Trigger Warning:
- PTSD
- mention of phobias
- implied depression
Kamiko had not been the one to reveal to her parents about the PTSD, but at this point, she was relieved that they knew.
The panic attacks had gotten worse.
Despite the assurances from her parents, the confirmations from her boyfriend, and the supports from her friends, her mental health deteriorated like radioactive material.
Little by little, each day.
First it had started with a fear of dark alleys. Then fear of public places, which induced a panic attack. Some more attacks later, it had reached a point where Kamiko dreaded even stepping foot into the front porch. She managed to find the willpower to eat on time and maintain personal hygiene, but all at the cost of remaining at home.
Just this morning, she had contacted her personal instructor, Abe Kanato-sensei, to tell her that she wished to continue her classes at the academy online. Sensei opened her mouth to justifiably ask Kamiko why. After all, what was the point of attending a music school if no one but yourself was going to be the audience? But at the last second, sensei pressed her lips together. Without words, Abe-sensei understood. Just one deep stare into each other's eyes, and Kamiko's tutor relented with an audible sigh.
"Remember the origin story I told you about the school?" Abe-sensei had suddenly brought up. Kamiko nodded. "You're not the first to be a target of unwarranted malice. I have had past students who also encountered a traumatic scene just as you did. My advice to them is the same I will give to you: do not let the pain deter you from the goal."
Kamiko knew that her teacher was right. That she should have been brave and come to the academy. Those masked men wanted her to cower in fear for the rest of her life. In a way, she would have shown them that she was not accepting defeat. Kamiko realized all of this, but her mind was made.
She replied in a dismal tone, "I'm not ready yet. The memories are still too fresh. Just for a few weeks, Sensei. Please?"
"Theoretical classes might work remotely. But what about practical ones? Are we going to message back and forth piano critiques?"
"I'll find an alternative," Kamiko pleaded.
The two of them discussed some more, eventually reaching a compromise. Just before the video call ended, Abe-sensei had given Kamiko one more piece of advice. She said, "Invite some friends. And I mean people besides your boyfriend. Music is an excellent healer, but pair it with good company, it becomes an elixir."
So that is exactly what Kamiko did.
After completing her chores for the day, she called her group of friends, offering a get-together at her home. Within an hour, all of them were gathered around the bedroom table. Seven girls - including Kamiko - chomping down food and chatting about inane topics. In other words, having fun. To most people, seven was large for a circle of friends. Even suspicious for someone who was bullied for years. However, Kamiko's companions were outcasts like her. Victims of bullying and ostracization throughout grade school. Would it really be so surprising to say that they were mutants just like her? Gushiken Etsudo - Kamiko's brazen-mouthed friend - was among the party. Talking with the outspoken dog was a serpent mutant. Human from the waist up, snake from the torso and down. In Greek mythology, such mutants were called lamia, a type of monster. Being biracial with one Greek parent yet unwanted by both, her parents thought it fitting to name her Echidna. Meaning 'mother of monsters.' Family issues aside, Echidna's sense of dirty jokes was on par with Etsudo's.
After the two generated an entire thesaurus to describe the act of sexual reproduction, Kamiko tuned them out. Instead, she focused on the remaining four guests of the party. A rag doll, a cat, a rabbit, and an octopus. An eighth guest had yet to come.
Perhaps it was incorrect to say that Kamiko followed her teacher's suggestion word for word. Because this late arrival was none other than her boyfriend. After getting parent approval for Izuku, she felt a lot more confident about introducing him to her world. She had reached out to him, hoping to introduce him to her friends. It was ridiculous to assume that everyone would befriend him. Even more preposterous to try to impose such a friendship upon them. That would have been disrespectful to everyone.
No. That was not why she called Izuku. He had been kind enough to introduce her to Bakugou, an important person in his world. It was only fair that she do the same. With a little notice beforehand, of course. When she told him that there would be six girls as well, Izuku still agreed to come by. Then she had told the girls that her boyfriend would be coming. The news had sent them into a frenzy. Both sides were enthusiastic to meet the other because no one knew the other's name or appearance.
Suddenly, Echidna began to shiver under the AC's chill. Her eyes began to close, almost as if she were an actual snake getting ready for hibernation. Very dramatically, she slid down from her seat and slithered toward Kamiko. Wrapping her tail around Kamiko's waist and hugging with her arms, Echidna moaned, "Wake me up when your boyfriend gets here. I hope he's hotter than you."
