A yellow gown, hours of prep, and a stern talk from her Mother were all it took for Nari to hate the atmosphere of the Match Ball.
It was almost funny watching the high-profile members of the society sip wine and eat delicacies from the mainland, all while speaking filth over the people who resided there. Nari wondered if what she was witnessing was hypocrisy or just ignorance.
Either way, the stuffy ballroom air was only dissipated by the fact that Ani had hardly left Nari's side the whole night. Be it her own nerves, or her ability to recognize when her little sister wanted to run out the front door.
" Take a sip, Nana. It's just sparkling cider." Ani giggled when she caught Nari staring a little too hard at the contents of her glass. The waiter had just offered them one, and she couldn't tell if it was alcohol or not.
Once her suspicions had been cleared up, she took a hesitant sip and accepted the bubbly taste on her tongue.
Not my favorite, she thought.
Fidgeting with the fluffy bottom of her dress, she huffed out a breath of annoyance. She couldn't stand tulle.
" Don't go getting all worked up, ok? I need you to be as calm as possible so that I can do the same. Now, how's my hair?" The caramel-skinned girl fluffed up her curls with her free hand.
" Pretty," Nari responded.
Her sister's efforts to be the Belle of the ball seemed to work in her favor. In Nari's opinion, no other girl looked as nice as Ani, and the Tokos would be fools to choose anyone else.
The ballroom was large and extravagant, with freshly waxed and patterned wooden floors and, a high ceiling with chandeliers twinkling above everyone's head. It felt like a fantasy, and a little part of Nari found herself grateful that she had come. It wasn't often she got to dwell among the riches of the top Class. Sure her family was well-kept, but their wealth was nowhere near the wealth of the Founders.
But even still, nothing about the gorgeous scenery could stop her from feeling out of place.
Her inner thoughts had to be showing on her face because Ani spoke up again.
" You know Nari, this night could be more fun if we talked to people in our age group. You could even make a friend?" Ani suggested cautiously, knowing how touchy her little sister got at the mention of her coming out of her shell.
Friends were out of the question for Nari. Having them only meant more people could get hurt at the discovery of her quirk, and she just wasn't willing to risk it. It was already stressful enough trying to keep her father and sister in the dark, hiding from even one more person was just too much.
" I'm not a friendly person." Nari made up an excuse that she wasn't entirely sure of.
Ani rolled her eyes, " Nari please, you're like a magnet! People are just naturally drawn to you, it's been that way since we were kids."
The younger girl shook her head, " No way! That's all you, you're practically perfect."
" Look over there," Ani grabbed Nari's shoulders and shifted her body to face the area where most of the younger party-goers were standing, " That boy has been staring at you the entire night. If you just go over there you might be surprised at how easy it is to be friendly." She smiled softly toward the young boy who had been caught staring.
His light copper skin grew an undertone of red, and he pushed his glasses higher before becoming very interested in his glass of cider.
" That's Yeji, he and I had the same homeroom back in first grade. He was... nice?" A look of remembrance took over Nari's face as she thought about the young boy who sat in the back of the class just like her. He was reserved, and quiet, but skittish. Like he was constantly afraid someone would hurt him.
" Good, you know him! You go and speak to him, while I go and get ready for the inspections." Ani gave Nari a small nudge and wandered off to the secluded side of the ballroom.
That side was meant for said inspection, where the families would interview the young girls and boys to determine their child's perfect match.
With nothing else to do, Nari contemplated her options.
I could stay here alone, and make myself stand out even more. Or I could go mingle with the quiet boy and pretend to be normal?
It already felt like she was getting stares the second she was left alone, so with a sigh she approached the boy with the glasses.
" Hello, Yeji." She smiled, very comfortable with pretending and putting on an act. As her Mother had taught her so long ago.
" H-hi! I wasn't trying to stare before, I promise! I just... was..." He quieted when he couldn't think of an excuse.
" Okay I was staring, but only a little!"
Nari giggled, surprising even herself. He was... cute?
