An Undead Academic Experience 3

Chapter 3:  Unexpected Meetings

<<<Xiao ‘Lily’ Lang>>>

“Kana! Hold up!” Xiao called as she jogged to catch up to the other student.

Kana stopped, allowing Xiao to catch up to her faster and proceed to put her arm over Kana’s shoulder and give her a friendly grin.

“Since we’re both foreigners, how about we go exploring?” She asked, “I’ve been meaning to do it but I’ve been so busy studying for the exam and never got around to it.

Kana didn’t reply for a few moments, and when she did, it was in English rather than Japanese, “... I don’t know, that seems… unsafe… heroes aren’t around everywhere and there are lots of villains around too…” Not that she seemed at all worried about them being able to hurt her.

“It’ll be fine! We’re not going to leave the ward or anything,” Xiao said, “Oh, maybe we could find a gym! You know, so we can have a place to work out when not in school.”

“I think the woods would work better,” She replied, “Or a similar place.”

“I mean… you’re probably right,” Xiao admitted, “Well, let’s at least look around, eh?”

Kana shrugged, seeming bored and uninterested. Xiao was sure that it was a front. She didn’t know why the girl was hurting, but she’d figure it out and crack that shell! Maybe that made her a busybody, but she never enjoyed seeing people miserable, and Kana certainly seemed miserable to her.

And seeing as Kana wasn’t going to try and be social (or maybe not, she certainly seemed to enjoy having Mina talk at her), Xiao decided to take it upon herself to help her out of her shell!

“... I need more… Japanese practice,” Kana noted, in that same language, “Maybe… window shopping could be… fun.”

“Well, I’ll help you out.” Xiao said, “And that sounds great!”

“... do you know where… the shops are?” Kana asked, coughing awkwardly, “I have… some money if there’s… something you really want?”

“We’ll find them, exploring part of the fun, after all,” Xiao said, “And don’t worry, I have money too. But this is window shopping after all. But who knows, maybe we’ll find you something you like hmm?”

Kana shrugged lazily, “I don’t… do a lot of fashion…” She admitted, “The uniform is the nicest thing I own…” She was playing with her hair nervously, clearly not knowing how to respond to Xiao.

“Well, we’ll fix that in time,” Xiao said with a smile, “We’ll find you something to your liking, now come on; I think the shopping district isn’t too far. Though I could be wrong, that’s part of the fun.”

They got lost instantly.

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“Okay, so…” Xiao just grumbled as she pulled out a map, “Okay, so we are… here… huh? How the hell did we get here?”

Kana shrugged, “We took the bus… maybe we got off at the wrong stop?”

“That’s entirely possible…” Xiao said with a scowl, “Stupid, overly complex map…”

Her friend shrugged, head tilted. “We are being followed… criminals… they’re regularly here…” There were a few shops around, but the area seemed rather impoverished overall.

Xiao just grumbled, “And we can’t use our quirks to run them off, not that I would; given how dangerous it is.” She said quietly, inwardly grumbling over how anal the Japanese quirk laws were, “Though I do know how to defend myself without it. And you?”

“... if they attack us, I can make them go away,” Kana whispered, “We can… defend ourselves with our quirks. If we can’t escape…”

“Hope it doesn’t come to that…” Xiao replied, “Hmm, let’s try this shop… maybe they won’t try anything if we’re inside?” It sounded like a weak idea, but she didn’t have any better ideas herself.

Kana didn’t bother to reply, simply turning and walking into the building. “Mm… Mom likes this type of shop…” She mumbled, picking up various random knick-knacks and crafting supplies. “She wants me to try it…”

“Try what?” Xiao asked as she looked around curiously.

“Making things,” She replied, “Like… art and blankets. She said it would… broaden my mind.”

Xiao smiled, “Why not?” She said, “Get what you like. I’ll… oh… I haven’t seen one of these before…” She said as she walked over and looked at the thing curiously.

“Like that, do you?” The lady at the front asked, “That’s a Dream catcher. It’s supposed to help ward off nightmares.”

Honestly, that was something she could use, “How much is it?” She asked as she pulled at her purse to see how much she even had on her.

