Chapter Text
The air smelled like scorched engine oil.
Suzuki Shou took a deep breath.
“Somebody grab the student council!” A panicked voice echoed above the murmurs of curious students. “Forget them, someone find a teacher!” An older, more reasonable voice retorted.
Shou was sprawled out on the linoleum floors. With the wind knocked out of him, he made a squeaking, moaning noise in his throat. Nearly half the school cradled close to him in an excited circle, the monotony of their school day interrupted by the news of a fight outside of the lunchroom. Shou could barely register his embarrassment over the sound of blood rushing to his ears.
In front of him was the miserable body of an older student, who flopped to the ground like a speared fish – his arm twisted like a cloth wrung out to dry.
“Holy crap, there’s so much blood!” Someone shrieked. Comments from the goddamn peanut gallery. Shou dug his teeth into the soft of his cheek. A part of him wanted to yell at the onlookers. Tell them to fuck off and stop staring at him like an escaped zoo animal.
It was a rare, honest, shameful accident. The student didn’t deserve it, not like those stupid, esper foot soldiers and egotistical division leaders did. This guy just saw himself as a big fish in a small pond, now drowned in the oil spill that was Shou Suzuki.
All he could see as the student grabbed him was the hand of his father reaching for his neck.
Since CLAW disbanded, static buzzed under Shou’s skin like a lightbulb about to burn out. He had felt an undercurrent of suspense for so long he barely recognized the emotion anymore. This day in particular, despite fully anticipating the older student about to shove him to the ground, something carnal erupted in Shou, like a street dog presented with a bone. A chance for release.
He refused to look over at the boy in front of him now. His eyes stared unfocused at the ceiling tiles. The air above him parachuted small, orange pops of energy from his aura. The older student had been strong.
Not nearly as strong as Shou, though.
In his fear, he felt like a small child again. He wished his mom was here now, her hand in his fiery curls, humming softly.
But Shou buzzed his hair off on a warm night in Ritsu’s bathroom last summer. And his mom now lived in Sapporo with her new husband and daughter. He absently touched his hand to his scalp. He didn’t want to sit up yet, his body remained a scuff mark on the floor.
Vaguely, he remembered the early days of CLAW before his mom had left; how it felt to witness what little success his father had in cruelty.
“He didn’t used to be like this.” She whispered in the aftermath of Toichiro’s anger — a roulette wheel that often landed on Shou. He wasn’t sure if she was reassuring Shou or herself. Could that really happen? A loving father turned evil supervillain on a whim? Shou had his doubts, he couldn’t remember Pops ever being a loving father.
Man, he really missed her. He cradled his arms tight against his chest. This must be the moment it happened. The moment his genetic lightswitch flipped ON and he became no different than his old man; stupid and arrogant, angry enough to chew nails and spit rivets.
A large hand yanked his arm and pulled him to his feet, it was his homeroom teacher. The man was barely taller than Shou, and if you asked him, he kind of resembled a frog wearing glasses. Shou would have laughed in his face if his throat wasn’t so tight.
“ Suzuki! ” He hated hearing that name, marking him with a reputation that practically begged his peers to second guess being seen within arms reach of him. His eyes were brightly frantic as a second set of hands started to drag him across the floor.
“H-hey let go– let go of me!” They were going to arrest him. They probably already had a jail cell with his name on it, built next to his Pops. He wished they’d just get it over with and kill him instead. Shou’s one-track mind latched onto the thought and his chest felt like it might combust.
Worst of all, he will have proved his mom right to leave Shou behind. He understood now – if there was no way to change his Pops, then there wasn’t a way to prevent Shou from becoming like him either. Maybe Ritsu would finally get a clue and realize it as well. Light bent around Shou as he flickered in and out of invisibility.
“Suzuki, you need to calm down!” Another tug, the two teachers wrestled him towards the principal's office. He wanted to hit and bite and all the other terrible things that he was good at doing.
“ That's not my name!” He yelled waspishly, arching into a backbend as he resisted their restraint. He chanced a look over to the bloodied older student on the ground, but he was mostly obscured by the school nurse and other staff rushing in. Shit. That was a lot of blood.
“I-I’m sorry,” He rasped through his breath. It was all he could think to say.
“Sorry isn’t good enough, Shou.” His teacher said in a dull, tired voice. How horribly true.
His winning streak couldn’t last forever. Shou knew that he’d inevitably fuck up, and everything good he had built for himself would soon come to an end. He just thought he’d have a little more time before it happened.
He dropped limp and the two teachers scrambled to hold his weight.
