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?"
Chapter 16
"Huh, so you actually have stuff in the pouches?" Hagakure asked, sitting in front of him as he leaned back on his chair at his desk. "I thought they were just to look cool and maybe in case you needed to bring something for some special job."
"I mean, there's a couple of empty pouches for that, but yeah, most of them are filled with first aid supplies," Kazuki answered, his eyes still fixed on the book he held in his hands. "I could probably see about getting something for communication and stuff like that too, I guess. I'd like to actually have a talk with the Support Course people, but well, I can't just go to them and make assumptions. I'm guessing we are gonna have a chance to work with them at some point."
"I'd imagine so, yeah," Mineta agreed from his side. "I have some ideas myself that I'd like to discuss. For the moment, I'm trying to present some of the simpler ones to them."
"Neat. You're still not saying what you changed?" Kazuki asked, turning away from the text he was reading through. "I'm kinda curious if you'll appear with something as… uh, original as the last time."
"Gee, real subtle, Creepy. Real subtle indeed," Mineta replied sarcastically. "And no, I'm not telling. I'm fairly sure it shouldn't be nearly as… embarrassing as last time," he added, crossing his arms and blushing a little out of shame. Kazuki could feel that, together with frustration and anger. Taking his cue from that, he decided to change subjects.
"Speaking of costumes, any progress in yours, Bubbly? Because honestly, I think it'd be a favor to the boys in the class, or at least it'd give them the ability to focus properly," he commented, making the invisible girl shift in her seat.
"There's been some progress, it seems," the girl answered, feeling quite uncomfortable. It was then that Kazuki realized that maybe, just maybe, that was a slightly awkward topic to talk with the girl, especially so casually. "I should have something other than gloves and boots, at least."
"That's good to hear, honestly… For me, if not for Tiny, I guess," Kazuki commented, getting a groan from the short guy.
"Oh, shut up already," Mineta grumbled. "It sounds worse than it is when you say it like that."
"It really doesn't," Kazuki replied with a wry smile. "You just don't seem to realize unless it's pointed out like that," he added. How his friend seemed so blissfully unaware of the effect his words and actions had without someone speaking to him about it was beyond him, honestly. "At least we know you aren't an actual creep… Just an idiot."
Hagakure giggled at that, and they finally seemed to snap Yaoyorozu's attention from the book she'd been reading. One of Kazuki's, as it turned out. She'd asked him to lend her one of his first aid books and she'd been reading it since. He guessed it interested her, considering she could probably make her own supplies with her Quirk.
"Ha ha, that's funny," Mineta said wryly. That's when Kazuki felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, which made him blink and pull it out. Sure enough, he got a message from Sadness. On that note, he was considering changing how he referred to the mystery person, but he didn't have any better ideas for the moment.
'What's good about this shitty day?' he read on his screen, smiling wryly as he considered what to do.
'Good morning is more about… Wishing for the morning to be good for others, not an actual statement that it's good,'he wrote and sent before pausing for a moment. 'Or at least that's how I think it works.'
'Well, your wishes weren't very effective,' the person replied relatively quickly.
'Maybe it will be next time then,' he shot back, feeling a little silly. Being so… optimistic wasn't quite his thing, but he wanted to try and shine some happiness towards whoever that person was. He certainly hoped he'd had a distraction from how bleak or downright terrible his days were back when he was younger.
'Take your optimism somewhere else, Mystery Man. It's not appreciated here,' the person wrote, making him blink.
'Assuming my gender, are you?' he asked with a wry smile. Looking up from the screen, he saw that Yaoyorozu had been quickly absorbed back in the book he'd lent her and that Hagakure and Mineta seemed to be talking about… the phone game the little guy was getting them addicted to, it seemed.
He had time to be distracted, it seemed.
'Well, I know nothing about who you are, so I'm assuming you are a creepy old man,' the person told him shamelessly, or so he assumed. It was an amusing thing to read, he thought, even if it was probably meant to be insulting.
'Well, I know nothing about who you are, so I'll assume you are a damsel in distress,' he replied, throwing the person's words back at them.
