A Trip to Nagoya

The picture was hazy, like a fogged-up camera, as Sally walked forward. She was going home; it was late, and she was tired, but God would give her the strength to make it back. She had been praying for Mr. Donahue's safety after he had a heart attack and was going to the city hospital for heart surgery.

As she walked the dirt paths home, lit by electric lanterns, she heard the sound of glass cracking near Mr. and Mrs. Jacobson's property. Her defensive instinct kicks in as she remembers that they went to Florida to look into retirement homes. Sally feels a 5.56 barrel form in her right arm. She assumes the bullets loaded into the barrel are rubber-tipped as she approaches the house and fires a warning shot.

"COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP! THE SHERIFF WILL BE HERE SOON!" She shouts.

Three figures ran out of the window, which they smashed with bags of valaubles that gleamed under the moonlight. She opens fire.

She hears one scream over her burst of gunfire. A red liquid flows toward her as pained breathing comes from the place where she shot. She looks down the barrel in her right arm. The brass round reflects the full moon as she looks in horror, putting together what she just did.

The sheriff arrives and points a flashlight at the mess of gore her quirk left, the only surviving robber being a woman with feathers crawling toward their getaway car while breathing in pained sighs. Sally freezes up as the sheriff says words she doesn't want to understand. Her heart rate spikes, her head hurts, and tears form in her eyes.

She feels a need to scream, but her lungs don't get the message.

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Sally's alarm blares as she snaps out of her dream and rotates her head to the datebook she kept by her bed.
(Note: Text "{like this}" is spoken in English.)

"{Fuck....}" She groans, looking toward her costume. It was a nun's vestments that she and her mom customized a long while back so she could move properly in them without tripping over the skirt. Usually she was okay wearing it, given that it was her whole thing. The badass gun nun who scared crime away with the bellow of holy firepower.

But there was a catch. Today was the day she was dreading and that some in the class were somehow excited for: the provisional license exams. Hoge had been pretty transparent with the rule: You HAD to wear the hat AND the jacket somewhere on your costume. Some people were rich enough to get patches tailored onto their uniforms or to at least find alternatives. Sally's solution was simple, even if she thought she looked like a moron, as her habit was squooshed under the cap and the navy blue jacket clashed with the crisp black dress, white collar, and gleaming brass cross necklace she wore.

She devoured a cup of yogurt and a piece of peanut butter-covered toast as she looked up where Nagoya even was and how long the train ride was going to be. She yawned a bit in relief as she noticed the quick 40 minutes compared to the 2 hours of "fun" train jostling she expected. She packs an umbrella, some snacks, her wallet with her student ID, a steel water bottle, a phone charger, her phone, and a change of clothes in a messenger bag as she turns the lights in her apartment off and locks the door, heading to the elevator as her heeled boots hit the carpet.

The elevator stops the next floor down and reveals Christopher in his baggy overcoat and signature glasses, the uniform patch sewn onto his coat, and his hat replaced with the uniform hat. Even though Sally couldn't see his grin, she knew the snarky bastard thought she looked hilarious.

"You look like you're looking for insurgents to execute." Sally says as some other people get in the elevator.

"You look like you thought of how to incorporate your uniform into your costume in all of one night." Chris counters

Sally rolls her eyes and leans against the back of the elevator, her mostly bare left leg drawing some eyes.

"{..Why a nun?}" Christoper asks in English, trying to disarm the standoffish holy warrior.

"{Why do you care? What advantage does knowing about my costume give you?}"

"{Because it says a lot about you as a hero, and I already know how your gun-limbs work. We might have to work together at the provisional license exams, and I'm pretty sure we both want one.}" He says, taking his glasses off.

"{...Its not important.} Sally says dismissively.

"{You say that every time someone asks about your past or why you transferred. I don't think you're playing some angle; I just want to understand a little about how you think in case we have to fight on the same side.}"

"{Then ask Imai; I'm sure he's picked something up despite my best efforts.}"

Christopher pinched the bridge of his nose. "{What do you gain from acting toward everyone but Noah like this? Are you angry at us? The school? Rosethorn-Sensei?}"
"{How'd you even get accepted to this school? You seem eager to go home as soon as you can, unless Noah wants to study.}"

"{Because my charming personality and hazardous quirk made the school just fucking jump at the chance to bring me over from bumfuck Montana.}" Sally says with venomous sarcasm toward the boy.

"{If you were in my shoes... you'd do the same thing.}" She says as she walks with with crowd, her long skirt and trailing habit swaying with the lazy wind as she walks to the meetup spot at the train station.

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Sally's only respite in the long, long line-up, with its infinite chatter she could only mostly understand if she really forced herself and the chilly weather, was the fact Noah was in front of her in line. Everyone seemed to have shoehorned the uniform hat and crest onto their outfit, though Hoge's big hat over her helmet made her chuckle a bit, almost enough to make her feel a bit less self-conscious about her outfit.

At this point, she was already ready to go home, but Rosethorn had made it clear this was a big deal, and if she could get a provisional license, then that could prove her quirk's stability...

Noah sat gingerly in his angelic robes, his uniform jacket over them, as the line moved up ever-so-slowly. Sally had nothing she wanted to say, but she stayed by Noah as a rock of sanity through all of this shuffling. She, of course, got stares, but unlike Bobby, they were ones questioning who she was and why she was here.

Sally looks at the banners around her in Japanese. This was not where she belonged; she was more than a fish out of water, but a fish stranded on land.

But God doesn't make mistakes. It was his plan. Sally got sent here; she had prayed for grace, and this was her grace. A last chance to learn self-control and proper use of force so she can bring justice and order to the world.

She steeled herself for the trials ahead. If God was giving her a trial, she would put her all into using the deadly gift she was given.