Deep Red

1

I woke up from my half-asleep state when my alarm clock rang. It was way too early for what I was used to. The last few months I had been up all night and slept in in the morning, simply because I had been unemployed and I had always been more of a night person. I had found a job after a while, but the start date was pushed pretty far back, so I had had a lot of free time to do whatever I wanted. I still felt as if I hadn't made proper use of all that time. There was so much stuff I wanted to get done and I got barely any of it done.

With a sigh I turned off my alarm and stared at the ceiling. I had been nervous all night and could barely fall asleep. When I had finally managed to fall asleep it was only some weird half-sleep and now the alarm had gone off, telling me to get up and get ready for my new job.

If I had stayed in bed for another second, I would have just fallen asleep again, I knew that. So I swung my legs out of bed and sat up, no matter how dizzy it made me feel. Maybe a coffee on the way to work would actually make me feel better. Plus, wasn't there something about free tea and coffee in the job description?

I rubbed my eyes and slowly stood up. Where the fuck was I even supposed to start? Bathroom. Washing myself and getting dressed. I remembered I had laid out some clothes yesterday, so I wouldn't need to go looking for them on my very first morning. I dragged my weary body into the bathroom. I promised myself I'd take care of the futon later. The last few months I had mostly been staying in my pajamas and never ever put my futon away, but I really wanted to change that. Staying in bed all day was comfy and all, but it did make me feel like shit after a while.

I turned on the bathroom light and left the door half opened. The bathroom was so tiny, I probably wouldn't be able to move if I closed it properly. After I was done washing my face, I heard a quiet scratching and tapping noise at the door. A smile started spreading across my face as I opened the door and saw my cat Chou walk in. She looked up at me and meowed demandingly.

"Oh, does someone want my attention, huh? You better not be loud while I'm away, or they'll kick us out of this place. They already gave us two warnings, Chou." I said to her, while rubbing her head. She was a beautiful black, white and orange cat. I had had her for about a year now. When I moved into this place I was still working a more or less regular job in this area, but it was difficult to find an apartment at all, let alone one that allowed pets. So I had told the landlord I was looking to rehome Chou, so he'd let her stay with me. Obviously, I wasn't planning to.

I turned back to my morning routine (if you could call it that, I had literally been doing it for one day so far) while Chou was meowing quietly and walking through my legs. I looked down at her, toothbrush in my mouth.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll get you your food in a second. Would you just calm down? Please? I can't afford to move out." I told her. She gave me a long look as if she was doubting that I would actually feed her and then left the bathroom. She was still waiting around at the door for me, though. I knew she was.

I quickly finished brushing my teeth and putting on my clothes before getting out of the bathroom. I grabbed a can of cat food from the pantry which caused Chou to start purring loudly. I smiled at her and walked over to her feeding dish. I activated my quirk and hovered my hand over the can of cat food. I knew Chou liked to eat her cat food warmed up and this was the fastest way.

"There you go, you little brat." I mumbled while emptying some of the can's contents into the feeding dish. Chou rubbed her head against my hands, causing me to smile at her. No way was I ever going to give that cat away. That cat was currently the only thing that brought some happiness to my life.

"Yes, I love you, too. Now be a good cat and eat and get some sleep while I'm gone, okay? And don't be loud." I said to her, as she turned her attention to the warmed up cat food in front of her.

I sighed and turned on the kettle. There was still some water left from last night. I took a travel mug out of my kitchen cupboard and put a pack of instant coffee in it. The stuff was disgusting, but at least it helped me keep my eyes open.

While the water was boiling I walked over to my futon and unplugged my phone. There were no new messages for me - who would even text me? It wasn't that I had no friends, it was more that the friends I did have were all... really busy. Without me. We just kind of went separate ways after we finished U.A.

As far as I knew they were all still Pro Heroes or Sidekicks in some capacity. I had been a sidekick for a few years, myself, but... Jeez, it just really wasn't my thing. At all. I wasn't bad at my job or anything, but I was just not enjoying it much. I had no idea how I even got the idea of becoming a hero. At some point, I just got it stuck in my head and then I just had to go ahead and do it. And of course I was too stubborn to give it up right after I realized I wasn't having fun.

After I had finally realized my mistake I had started tumbling from job to job, getting a few courses done here and there. Just two years ago I got a license to teach and I had been a science teacher at a regular school, but to be honest... the pay was terrible. Plus, I wasn't too fond of most of my colleagues. So I rage quit. Not my smartest move at all, but here I was.

My brand new job was a teaching job again. At U.A. High School. Obviously not in any of the training or hero classes, but I was basically hired as a Science teacher for every single class. I had always loved Science, it was my favourite thing in the world, I was a total nerd for it. I still managed to somehow have a group of friends in school, but we were all set on becoming heroes. Not science teachers.

How I figured out that I wanted to do teaching for the rest of my life, I didn't even know. I was the most unmotivated person I knew and I definitely wouldn't make a great role model. But I felt like I could relate to a lot of kids that age. I liked being able to help them with any problems if they needed help. It made me feel like I could do much more good that way than by doing hero work.

After I had rolled up my futon and packed it away, I grabbed my bag and poured the hot water in my travel mug. I really had to go soon or I'd miss my train and that would make me late. The commute to U. A. was quite difficult, but at least it paid well. At the time I figured it was worth it to get up that early and spend a big part of my day on trains. Now I wasn't so sure anymore.

"Wish me luck." I said to Chou who was occupied with her food. At this point I wasn't even sure if I was able to deal with a class of U.A. students anymore. I mean I was one at some point, I knew what they were like and some of them could be real assholes. I was even more worried about having to socialize with any of my teacher colleagues. From what I remembered from my last job, the conversations in the teacher room were just... cringeworthy.

I slung my back over my shoulder, took my coffee mug in one hand and my phone in the other and walked out of the house. I quickly made my way down the stairs, listening to see whether there was anyone in the hallways, so I could avoid them, if necessary. I really didn't want to run into my landlord and have a conversation about my cat. Again. Because I was sure I'd get kicked out if he ever saw me again and heard I still hadn't found a place for my cat.

Thankfully I managed to slip out without anyone seeing me. Great. Now I just had to manage the commute with a full cup of coffee. I didn't live far from the next train station, so it didn't take me too long to get there. Plus, it was a pretty nice day outside. It wasn't even very dark in the morning yet. Maybe I could do this after all. For a short second the world seemed full of opportunity as I walked down the stairs to the train tracks.

The train was getting there just as I had gone down the stairs. So far everything was going well. I even managed to find a seat, but I knew that that would get difficult with the next train I was going to get on. As I stared out of the window, trying not to fall asleep, I wished I had taken my favourite blanket with me, just so I could find a quiet spot in between lessons and catch up on some sleep. I really, really needed it.