Feyblue

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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As introductions wound down, Hitomi seemed concerned about something. She asked if anything was wrong, prompting a look of confusion from Fumika. How could she have known or understood so easily what she was feeling? Even Fumika didn't understand why she felt this way... yet someone other than her had already figured out that something was wrong with her? That wasn't good. She was being a bother. She shouldn't be dragging others into her own affairs. If she did, she'd just...

But how to answer? Something definitely was wrong, and Fumika didn't like to lie. But her second question... That was easier to deal with. She didn't want to talk about it, so, in response, she merely shook her head, and then turned her attention to the problem she'd been given: a disaster area of some kind, where they, as heroes, were supposed to do what they could to help with recovery.

Looking at each detail she'd been given, she began to think about her own usefulness in such a situation. And the more she thought about it... well, the more she realized that despite her Quirk's versatility, she couldn't do much on her own. Even if she could get to the root of several problems in the area, any solution she might have for them would only be temporary at best, and restricted to one location at a time due to the range and tangibility limitations of her projections. However... White Hat hadn't said that she had to deal with this using only her own Quirk, right? They were all supposed to be in the same area, which meant other heroes, better suited to fixing things up, could take care of that. She cringed a little at the realization that, once again, she was simply deferring to relying on those around her, but nevertheless, this was a situation where other people's lives would be on the line, right? She couldn't afford to hold herself back because of her pride, like she had when fighting Kenichi. She simply needed to address one problem at a time, and take the simplest possible solution.

She took a mental tally of the classmates around her and the abilities they'd explained.

First, there was the squishy man, Donny, whose Quirk apparently let him eat anything. Given that it had been enough to bring down a building in their earlier training exercise, it didn't seem like there was any limit to how much he could consume, either. Out of all their Quirks, his would probably be the easiest to work with.

Second, there was the shiny girl, Mina. Her Quirk wasn't particularly impressive, but, the more she thought about it, the more Fumika realized it might also be useful in a situation like the one that had been described to her.

Third, there was the winged boy, Acion. Given that he'd specifically mentioned that his Quirk might be suited for a job as a coast guard, it wasn't difficult to think of ways she could employ his abilities.

Fourthly, there was some posing girl who Fumika hadn't seen before. Apparently, her Quirk generated energy? She'd have to make a mental note not to get too close to her, or else she might end up scrambling Fumika's own signals... In any case, that was a very important asset to have.

Fifthly, there was... a Haruka? But no matter how she looked at her, that wasn't Haruka. She was too tall, and too big, and not nearly as cool-looking. Since she couldn't be Haruka, though, then what was she? A Haru? ...In any case, her Quirk apparently allowed her to analyze, disassemble, reassemble, upgrade, and power technology. Combined with the abilities of the posing girl, Fumika now had a fairly good idea what the best solutions to each problem would be.

The sixth was the odd one out: Hitomi. While being a fluffy sheep was very nice, honestly, Fumika hadn't the slightest clue how to use her Quirk given the situation... Wait, though, hadn't she said she could grow her fluffy hair really quickly? It wasn't as important as some other things, but maybe...

Now that she had her mental list of what everyone could do, it was time to address each problem. She banished all other thoughts from her mind, and focused on each individual aspect of the disaster she'd been given.

Search the area for survivors. I can use my "Recording" to send out waves of particles to analyze anything I can see. By combing the city, I could quickly locate anyone trapped in the rubble. If I can't get to them, Donny could dig his way to them, or Acion could fly them to safety. At the same time, we locate and remove any looters from the area. We could also keep searching even when it's dark, because Kasuke could provide more than enough light for us to see. Having her glowing all the time could also help us to signal survivors and let them know that help is on the way.

Meanwhile, we need to take care of water and power. I'm not sure how we could handle the water shortage, but the electrical girl (Fumika hesitated for a moment trying to find a name, then realized that the posing girl had never introduced herself) and Sanageyama could probably restore power to the area by working together. We might also be able to use solar panels to collect power from the light that Kasuke emits.

Once the area is clear, we can begin taking care of problems. Preserving what's still intact is most important. While searching the city with my Recording, I could identify the damage to standing structures, and move from building to building, projecting supports to keep them upright so that workers could fix them more permanently. Sanageyama might be able to help here, since she said she's good at schematics and building things.

Once we've prevented further collapses from happening and worsening the damage, we can deal with the gas and sewage leaks. I could locate the source and project a temporary patch to stop things from overflowing long enough for a real patch to stop them for good. We could then use Donny's Quirk to quickly clear up the rubble in the tunnels, and to deal with the toxic waste. We could even do both at once, since I could make copies of him to speed up the cleanup.

