Chapter Fifteen: Peanut Butter Dream (Nightmare)


"Mister Hound Dog, why am I here?"

"It's easier...grrr...if you don't put on an act. Grrrr...I'm here to...grrrr...help you."

Sitting across from the familiar wolf man, Ayumi found herself wishing she could sink, sink so far into the ground those who knew her (which really wasn't many) wouldn't be able to remember the structure of her bones and the way her skin wrapped around them. She would fossilize, become an example of what debilitating pain looked like years ago, and still only be labeled "human" in the textbooks. Such an exit could be considered consensual, however, as the bruised girl wouldn't want others to poke into her history and over exaggerate her lack of a role in human race. So, as Hound Dog attempted to coax private information about her for the files, Ayumi wished she could stay "human", no records to her name.

The bloodshot girl sighed heavily, the traces of overexertion from the sports festival still evident in her twitching arms and bleeding eyes. She mumbled, "I'd rather be sleeping..."

The wolf man patiently gazed at the drained student, reaching into the bowl next to him and handing her a chocolate. He recoiled at the stench, explaining, "Get some...grrrrr...sugar into your system. Grrrr...I HATE...GRRRR...chocolate, so take some."

"Okay..." Although Ayumi knew food wouldn't alleviate her chronic exhaustion, she popped the chocolate into her mouth out of politeness and hope it would speed up the meeting. "So, tell me then. Why did I get a summons at five in the morning to your office the day we come back to school?" the bloodshot girl questioned, irritation in the eyes and mouth clear.

"Well...grrrrr...I wanted to...grrrr...talk with you about...grrrrrrr...your personal life."

"What about it?"

"Grrr...as teachers...grrrr...we've noticed that you...grrrrr...are not very social. You...grr...only talk to few...grrrrr...students. Is there a...grrr...reason?" Hound Dog seemed hesitant with his inquiries, out of caution or disinterest of some sorts, annoying Ayumi slightly.

Scoffing, the blunt girl pointed out, "The students are exactly friendly towards me either." Flashes of Bakugo's verbal assault came to the girl's tired mind, the subject of her recent nightmares. "Anyways, why's it your guys' business who I affiliate with?"

"It's...grrrr...not. As the school...grrrr...psychologist, I'm just...grrrr...trying to get a...grrrrrrrasp on your mental standings," Hound Dog curtly replied, clipboard and paper begging to have a piece of Ayumi's life scrawled out onto it.

Sighing, the medical intern rolled her eyes easily. "What would you do with this information anyways? Who cares what I think of?" The words were meant to be from a place of anger, but really stemmed from sadness, the soft tone Ayumi used striking the teacher as odd. He began to write, and as he did, Ayumi's eyes widened, the girl jolting out of her seat defensively. She put a cautious hand to her lip rings (ultimately warranting more scribbling from the observant hero) and demanded, "Stop writing. It was just a question, nothing to get from it." When the wolf man didn't comply, Ayumi turned to the door of the teacher's office, making her way over and far, far from the man who pried too much. "I think we're done here."

"The fact...grrrr...that you think so...grrrr...means we've just...grrrr...begun," Hound Dog said, a pensive expression plagued by his naturally vicious features. Ayumi hated that she couldn't hate the man for trying, the girl unable to shut out the fact that he was right just by slamming the door to his office.

What she needed, more than prying people or comfort, was a good cup of coffee, to warm her frosted tongue after a night of haunting and persistent fatigue.

1-A was about to burst, eyes colliding and all the like as the heroic students sat digesting the information presented by their now unbandaged teacher. Ayumi could see it all from the back of the room, unimpressed with the child-like excitement she could see rising on her classmates' faces.

"Internships?!"

"We're gonna work with pros?"

"I wonder how many scouted me!"

Not a second later, Aizawa's trademark sigh combined with the activation of his quirk forced everyone back into a silence. "Quiet. On the board some of your names are listed with the amount of offers you've garnered." The man in black's hair dropped back to his side, as he continued to address the rambunctious students he called his own. "If you don't have any offers," an evil glint flashed in his heavy eyes, "Better luck next time."

The wails and complaints of those unfortunate enough to be passed over by pros polluted the air around the students in 1-A; some looked back at Ayumi specifically, wondering what her plans were, as the girl hadn't competed in the festival at all. Intentionally feigning nonchalance, the green skinned girl opted to use the window as her mental escape, the rest of her body chained down by the confines of reality. The clear sky held no secrets, no ambiguity, disappointing Ayumi, a perpetual patron of cold air and frigid rains. While dreaming of a more frosty day, the sickly teen was pulled back into the sickeningly lukewarm classroom by a light tap on her desk. Her bloodshot gaze was met with an equally jarring one, a perplexing case of heterochromia and a dash of scarring before her.

