Atrocious

- Chapter 7 -

I had remembered to ask again what exactly Recovery Girl's specialty in healing was, when a big, fat and also warm and moist smack came on my bare arms and knees.
Just as I was about to ask if this was a bad joke, she replied with a wink:
"I can speed up the healing process this way!" she hastily raised her finger, "but not for serious injuries, you understand? Don't let such fights get out of hand."
She waited with a small smile for my blunt nod, patted my hand affectionately and went outside. She may be small and quite old, but you could tell that she had it thick as a fist behind her ears.
She had left the room, but to my surprise she left the door open.
As I was about to get up to close it, a black and a smaller blond mop of hair peeked out.
"Can we come in?"
"What? No! No!" I hastily put on my blouse and pulled up my holey trousers.
I didn't notice that the blouse was on wrong and some of the buttons weren't fastened properly. Jinji and Mr. Aizawa came in at my request.
"Weren't you going to look after me? Do I have to look after my big sister now?" he laughed.
I screwed up my face into a smile and watched Jinji's wide eyes and his index finger as he silently pointed to his chest area to tell me something.
When I finally understood what he meant, I flinched and hurriedly turned my back to them to put the buttons in the right order.
I couldn't imagine looking them in the eye right now. I would have been so uncomfortable with their reactions. Instead, I decided to make the bed while they talked and put my tousled hair up again.
Shota's look again had an abrupt touch of "absolutely not in the mood" and his voice sounded extremely monotone.
"The first day is sometimes the hardest and you can be proud of her," he turned to Jinji.
I didn't listen and went to the mirror to undo my coarse bun.
For what felt like the first time in years, I saw myself in the mirror again. As a fully-fledged human being.
Of course I knew that these thoughts were wrong, that you shouldn't make yourself look so bad and that any path you took was the right one if it felt right.

Now it felt right. I could now pursue a career, keep my brother with me and grow beyond myself.
My life was now moving forward in an orderly fashion.

That's what I thought at the time.

My dark brown, slightly wavy hair fell down to my shoulders and I pulled apart a small quiff on my forehead with my thumb and forefinger. I'd had this catastrophe of a head of hair for as long as I could remember and, to my regret, nothing helped.
I carefully wiped away small pieces of crumbled kohl from under my eyes until my green, brown pupils, which looked like wild undergrowth from close up, were once again the focus of my face and not the smudged make-up.

I felt the stares of the two behind me and was confirmed when I made eye contact with Shota through the mirror. He eyed my hair tiredly as I shaped it between my hands again and fixed a new, prettier bun with bobby pins.
I ignored him.
"How are you feeling? Can you go back to work tomorrow?" asked Jinji.
"Of course. Recovery Girl has healed me completely. I mean, it was just little things."
"I'm sorry," Shota said coolly, his dry, dull and red eyes wandering across the room to the half-open window looking out into the greenery. "Working at the U.A. is hard and practice fights and training are the order of the day."

"And that also counts for me as a teacher?"

"Then even more so".

Why hadn't I asked the principal more questions back then, I thought, and I felt dizzy at the thought of what might come next.
Aizawa said goodbye and Jinji and I sat down to talk about the day.
His eyes looked different since he'd been at this school. They were much brighter and radiated a certain contentment.
He was right where he was.
And so was I.

We spent the evening eating together in the canteen, talking to our mother on the phone and walking to the dormitory.
"I think you might like the apartment."
"You've seen it before?"
"Of course," he said with absolute clarity, "I was allowed to choose the apartment. And I chose the second floor with a perfect view of the forest and in the background you can see the city with its lights. My hall of residence doesn't have such a great view."
"I'm impressed."
"You should be too."
We both couldn't suppress our laughter.
A first apartment of our own. And in such a beautiful location to boot.
I liked it and thought about how I would furnish it.
Back then, on the last day before I left for the U.A., a removal service rang our doorbell in Shinjuku and two men loaded my most important utensils, furniture and clothes into the van.

I also discovered the packages again when we reached the dormitory and I unlocked the apartment in question.
It was generously proportioned, with a spacious living and sleeping area, a small bathroom, an even smaller kitchen in the next room and a narrow desk right by the front door.
The parcels were neatly stacked in the middle of the room and were just waiting for me to unpack them.
Jinji offered to help me, but when I looked at the clock, it seemed more sensible to go to bed.
"Tomorrow is the weekend. What are you up to?"
"Well - unpacking and planning for the week. I mean, this is my first week. I won't be teaching myself yet, but it'll be good to help Present Mic and Mr. Aizawa."
He offered to help unpack, but I thought it would be better if he spent his weekend with his friends and I took care of everything.
In peace and quiet.
He said goodbye and I was alone.

I pulled my "bedroom" box out of the pile and hoped that this construction wouldn't collapse.
My mother had bought new bed linen and the bed was quickly made up.
Already quite exhausted, I undressed, threw my clothes next to the front door and took a shower.
The hot water was so pleasant that I wanted to wrap myself up in the warmth and go to sleep.
But going to bed so wet would only provoke a cold.
Carefully, with a towel wrapped around my body, I got out of the shower. As clumsy as I was, the caution didn't help, I slipped and hit the floor like a fish out of water.
My bottom and lower back had probably taken the brunt of it and I feared bruises.
But well, I couldn't help it, got up, dried my body, hair and face and ran naked into the living area to look for fresh clothes in the boxes.
'I'm such a disaster'.

There was a knock at the door and I almost dropped the clothes I had chosen from the packages.
"Mrs. Hayami? Is everything all right?"
'Who was that?
"One moment!" I shouted and got dressed as quickly as I could.
The black leggings were slightly fuzzy and the sweater was stretched a little misshapen but it still had to work.
I walked to the door and as I pulled it open, I remembered with shock that I wasn't wearing a bra. I hoped my damp, long hair could conceal that a little.
Sekijiro Kan, "Blood King", stood in front of the door and smiled.
"Hello"
"Mr. Kan, hello, how can I help you?"
"I heard the apartment directly below you and a thud. Are you all right?"
Great, now I haven't even officially slept here and I'm already making such a noise. I blushed and looked down.
"I slipped and fell after showering. But I'm fine now."
His eyes became worried: "Are you sure? Are you still in pain? I can take you to Recovery Girl if you like."
Not again.
I waved my hands and thanked him for his willingness to help.
"What's going on here?"
A door slammed shut and Mr. Kan and I looked to the entrance of the second door.
It was Midnight.
"Sekijiro Kan, you scoundrel. This is the women's floor. What are you doing here?" she asked with a laugh and nodded at me with a wink.
They got talking and he leaned his arm against my doorframe.
This allowed me to get a closer look at him while his eyes were fixed on Midnight.

He had to be almost 2 meters tall. The strong, muscular build couldn't escape anyone's notice and I caught his scent of forest and salt again.
He had a large, visible scar on his left cheek and a few small ones all over his face. He had his short, light gray hair done up. The two protruding lower canines, which were visible even when his mouth was closed, gave him a certain sternness, coupled with the kindness in his eyes.

"You slipped? What are you so clumsy for?" Midnight asked, looking at me playfully, "and why aren't you wearing a bra?"

This was unexpected and I didn't know how to row back, because Blood King raised his head and looked up at the ceiling while he stammered: "If there's anything else I can do to help, you're welcome to contact me."
All that came out of me was a quiet little "thank you" and I glared at Midnight.
Then I closed the door and realized how the heat in my head almost made me explode.