Chapter 13
"I-Er, can I offer you something? I don't have much but… Er, I have coffee, pretty sure there was tea somewhere and, um, water?" Kazuki asked, unsure of what to do with All Might in his apartment. And that wasn't even taking into account whatever weird shit was going on with the man's body and the pain he was feeling.
"Water would be fine, Young Endo," the man said and Kazuki scrambled to get a pair of glasses and a pitcher with water that he had in the fridge. "You must have many questions," the hero commented when the younger man had already set everything on the table.
"That's an, er, an understatement, sir," he mumbled, unsure of what to do. Why was All Might at his place? Why was All Might at his place and looking like that? "Er, can I… like, get you something to eat? I think I have snacks somewhere in the cupboards."
"That's not necessary," the man said, looking about as unsure as Kazuki felt. That was a small reassurance, at least. Misery loved company, after all. He'd know. "As for your questions… I can't promise that I'll answer them, but I do have some things to talk about with you, Young Endo."
"That's alright," he muttered, not even sure if he really wanted answers. He was sure he'd have heard no end of news regarding All Might's situation if it were public knowledge. Which meant that he was actually being let in on a secret. A secret that was most definitely a big deal.
"I was informed that you are capable of sensing pain from others," All Might told him and he blinked. 'Oh… So that's why?' he wondered, grateful for the extra piece for the puzzle. "This, if not something you'd have learned about eventually, is something you'd have been curious about. I think it's fair that I save you the worries and possible reckless actions."
Did All Might think Kazuki would have looked into that? He'd likely have asked the man himself and gone along with whatever they said, even if it was an obvious lie. He was in no position to push his luck in any way, quite honestly.
"I don't think I can afford to be curious, or at least do something about it, sir," Kazuki told the man with a wry smile. That didn't seem to reassure the man any, if the sad smile he gave was any indication.
"Be that as it may," the hero replied then, making Kazuki grin bitterly. It spoke volumes that the man didn't try to deny his statement. "I thought it better to let you know that I sustained a very serious injury some years ago. I've never been able to recover from that, and thus… my current situation," All Might said, gesturing towards himself.
"So… I guess I'll have to get used to the pain, huh?" Kazuki mumbled, and it was getting increasingly more difficult to ignore the aforementioned feeling. Especially with how important it was to the conversation at hand and how closeAll Might was. To that, the hero sitting across the table from him grimaced.
"I'm sorry about that, Young Endo, but I can't do anything regarding this… issue," All Might told him, to which he grinned somewhat sadly and somewhat resigned, waving off the man's worries. He was the one that felt like he was dying all the time, Kazuki only got it when he was around, and probably not quite as badly. "As you can probably guess, my condition is a secret. I'd be very grateful if you were to keep this under wraps for me. It'd cause… quite a few problems if it became public knowledge."
"I understand. I won't say a word," he promised, feeling his chest start to rebel against him from pain that wasn't even his. Gulping down, to keep his stomach from emptying, he chuckled wearily. "Who'd believe a villain kid about such a thing anyway?" he asked bitterly.
"Aizawa informed me of what you did," All Might said, making him blink at the sudden change in subject. "I've met many villains in my life, Young Endo, and you are not one of them. You are a hero. Never let anyone tell you otherwise."
"I… Thank you, sir," he mumbled, his hands wrapped around the glass of water that he hadn't even sipped at just yet. All Might did though, which went to show who was the one most comfortable with the current situation. "That means a lot… Especially coming from you."
"... I know the world isn't a bright enough place for you to officially become one without trouble, Young Endo," All Might said then, making Kazuki's eyes open wide. "I have faith, however, that you'll push through all that and manage to go far in our career."
"That's a lot of trust you have in me," Kazuki mumbled, his eyes dropping to his still untouched glass of water. "Especially for someone that hasn't really… met me before now."
"Just because we haven't interacted directly doesn't mean I don't know you, Young Endo," the man commented, coughing a little in his mouth. Kazuki, for his part, grimaced at the spike of pain that shot through his chest. "I'm sorry," the hero apologized, clearly noticing the teenager's reaction. "Nezu has everyone keeping an eye on you, Young Endo."
"I'm sure," Kazuki replied with a sardonic smile.
"Not for the reasons you might expect, however," All Might continued, grinning slightly. "He has great expectations regarding you, Young Endo. With that in mind, he likes to know how you do in classes and even outside of them. It's… Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen him so interested in someone. Nor has any of the other teachers, from what I've heard."
"That's… nice to know?" Kazuki answered, unsure if that was really how he should be taking that. At least they weren't paranoid about him going on another… rampage, he supposed. 'Or maybe he's lying and they are doing that?' a voice whispered at the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside.
"... We are not your enemy, Young Endo," All Might told him, and Kazuki wondered if something had shown on his face. It was likely, he supposed. "Believe me when I say that there's many people that want to see you succeed."
"Well, you've confirmed that there's more than just myself, so that's nice," Kazuki commented idly as he finally took a sip from his glass. Somehow, the water tasted bitter to him. "Now I just have to actually do it."
"As someone that once thought he couldn't do it… Never let someone tell you that you can't make it," All Might told him with a grin that reminded Kazuki just who he was talking too. Despite knowing that it was the Number One hero sitting across from him, it had been difficult to extrapolate the heroic figure with the skeletal man in front of him. Then and there though, it was difficult not to do it.
"Thank you."
[}-o-{]
"So, you liked my recommendations?" Yaoyorozu asked him the next morning, her eyes all but shining… for whatever reason. "I'm glad!"
"So I see," Kazuki commented with a slight grin that soon turned slightly nervous. "I just… I mean, I like it, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I'll be listening to it a lot. It's not really… my style, if that makes sense."
"Hm, well, at least you didn't say it was boring," the girl commented, deflating a little. "Those two have no taste at all, honestly," she mumbled then, huffing, which caused him to chuckle.
"I mean, everybody likes different stuff. I'm not sure I liked the stuff that Tiny and Bubbly recommended either, really," Kazuki replied with a shrug. "It all sounds neat and all but… I don't know. Guess I'll have to keep looking to see if I find what my favorite music is."
He was honestly looking forward to that. How long had it been since he'd last done something like that? Do something for the hell of it, for fun? It was sort of exciting, to have such a thing to do with his time besides training or studying. Doing something for himself, just for entertainment and such, it was… nice.
Kazuki guessed it was why he was having so much fun playing the games Mineta recommended. Granted, he'd mostly stuck with the first gacha but he still tried out anything the little guy told him about, really. They were all nice to waste some time when he felt like taking a break from working on stuff.
They were also nice to keep his mind away from the fact that he now knew a secret that was more or less a national one. He could only imagine what the world would react like if the actual condition of All Might was revealed to the public. He could only imagine the mess that would come afterwards, when the villains of Japan learned that their biggest deterrent was crippled.
'Nobody's getting that secret from me, that's for sure,'Kazuki thought to himself.
