It was like an itch she couldn't scratch.
Noriko shifted uncomfortably and rubbed her neck as if it would make the feeling go away. But, it was much deeper than her skin and it continued to grate on her, no matter how many cautious looks she threw over her shoulder.
"Noriko?"
The teenager in question looked up from her notebook and to where the teacher was looking at her expectantly.
"Y equals seven-z plus three," she said after a glance at the board.
"Very good."
Noriko sighed as the teacher's attention was taken off of her and she could return to her anxiety. Maybe it was just some trauma thing and she was just having an episode. That was the obvious answer.
But, a part of her knew that wasn't the truth.
The bell rang and she shoved the stuff on her desk into her backpack before sliding out of the classroom faster than anyone else. With her shoulders hunched, she made her way down the hallway without sparing a look for the people who passed her.
A hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Whoa," Kiara said after Noriko swung around aggressively "Cool it."
"… Sorry," Noriko said, rubbing her eyes and taking a deep breath "Weird day."
"Huh," Kiara said, giving her a concerned look as they started down the hall again "Well, I know a good way to blow off steam."
"Beat up a mugger?" Noriko guessed.
"I know a non-violent way to blow off steam," Kiara revised, Noriko snorting "Me, Sof, and Mykenzie are going dress shopping. You know, for Homecoming."
"I'm not going," Noriko said as if it was obvious, Kiara sending her a look.
"Why not?"
"I don't want to," Noriko said simply "I have better things to do than seventh wheel all night."
"I'm sure you can get a date," Kiara replied "Just ask someone."
"Yeah, it's that easy when you're the girl everyone's lining up to ask," Noriko retorted, Kiara sending her a look.
"Hey, wait up!"
The pair turned to see a rather cute guy from a couple of their classes, Marquis, slightly jogging to get to where the two girls were standing.
"Gee, I wonder what this is about," Noriko said, leveling Kiara with a witheringly sarcastic look.
"Hey, guys," Marquis said, slightly out of breath once he caught up.
"What's up?" Kiara asked, sending a look to Noriko, who was still staring at her with an unimpressed expression.
"I was just, um, Christ, this is harder than it should be," Marquis said, Noriko's look only intensifying "I was wondering if you'd like to go to Homecoming with me, Noriko."
"Wait, what?"
The shocked looks that had spread across both of the girls' faces was replaced on Kiara's with a smug expression as Noriko floundered for a moment.
"I get this is a longshot, you probably already have a date…" Marquis muttered.
"I, uh, yeah, sure," Noriko finally managed after her axis was thrown off "I'll go with you."
A wide smile spread across Marquis's face and Noriko felt a warmth that wasn't quite like what she'd experienced before, but still pleasant in its own way.
"Great," he said "I'll, um, talk to you later about time and stuff, okay?"
"Sounds good," Noriko said, Marquis sending her one last smile before turning to walk off.
It was quiet for a long moment before the silence was broken.
"Well," Kiara said, Noriko already rolling her eyes "Looks like you're going shopping with this."
"Christ on a bicycle," Noriko said with a small smile, managing to ignore that itch for just a little bit longer.
.
"You ladies looking for anything special?"
Noriko held back an eye roll at the overenthusiastic salesperson who was smiling at them in the way one does when the store you work at has the cashier ask if someone was helping you today.
"Homecoming," Kiara said, the salesperson smiling widely as he saw a quick way to a commission.
"Wonderful!" He said "I'm Grady. What are you each looking for?"
"Actually, this is Noriko's first Homecoming!" Mykenzie said with a false excitement as she forced her into the spotlight "She should get the most attention."
"Oh, f—," Noriko started before getting cut off by Grady.
"Oh, that's great!" He exclaimed "You're going to love it. What type of dress are you looking for?"
"Maybe something that shows off her form," Kiara jumped in as she saw how Noriko was struggling "You can't really tell, but she's got a great body."
"Totally," Grady said with a smile "Anything else?"
"Not red."
Grady obviously strained to hold back a look, but Noriko didn't elaborate, even as her own friends sent her looks.
"Not red?" He asked, his smile frozen on.
"It can have some in it, but not a lot," Noriko said simply, Grady nodding after a moment.
