Chapter 18 - Tests and Confessions
Several hours and one migraine later I was sprawled out across the couch in the teachers' lounge. My head was throbbing behind my eyes and I was pretty sure that my brain had melted. The exam had covered a variety of subjects from modern art to history to mathematics - some of which I was fairly confident in while others I floundered hopelessly. All in all, it was made very clear to me just how uneducated I was.
The door opened to the lounge and I cracked open an eye, lifting my head to see who it was. Eraserhead sauntered in with a stack of papers under his arms, looking more perturbed than his usual self. I eyed the papers and had the sinking feeling that those were mine. I didn't want to know the results of the exam. I already had a fair idea of how I did and I didn't need confirmation from Mr. Cranky Caterpillar.
I let my head drop back down to the cushions, and I rolled over to bury my face into the back of the couch. I heard Aizawa's footsteps as they neared, and I could feel his presence hovering above me for a moment before he moved away, taking a seat on the couch opposite of mine.
"I have your exam results back." He stated, shuffling the papers in his hands.
"That was fast." I grumbled into the fabric of the couch, still not moving to acknowledge his presence.
"Principal Nezu was the one who scored it. The other teachers are busy with their own classes at the moment, but they'll have a chance to go through it later for themselves."
"Great." I sighed heavily. Soon enough everyone in the faculty will know just how inept I was. I was eagerly awaiting that hour. Not.
The papers stilled in Aizawa's hands and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, alerting me to the fact that I was on the receiving end of one of his piercing stares.
"You should drink that before it goes cold."
That caught my attention enough to force me out of the nook of the couch to push myself up into a seated position. Blearily I looked down at the coffee table and saw a steaming paper cup with a tea bag hanging off its side along with two Advils resting beside the it. The smell of the tea swam enticingly under my nose. I couldn't resist and I reached for it. Bringing the cup to my lips I inhaled deeply and took exploratory sips. It was searing hot and far stronger than I would have made it, but it would do wonders for my headache right now.
"Take the pills too. They'll help." Aizawa didn't look up from the papers as he spoke to me.
"You're being thoughtful." I murmured aloud, taking the pills and swallowing them with a mouthful of the tea.
He glanced up at me over the top of the page he was reading, before his eyes swept back down to the paper. "You misunderstand me. I need you at your top performance level for later when you do your quirk assessment test. I won't be able to accurately judge your abilities if you're exhausted."
I gave a groan into the cup as I was reminded that there was still another test to endure.
"Any chance we can postpone it till tomorrow?"
"No. The students will be with All Might all afternoon for combat training. This will be the only chance we'll have without interruptions."
"Fine." I grumbled.
Even though I wasn't looking forward to the prospects of yet another exam where I would be scrutinized for every action I made, I knew I could pass this portion. I had a powerful quirk and had years of experience under me to fall back on that would see me through this. Thinking about it, I wondered what Eraserhead had planned for my quirk assessment test. Maybe it would be the same as what the students had to endure yesterday. I paled at the thought instantly, remembering the physical parts of the test. If this morning's sprint was any indicator, I would embarrass myself even further. Great. Just great. The inadequacy just kept piling on today.
I let my face fall into my hands as I leaned over my knees. I desperately wanted to go back to bed to get this day over with and start anew.
"If you're done moping, perhaps we can get started going over your results."
My head whipped up, a scowl firmly plastered over my face. But he was right. I was moping and it would not get me out of this situation. Still, I felt like I was being scolded like I was a misbehaving child and that burned something deep within me. I sat back against the couch, bringing the tea with me to occupy and warm my hands. I said nothing in response, waiting for Eraserhead to begin. He took this as a sign that I was ready.
"You're not completely stupid." He stated simply, looking up at me from the results of my exam in his hands.
"Gee, thanks." I grouched into my cup as I took another sip, a tick forming on my brow at the veiled insult.
Aizawa shifted his eyes back to my exam results, a slight frown blooming there. "It is rather surprising to see that you scored so high in English and mathematics. Based on these results you could sub in for Mic or Ectoplasm when we need you to." He shuffled through the papers, murmuring to himself. "Mic will be disappointed that you won't be needing his classes after all. He was looking forward to it."
I lifted an eyebrow curiously at this statement, not quite sure what to make of it.
"You said that you've had no schooling, correct? Care to explain this?" Eraserhead laid down the results in front of me so I could see them for myself.
I gave a shrug, resting my chin against my palm while I let my gaze flit down to the papers. "I don't have an answer for you. English and math just make sense to me."
"No one taught you?" He questioned me.
"Nope." I clicked my tongue.
Aizawa gave me a dark glare, his eyes searching for a lie. "I find that hard to believe."
"Well, it's the truth." I grumbled heatedly. "When it comes to either math or English, the answers just come to me. They always have."
"They just come to you?" He leaned forward on his knees, clasping his hands in front of him while he studied me. The look he was giving me was trying to shake the confidence I had, but I wasn't giving in so easily. In at least these two subjects I knew that I was competent enough to hold my own.
"Yep." I replied.
"Well, your questionably acquired knowledge didn't translate over to history, modern literature, or civil law. Your results in those areas were abysmal, so you'll be taking those classes with the other students. You'll have to study hard if you have any hope to catch up with them before midterms." He gathered up the pieces of paper from the table, deflating my momentarily self congratulatory mood.
He stood up and made his way over to the door. "It's time to begin your quirk assessment test." Aizawa called out.
"What? Now?" I questioned aloud, my head slipping off my palm in momentary shock.
He lifted an eyebrow as he tilted his head back at me. "Do you have anything better to do?"
"No." I growled out, my expression darkening considerably as I got to my feet and walked after him.
Between my glowering expression and Aizawa's established reputation within the school, the students in the halls gave us a wide berth as Aizawa led me out of the main building and down a path that ran off in the distance. We were not going to the field behind the school where the kids had their assessment test the previous day, but instead we were walking somewhere entirely new to me. That should have been my first clue that Aizawa had something altogether different in mind for me. A short time later we arrived at an impressively high wall. Looking to my left and right, I saw that it stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction.
"How come I never noticed something like this before? It's absolutely huge!"
Aizawa walked through the tall gated entrance as the doors opened with a metallic groan and I felt my jaw drop with what I saw on the other side. It was an entire city complete with buildings, streets, cars, and stores.
"Stop gawking and get a move on." Eraserhead called out to me in annoyance when he noticed I was still standing awestruck outside the gate.
"Where do you people get the money to build something like this?" I craned my head to inspect the underside of the gate as I passed through it.
"It was built using a combination of funds, donations, and faculty that we have on staff here." He explained, plainly disinterested and unimpressed by the mock city that we were now standing in. "We use it as a training grounds for our students in a variety of subjects from combat training, to rescuing, to support items testing."
"That's right. You said the kids were with All Might doing combat training today. So are they around here somewhere?" I peered around the various buildings as if I would catch a glimpse of one of them.
"They're at a different training ground nearby. I've reserved this place for your quirk assessment test today so you won't be distracted by unnecessary interruptions."
"You have more than one of these?" I thought incredulously, getting a clear picture on just how much money U.A. was rolling in. But I had to put that aside at Aizawa's mention of my quirk assessment.
"Wait, so you want me to have my quirk test here?" I looked back at the city with new eyes. "I was thinking you were going to have me do something more along the lines of what you had the kids do yesterday."
"I got a firm assessment on your physical abilities this morning if you remember." I gave a scowl at the reminder, and he continued. "This time I'll be testing your performance on the field in a more realistic setting. This should be more than appropriate for someone of your level. Yes?" There was a slight challenge in his voice, spurring me to live up my reputation.
I didn't offer a reply, holding my tongue as I followed him over to a pair of metal elevator doors buried within the cement walls. As he approached they opened on their own and together we stepped inside before the doors closed behind us, sending us upwards. A moment later the elevator door dinged open and we were deposited onto an open-air observation platform offering an overview of the entire city below. From this height I got a full view of the layout and scale of the place. It wasn't a complete city, thankfully, but enough of one to get the point across and still be impressive.
