Chapter 9: Not looking for a friend
Since starting school, Vali's days had been eventful. Even so, she had somehow gotten used to it these last weeks. She thought she was getting better at adapting, all things considered. Yes, it would have been better to not have snapped one or two times. But for someone who had never set foot outside her house's boundaries before the national examination for the Hero courses scholarships, she thought she was doing pretty good.
So there was no reason she should feel so nervous about her incoming internship. Right?
Aizawa escorted them to the train station and saw them off with last-minute reminders. Vali lifted her costume's case and involuntarily looked toward Midoriya, Ochako, and Iida.
After her spontaneous hug following the Festival, she had apologized to Midoriya who had promised he was fine, if surprised. Ochako, however, became more distant. It was subtle, but Vali felt she was forcing herself to make conversation and smile. And Iida . . . Well, Vali had been too presumptuous, insinuating herself into their circle. She had approached the class rep, asking how he was, especially his brother.
"He's fine," the bespectacled boy had responded with a smile.
Only, it had looked fake to Vali.
"Say, Iida-kun," she insisted, wrongly emboldened by a need to help a friend, "maybe it's none of my business, but if I can help with anything-"
"It is none of your business, Vali-kun. Kindly stay out of it."
Vali had followed his advice.
She sought other tables to eat her lunch and went home by herself. She responded when talked to, but otherwise didn't seek conversations.
Now, she watched the three friends say goodbye to each other and felt a peculiar sense of loss. Which was ridiculous. You couldn't miss what you never had.
She boarded her train without a backward glance.
There was another UA student in the compartment, one she hadn't expected to see here, yet she should have.
"Good morning, O'Brien," she greeted in English.
The girl turned in her direction as she approached. "Morning."
"Are you interning at Blackout's, too?"
"Yeah."
Detecting no reluctance, Vali sat next to her.
"So we'll be spending this week together."
O'Brien said nothing and looked out the window. The silent type, then. Thankfully, Vali didn't feel the need for idle chit-chat. O'Brien didn't strike her as overly friendly, but she wasn't especially cold either, compared to types like Todoroki. With her classmate, anger simmered under the surface, though he seemed calmer after the Sports Festival. O'Brien was more indifferent, like she didn't want to bother.
No matter, Vali wasn't looking for a friend, anyway.
The two-hour-and-half ride to Osaka passed by fast, especially since she fell asleep. O'Brien tapped her shoulder to wake her up without a word, and they walked together to Blackout's Agency.
They arrived at a nondescript two-stories building, with no indication whatsoever that a Pro Hero made it his base of operation. O'Brien opened the door-without knocking-and entered, evidently familiar with the place. Vali followed with more caution. She didn't know what to expect, but a normal lived-in place would not have been her guess. Rather, it looked like an average house, but something was lacking. It had the feeling of a building passing for a house, but not quite able to pull it off. Everything seemed generic. As O'Brien led her through the small entrance hall-without removing shoes-to what she assumed to be the living room, Vali noticed there was no personal touch. The furniture, the layout, everything looked like it belonged in an illustrated book or catalog. The space was not immaculate but not too dusty, like someone swept from time to time. It reminded her of her apartment, in that she didn't have much possession to personalize it, and the time she spent there was for meal and sleep.
"Uncle, we're here," O'Brien called, switching to Japanese.
Her accent was not thick as Vali would have expected. Then again, if her uncle was Japanese, it meant she must be part-Japanese herself.
Quiet steps sounded from the hall, and Vali only heard them because she was straining her ears. The Pro Hero Blackout both looked exactly as she expected, and not at all. Vali placed him in his mid-forties. He had an average build, and nothing in his appearance-from his short black hair to his simple casual attire-indicated he was anything other than a normal citizen. Only, when she looked into his piercing blue eyes, she knew she needed to stay in this man's good graces.
Maybe it was Aizawa's stern reminder, or her instincts, or a mix of both, but Vali snapped to attention and bowed, greeting: "I'm Vali. Thank you for having me in your care!"
"I see Hari hasn't scared you away."
He spoke in a calm and grave voice. Vali's mind conjured the image of a lion cajoling a gazelle.
