"...but don't you think that was like crazy rude?!" My teeth ground together as Yamada's piercing voice travelled through my ear canal, rattling my brain.
"Well, no offense, man...but a pistol shrimp does kinda sum your volume level up pretty damn well…" Shirakumo snickered, dodging a slap that nearly struck me instead. It was the usual. The three of us on our way home from Yuuei, my poor, defenseless self stuck between the two most obnoxious boys of class 2-A.
My head hurts...I'm tired...Pretty sure my hair smells like kitty litter…
Each step I took got me closer to home, where I could curl up in my bed and forget about the outside world. I knew I only had a short amount of time to enjoy such a liberty, so I was going to make the absolute most of it. At least that was what I had hoped before Yamada stuck his arm out in front of me.
"Yo, you hear that?" He asked in a surprisingly low voice.
"How could I hear anything over your screeching?" I grumbled, ready to move his arm and keep going. That was until I heard it too.
The clanging of metal.
"C'mon!" Shirakumo grabbed the two of us by the sleeves and started off in a sprint, his fluffy hair wisping about atop his head. The sound had come from around the side of a rather extravagant looking house, and I rolled my eyes.
"It was probably a trash can being knocked over. We can't just barge into someone's property…"
"As heroes in training it's our duty to check it out! Get with the program, Shota!" Yamada scolded me half-heartedly, having grabbed hold of my other sleeve. My legs just didn't want to move so fast, but I made myself keep up with them, just so I wouldn't be nagged for it later on. The gate was open, so we rushed through it, swerving towards the gap between the house and the fence. Once we rounded the corner, I ate my words.
A tall, tank of a man stood with his arms raised, his back to us. Even if we hadn't seen him from behind, he looked threatening. On the ground, only a foot or so in front of him, cowered a girl, not much younger than us. Her hands and loose (H/C) hair covered her face, and the tipped trash can was leaning against her body.
"Hey, leave her alone!' As usual, Shirakumo acted first, using his quirk to form a rather large, dense cloud, pushing it straight towards the assailant.
Using those few moments, I threw my bag off, quickly tearing it open and yanking out my brand new capture weapon. Coiling it around my neck like a scarf, I sent it out in chase of the cloud. It reached the man only seconds after he had been hit in the back, catching him before he toppled forward and crushed the poor girl.
"Hey, you okay, girly?!" Yamada raced over to the victim, his loud voice likely startling her more. Sniffling, she nodded, allowing him to help her to her feet. She kept her head hung low, the (H/C) flow of her hair covering her face.
"I..I'm fine...Thank you so much…" There was something strange about the way she spoke. There wasn't any real wavering or fear. It was forced.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Our cloudy companion approached quickly, his hands hovering over her smaller form. "We can take you to the hospital to get checked over if he touched you." The girl shook her head, clutching her chest loosely.
"No...He just pushed me back...that's all. He was really mean…"
Wait a minute…
I glanced over to the man I had subdued, eyes narrowing as I realised his pose hadn't changed at all. Face up, wasn't even blinking. Was he even breathing? Next, I turned my attention back to the young woman. Barefoot, unkempt, kind of dirty. Lastly, I studied the house. It was pretty damn big, and looked brand spanking new. Somebody wealthy lived here.
"This isn't logical…" I announced, a little louder than I usually would have. The two boys tilted their heads, both seeming completely oblivious.
"What are you on about? We just stopped an assault on a minor, what's illogical about that..?" Shirakumo scoffed, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You can be such a sourpuss, Sho!" Yamada nodded in agreement, smirking at me with such cheesiness I could have become lactose intolerant right then and there.
"What? You jealous that we got to chat to this pretty girl before you?~"
Ugh.
"You really are two peabrains in a pod…" I muttered under my breath, shaking my head side to side. "This is a ruse. She's the intruder, not him. Just look at her, covered in filth. She's probably a street kid." Oh, the glares I got from the pair. They may have even made me nervous if it hadn't been for the upwards twitch of the girl's lips I spied from where I stood.
"Shota! Man, you can't just say that!" Their unified shouting made not only me flinch, but the girl, too. "Don't listen to him, Miss! What's your name? Can we call a family member for you?"
Maybe I was seeing things…
Fiddling with her hands, the mystery girl shook her head, feet shuffling against the paved ground.
