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Bad day for rain, Kaina thought as she peered through the blinds to the small street below. Sitting on the windowsill, leaning off of her right knee as she spread the blinds with her fingers, she was unblinking, still, almost statuesque- and she felt uneasy in a quiet kind of way.
The fact that her roommate was trying to glare a hole in her from the bed wasn’t helping.
“Comfortable enough, Kai?” she asked sweetly. If he wasn’t going to hide his temper, she wouldn’t bother hiding her sarcasm.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Do you really prefer Overhaul?”
“You prefer Lady Nagant?” he spat back.
With a sigh, she left the window and turned to face the man who could only barely be called her partner in crime.
“...Is there something bothering you?” she offered.
“Why did you bring me here?” he asked, motioning with his head at the garish furnishings around them.
“It’s a hotel that rents by the hour with staff that doesn’t ask questions… And we need to lay low until nightfall.”
He scoffed.
“What’s the matter? Were you expecting something else when we came to this part of town? Perv."
Kaina grinned at her own joke, but the dark-eyed man just continued to stare.
“Damn," she sighed. "All that time you spent in jail and I can’t even get a blush out of you. I can’t help but feel a little hurt,” she said with her best puppy-dog eyes.
“Screw this,” he muttered as he rolled his eyes.
“Oh lighten up, big guy. What happened to your funny bone?”
Meeting her eyes with a blistering scowl, he raised what was left of his arms for silent emphasis.
“...So you do have a sense of humor,” she remarked.
He’s hardly making for good company, but at least he’s not having one of his episodes, she thought. When he gets like that, he's little more than broken record. Sorry pal, but you’re much more use to me when you’re angry than when you’re catatonic.
Abruptyly, Chisaki rose from the bed and staggered over to the hotel room wall- before firmly smacking his forehead against it.
Alright, nevermind.
He began to beat a slow, steady drum of thumps- his frustration reverberating through the cheap, thin halls.
“Keep making that kind of noise, dear,” she said, her voice dripping with derision, “And the neighbors will get the wrong idea about us.”
“The only other guests are two floors above us,” he spoke into the wall.
She raised an eyebrow.
“How do y-”
“The only other keys missing from the board behind the clerk- Weren’t you paying attention?” he sighed.
So he’s still as sharp as his reputation would’ve suggested...underneath all of...
Kaina took a moment to study him- His sharp, dark eyes, his short crop of messy hair. Even disabled, the man had still had dangerous aura about him- like a mean-looking hunter's knife blunted by neglect.
Underneath whatever it is he's got going on.
“This is pointless,” he said, pausing his beat to rest his head, flakes of flimsy wall paint peeled away where he had been hammering.
“Why did you even bring me here?”
A damn good question, actually.
“You hit your head that hard? I need you to make the ID on the target, remem-”
“Male, sixteen, one-hundred-and-sixty-six-centimeters. Green hair, green eyes. Blood type O, if my intel was good,” he rattled off. “Big head, bigger hair, with an inoperable case of hero complex- Should I keep going?”
Kaina exhaled a small laugh.
“...Okay. The truth then."
“...”
“I’m only keeping you around because you’re such a pretty face.”
He actually did blush at that- a bit. But then-
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Tough crowd.
“Just take me to the Boss already,” Chisaki muttered. It almost sounded like he was pleading- and that helplessness struck a nerve in her.
“ Oh, for- What’s the rush for you to see this guy, anyway?" she said, real frustration creeping into her voice. "What are you actually going to do?”
“...Whatever it takes to apologize. At minimum, I’ll give him my head.”
“Oh, how noble," she said, her voice growing louder. "I don’t get you. Where’s this...this innocent gratitude coming from, Overhaul?”
"He took me in. I owe him everything," he muttered into the wall.
“So he made you a yakuza? God, that’s...He took a wide-eyed kid with a quirk and made you into a-"
Made me into a killer.
"...Made you into a criminal," she finished.
“You’re wrong- He made me a Shie Hassaikai. And if he hadn’t…" Chisaki paused and turned to look her in the eye. "I’d have become something much worse on my own.”
All Kaina could do was sigh. Suddenly feeling exhausted by the conversation, and everything else in the world, she walked over and made an exaggerated show of collapsing onto the bed spread-eagle.
“The hell’s that supposed to mean...?" she said staring up at the ceiling. "With a quirk like that you could’ve become a world class doctor.”
“...No, I couldn’t have," he said, back to boring holes in the wall with his eyes. "Not with my…personality.”
She twisted to face him, propping her head up with her elbow on the pillow.
“Maybe you could’ve been a hero,” she said with a mean grin.
Chisaki turned away to the window.
“...That’s not funny.”
Kaina looked down and started picking at the sheets. “No, I guess not," she offered. The bed smelled like soap trying very hard to cover something else up.
"But you’d be surprised who they’ll buy as a hero…With the right costume, the right name...the right publicist or the right manager.”
He gave no response, but Kaina continued, speaking more to herself than anyone in particular.
“You can have the most rotten personality imaginable…or even a quirk that’s just perfect for killing…They’ll still find a way to sell your action figure to kids.”
Her eyes had fixated on a faded stain on the otherwise stark white sheets. Someone had tried to bleach it out, but she could still see it.
“I guess it’s easy. Cause kids want heroes. They want to believe in them," she whispered, unsure, uncaring if he could even hear her.
“So they’ll take whatever they can get.”
The more she looked at it, the more the stain seemed blatant, bold, obvious. She wondered how she hadn't noticed it as soon as she stepped into the room.
When she finally raised her head, Kaina saw that he had turned back to press his forehead against the wall again.
Oh god. If he starts that up again now I’ll-
“You're wrong," he said. "I could never have been a doctor. My quirk doesn’t heal- it destroys…and then it builds it back right.”
“...What’s the difference?” she asked.
"How painful it is, for one." he said plainly. He said it so plainly, in fact, that Kaina was certain he had had first-hand experience.
She would've shivered at the implication if it wasn't for her shooter's nerves. It still took her some effort.
Having a powerful quirk is one thing...But If I was his enemy, and I knew he had the will to do that to himself...I'd have cut off his hands when I hand the chance, too.
“...It doesn’t matter now. Without my hands, I can’t do anything," he said, closing his eyes. "All I can do…is apologize.”
Kaina shifted once more to lay flat on her side. Her hair fell across her face and onto the pillow, and her hand laid there open, extended towards him.
“...There’s something you could do for me,” she said, her voice half-lost to the bedding.
Chisaki turned to meet her eyes. His gaze was still hard, and dark…but the glare was gone, at that moment.
Kaina closed her eyes and her mouth broke into a small smile.
“You can keep watch while I get some rest.”
“...”
She peeked one eye open to confirm that the glare was back in full force.
“...I need a shower,” he muttered, stepping around the bed and towards the bathroom.
Won’t even thank me for not closing the door, will he? She thought with a smirk.
Outside, the rain fell steady and soft onto the street. The crappy lighting in the room seemed warm, just then. And the bed was more comfortable than she had thought at first.
Still a lot of time till it gets dark…And if I can outwait the rain, all the better.
She scanned the room half-heartedly as she weighed whether or not the nap was worth it- But she paused when she saw where Chisaki had been banging his head earlier.
I could’ve sworn he chipped the paint back then…But the wall looks spotless. Not even one stain.
...Damn, she thought with a small laugh to herself. If my eyes are playing tricks on me, I really do need the rest.
But...I'm also curious to see how long he’s gonna wait in there before admitting he needs my help to get undressed.