Shion couldn't move.
Her breath came out in ragged gasps, her lungs straining against the crushing weight of the darkness pressing down on her. The world around her twisted—a distorted reflection of places she had been before. A cold, sterile lab. A bloodstained alley. A burning home. Fragments of the past, stitched together in a grotesque patchwork of suffering.
Her bare feet touched the floor—no, not a floor.
Water.
It was shallow at first, just covering her toes. But with each second, it rose higher. Shion's heart pounded faster and faster, she turned, scanning the endless black void for something—anything—but there was nothing but shadows stretching infinitely.
Then a ripple....
Shion froze. A shape emerged from the inky darkness, rising slowly from the water's surface. A figure. She didn't need to see its face to know who it was.
Or rather… who it wasn't.
The figure had no face.
Just a smooth, featureless void where eyes, a nose, a mouth should have been. But somehow—she could still hear it laughing.
"Scared?"
Shion staggered back cause' the water was already at her knees, ice-cold and pulling her down.
"Why run?" the faceless Shizoku purred, tilting its head in mock curiosity. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
Shion's hands clenched into fists. "Shut up..."
Shizoku took a step forward, the water not reacting to her movements. Like she wasn't real.
"You're exhausted, aren't you?" the voice whispered, slithering into her ears like poison. "Fighting. Running. Pretending you care when you really don't."
Shion's breath hitched. The water was at her waist now. Too fast. It was rising too fast.
"How long are you going to struggle, huh?" Shizoku took another step. "You're broken. Useless. A stray dog pretending to be human. But you already know that, don't you?"
Shion shook her head. "Shut up...."
"Poor little Shion. Still playing the role of the tragic, tortured girl."
The water rose past her ribs.
She was sinking. Sinking into her own mind. "You should just let go."
Shizoku reached out. Long, sharp fingers brushed against Shion's throat—And squeezed.
Pain. Burning. Suffocation.
Shion thrashed, gasping, but the grip only tightened, pushing her deeper, deeper, deeper—
"You don't need to fight anymore."
Shion's vision blurred. The water was above her head now. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Her arms flailed, but her body felt so heavy.
So, so tired.... Maybe… Maybe Shizoku was right. Maybe if she just—
No.
Something inside her snapped.
A memory—Midoriya, throwing that punch. The light in his eyes. The way her chest had ached watching him, that tiny flicker of something she thought she had lost igniting for the first time in years. Shion's fingers twitched.
Shizoku noticed, "Oh?" A flicker of irritation leaked into that smooth, emotionless voice. "Still resisting?"
Shion's eyes snapped open. And this time—She grabbed back. Her hands closed around Shizoku's wrist.
The faceless figure stilled.
And for the first time, Shizoku's body reacted to the water. The liquid around them churned, twisted, rippled. Shion's voice was hoarse, breathless, but her grip was iron.
"If I die, you won't live either." A crack splintered through the void. The water froze mid-wave. Shizoku laughed—but this time, there was a flicker of something else.
Annoyance.
"Tch, arrogant brat. Alright, but we both know it's only a matter of time."
And just like that—The world shattered.
Shion's lungs burned as she sucked in a breath, her chest rising and falling like she had truly been drowning. The room was bright—save for the golden ray of sunlights filtering through the blinds, stretching thin silver lines across the unfamiliar ceiling. Her fingers twitched, still curled in tight fists around the sheets, sticky with sweat and trembling.
The air was too still. Too quiet. But something felt wrong.
Slowly, her breath still uneven, Shion forced herself to turn her head. The mirror across the room reflected her silhouette in the dim lighting. Her silver hair clung to her skin, disheveled, strands sticking to her damp forehead.
But the reflection wasn't right. She wasn't moving. Shizoku was smiling. A slow, knowing smirk curled across her lips in the glass, her heterochromatic eyes glowing with something dangerously amused.