"No, I'm okay, I promise, thanks to you three…" She turned her head before she looked up, and from that angle I could see her smiling at Yamada. "I'm (Y/N), by the way. First names are all that matter, right?" She blinked as she turned, opening again as she gave the same cheery treatment to Shirakumo. After that, neither of them moved a muscle.
Dammit, I was right!
I thanked my lucky stars that I had managed to activate my quick before she faced me. Her mouth popped into an 'o' shape when she realised that I was still able to move, and she took a few steps towards me, hands behind her back.
"Wow, that's a cool quirk you've got there!" She whistled, leaning toward a little. She kept coming closer, and my breath involuntarily hitched in my throat when I caught sight of her eyes.
If memory served me right, the term was sectoral heterochromia. The upper sections of her irises were a striking cerulean, almost like the ocean, but the lower sections were a brilliant shade of tangerine. I would almost name the colour tiger, as it was so striking. The other oddity about her eyes were her pupils. Not quite slits, but strange, elongated diamond shapes, scanning my own of glowing red.
"Your eyes…" I murmured, not realising I was speaking out loud until it was too late. Immediately she ducked her head, her demeanor switching from cheery to frustrated in a snap.
"I'm gonna go out on a whim here and assume your quirk will shut off the second you blink. It's kinda like mine, but…" (Y/N) trailed off, puffing out a long breath before looking back up at me, her eyes narrowed. "That's gotta hurt your eyeballs, huh? How about we strike a deal? If you promise not to BDSM me up like Mr. Moneybags over there, I'll come quietly! Well, I'll probably talk, but I won't resist! What do you say?"
She's probably lying...but look at the state of her. Besides, I need her to reverse her quirk. I have no idea what it does exactly, besides freeze people…
"Agreed...as long as you fix dumb and dumber over there…' I murmured, tensing as I awaited her response. Lowering her gaze to the ground, she nodded, a calmer smile gracing her face.
"Sure, why not? It's a dealio!" Of course, I was still ninety nine percent positive she would try to use her quirk on me, but I wouldn't give her the chance. All I had to do was blink, and immediately activate my quirk again. Easy.
It really should have been that easy.
It was such a relief, closing my eyes, dulling the fierce burn that felt like a swarm of hornets striking them with their stingers. There had to be an easier way to use my quirk.
"Good…" Prepared to deal with the girl as maturely as possible, I lifted my lids, feeling the tips of my hair begin to rise as my quirk tried to wake up. I had definitely not been expecting those eyes of hers to be so close. They truly were remarkable, and for a moment I was completely captivated. That was all it took. I could no longer move my body. I wasn't even sure if I was breathing. My chest felt much too tight, as did the rest of my body.
"Jeez, I didn't think that'd actually work!" (Y/N) exclaimed, darting her wide-eyed gaze to the ground. "Why the hell did you trust me anyway? You literally just caught me trying to mug someone." She began to circle around me, poking and pinching at my uniform and hair, which made my frozen form begin to swelter.
Why the hell did my heart jump like that?!
My teenaged senses went straight to hell when I felt her hand reaching into my trouser pocket, the inability to release sweat making me feel like I was drowning in boiling water on the inside.
"I gotta say, though...You're pretty smart, for a guy." She hummed, running a single finger along the slight wave of my hair, which also didn't budge. "Cute, too. You're all cute. What is it about hero boys, I wonder?" My wallet was removed slowly, and she walked to stand in front of me again, starting to go through it.
Nothing you'd want is in there. I don't have any money. All that's in there is my Cat Café stamp card and some other useless junk…
My student card was slid out of its designated pocket, and she held it up to the fading light to inspect it thoroughly.
"Oh, I get it now! Yuuei, huh?" I wasn't sure why the way her nose scrunched up as she read was making my mouth go dry, but I pinned it on frustration. "Wow, you look so grumpy, Shota! Mr. Grumpy Pants!"
Don't just go using my first name like that! I feel...violated? It has to be violation…
Next, out came my provisional license, but she only slid it halfway out to read it.
"Eraserhead…" She murmured, brow quirking as she put it back in its place. "It kinda suits you, I guess. Kinda edgy, like your whole...everything!" Giving me a closed-eye smile, she leant forward and balanced my now closed wallet on top of my head, lingering in front of my face for a lot longer than necessary. Surprisingly, she didn't smell as filthy as she looked.
