Princess Yurei

"The fun thing about being a ghost? No one's surprised when I have skeletons in my closet." Reiko Yanagi and Class 1B. Just what is going on over there? F/F romance, neurodivergent MC.

WARNINGS: The main character, along with all her peers, will not be given a sheen of perfection. They're 15. They'll mess up, they'll make the wrong choices, they'll react poorly. This is a realistic look at life as a teenage hero, struggling with not just their powers, but their training, their life, and dealing with the world around them. And adding Reiko's neurodivergence doesn't help.

Please Read & Review.

8-8

Chapter 1

8-8

"Welcome back. This evening, we're having a sit down with Japan's highest ranking female hero." I listen to whatever channel what's-her-face left on with half an ear, idly swirling my straw around in my milkshake as I read through my plans for the weekend. "Tell me, Miss Usagiyama. How does a top ranking heroine maintain her love life?"

Of course. Works her ass off to get to the top, and cares only for boys, fashion, and makeup. Fucking idiots.

Straw slips between my lips, a gentle pull. The cold sweetness almost makes having to clean the blender worth it. "So let's see," I say, flipping through my agenda. Friday is the entrance exam for Seiai Academy. Saturday is Ketsubutsu High. Monday is UA Academy. Interesting—I need to remember to inform the administration I'll not be in on Monday.

Chair scrapes against cheap linoleum as I make to stand, dragging both agenda and glass with straw over to the communal desk. Sprat number eight hovers up—I'm so ignoring her complaints about how it's her turn and a whole lot of trash I have no patience for. A new tab opens on the web browser, and keys press themselves in for the route planner website.

Nagoya central is selected as starting location, the mouse moving on its own, just as the keys on the board. The date is set to Friday, time to seven in the morning, destination to Kyoto. The mouse moves again, clicking 'plan trip'. Moving all the way to Kyoto. It's only an hour away, but still much preferred to staying in this sty.

The printer roars to life, choking out a page already covered in crayon markings—at least it's legible. With that handled the mouse and keyboard do their magic once more, planning my trip for Saturday. It's two and a half hours in the opposite direction. Far enough.

The last route, set for Monday. Musutafa, an hour and twenty minutes by bullet train.

Sprat number eight flutters back down into the seat, the mouse clicking the tab closed just as the printer chokes out the last page with a planned route. "You know I hate it when you do that," comes the expected complaint. She's already gone full-on furball over it, can't say I understand why.

The three planned routes are carefully folded and stuffed into my agenda. The last of my milkshake slurps into my eagerly awaiting mouth, the glass hovers over to the door leading to the kitchen. The sounds of another wrestling match comes to an end, complete with overturned chairs and matron giving sprats one and four another earful—one holds her eyestalks low, the other crosses her four arms hugging herself as she fights not to cry.

I only shake my head, walking out of the living room, towards the stairs to the rhythm of matron's bitching, "I don't get paid enough for this. Reiko! You deal with this!"

With little more than a glance their way, both girls go white as chalk.

"What I would say to every girl?" Usagiyama's yammering is the only thing to be heard. Fourteen little girls, none older than ten, all stare at me with wide and fearful eyes. Well, other than sprat four, but her wrestling with a someone five years younger than her is just… "Figure out what you want. If you want to be a housewife, be a housewife with all your heart. If you want to be an office lady, be an office lady with all your heart. If you want to be hero, be a hero with all your heart. Decide what your path is, and pursuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—"

The tv freezes mid-frame, the speakers blare the last syllable as it stretches out into infinity. The room grows deathly cold, everyone breathes smoke. My grey neck-length hair slowly rises, exposing one icy blue eye, the other fluttering open as the first shriek of terror escapes them. It might be because of the blood red sclera and white X-shaped pupil of my left eye—all the more reason to never show that eye.

"Reiko Yanagi!" I don't turn to the speaker, I don't need to. "You will stop antagonizing them this instant."

I glare at matron, but my hair droops and the tv switches off on its own. There's little to be done about the temperature though. Yukie stands there with hands on her hips, blue lips, the tears frozen on her cheeks, her icy blue eyes mournful even as they fume. "I was only doing as matron asked," I say, walking around her to head upstairs.

