By the time Mic and Danny made it back to the school, Aizawa was about an hour into a deeper-than-usual sleep. The papers had been signed, folded and packed into envelopes to be sent out to the student's homes and Aizawa was curled up on the floor, in a corner behind one of the filing cabinets, tucked into his yellow sleeping bag. No doubt he was still sleeping light enough to hear if anyone were to open the door, so Mic opted to let the exhausted teacher catch another hour of shut-eye before handing the kid over.
Instead, they dropped off the bags of clothes and things in Mic's classroom and Mic took Danny on a proper tour of the school grounds. First they stopped by the weight room and the gym, where Danny was openly amazed at the size of some of the weights piled in one corner of the room. Of course students with strength based quirks needed to be able to push their limits just as much as the other students, but hearing about a half-ton weight and seeing one elicit very different reactions. Then they stopped by the auditorium, which gave Danny a much better idea of the size of the student body. From there Mic escorted him to the training areas, where students did more quirk-based training. Danny nearly jumped out of his skin when a statue in the corner of one of the Gymnasiums, turned and walked in their direction, waving at them.
Mic waved back, greeting the angular creature in Japanese and it spoke back to him. Mic gestured to Danny a few times during the conversation, but didn't bother to translate what was being said, so Danny just stood there awkwardly trying not to stare at the living cinder block. They continued back and forth for a bit and the stone-like person soon walked away, returning to the corner he'd previously occupied.
"Ok, soooo… who's that?" Danny asked, when Mic didn't say anything.
"Huh? OH! Right right right. English. Sorry, kid. Forgot about that for a minute there. Cementoss doesn't speak any english, see? He's one of the teachers here and he's mostly in charge of the grounds, for obvious reasons." Mic explained, gesturing to the man across the room.
Before Danny could ask what he meant, Cementoss knelt down and put his oversized hands against the flat, grey floor. A deep rumble and the sound of grinding rocks filled the air. Then thick, stone pillars shot up from the floor, reaching for the sky. The pillars towered above the pair with the lowest tier being at least six feet off the ground and the highest rising up almost fifty feet, just barely missing the roof. Within seconds the inside of the gym had been transformed from a flat empty plane into a rugged cliff-like range. Danny stared as the roaring and grinding ceased and only the light pitter of loose pebbles tumbling down the ledges, lingered in the room.
"Holy shit!" Danny breathed.
"Yep." Mic mused.
Danny chuckled as Cementoss nodded in his direction from across the room. "So, you guys can just build whatever you need for any kind of class or exercise, just like that?" Danny asked, snapping his fingers.
Mic grinned. "Pretty much. The teachers we have here are often some of the highest ranked heros, but the main priority is finding instructors who can make things run as smoothly as possible for the school. A top notch nurse with healing abilities is going to save a lot more time, money and bad publicity, than having kids rushed to the ER when training gets a little out of hand. And, I may not be the absolute, highest ranked hero, but I can entertain a crowd of angsty teenagers with ease. Not to mention, I'm a pretty rockin' English teacher, if I do say so myself."
"Makes sense." Danny said, stepping forward to touch one of the pillars closest to the edge of the gym. "Never really thought about super powers being used for things like this, but if everyone in this world has quirks, then there's probably plenty of folks who use them for their day-jobs."
"Now you're getting it." Mic said.
"Not everyone has a quirk though."
Danny whipped around. Aizawa was walking towards the pair, looking just as exhausted as he had when they'd left for the mall. Danny was beginning to wonder if the poor guy ever looked rested.
"Shouta! Lookin' ten years younger already." Mic said, giving the dark haired man a grin and a thumbs-up. Aizawa didn't respond, instead turning to Danny.
"Enjoying the tour?"
"Now that we've gotten to the cool stuff, yeah." Danny said.
Aizawa raised a brow and cast his eyes over to Mic. "You've been at this for three hours and still haven't finished the tour?"
A sheepish grin pulled at Mic's lips. "Well, the tour only really started about half an hour ago, see?"
Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "And the rest of the time?"
"I may have taken the kid to get some clothes and stuff. Only the essentials, I assure you."
"You took him out in public?" Aizawa said, glaring at the blonde.
"I told you I could handle him. Besides, you and I both know which of us is more suited to dropping 30,000 yen on a whim. I was trying to help out. Clearly you needed it."
Aizawa groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Next time, just do as I ask. Especially when it comes to the kid."
