If Toru Hagakure had to admit to anyone what her biggest flaw is, she'd probably hem and haw about it for a while before giving a real answer. But that real answer would be, undoubtedly, that she trusted too quickly, and too readily. Toru was aware that could be an issue sometimes, but it wasn't something she had ever thought she'd wanted to change about herself. After all, even if it did mean sometimes people would disappoint her, Toru was the kind of glass-half-full person to look ahead to the genuinely good people who would be happy she so readily trusted them.
In the afternoon that the Titans students were going to be heading back home, Toru received quite the surprise that shook that faith she'd put in others. Toru was on the way back from combat class when she saw her assigned partner Tara Markov walking to her next class. She was about to call out to her when Tara's phone started to ring, and when Tara looked at it the earth-manipulating Titans student froze with what looked like fear.
She quickly walked into an area where most people wouldn't be able to see her, in the shadow between two buildings. Unable to help her curiosity, Toru followed her. Tara wasn't able to tell, since Toru was still in her hero costume, sans gloves and boots, which she'd had to take off during class to surprise someone. Meaning she was completely invisible.
Once she was close enough to hear what Tara was saying, she was also able to hear the genuine acid in her voice. "-all me! Do you want to blow my cover?!" That confused Toru. Before, she hadn't said anything because she didn't want to be embarrassing and interrupt the phone call, but now she couldn't help but eavesdrop on what Tara was saying. What did she mean by a 'cover'?
She felt a little bad, because from how she'd hidden away and the way she was trying to keep her voice down, despite her evident anger, Tara was clearly trying to keep this private. But, on the other hand, Toru was a curious busybody who did enjoy spying on others, when she could. Apparently, whoever on the other end was saying something back, though Toru couldn't hear what. Tara responded to them, "No, the reason I haven't sent anything back recently has been because there's nothing left to send back! All the files disappeared, so I'm trying to stay quiet and not rock the boat." There was a brief pause, and thens he added, "No, Cameron, that wasn't a rock pun!"
Then, Tara held the bridge of her nose with her free hand, taking a deep breath before saying, "I am going to hang up now. Unless you want everyone to know what I've been up to, you had better stop trying to contact me. If you don't, I will kill you, and Slade will laugh while I do it." Then she hung up, checked her surroundings, and left. Toru was frozen, unable to move or even breathe in fear of what she'd overheard. The way Tara had said that...sounded pretty much like she hadn't been joking. She was actually willing to kill someone...
Once Toru was sure she was safe, she carefully walked into the nearest school building and tried looking for a teacher. Luckily for her, she didn't have to look long, as she soon bumped into Mr. Grayson, who was walking down the hall and didn't see her. Because, Toru realized with annoyance, she was still completely invisible. The teacher was on his guard, but Toru squeaked, "Mr. Grayson! You can't bump into me like that, it's rude!" Once he recognized her voice, Mr. Grayson was back to his usual, happy-looking self, ready to say a quick apology and leave, but Toru grabbed his arm to stop him. "Wait! I have something to tell you!"
He must have heard the urgency in her voice, because he nodded his head and asked her to follow him into a nearby room, a classroom that usually was used for teached 3rd years math, but was currently unused thanks to some last-minute room shifting, caused by the Titans visitation. "Alright," he told her, once they'd both sat down at desks next to each other, and he was doing his best to look at her approximately where her eyes should have been. "Tell me what's up."
Unable to stop herself, Toru repeated to him exactly what had happened: running into Tara, her getting the call, everything that was said on the call. The second she'd mentioned Tara's name, Mr. Grayson looked like he was taking it more seriously, the smile gone from his face. By the time she was done talking, Toru had almost convinced herself that it wasn't actually anything to worry about, just a normal conversation she'd over-thought about. "It's probably nothing though, right? I'm just wasting your time..."
