The Price of Pain
Chapter 9: The Price of Friendship
Between lessons with La Brava, strength, and agility training, and completing odd jobs for criminals, Aki was booked out. So when she received a text from Ochaco, she considered ignoring the girl.
Chaco-lato:
Want to watch a movie?
Akira:
No
Chaco-lato:
Aww
Why not? Assignments.
Akira:
Yes
Chaco-lato:
Just for a day. Pleeeeazzzzz
Akira:
No
Chaco-lato:
I'll buy you a whole pack of orange-pops
Akira:
Yes.
I can spare 4 hours tonight.
Chaco-lato:
Man you reaaaaly love orange-pops huh
Akira:
It's a good source of vitamin C.
Chaco-lato:
Of course that's your excuse! Just admit you love it. :)
.
.
.
Aki?
.
.
.
Ok I'm just going to meet you at 6pm at the movies. C ya
Akira:
I will be there. Thank you for considering me.
Chaco-lato:
What are friends for 3 3 3
Aki stopped chatting. Had she done the right thing? The wrong thing? Maybe this was normal? She had never had someone who willingly went out of their way to hang out with her before unless she was on a mission that required it. People took one look at her prickly disposition and her dangerous quirk and wrote her off. She had been content with that, but now that someone was actually trying to be her friend, Aki didn't know what to think or do.
She felt a weight on her stomach and looked down to see Six. He climbed onto her much like a creepy possessed doll would and lay on her stomach just staring into her eyes. The guy liked to do that for some reason.
"Who's that?" he asked.
"An… acquaintance," she said after a moment's consideration.
"Is it for work? Can I come?" Six asked.
Aki shook her head. "No, for once not for work."
"You look uncertain. Why?" Six pressed.
Aki shoved him off her stomach and sat up, huffing in irritation. Six had so many questions sometimes, and it was also about how she was feeling. Why he wanted to know what everyone was feeling at any given time was beyond her.
"I don't know Six. Sometimes I'm just as lost as you are about everything," she admitted.
Six sat up in rapt attention at her admission. "Really? You have no sense of direction either, no identity?"
"Don't sound so happy about that," Aki huffed, although she wasn't really annoyed. She was more confused when Six hugged her. She hugged him back awkwardly, but it was more just her patting his back.
"I saw a video saying this comforts people."
"I guess it does," Aki sighed.
In some ways Six was like a baby, and in others he was an adult. He knew how to do a lot of adult things, like lodge taxes, and how to create fake bank accounts. Things that indicated he may have been a villain in whatever life he had lived before his amnesia. Aki wasn't one to judge. His personality was rather mellow, if a little vindictive and angry when he was in one of his confused states. Aki couldn't exactly blame him. If she had no idea who she was and felt the supposed gnawing desire to be someone she didn't even know, she too would be driven insane.
"Six, why do you care so much about your old identity? You can start anew. Forget everything bad that ever happened to you, and move on… find happiness," Aki said, her voice going uncharacteristically soft.
He regarded her for a moment. "I don't know. I don't know a lot of things. Just that I wanted to be someone so bad, and I still do. I just don't know who."
"You could just be yourself. Be who you are right now," she said.
Six didn't look pleased with that. "A stubby flesh-sack," he hissed.
Ok she deserved that. He clearly wasn't happy with his form. He loathed it in fact. She knew the look of someone itching to get out of their own skin.
"I deserve that. I can take you out today. I'm meeting a civilian, untrained, and innocent. Do not think of harming her," Aki said.
Six frowned. "But I don't look human. Won't she ask questions?"
Aki nodded. "I suppose she will. But I will introduce you as you are unless you're opposed to it. If she can't handle you, then she most certainly can't handle me."
"I wouldn't mind. Are we telling her the truth about me?" Six asked.
"You decide that" Aki said before she paused and grimaced, remembering Dabi. "Just don't tell Dabi I took you out. I don't want to cause drama."
