A/N: Hi there. It's been a while. This chapter was really hard to write, mostly due to other things getting in the way of my writing process; namely my courses, a job, and family responsibilities. Thank you guys so much for being patient with me and supporting this fanfic.
It's been a weird couple of months. Currently, I'm working on getting my husband over here, but COVID has made it exceedingly difficult, as well as the laws on bringing foreign spouses to my country.
However, it's not just my own issues that've been fucking with me, but also the many BLM protests that happened in response to the horrific death of George Floyd. I've seen and a lot of things on Twitter about it, signed countless petitions and I hope you have too. I was unable to attend protests in my country because I have to keep my parents' health in mind, but I've done what I can. That said, Black Lives Matter and I won't hear any criticism or counter-arguments.
Special thanks and a huge shoutout to my friend Crystalline1206 on AO3, who is my beta-reader as of May 2020. She also is writing a MandoxReader fic on AO3 and it's great, you should read it :)
Again, thanks so much for your patience! Next chapter should be here around the same time next month, and if not, it'll be a bit later. If you want updates on my fic, make sure to follow me on Twitter or Tumblr! I'll post updates on there. Thank you for your time and love and patience, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think!
Peek Behind The Curtain
Urayuli woke up reluctantly the next morning, feeling the effects of yesterday's training still hanging over her in the form of a brain-crushing migraine. Urayuli was already exhausted from continuously changing back and forth between forms the day before and now it was taking its toll, and if it wasn't for the fact that she could already hear Calypso's voice happily yammering on with Max downstairs, she probably would have rolled over and gone back to sleep.
She took a moment, conjured some strength, and lurched forward in her bed, letting out a strained huff as she sat up. Her eyes adjusted to the bright daytime and her attention was caught by a gentle movement in her room. She peered over her shoulder towards the window where her little tomato plant sat, its leaves swaying quietly caressed by the soft breeze coming in from outside.
"I'll take care of you today, I promise," she murmured.
After taking a shower and getting dressed, she quickly looked at her calendar. I have to do some homework today. Urayuli opened her bag so she could set up her stuff for after training but noticed that she had forgotten some of the worksheets for her history assignment. You have got to be kidding me. Nervously, she emptied her backpack and frantically searched among the many papers and books now scattered across the floor. Did I seriously leave them at school?! She hung her head in defeat. How am I gonna do this now?
Her head suddenly whipped up when an idea came to her. I could... just ask one of my classmates to make a copy, right? But who could I ask? Hmmm... Urayuli thought for a moment. Doesn't Midoriya live close by? Not wanting to waste any time, she quickly shot him a text.
[Yaraqpik] 7:58 :
Hey Midoriya, it's me
I know you're probably training for the sports festival
but could I ask you for a huge favor?
I forgot the worksheets for history at school
Could you by any chance bring them to my house?
I'll buy you whatever you want at lunch on Monday
Urayuli sighed. I don't want to bribe him, but I don't want it to feel like I'm taking advantage of him. Midoriya, from what she'd seen, appeared to be reliable and precise when it came to school. He wouldn't just leave her high and dry, right?
Her phone buzzed.
[Midoriya] 8:00 :
I can bring you a copy if you need it!
Can you text me your address?
A grin formed on Urayuli's lips and she sent him her location. I knew I could count on you, Midoriya. They agreed he could come by around noon, which gave them both a wide enough timeframe to get their respective training done.
Her phone buzzed again but not from Midoriya this time.
[Mina] 8:03 :
I can't believe it but I forgot my worksheets for history! ;_;
Can I copy yours?
Urayuli let out a snort and shook her head in disbelief, yet somehow not surprised at Ashido's forgetfulness.
[Urayuli] 8:04 :
Imma be real with you chief
I forgot mine too but Midoriya is bringing a copy over
You come over too so I can make you one
Urayuli figured that this way she could kill two birds with one stone, time-management wise, by having them both come over. She sent Ashido her location as well and texted her idea to Midoriya. Both of them agreed with her plan, Ashido excitedly pointing out that she didn't live too far away from her, either.
[Mina] 8:10 :
I could easily come over anytime I want UwU
You live so clooose
I might start stalking you
[Urayuli] 8:11 :
There's a tree right outside my window
Best view you're gonna get
[Mina] 8:11 :
wwwwww
don't tempt me
After dropping her phone on her bed, Urayuli made her way downstairs to the kitchen where Max and Calypso were sat across from each other at the dining room table. When Max noticed her enter, he got up and retrieved a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon that Urayuli could smell him cooking from upstairs earlier that morning. He brought the still steaming plate on his way back over to his chair accompanied by a glass of orange juice to an open spot between him and Calypso. The table was medium-sized, enough for guests, but still small enough to let the occupants feel cozy seated close to one another.
Urayuli approached the table, scooting her homemade breakfast over to max's side so she could face Calypso directly, something she did on purpose so she could sit next to Max, and split the room between them. In her subconsciousness, Urayuli wanted her to know she wasn't welcome."Good morning, Urayuli," Calypso beamed. "How did you sleep?"
"Like shit."
Max kicked her from under the table hard enough to make Urayuli let out a low grunt in pain, and regret sitting next to him. "Yesterday was a rough one," she grumbled.
Calypso hummed with a small smile. "I hope you're not in too much pain, considering we're going to train today. The sports festival is right around the corner, I hear."
"You heard right," Urayuli said as she shoveled bits of egg in her mouth. Calypso stared at her expectantly, hoping Urayuli would keep the conversation going but the young girl stared right back. Calypso's face dropped slightly when she realized Urayuli was done talking but she quickly trained her face back into a bright smile and continued.
"Well," she started as she clasped her hands together. "I can't wait to teach you the new form that I have in store for you!"
Urayuli rubbed her forehead with her fingers to try to alleviate her still pounding headache that Calypso seemed to only make worse with her sunny disposition. She didn't want to train with Calypso today, especially after yesterday's disappointing endeavor. Not really looking forward to emptying my stomach in the yard, if you don't mind.
