The morning light poured through the white curtains, following a feeling of cold air throughout the quiet beeping sound by something standing next to me.
My body felt heavy, covered in sweat, and a subtle numbing feeling in my stomach.
Blinking slowly, I reflexively reached for my eyes attempting to rub out any of the dust accumulated there overnight, attempted as I was thwarted by wires stuck onto my arm.
Waking up in a new location, it took me a moment to realize where I was.
Wires? A unfamiliar white room? Is this a hospital?
A hospital?
WHY AM I IN A HOSPITAL?!
A surge of panic sent my heart rate skyrocketing, and I shot up, holding my chest to slow my breathing. Coincidentally, a nurse, the same short haired one from before, marches in, alerted by my anxiety.
"I see you're awake, ma'am."
I don't answer, still shook by the situation I'm in.
"Don't worry, ma'am, you're completely okay now." she spoke, sounding unconcerned.
"Forget about me! Tell me what happened to Sato and where my baby is!" I yelled at her.
"Calm down, I was going to explain that to you. Give me a minute."
Her face when she left so suddenly felt strange, was she nervous? Avoiding telling me something? My thoughts spiraled as I stared at the empty doorway, unsure of what happened last night, counting each second till she came back.
After five long minutes, she finally returned, holding something in her hand that seemed to signify we were about to have the conversation I would dread.
"I'm asking to confirm this, but do you remember what happened to you last night?"
"M-most of it, I just followed Sato and getting kicked, but it's blurry after that."
"Got it... To start, when we reached out to your emergency contact, they mentioned that you had asked them to babysit your child. Is that correct?"
"Oh... Yes, I remember that, then... is Sato alright?"
Keeping her head down, avoiding eye contact, she kept silent before apologizing.
"I'm sorry... Sato is dead, he ---"
She continued on, but I had already stopped listening.
I struggled to breathe as my memory returned. Being jump-kicked in the stomach, Sato's skull being crushed with some of his blood splattering onto me, Gang Orca arrival right before my demise, all of it happening the previous day.
The nurse walked over and rubbed my back to try and calm me down.
"Breathe slowly." She whispered.
Following her advice, I gradually inhaled till my lungs were filled with air, exhaling at the same pace repeatedly. Closing my eyes, I focused on clearing my mind, but my thoughts were not co-operating.
Replaying the situation in my mind, if I hadn't followed Sato to catch him buying drugs, he'd be alive right now, wouldn't he? I may have been suspicious of him, yet in a healthy relationship, we would have simply talked about his questionable behavior, right? Right!?
No, no, no, I can think about that later. How am I going to raise Kiyo? We we're barely able to raise him with both of our salaries. Without Sato, I wouldn't even be able to afford the daycare to leave him at.
What the hell am I even supposed to do?
I could contact my parents and see if they'd be willing to babysit him, but I had been disowned as they didn't want a quirkless son-in law, there's no way they'd accept Kiyotaka, and Sato's parents are already dead.
Once again, I began hyperventilating. There's too many things to worry about, and nothing I can do about it, money issues, raising Kiyotaka as a single mother, the stress of it all, I don't know how I can manage that.
"Here, drink this and calm yourself down." The nurse said, handing me a cup of water.
I chugged it as fast as I could, feeling the lukewarm water run down my throat, and laid back down onto the hospital bed, with my arm placed on top of my forehead, blocking the nurses view of my eyes.
The future is not looking good.
It's been about a month since I left the hospital. In that short time, I've tried anything I could find a solution to staying with Kiyo, all resulting in failure. My parents simply ignored me. There wasn't any government support I could apply for that'd help us, and nothing with my friends schedules worked out for us.
So, I've tried to spend every moment I could with Kiyo, knowing my time with him was limited. He's so much smarter than I give him credit for. He only asked a few times about Sato's absence. I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth.
How could I?
How do you explain to a child that his father's never coming back?
Somehow, he just stopped asking. Has he already figured it out? Or does he think Sato will eventually return?
Despite my efforts to act normal, Kiyo has probably sensed the changes in me. The way I hold him a little tighter when we're together, how I linger in his room longer than usual at night, my fake smiles.
I'm terrified of what's going to happen next, ignoring my own issues. How will Kiyotaka survive in the orphanage? He might get bullied by the other children there because of his quietness. What if he doesn't unlock a quirk too?
The overwhelming guilt I felt when I looked at his clueless face, leaving him by the door of the orphanage and telling him to stay there. Watching from afar, as 10 minutes passed and someone from the orphanage finally noticed him lingering outside. Following them inside, he was still with no visible reaction,
"Haha."
