When we get to the store, Ayaka and Mrs. Kubo get a gleam in their eyes, while Mr. Kubo sees a painting in the store of a calm nature scene, and he uses his quirk to jump inside of it and sit in a swing that is hanging from a tree branch to pass the time. It is strange to see him moving inside a painting. He is quite literally bringing this painting to life. He sees me looking at him, and he waves, and I wave back. I then get pulled quite suddenly to the changing rooms, where Ayaka and Mrs. Kubo take my clothes off. I yelp at the sudden undressing of myself out of reflex, but I feel safe with these two, so the yelp wasn’t out of fear of them. The last person to see me naked was that scarface after all, and he forcefully removed my clothes as well. I know that these two would never do what he did, but I think it was the act of them removing my clothes that made me yelp. It is like my body remembered before my brain.
They stop when they see my face and ask, “Are you ok?” I look away and ask, “C-c-can you let me remove my clothes myself? S-s-sorry, it brought back unpleasant memories.” I say, clutching my partially removed clothes. Ayaka’s eyes water, and she says, “I am sorry. I should have asked your permission first.” Mrs. Kubo says, “I am an adult and should have known better. I am sorry.” I nod to nonverbally accept their apologies and remove my clothes, and they look at my frail body, which shows exposed bone from not getting enough food. Mrs. Kubo asks me with a worried expression, “What is your favorite food?” I lightly chuckle and say, “Hot food.” Ayaka chuckles as well at my response, and Mrs. Kubo says, “Well, I will let you eat as much hot food as you like.”
I changed into blue jeans and a tight, frilly girly shirt. I look in the mirror and though I have pink hair, I am far from feminine. It is probably my face. I scowl a lot by default as a defense mechanism that has become as natural as breathing. The first words out of my mouth were, “Ew. Gross. Isn’t there anything less… frilly?” Ayaka and Mrs. Kubo giggle, and Mrs. Kubo says, “Then I guess all these dresses I picked out are out then.” I sigh and say, afraid of sounding too picky, “Anything is fine, I guess… I just want to be covered.” Ayaka nods and leaves the dressing room for a moment, and comes back with a plain t-shirt and a hoodie. I noticed that she went out of her way not to get me any hero-inspired clothes, remembering my words. With each passing moment I am with her, I feel more human and less like garbage.
I took the t-shirt from her and put it on, and put on the black hoodie as well. I put the hood up and clutched the hoodie tightly as a few tears fell from my face. Ayaka panicked again and said, “Oh no! Was that not right? I thought that was what you would prefer.” I stop clutching my hoodie, and I hug her instead, since she is misunderstanding my tears again. I stammer, “N-no. It is p-p-perfect. I feel s-s-safe wearing it, and it got to me. T-thank you, Ayaka.” She clutches the back of my hoodie, and I never want her to let go. Mrs. Kubo leaves the changing room and takes all of the frilly stuff back and gets several jeans, shirts, loads of underwear, and a few different hoodies for me and makes me try them all on to make sure they fit properly.
After getting me clothes, they took me to a hair salon. The hairdresser sat me down and asked, “What are we getting?” I shrugged. The hairdresser chuckles maniacally, “Oh, how I love customers like you.” She says, snipping air with her finger scissors excitedly. Apparently, her quirk allows her to turn her fingers into blades. My hair was messy and uneven due to not being able to afford a haircut. I used a sharp shard of glass to cut most of the length off to make it easier for upkeep. Before cutting, she washed and dried my hair. After my hair dried, she started cutting the hair that was around my shoulders off quite liberally. She turned me away from the mirror, so the final product would be a surprise.
When she turned me around, I saw that she shaved one side of my head and faded into more hair on the other, flowing with the part in my bangs. I like it because I can still hide behind my bangs. Yet, it actually looks good. I actually really like it a lot. Mrs. Kubo and Ayaka squeal at the finished product, and the hairdresser says, proud of her work, “Behold, my masterpiece!” Ayaka, with stars in her eyes, approaches me and says, “You look so cool, Sekai!” She kisses me on the cheek, and I blush furiously as we get sucked into the dimensions of the chair momentarily because of Ayaka’s quirk. She says in her cartoon form, “You are so cute, Sekai.”