"You're gonna be fine, kituuqta," Max assured as he put a hand on the back of her chair to hoist himself up from his. "I'll see you two later, I have some quick errands to run."
Urayuli looked up at him, nerves fluttering in her stomach and a cold feeling settling in her chest. "You're leaving?" Her voice cracked a little at the end, and Max- rushing out the door nearly as soon as he spoke looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
"That's not gonna be a problem, is it? I'll be back before you know it," he said as he patted the top of her head. Urayuli's gaze followed Max as he disappeared into the hallway. Before he closed the front door, he yelled, "Play nice, you two"– leaving Calypso and Urayuli alone in the house.
Urayuli slowly turned her head back to Calypso who was smiling sweetly at her. Grandpa, please hurry back, she thought as a shiver of dread went down her spine.
After changing into their gear, the two of them started with running laps barefoot around the yard, with Calypso only slightly behind Urayuli to shout encouraging words at her, much to the younger girl's annoyance. "Come on, Urayuli, keep the pace up! You can do it!" Can you please, for the love of God, shut up? It's way too early for me to be annoyed at you. She didn't need empty encouragement from the foreign intruder, certainly not when it came to running when she's been doing that by herself for months.
After ten laps Calypso had Urayuli do push-ups and held onto her ankles as she made her do sit-ups. The older woman complimented her on her stamina and physique as she did so, causing Urayuli to grimace at her. Seriously, I need to concentrate, shut the fuck up. Urayuli tuned her out by focusing on her breathing and her core muscles. The woman just wouldn't stop talking though and it was grating on Urayuli's patience.
When Calypso tried to instill some more meaningless confidence as Urayuli started on her squats, she finally said, "I'd– like you– to stop– talking now, please" in-between breaths. The older woman's face fell, and her mouth stopped moving and remained in a tight line for the rest of Urayuli's workout.
Sweat had collected on the girl's brow, glistening in the sunlight and wetting her hair. She wiped her forehead and grimaced in disgust at the sight of the moisture on her arm. Urayuli used both hands to rub her cheeks and felt the warmth from her exercises radiating from her skin. Calypso went inside to grab two bottles of water as Urayuli forced her racing heart to slow down.
"You really put your back into it," Calypso said with a grin. "I'm impressed."
"Don't understand why, this is not unusual for me," Urayuli deflected but added a murmur of thanks to not sound rude, not having forgotten the slight pain in her leg from Max's kick earlier.
"I'm not saying it to get in your good graces, Urayuli, I mean it," Calypso said as she let her fists rest on her hips. "Positive reinforcement goes a long way and like Max, I want to help you better yourself."
Urayuli found that hard to believe. She understood Max's motivations, as he's her grandfather and of course he would want to help in her development. Calypso's motivations were vague and as such, were unreliable and ambiguous. Urayuli didn't like unpredictability when it came to people's intentions.
"Why is that?" she dared herself to ask the older woman.
"What do you mean?" Calypso's face tilted to the right in confusion as a small frown formed on her brow.
"Why do you want me to better myself?" Urayuli elaborated as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What's in it for you?"
"I– " Calypso stopped herself as if she was looking for the right words to say. "Nothing. Max is a dear friend of mine and when he asked me to come here to help him train you, I accepted."
"I know that, but what's in it for you? What do you get out of this?" Urayuli repeated as she stared into Calypso's green eyes with barely concealed suspicion. She had seen the way Calypso looked at Max and it made her skin crawl every single time she caught the blonde in her inconspicuous ogling. "I can't imagine you leaving your life in the states behind to help some random girl in Japan just because a friend asked you to."
Calypso let out a sigh and gestured to the engawa with her hand, her face resigned and a little bereft. Urayuli sniffed in indignation but moved to sit on the engawa nonetheless, Calypso joining her soon after. Neither of them looked at each other, just stared at their bare feet digging their toes in the dirt and grass. It was quiet, not counting the rustling of the leaves in the sakura trees or the soft chirping of birds Urayuli doesn't know the names of.
"Max did a lot of things for me when I was about your age," Calypso ended the silence. "He helped me in ways no one else could or wanted to." She turned her head to face Urayuli's profile. "When he called me to ask to come to Japan, I dropped everything and booked a flight as fast as I could."
"I still don't understand why you came," Urayuli interrupted, glancing at the woman out of the corner of her eye.
Calypso breathed in deeply through her nose and let out a sigh. "I think it's because I wanted to help you in the same way Max helped me." Calypso started fidgeting a splinter on one of the wooden planks she was sitting on. "Did you know my parents kicked me out when I was a teenager?"
Urayuli finally looked at the older woman, shocked at the confession that gave her a glimpse of Calypso's past. "Why would they do such a thing?" she heard herself ask.
With a wry smile, Calypso leaned back on her hands and stared at the light-blue sky. "Well, it wasn't so much as them kicking me out as it was me leaving on my own accord." That was a roundabout way of saying 'I moved out', Urayuli thought as her face deadpanned. "My Quirk had caused a bit of a rift in their marriage, seeing as it was a random mutation." She explained and she smiled at Urayuli's confused face. "My parents are Quirkless, you see. Suddenly they had a daughter with a Quirk and neither of them had any idea what to do with me as I got older. After one really bad fight, I decided 'enough is enough' and moved out. They're doing much better nowadays, so it was for the best that I left."
"That's– "
"A little similar to your situation with your dad?" Calypso grinned. "The point I'm trying to make is that despite most people being unable to help me master my Quirk, Max could, and he did. Max helps you because you're his granddaughter. I want to help you as he helped me."
Urayuli stared at her hands in her lap, mulling over the older woman's words. She still had no idea what to make of it. She wondered if she would've done the same thing as Calypso if she was in her situation; up and leaving your entire life behind to help someone without getting anything in return. It seemed like a waste of energy in a way. Then again, Urayuli thought as she bit her lip, isn't that what being a hero is all about?
