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“Come on! Come on! Let’s go!”
A young Hitoshi jumped excitedly near the doorway, pulling the lavender dress of an 11-year-old girl, urging her to hurry up.
“Calm down, Hitoshi. I’m going.” She giggled. She sat down on the step near her house’s door, putting on her shoes. She quickly glanced at his brother who was standing bright-eyed before her, “Hitoshi, your shoes aren’t even tied, come here, let me tie them for you.”
Hitoshi looked at her before gazing at his loosely tied laces, pouting, “What do you mean? They look fine. Are you saying I can’t tie them? I’m 6, I can tie my shoes, Mayumi.”
Mayumi smiled as he eyed his brother, her grin displaying a sense of warmth. Once her shoes were snug on her feet, she kneeled before the young purple-haired child. She quickly brushed her shoulder-length, purple-highlighted, dark hair between her ears. She then grasped the laces and looped them into tight knots, “I know you can, but you just learned a few days ago. It’s okay to ask for help, I’m always here if you need anything.” She grabbed the laces of the other shoes and repeated her motion.
Hitoshi looked at her as she finished tying up his laces, disappointed.
“Aaannnd, done!”
The girl locked eyes with him, her deep purple eyes glistening among the light of their home. As soon as she did, Mayumi noticed Hitoshi’s frown, a saddened look spreading across the boy’s face. The young woman knew Hitoshi wanted to show her that he could do something like tie his shoes. He’s obviously been practicing, eager to show her his newly acquired skill. Mayumi smiled warmly at him and spoke, “It’s okay, Hitoshi. Like any skill it takes practice. You’ll get there someday and then you’ll be teaching me in no time.”
“Okay.” Hitoshi replied, his frown now replaced with a beam of happiness, “Can we go now?”
“Yeah…” Mayumi stood back up. She quickly zipped up her purple windbreaker and quickly dusted off the dust from her black leggings. Afterward, she grasped the doorknob and yelled in the direction of the home’s hallway, “Mom! Hitoshi and I are going to the park, be right back!”
“Oh! You’re going out?” Their mom popped out from around the corner, “I-I don’t think—I mean, why don’t I or your dad come join you?”
At those words, Mayumi’s smile faded.
“Mom,” Her voice deepened.
Not this again.
“We’ll be fine. We aren’t going far; we’ll be at the park across the street. Also, I’ll have my phone with me,” She explained as she pulled out a small phone from her windbreaker and showed it to her worried mother, “I’ll take care of Hitoshi and make sure he is fine…plus,” The girl grinned, “If anyone tries anything I have my quirk to help put them in their place.”
Their mom gasped, “Don’t even think about doing such an action, Mayumi! You know your quirk is—”
“Is what?” Mayumi hissed; her tone laced with a hint of anger.
“Oh, n-nothing, sweetheart. Just don’t use your quirk for anything other than—"
“Self-defense…I know that’s what I meant,” Mayumi implied, “I’ll only use it if our lives are in danger, nothing else, promise.”
“Okay, good. And your gloves?”
Mayumi sighed and looked at her bare hands, “There on the counter.” She pointed at a small wooden table a few feet from her.
Her mother walked over to the furniture and fetched a pair of black, satin gloves, “You know the rules, young lady. No venturing out unless you have these on, no exception. You can’t risk an accidental activation.”
Mayumi took the gloves from her mother and somberly put them on. She knew why they were needed, but it still hurt that she had to take this extra effort to go somewhere as simple as a walk to the park.
“Keep your gloves on at all times and don’t um…let Hitoshi talk to the other kids, we still need to work on controlling the activation of his quirk.”
“Yeah, I know,” She replied as she fumbled with her gloves, “I-I’ll make sure he doesn’t talk to anyone.”
“Okay, good. Well, be back by dinner and make sure you two stay safe.”
Mayumi opened the door, “Yup, of course. Come on, Hitoshi,” She let the excited kid run ahead of her, “We’ll be back.”
With that, she closed the door and headed to the park with a blissfully clueless child ahead of her. She ran toward him as the little kid sped quickly.
“Hitoshi, slow down! The park isn’t going anywhere.” Mayumi yelled.
Of course, the 6-year-old didn’t listen, too occupied with the overflowing eagerness to reach the park not too far from them. An area with equipment suited to indulge the endless energy of his small boy. Mayumi ran until she eventually caught up to him. She grabbed his brother’s hand and gazed at the boy before looking at the approaching park. Her face moved to a frown, troubled. She felt the satin silk on her hands, rasping with her sweaty palms; it wasn’t fair, these rules, these worries. She knew why her mom was worried, why they had all these rules and restrictions. She’s not stupid. She’s 11 after all, old enough to understand the harsh truth of her unforgiving reality.
