Chapter Nine: Flowery Words
The usual bustle of the classroom didn't bother her. She was surprisingly without her earphones, and was quietly drawing. Her pencil continued to skim the surface of her notebook even as her thoughts wandered.
It seemed so peaceful- but then again, anything would seem peaceful after the train wreck that was yesterday. Being alive had never felt more like a privilege given to them.
All Might had come through in the end, and the appearance of the Pro Heroes had been what saved them in the end- and it was unarguably all thanks to their class president, Iida.
(She had had her doubts about him at first, that was for sure, but he was the one who came through for them in the end.)
The events of yesterday flashed through her mind vividly, as if the raging flames had burned themselves into her memory. Her right arm and right leg were covered in bandages (her burns were nothing Recovery Girl couldn't fix, though the bandages would ensure that her skin would recover better.) In the whole class, she and Midoriya had been the only ones to get hurt- even though the only reason Midoriya got hurt was because he used his quirk. She really owed Mashirao for having her back as they snuck out from the flame-filled hellhole, and reunited with the rest of their classmates safely.
Currently, she sat in her usual spot beside Kirishima, and she found that in her absent-minded state, she had begin to sketch out the outlines of what looked suspiciously like fire.
"Morie-chan!"
She looked up, slightly startled by the mention of her name, only to spot the pink-skinned Ashido Mina in front of her table, accompanied by her few other classmates- Sero, Tsuyu and Kaminari, to name a few. Setting down her pencil, she sent a quizzical look at them, though only directing her greeting at the pink-skinned girl.
"Hello, Mina-chan."
(... no pun intended.*)
A confused smile spread over her face which she directed at the pink-skinned girl, who promptly plopped herself into the seat in front of her, fixing her with a wide-eyed gaze. The pink-skinned girl got to the point immediately, though she sheepishly fumbled around with her fingers beforehand as if she was feeling embarrassed for what she was going to say.
"Morie-chan, if it isn't too much to ask, could you tell us what happened to your hair?" She asked, sounding like she was dying to know what happened.
The question should have come as a surprise, but somehow it didn't, but Morie felt a stifling sense of self-consciousness being imposed onto her nevertheless.
A hand reached up unconsciously to touch the back of her now short, brown locks. She hadn't had the time to clean up her hairstyle yesterday, and as a result her hair remained choppy and uneven. The back of her head felt strangely light, however, now that her ponytail had been reduced to a length which barely brushed the bottom of her ears.
(This would normally be the bit where she made a joke about not needing charcoal because her hair did the job just fine, but she decided that it was too soon.)
Glancing up at Mina and her bright, curious eyes, she could vaguely feel various curious gazes on her, including that of Kirishima, who was evidently trying hard not to eavesdrop on them- and failing. She averted her gaze immediately, in order to to avoid eye contact with anyone else.
Trying not to squirm from her discomfort, she finally sighed, relenting.
"It's sort of embarrassing," she admitted freely. "I was with Mashirao in the Conflagration Zone, and I got hit by one of the villain's quirk. My hair got set on fire and I cut it off because it was spreading too quickly. That's it, I guess."
Maybe they were expecting an epic tale of how she escaped the villain's grasp on her hair by cutting it off, before badassedly escaping with her life. But no such thing had happened.
She was thankful that no one was laughing at her, because now that she looked back she found the whole hair-on-fire situation to be highly amusing. Morie didn't regret cutting off her hair, however- she certainly didn't relish the idea of slowly being burned alive like a candle.
"Ah, it must have been so hard for you to do that, Morie-chan!"
Mina exclaimed in sympathy, an incredulous look flashing over her usual impish features, earning various nods from various girls scattered across the class. Morie sweatdropped at the sight of Uraraka's head bobbing up and down especially vigorously, the hands of the pink-cheeked girl grasping at the brown clumps of hair which hung by her head.
(It had been a hard decision, certainly, but it got easy the moment she realised that she had no other option.)
"I just did what I had to do," she reasoned instead, tapping her chin thoughtfully, though hesitation entered her voice at what she said next. "Personally, I think there's a lot more at stake than hair when we're all aiming to become heroes."
