The morning started as normal: the blaring of the speakers, the casual banter with Toguru, but something felt odd to Sanemi...
'I still feel angry'
This thought befuddled him, as his life is better even though it's been just 4 weeks since joining the QCF. His heart just grew in anger, but it was so calm, not violent, but Denki annoys him to no end, yet his heart feels like now is the time to change.
'Maybe this is what I needed'
But as quickly as that thought came, he shook it off as Genyas' haughty look reminded him he had nothing to be grateful for, as he was a murderer. A villain
'I can live with that. Genya is right, I'm nothing but a villain.'
But those words don't feel right anymore. It's been a month, and he sees nothing but good. He hasn't done anything bad. He has friends.
'But I killed them?'
They just don't hit as deep, but he couldn't dwell on it as the facility leader came into the ToguSanemi joint room and saw Sanemi not going to the cafeteria.
Sanemi showed great progress compared to the first 2 weeks were hell for the workers at the QCF, but Detective Naomasa's plan worked better than any I could think of., as he pinched his bat-like nose.
'Perhaps making friends with the toguru boy was faster than expected, they mix like fire and water'
as he smiled,
"Why haven't you gone to brunch today? That will be breaking your streak of 2 weeks."
Sanemi snicked
"Of course you'd be keeping count"
but sighed deeply
"I don't really feel it today, I'm... thinking"
Yoshi turned around with a knowing smirk as he knew that sentence all too well, even though he had said that sentence once.
It is a show of great change to come in one's character, but before he can make his exit. Sanemi voiced sounds of concern.
"Why is that boy always on six separate quirk suppressors and hasn't participated in any of the Quirk control tests? he is..."
A thought runs through Sanemi's mind of the psychotic visage of Kizushimi, and his eyes appear to bulge as it seems to barely contain the manic expression on his face.
"A danger, isn't he?"
"No, it's not that simple. He needs our help like all these kids. He is only 12, yet has such a tragic quirk."
With a pause, Sanemi wonders
"Why is he here, if he is a danger that basic... well, sorta basic life is a danger to those around him, that makes him a villain, do you not care for the safety of these kids at all? Besides, to fit this dream that all quirks are redeemable, that all tragedies have a reason?"
Yoshi is stunned in shock at such a black and white take as he is about to counter some of the points, but Sanemi finds resolve in his ideals.
"Fuck that, some people don't need a hear me out, they don't need saving, they need death, it's... the only thing they deserve."
He said, but his conviction in his words was absolute, but Yoshi felt challenged in his belief, and that a child can read his deluded dreams, but one thing that is true with kids is that a hard question poses great change, good or bad.
"What would you do with the boy? Sanemi Shinazugawa..."
He was going to retort, but found himself wondering,
'What would I do?'
"I don't know yet."
He looked away in slight shame but mainly self-hatred, as he had the answer. He said his answer before what to do, but he doesn't know what to do with him. He can't just kill him,
"Sanemi, I'm not nowhere near as smart as my cousin, nowhere near as strong as almight, not even as righteous as almight either, but what I do have is a dream, that you're all now a part of."
As Yoshi looked almost threw Sanemi, as Sanemi looked back, in his heart he hoped too, but with a huff, Yoshi sighed, relieved that such heavy statements were made by only a boy.
"I think you should get breakfast; such a conversation needs to be sat on with a meal and snack in hand."
Sanemi got up, brushing past Yoshi's shoulder as he just stood there, still smiling as he motioned his hands towards the hallway.
Looking back at Yoshis disappearing figure, he thought.
'Do I matter so much to him?'
As he reached the cafeteria, there were only ten minutes of a usually 30-minute breakfast, so he went to get his food as he felt a speeding figure and already knew who it was.
"I thought you were skipping out on brunch, nemi."
with a slight glare.
"Sanemi. I meant, of course,"
Sanemi blinked, which he seemingly never does, which means he's in 'monk mode' as Toguru puts it.
"Let's just eat our... let me just eat my food"
As the whole cafeteria was all done with their meal, and just ideally chatting with the girl with vines for hair sitting with the villain, a strange combination, he would say.
