𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 | ᴇ. ᴋɪʀɪsʜɪᴍᴀ

° . 02: 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑒, 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔? . °

𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 and walked into her small cell. It only had a futon and table within it. HPSC didn't find it necessary for her to even own TVs or posters. It was pointless and pathetic if she, a teenager, owned everyday things.

She got used to the bare emptiness, at least it matched the crap aesthetic of the rest of the company.

(Y/- I mean, Tempus sat in front of her desk and pulled out a drawer. The only thing in it was just pills. HPSC told her that she must look good for the public at the same time telling her she must always come back when the mission was done with.

It's fine, Tempus didn't like the attention anyways. Her quirk also had a lot of negative drawbacks so the medication always tried to prevent any of that from happening.

She popped three pills of each bottle into her mouth, they could've at least provided her some water.

Closing back her drawer, she sat on her futon and dug underneath it. She knows she isn't allowed to have it yet she's curious. She wants to know things. She wants to learn things. She wants to have knowledge.

A textbook laid in her hands, paged brown tinted from how old it was. Tempus, when she first became a hero, kinda stole this. She felt bad still but this was the closest thing she could get. Maybe she was being selfish..

Tempus had this book for years but she never got past the first page. No one taught her to read and 'till this day, she can barely understand the fucking 'Pete walked the fucking goddamn dog.' It did get her frustrated from time to time.

She took off her mask and placed down her hood to see the words and letters more clearly. Mentally singing the 'ABC's in her head. Her finger tracing along the line below the words. All she got from it was photo- syn- esis. Whatever that meant.

The door slammed open, making her flinch. Her heart pounded rapidly in her rib cage from fear as she quickly slid the book back underneath her futon. She turned around to face the entrance/exit and tried to play it cool.

A bald man with a cane walked in, his scowl never leaving. His forehead creased and wrinkled. He had a black vest, a black tie, a white shirt. Brown boots that don't have a speck of mud on them.

"What was that?" He demanded, stomping his cane onto the ground.

She frowned, looking away from him. "It's nothing, sir."

"Don't lie or you'll be doubling your medication." The bald man used the end of his cane to hit her forehead harshly.

"It's nothing I said, sir." Tempus firmly said, ignoring the hit.

"What is it?!" He yelled out, throwing her desk across the room.

She watched it hit the wall and turn into shambles. The bottles rolled and pills scattered. Wood in sharp pieces and splinters that would take forever to clean up.

He hit her shoulder and pushed her down with his cane, anger in his eyes. "If you don't tell me, then we'll double your quirk and pain endurance training." He spitted in her face.

Tempus furrowed her eyebrows, biting her lip. She gulped until a sigh was retrieved. He pulled back and stood tall again while watching her. She shakily grabbed the book and reluctantly passed it to the bald man.

He snatched it from her and stared at the title. 'Science and Biology for 6th Graders.' He cocked his head at her and whacked her face with the book.

She didn't flinch from the hit but her head turned from the physical contact. A bruise on her cheek. Tempus glared at him.