[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... This would have been a good instance to wear her hero suit, but Jun couldn't bring herself to wear it. Kids loved to look up to heroes, but it was a title that Jun still felt she didn't deserve. Besides, what these kids didn't need someone claiming to be the greatest and putting on a face, they needed an actual human to show that they cared. She was dressed casually and standing outside the orphanage, and all things considered Jun was somewhere between a nervous wreck and falling apart. She had called Kei and asked him to join her, but at the same time she wasn't still sold on her plan. She wanted to do something nice for the girls, namely doll making. You would think this would be easy for Jun, but it was the exact opposite. She loved model building, and not everyone shared the same fervor for it as she did, and this was just a step up. The props she had made would help in this, so maybe having a fellow crafter on board would help? Kei Hada

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[Kei Hada]

Kei would say he never celebrated Hinamatsuri, but that would be a lie.

He had no sisters to speak of so it was up to himself and his brother to keep their mother company to partake in the holiday before he enrolled in UAU. They often helped set up the hina doll display in her salon, so patrons can add to it with their own paper dolls as they visit. It was a good compromise when his mom didn't have a daughter to celebrate Girls' Day with.

So maybe Kei was a little over-prepared as he made his way to the orphanage Jun invited him to, hefting a bag filled with origami paper, regular paper, scissors, glue, cloth, and anything else needed to make the dolls. No, he didn't know whether they had to help the children make them or if the duo was making them themselves, or even if the supplies would just be available at the location, so he may have brought everything needed for every type of doll at every stage of complexity.

Well. Better more than less he always said.

Feeling nice and cozy in his sweater and jeans, Kei eventually reached his destination, waving at the girl waiting for him at the entrance. "Jun, hey!" It didn't take long for him to clock her nervous demeanour, reminding him of a time when anchors were tested and she casually mentioned she died once. His expression shifted to concern. "Uh, you okay?"

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun jumped a little at Kei's greeting, putting on a smile that she thought conveyed, "Everything's fine!" when in actuality it said, "I'm fixing to break down, and this smile is the only thing that is keeping me from doing it." She held up a hand, waving a little. "Hi! I, ah...I've never done something like this before, and I...I don't know if I can do it alone!" She let out a forced chuckle, looking back to the building. "So, like...it's not going to be super depressing in there, is it? I...uh. I've read in a couple of places that things can be super depressing or the like in places like this, and especially on holidays like this...uh..." she trailed off, looking down. Taking in a deep breath, she shifted her bag and did her best to find the resolve to press on. "I guess...if we keep hanging out here we'll be seen as weird, so let's just head in, yeah?" Jun was definitely projecting as she had been standing there for the past ten minutes. Stepping in they'd be in a lobby, an office to the left an a small sitting room to the right. Despite Jun's perception there was oddly no one there judging them. Kei Hada

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[Kei Hada]

Kei's own smile grew awkward at the hero student's response, worry unabated but feeling sympathetic for her all the same. "Yeah I get it. Doin' somethin' new is always nerve-wrackin'." In an attempt to seem encouraging he gave a thumbs up. "But hey- that's why you called me here yeah? So we can do this together. It's not my first time settin' up for Girls' Day, do you not celebrate?"

A hum escaped him at the question, prompting him to peer at the building behind Jun as well. "I dunno, I've never been in one of these places either. If they're kids though I'm sure it'd be easy to make 'em happy. They'd at least be curious about why a couple UAU students are here." He turned back to the redhead and gestured to the door. "But yeah, after you."

Kei followed Jun in, eyeing around the suspiciously empty room. Shouldn't there at least be a social worker here? Granted he had no idea how orphanages worked. "You... did tell someone we were comin' today right?"

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun let out a pent up breath she had been holding, thankful that Kei was understanding enough. Though she was definitely curious now what he meant by doing the Girls' Day before. "I do, but well...it's been more and more complicated over the years," she says, deciding not to go into detail about the strained relationship between herself and her mother. Once inside, Jun blinked and began to move over to what appeared to be a secretary desk. "I...thought I did? Pretty sure I did. I mean, I was told there was only one entrance-" A door in the back of the room flew open, a woman standing there looking like she just went through a hurricane. "Oh good, you're here! I ah...was worried that you might be running late," she says, reaching up to adjust her glasses that had definitely seen better days. "We have everyone in one of the classrooms, at least all the girls that wanted to participate. They're ah...definitely energetic today!" Kei Hada

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[Kei Hada]

"Oh, I see." While Jun didn't want to explain further, Kei at least would make an attempt at coaxing a more detailed answer. "Complicated it what way?" Who knows, maybe being surrounded by little kids who weren't connected to them would make her more likely to vent. Consider it a safe space of sorts while the stress of college didn't loom over them.

For now at least.

The topic was momentarily put aside as a bang emanated from the open door, causing Kei to flinch and let out a yelp of his own before clamping a hand over his mouth. He let go once the noise died down and slowly lifted it to wave at the new figure. "Uh, hi? We were late?" The support student looked at his watch in panic only to see that no, they actually weren't.