I raced over to the railing, leaving Aizawa to trail behind me as I took in the sight. It was like a playground specially made for heroes-in-training. Here they could go all out and train with their quirks without the need to be concerned for civilian safety.
"This place is incredible!" I breathed out, a wonder filling me at the fact that I was going to be able to use it today. I was absolutely giddy with the thought that I had the whole place to myself.
Aizawa stopped beside me. "It has its uses." He conceded, smiling a bit at my sudden display of excitement.
The elevator rang out behind us and made us both turn to see who had joined us. By the confused expression on Eraserhead's face, I could assume that no else was meant to be here. Present Mic swaggered out, immediately spotting us by the railing. An irritated tick formed on Eraserhead's forehead when he saw his friend coming toward us.
"Yo! What up, Ghosty? You nervous?" Mic greeted me, offering an encouraging grin as he stopped beside his grim-faced friend, ignoring him completely.
"Why are you here?" Aizawa asked, peeved at the unwelcomed interruption. "Don't you have a class to teach?"
"And miss this? No way, man! I'm not the only one looking forward to seeing what our resident poltergeist can do."
As if on cue the elevator door dinged open and Principal Nezu and a few of the other teachers stepped out onto the platform. They joined our growing group which only proved to make Aizawa even more ticked off.
"Don't tell me." Aizawa groaned moodily at the new additions.
"We've come to watch Ms. Eve's performance!" Principal Nezu spoke up excitedly, extending a paw into the air and answering Aizawa's unfinished question.
"What about your students?" He said towards the rest of the teachers.
"Nothing that an impromptu test on the second day can't take care of. It should keep them fully occupied while we're away." Nezu stated without a shred of sympathy and I gave an internal wince. I had just finished taking my own exam so I could only imagine what the rest of the school was enduring right now because of me. What a way to make me popular.
"Congratulations by the way, Ms. Eve." Nezu spoke to me, drawing my attention down to where he stood. "Your exam results from this morning far exceeded my expectations. I was impressed."
"You said my results were abysmal." I turned on Aizawa, frowning deeply.
Aizawa met my eyes, not swayed by the onlookers' presence to refute my accusation. "You only tested out of two subjects. Your results in everything else were less than satisfactory."
"Wait! How'd she do on my portion?" Mic interjected quickly with concern, glancing to Eraserhead.
"She will not be needing your classes, Mic. In fact, she tested better than you did. You should be happy to know that you'll be able to use her as a substitute in the future."
"No, man! I ain't happy!" Mic shouted back, glaring daggers at his friend for daring to suggest such a thing. "I had lesson plans prepared and everything!" His hands flourished dramatically in the air to highlight his despair.
Aizawa gave a shrug, unconcerned with his friend's antics. "Time wasted then." He turned to pin the other teachers with a glare. "Just like what you all are doing right now."
"Right! Carry on!" Nezu exclaimed, picking up on Aizawa's not so subtle hint and herding the teachers and a despondent Present Mic over to the corner of the platform by the elevator. The doors to the lift opened again and a familiar white clad heroine emerged. Midnight sent me a grin that had me on edge as soon as she caught my eye before joining up with Present Mic. The two conversed for a moment and she gave me a second glance, a dangerous thought crossing her expression. Midnight leaned in and whispered something into Present Mic's ear, causing him to smirk.
"You're on." He replied confidently back to Midnight, crossing his arms over his chest.
Eraserhead spoke at that moment, redirecting my attention back onto him before I could think further on what I had just witnessed. "They shouldn't be bothering us anymore. If you're ready, I can explain to you the nature of your quirk assessment, and we can finally get started."
I nodded, giving Eraserhead my full undivided attention.
"The rules are simple." Aizawa explained, staring down at me emotionlessly. "You will be given ten minutes to find a position within the area to hide your body. Once that time is up, your opponent will be sent out with a valuable item hidden somewhere on their person. Your goal is to find and retrieve that item or incapacitate your opponent before twenty minutes are reached. If your opponent manages to reach the other end of the training grounds with the item, or is in possession of your body by the end of the time limit, then you have failed this test."
I twisted away to the platform's railing, leaning over slightly as I made out the gate on the other end of the city. So that was the place I could not let my opponent reach. The chime of the elevator doors opening reached my ears, and I tilted my head, watching out of the corner of my eye as a few more of the faculty walked out of the elevator to the survey platform. Their numbers were steadily amassing in the corner of the deck, conversing with each other and giving me frequent glances that I tried desperately to ignore. It looked like I was going to have quite the audience today. No pressure or anything.
"Anything I should avoid doing?" I asked, tearing myself off the railing and bending over slightly to stretch out my legs. They were still stiff from this morning, and if I had only ten minutes to hide my body, then I would have to cover a fair bit of distance to get out of sight quickly.
The hero dug his hands into his pockets, turning slightly to observe the gathering crowd. "No inflicting serious injuries, or possessing your opponent. Everything else is fair game for this assessment." He stated. "It would not set a good impression if you sent your opponent to the nurse's office so early in your arrival here."
"Right." I nodded in agreement while reaching my arms above my head to stretch them. I released an exhale and planted my hands on my hips. "So, who's my opponent?" I asked, turning towards the rest of the faculty. I was expecting one of them to step up at that point to take the position.
"Me." Eraserhead replied behind me.
I spun on my heel to face him, my eyes wide.
"Will that be a problem for you?" He gazed down at me. There was a taunting smirk on those lips as I met his eyes.
My own lips twitched upwards in a devilish grin as I accepted his unspoken challenge. "Absolutely not." I responded.
Oh, I was going to enjoy this immensely. It was high time for a little payback for this morning and all the things that came before. The flames of my competitive spirit were ablaze, and I was going to wipe the floor with that smug bastard. Today I will show them why I was called Ghost.
"But you'll have an unfair advantage if you have the GPS tracker to this." I pointed to the collar around my neck. "You'll be able to find wherever I hide my body. Kinda defeats the purpose of me hiding it."
"I'll give the remote to one of the teachers before the start time."
"Okay, then. What about this thing I'm supposed to retrieve off of you? What is it?"
Aizawa didn't answer right away this time, and it was clear that he was conflicted over something. "You'll have to capture me to find that out. It'll be obvious when you find it." He said after a short while.
I stood back and examined his appearance a little more closely. Considering that I had seen him in normal clothes, his hero costume now looked considerably baggy on him as if it was hiding a lot of hidden layers underneath, and perhaps lots of storage spaces within those layers. If that was the case, then it would take forever to search him and I was not agreeable to that idea.
"I'm not going to have to strip you just to find it, am I?" I gestured to his outfit. "Cause I'll tell you right now that isn't happening."
Eraserhead's eyes widened slightly and his hunched body froze upon hearing my words.
I replayed my words back in my head and I felt my cheeks redden with the sexual suggestion I had just said aloud. And to my horror Aizawa had heard me loud and clear.
"Oh lord, why did I say it like that?" I was mortified.
"T-that's not what I meant to say." I stammered out hurriedly, fumbling with my hands as I looked down at the ground. "What I meant to say is that you have a lot on. It'll take me a while to go through everything just to find whatever it is I'm searching for if you don't tell me what it is in advance. "
"It's...fine." He said after a moment, his voice oddly strained. "I'll tell you where it is if you are able capture me. It'll save us both from some embarrassment." I didn't catch how his eyes roved over to where Midnight and Present Mic were standing.
"Ok! Great! Perfect even!" I said a bit too enthusiastically. I was doing everything I could to avoid looking at him in case my face was still red. I leaned my head towards the mini city, my eyes glossing over the layout to distract my mind as I tried to etch it into my memory.
"So when do you want to start?" I muttered meekly.
"Head down those steps." Eraserhead pointed a finger towards a staircase running off from the platform. "When you reach the start line that is painted on the ground, I'll start the timer and we'll begin your assessment."