“Oh, just 500 yen,” She replied, pointing at its tag.

“Ah, thank you. Reading Japanese still gives me trouble at times,” Xiao said as she started counting out the yen as she looked over at the other odds and ends in the store.

Kana had… a pile of things, herself. Mostly held within a small hand cart, but the pile of hats on her head was… unique.

Xiao just smiled at that before getting a few other odds and ends that made her curious.

When they’d finally left, Kana had stuffed everything she’d gotten into a nice backpack that she’d also purchased there while Xiao just used her school bag, which thankfully didn’t have any books in it yet.

“Oi, oi! Ladies, let us help you carry your purchase,” A sleazy sounding voice said from an alley beside the store, earning a sigh from Kana.

Xiao glanced over, and she wasn’t entirely familiar with Japanese stereotypes, but… she was fairly sure they looked like the Japanese thug stereotype. None of them seemed particularly intimidating, even with their chains and pipes; if anything, they seemed to be trying too hard.

“No thanks,” Xiao said, “We were just heading back.”

“I insist.” Xiao raised a brow as the leader of the thugs approached, “See you entered our territory, and we can’t let that pass. So just let us lighten your load and we’ll let you be on your way.”

“You can not actually threaten us,” Kana replied, voice dead and flat; projecting… almost hatred into the air with her stance, “No more than an ant can threaten a snake.”

The thugs bristled at the slight, made even worse by Xiao shrugging, “I mean, she isn’t wrong,” She said completely uncaring if she stoked the fires, “We can still use quirks to defend ourselves…”

Though maybe not hers, the last thing she needed was having the fools suing her if they lost some fingers or limbs to frostbite. Which made using her quirk rather difficult, as it didn’t seem to have any option other than lethal. Though she hoped her time in UA would help her with it.

The thugs went from angry to terrified in an instant, though she was pretty sure it wasn’t because of them for, in that moment, a woman started talking. “Are these men giving you a hard time?”

The speaker was… rather well known, it had to be said; with her bronze skin and rabbit ears (not to mention legs that could crush a cement mixer, and that wasn’t an exaggeration) it was impossible to mistake her for anyone else. Mirko, one of the top ten pro heroes and the top pro female hero.

Xiao admittedly had a weakness for women who could fold her like laundry and crush her head like a watermelon with her thighs alone.

“No, I don’t believe so,” Xiao said as he looked at the spooked thugs, “We’re we?” Though admittedly a part of her was disappointed at not getting a chance to show off her self-taught martial arts.

“... I think they were bothering us,” Kana muttered, “They should at least be locked up to prevent them from trying anything on softer targets…”

Maybe Xiao would have to reevaluate her opinions on Kana; honestly, her first impression of her was a wallflower. That was particularly vindictive… and Xiao could appreciate that.

“Mm, true,” Mirko replied with a viscous grin before clapping her fist into her palm, “Now, we can do this the easy way or the fun way…”

The thugs surrendered, tossing their weapons (and their bodies) to the ground and begging for forgiveness.

“... I don’t know if I should feel disappointed, impressed, or amused,” Xiao said honestly.

“Stick with the latter two, only I’m allowed to feel the first… officially,” Mirko replied with a smirk as she went around and cuffed each man in turn.

“And unofficially?” Xiao asked with a cheeky grin, making Kana look at her like she was crazy.

“Unofficially, I’m curious where you two are going to school,” She replied.

“UA,” Xiao answered, “We were going to the shopping district, but got off at the wrong stop… stupid complex maps…” She grumbled, mostly to herself but she had no doubt the hero heard her.

Mirko whistled, “More impressive than last year's new students… but your friend should restrain her bloodlust a bit. Just a bit. At least until after you graduate.”

“Better bloodlust than me giving them all extreme frostbite,” Xiao said with a shrug.

“I don’t think she was faking it, were you girl?” Mirko asked, eyeing Kana carefully.

Kana just shrugged.

“Thought as much,” The hero continued, “This was my last patrol for the day, and I’m feeling friendly, so I’m going to show you two a nice place to get some aggression out.”

Xiao visibly bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything that would get her ass kicked, “Thank you, Mirko,” She said instead.

