Chapter Twenty-Five: King of Hearts
The security wing was loud, although the girl who resided at the end of it had physically quieted herself. The television was off, the pots and pans were empty, the water didn't run, and yet, any unsuspecting passerby would be subject to the screeching waves of conflict rolling out from under that door, that door at the end of the hall.
Ayumi could still feel the tears she cried into Aizawa's shoulder even a week later. The turbulence she'd felt had escaped with the wetness, but nevertheless, she managed to cling to it still, the girl's cheeks weighed down by the remnants. To smile hurt, to cry was impossible. Suspended in a state of irrevocable agony, the sickly looking girl found solace in a card game Hitoshi had once shown her. They called it Clock Solitaire, where the cards were lined up, twelve piles on the outside, one in the center, the goal being to return all cards to their rightful position before uncovering the four kings.
Luck. It was a game driven by luck, no thoughts required.
The brunette flipped cards over in a trans, slowly exposing the clock she'd dealt that round, the chamomile between her teeth taking her to a far off place. Wondering where that place happened to be was futile; wondering who she'd be with was unnecessary. Ayumi knew the answer to both without any doubts, hand raising a mug of coffee to her mouth.
It would have to be a river.
"Young Ayumi? Are you in there?"
It'd be a place where Jin and I could live without worries.
"This might be a bad time, but I wanted to check in on you!"
And maybe there he'd be able to meet the others, Aizawa...Kirishima.
"I'm coming in!" The front door came toppling down, and a broad figure stood filling the space where it once had. Hair the color of dandelions, with a suit of the same color adorning his overly muscular figure, All Might stood in the door frame of the last room in the security wing, sporting the smile that shook the world time and time again.
Oh, how envious the girl with the tear heavy cheeks and snake bitten lips was of Japan's symbol of peace, who could smile so easily, so readily.
Ayumi flipped the first king over, the king of diamonds.
The symbol walked in, obnoxiously white teeth blinding the poor girl with cards in front of her. Strutting over in her direction, All Might plopped down in the chair across the table, wiping a sweat off his brow. He made it seem laborious to travel all the way in, a symphony of wheezes and sputters leaking from behind the famed smile. Heaving in as he crossed the doorway, coughing it all out upon hitting the chair.
It must trouble him to be here. Internally, the bloodshot girl scoffed, continuing to pay the hero no mind, as he received payment enough from others already. It wasn't a personal hatred, just a hatred of his position what he stood for. Peace didn't reach the motel room where chamomile was a substitute for missed meals, peace couldn't find two kids who didn't exist to the real world, peace hadn't thought of the two afflicted by silent evil. Ayumi continued to flip cards, allowing pure luck to continue revealing more parts of the clock. There went the aces for one o'clock, the eights for eight o'clock, the jacks -
A cough, then a stream of blood splashed onto the table, red, much deeper than the hearts and diamonds before Ayumi. Steam, no, smoke wafted over the cards, shielding them from the wide eyed gaze which had been latched to the game. It was hazy in the room, the cloud of smoke like a spot of smudged pencil lead existing only between the two at the table. They'd been shaded - but by what?
The answer: "Damn. I didn't realize I was already at my limit." A man half the size of the one who walked in now sat across from the bloodshot girl, who now made eye contact with him. Intrigued by the bony, withered looking man who had once been "All Might", Ayumi stopped after flipping over her second king, the king of clubs this time.
New found knowledge at the forefront of her frontal lobe, but beset by the same past she'd always had, Ayumi remarked, averting her gaze from the ominous black sclera which hit harder than the lightning blue irises it surrounded, "Did you really...spit blood all over my table?"
"Uh..."
"There's wipes under the sink."
A vigorous scrubbing of the table later, the pair were still quite silent, despite All Might's originally outgoing approach. The man did make another effort, however, light heartedly inquiring, "So, did you hear about what happened at the mall a few weeks ago? You weren't there, but some of your classmates were."
"I wasn't invited, it seems." Ayumi, gazing at the king of clubs, ran a hand through uneven chocolate locks. She was forced back into the shadows for every time the light shone down on her directly; the torturous see-saw was getting tiring.
"Oh!" Sweating nervously, All Might rushed to collect himself. His eyes appeared to tighten, as he claimed, "I wasn't aware."
"Hmm. Not entirely uncharacteristic of you."
The man, put off by the resentment pouring off of the green skinned girl in waves, continued nonetheless. "Well, last night I was informed by Aizawa of the current situation regarding the summer camp. The plan is to continue on with it, while having pros stationed and ready to capture the villains."