(At that, she recalled the fear she felt whenever she saw her mother on live broadcasts of villain attacks, vaguely remembered the never-ending anxiety that would strike her when her mother didn't come home on time- )
There was a heavy silence that followed that made Morie instantly regret dragging the conversation down that more depressing road. Nervously, she cleared her throat and stared downwards at her clasped hands, waiting for someone to say something, but not really expecting it.
"Simple and manly, Rie-san!"
Kirishima turned to her, the first to break the silence. Tears comically gushed out from his eyes as he addressed her, looking immensely moved- oh gosh, was he really crying?
Morie glanced at him, clearing her throat awkwardly ('I'm not a man cough and please don't cry-' ) though she turned pink from the compliment nevertheless- being called manly by Kirishima was like probably one of the greatest honours that one could. Honestly, she didn't get what Kirishima saw in her which made him think she was anywhere worthy of being called 'manly, but in the meantime...
"Ah, thanks," she mumbled, before impulsively hiding her pink face with her arms as she slumped onto her table, just as tears filled Mina's dewy-looking eyes and she was smothered with a tight, choking hug. "I guess. Do you need a tissue?"
The hug was warm and comfortable, considering Mina was an extremely huggable person. But suddenly she was getting swamped by groups of classmates (even the level-headed Tsuyu silently wrapped her arms around her with a blank, sullen look) and the vast amount of physical contact freaked her out a little, though she grew used to it after a while.
It was strange that everyone noticed her now because of her impromptu haircut. The attention made her uncomfortable to no end, and she hoped dearly that it would fade away quickly- not when she felt so self-conscious about the way she looked now. But at the very least, she felt rest-assured that her class consisted of good, kind people, who still knew what it meant to feel.
The vain part of her was stupid, impossibly so, but she couldn't help but dislike her new hairstyle, how her now boyish-looking hair looked on her childish features- wait, no, shut up! One's hair could grow back, but it wasn't like reincarnation could actually happen like in the stories!
Hadn't she said it herself? She and Mashirao made it- a few minor burns and some charcoal-reduced hair was nothing. Having extremely short hair was definitely not completely bad, either. For one, washing her hair had taken considerably less time than usual yesterday- in fact, her shower time had been reduced so much that there was no doubt that the monthly water bills would make her father rejoice; not to mention that it was certainly more practical than her old ponytail- it wouldn't go around being grabbed or set on fire anytime soon, that was for sure. The methodical flow of thoughts gave her comfort, and she settled into her cycle of reassuring herself.
That's right. I can live with this. You and Mashirao are alive- that counts for something, right? And what with the way my Hero costume is designed, I would have gone for a haircut sooner or later. Heck, I got one this time for free!
The class was quickly shushed by Iida, who had stormed over to his seat in a hurry when he realised that he was, in fact, the only one not in his seat. Then the door slid open, and a heavily-bandaged Aizawa-sensei entered the class, in a fashion much reminiscent of a mummy.
(And quite literally, too. He looked like he had risen from the dead.)
'Shouldn't he be resting up?' Morie questioned silently as the rest of the class burst out in yells of astonishment at their homeroom teacher's sudden reappearance. 'Is Thirteen-sensei alright, then?' She wondered, but didn't dare to speak up- no point in drawing more unneeded attention to herself.
Aizawa raised his head, long black hair falling over his face in a shaggy mess. His eyes swept the class briefly and wearily, still looming bloodshot and red-tinged from the events of yesterday.
"Don't concern yourselves over me."
He remarked, sounding more worn-out than usual- though she could have sworn that he had a grim smile on his face. "After all, the battle isn't over yet."
Mineta's agonised cry rang out shrilly. "You mean- more villains?!"
"The moment Yuuei sets villains on its students is the moment the Hero business goes to shit," she muttered at the ridiculous notion.
Aizawa fixed his students with a plain-looking stare that suggested that he highly wished that they would stop wasting time and just stop talking, before continuing on as if there hadn't been any interruption at all.
"Yuuei's Sports Festival is coming," he finished, much to the surprise of virtually the whole class at how utterly ordinary it sounded.
Had it been any other Sports Festival, Morie would have been surprised at how deceptively mundane the event seemed to be- but this was Yuuei's Sports Festival, the competition which replaced the bloody Tokyo Olympics. It was pretty strange being reminded of exactly how prestigious Yuuei's name was, based on what a big deal this was alone.
