Wow guess whose school starts Tuesday lmao hahahdksd Senior Year here I come ig low-key may make a book to document the horrors who's with me we can all talk about our suffering together like group therapy but nobody actually benefits
also I may open patreon is anyone intrigued because i'm pretty sure it would flop but my dad is telling me to do it or smth and like I could write an exclusive "what if Nezu never found Harper" fic or smth but then again who knows. But also would anyone ever want to support my trash ass as a creator???? I feel like I'm not worth it tbh like I wouldn't pay a dollar to read some extra bullshit I thought up ngl
If I did do uhhh Patreon there'd probably be exclusives like uh
-Freeze Forward (What if Lillian never went to UA?)
-Mind Reader For Hire (What if Harper never went to UA--- wow are you seeing a uh pattern)
-Shit I have in my drafts but haven't posted because i lowkey feel like nobody would want to read it
-Idk other shit you can vote on to have uhhh written ig I don't know does anyone have ideas becauseee I don't what woudl you even wanna see
-Gay
-literally whatever y'all want
-Bonuses aint nobody else gets to see at your requests
-ppffff idk how patreon really works at this point who knows
but uh yeah
Oh if you don't know what Patreon is it's like, you donate a dollar a month or so to a creator you like and then they give you stuff to say thank you and like lowkey I'd like to go to college one day ngl but then again idk if anyone likes me enough for that so we'll see. Y'all let me know-
*Crippling self worth issues set in* I'm fine I just hate everything I write and lowkey assume you all do too ngl okay sO THAT'S MY TED TALK THANKS FOR COMING LET'S GET ON WITH IT
Third person pov
It had been a few days since she'd gotten back to school, and she'd been busy. She woke up early and got ready, spending the morning trying to convince Kurogiri she'd be fine. Of course that never worked, but Dabi had become quite proficient in prying him off of her. Kirishima would always be waiting for her by the school's gates which was kinda nice. They talked a lot more than they had before nowadays, and he seemed to enjoy it. She didn't mind either. He was good company, and not as... well, out there as some of their other peers. Being around him was like being in a comforting pocket of sanity within a madhouse.
The teachers hadn't really taken the tale of her internship well. At first there was disbelief. It was followed rather quickly by complete and total horror when they realized she was in no way shitting them, and that she truly had gone through hell only to come back to UA, which managed to be worse all on its own. The pity in their eyes wasn't needed, but was moderately appreciated nonetheless. She almost revelled in the sheer amount of intimidation they felt when it dawned on them how many people she'd successfully broken in interrogation, including Sero and the Hero Killer, Stain. Not her greatest successes, but pretty damn close.
So now she was in class, minding her own business, as per usual. Aizawa had sprung a pop quiz on them all. Only she and Kirishima had been prepared, because their teacher had obviously been raving on and on about it mentally the day before, as teachers who wish to see their students suffer do. Harper knew she needed to be more careful. It was hard not to tell him a majority of what she heard when she really had no one else to tell. He was her peer, but she couldn't let herself get to wrapped up in the feeling of companionship. People were starting to take note. As weird as they were, most of her classmates weren't total morons. They'd gotten into UA for a reason. There was a written portion to the entrance exams, after all.
"Stupid fucking pop quiz. I could be in the locker rooms, watching Deku's damn back flex as he takes off his shirt. Holy shit. That would be hot. Instead I'm stuck here, in this shit hole" Bakugo was itching to turn around and look at the green-haired boy. "I need to figure out what the fuck to put in my note. This one has to explain shit, since he clearly didn't get it before. Guess it makes sense. Context means shit. First an apology, though. Gotta get that shit fleshed out so he knows how much I mean it. Fuck. Why the fuck can't I just be a normal person?!"
"When it's stiff, stick it in. The longer its in, the stronger it gets. It goes in dry, and comes out wet. It comes out dripping, and starts to sag. It's not what you think." Momo's thoughts were about anything but hero informatics, that's for sure. "It's a Lipton Tea Bag."
"My kids are so smart. I love them. Harper, I love you. And Kirishima. Come have a sleepover at Mic and I's place. We can watch movies. We're getting married next week! You're going to be our witness, okay? Ugh, I LOVE you!" Aizawa cooed, as per usual.
"French accent. Step one. Any words with a TH in it, turn into a Z. Step two, any R goes into a houghu. So instead of saying 'the refrigerator', it would be 'ze refrigeratear'. Step four, add attitude." Was Aoyama seriously going over how to do a French accent in his head? "The more attitude, ZE BETTEH." She wasn't going to ask.