"I didn't intend on it. I hate him," Six said.
"He's not that bad of a roommate. You two should talk it out. Plus you were always complaining you couldn't feel anything. Now look at you, hating someone," Aki said, almost proud.
"I suppose you're right. Hate is a feeling," Six said, smiling widely.
Aki wasn't sure if they took a step forward or two steps back. Either way, she supposed keeping Six locked up in her apartment with Dabi for much longer would actually make them kill each other. Six had lived with them for at least 2 months now and in that time, he hadn't done anything harmful, and hadn't even asked for food and water. For the most part he was polite and quiet, and sometimes he would smile and joke robotically. Maybe a remnant of his old self remained. Either way Aki suspected actual human interaction may help him go back to his proper or old form. Whatever he was, was unnatural. He possessed multiple quirks, considering regeneration and transformation quirks weren't biologically compatible in the same host. He was an anomaly. She supposed a runaway experiment if the number indicated anything.
"You're putting on a scarf," she said.
"What for?" Six asked.
"To cover your number. Until you remember your past, we don't need anyone recognising you."
"You also think someone may be after me?" he asked.
"Who knows. We can't discount it. Put on a scarf and I'll let you sit on my shoulder."
"Thanks boss."
Aki snorted. She wasn't his boss, but he insisted, so she didn't press. She supposed taking him out wouldn't be too weird. There were a lot of people with mutation quirks that made them look weird. Six was… a different case. He didn't look like any mutated individual Aki had seen before, but it wasn't like his appearance wasn't out of the realm of possibility here. She'd seen some extremely short people after all.
After throwing on a baggy jacket, stockings, and a comfortable dress, she made her way out with a scarf covered Six. As expected, having Six on her back garnered some attention, but no one approached or commented. She wondered if they thought he was her baby brother or something. The thought made her falter. Six was probably older than her. He said he was an adult, and Aki supposed she had to take his word for it. He was still her responsibility for now, so it didn't feel that way.
"Aki-chan!" Ochaco said, waving at her.
Aki waved back with a little less enthusiasm as she walked towards the girl. As promised, she held out a cup of juice towards her. Aki took it with a small unsure smile.
"Aki you bought, your—" Ochaco said, looking at Six in confusion.
"My cousin. Introduce yourself," Aki said, looking at 6.
"Hi, you may call me… Nomura," he said after a moment.
Aki tried to reach Ochaco's face, it was blank for a moment before her mouth widened in a familiar bright smile. She shook his hands without any hesitation.
"Nice to meet you Nomura-kun. I'm Uraraka Ochaco. I'm sure Aki-chan hasn't talked about me before. She's unusually quiet," Ochaco said with her usual bluntness.
That actually drew a friendly laugh out of Six, which confused Aki. Six very rarely laughed, and when he did it was in inappropriate situations, like he was testing the waters for when he should and should not laugh. He seemed to be acting normally enough. Ochaco was also thankfully too nice to ask why he was the way he was. Aki figured she'd just let it slide and not ask insensitive questions. The girl had tact.
"Sorry I didn't buy you any," Ochaco apologised to Six.
"It's alright, I'll take Aki's," he said.
"No you won't. I'll end you," she grumbled, taking her drink.
Aki sipped it and her eyes went wide. She looked at the drink in wonder. It was orange, but also… tea!
"I see you like it. I knew you would. It's bubble tea. Is it your first time?" Ochaco asked.
Aki nodded. "Who would have thought, orange and tea would go together so well. What are the little balls of delight in here?"
"Popping pearls. Sorry they didn't have them in orange, so I went with mango," Ochaco said, as they walked into the mall.
"That is more than understandable," Aki hummed, happily drinking her bubble tea.
She supposed this world had its perks outside of being war-free. The drinks here were divine. Orange juice was almost worth getting murdered over and sent to another world. Ochaco began filling up the silence with a lot of talking, and even let 6 have the rest of her drink.
