[Freja Helt]

And then... The stage was set.

Alcohol? Check. She had bought beer, wine, tequila naturally... Was she going a little overkill? Well, if her and Zenkai were going to get drunk the last thing she wanted them to experience was getting drunk on something they didn't find tasty and she didn't exactly know what their favorite beverage of choice was since they were still a fairly new drinker. Still, she didn't mind spending a little extra just to make sure that was covered. Any alcohol they didn't drink tonight she could always bring to future parties after all. No roomies? Check. The absolute last thing she needed was to get incredibly drunk and spill her secret to a whole group of people, that would be a nightmare way to tell everyone. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell them either, she just had to find the way to. Somehow, the way she was going to tell Zenkai was by getting drunk.

Unlike at the yacht party, Freja at chosen to settle for much more casual clothes this time, a big comfy gray hoodie and soft pajamas pants. Her hands were still wrapped in white bandages from the fire incident, but they weren't hurting nearly as bad anymore. She was pacing this way and that as she waited for her guest to arrive. Was her room clean enough? She checked, double checked, triple checked. She rarely had anyone over to her room and neither of her 3 roommates really counted in her mind, since they already lived with her. Hopefully it wasn't going to be too plain either, a pretty standard room with some band posters and plants that she liked to take care of. Her desk was a decent size for her to study at, but to someone like Zenkai it was probably a tad small. Her bed? Memory foam mattress of course, couldn't sleep without it and lord knows if there was anywhere a good night's sleep helped, it was at UAU when you spent all day, every day training. It was already getting dark outside, but her windowsill was lit up with a few electric candles. She sat down on her bed, her stomach hurting at the thought of having to share the secret. She wasn't even sure why when Zen had already reassured her they would respect her no matter what. Hopefully she could get really drunk before she would have to spill it. ''But not too drunk to forget about his quirk.'' She muttered to herself as she stared at her and Zenkai's DMs, reading over the text she had sent earlier again and again in a vain attempt to find courage and comfort in it.

Zenkai Hatake

[Zenkai Hatake]

[attr="class","ZenkaiBackground]

[attr="class","ZenkaiImage]

[attr="class","ZenkaiTitle"]Throughout Heaven And Earth [attr="class","ZenkaiSubtitle"]I Alone Am The Honored One [attr="class","ZenkaiTags"]Freja Helt [attr="class","ZenkaiNotes"]

[attr="class","ZenkaiExposition"]Snacks, check! Tank top with cute capybara on it? Check! Harem pants? Check! Unfounded Anxiety about going over to a girl's room for the first time? CHEEEEEECCKKKK! Zenkai wasn't nervous per-say but he hadn't even set foot in Marlene's room yet, heck, he couldn't remember a time when he was last in a room belonging to the opposite gender. It wasn't that he was nervous, Zen didn't do nervous, but his body seemed to be disagreeing with this idea. It was just going to be the two of them chilling alone in Freja's room, drinking alcohol and talking about stuff. Nothing could go wrong! Right?

Of course the golden boi wasn't going to let this stop him, he had told Freja he was going to come, and had reassured her he would each time she DMed him about it. She had made them a promise to tell them her secret if they got drunk together and he had every intention of making her keep that promise. Honestly, he wasn't really sure what she was so nervous about, they doubted there was anything that she could say that would make him dislike her. She was cool people in his mind and was probably the only other friend besides Thea that he would admit being close to and he had no intention of letting whatever skeleton she had in her closet ruin that.

At exactly 9 on the dot Zenkai walked through Freja's door, sauntering into her room, looking around and making a low whistle as he looked at how clean it was. "Man, you must really be crushing on me if you went through all the effort of making the room look all..." The golden boi trailed off as he looked down at Freja in her hoodie and pajama pants, a light shade of red covering his cheeks as he looked over her and her homely attire. For some reason she looked...Different.