While holding me in the chair, she looks down and sees her fully clothed body in her cartoon form, and she sheds a few tears. She says, “I never thought I could ever activate my quirk without taking off my clothes. Thank you, Sekai.” She comes in to kiss me, and after a moment of kissing like this in the chair, she has to pull us out of the 2nd dimension, and she breaks away from our kiss while catching her breath. Mrs. Kubo says, while Ayaka catches her breath, “You disappeared again briefly with Ayaka that time when she kissed you.” Why would I want to disappear when I am happy? I look in the mirror, and I have Ayaka’s lip gloss smeared on my lips, and my fresh new haircut is all messy from making out with her.
Ayaka looks at me, and I blush furiously again, thinking of the kiss we just shared, and her parents start chuckling while I put my hood up and pull it down over my red face. Mr. Kubo says, “Oh, the fires of youth. Reminds me of how you came to be Ayaka. Your mother was hiding in a painting that I stumbled upon, and one thing led to another, and-” Ayaka puts her hands to her ears and goes into 2D on the floor and yells to her dad, “Daddy, please shut up! You are embarrassing me!” Mr. and Mrs. Kubo are both laughing at the scene. Both Ayaka and I want to fade into the background… Ha. I guess she actually did. Maybe that is the idea behind her quirk. I feel the same way at this moment, since those laughs are directed at me as well.
Mr. Kubo pays the hairdresser while laughing, and Mrs. Kubo says, “Alright, honey. We are leaving. Whether you stay a cartoon or not, it doesn’t matter to me. Just don’t fall behind.” Ayaka pops out of her cartoon form, and she holds my hand as we walk back to their car to return home. Mrs. Kubo says to Mr. Kubo, “Oh, wait, honey, we need to get Sekai things for school, so we can’t go home quite yet.” Mr. Kubo changes course, and Mrs. Kubo turns to ask Ayaka, “Speaking of school, have you told Mr. Aizawa about Sekai yet?” Ayaka jumps and pulls out her phone with one hand while still holding my hand and taps on her phone and puts it to her face, “Mr. Aizawa, I found a way to control my quirk, but it is complicated.” … … “Well, you see…” She tells her version of events to this Mr. Aizawa person on the phone.
At the end of her spiel, “Does this mean you will transfer me?” … … “Ok, so I just have to show you as a test?” … … “Ok, we will meet you outside the UA gates tomorrow morning, Mr. Aizawa. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” … Ayaka sighs in relief and puts her phone away, and she says, “If I pass his test tomorrow, I can transfer to class 1-A from general studies at UA. They would let you enroll as a special circumstance if we pass. He said that I couldn't be a hero before if I couldn't hold my quirk around creeps since they are everywhere, and to let him know if that had changed. During the entrance exam, I was able to rescue a few of the other students who failed. But some pervert with purple hair was preventing me from using my quirk in a way that both a person I rescued, me, and the pervert had to get saved by another student.” I am shocked and processing what she just said, “Me, a UA student? I am a middle-school quirkless dropout. I can’t possibly attend such a fancy school.” Ayaka chuckles and leans her head on my shoulder and sighs in relief, “Yes, a quirkless, middle-school dropout like you can still enter UA.” I lean my head gently on hers and soak in her warmth.
When we get back to her home, we take everything inside. Ayaka says, “You can use half of my closet to put all of your clothes.” I stammer, “O-ok.” Ayaka asks, “Have you ever slept over at a friend’s house before?” I shake my head, and she says, “Then we are going to do all of the stereotypical sleepover activities. First, we have to play games, girl-talk, watch a movie, have a pillow fight, and stay up late talking.” Mr. Kubo says, “Ooooo! Can I join in on the movie? Are we watching a hero film?” Mrs. Kubo pulls on his ear, “Having adults like us would ruin it. Let them be kids, honey.” Mr. Kubo says, “Ow, ow, ow, ok.” Mrs. Kubo says while still holding onto Mr. Kubo’s ear, “I will make something for you to elevate your sleepover experience. Let me take this extra out of the way. I love you.”
Mrs. Kubo shuts the door, and I hear Mr. Kubo say, before he gets too muffled to understand, in a pouty yet loving tone, “Extra? That is harsh m-” I turn to the closet to be responsible and put up the clothes they so graciously bought me. I have to take care of them. With care, I hang up everything, and when I am done, Ayaka sits down on her bed, plopping, and asks, “Are you done yet?” She says while pulling out some game controllers from her nightstand by her bed. I approach the bed as well, and she gets her pillows and places them on the wall. She pats down beside her, summoning me to her side, and I crawl into bed with her and sit in the spot she prepared.
