Harley 'Izumi' Quinn! (Ch 8)

I hum and kick my feet against the crate I’m sitting on even as I make sure to keep my head still so Joker can work. Speaking of… “I can’t believe that you know how to style hair.” I repeat for the third time. The Clown Prince of Crime chuckles in a low tone of voice that sends a shiver down my spine and a blush rising to my cheeks.

“And I can’t believe you let yourself catch on fire,” Joker snarks back. “Of course I know how to work with hair,” he moves in front of me and I see him run the hand holding the comb through his own slicked back hair. “Who else could I trust to make sure I look good for my crimes?”

“Fair,” I agree easily. He was a prominent villain back during his time period, so it’s not like he could have just walked into a hair salon and gotten a hair cut. Well, he probably could have since everyone would have been too scared to refuse him, but then Batman would have shown up to take him to prison. I think it was a prison? He said that he and most of the other big named villains all got taken to Arkham Asylum whenever they got caught, so I would assume it’s a prison even though asylums are typically meant to house people with mental problems. I guess it means something different in America? Or maybe it’s just a Gotham specific thing. There’s also the possibility that people started using the word differently after the Quirk Wars like how they did with the word ‘quirk’.

We fall into a comfortable silence, Joker focusing on snipping away at the ruined parts of my hair so that he can actually get to work on styling it. Which… is definitely going to take a while. All the barbers within a reasonable distance from where I lived hated me for being quirkless, and the ones who weren’t had kids at Aldera who told them about how I’m a troublemaking thief who’d try to rob their store at the first opportunity, so they didn’t want to let me inside and risk it being true. I probably could have done something about it myself, but I never saw the point. It’s not like anything I did to it would have lasted longer than a day anyways, what with me having to go back to Aldera and all.

That’s also why I never bothered to ask around at any of the underground clinics to see if anyone knew how to style hair. There would be no point in wasting their time only to see all of their hard work ruined the next time I saw them. And oh, did I see a lot of people there often. I think the person I saw most consistently, though, would probably be… well, I think it would be a tie between the Shinso siblings and Dabi. A so-called ‘villainous’ quirk and a quirkless girl? It’s a miracle they still have their original parents and they want to stay with them! I wonder what it would be like to experience that…?

Oh well. Hopefully Inko died in that fire. I’m not going to check though, for… reasons. Reasons that I won’t be talking about so nobody should bother asking! Not that I think anyone will, but it’s good to properly establish mentally that I won’t be talking about it just in case someone does. Dabi says that mentally reaffirming your goal is important in your attempts to try and achieve it! Not that I think he has any room to talk considering he’s been saying for years how he’s going to tell his family that he’s alive but always chickens out and goes to get drunk in a bar when he does. Or he’ll go and spray paint offensive stuff all over Endeavor’s agency. I’m pretty sure one of his sidekicks helps him get away with doing that, but I don’t know which one.

Anyways, where were my thoughts at? Oh yeah! Asylums! Japan has a few scattered around the country but they aren’t really what I would call ‘popular’. Meaning that the moment someone suffering mentally uses their quirk during a mental breakdown in public people cry villain and everyone stops caring about anything else. Being labeled a villain essentially pigeonholes those people in relying on prison therapists, which honestly aren’t paid enough to put in much effort trying to help them. I know, I’ve checked how much they get paid. There are people who volunteer at prisons to help those people, but there’s only so much they can do with an hour a week when their patient is stuck in such a negative environment.

No, the only real hope people suffering mentally have is to hope they or someone they’re close to manages to get themselves enrolled in an asylum that’s actually interested in helping them, or pray that someone cares enough that they get sent to… Olympus.

Olympus. The foremost medical facility in all of Japan built onto the side of Mt Tai to symbolize that, if a patient admitted has so much as a chance to be helped, they’ll walk out with a renewed lease on life. Recovery Girl forewent becoming a hero right out of graduation like most in order to gain proper medical training, then spent years working there so she could hone the skills she’s since become famous for during her career. Even having gotten such a late start with her debut as compared to her peers, she still managed to not only break into the top ten within a year, but held the number two spot! She was only beaten out by the current number one at the time - a woman called Maverick with a strength and flight quirk - because ‘support’ heroes were considered less valuable during such a chaotic time period.

Back to my main point, having such a reputation as Olympus means that unless you have money, reputation, or connections, you have essentially no hope of being admitted. The sole exceptions are for their mental health wing named after the Greek goddess of recovery, Iaso. They refuse to turn away anyone that needs their help, and often even help people who would otherwise have been turned away get the treatment they need. They’re basically the heroes of medicine which is why they’re so respected by everyone. Not even villains are willing to target the hospital for fear that it would ruin any chances that Iaso would take offense and renege on their policy. 

“This thing really is a mess.” My mind is drawn away from thinking about the world-famous facility by Joker’s complaint, which is completely justified. “I think I’ve gotten rid of all the ruined parts, so now I can actually get started on styling it,” he continues before drawing back so I can see his face and raise an eyebrow at me. “Is there a specific look you want, or would you prefer my own recommendation?”

I glance down at the… sizable amount of burned hair littering the floor around me, humming as I bounce my head from side to side. It’s… weird, my head feeling this light. “Um… maybe…” I hesitate a moment, not really used to people asking for my opinion on things. Not that I think Joker is anything like anyone else, he’s way too unique to be compared to everyone I’ve known so far! No, it’s not that I doubt him or anything, I’m just… not used to it. “Could… you decide?”

