#i noticed the vial was super bubbly when i originally put it in but after about 24 hours the bubbles are gone

[juuls]

Pharmacist/Me = 1 🏆 Doctor/Nursing Staff = 0

Thank you in advance for reading this rant. I’ve been really frustrated and just needed to get this off my chest, and today at least I had a wonderful knight in a white lab coat. 🩺❤️‍🩹🥽🥼💪🏻

Content warnings and squicky squicks: (further down there is) an image of a medical vial with a clipped image of a more benign part of a syringe, health conditions (endometriosis, fibromyalgia), menstrual cycles and associated terms such as bleeding and other things, lack of empathy in my specific healthcare system, hysterectomies, pain, swearing and losing patience. Most important warning: self-administered syringes and injection discussions of legal medications (Depo-Provera) approved of by professionals and properly researched. P.S. this may sound rather Karen-like but I would never do this to someone’s face. Online ranting and acknowledging where I could do better is not the same as screaming in public for bossy requests or comps, etc. Ew.

Another ‘warning’… pharmacists being kick-ass allies and giving a damn about their patients.

I’m really annoyed because (and I know healthcare and scheduling is a clusterfuck right now, but…) for over a month now I’ve been trying to get an appointment in person to get this injectable medication that is, yes, birth control, but is also used for endometriosis in my case. And I have severe endometriosis (exacerbated severely by fibromyalgia, siiiiigh) to the point I bleed enough and lose so much I have to go to the hospital when my care is not properly preventative… like in this case, and the pain is unbelievably severe also to the point I’ve spent time in the hospital, including my 11th Christmas Eve and Day. I started this injectable medication at 13 because it was the only thing that came close to helping reduce my endometrial tissue. Even a hysterectomy wouldn’t help as much, unless they decided to go the super invasive route and remove all the organs (or parts of them) that had become ‘infected’ by the tissue. Again, tissue where it’s not supposed to be, and it causes extreme pain as the tissue tries to flush out of my body each period, even if it’s attached to, like, my pancreas. Just no. That does not work at all. No. That is not fun.

SO. I’m 31, nearing 32, and the doctor’s office knows this. I’ve had the same doctor since I was 10. Been on this medication nearly non-stop for just shy of two decades (with appropriate precautions such as bone density tests) because of the absolute severity of the pain and my inability to function when it hits… which can be months at a time of non-stop bleeding and morning sickness-level nausea and vomiting, migraines and the occasional complete inability to move—in other words, it’s debilitating.

My doctor (even the nurses, as it’s in large print at the top of my file in the system) knows all about this. They’re supposed to call me if I’m overdue by a certain margin (I get they’re busy but months and months???). But my doc’s also a bit of an airhead (albeit a smart one when he focuses) and takes forever to reply to anything on time, even when it’s a severe issue, but not severe enough to go to the hospital. But it’s gotten to the point where the nurses say to go to the ER and then the ER nurses and doctors there get SUPER pissed off (AT ME AND SOMEHOW NOT AT MY DOCTOR/NURSES AND THEIR ORDERS) at the ‘waste of time’, and it’s just a clusterfuck.

Oh yeah, and that ER visit while I was overdue for my injection? Internal intestinal bleeding along with a lovely, even if small, perforation in my fucking uterus from the growth of endometrial tissue. I MEAN COME ON — WHAT IN THE HELL. Totally preventable if they fit me in when I called literally over a month ago.

But I will not change my doctor (the other docs at the practice know what is going on and have offered to take me on, but they don’t have the experience with myself and my conditions or the history, but they can do little else because of professional conduct—it’s between myself and my doc) because he is the only one who treats me with humanity and understands fibromyalgia, endometriosis, pre-MS and pre-RhA/PsA, endo-related IBS, (ulcerative) colitis, and other neurological conditions with any degree of empathy. (See, I told you I’m a mess!) There is no way I’m switching offices in the perpetual shortage of doctors in Canada moving elsewhere for m o n e y (plus Covid-19 being a teen hooligan and constantly coming back to wreck more goddamn shit, including everyone’s sanity, then setting things on fire like the real hooligans in my village have been doing this summer — I mean… what in the hell!?!?), so with all that in mind I actually thank my lucky stars. So I put up with a lot of this shit because he treats me, besides him being an airhead, like an actual human being deserving of compassion and care and quality of life despite my severe disabilities and pain. So.

I’m usually treated really well (even if they often think I’m a nuisance for daring to be severely chronically ill/in pain all the time) so I try to be patient and good and understanding when I can.

But his STAFF (I know they’re busy and I’ve been patient but they’ve been so awful honestly to the point I cried hard enough my dad noticed my red eyes and frustration-tear fracks on my face)! And the doc himself’s inability to reply to notes on time even when urgent and when he knows the circumstances (I admit I am a bit of a hard patient so I can understand if he just kinda ignores me sometimes, honestly). But in this case I was THREE DAMN MONTHS LATE for my injection and they’ve always called in the past when I was coming due if it looked like I hadn’t scheduled an injection, so that I was all on time and squared away and didn’t risk severe pain and damage to my already-fucked hormonal system (learning I couldn’t have kids was absolutely heartbreaking, let me tell you, but even a hysterectomy in that case would solve nothing — this is by far the easiest option, especially considering how my fibromyalgia would fuck with my post-surgery recovery and leave me with lasting pain for years if not decades; sigh).

Anyway. So. After some ridiculous levels of back and forth and some truly remarkable levels of lack of compassion (she kept giving me the exact same, word for word response in a bored tone UGH) considering the severe pain I was in (I was told, in front of OTHER PATIENTS AND STAFF, that I could just wait until I talk to the doctor myself at my next phone appointment and then schedule my injection for my next MONTHLY followup — 4.5 months overdue at that point, it would’ve been — because, and I quote, ‘am used to dealing with pain because of my fibromyalgia and years of dealing with it and other conditions’ which they named in front of others!!!!!!!! what. the. fuck. But I kept my cool because I know all these people, my mom taught their kids music, they’re a fixture of the community, etc. and I refuse to be a Karen…. At least externally.

