Chapter Text
It's not the first time that Toru found herself standing infront of the mirror, silently--invisibly--crying. The fact she can't even see herself crying only makes it worse. Why can she just see herself? Why can't she just be seen? All she wants is to be seen! All she wants is someone to tell her she's pretty, someone to tell her she exists.
Some days, Toru doesn't even know if she does truly exist. Naturally quiet, invisible, forgettable, it's like she isn't there sometimes. And she hates it. Hates all the times people didn't notice her, bumped into her, forgot her. It's a world of quirks and she feels like, even having one, she's the only one passed over.
When Toru was 4, her quirk manifested. She woke up, and her arm was missing. She started crying and ran to her mom, who patiently told her it's just her quirk. Toru found out she was able to turn parts of herself--including herself as a whole--invisible, and was able to turn it off once she wasn't panicking. She loved her quirk. It was amazing for hide and seek, she could be sneaky and make it so her parents didn't know she was awake past her bedtime. Then she turned 5. It was fine for a while.
But of course all good things must come to an end. After an indicent, Toru couldnt control her quirk. She turned invisible at random during it, and at the end, she was fully invisible, just trying to get out, get away, to stop- but she wasn't able to control her quirk beyond that point. She turned invisible, her bodies attempt at keeping her safe, and it never let her go.
Now, Hagakure Toru, a 14 year old girl who hasn't been seen in the past 9 years, is still feeling the aftereffects. She had to tell her parents something, but she was 5, she didn't know what to say. They chalked it up to it being a modification to her quirk that happened late. They still don't know what it was really caused by.
She dedicated herself to become a hero, preferably spotlight, so that she could be seen. It might be selfish, it'll definitely be hard, but... If she can finally stop staring at an empty mirror, waiting to see herself staring back, then it'll all be worth it.
The next day, Toru walked through the gates of her school like any other, making her way to her class silently. The only announcement that she arrived was the door opening and the floating uniform in the doorway. She got to her seat and sat down, barely making any noise. She didn't have any friends to talk to, so she just let her head rest in her arms on the desk.
Her first class was math, unfortunately, but it was pretty easy for Toru so she didn't mind. It passed quickly. Her next class was history, which breezed by aswell. The morning part of her classes went by quickly, since she only paid half attention.
She would be more attentive, but the classes are boring, so her mind takes initiative and wanders constantly. She doesn't know why, but it just does that. Doodling in the margins, imagining situations with made up characters, things like that.
By the time morning classes ended and she packed up for lunch, it felt like only an hour or two went by, when in reality it was around 4 hours. Toru goes to the cafeteria, walks quickly to her normal spot in the dark corner, and pulls out her bento to start eating. She never bought lunch at school, not since the incident and her being permanently invisible. Too many people bump into her. You'd think they see a floating pair of clothes and realize she's there, but no.
After too many bruises and lost lunches from being pushed and shoved, she just started bringing her own lunch from home. It was much easier navigating the lunch room with a sealed lunch and no lines.
Lunch was simple and soon ended, so Toru went to her next class, which was English. She actually enjoyed English--one of the few classes that she did--and paid attention mostly throughout the whole period. The next few periods of afternoon classes faded into background noise for her, and she spent most of the time in her head. Of course she did the required work, but she was most definitely not a model student.
After school ended, Toru started walking home. She started thinking. In a few days, she would be taking the UA enterence exam for the heroics course. She was excited, but also incredibly nervous. Her quirk wasnt suited for combat, so she would need to be entirely reliant on her body and any makeshift weapons she could make with things nearby. If there were, that is. The exam was highly hidden from the public, needing non-disclosure agreements to participate so you don't go spoiling it to everyone. There was a few people who did tell others, whether that be online or in person, but the accounts varied a lot, so it was hard to know who to trust.
Toru got home not too long after leaving school, since her house was fairly close by, and immediately went to her room. She was tired, and collapsed onto her bed instantly. She buried her face in one of her many pillows--she had around 6, all varying in softness, size, and texture--and just laying there for a few minutes.