He didn't smile, which Ayumi was thankful for, as useless pleasantries were never her cup of tea. The peppermint boy she'd grown to detest lacked his usual bland look, sporting a rather shockingly intense glare - the type that bored into your body hoping for the heart, but stealing the soul instead. "Ayumi." Low and smooth, the boy's voice rolled out like a velvet carpet, exclusively for those deemed worthy enough. Ayumi was never a fan of the finer things.

"Yes?" She hoped a dose of venom in her tone would remove the unwanted attention.

"Do you know my name?"

Although she was prideful, the uninterested girl felt no shame in bluntly stating, "No," then looking back out the window, where things were blue and blinding.

She could sense the slight surprise in front of her, but chose to neglect a further response. However, one wasn't needed, as the two-toned boy slowly said, "...it's Todoroki Shoto."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Do you know who my father is?"

Ayumi fought back the urge to roll her eyeballs into oblivion, as the girl had no desire to continue the conversation. "Am I supposed to?" she questioned tiredly, hoping the blatant disinterest in her tone would outmatch Todoroki's own brand of cold demeanor.

The peppermint boy's gaze didn't falter, his stoic resilience of the unnatural kind. "It's probably better you never had the misfortune to find out. The pro hero Endeavor is my father." Todoroki continued monologuing without the need for Ayumi's input, recalling, "He never treated us right. My family, I mean. It was always about training and winning with him. A man obsessed with becoming number one became last place in his kids' hearts." A dry chuckle followed the confession, Todoroki staring up at the ceilings, as though looking up would increase his father's rankings.

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Does it not get lonely for you?" Todoroki's genuinely curious frown struck Ayumi as odd, the boy never once having talked to her before their current one-sided conversation.

Scowling, Ayumi stoically replied, "No. I'm just fine."

"Well, the other day I-"

"Oi. Bubaigawara. Todoroki. Keep the heart to hearts to a minimum while I'm instructing you." Aizawa sent a pointed look at the pair in the back, managing to pick up the other students' attention along the way. Some giggled, others gossiped; Kirishima sent a questioning glance back to Ayumi, who returned it with a tight scowl, the girl practically grinding her teeth in annoyance. The man in black, however, stole Ayumi's focus once again, as he unexpectedly announced, "Despite these results, you'll all be interning with pros. You'll all be having hero informatics and codenames with Midnight today. I'm not good at this type of thing." Turning away, the bored man warned, "Make sure to choose wisely..." Aizawa's firm image receded, the antisocial teacher holing back up into his yellow sleeping bag, its brightness contrasting with how internally dead the man inside was.

"If you don't, you'll have hell to pay later!" In walked the embodiment of confidence and cheap smelling perfume. Tight suit, leather here and there, and cheaply bejeweled, Midnight walked in, each boot covered step pulling another's attention over to her. "These names you students pick might be your codenames for the rest of your lives. I'm here to make sure you choose wisely!" A smirk was plastered onto the striking lady's glossed lips, Ayumi unsure whether its purpose to reassure or seduce. The wide eyed girl had a slight admiration for Midnight, as the woman could hold others at the palm of her hand so easily, with the flick of a wrist and a sniff of her scent. Ayumi wouldn't admit it publicly, but Midnight had grown to be her second favorite hero over the course of her time at UA.

At the front of the class, the sweet smelling woman explained, "You'll all write down a name on the whiteboards you'd like to be called as your hero name in the future. I'll have to approve it first, so don't go sly on me!" With a wink, Midnight distributed the boards to the person at the head of each row. Among the hustle and bustle of the easily excitable classroom, Ayumi could make out Kirishima towards the front of her row, his face screwed up with a concentration she'd never seen before. Intrigued, the green skinned girl would've kept watching, however, the big lipped kid in front of her passed her a board, cutting off her fascination with her normally straightforward partner.

The board in her hands mirrored her mind, the stumped girl only having experience with nightmares, dreams practically impossible in the darkness from which she came. Before UA, Ayumi hadn't dreamt of or even put thought to becoming a hero; it was always Jin's dream, something the sickly girl made it her mission not to rain on. Wherever she went, the brunette put a heavy weight on those forced to carry her, and she knew it all too well, the debilitating nature of her natural quirk too difficult for her to harness. She'd never thought...

Another month alone. The best they could do was take care of each other, was ignoring the pains within their bodies, was letting go of their fears until they had to face them.

"You're so cool, Jin!" Said boy was in the kitchen, making peanut butter sandwiches using his duplication quirk. To them, it didn't matter that it would all turn to foul tasting sludge in the pits of their stomach when his quirk ran out; wasn't that how all food worked, chyme churning within the confines of the stomach just as unappealing? The young siblings' understanding of biology and dark matter were of equal measure, the two believing the pains in the pit of their stomachs were normal, and the dizzy spells that followed were just routine. But no, the Bubaigawara siblings did not need a mother.

Jin proudly smiled back at his eight-year-old sister, simply happy to make her happy. With sparkling eyes, Ayumi devoured the sandwich, stomach acids gurgling wildly, having been awakened after a two day slumber. The older boy often wondered how her small body had room for such a ravenous appetite, her protruding ribs seeming to leave no room for a stomach. However, Jin set aside the bad, and presented the good, remarking, "Mimi, I'm going to be your hero some day. You won't need to be afraid ever again."