Hitomi could manage supplies at the shelter. She said she can grow her hair quickly and that she's good at making clothes, so she might be able to make clothing and blankets for the people who need them. We could also give her any valuables we find while searching for survivors, and direct people at the shelter to approach her if they're looking for something, like a lost and found.

Fumika set down her pencil and looked again at what she'd written. This looked like a fairly comprehensive plan, and, based on what she'd been told, she didn't see any reason why it wouldn't work... But at the same time, it almost seemed more like she was just writing how best to use other people's Quirks, rather than finding ways to apply her own abilities to solve the problem. Or, in other words, she was just stating the obvious of how they'd probably react to the situation in the first place. Was this really right? The purpose of this class was to develop her own abilities... but here she was, just depending on the people around her, as usual. She sighed. There wasn't any better plan she could come up with, in any case. Her own Quirk wouldn't provide anything more than information on problems, and a short-lived solution. This was the simplest path... But still, it felt so unsatisfying that it almost hurt her to turn it in.

She sighed again, and returned to her seat, her hair drooping as her eyelids fluttered. This really had been a tiring day...

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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Fumika stared in surprise and disbelief. She'd answered the sheep girl - no, Hitomi's question, so she'd expected that she'd just go back to what she'd been doing. But instead, she had simply smiled and said... she wanted to be friends? It didn't make sense. No matter how she looked at it, today was definitely strange.

"Friends...? Okay... I like having friends, but... Everyone here is so weird. I'm not doing anything. I'm not even getting in their way. And yet people keep saying they want to be friends with me..." Fumika murmured to herself. She wasn't a paranoid person by nature, but... Really, how could she be expected to believe something like this? For years, everyone had only reacted to her attempts to communicate with annoyance and disgust, so she'd made a careful policy of meticulously staying out of everyone's way. She was an observer who never interfered, who was never even noticed. That was what she was used to. No, that was what was "normal." And yet, despite not knowing anything about her, and despite the fact that they surely must have realized that she was too stupid to be like them...

Fumika's attention seemed to slip, and her eyes began to wander as her focus completely abandoned the conversation she was having. Hitomi might find herself quite confused, watching as Fumika's otherwise placid expression slowly changed into one of intense concentration, her brows furrowing in thought and her lips slowly pursing themselves into a sort of contemplative pout. She thought about it long and hard, and then, suddenly, the answer came to her. Of course, there really was only one obvious conclusion. She was honestly disappointed in herself that she hadn't realized it sooner. It was probably because she'd kept getting distracted. A computer worked best when it was focusing on one problem at a time. She knew that, but she still hadn't focused on finding the answer even when it was right in front of her. Maybe she hadn't wanted to know the reason. Maybe she'd wanted to think that she had changed. But Fumika was a person who operated very heavily based on past precedents, since, after all, she couldn't forget her experiences even if she'd tried. As such, she knew well enough that she wasn't acting any differently now than she normally did. And so, if it wasn't her who had changed, then it was...

Of course. It was her environment that was different. This place was a school for heroes, and heroes were supposed to be nice, right? That must have been why nobody had asked her to stop being annoying yet. And the reason why they wanted to be friends wasn't because she was behaving differently, but because heroes were supposed to work together. She'd been thinking about it all wrong. She couldn't just work with herself anymore, and remain an observer who never got in anyone's way. She would have to work with them, one way or another, so of course they'd try to be friends with her, no matter how awkward it was. She should have realized sooner, should have understood that by distancing herself, she was only further burdening them. It was bad enough to force them to deal with her. By not understanding how much of an inconvenience she was being, she'd only be making it worse. So, then... the right answer... It must have been a balance between what she wanted and what she was familiar with. She needed to make friends with everybody, but stick to just observing and doing what she was told, like she had done when working with Luelle. They wouldn't be mad at her so long as she was useful to them and didn't interfere when she wasn't welcome. That way, she wouldn't drag anyone down like she had during the training exercise when she'd foolishly tried to decide things for herself, either. The optimal path, the path of least resistance, was right in front of her... But it felt wrong, somehow. It didn't make her chest feel warm like it had been when she was with Yoshida.

Wait. Now that she thought about it, was there any guarantee that her friendship with Yoshida was any different? He'd seemed happy to see her, had been nothing but nice to her... But now that she thought about it, hadn't he looked kind of strange sometimes? It was like he'd been sad, or angry. And he'd run off during lunch... Was that because she'd been bothering him? Her sister had done things like that sometimes. Fumika hadn't even realized she was causing her trouble, but in retrospect, she'd always taken any chance she could to leave. It wasn't until she'd finally said it that...

No. A computer worked best when focused on exactly one problem. There was no time for distraction. Besides, those things... Fumika didn't like thinking about those memories. Any time she remembered, it would only hurt.

