If you're a member of the Patreon, please remember not to spoil for those who aren't a part of it! Thank you so much!

Third person pov

The wedding wasn't as long as Harper thought it would be. She came out the other end of the whole event grasping onto Kirishima's hand for deal life, covered in rainbow glitter with her eyes blown wide. Her redheaded companion was in a similar state: far, far too shocked to even bother blushing over laced fingers. Even Mic seemed too surprised to do much of anything, staring off into the distance with slightly furrowed brows. Aizawa was the only one completely fine, somehow managing to have remained untouched by all the glitter. His expression was neutral too, though his thoughts ran rampant with their usual bubbliness.

"Did you see Mic's face when I started acting like my for real-real self?! OMG, it was SO funny! Kirishima looked like he was going to cry when I cooed over how cute you and him are! And when I pinched your cheeks-- they're so much squishier than they look, by the way. They remind me of dumplings!" Aizawa's thoughts jittered on excitedly. "Speaking of dumplings, I found the best dumpling place. It doubles as a cat cafe! So cute. Oh, and I own it-"

"You own a cat cafe?" Harper blurted out. Mic and Kirishima turned to look at her. Aizawa blinked languidly.

"No, of course not." Aizawa scoffed at her so convincingly, Harper was almost sure she'd imagined him thinking it. His thoughts, however, gave away that he was lying immediately. That he really did own such an establishment. "Of course I do! What kind of man would I be if I didn't own a cat cafe?"

"A dignified one." Harper muttered, more to herself than to Aizawa. She took a deep breath and shook her head. She was never going through that again. She hoped he and Mic lasted, because she wasn't sure she had it in her to deal with groom-Aizawa a second time. The mere thought made her shiver. Maybe they really were made for each other. They were the only ones who could tolerate one another's personalities for long periods of time. Mic didn't even look that traumatized! "Kirishima and I are going to bounce. See if we can't get some of this glitter off."

"R-Right." Mic said, still in shock. Kirishima was too, staring at their homeroom teacher like he was a being from an entirely different universe all together. His thoughts were actually pretty amusing, in Harper's opinion. But right now wasn't the time to dwell on that. She needed to get home so she could decompress. Plus, her parents were supposed to call in later. It had been ages since she last got to talk to them. The idea of finally getting to have a real conversation with them made her want to smile. She hadn't felt so excited about something that wasn't a nap in a while.

"Bye, lovelies!" Aizawa's thoughts chirped. Outwardly, he looked like he'd just attended a funeral rather than gotten married. Harper still didn't understand that. The happier he felt on the inside, the more dead he looked on the out. It was mildly concerning. She'd have to question Hound Dog about it to see if she couldn't find out what that was. Maybe it was just another one of the many, many special things about Shota Aizawa. Her fake, trick-ass teacher gave a gruff, "Your midterms are next week."

Harper rolled her eyes at him, giving Mic a sympathetic wince as she dragged Kirishima past. She'd created a horrifying couple. A monster, if she did say so herself. Harper should've just said she was busy. Went on and talked to Sero instead, since she was supposed to be doing that soon. Stain, as well. He was being moved to a higher-security facility that would probably be holding him permanently, which meant there'd be less chances to talk to the guy. He was actually a decent person deep down in there. He just... had judgement issues that projected out into violent thoughts and actions rather than just well-controlled opinions.

Kirishima slowly came back to the land of the living. When Harper had said Aizawa was a living, breathing ball of sunshine, he'd immediately assumed she was exaggerating. How could he not?! In love with her or not, it was impossible to deny how cold and distant their teacher came off as. It wasn't that he thought she was making it up and lying to him. It was more like he simply couldn't imagine, for the life of him, what Mr. Aizawa would be like with a cheery disposition! At least, not until now. Not until witnessing... that. Kirishima wasn't sure he'd ever be the same again.

"No wonder Harper didn't want to go in alone. That was... shit, that was terrifying." Kirishima blinked a few times. Harper glanced up at him as they headed down the street. They weren't far from the apartment, luckily. It would be a pain in the ass if they had to hail down a cab or take a train. "That wasn't the type of wedding I wa- ohmygodwe'reholdinghands--- How long have we been holding hands?! She looks so pretty. I'm freaking out. We're holding hands. Are hands are being held. By one another. Because we're holding hands and that's how holding hands works. I'm turning red, I can't-"

"Thanks for coming with me, by the way. I wouldn't have survived that on my own." Harper shivered at the mere thought, knowing she'd now have an aversion to pudding and jello cubes after that whole fiasco. Not to mention persian rugs. "I'll pay for your therapy."