"Pretty"

[googlefont="Raleway"][googlefont="Source Sans Pro"][Googlefont="Pathway Gothic One"]
[newclass=".ZenkaiBackground"]background-color:#1b1b1b;width:500px;border:solid 20px #252525;padding-bottom:30px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiImage"]height:200px;width:200px;border:3px double #0a47ff;outline:10px solid #0a47ff;margin:10px;background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bQ-6A5zxKko/maxresdefault.jpg);background-size:cover;margin-left:50px;margin-top:40px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiTitle"]width:180px;font-size:30px;font-family:Pathway Gothic One;text-align:center;font-style:italic;text-transform:uppercase;margin-top:15px;color:#0a47ff;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiSubtitle"]width:180px;font-family:Pathway Gothic One;font-size:15px;letter-spacing:4px;margin-top:-5px;text-align:center;text-transform:capitalize;border-bottom:solid 2px #0a47ff; color:#fff;opacity:0.8;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiTags"]width:180px;font-size:11px;font-family:Source Sans Pro;color:#fff;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiNotes"]width:170px;height:70px;text-align:left;font-family:Source Sans Pro;color:#fff;font-size:11px;padding:10px;overflow:auto;margin-top: -20px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiExposition"]padding:10px;width:400px;line-height:12px;text-align:justify;font:11px Source Sans Pro;color:#ffffff;padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:20px;border-top:5px solid #0a47ff;border-bottom:5px solid #0a47ff[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiExposition b"]color: #0a47ff;[/newclass]

[Freja Helt]

She perked up when Zenkai entered her room. First guest in ages. First drinking guest period. She felt warmth rush into her cheeks when he mentioned the state of the clean room and why she might have cleaned. ''I-It's not every day I have guests over!'' She crossed her arms and turned her head away. She hated that their taunting and teasing was so effective at making her flustered. ''Besides, you'd do the same for me if I was coming over to your room.'' She scooched out of bed, contemplating what to even drink. ''I bought a little bit of everything, I wasn't sure what you like and some people get very particular about their drinks.'' She gestured to the table containing all the bottles, before walking towards it herself. ''Cute tank top by the way, do you like capybaras?'' She poured herself a strong whiskey, knowing full well that the anxiety she was feeling would disappear the sooner she got tipsy. If Zen let her know what they wanted, she would pour something for them too and hand them their drink.

''Maybe it's related to your quirk? You're actually a capybara, aren't you?'' She grinned, turning around with her drink in hand. Seeing Zen enter as themself was honestly a huge relief. That they hadn't dressed up in anything fancy. Even though they hadn't talked about dress code or anything like that, it was nice to know they were on the same wavelength to just go with whatever felt comfortable and homey. It was part of why if you could get the people together for it, Freja vastly preferred private dorm or house parties over hitting up clubs in the city. Way less pressure to look great, not to mention there were strangers and creeps in the cities and that wasn't the case at parties where you mostly knew everyone. ''How are you feeling?'' She glanced down at her own hands, still bandaged from the fire incident, but at least not hurting anymore. ''You got burnt a lot worse than me.'' It wasn't that the lack of dressing up was a disrespect in her mind. If anything, it was a signal that she trusted Zen enough that she could just be herself and not have to keep up appearances around them.

Zenkai Hatake

[Zenkai Hatake]

[attr="class","ZenkaiBackground]

[attr="class","ZenkaiImage]

[attr="class","ZenkaiTitle"]Throughout Heaven And Earth [attr="class","ZenkaiSubtitle"]I Alone Am The Honored One [attr="class","ZenkaiTags"]Freja Helt [attr="class","ZenkaiNotes"]

[attr="class","ZenkaiExposition"]Thank god Freja made it easy to relax. The tension the titan was feeling quickly disappeared as his drinking buddy unsurprisingly got all flustered at his teasing her cute little cheeks burning red at his suggestion of who she might be crushing on. Now that their usual dynamic had been established the golden boi realized that it was pretty much like every other time with his buddy. There was no real reason to be anxious, it was Freja after all, she was fun.