After Yoshida had returned, he'd even said that she didn't need to follow him around... Haruka had never told her anything like that. She'd always been so excited, always wanted to tell Fumika a new story or teach her a new lesson. Because Fumika was there, Haruka had always seemed more energetic, more happy. She hadn't even had to say anything. Just listening to her talk, just admiring how amazing Haruka was... that much had always been enough. That was what it was really like to have a "friend." Yoshida was cool like Haruka was. He'd praised her, had been nice to her... He'd even smiled when he saw her. But he'd always been the one asking questions. He'd always kept her thinking about things, always tried to make her do or say things, like he was testing her somehow. And then... Since he'd left... Since he'd said those things, didn't that mean he'd realized it too?

He realized that I'm stupid. I only got in his way. That's why he didn't want to see me. He wants me to leave him alone.

In an instant, Fumika felt something change. Up until that moment, the "wanting" she'd felt had been warm. It was uncomfortable, like a fever, but at the same time, there was something consoling about it, like a warm blanket to keep the chills away. Even if she'd felt as if she was burning up, she wouldn't have wanted to take the "blanket" away, because it was better to be warm than to be shaking in the cold.

But now, suddenly, it felt as though her chest was made of lead. It was as if the "blanket" had been stripped away, and an ice pack was shoved against her shivering body. Every part of her being screamed at her, told her that this situation was wrong, that something needed to be different, that this couldn't be right. But how could it be wrong? It was just like it always was. The only difference now was that she'd learned her lesson since last time - that she'd managed to realize her mistake before it was too late. She should have been happy, or relieved. After all, she'd figured out all the right answers, and had finally determined how best to go about her life without bothering others. This was it. This was the path of least resistance. And yet, even though she knew that, still the feeling didn't go away.

She shook her head, rubbing her bangs against her cheeks to try to banish the thought. It wasn't entirely successful. Even when she didn't think about it, the strange feeling didn't go away. It still hurt. It still...

Conversation. She'd been having a conversation. But the teacher looked like he was about to start talking...

"Sorry. I thought too much," Fumika apologized cryptically, then immediately silenced herself, hardly even looking at the girl next to her. It was fine, though, because Hitomi probably wouldn't care so long as she wasn't saying or doing anything to make a nuisance of herself. It was best this way. This was the best course of action. She didn't need to think about it, didn't need to question it. All she needed to do was...

The teacher finished his introduction, and asked them to explain what they could do. Instructions. She could follow instructions. That was easy. That wouldn't bother anyone. She waited until most of the others had finished talking, and then, seeing that nobody else was standing up, reasoned that it must have been her turn. So, she stood up, and did as she'd been told.

"My name is Motome Fumika," She began, giving the exact same introduction with the exact same emphasis as she had when Hitomi asked her name. "Whenever I look at something, I can record it and store it in my hair. Then my body can generate a copy of anything I saved, and make it do what it was doing when I looked at it. I can also copy myself based on what I remember, which is everything. Well, everything since I had hair." She reached out a hand to demonstrate, and her eyes flashed green as her hair sparked to life, sticking up for just a moment, a thin shell of "dust" splitting off from the surface of her skin and forming itself into what appeared to be a baby wrapped in a blanket, which she caught and held up. It was rather plump, and one could just barely make out a few faint golden strands atop its head, like the fuzz on the surface of a peach. It appeared to be squeezing a rather plush stuffed rabbit, its face half buried in the toy's fuzz. "This is me from my first birthday. It's one of my earliest memories. I remember everything after that." The baby vanished into blue light, and Fumika's eyes returned to their normal azure hue, her hair flopping limply back down around her face. She took a deep breath, rubbing her eyes before pushing up her glasses and continuing again.

"I'm not sure what else it's good for, but it can be used to rescue people. Like, when the roof collapses, I can make things to hold it up. Oh... but then I got trapped, so maybe that's not a good example... Anyway... I think Yoshida called it a video camera?" She trailed off, realizing what she'd just said as her former train of thought came back unbidden, and her chest clenched in an odd sort of pain. She should have known, should have-

No. No more. A computer worked best addressing one problem at a time. She had her instructions, she'd finished introducing herself. Thinking now would be an inconvenience. So, she stopped thinking, and did as she remembered.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you."

She bowed, sat down, and then returned to silence, trying desperately to focus only on the lecture even though the pain in the back of her mind still wouldn't go away. But this was the right choice. If it meant that she wouldn't bother someone as nice as Yoshida, then...

...Then why did it still hurt?

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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Fumika blinked as a sound... no, a voice suddenly piped up from next to her. She'd been so focused on the door that she hadn't realized somebody had moved over to sit next to her. And, given that she'd lived all her life out in the countryside, what she thought she heard wasn't unfamiliar to her.

