~Brainwave ~mha x oc girl

Chapter 60

After letting her emotions free from their cage, Kokoro decided it was time to head back to the dorms, she was hungry and tired so it wasn't going to do her any good to continue sitting on her swing. Besides, it was likely that Hawks contacted Aizawa too since he'd messaged her a few times to check up on her. It was stupid to think she could tolerate his questions to continue the internship, after all, he didn't even want her there.

Angrily, the girl kicked a rock on the footpath, sending it rolling away. She'd been angry before, but this was a whole new level. She was a ticking time bomb and she knew it.

"Pay up you old hag." She heard someone say from inside a shop. Cautiously, Kokoro peeked into the man's mind and looked through the store window.

"I told you, I'm low on cash. Business has been rough lately." An elderly woman replied. Instantly, Hajime could tell something was wrong, so she snuck into the antique shop and casually strolled through one of the aisles.

"I don't give a fuck if business has been rough. I protected your precious china from being smashed, you owe me. It's ¥150,000." The man pounded his fist onto the desk, shaking the expensive china that was neatly displayed on it.

"You're a hero, why should I pay you for doing your job?" The woman protested, that's when Hajime felt the hero's anger rise.

Just as he was about to use his quirk, which was spring limbs, the telepath stepped in and froze him. "Excuse me sir, it looked as though you were about to slip. Good thing I was here to save you." She played along.

'That bitch I can't move. It must be her quirk. Well, that's illegal without a license, I'll just report her and she'll lose her precious U.A position.' The hero thought.

"Actually, I have a hero license. So that won't work." She replied to his thoughts, confusing the lady behind the desk. "I also recorded what you were saying earlier, I suggest if you want to keep your job, you go home. While you're at it, I don't want to see you here again. Understood?" She demanded.

"I understand." The hero answered, but his thoughts contradicted his words. Clearly, he was still in a mood.

"You don't." She shook her head. "I'll let you in on a secret. I'm a telepath, which means, I know you cheat on your wife, and I know you've been stealing money from countless innocent civilians. If you don't stop, you'll end up behind bars, or worse, a hospital." She advised. "But that's only my opinion, you're welcome to oppose me, however it won't go well for you."

"That's right, you were one of the kiddos in the sports festival." The older woman recognised. "Second place if I remember correctly." She backed up.

"That's right." Kokoro smirked. "You still up for that hospital visit?"

The man shook, then abruptly left the shop. Hajime knew he wanted to fight her, but her reputation did a number on him, along with the threats she provided. Overall, it was the highlight of her day, though there wasn't much competition on that front.

"Thank you, young lady." The woman smiled. "I hope I won't be seeing him again."

"Oh, it was nothing. I hate assholes like him anyways." The teen returned, she was seeing the faults in heroism more and more.

"But he was a hero. They're supposed to look out for old defenceless citizens like me." The woman said. "Im Aya Sasaki."

"Well, Miss Sasaki, I wouldn't say you're defenceless at all." Hajime observed. For some reason, she couldn't read the woman's thoughts, which was unusual, but then again, Himiko had found a way to overcome telepathy.

"And why would you say that dear?"

"You hold yourself well. It's a common stance for someone who's clearly done years of martial arts. Nothing too noticeable, but for an older woman, I'd say you were very healthy in your youth." She gathered.

"That's right." Aya agreed. "Say, would you like to stay? I could brew some tea."

If it was a normal day, Kokoro would've avoided staying, but she was stressed and didn't want to return to the dorms so early, so she nodded her head and followed Aya behind the small curtain behind her desk. "Sorry, it's not often I get guests back here. My appartement is on the floor above, this is mostly just where I spend my free hours."

"You've got quite the collection, how'd you come across it?" Hajime was interested, it wasn't the norm to not read minds, so she took advantage of the opportunity to actually get to know someone.

"My husband and I used to paint some of them, others we found and decided to resell." Aya answered. "But tell me about you, I may be overthinking, but you seem upset."

"Oh, I just lost my work study. I got into a disagreement with the hero and I had to leave." Hajime briefly explained.

"Well, heroes can be cruel. Luckily there's good ones like you out there. I don't think I caught your name?" She asked.

"Kokoro Hajime."

"Ah yes, I remember you. You were all over the news. Poor thing." She handed her a cup of tea.

"Thanks, but I'm over it now. Forgive, forget." The telepath lied. "Hey, my quirk is telepathy and for some reason, I can't read your mind. Do you know why?" She changed the subject, but Aya only smiled, it was a secret of hers that didn't need to be shared just yet, not until she was certain Hajime was the one.

"Let an old woman have her secrets." She replied cheekily. "But that's beside the point, do you know how many heroes out there are doing that?" Hajime nodded her head.

"24 in this area." She was precise. "I've never seen it happen before. Normally, I'd assume it'd happen at night, or somewhere more clandestine. But in broad daylight, why has nobody done anything?"

"They don't get paid for catching heroes, plus, there's a whole load of paperwork for them to go through. In other words, they're too lazy. Either that, or they benefit from it too. Hush money." Aya theorised. "It never used to be like this."

"What was it like? You were a hero, weren't you?" Hajime guessed.

"Not in the eyes of the law." Aya finally admitted. "I saved lives, not for money, not for fame, but because I wanted to. In my opinion, that should be the only goal of a hero. So why do you want to be one?"

"I thought it was to prove to everyone I wasn't a villain, but now, I want to change the world." She explained.

"How so?"

"I know why the villains kidnapped me, and why they turned out as villains. So I want to make sure that never happens to anyone ever again." The teen opened up, more than she had with Hawks or the police. Even Chieko, her therapist. For some reason, she felt as though she could trust the kind old woman beside her.

The woman smiled, her suspicions had been confirmed. Hajime was different, she wasn't like other heroes, she wasn't naive either. Which meant she was perfect for what Aya had in mind. "You can't hear my thoughts because I have a unique quirk. It's called immunity, meaning I'm immune to all quirks."

"No way, you're the vigilante." Kokoro realised in amazement. "Samurai."

———————
Authors notes

Just to be clear, I've had this in mind for a while, since before the villains kidnapped her, it's just a coincidence that the anime is in its vigilante era. Slightly inconvenient because now it looks like I've stolen that idea.

Aya Sasaki is another OC and will have an impact on future story lines.

I may give an intro to her before the next chapter, along with her alias, Samurai.