Eventually though, she did need to get up and do things. She pulled out the few homework sheets and started filling out answers, occasionally going back to check to see if what she got was correct. The only one she actually put much effort into was her English assignment, since it wasn't homework and it wasnt annoying to do.
Once she finished, it was around 4:20 in the afternoon, and she went back to her bed. She sat down just in front of it, using the mattress as a backrest.
Pulling out one of her sketchbooks--she keeps it under her bed in a drawer--she starts to draw some of her characters. Specifically a scene she imagined today in literature class, which was two of her characters staring at a subway train go by. There was a reason for it, but Toru ignored that in favor of actually drawing it.
Time passes in a blur, sometimes feeling light speed and sometimes feeling so slow, too slow to be normal. That's just what happens when you get sucked into something, especially if it's a passion.
Toru's passion is creating. She doesn't care what she's creating as long as it's something. It could be sketching, writing, designing clothes, making pottery, playing an instrument, it doesn't matter. If it's something she makes--if it's something that gets seen--then it's her passion.
Imagine her surprise when her mother is calling her down for dinner, the time supposedly around 6:30, since that's when her mother typically finishes dinner, and she felt like it was barely 5. Time really does fly when your enjoying something, or however that English saying goes.
Toru speedily cleaned up her art supplies, which was a few different pencils scattered on the ground--differences in length, point, and eraser--plus, obviously, her sketchbook. They all went into the drawer she keeps her art stuff in.
She went downstairs, almost skidding down the stairs as she goes down.
"Hi mom!" She calls out, once her mother is in view.
They're currently setting the table, and Toru walks over at a much more normal pace. Her mother gives a small greeting, and Toru grabs some utensils from the kitchen drawers and starts setting the table aswell, making sure that everyone had what they needed. They were a family of 2, just Toru and her mom in this house, so that wasnt hard.
What was a little more chaotic was her dad's house, since they were 'technically' a family of 3, with Toru, her dad, and her papa, but they had 2 dogs there too, which make meal times significantly more messy.
Once everything is set and the food is on the table, they sit down. It's quiet for a little, allowing both of them to eat their food, but eventually Toru's mom pipes up.
"How are you feeling about high school? I know it can be nerve wracking, especially right before the entrance exams." Her mother stated, voice kind and grounding--just in case Toru was feeling especially nervous about it. That's the kind of person she was; always strong and opinionated, making sure people knew what she liked and disliked--when it pertained to them--but she was also a very gentle and nice woman.
Toru thought about it for a moment, before replying. "I'm excited, to be honest. I hope I do good, but the nervousness usually doesn't come until I'm there, you know? So right now I'm just waiting."
Talking to her mother has always been easy for Toru, though there was still topics she avoided. For the most part, however, her mom is a very open person, and therefore nice to talk to. Like a calm river; sometimes there was rocks and mini-waterfalls disrupting the current, but for the most part, it was safe to be in.
"That's good to hear. Anything about it being said at school?"
"Not much. Forms were due a week ago, I got mine in, past that there hasn't been anything, really, said."
"You know when your going to need to go there? To the exam?"
The conversation continued for a while, alongside them eating, and it was mostly about high school--Toru's parents were all supportive of her trying to become a hero--but occasionally about her mother's work. Her mom was a clothes designer for a semi-well known brand, which is partially where Toru's love for creating things came from.
After they finished eating, they cleaned up the table and then went their separate ways. Both of them like their personal space, and typically don't bother each other much. That's something that Toru likes about her mother's house, it's nice and quiet. Though sometimes it gets lonely.
A few hours pass and Toru is laying in bed, trying to fall asleep. She twists around in the bed and adjusts some pillows, but sleep doesn't seem to be interested in her right now. So, she does what any unhealthy teen does, and goes on her phone. She's currently on a random online game thats basically an ai detector. Your given a random chat, with 2 minutes, and you have to talk to the other side to then see if it's a human or ai.
