The first day in class 1B was not that bad at the end of the day, and they had gotten away with whatever mess was going on, when has dodging a dinosaur to get out of class ever been an inconsequential detail? Slowly but surely Hikari trudged to her new room, a place to live for at least the next 6 months, hopefully it holds up to a fraction of UA’s dorms.
Opening wide the door to her room, Hikari wanted nothing more than to drop on the nearest bed for the next hour or so. Unfortunately there’s someone in there already…
Is this the wrong one?Take a step back, look at the door number, this is it.
What the hell, are the rooms shared?Look inside and… yep, two beds.
Is that a boy?After a 8-second stare, we can confirm it’s a boy, the dorm rooms are mixed gender?
Does this mean Rin and Matsuru share the same room?Lucky lovebirds.
Lightly tapping on the doorframe, Hikari stood unsure on how to proceed, already she discerned it was Yamagata crying and talking to himself, paralyzed by trauma befitting a member of the Hawks Agency. The best course of action was probably to simply leave, let Yamagata sort himself out and return later when he’s of sound mind.
He was stirring awake early; eyes wet with tears that dripped down his smooth face. Was there someone looking at him? He reached out his hand, still groggy, and said, "Please don't leave me... Please..."
Was he… talking to her? Or was he babbling to his nightmares?Jolting on her feet, the realization of how creepy she looked right now washed over Hikari. Swiftly looking through the hall to ensure no one saw her, Hikari decided to just… Enter her room.
How bad can it be, I have to leave my things here anyway.Besides… She glanced at Yamagata on his bed.
Seems he takes it worse alone.That’s right, everyone copes in their own way, she had seen it in Hawks, how some collapse, others isolate themselves and only few use their trauma to focus. Maybe all she needs to do is… stay around… and maybe that will be enough… some need the comfort of other people, don’t they? Just say something to let him know you’re here but don’t make him clingy, something a peer would say, something smart.
”I’m not leaving.”Shit. Did that come off too confrontational? Was her tone too harsh? Apathetic? Disinterested in the suffering of her roommate?
Immediately Hikari doubted herself due to her poor choice of words, despite the tone used actually being neither confrontational nor harsh. Often not thinking your words through before saying them brought headaches, in this case, overthinking did quite the same.
Kazuki’s eyes cleared as he registered Hikari’s face. With a smile, he sat up groggily, saying, “Ms. Yajima… Thank you.”
He needed to talk about this. He needed to force himself to say something. He forced himself to blurt out, “I was at Jaku City. Friends and bullies alike were turned into Nomu. I was tortured. Hawks Agency rescued me.”
Another burst of tears, but no sobs, no yells, instead he said, “I was never able to find her, you know? The one who saved me. All I know was that she was twenty-two back then…”
Relieved to not have worsened the situation, Hikari limited herself to only listening, letting Kazuki vent out the wounds to his soul. There’s times when that’s all you need to do to help someone.
The revelation of Jaku City did not really surprise Hikari, many in Hawks had similar stories, Jaku City was just the biggest, recent incident that resulted in more of these stories being real. To have everyone you know either dead… or worse, turned into a monster, how could you trust to make friends once again?
It was best to not inquire about the details to avoid more painful memories, if Kazuki wanted to vent them out he would. This person however… maybe they knew her? Hawks Agency tends to keep the identity of their heroes a secret, but that doesn’t make it an impossible task.
Placing her bag next to her empty bed, she maintained her gaze towards Kazuki, not looking at him directly but in his general direction instead.
”This person, do you remember anything else? Hair color, her costume, maybe her voice?”Kazuki mused, “Her costume hid a lot, but her hair was long and black, like one of those hair commercials. And her voice was kind, at least while addressing me. But she was ruthless, too; from seeing her fight, I got my interest in guns.”
He sighed and said, “I started in Hawks at fifteen years of age. I killed as many villains - Including Nomu - during that time. I am eighteen now but I still have not found my rescuer. I want to thank her, Ms. Yajima; I really do. But to be honest, I have the feeling that the person who saved me is a master of disguise and
does not want to see me.”
Reaching for her forehead in thought, Hikari knew way too many people could fit that description.
”Considering it’s a Hawks Agent I doubt she can reveal her identity to just about anybody. Especially if it’s a high-caliber Pro Hero.”She then dropped herself on the other bed, falling like a rock on the mattress.
”If I find out anything about your savior I will let you know, next maybe we can ask any professors from Hawks.”While Kazuki and other students might get in bed for some needed sleep and to get ready for the next day, Hikari was only going to enjoy one, maybe two hours of rest.
Kazuki looked at Hikari one more time, then said, “You know, I never noticed how beautiful you are until now. I must have stolen one too many gazes at the other boys in the class.”
Chuckling, the young man continued, “It must be the sleeping pill addling my head…”
Hikari’s first reaction was a groan muffled by her pillow, a social inept like herself had no idea how to react from one whiplash to another. Going from confusion, to awkwardness, to compassion and now confusion once again on what the hell was going on.
It took her a few seconds to realize that yes, right after explaining his past trauma, Kazuki was trying to flirt… maybe he was just being considerate, reciprocating empathy?
In her hesitation Hikari just replied tentatively, not with any annoyance but just confusion.
”Thank you...”The young man got up, forcing himself awake and his blanket off, before saying, “Hey, do we have a curfew? If we don’t, want to go out on a date right now? I meant what I said; you
are beautiful…”
Hikari was still somewhat confused but decided to roll with it, curfew? If there was such a thing she would still ignore it, and it’s not like she wasn’t going to do something at night anyway.
”Sure, let’s do that in an hour.” For now she needed some time to lay dead on the bed, she will deal with the consequences of her actions later.
“Thanks!” Kazuki then went off to the bathroom, making sure to take his power armor/bodysuit with him and a bundle of more formal clothing, to shower again and get ready for his date…
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