"You must really like that game," Yaoyorozu commented with a curiosity tilt of her head as she watched him play. "I don't see the appeal, personally."
"I mean… It's simple, and I can do it whenever. Doesn't really need much thought or anything, which helps. I play it when I feel like taking a break and such, mostly, after all," he told her with a shrug. "Does that make sense?"
"... I think?"
"Are you gonna play too, Beauty?" Hagakure asked then, making Yaoyorozu and Kazuki jump where they sat. "Hehe," the girl giggled at their reaction, before skipping and taking another nearby seat. "I started too, and I gotta say, it's better than I thought it'd be."
"What'd you get with the first ten pulls?" he asked, before the three of them paused again, watching as Mineta entered the classroom at that moment. "Hey, Tiny, nobody stepped on you today, right?" Kazuki asked. It was more because he refused to let the little guy live it down, at least for the moment.
He didn't expect the spike of embarrassment and anger that reached him. With his eyes widening at the slight reddening of Mineta's face, Kazuki made a quick decision. He kept his mouth shut. That seemed to surprise some of the emotions out of the short teenager, for some reason. Honestly, with how awful the guy had felt at that moment… He didn't feel like poking fun at that, that was all.
"I'm still wondering if that actually happened," Hagakure commented with another giggle. "That's something for another time. Tiny, Creepy, I need help with this level!" she announced dramatically, pulling her phone from her pocket.
"Which one?... Oh, that one," Mineta said, blinking as the device was thrust at his face. "That's because you gotta use one of the special characters. The ones that can push enemies off the map."
Hagakure blinked.
"You can do that?" she asked, visibly confused.
"I know, right?" Kazuki commented. "I reacted about the same. I've done my best to check the general gist of what every character I have can do since I realized that."
"But there's many of them," Hagakure whined.
Blinking, Kazuki's eyes darted to the side, where he sensed Yaoyorozu start feeling… sad, envious. 'Left out,' he put together in his mind. That made sense and he was having none of that,
"On an unrelated note, I was talking with Beauty before. The recommendations you gave were good and all, but I don't think they are for me," Kazuki told them, tilting his head to gesture at the girl in question. He almost grinned when he felt the emotions fade away from her. "So, I was thinking I'll have to keep looking for my own thing, you know? Any other kinds of music you'd recommend?"
"Did you say music?" a new voice asked, and all four of them blinked and turned to the side. There stood a girl, shuffling on her feet as she grew nervous under their gazes. Noticing – and feeling – that, Kazuki decided to say something before she started feeling worse.
"Yeah, I'm kinda looking for a… favorite, I guess. I've never been one to listen to it too much," he explained. That was more of a lie than anything, but he guessed it was a bit weird if he didn't even know what type of music he liked. At least without giving an actual explanation, which he didn't feel like doing.
"Have you tried listening to rock?" the girl asked and Kazuki blinked at the almost excited look on her face.
"Er," he mumbled, looking around at his friend group. They proved to be useless, ultimately, looking about as confused as he felt. Well, all but Hagakure. If he were to judge things from how her uniform was shaking and the sounds that came from her direction, Kazuki would be that she was holding back her laughter. 'See if I take it easy on you if we get to spar again,' he grumbled to himself before looking back at the girl, who seemed to have stepped even closer than before. Leaning back a bit, he finally gave her an answer. "No?" he said hesitantly.
"I can recommend you a bunch of bands, would you prefer something relaxed or something more powerful? Maybe somewhere in between?" she asked in quick succession, making him blink with wide eyes.
"Eh, the latter? I don't think I'm into heavy metal and such," he commented. Suddenly, there was a loud screech as the girl grabbed a chair and dragged it next to him. Sitting there, she looked both giddy and determined, which was an odd mix. Especially because he was fairly sure he had never seen such an expression on her face.
Then again, they hadn't interacted much… if at all.
"That's fine, I'll give you some recs from that too. There's a lot of different stuff, I'm sure I can find something you'll like," the girl told him, and it was still taking him aback how much she seemed to be into that. It seemed that he'd found a music – rock? – enthusiast… To say the least. "Er… That is… If you want?" she asked then, growing more nervous and embarrassed.
Apparently, she'd finally realized that she'd been acting a little oddly.
"Sure, it'd be nice to have something to listen to while I do other stuff, like studying or training," Kazuki said with a slight grin. "Er, Kazuki Endo, nice to meet you," he added, feeling slightly awkward. Mostly because he didn't remember her name.
"Kyoka Jiro," she replied easily enough, before grinning widely at him. "And I'm sure I can find some kind of rock that you'll like."
Somehow, Kazuki was sure there was an "or else" that went unsaid there at the end. Also somehow, he didn't mind. He was kind of excited. He wasn't lying when he said he wanted to find some music that he could truly enjoy listening to, after all.
"So, um… Rocky?" he heard Yaoyorozu mumble quietly to the side as Kazuki started taking notes regarding the bands that Jiro suggested to him.
"Definitely," both Mineta and Hagakure replied at the same time.
[}-o-{]
'I like this one,' he mused, nodding along with the rhythm of the song that played on the earbuds that Jiro had lent him. It was a little strange, but the girl was very enthusiastic about finding bands – if not just songs – that he'd like enough to actually listen to. Far be it for him to criticize that of her though, especially considering that it played in his favor.
As for Jiro and the rest of his friend group, they had gone ahead towards the school's training facilities. All except Mineta, who had told them to go ahead, that he had something to do. However, Kazuki had decided to wait for the guy outside the classroom. Mainly because he'd felt some grim feeling from Mineta that he couldn't quite place at the moment.
Now, standing outside of the classroom, he could feel anger from him, at the same time as he felt some uncomfortable emotion from someone else, some awkwardness, some embarrassment… a lot of shame. Considering that Kazuki knew who was still in the classroom with Mineta… Well, he wasn't sure how to feel about things, but he appreciated the fact that his friend felt the need to do something at all.
Kazuki looked up at the ceiling above him, letting the music fill his mind for a moment. It was surprisingly effective at keeping other emotions at bay. Or maybe it was better to say that it… dulled his sense. Suddenly, the emotions weren't quite as overwhelming. They were there, but it was like he'd been looking around during the brightest day while almost blinding himself and suddenly he was wearing sunglasses.
He wasn't quite sure that analogy was a good one, but it was always strange to describe how his sense worked to begin with. It was like explaining how to see, or how to hear, it just… happened. There was no easy way to do so. It just worked, and that was it.
'Definitely getting myself some headphones as soon as I can… Wonder if I can pass them as support gear,' he thought to himself, grinning slightly. Unfortunately, he rather doubted that it would be a good idea. Good as it was to help him deal with his sense, crossing out his hearing like that was definitely a no-no, he was sure. A true shame, that, but he'd just have to deal with it. It was certainly not the worst thing in the world, even if it sucked.
'Yeah, this band is definitely a good one,' Kazuki thought to himself with a half-smile when another song started playing and he quite liked it too. He was going to look up the band more thoroughly once he was back home.
