ix.|Lead
— Silvery with a hint of blue when freshly cut only becoming a dull gray after being exposed to air. This metal is denser than most with soft and malleable qualities. However, because of its high toxicity, its usefulness is greatly diminished. Derived from its Latin name 'plumbum.'
Children fear many things.
Nagi learned this one night when she ran from her room and to her father's study where she found him. Scared out of her mind by nightmares, he eased her fears by rationalizing them away.
Children feared things they imagined in the dark of their rooms at night, he would say, while the moon—their only source of comfort—betrayed them, casting terrifying shadows. Light created monsters out of branches, their long crooked fingers stretching from the outside into the room without even needing to open a window. Their finely curved nails scratched at the glass just as a sinister howl blew outside. They feared the beasts and unknown beings that lurked underneath the dark of beds or within closed closets—places they dared not search lest that same unknown came to get them. The places where claws and tails slithered to when they were spotted just out of the corner of their eyes.
But just the same way that there were so many things to fear, there were also many ways to hold sway over them. Some kids, he said, muttered away, regurgitating the reasons their parents said to convince them that the monsters hiding under their beds or inside their closets weren't real. Some took what they considered a valiant stand and obstructed any entrance those monsters could use to come in and haunt them. Others like her sought harbor in those they loved most where they knew no monsters could torment them. Where no harm could touch them.
Nagi learned during nights like those what it meant to be afraid. She learned her way to reign it in. And for her, reciting aloud helped her not be so afraid.
It was the sound of the familiar that made dealing with the great unknown a little more bearable. Anything worked, she figured, so long as she could repeat it over and over again. Lyrics of songs her mom hummed under her breath; jokes her dad told that were never funny; even the many great taglines of her favorite heroes. It became a habit, one that helped when she needed it most.
And during the times when she was the most afraid—those spent in poorly lit, white rooms where she was left to cry herself to sleep in agonizing pain—she recited names.
At first, there were only three: her parents, Hiroyuki and Kaya, and her little brother, Yuuta.
But as the days bled on, she met new people. Remembered new names. Sadly, many of which she forgot as they themselves began disappearing. It saddened her to see fewer familiar faces as those days went on and even more that the list dwindled, their names becoming distant alongside them. Yet she recited what few she had like an endless prayer on repeat and let the overwhelming emotions be quelled by them to give her some peace of mind.
If only for a while.
Her parents, Hiroyuki and Kaya. Her little brother, Yuuta. The other children: Izumi. Hari. Chiyoko. Hachu. Touke. Ikari. Yohsei.
And Yori.
A stifled yawn lasted a few moments before Nagi let it out unhindered. Her eyes watered a bit and she wiped at them as she made her way through the crowded hallways still half asleep despite it being somewhat early. Damn nightmares. They hadn't stopped sense the day before and had her tossing and turning and waking up at random hours of the night. That she couldn't sleep well wasn't even the worst of it. Cutting it close but never close enough to homeroom was. With it being already the third day in a row and Aizawa sufficiently fed up with her tardiness, she was back on mule duty for the day.
Thankfully, Midnight's class was just after lunch which meant printouts were the only things really needed for class. Twenty-two copies were feather light compared to the weight her tiredness slumped onto her shoulders. Now that was heavy.
I'll catch a wink before heroics.
The mere idea of it got her yawning again and this time she didn't bother covering it. Nagi wasn't sure if it was her drowsiness or just her damn luck when halfway through the yawn her grip on the papers slackened and a few flew out of her grip. She yelped and dove to catch the but most fell before she even got close and swayed to the floor silently. Nagi went about picking them back up, cursing at her clumsiness as she did so, when a loud crash suddenly made her jump in her own skin. Stopping dead in her tracks, she held the papers to her chest along with her thundering heart to keep it from leaping out. It wasn't until she spotted the slightly ajar door to her right that she let herself sigh in relief. A peeved expression crossed her face and she frowned at the sign that read 'staff room' overheard.
Thanks for the heart attack.
"What's the matter?"
She perked to attention, conditioned by Aizawa's voice but the the sudden weeping blindsided her. Mostly because she recognized whose voice it was despite it being broken up by hysteric sobs.
"Oh, god, no…"
The pain in her voice was more than evident. And the sound of such thing coming from Suzume was strange. It worried her, honestly. Nagi stepped closer to the door unconsciously, standing just out of eyesight beside the slightly open door.
"Suzume, what happened?"
Nagi recalled hearing Aizawa that serious and leveled when she was younger. Back when he came along with Suzume for her checkups at the hospital. She knew what concern sounded like coming from him. Whatever it was must've convinced Aizawa that it was just as much of a delicate matter as hers had been. Nagi pressed herself closer against the wall before shuffling closer to the door, curiosity piqued even more.
"O-One of the children, Chi-Chiyoko." Nagi's brow instantly furrowed. That name—she hadn't thought of it in years. "She…j-jumped—off a building. S-She—at the hospital, she...p-passed away.""
Everything came to a screeching halt.
...what?
All at once her breathing stopped. Turquoise eyes grew wide as a pressure in her chest grew, choking the air out of her. Her knuckles turned ghastly white as her grip on the papers tightened and crumpled the print-outs. Beneath her, she could feel her legs quivering yet somehow managing to keep her standing.
In the blink of an eye, everything stopped and lost its hue. Everything turned black. Then, in a flash, it all turned white. Bluish gray tiles became flawless ivory. Windowed walls vanished, morphing into alabaster walls. Her surroundings became bigger, engulfing her whole and imprisoning her. Then, out of the blue, the soft pattering of feet came to her ears. A small child came into her view and stood before her—one whose face she couldn't recall clearly. The mere realization of that floored her and twisted her insides into a mess of entrails.
Tear streaks marred the child's cheeks. Bandaged arms reached up to wipe at her face as she cried and cried. But those sobs suddenly stopped and began to change color. Nagi's breath stopped short as the clear drops that had been streaming down her cheeks turned scarlet. At taking away her hands, Nagi couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight—so clear and so vivid now that it was stained in blood.
Large doe eyes stared at her with not a touch of emotion in them. No anger, no apathy, no hatred. Only a vacant soullessness that chilled Nagi down to her bones. Those stained lips twitched and Nagi felt herself flinch as her gut twisted further at what she saw.
Her lips moved but no sound came.
But Nagi didn't need to hear her say it.
The sudden sound of the bell was like a punch to her gut. She gulped in air after the initial hit but it felt heavy. Stifling. All color returned to her world in the blink of an eye. And everything that had come with the colorlessness vanished in turn. A ringing in her ears remained as she struggled to steady her breathing but there wasn't any time to fully snap out her stupor. Her head snapped at the clamoring footsteps from the staff room and in a panic, she fled. Taking the stairs, she climbed higher and higher. Normally at first, then stumbling on the steps two by two. Clumsily she climbed until finally reaching the top and pushing through the door, taking a sharp inhale the moment the air hit her face.
Warm, spring air.
Her eyes instantly shot up to the sky to see the clearless blue that stretched as far as her eyes could see. Beyond the fenced roof, she saw the city that spread farther ahead. Needing to grasp onto something she made the short way to it, dropping the printouts carelessly and gripping the metal links between her fingers tightly. Her skin tingled where the metal touched, a flame sparking to life in her stomach and warming it as the feeling spread. Far easier than she'd wished, she tore at the fence as if it were nothing but damp paper, leaving a gaping hole in the fence. Her view unhindered, she took in the widespread of the city below her.
The same city Chiyoko must've seen when she—
Nagi choked on the bile the rose up her throat, a hand shooting up to stop it from briming out of her mouth. Her fingers slipped from the metal, melted links slipping like water on oil, as she turned and leaned her back against it. She slid down until she hit the floor, her hands falling to her sides defeatedly as her mind idled. The sudden crumpling of paper beneath her caught her ear and she gave a sidelong glance to the printouts near her feet.
A few were stepped on, others crumpled, but they were all there.
All twenty-two of them.
The second warning bell rang and the sound sounded muffled to her ears. Almost as if she were inside a bubble separate from the world. Ever so faintly, it still reached her. Practically beckoned her.
It's time to go, it said. You have work to do, it said. There are still others that need you, it said.
And there wasn't any time to waste grieving.
Nagi shuddered and snatched the paper closest to her. Rising, she picked each and every one of the scattered papers before making her way back to class. The embers continued to burn like a hearth in her gut as she made her way down the stairs. It was unmistakable, that scorching sensation of helplessness.
"How disappointing your uselessness is."
Nagi bit down on her lips hard and lowered her head.
Don't think about it.
"I was warned about your tardiness, Chitanko-kun, but I doubted I would have to deal with it in my class."
Nagi gripped the printouts against her chest and her stomach turned with all those eyes staring at her. She didn't think that Midnight meant to put her on the spotlight like that but being late to class while she was on duty understandably raised questions.
Ones she didn't want to answer.
Don't think about it.
Forcing a half-assed grin, Nagi chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her neck. "I'm sorry, Midnight-sensei. I must've spaced out and missed the bells."
Midnight cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. Nagi tried her best to hide from behind the stack of printouts she raised. Thankfully, after a long chiding look, Midnight tapped the podium for her to leave the papers and Nagi did so without a word. That didn't save her from one last reproach.
"Make this the one and only time, alright?"
"Yes, ma'am."
A smile came to Midnight's face as she waved her to her seat. Free at last, Nagi took the hint and stumbled over to her desk, slouching back on her chair the moment she sat down. She thanked than Midnight continued her class without further ado too and tried focusing on what the lecture. But her mind wasn't having it.