"Alright, well, try over here," he said before wandering off into the store to look for dresses that weren't red.
"Whatch you got against red?" Mykenzie asked, Noriko stretching slightly as the sensation returned.
"Bad experiences."
.
Noriko ran her fingers across the fabric of the dresses without really seeing what was hanging on the racks. Her mind was a million miles away, but not working on the puzzle of today's discomfort as she had been earlier. It was with something that made her uncomfortable in a very different way.
"How about this one?"
Noriko awoke from her daze to take in the purple offering from Kiara, who looked hopeful but not too much so.
"It's fine," Noriko murmured without much conviction, Kiara rolling her eyes.
"We're not looking for fine, we're looking for amazing," she said, shoving the dress back on the rack and turning to look at Noriko "What's up with you?"
The teen in question ran her fingers over a velvet dress and didn't speak for a long moment.
"Is it wrong to go to Homecoming with someone while you have feelings for someone else?"
Kiara sighed and leaned against the rack; Noriko not lifting her head from where she was staring at the rows of dresses.
"Listen, I know you've got some clandestine love story going on right now," Kiara said, gaining a look from Noriko "But, Spider-Boy is busy climbing the Washington Monument—."
"Sh," Noriko interjected, sending her a look.
"-And you two haven't spoken in—what—two months? It's not like you're leading him on."
"Yeah," Noriko muttered, Kiara sighing as she realized how much she was covering up her dejection.
"Listen," she said "Just… try talking to him before you get to the monogamy, okay?"
"… Okay," Noriko said with a small smile, which Kiara returned before shoving a dress in her arms.
"Now, try this on."
.
"So, zero out of four."
Noriko threw her hands up in acknowledgement and annoyance at the truth of what Kiara had said. There was a reason she didn't tag along with the other girls when they went shopping and this was it. She'd been uncomfortable the entire trip and it wasn't just that low-level anxiety she'd been experiencing all day.
"I told you," Noriko said, Kiara sending her a look.
"Hey, I went through six dresses before finding one I even remotely liked last year. This is nothing." Kiara pulled a pink A-Line dress "How about this?"
"Yeah, that's certainly my style," Noriko said, Kiara putting the dress back on the rack without a word.
"Hey, Noriko!"
The teenager looked over to see Mykenzie with a false smile that put her on an edge she had yet to be on today.
"Yeah?" She asked, the suspicion obvious in her voice.
"I found this; I think it would be perfect for you."
Noriko looked down at the dress that Mykenzie was holding out to her as if she meant it sincerely. But, anyone would be able to tell that the offer was not out of the goodness of her heart, but because she wanted to make a fool out of her. All Noriko could tell about the dress was that it was olive, but it was folded in Mykenzie's arms which hid most of it from her, which very much implied it was a less than attractive dress.
But, Noriko felt the pride she was getting used to having get stuck in her throat and she felt her expression twist into a sardonic smile on par with Mykenize's.
"Thank you," she said, wrenching the dress out of her hands and turning on her heel to head into one of the dressing rooms without a moment of pause, not even to appreciate the surprised look on Mykenzie's face.
Without a look at the dress, she stripped down to her underwear before grabbing it off the stool she'd thrown it down on. But, as she pulled it up and put her arms into the off-the-shoulder sleeves, she became aware of why Mykenzie had thought this was a bad pick.
Flowers.
Noriko absentmindedly let her finger trace around the pink and white design of each of the flowers as she thought. Mykenzie was real dumb to pick this dress to humiliate her. Actually, that wasn't fair; she knew nothing about her, how could she know about her feelings towards plants in general?
"So, are you gonna show us?" Mykenzie called, breaking Noriko out from her thoughts and sending a smile across her lips at the smug tone.
Instead of saying anything, Noriko just threw the curtain to the side to reveal herself. She knew she was being a tiny bit dramatic, but who could blame her?
Clearly not Kiara, who's shocked expression morphed into one of delight with a dash of amusement.
"You look hot," she offered, Noriko laughing at that slightly; that wasn't a word she'd ever use to describe herself. She didn't think of her body in terms of attraction often, although if she was going to start getting crushes, she might as well start.
"I gotta say, Mykenzie," Noriko said, turning to face the mirror but looking back over her shoulder "You're really good at picking dresses."
