An Undead Academic Experience 10

Chapter 10: Honesty
<<<Xiao ‘Lily’ Yang>>>

It may have spoken poorly of her priorities, but when Kana was saved, Lily didn’t let her out of her sight. She still helped, of course, but well, she quite literally kept an eye on her. It also showed that it wasn’t just her head she could detach, and she’d have to test it safely back at school.

As it was, she figured she’d still be getting lectured for what she did, but honestly, could anyone really blame her? Kana was the first person who actually treated her normally, or as normal as can be expected, that is. 

Then Kana began to stir, groaning and putting her hand against her head, “It was too much to hope for a bit of quiet, wasn’t it?” That the hospital ward she was in was silent was probably not a good sign for her friend’s mental health, she was pretty sure. “It’s not like I chose to steal your souls, it’s just something that happens around me…”

Lily didn’t comment, mostly because she didn’t know what to say in the first place. Still, she was curious about what quirks she accidentally picked up. Is that how it works? Shrugging it off, she waited for a lull in the, from her perspective, one-sided conversation before speaking up.

“So, new headmates not happy?” She asked.

“To put it lightly,” She replied with a smirk, “And my skin is so itchy. I think I picked up some heteromorph quirk at some point. I’ve always wondered what that would do to me, but I didn’t know it would feel like this!” She was visibly restricting herself from just scratching all over herself, the start of multi-colored scales just visible on her face, around her eyes. “And my tongue feels weird in…” She stuck it out and it… just kept going. At the end, it was an easy four feet long. “Thath eels eird,” she said before retracting it, “Ok, better. I could taste the air, including the cleaning products they’ve used.”

Lily just blushed, but nodded awkwardly, “So a… mix of useful and niche quirks?” She asked, “Oh, and you could probably ask Tsyu for advice on how to work with that tongue quirk…” She added as her blush simply grew.

“What dat tongue do?” She just covered her face; she couldn’t believe her mind dove into the gutter so fast!

“Mostly not so useful,” Kana replied with a shrug, “Some light creation, might be useful if I train it, sparkle making, minor anti-fire shield quirk; the most useful one came from a hero, unfortunately, I can manipulate water with it. I can tell you the ingredients of most food, which might include poisons if they’re present; not sure on that. A remote observation quirk is another useful one.” Her head tilted, visibly thinking things through, “A quirk that flattens the ground around me, and I can make things act like gold. Only two quirks that are useful inherently, one could be useful in combat or… scams, I guess, and one that I might be able to make useful.”

Kana frowned and looked at Lily directly, searching her eyes, “I’m surprised you asked like that. Most people would feel uncomfortable if I started talking about quirks like a store clerk talking about their stock.”

“I mean… a little? But you can’t help how your quirk works,” She said, “And honestly, I’d be a hypocrite if I did. Mine makes me a cadaver, more or less, with fire that causes near instant frostbite and necrosis,” She explained.

More or less, don’t throw stones in glass houses.

“Mmm, I hope our classmates feel the same way then,” Kana sighed, “Can you help me get out of bed? Stiff, that scale quirk is really bothering me.” And it really did seem to be, with how she was moving.

Naturally, Lily didn’t even think of not helping; she carefully pulled her up and out of the bed as her friend flexed and stretched, skin visibly flaking off to reveal more scales.

“They should,” Lily replied with a smile, “Most of them left flowers.”

Kana just grunted, “Out of obligation, maybe. It’s the socially acceptable thing to do, bringing flowers to someone you know who’s in the hospital.”

Lily just rolled her eyes, “Maybe some of them.” She admitted, “But I do know Momo enjoys your presence and some of the other girls.”

“She and they enjoyed a mask,” Kana replied, voice flat, “You did too, frankly. I am under no illusion as to what I am inside, and if they know the same… it would be normal to dislike me for the deceit, if nothing else.”

“But aren’t we all wearing masks?” Lily retorted with a raised brow, “Do you really think a girl who’s been ostracized and vilified by her hometown would be this extroverted and chipper?” She drawled.

“Your mask is based on your actual personality,” Kana shot down, “Mine was entirely constructed. A lie, in other words.”

“Stop trying to convince me,” Lily said, “So what if you’re a sociopath? Despite what the media says, just because you’re a sociopath, it doesn’t mean you’re a remorseless monster. It means you have difficulties sympathizing and empathizing.”

“Oh, no, I am absolutely remorseless,” Kana replied with a shrug, “I’m also a hedonist who feels the best way to get the highs I seek is to follow society’s laws and norms. I’m not a monster as a result of that and that alone. I want to be a ‘good’ person because I don’t enjoy the thought of being hunted by heroes. I could chain the souls inside me and force them to shut up, relatedly, but doing so would train in bad habits.”

“And that is why I and some of the others aren’t worried, I mean, sure, some will be concerned no matter what,” Lily said, “And if the others decide to keep their distance? Their loss. Seems simple to me. Now, how about we see if you can check out and get some actual food and not this hospital slop?”

