This Color Ain't It

Chapter 22: Unwinding

Notes:

tw : I don't think there is anything other than language? Mental health is brought up, but nothing too specific
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text
When Kenji stormed away from the room, he didn't care about anything at the moment. He just wanted to get away.

He stomped down the endless hallways. Stomped past other rooms that had cracked open their doors to see what the 'bang' had been. He's pretty sure some upperclassmen had tried calling out to him as well.

Soon enough, he found the set of doors that led outside and breathed in deeply. The summer breeze felt nice, but it was just barely enough to keep him from leveling the place. Heh. Precisely like what the commission would expect of him.

There was not as much security as there was that morning, so nobody said a word to the blonde who sat on the curve beneath the trees. He sat on the other side of the bushes, out of sight from the entrance to keep others from seeing him.

Folding his arms on his knees and resting his chin on them, Kenji released a long sigh. He can't get angry. He's not allowed to. The agency would be disappointed in him if they found out he was letting this get to him.

He thought he could tolerate it. He thought he could make the most out of his time in a high school with friends and homework and city things. But of course, he can't. It was pretty naive of him to think like that.

(He never came here to act like the rest anyway.)

"What're you constantly sighing for, hm?" Kenji's eyes snapped wide as he flinched away from that voice.

Standing behind him was a girl- the same girl who he had felt something 'off' before the exam had started. The girl had her hands clasped behind her back, staring down at Kenji with a blank smile. The tilting of her head didn't make it look any better.

Instead of giving her an answer, Kenji felt himself tense up. His danger sense was going off and-

That's another reason that he can't act like a teen his age.

He forced his body to slump back to normal though had made sure to scoot a few inches away. He's too tired to care if the girl was a threat to him or not. Not even the lingering curiosity of how she had managed to sneak up on the detective was enough.

The girl didn't seem too bothered by his silence. She crouched down next to him, keeping her hands on her knees to keep her balance. She looked intrigued. "Didn't do too well on the exam?"

She didn't leave when Kenji ignored that question as well.

"You're a UA student," she pointed out. She hummed some more to herself as she took in Kenji's appearance. "The country boy who lost against electricity!"

"Miss, could you please leave me alone? I'm not in the mood to talk right now." It took all of his willpower to stay polite. To keep his voice even. The only thing he couldn't offer her was a smile. Kenji hoped the tired look in his eyes would be enough to clue the girl in.

It was not.

"You're the guy who figured out the Villain was an Ability user," the girl hummed in interest. "You are quite the talk goin' around."

Kenji didn't deign her any more answers. He simply hid into his arms again, trying to drown out the girl and focus on the chirping of the birds flying around. There must be a nest or two nearby.

"--and I figured, I guess it doesn't matter as long as I got through the rescue portion without interacting with the Ability user myself." She swayed on her toes a bit, getting closer to Kenji's personal bubble. Her constant amused humming was not doing Kenji's anger any favors.