It didn't take long for (L/N) to adjust to life at Shonien's. Everything was run on a set schedule. Wake up at 8:00, breakfast at 8:30. Classes would last from 9:15 until 11:30, then lunch from 11:30 to 12:30. The school day ended at 4:00, then time for the daily vitamins. Mr. Saito would be waiting for the children, sitting in a room with all the pills and handing out small paper cups with several different vitamins. One fiber, one B-12, Vitamin-D, Vitamin-E, and Calcium. The children were then given a snack and several hours of free time, then at 6:30 it was dinner. Bedtime was at 8:00 pm sharp. At night (L/N) lie awake, the sounds of the house shifting and the noises of the city keeping him awake. The metal springs in his mattress jabbed at his back and the blankets they gave him itched even worse than the ones at his grandparents.

The next three years all blended into one indistinguishable haze. Every day was the same. Nothing ever happened. He had little to look forward to each day. His schoolwork was simple to the point of boredom and he had no friends. The other children found him odd. He was quiet and the blindfold made them uneasy. He didn't like any of the stuff kids were supposed to like. He spent most of his time reading. At least that's what their teacher, Ms. Sasaki said it was. But they didn't understand how those funny little bumps spelled anything. Yes, (F/N) (L/N) was certainly strange.

As he got older, his already heightened senses began to develop even further, leading to a severe case of sensory overload. He could taste the chalk powder in the air during class and smell the brand of cigarettes that Mr. Nakamura had smoked two days prior. The water droplets clung to his skin and rolled off him in beads when he showered, the soap cutting through the thin layer of dirt that coated his skin, like peeling away a second skin. At night he tossed and turned, clutching at his head as the sounds of traffic rattled in his brain. The other children thought he had gone mad.

By the age of seven he had been separated from the other children and given his own cramped space in the corner of the boiler room so he wouldn't scare the other children. But the sounds of the furnace made his head split, the water running through the pipes giving him a sense of vertigo. He would curl up in a ball and keep his hands pressed firmly over his ears. Perhaps with proper training he could have learned to dampen his senses, but there was no one to teach him. The faculty of Shonein Children's Home were clueless as to how to help him, so they brought him to a government facility dedicated to the research of quirks. The scientists kept him overnight, hooked up to different machines that monitored his vitals. After several days of study, they presented a solution in the form of a blue and white capsule.

It was a combination of several neuro-inhibiters. The drug would act like the natural chemical molecules that caused his sensory neurons to fire, but instead of triggering a response in those neurons, they would instead block the bonding site on the dendrites and prevent those natural chemicals from reaching their activation threshold. In layman's terms, they would reduce his extreme sensitivity to stimuli.

He awoke the next morning with a splitting headache. He had been so lost in thought the night before that he had forgotten to take one of the capsules. The migraine was a result of having had to suffer the loud noises of the furnace pounding against his eardrums all night. Or from withdrawal. He wasn't sure which, and frankly, he didn't care. All he cared about was stopping the sound of the other sleeping children's' breathing from reaching his ears. He reached for a glass bottle sitting on his bedside table which held a number of blue and white capsules. Someone flushed a toilet from somewhere in the home and he gritted his teeth at the overwhelming sound of the water rushing through the pipes. He hastily swallowed down three capsules, breathing deeply as he felt the world around him fade away until it was no more than a distant fog.

He threw on his school uniform, the itchy cotton no more than an afterthought thanks to the effect of the pills. Pocketing the glass bottle, he swiped an apple from the meal room before starting his walk to UA. It had been several weeks since the incident took place during combat training. Since then he had made it a point not to draw any more attention to himself. He kept his head down during classes and avoided talking whenever possible. Whenever one of his classmates did try to strike up a conversation, he would shut it down before it went anywhere. It had served him well thus far. Limiting his responses to only a few short words seemed to stave off all of them. Well, almost all of them. One of his classmates seemed especially determined to make his acquaintance. Midorya he believed his name was. While the rest of Class 1A had taken the hint, Midorya remained unrelenting. He was persistent if nothing else. He never seemed to stop, just question after question. He was a strange person, (L/N) decided. Often times he would ask (L/N) a question and then immediately ignore any response, instead attempting to answer his own query by rambling under his breath in a way that gave (L/N) a headache. After a few weeks, (L/N) found the best way to avoid conversations with Midorya was to let him continue with his mutterings until he either tired himself out or Aizawa silenced the class. Other than Izuku, no one pried too much.

