Switches & Spices

Chapter Thirteen

"I don't need two. You take those! Do we need to do anything for the shop today? Cleaning, anything like that?"

The next few hours flew by, Tamaki and Eijiro more than happy to help with menial tasks like cleaning up our lunch, sweeping, setting up the sensory deprivation tank, as well as taking a short tour of the building.

Numerous questions about all the different spices and herbs that lined the walls, Tamaki taking a specific interest in them. A thought occurred to me as I watched him carefully pick up a small container of Valerian flowers, roots and all dried and preserved.

"Wait, that time you made a small sunflower grow from your fingertip... You can make plants grow from your body with your Quirk too, right? That's why you're so interested?" I looked to him, seeing his subtle excited nod as he brushed his fingers along the label, delicately setting it back down in its place.

"I haven't had to use plants in a while, my Manifest has memorized some of the more useful ones for binding though. If you have some of the seeds, I can create the plant in question. I haven't been poisoned by a plant yet either, I've even taken Belladonna before to test it." He murmured thoughtfully, and I had to swallow down my anxiety at the mention. That was highly poisonous, so to think he wasn't affected was impressive, to say the least.

"Oh. I had a medical team on standby while I was testing my Quirk. Should've said, sorry." He glanced at me, a small guilty smile on his face. I shook my head and forced a laugh out, shaking out my nerves with flicks of my hands.

"I'm sure you wouldn't put yourself in needless danger for a test, just... That's remarkable, Butterfly. You weren't scared at all?" He shook his head, smiling easier at his nickname that was spoken in the private moment, Eijiro off with Mana setting up a few massage tables in the back.

I heard cursing now and then that leaked into the front of the building, snickering to myself as I imagined Eijiro panicking when she would curse out stationary objects for daring to not work the way she wanted. Or maybe he was used to it, who knows. The laughter after one of the strings of curses followed the latter train of thought.

Having both of them here with us was a deep comfort, and I wondered how often this would happen. I wouldn't outright ask for it of course, but if they felt the desire to spend time here, I would happily accept their company. Mana took a liking to them as well, as she hadn't pushed them out the door yet. I dearly hoped that with the exchanging of numbers, she and Eijiro would be able to talk more and bond. She needed friends, too.

"Marshmallow root?" Tamaki's curious murmur made me focus again, and I nodded, a small laugh escaping as he inspected it.

"Really good for sore throats. Not so common to make marshmallows anymore, though. Mainly in teas now. Even then, people would rather go for store-bought goods to comfort their colds. Don't blame them, but the natural stuff without additives helps more at times." I leaned against a table as he wandered around to glance at the different herbs, smiling as he gingerly took one of the jars and cracked the top to sniff it, grimacing at the smell before hastily capping it and putting it back in the spot.

"So you know about all of these?"

"Most. Mana's the real mastermind behind this place though. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to actually follow through, but she had thought about running something like this for years. She's supposed to get her licenses for acupuncture and chiropractic this week, she had been studying for a few years before we moved. Just have to go and pass some tests I think, haven't checked in on it yet. You should see her stacks of books." I let out a small laugh, remembering how I had teased her about the heavy book sets as we loaded them into the moving truck.