"You're welcome." Mic grumbled.
Danny watched the exchange, unable to understand what was being said, but knowing that it had to do with him. "Uh, Mr. Aizawa." he started. "Look I'm the one who asked to go to the mall. I wanted some fresh air, you know. Get a look around. See a little more of the city than just the inside of a building for once."
Aizawa watched him for a long moment. "If you think lying to me is going to win you any points, you're sorely mistaken." He glanced up at Mic and then turned and began walking towards the door. "I'll take the rest of the tour from here."
Guessing that was his cue to follow, Danny offered a half-smile to Mic, who grinned and shrugged.
"I appreciate the attempted save, kid, but he is right. Honesty will get you a lot farther in Shouta's book. Don't worry though. He should get over it eventually.."
"I hope so. Thanks again, for the clothes and stuff."
"No prob, Danny boy. If ya need anything while you're here, gimme a call. I put my number in your phone, so feel free to shoot me a text anytime."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." Danny said, waving over his shoulder as he jogged to catch up with Aizawa.
Once he had caught up, Aizawa shot the teen a glare from the corner of his eye. "Your phone?"
Danny shrunk back a bit from the glare. Even without his erasing powers activated, he was certain Aizawa had some sort of intimidation ability or something. Those dark eyes, glaring at him like that, made him want to crawl under a rock.
"Uh, yeah. Mic said I'd need one, even if I was only gonna be here for a few days." he explained. "I tried to talk him out of it, honest, but he was kinda set on the idea."
Aizawa mumbled something in japanese that Danny didn't recognize. "Fine. At least you'll be preoccupied for a while. Now that I don't have to take you to get any supplies, my priorities are mostly going to focus on my students. You'll be coming up here to the school with me most days so I can keep an eye on you."
"Most days?" Danny asked.
Aizawa sighed. "If you can prove to me that you're not going to burn my apartment down or bolt the first chance you get, I might be inclined to give you a bit of leeway. I know being stuck up here with nothing to do can get more than a little annoying."
"Really? That's… that's cool. So, uh, what did you have in mind?" Danny said, trying to hide his eagerness and failing miserably.
"Be yourself. Relax. Show me who you are, as a person. Give me a reason to trust that you mean what you say. Then, if I believe you're capable and trustworthy enough, I'll consider adding you to my class' summer training camp trip."
"Training camp? Sounds more like work than a reward." Danny grumbled.
"You'd prefer to be under police surveillance while I'm away?" Aizawa asked.
Danny's shoulders sagged. "I guess not. And, I mean, it would be cool to see what other powe- er... quirks other people have. How old are most of your students?"
"Around fifteen or sixteen, for the most part."
"Ok, so they're all my age, or close enough to it." Danny surmised. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of meeting, not only other super powered people, but kids his age. Peers, who were working to become heroes in their own right. Even if he didn't quite agree with this whole hero-society thing entirely, the idea was very alluring. "I guess it would be nice to get out and stretch my legs more. And if I went on this trip, you'd let me use my powers?"
Aizawa nodded. "I'd treat you the same as I would any of my other students. You'd be pushed and expected to participate in the training like the rest of them."
"No special treatment, huh?"
"I don't play favorites." Aizawa said, simply.
The two continued their walk out onto an open field. Some areas were marked off for familiar activities like a long jump and a relay track, though the track seemed longer than the one around the football field at home. There were a number of other marked off areas, but he wasn't sure what their purpose was.
"I'll arrange a meeting with the principal and the other teachers for later this week." Aizawa started. "We still need to gauge your abilities and really see what you're capable of. If Nezu approves, this will be your testing ground." he said, gesturing to the field before them.
Danny's brow furrowed. "Wait, you want me to show off all my powers?"
"That's the idea."
"Yeah, well, I'm not sure if it's a good idea."
Aizawa's eyes narrowed, but he didn't speak.
Danny sighed. "Look I don't mind at all, honestly I'm kind of itching to let off some steam, but… I'm not exactly the best at controlling all of my powers and there's at least one that I really try not to use around other people and definitely not near large buildings, if I can help it."
"This school is built to help train and work with all kinds of quirks. Regardless of how many abilities you have, I'm sure we can handle whatever you can dish out." Aizawa said. He watched Danny's reaction and the hint of concern that flickered behind the teen's eyes. "That said, if it'd put you at ease to have someone else there who can subdue you without the… 'sight effects' that my quirk seems to cause, I can have that arranged."