"Yo, I kind of promised Denki some shark tag today, so maybe... You can join, as I know you hate Denki, but it would be fun, I swear."
Sanemi looked at him as he was almost done with his food; he felt that maybe isolating himself was doing him no good, and talking to the boy would be a change he might need.
"I don't hate him, he is just always trying to talk to me, I only talk to you cause I have to, we share a room for damns sake."
Toguru felt a slight stab in his heart, but accepted that at least he hadn't said no yet, right?
"Soooooo..."
"Tch, I'll join y'all's little game."
Toguru's heart fluttered as he saw a vision where Denki, Toguru, and Sanemi were sitting atop countless villains as Denki was getting knighted in as Sanemi's only friend, and with a dramatic shift. The three looked over, and they stood as the villain slayer squad.
"Weirdo."
As he saw the vision too, somehow, with both looking at each other,
"That was badass though."
As Toguru stood with a smug smirk.
They get up from their seat, as kids rush by them, as today was Tuesday, aka recess day, so kids can usually activate their quirk lightly as the quirk suppressors are turned down a bit to give kids more real-world training.
"Toguru, why can you use your quirk while under these cuffs?"
Kids still sped by as they walked at a measly pace. With Toguru answering,
"Well, most mutants, like me, of course, can't get their quirk canceled out, so naturally, me being a full mutant and my quirk revolves around my body, not any suppressants would do anything to me."
After the explanation, the kids were gone by now, Toguru pointed at the cuffs on both hands as blades came from each side.
"So if I can channel my quirks through my body instead of outwardly, I can operate my quirk at full strength?"
Toguru nods as he pats Sanemis's back.
"That's the spirit, my pupil."
As Sanemi analyzed as many possible comebacks as none of which came up, he let out a defeated sigh.
"That might be your first victory."
while Toguru flexed all the skinny muscles he had as he was in all might's pose, as he suddenly looked swole.
"How the fu-, Just c'mon, we're going to hold up your little friend"
Toguru jogged back to Sanemi's side as he peered into His soul
"Look who's excited."
With a blush, Sanemi looked away, pursing his lips. While they made their way towards the playground, where the kids were already at by now.
Quirk suppressers are just as the name implies, suppressers, so a truly powerful quirk with a unique catch, like Shigiraki, for example, would have little effect, but emitter-type quirks that don't have a base element are easy to suppress.
Which is why kids are often the main use for quirk suppressants, as adults naturally get strong enough to outright negate quirk suppressants.
They were entering the playground when guards typically lower the suppressing volume of the cuffs, but don't take them off.
It's strange how the quirk feels when suppressed, almost as if a steady stream, but the valve turned has a way where you can feel the full strength of your quirk, but the use blocks so much.
A feeling Sanemi could never get used to, so having the amount that the older boy has, he could only imagine the feeling.
"Yo, Toguru."
From the entry to the playground, a boy with blond hair and a black, lightning-shaped streak called out.
"I was waiting this whole time, bro."
As Toguru and Denki greeted each other,
"Denki, guess what?"
As he motioned to a nonchalant Sanemi.
"We've got a new player."
with a smug grin as Denki was flabbergasted that he convinced Sanemi, of all people, to join this game.
"How did you get Sanemi? He never accepts when I invite him to play."
He said as Sanemi murmured about 'annoying individuals'
"Are we playing this 'shark tag' or what? We don't have all day."
Denki quickly commented
"Well, recess has been 5 hours long for a while now, so we've only started 5 minutes ago."
But still, Sanemi didn't want to wait around hearing their useless conversation while he sat like a fish out of water.
"Wait, Sanemi, you don't even know how to play our version of tag yet.
"I'll anyway, it doesn't matter."
"Well... To the mantis king, it does so allow me to teach you,"
As Sanemi scoffed, Denki then fist-bumped Toguru as he explained the rules of the game.
"So we chase each other with our quirks, as we try not to get hit, but only with the quirk."
As both Denki and Toguru nodded at each other at such a profound game, they came up with.
"That's a shit game. What if we get cut? What if Denki just fries us? What if my wind mince each other?"