The image of Chiyoko and her words haunted her. It demanded her attention. It wanted to be heard. Nagi wanted nothing to do with it.
Don't think about it. Don't think about it.
Her fingers tapped away as she forced herself to listen to Midnight prattle on and on about modern hero arts. But the more she tried, the more she couldn't help letting her mind wonder.
Letting it think.
"One of the children, Chiyoko. She jumped off a building. She passed away at the hospital."
Chiyoko's blood stained lips came to mind along with the words she so clearly mouthed.
"You did this."
Guilt wracked her and she laid her head down on her desk to hide her face as her thoughts ravaged her. Unconsciously, her fingers tapped at the slick surface, her feet doing the same against the tiled floor.
"It's for the best." She remembered Yori telling her as much when she argued on the contrary. "This way, they won't be involved. They'll get to live their lives and we'll clean up the mess."
The hearth burning in her twisted her guts further than the guilt. The fire burned hotter and hotter as her fingers and foot struck faster against her desk and ground. A guttural groan she didn't hear rose from below, the floor trembling slightly beneath her feet.
Leaving them out of it was supposed to help. It was supposed to be how she and Yori would protect them. And yet—
"You did this."
What the hell have I been doing all this time?
A shudder shook her entire body as the flames scorched her body whole, striking her with pain. It wasn't until she heard her classmates' hectic cries that she realized what was actually wrong.
It wasn't just her that shook.
"W-What's going on?" Ochako called out as her desk rattled alongside everybody else's.
"An e-earthquake?!" Mineta's shrill exclaim pierced her ears, the shortstack slithering beneath his desk without trouble nor warning.
Nagi barely made out Hagakure shrinking into her seat from how her uniform crumpled into itself. "I-Isn't it too strong?"
"Children, quickly and calmly stand from your desks and—"
Nagi's chair screeched when she shot up gripping at the edges of her desk as the hearth died in one stroke. The moment it died, the shaking halted and all noise quieted along with it. Her ears rang till and she struggled to catch her breath even after it all stopped. Centering on her notebook as it laid skewed on her desk, Nagi focused her blurry vision on it to ground herself but as she did, something warm dripped from her nose.
The small drop splattered against the white sheet of paper in a mix of deep crimson and silver. Her eyes widened at the sight of it and her hand immediately sprang to cover her nose as it bled on, the warmth of it coating her fingers.
"I-I'm sorry." Her mumbling wasn't made any better by her hand covering her mouth. But she didn't care. She could feel them coming—not just the blood. Her eyes stung too. And that wasn't something she would let them see.
It wouldn't be something she'd let them hold over her.
"I'm...I'm not f-feeling so good." The silence made it easier for Midnight to hear her and Nagi thanked god for that. "May I g-go to the nurse's office?"
Midnight couldn't do anything except nod. Nagi sprinted off the instant she did, zigzagging through the desks on the back in her rush to reach the back door. Even as quick as she was, she still felt their stares. Needles pricking her slowly, pryingly, wanting to know more. Wanting to know what happened. Wishing to know why.
Stop.
Sprinting through empty hallways gave her a clear way to Recovery Girl's office. And thankfully, the old lady wasn't in. Her eyes scanned the office before taking a gauze from a nearby cabinet and pressing it against her nose to staunch the bleeding. Nagi took a couple more as she made her way to the farthest bed and drew the curtain along the railing to close herself off from the rest of the room. To give herself a small space of her own apart from the rest of the world. A place where she could be alone, where no one would see her.
It was only when she had that that the tears sprung free. Nagi choked on her tears a little, her nose unable to help her breathe as she spent herself in tears.
Her mind reeled with everything that she couldn't help think about. Chiyoko. Herself. The others. Yori. A handful still alive yet how many…
How many were like Chiyoko? How many more were holding onto the ledge ready to let go at the reminder? At the mere thought that they could all go back to the hell they had lived through.
Something told her that had to be the reason. God knows it almost did her in too. It was impossible to forget. A heaviness so tangible and engulfing that it wouldn't let her breathe, wouldn't let her drink or eat, and most of all wouldn't let her forget. Not a day went by where the memories, spotty as they were, wouldn't cross her mind during her waking hours or in nightmares. Not a day went by that her vision wouldn't tinge rooms a stark white in the blink of an eye and leave her stranded. Not one second where she wouldn't hurt herself, accidently or otherwise, by the titanium in her bones reacting and cutting through skin leaving her a bloody mess. Those kinds of moments when she would scratch at the open wounds and relieve those nightmares was when Yori would come to gently take her hands in his and soothe her fractured mind.
"It's alright," he would say, touching his forehead to hers as he gently rubbed at the wounds he bandaged. "You're safe now. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."
Somehow, Yori talked her off of that perpetual ledge and gave her a purpose. Gave her a reason to be and not regret it. They were the whole reason she thought living worthwhile anymore. Nagi didn't think the rest were anything like her. She thought their families or the people who loved them would be reason enough to stay.
So why, Chiyoko?
Nagi felt her heart calm from the erratic rhythm it took with every reminder of her name. Sobbing still, she wiped at her nose, throwing the red and silver gauze in the nearby bin and use the next before she started muttering names under her shaky breath.
"Hiroyuki. Kaya. Yuuta."
Her hastened breathing lessened. Their faces, blurry but still there, came to mind.
"Izumi, Hari, Hachu, Touke, Ikari, Yohsei, Yori, Chi—"
There's one less name again.
A bitter laugh grew into tears at the awful reminder. One less name. Another one of them gone. She wondered about what would occur if all of them disappeared. Would they be forgotten too? Would they only be a mournful reminder of a tragedy no one saw coming? And that once seen and the initial shock subsided, no one would care for again?
She bit her lip tasting the blood that had dried there. Warm and metallic. A brittle voice left her lips as she pronounced each name.
"Hiroyuki, Kaya, Yuuta. Izumi, Hari, Hachu, Touke, Ikari, Yohsei, Chiyoko, Yori."
Nagi forced herself to remember. Forced herself to try and recall what Chiyoko's face had looked like. Not the bloodied little girl, but the girl that had survived. The one that wasn't with them anymore.
"Hiroyuki, Kaya, Yuuta. Izumi, Hari, Hachu, Touke, Ikari, Yohsei, Chiyoko, Yori."
But she bit her lip in frustration, tasting the blood that had smeared on her when she failed to recall it. It cruelly dawned on her then that all she could remember were names. Words that held no meaning without the person they represented. The thought tore at her, her grief igniting anew the hearth in her stomach and the tears she thought spent. The warmth of blood from her nose and the tears sprouting from her eyes didn't bother her anymore. Not when she couldn't even recall what most of their faces looked like.
All but a few and only one that she wished would be there with her. Wishing for that was useless though, especially with them apart. Not quite feeling like going back to class, Nagi hiccupped through her tears and rose to part the curtain intent on grabbing more gauzes to lie down with when the infirmary's door clicked opened.
Turquoise eyes blinked taken aback by the sudden appearance of a rather emaciated blonde man. The moment his dark sunken gaze fell on her, he stumbled apparently shocked himself that someone else apart from Recovery Girl was there.
"P-Pardon my intrusion, Young Ch-I mean, young miss."
Her eyes narrowed but whatever suspicion arose left her pretty quick when she felt the warmth of her blood slipping down her nose again. Rushing to the cabinet, she fumbled through the bins and took a handful of gauzes before pressing a couple to her nose and tipping her head slightly backward.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I-It's just a nosebleed."
His concern waned at the explanation but only slightly as his gaze focused elsewhere. "Surely it isn't just a nosebleed that would have you in tears."
Suddenly reminded of that, Nagi felt a sob escape her as she hurried to wipe the tears prickling the edges of her eyes. Sniveling to rid of the blood, she wiped at it more before tossing the gauze in the trash.
"It's really nothing, sir. Actually, it's gone now, so I'm just gonna go ahead to the staff room and call for Recovery Girl. Surely, she's the one you're looking for—"
Just as she said that, the man went off on a violent and loud coughing fit. The blood that instantly shot out from his mouth spooked Nagi almost shooting her heart straight out of her ribcage through her throat. Her hands fumbled with the extra gauzes in her panic before shoving them onto his chest. Through his fit, a smile tugged at the edges of his bloody mouth as he took the gauzes. Her erratic heartbeat settled slowly as he took a few moments to clean himself and turned to her.
"I apologize. It wasn't my intention to show you such an awful sight."
Unable to find her voice for a moment, she shook her head instead. Regaining it quickly, she snatched a nearby towel she spotted in the room as he busied himself with further tidying up in the nearby washbasin and waited. Once done, she readily passed on the towel that he took with a curt 'thank you' under his breath. But as he started coughing into towel too, Nagi hurriedly nudged a chair closer for him to seat on.
"Are you alright, sir?"
"I'll be just fine." Though he said it with a chuckle, it didn't do much to convince her. "I'm more troubled about whatever would have such a young, prospective heroine as yourself so downcast."
Her eyes widened a bit at the question but her skewed gaze dispelled it altogether. "Let me bring you another towel."
As she rifled through the cabinets in search of it, the squeaking of the chair took her attention. It was when she turned back that the man squarely had his eye on her, scrutinizing her to some degree. Yet the staring didn't turn her stomach as much as others. It was uncomfortable, yes, but not to that foul degree that made her skin crawl. It was different. Almost like he was trying to dig through a mound of dirt without so much as moving a finger. And the bright spot of blue that Nagi saw in those dark eyes of his sent a sense of something she couldn't quite describe.
