FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A WHILE, ZINNIA WAS EXCITED FOR AN UPCOMING EVENT. Even if it was the deemed release of a game in the next year, it was one that, upon her miraculous moment of stumbling upon the video trailer by accident, got her well and truly hyped.

No game was too grim for her, too childish or out of her so called "character". Games were games, and she loved them. They were meant to be played, no matter what anyone said about it. And she was even more excited to learn that a game she had thought would never get another sequel was finally getting one. Needless to say, upon discovering the trailer of a platinum-haired demon-hunting badass hacking and slashing through swarms in style, the two essays Kida had dished out as homework was discarded in preference for researching the living hell out of the trailer and all the news pertaining to it.

In hindsight, it may not have been quite a good thing to gift Zinnia with a laptop for her birthday, but she certainly wasn't going to complain. Instead, she had scoured all through her phone, put in pre-order dates throughout her calendar app and ensured she would not miss its immediate release. Even if it meant dragging Kirishima along to pick up the limited edition box, it was a task she was all too willing to undertake.

And by the end of it, Zinnia cursed her spiel of procrastination and worked hard to finish the two essays to what she felt was a passable margin by 12am, and went to bed once she had slipped her laptop back in its hiding place beneath her floorboards.

When she awoke, there was no one up.

But of course that was as common as the sun rising for Zinnia and her pre-dawn wakeup routine.

Her usual morning routine of quickly washing up and preparing her breakfast was simple, peppered with just the merest pocket of annoyance on Zinnia's behalf as she spotted the scarlet hues of her natural hair showing through the dark ebony strands. She knew yet again that she had to dye it, which she found more than just a hassle when she kept her hair long out of her mother's own preference.

To combat it's presence, Zinnia carefully pulled her hair up in a loose black and purple beanie she had lying around in her room, and decided that she should test if she could get away with the accessory. After all, she hadn't failed to notice that all the second and third years she had glimpsed wore their uniforms in different states of care, and a lot of the girls wore giant ribbons, clips, even some had piercings galore to go with their mutation quirks and edgy makeup.

So much for the typical Japanese school with modesty and order as the defining principles. Perhaps she had undercut and picked one of the very few who cared little for maintaining appearances.

A set of papers were slipped into the groove between the large white door and the supporting frame, Zinnia found as she'd kicked her shoes on during her motion to leave for the day. She tugged them free, finding that it was a set of papers addressed to her homeroom teacher, Kida Shinsuke. All three were hand-written letters attached together with a paper clip, the first being a letter from Kali, the second being co-signed by both Hatori and Shinji, with the third being written by Seiya himself. All three were letters explained that given her volunteer work at the Hospital, absentees were regular, and that permission has already been granted by her parents and the hospital itself marked as the authorized supervisor during such times, with Hatori and Shinji's declaration as further proof perhaps?

Either which way, it was obvious that Kali had organized this for her, or perhaps Seiya had brought this up with her, instead. And more to the point it meant that Zinnia had to go hand these in to Kida.

Which wasn't something that she looked forward to, truth be told.

She hoped she could get this over and done with all while avoiding any sort of notice.

The walk to Sarayashiki was slow, a walk that extended further from home than she had expected, even after returning home the night before from Kirishima's house. She didn't spot a single Sarayashiki uniform at all for a good half of the walk, and only as she reached a few streets away did she even see one.

And when she did, found herself spotting uniforms belonging to another school as well.

There was a street-fight taking place down the street with an overpass bridge, with a group of students donning a slate and teal version of a school uniform hissing insults and snarls to a group of equally as volatile students from Sayarashiki - upper-classmen, if anything. All the students involved were female, with a couple on either side sporting split lips and scratches across their faces.

What was evidently a cat-fight between the two groups was well underway, especially as Zinnia saw one of the girls from Sarayashiki round upon one of the girls arguing with their friend and attempt to gouge a chunk out of the girl's face with her nails.

It was pitiful, unpleasant to see.

And as Zinnia watched the others begin to kick and shriek like out of control, territorial cats on heat, she decided there was no point in getting involved. Either party were just as bad as the other, and she'd be wasting her time.

