Chapter 41

I entered the room, the inscrutable smell of candles filled the air, along with herbs and other essentials for mysticism.

"Sit down on the rug."

Aaron commanded as he pointed to the rug in the center of the room, I looked at it for a few seconds before walking over to it and sitting down.

"Good."

He remarked as he sat down across from me, looking into my eyes. 

"I want you to close your eyes."

The second he said that, he brought me back to that training exercise that Principal Nezu made me do upon finding out about my quirk. 

I took a deep breath in and out, before I heard Aaron's voice ring through the air.

"I want you to visualize a string, it can be of any thickness."

Just as he said that, an image of a long, illusory string appeared in my mind, floating in the void of my mind.

"What does this string look like?"

I took a deep breath in and out before replying slowly.

"Long, thick, and red."

Aaron nodded, before giving another command.

"I want you to visualize the string extending out, into an infinite distance."

The string instantly started to dart, moving at inaccessible speeds, stretching out into the infinite darkness.

"Now, stop the string."

I instantly visualized the string rooted in its place, it now looked like a statue frozen in place.

"What's stopping the string?"

He asked, his voice now softer. I mentally looked back, I saw a large mental anchor holding it in place. And suddenly the void around me started to warp and change, as if it was an ocean, in fact...it was an ocean, one of water completely made of the void. 

"An anchor."

Aaron nodded, still looking at me. This time, my veins didn't glow, the voices didn't come back, it was like the ocean's movements completely blocked out all distractions.

"Think of that string like your power, loose, infinite and illusory. And that anchor, it's your emotions, your thoughts, feelings, and control."

"So, you're saying I'm the only thing that holds back my power?"

He nodded again, letting out a sound of affirmation.

"Yes, only you can control your power, losing control of it is your decision, in fact...everything about your power is your decision."

I opened my eyes, my mind once again raced with usual thoughts and wondered, Aaron looked at me with a soft expression, before pulling out a note.

"If you're going to become one of us, you're gonna learn how to shoot a gun."

He said as he handed me the note, I unfolded the note and it read. "281 Harrow Road."

"Where's that place?"

Aaron leaned back into the carpet, staring into the ceiling.

"It's a shooting range, did you think I'd just send you into the woods and let you run around?"

He laughed loudly, standing up and walking over to his desk, picking up a small canister.

"Here's your ammunition, kid."

He said, handing it to me and giving a small smile, folding my fingers to hold them in his hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Aaron."

I nodded at him before stepping back, but before I could leave, I heard him speak up again.

"Just call me Aaron."

I looked back at him and smiled softly.

"Well, thank you Aaron."

I then left the room, putting the small canister of bullets into my pocket.

"What did you do there?" 

Shinso asked, with a yawning smile as he leaned up in his chair.

"Well, he taught me a method to control my abilities, and gave me an address to a shooting range."

"A shooting range, why would you need that, don't you have powers?"

I chuckled softly.

"Well, Aaron said that if we're gonna truly become members of this place, we're gonna learn how to shoot."

Shinso perked his eyebrows, leaning up a little in his chair.

"Mind if I come?"

I shrugged my shoulders slightly.

"Why not, it's not like you're here too."

I turned towards the door leading up the fight of stairs that Carter previously went up to get groceries and stuff.

"Should we get going?"

I looked back at Shinso and a small smile tore at the corners of my mouth, Shinso nodded and stood up, taking my arm as we started to proceed up the stairs.

We felt the warm afternoon air of the kingdom grace our bodies the further we climbed up the stairs, and the rays of sunlight immediately blind us for a few seconds.

Me and Shinso blinked rapidly for a few seconds in order to let our eyes adjust to the sunlight, before I unfolded the note again and read the address.

"We should get going, the note says it closes at 8 PM."

I noted as we started to walk down the street and towards the shooting range. I took a deep smell of the afternoon air, which was mixed with the aroma of falling leaves, the market and smoke from the chimneys of the richer estates and apartments.

"I'm starting to like it here."

Shinso spoke up, looking forward, dipping his hands into his pockets to look casual among the ongoers. My eyes widened as I turned towards him.

"Really, are you out here thinking you don't wanna go home now?"

Shinso nodded, chuckling a little before popping his collar.

"No, of course I wanna get home, but for now I guess we're stuck here because you decided to open a portal with your quirk."

I looked down at the ground, blushing a little, but I switched the subject in order to derive my mind from the reason we're here.

"I heard that Oboro's apartment was sealed off from the public in order to search for any possible evidence. And I heard about Aaron lending Aizawa some money in order to buy us some apartment rooms."

Shinso's expression softens slightly as he thought back on Oboro and his living situation. Even if he'd only lived in his apartment for a good 2 days, he liked his apartment. 

"Sounds good, I could use a new living space."

He simply replied, looking back into the distance.

"We're almost there, just a few more blocks."

I perked up, attempting to light the mood. Shinso looked back at me and smiled a little.

"That's good, a little shooting can get my mind off all of this."

He replied, his voice a little more energetic, but still remaining its usual placid and nonchalant demeanor. 

We made our way further down the kingdom until we reached the address that Aaron told us to go to.

The metal sign swung idly in the air. "Tellies Bar and Grill." My eyes narrowed as I read the sign.

"Tellies Bar and Grill?"

I questioned the sign hanging in the air, this wasn't a shooting range, it was a bar.

"It is a shooting range, but part of the bar."

My mind instantly fluttered with thoughts.

"Why would they add a shooting range in the exact place people get drunk and need to get carried out by people, wouldn't there be accidents or something?"

Shinso shrugged slightly.

"I don't know, it's the 1600's, I don't know what logic they implanted."

We both chuckled as he entered the bar.