I wonder if Mom would scout me just because I'm her daughter, she thought, though she shook her head and convinced herself that that would not be the case- she was certain that her mother would be as unbiased as possible, and would give her the chance to go to her office if she thought she was worthy. If anything, her mother was likely to be stricter on her than everybody else. In the event that she did, by some miracle get scouted by her mother, however, she would be the happiest (wo)man in the world.
With that said, it did serve as a good source of motivation.
'Wouldn't it be nice to actually do well in something for once?' The thought was entertained by her as she fidgeted with a pencil, gears in her mind clicking into place.
Amidst the excitement of her classmates, Morie sat in silence, fingers tapping on the table lightly as she fell deep into contemplation. She had to formulate a plan, first and foremost; she had a little over two weeks to improve on her weakness and more importantly, strengthen her quirk- show the world that even though her quirk was unflashy and difficult to use, it was hers and hers alone. She would have to write down her plan as well, if not she would never remember to stick to it.
"Rie-san, aren't you excited?"
Kirishima asked from the neighbouring table, a wide grin on his face- it was clear that he was very much looking forward to the Sports Festival as she spotted a familiar flash of determination in his eyes.
Her eyes flicked over to him, and she faintly thought that this was the type of competition he would flourish in. A manly, intense competition for a manly, high-spirited guy. It was all fitting, to her.
"Of course," she responded softly, resisting the urge to smile. "Let's do our best."
He returned the smile, and as they hung around after class, she couldn't help but think that this competition would be the ultimate testament of how much they had grown. Maybe it could even act as a measure as to whether she was any more worthy of her mother than she was mere weeks ago.
.
Lunch that day turned out to be more lively than usual, and Morie figured that it was likely due to the news of the Sports Festival.
The eatery was more crowded than usual, and as Morie queued up, she briefly turned around to see where Kirishima was sitting, before her eyes met with that of the person behind her.
Taking in blue hair, she took a moment to place where she saw his face before, before she recognised him as the boy from the entrance exams. He stared back at her impassively, and she found herself smiling nevertheless.
"It's you," she stated, feeling pleasantly surprised as she glanced at the boy. "I keep seeing you around but we never got introduced."
The boy stared at her silently, eyes looking almost sullen. She didn't know what to make out of his dead-eyed expression, instead shifting around so that they could converse better.
"You look different." He stated at last, and Morie wondered why he seemed so reluctant to tell her his name.
"Yeah, I had to cut my hair," she laughed, though at her own expense. "What's your name, by the way?"
She could feel his appraising look staring her down, though he did respond.
(Eventually, that is.)
"Hitoshi Shinsou," he introduced himself remarkably unexcitedly. "General Studies. You're from Class A."
It was a statement, not a question, and she didn't know what to make of it. "Yeah, I'm -"
"- next order, miss?"
An apologetic look was sent his way as her words were cut off. She never did end up telling him her name in return as she approached the front of the queue to place her order- the moment she turned back around to speak to him, he was gone.
Where did he go?
Frowning, she picked up her tray and walked back towards the table where Kaminari and Sero were currently seated, eyes darting around in an attempt to spot striking blue hair amongst the sea of browns and blacks, but to no avail- somehow, she felt sorely disappointed. She hadn't minded talking to him to the guy in the least- thought that comment about her being in Class A seemed to clue her in on something. Recalling his tone and his vague expression (how did he even know that?), it then dawned on her that he sounded bitter. It was just a hint, but there was definitely some animosity either towards her or her class.
(Shinsou Hitoshi, in her opinion, was strange. Morie wondered if the rumours that drifted about him during lunch were true- even though she highly doubted it. Gossiping was an enjoyable hobby but after news passed by so many storytellers, it was hard to discern what was true and what was not. The boy in question was standoffish, but not overly quiet. Briefly, Morie thought back to the Entrance Exam and realised that she hadn't seen his quirk.
... How curious.)
.
"C'mon and sit with us, Bakugou!"
Kirishima was bringing his tray over, and he looked like he was following the other spiky-haired boy around in the process. The said abrasive boy was bad-temperedly grumbling under his breath at his newfound shadow, occasionally throwing dirty looks over his shoulder at the redhaired boy. The redhaired boy's grin only widened in satisfaction.
"Dammit, stop following me around, you shitty hair-for-brains!"