How odd...Maybe Ani was wrong about my drink only being cider.
" It's alright. My sister thinks I should be more open to talking to others because I'm so alone all the time."
Why did I say that?
She hadn't meant to, and it was very unlike her to be so reckless with her words. She had gone through enough lectures from Ori to know that private life is never up for conversation. So again, why on earth did she say that?
" Oh! Well, you could come and hang with Cahme and I. We usually only speak to each other at things like this, so I understand. Although, you don't seem like a loner." Yeji pointed to where his friend was stuffing his face with hor'dourves and oddly staring quite hard at Nari.
Intrigued, Nari nodded her head. Together they walked to the table stacked high with trays of food. Despite being caught staring, unlike his friend, Cahme held his gaze on Nari.
" Nari this is Cahme, Cahme this is Nari." Yeji introduced them.
" Hello Cahme." Nari smiled a little less fake now.
" Hi." He smiled tightly with food stuffed in his cheeks. Sparing Nari only one word, he instead spoke to Yeji.
" Come on man, there's only so much food I can eat. Stop wasting time." Even though he was speaking to Yeji, his eyes were still zeroed in on Nari. Which made her very uncomfortable.
" I don't-" She started to say, but was interrupted.
" Forget him! I'm sorry, he's not very good at conversation when he's hangry." Yeji excused his friend, shooting a glare Cahme's way. " Talk to me instead. Tell me about yourself."
Nari ponders for a second, " Okay, uh- I'm thirteen, I was born in the winter, and I'm the fifth smartest in my class."
Yeji smiles, " Winter born! Me too! Do you do anything for fun?"
This makes Nari frown. For the most part, all she did was homework but, when she was bold enough she would ask the gardener to give her a collection of flowers he had cut. Then she'd pass the time by making bouquets of all kinds. She's never seen it as fun, but thinking about it now maybe it was something she enjoyed doing.
" I... like to make flower bouquets. My favorite flowers are-."
" Lilies." Yeji interrupted her, nodding his head once.
Nari was startled at how sure he sounded.
" Yes... How did you know that?"
" I know a lot of things." He smiled slyly.
Unsettled, but still trying to be polite, Nari looked past it.
They spoke for almost thirty minutes, about their favorite season, foods, and classes. All the while Nari was being honest in ways she normally wouldn't be, but still she felt comfortable doing so. Eventually, they divulged the topic of family, which seemed to be a touchy subject for both of them.
" I think family... is something you're given but not something you always have to accept." Yeji handed Nari a small white meringue rose.
She took a bite, and let the flavor melt on her tongue. It was sweet and lemony, she loved it.
" What makes you say that?" Nari asked.
" Not every family can be as nice as yours, Nari." Again, that awkward smile took over Yeji's face.
She fidgeted with it for a second, letting his confession bounce around her head. Suddenly, what Nari felt was no longer a desire to pass time but instead, a desire to... make a friend.
It seemed she and Yeji had much more to talk about than she thought. So, she felt no foolishness when she said her next sentence.
" Calling us nice is... generous." She scoffed, popping the rest of her meringue in her mouth and savoring the flavor.
" It is?" Yeji asks.
" Yeah. I think a better word would be performative. Or, phony." Nari scoffed, thinking of how fitting the latter was. From the outside looking in, of course, her family was perfect. Ori and Charles were the first couple to get married from their Match Ball, they were attractive and successful. No one would know that really, they hated each other's guts.
Birthing two equally perfect children was the icing on the cake to the public, though they would shutter to know that one was disabled and the other was well... the personification of shame.
Her quirk wasn't the only reason she preferred the cold walls of her room. Not a single part of her family was nice, and that was why Nari stayed away.
Ani, well she stayed away too just in a different way. She sought other people to lean on, which is why she was so popular among her age group.
While Nari stewed in her thoughts, Yeji's face went from indifferent to solemn. His expression hardened, and he subtly nodded to Cahme, sending him away.
" Can I ask you something else?" He says taking her hand.
" Sure." Nari blushes at the sudden contact.