'Hmph,' the person wrote and Kazuki found himself even more amused. 'I'll have you know I'm not a damsel and I'm not in distress either!' After that, he did make a mental note that the person seemed to be a male. Or maybe they were trying to make him think that? It didn't really matter, he supposed. Still, a moment later, he changed the name of the contact from "Sadness" to "Distressed".
'Well, Distressed, it was lovely to talk to you, but I have things to do. Feel free to text me if you want though. I'll answer whenever I'm free,' he told the man/boy on the other side after a moment. Time for classes to start was getting closer and he didn't want to be glued to his phone when the time came. Unless it was necessary, at least.
'We'll see, Knight, we'll see,' Distressed replied, making him grin. Knight was probably the last thing someone would call him if they saw him, he was sure. It felt somewhat nice to be called that though.
As if on cue, Jiro appeared at the door and he went to stand up.
"Good luck, man," Mineta told him, already knowing what he planned. The vertically challenged boy gave him a grin and an encouraging thumbs up. "It'll go just fine. Don't worry."
"Good luck, Creepy," both Hagakure and Yaoyorozu told him too, the former much more cheerful where the latter was more primly.
"Thank you, guys," he said, starting to walk towards the door, which made Jiro pause where she stood.
"Is something the matter?" the girl asked him when he reached her.
"Yeah, I… I have something to tell you," he told her, doing his best to push back his nervousness. Even if things went South, he'd still have friends. Things would be fine.
Once they were both outside, he made sure that nobody was close by before talking. There were probably some people with hearing Quirks that could pick up on what was said anyway, but surely they had better things to focus on than eavesdropping on them, right? There was literally no reason for anyone to notice them, so long as they weren't too obvious about things.
"So," Kazuki started, pausing for a moment as he did. Suddenly, he realized that this would be the first time he actually told someone who he really was and what he'd done. Midoriya and Yaoyorozu had found out on their own. Mineta, Hagakure, Kirishima and Ashido had read the news article he'd looked up for them.
"Yes?" Jiro asked, raising an eyebrow at him curiously.
"Better to get it over with, I think," he mumbled, sighing. Giving the girl an uneasy look he started speaking. "You may remember, from several years ago, the Black Rampage incident."
"I… do…" the girl answered, clearly confused. "Wasn't that a Quirk gone rogue, some kind of gigantic monster… appeared…"
"Yeah…" Kazuki admitted with a whisper, a forced smile on his face. "I thought… Well, the others know – so does the staff here, by the way – so I thought… Well, it wouldn't be fair for you to not know if you were gonna be hanging out with us."
There was silence after he said that, which promptly had Kazuki shifting on his feet. He was trying his best to read the emotions he got from Kiro. There was some confusion there, but that was always a weak emotion in his sense. Probably because it wasn't that bad most of the time. There was also some amount of apprehension, fear and nerves there, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd expected.
"... I see…" Jiro said not so long after that.
"I guess you… Need some time to process that," he told her then, keeping his voice soft. He didn't want to push or put pressure on her. He really, really would like not to lose another friend if it was possible. "Thanks for… not freaking out, by the way."
"You are not that creepy," she said as he started to turn and he let out a surprised chuckle. She still sounded, looked and felt out of it, but it was very reassuring to know that at least she could still joke. "I'll… Yeah, I need some time to think that over," she added then, making him nod. It sucked, but it was better than the outright negative reaction he'd gotten from Ashido and Kirishima, at least.
"Sure thing."
[}-o-{]
"Creepy, why are you so excited?" Mineta asked once everyone was sitting on the bus. "It's honestly kind of… Well, creepy. Are you alright?"
"I'm just… looking forward to this, I guess," he answered, doing a good impression of Hagakure by very childishly bouncing on his seat and grinning widely. "I just… Rescue is the best part of heroics, man. Why wouldn't I be excited? This is what I want to do, save people."
"Isn't it for the chi-Ouch, ok ok. No need to get violent so fast," Mineta grumbled after Kazuki punched him on the arm. "Man, why am I friends with you?"
To that, he just rolled his eyes.
"It's kind of adorable to see Creepy so excited, not gonna lie," Hagakure pointed out, making Kazuki deflate a bit. "I imagined you to be a full on "lets fight the villains" hero, you know?"
