Trigger Warnings:
- mentions of disease, disease history, disease signs and symptoms
- mentions of wheelchair
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A family had met with the orphanage matron and told her that they wanted to adopt a girl. The matron told her subordinates to dress and bring all the girls to the common room, including me. With my arthritis being particularly troublesome that day, I was brought in a wheelchair. I wish now that I wasn't.
The head of the Hanada family asked to meet each girl individually. He went with each girl to an antechamber leading to the common room. After three minutes each girl came back. Finally, I was called.
"What's your name?" he kindly asked him.
"Selene, sir," I replied.
"No surname?"
"No, sir."
He smiled. "Well, my name is Hanada Asahi."
"Nice to meet you, sir," I responded just as cheerfully.
"Yes indeed. Now I want to ask you a few simple questions. Are you alright with that?"
"Yes, sir. I am."
"How old are you?"
"I am four years old, sir."
"Can you read and write?"
"Yes, sir. I can."
"Do you have any talents?"
"I have very neat handwriting, and I read fast for my age. I can also sing. The elders here say that my singing is beautiful."
"Is that so? I would love to hear it."
I sang the lyrics to 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,' my favorite nursery rhyme at the time. He seemed pleased.
"May I ask what happened to you? Why are you in a wheelchair?"
I hesitated. "I'm sick, sir. A few weeks from today I felt a lot of pain in my joints. The doctor told me I had juve- juven- juvenile arthr- arthr-"
He cut me off. "Juvenile arthritis?"
"Yes, that's what the doctor said," I exclaimed, thankful that he saved me from having to pronounce that long word.
"Oh, you poor thing. I pray you to get better soon. I have one last question. What is your quirk and how does it work?"
"Absorption. I can absorb any quirk just by looking at it and make it my own. I've absorbed so many from just going outside, talking to others, and watching TV. I don't steal the quirk from the other person, though. I make a copy and keep it, and I look the way I always do until I activate that quirk. But every time I absorb a quirk, I develop a scar. And every time I use a quirk, my joints hurt."
The man's entire expression changed. He seemed fascinated with me. He looked at me like I was a diamond amongst coal.
He pushed my wheelchair from the antechamber to the common room and announced, "I have chosen the girl I want to adopt. Selene. I want to adopt Selene. I will give her a home and provide the best medical care there is."
The employees and the girls hugged me and cried of joy and sadness. I reciprocated their actions. I would miss my home because that was what the orphanage was to me. My home. My only home.
After finishing the paperwork and final background check, the man was fit to adopt me. He told me to address him as Hanada-sama. I tearfully waved goodbye to the people who were my only friends and parent figures in my life as I rode away from the orphanage in his expensive Mercedes.
I was happy too, though. I looked forward to my new life. Hanada-sama promised that I would have a home and be loved.
He didn't fulfill either of those promises.
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