In which our heroine takes a nap, makes a new friend and also kicks a guy in the unmentionables. Just not in that order.

"Quoted italics" for speech that the point of view character doesn't understand.

Italics in angle brackets for speech where the other talker is over the phone.

POV - Emmy

Morning came by, and I didn't exactly feel much better. When you're forced to live on the street for years, there are things you learn very quickly: safe places to sleep, where you can get food if you're desperate, that kind of thing. I sure as hell didn't feel safe enough to sleep on a public train in an unfamiliar country.

The end result was me craving caffeine. I was only an hour or so away from where I'd initially gotten on, and I felt zombified, limbs sluggish, and brain fuzzy. By the way, people were giving me sympathetic looks; it was fairly noticeable.

I'd made my way out of the subway station and out into the streets. I was aimlessly wandering while the morning traffic slowly filled the streets. It took me a while before I started actually paying attention to the people I was walking past. Once I had, though, I immediately did a double-take. Blinking several times and stopping in the path, those around were forced to detour. I rubbed my eyes for good measure, making sure that what I was seeing was real.

Mutants. Everywhere. People with flaming hair or fingers that were stretched a meter long, necks that swiveled 360 degrees and others that looked like they were made out of wood!

I couldn't help it, my jaw dropped, and I gawked openly. So many! And no one was freaking out about it. I let myself split apart, giving her the name Em to help distinguish her easier in my mind.

"They really are all mutants…" I heard Em mumble in awe. "We're both seeing this! Is this some secret society, or has japan just always had this many of us!?"

We shared a look, but I obviously couldn't know any better than her, with both of us only diverging seconds beforehand.

"We're actually normal here!" She whisper-shouted. I noticed a few people smiling at our good humor and couldn't help myself. I let out my own squeal in excitement, and we both started to laugh. Linking arms, we ran down the street, eyes devouring each new person that we passed.

There were just so many amazing people here: wings, horns, some with various animal limbs or heads. There were tons of 'normal' looking people too, of course, but even then, most of them seemed to have something else that marked them as different. Personally, I loved the array of different hair colors. After we lost count of the number of people with pink, purple, or green hair, among others, we had to assume that strange hair colors were just natural here!

Delightedly, we even watched a sky blue summer dress flutter past, presumably with someone invisible wearing it.

I held my hand out to Em, letting her sync back into me.

"Wow! Cool quirk, lady!"

Looking behind me, I saw this cute little girl who was clapping at me as she walked was crossing the road with her parents, a tolerant smile on her mother's face.

I winked and gave them a peace sign in return, not understanding a word of whatever they had said. I was loving how something as simple as showing off my powers in public was considered… normal. This place was a paradise for someone like me.

This was the moment, I decided. If I can be myself here, I never want to leave.

A feeling of contentment rising within me, I made my way further into the city, spotting an open park and heading in. The area wasn't too big, maybe 100 sq meters, but it had a few trees and some park benches, as well as a watering fountain. A reasonably good area to rest at, I figured.

Making my way in, I parked up by one of the trees, resting my back against its reassuring weight and letting myself relax. Despite how excited I was, seeing all the people walk by who were each unique in their own way, I was still exhausted. Sleeping during the day in a public place was one of the safer places that I could be. Eyelids starting to droop, I scooted my butt further away from the tree and lay down, resting my arms underneath my head.

Or at least I would have if some idiot hadn't burst into the park screaming. So much for safe.

The guy was tall, at least 6 feet. His black hoodie showed off his lean but muscled arms. The hood prevented me from seeing his eyes, showing only his demented grin. His hands were shaped in the classic finger gun pose. While usually, this might be amusing, depending on the context, it was decidedly less so with what came next.

"MY NAME IS FINGER-GUNS! Not as amazing as some other names, of course, but it gets the point across". Ugh. Puns too. Though when no one seemed to react to him beyond mild annoyance, it only served to anger the guy. Given the fact that he was speaking English, I supposed that wasn't too surprising. What the hell was this guy even doing here?

"Bang," he uttered, entirely too many teeth showing as his grin stretched.

I watched as his finger suddenly detached, high speed. The guy actually shot his finger!

When the digit hit the ground near a group of people, it exploded, causing a sharp bang as well as a surprisingly shrill squeak from a beefy male who'd been closest to the shot.

