The next morning, the effects of the previous late night were none too subtle. Unknown had been yawning and zoning out all morning, having been woken up early as the others snuck out of her room before any of their classmates- or Aizawa- could catch them. They slipped out with small waves and half-conscious morning greetings as they fought to stay awake long enough to make it back to their respective rooms. Now she was alone again, and she couldn't tell whether that was a good thing or not. She was leaning towards the former, for now at least. Once she had rubbed her eyes enough to leave faint red marks and collected enough sentience to form a cohesive thought, the events of last night began leaking slowly back into her mind.
'Dinner with the heroes, huh?'
She wondered how that would go. She could think of at least two people among them- and two was a rather conservative guess- who would decidedly not want her there, one of which might actually try to bite her throat out if he so much as caught a glimpse of her.
Huh. She hadn't thought of him in a while.
She wondered what she would do if she ever did run into him. She probably couldn't outrun him, not on foot anyway, and she would have a hard time fighting him off without seeming like the villain they always thought she was. Perhaps her best bet was avoiding him like her life depended on it, otherwise hoping there would be someone nearby to hold him back while she made a break for it.
It was funny, really; she had her quirk back, but she couldn't use it. It was only ever good for destroying things, for fighting, but what use did she have for it now? Now that she was supposed to live a normal life? Well, she supposed it didn't really matter. It never did her any good anyway.
For everyone's safety, she decided, especially her own, she would have to deny their invitation.
If someone had told her a year ago that she would be afraid of some no-name student heroes, there was exactly no chance she would have believed them. She had yet to meet a person she couldn't beat- or at the very least, hold her own against- and that still held true, as conceited as it certainly sounded. But things were different now. It was no longer just about her, she was no longer just fighting for her own survival; there were three other children who were still locked up in hospitals, put away by no fault of their own, and now her behavior affected them directly. If the authorities believed she was "reformed," as they call it, then the other three had a greater chance of being released quickly. On the other hand, if they believed she was a threat, they would be even less likely to trust the others; they would have no reason to believe they could be released safely.
She knew they were watching- the Hero Commission, the police, the school- they were watching her, waiting for her to step out of line, waiting for any reason to scoop her back up and dump her into some dingy little cell. She knew they didn't really trust her, nor could she entirely blame them, but she was never the type to step out of line when so much was at stake. She would let them watch her, watch as she lived a normal, unnoteworthy, mundane life that was so boring it would rot their brains. They could watch all they wanted; she would do whatever it took to get the other three released. After all, she didn't go through all this trouble so they could waste away in some padded room for the rest of their lives.
At the thought of the other three, she wondered how they were doing. It hadn't been long since she saw Traceback- she certainly hoped the girl was still holding up- and she had yet to hear from Horus or Amnestica at all. She had tried getting information on their current whereabouts, conditions, anything, but ultimately found nothing. Principal Nezu had come to visit a while ago; he was as upbeat and kind as she remembered, but he didn't seem to know anything about the others either. If he didn't know, neither would anyone else here.
She would have to find another way, she concluded. She would have to aim higher up.
Just as she began sinking further into her thoughts, a knock came at the door, accompanied by a familiar voice.
"Naoko! It's me!" Eri called, her smile practically leaking into her voice.
Rising from her place by the window, Unknown quickly made her way across the room and twisted the silver knob.
"Come-" she paused as her eyes landed on the figure, or rather, figures outside her door. She blinked up at the unexpected face, puzzled. "...hi?"
The unfamiliar visitor didn't respond, instead he only kept his gaze down, a tight expression on his features as if he was concentrating hard. And was he... trembling?
"Hi!" Eri grinned, drawing the older girl's attention. In one arm, she held the penguin plush Unknown had given her weeks ago, her free hand holding onto the boy's. She smiled brightly up at her before turning to the boy at her side, tugging on their interconnected hands. "You should say hi too," she whispered encouragingly.
The boy, however, only looked increasingly nervous at her words, his brows pinching harshly as he began to sweat. As Unknown stared at him questioningly, wondering why he looked like he was on the verge of passing out, something seemed to turn in the back of her mind.
Something about him was... familiar.
What was it? As the thoughts began shuffling in her mind, trying to recall where she had seen him before, her eyes scanned carefully over him.
