The Lord is My Refuge, Part 2
Noah sits on the roof during lunch. He had made a bento for Sally, like usual, but she was nowhere to be seen. Given the fact she was dressed like she was going into witness protection he expected she wasn't just being held up by something. His wings felt heavy, and his compulsive side was quiet.
He hears someone clear their throat on his right side, looking up to see Nyoro Hoge looking over him.
"Abrams, you are aware your study partner has been living outside of her apartment for over a week at this point" She says bluntly
"Yes, but Chihiro is there to make sure she stays safe" he says with a gracefully forced smile
"Anyone can tell she is close to doing something drastic: Even the Doctor wanted me to try getting her to take an anti-anxiety drug by sneaking it into her food"
Noah purses his lips and looks away from the taller girl as she sits down near him: "..She would have noticed and stopped coming to school. Rosethorn has already been doing everything to keep her from going that far..."
"Precisely: so I'm wondering why you haven't fixed her mood yet"
"Hoge-san, please-"
"I still hold my duties as class representative and as much as McCathy-San is a stone around my neck, I'm not taking responsibility for the school failing her. Shiketsu does not need a runaway foreigner being tracked by her American secret police or worse"
"So please, you must have something in mind to fix her mood"
Noah looks at the skyline, his smiling failing: "I...."
"I wanted to try and have a sleepover: invite all of her friends to come by and show her how many people care about her. That she's not alone like she always... seems to think"
"But with everything I've overheard, it just.... doesn't seem like the time. I can't burden everyone with the obligation to show up when their own parents might want them out of the school, I had to insist on staying to my parents too"
Hoge looks along the skyline alongside the boy, watching the blue spring sky and the birds dance about.
"...Then maybe its time she gives up and goes home"
"If all that she gets by staying here is becoming more and more maddened, then I see no reason to keep up the expectation that she has to her usual stubborn self. She has a family to go home to after all"
Noah has to clamp his teeth down on his tongue as his compulsion starts speaking for him: He wanted to spill everything.
He wanted to say that Sally was facing Juvenile hall and a heavy dose quirk inhibitors at best if she went home without graduating, how she was carrying the hopes and dreams of her hometown with her, how he'd never be able to forgive himself for failing to help her, how he could never face her again if he told her to admit defeat. His expression twists in pain like the selfish thoughts were poisoning him.
Hoge's eyes narrowed as she looked at the boys attempt to keep himself quiet. His compulsion must be acting up, which meant she was close to something worth skipping out on a flight with Inigo.
"I know all about Sally's hometown rallying behind her, and I also happen to know she's here on probation. Popsy-Sensei was unclear on the nature of her crime but given the suspect I imagine it was a violent crime more akin to manslaughter"
Noah tightly shuts his lips. He couldn't betray her trust, even to Hoge.
"I don't want to drag you to the nurses office for damaging your tongue: My intention to help her so she..." Hoge starts before composing herself with a pause. She silences the part of her that saw some of her own determination in the hot-headed, loud-mouthed, impolite, and paranoid girl. They were nothing alike, and that was the end of it.
"...So she can be cleansed of her worst traits. Its my job to curtail those parts of her, and her showing up to school like a spy movie villain is not helping our classes case to appear as good students"
"...Y-You... promise you want to help her?" Noah says desperately, trying to hide the hand that is gripping his forehead to shut up his compulsion.
Hoge steels herself: the boys eyes were desperate for help he did not feel comfortable asking for directly. Getting involved in Sally's business already seemed like an unwelcome prospect that even Sally herself would reject.
If she was oil, Sally was the water she floated atop of.
She looks toward Noah, standing up and placing a hand on his shoulder: "I promise, on every deity which chooses to watch, Shinto, Budhist, or Christian: I will do whatever is needed to help Sally"
Noah had to believe in the Hoge that believed in him as he looked at her in the eyes.
"She...she is here because the people in her hometown, there... militia managed to bargain a manslaughter charge down to probation in the form of passing Shiketsu's hero program. Its why she tries to hard and tries to never show weakness, cause she came her assuming everyone would hate her..."
"She was trying to apprehend 3 robbers targeting a family friend's house without a license, and accidently had lethal ammunition loaded when she shot them. She killed two of the three, the last being used as a key witness in a charge of vigilantism from the State of Montana"
"...She was on her way home from a prayer vigil that night, and afterward was given a year of house arrest to study Japanese and have any chance of passing our classes"
He looks at Hoge, tears forming in his eyes.
"All thats waiting for her back home is juvenile hall at best.... and her personal hell if her worst predictions are right. I... I need you to promise me that you won't pass hasty judgement on her because she has no other recourse, no chance at an appeal, nothing to legally fight with. If she runs she'll be a fugitive and get caught in days and..."
"I don't want to leave her, I can't in her state!" he says, raising his voice before quickly stifling it down with wide eyed expression of terror.
Hoge kept the face of a stoicly angry statue as she processed everything: It made sense, it tracked with all her research into Sally in her efforts to better control the walking pile of trouble and noise. Yet it still burned deep knowing what Popsy said way back at the start of their internships was true, Noah is physcially incapable of lying to her after all. Her whole situation left a mix of scorn and regret with how much work she must have put in to just be able to speak Japanese at any understandable level, it explained her terrible handwriting, and it explained how stubborn she was. Of course she can't admit defeat and go home since the little rebel can't allow the government to win over her and dictate her life.