But here comes the nice part that makes me love our new (okay, he’s been here like 5 years but still, in a small town that’s pretty new lmao) pharmacist that much more. Rasik was aware of my frustration with the doctor and nurses and was even the one who brought to my attention that, at the time, I was 2 months late for my injection and he was a bit concerned since he’s privy to how much pain I exist in without throwing in one or more knives directly into my womb, ovaries, tummy, hips, and other areas my endometrial tissue has taken root. He’s such a sweetheart and he really does care for his patients— the work he does with my father’s diabetes (the tricky one where you’re not obese) management is above and beyond the call of a pharmacist and I will forever be grateful for that alone, never mind how he cares for me.

So I went in today to pick up another medication, after yet another frustrating stop-over at the nurses’ desks, and he suggested I ask for my injectable medication (it’s Depo-Provera, by the way) and the syringe plus the two tips necessary — I’m actually familiar with this since I had to learn epinephrine injections from an early age (not Epipen) and how to give testosterone daily to my ex-husband (sorry not sorry, dude, but congrats on your first kid *grouchy thumbs up*). But yeah! Legally he’s not allowed to suggest I give it to myself, but he was getting super fed up with the nurses and doctors dragging their feet and ‘being assholes with little empathy’ in his own words, so I took the hint and requested my vial plus syringe, as well as the drawing and injection gauge needles…. which he gleefully filled for me, and I reiterated that it was ‘fully my idea, not yours, Rasik, because everyone knows I’m dumb and would never think it’s you if something happened’ (I’m not dumb and I’ve given injections to others many times looool).

Long story short: HERE’S TO PHARMACISTS AROUND THE WORLD, BEING AMAZING AND CARING FOR THEIR PATIENTS AND ‘BENDING BUT NOT REALLY BENDING’ THE RULES TO MAKE SURE THEIR CLIENTS ARE CARED FOR PROPERLY. They are amazing and deserve every last bit of your courtesy, especially when they pull double duty every. single. day. because of Covid and their subsequent boosters. (i.e. boosters in the form of humans who are fucking stupid if they have no medical reason not to get the vaccine… I mean JFC.)

Rasik? You are amazing and I am 100% going to find you some Indian-Canadian (or North Indian; I believe that’s where he’s from originally) treats or desserts or make some myself after slyly asking his assistant what he leans toward liking.

Be kind to one another, yeah, but… my goodness: be kind to those who can truly make a difference in your health, sanity, and even life or death.

Pharmacists, volunteers, and frontline health workers: the true heroes of these times.

Thank you so much. So very much.

💜💙🇨🇦👨🏽‍⚕️❤️‍🩹🙏🏻

P.S. … now I just gotta stab myself intramuscularly after making sure there’s no air bubbles and etc., and swap out to the proper gauge needle (different, smaller, to draw from the vial, larger to inject so that it goes in more quickly and, oddly enough, hurts less haha). I don’t think air bubbles are as much of an issue as when injecting intravenously (ummm I have a doctor uncle and grandma nurse and nurse friends, so shush 😆). But I’ve done this for others and animals so I should be good! :)

I’m a smart enough cookie even if I’ve lost a few nibble-size pieces around the edges. 😉😘 buahaha

Cheers to my pharmacist!!!! You are amazing and I can’t wait for the pain and months and months of bleeding to settle down.

Remind me again why humans are the only mammals (animals?) with monthly fluxes? UGH wtf ever. 🙃

[mskinkyafro]

Cooking For Two (Aurora & MC)

A/N: Hey everyone, I’m back with a new open heart fic! I’m excited and nervous to share this because it’s my first Aurora x mc fic. I haven’t wrote for her much so I tried to capture her as best I could. I just adore Aurora as a character and I wanted to showcase her friendship with Katrina more and how I envision it in between chapters. Which is more comfortable and friendly than what canon pushes. This is a super cute and fluffy piece that I hope you all enjoy!

*Platonic Pairing*: Aurora & MC 

Summary: Katrina & Aurora spend some time in the kitchen.

Side Note: This takes place some time after chapter 6 but before chapter 8. I plan to make more fics around these two and their friendship so if anyone enjoys reading about these two, I’ll make sure to add you to a tag list for any Aurora x MC fic I write.

After an extremely tiring day, Katrina was gratified to finally enter her apartment. Dropping her bag to the ground and kicking off her heels, she reclines back onto the closed door. Running her hand languidly through her hair eases some tension from her body.

“Home at last.” she sighs.

Only a minute passes before she adjusts to get up from her spot to make her way toward the stairs. Right as she takes a step, she feels a graze from a leather-like texture. Looking down, she sees a scowling tortoise greet her.

“Pistachio! I didn’t see you there, buddy. I’m sorry.”

Katrina bends down and picks up the tortoise and presses a small kiss to his head. His scowl leaves and a smile replaces it. Shaking her head in amusement, she puts him down and laughs. As she stands up straight and turns to head to her room, a loud crash followed by a stream of expletives stops her in her track. Spinning in the direction of the kitchen, Katrina rushes over to the next room only to find pans and silverware scattered on the floor, knocked over spices, and a panicked Aurora Emery wiping vigorously at spilled water.

“Fuck! Damn it!”

Katrina cautiously treads into the disarray room, unsure where she should lend a hand at first.

“Aurora? Are you okay?”

“Does it look like it?!”

