The Commoner's Gourmet [Mia]

Mia wasn’t exactly one to live the high life herself. Sure, she wanted to be famous, she had an ego that was hungrier than most, but when it came to her time and how she treated herself, what was cheapest was usually what was most comfortable for her, with the obvious exceptions of things like technology. Nah when it came to food and fashion, the cheaper sweaters were weirdly usually the ones that were actually more comfortable, and the hot dog stand on the corner probably had juicer sausages in their buns than some fancy equivalent…actually that was a really poor example, nowhere outside of Germany had fancy hot dogs.

Regardless, a bit of cheap food was her game plan right now. She’d just been to visit the family who’d all settled in pretty well since they moved to Japan with her. Dad had managed to find a new job despite his sasquatch qualities. Karla, her sister, was settling into the transfer she’d had to be a foreign correspondant for the news network she worked for in America, and Mark…well he was still bitching about how a dragon should be stronger than a demon, but the poor boy was still one big growth spurt behind her and despite the dragon qualities he possessed, she was convinced that the squirt was still gonna be the runt of the litter for a long while, not that she’d say that to his face of course. She’d had to leave on an empty stomache, not wanting to be rude and put her mom out to make anything, and so right now her titanic sized stomache was growling for some food, her eyes flickering to a ramen stand.

Her hood was up, so despite her immense height and the big red horn protruding from her forehead, a quality any mutant could potentially have (though the deep scar that showed the bright yellow at the core of her horn gave her away to any true fans) she was otherwise pretty inconspicuous, especially with the baggy nature of her hoodie. She stood in line for the ramens, waiting for the cue to move forward when the one girl infront of her didn’t seem to move up as the line progressed, her eyes briefly too busy looking like, 50 other directions, leading Mia to glance around herself. As she finally moved forward with the line, Mia leaned her head down, keeping her voice quiet but not a whisper so as not to give off too big a creep vibe, her hero nature telling her to check the girl was okay.

“Er. Lil’ miss?” She spoke, her Japanese not perfect and coming out with a bit more of a slangish tint to it, as well as the natural drawl of her Texan accent. “Sorry to bug ya but you okay? Not being followed er’ summin’? Ya look a little nervous…” She quirked her brow, her head low enough for the girl to get a good look at the face under the hood if she cared to even glance at the person trying to talk to her.


WC 517

Mia wasn’t exactly trying to hide herself. Like many people she just felt weirdly more comfortable with her hood up than down, so when the girl she was trying to talk to recognized her she wasn’t all too surprise. Initially though she did focus on the fact that she said she was okay, even if she did seem weirdly…’nervous’? Didn’t sound quite right but something about her voice was off. Was something catching her attention? Was she being stalked and just trying to hide it? She glanced off into the other direction, wondering if something was up before the girl before her made it clear why she might be so excited, watching her eyes drift to her own horn and snickering at her question. She rose up to her full height and brushed her hood back, shaking her head left and right, her wild golden mane letting loose out of her hood as she rested her hands deep in her pockets. “That’d be me, aye!~”

She wasn’t the most imposing figure in her casual clothes, but she still stood a solid distance over the young girl, looking down at her and briefly sharing a smile before dipping her head forward with a simple cheeky comment of “Cue’s movin.~” She’d wait for the girl to take another step or two forward before talking to her from behind, smirking down at her. The fact the girl had recognized her when she wasn’t even in the pro hero ranking boards said that she either had her finger on the trigger of the hero community, or she was a personal fan. Either way being recognized out of the blue certainly gave Mia a nice little ego boost, and she gently nudged the back of the girl’s shoulder to get her attention. “So, heard of me have ya? Good things I hope. I’d rather not have a bad reputation.~”


WC 314

Mia was finding it a little amusing how awestruck the girl before her seemed to be, chuckling a little through her grin but trying not to make fun of her either, if anything just admiring the level of fangasm running through the younger girl’s system and lightly prodding her to keep the line moving while she endured it. Mia did always love a good fan, sure some could be crazy stalkers but even then that gave her the weirdest ego boost she just could not place, and she really enjoyed every drop of ego boost she could get. In this girl’s case she didn’t look like the type to be a member of her fan club. A little too prissy for that…or just prissy enough. She did tend to attract a lot of closeted posh girl lesbians who admired her rough and tumble look about her. Best she not think like that though, at least not right now. “Don’t worry about it kid, just focus on the queue first and you can talk to me second. Gotta make sure everyone gets their noodles and ramen ya know?” She stuck her tongue out with a cheeky smirk as they kept moving, dipping her eyes back to the girl as she began talking again.