We played a fighting game, and she kept beating me even though I was trying my best. After the last match, I groan and place my controller down and say, “That is so frustrating. You only won because you have experience. Just you wait.” Ayaka giggles mischievously and says, winking at me, “Counting on it, Sekai.” I ask her, “So, what is next for your activities?” Ayaka then said, “Well, we don’t have to go in any particular order, and what we don’t do tonight, we can do tomorrow or the next night. There is no rush. Was there something you were wanting to-”
Before she could finish, my stomach started growling loudly, and she started laughing, “Guess that answers that. Let’s get some food.” Can I really eat whenever I feel hungry? I smell something very delicious and sweet coming from the kitchen that lures me in. I see Mrs. Kubo is making icing for a cake that she has placed on a cooling rack. I also see dishes piled in the sink. WHAT IF THEY THINK I AM A FREE LOADER? I don’t want them to abandon me. As she makes the icing, I push up my sleeves on my hoodie and go to the sink, and start washing dishes. Mrs. Kubo smiles at me and says, “How helpful, thank you for helping. Ayaka could take some notes.” Ayaka sighs at her mom’s remark and says, “I do what you ask me to do. What exactly do you mean?”
Mrs. Kubo says while icing the cake, “She is taking initiative without being asked.” I place the clean dishes in the drainboard. I get about halfway done washing dishes when Mrs. Kubo places a hand on my shoulder and says, “Thank you, Sekai. Why don’t you sit down and enjoy some cake?” I object while still washing a plate, “But, there are still more dishes.” She then gets the other hand and takes the plate I was washing. She says, “I appreciate what you have done, but now you need to eat.” Before I can continue to object again, Ayaka grabs me by the wrist and pulls me to the table.
Mr. Kubo is taking the initiative and cutting the cake. Mr. Kubo looks at Mrs. Kubo doing dishes and says, “Hey, babe, join us. I'll get those later.” She finishes rinsing the dish in her hands, then joins us. He gives me the first slice, and before I panic and object, Ayaka puts the fork in my hand and puts it in my slice of cake. I lightly chuckle at her persistence, “Alright.” She smiles smugly as I take a bite of cake. It is so divine, and I want to keep tasting it forever. Ayaka, Mrs. Kubo, and Mr. Kubo both looked at me, then at each other. Ayaka asks them, “Mom, Dad, you saw that, too, right?” Mr. Kubo nods, “Yeah, she definitely disappeared for a fraction of a second like you said last time.” I look down, confused, “What do you mean?” Mr. Kubo says, “I think you may be awakening your quirk. Keep exploring that, and maybe you can learn how to control it.”
Ayaka asks while placing a hand on the back of my hoodie, “What were you feeling when you ate the slice of cake?” I replay the moment in my mind and then reply, “I was thinking how delicious it tasted and how I wanted to eat it forever. Why would that cause me to disappear, though?” Ayaka, Mrs. Kubo, and Mr. Kubo all shrugged. Mrs. Kubo says, “Quirks are crazy sometimes. With time, I am sure you will get a handle on it.” I nod. Do I really have a quirk? What good is disappearing for not even a full second? I am still basically quirkless. I keep eating the cake and quickly eat it. Then I stare at the uneaten cake. Ayaka chuckles, “Do you want more?” I ask, “I-is that ok?”
Mr. Kubo cuts me another slice and places it on the plate, and says, “Yes. In this house, NO ONE goes hungry. EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT.” The waterworks in my eyes turn up and basically become faucets as I gladly accept the second slice of cake and eat it, and keep going back for more. Mrs. Kubo says, “I normally wouldn’t let anyone eat this much sweets in one sitting, but you need to gain some weight. So, don’t hold back.” I nod and keep eating. Mrs. Kubo smiles at me warmly, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Once I had my fill of cake, I burped, and Ayaka giggled. Mr. Kubo gets up and starts washing the dishes, starting with his own. Ayaka asks me, “Do you want to have a pillow fight?” She grabs my hand, and she has this hopeful sparkle in her eye. As if I can’t say no to her, I nod and say, “S-sure.”