Alas, it was too much to hope that he would be able to go through all three years of UA without talking to anyone. It was about a month into classes when Aizawa announced their first large project.

"And that pretty much covers everything in the hero code." Aizawa said lazily. "For your final assignment on the topic, you'll all be giving a thirty-minute presentation on one of the article's main sections and its importance in maintaining societal order. I don't really care how you go about doing it, but Principal Nezu wants you all in groups for your first big project. So, get into groups of five or something and get started."

"Mr. Aizawa!"

"Eh? What is it Iida?"

"Will each student be graded based on their contribution to the presentation or will we all be receiving a shared grade?"

"Uh, I don't care." Aizawa said. "Figure it out amongst your group how you want to do it, just don't wake me up."

With that, he wrapped himself in his yellow cocoon of a sleeping bag and disappeared underneath his desk.

The class immediately began forming groups of five or six as per Mr. Aizawa's instruction, dividing themselves based on cliques and friendships that had already formed over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, (L/N) found himself at a loss. He would much rather do the entire project himself. Maybe he could talk to Principal Nezu and see if an exception could be made. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind however, that someone approached his desk, capturing his attention with a soft clear of her throat.

"Sorry, I hope I'm not bothering you." She said. "I just thought, perhaps you'd like to work with our group for the project."

Her again. The one that helped him find his seat the first day and walked with him after combat training even though he nearly killed her. He hadn't been paying much attention to anyone's name, but he believed hers was Momo Yaoyorozu.

"Uh, I don't know." He said quietly.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Are you sure you want me in your group?"

"Of course." She said earnestly. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

She waited patiently for him to stand, then took a hold of his arm and guided him towards one side of the classroom where several other students were already gathered.

"Hello everyone." She said as they got nearer. "I invited (L/N) to join us, I hope none of you mind."

"No complaints here. More people means less work."

"Knock it off, Kaminari." Another voice came, this one belonging to a girl he believed was named Ashido.

"Ow, hey." The blonde said as the girl next to him smacked his arm.

"I mean, I don't mind," Hanta Sero said, rubbing the back of his neck, "we could use all the help we can get. I don't really get much of this stuff, to be honest." 

"Okay then, it's settled." Yaoyorozu said cheerfully. "Here (L/N), you can sit next to me." She said, helping him find the seat. "Now, about the assignment; did any of you have any ideas?"

She looked hopefully around the table at the rest of her group, but they looked down at their laps, no suggestions forthcoming. Yaoyorozu sighed in a very motherly way. It was obvious to (L/N) that Sero, Ashido, and Kaminari weren't going to be of much help. Based on how much he knew they contributed to classroom discussions, it was likely much of the work would fall upon Yaoyorozu. Though he would have preferred to remain silent like the others, he didn't think it fair that she accept the brunt of the work, especially after she had been kind enough to reach out to him with an invitation to her group, so he spoke up.

"Economists have postulated that the emergence of quirks has led to increased government intervention in the market and shifted the free market economy of Japan away from the classical model towards a more unstable monetarist economy." He suggested.

He immediately felt four sets of eyes look at him in astonishment.

"Wait, you're smart?" Kaminari blurted out, earning him another smack from Ashido.

"Just because I'm reserved does not mean I'm unintelligent." (L/N) said coolly, slightly offended by Kaminari's offhanded remark.

"I'm sure that's not what he meant." Yaoyorozu said hastily, trying to defuse the situation.