Katrina shoots her a pointed look. Aurora sighs dejectedly as she gets up from her knees with a drenched rag in hand and carefully moves to ring it out over the sink.

“Sorry to snap on you-- I’m pissed.”

Katrina waves her hand freely.

“It’s fine. So you want to tell me what the hell happened here?”

Katrina reached to push a pile of vegetables to the center of the counter and picked up the topple vials of spices.

“I figured after a few rounds of cooking with Sienna that I could manage a simple dinner for you all. Clearly, I should’ve known better,” she says flinging the wet towel aggressively in the sink.

Aurora leans her back against the cool surface with her shoulders low. Her hand pressed firmly against her forehead. Katrina moves delicately across the damp wooden floor and stands next to the shorter woman and lays a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it in a gentle circular motion.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s not all a bust. This is salvageable.”

Aurora looks to meet Katrina’s gaze, her eyes full of sadness.

“How? Everyone else should be home soon. I’d have thirty minutes, max and the recipe takes at least an hour and a half. Besides, I made a mess.”

Katrina looks around them again and notices things she missed when she reached the kitchen; half-peeled potatoes, vegetable oil tipped over the stovetop, opened ground meat hanging dangerously close to the edge of another counter. She walks away from Aurora and starts to gather everything up and organize them in a fashionable order.

“First thing, depending on how you see it, I have good or bad news for you.”

“And that is?”

“Jackie and Sienna are working late on-call shifts tonight and Elijah said he was gonna get drinks with Sothy.”

“That sounds like good news to you? You can just say I did all this for nothing.”

“Wrong! Look at it this way. This can be practice for next time you make dinner for us. Which will be mishap-free and everyone will be home to enjoy it. Bonus, you get a culinary lesson from yours truly.” Katrina tells her as she wipes up some spilled oil with a paper towel.

“You’re willing to help me cook?” Aurora asks shyly.

“Of course! Sienna isn’t the only chef living here. Plus I love you girl, but I don’t think it's wise to leave you alone in the kitchen too long or you’ll burn the place down.” Katrina teases.

“Shut up,” she scoffs. Rolling her eyes playfully.

“Hey, I’m not a person who frequently burns breakfast.”

“Kat, that was one time.”

Katrina looks at Aurora incredulously. The shorter woman avoids eye contact and folds her arms to her chest as she mumbles.

“Fine, only one time in this household."

“Exactly. Look I’m gonna go change real quick. You gather all the vegetables in one pile and everything else and I’ll be back in a few.”

Katrina turns to leave the kitchen and heads to her room. Not much time passed before she returns in baggy red sweatpants and old white wife-beater pulling her hair back in a high puff. Looking around the kitchen and no longer seeing a chaotic scene before her, she stands next to Aurora in front of the stove. She clasps her hands together.

“You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Don’t worry, this is gonna be fun and really easy once you do it more often. I promise.”

“If you say so.” Aurora deadpans. Katrina grins at the woman.

“First, before we begin we have to do the most important step when you begin cooking.”

“Wash our hands?”

Katrina pauses for a moment.

“Okay, the second most important thing?”

Aurora stares at her with a blank stare. With a sly smile, Katrina darts out the kitchen briefly before returning with a beat pill and her cell phone.

“Music, duh. You’re black. You should’ve known that.”

“Whatever,” she says with a bemused smile as she pushes a strand of her jet black hair behind her ear.

Katrina sets the speaker down and turns it on. In her other hand, she scrolls down her music library until her finger pauses and presses on the screen. A blast of soulful noise fills the air as Katrina grabs a large pot and fills it with water and sets it on the stovetop to boil. She shimmies pass Aurora and tosses a potato in her hands and holds out the vegetable peeler.

“Hey sister, go, sister, soul sister. Time to peel these po-tat-toes, po-tat-toes.”

Aurora reaches to grab the peeler and begins peeling the skin off into their trash can as she watches Katrina swing her hips in time with the music.

“Patti Labelle? Really, how old are you?”

“Hey, these are classics. The designated genre to listen to when you are about to throw down in the kitchen. Besides, that’s what makes the food taste even better.”

“Ah-huh, sure.”

Katrina sticks her tongue out playfully at Aurora who giggles at her antics. Katrina smiles to herself noticing that since attending her class reunion, Aurora has opened up more to everyone, finally finding her place. She continues her dancing while cutting up bell peppers and onions. Once she got them finely chopped, she bends down into the lower cabinets to pull out a large skillet and a large loaf pan and sets both on two inactive eyes on the stove. Peering over into the steaming pot and seeing the water bubble she calls out to Aurora.

“How’s it coming, my sous chef?”

Aurora moves to stand beside Katrina and brings the potatoes over, spilling the skinless starch over the counter.

“Finished. What’s next?”

“Okay. Chop them a quarter inch and then I’ll have you drop them into the boiling water and we’ll let them cook. Then you can season the meat.”

Aurora follows Katrina’s instructions as the taller woman lightly sautéed the previously chopped veggies in an oiled saucepan. The strong aroma filters through the air and in her peripheral view, Katrina notices Aurora inhales the scent. Kat takes note of the serene and warm smile that frequents Aurora's face lately. Spooning through the cooked veggies one last time, Katrina turns off the burner and sets the skillet aside to rest. She then reaches to set the ground beef next to Aurora as she prepares the wet ingredients for the recipe. Playfully, she bumps her hips into Aurora prompting the quiet woman to retaliate the same. To her surprise, Aurora dances along with the music, dropping it low before picking it back up.

“Umm, excuse me, Ms. Emery?! You’ve been holding out, girl! Since when have you had moves like that?!”

Throwing her words earlier back at her, Aurora replies with a smirk.

“I’m black, duh.”

“Okay, Ms. Smarty-Pants. How come you can’t cook, then?”

