Though he hadn't needed to go and see Recovery Girl, Denki Kaminari still had a rough morning on the day after the second round of the Joint Combat Exercise. Bakugo hadn't laid a finger on him, but Denki had released a ridiculous amount of electricity in an attempt to preemptively take out the explosive jerk. It hadn't worked, and now Denki was shambling around the kitchen area of the dorm, clutching his head in pain. Black tea always helped after he'd overloaded himself like this, and luckily for him, no one else was up this early on a Sunday morning.
"Friend Kaminari!" The excited, high-pitched voice of Starfire right behind him almost made Denki spill the tea he'd been pouring himself. After the rush of fear and surprise finished, he turned around to see the Tamaranian princess looking at him, clearly in a great mood. Oh, and she looked super cute too, wearing an oversized Titans Academy sweatshirt and sweatpants. Of course, Denki thought she always looked cute. "I am glad to see you are awake! How are you feeling after your fight yesterday?"
As happy as Denki was to see her, the volume she was speaking at was making his headache throb, so he made a motion in his empty hand to signify the lowering of a gauge and whispered, "Could you lower the volume a little, Starfire? I've got a bit of a migraine." She nodded fervently, and together they walked over to sit on the dorm couch, a few feet away from each other. Deciding to start with what he'd just told her, Denki explained, "Yeah, so, you know how I get all goofy when I use too much of my Quirk?"
Her immediate reaction was to giggle while nodding, making Denki's heart flutter. "Oh yes! It is quite humorous." But then Starfire looked confused, rubbing one hand behind an ear in what he'd learned was a sign of thinking deeply in her people. "But does that condition only affect you for a short period of time? You do not seem to be any more intellectually challenged than normal this morning."
Deciding not to take that as an insult, Denki gave her a nod and continued what he'd been saying. "Yeah, it is pretty short term. Any time I go over my basic limit, my brain gets fried and has to put thinking on the backburner so it can fix itself. But that's a simple overcharge. When I go even farther past my limits, like I did against Bakugo yesterday, I end up with a killer migraine. It's like...I bruised my brain, almost. I've been getting them a lot lately, thanks to Deku's training." It wasn't like Denki was going to complain. Deku was a pretty killer team leader, and he was making bigger strides with his Quirk with the cheerful nerd's help than he usually did on his own, that was for sure. But progress had its payments. Shifting the subject, Denki asked, "How are you feeling after your fight?"
Before she started answering verbally, Starfire held up one fist, and Denki could see she'd bruised her knuckles pretty bad. With her Tamarianian orange skin tone, bruising looked more colorful, a deeper, darker hue closer to brown that gave the damage almost a sunset complexion. "Friend Jaime's armor is quite strong." Then, with nothing resembling the human custom of modesty, Starfire casually raised up her sweatshirt, giving Denki a look at her midriff so open that he could almost get a glimpse of something else just out of sight. Similar sunset bruises barred her skin in a strip just above her waist. "I am unsure if you saw during the display of our battle, but Jaime was able to use a protonic wave shifter on my abdomen shortly before my victory."
Luckily for Denki's hormones, Starfire dropped her sweatshirt again just as easily as she'd raised it, and he tried to focus on what she'd been trying to show him rather than what he'd actually been looking at. "Whoa, that's crazy! Are you going to be okay?" In his time so far at UA, Denki had seen a lot of injuries, but that bruise had looked particularly nasty. Not as awful as anything Deku had got back when he'd been breaking limbs all the time, but not pretty either.
That must have been a weird question to ask, because Starfire did that thing where she looked at him like he was the one not native to this planet. "It is a mild injury, and Tamaranians have a fast recovery process." Then, right there, she did that thing that had been bothering Denki for a while. Whenever she said anything, or he said anything, that had to do with her people, a weird kind of sadness appeared in her eyes, the saddest look he'd seen on her. A few days before, he'd thought it was homesickness, but he was starting to think that wasn't the case.
