Chapter Text
✧ E I G H T ✷ Y E A R S ✧
"Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"About that new girl in our class?"
"What about her?"
"What was her name?"
"I don't know."
"-Something like Hito? Haro?"
"That's not the point! Did you hear about her brother?"
"No? What?"
"My mom told me! Apparently, he went berserk a few years back. Started going crazy on an official mission!"
"Whaaaat?"
"Yeah! And get this? His two teammates? They're still missing to this day!"
"What do you think happened to them?"
"Honestly? My mom thinks he killed them."
"Oh yeah! I heard about that! That was the one with Sparklight, wasn't it?"
"Mhm!"
"He definitely killed them."
"What if his sister's in on it?"
"-Have you seen her? She definitely has something up with her!"
The three children gossiped somewhere ahead. She could just about see their radiant bushes of hair peeking out from behind a large tree trunk. Huddled together, more speculative and furtive whispers passed between them, just about travelling through to her ears in the air.
Recess was always a fun time.
She found herself standing, feet carrying her with pounding thuds against blossoming blades of grass, stomping closer and closer as their hissing got louder and louder. Hissing. Right. That's all they were: Snakes. Writhing, venomous snakes.
"-I don't trust her! Did you see how she looked at sensei when he called her name?"
"I know! It was so weird!"
"It looked evil! She's got a villain look to her..."
"-Does she even have a quirk?"
"She probably gets it from her freakshow brother."
Snakes. That's all they were.
She glared, stopping only a few feet away from the trio. The trio of snakes. One had light blue hair. One pink. One a vibrant orange.
"What do you want?" The one with light blue hair asked in a snap, turning to face her. Snakes.
The boy had a mixed display of emotions on his face; attempting to look tough and stern, like she was, for whatever reason, unwelcome here... but she could see the flicker of apprehension in his eyes. His two friends' (or more fittingly, minions) snapped to her, less successful in masking their panic. She stared. Her eyes burned, like a hot acid secreted from her tear ducts. Her palms were sweaty. Her breaths were heavy. She sounded like a small bull.
From the trio's perspective, she certainly looked the part, too.
"Hey! I asked you a question!" The boy yelled, voice growing slightly stronger. A mirage of confidence soaked into his demeanour. His fists clenched. Ready to fight.
He took one step forwards. Two tiny, rounded horns poked out from within the layers of the light blue hair. A crackling light shot up and down their surface. Some sort of static quirk, maybe.
A smirk tugged at her lips.
Her hand extended out. She stretched out her tan fingers, feeling the gentle wind brush over the tiny hairs.
She crooked her fingers, striking the very tip of a fingernail on the flesh of her thumb.
A sickened sense of satisfaction creeped over her as she watched the boy's fragile confidence shatter.
She struck her fingernail against her thumb again. A spark. She struck again. Another spark.
Finally, she struck all four of her fingernails against the roughened knuckle.
A flickering flame roared from the crooked ends of her fingers. The heat barely processed in her mind, purely focused on the group of boys ahead. And how much she hated them.
She struck out.