She followed the girls huh? Mia offered a very cheeky grin at that, hearing only the borderline Freudian slip that she followed ‘all the girls’ before specifically emphasizing heroes, and then even more, female pro heroes. If she hadn’t specified so much Mia would have just brushed it off as her talking about following female celebs or something, but the way she was covering her ass with specifications made her think this girl before her was more a fan of the girls then she might want to let on, leading Mia to snicker and shoot a sly glare at whoever tutted at her. She glanced back to the girl as she spoke about signing up to the academy for…research? Huh, that was an interesting angle. Suppose if you wanted to be some sorta super fan you would follow in your heroes footsteps, or if you wanted to follow a hero, how better than to have hero powers of your own. Being able to fly through the city without breaking the law would probably make it way easier for a reporter to get interviews. Not that she knew if this was what the girl meant, but it was an interesting line of thought nonetheless.

“Aaaah Yuuei. Met a fair few students from there. You know a guy called Maxi? Blue hair, gold eyes, really cold chill whenever he walks in a room? Or er…Kanna? Techno girl, might be able to control technology…still not sure what that bitch did but she was good in a fight..OH OH! Jaz! She’s chill, met her in the med bay at the whole military base opening. Chick was a badass. She one of your classmates?” She let her questioning get the better of her for a moment before chuckling at herself. “Sorry got away from myself there, dunno if you even know one of them let alone all of ‘em.” She watched as the girl turned around and lightly clapped her cheeks, scoffing a little as she recognized the gesture from cartoons and anime, but it was her first time seeing anyone do it in real life, elading her to chuckle again a little more heartily, lightly pushing the girl’s shoulder to guide her to walk backwards as the Queue moved again behind her, though definitely not hard enough to shove her to her ass if she didn’t catch on that she was meant to walk backwards with the guidance of the push.

“Ah not started yet? Fair enough. Look out for Jaz, girl’s a badass. Only met her once but she left a good impression. Got wild blonde hair like mine so she ain’t hard to miss. Makes explosions too. Girl’s fuckin’ dynamite.~” The comment about her being ‘okay’ got a bit of a look from the Oni titan, leaning her to cross her arms with a smirk as she wondered if the girl would try and save the comment and actually call her great, but her rambling words just trailed on regardless and Mia just sighed with another chuckle, the energy in this girl being something hard to compete with. “You only get beat up if you’re not good at it. I mean, I take my lumps, but whats a few bruises compared to some lives saved, or the livelihood of a shop-keep remaining in tact rather than having his money stolen by some yobbo who thought they had the power to just take what they wanted.” She smiled a little brighter as she ended her words, Mia lightly tapping her forehead with the back of her knuckles in a friendly motion. “Ah thanks kid, but don’t mention it. I do what I do for me, and I mean, for the people I save of course.” She rolled her eyes at herself and rested her hands in her pockets. “What I mean to say is, people can hate me all they want, but I know I’m doing good, and enjoying it, and that’s what matters.”

The Queue moved again and the two of them were at the front, Mia moving forward and pulling out her wallet, having gotten a small bonus from her last bit of hero work last week and looking to the girl. “Tell ya what, we both gotta eat, I’m buyin, so watcha gonna order?” Mia looked to her with a smile, the offer completely genuine, though the money she pulled out was about enough for three meals. Odds were she’d be ordering the size of two portions for herself to keep herself fuelled. Unlike most heroes her quirk didn’t rely on a huge amount of fuel, but her huge muscle mass potential and her titanic side just naturally meant she was a bit of a glutton regardless. Heck she hadn’t even decided if all 3 portions would be for her yet or if she’d be getting 2 for her and one for the girl. “OH shit, actually kid, first ya gotta name. Can’t keep referring to you in my head as ‘lil’ fangirl’ now can I?~”

WC 1048

She felt the girl was a bit…off. Not seeming to be too eager to join in her classmates social circles, or maybe she was just reading too much into her words. She did chuckle at the fact she specifically mentioned one of them potentially being able to blow her up and rolled her eyes. Jaz had mentioned they had a bit of a wild side but she doubted the girl would actually harm any of her fellow classmates unless a sparring match got really aggressive, and she doubted the faintly prissy looking girl before her could really give Jaz of all people much of a fight. “Ah I’m sure you’ll be fine, just stay on everyone’s good side and I’m sure you’ll stay safe. They’re all heroes in training afterall, all spoiling for a fight, but none of them wanting to be villains, ya know? Still if you’re not a great fighter probably just best to aim for a support role or something. Heck figure out if whatever quirk you have works well with any of the other students, that way you can make sure to really get on their goodside and become some secret queen bee they all rely on.~” She actually hated those kinds off people, the parasites who forced people to rely on them, but she was only joking about it so she managed to say it all with a nice wide grin.

