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It starts at the beginning of the semester, with twenty-two teenagers freshly un-arrested. Chizu Odina and Basri Kasumi decide to get some fresh air off campus, and Ayano tags along. It’s been ages since she’s had an outing like this, and though she hesitates to call these girls her friends– it’s far too soon, and Ayano doesn’t trust so easily, not anymore– it’s… good. Ayano gets to try boba for the first time, and she doesn’t completely hate it. She gets to walk around town without the dread of someone recognizing her for the wrong reasons. Chizu is chatty, and Basri is funny. Ayano is… existing.
She still, every so often, turns to talk to a brother who isn’t there. It’s been weeks since he left. Weeks since she’d been arrested without him. He should be in class with her, or they should both still be running Wonderland. It’s unnatural for them to be apart for this long.
He must’ve had a good reason to leave. She still comes up blank when she tries to figure it out.
Eventually, they return to campus. Ayano goes back to her room– so weird, to have a space she doesn’t have to share, not a tiny motel room or a tent or the bedroom she lived in for thirteen years– and takes off her denim jacket. The enamel pins on the collar clink together as she tosses it onto her desk chair.
Something falls out of the pocket and bounces across the carpet. She kneels down to pick it up.
It’s another pin, but not one of hers. At the same time, it’s clearly meant for her. It’s a pokemon– an Alolan Vulpix, specifically. Her favorite. It hadn’t been there that morning and she didn’t notice anything like it while she was out.
Someone slipped it into her pocket, but… Who? When?
It wouldn’t be Chizu, probably, she seemed like the type to be up front about gift-giving. Basri? She doesn’t know her well enough to say. She could always ask, but…
It takes her until the next day to get the courage. For the very first time, Ayano messages someone outside the class group chat.
Mochizuki
>Hey, this is Mochizuki! I’m really glad you came out with us yesterday, it was a lot of fun :D I do have a question though…
>Did you slip a pin into my pocket? I figured if it was Chizu she would’ve just handed it to me, but maybe you would be more subtle about it?
Basri
>uhhhhhh
>i don’t think so?
>what does it look like??
Mochizuki
>It’s an alolan vulpix if you know pokemon
>It’s my favorite but idk how anyone would know that. I’ve shared a lot of fox gifs though.
>If it wasn’t you and probably wasn’t Chizu I have no idea where it came from? Lol
Ayano is not LOL. Ayano is very concerned.
Basri
>oh
>i won’t lie i know nothing about pokemon but Hdhshdhhd
>hope you find who gave it to you
Mochizuki
>I hope so too!
Ayano doesn’t find the culprit. There’s simply no way to know. She pins the Vulpix to her collar and tries to move on.
A lot happens. They have their Sports Festival– Ayano loses to yet another mean girl in the first match of round three– and a few students try to escape, meaning no more time off campus.
Then the internships start.
Polymorph is amazing and exactly what she wanted in a hero mentor– someone who didn’t need a combat quirk to kick butt. Her quirk “hue shift” was applied in a purely cosmetic manner– the rest was intelligence and skill.
One of the first things she and Polymorph do is design a weapon for Ayano, so that she won’t be absolutely useless in a fight. Then they practice with a prototype until she gets the basics.
Eventually Polymorph decides Ayano can come on patrol with her!
Ayano’s costume is different from how she envisioned it. There’s no mask, and the colors aren’t quite right, and the fox tail obviously isn’t real. Polymorph helps her paint two white circles on her cheeks over her freckles.
She looks… It's weird. It’s weird, but she doesn’t hate it.
Ayano hangs out in the background for a few days, watching Polymorph interact with fans and help out in small rescues. It’s fun, if exhausting. Hero costumes are heavy.
She feels the civilians’ stares, some more intense than others. In Wonderland, she would’ve loved the attention. Here, she’s never felt such a loss of control.
There are eyes on her. Someone is giving her more than an inquisitive glance. She looks around, but no one stands out.
Ayano isn’t supposed to wander, but surely just a little distance won’t hurt…
Something shines at her from the ground. She picks it up.
It’s a pin.
It’s one of her favorite Sanrio characters, Kiki. He has a little top hat. He looks lonely without his sister Lala…
The pin isn’t dirty or anything, so it probably wasn’t sitting there for long. No one seems to be looking for it.
She really should put it back, its owner will probably come along eventually.
Maybe.
On the other hand, though, maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe Kiki and Lala would be separated forever. She couldn’t just leave him there!
She pockets the pin. Polymorph didn’t even notice she’d left.
Back before Miryam and Tokukata tried to escape, Ayano and Odina had discussed going out to a movie. Once they were locked down, of course, they had to put those plans on hold.
The lockdown has finally been lifted and students are allowed to venture off campus. They can go see their movie.
Ayano wears her denim jacket– it could be cold inside the theater– and admires the pins in the mirror. There are five: a crescent moon on a black circle, a pink cloud, a trans flag, and the two that she found. What a weird coincidence that they happened to be perfect for her!
The movie– an American animated film– was cute, if not the best movie she’s ever seen. Odina enjoyed it as well, given how she’s chattering about foreshadowing.
They reach the dorm and Ayano reaches into her purse to pull out her keycard.
Her hand hits something small and metal that she can’t identify immediately. She pulls it out.
“Oh!” Odina gasps, “how cute! Where did you get that one? Are you gonna put it on your jacket?”
It’s another enamel pin, this time on a backing card. Ayano has never seen it before.
It’s Alice from Alice in Wonderland .
Her hand clenches around the pin. The other one flies to the collection at her collar.
Twice is a coincidence. Three eerily targeted pins is a pattern.
Someone is trying– and succeeding– to make contact with her practically every time she leaves campus.
