Chapter Twenty-One: Backbone and the Sparkler
The stiff throw blanket scratched at her arms, irritation bubbling up and blooming in bumps and ridges along the brunette's over sensitive skin. Ayumi couldn't determine the source of the sensation, both the starchy material and bleach stains the primary suspects of turning once firm and pale skin into the neurotic mess it had become. It could've been summer or January outside in the light, but within the Bubaigawara siblings' four borrowed walls, where the unpaid electric bill splashed shadows across the room, where three came but only two stayed, where the cabinets were always empty, a stray draft seemed to pay special attention to the younger Bubaigawara, who laid on the couch in a lonely stupor. Although Jin, seventeen at the time, was still a permanent resident in the (bound to be) impermanent motel room the disjointed family shared, he spent more of his time out on the streets, seeking work from those in desperate enough for an extra set of sloppy hands. He always worked odd jobs, the type that repulsed the entitled and were mocked by the successful, that people would drag through the mud when taking jabs at their friends. The dedicated teen never minded, though, as the look on his sister's face when a nice chicken meal set was brought home was enough.
It was enough.
A chill ran up the dazed girl's spine, spine which she and her brother knew held no backbone to begin with. The toxic combination of her dependency on others and lack of someone to depend on her wore away at the calcium-laced bones which sat between thin layers of muscle tissue. Ayumi couldn't support herself - that much was true, and she never believed it would change. Thus, the twelve year old would patiently lay on the couch, awaiting the one person who took care of her, awaiting the person who gently wore away at her backbone until nothing remained, awaiting Jin.
A gentle knock on the door sounded, reverberating through the splintering wood and into Ayumi's ears. Not a second later, a soaking wet Jin walked through the door, a scowl plastered over his usually complacent features. Ah, so it's raining outside. Grumbling, the brunet hastily threw off his jacket, a brown material two sizes too big, and stormed off to the kitchen, grumbles erupting into a low growl at the sight of bare cabinets. Jin seethed, "Fantastic! Just what I needed," and rushed into their mother's room, the boy knowing their mother wouldn't be present. A similar scene would occur every so often, usually sparked by a day of overwork and underpay, or a scuffle with the elitists who roamed the streets of Hosu. Ayumi inferred that day's outburst was catalyzed by the afternoon shower Jin had been subjected to, the rain her dark eyes had been captivated by dancing away in her mind, dancing away in her eyes. However, the dance was disrupted by a nagging feeling in her chest, and so the preoccupied girl threw the uncomfortable cloth to the floor, slowly making her way over to the door her brother was surely fuming behind.
Upon reaching the door (which couldn't have been more than ten paces away), the green skinned girl picked up on low speaking from the other side of the wood. Intrigued by her brother's sudden secrecy, Ayumi, eyebrows risen, cautiously pulled the door open, just a crack, as not to alert Jin of her presence.
Wide eyes widened. Breathing became heavy. Mouth went agape.
It wasn't the stimulants or depressants which inhabited her bloodstream acting up - Ayumi was sure. Nevertheless, three figures were pacing and conversing with one another within the room that only one entered, all sporting lazy brown locks and dark eyes of the same breed.
Jin had copied himself. Not once, but twice.
"What...?" As she uttered the incomplete question, fueled by incomplete thoughts and feelings regarding the situation, three pairs of eyes snapped to her small frame. They didn't seem surprised or cautious of the younger girl's discovery, hard expressions never faltering under her shocked one. The irritated bumps and bleach-borne lumps raising her skin began to sting, Ayumi's desire for the ironic comfort the feeling of her nerves being on fire brought. Now, neurons were dull, dim, no frenzy of signals passing from synapse to synapse.
In unison, the three Jins said, "Leave, Ayumi."
"No." Backbone. The wide eyed girl's back straightened, a sense of power and pride coursing from her pulsating heart into the spine, the bones, once flaccid, now presenting with an unknown strength. Though her brain thrashed and writhed, despising the loss of control over Ayumi's mouthpiece, the newly formed backbone forced her mouth into compliance. As a result, the younger Bubaigawara asserted, "What's wrong, Jin? You need to talk to me."
The elder Bubaigawara's eyes widened, rivaling his sister's; all Jins frowned, gritting their teeth in a frightening manner. "Just leave, Ayumi! You don't get it!"
"I could if you'd just tell me what's wrong! Jin, I'm here for you!"