" Come with me first." Yeji suddenly pulls Nari's away.
Cahme protests loudly from the other end of the snack table but doesn't follow, as he's still stuffing his face. Together they speed walk to an area right between the interview section of the ball and the bathroom. It was dimly lit and led to a supply closet. Nari knew better than to go into the supply closet with a boy. It was improper and would lead to her being shunned.
" Before I ask you this, I have to apologize." He started.
" I was... tricking you. I mean- we planned to talk to you today." Yeji nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
Nari's alarm bells were ringing.
" What are you talking about?" She demanded.
" I know about your quirk."
Nari's heart stopped.
" W-what?"
She felt like she was in a nightmare because truthfully this is how all of hers started.
Someone knows.
All that hiding and avoiding she had done, all the precautions she had taken, and he still found out.
He hurriedly grabs her shoulders to calm her now erratic breathing.
" Please don't freak out, ok? I have one too!" Yeji whispered aggressively into her ear, pulling her close to quiet her gradually growing panic.
Impossible.
" I know this is a lot to take in, but I need you to listen."
Nari nodded even though she was pissed. She wanted to run and go back into hiding, but she couldn't. Yeji knew her secret, and now she was at his mercy.
He gestured for her to sit down against the wall next to him. Nari did what he said.
" Today, I knew that I wanted to talk to you. Because I found out about your powers earlier this month at the Ascension."
" How?"
" I can hear people's thoughts. Although, I can't really hear yours, but your Mother thinks about your quirk a whole lot. I couldn't approach you back then and... well you're never anywhere but school. So Cahme and I decided to talk to you here," He paused at the look of distress that crossed her face.
Cahme knows!?
" Don't worry, he has a quirk too. " Yeji reassured.
" We originally were just gonna straight up ask you, but then Cahme got all paranoid thinking you were gonna lie and that we'd get ourselves in trouble. So he came up with the plan to make you tell the truth. His quirk is honesty, he can make anyone tell the truth so long as he stares at them while he does it. It drains his energy though, so he has to eat the whole time." He lets out a snort at his friends' quirk drawbacks.
Nari never used her quirk enough to know of any drawbacks, but hearing about Cahme did make her wonder.
" That's what the staring was about? And why I kept putting my foot in my mouth?" The more Nari thought about it the more irritated she became. They had tricked her, made her confess things that she would've never told them otherwise. And here she thought she was making a friend on her own accord.
" I'm sorry. I didn't want to do it, but Cahme got into my head. He made you sound snooty and stuck up, he convinced me that you'd snitch on us before we ever got the chance to snitch on you. Not that, that was the plan in the first place! We just... I'm sorry. Once we started talking I realized that we were more alike than I thought, so I made Cahme stop. Most of the conversation was you speaking freely. No tricks."
Already exhausted, Nari nodded her head, accepting his apology.
" How did you and Cahme meet?"
" He helped bandage me up one day after my dad-... I mean some bullies pummeled me before school. Back then I could only hear thoughts from people if they were close enough and that was the first time he and I had gotten close to each other. I was so shocked that I asked him right out of the blue. He almost ran home screaming but I told him not to worry and showed him my quirk. After that, we became best friends."
That familiar feeling of jealousy hit Nari in her heart. How different would her life be if she had been lucky enough to find someone like her, to share her dreams and desires?
" You two are very lucky. Even though I wouldn't wish this on anyone." Nari smiled, but Yeji frowned.
" What do you mean?"
" I mean, we're cursed." She shrugged.
" Cursed? No way! Nari, it's alright, you don't have to spout that nonsense with me. I'm not crazy like everyone else." Yeji shook his head at her ridiculous statement.
All the while Nari thought he was the one being ridiculous. He must not have been taught the correct way like her.
" I know it's nice that you found someone like you, but we can't delude ourselves into thinking what we are is okay. As of right now, we're destined for hellfire, and until we take the serum we'll be stuck that way. I know that it's hard to accept but it's the only way we'll be purified." The conviction in Nari's voice was like nails on a chalkboard for Yeji.
