Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia.
Combat training. That was Adachi's bright idea to get them stronger, more suitable for his experiments.
Chiyo thought that it wasn't possible for her to hate the man even more than she already did, but then he goes to pull something like this.
After working them to the bone with different workout regimens, Adachi had also decided that it would be productive for them to learn how to fight.
Purposely pitting them against each other, ruining whatever camaraderie they had created. It was positively disgusting.
Chiyo silently fumed over this as she watched Hanami get her ass handed to her by another test subject. The pink haired girl just got up happily, however, and shook her opponent's hand.
"That was amazing Emi-chan! You really got me," Hanami replied overly cheerfully, shaking Emi's hand. Emi just smiled tentatively, and with a tense look towards the guards tasked with overlooking their training, went back to her place in line.
One of the guards cleared their throats and picked up the paper that had all of their names written on it.
"Himiko Toga and Wakana Masamune, step forward," The guard ordered sternly. Wakana stepped forward with a fearful look in her eyes, but Toga… Toga looked ruthless.
"Begin!"
The yellow-eyed girl wasted no time in tackling Wakana to the ground and promptly beating her face to the pulp. Hanami looked away guiltily, and Chiyo winced slightly.
She wasn't scared of Toga, far from it in fact. But it was moments like these that truly made her worry for the other girl's sanity. She was just too… unhinged.
Eventually, Toga's fist started to draw blood, and the girl looked down at them in satisfaction. The guards didn't bother to step in, and let the beat down continue. Wakana started to sob slightly, and it was only then that Toga removed herself from on top of the girl. A minuscule amount of guilt in her eyes.
It disappeared in an instant however when one of the guards carried Wakana away. Her signature grin made its way back onto her face as she skipped to where Hanami and Chiyo were standing. The other children parted like the red sea to let her through, wariness very much present in their eyes.
"Did I do good Nami-chan? It was so pretty, wasn't it! Her face was covered in blood," She stated cheerily, before leveling a look towards Chiyo "All I had to do was imagine that it was the vampire's face I was pummeling instead of Wakana-chan's!"
Chiyo just flipped her off, and patiently waited for her name to be called. Hanami gave Toga a reprimanding look.
"Himi-chan, you went too far," She stated vehemently "Wakana-chan was… you didn't have to drag it on that long,"
Toga just shrugged.
"It was fun," she replied nonchalantly, Chiyo froze at that.
(Fun? It's fun to beat someone to a pulp like that? Had the crybaby always been like this-)
"Chiyo Koumori and Ryuga Kazai!"
Chiyo snapped to attention at that, and slowly made her way forward. Ryuga, who towered over her much tinier frame, just looked at her in annoyance. He cracked his knuckles threateningly.
"Begin!"
Ryuga charged towards her and aimed a punch towards Chiyo's left side. Chiyo rolled her eyes at that and flew upwards.
It had been more than a few months since she had last seen her mother. Since that time Chiyo's hair had grown down to her back, her wings had grown strong enough to fly, and even more, children had died due to Adachi's greed.
Even in a world where 80% of human beings had been granted superhuman abilities, quirks, certain people would always want more. Nothing would ever be good enough to satisfy them. Either their ability wasn't strong or flashy enough. Or it could even boil down to a simple thing as them just being bored of their quirk. Some people hadn't even been graced with a quirk, and just wanted something to call their own.
Adachi was one of those people.
Taking children from their homes, torturing them, all so he could become stronger. So he could possibly take their quirk and transfer it to himself. So he wouldn't be seen as a second-class citizen anymore.
Adachi wasn't apart of the prized 80%. He was apart of the forgotten 20, he was quirkless.
The man had told Chiyo this before he shoved multiple needles into her body. Before he pumped drugs into her system.
(You want to know why I do this Chiyo-chan? Because I have to, because people like me need to be helped and people like you need to be knocked off your pedestal-)
Chiyo kept on flying higher and higher.
The guards started shouting for her to come down, even going as far to throw things at her. Chiyo just kept flying.
(Was that a light she saw? Was she finally going to be free?)