"Oh? So I'm one of the lucky few that you invite over? Damn, Helt, You got it bad for me don't you?" The blonde haired brute bent over to Freja's eye level, giving her a shit eating grin as he continued "Of course I would, I would never let a cute girl hang out in a pig sty, what kind of monster do you take me for?" It was a true statement though they had no idea how clean if would get, considering they had a polar bear living with them... and Thea lived under his bed... and Robin lived in his drawer. Kei was actually the only one that was cleaen in their dorm...Poor Kei.

The sapphire-eyed titan decided to go with the same drink that Freja was pouring herself, just bigger as they sat on her bed. They weren't picky with their alcohol, after all the only time they ever drank was at the yacht party and that was...an adventure. "Guess again, Helt, I think it would be pretty obvious if I had a Capybara quirk" The titan took the drink and downed half of it in one go. Freja was pretty determined to find out anything and everything about their quirk which, would probably be annoying if he didn't find her insistence entertaining. "You can't be trying to peak behind the curtain when I'm not drunk. Many had tried, none have succeeded...At least when I'm still sober.

The conversation eventually turned to the more serious topic, the fire that they had survived together. It was the first time Zenkai could remember where his life was in actual danger. It had messed him up physically more than mentally. In fact it only solidified his belief that he was in charge of his own destiny, he had escaped from the jaws of death with just his strength and determination alone. Even though he ended up in the hospital, the confidence boost from such an encounter made it all worth it.

"Please, I'm already back to normal, don't go worrying about me." Zen's wounds were mostly healed at this point. It was pretty clear in some places that they were still wounded but for the most part he was okay. "How's your hands there slugger? They were pretty messed up when I last saw them"

[googlefont="Raleway"][googlefont="Source Sans Pro"][Googlefont="Pathway Gothic One"]
[newclass=".ZenkaiBackground"]background-color:#1b1b1b;width:500px;border:solid 20px #252525;padding-bottom:30px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiImage"]height:200px;width:200px;border:3px double #0a47ff;outline:10px solid #0a47ff;margin:10px;background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bQ-6A5zxKko/maxresdefault.jpg);background-size:cover;margin-left:50px;margin-top:40px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiTitle"]width:180px;font-size:30px;font-family:Pathway Gothic One;text-align:center;font-style:italic;text-transform:uppercase;margin-top:15px;color:#0a47ff;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiSubtitle"]width:180px;font-family:Pathway Gothic One;font-size:15px;letter-spacing:4px;margin-top:-5px;text-align:center;text-transform:capitalize;border-bottom:solid 2px #0a47ff; color:#fff;opacity:0.8;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiTags"]width:180px;font-size:11px;font-family:Source Sans Pro;color:#fff;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiNotes"]width:170px;height:70px;text-align:left;font-family:Source Sans Pro;color:#fff;font-size:11px;padding:10px;overflow:auto;margin-top: -20px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiExposition"]padding:10px;width:400px;line-height:12px;text-align:justify;font:11px Source Sans Pro;color:#ffffff;padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:20px;border-top:5px solid #0a47ff;border-bottom:5px solid #0a47ff[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiExposition b"]color: #0a47ff;[/newclass]

[Freja Helt]

''I just don't hang around a lot of people.'' She pouted, already taking big sips from her drink as she looked back at them. ''I don't go around telling my secret to just anyone. Aside from you, one... two other people know.'' One of them, Miroru, she had told herself and Thea, well, that was never planned, but she couldn't exactly take it back now that Thea had read her memories. ''No I'm sure you keep your room plenty clean.'' She grinned, teasing them with a condescending shoulder pat.

''Not if it was a hidden Capybara quirk.'' She added, whatever that meant. ''You raise a good point.'' She took another big sip, almost finishing her own drink. ''In all the time I've known you, which isn't that long, but that goes for everyone here at school. My point is, I've never heard you slip up about any secrets, whether they're other people's secrets or your own. You really are the secretive type.'' Speaking of secrets, Freja sighed as she finished her drink. ''Really? So your quirk definitely gives you some special healing factor.'' She smirked, ''my hands are a lot better. I can actually hold a pen or a cup now without feeling like my hands will fall off.'' She opened and closed the palm of her hand, as if to show that they were mostly fine now. ''I'm gonna pick my bat up again next week. Get back on the grind.'' She pushed herself off the bed and walked over to pour herself another drink. ''Okay, one more.. One more and I'll be ready.'' Would she? She felt terribly anxious as she downed the entire second drink in one go, staggering a bit as she breathed out and put her glass down.