Danny took another look at the open field and the foresting of trees that lay beyond it. "Alright. Can't guarantee you'll have such a nice view by the end of it though." he said, gesturing to the treeline.
"You seem confident that you're abilities can cause significant damage." Aizawa stated, crossing his arms.
Danny looked up at the man. "Hey, it's not like I go out of my way to break shit." Danny defended. "I just… I'm still figuring out how all this works."
"You mean quirks?"
"I mean my powers." Danny admitted.
Aizawa nodded. "Nezu mentioned you telling him that you'd only had your abilities for just over a year. I take it there's no mentor figure where you come from to teach you how to better use your powers?"
A dry, humorless laugh hissed through Danny's teeth. "No one I'm willing to consider."
Aizawa waited for an explanation, but Danny didn't elaborate. Thus far Danny had been a relatively open book when it came to his powers and the world he'd come from, but this was clearly a topic he was not going to divulge if he didn't have to. After all he wasn't going to be here much longer. There was no need for Aizawa to know about his enemies, relationships and responsibilities back home. If it wasn't important, he wasn't going to get into it.
Aizawa sighed. "Fine then. Come on, there's more school to see." he said, turning and walking towards a cluster of buildings.
"Wiat, there's more?" Danny asked, jogging to catch up to the teacher and looking at the buildings looming ahead. "One of those is yours too?"
"They're all ours."
Danny blinked and looked from the city block that they were nearing to the expressionless man. "What do you mean all of them? The first two buildings there? I mean, they just look like office buildings. Are they for the general classes you mentioned?"
Aizawa glanced down at Danny then nodded in the direction of the buildings. "Look again. Notice anything out of place?"
Danny's brow furrowed and his eyes flitted from building to building as they drew nearer. "I mean, it's hard to tell, cuz it's the middle of the day, but… the lights aren't on are they? Are all the buildings empty?"
Aizawa nodded. "Keep going."
Danny's gaze drifted down the buildings, looking for other hints. Some were newer than others, but they all looked real. Real walls, real windows, all the things normal buildings were made of. Then again, after what he'd seen that cement guy do in the gym, he figured making a 6 story building wasn't too far out of their reach. A wall seperated the city area from the field they'd just been at and they were approaching a large gate. Then he noticed it.
The road.
On the other side of the gate was a black, paved road that looked like any other road. Except this one ended right under the gate, stopping dead at the wall's boundary. No dirt path. No gravel drive. Just green grass.
"The whole city is fake?" Danny asked. As they neared the gate.
"It's hardly large enough to be considered a village, much less a city." Aizawa said, walking over to the left side of the gate and typing into a touchscreen. "It is, however, a five block radius of buildings made to accurately simulate a metroplex." The screen beeped and the gate opened. Aizawa walked inside and Danny followed, eyeing the eerily quiet structures as they passed.
"This'd be one hell of a place to play hide-and-seek." Danny said.
"This is a training ground." Aizawa stated. "There are others designed to mimic urban housing developments, industrial plants, warehouses and shipyards. Teachers can use these areas to setup and simulate almost any kind of life-like simulation for the students to react to. Forcing the students to consider their environment in a fight encourages them to be more aware of their surroundings and more creative with the use of their quirks."
"Yeah, and I bet not having any civilians around makes it a lot easier for everyone to experiment and try new things without worrying about hurting anyone or causing too much damage."
"We still strongly encourage the students to keep collateral to a minimum." Aizawa corrected. "Even with Cementoss, it still costs money to build these environments."
"I guess that makes sense too. Still," Danny stopped in the middle of an intersection, eyeing the empty cars and silent towers, "it's better than learning and failing with real consequences hanging over your head."
It would've been amazing if Danny had been able to learn how to use his powers like the students here did. He couldn't help but think of all the mistakes that could have been avoided if he'd been able to practice more in his early days. Even now, with his powers getting stronger, he was dealing with even bigger disasters when he screwed up. He couldn't help the little pulse of envy in the back of his mind. So many things could have gone differently back home if he'd just been more prepared and had a good teacher.
The thought of Vlad's offer from when they first met, bubbled to the forefront of his mind and Danny shuddered. Then again, better to make a few mistakes here and there, than to learn everything and turn out like… that. A teacher like Aizawa though… That would have been cool.
He turned his attention back to the older man, who was staring at him. Danny faltered. How long had he been doing that? Then again, how long had Danny been standing there, staring at nothing.
