Key Holder (Boku no Hero Academia fanfic)

3. Bright Masks

*song is for part 1

"I always needed time on my own
I never thought I'd
Need you there when I cry
And the days feel like years when I'm alone." (When you're gone by Avril Lavigne)
__________

The apartment was modest and plain, yet pleasant. The man showed her to her room, which had white walls, a bed, a closet and a desk. Everything she could ever want. His was down the hall, but she didn't get the full tour. The girl found it strange that he was able to get by without speaking, but she didn't mind the silence, for it conveyed more than pointless chit chat.

When her few belongings arrived, the man offered to buy her other things she might need and for the rest of the day, they kept stealing furtive glances at one another, trying to figure out the other's mind.

The girl was unusually calm and sitting on the couch, skimming a book and humming a happy tune. That lady said the kid is an insufferable brat, so why is she so well behaved now? Is she up to something? Or just not used to the surroundings?

For dinner, he managed to crop up an eatable meal to which she responded with an "Itadakimasu" before and a sincere-sounding "Thank you" after.

When he couldn't take the uncertainty anymore, the man said "Look, kid, the woman from the orphanage painted a certain picture about you, which doesn't correspond with how you're acting now. What the deal?"

"I didn't like that place, it was too crowded, the caretakers were mean and impatient and the food was borderline horrible. I acted out because I want out. I succeeded, so I have no reason to cause trouble." the girl answered simply, like it was a no-brainer.

She went to sleep at a reasonable time, leaving the man to wonder how he should behave towards the kid and if he should be expecting problems with her. He answered his own question, when he was awoken in the middle of the night by a whimpering sound, coming from outside the closed door.

He opened it, only to bump into the girl who was hugging her knees on the floor. It felt like her mood influenced the air because it was eerily cold and seemed to tremble. Her white hair appeared to glow in the darkness of the place, revealing a tear-streaked face.

"What happened? Why aren't you sleeping? " he said, sitting cross-legged beside her.

"I had a bad dream..." came the dejected response.

"What happened in your dream? If you don't mind me asking..." he continued softly, unsure of what he should do.

"I was in my neighborhood and there were people around me..." she replied, sniffling. "I was mad and my quirk was working without me, and I was watching everything like it was on TV. And then, they were all on the ground, they were grey and the police came to announce they were all dead...

I was standing in the center, so they said I was to blame and they were chasing me... That's when I woke up." By the end, she was crying again and the man acted without thinking, out of compassion probably, picked her up and took her inside the room.

"It's okay... You're okay... It was just a dream..." he tried to soothe her while laying her on his bed, pushing the news about the actual two dead people away. "How about you sleep here for now?"

The girl moved to a fetal position and went back to sleep. Composed, intelligent kid, but I see she has her fears too... The next morning she was sprawled out diagonally, sleeping peacefully and she woke up feeling cheerful as if the previous night's event had never happened...