She won the majority of the times, but occasionally a human acted weirdly and she thought it was an ai, or an ai was really good and she thought it was a human. Once she finished a few rounds, she found herself yawning, and put her phone down.
Toru fell asleep a minute or so after, no dreams came to her in sleep, but that was ok. She was content.
The few days following then happened much too fast to be normal, but Toru couldn't care much. She was too excited for the exam, and, as the day finally came around, she was nervous. Really nervous.
Toru lay awake in bed the day before the enterance exam, feelings swirling inside her. She was happy, really, she was, but she was so, so terrified, and her fear overruled the happiness. She didn't want to go onto her phone, needing better sleep for the coming day, but damn did she want to just do something with her hands and mind that wasn't fidgeting and worrying.
Just as she was finally able to start getting tired, the random thoughts came rushing in. They varied, some being about school as a concept, some being about possible friends she could make, some being about why on earth she was craving brownies right now. As the thought came in, Toru realized how much she really did want brownies.
She fell asleep mercifully quick after that.
Toru was walking through the gate of UA, surrounded by other applicants, and was mentally crying right now. She was crying half because she was overwhelmed and half because... She didn't really know the other half. She just knew it wasn't all because she was overwhelmed. Her stomach was full of knots, her mind filled with anxiety, and her eyes filling with tears. No one saw. No one ever saw.
She walked a little faster at that last thought. Only once she got inside the building did she stop and slow down, since it was a little more crowded in here. She needed to be careful, after all. She typically wore bright colors so people knew she was there, but sometimes without seeing someone's actual body, people ignore it or don't see it. Also, she had to wear her middle school uniform, so it was pretty bleak, neutral colors anyways.
Following the guide signs in the hallways, Toru manages to find 1st year hero-course application classroom #14 that she was assigned to. This first part would be the written test, which Toru believes that she could get at least an 85% on, and the next part would be the physical. She was insanely nervous for that part, since it was blatantly obvious that the UA enterence exam is geared towards destructive power. That's the most easily found thing from all the people who break their NDA's to say things about the exam.
Sitting down, she pulls out a pencil and starts absentmindedly twirling it in her fingers. She observes the classroom, which is fairly empty so far, but slowly, more applicants are trickling in. By the time her assigned room fills up, Toru's nerves are heightened by a lot. It feels like her insides are twisting each way, turning inside out over and over again. She feels too warm, even though there's cool air coming in through some nearby open windows.
Soon after, the proctor for the test comes in. Toru isn't a hero nerd or anything, but seeing the R-Rated Heroine, Midnight, was definitely something out of a fever dream. Midnight was definitely one of Toru's favorite heroes; they were heavily in the spotlight, but also weren't bad at their job. One of Toru's main inspirations was Midnight, since a lot of heroines are oversexualized. Midnight.. was, don't get her wrong, but! From what Toru could tell, the heroine chose the persona herself, and enjoyed it. She can't say the same for many of the other spotlight or limelight heroines.
Midnight got the classroom set up, told them all the rules, and made sure everyone was prepared. She was surprisingly good with children, despite her hero persona. Once they were ready, Midnight passed out the testing packets, and they were given the go-ahead to start.
Toru anxiously waiting to be allowed to begin, and once they started, she immediately opened the packet and began skimming through the first few questions. Toru held back a sigh of relief; all of the questions seemed doable. She might not get 100%, but she didn't expect to. Hopefully, she could get around a 85%-90%.
She quickly began going through and answering different parts, starting off with the ones she found easy and skipping over the harder ones, so to not lose her momentum. There were individual sections for different subjects, which included math, history, Japanese, English, and science. There was also, at the end, a section for analysis. Toru was a bit surprised at that, but she thought it added a little extra creative thinking to the exam, and liked it.
She finished all the easier parts, and then went back to do the harder ones. She saved the analysis in general for the end. Her warm up with the simpler questions allowed her to be a little better with the more difficult ones, and she felt like she did decently enough. At the end, Toru made sure to check how much time she had left. 1 hour and 10ish minutes. Perfect. Toru did the analysis questions, finding that she enjoyed it a lot more than she thought she would.