"I'll get going then." I sped walked away and down the stairs as fast as I could to put my moment of awkwardness behind me. Reaching the bottom of the stairs I saw the white line drawn on the asphalt and I was suddenly hit with the fact that I had no plan. Sure, I had a goal, but no real concrete plan on how to win this. Whenever I needed to use my quirk in the past to begin a job, I had done it from the relative safety of my apartment or a hotel room. I did not have either of those options here. I would have to improvise. There was no helping it, and Aizawa would not wait on me forever in order to give me time to strategize out a plan. So I lined myself up on the starting point, taking a runners position. A buzzer rang out and I shot forward, propelled by my legs through the street in front of me. I would just have to make do. I was nothing if not extremely clever.
"Gotta hide. Gotta hide. Gotta hide, hide, hide." I sang to myself as I ran along the empty city streets, searching for somewhere to stash my body - somewhere where Eraserhead would never consider finding me. The man was smart and calculating, and I would not give him the satisfaction of a win today. The apartments I passed by were very tempting and safe spaces. There were lots of hiding places in there, but they were too obvious of a first choice. No doubt Aizawa would consider that I would choose something familiar to me. So I nixed that idea. Store rooms in the back of convenience stores was also a consideration, but again an obvious choice. Briefly I considered locking myself inside one of the commercial refrigerators that restaurants had, but I didn't like the idea of having to endure the thaw out afterwards.
"Think, Eve! Think! Somewhere out of sight that no one even gives a second glance at."
I came to stop, panting heavily as I spun about on my feet. How many minutes did I have left? Without a watch or scoreboard to tell me I had to assume that I was quickly running out of time.
"Dammit!" I cursed out loud, leaning forwards to support my arms on my thighs as I gathered my breath. My legs were burning from the exertion as tingles ran up and down my muscles. I was going to pay for it tomorrow. I was sure of it.
As I stared at the ground, my mind racing to think of a solution, my eyes focused on the manhole cover in front of me. Then it clicked. Turning my head to my right I saw the narrow alley that ran between the buildings and the large industrial garbage bin that sat there. Just a few feet in front of it was another manhole cover. A grin spread across my lips as a plan finally slid into place.
"Perfect."
I raced into the alleyway, using my protesting legs to help lift the heavy metal plate off the ground and shoving it slightly off to the side. I didn't spare another moment more to close it as I climbed down into the darkness. If I couldn't find a place above ground to hide, then I would go beneath it. I stumbled slightly in the dark, using the curved wall to help guide me through the sewer before I determined I had put enough distance between me and the entrance to be satisfactory. Propping my body against the wall, I closed my eyes and breathed out. For a moment I was concerned if I could even activate my quirk with the collar still on. This assessment would be over too quickly if that was the case.
My quirk activated without fail, and I wasted no time to fly back up to the surface. I got to work quickly to place the manhole cover back into its position, and with the use of my puppet strings I levitated the garbage bin to hide the entrance. My body was now trapped below, but I could always move the bin out of the way when this was all over.
An alarm blared out over the mock city, alerting me that my ten minutes was up and the assessment was now in full swing. Eraserhead was on his way with the valuable item and I only had twenty minutes to catch him.
"Time to hunt." I thought confidently.
I shifted myself to be invisible and took to the skies in search of my prey. Using my eyes to seek out Aizawa's soul, I scanned the city from above until I locked in on a gray-blue flame racing through the streets. That had to be him. I made a swan dive through the air, angling my flight path to collide with Eraserhead's trajectory as he ran. This was going to be too easy. All I had to do was send out my puppet strings and he would be mine. I felt like a hawk in that moment, my talons bared and ready to capture my unsuspecting prey. Aizawa didn't stand a chance against me.
Without warning Aizawa shot out his bindings around a traffic light, leaping up into the air and flying down a different street. He expertly trapezed between the buildings much like he had done earlier that morning through the forest, finding footholds for his straps in the strangest of places. Had I not been in a hurry to capture him I would have taken a moment to marvel at his display of dexterity and swiftness. There was a strange beguiling strength in the way he maneuvered through the air. But I was on a mission to win, and I didn't have time for those kind of thoughts. I gave chase after him, but each time I was near enough to send out my puppet strings he changed course, shooting off down another street and leaving me to quickly backtrack and change directions. After the first or second times this happened I was willing to chalk it up to coincidence, but after the fourth time he had evaded me I knew something was up. I was completely invisible, which only meant that he was somehow able to sense me - impossible as that sounded. But, nonetheless, I needed a new plan. Chasing after him in the air was not going to work. I was going to have to get ahead and let him come to me before he had time to realize I was there.
I flew upwards and watched as Aizawa zigzagged across the city's terrain, slowly but surely edging closer to the finishing line. A grin spread across my lips as a thought formed, and I slightly scolded myself for not thinking of this sooner. I knew where he was ultimately heading - the gate on the other end - so I would lie in wait for him there. He would have to come to me eventually if he wanted to win this battle and I could be patient.
I took up a sentry's post in front of the opposing large doors as my eyes washed over the buildings for sight of that blue-gray flame. I picked it up a moment later. Considering how small the flame looked from this distance and how it was bouncing around, I could only assume that Aizawa was still running around thinking that I was trying to capture him. Good. Let him continue to think that. He would only wear himself out and it would make it all the easier for me to ensure my victory when I caught him. The only way for him to win was to get past me or be in possession of my body, and neither of those scenarios were possible now. I had hidden my body too well. And even if he did know where to look, there was a several ton weight on the entrance preventing access. He would never be able to move it by himself. So I settled back, allowing myself to relax a bit and rest my eyes as I waited for him to come to me.
A few minutes had passed when the sound of a crash of metal on metal rocked through the city, sending the resident birds flying into the air with the sudden commotion. Immediately I was on high alert. I whipped my eyes back towards the buildings, searching for Aizawa's soul - a little bit concerned that something might have happened to him. But that colored flame was alive and well - and coming straight at me. I shifted my sight back so I could focus on the approaching hero. I frowned. Eraserhead was moving slower, as if he was cautious of something now. Was he hurt? I narrowed my eyes at the dark figure in the distance as he drew near enough for me to make out that he was carrying something over his shoulder now. He navigated through the air, a hand firmly grasped on the thing over his shoulder while I caught a glint of silver as it fanned out behind him in the wind. I felt my eyes widened with the realization of what it was.
That asshole had my body!
Eraserhead was gunning straight towards the gate and I instinctively knew that he was going for an overwhelming victory. I could see his plan in my mind and knew that he had judged that I wouldn't be attempting anymore captures of his person if my body was in his possession. And any attacks I made towards him now in attempt to rescue myself also carried the risk that I would endanger my own body - something I would avoid doing unless absolutely necessary. I was now his hostage and that didn't sit well with me.
Shooting forward like an arrow from a bow, I abandoned the gate behind me and met him halfway. As Eraserhead's binding strap wrapped around his swing target I snaked my hand out, grasping the strap's middle and dragging it along with me as I passed him by. The two opposing forces on the cloth strip shortened Eraserhead's swing arc and pulled him violently backwards. He twisted in the air, recalling the binding back to around his neck before landing on the asphalt below. He pivoted on his feet, one of his hands hanging tightly onto my body as he glanced around the area in search of me.
"Finally decided to show yourself?" He called out into the air.
"Yep."
His head snapped in the direction of my voice when he realized just how close I was. He made a move to turn and run, but his feet wouldn't obey. My puppet strings had latched on, rooting them to the spot and preventing his escape. I sent out more of my strings as Eraserhead's body twitched, testing and straining against the invisible hands that held him in place, but it was no use. At this distance I had full control over every limb and I would let him know it too.
