Chapter Text
Yagi sighed as he dragged himself from his bed, it was warm and comforting- so hard to pull himself from the cushions, from the voice in his mind that tried to convince him just to lay down and go back to sleep. But he’d be late enough to school as it was.
He looked to his right, his roommates bed already abandoned and the sheets already thrown in a disarray of a vaguely arranged mess.
In the orphanage, they all had roommates around the same age. Yagis roommate was a year under him, but it was good enough. They didn’t talk much, never had late night talks of their previous ‘families’ and never discussed what was personally going on.
Yagis roommate had a quirk, and whilst they shared a quiet laugh together on the odd chance they would actually pay each other an ounce of attention, his roommate would much rather be caught dead than talking to Yagi.
Because, as his father had once said, Yagi was a freak. And that’s the way it would always be, he supposed.
He was fourteen now, and not much better off than when he lived with his father years ago now. The orphanage was dirty, and though bigger it felt more suffocating than the small apartment his dad had once trapped him in. And part of him would love to say, ‘at least I can go to school now’- but school had become nothing less than a war ground where kids with much too powerful quirks would bully Yagi ruthlessly, but it wasn’t as though Yagi could stand up for himself.
He was still much too skinny for his age, tall- but incredibly lanky. He ate as much as he could, but it often wasn’t enough. Bad habit, he supposed.
He stepped in front of the mirror, the corners slightly shattered and framed with grime- the sink blackened and overall the state of a gas station bathroom.
Not that he looked much better, of course.
He lifted his lips into a soft scowl at the sight of himself, tired bags under his eyes and his hair in all directions. He pulled softly at one of his bangs as he glanced away from himself, brushing his teeth as is his morning routine, sighing quietly as he realised there wasn’t much point in running a brush through his hair- it would only end up just as messy as when he had started.
He walked tiredly back to his room, his feet dragging behind him as he changed, soon slinging his bag just over his shoulder as he made his way to school.
He wasn’t exactly sure what the point of him going to school was. Whilst he excelled at almost everything, talented in maths and theoretical training, he severely lacked both the energy or strength to keep up with any of the other kids.
Everyone with quirks wanted to be a hero, it was only natural to want to use their gifts in the way of greater good- but Yagi hadnt been gifted with anything he could share with the world- he mostly saw himself as a waist of space. And though some of his more pitying teachers tried to encourage him to use his mind to help others instead, the words of his father and his peers were all too prominent in his mind.
He slipped as quietly as he could into class, laughing and the odd whisper as he passed by far too obvious, as much as the other kids thought they were being rather sly about it all. Too stuck up their own quirked ass, Toshi thought, letting a soft giggle to himself as he sat at his desk, allowing himself the ghost of a smile that tugged on his lips.
Of course that didn’t go unnoticed by those around him, specifically from Ito Masaru, one of his classmates who had a specific hatred for Toshi.
He was the one who mainly coordinated the other kids to pick on Yagi, where they’d form groups and corner him in alleys or on the way home from school.
His quirk was strong, and he was soon to be at UA to take place in the hero course, or so he told everyone with great pride. He’d be a hero, he exclaimed often, though the selfishness and the way he demonstrated a lack of empathy for those around him often told otherwise.
But no matter his nature, he was powerful. He could manipulate bones and bone structures of skeletons, even ones inside of a human body. He would make Toshis joints freeze and hold in place- he’d be unable to move, or worse yet, unable to scream or cry for help as he would be hurt senselessly by others. And then? When Itos quirk would stop, he’d be left motionless on the dirty ground, blood trickling from his nose and any other places his skin would have been cut or bruised.
Ito slammed his hands down on Toshis desk, causing the blonde to jump in place. A dark, brooding, laugh came from the boy.
“Scared ya- Toshi cat?” He daunted, a voice sharp and clearly like ice, the all too familiar nickname ‘Toshi cat’- meaning to resemble ‘kitty cat’- at how Toshi would rightly always jump when approached in such an intimidating way.
“Please...Ito..I don’t want any trouble..” Yagi mumbled under his breath, his voice just audible. By now, both hands were wrapped tightly in their respective bangs, pulling harder than he had done this morning. He could often pull too hard when nervous, to the point of having his head start to bleed.
“Begging now- are we Toshi cat?” He continued to tease- “funny, you can be scared, but to stoop as low as to grovel?” Ito scoffed as he reached to grab Yagis collar, pulling him over the desk to meet him at eye level- “pathetic- Toshi cat- the way you whimper- it’s almost funny..”.
A cold and sinister looking smirk became Itos face, and a rather unwarranted chill shivered its way up Toshi back.
Toshi looked as though he were about to cry, he drew his lips into a tight line as to stop himself and bit down onto the inside of his cheek.
Luckily, as Ito drew in a breath to say something more, their teacher made his way to the front of the class, clearing his throat and as neatened and straightened the pack of paper he held tightly between his two sets of arms.
“Masaru, I would hope you to learn your lesson by now. Please drop Yagi and return to your seat- immediately.” He added on rather sluggishly, the middle school teachers far too underpaid to truly care.
Ito dropped Yagi, and even went as far as to patronisingly flatten down the collar that had been tugged on. “We were just saying good morning- isnt that right Yagi-san?” Ito moved to stand next to Toshi, reaching up around his neck to hook the much taller boy down, as if they were friends that had known eachother for years, only to be reminiscing about distant yet loved memories.
“A-ah- yes..of course. Just..a friendly hello..” Toshi mumbled once more, not wanting to start further conflict.
Toshi was selfishly unselfish like that- he’d much rather let the incident drop than to push further and have Itos soon to be UA status already tarnished. As much as Toshi disliked the other, it would be hard to argue that the boy wouldn’t make a good hero. Whilst he’d certainly have to learn etiquette, his quirk would one day go on to save thousands. Who was Toshi to be the one to end the aspiring hero’s dream before he even got the chance to begin it, no matter how much he may or may not deserve it for his behaviour.
The teacher quirked an eyebrow at the two- already knowing Toshi had a tendency for being far too good, or perhaps too naive- or even sheepish-, for his own good, but let it drop nonetheless, dismissing the two with a wave of one of his four hands, a silent signal to take their seats and ready themselves for the day.
As Ito wandered his way back to his seat, and Toshi finally had the chance to take his own seat, a piece of paper was soon to find its way to the back of Toshis golden mane.
After jumping at the sudden impact, Toshi took the piece of paper that now laid on his school desk, and unwound it to read the contents that had been quickly scribbled down inside.
“You have until 3, Toshi cat.
Look forward to it.
And for your own sake, I hope you still have that crutch.
- Ito”