rewind ➽ eri's sister

CH5

three days later

after eri and i's future plans were thought out and agreed upon, the two of us decided to spend the weekend together along with a few visitors. due to eri's requests, the heroes-in-training - midoriya izuku and togata mirio - dropped by a few times. i was hesitant at first, despite knowing what they'd done for us. i suppose two years of torture does something to your mentality, though i couldn't help but tell myself that eri went through the same thing and could still show gratitude to them. nevermind the 9 year age gap, my 6 year old sister was already stronger than i was.

they'd brought us gifts from themselves and a couple other heroes who'd helped rescue us from the raid, including an assortment of fruits, new clothes and a few stuffed animals. imagine the guilt we felt not being able to even show our gratefulness through a simple smile. 

it seems we'd both forgotten that such an expression existed.

despite that setback, it had seemed that our two visitors knew that we were at least trying, which calmed my impatience a bit.

forwarding to today however, i don't even think the adjective calm could even be considered to be applied to myself. the weekend has passed, and today was meant to be my first day in UA, or highschool in general. aizawa had been showing me around since the break of dawn, and since i was used to him monitoring eri, i had been fine with it. but as the hour went by and i started seeing other people, it felt like a pool of anxiety was slowly building even though i didn't even need to talk to any of them. 

how am i gonna move into the dorms tonight if i can't even stand seeing a single unfamiliar face?

i'll say it right now, but about half of the dread i'm feeling right now is probably also linked to being away from eri again. i just got her back, and thinking of being taken away from her and having something happen is really taking a hit on my mental. i was assured that everything would be fine since she's staying with the pro hero UA teachers as of now, but apparently paranoia, stress and anxiety don't make for a pretty combo on a worried teenager.

aizawa told me that he'd notified the class representatives in advance that he'd be arriving around 10 minutes late in order to introduce me without a racket, which i'm indefinitely thankful for. the thought of being unprepared and bumping into someone before being able to collect myself sounds disastrous with my current jittery state. eventually we arrive in front of what's meant to be my class for the next year or so, until i've become able to blend into society again and stabilize my quirk.

aizawa enters the classroom, and the people inside quiet down as he talks about what i assume to be me and my predicament. the momentary silence drags me into my thoughts, and now i'm not sure what i'm dreading more: standing in front of all these strangers or using my quirk again.

my thoughts are interrupted however, by aizawa calling me in. "kaneko, we don't have all day," he mutters out. i swear i've never taken a bigger breath in my life.

carefully, i open the door and bow my head walking up to the middle of the room. i reach my desired point without panicking too much, and celebrate the small victory in my head. boosted by the burst of confidence, i look up to start my introduction, only to freeze upon seeing so many people staring at me. try as i might, i can't help but to look right back down at the floor, stumbling over my words.

"h-hello, my name is kaneko eiko, it's nice to meet you.." the room stayed quiet as though everyone expected me to continue. taking another breath, i speak again.

"my sister and i wanted to say.. th-thank you for everything!"

honestly, i thought the silence would never end. until it did of course.

"we're just glad that you're both safe, i can't imagine what you had to go through.." one of the girls, who was seemingly invisible, spoke up. after the quiet was broken, many more chimed in, wishing me and eri steady recoveries and me a good time in class.

i feel the warm hug of kindness surrounding me, and i really wish i could smile at a time just like now. but that's just wishful thinking for the future, and instead i whisper out a small yet recognizable "thank you."

following this, i was been notified that they'd already added another desk to their seating arrangement in order to fit me in, and so i was assigned to a front row seat between a girl named uraraka and a boy named iida. aizawa then dove straight into their lessons, and i have to admit i was pretty lost. school is apparently going to be a stressor in my life again, but from what was discussed on the weekend, the school had also matched me up with a tutor in my class to help me catch up in both academics and on my quirk progression (after the teachers helped me stabilize it first at least). they'd mentioned that it would also be a good way to make another friend.

soon enough, it was time for lunch. i'm still not used to eating with a consistent schedule or with how high school works in general, so it's safe to say i have close to no idea of what's going on. luckily though, my desk neighbours uraraka and iida were happy to guide me without being asked, bless. i'd talked to the both of them for a bit, feeling more trustworthy than usual, and despite my attempts at socialization being still generally weak i was proud of how i'd managed.

but of course, something always has to go wrong. it wouldn't be my life if i got through my first day without any hiccups i suppose.

entering the cafeteria, the sheer loudness made me flinch at every new sound. i think it was bearable though, until it wasn't? one moment we sat down at a table as a few classmates grouped around with questions or introductions, and the next thing i know i'm being plunged into an imaginary scene of my past surrounded by the pressure of the machine that i fear so much.

my breath is quickening as my quirk subconsciously activates, with my growing strength from the past week or so enabling the ability. the lights flicker overhead and the noise continues. i hear someone yelling, but that doesn't help my panic whatsoever. more worried voices chime in the background, and the shattering of glass is added to the mixture of sounds.

get these memories out of my head. i'm not going back. not ever. i'm safe now, i'm ok now. 

it's ironic how even though i'm no longer in his cage, chisaki still haunts me. these destructive, terrifying thoughts are blinding me, and i feel a new kind of hurt burning through my entire body.

the last thing i see is his hand reaching out to my face.

and then everything goes black.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

a/n: hi besties <3 we literally don't talk about how this going up a whole year after i last updated,, bye asf LMAOOO. might try to finish this book, might not :D also not eiko passing out in literally every other chapter i rly don't know what the fuck i'm doing PLSSS
+ it do b 3am rn so let's ignore grammar mistakes yesyes <3