« I'm fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine. »
On a sunny day in May, Hyori was arranging her new dormitory room inside the Ultra Academy. She had been released from hospital two weeks after her rescue. Her movements were measured and she only carried light items. She was experiencing withdrawals and felt like she was going through hell for a second time. She remembered bits of her rescue day. She had been too lightheaded to walk as her morning dose of sleeping pills was still affecting her body. She remembered being carried outside and the sound of an ambulance.
Besides the Hero Commission's Vice President, she hadn't received many visits during her detoxification in the hospital. For two weeks, she had been getting used to not relying on pills to sleep anymore. She didn't sleep well but at least wasn't at risk of a seizure anymore. Her limbs had stopped trembling after walking long distances and she had finally been discharged. The academy's nurse would keep track of her recovery and she would meet the elderly woman every day after her activities.
The professionals had advised her to take things slowly and her homeroom teacher was due to collect her at five in the afternoon to take her swimming. She should remain busy to get her mind off of her needs, but she shouldn't push herself into demanding activities. Those would be detrimental by triggering her need to ease her physical pain and the fatigue could cloud her judgement. She was unable to relapse since she was confined inside the academy's grounds but the discomfort would be heightened.
She had had issues focusing in classes on top of being tired due to her recurrent sleepless nights. Every time she closed her eyes, she was taken back into the manor where she had been used under the influence. It got to the point where she couldn't sleep until she lost consciousness due to fatigue. Her sleeping time didn't last for more than four hours before she woke up alarmed and sweaty.
Her memories of the events were spotty when she was awake but vivid during her slumber. She had nightmares of her frenzy in his arms at night, when she was under stimulants' influence. At some point, she had resigned herself and gave up on hoping to be free again. Giving up had granted her the freedom to roam in the place void of any presence that wasn't her jailor, even if she mostly slept in between doses. She had been able to command the multiple domestic robots that kept the place tidy and had guessed that would be her life forever.
On multiple occasions, she had entertained asking for Megumi's help but didn't want her little sister to see her state. She wanted to improve her form and state of mind to prevent polluting the younger's mind. She hadn't seen the girl in over a month and thinking about meeting again was helping her.
Knocking on her door interrupted her contemplation and she opened to her homeroom teacher. She was already wearing her gym clothes and binding underwear, not having partook in the afternoon physical classes. In the common spaces of the building, no one could be seen and she assumed her classmates were either training or studying.
The walk to the sports grounds had been silent. As there were pupils lingering outside, she lowered her umbrella as much as possible to hide her face. She already had a reputation as the only general to have transferred in the heroic course this year, and maybe for a couple of years. She suspected her violet mane made her stand out, but at least she couldn't see people's eyes on her.
Inside the indoor pool area, she changed into the school-sponsored swimsuit and so did her teacher, just in case he had to intervene. After stretching, she swam slowly with floating foams for a dozen minutes. She then took a five-minute break before starting again. After one hour in the waters, it was time to leave. She changed before the teacher walked her to the nurse's office for her daily examination.
Afterwards, he escorted her to the cafeteria for dinner before taking her back inside the dormitories. In the dormitories, her peers kept their distance and she avoided eye contact while the teacher escorted her into her bedroom. The routine lasted until she requested to resume her training in the nearby resort. The nurse allowed her to proceed as long as she kept her daily recovery auscultations.
Hyori felt better in the resort where she used to hang out in a swimsuit and gymnastics leotards. Her physical form steadily improved over the days and the intensity of her physical sessions increased. It was far from the level it had been before the rapture. She wondered if she would be able to get back to her previous shape. She was afraid the gap between her level and the required level would eventually prevent her from remaining in the heroic program.
She had been hopeful for a few weeks of activities until she stagnated. She could see her form wasn't the same. More than the lack of training and forced feeding in her raptor's estate, she felt bloated and heavy. Her reflection in the mirror seemed inflated and her energy levels plummeted in a matter of minutes. Her reduced performance after weeks of improvement filled her with anxiety. She felt captive of her skin which seemingly restricted her movements and even her ability to breathe.
Not wanting to fall further behind, she pushed her limits during her swimming and gymnastics activities. Her reflection in the mirror showed her she had a long way to lose the weight that had been forced on her. And said weight now refused to leave. She was wearing her winter uniform despite the spring season and still looked chubby. At least from her perspective.
Another thing that also refused to leave was her rapture in people's conversations. Day by day, an article would drop with new random details. Her rescue hadn't made headlines but the arrest of the Detnerat's Chief Executive was the current hot topic. She assumed it was a nice distraction from the lingering chaos following the prison break.
She could hear some of her classmates talk about the event one of them partook in. She compulsively browsed her laptop to check if any random blog or article had disclosed intel on her identity. She didn't use a phone anymore since her active sim card had helped her raptors find her. Amidst the surge in delinquency that drowned the law enforcers, henchmen of the executive had hacked the hotel's systems and found her data.
Online, the press had dedicated multiple pages on the topic of the executive's 'love scandal'. Glossing over details like her age and the conditions of her sequestration, articles depicted a 'desperate tycoon who raptured his belle'. They had posted pictures of the impressive manor and its gardens. They had depicted the down goose mattress topper of their shared bed, along with the silk dress she had worn on her rescue day.
The topic surfaced again lately after pictures and the price of her engagement ring leaked. There had been loads of comments about the 2.11-carat million-dollar ring. Legion of people had commented how they would have loved to be in her shoes and some had expressed their disbelief that she had run away from that life. Some had been curious to see how beautiful she could be to get the man obsessed to the point of crime. Others had speculated there was a love triangle and the 'other man' had gained the lady's favour.