There were delinquents at every school, except for possibly private and elite schools. There were more than the fair share of them at her middle school, after all. But that didn't mean she was all that pleased to see that there were more than a few were at Sarayashiki, too. The loner types were alright so long as you kept your distance from them, but the gangs tended to kick up trouble for the fun of it, and it looked like that was going to be the problem here.

There was nothing she disliked more than needless, broody behaviour.

The gates of Sarayashiki high school stood ahead of her, a rather disconcerting sight against the lack-luster school building, and the closer Zinnia got to it, the more she found herself feeling like she might be better off just dropping out of school altogether.

But of course, Kali wouldn't approve of that.

The classmates she had sighted yesterday were mostly within the classroom, however the presence of that group of girls standing at the back corner of the classroom was an annoyance to Saki for more than one reason this time.

They had proceeded to take up the five chairs in that corner, including Saki's own, and that bunny girl from yesterday was pleading with them to give her chair back. In fact, it looked like today the girls weren't budging.

'P-Please! This is m-my seat! Kida-sensei marks our a-attendance based on wh-which chairs are filled!' The bunny girl spoke, with her voice chiming like the high tones of glass wind chimes. 'C-c-can you please give it b-back to me! C-class is going to start soon!'

'Ha! I don't think so, you stuttering freak!' The blonde of the group snapped with a rather unpleasant sneer. 'Back off already, or we're going to have a real problem here!'

'Or better yet, why don't you drop out and go join the circus! You'd fit right in with those ears like some trashy bunny whore!' One of the brunettes snapped.

The bunny girl appeared to flinch in response, though she hadn't spoken.

'This is our turf, we don't want quirks here, even if it's a useless one like yours!' The blonde began once again, glaring with vitriol and spite, causing Zinnia to raise a disbelieving brow. 'So you'd better keep your head down, or we'll be throw you out by force!'

'B-but I just want my desk!'

'Didn't you hear me, scrag whore? I said beat it!' The blonde girl spat as she shoved the bunny backwards against the window.

And this, was where Zinnia had seen enough.

She wandered over, weaving between the taller boys part of the way in the classroom as she stepped and her bag was hoisted a little off of her shoulder. Without the other girls even seeming to notice, she reached the side of her desk where a particularly sour looking ravenette sat, where she lifted her bag and dropped it carelessly onto the desktop right next to the girl's hand.

The sudden and surprisingly loud bang of her bag full of biology textbooks and medical thesaurus drew a startled yelp from the gang of girls in the room, and immediately all eyes were upon her.

And yet Zinnia didn't even flinch as she fixed the ravenette a blank, even stare.

'Please get out of our chairs.' Zinnia requested.

The bunny girl stood petrified, staring in just as much silence as the rest of the class who were waiting for the group of girls to get even more unpleasant.

'Excuse me?!' The girl who she'd startled the most screeched as she stood up straight out of the chair. 'Who the fuck do you think you are, runt?! You wanna start a fucking scrap with me?! HUH?!'

'Hardly. I simply asked you to get out of our chairs. Mine here, and the one of the fair rabbit just there, which she asked well in advance.' Zinnia stated simply, not the least bit deterred by the fact that the girl snarling down at her was at least twice her own size. 'Now, please at least try to act like you're a mature junior in High School and shift aside.'

'How dare you talk to me like some stuck up rich bitch from a fucking elite school?!' The girl snarled as she snatched Zinnia up by the front of the blazer and proceeded to drag her off her feet, much to the squeaking fright of the bunny. 'I ought to put some colour in that pasty face of yours and put you in your place!'

However the most that escaped Zinnia was a scoff.

'No.' She stated bluntly. 'I don't think so.'

And with a vicious slew of profanity, the girl pulled a hand back to slap Zinnia straight across the face.

However, it was much to Zinnia's expectations.

With the merest splitting of the skin up the right palm of her hand, a lone tendril of manipulated blood emerged, lashing upwards quick enough to catch the girl around the wrist and stop the strike just inches from her face.

Startled gasps escaped the group of arrogant girls in the classroom as soon they saw the tiny girl's quirk in action, and pure outrage flashed across the face of the nameless ravenette.