"I understand, this does not leave the two of us. Bite your tongue and leave if anyone else asks you about this Noah"
The boy nods with a downcast look: "I... I'll ask Mitsurugi-san, about hosting a sleepover there"
"She'll see through the gesture" Hoge says with a sharp look
"Doing nothing here would be worse than failing to reach her" He counters
"Even the Buddha extends an open hand to their enemy in their time of need" he says with a look of determination as he stands and lets his wings gather the midday sun. For a moment, a halo appears above his head made of golden light before he turns to go back down the stairs.
Hoge turns around to see her Ian and Inigo peering out from across the roof, causing her to frown in response: "...So how long have you two known about her?"
"I was briefed on her as a flight risk, but two American agents were in charge of keeping track of her and making she doesn't run off. Apparently her Militia buddies are suspects in receiving firearm shipments from Alaska" Ian says with a hard and serious tone.
"I wasn't aware of the exact circumstances of her crime until now"
Hoge looks toward Inigo as if trying to bore a hole into his soul, making the blonde boy clear his throat and try to not falter.
"...All I knew was that she was here for killing people on accident, and that her whole community threatened to riot with all their firepower if she was tried like the American feds wanted"
Hoge rises and approaches the boys: "You two can lie: nobody in the school hears about her past. Especially nobody outside of 2-D or any of the Chaebol princesses" she says with a commanding tone
"See you at the dojo, Coru" Inigo says with a good natured chuckle
"...I think I'll pass. She already gives me death stares every time I look her way" Ian says
"Its alright man, just let me handle things and I promise you'll be friends!" Inigo says. Ian raises an eyebrow while Hoge chuckles.
"Because Sally is understanding of the struggles of... what did she call you?" Hoge says
Ian sighs: "[Glowy], old internet slang for federal agents popularized by some crackpot from before the hundred years of chaos"
"Follow Inigo's lead then" Hoges says
"He's managed to avoid getting injured by Sally for the most part and I think she hates him as much as she hates me"
Inigo smiles widely: "Come on, after the festival? Were all good buddies now! She's a just got a few more tsun flags before we see the tender dere beneath"
Sally McCathy stares at the entrance to the school from the inside. She'd been doing so for minutes at this point since her usual hiding spot in one of the girls bathrooms got invaded by someone. She listens to old rock music with no godly message, but a message of defiance.
Of taking your future for yourself regardless of cost.
All of that fear could become rage. instead of being a mark of cowardice, it could be her greatest weapon. Large rounds start forming in her shoulder: 7.62x51 Hollow Point. Their not designed for defeating a dangerous foe, but for assuring that a poorly defended one would die. The hero they sent to watch the school would be killed agaonizingly slowly from it since the bullet wouldn't pass through him, but tumble and shred his internal organs. He'd be unsavable by anything besides a healing quirk. He had no ballistic vest she could or intuit so the school must think shes's not a threat anymore.
She could see him doubling over onto the ground where he would bleed out slowly. She could jam a soda can around the edge of arm cavities the silence the shot so only the classrooms on the floor she's on hears it.
She loses herself in the fantasy of murdering someone she'd never shared a word with, enough at that her arm was in shooting position and her feet squared to take the recoil.
"[HEY!]" A deep voiced japanese girl says
Sally snaps out of it, her head scarf wrapping around her shoulder as she rapidly balls up her right hand into a fist and tucks it under her arm. She takes a headphone with the other hand. Before her was the newly red-headed Orochi, sighing at her with her hands on her hips.
"Your ears hurt from going to the arcade too much?"
"N-No..." Sally sputters out, trying to gather herself
"Actually wanted to ask if you'd like to hit the arcade with me and Yui, I'll pay" Orochi says with smile, dropping the strict act.
Sally adjusts her heascar to properly cover everything and makes sure her sunglasses cover her eyes fully: "I...I don't know I.."
Orochi leans on the railing next to her, showing her interest in Sally's words as well a willingness to help her find the right words for it.
"[It was something you told me, way back when Feral first sent me to the recovery ward. That carrying burdens alone just makes it worse, to let other people know what your going through to make life more livable]" Orochi says in more polished English
"[I don't expect you to tell me everything: I just want to know if your okay, if the new headpiece and glasses are just a fashion thing]"
"[Its not like my own life has been all mansions and sunshine]"
Sally looks down at her shoes: Nobody but Chihiro would understand why she did it. They'd see a callous murderer, and nothing more. She shifts to anger: what could Orochi possibly know about hardship!? Her father was insanely wealthy, she had a family with every kind of connection you could want, she lives a goddamn mansion! And she had the gall to say could relate to her?
Her rabbit hole of angry thoughts is interupted by Orochi getting closer and looking over her. "[Sally, I'll wait for you by the doors after school. Your choice what to do, I'll pay for anything within reason"
"...Those.. places, where you can just destroy junk" Sally says in Japanese
"Yeah?"
"I want to go to one after school. Buy one of thoset target practice dummies and bring it with you"
Orochi nods: "See ya then!" she says with a smile toward Sally, sitting down by her.
Sally looks confused, didn't she have no reason to stick around her?
"Do you..."
"We've still got 10 minutes before classes: wanted to know your strategy for the 2nd level on the Exterminator light gun cabinet. The planes keep getting me"
Sally manages a weak laugh: "Yeah! You've got paper I can draw on?"