Everyone in the park stopped moving, hands going up in surrender. Scared, but not surprised. Others that had been far enough away scattered.

"Now I want all of you to be sensible and give up ya valuables. Ain't no reason why we can't all get through this alive and friendly like". The guy pulled out a cloth bag and started pointing at people and then looking at the bag while making the money-grabbing gesture, his finger already seeming to regenerate.

Craaaaap. This idiot might actually hurt someone. I raised my own hands, brain whirring as I tried to figure out how to bring him down. There wasn't anyone in police garb nearby, something the guy must have been aware of before trying this whole thing.

An errant thought wondered why it always had to come down to rush tactics with my duplicates. Sadly, that seemed to be my only option right now. I didn't exactly have any gear that would make distance takedown easier. At least if the guy was aiming at them, he wouldn't be aiming at innocents.

I used my already raised hands to pull my hood up, letting the top half of my face be covered so that only my mouth was visible. I was looking out through the robot eyed tinted lenses. Not much of a disguise, but again, I had to work with what I got.

A slight exhalation and I let myself burst, three dozen of identical versions of myself separating and running.

With time being of the essence, I had to focus on speed rather than 'quality.' I didn't have the time to charge any of them beyond the bare minimum needed to sustain themselves. They wouldn't even be glass cannons, maybe paper swords. It would have to be enough.

Three squads of twelve were sent out, each with a specific purpose. First had the job of protecting the innocent people here. In any situation, saving lives will always take priority. My duplicates could be replaced. Not so much for ordinary people.

The next group was set to contain the area, hopefully warding off anyone else so they couldn't accidentally get caught in the cross-fire. With any luck, they might see some police or others who could help.

The final group was the one I would be supporting directly, assisting in taking down the villain himself. With his finger bullets, I couldn't let myself be hit, but with any luck, I could make enough duplicates to overwhelm him.

With their objectives set, I moved too, attempting to hide behind the tree I'd planned to rest against.

The villain was moving too. It was hard not to notice when thirty-six identical looking people showed up out of nowhere, especially when some of them were running at you.

"You little shit!" Another finger bang and the resulting explosion took out five of my attack squad all at once! I immediately set to duplicating more. Feeling their minds return to my own, I winced. I was glad they couldn't fully grasp the pain, but it was discomforting enough to hope that not too many more would hurt.

The finger bullets seemed to explode on contact, rather than have any real penetrative power behind them. Attempting to give me any extra solidity by overcharging them wouldn't help, since if they got hit, they'd just end up too damaged to help anyway.

"Scatter!" I heard one of the attack squad yell, followed by "Right!" from the remaining members.

A couple more bangs, this time only taking out one member of the attack squad as they began to spread out. Unfortunately, the one that missed had continued on, almost hitting another civilian before a member of the rescue squad dived in front.

The rest of the rescue Emily's were attempting to rush the innocents away. Hopefully, getting them to take cover behind trees and statues and anything else that they could put in-between themselves and the villain. Gratefully, I noted the next memories that returned included their attempts at telling people to try to hide behind her. Luckily, at least one person seemed to understand English, since the rest followed suit.

The villain was screaming about something, firing off shot after shot, taking down any who got too close, which was, unfortunately, most of them. At this point, I was attempting to churn out 2 duplicates for every one taken down. I absently noted red liquid dribbling out of my nose but tried to ignore it.

When one finally got close enough to hit the guy, he seemed to panic. He was firing off more shots than he was regrowing fingers, and it seemed like he was getting desperate.

Then something weird happened. The guy started laughing. Not the creepy laughter he had before, but full-on, gut bursting laughter as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

The attack squad was stunned for a second, weirded out before attempting to take advantage of the guy who seemed to be having difficulty. He didn't last long after that. First, a kick to the nether regions then punches to the gut, before a final Emily pulled his head to a knee, knocking him out completely.

A cheer went out, duplicates and civilians alike celebrating. When some of the people attempted to thank the different Emily's, they accepted awkwardly before dispersing themselves.