I guess I won't ever get to see him with any emotion.
I walked back to my apartment.
Reaching the rooftop, I sat down, greeted by the breathtaking view of the city combined with the color of the sunset, the wind blowing through my hair, closing my eyes to allow the sound of traffic to flood into my ears.
Feeling a sense of liberation as I stood up, stretching my arms out wide, letting all the stress I had been accumulating fading away, realizing that in this beautiful moment.
(edit)
I felt fear for the very last time.
Although she hadn't said anything, what Hana intends to do after dropping me off at the orphanage was obvious.
Not that it's any of my business anymore.
It's been a few minutes, and no one has noticed me yet. Until a girl with short dark green hair, green eyes, and an above average build for a woman locked eyes with me through the window.
The girl, after opening the front door, kneeled down to slightly above my eye level and with a small smile on her face asked.
"Hey there, little mister, do you know where your mommy or daddy is?" She spoke softly.
I could see the concern on her face, presuming I had been left behind.
I responded by twisting my head left and right.
"That's alright~! Can you tell me your name and how old you are?"
"um, kiyotaka, and i'm one." I said in a monotone voice.
She visibly flinched at my response, her eyes widening in surprise. Perhaps it was my permanently monotone face and voice and my age not matching her estimation.
Her initial shock quickly shifted back to concern, likely deducing that my abandonment stemmed from being unwanted rather than from financial struggles or an inability to provide for me.
"I see, well Kiyotaka-kun, my name is Honaka-san. While I go do something quickly, would you go sit on that chair for me?"
"ok."
Walking over to the chair Honaka was talking about, I noticed a group of girls of various ages, with their heads sticking out the door, with one of them pointing at me. I'd never been in an orphanage, but it seemed they were prohibited from being outside their rooms after bedtime.
"Look, I told you we got another kid, with pink hair too."
"Who cares? we get one every over week."
"He's so cute, though, and he's looking over at us."
"Sssh! You're being too loud."
"Hey! What are you girls doing up this late?!"
A different adult walked in and yelled at the girls, causing them to immediately scatter back into their rooms. Instead of continuing to shout at them, she trudged over to me.
"Hey, Kiyotaka, was it? Come here, please."
Watching as I followed after her, she re-entered the room he exited from, took a seat on the large black office chair behind a tiny desk, and without a word pointed for me to it on the chair in front of her. Understanding what she meant, I waited for her to talk anyway.
"Are you alright, Kiyotaka-kun?"
I looked down at the floor, not saying anything.
The woman got up her off her chair, kneeled down to become less intimidating, and with a small smile handed me a lollipop.
"You don't have to be scared, Kiyotaka-kun. I'm only here to help you, okay?"
She leaned forward slightly, trying to meet my gaze, but the floor was looking quite appealing.
"Are you hungry, Kiyotaka-kun? We can get you something to eat, if you'd like."
Another failed attempt at getting the twelve and a half month old to speak. He hadn't looked up, yet could tell her smile hadn't so far fallen. She sighed under her breath, unable to find the correct words.
"Not feeling like talking right now? Take your time, You're ok. Honaka will come right back."
The child sat down on the chair she originally offered, still staying silent.
Stepping out of the room, she stole a glance at me before exiting, and entering back was Honaka by herself about 3 minutes later.
"Hey again, Kiyotaka-kun~!"
Looking up, Honaka waved at me as she entered the room, with the lollipop in my mouth, I chose to wave back instead of speaking, albeit much less enthusiastically than her.
"If you don't mind, we will need to ask you some questions, and afterwards, we can give you some chocolate milk. Is that ok with you, Kiyotaka-kun?"
I nodded.
"So, Kiyotaka-kun, I know some of these questions might be a little boring. We only need to know more about you, okay?"
"mmm."
Honaka asked me a series of questions to determine my well-being and gather some info on me, things like my health, if I remembered my parents, or anything about my life before being dropped off.
"Okay, Kiyotaka-kun. Thanks for helping me with the questions. You've been really brave. Now, how about that chocolate milk I promised?"
Leading me out of the room, towards what I examined to be the kitchen area, opening the fridge, handing me a carton of chocolate milk. It did not mix very well with the lollipop I had just sucked on. While I was drinking it, she had brought a small mattress from the walk-in closet directly outside the kitchen. Honaka brought me, with the mattress to her side, to another room with a group of young boys, all of various ages under eighteen.