Toguru pointed at the cuffs.
"These will avoid any unnecessary damage as I can make my blades sharp or dull, so no need to worry about my quirk, as for Denki."
As Denki scratched his head.
"It might sting a bit, but I'll probably be out of the game at that point. Don't worry, the point of recess is to use our quirks in a fun way, so this is our way of controlling our quirk."
But Sanemi wondered why others weren't present as Denki, at least popularity wise was the most liked among classmates; he was always alone at recess.
"Why aren't any others with us as you, blondie, are popular amongst us two?"
Denki looked at his hands and answered.
"Well, many times I've lost control of my quirk during recess as they reduce the suppressed amount, so it's a lot more painful."
Denki looked at the other kids playing, as Sanemi knew what Denki felt, but electrical manipulation shouldn't be much harder than wind manipulation.
"And I have the worst control of all the students here, so Toguru is the only one who can take a little shock, without caring, you know."
Toguru patted both Denki and Sanemi's backs as he rushed them to their personally claimed area so they could play full force.
"So to figure out who's hit, we use none of our quirks, and the first to touch someone becomes the shark, and can only tag the non-tagger, while the shark doesn't have to follow this rule. Also, quirks are to be used only by the shark and the one he tags."
With a collective nod, Toguru and Denki tagged Sanemi and ran as Sanemi was stunned, as they didn't even say start, but he adopted a feral grin as he hadn't had 'fun' for over a month now.
'I definitely needed this.'
"Toguru, why has Sanemi had a change of heart? We are almost buddy-buddy now, and he just started responding to me. What secret magic have you used on him?"
Toguru turned at Denki as they were hiding from Sanemi under a slip and slide,
"You mustn't know my magic as it is forbidden, I have my wa-,"
"found you,"
As Toguru lept away as Denki got with a weak blast of wind, but it still sent him 2 feet back, as he peered at Toguru,
'Saving Yourself, huh?'
Toguru was running, but Denki's shadow slowly crept more and more as he turned to see Denki's electricity building as he had a look of determination.
"Denki wait, I meant to sa-, ahhhhh!"
As Denki let out a field of electricity, frying Toguru, as he felt a little dumber but still fine, as Sanemi took longer, as he had a good few minutes to escape.
Toguru glared at Denki with a look that screamed I'll get you back.
"Sanemi, little Sanemi, as Sanemi was somehow feeling like he was getting sniffed out, but
'How does his nose even work? Is it better than a regular nose?
He quickly found out as Toguru leaped over the railing of the playground set piece, as Sanemi saw blade out of every side of Toguru as he barrel rolled mid air, as Sanemi dived off the play set, landing on sand as his little feat ran away from a rolling blade runner now known as Toguru.
"When could you do this?"
As he side-stepped Toguru, he then got hit with a blade, digging into his gut. Toguru smiled as he pointed at the broken blade protruding from his palm.
Hours went by, and recess was almost over as the three boys were playing the entire time, and many of the QCF workers looked upon in horror as the destruction from these kids was expensive to say the least.
"Denki truly has no control."
Both Sanemi and Toguru lay charred, with Denki acting like an idiot, having his brain fried to mush,
"Denki, huh? Well then, I think I like that dumbass."
They laugh, yet Denki still lumbered around occasionally saying 'yay' at weird intervals.
"When will he be normal again?"
Sitting up next to Sanemi, he also wonders when he would be normal, as he hasn't been in this mode for a minute.
"Probably 4 hours, judging from last time, but we shouldn't worry too much, the caretakers often take care of him when he is like this."
But with the distant 'wheys' they see the workers take Denki away as the leader of QCF Yoshi approaches the sitting forms of Toguru and Sanemi.
"When we say use your quirks, we aren't exactly wanting a war, you know, a little bit here and there."
Sanemi and Toguru looked proud of their work, though
"Well, considering how strong we are, little quirk suppressers won't stop the three of us, especially when playing this 'shark tag'."
Toguru nudged Sanemi with a silent look that told Sanemi he would be doing the explaining from here on out.
