Chapter 32: Eye of the Storm

Wolfheart

Marie woke up and sighed in relief, it was the weekend, it was her cheat day, and she didn't have to go train with Mirko. All of that made the day feel so much better already as she slowly got out of bed. She took a few minutes to stretch out her sore muscles before she took a shower. As she showered, Marie took the time to inspect her body. Only two weeks of training, and she could feel that her muscles were harder than before, her body had become more defined than before. She wanted to test her strength, but she didn't want to do any real exercise either. She shrugged as she got out of the shower and dried off before choosing her clothes. Using Voice Command on her phone, she learned it would be a warm day. She decided on wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of short shorts today, she wanted to show off her more toned arms and legs.

She then thought about what she wanted to eat, felt her bookshelf for one in particular. It was an old notebook that was only being held together with old glue and prayer; it was her Grandma Eloise's Cookbook. Before her Dad had met Mysa, her Mom, Marie's Grandpa Jerome and Grandma Eloise had helped take care of her. Even now, she could smell her Grandma on the old Cookbook, and remembered the times she helped her; making peach cobbler, pancakes, muffins, cookies, birthday cakes, Grandma Eloise had made it all, even selling or giving her baking away for church, parties, and such. Marie had a small smile as she took her cane and made her way to the Main Lounge area.

Satou was already making pancakes, smelled like he was making enough for everyone. "Good morning Satou-san," Marie asked him as the larger boy flipped a pancake. "Good morning, Marie-chan. If you want pancakes, you can have up to four." Marie nodded, "Thanks, but I wanted to ask if you could make something for me. Have you ever made a peach cobbler before? You don't have to make it now, but maybe around the end of the day around dinner time? I have a cookbook to show how to make it." Satou took a minute to look at her Grandma's Cookbook and said, "I think I can handle it. You'll have to buy the peaches though…do you mind if I make enough for everyone?" Marie grabbed a plate and put some pancakes on it, "Go ahead. How many peaches do you need?"

"This cookbook says the recipe is for five people, for everyone in the dorm I'm gonna need about fifteen peaches," Satou explained. "Got it," Marie said as she took her pancakes and got some syrup for them before sitting down to eat.

Everyone else made their way to the main lounge area and grabbed some pancakes. Marie smirked as she smelled how her outfit was working on most of the guys and some of the girls. Hormones were filling the air, and they took a huge rise when Denki and Mineta came into the room. "Good morning Denki," she greeted her boyfriend. "G-Good le-Good Morning!" Denki got out. "So, Denki, do you have any plans for today?" she asked him as he got his pancakes and sat next to her. "N-not really," he said, "Why?" Marie explained, "I need to do some grocery shopping, I have to buy some peaches for something I asked Satou-san to make. If everything goes right, everyone will get a chance to taste some Southern Home Cooking."

"Sounds good. We just need to get permission from a teacher, and a teacher to be an escort for us and we'll be good," Denki said, and right on cue, Marie smelled her Mother and brother come in. "Oh, an escort, eh?" Midnight said as she sat down next to Denki, "Taking Marie out on a date, are you?" Denki swallowed, "No, I mean, not really… just some grocery shopping is all…" Midnight said, "Maybe Joey and I can come too, make it more of a family outing. I need to do some grocery shopping anyway, what are you buying?" Marie told her about her plan and Midnight nodded, "I remember when Joseph-kun made his Mother's Peach Cobbler. He'd never baked anything before, so he made a huge mess, I helped him make it so he could take it to class the next day, we didn't have dorms back then.

"It was the first home-made American food I ever had, and it was delicious," the Eighteen-Plus Only Hero said, her tone making Marie wonder if Peach Cobble was the only 'dessert' she had enjoyed. "I just had breakfast, and I'm already hungry again!" Joey excitedly said. "Alright, then it sounds like a plan. I just need to change and get the paperwork setup. We should be able to go around 10:30," Midnight said as she headed out to talk to the Principal.

While she was gone, Aizawa came over with Eri, who wanted to play with Midoriya and seemed even happier when she saw Joey was there. Marie and Midoriya went outside and played 'Heroes' with the two kids, Marie and Midoriya were the 'Villains' while Joey and Eri got to be the 'Heroes'. "AAHAHAHA!" Marie, aka 'Wicked Wolf' laughed, "You're too late, Heroes! We have all the gold in Japan, and once we deal with you, we'll head off to the steal all the gold in the world! Right, Green Greed?" Midoriya 'Green Greed' said, "Uh…right Boss! And after we steal all the gold, we'll uh…get all the silver and diamonds too!" God this kid has to work on his acting, Marie thought, only for Eri and Joey, aka Horn Head and White Wolf 'arrived' and declared, "HALT EVIL DOERS!"

