Tomorrow was the day that all the Titans students would be returning to their home country. That thought weighed on Momo Yaoyarozu quite a bit throughout her school day, and the more she examined why that was, the more she knew things couldn't stand as they had before. No, she had to do something important, otherwise she'd never get the chance again.
Despite being one of the class's representatives, Momo left class first the second the bell rang signalling the school day had ended. Moving quickly with a steady power walk, she moved through the halls to the classroom where the Titans class finished their day. Her target had just left the room when she approached him. "Oh, hey Momo, what's up?" Virgil Hawkins asked her, looking confused to see her so soon. They'd planned on one last study session/hang out that evening, after all.
But perhaps what surprised him more was how she looked. Using every ounce of her strength and willpower, Momo was doing everything she could to look serious and confident. Her back was straight, her gaze focused, her face stoic. "I need to talk to you about something." Then she reached out and grabbed Virgil's arm, dragging him into a nearby empty classroom for a serious discussion.
Now Virgil was completely off his game. He'd grown used to the timid, nervous Momo of the last two weeks, settling into his usual calm, relaxed vibe with her. Now he was the one sweating. Exactly as Momo had intended. "Mind telling me what's so urgent?" he asked, crossing his arms to try and appear more cool that he felt.
After taking a small breath to psyche herself up, Momo started saying what she felt had to be said. "I greatly appreciate the opportunity this academic exchange has been, for the both of us. Since it is ending so soon, I realized there was still something I needed to tell you." Virgil nodded to that, giving his ascent for her to continue. Letting a little warmth creep into her voice, Momo explained, "When you chose to open up to me about how you felt about my school's motto, I didn't know how to react. You were trusting me with something you knew I wasn't going to like hearing, all because you wanted to help me."
Looking back, Momo felt embarrassed by how she'd reacted. She felt like she'd been too defensive, not to mention weak in the first place for crying in a classroom over her own stress and nerves. "First, I want to let you know that I respect your viewpoint, and I've even come to better understand exactly what you mean with it. You're right, I do think Plus Ultra's methodology can hurt, even if it helps. Perhaps letting go and being more flexible, lowering my standards, would be better for me in that way." It was a hard admission to make, but Momo felt it had to be said.
The way Virgil had talked to her on the bus almost a week previously, it was clear he'd come to regret sharing his thoughts with her the way he did. To better make clear what she was saying, Momo confidently told him, "I don't think you were acting as though you were better than me when you told me what you did. I'm thankful for it." From the gleam in Virgil's eyes, it was clear he'd gotten her message loud and clear. But Momo wasn't done yet. "That said, I won't abandon Plus Ultra. For all the stress it puts me under, it also makes me better. It makes all of us better. As heroes, we'll be put into impossible situations, and the only way to be prepared for that is to make ourselves able to do the impossible." Having said everything she'd gone there to say, the inertia Momo had built up ran dry, and she found herself overrun with fear once more. "Does that all...make sense?" she asked Virgil, nervousness having returned to her voice.
She wasn't even really able to look at Virgil at first, scared to see how he'd reacted to all she said. That tension melted away when he laughed. "Alright," was all he had to say. Then he stood up and gave her a questioning look. "Am I going to be studying by myself, or were you still planning on joining me? Because while I hate to admit it, you're a lot better with History than I am." Happy to see that he had no complaints with her little rant, Momo nodded and they left to spend their last afternoon together in the school library, helping each other improve as heroes.
All in all, Grant Emerson had not had the same great experience with the trip to Japan that some of his classmates had. Of course, that didn't really surprise him. Even to his teammates, Grant was a stand-offish, anti-social person. They'd learned to understand that and keep their distance. Even Mashirao Ojiro, his assigned partner, had quickly picked up the signals on that. That was, until he'd happened to run into Grant after he'd taken a shower.
Grant did his best to never take off his mask, and always wore the most concealing clothing he could bear. After all, that was the only way to cover his scars. Even though he knew no one meant anything bad about it, Grant always got angry at just the thought of anyone staring at them. No one knew, but he'd attended more than one counseling session with his school's resident therapist, Ms. Clay. She had told him that, considering how recent the...incident...had been, it was understandable he'd still be feeling emotionally raw regarding it. So long as he didn't lash out, and did his best to take care of his own mental health, she was okay with Grant being by himself.
He'd been pretty good about sticking to that promise, until Ojiro had surprised him and seen everything. Grant had no clue how much Ojiro knew, now. The insults and threats carved into his skin were in English, and even if the Japanese teen knew how to read the words, it was unlikely he knew their implications. Despite the sheer violence of what had been done to him, Grant was sure that no Japanese-language websites had reported on it. After all, why would they care that some American kid had been tortured for days on end by a supervillain?
Sometimes, Grant wondered how Professor Zoom had learned what would hurt Grant the most. Had he really done research into his life, into how his adopted father had abused him? Or had it only been coincidence the super-speedy supervillain knew the exact words that would haunt Grant?
Still, that didn't excuse Grant for exploding at Ojiro as he had. He'd been so angry, he'd even started drawing energy into his fists, as if ready to fight him. They hadn't spoken since then, and Grant knew that was on him. Ojiro was assuredly scared to approach Grant, and Grant was in no mood to rehash his shameful display.
But with the return to the States rapidly approaching, Grant didn't want their acquaintanceship to end in Grant's anger. For a while, he'd been considering just going up to Ojiro and saying he was sorry, but Grant didn't really trust himself to navigate that conversation without error. He knew his own limits, after all.
So instead, Grant left a note on Ojiro's dorm room door. It read, 'Sorry I yelled at you. I don't like talking about what happened to me, so please don't bring it up. See you tomorrow. -Grant' It was handwritten in Grant's blocky, yet precise script, and sure enough the next day, he was able to share companionable silence with his assigned partner peaceably. That was good enough for Grant.
