Chapter 11

"Hey kid, can we talk?" Yamada asked once they finished dinner. They had takeout this time; none of them were in the mood for cooking after what happened last time. "Won't take too long."

"Yeah, sure," Kaori said uncertainly. She had a few ideas as to what he wanted to talk about, with none of them being pleasant. It wasn't like she could say no and not sound like an asshole, though.

Yamada folded his hands on the table, looking uncharacteristically serious. "I know you've had a lot happen this past week, and I just want to check in with you, see how you're faring and all. You're so quiet all the time, and I gotta say, it's pretty concerning. We thought it might be better if we let you come to us, but you don't seem to be getting any better. So please, talk to us. You don't have to be shy." He looked toward Kaori expectantly, making her lean away from him instinctively.

"I talked to Aizawa-san last night plenty," Kaori responded, feeling her defensiveness flare up. She already wanted to tap out of this uncomfortable conversation even though it had barely even started.

"Last night was a start," Yamada agreed. "How about we continue that conversation? I think there's still more to be said on that topic."

Kaori looked at Aizawa, hoping he'd get Yamada to back down somehow, but he only shook his head and maintained his silence. Jerk.

"I knew I shouldn't have said anything last night." She scowled, her comfortableness growing swiftly.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about that, let's talk about the incident at the park instead. The experience must've been upsetting," his tone was sympathetic, but it rubbed Kaori the wrong way. "Rant about it, complain about the boy, anything. I promise you'll feel better once you're done."

Kaori froze, her face heating up with mortification at the memory of the event. "I don't want to talk about that either."

"It'll be good for you, trust me. If you don't want to talk about the event itself, we can think about prevention. As you know, Shouta and I are heroes, we can teach you self-defense! I mean, granted you shouldn't be picking fights, but we never want you to be in that position again."

Kaori wondered why he was so insistent on talking to her about this sort of thing. She was completely fine. Or, well, mostly. She didn't need nor want therapy and she doubted if Yamada was licensed anyway.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Hizashi," Aizawa said, finally adding his own input. "Look how small she is, I doubt she'd be winning anything. We shouldn't be teaching her to pick fights, anyway."

"What? No, I don't want to learn how to fight. And also, I could've won that day if I wanted to," she lied, the volume of her voice rising. "I had it completely under control."

"Right, I'm sure," Aizawa said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I did," she hissed, bristling. Why were they ganging up on her all of the sudden? "Can we talk about something else? Like… um…" She trailed up, unable to think of a single topic.

"Right then, how about what you told Shouta last night? That you feel responsible for your mom's —"

"I said that in confidence!" she said loudly. "I'm done with this conversation." She stood and glared, daring them to stop her. What right did they have to be talking about this kind of stuff to her? They weren't her parents, only characters from a show she used to watch.

"We have to talk it through, Kaori-chan. I mean, it was your parents' funeral yesterday and all you've done since then is mope around the house. You're barely eating and the whole going up to the roof at two in the morning is not healthy. So either talk to us or we can go find a therapist for you."

"Shut. Up!" she yelled, feeling a flash of satisfaction at Yamada's surprised face. In the brief moment, she felt a strange sensation, like she was actively tugging at something. She frowned, instantly regretting yelling. The feeling wasn't going away.

Then Yamada started to choke on thin air like he couldn't breathe. Kaori felt her own airway close. Was that her doing? She tried to let go of the tugging feeling, to turn it off, but nothing was changing. Tears gathered in her eyes. Was she going to be responsible for another death?

Aizawa sprang to action from his seat and the second their eyes met, the tugging sensation went away just as Yamada took in a chock-full of air. He clapped him on the back a few times, as if trying to dislodge something from his throat.

Kaori stared at the scene with wide eyes, her body tensing up. "I'm sorry," she wailed, distress and guilt replacing her previous anger. "I didn't mean to. 'M sorry!"

"It's …" He paused to forcefully cough a few times, making Kaori wince in sympathy. "Fine. I'm completely fine!"

Guilt-ridden, she resisted the urge to flee to her room and instead walked over hesitantly. She kept her eyes trained on Yamada, frightened that her quirk, or whatever it was, would activate randomly.

"Are you … alright?" she asked timidly, extending a shaky hand toward Yamada as if it would help somehow.

"Yes. It takes more than that to knock me out. Don't worry about it." His voice was weak and scratchy, but he was smiling again, as if nothing had even happened. "Thanks, Shouta." He patted Kaori on the head gently. Kaori looked at him with wonder. Why wasn't he mad? Still, she felt relieved. He really did look unharmed. She would hate herself if she had accidentally ruined the vocal cords of the voice hero.

Aizawa nodded. "That was some quirk." He raised his eyebrows, turning toward Kaori.