"I've learned that when something is troubling me, regardless of its gravity, I find it comforting to talk to someone about it. It lessens the load. Perhaps it can do the same for you." He gave a tight-lipped smile that managed to reach his eyes. It gave Nagi that same, strange feeling. A familiar one. She sat herself down on a nearby chair, pondering about it when she felt the warmth of blood flowing anew.
She cursed under her breath as she reached up to cover it but just as she was about to, scrawny fingers handed back the towel she'd given. Turquoise eyes met blazing blue and he pointed at his own nose to draw attention to her fresh nosebleed. It was while she pressed the towel to her nose and kept their gazes locked that she found a word to describe it: solace.
Wiping the now crimson blood from her nose, her grasped tightened on the towel as a feeling bubbled in her chest undoing the knot her guts had become and urging her to say something. It didn't matter what.
Just...talk.
"I found out today that a friend of mine passed away."
The zeal that had tinted the man's blue eyes vanished instantly. She expected it. Something as awful as that would have anybody reeling back and trying to compose themselves. That certainly was the case for her as much as she hated to admit it. A somber expression came over the man's face. He lowered the towel from his mouth before facing Nagi, his eyes never leaving her sight.
"I'm sorry, child."
A taut line came over her lips, almost as if wanting to mimic a smile. It felt forced. Certainly practiced, bordering mechanic.
"I don't think I have the right to be sad about it."
"What would have you say such thing?"
"I stopped talking to a lot of people I knew years ago. She was one of them. I thought she would be better off that way. Now I hardly remember what she looked like. I...forgot about her." Her gaze dropped to the towel in her tight grip. Once clean and white now marred a dark crimson. "That's why I shouldn't be feeling sad about it. I don't think I get to feel anything to be honest. Not when I didn't care about her for this long."
"It certainly doesn't sound like you didn't care." Nagi's brow furrowed. Raising her head, she met the man's eyes once more and saw sternness. It was so unlike others she'd seen though. It wasn't surly like Aizawa's or canny like Suzume's. No, his was almost...fatherly. "On the contrary, it sounds like you very much cherished your friend."
"We weren't really friends." She said that through a dry chuckle that belied the knot that was starting to form anew in her gut. "They were just kids I knew."
Just a whole bunch of hapless kids that happened to have the same shit luck that she did.
"By the sound of things, you very much thought of them as friends even if you don't call them as such. But I think I can understand why you wouldn't. When we try to protect the people we care about, we come to distance ourselves from them."
"But it doesn't make sense." She hissed trying to keep from raising her voice. Her confusion mixed with newly boiling anger started to cloud her mind though and undid that restraint fast. "If you care about someone, you wouldn't leave them. You stay and protect them no matter what. That's what I should've done! And if I had, Chiyoko would still be alive!"
She rose from her seat before she knew it, her voice raising alongside her as her own mounting ire exploded. Not at him. At herself. Tears that had been pricking at her eyes finally rolled over, frustration spilling them down her cheeks. Seeing them brought back the solemnity in the man as he pondered. It wasn't until she spent her anger over in tears that he spoke.
"Then perhaps it could serve as a lesson."
"What...what do you mean?"
"Learn from your grief. Don't let go of what you cherish from now on. Hold onto it tight and protect it as you wish for it to be protected. Maybe that will give you some kind of peace of mind after today."
Peace of mind?
This time not even the bell ringing broke her out of her train of thought as his words slowly sank into the quicksand that was her mind. The man glanced down at his watch before rising from his seat in a haste.
"O-Oh, goodness. I should get going." The somberness from before took a drastic change and he showed of a goofy smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry to bore you with an old man's babble. But try not to beat yourself over it so much. Things do get better. The grief doesn't go away but you learn to live with it after a while. And sometimes, that's the best we can do with these sort of things." Nagi's mouth opened and closed a few times still stunned by his impromptu words. It wasn't until she saw him heading out of the infirmary that she recovered and shot out of her seat.
"S-Sir, wait!"
Humming, he turned to look at her over his shoulder. All at once her mind blanked with just how many things spun in her head. So lost in her own thoughts, Nagi asked the one thing that knocked the loudest at her.
"Who are you?"
At that, the man chuckled and reached out, his lanky hand engulfing her head and ruffling her hair a few times.
"Just a man who likes bringing smiles to downhearted children."
The cheesiness of that line got a genuine chuckle out of her and he smiled in kind. Before she could ask him anything else, he left her to her own devices. For a few minutes, Nagi stood there pondering. About things she didn't want to think about. About things she couldn't help but think about.
And about his words.
"Don't let go of what you cherish from now on."
Nagi tilted her head as the second bell rang. She scanned the infirmary for the clock. Lunch had just started and hero basics would come after it. Taking a moment, she thought about what she wanted to do. She'd left the classroom thinking of just skipping the rest of the day but after having talked to that man, a new though came to her.
One that overrode the rest. Hero basics doesn't sound so bad right now.
The few tentative steps she took to leave stopped short when she spotted herself in front of a mirror. Eyes puffy and red with streaks of tears lining her cheeks. Nagi nabbed a wet napkin from Recovery Girl's cabinet and forcefully wiped her face clean as her thoughts wondered.
"You have a lovely smile, Nagi. It definitely suits you better than tears. So go on—"
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Nagi raised her face, a smile pulling at her lips. A small one but it was a start.
"Smile."
I should've skipped.
That sour thought didn't disappear in the least as Nagi dawdled unamused at the bottom of the valley of a makeshift precipice at the newly reopened USJ. Yaoyorozu hadn't been kidding when she told get they'd be renewing their rescue training. Nagi just didn't think that the staff would have the nerve to put them back in the very place that they had just been attacked in a couple days prior. Aizawa didn't look reliable in the least with his mummy get-up, and though Thirteen was better off, she still felt like they weren't up to par if things were to get hairy like they did last time.
And by the varying looks on her classmates faces, it was quite obvious that none of them were all around convinced either. But it wasn't like they could lodge complaints either. She guessed that for now with the extra security that Yuuei implemented after the attack they'd be more secure at least. Still…
"What a fucking waste."
Ditto. But instead of agreeing out loud, Nagi raised an eyebrow at Bakugou as he crouched down on the floor not far from her, grumbling to himself.
"You're awfully loud for an unconscious civilian, Firecracker."
"Fuck off, Twinkle Toes."
"Chitanko-san, Bakugou-san, if you would set aside your arguments for the moment." Yaoyorozu poised herself on the ground, back straight as she sat with one leg seemingly stiffer than the other. "We must give the proper attention to this exercise regardless of the role we were given."
Nagi wasn't so sure about that. For as much as she wanted to antagonize Bakugou for the hell of it—and to clear her mind of things—she also didn't see the point in being a faux casualty in an exercise. We're training to rescue, not be rescued. All that frustration left her as a long, drawn out sigh. Well, at least she was the 'worried' civilian and not the helpless ones like Yaoyorozu and Bakugou. As helpless as he could be anyway.
"Hurry the hell up already!"
"Aren't you supposed to be knocked out?" Sero's call down the valley echoed her previous statement and brought a grin to her lips that she flashed back at Bakugou.
At least it lifted her spirits to get on his nerves. And after the day she was having, Nagi would very much nag him to hell and back if it meant getting her mind off things for the time being. Remembering that they were in fact being scored for their rescues and injured roles, though, she thought she might as well play her role well too.
Time for a show.
"Heroes, please help us!" Nagi was at the cusp of a grin as she cupped her hands to her mouth and let her voice reach the top. "Our poor, poor princess has broken her leg and I'm over my head with worry for her wellbeing." She dramatically gestured her arm at Bakugou who was still crouching and fuming on the ground. "And though inconsequential—" Kicking back, she grazed Bakugou hard enough to make him fall backwards to a proper sit with a swift 'what the hell?!' to accompany it. Nagi skipped the few steps away from his grasp, palms crackling with the temptation of blowing her up to smithereens. "Our vicious, loudmouthed firecracker has fizzled out as well! By god, hurry! Please!"
Nagi heard the echoes of laughter from above that brought a smile to her face. Not even the threats from behind dampened her mood. Goofing around and enjoying something always made a situation better for her. Made them worthwhile staying anyway. And it helped.
Before long, Sero was lowered down alongside the gurney, his tape securing it well as it gently landed on the dirt beneath. He reciprocated the silly grin that she gave him before turning to Bakugou and Yaoyorozu.
"Guess Bakugou's first, huh?"
"Yessir," she called, balancing on her heels as she helped get the gurney to where Bakugou still sat, fuming. Leaning in, she whispered through a chuckle, "Don't drop him from too high, okay?"
"If Plain Face drops me, you're getting it, Twinkle Toes."
Though caught, she didn't seem worried in the least. "Worth it."
Through the bickering and cursing, Sero got Bakugou on the gurney and started his way up with the tug of his tape before it started its slow ascent. Nagi stepped back and sat beside Yaoyorozu to watch Sero struggle with keeping Bakugou from moving too much.
"You seem to get along with Bakugou-san in quite a peculiar way."
Nagi chuckled at hearing Yaoyorozu's words. "It's fun to bother him."
Silence came over them then. One that felt rather thick to Nagi. Something Yaoyorozu proved true when she pursed her lips before raising her voice to ask, "Chitanko-san?"
"Mm?"
"Are you well?"
Turning to their vice president, Nagi took a moment to flash her a reassuring smile. "Course I am. What makes you ask?"
"It's just that, well… Ever since the earthquake this afternoon and you seemingly not being too well, I'm starting to suspect that perhaps what happened wasn't an earthquake at all."