Ian Takenaka feels his head pounding as he gets ready to go through a test of his quirk: the class distrusted him and their was no better trust fall than to show the limits of what he can do.
"ALRIGHT! Ladies and Gentleman! We've got the gym all to ourselves thanks to our lovely ROSETHORN SENSEI!" Inigo says as some of the class cheers like the train man, the American man, and the red-headed Atsushi girl. The four Chaebol princesses tap on their phones and gossip, dragged over to the activity field by their respective boyfriends. The red-eyed samurai and the bug ninja sit together and watch him carefully and unfailingly.
The worst glare in the room was Sally McCathy, having been dragged to the event all but physcically by Abrams. He could see her growling, trying and failing to fully hide the gesture. Rosethorn waves to everyone with a smile that lit up the room and thankfully took the glares off of him.
"I know Takenaka-san is new, so as a final bit of the day Myoga, Hoge, and Abram's suggested a showcase of his quirk. As such! He will be timed on his ability to escort a target dummy through a barrage of tennis balls from the old ball thrower set at the maximum settings!" Rosethorn says, a weariness behind the cheer in her voice.
The speedster tenses his body up, then takes a deep breath: He's done tests like this a thousand times over.
But the point wasn't to pass this one.
He rockets forward, knocking over the attacker mannequin holding its victim while moving at speeds more akin to a sports car than a human. The tennis balls stick to him as he sprints to the end of huge mat. The first one hits him hard is one that hits his left shoulder and almost throws him off balance while another one manages to hit him square in the nose. Its nothing to focus on what was going to hit him: he was lucky enough that time slowed enough for him to understand where exactly he was going while at top speed. He could dodge all of these if he wanted and show up the whole class, but it would make this demo completely pointless to the real goal of putting Miss Domestic Terrorist less on edge.
He did reconsider not just beating the test when he took a high-velocity tennis ball to the stomach, but the mat was so close that in his time it would only be about 10 seconds before he reached the sensor which would stop the clock. He crashes over the line, laying the rescue mannequin down as the buzzer sounds and he catches his breath. The cheers help, especially Inigo whooping like a madman along with Bobby and Hifume at his time. The exact number didn't matter, all that mattered was one reaction.
Sally tries to disguise her laughter, and resist the urge to clap at the performance: a glowy didn't even deserve mocking praise. He might have gotten through 2 Kilometers in less then minute: 34 seconds to be exact, but if that was her in place of the tennis ball machine she could have picked him up with a magnet. So long as she stuck to real rounds instead of sub-sonic ones she'd be fine.
The boy stands up and looks at her for a moment, as if he wanted her eyes specifically. His shaggy blonde hair was a mess as he took deep, slow breaths and ripped the tennis balls off of his body and gym uniform. She tried to muster her usual death glare, but a sound broke her concentration.
Noah laughed and cheered for him, his wings spread adn the rooms light centered on him like a stage play: "He's got spirit at least, right Sally-chan?"
Sally looks at Ian and back to her boyfriend with a good natured smile: "Y-Yeah! I.. guess he's got limits like everyone else..."
Noah wraps a wing around her shoulder: "S-Speaking of which, would you mind if Noah skips out on the arcade invitation?"
Sally cocks her head as the rest of the class chats, or sees about heading home: "Are your parents worried you being enrolled here again?"
He shakes his head: "No, I just need to run some errands: Noah loves playing games with you and Noah promises we'll make up the time on another day!" he says with bright smile.
"Alright, alright, I guess~" Sally says cute, teasing tone
Rosethorn, Inigo, Ian, Hoge, and Noah all stay to clean up the test: Sora floating down from the rafters while catching his breath, his hood drooping slightly in exhaustion.
"Those lights are way heavier than you said they would be Myoga"
"Hey, you did great though! Right Coru-chan?" Inigo says
"Indeed: me and Chihiro both saw Sally soften her gaze. Tonights plan has a lower chance of failiure" Hoge says
"N-Noah is really thankful for your help but please, I can handle the rest of the clean-up"
Rosethorn catches her breath after rolling the last mat section up: "You know the rules Abrams-san, unless your with a club your supposed to be with someone else at all times, even heading home"
"Besides, the principal would be very, very angry with us if we didn't get this done soon"
"You got permission to use the room, right?" Ian says as he gets ready to move the tennis ball machine back into the storage room.
"..Mostly" The red haired sensei says
"Its alright Sensei, we can handle the rest if you need to get moving" Inigo says with a grateful look and smile
She smiles as she brushes her hair behind her ears: "Alright, but no wandering off alone and everything gets packed up as soon as possible!" she says with a playful tone as she walks off, her red ponytail bouncing with every quick step.
The four students work quickly, Gigan helping to gather up the long mats and get them in the storage room while Hoge, Sora, and Noah clean the tennis balls of adhesive. While they work, they plan, Inigo taking a more serious tone:
"Coru-chan: Chihiro and Yui are already working on food and decorating, right?" Inigo asks
"Yes: we'll need to grab some things pre-made because Chihiro had several broken appliances that needed to be replaced" Hoge answers
"Noah: we've got Sally out of the picture for how many hours?" Inigo asks
"Usually two if she has the money and doesn't get too irritated with having to share" Noah answers
"Got it: Orochi solves both of those" Inigo says with a slowly forming smile
"Takenaka-san: she'll be harmless now: except for her words. She can throw out burns with the best of them if she's in the right kind of bad mood"
"...I hope your right. Will she notice if I wear a ballistic vest?" the boy asks nervously
"Yes" Hoge says curtly
"And she will take offense to it by using armor piercing bullets: Trust Inigo's work on this front"
Ian sighs, seeming to brace himself to take a rubber bullet regardless.
