2163/06/12 18:00

All the information I could find online led me right to him. It wasn't too hard, a small trip to Musutafu, where a large bulk of nearby heroes stay.

Unlike last time, using my quirk is out of the question, but the plan I laid out for myself should work just fine.

…

I've already confirmed that everything will go smoothly, so why am I standing here, unmoving, staring at him from this distance?

From a small corner of my mind, I hear voices calling out, telling me to stop. Begging me to see that this is wrong.

But then.

'Why?'

All hesitance leaves my body at once.

Walking up to the hero, dressed like a Matador with bull horns, I tug on his red cape.

"Hm? Oh, I almost didn't notice you little senorita! Did you need something?"

"My friend, he's hurt! Can you help me!? I'll lead you right to him!"

"Hurt? Fear not little one! O'Toro will get him right to a hospital, show me the way!"

Perhaps I was wrong, maybe it will be just that easy.

2163/06/12 16:30

"Nngh!...Hhhhrn!"

Hearing the sounds of struggling from outside my room, I peek my head out to see-

What?

"Sachi? What the hell!?"

She's basically covered in dust and debris, her hair disheveled. But worst of all, she's dragging around the limp body of a costumed hero.

"Oh! Kazami! I hope you're doing well?"

"Sachi. Who is this?"

"Hm? This is O'Toro. Lady Michiru requested for me to serve him for dinner."

Oh…oh god.

"Sachi, no what the fuck?"

"I-is there a mistake?"

"She meant Otoro. The fatty part of tuna that you eat when you have Sashimi. She isn't a cannibal. How can you-"

No, this is just like her. I underestimated just how far she would be willing to go to complete a task.

But still, her maid uniform might be a bit roughed up, but she's overall no worse for wear. O'Toro on the other hand has bruises all over his upper body. Did she fight him? A professional hero, and win?

"S-sashimi. She meant…sashimi? B-but- I- Sashimi- Otoro-"

Sachi's body slowly begins to shake more and more violently.

"Hey, hey Sachi!"

"Ah-"

I grab hold of her shoulders.

"Forget about the request for just a moment. You can go to the store and buy tuna anytime."

"Y-yes. You're right. So I guess we should just release-"

"No. That won't work. He's already seen you. He can identify you to authorities. We have to tell the principal."

And maybe, I'll have to give a call to JB just to be safe.

God damn it, I could have prevented this if I just stepped up and said something.

"Where are the others?" She asks me.

"Yumiko is in her room, so let's keep it down. The other three are at the shopping center. I would rather they not know about this, so I say we bring our friend here to another location while he's still out."

This is going to be a long night.

2163/06/13 9:00

I decided to take a day off from school today to see last night's events through. Luckily, the other girls remained largely ignorant of the events, and Sachi was able to prepare a Sashimi dinner for all five of them. I sat out to help Chizuru a little.

After I told her about what happened, she was shocked at first, but then quickly regained her composure and spoke as if she had expected something like this to occur. The words I honed in on were-

'So it happened again…'

The immediate measures that were taken included bringing the hero to a hospital in Musutafu. A quick hypnotic suggestion under all that medication was implanted to make him forget all about that afternoon's events.

But it's not so simple. He could easily regain all his memories just by looking at her. We can't take the chance, so Sachi was placed under strict house arrest. The girls were told not to make any request that could possibly lead to her leaving the premises, and to watch her closely, which they agreed to under the lie that Sachi had nearly gotten lost in the city looking for tuna.

There wasn't much else that needed to be done, but regardless I decided to have a meeting with Chizuru.

"You going to explain?"

"I can."

"What do you mean you can woman?"

"You're referring to what I said yesterday? About how this happened again?"

"What else?"

"I don't have anything against talking to you about it, but you once told me that you didn't want to see their files."

"Hrm. So it has to do with their circumstances. I guessed as much already."

Little by little I've been piecing together why each girl would end up in a place like this. So far it hasn't been much, but at least there's been glimpses.

Amane must have been mentally affected by an accident of some sort, Makina and Yumiko were both probably dumped here by their parents, and I'm sure Michiru's other personality I came into contact with has something to do with it as well.

But for the first time, I've truly seen what kind of damage these girls can do when let free. What's stopping a villain from using Sachi to commit a truly heinous crime? No, a better question would be has that already happened before?