"What? N-No, no! I thought it was a lot of fun. When you said Mr. Aizawa was actually really bubbly, I had no idea that..." Kirishima trailed off with a mild shiver, thinking back to the white-face of the officator. Even he couldn't keep his horror from showing, getting it all done and over with before fleeing the scene. Harper was only glad she wasn't going to be the one cleaning that whole mess up. Aizawa said he didn't want a big wedding, but he never said he didn't want a loud one. "If it means I get to be with Harper, I'll go anywhere."

Harper felt her cheeks heat up slightly, and she coughed into her fist to hide it. Kirishima flushed a fresh shade of red, glancing at their hands. Harper didn't make any moves to pull away. Kirishima decidedly didn't either. They spent the rest of the walk home that way, chatting mildly, with Harper constantly pulling Kirishima out of flustertered thoughts that made her feel somewhat flattered, actually. It was... a weird chemistry, between them. But somehow, it worked. The more Harper thought about it, the more she realized she wasn't sure she'd want it any other way.

The rest of the evening was spent recounting the horrors of the wedding to Dabi, Tsukauchi, Sansa, and Kurogiri. Even Sansa seemed a little shaken by their dramatic retelling. They'd tracked enough glitter into the apartment for them to be nothing less than believable. Glitter that, by no means, was going out of their clothing or hair. Kirishima still had a few specks stuck to his face, and Harper's hair, still braided into its crown, was almost coated in the stuff. Combing through it was futile. The grains were too fine to be caught between the teeth of any combs and pulled out.

"It'll still be there when I'm forty." Kirishima groaned mournfully. It was sad, but nobody disagreed with him. It only made him groan again, this time louder and more grievously. 

They ate and all watched a movie together, bringing a peaceful close to the rather hectic evening. Kurogiri appeared wary of Kirishima in light of Tsukauchi's whole 'they're probably dating' spiel, but Harper was deciding not to focus on that. Instead, she basked in the long conversation she was allowed to have with her parents. It was over a protected line that couldn't be traced. They couldn't tell her where they were, but just knowing they were safe and finally being able to have a real talk with them-- one that was more than five minutes-- was nice.

Sero fell out of everyone's focus at school as they zeroed in on midterms. Harper was cramming like crazy. She didn't know how the hell she was supposed to take her test without cheating. That being said, with everyone so stressed, it would be too hard to tell what thoughts were coming from who. She'd never risk getting the dumbass answers Kaminari tended to spit out. Not that it was his fault. She really needed to try to get on that whole brain damage thing. Nezu said he'd do something about it, but had he so far? Uh, yeah, not to her knowledge. Another classic case of Harper having to get shit done on her own.

Kirishima begun to come over more often, and they'd study. All Might had also been stopping by a bit more frequently. That, to Harper, was a little odd, but she didn't mind the man. The extra seven voices he toted around got on her nerves somewhat, but they were bearable too. A lot had some pretty badass stories to tell. They were like a timeline of events, starting from the beginning of quirks, to now. It was actually a bit stunning to think that she was in contact with ghosts. And that half their history books were dead wrong about how some of the shit in the world went down.

"Now remember, Kurogiri, Harper has her midterms today. She won't be able to text your clingy ass all day like she usually done." Dabi lectured. He was becoming almost like a mother to the warp-gate user. It was a bit terrifying to watch him transform from thuggish and distant to fussing over everyone and lecturing about their health and what changes they needed to make in their lives. Which was a lot coming from a guy who lived off potato chips, but Harper wasn't about to rain on his parade. "This grown ass man needs to wake the hell up and smell the roses. He can't cling to Harper like a lifeline for the rest of his sorry days. Pathetic. He needs some damn hobbies."

