Chapter Text
Hyori was turning around in her bed. She had received the results of the Ultra Academy college-preparation school. She had applied to the number one hero school in the country. She wasn’t sure of what she had expected. Besides being the number one hero school, the academy was renowned for its ‘groundbreaking teaching methods’. Commercial discourse aside, the school had a solid reputation and many students applied to its entrance examinations. Being state-affiliated, the school was independent from sponsors. Plus, the staff consisted of trained heroes with all the social credit it added to the school’s integrity. If she graduated from that school, no one would ever credit her marks to manipulation. Getting into the school would be the perfect way to shut down her detractors.
On a less glorious note, she had discovered the anonymous company that requested her services was affiliated with hero agencies. She couldn’t mistake the face and voice of the youngest top tenner. The ‘hero prodigy’ was the awkward young man with premature gratification issues from September. During the Billboard Ceremony Megumi requested they watch together, she had recognised the winged mutant she had popped the cherry on a very awkward night. The man was indeed ‘too fast’ for his own enjoyment. She had assumed his other ‘coworkers’ were heroes and the ‘Deputy President’ was an executive of the Hero Commission. She recognised the voice of the ninja guy. She had heard him short-breathed for a whole hour more than once, after all. It was funny to witness him acting modestly on television when she endured his kinky side.
The blond man wearing only jeans was too short and looked too healthy to be the man who offered her his genuine help. The first man to ask her age and spare her from the goodness of his heart and not because he was too tired. She wished more of her visitors were like him. He might be too sick for hero work and probably held an administrative position. She wished more men in general to be like him. She felt strangely disappointed when she didn’t see him even in the crowd or among the Commission executives. Could he be too ill to attend such events? Was he uninterested? She hoped he wasn’t watching from home with a family. He seemed too sweet to seek out under-the-counter services in hotels while having a wife and children at home. Even if one never knows, she hoped she hadn’t had the wrong impression of his persona from all the time she held him under her quirk.
She had started to delve into the emotional component of her quirk at Megumi’s request. The girl was eager to find more of herself in Hyori. As a self-appointed big sister, Hyori was flattered. Yet, she dreaded letting the girl down if what she felt amounted to nothing tangible. In a way, Hyori felt like she had already left Megumi down by failing to enter the heroic course. Again, she had walked in blind and had the confidence of a rookie. That had been, in hindsight, a major rookie mistake. She couldn’t mourn forever, though. She had to get ready to host ‘Professor’. She wondered if he would ask her about the college-preparation school she would attend in the upcoming April. She could tell him she had been admitted into the Ultra Academy General Course. She had scored a nearly perfect mark on written tests and had been welcomed in the first General Educational class.
She would refrain from sharing having taken the hero examination test. She could review her rookie mistakes on her own. The biggest might have been not knowing what she was aiming for. She didn’t know the requirements of the heroic course. She hadn’t even properly taken it. She had avoided the test, fearing an injury from the robots that had been left loose in the mock city. At least, she had secured enough points on the written part. Then again, how could have she guessed the hopeful were tested with robots? Also, wasn’t the point of a school to teach things? Did the board expect students to be already versed in combat skills? She might have underestimated the preparation needed to enter the hero course… Of the number one hero school.
Hyori assumed it was retribution for applying on a whim simply because she felt like doing so. She didn’t have a precise goal in life until Megumi offered her to be ‘her hero’. Overall, she hadn’t been proactive enough and had no idea where she stood in terms of requirements. It’s not like she had mock hero tests at her middle school. Then again, the next-starters hero pupils didn’t. At least, she hadn’t panicked during the session. She felt a bit sorry for the kids who left the examinations before they could even try. Some might have cut provided their nerves had let them try. The universe had put her in the same session with Kiku. She supposed the participants had been parted per department. Her former classmate had nervously stood for agonising minutes. He finally woke up when a robot frontally charged him at the very end.
Hyori’s phone beeped with a notification. She had a quarter of an hour to get inside room 302 to greet ‘Professor’. She closed a knotted belt on her mahogany silk shirt dress and styled her wig in a loose braid. She finished her look with laced sandals and an open-bangle pink-gold bracelet. Since she hosted regulars five days out of seven, she took the habit of dressing casually. ‘Professor’ couldn’t see her, anyway. She was mostly dressing for herself when she entertained him. She completed her look with a red rose lip balm and brushed her eyebrows. She took a few moments to look at the results in the mirror before snapping a picture. She might not post content on social media but she wanted souvenirs of some of her looks. Loving how the silk teased her shape with her movements, she snapped a two-second clip before exiting the room with her Shakuhachi case.
She stopped by Megumi’s door in the hall and wished her good night.
“Sleep tight.” She said in a sing-song voice.