Something pricked her leg, and just like that, her wings stopped working. Her entire body shut down.
She feels herself falling and she's helpless to stop it.
(Darkness. The Darkness consumes her-)
Her eyes shut.
Megumi loomed over her the moment she awoke. Hazel eyes staring at her mockingly.
"I wish I was there to see you fall to the ground like a ragdoll. It must've been so pathetic. Just like you of course," the brunette stated condescendingly. Chiyo just stared down at the bandages on her legs.
"Honey said that I had to heal you… but he didn't say I had to be quick. I might just let you suffer a bit,"
(Her legs felt like jello-)
"Oi! You listening to me?"
(Why couldn't she just shut up? Her voice was grating-)
"Chiyo-chan,"
(... She wanted to die-)
"H-hey! What are you- stop that!"
Due to the properties of Chiyo's quirk, her fingernails were quite sharp. Chiyo was hesitant to even call them fingernails.
"Honey will be angry if you keep doing that-will you listen to me!"
Chiyo paid the woman in front of her no mind and continued to dig her claws into her bicep.
(I want to feel something, anything-)
Megumi eventually grabbed her arms, restraining her from doing any more damage. Red eyes bore into hazel ones. Megumi couldn't help but repress a shiver.
For once… Megumi shut up, did her job, and left. Chiyo couldn't help but feel incredibly grateful.
Chiyo pulled her legs close to her and massaged the area she had tried to ruin. The new skin was already growing in.
She may have hated Megumi with a burning passion, but she was grateful that the woman had a healing quirk. With how rare they were, she probably had the only healing quirk in the lab.
Chiyo looked down at her grey skin and sighed. If only she had a quirk as useful as that.
Bat-form. That's what they had classified her quirk as. She shared some of the physical characteristics of a bat and was therefore granted the abilities of a bat as well.
The nickname 'Vampire' actually suited her, Chiyo realized as she bared her sharp canine teeth.
Her quirk was useful she mused as her bat wings fluttered slightly. She had exceptional hearing and smell, and a naturally flexible body. She hadn't been given the complete freedom to test out the limits of her quirk, therefore she didn't know everything this body would allow her to do.
But… when she was free… she fully intended to find out.
When she was free, the thought of it made her want to scoff. There were times when she doubted she would ever be free. She sometimes wished she was as naive as Hanami. She wished she could believe in heroes.
Even if a hero wouldn't come to spirit them away, she wished she had the courage to escape on her own. The courage to help other children escape.
The tracking device in her arm, however, reminded her that an escape wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
With the tip of her fingertip, she traced over the slight bump on her wrist where the tracking device had been inserted.
Just like that, all feelings of hope were erased. The cold hard reality that Chiyo had become accustomed to was settling once more.
She might never get out of here.
With that thought in place, Chiyo floated into a dreamless sleep.
"Why did you do it Chiyo-chan?" Hanami asked her quietly one day, as they waited for the guards to begin the training exercise.
Chiyo stared at her, red eyes carefully blank.
"Why did I do what?" She questioned as Hanami ran her fingers through her hair without permission. Chiyo glared at her for doing so, but the pinkette just smiled innocently.
"The other day," Hanami whispered "When you just kept on flying… you looked so free. I've never seen you so happy before,"
"I don't know why I did it," Chiyo replied back "It's… I saw a light,"
"A light?"
"Yeah… a light. It made me think I could… escape. That motivated me to keep going. It's stupid," Chiyo muttered as her cheeks turned red "I don't usually-"
"It's not stupid," Hanami declared firmly "You wanted to be free. We all do. We… one day we will be-"
"Stop it Hanami," Chiyo interrupted harshly "We… we can't delude ourselves into thinking that. You have to stop being so damn optimistic,"
Hanami froze at that, and for the first time ever glared at Chiyo. She grabbed Chiyo's cheeks in her hands and started to pull.
"What are you-"
"Don't ever say that," Hanami hissed "I'll never stop being optimistic and you shouldn't either. We… we can't, we won't stay here forever. We will get out of here,"
Chiyo's eyes widened at that, as Hanami finally let go of her cheeks. With a stubborn tilt to her chin, Hanami turned away from Chiyo.
