« Unforgettable ladies, ladies, ladies' night. »
Yuga had observed details of the young woman in the pictures for weeks preceding his first day in the Ultra Academy. He had memorised her facial features and even drew her for practice. At this point, he had been sure to have memorised her like the back of his hand. She even haunted his dreams and nightmares as his subconscious got obsessed with her. The idea that the terror would torture him for his dreams was haunting. At the same time, his worst nightmares were probably the ones she fused with the terror. Such a pretty face linked to the man who terrorised his family.
Yet, he hadn't recognised her when she had been plastered on the giant screen during the sport's festival. He hadn't expected such a wide face underneath the tresses that contoured her face in the pictures. The hair that fell on her cheeks had teased a thinner face with a small forehead. He hadn't expected lavender curls to sprout from underneath what could only be a wig. And he hadn't expected the disguise. Whoever that maiden was or could have been, she seemed to know her game and how to hide herself.
Somehow, it felt unfair she entered the heroic course despite having lived rent-free inside 'Professor's mind, especially knowing they had a relationship akin to family. He didn't want to blame her for what happened to him. After all, he resigned by himself once his guilt crushed him. Still, he couldn't help but think that if only that violet maiden had enrolled in another school, he wouldn't have had to give specific intel to the terror.
'Professor' would have been free to raid the academy. Finding the Symbol of Peace's successor didn't require him to set his classmates up. Then, he halted his track of thoughts. There would have been more casualties if he hadn't been tasked to single out his class and help the terror target them specifically. Looking at the greater picture, the course of action had been for the better. Even if it meant he wouldn't pursue his dream anymore.
His broodings had been interrupted by Midoriya who had lingered near the outside of the building, along with some of his male friends and the class representative. Everyone must have seen the look he stole from their new classmates. They might even have exited faster to give him some time to talk with her in private. He hoped they didn't get the wrong idea and suddenly remembered 'Professor' threatening him not to "get bold with her".
"We might have forgotten to tell you Shinsou wasn't who we thought." Started the class representative.
"Ah. Don't worry, Lida. I was just surprised."
His former classmates looked at him for a couple of seconds before Midoriya inquired.
"Is anything wrong? You look unwell."
"Not really."
"Did you try to hit on her or something? You look dejected." Asked Bakugou.
"I wouldn't!" Yuga defended.
His reaction made his friends even more confused and he knew he wasn't escaping the interrogation.
"We aren't acquainted but I kind of know her. All For One tasked me to find her and help him abduct her."
The heroic apprentices remained forbidden and Lida had been the first one to react.
"What do you mean? Did she also work for him?"
"No, I don't think so. I thought they were related but it seemed they weren't. At least, that's what she said. He acted like a Grandfather for her. I guess it's true since he wanted her safe and sound. He could have simply coerced her to join him if she was under his thumb. He wouldn't have needed me to lure her in."
"That's... A lot." Concluded Lida. "I'm not sure how to react."
The heroic pupils walked Yuga back to his dormitories before walking to theirs.
Yuga's former classmates had been silently processing the information until Todoroki suggested not to keep the secret. The half-redhead was generally calm but easily got worked up and hot-headed when he was invested in something. He also easily grew impatient and tended to hold onto his positions until things blew in his face, literally.
"We should at least tell Mister Aizawa."
"I don't know..." Replied Midoriya. "All For One didn't make it during the Tartarus break. I'm not sure the added drama is worth it. It's not like Shinsou could get in touch with an inmate without being caught by the security, and they would report to the school board."
That didn't convince the half-redhead who pressed.
"There are too many mysteries surrounding Shinsou. She must have known she was wanted and that's why she posed as a boy. She must have had an idea of who All For One was and didn't want him to find her."
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions. There could have been other reasons for her to wear the boys' uniform."
"Do you have another conclusion?"
At this point, they had stopped walking and so did the two others.
"Not yet, but I think we should hear Shinsou out."
The half-redhead nodded in approval.
"You are right. We should question her right away. We have been waiting for too long."
"Wait! We shouldn't rush anything-."
"Why not?" Interrupted the explosive blond who had been eerily silent all along. "Give us one good reason not to."
Midoriya and Bakugou eyed each other before the former answered.
"She would say anything if we pressure her. Interrogations aren't the best way to get real answers."
The blond humphed and resumed his walk towards the dormitories. The others did as well and they made their way inside. The others had already changed when they arrived and Midoriya beelined for his bedroom to change as well. Once in indoor clothes, he walked on his balcony and looked to the left. Shinsou was on the other side of the wall, right where Yuga used to be.
He knew he had only postponed the inevitable, but he didn't want to corner their classmate like that. Not when there wasn't any emergency and surely not when he knew what it felt like. He couldn't help but relate to the loner ever since the sports festival one year ago. He wanted her to come out because she felt safe doing so, not pressured.
His thoughts had been interrupted by knocking at his door. He reluctantly opened and, without much surprise, Todoroki was on the other side. The latter had changed clothes but definitely not his stance. The same fire danced in his eyes and he wasn't ready to drop the conversation Midoriya sneakily flew from.
"We need to tell the others." Said Shoto.
The green young man didn't have any argument against doing so.
"I guess we could."
He exited his bedroom and closed the door behind him.
"Come on." Midoriya prompted his friend into motion, as the latter was looking at the door on the left.
They walked downstairs where some of their classmates were working on making dinner while others were dressing the table or lounging in the living room. It seemed they already had been prepped into a talk since they turned towards him as a single body. For safety measures, they had powered the kitchen off before seating in the living room. Lida had been the one to break down what Yuga had confessed and their conversation on the way to the dormitories.
The class fell silent for a few seconds until Momo voiced her opinion.