O'Brien snorted. "She's not the kind to scare easily."
Vali shot her a startled glance before returning her attention to the Pro Hero.
"Very well, show me what you've got."
Vali blinked. What was she doing again? She looked toward O'Brien standing beside her.
Hands hustled her from her back. She whipped around, but a fog settled in her mind again. A shove to her shoulder. She tried to chase after an elusive thought, but no sooner did it formulate that she lost it again. A shove to her other shoulder, and this time she snapped her Quirk awake.
The fog on her mind finally lifted. She looked at Blackout, caught in her Field, his hand still positioned after pushing her. She took a few steps back and let the Field down.
Blackout and O'Brien both blinked, then their eyes settled on her.
"Why did you wait for the third time before activating your Quirk?" Blackout asked.
"I didn't know what was happening. And I'm not supposed to use my Quirk unless in self-defense."
"You're interning under me, so I'll be taking responsibility for your Quirk use. Your reaction time is too slow. You would've died on the spot if I were a Villain after your life. And you didn't neutralize me once you finally decided to make a move, leaving me free to come at you or someone else."
Vali gulped. Okay . . .
"Why did you jump down to the ring during the Sports Festival? When those kids, Midoriya and Todoroki, were fighting?"
"I thought they were going to kill each other."
Vali blinked. What was-
O'Brien grunted and lifted her arms in a defensive stance. Vali snapped her Field up and her mind cleared.
There Blackout was, his hand poised in a strike against O'Brien's guard. She kicked his legs under him-careful to receive his body so he wouldn't crack his head on the ground-before locking his head between her arms. She let the Field down.
Blackout let out a quiet grunt, feeling the effect of her attack in a rush. O'Brien let her arms fall along her body.
"Better," the Hero declared. "Was it because I attacked Hari, or because of what I said earlier?"
"Both," O'Brien commented.
"You can learn, good."
He moved, and Vali let him out of her hold without thought. A blink and she was on her back with Blackout's hands around her neck. He wasn't choking her, but the menace was clear.
"Don't let your guard down," he admonished.
She nodded slowly, and the Hero let her go.
"Your rooms are upstairs. I want you back down here in your costumes in five minutes."
Vali scrabbled with her belongings and hurried behind O'Brien.
"Say, O'Brien?"
She didn't turn around but didn't hurry away either, so Vali forged on.
"Would you mind if I called you 'Hari'? 'O'Brien' is kind of a mouthful."
The taller girl stopped and looked back at her. Vali had the distinct impression she was being judged and found lacking.
O'Brien switched in English: "What was your name, again?"
"It's Vali," she flinched.
"I got that, but your full name? I'm pretty sure there aren't as many syllables in my full name, and you still say it's a mouthful?"
"Yeah, forget I said anything," Vali mumbled.
O'Brien snorted. With Bakugo and that kid Monoma from class-B, Vali had thought there were enough jerks around. Apparently not. And she hadn't gotten such an impression from the beautiful girl at first, but Vali couldn't pretend to be a superb judge of character with so little experience as she had.
"I'm not poking fun at you," O'Brien smirked, "I was just making an observation. It's 'Hally,' don't use my uncle's pronunciation." She snorted again. "Our nicknames rhyme."
Vali stared at her, confused. Hally was a lovely girl, but her smile was a bit scary. Maybe, just maybe, she was not used to smiling much either.
"Come on, that old man really means it when he says five minutes."
Vali hopped into her costume and rushed downstairs, with barely enough time to deposit her belongings in the small room appointed to her.
When she was back in the living-room, she gaped at Hally. It was becoming a theme. She had seen some revealing costumes-to only speak of Momo's for example-but there was something in her black-and-red corset, mini-shorts, and thigh-high-boots combination that propelled Hally's stunningness to new levels. Add to that the natural ease and regal presence she had, and Vali couldn't help but admire Hally. And feel even more inadequate herself.
"Now," Blackout announced, "I'd like to know more about both of your Quirks, and what kind of training you had. Also, your Hero names."
"Shouldn't you start first?" Hally raised an eyebrow.
"We'll start with you."