"Tch. That was embarrassing." Shion flinched, her pulse spiking. Shizoku's voice was as clear as if she were standing right next to her. "You call that fighting back? Please. I barely even tried." Shion forced her throat to work, forced her breath to even out. It wasn't real. It was just a dream. Just a—
"Don't kid yourself, sweetheart." Shizoku's head tilted in the reflection, crimson eye gleaming with something unreadable. "You and I both know that wasn't just a nightmare."
Shion's fingers dug into the mattress. "You talk too much."
Shizoku sighed theatrically. "A little gratitude wouldn't kill you, y'know. I've been keeping you alive for this long. Not my fault you're too weak to handle it."
Shion's stomach twisted. Shizoku wasn't wrong. She hadn't lost herself completely—but she was slipping.
She could feel it.
That fight with All Might had cracked something in her. Not just physically—mentally. Shizoku was starting to seep through in ways she hadn't before. The sharpness in her words, the creeping impulses in battle, the way her vision had flickered red for just a second when those Heroes surrounded her— Shizoku was getting stronger.
Or maybe… She was just getting weaker. "You're thinking too much again," Shizoku drawled lazily, resting her chin in her palm. "It's simple. You let go, you get stronger. You keep fighting, you break."
Shion swallowed, pushing herself upright. The room tilted for a second before settling.
No. She wouldn't let this happen. Not yet. Not ever. "Do I look like i'm going to give the damn choice for you?"
Shizoku laughed. Low, taunting, familiar. "Oh, Shion." Her reflection leaned closer, her red eye glowing like a dying ember. "You already have."
Shion blinked—And the reflection was normal again. Her own face, no smirk, no eerie glow—just herself. A girl with silver hair, a body wrapped in bandages, and a pair of trembling fists digging into her bedsheets. She exhaled shakily, forcing her hands to unclench. She needed to calm down, breathe in and out slowly....
Because she knew the truth. And Shizoku was right about one thing. It was only a matter of time.
Days blurred together.
March stretched into a gray monotony of waiting. Every morning, Shion woke up in the small, unfamiliar house, feeling like she existed in some kind of limbo. Neither imprisoned nor truly free.
Aizawa checked in every few days, watching her from the shadows like a silent observer. He never said much, just grunted in acknowledgment whenever she didn't cause trouble. And in that stillness—Shion made a decision.
She needed something to hold onto. Something that was hers. Shino gonna get a legally part-time job....
At first, no one wanted to hire her.
Her cold demeanor. The bandages that wrapped her arms. Her two-toned eyes—one a piercing, statuesque blue, the other a deep, eerie red.
People stared and whispered. But money was money. And when you had telekinesis, you worked fast.
The job was nothing special—stocking shelves, moving boxes, cleaning up after careless customers. But it kept her occupied. Kept her from spiraling into the endless void of her own thoughts. She worked efficiently, never spoke unless necessary, and never stayed longer than she had to.
The first thing she bought with her earnings?
A phone, classic flip one. Not to call anyone. Not to text, just to have it.
To feel the weight of something real in her hands. Something that belonged to her and no one else. Shizoku, of course, found it amusing. "A phone, huh?" she snickered. "Who the hell are you planning to call? Ghostbusters?"
Shion ignored her. She didn't need to justify it. She just wanted something.
Something that wasn't given to her.Something that wasn't controlled by someone else.
Just—hers.
The morning air was cool and crisp. Shion adjusted the strap of her bag, fingers absently brushing against the phone in her pocket as she approached the train station.
Aizawa was already there as always. His usual slouched posture and half-lidded gaze made it seem like he had just rolled out of bed. But Shion knew better. He was watching Shion like a father supervising a troublesome child. She didn't acknowledge him at first, simply standing beside him as the train approached.
He didn't say anything either. They stood there, side by side, in comfortable silence. Eventually, though, Aizawa sighed. "You've been working."
It wasn't a question.
Shion glanced at him from the corner of her eye, then shrugged. "And?" Aizawa didn't seem upset. If anything, he looked vaguely impressed.