"...And I got confirmation, everyone can make it" Inigo says, letting himself smile
"No peeping adventures, Myoga-san" Hoge says with a withering look
"We want Sally to feel safe and I'm sure having me around will not help her relax in any sense: you will stay in your sleeping area with all the boys. The only one with special permission is Noah incase he wants to see Sally before she goes to bed"
"I will be performing sweeps of the area, and Rosethorn-sensei will be as well. Do not test me and especially not Sally tonight. I can only do so much to stop bullets"
Inigo smiles awkwardly: "Ok, ok...."
"Hoge-san was already speaking to about your... antics. Seriously: the last thing we need is a war between the boys and the girls that messes Mituragi's Dojo and makes a scene" Ian says
"Cause it will bring eyes we don't want: not just reporters"
Inigo nods, taking his serious face for a moment: "We got this... we got this" he says to himself as the group finishes up cleaning the tennis balls.
Sally and Orochi walk back to the dojo from the nearest train station after coming thousands of points within the record on the arcades House of the Dead machine. While Orochi had recovered from the frustration of getting so close, yet so far away, Sally was still fuming. Beating on a dummy and a bunch of scrap electronics with a metal pipe didn't seem to make her any less angry either, but it at least tired her out.
"We messed 1 or 2 zombies during the first level, outside the mansion while you were on your phone" Sally says
"Just another reason to come back, right?" Orochi says, a slight grin on her face as she tried to wind Sally down.
"No fun in beating a score that good without a story to it anyways"
Sally gives her a side eye, and sighs like a red-hot engine puffing out steam: "I guess I'm just running out of patience" she growls as she speeds ahead.
Orochi's phone lights up. For a moment her face is one of shock and worry before she recovers her nerve and runs to catch up: "Sally-chan, come on: your gonna get mud and dirt all over Mitsurigu's floor if you barge in like that! She won't appreciate dirty mats!"
"[I know she's already tired of me, but were both too lonely to tell the other to fuck off]" Sally says like she was tearing an old bandage off.
"[I'm a walking disaster, I just make messes and cause trouble and drag people into it]"
"[Sally just... walk a bit slower!] Orochi says loudly enough to get the birds to fly off.
"[We planned a thing for you tonight! If you don't show up then... then the whole class is going to assume theirs no unity left!]"
Orochi gathers her words carefully, trying to string together her english enough to get through to Sally: "[Wheather anyone in 2-D likes it or not, your one of us. As things stands, we either prove to those camera's we're hero matieral or we transfer out!]"
"[And I mean we, one crack and you can figure out how it ends right?"
Sally grits her teeth: her problem had spread like a disease at this point. Hoge's parents were enough proof that Orochi was right: Even Noah's parents were having doubts and their son was as close to being an angel as a human could get. Her eyes look toward the barrel on her right arm to see it had loaded itself with a 7.62 FMJ. She couldn't stop shaking as her mind spiralled into its depths of self-doubt.
She was shocked backed to reality by a pain response: Orochi had laid a finger on her, a very light dose of her poison burning through her arm. The taller girl stood tall, her read hair against the autumn sky as the wind casued it to flutter in the wind: "You can't carry it all alone, Sally-chan"
"I can't... tell you what you need to carry though... you'd-"
"It don't need to know then: You helped me the same way and I'd never told you a thing a about it"
"Mitsurugi, Abrams, even that bastard Takanaka worked themselves to the bone to do something for you: don't overthink things"
Sally manages a nod as she regains control of her arm and knocks the deformed round loose with a hard slap to the top of shoulder: "Then... then lets try and not be fashionably late"
The main event of the evening was on Chihiro's old CRT TV set up in the main hall of the Dojo. Almost the whole class who had stayed arrived plus a certain edgy friend of Inigos, even the Korean hivemind came despite their whispering about the run down, "ghetto" building. The names of old action movies, mostly American ones, were attachted to a roullette wheel.
Sally sports a big smile as she looks over the selection:
"Wow! They even got the Van Dam ones! Martial arts aren't usually my thing but Bloodgame is classic!"
"Bl-Bloodgame?! It sounds... violent and.. exciting!" Noah says with a nervous laugh
On the other end of the room, Hoge leans against a wall and nibbles at a "slider", some kind of small cheeseburger. Her nose wrankles at the smell of grease and cheese as her eyes go back to the table of food Chihiro had made: All made to Sally's taste of high calories and minimal nutrition. Joon leans next to her, swigging down a can of soda.
"I've gotta stop letting Inigo plan shit like this" He says
Hoge sighs, and shakes her head: "I realize McCathy is not your problem, but given this is actually working I have to ask you let him cook"
"So whats gonna fix that crazy bitch is watching a bunch of old-as-shit movies about guys killing people while we all clog our arteries?"
"Yes" Hoge says as she wrankles her nose as Chihiro comes out of the kitchen with another basket of heavily salted potato fries.
"And try to keep things light: I arranged for Rosethorn to come join us later to keep things under control incase Bobby tries making this like the 4th of July Party I was forced to deal with"
"Shit he's got beer?" The boy asks
"Last time I only let them get away with it because Orochi was kind of enough to cover the repairs on the window and hole in the wall. If this turns into a drunken mess..."
