Third person pov
"So you'll be gone for how long? A month?" Sero questioned. He seemed a lot calmer since seeing his sister again, and was actually working with a psychologist on occasion to try getting his memories back. He was still apprehensive around anyone who wasn't Harper. The mind reader could see how that could be. She was just glad he was opening up at all. "A summer camp... Wish I wasn't such a fuck up. I could've gone, and we probably would've had fun, too."
"A week." Harper corrected, eyeing him. "I'm having Tsukauchi look after you. I know you're not his biggest fan, but he's a good guy. I wouldn't trust anyone else with you."
"You flatter me." Sero snorted. "I wouldn't ever say it, but I'm glad she cares so much. It means... It means a lot that she's not letting me go down for this. I know it's been a lot of trouble. I sometimes wonder why she bothers."
"Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up." Harper sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I can't stay long. I've got a phone call to make and all that shit."
"Look at you! Everyone wants your attention." Sero barked out a laugh. Harper gave him a bland look. In the background, the new radio Harper had brought for him buzzed out some infomercial. He was allowed to keep it so long as he didn't take it apart and didn't throw it at anyone. He deserved some form of entertainment in this place. It was the best Harper could do. "A week... I can do a week. It'll be perfectly fine without her. Harper has things to do, after all. I don't want to get in the way of that. I wonder if she can at least call..."
"Everyone can literally fuck off. I'm tired." Harper sighed, shaking her head. She wished she would be able to call and check in, but Aizawa had heavily implied that there'd be no service where they were going. Though she hadn't been able to pinpoint where the camp was just yet. Everyone seemed to be acting extra carefully around her to avoid her finding out. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew where it would be anyway. She'd caught mountains, woods, and looking at the past summer trainings UA hosted... this was going to be ass. But also quite possibly good.
"Will you be able to call at all?" Sero glanced up, meeting her eyes. He looked nervous. Harper decided now probably wasn't a good time to make fun of him. "She calls almost everyday, and visits at least twice a week, if not more. What if something happens? What if they take this chance to cart me away?"
"I can't promise I'll be able to call. I don't know where we're going, but it's far and probably won't have reception." Harper admitted. Sero's expression dropped, but the teen wasn't finished. "But, again, I'm leaving Tsukauchi with you. I trust him with my life and with yours. He's not going to let anything happen to you. He said he'd visit with you everyday, so you won't be alone."
Sero gave her a hesitant grin, worries put somewhat to rest. Harper cared too much to let anything happen to him. Of course she'd made sound arrangements. It was dumb to doubt her. Harper had a lot on her plate, but she didn't do things in halves.
"You're a good friend." Sero put a hand on her shoulder. Her nose scrunched up.
"You're disgusting." Harper decided.
"And that's the last time I show gratitude." Sero flicked her ear with a scoff. She rolled her eyes, offering a tired half-smile. Sero wasn't completely better, but he was getting there. Right now, that was enough.
~~~~~~~~~~
"I'll be gone a week, so don't think I've abandoned you." Harper said, throwing a few fries in her mouth. They'd picked up some food on the way back home, and Harper was glad. She'd been starving. Tsukauchi was more than happy to provide her with sustenance. "Tsukauchi will call, and hopefully your son will too. If he doesn't, let me know and I'll handle it when I'm back."
"Don't worry about me so much, kid." Stain brushed her off, but Harper could tell he was flattered. She couldn't tell if her inability to read minds through a phone was a good or bad thing. Probably the former. "Stay safe, you hear me? You're going to be a great hero."
"You're the worst judge of that." Harper admitted. I mean, who in their right mind would think Tensei Iida wasn't worthy to be a hero? The guy devoted his life to saving people and barely messed with the press. Harper hoped Stain felt guilty about that, and all the ones before it. The least he could've done was gone after Endeavor.
"Shut up, you brat." Stain responded, but there was no bite to it.
"You can't tell me to do shit." Harper took a sip of her Coke. She didn't know who'd discovered caffeine, but she owed them her life. "Are they treating you alright?"