"That's nice," said Ayumi, taking a sip of coffee. "I'm glad it'll all work out."
"That is the plan. However, I want to know how you're doing, Ayumi." All Might, or this shadow of him, stared directly at the girl, as if trying to pull answers from her himself.
The brunette scoffed, continuing on with her cards, flipping away at the clock once again. As the final card for the six o'clock stack was turned up, Ayumi mumbled, a signature stoic look plastered upon her face, "I'm doing fine." A silent venom was spat with the words, marking territory and polluting the air stretched thin by tension.
The mood shifted so easily between strangers.
"As one of your teachers, and as heroes, we feel a responsibility to check in on you. Being in such a position with your brother must be-"
"Must be what?" The king of spades was flipped over, slammed onto the table like a hot iron, holding on to it impossible. Ayumi remained monotonous, her cool still in tact, though she repulsed this sudden guilt the stars of the world felt on her behalf. She jabbed, snake bite rings coming to life, threatening the man across from her, "What I feel - what I've felt, you'd never be able to imagine. I won't let you imagine it."
What do they know? They live in the light, ignorant of the true darkness that exists.
"Young Ayumi, I don't have to imagine your pain. It's not my place to," All Might lowly began, finger drumming coming to a halt. The sudden change in sound prompted Ayumi to raise her gaze, where her pupils stuck to the man's. "As the symbol of peace for our nation, I failed to put you at peace. I'll admit, I was fearful to approach you because there are so many that I have failed. It's hard to face it, even after years of trying to protect everyone." A nostalgic frown turned the bony man's lips downward, as he reminisced bitterly, "It's cases like yours that weigh on me most, so I smile to push through the pain. To repent for our inability to save you, Bubaigawara Ayumi, let us heroes protect you from now on."
To be protected. The girl, with tender bruising on her skin and heart, remembered a time where her first hero had protected her, saved her from whatever was worse than what she had become. Thoughts of such a time were sore to the touch; how easily the image of peanut buttered bread could morph into the image of her duplicated brother talking to himself. Ayumi's past clung on to her hand like it used to, a lost and lonely child, spiteful of the future where it didn't exist.
The moon was high, the lights were bright, All Might was right. It was time for Ayumi to let herself be protected once again. The others, Aizawa...Kirishima. They've already begun saving me, and they don't even know it. True heroes...
All Might stood up, presenting himself readily, a smile of the welcoming type displayed, just for the girl who he'd never smiled at before, only for her. "How are you doing, Young Ayumi?"
The bloodshot girl flipped the last card on the clock. The king of hearts was exposed face-up on the table, knife to the head damningly, despite how lucky she'd been to win at all. Pure luck tasted nice with a cup of coffee.
To push through the pain, she'd smile too. "I've been okay, All Might. Thanks for asking."
—
"Did you hear-"
"I heard that-"
"She said that-"
"Wait, but I heard he-"
"You must be crazy 'cause I'm sure-"
Rumors were more often consumed than food in UA's cafeteria, as the lot of restless future heroes couldn't wait to relay information upon hearing it. Mouths ran and in turn were compensated with another loose end of gossip which may or may not be a figment of the teller's insatiable mind. Table to table, mouth to ear, out the other ear and into someone's food, the students survived on their steady intake of gossip, with a bit of rice and meat here and there. Lunch Rush was a hero, but the lunch rush was a killer of sorts.
"Well she said he told this guy-"
"But they both told me-"
Ayumi was not a fan of lunch in the cafeteria, yet there she stood at the end of the line, waiting her turn for food she didn't want. The luxury to avoid lunch had been revoked that afternoon, as Aizawa was needed in an urgent meeting - presumably regarding the summer camp. Teachers had already announced to their students a slight change in plans (moving the camp to the end of the week and going from there), however, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Faculty faced the dilemma of announcing the threat they faced holding the camp with the risk of causing a widespread panic among the students, or leaving them in the dark, which would cause tremendous backlash if the plan went haywire. Although Ayumi's tip was useful, anyone with eyes, wide or not, could see that UA had been put in a tight spot by such cryptic information.
"You're lying, 'cause I heard from-"
"But she promised that-"
Feet cold with a stutter to her step, said girl wasn't prepared to deal with the sudden onslaught of chatter that had been bred in the crowded lunch room. Her nerves were dizzied by the flying gossip and half-true rumors which were spread like normal conversation around her, prompting Ayumi to pop an extra stabilizer and close her eyes for comfort. This is more of a nightmare than I thought it'd be.
