December 25 - Day 13
7:27 pm
Chitose lay down on a bed, mind still utterly confused as ever. Her day went well, unusually well, almost a little too well for her liking. The breakfast went fine, and as with Izuku said, Inko just indeed acted normally – not a single odd question about anything. Afterwards, Nezu took her out to a tour around the campus, with the Midoriyas going out for their Christmas shopping and other things (All while being protected by All Might – although he obviously remained unseen to the general public). As for the tour itself, it lasted for quite a while until noon, in which she had her lunch at the school cafeteria.
After a whole lot more touring around (which took a few hours), Nezu eventually gave her a brand new room to stay in – located at the topmost part of the 'VIP Building', which he called as the Best Room There Is.
And by 'Best Room There Is', there is no lying to that. The rooms on the lower floors are nothing compared to the room where she is now, which is more comparable to that of the room of a 5-star hotel (or maybe even a 6, or a 7-star). Everything is drastically different, and a whole lot more fancier and a whole lot more spacious.
To her right is a huge glass panel, almost taking up an entire side of the room, overlooking not only the grand Christmas Party going down below, but also giving her a spectacular view of the horizon. It even came with a built-in mechanism to open and close the curtains at the mere press of a button. Right up front is the kitchen, with a fully-stocked fridge. To her left is the living room area, equipped with a television so large it could might as well function as its own movie theater screen.
'I have… absolutely no idea what's going on…' Chitose thought to herself as she continued lying down on the bed – an extremely massive bed, with her limbs splayed all over. She's been getting odd special treatment ever since breakfast, and as much as it made her nervous, it also made her feel nice. But still, she just can't understand why is she getting such special treatment. And to make things even more confusing, as much as Nezu labeled the MLA as a villainous organization which the heroes already fully knew about, he still won't say anything about attacking them. In fact he just kept repeating about how innocent she is, and that she's not under some Psychedelic Slug illusion and everything is very real.
And as for MLA, now she has even more mixed feelings about them. One part of her felt relieved she doesn't need to hide anything about them anymore, but one part is still feeling slight guilt that there seems to be a high chance that she will just get off easy.
Shaking her head to clear off the nonsensical thoughts, she eventually sat up straight, one hand going up to feel around her left shoulder. The area is mostly healed-up, although she could still feel a few bumps here and there, but the best part about them is that they're not itchy anymore and she's already given compensation for it (an absurdly high amount) in which she just placed in the safe in her room, alongside her Memory Purse.
She eventually turned her attention towards a nearby high-end laptop to her right, that's provided alongside the mansion-like room, and continued browsing the internet on it to pass the time, waiting for the Midoriyas to come back from whatever they're doing-
Chitose froze, her fingers automatically lifting off the keypad of her laptop as a thought randomly appeared inside her head.
'Where are they anyway? It's been the entire day. And now it's already thirty minutes past 7 and they still haven't showed up or anything…' she thought to herself, before immediately remembering if ever Nezu told her something about informing the two of her new location – in which she recalled he definitely did. But if that's the case, then where are they? Shouldn't they already be here?
…
Chitose turned her head towards the door, a worried expression slowly etching into her face. 'What if they never returned because I'm now too dangerous to be around…?' she paused a bit, thinking. 'I've been the target of two assassination attempts already…' she paused again, her worry rising further as she recalled how she 'technically' forced Izuku to support her through the second attempt. 'Of course Inko would be having none of that! All I did is put her only son in danger!' she hurriedly turned towards the huge glass panel to her right, her gaze looking out upon the horizon.
…
Would they ever return…?
…
Her breathing picking up the pace, feelings of abandonment rapidly flooding her system, she hurriedly opened up her GlobalConnect account and wasted no time scrambling her fingers onto the keyboard and searching up Izuku's account, hoping at least nothing's happened yet and she's just imagining things-
Only to see that she cannot access his profile. Izuku blocked her.
…
She turned her gaze towards the door again, holding her position there as if waiting for something, waiting for a knock, or literally anything at this point. But no, there is no sense anymore to wait for them to arrive. They never will. She's already far too dangerous for a regular family like them to keep in touch with. Leaving her and blocking all contact is only rational. Any sane person would do the same.
…
Almost immediately, she brought up an arm to wipe over the tears that have formed in her eyes. People just left her again. And if there's something her young self had the hardest time of handling, and that is being abandoned. And nothing's harder than being abandoned just as she actually found someone willing to go to great lengths just for her. He quickly disappeared as fast as he arrived.
And she'll never see him again. Inko will obviously forbid it at this point.
But still, taking one last bit of hope, she pushed herself out of her bed and walked straight towards the door, immediately opening it and taking a look outside. There were employees working about, cleaning and decorating. But the people she's anticipating? Not a hint of them around.
