"What the hell is her quirk?" Kaminari couldn't help but voice his thoughts as the scene unfolded on the screen in front of them.
Momo shivered, not answering.
Mina and Aoyama had been struck with panic quickly but definitely weren't as quick to recover. Aoyama didn't speak while being helped to his feet, simply staring at the ground blankly. Mina was still hyperventilating, even if Charlie had evidently stopped using her quirk. Koda seemed confused and panicked about what to do. Only Charlie seemed calm in the situation, rubbing Mina's back silently as she allowed the girl to calm down.
"I'm not sure what it does exactly but I know it causes the victim to experience extreme fear." Momo answered lowly as All Might could be seen on screen entering the room.
Kaminari glanced at the most grave looking face in the room. "Did she do that do you in the recommendation exam?"
Momo nodded grimly.
Charlie was panicking.
She felt her hand start to shake and retracted it from the slow circles she was rubbing into her friend's back just as All Might entered the scene. She glanced over at him and stood up, taking a couple steps back and allowing him to take over. By then Mina seemed to have regained her bearings and was helped to her feet. Without saying anything, All Might guided the pair out, motioning for Koda and Charlie to follow.
Charlie's fingers felt like blocks of ice and she could feel flashes and hot and cold all over her body. She felt like she couldn't breathe, beginning to feel dizzy. She pulled her hood further over the face and inhaled the lavender scent, hoping it would work magic and make her anxiety disappear.
All Might gave Mina and Aoyama a gentle push into the observation room, both of whom had regained most of their colour and seemed shaken but fine. One look from All Might and Koda hurried to follow behind them, leaving Charlie alone with the number one hero.
"Charlotte—" All Might placed his hand on her shoulder. He frowned, forgetting what he was about to say as he stared at the girl. She had her eyes glued to the ground, her expression blank. "Charlotte you're shaking."
"O-oh?" Charlie just barely kept the tremor out of her voice. "A-ah right, I am. Don't worry Mr. All Might. It's the backlash from my quirk—I, uh, my body shakes a bit after using it. I'll be fine in a couple minutes."
All Might's frown deepened but he didn't press any further. "Young Charlotte, I realize that you may feel bad about using your quirk on your classmates. Or maybe you don't. But if you do, please realize that there's nothing to feel guilty about. They will use their quirks on you and you will use yours on them. It's all for the sake of helping each other grow and move forward as a class, ok?"
Charlie nodded numbly.
All Might stepped back into the classroom to recap on what the lesson was for today—Charlie's match being the last—allowing Charlie to stay in the hallway to recollect herself.
She slid down the wall onto the ground and pulled her knees into her chest. Taking her mask off and shoving it into her pocket, Charlie rested her forehead on her knees. She had just closed her eyes and started focusing on her breath when she heard footsteps approaching.
"Charlotte?" Todoroki frowned at his classmate's balled up form.
"There's a lesson going on inside. You should probably go and listen," Charlie said without looking up.
Todoroki hesitated. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Just..."she struggled to find the right words, settling for "backlash."
Todoroki didn't entirely understand what she meant by that. What kind of backlash was she experiencing? His quirk didn't have much backlash, especially when he used both sides, but Midoriya's, for example, broke his bones. What effect did Charlotte's quirk have on her? "Do you need to see Recovery Girl? I can help you if you're having trouble moving."
"No, no I'm fine." Charlie finally lifted her head and looked at her classmate, smiling as she managed to shove the last bit of her panic back into the base of her stomach. "Help me up?" she reached out a hand.
Todoroki grabbed it and hauled her to her feet.
"Todoroki?"
He stopped right before entering the classroom, humming in response and looking back at the girl.
"Did you see what I did?"
"No, I was changing out of my hero costume."
"I used my quirk on Aoyama and Mina." She visibly cringed as those words tumbled from her lips, looking more vulnerable than ever.
"Yeah, I figured."
She squeezed her fingers so tight it looked like it hurt.
Todoroki offered no words of comfort, only grabbing her wrist gently and tugging her into the classroom.
Contrary to the day before, Charlie was one of the last students to leave UA for the day, choosing to slink around the halls to avoid running into her classmates on the way out. She leaned against the wall and texted Nemuri that she was ready to leave.
"Hey Charlie!" Nemuri smiled her wide smile at her, popping out of the lounge. "Let's get out of here and grab an early dinner." Since Charlie had seen her this morning, Midnight had changed out of her hero costume and into a skintight dress and heels that were way too high. She was always pressuring Charlie to borrow her clothes, but it was unlikely that she ever would.
"So, how was your day?" Charlie started up a conversation as they exited UA's front gates.
"Not bad!" Nemuri purred back. "Your class was the most fun–the second and third years are boring." She faked a yawn, grinning. Her heels clacked on the pavement as they walked down the road to their favourite restaurant. She was already a tall woman, standing at nearly 5'9, Charlie didn't understand her need to be any taller. "How was yours?"
As the UA school grounds disappeared down the street, Charlie fell into the memory of Midnight taking her out for dinner in middle school. She'd pick her up from her house and walk her down this street to gaze at the tall UA buildings in awe from just outside the gates.
"It was alright, I guess," Charlie mused. Could've been worse. She could have had a full blown panic attack. However, Charlie was fairly certain that Mina wouldn't be so eager to talk to her from now on–along with the rest of her class.
"How was All Might's lesson?"
"Alright."
Midnight frowned down at her young companion. "Oh come on, kid, you got to give me more than that. What happened? I heard you had a battle lesson today. Did your quirk finally come in handy?"
"Yeah, very handy." Charlie sighed as she pulled open the sushi restaurant door, letting Midnight in first. "I had to use it on the girl that tolerates my presence the most in my class, Mina. She's too nice to have to deal with my quirk."
Midnight shrugged, "If she wants to be a hero she's gotta learn to deal with all types of quirks. And you," she tugged on Charlie's nose with two fingers, "have to learn to stop sulking over such minuscule things."
"Sure, it's just the death of my social life, no biggie."
Midnight laughed as they were seated. "K whatever drama queen. Wanna grab ice cream and a movie tonight or do you have to study?"
"Mint chip and a romcom?"
"Of course."