Sauntering over to the bed she sat back down. ''I'll go first, I guess.'' She wasn't looking at Zen at all, her eyes focused on the floor as she tried to gather her thoughts. ''I wasn't born quirkless.'' She left a pause for a moment as she built up the courage to look up at Zen. ''I also wasn't born as Freja Helt. My name was Elias.'' She leaned over to reach under her bed to retrieve a little box, inside it there was a printed photo of the Helt siblings, which she handed to Zenkai. The photo was about six years old, showing a cheery, black-haired Freja in her early teens next to a moody, gray-haired Elias.

''That's me next to Freja. The original Freja.'' There was a bitter sort of sadness in her voice. ''She was always the good sibling, I was sort of the black sheep of the family.'' She smirked, the failure, really. ''My sister could produce flames, and while the readings showed I had a quirk, no one was able to identify how it worked. I was functionally quirkless.''

''Freja always wanted to become a hero and study at UAU, so we took a lot of Japanese lessons together and a few trips over here.'' The smirk quickly faded, her eyes growing cold and distant as she thought back to that fateful day. ''One day, we were caught in a villain attack. We both died surrounded by fire.'' She lowered her gaze to look at the floor again. She still couldn't stand fire to this day. ''The last thing I saw before I died was my sister fading away.'' She could feel the tears gather in her eyes as her chest started hurting. ''Or so I thought... The next thing I remember woke up in her body.'' A few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. ''It was my quirk, 'Curse'. It activated when I died. Now, all traces of it are gone, all but the scars it left in here.'' She gave her temple a tap with her index finger. ''My family all think Elias died and Freja survived.'' It was the simplest explanation after all. ''That due to shock I think I'm Elias. I attended my own funeral.'' She curled into herself a bit. The thought of telling Zen all this had been so scary and yet, now that they were here she was spilling everything. ''That was almost five years ago.''

''For a while I actually thought my sister had died and it was just me in here.'' She sniffled, wiping tears away with the sleeve of her hoodie. ''Do you know Thea? She helped me figure out that wasn't the case.'' She looked up at Zenkai, mustering a weak smile for the first time in a while. ''Apparently we're fusing. Elias and Freja, I mean.. I have her memories and I have his memories. It's comforting, but I'm also terrified.'' She sighed and looked over at her glass. ''Am I Freja, or am I Elias?'' Her hand clenched the sheet of her bed firmly. ''If I was taken apart and reassembled again, would there even be a fraction of me left? How long is my second life, since it was granted by a quirk I could probably just drop dead one day...'' She felt more tears coming on, but quickly wiped them away as she stood up. ''Anyway! There! That's my stupid secret.'' Her voice was a bit shaky as she went to get more alcohol. ''I've trauma-dumped enough on you.'' She poured herself another glass, unable to look Zen in the eye as she asked her next question. ''If you feel differently about me now I understand. You said you'd respect me no matter what it was, but no hard feelings if you want to take that back.''

Zenkai Hatake

[Zenkai Hatake]

[attr="class","ZenkaiBackground]

[attr="class","ZenkaiImage]

[attr="class","ZenkaiTitle"]Throughout Heaven And Earth [attr="class","ZenkaiSubtitle"]I Alone Am The Honored One [attr="class","ZenkaiTags"]Freja Helt [attr="class","ZenkaiNotes"]

[attr="class","ZenkaiExposition"]Zenkai let out a sigh of mock disappointment as Freja announced that they were not the first person that she had revealed her secret to. “Awww, I’m not your first? Too bad, I could have made you feel REAL special” The titan taunted giving their drinking buddy a playful wink. She made it way too easy to easy for him sometimes but that was one of the many things he appreciated about her.

