𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘

CHAPTER 52

The sky was beginning to swirl yellow and red to create vermillion when Kai retreated from her class. Though her decision to leave might've looked like weakness from an outside perspective, the truth was that she had better things to do. Things no one else should have to do.

With her hands stuffed in her pockets, she trudged her way to a white building across the campground, kicking up dirt and ruining her white and gray shoes as she beat her toes into the uneven ground with every step. It was a good distraction from what chaos was about to unfold in her mind as her world was about to diverge from her preferred silence.

She liked quiet. It gave her peace in a world that never stopped moving. It gave her the ability to observe when others might find it unnerving. Nothing could be awkward if you knew how to handle silence. But this, this was not quiet.

Talking to other people was not quiet.
Expressing her feelings was not quiet.
Thinking about things that hurt her was not quiet.

When she reached the door, she didn't hesitate to stare at the doorknob, to ponder what would happen if she never used it. No, she needed to get this over with so she could crawl into whatever shitty bed they had made for them and sulk away into her quiet. So in a purposeful pace, she continued down the hallway before making an abrupt left turn, entering a well-lit room already occupied by five bodies.

She halted halfway through the doorway, clenching her teeth as she scanned each person. Seated at a table that could fit more than five were Aizawa and four other pro heroes she couldn't remember the individual names of. But she knew they were the "Wild, Wild Pussycats."

Kai knew they had been discussing something important, something trivial before she walked in. She knew it because of the way they stopped talking and avoided each other's gaze when she entered the room.

Kai's expression pinched ever so slightly. She knew they were talking about her.

"You should work on that... being more subtle, I mean." Kai began with a cock of her head, eyeing them with annoyance.

The big guy, with dark makeup and blank eyes, scoffed, "She's got a mouth on her, too."

"Please sit down, Kai," Aizawa sighed, rubbing his eyebrows.

Eyeing the cat-man sitting opposite of her teacher, she eventually complied and plopped into an open chair. She immediately crossed her arms and soured her expression; she needed to make it clear that she didn't want to be there and that the conversation needed to be quick.

But Aizawa ignored her silent tantrum. "We've been waiting for you for fifteen minutes."

"Didn't think a small delay would result in you gossiping, Mr. Aizawa. I didn't take you for a shit-talker."

"Oh boy..." the girl with burgundy hair and brown eyes sighed.

"You were stalling," Aizawa observed. "And you still are."

"I was eating dinner."

"It took you two hours to eat rice?" He raised a brow.

Kai narrowed her eyes. "I was listening to Denki tell a story and lost track of time."

Aizawa kept his eyes locked on hers while the others shifted uncomfortably in their seats. After a moment of silence and unbreakable stares, Aizawa sighed again and blinked his tired eyes. "I know you don't want to do this, I understand. But you know why we have to. We have to do these exercises to jog your memory to see if you can remember anything All for One, Shigaraki, or Takeshi told you. We need to figure out what they're planning so we can be one step ahead and prevent it from happening. You understand that, yes?"