"Naw, it was those two, they were all crazy, I was elegant and quite nimble, never destroying anything as I am the noble mantis ki-."
He was thoroughly the back of the head as they went back and forth, forgetting he was there. Yoshi stood patiently, but somehow, Toguru could turn into a ball of blades? When could he do this?
Sanemi cut a swing set in two. Wasn't his quirk suppressed? Denki shocked for 2 minutes straight? What was the staff doing? He inwardly sighed as they were probably on their phones.
Maybe don't reduce all these boy quirks. Max is what they need. Respectfully.
"Ehm, boys"
They turn to see Yoshi with a slightly stern look.
"I have to return you to your rooms. Come, we have 10 minutes before we lock y'all's rooms."
"We know..."
As they both still stared daggers at each other.
They arrive at their room more silent compared to the outside.
"Here you are, boys, now."
He turns to the two kids,
"That was reckless, and while I am impressed with three of y'all's unique improvements and durability, we will no longer lower you three quirk suppressors while I know."
with a sharp gaze towards the Toguru figure,
"Toguru's quirk isn't affected by the cuffs. I also need to tighten the work when stopping damages like this; it could've been disastrous if something had happened to Denki."
"We still don't know how much the brain is affected long term when his quirk overloads like that, even with the light quirk suppressers. His state is concerning to his parents."
With a motion, both Sanemi and Toguru walked in as Sanemi spoke
"I thought he was sent here cause he had no parents, you know the QCF's purpose?"
He saw a bitter ask as Sanemi probably thought they were just like him, but not only one have parents, and he was very unstable.
"No, all the kids, including Toguru next to you, have parents, either one or two, besides the boy we talked about earlier. They were sent here to control their quirks, but Naomasa hasn't brought one of these cases in half a year because most are sent to the HPSC."
With that, he shut the doors as Toguru murmured something about the meaning of the HPSC stands for.
"Toguru."
Sanemi said, sitting on the bed, looking at Toguru. With Toguru a little shocked at the stare, but knew what Sanemi might ask.
"Why were you sent here?"
With a sigh, he sits next to Sanemi, looking at the floor with remembrance hanging in the air.
"When I was a kid, people mocked me for my mantis-like features, yet usually quirks activate at 4 years of age, but for mutants like me..."
His eyes clenched and fist tightened as he choked out,
"We activate our quirk much younger, sometimes at birth, with me being lucky enough to activate it at 2 years old, but being so young, quirk control was impossible, and I slashed both my mom's throat."
He grasped at his jumpsuit as Sanemi was shocked at hearing such an unfortunate situation, and while he knew of mutant-type quirks, he never knew the problems they face or even how chaotic quirks are to them.
"The disgust and hatred in my father's face as he looked at me."
Now tears fully fell from his face as he cried fully, rivers flowing down.
"Detective Naomasa brought me here, and I never heard from my parent, and I'm not even sure if my mom survived, and it's already been 2 years since then, I don't think imma ever leave here."
Sanemi was so shocked, he didn't even know how long it had been; he should've offered words of encouragement, but he couldn't even come up with a response as Toguru got up, wiping his tears.
Lying down, he silently climbs into his bed, now wrapped up like a cocoon.
"Toguru, I think I understand, from now on we're gonna become big together, I know you look up to heroes..."
As Toguru tangled himself deeper, showing he might be listening,
"I believe you can be one, my... brother plans to become a hero too, maybe when you can become a hero too, with my brother, I know you both can. Ya'll have a hero's heart."
It grew silent, almost dead silence, except for the slight sniffling from Toguru.
"Thank... you, Sanemi."
Sanemi still didn't feel like things were good, but he smiled,
'Genya, I hope you know I believe in you'
As both Sanemi and Toguru went to sleep.
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A much longer chapter than my usual, but I had to come back with a little more QCF gameplay lowkey, so I made it longer as well as Denki's now firm involvement adds a lot of ways I can spin the story.
You can tell but Genya wont be an for figure of writing until close to U.A so around chapter 8 or 9.
Also I mentioned at the start of the story but Sanemi is 1 year older than the U.A first years and Genya so just wanted to restate this fact.
Until next time...