"Have you been to an arcade here? I think we can go before we watch the movie. We have some time," Ochaco said.
"No… it's our first time," Aki said.
Ochaco frowned. "You haven't done karaoke, or been to an arcade… Aki-chan are you a country girl?"
Aki huffed. "Yeah sure, let's go with that."
"So mysterious all the time. Can you believe it Nomura-kun? She won't even tell me her last name!"
"Stranger danger," Aki said.
Ochaco gaped at her and then burst out laughing. "Was that a joke, Aki-chan? A joke from you! I didn't know you had it in you."
"I don't joke," Aki said, although her smile gave away her lie.
Ochaco was touchy, but in a nice way. She shook her shoulders and laughed, and jumped, and seemed to have an infectious sort of energy. Even Six was laughing at her jokes, even if it was a tad bit late. Aki found herself smiling despite everything. Ochaco showed her the wonders of an arcade, and Aki found she loved the basketball hoops, and the dance games more than the cursed Mario Kart games. Ochaco loved those though since she kept winning. Aki was surprised when Six turned out to be really good at the traditional console button press games. His sense of timing was impeccable. And as she walked away from another consecutive loss in a racing game, Aki actually smiled ear to ear.
"Enjoy the failure," Aki said, as she walked away from her defeat.
"Huh?" Ochaco asked.
"Your parents said that I should enjoy the failure," she said.
Ochaco laughed. "I think they meant you should enjoy the moment, but your takeaway is funnier."
"Why do you enjoy failure?" Six asked.
"I don't. Only with Ochaco," Aki conceded.
"Aww! You two are so cute! Come on, let's take some pictures and then go to the movies," Ochaco said, dragging her to the photo booth.
Aki frowned. Pictures weren't a good idea. That made them traceable in a way that she didn't like. But what were the odds that someone she knew would know Ochaco? Aki ran in a completely different circle to this innocent girl. The smart thing would have been to say no, but Ochaco gave her the biggest puppy dog eyes and Aki caved.
"…Okay, but don't show anyone. I'm photo shy," she said.
"If you say so. Come on Nomura-kun, you too," Ochaco said, hoisting up the man before he could protest.
And that's how Aki found herself in a photo booth, her face squished up against Ochaco's and Six's as they took photos together. Aki tried being expressive, but her smiles came out more like grimaces than anything. They all came out with a film of pictures for each of them, and Aki had to admit she liked it.
The last picture she had taken with a smile had been with her Genin team…
"Aki-chan, are you an ok? Ochaco asked.
Aki realised her eyes had gotten suspiciously wet. She blinked it back before she cried. It had been a long time since she had even thought of mourning. She pushed it back deep inside of her like she always did, locking it away so the pain never surfaced. It was hard to do next to Ochaco for some reason. The girl was so warm and inviting. So non-threatening and practically radiating innocent intentions. Aki hadn't ever been with someone who didn't want something out of her, or just wanted to be with her for nothing more than enjoying her presence. She wasn't exactly a fun person. Even Shinobi called her personality dull, and a stickler for the rules. When her Genin team had died, so had her only real friends.
"I… It's been a long time since I've had a friend," Aki admitted softly.
It was unlike her to admit something so raw and vulnerable. She had barely met this girl and here she was opening up. Aki felt like she was in danger, but not in the ways she was used to. It was in the kind of way where if she let this continue, she would never be able to let it go. It was too good.
She expected Ochaco or Six to berate her for openly showing her emotions like this. Even her old team would have poked fun at her for being sentimental, but Ochaco just held her hands in a warm way and smiled happily at her.
"I'm glad we can be friends too. Now let's go see a movie!" she said, whooping excitedly.
Aki nodded, smiling. She was glad the girl knew not to dwell on her emotions, that it was making her uncomfortable. Ochaco was incredibly emotionally intelligent. Aki was not at all jealous… maybe just a little.
"You're acting unlike yourself. Why?" Six asked in a whisper.