When the other girl pulled out her debit card, Mia just held a cheeky smirk as she tried to act all high nosed and Mia could only snicker, the man serving the Raman recognizing her slightly from previous visits, and the two sharing a brief cheeky eye roll before Mia leaned on the bar and put the money forward. “I’ll have two bowls of the meaty broth and one of whatever she’s having.” She was a bit bold putting herself forward paying for the other girl regardless of her own intent, but Mia had a strong reason especially since she’d pulled out the debit card. As her money was taken and the food was getting made, Mia leaned over to the school student beside her and whispered. “You do know public food vendors don’t have card readers right? Like, they need wifi and shit for those to work. What kind of tiny food stall has wifi built into it?~”

She didn’t mean to embaress her but she was maybe a bit smug in how she’d worded that. She tried to be extra nice in listening to her go on from there, though as much as Emi thought about hiding her name, the Texan had only been in japan for a little under a year, so she definitely had no idea who she was or even her heritage, and offered her a bright smile as she introduced herself. “Great to meet you too kid. Videographer huh? Ain’t that just a fancy word for blogger? My Japanese ain’t perfect so I may be wrong on the lingo there.” She glanced to the man who’d made their ramen, most of it ready made and readily poured into bowls, Mia gesturing for Emi to come sit with her as she took up one of the sturdier stools that some other people had also taken to eat their Ramen rather than carrying the hot bowls as they stood to one side. “Well I’d figure out your hero name quick, I mean, if you ARE a blogger, you must know what the value of a strong brand is right? Gotta make sure you solidify that early on, or you may end up only half knowing Japanese and having to settle for red horn cause its all you’ve learned how to say when you register!”


WC 624

Snickering as Emi denied being in any support class, Mia shrugged it off with a “to each their own”, in truth she had nothing against support class herself from what she’d heard about it as an outsider to the school. She actually loved the idea of kids who could make gadgets getting support with their skills and she’d never ever think to bash it. Heck if Emi was in support class power to her, she just didn’t like the idea of people who used their ability to support people to hold power over them, like a mother who says ‘I do so much for you’ to guilt her kids into shit. Who cares, your meant to do it out of the goodness of your heart, and if you taught your kids to appreciate you they’d likely do what you wanted anyway. Luckily Mia never had a mother like that, but she’d heard stories of similar cases from friends in her past who had less than pleasant parents. With the cheeky comment about the stall Mia snickered even louder, lowering her head and giggling as she rested it on the counter. “Jesus girl you have like, no chill huh?~” She offered her a cheeky smirk before pushing herself back off the counter with a pleasant sigh.

With the bowls given out, two for her, and one of what Emi was having pushed to Emi herself, Mia would correct the comment she’d make later about three bowls by making it clear one of them was intended for the other girl, but right now she was eager to dig in, slurping the noodles as the girl talked about actually having a blog and nodding along as she talked about her brand. “Just don’t leave it too long kid. Wanna establish that shit early.” She also gave the girl a light nudge with her elbow and shot her a cheeky but not truly angry glare. “And hey, I may have made it by accident but I like my name. My old vigilante names didn’t translate well anyway.” She cleared her throat, speaking in english and revealing her southern drawl more clearly. “The Dallas Demon.” She spoke in japanese again as she continued. “Doesn’t sound so good in Japanese. Darasu no Akuma. Yeah, I wasn’t about to walk around with that, so I used a very clear name even the most basic of English speakers her in Japan could understand. RedHorn. Clear, cut, and everyone can follow it. What more do ya need out of a brand eh?~”

Continuing her meal she slurped up more and more noodles as she ate pretty quickly and in large mouthfuls, chuckling through her food at the comment about being powered by noodles, slurping up her last mouthful before she spoke. “Nah kid, I’m 7 foot tall almost, and you just need a LOT of food to fuel muscle like mine. Its not even quirk related, anyone my size would need to eat like I do to maintain their muscles. And that other bowl was for you.” She tapped the rim of it to make it clear which bowl she was talking about before letting Emi dig in herself. “Learn to count.~” She smirked a little cheekily before continuing. “But nah I get you weren’t teasing me or nuttin, I learned how to tell that about people a long time ago when my classmates asked questions about my horn. Was easy to weed out the jokers from the serious questions in time. How about you? Got any unique quirk you’d like to share the deets of? Seems only fair now.~”


WC 601

(sorry this one will be a lot shorter)