“The same reason why you can’t braid.”

“Damn, you didn’t have to come at me so hard.”

The two women laugh and continue ribbing the other as they continue the tasks at hand. Still chuckling, Katrina grabs the stalk of asparagus and drench them with olive oil and light salt before tossing them into an oven. Once she closes the oven door, she then turns back to Aurora who is now finishing up combining the last of the previously cooked veggies with the wet ingredients and seasoned beef. In her eyes, she looks up at Katrina, questioning that she’s doing things right. With a nod, the two women press the mixture into a loaf pan and place it alongside the rest of the food cooking.

“Okay, the meatloaf and asparagus are gonna take about 35min at least and we got a good 15 before we need to check the pot--”

Katrina freezes in place as she stops talking. Right as Aurora opens her mouth to question what’s wrong, Katrina reaches for her phone and clicks repeatedly on the button on the side, increasing the volume of the music as she begins to rap along obnoxiously loud.

“It's going down, fade to blackstreet

The homies got rb, collab' creations

Bump like acne,  no doubt I put it down,

Never slouch As long as my credit can vouch

A dog couldn't catch me ass out

Tell me who can stop when dre makin' moves

Attracting honeys like a magnet

Giving 'em eargasms with my mellow accent

Still moving this flavor,With the homies blackstreet and teddy

The original rump shakers”

She bounces along with the beat, swinging her arm around Aurora. Katrina was going to continue but is cut off by Aurora's own silky voice.

“Shorty get down, good lord, baby got 'em up open all over town

Strictly biz, she don't play around, cover much ground,

Got game by the pound Getting paid is her forte, Each and every day,

True player way I can't get her out of my mind, East side to the west side 

Pushin' phat rides, it's No surprise, She got tricks in the stash

Stacking up the cash, Fast when it comes to the gas

By no means average, She's on when she's gotta have it

Baby, you're a perfect ten, I wanna get in, Can I get down,

So I can win I like the way you work it, No diggity, I got to bag it up, bag it up”

Joy lights up in Katrina’s eyes as she urges Aurora to keep going. Together, the two both belt out the song and dance with each other. They shimmy and swing their hips to the next songs in the queue being as carefree as they can be. Time seems to have barely passed before, a timer goes off. Pausing to catch their breaths and control the giggles that escape their lips, Kat reaches to silent the alarm, while Aurora pulls out the food from the oven. Not too long after, the two set down the finished meatloaf, a bowl of mashed potatoes, and a platter of baked asparagus for the table. Aurora sets down two plate sets while Katrina grabs two wine glasses in one hand and carries an opened bottle of wine to the table and sits.

“Wine?”

“Oh yes, please. Definitely needed this.”

“Even more than this feast you prepared? Because it looks and smells amazing.”

As Aurora accepts a glass of wine, Katrina pinpoints a slight blush on her cheeks as she sips.

“Please, I hardly put this together.”

“Ah ah nope. Aurora, you did the grunt work. I just did little things. You totally did this. Enjoy it-- a matter of fact, relish in your success by taking the first bites.”

Nodding, Aurora gathers a healthy serving of everything onto her plate and takes a bite. A moan of satisfaction escapes.

“Damn, you make it sound really good. Let me test it out.” Katrina fixes her plate and once she places her fork into her mouth, it immediately goes back for more.

The two ate in silence minus the music from earlier playing softly in the background. Both preoccupied with the food in front of them. After a few minutes, Aurora speaks.

“I-- I really couldn’t have done this without your help Katrina. For taking the time to spend to teach me. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

Katrina sets her fork down and takes a few sips of her wine.

“It’s nothing. I’m happy you had fun tonight because I did too. I’m more than happy to make a repeat of it if you’re up to it.”

 “I’d like that,” Aurora says with a bright smile. 

The two talk as they ate, enjoying the rest of their evening.

[ichigopanhpff]

BNHA Fic: Blink! Ch. 9

Read Ch. 8 | Masterlist

SPOILER ALERT: Continuing with the Hassaikai Arc. From hereon, I’m basically inserting Ren into the story here. Out of the entire story, this area felt the most organic part in fitting my OC in.

--

Several days later, the interns were called to show up without their costumes. Kirishima and Ren headed out of the dormitory and saw Midoriya, Uraraka and Asui not too far behind them. They weren’t heading to Kansai today, rather just an hour away from U.A. to Sir Nighteye’s Agency. And by coincidence, their destination ended up being the same, with the Big Three greeting them all at the front door. The students entered the building and found themselves in a big room with Fat Gum, Ryuukyuu, Gran Torino, Aizawa-sensei and several other high classed heroes.

“What’s going on...” Midoriya uttered out and looked around in confusion.

Hadou greeted her mentor in the form of a running hug, asking why everyone was gathered here, to which she mention it’ll start soon with Nighteye taking charge. Ren’s chest got hot, her throat closed from the nervousness.

Sir Nighteye emerged, thanking everyone for showing up and supplying all the information they could and got down to business. Everyone took their designated seats in the meeting room. Ren was seated between Kirishima and Amajiki. Directly across from them were Nejire, Uraraka, Tsuyu, a few other pro heroes, Midoriya and Togata.

“I’ve called you all here to discuss the small organization known as the Shie Hassaikai,” he announced. “They seem to be plotting something and wanted to share with you all exactly what we know. Let’s go over everything step by step.”

Her eyes widened.

It’s been nearly eight years since she’s heard the name of that organization spoken.

Shie Hassaikai.

The Eight Precepts of Death.

Her breath hastened upon hearing the name as her heart pounding hard against her chest and pupils dilated in rage. Unconsciously balling up her hands into a tight fist, her mind wandered back to her past. The smell of their charred corpses lingered in her olfactory, the riddled white-hot pain singing all over her body. She wanted to vomit, her shallow breaths shaky.

