***6 Months Later***

"Wow! Who knew the museum was so much fun!" Mei exclaims as we walk into the lunch area.

"I'm gonna go get a table for us!" Mei adds on as she rushes past me.

I chuckle as I follow her.

As the school year slowly came to a close, the school decided to take all first year students to a museum for a field trip! It just so happens that the museum we are visiting is the same one Auntie Ami works at.

"Suki! Suki, over here!" Mei yells as she flags me down to her table.

I wave, and make my way over. I sit right next to Mei, and watch as her other friends join us at the table. We all bring out our lunches and a group conversation soon breaks out.

"What does everyone think of the field trip so far?" Mei asks.

"Pretty boring to be honest."

"Lame, but I'd rather be here than school."

"It's alright I guess."

I listen to many of the girls talk poorly of the museum. How could they? Everything in here is so fascinating, especially the history exhibit.

Nasaki shakes her head, causing her long pink curls to flail in the air.

"While I didn't find everything interesting, I loved the art exhibit!" She exclaims.

"Some of the art was pretty, but some was also really weird," Mei says.

"True. But my favorite was the waves crashing one! I think that's gonna be my first tattoo!" Nasaki exclaims.

"Oh my gosh! You're gonna get a tattoo?" Mei yells.

Nasaki blushes as she attempts to quiet Mei down.

Tattoos become the subject of the group conversation. While everyone gets excited and part takes, I stay quiet, which results in me being the first to finish my lunch. I take a look at the clock and see that I have twenty minutes before lunch ends. I quickly clear a space and take out my sketchbook.

Art is a hobby of mine. While I enjoy the occasional painting and pottery, drawing is where I thrive and enjoy myself the most.

I open to my unfinished drawing.

I am attempting to draw the view of the sun setting on the beach from my family's beach house. I pull out my pencils, and quickly get to work as I immediately begin to draw the edge of the tide hitting the sand.

"Suki? Suki!"

I look up from my drawing to see the whole table staring at me.

"Y-yes?"

"I didn't know you could draw!" Mei exclaims.

"I do it as a hobby," I explain.

"Can we take a look?" Mei asks.

"Well, I-"

Mei quickly snatches the book out in front of me and all the girls migrate towards her to take a peek.

I can feel my cheeks turn bright red as they whisper among themselves.

"May I have my sketchbook back please?"

"Wow! Look at that one!" Another girl named Ichigami exclaims.

"Yeah! It's so pretty!" Nagaski says as she looks up at me.

"What was your name again?" She asks.

"Suki Tamura."

"Tamura, if I gave you a pen, would you draw waves on my arm?" She asks.

What? Why on Earth would she want me to draw on her?

"I am sorry, but pens are for paper, not our skin," I responded.

"Come on! Please! I really wanna get a tattoo but I figured drawing on my skin is the second best thing! And you're really talented so I want you to do it! Please?" Nagaski girl pleads.

"Can you do me next Suki? Please? I think having waves on my arms would be so cool!" Mei says.

I gave Mei a look. She looks so excited with this idea. I guess I could do it. At least for her. She is the reason I am at the table after all.

Mother has always said no drawing unless it is on paper. But she won't know since it's on their skin.

Right?

I sigh.

"Fine. I shall do it."

...

The class follows Mrs. Nagamoto out of the dining area and back into the hallway towards one of the exhibits. As I follow, I gently rub my forearm. Mei got a hold of one of my pens, and decided to doodle on it.

"Don't you like my drawing?" She asks as she walks up next to me.

"It is difficult to give feedback if I cannot tell what the drawing is supposed to be."

"Hey! That hurt," Mei says, putting a hand on her chest and another on her forehead, as if I told her her favorite hero was in the hospital.

I chuckle.

"Anyways, it's supposed to be a female knight! See! That's her shield in one hand, and a sword in the other! And her hair is sticking out of her helmet in a ponytail."

"Ponytails are not supposed to stick out of helmets like that. Having an opening like that defeats the purpose of the helmet."

Mei shrugs.

"You know what they say: art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

"Whatever do you mean by that?"

Before Mei can elaborate, Mrs. Nagamoto begins to speak.

"Class, I would like to introduce you to a very special friend of mine. She is a curator of this museum. Does anyone know the definition of the word curator?"

I quickly raise my hand.

Mrs. Nagamoto waits a few seconds, then sighs.

"Good ahead Tamura."

"A curator is someone who oversees or manages a group. In this situation, a curator would oversee an exhibit."

"That's right Tamura. Now class, give your attention to Ms. Ami Hara!"

I smile as I spot my aunt's auburn hair come from behind Mrs. Nagamoto. She is dressed professionally, wearing a black skirt, white dress shirt with a black blazer.

"Thank you Mrs. Nagamoto. Class, you can go ahead and just call me Ami. Now, let's begin! Follow me!" Auntie Ami says as she turns around and runs between two curtains covering the entrance of the hallway. The class hesitantly follows behind her.

As I walk through the curtain, my mouth drops open as I absorb all the beautiful armor, weapons, and robes in glass displays around us.

"We recently had to remodel our 'Ancient Japan' exhibit, thus the curtains. We recently finished, so technically the exhibit isn't open to the public yet, but I figured you kids would get a kick out of this," Auntie Ami explains.

"Wow! This armor is so cool! I bet heroes wore it while they fought villains!" One of my classmates exclaims as he examines one of the many sets of armor.