She crossed her arms on her chest and transferred her weight on one leg. Hally was the same height as her uncle, and Vali found her glare intimidating.
"Hero name's Siren. Quirk: Emotion Projection. I can build up a particular emotion I feel into someone by looking at them. It can take anywhere from ten seconds to a few minutes, depending on how good they are at controlling themselves and if they already felt the emotion, to begin with. The effects can last up to ten minutes depending on how long I fed the emotion and the individual's susceptibility. I'm trained in mixed martial arts and my weapon of choice is a Desert Eagle, but I'm told I can't use it."
"Right," Blackout's voice had no inflection, "next."
Vali couldn't muster as much confidence, but she kept her voice steady. "I chose Dawn as my Hero name. My Quirk creates a circular Field only I can see, in which everything will be Stopped in that same state for up to twenty seconds. I'm the only one not affected and I can move things and people inside. It makes my heart rate slow so I need a two-minutes cooldown between uses." She twiddled her fingers, stopped, bit her lower lip instead, then blurted: "I have no formal training, but I picked up some self-defense techniques on the internet I practiced with my brother. I don't have any weapon of choice."
Blackout didn't comment on what she said. "My Quirk allows me to confuse someone into forgetting my presence and even my existence. Body contact breaks the effect. But you have experienced it for yourself. You both have something to learn from each other. To the dojo."
He walked briskly out of the room, followed by the girls. He led them toward the back of the stairs where a door was built, connecting to a basement. Blackout activated a switch at the base of the stairs, and the spacious room illuminated. Besides the tatami floor mats, nothing screamed 'dojo' to Vali; it was just a large, empty basement.
"Now, I will see what you two are capable of."
"Really?" Hally exclaimed, annoyance plain in her voice.
So she wasn't as indifferent as she let on.
"Aren't these internships supposed to give us some real-life Hero experiences or something?"
"Heroes need to stay in shape in order to do their jobs efficiently. And you need to know your partner. This serves those purposes well."
Blackout sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes boring on them.
Hally let out a long sigh.
"All right, show me what you got, Vali."
And she didn't even finish her sentence before throwing the first punch.
The girls spent the rest of the day sparring with each other.
At first, they exchanged only physical blows, with Vali barely able to keep up. Hally's training showed, and she didn't hold her strikes.
Then, Vali's annoyance built up to a boiling level. She snapped her Quirk and threw Hally on the ground, sitting on her chest, hands around her neck. The red haze dissipated and Vali shook her head, confused. She let down her Field and Hally grunted.
"Took you long enough," she muttered, peeling Vali's fingers from her.
"That was-"
"Yeah, my Quirk."
"Huh. Well, it shows you're from the same family. It kinda felt the same."
"It did, huh?"
Hally's eyes flickered to her uncle before returning to Vali.
"Okay, I'm warmed up, now."
"Wait, you weren't being serious earlier?"
Hally cocked her head, smirking. "I'm only getting started."
And she proved it. Her moves became quicker, and her Quirk made it harder to concentrate. Vali could only get the drop on Hally with her Quirk, but couldn't use it continuously. Even respecting her cooldown, she felt an uncomfortable twinge after the first hour.
They took a quick lunch break before Hally showed her some moves. Blackout stayed seated on his spot, his eyes never leaving them.
The girls' Quirks canceled each other. Hally's lost its effect the moment Vali used hers, and Vali couldn't keep hers up all the time, so they fell back on trading blows.
Until Vali felt the red haze again and had to cancel it, at which point her heart gave a painful squeeze. Her wristwatch beeped. Her Field flickered around her, not taking root. It distracted her enough to not see Hally's kick. It connected powerfully with her chest, making the air whoosh out of her lungs. She fell on her back.
"Shit, you all right?" Hally asked in English.
Vali's wristwatch emitted two sharp beeps. Her chest hurt. She tried taking a deep breath, but only managed a weak wheeze.
Her mind went lighter, and suddenly she didn't care so much about whatever was happening to her body anymore.
"Your doing?" Blackout's voice sounded far away.
"I didn't want her to panic."
"Let it go down."
