NeonHorion: Next chapter will be shorter, but cuter~
"Are you helping with commentary, Hiyori?"
"No. Um. Heh. I mean, I don't know too much about this sort of thing. The technical terminology and stuff." Her light, slightly raspy voice came from two seats over. There was a tapping sound, indicating that her stingers were nervously ticking at a chair leg. "I'm just here to watch. No worries. I'm not really jealous of having to speak in front of so many people."
Aizawa leaned forward a little, looking past Yamada to see his assistant. She was slouching in her seat, head bowed and glasses sitting low on the bridge of her nose. She's feeling self-conscious again. He sat back once more, returning his gaze to the scene before him. "Didn't you say that someone was going to loan you a phone charger?" he spoke up, breaking the tension.
"Hm? Oh! Yeah, that's right! Midoriya said that he has the same phone as me. I'll be back in a few minutes!"
He heard her leaving the room and could see Yamada grinning from the corner of his eye. "What?"
"It's about more than the cat pictures, isn't it? Did you ask her yet?" There was a pause. "She said "yes". It's really obvious!"
"She needs to build some confidence. So when she gets back, make her talk. I don't care that she doesn't know much about the classes or that she isn't technically a hero. If she can't push herself, she won't be able to progress."
Yamada's grin grew. "Alright! This should be fun!"
Shift P.O.V
It was supposed to be quick, quiet, and simple. Hiyori would go to where class 1-A was waiting, get the phone charger from Midoriya, and go back to the commentators' booth. Of course I'm lost. Why wouldn't I be? What was I expecting? She paused in the middle of the long corridor, running her fingers through her long, white hair. Damn it. I should've asked Yamada to walk with me.
"Are you looking for someone, Mori-sensei?"
"Hm?" She turned quickly and spotted a student from a different class. This kid. It was a kind of common name, right? Something like…Shin…something?
The boy tilted his head and looked her up and down. "Sensei, did you finally get your hero costume repaired?"
Her sharp amber eyes narrowed, shallowly biting her bottom lip. "What was your name? I'm sorry; I'm not great with remembering names."
He seemed almost thrown off by her total lack of response to his questions. "Shinsou Hitoshi from class 1-C."
"Right, right. Sorry about that, Shinsou-kun." She saw him take a few steps closer and frowned. "Hey. Do you know where class 1-A is?"
"Do you need help? You want me to show you where they are?"
"Mori-sensei! What are you doing out here? Aren't you helping with commentary?" Kirishima jogged over to her, beaming. "Wait a second. Are you here to give us a pep talk before the festival starts? That's so cool! Let's go!"
Hiyori let him grab her hand and flashed the other student a half-grin. "Nice talking to you, Shinsou-kun! Good luck out there!"
The class was definitely surprised to see her there, but only a few looked excited. "Mori-sensei came to give us some words of encouragement, you guys!"
She slipped her hands into the front pocket of her loose, sort of baggy hooded pullover. "Hm? Okay, yeah. Everyone gather around, I guess." The young woman waited for the students to get closer and her tail began to sway back and forth. "Right, so. You've all been working really hard and…I'm really proud of you kids. You're all talented and I know you're going to do great out there." Hiyori paused and sighed. "Okay, you know what? No. You kids are going to go out there and kick their asses! Got it?"
The teenagers stared at her, clearly unsettled by her abrupt outburst. The first to speak up was Bakugou, who stomped over to stand next to her. "I'm gonna destroy them!"
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Come on!" Hiyori lifted a hand for a high five, which was reciprocated by Kirishima. "Go out there, kick some ass, and I'll treat all of you to some juice or something, okay? Show those hero agencies your potential! Show them how amazing you are! Everyone put your hands in and let's do a group cheer!"
As she walked back to the commentators' booth, she shook her head. As soon as the group cheer ended, she tried to imagine doing such a thing with villains. No way. Kurogiri-san would have refused to participate and I know that Shigaraki would end up hurting someone. She rubbed her injured forearm, lips twisting into a frown.
When she returned to the booth, she plugged the charger into her phone and took her seat beside Yamada. "Did I miss anything?"
"You missed mummy man here falling asleep."
"I didn't fall asleep. What took you so long? You almost missed the opening." Aizawa leaned forward to look at her, his expression unreadable behind the bandages.
A smile tugged at her lips and she rubbed the back of her neck. "The kids wanted some encouraging words before the festival starts."
When the first portion began, Hiyori was surprised by how invested she was. She had only known the students for a short while, but she was silently cheering for class 1-A. Of course, she had a few favorites that she really wanted to see shine. Yamada pressed her to make comments when she could, even going so far as to introduce her as an assistant teacher and aspiring vigilante.
This is embarrassing. She pulled up the hood on her pullover, hoping to hide how her cheeks burned. He's so loud. I like his enthusiasm though. Her eyes slid from him to Aizawa. I can barely even hear him over Yamada's screaming.
Her phone chimed, indicating that it had finished charging, and she went to retrieve it. Immediately, a ton of old messages, missed calls, and voicemails popped up on the screen. The bulk were from Shigaraki, a few from Kurogiri, and, more terrifyingly, one voicemail from her master. A chill ran through her as she saw his number in the missed call list.
As she stared down at the screen, it began to ring. She jumped, seeing Shigaraki's name displayed, and her finger slipped to the "answer" button. Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it! She glanced to Yamada and Aizawa, held up a hand to signify that she had to take the call, and walked out of the room. Just as the cavalry event ended.