Smiling, I lowered my hood and attempted to take a step out from behind my tree. Before I could, though, a dizzy spell came over me. Ah, might have Smiling, I lowered my hood and attempted to take a step out from behind my tree. Before I could, though, a dizzy spell came over me. Ah, might have overdone it a little. That was probably more than I should have done on no sleep, especially after my getaway the night before. I wished once again that my duplicates didn't all disappear when I passed out. Oh well. At least I'd finally get to sleep on this comfy grass, I noted before darkness claimed me.

Unbeknownst to me, a green-haired kid was excitedly scribbling a new entry in their notebook under the title "Legion" as they left the scene.

I felt myself being shaken gently. Blearily, my eyes tracked their way until they found the source of my current ire, she who would interrupt the sacred sleep. I gave her a glare for good measure. Didn't she realize how tired I was?

The lady was kinda cute, though. Green hair tumbling down beneath an orange bandana, tight-fitting black singlet tucked into some... clown pants? Her belt even had little smiley face buckles over it. Wide metallic cuffs were circling her glove covered wrists.

"Hey kid, you okay?" her eyes looking concerned as she checked me over.

I looked at her blankly, before muttering, "Sorry, I don't speak Japanese." Glancing down, I noted a few red stains on the chest of my hoodie and felt briefly annoyed. Laundry was a pain when you live on the streets, but this had been a gift, I'd have to either find some money or a relatively clean stream to wash it in.

"American, huh? How's this then, you doing okay?"

My gaze immediately snapped back to the women, realizing I'd let my brain wander off. "You speak English?" I asked, trying to shake off the exhaustion.

"Enough to get by had fairly decent grades in school." The woman smiled, trying to be reassuring.

I rolled over onto my front, swaying only slightly as I tried to get up.

"Hey, hey… don't move too fast. It looks like you've been bleeding a bit." She said, gesturing at my face and chest. "There's no rush."

"So what's with the get-up?"

"Hero actually, haven't you ever seen a hero's costume!?"

"I mean sure, Iron Man wears a flying suit of armor, and I think Captain America wears a full-body kevlar outfit. I've never seen someone who chose 'clown' as a hero theme, though. It doesn't seem like it would protect you over much from attack."

Before she could respond, my stomach interrupted with a loud three-second rumble. The green-haired woman just laughed before linking her arm with mine and pulling me along.

"Come on, kid. I was about to go get something to eat myself. You look like you haven't had a decent meal in weeks, I'll treat ya." A natural smile on her face. I got the impression that she smiled a lot.

She set a slow pace, which I was grateful for, and we made our way out of the park and onto the sidewalk. My mind still felt hazy. Briefly, it crossed my mind that I was just following along with some stranger. Something I haven't been stupid enough to do in years. But she said she was a hero. It should be safe… right?

"Y'know… My mom told me not to walk away with strangers just because they're attractive. You got a name?"

"Ha! Your mom's a smart lady. You can call me, 'Ms. Joke'. I can even show you my hero license if you need it."

"You have a hero license? That's a thing?" I was surprised. Japan must be really ahead of the curve compared to the States.

Ms. Joke flips a card out of seemingly nowhere, the smiling lady depicted on the front. I couldn't read any of the text, but it looked official enough. It was even that special kinda hard plastic. Fancy.

I supposed it wasn't any worse than 'Dr. Strange', even if that had been the guy's real name.

"I guess that explains the whole smiley clown theme you got going on. I'm Emily."

"So," Ms. Joke kicked a stone out of the pathway as we walked down the street, "What's your quirk?"

"Quirk?" My eyebrows were narrowing in confusion.

"Wrong word? Maybe my English is still rusty. You know! Your superpower, secret ability, the special thing that you can do that no one else can. Like how I can make people laugh!"

I unwillingly burst out in laughter, my eyes widening and hands attempting to cover my mouth, before feeling the urge leave me.

"That was you!? You're the one that helped me take down the idiot in the park! Is that what you meant by making people laugh?" I was stunned. I hadn't ever heard of someone who could make people laugh with their powers. To anyone!? That would be so useful for taking people down. If they were laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe, they would have to stop moving eventually."

"Yup!" Making a small popping noise at the end and smiling, "Hence Ms, Joke! The smile hero, bringing sunshine and laughter to everyone's day. But I'm more curious about you. Come on, kid, I showed you mine, now you show me yours" eyebrows wiggling as she led me further down the street.