He wasn't wearing a school uniform, though maybe that didn't say much, considering it was the weekend. He seemed around her age and stood a bit taller than her, even with his slouched form. His hair was a deep purple-blue, falling partially over his face and sticking up messily near the back, and she noticed his ears were strangely pointed.
Had she seen him somewhere before? Certainly she would have remembered someone of his... particular demeanor; perhaps she had only glimpsed him in passing? She was never quite good with faces, though that didn't lessen the nagging feeling that she should remember at least something about him.
After an uncomfortably long silence, the two girls staring expectantly at him only to receive more anxious sweating, Unknown finally spoke.
"...do you want to come in?" she offered half-uncertainly, shifting aside to let them past.
As usual, Eri thanked her with a grin before quickly padding into the room, though the boy practically had to be dragged in behind her.
Softly shutting the door, Unknown turned around to see Eri had already begun collecting the toys she usually played with, pulling them out from where she stored them underneath the bed. She came here often enough to leave some of her favorites with Unknown, in addition to the older girl's stuffed animals that she had all but laid claim to, already more than familiar with where to find them. Unknown stepped over to the pair cautiously, half expecting the boy to break down if she approached too quickly. She took a seat on the ground just as Eri returned with her last few playthings, setting them down carefully and scooting closer to the pile, eyes fully focused on the colorful mound of toys. It wasn't unusual for the girl to merely play quietly during her visits, seemingly enjoying the company and the pleasant silence, although this time the silence was a bit less pleasant and rather more strained, at least on her companions' parts.
Unknown stared calculatingly at the semi-familiar boy, still trying to identify how she knew him. She didn't mean for her gaze to be so intense, but if his reaction was anything to go by, she might as well have been holding a knife to his throat. He was still shaking, hands balled tightly in his lap, posture unbearably stiff as he sat upright, as rigid as stone. Unknown was still utterly puzzled. Was he scared of her? It wasn't entirely unexpected, considering the publicity around her case, but somehow this seemed more... personal. Had she done something to him? Had he seen her do something to someone else?
It was right there, like she would be able to remember if she just reached a little more.
The more she stared at him, the more nervous he seemed to get, and the more nervous he got, the more confused she became, and the harder she stared. All this, however, seemed to go unnoticed by Eri, who was focused on balancing the set of tiny magnetic figures to create a tower.
After a while more, and only a few words exchanged between the two girls, Eri excused herself, momentarily recalling she needed to go to the bathroom before jumping up and quickly padding out of the room, only half-closing the door behind her.
With her gone, the silence was now twice as thick.
"Do I know you?" Unknown finally asked, brows pinching in concentration. Perhaps her tone was a bit too sharp, however, considering the way he flinched and shrank away. She wasn't really expecting to receive a reply, but much to his credit, it turned out she was wrong.
"...not... really," he mumbled, hardly loud enough to hear.
"Do I make you uncomfortable?"
"...um, n-no..."
"Then why do you look like you're about to cry?"
"N-no! That's... not it..."
"Well, if you say so. What's your name?"
"...A-Amajiki... Tamaki."
"So we haven't met before?"
"Um... well, kind of, f-for a bit... i-it was at the... the raid..."
Bingo.
The raid- Shie Hassaikai.
That's right.
"You were that hero I found," she mused as the realization dawned on her, more for herself than him. "Now I remember. Looks like you recovered well."
He nodded faintly, though it didn't seem to ease his nerves.
"So why are you here?" she questioned, half out of curiosity, half out of a need to ward off the awful silence somehow.
"I heard... you were here."
"I've been here for a while now."
"...yea..."
"Did you want something?"
"N-not really, um," he fidgeted uncomfortably, wringing his hands as if building up the nerve to speak again, "...it's just that... some people are... they don't like that you're here."
"I can imagine."
"B-but I think they have the wrong idea. I think you're... nice..."
"Oh? You don't sound too sure about that."
"I believe... if you really were a villain, things would have ended worse than they did. I just... wanted to say that."
Unknown blinked, head tilting vaguely to the side. She glanced over him once again, searching his nervous expression and skittish demeanor, almost as if something in his appearance might somehow give him away.
"Well... that's awfully nice of you..." she observed almost suspiciously. Before she could question him any further, however, tiny footsteps flittered down the hall just before the door pushed open.
"I'm back!" Eri announced excitedly, dashing back into the room and returning to her place among the well-sized gathering of plush toys.