"If you don't mind, I'll be taking myself back." I stated, stepping back into the light so he could see me. Now that I had him in my control, I wasn't concerned about keeping myself hidden anymore. My fingers danced in front of me, and Aizawa's body responded to my commands, taking my body off his shoulder and depositing it gently onto the ground. I forced him take a step back and kneel down, placing his hands on the asphalt where I could keep an eye on them. Eraserhead was staring at me through the slits in his goggles, his hair strewn about his face as he watched and waited to see what I would do next. I breathed out a sigh of relief at the potential disaster that had been avoided. I never had to retrieve my body in such a manner before - never needed to since I always took care to hide myself. But I had never expected for him to find my body to begin with. I had clearly either underestimated Aizawa, or overestimated my hiding skills. Those things had nearly cost me my win and my reputation.
I stalked towards my capture, crouching before him. "Now -" I started, my eyes roved over his body, "- where can I find this special item?"
If Aizawa was attempting for a full win, then, well, so was I now. After discovering my hiding place and using my body as a pawn to his scheme, I was looking for a little retribution. I would incapacitate him and take the item off of him at the same time - ensuring my victory over him.
He gave me a hard look while his fingers twitched against my strings in one final attempt to test the limits of his bonds. "It's -"
"DON'T LET HER WIN, ERASERHEAD! KICK HER ASS!" A booming voice shouted across the city, making me jump with the shockwave it carried. It sounded awfully like Present Mic.
"What the hell -" I looked back where the voice had originated.
In my distraction, Eraserhead managed to break free of my strings and flipped backwards with my body in tow. He landed in a squat while his free hand clutched onto my ass tightly to prevent my body from falling off his shoulder. An instinctual shiver traveled to and up my soul as I could feel that hand grasping my butt. No one touched me there - and I do mean no one.
"Take. Your. Hands. Off." I gave out a feral growl, rising into an offensive stance as my eyes locked in on that hand. He was too far away for me to take control again, and he knew it too.
Eraserhead stood, smirking at my irritation and to spite me further he tightened his grip on my ass. I narrowed my eyes as I visibly stiffened at the phantom touch.
"Does that irritate you?" He taunted, cocking his head. But after a moment more he relented on his grip though he also didn't put my body down. "You should have hid yourself better if you didn't want me to find you. If you want your body back again, you'll have to come and get it. Hurry though. Time's running out."
His reminder to me of the quickly dwindling time snapped me back to my senses, letting me regain some control over my emotions and refocus my attention. My mind sped over the options before me. I had to get my body back and immobilize him to win this. Screw the 'valuable item'. But chasing after him again would cost me precious time - time that I didn't know if I had or not. My pride and reputation were on the line, and I could not fail this assessment. I would have to end this quickly.
In a flash I sank beneath the asphalt, using the position of his soul to help guide me forward through the darkness of the earth until I was right underneath. I didn't give him any time to sense me or dart away as I erupted to the surface, slamming into Eraserhead and carrying him and my body up into the sky. It was a risky move, but I was also desperate. Any slip up and I could have come into contact with my body which meant that I would have been sucked back inside. Furthermore, I was also putting my body in extreme danger. If Aizawa decided to let go at these heights, my body would plummet back to the ground and I could do nothing about it. While my puppet strings worked on everything else, they, unfortunately, did not work on me. Go figure.
"What's your plan here?" Aizawa spoke above the roar of the wind. He had tried to deliver a knee to my torso to dislodge himself, but discovered that it just passed right through me. He was at my mercy once again.
"This!" I replied, throwing him further up into the air before darting back inside my body. Surprise was written clear across his face as I woke up on his shoulder, twisting and kicking till he was forced to let go. Now we were both free falling through the air, the ground fast approaching beneath us. My body's heart was hammering fast in my chest, fear and adrenaline coursing through me but I had to keep thinking straight for this plan to work.
"Are you insane?!" Aizawa cried out.
"Just a little." I called back, a forced smile on my face. "Better hurry and save me or else I'm going to die."
"Use your quirk to save yourself."
"Can't do that. It doesn't work on me." I sure hoped that my tone of voice was convincing enough to him. I needed him to believe me for the next stage, or else this was all over.
He didn't have time to figure out whether or not I was telling the truth, we were almost back to the ground and he had to act fast to save us both. Shooting out his bindings, they wrapped around my torso and dragged me towards him. The look on his face told me that he was pissed. Tucking me under his arm, he shot out another binding towards the stoplights, using them to swing the both of us safely back down to the ground. He landed in a crouch, slightly panting as he recalled his bindings back to his neck, but still kept me tied up tightly under his arm.
"Explain yourself." He said darkly, shifting me in his grasp.
But I didn't reply. My body hung limply against his side, dead asleep.
"Thanks for saving me." I called out from behind him, making him spin around to face me. "It allows me to do this now." My puppet strings sprang from my outstretched hands to latch onto the bindings around my body, tearing it out from his grasp and over to my side. Before Eraserhead could spring back to put some distance between us, I sent out more strings, taking hold of his legs and flipping him upside down to be suspended in the air far away from anything he could possibly use. Eraserhead's hair and arms hung beneath him just barely grazing the street as he fixed me with a steady glare. But I didn't care. He was within my clutches and nothing was going to change that this time. I held my breath, keeping myself between him and my body in case he got any more ideas. I was going to wait out the remaining time if necessary. No more chasing, and no more risks. The seconds ticked down and the sound of the buzzer shouted through the air, signaling the end of the match. I released the breath that I had been holding in to the sky above and I visibly let myself relax. A second passed as the realization that I had won flooded through my veins until I didn't think I could contain it anymore. I shot up into the air, releasing an ear to ear grin as I spun and twisted in the sunlight. I had cut it extremely close - far too close, and I would scold myself later on that front, but at that moment I allowed myself celebrate my victory. Something had finally gone right for me today.
I dropped back to the ground before striding over to where I had left Eraserhead suspended upside down in the air. I didn't bother to hide the wide grin on my face as I knelt down in front of him so that we were eye to eye.
"Would you look at that? I was able to finally catch you. You put up more of a fight than I expected."
"You shouldn't be so quick to underestimate your opponent...but excellent work." The corners of his mouth twisted upwards in a congratulatory smile while he lifted his goggles off his eyes so they could meet mine. If he was pissed before, he wasn't showing any signs of it anymore. He was actually impressed with me, and that sent a strange warmth through my heart.
I poked him in the chest, making his body swing slightly back and forth. "I thought you would be just a little upset." I frowned, watching as his long hair tickled against the ground.
He withdrew his arms to cross over his chest. "I will be if you don't let me down."
"In a moment." I smiled as the memory of Natsu surfaced to the front of my mind. Seeing Eraserhead like this had called forth the image of the night Natsu and I had planned to escape all those years ago. I had dangled him just like this to make a point. I didn't know that would be the last time he ever saw me. The smile faded from my lips, and I felt my joy fade along with it.
"Hey."
My eyes snapped back to Aizawa's as he spoke. The grin was gone on his face, and within his eyes there was a show of concern. "What were you just thinking about?"
I turned my head away, unwilling to meet those eyes. "It's nothing. A stupid memory from the past." I huffed out quickly, desperately wanting to drop the subject.
Seeing me turn away, Eraserhead gratefully didn't pry any further.
"Hmm." He murmured. "Considering all the blood is now rushing to my head, perhaps you'll release me now."
Indeed his face was becoming more flushed by the second. He wasn't lying about that.
"Oh! Sorry!" I flicked my fingers out, attaching my puppet strings to his upper body so I could gently upright him before setting him back down. I got to my feet as he straightened up, massaging a crick that had formed in his neck.
"That plan of yours - " He began, catching my attention, "was far too reckless. What made you think that I would save you? You could have fallen to your death." His legendary scowl was back in full force as he leaned back on his feet, hands diving into his pockets as he fixed me with a chastising look. I twisted my hands behind my back, glancing over to my body where I left it floating a few feet away.
"Because a few people have told me that you have a good heart. I knew that you wouldn't let me get too far into danger. And after all," I swung my eyes back towards him, a small smile at the corners of my mouth, "you're a hero, and that's what heroes do, right? They save others."
"It was still far too dangerous." He scolded, sending a final glare my way before easing off with a sigh. He dropped the scowl and opted for his usual exhausted expression. "Were you lying before about not being able to use your quirk on yourself?"