"I want to help people. That's the kind of hero I want to be. Be it by taking down villains, rescuing them from disasters and… Well, anything else," he explained, a little more subdued now. Maybe his bout of positiveness was also helped by the fact that they had left the school and there was a relatively low amount of negativity around him. At least in their immediate surroundings. He still picked up a fair amount further away from his range, but those were easier to ignore.
"I guess that makes sense," Yaoyorozu agreed with a slow nod. "People tend to focus on other parts of heroics. The more… attention grabbing ones, I suppose."
"Yeah, but if any of you ever sees me doing photoshoots and interviews, please check that I'm not being mind controlled or something, yeah?" he commented to his friends, receiving a giggle from Hagakure.
"I mean, if you become famous, can we do some of those together? I'm sure I'd get some fangirls that way," Mineta suggested, making Kazuki look at him with a flat expression.
"I mean, at least you look half decent, with the new costume," Kazuki pointed out, looking down. Instead of the bowl/diapers from before, Mineta was wearing simple, but much more respectable, white baggy pants. They still had a few purple details like the previous iteration of the outfit, but now the supposed bowl-theme was more subtle and less stupid-looking. At least in Kazuki's uneducated opinion.
"Thanks, man," Mineta said, and judging by the lack of overly negative emotions, he thought he actually meant that. Even if there was some embarrassment lingering, probably from the previous version of his outfit.
"You know that if you did that, the fangirls might ship you two together, right?" the invisible girl pointed out, making both boys turn green while the two girls burst into giggles.
"That's… That's disgusting, Bubbly, and you should feel bad for saying such a thing," Kazuki commented, grimacing. "God, I think I might hurl again."
"Maybe we should call you Pukey or something," Hagakure said then, making him groan.
"Let's change subjects yea-" he started then, determined to steer the conversation to literally anything else. That is, until a sharp and strong spike of fear and nerves shook him. Turning to the side instantly, he saw Midoriya and… the girl with a frog Quirk, he'd forgotten her name.
"That s-s-so," the green-haired boy replied, stammering with his emotions literally being all over the place. "B-But mine isn't, like, uh-"
"Wait, Asui," Kirishima joined in then. "All Might never gets hurt. That's where the similarities end."
"Midoriya did use his Quirk without getting hurt during the Battle Trials though," Asui pointed out then, bringing up her index finger and all. If anything, Midoriya seemed to become even more of a wreck, which didn't precisely make sense to Kazuki.
"I-I'm not. It's not-" Midoriya started stammering once more, before Kirishima took away the conversation once more with something about how his Quirk wasn't flashy. Kazuki wasn't really paying attention to that though. Instead, he stared at the green-haired boy he'd faced during the Battle Trials. He'd missed a piece of that conversation, but there was something that he could pick up very clearly there…
"Creepy?" Mineta asked then, calling for his attention.
"Sorry, Midoriya being his usual self and overwhelming me with his nerves," he commented, running his fingers through his hair.
"What do you guys think about that?" Hagakure asked, making him blink as he followed her finger towards the conversation he'd just started ignoring.
"About what?" Kazuki and Mineta asked at the same time, the latter adding a "Jinx." quickly.
"They are talking about popularity and how it's a big part of heroics," the invisible girl told them, sounding and feeling slightly exasperated.
"I… couldn't care less about that if I tried," Kazuki commented with a shrug before smiling bitterly. "Which is a good thing, considering my circumstances."
"Oh, right, shit, I… I'm sorry, Creepy," Hagakure said quickly, to which he just waved her off. It was no big deal, really. She wasn't wrong that popularity seemed to be a big deal in the business. He was just one of the weird ones that didn't really care. Besides, he was basically at the very bottom of that top by default just considering who he was. No way people wouldn't find out before or right when he became an actual hero.
"Don't worry about it. As for you, guys, I'm sure you can be popular even if your power isn't that flashy. Like you, Hagakure. You've got the right personality to get people to like you," he told her, glad to feel the shame and guilt the girl was feeling vanish.
"You think so?" Hagakure asked, sounding bashful before turning towards Yaoyorozu. "Well, Beauty shouldn't have a problem with a Quirk as useful as hers is. Besides, she seems to have got a nice personality too and… Well, she also has the right looks, if I might be so bold," she pointed out, sounding almost amused as the other girl blushed and started feeling rather embarrassed, from what Kazuki could pick up.