One thing is for certain, she's killed, or at least injured a hero in the past, which I'm guessing is what resulted in her coming here. With that in mind, I don't need to violate her privacy. As long as we keep her safe and inside the school, she shouldn't be getting into any more trouble. There is one question I have in mind though.

"What kind of quirk does she have?"

"That's a normal train of thought, but no, she didn't use a quirk."

"She's quirkless?"

"I didn't say that. Only that she didn't use it. She was ordered to never use it against another person ever again."

"I guess an order like that is all someone would need to restrict her. Even still."

She managed to beat a professional hero in direct combat with her bare hands and a rag with some chloroform on it. Despite what movies might tell you, chloroform doesn't just instantly knock you out at the slightest touch. She would have had to wear him down first.

Chizuru swings her chair around to look out the window.

"Yes. It's sad, isn't it? I believe she has what it takes to become a strong heroine. But…"

"But it's not very realistic. We can sit here believing all we want, but it doesn't change the fact that she can be a great danger to others."

"Mh. I know."

I'm not the biggest fan of Chizuru's overly optimistic view of this school, in fact, I've made it a point to tell her just how inane an idea it was to believe that we could 'fix' each other by being locked up in the same place. But the look on her face right now shows actual sorrow. I personally don't understand it, but at the very least I know that inside her heart she wishes the best for the girls.

"That's all I wanted to talk about. I better get going."

"Wait, Yuuji."

"Hm?"

"Are you sure you don't want to learn more about her? You might be surprised with what you learn."

"If my curiosity reaches that point, you'll be the first one I call. Not like you have anything better to do than wait for me anyway."

"Okay, you can leave now!"

2163/06/14 17:40

A while ago, I brought up the idea of self-care. At the time I only brought up the physical aspects that go into making sure you and your body are in top shape. Hygiene, hydration, diet, and of course, sleep. But you'd be surprised how many people neglect one of the largest parts of their overall health: Mental health.

Mental health is an umbrella term, but when talking about self-care, it can include things like stress management, releasing your emotions in a healthy way, and knowing when to focus on yourself.

Stress management is a big part of everyday life, and knowing how to destress is an important skill for virtually everyone no matter what your job might be. Students, police, and office workers, all accrue stress over time, and understanding what you can do to release that stress is going to make your life much easier on the backend.

Reading can be a de-stressor, as can going on walks, doing a hobby, or hanging out with friends. Most marines I knew tended to destress by bar hopping every weekend and getting piss drunk as much as possible. Whatever works, works.

Thanks to my bear-rat-thing principal, I decided to try opening myself more not just to my classmates at U.A., but to try and talk to a certain someone at Mihama. So I decided to do my best to ask a relatively harmless question as an opener.

'Why are you always wearing headphones?'

Now, 'always' might be a lie, Yumiko doesn't actually use them very often, but it's something that we see every once in a while. Of course, she took this question as some sort of attack and told me to mind my own business. After I tried to say that I wanted to learn more about it, she got all quiet before telling me that it was just her way of destressing.

When I tried to talk to her more about it, she told me to go to a music store before shutting the door. Looking back, maybe it was weird to knock on her door specifically to ask questions about her listening habits…

Regardless, it's because of that series of events that I'm standing here, feeling like a complete idiot.

This cd store is full of people dressed like weirdos. What do I even do? I admit this stuff is a bit out of my league. I'm not exactly the type to listen to music in my downtime every chance I get. I don't even have a single song downloaded on my personal phone.

"Hey, Kazami? That you?"

"Hm? Oh, Kyoka, what a coincidence."

Kyoka Jiro, if I remember correctly, is the girl that Denki told me he had a crush on. I've hardly spoken to her since starting at U.A., and her performance so far hasn't really caught my eye, so it's not like I've been paying her much mind.

"I didn't know you were into this type of stuff."

"Music? I'm not."

"Huh? Then why are you here? You do realize there isn't anything here but music right?"

"Hrm. I wonder what gave that away? No, I'm here because my roommate told me she uses music as a way to destress. I'm trying to learn more outside of my range, so I thought I should come here and see what the big deal is."

But It feels like I'm just wasting my time.

"Music can be used for more than just calming yourself. It can inspire pretty much any emotion you can think of. Sad, angry, and excited, people listen to music for all sorts of reasons."