Joon looks toward Kaylee as she ducks under a doorway while chatting with Tame: "...Look, I think we have enough people here who can probably take watered down beer and control themselves-"
He backs down as Hoge stares him down.
"I am doing this wholy so Sally doesn't make us look even worse and to settle her insane grudge with Ian. Do not test my patience tonight"
Joon nods and takes a plate of fries as Hifumi, Bobby, and Inigo drag out as many coushions as they in preperation for the movie marathon. Theirs a knock on the door, causing Hoge to perk up as she strides over to answer it. She's met with a sight that leaves her silent as she see's Popsy cleaned up(as much as the woman can usually get) carrying a bag with "ADULT SNACKS" written in english on the side with a case of beer and a pack of smokes.
"Where is Rosethron?" Hoge asks politely
"She got a sudden call, and asked me to fill in for supervising!" She says as she puts a lime green sunvisor with SUPER written on it appears above her eyes.
She see's Ian climbing the steps behind the woman: "Come in and please be on your best behaivor" Hoge says to the woman, who kicks her sandals off and musters her cheer to greet 2-D. Ian and Hoge meanwhile share a look of worry.
"I brought a peace offering with me incase things get bad" Ian says as he tucks his hair behind his ears.
"Were keeping the mood light, as a reminder. No talk of you-know-who or Ashleighs sister. Imai has dealt with enough about her"
"Aye Aye" Ian says as he steps inside, and takes his shoes off. Hoge readies herself to tackle Sally incase this was a terrible idea after all.
The dojo is dead silent for a moment as the video file for Grieve-Hard buffers, Sally's eyes sizing up Ian. The room is on edge with all of 2-D knowing to avoid setting the gun nun off when she's adopted a shooting posture and angles her eyebrows down. Bobby stands close as his girldfriends flees to the back of the room with the rest of the hivemind, Noah at his side trying to find words to break the ice. Tame, Yui, and Chihiro stand near the kitchen with tense looks as Popsy slowly approaches Sally, making loud squishing noises as she mock sneaks up to the girl.
"Want me to give him a patdown Chief?" The woman says in a gruff cop voice as Sally snarls.
"No, I just want him gone"
"Sally, come on: He's one of us now!" Inigo says as he approaches, moving in such a way to avoid Hoge keeping him back: the girl doesn't try it though.
"And todays event after school proved he's not some mind reading surveillance bot, right?"
The crowd mumbles in agreement, quieting down as Sally's right arm loads a round and she balls the corresponding up to stop it from firing: "So what?! Feds deserve a bullet to the brain and I'm not giving ground on that!"
"Am I really a fed if I don't have mission!?" Ian says with an exasperated tone as he hands Sally a packet of papers
Sally reaches out and thumbs through them hesitantly: "...'Stand by for orders. Maintain holding pattern'. That all they say for months"
"So what, you can fabricate orders-"
"I can also steal a verfication stamp? That changes every month down to the material composition?" Ian says with a severe look to match Sally's
"He's right Chief, I think our man might not be seeling us bullshit after all..." Popsy says with a police hat and sunglasses made of balloons on her head.
Sally clears her throat to avoid laughing at her clown of teacher, trying to maintain a scary face: "F-Fine, but you could have secret orders! Glowies are always watching, doesn't matter what their ordered to do! And when their done watching they move in to take the things that make life worth living in the first place!"
"Freedom, Love, Heirlooms, and the rights of the sovereign citizen are all he really wants!" Sally says to the rest of crowd, getting only a few unintellgable mumbles from them.
Ian keep looking at Sally, mustering courage he has left to move a step closer to her: "All I want to make sure everyone gets through all of this unharmed in as many senses of the word as possible"
"I can think of a lot things that deserve your rage more than me"
Sally can feel everyone looking at her as she runs out of reasonable things, even by her paranoid standards. The thought crosses her mind of ending this all with a Gunshot into the floor, to scare everyone away so nobody can see her falter.
She closes her eyes, and feels something put into her hand, then a bit of debris stuffed down her arm barrel. Except the clear blast doesn't leave a hole in the tatami mats, but rather sets off party popper. The tension seems to recede a bit as people laugh and look at Sally and Ian's with less dread.
"Lets have explosive night in the fun way, right Sally-Chan?" Popsy says
Sally looks at Ian's dead serious face, and scans the room again. She chuckles and relaxes her shoulders, running her left hand through her hair. She fails to hide her own smile as she remember seeing him get pelted with sticky balls: "F-Fine, I guess you can stay. Tame, you got the charge for jamming mode?"
The android cocks her head: "Are you refferring to the use of my speakers or my electronic warfare measures?"
"The thing that blocks signals getting out: Nobody has anywhere to be tonight, right?"
The guests nod in agreement as Tame's blinks a few times: "Jamming mode active. If you must make a phone call please step outside" She says, Sally nodding thankfully toward her.
"Now any tricks he's playing are beaten!" Sally proclaims
"You got me, the jig is up" Ian says, letting himself put on a smile as he walks over to get some food.
Hoge shakes her head to refocus as she processes the absurd exchange that took place before her, while Inigo is already showering Popsy in compliments for her timely and heroic intervention to save the whole sleepover.
