Last Visit

Just one more day in this place. just one more day and she will be released from the hospital. “They surely took their time.”* People like her could be released from the hospital on day one, but the extent of the damage…

Biting her lip, Orochi shakes her head to stop thinking about this topic. It won’t bring her no good. There will be a time and place for her to think about this, but that place is not on a hospital bed.

Unconsciously she looks at her hands, clenching and opening them, as if checking if she is truly awake. Her throat clenches as a bitter taste spreads all over her mouth— seeing one of her hands stained with blood.

“This is not what a hero does.” Heroes do not kill, they give a good beating to villains who deserve it, but they do not kill and yet she tried to— To take Feral with her— “Hssss!” Her left head hisses, looking at a big insect on the window.

Snapping Orochi out of her thoughts, she looks at the hissing head with some disappointment. “You can’t eat insects.” The head hisses louder, looking at the insect with unrelenting focus.

Meanwhile, her middle head and right head are rubbing against each other, scratching their heads on the other’s scales. “These guys are never so friendly with each other. What are you two planning?”

While she is relieved because they are not trying to eat the furniture or knock it out, being so friendly with each other is worrying. “Did these two learn to work together?” A chill runs through her spine, how much mischief could two of her tails wreck if they decided to work together?

Keeping them in line has been a real workout for her mind lately. Good thing they are trying to behave, emphasis on trying. “At very least they didn’t cause a commotion or problems for anyone.”

More work for her and her self control… “Hi, good to see you are up already.” Chris greets her from the door, with some manga in his hands. her last day there won’t be so boring, after all.

“Hi. How was your day?” Yui probably won’t come for a while, needing to take care of her cat, Kaylee would be busy not trying to hunt down feral… “Not bad per se, but it still could be better.”

He still sees a cup always half empty, but alas, he is a lot better than the way he started the year. “They helped you a lot…” Yui, Nene, the others… while she just gave him a visage of a half dead classmate…

What a sham of a “cool girl” and a “strong” classmate she is— “Orochi, are you okay? Your eyes did unfocus just now.”

For a moment her heart skips a beat, she is overthinking things again. “Ah, yes. I am.” Prompted by her surprise, the heads move to stand before her, a defensive formation. Meanwhile, Chris takes his focus from her to her heads.

Chris continued to stare at her tails, something probably grabbed his attention, but what? Her heads are hardly interesting when they are not doing any tomfoolery. “Something is wrong, Chris? You are staring at my heads.”

Her classmate takes a sharp breath as a faint blush spreads through his cheeks. “It is nothing important, but I think your tails are shedding.” For a moment, Orochi’s mind goes blank. Truly, reptiles shed their old scales from time to time, but when was the time her heads last shed their scales?

“You, come here.” Without giving the poor middle head an option, Orochi grabs it and brings it closer to her, with its head a couple of inches away from her face. “I will have to spend tomorrow cleaning your guys' mouths… they are stinking.” Just because the hospital refused to give her tooth brushes for her heads…

Moving the hydra’s head a little, Orochi tries to check and see where it is shedding. “Right here, on the side of their heads.” Chris points at the sides of the head. Their scales are indeed shedding. Pinching a bit of its skin, she pushes to try and see if there are any problems or something wrong with their scales.

Again her heart skips a beat. The scales underneath the shed are of cherry red color, contrary to the white scales they always had… “Is this normal?” Chris asks with a little worry, and curiosity in his voice.

“Alright, you are a wannabe quirk researcher…” Of course he would b ei interested by this development and good thing he is here— he may know more about this event than her. “No, the last time they shed I was twelve. They never shed after that, and never had red scales.”

This explains why two of them were rubbing each other— to get the dead skin out. Releasing the detail she throws herself against the bed. “So this is new. They are going through reptile puberty or something like that?”

Chris just smirks in response to her joke. Despite trying to lighten the mood, a bit of worry is inside her heart still. Her tails never behaved like that when shedding, they were white her entire life, why suddenly change colors now? Just after the worst moment of her entire life?

Her friend holds his chin, thinking about the shed and the change of colors of her heads. “Maybe you are not wrong regarding that. Axolotls change to salamanders in high stress situations, other animals change to their adult form in response to dangerous environments and survival.”

“In other words, those fellas are aging.” Chris nods, still interested in the event, taking a notebook and pen out of his pocket, he starts to write, focused on her heads’ behavior while shedding. “Can I get a closer look at them?”

“Haha, no. They will bite you. I don’t have the fine control to make them stand still right now.” Annoyance appears in Chris’ face, before disappearing. It won’t be today he will get a cool new quirk behavior to study, ha.

Chris sits on the chair beside her bed, putting his notebook back in his pocket and taking a controller on the bedside table. “Keep a close eye on them, their behavior may change since they are shedding.”

“Ha, don’t worry. You should worry about me kicking your ass right now. I won’t lose this match.” Waiting for him to come back from school for them to play was painful, she won’t allow herself to lose the highlight of the day.

