QUIRKLESS LIFE

~25~

Catharina took pride in the fact she could keep her emotions under lock and key. In her mind, she was just as susceptible to anger as Vinayak, possibly more, but just didn't show it. Most of the time. Honestly, she would've been out of this place if she did manage to keep them suppressed 24/7. But sadly, that's a reality that did not exist. She remembered the first time she lost it; it was violent and bloody. Andrea and Vinayak were shocked, horrified even. 

It was on their second attempt at escaping as a group, back when Izuku was with the girl. He was the last to get punished, and when they threw him into the room, Cath remembers running right up to him, bringing the greenie into her arms.

"Izuku! Izuku! Can you hear me?" She brought a hand to his cheek, looking at his raggedly cut hair and heavy eyes. He blinked sluggishly, before simply closing his eyes and laying his head on her shoulder. This action is what made her loose it, as she could now see the rips in his shirt and bloodstains across the fabric. The platinum blonde stood up slowly, holding the boy gently before putting him on the dorm bed closest. By the door, the staff who had brought him back were laughing softly, until they heard a large crack.

"Cath? Cath what are you- WAIT!" Andrea tried to stop it, but the girl had already broken off part of the wooden door. The staff looked down in confusion, and that night, a loud scream was heard, the news reporting two adult men hospitalised and blinded by a 'psychopath'.

Now, she stood on top of Mrs. Crook. She and Vinayak were both 18, and soon they'll be realsed when they turn 19. The Indian boy was up against the wall, staring in horror at the ground and bringing his legs to his chest, a hand over the mouth Mrs. Caldwich had tried to kiss. 

Though she wouldn't be kissing anyone soon. The woman screamed as a leg stamped down hard on her chest, gaging up some bile. 

"Say sorry..." Cath whispered, stomping down again when the woman simply continued to cough, inciting more bile, and a bit of blood to come from her mouth.

"I said... say sorry..." She repeated, a bit louder this time. Still, the woman under her foot continued to choke and cough. The other quirkless in the dorm were horrified, but they didn't try to stop the Dutch girl. They were afraid of her, and grateful to her. It was a kind of fear-based respect they didn't know they had for the blonde. A loud wet crunch, or was it a squash? Went through the dorm, and the coughing subsided. The staff weren't quick enough to reach the site of screaming, and could only call an ambulance, bringing the investigator to the nurse's office. They didn't try anything with Cath, her right leg now covered in blood like a sock. 

"Cath... what did... what did you do..." Vinayak looked up, eyes large and round now. It didn't help that the light came in from the hallway into the dark room. It gave his friend a far more menacing appearance. 

"She's not dead... yet... and won't be if they can get her to a hospital... though I doubt she'll be back anytime soon..." The blonde whispered, turning around and walking to Vinayak. She placed a hand on the Indian boy's cheek and held the other arm open to offer a hug. The black-haired boy hesitated, then wrapped his arms around her, breathing shakily as he kept his face by her shoulder. 

"I can't believe you just..."

"Then don't... forget about it..." She said softly, running her fingers through his hair, now grown to his mid back, though knotted and with many split ends. The girl sighed, and brought him closer, allowing him to cry ever so slightly into her shoulder.

Izuku stood by the side of Itami's bed, looking down at the sleeping orphan. He held his knife in hand, gripping on it to the point his knuckles went white. Oh, the urge to slit the pink haired teen's throat was almost overwhelming. The nerve he had to make Momo upset. The homophobic bastard. He wasn't even supposed to be there. She was telling him a secret, and the nosy teen just had to overhear it. The greenie took a sharp breath, raising the knife into the air, but froze upon feeling something tug at his leg. He looked down to see a tired girl, a fellow orphan. She gripped the night gown, and the greenie almost dropped to the ground. 

What was he doing...?

The teen took a deep breath, putting his knife away and kneeling down to the girl's height.

"Maia-chan...? Do you need something...?" He spoke softly, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"I can't sleep... I-I think I got my quirk..." She sniffed, moving a bit closer.

"It's scary... I can see so many more people than before... I-I don't like it Mr. Izuku..." The girl looked down, her eyes closed and small tears going down her cheek. The greenie took a deep breath before picking her up, hand behind her head as he went to his bunk. He sat down, letting her sit on his lap and cry softly into the gown. She held the fabric tightly, squeezed her eyes shut.

"What do the people look like...?"  Maia looked up, blinking her tears as she scanned the room, soon letting out a squeak and hiding her face in his shoulder.

"Pale... their eyes are pitch black... l-like holes... and their mouths are black and drooping down... down to their shoulders... th-their hair is black or brown... a-and they're wearing clothes like us..." She flinched and brought her arms to her chest as she kept her eyes shut. Izuku could feel the tears soak through a bit of his shirt, and he ran his hands through the girl's hair. He gently hushed her, swaying side to side, before leaning over a bit to reach under the bed. He sat straight again, holding the Cath-doll. The greenie gently pushed it into the girl's hands, making her open her eyes.

"What..." She sniffed, rubbing her eyes quickly.

"What is this...?" The girl looked over the doll, her fingers tracing over the eyes.

"This is Catharina... Cath or Cathy for short..."

"Kata... ta... ta..." The girl furrowed her brow, trying to pronounce the unfamiliar sound on her tongue.

"Kata... Katha... Catha... Catharina...?" She turned to look up at Izuku, and he nodded slightly, pushing hair out of her eyes as he gave a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder.

"Mhm... and she's here to keep you safe... if you listen really closely, you can hear her speak..." The greenie whispered, and he saw the girl focus in on trying to listen to the doll. Of course, it didn't speak, but he had said it so she believed the doll could talk. Her eyes widened, and she looked at it in amazement.

"I heard her...! She said I was pretty...!" Maia looked up at Izuku with a smile, then back to the doll. It amused him, since the real Cathy would've probably said the same.

"She'll keep the strangers away from you... but you must warn them, otherwise they could get hurt..." The girl looked around the room, her eyes glistening over slightly with tears. In the shine, Izuku could see the people she had been talking about. Tall, lanky, pale beings you'd find in horror movies. No wonder she was shaking. He pulled the girl close, and gave her another reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. Maia took a deep, shaky breath, before shutting her eyes and squeezing the dolls.

"Don't come close...!" She said, to what seemed like no one in particular to Izuku, but when she opened her eyes, one by one, she looked amazed.

"They moved back..." The girl looked at the doll, and smiled before giving it a tight hug, then gave the greenie a tight hug.

"Thank you so much Mr. Izuku...! She really does keep them away...!" He nodded, and watched as the girl hopped off his lap, walking to her bunk with confidence as she stuck her tongue out at the air, but probably was the strangers in her eyes. Once again, he really only said the Cath-doll could keep them away so she had the confidence to keep them away herself.

It was lying, yes, but it was lying for a good reason.