"I also think we should wait. There is no need to be alarmed right now."
Midoriya had been glad the first reaction was supporting his point of view. The feeling didn't last long as Uraraka reasoned waiting wouldn't work.
"I think we should be more proactive in our approach. She can keep to herself until the end of the school year. At this point, we would never know because she would ghost all of us."
He had to admit the hazel maiden was right. They didn't have any means to keep tabs on their classmates outside of school, and she could change her phone number at any given time. Then again, was it their place to keep tabs on their classmates?
"We can have a girls' night!" Suggested Mina
"Isn't that going to be an interrogation among the seven of you?" Asked Midoriya.
"Don't you want to know?" Contered Todoroki.
"Of course I do. I just don't want to pressure anyone."
Of course, he did want to know. He was at least as curious as they were. Especially since the joint training. The brainwashing he had experienced that day felt different than what he had experienced so far. It hadn't happened ever again but he still remembered how different it felt.
He also remembered how different he had felt afterwards. He had been more focused and his mind had been clear. He thought he also experienced something similar in the hospital after the Tartarus break. That made him wonder if the brainwashing had therapeutic effects. It would be interesting to look into it, especially when medically useful quirks were a rarity.
The pink maiden justified her suggestion and jostled Midoriya from his thoughts.
"It won't be an interrogation. We aren't brutes. We are simply going to show her we are nice and she can say things to us."
"That's a good idea. We can have it inside her room so that she would feel more comfortable." Agreed Asui.
"That's a good idea. I'm going to text the girls' chat to let her know." Momo announced.
"Maybe wait until a few days. She's going to suspect something is up if we do it right after she encounters Yuga." Advised Mineta.
They did as suggested and the meeting ended. With the internships going on her busy schedule, Momo had forgotten until she opened the chat weeks later and found the draft she hadn't sent. She guessed it was for the best since talking about Shinsou's first internship experience was an excellent excuse.
After the class's pool activity, Hyori was packing luggage for a four-week stay inside the Hero Commission's accommodations. Her internship would start in a dozen hours, on Monday. There weren't many clothes she would pack from her closet inside her Father's home. Her toiletries purse and towels were taking up most of the space inside the retro suitcase her Father gave her. The man would drive her to the accommodations so that she wouldn't have to carry the roller-free luggage while waiting for the bus.
Once she had packed everything she needed, the duo left the home and they drove towards the accommodations she would spend her weekdays in. He carried her luggage at the entrance and they hugged before parting. Once inside, she walked towards her cubicle on Megumi's floor, according to the text message she received from Mister Mera. The President was officially her internship mentor but her deputy would be the one managing her.
She thought it was in the continuity of how things were so far since the man already called her on short notice as if she were his employee. Inside the sterile bedroom, she put soft bed sheets on the mattress and her electronic devices on the desk. Her toiletries purse and towels were put inside her drawers along with the boyfriend jeans and flannel shirt she had packed.
Having clothes inside her little sister's room, she planned to stop by and maybe they could have a chat. Not wanting to wait any longer, she walked out of her room and reached the desired door up the hall. The girl was probably out as she didn't answer. Hyori walked back inside her bedroom but she wasn't defeated yet. She had four weeks to mend their relationship and reasoned it should be enough.
On her first day of the internship, she woke up early and decided to walk into the commission's headquarters as soon as the building opened. After announcing herself at the reception, she was invited to get into her mentor's waiting room. She remained there for nearly one hour until the lady inside was ready to interview her. She found it weird to be interviewed after the internship documents were signed.
"Good morning, Madam President."
"Good morning, Haze. Have a seat."
The sobriquet rubbed Hyori the wrong way as she did as instructed. She then remembered she hadn't registered a hero name and probably missed a lot of formalities.
"Is Haze going to be my heroic name? I would like to change it if possible."
"It's the name we registered, yes. You can ask Mister Mera to change it for you."
Changing that name would be the violet's priority once she left the office. She couldn't keep that name in circumstances where she was bound to cross paths with former visitors. She suspected giving away her hosting past was the woman's goal. She hoped the internship wasn't a fraud to disguise other activities. She hadn't trained this long or that hard to host again.
"As an intern here, we expect you to support other heroes on specific missions. Your academic results make us think you aren't fit for regular hero work but could be a nice element and team player to have around. We already sent your profile to a handful of agencies and will assign you to support missions based on their requests. Mister Mera will walk you through the process."
"I understand."
"Also, keep in mind you don't have a provisional licence yet. We grant you leeway for punctual missions but usage of quirk is still prohibited outside of the orders we give you. Am I clear?"
"Yes, you are."
"Very well. You may leave."
Hyori bowed before rushing towards the Vice President's Office. There, she had been able to change her heroic name and had to find one on the spot. She had to admit the pension's manager had found a fitting name for her abilities but couldn't use it anymore. Hastily thinking about the various books she read, sirens were fantasy living beings commonly depicted with mind-altering abilities.
She could also go for Medusa. Even if she couldn't turn people into stones, they looked like statues once she brainwashed them. Still, she didn't like the end of the tale and the name didn't convey her commanding abilities. Therefore, she settled for Syren and the Vice President sent an email to the registry department to have the name changed. She suspected the feat wouldn't have been as easy if she weren't directly working for the Hero Commission.
Once the procedure had been done, Mister Mera requested her to download the hero network on her secured phone. Her profile looked similar to the one in the hosting application. She commented on it and the man revealed they had recently updated the web design to make it easier to use, and might have used the hosting application as a reference.
Navigating the application, her agenda was empty and she could see her peers' profiles by tapping on her academy's logo on her description. She didn't have much time to browse the application as she had to head into the accommodation's create zone where her first interview would take place.