She also had no idea Calypso's parents were Quirkless. She had assumed from Calypso's way of shifting– not at all considering that it might've spooked Urayuli with the disturbing nature of it– that she was used to doing it without a care in the world. Weird coincidence that she was raised by Quirk clueless people as well.
"I have a few more questions," Urayuli said after a bout of silence.
"Shoot."
"How did you and grandpa meet?"
Calypso snorted. "That's a very long story. Do you mind if I tell you some other time?"
"Oh, come on," Urayuli huffed in annoyance. "It can't be that long of a story."
"Trust me," Calypso reiterated, her smile melting from her face. "It is." She abruptly stood up from the engawa and turned her body to fully face Urayuli with a hard stare. "I promise I will tell you, but I'd rather get on with the training. If you have any questions regarding your training, I'm happy to answer." The woman's unwavering stance on the matter startled Urayuli. She didn't strike me as someone discreet about her private life. Still, it irked Urayuli to have Calypso just shoot her question down like that, especially since she seemed so open about her past at first.
"Come," Calypso said as she held out a hand for Urayuli to take to haul her up. The girl looked at the offered hand but didn't take it, getting up by herself while staring back at the older woman's face. If Urayuli had blinked, she would've missed the fleeting look of confusion in Calypso's eyes. Just because you shared a crumb of info on yourself, doesn't mean I trust you. At all. The woman smiled again, this time a little tight and forced as it didn't reach her eyes quite yet.
"Anyhoo," she said blasély while turning around. "Today I'm going to teach you something a little different that I think will help you in the future."
"Let me guess," Urayuli drawled with a quirked eyebrow as the two of them walked to the middle of the yard. "You're going to teach me to turn into an elephant."
"Nope," Calypso's voice lilted up as she turned around to face her again. "Something better." A genuine smile crept on her face.
"A tiger, then." Urayuli had Calypso pegged, it had to either be a tiger or a lion or any other feline creature. It was Calypso's signature. Urayuli felt her confidence wane when Calypso shook her head. "No?"
Calypso hummed in the negative. "As I said, we're doing something a little different." She focused on Urayuli with narrowed eyes, as if contemplating something. "Have you ever turned into something with scales?" Urayuli shook her head and Calypso gave her a toothy grin, the gap between her front teeth visible. "Alright, scales it is."
Urayuli silently watched as Calypso got on her haunches and put her palms flat on the ground. "Watch closely and try not to get grossed out, okay?" she joked as she winked at the young girl. "I'm well aware of how grody it looks when I shift, but it's not something I can do much about."
"I'll just have to get used to it, I guess," Urayuli said with a shrug. It did look grody when Calypso changed forms, but freaking out every time it happened was not productive or helpful at all.
Calypso nodded, satisfied with Urayuli's answer, and proceeded to close her eyes to concentrate on shifting. Urayuli's stomach turned as she watched the woman's body morph and contort into a small, scaled animal. Its snout was long, and it reminded Urayuli of a shrew. Its short legs emerged from its armored body and ended with sharp claws. The creature's coloring was off, as it was a pale white instead of the normal brownish hue.
"My new form is going to be an armadillo?" Urayuli asked in disbelief. She wondered if turning into such a small and seemingly harmless creature would be beneficial to her at all.
"It is," Calypso spoke in the armadillo form, her mouth moving in a frighteningly human way. It made Urayuli's skin crawl. "Might not seem like much but I'll explain to you how useful it can be in just a moment." The woman turned back into her human form and gestured a hand toward Urayuli. "Now it's your turn."
Urayuli wrung her hands together. "I gotta admit, I'm a little nervous. Especially after yesterday." She looked in Calypso's eyes. "I assume grandpa already told you about it."
Calypso nodded. "Classic case of Shifter's Aversion, huh? The old man sure loves his made-up words, doesn't he?" She snorted. "Even so, it does make sense he would call it that."
"Anyway," Urayuli said wryly, not appreciating the change of subject. "Don't you think I'll experience the same thing I did yesterday with the Shifter's Aversion?"
Calypso hummed and put her hand under her chin as she thought for a moment. "I don't think so. Shifter's Aversion usually occurs when you have a bunch of forms that are very similar to one another, such as the case with dogs and wolves." She looked down in thought. "Max has experienced it a couple of times with his bird forms, but he overcame it eventually. I had the same thing with many of my feline forms, it takes a lot of concentration and practice, and even then, it never really goes away. I suspect that, because you've never shifted into a scaled mammal like an armadillo, you should be fine. Only one way to find out." Calypso winked at her.
Urayuli nodded and proceeded to crouch down in her usual shifting position. Here goes nothing. She concentrated on the form she wanted to take, visualizing the creature's shape. Three-banded armadillo, scale armor... The warmth enveloped her like a comforting hug, and she felt herself shrink and change. Her hands and feet turned into tiny hoof-like claws and her hair hardened, creating the keratinized scales as her back ossified to create the carapace. Changing bone structure was one thing, adding bone material was another– it thankfully hurt only briefly before she got used to the feeling.
She opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of Calypso crouching down to get at eye-level with her. The woman looked pensive as she gave Urayuli's new form a once-over. "You did well for your first try. Some of the scales aren't exactly spread correctly. Urayuli huffed in disappointment. "It's okay," Calypso reassured. "It's only your first time, you'll do better with practice. Can you roll into a ball for me?"
Urayuli snorted affirmatively but found that she had some difficulty doing so on command. She looked at Calypso, unsure what to do before the woman startled her by yelling "BOO!" in her face. On instinct, Urayuli rolled in on herself, snapping her scaled armor completely shut. She heard Calypso snicker and almost jumped out of her skin when the woman gently put a hand on her scales.
"You're doing great. Can you also get out of there without any help?" Calypso asked as she moved away from Urayuli to give her space. Urayuli tried to disentangle herself from her little ball and found that it was much easier than rolling up. After straightening herself, she shifted back and when she was human again, pushed her hands into her lower back and cracked it.
