For Me? | Bakugou X OC

35- Quirk Manifestation

"Alright, Amari. These past few days have proven your expertise in your quirk! I think it's time to begin the process of quirk altering." Soul tells me as I sit at the work table. It's only been a week since I first came and worked on my quirk, and we're already altering hers. Carmen sits again in the same spot, crossing her legs again. Soul stands across from me, staring at her hands. Her long, dark hair is pinned up in a bun, and her usual long gown is swapped for a short romper. I'm wearing my normal hero outfit, and I have my usual quill and ink in front of me. "You ready to start today's work, Amari?" Soul asks. My eyes fall to my hands and I notice a small trembling of my fingers as they touch the quill.  Just focus, Amari. You got this, I tell myself. I take a deep breath, preparing myself for the task at hand. "Yeah, I am." I say, dipping my quill in the ink once again.

"Alright, as a warm-up, go ahead and make Carmen have shorter hair for 5 seconds." Soul says, nodding her head and gesturing to the paper. Without hesitation, the words flow out of the ink and write out on the paper. "Carmen's hair becomes shorter for five seconds. After this time, her hair grows back to normal." It's business as usual as I look over at Carmen, seeing her with a shorter haircut. Seconds later, as planned, her hair grows back out. She runs her hands through her hair and nods, smiling at me. "Easy enough." I mutter. "The first quirk I would like to be given is mastery of elements. This quirk needs to allow me to use all four elements with a wave of my hand." Soul explains. I nod my head and think of the best way to word this. I grab the quill and begin. "Soul gains the power to control the four elements with her mind and hands." I don't feel the usual rush of power, and Soul tries hand gestures and movements. Carmen gasps lightly next to me, and Soul's face drops into a slight frown.

I look down at my paper, confused. "It... it didn't work." I go to dip my quill again and Soul offers, "Amari, why don't you try just one element? Maybe all the elements is too much for your power level right now." I nod again. Hopefully, it works this time. I look down and begin to write. "Soul gains the power to control water with her mind and hands." I feel a big burst of energy with this, and look up, seeing Soul play with a stream of water between her hands. "That was it, Amari!" Carmen giggles and runs up to Soul, a huge smile plastered on her face. As I approach, the stream of clear water circles the room, grazing Carmen's cheek and whirling around me in a circle before returning to Soul's hands, where she waves it away. "It seems only one at a time will be good for now. Next time we work, we should work on strengthening your power, so that maybe we will be able to do this a bit faster." She smiles and pulls us both in. "But for now, you've done well, Amari. Quirk gifting is now something you can add to your roster." She smiles widely as she lets us go. "Carmen, why don't you and Amari head out to the garden for a while? I think I'll work with this power for a few moments alone." Carmen nods and leads me by my hand. On our way up, I can hear the whirling of water again.

The sun from in the garden feels warmer than normal sunlight somehow. The garden has several vegetable patches, fruit trees, and lots of flowers. The grass is a beautiful shade of green, and little mossy stones line the worn paths. Me and Carmen have a spot in the garden, by the starlight lillies. There's two huge flat stones, straight in front of the field. We sit there, kicking the pebbles out in front of us. "Carmen, you're probably too young, but have you ever had a crush?" She furrows her eyebrows and rolls her eyes. I playfully scoff and she smiles. "I'm not THAT young, jeez. Why, do you like the guards too?" She jokes. I laugh loudly and she giggles. "No, Carmen, not the guards. There's this guy... from my school. He's still captured, I think. The League of Villains has him, and I can't stop thinking about what he could be going through. He's a big reason I agreed to help before Soul told me her story." I confess. She smiles a little bit before looking around. "Listen, I sometimes snoop on Soul's conversations. I'll tell you a secret, but don't tell Soul and don't talk about it around the guards." She whispers. I nod intently and she continues. "If he's the guy I'm thinking of, then I may have heard Soul talking about him, and when I asked her what it was, she told me she was planning on bringing him here to be with us." I gasp and she smiles and nods. "So that means..."

"You'll be able to see him soon!" She says in a singsong voice. "Yeah, I would. I just hope he's okay. I'm a little nervous to see him. Its been so long already." I recount, remembering once again the day at that gym. "Is he annoying and loud and stubborn? I think she said he haid blonde hair, too." Carmen laughs aloud, and my face heats a little, realizing that it was actually Bakugou she was talking about. "Sounds like him to me." I reassure her and she shoots up from her rock and runs around in the flowers. "Maybe he'll teach me how to fight! I've got to learn." She starts letting off jabs into the air, and I smile. "Maybe he'll teach me first."