I shook my head. "Nope. I really can't manipulate my own body when I'm out of it. Watch." I floated my body between us and Aizawa could clearly see where my strings had been attached to the bindings since they were the only parts that were slightly lifted up into the air. "Had you not used your cloth bindings on me, I would not have been able to attach my strings to anything. I mean, I could attach them to my clothes, but those would rip in an instant from the weight and force of gravity, and I would have still fallen to the ground but with less clothes on. So thanks for tying my body up. It gave me something to work with." I explained.
"And if I was going to die, then I didn't want my last moments to be in nakedness - thank you very much." I thought to myself.
Eraserhead lowered his head so that we were at eye level, a serious look on his face. He was searching for something in my expression, but I wasn't sure for what.
I blinked at his sudden closeness, leaning back slightly. "What?" I asked, confused.
He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh and turning away. "Nevermind. Let's head back to the others."
"Um, sure. Okay." I lowered my body to the ground, but I paused before I moved to slip back inside.
"Hey, Aizawa, could you…you know." I tilted my head down to my body and gestured towards it. "Could you untie me first?"
His gaze traveled from me down to my body and back up before giving out a heated sigh as if I was expecting the impossible from him. Without saying anything he squatted down, tugging on a single strand and the restraints around my body came loose. In one swift motion he placed them coiled back around his neck to join with the rest. Silently I wondered just how many he had on him.
"Thanks." I said, and stepped back inside.
He watched me as I stood gingerly back up onto my physical feet, a slight wince of pain crossing my face. My whole body felt tender from the abuse it had endured that day. I didn't want to know what it was going to feel like tomorrow.
"Sore?" Eraserhead observed.
"Yah." I groaned, rolling my shoulders. "Did you have to tie me up so tight?"
"Yes."
Without another word, he spun around and proceeded to walk away down the street and towards the entrance of the grounds. I caught up to him, walking side by side as I flexed my fingers in front of me, getting the blood flowing again.
"I have a question for you."
"Hmm?" Aizawa tilted his eyes towards me, waiting for me to go on as we walked together.
"Back there when the assessment first started, I tried several times to capture you, but you evaded me each time I got close. It was like you knew where I was even though I was invisible. So how did you know that I was there?" I looked up at him, curious.
He turned away from my gaze and spoke. "I could sense your presence when you got close enough to me. It was how I knew when I had to change directions."
"You could sense me?" I lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. "How?"
"I've been a hero long enough to know when someone is after me."
"No one has been able to sense me before. There have been one or two people who could see me, but they're the weird exceptions." I frowned. "You must have some amazing ninja senses on you if you were able to sense my soul. I'm going to have to work on that so I can evade you next time."
"Hmm." A whisper of a smile crossed his lips as he heard my self determination.
Together we traveled back to the entrance and walked up the stairs to the platform where the rest of the teachers stood waiting for us.
"Impressive work, Ms. Eve!" Nezu was the first to congratulate me. "I have no doubt that you'll make a worthy hero in the near future."
"Thank you." I felt a blush rise to my cheeks at the compliment, and I shifted my eyes away.
A few of the other teachers offered similar praises before asking various questions about the different aspects of my quirk which I answered in a bit of a flustered fashion due to all the influx of attention that was being showered upon me. Aizawa stood silently by my side, watching with some amusement as I tried to handle all the questions being thrown in my direction. Behind the questioning teachers I spied Midnight and Present Mic engaged in a conversation with the heroine looking very smug with herself.
"Pay up." Midnight grinned over at Mic, a hand on her hip while the other extended out towards him.
Mic grumbled irritably, pulling out his wallet and fishing out several bills before stuffing them into Midnight's open palm. "I still say you cheated." He said tersely, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
Midnight counted the bills with a wicked smile and finding everything there, she tucked them down into her corset. "A woman's intuition is not cheating." She retorted back. "And you're the one who cheated here with that yell, though in the end my girl still won."
"So that was him." I thought, thinking back to the voice I had heard when I first captured Aizawa. "His voice must be his quirk if he didn't need a megaphone to be that loud from so far away. A voice quirk would certainly explain that huge speaker he's wearing around his neck."
With his extortion concluded, Mic was quick to leave Midnight behind him and joined the rest of the faculty crowding around me, pushing his way to the front.
"Knew you had it in you, Ghosty!" He congratulated me, shooting me a thumbs up - a complete reversal of his attitude from before.
"That was you I heard earlier, correct?" Aizawa accused his friend, sending him a threatening glare that promised hellfire.
Present Mic gulped, smiling nervously in Aizawa's direction. "Always got my bro's back no matter what."
Aizawa let loose a hard sigh. "I should have expected something like that out of you. Thankfully you didn't ruin the test entirely. If you had, then we would have had to start again."
"Again?!" I cried out. "Thank goodness I did end up winning." I didn't think I had enough energy within me for another all out battle with Aizawa. I was drained with all that I had been through that day, and being around all these heroes was draining me even faster as I had to keep up a polite appearance in front of them. I couldn't just up and leave or else be considered standoffish. I had to make these people at least like me a little. It would make my stay here easier.
Aizawa spoke up again, acceding to a point. "But I suppose you did provide Eve a valuable lesson about not falling for a predictable distraction when she's captured her target."
Present Mic gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, taking the offered pardon and rolling with it. "Anytime, bro! Happy to be of assistance!"
I grimaced as I recalled the memory, internally berating myself for falling for such a cheap trick. It was the oldest play in the book, and I had fallen for it - hook, line, and sinker. But, all in all, if that was my only critique from this whole battle, then I did pretty well. I had managed to capture Aizawa twice and ultimately won anyways - leaving my reputation and pride fully intact.
The teachers pressed forward with renew fervor, relegating a dismissed Present Mic to the back of the group as a new wave of questions was launched at me. I struggled to keep up with the onslaught, answering as cordially as possible given my diminishing energy levels. Out of the corner of his eye, Aizawa quietly kept tabs on me, watching my smile grow thinner and thinner with each passing minute. When I thought I couldn't hold the façade anymore and would crumble under the force of their questions, did Aizawa step in to rescue me. I also got the impression that he too was fed up with the intrusions the teachers were imposing upon his time schedule.
"The show's over people." He directed his voice at the gaggle of teachers. "Don't you have students that you should be getting back to?"
"That should have been plenty of time for the students to finish taking the exam." Principal Nezu nodded in agreement. "Let's head back everyone and see how they did."
"No, Nezu. Thirty minutes is not enough time for whatever you gave them." I thought after them as I watched the teachers cram back into the elevator, but I wasn't going to stop them from leaving. If I could, I would have sent up a flare to warn the students that the teachers were on their way back. Anything to make up for the fact that they were all taking an exam because of me. Hopefully, they will never find out that I was the cause of their current misery.
"Were you able to capture everything from here?" Aizawa asked Mic as the last of the teachers entered the elevator. Apparently Present Mic was still sticking around as he made no move to join the departing faculty.
"Well, mostly." Present Mic teetered his hand back and forth with a frown. "Ghosty here up and vanished after the first ten minutes were up. Nice singing by the way." He winked at me.
I paled. "Y-you heard me?"
"Yep! Got cameras and microphones around the whole area so we wouldn't miss a thing! We're able to monitor and record everything from here, though you going invisible on us it didn't help out one bit. All we had for entertainment was Aizawa here swinging around the city like freakin' Tarzan." Mic gestured to Eraserhead, earning him a tick on his friend's forehead.
"Oh, lord. Of course they had cameras." I buried my face into my hands to hide it as I felt myself go red. How else were they supposed to watch the match all the way over here?
"I'm sorry I couldn't have been more entertaining for you during my test." Aizawa quipped back sarcastically.
"It's all good, bro! Things got interesting soon after you found Ghosty's body. Man, that was some wicked thinking driving that truck into the dumpster to force it off the manhole cover!"
I lifted my head from my hands, hearing Mic's words. So that's where the crash had come from. Aizawa was able to move the bin after all, but that didn't explain how he knew where to look in the first place.