"About as well as can be expected. I can hold my own." Stain said lightly, which was code for 'everyone is actively trying to kill me.' Harper wouldn't lie, he sort of deserved it. Though she somewhat saw him as a friend and he saw her the same way, neither could deny that Stain had literally killed people. As in, he was a murderer. He didn't even regret half the people he'd offed, which was an issue Harper was working on.
"Hold out a little longer." Harper grumbled. She still needed him. Even if he'd chosen wrong with some heroes, he still knew about a lot of the corruption that went on in hero society. They hadn't even gotten through a third of the shit he knew before he was being taken away. He was trying to make up for all the people he'd killed by doing this the legal way. Harper wanted to let him do that.
"Don't you worry about me." Stain snorted. Harper sighed. She wished it were that easy.
~~~~~~~~~~
Harper was surprisingly proud of Bakugo and his progress. He'd managed to write a somewhat decent letter to himself by the time they were done. They'd eventually had to call it a day, but notable progress had been made. She could almost feel the anxiety in Katsuki lessen with each piece of paper. Harper would read it, give criticism, and then they'd crumble it into a ball. Kirishima would harden his hands so he could hold the paper while it burned. They didn't need Nezu on them for property damage.
Katsuki's writings gradually grew less angry and curse-filled and a bit more positive. Sure, there was still vulgar language and a fair amount of aggressive energy, but his message was becoming clearer and clearer with every piece of paper. Harper was glad they could help. It wasn't a huge issue, but it still was one and it wasn't nearly as stressful as the rest. It almost felt like a break.
Case and point was that Katsuki was on the fast track to writing a genuine apology and a real confession to Izuku, which was a good thing. Harper would love to focus solely on that and nothing else. In fact, there is nothing in the world that would make her more at peace right now. A menial problem like a love letter would be godly compared to what was happening right now.
"This isn't good." Kirishima's thoughts emanated from next to her. "Why'd they let him come here? Harper looks so tired and stressed already! We're never going to make it out of the parking lot. Plus, everyone is looking over now... gah!"
"NOOOOOO!" Kurogiri absolutely howled.
He sounded as though he were in physical pain. You would've thought he was, did you not know what was happening. They were loading up the buses for summer camp. They'd gotten the news that Kurogirj and Dabi wouldn't be going with Harper a but late, but only now that it was really happening had it truly clicked for the warp gate. They never should've let him see her off. "She's going to die! This is the worst day of my life. I-I can't! She's my best friend— I must go with her. Surely they cannot take her away from me!"
"Shut the fuck up. Her classmates are all staring." Dabi hissed, just barely managing to hold the sobbing man back. And they really were. Harper and Kirishima were standing there, backpacks in tow, being watched as they witnessed Kurogiri lose his proverbial shit. "Dammit. He's going to be like this all week! Thank God he doesn't know where the summer camp is. He'd be there in under two seconds the moment any of us looked away."
"This isn't good. We should've told him we were going to get Harper a surprise present or something." Tsukauchi was massaging his temples off to the side. "I'm sorry, Harper. I forgot how... extreme he can get."
"Kurogiri, calm the hell down. I'm going to be fine." Harper sighed, shaking her head. Bringing him here had been a mistake, but he would've just warped here otherwise. "I'm counting on you to stay here and make sure nobody goes in my bedroom. Especially Dabi. Don't let him out of your sight."
Dabi looked mildly offended. Somewhere behind her, Harper thought she heard Shoto snort. She was glad they were getting along. After this summer camp, Endeavor would be the next issue he tackled. There was also Hitoshi Shinso, who wasn't in their class yet for some reason. She's have to pester Aizawa more. Fuck, why was there still so much to do? Did nothing ever just work out on its own?
"Y-You're counting on me?" Kurogiri stuttered, his voice small. He sounded like a kicked puppy. "Could it be that her leaving me behind is an act of trust? B-But I'd rather go with her! No one but I can be trusted with her absolute safety."
