#sunspotting

Suneater's #1 fan is not who you'd think.

Fat Gum? Nope.

Kirishima? Nope.

Nejire? Again, no.

Not even Mirio.

See, Suneater's #1 fan is actually a little girl by the name of Eiko.

His first internship, all of 16, wandering the streets with Fat Gum and getting exposure to *shiver* people, and a little girl, just as shy, small and just barely 5 years of age, still learning how to be a person, grabs onto Tamaki's leg and does not let go.

She doesn't speak. Neither of them do. Just a teenager in a too big costume to hide his shaking and a blank-faced orphan child with courage and awe glittering in her eyes.

Her quirk had just come in. Soul Sight : the ability to see people’s souls in the context of vivid imagery and pulsing colors.

And this hero right here?

Butterflies. All she could see were butterflies. Bright, vivid purple, deep and saturated, fluttering with nerves and flickering under the cage of human skin, just waiting to be let loose and f l y -

The prettiest, most pure and benevolent thing she'd ever seen in her two weeks of quirked life. So much life and energy. So much to look at.

She's too young to note the fragility. The anxiety. The strength. The determination to fly with wings even when soaked in rain and fear.

With the stubbornness and absolute, bone-deep confidence characteristic of a child her age, Eiko decides this is her favorite hero.

She never strayed since.

Consider: poison

It's organic! Most compounds are made by plants! And many animals eat things that are poisonous to steal and frankenstein for their own gain!

Reporter: “So, last question, what should you never do, living with Suneater? What’s a pet peeve of his?”

Nejire-chan: “Don’t ever eat his ice cream”

“Ah. Does that make him sad? He doesn’t strike me as a person that gets super angry, but you never know!”

“Eh, something like that, sure! Though, I'd only say that cuz he knows we know better. Well, the threat of heart attack is very real either way!”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. The day Suneater actually yells in anger is the day the moon blows up! Either that or there’s a break-in in the house. But in all seriousness, he'd probably just cry. And his sad kitten eyes are no joke.”

And then, a week or so later:

A home video is posted by the hero Lemillion. Only a pair of white socks are seen, likely Lemillion's. For a split second, a vivid purple butterfly is seen on screen on the lid of a jar filled with goldfish.

“So a lot of you guys are curious why, exactly, eating Suneater’s icecream is a very VERY big no no.”

The freezer is opened and the phone is set, camera down, on the edge. The footage goes black as a result. Lemillion is heard rifling through things.

“It’s not because he gets sad, or angry, or anything like that, though, yes, that might, theoretically, happen.”

The camera lifts, and an unlabeled tub of white ice cream with streaks of red is in view. It’s got a black butterfly, drawn with sharpie, on the lid, and several instances of ‘ DO NOT EAT ’ written all over it in various colors. Four strips of bright red tape keeps the lid closed.

“It’s because of his quirk. This right here is the Suneater Vanilla and Chocolate Special, aka vanilla and Pokeweed berry.”

The tub is put back in and the freezer is shut.

"Do NOT eat Pokeweed berries. They are VERY poisonous! You and I can’t eat them, but because of how Suneater’s quirk works, he can!”

There is a distant meow. A voice, possibly feline, possibly human, meows back.

“Anyways, that’s why no one should ever eat his ice cream. Because our very lives are on the line! Haha!”

Tamaki turns from where he was sitting with Mirio on the last day of his own hospitalization. Mirio will have to stay longer, on account of his injuries and missing quirk factor.

(He was shot, apparently, with a tiny syringe of blood that damaged his cells enough to kill his quirk???? When *he* got shot, all he got was a momentarily deactivated quirk. Scary...)

Fatgum drops a small cubic package on his lap. The box itself is addressed to him by his official hero name. The slip of paper attached, however, has "Mr. Butterfly" written out in a childish font with a purple crayon.

"Look what got dropped off this morning~!"

"Awww," Mirio comments from over his shoulder (which, woah, too close!), thoroughly spooking him.

Mirio backs off, but does not dim in cheer. "Well? Go on! Open it!"

He does.

A little note sits atop a stack of cut-out butterflies painted a very vivid, very saturated purple.

"Feel better please! I give you more of your soul so you don't die! :) -Eiko"

Mirio sees the card and the butterflies, then very dramatically, with his hand over his heart, cooes and fake-faints over the cuteness.

Tamaki would like help please? This is fanmail! He doesn’t get fanmail! What is he supposed to do here? How did it get here? Why does a child know who he is? He’s an intern! Not even an official hero yet! He's still got so much of a full year left of school! Why did a child choose him in the first place? Mirio is much more liked and Much More Injured! Does he respond? He doesn’t think he can respond.

Tamaki, in his panic, will not let go of the box. Taishiro's chuckles go unheard.

Poor kid is too shy to engage in any sort of interview, charity, or meet & greet event. This does nothing to diminish his popularity. Two of the most popular heroes (popular for different reasons) are best friends with him, the most merchandisable hero (aside from the #1 hero) had him for all three internship years, and one hero from the infamous "Class A" has regular contact with him. There's plenty of information available to the public, just that nothing comes from Suneater himself.

First ever hero patrol of his career! Hell yeah!

He is so glad and thankful Suneater had put in a good word for him. Fat Gum is a very friendly and very manly hero that he aspires to learn all he can from! And Suneater too! His Senpai may be an anxious wreck, but in costume the only evidence he can see of it is the drawn-up hood. His poker face is truly impressive!

"Good work so far, Red Riot, " Fat Gum tells him with a heavy hand on his shoulder, stopping them just outside the bounds of a small public park, "We'll rest here for a beat before we loop back."

"Roger that, boss!"

Suneater says nothing, but Red Riot thinks he probably nodded in acknowledgement. That seems like the kind of thing his very manly senpai would do. His hood isn't pulled at the way down his face, and he looks a bit more relaxed, which is nice. Maybe it's in relief or maybe he's still on alert, like he's gotten into the groove of things -

- and that's a small child.

Red Riot blinks, mind blank, before he widens his smile, intending to talk to the small girl who'd rather abruptly latched onto Suneater, when Fat Gum stops him with the hand he still has on his shoulder.

"Eiko, dear, please don't just run off. A tug isn't enough to say you want to go somewhere."

Wait... he knows that voice...

Grandma?!?!?

(Tamaki, on his end, is used to this by now. This is fine. It's like a script by this point. The girl runs up, hops in front of him in excitement, he pats her head, she grabs on to his cloak, then they just kinda stand there in silence. No autograph, no expectation of speech, just a civilian standing next to a big-brother figure. See? Fine. And he's not even shaking with nerves this time!)