Solstice and Eclipse: Part I

Chapter V: Walk Home

The doors to the observation deck slid open, sunlight pouring in through the entrance as Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and Oijiro walked inside and rejoined the class. Their classmates quickly surrounded them, asking what had transpired inside, as the interior cameras had blacked out, first due to (L/N)'s quirk, then as a result of the building collapsing. While the three did their best to recall the details of the encounter, (L/N) sulked inside, staying close to the edge of the room, half hidden in shadows.

The events that had just transpired were replaying behind his blindfolded eyes on repeat. Yaoyorozu reflecting his hard-light barrier, the energy tearing through the building like a hot knife through butter. He had managed to tackle her to the ground and create a protective barrier around them in time to shield her from the falling concrete and rubble, which otherwise would have surely crushed her to death. Oijiro and Jiro, thank God, felt the tremors in their feet as the building shook, and Oijiro had been quick enough in both thinking and action to grab Jiro and, propelling himself from his tail, jump out the nearest window and onto the fire escape of the neighboring building.

He had been reckless. Forgetting, carelessly, that even something as seemingly harmless as a simple barrier didn't still hold the potential to bring about destruction. What if Oijiro and Jiro hadn't felt the tremors? What if Oijiro hadn't acted in time? And this had just been a simple training exercise. If this were the real world, countless lives would have been lost all because of (L/N)'s lack of control. Stupid. Reckless. Irresponsible. Careless.

"Hey... (L/N). Right?"

A chipper voice pulled him from his thoughts and back to reality. The other three had finished telling their story and now the rest of the class was looking at him expectantly.

"Your quirk is incredible! I can't believe you took down an entire building like that!" The same voice said, filled with awe and incredulousness. "Man, just imagine what you could do if you were actually trying!"

There was a murmur of consensus from (L/N)'s peers as they shook their head. They began to circle around him, pushing him back into the corner of the room as they introduced themselves and asked him questions about his quirk. To any other person alive this amount of attention might have been something to take pride in. But for him it was nothing less than shameful. Didn't they understand that he could have killed someone? Perhaps they did and they simply didn't care. After all, this was UA High School, and they were heroes in training. It wasn't a job that came without risk. But this should have been different. It was supposed to be practice. No one was supposed to get injured. And if it hadn't been through sheer dumb luck, someone would have died.

As he stumbled backwards, back pressed against the wall as he tried to fend off his class, he noticed two of his classmates had not stepped forward to congratulate him on being blessed with such incredible power. Had it not been for his enhanced sense of hearing, he would not have heard one of them mutter the word 'freak' beneath his breath. The other simply looked at him with a piercing multicolored gaze before turning away.

(L/N) felt smothered as his classmates continued pestering him with unwanted questions about his quirk, other going so far as to introduce themselves, as if they thought they could be friends. If they knew what he had done, how dangerous he was, they wouldn't be so quick to associate themselves with him. Unable to think of a way out of the situation, he was grateful when All Might called the class back to attention.

"That's quite enough chit chat." He said. "Let's give young Mr. (L/N) a chance to breathe. In the meantime, we have another match to get underway."

The other students of Class 1A regathered around the monitors which now displayed a different building. (L/N) released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and retreated further into the shadows. His hands were shaking, glowing warmly. A natural defense mechanism whenever he felt trapped. He took several deep breaths, forcing the energy in his body to dissipate. He had to get better control over his powers.