By the time she did that, Toru had about 20 minutes to check her answers, and she found a few mistakes but overall felt confident. And tired. The exam took a lot of her mental capacity away.
Due to the short wait time, she didn't turn in her parent beforehand, and simply waited. Not a few minutes later did the written exam officially end, and their packets were all collected.
The students from all across the building, it seemed, were all herded towards the auditorium. Toru did get pushed several times in the hallway, and had to stay near the walls so she didn't get trampled. Being invisible sucked.
Once inside the auditorium, Toru quickly found her seat and fell into it, sighing a little. The sitting was the same as in the exam room, but the auditorium was so much more open and people were talking, it was nice. Toru liked spaces like this.
The room filled up within a few minutes, and the proctor for the physical exam took the stage. It was Present Mic. Toru didn't particularly fangirl over him, or many heroes in general, but she did like his radio show. It used to be played a lot on the radio her mom and dad used when they were still together, when she was still a kid. She liked his music choices, though she didn't know if he picked them all or not; podcasts and radio stations didn't interest her much, or at all, really.
"WELCOMEEEEE-" Present Mic screamed, and Toru thought that even from the higher sections of the seats it was way too loud. Thankfully, he was somewhat quieter the next time he spoke. "To the UA first-year hero course exam, the physical portion!"
They went on to explain the rules, and how the scoring worked. "There'll be 3 different types of robots for you to destroy! A one pointer," a robot model appeared on the screen, with a red ONE plastered on its forehead. "a two pointer," a different model came onto the screen, with a red TWO on its head. "and a three pointer!" He finished as a third robot came onto the screen, with a THREE on its head. Seemed pretty straightforward, Toru could do this. Maybe. Robots weren't her strong suit, but that'd be ok!
Somewhere along the way, a tall, boxy boy with dark hair and bright glasses stood up, on the other side of the stadium from Toru. He pointed out a fourth robot type on the handout they were given at the door, which Present Mic hadnt explained, and called out a green-haired boy for mumbling. That was a whole scene, though it only lasted for about a minute. Present Mic quickly regained the attention from all the examinees and talked about the zero pointer, however briefly. He basically just said to stay away from it, since it wouldn't give any points, and it would be a waste of time and energy to defeat it.
Not long after, the students were being dismissed based on their designated testing zone to head to busses that would take them there. Toru was part of zone D, and was called 4th to get to her bus. All in all, it didn't take much time at all for all the students--Toru assumed all the students, at least--to reach their designated areas.
The bus ride over was quick, maybe 8 minutes, and Toru spent the whole time deciding how she would go about this test. In the auditorium, it hadn't really sunk in that her quick was essentially useless for dealing with robots, but now it had, and she was freaking out.
Toru and the others got off the bus as it arrived, and we're now all waiting near the gate. It looked like a huge fake-cityscape was behind the door, just like Present Mic said there would be. Damn, its larger than I realized, Toru mused.
Just then, Midnight, also the proctor for the physical exam it seemed, appeared on the top of the large concrete walls of the fake-city. She waited for a moment, before nodding--seemingly to herself--and looking down to the children below her.
"Start!" She yells, but no one moves. "Well? There are no countdowns in real fights! Go!!" She tried again, and this time the crowd burst through the doors of the city. Toru was unfortunately pushed along, being near the back but not all the way.
Once the crowd at the door dispersed to go look for robots, Toru was able to reorient herself and start running off as well. It didn't take long to get to a secluded area, and from there even less time to find a robot.
Falling backwards to get away from a laser beam, Toru shook her head a little to get into the right mindset. Ok, this is cool, she came up with a plan for this. Hopefully it works.
She hastily got up and ran to the robot, which either didn't sense her or had a cool down on the lasers. This was a 3 pointer, Toru realized, seeing the bright red 3 painted on its forehead.