"How did you know where to find my body?" I peered up at him, curious.
Aizawa glanced over to me, not revealing anything in his expression. "I know every detail of this place inside and out, so I know when something isn't where it's supposed to be."
"You memorized the whole city?" I raised my voice in amazement. "Well, that's just playing dirty if you already knew the terrain beforehand." I pouted, sticking out my lip slightly as I folded my arms over my chest.
"A good hero gathers intel before attacking, but if you want to talk playing dirty, we can revisit that stunt you pulled back there." He offered, leaning forward to loom above me as his face darkened.
"Heh." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, backtracking quickly. "No, I think I'm good. I've had my fill of near death experiences for the week, and won't be doing that again."
"Just the week, huh?" He shifted back on the balls of his heels, an eyebrow quirked in question.
I gave a shrug, tilting my head away. "Who knows what mood I'll be in next week. I might want to live dangerously and try to sleep in on a school day, and risk incurring your wrath."
"That would be living dangerously." He admitted, a grin twitching at the corners of his lips. "But if you did that, you would have to go without your tea."
"I would just get it later from the teachers' lounge."
"Not if I removed all of it beforehand."
I stared at him for a moment as I realized that he had caught onto my one and only weakness.
"You wouldn't."
"Live dangerously and find out." He smirked in warning, and I knew then that he would make good on his promise. At least that question was answered now if I ever did sleep in by accident - the horror. I dropped my head into my hands at the recognition of the monster I had found myself shackled to - and was currently living with. This was going to be a daily struggle for me. I just knew it.
"Oh, Ivan, if you ever pop up again, you and I are going to have a chat on the definition of 'friends'." I thought heatedly. "This person is clearly not a friend. I repeat. Not a friend. This is not how friends treat each other by threatening to deprive me of my only comfort in this place."
Aizawa watched me with some amusement as I quietly came to terms with my fate before turning back to his cohort. "Help me go through the video feeds. I want to know if Eve's quirk can be picked up by the cameras if I was able to sense her presence."
"Sure man, but I'm telling you we got nothing."
"Just try."
"Fine."
I hunched over the platform railing forlornly, draping myself over it and resting my head on my folded arms. Off to my side I heard Aizawa and Mic arguing back and forth over certain sections of the match recordings. Aizawa was pointing out where he remembered sensing me, and Mic was flipping through the various filters and modes from infrared to spectral to see if they could pick up my soul on any of them. They weren't having much luck. I could have spared them the trouble of looking, but sometimes people needed to discover it on their own, and I wasn't exactly in a divulging mood anymore. I desperately wanted to crawl onto a soft, fluffy surface and curl up and go to sleep. My energy levels were gone by that point and the day wasn't even over yet. Lord help me.
I felt eyes watching me and I turned my head to the side to look at Aizawa.
"Go get yourself something to drink from over there. I think I saw a few of the teachers set up a table." He indicated with his head towards the back of the platform.
Sure enough there was a table filled with drinks and even popcorn and snacks. These teachers had come well prepared for a show - concessions and all. Gratefully, I left the pair to squabble amongst themselves over the game of I-Spy-Eve's-Soul. I poured myself a cup of water, downing it and pouring another, not realizing just how thirsty I had become. In my moment of quenching my thirst I didn't notice Midnight's incoming advance off to my side.
"Well done today." She spoke, capturing my attention as I turned towards her hesitantly, wondering both how she snuck up on me and where on earth she had come from. I thought all the other teachers had already left, but apparently that wasn't the case. This morning's encounter was very fresh in my mind as I regarded the heroine carefully. Midnight tapped her whip thoughtfully to her lips as she gazed at me. "Though, you surprised me. I had no idea you were into bondage play."
I froze at the allegation. "Pardon?"
"Don't play coy." She teased. "We heard everything on the monitors when you captured Aizawa. Beautiful work by the way - playing to a hero's principle. Had me absolutely quivering in delight when you used it on him."
I was still scanning through the memories of my battle with Eraserhead, wondering where in the world she would get that impression from.
"I don't remember saying anything like that." I murmured.
"Oh?" She hid her smile behind her whip, but I could still see it in her eyes. "I believe it was something along the lines of 'Thank you for tying me up'."
I felt my jaw drop as I made the connection, and my mind quickly went into overdrive to redeem myself. "T-that's not what I meant at all. I was thanking him for saving my body."
"And what woman wouldn't after that save?" She purred. "Did he tell you where the valuable item was, by the way? He did promise to tell you where if you captured him, and you most certainly did. Twice." She held up two fingers into the air.
"Nnnnoooo, he didn't." I edged away from her, already seeking out the elevator as a potential escape point, but she caught me under her arm before I could make a swift exit.
"Well, that's no good! And after all the trouble I went through to make him do it too." She pouted. "Hey, Eraserhead!" She dragged me along back towards where Aizawa and Present Mic were standing together. They both turned as we approached, taking note of my frantic expression and attempts to get out from under Midnight's arm. She released me suddenly, pointing her whip under Aizawa's nose.
"Why are you still here?" Aizawa asked her, not fazed by the instrument in his face.
Midnight ignored his question. "You didn't tell her." She accused him.
Aizawa's eyes quickly glanced at me before fixing back on Midnight. "There's no point now that the exam is over."
"It's okay." I interceded, trying to making Midnight drop the subject. "Eraserhead's right - the exam's over, and I won without it. It's not that important anymore."
"It's important to my master plan!" Midnight directed her whip at me pointedly. "In fact it's essential."
"What plan?" I stared straight down the end of the whip, going slightly cross eyed in the process.
"She's got it into her head that you'll be her latest project." Mic spoke up, shaking his head furiously. "She's convinced that you'll be a perfect match for -"
In a flash, Midnight's whip was pressed against Mic's lips, effectively sealing them off.
"Hush now, or you'll ruin all of my hard work." She smiled towards him, though there was a warning in her eyes.
With a hand Mic pushed the whip aside, crossing his arms over his chest in a huff and grumbling sourly. "I'm still not convinced, Nemuri."
"Perfect match for what?" I thought with a frown. My eyes darted over to Midnight quickly. Whatever it was, I wanted no part of it. It sounded like it was going to be more trouble than it was worth, so that meant it was a resounding no from me.
"Alrighty then." I whispered, leaning away from the group in preparation to leave.
"Stay." Midnight ordered me before rounding back to Aizawa. "Show her now."
"No. It's idiotic."
"The best things are. Now show her!"
Aizawa gave her a glare before sighing heavily in defeat. Lifting the bindings from around his neck, Aizawa's fingers fumbled with the zipper to his costume and slowly unzipped it down. My pupils grew wide with the motion, and weird warmth spread through my lower core as I saw the toned muscle underneath. So he didn't have any layers underneath his costume after all. My initial assessment on that front had been wrong.
Shoving the dark fabric aside Aizawa displayed the item that was resting over his heart for me to see. I narrowed my eyes, leaning in slightly to make out what it was. It was a sticker of Principal Nezu's face giving a thumbs up with the word 'Congratulations!' written boldly underneath it. Off all the things that the special 'item' could be, that would have not crossed my mind in a million years. It was downright unfair. I would have had to really search him over just to find it. And that would have only wasted precious time as I ransacked through his costume looking for something that I had expected to be a little bit more tangible. I had expected the item to be - well - an object. Not a kid's sticker. And seeing it now, I had to question why Midnight wanted to me see this sticker on Aizawa's chest in the first place? Was this some sort of joke?
Faster than I could blink, Eraserhead zipped up his costume, letting his bindings fall around his neck as he shoved his hands back into his pockets.
"She's seen it now. Satisfied?" He spoke to Midnight sullenly.
"Not quite, but it'll do for now." She stuck her hip out, resting her hand on it as she observed me with a frown. "I've got my work cut out for me."
A tick formed on Eraserhead's forehead. "Nemuri..." He spoke in warning, a glare darkening his features.