Mia’s main attention on the girl came when she mentioned her quirk wasn’t a secret anymore. Initially this wasn’t too surprising, people could still be very racist against those with quirks, so hiding such a skill wasn’t unheard of. What bothered her was when she specifically heard that it was her parents who told her to hide it, and for her own good. Mia had been mid-slurp, still on her first bowl when she was hearing this words, but the almost sharp look in her eye was enough to show she had something to say…she finished slurping her noodles but she remained silent for a moment, choosing her words carefully. No one liked their parents to be insulted, even when they themselves hated their parents, and Mia had no idea how this girl felt about her own parents. She took a slow, deep breath to center and control her thoughts before flicking her gaze back to Emily, poking at her ramen idly as she just got the last of her thoughts focused before she spoke. “Look kid I…in my experience, no parent ever asks their kid to hide something for their good. If your parents wanted you to hide your quirk…look I dunno, MAYBE, the world can be cruel, and maybe they realized that…but I’d bet them wanting you to hide it was more selfish than not.”

She stuffed a big chunk of meat that was floating in the broth into her mouth as she finished speaking, sighing through her nose as she tried to shift her attention back to her food and not linger on the topic that could potentially make her so angry.

She listened to the quirk all the same of course, if anything that was a lot more interesting than hearing about her hiding her skills in her childhood. She shifted in her seat to better pay attention, leaning over to her food now and then to take another slurp of the bowl, making quick work of the first bowl to the point it was nearly at the bottom already. Her eyes widened as she followed the manipulated salt. A part of her wanted to snicker at the uniqueness of it in a hilarious way, but she wouldn’t put herself in a position to embaress the girl, especially with how much quirker pride she had herself. If anything this was another example of how diverse and unique that people could be with their quirks, the eyes of the blonde growing wider still, and even a little impressed by the unique name she came up with.

“Damn…I dunno if the halo being Greek thing is right but that’s a pretty unique little quirk ya got goin’ for ya! Any plans on like, super moves? Or how you’re gonna use it as a hero! Oh you could probably draw salt from the ocean! Bet you’d be a great ocean rescue hero, making platforms out of salt and shit!” She offered a bright smile, genuinely trying to be encouraging.

WC 500

Mia was glad her words hadn’t just been ignored or taken as offense, and she knew they wouldn’t be taken entirely to heart, but the girl could at least see where she was coming from, and whether that means she was smart enough to already see it herself or she already trusted Mia enough to listen to words like that Mia couldn’t tell, but it was enough for her that the girl at least knew that her parents weren’t solely doing such a thing for her. Either way she didn’t plan to harp on about it and just shared a not with the girl before moving on to a less downer topic, though to be honest with the way this girl was taking her words it didn’t seem too easy. Even sharing ideas about how versatile her quirk could be seemed to put a bit of a frown on her, one Mia didn’t quite understand until she started explaining, at which point, Mia couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hey kid, don’t worry about it.” She offered a bright smile, turning away from her food just when she could have started her second bowl, and giving Emi her full attention. She got that a lot of kids could be bummed about their quirks, or just not know what to do about it. Gesturing to herself her smile softened as she spoke genuinely. “Look at me, you think I ever had to think much about my quirk? I just punch shit. That is literally all I can do. I get angry, I bulk up, and I wail on the obstacles in my path till they break down. You? You got a lot more to think about. I just need to get myself psyched up! You gotta think about where you’re getting your salt from, how much you’re getting, how much you can use…er…” She lifted a hand and started to count off her fingers just to emphasize how much Emi had on her plate. “How does salt react to electrical quirks? Fire quirks? Ice quirks? Can you help ice melt? Can you drown out a fire with salt and smother it? Can salt conduct shit? Can you er…get enough salt and condense it so it’s like a support beam in a rescue situation?” Mia threw her hands up. “The list goes on! Bottom line is you don’t need to get all miss worry warts just cause you don’t know what you’re doing yet. You got plenty of time to figure it out, and ya got a lot more to figure out than I ever did, so just make sure you do it right yeah?”

She offered a bit more brightness to her smile again as she took a long slow breath through her nose and nodded deeply. “Odds are, with how much you COULD do with a quirk like yours, you might be a more versatile hero than I ever could be, you just gotta stick to your guns, focus, learn more about yourself, and make sure you’re the kinda hero you wanna be…aight? Don’t freak out if you can’t fight. Focus on rescuing. And if you can’t rescue, maybe just focus on being a supportive hero, helping civilians. Heck maybe just putting salt in the wounds of the foes your friends fight! That’d make ‘em give in quick!” Her smile turned into a grin and she rested her weight into the counter. “Bottom line, you just make sure you’re the kinda hero you’re proud to be. Don’t worry about how complicated, or simple, or weird your quirk is…just be a hero kid. That’s what’s important.”


WC 600+