"Doesn't that make the most sense though? For it to just be some random earthquake that came and went."
"It certainly would, but I think..."
When she drew out the word, Nagi practically heard the restraint in it. Mostly in the words she didn't want to say. She stared at her blue sneakers, tapping the sides against each other to keep from focusing too much. "I'm pretty sure we both know that you know, Yao-chan. Don't worry, you're not being nosy or anything. So whatever you're thinking, I'd rather you just say it."
"It was you, wasn't it?"
A wry smile came to her lips. Nagi buried her head into her knees, placing her arms over it to hide for a moment before lifting her head and facing her. "Sorry if I scared you."
"What happened?" Concern etched on her face, Yaoyorozu's brow furrowed ever slightly as she leaned forward.
"Just got distracted," Nagi said. "Nothing to worry about."
Yaoyorozu tilted her head, perplexed by her lack of reason. "Are you positive?"
Before Nagi could reassure her, the noise of Sero's climb down the mountainside took their attention. He reached them quick with practiced ease and once he was done securing Yaoyorozu to the gurney, he stepped back to face Nagi.
"Be back in a bit."
"Copy that." She gave a quick salute with her fingers and watched with a grin as they rose.
Once alone, Nagi let out a long sigh, her smile falling with it, and spun about to look at the rest of the chasm she stood in. Either end was a path of solid shadow where the light from above managed to keep lit. Just barely though. She could see one foot ahead of her somewhat clearly. The darkness and somber quiet sunk an uneasy feeling in her stomach. It was then that she realized how badly she wanted out of there. The faster, the better. The low rumble echoing from the nearby slide didn't make it any better either.
Fucking creepy.
Craning back her neck to let her voice ring out, she bellowed, "'Preciate some hustle, guys!" She frowned at the crack in her voice but dismissed it quickly enough by clearing her throat.
Not wanting to stand idle, she walked in circles to pass the time quicker. That didn't do much of anything. Eyes fleeting back and forth between her feet and the blackness that surrounded her, she kneaded at her abdomen and at the ball of nerves that started forming in her stomach in an attempt to undo it. The more her eyes accustomed to the dark though, the more it crawled closer. Encroaching her. Swallowing her whole.
Like drowning.
Her hands turned clammy at the reminder. Nagi's heart pumped harder to follow along with her hastening breath. No matter what she tried there wasn't any calming it down either. It sped quickly out of control at the vivid memory of her dream. Of what she felt, what she saw. Of who she saw. An avalanche of thoughts suddenly spun in her head at that the idea of them.
Yori.
She fiddled with her phone, turning it over in her hand as it sat safely in her her costume's pocket . Despite having made up just the other day, she couldn't help the unease that crawled under her skin now more than ever. Yori was treading dangerous waters and risking his well being. Not just him, either. Everybody else was too. And here she was, playing pretend and playing nice. Gripping her phone tighter, the tepid embers lighted anew in the pit of her stomach and Nagi released the long breath of frustration that she held in.
Maybe I can help Yori with whatever they're doing during the night. Sneaking around doing reconnaissance wasn't something foreign to her. It gave her something to do too. Another way to help. And Chiyoko's death urged her to do something—anything in her power to speed up the process.
Otherwise what was the point of being there?
"Chitanko?"
Her tension snapped at the sudden call. Instinctively, Nagi flung her arm back and her titanium bracelet flew. It wasn't until she heard Sero's cry and him thudding painfully to the ground from a considerable height that she pulled herself together.
"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!"
Sero groaned and rubbed the back of his head and frowned at her as she helped him to his feet "What was that for?"
"You...you kind of spooked me."
"Don't most girls just cry out or something?"
A nervous chuckle was all she could give him.
With Sero at the helm, it was easier than she thought to reach the top of the cliff afterwards. Everybody clamored around the two after they got to the top asking what had happened. Apparently the moment she cut his tape, Yohsei, Hagakure, and Aoyama, who'd been hauling him upward, sprung forth and hurt themselves too. Almost instantly at her stepping forward to claim the fault, Aizawa clipped the back of her head with the his casted arm, telling her to apologize.
For once, she listened.
"Sorry 'bout that."
It took Thirteen's quick intervention to dispel the situation and continue with the exercise at hand. Almost instantly, Nagi spaced out as the rest of her classmates switched between the injured and the rescuers, and didn't come to until the last round when Thirteen pointed at her and three others.
"Now for the last round, you four will be doing the rescuing."
Nagi followed Thirteen's pointing finger after they aimed it at her. Tsuyu, Mina, and Satou. Not bad. Two 'alright' picks and one 'good' one. Satou would be great for pulling and she was sure Tsuyu would be able to help with retrieving them too. Liking their prospects and of finishing the exercise early to get some much needed rest, Nagi huddled closer to her rescue team as they came together at Mina's enthusiastic behest.
"Alright, team, we've got this!"
"And the injured will be—" Thirteen's sudden stop mid sentence brought her attention back to them and she blanched at the sight of Aizawa interrupting Thirteen. "Senpai?"
"The injured will be Todoroki, Kouda, and Shouji."
A tick set off in her jaw at the obvious look he shot her. There was no mistaking the intent of it either. Plain as day, it said this was her punishment for not taking things seriously.
Whatever. Dish 'em out for all I care.
Even with her pride yelling at her to not let him have the last laugh—or frown, she supposed—Nagi felt too drained to give a damn about anything. Aizawa's bothersome tests least of all. But that didn't matter. What did was that the sooner she got this over with, the sooner she'd get to go home.
Thirteen and Aizawa gave them a few minutes to prepare while the faux injured were lowered. Mina took the time to prepare rather seriously, huddling them together like a bunch of football players and hauling Nagi by her arm when she lagged behind.
"Alright, team, here's the plan: Tsu-chan and I will go down while Nagi-chan and Satou stay and pull the injured back up."
"I don't think that's the best idea." Tsuyu peeked over her shoulder at the chasm behind them. "It' a rather long distance down. Won't Satou-chan get tired?"
The girls gave him a sidelong glance that got him thinking. "I could pull them up but it'd have to be fast."
"Fast won't do, Satou-chan. We don't want to risk the injured."
"Don't just shoot down every idea we come up with." Mina pouted, obviously peeved with how hard their exercise was turning out to be.
Tsuyu tilted her head towards Nagi as she pressed a finger to her cheek. "Maybe there's a better way to go about this."
Listening in, Nagi admitted that they all had good points in their back and forth. And she was sure they would figure it out. It was as they continued to bounce around ideas between each other that Nagi's eyes began to fleet aimlessly in search of a distraction. But the moment her eyes saw the pulley Yaoyorozu left behind, a lightbulb went on in her head. It was then, unable to keep to herself, that she chortled and everyone turned to her puzzled.
"I think I've got something."
Trotting over to the pulley on the ground, Nagi picked it up and turned it in her hands, taking in every minute detail that she could. Aizawa, realizing what she was doing, looked up.
"You can't use something from another team."
"I guessed as much." She nodded along, both to answer his reproach and ticking off the imaginary list she was making in her head. "But I'm not going to use it."
Holding the Yao-brand pulley in one hand, she turned the other with her palm up and started to gesture her fingers. The titanium on her costume answered her call and molded into liquid, crawling their way up into her open hand. With the meticulous movements of her fingers, she molded the liquid, solidifying it as she went along into a similar shape to what she had in her other hand.
Her team huddled around her as she made the finishing touches on the titanium pulley replica. Smug grin pulling at the corner of her lips, she showed it off to Aizawa, lifting it with one finger.
"This should be okay, though, right?"
Aizawa begrudgingly sighed and nodded in the end. Mina and Tsuyu clamored cheers around Nagi getting a genuine smirk out of her. Guess spacing out paid off. Thirteen took over, explaining to the group as Nagi, Tsuyu, and Mina went back to Satou to plan out their rescue properly.
"Ingenuity is your best ally in stressful situations. Especially when resources are scarce or when under time constraints. Always have a ready and open mind to be able to outwit whatever obstacle comes your way."
By the time they were done, her team was ready for the rescue and Thirteen gave them the greenlight to start.
Nagi went up first, nearing the edge of the cliff before undoing several pieces of titanium from her costume. She estimated the gurney's width with a glance before bunching up the liquid in the palms of her hands and sinking them straight down into the hard rock between her feet. With a firm thrust of her tensed arms outward, the titanium shot from the side of cliff straight to the other side, firmly affixing the pair of poles between the ravine. Satou and Mina readied the rope on the gurney while Tsuyu watched after Nagi as she walked off the cliff and onto the poles.
"Be careful, Nagi-chan."
She threw her a thumbs up, reassuring her as she trapiesed across to the center and right below the chasm. Lowering herself to a seat on one pole, she molded the ends of the pulley onto the poles before Satou helped her lower the gurney between the space she'd measured out. Nagi secured the pulley with one last tug and busied her hands with coating the rope in more of her titanium as the rest of her team prattled on.
"If we stick to the plan, we'll be golden!" Mina's enthusiasm brought a chuckle out of Nagi as she tapped the sides of the pole idly.
Mina and Satou bent down to snatch part of the rope, ready to pull with him behind for better support. "You guys bring them up safely."
Giving Satou a thumbs up, she made a rung out of the metal coating on the rope to step on and slid down to it. Hanging from the one rung, she motioned to the bottom at Tsuyu with a nod of her head. "See you below?"