"Apologize." Yukie grabs my hand and squeezes, wordlessly asking me to listen. Her touch is soft, gentle, and cold as winter's chill. But when her gaze meets mine, when her eyes plead with me, all I see is a steely determination, a fearlessness that steals the very air in my lungs.

Turning to the freaked out group, "I'm sorry, little sisters." I bow low, my hands clutching my pants. "Please forgive me."

8-8

"You've been crying," I say the second we're in our shared room. We sit on my bed, leaving hers still pristinely made and tidy. Her grip tightens. "Talk to me."

Sad eyes gaze out over the room. It's tiny, with only room enough for our bunk beds and the one person closet we share. "I'm fine." Words cold, eyes tight, but the tears come all the same. My arms snake around her middle, holding her tight. "I'm fine."

I lie on my back, tugging her down with me, holding her all the tighter to keep her from falling apart. My sheets, rumpled and wrinkled, contort further as I plop onto them. Her head lands on my tummy, my fingers comb through her powder snow hair. "I'm here." The first sob escapes her—in spite of my words, or perhaps because of them. "Listen. Tell me what you hear."

"Your." Her hands clutch my shirt, holding onto me like she doesn't ever want to let me go. "Heart. I hear. I hear your heart."

Over and over, my fingers tussle and smooth her hair, scratching her scalp as they go. "You don't have to be okay." The temperature plummets, her grip on me tightens so much she tears my shirt. My thighs rub against her sides, my fingers still dancing among her inky locks. The light switches off on its own, the door locks.

Seconds drag out into eternity. Her chest-quakes ease until all that's left is a gentle rise and fall punctuated by soft snores.

8-8

"As senior students, it's time to start seriously thinking about your futures." Miss Ayame stands, her hands folded as she stares at a stack of papers on the desk before her. "I know most of you want to become heroes, that you want to apply to hero academies. But that path isn't suited for everyone."

Yukie grimaces and hugs herself.

"For some of you, it's simply because your quirk isn't suited for combat. For others, you lack the temperament for such a field. But this doesn't mean you are in any way lesser. Think about it, if everyone is a hero, who will bake our bread? If everyone is a hero, who will nurse us back to health? If everyone is a hero, who will teach the next generation?"

Tears well up in Yukie's eyes again. I reach into my jacket pocket, hovering a handkerchief over to her and laying it in her hand.

"Miss Namata asked that I hand out aptitude tests, for those who are undecided. However, I recommend that everyone take the test all the same. Who knows, maybe you'll discover a side of yourself you never noticed. Class rep, if you would?"

Yukie goes row by row, handing everyone their thick-looking tests—everyone complains, seeing as we did this same test six months ago. Of course, Miss Ayame will never come out and say who the test is really for, but I doubt anyone in our year needs it. By the time Yukie sits back down, she has only two left—hers and mine, no doubt.

"You're not even going to bother with it, are you." She doesn't ask, so what point is there in answering. She zips open her etui and takes out a pencil.

"I checked all three schools. They each have a business course." Pencil tip breaks on paper as her eyes widen. "So I figure we apply to all three, and the one we both get into is our choice."

Her cheeks flame up, the hottest I've ever seen them. "Which." She fishes for something in her etui. "Which three?"

Her pencil sharpener floats up, her pencil lobs into it and twists on its own. The scrapings fling into the waste basket as I write on my aptitude test.

1st choice: UA Academy

2nd choice: Seiai Academy

3rd choice: Ketsubutsu High

Her sharpener lands atop her hand, to give her something to think about. "But I… Only one of them would have openings left."

"You already applied. I have our route planned and printed, and I filled in our forms to get Friday afternoon and Monday off."

She turns to me, her icy-blue hair veiling her face, but her eyes shine through all the same. The utter shock on display teases a grin from me. My chin plop onto my palm, eyes twinkling with amusement. "Are you saying you don't want to be a CEO?"

8-8

Bedroom door bangs shut as Yukie locks it behind her. Her lips slam into mine, her kiss as probing as her fingers running through my hair. Her heaving chest rakes against mine, the faded teal of our uniforms bleeding into each other as her rock hard nipples poke through the fabric.

Even though I can hear other girls kicking up hell in our group home, I can't bring myself to care. Only the taste of Yukie's blueberry lip balm matters. Only her inner thigh riding up my leg matters. Only my hands hugging her hips matter.