"But how will we know if she's safe?" Kurogiri asked adamantly for about the fifth time. Harper sighed heavily. They'd laid it all out in simple terms for him. For a few hours, Harper would remain cut off. Really, that's how it should be for almost all of the day. The principal and teachers simply allowed her special privileges to go right on along with her rather special circumstances. Her being able to contact Kurogiri at all was a miracle. The guy didn't know how to stop texting. He'd just send similar variations of the same message over and over again until he got a substantial response. After that, he'd go quiet for a bit, before starting the cycle all over again. "How am I to protect Harper Rye if I can't have contact? If I can't be with her? That, and she'll be near that... that Kirishima boy. He seems nice, but what if he isn't nice? What if no one is?"

"It's UA high, Kurogiri. I'll be fine. And if I'm not, then I'm surrounded by capable people with capable quirks who'll deal with the problem. It's not like anything will happen." Harper sighed, feeling tired already. Was this her life now? Catering to several ex-villains, all of which had some sort of mental disorder, stopping her classmates from committing suicide or accidentally dying by other means, and wrangling the horror show that was UA in general? Not to mention Shigaraki wanting her head on a platter. Or her dust stuck in the filter of the shitties vaccuum cleaner he could find. Either or.

"Your statement is incorrect, Harper Rye. You see, I have successfully infiltrated your school on many occasions for the League in the past, before my reformation." Kurogiri said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Does she not see that UA is not an impenetrable fortress? It would be much safer if she would allow me to come along with her, or to at least check on her every so often. I would not cause a disturbance."

"Yeah, yeah, shut your fucking can, hotshot. Not everyone is a walking black hole." Dabi swatted at him with an irritated scowl. "Whatever. He talks big shit, but he wouldn't actually do it."

Harper doubted that. Kurogiri would do a lot, if it came down to it. He wasn't as much of a wuss as he appeared. But Dabi had been careful so far, and would resort to tackling if it came to it. She'd seen it with her own eyes. "Whatever. I'll be back after school, in one piece, thank you very fucking much. Don't burn the place down while I'm gone."

"No promises!" Dabi called after her. "I want to ask about Shoto. How is he doing? Can she check on him? Would that be too obvious? She has to already know I'm a Todoroki from my nightmares. Well, scratch that, she just heard my thoughts. Her radius isn't as small as we'd all like to think it is."

Harper let out a huff of air as she closed the door behind her, eyes moving to Tsukauchi's cruiser. He and Sansa dropped her off on their way to work, while Dabi and Kurogiri remained at the apartment. Dabi's thoughts did bring up an excellent point, though. On her list of issues, Shoto's situation should be at the very top. The whole Stain thing was winding down, Iida was getting the help he needed, and the Sero case was moving along steadily, even if it was fairly perplexing at the moment. Meanwhile, her classmate was literally being abused, and she hadn't seen anyone do anything about it. She'd told Nezu about it, what, her first week at UA? Her second?

"Kurogiri giving you problems again?" Tsukauchi asked as she plopped into the back seat. She gave a dry look at the rear-view mirror, which the detective winced at. "That bad? He needs some hobbies."

"Like drinking." Sansa suggested, pumping up the music. Kelly Clarkson was playing. Harper didn't have time for a headache, but one was forming anyway. Fate really didn't give two fucks about her or her state of health, did it? "Liquor doesn't solve anything. That's why I drink it. To prove a point."

"Sansa, we've been over this. Drinking isn't a hobby." Tsukauchi lectured. Harper squinted at the cat-headed man. Should she be demanding he had a psych evaluation? She'd been bouncing the idea around in her head for a while now, but it was only just starting to really take root in her. She could worry about it after midterms and after untangling whatever fucking mess the Todoroki happened to be. Harper's life had gone from shitty days at school and long naps to shitty days at school with no naps, and instead the overbearing weight of other people's problems. Classy.

"You say that, but you don't mean it." Sansa said meaningfully. "I mean, look at Daniel Radcliffe. An alcoholic and the chosen one. Does it really get much better than that?" 

"When your liver fails, it's your funeral." Harper contributed dryly. 

"I'll welcome the darkness with open arms, sweetheart." Sansa responded. "If death takes me, then so be it. Only in hell will I reclaim my throne. I'm a cat. I was born to be on top. Others will bow before me, and come at my beck and call. I'll create a catnip hotbox for felines only. We'll blaze it in the ninth circle."

"I'm getting out of the car. Get him some help, please." Harper sighed, already reaching for the door handle despite the car not having completely slowed to a stop. Tsukauchi looked almost tearful as she got out, as he always did, having thoughts about her growing up so fast. She was just glad he'd stopped taking pictures like he did everyday. She hadn't known he was until her parents had mentioned that they got weekly envelopes charting her development and growth in vivid detail, all in formal, police-report form. Creepy, a little sweet, and extremely amusing to her parents.