I was caught in the middle of a battle between the two heroes - one that I couldn't make any reason of. Glancing between Midnight and Eraserhead I could see a silent war of expressions being relayed between the pair. Midnight was not backing down, and Eraserhead's scowl was only deepening further, his eyes dangerously narrowed while a red aura surrounded him. The stare he was delivering to Midnight was on a completely different level than what I had seen before, and my eyes widened a fraction at his threatening display.
"Hey now, you two." Mic held up his hands to the pair, trying and failing to play the peacekeeper. "You're scaring her."
It was the worst possible thing he could have said.
At the mention of me, they both simultaneously turned to pin me with their glares and I was thrust into the spotlight. In the instant they turned towards me, their eyes full of fire and challenge, I felt genuine fear flood through me for the first time since arriving there. Aizawa's gaze bored into mine with such ferocity that I could have sworn I was staring into the eyes of a black demon who wanted to rip out my very soul. Midnight's own held promises of torture and punishment to whoever dared to anger her and she would relish in every minute of it. Of the two, I feared Aizawa's even more because I knew what he was capable of - I had seen it firsthand. I fought the urge to flee right then and there - to run as fast and as far as I could from the spot and never look back. But I couldn't run. I knew that. I couldn't fight. The collar made sure of that. So I hastily lowered my eyes in a show of submission, focusing on a spot somewhere between the two as my heart hammered painfully in my chest. Adrenaline was coursing through me brought on by my moment of fear, and without an outlet for it to be directed towards I was left quietly trembling.
"Hey, are you all right?" Mic asked tentatively. Even though he was right next to me his voice might as well have been a mile away. I didn't hear it above the roar of blood in my ears or the thundering of my heart.
Aizawa's hand twitched and he lifted it in concern towards me. My eyes locked onto the movement, taking an automatic step backwards before his hand could reach me. My gaze didn't leave his hand even as he dropped it back down to his side - it was better than looking back into those demon eyes that I knew awaited me there. A deafening silence consumed the trio in front of me and I felt their uneasy stares drill into my skin, waiting for me to say something. My fear slowly ebbed away and all I was left feeling with was my shame for showing fear in the first place. These were heroes before me, not villains. A fact that I had to firmly remind myself then - but tell that to my heart as it slowed to a painful throb. Shame transformed into embarrassment, and I couldn't bear the heavy silence anymore. I would have to give them a show that everything was alright to put them at ease, or else they would begin to question me and my state of mind and that was not a path I wanted to take.
"I'm fine! Honestly! I'm going to head back now." I flashed a fake smile, turning on my heel and walking away as fast as I dared. I made my way over to the elevator to take me back down to the gate. Behind me I heard Present Mic and Midnight call after me before Aizawa cut them off.
"Let her go." He muttered, his voice oddly quiet.
Stepping inside, the elevator closed behind me and shielded me from their view. I was finally alone. The elevator carried me down, and I brought a hand to my eyes as I inhaled deeply to prevent my anxiety from flaring up again. "What the hell is wrong with me?!" I wanted to scream it out loud inside that small space, but I knew that would only alert the heroes and send them running after me. I was beyond furious with myself. I was better than this. So why was I running away like a coward? I had faced far scarier people before, but none of them had affected me the way these two had done. Purveyor was the scariest person I had the misfortune to encounter of late with his cunning intelligence and cold-blooded aura, but even he didn't hold a candle to what I had experienced with him and what I felt moments ago. So that begged the question, what was different now? My other hand went to the collar around my neck, feeling the cold metal there. I was trapped. That was the difference. My quirk was on lockdown and I couldn't use it to protect myself anymore. In this weak physical state of mine I saw everything as a potential threat. I couldn't even run and hide. I would be found and dragged back out into the light in due course. My body instinctively knew all of these facts before my mind could discover the reason why, and thus it had reacted with such terror before I even knew what was happening.
If I could have, I would have stayed there forever sheltered within that tiny enclosed space safe from the potential dangers outside. But the elevator had no clue or desire to hear my internal wishes and all too soon the doors opened, depositing me on the ground floor. I lowered my hand from my face, schooling my features into an emotionless façade as I stepped out and walked back towards the main school building. There was an urgency in my step as I traveled along the path, both for my need to reach my destination and to put some distance between me and the people I left behind in case they changed their minds and tried to catch up with me. I didn't - I couldn't be around people anymore today. I was done. Heading back to Aizawa's house was out of the question. One, for the fact that it was his house, not mine, and two, because it was his house. I didn't want any reminders of the person I had just embarrassed myself in front of, and being in his house would certainly trigger that. No, I needed to go somewhere where I could be alone for a while without too many people asking if I was okay until I could regain enough energy to be in the heroes' presence again. I knew I couldn't avoid them forever - that was an impossible task with this collar around my neck and being tied to the school grounds. But I was hoping when that time finally came I would be in better control of my body's reactions.
With the majority of the teachers now returned to their classes, the teachers' lounge would be empty. It would be the perfect place for me to hide for a time. I crossed the grounds, swiftly entering the building, and climbed the stairs that would take me to my sanctuary. I passed by a few of the students and they smiled at me, but to me they might as well have been ghosts. My vision was tunneling, and all I could see was the door to my refuge. I pushed it open, making a silent prayer to whatever god that would listen that I would find no one inside.
A lone blonde haired man sat on the couch, nursing a cup of tea between his lips. The clothes he wore was a hero costume, but they didn't fit him. They were far too baggy for his frame, but the hair reminded me of someone. He reminded me of All Might - if All Might was a scrawny, gaunt looking man that didn't use hair gel. I let my eyes flash for a moment to confirm my suspicions. Sure enough the same yellow flame that I saw yesterday within All Might was within him too. They were one in the same. If he was here, then that was okay with me. I found his soul to be comforting and I was in need of that at that moment, even if all we did was just sit quietly in each other's company.
"Hi, All Might." I spoke quietly, announcing myself as I shut the door behind me.
All Might immediately spat out his tea in surprise. "I - um - I'm not All Might. You must have me mistaken for someone else." He quickly hid his face behind his hand as if I hadn't already seen it.
My eye twitched in confusion, unimpressed with the blatant lie. "I know it's you, All Might. Why are you hiding?"
After a moment All Might lowered his hand, eyes wide and silently gazing at me in new curiosity. I turned my head away before he could look too closely at my face. I wasn't sure if I had hidden my emotions entirely. "How did you know it was me?" He asked.
I gestured towards my eyes. "Your soul. You may look different, but you can't change your soul. Not overnight, anyways." I walked towards the kitchenette to fix myself a cup of tea. Tea always helped soothe me.
"Ah, I see. Principal Nezu said you had some unique abilities." All Might said behind me as I grabbed a new cup and fresh tea bag.
I made a sound that neither agreed or disagreed with his statement before grabbing the cup and sitting down in front of him. All Might leaned forward with interest as I joined him. He had not picked up on the clouds hanging over my head yet, and I wasn't going to let on and further add to my embarrassment in front of the number one hero.
"You're not curious as to why I look like this?" He asked me.
I gave out a quiet snort, swirling the tea around in the cup. "You're not the only one out there who can change their appearance in an instant." My thoughts drifted back to Eraserhead and the smile he had given me when I had won our battle, but the smile disappeared and in its place the demonic glare reigned supreme.
"I guess that's true." All Might nodded, not aware of my double meaning. "But if you could keep this appearance a secret from the students, I would be most appreciative."
The mention of a secret distracted me from my thoughts, and I refocused on All Might in front of me. "It's a secret?" I cocked my head, frowning slightly.
"Sort of. The other teachers here know, but the students don't. I can only maintain my hero form - what you saw yesterday - for short periods of time during the day. The rest of the time I look like this."
I looked him over with a quizzical eye. Before me was a skeleton of a man, his eyes were sunken in and exhaustion written in bold under them. Here was a person with no energy left to give, but was still fighting to be the best he could be despite the circumstances. It put my own problems to shame.
"Your quirk takes a lot of energy out of you, doesn't it?" I observed with empathy, letting my stone façade crack a bit as I met his tired eyes.