Being a minor, even emancipated, her identity was protected by default and the case hadn't been made public. She wondered how the media got their intel. They might not have disclosed her identity and background but an eminent press magazine had given insider information on top of providing most of the estate's pictures
The magazine had revealed that Mister Yotsubashi had known her for two years and a half, along with a precise list of his most expensive gifts. Finally, the writers explained that she had ghosted the man mere days before their first engagement date, came back into his life with the excuse of a sudden family issue, asked to postpone the engagement until the issue was solved, and even enlisted his help to solve said issue, and disappeared again months later.
Hyori realised she had been portrayed as a vixen. The media hadn't used that term but the implications were heavy. She reasoned it was for the best if they displayed the misleading image of a femme-fatale instead of the healing maiden she was in reality. Still, their discourse made her ill. Even if the glamorised version sold better than the reality would, she thought about how cruel it would be if they could have disclosed her identity.
From former classmates to people on the streets, they would recognise her. The one who had known her might even add fuel with unsavoury comments. All the while, no one would listen to her version and the negative image would stigmatise her. She would have been traumatised twice. Once by being abused and the second time because of the media and public harassment.
She wondered how her classmates would react if they knew she was the hot topic. Would they see the inconsistencies in the press's narrative? Would they assume she's playing her recovery the same way she played with her appearance in school? After all, she had lived a double life last year. Her former classmates would have so many questions she didn't want to ever answer. And Miss Nanase. She wondered how the woman would react if she discovered the truth.
Three weeks after being discharged from the hospital, Hyori woke up from yet another nightmare with tears in her eyes. The cold sweat pouring from her skin had outlined her silhouette on the bed sheets. Her hands were shaking and her legs were unsteady on her way to open the bedroom's windows. The late May air was barely fresh enough to appease her racing heartbeats. She wanted to take a shower but feared falling in the bathroom. She was also nauseous and felt lightheaded.
Feeling restrained, she exited her bedroom and slowly walked through the dark hall of the Ultra Academy's dormitories. She chose to use the lift instead of the stairs. Arriving on the ground level, she walked out of her class's building and walked down the street. She didn't know where she was heading to but needed to be outside. She assumed she would be alright as long as she didn't take any turns. The night was silent and the street lights were dim.
After half an hour of walking, she arrived at the high fences of her college preparatory school. She was still restless but needed to get back into her room. She wasn't even meant to be outside at this hour of the night, past the curfew. She didn't want to go back inside the 2 A class's dormitory. Instead, she walked towards the 2 C dormitories in the General Education zone. Once there, she knocked on the door but no one opened. After a minute, she circled the building towards the homeroom teacher's window. All the buildings seemed to have the same configuration.
After she knocked, the light was turned on inside and the curtains opened on a middle-aged woman. Recognising the pupil at her window, Miss Nanase exited her suite and Hyori walked back to the door. The woman opened the door Hyori's current badge couldn't and invited her inside her suite. She wasn't responsible for her anymore but Hyori didn't feel emotionally safe with her new homeroom teacher.
The middle-aged woman caressed Hyori's back as they sat on the bed.
"I had the same nightmare." Started Hyori with a small voice. "I thought I was finally doing better. It's horrible." The girl was crying on her former teacher's shoulder.
"Recovery isn't linear." Said the woman. "There are ups and downs. I'm happy you came to me instead of keeping to yourself."
The girl was exhausted after crying for almost an hour and fell asleep in the woman's suite.
The following day, she had been excused from classes as her periods had started early in the morning. Her recent discomfort was finally explained and she hoped to feel better afterwards. The nurse had counted the episode as good news and they agreed to keep track of her periods to record any irregularities during the next four months. That reduced her interviews from once a week to twice a month, at least regarding her hormonal balance. She still had weekly interviews regarding her recovery.
Another good news was the absence of a carriage. Her raptor hadn't used protection and while she hadn't thought of the possible consequences, of not being used to it, she felt relieved after dodging a hit she wouldn't have seen coming. She would probably give up on herself if she had been expecting. After a long recovery, she would have been forced out of the heroic course when the nurse would have sent her to a gynaecologist in early July.
Even if her menstrual symptoms impacted her recovery, she wasn't advised to use medication to help her cramps. Instead, she had a day off of classes and would use a heating pad. The item helped her relax but it wasn't enough for her to be operational. Not that she had done a lot during the last day. Her transfer into the heroic course had been underwhelming.
Mister Aizawa was clearing the absence off of Hyori's record after receiving the infirmary's slip. The apprentice seemed to be going through painful periods and couldn't use pain medication due to her current condition. Earlier in the day, at the end of the first period, he had rushed to the dormitories to see if something had happened to the transferred pupil. There, she had handed the slip to him and he refrained from asking her why he only discovered it after hours.
As he removed the absence, the maiden's former homeroom teacher approached him. He hardly engaged with the staff heart-throb and immediately assumed she wanted to talk about Shinsou Hitoshi. His suspicions were proven tight when she engaged him.
"Hello, Mister Aizawa. Is Shinsou feeling better?"
He hadn't expected her to know the apprentice was ill. Did everyone know she was ill but him? It couldn't be. The class had seemed surprised she didn't show up in the morning. The woman must have found another way. He doubted the girl told her on the phone. She wouldn't be questioning him if the two of them could simply have called each other.
"Shinsou is taking a day off from classes and should be better tomorrow."
"I see." Replied the woman. "I hope she will soon be able to take medication for it."
Before she could leave, he halted her.
"Miss Nanase, how did you know she was unwell?"
"Ah~ I was there when she started feeling sick. I helped her into the nurse's office."