The titan stood up and walked over to the little bar Freja had set up and grabbed the bottle of tequila as his drinking buddy commented on how secretive he was. “Secrets are a person’s most guarded and cherished treasures, If I am ever honored enough to be trusted with one, I will guard it like a dragon.” Master Gyatso said something similar way back when they first arrived at the monastery. Back then he thought it was the dumbest saying, but after meeting some friends and learning a few secrets he understood the meaning. “Including my own…” Zenkai removed the cap of the tequila and took a big swig before continuing “Besides what’s so wrong with that? The mystery just adds to my appeal”

It wasn’t every day that you learned someone’s deepest darkest secret and Zenkai was respectful as Freja downed a second drink before spilling everything. From her originally being Elias, to her sister, to how they died, how Freja was still in there, how they were becoming one everything laid bare for the titan to see. Zen would rub her back when it was appropriate but for the most part they were silent and drank. It was a pretty shocking revelation to be sure but not really something he would ever end a friendship over. Freja was good people, regardless of who she was. Thea on the other hand…well her knowing could only go poorly.

As The young grey haired dane poured herself another drink the golden boi rose to his feet and strode over behind the traumatized girl, wrapping their gigantic arms around her bringing her close to them while his chin on the top of her head. Freja looked like she could use a hug and Zenkai was all too willing to provide in his intoxicated state.

“You’re neither…And both, Bats” Zenkai spoke, looking down at Freja’s drink “You. Are. An. Experience, two souls entwined as one creating a whole new being. It would be kinda poetic if it weren’t so fucking tragic.” The freshman couldn’t imagine the kind of special hell Freja must have been in the first couple of years. “That’s also one HELL of a way to come” It was a shitty joke but he hoped it would suck at least a little tension out of the poor girl’s shoulders.

“As for feeling different about you” Zenkai grabbed onto Freja’s shoulders before spinning her around to face him so that he could look her in the eyes while he spoke. A faint smirk appeared on the golden boi’s lips as he bent down to get closer to his drinking buddy, leaning towards her face ever so slowly “Don’t go thinking so little of me, bats, your little secret could never change my opinion of you” The titan lift a hand to flick Freja’s forehead but instead found it drying the tears off of her cheeks as if simply acting on its own accord. Zenkai found his eyes trailing over Freja’s thin, pale, pink lips before he was able to regain control and maintain eye contact.

“What happened to you sucked, that’s for sure but in a way, it led you to being my friend and I’m grateful for that. Think what you want, Helt, but you’re not getting rid of me that easily. You’re one of my favorite humans, do you know how many favorite humans I have? Three. Everyone else is basically just an acquaintance in my mind. You’re determined, kind, smart, and REALLY fucking dorky, it doesn’t matter who you are or what happened in the past, the only thing that matters is who you are in the moment and at this moment you’re a HUGE dork, a very pretty, very adorable dork.” Man… Zenkai really hated how much he couldn’t control himself when he was drunk.

[googlefont="Raleway"][googlefont="Source Sans Pro"][Googlefont="Pathway Gothic One"]
[newclass=".ZenkaiBackground"]background-color:#1b1b1b;width:500px;border:solid 20px #252525;padding-bottom:30px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiImage"]height:200px;width:200px;border:3px double #0a47ff;outline:10px solid #0a47ff;margin:10px;background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bQ-6A5zxKko/maxresdefault.jpg);background-size:cover;margin-left:50px;margin-top:40px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiTitle"]width:180px;font-size:30px;font-family:Pathway Gothic One;text-align:center;font-style:italic;text-transform:uppercase;margin-top:15px;color:#0a47ff;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiSubtitle"]width:180px;font-family:Pathway Gothic One;font-size:15px;letter-spacing:4px;margin-top:-5px;text-align:center;text-transform:capitalize;border-bottom:solid 2px #0a47ff; color:#fff;opacity:0.8;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiTags"]width:180px;font-size:11px;font-family:Source Sans Pro;color:#fff;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiNotes"]width:170px;height:70px;text-align:left;font-family:Source Sans Pro;color:#fff;font-size:11px;padding:10px;overflow:auto;margin-top: -20px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiExposition"]padding:10px;width:400px;line-height:12px;text-align:justify;font:11px Source Sans Pro;color:#ffffff;padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:20px;border-top:5px solid #0a47ff;border-bottom:5px solid #0a47ff[/newclass]
[newclass=".ZenkaiExposition b"]color: #0a47ff;[/newclass]