Soon enough, Toru got to the robot and climbed it's body. It tried to shake her off, but it was pretty clunky and Toru didn't have trouble holding onto the semi-uneven surface. Once at the top, Toru held her breath and hoped it worked.
She haphazardly punched it's neck, which caused the thin-metal to cave in. Toru had no idea what she was doing, but her plan was simple. To find the weak points of the robots and target it. She had noticed that it's neck looked a lot less bulky than the rest of the body, and thankfully, it was also a lot less durable.
Toru simply punched the metal a few more times, getting the wires hit by the metal--she didn't comprehend how dangerous that was if it wasn't something the test-makers had made specifically safe--and causing the robot to malfunction. It didn't explode, which Toru had though of, and instead just tipped over at the depowerment. She grinned and jumped off just before getting smacked into the ground alongside the robot.
She would leave all the "what the fuck was I thinking oh my god I was so stupid" thoughts for later, after the exam, and when she was back at her mother's house in bed with a cup of chocolate milk next to her.
Toru ran towards the next seeable robot, and continued her strategy. It worked for most of the time, she did mess up a few times, but thankfully didn't get hurt more than bruises and scratched. She would be very sore tomorrow, but that was a 'deal-with-later' problem.
Some minutes in and she was starting to get somewhat tired, but she kept pushing through. At the 5 minutes left mark, she was on a robot when the announcement came. That's where she got startled, and fell off.
The robot she was attacking, a 2-pointer, for some reason, didn't seem to sense her once she was on the ground. Toru recovered as soon as she could, which took a few seconds, but realized that the 2-pointers didn't have heat sensors. She could, if quiet enough, be undetectable to them. After all, they couldn't see her either.
Her slightly changed plan was targeting 2-pointers, but most of the time she fought whatever came her way. It was nearing the end, the 3 minute left warning announcement came, and that's when she felt it.
The ground shook, and Toru was helpfully not on a robot when it did. She was able to steady herself, and get her bearings hastily. Looking around for the source of the tremors, Toru saw a colossal robot heading towards her. What. The hell. Is that?
Toru scrambled out of the area she was in, which was a fake open-air plaza she assumed, and ran alongside many other people in the crowd away from the 0-pointer. Which, Toru then realized, was really ironic. No wonder you weren't supposed to fight it.
She ended up getting pushed out of the crowd, which she was actually silently grateful for. It was much better than the alternative, which would be being trampled. By the time Toru had gotten fairly far away from the danger, she was wondering how much time was left in the test, and she was really tired.
Toru stopped by a fake bank--the makers of this with put a lot of work into it--to catch her breath, when the announcement that the test was over happened and the tremors stopped. She slumped over a little, the adrenaline of the exam slightly dulling.
After a minute of simply sitting, back against the wall, legs stretched out in front of her, Toru decided it was time to go home. She got up, adrenaline now almost completely faded, and went to the gate of the city. She saw the 0-pointer standing in the center of the city, not moving at all. Well thats kinda creepy, Toru thought idly.
Once getting a brief check over by Recovery Girl--a healing hero that Toru didn't know about somehow but was amazing--she was allowed to leave.
Toru got on the bus, the same one they used to get to the city in the first place, and, once everyone was on and accounted for, they went back to UA. The trip took even less time than the first, though it was probably Toru's exhaustion that made it seem that way. Once they arrived back at the main campus, the students were free to leave, and Toru took that opportunity immediately.
She had to take the metro, which was a little uncomfortable for her--she never liked traveling in public places alone, for whatever reason--but the ride was fairly short and she arrived home before she knew it.
At home, Toru took a speedy shower, and easily collapsed onto her bed afterwards. She was wearing some soft pajamas, her phone was out of reach--because truth be told she knows that she would've gone on it if it was in reach--and she was ready to fall asleep. So she did. Instantly. As soon as she turned the lights off and climbed into bed, she was out.
She didn't even have the mental capacity to worry about her performance in either exams she took today. Toru slept very well that night.
