Time for the welcome party is getting close, and here Arata is in the other 1-A girls' hotel room. With three extra pairs of eyes hovering above her stretched arm.
"Shoot," Ochaco grimaces as she lays her brown eyes on the purple-blue bruise underneath Arata's right sleeve. "That doesn't look good."
"Is it that bad?" Arata furrows her eyebrows in worry. "I think my arm will be back to normal again in a few days."
"Yeah, but the welcome party is tonight." Jirou gestures to the light-colored fabric in Arata's left hand. "Your dress' sleeves can't possibly cover that bruise up. They're too short."
"Don't worry, there's nothing a concealer won't hide," Yaoyorozu tells them with a reassuring smile and waves a cream-colored cylinder. "I can help you with that. I'm so relieved we asked Todoroki-kun to let you come here. Us girls can get ready for the welcome party together."
"I don't know what I would do without you, Yao-momo. This is my first time going to this kind of event, I'm kinda nervous... My commoner soul can't take a party this big. I'm not even sure if the dress I brought is appropriate for this party or not..."
"Me too," Arata quickly agrees with Ochaco. "I have no idea at all. I hope you can give us some pointers on it."
"I've had my share of concerts and music awards because of my parents, but I figure they're quite distinct from a reception gala like this." Jirou nods her head, her earphone jacks fidgeting shyly. "You're the master at formal activities and manners, so please prep me up too."
"Of course!" Yaoyorozu pumps her fist, eagerness showing through her shining dark eyes. "I'll make sure we will all look beautiful and ready for the welcome party! Let's all get changed into our dresses first. Ochaco-chan, you can borrow one of my dresses if you want. I have a few that I bet will look amazing on you."
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After they take turns to throw on their formal outfits, Ochaco smooths the creases on her dress' fabric. "You know, this dress is pretty and all, but I've started to miss the hidden compartments in my hero costume. Why do dresses not have pockets?"
"Huh? They usually don't?" Arata ponders, one hand patting her own dress' waistline. "Oh... I guess I'm lucky mine has."
"Wow! That's like, super lucky!" Ochaco gives Arata a once-over from head to toe. "At a glance, our dresses are a bit similar, Arata-chan. I wish mine came with a pocket like yours too. Nice pick, Arata-chan, I'm certain it will be handy."
"Mina-chan and Toru-chan chose it for me. They dragged me into a shopping spree once they knew I needed a dress."
"Did they drag you through a dozen various stores?"
"No." A light-hearted chuckle slips out from Arata's mouth. "It was a last-minute shopping before I got to the airport. Aizawa-san also tagged along the whole time, so... maybe just three or four?"
"Wait, Aizawa-sensei? Our Aizawa-sensei? Went dress shopping?"
"Yeah, is it very unbelievable? He said he used to do the same with his mother."
"Aizawa-sensei choosing dresses, huh? It never crossed my mind before. That's pretty sweet. Did he help with picking the right one?"
"At the beginning, Aizawa-san occasionally pulled aside a few dresses that caught his eye. But, after getting some protests from Mina-chan and Toru-chan, he mostly stayed behind."
"Oh no, don't tell me it's a fashion disaster..."
"It's not that bad, Ochaco-chan. Let's just say... fashion trends have changed a lot over time. I think his choices were nice... in the right era."
"Pfftt, you mean, if this was twenty years back in time?"
"Well, you can put it that way." Arata joins Ochaco in giggling. "His fashion sense might be different, but I'm happy he cared enough to try."
"Come on, we barely have enough time. Arata-chan, I'll deal with you first." Clapping her hands, Yaoyorozu ushers Arata and sits her in front of the dressing table. She examines her reflection in the mirror as Arata swiftly pulls her own hair up in a neat ponytail, leaving several dark tresses framing her face. "Not intending to spice it up with a different hairstyle, Arata-chan? I can braid your hair if you want. French braids are all the rage these days."
Yaoyorozu's offer stirs a memory in Arata, a glimpse of her younger self, laughing freely. Of the time when her mother's snowball sailed through the air and burst against her temple with a splash. Of snowflakes that rained over her braided white strands, as she giggled and hurled back a snowball of her own. Of simpler times where innocence had shielded her from the biting cold, and the harder times that followed. Because of the unwanted quirk in her.