Noah had always had an aversion to overt violence, as his compulsive side always wanted to fly into the screen and tell everyone to stop fighting or stop things with blinding light. As he watched the barrage of movies about sweaty musculer men fighting a variety of terrorists, criminals, and cultists he had to wonder why Sally didn't seek out men like the ones in the movies she was so fond of. He was the opposite of them, yet Sally still cuddles up to him and her head atop his while one his wings acted as a blanket for her.
He looked away from the screen for a moment as a plane civilians crashes into a runway to save himself the pain of processing the visual. Inigo was sitting with Chris and riffing on the movie a bit while a boy he didn't recognize with a mean look and black hair sat by Inigo and seemed upset about something. Kaylee and Chihiro are both gripped by the plot about an airport being hijacked on Christmas eve and one Los Angeles Cop being the only one able to save the day. Tame cheerfully leans on a wall by Hoge and Orochi, the former seeming lost in her own thoughts and the latter pleasently enjoying the vintage movies. Hoge must find all of these so irritating to watch and put up a nice face for Sally.
He looks around, noticing the rest of the class seems to enjoy the cultural exchange. This wasn't a bad idea that everyone hated and would blame him for wasting a night of studying time.
Not at all he says, attempting to lie to himself.
Sally points toward the screen: "These steam tunnels were always so cool to me! I never actually went into in airport before I came to Japan so I just figured thats where all the plane parts were kept"
"You never went to Florida or California on vacation?" Noah asks
"Nope, never in the budget to visit plus I'd need wear permits over my clothes if ever went to California"
"W-Why? They never seceded so they can't discriminate quirks like that..."
"Legally speaking, I'm an assault weapon to the ATF. California is a shithole with super strict gun laws, so I'd have to walk around with a big firearms permit on my back and on my front to not get detained along with my parents"
"How are you classified as an object to them? You've disputed that at least?" Noah asks with a concerned tone.
"Maybe if I ever won the lottery... Dad tried finding a lawyer who would even take a federal case like that and he wanted 100 an hour. Its the same for my mom since she's a registered ammunition factory and has to pay extra in taxes for a liscence to operate her own quirk"
"Noah thinks its absurb anyone could be seen as just an object, especially in a court of law"
"Well thats what the feds see us as: piggie banks of taxes that they can break open when they want to skim something off the top" Sally says with a small snarl directed at the incompetent cops on the screen.
Noah has to look away as he sees a janitor draw a machine gun from a tool box as he hears Bobby:
"So, how did you transfer schools if your legally considered a gun?"
"I couldn't understand alot of it but that the Japanese government needed a mold of my arm and leg barrels as insurance against me, I guess" Sally says, her tone a combination of whimsy and frustration.
Chihiro looks Noah's way: "Should I be registering my swords with the government as well? I want to avoid any troublesome visitors if possible"
"N-No, Noah's not an expert but Noah believes that your weapons are allowed to be held while you either possess some kind of hero license or are in Shiketsu's hero program"
"So we'll have to fill out a bunch of paperwork when we graduate and get our full liscences?" Hifumi asks
"No" Hoge and Chris say in near-unison, Hoge getting continuing on.
"Their should be no extra paperwork due to the since all of our equipment can be traced back to approved workshops, and thus its functions known to any hero association representives without needing to inspect it by hand unless their is a problem"
Chihiro nods as she looks back up at the screen in time the soldiers surround the church the bad guys were in, the non-student guest piping up and pointing to the tape on their magazines: "Knew these were dirty soldiers: those aren't even real bullets"
Sally glares back at him: "Don't spoil it!"
"It was obvious given how passive they've been that their dirty Sally. The U.S Army always charges in and gets humbled in these kind of movies" Joon continues as Inigo lets out a frustrated sigh.
"Just shut up edgelord!" Sally snarls back at him, causing a dam to break.
"You've been blabbering about the guns the guys in these movies are using for hours and you get pissed off at me for talking about the plot? Its not hard to see through, everyone probably came to the same conclusion!"
Sally pauses the movie and hardens her glare, only to get distracted by Inigo: "Theres no reason to get mad about it, its still fun to watch after all"
"Yeah" Yui says
"Think I saw this a long time ago too, someone was testing out some old tape player at a junk market. Didn't know much english at the time though so I had no idea what they were saying"
"Greive-hard 2 is a classic for a reason, I'm honestly more excited for With a Vengance though" Bobby says
"Really!? At least its not as bad 4 or 5 but 2 is like the peak of the franchise!" Sally says in a gentle voice
"I'd only seen the first one before but so far I still like that one best" Chris says in a dry tone.
"Its not as over-the-top as this: One man isn't gonna stop all of this happening but the first is just 6 guys with a plan and good weapons. I can buy into that"
Sally rolls her eyes: "Well when we get to the Van Dam then you'll be dissapointed cause he does alot of crazy shit"
She hits the play button as everyone focuses back in on the conspiracy unfoldding, Joon's shit-eating grin earning Sally's silent Ire for the rest of the movie.
Nyoro Hoge had long mastered the art of sneaking around her classmates, and most other people for that matter. Her quirk was blurring her slightly owing to her frustration with the whole sleepover. Managing the girls side of things was by far the harder job owing to the sheer amount of them combined with some residual grudges. The Korean hivemind had set up an indapendent city-state of a pillow fort by the bathroom to make sure they could get their ludicrously long beauty routines out of the way while everyone waited around just wanting to brush their teeth and do whatever night-time preperations they needed. The result was almost half the total class getting their things mixed around and several flaring tempers. For once, Sally wasn't the one having a rage-induced episode as she spent the whole aganozing time finding a quiet place to pray with Noah.