Toru was walking down to the nearby park, hoping to clear her head. The exam happened 2 days ago, and she was anxiously waiting for the results. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be coming for some time, and that anxiety had nowhere to go. School distracted her a bit, but not enough to her to stay sane.
So, she wanted to go to the park. She enjoyed people watching, liked pretending what it would be like if she could be watched. Above all, though, she likes the possibility of meeting someone. Whether that be possible new friend, or something more, Toru always loved those stories of people meeting in unsuspecting places.
Though she's never actually met anyone that's stuck around randomly. Sure, as a kid, she met some friends at places like parks or pools, but none of them really stayed. Still, Toru held out hope. You never know, she tells herself.
Once she gets to the park, which doesn't take long, she sits down at a bench and brings her legs up to her chest, turning into a ball. It's not like her legs obscure her vision after all. Though the pants do slightly. She's wearing long, semi-loose pants--something she wears pretty consistently so she can actually see where her legs are--and a T-shirt, with a hoodie over said shirt. It's a pretty plain outfit, her pants are black and her hoodie is dark red, but she didn't really care for choosing clothes when she's just going to a park.
She takes to watching people, seeing them wandering around, some runners, some not. Toru sees families with little kids playing at the nearby playground. It makes her a little sad, since she sees the way some glance at nearby people when they pass each other, make eye contact, and know that no one would ever really look her in the eyes. How could they? Unless she wore contacts, her eyes were just as invisible as the rest of herself. Plus, contacts would just creep people out, being random floating eyes, essentially.
Toru sighs, getting out of her thoughts, but doesn't move. Though she gets sad when watching people occasionally, she does like pretending that she's one of them. That someone is friends with her, someone likes her as a friend. Or just that she's there, she's visible, and not dragged up into her head, knowing no one would notice.
She likes seeing people who are bright, who command attention, because she can't do that herself. That's probably one of the reasons most of her friends as a kid were very attention-seeking and attention-grabbing people. Maybe if she was near them, she would be seen too. That's what her knowledge was, as a young child.
Toru's pulled away from her thoughts, once again, by someone new in her field of view. It's a girl, looks to be her own age, who's playing with what Toru assumes to be her little sister. The main reason those two stand out from the rest of the park is that the girl, the older one, is pink. Pink everything, it seemed, with pink skin, pink hair--though they also had small yellow horns--, and even a pink bag she was wearing. The outfit she was wearing wasn't pink, but it was certainly a testament to her already-bright exterior; the girl was wearing a light blue hoodie with a large cloud on the back--they were facing away from Toru--and light brown pants.
Their little sister was pretty similar, also having pink hair, but instead of pink skin they had light blue skin. Looks like it was a whole family of brightly-skinned people. Toru couldn't look away, the older girl was really pretty. And Toru hadn't even seen her face.
Some Diety probably heard that last comment and decided to either screw Toru over or help her, because the next thing she knew, the girls sister turned around--most likely since the playground was fairly close and next to Toru.
This, however, caused the older girl to turn around as well, and holy shit she was gorgeous. Toru now definitely couldn't take her eyes off them. The girl had black eyes with golden irises that faded into black pupils. Even from a good 20ish feet away, Toru could see that. Though it might've also been because she was staring harder than she ever had in her entire life.
The girl quickly followed her little sister--Toru was now almost 100% sure that it was her sister--and they went to the playground. Toru changed her position, so she was now sitting sideways on the bench. And she stared. Toru didn't know how long she stared for, but she just genuinely could not take her eyes off of this girl.
Eventually--probably around 15 minutes--Toru realized that it was really creepy for her to be staring at this girl she had never met before at a public park. So, reluctantly, Toru knew she should probably leave and go home. She'd spent around an hour at the park, and that certainly helped her anxiety about the test. She got up and started to walk to her house, which was past the playground.
Toru was trying her hardest to not look at the girl again, but that backfired on her when the little sister ran into her. Not looking make it so she didn't seem to notice they were chasing each other, and now that Toru was in their vicinity, apparently she got bumped into. Thought the sister wasn't looking at Toru's direction at all, which is probably what actually caused the crash.