"It sure fucks with your posture," Urayuli complained, and Calypso's eyes crinkled with mirth. "So, what is the form really useful for? It's not exactly intimidating."
"The armadillo's natural defense– turning into a ball– is almost like a Quirk, isn't it?" Calypso said cryptically.
"Yeah, okay, but why would I want to do that?" Urayuli asked with a quirked eyebrow. Calypso sighed.
"I can see you're not getting this. You see, if you're a ball, your partner can throw you as fast and as hard as they can, and if they have a strength Quirk, all the better," Calypso said with a mischievous grin and a light-bulb turned on in Urayuli's head. "My favorite technique as an armadillo was letting my partner baseball-pitch me into a group of villains and then right before impact, transform into a rhinoceros." Calypso snorted loudly as she explained it, remembering the many times she had done that.
"Oh, like what I did at the Entrance Exam when I swooped down as an eagle and made impact as a beluga, right?" Urayuli asked.
"Yeah, just more effective," Calypso shrugged.
"Why is it more effective?" Urayuli frowned at the woman. How is your scenario any different from mine?
"You essentially turn yourself into a shotgun shell, where your partner can throw you and you can immediately put out a lot of force, instead of having to get up to ramming speed. You feel me?"
Urayuli supposed it made sense– getting to speed as an eagle took a lot out of her. Having someone pitch her at high-speed could prove more useful in the long run.
"Of course, you can also use it as a way of getting out of sticky situations. Armadillo armor is near-impenetrable, did you know that?"
It was almost noon and Max still hadn't come back. No biggie, Urayuli thought as she picked at some lint on her blue hoodie, if only Calypso had gone home in the meantime. She sat down at the kitchen table and turned her head toward the living room, glaring at Calypso as she sat in Max's recliner with a cup of coffee while perusing through an issue of a fashion magazine that had Mt. Lady on the cover.
The two of them had finished training, for now, the older woman had been satisfied with Urayuli's progress and let her go a bit earlier than she had initially planned. Still, it had annoyed Urayuli that Calypso still hadn't left and was making herself at home in their house.
"Shouldn't you be going home soon?" Urayuli asked flatly. Even if she was grateful for Calypso's help, a few hours at a time was enough for her.
"I just thought I'd stay here until Max comes back," Calypso said as she took a sip of her coffee, not bothering to look up from her magazine. "Wouldn't want you to be all alone in the house."
"I don't need a babysitter," Urayuli tried not to sneer.
"I know," Calypso answered without giving further explanation and kept sipping from her coffee that was still a little too hot to immediately drink from without burning herself.
Urayuli lowered her forehead on the wooden kitchen table, groaning at Calypso's non-answer. Just please go home, I don't want to keep dealing with you today.
The shrill doorbell rang and Urayuli immediately sat up in alarm. Dread filled her stomach as she suddenly remembered Ashido and Midoriya coming over for the history sheet business. Her head whipped toward Calypso who had looked up from the noise and was starting to get up. Urayuli jumped out of her seat.
"I'll get it, just sit down!" Urayuli all but yelled at Calypso and scrambled for the front door.
"But who is it?" Calypso asked quizzically.
"Don't worry about it!" Urayuli tried to reassure the woman to not have her go to the door. She didn't want her friends to interact with Calypso if it wasn't necessary. She wasn't sure why she wanted that, just that she did. She almost tripped over Calypso's ridiculous boots as she made her way to the front door and swung it open with force. She was greeted by her friends' surprised faces as she stepped outside and yanked the door closed.
"Hey guys!" she said hurriedly before slapping her face, admonishing herself for speaking in English.
"Uh, hey guys." Midoriya and Ashido glanced at each other before resting their eyes on Urayuli in confusion. Urayuli stared right back at them, but more importantly, at their casual clothes. Midoriya was wearing a shirt with the katakana word for 'shirt' on it, a bit on the nose, and Ashido's outfit caught her completely off-guard. Brown knee-high boots, orange thigh-high socks, a pair of jean cut-offs, a bright purple shirt with a green hoodie on top of it. The wacky colors hurt Urayuli's eyes, but she couldn't say that she was very surprised at her friend's fashion sense.
"Everything okay? Who were you talking to?" Ashido asked as she pointed to the door. Urayuli waved a hand in front of her face.
"Nobody important," she said quickly, the cold sweat in her neck accumulating at an alarming speed. "Midoriya, you got the sheets?"
"Ah, yes!" He started rummaging through his backpack. "I figured I would make two copies if that's okay with you."
Urayuli sighed in relief. "Yes, that's perfect, you're a saint." The boy flushed red from her praise and started stammering how it was no problem at all as he handed the both of them the homework sheets
"Thanks, Midoriya! I'll buy you melon pan at lunch on Monday as a thank you!" Ashido gushed as she shoved the pieces of paper in the bag she brought with her, crumpling them up instantaneously. Midoriya and Urayuli stared at Ashido as she did so, almost coaxing a snort out of the Native girl, who folded the worksheets in half.
"Anyway," Urayuli started. "Thanks for doing this, Midoriya. I really apprecia–"
"Oh, and you two are?"
Urayuli had been too focused on her friends to hear Calypso's footsteps approaching the front door. She cursed herself for not paying attention as the door swung open and Calypso appeared in the doorway and asked her question. In surprisingly good Japanese, but that's not important right now!
"Just leaving!" Urayuli blurted out in Calypso's face, causing the three of them to look at her funny. She turned back to her classmates. "I'll see you guys at school!"
"Are you two Urayuli's friends?" Calypso asked as she eyed the two teenagers with a friendly smile. Urayuli turned back to her, her heart beating in her throat. "It's nice to meet you, my name is– "
"COPYCAT!" Midoriya exclaimed, causing the three women to turn to him in surprise. I really need to stop turning my head, I'm getting neck cramps. "The number five Hero in New York! 'The Morphing Hero'! It's an honor to meet you! Could I bother you for an autograph?!" He blindly reached in his backpack without taking his eyes of the older woman. Within seconds he had his Hero Analysis notebook in his hands and shoved it with a pen towards Calypso, who took it without a second thought.