"Nothing about me, eh? I see how it is," Mineta grumbled and there was a spike of actual frustration and depression there. Kazuki would have none of that, at all.
"I mean, if you curve your attitude, you could probably make a good impression on kids and such. You got that slightly cartoonish look going with your costume, if you don't change it that much beside what you've done taking out the diapers-"
"Bowl," the boy corrected with a grumble.
"That's what I said," Kazuki pointed out with a slight grin. "It's not like you are ugly or creepy," he commented. "You'll be fine, just gotta watch what you do and say, so you don't burn your reputation right off the bat."
"I guess," the boy mumbled, crossing his arms. "Thanks, by the way."
"Just telling it how I see it," Kazuki replied with a shrug. "If it helps, getting a nice rep with kids will mean you might get a good rep with their mothers."
"Now you are speaking my language, Creepy," Mineta replied then, looking much more cheerful. Kazuki could only shake his head and chuckle at that. He'd meant it more as joke than a serious thing, but if it cheered the guy up…
"I'm sure you can get a nice bit of popularity too, Creepy," Hagakure tried but he just smiled sadly at her. He knew there'd be an attempt, and he appreciated it but… Yeah. Nobody was gonna root for the villain-turned-hero that had an actual body count. "Hey, don't look like that, I'm serious!"
"If you try hard enough, I'm sure people will realize that you are actually a good person, Endo," Yaoyorozu joined the invisible girl then, seemingly recovering from her earlier embarrassment. He also noted that she still seemed to have some trouble using their nicknames sometimes. "You just have to show them that they have the wrong idea of who you actually are."
"It's easier said than done, but I appreciate that anyway, guys," he said, his smile still as empty as it had been before. Before the mood could go down, something that he could already feel happening, he decided to shift the topic once more. "So, you guys don't seem so excited about the rescue training we are going to do."
[}-o-{]
[Izuku Midoriya]
"Midoriya," a voice called him when they were all getting off the bus. He almost jumped, still a little wary after the close call from before, when Asui had commented on his Quirk. That had come out of nowhere and Izuku had certainly not been ready for that so suddenly.
"Ah, Endo, d-do you need something?" he asked, turning to regard the white-haired teen as he stared at him with those rather… disturbing black and red eyes. Even still, Izuku did his best to calm himself down, very aware of the fact that Endo could literally feel his emotions… Or the bad ones, at least, which didn't really help.
"I just wanted to tell you something," his fellow student commented, looking around to make sure that their other classmates were busy looking at the facilities they'd just arrived at. "You need to get better at lying."
For the second time that day, Izuku felt like he almost had a heart attack.
"I-I don't know w-what you are-" he started stammering before being interrupted.
"I'm sure you don't," Endo said, looking about as done with things as their homeroom teacher did most of the time. 'Am I having that effect on him?' Izuku thought guiltily. Which only made things worse, judging by the groan the other boy let out before massaging his eyelids. "Anyway, just… Just get better. Not sure what you were lying about – Or trying to anyway – and I don't really care, but you might want to work on that."
"I-I… Hm, I'll… work on that?" he mumbled, unsure of what to do. He could keep denying it, but was there any point? Endo himself seemed to be honest about not caring about his secret, what he'd been lying about. On top of that, lying to his classmate was probably next to useless, at least for Izuku himself. And he was sure he hadn't given himself away, despite Asui's comment… Or so he hoped, at least. Everyone had some secrets, right? Surely him having one wasn't that much of an issue, at least as far as others were concerned…
Right?
"See that you do," Endo commented, sighing again and giving him a weary smile. "Anyway, I think we should go," he added then, pointing towards where their classmates were moving away. Suddenly, Izuku was very aware of Aizawa staring at them intently, he was sure they were a moment away from getting scolded. "If Aizawa says anything, just say I pulled you for some vice-president nonsense. Might as well use my position to my advantage, huh? I didn't even want it anyway."
"I don't think you should do that, Endo," Izuku mumbled.