'You arrogant bitch of a slut, you're quirked, too?!' She seethed, spitting the word "quirked" like it was venom.

'Given by your shameless carry on, I'd say you're not.' Zinnia responded as she adjusted her quirk's grip on the girl's arm to pull it away and drop it. 'Quirked, I mean. Undoubtedly, the rest still applies to you.'

A flash of fury appeared in the girl's eyes as she decided to try and take another swipe at her.

And then, Zinnia heard a sudden impact of a fist against a blackboard, bringing the commotion to a complete halt.

'What is going on within my classroom?' Came the dull, deceptively bored voice belonging to Kida at the front of the room, bringing everyone's attention to the man who had appeared without anyone's awareness. The girl holding Zinnia up by the blazer had even dropped her frantically, as if praying that she hadn't been noticed yet.

'K-Kida-sensei...' The blonde girl who'd been harassing the bunny stuttered out.

'It's nothing! We're just joking around!' The nameless ravenette tried to dismiss sheepishly.

'I see.' Kida responded as he straightened up at the front of the room. 'Then I will illustrate exactly what I see here.'

The girls all seemed to shrink back apprehensively as the scratching of chalk began to echo through the room, waiting silently for their fates to be dealt.

'Seat's Eighteen, Thirteen, Twelve, Twenty Two, Twenty Five, Seven and Thirty, One detention each for throwing the first strike and screaming loud enough to have the Principal send me down here early to discipline you.' Kida decreed as he continued to write. 'And you, the Quirked Runt.'

Zinnia turned her head in response, where she was met with one of the most disapproving looks she had seen from any teacher she had been taught by.

Which said a lot, because all of her teachers throughout middle school loathed her presence with a passion.

'Is that your seat right there? With the bag on top.' He demanded.

Zinnia inclined her head in a nod.

'Seat Twenty nine, then.' Kida continued as his gaze narrowed. 'Five detentions and one written warning for using your quirk against a quirkless student. You're lucky I can see it was in self-defence and not for assault.'

Zinnia heard the bunny gasp in horror, all the while she kept her expression neutral.

'I did not think it necessary to bring this up yesterday, but I will make myself very clear to all of you right now.' Kida began as he lowered his piece of chalk and continued to fix the tiny girl with a glare. 'This is a school for the benefit of Quirkless students, however we do not refuse quirked so long as ones quirk is not used on the premises in any shape or form, especially against a quirkless student. Do I make myself clear?'

Zinnia was silent, inclining her head forward in a nod as the majority of the class sounded a dull "yes" in response.

And as she straightened her uniform out and sat herself down at her desk with a sigh, she caught sight of the most vindictive grins spreading across the faces of that raven-haired girl's group.

It was rather obvious to Zinnia that she had kicked the hornets nest.

She knew it the second she had dropped her bag right onto her desk.

But alas, there was nothing she could do, and she resumed her attempts to study with no interruptions. She did not hand the letters in to Kida when she had an opportunity, and instead kept to herself as much as possible.

Her first detention took place during lunch, along side the group of unpleasant girls who had been a chaotic thorn in everyone else's side all morning.

Detentions were spent in the school gymnasium, where they were tasked with cleaning all of the gym equipment and rearranging the cupboards.

However, unlike how Kida had stated that quirks weren't permitted within school premises, the PE teacher in charge of disciplinary lessons actually said something on the contrary. Named Ohara Shizuru, the woman was perhaps Zinnia's favorite teacher thus far, even though PE class wasn't until Thursday.

'Detentions can be shortened based on the amount of effort and work done by the serving individual. That's my rule, and its agreed upon by the majority of the other faculty.' Informed a thirty-something year old woman of spunky blonde locks and remarkably yellow, snake-like eyes that sent chills down Zinnia's spine when the woman had looked her in the eye. 'It is also within the disciplinary grounds that quirks are permitted to be used, solely for the purposes of efficiency and quality of work.  If a person happens to have a quirk that manipulates water, and thus uses it to wash the windows more successfully than if by rag and bucket, then it is permitted only within my supervision.'