Tsuyu let out a 'ribbit' along with a nod before climbing down the side of the cliff by safely clinging to it with her Quirk. Nagi signaled at Satou and Mina with a curt salute and both responded in kind by slowly lowering the gurney and her. Working together made the trip down easy. Or maybe it just seemed so when she wasn't doing much of the heavy lifting. That everything was either coated or made of titanium made it feel safer to boot. But it also brought on a palpable burden. If anything went wrong on the way up or down, she was the one safeguard. Definitely cranked up the anxiety factor a few pegs.
Nothing I can't handle.
Once below, she let Tsuyu assess the situation seeing as she was best at that sort of thing. Thirteen hadn't said which injured the three would be, but it wasn't too hard to figure out once they saw it. Kouda desperately waved his arms over his head, face scrunched up in worry. Whether fake or not, it was hard to tell for her. That Todoroki simply sat up without moving was a clear sign that he was the one with the broken leg. Which left Shouji as the unconscious one.
She turned to Tsuyu and chuckled. "Eraser really left us with all the heavy lifting, huh?"
"He must've been really upset with you, Nagi-chan."
She turned away, the comment poignant enough to shut her up instantly. Heaving a sigh, they focused back on the matter at hand. Though it made her nervous to bring such a hefty guy up the gurney, she that starting with the bigger guys first was the better option.
"We'll leave Todoroki-chan for last then," Tsuyu concluded.
"Call dibs on Kouda first." Kouda flustered at the mention of his name, waving his hands back and forth between himself and Shouji and Todoroki. Nagi, more or less understanding him, smiled reassuringly as her hands came to rest on her hips. "It'll be easier that way, so don't sweat it."
Bringing Kouda up turned out easier than she had first thought. Certainly gave her confidence when it came to Shouji's turn. And despite her anxiety peaking on the way up, it turned out to be just as painless. She gauged her control after delivering Shouji to Satou and Mina, wiping the beads of sweat from her brow as more crawled down her neck. A few jumps on the poles and a tug on the pulley ensured her of their sturdiness.
Good to go. Once down in the chasm again, she thank god this was the last rescue and approached Todoroki with Tsuyu.
"You alright there?"
"Fine. Just make it quick."
"Nagi-chan, I wouldn't if I were you. Todoroki-chan's too serious to poke fun at."
Nagi shrugged her shoulders having grown a little more used to his apathetic demeanor. "Worth a try." Kneeling by his left side, she poke at the ice covering his leg. "We gotta splinter your leg, Mr. Injured."
"Do the other one."
"I want to do your left one though."
"The other one, Chitanko."
"But—"
"I'm not repeating myself."
Letting out a long sigh, she motioned her fingers so that the liquid metal formed the splint around his right leg. She blew him a raspberry all the while she and Tsuyu carried him to the gurney. Once secured, she tugged at the rope and the others started to pull it upward with her on the wrung. Bending her knee, Nagi leaned her head against the rope. So much routine inclined her to space out. At first she thought about nothing in particular—mostly of how much she wanted the exercise to be over—but as she let herself wonder, intrusive thoughts like before made their way through.
The petri. Bones breakings. Lungs filling to the brim with thick water. Chiyoko's haunting appearance. Her bloodied face. Her scarlet lips. Her hauntingly truthful accusation.
"You did this."
Crack.
The sound was tiny—almost indiscernible—but it wasn't the sound so much as the tension springing in her muscles so suddenly. Before she could even raise her head to look up, another crack went off. This time she saw it, the way the pulley chipped at the mold just before it broke completely off from the titanium pole.
Turquoise eyes widened the split second it took for it to snap. The air in her lungs got punched got out of her the second gravity take over her and the gurney below. Acting on instinct, she pulled both arms in forcefully and felt the hearth in her gut alight. The titanium coating the rope and from the pole shot towards her at the gesture, converging with her arms. The instant she felt the coldness off the metal, Nagi clutched it, twisting the metal around her hands and grimacing at the sudden jerk threatening to pull her arms apart when the makeshift rope tensed up.
"Nagi-chan!"
"I'm alright!" Biting through the pain, Nagi gave Tsuyu a lousy excuse of a grin that even she knew did little to hide her pain. "Go up there and help them."
Tsuyu didn't appear convinced in the least but hurried in face of the situation, taking leaps to reach the cliff in no time. Nagi thanked her quick thinking and Tsuyu's self-controlled outlook under her breath, thinking she could surely hang in there while they pulled them the rest of the way up. But when pain struck her out of the blue, she bit her lip and scowled down at the gurney and more so at the person in it.
"Stop moving!"
"Your arms won't hold."
"I'll hold, damn it!"
This wasn't the time to panic. She needed to keep a leveled head. Kinda hard with how much it fucking hurts. Chastising herself for it, she tried thinking all the same. Through the pain, one thing did stick out. A bright and reassuring smile that calmed the hearts and minds of thousands around the world. Mimicking it with her own lopsided grin as best as she could, she turned down at Todoroki.
"N-No worries. I'm strong enough to hold out till they get us out of here. So just hang on tight and try to stay as still as possible, alright? We'll be out in a jiffy."
Mismatched eyes narrowed almost as if weighing the actual truth of her words but he had no time to protest by the time they began pulling them up. The incessant tugging of her arm shot pain straight through her that ran all the way to her spine with each pull. When they finally reached the top, Nagi groaned under her breath from the relief that coursed through her. Satou, grabbing her first by the scruff of her jacket, hauled her and the gurney upward onto solid ground. Once she was on the cliff, Todoroki didn't wait and simply made an ice pathway up with ease. Those eyes of his stared after her, his penetrating gaze hard to miss when it bore into the back of her head. Their eye contact was short lived though as Thirteen and Aizawa approached them.
"Are you alright?" Thirteen asked.
"For the most part." Her reply came between somewhat shaky breaths and the throbbing pain on her shoulders that was barely letting her think coherently.
Aizawa focused his sight on her, trying to find anything visible injuries. "Did your arms dislocate?"
Though taken aback by the question, she was quick to answer. "Not that I can tell. They're just aching." Thirteen and Aizawa shared one look before the former turned to ask her one more thing.
"Do you wish to continue?"
Why the hell not?
Tired as she might be, quitting halfway wasn't going to cut it. So she didn't complain, rotating her shoulders instead as the whole class moved to the next area.
It reminded Nagi of the place they used for their first lesson with All Might. But instead of an exact replica of what would be a perfect suburban city, it looked like a tornado came through and ravaged the area. And it made sense after giving it some thought.
Search and rescue at the apex of a disaster zone.
Much like it did to Mina, it sounded like an elaborated hide-and-seek game to her. And indeed it was. Midoriya, Ochako, Mineta, and Bakugou would search while she and the rest hid. Some silent and others being allowed to speak. Aizawa took to explaining that to the bunch of them that would hide, gesturing with a nod to a few of them, including her. Nagi gave him a droll stare out of habit. Guess he was going with the more straightforward approach to get her to cooperate.
"All of you have two minutes to hide. And keep in mind that even with this being a simulation, the debris and buildings aren't unstable, so be careful."
"Yessir!"
She watched her classmates scatter like hens running from a hungry fox, some definitely more enthused than others. Nagi ambled with nowhere in mind to go, eyeing the area from where she stood all the while and weighing where the perfect spot to hide would be. With most buildings looking on the verge of crumbling down, it took a moment for her to find what she was looking for but once she did, Nagi hurried off in the general direction of one of the tallest edifices still standing. Even slanted as it was, it'd work fine.
It'll take some time for them to find me there.
And now more than ever she just wanted to be alone.
'Hey, haven't heard from you for a few days. I know you said you'd contact me but I just want to make sure you're okay, y'know. Could you call me when you can? Also come back home soon. I sleep easier when I know you're alright—'
Nagi groaned deep in her throat and pressed the backspace on her phone hard enough to almost crack the screen. The message completely erased, she smacked her forehead a couple of times with it before having it slide down her face to stare skyward.
The dome ceiling that surrounded USJ blocked the view of a clear blue sky outside. The light that passed through the panes of glass refracted, shining bright rays down into the simulation box. Their stay there now made it akin to a toybox in her mind. And if this was the toybox, there wasn't a doubt about who the toys were. Simply to have and to play with, to teach and then set free to do as they had been made to do. At times she thought such a cynic idea too dreadful to have.
But it also came from a dreadful place in her. A place she was all too familiar with to ignore. And it brought along too many nasty thoughts to silence.
Was Chiyoko like this too? Was she this cynical? Was that what drove her over the edge?
Her fingers moved on their own, the thoughts urging them to as they pressed button after button on her phone. One final click brought up the sound that silenced everything around her instantly. Almost like a warm breeze brushing by and taking with it the things haunting her.
"Nagi, be sure to take care on your way. Papa and I will be waiting for you, alright? And also, don't mind your father too much. He's just worried—"
"Shit hiding place you picked."
Nagi scowled to herself, locking her phone the moment she heard Bakugou's irksome comment. The words didn't bother her as much as his interruption did. And here she thought she'd have time to brood without an audience.
Smile.
Nagi sat up and shoved her phone in her costume's pocket as she stood and dusted herself off. Plastering a grin from ear to ear, she skipped back with her hands behind her.
"Damn, what a bloodhound. Not even ten minutes."
Bakugou sneered and rested his gauntlet-clad on his hip. "You're the dumbass with their phone out."
"Eavesdropping?" She clicked her tongue and chidded him, "Uncool for a hero, dontcha think?"
Her relaxed expression and careless limbering up belied the the tension in her words. Or at least she thought they did. Those crimson eyes of his however narrowed on her. At noticing, Nagi gave him an innocent smile as acknowledgement to dissuade him.