He sighed, " Right, I forgot that you might not think like Cahme and I. I'm not gonna overwhelm you, but there's so much that the founders aren't telling us. I used to think like you too, hate myself just as much as you hate yourself. I would pray for the serum so hard that I'd start to sweat, and I would've given anything to be quirkless," He paused, shaking his head. "But Nari, we don't need that stuff." He tried to reason with Nari, but she was unreceptive.
" N-no. You're wrong. You may be able to live with yourself being a shame to your family but I won't. I have to be pure!" She didn't mean to yell, but listening to Yeji was getting her worked up.
" You just said that your family was performing! What do you care about bringing them shame?" Yeji was yelling now too.
" That's not the point! This is way different, Yeji. Our whole lives have been about how pure we're supposed to be. Do you know how awful our families would feel if they found out that that wasn't the case anymore? What could happen to them because of it? What could happen to us?! I've seen what happens to quirk users who are expelled and I don't want to be like them alright!"
How could he think like that? Before now, she had never considered that she might not be alone. She was hopeful that she'd have a friend.
But she can't be friends with them. They're tainted, and a bad influence. She wasn't like them, she never thought she'd be able to say it but... she deserved the serum. And they... didn't. Not if they were dead set on accepting their tainted blood for what it is.
If they weren't seeking retribution then... What did they want?
" You think I want that? What do you think I'm asking you to do, go out there and have a quirk showcase? I just want you to hear me out, and maybe be a little open to the idea that what we've been told isn't the full truth."
Desperately, Yeji grabs Nari's shoulders again. Soft music and chatter from the ongoing ball fill the gap in their arguing and yet the silence between the two of them is deafening.
Yeji really didn't expect it to go this way, after she opened up to him about her family he thought she might be open to listening. But it turns out the brainwashing she experienced might be even more severe than the other citizens.
She had longed to be quirkless for so long that she now clung to the ideas that were forced onto them, hoping that if she believed them hard enough it might save her from the harsh reality she'd face if her quirk were ever to be outed.
She thought she had something to make up for. Like her very existence was a sin, so now she had to reject any other world where it wasn't.
Yeji was speechless. He had no idea how to proceed.
Nari felt numb. Yeji needed help obviously, but getting it left him vulnerable and she didn't want to be the cause of anyone getting hurt.
" Maybe... we can just pretend this never happened? I think it's best if we just go back to our old lives ok? We can keep hiding, and then one day when we get the serum it'll all work out. No one has to know, I think all three of us can stay under the radar right? It's not so bad if there's only three of us." Nari looked crazy, tears in her eyes as she nodded speedily.
Yeji shook his head in pity, " Nari we can't go back to our old lives, the reason I wanted to approach you in the first place is because we need your help. Eventually, we won't be able to hide our quirks anymore."
"What?"
" It's not just the three of us. There's a quirk user in every Pearl elite family."
" You're lying-" Nari started but was interrupted.
A loud, almost ear-piercing siren sounded around the ballroom.
" ATTENTION! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THE BORDERS OF THE KOHITSUJI HAVE BEEN BREACHED, THERE IS A QUIRK USER INSIDE THE WALLS. THE FOUNDERS HAVE ASKED ALL CITIZENS TO STAY WHERE THEY ARE, DO NOT TAKE ANY ACTION AND AWAIT HELP FROM THE AUTHORITIES." An announcer yelled into the microphone, voice shaking with fear.
Even though it wasn't funny, Nari laughed.
One quirk user had made their way inside the walls, and that man was terrified.
Imagine how terrified they would be if they had heard the words that Yeji just told her.
...
A/N
Uh ohhhhhh! Nari isn't alone anymore!!!
How do y'all feel about Yeji? Or Cahme?
Who is this strange quirk user that breached the borders?
As you can see Nari has a long way to go before she can even begin to start accepting her quirk. But what happens next chapter might be the very thing that starts that journey for her...
HAPPY HOLIDAYSSS
See you next timeeee