𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘍𝘭𝘺 || 𝘒. 𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘨𝘰

2. A Hot-Headed Hinderance

Chapter 2

I stared at the massive red 1-A painted on the classroom door ahead as I walked down the corridor. The commotion inside the classroom could be heard halfway down the hall and only grew louder the closer I got.

Class 1-A was certainly a lively bunch.

The noise alone had me hesitating to enter—that, and someone was blocking the entryway.

A seemingly timid green-haired boy stood firmly in front of the door with his head down. He was mumbling something incoherent under his breath as he clutched the straps of his backpack, fidgeting with them.

The kid screamed panic energy.

Trying my best not to spook him, I called out to the boy. "Um, excuse me?"

Nothing.

"Excuse me?" I tapped his shoulder lightly. "Hello?"

That did it.

At the contact, the boy flinched as if he had been shot. His arms flailed about harshly as he startled.

The abrupt movement caused me to recoil, my defenses going up immediately as my quirk roared to life. The various vibrations in the air washed over me like a hot summer wind.

It was an unpleasant sensation but not completely unbearable. Each movement and disturbance prickled my skin like tiny needles. The boy was presumably harmless, but I didn't take well to being caught off guard.

There was no real impending danger after all—no need to conjure up that kind of defense in the middle of the school hallway. But it was instinctual. An innate reflex sharpened to perfection against will. I guess old habits really do die hard.

It was gone as quickly as it came—quirk effectively shut off by the sight of the wide doe eyes that looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

The boy's mouth opened and closed multiple times as he stumbled over his words. "I—I am so sorry! I didn't mean to... Oh, I can't believe I reacted like that. This is more embarrassing than that time Kacchan—"

And he was back to a muttering mess.

Facing the boy fully, I held my hand up in a 'stop' motion, "First of all, chill the flip out dude." His mouth quirked up as if to object, but I promptly cut him off again. "Nope. Chill."

I could see the gears turning in his head as I spoke, "Second of all, it's okay. It's really not a big deal. I spooked you, you spooked me. I'd say we're pretty even." I attempted to joke—it must've been we'll receive because his doe eyes eventually vanished, and his features finally settled into something more relaxed.

"Are we good?" I asked, wagging my finger back and forth between the two of us.

He nodded hesitantly. Then seemingly more sure of himself, he spoke, "I'm really sorry about all of that. Sometimes I space out, and well yeah, I—you witnessed the rest..." He gestured awkwardly to the air around him.

Panic energy, indeed.

I bit my lip to stifle the laughter that threatened to slip past. This whole interaction was utterly ridiculous—hell, this boy was ridiculous.

But he was oddly endearing nonetheless.

We were obviously going to be in class together, so it couldn't hurt to at least attempt to be friendly. Key word being attempt.

"Quick, tell me your name before I ultimately decide to refer to you as 'panic energy' from now until forever?"

I was only slightly kidding. After all, the old saying goes, 'if the shoe fits, wear it.'