"Like I fucking care what you're up to."
"Oh, be honest now." Nagi kicked at the ground where small pebbles laid about. "You like having me around."
"Check your damn head, Twinkle Toes. Fucking ego's getting to it."
A feral grin replaced the wistful one and taunted him as one of her eyebrows raised. "Sure you ain't talking about yourself there, kettle?"
Explosions set off in his palm as he threatened her with them, a tick going off on his jaw. "The hell did you say?"
"Ke~ttle—"
The sudden rumbling beneath their feet wiped the grin from her face. Far ahead, turquoise eyes spotted the dust rising closer from the center of town as it dissipated and the quaking stopped alongside it.
"What was that?"
Bakugou didn't bother answering. Curious why, Nagi turned in time to catch him rushing towards the edge of the roof. Panic swallowed her when he jumped and wrenched a hellish cry from her throat. Thankfully, he hadn't jumped for no reason. He set of his explosions without warning to propel himself in the direction where they saw the clouds rising. But as she watched his explosions go off and to where he was headed, her panic multiplied further.
It sent her heart pumping, her blood thrumming against her eardrums and muffling all outside noise. Frozen, Nagi focused on controlling her uneven breathing, but no matter how tightly she clutched at her chest, neither stopped. Her panic didn't dwindle and neither did the twisting in her gut lessen. Everything was moving too fast until it wasn't, stopping dead in its tracks when the earth shook once more. This time leveling a great portion of the city's center. The aftershock of such tremendous hit not only set off high speed winds but sent unstable buildings toppling down from the force, including the building she stood atop of.
The edifice beneath her feet as it fell tilting to one side. Nagi held her ground as the building stilled but couldn't help gawk in awe at the magnitude of damage the one hit caused. At the mere sight, something held her in a vice grip and stranded her in the middle of the roof.
Whatever's there, it's powerful.
It had to be if it managed to do so much damage in the blink of an eye. What is it? A villain, another Nomu? Her blood ran cold at the thought. Yet surprisingly—without her even realizing it—she took a step forward. Her eyes dropped down to watch as she took another step closer to the edge.
Her heart felt ready to burst from the fear. Strangely though, it had nothing to do with the ghastly grip that tightened around her neck. Nor was it from the height of where she was or of who it reminded her of. It didn't even come from the thought of another Nomu attacking them. There wasn't a doubt in Nagi's mind that what froze her was fear. What moved her, though—what seemed so much stronger now than the fear that crawled under her skin—was the visceral need to go. To follow him. To be there for them.
"Don't let go of what you cherish from now on. Hold onto it tight and protect it as you wish for it to be protected."
Regaining control of herself, Nagi dissolved both her bracelets into liquid and rushed towards the far end of the rooftop. She played with the consistency for a second making sure they weren't too soft or too hard before looking straight ahead at the leveled area. Gripping the malleable titanium in hand easily dented the metal and gave her something to hang on to as she dashed ahead.
Warning bells blared in her head telling her that this wasn't safe. She might have pulled it off against Bakugou but not without consequence. Her bones still ached, her ankle had barely healed. None of it mattered because this had to work. She wouldn't reach them in time otherwise.
"C'mon. You can do this, Nagi," she muttered to herself, ragged breathes escaping her as she ran. On cue with her step, she flung the titanium as hard as she could muster from halfway across the roof. The lightweight liquid flew morphing into a spear and gaining speed as it cut through the air. Nagi didn't stop though. She kept running with her focus divided between building up speed and gauging the limits of her control.
With its speed, it'd be ten meters before the connection broke.
And counting.
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon.
She rushed towards the edge urging her legs forward and ignoring the burning of her muscles.
Four meters.
Further. Faster.
The instant her foot stepped on the edge she pushed herself off and leaped. It happened suddenly and with little notice—but for a split second she sensed it. A hair's breadth of her Quirk still attached to the metal in midair tensing to its limit. Taut and ready to snap.
She didn't let it.
Converge!
Every bone in her body quaked as it lost consistency. Liquid as she could get it, it pulled her by core, stopping her from falling and shooting her across the air towards the metal still traveling in midair. Still in her control.
"...it worked…"
Converging metal was never hard. It was just pesky to do, not to mention painful. It was a perk of her Quirk, that like two drops of water touching together, let her amalgamate however much titanium was in her control to mold into whatever she wanted, no matter how big. A seamless integration of metal for her to control and shape so long as it was titanium. And it would all congregate towards whatever core she chose. Whether it be her...or a piece that she so coincidentally hurled across the air. And with the speed she built adding to its own kinetic energy it truly felt like she was flying.
When she noticed herself too close to a rooftop, Nagi reversed the convergence and instantly fell, tumbling across the roof to a stop as the titanium spear pierced not far ahead from her. Explosions so near she could practically smell the smoke invading her nostrils, she rushed to the edge swiping up her spear in hand. Heavy drawn out breathes wrenched at her lungs and made her sides burn from the exertion but she didn't let it stop her. Hurling the spear, Nagi jumped off and converged down with it as it pierced the leveled ground, stopping the hulking villain in his tracks when he tried rushing at Bakugou.
She skidded to a stop not far from Bakugou and Iida, molding her bones back into shape as the latter called out to her concerned. Nagi paid no heed to his words at first, more caught off guard by the familiar bicolored head she spotted swaying by the villain's grasp.
Todoroki?
"Forget about that," Bakugou sneered. Not once taking his eyes off the villain before them, he sneered over his shoulder at Iida. "Make those weaklings run away!"
Iida frowned, obviously upset with Bakugou's monikers. "Why do you have to insult others?"
"We can scold his potty mouth later." Steel blue turned to Nagi as she looked over her shoulder at him and, unlike Bakugou, smiled thinly. "What matters now is getting Todoroki back and getting the others out. Take care of that, pres. Firecracker and I'll get him back."
"Oi, oi, Bakugou. What do you mean by 'weaklings'?" Turning to look overheard, she blinked bemused at how the rest of her classmates emerged from out between the rubble. The sight of them safe swelled her chest, her heart warming alongside it, and a smile spread across her face as Yaoyorozu stepped up to stand beside Kirishima.
"We are the twenty-two students of class A. We would be remiss if we allowed you both to do such a dangerous thing on your own, Chitanko-san."
The tumultuousness she felt coursing through her calmed at their words. Her mind began clearing a little then, the stark whiteness clouding it flashing briefly with bright colors. Curling her own fists, Nagi spun with a feral, lopsided grin spread across her face as she unfurled her fingers to call forth all the titanium on her. Stainless titanium blades formed and hovered over either of her shoulders, four for each finger that seamlessly moved in tandem.
The titanium pieces set off the instant the villain swung his arm to punch them. The force sent flying pieces of rubble which her blades slashed as they came their way. Nagi laid low striking at any boulder that came and waited for the right moment to strike. She found that opening when the villain swung again and pushed most of them back—and she wasn't the only one that did. Not far away she saw another loudmouth do the same, staying low and out of sight behind the colossal villain. Good thinking. Stumbling with her footing and rushing to regain it, she swept in, blades in tow, charging headfirst at the villain.
His orange tinted goggles found her after avoiding a set of explosions, his focus solely on her now. With a swipe of her arm, her blades answered in kind and the villain stepped back preemptively to avoid their slashing. The grin on her face widened as the smoke behind him broke and Bakugou leapt through, hand outstretched and ready with another explosion. But her smugness vanished when the villain tilted his head to the side and avoided it entirely. You're not getting off that easy! Following Bakugou's lead, she stormed in at every turn she could. Every time Bakugou's attack got dodged, she stepped in, blades razoring through the smokescreen the explosions casted and always barely grazing the villain. And every time, her hands extended outward trying to nab Todoroki and just shy of making it every time.
The burning of her muscles and the hearth in her stomach starting to lose heat set of warning bells in her head. Shit. One hesitant step cost her her footing. The villain swung out nicking her side, but it was more than enough to send her flying and crashing into Bakugou. The force of it and her poor footing twisted her ankle and Nagi yelped at the pain that shot up her leg as the two stumbled to get up.
"Seems you're tired out." His deep voice thrummed through her, knotting her gut and sinking it to the pit in her stomach. "Time to end this."
"Like hell—" A pang struck Nagi's whole body when she put the slightest weight on her ankle. She hissed, falling to her side to keep from putting pressure on it. Shit, did I hurt it again?
"Don't make me laugh!" Her head snapped back to watch Bakugou stand without a problem in spite of his breathlessness. "I'm barely getting started!"
He charged forward and the moment he did, not far away, a mossy mess of hair caught her eye as it too ran ahead towards the villain. Running figures not far behind him got the gears in her head turning. Each so particularly set in a certain direction, almost like chess pieces on a board. Turquoise eyes fixed on Midoriya again and her heart leapt when he sprung with Tsuyu's and Ochako's help to snatch Todoroki out of the villain's grasp. Her elation lasted seconds before confusion took over at his lifted his finger. Where's he aiming—her eyes widened an instant before narrowing on the man standing in their way, a feral smirk spreading wide across her face.
The tensed titanium around her quivered eagerly.
Giving it no thought whatsoever and following her gut instead, Nagi kicked off sprinting towards the villain and not slowing down for a second. His hands aloft to fend off Midoriya's blow blocked her from view but didn't stop him from prepping another blow.
"No, you won't!"
