Chapter Seven: Unorthodox Appetite
Pale green skin, uneven locks of a chocolate tone, wide eyes with irises surrounded by a red sea of broken vessels - this was the second time the mystery girl had entered their classroom. Her first appearance was a few days earlier, on one of their first days of class. The brunette had sauntered in behind their new teacher, Eraserhead, who sat her next to him the whole period as they talked in hushed tones. The class got a study period as a result, prompting the majority of the students to wonder just how important the green girl was. She didn't seem to have a flashy personality or flashy background; the girl didn't even sport a UA uniform. That day she was with Eraserhead, and the next she was gone. The students hadn't seen her since, and many of them questioned their chronically exhausted teacher, who shut down all questions with ease.
That same teacher who shut down all questions now presented the mystery girl (now clad in a UA uniform) with familiarity, explaining, "Class, this is Bubaigawara Ayumi. She'll be joining your class from now on. You can spend the rest of the hour asking her questions or studying, if you'd like." Unsurprisingly, Aizawa left the girl's side to hole up in his signature sleeping bag, leaving her to fend for herself in what she considered a shark tank of students.
Before she was overwhelmed, Ayumi declared, "Alright, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this my way. I don't care if you're eager to know about me. I'm only answering questions about my quirk."
A blond kid in the front corner of the class scoffed, jeering, "Why don't you just tell us then, huh?!"
"Because brats like you are going to learn respect for boundaries whether you want to or not. Next question." The blond practically threw a tantrum in response, sparks and curses alike both erupting from the boy. Ayumi proceeded on, though, the boy's outburst just giving the cynical girl more reasons to dislike him.
"What does your quirk do?" A girl adorning frog like features was the one to voice the million dollar question, no fear or caution evident on her features. She was blunt and calculative; Ayumi found her to be a breath of fresh air in a class of blind egomaniacs.
"It's stimulate and depress. My blood carries stimulants and depressants from various drugs and substances, which I can transfer into people with a touch. I can also amplify the effects of the stimulants and depressants with a touch, but the effect is more potent if you have already ingested some sort of drug previously." Ayumi almost recited verbatim what that illegal quirk doctor had told her when she was seven, as it had been the only solid understanding of her quirk she had ever gotten. She wish it hadn't been, though, as the events following her diagnosis weren't pleasant memories. Ayumi's frown deepened as her memories began to spiral unforgivingly, flashes of her mother and the slimy older man glossing over her eyes.
Get them out of your head, Ayumi.
Get over yourself!
Out of habit, Ayumi put her hand to her wrist, amplifying the effects of the edible she had taken earlier (for better hallway vision). She hadn't really needed to intoxicate herself since she had gotten to UA, but then again, she hadn't really had time to dwell on her memories either. Human interaction lead to thoughts and thoughts lead to memories and memories lead to pain, all of which Ayumi tried to avoid. The brunette's vision was washed with gray once again, the familiar mood brought with it comforting. Compartmentalizing her feelings, Ayumi moved on, the stoic seems of her image not coming undone.
Aizawa watched this happen, curiosity overriding his usually reserved thoughts. He knew from Ayumi's body language what she had done to herself, but didn't want to push her. The level headed teacher just took note and strode up to her, putting a rigid hand on her shoulder, one that only Ayumi would find comforting. "Alright, that's enough. I've decided you're all taking a pop quiz with the rest of the period."
Although a majority of the class recoiled and screamed out various "WHAT?"s and "WHY AIZAWA"s, a kid with spiked hair and kind eyes in the front raised his hand cautiously, receiving a nod of acknowledgement from Ayumi. "Would you like us to call you Bubaigawara? Or is it okay if we call you Ayumi? It wouldn't be very manly of us to disrespect your wishes."
Something inside of the girl clicked, strong enough for the hazy girl to feel it through the light buzz. Ayumi, eyes almost bulging with wonder, asked, "You. What's your quirk?"
The boy hesitated under Ayumi's intense gaze, an unexpected shyness and embarrassment radiating off of him. "Well...it's hardening. My skin hardens at will, but it's not very flashy." His original enthusiasm was slightly tainted, the boy trying to mask a sort of underlying resentment toward his power. Ayumi should know - she was the queen of such affairs.
"Who said it needed to be flashy? Some of the best operate in the shadows." While she tried to blame her blurted words on the cannabis invading her bloodstream, for some reason, the bashful boy struck a chord within her. They locked eyes for no more than a second, his hopefulness deterring her from speaking more, before she continued, "So, Aizawa. Where will I be spending the rest of my days in your class?"