She did lose the first match of the day.

(...)

The sky has darkened already, the day on its end. Chris already had gone out, and Yui didn’t appear today. It will take sometime before her mother comes to the hospital to visit her. Just herself, her heads by themselves again…

Picking her right red against their will, she checks on their shedding. “You guys surely know how to be inconvenient when you want.” Besides all the mischief they can bring. The head struggles against her grip, whining silently while trying to get away. “Okay, I won’t bother you anymore.”

Releasing the tail, it tries to “slither away”, before releasing it is impossible for it to “slither away”. In response to that, it just hisses while putting its head under the bed in a vain attempt to hide.

“Their dumbness is cute.” Since they are attached to her, she is a dummy too…? “Most certainly.” Orochi laughs dryly. Only someone dumb like her would do what she did, making everyone worry about her. “Almost hurting forever.”

Her heart sinks. How would Yui, Chris and Kaylee feel if she just kicked the bucket there? “They wouldn’t forgive themselves…” Maybe it is an overestimation of herself, but she doesn’t think they would ever sleep right again if she just…

Her mother… her mother would live the rest of her life thinking she just hated her— Orochi bites her lip, looking out the room’s window. “It is already dark out there.” Can she be a hero if she is afraid of dying?

Heroes put their lives in risk but she is doubting herself. Can someone who doesn’t trust their abilities and doubt herself be able to help someone? What if she hesitated in an important situation? How many would die because she wasn’t enough—

“Just make it stop…” Taking the pillow below her head, she puts it on her face. Taking a breath, Orochi pushes the pillow against her head, screaming at the top of her lungs but muffing it.

Maybe someone with super hearing could hear her, but the pillow would muffle her voice to anyone else. Her control over her heads breaks, leaving them to act as they please. She just wants for it to stop.

To go back to her room and cry, do nothing all day. She doesn’t want to go back to school or play it cool. “But I have to. Lest all I do becomes meaningless.” There is no rest for the wicked. “Am I wicked?”

Kyoko had come with mother to visit her, yet it is not the same thing. To come back from school and see her sister, spend time with her. Talk with Akane about the hero's work and her plans for the future.

“It sucks so much.” Orochi presses the pillow harder, tears starting to form. “I feel so worthless.” She never felt like that, humiliated? Yes. Ashamed? Many times, but to feel worthless, as if what she did was for naught is… frightening.

“Why am I thinking like that? I am better! I know my worth! I am strong!” Screaming over the pillow, tears fall from her eyes. No matter how much she tries to reassure herself, it doesn’t work. Why is she feeling worthless? Didn’t she prove to herself how strong she was?

How much did she do? Then why… why can’t this feeling of wastefulness just disappear from inside her!? Why can’t she just go over it, thread past her problems like how she always did?

“I’m so confused.” I want to go back before this mess being left unsaid in her mind. “Hey, Orochi! Sorry ‘bout being late!” A familiar voices calls from the door, not too quit but not too loud, Yui’s voice—

*”Shit—” Her best friend will see her like this, a crying mess. “Hey, Orochi, are you okay? Did someone put a pillow over your head?” Before the hydra girl could recover herself, Yui was already over her, taking the pillow..

Yui’s face becomes strangely neutral and serious, instead of her frown and defiant persona, understanding in her eyes. “I… am here. Don’t worry if you don’t want to talk, I will be here with you.”

Orochi sits on the body, looking down, looking at her hands. “I… feel so bad… Yui. I feel worthless… I… I almost hurted you, Chris, everyone.” She bites her lower lip, choking down sobs, trying her best to drive back tears.

Yui puts her hands over Orochi’s shoulder, not putting too much strength in her grasp, but enough to show she is here, she cares. “You didn’t hurt anyone, was that lizard asshole. You are not worthless. Hell, you are one of the best people I know.”

“I could’ve died… I could’ve hurt you, Chris, Kaylee, my family badly. I-I almost died, Yui. I don’t want anyone to get hurt… I… I don’t know, I don’t know anything.” Like a dam breaking, tears start to fall without pause from Atsushi's eyes. She starts to sob, no longer choking down her sadness.

A stinging pain in her chest, the strength from her limbs vanishing, her arms growing weak. Her vulnerabilities showed. “You…” Yui clenches her jaw, stopping the hold on her friend’s shoulders to bring her to a hug, sitting on the bed to make it easier.

“You are my friend, you wouldn’t have hurted me, Chris, Kaylee. You are our friend. You are not to blame. I know how you feel… I-I know how it is like to not feel enough, worth… but you are worth, Orochi. You are just hurt… you will bounce back from it, I know.”

Orochi returns to hug, holding Yui tightly. Putting her face over Yui’s shoulder, letting tears flow and fall wildly, sobbing as she does so. “We will be here for you, don’t worry. You will get better…”

Unbeknownst to both, a white haired woman stares from the door, a thin smile in her lips before retreating from the room’s entrance.