Both his and Hitoshi’s quirks—well, they aren’t exactly…likable. When Hitoshi’s quirk first appeared, the kids in his kindergarten class became scared of him to the point that the friends he once had began to dwindle. Then, not too long after, a “no-talk” policy was implemented (for him only) after the many instances where he would accidentally brainwash his peers after talking with him. Their mom eventually moved him into homeschooling after the end of summer due to the many complaints from the kids’ parents. Apparently, they weren’t too happy about his accidental “talks”.
A similar situation happened to Mayumi. At first, she was classified as quirkless since her quirk never manifested by the time she was 5 years old. But the diagnosis was never concrete. She didn’t have any of the quirkless traits, so there was a chance it would appear.
And well, it did. At the worst time possible too. Mayumi is still haunted by that day.
She was in 5th grade.
It was a seemingly normal day in gym class. They were playing tag, and she was the one it. She ran searching and scouting her next victim while her peers stayed far away from her. She approached a boy who was hiding, she touched him and locked eyes with him. As soon as she did, she felt this strange pain in her head. Like something stabbing inside her skull. She found it odd but not thinking much about it, she shook it off. Afterward, she looked at the boy, her eyes widened upon seeing the peculiar scene in front of her. The boy stopped moving, he was motionless. But what was unusual were his eyes, they were staring blankly. Obviously, she panicked and the others, knowing something was up, came rushing over.
She knew. She knew this was her quirk. It manifested and it was a bad one, a terrible one. She freaked out. In a state of frenzy, the next words escaped her mouth, not thinking about what they meant.
“Don’t get near me! Stop them!”
At those words, the boy acted.
He attacked. He used his quirk to blow some painful attacks at his classmates. The teachers had to restrain him, but they didn’t only restrain him, they restrained Mayumi as well. On that day, they all knew. Their eyes moved from seeing her as this kind girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly to someone with a villainous quirk who would hurt anyone with the snap of a finger.
So, she knew who they were. She knew how others saw them. She’s tried to hide it, her quirk. To act like a normal 11-year-old. But words spread fast, especially among curious kids.
“The swings! The swings!” Hitoshi ran toward a pair of swings. Mayumi followed, unable to ignore how the kids seemed to flinch upon noticing their presence.
The young boy jumped on the seat. His legs dangled excitedly, eagerness flowing through him, “Push me, Mayumi! Push me!” The girl tried to smile, staying strong for her younger brother.
She pushed him. Higher and higher as requested by his brother. Hitoshi’s giggles echoed through the park, bouncing off the various park structures. As Mayumi pushed, she scanned her surroundings.
Fear.
That was the one look plastered on the faces of every single parent and kid. They moved away from them, creating an empty void around the two. Almost signifying the area as a dangerous field, one that no soul dared to enter. It’s as if they entered, they would be blasted by millions of minefields.
The swings were empty, but the kids would not dare to even sit on the swings at the other end of the set that was opposite from the siblings.
Mayumi tried to ignore this and focus on pushing Hitoshi who simply urged her to push him harder.
“Higher!” Hitoshi screamed.
Mayumi pushed, letting Hitoshi fly. His giggles resonated throughout the park, loud and prominent. His laughs should have been merging with the laughs of the other children, but they didn’t. His shouts of glee were the only sounds, the only ones in this now quiet playground.
Mayumi continued to look; they were watching. They stayed quiet. It was obvious, the way they inched away from them, the way their body remained tensed and flinched every time Hitoshi laughed, they were scared of him…of them.
Again, Mayumi tried to ignore it, but she couldn’t help but scowl at this ridiculous scene. Every time…every single time, this happens. Ever since her little incident at school, ever since Hitoshi’s accidents, kids would avoid them everywhere they went.
“Mayumi!” The young woman turned to look at Hitoshi, snapping out of her thoughts. He was slowing down.
“Oh, sorry, Hitoshi, let me…”
“No! I want to go to the slides.” Hitoshi pointed, his voice high and filled with joy.
“The slide?” Mayumi looked at the play structure in front of them. There were about two kids playing, both around Hitoshi’s age. They haven’t run away like the other ones. Maybe this could be an opportunity to play with others his age, to once make some friends that his brother urged for.
“Sure,” She stopped the swing and let Hitoshi jump off, “Go on.”
