Chapter Text
“Shinsou! Shinsou!” Hitoshi looked up from the sand castle he was making to see his best friend sprinting over to him, waving his arms wildly.
He managed to stand up right as his friend got to the sand box, barely avoiding being run down by the other. “What Haruto? What happened?”
“I-I-” The young boy struggled to get the words out in his excitement, “I got-I got my quirk!”
“You-wow! Your quirk! You got your quirk?” Hitoshi beamed, “What is it? What did you do?”
“So, I was. We were at my grandma’s house and I was playing with her-with her dog. And, and then I got it!” He bounced in place.
“What’s your quirk?” He squealed in excitement.
“I can make things glow! Look!” Haruto reached down and picked up one of the toys Hitoshi was playing with a second ago. His face screwed up in concentration and a few seconds later the toy changed color slightly. It was hard to see in the sunlight, but Hitoshi thought it got a little brighter too.
His eyes widened in amazement. “THAT’S SO COOL! Haruto! You have a quirk now!”
“I KNOW!” He yelled back. “My mom says it could get even stronger when I get older. I might be able to make things glow per-perma…for a long time!”
“Let’s-Let’s go tell Teacher! She’ll be so happy and then you can show everyone!”
“Yeah!” He grabbed Hitoshi’s hand and they ran off to find their teacher.
It was hard to tell her what happened. They were both buzzing with too much excitement and ended up stumbling over each other in an effort to explain. Haruto had to start the story over more than once to get it all out. It was only after they finished explaining and Haruto showed her his new trick that she finally understood what they were trying to say.
“Oh, Haruto! I’m so happy for you!” She cheered, wrapping his friend in a hug. “This is great news! Do you want to show the rest of the class?”
He nodded enthusiastically and their teacher smiled back, “How about after reading time? The whole class will already be together and we can turn off the lights to see your quirk better.”
“Okay!” He agreed, already dragging Hitoshi off to play again.
“I’m so jealous.” Hitoshi said once they got to the playground. “I want to get my quirk so bad.”
Haruto laughed, “You will. Everyone does, don’t they?” He climbed up onto the monkey bars and started swinging around. Hitoshi noticed that the bars turned a shade lighter when he touched them–meaning that his friend was using his new-found quirk.
“What do you think it will be?” He asked, the possibilities running through his head.
It was a conversation they’d had millions of times, but they never really got tired of it. “I mean…my mom can read people’s minds, and my-my dad can…he does something with emotions.”
“Oh!” Haruto jumped down, “Like, he can change them, right? I think you told me.”
Hitoshi nodded, “Yeah. He said he can make people happy.”
“That’s cool! So do you think you’ll get his quirk?”
“Maybe! Then I can make villains scared of me when I’m a hero.”
Haruto laughed, “And then they’ll be too scared to fight you when you beat them up!”
Hitoshi giggled at the image that made. He hoped he got his dad’s quirk. He could become such a cool hero with it.
They messed around with different ideas until their teacher called them in from recess. Haruto was basically vibrating with his eagerness to show the rest of their class his quirk, and Hitoshi was right there next to him.
It was always exciting when his classmates showed their new quirk, and he just couldn’t wait for his turn. So many of them already had really cool quirks and he was so excited to show off his own. It was going to be amazing, he just knew it.
Hitoshi beamed again when the teacher turned off the lights and Haruto made his pencil glow. The whole class erupted into shouts of amazement at his new quirk and he giggled again at their reaction.
Hitoshi was confident that his turn would be soon. He was going to be the next person to get his quirk and then he would get to show it to the rest of his class. And he couldn’t wait.
•••••
“Hitoshi!” He looked up to see his mom waving at him at the door to his classroom.
“Mom!” He yelled across the room, standing up and racing over to her. She wrapped him in a hug as soon as he got close enough.
“How was school, sweetie?” She asked while helping him put his backpack on.
“Guess what?” He yelled, grabbing a hold of her hand and bouncing.
She laughed at his excitement, “What?”
“Haruto-Haruto got his quirk!” He announced. He was so excited to tell her that he forgot to say goodbye to said friend, following his mom out of the classroom and onto the crowded sidewalk instead.
“Haruto? Your friend?” He nodded enthusiastically. “Wow! That’s amazing sweetheart! Is he happy?”
“Yup!” He skipped next to her, “He can make things glow! He’s like a glow stick, but to other things. He showed the class today and they were all so surprised!” He laughed.
“Well, tell him that’s a really cool quirk for me, okay?”
“I will! He said that I could be the next person to get their quirk too! A lot of people in my class already have theirs, so I’ll be next, right?”
“Of course, Hitoshi, it could happen any day now.” The thought filled him with joy.
“What do you think I’ll get?” He asked his mom, just for conversation purposes. Yet again, they’ve had this conversation so many times that they’ve exhausted the topic.
She hummed thoughtfully. “It could be anything, Hitoshi. But, based on mine and your father’s quirks, it’ll likely be a mental quirk of some sort. We’ll just have to be prepared for anything, won’t we?” She smiled down at him.
“I want Dad’s quirk!” He continued, “Haruto said his quirk would be good for fighting villains. I could make them scared and then beat them up!”