Or so I thought.

Her hands grab mine, bringing them down to her bum. Her kisses trail down my jaw as she unbuttons my uniform. My jacket is the first to go, folded and plopped on the higher bunk. Skirt-jumper soon follows. Her fingers trail down my shirt, loosening the buttons as she goes. Once the last one gives way, that too is taken from me.

"I've. Been. Thinking." Her words, interspersed with feather light kisses, are the last thing I want right now. She pushes me down onto my bed, already wrapping my shirt around a hanger and laying it out for tomorrow. If she gets me all riled up and leaves me hanging, I'm going to scream. If—no matter how she tries, it's never worked before.

My eyes narrow as she squats down and loosens my shoelaces, taking off my shoes and socks. My socks are lain out, my shoes carefully set aside. She reaches around me, loosening my bra and taking that from me as well. Breeze wafts through the room, fluttering the pillow case of a curtain and turning my nipples hard as diamonds.

"What if I don't pass? What if—"

"What if the moon falls down and kills us all." I roll my eyes, wondering what brought this on. "You won't know if you don't try."

"Hear me out." She unbuttons her jacket, slipping it off her.

"You'll just ramble off every plausible outcome from here to Spain." She blushes and pouts, loosening the buttons to her skirt-jumper. "So how about this. If by some miracle, you don't pass any of your exams, then I pick where we go."

Her shirt comes off and is laid beside mine.

"You take the last minutes in a high school nearby and go there instead."

She reaches behind her, unhooking her bra and tossing that atop mine. .

"If that falls through, you can get a job."

She grabs the hips of her panties.

"If you can't, stay at home and I'll support you."

"Do you mean that?" Our eyes meet, her tears welling up once again.

I pull her closer, peering up at her as her arms tumble around my shoulders. "Yukie the corporate CEO. Yukie the housewife. Yukie the cashier from down the way. As long as it's my Yukie, I don't care."

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Matron's yelling at this hour? The building shivers, a rumbling that rubs me all the wrong ways. "THAT DOES IT!"

Yukie and I share a look, chuckling. "We'd better get dressed," I say, still shaking my head. "Mei'll end up blowing the door down or something."

8-8

I face matron's desk, twirling my hair as she paces back and forth.

"Jeez, matron. Can't you close the window or something?" Mei complains, hugging herself to get warm—her now blue skin makes her pink hair stand out all the more. Said window, however, shattered during whatever pinkette was doing.

"I'd LOVE to close the WINDOW, Mei Hatsume. But UNFORTUNATELY. SOMEONE went and blew up the STOVE! You know, the THING THAT USES GAS THAT ALLOWS US TO COOK!"

Sigh. Of course. So why are Yukie and I here?

"Yeah, but cooking with gas is so bad for the environment. The electric stove I invented is simply better." Oh boy. Here it comes.

"For your INFORMATION! The electric stove was invented CENTURIES ago!"

"Yeah, so how come we still cook with gas?" Sigh.

"Matron?" Yukie speaks up. "While you are understandably upset with Mei for tinkering without permission."

"SHE NEVER HAS PERMISSION!"

I shake my head, keeping my opinions to myself.

"Be that as it may. Why are Reiko and I here? After all, we barely had time to get changed after getting home from school."

"YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE YOU'RE TAKING THAT BRAT WITH YOU!"

I blink. Yukie and I share a look, and we blink. We look to Mei, who's so busy grinning she doesn't seem to remember she's actually in trouble.

"I don't understand. We're taking her? Where are we going?"

"I DON'T CARE! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU DEAL WITH HER!'

"She meant to ask you if you'll take me to UA on Monday," Mei translates. "You know I'm horrible with directions."

"Ah." I tilt my head, blinking some more. "You applied for the support course?"

"Oh yeah! I'll be the world's best inventor!"

"Lower your voice. We have enough people shouting." Yukie gets on her case. "Alright. Have you applied anywhere else? I mean, getting into UA is tough. There's less than a point-two percent acceptance rate."

"Of course not!"

"We'll sort you out," Yukie says. Well, at least someone thinks Mei isn't a lost cause. "Come on." I shake my head.

8-8

"So I'm thinking we should totally go apartment shopping while we're here!" I sigh, but just keep walking down the crowded street.

