The Loser | by Isaac7525

"Aslyum?" Hearing the woman's answer, Aizawa was immediately taken aback. There was an asylum in Seraphis Kingdom? 

The woman didn't answer, instead, she led the elderly woman into the darkness. After she departed, he turned to Olivia, who was crouching down on the ground.

Seeing this, he cocked an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" 

Olivia stood up and turned around to face him. She uncurled her hand, showing the small vial she held in her palm. The vial was about the size of her thumb. Inside, they could both see a semi-transparent black liquid sloshing around. 

"This was what she was choking on," Olivia said, holding up the object so Aizawa could obtain a clearer view. 

Aizawa slowly took the vial and studied it carefully. The vial didn't have any labels or indications of its contents anywhere on its surface. 

"We'll investigate this later. For now, we should keep looking for Isaac." With a low sigh, he tucked the vial into a pocket on his coat and sealed it shut. With all their focus gravitated to the vial, the duo didn't realize the quantity of snowfall had decreased a helpful amount. 

They both looked up to the sky and took notice of this. Olivia's lips twitched into a small smile as she looked back at Aizawa. "This'll be much more helpful."

Aizawa nodded without saying a word. Due to the storm now having passed a gradual amount, the thick clouds overhead began to pass over the kingdom. The crimson moon's light began to protrude through the previously dark clouds, making their way forward much more accessible. 

Though, the snow in the streets had piled to almost their knees, so moving via the sidewalk was an easier option to ensure they wouldn't catch frostbite. That was one of Olivia's biggest worries. Back at U.A., she had worked as both a nurse and a guidance counselor. If one of them caught frostbite, Olivia considered the fact that these were Victorian times instead of the modern world, and amputations would be much more violent and possibly lead to more problems—including infections. 

"Maybe Isaac can move freely now?" Aizawa prompted, scanning the street closely. 

"Wherever he is, he's most likely noticed the weather conditions outside." 

Olivia shook her head and began to speak. "It's possible he doesn't. About two days ago I eavesdropped on a conversion between Carter, him, and his friends. He had initially prompted the trio to get a job here." 

At that moment, something went off in Aizawa's mind. He had taken notice of the job catalog sitting on the counter back at the apartment, but he thought little of it. 

"Perhaps we can figure out where he went by using the papers." Aizawa turned around, glancing back at Olivia. 

"He's bound to choose something easy; he's smart like that." 

After a short moment of deliberation, Olivia eventually walked forward and stood next to Aizawa, nodding her head in agreement. 

The walk back to the Parterre de Fleurs wasn't as grueling as the walk out of it. The closer they got to the apartment, the louder and more urban everything seemed to become. Oddly, most of the accumulated snowfall had been paved by the workers, allowing street carriages and pedestrians to navigate freely without much issue. 

Turning back into the apartment, Aizawa immediately darted for the stack of papers sitting on the counter. Olivia followed suit, picking up a similar paper and placing them side by side on the table. 

"So, there's easy, medium, and hard jobs." Olivia deduced, pointing to the indicators on the sheet labeling the numerous professions and their difficulties. 

"He'd most likely choose something easy. He doesn't have the necessary experience to pursue anything extraordinary." Aizawa said, flipping the page. 

The first three jobs labeled were: dog walker, babysitter, and window cleaner. 

"Do you think he'd like any of these?" Aizawa asked, turning to look at Olivia. 

"Hmm." The woman looked down at the descriptions and considered the details. 

"Perhaps I could get Mr. Ryujin, he's talked with Isaac before."

"Right, I was the one who introduced him to the boy." Aizawa quickly recalled the first time he had seen me. 

"He was bullied and had some pretty bad marks." The man reminisced. 

Hearing those words, Olivia felt her heart sink. "The fact that he's alone right now. What if he has no one to talk to?" 

…

Mr. Ryujin raised his head, roused from his romance novel upon hearing the deliberate knocks on the door. Letting out a low groan, he stood up and cracked his back before slipping on a robe from the closet. Slowly walking over to the door, he put the book on the bedside dresser and opened it.

"Olivia?" He asked, his eyes half lidded as he rubbed the residual tiredness from them. 

The man with horns was taken aback the moment Olivia took him by the arm, pulling him into the apartment lobby and sitting him down at the desk. 

"We have a few things to ask you in regards to Isaac."

"Alright…" Mr. Ryujin's expression remained speculative for the most part, but he quickly softened the moment he caught sight of the concern in Olivia's expression.

…

Shinso and Oboro continued their way down the streets. The snow beneath their feet had piled up, but it wasn't to a dangerous extent, or one that needed them to waddle to move properly. 