"Yes, Kurogiri." Harper said, voice completely flat and wholly unconvincing. Yet he still sorta looked like he was buying it. Sad life. Kirishima and Tsukauchi both tried not to laugh. "And I especially need you to watch Sansa."
Sansa and Kurogiri got along to an extent, but there was still an obvious, mutual animosity between the pair. Sansa was constantly making comments, and Kurogiri made them right back. They were both suspicious of one another for their own, separate reasons. Either way, using Sansa was a tool was going to be the only thing that let Harper get on that bus without her getting warped back to her apartment four times. It wouldn't buy them much time, but maybe enough. If they could get everyone on quickly and have Aizawa gun it.
"... Sansa?" Kurogiri asked after a thoughtful moment. Tsukauchi turned away, trying not to laugh. His shaking shoulders gave him away "I knew it. Sansa. That fiend! What has he done this time? He is a piece of feline trash. This is why I prefer Hound Dog. While Bound Dog is respectable, smart, kind, and funny, Sansa is an alcoholic, stoner, shithead piece of—"
"Yes, absolutely!" Kirishima cut in, looking almost grim. Harper could hear the humor in his mind and see it in his eyes. She coughed into her fist to hide a snort. Giving it away would fuck everything up. "Sansa has been a real issue lately. We're actually pretty sure he's trying to take Harper's socks."
"Her what?" Kurogiri looked positively mortified. He whirled to look at Dabi, who looked extremely exhausted already. "Dabi is not denying it! Nor is Tsukauchi! It must me... my, it must be true! I must protect her belongings!
Harper and Kirishima took a slight step back as the man straightened, his wispy shroud righting itself. Though he wasn't supposed to use his quirk on campus during school hours, an exception was being made today. Harper's redheaded friend seemed amused. "I can't believe he bought that. We should probably run now."
"Bye." Harper spun around, darting towards the bus. Iida had been trying to get everyone on single-file, but Harper and Kirishima both successfully ruined that by ushering everyone on as fast as they could. They weren't about to say no either, with how stressed the pair looked. It was only a matter of time before Kurogiri changed his mind and decided Harper was more important than Sansa invading anyone's privacy. Not to mention the warp-gate user wasn't a complete idiot and would probably see through their ruse fairly fast.
Harper tossed her bag into one of the seats, Kirishima following in like before turning and closing the doors himself. Harper leaned over Aizawa and started the ignition herself, waking the man from his nap. Everyone scrambled to sit down when they heard the bus rev to life, any arguments about who got the window seat and who was stuck on the aisle coming to a momentary halt as they all randomly plopped down in hopes of not toppling over. Harper caught Bakugo's eye momentarily as saw he'd managed to seat himself by Izuku, who looked properly nervous. Nice.
"Harper." Aizawa grumbled, raising a brow in question. As though he didn't already know. "Omg! Hi! Are you excited? I am sooo excited. We're going to train, and have fun, and train, and have even more fun! It's going to be the best time ever. You and I can even bond and it'll be so, so, so, so fun!"
This really would be hell, wouldn't it? And the laws of Harper's life also dictated that something traumatic would happen, be it big or be it small.
"Step on it." Harper demanded as Kirishima took a seat. They were right behind the driver's seat for convenience's sake. "Before he gets in here."
"You mean that warp guy? Isn't he not coming, though?" Hagakure questions. Ah, to be that blissfully ignorant. Harper could only dream. "What's his name? Kongiri? No, that also sounds like some sort of disease. Do I even have a brain? I mean, it's not like you'd see it if you cracked my head open. Or... or would you."
"That won't stop him. He's got separation anxiety." Kirishima explained with a sheepish smile. "We have like, two minutes before he's in here and crying."
"Aizawa, go." Harper insisted. He stared at her blankly. Really? Was he really about to do her like this? Her life had enough issues as it was. He knew this. "I'll bake muffins with you."
"Muffins?" Was all the class got to chorus before the gear was being shifted and they were tearing out of the parking lot.