She smiles a huge smile that makes my heart skip a beat, and I start blushing. She pulls me quite suddenly and quickly, heading towards her room. Once in, she shuts the door, jumps onto her bed, and throws me a pillow. She smirks and says, “Prepare to die.” I chuckle, “So, my hero has a dark side.” I smirk back and make my approach. Just when I was about to make contact, she used her quirk and took her pillow with her. I groaned and smacked my teeth, “Tsk. Come on, that isn’t fair!” Ayaka chuckles, “I never said we couldn’t use quirks.” I groan, “But you are the only one who can use one.” Ayaka continues to chuckle as she maneuvers around the room in her cartoon form, and she says, “Then I guess I have the advantage.”
I sigh and accept my disadvantage and focus on her drawing. She is running around with incredible speed, and I see her trying to come up behind me. I turned and swung my pillow, anticipating her returning to normal for a strike, and she was. However, she was able to hit me, too. Before we could continue the pillow fight, Ayaka grabbed me by the waist and kissed me quite suddenly. I kiss her back and get so caught up in kissing that I forget that we are playing. She inserts her tongue in my mouth, and I moan in both surprise and pleasure, drop my pillow, and hold Ayaka close as we continue to kiss.
I feel like I am in a daze, like this kiss is a dream. After several minutes, we break away from the kiss, and I remain frozen in place, still thinking of the kiss we just shared. She smacks me with the pillow to smack me out of it. She says, “Looks like I win.” I smack my teeth, “Tsk. Dirty tactics.” She giggles and says, “You know you liked every second of my tactics.” I feel myself blushing furiously, and I clear my throat, being caught so obviously, and turn away. Ayaka laughs and drops her pillow and hugs me, saying, “You are so cute, Sekai!” She squeezes me tight and asks, “Do you want to watch a movie now?” I shrug while still holding her and say, “If it is with you, then anything is fine.” When I said those words, she jumped us into the floor suddenly.
She says, “Shit, sorry about that.” Her cartoon face is blushing. I retorted playfully while smirking at her, “You are so cute, Ayaka.” She sends us back to the 3D, and she picks up her pillow and hits me with it playfully one last time, then turns to her shelf where movies are lined up. She asks with her face still a little red, “What kind of movie do you want to watch? Action, romance, fantasy, mystery..?” I shrug, “Doesn’t matter to me. Why don’t you pick something that you want to watch?” Ayaka sighs, “We can do things you like, too, you know?” I sigh and say while sitting on her bed and putting my pillow back on the wall, “To be honest, I don’t know what I like. There are lots of things I couldn’t experience because I couldn’t afford them… That and I want to know what you like, too.”
She clutches her chest with one hand while continuing to thumb through movies. She says, “We can learn what you like together. In the meantime, how about we watch a romance?” She holds up a movie case in between her fingers. I nod, and she puts the movie in and cues it up, and then joins me in bed with the remote. The movie seems to be a love story between a girl with a fire quirk and a boy with a quirk that could manipulate plants. Their quirks are very incompatible, yet feelings emerge between the two. The girl accidentally hurt the boy on several occasions, and near the end of the movie, they get naked in a pool and start getting intimate. They don’t show anything graphic by using camera angles to censor their bodies, but I still find myself blushing at their passion as they find a way to be together.
Ayaka looks over and sees my blushing face, and she giggles. I go to hide my face, and she holds my arms down with her right arm. She then gets her right hand in a fluid motion and turns my head towards her, and she kisses me. When she kisses me, I don’t want it to stop, and my mind can only think of her lips. I still think that everything feels like a dream. After our kiss, she says, “We probably should get to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow. You didn't brush your teeth after eating cake earlier, did you?” I shake my head, “I don’t have a toothbrush.” Ayaka points at me, “Yet. I am sure we have a few unopened toothbrushes.” She hops up and fetches me a toothbrush, and we brush our teeth side by side in their bathroom.
When we are done, we go back to her room and I take off my jeans and my hoodie, leaving my t-shirt and underwear on, and crawl into bed. Ayaka joins me, and we turn towards each other and hold each other’s hands. I look into her beautiful purple eyes and say, “I am almost scared to go to sleep because I am scared I may wake up from this dream I am living with you.” Ayaka squeezes my hands gently and says, “You feel that? You aren’t dreaming. So don’t worry, I will be right beside you when you wake up.” I responded, “I hope so… Thank you for everything today, Ayaka.” Ayaka smiles that warm, bright smile that makes my heart skip a beat, “Anything for my sidekick who rescued me. Good night, Sekai.” “Good night, Ayaka.” As I close my eyes, I feel a little overwhelmed still from everything, but feeling Ayaka’s warmth soothes me to sleep.