"Interesting. You seem to have a real passion for it."

"Yeah- well…"

"Would you mind showing me what you listen to?"

"Me!? You want to listen to the music I like?"

"Would you prefer to show me music you dislike instead?"

"I mean no…but-"

"Outstanding. Lead the way."

"Mmmrm."

"Alright, now check this one out. It's called Prog Rock, or some people would classify this as Prog Metal. This song is notorious for being hard to play, trust me I've tried. There's over a hundred time signature changes!"

…What the hell have I been listening to for the past hour? This all sounds like random noises clanging together messily.

Hold on, was that ragtime? What's a ragtime piece doing in the middle of loud metal? I don't get it at all. In what way can you use this to destress?

I can't even hear her but Kyoka's going on about it with a smile on her face. After she got over some initial shyness, she practically info dumped me on different rock and metal bands when I decided to go along and listen to everything she threw at me.

"Hey. Hey!"

"Oh, you done?"

"Do you have anything that I can actually listen to when I'm reading and trying to relax?"

"Hmm, yeah I think I know what you might be looking for."

She starts fiddling around with her phone, typing in random words while I stand around with her headphones on. I'm starting to realize that we aren't actually interacting with the store so much as basically loitering.

"Here, I usually listen to stuff like this when I'm studying."

The music is now much slower, featuring only a single acoustic guitar. At the very least I can hear myself think this time.

"So, what got you into music?" I say at a perfectly normal volume, unlike before when I felt that I had to scream to be heard.

"My parents I guess. They're both musicians so they kinda raised me with it. Even taught me to play."

"You make music? You should show me sometime."

"Huh? N-no way. You wouldn't like it at all. I'm nowhere near as good as anything I've been showing you."

"Hrm. Well if that's how you want to go about it. But there's nothing wrong with putting yourself out there. If you're already saying the music you make is bad before anyone has even heard it, you're going to make it come true."

"Ah. I get what you're saying but…"

"Maybe all you need to do is find the right people to share it with first. And I think there are a couple of likely candidates you know about already. Like the kind of idiot who'd like anything shown to him."

She giggles a bit as her eyes veer in some other direction. Seems she already has someone in mind.

The song, which has so far been peaceful singing and a quiet guitar, suddenly kicks it up with drums, electric noises, and edited sound effects. When the singer begins to scream, I take off the headphones and hand them back to her.

"Wow, you sure showed me a lot. Well, I better get going before it gets too late."

"Oh, gotcha. See you tomorrow?"

If there's anything I learned, it's that I think I'm going to stick with the sounds of nature to accompany my off time…

2163/06/17 18:13

When it comes to trying to form a new habit, there is no greater obstacle than overcoming your own self-discipline. Being able to regulate yourself so that you don't simply put it off at the slightest inconvenience is by far the thing that people struggle to get right.

That's why personal trainers exist. The average person is far more inclined to eat a diet or go to the gym when they have someone with an appeal to authority that they can simply listen to. They're told what to do and when to do it, and they only fall in line. That's why many in the military actually consider boot camp or basic training to be the easiest part of your military career.

Sure you might be treated like crap, but when it comes down to it, are you actually doing anything that requires brain function? You're given individual commands all the way down to how to put your socks on in the morning. A barely operational machine could do it.

The problem comes when you need to apply that to yourself. When it's just you, are you able to be that drill instructor's voice in your own head?

The answer, for me anyways, is usually yes. Though with this recent conundrum of trying to open myself up and learn more about the people around me in an effort to make friends, I'm beginning to wane. I find myself stuck with thoughts like 'I can be doing anything else right now'.

I wonder if it would be a better idea to focus on a small consistent group and grow from there instead of randomly trying to befriend anyone I come across. I hope that's not what the Principal had in mind.

"EEEeeeeeuU!"

"Okay I've been internally monologing for the last few minutes and someone keeps making that noise! Oh, it's just you Michiru."

"EyAh! Yuuji!?"

"How do you keep failing to realize my presence? Am I that invisible?" Don't point out the hypocrisy.

"Don't ask me! Surprising a girl like that! It's not that I should recognize your presence, you gotta be more obvious!"

"So you're saying I should announce myself whenever I enter the room? Or announce my presence when someone else enters the room…"

"I ah- I don't know, you figure it out!"

When it comes to the illogical stat most women possess, Michiru is a prodigious talent for sure.