Aizawa turned and started walking down an adjacent street. Danny followed.
"It's been a long day. Why don't we run to the store, grab some food and head back to the apartment." Aizawa said, leading Danny between buildings and through back alleys. "Once we make dinner… hm." Aizawa hummed to himself. "Don't have much in the way of entertainment. I don't usually host guests. Might be something on TV you can watch. Not sure how much you'll get out of it with the language barrier though."
Danny shrugged. "Honestly, if you've got wi-fi I'm cool with fiddling with the phone for the evening. Still wanna figure out how it works and maybe do a bit of my own research, ya know? See if I can get an idea how this society works and maybe blend in a little better. I mean, if I'm gonna be stuck here for a few days, then it's in my best interest to at least be aware of current events and the law and stuff, right?"
"You don't have to sell the idea to me, kid. Just stick to the rules I gave you and whatever you do after that is up to you." Aizawa led them down a street and the two came to another gate exiting the fake city. "You're going to stick out by virtue of being an American teen who doesn't know any Japanese, regardless of what you can find online. But if it'll give you something to do that doesn't bother me, then I don't care what you decide to do with your time."
"Gee, thanks." Danny deadpanned. "The enthusiasm is much appreciated."
Aizawa didn't respond.
Danny followed Aizawa through the school and back to Present Mic's classroom. The obnoxiously loud teacher was nowhere to be seen, but the shopping bags he and Danny had accumulated were piled up next to the door, waiting to be whisked away once more. Aizawa turned to Danny.
"Well? They're your clothes, aren't they?" he said, gesturing to the bags.
Danny sighed and started slipping his arms into the handles of the bags. He managed to get three on each arm and Aizawa, thankfully, scooped up the last two bags.
"So, are we gonna catch a cab or something?" Danny asked as they began to make their way through the halls.
Aizawa peered at the kid over his shoulder. "All those powers and you can't carry a few bags of clothes for five blocks? I'm fairly certain I heard you mention enhanced strength at one point or another."
Danny readjusted the bags on one arm. "Yeah, in my ghost form. When I'm human like this, I don't have access to all of my powers. If you let me go-ghost I could carry all this, and you and fly us to your place in like five minutes."
"Go-ghost? You mean, transform into your other self?"
"Yeah. That's what I call it at least." Danny explained.
Aizawa rolled his eyes. "Regardless, the answer is no. You're not supposed to be using your powers at all, much less for something so frivolous. It's not a necessity. Besides, you did say earlier you needed to blow off a little steam. It's probably not what you were expecting, but I'm betting it will tire you out all the same."
Danny could almost hear a smile in Aizawa's voice as he spoke. There was a certain smugness, however mild, in his response.
"Great." Danny deadpanned.
The two trudged down the halls, down the elevator and slipped out one of the side entrances of the school to avoid the press. Aizawa did allow Danny to go invisible again, just in case there were any reporters lurking about, though he had to keep hold of the teacher's sleeve like before. Once they were about a block away, Danny popped back into sight and the pair continued their march home. Danny was lagging behind Aizawa by more than a few steps. The bags weren't really a struggle to manage, but they were slowing him down more than he had hoped.
As Danny passed by a small side street, a chill ran up his spine and he felt a familiar gasp of air leave his lips. He froze. For a moment he just stood there, shocked by how welcoming the sensation was. It'd only been a few days, but he'd become so accustomed to his ghost sense going off multiple times a day, that feeling after it had been absent for so long… it was oddly comforting.
Almost instinctively his eyes flickered green and he stared down the street. At first he saw nothing. Just a line of houses on either side of the road, with little overhangs above the doors and trash bins by the steps. Then a flicker caught his attention by the window of one of the houses. He tried to focus on it, but it was as if the image was being distorted. It was a bipedal figure, that he was sure of, but it was small. Like a child.
He took a step towards the house and instantly a hand was on his arm.
Danny looked up and Aizawa's dark eyes stared back at his glowing green ones.
"Can you hear me?" He said in a low tone.
Danny blinked and nodded. "Yeah I can hear you just fine, I-" he looked back down the street, but the figure was gone. "Shit."
"What?" Aizawa asked, not letting go of Danny's arm.
"I saw- something."
"That's descriptive."
Danny rolled his eyes, forcing them to flicker back to blue. "My ghost sense went off and I saw a figure down the street by that house." he explained, pointing to the place he'd been staring at.