"I see."
The conversation died and the general education teacher left. The heroic teacher couldn't say he felt betrayed, but he did feel a type of way. He was at a loss with the apprentice and had to confess he wasn't sure how to handle her anymore. She was a girl, to begin with. He supposed she had her reasons not to tell him everything but he didn't understand why she would walk this far to receive help from another teacher.
He knew she occasionally walked outside at night and didn't worry when she went out the previous night. He assumed it was part of her recovery and let her be. In hindsight, there were a lot of things he didn't question her about. He wondered if it was the reason she constantly left him out of the loop. He hadn't prodded the first time and she took the freedom not to consider him. To the point she would stand him up and refuse to have him around during her recovery.
He wondered if telling her he saw himself in her had been the mistake that gave her the confidence to bypass his authority. Thinking back, she had been acting that way for a long time. She only started standing him up after his confession of affection, but she already ignored his questions about her double life and quirk during the previous year's rescue. She had even invited herself without asking anyone's permission.
He had let it slide since he already had issues to solve among his students, on top of having to care for a toddler. He let too many things slide, from her scheming attitude to her affairs with the Hero Commission. He had been in his thoughts when his friends called him for lunch. He wondered if he should confide in his former peers, turned friends and now coworkers.
He didn't have to since the blond man and the brunette woman invited him to tell what he had on his mind. Unsure of where to start from, he started with the easiest topic.
"I'm not sure how to proceed with Shinsou anymore. I thought we were alike and that I could navigate her. But I think I misevaluated her."
"Is Shinsou a difficult student?" Asked Hisashi, the blond man. "The kid's records are cleaner than any of ours when we were students."
"Shinsou is an ideal student. At least on paper. I just don't see the drive anymore. I think I've been played with."
"That's some serious supposition." Stated Nemuri, the brunette woman. "What makes you think that?"
"I've never gotten a full story from Shinsou. I keep discovering things or being told things by the Principal. Things that don't happen to a normal student."
"Do you think she's up to something shady?" Asked Hisashi, suddenly grave.
"I don't know. She was invested with the commission and vanished for weeks until someone gave intel to the commission out of nowhere. I don't have the whole story and for once, neither does the Principal."
"Do you think she's a threat?" Inquired Hisashi.
After a few seconds, the brunette man answered. "I don't think so. I don't know."
"What do you know?" Asked Nemuri.
"Not much. We don't even have her birth certificate in the archives. We had her tutelage certificate, and now her identification card. We know nothing about her family. And she doesn't even use her real name at school." Then, he remembered. "And her quirk registration is incomplete."
"She hadn't updated it yet?" Asked Hisashi.
"She hadn't. And I think she never will. Unless it's classified."
"Do you want us to keep an eye on her?" Asked Nemuri.
The teacher thought for a moment. He suspected Shinsou's arrival in his class would be eventful. At some point, things might happen. He didn't know what, when or with whom. Yet, he was sure she would disrupt the status quo one way or another. It's the uncertainty of how it would unfold that bothered him.
"I would like to, thank you."
Hyori's new class was a trauma-bonded environment. An apprentice had resigned from the heroic course and she had taken his place. Her classmates had been attached to their former peer and had rooted for him until whatever pushed the apprentice to resign. She sensed their discomfort and decided to stray from them. The feat was easy since she had been privately supervised during her first weeks of classes, and already had a schedule revolving on places outside of the academy's grounds.
On top of diverging schedules, Hyori hadn't participated in physical lessons with the rest of her classmates. She had remained by their teachers during practical courses, taking notes. She looked more like an inspector than a pupil. She sensed discomfort and condolences from some teachers. They had heard about her efforts and knew about her rapture.
She supposed the least optimistic teachers had lost hope for her now that she was suddenly too sick to attend classes. Especially Mister Yagi who carried a sense of guilt around her. She reasoned he easily felt guilty of whatever bad happened around him. Still, she was tempted to haze him per habit, and tell him not to worry about her.
As she was wondering if she should resign before she was invited to, she heard knocking on her door. Looking outside, it was too early for her classmates to be done with their after-school training. Plus, they had silently agreed not to interact beyond what was polite. She assumed it was her homeroom teacher checking on her. Already in her pyjamas, Hyori climbed out of bed and opened the door. Her homeroom teacher had already seen her during her recovery sessions, after all.
On the other side, her tallest classmate greeted her through his face mask. She was surprised to have a visit from a classmate but wasn't surprised it would be this one of her peers. The masked boy occasionally observed her from the side, being two seats behind on her left. She had sensed his attention on her more than the others. Unlike the rest of the class, he didn't look at her with curiosity. He similarly looked at her Touya's instructors had looked at his early days of training.
"Good afternoon, Shinsou." Greeted the boy.
"Good afternoon..." Replied Hyori.
"Shoji". Supplied the boy.
"Good afternoon, Shoji." Hyori corrected herself. "Are you looking for something?"
The boy looked at her for a dozen seconds before stating. "You really don't remember. I'll let you rest."
She sensed his dejection and remained silent while he walked away. Somehow, she felt she owed him.
The following day, she felt better and attended classes. She remembered one of her classmates had helped rescue her. After browsing the internet, she found the name Tentacole on an obscure blog dedicated to heteromorph heroes. From the details provided by other articles of the blog, she concluded that Shoji was the hero apprentice 'Tentacole'.
The day after, she exited the dormitories early to catch her tallest classmate on his way to classes. He exited the dormitories with another pupil, the soft-spoken one. They hadn't walked much when she approached and asked to talk privately with Shoji. The soft-spoken peer got ahead and the remaining pair took a detour towards classes.