Trying to be tactful (as much as Denki knew how to), he hesitantly asked, "Hey, Star, you know you can trust me, right? You get really down anytime Tamaran or Tamaranians come up. If you don't want to talk about it, that's cool, and I'll try to stop mentioning them. But..." Unsure how to finish the thought, Denki just let it dangle out there.
Looking much more serious that he usually saw her, Starfire met his eyes. "It is...hard to think of my home. Or my people. Did you know that I am a Princess, Friend Kaminari?" Denki nodded. After all, it was part of her appeal, for him at least. Though he did sometimes wonder about how exactly an alien species developed monarchy similar to Earth's. "I did not come to Earth of my own choice. My people were at war, and losing. In order to secure peace, my parents had to make concessions, including me. I was given to the victors as a slave, and when they were done...using me...I was traded to others. From hand to hand I was given, until I ended up in the hands of the Dominators." As Starfire talked, her posture became more guarded, until her hands were digging into her legs as her muscles tensed with every word. "They experimented on me. My Star Blasts are not an ability Tamaranians normally possess. It is a side effect of how they tampered with my genetics, against my will. I was able to escape, and flee to the nearby planet, Earth. Heroes protected me against my captors, and...that is why I am here."
Denki felt like a real jerk for asking for an explanation now. Starfire had clearly been through hell and back, and he couldn't tell which was the worst part of it: the experimentation, the slavery, or the fact her parents had handed her into all of it. But that made Denki think of something, and quickly asked, "Well, since you're free now, can't you go back to Tamaran?"
Rather than bringing any comfort, Denki's words only seemed to make her sadder. "I cannot. The treaty that made me a slave also removed me from the royal family, and exiled me from the planet on pain of death. I have...sent missives to my family, in the ways I can. There have been no replies."
Unable to think of anything else, Denki put a hand on Starfire's shoulder. She wasn't crying, but it was clear this topic was pretty damn heavy for her. He racked his brain to try and think of something he could do to help, when he suddenly had an idea. "Hey, Star, what if I took you out today? We could see a movie, get lunch, whatever you want to do!"
His words had seemed to lift away some of her sadness, but it was mostly replaced with confusion. "My apologies if I am misunderstanding Earth customs, Friend Kaminari, but what you are describing sounds very much like a 'date'." Coming from someone else, that might have been a joke, but with Starfire, she meant every word.
Feeling like he'd been caught in a trap, Denki laughed awkwardly and said, "Well, uh, yeah, kinda. I mean, you're hot, and I kind of like you, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend a Sunday." Saying those words, Denki couldn't bring himself to look at Starfire, instead gazing at the dorm television, which was powered off. "Plus, we've gone out together a bunch of times as friends, right? This wouldn't be too different."
After so long without a reply, Denki had to face facts and actually look at the girl he'd just asked out. She didn't look mad at him, but that actually might have been better for Denki's self-confidence. Instead, the best word he had for the look in her eyes was 'pity'. "I apologize, Friend Kaminari, but I do not see you in that way and do not wish to court you. There is...someone else for whom my heart belongs." Denki didn't press her for details, and knew he'd just need to accept they'd be friends. Still, they did go out on the town that day, bringing Jirou and Changeling with them. None of them brought up the fact their teams were due to fight in the final round, only eight days from then.
Even if she didn't necessarily see it as a real character flaw, Raven Roth knew that she was not a 'people person'. Part of that was her natural introversion, the fact she'd much rather spend time in her room, studying or reading for pleasure, than going out to spend time with other people. Part of that was how closely her powers were tied to her emotions, which meant frequent meditation and perfect control was a big part of her life. Part of that was how closely she guarded her secrets, how very few people she was okay with even temporarily invading her privacy.
For all those reasons, and more, she believed she had every right to be at least a little upset at her assigned partner for this trip, Ochaco Uraraka. But after two days of the girl being nervous whenever they were in the same room, jumping at any loud sound, and refusing to meet Raven's eyes, she decided to finally just take Garfield's advise and talk to her. That was why, just after sunset, Raven was prepared for the knock on her door. Opening it revealed a mouselike Uraraka, looking like she might bolt if Raven glared at her too hard. "You got my note. Come in." Walking over to her desk to sit there, Raven watched as Uraraka sat on the bed after closing the door behind her.