She blinked. She stared. The fluffy hair was close enough to wool, and then there were those horns and ears... But the more she thought about it, none of this made sense, because...

"But Hitomi is a girl's name, and this is clearly a girl, so if she's a sheep why are her horns so big? Girl sheep don't have big horns," Fumika mumbled to herself, tugging at her hair as she once again nearly lost herself in thought. She gave a long "Hmmm..." as she contemplated this, only to suddenly come to a surprising realization.

"But sheep also don't talk, and sheep aren't people, but this sheep is a person and was talking to me, and if she gave me her name then... Oh!" As if only just now realizing that this Hitomi had just introduced herself, Fumika looked down to her outstretched hand in confusion. This was one of those greeting gestures she'd heard about, right? She was supposed to shake her hand... But her particle shell had already fully regenerated, and just bumping into Luelle's hand during cooking class had felt bizarre enough. She really didn't like that lingering feeling of pressure... Oh, but she had another "her" already there. So long as "Fumika" was the one to shake her hand, it would be fine, right?

Reasoning thus, she had her copy scoot over, reaching out and giving Hitomi's hand a rather awkwardly robotic "shake," while Fumika herself bowed her head respectfully.

"My name is Motome Fumika," She recited dutifully, her introduction seeming oddly formulaic and practiced, but also very impersonal, as if she was unused to actually giving her name save as part of some larger, rehearsed procedure. "It's nice to meet you." As she raised her head, she blinked, and her copy vanished, her eyes returning once more to their usual aquamarine hue as the dim markings in her hair receded. There really was no sense in maintaining her projection, since it looked like people had stopped coming in, and trying to keep it there was making her sleepy. She craned her head, looking over the crowd, only to lower it with a sigh. There was no sign of the nice Yoshida - or even the mean Yoshida, or any Yoshidas at all - anywhere to be seen.

Speaking of which, hadn't Hitomi asked something? Right, she was wondering if she'd been waiting for someone. She nodded a bit gloomily, and then shook her head. "I was waiting, but it doesn't look like he's coming," She explained cryptically as she switched seats with where her copy had just been sitting. If nothing else, she could at least do as he'd asked her to. "I guess that means I'm supposed to keep being the main character."

@Silver Carrot

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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Fumika delayed somewhat as she gathered her things. For one, she wasn't sure where she'd placed some of them, as she'd been in a bit of a hurry to claim the Main Character seat like Yoshida had asked her to. That much aside, she also remembered that the apron she was wearing wasn't just a projection, like she'd usually use, but was rather actually a real apron. But she hadn't gotten it herself, and had instead had it handed to her by the squishy man, so then she had to look around and find where she was supposed to put it back. Between these and other distractions, it was about five minutes before she finally made her way outside, paying less attention to her surroundings than she did to the map inside her head. If she remembered correctly - which, of course, she did - then her next classroom was on the same floor as this one, just two hallways over. Now that she thought about it, wasn't the way this school did things kind of strange? Usually, each class kept to a single classroom, and the teachers would come and go, rather than the students having to relocate. Although, she'd read that it worked the other way in America once. Now that she thought about it, Komei was surprisingly Western.

But then again, since different classes required different environments suited to different activities and different Quirks, she supposed it was no surprise that they had different rooms for each class. It would have been hard to do the team training exercise they'd performed earlier within a sealed classroom...

"Oh. I'm here," She murmured, glancing up at the door in front of her as her thoughts returned to the present. It seemed like several other people she'd already seen before were on their way down another hallway, but the thought of bothering them never crossed her mind. It would have been rude to pester them, after all, and she only would have been an annoyance. As she stepped into the Quirk Application classroom, she quickly noticed that she was one of the only people there, aside from some girl she'd never seen before and a teacher she didn't recognize. She recorded them both, noting with some curiosity that the girl's hair was tremendously fuzzy... Almost like a puppy perched on her head. Or a big, fluffy pillow. Fumika bit her lip. She was jealous. That must have been so nice. Her own hair matched it for quantity, and was soft and smooth, but it was cold to the touch. What she had must have been more like a blanket. Fumika liked blankets. It made her feel so safe and comfy to stretch them out on the floor, then roll across them, having her copies wrap her up as she did so. It was like being a turtle, except instead of a hard shell-

Oh. Right. She was standing in the doorway again. The teacher had been angry at her last time she did that. Quickly, she shuffled off into the same corner as before, preparing to take the "main character" seat once again. But, as she did so, she thought better of it. After all, Yoshida had never said what class he had after Hero Gear. So then... that meant he might be in the same class as her, right? Her antenna stood on end at the realization, and she immediately took a step back and sat in the seat next to the desk by the window, while a copy of herself formed in the "main character" seat to reserve it, just in case. For the most part after that, she simply stared into space, but every now and again, she shot an impatient glance at the door, checking each new arrival and feeling her hopes rising and falling in turn as Yoshida yet failed to appear.