'They're gone... Move on… Always remember you literally tried to take advantage of them in your first days there, it's only right they eventually kicked you out,' she mentally reminded herself. As much as she would like to remove her stupid and nonsensical defeatist attitude and negativity, getting abandoned is an experience that have been far too common for her to completely remove it. 'At least there's still the MLA. They would never abandon you.'
She paused a bit, realizing how stupid she sounded hoping for a literal terrorist organization to give her company – one in which a certain high-ranking member already tried to kill her twice now. She eventually closed the door and sat down on the floor, once more bringing up one arm to wipe off more tears forming in her eyes. But as she found herself in silence, her mind immediately went back to thinking about the MLA (as well as a desire to return). She quickly countered her thoughts, but with her insecure younger self now being the dominant personality, and the one who's desperate for any companionship, her mind just kept on re-considering them.
'I want to go home…'
She felt one tear went down on her cheek. For some reason this time around, it greatly annoyed her. Her mood rapidly changed into frustration in just a span of a few seconds. 'Chitose, you're pathetic you know that?! You should have seen this coming a mile away! Now just stop crying and just go back to the MLA! They may be terrorists but at least they-!'
There was a loud knock, making Chitose almost launch herself forward in surprise. Rapidly wiping away all signs of her crying, quite thankful her black sclerae are good at hiding things on their own, she quickly stood up and opened it, mind racing as it could be-
It was Nezu.
"Hello there Miss Kizuki!" Nezu spoke out loud, waving one paw towards her. "Why are you still holed up here? We have a big party ongoing! Why don't you head down there and cool down, so to speak?" The principal added, his expression now looking quite unsure as to what he just said. "I understand that you have to keep a low profile for the time being but a little bit of cover here and there should be enough to do the trick!"
"Sorry uh… I'm not a party person," the young woman replied, sheepishly retreating into her room. But before she can fully close it, the principal reached out and held it with one paw and slightly re-opened it again, keeping it held on.
"Huh? But aren't you a journalist? Interviewing people and all that? Shouldn't being with masses of people normal to you?"
"I don't do parties. In case you haven't realized yet I don't really go to big events either. I didn't attend the UA Sports Festival, nor even the JP Billboards…" Chitose's voice trailed off as she shrunk further into her room. She's just peeking out at this point. "I don't like big gatherings of people."
"I never expected a person at your position to be an introvert?" Nezu shrugged as he walked forward and entered the room, slightly pushing Chitose away from the door. He then headed for the nearest short stool and started pulling it. "People in your position are normally people of the outdoors," he added as he placed the stool on a spot below a tall table and went towards to pull another slightly higher stool towards it, as if he's making some sort of stairs.
"Yeah I get that a lot…" Chitose took a step back and sat on a nearby sofa.
"But still." Nezu shook his head as he finished pulling. He then climbed up the first stool. "We dedicated this party for you. Can't you just move out a bit and enjoy the scenery? Get some fresh air perhaps? We'll be having a huge fireworks display in thirty minutes and I, I mean we, would love it if you go out and see them yourself! It'll be great!"
"I just really want to go to bed-"
"You sound troubled, Miss Kizuki." Nezu asked as he climbed up the second stool. "What's the matter? Why the long face?"
Chitose thought for a while, but eventually just decided to give out a straight answer. "Where are the Mirodiyas? I haven't seen them for the entire day now," she asked, her tone of voice low, bracing herself for the inevitable obvious answer.
"Oh them!" Nezu nodded as he turned around and climbed up the table, instantly flicking one of the nearby switches there to turn on the chandelier lighting of the room, furthering the room's already-classy appearance. "We had them relocated towards a safer spot. With one of their tenants being the target of two assassination attempts now, we had no choice but to get the family somewhere safe. Don't worry they're both in good hands."
"Could I visit them?"
"About that…" Nezu paused a bit, his small beady eyes darting around for quite a few seconds as he adjusted his bow tie. "The mother did not take the news that she's been harboring an individual who's been the target of two assassinations now very lightly. She took it very seriously… hmmm how do I say this…?"
Meanwhile, Chitose could only let out a sigh. It's true. All her suspicions are true. 'I should've expected this at this point…'
"She got very concerned over her one and only child. According to what All Might said, things got really heated up." Nezu shrugged. "But I'm sure it'll pass, you can visit them again soon."
"Yeah sure…" Chitose slowly stood up and started walking towards the bed. "I'm going to bed-"
"Wait wait wait!" Nezu called out as he hurriedly jumped down from his platform. "Could you stay up just a little bit and watch our fireworks display, please?"