"Do you think she cares this is the third entrance exam?" I ask, not even a little curious.

"What are you talking about?" Mei says, her crosshairs-eyes glinting with too many good things for this to end well. "Sure. It was great being in Kyoto again, haven't been there in years." Don't. Just don't. "But I mostly went window shopping and checked out the tech."

Sigh. Put in all that effort to still get her a shot. And what does she do? Not even care. Talk about tunnel vision.

Can't say there's anything spectacular about this place. It's still winter, but it isn't too cold. Though I'm sure Mei totally disagrees with that, having forgotten her jacket, and her bag, and her ticket… and her shoes. How can someone even walk out the door not realising they're barefoot?

It's almost a half hour walking before we get to the ginormous UA main building. There must be a few thousand people here, and there're tables set up everywhere.

"Ooh! Rei, check it. You need to go to that table over there. That's the line for the hero course." Mei points at the longest line. "Yukie, business course line is over there." The line with everyone in business suits. And just Yukie's luck, she has a hoodie and faded jeans. Well, she'll blow 'em away all the same. "Ai, general's that way."

"Knock 'em dead, waifu," I say, walking off.

"Wait, what?" Not even answering you, Mei. I head over to the longest line, grateful they're moving semi-quickly. But mostly, I'm annoyed.

Guy A starts talking about how he's so awesome. Boy B has his arms crossed, looking like an explosion waiting to happen. Girl C is so busy trying to keep up a brave face that she looks like she's going to puke. I mostly ignore them, walking along whenever the line moves up.

"Name."

"Reiko Yanagi from Nagoya, Aichi Province." The woman doesn't even look my way, going over the clipboard list over and over and over, flipping through pages.

"Ah, miss Yanagi. Your registered quirk is…Poltergeist, correct?" She looks at my arms. Why? It's not like there's a reason I hold my forearms horizontal and let my hands dangle as they please, it's just comfortable.

"Stupid name, I know. So you got something for me?" She looks at the bag under my eye—but seems most curious about the eye I keep closed and hidden. And still isn't giving me much of anything. Seiai gave me a name tag and a private interview, and some yummy chocolate éclairs with our tea. Then again, Ketsubutsu just went over my results from my final exams—not exactly a benchmark they need to clear.

"Whatever." She marks something on her list and points me towards the main building. "You're examinee two one nine two. Follow the signs to the aula. And good luck."

She seriously didn't give me anything. Oh well, whatever. Let's see if this will be as boring as the last two.

8-8

Henchmen—err, I mean proctors—gather all the tests, in the most non-quirk way possible; row by row, answer sheet by answer sheet. So far it's been exactly like the others. Stupid test, all math and history and Japanese and English questions. Sure, there were a few interesting first aid questions and a few logical puzzles, but really it was little different from the other two.

Lights go out.

"What's up UA candidates. Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ." I blink, looking up at the ginormous screen displaying some funky bright blue background with a golden and stylize 'UA' in the foreground. "Come on! Lemme hear ya!" A wide motion to the crowd—apparently he thinks we're here for him? And what's with the speakers around his neck? And those glasses? And the hair? And is he wearing headphones?

Some things just aren't as advertised.

Unsurprisingly, no one reacts. So poor mister DJ is met only with silence. The idiot definitely deserves it.

"Keeping it mellow, huh? That's fine I'll skip straight to the main show." Please do. "Let's talk about how the practical exam's gonna go down, okay? Are you READY?! Yeah!"

I shake my head, going over the information from the papers left after our answer sheets were picked up. There're apparently four enemies we'll be facing. And there's some information about a battleground, but nothing I make much sense of. And frankly, after three hours sitting here, I'm ready for pretty much anything.

Mr Hair and Ego starts talking about ten minute mock battles. I'm more curious about the 'battle centres', and there are apparently A through G. So why am I in A? Oh whatever.

"Okay, okay." Man, this guy loves hearing himself speak. "There are three types of faux villains in every battle centre."

I sit up, my hands resting on the desk. The folder says four, he says three. Is that a mistake? They seem to scale up in terms of difficulty compared to the points their worth. The one-pointers look smaller and seem to have something akin to two arms and a wheel, the two-pointers seem to have a tail, and the three-pointers almost look like they have a rocket launcher battery or two for a head. Interesting.