For the moment, his grin turned into a slightly annoyed grimace when he felt the anger in the classroom spike. A moment later, it seemed to fade away almost completely, replaced with disappointment and disgust. Opening his eyes again, he saw Mineta step outside the classroom and pause as he saw Kazuki there.
"You didn't need to wait for me, Creepy," the teenager told him once he took off the earbuds. At that, Kazuki simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, I guess I was too obvious," Mineta grumbled after huffing.
"Not that much, I imagine. The others didn't seem to notice, so I guess it's just me having better insight," Kazuki replied with a weak chuckle as he tapped his temple with his finger.
"Your power is annoying," Mineta muttered with a very annoyed look that was only slightly mimicked by what Kazuki could sense from him. He just gave his friend a weary smile.
"Don't I know it?" he commented, turning to look forward as the two of them moved to join the girls at the gym. For a long moment, he didn't say anything, mainly because he had little to say. Also because if he did say anything, it'd likely be related to what had just happened in the classroom and he didn't feel like doing so.
Fortunately, Mineta decided to break the silence before it could fully turn into an uncomfortable one.
"I don't get it. They seemed like a good bunch. They were nice, they didn't discriminate, and they were… they were friendly and smart," Mineta said and this time the scowl on his face perfectly fit the anger that Kazuki could feel. "The fuck are they doing?"
"Not everyone is as understanding as you, man," Kazuki told him with a sad smile on his face. "Besides, even if they are as you thought they were… Well, you don't know everything about them. They might have their reasons."
"What reasons could one possibly-?"
"One hundred thirteen," Kazuki said, looking ahead and resolutely keeping his expression blank. "The Black Rampage directly hurt a total of one hundred thirteen people," he clarified. "Have you considered that maybe Ashido knows… or knew one of those people?" he asked his short friend. "For all we know, I might have killed one of her relatives."
"I… That's…" Mineta stammered, and Kazuki sensed him starting to feel bad about the whole thing.
"Can I be honest with you, Mineta?" he asked him. "I didn't think I'd have friends here. I thought everyone would be too… scared, or disgusted, to be in a class with someone like me. So… Honestly? It's already a win to just have you, and Hagakure, and Yaoyorozu."
"... You are annoying and a bit of an asshole," his friend told him, making him grin. There were literally no bad emotions to be felt from his friend at that moment, except maybe a slight sadness. Was Mineta pitying him? "But that shit wasn't your fault, man. Do you know how many times I messed up with my shitty Quirk? I bet everyone messed up at some point too. You just… were really unlucky with how it went for you."
"That's one way of looking at it," Kazuki commented with a nod. "The fact remains that it was… bad, to understate things. It was bad and I know it. I'll take the blame for it, because it was my fault. I'm not sure I want people to not blame me. I just want them to… I just want a chance to prove I can be more than that."
"... Well, now you have that, don't you?" Mineta asked. "You can be a kick ass hero with that Quirk, man. You seem pretty in control to me, so I'm sure people will realize that sooner or later. You'll have chicks throwing themselves at you in no time at all. I'm kind of envious."
Kazuki chuckled to himself, noticing that he wasn't even lying.
"You've got your priorities, right?" he asked, still laughing. "Perverted little shit. But I can only hope, man. I don't think it'll quite go like that. My looks never really helped me make friends. I don't imagine it'll go better with girls," he added, his mind calling for a pause as the topic of the conversation changed.
Wasn't that… sort of normal conversation? He wouldn't know, but he thought it was, at least. It was… nice, he supposed. 'I'm getting to do a lot of things I never did before,' he thought to himself. If for that reason alone, he was grateful for the chance he was given. Maybe he didn't have absolute freedom, but… Well, he felt free enough, at least.
"Eh, you look kinda edgy, but I'm sure there's chicks out there that are into that," Mineta commented bitterly as he looked at Kazuki. "At least you aren't a kid-sized with a weird ass hair Quirk," the boy added, clicking his tongue. He could feel the negativity rolling off of his friend then and there and he decided that wouldn't do.
"I mean, you look a little weird, but it's not that bad, Tiny," Kazuki replied. "I'm sure you'll get your own fans whenever you become a hero if you do a good job. Well, that and if you, you know, get a decent costume and don't show how messed up your mind is."
"Gee, thanks, Creepy," Mineta said, but the subsiding emotions were good enough for Kazuki to be happy with his partial success. "And I've already sent the request for the costume change. For the moment, I decided on a simple thing first, so it should be ready whenever we have to use them again."
"Nice, now you have to curve those… tendencies of yours," Kazuki pointed out with a shake of his head. "Although, I imagine that'll be more difficult for you, huh?"
"Creepy, how am I supposed to not admire beauty when I see it? Have you seen the girls in our class?" Mineta despaired, throwing his hands up in the air.
"I mean, you're not wrong, but still," Kazuki answered with a chuckle. Then, as they walked, his expression shifted into a soft smile. "Thanks, Mineta."
"Don't mention it, Endo. That's what friends are for, right?"
"... Right."
Chapter 14
With a… sort of battlecry, Kamakiri jumped over the plates of Kazuki's Boarbatusk. The boy had found that his blades couldn't quite cut through the plating of the summoned creature, and had thus started just outright avoiding it until there was no other option. For the moment, he seemed to be focusing on dealing with the two Beowolves that accompanied the other Grimm.
Off to the side, Kazuki found himself sparring with Yaoyorozu. In contrast with Mineta and Hagakure, the rich girl had some combat training and she'd made herself a bo-staff, meaning that she could kick his ass if he wasn't careful. So far, they were about even in "wins" as it were, from the rough count that Kazuki himself was keeping in his mind. Not that he cared and neither did Yaoyorozu either, from what he'd picked up, but it was a nice detail to know.
Meanwhile, Mineta and Hagakure seemed to be sparring against each other. Although, sometimes they'd team up against either Kazuki or Yaoyorozu. Or they would just take a break and use the gym for general exercising, like the one that was excluded from the team-up spar would otherwise do.
'Fighting myself at the same time as with Grimm is… Something. I need to practice this too,' he mused, blocking Yaoyorozu's staff with his forearm. With a grimace, he went on the offensive himself, doing his best to have the Boarbatusk cover for the more fragile Beowolves.
Fighting at the same time as his Grimm did was… A lot like going about his day with different emotions bombarding him. He needed to fight, while also knowing what his creatures were up to. He had to exert a measure of control over them too, otherwise they'd slip up and do something with too much strength or too much claw or fang. Unfortunately, when he gave them too much independence, they tended to be… Well, as bad as they looked.
"You are getting distracted again," Yaoyorozu pointed out again, her staff this time shooting for his leg. "You need to work on that."
"Gee, I hadn't noticed," he gritted through his teeth, sending a punch towards her that she redirected with her weapon. He didn't let up though, sending another with his other arm before following up with a kick that got her on her thigh. "You follow my rhythm a lot," he told her then, as he punched again, only for her to dodge. "If I'm offensive, you are defensive, if I'm defensive, you are offensive," he analyzed. "You should be able to attack even if I'm attacking too."