Chitose, as much as tears were already threatening to break out of her eyes, honestly wondered as to why the principal suddenly acted childish. But before she could talk about it she remembered that the party is very much dedicated to her (or so he says) and he probably just wanted it not to go to waste. Fair enough. "Okay…"
"That settles it! I'm sure you'll be back up in a good mood by the end of it! Now let's go!" Nezu said said as he happily skipped about and scampered behind Chitose and began comically pushing her legs towards the door. "You shouldn't miss the best part! We spent a lot on this!"
Chitose, instead of countering it, found no more energy to do so and just walked ahead, discreetly wiping her eyes in the process, as well as mentally reminding herself to stop being so pathetic. It was only right for Inko to act the way she did.
'The sooner I accept, the sooner I can move on…'
The moment she exited the door, she immediately noticed that most of the UA employees working about are now gone – with the last traces of them heading downstairs.
"We gotta be quick! The show looks like it's about to start! Move those legs!" Nezu chuckled to himself as he finally finished pushing the young woman outside. He then hurriedly ran back and closed the door. "Oh this is going to be great! This will be news on end! I can feel it! Nothing more perfect for a journalist to witness!"
Chitose just stared at the principal as he walked around being all excited. All of it felt fake. Nezu is obviously not doing it for her sake, he obviously wants something in return – as much as he constantly reminds her that she's innocent and deserves more. It just can't be true, nobody is ever this nice to her for no reason at all, and it's just making her feel even more miserable.
"Oh hey get down here! Kizuki's ready! Make it quick! Time's-a-wastin'!"
Chitose's attention was brought down and noticed Nezu now talking to someone over a phone. And just as he was done, the elevator just right up front opened, revealing Lady Nagant (still with a metal crutch with her), who then immediately walked forward after a small nod. She is once again wearing an ushanka and a trench coat (that is now just a plain grey instead of the bright orange one she wore earlier) over her regular hero outfit. But the thing that stood out most is that there's a full-sized spear slung over her back, one that looks like it was meant to be a part of a costume.
"I guess this is it, huh?" the heroine asked in her usual bored expression, her gaze setting down onto Nezu, in which the principal simply nodded as a response.
"Do accompany Miss Kizuki upstairs will you?" Nezu asked with an odd tone. "You know how everything's better with a buddy!"
"No problem."
The principal turned around and faced Chitose. "I hope you two have a good time up there! I would've went too if it weren't for my responsibilities and all!" he spoke as he started walking away, waving at them as he did so. Within a minute, he's completely gone.
Chitose, on the other hand, just let her gaze hang onto the general direction the principal left, her thoughts in complete shambles. 'But I guess watching the fireworks would be nice…?' a random thought appeared inside her head. As much as she just wants to sleep, some part of her is just pushing her to watch. 'Okay then… I'll just go have a look at it…' She then looked at Nagant, who is squinting her eyes on some small paper she has on her palm. The heroine quickly noticed her looking and hurriedly composed herself, shoving the small paper onto one of the trench coat pockets.
"So you might be wondering what happened to me and Toshinori this morning, huh?" she asked with a smile in which Chitose is unsure whether it's meant to be smug or bored. "I'll tell you what," she said as she gestured for the other woman to follow her towards the elevator she came from, "Hawks gets a little too creepy every Christmas. The public of course doesn't know that."
Chitose stayed quiet, one part curious, but the other (more dominant) part is just tired. She'll just watch the fireworks display and just go to bed as soon as possible. Getting abandoned basically drained all her energy at this point.
The elevator ride was short, as it was just a trip one floor above.
…
The rooftop is somewhat normal, drastically different from the uppermost rooms and their mansion-like grandeur , although still noticeably better than standard building rooftops. It was like a mini-park, complete with benches, marble pathways, lamp posts, trees, and flower beds filled with all kinds of plants. There is even a pond and a greenhouse located just beyond. All of it is decorated with various Christmas-themed décor.
As for the view, Chitose could only describe it as spectacular. The night sky is clear, and the stars are especially bright tonight. And as for down below? One could easily see the sheer size and intensity of the ongoing event, with thousands of people having a good time partying around. But the one thing she couldn't miss is the massive stage built-up just for this event. While the huge temporary structure is clearly visible from her room, she never really looked at it clearly to see how intricately built it is for something that would only last a day. But then again, Meta Abilities come in all shapes and sizes, and such structures could be built within seconds with the right one.
"Marvelous isn't it?" Lady Nagant commented, taking Chitose out of her observations. "They built that thing from scratch in about under thirty minutes-"
As for Chitose, feeling a whole lot of envy seeing the thousands of people just having fun with their family and friends, abruptly raised a hand, stopping Nagant form talking further. "Nagant, let's just cut the chase, what's with all this special treatment?" she took a few steps forward and turned around again. "Enough excuses, what do you heroes want me to do?"
"Woah there, Kizuki. We're only doing this because you're innocent, and that-"
"I've heard enough from Nezu this morning. What's the real reason huh? Do you want copies of the latest edition of the MLW book? I don't have them."