Of course, it was only natural that the simplest, best course of action would be to stick close to her best friend here. That was how Fumika had always operated back home, so she'd been hoping to adopt the same routine at her new school. However, there'd only been one class at her old school, so she'd never experienced the sort of feeling she was now becoming aware of. This anxiety, this wondering of whether or not he'd arrive... She had no precedent for it. Either she'd had nobody to wait for, or the person she'd wanted to see was always by her side. As such, even when she didn't have any friends, she had never experienced this feeling. It was hard. She didn't like feeling this way. It would have been so much better if she could have always been in the same class as Yoshida. She wished... no, she wanted...

So it was that Motome Fumika came to understand the kind of "wanting" known as "loneliness."

And so, before she knew it, she came to want something other than to be a hero - something not rooted in a desire to please someone else.

She just wanted to smile like Yoshida had smiled at her. If she could just stay together with him, hear him talk, spend more time with him, then maybe...

She frowned. She'd heard it mentioned by other people sometimes, but... was this really how it was supposed to feel? The thing she called "loneliness" was a very strange sort of "want" indeed...

Naraka

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #18B150 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #ADB984
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It had been almost ten minutes since she'd set out, and as of yet, Victoria hadn't seen even the slightest sign of another living being. The air was utterly still, silent, and calm, without so much as the chirping of a bird of the noise of a cricket to disturb the absolutely peaceful, lifeless world in which she now found herself. It was unusual... perhaps even unsettling. No distant voices, no dogs barking, no cars passing by or people coming and going... But most importantly, there was nobody shooting glares at her, no voices speaking her name in hushed tones and retreating just as quickly the moment she paid them heed. It was as if all of the unpleasant people who made her existence a living hell had been simply erased. Truly, this place was her utopia!

...No. Not all. Somewhere, there were still enemies waiting for her, endeavoring to trip her up and kill her at the slightest opening. She couldn't rest easy just yet, especially considering that, as of yet, she hadn't seen or heard anything that might indicate one of her enemies was nearby. And yet, for all she knew, someone might have been stalking her at that very moment, despite her efforts to conceal herself by darting through narrow alleys and avoiding wide open spaces, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to draw attention. Every now and again, she shot a glance back over her shoulder, but saw nothing. Victoria had just been getting used to this reassurance that she was alone when it happened.

She was just crossing a local park when, from somewhere in the distance, she heard a roar and a loud crash. The ground shook, and a plume of smoke began rising up into the air a few blocks away. Immediately, she took off towards the source of this disturbance as fast as she could, but thought better of this decision a moment later. She turned to the left instead, and began circling a little way around the area as she approached. She couldn't just rush into a battle blindly. That blast earlier hadn't been exactly subtle, and she couldn't have been the only one who'd noticed it. More likely than not, anyone else looking for prey would begin to converge on this location, and if she just jumped into the fight without thinking, she'd probably just end up surrounded when fresh combatants arrived. She had to think tactically. While she was itching to try out her new powers, it would be best to wait until the perfect opportunity presented itself. In the mean time, though, she might as well watch and get a feel for what her enemies could do.

Picking up a skateboard that someone had left lying by a nearby bike rack and smashing through a large glass door, she slipped into an empty building which appeared to be some sort of science center for the local university. It was roughly a block away from the source of the explosion, but it was three stories tall. If she could just force her way up to the rooftop, she'd have an excellent vantage point from which to view the fight. And even if somebody found her and tried to attack, she'd have the high ground. It seemed like the best course of action, in any case, so, rushing through the darkened halls until she located the nearest stairwell, she sprinted upwards towards the roof...

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

@ZerothEvery Single Day: "What did you do today, Fumika?"

"I hung out with Yoshida."

"Anything else?"

"I hung out with Yoshida."

"...So that's it, then?"

*Stops. Thinks. Pauses. Finally...*

"I hung out with-"

"WE GET IT."

