SSD IV: Shinsou

107. Yesterday Upon the Stair, I Saw Someone Who Wasn't There

As is regular for this arc/part, prepare yourselves :)

The anonymity of a crowd went both ways. A person could hide in the crowd but people could just as easily hide from them. Plenty of people enjoyed the privilege of being one of many instead of the lonely terror of being one, but they had little idea of the dangers it came with. Some people knew the truth, normally only people who'd lived in that place of being alone and surrounded for too long.

Cameron, better known as the vigilante, Corner, had been living that most of their life. The day their quirk manifested was simultaneously the best and worst day ever. It was constantly on, uncontrollable, and so strong that it never got the chance to be named, so Cameron had called it Corner, because they could stand in the corner of the room (or anywhere in the room really) and nobody would spare them a second glance. Maybe Fly On The Wall would've been a more apt name, but their four-year-old self had preferred the simplicity of Corner.

Now, Cameron wasn't an average person. Their quirk had made life complicated, their parents had tried really hard, writing reminders out so they wouldn't forget about their child when not beside them, learning to focus more on surroundings so the littlun wouldn't go unnoticed, but the longer it went on, the harder it became for all of them. Eventually, Cameron realised that the longer they stayed with their family, the more paranoid it made the people they loved so dearly. They left home about as soon as they thought they could survive it alone, and a fourteen-year-old learned how to live on the streets.

It was a strange life. Technically they were a villain for all the times they stole food from supermarkets knowing they would get away with it thanks to their quirk, but lacking the ability to turn their quirk off, it could be argued they were only a common criminal with luck on their side. They would never have made it without their quirk, though without their quirk they would never have been living on the streets in the first place.

A year in, and they were honestly wishing that someone would just look them in the eye, catch them red-handed if that was what it took to be seen. They hadn't had a real conversation since they'd left home, hadn't shook hands or hugged or high-fived. They were regretting leaving, but it was too late to go back now, their parents would have no idea who they were. Plus, going back would only further deteriorate their parents' mental health.

As much of a thrill as it would be to finally get caught, it would also be dangerous. If Cameron went to prison, they would never be let out, forgotten and starving in a cell until it killed them. They were well past thinking it would be worth it.

That was the day they met Eraserhead. When Cameron looked back on their memories of that day, they would have to say it was a random meeting, only there was this shadow, a silhouette, something that was there but also wasn't there. Sometimes (when they thought back on that day), they found Eraserhead by following that shadow to him, but sometimes it really was just luck. It gave them a headache thinking too deeply on it, and when they did, they always wondered if that was what it felt like for others when they looked back on memories of Cameron themself.

Anyway, Eraserhead, an underground pro and man who prided himself on being aware of what was around him, had noticed something hovering in the corner of his eye for a while and crossed into an alley to find out what was following. Lo and behold, with the activating of his erasure quirk, he discovered a scraggly looking teenager standing there.

Cameron was not ashamed to admit that after confirming Eraserhead was in fact staring directly at them and not something behind them, they wept. Thoroughly confused, the hero had stayed to make sure the kid was alright, and even when his quirk deactivated, he still managed to stay looking at Cameron, right in their eyes.