Aizawa glanced in the same direction, but quickly turned his attention back to Danny.
"I'm not lying." Danny said.
"I never said you were." Aizawa said. "Could have just been someone else's quirk reacting weirdly with yours."
"Maybe… but I don't think so."
Aizawa stared at him for a few moments longer before finally letting go. "Doesn't matter now. Let's just get back to the apartment. I'll call and have something delivered for dinner tonight." Danny expected the teacher to turn and start walking, but he didn't. He just stood there, as if waiting for Danny to make a move.
That little flicker of distrust was back again. Not that it had ever left, really.
Danny gave the side street one more look, then sighed and started walking in the direction they had been heading. Aizawa fell into step beside him. As the street fell further and further away, the feeling of unease settled more deeply in Danny's mind.
"This kind of thing happen a lot where you're from?" Aizawa aked.
Danny shrugged. "A couple times a day. Usually while I'm at school."
"So you're school is haunted."
Danny chuckled. "Sort of. I mean, it was for a while, but I took care of that. If you asked everyone else though, they'd say 'Danny Phantom' haunts the school."
Aizawa raised a brow.
"What?"
"Well, do you?" he asked.
"What? No! They only say that because that's where I get seen fighting off other ghosts a lot of the time. It's kinda hard to focus on studying for an algebra test when you know that there's something evil lurking in the halls. But it's not like I'm trying to scare anyone… I mean, unless it's Dash, but that doesn't count. He always starts things and I just quietly get a mild dose of revenge from time to time."
"So you don't haunt the school, you just spend a large portion of your time there, defend it from unwanted intruders and lash out at other students as you see fit." Aizawa glanced down at him. "Did I leave anything out."
Danny blinked. "Well… I mean, when you put it like that…"
"Don't get all worked up, kid. Isn't the term, 'haunt' used pretty casually in english anyways? I mean, I could say UA is one of my regular haunts, yeah? "
"Well, yeah… sort of. It's just got a heavier meaning when you live in the most haunted city in America." Danny said. Then he realized something. "Hang on, was that a joke a minute ago? You have a sense of humor?"
"When I have time." Aizawa said with a shrug. A faint smile pulled at the corner of his lips.
They managed to make it to the apartment complex without incident, though Aizawa was making a point to stay within arms reach of Danny the rest of the way. Despite his seemingly more relaxed appearance, he was still working. Danny tried not to think about it too much. Besides, if he keeled over from the weight of the bags, which seemed to grow heavier and heavier with each step, at least he'd be caught before smacking face first into the cement.
They made it halfway up the stairs, when the chill returned. This time Danny saw the faint blue glow of breath in front of his face. He looked up and saw Aizawa watching him.
"What did you just do?"
"Ghost sense." Danny muttered under his breath. "Not really something I have control over."
"So that means there's a ghost nearby?"
"Yes, that's generally what a ghost sense implies." Danny hissed. His eyes flicked to that glowing green once more and he began to look around.
He didn't have to look long.
At the top of the stairs, only a few feet away from Aizawa, stood the same, jittering figure. Now that it was closer though, he could make out some details. It was a child, first off, and judging by the dress and long hair, a girl. She had whispy blue lights for eyes and no matter how hard he tried to focus, she remained fuzzy and jittery. Like an old black and white TV with a bad connection, viewed by someone who had forgotten their glasses.
Aizawa turned and look in the same direction, but just as quickly looked back at Danny.
"What are you seeing?"
Danny's brow furrowed and he pointedly gestured at the girl. "What do you mean she's right-" he stopped and realization dawned on him. "Right. She's invisible. You can't see her…" he sighed. "There's a girl at the top of the stairs. I can't really see her clearly though."
"Nothing to do with your eyesight, I assume. Is this normal?"
"It's not something I deal with often back home, but I've got a theory." Danny said. "If I'm right, she can't hurt you. You should be able to get inside just fine."
"I'm not letting you out of my sight." Aizawa said.
"I didn't expect you to. But I'm gonna need to be a little more creative with how I get in." Danny glanced up at Aizawa. "I'll float up and phase through the wall. I'll stay visible the whole time, I promise."
"After the stunt you pulled with the reporter earlier-"
"Yes, I know. But this is a bit more delicate, ok?" Danny hissed. "If she is what I think she is, then I need to make sure she doesn't touch me. Best way I can do that is keep a few feet away from her, 'kay?"