"No! You're not!" The furious words shooting out of the brunet's mouths split the ground between the two (correction, four), the doorframe suddenly seeming miles away from the bed occupied by the trip. He spat, tone intensified by the three chanting at once, "Ayumi, I take care of you because you can't do it for yourself. There's no one for me here! I'm alone! It's just me. Do you understand?!"
Lips were pulled into an impossibly thin line, somehow more rigid than Ayumi's backbone had become. With her new sense of voice, she could've yelled or screamed at Jin, but that would've just been projecting personal issues onto her overworked and undeserving brother. Thus, a sigh seeped out, the couch and raggedy throw blanket more attractive than fighting with the only blood relative she considered family. Heart squeezing and mind aching, the twelve-year-old couldn't form the correct words to describe her pain, but she did understand one thing even more clearly than she did her brother's loneliness.
I don't want him to resent me. I'll have no one left.
Softly, almost in a ghostly manner, the green skin girl said, "Alright, it's fine. Make sure to chew some chamomile before bed to calm down." The wide eyed girl's translucent voice hung silently in the air, as though she hadn't spoken at all. Then, turning, she closed with a, "Night," and shut the door, struggling to walk over to the couch, the pain in her back immense.
Clearly, Ayumi wasn't enough for Jin. Loneliness seemed to be a common trait that flowed through Bubaigawara blood.
—
A common sight: red and green locked in conversation, eyes sparkling only for the other. One had a coffee in hand, dark roast and one sugar, the other a battered notebook, which, although it was battered, was littered more so with doodles and scribbles of childish technique than notes of any type. Their animated energy managed to keep the security wing bright, bright enough to force the raging summer storm outside away from the pair's bubble, which held a luminescence that was foreign to the area. Crowds would've gaped at them, would've parted for them, would've bowed to them - and it would all just be a natural response for a sight of that caliber. Somehow, however, two words managed to crack atmosphere as quickly as it built up, green dulled and froze over, while red overpowered, blaring and bashful once he saw his partner's response to his proposal.
"Study...group?" Ayumi turned her gaze towards the window, desperate for a way out of the now one sided conversation. The school year had been progressing steadily, the summer camp just around the corner, with the bruised girl's power and skill levels developing accordingly alongside her classmates. They'd have training every now and then, and, more often than not, Ayumi would train outside of required sessions with Aizawa or Kirishima. If she'd started working with her difficult quirk from a young age, the brunette had no doubt could've surpassed the others years ago, as her power was the perfect combination of two unexpected quirks coming together. Ayumi knew her mother had a duplication quirk weaker than Jin's, requiring a touch to make it happen, but her father's was a mystery, as he was in all aspects. Some might've called her "wasted potential", but did society have a right to judge her when she stood apart from them at the beginning? Either way, all possibilities considered, while witnessing classroom antics, while training alongside a perpetual pessimist of a teacher, while swimming in profoundly red oceans contained in two eyes, Ayumi couldn't bring herself to regret any of it.
"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Kirishima's eccentric voice shot out, red sparks and all the like firing off as a result. He was a sparkler in the palm of her hand; the rain outside couldn't manage to put him out if it tried. The boy exclaimed, with shark teeth prominently on display, "If we're wanna go to the summer camp, we have to pass, Ayumi! It's gonna be so much fun!"
Although the stoic look still stood, all of Ayumi's internal alarms were firing off, the blaring effect overpowering Kirishima's own brightness. I am...an idiot...but he doesn't need to know that. Her studies hadn't improved at all over the course of the year, on the contrary, any hope of becoming a well rounded heroics student dimmed by her hopeless stupidity. The bloodshot girl melted back into her character so easily, however, playing a subtle frown as her first card in the risky business she had to navigate. "I can't focus in groups. It's better if I study alone."
In response, the red head rolled his eyes, replying with a smirk, "Mhm, sure." Then a look of conflict crossed his eyes, as he carefully asked, "What if I told you that...Todoroki would be there?"
"I'd still say no."
"Midoriya?"
"Dude, no! What don't you get?" Irritated and defensive, Ayumi was tempted to abandon her invasive partner and hide in her room, which was but a corner away at that point. With a huff, she turned to him, stopping them both in their tracks. "You act like they'd change my mind. Fun fact - I don't let boys - or anyone for that matter - affect my choices."
