Chapter Text
MELODIES
CHAPTER 1
Oshika Togara had always been absolutely infatuated with music, even from a young age. She had always asked her parents to play songs on the radio at home, in the car, anywhere there could be music, she asked for her favorite songs. When she got to listen to her tunes, her cyan eyes would seem to almost glow with excitement, but when she was denied her music, she’d tug at her burgundy-colored locks, tipped with blonde around halfway down, until her parents started to worry that she’d pull it out.
Her parents finally caved and got her an MP3 player for her birthday. That happiness wouldn't last long. As other children got their quirks around the time they were 4 years old, she still lacked one at the age of 7. There were no ways to force a child to manifest their quirk, but her parents had other ideas to make it appear faster. Unfortunately for her parents, she was just an extremely late bloomer in terms of her quirk, and what they did to her every single day didn't exactly help it manifest properly. (Ah yes, gatekeeping lore.)
She ended up adopted into another family, and thankfully these parents cared for her. She didn't trust her quirk after what happened to her biological parents (yes I'm gatekeeping even more lore until later go cry abt it), and quite literally never used it except in miniscule amounts, flinching every time she activated it.
When she got into middle school, she found out about the track team. She did well, especially in hurdles, and got quite some recognition in her school. But when the end of her third year in junior high started to come to a close, she started to panic.
That day in class, the teacher had passed out papers for the student’s high school choices, Oshika had filled out 2 and 3, but her hand was hovering over the first box for the past hour. School was already over, and the only people still in the building were teachers and students in clubs. She knew what she wanted to write.
"Shit..." Oshika mumbled, gritting her teeth.
“What’s going on?” Oshika’s classmate, Yasuo Akari, was standing in front of Oshika’s desk, where Oshika sat, her head in her hands, her back arched in a way that could not be comfortable. “You seem to be on edge.”
Oshika sighed. “Ya think? And why are you still here?” Akari was right. Oshika’s usual eccentric, almost manic grin was replaced with a scowl, and her eyes had lost their usual gleam. “I love my quirk, honest. Seriously, it might be the best anyone could ever get, especially for someone like me. Like seriously. Music. My favorite thing. Giving me power? Almost limitless power if I learn how, no less. But… I don’t want to accidentally repeat what I’ve done before. I wanna try out for U.A. but what if I accidentally just wreck the whole place, or worse, injure or even kill someone?”
“Jeez, Oshika. I’ve seen you get worked up over stuff, but I’ve never seen you overthink this bad. If you’re able to become a hero, you might as well just be the next Symbol of Peace.” Akari commented, turning around to sit on Oshika’s desk, looking down at her with a smirk.
Oshika squeezed her eyes shut. “IF. Exactly. IF. If I fail, what should I do then? Just be a nobody with wasted potential? As if I have any.” Oshika began to panic once again, starting to shake and twitch every few seconds. Her foot tapped on the floor, making the sound echo through the empty classroom.
Akari let out a loud sigh. “Literally, SHUT UP. Of course you have potential, and of course you’re getting into U. A. if you apply! Just stop doubting yourself and you’ll see how great you are. And I swear, if you don’t apply to U.A. I’ll sign you up myself. Japan, no, the WORLD needs you and your quirk, Oshika. We can’t let you go to waste when the crime rate is rising as we speak. I’ve seen you use it, and if that’s a tiny bit, trust me, you’ll be a great hero.” Oshika lifted her head, and Akari stared back at Oshika with their big, black eyes, their short, wavy black hair sitting neatly on their shoulders. Oshika realized that she hadn’t looked at Akari at all during the conversation until then, and she realized how much they wanted this for her.
“…are you gonna apply too?” Oshika almost whispered the question. Oshika begged them silently, ‘Please Akari, I can’t do this alone…’ Oshika’s thoughts raced in her head, clouding her mind and making her nearly disassociate.
“Are you kidding me? Hell no! My quirk is useless. All I can do is know what someone’s name is from looking at them. That’s not even a joke, that’s all I can do.” Akari laughed in disbelief that anyone would ask her to apply for U.A.
“…Okay.” Oshika muttered. Akari’s response didn’t calm Oshika down in the slightest.
Akari reached down and gave Oshika’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Hey, you’ll rock the entrance exam. I’m sure of it!" Then, Akari squeezed Oshika's hand tightly. Despite the rough gesture, there was no malice in their eyes or words. "Now write it down on that paper before I grab your hand and make you.”
“Fine.” Oshika quickly jotted down 'U.A.' on the first box of the paper, completing the assignment and dropping it in the basket on her teacher’s desk.
“Now, get out of here already, it’s been 30 minutes since school ended.” Akari gave Oshika a smack on the head, nudging them towards the door.
“You still haven’t told me why you’re still here too, y’know.” Oshika smiled at them, the confident tone starting to come back to her voice.
“A magician never reveals their secrets~! Now, Get. Out.” Akari gave Oshika one more playful shove towards the door.
“Fine. Bye, Akari!” Oshika gathered her things and dashed out the door, only slowing down to a jog once she left school grounds. She immediately put her earbuds in, blasting music in her ears. “Ah yes, Will Wood. Peak music.”
She was listening to “Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!)” by Will Wood, turning it up with every line of the song until it was max volume. She ran home from there, maneuvering around and through groups of people, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a car, until she got to her house.
“I'M HOME!” She shouted through the doorway when she opened it, walking in and dropping her bag at the bench near the door.
“Oh, good afternoon, Oshika! What do you want for dinner?” Oshika’s adoptive mother, Sayaka Fukui, was leaning on the kitchen counter, her apron already on.
“I'm alright, mom. I can make something myself when I get hungry. Thanks though!” Oshika climbed up the stairs to her room, shutting the door behind her.
The room wasn’t too messy, but it sure wasn’t clean. Her bed was decorated with plushies from things she liked, her walls covered with prints, drawings, and posters. She let herself fall dramatically down onto her bed, grabbing her phone from her pocket. She typed on the search engine: ‘U.A. acceptance rate.’ 0.2%. abysmal.
“Shit!” Oshika muttered through clenched teeth. “Thanks for that, Akari!” She exclaimed sarcastically, her arms reaching up before falling back onto the bed again. She sighed, absolutely exhausted from all that had happened. “I mean, might as well try... right?”
END OF CHAPTER 1