Aizawa thought over the proposal for a moment, likely weighing how much of what Danny was saying was actually true or not. After all, he clearly couldn't see the girl. All he had to go on was the word of a kid who'd already been pushing the boundaries he'd set at the start of all this. Now he was expected to trust him with a situation he couldn't see with his own eyes.
The older man took a breath and sighed. "Fine. If you try to run though, I'll drop you without a second thought."
"Yeah, yeah. Just get up and inside. I'll be there in a minute or two."
Aizawa started back up the steps, slipping past the girl. She seemed to step out of his way, though her eyes never stopped staring at Danny. Once Aizawa unlocked the door and had it open, Danny glanced around to make sure no one was watching and transformed. Instantly the bags on his arms felt lighter and he easily drifted up so that he was level with the second floor. Both the girl and Aizawa were watching him, like a pair of hawks.
"It's ok." he hummed, holding up his hands for the girl to see. "I'm just gonna go inside now. No need to do anything creepy or drastic."
As he floated toward the door, the girl's gaze followed him. He phased through part of a wall and the door frame and managed to land and set his bags down as Aizawa closed the door. Danny let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
"Do you think she'll stay out?" Aizawa asked.
Danny rolled his eyes. "With my luck? I'm betting she'llHOLYSHIZ-" He had just turned to walk towards the couch, when the girl appeared just a few inches in front of him. Danny stumbled back.
"I take it she's in the apartment?"
"What was your first clue?"
The girl didn't move towards them. She wasn't really doing much of anything actually. Just, staring.
"What does she want?" Aizawa asked.
"Beats me." Danny shrugged. "I've only encountered one of these before and there wasn't a language barrier to deal with back then. Then again… she is just a little girl. " Danny ran a hand through his white hair and grumbled a bit to himself. "Here goes something, at least."
He took a step towards the girl and knelt down so that he was at her eye level. She watched him and he could have sworn he saw a flicker of worry on her expressionless face. He attempted to smile and waved his hand. "Hello." he said.
She stood very still for a moment, as if having to take time to absorb his impressive greeting. Something, that was probably supposed to be a mouth, opened slightly and closed, but no sound came. When Danny didn't react, she raised a hand and touched her own face. The flicker of worry returned.
"Well, that sucks." Danny said.
"What now?"
"A few things, I think." Danny said, not taking his eyes off the spirit. "Firstly, I think my hunch was right. She's not a ghost, not really."
"Then what is this thing that's now in my apartment that only you can see?" Aizawa said. Danny could hear his patience growing thin.
"The way my mom explains it, Ghosts are spirits of people who have, for one reason or another, become tethered to the world after death. But not all dead people turn into ghosts." he explained. "Most go straight on to… well, wherever it is people go after death, but some linger. A ghost only forms if a lingering spirit has enough power, enough energy, to remain on earth. I told you about the Ghost Zone, right? Well, that place acts like a massive power source for spirits. They're naturally drawn to it, like a magnet."
"And you're the only thing in this world that's been to the Ghost Zone." Aizawa added, putting the pieces together quicker than Danny had expected.
Danny nodded. "That's what I've been thinking. This is a spirit who's recently died. Not enough power to stay, but something's keeping her here, regardless."
"Will she cross over on her own then?"
"With me here, acting like a beacon? I doubt it." Danny said. He hummed to himself and wrinkled his brows together. "I wonder though." Slowly, tentatively, Danny held out a hand towards the girl. She stepped back, flickering more violently. Scared.
"No. No. It's ok." Danny soothed. "It's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you. Look, see?" Slowly he let a little green ball of ectoplasm form in the palm of his hand. He let it grow to the size of a golf ball and watched as the girl became mesmerized.
"What are you doing?" Aizawa asked.
"Giving her what she wants."
Slowly the girl took a few tiny steps towards Danny and reached out for the green, glowing ball. The instant she touched it, the flickering ceased and her form became solid and crisp all at once. She gasped and behind him, Danny could hear Aizawa mutter something in Japanese. Danny glanced at him over his shoulder.
"You thought I was crazy, didn't you?"
"No... I thought you might be lying." Aizawa corrected, eyes now fixed on the semi-translucent form of the girl.
She was young, maybe seven or eight years old at most. Dark hair cascaded behind her and seemed to move as if under water. What Danny had thought was a dress he could now see was a school uniform, wrinkled but otherwise undamaged. Overall she looked like a normal, little girl… then he noticed her neck. Deep, dark bruises encircled her neck and Danny's shoulders slumped.
