like her when I grow up. But it's not that my dad isn’t amazing! He’s an assistant at a large company and he’s amazing at his job and I look up to him a lot! But I want to heal people. As long as I’m able to help at least one person with blisters, I’m happy.”
Kiseki smiled softly and bent down to write on the ground again before standing up and offering her hand to her.
My name is Hisako Kiseki, it's nice to meet you.
The girl grinned and grabbed Kiseki’s hand firmly for a handshake, “I’m Izumi Hikari! It's nice to meet you!”
********************
Kiseki covered her mouth with her gloved hands in shock and Hikari laughed. Unexpectedly, Kiseki grabbed Hikari’s right hand and held it gently in between her own hands.
“Do you remember me now?” Hikari asked in a teasing tone.
Kiseki nodded vigorously out of guilt that Shinso had to grab her head to make her stop before she hurt herself more.
“Oh here, let me help you.” Hikari put her hand up to the afternoon light streaming in through the windows and grabbed a hold of a solid disc of light. She placed the disc on Kiseki’s head and it faded away into sparks of light that floated around her head. Kiseki placed a hand on her forehead and she realized the pain she was in just a few moments ago had vanished. Kiseki smiled at her and she bowed her head as a thank you.
“It's so nice seeing someone from elementary school. It's a shame that the day after we met the school had the students transferred to different schools for our last year while they did renovations. I thought I would never get to see any of you again.” Hikari said, her eyes downcast.
A saddened smile grew on Kiseki’s lips and she let go of Hikari’s hands to sign.
“She said, ‘I’m grateful we had the chance to meet again. And maybe someday, we can see all of our elementary school classmates again.’” Shinso translated.
“I’d like that!” Hikari said with a grin. “I guess that means we’re going to be on the hunt for our old classmates for a while.”
Kiseki smiled wholeheartedly and nodded. Suddenly, they heard shuffling from behind Hikari and they all looked over to the source of the sound. They noticed Bakugo beginning to wake up from his unconscious state and Hikari quickly made her way over to him. She gently grabbed his hand with a fond smile.
“Now that you’re all healed, you’re free to go home.” Hikari whispered. “Take good care of her for me Shinso!”
Shinso looked away with a grunt and Kiseki tilted her head in confusion. After removing the bandages from Kiseki’s head and gathering their belongings, Kiseki and Shinso said their goodbyes to Hikari and made their way home.
[Art made by me!]