He barked, whirling around to snap at the red-haired boy. But Kirishima didn't stop. Instead, it seemed that Bakugou's statement seemed to have strengthened his resolve, if anything.
"Listen, you're a manly guy, Bakugou," Kirishima stated, eyes fixing on Bakugou's eyes intently as his voice took a serious turn. "But it's not cool that you're always alone. Give sitting with us a chance, man."
It seemed that genuine sincerity could penetrate anything- even Bakugou's cold, cold heart. He glared at Kirishima, and for a moment she was certain that he would say 'no', but much to her surprise, he didn't.
A second passed. Then two. Then he was grumbling under his breath.
"Fine." The blonde boy stormed over, slamming his tray onto the seat opposite of her, growling. "Fucking fine. I'll give you the honour of me sitting at your damn table."
A brilliant grin split across Kirishima's face at his success, and Morie laughed softly at how happy he looked. Ever since the attack from the Villains, Kirishima's attitude towards Bakugou had seemingly undergone a tremendous change, something which amazed her. The red-haired boy seemed to idolise the blond-haired boy, if his newfound clinginess was something to go by.
From beside Bakugou, Kaminari paled suddenly and she raised an eyebrow at that, sending him a questioning look. For a moment, she could have sworn that he looked absolutely cowed that Bakugou was next to him, the expression being comparable to his default 'idiot' expression.
"Stop doing that, Rie-san," he complained, as if in denial of his own discomfort. Morie raised her eyebrow once more persistently.
'Don't tell me you're scared of Bakugou?' She mouthed. Kaminari seemed to catch the gist of what she was trying to say, as he jolted up and shook his head profusely, furiously whispering 'nonono I don't!'
From beside them, Bakugou appeared to be plainly disinterested in the conversation, though upon closer inspection a corner of his lips were curled up in a satisfied leer. From beside Kaminari, Sero snickered, his shoulders shaking from his silent laughter.
"You brought that on yourself, bro," the black-haired boy stated, referring to the time Kaminari teased Bakugou on the bus. Kaminari sighed in exasperation as he abruptly cleared his throat in an attempt to salvage his dignity.
"Anyway," his yellow gaze darted away from Bakugou pointedly and towards Morie, before he leaned into his hand, lips curled up in a smile.
She raised an eyebrow at that.
"Say, Morie-chan," Kaminari's voice took on a smooth quality as he leaned forward slightly.
She imagined that he must have been trying to look suave, though the effect was largely ruined by the bowl of ramen he was leaning over. "What do you think about going out for lunch sometime soon? Just the two of us?"
A pink flush rose upwards to her cheeks as quickly as it disappeared, and Morie fixed him with a perplexed stare, aware of the yellow-haired boy's flirtatious tendencies but never expecting herself to be a target of them.
"Sorry," she said, not really feeling sorry at all- though she did try to squash his advances in the nicest way possible. "In all honesty, Kaminari, shouldn't you be focusing on the Sports Festival?"
"What about after the Sports Festival?" He asked, deflating a bit but still very much persistent.
Morie sighed, sheepishly running her hands through her hair, feeling conflicted.
"I don't know, I might consider. You're probably better off hitting on someone else though," she commented politely, before adding after a moment of consideration. "Just saying."
"Point taken." The electricity user sighed, albeit somewhat dramatically, slumping back in his seat in dejection. Off to the side, Sero was cackling at the rejection, hugging his sides.
"Serves you right," he chortled unsympathetically, sending a pointed look at the sulking boy beside him. "Keep this up and you're going to run out of girls to ask out."
"Well, Jirou and Asui are pretty cute- " The yellow-haired boy hummed thoughtfully.
"And you wonder why you get rejected so often," she deadpanned, sending the said boy an unimpressed look. Kaminari sent her a grin of unwavering confidence.
"I have utmost faith in my natural charms, Morie-chan," he winked, casually crossing his arms as a corner of his lip curled.
She smiled crookedly at that.
"I guess there is appeal in resembling a Pikachu," Morie hummed, eyes glinting humorously as the said boy who resembled a Pikachu in question sputtered. Sero outright collapsed over the table in his laughter, and she could've sworn that even Bakugou nearly let out a snort.
Sometimes uncanny resemblances went unnoticed until you pointed them out.
"I'm sure someone will agree to going out with me eventually," Kaminari recovered, playing it off.
