Kaori hit another sharp point on the robot dummy she fought. She bounced on her toes, moving left to right before rolling across the ground, dodging the metal arm out for her throat. She circled behind it, fingers tracing its sight. Fatal hit, it echoed from its mouth. It drooped for a moment before reviving itself, eyes flashing yellow. Stretching out a hand, it produced a small tube, a glow burning inside it. She ran forward, feet abusing the ground with her speed. Bangs swishing left to right, she waited till the last moment to duck. She slid across the ground, watching as the flames passed right above her head. She shot up again, planting one foot on the ground, taking the robots arm and easily pulling it over herself. One foot pressed into it's robotic joint as the other stretched out to force its hand to surrender. One hand holding it's head down as the other pressed on it's nonexistent diaphragm.
" Kai-chan~" Kaori closed her eyes lightly, breathing in and out, deep and slow breaths. It's just the exhaustion, she told herself. Maybe true, but exhaustion isn't always a case of hallucinating. She returned to her initial position, pushing back her bangs as she ran both hands through her hair. Remember Dr. Masaki's words. Breath deep and let the worries disintegrate. Disintegrate. It could have been any other word. Crumble, burn, drown. Nope. That therapist used Disintegrate.
" Ori-chan?" Here was a voice she knew wasn't a hallucination. Eri had took a quick peak in one of UA's many training rooms and happened to find her friend and mentor. Kaori turned in a happy confusion, giving a smile to the little girl.
" Eri-chan, what are you doing here? I thought Deku was watching you." She said, remembering to scorn the boy later. Kaori walked forward, Eri meeting her half way with a bright smile.
" I wanted to look for you! I really wanna work on writing today-" Eri began, fists clenched in excitement as her eyes held a strong ambition to learn. That ambition, however, turned to worry as she noticed Kaori's hand. It was scrapped, bleeding slightly at the knuckles and a scar was running across her palm.
" Eri-chan? You alright, you look worried?" Kaori said, worry beginning to settle in Kaori as she knelt down to the girl. Eri sucked in a mighty breath, taking the girl's hand lightly.
" C'mon! I'm gonna take care of you!" Eri insisted, pulling her lightly. Kaori, confuesed, followed the girl without a choice. Walking out of the training room, she led the girl down the corridor into 1A's classroom. Now I'm very confuesed. Why are we here? Eri walked behind Aizawa's teacher podium, opening the secret drawer with medical supplies. She took out a cloth, a full water bottle, band-aids, and a juice-pouch. She motioned for Kaori to sit as Eri took the water bottle and almost doused the cloth in the liquid. She took Kaori's hand, rubbing the scrapes lightly. Kaori caught on to what she was doing, smiling at the adorable sight. Eri then took the band-aids and placed them over her knuckles before turning her palm over. She put two band-aids, one a dinosaur and the other a princess. She placed them on Kaori's scar before taking the juice-pouch and opening it. Eri held it out to Kaori, smiling at her expectantly.
" Thank you, Dr. Eri-chan, for taking care of me." Kaori said, taking the juice-pouch and sucking it down in one gulp.
" You're welcome! Now, let's go learn!" Eri exclaimed, throwing her arms up in excitement. Kaori chuckled at the sight, standing from the ground and putting the medical stuff back in it's drawer. She took Eri's hand, leading her down the halls of UA. Future Recovery-Girl.
. . .
" Do you have everything you need?" Kaori glanced up at Aizawa as he approached her, offering a small smile. She knew he'd be up early, but she was sure he'd be planning with Vlad King or talking with All Might. Today they were going to be doing Joint Battle Training with Class 1B, as far as she knew. What more was that Shinsou was going to be making a guest entrance and be using the joint training as an entrance exam. She nodded, giving a hum.
" Don't worry, I'll be safe. This should only take an hour or so, I'll definitely be back for at least 1 or 2 matches." She promised, swinging her messenger bag over her shoulder. He hummed, not so certain about her visiting Tartarus again. The first time she requested, he wanted to immediately say no, just like the guards and police, but knowing how stubborn she could be once set on something, complied under one condition. She never stayed more than 2 hours. The last thing he wanted was for All For One to take her away and make her into some sort of Vigilante-Villain person. NOPE! Wouldn't want that, would we? (sorry, mr.aizawa)
" How many more visits do you think you'll pay to him? He's a dangerous villain, not just when it comes to Quirks, but to screwing with the mind, too. He gained a lot of assets by being the manipulative person he is now." Aizawa warned, placing his hands on her shoulders. Kaori's smile faltered a bit, knowing that everything he said was true. She was easily thrown into a spiral of emotions first time talking to him. She almost scratched her skin to the point she bled second time around. Third times the charm, they say. Let's hope it works. Her smile returned as she quickly gave him a hug, patting his back lightly.