"I could create pure anarchy with a single match and a bit of stripping. I'd appear to be a sentient fireball. Screaming. Setting things alight. Nothing would stop me." Hagakure was thinking really deeply about this. Harper could respect that, but also feared it to an extent. Once again, she wasn't here to ask questions. Only to observe.
"I'm going to fail this." Iida was staring intently at his paper. Harper glanced his way as he suddenly shook his head. "No, I can't think like that. I have to be better. Harper went through hell because of me, and so did my family. I can't let them down now."
That was a lot better, especially considering he'd literally tried to off himself a week ago. Harper wasn't sure how she felt about him being released so soon, but knew they had no physical reason to hold him. Quirks meant healing. He was left without a trace of his previous wounds, now in intensive weekly therapy. They were also going to weekly family therapy separately, and Worth A Shit #5, also called Tensei by some, had informed her that he was on the fast track to getting prescribed some much-needed antidepressants that would hopefully help him start feeling better. It was a weight off Harper's chest to know he was being taking care of. She hadn't realized how stressful watching his every move was until she didn't have to anymore.
Her phone gave a sudden and shrill ring that made many people jump, herself included. All eyes and thoughts turned to her curiously as she fumbled with the zipper of her bag, eyes narrowed in a pissy way, promising death to whoever dared to disturb her. Her ringer had to be kept on at all times in case of emergency. Nezu had insisted, so she'd complied. That didn't meant she'd ever been contacted before now, however. She rolled her eyes when she saw who it was. Shithead #3, trying to get on her case about something, she was sure. She ended the call. The girl had a pop-quiz to complete.
"Sorry." She grumbled, shoving the device under her thigh.
"Who was it?" Aizawa raised a brow at her. "Oh my god, are you okay?! Wait, of course you are, you're right there. Did someone die? Was it Tsukauchi? If he's dead, will you come live with me? Not that I hope he's dead. You can even bring Kurogiri with you, even if I'd rather chop his head off."
"Chief of Police. Internship stuff, probably." Harper grumbled. Aizawa nodded, face stoic as ever. The brunette ignored everyone's curious thoughts, her tense shoulders relaxing just slightly when they strayed away and back to the god awful quiz Aizawa somehow thought was okay. He existed just to watch them suffer, she was sure. Relatable, but hellish to be on the receiving end of. Whatever. If she failed, she failed. Nothing ever went her way anyway. Not without going horribly, horribly wrong first.
Before anyone could really get their focus back, it happened again. Her phone gave another long bringing noise, followed in quick succession by another. Not even looking up, she pulled it out and pressed the 'end call' button. Everyone was looking at her, but she didn't care. There was a tense moment of silence, half of them wishing she'd have answered it so they had an excuse not to focus on the quiz, and the rest just mildly curious as to what the fuck that was. Aizawa's face was blank, but his thoughts reassured her that she could take the call if she needed to. But "only because he loved her." His thoughts, not hers.
It rang again. She hung up again. Another call popped up, still from the Chief. She hung up. It felt like it lit up again immediately afterwards. Harper felt her eye twitch, glaring darkly down at the small screen. She was going to bash her own head in. You'd think he'd get the memo and realize 'hey, she's in school, I should just wait!' But no. This asshole kept dialing back! What was so important that it couldn't wait? Harper was a highschooler, not fucking Sherlock. They were fine without her before, they could be fine without her again.
"You said it was the Chief of Police, right? Maybe you should answer it." Jiro shrugged. "I want to see how this pans out."
"She's right. It's just going to keep causing a disruption." Aizawa drawled. "I'm excited! Is it detective-y stuff? I'm like, so proud of you. OMG. I'm going to put this on my secret blog. Don't worry, I don't use your name. I just call you my daughter. All my readers love you, by the way. They want me to adopt officially."
Harper wanted to flip him off or reference her very alive parents, but instead shot him a look and answered the phone. She found herself turning away from the rest of the class and ducking her head, as though that would do jack or shit. Again; whatever. Half the people here were probably lip readers anyway, so maybe the action held some use. It didn't make her any less irritated. She was literally in the middle of class. Yeah, she wasn't a fan of school, per say, but she was even less of a fan of being interrupted and having attention drawn to her.
"This better be fucking good, you fucktrumpet. I'm in the middle of a pop-quiz, and the grade is worth more than your life." Harper hissed in a low voice. Based on the way Sato choked and Shoto inhaled, they both still heard her. She didn't care. If anything, them being scared and/or weirded out by her was a good thing. Maybe they'd be less inclined to talk to her.