I just smiled. "Eh, it's probably easier if I just show you."

I let myself split, pouring half of my remaining energy into the newly forming duplicate of myself.

"Hiya, I'm Emelia! Nice to meet you!" My double held out her hand to shake.

"Illusion?" Ms. Joke asked, her own hand reaching out to touch that of Emelia. "It's solid!"

"It has a name and would appreciate it if you were to call her by it." Emelia's eye was slightly twitching.

This happened a lot when I showed people what I could do. I wouldn't want to be referred to as 'it' when I was a walking talking breathing and living person. Why would any of my doubles wish to it, even if they were manifestations of me?

I couldn't help but smile at the interaction, though. Me Joke seemed kind enough.

"Ah! Sorry sorry!" Firmly grasping my double's hand before using it to pull her in for a side hug. Then I was pulled into the other side, Ms. Joke's arms wrapped around both me and Emelia. "Cool quirk, though! You can make a bunch of copies of yourself, and they can all move and think, huh?"

"We prefer not to be called copies. We understand we aren't the first version of ourselves. Still, we'd rather be called duplicates at least, or twins or sisters or whatever. We all think and remember. Copy or clone tends to imply that we are a lesser version of the original. Even if we are, it feels a bit rude, y'know? All our memories tend to return back to her eventually as well, so she understands how we feel."

"Yup," I confirmed. "My best guess is that maybe around 90% of what they experienced comes back to me? Lower just means faint impressions. Largely seems to depend on how ingrained it gets, though. I can't exactly ask what I'm missing after we become one again."

Ms. Joke was looking confused, though. "So wait, you're all the same person?" Eyebrows furrowed as she looked at first me, then back at my twin. "Then why call yourself Emelia?"

I snorted, then Emelia herself snorted at me, causing us both to laugh. She strode towards me before leaning on my shoulder. I pumped a bit more energy into her while we were in contact. "Shall we show her?"

Emelia nodded in return, and we backed up in tandem.

Making sure Ms. Joke was observing, Emelia and I both started to split. The two of us became four, then four became eight, and so on until there were sixteen of us in total.

"You try keeping track of who is who when you all respond to the same name!" Our voices in sync, it was one of my more useless but impressive feats. I loved the feel and sound of harmonizing.

Ms. Joke gaped at us, then a wide grin stole over her face, showing many teeth. "Oh man, if we ever get the chance, we are so pranking a work friend of mine. Aizawa won't laugh, but I will, and that's worth basically the same to me".

Grinning, the group of duplicates started merging back together, forms becoming one until it was just me and Emelia left. I sent her a questioning look, but she just shrugged at me. If she wanted to hang around a bit longer, I wasn't going to stop her.

Wrapping her arms around both Emelia and my shoulders, Ms. Joke got us moving again. "So what takes your fancy, what are ya hungry for?"

Emelia and I traded a glance before she asked, "I don't suppose you got a Maccas around here?"

"Maccas? Oh, like a McRonalds?" Ms. Joke asked, sounding honestly surprised. "Sure, if you're happy for something low grade and greasy. We could always go to a cafe if you're wanting something."

Emelia shrugged, "maybe, but fast food is quick and easy."

"Plus, we wouldn't want to cost you too much. We appreciate you feeding us at all, so we don't wanna cost you too much." I continued, idly watching a pedestrian on the other side of the road who seemed to have been carved from stone.

"Thanks again for that, by the way!" Emelia chimed in.

"Us, eh?" Ms. Joke grinned. "Who said I would be feeding both of you, brats." No real heat behind her words, letting us know that she didn't actually mind. As we turned the corner, we saw a somewhat familiar M sign. Well, at least the branding seemed similar here.

"Hey, hey! It takes a lot out of us to split like that, y'know? And we haven't had anything to eat in like a day".

Ms. Joke let her arms fall down from our shoulders as we opened the door to the fast-food chain. "Sure sure, that's fine. It makes sense that having multiple bodies would mean that you burn more fuel. Only two of you, though yeah?" She said with a wink. "Public service only pays so much."

"Thanks!"

With that, we made our way inside, already smelling the delicious greasy food.

Once seated, Emelia and I fell on our own meals with the enthusiasm of a box of starving, crazed weasels. Assuming that I'd gone straight from Manhattan to here, it would have been almost two days since I'd last eaten.