Huh, Chiyo thought as she rubbed her cheeks Who would have thought that pinky had a backbone?
Hanami proceeded to ignore Chiyo for the rest of the training exercise. Not even looking at her once. When Toga comes to join them, she looks between the two curiously. Instead of mocking Chiyo like she usually did, she remained eerily quiet.
When they were escorted back to the testing room, they were all surprised to find that there were a new group of children already in the room.
40 kids, Chiyo counted eventually. The same number her own group had started out with. They had now been reduced to less than half that amount.
Adachi gifted all of them with his usual smile.
"Everyone," He started off cheerfully, his glasses glinting in the light "These are your new friends. Please treat them kindly,"
A chorus of 'Yes Adachi-san,' echoed throughout the room. Chiyo observed all the new test subjects.
One of the boys was crying. Big fat teardrops streaming down his face, as a taller girl attempted to comfort him. They had a similar bone structure Chiyo noted, as she went to sit down in her usual spot. Their eyes looked similar as well.
If Chiyo had to guess, they were at least cousins. The resemblance wasn't close enough for them to be siblings.
Adachi ignored the child and went on with his lecture.
"Sadly, there will be no testing today," Adachi stated downtrodding "We must spend the day giving our new members physical evaluations. You all may stay here for the time being,"
A collective sigh of relief was let out across the room. Adachi's eyes sharpened at that.
"Of course… we could still test today. I just wanted to give you bunch of ungrateful cretins a chance to relax-"
Everyone bowed their heads at that, muttering apologies as quickly as they could. Hanami pushed Chiyo's head down while muttering apologies of her own. Chiyo… Chiyo remained silent.
"Much better," Adachi hissed, snapping his fingers towards the guards "Come along now. We must escort the new children down to the lab,"
The guards nodded their heads wordlessly. Mindless puppets that can barely think for themselves, Chiyo mused as she shook Hanami's hand off her head.
The moment Adachi left with the new children, the room buzzed with excitement. They were all laughing with each other, playing with each other. It made Chiyo sick.
Didn't they realize what this meant? A new group of recruits meant that their time here was limited. They were now nothing but spoiled goods in Adachi's eyes.
Chiyo closed her eyes and tried to envision the life she had before this. Not the one where she had cancer, she wasn't even sure if that counted as a life. No, the one where she had lived with Nadeshiko. Just Nadeshiko. She couldn't remember what her father looked like. She knew she had one, everyone had one. All she could remember was his presence.
She wondered where he was now-
A spare pebble hit the side of her cheek.
Chiyo turned her head to the side and was surprised to see Toga glaring down at her.
Toga grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up, ignoring Chiyo's protests.
"Just what do you think-"
"You're ignoring us and hurting Hanami-chan's feelings," Toga stated curtly "Come play with us,"
Chiyo was slightly speechless at that. Hanami was the one that went off on her. How was she in the wrong?
Chiyo pried her arm from Toga's grasp and glared at the taller girl.
"No thank you. If pinky wants to talk to me, she can come over here herself," Chiyo replied stubbornly, causing Toga to roll her eyes. Toga skipped across to the other side of the room leaving Chiyo by herself. Chiyo sighed and went to sit down back in her former place. She froze in her tracks, however, when Toga came back moments later carrying Hanami. Bridal-style.
Hanami covered her hands with her face. Even so, Chiyo could still see the reddening of her ears.
"Can we play now?" Toga replied impatiently "I'm bored just sitting here,"
Chiyo turned her head to the side stubbornly, annoyance rolled off of her in waves.
("Have you made any friends?" she remembered her mother asking her during their last visit "Anyone you talk to?")
Why did things have to be so complicated? Why were people so complicated?
("I know these aren't ideal circumstances. But… if you make friends maybe it'll be easier-")
Friends? They were all going to die anyway. What was the use of friends?
("You remember your aunt Nojiko right? Before she… passed, she was there for me at times nobody else was. Find people like that-")
"I'm sorry!" Chiyo exclaimed eventually causing Hanami's eyes to widen. Toga just looked vaguely interested.