Before Raven could even start saying what she wanted to, the gravity altering teen bowed her head and started apologizing. "I'm so sorry! I totally overstepped your boundaries, and I should have just talked to a teacher, and I understand if you don't want to spend any time together until you have to leave!"
If Raven hadn't held up a hand to stop her, she was pretty sure Uraraka would have just kept going. Choosing her words carefully, Raven gave her reply. "Thank you for the apology. You're right, talking to Nightwing would have been a better idea. And coming into my room without asking me made me upset." Then, after taking a brief pause, she added, "That said, I'm not upset anymore. I understand you did what you did out of concern, not curiosity."
Suddenly looking a lot more relaxed, Uraraka let out a happy sight and flopped backwards on Raven's black bedsheets. "That's good to know," she said, and Raven could feel how much she meant that feeling with her empathic abilities. Then, she sat up again, looking serious. "Are there any other things I should know about, so I don't make you upset later on?"
The teenage girl asked the question like a martial artist asking who they were going to fight next, ready for a challenge. It was comical, and if Raven didn't have to worry about the effects it would have with her magic, she would have laughed. "I was actually getting to that. A friend of mine pointed out that, since this trip is probably the last time I'll see you, it would be okay to be a little more open." A lot of people called Garfield stupid, but especially with interpersonal relations, he was smarter than most. "Why did you become a hero, Uraraka?"
Looking a little embarrassed, Uraraka ran a hand through her brown hair and explained, "Well, my family works really hard just to get by, so initially I wanted to be a hero so I could make enough money to make sure they didn't have to worry anymore." Quite a few of Raven's classmates had similar motivations, and while some saw them as selfish,Raven respected it as much as any other reason to be a hero. "But that was just at first. Recently, I was involved in some serious hero work, and a lot of people were injured...some of them died. It made me want to be better, so I could make sure nothing that bad happened again."
Having seen quite a lot of action herself, Raven understood what she meant all too well. Once she was sure Uraraka had finished, Raven asked her a question. "Do you know where my magic comes from?" The Japanese girl shook her head, so Raven prepared herself for a long explanation. "My mother was lured into joining a cult, when she was a young woman. She was chosen by them, for a special ritual. After being summoned briefly into this plane of existence, my father assaulted my mother, sexually. That's how I was conceived. My father is a demon, named Trigon the Terrible."
Uraraka's hands went to her mouth, and tears stood out in her eyes. In a way, Raven envied her for that. Were it not for her powers, she would have the liberty to cry about this as well. Instead, she stoically continued her monologue. "My mother joined a monastery after that, and I was raised to control my emotions, and with them, my magic. But there is a reason I was born." Goosebumps began standing out on Raven's pale flesh as she spoke. "Every prophecy regarding my father makes it clear that he can only enter our world, and begin his conquest, with my help. I'm part him, and part mortal, the bridge he needs to cross over. So I became a hero, so I can try and become strong enough to stop that from happening...and make up for the damage I could cause if that does occur. The ritual you saw me performing was something I need to do at least once a month, to ward myself against my father's corruption."
Having said all she needed to say, Raven just felt...tired. The struggle she went through felt like it was never going to end, and intellectually knew it probably wouldn't. Still giving up wouldn't, couldn't, be an option. "Could...I give you a hug?" Uraraka offered, knocking Raven out of her train of thought. Looking at her, the young heroine was staring at Raven with naked empathy and compassion.
Actually feeling a little embarrassed, Raven let out a small huff. "If you want to." She didn't add what she'd been thinking, which was, 'At least unlike Starfire, you ask first.' Soon, the other girl had wrapped her arms around Raven, and she was tempted to tear down her walls for a second and just...let it all out. But she knew that would probably destroy the room, and possibly hurt Uraraka, so she focused on just enjoying the hug. "Thank you," Raven whispered, "for listening."