The trick never failed to tether the girls' minds. They didn’t enter their headspaces but could communicate emotions. Even if it was for a few seconds, they enjoyed the special connection they could form and tested each other’s space limitations. This time, Megumi had felt Hyori’s dejection and sent back support.
“You are still my hero.” Said Megumi.
Hyori replied with a smile and headed out of the apartment. She wanted to be there for the little teen even if she didn’t know what it meant. That was the girl’s favourite hero trademark sentence. “I’m here”. Hyori was aware Megumi’s presence had induced her newly-found interest in heroics. That kid gave her purpose beyond herself. At some point, she wondered who was the hero in their duo. Probably the little one. Hyori hadn’t proven herself yet. She couldn’t think of being Megumi’s hero as long as the girl was still under the pension’s care.
She had exposed the issue to the giant lanky blond. The man had told her she could circumvent the pension by asking the kid’s Grandmother to request the end of the guardianship. No establishment could keep a child against their family’s will. A contract that irrevocably transferred a kid’s guardianship couldn’t stand in a court as a safety measure against child trafficking. If the Grandmother didn’t want to cooperate, Hyori would have to prove that the Red Velvet was unfit to care for the girl decently and properly. The statement meant she would have to confront the pension in court and tell what she had been requested to do since she had been put under their care. That meant she would be against Orochimi and her roommates. She doubted the other girls would help her destroy their businesses.
Nothing would happen to the girl as long as she was hosting. She had three months to establish a plan to get her ‘little sister’ out of the pension. Simply taking the girl with her would be kidnapping since Megumi was legally under the pension’s care. Nullifying the tutelage would require something terrible to happen and she would rather save the girl beforehand. She didn’t have time to think further as she was already in front of door 302. She wouldn’t decide by herself, anyway. She would expose her ideas to Megumi and include the girl in the decision-making.
Inside room 302, ‘Professor’ was already waiting in bed. She assumed his pyjama had already been discarded at the sight of his bare torso. In the span of three years, the man seemed to have healed enough to not need assistance for moving around anymore. His mind was also in a better state. He once voiced how he had been able to pick up the slack he accumulated on some major project. He still needed respiratory assistance, though. She had to be mindful of his vitals when he requested her to caress him.
As she was undressing to join him, he asked as expected.
“How did you pass your college-preparation school entrance examinations?” He didn’t expect her to fail.
“With flying colours.” Answered Hyori. “I passed the Ultra Academy examinations with nearly perfect grades.”
She expected the man to counter that she could have scored perfect grades. Yet, he remained silent. She looked back and he seemed grave. Was he that disappointed because she didn’t score perfect grades? Focusing on his mind, she could tell he wasn’t disappointed. He was unsettled.
“The Ultra Academy is a long distance from the hotel.” Stated ‘Profesor’.
Hyori could tell he wanted to say more. His mind was in turmoil and he needed time to organise his thoughts.
“I will take the bus. The commute would take two hours back and forth but I will be able to rest during the route.” Replied Hyori as she removed her undergarments before climbing on the bed.
‘Professor’ didn't ask anymore questions and got into their usual sleeping position. Hyori took it as her cue to put him to sleep and held him until four in the morning.
The following Sunday afternoon, Hyori and Megumi cycled on their regular hiking trail. They were gliding through the cool spring air. The sunlight provided warm spots on certain spots of the trail. On the roadside, bushes and trees were blooming. Light notes of floral fragrances floated around the air. The trail was empty in the spring season. The girls felt like they were already in their headspaces as the only people on these narrow unpaved roads. Hyori wanted to use the escapade to talk to the girl away from the apartment’s walls. They might be insulated but she didn’t want to take any chances. Also, she didn’t feel secure enough in the basement to discuss the matter.
They stopped at a point where they had a view of the whole city. The girls sat on a rock and enjoyed infused water with granola bites.
“I’ve been thinking of leaving the Red Velvet.” Hyori broke the silence. “Would you come with me?”
Megumi thought for a minute before answering.
“I still haven’t made any money.”
“Making money in the pension is painful.” Replied Hyori.
“But you did it.” Pointer the girl. “I want to be as successful as you are.”
“Even if it hurts you?”
“How did it hurt you?”
Reminiscences of the time she dissociated haunted the taller girl. The horrible sensations of the touch she wanted to crawl away from. Entitled hands on her skin while her senses went haywire as she desperately clung to her quirk. Hyori didn’t want to expand on that part of her past. She didn’t want to show her bleeding to the girl. She didn’t want her trauma to imprint on the girl’s mind.
“It might be easier if you show me.” Attempted Megumi.
“I’m not ready for it.” Confessed Hyori.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. The teen had closed the connection on her end. They couldn’t tell with precision what was going inside the other’s mind. Still, anxiousness and grief were plaguing their senses.
“If I find another place where you can earn money safely, would you come with me?” Tried Hyori.
“I would.” Answered Megumi without hesitation.