“Yeah,” She laughed, “That would be a great way to use his quirk.”
Shinsou nodded again, rambling about how he could use his dad’s quirk to become a hero. His mom simply nodded along as she lead him in the direction of their house, happy to listen to Hitoshi’s many theories.
He suddenly stopped when he saw an ice cream truck parked near their house. He wanted ice cream now, and it was just right there. “Hey, Mom, look! There’s an ice cream truck, can we get ice cream?”
“I don’t know, sweetie. We’re going to have dinner soon, and I don’t want you to be too full to eat.”
“But I won’t be! I promise!” He pulled on her hand. “Please?”
“Not today.” She decided, “But maybe some other time, okay?”
“But why?!” He complained, throwing his arms up in frustration.
“I told you, we’re going to-“
His mom suddenly stopped talking and stared blankly ahead. She’d let go of his hand too, and Hitoshi looked down to see her hand lax at her side.
“Mom?” He asked, looking back up at her face. “Mom? What happened?”
She didn’t answer–she didn’t even move at his question. Weird.
“Mom? Can-Can we get ice cream?” He tried again. Maybe she stopped moving because she changed her mind. That would make sense.
His mom suddenly started moving again, walking slowly toward the ice cream truck. She wasn’t holding Hitoshi’s hand anymore, but he didn’t mind. He just ran to catch up to her, happily grabbing her hand in a tight grip.
He bounced while they waited in line, too excited to stand still. He was actually going to get ice cream. His mom was the best.
She didn’t say anything the whole wait, but Hitoshi barely noticed. Instead, he spent the whole time looking over the menu to see what he wanted.
“Hey, Mom! Can I-Can I get the caramel popsicle? I want that one.” She didn’t acknowledge him, but he was sure she heard him.
“Hi there! What can I get for you?” The cashier asked once they got to the front of the line. Weirdly, his mom didn’t answer him, simply pointing to the caramel popsicle on the menu in front of them.
“You want the caramel popsicle?” He clarified and Shinsou nodded, already forgetting the weird way his mom ordered his food.
“Alrighty, one caramel popsicle, coming right up!” The cashier smiled, turning to grab something. “That’ll be 70 yen.”
His mom reached into her purse mindlessly, pulling out her card and handing it to the man. It was a short transaction, and soon enough, Hitoshi had his ice cream.
“Thank you!” He called to the man in the truck, pulling his mom away from the stand. “Let’s-Let’s go sit over there!” He didn’t want to wait to eat his ice cream, and he’d probably drop it if he was walking.
Again, his mom didn’t say anything when she turned toward the bench he’d pointed out. And again, it was weird, but he was too invested in his ice cream to actually notice it.
They sat in silence while he ate. He’d occasionally say something or point out a funny thing he saw, but his mom never said anything back so he’d just happily go back to eating after. For some reason, she didn’t want to talk to him. But that was fine, because then he got to eat his ice cream.
“I’m done!” Hitoshi announced, wiping his sticky hands on his pants and crumpling the wrapper up. “We can go home now!”
Almost immediately, his mom stood up again and turned toward the direction of their house. She didn’t reach down to hold his hand or even look at him, but that was okay. She couldn’t be that mad at him if she bought him ice cream, right?
So Hitoshi simply ran to catch up with her, giggling at the way she was acting. “Mom! Wait for me!” He laughed.
She was probably teasing him, that was it.
He played along with her the rest of the walk home. When he noticed that she was walking a little weird, Hitoshi did his best to copy her, laughing when he messed up. It was a new game that he’d never played with her, and he found that it was kind of fun.
“Mom! You’re silly!” He giggled when she reached for the door to their house and missed. “You know how to open a door! Look, I’ll show you!”
He reached for the doorknob, turning it and opening the door. “See!” He laughed again. His mom ignored him and stepped into the house, stopping as soon as she was inside.
“Okay, I‘ll go get changed then.” He announced, knowing that was the next thing he was supposed to do. He made it a few steps up the stairs before remembering something.
“Oh, wait!” He turned back and ran to his mom, colliding with her as he wrapped her in a hug. “Thank you for the ice cream! I love you!”
His mom suddenly gasped, tensing in his hold. “Get away from me!” She shoved Hitoshi away from her and he stumbled before falling on the ground.
“Mom?” His eyes watered, confused at the sudden change.
“Go away! Get out of my sight, you-you-“
Hitoshi stood up hesitantly. He didn’t know what he did wrong, but he should try to fix it. “Mom, I-I’m sorry. What-What-“ He reached up to grab her pant leg.
“Don’t touch me!” She pushed him away from her again. “I…I can’t even look at you right now! Go to your room!”
Tears started to fall from Hitoshi’s eyes as he watched his mother turn her back to him. “What do you mean?” He asked hesitantly.
“Go away!” She yelled again and he stumbled back. “Why aren’t you listening to me! Go to your room!”
He hesitated one more time, sure his mom was just upset about something. She’d been fine just a second ago–they were playing a fun new game she’d come up with, weren’t they? But then his mom sent him another glare and he nodded quickly, running to his room and slamming the door.