"Hey, stranger." A voice familiar to the brunette pried her eyes open, assaulting fresh pupils with an unruly wave of indigo. Hitoshi was on Ayumi's right, a rice bowl in his left hand and a catalogue in his right. Smirking, the tired looking boy prodded playfully, "Haven't seen you around these parts, little lady."
Rolling dark eyes, Ayumi gave a small chuckle, retorting, "How are you gonna call me little lady when I've bested you in cards on multiple occasions?"
"And yet I still have to look down when I talk to you."
"That's your ego bending. Don't strain yourself."
The line moved up, and so did Ayumi, with an all too eager boy following suit. He eyed the line, staring for a few seconds, then asked, "I thought you didn't like to eat in the afternoons?"
Sighing, the green skinned girl rubbed her arm, subconscious and self conscious. "I don't. Just didn't want to feel even more out of place than I already do out here."
"Since when did you care about appearances?"
"Shut up..."
The indigo kid, feeling sympathetic for his only friend, grabbed Ayumi's arm, dragging her to a table on the outskirts of the large room. They sat, two at a table for four, Hitoshi placing the bowl at the center of the table. Lowly, he spoke, "You don't have to eat, but you can make it look like you are if you want."
A soft "Thanks," cleared the air; a soft thud as a deck of cards was plopped on the table rang within their ears.
Head in her hands, the wide eyed girl bluntly questioned, "Are we gonna play or what?"
"Hmmm...let me teach you this one I learned a while back." The tired eyed boy began shuffling the cards, a whirl of red and white flitting around as the cards were mixed. Hitoshi announced, dealing two hands in a flash, "This one's called Egyptian Ratscrew."
And the pair fell into their usual rhythm, the setting having no effect on their actions. Cards were flipped, hands were slapped, and complaints were sounded, all as per usual. Ayumi's feet didn't feel cold anymore, and Hitoshi's food didn't even need to be touched.
As they both slammed kings down, hands gunning for the large pile at the center, a voice broke the tense silence which had surrounded the two. "Woah! Guys!" A pair of firm hands grabbed Ayumi's and Hitoshi's right before they collided.
There, Kirishima stood before the isolated pair, smiling as per usual, bringing a natural smile to Ayumi's features. She asked, warm heart for the boy who did everything with heart, "What brings you here, Kirishima?"
"Nothin'. Saw you over here."
"Glad to know I've got your eyes on me."
An easy chuckle, shark teeth flashed for all to see. "How could I miss you? This isn't exactly your scene, y'know."
"Hey! So what if gossip isn't my thing? I'm keepin' it real!" exclaimed the smiling girl, her excitement broadly displayed.
The two were in their own world until an indigo scoff from the side broke their banter. Undeterred, Hitoshi smiled and rose from his seat. "Well, I'll leave you two to it." As soon as he'd come, picked Ayumi out of the all-consuming crowd, the boy was gone, as if a figment of her imagination. The only sign he'd even been there was the stack of cards where he'd once sat.
Groaning, the brunette looked to the bowl of food before her. "He always does this when you come around!"
"D'you think he has something against me?"
"Nah...He's not the type to hate for no reason."
With a chuckle to erase all worry, Kirishima locked eyes with Ayumi, continuing their conversation as though nothing had disrupted it. "So, I wonder why they moved the summer camp back. With all that planning, what possibly could've set the schedule back?"
Creasing her brow, remembering all her anxieties, the green girl took the cards and began shuffling them. She asserted, "Must be something important. I'm sure they've got it handled."
I hate lying to you, but I have to, for the both of us.
"I'm stoked! We're gonna train, and after that, I'll be even more manly!"
I won't ruin your excitement with my issues.
"Don't forget about the remedial classes we have to attend."
Aizawa wants to keep me close during this, but I failed the written exam anyways. They've still gotta make sure I'm not switching sides.
"Aw man! I almost forgot. It's okay, though. We'll be together!"
You're so honest, yet I can't be.
Ayumi dealt two hands for crazy eights, a quick game to pass the time. Next to the extras, she flipped the first card to match. "Of course. I'm sure we'll still have a blast."
The king of hearts laid face-up for all to see. The suicide king, the king who'd do it all for love, and did it over again every time he was played.
Over and over and over. Oh the things we do for love.
Opposites attracted, and that's how the naive like Kirishima fell for a deceitful girl like Ayumi, the one who smiled in the face of fear, just to put the others at ease.
I'd like to go somewhere far, where I wouldn't have to lie more often than I sleep. It'd have to be a river...