"No, sorry." Kaminari apologized. "I just, I think that's the most I've ever heard you speak."

(L/N) bit his lip and frowned. He was regretting having spoken. If he knew this was the reaction he'd receive, he wouldn't have said anything at all. The others shrank back in their seats at his hardened expression, laughing nervously.

"W-Well," Yaoyorozu said, once again playing peacekeeper, "I happen to think (L/N)'s proposition is an excellent idea. It should give us plenty of material to work with."

"Okay, sure." Kaminari said, making a point not to look at (L/N) who he felt was still glaring at him from beneath the blindfold. "But could you go over it again. I didn't get any of that."

Yaoyorozu appeared to have a real passion for teaching others. She immediately took charge, helping Kaminari, Ashido, and Sero gain a basic understanding of the affect quirks had on the world economy. She would pause briefly whenever they were about to change topics and look to (L/N), asking if she had forgotten anything. But he simply shook his head, partially because he didn't want to say anything, but also because Yaoyorozu had a sound understanding of the subject and he felt there wasn't anything for him to add, which suited him fine.

It was nearly time for class to end when (L/N) was suddenly overcome with another migraine. The drugs from earlier that morning seemed to have worn off, and the world around him steadily became more and more pronounced. His uniform suddenly became unbearably stifling and the overlapping drumming of his classmates' heartbeats bounced around his skull. He quickly stood to his feet, the feeling of the blood rushing through his body causing him to sway and grab his chair for support.

"Hey, are you alright man?" Sero asked.

"Fine." He said. "I just need some water."

He pushed the large door open and stumbled out into the hallway, falling to the floor. Beads of sweat clung to his forehead, rolling down the back of his neck as he leaned against the wall, staggering forwards. Someone sneezed from somewhere in the building and he stumbled forwards. He would have fallen if someone hadn't caught him underneath his arms.

"(L/N)?" A distorted voice called. "(L/N), what's wrong."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Yaoyorozu said, still holding him up. "You're sick."

"I just... need..." he said breathlessly, "the bathroom."

"Okay, let me help you."

He tried to fight her away, insisting he could manage without her, but he was simply too weak. She slung his arm around her shoulder and half dragged half carried him down the hall.

"Just a few more steps, okay." She said reassuringly. "We're almost there."

Her voice cut through the overwhelming scents and sounds crowding his brain, and he was surprised to find it almost soothing. Like her voice gave him something to focus on and helped him find solid ground.

"K-Keep talking." He requested. "Please."

"Uh, sure." She said. "The bathroom is just a bit further. Just around the corner. Lean on me, okay?"

With her help, (L/N) found his way to the restroom. Leaving her at the door, he fell inside and collapsed in front of a toilet just in time to vomit. Coughing a bit, he lurched over the toilet bowl and puked again. He spat out a mouthful of saliva and bile and tore off a scrap of tissue paper to wipe at his mouth.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine." He coughed. "Just give me a minute.

He reached for the inner pocket of his school jacket, his hands fumbling for the glass bottle. With shaking hands, he unscrewed the container and threw two of the pills into his mouth, swallowing them down along with a mixture of spit and vomit. He spat again and flushed the toilet, stopping to splash some cold water on his face and wiping away the sweat before stepping out into the hallway just as the bell rang to signal the end of the day.

"Better?" She asked.

He nodded.

"And you're sure you're alright? Maybe we should take you to see Recovery Girl."

"It was just a bad headache." He assured. "I get them every so often, but I'm fine."

"Well, okay then." She said, still sounding concerned. "So long as you're sure you're okay."

"I am." He said. "Thank you for your help."

The hallway slowly started to grow more crowded as students poured out of their classrooms. Ashido and Kaminari walked up to them and handed them their stuff. With a mumbled thanks, (L/N) grabbed his backpack and cane and left the others as he made his way for the exit. Once he was off school grounds he reached into his pocket and shook loose two more capsules from the bottle.