“Dammit Shou!” Suddenly, an off-key ringing stung the air.
And Shou teleported away.
Reigen did not have kids, nor did he want them.
So it came as a bit of a surprise when he received a voicemail from the Cayenne Pepper School District informing him that his son had been involved in an altercation at school and was now facing suspension. At first, he nearly dismissed it as another prank call—Spirits and Such got plenty of those already. But some small, altruistic part of his conscience, one he hadn’t quite managed to kill yet, nagged at him to call the number back. He really didn't want this to be a recurring thing, whatever this might end up being.
The call started off well, until Reigen realized he was quickly losing the reins of this conversation.
“Look- hang on a second, I really think you have the wrong number.” What couldn’t this lady understand? He pinched the crease between his brows. Serizawa, who had been sitting in the corner of the office working on his homework, kept shifting uncomfortable in his seat.
The secretary on the other end hummed noncommittally. Her voice was tinny and grated his ears.
“No sir, this is definitely the phone number in our system. Your name is Reigen Arataka, correct?
“Yes, but-“
“And you are the legal guardian of Suzuki Shou, correct?” Hold on. Suzuki? Like the leader of that terrorist organization Mob took down last year?
“Um, will you please excuse me while I speak with my associate real quick?”
He clicked the mute button just as he heard a confused mumble, “Associate?” from the woman on the other end. Reigen groaned and swiveled in his office chair.
“Yo, Serizawa! Do we know a Suzuki Shou?” He asked, curious but otherwise confident Serizawa would recognize a relative of Suzuki.
Serizawa’s usual blank expression turned apprehensive as he looked up from his scribbles to Reigen and back again.
“Yes. Why do you ask? Is he on the phone?”
“Uh, just humor me for a minute – have I met him?” Reigen kind of thought he should feel bad for not remembering the kid.
Serizawa nodded. “I think you’d know him best from your last birthday party, he brought the off-brand sodas but shook them a bunch before opening.”
Reigen winced. Oh, him .
"The one with anime protagonist hair and Adderall in his jacket?"
"Uh, I-I think it's Ritalin, Reigen-san”
“Same difference.” He swatted the air. “Yeah, I know the kid. Why the hell am I listed as his legal guardian on all of his school forms?”
“What?”
“His school called to let me know that he’s been suspended, something about a fight.”
Serizawa frowned. Reigen thought he kind of looked like an oversized, kicked puppy.
“That doesn’t sound like Shou.” He trailed off. Shou was a good kid, but he used to give Serizawa unasked for advice and call him dumb for following his dad around all day. He would tell Shou not to say such mean things about his father, but unlike Serizawa, he was rebellious the way normal teens should be. It was actually quite confusing for Serizawa at the time. However, looking back he was grateful, knowing that Shou wanted something better for Serizawa’s life than what his Pop’s could offer. “I still have his number, maybe I could try calling him?”
“Excellent idea, Serizawa!” Reigen said as he flourished his hands into a thumbs up. Serizawa’s face turned a bit pink, and he accidentally brushed his notebook paper off the desk.
“Reigen-san, are you still there?” A small voice came from the forgotten phone balanced between his ear and shoulder. He scrambled for the unmute button.
“Y-yes! I am. Sorry, I was discussing Shou’s suspension with his… mother.” He and Serizawa both outwardly cringed. Reigen figured the least he could do was avoid pretending Shou had two gay dads.
Oblivious, the secretary continued. “Yes, very well. Now, just to touch base, we have been informed that the other student’s family is planning to press charges for assault.”
Great. Awesome idea for a conman to have the cops sniffing around this mess. Reigen’s teeth clenched into the shape of a smile.
“I see, and are the police there with him now?”
There was a pause. “No, he left the school grounds about an hour ago. We assumed he returned home.”
Reigen straightened his posture. Man how incompetent were these people? His hand spun frantic circles in the air. “Hang on a second—you let him leave? Without notifying his guardian?”
He could hear an awkward shuffle of papers on the other end. “I am terribly sorry sir. He’s not officially in custody, so we couldn’t detain him…”
Reigen’s voice tightened. “So you just let a kid under investigation walk off school grounds, and didn’t think to call me?” He thanked some higher power that he didn’t actually have kids. “Look, just let me know if he shows up again.”
“Yes certainly, once again we are terribly sor-”
“Uh-huh, yeah, nice chatting with you too.” He snapped the phone shut and leaned back into his chair.
Serizawa stared at him, sweating. He fumbled with a flip-phone covered in Nintendo stickers, the one Reigen gave him when he was first hired.
“I- I’ll go call Shou.”