"Thank you, Tentacole." Said Hyori. "I don't remember the rescue but I found out you were on the team."
"You don't have to. I shouldn't have disturbed you. You have been unwell lately and it seemed worse yesterday." She sensed fulfilment from her flustered classmate. "I wanted to check on you... And tell you there are people who know the press misrepresented you. I know you have been through a lot and I'm open to being a listening ear."
Hyori felt emotional at his words. Her eyes were moist and the boy offered her tissues. Their hands brushed when she took the disposable tissue and something flashed in her mind.
"Can I?" She asked as she approached her hand from his heart.
The boy nodded and her palm met his accelerated heartbeat. She remembered the cadence. She had heard it on her rescue day, when she was lifted from the bed and taken into warm arms that hadn't pried her dress off.
"Are you the one who carried me?" Asked Hyori.
"Yes." Answered the boy.
"Thank you." Said Hyori as a grateful smile graced her full lips and closed her heavy lids.
The two walked to class and arrived just in time. They received looks and were saved from an interrogation by the ringing bell.
The ringing bell announced the end of the morning classes. Hyori's classmates filled out towards the cafeteria while she retrieved her insulated bento box from her backpack. She had resumed her habit of ordering and freezing multiple portions of meals at the nearby resort. Shoji was exiting the class with his two closest friends when he asked her if she wanted to join them.
"You can still come with us even if you don't order from the cafeteria."
"Thank you for inviting me." Said Hyori. "But I wanted to study what I missed. You might have different plans for the break."
Then, the mutant crow announced. "You can ask the class representatives to help shed light on the obscure topics. We aren't the most prolific theoretician."
"Thank you for the information. I'll ask them." Replied Hyori before they departed for the cafeteria.
Alone in the classroom, she opened her meal and enjoyed a chicken and cashew hotpot complemented with mushrooms, carrots and green beans. After her meal, she put her bento box back in her backpack and opened her textbooks on the previous day's lessons. Between her period-induced break, the tardiness of her classes' start and the recovery weeks, she had quite a lot on her plate in terms of academic lag. On top of the lessons she missed, she had to work on her physical training which had been far from improving.
She recognised she had made progress since her release from the hospital. Minus the last days on which she had experienced menstrual and premenstrual symptoms, her attention during classes had improved. Keeping her progress, she should be ready for the end-of-semester examinations. At least, she should be ready for her theoretical examinations. The practice was another story.
As the lunch break came to an end, she wondered if she could ask Shoji for his help. Her schedule was already packed from nine in the morning to six in the afternoon. She could add an hour to pick up the accumulated slack, especially since she wouldn't be able to train with Kiku until Sunday. It was in three days but it would only be once a week. She suspected she needed more to get on her class's level.
First, she needed practice on the heroic practical examinations. Besides the joint training at the end of last November, she hadn't participated in any class training and test sessions. She had seen her classmates work during her recovery time but lacked the experience. Mister Yoroi's dojo wasn't the fittest to replicate the Ultra Academy exams' settings. The place was great to practise her ribbons, though.
Thinking about it, she should have her ribbons approved by her homeroom teacher. The inventor apprentice had handed her the last version of the ribbon to test and... She never handed it back. She had kept the item to exercise outside of school and doubted she was authorised to do so. At least, she had used it under the supervision of a licensed hero in the capacity of interning apprentices.
Second, she would have to network for the first semester's internships. She was still recovering during the Ultra Academy's sports festival. Her profile has still been uploaded to the school's database at the last minute. Still, the chances she would receive propositions were meagre. She suspected she would have better results by asking for recommendations from trusted professionals who could appreciate her abilities. Namely, she would ask Mister Yoroi for a recommendation. The man was seasoned and might know a few licensed tutors who could take her as a trainee.
Hyori still had to define a career plan. Second years were expected to use their previous year's experience to identify the niche they fitted the most. By elimination, she knew she wasn't cut for fighting villains on the streets or raiding a hideout. Therefore, she wouldn't specialise in offence or defence. Rescue also seemed out of her league since she couldn't face natural disasters, which were the primary 'nemesis' in the Ring of Fire. She was left with recon and support. She assumed engaging in support would only be possible by identifying the kind of abilities she would help the most. As for recon, she doubted her stealth and tracking abilities.
Analysing her homeroom teacher's career, the man seemed to be a versatile offensive hero with tricks up his sleeves. He had mostly caught delinquents on the streets and partook in some rescues. The man was agile and well-versed in combat. As much as she was agile herself and had a wide margin of progression in combat, she couldn't significantly diminish her opponents. Her quirk would be better used on a single lone opponent than in a melee. She needed to catch villains alone, preferably tired and in a dark corner. She might even add inebriated, since she was being extra cautious and extra pessimistic.
Unlike her teacher, her quirk required extra steps to work. She couldn't follow his lead and needed to broaden her model list. In real life, most of her opponents wouldn't face her in a regular ring match. And neither would she. Her best bet would probably be to catch villains before the face-off, before they even realised they were targeted. She might not be quite fitted for recon but might support a hero specialised in the field. She noted her reasoning on a reminder to have a chat with Mister Yoroi the next time she trained in his dojo. She planned on resuming the upcoming weekend.
Third, Hyori was yearning to reunite with her little sister. She hadn't seen the other girl in two months and missed her contact. She finally felt ready to be seen by Megumi and planned to leave Hakone on Friday evening. That way, she would have one more evening to spend in Tokyo. They might not be able to go out since she debated whether or not she should resume her studio activities right away. She couldn't train for a whole day and needed to keep her studio active if she didn't want to lose her clientele.