It didn't take long for the three to fall into a familiar silence. Eri played happily with her stuffed animals, often roping the other two seamlessly along, the quiet only punctuated occasionally by a giggle or an instruction from the girl. Unknown, however, remained fully aware of the awkward air hanging between her and the boy she now knew to be Amajiki. He was certainly a strange character- this school seemed to be full of them, really- but at least he seemed to mean well, regardless of how socially inept he was.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but this time around, for some reason, the silence seemed just a bit lighter.
_______________________________________________
"There's gotta be something we can do!"
"But she already said she's not coming, Mina."
"This is such a good opportunity! We can't let her hide away like that forever, right?"
"I know, but what can we do? It's not right to force her if she really doesn't want to go."
"Come on! This was your idea Ochako! You can't give up now! Let's just go talk to her- maybe we can convince her to change her mind!"
"Well... alright. I think it's worth a try!"
And that was how, mere minutes before they were supposed to meet downstairs for dinner, the two girls snuck up to the lonely second-floor hallway. Now they could hear the distant evening commotion through the walls and ceilings and floors, floating in from other parts of the building.
Their quiet knock sounded much louder here; it echoed.
A moment later, the door opened and Unknown squinted out at them. They noticed the room behind her was dark, her hair a bit tousled and her clothes unruly, eyes half turned away from the hallway light.
"Yes?" she asked plainly, throat sounding a bit dry.
"Oh! Sorry, we don't mean to bother you, but we wanted to know if you'd reconsider having dinner with us?" Uraraka smiled hopefully as Mina nodded in support beside her.
"And we know you're probably nervous about it, but I promise it'll be fine! We'll make sure nothing happens, plus Tsu and Midoriya are going to be there too!"
Unknown gazed back at them for only a moment. "That's nice of you, but no thanks. You two go ahead; I'll eat later."
"You still have to do the dare!" Mina blurted just as she was about to shut the door.
Unknown paused, glancing back towards the pinkette questioningly.
"Y-you chose dare, remember? You have to complete it! Those are the rules!" she continued with a determined authority in her voice. It was clear the pinkette was just improvising at this point, though perhaps not to Unknown, seeing as how she wordlessly stared at the two, brows drawn in consideration.
"...is that how it works?" she muttered, more to herself than anyone else. "So I have to?"
Mina and Uraraka exchanged half-conflicted glances before the pinkette spoke once more.
"Uh... yes?"
It came out as more of a question than an answer, but it seemed to be enough for Unknown. She sighed quietly, running a hand through her hair before stepping out into the hallway. The door clicked shut behind her as she absentmindedly rubbed the side of her nose.
"Are we going or what?"
_______________________________________________
The chatter in the common area was louder than usual, filled with the sound of laughter, the clinking of dishes, and the commotion of the gathering of friends setting up for dinner.
"Careful, it's hot!" Hagakure chimed as she passed a bowl of steaming soup to Koda.
He thanked her gratefully, receiving a cheer and a gloved thumbs-up before she turned back to fill the next bowl.
"That wasn't fair and you know it!" Kaminari shouted across the room, pointing an accusatory finger at Jiro as she won yet another round of cards.
"Just because you suck doesn't make it unfair," she shrugged casually, sliding the small pile of candy at the center of the table towards herself.
"I think it's time to admit defeat, man," Kirishima cackled at his friend's exaggerated distress, "Jiro's poker face is super manly!"
"Oi! Will you shut up and start the next round already?!"
"See? Bakugo agrees with me!"
"No one's agreeing with you, dunce face!"
"I'll shuffle!" Kirishima volunteered, eager to perfect the shuffling technique he had been attempting all night.
"Hey! You guys should go get some before they run out," Sero reminded as he sat down with a plate of food, half-shoving Kaminari aside in the process.
"They're awfully loud today," Yaoyorozu observed with an amused smile, watching as the group bickered from her seat a few feet away.
"They're probably just happy to have a break. We've been working hard these days; it's important to relax once in a while!" Iida stated matter-of-factly, earning nods of agreement from the friends around him.
"It's nice to have everyone here too! It's pretty rare we can all gather like this," Midoriya smiled, passing the extra glass of water in his hand to Todoroki, who took it with a quiet thanks.
"What did you think of that pop quiz Midnight gave, ribbit?" Tsuyu piped up, tilting her head.