She steadied herself before falling, thankfully, and quickly made sure to check on the little girl. They seemed to have fallen, but they were up again and brushing them self off. Toru felt a bit of relief knowing they weren't hurt.
"You okay?" She asked, just out of necessity.
"Mhm.." the kid looked up at her--Toru realized that they had the same eyes as their sister--and tilted their head a little to the side, eyes widened. "Woah... Are you just a floating pair of clothes or are you invisible?"
"Ah, I'm invisible." Toru replied, though it was a bit odd... "Just... A floating pair of clothes?"
"You never know!" The kid said, smiling brightly. "Sorry for bumping into you!"
Just as the kid turned around to head back to her sister, she ran up to them. They slowed down just as they reached them.
"Sorry, sorry! I saw what happened." She looked down to her sister, "Did you apologize yet?" Her sister nodded, "Good. Ok. Uh, sorry again, have a great day!"
Toru just nodded, somewhat stunned. She's seen pretty people before, but she has never gotten so choked up about it before. To be fair, none of them looked anything like this girl, and none ever tried talking to her.
It was then that the girl actually looked up and at Toru. She saw the brief confusion, turning into mild horror. She turned to her sister, blinked a few times in utter shock, and said, "you bumped into an invisible person...?"
"Nuh uh! They have clothes on, and that's visible!"
"Still!" The older sibling turned to her, "I'm really sorry, that must've been so rude..."
"It's fine, I promise." Toru assured quickly.
The girl silently sighed, before nodding at Toru and lightly dragging her younger sister away. "C'mon."
Toru did end up staring for another minute or two, before shaking her head and getting out of her stupor. She left the park as soon as possible, with the older girl still etched into her mind. They're voice was really pretty too...
4 days later...
Toru was pacing. She would admit that, with no argument. It's not like her mom would vouch for her, since Toru was quite literally do it right in her face. She was in the living room at her mom's house, waiting for the letter to arrive. Does the mail all arrive at once? Yes. Does that mean Toru would wait until the time it typically gets here? No. Will she continue to pace for the next hour? Yes. Unless her mom forces her to stop...
Which is exactly what happens. "Toru, sweetheart, pacing isn't going to make the mail arrive sooner.."
"I know..!" She whines slightly, but continues to pace. "I can't help it! Why do they take so long to send the letters?!"
"A lot of people apply, you know." Her mom says, and Toru can hear the smirk in her voice. "Why don't you go to friends? Get a little distraction?"
"I don't have any friends..." Toru never really made friends easily, not many people wanted to be friends with someone they couldn't even see. Some heteromorphs were treated badly because of how they look; Toru was both similar and the opposite. She was treated differently because no one could see how she looked.
"Why don't you go to the park? I know that helps you calm down." Her mom adds, and, Toru slows her pacing.
"You know that's... that's... Not actually a bad idea." She glances at the door, which, even though the male comes through the mailbox, Toru has been constantly glancing at. As if the mail would manifest as a person and knock on the door.
Shaking her head lightly to get out of her mind, Toru nods to her mom, "yeah, yeah I think I'm gonna go to the park."
"Do you want company or do you wanna be alone?"
"Mm.. I'll go alone for today. See you later, mom!" She calls out and leaves. Her phone was in her pocket, and she grabs her house key from next to the door before she leaves.
She starts the walk to the park, but feels restless, and starts running instead. It's good exercise at least, and Toru likes sprinting sometimes. It really helps with getting out excess energy, which is kind of obvious but she didn't really understand it until she randomly started sprinting when anxious and it helped a lot.
She doesn't run the whole way to the park, but only barely. Toru stops once she can see it in her view, it's quite close but not yet right infront of her or anything. She walks the rest of the way, out of breathe from the run but nothing more than that. She recovers her breathe quickly anyways.
Once at the park, Toru takes to her favorite past time of people watching. She really hopes to see the pink, bright girl as last time, but figures that it probably wouldn't happen. Unfortunately. Toru never did get that girl out of her head, to the point a day after she met her, Toru had a dream with the girl in it. She didn't even know their name, but damnit, Toru thought of her constantly.