Both of these plans required her to use her phone again. The item that helped her former visitor kidnap her. It wasn't exactly her phone's fault but rather her SIM card. Still, it boiled down to the same issue, since she had a phone in order to use her SIM card. She wondered if she could request a secured phone from the commission. She could power on her phone in the evening and power it off during her commute, at least to get in touch with Mister Mera. She should be safe inside her College-preparatory school walls.
Hyori hadn't been the only one to note her lack of preparations for heroic practical examinations. Her homeroom teacher had announced her technical training would be reduced by half to leave room for mock tests. She would practise the previous year's exams to get in condition. The 1 A class had been tested on rescue versus defence, then faced their restrained teachers and finally each other in teams. The first two exercises could be done with her teacher but the third one required at least a third person.
"Can I ask a classmate to help with the last exercise?" Asked Hyori. "Shoji offered to help me during his free time."
The teacher considered her words before replying.
"Shoji would make a well-rounded addition to your training." Answered the man. "We will start the first exercise next week and repeat for five days in different settings. Repetition is the Mother of learning and the Father of action. Shoji can help us with the following exercises. Feel free to tell me if someone else is willing to help you, not necessarily in the class."
"I will. Thank you." Replied Hyori.
They were about to get in position when Hyori added.
"Mister Aizawa, there's something else."
The man stopped on his track to listen.
"I asked a support pupil to create a modified version of your binding cloth." Then, she retrieved the item from her bag. "It's a gymnastic ribbon made with your weapon's material, or close enough.
"Let's see." Said the teacher without questioning her.
Using the ribbons was second nature for her, from her childhood classes to her sessions in the nearby resort and her training in Mister Yoroi's dojo. The moves she used the most were twisters. Twisters front to catch the middle section, treacherous twisters low to catch the feet and twisters high to hook herself on an elevated protruding element. The teacher noted she was far more proficient with the tool than with his binding cloth. Her gestures were precise and fast enough to catch him off guard. The feat had happened only once during the whole session but it was still a victory. In fact, it had been her first victory.
Following the end of her technical training and subsequent relaxation in the nearby resort, Hyori wondered if she should look for Shoji right away or wait until the next morning. She had no idea where to look for the boy and didn't know his room number. She could ask her peers who lingered in the common living room but didn't want to undergo any kind of interrogation. Reasoning she wasn't in a hurry, she decided to wait for the following morning to approach the boy again. Just like she did earlier.
Later in the evening, after taking her shower for the night, Hyori readied herself to power on her phone. With all of her regulars behind bars, except Enji, she didn't have much to worry about. Still, she hadn't been able to refrain her heartbeat from increasing the whole time the device had been active. She had multiple missed calls and cleared all of her notifications without reading them. She went straight to her messaging application and opened her conversation with Mister Mera.
The commission's Vice President had texted and called her a dozen times the day she disappeared. At first, he had wanted feedback on her visits to the hospital, especially regarding Touya. Later in the afternoon, he had told her Megumi was asking for her. She supposed the security agents were still knocked out at the time. Multiple phone calls had followed until later in the night. She assumed the security agents had woken up and recounted the assault. The man had resumed texting her the day after her discharge from the hospital.
With shaking fingers, Hyori typed 'Good evening, Mister Mera. I hope you are doing well. I wasn't connected during my recovery period, thank you for your concern. In retrospect of the latest events, I was wondering if the commission could lend me a secure phone. During my rapture, I've been made aware my phone number had been stolen from the pension and used to track me. Waiting for your reply, I wish you a good night.'
Hyori had put her phone on the side after sending her message. She couldn't power it off immediately after texting. Even if she doubted the Vice President would answer before she fell asleep, it was still possible. She was nervously biting her lips when her phone's notification alarm made her jump. Retrieving her phone, she unlocked the device and read an 'ok' as the man had replied. She added a thanking note and notified her upcoming stay at the Hero Commission's accommodations.
Powering off her phone, Hyori rose from her bed and put the device on her desk. It was a quarter before eight in the evening but she already felt like sleeping. Yet, she had a hard time closing her eyes. She had prolonged her relaxation time in the resort in order to ease herself into sleeping. She took a cold shower hoping the lowered temperature would entice her to rest, like during the winter. Still, she was unable to close her eyes. As always, she would have a hard time falling asleep and would wake up at four in the morning. Only to feel tired around eight.
The following morning, she indeed woke up at four in the morning. The dormitory was still silent when she took her shower and had her breakfast. Since she didn't cook, she stacked half-litre cups of soy-based nut yoghurt for her morning meals alongside dried fruits. The mix of one cup of yoghurt and definitely more than one serving of dried fruits was usually enough to get her through the morning. She enjoyed the easy preparation and the taste wasn't bad, except the dried raisins. At some point, she had tried muesli bars but the store-bought ones were way sweeter than the muesli balls served in the pension.
It was five in the morning when she heated her lunch portion and put it inside her insulated bento box. The content would be mildly warm by the lunch break but she would rather pack it when no one was around. The early hours were her favourite time of the day. There weren't any wandering eyes that might catch her. The atmosphere was serene and quiet. Once her bento box was ready and the freezer recipient was clean, she leisurely walked back inside her room to review the previous days' lessons. An hour or so later, she packed her backpack for the day. Afterwards, she would read some nature and discovery publications while waiting for half past eight in the morning and head into the classroom.
On the last Saturday of May, Hyori was packing her blue baby changing bag for her trip to Tokyo. Most of her clothes were in her apartment and some were in the commission's accommodations. Inside her bag, she had unlocked her tablet that was still on the light novel she read for Touya in the hospital. Looking at the page she stopped, she had the feeling her life had finally resumed.
