Mind Boggled

Chapter 74

Shoutout to Raven. I got stuck on the plot of this story for-- a long time. But I know where it's going now.

Third person pov

Harper did have to drag Sero into the hallway, hug him, and console him as though he were an infant. He devolved into a panic attack, as anyone as emotionally unstable as him might. Harper just had to grit her teeth and bear with it. Just as she'd thought, it was way too soon for him to be coming back. 

The environment was less than ideal at the moment. Everyone was still struggling to find their footing, and throwing Sero into the mix just threw everything even more off balance. Even Harper was having trouble, and she can generally gather enough information from her surroundings to keep steady. Sucks to fucking suck, she guesses. This is ass.

"They don't want me here. This isn't going to work out. I'll get sent back. I don't fit in." Sero's thoughts were a never ending loop of... well, this. Some sort of nervous inferiority complex borne from his trauma, or whatever. Harper was too tired to deal with it. Which yeah, she said that all the time and that was great and all, but this time she really meant it. 

She was run fucking ragged. So exhausted she could hardly keep herself upright. The stress was weighing on her, the rage at herself, the worry, the anxiety. She and everyone else in 1-A needed some rest, but apparently that word wasn't in Nezu's dictionary. Stupid fucking rat. Harper was going to commit homicide one day and guess who her victim would be?

"Here's the plan, Sero. Are you listening to the plan?" Harper asked, trying to keep her voice from being too tense. Sero sniffled a little, nodding in a manner damn near meek in contrast to his previous aggression. The shit she dealt with on a day-to-day basis. Ugh. "Great. So what we're going to do is walk in. And then we're going to walk back to our seats, where we will then proceed to sit down. If anyone tries to talk to us, I will stare at them until they shut up. If you try to talk to anyone, I will stare at you until you shut up. Do you follow?"

"What about me? Where do I fit into the plan?" Kurogiri all but whimpered, eyes wide and terrified. He looked about three shades paler than he probably should've been and was shivering like a crusty poodle left out in the freezing rain. "I cannot let Harper Rye out of my sight! But if I'm not going to go sit with them, then what do I do? I must be right next to her at all times!"

Harper took a deep breath in through her nose, holding it for a moment alongside all the irritation that was threatening to flood out at any moment. She should just call Hound Dog and have him handle this. Would that be the easy way out? Kirishima said to trust other people, and she was getting real damn close to trusting Kurogiri off to someone else. 

Sero's nose scrunched up, and he and Harper shared a look. Finally, they were on the same page about something. Even if that something was Kurogiri's overall neurotic-ness. His separation anxiety had been bad before, but now it was simply unmatched. Funnily enough... Harper almost didn't mind. 

Because even if Kirishima was here, he wouldn't be able to fix this either. It would be like this whether he was here or not. Kurogiri's annoyingness was a constant-- something that would've been no matter what. Harper almost took a sense of comfort in it. It was odd to admit, but all too true. Harper had stopped trying to understand herself a long time ago.

"Kurogiri, you have the most important job of all." Harper said, tone grim. Sero's brows shot up as she clapped a hand down on the warp-gate user's forearm, gazing up into his eyes with startling intensity. Kurogiri went stock still, eyes wide and earnest. Sero looked disgusted, as though he hadn't just burst into a fit of sobbing in front of the entirety of 1-A and then forced Harper to comfort him for a full fifteen minutes in the hallway. Pot meet kettle. "I need you to follow me everywhere. No matter what."