Chewing at her thumbnail, the girl stared intently at the chat box. Eagerly waiting for the next message. The next little bit of friendly interaction. Kaere tasted blood and licked at where she had torn her skin a bit. I…need to calm down. I always do this and…this doesn't help with how things are.
Kaere was sitting in her dark little apartment. Seated on the couch, curled with her knees against her chest and her back against the armrest. The screen of her laptop reflecting on her glasses and the computer acting as the only source of light in the apartment at this time.
She saw the next message and half-grinned as her pulse fluttered with excitement. Even after working with demanding, rude clients, she could still find joy in talking to her online friend. They had met on a forum about a certain game and bonded over the fact that both were pretty reclusive and they liked all of the same games.
Soon they were playing multiplayer games together and chatting online whenever they got the chance. Of course, there were times when he would just disappear for a while, but he always came back. This was her only friend, but they had never met in real life.
Right now, he was telling her about an article he read recently about the Hero Killer. He sent her a link along with it and she could tell how excited he was for her to read it so they could discuss it later. Kaere licked at the bloody area of her thumb again and typed a confirmation. He suddenly typed: "I have to go. I need to meet up with my group soon. I'll try to get online again when I'm done."
Kaere assured him that it was okay. Once he had logged out, she sighed and rested her chin on her knee. She pushed up her glasses and shifted her focus from her hand to her lip. Picking at a scrap of dry skin and hoping he would return soon.
She was drawn out of her thoughts by her phone ringing and jumped, nearly knocking her glasses off her own face. With a shaking hand, she checked the screen. Unknown number. Work. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she answered. "Ah…this…this is Kaere speaking."
"Hey, it's Giran. You remember me, right?"
The girl straightened a bit, her fingernails tapping anxiously at her glasses frame as she tried to calm her racing her heart. "R-right…the League. Um…?"
"Do you have any experience with prosthetics?"
"Of course…er…well…I can do general maintenance and-"
"Perfect! Compress's new arm arrived and I want you to help him out with it. You're not busy right now, right?"
She stared at the laptop screen. The name "Iguchi" was still gray, meaning he was offline. "No. I'm…I'm not busy right now."
Kaere, despite her nearly crippling anxiety, took her job seriously. To her, there really was not much that she was capable of. She could never be a hero. She could never even be a nurse. Even if her clients showed no appreciation, even if they were cruel, she would be happy as long as she was able to help somehow.
Arriving at the same location as last time, she felt her stomach twisting in nervousness. Unlike last time, Giran was nowhere to be seen. Right. I can…remember which way to go. I'm here to help. She took a deep breath and stepped into the building.
The girl got to the top of the stairs and paused. Kaere was chewing at her thumbnail, trying to settle her nerves again. She hated feeling this afraid. After all, she was there to help someone; she should be confident so he would feel better about her helping him. However, years of rejection from others and living in isolation made it difficult for her.
"Kae-chan, you came! What're you doing standing around in the dark? Get in here!" The voice from down the hallways made Kaere lift her gaze from the floor.
That's…Twice, right? I think that's what Giran-san called him. She tilted her head slightly and began to hesitantly make her approach. The costumed villain hurried to meet her halfway and grabbed her hand without warning. There was an explosion of anxious butterflies in her stomach and her eyes widened.
"Let's go! Everyone's waiting for you! We're still waiting for some of the others!" he announced, excitedly.
Kaere lowered her head, hoping to hide the embarrassing blush that took over her face. She had no memory of when someone had last held her hand, but she was sure it had to have been in preschool. He's…an affectionate person? But it does make me feel a little less scared. Just a little bit.
Entering the room, she was greeted with a sight similar to last time. The moody blue-haired villain standing against a wall, Giran hanging out beside Compress near a boarded-up window, the blonde girl sitting on an overturned crate and watching the doorway. The other girl's face broke into a grin when she saw Twice leading Kaere into the room.
"There she is. Okay, now that Kaere's here, I'll leave this up to her." Giran lifted the case he was holding and smirked.
"Ah! Wait…um…you want me to…take care of fitting it?" Kaere's eyes widened a bit as Twice brought her over to Giran and Compress.
The bespectacled man quirked an eyebrow. "You're a medic, right? Shouldn't be a big deal. I had it made with his measurements so it's a plug and play. Just help him put it on and show him how it works."
As Twice let go of her hand, Kaere began to tremble. This was a bigger deal than helping one of her regular clients; this was the League of Villains. Not to mention that their leader still looked like he was thinking about killing her. A lump started to form in her throat and she wiped her sweating palms on the pants.
"I…I can do it," she stated, trying to sound more confident than she felt.
"I knew we could count on you! Just don't flake on us!" Twice gave her a cheerful thumbs up.
Right. They're counting on me. Does he…really have faith in me? Kaere accepted the case from Giran with a trembling hand and nodded. "Th-thank you."
He leaned down, glancing toward the blue-haired villain across the room. The other man was still watched them intensely, his red eyes narrowed. "Do a good job, okay? You want to impress Shigaraki, get it?"
"…right…?" She turned toward Compress and actually looked at him this time. The girl had been too nervous to look directly at him when she first walked over; instead stealing glances at Giran and then looking at the floor. He's…wearing a different mask?
Compress was wearing a black and white mask with a strange sort of design on and somehow, despite not having visible eyeholes, he seemed to be looking at her. When he saw her look at him, he tipped his hat and bowed slightly. "Kae-san. It's a pleasure to see you again, my dear."
