Starfire floated into Kuri's room. "Get out of the bed, Kuri! It is a beeeeeautiful day!"
Kuri was huddled under the covers. "Go away."
"Why are you still in the bed, anyway?" Starfire asked. "You are acting like Raven."
"I'm punishing myself."
"Why?" Starfire looked at the lump of covers that was her teammate.
"One reason…" Kuri said, sticking her head out just enough for her blue eyes to show.
Starfire sat on the bed. "Tell me. This is the girl talk, yes?"
"Ah…I think I might have managed to fall in love," Kuri said.
Starfire's eyes widened in excitement. "With who?"
"Deku…" Kuri said, blushing. She darted under the covers. "Now you see my problem?"
"Hm…" Starfire said, grabbing the covers and pulling them off Kuri.
"Ah!" Kuri screamed.
Starfire smirked.
"You're no help at all," Kuri muttered.
"Is there something wrong with you being in the love, Kuri?" Starfire asked.
"Villains will find some way to mess it up," replied Kuri. "All For One hurt him once already. And Loki. He's an expert at using people's emotions against them."
Kuri sighed heavily. "Hopefully, for his sake, he doesn't love me back."
Starfire looked sad, but didn't know what to say. As a princess, she understood duty getting in the way of romance. Then she remembered something. "Oh, Kuri, you were coughing pretty hard last night. Did AFO hurt you that badly?"
Kuri looked up. "Hn…no. It's just…I cough a lot lately. Sometimes there's blood, sometimes not. And there are whole spaces in my memory where it's blank…I think I must be blacking out and Loki takes advantage…"
"That's terrible!" Starfire exclaimed. "We must tell Robin—or better yet Raven, she understands more about this than we do."
"N-No!" Kuri reached out and grabbed her teammate's arm with surprising force. "Whatever you do…don't tell Robin."
"Why not?" Starfire asked.
"I don't want anyone to see me as a burden," Hana said. "Maybe because Robin sees me as a hero, but I can't let him down."
Starfire narrowed her eyes. "But a hero is all of not who you are. You are a good person, and we are your friends, and we want to help you. If you can't tell Robin, then tell your beloved Deku. Deku would agree. Ask him."
Kuri looked down. "If he knows what I did, Deku will never forgive me. Why do you think that All For One tried to kill me? I did a bad thing."
"What did you do?" Starfire asked.
"I can't tell you, Star," Kuri said. "You wouldn't like me anymore."
With those words, she shut Star out of her room, and dissolved into sobs.
Xxx
Loki was in his own form for once. But of course, despite his godlike visage , he blended in rather well with society.
Pathetic humans, thought Loki. If only I didn't have to rely on you to survive.
He held the package close to his chest and knocked on the door.
Deku came downstairs in a few moments.
"L-Loki?" he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm here for two reasons," Loki said, smirking. He loved to mess with the little hero. "To make sure Robin gets this is the first thing on my list, however."
Loki handed Deku the wrapped package, then stepped close to him.
"Don't. Open it, " he said fiercly, then sat back down.
"What about the second thing?" Deku asked warily.
"I came to tell you that Kuri has very little time left," Loki said, still smiling. "They all die so quickly."
"Die?" Deku nearly dropped the package Loki had given him. "She's dying?"
"Do with it what you will, Deku," Loki said. "The girl doesn't know. The proof is in you, when your powers resonated, you coughed up blood. Just like her. But don't worry, you won't die. Only she will.."
"Is there anything…I can do?" Deku asked.
"Ask Robin," was Loki reply. "He's the reason I torment these Titans." He smirked, and left.
We resonated based off of our connection…so it has to do with love…If Kuri has me, she's winning, I guess. But if I want to save her…I have to commit, despite the threat of All For One. Kuri…she is a person who could stand and face the Villain by my side!
Deku made his decision then. The next time he got the chance, he had to tell Kuri how he felt about her…before it was too late.