" I just need to know about Tenko, what he went through and why he hates...everything, so much. And why he won't stop targeting our class." She said, the last part a little more annoyed than the rest. Aizawa closed his eyes lightly, giving his approving hum. He let go of her, ruffling up her hair just a bit.
" Aizawa!" All Might's voice called out. Both heads turned to the approaching skeleton, watching the man wave a hand to them with a class Small Might smile. She gave a small smile, waving back. All Might had noticed her until now, considering she was sort of hiding behind Aizawa.
" Ah, Young Shimura! Where are you off to?" All Might asked, placing his hands at his sides. Aizawa and Kaori shared glances, questioning whether or not to tell him that his Master's granddaughter was going to visit his arch-Nemesis in prison.
" Tartarus." They both answered. All Might was shocked for a second before spitting blood, causing both insomniac's to tense at the action.
" Why are you going to Tartarus?" All Might questioned, worry evident in his tone. Kaori dug inside her bag, pulling out a small pack of tissues and handing them to All Might. He thanked her softly, taking the tissue and wiping off the excess blood.
" I'm there to question All For One." All Might stopped wiping off the blood, his face turning to stone. A look passed over him like they'd never seen before. Kaori let out a cracked smile, quickly giving goodbyes before making a beeline for the door. Before she could make it outside the door, All Might placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her softly.
" Make sure you're safe. All For One is cunning and can easily make you think horrendous things. If he says anything that makes you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, leave immediately. Please, Kaori." At the mention of her name, she turned toward him, seeing his genuinely serious, yet concerned expression. She gave a thumbs up to him, a reassuring smile with it.
" Don't worry about me! I promise, I'll do just as you say." And for a moment there, All Might didn't see Kaori. A confident hand-gesture, bright reassurance and understanding through a simple smile. Kaori and Nana, it was almost terrifying how alike they were. All Might restricted himself from pulling her into a hug, keeping her from leaving like Nana did, but instead gave a smile.
" Alright then."
. . .
" So, she returns." All For One's voice was amused and genuinely interested in her presence. Kaori offered a small smile, knowing that etiquette was something this man valued from her. She took a seat, pulling out a pen and notebook. Operation K.S.
" It's the third time, yes? I must apologize then," All For One started, his normal smile turned to a frown. She starred at him curiously. Though he had no eyes, she realized there was another way to read him. People seem to stare into the abyss when thinking deeply, but All For One would often look down and hum. That's just what he did. " The last two times, I've realized I may have hurt you. I've touched your nerves, I can tell. So, I apologize for reaching to you in such a way." She nodded her head at his apology, writing something down quick.
" It's alright. Third times the charm, right? Today, I want to ask about you. What made you choose a random kid off the street?" She asked, sitting up a bit more as she starred through the glass barrier. All For One's smile returned, a chuckle escaping.
" It doesn't seem very villainous taking in a child, does it? Truthfully speaking, I sought a successor, whoever that might be. Kids can easily be corrupted, so when I saw Young Tomura, I saw the perfect victim. As he and I grew, however, I came to see him as more of a son than a game piece. And when hearing about little Ori-chan and coming to meet her, I suddenly felt as if I'd gained a daughter as well." Kaori felt the hair's on the back of her neck stand straight up as she swallowed her saliva, hard. Of course this statement made her uncomfortable. He not only called her Ori-chan, he suddenly considered her his daughter. The thought disturbed her more than it should have. She tapped her pen on the desk, thinking back to All Might.
" All For One is cunning and can easily make you think horrendous things. If he says anything that makes you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, leave immediately. Please, Kaori."
" You know, recently, I've also experienced something rather odd," All For One claimed, bringing Kaori's attention back to him. Her eyes looked at him with a surprised interest. What could've been so odd he'd want to tell her? " I've been hearing things. Do you hear things, unusual things, that is?" Kaori wanted to disagree, tell him she wasn't some insane person. But she didn't.
" I do..sometimes. But everybody hears something unnatural, don't they?" Kaori questioned, the tapping of her pen beginning to descend slowly. All For One chuckled.
" I would hope so, it'd make me feel better! But, I've come to hear my brother's voice," All For One said, still smiling at her in a strange way. Kaori's eyes widened a bit at the mention of a brother. From the other side of the security screen, the hazy lines glitched, spiking and settling rapidly. Tsukauchi peered at it in confusion. Suddenly, the screen glitched like crazy and Kaori disappeared. Kaori waited for more words, and words she got. He smiled before saying,
" My brother, yes. One For All."