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

But how will you interact with someone other than Fumika if Fumika follows you like a lost kitten wherever you go? 0w0

(There is no escape now the fluffy one shall find you)

@Zeroth

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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To be perfectly honest, Fumika had never made riceballs before. In fact, she'd never really cooked much of anything before. This wasn't because she couldn't do so, or didn't know how - she'd seen people cook enough that she had more than a basic idea of the necessary steps. It was just that, quite simply, she'd never really had to or thought about doing so before. So, stored as it was in the very back of her mind, it took her a few moments and a few sidelong glances at Jett to remember what she was supposed to be doing and copy any steps she wasn't clear on from him and the shiny girl. As such, she had only just rather clumsily set about the arduous task of figuring out what tools and utensils she needed, where the rice was, and how to make her copy move and help her without knocking everything she'd just taken out off of the table, when she was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. She started, instinctively taking a step forward and turning around as her copy abruptly froze up, coincidentally between her and the one who'd just touched her, as if Fumika was hiding behind herself. This thus presented the rather odd spectacle of Fumika's now emerald green and glowing eyes, plus her sharply upright ahoge peering over the top of the fluffy crest of her own copy's head, while said copy stared blankly into the middle distance.

"Motome-san, don't forget your apron." She blinked as he held out an apron towards her. Right, people who were cooking were supposed to wear aprons, like the pink one she'd had as a child. She nodded, and her copy reached out, took the apron, and then set about tying it around her while she continued staring at Donny, only shooting occasional glances at her projected self to make sure it didn't go intangible and drop what it was holding.

"I thought the empty man would be scary, but he's actually nice," She murmured to herself, once again forgetting she was speaking out loud. "Well, I guess he's not really empty... maybe he's squishy? But how does he know my name? The video? ...But what was...? Let's see... I think the mean Yoshida called him... Donny Yang-? Oh. Partner?"

Her train of thought was cut off as she finally processed his next words. A partner...? Didn't he see that she already had made one? She poked her copy demonstratively.

"I have a partner, though," She objected innocently, cocking her head quizzically to the side as if she didn't understand. Her copy stepped back, turned around, and stood directly in front of her, and she once more wrapped her arms around it and snuggled against its soft, fluffy hair. "Fumika's partner is also Fumika, see?"

Needless to say, he didn't seem to. Neither did the strange blonde boy who approached only moments later, asking similar questions. It took her a moment to process this before it finally struck her. Did they want her to join their groups? There must have been some kind of mistake. If she joined them, then they'd have three people, not two. And wouldn't she get in the way? But they both seemed so nice... Of course, she didn't mind joining if they really wanted her to, but then who was she supposed to join? If she accepted one she'd have to refuse the other... She looked back and forth between them in increasing surprise, mounting disbelief, and ever-rising confusion, fretting and fussing alternatively with her own bangs and with those of her copy as she tried to come up with an answer. Faint sparks darted between the ends of her hair, causing it to frizz and stick out at wild angles as her ahoge wobbled back and forth like the rocking of an unsteady boat.

"Umm, if you want Fumika- Erm, I mean, if you want me to join you then I don't mind... But... um... It's hard for me to be in two groups at once..." She hung her head, looking sheepishly at Roy as if asking for forgiveness. Since he'd asked second, maybe he'd understand? If only there was some way she could... No, there was a way... This problem was the opposite of her usual one, but that just meant she needed to apply the opposite solution!

"I know!" She declared suddenly, pounding a fist in her open palm, which in turn rested on top of her copy's head. It wobbled slightly, but otherwise seemed completely, stoically nonplussed by the impact. "If you want a Fumika too, you could have this one?" She motioned sheepishly to her smaller copy, which in turn motioned to itself. "It's not very useful, though, because it keeps knocking things over..." She admitted. She might have gone on advocating this approach, but then, against all odds, a third person arrived and also asked for somebody to partner up!

"Ah, I guess I could make another one if you really need one...! But, umm, I don't have much energy left, so I might pass out if I try to manage two... And they'll probably knock everything over..." But at the same time, they were all nice enough to ask her to join them, so how could she say no...? Ah, this was so difficult! Why was this all happening so fast? Why now, all of a sudden?

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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As the teacher pointed at her, Fumika blinked, cocked her head to the side, and turned around, as if looking for someone behind her. When no such individual appeared, she turned back around, seeming to realize only at length that the instructor was addressing her. Had she been knocking things over? She hadn't really noticed as she'd crossed the room, because she'd been focusing on trying to find the main character seat. Maybe her hair had snagged on some things and knocked them to the ground? That happened sometimes...

Oh. He was moving on with the lesson. As he began reciting the contents of the syllabus, Fumika's attention wandered a bit. She'd already memorized the copy online at a glance, so she already was familiar with most of what he was saying. And, when she'd recorded the people in the room earlier, she'd had plenty of time to survey its contents, so she already knew roughly where everything was... She glanced back over to where Jett was, seated almost completely on the other side of the room. He seemed like a nice person, and was apparently her friend... Wasn't she supposed to spend time with her friends? In that case, shouldn't she have taken the seat right beside him where the shiny girl from the exercise was sitting? Over here, she couldn't even talk to him... But Yoshida had specifically told her to get this seat. That meant it was important, right? She supposed she'd just have to give up on getting the chance to talk to him again... That made her a little sad.

