SSD II: Keenan

32. The Stranger I've Become

Here we are, chapter one of part two.

WARNING: aborted suicide attempt, references to homophobia.
There will be in-chapter warnings or here is a whole chapter one.
Summary:
At twelve years old, Silver was told by Keenan there would be another intake of children. Together, they decide to do something about it.
Three months has passed since Aizawa told Silver to get gone. Janus Laboratories has been destroyed, Hecate Aurum is back in England, Keenan has become a trusted member of the team. Kirishima's bo lessons are now with Aizawa and he's improving faster than expected, the same goes for Shinsou Hitoshi— a student from 2-C who's finally been transferred to 2-A. Fukoda, the young quirkless boy, no longer has a teacher.
Aizawa is on patrol in an area very few heroes stray to, he helps a young man (named AG) protect a woman from three attackers.
A few days later Aizawa runs into AG again when he talks a boy down from the ledge. They leave the boy at a youth hostel that's handled kids in similar states before run by a woman AG knows, Mrs Sakamoto. To make sure AG doesn't get into any more trouble, Aizawa walks him to the bar where he works.

Silver was twelve. Twelve-years-old, a killer of many, always training to kill more. She'd seen more than she ever wanted and done more than she could ever have nightmared. And she hated all of it.

Her experiences had been so different from the others, the way she thought was now so different too. The treatment she received from her teammates, meeting her father, learning from the nurse who... died mysteriously, teaching and caring for the children who were killed— she wasn't like her teammates. When she killed people, she didn't feel pride or pleasure like they did, her method of blocking her emotions was all she had to keep her sane.

So here Silver was, alone in the bedroom her team shared, staring at the gun in her lap.

Then Keenan walked in. "Silver, there's something I need to tell you." His expression was grave and serious and Silver gave him all her attention as her team leader and only ally. "There's going to be another intake."

Six words. Six words had suddenly transformed Silver's thoughts, emotions.

She didn't know what she was going to do with herself, but she knew for a fact, that she was going to help those kids, that they would not have to suffer like she did, or die like so many others.

***

It had been three months since the raid on the Japanese branch of Janus Laboratories and with the information collected, similar attacks were taking place in every country across the world and the global business was falling to shreds. Few children were found aside from those in Japan, but according to Keenan that was to be expected.

Keenan had become an invaluable and trusted part of the team, working with Detective Tsukauchi to coordinate the global efforts from a central position in Japan with the help of Hecate Aurum.

The young man had mentioned once or twice to Aizawa that he didn't like working with the woman, but did so anyway because he had little choice. And after Chiyo gave Aizawa the answer to his question, he understood Keenan's distaste for the woman, even Aizawa couldn't stand her anymore now that he knew the truth. He'd almost done something about it too— Keenan had been the one to stop him.

Kirishima had begun taking bo lessons from Aizawa once he was made to understand that Silver would not be coming back. The boy had actually requested the lessons and now the pro was not only teaching him, but also Shinsou who had recently transferred into 2-A from one of the general studies classes. Both boys seemed to be advancing at a surprising speed that Aizawa still couldn't believe, they'd probably be able to beat him soon.