Kaori was impressed by how calm he was acting, given what had just transpired. There were no signs of panic in his eyes, and his voice was as cool and collected as it always was. "That was your first time using it, correct?"

She nodded, her body still shaking from the leftover adrenaline. "I don't even know what it is." She frowned. "If it's just choking people, I don't think I want it at all." She hated the way Yamada looked, and it was all because of her.

"Don't say that Kaori-chan," Yamada said. "No quirk is inherently evil, even if it is, as you say, just choking people."

Kaori didn't feel reassured. She glanced down at her hands as if expecting them to look different. It felt so anticlimactic — she didn't feel any different. She thought getting her quirk would be a little more dramatic. "I dunno about that," she muttered uncertainly. In what universe could choking someone be seen as a good deed?

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out together," Yamada said, giving her a pat on the back. "Congrats on your quirk! Even if the circumstances of it were a little-" He cleared his throat. "And hey, maybe you'll end up becoming a hero, like us! Now that would be a sight to behold."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Hizashi," Aizawa said. "She's a long way from that."

Right, hero. Kaori had almost forgotten about that amid everything going on in her life. Did she still want to be a hero? Somehow, the excitement that had accompanied the idea had all but faded away, leaving her more uncertain than ever about the direction of her future. Was her quirk even suited for it?

"Hero, huh," Kaori mumbled. "I don't think I'm cut out for it. I mean, I literally almost killed you!" She waved her hands around as if to emphasize her point. She was still waiting for one of them to get mad, to chide her for her burst of anger.

"Well, as Shouta said, you have a lot of time to figure it out. And also, just because you activated your quirk by accident doesn't me you're not cut out for hero work. " Yamada said. "For now, let's just forget about what happened, and celebrate! This is a momentous time for little Kaori, who has finally taken her first step into … uh … childhood?"

Kaori flashed him a confused glance, trying to figure out what he meant. He didn't elaborate however, and disappeared into the kitchen. When he came back, he was holding a small cake. "We had gotten this to welcome you here earlier, but it didn't seem like the right time. Now is perfect though!" He beamed enthusiastically, showing off the cake for the two of them to see.

"Is it safe? It was in the fridge for almost a week, hasn't it?" Aizawa asked with a frown.

"Huh? Probably. I mean, since when did you care about expiration dates and stuff? You always drink the milk even if it has been expired for a week."

"Since we acquired a small child," he said flatly.

Yamada laughed, only to break out into coughs a second later. Kaori felt another bout of guilt at that. "You worrywart. It's finee. A week is nothing. The preservatives they add in this sort of stuff these days are nothing to sneeze at."

"That … doesn't make me feel any better," Aizawa said.

Yamada only shrugged in response. Cutting it neatly and placing the slices on plates, he passed it to them with Kaori getting the smallest slice. It was her favorite, chocolate. The mood was still a little tense from their argument, but she felt much better already. Cake never failed to cheer her up, although she was a little concerned about how long the cake had sat in the fridge. There wasn't a damn thing wrong with the taste, though.

"I think this goes without saying, but please make sure not to use your quirk when we aren't around," Aizawa said after he polished off his slice in record time. "I know you're excited, but let us figure out what exactly your quirk is before we start any experimentations on our own, alright?"

Kaori nodded, though she wasn't planning on listening. She had waited long enough for this.

"I mean it, kid," he added sternly, as if seeing through her halfhearted nod.

"Yeah, I won't. I promise," she said, feeling her proverbial nose lengthen. She didn't like going behind Aizawa's back, but this was too important.

Aizawa nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good." He reclined on his chair and fell asleep near instantly. Kaori's jaw dropped. She wished she had that skill.

"And about earlier, I just want to say that I'm sorry Kaori-chan. I just thought since you were so willing to talk to Shouta last night, we could get some more out of you today." Yamada sighed, his eyes downcast. "We really shouldn't have pushed."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have yelled." She had never been prone to bouts of anger in her past life, her reaction earlier was quite surprising even to her.

"No, it wasn't. We won't force you to talk, but just … come to us if you ever feel like you want to talk alright? I just … don't see how you're dealing with this without talking about it. Heck, I probably can't do it alone if I were in your shoes. And you're only four! It hurts to see you mope around like that and not being able to help." He slumped in his seat, looking defeated. Kaori felt another stab of guilt. Yamada looked so upset that she almost wanted to spill everything to him, if only to get rid of the look on his face. "God, we really aren't doing a great job at this, are we? You deserve better than us."

Kaori paused, surprised at his self-deprecating words. They were a bit dysfunctional at times, sure, but they had been much more responsible than she could've ever imagined them to be. She could see a hint of the great teachers they would become in the future. Although their pushing tonight did get on her nerves quite a bit.