"No no no no you're looking at this all wrong. No need to assume anything more, we're really just doing this for your sake!" Nagant said as she walked onwards the marble path after one exaggerated shrug. "You've been so long in a terrorist organization you've forgotten other people can be nice too? We're all different you know?"
Chitose rolled her eyes on the unbelievability of it all. But as she finished her sarcastic gesture, she happened to glance over at a particular spot on the rooftop just some distance away. It's a rather simple open area, perfect for watching fireworks. She began to walk there.
"Kizuki! Wait up!" Nagant called out, scampering over to try and keep up, her injuries slowing her down drastically. "We're just being nice! That's all!"
Chitose slowly turned her head to face her. She can tell there's something wrong with Nagant's voice, like it sounded off and forced, like she actually didn't want to be there and something just pushed the heroine to socialize with her. While she considered the fact that she may just be imagining things since her mind is currently flooding with feelings of abandonment, there's just something pushing her to say, "your voice sounds forced. You don't want to be here, don't you?"
"Why of course I want to be here!"
"You're out there just this morning being all scared of Hawks and Nezu and now you're telling me you like it here? Nezu just ordered you to keep me company, I can tell." Chitose stopped herself from continuing further and instead just let out a sigh. "Fine, you can leave now. I'll just go watch the fireworks myself…" she added, her voice trailing off, ending with a low grumble of something incomprehensible. "I've had a long day, Nagant, I don't need your fake pity."
"Fine, do you want some real and genuine pity?"
Chitose's right eyebrow twitched. There's just something with Nagant's tone (and wording) that just didn't sit well with her. "I'm going back to bed-"
"Hey hey hey! The fireworks haven't even started yet!" Nagant scampered ahead just to try and get in her way, almost falling off if it weren't for a nearby lamp post she managed to lean on. "Come on, Kizuki! Just this one time! Think about the effort we did for this!"
Chitose could only sigh in response, before slowly turning back and walking towards the spot she originally planned to go. "Is there even something with this fireworks show? What are you heroes really planning on?" she asked, her voice raising towards the end in annoyance. "Why am I still not captured or anything?"
Lady Nagant did a loud sigh as well, also audibly mixed with annoyance. "Fine, do you want the truth?" she asked, quickly looking around.
"Yes."
The heroine walked closer, a little too close, before whispering at a relatively heightened tone. "About the not-captured thing, I honestly don't know why that is the case. But the fireworks?" she paused for a while, seemingly unsure on the right words to use. "You know uh… Kizuki… I uh… I've got some news on some things and uh… we need you to be as good of a mood as possible before I drop all this because uh… we think you're not going to like it too much and uh…" Nagant stammered some more, her sentences now getting mixed up with a few Russian words here and there. "Okay I sorta said it, happy now?"
"Oh so you just confirmed it's never about pity and being innocent and special?" Chitose asked, raising one eyebrow and crossing her arms. While she doubt Nagant doesn't know as to why she's still not captured yet, but one part of her felt an odd feeling of relief, at least there's no more deceiving going on.
"Yes- I mean no I mean uh yeah-but no but there's something in between and uh-"
Chitose shook her head. "What bad news are we talking about here? Am I going to get captured afterwards?"
"No of course not! The news is not even related to that! It's just uh… It's uh… the news is not really that bad!" Lady Nagant awkwardly chuckled and took a step backwards. "Think of it as just one big shock! And that's it! There's nothing more to it. If you want I could give you a bottle of vodka to make it easier for you to wash it down!"
"No thanks, I don't drink alcohol…" Chitose rolled her eyes and instead just focused on the stage, slightly feeling nervous on the supposed bad news Nagant is about to tell her soon. Does it have something to do with the Midoriyas? The MLA perhaps-?
She noticed Nagant is now pulling over a nearby wooden table at best she can with only one free arm (one that's holding onto a crutch), and then hurriedly pulling out a black cube from one of her trench coat pockets and placing it onto said table, the cube then transforming into a projector of sorts. "Don't mind me here, I'm just gonna do something before the big event," she spoke up, noticing the blue-skinned young woman observing her.
"What something?"
"I haven't technically appeared once this year and uh… you get the idea…"
"But I thought you hated fans?" Chitose asked, genuinely curious. "Mr. Yagi told me that."
"Toshinori just tends to over-exaggerate some things… hanging too much around All Might can really do that to a person," she replied as she put a secondary cube on the ground, near the table, and then stuck her spear onto it. "It's always a nice feeling knowing thousands upon thousands of people love your very existence, right?"
