Nariko slowly rubs her eyes and sighs heavily. She stumbles a bit, cursing under her breath. A hand on her arm startles her before it helps her balance.
"You alright?" Mezō asks worriedly after Nariko whips her head around to see who had grabbed her. She forces a smile on her face and just laughs it off.
"Mmhmm! I'm just incredibly tired and I lost my balance," Nariko waves off his concern as they continue to walk towards the school. "Isn't this exciting? We're going to be doing some rescue training!"
"Kaminari-san." Recovery Girl's voice makes Nariko wince while she freezes.
"Fuck. I forgot," Nariko curses before she slowly turns around, giving the old woman a sheepish smile. They had just walked passed the infirmary.
"Hi Recovery Girl! How are you this fine morning?" Nariko asks cheerfully before Shōta appears behind the woman. Nariko sighs heavily and slouches with a pout.
"You remembered. Great," She mutters before turning and giving Mezō a bright smile. "Meet you at the bus, Shōji-kun!"
Nariko walks into the infirmary, glaring heavily at a couple syringes she spots out in the open. "So, what're the things you wanted to do?"
"I looked over your medical file. You've had many severe injuries," Recovery Girl says while grabbing a clipboard from her desk. Nariko tilts her head in confusion before sitting down on the cot closest to her.
"Well I'm in gymnastics and ice skating. There's a pretty high level a risk for injuries in both of them," The yellow haired teenager shrugs, kicking her legs back and forth.
"Some of them don't add up," Shōta says calmly, making Nariko scoff. "A dislocated cheekbone?"
"I tripped and hit my cheek on the corner of a metal table. I then had a fight with that metal table. No one hit me. I'm not being abused," Nariko says with an eye roll.
"Well, not being abused by family."
"How about the severe lacerations covering your entire left leg, severing your femoral artery last year? You had to go into surgery to save your leg–and your life–after you successfully cut off the blood flow with a tourniquet and crawled your way to a phone," Recovery Girl asks. Nariko scowls and tenses, refusing to look down at her covered but heavily scarred leg.
"I got jumped. Guy had a crowbar and started whacking me with it until I managed to knock them all out," Nariko says and averts her gaze. She messes with the sleeves of her brand new, cherry red cardigan.
"And when you were shot through the abdomen three times?"
"That was when I lived in America. School shooter," Nariko immediately answers, glancing between her homeroom teacher and the school nurse. "I told you, I'm not being abused."
"Then what was the hand bruise around your wrist?" Shōta asks dryly. Nariko immediately rubs her now healed wrist and sighs heavily. Fuck.
She stays silent for a few moments, trying and failing to find an excuse. Nariko sighs again before speaking, "...that day, last week, was the only day this month I could visit my dad. Our time was cut short 'cause this cunt thought we were speaking in code or some shit when it was just Spanish. I don't like people grabbing me, so his grip tightened around my wrist when I tried pulling it. He had roughly thrown me across the hallway and I hit my cheek on the corner of a metal table."
"Technically it was code. Spanish code," A voice in the back of Nariko's head retorts her small white lie. She ignores it in favor of staring at her hands.
"I am fine. No abuse–well maybe an abuse of power, but whatever," The yellow haired teenager adds calmly.
"You are definitely not fucking fine." Nariko pretends to not hear the voice.
"When you had to go to the hospital for a fractured collarbone and severe bruises around your throat?" Nariko stays quiet, flinching at the reminder. She puts a hand to her throat while staring at her lap.
"Just fucking die already. You are a worthless girl. No one is going to miss you."
"I am not being abused. Are we done here? We'll be late to the bus," The yellow haired teenager sharply repeats. She glares heavily at her homeroom teacher before standing up.
"I'll gladly continue this talk later. I need to focus on the trip today." Nariko walks out with her arms crossed and her face pale.
"Brain shut up. Shut. Up. It's over. Stop," Nariko forces the memory away. She takes a deep breath and shakes the nerves out of her hands.
"Kaminari-chan! You coming?" Tōru asks bright in excitement. The yellow haired teenager forces a smile on her face and nods her head.
"Yep! Recovery Girl just needed to ask some questions about how my shoulder was doin' and all that," She lies brightly while walking over to where her class stood. They all wore their hero costumes.
Nariko messes with her gloves while inspecting her own hero costume. She wore a black, halter top bodysuit with silver lightning patterns coming from a silver ring in the middle of her abdomen and spreading out, a pale yellow skirt with suspenders, two utility belts with one being silver and the other being black, black combat boots, and pale yellow fingerless gloves. There was a garter belt with three pouches on her left thigh that held a pocket knife and a small grappling hook gun attached as well. The skirt was weighted and the the bodysuit had more padding as armor. Her hair was in two boxer braids and black aviator sunglasses covered her eyes. She wore a small, pale yellow headband that disguised an electronic transmitter.
"Oh, I'm so excited! I wonder how we'll be doing in rescue training?" Tōru exclaims while she bounces up and down. Nariko giggles and shrugs her shoulder before they walk over to Mina and Hanta.
"Kaminari-chan!" Mina exclaims and hugs the shorter girl. Nariko tenses slightly before hesitantly hugs the pink skinned girl.
"This is so exciting!" Nariko giggles again and nods her head, feeling her nerves slowly disappear. She smiles brightly as she forces her memories to the back of her head to make room for her excitement and happiness.
"It really is!" She says and glances around.
"This is going to be amazing!"
As Nariko falls into a rocky part of USJ with Momo and Kyōka filled with villains, chest constricted with panic, she can't help but curse herself for jinxing this day.
Hey! Hope you like the new chapter! Bye!
WhovianWhoudini