The massive oakwood doors of the 1A Heights Alliance dormitory were thrown open with a force that betrayed their weight, swinging inwards with a thunderous crash that echoed through the empty building. Opening as far as the hinges would allow, the force then caused the doors to violently recoil and swing back shut with an equally loud slam. One of the couches was thrown to the side by an invisible force as (L/N) raced through the common area for the door leading to the building's sublevel. Nearly falling down the stairs in his haste, his shoulder hit the wall at the bottom of the stairs where it left a sizeable indentation in the drywall. Stumbling the short distance of hallway, (L/N) threw open the door to his room and immediately dove on his stomach as he began blindly fumbling for something underneath his bed.

After a few panicked seconds, he retreated with a small cardboard box in his hands. Inside it were his few meager possessions that he'd saved from his childhood. Emptying the box's contents, he scattered the items across the floor, hands crushing several paper cranes in his desperate search for the small stuffed bear Kendo had given to him in her first few months at Shonien's. A few seconds later he had the bear in hand, his shaking hands fumbling with the zipper at its back. Meant to be used to replace the cotton innards of the stuffed animal, it also served as an excellent spot to hide something small. Something about the size of a pill container.

Storing a reserve bottle was something he had started doing some years prior after he had one day ran out and it took the orphanage several days to receive another shipment. Every three months he replaced it with a new refill. When he'd first arrived at the dormitories, having suffered for a week to free himself from the hold of the blue and white capsules, and realized the stuffed bear had been brought to his room and that his stash remained undiscovered, he had considered flushing them down the toilet. He was thankful now that he hadn't.

Throwing the bear to the side, (L/N) tore the cap off the small glass bottle with unsteady hands and impatiently shook loose half a dozen of the blue and white capsules into the palm of his hand. Briefly, he wondered what the dosage might do to him. But then he thought back on the events of the past few hours, and with only the slightest hesitation he pressed his hand to his mouth and swallowed. Forehead damp with sweat, he fell back against the floor and eagerly awaited the haze to bring him release.

[My Hero Academia]

He couldn't stop thinking about it. Even though the drugs had set into effect some ten minutes ago.

The reappearance of Kazahana Akiharu had shaken him. Everything seemed to warp around him. His senses melted together until the world was lost in a distorted blur. Yaoyorozu had found him hiding away in one corner of the room, air coming to him in rapid and abnormal gasps. Even her soothing presence was unable to pull him from his trance.

The rest of the provisional license exam was lost to the stupor. It was like a dream. A dream that immediately began to wilt the moment you woke up until the details had all but vanished and you could no longer remember any of it.

By the time they were released the sun had already begun to set. The last remnants of daylight were quickly fading behind the horizon. Class 1A staggered out of the front doors, exhausted but invigorated by the day's success. Gathering by the buses that were parked at the curb waiting to shuttle them back to UA, they lingered for a few minutes as they bid farewell to the allies they'd made that day. Ketsubutsu's Yo Shindo gripped Midorya's arm in a firm yet friendly handshake, and Inasa Yoarashi ran up to Todoroki and shouted a rather confusing farewell before racing off again with a wave of his arm.

As the darkness of night finally began to set in, the students of Class 1A tiredly filed onto the bus, boarding in order of their student number per the class president's instruction. (L/N), the last in line, had his foot on the bottom step and was just about to follow behind Yaoyorozu when he felt a light tap on his shoulder before a hand came to rest there.

The sound of Akiharu's voice petrified him. Right foot on the bus, left still on the pavement of the sidewalk curb, a wave of cold dread washed over his body and froze him in place. The young man had apparently come to bid him farewell, and to apologize again. It didn't matter what he said. It didn't matter how many times he said it. Whenever Kazahana Akiharu spoke, all (L/N) would ever be able to hear is the taunting. The disdain. The scornful voice reminding him time and time again, 'You're going to spend your entire life alone. Unwanted and unloved.'

"I don't expect you to forgive me." Akiharu said remorsefully. "But... well, I hope that, someday, maybe we can be friends."