"Wow!" Ayumi's eyes were dazzled, not only with the heroic image her brother put up, but with the fact that she was seeing double of him, the girl unsure of whether her quirk was playing tricks or his quirk was. "What should I call my hero?"

"My name will be The Doubling Hero: Twice!" The two images of Jin winked, Ayumi giggling in response.

"Can I be your sidekick?"

"Sure! Of course, Mimi! We'll fight crime and protect each other until we get old and gray!"

"Then I'll be...hmm...The Tripling Hero: Thrice!"

Jin gave a lighthearted laugh, his double following suit. He explained, "Mimi, that's not specific enough to your quirk!" Dipping his finger into the remnants of the individual peanut butter cup he had found at the store, the brunet playfully smeared a bit of the spread onto the brunette's nose, eliciting a small groan from the now peanut buttered girl.

"Aww, but I wanna be like you!"

In response, Jin's whole being smiled - eyes, ears, nose, mouth - such a strong degree of vibrance foreign yet striking upon the boy's naturally pessimistic and morose features. Both images of the brunet made Ayumi feel at home, the gaps between her teeth the only lonely thing about the bloodshot girl in that moment. Jin shined so brightly solely for his younger counterpart, the opposite true as well, Ayumi's quirk only clearing up enough for Jin. With a light laugh, Jin suggested, "What about...I've got it! You can be-"

"The Pain Killing Hero: Heart Attack."

Snapping out of her peanut butter dream, Ayumi hadn't realized her subconscious movements to the front of the class, the wide eyed girl's mouth hanging slightly ajar. Somehow while wallowing in her memories, she had found her way to the front of the classroom, shocking all. Her classroom reciprocated the uncomfortable teen's sentiments, a few just as spooked as she was. Eyes screwed up and all the like, the students of 1-A were suffocating within the stale air Ayumi merely speaking had put between them all. Nice, I've ruined things again.

Midnight, as a teacher, fulfilled her role as a peace keeper, breaking the silence with by starting, "Well, it does seem a bit..."

"Morose." A majority of the class finished the concerned teacher's sentence, their shared thoughts seeming to run on a private network Ayumi didn't have access to. The class was password protected; the sickly girl was at a loss for words. Like an old itch, shame crawled back up her legs, into her veins and heart, it's erratic beating unable to keep the embarrassment away.

The bruised girl, preparing to defend her choice in name, didn't have a chance to, as a particular red head at the head of the class exclaimed, "I think it's cool though! It really screams 'Danger' don't you think?"

Midoriya, with his happy-go-lucky smile added, "It really does sound like something you'd call a pro!"

"You want danger to run, not think you're a walk in the park," Todoroki claimed, some of the class stunned into silence by his emergence out of his.

Closing the argument in her defense, Kirishima stood and looked at their fellow classmates. "Ayumi shouldn't have to change for others she doesn't even know! If the name's important to her, let her keep it." Winking at his partner, the red head say back down, red on the head and in the face, a light blush highlighting his warm, shark toothed smile.

Calculatively, Midnight took the green girl's classmates' defenses into account, muttering, "I guess the image to villains is really more important than ratings...She'll probably be a more underground type anyways..." Then, looking up, the proud woman smiled widely, announcing, "I'll allow it!"

Ayumi could've smiled in that moment, smiled for the way she was proving herself and Hound Dog and the world wrong. She did have people, people that would defend her against their own, against their enemies. To be defended, to be accepted - both were alike and the same.

"Thank you, guys."

She had ventured outside of UA's gated stronghold alone for the first time in a while. The bruised girl was no stranger to independence, viewing it as a guilty pleasure in her new world which required companionship.

Mint chip dripped all over Ayumi's hands, the girl struggling to contain the treat in its cone. The brunette could've been annoyed with it staining her uniform sleeve, but she accepted it, trying to self teach anger management without the need for cards. Sighing, she watched as it bled seamlessly into her own creamy skin, the treat's drool the product of an approaching summer's heat. The bloodshot girl awarded herself a celebratory ice cream after class, deciding the cards she used as a crutch could wait, as all she could feel was pleasantness only a peanut butter dream could've brought upon. Although the mint chip was sticking to her skin, Ayumi was only able to feel content, the reminder that time was changing - and so was she - bringing a small smile onto her face. Her hollow features were kissed by the moonlight's warmth, melancholia replaced gradually with pleasure.

And, like such calm nights, it all came crashing down so readily, at the sound of a voice Ayumi wished she hadn't heard again:

"I thought you only smiled around me, Mimi."

The world was at Ayumi's fingertips no more, the subject of her peanut butter dream morphing her newfound self acceptance into a nightmare. However, this time around, Jin's clouded smile couldn't plant one onto his younger sister's face as it had so many times before.