One of the things Mashirao Ojiro took most pride in was his observational skills. Just as his Quirk wasn't the kind that got a lot of attention for others, his naturally quiet nature meant he was one to listen and watch more than interact directly with others. It was from that experience that he was able to tell fairly quickly into this cultural exchange that his assigned partner, Grant Emmerson, was hiding something. The two hadn't spent a tone of time together, as Grant seemed to want to spend most of his time in his room, and Mashirao wasn't one to object.
When they had hung out together, he'd quickly noticed that the young hero never took off his hero mask, always keeping his face concealed. No matter how warmly heated a room was, he always wore long-sleeved shirts and gloves. He shied away from personal contact, always moving out of the way when anyone came anywhere near him. It wasn't quick, jerky motions, but preplanned steps aside that other people likely paid no attention to. He didn't talk a lot, though it wasn't like Mashirao had a lot of room to throw stones in that department.
It was all something Mashirao kept in mind, but it wasn't like he was going to actively investigate it or try to pry. Personal things like that always made him feel awkward, and if Grant wanted to keep to himself, that was his business. It only really became Mashirao's too when he entered a locker room to change. He must have done so pretty quietly, because Grant was still in there, wearing only a towel, and no mask.
The first thing that jumped out to Mashirao was how muscular Grant was. Since they were all training to be heroes, certain levels of musculature were expected among students. But Grant was in a class all his own, probably even buffer than Sato, with his rusty hued skin stretched over massive thews and bulging pectoral muscles. If Grant went to the pool like this, Midoriya wouldn't be the one getting all the stares.
Of course, there was another reason people would be looking at Grant. The second thing that was immediately clear about Grant was that his entire torso, some of his right arm, and parts of his face were all covered in scar tissue. These weren't like Midoriya's Quirk-related scars, or the burns that Bakugo tended to leave on others. There weren't random, or caused by internal injury. That would have been Mashirao's first guess, considering his Quirk.
[GRANT EMERSON/DAMAGE! HIS QUIRK: ATOMIC FISTS! GRANT'S BODY ABSORBS ANY ENERGY IT CAN, THEN HE CAN UNLEASH IT WITH ATOMICALLY POWERED EXPLOSIVE PUNCHES! OH, AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT RADIATION FROM IT, FOLKS AT HOME! THE SCIENCY TYPES SAY THAT THE WAVES GIVEN OFF AREN'T DANGEROUS TO HUMANS IN SMALL DOSES!]
All of this scar tissue was...deliberate. They were all in English, but Mashirao was doing well enough in that class to understand some of them. They were insults, curse words, and...ones he didn't really understand. The words seemed almost random. 'Worthless' was repeated a lot, so was 'brat', though Ojiro didn't know what that word meant. The scars that weren't words were just cuts, long thin ones, that hadn't healed correctly.
Even if Mashirao didn't entirely understand all of it, he definitely understood why Grant didn't want other people seeing all of this. Being self-conscious about it was..."Quit staring at me!" Grant shouted, and Mashirao realized he'd been so busy observing the scars, he'd missed how upset Grant looked. "Get out of here!" For a moment, Mashirao almost thought he saw Grant's fists light up with atomic energy. Realizing how much he had accidentally invaded his partner's privacy, Mashirao left the room and kept going. He changed somewhere else, and for the next two weeks, Grant didn't say a single word to him.
While she had been somewhat skeptical at first, Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran was finding this 'Japan' to be incredibly interesting! Up to this trip, she'd spent all of her time on Earth in the country known as the 'United States of America', and until recently she had thought all of the planet and its people were similar to those she knew. But this trip was proving that to be very different! Not only did the people here speak another language, but they were different in many other ways as well!
The architecture, the mythology, the government, it all made Kori wonder if she'd gone to another planet entirely. Or perhaps...this was just what it was like, when a sapient species was able to successfully populate their planet. Something the Tamaraneans had never come close to accomplishing. This particular evening, she and the Earth Metahuman known as Denki Kaminari were eating dinner together at a restaurant that served small portions of uncooked fish. This 'sushi' was actually quite delicious, and Kori was happy for the recommendation. "Thank you, Friend Kaminari! This meal was been wonderful!" The fact that Earth people from the country of Japan preferred to be called by their family name rather that their given one, as was the custom in the America, was something that had initially taken Kori time to understand.
They had been eating dinner for several hours now. Well, Kori supposed that was not entirely accurate. Friend Kaminari, who had been assigned to her as a partner for safety when outside the school, had not eaten much food, which he claimed was not a problem. Instead, he had watched as Kori ate plate after plate of delicious food, but for a reason Kori was not able to determine, he seemed to look more sullen and downtrodden the longer she ate. When Kori was finally satisfactorily full, she gave Friend Kaminari a compassionate look. "Have I done something to upset you, Friend Kaminari?"
Her question made him seem to try looking happier than he clearly felt. "No, I'm fine Starfire. I just..." The blond hero let out a sigh. "This stuff is expensive, so I'm probably going to be broke after all you've eaten." Like many of Kori's Earth friends, Friend Kaminari preferred to refer to her as her hero name, Starfire, which she did not mind.
It had taken Kori some time to understand the concept of 'money' that Earth people seemed to be so obsessed over. On Tamaran, their economy, if it could be called such a thing, was entirely run by the royal family, and an intermediary for transferring value was not required. But after living three years on the planet Earth, she at the very least knew that many Earth people put a high value on it. Seeing now what he was worried over, Kori reassured him. "Friend Kaminari, you paid for my own dinner several nights previous to this one. I will pay for both of us." As she'd expected, the final bill was something she could easily pay.
Thanks to various scholarships, including some only for students from other planets, and selling to Earth scientists what advantages she had from being from a spacefaring culture, Kori was not often worried about finances. Now that they were done at the restaurant, they began to walk back towards the school. Night had fallen, and Kori couldn't help turning her head up to stare at the night sky. Her bright orange skin, green eyes, and burnt red hair made it clear to all that she was not normal, and to those who knew their intergalactic warriors, it marked her as a Tamaranian.
[PRINCESS KORIAND'R OF TAMARAN! SHE'S ANOTHER STUDENT WITH NO QUIRK, BECAUSE SHE'S A FREAKING ALIEN FROM THE OTHER END OF THE GALAXY! THAT'S RIGHT, EVERYBODY, THERE'S LIFE BEYOND THE STARS AND SOME OF THEM ARE REALLY CUTE GIRLS! HER ALIEN BIOLOGY GIVES HER THE ABILITY FLY THROUGH THE AIR, FIRE ENERGY BLASTS FROM HER HANDS, AND MAKES HER STRONG ENOUGH BEND STEEL WITH HER PINKY FINGER!]
"Getting homesick?" came Friend Kaminari's voice, breaking Kori out of her revery. Now he was looking at the stars too. "I can't even imagine what it's like, flying through space, other planets. You must miss where you're from a lot, huh?"
While Kori knew that he did not realize the things he was saying was bringing up bad memories, she still couldn't help but feel somewhat frustrated at Friend Kaminari. "I am not homesick. Many of my memories of home...are not very good ones." Suddenly, a nearby sign caught her attention, and any bad mood lingering on her psyche disappeared. "Oh! Friend Kaminari! It is the 'karaoke'! Let us invite more friends, and we shall sing together!" From there, he explained to Kori that, considering how late it was, it would probably be best if they waited for a weekend night to do that, but did promise to get a bunch of people together for it. Another look at the stars in the sky made Kori flinch, as memories of the Dominators and what they did her came unbidden to the forefront of her mind.