"But check it, make sure you keep things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?"

Some prat stands and starts talking about the fourth one and complaining about this or that. But what I find interesting is that the scores are already marked down on the printout. The fourth one, it's worth zero points. He didn't mention that one.

"Additionally. You with the unkept hair. You've been muttering the entire time. Stop that." Jeez, breathe, penguin. You'll wear yourself out before we even begin. "If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave." Right, because the DJ is serious about anything. "You're distracting the rest of us." You mean you. I didn't even hear muttering.

Sigh. Seiai wouldn't be a bad choice if idiots like that will be let in. Seriously. It's an all-girl school, and everyone is well behaved, and the girls that gave us the tour were so polite—they didn't even make a big deal of how we were dressed!

And now everyone's laughing? Seriously?

Sigh. Maybe my expectations for a national level school are too high? Seiai might be the better pick. And I won't have to worry about that stupid sports festival either.

I'll discuss it with Yukie, see what we come up with.

"That one is worth zero points. Think of it like an obstacle to try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's…kinda no point."

A mock battle is a simulated battle. That means everything has a point. It wasn't left out by accident, it's a sign there's more going on here.

Hmm. Interesting.

"Good luck! I hope you practiced hitting more than just books."

8-8

We get a half hour break, and I happen into Yukie and Mei in the ladies' room, just as I'm washing my hands. "Hey, how'd you do?" Yukie asks. One look tells me Mei thinks she aced her exam, so there's nothing for me to worry about, not with her.

"The theory wasn't any different from the last two. And there's some kind of mock battle coming up. I'm just glad I could pee and get away from those idiots." The girls laugh, rolling their eyes—not doubt having a thought about how little I've changed, or something like that. "What about you?"

"Seiai was nicer. And the test made a lot more sense. We're having some kind of test to 'prove we have what it takes'?" Yukie shrugs and sighs. "Not sure what to make of it, especially after that weird explanation."

I take out my phone, checking if I have any messages. Not that anyone other than these two would, but habits are funny like that.

"Anyway, I'mma head out to find out where I gotta go. I'll message you soon as I'm done, okay?"

"Sounds good. Good luck, and try not to give anyone a heart attack?"

I grin, dark joy in my eyes. I haven't been allowed to go all out with my quirk in so long. So how will this play out? Don't get me wrong. Seiai put me through a practical exam, too. But it was more lift this and move that and try this and what about that.

Either way, I make my way out to the front of the school. There are eight busses lined up, with cues and someone holding out an A-four printout of the battle zone. I head for A, entering the touring coach and grabbing the first empty seat I find.

"Hiya." I don't even look at the girl sitting by the window, what's the point. I'm probably not going here. Then again, there's less than a one percent chance that she's going here. Yeah, no point. "Uh, hi? I'm, uh. Itsuka Kendo."

"Reiko Yanagi. Not a people person."

"Ah."

It takes almost ten minutes before our bus drives off, taking us a mere three turns down the road. Less than ten minutes. Why did we take a bus? Why would they even have so many busses for this purpose? Talk about extravagance.

We get off, heading towards ginormous doors. It's really just a theme with these people. Over the top, huge, big, gigantic. Is it symbolic of their school motto? Or is this just made to match the egos of the builders? Or just those they mean to teach?

"Right! Let's start! Get moving!" The doors swing open. Good enough for me.

"Well, waifu. You did say I should try not to give anyone a heart attack." My face is split by a manic grin. My grey hair sticks up, showing my whole face, my three piercings in each ear, and just in time for some explosion waiting to happen to explode and literally flying ahead.

Whatever. My quirk balloons out, my body turns misty and I dash into the fray. Mister grenade already took out three three-pointers, so he's purposely taking the bigger game. Hmm. Well, let's see how this will play out.

I flash towards the smaller one, just to see how well I handle it. My hand phases right through its head and I rip out the circuits. It drops. Easy enough. Still, those arms look quite useful. They rip themselves out of their sockets and hover beside me. I rush forward, going for the four-legged one with a tail.

The cityscape fills with the sound of battle. Some girl is twenty metres tall, thrashing about and stomping the machines. Mister grenade tears through everything, not caring who gets in the way. The orange-haired girl that sat beside me on the bus grows her hands and bitch-slaps everything she can.