On the other hand, Kirishima hummed in thought, a small frown forming on his face. "I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be talking about girls like that."
Hell yeah. Morie beamed at the boy- seriously, how precious could he get?
"At this rate you're going, no one's gonna agree to date you, Kaminari," she sighed exasperatedly. "Hell, if you were asking me to choose, I would rather date someone like- Bakugou, maybe."
Shit, I forgot that he's right here- what am I doing?
The spiky-haired boy in question seemed a tad bit more calm than usual (such was the effect of food) though he snapped up at the mention of his name, scowling on impulse.
"What the hell? What is that supposed to mean?"
... she brought this on herself, didn't she?
Morie sheepishly fiddled with her fingers. In her mental search for any notable disagreeable people, Bakugou's name had just slipped out- not intentionally, but the the damage was done.
(Time to start screaming internally. Maybe preorder a coffīn or two, while she was at it.)
"It just means that I would date you over Kaminari- it's a compliment. No offense." She stated in reply, though she did feel rather meek under the boy's red-eyed glare. Then, she quickly forced herself to maintain eye-contact with him to show that she was indeed telling the truth- or mostly.
The red-eyed boy snorted in disbelief at her words, but evidently couldn't be bothered to deal with her any more than he had to as he turned back to his lunch without another word, grumpily shoving spoonfuls of rice into his mouth. Beside him, Kaminari sniggered at her sudden lack of coherence and Morie's cheeks flushed, turning a bright shade of pink from her mortification.
"Shuddap, Pikachu," she mumbled under her breath, before proceeding to stuff a mouthful of rice in her mouth furiously.
.
The next two weeks were as fulfilling as they were fun. Most of the afternoon training sessions let them have free reign on whatever they wanted to do. She focused on exploring the limits of her quirk and strengthening her endurance as much as possible.
There were several ideas that were surfacing to mind as she thought of different, unconventional ways to use her quirk- first, she had to figure out the exact theories of how changing pressure would enable her to do so. Following that, she had to put those theories into practice.
...Explaining why Morie was currently stumbling and flailing about in mid-air, a good five feet above the ground, positively freaking out as she was desperately trying to figure out how she should adjust the pressure so she could move around.
Shitshitshit-
She screamed (internally), trying to force herself to calm down already as her legs tried to accustom themselves to standing on air. The air particles around her was in absolute disarray and sensing the pressure underneath her drop slightly, she hastily increased the pressure exerted on her feet- though it was a tad bit too much and sent her propelling upwards.
Coming to a stop, she adjusted the pressure around her, keeping in mind her normal limit of five metres as she took a step forward.
Then another.
It was working fairly well, so she lowered herself to the ground unsteadily and made to kick off into the air again. Jumping off the ground, she increased the pressure exerted by her feet as she jumped, before visualising a pressure gradient that would allow some wind to help propel her off the ground. Undoubtedly, it was a tedious process, but if flying became an option for her then the Sports Festival would be made so much more easier for her.
Attempting to start jogging forward, she neglected to make sure that the pressure was enough to support her weight before taking her next step.
"Fuck."
(Because what other word was more fitting for a situation like this?)
She swore softly as the air below her failed to hold her weight as she was sent tumbling down into a patch of forest nearby. It was far too late to scold herself for being an idiot and forgetting that she had to manually readjust the pressure.
Who even does that? She remarked. Oh, let me just forget this one step of controlling your quirk that could potentially result in a life-or-death situation. You mean you remembered to do it right after you began to fall? Good job!
As the wind whistled in her face as she fell, she hastily attempted imagining her pressure gradients for some wind to form, in an attempt to stop the fall as she had done once for Kirishima- but either she wasn't doing it fast enough, or she messed something up and the resulting wind wasn't strong enough- because all it did was slow down the speed of her fall as she broke through the treeline, flinching as leaves and branches scratched at her skin.
Finally Morie came into a clearing and found herself falling towards someone; she was barely able to yell out a warning as she fell onto him and they both toppled onto the ground with a yelp. A shot of pain surged through her leg as the impact forced her to crash forward, and she winced at the sickening cracking sound.
"What the hell," the person who was unfortunate enough to have been standing in that very clearing groaned, shifting around underneath her. With a slightly horrified feeling bubbling within her at that familiar voice, she glanced at the person beneath her- only to take in spiky-blonde hair and an irritated expression.