"I'm sorry. I wouldn't have called if it weren't an emergency." The Chief sounded oddly distressed. In the background, someone was hysterically sobbing, and quite possibly screaming. It was hard to tell. Her back straightened and her brows shot up. Were they under attack? No, they wouldn't call her for that. Not unless it was Stain or Sero related, so she hoped they weren't killing anyone. That would suck ass. Not only would people be dead, btu she'd also have to get involved, seeing as those two were sort of under Tsukauchi's care. And by extension, hers. Who the hell put a teenager in charge of two serial killers? Fucking idiots.
"What the fuck is that noise?" Harper hissed, glancing at her classmates. Shoji and Jiro could clearly hear what was going on, and that wasn't good. Their quirks enhanced their shit, and her phone sounded like it was on speaker even when it wasn't as it was. Sato and Shoto were subtly leaning in, paying attention but trying to look like they weren't. They sort of sucked at it. The more she shot glances their way, the more fidgety they got. God dammit. She turned to head for the door.
"Just uh- he wants to talk to you, and he won't calm down, alright? He sees you as a friend." The Chief said. Aizawa was already opening the door for her. She made it about halfway when Shithead #3 threw her under the bus like the thundercunt he happened to be. "Here, I'm giving Sero the phone."
"Sero?" Shoji spoke, two of his appendages having turned into ears. Harper muttered a curse when literally everyone hopped to attention. Kirishima visibly recoiled. Great. Now the whole class was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, just aching to know what was going on. Nobody had heard from Sero since he vanished for obvious reasons. Their thoughts shot after her, questions balancing on the tips of their tongues. She couldn't let them spill out. She didn't have the time to answer them. How did she even begin to tell them? She couldn't.
"H-Harper! Harper, you have to help me." Sero's voice was desperate. Harper darted for the door, shooting a peace sign at Aizawa. She was pretty sure her distress showed, because his expression went from completely blank to furrowed-brows and a slight frown. Yeah, her face was all out of sorts at the moment. Twisted up into somewhat of a grimace, but a worse version of it, mixed with a cringe of sorts. "Harper, they're going to put me in the box. Y-You have to help me. Y-You're my only f-f-friend. I don't want to g-go in there. I-I don't want to b-be one."
"Hey, hey, calm the hell down." Harper didn't stop in her pursuit down the hallway, keeping her light jog persistent. This sucked. Everything sucked. She wanted a week of peace. No, not even a week. A day. A day with no bullshit, no crying Kurogiri, no classmates having a quarter-life-crisis, no nothing. Just a boring, regular old day. She somehow didn't see that happening. "Sero, you're not going into the damn box. Why do you think you're going in the box?"
"The guards." Sero whispered in a hushed tone, as though it were a secret. His voice shook and trembled like an old shed rattling in a storm, unstable and ready to fall in on itself. She couldn't hear his thoughts through the phone, but knew he was being genuine. He was terrified. "They're conspiring, Harper. They told me just the other day that I deserve to be dead. Maybe I do. But then they brought up the box. I can't go into the box."
"Then I'll tell them to fire the guards and get new ones! What, do you think I'm gonna break my promise?" Harper halted at the end of the hall, her quirk reverberating throughout the area as she shot it outwards to see where the nearest person was. There was a class a few rooms away. If she wasn't loud, they would never even know she was here. Sero continued sniffling, though seemed to have been subdued somewhat by her voice. Harper sighed. "Look, it's going to be fine. I'll be coming to see you this weekend, remember? You're not in the box now, and you won't be then either. Just... chill out, alright?"
"Alright." Sero responded, his voice quiet. Harper let out a breath of air, and she could hear him do the same, though his was far more shuddery. For a moment, all the girl could do was stand there and let her heart rate drop. She was dreading the mess that would come with Shoji butting the fuck into her business, and then letting everyone else butt in. Fucking fuck. "I... I'm sorry."
Harper snorted. "It's fine." She assured, even though it like, wasn't. She wasn't about to tell him that, though. She thought back to Kurogiri sobbing this morning and the three coffees she'd downed. "Trust me, Sero. I've been through a lot worse today."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sero? She was talking to Sero?" Kaminari asked, eyes wide and round. Kirishima's teeth clenched, but he held his tongue. Aizawa met his eyes, a grimace hiding behind them. The redhead agreed with the sentiment. While he had a really hard time imagining Mr. Aizawa to be the cheerful and outgoing man Harper claimed him to be, even he could tell there was more emotion in him than he let on. Kirishima wanted to jump up to defend Harper, and tell them to lay off, but it would only turn questions on to him.