"H-hello, Compress-san." Kaere bowed, letting her dark brown hair fall around her face and hoping to hide the embarrassed flush that had turned her face pink. "I'm sorry. I'll…try to make this quick. I'm sure you want this to be over and done with so…I'll try to be quick and I'll…um…"
He leaned down toward her, head tilting slightly. "There's nothing to be worried about. I've been patient for the past few days waiting for this to arrive; I can wait a while more. Shall we begin?"
"Ah! Y-yes, of course! I'm sorry…making you wait…" Kaere struggled with the case and murmured a quiet word of thanks when Twice held it open for her. She hesitantly reached out and began rolling up Compress's left sleeve, wary of letting her cold fingertips brush over his skin. "I'm sorry…I don't have the best blood circulation so my hands might be kind of cold."
"That's alright. There really isn't any rush. Take as much time as you need to," he assured her again. Compress pushed his hat back a bit and carefully removed the black and white mask to reveal that he was in fact wearing the same black balaclava as last time. At least now his eyes and mouth were visible.
Feeling slightly better, she gave a small nod and finished rolling up his sleeve. "Alright…the arm..." Kaere drew it from the case and looked it over for a moment, inspecting it to be sure there were no stickers or tags to remove. It was a simple metal arm, but better quality than most of the prosthetics she had seen before.
She tucked it beneath her left arm and drew the protective sleeve out of the case to slip it onto his amputated limb first. Again, Kaere was self-conscious about how cold her fingers were and simultaneously very aware of how warm his skin was by contrast. Next she fixed the prosthetic limb into place and quietly explained each step of the process to him.
"Kae-chan, you're just like a real doctor! Eh! Not that impressive!" Twice snapped the empty case closed and held it out to Compress. "Hold this!"
The other masked villain grimaced as if this was beneath him, but reached out with his prosthetic arm and closed his fingers around the handle. "As if there was any question that I could master this."
Kaere was about to ask if he felt any sort of pinching on his limb from the prosthetic, but found herself pulled into a warm hug by Twice. Her stomach twisted in nervous knots as she lifted a hand and chewed at her thumbnail. The villain was going on about what a great job she did fixing Compress when a newcomer entered the room and drew his attention mid-sentence.
She was released and Twice went over to greet the newcomer. Standing awkwardly in front of Compress, she settled her gaze on his metal arm. "It…isn't uncomfortable, is it? I've worked with prosthetics before so…if it needs any adjustments, I-I could probably do them for you…or I could show you how to."
The man smiled and he gestured to the spot beside him with his artificial arm. "I trust your expertise, Kae-san. You seem knowledgeable. Care to stand with me?"
"A-alright. Thank you." Kaere leaned against the wall beside him, lowering her head and pushing up her glasses. He's…really polite. I'm not used to this. The people I usually work with are normally in such a bad mood by the time they ask for my help. He seems like he's feeling well, though.
"How long have you been in the medical business?" he inquired.
"It's been…um…around six years…?" She frowned, having not given it much thought. She had started helping shadier sorts of people after she dropped out of high school and just sort of fell into the career of an underground medic.
"I see. It shows, you know. You act very professional, my dear. I admire it." He flashed her a smile and caught a glimpse of the embarrassed blush overtaking her pale face. "I appreciate your dedication, too. You sacrificed your own flesh and blood to help me. It's like we have a bond, even if it's unconventional."
A bond…Kaere's gaze slid up from the floor to look in his direction. Her warm hazel eyes met a pair of inquisitive brown ones and she gave him a shaky sort of half-smile. "That's…right, isn't it? Um…you don't think it's weird? You're not disgusted that part of my skin is attached to yours?"
He seemed puzzled for a moment and then shook his head. "Not at all."
"Here she is! This is Kae-chan! She fixed Compress!" Twice was leading the newcomer over to their group, excited to make introductions. "Kae-chan, this is Dabi. He's a great guy. He's a total creep! Watch your back!"
Kaere turned her head and met the bright turquoise stare of a man that seemed to be held together with staples. He was wearing a long, tattered black coat and had his hands in his pockets as he approached them. Portions of his skin looked like it had been burned and showed as a dark purplish sort of color. The lower half of his face was this shade while the upper half looked almost ordinary, with the exception of the purple patches beneath his eyes.
The second he stopped in front of her, looming over the girl, she felt a shiver run down her spine. The way he was regarding her was the same way a cat would regard a mouse before pouncing. He's…scary. He's intimidating. I…don't even want to look him in the eye. She curled her hands into fists, nails sinking into her palms, as she forced herself to try to maintain eye contact for a while longer.
"Kae? That's a…weird name." The villain with dark, spiky hair leaned down toward her. He kept his eyes locked onto hers until she finally conceded and lowered her gaze. His lips twitched into a smirk, satisfied that he won the staring contest and asserted dominance. "The leader seriously wants someone like her in the League? She looks weak. What's her quirk?"
Before she could stammer through attempting to defend herself, a hand rested on her shoulder. "Kae-san has a healing quirk. She's also quite skilled with treating wounds. Aren't you, Kae-san?" Compress glanced her way and gave a small nod of encouragement.
"Ah…y-yes. I'm a medic. A-and I'm not actually a member…and my name's actually Kaere," she mumbled.
"What?! I got it wrong? Agh! Who cares?! Kae-chan sounds way cuter!" Twice exclaimed, coming to stand on her other side.
"Kaere? What kind of name is that?" Dabi taunted. "Whatever. This is boring. When are we starting? We're just missing the lizard, right?"