A girl lies face-first in the dirt of the park that she spends most, if not all of her evenings at. She can't seem to get up.
"Why?" A shallow, almost deafened voice asks, on the brink of tears "Why do they hate me?"
She doesn't know if anybody can here her. But she needs to let this out. She had been bottling her emotions for far too long. Thankfully, someone had heard their cries.
"Mallory! Oh thank God you're okay!" It was her father, Paul.
"They wouldn't let me play with them. They said mean things and then they hit me." The girl, now identified as Mallory said, a stuttering mess, now letting the waterworks run.
"Who did? Was it Ripley? I swear I'm going to have that girl hung at the stake for what she's done!"
"Why do they hate me? What did I do?" Mallory asks, still having not a single clue on why the other girls dislike her.
"Shush now. Let's get you home." Paul said, slowly lifting his daughter onto his back as he grabs his phone out of his pocket.
It rings for only a few a seconds as the recipient rushes to answer.
"Hello? Paul? Is everything fine? I thought you just left a few minutes ago?" A soft, beautiful voice says, letting just a hint of worry shine through.
"Mikaela, I need you to draw a bath. We're coming back sooner than expected. Mallory had a pretty bad scuffle with some of the other kids at the playground."
"Oh no, do I need to inform her mother? And shall I get supplies from the medicine cabinet?"
"No, Mallory's a tough girl, and her quirk should heal her right up." The man replies, a hint of pride in his daughters quirk, as he begins the short walk. Quickening as he notices the storm arriving quicker than he anticipated.
Mallory hadn't said another word the whole walk home, she was too busy in her thoughts. She could already tell that it was going to rain. She knew the clouds would catch up before they made it home.
It was a short walk; the playground only being a block from their home. Paul walked up to the front gate, cursing as he unlocked it, rushing down the path to the door as the rain began to fall.
As he opened it, the family maid, Mikaela took Mallory off of Paul's back and carried her too one of the many bathrooms's in their 4 story home, a bath already drawn ready for the 4 year old.
"Mallory do you need help undressing, or can you manage?" The maid asked, willing to help the girl pull of the skirt and shirt that was stuck to her skin with dried blood.
"I need help Miss Mikaela. It's sticky." The girl said, feeling cold from the water that wet her hair on the way in.
The young maid helped pull of her shirt and skirt, letting the girl take off her undergarments herself. And as Mikaela lifted Mallory into the tub, she asked "Have you been hurting yourself? These wounds look self inflicted."
"It wasn't me! I promise! Ripley's quirk let's her control someone else's body."
"Is that so?" Mikaela queried as she squeezed some shampoo into her palm. "Has she always tried to hurt you?"
"No. She usually just ignores me. But she got really mad today when I asked if I could play heroes with her."
"She said that someone like me could never be a hero, with a quirk like mine."
"Well I think your quirk is wonderful M.J. You just need to learn how how to utilize it." Mikaela says as she applies the shampoo into the girls auburn red hair.
"Well; Why don't I let you finish up yourself while I fetch you some new clothes? Call me when you're done in here."
"Yes ma'am Miss Mikaela. I shouldn't be long" Mallory shouts, not realizing just how loud she spoke.
As Mallory grabs the bar of soap from the shelf, she tries, and fails to use her quirk on it to make it more slippery. When she realizes her failiure, she calls Mikaela back in the room.
Her quirk, called Enchant, allows her to alter the properties of items she has in her possession and speed up her natural healing and growth."
When the maid opens the door, she carries in a pair of black-cat-themed slippers, a pair of underwear, and a black and white hooded dress with a checker pattern on it and helps her into it after drying her off with a towel.
"Let me tie your hair, M.J. It will get in your eyes if it's loose." Mikaela tells Mallory as she gestures for a seat in front of a large obsidian mirror.
"Can you teach me how to tie it myself? I want to impress Jane. She always has her hair tied." The girl says, soliciting a nod of approval from the maid as she finishes tying her hair into a long ponytail
"Sure, and why don't you play a game with your siblings when they get home from training? I'm sure they'd be happy to cheer you up" Mikaela suggests as she instructs the girl on the proper technique on tying hair.
"Okay, maybe big sis will want to play hide and seek, I can never find her when she hides, but I'll find her this time." The girl smiles as she thinks about her siblings.
"We'll just have to wait and see, M.J."