Aftermath

Characters
Itsubun Houkyokusei AKA Compass, the Intuitive Heroine
Patience Flaxwood AKA Doc Fortune, the Miracle Worker
Aashalata Sharma AKA Tentalash, the True Tentacle Heroine
Kousoku Gutaika AKA Phantom Beast, the Caged Heroine
Suhina Tankenfu AKA Princess Kumo the Wandering Heroine of Adventure!
Bunraku Origami AKA Marionettist, the Strings-of-Fate Heroine
Cameron Panoptica AKA Obscura, the Photogrpah Heroine

Aftermath

Houkyokusei-san blinked once, and then shook her head as she came to herself. The exercise must have been over-she was now in a bed with a thin sheet over her. An IV ran into her wrist, and she instinctively lifted it to get a better look, only to wince and move back as her shoulder protested. "Ow ow ow ow." She pouted at the wound, as though it would somehow remember its place and stop bothering her.

Which apparently was cue to someone else to start.

"Bun-chan! You're moving!"

The other classmate leapt to her feet, and beamed down at where the smaller girl was recovering. She continued to pout, lifting a hand to shield her eyes. "Tankenfu-san? What happened?"

Tankenfu instantly reverted to big open eyes, giving a theatrical noise. "No ones sure! During the exercise Gutaika-san got /really/ big and scary and started to fight for real! Discipline-sensei had to go down and stop everyone from fighting! Flaxwood-chan helped you with your arm, but now they're saying its really really really hurt!"

There was a clearing of a throat, and the nurse stepped up-apparently taking this a moment to correct the smaller girl. "It is, but you are in capable hands. Flaxwood was able to give you the best treatment possible on site, and once you've had a bit more bed rest and we remove the packing I'll be able to heal you as good as new. Only thing you'll have to remember this incident is a scar."

Houkyokusei nodded, and fell back to laying down. "Why do we have to wait? can't you just..."

Surprisingly it was Tankenfu who had the answer, shaking her head. "Nope! Flaxwood-san passed out tending to you so they wanted her to rest before she helped take everything back out. But don't worry!" She grinned, and leaned over the bed, beaming at the tiny girl. "I'm going to help you with everything! I'll carry your books and do all your chores and walk you home and you won't have to do anything I'll be there and..."

Houkyokusei soon just tuned the other girl out, laying her head back down and muttering a deadpan "Wonderful."

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Sharma was lazily skating outside the school. It seemed /cheating/ how quickly they'd given her a once over. Any wounds she might have had were gone with the basking of light and the nurses cheerful word. Not even a sling or a bandage to show off as a badge of honor.

It was her loss, she'd decided. Time was up, way over five minutes to reach the bomb. And even if they said the fight was 'interrupted' it was done by her teammate. That makes them disqualified, so... still a hero loss in this case.

She had made the right call though, abandoning the bomb to go check on Phantom Beast and Compass.

Still she meandered. Her eyes went back to the black hearse sitting in parking. Gutaika-san's family. They'd apparently been called in right away. She'd wanted to talk to them or to her but... really what to say? 'Its okay, she only tried to kill me, she didn't succeed'. 'It was a good fight so don't be too hard on her'? She sighed, hands lifting up and brushing through her tentacle mane of hair. What to say to Gutaika herself? 'Nice fight. We should rematch sometime when you aren't trying to kill me?'

Instead she found herself saying nothing. Just lazily skating back and forth in the parking lot, eyeing the hearse and hoping that it wasn't some sort of omen.

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Gutaika sat in the lounge. She was told to make herself comfortable. That there was drinks and snacks if she needed anything, they just wanted to speak to her family without her. They wouldn't tell her how much trouble she was in. Just that she'd hurt two other people in her rampage.

And that one of them was still in the nurses office. A nurse who could heal almost any injury in minutes, and yet the girl was still there.

And so she sat, the redhead declining to get any food just... waiting. This was it. She'd be kicked out. She'd attacked a fellow student again and this time there was no way it wasn't her fault. Her fingers rested on her knees, giving herself a slight squeeze, the only outward sign of her anxiety. Her fault. All the other students would be terrified of her anyway, and her first days at hero school a complete failure and-

The thought train was cut off as the seat next to her was filled, and with a start Gutaika realized that Origami was right next to her. "You should get something to eat. They wouldn't offer if they didn't mean it." For her part Origami was drinking from a waterbottle grabbed from the cupboard.

Gutaika just stared at her. "Why are you here?"

Origami raised an eyebrow at that, delicate nails wrapping gently on the plastic bottle. "Because when they come out of the office they're going to see three girls all waiting for news instead of one. They're trying to encourage bonds and friendships, so making sure they think they're breaking them up is important if we want you to stay."

"Which is why, Panoptica, you are going to stop standing in the doorway and sit next to Gutaika like she's a good friend of yours." Origami's voice carried, and the smaller girl crept slowly into view-only to edge around Gutaika like she was wary of being attacked at any moment, and sitting gingerly next to her.

The proof that her fellow student was scared of her... hurt. But she'd known that already. But... that she was sitting there must mean that she was scared of Origami more?

As weird as it was, knowing she was only the second scariest person in the room to Panoptica was a relief. An unexpected lifeline, and Gutaika sat a bit straighter. Apparently Origami had followed through on the  joint bullying plan. "So you are here to protect your minion then." A statement, not a question.

Origami giggled at that, the doll like girl looking amused. "I like you. You are very blunt." The water bottle was placed down, and manicured nails dug into a sweet roll, all while Gutaika stared. She liked her? "And that was the deal. You were following my orders and I was going to watch your back. This is watching your back." The torn bit of bread was popped into Origami's lips, and she looked over at Panoptica, bending forward to do so.

"Panoptica, make small talk with Gutaika while I'm eating. Alright dear?"

Panoptica just nodded, and hemmed. "So, uh.... do you have anyone in class that you like?"

Gutaika wasn't able to think about the question. Instead she found herself with two girls her age, sitting on the couch, 'backing her up'. Last time she'd been alone-just her family to speak for her. And even knowing one girl to be unwilling and the other mercenary, she knew she'd be staying with them both should she stay in school.

It might not be friendship, but it was the closest that she'd had.

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That night, at home, Flaxwood sat at her counter top, stool supporting her, wearing the fluffiest bathrobe that she owned while sipping tea. She shouldn't be drinking this late, but... she couldn't sleep.

Part of it was her unwilling nap taken earlier that day. She'd worked to exhaustion on Compass, and had passed out over top of the smaller girl. Pink nails drummed on the teacup. That had been a mistake. If the beast had gotten around Tentalash, they'd both have been killed, and it would've been all her fault.

She shouldn't have wasted the time to make all of those honeytraps. They hadn't done anything, except for the one that had apparently triggered a rampage. And in making all of them she'd left herself no reserves to act on a /patient/ that had desperately needed medical help. She sipped her tea again, the blonde balefully eyeing her reflection in the liquid.

She'd have to plan better in the future. Never tap herself out like that again. Make sure she was always able to help. Keep her teammates and any bystanders safe. She'd been raised better than to make mistakes like this. And she'd prove it.

Flaxwood downed the rest of her tea, and then forced herself to head to bed. It might be the weekend, but she still would have her pre-med studies in the morning. She wasn't allowed to fail those too after all of this.