Sensing her unease, Kirishima placed a gentle hand on her forearm, shocking her back. The look on her face was one of a horrible trauma, one that isn’t so easily erased by talking. Her breath hitched in her throat and stared into his concerned ruby red eyes.

“Ren-senpai...” he softly called. “Are you okay?”

Her elevated pulse seemed to have slowed itself upon the redhead calling out to her, bringing her mind back to the present.

“Y-yes...” she stammered out in a whisper and looked away, hugging herself. “I’m fine.”

Amajiki noticed his junior’s current state of mind bumped her other arm with his elbow. She met his gaze, only to see his bandaged upper arm from the shot he took last week. It was his way of reminding her whatever she was thinking, she needed to see the bigger picture and not pigeon-hole herself with her own issues.

Ren inhaled a big breath and exhaled to calm herself, clearing her mind of any unnecessary thoughts as the brief continued on with Bubble Girl explaining the origin of the investigation stemming from a band of thieves called Reservoir Dogs.

From there, Nighteye’s sidekick, Centipeder, took charge of the remaining information, where he divulged the leads he looked into found the organization had made contact with outsiders and dealers from the black market in order to secure funds for something. The lights dimmed as the projector came on, showing a photo of two people on screen; one of which was wearing a plague mask, the other an ordinary looking man by the name of Bubaigawara Jin whose villain alias was called Twice.

This man supposedly had connections with a group called the League of Villains.

The same group who were involved with the USJ and Kamino incidents.

And for some reason, they seem to be interested in class 1-A.

Gran Torino entered the discussion when the League was mentioned and directed his attention to Midoriya, warning him of being dragged into some possible nasty business with this case.

Continuing with the discussion, Nighteye’s female sidekick mentioned the reason they were here was due to them reaching out to the Hero Network for assistance. That’s when a pro hero by the name of Rocklock interrupted by sneering at the students being here, saying they would be in the way. Ren’s eyebrows immediately knitted together in annoyance, glaring at the arrogant hero across from her.

“What’re you glarin’ at, girl? You wanna have a go at me?”

Before she could respond, Fat Gum immediately intervened to deescalate the situation.

“These three here are super important participants to the plan!” he shouted.

“The Hassaikai was once suspected in dealing illegal drugs,” Nighteye butted in to bring the meeting back on track. “This is why I called in a hero who was familiar with this.”

From there, Fat Gum took to the conversation and explained what happened last week in Kansai, where Tamaki got shot with a drug that destroyed quirks. Togata quickly stood up from his seat.

“Are you gonna be okay, Tamaki?!” the tall blond boy asked with concern.

“Yeah… I’m back to normal after a night’s rest.” He proceeded to transform his arm into a cow’s hoof. “And I ate some good gyudon to recover. See?”

“So the kid got better? Then the stuff’s not permanent,” Rocklock commented.

“On that point, I turn to Eraser Head for that,” Nighteye answered.

“The drug seems to act differently from my quirk,” Aizawa explained. “My ability temporarily stops the quirk factors from activating rather than damaging it. What we call quirks are just special additions to our body, which are the Plus Alpha Elements; the quirk factors are everything included within that spectrum.”

“We ran Tamaki’s blood work at the hospital after the attack, the tests showed his quirk factors were damaged,” FatGum disclosed solemnly. “Luckily, his body’s natural healing was enough to fix the problem.”

“Are there any other leads with this?” one hero asked.

“Were the doctors able to analyze what he got shot with?” another added.

“Unfortunately, they found nothing. The shot itself only attacked his quirk. The gangster in question completely shut down and the gun was destroyed,” the big man replied. “All we had going for us was that one empty round. But...”

The burly hero turned to Kirishima’s look of concern.

“The vial that bounced off of Kirishima’s body was fully intact and we were able to get a full analysis from it!”

“Whoa! From me?!” the redhead exclaimed, still trying to figure out what everyone was talking about, earning praises from the girls sitting across from him.

Fat Gum’s expression soon turned dark.

“The contents we found from the substance… revealed human cells and blood.”

The whole room fell into a state of small panic. The look on Midoriya and Togata was washed with a heavy sense of regret and shock, knowing more to Fat Gum’s statement.

“So the effect is from someone’s quirk who can destroy quirks… How terrifying,” Ryuukyuu noted with worry.

“I’m sorry but… how does this substance connect the Hassaikai to this?” one hero asked.

Fat Gum summarized the chain of command for drug distribution based off of his expertise in the field. Within those links, he revealed Hassaikai made a business transaction with one of the middlemen within the web. Nighteye also added Ryuukyuu’s recent run-in with one of the middlemen, where they had to fight off a villain who gave himself the quirk booster for his gigantification.

“This seems to be a bit of a reach, isn’t it?” one hero spoke up. “It all sounds too coincidental. Are you sure you’re not organizing this just so you wanna see it that way?”

The image on the projector over Nighteye’s head switched to a clearer photo of a man’s side profile with a plague mask on his face. Ren stared intently at it, burning the image into her head.

Short, unruly black hair…

Cold, piercing eyes that cared only about destruction…

She unconsciously reached up and gripped her left shoulder, gritting her teeth.

“Their young leader is Chisaki Kai. His quirk is called Overhaul, an ability to destroy and then heal. Then we have bullets that destroys quirks.”

As Nighteye continued the discussion, Ren noticed the facial expressions on both Mirio and Midoriya. It was the same as hers from that night: that look of discerning fear and hopelessness knowing they could’ve done more.

It was the look of one who caught a glimpse of hell.

“In our investigations, we also turned up Chisaki has a daughter who has no birth record, so the details are unclear there,” Nighteye declared. “When Midoriya and Togata encountered her, she was covered in an excessive amount of bandages.”