"I thought he was in the hospital still! Do you think he's out?!" Mina looked exuberant at the mere idea of her friend being out and possibly coming back. Even Bakugo had turned his attention to the topic at hand. Kirishima knew how suspicious it was that he wasn't as excited as he should've been, but the idea of trying to fake it made bile rise in his throat. They'd almost died at the USJ, and Harper had been kidnapped due to Sero. She could've died, and it left a bad taste in his mouth. Had any of Sero's faux friendliness been genuine, or had it all been a lie?
"Settle down and get back to work." Aizawa snapped, shooting them a glare. "Now's not the time for chit-chat."
"But Mr. Aizawa, we haven't gotten news on Sero in weeks!" Hagakure exclaimed, earning some claims of agreement from the rest of the class. Kirishima lowered his gaze. He wanted to support Harper. She was his friend and crush, and he felt useless not knowing how to be there for her when she clearly needed him. He'd tried talking to his mothers over the past few days, trying to figure out how he could better help her. They'd carefully told him that this was something he'd have to figure out for himself. Every person was different, and they didn't know Harper well enough to know what she needed.
Harper was such an... interesting person. He didn't know how to describe her, and that was part of the intrigue. She wasn't perfect in his eyes, but she also was at the same time. It made no sense. He was drawn in intensely and without meaning to be. Her personality was something to awe at. She didn't bullshit you unless she had to. Though she'd lied, it hadn't been by her own choice. The girl managed to remain a trustworthy person in his eyes despite the initial deception. She was straight-forward, and a pessimist, but in a humorous way that showed she didn't mean it. She was standoffish and not easy to get to know, but she cared. She cared so much.
There was also her appearance, that had captured him immediately. The way she held and presented herself never ceased to amaze him. Her hair was an untamed mess that made him smile. Her eyes made him light up inside, a swirl of browns ranging from deep and rich umbers to light, airy caramels. Harper's voice was also unique. It was a bit deeper than the others girls, always with this tired undertone that made her sounds more mature than someone her age should be. And when she laughed-- god, he was blushing just thinking about it. He was lovestruck, and had no idea what to do about it!
Her bone structure made him drool. The way her cheekbones started high, but weren't too sharp as they slanted down. The curve of her jawbone was strong and delicate at the same time, supporting the set of her mouth and curve of her nose. And her lips-- god, they were so soft, he just wanted to press his against them sometimes and melt. Her eyes were so intelligent. Exhausted, but full of life all the same, despite how many times she sourly commented on how dead inside she felt. The arch of her brows was natural and made her face all the more expressive. She wasn't open, but when she wanted something to show on her face, you could tell exactly where her mind was at that given moment. It was aweing to see. She was aweing to see.
You might think Kirishima to be a smitten idiot. Well, you'd be right. Kirishima had no idea what to do with the influx of abundant emotions. He wanted to grin wildly and squeal, and let his face turn apple red. He couldn't count the number of times he'd found himself burying his face in his pillow after thinking of her for a moment too long. His moms both found how in love he'd fallen to be entirely amusing. They both wanted to meet Harper, trying to coax him into the concept. The idea of her coming to his house made steam blow out of his ears and his eyes want to blow out of their sockets. He wasn't sure his heart could take that. He could barely keep it together being near the girl. Seeing her bedroom had sent him into a haze only Sansa holding a cup of pungent vodka under his nose could get him out of. Weird guy. That wasn't the point!
"Kirishima, you've been hanging out with Harper a lot lately! Has she told you anything about Sero?" Ojiro questioned, drawing his attention. He cleared his throat, body straightening while the heat faded from his cheeks. Right. Serious situation. He had to keep it together! He couldn't let Harper down when she was counting on him!
"I don't know. Man, I didn't even think to ask!" Kirishima painted on a sheepish smile that left even Aizawa somewhat impressed with how convincing it appeared. "I can totally ask her, if you want. But maybe we shouldn't badger her about it too much, bro. She seems to have a lot on her plate. She's got to have her reasons for not telling us!"
"Kirishima's right, guys. Harper's been super busy! I bet she's stressed." Izuku's voice was hesitant, but he too was friends with Harper. Murmurs of disappointment filtered through the room, but people begrudgingly agreed and sat back down. Aizawa's glowering certainly helped them settle back and do their pop quizzes. While most accepted it, there were a few who stared at their papers with a faraway look in their eyes and furrowed brows. If that was Sero she was talking to... well, why was the Chief of Police the one calling her?
~~~
Wow big surprise I'm too tired to hunt down art so I'll do it next time ay yo yeet