"Oh no…"
The girl opened her mouth to speak, but again no sound came.
"Why can't I hear her?" Aizawa asked.
"It's not you." Danny said, "I can't hear her ether. Let me try..." he fed more power into the ectoplasm and it grew larger. The girl eagerly put her other hand on it as well and her eyes lit up, neon blue.
Then she spoke. It was very distinctly Japanese, but Danny hadn't heard these words before.
Aizawa was by his side in an instant, knelt down just like Danny and looking at the girl. He spoke and her gaze finally left Danny and turned to the dark haired teacher.
"Whatever you do, don't make her mad." Danny added, just as Aizawa had opened his mouth to speak. "Ghosts, spirits, they're all emotion and energy. I'm feeding her enough power to be present and speak, but if she wants to, she can do some serious damage. Do not get her upset. Don't bring up the fact that she's dead."
"Look at her neck." Aizawa hissed. "This child didn't die of natural causes."
"I can see that. But I'm warning you, don't go there." Danny said, trying to keep his voice calm but stern. "Trust me, please. I know what I'm talking about here. I've got exactly one thing I'm even remotely good at and this is it."
Aizawa looked between the two for a moment, weighing his options. Then he went back to speaking in Japanese to the girl. She eagerly replied and then Aizawa said something else. This time she had to think for a while, her nose wrinkling up in thought before she finally spoke. Danny watched as the two continued back and forth like this for a few minutes. The girl had moments where it looked like she was struggling to remember things, but Aizawa kept her talking. Danny even saw the grumpy old man smile for her, just once and only slightly. Then the girl turned her vivid, blue eyes back to Danny and said something. Aizawa responded and that got her attention, but now there was a distinct feeling that they were both talking about Danny. That was alright though. At this point he was starting to get used to being casually left out of conversations happening only a few feet in front of him.
"What's her name?" Danny asked.
Aizawa stopped mid-sentance and glanced between Danny and the girl. He said something to her and her face wrinkled up as she struggled to think of an answer. Finally she mumbled something and Aizawa quickly responded, his voice comforting and gentler than Danny expected.
"She can't remember." he said.
Danny sighed. "This is gonna be a long night." Slowly, he stood up, making sure to keep his hand within the girl's reach and started to float towards the living room. The girl followed, like a little lost puppy following whoever had the treats. Danny settled himself onto the couch and the girl came to rest, cross-legged on the floor, still holding onto the little green orb in Danny's hand.
"If she can't recall her name and we don't want to risk getting her upset," Danny said, "the best thing we can do is just relax and keep her company."
"For how long?" Aizawa asked as he made his way into the kitchen.
Danny shrugged. "No idea. If she's scared she'll keep close to whatever makes her feel powerful, aka, battery boy here." he said, gesturing to himself. "If she gets bored, hopefully she'll leave and go back to meandering around the streets. With any luck she'll get drawn over to… wherever it is spirits are supposed to go."
"And those are our only options?" Aizawa pulled out a can of cat food and started dividing it onto paper plates.
"Well, we agreed we're not going to pester her for more information due to the risk of dealing with a vengeful, mildly radioactive, ghost child wreaking havoc on your kitchen. And I'm certainly not going to try and run her off. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that she's had a pretty rough day already. If I had any of my parent's tech I could contain her and release her into the Ghost Zone once I get home… but if I'm being honest that's not really the best option for her."
"Fair enough." Aizawa said, making his way to the back porch with the cat food. "Then the question becomes, how long can you keep feeding her that energy?"
Danny looked down his arm to the orb, which was almost the size of a marble at that point. He poured more energy back into it and the orb grew back to the size of a baseball. The girl smiled and looked back up at him. He automatically returned the grin with one of his own. "I'll be fine. Promise."
Aizawa didn't seem satisfied by his answer, but he didn't press the issue either. He stepped outside and was eagerly greeted by a pack of cats. The girl watched the cats on the porch, but made no move away from Danny's side. And that's how the three of them remained. Aizawa, tending to not-his-cats, the dead girl, sitting quietly and observing the unfamiliar room, and Danny, resting on the couch and frequently feeding the orb of ectoplasm in his hand. It was hardly what any of them had wanted to do with the remainder of their evening, but there were worse ways to spend the day.