Hitoshi ran, laughing and giggling with no care in the world. His laughter warmed Mayumi’s heart. His brother needed this, after everything that happened when he was in school, he needed this moment to just be a normal kid. He didn’t know what was happening in that brain of his, but she knew how observant kids are. She knows that Hitoshi knows, or at least suspects, why people tend to run away from him.
She followed the hyper kid. She stood beside the structure as Hitoshi climbed the stairs and maneuvered himself through the complex play area. She watched the other kids. Surprisingly, they weren’t running away or looking at him with that fear in their eyes. Mayumi felt something warm in her heart, maybe these kids could accept him.
“Hey, Hiro. Come over here?”
Mayumi noticed a mom approach the structure, glancing at Mayumi with a panicked look on her face.
“Let’s go play over here.”
The mom grabbed the boy’s hand and moved elsewhere.
Mayumi diverged her attention back to his brother, who was preparing to go down the slide with the last kid in the play place.
“Hi! I’m Hitoshi, what’s your name?” His brother asked.
“I’m—”
“Kaito, don’t—I mean, we need to go.”
A yell from a mother was heard who rushed in quickly to grasp the child from the slide, without giving him a chance to slide down.
“But mom, I—”
“Sorry, sweetheart but that kid he’s—I don’t want you to talk to him, okay?”
Hitoshi was obviously startled by this but even then, he slid down the slide and climbed back onto the now empty structure. Mayumi walked around, keeping an eye out for the boy as he continued to play.
They were nobody playing with him, they were playing elsewhere, away from him. Consequently, they were on the swing, the ones she and Hitoshi were playing on only a few minutes ago. They were also on the play structure adjacent to them and the sand pit next to it. All various feet away from the siblings.
As Hitoshi played, she listened. The parents were talking.
“Those Shinso siblings, did you hear what their quirks are?”
“Yeah, my kid came running to me and told me about what that girl did. Scary.”
Then more comments.
“Have you heard of the incidents that happened from that boy’s quirk? I heard he brainwashed a bunch of the kids.”
“Brainwashing! Oh, what a villainous quirk! I’m shocked they are allowed to be alone, who knows what they can do.”
Mayumi felt a tear drop from her eye, quickly, she wiped them away. She couldn’t break down, not now. She had to remain strong, for Hitoshi. These comments aren’t new. Ever since hers and Hitoshi’s quirks manifested, they’ve heard them everywhere they go.
Villains.
Freaks.
Mistakes.
She’s heard everything. She wanted to protect Hitoshi from these heart-wrenching comments, but it was hard. His little brother was smart, plus kids were like sponges, they grab anything they hear. So, one day he will understand, and he will, just like her, have to deal with these accusations.
Mayumi was shaking. Her tears were growing and starting to flow. Swiftly, she found a bench nearby and sat down, needing a place to calm down. She hunched over and placed her palms over her eyes. She took deep breaths, controlling her overacting emotions.
“Mayumi?”
The young woman quickly looked up, Hitoshi was there, his worried eyes gazing at her, his messy lavender hair moving with the gentle flow of the wind.
“Are you okay?”
Mayumi wiped away her tears with her gloved hands, “Y-Yeah!” She said, her voice cracking, “I’m fine.”
Hitoshi looked around him and then back at his sister, saddened, “I’m sorry I talked I just—I miss my friends. I wanted to make new ones but…they all run away when I talk, I’m sorry my quirk is like this.”
Mayumi’s eyes widened, and her mouth went slightly agape, “N-No, Hitoshi. Nothing is wrong with you; your quirk is amazing. You should be proud. One day, people will see how amazing you are.”
“R-Really?” Hitoshi asked, his voice quivering.
“Yeah…really,” Mayumi brought his little brother into a hug, Hitoshi accepted and hugged her as well, “You are perfect as you are. Be proud of your quirk, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
She could feel how Hitoshi's grip tightened around her, urging for the safety her warmth provided. They stayed there for a few seconds until Mayumi pride him off.
“Come on, we should go,” Mayumi stood up, “Remember that we can’t be late for dinner.”
“Oh, yeah! I’m starving.”
Hitoshi reached for his sister’s hand which she accepted without hesitation.
“Remember, Hitoshi. One day you’ll prove to these people how amazing you are,” Mayumi began as they walked out of the park, noticing how the parents and their kids parted out of their way. At this sight, she scowled, “You’ll prove to them what it means to be a Shinso.”
And no one will ever look down upon us ever again.
They walked, hand in hand, back to the safety of their home.