"The President must have told you we took the freedom to arrange interviews with heroes we think you might have great synergy with. Uwabami is one of them and she agreed to meet you today at ten. Just so you know, she's the glamour type and I advise you to dress accordingly."
"I suppose she doesn't work like a regular hero?"
"She doesn't, indeed. She mostly works undercover. As undercover as a public figure could be. I'll meet you in the create zone a little before ten. I've some work to do in the meantime."
With that, Hyori left the headquarters. She had an hour and a half to get ready and decided to head into her apartment to pick an outfit that would please the woman. Since she was in a hurry, she hailed a cab to take her back and forth. She browsed the hero network to get intel on the woman she would meet.
From what she read on her profile, Uwabami was rescue-oriented with three snakes on the top of her head. Those three had enhanced senses useful to locate hidden enemies as well as missing disaster victims. It would have been funny if Hyori had chosen Medusa for her hero name. She wondered if the snakes could bite or secret venom like Orochimi could.
Thinking about the snake lady, she wondered if the latter was in prison or had received grace to make space in jail for the delinquents. Nothing had happened to Megumi and the woman might have told the judge she was only bluffing. Things happened so fast that Hyori hadn't kept track of the procedure. She was under the impression the Hero Commission had mostly wanted Megumi and didn't care much about what the pension's manager did.
Of course, thinking back to how she had been asked whether or not she would keep hosting, she realised they didn't care. As long as nothing had happened, they would probably be eager to deal with the pension again, if they had even stopped in the first place.
Inside her apartment, she picked a coral surplice dress that reached the middle of her calves, along with matching kitten pumps. She thought about wearing some jewellery but decided against it. She didn't want to overdo it on her first meeting with the Hero. Keeping her look simple would be for the best.
Back in the accommodations, she retrieved her toiletries purse and took a refreshing shower. To make the best impression, she brushed her tresses into a ponytail and applied her scented oil. Once ready, she waited until a quarter before ten to walk into the create zone. There, she sat on a couch in the hall.
Mister Mera arrived minutes later and took in her outfit. He didn't comment on her look but he reacted to her stronger scent than usual. He mindlessly took a deep breath before sitting by her side. She didn't sense any disapprobation, though. She must have dressed according to the hero she would meet, even if only the woman would be the judge of it.
Said hero arrived at one minute before ten and the Vice President greeted her before introducing Hyori as Psyren. The woman looked the violet maiden up and down and seemed to appreciate her look. The three serpents on her head also looked and their tongues sniffed the air. The woman hummed before commenting.
"Lavender and gardenia. It's a rather bold move for such a delicate look. And an odd one. I don't think I've ever scented the combination on someone."
"Thank you." Replied Hyori. "It's a custom-made perfume."
"Interesting. I already like her." Announced the woman before challenging her. "Care to show me how your quirk operates?"
"Of course."
The violet hazed the woman who raised an eyebrow.
"I was thinking about a more practical test. I've been made aware you were good at diversion. I'm having a photoshoot this afternoon in half an hour. I'll deem your quirk useful if you manage to distract the photographer from their job. Are you up to the challenge?"
"Yes, I am."
Hyori wasn't sure to succeed and the mission sounded weird. Still, she couldn't back down and had to prove herself. She then followed Uwabami outside of the accommodations. The drive to the shooting studio hadn't lasted for ten minutes but it felt endless to the anxious maiden.
She tailed behind Uwabami inside the lodge where the woman changed and did her makeup. Being introduced as the latter's assistant, she had been granted access to the shooting settings and instantly looked for the photographer. She identified a short woman with a camera around her neck. She could only be her target judging by the way she was ordering people around and arranging the settings to her taste.
Hyori wondered how she could approach the woman and initiate a conversation with her. She knew her voice was her best tool and the one that hooked people. Yet, the photographer was surrounded and inside her bubble, as she was arranging the settings. Looking around the room, she noticed a young man behind the photographer. From how the photographer addressed him, she guessed he was her apprentice or direct subaltern.
Hyori waited for the shooting to be about to start before beelining to the young man's side. From up close, she could read "photographer's assistant" on his badge.
"Hello." She addressed him. "I see you are also an assistant. I'm the model's assistant and started today. Nice to meet you."
The young man had been flustered by her approach and she dazed him. He didn't hear his boss' instructions until she shouted his name. Then, the woman turned around and noticed the violet behind her. Absorbed in her work, she hadn't seen the young woman make her way there.
Hyori used the opening to daze her for a second. The photographer regained her spirits and reiterated her request to the assistant who followed her instructions. Hyori then presented her excuses, putting the intent of her quirk in her words.
"I'm sorry for disturbing the session. It won't happen again."
She then walked away from behind the photographer. On her way to the side, she tickled the woman's attention with the tether of her quirk and hazed her. Moving away signalled she wouldn't distract the assistant anymore. Yet, being on the side put her in the photographer's peripheral vision.
As expected, the woman's attention drifted towards her before the session resumed. Hyori dazed her until Uwabami called her for a bottle of water. The photographer had followed her moving to the drinks table and then the model.
"I think you can let go." Instructed the serpent master while taking the bottle.
Hyori let go of the professional's mind and the shooting resumed. The photographer occasionally stole glances at her and called her at the end of the session.
"Are you also into modelling? I could take some pictures for your portfolio."
"Thank you, Miss Tsubaki. But I'm not into modelling. I'm only an assistant."
"It's a pity, you do have something. Why won't you help me with the next shooting? I need to adjust the camera for a close-up and it would be easier with someone standing there. Would you?"
Exchanging a look with the undercover hero, she saw curiosity in her eyes and accepted the offer. The violet maiden walked to the now empty stage and stood straight.