The hand on his shoulder suddenly became infuriating and a heavy breath escaped (L/N) in the form of a low, guttural growl. The bus's metal handrail creaked and screamed in protest as it began to crumple in (L/N)'s glowing grip. A faint light threatened to escape from behind his blindfold and for the first time in a long time, he saw color. The world, usually one of blackened darkness, had turned red. Slowly, forebodingly, he turned face to face with Kazahana and gave him a baleful look.

"Friends?" He said in a dangerously low voice. Akiharu quickly withdrew his hand as (L/N) turned to face him. The meek smile on his face vanished as he stumbled backwards, his lips slightly parted and eyes wide with fright. "I don't. Have. Friends." (L/N) continued darkly, taking a threatening step forward. "You... took that from me. Or did you forget?" With a flick of his wrist, (L/N) pressed the tip of his cane into Akiharu's throat and continued slowly stepping forward. Looking down and to the side, he asked, "What was it you said to me that night? Oh, that's right." He looked back up. "'You're a freak. And freaks like you don't have friends.' Isn't that right? Isn't that what you told me?"

Kazahana had his hands raised in front of his chest, slowly backing away with each carefully measured step (L/N) took forwards. Half of Class 1A was now crowded at the door of the bus while the rest careened their necks out the windows to watch the scene unfold, unsure whether or not they should try to intervene. Fighting to push her way through her classmates, Yaoyorozu stepped quickly off the bus just as Akiharu's back hit a tree.

"Go ahead and say it." (L/N) growled. His entire body was surrounded by an ominous pulsating glow that cast dark shadows across his face. "Say it." He hissed, pressing the cane deeper into the hollow of Kazahana's throat.

With a quick step forward, (L/N) twisted his arm and raised his hand so the angle of the cane changed. Earlier held by his side, now his grip was next to his ear, so the cane pointed down into Akiharu's windpipe. Closing the last few steps of distance between them, his other hand roughly grabbed Kazahana by the hair. Closing his eyes, Akiharu turned his face into his shoulder in a feeble attempt to hide from the other boy's fury.

"Say it!"

A hand touched his shoulder, and someone called his name. He barely registered either fact, too blinded by his rage. With an angry jerk of his arm, he shrugged the hand off. It was only once it had been removed that he could truly feel it through the absence of its warmth. Slowly, he registered the voice's soothing tone and the comforting manner in which it spoke his name. The light emanating from his body dimmed until it was extinguished. The anger faded, and as clarity returned to him so too did his sense of the world around him. (L/N) slowly turned around. Yaoyorozu was laying on the sidewalk.

"Momo?" He whispered.

Forgotten, Akiharu collapsed with his back against the tree, gasping for air as the cane fell pathetically to the ground. (L/N) raised his arm just a few inches, fingers reaching in Yaoyorozu's direction. He stumbled once towards her, a single small step before coming to a halt. The rest of Class 1A had ran from the bus to Yaoyorozu's side. Their backs to him, they surrounded her in a concerned circle. Ashido and Jiro knelt down next to her while the others looked on in worry. They eased her upper body into Ashido's lap, her torso concerningly heavy and limp. Beneath the blackness of her bangs (L/N) sensed a steadily growing pool of crimson at her temple that slowly began to spread down the side of her head in a heavy trickle.

"Momo?"

He said her name again. His voice was shaking, frightened, and small like a child's. There was an almost inaudible hiss, like drops of water falling on a hot stovetop, as several whisps of white steam ghosted from behind his blindfold.

Aizawa was crouched next to her now, holding open her eyelid as he checked her pupils. The others were calling her name, growing louder and more and more worried when she didn't respond.

His insides turned to ice. He couldn't breathe. He took a small step back. Then another. He tripped over his cane and the noise caused the others to finally turn and look at him. He knew that look. It was the same look his grandparents gave him when they picked him up from the police station that night.

Quickly scrambling backwards on his hands, he turned and crawled back onto his feet then broke into a sprint, finally lifting himself into the sky. He flew off into the night, leaving a streak of light in his wake.

The three-hour bus ride turned into an hour-long flight in his desperation to escape and seek shelter in the blue and white capsules. But lying on the floor of his room he could still remember. He knew what happened next. He could already feel the pain.

The small glass bottle touched his lips. There was a second's hesitation. Then he tilted his head back and the blue and white capsules began to fall until all that was left was an empty vial.

The dream was over.