"Actually, during this time period, the hero society we live in now didn't exist. There were no quirks in Ancient Japan," Auntie Ami explains.

"Then who wore the armor?" Mei asks.

"The armor was worn by the samurai. The samurai were warriors who lived by a code, which is a set of rules all samurai swore to follow," Auntie Ami continues.

"They were often in charge of protecting their lords, which were wealthy landowners called daimyos. The armor they wore protected them in combat, along with representing their wealth and status as a samurai."

"And if we talk about armor, we also have to talk about weapons," Auntie Ami says with a grin.

"Samurai used various weapons. From spears, bows and arrows, poison, and eventually guns and cannons," Auntie Ami continues.

"However, the samurai's signature weapon is the katana."

She leads us towards the back, where there is a wall with a display of dozens of different katana.

I quickly push my way towards the front, and gently put my fingers on the glass.

I stare in awe at the katana in the middle of the display. It's blade is made of gold, and there are vines blooming with flowers carefully etched onto the blade and handle. The handguard was in a hexagonal shape, colored in with gold, outlined with a red border.

"It's beautiful," I mutter.

"It is, isn't it?" Auntie Ami says with a smile.

Thank you Auntie Ami. I really needed this.

"Excuse me one second honey," Auntie Ami says as she walks away.

The sword is so delicately made. How did they make it all those years ago, with their primitive technology?

"Auntie Ami, I am sorry to bother, but I have a-"

Auntie Ami walks towards the entrance, where a man is wearing a gray dress suit. His silver hair is neatly combed to the side, and is wearing sunglasses indoors.

"My, what a nice exhibit you have here," the man comments.

"Thank you. Unfortunately, it is being used for a private event, so I will need to ask you to leave. However, if you like, I would be happy to--"

"Unfortunately my dear, I am in a time crunch. I am here for all this glorious metal you have here. Now, we can do this one of two ways. I can pay you for it, or I will take it by force."

"This 'metal' are ancient artifacts that tells us about our country's past. They are not for sale," Auntie Ami responds as she turns away and grabs the radio on her waist.

"May I have security to the Ancient Japan exhibit please?"

The man chuckles.

"What a shame. You clearly put tons of effort into it," he says as he raises his hand and snaps his fingers.

"Auntie Ami, is everything alright?" I ask as I walk up to her.

"Yes, everything is--"

The entire building begins to tremble.

"What are you doing?" Auntie Ami yells at the man.

"What I said I would: take the metal by force."

Chucks of concrete, glass, and artifacts from the wall are launched into the air as someone with a rhino quirk charges through the wall. Screams break out as my classmates attempt to rush out of harm's way.

"Give me metal!" He screams as he pants and waves the giant horn on his face.

"Everyone! To the emergency exit!" Ms. Nagamoto yells as she ushers my classmates out of the exhibit.

"Auntie Ami! We need to go! Emergency protocol states we exit the building using the nearest emergency exit!" I yell as I grab Auntie Ami by her hand and try to pull her to safety, but she does not move.

"How could you?" She says, staring at the man.

"You should have taken the money," he comments as he raises his hands.

"Now you shall pay for your mistake."

He brings his hand down. The metal beams holding the metal together somehow disconnect from the ceiling, causing a part to come tumbling down towards us.

"Suki, move!"

But I cannot. My limbs do not respond to my command as I watch the rubble from the ceiling come rushing down towards me.

Unlike me, Auntie Ami immediately reacts. She grabs me by the shoulders, and with all her might, tosses me away from her. I land with a small thud, and quickly sit up. Sounds of crashing concrete and metal break out as I am forced to look away due to dust unleashed into the air.

No. This cannot be happening right now. Not her.

Despite not being able to see and my coughing due to the dust, I force myself up and head towards the direction Auntie Ami is.

Please be ok. Please be ok.

As I slowly step forward, the dust begins to clear.

I gasp in horror as I find Auntie Ami laying on her stomach with her arms sprawled out in front of her. She is trapped, as her body from the shoulders down is buried in a tall pile of rubble.

I rush over and kneel beside her.

"Suki?" Auntie Ami groans as she attempts to open her eyes.

"Auntie Ami! I am so sorry," I say, as tears trail down along my face.

"Suki! Don't worry about me! Get out of here!" Auntie Ami yells, as she attempts to shove me away.

I do not move. Instead, I stare at Auntie Ami, with tears falling down my face and shaking in fear.

"Don't you worry young lady," the man with sunglasses says, walking over towards me. Beside him floats a metal rod from the debris. He begins to twirl his index finger in a circular motion. In response, the rod twirls in midair at the same speed as his finger.

"No! Leave her alone! This is between you and I!" Auntie Ami yells, but I can't look away from this strange.

"Both of your suffering will end soon enough," he says, as he points his finger at me. The rod stops rotating, and suddenly flies at full speed straight towards me.

"Suki, move!"

But all I can do is watch, as the metal rod flies straight at my chest.

Author's Note:

I know, I know, I ended the chapter in a cliffhanger. But I had to split this chapter into two parts, otherwise it would be WAYY too long! But poor Suki. Just when things were looking to get better for her, these mysterious characters just had to interrupt her field trip. Which brings me to this chapter's question.

Question: What is the coolest field trip you have attended through school? Or if you haven't attended any, where is somewhere you would like to go on a field trip?

Character Spotlights: Ami Hara

Quirk: Hologram

Likes: History