Toru started to get out of her seat, but Mr. Grayson stopped her. "Toru! Wait a second." She sat back down, feeling more nervous than before. "What you just told me is very important, thank you for sharing it. But it's also dangerous information, so what I'm about to tell you has to be a secret, okay?" Toru nodded her head, which he couldn't see, but just assumed she'd done anyway. "We've known for a while now, but Tara Markov is a mole. Despite being enrolled in a hero school, she's actually an agent of the Legion of Doom, working directly under Slade Wilson."
Even at her most frightened before, Toru never would have guessed her assigned partner was actually a spy, a villain! "B-but!" Toru sputtered, starting to really freak out, "Then why is she here? It sounds like she was spying on us, and trying to steal information!" UA had so many issues with leaks and villain attacks already, if this got out, they might shut the school down, Toru feared.
"That's right," Mr. Grayson confirmed. "But for now, we're happier holding Tara's true intentions as a closely guarded secret. We make sure to feed her a careful mix of things that aren't relevant, plans already so far along they're impossible to stop, and genuine harmful things, to keep them from realizing we know. Thank you for what you've told me, but please don't act on it. Treat Tara like you did before." It was a hard pill to swallow, and an odd order to try and understand, but Toru agreed anyway. It would be hard, knowing what she did now, to pretend that she was really sad to see Tara go, but luckily for her, there was no way Tara could see the conflict on her face.
The entirety of Class 1-A and the visiting Titans students, as well as the teachers involved in the program, were out on the track field, ready for goodbyes. A martian biological spaceship was parked on the field, and Garfield Logan watched as most people were either among their teams or with their assigned partner. There were hugs, tears, and lots of chatter.
Garfield was with his team, the New Teen Titans, sharing what they liked best about Japan. "I quite enjoyed the karaoke!" Starfire exclaimed, sounding out the last word by the syllable to make sure she was pronouncing it correctly.
"Of course you did," Raven replied, her hood pulled up so it was harder to see her face in the afternoon sun. If asked, she'd probably say it was for the aesthetic, but Garfield knew her well enough to know it was because she didn't want anyone to see if she let an emotion slip out onto her face in all the excitement. "Personally, I didn't find Japan too different from America."
That made Garfield laugh. "Of course you didn't Raven! You spent the entire time in your room, the same thing you do back home. If you wanted to see how different it was, you would have had to go outside more." That earned him a glare and Garfield knew he'd suffer more for that later, but that was Future Garfield's problem. Thinking it over himself, he said, "I've gotta agree with Starfire, karaoke is way better over here. The private rooms beat crowded bars." None of them asked how he knew what the inside of a bar was like.
Before Tim or Vic could give their own answers, some people walked up to them: Midoriya's team, all of their assigned partners. The topic dropped as everyone said their final farewells. Tim and Midoriya made sure they had each other's contact information, Shoji and Vic just shared a handshake, Starfire and Kaminari chatted with aimless small talk, and Uraraka clung to Raven with a hung, unable to help herself from tearing up at the mage's departure.
That just left..."So, you going to write?" Jiro was looking at Garfield, clearly trying to look like she cared about all this less than she did. Still, even the earphone jack-earlobed hero in training's will of steel couldn't keep a slight blush from her cheeks.
Unfortunately, Garfield really couldn't claim he was doing better. His blush stood out even more, what with his green skin for contrast. "Of course I will," he said with a grin. "Maybe you can visit sometime! I know the Doom Patrol would love to meet you! Maybe over winter break? You can bring as many classmates as you want."
Allowing herself a small smile, Jiro said, "I'll consider it. But don't be surprised if twenty teenagers come by to annoy you and your family."
They were about to actually end it with a hug when Mr. Grayson called out, "Alright everyone, we're late already, get on the ship!" Jiro settled for just thumping Garfield lightly on the shoulder, and he joined the rest of his class on the ship, ready to finally head back home. It had been a crazy trip to Japan, but he hadn't been joking about inviting people over. After all, no one celebrated Christmas like Garfield's family.
Twenty students sat on the ship, flying away from the school that had been their home for less than a month. Bonds were forged during that time that would last during their eventual hero careers.
After all, everyone loves a good team-up.