She felt like the 'play' button had just been pressed over the course of time. She was back on track and could move on as if nothing happened during the last months. She dressed in a large brown flannel overshirt and a red cap on top of her boyfriend jeans and tennis marine shoes. Her half man bun was hanging from the back opening of her cap while the bottom half of her hair fell down her back. She hadn't had a nice esthetic make-over in a while.
Hyori thought about visiting the hotel's beauty salons. The estheticians were objectively the best she encountered since she had been out of the inner palace. They seemed even better than the ones servicing the Imperial House, probably because they used their quirks at work. She wondered if the hotel was hunting people with similar quirks or counted on their employees, or contractors, genes' transmission.
It was seven in the morning when Hyori exited her bedroom. She headed into the kitchen to retrieve a cup of yoghurt and her regular portion of dried fruits. She would eat in the train and maybe resume reading the light novel. As she put the food inside her changing bag, she noticed other people walking down the common living room stairs.
Beside the homeroom teacher's suite, the ground level was a public area with a large living room on one side, and on the other side was a kitchen, with an open dining room that could serve as a study area. The two sides were parted by stairs circling a lift. She suspected the circular shape of the stairs had been designed with the purpose of preventing people from running down them.
Still, the disposition didn't deter some people. Midoriya was idly jogging downstairs, faster than walking but not fast enough to run. He was wearing a 'running' shirt with jogging pants and running shoes. A few metres behind him, the spiky blond and the class representative were walking with varying levels of enthusiasm. They were similarly dressed except for the 'running' script on their shirts.
She noticed the class representative's grey sweatpants fitted him quite well. He was her only taller classmate alongside Shoji, his quiet friend and the class' baker. These four were her only peers obviously taller than her by at least a few centimetres. The marching trio and her exchanged greetings and they invited her to their morning run. At least, Midoriya and Lida had invited her.
"Thank you for inviting me. I have to decline since I already have plans." Replied Hyori.
"No problem. You can join us any day. We go on runs at seven all week save for Sundays." Said Midoriya before the trio departed.
Hyori walked outside after them and retrieved her bike from the parking panel. She cycled towards the train station. During the train commute, she had her breakfast and resumed reading the light novel. Her reading pause wasn't long since she was already halfway through the book. She still had half an hour left before arriving in Tokyo and decided to review her agenda.
Half of her regular yoga pupils had booked the weekend's sessions. She published her apology for the sudden absence and explained she had a medical emergency and no one to handle her studio during her forced leave. The abrupt suspension of her activities without notice had induced a loss of nearly two months of earnings since she had to refund the people who had booked.
When Hyori arrived inside her residential building, she checked her mailing box for eventual complaints and found a pile of couriers. She headed inside her apartment and powered her domestic robot. After arranging her studio, she checked her couriers and found a tax residence debit notice, her annual accounts sent by the accountant's office advised by her lawyers, some 'Get well soon' cards received the days following her apology, bills and numerous letters from a certain Hanabata Koku.
Looking at the time, she decided to read the letters after her classes. Her pupils started arriving a dozen minutes later. They expressed how worried they had been when she posted her apology and how relieved they were to find her well. She had thanked them for their support and the class uneventfully unravelled. At the end of the classes, she wished her pupils away and commanded her robot to clean the living room.
While the robot worked, she opened the letters she had put in the dining room, starting from the oldest. She had received the courier the week following her discharge from the hospital. Her head was spinning as she read the content and had to sit at the dining table. She had received a letter from a man pretending to be her Father who hadn't known about her existence until he saw her under influence in Mister Yotsubashi's company.
Apparently, he had recognised the similarities with her Mother and hired a detective who confirmed him she was Shinsou Hina's daughter, born half a year after their separation. Once he had the confirmation, he arranged with the police to help her rescue. He had stated not having been correct with her Mother but couldn't get out of his head the idea he hadn't been given a chance to be her Father. The man left his phone number and pried her to hear him out just once.
The letter alarmed her and she opened the others. He didn't elaborate on the supposed story with her Mother but asked how her recovery was unfolding. He wanted her to reply to him. He wanted to see her. The other couriers were family pictures depicting her young Mother, sometimes with a woman sharing an uncanny resemblance with her, sometimes with an elderly man and a few with a brunette man. The other woman was taller than her Mother and had shorter hair. She was also bigger beside her svelte Mother. The elderly man had loose greying curls and a moustache. He seemed to treasure both her Mother and the other woman. The brunette man sported glasses with slicked-back wavy curls and a burgeoning moustache.
Hyori didn't want to meet that man. For all she knew, he was an obsessive dejected lover of her Mother and was ill-intentioned. Then, she felt horrified the letter had been delivered to her mailing box. Whoever was that man had her address and could show up at any time. The girl powered on her phone and browsed through her security camera's history. Apart from Mister Yotsubashi entering her apartment using her keys, she hadn't seen anything when she browsed earlier and didn't see anything new. Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling of unsafety that gripped her.
On top of having her address, the man had seen her in Mister Yotsubashi's company. Meaning he was familiar enough with the man to be invited at his place, unless she had been taken out and didn't remember. She wondered if it could be a ploy from the dejected man to get at her, whether the letters were true or not. With shaking fingers, Hyori typed the man's name on a search engine and found he was the leader of a political party under law enforcement's scrutiny. According to the press, he had ceased all activities last month and dissolved his party. Some supposed it was a manoeuvre to hide from justice.
