T?E ?O??TE? I??I?E [1]

i guess i really just needed a hug

"please don't judge me for anything that i'm about to tell you."

"i don't think i have the right to judge anyone when i lay around in a sleeping bag majority of the time."

i snort slightly, smiling a bit. "good point. well, to get right to the point, manami was my girlfriend back in junior high."

i give him a few tense moments to let the information sink in, cutting it quickly to make sure that he couldn't get a word in about my relationship preference.

"at first, she was one of the only people to take an interest in me and try to befriend me. we became really good friends, and i developed feelings for her before confessing to her in second year. we started dating, or whatever kids our age would consider dating, and it was honestly just a distraction from a lot of the shit i was dealing with. i was happy, manami was happy, and life seemed good."

"until it wasn't," he cuts in softly, and i give a small nod.

"yeah. i didn't notice it at first, but she was really possessive. she didn't like me attempting to talk to other people, didn't like when classmates asked me for help with something, and she didn't like that i was constantly hanging out with hitoshi outside of school. he and i didn't go to the same junior high, so she stuck to me like glue during school. anyways, she started secluding me from everyone else, and i didn't realize she was manipulating me until she started getting in between me and hitoshi. she made me believe that he didn't want to be friends anymore and that he blamed me for what happened to my mom and stepfather, which he never did but ya know, manipulation.

"and she took one of my rings once and put it on her voodoo doll. i'm sure you know what her quirk is by now."

at his confirming nod, i continue to speak.

"her using the doll on me was just for small things at first. like getting out of the way of other kids, avoiding alleys is normally use to get home; general, non suspicious things. but she started forcing me to avoid hitoshi and just made me constantly be with her. she even forced me to let her into my apartment sometimes, and used the thing to her advantage in other ways i'm pretty sure i blocked out."

his eyes widen, about to place a hand on me in concern, but i recognize his thoughts and immediately wave my hands to tell him no to those things. "no, no, not anything like that. we were junior high kids and those things didn't cross our minds at all."

"anything else that she made you do?"

"i think she made me skip school with her a few times. i would be forced to stay at her house with her aunt and lie to her about the reasons for it, staying there for a couple days up to a week. it was always uncomfortable and really creepy to me," i respond, and he moves back in his seat.

"anyways, she kind of grew obsessed with me the longer we were together. in third year, i couldn't go anywhere without her there with me. she was the only person i was allowed to contact despite me secretly calling hitoshi from time to time. she followed me around outside of school, set up cameras in my apartment somehow, and would break into my place to watch me sleep sometimes. she made herself a key, too," i say, shivering at the memories of waking up after a nightmare and finding manami laying next to me, smiling and stroking my face as i would cry. "she had even forced me to distance myself from him, and he'd almost gotten physically violent with her after finding out that she was using her quirk on me."

"how could he tell?" aizawa asks, and i give a bitter smile.

"have you checked agawa's arms?"

his eyebrow raises in confusion. "yes?"

"those marks appear on the arms of whoever she's currently controlling. she gets them as well, but the side effects of her quirk are worse on her in different ways. by controlling others for extended amounts of time, manami would grow even more mentally unstable. before you say anything, she became obsessive before she started using the doll on me, it just worsens it. anyways, the marks were what gave it away to hitoshi, and he and his parents hid me from her while filing a police report."

there was a tense silence after i stopped speaking, and i twiddle with my fingers as i wait for him to say something.

"what came of the police report?"

"she vanished. i wasn't being controlled anymore, but she just disappeared off the face of the earth. before second year ended, though, she showed up again and almost killed hitoshi, but i stopped her before she could. neito was the one to help me out at school after all that she did to me, that's how we became friends. he helped pull me back from the edge when hitoshi couldn't. she disappeared again, and i hadn't seen her or had contact with her before she started texting me again around a month ago."

aizawa's eyes flash in worry and slight anger, gritting out, "why didn't you say anything about it?"

i groan. "how was i supposed to? i had no idea what her motive was, and it's not like i could've just randomly went up to you and went 'hey, teach, my crazy ex-girlfriend is contacting me and i'm pretty sure she might be stalking me somehow. can you please help me out before i lose my fucking mind?' it wasn't easy dealing with her junior high, and her just suddenly showing back up caused a lot of unnecessary paranoia and anxiety for me, so i thought it would just go away."

"sasaki, people like that aren't just going to go away."

"i know that, but i convinced myself that if i just ignored her, she would. and now she's gone because i lost control and impaled her." i cover my face with my arms and pull my legs up to lean on my knees. aizawa was silent, but he lets out a small sigh before i feel something pat my head.

looking up, i see that he was reaching out and patting my head, making me want to cry. 'mom used to do the same thing'

"you won't have to deal with things like that as long as i'm here, sasaki. just make sure to tell me when something's going on, because i can't help you if you don't let me."

his words struck a chord in me, and to try and make sure he didn't notice the fact that i was tearing up, i lunge for him and tightly hug the man.

he seems shocked by my sudden actions, not knowing what to do. but when i felt his arms encircle me to return my hug, i finally let myself cry.