"Well, yes and no. I wasn't always like this. I had a run in with a villain a few years ago and was severely injured. The public doesn't know about it, but those injuries had shortened my powered form's timespan. At this point I can only manage a few hours of hero work per day." He explained. He was being honest with me, holding nothing back as if I wasn't a criminal out on probation, but just another fellow colleague. Admittedly, it felt good that someone could trust me enough to confide in me so quickly.
"Your secret is safe with me." I promised him, a weak smile crossing my lips. "I think you and I are a bit the same in this respect. My quirk takes a lot of energy out of me every time I use it so I can't use it as often as I would like. And when I do use it, I always feel like I need to sleep afterwards. Though, how tired I am afterwards depends on how much energy I had within me to begin with."
"You just got back from your quirk assessment test with Aizawa." He said with a realization, his eyes widening a bit. "Sorry I missed it."
"I look that bad, huh?" I peered at him over the cup, a small teasing smirk lingering in my eyes as he did a double take.
All Might hands flew up, dancing in the air as he quickly backtracked from the comment he just made. "No-uh-you look fine. Just a bit worn out."
"It's okay." I leaned back into the couch, frowning down at the now empty cup in my hands. "I really don't care what I look like. Though, if I could, I'd rather be invisible so I can avoid unnecessary trouble. It would certainly make my life so much easier."
"You sound a bit like Aizawa."
My fingers clenched around the cup when I heard the name, crumpling it unintentionally into my fist. It was a reminder of my failure to act like a normal individual. All Might saw the sudden change within me, and his face studied me more closely in search of the cause.
"How did your test go?" He asked gently.
"I won."
"That's good news, right?" He exclaimed with a joyous smile, sweeping his arms out as if to emphasize this. "You should be happy. So why aren't you?" He lowered his voice, leaving the question in the air.
I bit my lip, wondering if I wanted to air my innermost turmoil to the number one hero. He probably had far better - more important - things to do than listen to my anxiety riddled problems. But I had nowhere else to run to - nowhere and no excuse to dodge the question. And sitting there in front of All Might I couldn't bear to lie to him - not after he had been so trusting with me.
I sighed heavily, preparing myself before diving headlong into what I knew were deep waters. "It's what came after that has me like this."
"Did Aizawa do something?" All Might quickly jumped in. "He can be overly critical, but he has good intentions."
"No, it's what I did." I confessed, the familiar sting hitting my chest as my mind drew up the memory. "I was scared by something so I ran away like a child."
"What scared you?"
"Midnight and Aizawa were arguing with each other and somehow I was in the middle of it. I didn't know what they were fighting about, and when Present Mic mentioned to them that they were scaring me they both turned to me with those frightening expressions on their faces. They didn't mean to, I know that. But looking at them in that moment, I was petrified."
"Those two are something else." All Might agreed with me wholeheartedly. "They can be scary when they want to be - Aizawa especially. Half the students here and even some of the faculty are terrified by him." All Might said, a shiver of his own running over his body. "But you've dealt with far scarier people in the past, right? Surely, they couldn't have frightened you more than a villain would have?" It was the same question I had asked myself not too long ago.
"Villains don't really scare me that much since I'm always using my quirk when I confront them. I know that they can't hurt me when I'm in that form and so the danger was never really there for me to begin with. All I had to worry about was to keep my body out of sight and I was safe for the most part." I explained. "But now I can't even do that. My body in itself is weak and I can't hide like I've done in the past. So when Midnight and Eraserhead looked at me with those expressions on their faces, I was terrified of them because for the first time in a long time I was powerless to do anything. I haven't been that way since I was seven."
I took another breath, and continued on. "I must sound like such a coward to you. You and the other heroes are constantly putting your lives on the line for people you don't know every day, while I run away the moment something terrifies me just because I can't use my quirk freely anymore. I really am pathetic. Eraserhead, Midnight, and Mic must think so much less of me after seeing me run away like that. I can't blame them. I'm not cut out to be a hero like the rest of you. I just - I just wish I knew what it felt like to not constantly have this crippling fear hanging over me." I looked back up at him, fighting the wetness that was forming in my eyes. I told myself that under no circumstances was I allowed to cry in front of the Pro Hero. Now that truly would be the epitome of pathetic.
All Might listened closely to my words, his expression softening when he heard the pain in my voice. I had never opened up to anyone on this level before - except for Ivan. Ivan was always the exception. I had practically grown up with him and so he knew everything there was to know about me and we rarely needed these kinds of discussions as a result. But interacting with someone new felt altogether different - it felt liberating somehow.
"I don't think you're a coward or pathetic. Even us heroes feel fear when we're fighting evil. But that's what defines a true hero - the will to fight through that fear and prevail. So try not to be too hard on yourself." All Might said comfortingly, and for a moment I saw his mentor spirit shining brightly within him. "You are far stronger than you give yourself credit for. From everything that Principal Nezu and Aizawa have told me, you've had a tough life. You've been on your own since you were a young child, fighting this whole time in search of your missing friend, and not giving up or turning to the side of villainy to accomplish your goals. You withdrew from society and people just so you could survive the best way you knew how. Now you're here away from all you know, surrounded by people you don't know or don't trust yet, and have been placed under harsh restrictions. You are making the best of a difficult situation, and will stumble from time to time. But I have no doubt that you will grow and improve with each new experience you gain here. So try not to let this event get you down. We're all here to help you get back up so you can fight again. You are not alone anymore."
I felt a tear slide down my cheek as he said this, knowing that he meant every word. Quickly I whipped the tear away with the back of my hand, hoping that he wouldn't notice it. The kind smile that greeted me when I lifted my eyes to his told me that he had and thought none the worse of me.
"Thank you, All Might." I breathed out shakily, my chest feeling oddly lighter than it had before.
"Anytime." He nodded, and cupped his hand around his mouth, whispering through a grin, "And you can call me Toshinori when it's just the two of us."
I nodded, the corner of my mouth upturning just a bit. "Thank you - Toshi." He shook his head in exasperation at the nickname, grinning nonetheless. I took another deep breath and the weight lifted that had been pressing down on my heart. I let myself relax and abruptly the room began to spin as my body collapsed against the couch with a thud. My pent up exhaustion had finally caught up to me and was released in one fell swoop in the instant I relaxed. And so my body had decided that this was the perfect opportunity to shut down so it could recover - much to my displeasure.
"Hey, hey, hey! Are you all right?" All Might stood up suddenly, panic in his voice.
"Yah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired." I half-lied, breathing through my teeth and holding onto the couch for dear life as the room spun faster. "I'm going to rest here for a bit. Sorry, I hope you don't mind."
I felt my eyelids droop down, a heavy weight cast upon them that no amount of caffeine would fix. I was fading fast. Between the knowledge assessment that pushed my mental abilities to its limits, the quirk assessment test that put a drain on my already exhausted body, and the emotional roller-coaster that came after, I was fighting a losing battle.
All Might sat back down, nodding. There was a knowing look in his eyes as he saw me struggling to stay awake.
"Sure thing. Get some rest."
I heard the warm smile in his voice and I felt at ease. It was the final push I needed as I slipped into the darkness of sleep.
Wow, that was a long chapter to write out, but I hope I kept you reasonably entertained!
So I feel like I need to explain Eve's cluelessness to Midnight's antics here. Yes, Eve does have the capacity for dirty thoughts - she's not completely innocent. That was evident when Ivan told her to 'Stick it in' in a previous chapter and she knew full well that it could have been taken a different way. But now that she's in a new place surrounded by people she's only known for a few days, she isn't going to jump to those kind of thoughts until she knows them better and can be comfortable around them. Think of it as being around fellow coworkers during the first few weeks at a new job. You keep things cordial until you get a better understanding of the dynamics around you and adjust accordingly when you have new information. That's kinda where Eve is at the moment. She'll loosen up eventually once she gets her confidence back. Aizawa is going to help her out on that front in due time, I assure you :P
Until next time!