Kamiko was used to her friend's antics, but sometimes she got caught off guard. Whipping her head toward the lamia, she exclaimed, "What! Get a hold of yourself!"
"I mean temperature-wise," Echidna explained, not before passing a sly grin toward Etsudo, who snickered.
Kamiko narrowed her eyes. "Oh, real clever, Echidna. Deluding yourself that you're the master of double entendres and stuff. Don't be as clingy with him as you are with me."
"Whatever you say, Ms. Jealous."
"What makes you say that?"
Apparently, that was the wrong question to ask. Too late, Kamiko realized she had stepped right into the snake's pit. Echidna smiled so wide, her fangs shone. "The coursing of blood in your cheeks, my dear vixen. Your racing heartbeat. The rise in body temperature. Did you know those are the same symptoms that manifest when you're turned on? Just think about it. You and-"
"That's enough!" Kamiko cut her friend off. She knew another sex joke was on the way, and whatever it was would make her face burn from embarrassment rather than anticipation.
At the same time, the rabbit mutant - who true to her animal counterpart had keen ears - perked up. "Oh my god, it's been hours! It must be getting dark soon! I have to go! Is your boyfriend okay? Why isn't he here yet?" Kamiko glanced at the clock in her room. Only fifteen minutes had passed since the get-together had begun. But for her ADHD and anxiety-ridden girl friend, the time passed had been an equivalent to fifteen hours.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Kamiko pried Echidna off herself and said, "He's here. Behave yourselves, girls." Then she walked outside the bedroom.
Had she spared one look back inside, she would have noticed the cunning expressions in her friends' eyes.
Izuku felt underdressed.
For the first time, he understood why Katsuki had always been so fussy with his appearance. Wait. That was not the only reason. This nervousness was a little familiar. He had felt it during his first year at U.A. When simply talking to a girl turned him into a metaphorical puddle. That girl had been Ochako. Izuku was surprised to not feel any residues of misery or disappointment when thinking of her name. Was not that an important sign that he had moved on?
Stop it, he thought to himself. It is rude to think about your ex-crush at your girlfriend's place. Vigorously shaking his head to toss the thought out, he straightened his already smooth collar and fussed with his already fixed belt. Six girls were about to judge him right down to his soul. Six tests were waiting for him, and he had to score 200% on each one. A grand total of 1200%. Damn, he had not felt this rattled even when he pushed the limits of One for All.
"Okay," Izuku began muttering to himself. "Deep breaths. 4-4-4 rule. Inhale for four seconds." He proceeded to do just that. Then he thought, hold it for four seconds. Finally, exhale for four seconds. His nerves settled down just infinitesimally. Izuku considered repeating the exercise again when he glanced at his watch. He was already running late. He almost heard Katsuki's reproachful voice bang like drums in his head. After censoring much of the language and toning down the ferocity, the summary of that lecture was: Get on with it.
Izuku knocked on the bedroom door. "Hello! Sorry I'm late!" And he turned the doorknob.
But as soon as he crossed the threshold, he was assaulted.
Before he could even register the company inside the room, what looked like a flash of burgundy wrapped around his waist. The next second, Izuku was yanked into the air. He briefly wondered if a sinkhole had appeared below his feet when the force that seized him spoke.
"All my dead relatives rolling in the grave! Kamiko, this is the guy you're dating!" it shrieked. The voice was shrill and loud. Izuku physically recoiled from the volume. He realized that, indeed, his feet were not touching the ground. But it was not because a sinkhole magically manifested. It was because one dark red tentacle was holding him midair, and seven more began probing at him. Bobbing his head side to side like sea lions, stretching his limbs like starfish, inspecting him the way an octopus studies sand before preparing its nest. Oh! The person holding him was indeed an octopus. Well, from the bottom half of the body, at least. The upper half was that of a human woman, with charcoal grey skin and citrine eyes. Her eyes were horizontal slits, though. And her hair was a mess of writhing smaller tentacles.
Izuku was not sure whether this mutant resembled Ursula or Medusa or what could have been their love child.
So instead he said, "Nice to meet you! Could you put me down now?"
