Predatorial Song Bird

4. Naive Kitten

Another thank you to my friend who is an amazing editor. He's deserves the world for being the bean he is.
__________
Shinsou didn't understand why the world was so cruel. Ever since he acquired his quirk, he was treated like a villain. He was punched, kicked, taunted, muzzled, among other demeaning acts.

The children were friendly and sociable at first. They played with him and invited him to the park where they would play games such as tag and hero. Those were the good days, the days where he was oblivious and naive when it came to the harsh reality of humanity.

Brainwashing was his quirk. When he first acquired it, he was ecstatic, figuring it out a few days after his 4th birthday. He realized his abilities when his parents ended up caught in the quirk effects after him accidentally activating it upon asking a question. For someone so young, he was intelligent. He was quick to tell his classmates about it, hoping they'd also derive the same joy from the revelation. Sadly, that was not the case.

That was the morning he realized his ruthlessness reality. His classmates feared and avoided him, with some going as far as to stop talking to him entirely, calling him a villain. His teachers did nothing to stop it.

Returning home, Shinsou was greeted with the fearful and regretful expressions of his parents. They seemed to regret being the reason he ended up with such a quirk, and they feared its power.

As time passed, things changed for the worse. The first change-albeit small-happened at school.

The bullying grew worse and more violent in nature. He would go home every day with cuts and bruises gained from his "friends." His parents never asked about them, brushing them off as injuries from roughhousing.

The second change followed a couple of months after he gained his quirk.

His parents stopped talking to him and eventually ignored his existence entirely. The latter ended up being the catalyst for a fate much worse.

~ ☆ ~

It happened on his 5th birthday, a year after gaining his quirk, a year in which he was still learning about it like most four to five-year-olds.

His day started normally. He'd wake up early enough to get ready for school with enough time to eat breakfast, a breakfast which usually consisted of a bowl of cereal since it'd been quite some time since his mother stopped making him breakfast.

After breakfast, he'd go back upstairs to his room to grab his bag, checking to make sure everything was in its rightful place, including the lunch money he had. He would then head back down the stairs to the door.

As he put his shoes on, he'd say a quick goodbye and "I love you" to his parents despite not receiving a response, then be on his way to school a couple blocks away.

Upon reaching school, he'd make his way to class. He was often taunted along the way, quickly learning to ignore such things in the name of focusing on school. It wasn't hard when he had no friends to distract him. The only issue was when the bullies would steal his work or blame their bad behavior on him, saying he had controlled them. Trips to the principal's office were frequent.

The moment the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, he packed up his belongings while taking a moment to double-check his items yet again.

He made his way out of the school, narrowly avoiding the few bullies waiting in hopes of jumping him. Who knew five-year-olds could be so vicious.

His journey home was quiet as usual without the chatter of friends he stopped having months ago.

As he neared his house, a sense of dread filled his body. The closer to home he got, the stronger the feeling grew to the point of nausea. He stumbled with his steps, nearly tripping and falling.

"Get ahold of yourself, Hito. Mommy and daddy are waiting for you to come home."

He took a moment to stop walking and smack his cheeks, hissing softly at the sudden stinging. Squishing his cheeks, he glared down at his shoes.

"There's nothing to be worried about." He assured himself.

Taking a deep breath, he let his hands drop to his sides before lifting them to grip lightly at his backpack. Exhaling, he looked up and began his journey home once again.