A quirked eyebrow, and then, almost in a possessive manner, "Is that so?" Though Kirishima tried to hide it, Ayumi could feel the insecurity radiating off of him, the concoction of emotion silent but potent.
Didn't take him for the jealous type... Backbone and confidence exuded from her mouth, building up into words and a reciprocated smirk: "It's this little thing called independence, if you're wondering." Second card - playfulness. The bruised girl was sure she'd escape without bruised pride involving her lack of academic intelligence, as the red head was playing perfectly into her hands. Ayumi, from repeated encounters with pests and annoyances, had learned that the best way to trick the energetic was to misdirect them. By joking with him, something she did often, but not all the time, Ayumi was directing Kirishima's attention to an image of herself, as opposed to the questions he was asking.
Needless to say, the bloodshot girl had it in the bag -
"Let me, just this once."
What? "Huh?"
A pensive look swept over Kirishima's features; this was a side kept hidden, one Ayumi wouldn't have been able to account for. The wide eyed girl was observant, picking up on the red head's subtle slouch and reservation, the smiling eyes but neutral mouth, the weighty curtains pulled over his normally outspoken voice. Though he seemed solemn, there was still something about the whole look that was meant to captivate those he wanted to listen, whether they wanted to or not. The curtains folded, as Kirishima began to speak: "I'm nervous about this, Ayumi. I know I'm not smart, but I can still see that I'm falling behind the others with my quirk. Ayumi, I need you there with me."
And for that moment, just that moment, the storm outside ceased; the only thunder heard came from Kirishima's voice, assisting his words which struck like lightning. The snake girl wanted to scowl, to spit venom, to make a getaway from the boy who'd already seen too many faults within her. The exposure of her hidden idiocy would be another bruise on her pride, and most likely her skin following that. Ayumi's mind for once concurred with her backbone, screaming at her to deny Kirishima any further access into her true, flawed self. However, such selfish sentiments were incomparable to the force with which her heart pounded in her chest, the thought of being needed by her partner on the verge of overstimulating the poor, sickly girl. So, after several long, unbearable seconds of internal strife, the bloodshot girl resigned to the red eyed boy. "Fine. But just us. I'm tired of seeing the 1-A faces everywhere I go." Tired, Ayumi's back relaxed a bit, for the first time in ages, her mind taking a rest as well. The posture of the snake she could be was wiped away by one boy, who the heavy eyed girl felt she could allow past her defenses. No backbone plated words needed to be sent out to battle the strikingly compassionate ones he spoke - it was nice for a change.
The world resumed once again, the brooding clouds surrounding them giving way to harsh rains. Windows once lit in buildings of less magnificence located around the closed UA campus flickered weakly, unable to withstand the clash of clouds above them. In contrast, the security wing remained bright, red and green compensating for the power supply needed for such facilities. It didn't make sense, but seeing the two interact from afar, but the only one left in UA's security wing besides the pair understood it clearly. The force was inexplicable to those who subconsciously held its power, but the indigo boy witnessing it while casually awaiting a scheduled game of cards labeled it easily, the ghost of a smile upturning his lips.
Love. It was there, it was bright, it was electric.
Two pairs of tired eyes met as Kirishima and Ayumi approached the latter's room; this was a normal sight, however, the energetically inquisitive ones accompanying them was rather odd.
Hitoshi chuckled at the two, tossing Ayumi the deck of cards they'd passed between each other so many times before. Knowingly, the boy with chronic eye bags claimed, "I just stopped by to drop these off to you. My ride's here."
Liar. Ayumi wasn't fooled by the brainwasher's lame excuse, asserting, "Bro, you said you were down! You never back out on poker nights!"
"Oh well. Guess you'll just have to play against Sharky over here."
Before the wide eyed girl could get another word in, indigo departed, leaving the brunette to roll her eyes and exasperatedly run a hand through her tangled and tied up brown locks. Sighing, she groaned. "It's gonna be such a pain, but I guess I'll have to teach you the basics. Damn, I was looking forward to a good round of Texas Hold Em!" Ayumi proceeded to aggressively unlock her door, beckoning the red head to follow her.
"Wasn't that the kid from the sports festival? How'd you guys know each other?"
"Let's just say, him and I are opponents."
Left to their own devices, there was no indigo to throw off the balance green and red exhibited naturally. It made sense to the partners, and thus, the security wing stayed awake for hours to come, blazing among the sleeping buildings sprawled about around it.
It made sense.