"I am Horn Head, and I will never allow evil to triumph!" Eri said, striking a pose that probably looked cool but in a real fight was ridiculous, and Joey said, "I am the Great White Wolf! I will dig out evil wherever it festers!" Marie and Joey were both in their transformed states, she could hear him faintly chuckling in his throat and she was sure he was too. "GET THEM!" Wicked Wolf yelled, and the 'fight' was on.

As they 'fought' and played with the kids, Marie made the kind of moves that would make competent martial artists role in their graves. Her swings were so wide and obvious that you'd have to be blind and deaf to get hit by them, she made some big flashy kicks that looked like something off of Super Sentai. Midoriya activated some of his Power Quirk, enough for her to feel electricity come off him, but he moved slow enough for the 'Heroes' to easily avoid his moves. And so, it went for a solid hour as the four of them played together, and for a little while, Marie could forget about her troubles, and feel like a normal teenager again. And of course, after a hard-fought battle, Justice Prevailed, thanks to Horn Head and White Wolf!

Marie fell on her back after 'Horn Head' 'defeated' her, and Eri fell on top of her, tired but laughing as she caught her breath. "That was fun!" Eri said, chuckling between her breaths. "That's just adorable," Midnight chuckled as she walked up. "So, you ready to go out?" Marie sat up and let Eri down, "I'm ready to go. Joey, you good?" Joey said, "I'm ready." Kaminari ran up, "I'm here!" Midnight looked around, "Alright kids, let's go."

They all had to take a bus in order to head to town, Marie smelled hers and Joey's bodyguards nearby. Sureshot, Springer, Kalisha and Elemental had always been somewhere nearby after the attack at Rukia's birthday party, but they hadn't interacted much with Marie because they wanted to focus on trying to find Pyromaniac. Marie figured all of them would be here to protect them now especially. For a minute, Marie hoped that Pyromaniac would show up, between her, her Mom, Denki, Sureshot, Springer, Kalisha, and Elemental she was sure that they could take him down.

"Alright, so, we're getting peaches, is there anything else you kids want to get?" Midnight asked, snapping Marie out of her thoughts. Marie and Midnight were sitting together while Denki and Joey were in the seats in front of them. Marie took a minute and whispered in her Mom's ear, "Condoms." Midnight covered her mouth and giggled a little bit, "Having fun are you?" Marie answered in English, "He's electrifying." "What are you guys talking about?" Denki asked. "Things that Joey can't hear about, yet," Midnight responded, and Marie could smell Denki start to blush.

The rest of the bus ride they talked about school and general topics mostly. Joey was hoping to try a special ramen he saw on TV, Denki wanted to do some window shopping, and Midnight was going to look for a perfume she had advertised for, it was supposed to go on shelves today. They arrived at an outdoor mall and got out of the bus. Once they were there, Kalisha and Sureshot went to Midnight. "We'll be accompanying the kids," Kalisha told her, "Our sidekicks will keep an eye out for Pyromaniac." Marie said, "Won't that draw attention?"

"We're in plainclothes," Elemental explained, "We'll be able to look around without drawing attention just fine." Marie nodded and Midnight said, "Alright then, let's go!"

Everyone decided to stay together at first, in order to make it easier on the bodyguards to protect Marie and Joey. They soon reached a fruit seller, and Marie took the time to use her nose to smell the peaches they were looking for. She found the freshest peaches after five minutes of searching for them. Marie had to focus not to drool at the thought of the peach cobbler they were going to make. Once that was done, Marie and Joey went their own way, while Denki and Midnight went theirs. "It's been a while since it was just us," Joey told Marie as they walked around, Joey looking at the unique Japanese stores and stalls. "Yeah, how are you holding up?" Marie asked him.

"I'm better that I have been. But I still hate that we can't hang out more… Marie, what are you going to do, after you graduate from U.A.?" he asked her in English. Marie told him in English, "After I graduate, I'm going to be a sidekick for somebody, maybe Mirko if she'll take me. Once I'm established as an independent Hero, I'm going to go back home, to South Carolina. That was my original plan." Joey nodded, "Will you take me with you?" Marie ruffled his hair, "If you want to go with me, I'll take you home with me too. But... Joey, I don't know anymore, like I said, going back to South Carolina was my original plan but, it's weird. I like it here; it feels like home almost here too. And MY Mom is here.

"I admit, she isn't how I imagined her. In some ways she's not as good as I used to imagine, and in other ways she's better than I thought she was like when we looked her up online. I don't know how much of it was us being in her life, but I know that I don't want to never see her again either. Moving back to South Carolina would make that harder, and I don't want to lose another Mom," Marie admitted to her little brother. Joey swallowed back tears, "I don't want to lose another Mom either."

Marie quickly changed the topic, "So Joey, you got a girlfriend yet?" That got him so far off guard that the boy stammered, "N-n-no!" The older Freeman sibling smirked, "I remember how your little boy hormones go off when you're at U.A... So, who you got a crush on?" Joey stammered, "Mi-Mi-m-NO ONE!" Marie smiled like a cat that caught a canary, "I'll make sure to let Mina know she has a fan. Maybe if you act nicely, she'll give you a big kiss! MWA!" Joey started walking faster, and Marie followed him, occasionally making a kissy face, until she realized he was starting to run. "Okay Okay! Sorry! Slow down before you run into somebody!" she yelled as she had to start jogging to keep up with him.