"You don't have to be so stiff, sweetheart. What's your name already?"
"You can call me Shin."
"Shin." Parrotted the photographer. "You look barely out of school."
"I'm interning."
"An intern. That's cute. Would you give me a smile ?"
Hyori had a hard time smiling on the spot. She used makeup to fake her smile when hosting. Doing the fake smile makeup again would probably be a good idea for her missions with Uwabami. The charm made her more inviting to her visitors and she guessed it would do the same with her targets.
"Look at me. See?" The woman was smiling and Hyori mimicked her.
"Good. Keep on smiling like that. Look at me through the objective. Can you undo your ponytail?"
The maiden freed her hair and finger-combed her tresses in place. Then the photographer shouted.
"I'll need some wind!"
At her words, a huge fan blew from the side and surprised the violet. The photographer requested to stop it after a few seconds.
"That was funny, right?" Asked the professional.
"Yes, it was."
After the initial shock, the maiden must admit it had been funny. She had a hard time containing her amusement when she arranged her hair. Uwabami arrived soon after to announce it was time to leave. Hyori bowed in front of the photographer before rushing towards her mentor of the day. She expectantly looked at the hero who nodded in approval.
"You made it. I'll be delighted to work with you."
The maiden was floating on clouds as they made their way back to the commission's headquarters.
Hyori's first days as an intern had been mundane. She had repeatedly been requested by Uwabami to pose as an eye candy and ease arrests. Their modus operandi was to have Hyori catch the attention of a target to entice them into lowering their guard. Once they were dazed or brainwashed, she would discreetly lead them into a secluded place where an ambush awaited them.
With her quirk being the most potent in the later hours of the day, most of her missions occurred late in the afternoon. She was free in the mornings and used that time to train against the robots operating in the accommodations' create zone. That allowed her to avoid going to Mister Yoroi's dojo at the same time Touya was there. The elderly hero was wary of having her around his two special martial practitioners and Kiku couldn't practise with the two at the same time. She saved that activity for her Saturday mornings instead.
She hardly used machines for her training and reasoned it could only help her develop her physical abilities. As her heroic teacher told her, "no good hero is a one-trick pony". She needed to be able to do her job even when she couldn't use her quirk, or for the odds she would encounter someone who could free themselves from her brainwashing like Midoriya. Also, she wanted to impress her homeroom teacher when she would be back to school after the summer break.
During her weekends, she would cook with her Father on Saturday afternoons and spend Sunday afternoons inside the beauty salon and spa in Kamakura. She revelled in the fact she had found a certain balance between heroic work and pampering herself. If she kept the same regimen during her active life, she could even keep her studio active with morning classes after her personal practice and before working in the afternoon.
After her first week of interning, her Father picked her up on Friday after she clocked off. She had been eager to show him the pictures sent by Uwabami. The photographer had taken pictures in burst mode and the woman had sent her the professional's selection. The portraits were in colour as well as in monochrome. She had never had such pretty pictures of herself. And her phone had never supported such heavy pictures. She had opened the chat on her computer to download the compressed file again to keep the best resolution.
"They are beautiful." Commented her Father when she showed him the pictures.
She assumed the pictures were in chronological order. The ones taken after the huge fan blew her were far better. She looked more natural. The man also agreed with her point of view.
"I want to frame them."
"Really?"
"Of course. This one would be nice in the office room."
He showed her the one right before she undid her ponytail. Her smile was small on this one.
"I like this picture better in monochrome." Said Hyori. "It looks more professional than the coloured one."
They looked at the others and he wanted to frame one of the last pictures in colour and hung it on the family wall.
"I'm sure your Grandparents would love it. Do I send it to them?"
Hyori thought about the elderly couple. They were nearing the end of their lives and she thought it wouldn't hurt to let them enjoy the portraits.
"Yes, thank you."
"Of course. I'll have them printed on a canvas and send them the one that would be hung on the family wall."
When Hyori spent her second weekend of internship inside her Father's house, a monochrome portrait had been hung inside his home office while a coloured one had been hung inside her bedroom. The impression on the canvas had been made with ink projection and the results looked good. Her Grandparents had also received theirs and were eager to have her so that she could see it on the family wall. She wondered if her Father's wife and child were also on that wall but refrained from asking. She didn't have any say in it and they had all the rights to be included.
Unlike her classmates who captured battle-oriented villains, Hyori helped subdue white-collar criminals and traffickers. Her most notable operation had been passing as a college drop-out to enter an online cult. Catching the attention of the guru had been rather easy since he had been eager to witness her sweet voice' quirk. The most difficult part had been to make him leave the barricaded fortification where he had been hiding since being officially searched by the police.
The law enforcers suspected the man of using his 'intrusive thoughts' quirk to keep his adepts under influence. He was able to project images and sensations into people's minds in a ten-metre radius. The ability had allowed him to subdue people in a fragile situation and gradually build a cult around his persona.
The cult operated by having their aspiring members register on their web application with their identity, bank statements and a picture. A fake identity and documents had been forged by the commission. The cult's agents had successfully been fooled and the guru had granted her an interview. Knowing the most advantageous setting for her quirk, she had requested to be interviewed at dawn after her 'retail job'.
The day of the interview, disguised under a brown wig and a realistic face mask, she had headed towards the cult's fortified headquarters where hundreds of people already lived in less than modest conditions after giving away their life savings to the 'cause'. From the police reports, the adepts accomplished whatever tasks they were given and it looked like the guru was building a mediaeval-styled castle with a magnificent garden and a huge farm. She had a grim idea of what would happen to the adepts once the construction ended.