"Of course!" Calypso laughed as she scribbled down her autograph. "You can also call me 'Calypso' if you'd like, kid."
Midoriya gasped softly as his cheeks got redder.
Urayuli, in the meantime, stood slack-jawed as she watched the interaction take place. What the fuck is even happening? Is... is this normal? Should I do something? She was at a loss until Ashido shuffled over to her and gently lifted her jaw to close her mouth. Midoriya's neck all but snapped to turn to Urayuli, his face still awestruck.
"Yaraqpik-san! Why is Copycat in your house?!" he asked excitedly and sounding a bit betrayed as if he couldn't believe she would hide this from him. "Are you secretly really good friends?"
"No."
"Yup!"
Urayuli and Calypso answered at the same time, the former in the negative and the latter in the positive. This caused Midoriya and Ashido to look at the both of them inquisitively, wondering why they would give different answers. Calypso's smile did not waver in the slightest.
"She's my grandfather's friend."
"Well, we've become pretty close as well, wouldn't you say?" Calypso countered, that same infuriating smile on her face. Urayuli grimaced at the woman.
"You've barely been here for a week," Urayuli grumbled as she glared at Calypso. Midoriya and Ashido started to look uncomfortable at the exchange but before they could excuse themselves, Calypso turned to them.
"Why don't you guys come in for some lunch? I'll whip something up," she smiled as she went back inside the house, leaving the door open for them. Excuse me?
"They have things they need to do, they were just leaving," Urayuli said, slowly getting more irritated.
"Uhm, yeah, we wouldn't want to impose..." Midoriya trailed off as he fidgeted with his hands, not wholly opposed to having more time to talk to Copycat.
"Yeah, and Yuli-chan probably needs to work on her homework– " Ashido reasoned as she smiled uncomfortably at Urayuli. In her mind, Urayuli thanked Ashido for the suggestion, hoping this would sway Calypso.
"Nonsense!" The woman said as she moved back to the front door. "Don't be shy and come inside! Can't let you kids leave without a meal."
Okay, hold up. Urayuli felt her fingers twitch. Why is she acting as if she owns the place? Her chest felt heavy all of a sudden. Who did this woman think she was? Urayuli power-walked to follow behind Calypso, absentmindedly slamming the worksheets on the table near the stairs. Midoriya and Ashido shuffled in after her, looking around the house curiously.
"Hey, uhh," Urayuli had to take a breath and collect herself before she started to spit fire. "My friends really need to get going."
"Oh, come on, I can fix something up quickly," Calypso paid her no mind and started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets for a pan. "I'll just make some egg sandwiches. You kids aren't allergic to anything, right?" Urayuli's classmates shook their heads mutely as they stared at the woman, unsure what to do.
Am I in the fucking Twilight Zone right now?
"Excuse me, but this isn't your house, Calypso," Urayuli ground out tersely, her patience running thin.
Calypso laughed at her statement. "I am well aware, but does that mean your friends have to go hungry? They came all this way," she turned to the two teenagers in question, who were still staring wide-eyed at the exchange. "Sit down at the table while I get those egg sandwiches running, kids."
"That's not your table!" Urayuli exclaimed, weirdly enough feeling more annoyed than truly angry. "You don't even live here!"
Calypso was quiet for a brief moment. The silence at that moment became almost too much, just the ticking of the living room clock being audible.
"So, no egg sandwiches?" Calypso asked with a tilt of her head. I AM GOING TO THROTTLE YOU, Urayuli thought as she started to approach Calypso with heavy footsteps, her hands clenching and unclenching. A finger in her side made her yelp and jump away from the touch. A pink hand retracted from her side and Urayuli glared at the face attached to the arm.
"We'd love some egg sandwiches, but we have sooooo much homework to get through," Ashido placated, moving her hand to Urayuli's elbow to squeeze gently. "Maybe next time? My name is Ashido Mina and this is Midoriya Izuku and we're classmates of Yuli-chan at U.A., and we live fairly close-by," she explained with a bright smile on her face.
"Hmmm," Calypso hummed as she looked at the three teenagers. "Well, okay then. If you're sure," she said as she put away the pan she had grabbed out of the drawer under the stove. Mina-chan, I could kiss you right now. Urayuli was surprised at Ashido's effortless diplomacy but she figured it had to do with her friendly disposition. Her mood was completely soured again when Calypso continued; "You kids can come over whenever you like."
"That's not up to you to decide, gussak. You don't live here." The vile word was out of Urayuli's mouth before she could stop it but she refused to feel guilty about it. In her eyes, Calypso was a gussak in every sense of the word and here she was pretending as if she had any say in what was allowed to happen in this house. She turned back to her friends who looked at her in confusion. "I'll see you guys out." The three of them left for the door as Calypso watched them, her shoulders sagging.
At the door, Urayuli apologized for her behavior. "Sorry you guys had to see that," she said as she fidgeted with the cords of her hoodie. Ashido waved away her apology.
"Don't feel forced to apologize, you don't have to like someone just because your grandfather is friends with them," Ashido said as she nudged the green-haired boy, who had been mostly silent during the interaction. "Right, Midoriya?"
The boy looked at his shoes for a moment before looking up at Urayuli. "Is there a reason you don't like her? She seemed nice," he reasoned as he scratched the back of his neck. Urayuli sighed in response.
"It's honestly a bit complicated and I don't really feel comfortable discussing it here right now," Urayuli said as she crossed her arms in front of her body. "I'll tell you some other time if you don't mind."
"O-oh, don't feel pressured to tell or anything! I was just curious!" Midoriya reassured her as he waved his palms in front of his face. Urayuli shook her head.
"I don't feel pressured at all, I want to tell you. It's just hard to put it into words, I guess," Urayuli trailed off as she gave the both of them a soft smile.
"Like, is she mean to you or something?" Ashido asked as careful as she could, about as subtle as a blow of a hammer. Urayuli refrained from snorting at her.