"Have a good day, Harper! We love you!" Tsukauchi called as she closed the door. "Oh my god, I swear she's taller. Is it just me? I'll cry. I will. Midterms, already! This is insane!"

Sansa rolled down the window and stuck almost all of his upper body out, startling some other students with the suddenness of the action. "Our adoration knows no bounds!" He shouted after her. "Fucking crush the exams, you titan, you!" 

Harper sighed to herself, her eyes connecting with a pair of sheepish red ones. Kirishima had begun the habit of waiting for her by the front gates, which was actually quite nice. But it also meant her friend had to witness the horror that was Sansa and Tsukauchi in the mornings. They were so weird. They seemed like morning people who didn't actually want to be morning people. Like they'd conformed, but reluctantly, and came off as more drugged than cheerful in the earlier hours of the day. Harper was suspecting it was the lack of their morning coffee that got them.

"They're lively this morning." Kirishima noted. "Don't think about the hand holding. Don't. It's over. It practically happened like, a million years ago. No need for me to even dwell on it. It's fine. And I'm thinking about it. Why can I do anything right?! Her hand was just so soft and warm! Like a sock, but so, so much better!"

"They always are." Harper muttered, and not in a happy manner either. Kirishima gave a bright laugh. Now that, right there, was a natural morning person. She would take notes, but she'd never use them. She didn't have the energy for that bullshit. How Kirishima did, she had no idea. It was one of the many wonders of this world, she supposed. Some things were weirder than quirks. The abnormal ability to function like a human being in the earlier hours of the morning was one of them.

Everyone was oddly quiet, but in a nervous, whispery way. Spouts of conversation would sputter up only to die back down as the tension in the room rose. Midterms were a big deal. Get a low enough grade, and you could actually be removed from the Hero Course. Harper felt a little guilty. The brunette didn't feel nearly as anxious as her peers did, for the simple fact that she didn't give a shit. They could toss her off a roof and she'd probably just sigh and keep solving every damn issue thrown her way anyway. That, and Nezu didn't have the balls to remove her from the Hero Course with all she'd done, and was doing. He'd be an idiot to at this point. 

Harper kicked back and basked in the silence. The world was loud enough with everyone's thoughts clambering around. Their voices added onto all that chaos wasn't a fun thing to deal with, so even if it was test day, she'd take the small mercies as they came. She dug at Iida's thoughts a bit. He was feeling better. Thinking about the test, and how he thought he'd studied enough to pass just fine. It made Harper smile just a little to hear that. Not all that long ago, Iida would be thinking about all the ways he'd fail, and disappoint. It was a nice change to hear him so positive.

Bakugo was still having a crisis, as he had been having since the first day of school. It was something else she should probably address as well. It wasn't horridly important, but it was clearly causing a lot of turmoil for the poor guy, who just wanted to be gay with a boy he continued to accidentally be hostile to. Something was firing off wrong in his brain. He was panicking or something. The words he wanted to say would flip like a damn switch. Whatever he wished he could say would come out the complete opposite, and with the wrong tone. It made Harper wince everytime.

"I hope I do well..." Shoto's thoughts trailed next to her. She shot a glance in his direction. The brunette was fairly worried for him. Recently, he seemed to be doing somewhat better, but only just slightly. "I didn't get enough time to study... father wanted to train all this last week again. But he'll be upset if I don't score in the top five. It's ridiculous when you think about the logistics of it. Does he want to abuse me or have me get good grades?"

At least he recognized it as abuse. That counted for something. It meant he wasn't totally batshit insane or in denial, which was a blessing sent from above all things considered. Harper would dive into that deep, dark pit later. She had other things to focus on right now. Like this test, and how the fuck she was supposed to focus with Kaminari's Wii music going. Was it even music anymore? It sounded like jumbled screeching with the occasional piano note. Was it going to kill him? Was that what all this build up was to? It sounded like the noise that might come from beyond hell's gates were they opened.

