Princess Yurei

"The fun thing about being a ghost? No one's surprised when I have skeletons in my closet." Reiko Yanagi and Class 1B. Just what is going on over there? F/F romance, neurodivergent MC.

8-8

Chapter 36—The first crack

8-8

They say it all started with a baby that glowed hours after birth. A genetic mutation that, ever since that first discovery, has permeated society. As I sit here, watching the live feed from JKYP's coverage, I can't help but feel it was the beginning of the end.

"We are coming to you live, from Kyushu." Explosions go off. Gunfire drowns out the shouting as buildings are set on fire. "The recently appointed number one hero, Endeavour, engages a—"

The helicopter swerves out of the way as some glowing ball almost slams into her.

"Whoa! Endeavour engages some villain wreaking havoc in the streets. Heroes take to the streets to evacuate bystanders."

I check my phone. Eighty percent charge, no calls or messages. "Nami. We're going for a jog."

8-8

Jog? More like a shuffle. I push my wheelchair along, for balance, trying to work up my endurance. It's more depressing than anything.

Still, I keep at it. Even now, I have Fiona, the twins, Zia, and Emily running ahead. They rush up to the edge of the barrier, turn around and run back, to the other edge. It only makes me feel smaller, that they're so fast and I'm just this sloth failing spectacularly at keeping up.

"There you are." Recovery Girl walks up behind me. Jeez, even she's making me look like a snail. "I've gone over your case. I believe you've healed up well enough."

"Huh."

Recovery Girl takes my hand and plants a nice big kiss on my cheek.

Like a switch is hit, bits of my spine seem to shatter and reattach, the pain I've been living with drains away, and…

Yawn.

It feels like I ran a marathon. Backwards. Twice. With leaden shoes.

Jun spins my wheelchair around and helps me to sit—well, 'collapse' feels more accurate.

"What…?"

"I told you a dozen times already, my quirk doesn't work like your Chinatsu's. If I'd healed you before you were stable, it would have killed you. Now. I've got another patient to tend to. Take it easy for a few days and, I promise, you'll be good as new."

She told me that? Don't remember hearing it.

"I swear. I get nothing but stubborn patients these days." Recovery Girl mutters something about me taking after Midoriya, but I can't make out most of it.

Wait. What?

8-8

"Wakey wakey." Something tickles my nose. I swat it away and turn. "Wakey wakey."

"Come on, Jun. Just five minutes."

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey."

The hell does that even mean? I turn and crack an eye open. My room is still dark, which makes sense. But why is Togeike in my room poking and tickling my nose.

"Come on, up. Mr Kan says you've been cleared to join us for morning workouts. So shake a leg, woman! We've got shit to do today!"

My face is almost split by a grin. Not missing a beat, I ease out of bed, testing my body to see how it'll react—a bit sluggish, but I no longer feel like I'm dragging my feet through the mud. Phone unlocks on its own, weather app loads. Cloudy weather, just above freezing. Good, won't need my makeup. I throw on a hoodie and sweats and rush down the hall, my familiars and charms chase after me, every bit as eager for a nice long run.

Everyone's already outside, stretching. I wave and get right to it, stretching this way and that to work out the kinks from inactivity.

"Hey, looks like someone's eager to get back in the saddle." Iromi and Monoma come over, claiming the open spots to either side of me as they start their morning stretches.

I do a split, my legs groaning they spread wide. I reach out and grab my foot, my spine cracks and groans—it's a good cracking, thankfully.

"Alright, class." Mr Kan comes out, smiling just for me as he confirms I'm warming up properly. "We're only doing three kilometres this time, so Yana—"

"Not a chance!" I lean back into the grass, plant my hands in the chilly dew, and whip up onto my feet. "I've been itching to get back to it. So no watered down shit for me."

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Mr Kan takes a superhero pose, all smiles even with the early hour. "Then let's get to it! Tetsutetsu. You're keeping an eye on Yanagi."

8-8

We run. And we run. "Yanagi! Lap!"

My familiars and I ghost and we blitz around the kilometre and a half long circuit twice, before getting right back to line-up beside Iromi.