He realized that if this girl had wanted to hurt him, she would have done so by now. Certainly, the speed with which she picked him up had almost triggered Izuku's retaliation reflex. And if she was not going to release him any time soon …
The other girls in the room were dying from laughter. Although he could not get a proper view of them from his angle, he discerned five different sounds. None of them were Kamiko's. And for that he was grateful.
Finally, she spoke up. "Guys, I told you to behave yourselves. Put him down now, Minato."
The octopus named Minato shook vigorously. Yes, that is correct. Not simply her head, like normal people do. No. The whole freaking body. Which meant that Izuku swung left and right, desperately trying not to smash his head against the wall. What if all of a sudden the mutant decided to squirt that black ink octopi were famous for? He would be the unfortunate target. Izuku did not want to risk finding out. Now was a good time to activate his quirk. Using it on civilians never sat right with him, but this particular one was pushing things a little too far. Maybe he would use just 0.01% of his power.
A light tingle coursed from his fingertips to the underside of a tentacle squeezing his arm. To his surprise, nothing happened. It should have shocked the woman to drop him, but nothing happened. Then again, the octopus had been vibrating yet maintaining her balance above ground. Izuku reasoned that either she did not notice, or 0.01% was too little. Minato-san just continued bickering with Kamiko.
"Hey!" he interrupted. "I appreciate your enthusiasm in meeting me. But can we talk like normal people do? On the ground? With my two legs and your eight tentacles touching solid surface?"
"I want to see him, too!" a third girl screeched. Well, Izuku would have been lucky if he left this place with a minor case of tone deafness.
Minato-san stretched out his muscles from their sockets a while longer before harrumphing. Curling her lip and raising her eyebrows, she overexaggerated her disdain. "Kind of scrawny for the future Symbol of Peace. You like thin boys, Kamiko? Anyway, cool to meet you, Deku." And with the tentacle that was still circling his waist, she threw him to the ground the way one throws a wad of paper into the dust bin from opposite ends of the classroom.
Izuku landed face-first in front of the tone deafness-inducing girl. This one was a rabbit. From top to bottom, she was covered with fur in various shades of brown. Even her head was that of a bunny and ears stood upright. From his position on the floor, he noticed that her legs had the characteristic outline of hare hind legs. The girl clapped her forepaws on his shoulders and pulled him up on his feet. So far, Izuku was being treated like a puppet. This was not the kind of first introduction he wanted to give. Then he was energetically jolted back and forth.
"I'M A HUGE FAN OF YOURS!"
His eardrums rang. Forget tone deafness. Izuku was going to leave this get-together with tinnitus. "Th-thank you! I'm h-h-honored! If you could keep it down a bit, that would be great."
His words went into one long ear and out the other. "I THOUGHT KAMIKO'S BOYFRIEND WOULD NEVER COME, BUT IT WAS YOU! YOU'RE SO AWESOME! CAN I GET A SELFIE WITH YOU?!"
With the frequency Izuku was being shaken around like a rattle toy, he began seeing stars in the day-lit room. Suddenly, a hand pressed against his back, stopping the rattle toy treatment. He recognized this hand. This touch.
"Will you guys control yourselves, or do I have to take away all the food in the room?" Kamiko demanded. Immediately, all the girls hoarded their plates to themselves. Clutching them as though it were not half-eaten junk meals but their lifelines. The rabbit mutant released Izuku, and before someone else could assail him, Kamiko reached for his hand and guided him to his seat. She occupied the chair next to his. "I'm so sorry about that, Izuku. Despite my warnings to them, they still charged at you like that. Apologize, everyone!"
"That's not necessary!" Izuku exclaimed, raising both hands. "They didn't mean any harm by it. As long as no one tries to give me a concussion again, we're alright." Then he got up from his seat. "Actually, I brought something for you." He returned to the entrance of the bedroom and lifted a package wrapped in blue gift paper and gold ribbon. It was tall and rectangular. Twice his height, so in spite of the massive doorframe, he had to lug it into the room. Once inside, he set on the ground and made a show of dusting off his hands. "Open it, Kamiko."
Tentative yet curious, she glanced around at her friends before joining Izuku beside the package. Kamiko unraveled the ribbons and opened the paper. Inside was a plastic display case with a plushie. Not just any plushie. The limited edition mega-size blue whale stuffed animal that Kamiko wanted to purchase but was too costly.