One of the boys, who looked to be about thirteen years old, with short dark purple hair, slanted purpled eyes, and very noticeable horns on the sides of his head pulled down his blanket and peered over at me, going unnoticed by Honaka.
"If they weren't already asleep, I'd introduce you to the other kids tonight, looks like that will have to wait till morning. I hope they don't overwhelm you too much when they wake up, I'll apologize in advance." Honaka said
She placed the mattress on the previously empty small crib, subsequently grabbing a pillow and blanket from one of the shelves of the room and tossing them in as well.
"Unfortunately, we don't have any private rooms, there's a spot up here for you, though. It might be a bit tight, I know you can do it, hang in there. I'll leave the door slightly open, so if you get scared or need something, go straight down the hallway, that's where my room is."
Since the crib was too big for me to climb on my own, Honaka lifted me up, placing me down softly. I took a look around at the other children's sleeping faces, some where curled up in their blankets, others had their arms and legs sprawled out in carefree sleeping poses. Honaka, not wanting to wait for me to go to sleep myself, pulled the cover over me, observing for a minute to ensure I succumbed to a sleepy demise.
Awoken by the stares of multiple male and mostly female children with their hands laying on my crib, I leaned up with my usual expression, staring back at them blankly.
The small whispers and giggles filled the room, none saying anything directly to me. One of the younger boys, around five or six, reached out to try and touch my fluffy pink hair, but was quickly deflected by my small baby hands.
"Why's he so quiet?" One of the girls whispered, glancing at the others for reassurance.
"Maybe he's shy?" The one next to her replied.
The purple haired boy from last night and currently oldest looking one in the room interrupted.
"You'll scare him by crowding around him like that."
"Do you think he even understands us? Honaka said he turned one two weeks ago."
Guess they found my information.
"Do you want to play with us?" A girl barely older than me asked, holding her teddy bear up.
I remained silent, regardless of the continuous curious gazes being sent my way.
"There's no way he understands us."
Grabbing onto the crib railing, I pulled myself up from my bed, gathering even more attention than I had previously. The small girl, seeing that, assumed I wanted her teddy bear, handed me it, only to be thrown aside like a broken tool, causing some muffled laughter in the crowd.
After my laughable attempt of leaving the crib, I gave up on exiting on my own, raising my arms.
"up." I said.
The collective gasps from the group silenced the room. A mixture of shock and disbelief painted over the children's faces. The girl with the teddy bear dropped it and while pointing at me, opened her mouth.
"He can talk!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement.
"Wait, what did he say?!" Questioned the purple haired one.
I'm not sure why he was so surprised. He had seen me walking before, and Honaka wasn't talking to me like how'd you expect someone to talk to a toddler. Not to mention, one year old's normally can speak in short sentences.
"lift me up." I repeated, swirling my arms around.
My demands were ignored by the masses, who were currently bickering with each other in awe at my show of mediocracy. Meanwhile, one of the smaller kids pulled on my blanket, forcefully releasing my grip, and making me land chin first onto the railing.
(edit/drawing)
"Hey, watch it! you tripped him!" one of the girls yelled.
The sound of the children quarreling was growing louder, and with none of the older ones moving over to help me. I've given up on my escape, falling backwards dramatically into the warm embrace of my new bed.
The slightly above average intelligence toddler defeated by a mere baby crib.
Three years have passed since my entrance into the children's home.
There hasn't been anything interesting to reminisce about, and I still have yet to unlock my quirk.
The orphanage, as poor as orphanages usually are, doesn't have the money, nor any intention to take me for some tests, especially with them knowing both of my parents were quirkless.
From the very beginning, there were whispers. Whispers about whether or not I'd be 'normal,' which wasn't people talking just about my apathy. Considering that most children here had already manifested their quirks by the age of four, and rumors about my parents both being quirkless had accidentally been leaked. The other kids with quirks had already lumped me together with the other 'quirkless losers' in the orphanage.
A group of four children, five if you include me now, who would be constantly picked on whenever the others were bored and the nice caregivers were busy, so quite often.
My lack of any sort of emotion shown has been a big reason I've been targeted as well.
There are two types of people in this building; those that consider me a emotionless freak, or those that are indifferent and or accepting of it, wouldn't be difficult to figure out what group does what.
As a helpless four year old, I had no choice but to stick with them, and while I wasn't close to any of them, we would occasionally sneak out with my fellow quirkless companions, running in fear of being bullied by our quirked superiors. We wouldn't be able to go far; only venturing to areas like the forest behind the orphanage, the park about a 5 minute minute walk away, the river, and anything we found interesting.
