Chapter Text
It was only 9am, but you were typing on your laptop like a madman in a coffeeshop. The wonders of espresso.
You were writing emails to parents, updating them on their child’s behavior in class. Throughout the month you take notes on each student’s behavior and development in class. By the end of the month you compile everything and write thorough emails to each and every parent. You try to include suggestions on what extra work their child could be doing at home or other suggestions for improvement. It was overkill for sure. You weren’t even sure how many parent’s read the email completely, but you kept sending them regardless.
This month, however, you had put it off for way too long.
Which is why you had been sitting at a corner table in your favorite coffee shop, Dark Horse, since 8am. The shop had well-loved hardwood floors and sturdy wood tables to match. Some might have been bothered by the constellation of round water marks that stained the tables, but you found it endearing. Behind the espresso bar was a collection of overgrown houseplants that soaked up the sun coming from the floor to ceiling windows at the front of the store. Despite the name, Dark Horse was a bright spot for you in your neighborhood.
You would wander down to the shop anytime you were behind on work or just needed a moment to yourself and a good cup of coffee.
At the moment you were two cups in and hyper focused on your laptop screen. Was this email too short? You were writing to the parents of one of your star students whom you didn’t take to many notes on. As you were staring at the email and searching for anything you left out, a tiny voice pulled you out of your trance.
“Excuse me?”
You looked down to see a small girl with the prettiest light blue hair and a small horn poking out the left side of her face. Instinctively, you smiled at her.
“Hello!” You said enthusiastically. It was hard to keep a cap on your energy with this much caffeine in your system.
Though you started noticing fairly quickly that she was nervous to speak with you. Her eyes kept shifting from your face to the ground and she held onto her own hand for comfort.
“I like your hair,” She finally said, her voice still soft-spoken.
You smiled a little wider, “Thank you very much!” Currently, your hair was highlighted with all the colors of the rainbow. As you moved your head the colors seemed to move with you. It was a bit loud, but the bright colors made you happy.
“I like your hair color too!” You replied with absolute honesty. She had genuinely the prettiest blue hair you had ever seen. “Do you mind if I try it?”
She looked a bit confused, but after a second, she timidly nodded her head.
Taking that as her permission, you scrunched up your face and focused on transforming your hair to match her soft blue color. It gave you a bit of a rush to feel your quirk activate and travel from your skull to the tips of your hair. Any transformation took up energy to preform and maintain, but you find hair colors to be the easiest.
When you opened your eyes, the little girl was staring at you with awe.
“Did it work?” you asked her and held up a piece of your hair wondering if you had managed to get the correct hue of blue.
She nodded, still a little gobsmacked. “It looks just like mine!”
She was right. The lock of hair in your hand was the same soft blue and you internally high fived yourself for your success.
“Nah, yours is much prettier,” You said while letting go of the lock of hair.
For a fraction of a second her face twitched into what looked like a tiny smile, but it didn’t stick.
“What are you working on?” She asked curiously and moved closer to you to try and catch a glance of your laptop screen.
“I’m writing emails to my student’s parents,” You said gesturing to your laptop, “I do this every month so that the parents are in the loop with their child’s education.”
“You’re a teacher?”
“Yup! I teach at the elementary a couple blocks from here.”
“My Dad’s a teacher too,”
“Yeah? Where does he-’’
“Eri,” A worn out voice cut you off before you could finish your question
Behind the girl, Eri, was a man with unkept ink black hair that was wearing the most intricate scarf you had ever seen. He had a sharp jawline, but it was covered with patches of short stubble. His eyes were dark and edged with red veins, like he hadn’t slept for days. Underneath one eye there was a pale scar lining his cheekbone. That must have been some scratch. He looked a little young to be her father, but you knew as well as anybody looks could be deceiving.
He crouched down next to Eri, “Remember that you can’t leave my line of sight, it’s not safe.” He said in a no-nonsense voice.
“I’m sorry.” She said hastily, her voice just above a whisper. She hadn’t done anything wrong, but she looked so guilty, it concerned you.
The man sighed, “Don’t apologize.” His voice was surprisingly soft. He placed a large hand on her tiny shoulder until she looked calm again. As if to say she was okay, Eri nodded and he removed his hand. A silent understanding had passed between them.
Finally, the man stood up from his crouched position to acknowledge you, the stranger who had been talking to his daughter. For a second, he just stared, shock coloring his expression.
After a beat you realized it was probably because your hair was perfectly imitating his daughters. Oops. Quickly you let go of the color and your hair returned back to its natural shade. That seemed to put him at ease.
“I’m sorry if we disturbed your work.” He said in the same monotone voice.
“No not at all!” Was your quick reply. You were being genuine. Talking with Eri had been a pleasure. She was a sweet girl, and it warmed your heart whenever a shy kid stretched beyond their comfort zone. “It was lovely speaking with you Eri. Thank you for letting me try your hair color.”
“Your welcome.” She said, her eyes seeming just a little bit brighter than before. Her Dad noticed it too. He looked between you and his daughter and then back at you.
“Thank you,” he said simply.
You nodded in acknowledgment and gave Eri a small wave as she turned to follow her tired looking father out of the coffeeshop.