"I know that, I just," Yaoyorozu replied, groaning as he grabbed the staff and destabilized her a bit before kicking her feet from under her. "It's difficult for me, I guess."
"You need to work on that," Kazuki said, throwing her words back at her before offering her a hand to help her stand up. "I thought I was gonna lose that," he added, sighing and turning to look at his Grimm sparring against Kamakiri. "It's really distracting to fight like this, but I need to get better at it."
"Well-"
"This is amazing!" Kamakiri interrupted her, screaming. Kazuki could see the wide, excited grin on the boy's face as he continued fighting his Grimm with the blades protruding from his arms. It was… Quite the sight, to be honest, especially now that he could focus more on it rather than just being peripherally aware of it. "Can you add more, Creepy?!" the boy shouted then and Kazuki twitched.
"I can't, so that'll have to do, man," he replied, more calmly. The 1-B student groaned, but otherwise continued fighting. Occasionally, Kazuki would have to reform a Beowolf if one was defeated, but otherwise he left them mostly to their own devices… Although, he did have to more "manually" stop his Grimm from hurting Kamakiri too much at times.
"Can't you?" Yaoyorozu asked him, raising an eyebrow. Evidently, she'd realized that he lied… Sort of.
"Three is my limit right now. More than that is… bad…" he admitted with a grimace. "It's probably something I should work on too but I… I don't want to risk it."
"I… see…" the girl replied, likely realizing what he meant. "So, feel like continuing or should we hit the machines for a bit?"
"Excuse me?" a new voice called them, making both Kazuki and Yaoyorozu turn to look at the girl next to them. A girl with gray hair falling over one of her eyes stood there with her hands sort of held up. Despite her apparently emotionless expression though, Kazuki could feel an underlying nervousness. "I was wondering if you could help me with my training."
"Uh," Kazuki hesitated, turning towards Yaoyorozu. Unfortunately, the rich girl was even more nervous than the other student, it seemed, which meant that he'd have to do something himself. "Sure? What do you need help with?"
"My Quirk," the girl started after a moment. "It's called Poltergeist and it lets me telekinetically control nearby objects, to an extent. I can use weights and other things around this facility, but I'd much rather have something more… Appropriate to the circumstances I might face as a hero. I saw that your friend seemed to be able to create things so…"
"Oh, right. You want Yaoyorozu to make some stuff for you?" Kazuki asked, drawing a hesitant nod from the girl. "So, what say you, huh, Beauty?" he asked, turning towards the class president, whose cheeks turning the slightest pink. It was quickly becoming a bit of an inside joke for their friend group to call her that just because of her reaction, at least after Kazuki confirmed that she didn't really feel bad about it, just a little embarrassed.
"I can do that. What objects did you want me to make?" Yaoyorozu asked the girl then, still blushing a little bit. However, she didn't get an immediate answer, since the other student paused for a moment, looking between Yaoyorozu and Kazuki.
"It's just a nickname that our group uses, inside names, if you will. I'm Creepy," he explained, drawing a slow nod from the girl. Then, she seemed to perk up a bit.
"Oh, so that's why Kamakiri laughed when someone called Kuroiro edgy," she commented. "Is that… His nickname?"
"Yep," Kazuki confirmed. "Those two over there are Bubbly and Tiny," he introduced, pointing off to the side towards their remaining two friends. "Otherwise known as Toru Hagakure and Minoru Mineta. I'm Kazuki Endo and Beauty here is Momo Yaoyorozu," he continued then, drawing a pout from the class president.
"You forgot Rocky, Kyoka Jiro, over there," Beauty herself corrected him, making him nod. It was kind of understandable, he thought, considering it was a recent addition. "But that's a recent addition, as it were," she added, almost making him laugh at the way she seemed to have read his mind.
"Pleasure to meet you both," the girl said, bowing to them. "I'm Reiko Yanagi… but you can call me Ghosty," she added, and Kazuki could have sworn that the corner of her mouth twitched up. "As for what I'd like, just general stuff that can be found anywhere. Random objects and such. I need to work on my improvisation, since my power kind of needs me to work with anything I might have close by," she explained then, turning towards Yaoyorozu.
"Well, I'll leave you girls to it then," Kazuki decided, looking at the fight still going on between Kamakiri and his Grimm. Humming, he turned and walked towards the machines to exercise in the meantime. Maybe he could get a spar out of Mineta and Hagakure later.
[}-o-{]
"So, you liked it, huh? I told you I'd find one eventually," Jiro said, giving everyone else around the table a smug look. A gesture that wasn't appreciated by anyone other than Kazuki. "I do better work than I thought, I guess. Didn't think I'd be done quite so quickly."
"Well, you can keep recommending bands and such if you want," Kazuki replied, drawing an excited sparkle in the girl's eyes. "I'm kinda curious now."
"Oh, you can bet I will," she promised.
"Creepy, man, you were supposed to like my recs. What kind of friend are you?" Mineta lamented, looking up at the sky. Kazuki, for his part, gave him an unimpressed look.
"The one that's annoying and a little bit of an asshole," Kazuki said, throwing the short guy's words back to him. Judging by the small spike of annoyance, he remembered well enough. "Anyway, not my fault I like her recs better, man. It's just how it is."
"That's right. It's not his fault that we have the superior taste when it comes to music," Jiro commented, looking positively smug in spite of the glares that everyone sans Kazuki sent her way. "Don't worry, guys, it's not your fault you have bad taste either."
"Rocky, I swear to god," Hagakure muttered, before bringing her drink to her mouth… Or so Kazuki guessed. "Anyway, I won't give up just yet. I'll find something that we both can like, Creepy, if it's the last thing I do."
"Ominous," he commented with a grin. "So, I… I actually needed help with something else," he started, leaning back on his chair as he considered if he really wanted to bring that up. Seeing his friends' expectant looks though… Well, how was he to refuse? "I'd like to decorate my apartment with some stuff. It's kind of… bare right now."
"Why though?" Jiro asked, blinking at him. "Also, you live by yourself?"
"Yeah, I moved there recently," Kazuki replied, looking at her thoughtfully. He imagined he'd be telling her about his situation soon. It'd be kind of shitty to leave her out when everyone else in the group knew.
Somehow though, it didn't feel nearly as worrying to consider that after everything. Kazuki guessed it was because now he had a circle of friends despite everything. There wasn't as much to fear from his past being revealed when he knew there'd be people sticking by his side. Knowing that he wouldn't be left alone when it happened took a huge weight off his shoulders.
"Well, if you really like a band or a song you could get posters," Jiro suggested, all but bouncing on her seat, which made him chuckle. For someone that looked so… chill, she could be surprisingly energetic when it came to music.
"Or maybe some art, it can be captivating to have a magnificent piece to look at," Yaoyorozu pointed out, looking thoughtful. "There's plenty of paintings at my place, I could give you one, if you wish."
