Chapter Text
Nemuri almost can’t believe what she’s hearing.
She’s dealt with all types of students over the past years, but none of them have been a case that’s even close to Yotsuya Miko.
“What do you mean you’re dropping out of high school?” Nemuri exclaims, widened eyes. Her boisterous voice echoes through the tiny office room.
Miko, local second-year management department student at Yuuei High, tries her best to look at her counselor straight in the eyes. Don’t look up, don’t look up, don’t look up… goes the mantra in her head. She almost flinches when a thick trail of saliva leaks onto Nemura’s hair, almost seemingly landing on top of the older woman’s head but only passing through her hair instead. She's suddenly aware of her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Miko’s hands lay stiff on her skirt. She tries to maintain the smile on her face. She can’t help the lick of anxiety that shows in her body language, but everything will be alright as long as she doesn’t look up.
“Something… happened over the summer and made me realize that maybe the hero industry isn’t for me,” Miko says as an excuse. It’s half the truth, conveniently leaving out the part where she somehow randomly acquired a quirk that lets her see monsters. “I—I think maybe I want to... explore other career paths…”
Miko’s eyes never leave Nemuri’s face, but she hears the inhuman screech that the centipede-looking monster makes behind Nemuri. To Miko’s credit, she does not move a single muscle. She does not acknowledge the monster. Everything will be alright, she tells herself in her head.
“Aww, I remember when I was your age and in the same shoes as you,” Nemuri coos. Miko doubts it but doesn’t refute her. Let her misunderstand, it’s better than her knowing the truth. “Let me tell you, kid, once you’re in the hero business, you can do anything. All you need is to stay a while, maybe a year or two, then you can go back to university and do whatever you want. It’s easy to network since our jobs require everything, advertisement, merchandise, you name it.”
Nemuri examines her closely. “Say, what even happened over the summer that made you want to change your mind? I’m no therapist, but… you can tell me anything, kiddo. You seem a little shaken up.”
“I’m not shaken up,” despite her shaky voice, “me and Hana watched a scary movie last night and the monster’s face is still stuck in my head.”
Nemuri laughs heartily in between saying something along the lines of, “Oh, oh I get it! Miko-chan, you’re so easily scared! The reason you don’t want to stay is because you get queasy quickly, isn’t it?”
I wish, Miko meekly thinks. I really wish that were the case. The monster behind Nemuri groans, making a weird noise that joins Nemuri’s laughter, and Miko realizes with horror that the monster is trying to laugh as well. Except it doesn’t sound like laughter. Shivers run down Miko’s back.
Miko really wants to say, help me, but she knows she can’t. Instead, she smiles.
“Um, well,” Miko starts, not knowing what to say to further convince her counselor. “If I want to drop out, I have the option, right?”
“Kid, I’m gonna be serious for a minute. The most serious you'll ever see me,” Nemuri says, finally abating her own laughter, “You can drop out but I wouldn’t recommend it. This is one of the most prestigious high schools in Japan, and people are gonna question why you would quit. It’d be hard explaining that you don’t have the stomach for this industry, especially considering that you don’t have to be directly involved with heroes. You can be in this industry without having to see any of the gross stuff. It’s a win-win.”
The monster screeches and wraps its—legs? Arms? Whatever those long, spindly appendages are around Nemuri’s body.
I want to go home, Miko cries in her head.
When Miko was five-years old, she waited for her quirk to come. She wanted one very badly, but one never came.
In her utter disappointment, she confided in her mother, “Mom, I want a quirk too! Why does everyone else get one but not me? Did I do something wrong?”
Her mother reassured her, no, of course not, it’s just how the law of nature goes. It’s genetic luck, but that doesn’t make Miko any less of a person than other people. She’s just as special, but in her own way.
The monsters started inexplicably appearing over the summer.
Miko can’t even pinpoint the exact day when she started to notice them, because yes, she’d see something crawling from the corner of her eye from time to time at her internship, but she wouldn’t have leapt to monsters-only-visible-to-her as her first assumption.
Speaking of which, her internship had almost gone without a hitch if not for the big elephant in the room. There was one particular incident where she had visibly reacted to a headless woman in a suit, freaking out not just herself but her colleagues around her, and the headless woman reacted to her reaction.
Can you see me…?
The grotesque voice had made her realize her error, and she had to think of an excuse, and quickly. She toppled over with a hand over her stomach, citing something about feeling sick, and then explaining that she was extremely faint-hearted, something something about watching footage of hero work earlier. The headless woman left her alone, thankfully, believing her.
From then on, Miko tried her absolute best to not be caught off guard. She could—cannot allow herself to be anything but normal around these monsters. If they find out that she can see them, then… Miko doesn’t know what exactly will happen, but she bets at the very least, they would try to eat her. They are frightening to even look at, Miko doesn’t want to find out what will happen if she pisses them off.
