𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄 | 𝙗.𝙠𝙖𝙩𝙨𝙪𝙠𝙞

𝙎𝙏𝙐𝘿𝙔 𝘽𝙐𝘿𝘿𝙄𝙀𝙎

Watanabe Rei was a beautiful woman. Or at least, that's what she'd always tell Kou. 

Don't get her wrong, she wasn't ugly or anything. She had her appeal; if you looked past her shitty blond perm, dull skin from years of chain smoking and binge drinking, and seemingly perpetually smudged mascara.

These small flaws didn't seem to stop men from wanting her though. I mean she'd gotten Kou's dad and Katsuro fairly easily; even had a few kids with them.

Rei had gotten pregnant with her older brother Gou when she was only 15, causing the teenager to get kicked out of her house and forced to stop schooling before she'd even gotten to graduate. Rei didn't seem to care, however. She was a simple girl: she liked to have fun, she liked to feel pretty, she liked to feel wanted.

Maybe if things were a little different Kou would find it in her to feel bad for her mom. She'd never had a real chance at life; she was basically doomed to rely on the men she managed to seduce for the rest of her life. With no education and no practical skills, what other choice did she have but to give into the patriarchy? Her lack of a quirk certainly didn't help either.

Rei was basically an overgrown toddler; she had little care for things that weren't shiny and pretty, she constantly demanded attention, and she most certainly didn't know how to take care of herself, let alone anyone else. Unfortunately none of those wants had translated into parenthood.

Kou honestly had no idea how she and her brother had survived infancy; this woman did not have a maternal bone in her body. She was constantly out with friends or on dates (of course she didn't believe in monogamy), or drunk, or high...or all of those things at the same time. Hell, Kou had to take care of her two kids for the past 8 years- not like Rei gave half a crap.

That's the thing that made Kou lose any respect for her mom. Rei was a self centred, entitled brat. It was always ' Kou can you do this, Kou can you do that ', and no fucking thank you afterwards either. She was more of a nanny than a daughter- always had been. 'Pretty girls' didn't have to do chores.

Rei seemed to think they were long lost sisters or something; always asking her for favours, always giving her 'big sis' advice that honestly no kid should have to hear (spoiler alert, it was always about sex), always handing off her responsibilities to her. Kou couldn't recall the last time she went grocery shopping, or done the laundry, or even washed a dish. She just seemed to expect all these things to be done for her with no questions asked.

The men in her house were definitely not any better, and her younger siblings weren't old enough to be able to help, so the weight of maintaining the household fell on Kou's shoulders.

She quickly learned not to depend on anyone at a young age, and that bled into every facet of her life.

During training exercises she always went off on her own, not bothering to cooperate with her partner. When she was carrying something heavy she never accepted help from anyone, even if she needed it. When she was sick or hurt, she took care of herself (not that anyone at home ever gave a shit). Kou couldn't even ask for help when the cap on her water bottle was too tight, opting to go thirsty instead.

Some might call it pride, but Kou liked to think of it as a severe case of trust issues. Nobody had ever given a damn about her, so she needed to grow up and rely on herself. She needed to be strong, for herself. She'd never ask anyone for help; that way she'd never be disappointed.

This time was a bit different though. Kou needed help, and a lot of it.

She hated to admit it, but her grades were slipping a bit with everything else going on in her life. She'd been comfortable at her spot as 14th in class, but the current 17th place would not cut it for final exams. Kou could not afford to fail.