Traumatized

Chapter 22

Mama Joke looked surprised that I had thought of that so quickly but Pops just scoffed. "What if your bigger counter attack doesn't work?"

I matched his gaze and answered immediately. "It will work. He won't be expecting to be sent to a memory he wished he could forget." A small smirk formed on my face. "It's simple but effective since I'm the only person that knows when the memory will end. The moment it ends I'll be ready to finish them."

Pops narrowed his gaze. "Do you think you can do that?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could." He gave him a sly smile.

"Good, now let's get to the main reason I asked the question." He turned around and took a few steps back. "Does your quirk have a tell?"

"Yeah. My eyes turn black whenever I activate it." I looked at him a little confused.

"Don't you think that may be an issue for a quirkless hero?" He turned around to face me. "I don't necessarily like the idea of you being known as the quirkless hero but it would give you one hell of an ace in the hole. As of now you're in an interesting situation."

I put my hand to my chin as I started to think. "He has a point. It would be hard to explain that. Also if word got out that the quirkless hero actually had a quirk that would cause issues as well." I looked back up at him. "I could use something to cover my eyes. Though the use wouldn't be for the same reason as why you use yours. And I doubt anyone would question it from a stylistic standpoint."

"That may be true but this is something you need to seriously think about." He turned to Mama Joke. "Now let's start with your training for the day." He got into a fighting stance. "Come at me with everything you've got."

A smile spread across my face. "Let's do it."

Two hours later I found myself on the floor, for what felt like the hundredth time, drenched in my own sweat. As I tried to catch my breath I stared at Pops who was standing over me. "That sucked."

He turned around and started to walk away. "Then get better. I taught you the basics so now you need to refine them." He took a seat in a chair. "Now it's your turn Emi, have fun."

I sat up and saw Mama Joke walk over with an unnerving grin on her face. "Is she gonna kick my ass as well?"

"Nope, not today." She squatted down in front of me. "Today we're gonna talk about fixing your hair."

I looked at her with a blank expression. "... I'm sorry what?"

"You heard me." She stood up. "Now go shower you smell."

After showering I found myself sitting in front of my dresser mirror. I wasn't sure what was about to happen but the smile on Mama Jokes face was unsettling. "So what exactly are we doing?"

"We're going to do something with this rat nest that you call hair." She started to run her hand through my hair.

"I didn't think it was that bad?" I tilted my head down.

She quickly grabbed my hair and pulled my head back up. "It's not, I just wanted to mess with you."

I let out a sigh. "So why are we doing this?"

"Well as far as my understanding your quirk is visual based." She continued to mess with my hair. "I personally like the longer hair you have going for you right now but it can get in the way during a fight. You might want to consider either cutting it or putting it up."

I watched her mess with my hair in the mirror as if she was debating different looks. "Well what about Pops? His hair is in his face and it doesn't stop him."