"No, nothing like that," Urayuli pondered for a moment. "Part of the reason is that... I don't know... she's just always here?" she wondered out loud as if she was asking herself. "Like I said, it's kind of hard to explain."
"In any case," Ashido said with her hands on her hips. "Know that you can always vent in the group chat if things get too much for you!" she said with a wide grin. Urayuli smiled at her as Midoriya looked from one to the other in confusion.
"Wait, you guys have a group chat?" he asked bewildered.
"It's a girls-only group chat, so it's no wonder you don't know about it," Urayuli teased him. "The boys don't have one?"
"N-not yet," Midoriya murmured, looking away embarrassed. "I don't have all of their phone numbers yet."
"What, you guys didn't bond in the locker-rooms? I'm shocked," Ashido joked as she raised an eyebrow at the flustered boy. "Next you're gonna tell me boys sleep in separate rooms during sleepovers." Midoriya got more red in the face and Ashido looked at him with wide-eyes. "Wait, are you serious?" Midoriya stayed silent as he hid his face in one hand in shame.
"Wait, girls actually sleep next to each other during sleepovers?" Urayuli asked, not having had the privilege of ever being invited to one. The kids she knew were cruel and never invited her to anything, her only frame of reference being TV shows and movies. Ashido stared at her slack-jawed.
"You've never been to one?" Ashido shook her head in disappointment. "Well, that's gonna change, obviously. We're gonna organize a sleepover as soon as the Sports Festival is done!" Her resolute words made Urayuli smile. It felt... really good to finally be included in things. Even if she was a bit scared of the idea of being tricked into a sleepover like in some teen movies, where bullies put the victim's hand in a cup of water to make them wet the bed as they slept. Knowing things like that could happen made her nervous but she had a good feeling about her classmates.
Having said goodbye to her friends, Urayuli went back inside to grab her history worksheets from the console table. It was then when she noticed how quiet the house was. It didn't sit well with Urayuli. Where did she go? She sniffed the air, noticing the smell of lavender and oak that came from the living room. Urayuli narrowed her eyes in suspicion. What are you doing? Why are you so quiet? Shaking her head, she made her way up the stairs to her room. Screw it, I don't care. I have shit I got to do.
Urayuli got to her room, still unnerved by the uncharacteristic silence that embodied the house. The scent of oak and lavender remained ever-present but any other indication of the woman was missing. Urayuli tried not to care so much, having enough on her plate as it was with all the homework she had to do. She sat down at her desk and tackled her homework.
The first problem already had her in a bind. 'What are the central principles taught at Quirk counseling'? Okay, first off: such a thing exists? Second off: WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I WAS GROWING UP?! A groan left her throat, lamenting about the unfairness about having to grow up in a community that had mostly people without Quirks than with and not being able to receive counseling on her Quirk at all. Better late than never, she supposed with a grimace. But what am I supposed to fill in, then? She decided to write the following:
In my hometown, we had nothing that could classify as 'Quirk counseling', as there weren't enough people with Quirks to begin with. However, I'm going to wager a guess that this is a trick question, as everybody's Quirk is different in some capacity and cannot be centralized.
She studied the worksheets for a moment, turning them over one by one and finding, to her dismay, that the sheets had two sides to them. Each had about 10 questions per page, half of them about Quirk history in particular, and the other half about Quirks depicted in media and art. Urayuli slumped in her chair with a loud groan, after which she sprang into action and opened her laptop to search the internet for answers.
Thankfully, Urayuli finished one of the homework sheets fairly quickly, knowing most of the answers without having to specifically look them up. Are the questions just easy or am I just that good, Urayuli thought with a healthy dose of smugness as she answered the last problem on the sheet. She leaned back in her swivel-chair, staring at the ceiling as she was suspended above the floor. I'll finish the other half tomorrow. The breeze from the window softly blew over her, reminding her of her little tomato plant that was sitting in the windowsill.
Hello, Maria. Urayuli thought fondly as she gently trailed a finger over one of the tiny leaves. She took a moment to feel the soil to make sure the tomato was moist enough. "A little on the dry side today, aren't we?" She grabbed the spray bottle next to it and gave it a few squeezes to moisten the soil. "That feels better, huh?"
A knock on her door made her grimace and turn her head to the source of the sound, glaring at the wood. Gee, I wonder who that could be. Urayuli quietly made her way toward it and opened it. Calypso was leaning against the wall opposite her door with her arms crossed and a smile on her face.
"What," Urayuli said flatly. Calypso's smile did not waver as she answered.
"You worked hard today, so I made you some lunch," Calypso said as the two of them locked eyes. "Your friends seem nice."
"Whatever." Urayuli narrowed her eyes and moved to go downstairs again.
"Hey," Calypso said behind her. Urayuli stopped walking but did not turn around. "I'm sorry that I've been... present today. I don't mean to be all up in your space if you can believe it." Urayuli glanced at the woman over her shoulder. "You have to understand that I spent a lot of time in this house when I was still training under Max." Wait, they trained here? In this house? Urayuli's eyes widened slightly as she turned her body to face the woman, who was staring at her wiggling toes. "Even though I haven't been here for fifteen years, it's hard to come to terms with the fact that it isn't my home away from home anymore." Calypso's eyes had a faraway look to them, and it caused Urayuli's stomach to turn.
It made sense, though, didn't it? Calypso had said that she never felt really at home with her parents, people who couldn't and didn't understand her or her powers. By some chain of events, she had made this house her home and now the new tenants were sick of her presence. I hate that we have so many similarities, she thought. Our parents, not feeling at home anywhere, our Quirks... Urayuli sighed deeply. I wish it was easier to not feel sympathy for you.
"I'm sorry for– "
"Urayuli, you don't need to apologize for anything," Calypso interrupted with a steadfast voice, startling the girl into looking at her. "I just need you to understand I'm not here to bully you or to make you feel as if I'm taking over. The only thing I want is to help you and your grandfather in your training. I owe that to him, and I owe it to myself."