"You don't spend a lot of time with other people, do you?" Mouth partially full, I glanced up. Ms. Joke had her brows quirked, an amused glint in her eyes.

Looking over at my twin, I saw Emelia's face covered in sauce, mouth full, and a few chips sticking out between her lips. I almost did a spit take, though I managed to finish my mouthful before pointing at her and laughing. I'd be surprised if I didn't have some on myself as well.

Swallowing her own mouthful, we both looked back at in sync, closed our eyes and tilted our heads, before saying: "Nope!".

She gave a wry chuckle, which was probably more than that little performance deserved. It was nice, though. Comfortable. Spending time with people. When you are literally your own crowd, you get used to being 'on your own,' so to speak. Lonely wouldn't be the right word, but it felt close enough.

Grabbing a stray paper napkin, I managed to wipe away some of the sauce on Emelia's face, her weak protests ignored, before moving to clean my own.

"I have to say, you're a lot more agreeable than you'd been made out to be." Ms. Joke said offhandedly.

Both of us stiffened. Very slowly, we shifted. The moment tense and prepared ourselves to bolt. I regretted taking the window seat now. Hopefully, Emelia would be able to distract her long enough before she could catch me with that forced laughing ability of hers.

Ms. Joke made no sudden movements, though. In fact, she did nothing but take a sip of her soda as she looked out the window by our booth. "I don't plan on taking you in or anything, so you can stop worrying. I only know some of what happened last night. But from what little I'd been told in passing, some villain pulled you from somewhere, ultimately stranding you here. Does that seem about right?"

I only nodded. Ms. Joke probably knew better than me. I only knew I'd somehow shown up here, not knowing how. I felt some of my tension fading, but only slightly.

"Now I'm not one to judge, but I would guess that you need help. You're in an unfamiliar place. You don't speak the language. You sound American, but it seems like you're shocked every time you see someone using their quirk. Eighty percent of the entire world has superpowers, it really shouldn't come as such a shock."

I felt my jaw drop, likely an identical expression on Emelia's face. Assuming that she wasn't lying, this couldn't be the same planet I was from. There was no possible way that I'd somehow missed the idea that only a fifth of the entire world didn't have powers in some way. My mind boggled at the implications of that. If almost everyone had superpowers and civilization as a whole hadn't crumbled yet, then this place was way different to the society that I was used to.

"If you need help, all you have to do is ask, kid. You won't be in trouble. Especially when it's a villains fault that you're here at all."

Ms. Joke let that sentence hang in the air.

I stayed silent, letting my eyes wander as I mulled that over. I watched as people walked by, some with prominent animal features, others with fire or shadows licking at their heels. This place was wondrous in its own way. When everyone had powers, it was a lot harder to discriminate just on the fact they existed. I could just be my many selves here, and no one would bat an eye.

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I looked over at my identical twin. Slowly she shifted her hand in front of me. Ms. Joke was seeming to ignore us, willing to wait for our answer. I grasped Emelia's outstretched hand, and She slowly dissolved, the process taking longer in an attempt to bring her thoughts back to me as clearly as possible.

It's not like we can't just leave from wherever we end up if things go wrong. It's okay to ask for help. Sometimes, anyway.

Absently, I noted in her memories that she had taken one of my chicken nuggets when I wasn't paying attention. Rude. I grabbed my last chicken nugget off the tray and popped it into my mouth, thinking through what to say.

I let my gaze shift back to Ms. Joke, her smile gentle and encouraging, and I let out a small sigh before returning a wry grin.

"My name is Emily Waters, though I prefer Emmy and... If four our of 5 people in the world are mutants, then I don't think I'm from this world."

I took a deep breath. Even just saying that out loud seemed daunting. Everyone I knew was so far gone that, for all I knew, my friends might not be in the same universe as me. If this place was still called Earth, then it couldn't be the same reality… right? My head started to pulse as a headache began to make itself known.

"The last thing I remember before appearing in that car park last night was feeling like I was falling apart, turning to dust. Not like my usual feeling when one of my duplicates burst. I actually felt and saw my skin flaking away as I was falling apart."