[Freja Helt]

''Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!'' She furrowed her brow, his taunt working as expected. They hadn't even known each other for that long, but he knew all the buttons to press to make her annoyed or flustered. Maybe that was just what it was like to have good friends that knew you. Well, knew most of you anyway. ''Like a dragon?'' She said right before taking a sip. ''You're by far the most mysterious person at this school.'' She said with a hand on her hip. ''That's one way to look at it.'' She chuckled. She was glad she had a little bit of time to enjoy the night before she inevitably had to spill the beans.

She didn't hate that they rubbed her back. In fact, she wouldn't mind if they did it more, but she wasn't exactly in the mood to ask for it either. She didn't realize it then, but as she stood up she noticed that her hands were shaking as she was pouring. If she lost a good friend all because of telling her secret, it had weighed at the back of her mind for so long, ever since she had decided to tell Zenkai. She wasn't sure if she could bear the thought of them not talking anymore. She froze up when they wrapped their arms around her, but only because she wasn't expecting it. Warmth, comforting warmth...

She let go of a breath she didn't even know she was holding. The faintest hints of a smirk appeared on her lips at their shitty joke. She appreciated the effort, but couldn't hold it up for long. She blinked her eyes as she was spun around, scared she might start bawling even more, and right in front of Zenkai too. Their face looked different up close, but it was hard to describe. Nicer, kinder, not that they had ever been hostile towards her. She closed her eyes for a second, bracing for the flick, but then slowly opened them again as they wiped away her tears. She was holding it together right up until they started speaking again. Then she felt more tears build. She was among someone's favorites? Zenkai's favorites? Did that mean she was actually useful for something? Zenkai's eyes, had they always looked so kind? Had she just never noticed?

''Z-Zenkai..'' She croaked as the tears flowed once more, letting her hands slip up to meet theirs, before wrapping her arms around them too, leaning into the embrace. Well, as much as she could anyway. There was still a bit of an awkward height disparity between them. Assuming they didn't let go, Freja would continue to hold them in that embrace while she quietly sobbed, tears of relief, happiness. ''You're the dork.'' Her hands gripped onto the back of his tank top. ''..Thank you.'' She sniffled, eventually settling down, her eyes red from crying. Letting go she looked up at them, letting out a nervous chuckle. What was the best way to recover from such an awkward turn of events? ''How about another drink?'' She offered, wiping the last of her tears away with her sleeve. Whether Zen accepted her offer or not, she was certainly having more drinks.

Zenkai had accepted her for who, or what she really was, things could only get better from here.

Downing her fourth drink, Freja could feel her head spin a little bit as she collapsed back first onto the foot of her bed. ''Life sucks! Doesn't it, Zen?'' She looked over at them, her world spinning a bit. ‘‘So what was it about your quirk? You’re deliberately keeping it a secret and you’re not quirkless like me.’’ Her speech was a little bit slurred. Remembering how much courage it took to reveal her own secret, she kind of hand waved it. ‘‘But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Good friends can wait for their friends to be ready to share big secrets.’’ She smirked to herself, feeling weirdly self-confident all of a sudden, now that her own reveal had gone well and Zenkai didn’t hate her. ‘‘Even if you never tell me. I won’t hold it against you.’’ She looked directly into their eyes, sounding serious for the first time in a while. ‘‘Life sucks and it’s hard.’’ She looked back up at the ceiling.

Zenkai Hatake