𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 ᵐʰᵃ

˜"*°•.prologue.•°*"˜

╰☆☆ prologue

SHE DRUMMED HER FINGERS AGAINST HER DESK. Pencils and eraser shavings littered the surface. Her sketchbook lay open and abandoned in the corner, half-finished sketches lit up by the narrow swaths of sunlight that seeped past her dark curtains. Music pumped through the twin speakers on either side of her, though the volume was down so she wouldn't wake up her napping parents in the room above. She shoved a cookie in her mouth -- her sixth in the past ten minutes, she guiltily counted -- and brushed the crumbs off her hands, pulling up yet another tab on her laptop.

Ash groaned, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. "I'm gonna go feral," she mumbled, searching the Breath of the Wild message boards for the hundredth time. She didn't know what she was expecting; nothing had changed for the past half hour, and it wasn't like opening and closing GameFAQs would make something happen magically.

At the moment, she just didn't have anything better to do.

It'd been eight days since the citywide shutdown. Eight whole days since U.A. had closed its doors and ordered everyone to stay at home (translation: lock the kids in a prison of isolation) until further notice. Eight long, mind-numbingly boring days since she'd seen her friends.

Back when U.A. had built the dorms and set about convincing parents to allow their kids to live on-campus, Ash's parents ended up being some of the few that gave a firm no in response. It made sense; Japan was still foreign to them, the only reason they stayed being her dad's job and his translating Quirk. Plus Ash's acceptance into U.A., but that was kind of unplanned. Her parents didn't particularly like the idea of her, skinny little Ash Collins that got lost too easily and always bumped into everything, living away from her family for so long.

She'd been annoyed, at first. After all, she could handle herself! Sure, she was on the weak side and easy to startle, but training at U.A. had built up her strength, both physically and with her Quirk! She'd survived all of the challenges life had thrown at her and her classmates in Class 1-A (half of whom she was taller than/almost as tall as, so she wasn't that small).

Now, though, Ash was grateful that she was with her family. All of her friends were stuck in the dorms, per U.A. policy, complaining in the group chat about how much they missed their parents. She didn't think she would have been able to handle it, were she in their position.

Ash had her family. Even if her brother was at work every other night, parents at work every morning, sister doing "little sister" things, she still had them.

But if she didn't get some sort of human interaction outside of her immediate family soon, she was going to lose it.

With a huff, Ash shut off her laptop and stood, back popping as she stretched. Nothing seemed appealing. There was a pile of unfinished books sitting on the trunk near her bed, but she just couldn't focus enough to read lately. She took one glance at her sketchbook and quickly flipped it closed with a shudder. Nope, that page would never see the light of day again. She mindlessly grabbed another cookie from the package she snatched out of the kitchen.

Her bed creaked as she flopped down on it, bouncing slightly on the soft blankets. Ash pulled out her phone and winced. ooga chaka: 99+ Messages, read the top notification. "How," she whispered, swiping up.

The lock screen faded away, and Ash almost wished she'd ignored it altogether.

ooga chaka │ 4:26 PM