Bakugou.
... which gods had she offended this time?
"Shit," she swore softly, before she awkwardly shifted herself off of him. Pain shot through her leg once more as she winced, but brought herself up to a sitting position next to the boy nonetheless.
Leaning in slightly to inspect him for any injuries, she snapped back slightly in alarm as his red eyes snapped open and focused onto her, narrowing as they did so.
Understandably, Morie freaked out a bit, bowing her head as she spoke.
"Sorry about that, I lost control," she explained softly, before she let out a sigh. "You're not hurt, are you?"
There was a jerk of his head, which she took to mean as a 'no'.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, she slumped back, smiling at him. "Well, I'm glad to hear that."
She caught sight of a glaringly obvious gash on his arm, probably from when she crashed into him, and she shifted forward to inspect the injury at once.
"I can help you bandage that, if you want." Morie offered, eyeing the gash guiltily.
There was a brief moment of silence. Suddenly she was alarmed once more as she sensed a rabid change of atmosphere as the blonde-haired boy's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. For reasons she could not comprehend, he leaned forward menacingly, his teeth bared, and her breath hitched at his glare- god it was terrifying when he pulled stunts like this, not to mention their close proximity.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?"
He growled, his voice taking on a low and threatening edge as his red eyes bored into her own dark ones, and somehow she got the feeling that his words, raw and angered, was not all directed at her. It reminded her a lot like the Classroom Scheme; only this time she actually had no idea what she had done to piss off Mr Spiky Hair. Freezing in her position, she was momentarily unsure of how she should react.
After all, people usually didn't snap when you offered to help them. Even for someone like her who didn't like to be helped, his reaction was incomprehensible to her. The foreignness of the situation was unsettling as her brain racked itself on tips on what she should do in this strange, unfathomable situation.
Maybe her words had somehow reminded him of a bad memory, something that struck a deep chord of him. Or he had taken offense to her offer of help. Even though his face was a mere inches from her own, she did not back away, instead taking the time to examine his rage-filled features as she mentally tried to figure him out. For some reason, she was suddenly reminded of the day she saw him shed tears in the midst of his shouting at Midoriya, and she wondered if his apparent hatred for being helped-slash-looked down upon was in any way related to his history with the sweet, curly-haired Midoriya.
Morie shifted sideways a little after, leaning forward as she awkwardly patted him on the shoulder like how Kirishima usually did to her, surprising herself. It lasted only for a second before she jolted back, meeting his gaze evenly after that.
(Her world was spinning now. It hadn't been earlier, but it felt like someone was playing a game of teacups in her mind.)
"If you had gotten hurt, it would've been my fault. I need to make up for my mistakes and all that, that's all there is to it," she stated, staring up at him unblinkingly. It was admittedly really weird- having to explain why she wanted to help was a first; most would just accept or deny it, as simple as that. "I don't look down on you in the least and I'm sorry if I made you feel like that."
Bakugou sat in silence. His red eyes narrowed down at her before he looked away, moving to get up as he did so. He didn't notice the way her dark eyes slid in and out of focus; or how she attempted to stand on her broken leg and failed miserably.
"Fuck off," he bit out at last, sticking his hands in his pockets as he turned and made to leave. "Just get out of here so I can continue training."
There was suddenly a soft thud, and the blonde spiky-haired boy spared a glance behind him, though what he saw caused his irritation to spike to a whole new level.
... What the fuck? Did the bitch just fucking faint on him?
.
A/N:
* - 'Mina-chan' sounds like 'everybody' in Japanese.
From this chapter on, updates are going to be slower and I might take a short break from writing around September to November as I'm taking a national exam in that period (rip). Just giving you a heads-up first becauase I don't want you to worry about the lack of any updates sometime from now haha. Writer's block has also been an ass so you might notice that things are less fluid from this chapter on- I apologise in advance for that. Do leave feedback on how I can improve and I'll do my best in making sure that the quality doesn't deviate too much. Thank you.
And back to the story! Bakugou is the one person Morie has difficulty analysing (he is the king of mixed signals and I don't mean the romantic sort), which results in an awkward attempt to make him calm down. Then she faints.
All in all, probably the first noteworthy interaction between them ;)
Thoughts?
