Social roll. DC 70: 76 (66+10), 106 (96+10), 78 (68+10)
Success x4
CRIT SUCCESS!
You didn't expect this. Didn't expect this at all. You knew she was going to be Recovery Girl's apprentice but this… Well, she went faster than you expected.
You were standing at the entrance of the UA's main building. To your surprise, not to attend classes but to visit a friend who turns out is working as an assistant in the infirmary.
"Hey, Da- Aah!" You heard behind you, making you turn around. There she was, on the ground and still carrying that big first aid bag around. Haruka quickly stood up and started to dust off her dress and bunny ears, trying to look like nothing was wrong. "Daiki, glad you could make it. I knew it was a surprise when I told you where I was, but I've been busy." She smiles apologetically as if making you come here was bothersome for you or something.
"Haruka, this is amazing! I knew you would get into UA." You answer happily, glad to see one of your new friends get what she wants. She approaches you calmly but you can feel doubt in her mind.
"Well, it's not like I'm a normal student. Recovery Girl told me I didn't pass the test… But she took me as her personal apprentice. I'm technically closer to being part of the staff than a student." She said walking past you and opening the main door that in a couple of weeks would be crossed by the students.
You started to follow her but then stopped, shocked. "Wait… So you are at the same rank as the teachers?" You asked and she quickly shook her head, her ears flopping around as she did.
"No, no. Not at all. I'm just…" She thinks about it trying to come up with an answer and slowly realizing herself that yes, she is technically part of UA's staff. She then decides that it sounds too overwhelming and it's time to change the topic. "… Do you want a tour of the school? I asked permission to show you around."
You quickly nodded, taking the bait and forgetting about the other topic. This was a real hero school. THE hero school! You were still waiting for the results but you get to look around the building before any of your future classmates can.
You followed the tiny girl through the hallways of that big building. It was amazingly massive, but it had to be. Not only it needed rooms to practice any type of quirk it also had a lot of students. The two hero courses weren't the only ones here. From engineers to lawyers, anything remotely hero related was taught at UA. Someone a bit more cynic would say that forming the future lawyers and prosecutors in a hero school would bias them towards favoring heroes, but you are not one of those.
As Haruka shows you around, you realize something. Once you left the engineering department and other stuff similar… UA is surprisingly standard. Normal corridors, normal classrooms, and even a normal cafeteria. A really big one but pretty standard. It wasn't bad, it was just… Normal. You don't even know what you expected.
"And this is where I spend most of the time." She said, opening a door to reveal the infirmary. Everything was so white and clean that almost hurt your eyes. You stepped inside following her, carefully. "I still can't touch most of the stuff. Recovery Girl says that I can't do anything else until I learn how to clean properly. She says one of the most valuable skills for any doctor is knowing how to keep everything clean." As she talks, she approaches a desk, probably Recovery Girl's, and grabs a huge book. It looks ridiculous when the small girl holds it. "Well… Cleaning and… S-studying this." As she talks you see her starting to lose her balance so you quickly move to grab her.
You managed to reach her just in time, your hands stopping her fall and even grabbing the book too. It wasn't that heavy… Maybe your training is starting to show some benefits? "Are you okay?" You ask a bit worried.
She nods, blushing slightly for being held so close. She quickly takes a step away once she recovers her footing. "A-anyway. Let's go to the staff room and have some tea. We've been walking around a lot." She smiles and you notice something. Her breath is a bit jaded. It's been like that for a while and her legs tremble from time to time. Is she… really that tired from walking around?
You nod and go together to the staff room. Luckily it was closeby. You offer to make some tea and do it even when she refuses and tries to do it herself. You really want to ask about her health. Maybe she is pushing herself too much? It's not even been a week and she talks like someone who's been at UA for longer.
Once you made some tea, using the same kitchen pro heroes use and that's weirdly exciting, you sit down in front of her. The staff room wasn't big, but it turns out it's not the only one the school has, this one was just for the science and infirmary department.
"Are you okay?" You finally ask asper taking a sip of your tea. She just nods, seemingly embarrassed for showing so much weakness in front of you. To make her think about something else, you grab the cookies you bought from your bag, offering them to her. She seems surprised.
"These… Are my favorite! Thank you, Daiki." She says with a smile on her face. She has a cute smile. Innocent and sweet that makes you forget that she is your age. You kind of want to ask about her and why she looks… Young. You don't, of course, because that's probably rude.
You both start eating and talking, but it doesn't take long for you to be interrupted. Her phone rings and she quickly picks it up, her face turning into a frown after answering. "Oh… Mom. Yes, I'm still at the UA…" She stands up, still talking to her mother and steps out of the room so you don't hear the conversation. It feels… Kind of awkward to be there waiting for her.
The conversation lasts a bit longer than you expected and you hear the tiny girl rise her voice a couple of times, something you didn't expect from her. Sadly, you can't hear what they are talking about even if she is just outside the door… Well, not like you are trying to eavesdrop or something, of course… Even if you are really curious.
You are fighting back your desire of putting your ear to the door when it opens. Haruka returns sighing to herself. She doesn't seem sad or angry, just… tired. She sits down on her chair again and smiles apologetically to you. "I'm sorry Daiki, it was my mom. She… Doesn't approve of me being here. She still acts like I can't take my own decisions."
"Don't worry… But are you okay?" You ask. You can feel her emotions bubbling up. Regret, anger, sadness, resolution… She seems conflicted but not wanting to back down. You don't know enough about her situation to say something about it, but you are still worried as a friend.
"Yes, don't worry. Let's just… Not talk about it. Tell me something else. I've been studying a lot all week and now that Recovery Girl left for a mission I'm really bored." As she says that she grabs one of the cookies and starts to nibble at it, her legs swinging free not reaching to the ground.
Not having anything better to do and wanting for her to feel better, you start talking about a lot of stuff. About your training to become a hero, your motivation behind what you did at the test, your hopes for the future… She listens attentively, telling you things about her life. How she always wanted to be a doctor, how her quirk lets her save lives and how she wanted to be a hero to put it to good use…
Something inside you just… clicks with her. Somehow it feels like you got a lot closer just spending an afternoon casually chatting. Once your conversation turned to topics outside heroism like books or movies… It started to feel like the conversations you had with your old friends. You were able to stop worrying about everything for a while and just talk with the small girl in front of you.
Haruka for her part felt like she made a friend… One of the first she ever had. Always too timid to approach people, always too small and frail to play with others… Was Daiki one of her first friends…? That was a sobering thought for the girl, but a welcome one. She liked to look at the positive side of things and… The positive side of this?
She finally had a real friend.
