[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/QKIjW21.png[/img] [h3][color=b16edd]Reina Mori[/color][/h3] [/center] Reina didn't have much time to think on her grand-uncle's words, though she appreciated the effort to cheer her up. As she was taken to a separate room where her quirk wouldn't adversely affect anyone around her, her eyes began to flutter. Without anyone else to worry about anymore, she was forced to recognize the complete state of pain and exhaustion she was in. She didn't remember ever being put to a bed, losing consciousness sometime between her grand-uncle handing her off and her being brought to a room. [hr] Listless as usual, a middle-school-aged Reina undressed in the girl's changing room, P.E. having just been the class she had finished. She wasn't particularly tired, never putting much effort in--physical training came on her own time, since she was never out with friends or anything anyways. As usual, she was slow to go the change rooms, preferring to be alone, though she heard some shuffling in another aisle of lockers. It was impossible for the girl not to tense up, well aware of the potential threat, though she chose to hope that it wasn't any of her tormentors. That was a mistake. Her gym top and shorts were off and draped over her left arm, allowing her to open her locker with her right. Her eyes widened after she swung the door open, staring at her bag--opened up, her regular uniform torn up and in ribbons. A loud clattering near her feet made her jump, eyes darting to the tile floor to see a pair of scissors. Her gaze quickly moved down the aisle to see Shoko and her friends. Reina's heart sank. [color=FF4A4A]"You ever notice how everyone avoids you now, killer?"[/color] Shoko spoke, calm and measured, yet terrifying as always. Her friends giggled on cue. It was all Reina could manage to muffle a pathetic whimper as she stepped back, prompting the group of girls to walk their way towards her. [color=FF4A4A]"I know you notice. I just enjoy reminding you."[/color] The other two girls with Shoko quickened their steps, grabbing Reina before she could back peddle away. One clamped a hand over her mouth as they brought her down to the cold ground roughly, Reina's panic muffled as she made a half-hearted effort to break away without her quirk. Worse, the girl noticed she had dropped her gym clothes--all she had left to get home now. She began to make a greater effort to fight back, reaching out and clawing at the tiles to try for her clothes, resulting in her head being slammed against the hard ground in the struggle. Shoko reached down to pick up first the scissors she had thrown, and then Reina's gym clothes, still out of her reach. The tormentor gave an almost imperceptible dry smile as she held up the red gym shorts, wasting no time before cutting a vertical hole in the crotch. She glanced down at Reina, poking two fingers through the hole. [color=FF4A4A]"This would be useful if you actually had any boys looking twice in your direction. With how alone you always are, I'm sure you wouldn't hesitate to make use of it for some attention."[/color] Shoko shrugged, as if to say it was a shame that that wasn't the case, instead cutting a few more times into the article of clothing, rendering it completely useless before tossing it away to the floor again. The girl smiled dryly again, enjoying the whimpers coming from Reina. [color=FF4A4A]"I do love it when you're this obedient. Makes this all a whole lot easier for everyone."[/color] Shoko turned her attention to swiftly ruining the gym shirt. [color=FF4A4A]"It's already going to be terribly embarrassing for you to get home now, isn't it?"[/color] the girl continued to calmly taunt as she moved to stand over Reina, looking directly down at her. [color=FF4A4A]"It'd be even worse if I cut up your underwear."[/color] That got another small bout out of Reina, as she tried to beg through the hand that muffled her. Shoko kneeled down swiftly into her stomach, eliciting a cry of pain from Reina and putting a quick end to the fighting. The girl brought the scissors to the middle of Reina's chest, sliding them under her bra. Shoko paused, seeming to quietly revel in the distress Reina was displaying. Tears and panic, but a quiet compliance in what was happening. Everyone here knew that Reina could get out of the situation if she wanted to--she could [i]kill[/i] Shoko and her friends if she felt like it. But she wouldn't, and Shoko knew that. Reina was actively fighting to keep her quirk zeroed out. Despite everything Shoko did to her, Reina refused to do anything about it, and instead accept it all. It gave Shoko a small shiver that she enjoyed. The girl's eyes glanced towards Reina's hands. Her delicate fingers. Without cutting through the bra, the scissors slid away--this only caused Reina more distress, wondering what Shoko was thinking. [color=FF4A4A]"Hold up her hand."