Arata runs her fingers through her black locks tentatively. "Thanks, but… I'm not into braids." Not anymore.
"All right." Yaoyorozu smiles and tosses her own hair over her shoulders. "Let's both rock a ponytail, a classic choice for beauty and practicality!"
"Yeah. It feels more… free this way."
"I get what you mean. Let me work on your arm next. Oh, at the mean time, do you want to try out some hair accessories or jewelries, Kyoka-chan and Ochaco-chan? I might have brought too many. They're in the dresser."
"Wow, you rock, Yao-momo!"
"Okay... Then, how about earrings?" Ochaco shows it to Yaoyorozu, who nods, then beams to Arata. "These ones go nicely with Arata-chan's dress."
"Oh! I— I think they're okay. Thanks!" Shifting her attention back to her arm, Arata winces a little as Yaoyorozu prods it a little too hard with her brush. She can't hide her amazement when the bruise slowly blends with the skin around it, traces of blue and purple replaced. "You're really good at this, Yao-momo. Is there even anything you're not good at?"
"It's just a nice skill to have. It's also useful if we ever need a disguise." Yaoyorozu giggles. "I think everybody has a different skillset. For example, I could never invent hero costumes and support equipment like Melissa-san. Even without quirk, she's amazing. Or, like Kaminari-kun and Mineta-kun, who can make cute latte arts using coffee and cream."
"Oh, right," Ochaco interjects and plops down one of the hotel beds. "Speaking of Kaminari-kun and Mineta-kun... Have you heard, Arata-chan?"
"Heard what?"
"Didn't Kaminari-kun say that it happened after Todoroki-kun and Arata-chan left?" Yaoyorozu looks up to exchange glances with her and Jirou. "I bet this gossip hasn't reached them yet."
"You know the cafe where Kaminari and Mineta worked at?" Jirou asks Arata, who shakes her head in reply. "Well, this afternoon, a group of university girls dropped by there and told a waitress that they were searching for a 'very handsome, purple-haired' man who had just entered the cafe. Mineta overheard it and immediately jumped out with a very big grin on his face."
"Why?" Purple hair, handsome? Sounds like the creep I met in the restroom...
"Well, you see, he had just taken the trash out a minute before and he has purple hair. He straight out assumed that the girls were talking about him and tried flirting with them. Do you know what he said?"
Clearing her throat, Ochaco tries her best to mimic Mineta's voice with a gag face on. "He said, 'Hi ladies, I'm Mr. Handsome. Somebody said you're looking for me?'"
Unable to contain her giggle, Arata slaps a hand over her own mouth. "Oh my..."
"Kaminari couldn't stop laughing when the girls gave Mineta a stink eye instead and left to sit with a purple-haired customer, who looks like he's in his 50s, in a private booth," Jirou continues with a grin. "Mineta was so salty about it, he ended up crying out that he was also cool."
50s? Arata ponders uncomfortably. This bit of information is contradictive with the demonic creep's characteristics. I'm somewhat sure the demon is in 40s... Was he a different person? But, I get a feeling that they are one and the same...
"Not that the girls cared. They went on and had a nice, private conversation going during their meal," Ochaco tries to recount Kaminari's story to them as best as she can. "At some point, most of the girls went out from the booth, leaving their friend with that man. I think it's a kind of blind date."
"Blind date?" Jirou snorts. "If that's true, it's disgusting how a middle-aged man's still hanging out with university students in that way. And, how in the world those girls could be charmed by him? He's old enough to be their father!"
Arata knows Jirou isn't talking about her, but she recoils a bit. Her thoughts fly back to the incident in the restroom. It was only for a short while, but there was a moment where she was attracted to a man more than twice her age too. Ashamed at herself, she struggles to give a logical rationale.
"Maybe... he was really handsome...?" The reason sounds even more lame spoken than in her head. She can't blame Jirou for looking at her as if she had grown two heads. "Um, nevermind."
"Even though he had good looks, wouldn't his age put you off? And, not just for one girl, but multiple... I'm appalled. In my opinion, this only can happen if he put those girls under a spell, a quirk, or something similar."
All of a sudden, it dawns on Arata that Jirou might very well be right. The girls'—and her—attraction could be caused by a quirk. Only if we are referring to the same man, she bites her lips and suppresses a shudder. If not, I don't have the same excuse.