Mirko just smirked, no doubt having an idea what went through her head, “It’s fine, kid,” She said, giving Xiao a firm smack on the back…

… Causing her head to fall and hit the ground.

“Damnit!” Xiao cursed, “Kana, a hand please?”

The girl just waved a hand as she approached and… Xiao’s head shot skyward to be caught by Mirko, who, with a raised brow, simply placed it back where it belonged. “... Your head is lighter than most,” Kana explained.

“... Are you calling me an airhead?” Xiao snarked with a sigh, “Maybe I should get a neck brace or something.” She added as she readjusted her scarf before nodding to Mirko, “Thank you for the catch, I wasn’t looking forward to the headache.” Not that it would bother her long, but initially it’d be a nightmare.

“Anytime,” Mirko sighed, “Come on then, the police are gonna scrape these sad sacks off the pavement in a few minutes, and I don’t want to wait for them. They’ll call my office later for my statement, just tell me what happened as we run.”

“Well, we got off at the wrong stop, and we saw a little store that caught our eyes.” Xiao explained as they worked to follow the pace Mirko had decided to set, “And when we were walking, Kana noticed we were being followed. So I figured we could go inside and they would leave eventually. I was wrong.”

“They never leave,” Mirko advised, “Next time, try losing them in the crowd.”

“Hmm, I’ll remember that.” Honestly, it was stupid of her in the first place but what’s done is done, “So Mirko just wondering, but do you use a modified version of Taekwondo with your quirk in mind?”

“Kickboxing,” She replied, “with a bit of Krav Maga and Muay Thai I picked up when I went overseas.” Her leg snapped out and kicked a ball back towards a group of kids playing soccer… and straight into the net, which got many cheers even as the kids teased the one that kicked it in their direction in the first place.

Xiao smiled as the kids all pointed and waved to the Rabbit Hero. “Kids certainly like you,” She commented.

“Well, I can’t be a gruff and battle-hungry rabbit all the time.” Mirko quipped with a snort, “Besides, it was either that or letting some kid run into the road to pick up a ball, imagine what that would do to my image.” That was clearly an excuse, at least in her eyes.

“Fair,” Xiao said, “Though it does show that you’re more than just a battle rabbit.” She didn’t know if she was risking an ass whooping or not by saying as much.

Said rabbit glared at her, “If I wasn’t showing you a place to have fun safely where you can get to UA easily…”

“I wouldn’t say no,” Xiao said, “I might learn something! And honestly, I’ve always respected you, even before I came here.”

“... I was threatening to leave you behind,” Mirko sighed, “What is wrong with you?”

“Okay, just remember, you asked,” Mirko just blinked at that, “Okay, so I’m a late bloomer, my quirk only activated after I got Final Destination'd, which explains my detachable head and the fact I have a matching scar on my back and chest where I was impaled. Also, now my sense of pain is all screwy, like earlier my head would ache for a few minutes before fading away. Also, I was ostracized by my entire town over something I couldn’t help, driving me here. Oh, and it’s possible my quirk rewired my brain somehow, but I don’t know how to find out if that’s a fact or just me assuming things,” She explained all in a single breath.

“Our class… did not know how to… respond…” Kana said slowly in heavily accented Japanese.

“... That’s a first,” Mirko replied before shrugging, “Eh, long as you try to do the right thing it doesn’t matter to me.” Then she slowed, turning down a bike trail, “Ok, down this way is an old quarry,” She explained, “And further down the path is a road that leads straight to UA.”

“Thanks, Mirko,” Xiao said with a smile.

“Just… make sure your friend there gets out her aggression?” Mirko advised, “She has a lot of it.”

“I’ll do my best!” Xiao said with a grin, “Hmm, maybe I should see if Kana is interested in talking to the school therapist if there is one. I know I need to.”

“... Very well, Ms. Mirko,” Kana sighed, “I will work on it.”

“Good, now… I have a hot shower and food calling my name, you girls be good,” Mirko said before jumping away, far faster than her previous pace.

“... I’m going to sound like a fangirl, but I hope I can be half as badass as that rabbit when I’m a hero,” Xiao admitted without hesitation.

Kana just snorted before starting down the path.

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