"I– "
Calypso held up a hand. "Let me finish." Urayuli snapped her mouth shut and started wringing her hands. "You don't need to pretend to like me. In fact, I'd rather you show your true feelings, but don't let it get in the way of your progress." She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of your friends. I just wanted to– I don't know– make it so you three felt comfortable here. Especially you."
"But that's not your job," Urayuli countered, conflicting feelings circling in her chest.
"So?" Calypso quirked an eyebrow. "Just because I don't have to, doesn't mean that I shouldn't. Why shouldn't I make lunch for you and your friends?"
"Well, because..." Urayuli had no way of answering. What could she say? 'Because I don't want you to'? 'Because you're not my parent and don't have to take care of me'? She stared at her feet for what seemed like ages, questioning her own thoughts and feelings on the matter. Why can't I answer?
"You don't have to answer that," Calypso said softly, shaking Urayuli from her inner turmoil. The girl looked up to see Calypso gently smiling at her. "It's hard to come to terms with change, I understand that. It must've been too abrupt for you to fully accept it. Will you allow me to prove myself to you?" Before Urayuli could say anything, Calypso added with a grin, "Regardless of your answer, I'm going to keep trying until we've come to an understanding."
Urayuli did not grin back at her but simply nodded. She was in foreign territory where her feelings for Calypso were concerned, unable to put into words what she wanted or needed. In some way, she felt as if she owed Calypso at least some decency after how she had treated her for the last few days.
After another bout of silence, Urayuli spoke up.
"Wanna watch TV or something?"
[Girl Squad]
[Yaomomo] 15:06 :
Good afternoon.
How has everybody's day been?
[Alien Queen] 15:06 :
went over to Yuli-chan's place today :3c
[Beast Girl] 15:06 :
Yeah, because your dumb ass forgot the history sheets
[Alien Queen] 15:07 :
so did you -_-
[Beast Girl] 15:07 :
never said I didn't
no thoughts, head empty in this bitch
[Shepard] 15:07 :
:O you forgot your sheets, Yaraqpik-san?
And here I thought you were such a model student
[Musa] 15:07 :
You thought that? Obv didn't get the memo then
[Beast Girl] 15:07 :
why are y'all coming for me today lmfao
I'll remember this
[Alien Queen] 15:08 :
like you remembered your homework?
[Sue Storm] 15:08 :
AKSJDHASKJD LMFAOO
[Musa] 15:08 :
oof, that's a big ouchie
[Beast Girl] 15:08 :
'do not help Mina-chan next time she forgets her homework', thanks for the tip
[Alien Queen] 15:08 :
NOOOOO FOR REAL?!
[Beast Girl] 15:08 :
you think i'm playing games
think again, bubblegum
also no helping you w english homework
[Shepard] 15:09 :
wwwwwww
Yaraqpik-san coming in with the big guns
[Yaomomo] 15:09 :
Could Yaraqpik-san be classified as Chaotic Neutral?
[Musa] 15:09 :
more like chaotic chaotic
[Alien Queen] 15:09 :
YULI-CHAN IM SORRY
I DIDNT MEAN IT T_T
pls forgiv me
[Beast Girl] 15:10 :
buy me curry bread and we're even
nah jk, you don't need to buy me shit
also, this applies to everyone here, y'all can call me by my first name if you like
well
I prefer it that way tbh
[Yaomomo] 15:10 :
You're sure?
Is it because that's just what you're used to?
[Beast Girl] 15:10 :
it's more like
I consider you guys my friends
So you can use my first name or a nickname
Mina-chan and Toru-chan already do so like
idk
[Musa] 15:11 :
done
your last name is super hard to pronounce ngl
wait is that offensive
[Sue Storm] 15:11 :
IDK, is it?
OMGG Yuli-chan im so sorry I ever pronounced it wrong T_T
[Beast Girl] 15:12 :
LOL I do not care about that
it's hard to pronounce in english as it is
but it was funny to hear you guys pronounce it at first
ya-rak-ku-pik-ku
[Shepard] 15:12 :
we tried T_T who has a name with a 'q' in it
or three consonants after another
[Beast Girl] 15:12 :
native people lmao
y'all are relatively good at english, right
[gerogero] 15:12 :
wow I missed a lot
my English is rudimentary at best
[Yaomomo] 15:12 :
That's not true, Tsuyu-chan.
Your English is better than most
But why do you ask, Urayuli-chan?
[Musa] 15:13 :
very curious where this is going
[Beast Girl] 15:13 :
Alright so
I'm going to send you guys a word in Yup'ik
which is the language of the Yup'ik people (aka ME)
and I need you guys to guess how to pronounce it
bear in mind, Yup'ik isn't a written language
the word is
qimugta
[Musa] 15:14 :
you wanna make fun of us?
mean
[Shepard] 15:14 :
IT'S GONNA SOUND AWFUL WHEN WE DO IT
[Yaomomo] 15:14 :
What does it mean?
[Beast girl] 15:15 :
dog
hold up, lemme say it so you know what it sounds like
[Beast Girl sent a voice message]
[Alien Queen] 15:15 :
THATS DOG?
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
THATS THE WORD FOR DOG?
[Musa] 15:15 :
damn, it doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard
how do you do that
[Yaomomo] 15:15 :
I think I'm starting to understand why it's almost exclusively a spoken language.
It doesn't sound bad, though. I think it sounds kind of interesting
[Yaomomo sent a voice message]
[gerogero] 15:15
Oh gosh, it seems impossible to make it sound right
[gerogero sent a voice message]
like this?
[Sue Storm] 15:16 :
It sounds so cool! I have no idea how you make that throat sound, but I'll try!