Her focus alternated between the whale and Izuku. Twisting her head periodically in both directions, she mumbled incoherent phrases. Izuku caught words such as, "You … this … when … how … why …" It was enough to understand the gist.
"On our last date on the beach, your eye caught a vendor who was selling sea creature stuffed animals," he began to explain. "But the price was exorbitant, so I thought I could surprise you if I got it for you."
The radiance of her smile rivaled the glow of sunlight. Kamiko threw her arms around him and kissed him. "Thank you," she whispered. "I love it."
"I love you," he murmured back.
She giggled before replying. "I love you, too."
Then someone coughed. Oh, right! They had an audience. This time the person who spoke was someone Izuku recognized from a past encounter. Gushiken Etsudo. The Australian shepherd mutant coughed not so subtly, "I would say to go get a room, but we are in a bedroom. How about you guys take this to the bathroom? We'll be right here, snacking on all the tasty crap. Feel free to turn on the shower head if you don't want the sounds to echo all the way out here!"
The other girls chortled.
Izuku wanted to return to his days of being Katsuki's punch bag, and Kamiko looked like she wanted to jump out the window and never see the face of civilization again.
"Etsudo," Kamiko growled.
Her dirty-minded friend smirked salaciously. "No judgment from us! I promise! We won't even press our ears against the wall."
"Because our hearing is just that amazing," added Echidna.
Kamiko clapped a palm to her forehead. "You imbeciles."
"Not yet?" Once Kamiko was riled up from embarrassment, Etsudo always loved to push her further. So she continued to tease the poor couple. "How about we all play strip poker? Maybe when the two lovebirds get glimpses of each other's bodies, they'll get hot and need a cold shower. A mutual cold shower."
Kamiko expressed her dissent very animatedly. Her pulled back, erect ears, dominating stance, and rapidly swishing tail all exemplified her unmovable refusal. Izuku was more polite about it. Understandable, given his position amongst the group of people. He shook his head and tried to hide his cherry red cheeks by turning the other way.
"I think we should stop here. We've joked about the two enough. Let's play regular poker," suggested the doll mutant. Kamiko finally felt like she could breathe. Her posture eased. This friend of hers was the most rational one of the circle. She knew how to have fun without crossing the limits.
Kamiko agreed to fetch the playing cards.
Izuku was intrigued by Kamiko's doll friend.
To be specific, by the friend's quirk.
Most of the mutants he encountered possessed animal characteristics. Those quirks tended to be in the majority. A few that fell into the minority included his teacher Cementoss-sensei or his friends Iida, Koda, and Jiro, who had varying degrees of mutant qualities. But he had never met someone with a rag doll mutation. The hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth … everything down to the fingers and toes … they had that rag doll quality to them.
Still, the girl managed to maintain an aura of mystic sophistication around her. With black double braids and a black high collar dress and black shoes, well, she certainly was expressive about her favorite color. Her pale skin appeared almost anemic against all the black.
As Kamiko passed the cards around, the doll was the first to initiate the conversation. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned Izuku up and down. He resisted the temptation to iron down the front of his shirt. "Nice to meet you, Deku. I'm Ebina Rin."
"Likewise. You can call me Midoriya, if you like."
She smiled in a way that made Izuku think that she was studying him. The infamous test he had been preparing for. He was determined to not let her outdo him.
Kamiko set out equal quantities of multicolored chips in front of each player. These amounts associated with the chips were later going to be converted into candies.
"I'm curious about your quirk. Never seen one like it," Izuku decided the best approach would be straightforwardness.
Rin-san raised her eyebrows as she accepted the two cards Kamiko dealt toward her. "I'll humor you. Ask away."
And so the two mind games began. One by the name of poker. The other between Rin-san and Izuku. As the girls made their bets, he asked, "How did your quirk appear?"
"It's actually genetic. X-linked recessive. My paternal grandmother had it, my dad, and now me."
"Which means your mom was a carrier," Izuku deduced from what he recalled in biology class.
Rin-san nodded. "It means I have to be a little extra careful than most. Small accidents can cause injuries that run deeper for dolls than they do for humans."