I shuddered. I'd purposely not been thinking about it since I got here, assuming it to be some weird dream or nightmare. With the revelation that I may not be on the same planet, I had to move forward under the assumption that it might be real. "It hadn't just been me either. I'd been hanging out at Central Park. A bunch of people around me seemed to be turning to dust too. It sounds crazy, but then, appearing here out of the blue seems crazy to me too. Stuff like that just doesn't happen."

Ms. Joke was quiet, waiting to make sure I was finished. She reached out a hand to cover mine. I put my other hand over hers, seeking comfort, my eyes prickling and ducking my head. I wasn't used to feeling vulnerable around people I didn't know, but it had been a long, long day, and I really had no clue what to do. Did I try to find a way back? Was there anything or anyone to go back to? What if there were none there, only empty buildings to show civilization had existed at all?

"Help me…" I said softly.

I felt a hand on my chin, tilting my face up to look at her, a soft smile gracing her lips.

"It's nice to meet you, Emily. My name is Emi Fukukado. Ms. Joke is my 'Hero' name. I promise I'll help you, however I can. We'll take this one step at a time, okay?"

I just nodded.

"As far as last night is concerned, you were protecting yourself from a known villain and didn't use your quirk on any innocents. Only to get away from what you believed was a dangerous situation. Not unwarranted really, all things considered, and completely legal".

I could feel the knot of tension deep within me slowly unwind.

"Now, finish that up, and we'll see what we can do to help you."

I'd worried about taking up precious time of hers that should have been spent patrolling, but she waved off my concerns, saying that helping me was part of her job.

While she insisted that I try to refer to her Emi or Fukukado when she was off the clock, I had to admit that I couldn't pronounce Fukukado correctly. I also felt like calling her Emi was out due to it being way too close to all the names myself and my duplicates used.

When Ms. Joke caught my eyelids drooping, she suggested heading back to her apartment. The idea of crashing on her couch for a nap was particularly more appealing to me than sleeping outside. Before I could respond, a yawn escaped me. She just laughed before pulling me to my feet.

I wasn't exactly going to argue when I was already running low. Honestly, I'd been surprised that I'd had the energy to show off my duplication 'quirk' to the hero earlier. After not being able to sleep on the train, or have a nap in the park, I was about ready to fall asleep standing at this rate.

"Hey, hope you don't mind using the couch for now. I'll clear out the spare room later so we can put a proper futon down for you" keys jingling after unlocking the door.

It was a lovely apartment, the entrance opening into a combined lounge/kitchen area, with stairs leading off presumably to bedrooms and bathrooms. The place even smelled nice, I noted some essence diffusers on the dining table.

A deep sigh of contentment escaped me as I fell back-first onto the couch. "Are you kidding? This beauty is amazing…" It was one of those segmented couches where you could push different pieces together to fit a room better. I could turn this thing into a queen-sized bed, it was so large! Snuggling deeper, I whispered lovingly into the cushion beside me while tracing small circles into the fabric. "I love you couch, thank you for never betraying me."

"No getting sexy with my couch~" Ms. Joke called from up the stairs. Choosing to ignore her, I just continued to whisper sweet nothings into the pillow. My body was slowly realizing that here was safe, nothing dangerous around except for the hero who I'd already decided to trust.

Eventually, I felt a blanket being draped over me. I didn't remember closing my eyes. Ms. Joke's warm eyes greeted me.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I need to go sort some things out if you're sticking around, okay? Feel free to help yourself to the food while I'm out. I've also left a key on the counter in case you feel like you need to stretch your legs."

She was showing a lot of trust towards someone she didn't know. My heart warmed, and I felt my eyes misting over slightly. Ms. Joke lay a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"You're not a prisoner here, sweetheart. I'll give you as much freedom as you need to feel comfortable and safe. We'll figure out this thing together, yeah?"

She made her way up, grabbing a few things before heading to the door.

"Why" I called.

"Hmm?" Her hand still on the door handle, she glanced back at me.

"Why are you helping me? You don't know me or where I'm from. Why are you helping a stranger so personally, even bringing me into your own apartment."

"Because you looked like you needed help" She smiled. For someone named Ms. Joke, she did seem to have a good understanding of tact, since now was the least likely I was wanting to hear jokes.