"I'm sorry that… that I've been so mean to the both of you. Friends… friends aren't supposed to do that,"
Hanami and Toga stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. Hanami's mouth kept opening and closing, but no words seemed to come out. Toga just stared at Chiyo.
"We're friends?'' Toga questioned suddenly. Chiyo blushed at that and lowered her head.
"Who else do I talk to her?" Chiyo whispered hurriedly "Yes… you guys are my only friends-"
Toga and Hanami crushed her in a hug, knocking Chiyo to the ground.
"Get off of me-"
"No can do," Hanami responded cheerfully "This is what friends do. Get used to it Chiyo-chan!"
"That's right you vampire! You're gonna get a lot of these from now on," Toga stated happily "You said it yourself. We're your only friends-"
"I take it back!"
"Can't take it back Chiyo-chan," Hanami stated solemnly "Friendship is a very serious matter,"
Chiyo groaned at that and covered her face. Hanami and Toga were still on top of her, and it seemed that they didn't plan on moving anytime soon.
"I hate you guys," Chiyo muttered, her face heating up rapidly. Hanami and Toga just grinned down at her.
"Nah you don't," They chorused before breaking down in laughter. Chiyo rolled her eyes at that, but couldn't stop her lips from quirking up slightly.
Because she didn't hate them, she didn't think she ever could.
(She would miss times like these. Why had she always pushed them away? Why had she taken them for granted-)
Chiyo looked on in morbid fascination, as Hanami plunged a knife into her bicep and took it out just as quickly. To any normal person, the sight would have been unsightly. But, Chiyo had become desensitized to knives. When something was plunged into you more often than not, you had to get used to it.
The wound bled for a few moments, before healing up just as quickly. Hanami grinned sheepishly as Toga and Chiyo clapped ceremoniously.
"That was amazing Nami-chan!" Toga exclaimed excitedly. Chiyo nodded her head in agreement, before turning a mischievous eye towards Toga.
"Of course… the crybaby still won't tell us what her quirk is-"
"None of your business!" Toga replied as she stuck her tongue out. Chiyo just rolled her eyes, before turning back towards Hanami.
"Your quirk is pretty useful," Chiyo surmised, as she observed the place where Hanami had just cut herself "You can never get hurt,"
Hanami shook her head sadly at that.
"That's not true. I can still feel pain, it just isn't as much as you or Himi-chan would feel. It also makes me really tired, and I can't heal others-"
"Even so," Chiyo cut in, not ready to let Hanami tear herself down "It's really cool. I wish I had something like that. This quirk makes me look so weird,"
Hanami shook her head immediately at that.
"No way! Your mutation quirk allows you to do a lot of things," Hanami replied excitedly "Your bat mutation allows you to be really flexible, it gives you good hearing. I bet you could even use echolocation! Plus you can fly," Hanami stated with stars in her eyes, as she took Chiyo's hands in her own "Your fingernails are really sharp and long too! I think you could use them for climbing if you-"
"Take a breather, Pinky," Chiyo interrupted jokingly "But… thank you. I never really thought about it like that,"
Hanami blushed slightly at that and smiled as she rubbed the back of her head. Toga just looked towards Hanami and shook her head.
"You're such a nerd Nami-chan," Toga stated plainly causing Hanami to turn red "You always get so excited about the weirdest things,"
Chiyo nodded at that, causing Hanami's shoulders to droop even more.
"You are a nerd," Chiyo said firmly "But that's not a bad thing. I think it's pretty cool how smart you are,"
Hanami's jaw dropped at that as she mulled over the words that had just left Chiyo's mouth.
"You think I'm cool?" Hanami questioned softly. Chiyo just smiled crookedly and nodded her head.
"Yeah. You're really strong too," Chiyo replied, taking note of the pleased smile that came over Hanami's face.
'All that because I complimented her? What a weirdo,' Chiyo thought fondly. Hanami lowered her head, and lightly bumped Chiyo's shoulder.