Swiping her arms ahead of her, she let it add to her speed before punching out and striking the cluster of titanium she controlled his way. The villain opened his closed fist to catch the misshapen ball of metal, but when it touched his hands, Nagi spread hers open. The metal melted to scatter to either side of the hulking man in the blink of an eye. It spread quickly with each gesture of her fingers and once she felt it connect behind him, she clenched her fists tightly closed. Reacting, the metal hardened into thick beams that restrained his arms at his sides.
Yes!
Her celebration got cut short when, from close behind her, the crackling and hiss of explosions erupted. Unable to stop, she did the first thing that popped to her head. Bakugou kicked off behind her as she slid underneath the villain and through their legs, calling what titanium she still had to shield herself from the roarous explosion.
The impact pushed her against the ground but neither that nor the sudden foot that kicked off forcefully against the shield distracted her from the intense hit that shot above her. The crackling lasted a heartbeat, quickly taken over by cheers that rung out. Nagi sprung to a seat expectantly, her shield breaking into smaller pieces as she fixated straight ahead.
There, stuck in a piece of debris littered with Mineta's purple spheres, was the villain. Nagi gawked after Bakugou as he made his way towards the villain, hands lit and ready, when his mask tore off, revealing All Might's nervous albeit smiling expression.
Chuckling at the absurd scene before her, Nagi leaned back on her hands to watch them beat the living hell out of All Might for the jest he'd played. Unlike them though, she didn't have the energy to do that. No matter how much she felt like beating him for the heart attack too.
"Todoroki-kun?"
Her head turned as back as it could from Midoriya's confounded tone. Todoroki stood nonchalantly as ever not far from them, not at all bothered by his part in the poor-taste joke. The hint of a grin upturned the edges of her mouth unevenly.
"You were in on this too?"
Todoroki went characteristically somber.
"Sorry."
Nagi scoffed and fell backwards kicking up dust wringing a worried cry from Midoriya. "C-Chitanko-kun?"
"I-I'm fine!" Cackling broke through her apology as it erupted in full from her. She lifted her arm from her side and folded it over her face, covering her eyes from the bright light spilling through glass from the outside. "It's just—such a rotten sense of humor! It's so bad that it's just—"
She tried and failed to stifle a laugh that bubbled right out of her belly and undid the knot of entrails that her gut had become. The shuffling of footsteps caught her ear and she rolled over on her belly to watch Todoroki's receding back, ice chipping away from his shoulder and leaving a trace to fall in his wake. The sight of his back struck her but she couldn't quite comprehend why. Before she could think anymore of it, she felt someone touch her back before a weightlessness wrought a panicked scream out of her.
"C-Calm down, Nagi-chan, it's me!" Nagi pouted at Ochako who held onto her wrist to keep her from floating off.
"Warn me first."
"Sorry," she said. "But I don't think you can walk. Your ankle is all swollen again."
A quick glance verified as much. The same ankle she'd broken when the villains attacked swelled an angry red just where her pants ended. Funny that she didn't feel any pain. Nonetheless, Nagi groaned. So much for no more visits to Recovery. The sudden flip of her stomach robbed her attention from everything else when she couldn't quite get a hang of Ochako's Zero Gravity on her body. Before long, her face began turning green and Ochako made haste to take her and Midoriya to Recovery Girl before Nagi could throw up her lunch.
Oh no.
This time, it didn't stay in her mouth.
"I had hoped that when you promised Suzume not to be as reckless that you would keep to your word."
Recovery Girl huffed incredulously and frowned at the freshly healed Nagi whose gaze skewed away to anything that wasn't the tiny fuming nurse ambling around. Nagi let out a dry laugh wanting to disperse the chiding. It did close to nothing with how irritated Recovery Girl appeared.
"Old habits are hard to break."
"Don't give me that speil, young lady," she retorted, swinging her cane precariously. "You're not fooling anyone, least of all me."
Nagi pouted. "This time it wasn't even my fault though. It was All Might's and his idea of a joke." Brushing off the scolding, she snickered at the reminder, her healed and fully functioning ankles twisting idly. "What a bad joke it was too."
"Oh, he will be having an earful about this. Have no doubt about that. It's certainly no excuse either way." Another huff. This time, Recovery Girl tapped her cane against the floor, making Nagi flinch at the sharp sound and her back stiffen to attention. With a sigh from the old lady, it slackened and she let a quiet sigh rush through her nose when she could. "But what's done is done, I suppose. Just don't go making this a habit, you hear me?"
Nagi couldn't lie to the face of the old nurse imbued with such gall and exuding it the same with every word she spoke.
"I do but I can't promise much."
She huffed again, her brow knitting together.
"Honestly, it's like you and that Midoriya boy are contending to see who breaks the most bones."
"Pretty sure he'd beat me. Not that I wouldn't give him a run for his money—OW!" Nagi yelped, rubbing the crown of her head where Recovery smacked her with her cane.
"Crack another joke and I'll crack that thick head of yours." She swung it haphazardly for good measure before slamming it against the tiled floor again. This time it wasn't that which caught her ear but the low tone of her voice that accompanied her words. "Maybe that way you'll understand that this is a serious issue. You may be made of something sturdier than the rest but you're not invulnerable."
"But you said it yourself. I am sturdier. That means I can handle more."
"You're a child just like the rest regardless." She raised her cane once more and Nagi covered the top of her head instinctively. Her eyes shut tightly, she waited for the blow—but it didn't come to her head. Instead, the syringe tapped her knee gently—almost careful as if she didn't want for her to break. "God forbid but that mentality will cost you more than just a broken ankle next time if you go on like this."
She didn't want to retort. But when they treated her like this it was hard not to.
"You guy exaggerate too much. A broken bone here and there aren't that big of a deal for me."
"Evidently." Recovery shook her head solemnly. Defeated. Saddened. It struck a chord in Nagi that she didn't want to admit. "You're all good to go, child." Nagi mumbled a quiet 'thanks' as reply to the sudden dismissal and jumped off the bed, putting her shoes back on as she did. "Just be sure to keep your word in mind. It may not disturb you, all this harm you sustain, but it certainly does us and it pains us all the same."
Turquoise eye gazed up from beneath her lashes, a frown coming onto her face that she hid the best she could with a smile. A smile that was way too feigned.
"I'll try my best."
Recovery Girl nodded but her saddened expression remained.
Crude drawings were sprawled across the wet sand that quickly disappeared as the waves crashed onto the beach and washed them away. Nagi didn't mind, she simply started the drawing over tracing what little was left with the stick in her hand.
Dusk started to fall not long after she got out of the train, turning the sky a deep orange and veiling the ocean in that same amber color. Despite the night's sure arrival, she wasn't in any mood to head home. Not with the whole of that day still spinning in her head, reminding her of every little thing that transpired. Most of all, Chiyoko.
A part of her couldn't understand why she cared so much. She'd been the one who cut contact with her and everybody else after all. And even before that, the times they interacted had been far and few in between. Grandfather made sure of that. She had never known Chiyoko more than she did a stranger passing in the street.
Yet it hurt. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.
"I know it won't be simple but if there's something I can do to help them, then I want to do it."
She recalled still, not long after reuniting with Yori, what she had wanted more than anything. The sentiment never vanished. It solidified over the years instead, making its home in her heart and mind, determined to stay.
"Would closure have mattered to you?" she asked the rough drawing of the little girl she'd seen that afternoon. There wasn't any sign of blood anywhere and instead of a blank stare, Nagi drew a pleasant smile. Something she never got to see from many of them.
Before long, the waves came and washed away Chiyoko's portrait, bringing with it an ache to her chest that pained her sharply.
It might've. And if I would have stopped goofing around and hurried, I could've given that to you.
Clicking her tongue, Nagi shot up and slashed at the wet sand. When that wasn't enough, she reeled back her leg and kicked at the dirt with more force for good measure, but that didn't do much of anything either. None of it did. She let out an exasperated groan as she pulled at a fistful of her hair.
It irked her how, despite knowing how invaluable time was for Yori, that she never before considered the others after leaving them behind. It frustrated her how she only realized how important it was for them too after Chiyoko was gone. And beyond everything, she couldn't help but resent herself for not working faster to do what they set off to from the start.
Becoming a hero was a good plan. It would let her do so much more than what scurrying through alleys and hiding behind computer screens ever would. But it required time and so much more attention that she imagined. It was a good plan but a slow one, nonetheless.
It couldn't be the only thing she could do.
There's gotta be something else. There has to be.
Enraged, she pivoted and hurled the stick with reckless abandon across the beach. It wasn't until she heard the cat's panicked growl that she looked up to watch it jump out of the stick's course. Nagi stared dumbfounded after the hissing feline as it made it's way away from her and the beach, its back arched all the way it took to cross by her. Her brow furrowed, an odd sensation striking her head at the sight of it. It was one she often got when something she'd forgotten wanted to bubble to the surface.
This one didn't take long to pop out.
There is.
How could she forget about it?! Nagi sprinted out of the beach frantically rifling through her pocket for her phone as she rushed home.
I can do it. I can do more. I can do both.
Nobody else was going to die because of her incompetence.
An expanse of spider lilies pale as the moon spread all around Yori, the light veil of water they grew on wetting his bare feet where he stood. The sky, instead of blue, reflected the field of blooming flowers as they swayed in a gentle breeze. Amidst the field there stood a grand oak tree, its bark beaten by the wind that never stopped blowing and roots withering from overgrown weeds that wouldn't die.
Yet there it stood. Still alive.
Yori made his way to it and placed one hand on the bleak trunk to feel the faint beating that came from it. At its base where a patch of ground leveled off, it reflected nothing but the sickly sight of the bare oak branches above. Surrounding him and the tree where those same blooms. A blithe and beautiful contrast against the woeful tree.