"I'd rather try to help someone who needed it and get burned than not help someone and regret it. I'm a hero, ya know? If I know there's something I can do to help, then I am duty, honor, and morally bound to do so. Though it also helps that you're cute." She finished with a wink.

"Now rest up. I'll bring some dinner back later. Sleep well!"

And with that, she was gone, leaving me to wonder if she had just tried to flirt with me.

I rolled over, and sleep claimed me.

POV - Shota Aizawa | Eraserhead

Aizawa didn't ask for much. Some eye-drops for when he had to use his quirk too much. Time to cuddle his cats. Most of all, though, he wanted to spend a minimum of 8 hours each day asleep. He'd already had a reasonably long night, made longer by the idiot villain using Trigger to juice himself up and pull that girl from wherever she'd come from.

So when his cell phone started ringing at the ungodly hour of 3 pm, Aizawa believed he could be understandably miffed.

"Hrnnggh," Aizawa grumbled articulately when he managed to get the damn thing open by his ear.

Hey, cutie, just wondering when you're going to be picking me up for our date.

Fukukado.

"We are not dating."

We could be~ Aizawa would have sworn he could hear her smug grin through the phone.

"We are not dating, Fukukado." Aizawa let his eyes shut, fitting the phone under his head for minimal effort.

Yeah, yeah, you'll cave eventually. Anyway, I found your girl.

"What girl?" Letting out a tired breath.

The one from last night. What with the illusions and stuff. Turns out, they aren't even illusions! She makes physical, living, and breathing duplicates, though they're apparently temporary.

"Where?!" Aizawa sat bolt upright on the couch, yellow sleeping bag pooling down his form. "How'd you even find out about her?"

Hizashi told me.

Of course, he did, damn gossip. "… Where'd you find the kid?"

She was just wandering around Musustafu. She's actually very nice. We went and got burgers together. Oh, and she took down a villain who was going to shoot kids in one of the parks.

Aizawa wasn't terribly surprised, with how she knocked down the villain who had brought her to the car park last night. He did feel somewhat impressed, though. It was one thing to knock out someone screaming at you when you're in an unfamiliar location. It's another thing entirely though to willingly jump into danger for the sake of others. She'd have to be stopped though. Being a vigilante was a serious crime, even if most kids who got caught were let off with just a slap on the wrist.

Anyway, get this. This kid's from America, but not OUR America.

"What do you mean, not our America."

As in, she comes from an America where such a tiny percentage have powers that they don't even make up 1% of the entire population of the world. She had no idea what quirks were. Best guess is that she's from another reality? Where she comes from, they refer to almost everyone that has power as a 'mutant,' but only if they have the specific DNA sequence. Apparently, you don't have to have the genes to get superpowers, though. It's a whole mess over there, apparently. Still quite a bit of racism. Species-ism? Whatever. Anyway, Crazy stuff, right? Shota? You there?

"Emi… Are you having me on?" Aizawa let himself lay back down on his couch. He was always too tired for Emi's jokes, but right now, he was extraordinarily too tired.

What? No! She's sleeping on my couch right now. I can put her on the phone if you want, though she only speaks English. That's actually part of why I called. I need your testimony to help get me custody of her, and then we can try to send her to UA for school. She's about the right age to start anyway.

"I knew I wasn't that lucky." Grumbling, Aizawa slid a hand over his face, "Why not try and get her to attend Ketsubutsu? I thought you didn't like UA".

Blech. Well, while I don't like how full of themselves UA can be, her attending UA might actually help her case. You told me she'd been summoned somehow by that villain, right? She worries that people will assume she's a villain too.

He heard her take a breath before letting out an annoyed sigh.

Depending on who ends up being her caseworker, they could also assume she's lying. Quirks have weird enough effects as it is, like 'who knows what that villain's quirk could have done to her brain?' ya know? At least by pitching me as a hero taking custody of an unknown potential-risk entity, we can say we'll be keeping an eye on her. If they worry about her not being supervised during my work hours, they can't complain about an entire staff of UA heroes covering the rest of her day.

Aizawa couldn't really argue with that. "Fine, fine, swing by UA with her tomorrow." That would give him enough time to sleep-prepare. "Nedzu would probably get his knickers in a twist if he found out we didn't let him meet someone from another dimension anyway. "

Thanks, sweetheart! You're a gem~ Click.

Sigh.