Before she knew it, the teacher began moving on to their assignment for the day. They were supposed to make riceballs, which was easy, but they were also supposed to partner up into groups of two... But weren't there seven students in the room, including her? That didn't make sense. Seven divided by two wasn't a whole number. They needed another person...

Oh, but she was supposed to be partnering up with someone. Whenever she'd needed a partner back home, she'd always just run to Haruka. In that case, she should... She took two steps towards Jett, then stopped, her hair drooping as she overheard him say something about partnering up to the shiny girl... Then who was she supposed to partner with? The only other person she recognized was the big, empty man who'd been on the other team during the earlier exercise... But he seemed to be partnered with someone else, and she didn't want to bother him. There was also a blonde boy and a tiny, white-haired girl who seemed to be working together, but that just left...

Fumika stood alone in the far corner of the room, shoulders slumping slightly as she realized she was, as usual, the odd one out. It was strange. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered her. After all, she was used to just watching. This was how it normally went. This was fine. It had always been fine. So then why, suddenly, did this feel so strange? Of course nobody would want to partner up with someone like her. She was stupid, and annoying, and would only get in the way. It was best for everybody if she just watched.

"Is it alright for me to eat here?"

He'd immediately turned around and smiled happily, as if he was glad just to see her. That smile made her want to smile back. It made her feel strangely warm inside, in a way she couldn't quite describe, but had missed sorely ever since their conversation had abruptly ended.

"Sure, Motome-chan! Grab a seat!"

He hadn't hesitated to welcome her. Even though she'd gone out of her way and approached him, he hadn't been bothered by it.

She wondered. If she'd been a little faster to ask someone to be her partner, would they have smiled for her, too? Maybe Jett would have given her that strange grin of his, called her by her name and welcomed her to join him. Or maybe the other people she didn't know would have been nice to her even though she was stupid? But these well-wishing fantasies swiftly collapsed as prior experience reminded her of how farfetched they were. Besides, even the teacher had been upset with her... The students would probably just think she was a bother, right? She sighed. Maybe, if Yoshida had been there, then maybe she wouldn't have had to feel this way...

She shook her head. There was something she was supposed to be doing. She couldn't afford to waste time. There weren't enough people for everyone to have a partner, but that was fine, because so long as the numbers were right, there wouldn't be a problem, would there? And a fake partner would do just as well as a real one. They wouldn't even be angry with her no matter how badly she messed up. It was just like gym class back home, before she met Haruka. Or group discussion time in literature class. Or lab time in science class. Or really any time she needed help with something and she couldn't ask Haruka. Right. This had always been more than sufficient. In fact, it was faster this way, because she didn't need to worry about understanding what anyone else was thinking. So long as she could solve the problem at hand, it was fine. This was normal. There wasn't anything to worry about. A computer worked best when addressing one task at a time, and any power she devoted to a problem she couldn't solve or to people she couldn't understand was wasted effort. So, she'd give her all to complete this task, and address the situation at hand!

Her eyes flickered to green, and a drastically shortened bar pulsed back to life around the crown of her head. Her energy was still at only about 14%... It wasn't like making another her required much effort to maintain, though... And so long as she didn't go more than a couple of inches away from herself, then the transmission would stay efficient enough that it was manageable. Cooking didn't take much exertion, either, so she could probably keep it up without passing out in class. Still, there was no sense in wasting energy she didn't need... And it had been a few years since she'd really cooked anything herself. Rather than trying to make her current self do something it hadn't done, maybe a smaller her would be better?

A significantly shorter, slightly younger Fumika, clad in a frilly navy blue dress and a bright pink apron, blinked into existence next to her. Fumika reached out a hand, and little her did the same, before both image and original moved in perfect sync, shaking each other's hands.

"I'll be your partner. Thank you for working with me~," She recited in a sing-song, childish voice to herself. Naturally, since she was talking to a projection, there was really no point, but getting to cooperate and get along with herself like she'd seen others do with each other made her happy, so she'd long ago made a habit of treating her copies as her friends when she could afford to. Little her gave her a smile that seemed somehow brighter and more welcoming than she remembered herself being, and stepped forward, hugging her tightly. She hugged back, nuzzling her cheek against her own fluffy hair. Something she didn't really understand still hurt, even now... But this felt a little better than how it had been before. This, at least, was one thing she didn't dislike about her Quirk. She never had to be lonely, nor did she ever have to trouble anyone or worry about how they felt, or other things she couldn't understand.

Even if nobody else noticed or cared, and even if she was all alone, Fumika always had as many friends as she needed to cheer her up.