That’s when they put two and two together: There’s reason to believe Chisaki is using the girl’s body to create quirk-erasing bullets and selling them in the black market.

“Now, we’re not sure if he’s selling yet,” the tall and slender man reiterated. “But I assume this is a testing phase given how short the drug’s effect was. If he’s simply handing out samples in order to gain followers, we’ll need more proof despite knowing he’s bringing people in from all over the world to get funding. What if the final version of this bullet achieves the ability to permanently erase quirks?”

And outcry of Chisaki’s motives and actions rung across the conference room.

“So had your kids rescued the girl, this issue would’ve been solved?” Hardlock scoffed.

“I take full responsibility in that matter. Don’t blame them,” Nighteye firmly stated and placed a hand on his chest. “They didn’t know the extent of the circumstances. These two did their best to save her. Out of all of us, they’re hurting the most.”

Both the boys suddenly stood up, promptly knocking over the chairs they were sitting in.

“Next time...” Midoriya began with gritted teeth.

“We’ll definitely save her!” Togata shouted with a clenched fist.

“And that… is our goal,” Nighteye finalized.

“That’s great and all, but do you really think he’d hide the girl at the headquarters? If it were me, I wouldn’t,” Rocklock pointed out. “Seeing how these brats already spotted the girl, we’ve already lost the element of surprise. And even if we do attack and she’s no longer there, how will we know where she is?”

“He brings up a lot of good points, Nighteye,” Ryuukyuu replied and turned to the spectacled man. “What do you think?”

“That’s exactly the problem: we don’t know how far Chisaki’s planned ahead. If we don’t deal with it in one blow, they’ll have a chance to counter us.”

The overhead projector image then changed to the map of Japan with a series of dots cascaded all over the country.

“Which is why we’ve looked into all the groups and organizations who have had ties to the Hassaikai and the locations where they have control,” Nighteye elaborated. “No stone was left unturned when making this list. We’d like everyone here to assist in searching each of these locations.”

“That’s how us minor heroes can help…” one voiced out in understanding.

“Why are we goin’ about this the long way?! You were All-Might’s sidekick, weren’t you?!” Fat Gum immediately erupted with a surge of anger. “While we’re doin’ this, that poor girl’s out there crying by herself!”

“We have to play it smart,” Gran Torino interjected to mediate. “If we rush now and screw up, it’ll end up fanning the flames. Look at how Stain’s arrest was used by the League of Villains to boost their popularity. With a quirk-destroying weapon in play, their possible motives may have the same effect.”

All the heroes soon got into a frenzy of arguments in regards to the best way to go about the mission until Eraser Head raised his hand to ask a question regarding Nighteye’s ability to see into the future and requested him to use it as a possible way to find a solution. The tall and slender man tilted his head down and answered, “I… can’t do that.”

He proceeded to explain his quirk, Foresight and its limitations. When Eraser Head still couldn’t understand why, Nighteye gave a grave example.

“What could I do if a merciless death awaited in the future of the person I saw?”

The commotion in the room died down as quickly as it came.

“My ability should be used as insurance when there’s so many uncertain pieces in play.”

“Even if you foresee a death, you can still put a plan together to avoid it right?!” Rocklock shouted.

“It’s not like a fortune you read. And there’s no proof to show you can avoid the outcome,” he wearily replied.

No matter how many times Rocklock tried to reassure Nighteye, he broke down and simply uttered an, “I can’t.”

“Can’t you see he’s uncomfortable with using it?” Ren rudely blurted out under her breath and crossed her arm, annoyed at the tall man’s incessant prodding. “Read the mood.”

“I don’t remember askin’ your opinion, little girl,” he chided, earning him a death glare from her direction.

“The name’s Blink, you worthless lock-headed imbecile!” she barked, ready to shift over to his side of the room to punch his lights out. Suneater held her back by her shoulder, knowing how she could get when her emotions ran high.

“Have you even said anything useful during this meeting? Nighteye’s agency’s been the one doing all the leg work and you sit there all high and mighty complaining about how he won’t use his quirk on you? Get over it! You’re a pro right? Then act like one!”

Taken aback by her sudden outburst, the heroes shifted in their seats uncomfortably.

Rocklock turned his attention to the portly hero and barked, “Fat Gum, you gonna let her say those disrespectful things?”

“Hey, asshole. I’m over here,” she growled out in English, her anger no longer veiled. “You want respect from me? Fucking earn it, bitch.”

“Blink, that’s enough,” Fat Gum harshly warned, getting the gist of what she said based on tone, despite not fully understanding. “You’re an asset to this mission and I really don’t want to kick you out.”

She let out a hard breath and leaned back in her seat again with a loud clatter, turning away from the table. An awkward silence followed her outburst.

“Let’s… just proceed with the plan as is.” Ryuukyuu changed the topic to move the conversation along. “Don’t forget, there’s a young girl in trouble here.”

Nighteye jolted up from his seat and slammed his palms on the table, as if to rid himself of his emotions he momentarily laid bare from before.

“Our goal is to resolve the situation as quickly and effectively as possible. Locate the girl and secure her rescue.”

After thanking everyone for their future cooperation, the U.A. students filed out first to get some air while the pro heroes were filled in with the specifics of the mission.

“Ren-senpai,” Kirishima called. “I have to admit, I was really angry with what Lockshock was sayin’ ‘bout us. But you were the one who spoke up for us, so… thanks.”

“It needed to be said,” she replied bluntly. “He was pissing me off.”

“Sure that was the only reason?” Amajiki questioned, earning him an annoyed look from her.

The eight sat down at a table in the lobby with feeble attempts to relax. Out of everyone in the meeting, Midoriya and Togata were the most emotionally affected.