“... First real food I’ll have had for a while now,” Kana said after a moment, bowing her head to Lily in acceptance, “I wish I could be like you, sometimes. It would make life simpler. But, then, this quirk would drive me insane if I were.”

Her friend ran a hand through her hair, tossing it back with a dull and almost bored look. “And please no protein shakes for at least a month?”

“Heh, no problem,” Lily said with a giggle, “And honestly? It sounds like your sociopathy might be quirk-induced as a protective measure. I’ve read about things like that happening before. Probably should talk to a quirk counselor myself and see if my quirk gives me any extra bits like that…”

“I was mandated to talk to one of those before…” Kana started, a look of loathing crossing over her face, “Told me that I just shouldn’t ever use my quirk and to suppress mom and dad, ignore them entirely, so I didn’t get ‘bad ideas’. If I didn’t know who would get blamed for it, I’d have killed him then and there. And if I didn’t have to deal with his idiocy afterwards, I guess.”

“Sounds like a quack, honestly. Besides, Quirk repression treatment is illegal. Even suggesting it carries a fine,” Lily said, “I’ve been reading up on Quirk law since coming to Japan. Pretty sure UA has access to quality ones… or we could ask Izuku. She seems pretty knowledgeable to me.”

“Mm, I’ll ask one then, if nothing else it may prove to be something I can sue over and get some money for,” Kana replied with a shrug.

Lily just snickered, “Anyway, onwards to actual food!”

“... Thank you, Lily, for accepting and helping me,” Kana said, “Lead the way? I don’t know this hospital.”

It was going to take some getting used to, Lily could admit that much in her head, but honest Kana was better than lying Kana.

[hr][/hr]

Getting checked out went by quicker than she expected, and after some searching around, Lily and Kana were eating at a little ramen bar. The old man was overjoyed due to how Kana seemed to inhale the noodles, whereas Lily just took her time to enjoy the meal.

“Gonna have to thank Momo for this charge card.” It also made her wonder how rich the girl was. Lily hadn’t built up the nerve to go online to check the balance of the card yet. 

Something told her Momo overdid it, and she could freaking retire from being a Hero before she even graduated if she wanted! Was this what it felt like to have more money than God?

“Greasy, salty, unhealthy, goodness,” Kana groaned in pleasure, “If I had some sake or plum wine, this would be the best meal ever… even if my standards might be skewed by the whole ‘nothing but bad protein shakes for a week’ thing.”

Most of her ‘skin’ had shed off by that point, revealing a multitude of scales underneath. They looked soft still, like a baby snake’s, but they were most certainly scales.

“Is it weird I think your scales are cute?” Lily asked.

Before Kana could answer, there was a chuff of amusement from behind them, making them look back and see a dog heteromorph shaking his head in amusement.

“You two aren’t in trouble for abruptly leaving the hospital, the Rat predicted it, honestly,” He said with a snort as he moved to join them, ordering himself a bowl as well, “Hospital food is filling, but is hardly tasty.”

“We signed out,” Kana noted plainly, “And it didn’t smell bad, just… well, I wanted something extremely unhealthy.” Her grin was laconic, if nothing else, “The most variety I had was your spy changing from vanilla shakes to chocolate or peanut butter, but they all tasted like chalk and, as I said to Lily… I am a hedonist.”

Indeed, her friend had ordered a variety of different noodle types, from meaty ones to tofu and spicy ones, to veggie ones… it was as if she were trying the entire menu in one go.

“Fair enough,” He said, “I’m Hound Dog, by the way, UA councilor and discipline officer. I hope you’re aware that due to some revelations, we’ll be having regular meetings.”

Kana snorted, “Some revelations? Only ‘some’? I’d have assumed the idea that I eat souls would have gotten attention earlier…”

“Don’t get sassy, kid, and we can’t help how our quirks work,” Hound Dog said, “And while the video your friend and Yaoyorozu brought to us was enlightening, your own words ease a lot of concerns. Besides, that’s not really the cause. After being held captive by villains, regular sessions are a requirement,” The pro hero explained.

“Huh, that makes sense.” Lily said, “Like what happened after USJ, then?”

“Exactly, I would’ve preferred longer sessions, but the UA board felt it was ‘a waste of time’.” Just the way the hero said that told that he wasn’t a fan of the school board.

“I was mostly just really, really bored,” Kana noted, “The poisoning attempts were interesting, those broke up the monotony a bit.”

“Poisoning? Why? I mean… You were already captured,” Lily’s face scrunched up at that.

“I was awake,” She replied, “That means I could build up energy and thus potentially escape. They wanted to keep me physically weak and, potentially, find a way to keep me unconscious. It was a reasonable thing for them to do, in their position. I’d have done the same thing.”

“... Okay, now that makes sense,” Lily said, “Your quirk is pretty bullshit as it is,” She added, getting an amused snort from the hero.

“That attitude is going to make our sessions very interesting, I can tell,” He said, shaking his head, “Just like Aizawa…” He added with another snort.

Kana just shrugged and resumed eating.