"No," she said slowly as she considered her next words carefully. "I know you guys are only trying to help, it's alright. I just don't really want to talk about it—" at his sad expression, she hurriedly added —"Nothing against the two of you, I don't think I want to talk about it with anyone at all, period. But I promise, if I ever want to talk it through with anyone, it would be you."

"I understand," Yamada said. "I promise we'll leave you be from now on."

Kaori nodded, still feeling a bit bad. "And again, I'm really sorry for choking you. I don't know what came over me."

"Don't worry too much about it," he said dismissively. "When I first got my quirk, I almost deafened my entire family and the entire street. It happens. No one actually got hurt, so don't feel bad."

Kaori perked up a little at that. "I've never seen you use your quirk before," she said. "In real life, that is."

"Ah, that's right. I'll show you one day. Just not now."

"Sounds good," she said. "I'll look forward to it then." She wondered why she hadn't asked for a demonstration before this. Present Mic was a pretty cool hero, something that Kaori often forgot after getting more used to living with the two.

"Well, you've had a long day, how about let's call it a day? We'll see about taking you to register your quirk tomorrow, so try to get some rest," he said, giving her another gentle pat on the head.

"Okay." She yawned, stretching her arms a little. "Good night."

Once she was back in the privacy of her room, Kaori was determined to figure out what her quirk was despite Aizawa's stern warning. If it was just making a person unable to breathe like she had just done to Yamada, she wasn't sure if she wanted to use her quirk— she didn't want to accidentally suffocate someone to death. She shuddered just thinking about what could've happened if Aizawa hadn't been home.

It took her several tries to replicate the tugging feeling she had felt earlier, but eventually, she managed to do it. It created a small gust of wind in her room that was barely perceptible, with the only evidence of it working at all being the slight rustling of the papers on her desk. She stared at the ruffled papers, torn between feeling proud and annoyed. At least she knew for sure it wasn't just restricted to choking people. Giving her quirk another go, she tried manipulating the air near the light switch in hopes that she wouldn't have to physically walk over to turn it off. It completely missed the mark and buffeted weakly at the wall instead. Sighing, she walked over and flipped it with her hands.

She plopped down on her bed, suddenly overwhelmed by exhaustion. Quirk usage took more energy than she had thought, especially considering how weak her attempts were.

Kaori thought she ought to be ecstatic — her quirk had finally manifested after years of anticipation, and it wasn't super lame. However, all she could feel was a vague disappointment. She didn't know the specificities of her quirk just yet, only that it was air manipulation of some sort. A hero-worthy quirk — certainly better than Mineta's at the very least — yet she wasn't sure if heroics were for her anymore. Seeing death happen right before her very eyes had been a grim reminder that there were very real stakes, ones with life and death and not just something from a TV show or video game. She had to treat it as such, especially when her quirk could end someone's life easily if she wasn't careful, or if she lets anger take over like today.

Her reality wasn't the same as the show she was familiar with anymore, something that was slowly becoming clearer every minute she spent here. The more she got to know the once fictional characters, the more she was beginning to see them for who they really were — real, living, and breathing humans with a mind of their own. She had imagined it to be so easy — get her quirk, go to UA, befriend the 1A students, then become a hero while eliminating the League of Villains with ease using her foreknowledge. However, real-life wasn't anything like that, and she needed to treat it less flippantly.

She wondered how Aizawa and Yamada managed to consistently deal with villain attacks every day without going insane. To be able to run onto a scene without hesitation despite the risks wasn't something Kaori could comprehend. In the event of the incident with her parents, her first reaction hadn't been to try and help, instead, she wanted to run and hide. There was no way she could become a hero with an attitude like that. She wasn't anything like Izuku at all, who had bravely stepped forward towards a villain even without a quirk. It had looked so easy on the show, yet when Kaori was faced with a similar situation, she didn't act similarly at all. She just wasn't built like him. She wasn't the main character.

All her other reservations aside, she couldn't help but wish she got her parents' quirk. Her dad had been right; it was something different entirely, and they weren't even around to see it. Kaori glared at the blank space in front of her, feeling frustration bubble up despite her exhaustion. Why couldn't things just be simple? Why did she end up having such a different quirk? Her completely different appearance was one thing, but she wished she at least got an imprint of her parents; that they too, made a mark on this world.

For now, she vowed to never use the quirk on a person again, even if Aizawa was present.

A/N: There it is, her quirk :D I can't believe it took that long for me to write it in lol. Gonna be exciting to write more quirk developments and her experimentations.

Thanks for reading :) I'm not sure when the next chapter will be, but since I'll be in quarantine for like, 14 days (boo) it might be soon. We'll see I guess.