Yori never understood two things about his Quirk. One of them was why spider lilies bloomed there. Why every time he closed his eyes to find the scattered connections his Quirk created he saw spider lilies growing from the thin layer of water that spread as far as his eyes could see in this small part of his consciousness. He watched them sway, their white color burning into his eyes until he found one that gave him respite from the forlorn scene.
Inches away, a bloom stilled against the breeze that blew, its color shining clear as could be. Standing and taking the few steps to it, he bend down to inspect it. Instead of white, the spider lily was the color of molten gold—the color of his eyes.
Inryoku's.
He didn't need to touch it to know. Where seedlings were left in his hosts' conscious for him to usurp, flowers grew in his. And anytime he took control of someone and touched the white petals of their flower, they would tinge the color of his eyes. From there, using his expanse of flowers as intermediaries, it was easy to hop from one conscious to another while leaving no trace of himself behind. Having enough to fill this field was proof enough of just how many times he had fractured himself already. Enough times to die a hundred times over and still return intact.
Mostly, anway.
It was as much his blessing as it was his curse.
When the breeze blew this time he felt it brush against his face, warm and gentle. Or at least thought he had. It was hard to remember what a breeze felt like on his actual face. With this one, though, came more than just wind. Soft giggling hovered in the air, children's laughter. They called his name and beckoned for him to play, calling for him to stay with them.
We're lonely, they said. Why can't you stay with us?
"Because you aren't real."
"Don't be mean to them, Yori."
Nagi's soft voice floated through the air and into his ears easily. Turning about, he found the one lone spider lily that grew atop a mound of water effortlessly. The small moat surrounding it separated it from the rest, only a handful others encircling it in an attempt to join it in its pedestal.
It wasn't easy to separate consciousnesses, especially not with how intertwined they tended to get once connected to him, but when he realized who that one in particular belonged to, he did his damnedest to do so. He didn't want any of the others to touch her.
Making his way to it, he crouched down to its level and caressed its petals softly with the back of his fingers. Veins of gold gorgeously mingled with the white. Never fully taking over it but never leaving it alone either. With a mere touch he could sense the turmoil that wracked her, emotions that were there since the rescue and that hadn't fully vanished after it. To that day, they still tore at her, a few petals dangling limply while others withered a blatant show of that. It grew regardless of those flaws though. Just like the dying oak tree of his.
The breeze blew again and brought with it the voice of the little part of her he had.
"We could run away, Yori. Run away somewhere no one will find us and where no one will ever hurt us again. We won't need nothing and no one else. Just us."
Haven't heard that one in a long time.
They had been words that promised heaven and earth to a boy who knew nothing outside of alabaster halls, operating rooms, and fighting arenas. One he held to heart during inconsolable times.
It gave him hope that there would be a tomorrow. And that it would always come with her by his side.
The breeze blew once more and amongst the laughter, Yori heard audible cries. Nagi's flower bent to one side, some of its green leaves starting to wilt at the sound of sobs. Following its gesture, Yori eyed the wilted spider lily lying just outside the moat surrounding her.
Chiyoko.
Yori never understood two things about his Quirk. One of them was why spider lilies bloomed there. The other why wilted flowers remained in his subconscious even after the ties uniting them severed. He hadn't minded it at first. It was like a memento that he could keep for himself. No matter how many died and who forgot them, he never would.
But like this—Chiyoko was starting to harm her.
He dug his fingers into the water underneath the wilted flower. What felt like wet dirt stuck underneath his fingernails but Yori didn't stop until he had the roots of the wilt in the palm of his hand. The breeze came more fiercely and more sharp words sprung in the air.
So cruel.
It's all we have left of her!
Don't kill her twice.
Meanie!
"Weeds infect a garden, my boy. And if you don't rid yourself of them, it will eradicate every other blossom there is until there is nothing left but barren land."
"Yori." He recoiled at her soft voice so close. So gentle and kind. "Don't do it."
He hesitated for a moment, his eyes fixated on the white and gold spider lily that struggled to sway in the wind. Slowly, he began to release the wilted flower but when another green leaf of hers shriveled up without warning his eyes steeled, determined.
"I'm doing this for your own good," he whispered.
Mercilessly, he yanked the wilted flower from the ground splashing water everywhere. With a dying shriek, the wilt vanished into dust that fell through his fingers, leaving nothing behind. The spot it had taken leveled over on its own and the water settled after a brief moment as it nothing had happened.
It took seconds of it vanishing before no trace of it was left. Almost as if she had never existed.
The wind died then and with it the chiding words and cries for mercy. He cared for none of them. Instead he turned to the lone flower on the mound and sighed in relief when some color began to return to its shriveling leaves.
Grandfather was right. Weeds destroy my garden.
"..o.."
They will kill my flower if I give them the chance.
"...oy…"
And I'll kill them all before they ever lay a finger on her.
"Wake up, boy."
Golden eyes fluttered open and brought the decrepit bar into view as he lifted his head from where it laid on the bar top. I dozed off? He searched about to ground himself more and noted Giran a seat away from him, swirling what looked to be a glass of dark caramel colored whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Brushing a hand through his hair, Yori groaned into his hands, wanting to dispel the dizziness he woke up with.
A glass clanked onto the slab in front of him. He eyed the water briefly, glancing up at Kurogiri as he retracted his hand from the countertop before eyeing his phone that sat next to it now. A small light blinked back at him and he groaned again. Picking it up and seeing who it was, though, changed his mood entirely. Moreso, because of the text he had received.
"I'm breaking the cat through the damn firewall by week's end."
Nagi's program—he'd forgotten about it. Yori almost thought it lost. It certainly sounded like it after the tantrum she threw after Shigaraki's attack. Yuuei had rebooted their system, to her chagrin, and there was a very high likelihood that her Cat had been erased along with it. Now, she sounded too sure of what she thought could be done. Knowing her...
A devilish smile spread across his face at the mere thought of how her face must look like at that very moment.
"Oh, looks like good news," Giran jested, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"For me, yes," Yori said. "And perhaps for you, too."
"Is it now."
"Say," he began, "how much are you willing to pay for information on Yuuei?"
A crooked smile plastered on Giran's face, the gap in his teeth blatantly on display. "Depends on the goods, boy. But if it's Yuuei, I'm sure Shigaraki won't mind the price." He turned to Kurogiri, raising his glass at the bartender. "Ain't that right?"
Kurogiri nodded in response. "Certainly."
Splendid.
"That being said," he interrupted. "We won't be movilizing until after Shigaraki Tomura's wounds have healed. Besides, Yuuei won't be an easy target anytime soon."
Yori's brow furrowed. "How come?"
"Don't you know, boy?" Giran bit down on his cigarette and flashed him another grin. "Their Sports Festival is in a couple weeks. And from what I've gathered, they have plenty of added security after Shigaraki's little attempt. No use going when it'll be swarming with all kinds of pros."
He had a point. More than anything though, what he started with caught Yori's attention. Picking his phone, he texted back one single question.
"Are you participating in Yuuei's sports festival too?"
Nagi didn't reply.
And so the day of the Sports Festival arrived.
A/N:
*COLLAPSES ON FLOOR WHEEZING*
FINALLY FREAKING DONE!
I can't believe this took two weeks LONGER than I originally thought it would. Back when I posted the last chapter, I thought I had about 3/4s of this one done. Turns out that I had 3/5s! 3/5! And that's just because I kept not liking how it ended. Then when I did find a good place to end it, I'm like 'how the heck do I get from this to that?!' and so began the damn struggle to close the gap. So sorry if this is a tad bit long. Gotta say, I'm pretty happy with this one aside from the trouble. Not only does it start getting deeper in Nagi's bkg but also Yori's. Speaking of that little devil, I was a little iffy about putting the last part into the chapter. When I got to editing it, it sounded a little to fantasy-like for BnHA. Then I thought wth, it's not like them having crazy ass powers isn't fantasy-like enough, so I kept it. Just think of it as going into his mind for once. Like REALLY in there (w)
This chapter was my favorite to write so far but also the hardest. Usually it's fun to explore the psychology of a character and comes easy with my OCs, but Nagi is struggling against me so hard. She's a tough nut to crack that one. But I'm getting through her. Painfully slow. I'll end my rambling there :)
And now, I wanna give so many hugs and thank yous to tons of amazing people! First thank you to stealthgeneral, abbydobbie, Saraquiel, DKMaria, Firegirl4343, ItaSasuHinaNaru, ARavensShadow, Xerenade, KyubiMaster9, Kaiko Pyon, Nathan941, 0Generations, kghart, and bai2468! So thankful that so many of you have favorited and followed this story, joining others in this story and myself as well! And also a million thank yous to Aviantei and SoratheknowledgeDevourer23 for their comments on the last chapter! I'll be real with ya'll, I was in a little creative slump while writing this chapter. It got harder and harder to come back to it and get myself into a writing groove. Just a couple of days ago, I went back to reread the lovely comments everyone has left so far in this story and you have no idea how much that just boosted my spirit! It's always lovely to hear that someone's enjoying what I find joy in doing and just makes me want to write even more. Y'know what they say, give a fanfic writer reviews and they'll churn out chapters.
But really, I'd like to thank each and everyone one of you because of your love and support for what I do, because I frankly do it with all of you in mind 3
So before I get too sappy, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you stay tuned for the next where we're finally, FINALLY getting into the SPORTS FESTIVAL ARC!
Lots of hugs and love to you all,
- Evie