Since innocent people were living behind the fortified place, the law enforcers couldn't raid it to capture the guru who was using them as a shield and could even command them to attack the heroes. With the public's distrust still ongoing, the commission privileged 'soft methods', or at least discreet operations, when possible. Hyori's mission was to brainwash the guru into leaving the fortifications.
The guarded walk towards the man's office had been stressful as she was alone in the wolf's den. The sight of the firearms in the two guards' arms hinted they were involved in weapons traffic. She had brainwashed the man as soon as they had been left alone, not wanting to leave him a chance to project intrusive thoughts in her head. Due to the armed guard protecting him, she couldn't order the man to simply walk outside or make him trail behind her, clearly under her influence.
Hyori had made the guru use his quirk on his guards to jump scare them. Once shocked, they had easily been brainwashed into entering the office and sitting still while she exited the room and locked the door behind her. The fight against the man's attempt to overrule her control gave her headaches and she was glad her quirk's hold had been trained in the pension and challenged at the academy. The inhabitants of the fortified ground had already retired for the night and Hyori hadn't encountered anyone on her way out.
Remembering the fortified door was guarded by a duo she suspected of being armed as well, she was tempted to break the seal of the stinky bomb hidden under her wig. That way, the snakes on Uwabami's head would perceive her distress signal and alert the heroes. Instead, she whistled to daze the guards. The trick only worked during the night when people's vigilance was at its lowest. Once dazed, she brainwashed them into opening the gates. The police and her mentor for the day were already waiting outside, along with Gang Orca, his sidekicks and Midnight who led the operation.
When the villain had been cuffed, she felt a sense of accomplishment and the stress washed out of her system. She had kept her disguise until she parted from the heroes, having been visited by the chimaera once in the pension. She hadn't forgotten the oppressive large hands that held her in place, the shower antics or how exerting domination excited the male hero. Once back inside the commission's headquarters, she had written the longest report of her internship. Having been alone undercover, she had to provide more details than usual.
She was grateful for Miss Kayama's help. At least until the woman questioned her about her use of the face mask out of the clock.
"You didn't have to use it before or after the infiltration." Pointed the hero.
The brunette woman was hinting at how she altered her face around Gang Orca. Being her teacher, Miss Kayama knew her real face. She must have noticed the difference earlier.
"I didn't want to forget it." Justified the young woman.
In reality, she didn't want the Chimaera to recognise her. He hadn't been sure to have recognised her voice, but he would have if he saw a familiar face with it. Of course, she couldn't tell that part to the teacher.
"We wouldn't have let you go undercover without a cover." Countered Miss Kayama.
"Putting on the face mask on the clock would have been too long."
"And what's your excuse for the planification meetups? You didn't have to wear it then."
Hyori was cornered and the teacher pressed.
"One could think you were hiding. Were you?"
"I wasn't."
"Really?"
"It's a long story the Principal and the commission already heard."
Miss Kayama had never been confronted with that side of the student. The scheming face that always sought a pass from the top. She had to admit it was unnerving. She better understood Aizawa's frustration. The young woman didn't even attempt to hide or justify herself. The higher-ups knew and the rest didn't need to know as well. Even though they were the ones daily interacting with the violet. She guessed the apprentice wouldn't talk anymore about it. Therefore, the woman retrieved her report and checked if any detail seemed missing. Satisfied with what she read, she stood from the table and reached for the door.
Her mentee activities aside, the time spent in the commission's accommodations had warmed Hyori's relationship with Megumi. They weren't back to normal yet but were on speaking terms since the youngest had started gymnastic classes. From then, they had a topic that brought them together as the golden-haired girl would ask her for tips. The younger girl had also shown her pictures taken with her boyfriend and Hyori thought they looked lovely together. He was slightly shorter than the girl and the violet only then noticed Megumi went through a growth spurt in the pension, probably due to drinking the spiked milk while her growth plates hadn't closed yet.
Following the guru's capture, she started receiving requests for rescues and domestic violence cases. Those cases had been on the rise but were currently left on the sidelines of hero work. She worked mostly with the hero Centipeder. The centipede chimaera had been interested in her ability to diffuse a situation before it escalated.
Similarly to Uwabami, the chimaera had tested her before inviting her to work with him. Unlike the serpent master, he had evaluated her physical abilities. Early in the morning, before the day even started, she had been requested to catch one of his employees. The head of the eponymous agency wanted to make sure she could act fast enough to neutralise assaulters.
She was set to work with his sidekick on the less risky cases. Bubble Girl, the sidekick, was a skilled fighter who could create sweet or rancid-scented bubbles. She used them to destabilise her opponents and swiftly take them down. Pairing the two of them together, Centipeder would have more time to take more dangerous cases with Le Million, his second sidekick. From what she had been told by Bubble Girl, the second sidekick had graduated from the Ultra Academy earlier in April.
She hadn't met him until she worked with the head of the agency on a human traffic rescue. They eventually recognised each other from the time she helped the academy's rescue. The blond-haired young man was jovial and dedicated to his duties. His working ethic and workout routines were almost inhuman. He was also accommodating and willing to adjust for others. Yet, she could sense a lingering spleen when he was walking home. At least, she supposed he was heading there after shifts.
More than once, she had been tempted to haze him. The years spent hosting had conditioned her to appease older people's minds. He was only one year older than her, but he seemed to have already experienced so much. He also was reluctant to ask for help. After a couple of days, she asked him how he balanced his private and work life. She hadn't been upfront. Instead, she disguised her query under an innocent question for tips to balance her balance her life.
She didn't need tips. Not when she already had a familial routine. And especially not when she only worked on demand. She was lucky to afford such a position. The hourly minimum wage wouldn't allow her to enjoy a comfortable life if she had to rely on her current hero work. Still, Toogata had been happy to advise remaining in touch with her classmates. One of his friends was closeted and he made it his duty to take him on an errand at least once a week.