He turned back to the woman with concern in his eyes, noting her dishevelled appearance. "Are you okay?" Man, did the kids cause her to look that way? He could only imagine what they would do if they see the students. A shaky laughed escaped him, following the woman's lead to the classroom while talking to Jun. "Well you heard her- energetic! We got our work cut out for us huh?"

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... The woman adjusted her glasses, smiling sheepishly. "Perfectly fine! Have you tried herding cats? Same principle!" She'd laugh, indicating for the two of them to follow. "I'm Miss Hiryu, and I help care for the children here. When I told them a few UA students would be coming they were just impressed!" Jun seemed to grow a little whiter at this reveal, and she'd swallow hard. "Th-they don't actually think we're from UA-" "We're here!" She would stop, throw open a door that had about a dozen and a half girls, ranging from six to thirteen, all sitting at a table. The moment the door flew open they'd all let out a cheer, waving and shouting at the pair. Needless to say Jun froze up. Miss Hiryu didn't help matters as she ushered the pair inside, followed with, "I'll be back to check on the two of you later, don't worry they've been fed so you don't have to worry about anyone eating glue. Have fun!" The door closed, and then there were two. Kei Hada

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[Kei Hada]

Ah, ignored again. He should've figured as much. Jun kept things to herself, and it took a lot of needling on his part for her to even mention how she just. Y'know. Died at one point. But there was a time and place for everything, and it seemed now was just not it.

Especially since they had something more apparent to take care of. Kei chose to drop the topic for now as he smiled at the caretaker. "Oh yeah, kids would do that. Hope they weren't too hard on ya regardless." He gave the woman a bow introducing himself and his friend. "Nice to meet ya Miss Hiryu! I'm Kei Hada and this is Junsuina Kanjo, thanks for havin' us!"

Only when he was standing again did he register what the woman said, his eyes wide as the beginnings of a reaction were triggered. "You did what-"

But before they could get answers they were guided into a room of excited girls, with a brief mention of how they won't eat anything they shouldn't before they were just left to their own devices. Okay. So the kids know they attend UAU, meaning they were excited about how there's heroes in their midst. Well, one hero, but they wouldn't know that.

Kei's eyes shifted to the one hero for a moment, clocking how overwhelmed she was by the scene before them. Turning back to the crowd, he stepped forward and clapped his hands to silence the cheering, drawing attention to himself to give her time to recuperate. "Hi guys, I'm Kei Hada! I'm glad you all can make it to this session with us! Does anyone know why we're here today?"

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Immediately many hands went up, though one of the younger ones couldn't help herself as she blurted out, "Dolls!" A few groans went out as a few of the girls berated her for shouting the answer out, but one of the old ones shushed them as she leaned on the table. "Mister Hero Man, have you made hina dolls before? Miss Hiryu said you guys were super smart and could do it in your sleep!" Jun slowly approached the table, taking her bag off and setting it down. Her hands shook as she maintained her vision on the zippers, doing everything in her power to not make eye contact. "I, uh...I brought some bases we can work with," she says, looking over at Kei. "It's not a whole lot, but uh. I did bring some of my model building stuff." Kei Hada

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[Kei Hada]

Oh. Oh.

Oh noooo they're so cute.

Kei's strained smile relaxed to a more genuine one at the answer, the child's enthusiasm reminding him that they're really just kids, so easy to entertain. "Yes, dolls, you're exactly right! Next time though we answer when we're called okay?" He wouldn't fault her for being excited though.

Nor would he call her out on her mistake. Between taking on the lie about his involvement in heroism and telling a little girl that someone she trusted was wrong, the choice was clear. "Yes I have! You see, my mom puts up a display in her beauty parlour every year, and it was my job to fill it with dolls for the patrons to see." He put his own bag on a table to reveal the colourful sheets of paper from within. "Somethin' we'll help you all with today!"

As Kei walked around to place supplies on each table, he looked to Jun, eyes worried. "Hey, it's plenty. The more things these girls can work with the better." Returning to the front next to the other student, he whispered to her. "Do you wanna step out for a bit? I think I can handle 'em until you come back."

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun let out a small breath, glancing over. "I'm okay, just...bearings." She began to pull out a few bags of what appeared to be old action figures, blank ones at that. With it she'd begin to rummage around and find some basic paints, sealed up nice and tight to prevent the contents from spilling out. The girl that asked Kei the question nodded along, listening intently. She definitely had an interest in this and gave a bright smile. "Thank you! We'll do our very best, especially with you guiding us!" Along with this there would be a series of giggling among the group. One of the younger, more innocent of the group would ask, "Mr. Hero, is your girlfriend going to be okay?" It would be in this moment that, if Kei had any kind of spirit sense, Jun's soul left her body. She wobbled a bit, but managed to turn to Kei before swallowing. "Actually, I think I left something outside, I'll be a moment..." Kei Hada

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[Kei Hada]

Kei didn't fully believe her, but he guessed this was one of those times you pushed through the discomfort to do what you were supposed to do. They were here to teach some kids how to make dolls and by the powers that be they will get it done. The action figures and paint will help, with the support student uncapping some when a little girl was unable to open the colours she wanted on her own.