"Yeah, I know, but it doesn't have to be a lie, right? As vice-president, I am responsible for you guys, aren't I? Going out of my way to give advice is part of the job… I think. Might not be," the other boy explained before shrugging with a careless smile.
"I guess that works," Izuku replied with a half-smile of his own. "Thanks for the, um, advice, by the way."
"Don't mention it."
[}-o-{]
[Kazuki Endo]
"That being said," Thirteen, the hero they were apparently going to be learning from for the most part during that visit, continued her speech. "Please don't forget that each of you possesses a Quirk that can go awry. One wrong step is all it takes to kill others accidentally."
Kazuki stiffened at that, a forced smile fixing itself to his face. 'You don't have to teach me that,' he thought to himself bitterly. 'I learned that well enough on my own.' He took a deep breath in, overwhelmed by his own emotions that time, instead of those of others.
He twitched when he felt a hand on his arm, turning to see Hagakure's glove on him. That was as much as could be seen, really, besides the boots. She hadn't told them how much the new development in her costume covered, but apparently there were invisible additions to it, which was nice to know.
Kazuki just gave her a stiff but no less thankful nod.
'Hundred thirteen,' he thought with a grim expression. 'Twenty seven and eighty six…'
He would never forget, that much he'd sworn.
"This lesson, in turn," Thirteen was still speaking though, he reminded himself. He'd barely heard something about how their teachers had shown them different aspects of using their Quirks. "Will teach you how to wield your Quirks for the sake of lives. Your Quirks do not exist to hurt others," the teacher continued and Kazuki smiled bitterly. 'Not so sure about that myself, Thirteen.' "Please leave this exercise having fully understood that your Quirks exist to help people!"
'I can only hope,' he thought to himself, nevertheless moved by that short speech. If there was one thing Kazuki wanted, it was to be able to do good things with a Quirk that had done so terrible things in the past. Maybe he'd never fully make up for what he'd caused, maybe he couldn't do that, but maybe he could do something to lessen his burden.
"That is all!" Thirteen announced, giving a dramatic bow that made him smile, if only slightly. "Thanks for the attention and the patience."
"Alright, first things first," Aizawa said then before trailing off and turning to the side. Kazuki couldn't see where he was looking, but what he could do was feel something entering his sense, like people apparead out of nowhere. They were also most certainly not subtle, at least in regards to his Quirk.
There was anger, there was envy, there was depression, there was hate. They combined in a familiar blend of emotions. One that Kazuki had encountered before and had learned to read into something different. Something that he almost counted as a different emotion altogether.
Malice.
"Something's wrong," he said, stiffening.
"Creepy?" Hagakure mumbled questioningly.
"Something's very wrong," he corrected as more and more people entered his sense. "People are coming and they are certainly not nice."
"Endo?" Mineta asked, and Kazuki could feel the fear starting to creep into his short friend.
"Be ready. I don't know what's going on," he told them, and he saw Yaoyorozu stiffen just like he had to their side.
"Huddle together and don't move!" Aizawa ordered, shouting. The worry Kazuki could feel confirmed that things were certainly serious, if the outburst on the usually taciturn man didn't. "Thirteen protect the students!"
"What is this?" Kirishima asked, looking further away as they moved a little, now able to see a crowd coming out of what seemed to be some kind of dark, misty portal that reminded Kazuki of his shadows before they created Grimm. "Is this a training exercise like at the Entrance Exam?" the redhead asked then.
"Don't move!" Aizawa told them, placing his yellow goggles over his eyes. "Those are villains!"
Kazuki had known, or suspected, at least. And yet, hearing that made his blood freeze all the same. Why were they there? Why were villains there of all places?
"You can't tell me-," a new voice called, coming out like a growl from the group of villains. "-that All Might, the Symbol of Peace, isn't here," the man said and Kazuki felt his eyes widen even more. 'All Might? They are here for All Might? Are they crazy?' What kind of madman went after the Number One Hero of their own volition?
If anything, that made things worse, because All Might was indeed not there, which meant that they were dealing with a clearly insane man that thought he could take on the Number One Hero… 'And that's just great, isn't it?' Kazuki thought, looking at the small army of villains that they were facing now.
"I wonder," the villain continued then. "Will he show up, if we kill the kids?"