White Shadows (BnHA)

Chapter 15

Masami walked into the lunch room with a large sigh. The entire morning had certainly been hectic. First the news reporters then the magazine and now she had to deal with loud teenagers. Was Masami ever going to get a break? It seemed rather unlikely at this point.

Even now, during the one time she thought that she would be able to get away from all the hectic mayhem, she could practically feel somebody staring into her very soul. Well, that may be a bit dramatic, but it gets the point across. She was being watched, and Masami did not like it.

Not one bit.

“Hey,” Masami practically jumped when the culprit actually came up and spoke to her. Glancing the boy up and down, she felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't quite pin where she had seen him before. It was a boy seemingly the same age as her with messy purple hair and bags under his eyes. He held no smile, instead choosing to frown, and yet didn't appear to have any malicious intent. In fact, going by the look in his eyes, he was more curious than anything else. “You're Hideyoshi Masami, aren't you?”

“O-oh, um, well, y-yes. I-I suppose,” Masami answered hesitantly. This boy somehow knew her name. Because that wasn't creepy at all. He may not hold any ill will, but it never hurt to be cautious. “Wh-why do you ask?”

“You're Itsuki's sister, right?” At that, Masami's eyes widened in both surprise and even more open suspicion. Barely anybody knew who her brother was anymore. And even if they did, they never brought him up. She never brought him up, so most just left it at that. They didn't pry. It was just too much of an effort for them apparently.

“How do you know that name?” Masami's stutter disappeared as her eyes narrowed warily with a glare. She wasn't sure who this boy was, but he better have a damn good reason for knowing about her brother or else she was gonna have to do some damage. To hell with trying to lay low.

“The name's Shinso Hitoshi,” The newly dubbed Shinso rolled his eyes at the suspicious girl. Sure, he was older and they hadn't really hung out much as kids, but he hadn't expected for her to completely forget who he was. “I used to be friends with Itsuki when we were little. We've met before, in case you're wondering.”

“Oh.” It was only then that it came back to Masami. While she had mainly hung out with Bakugo, Midoriya, and Todoroki, Itsuki had had his own little group of friends. That group of friends included Shinso. She, herself, had never spoken to him much, maybe a few times a month in passing. They had only played together a few times, but that was partly because Itsuki had asked her to join them. But still, she finally recognized the messy purple haired boy. It was a bit strange to see him here, at U.A., of all places after all these years. And awkward. Definitely awkward. “A-aren't you the one that accidentally b-broke my door down w-with a waffle maker?”

At that, he blushed ever so slightly, embarrassed of his past self. Though, it's not as if he was the only one. Masami contemplated her life choices all the time. So yeah… Join the club. “I was really hoping you wouldn't remember that…”

“Yeah…” Oh dear… Masami had just made yet another conversation awkward… At least she was skilled at that. And she didn't even have to try! “Um, w-was there a reason y-you needed to, um-- needed to s-speak with me?”

“Not really,” And yet they had somehow managed to end up sitting with each other with their untouched meals in front of them anyways. “I was just curious about where you and your family disappeared and went off to.”

“I see…” Masami supposed she should have expected that. After all, everything seemed to have happened so suddenly. To outsiders, it would probably just look like the Hideyoshi family had dropped off the grid, and, technically, they had. Two of them just happened to have dropped six feet under it. Meanwhile, Masami had only been off the grid for about a year, and after that, she had been keeping a fairly low profile.