"It was harder than I expected, but I think the questions were fair, considering the material we've covered recently," Yaoyorozu nodded.
"Yea, I thought it was pretty hard. I don't think I did too well!" Midoriya admitted, drawing an unfortunate hum of agreement from Tsuyu.
"Midoriya," Todoroki spoke as he glanced around the room, "where is Uraraka? Is she not coming?"
"Oh, no, she is! I think she might just be running a little late!"
"I hope she's not feeling unwell. We have training first thing tomorrow," Yaoyorozu thought aloud, voice tinted with worry.
"Oh?!" Mineta's attention instantly snapped over to the group despite being clear across the room, eyes gleaming as a wide grin spread over his lips. "She's sick?! Is she sleeping?! Does she need someone to make her feel bett- OUCH!"
Jiro frowned down at him disappointedly, the remote that had been on the table a moment ago now lying next to Mineta's collapsed form, a bright red bump growing where it hit him.
"When will he ever learn..." Kirishima sighed.
"Yea, dude, super not cool," Kaminari shook his head in agreement.
"As if you're one to talk," Jiro glared, earning an offended gasp from the accused.
"Wait! What's that supposed to mean?! I'm the most respectful guy you've ever met! Isn't that right, Kiri?"
"I mean, I wouldn't say-"
"Ok, ok, not you! But Bakugo definitely thinks so, right?"
That was when he would have expected a shout of disgust or some loud exploitive in response, but oddly, there was only silence.
"Huh? Bakugo?" Kaminari turned towards his friend sitting across from him, only to find an... unfamiliar look on his face. It was almost completely blank, as if all the thought had somehow left his mind in an instant. He wasn't quite looking at him, but rather somewhere over his shoulder.
Following his gaze, Kaminari turned around, eyes growing wide as they found what had caught Bakugo's attention.
Through the doorway on the far wall, three figures entered the room.
A hush fell over the students as one by one they took notice of the new arrivals, particularly the one in the middle. One moment the room was bursting with noise and chatter, the next it was dead silent, quiet enough to hear the faint hum of the refrigerator drifting in from the kitchen.
"Hi, everyone!" Mina grinned, waving cheerfully as if she didn't notice the abrupt silence fall over the room, her other arm remaining snuggly linked with Unknown's. "Come on- I'm hungry!" she grinned, dragging the other two girls towards the pots of food atop the stove.
Kaminari had to blink a few times before he processed the scene.
So Unknown really was here? It had been weeks: how was this the first time he had seen her? And when did those three become so close? Mina hadn't mentioned anything about hanging out with her, had she? Before any more questions could pop into his already crowded mind, however, he suddenly seemed to remember his friend across from him.
He stiffened as he slowly, cautiously turned around, dread setting in like ice in his chest, silently bracing for the worst as he looked back at Bakugo. If he recalled correctly, the last time they met was months ago during Sacrosanct's capture, and that was when he was trying to blow her to bits. He remembered just how angry he was back then, the rage in his eyes, his expression twisted in nothing less than hatred, but despite all that, right now, there was nothing.
No anger, no resentment, no annoyance.
He was quiet as he gazed at her, distant as if in a trance, eyes trailing behind her every movement.
The class shifted their attention nervously between the two, almost as if waiting for one of them to snap and for all hell to break loose, but as the seconds ticked sluggishly by, she did nothing more than plate her food, and he did nothing more than stare.
As she made her way out of the kitchen, crossing the room with the other two on either side of her, she must have somehow drifted a bit too close for comfort. The moment she passed in front of him, despite being no less than five feet away, something shifted in his expression, and he was suddenly on his feet.
"Woah- hey!"
In an instant, Kirishima and Kaminari were in front of him, arms braced to keep him back as he took a deliberate step towards her. All the rage and hate that was missing a moment ago was now rapidly seeping into his expression: his brows drawing sharply, eyes narrowing, lips curling and pulling back into a snarl. He moved against their grasp with a reignited fury, and for a moment, even with the two of them, they struggled to hold him back.
"Hey, man! Don't do anything you're going to regret," Kirishima whispered harshly, urgently trying to calm him down as Kaminari echoed similar hurried warnings.
"Come on, over here." Uraraka quickly ushered Unknown over to where Midoriya and Tsuyu sat, bringing her out of Bakugo's range as Mina subtly shifted to block his view of her.