Hyori deduced the ritual was as helpful to said friend. But it must be equally helpful to the young man she was currently working with. He seemed to be the type to need someone to hold on. She even suspected he tried to get in touch with said friend more than once a week. Ever since she engaged in a conversation with him, he had been keen on chatting with her after her undercover shifts. From his recounts, his friend enjoyed spending time alone and she guessed he had been the one to ask for no more than one outing per week.
The violet hoped her coworker wasn't too lonely on the other days. He mentioned his Father once and there seemed to be some incompatibilities between them. Toogata had commented on how he missed having someone to listen to his various stories now that he wasn't in the academy's dormitories anymore. She guessed he wasn't on the same wavelengths as his Father. But it's not like he could move out so soon. And even if he could, she guessed having the older man's presence was better than coming to an empty home.
After spending her nights in Tokyo at her Father's home, Hyori didn't think she would settle in her apartment after graduation. That place was mainly her studio and tickling place. She had grown used to having dinner with her Father and knowing he was around just in case. Toogata seemed not to have a lot of bonding moments with his Father. A few happenings he recounted hinted at how his retired Father didn't always listen to him. That's what she guessed when he recounted his weekend on Monday mornings. Hyori would tell him about innocent happenings in the hospital in exchange. Father and son had communication issues. Yet, the blond had someone around just in case.
Regarding the case, the criminals operated in a hospital where they would exchange babies at birth. Due to the low fertility rates and the advanced age at which people married, some couples resorted to abducting newborns from their Mothers. The group was suspected of preying on single Mothers and disguised the kidnappings as sudden deaths. The rising cases of perfectly healthy pregnancies ending in sudden deaths had alarmed some of the doctors working there.
This time, she had posed as a young male nurse in training. The idea was to get herself enrolled in the ring. Once inside, she was supposed to get access to the group's clients list and possible branches. The law enforcers suspected a similar scheme might be getting implemented in other hospitals, if not already implemented.
One thing she discovered was that nurses were constantly stressed and often victims of violence from patients or their families. It wasn't very noble of her, but she had posed as a knight in shining armour to have her female coworkers be more vulnerable around her. Under her disguise, she used her androgynous mask's looks to approach her peers and identify the ones working with the traffickers. As she grew closer to them, she noticed how the nurses' collaboration was morally motivated and not fueled by financial gains.
These women believed they were doing the right thing. From their point of view, they were freeing single women from pregnancies they must have been pressured to keep by a society that would prejudice them for being single Mothers when they could have aborted. The children being entrusted to well-off parents was the best outcome for everyone involved. At least, according to the benevolent criminals.
Hyori wasn't sure their approach was the right one. Even after years apart, she was sure she would be able to spot her Mother in a crowd. The phantom scent of the woman who brought her to life was embedded in her dreams and memories. If the midwives who catered to her Mother had thought the same, she could have been a trafficked baby as well. The short time she spent in delivery rooms had convinced her they weren't doing the right things.
Newborn babies weren't blank slates. They had spent months inside their Mother's bodies and reacted to their voices or heartbeats in a specific way. She suspected she would forever remember the cry of a Mother when she had been announced the sudden death of her child. No matter how they tried to sugar-coat the practice, it was cruel and had to stop.
After a week inside, she had finally been introduced into the ring. If the nurses and midwives acted for a cause, the middlemen of the practice were far from benevolent. The exchanges happened in the morgue where a fake baby would be switched with the real sedated one. At least, Hyori hoped those were fake babies. The newborn would be then handed to the middlemen who would drive to the new parents' homes and collect the full payment. They had already extended their activities to another hospital in the Kanagawa Prefecture.
Once the mission had been over and the culprit arrested, Hyori had felt relief that the criminals' archives had helped reunite the babies with their due families. Those women weren't only single Mothers. Some were by choice, others had lost their husbands during the pregnancies. Yet, all of them had prepared a room to welcome the newborns. They also had a family or loved ones who showed up one way or another.
When they parted after reporting, Toogata had invited her to a hot pot to celebrate the happy ending of a big case, but she already had plans to head back home early. Yet, she sensed he needed that celebration. According to his words, Bubble Girl had already heard all of his jokes and didn't find them funny anymore. Offering him to commute with her to the commission's headquarters, she had listened to whatever story he had to tell before they parted.
The evening following the end of the mission, she had felt fulfilled yet moody. Inside the commission's headquarters, she asked to spend the night at her Father's home. She missed her Mother. It was one of those nights she wouldn't be able to rest until she exhausted her brain into losing consciousness. The mere fact the middle-aged man was there helped her fill the void her Mother's absence created.
On the last Sunday afternoon of her internship, Hyori's Father drove her back to Hakone after a stop by Kamakura. He had purchased skincare products with her, wanting to see the establishment she frequented. Telling him it was the place she met Mister Yotsubashi hadn't been an easy conversation. It was the first time she had put words, in front of her Father, on what she had been up to in the pension.
The man had remained forbidden during her confession. Anger and resignation were swirling in his mind. His eyes were strained on the road and his hands gripped the wheel more than necessary. He hadn't made any comments regarding what happened or why her Mother would put her in that place. He hadn't questioned her either. After a deep breath, he thanked her for her trust and reminded her to always come to him first if she needed anything or had any issues. When they arrived in front of the academy's side entrance, he surveyed as she entered the grounds.