Kazuki blinked. 'Aren't paintings like… expensive?' he wondered. Then again, Yaoyorozu was rich.
"I could give you one of my stuffed toys to keep you company," Hagakure suggested, making him blink again.
"I appreciate that, but I don't think those are my style," he replied hesitantly.
"Nonsense. you'll see. You'll love it," she refuted. Just as he was about to tell her a little more definitely that, no, a stuffed toy wasn't gonna fit well with him at all, Mineta decided to go for a comment.
"I mean, you could do like I did and hang some-"
"No," all three girls denied instantly, making Kazuki snort.
"I was thinking about… Well, putting some plants around. Would that be… Weird?" he asked, running a hand through his white hair. "I thought it'd make the place look more… colorful, you know?"
"I think that sounds nice," Hagakure agreed with a nod, or what Kazuki guessed was a nod, at least. "Wait, will you get flowers?"
"I mean, those were in the list of ideas, yeah," he replied hesitantly.
"What flowers?" Yaoyorozu asked then, leaning forward, which had a devastating effect on poor Mineta. None of the girls seemed to notice though, but Kazuki did kick the guy's leg under the table.
"Uh…" he mumbled then, noticing that all three girls seemed to be rather intently staring at him, waiting for a response. Or so he guessed in Hagakure's case. 'Why do I feel like I stepped on a landmine of some kind?' he wondered, but eventually he did answer.
[}-o-{]
Sitting at his apartment, in complete silence, Kazuki worked on his sensing once more. He reached out to every person he got, every emotion was analyzed and every position was pinpointed as best he could. He wasn't too sure if he was getting somewhere with his attempts, but any progress he managed to get would be good. If he couldn't get more accurate, at least he wanted to be more familiar with it. The next step would be to sense as well as he could focused when he was not focused too, but that'd be kind of a big step.
Kazuki frowned.
'That sadness,' he thought, following the feeling to its source. 'It has been there for a while,' he mused. How many times had he not felt that sadness there? He was pretty sure that it had been there more often than not. For a moment, Kazuki considered calling Aizawa or some other hero, but… The emotions weren't that bad, really.
And yet, if it was a recurring thing…
An idea popped in his mind then, and he stood up with a deep breath in. Looking around his apartment, he found a piece of paper and a pen. Quickly, he wrote down a short message. A simple… Well, he wasn't sure if it mattered, but he wrote down that he knew that they were sad due to his Quirk. From there he just… Well, he left his number and asked them to use it if they needed someone to talk to. It was a bit risky, he supposed, but he wanted to do something.
'I refuse to stand by and do nothing if I can do something,'he thought to himself resolutely as he left his apartment, reached the door in the same building behind which the person was, and slipped the message under the door. It might be annoying, even unnecessary. However, he just had to do something, that was all he needed to do. If he didn't… If he didn't try, then what was the point of it all. His Quirk might suck, but at least it could help him point out people that might need help without others knowing.
He would know though, so he would try for them.
Kazuki refused to let someone slip through the cracks like he had.
With the small note already in place, he knocked on the door and left. He didn't know how well things would go with that, but he knew that confronting the person directly might… Not go so well. He would do it though, if the message didn't help matters.
As it was, he'd done something now. Maybe it would help, maybe it wouldn't, but for the moment, it was what he could do. Kazuki would just have to see how things went before deciding if he needed to do more or not.
Once back in his apartment, he focused back on the emotions around. Curiously, he looked for the sadness of that particular person and, sure enough, it was still there. It had moved a bit, but now it was back to normal. Kazuki wasn't sure there'd been much of a change there so… Maybe they hadn't noticed the message. 'Or maybe I just have to wait, who knows? For now…'
He delved once more, trying his best to check every emotion of every person. Maybe he'd be able to notice a pattern like that one if he really tried. He couldn't go around kicking villain ass just yet, but he didn't need to in order to help people. He'd learned that the other day with all that had happened, after all.
After some time, he pulled a new notebook and made some notes regarding where he felt particularly strong emotions. Not really anything of true concern – He'd have called the heroes if that were the case. –, but just enough for him to want to check on them later down the line. As he did that, Kazuki couldn't help but feel… Good. Training and studying was all well and good, but this was actually doing something. This was him actively trying to help people, not preparing to help people.
'Is this what being a hero will feel like all the time?' he wondered as he noted down a particularly angry person from across the street. It was certainly a motivating thought. He imagined being an actual hero, being out there saving lives that were in immediate danger, was a little more rewarding. However, as the person he was, Kazuki didn't care much for that. Other heroes would take care of those obvious cases. He was fine taking the ones in the shadows, saving those that might not even have been noticed.
Pausing, he also marked down two people that were sad. It was very little, but he was concerned by the fact that both seemed to be roughly in the same place. 'Maybe they lost someone or something like that?' he wondered, nevertheless writing them down just in case.
Eventually, he didn't think there was anything else to add to his notebook.
Settling for a moment, without actively using his Quirk anymore, he stared at the pages. Eventually though, he nodded to himself, somewhat satisfied. Standing up, he went to prepare himself a meal. He wasn't feeling very hungry, but he was used to losing his appetite due to his Quirk, so he was also used to eating anyway. He knew he needed it, after all, so he knew to do it regardless.
'So, dinner and then some more training,' he mused to himself… 'Actually, I should do homework and then training.'
[}-o-{]
His reserves remained a mystery that seemed to be just as far away as it had when he'd first truly delved into it. At the same time, he felt like he was getting closer, paradoxically. It was like taking one step forward and then taking one backwards with every bit of progress he made, as the new information brought new questions to his mind.
Still, Kazuki was glad that there was progress at all, really.
Unfortunately, the progress he had managed to make was far from pleasant. Every one of the nodes – as he'd started calling them – that he managed to touch inside his reserves seemed to contain a single concentrated emotion. Unbearable pain, crushing sadness, bone-deep exhaustion, crippling fear and so on. He wasn't sure what good it would do to him to have access to that, but he wanted to keep trying.
Kazuki had ideas regarding that and he wanted to test them. On top of that, he also wanted to see if there might be more to it than he thought. Theorizing aside, there could be something that he'd missed somehow, and he didn't want to give up… Even if it sucked to dip his metaphorical fingers inside the nodes.
'God, why is my Quirk like this?' Kazuki wondered tiredly as he sat back, taking a break while listening to more music that his friends had suggested to him. He'd checked their shared chat and there had been quite a bit of talk regarding music from Jiro, before Hagakure had asked for help regarding some homework. He'd talked for a bit with them regarding plants he could get for his place too, so that had been interesting.
'Ok, I think that's enough training… I gotta do some studying too,' he thought, leaving the music on as he started going through his books. It wasn't quite as exciting as training to fight, or brainstorming new Grimm, or experimenting with his sensing but… Well, there was a lot to learn on that front too, protocols and such. They were dull, but Kazuki could see the importance.