[/color] The other two girls complied immediately. Shoko slowly touched first Reina's index finger, then her middle, ring, and finally firmly gripped her pinkie. [color=FF4A4A]"The least useful finger."[/color] The girl brought the scissors around the base of the digit. Reina started to lose it. Her heart rate shot up, temples pounding as she began to forget about controlling her quirk. Locker doors slowly opened, and the hair of her tormentors began to rise, gently pulled towards her. Shoko almost seemed entranced, slowly closing the scissors. Reina felt the blades pressing into her skin, breaking it. The weak girl screamed through the hand that muted her. She was really going to lose control. There was no way to fight her instinct under this sort of threat. She'd hurt more people--even if Shoko and her friends were awful, the last thing she wanted was to hurt Shoko again. It was her fault to begin with. It was her fault and she needed to get her quirk under control but she couldn't she couldn't she couldn't-- [color=FF4A4A]"Relax."[/color] The scissors were removed from around her finger. [color=FF4A4A]"Don't be such an idiot. I wouldn't be able to get away with that."[/color] Reina paused, trying to gasp for air despite the hand on her mouth. Wide eyes stared first at Shoko's floating hair, then at all the locker doors in the aisles open and pointing towards her. [color=FF4A4A]"Absolute bitch. Trying to put me on my deathbed again."[/color] Reina's quirk immediately gave way as her blood ran cold--both from the guilt that began to wrack her again, and the fury building in Shoko's voice. The girl tried to apologize, but it sounded only like another whimper. Shoko hesitated no longer. She swiftly cut Reina's bra, leaving a slight slice on the skin of the girl's chest. The clothing was pulled away by other hands while Shoko's went down to immediately tear off Reina's bottom, leaving her completely exposed now. [color=FF4A4A]"The shower,"[/color] she ordered. Her friends immediately stood to drag Reina along, roughly throwing her into one of the shower stalls. One of them turned it on, giving something between a yelp and a giggle as she hopped back quickly to avoid getting herself wet. Reina shivered, under the stream of water, the floor painfully cold on her skin. She did what she could to cover herself. [color=FF4A4A]"Left this in your bag,"[/color] she heard Shoko say, prompting her to look up to see the girl holding her cellphone. Of course. If Reina's heart could sink any lower, it would have. Shoko held it steady, pointing the camera towards Reina. Reina winced at the first flash as her picture was taken, doubling her efforts to cover herself with her arms. The flash went off several more times before Shoko spoke again. [color=FF4A4A]"Have fun."[/color] She slid Reina's phone into her pocket, turning and leaving, the other two girls quickly following behind, leaving with their own taunts directed towards Reina. In shock, Reina could only listen to the incessant drumming of the running water. Shivering uncontrollably and in tears, the girl curled up against herself tighter and leaned into the wall, allowing herself to sob without holding back. In her mind, she only focused on repeating to herself that this was normal for her. It was deserved. It was the only thought that made her feel just slightly better, in one way. Worse in others. It took over a half hour before anyone else entered the changing room and found her. Reina hardly cared about the embarrassment anymore. She couldn't come to care about anything. She had felt numbness before, but never to this complete degree. Time passed and she found herself in the school's nurse's room with spare clothing a size too big on her. Eventually, her parents came to pick her up--apparently this incident was big enough for her school to contact them, and for them to take some time away from work. There was some yelling between parents and principal. It was almost comical, how suddenly her parents seemed to care about her. She was at her locker now with her mother. She was going to be transferred to another school. That was great news. But she couldn't seem to care. She found her phone taped to the locker, eliciting some sort of concern from her mother. It wasn't worth hiding. Reina confirmed for herself that the pictures taken of her had been posted online, making her mother even more furious--angrier than she had ever seen her. It didn't matter. The girl deleted the pictures from wherever she could as they made their way back to meet with her father and leave the building for the last time. Those photos would be somewhere in the world forever now. Not like that changed much. She was always alone before, and she would always be alone after. The stares and whispers would continue. Tranferring schools wouldn't change that. There wasn't a bit of hope left in the girl. There wasn't a bit of anything left in her. Reina was nothing. [hr] Reina awoke, staring at the white ceiling above. She had to