"Speaking of which, you know you can just take vitamin supplements, right? You don't have to torture your taste buds by drinking that stuff all the time."

"Fuhuhu. Oh Yuuji, seems like you have a lot to learn. What are you an idiot?"

"..."

"I- Sorry. What I meant to say was that everyone should know by now that liquid is faster to digest. So by drinking it, my body is getting the nutrients at a faster rate. Think of it like sand! Sand takes up water a lot faster than it does anything solid."

"So…you're saying your organs are made out of sand?"

"What!? No! I'm saying that my insides are dry and thirsty like sand! Who are you calling sand!? You calling me dry!? Dry like rice!? Who are you calling rice!? You calling me the rice goddess!? Withered up like the rice goddess!?"

"If I don't stop you now you're going to explode soon enough, I'm sure of it."

"You better listen to her Yuuji, you don't want to make the rice goddess angry, so eat up every bit!" Amane, coming down the stairs, says.

"Ah, no, that's not really what I was talking about…"

"Hm? Yuuji, you look a bit under the weather, you feeling okay? I can cook you something up if you're hungry?"

"No, I'm fine. I've just been trying to figure out the best way to tackle a piece of advice the principal gave me. Er, my principal."

"Advice?"

"Ohoho! Lemme get a piece of this action!" Makina, who pops out of nowhere declares.

"And another one comes out of the woodwork."

"Oh, are we all gathered together for a 'sesh' as the cool kids put it?"

"Um, no Sachi. There will be no drugs passed around at this time."

"I understand…"

Why do you look sad?

"Hold it, why did everyone appear into reality like this?"

"Is it hard to understand? Usually, you're the one with the answers to everything Yuuji. So if you're struggling with something, we wanna help!"

"I wouldn't say I'm struggling to the point that I need some idiots anonymous council."

"Come on, don't be like that! What's bothering you?"

My stern wall cracks under Amane's heartfelt desire to help.

"Hrm. Whatever. The principal started to notice my lack of connections with the others in my class. He told me to try and open myself up and learn more about them. But I'm finding it difficult. I don't think I can make that step yet. At least not for them."

"Not for them he says! Big brother's playin' favorites!"

"Hey, I'm not playing favorites. It's just that I see you guys more often and in a more casual state of mind. Obviously, it would be easier to deal with you when you take that into account."

"Uhuh"

"Get over here you little punk."

"Woaw!"

Makina barely dodges my signature 'lean forward and try to grab her' technique.

"Hm. This reminds me, isn't Sakaki missing?"

"Sachi's right. But that's just like her."

"Not like Yumiko could actually add to th' conversashun. She wouldn't know how to make friends if they were dropped at her feet!"

"A little harsh, but not entirely incorrect." Amane says.

"Hah! Maybe for you guys! Me!? I can walk right up to her and greet her as a friend anytime I want!"

"Lady Michiru, you inspire me with your brashness that not even a horribly painted monster truck could match!"

"See that big brother? If you want to make friends, do the opposite of everything Chiruchiru does!"

"H-huh!?"

"Oh don't feel bad. We're not friends with ya because we actually like yer personality!"

"So, you're friends with me because you pity me?"

"Well, that's a mean way of lookin' at it. But it's somethin' like that."

"Ag!"

"Ahem, onto less depressing things. For starters, I'm not sure what kind of friends you would actually make in the first place Yuuji. What friends did you have as a kid? Ever had a best friend before?"

"Best friend eh?"

I was mostly a loner to be honest. But when I think hard, there was one girl that I remember. Yeah, a loud little tomboy I would play with almost every day. Though our relationship was much more than just being friends, it was more about keeping ourselves sane. But eventually, even that lifeline was taken from me.

"No. If you're going to ask me about the type of friends I'd make before coming here, I guess you can say I prefer those who can keep up with me. I'm not keen on having dead weight in my life, and if you're not able to function without me doing every little thing for you, then I probably don't want you watching my back. But all in all, I wouldn't exactly say I have ever had someone you can consider a best friend."

"Um, Yuuji, I'm talking about friendship, not war. Kind of a cold way of looking at friendship don't you think?"

"Hrm. I'd call it pragmatic. But yea, maybe it is a bit out of place in everyday life. Getting out of that mindset is going to be the key to moving forward with this whole problem."