Besides, he needed to learn some of that to use the content of the pouches in his costume better. First Aid was very important, after all, amongst a number of other things. Just because his Quirk was used for some specific things didn't mean he couldn't try to cover other areas the Quirkless way, after all. Besides, he didn't know what his future Grimm might end up being capable of, so it was better to spread his knowledge as much as possible.
There was no such thing as useless information, after all… At least in regards to the books from school… He hoped.
So, with such firm motivation, he started studying. English in that particular case. He could very easily see the use of that one, since communication was key in regards to a lot of things. Misunderstandings due to subpar language skills could lead to catastrophic events. Hell, Kazuki was considering delving into other languages too… Although he wasn't sure how well that would go. At the very least, he supposed, learning how to say some basic things would be good enough.
On top of that, English would be nice to know to better understand the songs Jiro was quickly getting him to like too, so that was a plus.
Idly, as he read through the book and worked through the exercises provided, Kazuki formed a small nevermore that started circling over him and around the apartment. At one point though, he looked at it. It could never pass for a normal bird, considering the ominous mask, but besides that… 'I don't remember them ever looking less than monster-like, even the Nevermore,' he thought as he narrowed his eyes at the creature.
Sure enough, it looked different from the usual bird-like Grimm. Not enough to be considered a different one, but enough for him to notice. It was like someone had taken the avian monster that the Nevermore usually were and then… turned it into something more natural, less like the stuff of nightmares and more like a fantasy creature. For one, the finger-claws that extended from the joint on their wings were not present on this one, and the feathers around its body and neck were no longer sticking out in a wild pseudo-mane.
'What happened? What was different with this one?' he wondered as he had the bird move around, hopping on the table and flying around. 'Something to look into,' he thought, looking for his Grimm brainstorm notebook and writing that down for later experimentation.
It didn't look to be a very useful thing, for sure, but if he could make his summons less monster-like, he definitely wanted to learn how. He'd tried for the longest time to do it and now… 'Why now? Why not when I was trying?' he thought, looking at the Nevermore some more, like it'd give him an answer somehow.
Obviously, it didn't.
Eventually, he deflated and continued studying. 'More and more stuff to do the more time passes,' he lamented. Although, if he were honest, he enjoyed that. It was certainly better than the dull days he'd spent at juvie. It felt so very… liberating, to have stuff to do, to have so many options.
Sure, it was exhausting too, but he'd rather be tired than trapped.
The buzzing of his phone on the table broke him out of his thoughts. Taking a deep breath in, he took the device and looked at it while yawning. 'Should probably go to sleep soon, I guess… After playing for a bit, at least,' he thought to himself, checking to see what his friends were messaging for now.
Except, it wasn't one of his friends, nor one of his minders.
'Thank you, even if you don't really care,' he read the message. It was from an unknown number, but it didn't take a genius to know who that was. Blinking at it for a long moment, Kazuki replied.
'Don't mention it… And I care,' he replied.
Chapter 15
"I mean, yes, you can make whatever and that's that, but… There has to be a way to improve on that, right? Something for you to work with," Kazuki pointed out as Yaoyorozu and him talked between each other. They were two of the five people currently in the room, the others being… The boy with the bird head, the one with the scar on his face and… 'Iida, was it? I should really start remembering everyone's names,' he thought to himself wryly.
"I mean," Yaoyorozu started, clearly having been influenced by his speech habit. "I've spent a lot of time studying different things I can make, to expand my options and such, since I need to know what I'm making in some detail, at the very least."
"Yeah, but there has to be a way to improve on that, right? To use less resources to make stuff or make it faster or something like that?" he suggested, frowning as he considered how he could apply his knowledge of his own Quirk to help her. "Like, I waste a lot of energy whenever I'm trying to make a Grimm that's not, you know, something I usually do, and the spending gets better with practice, same with the speed, if less so."
"Hm…" the girl hummed, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "I guess I could practice making specific items that might be more useful than others. Try to get better at making them?"
"That's what I'm talking about," Kazuki said, smiling as he finally managed to get the point across. "What I'm trying to say is, there's always something to get better at. I doubt you've reached the peak of your Quirk already, no offense."
"None taken," she waved off easily enough. "And you have a point, I guess. Something else to work on, then."
"Welcome to the club. I feel like my list of stuff to train and study is getting bigger and bigger as time goes by," he lamented, deflating on his seat before blinking and turning to the side when he felt someone poke his shoulder. Seeing nothing, he turned to the other side only to see Yaoyorozu grinning and holding back a laugh. She couldn't have been the one to… "Bubbly," he realized, looking behind himself and seeing the floating clothes there. "Of course," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey there, Creepy, Beauty, how's the morning going?" the invisible girl asked them, skipping a bit before bringing a chair so she could sit with them. That's how Kazuki found himself with Yaoyorozu at his right and Hagakure at his left.
"Just talking about how to better use our Quirks," Yaoyorozu answered, even through the slight embarrassment at the nickname that persisted even then. "Creepy was telling me about something he found out regarding his… reserves of negativity and then we started brainstorming on how I could improve my own practices."
"Aaaah, anything you guys can think of for me? You are a lot smarter, after all," the girl asked then, resting her elbows on the table and… seemingly her chin on her hands.
"Well, we'd have to know how your Quirk works, first of all," Kazuki replied, sharing a look with Yaoyorozu before they turned towards Hagakure once more.
"I was told I kind of… bend light around me unconsciously? I don't have much control of that… or at all, otherwise I would be visible… At least when I'm not doing hero stuff," Hagakure explained then, and her usually… Well, bubblypersonality seemed to disappear. Mainly because she appeared quite sharply in Kazuki's sense, through sadness and frustration. It was so bad that it made him blink for a moment and his eyes widened. He was sure he'd never felt anything even close to that bad from the girl before.
'So, her invisibility is a bad topic, actually…' he realized, which made some sense after giving it some thought. She was always invisible, and that had to affect a person in some way, he supposed.
"Hm, maybe you can learn to get some control momentarily," Yaoyorozu suggested then, while he was otherwise distracted with Hagakure's emotions. "Even if it's just a second or so, photokinesis can be a really strong power."
"That's an idea, I guess," the invisible girl replied and Kazuki had to praise her in his mind. She was doing a great job at hiding how she was feeling, at least with her voice. He wondered if she was showing that on her face and they just couldn't see it. "I've tried to control it a lot before, but I never made much progress. I can keep trying though, I guess. Maybe I just have to try something different."
'Wonder if all she tried to do was… be visible,' Kazuki thought to himself before shaking his head.
"Hm, maybe it just allows you to bend light around you, or maybe it can let you bend it around other things. Could allow you to make other things invisible, your costume for one," he suggested, deciding that he'd stayed silent for long enough while deep in his own thoughts and guesses. "God knows we don't need to give perverts around the world more fuel," he added wryly. "Tiny has enough of that to go around."
"I'm not sure about that. I have tried to make other things invisible. It's not like I enjoy being naked in public, you know," Hagakure told him, sounding and feeling slightly offended. Understandably, her voice dropped to almost a whisper there at the end. "Guess I can join you on Quirk training and see how it goes."
