Starry Skies (Yamata, Overdose)

Orochi’s purple eyes stared into the decaying orange rays of the setting sun. She held herself against the rail guard of some road. A lonely place. A place perfect for ambushing someone, but she had no worries.

Orochi knew no petty criminal or villain was crazy enough to fight her, and even if Sandatsu and his cronies dared to appear before her, she would think of something.

The hydras and she stared into the horizon. Darkness would soon fall, and the lights of Kyoto would light up to chase off the darkness.

Orochi remembered when she was younger. She was always eager to explore and try new things. Her friends followed her, and they looked at the setting sun many times, however, it felt so lonely to stare at the twilight now.

She felt alone. If Orochi called for a friend, be they Yui, Chris, Inigo, or Chihiro, they would follow her and keep her company, but to call them felt wrong now. They were her friends, but Orochi felt like they were distant.

There were many reasons for that, Orochi could come up with many excuses, but none of those reasons and excuses could hide the truth. She was forced to grow years, mentally and physically, in the span of a few minutes.

She was taller than she was before, her hair was tainted in red, and her mind was not the same. She grew too much in so little time. It was hard to talk to others without them feeling as if she patronized them.

It was hard for them to understand she was not the same, even those close to her failed to see the more nuanced changes.

Orochi didn’t blame them. She did what she had to survive, and now had to endure the consequences, but the way their friendships changed hurt her.

One of the hydras rubbed its body against her face to cheer her up.

Orochi patted its head. She smiled at the setting sun, her lips cracked open, only to heal itself right after. She took solace that some understood her.

Her parents were quick on the uptake, they understood her changes almost immediately, only beaten by her older and younger sisters respectively. Her friends would come around eventually.

“Here you are. People were starting to get worried when you vanished after school.” Hiro called her from behind. One of her hydra turned to stare him in the eyes.

“I just wanted a breathing room. Everyone is so suffocated in that classroom, my presence would only strangle them further.” Orochi said with a soft voice, unlike the deeper one she used in her day-to-day life.

In a way, she rarely used that soft voice, so used to her deeper one. As a proper Japanese heir, she was told that the tone of words and the way they were spoken had great meaning and importance. That’s why she talked with such a deeper voice.

A way to spite her strict upbringing. It was how Orochi showed she was not the perfect little girl of the Atsushi, just another girl-heir in the politics of high society.

Orochi was tired of using that voice, just today, she wanted to be “freer”.

“That’s not how it is, Orochi. You know it, everyone is… coping with what is happening.” Hiro averted his case. Orochi sighed.

“This may not be the intention of our classmates, but that’s how our circumstances are playing out, Hiro. You may know who I became, but they are coming to terms with it.”

The sun’s last dying rays gave way to the purplish sky, the twilight at its peak. A world bathed in both light and shadow stretched out before their eyes.

Hiro walked to her side. He held on to the rail guard too. “It is… lonely, isn’t it?” He asked, his eyes heavy. He was held back because of a screw-up. He should’ve been on 3-D or 3-E by now, yet he wasn’t.

He could understand and sympathize with a little of the loneliness and melancholy that came out of Orochi. They both snatched their lives from the jaws of death. That was not an experience that others could relate to easily.

This was why they started to gravitate towards each other, a type of unspoken agreement of mutual help of kindred spirits.

“Yes. It is.” Orochi looked down. “They all have friends they can relate to, people that can empathize with their feelings, but who do we have, Hiro? Who has died and come back to life?”

Orochi remembered a look on Sally’s face, at a time when she said she could relate to Sally’s pain. She didn’t believe it, she was angry at Orochi for even suggesting she could understand that pain.

She had not lived an easy life and went through something few would understand, and even fewer understood what a quirk awakening was, and even Orochi wasn’t sure what it meant to her either.

This was why Sally’s face hurt Orochi deep inside because she wanted her friend to see that others too suffered, that others would help Sally carry the weight, and yet, she only saw what was at the surface.

Orochi was not sad and angry, just disappointed. Her past self would be sad, and angry, but she couldn’t bother to feel that way. It felt alien to just… accept that without a second thought or doubt.

Hiro had no words to say to Orochi, he too lacked an answer to her questions. He just stood by her side. He looked at her hands. They trembled.

Was it doubt? Or fear? He didn’t know, all he knew, was that she was lonely. He stretched a hand to hers, he held her hand softly.

He was there for her. Her eyes widened a bit.

How many held her hand beyond her own family?

Her own body burned hot, but Hiro had a foreign warmth in his hands. Did she ever feel it before?

Camaraderie? No. She felt it many times, in the gang, in Shiketsu, with Yuusei.

This was different. Orochi placed a finger on her lips, pondering.

The sun went down, and the night finally came out of hiding. Small dots in the sky burned bright, they decorated the night sky like infinite gems. “Orochi. I don’t know how to help, but if you ever need something, I will-”

“Shut up, Hiro. You are speaking too much.” Orochi placed her finger on his lips, silencing him. “Let’s just enjoy the view, shall we?”

She looked at him. Her gaze was soft and warm. She was lonely, and she was bothered by how she was treated, but none of those things could stop her, or the weight in her heart.

Hiro saw it in her purple irises. A serene beauty, warm and caring. And then it dawned on him, what Orochi just did. His cheeks burned red.

She held his hand back. “Let’s enjoy the view, just a little. Please… hold my hand tight.” She pleaded to him, and Hiro obeyed silently, as they watched the night sky, and the lights of Kyoto alight.