take a moment to remember where she was. The hospital. After having fought a villain one-on-one for some time. She glanced down toward her body, seeing her right arm in a cast and sling, and her left wrapped in bandages. The girl wiggled her body to assess it, noting both her legs, and much of her lower torso was also wrapped up. Everything still hurt, but maybe less now. It was a duller throbbing, rather than sharp stinging. So she realized there wasn't much to do but wait. The girl drifted in and out of restless sleep, occasionally interacting with nurses and eating. Other than that though, she was stuck inside her own mind, memories of her past being dredged up every time she began to doze off. [hr] "Reina-chan! Come on already!" a young Shoko called out. Reina stood in front of her house's front entrance, trying to lock the door solely with her quirk. It took a lot of dexterity--and she [i]could[/i] do it... but it was usually a fluke that took a while. And they really didn't have much time today, since they were already sort of late for their first day of middle-school. Reina clicked her tongue and locked the door like a normal person, quickly bolting off after Shoko. The pair veered off their path a few minutes later to reach the house of another friend, Rumiya. The girl was waiting outside in front of her home, brightening up when she saw her two friends. [color=7fffe7]"What took you so long? I was getting worried,"[/color] she said to the two as she made her way over. [color=FF4A4A]"Reina was working on her quirk again,"[/color] Shoko replied with a smirk. [color=7fffe7]"Still planning to be a pro hero?"[/color] [color=b16edd]"Of course. No reason that'd change over spring break,"[/color] the quietest girl of the group replied with a small shrug and sheepish smile. [color=FF4A4A]"Well the most immediate problem is not being late right now, so let's get going already,"[/color] Shoko said to urge them on. A while later, Reina found herself in her new school's gymnasium. Everything seemed to shine with the new school year and the nervous energy of the hundreds of students packed together, yet something crept in the back of Reina's mind, souring the experience. Dread, guilt, and torment, that would all originate from this large room. A chaotic, sudden flash of the future overcame her. A familiar panic over took her body, her quirk pulling and pushing wildly, her body instinctively trying to protect itself by any means necessary. A wall of the gymnasium is brought down, taking part of the roof along with it, all the heavy pieces of rubble barrelling towards her and those near her-- [hr] Reina awoke with a start for the dozenth time that day. She stared at the hospital ceiling again for a long moment, deciding she was fed up with being trapped with her own thoughts. She needed something to focus on--without anything, she was going crazy. The girl slowly forced herself out of bed, gently standing on her own two feet, though she kept a light grip on the bed next to her for a few minutes. Her legs were shaky, but more than usuable. Reina almost smiled to herself as she began to move around the room deliberately. Being able to let go of her quirk and walk around like this was one upside of having a room to herself. After several minutes had passed, she made her way back onto the bed, repeating the process and taking care to avoid moving around when a nurse was likely to pop into the room. Everytime she stepped off the bed, she stayed off it longer, even going ahead and doing some light exercising. As time slowly went on though, she found herself still growing restless and frustrated. Time spent recovering like this was time spent not improving herself. The girl found herself standing at the window of the room, staring out blankly. She let out something of a growl, gripping the plastic knife in her hand from her most recent meal more tightly, spinning around in a fit of energy to swing it as though it were a blade, mimicking some of the movements Takeshi had taught her. The girl held a readied pose for a moment, before relaxing and sighing, turning back to the window and letting her forehead hit the glass with a dull thud. [color=b16edd]"Get me out of here already,"[/color] she said to no one. Her attendance at Komei was beginning to change her. Where there had once been nothing, there was now the determination that she had only had in her childhood before. Reina was no longer nothing. She had a goal, and, for the first time, she truly believed she could at least partially reach it. She would put herself through hell over and over to pay her dues. She [i]could[/i] do that--the staggering resolve was there, and this recent incident was some proof that she had the necessary power. It would take work, though. A lot of it, but it didn't matter how much. She'd do it. She would. The girl stared into her own eyes reflected back in the window. She'd do it, or there'd be no reason for her to be alive.