"..."

It's at this moment that I realize a particular person from our group has slowly begun walking away. Distancing themselves from the conversation and going completely silent.

A couple of feet from us, Michiru stands there with a face that displays obvious signs of pain.

Judging by the way she's holding onto herself tightly, could she be cold? In here at this time of year? And the look in her eye, darting around sporadically. Yes, I've heard these symptoms before.

The theoretical world ender, the new plague, one of the incoming aspects of the quirk power problem. It affects all those who do not possess a certain level of quirk strength. Meaning those who are quirkless, or have relatively useless quirks, are most affected. But how did she contract it? Of course, this plague lies only in the realm of speculation and pseudo-science, but from what I remember, an article I read once stated that the main process of transmission was sexual.

The idea of Michiru seducing some valiant and powerful hero who unknowingly had the disease is almost impossible. But I could definitely see her as being the type to do something stupid like wander the night by her lonesome, only to be taken advantage of by some horrible villain. Poor girl, I've tried my best to wisen her up, but to think that it would have brought this horrible shadow over her.

I walk past everyone else, and place a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Huh?"

"It's okay Michiru. As a girl, there is nothing wrong with crying over something like this. Your life may be changed forever, but we'll get through this."

"What!? What are you talking about? I just forgot something upstairs that's all."

She quickly pulls away and stomps up the stairs.

"Hm…Chiruchiru said something like that last time."

"Last time?"

Has this happened before?

"Hey, Yuuji, do you mind checking up on her? She didn't look too good." Amane asks.

"Yeah, sure, I don't mind."

Following in her footsteps, I head to the second floor, where I see her clutching tightly onto her chest, one hand on the wall to keep herself from collapsing.

Tch. All joking aside, this looks a bit serious.

"Hey, Michiru, are you okay?"

"Haa…ghhhk….mhhn…"

Is she having a heart attack? She doesn't even look up at me, only continues to make extremely pained breathing noises.

"Michiru, I'm gonna go ahead and say no, you're definitely not okay. I'm calling-"

She grabs onto my wrist and squeezes hard. I'm not sure what to do, so I only continue to watch.

"Ghhu…no…haaa…haa…ha. I'm okay now."

"Okay? Woman, do you even know the meaning of okay? Can you define it?"

"I said I'm okay! Trust me Yuuji, this happens every once in a while. I know my body."

Do you?

"Please don't call anything. It's nothing, just a little bit of heartburn I probably got from lunch."

"Hrm."

'Giving help that's not wanted, is the mark of a true hero!'

"Michiru I…I'll trust you."

"Mf. Thank you Yuuji. And uh, can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell the other girls you saw this. I don't want to worry them."

"...I understand."

"Hey everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Oh! You okay Chiruchiru?"

"You looked a bit distressed lady Michiru, are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"She's fine. I looked her over, turns out she ate something a bit too spicy this afternoon and got a bad case of heartburn."

"Yep, that sounds like Chiruchiru. Ya should really watch what ya eat y'know!"

What a strange interaction. First that other personality, and now this? I don't get her at all. What's beneath the surface?

"Oh right! Yuuji, Michiru, while you guys were upstairs, the girls and I thought of a good idea!"

"Oh?"

"Maybe you're having trouble with friends because you don't know how to have fun on outings!"

"What do you mean 'don't know how to have fun'? You either have fun or you don't."

"So you'd think right? But we thought it would be a good idea to go to the beach tomorrow! All seven of us!"

"Seven?"

"Yeah, we kinda need the principal to chaperone."

"Hold up, this all sounds well and good, but wasn't Sachi put under a stay-at-home order?"

"Haha~...yeah. That's why we need you to ask the principal for us! You know her more than all of us right?"

"Hmph. So that's why you're bringing me along."

"Would you stop being a broody little thing? It'll be lots of fun!"

"Fun, sure. But who's going to be driving with you this time? Because it's not gonna be me! No way!"

Michiru cowers in fear for some reason I don't understand.

"Hmm. It's getting a bit late, but I don't see why I can't get a hold of Chizuru at this hour. Alright, then tomorrow in the morning, we'll set forward on a beach trip."

This type of thing is usually done during summer break, but if it gives me any further insight into how to go about interacting with my class, then I might as well.

Besides, if it's with these girls, I don't see myself disliking this sort of thing…