Even while Noriko basked in Mykenzie's obvious annoyance, she couldn't quite shake the weight she felt resting on her shoulders.
.
"That comes out to $42.78."
Noriko begrudgingly shoveled over a fifty she'd gotten from Luke for her Christmas. When she'd received it, she really hadn't been expecting to spend it on something like this.
"Receipt with you or in the bag?" The cashier asked.
"The bag," Noriko said, suddenly feeling very off.
She jerked her head to the right to see a flash of black cloth in the store window, as if someone had just hurried away.
"Here you go, have a—."
"Thanks," Noriko cut them off and grabbed her bag quickly before running out of the store, hoping to catch sight of who exactly she'd seen. Who had been watching her all day.
But, she saw no one other than the average New Yorker.
"Hey," Kiara said, jogging to stand next to her "What's up?"
"I… Nothing."
.
"So… Marquis."
Noriko rolled her eyes good naturedly and dropped her fork on her plate before leaning back and sending Claire a look from across the table.
"Hey, I'm happy you're going to Homecoming," Claire said, twirling some spaghetti on her fork before raising it to her mouth "Just like how I was happy you went to that party."
"Normal teenager things?" Noriko guessed, Claire laughing slightly.
"It's good for you," she said "So is going to school and shopping with your friends."
"The latter one did not feel good to me," Noriko said, Claire smiling.
"Yeah, well, you don't have to do everything a normal teen would do," she reassured "Just do what feels right."
"Nothing feels right," Noriko countered.
"Then you are being a very normal teenager."
.
She was never entirely sure of what terms to think of him in; she knew that Spider-Man and Peter Parker were likely just two sides of one person, but it still made her pause. She'd met Spider-Man, who was dorky but also heroic while never losing his kindheartedness. The teenager she'd encountered at that party for exactly one minute was dorky as well, but he didn't seem to be much more than the class loser. She supposed that was the greatest cover, but she couldn't help herself from wondering what exactly the deviation between Spider-Man and Peter was and how all of that related to Taiyou.
But, at the end of the day, she guessed it didn't matter, it's not like they were speaking.
Noriko sighed and turned over onto her back. She really shouldn't be thinking about Taiyou while she went to bed, it always kept her awake. But, since she'd already started, there was no stopping.
She knew she should just go talk to him, but she honestly didn't know how. How could she talk to him after a horrible fight and then no contact for a few months? He was working with the Avengers now, or at the very least was saving people at the Washington Monument. Maybe he'd changed in that time and now had no time for the Hell's Kitchen vigilante whose main claim to fame was a recording of her beating the shit out of a couple or cops, which was polarizing to say the least.
He probably wanted nothing to do with her as a vigilante, let alone as a… as a…
God, why was everything so confusing now?
What did she even want? She knew she had these feelings that weren't platonic, but what did she intend to do with that information? He thought the girl he'd met at the party was pretty, and that would always fill with her with warmth she couldn't describe, but that meant nothing without him knowing the context. He didn't know that girl was the Black Sky. Besides, being pretty didn't mean shit when it came to actual affection, which she knew she harbored for him. She didn't know if that was requited in anyway though.
But, maybe, she could buy into that fantasy for a little bit. She could pretend that Spider-Man—Peter—Taiyou— Whoever did return her feelings. What would it hurt to think those things?
Noriko's eyes snapped open and she stiffened on her bed.
She might not be Akuma-san, but she had more training than most anyone else on the planet, which let her hear the softest of pressure on tile and a rustle of cloth.
There was someone in the kitchen.
Quieter than the intruder, Noriko slipped out of her bed and crept out of her room and into the hallway without making a sound. There was no light on, but the glow from the window let her locate an outline of someone looking around the place as if to gather all the information they could.
Noriko had the element of surprise on her side and she didn't hesitate to take advantage of that. The young girl leapt forward and managed to get a substantial hit against the intruder. But, they were able to push her away from them and immediately Noriko realized what this was.
It wasn't the same, hers had always been personal, but this was very similar training.
The all dark ensemble that covered the face were nails in the coffin of what Noriko knew already to be true.