Joey stopped in front of what smelled like a stand selling manga. Marie checked her purse, good grades and keeping out of too much trouble had gotten her a healthy allowance, and she said, "You can get three tankobon volumes if you want." Her little brother grunted and started looking through them. Meanwhile, Marie stood still and took the time to smell the market. They were far from the fresh fruit and vegetable stalls, though she smelled meat, poultry, and fish not too far away; some of it already cooked into some kind of meal while others were raw so they could be taken home. After a few minutes, Joey made his selections. She turned to the manga seller and asked him, "Excuse me, I'm blind, are these appropriate for an eight-year-old boy?" The manga seller said, "Yes ma'am, my grandkids actually read that series all the time." Marie nodded and paid for them and they left after she got her change.

Marie sniffed their way back to Midnight and Denki, who were turning around the corner. Marie could hear her Mother tell her boyfriend in a threatening tone of voice, "Just remember, Kaminari-kun, 'No means No' and you won't have anything to worry about." The electrical Hero-In-Training smelled frightened as he said, "Yes, Sensei." They saw Marie and Joey and Denki quickly said, "There you are!" in a tone of voice that almost made it sound like 'SAVE ME!'.

Denki quickly went to her side and slightly behind her, holding on to her hand. "Mom worked you over huh?" Marie asked him, Midnight and Joey went a little ahead of them. Denki swallowed, "I knew she was scary, but when she's really trying…" "Poor baby," Marie said as she wrapped her arm around his. "I'm surprised she didn't give you the 'If you do anything to hurt her' speech earlier." Denki just said, "I think I'm traumatized for life." The teen girl asked him, "Do you think I could help with that?" She smelled his hormones go into overdrive, but his tone at least was normal as he answered, "Maybe."

For lunch Midnight treated them, and the bodyguards, all to ramen at a stand. Marie had never had genuine restaurant style ramen before, it was completely different from the cheap ramen you could by from the grocery store. The best comparison she could make of it would be as if one compared a cheap store-bought decorative painting to a masterpiece in a museum. Marie didn't take anytime to talk, when someone addressed her, she only nodded, shook her head, or grunted in response. When she was halfway done, Midnight asked, "Should I order a second bowl for you?" Marie swallowed her noodles and answered, "Please, Mom?" Midnight just chuckled and ordered another bowl of teriyaki beef ramen for her.

When Marie was finished eating her second bowl she sighed contentedly, "I never knew noodles could be so gooood! If there's a ramen stand near the school as good as this, I won't be able to keep my diet." Joey shook his head, "No way, you'd never give up your diet, no matter how good the ramen is." Denki chimed in, "I don't know, that shrimp ramen I had was the best seafood I've ever had." He went outside and took a picture with his phone of the ramen stand and sent a group text to their Class. With lunch out of the way, they all took another bus back to U.A. Marie and Denki sat together this time, listening to some heavy metal music on their phones like Organic Scrapnel, Frankenstein's Army, and Dire Dullahan.

Marie ended up accidentally falling asleep because of the comfy seats and filling lunch, Denki had to wake her up. "Marie, hey, we're back," he gently shook her awake. The girl shook her head to wake her brain up. "Sorry babe, that lunch was really filling, and it's all nice and comfy too," she said as she took his hand and they got off the bus together. "I hear ya, I dozed off a little too," he said as they headed back to their dorms. Once they were all inside, they heard everyone cheering and the sound of music going on. "What's happening?" Marie asked. "I got a new Dance-Dance game, we've been playing it for a while now," Jirou explained, "Wanna join in?"

For the next two hours, everyone except the bodyguard Heroes played Jirou's new game together. And for a little while, the world's problems seemed far away. Once everyone had played as much as they wanted, Marie and Satou made the peach cobbler together with Joey's help reading and translating the recipe for Satou. As it was baking in the oven, Marie asked, "We got any vanilla ice cream? A good cobbler always has some vanilla ice cream." Satou said, "Yeah, I got a tub of vanilla ice cream, it's mostly full." Marie chuckled, "Satou, if I didn't already have a boyfriend, I'd fall in love with ya." She smelled his embarrassment and chuckled a little more as she waited for the cobbler to get done and got the ice cream out.

Everyone in the dorms had some of the cobbler, they even had enough for Elemental, Sureshot, Kalisha, and Springer as well. As she sat down to eat, Marie could think of only one thing that could have made this better. I wish I could see everyone… She was eating her favorite dessert, surrounded by friends and family. And she couldn't see any of it. She swallowed back her tears and focused on eating her dessert, and for a little while, the world seemed at peace.

Author's Note: If you know anything about hurricanes then you'll understand the title of this chapter.