As for me, I rush my third villain and pummel it with the limbs and tails of those who fell before. I need to hurry.

Pulling out all the stops, I make a wild dash down a busy street and I rip into the six robots, tearing their limbs off like nothing's the matter, ripping into more and more and more.

I drop out of the sky, my collection of pretties dropping with me. Damn, has it already been a minute? Well, I must have gotten thirty-six points already, so I'm not hurting.

Another one-pointer rushes me. There's some screaming, something about getting out of the way. Maybe it's because I'm sprawled out on the floor? Dunno. Either way, I get up, dust myself off, and keep a keen eye on the incoming death-wish-granter.

It throws its punch, I jump to the side, grabbing its arm. Vision flickers. The orange-haired one, with a sloppy ponytail, comes into view, only sharper than my eyes allow. She swallows, hard. I pull back from my punch—err, the robot's punch—and wave at her.

Let's see now. Single wheel for moving about. Two arms that pack quite a punch in attacking. Senses are super sharp, but can I zoom?

The head turns this way and that, but the vision never once changes. Nope, this thing is worthless. I delete all information and exit, letting the stupid thing fall on its own.

Orange-hair looks at me, her eyes wild, fearful.

"You should focus on the exam," I say, turning and walking along. Waifu should be getting hungry about now. Mei, too, but she's such a scatterbrain—how does Yukie have patience for that girl? Or me, for that matter. Whatever.

Another six robots come charging our way, but mister grenade is already on those. Depth perception is all screwed up again. I guess that means my hair drooped. Oh well. It'll be ready in a minute.

"YAAAA!" I snap to the sound. Some brunette is falling. I focus on her, reaching out. She slows, hovering over to me with panicked eyes. Lowered to the ground, I plop her onto her feet.

"You're lucky you were so close," I say. Shaking my head in dismay, I walk off.

"Uh. Thanks."

Once my quirk is back in full swing, my hair spikes up again and I go full ghost, dashing ahead and wreaking havoc. There aren't as many villains now, but that balances with more debris laying around for me to scalp.

All in all, not as fun as I hoped it might be. Messing with people's heads is far more enjoyable.

The earth shakes. I'm guessing that means the zero-pointer is here. One of the buildings moves…

A building the same army green as the other robots.

A building with what looks like a missile battery for a head.

A building moves towards us.

I blink. That's the zero-pointer. It's huge. Tall as a twenty story building. Seriously?

And it kicks up dust and debris as it moves, making it hard to see if everyone is out of its way.

"Yanagi! Move it!" Orange-hair grabs my arm, but I pull back.

"We need to make sure everyone gets out," I say, trying to peer into the dust. Not that it works. Or that it'll ever work—I'm not Mei.

The dust settles, bit by bit. Just in time for mister grenade to jet passed. Giant girl, the one I saved earlier, she limps about. Orange-hair dashes her way, growing her hands and picking her up. They dash off, orange-hair calling for me to hurry up.

I was really expecting something different from this. Oh well.

Seiai it is.

8-8

We sit in the cafeteria, surrounded by a bunch of beat-up-looking people. I'm guessing they also took the hero course entrance exam. Not that I care. There's some robot-looking person with a chef's apron moving about. Dunno what that's about, but they keep giving people a thumbs up.

"So how'd you do?" I ask, hovering up some of my rice and nibbling away at it.

"Aced it." Mei glows, obviously quite happy with herself. Who asked her? "What about you, Yukie?"

"Well, I'm not sure, really. There was this one guy that was really clingy." My chopsticks snap in a dozen little pieces. "He didn't touch me." Yukie picks up an extra pair she had lying around—for some reason—and she scoops up some of my salad, bringing it to my lips. "He was mostly just. Weird."

I bite her offering, trying not to be annoyed with whoever that person is. "Either way. Seiai was nicer. And I'm not sure I enjoy having so many boys around."

"Talk about a fox in a henhouse," Mei says, pointing at me with a fish pinched between her chopsticks. "You looking for easy prey?" Her shit-eating grin tells me she's more asking if Yukie and I are an item.

"Mei Hatsume." Yukie gets on her case.