"I don't know," Aki admitted.
Six always took that as a valid answer and never pressed, but he seemed unhappy with her suddenly. And eventually they watched a movie about a really awkward romance flick where the woman was confused about who she liked, and in the end went for the basic one. The movie itself was not interesting and it left her more frustrated with the ending than anything but having Ochaco and Six there made it fun. Six kept asking questions about why the characters were acting so illogically, the other people kept shushing him, and Ochaco was crying randomly during the 'sad' scenes.
"That was such a good movie," Ochaco declared as they left the theatre.
"It was certainly an experience," Aki settled with.
"It was horrible," Six said bluntly.
They all laughed. Aki realised the moon had fully come out and it was getting late. She turned to Ochaco.
"It's late, want me to walk you home?" she asked.
"It's fine," Ochaco said shaking her head.
"I'm walking you home," Aki said with finality.
Ochaco insisted against it for a while, but eventually she caved as Aki strong armed her way into walking the girl home. More nefarious criminals came out at night, the kind that preyed on young girls, and Ochaco didn't strike her as the kind of person who could fight. She was soft in a lot of ways.
Soft things die.
"Hey Aki-chan, Nomura-kun, are you okay at home?" Ochaco asked.
It was a sudden and random question. Aki blinked once and turned to Ochaco questioningly. She flushed and waved her hands the way she did when she was caught off guard. Endearing as it was usually, all Aki could think of right now was how bad it would be if she pressed about her home life.
"I-I'm sorry, you don't have to answer! I was just worried because you have bruises showing through your sleeve," she said.
Oh they weren't that well covered then. Aki frowned, moving to come up with some excuses when 6 spoke up unprompted.
"Aki is training in martial arts. We're fine at home. She's actually living with me and my older brother since her parents are on an overseas business trip," Six explained.
"O-Oh, sorry for jumping to conclusions then," she said, deflating and breathing a sigh of relief.
Aki hated how gullible Ochaco was. She turned to Six and nodded in silent thanks. He simply looked away. Then they kept walking and Aki was glad she walked Ochaco, because the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. They were being watched.
"Six, keep your eyes sharp," she whispered.
"I know. Someone's watching," he said.
Aki knew if she turned around, they would either run away or confront them. The problem with this world was that she couldn't sense quirks the way she could chakra. She didn't know how powerful or weak someone was. Maybe they had a quirk like hers where just a look could cause severe damage, or maybe they didn't need to be in the vicinity at all to counter every single one of her abilities easily. Quirks were volatile and varied.
So they walked, while Aki kept half her attention on the world around them while making robotic conversation. And when she made it to Ochaco's home safely, she knew whoever was stalking them wasn't here for Ochaco. That was somewhat relieving but didn't entirely discount the fact that they could still harm her.
"Thanks for walking me home," she said.
"It's not an issue," Aki replied easily.
The downstairs apartment door opened revealing her parents. They greeted Aki with wide smiles. Mrs Uraraka was the first to invite her in.
"Come on just stay for the night. We can call your parents," she said.
"I'm living with my cousins at the moment. Plus it should be fine, I don't live too far away, and I can call a cab," Aki replied politely.
"I can drive you home," Mr Uraraka said.
"Nope, I'm good. Gotta go bye," Aki said quickly, rushing out of there.
"Wait at least let me call you a cab!"
The man's protests went unheard as Aki disappeared into the streets, and as he turned a corner, she had seemingly vanished. Meanwhile Aki was taking abrupt turns into street corners as she withdrew her knife. It was only when she heard the slightest tapping of feet behind her that she threw the weapon at her follower. They caught it, still in the shadows and she cursed her inability to make them out in the dark.
"She's armed," Six whispered.
How Six knew that in such dim light was beyond her. While Aki couldn't make out the figure past a vague silhouette, she could still fight in close range combat in darkness. She would charge once she was more aware of the situation. Her stalker finally spoke, initiating contact.