Toru allows herself to get lost in her mind sometimes, fantasizing about random people's lives and her own future. Thinking about random projects she could try to do. Wondering if she dies her hair, will it show up? She assumes it wouldn't, since it'll mix with her hair. But maybe, if she ever wanted or needed visible hair, that's always a possibility to try out.
She tried to keep her thoughts away from the UA letter, but it did come up pretty frequently. Toru liked the fact she could constantly get carried away and not realize how much time has passed. It was also slightly disorienting, yet that was ok for her, since it didn't stay like that for a while.
One instance of it being disorienting is Toru realizing the fucking sun is setting. Hadn't she only been there for 20 minutes or so?? Apparently not, since the time on her phone was 6:21pm, and she had a few messages from her mom about the letter arriving. Toru jolted a little at that, and immediately got up and bolted home.
The run was very quick, since Toru was quite frantic about getting home. She dropped her phone once, and it was thankfully not cracked when she checked it. Her phone case was a savior in that moment. Toru recovered speedily and continued her sprint home.
In total, the trip from the park to home took maybe 2 and a half minutes, a personal best for Toru. She burst through the door, and her mom startled from her place in front of the kitchen counter.
Her mother calls out, "Don't slam the door open like that again!"
Toru bristles, "Sorry!". She closes and locks the door behind her, rushing towards her mom, towards the letter. The letter that would determine her future, if she could be in the spotlight for once in her life. If she could be seen. Sure there are other hero schools, but UA is the largest, most publicly renowned one. It wouldn't be the same going to a place like Shiketsu, for example.
Hands trembling slightly, Toru picks up the letter in her hands, and it feels heavier than a normal piece of paper. That's a good sign. Toru felt a bit of hope flicker in her chest, growing by the second, though it was still small and dim.
Toru took a deep breath, before carefully opening the letter. She reached in, and felt a paper alongside.. a round button? Pulling it out, she saw the paper--that was expected, acceptance or rejection--and saw a little disc. Once it hit the table, it flashed to life. A hologram, huh, Toru realized.
All Might appeared on the screen, and Toru was left gaping. "Hello! I am here!! As a projection!! You may have noticed I am nearby more!! Truth is, your looking at the newest UA faculty member!!" He says, voice booming even through the hologram.
"Young Hagakure, you passed the written test with a score of 87%, amazing work!!" This is it, the practical results come after. This is either the confirmation or rejection that Toru made it into the UA heroics course.
"For you practical, you scored 43 villain points, putting you in 19th place overall! Congratulations, and welcome to your hero academia!!"
As the projection ended abruptly, and All Might faded away, both Toru and her mom were standing there, unable to speak. Was that real? Toru, she, herself, Hagakure Toru, passed the UA hero course entrance exam? She was going to be a hero...?
Her mother pulled her into a tight hug, and Toru found herself start to cry. In a good way. She never would've imagined herself being able to pass it, it was more of a dream that she could. But she did it. She did it! She was going to be a hero! She clutched onto her mom as she sobbed, and her mother, though Toru didn't know it at the time, was also crying softly.
It was as overwhelming as it was underwhelming. Toru cried for several minutes, before her sobs died down into silent tears and those faded into sniffles. She eventually pulled away from her mom, only to see her eyes wet as well.
"I'm so proud of you baby.." her mom murmured, giving Toru the brightest smile, brighter than All Mights even. Toru found herself matching the smile, intoxicated by the emotions flowing through her.
"I got in, mom. I'm gonna be a hero." She whispered, a few tears falling still. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, but fuck it was a genuine dream come true, she couldn't stop the happy tears.
She is going to be a hero. She is going to be seen. For once in her life, and forever onward, people will know her, would see her. Invisible or not, Toru will be seen. And it'll be on her terms this time. It will be entirely on her terms.
Hagakure Toru is going to be a hero.