"I don't think you look weird Chiyo-chan," Hanami whispered, "I think you're really cool too,"
Chiyo's eyes widened at that, as the guards entered the room to escort them to their separate holding cells. Hanami just smiled as she went to her place in line.
I think you're really cool too.
Nobody had ever said that to her before. She… she had never thought of herself in that way.
She wasn't cool, she was just putting up a front. She was putting up a front because she didn't want anyone to see how broken she really was.
As she was placed into her room, Chiyo kept mulling over the words Hanami had said to her.
'What does she mean by cool?' Chiyo grouched 'I'm… I'm the opposite of that if anything!'
Cool… the word made Chiyo want to laugh.
What Hanami didn't know was that Chiyo cried more often than not. That she was a complete wimp, that had gotten too good at putting up a facade.
She wasn't cool, she was a coward.
A coward that was terrified of the fate that awaited her.
The numbers of the original group Chiyo, Hanami, and Toga had started out with was dwindling even more. For whatever reason, Adachi had avoided picking them when it came down to the final experiments.
Now, Chiyo wasn't naive enough to believe that Adachi held a soft spot for any of them. She had thrown that idea out the window when Hanami had come limping into their shared room with multiple daggers stuck in her skin.
The pink haired girl just gave them a smile.
'Adachi-san wanted to test my limits,' she had said as she coughed out blood 'He wanted to see how far my regeneration would go. I'm not… I'm not allowed to take these out,'
Chiyo clenched her fists as her mind recollected the memory.
It was true that Adachi hadn't been picking them for the final experiments, but he chose to mess with them in other ways.
With Hanami, he used physical torture, with Chiyo the torture was more psychological.
He had given her pictures, videos that she was forced to watch of her mother.
Her mother… Chiyo hadn't spoken to her in a while. She wasn't sure how long it had been, she had stopped counting the number of days she had been forced to reside in the lab after she had gotten to day 200. But she knew her mother wasn't in a good state.
Nadeshiko had been kept in a constant state of isolation for months. Barely even being granted a decent amount of food.
The last video she had seen of Nadeshiko, was of her screaming at the camera. Begging to be let out.
The guards watching her had laughed at the sight, but all it did was remind Chiyo once again of how utterly helpless she was.
She wasn't exactly sure of what was being done to Toga. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary with the yellow-eyed girl, but when it came to Toga that wasn't saying much. She had always been a little different.
When Chiyo had first arrived at the lab, she couldn't help but notice how emotional Toga had been. The other girl used to never be caught without tears streaming down her face, hence the nickname 'crybaby'. To be fair, they had all cried in the beginning. But Toga had always cried the most.
Now, it was almost as if Toga was indifferent to all the horrible things happening in the lab. Chiyo used to hate the girl for her emotional disposition. She was slowly starting to realize, however, that she much preferred that version to the Toga they had now.
The Toga they had now just didn't care. Even going as far as to laugh at all the children that had died, either due to the experiments or attempting to escape.
It was disturbing, to say the least, but Chiyo couldn't find it in herself to judge Toga.
They were all messed up if Chiyo really thought about it. They were all jaded.
Even Hanami had changed slightly.
The pink haired girl was still kind, of course, she didn't think the pink haired girl could ever be truly mean or cruel. But Chiyo had begun to notice Hanami's eyes growing darker and darker. With each death, each failed escape attempt, it was almost as if Hanami was losing hope.
Chiyo had used to make fun of the girl's optimism, but in truth, Hanami's optimism was one of the only things keeping her going.
Heroes… Chiyo still didn't believe in them. But whenever Hanami talked about them it made Chiyo want to believe.
It made her want to believe that they would be saved.
(Heroes were supposed to be these amazing beings who couldn't be touched. They were supposed to protect the public, protect people like them-)
It confused Chiyo. It baffled her how Hanami could believe in something that wasn't working for them. Heroes weren't working for them.
It baffled and amazed her at the same time. It made her admire Hanami.
Hanami hadn't believed her when Chiyo had told her she was strong, but that may have been the truest thing to ever leave Chiyo's mouth.
Anyone capable of having hope after such terrible circumstances were nothing but strong in Chiyo's opinion.