"You've grown into a wonderful young lady," the feminine voice said, although the tone was dark.
"Do I know you?" Aki asked with gritted teeth.
"You wouldn't darling child. Not many people do, but you'll have the pleasure of knowing me soon," she said.
Aki didn't like the way that sounded. "I don't suppose you'll step out of the shadows and fight me head on?"
"Fight you? No, I'm sticking around to see how you turn out child. You've been doing so well recently. The girl with a steel heart, they call you. A cold-blooded killer. What a wonderful moniker," the woman said.
Her voice was silky smooth, and Aki suddenly felt an immense pressure on her chest. Something primal and terrifying that she hadn't felt since she had been in her first fight. A killing intent so potent it dropped her to her knees and she held her throat as the breath was knocked out of her lungs. She could barely think enough to react when the woman was in front of her holding her head.
"Let her go," Six hissed.
"What a pathetic little creature you've become Number Six," she said.
"You know me?" Six asked.
Aki gasped as the woman simply kicked him away in response, before pushing her head down onto the gravel beneath her. Aki gasped pathetically, gripping the floor beneath her in abject panic and terror. Her limbs were shaking she realised.
"You're holding up much better than others would in your place. They'd usually pee themselves by now and start begging for mercy," she said, a pleased tone to her voice.
"W-who are you?"
"Someone who wishes to see you flourish my child. I stayed away until now, but I came here to give you a word of advice. Don't grow attachments. They make you weak. Soft little things like that Ochaco girl die so easily."
"D-don't threat—"
The sudden blow to her stomach had her dropping to the ground. The woman laughed as she threw blow after blow of kicks to her stomach. It wasn't until Aki vomited out her dinner that the woman stopped her barrage of sudden and unexpected attacks. Hadn't she just said she didn't want to fight earlier? Aki could barely think about that through the ringing in her ears and the pain blooming in her body.
"Don't tell me what to do ever again. I won't kill your little toy friend, but one day you might."
Aki looked up in confusion to see black eyes. The kind of black that reflected no light. Like hers. The mysterious, terrifying figure grinned, teeth all white in a large Cheshire smile.
"After all, you are your mother's daughter."
Then almost as if she were a mirage, the woman left her with that horrible revelation, holding her stomach, nearly passed out in an alley way. Once the oppressive weight of terror had died down enough for her to be able to control her limbs, Aki turned to Six.
"S-Six… Six," she rasped out.
His form was limp on the ground. Aki dragged herself to his side, turning him over to check him. He was non-responsive. She couldn't even check his vitals to see if he was alive considering how different his make-up was compared to a human. She cursed, touching her own abdomen, knowing full well she'd bruised a few ribs, and probably had internal bleeding. She needed the night doctor. But she couldn't take Six there and protect him in her state either.
"Fuck," she groaned, wiping the blood and bile off her mouth.
Trembling fingers tapped her phone.
"What do you want kid?"
"D-Dabi, I'm sending y-you, my location. Six and I… we need medical attention," she rasped.
"Fuck, stay on the line. How bad is it?" he asked.
"Internal bleeding, bruised, maybe broken ribs. Six is… Six is down. D-don't take him to the doctor. H-he's…"
"Aki? Aki! Kid stay awake. Don't you dare go to fucking sleep on me okay."
Unfortunately, Aki didn't think she could stay awake. She'd hit her head too, and whatever that woman had done to her had made her extremely weak. She gasped another painful breath as her vision faded. Dabi's irritated voice was a small relief as she went unconscious.
A/N
Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Really goes from wholesome to dire really quick. Aki's mom is a villain if that wasn't already clear from how she conceived her child. She's a whole as SA warning, so if anyone is uncomfortable with non-con themes please take care of your mental health while reading and stop reading. I don't want anyone triggering themselves reading my stories so here's another warning on top of the many I have up. As an SA survivor myself, it's just a topic I take seriously.