Apparently unfazed by the hushed, one-sided conversation between Bakugo and the pair trying to talk him down, Unknown moved past him without so much as a glance, taking a seat as Uraraka motioned her to.
Midoriya and Tsuyu smiled welcomingly as she settled near the end of the plush couch, Uraraka and Mina on one side and Midoriya on the other. The remaining three seated with them, perhaps unsurprisingly, wore various expressions of surprise. Yaoyorozu stared wide-eyed for a moment before quickly catching herself, replacing it with a smile and a small, stiff wave, Iida seemed a bit uncomfortable but greeted her politely nonetheless, and Todoroki appeared only slightly more perturbed than usual, the only change being a faintly startled look in his eyes.
Mina carefully snuck a glance towards Bakugo as she sat down, noticing Sero and Jiro had joined in the effort to calm him down, and much to her surprise, it worked. After some inaudible exchange and a few wary glances, Bakugo gritted his teeth, tore his eyes away from the still-oblivious girl, and forcefully sat back down without a word. He turned his attention down to the table in front of him, jaw locked and glaring holes into the polished surface as his friends cautiously returned to their seats as well.
Mina relaxed, if only a bit, upon seeing the immediate crisis had been averted. This, however, didn't last long as she once again noticed the rest of the silent crowd whose stares were still glued on them. She quickly shifted her attention towards her surrounding classmates and made a shooing motion, urgently gesturing for them to go back to what they were doing, all the while trying none too successfully to keep Unknown from noticing. Fortunately, this was effective enough that the other students began turning away, redirecting their attentions back to their own groups as quiet pockets of conversation began to resurface once more.
It didn't take long for the stiff, awkward silence to all but dissolve as the class returned to their usual business, or at least appeared to, reviving the noisy chatter back to nearly what it was before.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Mina turned back towards Unknown who was unfazed and already eating, quietly occupied in a conversation with Tsuyu and Midoriya.
Surely this won't entirely be a disaster, right?
_______________________________________________
By the end of the night, Mina had come to the conclusion that things certainly could have gone worse than they did.
The rest of dinner passed by mostly uneventfully, save for Bakugo and his friends leaving halfway through. It was a bit disappointing to see the group part so early, though realistically, that was probably as peaceful a resolution as anyone could have hoped for.
Unknown seemed to adapt reasonably well in her new environment. If she noticed the hushed whispers or curious glances occasionally thrown her way, she didn't show it. She remained a bit on the quiet side, of course, but was attentive enough to hold her fair share of conversations within the little group. At first, she spoke mostly with Midoriya and the three girls nearest to her- the ones most friendly and enthusiastic about her being here- but after some settling time, she began interacting with the other three as well.
Yaoyorozu was the first among them to strike up a conversation with her, perhaps thanks to a lingering sense of familiarity from when they used to know each other, and though it might have been merely a courtesy, she seemed genuine, at least. Iida was clearly having some kind of crisis of morality as he made polite conversation with her, trying diligently not to sound as stiff as he felt. Maybe the reality of her presence here was only now setting in, and perhaps she was still too dubious a character for him to be comfortable around. Regardless, he certainly made an effort, if only for the sake of his friends. Unknown reciprocated their efforts rather well, and she ended up speaking more in the hour she was there than she had in months. Her words seemed natural, unforced, almost as if Mina and Uraraka hadn't practically backed her into a corner to get her to come here. If she was uncomfortable at all, she didn't let it show, which was probably why she didn't appear to notice as Todoroki avoided her gaze the entire night despite sitting directly across from her. She didn't appear to notice how he had yet to say a single word to anyone since she arrived, nor how he shifted restlessly every few minutes, his shoulders stiff and expression tight.
Whether or not she actually noticed these things was a different question, and not a particularly interesting one, in her opinion. All that mattered was that she had, by all means, behaved like a normal, well-adjusted person, far exceeding the expectations she was sure they had for her. She had gone like they asked, she had stayed for a while, and now it was over.
But now that it was over, she couldn't quite tell how she felt about it. It was strange. For the entire time she was there, the tension in the room was practically viscous, much as she anticipated, but perhaps it was the anticipation that made it bearable.
It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, and neither was seeing all her former classmates, though she couldn't say she had particularly high expectations in the first place; making it into the room without getting jumped was already a win in her book.
All in all, maybe she didn't give those heroes enough credit. Maybe they weren't half bad.