"Nothing. Just didn't expect you to go out on your own like that."
Shion scoffed. "What, did you think I'd just sit around and rot?"
Aizawa let out a small hum, his gaze flickering to her bandaged hands.
"You bought a phone."
Shion tensed for half a second. Shizoku snickered. "Busted."
She shoved her phone back into her pockets. "So what?"
Aizawa didn't push. The train doors slowly opened. "Come on," he muttered, stepping inside. "First day of school." Shion hesitated for a fraction of a second and then she decided to follow. As the train pulled away from the station, she kept her gaze on the blurring scenery outside. Somewhere deep inside, she could feel it. A feeling she couldn't quite name, like standing at the edge of something. Like a faint echo of something long lost.
"Try not to get expelled on day one," Shizoku purred in amusement.
Shion exhaled. "If you don't shut up, you will be a person who does those things (homeworks)" She had a feeling that wouldn't be her choice to make.
The moment Shion stepped into U.A., the world tilted.
Too many people. Too many eyes. Too many voices....
The hallways stretched unnaturally long, the air thick and suffocating. Her hands twitched at her sides, fists clenching and unclenching as her breathing grew shallow.
But she couldn't move and Aizawa had already walked ahead, his pace unhurried. He hadn't noticed she stopped. Or maybe he had. And was waiting to see if she'd force herself forward. But she couldn't.... Every step toward that classroom door felt like walking into a gaping void.
Her body shook and her mind screamed. And before she even realized it—She lets go.
The world blurred, her vision darkening.
When the haze lifted—She wasn't standing there anymore. Shizoku was. The first thing Shizoku felt was cold air against her skin.
Then—disorientation.
"What the hell?" she muttered, rolling her shoulders. It didn't take long to figure out what happened.
"Ah," she sighed, rubbing her temples, "that idiot switched out on reflex again."
A grin tugged at the corner of her lips. Shion was scared enough to leave this whole mess in Shizoku's hands....
Well.
Fine by her.
She took a step forward, smirking when she realized her legs weren't trembling anymore. She liked control. She liked being the one in charge. The one standing tall instead of crumbling.
Then—she noticed something.
It's was the dumb uniform. More specifically, the stupid tie wrapped around her neck like a noose. Shizoku scowled. "Yeah, no." Without hesitation, she loosened it, pulling it off in one swift motion and shoving it into her pocket. If Shion wanted to keep it, fine, no-uh uh she wasn't going to wear it.
When she finally reached the classroom, she barely had time to take in the golden "1-A" plaque before—
"Oh! You must be another new student!" Shizoku blinked.
In front of her stood a cheerful, round-faced girl with short brown hair. Beside her, a tall, rigid guy adjusted his glasses with a military-like stance. And behind them—a familiar mess of green hair and nervous energy, Midoriya.
Shizoku clicked her tongue. "Tch. This guy again?" Shion had been watching him during the exam like some kind of lost puppy. And now here he was, standing awkwardly like he wasn't sure how to talk to her.
"Oh! My name's Uraraka Ochako!" the girl introduced herself with a bright smile. "And this is Iida Tenya!"
Iida straightened his posture. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance! You must be—"
"Late," a tired voice cut in.
The group froze.
Shizoku turned her head just in time to see Aizawa looming in the doorway.
"Get inside," he muttered, his eyes already half-lidded as if this entire interaction drained his soul. "All of you."
Shizoku raised an eyebrow.
Then a smirk tugged at her lips.
"So this is why you've been lurking around, huh?" she thought. "Didn't take you for the teacher type."
But hey—this made things interesting.
So she shrugged, shoved her hands into her pockets, and strolled into Class 1-A like she owned the place. After seeing Shizoku return to her seat, Aizawa introduced himself while the other students were still confused as to who their homeroom teacher was. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Nice to meet you."
"Homeroom teacher!?"
"Its kind of sudden, but put this on and go out onto the field."