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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Fumika was so caught up with her own gloom and indecision, that she almost didn't notice somebody had walked up to her until suddenly, Yoshida's voice snapped her to attention. He apologized for taking so long... So it wasn't just her own impatience? He really had been gone longer than expected. But he had come back. Just as expected, he had come back. Then... she'd understood him! Without even having to ask for clarification, she'd managed to properly interpret his meaning, and unravel the implications of his words. And even though he'd been in a hurry, he'd still come back, just like he said he would. "I managed to communicate. Good job, me," She murmured to herself, rubbing her hanging bangs against her cheeks and taking comfort in the familiar softness and warmth. As if recharged by her newfound happiness, her hair gave a quiet crackling like laundry just removed from the dryer. A fresh wave of static jolted down the ends of each strand, causing her formerly drooping bangs to once more fluff violently outward and her curling ahoge to shoot right back upright. And, as she stood up to follow him, her long, trailing braid in the back twitched a bit from one side to the other as if possessed of a will of its own, giving her a rather uncanny resemblance to a puppy wagging its tail in delight at its master's return.

Fumika still was curious about a lot of things. Yoshida apologized even though he'd come back like he'd said he would, which didn't really make sense to her. He hadn't told a lie, and sitting around like he'd asked her to wasn't a difficult task to perform, so why was he saying he was sorry? And... She'd wanted to talk to him more. Well, maybe "talk to him" wasn't really accurate, but she wanted to listen to him talk, like she'd always listened when Haruka had told her stories or taught her about being a hero. He was really energetic and nice, so when he spoke to her, it was fun. It made her feel good about herself, because she knew that such a cool person wanted her to hear what he had to say. But once again, it seemed like she wouldn't get the chance, which made her sad.

At least they'd be in the same class... is what she thought, but then Yoshida said that he was in a different elective. Although he told her what to do while he was gone, she couldn't help but wish that she could just follow him instead. Still, she had something to do, so that was better than nothing, right...?

Before going, he also said something else strange. "See you later," was normal enough. Haruka had said the same when Fumika had left for Hosu. It meant that they'd meet at some later time, which she'd never had any reason to doubt before. But then he added on all sorts of big words to explain himself, which she didn't really get. It almost sounded like he was asking her not to approach him... But then he said he wanted her to...? It didn't really make any sense, but he probably wasn't telling her to leave him alone... right? If she was troubling him, it would have been more direct, like how it usually was.

"You're stupid and annoying and you keep getting in the way! Why don't you just leave me alone?"

Fumika shook her head. Yoshida was her friend. He was nice like Haruka. He wouldn't say something like that. That wasn't how it was supposed to go. So, doing her best not to remember what she couldn't forget, she raised a hand and wobbled it slightly from side to side in what was probably her idea of a wave.

"See you later, Yoshida."

As they parted ways, her ahoge drooped once more, and she gave a dejected sigh. Back home, there hadn't been many students, so everyone had always been in the same class, which meant she could always spend time with Haruka. But here, it seemed like she wouldn't be able to spend time with her friends as much. Friends... In the first place, the plural still seemed strange to her. This place really was nothing like what she was used to... Everything was moving so much faster and there was so much more everything and all of the everythings were... were...

Fumika yawned. Today made her sleepy. But she couldn't sleep here. This was a hallway. It wasn't comfy enough to sleep. She shook her head, and rubbed her hair vigorously against her cheeks until her focus came back. Class. It was time for class. Locating the door, she entered only to find everyone already sitting down, and a tall man at the front talking about something. Probably food. This class was for food, right? Then they were probably talking about food. There were a few people she recognized, but several more who she didn't... Confusing. It was much simpler if one always had the same classmates, like she was used to. Now she'd have to record them, too, so she wouldn't fail to recognize them... Her eyes blinked red, and she ran her eyes over the room. Just like that, she was done. Oh, right. She was still standing in the doorway, and people were giving her funny looks again. Was she interrupting something?

Oh. This was a class. You weren't supposed to stand in class unless you were presenting or answering something. Was she doing either of those things? If she was answering, what was the question? She couldn't remember a question, so she must have missed it. In that case, she wasn't answering. So why was she standing up? She needed to sit down. Jett was here, so she could probably... No. The Main Character seat. Yoshida had told her to get it, so that meant it must be important. She needed to do it. So, resolutely plowing her way across the room, she completely ignored the ruckus she was causing as she slipped past and stepped over anyone in her way until she found the chair in the corner by the window, and which point she tossed herself down in it, either completely oblivious to or welcoming of whatever attention she might attract in so doing. The main character was supposed to make a big entrance like that, right? She hoped she was doing it right. She'd never been the main character before... This all would have been so much simpler if Yoshida had been there to give her advice...