“What exactly happened when you guys were patrolling?” Ren summoned up the courage to ask, the look of extreme frustration gracing both their faces.

Both boys took turns telling their side of the story when they ran into Overhaul with the little girl named Eri. She still couldn’t believe her ears: a cold-hearted monster like him produced an offspring?!

It was unthinkable.

At that moment, Ren may have been a little selfish for a fleeting thought: What would she have done were she in their stead?

Would she have been able to control herself in not ripping his throat apart?

Would she have gone after the child too?

The latter thought made her sick to her stomach.

She’d be no better than him if she killed a child for her own sense of justice!

Both her and Amajiki looked at Mirio, realizing this was the first time he’s ever been this down before.

“Mirio-senpai…” Her voice shook with a mixture of anger and rage, lulling him back to the group. “Chisaki… Was it really him?”

Already knowing where the conversation was going, he looked up and faced her with a concerned expression.

“Ren-chan…” he began in his deep voice. “You should remove yourself from this case.”

“That’s not your call,” she coldly responded.

“You’ll act irrationally,” Amajiki predicted. “Given your ties to this.”

“W-wait, wait,” Uraraka interjected with a tone of confusion. “What’s going on? Why should Ren-senpai not be apart of this?”

The Big Three looked away with hesitation and clammed their lips shut. It’s not that they didn’t want to say; it wasn’t their place to. Ren let a heavy breath through her nose, the word vomit burning to come out at the base of her throat.

“Chisaki killed my dad and brother when I was eight… while I was living in California.”

The four first year’s breaths audibly hitched upon hearing those words slip out, their eyes widened in shock and sadness. Before she can say any more, the elevator dinged and out emerged Eraser Head.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’re holding a wake,” he casually remarked while walking over. The students greeted their teacher, to which he reminded them to call him by his hero name when they’re out in public.

“How did the debrief go?” Ren suddenly asked, in hopes of changing the topic.

“Well, I originally planned to suspend all of your internships today…” the ebony haired man started, only to be interrupted by Kirishima’s protest. “Since the League of Villains may be involved, that changes things. But y’know, Midoriya…”

He then turned his attention to the viridian haired boy.

“You haven’t regained my trust yet and you got into that fight,” he bluntly stated. “I have every reason to believe if I stopped you right now, you’d jump into this anyway.”

Eraser Head squatted down to meet Midoriya face-to-face, his stern expression unchanging.

“I’m watching you. We’re going by formal procedures this time if you act out again. Got it, problem child?”

Both Amajiki and Hadou comforted Togata while he was still moping, with the latter person reminding him there’s nothing he can do about his feelings of regret, to which the blond boy sniffled and gave a strong affirmation.

“Let me tell you something. That hand of yours… I bet she felt something other than despair when you reached out,” Eraser Head encouraged. “So keep looking forward.”

[sometimesimawriter]

Mirror Effect

Part 4

A/N I normally try to post around 4 (eastern US time) but things have been pretty busy, so to make it up I’m just gonna post part 5 right after this. And please, if you like this let me know! I like feedback- hell maybe even send it to a friend. We are all about networking here :)

The story:

The storage facility was a large empty cargo space, one where shipping companies used to leave large containers, varying from cars to human trafficking. Rumor says that the mob even locked some people up in containers here, back in the 20s. The facility now was used by young adults and promiscuous teens, every so often an underground rave would be held here. Last week, Brendan hosted one and red solo cups were still strewn around. The walls were covered with decades worth of graffiti. Three cargo containers were pushed back into the far left corner of the building, open and vacant. The group ventured towards the containers, led by Emma and Diego. Diego pointed towards the ground, "Here's were we found some blood, but other than that, there's really not much here."

Five looked around the container, "Where'd you find the knives?"

"They were in the corner, looked like he threw them, the wall is scratched up because of it."

Klaus seemed uneasy here, and he kept staring towards the back right corner.

"Hey," Kayla put her hand on his shoulder, his back was to her, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just- there's a lady... she's speaking Russian or something, but looks like...her throat was ripped open."

He sighed and turned towards Kayla and looked back toward the rest of the group, who were standing near the entrance to the container, "She's recently dead, obviously no body, but she's not happy- what? What does that mean?" He turned back to the corner. "She knows some English- hey can you speak english? I don't understand Russian." He was talking as if you would to a deaf person. "Yeah-uh huh- yeah he was tall, brown hair, kind of a dick? Yeah that's our guy." He turned back around, "Says he was bleeding and hobbling around-"

Matthew's head whipped around, "Then why does it stop here?"

Klaus frowned, then pulled out a phone. He started typing and then held it up as Google Translate blurted out something in Russian. He then pursed his lips and then turned around to the group, "She says he just stopped bleeding-"

Kayla interrupted, "Duh, remember heals real fast?"

Klaus gave her a bland look, "yeah, but here's the thing: she says there was someone else here, a blonde... yeah no I don't speak Russian...let's see she says 'tall, mean look, gave pill, he grow strong'."

"What the fuck?" Brendan and Diego said in unison.

"A pill... Hey, um, Kayla... weren't you saying that some other scientist was making some new steroids?" Christina asked.

Kayla began pacing, "Yeah, somewhere in Germany. I heard they're highly illegal, but apparently they can alter...supers...powers... holy shit."

Five turned to her, "What? Why 'holy shit'?"

Her eyes grew wide, "That must be why Max is going buck-shit-wild. He's pumped on drugs, but why him?"

Matthew decided to dress the elephant in the room, "Who's making the steroids?"

"I don't know, names aren't being released, but there's news of an increase of violence in Berlin and Hamburg." She looked at Klaus, looking lost, "Do you think they're testing on people? Or even worse, other supers?"