Aizawa came in, looking just as dead as ever. Kirishima tensed in his seat, turning to glance back at her. Harper just shook her head solemnly. They still had visible glitter on them. Harper was almost glad everyone was so out of it with worry and stress over the upcoming examination. It meant they weren't going to notice and put two and two together. Or maybe it was three and three, seeing as Mic was included in that. She'd seen him this morning. He still looked a bit pale, but chipper overall. At least one of them was coping.

Everyone hushed themselves, and the tests were distributed. Harper would've thought she would hate it more, but sitting in a room void of noise save for the focused, murmuring thoughts of her classmates weren't that bad. The thoughts weren't bouncing around the room. They were focused on quirk theory, and how Hero society functioned instead. It had been a long time since she'd last been in a group this large, all thinking about the same thing. The thoughts from next room over bled over as well, mirroring those of her fellow classmates. Harper let her quirk sink into the peacefulness of it all.

Everyone had been instructed to turn their phones off at the beginning of class. Harper was the only one secluded from this. Her phone was instead set to vibrate, lying face down in the middle of the row of desks, right on the floor where Aizawa could see it. If she picked it up, she'd have to almost get entirely out of her seat to grab it. It worked around the whole issue of cheating. Not that she would, but people made assumptions all the time. She'd much rather go ahead and make those accusations baseless given the chance. 

Around ten minutes into the test, her phone buzzed. Not a big deal. Nobody batted an eye. Harper gave it a simple glance. She'd just barely heard it. She was glad it wasn't too loud. Sometimes when phones vibrated against a hard surface, they'd make some ungodly loud sound that alerted everyone in the vicinity that you, and your noisy-ass phone, had a notification. It was a small weight off her chest to know she wasn't about to be drawing anymore attention to herself than she already had.

At least, that's what she thought. Until it vibrated again.

And again.

And then a fourth time.

And then a fifth, sixth, seventh-- a phone call, which was several long vibrations that drew curious eyes-- eighth, ninth, and tenth. It just kept going. Harper could only stare at it, wondering how Kurogiri could've gotten away from Dabi long enough to whip out his phone and harass her. Dabi usually restricted the ex-villain's phone use while she was at school, which was yet another small gift the world had offered to her. It was only when Dabi took a bathroom break that Kurogiri would take the chance to pounce and send her as many texts as he could jam in.

"Oh my goodness, someone's populaarrr! It's drawing so much attention. Harperrrr, I know your job is important, but I think Momo is about to explode! Poor darling has been so stressed. You look super cute today, by the way. The rainbow glitter really highlights the waves in your hair. It looks so fluffy and colorful!" Aizawa's thoughts chirped as he stood from his seat with a sigh, raising his eyebrows at her. "Don't worry, I'm not actually mad. I just have an appearance to upkeep is all! Are you going to get that? You should get that. Raise your hand and ask to get that."

Harper let out a deep sigh through her nose, closing her eyes briefly and trying to relax. This was fine. She flipped over her test and answer sheet so they were both upside down, opening her eyes as she brought her hand up. The process was slow and painful for her. Kirishima shot a sympathetic and concerned look back, wincing at the look that had twisted its way onto her face. Could you really blame Harper? People were already eyeballing her because of the whole Sero phone call. This wasn't making things better.

"Yes, Harper?" Aizawa, the little shit, asked as though he hadn't just demanded she raise her hand. She gave him the deadest look could. "Go on! Ask!"

"Can I check the phone, please?" Harper asked flatly, dropping her hand. Aizawa stared at her blankly. His thoughts were going haywire for literally no reason.

"AH, SO CUTE??? OF COURSE YOU CAN YOU CUTIE WHY'RE YOU SO PERFECT?!" Aizawa's mental screaming cut through any tranquility the testing atmosphere had created and pierced her with a headache that made her eye twitch. Outwardly, Aizawa sighed. "Make it quick."

Harper swallowed a sarcastic comment and instead leaned down to swipe up the phone, which was still buzzing incessantly. Did Dabi have an upset stomach or some shit? Had someone died? If anyone, it was Sansa. Alcohol poisoning was creeping up that man-- cat-- and was going to strike when they all least expected it. Sansa said the same thing, only that there was a loophole. That he was always expecting him, and thus it could never take him by surprise. Apparently it gave him 'the upper hand.' Harper was pretty sure it just meant he was batshit.

Harper flipped the phone over, took one glance at the plethora of texts she'd been getting, and she dropped her phone.

At the same time, Hagakure screamed.