Hoge walks quietly as she checks her phone, giving a senisble chuckle to some of the photos from the boys side. It was nice seeing Hiro smile after all he'd been through and Inigo's own smile always made her want to return it. She shakes her head as she reads the actual message: an invitation to meet and discuss how things went.
The two meet in a small tea room with a good view of the moon as it hangs above the sky. Hoge sits pidgeon toed across from Inigo in her simple black pajamas.
"Its good you wanted to meet: I received an alarming document from Rosethorn-Sensei. Karaburan is planning to put is in dorms to avoid further issues of security"
Inigo has a mixed look: "...That means everyone will be forced to share rooms, right?"
Hoge nods: "Yes, the assignments are not decided yet nor is the way they will be chosen decided"
"..Any chance their-" Inigo starts with a rakish smile.
"No: they will be seperated by gender, thankfully" Hoge says with a sigh.
"You seriously beleive that Karaburan would allow that knowing how many in our class have somekind of romantic partner? It would be a further blow to the schools reputation if the hero program became seen as a hook-up program for powerful quirk users"
"Who would even know?" Inigo says
"All we'd have to keep it like we usually do" He says with a suave tone
"Because you and Sally are just the very pillars of discretion" Hoge says, a smile dancing on her lips.
"We can get better..." the boy says, trailing off with a chuckle
His mood shifts to a more contemplative one: "...Noah had the right idea doing this then: It'll help Sally at least trust the other girls"
Hoge rubs her eyes and puts her glasses on: "...I think some bridges will simply stay burned"
"Sally-Chan has something against all 4 of the Korean girls, and she wouldn't even trust her toothpaste to me"
"Were we by some horrible fate put in the same dorm I would not be able to come to a peaceful compromise on her habits"
"You'll have to tell the juicy deets later, don't wanna worry the others staying out on our walks for too long, right?"
Hoge nods as her blonde boyfriend continues: "Boys side was a blast! Even Ian seemed to relax alot around us. I'm kinda excited to see who I end up!"
The girl giggles: "And Noah-Chan?"
"I don't think he's that big into violent movies like Sally is... a bit of a miscalcuation on my part"
"He went off to pray for 30 minutes on his own before Sally came and got him. Missed a damn good game a of blackjack too"
Hoge nods: "...He's nervous about me and Sally sleeping in the same space again. She most likely texted him every morning during our internship about everything about me that annoyed her"
"He'll cheer up when he wakes up tommorow and sees nothing has gone wrong."
"She never shot at you or anything! Is he worried Sally might try and hurt you while she has the chance? I think her sensible chance to do that during the party passed a long time ago"
"Are you asking to be in her sights?" Hoge says
"Look, you get used to it, she has her tsun side and here dere side! Plus those photos I snuck of back when she first transferred..."
"Are destroyed, correct?" Hoge says in mock curiosity.
"...Sure, mostly. Their nothing dirty, just some shots of her from the beach from last summer"
"Please, if she's going to be in closer proximity to you than try and void actively angering her. I doubt people want to hear frequent gunshots in the dorms" she says in mock discipline.
"Fine, fine, I guess you'll have to come over sometime and search for them then~" Inigo says with a big smile.
Sally sneaks around the dojo at night, trying to avoid the creaky floorboards despite her exhaustion. Her brain felt fried like an egg after watching so many movies and eating so much. At the same time, she did feel better without a doubt: Even with the glowie in their midst, he was trying very hard to befriend her and she had to admit her paranoia was running rampant. Even now she still overanalyzes his expressions from earlier and tries to find something to latch onto against her better side that recognizes that tolerating him is the Godly thing to do. Paul and Silas didn't slay the guards of their prison, so she would keep the wrathful side of her at bay until it had cause to hold its illusory grudge.
She sees Inigo getting some water from the sink and approaches him as quietly as she can:. she taps him on the shoulder and sees him grit his teeth with wide eyes as if he got jumpscared.
"Sorry..." Sally says in an exhausted whisper
"Its alright Sally-chan!" he says back, adopting a cheerful demeanor.
"I.. I actually wanted to thank you, for being behind all of this"
"Noah said you were really worried about me and helped him pull this off on short notice..."
She pauses before slipping into English: "[He also said you and Hoge know]"
Inigo pauses for a quiet millisecond: "[I... uhm...]"
He grips the bridge of his nose, taking a sigh as he enters a more serious mindset:
"Things are going to be rough from here on out"
"Should I even ask why? Or is it the usual stuff?" Sally says frowning at the ground.
"Its all of that intersecting while we have 2nd year shit to do"
"...I'm sorry about looking into you, by the way" Inigo says with sad inflection.
"It pisses me off but I expected it at least. Hoge can hate me as much as she wants by the way, I don't care about her. Its more that she actually forced it out of Poor Noah that pisses me off" Sally says as her fingers curl into fists.
"Everyone will know at some point I just... I just..."
"You don't want it to define you" Inigo says.
"[Yeah]" Sally says
"I'm not the crazy vigilante girl from Montana, and I can control my quirk. But that one mistake is all people will see me as when that becomes common knowledge"
"...What am I to you, Inigo?"
