[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XNvlY5J.png[/img][/center]

[b]Colorless[/b] is a pretty perceptive one, it seems. The words hardly even managed to leave my mouth before she noticed. "Lived" -- not "live."

Well, logically speaking, it's not like the way I said it was wrong. After all, I'm gonna be living [i]here[/i] for the next four years, unless I do something really stupid. But then again, I suppose for a normal person, it's pretty strange to make that adjustment so quickly. No doubt, most people my age would be more attached to that place called "home." But can you really blame me in that regard? A rented one-room apartment over a shady izakaya isn't even the worst place I've stayed until now -- but it's also not one I'm attached to even slightly. All the thoughts spilling in through the thin walls and floor, the sounds of passionate drunkards lamenting and rejoicing until the wee hours of the morning --

Ehem. Suffice to say, I'm more than happy to be gone. Compared to that, a few hundred flustered high school kids is easy-peazy.

At any rate, as a fellow [i]observer[/i], I have to admire her perceptiveness -- especially since she's flying blind -- or rather, [i]deaf[/i] -- compared to me. She seems like a "my pace" sort of person, but she's a sharp one. I'll have to make a mental note to remember that for future interactions, so that I don't tip her off to anything I actually [i]want[/i] to keep hidden. Clever people are always the most fun to watch -- but only when they're not watching [i]me[/i] in return.

[color=#4F8D1B]"Nice to meet you, Touko-sama,"[/color] I answer bluntly.

That was a joke, by the way. You're free to laugh. I know. I'm hilarious.

Sigh. Tough crowd, I guess.

[color=#4F8D1B]"Manaka Kokone,"[/color] I continue. Since my first joke failed, I try to force a smile for my next one -- not that I even know how to. But I do my best to think in [color=orange]orange[/color] and my facial muscles -- atrophied though they may be -- do the rest. [color=#4F8D1B]"Not sure if you heard me introduce myself before -- actually, kind of hope that you didn't."[/color]

Another miss, it seems. The life of the party, I am not.

[color=#4F8D1B]"It does seem like we're going to be in the same class, though, so I hope we can get along."[/color]

At any rate, it seems like I've distracted [b]Tachibana[/b] long enough. Though I lost track of what [color=ffff00]Akisuji-kun[/color] was thinking about, I tune back in just in time to hear him saying something about what those eyes of his actually do. They can shoot beams, apparently -- though why he's so afraid to talk about it continues to elude me. Or... that's not all, apparently. He can also create more of them, and control them remotely -- an ability which only just begins to pique my curiosity before it happens.

[hr][color=FFFF00][i][b][u]⫷t̸͙̠̗̦̲́ư̶̖̜͚̬̜͛̊̆͂̋͆͆̍͘⌭❐⫷𝔡ư̶̖̜͚̬̜͛̊̆͂̋͆͆̍͘ỉ̶̛̯̈́͑͠▱𝔣⊕❖ư̶̖̜͚̬̜͛̊̆͂̋͆͆̍͘ỉ̶̛̯̈́͑͠d̴̜̪͚͔̈́̒̂́͘͘j̶̧̧̻͉̩͇̰̝͔̮̭́̔͛́̋̀̇͐̑̚͘͝͝ͅͅş̷̧̻̻̳͎̼͍̬̳͓͆̐̒̎͛̚𝔦𝔥c̴̛̖̍͑̏͘͝ą̸̪̟̳̞̥͓̱̦̞͊̓́͋̍̐̃͌̇̚↝↖ṅ̵̨̡̲̘̠̫̯̥̬̯͔̫͙̉̋́t̸̝͇̲̓͛̏͋̇͠→↓s̷͚͙͇̩͍̩͒̎̋͂̇̈́̅̉͗̚̕͠ḛ̴̡͙̫̦̪̟̓͒̐̅͝͠↘↘e̸͙̞͔͔̦̠̣̠̭͙̗̥͐̆͒̑̈́͝ẻ̵̺̲̼͕̒̀́͊̄̑͠͝͝͝ē̶̝̼̼̼̳̪͙͙͎̱͓̗̩͛͐̇̈́͑̓̿͐́͌̊͆͜͝ͅe̷͔̦̜̻̺͔̠͉̦̋̇́͑̀̍͑̋͌͑͘ė̸̻͕ȩ̸̢̪̼̠̯̗͍̬̬͓͔̳͖͇̈͆̓̅̏̓͋̓͜e̵̼͍͎̤̾̊̈ë̶̞́̋́̑̄͆͆̓̋ę̴̧̧̬͍͉̣̬̟̞̙͍̻͙͎̓́̇̐̄̑͒͐̅̓̇̏̆͛̃͝ͅͅe̵̗̪̊̎̑̋̌̂̂͂̂͒̚̕e̵̢̧̢͉̹͇̘̝̠̩͚̞̓̽̀͗̿̆͝⫸[/u][/b][/i][/color][hr]

A sound beyond words fills my mind once again. My head is shattering. Somewhere, his -- my -- [i]our[/i] eyeball is screaming, and I realize only too late what this sound is, as Tachibana helpfully asks about the ramifications of a Quirk that can and, apparently, [i]does[/i] overload one's [i]brain.[/i]

It's a Quirk somehow alike to my own, meant to transfer information from one living being to another -- and unlike him, I don't have any of the necessary brain functions to process it.

I want to scream, but then I remember that there are others near me. What kind of facial expression am I making right now? I haven't moved, so my face is probably still frozen in [color=orange]orange[/color] even though my thoughts are already [color=#4F8D1B]green[/color] again. Even so, I must have flinched involuntarily, despite myself, and can only hope the others didn't notice. The urge to vomit just came back in full force, and I only barely choke it back before, mercifully, the noise stops -- and I find myself suddenly basking in complete --

[color=skyblue][b]"SILENCE."[/b][/color]

[hr]

For most kids, that speech was probably the most nerve-wracking thing they had experienced today.

Me? I was more afraid of the short kid who'd been seated next to me than anything. After the ceremony ended and the teachers gave us our marching orders, I almost didn't even notice who I was supposed to be following. It took until she repeated herself for me to realize that the one thinking in green was 1A's teacher -- a fact which did little to assuage my unease. I don't do well with people who think in the same color as me. If I stop paying attention, it's all too easy to forget which thoughts are mine and which aren't -- and that scares me.

Thankfully, she doesn't seem to be thinking about much of anything in particular... Anything except some kind of [i]test,[/i] that is. So, they're throwing us right into the deep end, huh? Normally, this sort of thing wouldn't even faze me -- but my ears are still ringing and I can't make out the details in the teacher's brain. The worries of everyone around me aren't exactly helping, either -- particularly as some overly nervous student steps forward and nearly bites his own tongue trying to offer the teacher a [i]pineapple.[/i]

And worst of all, that senpai just took my headphones. Even if I can't [i]use[/i] them right now, just [i]having[/i] them is reassuring in case something happens. Without them, I feel like a samurai going into battle without a sword, and I can't help but be uneasy... Just what sort of [i]test[/i] is this going to be? And how can I pass it without drawing attention to myself... or to my Quirk?