"So, that's four of us. I know Tiny has some ideas to work through with his Quirk. You think we might go for a five out of five and have Rocky join?" Kazuki commented idly, his attention drifting off as he felt more and more people arriving at the school.
With his newly started attempts to stop ignoring the emotions his Quirk threw at him, he'd found himself more and more distracted. Trying to take in everything and alsogoing about his day was proving to be a huge challenge. One that he was going to do his best to pass though…
Didn't mean he couldn't mentally complain about every single thing that broke his focus though. 'Why is it that my classmates seem to be the worst of the whole school when it comes to emotions?' he lamented to himself. Well, there was someone somewhere in the higher years that felt like absolute shit more often than not and there was the occasional spike here and there too, , but otherwise, he felt most of the strong feelings in the school coming from his own classroom.
'Speaking of…' he thought wryly as Bakugo entered the classroom, glaring at everyone just like usual. If the nervousness he felt entering his range was any indication, Midoriya was also on his way to the classroom. 'Oh joy,' he thought sarcastically. No offense to the green bundle of nerves, he was great and all, but his emotions were a mess.
"Creepy?" Hagakure called, breaking him from his musings for a bit.
"Sorry, I'm trying to… Well, trying to be better at sensing. It's… distracting," he apologized, running his fingers through his hair. "What did I miss?"
"We were talking about costume ideas and such, for changes… Well, Bubbly was talking about how the Support Course seems to have an idea they want to try to make her an actual costume, but that got us talking," Yaoyorozu answered, making him blink as he processed that together with a very frustrated student somewhere in the first year wing of the school.
"That's great. Don't take this the wrong way, but it is a bit uncomfortable for everyone involved that you don't have a proper costume," Kazuki told Hagakure, who felt more than a little uncomfortable just talking about that, apparently. "What else were you talking about? Are you thinking about changing your costume?" he asked then, turning towards Yaoyorozu.
"I had some ideas, yes. I'm also a bit uncomfortable with my own costume but it's the practical choice, really. I need to show more skin to be able to use my Quirk more effectively," she explained, rubbing her forearm with her opposite hand.
"That makes sense, but maybe you can have something that shows less… you know," he mumbled, waving a hand vaguely over his chest and drawing a grimace from the girl. "Wouldn't keeping your back open work better anyway?"
"That's an idea, I suppose. It's easier to access if I create it from where I can see, but an open back instead of front would give me more area to create from," Yaoyorozu agreed, looking thoughtful.
"Besides, don't your legs and arms give about the same area as the open area on your chest?" Hagakure pointed out and, judging by the look on the rich girl's face, their brainstorming was definitely yielding some results.
[}-o-{]
Kazuki found himself walking towards the training facilities after classes were over. He was alone, for once in the day, since he'd told his friends to go ahead without him. After all, he was walking really slowly and stopping every so often.
Why?
Well, because he'd come up with a way to try and train his sensing-multitasking. He was trying to walk while being aware of the people/emotions around him. If he focused too much on one or the other, he'd stop and then start walking again once he was ready. It was… It was a pain in the ass, but it was his first day doing that, so it was a bit soon to be casting judgment on how effective the method was.
Thus, he walked alone while trying to keep his mind split in two tasks. He got some odd looks from other students, of course, but he ignored them. He didn't know them, so they were irrelevant. Anyone whose opinion mattered to him would ask and have the reasoning for his strange behavior explained to them.
He was momentarily broken from his thoughts, his sensing and his walking when his phone called for his attention. Apparently, he had a new message, which was weird because he'd just got done telling a teacher where he'd be and his friends were supposed to be training already. Evidently, he should, maybe, get used to that kind of thing happening.
He blinked at the name on the screen, if it could be called that.
'Sadness,' he read, which might be a bit offensive for the person in question, but… Well, Kazuki didn't know what else to put there, really. 'I don't think you do,' the person seemed to have replied to his previous message, making him grimace.
'I don't know how I could prove it to you,' he wrote, pausing before sending it. 'Nobody deserves to be alone with their problems. I went through that, and I want to help people not to,' he added hesitantly and then he just clicked the button to send it. He didn't know if he was approaching this well, but… But he needed to try and help.
He'd talked about this new… project of sorts with Aizawa and the man had given him a bunch of new rules for what he was doing. It basically boiled down to not doing much of anything other than sending messages unless he talked with one of his minders previously. The man thought he was stupid, but he also agreed that it was good that he'd worried and done something about a potential problem. The only other thing he said was that if he wanted to do that again, he better talk with one of them even if it didn't seem that serious.
'Who are you?' said a message he got after taking only a few more steps towards the training facilities.
'Just someone that's gone through some stuff and wants to help,' he replied vaguely. One of the rules he'd been given, not that he'd have done that anyway, was not giving too much personal information, or at all, really. Like he was stupid enough to do something like that. Sure, him giving his phone number to a stranger was a bit stupid, he knew, but they needed help. Regardless, he knew very well what could and couldn't cause him trouble to do after his time in juvie.
If nothing else, he'd learned a thing or two regarding the criminal world in there.
Which was kind of sad, if he really thought about it.
'If you say so,' the person on the other side told him, and he was pretty sure that was that. With a deep breath in as he read and re-read the message, Kazuki wondered if he was even helping. There wasn't much he could do in regards to this situation, but… Well, he hated feeling so powerless.
'I'm here if you need to talk,' he sent then, feeling stupid. He didn't know what else to do though. He was going by what he'd have liked to be told back in the day and… He'd been a child at the time. He didn't know how accurate that experience would be in this case, but it was all he had to go by, so it'd have to do.
He hoped it'd do, at least.
With a deep breath in, he continued walking. If nothing else, that brief interaction with the mystery person had raised his motivation at getting better with his sensing powers. He didn't know if he was helping, but if he got better, maybe he could have better luck in the future with such instances. If nothing else, it'd help with cases such as the one that he'd alerted the heroes towards too.
So, doing his absolute best to split his attention between walking and sensing, Kazuki traveled through the halls of his school. It was easier said than done, especially when he tried to also pay attention to what his other senses were picking up on. 'God, breaking the habit of ignoring feelings is gonna be hard,' he lamented to himself.
However, it was what it was. He would just have to do his best to correct that in a new direction. It felt terribly wasteful, to have spent so much time doing something he'd now dismiss. Then again, being able to ignore his sense to an extent might come in handy at some point, he supposed, but still… It'd probably have been better to prepare to actually deal with the emotions instead of pushing them aside…
No use crying over spilt milk though.
'There's nothing I can do now. I would have never seen myself here, so there was no way I'd prepare for life as a hero,' he mused as he continued walking, pausing as his focus was broken once more. Recovering it with a deep breath in and closing his eyes for a second, he resumed his walk. 'I'm here to get better, and that's what I'll do. No shortcuts for me. Life's not that kind.'