The boy takes a deep breath, drawing out a friendly smile: "Your an angel"
"Sometimes avenging, sometimes guarding, but your always doing putting 110 percent into things"
He sees a smile dance Sally's lips before she speaks: "Dumbass, Noah's an angel. I'm just his apostle, trying to learn from his examples and words so I can be better"
"...I still can't forgive Hoge. I've prayed and prayed and prayed but seeing her slink off like that last year during the maze exam makes me want to snap"
"A part of me still hates you too. Even now with your big, fake smiles helping me I feel like I owe you and-"
"[You being happy is enough]" he says firmly in english, sipping his water afterward.
"[Ignoring everything else you've helped with, I like seeing you smile and laugh. I like seeing everyone be able to smile and laugh without a care in the world!]" he says a bit louder than he intended to.
His japanese accent starts to break his usual bad impression of a chicago mobster when he speaks english: "[But if the world were like that, then we wouldn't need heroes. heroes sacrafice their smiles and put on a performance to let other people smile: I've seen enough frowning in my life to not want to cause it]"
Sally musters up her best, most radiant smile: "[Then lets give everyone more reasons to smile]"
Inigo returns his own smile as the two go to their seperate sides of the dojo, Sally trying to fight the smile off her face and failing.
Agent Waver sits in a surveillance van and sighs in frustration. The whole night wasted because of one joke the android took seriously. He already knew that Sally had evil eyes for the Enforcer, and he got nothing else even after messing with the receiver and trying 8 differant spots. If he could prove the whole class was in on vigilantism, then he would get a commendation for sure. A corner office back in Washington, a cute secretary, a whole department under him...
He frowns as reality comes crashing through his dream in the form of a knock on the door. Its in the code that Law used, so he opens it up to see him in street clothes, carrying a bag of fast food and two chocolate shakes in a cardboard cupholder.
"[Figured you wouldn't take a break to eat]" the senior agent says, stepping into the cramped, warm space lit only by the glow of digital interfaces.
Waver takes his food and eats some fries: "[McCathy is guilty of something and you know it]"
"[The ambassador isn't our boss]" Law reminds him
"[Yeah: he's above them]"
"[I don't want to be sorting mail and washing cars for the rest of my career: and if we can prove the whole class is in on this? It'd make international headlines!]" Waver says excitedly
"[...And ruin Shiketsu]"
"[Who are we to say their on the path of villainy anyways?]" Law asks, his voice sounding gruffer
"[Our justice systems are fallable, same with our investigative methods]"
"[You sat out here all night hoping to hear some admission of guilt when you were probably just going to get the audio of a bunch of teens having a sleepover]"
"[As if they could go without bring it up! Whatever tensions they have are going to explode soon anyways!]" He says as he finds an intercepted message from the school confirming their choice to house the students in dorms for the safety of everyone.
"[If I had gotten something... It'd be a pure confession. The ambassador would be off our back and the both of us would finally be getting out of that shitty apartment]"
"[Your working too hard for this]" Law says as he chews a bite from his double cheeseburger.
"[When your given a task like this, they bait a hook so you do whatever you can to earn the bait. Then they hold what you did to succeed over you for for your whole career]"
"[...Your speaking from experiance?]" Waver asks
Law nods: "[Its not something I can speak on unless I get clearance for it. Just please, take a step back and consider why were being pushed so hard]"
"[...And even if these kids are guilty, what are they guilty of?]"
Waver baulks: "[Are kidding me? Its a basically a laundry list of-]"
"[With what motive?]"
Waver looks away: "[Vigilatnism is a crime no matter how you try and argue about it, Law]"
Law nods: "[Their guilty of wanting to do something about their situation. Of wanting to save the world before their ready and getting by on luck and quick wits]"
"[Even Sandatsu.... the kid probably still has some idea that he's ultimately saving the world through his work]"
Waver growls: "[He's a mass murderer, international criminal, and child murderer]"
"[If McCathy blows his head off then were saved the trouble of hauling him in]"
Law looks away from his colleauge. He had a point there, one he couldn't fight with a reasonable argument. But at the same time, from what they could dig up on Sandatsu he was a victim of a curse of a quirk and was treated like an experimental weapon most of his life. He was used, abused, and fought back when he had enough. Sally might end up the same way if she's just seen as weapon, a kid who gets used by everyone around her because she turns away from the law out of distrust for it. She was forced to take a year off of school and ednure house arrest all while cramming in as much Japanese as she could before she could even take step the first step to freedom.
Others in the class matched this profile: Nyoro Hoge may have perfect grades but has lived her life with a quirk that denied her the ability to socialize with other normally and parents who dismiss her dream as a stupid fantasy. Atsushi Orochi is a walking biohazard that can't touch another person because of a mutant quirk and fell in with criminals for her trouble. Even Kyoda Hiro has almost died twice despite the alleged protection of being in an urban center, even losing his quirk after staying on the straight and narrow.
At least half the class could be profiled as villains with reasons for snubbing the law and carving their own way through life.
"[Law: If we catch Sally, where is she going to be held?]" Waver asks
"[...Juvie, but she won't stay clean after she loses 2-D. She won't have any reason to be good anymore]"
"[She'll break out, and either be forced into villainy to survive or start hunting down government agents as she pleases]"
The two look at their food somberly. Waver trying to snap out of as he can tell Law got him to think like him.
If he was Sally, Mitsurugi, Hoge, Sagara... he'd ignore the law too.