Shift P.O.V
She's at the sports festival. He pushed back his chair and went to look for Kurogiri, but found him gone. Irritated, he went back to his room to keep watching the festival. When he heard that she was assisting with commentary, he hardly expected to catch a glimpse of her, but he had. She was there with the very hero that he had wanted her to kill. Anger was bubbling up as he glared at the screen in the dark room, chewing his lower lip and dragging his nails over his neck.
"So which one are you expecting to take first place, Hiyori?"
"I guess…probably Todoroki. He seems to have a pretty good strategy." There it was. Her soft, ever so slightly hoarse voice confessing to not only be cheering for a hero in the making, but have a favorite one.
Shigaraki tasted blood and released his lower lip. The chubby black and white cat jumped into his lap, curling up and purring. Yori. They're keeping her there against her will. They have to be. She wouldn't leave me on purpose. She wants to come back. She wants to support me.
When he called her, he expected her phone to still be dead. The sound of her voice brought a certain look of satisfaction to his face and it startled the cat so badly that it jumped down, bolting from the room. "Yori. You answered this time."
"Tomura, I'm sorry. I can't talk right now."
"My girl can't talk right now?" There was an edge of anger in his tone and he knew it. He wanted her to hear the frustration that he felt. "I want you to come home. I need my girl. I need my support!"
"I…can't." The girl's voice was quiet, weak.
"I need my support!" he repeated. "I was shot. I need you to take care of me, Yori. Come home."
"Tomura, you don't understand. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but I can't come back-"
"I need to recapture the princess from the enemy fortress and bring her back," Shigaraki muttered, scratching at his neck again. "I need my support. I need my healer. If the enemy camp has her then I'll just have to find a way to reclaim her."
"What? No, um. Tomura, please don't…I mean, if you're injured, shouldn't you heal before you try something?" Now there was panic in her voice.
He settled back in his chair, his lips stretching again into a smile that drove the remaining cats from the room. The panic made it clear. She was worried about him. She did not want him to push himself and risk being hurt even worse. "My girl is worried about me."
"I don't want you to get hurt," she confirmed. "So, please, don't do anything. Please."
"Mori-sensei, did you see-? Oh, you're on the phone? Who is it? Boyfriend?" a peppy, female voice interrupted.
Boyfriend? Shigaraki heard a confirmation from his girl as the call ended. Holding his phone and staring down at her number, he chewed at his lip. Boyfriend. She said "yes". My girl called me her boyfriend. The scary smile started to spread and he heard Kurogiri return.
"It would be too risky for me to just open a warp gate in the sports festival," the shadowy man informed him when he asked. "If you want her to return, you need to persuade her yourself. It's a skill that you will need if you ever want to be a leader."
"I want her to come back now," Shigaraki insisted.
Kurogiri's eyes narrowed. "If you're afraid of her staying on their side, let me assure you that she will be back. Mori Yori has a villain's quirk."
"That's what she always said."
"You misunderstand. Yori has villainy in her blood. Her lineage-"
"I don't care. I just want her back. I have to think of a way to get my support back from those heroes." He leaned forward as he heard her voice from the coverage of the sports festival. He remembered his master insinuating that she had betrayed him by refusing to kill Eraserhead. She just didn't understand, he told himself. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She was confused.
Shift P.O.V
"Hey, Hiyori! Some of the other teachers are going out to celebrate tonight! You're coming with us, right?"
The young woman frowned and shrugged. "I don't know."
Aizawa caught her glancing over at him. "You can go if you want. I can make it home by myself," he stated.
"You say that, but I had to help you get dressed last night. Doesn't really inspire confidence in your ability to get home safe." Hiyori winced. "Er. I mean-"
"Whoa! Hang on a second! You what?!" Yamada's voice made her wince again.
Pushing up her glasses, she sighed. "I-it doesn't matter. Look, I'm not really a bar person so go without me." She shoved her hands into her front pocket and looked away. Not a bar person, despite basically living in a bar before this. And why the hell did I blurt that out?! There's no way that Aizawa-san will keep me as his assistant after that!
"Didn't you promise the class that you'd buy them juice or something?"
Hiyori found her "boss" looking at her again. "Oh. Y-yeah, I did. I said I'd reward them with juice. I should probably take care of that, huh? So…yeah. Sorry, Yamada. Next time, okay?"
"Oh, is that a promise?"
She smirked. "Yeah. Pinkie promise. Come here." The pale-haired woman lifted her right arm, extending her little finger. He grinned and walked over, hooking his finger with hers. "I'll even buy. Sound good?"
"Just schedule a day instead of wasting time," Aizawa intervened. He started toward the door, wanting to get home and rest.
"Okay! How about the day you get those bandages off? We can celebrate that!"
"Oh! Yeah, that sounds perfect!" Hiyori scheduled it in her phone, feeling about as giddy as a child planning their first sleepover. Her typing slowed as it dawned on her that she had a very brief, fuzzy memory of what Aizawa's face actually looked like. She had only seen it briefly before Nomu smashed it into the ground and she had trouble really remembering his features.
The sound of her phone chiming made her look down. Shigaraki. Again. She frowned and tucked her phone into her pocket. "Okay. It's set."
"Is that your boyfriend?" Yamada saw her shake her head.