[}-o-{]
"Ouch, Rocky, I thought we were friends," Kazuki grumbled.
"I said I was sorry!" Jiro told him, managing to sound both angry and apologetic. Feeling like that too, which was also interesting.
"If you say so," he mumbled, pushing his tongue against his busted lip and grimacing a little. "And nevermind all the bruises Beauty left all over me. I'm suddenly regretting being the best at close combat in our group. Can I give that spot to Tiny?" he asked.
"Wait, what?" Mineta exclaimed, suddenly paling as all the girls turned to look at him, the visible ones narrowing their eyes. "That's not how it works, Creepy," he added, looking and feeling very nervous all of a sudden. "Tell him, girls… Girls?"
"Take it as one more reason to stop being so fucking obvious about how perverted you are, yeah?" Kazuki mused out loud. "Believe it or not, it doesn't seem to go well with girls and getting them to like you."
"Oh, come on," the vertically challenged teenager protested.
"Anyway," Kazuki continued. "Where are we going again? I want some ice-cream. Might help with the busted lip Rocky-"
"Sounds good," Jiro interrupted, eye twitching in annoyance. "You won't shut up about it, will you?"
"I will, once it heals… Maybe," he said, drawing a groan from the girl.
"Ice cream sounds good though," Hagakure said, sounding and looking – as much as she could look anything – quite content as she skipped next to them. "Oh, I know a place!" she announced then, and even though he couldn't see her face, Kazuki was sure she was looking quite excited as she clapped her hands. "And we can go help Creepy get some plants for his place too, there's a nice store nearby for that."
"Really?" he asked, now feeling a little excited too.
"Yep," the invisible girl answered simply. "Follow me, gang, we have an ice cream parlor to visit," she announced, raising an arm to point forward.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am," he replied with an amused smile as he traded a look with the others. All except Yaoyorozu, who seemed to have things to do back home, so she couldn't join them that day.
"You know what you'll buy? I thought you were thinking that over," Mineta asked, looking up at him curiously.
"Eh, I made a list with suggestions," he answered, pulling out his phone and waving it. "Besides, I guess I can check what's there and see if something catches my attention."
"You made a list?" Mineta said, grinning and seemingly amused.
"Sure did. I didn't want to forget anything," Kazuki replied enthusiastically. "It'll be nice to add some stuff to my apartment. The more I think about it, the more depressing it is to see it so bare."
"I guess," his friend said then, his expression falling. Kazuki picked up on the pity he was feeling then, but he decided to ignore it. It dampened his mood, for sure but-
"I don't suppose we can forget I said that, can we?" Kazuki asked, feeling the same pity coming from both Hagakure and Jiro. "Honestly, can we do this and be happy that I'll go to an apartment with more color? Please?"
"And it'll be the most colorful apartment ever, I promise," the invisible girl declared, grabbing his arm and dragging him forward. "You can bet on that, Creepy, or my name isn't Toru Hagakure."
"That's the spirit," Kazuki replied with a half-smile. Sure, there was still pity there, but at least he'd managed to make it diminish. 'Just take the win,' he told himself. 'Maybe I'll have to be more careful in the future.'
[}-o-{]
Kazuki sat at his apartment, looking at the arrangement of plants he'd just set in the small balcony. It was mostly flower plants and succulents with the occasionally odd one out here and there. All in all, he'd spent most of his allowance on that, but honestly, with food and such already provided to him, he wasn't sure what else he could have used it on…
Well, he could have used it on outings with his friends, for sure, but he'd just have to pass up on those for the moment. It wouldn't be a great loss, considering they spent a lot of time together at school and training afterwards. '... Who am I kidding, it still sucks,' he thought to himself, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world.
After all, the new addition to his… home, if he could call it that, was rather nice. It certainly made him feel better while he was there. It didn't feel quite as… oppressive and depressing anymore. There was something very nice about having the colorful, lively things within sight.
With a grin, he looked at his phone, where his friends had been messaging again. Hagakure had asked him for a picture of his new garden, apparently. Kazuki was all too happy to comply, if he was honest.
It was silly and not much in the grand scheme of things, but he still was so very proud and happy of the little collection of plants. He smiled like an idiot as he took a few photographs of the colorful little things and then sent them to his group of friends. As he did so, he sat on the ground near them while his grin became something smaller, softer, but no less content.
'Things are looking up, it seems,' he thought to himself. When was the last time he'd been so… Happy? He had some measure of freedom, he had a dream, he had friends…
He extended his hand to softly touch one of the flower petals next to him.
'Things are looking up,' he repeated in his mind. Despite that, he couldn't help but feel like the other shoe would drop at some point. Regardless, he'd enjoy things while they lasted.
It was still more than he'd had before, after all.
[}-o-{]
[Mina Ashido]
She laid on her bed, hugging her pillow.
How many nights did that make, two? It felt like a lot longer since she'd learned who Cree- Endo was. It felt like forever since she'd learned that one of her friends had caused a massacre, ending the lives of many people and affecting those of many others. Someone that had hurt…
She barely could keep her mind off of that fact through the day and even back home.
The worst part was, however, that she didn't know how to feel about that. Should she feel angry? Disgusted? Because she didn't. All she felt was conflicted. Her many talks with their friends didn't help matters either.
"What's going on, Pinky?" Hagakure had asked her one day. "Creepy feels really bad about all of these. He puts on a strong front but we can see it. You know he's not bad, right?"
Did she know he wasn't bad? They'd known each other for how long? Was that long enough to determine if someone was good or bad, really?
"Mina, what's going on?" Eijiro had asked her once, while walking back from school. "I just want to understand, that's all," he'd reassured her. And yet, Mina hadn't had an answer for him.
After all, even she couldn't figure out what was going on with her. How should she feel? What should she do? Should she say something to someone? Should she just continue like nothing had happened? What should she do?
She didn't know…
"The fuck is wrong with you two!" Mineta had shouted at them and the little boy's words hit them like they came from a giant. "You know Endo! He's good! The guy couldn't truly hurt someone if his life depended on it! Haven't you ever had a slip up with your Quirks?!"
"It's not the same," Mina had replied lamely, flinching at the look on the purple-haired boy.
"You know what? Fine," Mineta had told them and the shift in his expression had somehow managed to be even worse than before. "And people say I am disgusting…"
Her eyes stung as she tried to bury her face on the pillow she held against her chest. She wanted to go back to their little group. It hurt to see them keep going, now with Yaoyorozu and Jiro added to it. It hurt to know that she could be with them, chatting and laughing and training. Instead, she barely could be in the same room as them without feeling like a piece of shit.
She so wanted to, but… but she couldn't.
Screaming into her pillow, Mina decided to do something. She'd been there feeling sorry for herself for long enough. She needed to decide on what to do already or she'd go crazy. For that, however, she needed to have a talk with someone…
She was scared of how that would go, but she was going to be a hero.
She couldn't very well be afraid of talking with someone.
So, Mina left her room and moved through her house until she found who she was looking for.
"Mum, can we talk?"