Noriko moved forward with a viciousness on her features that she'd never displayed towards the average criminals she faced. He was a good fighter, no denying that, but no one was good as she was. Even when she got punched in the face, she continued on with same aggressiveness she'd had at the beginning while he was waning in energy.
In the end, it took a hit in the ribs to send him to his knees, and a kick in the head to put him on the ground completely. She'd stop here usually and in her mind, she knew that.
But, she wasn't stopping.
Noriko stomped on his head with her barefoot before switching to punching him over and over again. She didn't think that he was already down for the count or that the amount of damage she was causing him was getting bad, she just kept doing it.
Finally she dropped him back on the floor, but only so she could spin around and whip a butcher knife out of the block on the counter.
Noriko turned back to the man prone on ground and she walked across the cold floor with the knife raised.
Suddenly, tight arms wrapped around her from behind and pulled her back and up into the air slightly even while she struggled. But, before she could stab the arm across her torso, a voice rang out through the silent kitchen.
"Noriko, stop!"
Claire.
The knife slipped from her hand and clattered unbearably loud against the tile. Noriko stilled in Claire's arms and she could feel her guardian relax as she realized that Noriko wouldn't try to go through with what she'd started. But, she didn't remove her arms. Instead, they changed from a restrictive force into something still tight, but comforting.
Noriko looked over her shoulder at Claire, who was studying her with concern plain in her features. Neither woman said anything for a moment that seemed infinite, but then Noriko felt her lower lip wobble.
Claire turned her into a more traditional hug and Noriko buried her face in her neck as the tears that had been building up started to run down her cheeks. Noriko didn't even attempt to explain herself, she just let herself go and sobbed helplessly while Claire ran her fingers through her wild hair and whispered the words she knew she needed to hear.
"It's okay. I'm here."
.
Noriko didn't know when she fell asleep, but she must've because she woke to sunlight streaming in on her face.
The young woman slowly pushed herself up, unfortunately identifying the aches and pains that came along with a hard fight followed by sleeping on the couch. It was later than the time she usually rose at and she could hear some motion in the kitchen. But, she recognized that as Claire and didn't worry too much about it.
Instead, she found her mind unwillingly showing her the highlights of last night. Noriko felt herself drawn inward slightly as she remembered the way she'd moved without a thought. That had been her auto-pilot.
"Good morning."
Noriko looked over to see Claire standing near the couch with her hands outstretched and holding a cup of coffee. Noriko took it without a word and swallowed a large gulp despite that fact it burned her throat as it slid down.
"Do you want to talk?" Claire asked gently, Noriko shaking her head no immediately "Okay."
Noriko continued to take sips of her coffee until the mug was empty and she placed it down on the table. By the time she was finished, Claire had joined her on the couch, but no words had passed between the pair, only silence filled the room.
"You should take a shower," Claire suggested gently. Instead of answering, Noriko just stood and walked off towards the bathroom, nearly mechanical in her movements.
.
Although the hot water did sooth her aches, it didn't wash away everything she wished would go down the drain. She couldn't scrub the memories of the prior night out of her brain no matter how hard she tried, so she found herself shutting off the water after a relatively quick shower.
Once the sound of water hitting the tub was gone, she became aware of voices from the front room.
She pulled on her robe, but didn't bother running a comb through her hair or anything else, and she quietly walked out of the bathroom with half a mind to listen in for a minute. But, as she walked down the hallway, she realized who was talking to her guardian and she knew that sneaking up was useless.
So, she walked into the room without a word, Claire sending her a small smile.
"Hey, Matt."
"Hi," Matt replied, his voice gentle in a way that reminded her of unpleasant memories "How are you?"
Noriko shrugged with the knowledge that Matt would hear her movement and understand. The teenager made her way across the room to sit down on the couch, a part of her mind noticing that the TV was on, but turned down very low; Claire must've been watching before Matt showed up.
It was quiet for a moment as all three struggled with finding words for what had happened the night before.
"I'll go…" Claire started, not even bothering with a complete lie before she headed into the kitchen. Matt sighed once she was gone and made his way to sit in one of the armchairs that was closest to Noriko.
"Do you remember last night?" He asked, Noriko rolling her eyes.
"Of course I do," she muttered, Matt smiling bitterly.
"Do you remember me coming over?" He revised, Noriko pausing.