Hyori promptly texted the Hero Commission's vice President to let him know what she discovered. Afterwards, she promptly exited her apartment and rushed to Mister Yoroi's dojo without even changing out of her yoga attire. She simply put on her overshirt, shoes and cap after stuffing the letters in her blue baby changing bag. She would ask to take her lunch there since she didn't feel safe at her place anymore. During the commute by bus, she received a call from Mister Mera who asked her to call him back once she arrived at her destination.
Her former high school classmate had welcomed her into the dojo and asked her if she had an issue. Hyori assumed she looked panicked on top of having disappeared for two months. She didn't answer his questions and instead asked if his Granduncle was in the place. Kiku answered that the hero was present but would leave in a couple of hours. He was about to walk out of the room, to get the headmaster, when Hyori held him back. She sensed his confusion and subsequent understanding of her fear. He took her inside the private area of the dojo where Mister Yoroi welcomed her with surprise.
She recounted to him the events following the end of her classes and they called Mister Mera together. The latter confirmed the commission had received the help of Mister Hanabata to rescue her. Yet, they didn't have intel to judge whether or not the man was lying to her. Regarding her safety concerns, the Vice President doubted Mister Yotsubashi's vassals would harm her as long as his trial was still ongoing with a hearing somewhere in the summer.
"Does it mean he could be released?" Asked Hyori, afraid of the answer.
"It means he can get a grace period instead of remaining in custody. Of course with a restraining order and a ban from exercising executive functions." Replied Mister Mera.
"It won't stop him." Said Hyori.
She remembered the fever that possessed the man when he loved her. A piece of paper wouldn't stop him from trying to make her his. Being evicted from his position might even give him more time to track her again. He had to remain under custody or she wouldn't feel safe anymore.
"His criminal records are clean, so far. He has great chances to get away. I suggest keeping that conversation for later in the accommodations. Mister Yoroi, I count on you to take her into the accommodations." Stated the Vice President.
The hero agreed and the Vice President hung up. Hyori was stunned. She obviously wasn't in condition to train and Mister Yoroi offered to escort her right away before his shift. Her ears were ringing when Kiku wished her goodbye and the trip to the Hero Commissions' Accommodations felt distant. Mister Yoroi felt obliged to leave her in Mister Mera's company before departing. He took her inside the waiting room and remained by her side until they could enter the Vice President's office.
"Like I said, Mister Yotsubashi is in a favourable position to get the lesser sentence. Unless we can frame him for a heavier offence. We suspect him of leading a terrorist group but we can't prove anything. His home was empty of incriminating evidence and we can't raid his office or other properties. We need an insider to give us intel and believe Mister Hanabata to possess such intel." Announced the Vice President.
"You want me to get that intel from him." Suggested Hyori.
"More than that. We want you to make him testify." Countered the man.
Hyori ran a hand through her hair. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Even if what he confessed to you might not be completely true, he still sat a long-time partner in a trap for your sake. He hadn't been cooperative beyond your rescue but I think you can push him further." Reasoned the man.
Too tired and numb to argue, Hyori accepted his offer and the man handed her a small phone. The device was secured and all she needed was to put her SIM card inside. They called Mister Hanabata who picked up the phone on the second ringtone and arranged a meeting for the very afternoon. The man agreed to meet inside the commission's headquarters. Hyori, Mister Mera and security agents had waited for him on the twenty-seventh. Mister Hanabata had arrived a quarter earlier and was escorted into the guest's salon.
Her alleged Father had been emotional upon meeting her. He recounted to her how he met her Mother. She was the daughter of his Father's favourite singer. He instantly fell in love with the teenager he first saw at his parents' wedding anniversary. She had been young and easily charmed at the time, but their relationship didn't fare well since he was already engaged in a more politically advantageous marriage. He hadn't known she was expecting when they broke up.
He still thought about her Mother and that's probably the reason he immediately recognised her in Hyori. He recognised the woman he loved the most and saw bits of the other women of his life, namely the condition she shared with his Mother as they both suffered albinism, along with the voluminous curls and the tall stature that ran in his family.
When he saw her half-conscious during a dinner in the Yotsubashi residence, her raptor had rejoiced that she was getting used to the medication and became cooperative. He knew it was a matter of time before the crazed man destroyed her for good. Once the detective had connected the dots, her rescue had been his primary goal. She had become the most important person of his life even if she didn't know him.
Hyori was processing the information. She didn't want to play family with a stranger, especially someone with such dangerous partners. Yet, she didn't sense any malicious intentions from him. Her head was messed up.
"Why?" Asked Hyori. "Why now? Why are you here?"
"Because I love you. I'm your Father." Replied Mister Hanabata.
She couldn't believe him. She didn't want to believe him. What did it mean for her Mother? Did she send her into that pension knowing she had a Father? Did she let the Emperor torture her knowing there were other options? She had even more questions and wasn't ready to face their answers.
At the end of the meeting, Hyori told the man she needed some time to process his confession. He agreed to leave her time and left feeling disappointed. She sensed understanding on his part but also that he had hoped for a warmer reaction. The Vice President asked her to consider again before escorting her inside the accommodations. He told her that Megumi would return later after cram school. She had been put on school support to cover the lessons she hadn't received last year.
While waiting for the girl, Hyori decided to order dinner from one of their favourite restaurants. Since she hadn't eaten all the time she had been in Tokyo, she ordered a few sides to snack on them. Looking around, the bedroom was tidy and she noticed a few new things. There were mostly new decorations and clothes inside the drawers.
Finally, Megumi arrived and looked at her with incredulity in her eyes. Their instincts had been to fall into each other's arms but the younger one held herself back. Hyori had remained forbidden while her little sister kept her distance.
"When did you arrive?" Asked Megumi.
"A couple of hours ago.
"I see you have been to your studio." Accused the younger one.