He paused in his twisting when someone called him, taking a second to remember he was in fact Mr. Hero now. "Yeah?" And then he heard the question and just. Froze. Of course someone would ask that when they see a boy and a girl together. These girls were probably raised on fairytales where a princess gets saved by her prince and they lived happily ever after. So naturally they applied that to real life.

A thud made him flinch and he looked down. Blue paint oozed on the table from the bottle he dropped on it, causing Kei to yelp before positioning it upright and shooing an excited teenager's hand away. "Don't touch it, I'll clean it up!" A strained laugh escaped him as he dug into his bag again, procuring some tissues as he nodded at Jun's justified declaration to leave. "Okay Jun, take your time!" Much as he wanted to say don't take too long instead, the hero student was as white as a sheet. He didn't have the heart to tell her to stay after that savage assumption.

So Kei held the fort for now, cleaning his mess as he turned to the younger child. "She's not my girlfriend." Gotta nip that in the bud as fast as possible. Even though his wheezing didn't make his answer convincing. "But she'll be fine, she just needs some fresh air is all. Here." He gave her the blue bottle of paint, topped off with his Quirk to make up for the spill. He hoped the paint was edible. "How about we get to paintin' okay?"

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... As Jun left there would be a collective giggle, but one that wouldn't be too long as Kei began to clear the air. The younger ones didn't much get it, and the older, more teenish ones couldn't help but smirk. The paint would leave a nice stain regardless of the tissue cleanup, but at the very least it wasn't any worse. That said, there would be no further prodding the amount of rizz either of the students had. Jun would take a good minute or two before coming back, face now a bright red compared to before and sweat condensing on her brow. "Okay, I'm here," she says, looking down at the materials that were available and beginning to pass out the little figures. "So uh. Um. K-Kei, you're passing out the paint and brushes, right...?" Kei Hada

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[Kei Hada]

Oh god, the stain was definitely not coming out. He'll have to clean it up once their session with the girls was done; he wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the only mess that was made today. He was so focused on it that he didn't see the smirks. It would've been a turn of events if they realized they were wrong in their thoughts that Kei and Jun were into each other. It's just that Kei never mentioned he already had a girlfriend.

He sighed in relief when the hero student came back, stomping out that unwarranted thought that she was going to ditch him for the rest of the day. You can be your own worst enemy after all. "Hey Jun, feelin' better?" Kei lifted the paintbrush in his hand; the last one as he already handed out the rest. "Yeah! Everyone should have their own right about..." He placed it on the table next to the last girl. "Now! There. With all the different ages, I think it's best if we just visit whoever needs help. We'll probably focus more on the younger ones."

Which didn't take long at all, as a child who looked no more than 10 called out, pointing to the unused brush on the next table over. "Mr. Hero! Can you pass me that brush? This one's too big." Kei turned to the source of the voice before he nodded. "Oh sure! One sec." Walking to the table, he grabbed at the brush to pick it up.

Only for it to stay on the table.

Blinking, the support student pulled at it again but it didn't budge. He tugged even harder because he didn't believe his failed attempts happened, but nope, it was still very much stuck. "Uh." Kei turned to Jun, confusion evident on his face. "Hey- can you help me with this? I can't pick it up somehow."

junsuina

[junsuina]

[attr="class","bmsk"] in blackest night... Jun nodded, breathing at least a small sigh of relief. She wasn't certain that she would ever do something like this again, so she'd have to make at least this here today count. Making sure that everyone had a little figure to work with, she took a few extra deep breaths to focus and center herself. Just like a painting class. Just like one. Just...be calm. You can do this, you can show off a couple of things yourself, just...don't screw up. Pulling out a brush of her own and looking over her available paints, she started to thing how to go about the process. "Yeah...yeah, we can do that. This should be easy, super simple, and...yeah." No need to panic! Not at all... As Jun started to show how to go about painting the face and a few ways to hold the brush she looked over at Kei and tilted her head, looking as his struggle with the brush on the table. "Uh...sure. Hang on, lemme grab..." she reached into the dark recesses of her bag, pulling out a small box and moving over to where Kei was. Doing her best to keep her back to the kids she'd open it up, and Kei would see a small assortment of hobby knives within. "Best guess, it's glued to the table. This should do the trick." She pulled out a knife that was closer to a chisel, but the weight of the handle and the thickness of the blade meant that she could apply a bit more leverage with it. Slipping it just under the brush head, she'd wait for the edge to catch against the dried adhesive and began to torque back and forth, beginning to loosen it from the table. Kei Hada

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