The blissful haze dissipated and pain returned to Vali, though it was less sharp than before. She blinked, adjusting her eyes. Hally and Blackout were leaning over her, intent eyes roaming her face and body.
"I'm all right," she croaked. "Just . . . stunned."
"Sorry, I was a bit heavy-handed." Hally's face was blank.
"Does this happen every time you use you Quirk?" Blackout asked.
"Only if I overextend." Vali straightened, and the remnants of pain faded. "I think I just need to build my endurance. That's Recovery Girl's theory, too, but she's not sold on the method, yet."
The tiny nurse had monitored her and seemed to think there was more to her bradycardia than what they currently knew. Vali was supposed to find a safe threshold from which to build her endurance, but she typically went overboard and could never pinpoint it. One minute, she felt she still could go a few more rounds, and the next, she was on her back, looking at the ceiling, wondering when things went wrong. It was surely the whole 'go beyond' philosophy sinking its teeth in her.
Blackout stood.
"That's enough for today. You'll both prepare dinner."
He turned and left them without another word.
Hally offered Vali a hand, which she took gratefully. She massaged her chest, wincing a bit.
"Sorry about that," Hally said quietly, reverting to English.
Vali dropped her hand. "It's all right! I was the reckless one, I need to figure out when to stop. None of your fault!"
Hally gave her a look she couldn't identify.
"Come on, dinner's not gonna prepare itself."
Vali discovered that there was one thing Hally wasn't good at. In fact, she was downright catastrophic with it.
She didn't have the first clue about what to do in the kitchen. At least, she wielded a knife with ease, but chopped vegetables in big, uneven chunks.
"You're not used to cooking, are you?" Vali commented while cutting the carrots in smaller portions, peeling them again in the process.
"What gave me away, the 'no fucking clue' or the 'no fucking clue'?" Hally retorted drily.
Vali paused in her task, sending a worried glance toward her, but Hally looked at Vali's hands intently.
"Can't learn if you stop," she added.
Reassured that she hadn't insulted her partner for this week, Vali went back to fixing dinner essentially by herself.
She hadn't come around to try cooking any Japanese specialties and stuck to the familiar, hoping it wouldn't put Blackout off. She prepared some simple sauteed fish and vegetables with rice, and waited anxiously for the Hero to take the first bite. He didn't make any commentary and even asked for seconds, so she concluded it wasn't too bad.
"You're a good cook," Hally said when they were both finishing up washing the dishes.
"Thanks," she responded with a small smile, "it comes with practice."
"Like everything else, I guess."
Vali caught herself wishing she could become friends with Hally. It seemed to her they could find some common grounds, both being foreigners and . . .
Hally had her uncle. She wasn't completely alone like Vali. And she didn't seem to want a friend.
And Vali wasn't searching for one, either.
"Where you from?"
"Madagascar. It's uh-"
"Oh yeah, big island with killer beaches?"
"Among other things . . . I didn't think you'd know of it."
"Why, because I look pretty but dumb?" Hally delivered with a matter-of-fact tone, her face blank again.
"Not at all, it's just that most people don't know about my country. And you don't look dumb at all, I feel sorry for anyone who'd think that."
Hally snorted.
"Don't need to kiss my ass."
"I'm not!" Vali protested, "I don't kiss anyone's ass."
"Okay, okay, kick-ass." Her little smirk was back on Hally's lips.
"Where are you from?"
"Good ol' Michigan in the States. Well," she continued before Vali could ask another question, "better go to sleep. That old man likes to be up at the crack of dawn," she added with a roll of her eyes.
Before falling asleep, Vali was able to squeeze in a quick video call with her mother and grandmother. Granny didn't talk much, and Vali had the sinking feeling she didn't recognize her own granddaughter. Her mother kept the call short. It was better this way, because instead of cheering her up, it wore Vali out.
That night, she dreamt of seeing her grandmother, but she was far away. No matter how loud Vali called her, and how fast she ran toward her, Granny never came closer.
She woke with tears in her eyes.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, favoriting, and following! Feedback is very welcome and appreciated!
I have some personal issues that makes it harder to write and edit in what I would consider a timely and satisfying manner, but I hope it'll get better. Thank you for bearing with me!