More curious than ever, Izuku continued to inquire about the ability. At the same time, he studied the cards he had been passed. One queen of hearts and one ace of spades. Not too bad. Since Kamiko was the dealer, and he was sitting to the left of her, he was the first player to receive cards. He spotted the snake and cat eyeing the other players' cards. Etsudo shoved her cards against the snake's face, turning its head in the other direction. In retaliation, the snake dug a morsel of dessert from Etsudo's plate and shoved it into her mouth. Minato-san stared at the cat with all the criticism that existed in the world. The cat pouted its lips and rolled its eyes the other way.
The rabbit mutant clacked her teeth as she looked at the set of cards. Izuku figured that meant she had been dealt a bad hand. It worked to his advantage.
No one would have assumed from his cherubic features that he was sly. Not as much as a devil. But enough to fool opponents into letting down their guard. Otherwise, how would he have become the future Symbol of Peace. Tricking, outsmarting, playing others to win. After the fall of the Paranormal Liberation Army, infiltration missions rose amongst hero responsibilities. Izuku frequently went to illegal gambling halls, where he bade his time by playing with the criminals he had to arrest. Poker was a classic at every den.
And the first rule he learned: Pay attention to your opponents more than the cards. Real-life example: the rabbit.
With each round, the pile of chips at the center of the table grew. Izuku - determined to win - hoped to distract Rin-san into losing position. He studied her face and her words. However, she was just too good. Rin-san was one of the few people who could maintain an expression that belied nothing. Everyone else, though, they lacked the same ability.
Kamiko's tail swished downward every time she got a bad card and upward every time it was a good card. Within three rounds, Izuku got a good read on her behavior. Etsudo was the complete opposite. She made ridiculous faces for every card flopped. Tongue jut out for four of clubs; crisscrossed eyes for jack of diamonds; puffed up cheeks for seven of hearts. He could not understand her. Turning to the octopus, Minato-san had camouflaged itself to match the bedroom surroundings as soon as the last card was set down. She got a bad set, Izuku figured.
When it was finally time for showdown, Izuku revealed his cards. Three queens and two aces. Full house. Everyone else's sets ranked lower than his. He was surprised yet impressed to see that Rin-san had the lowest rank of them all.
Still, he was kinder than he was cunning. He split up the candy amongst the girls.
The group played a few more games until the sun began to set. Minato-san and Echidna-san - he learned her name over the course of the games - bantered with each other the way an old married couple did. Etsudo slipped some catnip to the cat mutant, who slumped against the backrest of the chair and let the plant take her to imaginary kingdoms of euphoria. But it seemed like the rabbit did not need any drugs to get high. Izuku suspected that if she were not in her friend's home, she would bounce off the walls to release all that hyperactive energy bundled inside her. Rin-san tried her best to calm the bunny down.
Meanwhile, Izuku was having a splendid time cuddling with his girlfriend on the bed. Feeling exhausted, she rested her head on his lap, hugging the plushie tightly. He found himself running his fingers through her hair and scratching behind her ears.
Ah, heaven, Kamiko thought to herself.
She wished they could have stayed like this forever. Izuku and her. But dreams never lasted forever, did they?
"We're going now, Kamiko. Minato says a movie came out the day before yesterday," Echidna announced.
Kamiko got up to escort them to the main door. But before they left the room, Minato turned around to address Izuku. "Just so you know, if you hurt Kamiko, I won't mind going to jail a few years for murder."
"That's not going to happen," Kamiko reprimanded at the same time that Izuku replied, "I won't give you a reason to commit murder."
Satisfied, both girls nodded. And because they could not leave the house like regular people, they opened the window and jumped outside. "Don't crush my mother's flowers!" Kamiko shouted as the two of them slithered away into the sunset. A few minutes later, her cat friend did the same because felines love to test whether they actually have nine lives. Then the rabbit whose energy tank was spilling. The only people who exited via the door were Etsudo and Rin.
At last, Izuku and Kamiko were alone.
Embracing him, she said, "Again, I'm sorry about how they treated you. I promise you that they are usually more well-behaved than that. I just wanted you to get a glimpse of my world like you showed me yours."
Izuku smiled and shook his head. "Hey! It's all fine! I actually liked them. What's more important is whether you had a good time. Did you?"
"I did," Kamiko reciprocated the gesture.
"Good night."
"Good night."