Chasing a Memory ( Shoto x Oc )

Ray makes soup

Normally mornings in the Fox Ryu home were chaotic, both girls scrambling to get ready for the day one or both of them half awake and crashing into furniture. But that morning was unusually quiet, only one of the girls being actually awake and out of bed.

Ray was hunched over the kitchen counter languidly waiting for some chicken soup to boil on the stove under her watchful gaze. She wasn't exactly great at cooking that was more so Cassie's expertise, but how hard could it be to make soup?

Her long tallon like nails tapped out a rhythmic tune onto the smooth counter tile as the blue haired girl resisted the urge to slam her head down out of boredom and frustration. Her best friend was stuck in bed so she would have to stick by her side for a while before heading off to school, not that any of her teachers could actually do anything if she just skipped the day completely, though Cassie had insisted that Ray go on ahead without her.

Cassie certainly wouldn't be able to take care of herself in her current condition, she was practically imobile, her body wracked with pain and a heavy fever. The rain from last night had done the poor pinkette in for at least the next few days if not the rest of the week.

Cassie wasn't one to get sick normally, she knew well enough to take care of herself and as a result remained relatively healthy. She had only gotten sick a few times all of which were results of the weather and by proxy her quirk requirements.

Even in the winter Cassie never wore long sleeves and when she did they were always made of a special sun absorbing material created by Ray's mother Ebony Ryu. Ebony was a shit mom but at least her inventions and hero costume modifications were nothing less than genius.

Ebony had done so much to earn back Ray's respect after she sent her own child off to a quirk testing lab. It was hell, the blue haired girl had been tested on like a lab rat while being treated like an intriguing science project by some sketchy ass man named Doctor Garaki.

He worked with the villains undercover as a normal quirk doctor. Someone who had gained the respect of the citizens of Japan, climbing the social ladder to the top and acting as if he would never be knocked down.

Needles, test tubes, x-rays and so many blood tests. To this day Ray gagged at the smells wafting from hospitals, flinching away from strangers in lab coats or hospital scrubs. It reminded her of those years in his underground lab, his lab that she would find and burn down with the doctor who had successfully modified her quirk, burning along with all of his work that he had dedicated his twisted but pathetic life to.

She hated that man with her whole being, cursed the very ground he walked on wishing that her friend could just open up the earth and swallow him whole never to be seen again. But it wasn't her fight, the pinkette had already done enough for her.

She was the one who found Ray after she escaped, she was the one who brought her to the foster center, gave her a home and a shoulder to lean on. Cassie knew what her friend had been through, Ray wouldn't dare to let that doctor anywhere near her friend.

No, she would remain blissfully unaware of who he was, because if Cassie knew not only would her friend be put in danger, she knew that Cassie would not rest until she found Doctor Garaki destroying his life one well aimed flower petal at a time.

Ray's fists clenched tight, her nails that had been tapping the counter now digging unknowingly into the skin of her palms drawing small crimson red drops of blood. The pot on the stove began to boil over, the broth hissing as it came into contact with the hot stove.

The sound of sizzling brought Ray back to her senses as she glanced from the stove with a frown and then down to her hands rubbing her thumb of her left hand against the small crescent shaped indents where her nails were, cleaning away the miniscule amounts of blood, once done repeating the actions to her opposite hand.

Shoving her palms under the kitchen sink faucet the blue haired girl washed her hands drying them off on her sweatpants before returning her focus to the soup. Turning off the stove ray roughly swung a kitchen cabinet open, yanking down a bowl which clattered noisily on the counter.

Grasping a wooden soup ladle, Ray stared down at the finished food, stirring it occasionally to cool it down faster before scooping up some and splashing it into the bowl, not caring to clean up her mess as she could do that later. For now she was focused on Cassie who was still fast asleep in bed. It was Ray's turn to take care of her, their rolls had been reversed.