"I did. I reopened this morning and-"
"And you didn't think about visiting me first. Of course, since you didn't think about letting me see you after your discharge."
"I didn't mean to push you away. I wasn't in a good place... I didn't want you to see me at my lowest."
"But you get to see me however you want."
Hyori sensed her eroded trust.
"Did you even think about me? Or did you stop by because I'm on the way to your affairs?"
"I thought about you every day."
Hyori took a step forward and Megumi took a step back.
"I guessed you thought more about other things, then." The girl beelined past her to leave her backpack on her desk and opened her drawer.
"I'm going for a shower." She said. "I would rather have you wait here to take yours."
She exited the cubicle and Hyori had to sit down to process what just happened. Her little sister was upset and she didn't know how to appease her, her quirk aside. She refused to force the youngest into forgiving her and waited for her shower. When she returned inside the cubicle after her shower, Megumi was already in bed and hadn't eaten her portion of the dinner.
"I already dined out." Informed the girl.
Hoping for the statement to be true, Hyori ate both portions and exited the cubicle to put the empty packs in the trash bins by the main hall. Back inside, the little one had left her a spot on the bed and she climbed on her side. During the night, they hadn't hugged or even gravitated closer. The following morning, they were still far apart and Megumi's pillow was lying between them.
While Hyori had been hosted in the Hero Commission's accommodations, her second class representative had knocked on her door to add her phone number to the class's chat. Their new classmate had started classes nearly one month late. They hadn't expected to see Shinsou ever again until Midoriya saw the name on the door instead of Aoyama Yuga's name. They had kept their former classmate's sticker on the door as a reminder he had been there.
They had made wild guesses for the apprentice's sudden disappearance. Some had thought the general education pupil had home issues, had been ill or chickened out before somewhat regaining courage. They had little intel to make solid guesses and had looked forward to what the student would have to say. To their surprise, Shinsou didn't say anything and didn't even attend the afternoon physical classes.
They had concluded the student had been severely ill upon seeing their homeroom teacher escort Shinsou back and forth to the dormitories. The newcomer looked out of shape and had been slow during these times, on top of looking even paler than usual. When Mister Aizawa stopped taking the students in and out, they assumed they were finally going to properly welcome their new peer but it seemed it wasn't yet the case.
They barely saw their classmates and might have casted the new apprentice as a collective hallucination if they didn't see the violet hair in class. Shoji had seemed to have information concerning their new classmate but stated it wasn't his story to tell. They collectively decided to let their classmate, which was easy thanks to their packed schedule and later the preparations for the examinations.
Their interest had spiked again when they had seen Shinsou arrive in class with Shoji, earlier during the week. Kouda, their quietest classmate, had told them Shinsou asked for a private talk with Shoji. They were eager to hear more but that never happened. Their new classmate never made a move towards them and they collectively decided to wait again, at least, the ones still engaged decided to keep on waiting. Bakugo, their most abrasive classmate, was already fed up. Todoroki, their stern classmate, sided with the latter.
Their remaining peers were open but not very hopeful. Which left Momo and Lida keeping an eye on their new classmates. They assumed it would be weird to single the newcomer out and guessed their tight-knit didn't leave much room for someone new. They knew their class would need some time to adjust to a new student after their friend resigned. Momo suspected they were trying to fill the void but supposed it wasn't a bad thing.
They had been hopeful again when Shinsou started getting closer to Shoji and thought it was a good time to approach their new classmate again. That was the reason they had marched toward the door with Shinsou's name on it and knocked. They didn't receive any response and tried again in the afternoon. They opted to wait for the curfew but still didn't receive any response.
They approached Shoji who arrived back from an afternoon patrol to ask him if Shinsou told him any plans for the day. The tall heteromorph was clueless and after asking their other classmates, they deduced Shinsou had left for an early morning errand and hadn't been seen ever since. They didn't have their classmate's phone number and Momo was already thinking about the worst.
Their class had been targeted by villains on multiple occasions. It wasn't impossible Shinsou had been attacked, especially with the still high crime levels. With their homeroom teacher probably busy with his toddler on a day off, they were reluctant to ring the man to deliver him bad news. Midoriya suggested they start looking for Shinsou in the school grounds and after an hour, they had been forced to conclude the student was nowhere near.
To gain time, they parted in teams with their recon-oriented peers searching the nearby city of Yugawara while the other would search the neighbouring forest and Gotemba. I was already ten in the evening when they had been forced yet again to admit their classmate had disappeared. This time, the class was worried and feared not letting the police be aware sooner had drastically diminished their chances to find Shinsou safe and sound.
Lida called their homeroom teacher to deliver him the news, only for Mister Aizawa to tell them Shinsou had the Principal's permission to travel to Tokyo and had a signed slip for the weekend. Bakugou had figuratively exploded and stomped inside his bedroom. A good portion of the class felt peeved or dumb following the emotional roller-coaster they experienced. As she made her way to her bedroom, Momo decided she would get her classmate's phone number to avoid a repeat of the previous hours. Nothing had happened on that day, but something had definitely happened earlier this year and put Shinsou into a long recovery.
Later, Hyori would remember for a long time the 'welcome back home' she received on Sunday evening after her trip to Tokyo. She had come back earlier since the tension was still present between Megumi and herself, only exchanging by phone texts. When she arrived inside the building at seven in the afternoon, she had interrupted her classmates' Sunday late afternoon movie rituals.
They were still setting the living room up and greeted her with interrogations, mainly from the class representatives. It had been her first time being scolded "for her safety" in years and she hadn't enjoyed the experience. She had declined the offer to watch the movie with them and headed straight into her bedroom after giving her phone number to the second class representative.
