fear. || { bnha }

five.

It was easier to wake up the next morning.

Normally she dreaded the morning. It meant waking up early to go to her school — her boring, Quirkless school. It meant forcing herself out of bed at six, just to get to the train station before six forty-five so she could get to school on time. It meant sitting in class for an hour longer because they "needed to be caught up" because "they were in for much more competition in their lives," when it was really just to keep them isolated from the UA kids just down the street. It meant jealousy, envy, the suffocating fear of enternal emptiness, the endless wishes that everyone with Quirks would just disappear so the world could be equal again.

But today was different.

Valui was happy today.

Her first alarm was enough to motivate her to get up, when it normally took all seven she had set and one of her parents coming into her room to get onto her.

"We paid extra to get you into that school. Do you know how much it cost to get you into the school right next to UA?" they'd say, as if Valui had wanted to go there in the first place.

It was like a slap in the face — and the sting never went away, no matter how many times it happened. It was like her parents couldn't accept her fate; like putting her next to all the normal kids would, somehow, fix her.

Well, I'm not broken.

Just...normal. Genuinely normal.

It didn't take long for Valui to get dressed and gather up her belongs in her backpack. She left her room, exiting the house before her parents had time to notice her and borderline berate her about whatever they had decided on for that morning. It was an uneventful walk to the station — the only thing to look at were the people opening up their shops for the day. A few waved to her, but other than that, it was quiet, just like every other morning.

The train arrived at six fifty on the dot, as per usual. Valui had gotten to the station ten minutes earlier, and by now, a crowd had formed. When the doors opened, people started pushing and rushing to get inside and get a seat. Valui's small size came in very handy for once — it allowed her to slip around and under people's arms; she secured herself a seat next to a window and placed her backpack in the one next to her.

The train started moving. Valui laid her head on the window and shut her eyes.

"Is this seat taken?"

Why did that voice sound so familiar?

Valui opened her eyes slowly, tiredness having set back in and nearly overtaking her. She blinked drowsily, lifting her head up and turning to the person who was speaking to her. The first thing she saw was a lot of the color purple; then, her eyes started adjusting and facial features were made out.

Hitoshi?

He was holding onto one of the overhead rails, leaning forward slightly so it would be easier for Valui to hear him over the general commotion of the train. There was a faint smile on his otherwise bored face.

Valui smiled up at him, moving her bag to her lap. "It's not." She watched his smile grow just enough for her to notice as he sat himself down next to her. She shifted her body slightly so a small part of her back was against the window and she was partially facing him. "I didn't know you rode this train."

Hitoshi looked at her, an eyebrow twitching upwards at her statement. "I didn't know you rode this train, either."

Valui puffed out her cheeks slightly. "I guess that's true, too." For a moment, she thought it was odd that she had never noticed him before — his hair definitely made him stand out. But as the girl gazed around the train compartment, she realized that everyone stood out so much now, they all blended in. Everyone had their quirks — no pun intended — that made them look different from each other. Looking generic is what made one stand out now.