A/N: Hi! You might recognize this character from a couple of other things that I've written. I'm in the process of revamping her, and I wrote this at 11PM fueled by spite, so don't mind if she's a bit inconsistent. (I did some minimal editing, and past me added SO many ellipses. So also don't mind that.)

Her lore also makes a bit more sense now. And I actually tied it in with the story of unOrdinary! I miiiight post something explaining it, but regardless, I have it all written down. Here's a teaser: She and John are technically related. Very distantly. Their abilities are cut from the same cloth, so to speak.

Also also! She's still probably going to end up with Isen and befriend Remi and Blyke, but they meet in a different way this time around. He asks her what's going on between her and John (nosy bastard), and they end up becoming friends... somehow. I'll probably write that after this.

Aria dropped to her hands and knees, breathing heavily. She could feel her heartbeat thrumming through her whole body. In an hour, after a nice snack and a shower, she would feel incredible. Bright and energized, like she always was after a workout.

Right now, though? She felt like somebody had run her over with a car. No—a train. She dropped onto her stomach and let out something between a wheeze and a yelp.

She had to take a minute to recover. Her body simply refused to move. When her muscles decided to respond again, she deactivated her ability—slowly, so she didn't disorient herself—and sat back up.

This had been an intense training session. It felt like every part of her was bruised, including her aura channels. Despite how careful she'd been, her mind was reeling from the lingering effects of her ability. And she was soaked in sweat.

After a long moment, Aria looked down at her hands. She ground her teeth. As much as she hated to admit it...

She was stuck. She didn't consider herself a perfectionist by any means, and she tried to have realistic expectations. But this stagnation of her growth was so damn frustrating. She'd been training every other day for four months, and she'd learned almost nothing.

It wasn't that she'd hit the skill ceiling. She knew that her ability could do so much more; her grandfather had taught her that eventually, it would evolve, and she would be able to shift between its aspects as easy as breathing.

But he was gone. Had been gone since Aria was nine, even before they'd moved to this new country. And nobody else knew how to use this ability—nobody but him.

She racked her brain, trying to make a path forward. A tutor or an ability counselor? No, way too expensive. And they'd probably have no idea how to help her, either. A scientist or doctor? She didn't really want to be studied, nor did she want to be put on the Authorities' radar.

Should she just bite the bullet and do the research herself? Surely the library had a few books on abilities. And maybe she could find articles or something online. Hell, maybe there was another one like hers out there!

Well, there was, actually. Zeke had his Phase Shift. But she would rather eat an entire box of nails than speak to Zeke, and besides, he seemed to have no trouble with the thing she needed help with.

...Wait. She didn't exactly know him—had done her best to avoid him after the whole Joker debacle—but John could copy abilities, couldn't he? He seemed to know a lot about how they worked and how to use them effectively. And he hadn't hurt anyone since he'd come back from his suspension. Was there any chance he could help her?

True, he might not be able to. He might not even want to, but talking to him was free, and he would have a better chance of understanding her ability than anyone else she could think of.

Aria let out a quiet sigh of relief. At least she had a plan now. But...

How on earth was she going to convince John to help her?

John walked through the hallways with his hands in his pockets. There was something surreal about being back at school, just going to class like nothing had happened.

But something had happened. The whispers that he could just barely hear, the looks people gave him as he passed, the way they shied away from him in the halls... He knew none of them would let him forget it.

Which was why it was so surprising when someone did approach him. He'd never seen her before; she had tan skin, deep amber eyes, and pale orange hair.

She was also built like a tank. She was heavyset, with broad shoulders and almost as much height as him. And—she looked pretty soft, but he could tell that there was solid muscle underneath that fat.

Almost automatically, he started evaluating how he'd take her down. She seemed like she would hit hard, but—

"Are you John?" Her voice cut into his thoughts, calm and level. "I want to talk to you."

"Who the hell are you?" he challenged. "And what do you want?"

Most people would have backpedaled immediately, found something better to do than bothering John. She just glanced away for a moment, then back at him. "Name's Aria, but you've probably never heard of me," she said flatly. "I want your help with something. Could we talk somewhere more private?"

Well, it wasn't like she could do anything to him, but he'd really rather not. "No. Get lost," he said, not bothering to keep the disdain out of his voice.

Something flickered in Aria's eyes. Determination? "Come on," she replied, a bit less emotionless. "It'll only take a moment, and I can give you something in return."

He furrowed his brow. He didn't like how vague she was being... but it couldn't hurt, right? He had to admit he was curious about what she wanted. "Fine," he acquiesced. "But I pick where we go."

Aria nodded, smiling faintly. "Lead the way."

John took her to a spare room that he knew nobody would be in. Or even near. He went in after Aria, keeping her in his line of sight at all times.

He could practically hear the rumors he was starting, but he found he didn't care.

Aria, meanwhile, had apparently been psyching herself up the whole trip. Now she leaned against a stack of chairs, looking down at the floor with an unreadable expression. Then she glanced back up at him. "I want your help with my ability."

Something in him bristled at that. "What? I'm not gonna—"

"Please hear me out," Aria interrupted. "Please. This is... important to me. And I can give you—what would you want as compensation? Money? Work? Information?"

He was a bit overwhelmed by how much she'd said at once. "Information?" he questioned.

She seemed to relax a bit. "Yeah. In exchange for you advising me about my ability, I can gather information for you," she explained. "Any places or people you want me to investigate... I could go in, record what I find, bring it back to you."

His mind immediately jumped to Sera. Aria could find out whatever was going on with her. But going behind his friend's back didn't feel... right.

He didn't want to break her trust again.

John circled back to something else Aria had said. Work... What did she mean by that?

While he was thinking, Aria continued, "I could also, um... cook for you or something? I guess? I don't know why you'd want that, but I'm good—"

"Work," he interrupted.

She stared at him, confused and mildly startled. "Work," she repeated.

"You said you would work earlier. What does that mean?"

Aria drummed her fingers against the chair she was closest to. "Well, I could do manual labor. If you have something that you want help moving or breaking, I mean. I'm pretty strong."

John thought for a moment. He'd been wanting to rearrange his room for a while... "Help me move my dresser," he decided.

She paused, as if to let him finish. Then she asked tentatively, "Is that all?"

He shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. "What time do you want me to help you?" he said instead.

"...Does tomorrow evening work for you?"

"Sure."