"No," she admitted "I don't really remember falling asleep."
"Claire gave you a sedative," Matt said frankly, Noriko nodding slightly; that explained it "I came over and you were out."
"Yeah?" Noriko said, knowing there was more to this.
"I… took care of it," Matt said slowly, Noriko letting out a soft breath "You don't need to worry about that."
"Is he dead?" Noriko asked, Matt shaking his head. Neither of them said anything for a long moment as they both tried to grasp at what had occurred exactly the night before. It was Noriko who broke that silence with something even heavier.
"I was going to kill him," her voice barely a whisper "If Claire hadn't stopped me, I would have."
"I know," Matt said softly, Noriko shutting her eyes tight before taking in a shaky breath.
"I didn't… It felt like I wasn't in control," she said, her voice wobbling as she looked down at the carpet around her feet "Like I went into automatic… My factory setting."
"Noriko," Matt said, drawing Noriko's eyes back to him "That is not your default."
"It felt like it," she replied, Matt sighing and reaching over to take Noriko's hand in his.
"You're not a killer," He said, Noriko opening her mouth to protest but being cut off before she could even begin "You're not. I've known killers, Noriko, too many to count. But, I can say in complete honesty that you are not one of them. It doesn't matter that other people say you are, because all they see is the Black Sky weapon and you are not that."
"Then who am I?" Noriko asked, her voice low in an attempt to keep it from breaking.
"Whoever you want to be," Matt said simply "The Black Sky vigilante, Noriko Temple, doesn't matter as long as that's what you want."
"... Sometimes, I wish I was normal," Noriko admitted after a moment of thought, Matt nodding in understanding "I like to pretend that I am. I go to parties and shopping and all those stupid things people my age do… But I can't be, can I?"
"Why not?" Matt asked gently.
"Because this will always find me," Noriko said "I will never be completely free of it."
Matt sighed and squeezed her hand tightly in his own in an attempt to comfort her in any way he could.
"I won't lie to you," he said simply, Noriko dropping her head and sighing.
"Then I can't be normal," she said after a moment "I can't do what normal people do. I can't get married and have kids and live in stupid suburbia because they will kill anyone to get to me."
"But that doesn't mean you should shut everyone out." Noriko looked up at Matt in surprise and he laughed bitterly "I've been where you are, I know what you're thinking. It won't help anything to cut yourself off. If nothing else, you will always have Claire and I. Don't forget that."
It was quiet for a moment before Noriko squeezed Matt's hand in the same way he had a minute ago. She didn't smile, but anyone could tell that at least a little bit of her worries had been put at rest, if only by the reassurance of who she had backing her up.
"Thank you, Matt," she managed finally.
"Of course," he said, the promise in his voice obvious to anyone who heard "Now go get dressed. If I was anyone else, I'd be trying to litigate them."
.
Now wearing a soft hoodie and leggings, Noriko found herself at the table with a bowl of vegan mac and cheese Matt had brought over.
"Best comfort food on the planet," Claire had said when she scooped some out of the container for Noriko. Although she appreciated the gesture and wasn't feeling quite as bad as she had earlier, it still just tasted like mush in her mouth. Although, that might have been just what it tasted like.
She looked up from where she was stirring it around in her bowl to see Matt cock his head and his brow furrow; anxiety settling in her stomach as she recognized that he was hearing something.
"What is it?" She asked, Matt picking up on the worry in her tone.
"Oh, it's nothing," he said, picking up his fork to dig into the food "Your boyfriend is on TV."
Noriko sent him a look before her chair scraped against the tile and she hopped off of it to see what the hell Matt was talking about.
The news was playing and Noriko found the remote to turn it up so the average person could hear it.
"Although Spider-Man was present, witnesses say that the savior of the day was Iron Man, who used Stark tech to hold the ferry together until help arrived."
Noriko sat down on the couch with her brow furrowed as the footage showed the Staten Island Ferry in two pieces with Iron Man being the only thing that kept it from sinking. If you looked closely, Noriko observed, you could make out what seemed to be webs in the interior of the cracked ferry.
She looked up to see Matt enter the room and stand behind the couch. He placed his hands on his hips and gave that small twitch of a smile she knew well.
"I get the feeling you're not the only one having a rough day."