"Gee, Mineta-kun must be so jealous of his quirk if it's true," Ochaco says. "What's your take on their date, Yao-momo?"
"I don't know, but it must've been boring... because when Mineta-kun went to the booth to offer them the dessert menu, the man had already disappeared. And the girl's face was planted on the table, fast asleep."
"This is the best part. No matter what Mineta-kun had done, the girl barely gave any reaction, so Mineta-kun shook her shoulders. After a full minute, the girl finally woke up screaming with a bright red face and socked him right in the face. Guess what she shouted out loud?"
"What is it?" Arata raises her eyebrows, curious.
"'Pervert!', complete with a high-pitched tone and a panicked look."
"That university student's pervert radar must've been so sensitive," Jirou adds a snarky comment. "It was so on point although Mineta hadn't done anything yet."
It makes Ochaco giggle even louder, which tickles the others into a laughter as well. "Maybe it could see the future, so it tried to prevent Mineta-kun's sexual harassment?"
"To be honest, I feel a little bad about it... This time, Mineta-kun didn't actually do anything."
"It's long overdue, Yao-momo!" Jirou rolls her eyes. "Sometimes he did some pervy things, but didn't get any punishment or whatsoever. Mineta got this coming for him. Probably, it was the universe's way to teach him a lesson."
"Um, what happened to him, then?" Arata inquires again.
"For a while, it looked like that he had been harassing the girl. Fortunately for him, she soon apologized and straightened out the misunderstanding, saying that she'd just had a weird dream."
This one also fell asleep and woke up flustered like the janitor... She also admitted that she had a 'weird dream'... Was it his quirk that made them fall asleep, like Midnight's Somnambulist? But then, does it mean he have more than one quirk?
But, if so, why didn't I fall asleep too? He should've had the chance in the restroom.
Am I wrong at assuming the customer and the creep to be the same person? Kaminari-kun and Mineta-kun met this customer in the afternoon. They said he was in his 50s. I met the demonic creep in the evening. But, he seemed to be around 40 years old or more, not 50 years old.
No one should be able to turn 10 years younger in the span of a few hours. No, scratch that. Turning younger shouldn't be possible in any case.
"Mineta-kun was very lucky. Otherwise, he could've been fired on the spot," Ochaco resumes Kyoka's words, her snicker reverberating between each word. "Crap, I still can't stop laughing. Mina-chan is going to love this one. We ought to tell her tomorrow."
"Oh? Mina-chan is also here?"
"Right! Together with Toru-chan and Tsuyu-chan! She asked me to tell you since you haven't read her message, Arata-chan."
"Oh I see, thanks for letting me know, Yao-momo. I didn't bring my laptop here, so I can't check my messenger. Are we going to meet them?"
"I heard they had just arrived a few minutes ago." Yaoyorozu nods to the clock. "We're planning to meet up with them at the I-Expo grand opening. You coming, Arata-chan? It'll be so much fun!"
"I'm not sure I can. Can I let you know later?"
"Of course! And, by the way, you're done! Now, please switch places with Ochaco-chan."
"Thanks, Yao-momo! It's like the bruise wasn't there in the first place." Arata admires her seemingly brand new arm on another mirror, then backtracks to the previous topic. "Um, about the purple-haired customer earlier... Do you know what he looks like?"
"Kaminari-kun didn't go into the specifics, so no. But, by the sound of it, he must be pretty darn handsome and charismatic! I mean, imagine being 50 years old and still get fawned by those university students!" Ochaco crosses her arms in front of her chest, thinking hard, with Yaoyorozu standing behind her and handling her brown hair. "That's one hell of an appeal! I'm very, very curious."
"Maybe Kaminari can point him out to us later," Jirou suggests. "There's a chance that customer will attend this welcome party, right?"
"We'll only be able to do that if we finish this preparation on time," Yaoyorozu reminds them. "It's fifteen minutes to the agreed time, yet Kyoka-chan and I haven't even gotten ready. Let's quickly finish this preparation and get going to the welcome party. I'm sure everyone is waiting for us."
However Yaoyorozu phrases it, Arata feels like they should be preparing for something more than a party. More coincidences and clues occur, but they seemingly cancel out each other and she's not able to piece them together yet. One thing she knows, that this may not be the last time she finds a clue about it.
Demonic creep, who are you actually?