White Shadows (BnHA)

Chapter 27

"You must be Hideyoshi Masami," Detective Tsukauchi greeted the young girl with a smile as both he and principal Nezu walked into the teachers lounge. "I'm Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, and I was wondering if I could get your testimony regarding today's incident?"

Masami startled from where she was curled up on the couch with her hands covering her ears, a gesture that both Nezu and Tsukachi frowned at. The girl didn't look like she was in the best condition. She was pale, she flinched at every noise, and if her curled up position indicated anything, she was probably nauseated.

"Are you alright?" The detective asked out of concern, holding back a wince when the girl flinched and held her ears tighter.

"It's too loud," she whispered with closed eyes.

"What's too loud?" He asked gently, his voice lowering in volume as he took one of the seats in front of her.

"Everything." Tsukauchi exchanged a glance with Nezu. Sensory overloads weren't that strange in the broad scheme of things, but this seemed different. It was almost like a small child discovering their quirk for the first time and being unable to control it, but Masami was fifteen. She was a little old to just now be developing a quirk.

"Would you like to take a trip to the nurse's office?" Nezu asked. "I'm sure we can save any questions until after this passes."

Tsukauchi nodded in agreement.

Masami sighed, peeling open her eyes to look at the two in front of her.

"I-I'll be fine," she reassured them. Ever since All for One had left, her headache had practically tripled, but this wasn't the

first time her sensory overload had gotten this bad. It may be difficult, but she could still function well enough to answer some questions. Besides, she'd rather get it done now rather than later. "B-but d-do you th- think we could ta-talk quietly?"

"That's fine," Tsukauchi spoke as quietly as he could. "But are you sure you don't want to get checked out?"

"Mhm," she nodded before getting right to the point. "Wh-what did you want t-to know?"

Tsukauchi frowned. He really wished the girl would consider getting checked out by the nurse, but it wasn't as though he could force her to, especially since he didn't really know the extent of which her sensory overload was at. "Principal Nezu mentioned that you could smell when the attack occurred," he decided to start quietly. If he noticed her condition getting any worse, he'd stop and make sure she at least had a small check up with Recovery Girl. For now, he may as well ask the questions he came to ask. "Does that perhaps have something to do with your quirk?"

Masami sighed once more. It was a reasonable assumption, she supposed, but she was honestly starting to get tired of people assuming.

"I'm, um, I'm ac-actually quirkless," she told him, already prepared for the look of shock he gave her when his own quirk confirmed that what she was saying was true. "I just h-happen to have really goo-good senses."

Tsukauchi raised a brow. The detective's quirk hadn't pinged any lies, but it was still a bit unbelievable that the girl's natural senses were so strong. "I don't mean to doubt you, but the USJ is over a mile away," Tsukauchi pointed out. "The average person's natural sense of smell doesn't even reach half of that."

At that, Masami was the one to raise a brow. Though, it didn't last very long as she winced at the movement. "I ne-never said it wa-was natural," she hinted offhandedly.

"What do you mean?" Nezu asked, sharing a glance with Tsukauchi. What she was saying didn't make the most sense, but she had yet to lie about anything. Nezu wasn't quite sure what to make of it yet. However, he most certainly did not enjoy not knowing.