Warnings for this chapter: implied physical violence, minor paranoia, minor dissociation.
A week had past since the first day of school. Jin, despite the constant migraines and dissociation from all of the new emotions around her, was loving it. She stayed to herself though. The only one who truly was adamant on including her with anything was Mei, but that was also because Jin was the only one who wasn't scared to be the pink haired teenager's partner. Honestly, Jin would consider the fiery girl a friend.
The screaming matches between her parents have calmed down a bit too. It caused a bit of worry in her. There was going to be a big blow out between them, maybe even a physical fight–again.
Jin made sure to keep the cat door open everyday before she left for school. The momentary peace and quiet was setting her on edge.
"Jin-chan! Come! Come! There's a new experiment I wanna try out!" Mei exclaims brightly, snapping Jin out of her thoughts. The blonde looks up from her worn notebook and blankly stares at her... friend... for a long moment. Jin slowly stands up as she closes her notebook and grabs her bag.
"Hatsume-kun, Akiho-kun, you need to complete your–"
"I've completed all of my work today," Jin interrupts Higari with a dull tone. Mei nods in agreement before grabbing Jin's arm and drags her out of the classroom.
"Hatsume-kun wait!" Jin blinks as her surroundings start to blur.
"You might fall if you run any faster," Jin comments blandly, not at all bothered by the rush towards the workshops.
"Today's the day we can finally test our first experiment together! Did you bring the notes? And the safety gear? What about the plans for the next experiment?" Mei rattles off her questions. Jin feels a momentary twitch at the corner of her mouth before they slow to a stop in front of the workshop they claimed as theirs.
It was around the middle of the hallway, yet everyone managed to avoid it like the plague. With how much time Mei and Jin work inside the workshop, no one wants to be in the aftermath of an explosion.
"I did. With all of it," Jin answers dully, making her friend grin widely. If Jin was normal, it probably would have scared her.
"Let's get to it!" Jin lets the pink haired teenager push her into the workshop. She glances around and walks over to her assigned worktable as Mei slams on the lights.
She drops her satchel before crouching beside it. Jin takes out her fireproof notebook and two pairs of gloves meant for metalwork.
"We already have goggles here, but I brought some gloves. Did you bring the masks?" Jin asks blandly, standing up and kicking her satchel underneath the worktable.
"Yes, yes!" Mei slams their first supposed functional experiment on her worktable. "C'mon! The faster we test our baby, the faster we can make more of them!"
Jin blinks at the unintended innuendo, the corner of her mouth twitching. She holds out a lab coat and a pair of gloves for her friend.
"We're all set to go after putting on the safety gear." Mei grins even more maniacally and rips the safety gear from Jin's hands.
Jin feels a phantom of a smile ghost her lips before she bends down to grab a brand new notebook from her satchel. She takes out a marker and labels the front.
YEAR ONE: UA SUPPORT RESEARCH AND NOTES. NOTEBOOK #1
"Let me get this straight," Higari speaks in a calm tone, punching the bridge of his nose. "The moment you turned on your unauthorized experiment, it exploded. This explosion then caused a five minute city-wide blackout. Afterwards, you turned it on a second time and it caught on fire, then causing Akiho-kun to catch on fire."
Mei and Jin look up at the teacher with wide eyes of innocence, both sitting on the spot covered ground. They look at each other before nodding towards their teacher.
"We needed to make sure it was a full failure. Don't worry, I took notes." Jin lifts her slightly singed notebook.
Higari stares down at them. "Of course, that's what I'm totally concerned about. Between the well-being of my students and research, I chose to worry about the research."
"This just means that the next test will be even better!" Mei exclaims triumphantly, grinning maniacally.
"What were you even trying to attempt?" Higari asks with a facepalm. Jin brightens up, almost smiling, and opens her notebook.
"Synthetic solar light." Jin points towards the first round of calculations. Higari blinks, his expression completely blank.
"Pardon?"
"We know the equations haven't even been theorized yet, but we think we can get a head start on it. We can turn on the machine, so that's a plus," Jin explains as she turns the page to a sketch of the first design.
"Maybe we can adjust the–"
"We need to isolate the equation that made it explode in–"
"–could replace the metal with wood. Might ease the amount of heat absorbed."
"–theoretically impossible currently! And you two think you can "get a headstart" on it?!" Jin blinks back into reality.
She gently shakes her head, eyes glazing over. "U-um... y-yes. We–Mei–I–we're..."
"Getting rid of the first two–"
"–or we could–"
"We... we might as–as well try..." Jin tries to shake away the scattered thoughts. "N-no one else... no one else is..."
"Birds can see more colors than–"
"Apple seeds contain cyanide. So do–"
"Jin-chan?" Mei's worried voice breaks through Jin's thoughts. She snaps back into reality and looks over at the pink haired teenager.
"Sorry. Were you saying something?" Jin asks in an even duller tone than usual. Mei stares at her with a narrowed gaze before her maniacal grin comes back.
"What's our next experiment? Synthetic solar light? Electromagnetic forcefield? Quantum energy?"
"None of that until you clean up the absolute mess you both made in the lab. And not without adult supervision for any type of experiment," Higari immediately cuts in with an unseen but clearly there glare. Mei pouts with a huff and Jin nods her head.
"Yes, sir," The blonde speaks with completely dull eyes. "We'll get started now. Is there anything else you need?"
"Akiho-kun, are you alright? Did anything hit you on your head?" The pro hero asks worriedly.
Jin shakes her head, still staring off into space. "Side effect of my Quirk. You can't change it. I'll be like this for a bit."
"When will the fight happen? It's already–"
"–leave the cat door open for Bun-Bun? I don't want him caught in the fight."
"It's been a week. Do I need to make an alibi? The police were suspicious last–""Do you need to go to Recovery Girl?" Higari asks. Jin doesn't register his question for a few moments.
"No." Jin shakes her head. "Don't have any medication for it."
"I wonder if I can hide in my workshop."
"Bun-Bun probably won't be–"
"I'll–I'll get started on cleaning. Finished–I–um... I finished all of my work in my other classes," The blonde continues as she wanders towards the slightly singed workshop.
Maybe she'll just stay in her workshop once she gets home. Even if the fight doesn't happen today, it's too quiet for her to relax.
I'M ALIVE AND SO IS THIS STORY. I PROMISE.
One: had writer's block on only a single part in this chapter.
Two: Got hyper-focused on JJK and then I got hyper-focused on KNY. Then I got hyper-focused on Bleach.
Three: I got busier with my job.
I have NOT abandoned any of my fics. If I do, it will be stated.
I hope you all like the new chapter! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas/holiday! Bye.
WhovianWhoudini