[Sue Storm sent a voice message]
[Shepard] 15:18 :
[Shepard sent a voice message]
NOO DONT LISTEN TO IT
AAAAAH
[Musa] 15:18 :
I sound like I have a cold wtf
[Musa sent a voice message]
[Beast Girl] 15:20 :
alright you're trying super hard, I can tell
Lemme show you one more time
[Beast Girl sent a voice message]
try to make it sound as if you're closing up your throat
"What are you doing?" Calypso asked with a laugh when Urayuli had sent the last message. Urayuli glanced at the woman, who was once again sitting in Max's chair, from her slouched position on the couch. Her butt was barely touching the edge of the cushion as her chin rested on her chest.
"Teaching my friends Yup'ik," Urayuli answered. Fine, I'll throw her a bone. Calypso hummed softly.
"Do you know a lot of Yup'ik?"
"We don't really have a lot of sources to learn from aside from word of mouth," she said, putting her phone back in her pocket and sitting up straight. Urayuli was uncomfortable talking about the inner workings of her heritage with anyone that wasn't Native, so she decided to turn the conversation around. "You know a lot of Greek?"
The question surprised Calypso, her eyebrows raising and her mouth opening a little before smiling. "I speak Greek exclusively with my mother, so I would say so," Calypso eyed her. "Why, you want to learn?"
"No," Urayuli said hastily, looking away from the woman. Calypso kept staring at her until Urayuli softly said, "...yes."
A hum escaped Calypso's lips before she closed her eyes. "To ónomá mou eínai Urayuli." The unfamiliar lilting speech filled Urayuli's ears with something she could not describe. She did a double-take and gaped at the woman.
"Come again?"
"To ónomá mou eínai Urayuli." Calypso enunciated slower for Urayuli to hear properly, letting the words roll off her tongue. "It means 'my name is Urayuli', in case you couldn't tell."
"Kind of figured," Urayuli said with a wry smile. "How do you say it again? To noma me nay Urayuli?"
"Close," Calypso said, her smile growing bigger. "To ónomá mou eínai Urayuli. Here–I'll write it down." She grabbed a pen and paper from below the coffee table and wrote down the words. Urayuli inched closer so she could read the sentence.
Το όνομά μου είναι Υραιυλι.
"How do you read that?!" Urayuli exclaimed, the odd letters dancing in front of her eyes. In a way, Japanese wasn't as hard to learn as she initially thought but Greek seemed on a whole new level. Some letters she knew, others seemed to come straight from her math book. Calypso repeated the phrase as she traced the words on the paper with the pen. It baffled Urayuli how the words seamlessly connected, the sentence as a whole sounding like its own word.
"It sounds so weird," Urayuli said, surprise evident in her voice. "You said you were born in Athens, right?" she asked as she looked at Calypso.
"You remembered," the woman stated, causing Urayuli to look away briefly– as if the action would somehow disprove the statement. "To be very specific, I was born in Glyfada, one of the southern suburbs. While I don't remember much from my time there as a kid, I've been there a handful of times since my parents and I relocated to New York City."
"Do you sometimes wish that you grew up there instead of in New York?" Urayuli asked as curiosity got the better of her.
"Sometimes," Calypso admitted with a shrug. "On the one hand, I'm bummed out I missed out on things that would've shaped my childhood if I had lived there. On the other, it's hard to miss something you don't know or ever experienced, you know?"
"Yeah," Urayuli answered lamely. She had more than just a vague idea what Calypso was talking about.
The sound of the front door opening and Max's heavy footsteps entering the hallway made Urayuli sit up straighter and away from Calypso with a tiny margin. She silently hoped the older woman hadn't noticed but the subtle confusion on Calypso's face spoke volumes.
"Well," Max's deep voice filled the living room, together with the crinkling of the grocery bags in his arms. "Don't you two look cozy." His tone was neither accusing nor applauding– he just made an observation– but Urayuli stood up from her seat nonetheless.
"We were just talking about Greek stuff," she explained, mentally kicking herself after she said it. Why did I need to justify myself, nothing wrong with just talking? "Do you need help with those?" She nodded her head to the grocery bags.
"Don't worry about it," Max said as he trudged to the kitchen, Urayuli close behind him. The smell of wood-smoke and pine was comforting to her. As they faced the kitchen counters, Urayuli stood closely next to him and tugged on his navy sweater. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and lowered his head to hers. "Went okay today?"
"It was difficult," Urayuli whispered to him, making sure Calypso couldn't hear from her spot in the living room. "But it went well."
"Good," Max whispered back, glancing behind him before looking back at her. "Any problems?"
"A little," she answered. "We had a bit of a disagreement, but I think we worked it out."
Max patted her head. "I'm glad," he said before going back to normal volume. "I'll be busy tomorrow too, so you two gotta train together tomorrow as well."
Urayuli suppressed the groan that was threatening to leave her. Today had been mostly a hassle and even if she and Calypso had talked like civilized people, she just wanted a training day with her grandfather. Urayuli needed all the help she could get with her wolf form and she had hoped Max would train with her as soon as possible.
"But... what about the Shifter's Aversion?" she asked.
"Give it some time," Max said as he put the last of the groceries away. "You can't keep putting your body under so much pressure after something like that. We'll get to it in the next week."
His reassurance did little to appease her but she could hardly do anything about it if that's what he wanted. Urayuli gave a disappointed huff and propped her head on her hand, leaning on the counter-top with her elbow.
"I know, I know," Max commiserated with a lopsided smile. "You have to be patient. I promised you, next week for sure. Now get out of my kitchen, I'm making mac and cheese."
After her grandfather's reassurance, Urayuli felt at least a little better and left the kitchen to sit on the couch again. Calypso had stayed silent in Max's chair and had continued to read in her magazine. She hadn't looked up when Urayuli sat down again, probably too engrossed in the pages.
Urayuli did not want to admit it, but she enjoyed hearing Calypso talk about her heritage and the language. Her feelings for the older woman had not made a complete turnaround, she was just interested in learning more about her. If only to try and put her suspicions at bay. Maybe, Urayuli thought, if I speak more candidly with her, she'll eventually tell me more about her past with Max. It was not a malicious thought and she wasn't going to press the woman. What was that thing people always say? You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
"Can you teach me some more Greek words?"
Calypso smiled.