"You're sitting behind Sato and Todoroki. Have fun figuring out who they are." Ayumi could tell her teacher was smirking beneath the surface, unwilling to reveal his more relaxed side to his gremlin-like students. Before she walked off, he whispered, "So...Kirishima, huh?"
"Looks like it," Ayumi replied in a hushed tone, speedily making her way to the back of the class. She didn't need to know who this "Todoroki" character was to know she was sitting in the empty desk in the back of the room, behind the last row. Ayumi's desk was placed in the back space between a built kid with swollen looking lips and the candy cane she already despised.How cool.
"Alright class, once you get your papers, you'll have twenty minutes to answer the questions I ask you." Ayumi could've sworn the tight lipped hero was staring directly at her when he said, "This quiz will be on the topic of substance abuse." If she wasn't buzzed, Ayumi would've had the urge to shrink back into her seat. However, even while intoxicated, the brunette found her pride's protection important, refusing to cower. Papers were passed down the rows, Ayumi snatching hers out of the big lipped kid's hand.
And so, Aizawa's form of personalized torture for Ayumi commenced.
"Question one...
—
Ayumi hadn't written anything down. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
Clenching her paper, even buzzed Ayumi knew how severe this was, unable to let go and pass her paper up. Her dignity had been stripped away like bark from a tree, each question tearing another piece off. And now, the fish lipped boy to the right was going to find out.
"Uhhhh...are you gonna pass that up or...?"
"Shut up."
"I kinda have to pass it up." Big Lips looked at her suspiciously, reaching for the other end of her paper. Ayumi jerked her head up when he grabbed it, however, clenching it tightly. Somehow, he could see the anxiety in her eyes, as he asked, "What's wrong...? Want me to pass it up upside down?" The loosened grip on the paper told him all he needed to know, as he smiled warmly and flipped it over, passing the paper up.
Yup. My dignity is long gone.
The brunette stared at the blackboard, lost in her infected thoughts. Unknown to her, her paper had reached a certain red head in the front, a look of puzzlement crossing his features when he saw the blank sheet. Kirishima gave the girl a quick glance over his shoulder, her reddened eyes now rivaling his hair color. He did notice a change in her demeanor during her speech, once melancholy by choice almost becoming absent when she said those words to him. The boy sighed, an itch in the back of his mind telling him the girl introduced as Bubaigawara Ayumi wasn't being genuine. But he was determined to figure out why.
Aizawa dismissed the group to lunch, the man himself holing back up into his sleeping bag peacefully. Ayumi didn't make a move to leave. Not that she would admit it, but Aizawa was really the only person she knew (besides the indigo kid). The wide eyed girl didn't really have time to wallow, though, before a kid with bushy green hair crept up to her, tapping her shoulder cautiously. Ayumi stiffly shifted her head to face the boy, unappreciative of his blindingly bright smile. The girl refused to acknowledge him in any other way, however, the boy remained undeterred. He flashed a smile, the type that could get you put in commercials for toothpaste or that would win over the ladies in a heartbeat, and excitedly greeted her: "Hi! My name is Midoriya Izuku! I heard your name was Bubaigawara-"
"Just Ayumi is fine." Ayumi understood why Aizawa addressed her professionally, but resented having to be called by that name. She wouldn't admit it, but her surname was more important to her; the unworthy would not call her by it.
"O-okay, just Ayumi then. I was wondering if you could give me more details on your quirk sometime? I-I'm not really the strongest in the class - I'm actually kinda weak compared to my classmates - but I really want to become stronger! I don't care if my body can't take it, but I'd like to train with you!" His smile rivaled the sun, it's radiance hitting her with a force she could only see again in her dreams. Midoriya's passion was infectious, latching onto her and eating away at the melancholy dream she had wrapped herself in. There's a reason the sun's rays are considered harmful.
But in her numbed state, Ayumi couldn't manage more than a grunt and a borderline slurred "Oh yeah?"
Midoriya finally faltered. "Uh...yeah. It's okay if now isn't a good time!" Although it was Midoriya speaking at the beginning of his sentence, his image blurred, then slowly morphed into a familiar face. The color was returning to Ayumi's eyes, the girl feeling seven once again at the sight of a smiling twelve-year-old Jin. And yet, no matter how bright the smile, his hair bleached before her eyes, and a long scar formed in between his darkened eyeballs. He remained smiling through it all, baffling an extremely dazed Ayumi. Her green skin began to perspire, clammy hands dampening the desk beneath her. She couldn't think, the wide eyed girl (who's eyes were convex at that point) tilting her head back, as if submitting physically to her organic quirk.