Joker just continues to look at me appraisingly. “You can truly say that you have no preferences for how you want your hair to look?”

I hesitate, a blush rising to my cheeks at how invested he is in making sure I’m comfortable with what he’s doing. “Well, could you, um, I’d prefer it if my bangs were on the longer side? If that works with what you think would look good on me.”

Joker hums and tilts his head, closing one eye to try and imagine how I’ll. I really like it when he’s so focused on me, it makes me feel so special~♡! Like I’m the only person he can see, that matters to him~. 

He doesn’t say anything more as he takes a step forward and gets back to work on my hair, scissors and comb fighting an uphill battle in trying to get my hair to move how Joker wants, even with so much of it now on the ground. I continue to sit patiently while he works his magic, just enjoying the feeling of my Joker taking care of me~. It doesn’t feel nearly long enough when he eventually pulls away, giving me an appraising look before reaching out and resting his hand on the front right side of my head. I lean into his touch even as I flush a deep red at the intimate action. Unfortunately his hand doesn’t linger, simply mussing up the hair underneath it for a moment before pulling away and causing me to pout.

He snorts before digging around in his suit, pulling out a variety of objects: His gun, a flower, some sealed canisters, a deck of cards, a boxing glove with a handle, a lot of teeth with a wind up mechanism and… a rubber chicken? All of these he carelessly tosses to the side, and I look on in curiosity as one of the canisters ruptures, the compressed gas within shooting out with enough force to launch it through the air and through a closed window before vanishing wherever it ends up. Joker doesn’t even look over at the loss of one of his things, instead staring in bafflement at a needle holding a reddish liquid.

“Why do I have a vial of Scarecrow’s fear toxin?”

I shrug while leaning forward to peer closer at the syringe. “Dunno, maybe you were going to give it out for a Halloween treat to a hero?”

Joker chuckles, spinning the syringe between his fingers. “Ha! Maybe, it wouldn’t be the first time I forgot I was planning to mess with a hero.” He hums, staring at the needle for another moment before flicking it at me. I let out a yelp and scramble to grab it without letting it prick me, letting out a sigh of relief when I manage to do so. “I prefer my Joker gas, so feel free to keep that for a rainy day!” I blink owlishly at him for a moment before staring at the fear toxin.

He… gave me a gift. Sure, it’s just something that he didn’t want himself, but he still chose to give it to me instead of just throwing it away. It’s- At this rate I’m going to end up with a permanent blush. It’s only been a handful of days - not even a week! - but he’s already giving me presents~! Not to even mention how nice he’s been ever since I fell on that guy he killed! He helped me realize how horrible Kachan is, he helped me get away from Inko, and he helped me realize how unheroic the heroes of today are.

I like it. I really, really like it. I like him. He’s just, absolutely amazing~! Is that what it feels like to be in love? Because I’m starting to think that I’m falling in love. Or maybe it’s just a crush? I never really had the opportunity to develop a crush, I think, because everyone always told me how worthless I was. I didn’t think I had the right to feel like that about someone. But now? With Joker telling me all about how people without any powers could match, even surpass people who did, back in his time?

I might have a crush on him, or I might be in love. I don’t know which it is, but I don’t think it really matters…

“Ahah!” Joker shouts as he finally pulls a hand mirror out of his suit and holds it up in front of me, finally letting me see my new hairdo. He’s pulled my hair into a pair of twin tails, somehow managing to make them wavy instead of curly. I didn’t even realize my hair could do wavy! Anyways, most of my hair is smooth, skillfully combed and held taught by the blue hairbands keeping my twin tails in place. Well, except for my bangs on the right side. That looks more like my previous messy curls, but allowed to fall freely without the prison of burned and damaged hair keeping it stuck close to my head. It doesn’t cover my eye, thanks to a careful split that lets my bangs frame my eye, highlighting it rather than hiding it.

I can’t help the wide smile that stretches across my face at how much I like my new hair, but then I notice something and blink in surprise. I peer closer just to make sure… and yep, I was right. My eyes are still the same green as I’ve always seen, the same green that’s so close yet so far from Joker’s own, but there’s something new, now. It’s so small that I almost missed it, but it’s definitely there.

At the center of my pupils, there’s a definite tinge of a different color. It looks orange, or maybe red? It’s so small that I can’t tell which, but it’s certainly one of the two. But I’m not sure how? It makes no sense to get a random eye color change, especially when there’s no quirk involved. Well… I don’t think it’s something to worry about? My eyes don’t hurt or anything, so it will probably be fine. It’s not a problem until it becomes a problem! Anyways, I was busy with something!

“I love it!” I squeal, lunging forward to wrap my arms around my Joker in a hug. I feel him tense for a moment from the unexpected action, but then he relaxes and puts… one of his arms around me in a half hug, his hand resting at the base of my neck where he starts massaging it. I forcefully tamp down on the noise that tries to sneak out of my throat. Sure, I’m perfectly happy to share anything with my Joker, but I think purring at the feeling of his hand around my neck is a bit more than should be shared. For now.

I sigh contentedly, relaxing into my Joker as my earlier thought resurfaces.

Yeah, it doesn’t matter if I’m in love with my Joker or if it’s just a crush. So long as I can be by his side, I’ll be happy~.