How long does this quirk last for?!
Leaving me be, she sauntered over towards the other second year statues, first swiping Yamada's wallet, which had quite obviously been bulging from the front pocket of his uniform shirt.
"Yamada Hizashi...Present Mic..? That's a bit catchy." She mumbled, scrounging whatever change he had stashed away before throwing the hideous yellow wallet to the side. Next, she moved on to Shirakumo, and I felt the secondhand embarrassment deep in my soul as I watched her pat him down for his.
"Heck, do you even have one on you? I feel kinda sketchy feeling you up like this, man…"
Do you? Do you really? You feel sketchy about that?!
(Y/N) perked up once her roaming hands settled against a slight lump in Shirakumo's back pocket, and she laughed to herself as she reached in, completely unphased by touching his rear.
"Yay!" She cheered, pulling out a crumpled wad of cash and both of his identification cards. "You really should consider investing in a wallet...uh...Shirakumo Oboro, aka Loud Cloud..? Shit, Eraserhead wins the name competition! By a landslide!"
I swear, when this damn quirk wears off, I'm gonna-
"Look, I feel kinda bad about this, boys…" My internal threatening was cut off, her voice sounding rather sincere for a change. "A girl's gotta pay her way somehow though, right? This is my somehow. But...I'll tell ya what I'm gonna do!" I wished I could have averted my eyes when she bent down to rummage through the brawny man's pockets, because I got a rather indecent image implanted into my mind.
Think logically think logically think logically..!
Straightening up, she shoved the large handful of money down the front of her top, proceeding to move back to her original position so she could hold up our three school IDs.
"I'm gonna hold onto these! You three are the first heroes I've ever had to deal with! I mean, you aren't exactly heroes yet, but I can tell you're gonna be! You were so quick to help me out, and for that, I'm gonna keep these so I never forget my favourite trio!" I wasn't sure why my body seemed to relax when she looked down at them again. Perhaps it was the gentle smile on her face, or the way she pulled them close to her chest. "If I ever had the chance to be a hero, my name would've been Medusa…"
Yeah...that would have fit you perfectly…
"Anyway!" In a flash, she reverted back to her annoyingly chipper self, skipping past me and pinching at my stony cheek in the process. "I didn't look any of you in the eyes for too long, so y'all should be back to normal in the next half hour, or so! Sorry again, guys! Byeeeee!"
It took one hour and seven minutes for her quirk to wear off.
The first to regain control of their body was the owner of the house, who started fussing over us like crazy until we began to return to normal, one after the other.
"She touched my ass!" Shirakumo shrieked, red from ear to ear. "My whole entire ass! I thought my lunch was gonna leak out all over her hands!"
"Man, nobody wants to hear about your buns! Did you see her peepers?! They were wild!" Yamada gushed, turning back to finish his discussion with the initial victim. I didn't really say much. What was there to say? That girl really had us beat, and I felt almost disgusted with myself when I felt impressed by it. Infatuated by her, almost.
"I kinda wanna find her again! Y..you know, just so we can catch her!" Shirakumo announced, patting at his buttocks and frowning. "Yeesh, she took my arcade money…"
Over the next few months, we did find her. Many times. It was as though she was purposely getting in our way, like it was some kind of fun game for her. Not once did we even stand a chance at winning. Hell, I was pretty sure none of us wanted to actually catch her at all. (Y/N) became a challenge for us, and after a while, even I kind of looked forward to her appearances.
Every time she'd leave us strapped off cash and frozen in place, but it kind of helped us. Each face off made us a little better, and we came closer and closer to having her beat. Shirakumo basically had her, at one point. A cloud forming around her face, blocking her peculiar eyes and quirk, but he let her go. It was kind of like a spoken agreement amongst the three of us, even though it went against our career choices. Eventually, she even stopped taking our money, and just messed around with us for a while. Somehow, we'd manage to have complete conversations as we fought, which kind of brought us all a little closer.
Then, she just stopped showing up.
After that, our lives as second years became average once more.
...until it happened…
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***I SAID SHIRAKUMO RIGHTS!!
(Also in header is yo eyeballs dudes)***