"Yeah, must be nice…" Chitose just nodded in response, immediately feeling an extreme amount of envy, forcing her to just focus on the stage to stop herself from being even more depressed than she already is. And with that she saw Number 6 hero Mirko currently breakdancing, and somehow nailing it despite wearing a ballroom gown and high heels-
"Wait wait wait no forget that I said that!" Lady Nagant suddenly spoke out. "What I mean is that it's always a nice feeling knowing people supporting you and uh-Dammit!" she abruptly paused. "Nevermind I hate fans…"
"You're acting weird, Nagant."
Lady Nagant opened up her mouth as if in answer but a loud cheering is heard down on stage, making Chitose instantly turn her attention there. While she heard Nagant say something, she heard it's just completely in Russian and she wouldn't understand it either way.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! And ladies!" came Hawks's voice through the loudspeakers just as Mirko backflipped off the stage. Shortly after, the winged hero, wearing a seemingly sparkling tuxedo outfit, arrived from above and landed directly at the center. Naturally, a whole lot of girls and women squealed in delight. "Merry Christmas!" he continued, followed by more squealing. Meanwhile, as Hawks continued to talk with the masses of people, dark purple curtains began to lower themselves on the background, covering a whole group of lights and other miscellaneous props. "Now I know I should be out here saying more words and all but uh… it's almost 8 pm and there's someone who needs to show up first before the year ends-"
!
Chitose almost jumped in surprise as she heard Nagant yell multiple Russian words into the small black box sitting on top of the wooden table, making Hawks abruptly stop in his speech.
'Hmm? Hawks understands Russian? Well that's new…' she thought to herself as she turned her attention back onstage. Hawks is now seemingly back to just flirting with his legions of female fans as if Nagant ordered him to stall. But eventually, just after a short while, he stopped flirting and resumed talking about the event.
Chitose glanced back at the heroine beside her, who's now sitting on a plastic chair looking directly towards the tip of the upturned (now-shortened) spear she placed on the other side of her. Nagant then took multiple deep breaths as if in nervousness, in which Chitose found odd, considering the Rifle Heroine – like all heroes with already more than a decade of experience, should be used to masses of people at this point.
"Hey…"
Chitose immediately looked towards the stage upon hearing Nagant's voice suddenly broadcasted there. And indeed, there is a live feed of Nagant's face now being projected right at the dark purple background of the stage. She didn't even have time to properly react to it when the thousands of people down below suddenly erupted in a massive cheering. She's already at the topmost part of the building and still her ears hurt. Covering them with her hands, she turned to observe the projected image of Nagant onstage, and she's just there, awkwardly smiling at the camera.
But if there's ever a thing Chitose noticed on the massive stage screen, aside from Nagant's broadcast being just a zoom-up on her face, is that the heroine is not even wearing any make-up at all. Almost immediately, as much as she tried to counteract against it, she once again felt an overwhelming sense of envy - on how absolutely effortless it is on Nagant's side to look attractive to thousands (even millions) of people, as compared to her, in which any facial cosmetic just consistently makes her already-horrendously unattractive face even worse.
A sudden flash of memory appeared in her mind, making her remember how she 'fought' Toga at Deika City with full eyebags, not even bothering to cover them up.
…
"Merry Christmas-" Lady Nagant spoke, but was abruptly cut off as the people once again erupted in cheer. It took a good while before she could get to continue, "I'm sorry I couldn't physically attend the party but-" she was interrupted again, and once again it took a long while before it cooled down enough, "I would just like to say that-" Lady Nagant abruptly stopped, this time not because of the crowd, but she just stopped on her own. Her right eyebrow twitched slightly and her smile became forced. Eventually, after a few seconds of silence, she continued, "everyone deserves a second chance-" This time her interruption is back to being caused by hordes of people erupting into cheer. And as with that, her projected image instantly disappeared and loud music began blaring through the speakers.
"Well that's… something…" Chitose rolled her eyes and turned her attention back towards Nagant just sitting nearby, only to find out that the heroine is now busy trying to down a bottle of alcohol in one go – the hand holding it up slightly trembling. She was about to ask where did it come from when an entire flurry of fireworks suddenly launched from behind the stage, illuminating the night sky in a vast array of colors.
But as for Chitose, while it is definitely impressive, her mind is just too busy firing off random thoughts about being abandoned, returning to the MLA, and other feelings about fake pity, as well as envy towards Nagant. The fireworks show may be intentional to lift her spirits up to prepare for the bad news up ahead, or so what Nagant said, but in the end she just felt even more miserable.
...
The fireworks continued on for the next two minutes or so before finally ending.
"Hey Nagant, it's done, fireworks show over, can you tell me the bad news now?" Chitose asked as she turned around towards Nagant, who's still somehow sitting on where she sat earlier, turned away from the fireworks show, head down and cupping her face with her hands like she didn't even watch a single second of it. "Hey," she called out again.
Nagant sprung up, and slowly stood away from her seat and gestured for the other woman to come near. "Alright, let's get this over with."