Odina swipes them into the dorm and Ayano rushes to her room. It’s rude, but she’ll text and apologize later.
Alice in Wonderland. The story her quirk is named after.
Hands shaking, she unpins the Vulpix and Kiki and lays them out next to Alice.
Her favorite pokemon. One of her favorite Sanrio characters. And a clear reference to her quirk.
Whoever’s doing this is someone that knows her well.
Her thoughts immediately go to Ayumu, but– why? Why this indirect method, why not just approach her? She’d be mad, of course, but if he’d just explain– maybe he could join the reform course, and they can talk to Mom and Dad, and everything will be okay.
Where the hell has he even been all this time? How does he know when she’ll be out?
Nothing makes sense anymore.
There’s another group heading off campus today. Basri and Odina are going, and so are Chisuke Amari and Kimura Noriko. A good group, she’s friends with Odina and Chisuke, and friendly with Basri and Kimura. They’re going to the supermarket.
Ayano tags along.
She’ll be ready this time.
There’s eyes on them almost the moment they leave UA. She won’t ignore it again.
She keeps towards the back of the group and keeps her gaze straight ahead– she doesn’t want to scare him away by seeming too observant. She smiles and laughs along with the conversation that she’s only half paying attention to– something about what Present Mic-sensei did in class.
They reach the store, and the group decides to split for efficiency. Odina and Chisuke go one way, Basri and Kimura go the other.
Ayano hangs back. The store is decently crowded, enough that she doesn’t stick out where she’s standing staring at a display of hero themed snacks. As far as her classmates will know, she got distracted and ran to catch up with the other group.
Someone brushes her side as they pass. They’re taller than her, in a dark hoodie that hides their face. They don’t say anything, not “excuse me” or “sorry”, as if they didn’t even notice she was there.
Ayano waits one, two, three seconds before turning and watching the figure slip out the sliding doors. Her pocket is just the slightest bit heavier.
She follows her brother out into the evening.
He’s casual, unaware that she’s tailing him. Her outfit is more muted than her usual pastels, and it helps her blend into the crowd.
He turns onto a side street, and then ducks into an alley.
She shouldn’t be doing this. She can turn back now, go back to the store, pretend she never left. She doesn’t have to continue.
She won’t go back without him. Not again.
She dashes into the alley behind him.
In the weeks leading up to this encounter, Ayano had planned out what she was going to say. She would demand the reason he left, and be angry, and convince him to come back with her.
As Ayumu turns to face her, that’s all gone. She crashes into him and starts sobbing instead.
He’s bony, but there’s muscle in his arms as he holds her. His hoodie’s fabric is soft and well-worn. He smells like dirt.
Before school, when they were running their games, she would’ve come up to maybe his chest. Over the past few months, with her “healthier” eating and exercise, she grew some of the inches that life on the run had denied her.
Ayumu hadn’t grown much, if at all.
“You figured it out,” he mumbles. “I didn’t expect you to follow me, not yet.”
She sniffs. “Why not? It’s not like it wasn’t ob- obvious, ‘specially the last one. You’re stupid.”
“I’m not stupid, you’re stupid. But I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know how long it’ll be until they notice you’re gone, but we should go. Did you bring anything?”
Go? Go where?
“Why would I bring stuff? It was a grocery run.”
“I mean, I guess I thought you’d at least bring Snowflake. You still have her, right?”
“Of course I still have her, but I don’t need her for a grocery run. She’s in my room.”
Ayumu sighs. “This is what happens when you don’t have me to pack for you. Yano, we can’t go back to UA. We need to leave, like, now.”
“What are you talking about?”
She steps back and looks up at him. His hair is longer and scruffier, and there’s tape on one side of his glasses. There’s a line going down his cheek, and at first she thinks it’s a shadow, but she’s seen enough of her classmates to know what a scar looks like.
“Of course we’re going back to UA, dummy. There’s an empty room right next to mine. I feel like you and Tosaki would either be besties or hate each other. He’s kind of a jerk, but it’ll be fine.”
Ayumu shakes his head. “Uh, no. Did you not get it? I thought you knew you were escaping. God, Yano, do I have to spoon feed you everything? ”
Well, that took a turn.
“I’m not escaping. I like UA. What would I even do if I escaped? I’d be, like, so bored.”
“Uh, duh, we’d do Wonderland again. I figured you would be more excited about this.”
Um, no. Not a chance.
“Wonderland was messed up, Yumu. I’m not doing that again. Besides, it went so well last time, after you left. ”
Okay, here comes that anger.
“Well, obviously I wouldn’t leave now. I’m way stronger. I can protect you so much better. It’ll be even better than before, we used to have so much fun!”
“I’m a hero student now. I’m past that, I can have fun doing actual morally correct stuff, y’know, like we used to? I don’t need to be protected anymore.”
Ayumu scowls. “Why do you always have to be so difficult, Yano? We don’t have time to fight about this, let’s go. ” His hand shoots out to grab her by the arm-
It’s instinctive. She taps into the combat training and Chisuke’s self defense lessons. She knows how to handle bigger opponents.
Ayumu is on the ground in seconds.
“What the hell was that?! ” they both say. They’re just staring at each other stupidly.
“I told you I can protect myself,” Ayano says. “Now will you stop being a moron and come to UA? Do you know how much it hurt Mom and Dad that I was the only one to call after two whole years? I’m not doing that to them again!”
“You talked to-? Fuck , Ayano, who cares about Mom and Dad? I care about you, and you’re obviously being brainwashed at that stupid hero school. If we don’t go now, they’re going to find us.”
“Good,” she says. “Then they can take us both back to UA and everything will be normal again.”
“Back to- I’m not talking about the heroes, Ayano! I’m trying to keep you safe!”
“Safe from who?”
“That’d probably be us, sweetie.”