Today is Sunday, there aren't any lessons planned, that's why we're planning on sneaking out in the morning. After breaching out unnoticed, we walked around the city in a small group for around 2 hours, greeting any heroes we recognized on the way.
"S-shouldn't we go back now, we might get in trouble if we stay out for too long." The lone girl in our group spoke.
"What are you worried about? Honaka isn't working today. Even if we did get caught, they wouldn't care, and we haven't seen All Might yet." Said the self-proclaimed leader of our group.
"i think we should go back too. besides, you've already talked to a bunch of pro heroes; i met all might a few years ago and was extremely disappointed."
"Shut up! There's no way you did! And I wouldn't expect you to understand Emo-taka, you've never cared about heroes, so why'd you come along with us?"
"it sounded like fun."
"I support leaving as well, this got boring a while ago." The oldest in our group, at 13 yrs old, spoke.
"Ugh, fine, We'll go home, but we're going to take the long way back."
"works with me."
Strolling through the city with my small worn-out shoes, we took a route I've never taken before, turning right on the corner. As we passed the Royal Quirkian Bank, an explosion burst from inside the building, followed by the sound of screaming, and sight of people running out, some with visible injuries.
"RUN AWAY! IT'S A VILLAIN ATTACK!!!" A man, his face bloodied, staggered past us in a panic.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Chaos erupted, panic spread through the street, the few civilians that were there all ran in opposing directions to the destruction, our group included. Being the shortest and youngest on the street, I naturally was the slowest, and without a second look back, I was abandoned by my comrades.
I kept running, desperately trying to escape the destruction behind me, and without warning, something or someone flew above me, landing at the entrance of the bank.
A hero.
"Put your hands in the air villain!" He commanded.
A deep mocking laugh came from the smoking bank building.
"As if bitch, if you wanna catch then just come at me!"
He stepped out of the bank, debris crumbling around him. His figure was massive, towering over the crowd that had gathered immediately around the famous hero, as he prepared to fight, buying time for his villain teammates.
The hero rushed at him with no hesitation, swinging his support weapon at the villain, a flail. But, despite the villains large build, he was far too fast to be hit by such a lousy attack, punching the hero straight in the face, knocking him out in one hit.
"Fucking weakling." He said, clearly disappointed.
His eyes glanced over at the crowd, scaring away those who had just gathered to watch the fight, before turning back in the direction of the bank.
As he turned back toward the bank, a shadow flew above me, a shadow I recognized.
"Look! It's Edgeshot!" Screamed a random civilian.
Edgeshot's arm flattened and twisted into a thread like weapon, attempting to impale the villains neck and twist his insides around a little bit, incapacitating him in one swift motion.
Dodging the heroes sneak attack by the call out from the crowd, the massive villain smirked.
"You're someone famous huh? Let's see how much you're worth!"
Edgeshot didn't reply, twisting his foldable body to evade the villains counter-attack, and springing his arms instantaneously chipping the villains side. While Edgeshot was clearly the stronger one, the villain was slightly faster, slipping out of each finishing attack with minor injuries.
The two traded attacks at each other, the villain punched and punched only to ever hit the air, on the other hand, Edgeshot was consistently hitting him with small cuts, slowly wearing him down.
The villain found himself on the defensive, all of his attacks useless against someone as slippery as Edgeshot, his breathing became labored, he knew he couldn't win in a battle of attrition. In desperation, he scanned the area for anything he could use, our eyes locking to each other.
He changed tactics from a defensive strategy, to a hostage strategy, sprinting towards me with a feral grin on his face.
At that moment I froze.
My vision blurring.
My head trembled uncontrollably, heart racing wildly.
Cold sweats slipping down my cheek.
This feeling.
Is it???
---
Ch 4 End
This chapter took a while because of 2 reasons, first I was so indecisive on what quirk to give him. I originally had the quirk planned out at the start; only the simple details, as I didn't give much thought of how it would actually work.
When I was thinking about all the different things Kiyo, because he's not stupid, could do with it, I immediately scrapped that quirk idea as I didn't want to nerf it to the ground. And spent hours thinking and searching for a new quirk that would fit the story. That said the one I've chosen isn't
second cause I added some art and was redrawing another cover but didn't think it looked that nice so I dropped it for now.
In this chapter kiyos mom drops him off into an orphanage, and although I consider it a bit long, I wanted to include numerous reactions to child kiyo, I'd think he'd be incredibly creepy irl.
Do point any grammatical errors or inconsistences thanks.