Hyori entered her class's dormitory a little after three in the afternoon. The building was mostly empty at this time save for her home-stuck peers. Uraraka would normally be studying in her room, Kouda was probably in his room catering to his pets, Tokoyami would usually rest during the day and Mineta was always inside his room when he could. She walked into her bedroom to put her luggage away and arrange her bedroom for the evening. She hadn't much furniture in her room and thought the evening would be better inside her apartment in Tokyo.
She brought cocooning packets from the hotel in Kamakura, cotton-scented candles and wool-covered meditation cushions from her studio. She carried a jar of mini dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate cookies, baked by her domestic robot. The treats should allow them to bypass the rule prohibiting eating in the bedrooms. They were dry snacks, after all. The cushions had taken most of the place in her extra suitcase even if they had been lightweight to carry. She put them on the soft maroon carpet littering her room's floor.
It was four in the afternoon when she was done decorating her bedroom. She would retrieve flavoured milk from the kitchen at seven in the afternoon before welcoming her guests. Since she had numerous hours ahead of herself, she decided to read for a while. The violet had been engrossed in her novel when she was interrupted by a knocking on her door. The bedside clock was reading a little before seven in the evening. Opening the door, she found Uraraka on the other side, already in her pyjamas. The girl was now her second classmate to have seen her bedroom.
"I was wondering if you wanted some help setting up your bedroom." Announced the hazel after they greeted each other.
"Setting up was quick since I don't have a lot of furniture here." Replied Hyori as she stepped on the side to let the other see. "I will bring some flavoured milk bottles from the kitchen in a dozen minutes."
"I see. It looks cosy." Commented the shorter girl. "I can help you with the bottles. It would be a piece of cake if they were floating in our arms."
"Thank you. I will put on my pyjamas first. You can wait inside." Replied Hyori.
Uraraka sat on a cushion while Hyori put on her pyjamas. She hadn't done anything after the spa and beauty salon, besides sitting inside her Father's sports car and arranging her bedroom. She didn't see the need for a shower before wearing a pyjama ensemble. She still changed her panties and minimiser. She might be out of the closet but wasn't willing to be completely seen already. She added a sleeping Kimono vest on top of her pyjamas and exited the room with her classmate.
The duo headed downstairs towards the kitchen. Half of their classmates were spread between the salon and the dining table. While the maidens would be upstairs for a girls' night, the Sunday movie session would de facto be a boys' night. The class representative was already setting the television with Kirishima, a red-headed boy adorning a spiky hairstyle and shark teeth.
As they passed by the salon to head back inside the bedroom, they were admonished by the class president who yelled "No eating in the rooms!" at them. Uraraka countered that "these are just drinks" before they all but speed-walked upstairs. They put the bottles on a platter between the cushions and Hyori added the cookie jar on it. They didn't wait for long before the other girls arrived.
They were also in their pyjamas, some in ensembles and others in dresses. They appreciated the comfortable cushions and scented candles. Jirou, a petite girl with short deep purple hair, had put on music while Hagakure, the invisible girl, presented the games she had brought. There was a hero-themed mime card game and a game of small horses.
They had started with the activity Hyori had planned for, namely cocooning. They each had a pack containing one-time-use sacks of face cleanser, lip balm and moisturiser. They also had two cotton disks, a beauty face mask and an anti-fatigue mask they could save for later. Ashido had been the most enthusiastic one. Her quirk rendered her skin dry and itchy, forcing her to follow a strict skincare routine. She had loved the soothing sensations of the mask and balms. The girls chatted during the routine and congratulated Hyori for her internship.
"You worked with Uwabami? I interned with her last year but didn't witness much action." Commented Momo. "It's a good thing you found an internship and are active."
"When did you pass the provisional licence exam?" Asked Asui.
"I didn't. The Hero Commission's Vice President delivers me a special authorisation for each case. I'm also not interning with a specific hero. The President is my legal mentor and assigns me missions." Explained Hyori.
"Really? Who have you worked with so far?" Asked Uraraka.
"Uwabami for arrests, Centipeder for domestic violence interventions and hostage rescues. And I once worked with Midnight and Gang Orca." Answered Hyori.
While they waited for the products to work, they played the small horses game. Momo had won every single round. Hyori's phone alarm rang at the end of the mask's pose and they cleaned themselves using spare towels.
"My skin looks magnificent! I think it has never been this smooth! Is that the secret of your flawless skin?! I noticed you are soft like velvet and glow like a Kpop music video." Commented Ashido. "Where did you find these?"
"Thank you. You can find them online." Replied Hyori. Then, she pointed at the still-closed pack. "These ones cure any signs of fatigue. I use them when I don't sleep at night. They are pricey so I don't use them a lot."
They were indeed pricey as "a single pack was worth the pay of an internship's week" according to Uraraka's shocked exclamation. The beauty masks they were wearing cost half as much but were still pricey for students.
"I guess it's the price of perfection." Lamented Ashido.
"I will treasure the remaining one, thank you." Commented Uraraka.
Then, the conversation shifted to her travels to Tokyo. Hyori confessed she worked as a yoga practitioner for beginners.
"How are you doing all that?" Remarked Jirou.
"It's only during the mornings. I don't exert myself. I've been active since I was seventeen and I'm already used to the routine." Replied Hyori.
"Speaking of routine, what are you up to after classes? We have never seen you practise." Asked Asui.
"I enrolled in a sports facility five minutes away by bicycle. I receive gymnastics and pool training there. I have sessions every weekday." Answered Hyori.
"That's why you are agile and flexible." Commented Hagakure.
"Why not practise in school?" Pressed Asui.
"I started training in the facility when I was in general education and kept the habit." Stated Hyori.
"That packed schedule doesn't leave much personal time." Noted Asui.
Hyori sensed understanding from the green-haired girl. She must have been in a position where she couldn't afford time for herself.