No one had an answer, but collectively they assumed the worst. Some blonde was in the US, stocking one of the more dangerous supers with new steroids, and he was too jacked on drugs to realize he was ripping people apart, perfect.

The group traveled back to the house, Brendan and Matthew headed up town to their apartments. (Fuck it, we're going third person in Kayla's perspective because fuck this). Kayla went to her room, leaving Christina and Emma to entertain the guys- hopefully not in THAT way but keep them out of trouble. She had brought a testing kit to the cargo container, and now held a vial with a sample of Max's blood. It was thicker than normal blood, but there was nothing normal about Max- well there was nothing normal about anyone in the house at the moment. She took the tube and separated the sample into another tube, a backup. Then she took both and inserted them into a centrifuge. With a flip of a switch, the machine whirred to life and began spinning, faster than the human eye could track. Except she wasn't human, and her eyes could adjust to acute details, such as a fast moving object- kind of like a hawk. She was wearing a black compression shirt, it helped keep her wings in her back, since they tended to pop out when she was in a stressful situation or physically uncomfortable. Right now, they wanted to come out, she could tell from the throb in her shoulder blades. Growing up, she always had body pains and aches, due to her body being able to protrude two extra limbs. She figured as she lived longer with the wings that the pain was more bearable with compression, giving her skin a break from holding the wings inside. She now removed the shirt, stretching it over her head and throwing it on her dresser. She had a purple sports bra on underneath, and in the comfort of her room, she relaxed her shoulder blades and welcomed the sharp pain of the wings extending from her back. After they expanded to their full wingspan, all 15 feet of them. Her room was a decent size, and she kept it clear of objects, with her bed and dresser pushed to the walls, which gave her room to move with the wings out. Having the wings out in the open felt great, a relief from the constant pain of keeping them in her back- except she had learned to hate them. Her parents were mortified of them, often wrapping bandages around her back and waist as a kid so she wouldn't have any instances during school. She did have one instance, back in kindergarten, when a kid named Jude wouldn't leave her alone. He was pulling her hair and calling her names. She always had a temper growing up, but for some reason this kid really got under her skin, and then, the wings came out. She was 3 feet tall at the time, and the wings were about 5 feet. They ended up knocking the kid out and the school had to call her mother to pick her up. Kayla learned that day that the wings were only for emergencies, and even then she hated the sight of them.

During this time of thought, she was absolutely oblivious to the creaking of floorboards behind her. She heard a small gasp and turned around, almost knocking over a lamp in the process. Klaus stood behind her, his green eyes wide.

"Oh fuck Klaus I didn't hear you." The wings began to retract.

"No no, don't put them away please..." he began to approach her. The wings stayed out. "Can i touch them?" She stared for a second, then slowly, she nodded. He reached out and gingerly touched them. They felt like silk and his breaths were light. He then looked at her face, and involuntarily, noticed she was in a bra, then his eyes snapped back to her face.

"Sorry to intrude, i just wanted to check how the blood was coming."

Normally, any guy who had seen her wings went running, but he stayed put. Her heart was racing, expecting him to question her about them, at least say something about them, but instead he ducked below them and walked over to the bed and collapsed on it. "This is probably the softest bed i have ever had the pleasure of reclining on." He glanced up at her, "you look like you've seen a ghost, which is improbable because last i checked, only i can see the ghosts."

"you're not gonna say anything about the wings?"

"I've seen better."

She barked out a laugh at this and he gave a devilish grin. "You're probably the first guy that hasn't gone running after seeing the wings."

"Who in the hell would run after seeing such a sight, and not just the wings" he gestured towards her person and winked. "Come, join me on this glorious mattress you call a bed."

She slid the wings back to their original position, laying on her back would be uncomfortable for both parties with them out. She lied next to him, staring at the ceiling. She felt his hand brush up against hers, this one saying HELLO. His head turned towards her, and she turned towards him. He stared at her for a bit, then asked "the wings, do they hurt when they come out?"

She looked back up at the ceiling, "yeah a bit, I've gotten used to it though."

"Is it more comfortable with them out?"

"Yeah."

"Take them out then"

"No its fine-"

"Take. Them. Out. Take. Them. Out." Klaus began chanting, lighting tapping his fist on her hand. Kayla giggled and then sat up, moving backwards so they wouldn't knock him off the bed, and then felt the quick, sharp pain, then let her muscles relax. This time, his eyes didn't go immediately to the wings, instead they stayed on her face. He brushed a piece of hair behind her ear, and his hand lingered there for a bit. "You look much more comfortable," his voice was thick.

"Feels more natural, but they look horrendous" she laughed at herself, but his normal joyous face turned serious.

"There's nothing horrendous about them" he said, leaving an emphasis on "nothing". His hand fell down, and then grabbed onto both of her hands. "Don't you dare feel ashamed for what you have." He was staring at her intensely, his demeanor was startlingly different. His normal bubbly self wasn't there, the joking soul that made fun of the papers, and made jokes about Max's DNA. Instead, he was replaced by a serious tone, his eyes dark and determined. She could read his soul through them, he was an old soul trapped in a young body. Seeing constant death takes a toll on him, the struggles of the afterlife were made present in his being. She could also see that he was afraid, but most of all, she could see desire. Then, without words, his lips were on hers, first gentle and slow, he pulled back, searching her eyes. He needed reassurance, he was insecure. Seeing that she was not aiming to punch him in the face, he dove back in, this time, more confident in his movements. One hand moved to her hair, the other on her back. The kisses turned passionate, and he pressed her down into the mattress. Her wings curled around them both, making a white, feathery cocoon. He hovered over her, and let out a soft laugh against her lips, "you know, I've been with some real weird people, but wings are a first." Then he dropped his head to her ear, and in almost a growl, "But, man, these are a major turn-on."