"You didn't watch the fireworks show?"
"No need to…" Nagant replied and muttered more, but it was in complete Russian in which Chitose could not understand. After a brief pause, she added, "sit here," alongside kicking the seat slightly to make it face towards the general area of the cheering crowd.
"I can take bad news standing up."
"Okay whatever… Here we go…" Nagant said before walking around, but keeping her attention away from the stage. "You feel good enough now?"
"I feel horrible," Chitose replied, making her voice sound sarcastic despite telling the truth. "Absolutely horrible."
Nagant looked around, her expression looking as if worried about something. She was about to speak but she cut herself off. After one deep sigh and some light scratching on the side of her head (indirectly pulling a few strands of hair here and there), she spoke, "nah that will have to do. I don't think this would even work but… the guy probably has hundreds of back-ups at this point and he's just going to order me around with them anyways so… okay, let's-"
"Can you just tell me what it is? Stop going all over the place! Just tell me what I need to know now!" Chitose raised her voice and took step forward, getting a significant reaction from Nagant and making her take two steps back. "We already wasted enough time in this stupid fireworks show."
Lady Nagant is silent for a short while, her expression now turned into that of nervousness. After a few seconds more she slowly pulled out a phone from one of her trench coat pockets and handed it over after a few quick button presses. "We went around asking people in Shoowaysha Publishing what were their opinions on you. We thought you really need to know about them," she said, but before Chitose could react to it, she added a loud, "JUST-! Just don't drop or throw or do anything to the phone, please?"
Chitose just shrugged in response and immediately looked at the phone she's holding. On its screen is a single play button. Without hesitation, she pressed it.
Right off the bat she noticed that the video seemed to be taken from a hidden camera of sorts, with a voice (which she immediately recognized as Hawks's) asking random people around what is their opinion on her. For some reason, while she can recognize the interior of Shoowaysha Publishing headquarters, she somehow can't recognize a single person there. 'Stupid fragmented memory…' she thought to herself, remembering how she can't give out an answer to Izuku's question as to what she really does as an executive director.
Turning her attention back to the video, she noticed that the replies given by the group of people being asked were mostly tame – about how they supposedly felt sad about her death and other similar comments. But once Hawks went out of the scene, everything drastically turned around, comment-wise.
The people were suddenly gossiping among themselves about how she's annoying, creepy, and has no sense of personal space, followed closely about how she's supposedly a massive bitch who practically lives in her office.
Chitose, flabbergasted by the comments, skipped a few seconds further along the video. It was the same story, and the same set of comments. She skipped some more, and everything is still the same. People would give out good answers at first, but every time, every single time, once Hawks leaves the scene, the gossips reveal their true opinions on her.
There is not a single positive comment about her. By all means these people know that she died, but that somehow didn't stop them from verbally trashing her.
Chitose's fingers trembled. As much as the emotional effect on her is rather dampened by the fact that she can't remember a single one of the people in the video, but knowing that every single person in her old work had nothing but negative comments about her…
It was still rather painful. And indeed there's a sharp pang in her chest all the while.
'I died… and this is all they have to say about me…?'
Chitose shook her head. "Nah who cares about them anyway!" she handed over the phone, her voice on the verge of cracking.
But Nagant, instead of just simply taking the phone back like what she's expecting, just reached over and swiped her finger on the screen. "We also had our spies ask around the MLA about their opinions on you just this morning…" she said, her voice trailing off as she hurriedly took a few steps back.
Chitose immediately looked back at the screen of the phone. There is another video waiting to be clicked. Gulping in nervousness, fearing if ever the MLA has the same opinions on her as the people in Shoowaysha, she hovered a trembling finger over the screen and pressed the 'play' button.
Compared to the earlier video, this time not only is the camera straightforward instead of being hidden, but she can somehow recognize the individuals present onscreen, as well as the surroundings – the underground section of the Gunga Mountain Villa.
Almost immediately Chitose remembered Skeptic, especially the way he initially tried to 'fetch' her by speedboat, and about how illogical it sounded now. But then again, his only goal is to kill her, method of transport obviously won't factor into anything, he just wanted her to stand at Takoba Beach to be easily assassinated.
'Skeptic will pay for this…' a thought played out in her mind as she turned her attention back to the video currently playing. By all means she's important to the MLA, and while people may not like her too much at Shoowaysha, over here it's very much guaranteed that only Skeptic, and Geten as well, will have negative comments to say about her-
"Curious is an utter disgrace to the cause," said the person on the screen.
"What-?" Chitose blanked out. The person talking is a high-ranking advisor. But what he said is drastically different than the one she's expecting. Before long in came another comment as the people nearby began saying their opinions as well.
"Weak Meta Abilities have no place here."
"She got what she deserved."
"I'm glad she's dead."
