It had been three days since he had saved Eri.
The poor little girl was currently in police custody, being asked questions about what Overhaul had done to her and everything she knew about the yakuza group.
But she was also sometimes placed in therapy-like sessions. Although therapy for a six-year-old was very difficult, it mostly involved surrounding her with other children who had experienced abuse and letting them socialize.
Sooner or later they would all be up for adoption.
Although Eri's involvement in it was anything but normal. She was constantly socially distanced from the others and barely spoke to anyone.
It wasn't something Itsuki was very happy about.
Itsuki had bonded with Eri far more than he had with his annoying little sister. But honestly, in this world he wanted to do more than just sit around talking to children. It wasn't like he didn't want to adopt Eri—he simply felt like it wasn't something he should do.
Itsuki had also been charged with a multitude of crimes afterward. Luckily, due to his quick thinking back in the base, they hadn't been able to piece together the true severity of what had happened.
And thanks to his quick thinking—or rather his adaptation—he had managed to avoid most of the charges.
Although he still had one for unlicensed quirk use, which was a pretty common crime among teenagers.
(A/N: Think of chapter 11)
But right now he had to focus on school.
It was Wednesday morning, and he was currently stuck in a paired reading activity—something Itsuki considered one of the lesser ways to spend a Wednesday morning.
Students were assigned a passage and a partner and were asked to discuss it for twenty minutes.
From what Itsuki could observe, the actual outcome was usually one person doing all the talking while the other just nodded.
His assigned partner was…
Hagakure Toru.
A copy of the passage sat open on the desk and was apparently reading itself.
'An invisible-type quirk,' Itsuki thought. 'I can tell it works by bending or reflecting light. That's probably why she's invisible.'
'I could probably adjust my wings to see her… though I might accidentally "color her in" myself. I think I've improved at drawing lately, so it shouldn't be that hard.'
"My name is Tenrin Itsuki. What is yours?" he asked.
He already knew who she was, but for the sake of introductions he would lie through his teeth.
'Even if my wings can't visually detect her yet, the displacement of air around her and her scent are still enough for me to recognize her.'
'My memory is basically photographic now because of my adaptations.'
'Though I haven't told anyone that yet. It would make lying a lot harder.'
Hagakure looked offended.
No—she was definitely offended.
"Excuse me!? We've been in the same class for months and you don't know my name!? I'm not a ghost, damn it!" she exclaimed, half joking as she lightly smacked his shoulder.
"I don't know anyone's name here," Itsuki replied calmly. "With the sole exception of Shinso, of course."
"Well that's really rude, Tenrin! I knew your name before you even told it to me—and you're more invisible than I am!" Hagakure shot back.
"Call me Itsuki," he said. "I like my first name better than my last."
Hagakure suddenly stood up from her chair.
Itsuki could already imagine the disgusted look on her invisible face.
"Eww, I don't know you like that, Tenrin. Get away from me," she blurted out dramatically.
Tenrin looked exasperated.
(A/N: See how I used Tenrin as the narration lol)
"Jeez, Hagakure, I'm not trying to flirt with you. I have no interest in you," Itsuki said. "I'm just telling you what I prefer. Everyone calls me Itsuki."
He paused.
"Well… everyone I actually talk to."
"Oh yeah?" Hagakure said. "Like you wouldn't want to flirt with this beautiful queen standing right in front of you."
She struck a pose.
"Okay, let's just focus on the work. You're impossible to deal with," he grumbled.
"I'm impossible to deal with, Tenrin? You just tried to flirt—"
"Wow, it would be really nice if we could add a title to this page, don't you think?" Itsuki interrupted, clearly not interested in continuing that conversation.
"Oh yes, so now you're just going to cut me off and not let me speak. Is it because I'm invisible?" Hagakure continued.
"You know I'm not mute, right? I have eyes and a nose and everything a normal person has. I even have hair, believe it or not."
"I won't let this discrimination get to me. I'll ignore your rude behavior and focus on the task like a mature person who definitely knows how to stop talking about the topic."
"I can see you just fine, you know," Itsuki replied. "You're just giving me a headache."
Hagakure's head slowly turned toward him.
"WHAT!?"
"You can see me?"
"Of course I can, dumbass," he lied again.
To build relationships, one must sometimes provide something others couldn't. It also helped if people believed you were doing it out of sincerity.
"No way!" she squealed.
"Well yeah," Itsuki said casually. "Your quirk bends the light around your body, but if I slightly adjust the way light moves around you, the outline becomes visible."
His wings shifted slightly behind him.
"Like… that."
Hagakure looked confused by the technical explanation but watched quietly.
'Right now I'm not trying to become friends with Hagakure,' Itsuki thought. 'But it would be nice if we were at least on good terms.'
"Alright, I don't believe you," she said. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
She held up three.
"Three."
She changed it.
"Two."
"Four."
"Five."
"Three."
"Oh my god, no way! This is super cool!" she exclaimed.
"You know, not even I can see myself… and it really bums me out sometimes."
"Well yeah," Itsuki said thoughtfully. "Your eyes can't reflect light off your body, so there's nothing for you to see."
"What does that mean?"
"Have you been sleeping during physics?" Itsuki sighed.
"Well I'm not a super nerd like you," Hagakure snorted.
"Forget that," Itsuki said. "We need to finish this project. We've wasted ten of the twenty minutes already."
"Chop chop or we're finished."
Hagakure nodded.
While she maintained a calm exterior, her mind was anything but calm.
She had been bullied for as long as she could remember.
Kids would play hide and seek with her—only for her to eventually realize that the reason no one found her wasn't because she was invisible.
It was because they simply didn't want to play with her.
Her parents often complained about how difficult it was to raise her.
She had come into the world only for them to never see their child's face.
Sometimes she wondered if they loved her at all.
Even when she wore clothes and was clearly visible, they still acted like she wasn't there.
People she tried to socialize with often called her annoying or weird.
They said being around someone invisible made them uncomfortable.
It made them feel like they were being spied on rather than talked to.
But Itsuki had shattered that world in seconds.
He said he could see her.
He spoke to her normally.
He didn't act uncomfortable.
He didn't treat her differently.
Because to him, she wasn't just an invisible girl.
She was Hagakure Toru.
Tears slowly filled her eyes.
"T-thank you, Itsuki," she said, her voice trembling.
After years of being treated like she was nothing, someone was finally treating her like a normal person.
Itsuki raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, you finally called me by my first name. I appreciate it," he said casually.
"But we're kind of running out of time."
"I'll try to use some of your ideas though. They were really good."
"You're a jerk," she muttered, wiping her tears.
'Why is she crying?' Itsuki wondered.
'I didn't say anything rude.'
****
[A/N]: Chapter 8 re-done. Also the reason why I didn't post yesterday was because one of my family members went missing for 11 hours, more specifically a fourteen-year-old idiot. But we did end up finding him, but I had to cancel work (family first).
Also bare with me chat, you're two power stone chapters are coming slowly but surely. I'll update 9 times this week.
P@treon chapters will be done. Although they will be 5 chapters ahead as this fic is relatively short. And for $3 or $4. Should I increase or decrease?
Power stone goals:
600 - 1 chapter
1200 - 2 chapters