Chapter 17: The Missing Girl Himiko 03: Numbers

It wasn't until two weeks later that one of the new kids had arrived. She had long white hair and pretty green eyes, but she seemed awfully skittish when she was introduced as Number Nineteen.

Later, when asked, she told Himiko her name was Orchid. She didn't seem like she wanted to be there at the Quirk Facility, which perplexed Himiko—didn't she want to have a quirk? A new purpose in life? A gift? Himiko tried to question it further, but Orchid started to cry, said she missed her little brother.

Himiko felt struck by that.

The doctors said Orchid's treatment would begin in a few weeks while they updated software and got the last new kid ready for their Quirk gift. In the meanwhile, Himiko and Orchid bonded—and Tobiko too, since he was back from his own treatment. He never did bring up kidnapping again—Himiko found that curious, but then forgot about it soon enough.

They learned Orchid's brother wanted to be a hero, and his quirk would help so many people, but she worried a lot for him. She worried that he'd hurt himself again if he overdid it—that his quirk would damage him if he overworked himself too much. It's what's landed him in the hospital twice already.

Tobiko shared some of his story too. Told them he had two younger siblings, that they were twins. His little sister wanted to be a hero also, and he felt her quirk was perfect for hero'ing, and that it felt ironic for him to even be here getting a tentacle quirk. Meanwhile, his brother didn't have many goals, and hero work wasn't even close to anything he wanted to do, supposedly. Tobiko explains how odd his siblings' quirks came out—both transformations, but so vastly different too.

Himiko wanted to ask what their quirks were when they were called for lunch break, and that it was Group 2's turn for the room now.

It was well past midnight now—she and Orchid were sharing a room together this time. It delighted the blonde to be sharing something with someone, especially someone as cool as Orchid.

The only noise the blonde could hear was the air conditioner in the hallway and the chirping crickets outside their window. Peaceful. Until there was suddenly a rise in voices, and buzzing just behind her ears. She swatted at the air around her head, thinking it was perhaps a fly, but it just followed the movements of her head. She felt testy now, and slightly paranoid—she didn't like bugs. They were creepy to her.

She was about to get up and swing her arms around the area, but then the whispers and buzzing faded away, and she was left blinking at the wall in puzzlement. Whispers. Gone. The growing bumps on the sides of her head started to itch and pulse uncomfortably.

---

It was two days later when they heard the sound of struggling and screaming from a boy. The three huddled in their corner of the Hangout room practically raced to the door to look out the window. Down the hall, they watched as a boy with messy black hair was ushered toward the Treatment Center of the facility, his arms held behind him while he shouted and kicked.

"LET ME GO! LET- LET ME! GRAUGH! HELP, S-SOMEONE—"

Himiko felt ice gather in her stomach and immediately, the three raced away from the door as they passed, pretending they didn't just experience pure terror at the realization that oh, now they were actually kidnapping children.

Himiko tried to stall her quick breathing, still her heart. Swallowing deeply, she clutched her Hello Kitty doll tightly to her chest and focused her eyes on Tobiko's horizontal pupils.

The shouting passed by and a few minutes passed by before the door was opened and Mr. Yanagisawa stepped in, a greeting ready on his lips. "Good evening, children. Number Twenty has arrived today, but he's very distressed. He will be joining your group at the end of the week, but I must warn you not to overwhelm him."

---

Treatments got worse that week—which stung like a you-know-what and they had brought in more healing-quirk users to get the kids back on their feet before the end of the day to resume Treatments the following day.

It was exhausting and pain-filled and Himiko was just glad Orchid wouldn't start her treatment until the following week.

Number Twenty finally arrived in the Hangout room and at Lunch. His bangs were a mess and tangled in each other, draped over his eyes and his mop of hair was also just completely unruly—like he hadn't seen a bath in a few months. He was young, too—Tobiko mentioned how he thought he might be her age. Someone like her.

Orchid, Tobiko, and Himiko all tried to encourage the boy to join in their activities but it fell on seemingly deaf ears. He never looked at anyone or spoke—she didn't even know his name. He just sat in the corner fiddling with the bunny ears of a worn out and dusty All Might doll.

Himiko felt at odds with him, wanting to help him open up, so she took her Hello Kitty doll in her arms and kneeled down beside him. He ignored her.

"You like heroes?"

He paused in his fiddling. She took that as a good sign to continue.

"Is All Might your favorite?"

Slowly, the boy shifted his head to her and finally she saw a glint of moss in his eye. He nodded, and she beamed.

"I like All Might too, but I really like Vlad King, you know? He's so cool… maybe after I can finally use my new quirk, I can be a hero like him too. Do you wanna be a hero too?"

She heard Tobiko and Orchid shuffling closer to them, and the boy lowered his doll to the floor. "...yea…"

There. It was soft, and weak, and cracked but it was there. A whisper of an answer, and Himiko smiled with delight.

"That's great, kid," Tobiko grinned. "I'm Tobiko, Number Fifteen. My little sister wants to be a hero too; she's around your age. Who knows, maybe you'll end up being partners in heroism someday, huh?"

Orchid clapped her hands giddily. "I'm Orchid! Number Nineteen. My little brother does too; his name's Aster."

"And I'm Himiko! Can you tell us your name, Number Twenty?"

There was silence, and the boy pushed up his bangs from his left eye, a wide moss-colored eye staring at the three of them and studying them intensely. Himiko found it dazzling despite the bags underneath; they complimented his star-dappled cheeks. She liked Number Twenty.

Then finally the boy opened his mouth and whispered his name.

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