"She's utterly useless."
Bewildered, Chitose skipped the first part. And in came more comments in the same vein as the first group:
"Landmine's got to be the most pathetic Metapower I've ever seen."
"She looks creepy as hell."
"Curious is worthless trash. Everything is so much better without her."
"Absolute dead weight, now obviously more dead than weight."
Chitose skipped again, feeling her anger rapidly rising. After all she did, after all the publishing, and after all the contributions she did for the army, this is how the MLA thinks of her?! The audacity! She skipped again, gritting her teeth upon hearing the same exact words as earlier - about how she's weak and useless and hideous. And to top it all off there's even quite a number of people who genuinely reacted as if they never knew who she is.
"AFTER ALL I DID FOR THEM THIS IS WHAT THEY THINK OF ME?!" Chitose yelled out, eyes locking directly onto the phone as she continued to skip the video. "I'M USELESS?! IS THAT IT?!" she yelled yet again as she started walking around, her left hand balled into a fist. She's ready to blow up the first thing she sees. She cannot tolerate this level of disrespect-
A thought fired off in her mind.
"NAGANT!"
"What-?!" Lady Nagant almost fell over just as Chitose lunged forward at her, shoving the phone almost right to her face. With the heroine's right arm in a cast, there's no way she could suddenly spawn her rifle. And as for the spear, Chitose made sure to position herself between it and Nagant. Whether it's containing another set of sleeping drugs or not, she's not going to risk it. She's not going to be stabbed with anything tonight.
"THE MLA WOULD NEVER TALK ABOUT ME LIKE THIS! YOU HAD EVERYTHING EDITED, HUH?! YOU THINK YOU CAN ACTUALLY FOOL ME WITH THIS?!"
"No I didn't do anything! We got everything as is! I swear!" Nagant took a few more steps backwards, her ushanka falling off of her head. "They're legitimate comments! I didn't edit anything! They're all real! All of them!" she added, sweat visibly forming on her panic-stricken face.
"YOU REALLY THINK I'M THAT STUPID-?!"
Chitose abruptly stopped, freezing in place, one particular bunch of memories regarding what Skeptic told her yesterday suddenly resurfacing:
'Maybe Curious you should just forget us the same way we all forgot about you.'
'Our Grand Commander is too busy ignoring your lack of presence here, do try not to disturb him, yes? In fact, we're all having quite a grand time here with your total absence. Everything is just so much better, and I certainly agree on every aspect on it! No seriously Curious, everything is much more pleasant without you here. You are the purest definition of the word – dead weight.'
'Oh no no no Curious I am most certainly not joking!'
'Being pushy are we? Okay fine. As much as we're currently having the time of our lives here throwing the grandest party to celebrate your death, looks like I will have to obey your orders this time. But only this time.'
…
Chitose, amidst Nagant scampering backwards to get some distance away from her, slowly looked back on the phone – focusing on the background. It was only then she realized that the MLA are, indeed, throwing a whole celebration. Everyone seemed to be well-dressed. Even the entire underground section of the Gunga Mountain Villa is decorated in various Christmas decorations.
'Everything is much more pleasant without you here...' The memories of what Skeptic typed in flashed again in her mind. 'As much as we're currently having the time of our lives throwing the grandest party to celebrate your death…'
Feeling her eyes rapidly well up in tears, Chitose began skipping the video. It was just more and more of the same. The entire video is filled to the brim of the MLA – the people she thought of and treated as family, generally trashing her. Breathing heavily, she skipped some more, but nothing is different, everything is just the same, all the way until she reached a point where it was Re-Destro talking:
"Curious died for the Liberation," the Grand Commander said, his voice sounding dismissive, before just calmly walking away, immediately being replaced with Geten, who wasted no time in hurling insults towards her and her 'weak and utterly-useless Meta Ability'.
…
'That's it…?' Chitose couldn't believe it. Realistically speaking, Re-Destro could've heard his adopted son loudly talking about her, yet he still did nothing to it. 'Everyone… hates me…?' Her legs gave way, ending up with her slouching forward in a kneeling position, her arms planted down – one hand still holding onto the phone. She heard a comment from Lady Nagant but it was too weak she didn't understand a thing of it.
Chitose looked at the phone again, the video still playing, yet it was just more of the same thing she'd seen for minutes now. "Why…?" she whimpered as she closed her eyes and wiped her tears with a free arm. "Why…?" she asked again, this time directed at Nagant just standing in front of her.
"…" Nagant did not answer, and instead just took another step back.
"Why…?" Chitose asked again as the video on the phone continued. 'All this time I kept trying to return… all the wasted time… I was there for over 20 years… I did all I could… and this is how everyone thinks of me…?' she raised a hand to feel around her face, specifically around the injuries she has sustained so far all because of her desperation to return to the only family she knew at this point.