"I wouldn't recommend shouting for him, you'd rouse the neighbors, maybe even a criminal gang, and have your head removed," Oboro said, looking down at Shinso. 

"I wasn't gonna' shout." Shinso stuffed his hands into his pocket and continued walking down the road. On either side of the streets were gas lamps that flickered, occasionally cutting off their source of light. 

Seeing this, Oboro let out a low sigh. "If this issue keeps persisting we might have to turn back." 

"No." Shinso stepped forward in front of Oboro, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"We went out here to look for him, not to turn back because the lamps are flickering." Shinso's voice was deadpan. 

"Y'scared of the dark or something?" 

Oboro's face flushed a tiny amount as he turned to look away from Shinso. "Yes, I am to a small extent." 

Hearing this, Shinso let out a low, tired groan. "If the lamps do flicker down, you can run back to your apartment. But I'm staying out here; I'm gonna be the one to find him." 

"A-alright," Oboro choked out, a tiny beam of sweat running down his brows. 

The duo kept walking down the street for a few moments, occasionally taking note of the flickering lamps on either side of the road. No carriage or pedestrian seemed to be outside at this time, either because of the weather or the time of night.

Suddenly, one of the stores on the road sparked to life, causing Oboro to flinch and stumble back a bit. Shinso raised one of his bushy eyebrows, momentarily stunned. 

"Why would they open at this time of night?" 

Taking a step forward, Shinso peered into the window of the building. It appeared to be a store, with numerous products lined on old, wooden shelves. Some looked like metal skeletons, others appeared to be simple china and culinary antiques. 

"Look's like a store," Shinso turned back to Oboro. 

"I'm not one to buy stuff this late at night," The blue-haired man scoffed. 

"Well, we could at least warm up a bit," Shinso grumbled as he opened the front door, causing the overhead bell to gently ring. 

The attendant behind the counter, a woman with yellow eyes and blonde hair, lifted her head and smiled at the duo entering. "Hello there." 

Shinso nodded without saying a word, leaning against the wall. The woman behind the front counter suddenly stood up and walked out from behind. 

"Name's Florence, if you're interested in anything here, don't hesitate to holler my name," She said with a smile.

"Why open this late?" Shinso asked, crossing his arms as he bore a speculative scowl. 

The woman's smile faltered slightly as she frowned. "Unfortantly, I've only moved here from the country a few months ago, and I've been shut out of my adopted house due to this awful weather." 

Shinso turned back to the weather outside, pointing out the window. "It doesn't look that bad outside." 

The blonde-haired woman leaned past Shinso, catching sight of the lighter snowfall pummeling down. "It is? Great!"

She approached the front of her store, grabbing her light coat that hung on the rack. Following that, she turned back to the others with a smile. 

"Unfortanlty, walking home alone isn't the best thing here," She said, frowning. 

Oboro turned to look at Shinso, who now appeared confused. "This kingdom, as it is wealthy, also crawls with perverts and prostitutes. She'd get snatched off the streets and be forced to do all sorts of awful things." 

"Oh…" Shinso's face paled slightly. 

Feeling a surge of protectiveness, Shinso stepped towards the door and held it open for Florence. "I wouldn't mind helping you home." He said, attempting to hide the reluctance in his voice. 

Florence smiled, nodding her head with gratitude. "Aren't you a gentlemen." 

As they all stepped out into the streets, the blonde-haired woman paused and adjusted her coat. "Though, I must ask if you've seen the advertisement in the papers." 

Shinso shook his head. "No, I haven't." 

Florence's lips curled into a smile as she began to walk forward. "My master, Madame Fitzgarold, is looking for a babysitter for her child." 

"Babysitting?" The reluctance in Shinso protruded as he sucked in through his teeth. "Not my cup of tea." 

Just then, she sighed. "It doesn't appear to be anyone else's, nobody's shown up to apply." 

"Well…" Shinso sighed softly, looking forward. "I'm personally not good with kids, neither is anyone I know."

"Except…maybe, him," His expression softened, looking down at the snow-covered sidewalk.

"Who?" Florence turned her head to look at Shinso, her eyes widening. 

The indigo-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck as a small amount of blush crept up his cheeks. "His name's Isaac. He's…kind and stuff to me, the first person ever to tell me that my quirk doesn't define who I am."

"Quirk?" Florence seemed taken aback, quickly changing the subject to focus on the unfamiliar term. 

"Right…" Shinso mentally facepalmed at the realization of mentioning something outside of this new world.