"Yukie Okimasa." Mei, of course, is completely unfazed. Her smile widens, bordering on a grin. "Or should I say, Yukie Yanagi?"

"Psh." Yukie waves her off. "You know she'd take my name. And stop fishing in the dark."

We continue eating, continue annoying the snot out of each other—mostly Mei annoying me, but whatever.

"Reiko." Mei seems almost serious. That isn't like her. "You're thinking of going to Seiai. Aren't you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you aren't looking around. You aren't studying escape routes or figuring out how far you'd have to travel if one of us is in trouble."

I blink. She can tell when I'm doing that?

"You did it by the other two. So why not here?"

"Excuse me?" I blink, wondering why I know that voice. Two girls. The one with orange hair in a sloppy ponytail is taller, but it's the hunched shoulders and the uneasy air about the brunette half hidden behind orange-hair that truly makes her seems small. Both carry trays of food, no doubt just trying to find a spot to sit.

"Can. We help you?" Mei asks. A thud and Mei's wince hint something just happened.

"Hi there." Yukie takes the reigns, obviously knowing Mei and I will only make things worse. "I'm Yukie Okimasa. The blunt one is Mei Hatsume. And this is Reiko Yanagi. Did you want to join us?"

"Ah, that's." Orange-hair shakes her head. "Sorry. I'm Itsuka Kendo, and this is Yui Kodai. We took the practical exam with Yanagi."

"So that's why you're acting weird." Mei puts her foot in her mouth. "Don't worry. Whatever she did, it isn't permanent. And the nightmares will pass in time."

"Mei! What is wrong with you?" My shoulders quake—I love being around these two, never a dull moment.

I plop my chin on my palm, watching them kinda freak out about the whole thing.

"Ah. About that?" Orange-hair says, blushing and looking away. "Yanagi, we. Uh. Wanted to thank you. I might have left Yui to fend for herself, and she…"

"Would have gone splat." The brunette blushes, unable to meet my gaze. Not sure what that's about. And what's with the dry monotone? It's like she's trying so hard not to feel anything.

"Don't worry about it," Yukie says, wrapping her hand around my elbow—my left, luckily, so I can keep eating. "It's just who she is. But really, you can join us if you want. They're a bit…rambunctious sometimes, but they're really sweet once you get to know them."

Mei bursts out laughing, spraying Yukie and me with the rice that was—for some odd reason—in her mouth but a moment ago. A bit of focus, and all the pieces she's missing fly right back into her mouth. She just chews away, happy to have her meal back. Thanks would have been nice, but I know better than to waste breath asking for it.

Yukie groans, shaking her head in dismay. "This is why we can't have nice things," she mutters.

Mei swallows hard as the pair of us study Yukie. She's trying to make friends—something neither of us would bother to do.

"You have an awesome quirk," orange-hair says and sits beside Mei, patting the spot beside her for short-tall to join in. "Did you really possess that robot?"

"And how did you stop me from falling?" Short-tall sits and joins in.

"Wow. Next thing you know you'll go full ghost and they still won't freak," Mei says, tumbling fish-bits around in her plate.

"Full ghost? Is that what you call what you did?" Tall-short is confusing. She keeps an utterly blank look, but she seems interested all the same.

"Yes, that's what we call it." My gaze flicks to Mei. "And yes, they've seen me go full ghost." My eye dances from orange-hair to tall-short. "So why are you here?"

"Well. Most people that see me with big hands tend to make fun of me. And you haven't. Neither has Yui. So I figured," she scratches her cheek, looking down at her food, "it'd be nice to just hang out with people that don't think I'm a freak, you know?"

I blink. Tilt my head to one side. There are rabbits and orcas and dogs and I'm pretty sure one of the brats in the orphanage is supposed to be some kind of slug mutant. How do enlarged hands even stick out?

"The last guy I fancied wanted me to go super-sized and use him as a dildo." Mei and I share a look, bursting out laughing at the same time.

"That's terrible!" Yukie pinches my arm and there's another 'unexplained' thud.

"Terribly funny." Mei gets out, laughing. "Come on, snow cone. Lighten up."

8-8

End chapter 1

8-8

A/N: This was my NaNoWriMo project from November 2018. First time I took part, and I got pretty far with it. Never did post it on the official site though. Oh well, at least you guys can enjoy it.