The family that apparently never cared about her.
At all.
Over a hundred thousand members. Not a single one.
…
All they feel about her is hate and indifference.
…
She never mattered.
…
"Why…?" she asked again in the midst of tears running down her face. Why is everyone mad at her for being weak when Re-Destro himself is the one who specifically told her she shouldn't train Landmine anymore and risk it becoming unstable? Why is everyone mad at her for being useless when she's the one who published and distributed the holy bible of the MLA? Why is everyone mad at her when she's the one who contributed the most in a monetary sense?
"Why? What did I do wrong…?" she asked amidst her crying as she slowly tried to stand up again, the phone in her hand now completely drenched in tears. "WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!" she yelled out, directed at Nagant. "WHAT?!"
"I don't know! I'm not part of the MLA! I just – I mean we just had someone talk to them about you! That's it!"
"BUT I DID ALL I COULD!" Chitose took multiple steps forward. "I did everything they told me to!"
Nagant backed off. "Hey don't blame me I have nothing to do with that!"
"I published the books! I contributed to the cause! I recruited people! Re-Destro always told me I'M DOING GREAT!" she took steps closer, indirectly pressing a button on the phone to increase the volume of the video currently playing:
"I don't like her, she's annoying."
"She deserved to die."
"I just can't stand Curious."
"I'm glad she's gone."
Chitose grit her teeth, feeling a combined amount of rage, confusion, worry, and abandonment. There's one thing to be indifferent, but knowing how everyone hated her and had nothing but negative things to say about her after she died?
After all she did for them?
Mind racing, she hurriedly looked at the phone again, her hand trembling all over, and still it's just the same thing being repeated over and over and over. Every single person there just either hates her outright or simply doesn't know she even existed.
She's already hated in Shoowaysha. She's already abandoned by the Midoriyas. She's already thrown out by her real parents. Her entire life has been only an endless cycle of rejection. And now apparently the only group she thought she belonged, is still the exact same case. After spending two decades, the end result is still the same.
…
"What… did I do wrong…?" she asked again, her mind racing with so many thoughts.
"Everything."
Chitose was surprised to hear Lady Nagant answer in a tone that was drastically different from earlier. As she turned to look towards her, she's immediately greeted by Hawks slamming a baseball bat right on her face, directly hitting her left cheek, stunning her and making her fall down sideways, hitting her head hard on the ground. As for the hit itself, it was too weak and didn't trigger Backforce, and Chitose felt – amidst her bleeding head, like her entire cheek was shattered.
"Okay I'm done. I showed her what needs showing. As expected she didn't take it well. Now let me just move as far away as I can from this pathetic excuse of a person…"
Amidst her darkening vision, Chitose saw Lady Nagant hurriedly walk away towards the elevator, ignoring her ushanka.
"Leah you just really had to ruin the vibe, huh? I was down there frolicking with the ladies! I was in the mood! And then you called me here and you ruined it!" Hawks replied, and Nagant just said something back in complete Russian. Chitose didn't understand what it meant but it somehow made Hawks turn his attention back to her.
"Whoops! Not fully knocked out. Looks like I made the hit a bit too weak. Here, let me fix that for you."
Chitose could only close her eyes just as Hawks readied up another swing. It came down not a moment too soon.
And it was still too weak. Hawks just using his arms to swing a weapon around is just simply not enough to trigger Backforce. And as a result, instead of just receiving just a harmless knockout, it only made her already-shattered cheek break even more. But now, the pain is too much, and she just doesn't have any energy left in her anymore. But before she can truly slip into the world of unconsciousness, she heard one last thing from the tear-drenched phone still on her right hand:
"Curious, huh? She's worthless garbage. Toga is magnitudes more of a worth to the Liberation Army than she could ever hope to be. She's better off dead."
It was Skeptic.
…
Note:
(Aaaaaand Chitose's down again...)
...
...
I never understood how come Re-Destro just casually killed off his teddy bear assistant simply because he dared to criticize the MLW books, yet he has full support on Toga even though she killed off the person literally responsible for publishing said books.
Also, regarding the books: For some reason they just somehow stopped mattering altogether after the PLF's formation even though it's goals are still all about Liberation. By the time the heroes stormed Gunga Mountain Villa, there are no more books in sight, all the way into the finale. All signs of Curious's existence are just all removed like she never mattered at all in the first place.
(Now that I think of it, Curious has the same 'abandonment' backstory as Dabi's origin story, but of course only Dabi matters because he's one of the main villains.)
…
Anyways, so here we are! The "ending" of Part 1 (Or so I call it as PART 1). From this point on there would be more ACTION and WORLDBUILDING and CANON-DIVERGENCE and EXPLOSIONS. Lots and lots of EXPLOSIONS! I mean Curious is the main character after all!