A loud bang interrupted Chiyo's thought process. It was almost as if something was clawing at her door.
She waited with bated breath as the clawing continued.
(Had someone broken into the lab? Had there been an accident-)
Eventually… the clawing stopped. Chiyo's shoulders sagged as she brought her blankets closer to her small frame.
She didn't sleep that night. She found that she couldn't.
She spent the night staring at the metal door that had caged her. Hoping… praying that maybe someone other than Adachi would walk through it.
A good, kind person that would take care of her.
As she thought about it more and more, Chiyo couldn't help but laugh. She wished she could believe in heroes. She wanted to believe in heroes. But… she found she just couldn't do it.
She stared at the metal door blankly and felt herself drown in the silence.
Hanami could barely keep her eyes open as the light bore down on her.
The doctor tasked with examining her ignored her discomfort, however, and just kept on extracting blood.
The doctor-who thankfully wasn't Adachi Hanami mused- was quirkless. Most of the doctors were quirkless at the lab. Either that or they were just unhappy with the quirk they were born with.
People would always be greedy for more, Chiyo-chan had once told her. That was just the way humanity was.
Chiyo-chan… Hanami thought the other girl was amazing.
She was really smart, calm, and nice too! Even if the other girl didn't realize it herself.
When they had first gotten to the lab, Hanami remembered that she couldn't stop crying.
Her parents had been separated from her, and the guards had been so mean. All she could do was cry.
It wasn't like she was the only one! They had all been crying. All of them except… all of them except Chiyo.
That annoyed Hanami at first. How could she just sit there?
Did she think she was better than them? Hanami had thought hatefully glaring daggers at the girl How dare she?!
As tears stung her vision, Hanami covered her face in her hands.
She and her Mom were supposed to go out for ice cream that evening. This wasn't supposed to happen she had thought as a heavy feeling settled in her chest.
Someone had tapped on Hanami's shoulder, causing her head to snap up.
A hiccup escaped her as she realized it was the same girl she had been glaring at only moments ago. Hanami had attempted to glare at the girl once more, but this only caused more tears to come out.
The girl kept staring at her blankly, with those creepy eyes of hers.
(Chiyo's eyes weren't creepy' Hanami would come to realize 'They were actually really pretty, like gems-')
The girl sighed and pulled something out from the jacket covering her. It was a fluffy toy rabbit.
Hanami stared at the toy in awe as it was forced into her hands. She remembered Chiyo just scratching her cheek as Hanami cried into the toy rabbit.
"My mom got that for me. It helps me whenever I'm sad. It should help you too," Chiyo had said "We'll get out of here soon. Don't worry,"
That incident had taken place 2 years ago. Hanami doubted Chiyo even remembered. But Hanami did, she'd always remember it.
Chiyo-chan would make fun of her for her… optimism Chiyo called it, at times, but she was the one Hanami got it from.
She still had the toy rabbit. It was the one kindness Adachi had granted her.
Kindness… people always said that she was a kind girl. What they didn't know was that she could be incredibly selfish at times as well.
What they didn't know was that she was fine with other kids dying as long as they weren't people close to her.
As long as Chiyo-chan or Himi-chan didn't die, she'd be fine. She could keep on going.
As the doctor kept drawing more blood and making more cuts on her body, Hanami grinned.
She wouldn't let this beat her.
Himi-chan thought heroes were stupid, Chiyo-chan didn't believe in them at all.
But Hanami did. She knew they would come eventually, they always did.
With that thought in place, Hanami waited peacefully for the doctor to finish their work.
(She would get out of here. They all would.)
Author's Note: Here's Meraki chapter 2! In case you're an old reader that's a bit confused by this, I've combined chapter 2 and 3 into one. The reason for this is because I've decided to change the way I plan to write this story. In the original draft, I wouldn't have gotten to canon until chapter 20 or 30 even. In this version, I'll get to canon much earlier, by changing the way I write some parts. Thank you to everyone that favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! I greatly appreciate it.
Edited 8/18/18
Questions I have for you Guys:
What questions do you guys have for me?
P.S. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
