numbertwohero | Prisma Overflow

[She snaps up to look at him on the lack of honorifics - it feels really weirdly... buddy-buddy from him, which by itself is weird considering it's Todoroki - but the look on his face gets her own to pop open with something like surprise, everything else changing to match. Aura shifts and wobbles, her one free jack raises in a little arc, the works.

But she ends up looking ahead of her as they walk again, almost like she's not sure what to even say to that.]

... Even if they tried it, I'm used to it now. It's no skin off my nose.
And besides - back there, I had all the guys to support me, you know?

It was... kinda nice getting to know them all better...

[Or maybe she's just telling herself that? Hard to say.]

It doesn't matter if you're used to it. You shouldn't have to be.

[But...okay, maybe he should tone it down a little. The color of her aura is a little surprised, and the way it wobbles...he's probably being a little too intense. But it's hard not to be, when all he can think about when he thinks about people being put in that kind of situation is his mom, and the years of hell she endured with his father. And even everything after...

He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly, as he lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck.]

...Sorry. Um, you said there were other people from home there, too?

[The intensity is a little much, yes... and honestly, for a moment, she wasn't exactly sure where it was coming from -
But it's just him caring, isn't it? It's Todoroki showing he cares.
And thinking of it that way... it's kinda sweet, actually. Her jack might've tightened around his wrist a little.
Just a little.]

... I never did anything I didn't wanna do. I did have to worry about the quota they put on us - three times a month - but everything I did, I sought out myself.

["So don't worry" is where she's going with that.]

But yeah, there were a lot of us.
Bakugou, Midoriya, Iida, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Shinsou were all there. As for the teachers, Aizawa-sensei, All Might, and Present Mic where there, too.

[Notice the lack of other girls in that list. Yep. Her time there was definitely a ride and a half.]

I'm glad you weren't alone. It's terrible you were in a place like that at all, but at least having some of the others there...

[He does care. They may not interact all that much back home, but she's still his classmate. He notices what she does, like he does all of them. At first it had been because they might be potential rivals, but that hadn't taken long to change, had it? They'd faced villains together, faced midterms, faced a frankly terrifying homeroom teacher...faced injury and loss. Maybe he wasn't as close to her as he was to Midoriya, or maybe Iida, but she still mattered.

The thought of a quota just...

He's not going to say anything about it, or he wasn't, except then she's mentioning that some of their teachers were there and everything about him stiffens again.]

...What did they do about it? The teachers.

Edited 2019-07-02 10:19 (UTC)

They took us in where they could.
Those contracts I mentioned, they didn't have to be more than... "business", I guess. Some of the locals even used them for family members, so it worked that way for us, too.
Present Mic did that for me. So I lived with him.

It was better than living in the slums the rest of the Submissives got crammed in, that's for sure.

[Said with a frankly too blase shrug. It was honestly comforting being taken care of by one of their teachers while stuck in a place like that; she honestly has no idea how Bakugou's entire caravan of idiots lived without any of the pros with them.

But, that said...]

... There wasn't much they could do about the situation, though. The people who kept us there - they were called LIEs. They had the power to keep everyone oppressed and the technology to take Quirks away on a whim.
Even Aizawa-sensei's.

All they could do was keep us safe. And they did that, at least.

[Okay, good, he doesn't have to go track down the two of them he's seen so far and try to fight them. There's a moment of tension more, before Todoroki finally takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. His voice is a little softer when he continues, at least, and the tension that was there is reduced.]

Good.

[He doesn't say that safe is an illusion, that even the most well-meaning adults can only do so much. They did what they could, and it was enough. But if so many of his classmates were there...]

... I'm sorry I wasn't there to help. Maybe they could take away quirks, but still...it feels--wrong. Knowing so many of you were stuck in a place like that, and I couldn't help.

...

[Something about what he's said seems to have gotten to her again, and for a moment, she worries her lip a bit in her teeth...

Before ending up letting out a pretty heavy, resigned-sounding sigh.]

You were there.

At least - a Todoroki was there, I guess, with the whole multidimensional nonsense going on.
From everything I've heard, you were marked, too. But you'd disappeared before I showed up...

[Hence why she left him out of the list. ... That, and she's sure "there was a dimensional copy of you back in the other world I was stuck in" is like, way too weird.]

[Well that's a surprise. Enough of a surprise that he looks dead at her again, almost missing a step. He was there? But he doesn't remember...]

...A version of me...

[Honestly, it's not as hard to believe as some people might think. He tries to keep an open mind about a lot of things. The more you close your mind to possibilities, the more likely you are to miss the answer to a problem.]

That makes sense. It'd also explain why I wouldn't notice any of you going missing...I wonder how many different versions of us are out there? And if we'll ever see any of them here...

[It's actually kind of interesting to think about, honestly. Though quantum physics might have something to say about it. He honestly looks pretty serious about the whole thing.]

Honestly? That's something I've been wondering about ever since I showed up here. There's a lot to think about it, you know?
How many worlds are out there, stealing people like this. How many worlds there are to steal from.
What's happening in all of them.

But what I keep thinking about most is... how different I probably am compared to the Jiro everyone remembers.