Miko had hoped things would get better coming back to school, as Yuuei was supposed to feel like one of the safest places to be at, but the exact opposite happened. At her time at the hero agency, Miko never got to actually meet the hero in charge, Majestic, and only after did Miko realize what a blessing in disguise that had been.
Yuuei High was abnormally littered with these monsters, crawling everywhere, walking everywhere, it was a testament to Miko’s willpower the first day back that she didn’t compromise herself. Students coming back noticed her newfound paranoia, to which Miko refused to talk about, saying everything is fine while looking on the verge of having a mental breakdown, because everything is not fine there is a three-eyed big-headed abomination right next to you, and its mouth is opening to reveal its sharp teeth—
It only took three days before Miko started thinking of quitting, because Yuuei is an absolute miserable place for her to be in. She knows Midnight, her teacher in freshman year and her guidance counselor ever since, tried to explain why she should stay in the course. If only she could know the full circumstances without Miko sounding crazy.
I’m on my own, Miko realizes desolately. Where’s a hero when she needs one? Haha…
Then, there’s the matter of her best friend, Hana, who attends class in the support department. She does have a quirk, unlike past Miko, but it’s rather useless. Well, useless in practicality, but a well-sought out quirk in terms of desirability, as it allows Hana to consume any amount of food, but it’s a complete mystery where the calories go. Hana is the real reason why Miko even chose to go to Yuuei in the first place, being childhood friends and begging Miko to at least try to apply when it came time. It was hard to refuse when the acceptance letter came in.
“You want to drop out?” Hana drops her steamed bun. Hana has never dropped her steamed buns until now, so Miko knows it’s time for a serious conversation.
“This school makes me feel uncomfortable,” Miko admits. “I don’t know if I can stay here for any longer.”
“Why?” Hana asks, before her expression turns defensive. “Nobody in this school is bullying you, right? Because if I find out someone is, I’ll beat them up myself!” She says this with a mouth full of food, making her sound extremely non-threatening.
Miko’s thoughts wander to the two monsters currently in the cafeteria right now, both of them far apart from each other, but lodged in the middle of unsuspecting students. When Miko’s eyes quickly scan the room, she has to up the number to three—one had just showed up out of nowhere. The new one has several eyes attached to a ball of flesh, all of them blinking in different intervals, and Miko tries to think about All Might, the hero her brother is obsessed with. Anything is better than focusing on that… that thing.
“I just haven’t been feeling well,” Miko confesses. Her stomach is indeed sick, appetite lost. Is this going to be how the rest of her life plays out?
“My summer internship made me realize that I’m not cut out for… this,” technically not a lie, “and I also think the environment in the hero work industry is not well-suited me.” Because of all the monsters. Also not a lie.
“Aha, so someone in that internship agency was bullying you!” There is a fire in Hana’s eyes, “Point them out to me, I’ll file a personal complaint on your behalf!”
“No, no,” Miko apologetically says, “Nobody was bullying me. I just felt uncomfortable half of the time I was there.”
“But how is that your fault?” Hana questions, “It’s clear there must be something wrong with the agency.”
It seems there’s not much use arguing with Hana. Her best friend sees her in too good of a light. Unfortunately, as much as Miko is that Hana gives her so much credit, it’s totally working against what Miko wants at the moment!
“Maybe you’re right,” Miko finally concedes, giving up on the matter. She’ll never be able to convince Hana that she wants to quit on her own accord.
A shadow overcasts on the table and Hana, who is sitting across from her. Miko freezes, desperately wanting to ask Hana if there’s someone behind her, but the paralyzing fear stops her, because what if that’s enough to alert the monster that she can see them?
Hana doesn’t notice the sudden discomfort on Miko’s face. She’s extremely oblivious when it comes to interpreting body language, but it may also be that Miko’s become fairly good at hiding that something is bothering her.
“Are you staying here after classes again?” Miko meekly asks.
“Yeah!” Hana says, sparkles in her eyes, “I’m working on a new project—these super cool gloves for this one kid who can—”
The rest of Hana’s voice drowns out when an upside-down head blocks Miko’s view of Hana. Miko shudders, but otherwise keeps her composure. The figure behind Miko has a long enough neck to stretch all the way over Miko and slightly curve down to Miko’s eyesight. How unfortunate.
“Uh huh,” Miko says, eyes still keeping where Hana should be. We’re making eye contact, we’re making eye contact, we’re making eye contact… the dread in Miko’s chest is pooling heavily, and Miko counts the seconds that she and the monster stay in this position.
“Lunch…. Time…. Over…” the head hisses. Miko does not visibly react.
“That’s great,” Miko comments with a forced smile, hoping it went along with whatever Hana had said.
When they return to class, Miko somberly lays her head on her desk, wondering how many more incidents it will take before she goes into a full-on heart attack.