Atrocious

- Chapter 25 -

Narrator POV

Vlad and Shota stood at the entrance of the residential building, exhausted and tired, talking.
The students were still busy eating breakfast and were also very tired.
'Training must have been hard,' Anna thought, walking into the breakfast room and greeting them warmly.
She quickly grabbed some rice balls and poured tea into her thermos flask to avoid any conversations, but as always, someone was quicker.
"Are you feeling better again?" Mina asked, her smile genuine. Little lumps of rice hung around her mouth and she couldn't help but describe them as cute.
"Excuse me?"
"Mr. Aizawa told us that they weren't feeling very well and their stomachs were acting up. We were worried about that," she said as she shoved the next portion of rice into her mouth.
"Thank you, dear ones. Yes, it's much better again and I'll be joining you again from today and even training myself."
Izuku breathed in loudly and pulled a notebook out of his backpack.
"What will you be training in your specialty today? Can you channel your power in other ways? What about combination techniques..."
"SNAP YOU FUCKING NERD!" shouted Katsuki, throwing an apple at his head. He flicked it upwards and she caught it.
"Thank you Katsuki," she called out to him, who made a sweeping and dramatic gesture of curtsy to return her thanks.
She couldn't help but giggle and walked out.
"Good morning," it sounded from the side and Anna looked around. She hadn't noticed Vlad and Shota and now Vlad was standing in front of her, smiling:
"Are you feeling better?" he asked, gently grabbing her forearm.
His manner was so loving and radiated a calmness that she really liked.
She hoped he didn't think she was playing with him.
Only her emotional chaos made her doubt everything and even if she would like to feel his closeness, she didn't know if it would make sense. She had already gone soft twice.
In the end, things could get even worse.
She stroked his hand and ignored Shota's gaze, which burned deep into her.
"I love that you asked - yes, definitely. I'm fit to train today!"
The enthusiasm was a little too fake and Anna looked down.
She didn't feel like training at all. She felt like - thinking and sleeping.
"Shota told me what happened on the first day in the onsen ..."
Anna almost choked on her own spit.
'Please what?
"Your specialty must have tremendous power! How come you never applied for the UA?" he continued, and her heart sank.
Her gaze flitted briefly to Shota, who smiled conscientiously at her, and a small shiver ran down her spine.
"I never wanted to be a heroine..."
"Then we'll work on your specialty today - heroine or not," Shota interrupted monotonously and joined her.
'He must not really care about me - I'm a toy at most...'Nothing happened'...Is sex that unimportant to him? Does he feel the way he talks?'
Anna paused for a moment and looked towards the horizon. If her specialty was to have that kind of power again, she would have to learn how to deal with it.
'I brought your suit,' Vlad stammered, holding up a suitcase.
"What?!? Where did you get that from?" she asked, looking around in shock.
"We've been waiting for the right moment. You're ready. So are we and here's your suit. Put it on and then think of a name... if you don't already have one!" Vlad grinned and handed it to her.
It was heavy. A little too heavy for her taste.
The number '42' adorned the chunky aluminum case in large black letters.
'The answer to everything?
She hurried back into the room and opened the '42'.
The costume was almost faithful to her poorly scribbled drawing that she had been asked to submit at the time.

She liked it.
Even if it was a little tight here and there. She thought the cloak was too much and left it off.
It gave her more freedom of movement and she didn't have to worry about getting caught somewhere.
Vlad's gaze made her nervous and Shota also looked at her with interest.

The training session was held a few hundred meters away from the compound.
In the end, Shota was stopped by Izuku and Momo and went back in displeasure.
Vlad and Anna went alone.
Her suit still pinched her neck and hips a little and she pulled at it.
"You look great," he said.
"Oh, don't tell me. I must have put on weight and now I feel like a sausage in my skin," she stammered and took a deep breath to adjust the tight fabric between her fingers.
He grabbed her gently by the arm and smiled:
"You look wonderful".

The hairs on the back of her neck bristled with excitement, but she tried to stand firm.
She carefully slipped out of his grip and looked at him.
"What can I do to channel my power?" I said, trying to change the subject.
"It's the thoughts"
"Thoughts? You mean like in the onsen?"
"Exactly, channel your power through your thoughts. It's rarely positivity, it's more the anger and sadness that gets you going," he said, putting his hands on his hips.
"What do I need to prepare for? What are the villains up to?".
She had asked the question many times before but was never receptive to the answer.
"We don't know their reasons. What we do know is that they want to harm us. And every Mi-ANNA!!!!!! is theirs."
The last thing she saw was Vlad. He threw himself forward, trying to cushion her fall, but he wasn't in time and she hit the hard ground like a stone.
He bent over her and squeezed her neck with his hands.
The taste of iron settled on her tongue and she saw red.

Only red.