The group of unpleasant girls actually looked appalled by the woman's declaration and cast disgusted sneers in Zinnia's direction.

'Now then, Kennedy-san if I'm not mistaken?'  Ohara had asked as she turned her attention upon Zinnia, who nodded in response. 'You're here for using your quirk in defence against these girls, is that correct?'

'Yes ma'am.' She agreed.

'Is your quirk able to be used to aid in serving your detention?'

Zinnia was silent as she pondered the question.

'In certain circumstances, that's possible.' She agreed before long. 'But washing windows with it would be quite unpleasant and pointless.'

'Can I have a demonstration, please.' Ohara asked.

'Ooh! Will she get another detention?!' The blonde girl of the group requested hopefully, earning a disapproving look from the teacher.

'Did you not just hear what I informed all of you?' Ohara demanded with a worsening stare. 'Quirks are permitted under my supervision, and if I instruct a student to use it within my gymnasium. So no. Kennedy-san will not earn another detention. Sorry to disappoint you.'

The group of girls looked very disgusted with this information, though Zinnia simply rolled her eyes at their reactions.

It was then that Ohara turned her head back towards Zinnia.

'Now, Kennedy-san, please show me your quirk.'

And with a faint, almost unnoticeable sigh, Zinnia did as instructed.

Without even shifting on her feet, Zinnia brought her quirk to burst through the already split skin of her palm. Her fingers were shaking as she forced a similar tendril of blood to emerge, where it lifted and swayed in small loops through the air.

The group of girls visibly recoiled as they witnessed Zinnia's quirk move and swirl through the air as if it had a mind of its own, all the while Ohara stood there with a rather intrigued look written across her face.

'Would that happen to be a type of kinesis based on blood, Kennedy-san?' Ohara questioned curiously.

'Its technically just blood manipulation.' Zinnia responded. 'I just use it a lot.'

'The amount of control you have is very interesting. It looks far more like a kinesis-type quirk.' Ohara said as she turned her gaze up at the roof of the large sports facility, all the while those girls edged further and further away from Zinnia. 'Do you think you could get all those balls down from between the beams and rafters?'

And without a word, Zinnia directed her quirk to reach upwards and dragged herself up to the beam closest to one of the basket balls in the ceiling, manipulating her blood to take on a more solid, stronger makeup that would yield her the results she needed.

She wasted no time in kicking the basket ball straight out of the ceiling.

Ohara gave an immediate nod of approval as she motioned to all the other gym equipment wedged throughout the gymnasium before turning back to the other girls.

'And you girls can get started on sweeping and dusting the storage rooms.' The teacher instructed, much to the obvious displeasure of the group.

Needless to say, Zinnia didn't mind this more level headed teacher, and kept swinging from rafter to beam to dislodge all of the trapped equipment.

It was rather entertaining to note that by the end of Zinnia's detention recovering equipment and dusting the rafters, there was at least fifteen minutes left of lunch break and at the start of English for fourth period, those girls were whining about being issued another detention for failing to complete any of Ohara's instructions between the seven of them.

The rest of the day was sadly spent with the group placing their ill intent upon Zinnia's existence.

Her chair was kicked out from under her, a feat that would have landed her on the floor had she not already expected it. Across the room chunks of chopped up eraser and balls of garbage were thrown at her, hitting her in the face and scattering around her feet. And as she picked herself up to deposit the garbage into the bin and leave at the end of final class,  the sudden force of a pair of hands shoved her forwards to crash face-first into the blackboard.

It was juvenile, pathetic, and as Zinnia heard those shallow laughs spit out the words "freak" and "monster", she only let out a breath as she readjusted her glasses on her face.

It wasn't much different from middle school, and perhaps Zinnia found herself running through her recollection of the pranks, taunts and jeers she had wound up dealing with.

She expected their next move was going to be more physical to try and bring her to use her quirk again.

She chalked it down for later thought and left to head to work.

After all, Claudia, Dimitri and Faye were all home, and she wanted to avoid more antagonizing for at least a few hours.

--=[Submitted 14th September 2018, 4370 words total]=--