Puppet Control

③

A soft and warm cocoon of sheets greeted Tokido as she slowly woke up. She was tightly gripping the poofy white blanket that was curled around her. The girl slowly shifted herself up to study her surroundings and rub her eyes. 

The room she was in was nice and clean, with a mixture of light and dark furniture placed around. There were windows on the wall across from her that were angled at the bright blue sky. Most of the other walls were white, save for one. The floor seemed to be a nice white carpet. Blue and white pillows were scattered around the floor, on a black, grey, and white striped carpet. A TV sat on a white coffee table to her left. A poster of a drummer was on the wall next to a wooden shelf with some books and an action figure. There was a stand-out closet with a bag placed on top and a gap in the middle of it, presumably for shoes or something. A desk sat under the windows with a  blue chair next to it. On a blue-patterned wall, there was another shelf with some more books, a lamp, another picture, a mirror, and some cabinets. An open laptop was sitting on the desk, playing some calming music.

'I thought I was at the hospital...' she thought. 

"Mornin' sleepy head." came a voice.

Tokido jumped and whipped her head over to the door, to see her familiar friend. 

"Sorry I didn't tell you, but you were out like a light. I brought you to my house. I always had this room so I thought I'd give it to you. Hope you don't mind the decorations. Hungry?" Rumi said, leaning against the doorway and smiling.

Tokido's stomach involuntarily growled, making the hero laugh. "C'mon, you can choose what to eat."

Tokido slid out of bed, looking down at her clothes. She had a gigantic white shirt and big, baggy, black shorts on. The white shirt had a picture of a girl with short brown hair and a yellow headband playing drums. "Didn't I have an uncomfy dress on earlier?" Tokido asked, getting up and following Rumi to a big, sleek kitchen, after pressing pause on the music.

"Yeah, but those were getting kind of stinky, and as you just said, they looked uncomfortable, so I gave you some of my clothes. Sorry, they're a little big on you." she replied.

"A little?"

Rumi chuckled, opening the fridge. "So what d'you feel like?"

"Um... are eggs and rice okay?" Tokido said, struggling to get up on a tall wooden highchair. 

"You really like rice huh? Sure, that's alright." the woman replied, turning and laughing at the little girl trying to climb the chair, who gave her a pout.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm too short." 

"Here c'mon I'll lift you up. There. So I was thinking... do you still want to become a hero?"

Tokido watched Rumi crack some eggs in a pan. "Yeah. I'm going to get revenge for mommy."

Rumi looked at the girl. "Toki. I know it seems impossible right now, but it feels better to accept something than to take revenge. Trust me, I would know."

"..."

"Well, anyways, since you still want to become a hero, I was thinking I could help you with your quirk. Doctor Takao did some research for me. He didn't find that much, though, because apparently, your quirk is super rare. Figured out the name of your quirk is 'Puppet Chain,' though. He said it controls people by strings that appear on the person's body when the user activates it, and there are strings on the person's hand as well. He also said that the other people that had the quirk said that their control ranges depending on the victim's mental state, and if the user can penetrate it. That takes time, though. I'd take some classes on how the human body and mind works in school if you can. And in case you come across a villain or enemy that's mental state is too strong, I'm going to teach you how to fight. And you can choose to learn how to use a weapon if you want, too. Would you?"

"That was a lot of information-" Tokido said, staring at the silver-haired woman. 

"Uh- sorry. Did you understand? Or do you want me to break it down? Here's your food, by the way."

"Thank you! And yeah I understood... mostly. Also, for the weapon, I saw this anime on TV once, it was super good! It's called Demon Slayer! But I cried when two of my favorite characters died in the first movie. But anyway, they all used katanas! I also want a katana! One like Zenitsu's But green!"

"...I've never watched Demon Slayer, but I guess I can ask Power Loader to make you something like that."

"Who's that? Are they another superhero?" 

Rumi laughed. "Just hero. And yeah, he works at the best hero school in Japan. UA high."

"Hero school?! Can I go there?!" Tokido jumped up in her seat, almost knocking over her bowl of rice.

"Whoa, calm down. Finish eating. And it's really hard to get in. There are other hero schools, but UA is the best. I went there when I was in high school, though, so I can probably help you train to get in. Are you up for it? Backbreaking training every day until you're old enough? Learning to use your quirk on command? Making yourself stronger, even if it feels impossible?" Rumi put her hands on the marble countertop, leaning down to look Tokido in the eyes.

"Do I get to rest?"

"I- of course you get to rest! You can't just work all day, you'll basically kill yourself! Being dead's not going to help you get into UA!" 

"Okay, okay, no need to yell-"

"So are you up for it? You think you can do it?"

Tokido smiled, now a little riled up. "Yeah! I'll do it and I'll become the best hero ever!"

Rumi smirked at the child. "All right! I'm going to make you the most powerful hero of your generation!"

"Yeah!"

The woman clapped her hands together. "But first, we need to get you some proper clothes. Oh, and I have a surprise for you. Well, actually it was from Doctor Takao. He said you'd love it. Watched an anime or saw a poster or something if I can remember..."

"Really? Can I see?"

"Sure, let me go find it real quick... I'll be back in a second."

"Okay!" Tokido said, finishing up her food, and jumping off the chair to put her bowl in the sink. "Parkour!" she said, recalling her and her mom playing on the couches.

"Here we are! Like it?" Rumi said, entering through a door on the side of the kitchen.

Tokido half froze. She saw the mask that a man had on an anime poster she really liked. 'Ken Kaneki's mask!' she thought. 'It looks different, though. There's no mouth design, only a zipper, and it has purple lines on it, like lightning!'

"For real?! Thank you thank you! Can you help me put it on?! Please?! Can I wear it when we go shopping?!" 

"Hahaha, he knew you would like it. And yeah, it's yours, you can wear it whenever you want! C'mere, I'll put it on you. There we go, looks awesome! Nobody's gonna mess with you now! Should we get you some matching clothes or do you just want any clothes?"

"Yay! But I don't wanna waste your money-" Tokido said.

"Toki, I'm a hero in the top ten, I make a ton of money. And you can't just constantly wear my clothes, they're too big for you. It's alright, c'mon. I'll take you to some clothes shops and you can choose what you want."

Tokido slightly frowned.

Rumi sighed. "I'll carry you on my shoulders if you stop caring about the money."

Tokido smiled, showing off a row of straight teeth under her mask. "Okay!" 

"Alright, then let's go shopping. And if anyone asks if I'm your mom, don't get weird or anything, alright? Just answer honestly. Not too detailed, though... And don't tell anyone where I live, for the love of god." she said, picking up the little girl and getting her car keys from a hook next to the kitchen door.

"Okay! And I won't!"

"Right. After we get some clothes and things, we can come home, make some dinner, and then sleep. We'll start training tomorrow."

"Yay! Okay, let's go get some clothes!" Tokido cheered.

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Word Count: 1438