Ayumi's next words baffled her long after she said them, as she was clueless as to who they were really meant for: "Don't fly too close to the sun. You'll have to burn before you fall." She sighed lucidly, although she was caught in fuzzy hallucinations. On the contrary, the boy (Jin's features gone from sight) seemed more confused than Ayumi was at that moment. His bewilderment thickened when the standoffish girl put a hand on his shoulder, muttering as her intense but glossy stare pierced his own, "I'm serious."
"I-I-I'm...ummmm...I have to g-go!" Midoriya ran off; it was unclear whether his speedy steps were fueled by fear or anxiety or caution, though all were understandable. He pushed straight passed Kirishima on his way out, who had seen the entire ordeal go down. The red head's curiosity had officially been sparked at the sight of Ayumi's remorsefulness and Midoriya's panic. As he moved to go confront the brunette, who was practically drooling, Kirishima was stopped by an arm holding his shoulder. He cautiously looked up and was met with Aizawa's dead looking eyes, each boring into and crumbling Kirishima's built up confidence. The boy gulped, and with one last glance towards the sickly looking girl, he left.
Aizawa closed the door, his dead stare fading into an empathetic one. Like he had around a week ago in the hospital, the man in black pulled out a syringe filled with the stabilizer concoction Recovery Girl had whipped up, making his way to the girl in the back. He noticed that more often than not, Ayumi's words were rooted in a place of pain, something a younger version of himself would relate to. Delicately lifting the sleeve to her blazer, Aizawa exposed her wrist, swiftly plunging the needle in and emptying the liquid into her bloodstream. Taking her to Recovery Girl would prove futile, as the most the old lady could do for the girl was tell her to rest and give her a smooch. The eraser hero knew the pair had to begin quirk training at some point; the only problem was that the man had no idea what to do. But, with every great hero, a bit of stumbling in the dark was necessary to burn bright.
With that, Aizawa strolled back over to his desk up front, choosing to nap on it.
—
The brunette woke up to tapping on her shoulder. Semi-conscious, Ayumi slapped the hand away, prompting an "Ow!" from the owner. She peeled her eyes open and was met with a set of kind eyes and a toothy grin. The green girl recognized him as the boy who asked about her name from earlier, but this time she could put some colors and a name to the face. Red hair, red eyes, skin tanned an average amount - and of course, Ayumi couldn't miss the fact that the boy had to be well built under the modest UA uniform. The red head - or Kirishima as Aizawa labeled him - was holding a to-go box out in front of him, giving off a cheery smile. "Hi Ayumi! Um..." Kirishima smile turned bashful as he put the to-go box on the girl with half-lidded eyes' desk.
"Oh. The kid with the hardening quirk, right?"
"Yeah, that's me. I just noticed that you fell asleep and didn't get lunch, so I got you some rice and chicken because I wasn't sure what you liked." Noticing that Ayumi didn't react, he hurriedly babbled, "Well, not that you have to take it! I just didn't want you to go hungry or anythi-"
"Thanks, but I don't really get hungry." The boy's confused gaze prompted her to further explain, "There's a specific type of depressant in my blood that I can concentrate on my stomach to numb hunger pains." Out of courtesy, Ayumi took the plate from Kirishima still, placing it carefully in her new school bag.
"Oh, I didn't know - "
Ayumi mustered as kind of look she could, calmly interrupting, "No, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known."
An awkward silence enveloped the two teens.
"Well, if you ever need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. I want you to feel welcome here because we're a team here and it's the manly thing to do." Kirishima's lips curved into a wide smile, his shark teeth displayed for the world to see.
"Actually, I do have something to ask." In another life, Ayumi thought she might have blushed at such antics, that she would have a school girl crush on the overly friendly boy, and that the two might date and spill their secrets to each other. But in this life they had, Ayumi wasn't that fruity, optimistic girl, and she knew the boy in front of her wasn't as confident as he tried to be. So instead, Ayumi requested, "Be my training partner."
"Wait, what?"
"Idiot, let's train together. You seem like a solid guy, both in quirk and personality. I want to learn from someone who knows what their doing, so I choose you." Observing the shock on his face, Ayumi asked, "What's wrong with you? Are you up for it or not?"
The red head pulled himself together for that moment, agreeing, "Alrighty. It's a plan."
Kids started to file back into the classroom, and the secret deal between the unlikely pair remained a secret to onlookers. Some of the world's most wonderful treasures were buried, unknown to those who didn't have a map, after all. Either way, Ayumi looked forward to having chicken and rice for dinner that night in the security wing, as Aizawa took his place in front once again.
Author's note: hey guys! thanks to all who are reading this story. i'd love to hear what some of you think so don't be afraid to drop a review or comment if you'd like! i can't wait to interact with all you guys! - nacho