[It's all very existential and she's not fond of it. That kind of deep stuff's better left to music... not real life.]

Yeah...there are a few different multiverse theories out there, but most of them say there could be millions of versions of us. Like every time we make a choice, there's a version of us who takes the other option.

[It is a lot to think about. It could get pretty overwhelming, if you let it...but then she says the rest, and he doesn't just want to let that go, even if he doesn't exactly know what he's doing here.]

Jiro-san...

I wouldn't really know. The world I'm from, you and me--we aren't really friends. I mean, we don't interact much. So I can't tell you how different you are. Sorry, that's probably not reassuring...I just mean--I'm not going to try and compare you to someone you might not be. That's all.

[Hey, at least something he says gets her to smile. Just a little bit, but it's there.]

Don't worry - that's how it was for me, too. Back home, I always figured you wouldn't like hanging out with me too much, but...

[She gives a lazy half-shrug.]

I thought the same about some of the guys back there, too. Yet they kept looking for me to hang out with...

[It's surprised her, really, just who she ended up close with out of all of them.
And thinking on it now, it's actually kinda getting her to miss a couple of them already... even though she hasn't been gone longer than a week.]

... At any rate, if you don't know me well enough to say, then there's no time like the present.
May as well start hanging out more while we're here, right?

[Is that a smile? It might be. Good. He's relieved she took his words the way he meant them. After all, they weren't exactly the most eloquent. He's never been that kind of person. Although he looks a little puzzled at what she says...maybe a touch sheepish, too.]

Why would you think that?

[Aside from his entire general aura of untouchability, which honestly comes from not knowing how to just talk to people. It's easy with Midoriya, now. He's usually the one popping up, or talking to himself; it makes it easy for Todoroki to just add himself to the conversation. Even Iida has an easy manner; all he has to do is sit at the lunch table, and Iida ropes him into whatever they're discussing. Other people, though...other people are hard.

Doesn't mean he doesn't want to try, though, and despite his visible surprise at her suggestion, it's followed by a small smile of his own.]

I think I'd like that. I mean, I'm kind of boring, but it'd be nice.

You just seem like the kinda guy who doesn't wanna talk to people much.
I always felt it was better to just leave you alone, you know? If you wanted to talk to me, you would, like you do with Midoriya and Yaomomo.

[... She's just gonna come right out and say it, huh. Girl's got no qualms with being harsh.
But her face doesn't shift nor does her aura - assuming he can still see it - so at least it's clear she doesn't mean anything bad by it.

In fact, when her aura does shift, it's to a much brighter, warmer color. Because, well -]

I'm down to change that with you, though. I doubt you're as boring as you think.

It's not that I don't want to. I guess I'm just...fine listening more than I talk. And I'm never really sure what to say. I don't really play a lot of games, or watch a lot of TV, like some of the others, and it's hard to start a conversation with someone you don't know.

[Honestly, he finds her bluntness reassuring. He's not really good at interpreting peoples' meanings from context clues, maybe because he doesn't really have much context with which to interpret them. He's smart, and he's picking up a lot, but it's not like he's ever really spent a lot of time with people his own age.

So, maybe this won't be so terrible, after all. Her aura shifts again, and it's a pleasant shade that makes him feel a little warmer inside, too.]

Who knows? Maybe you'll find something interesting I missed.

You know... if you're worried about not having anything to talk about with everyone, I could probably get you into some of the music they like.
Not all of them are big on modern music, though... like with Yaomomo, you'd have better luck talking about orchestra pieces and the people who write'em.
But I could probably get you into stuff that most of the guys like, at least.

[Suggesting, yes, that she thinks she could get him to like it all, himself. Because talking about something someone else likes without liking it yourself can be kinda flat, you know?
She knows that. And she's got musical chops, obviously. Nothing to worry about, here.]

... Plus, that'd give us more to talk about, too.

You'd do that?

[It's still kind of surprising to him, that anyone would want to spend time with him. Especially after the way he was to the entire class for the first half of the year...but he's not going to say no. After all, they should stick together, right? And if she's willing to help him find things they might have in common, it'd be rude to turn her down.]

I don't really listen to much music, either. But if there are things you think I should listen to, I'd be interested. Maybe you could show me the kinds of music you like.

[After all, aren't they going to do this friends thing, too?]

Yeah. I mean, why not? I like listening to music, so it's not like I'd hate sharing it or something.
It'd be good for you to start getting some interests in pop culture anyway, right?
Since you said you don't watch TV and stuff, either.

[Said with a surprisingly blase half-shrug. Which is probably a good thing, from her.]

As for the music I like... how much rock have you listened to?
Doesn't matter what kind of rock, any's fine. I just wanna know what to start with.

[Bold of her to assume he's listened to ANY rock, of course -]

You're probably right. I feel like I'm kind of behind on everything...sometimes when the class gets going, it's like they're speaking an entirely different language.

[A really confusing language. As if socialization wasn't hard enough.]

Ah, none, really. Just whatever I've overheard when someone has the radio on in the common room. So I guess...wherever you want to start?

[He does like taiko...does that count for anything...]

Prisma Overflow

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why are you awake!!!

sadly work requires consciousness at dumb hours...

well it needs to stop that, that's silly

I agree!!

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