[center][img]https://s1.postimg.org/pvkcpuza7/fl36r_OW_75.png[/img] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ [img]https://s2.postimg.org/fvjow1qex/title108419120_295x.png[/img] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || [color=#F50A83]#F50A83[/color] ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || [color=#0A8BF5]#0A8BF5 [/color] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬[/center] As the teacher pointed at her, Fumika blinked, cocked her head to the side, and turned around, as if looking for someone behind her. When no such individual appeared, she turned back around, seeming to realize only at length that the instructor was addressing her. Had she been knocking things over? She hadn't really noticed as she'd crossed the room, because she'd been focusing on trying to find the main character seat. Maybe her hair had snagged on some things and knocked them to the ground? That happened sometimes... Oh. He was moving on with the lesson. As he began reciting the contents of the syllabus, Fumika's attention wandered a bit. She'd already memorized the copy online at a glance, so she already was familiar with most of what he was saying. And, when she'd recorded the people in the room earlier, she'd had plenty of time to survey its contents, so she already knew roughly where everything was... She glanced back over to where Jett was, seated almost completely on the other side of the room. He seemed like a nice person, and was apparently her friend... Wasn't she supposed to spend time with her friends? In that case, shouldn't she have taken the seat right beside him where the shiny girl from the exercise was sitting? Over here, she couldn't even talk to him... But Yoshida had specifically told her to get this seat. That meant it was important, right? She supposed she'd just have to give up on getting the chance to talk to him again... That made her a little sad. Before she knew it, the teacher began moving on to their assignment for the day. They were supposed to make riceballs, which was easy, but they were also supposed to partner up into groups of two... But weren't there seven students in the room, including her? That didn't make sense. Seven divided by two wasn't a whole number. They needed another person... Oh, but she was supposed to be partnering up with someone. Whenever she'd needed a partner back home, she'd always just run to Haruka. In that case, she should... She took two steps towards Jett, then stopped, her hair drooping as she overheard him say something about partnering up to the shiny girl... Then who was she supposed to partner with? The only other person she recognized was the big, empty man who'd been on the other team during the earlier exercise... But he seemed to be partnered with someone else, and she didn't want to bother him. There was also a blonde boy and a tiny, white-haired girl who seemed to be working together, but that just left... Fumika stood alone in the far corner of the room, shoulders slumping slightly as she realized she was, as usual, the odd one out. It was strange. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered her. After all, she was used to just watching. This was how it normally went. This was fine. It had always been fine. So then why, suddenly, did this feel so strange? Of course nobody would want to partner up with someone like her. She was stupid, and annoying, and would only get in the way. It was best for everybody if she just watched. [i][color=#F50A83]"Is it alright for me to eat here?"[/color] He'd immediately turned around and smiled happily, as if he was glad just to see her. That smile made her want to smile back. It made her feel strangely warm inside, in a way she couldn't quite describe, but had missed sorely ever since their conversation had abruptly ended. [color=steelblue]"Sure, Motome-chan! Grab a seat!"[/color] He hadn't hesitated to welcome her. Even though she'd gone out of her way and approached him, he hadn't been bothered by it.[/i] She wondered. If she'd been a little faster to ask someone to be her partner, would they have smiled for her, too? Maybe Jett would have given her that strange grin of his, called her by her name and welcomed her to join him. Or maybe the other people she didn't know would have been nice to her even though she was stupid? But these well-wishing fantasies swiftly collapsed as prior experience reminded her of how farfetched they were. Besides, even the teacher had been upset with her... The students would probably just think she was a bother, right? She sighed. Maybe, if Yoshida had been there, then maybe she wouldn't have had to feel this way... She shook her head. There was something she was supposed to be doing. She couldn't afford to waste time. There weren't enough people for everyone to have a partner, but that was fine, because so long as the numbers were right, there wouldn't be a problem, would there? And a fake partner would do just as well as a real one. They wouldn't even be angry with her no matter how badly she messed up. It was just like gym class back home, before she met Haruka. Or group discussion time in literature class. Or lab time in science class. Or really any time she needed help with something and she couldn't ask Haruka. Right. This had always been more than sufficient. In fact, it was faster this way, because she didn't need to worry about understanding what anyone else was thinking. So long as she could solve the problem at hand, it was fine. This was normal. There wasn't anything to worry about. A computer worked best when addressing one task at a time, and any power she devoted to a problem she couldn't solve or to people she couldn't understand was wasted effort. So, she'd give her all to complete this task, and address the situation at hand! Her eyes flickered to green, and a drastically shortened bar pulsed back to life around the crown of her head. Her energy was still at only about 14%... It wasn't like making another her required much effort to maintain, though... And so long as she didn't go more than a couple of inches away from herself, then the transmission would stay efficient enough that it was manageable. Cooking didn't take much exertion, either, so she could probably keep it up without passing out in class. Still, there was no sense in wasting energy she didn't need... And it had been a few years since she'd really cooked anything herself. Rather than trying to make her current self do something it hadn't done, maybe a smaller her would be better? [url=https://s26.postimg.org/87ejn0npl/ia_vocaloid_by_aryesmye-dagvld7.png]A significantly shorter, slightly younger Fumika, clad in a frilly navy blue dress and a bright pink apron,[/url] blinked into existence next to her. Fumika reached out a hand, and little her did the same, before both image and original moved in perfect sync, shaking each other's hands. [color=#F50A83]"I'll be your partner. Thank you for working with me~,"[/color] She recited in a sing-song, childish voice to herself. Naturally, since she was talking to a projection, there was really no point, but getting to cooperate and get along with herself like she'd seen others do with each other made her happy, so she'd long ago made a habit of treating her copies as her friends when she could afford to. Little her gave her a smile that seemed somehow brighter and more welcoming than she remembered herself being, and stepped forward, hugging her tightly. She hugged back, nuzzling her cheek against her own fluffy hair. Something she didn't really understand still hurt, even now... But this felt a little better than how it had been before. This, at least, was one thing she didn't dislike about her Quirk. She never had to be lonely, nor did she ever have to trouble anyone or worry about how they felt, or other things she couldn't understand. Even if nobody else noticed or cared, and even if she was all alone, Fumika always had as many friends as she needed to cheer her up.