Strays (WHM)

Part 6

"So," Izuku spoke up, breaking the tension. "It looks like you've gotten the hang of your warp, Senji. That's great!"

"Sort of. It's pretty unreliable still, and I've learned that I can still sustain injuries if something passes through before it's done," her tone hardened midway through her explanation. Izuku apologized meekly, understanding what she meant.

"Is that..?"

Rody spoke mostly to himself, as he wiped more blood away and a huge bruise became apparent near her hip. It was present on the other side as well, which he noticed when wrapping the gauze around the gash there. There were cuts on her legs, and another blue scar, but she swatted him away and mumbled something about taking care of those herself.

"Why were you two in the middle of a fight again, anyway? Weren't you supposed to be laying low?," Senji shot a hard question at the two, while Rody finished up. He put the first aid kit back into the other bag, digging around in it for something.

"Right, avoiding that one then," Senji grumbled at their silence. "Do you guys have any extra clothes, though? I, uh, need a shirt with less holes in it."

"Here," Rody, cheeks flushed slightly, pulled off the white hoodie he bought earlier with Izuku's disguise. He had a dark undershirt underneath it, and Senji blinked up at him while tilting her head to the side. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking, then spoke up while pointing at him.

"The undershirt would be better, in case I need to fly," she said matter of factly. Rody's expression went blank for a moment, and she turned away for him to switch the two tops out. He tossed the black undershirt at her, staring out of the cave opening while she got dressed and scooted to the wall.

"Safe now," she let the other two know they could turn around again, and leaned back closing her eyes.

"How did you get all beat up?," Izuku asked her. She waved her good arm about lazily, like shooing flies away.

"Police are pretty nasty here, and opened fire first thing. I guess I did take a few of 'em out though," she gave an answer that left the pair with even more questions. Rody glanced at the other who knew her better, but his expression did little to reassure him.

"You're a hero, too? Don't really have the same vibe. Why'd you come after us?," Rody asked this time, but noted how her brow twitched when he commented on her questionable behavior.

"Boss's orders? No, not really. It's sorta my job to babysit that idiot and his friends, since they're really good at gettin' busted up in fights. The others gotta play nice now with the police and all that, because of the news. I seem to have dug myself into the same hole as you two, though."

"Right, sorry," Izuku apologized again, looking at the myriad scars on his hands. Rody glanced between the two heroes-in-training before him. They both had scars covering their bodies, and the way they reacted during scuffles with the villains was way off compared to his own reactions. Even now, in a fairly crazy situation, they gave off an air of calm. He looked to the hunk of scrap metal on the ground, that was supposed to be a replacement for the girl's missing left arm.

"Your arm. And all those other scars, on your tail and stuff. Is that from villains?," he asked after a while, breaking the silence. Senji coughed, eyeing her classmate and choosing her next words carefully.

"Most of 'em, yeah. Losing an arm isn't too bad, though, since I can cover that with my Quirk," she answered in a nonchalant way, but her eyes clouded a little while she thought about the answer.

"Couldn't be me. Getting all beat up and hurt like that, for other people. Why do you do it? Even for people like me, who're just petty criminals."

The other two looked over at him, then thought about their answers. Izuku spoke up first, and Senji closed her eyes again. Her breathing was somewhat labored, and her face pale. She insisted that it was fine, though.

"I can't help it. My body acts before I can think, when I see someone in danger or who needs help. I just have to, I can't ignore it," Izuku gave an honest answer. Rody, and even Senji, scoffed a little at his answer. The freckled boy flushed slightly at their response, but he wasn't pressed or teased further on it. Instead, Rody turned toward the third in their little group.

"What about you?," he asked. Senji inhaled sharply, then exhaled slowly before speaking up. When she did, her voice was somewhat strained.

"Asking about last night?," her lips curled slightly as she shot a look his way. Izuku was lost, but felt bad asking her to explain more and kept quiet.

"Right. I've got a somewhat different background than him. You could say it's more similar to yours?"

"Yeah, about that as well-"

"I did some digging on my own. 'S why I was at the bar in the first place. Just happened to find a good lead, and that old baldy was easy to press for more info. Anyway, I dunno the dirty deets or anything, but... I've done some of my own shady shit. No room to judge n' all that," she continued her explanation, then fell into a coughing fit. She slumped slightly to the side, and the other two decided to leave her be for now.

"Her English is surprisingly good, though," Rody commented quietly. Izuku felt a little anxious about his own, with that, but brushed it aside.

"Apparently she's not originally Japanese, but from an english-speaking country," he offered what he knew about that subject. She mentioned it once or twice before, but the details were never elaborated.