The girls ate the treats while playing the mime game until it was time to go to bed. They commented Hyori could hold a yoga session someday and Ashido invited her to one of her dance practices, willing to adjust her Sunday agenda. Hyori's first girls' night had been a thrilling experience. It reminded her of her first shopping spree with her former roommates in the pension. Falling asleep, she wondered what they were up to at the moment. Whether they were still hosting or not, Hyori hoped they were doing well and felt as fulfilled as she was at the moment. Their paths may have diverged but they would forever be the first friends she ever made.
Following the girls' night inside her room, Hyori had grown closer to the other maidens. She had more free time now that her internship had ended. Her rest would last for one week before the class's summer camp in the mountains. The girls had planned a shopping errand on Sunday afternoon, to leave Hyori the weekend with her family. The violet would leave the academy's accommodations on Friday afternoon and come back on Sunday morning.
In the meantime, she used the nearby sports resort for her gymnastics classes in the morning, followed by pool training early in the afternoon. Training-wise, she never felt as good in her skin as when she was in the nearby establishment. Especially with the low attendance during the morning. Any of her classmates could see her on the school's grounds. And she wasn't comfortable around all of them yet.
She might never be, but that didn't disturb her. They had less than a year left together. In two semesters, they would drift away for good. Except for the ones she was acquainted with, she would only occasionally interact with her class. What mattered was for her to remain on cordial terms with them. That should be easy since she was becoming friends with the other maidens.
After her mornings spent inside the nearby resort, she usually read for the afternoon until she helped whoever would be in the kitchen for dinner. She filled the dishwasher while the other persons were working around. Most of the days, Satou was the one active in the kitchen. Kouda often helped, since he had fewer working hours than Shoji or Tokoyami. The corpulent cook and his soft-spoken help usually didn't need a third pair of arms inside the kitchen.
Somehow, she preferred when Bakugou was the one cooking. She didn't feel as watched over as with the taller young men. Also, she was friends with Mina and on cordial terms with his other friends. There wasn't a latent competition for her attention and she didn't feel pressured to 'pick a winner'. She was wondering if the other maidens were in similar situations.
The class had a gender imbalance and most of her peers expressed hetero-normative preferences. Some of the young men were obvious. Mineta, a short lad whose purple hair puffs were sticky to others but bouncy to him, was a woman-chaser. And from the look of it, he didn't fare well due to being a pushover. Mina told her he had calmed down from last year and Hyori wondered what kind of lecherous guy he used to be.
Kaminari, the lightning blond, was dating Kyoka. The relationship wasn't official yet, but they were trying. She assumed they had bonded over their shared taste for everything electronic and tech-related. The young man was fairly knowledgeable on the topic and even coded a highly pixelated music game as a Valentine's gift. From what Tooru, the invisible maiden, recounted, the purple-haired maiden had appreciated the gesture but made him redesign the female outfits into less revealing ones.
Kirishima, the red-headed with shark teeth and a skin that could get hard and sharp, was a former classmate of Mina. They had danced around each other but it seemed they weren't quite fit for each other. Again, according to Tooru, the pink maiden had grown unexpectedly closer to Bakugou over their sweat issues. She suspected more would happen once they graduated and the two young men wouldn't live under the same roof anymore. Hyori had been impressed at the duo's ability to wait out of respect for a shared friend.
On the topic of waiting to act on one's feelings, Todoroki Junior, an ice and fire bender, withheld courting traditions and was sometimes going on dates with Momo. Mina and Tooru described their relationship as a Prince and Princess story. Hyori had a vague idea that it was linked to the courting thing. She only hoped Junior wouldn't reproduce his Father's mistakes. He wasn't as stunted as his Father. He was even on the expressive side, contrary to the redhead. She could sense his friends held him back from doing certain things. And that's precisely what she was wary of.
She wanted to talk about it with Momo, but she suspected it would be weird to get involved in their relationship. So far, things were well and she didn't want to instil fear in her friend. She reasoned she should trust the brunette's judgement, and should make herself appear as a listening ear. That way, the other would feel safe talking to her. Which meant she had to come clean in front of her. At least at some point. She wasn't ready to talk about her quirk yet, but was willing to show herself more to the other maidens. Hence why she started tagging along on their morning runs.
Back to the topic of relationships, Tooru had confided she was involved with their former classmate who had been the first to treat her like a lady and not a fighter or someone one couldn't fantasise about. He was perceptive and she felt seen around him. Hyori assumed being invisible had been a prejudice when people tended to be visual persons.
Tooru had later implied that family talks were sensitive for Tsuyu, the frog mutant. It seemed to be linked to her background but it hadn't been her story to tell. Also, Ochako and Midoriya were kind of sweethearts trying to figure out the dating thing. From what she sensed from the confessions, she guessed the invisible maiden was highlighting who was off-limits in the class. She hadn't outright said so, but the shorter one wasn't subtle when she mentioned things following Hyori's interactions with a given young man.
Some of her peers must have noticed how Kouda and his friends were acting around her, save from Tokoyami. They didn't assume she was a femme fatale. Yet, she couldn't just tell them not to worry. All she could do was prevent herself from using her quirk other than brainwashing her male peers. She didn't want to make things complicated between her future coworkers and herself. She was glad they didn't know about her past and wondered if they would remain friends if they knew what she did.
How would people react if they knew? Would the young men disrespect her? Would the teachers see her as other than an apprentice? She didn't have anyone to talk about it and missed her former roommates. She could talk about said topics with them. They had been on the same boat before she left. Texting them would be so easy since she still had their social media and phone numbers. Yet, she was wary of opening that door again. Muse had outed her in front of Enji and she suspected Bliss would try to get her back to hosting.