"Thirty-six seconds. You've gotten slow."

"Did two laps." I can't fight back the grin, glad to stretch my legs again after so long.

"Oh really? Double time! Let's go!"

We pick up the pace, going just a little faster, just a little further. Through the drizzle, through the bleak late November morning. We run, and I couldn't be happier about it. I'm not as fast as I was, but I keep up just the same.

The other dorms are just starting to light up, the early birds making coffee. Other classes, hero course I assume, are starting their morning stretches. It's…it's soooo good to be able to move without pain, to be able to run again.

"Yanagi! Lap!"

My familiars and I ghost and we blitz around the circuit. I make sure to tap Mr Kan's shoulder this time, before we blitz around again, and ease back into line-up.

"Thrity-five seconds. Much better. Monoma! Lap!"

Blondie rushes up beside me, flicks back my hoodie, and musses my hair. I wheeze out a chuckle, a bit short on breath. But I keep at it. I've got so much catching up to do it isn't funny.

8-8

I rush Iromi, bringing the fight to her, and right into her fist to my gut. I'm shunted back and take a roll. The second I'm on my feet again, I rush her just the same.

TDL is awash in our Saturday morning workout. The usual exploding mushrooms and speech bubbles exploding and horn rockets launching and bestial roars and…gods it's good to be back in our usual chaos.

A spray of ice cold water comes out way, but Iromi and I don't pay it any mind—trading blows like it's the most natural thing in the world. We don't even lose our footing—well, Iromi doesn't, since she's the one tossing me around like a ragdoll.

"Togeike! What'd I say about interrupting your classmates?!"

"Sorry, Mr Kan! I'm trying to up the spray, but it's super hard to control!"

I flip over Iromi's punch and hook my leg behind her neck, dropping her. She still gets in a few glancing blows, and somehow still picks me up and tosses me over into Rin and Shishida's spar.

"Sorry, guys! My bad!" Iromi apologizes, but Rin just tries to punt me right back over—I ghost through his punch and throw him head first into Shishida's haymaker.

"That ain't right," Rin complains, rubbing his now glowing red forehead.

"Serves you right for trying." I stick out my tongue and rush back to my spar with Iromi.

Shishida doubles over, laughing at his sparring partner. But that just gets Rin even more riled up and the two end up wrestling on the mats.

And then the cackling starts up. Shit. Mei. I knew I should have passed by the Development Studio to douse the flames there.

Another explosion, louder than Class B's conbined efforts, and a spray of rubbery volley balls hail down on us. Instead of ghosting through my share, I deflect them right at Iromi, so she's getting it from two angles.

"Hey!" She notices—she isn't impressed.

"Suck it up, little lady!"

"Tsuburaba!"

"What? Not my fault your situational awa—"

Another spray of water. I'm guessing he just got hosed down on purpose.

"HEY! So that's how you wanna play?"

"That's more like it!" Mei stands there in the doorway with two bazaukas in hand and her usual shit-eating grin lighting up the room. "My work here is done." And she just turns and walks away, leaving us with too much ammunition to throw at each other.

"DODGE BALL!" Dunno who declares it, but everyone's already in on it. Hundreds of balls fly every which way, ricocheting off barriers of compressed air, vines, and steel-enhanced fists.

Somehow it ends up being girls versus boys—eight against twelve. Well, technically my familiars are on my team, so it evens out.

Ten balls fly at me. I grab the first and use it as a shield, deflecting the others and making sure my team don't get caught in the crossfire. Ibara's vines grab the lot of them and lob them right back at the boys.

Zia decides it's a little too chaotic for her tastes, and she minimizes onto my earring to keep out of it—Emily is quick to agree and minimizes into my bracer. But Fiona and the twins and more than happy to chase the balls around and bring them for me to pelt at the other team.

Iromi takes a shot to the gut, but she barely seems to notice.

"No fair! That hit you!"

"Nope! It hit my quirk! Just like Tsuburaka's barrier, so it doesn't count!" Iromi pelts three balls at Rin for his trash talk, hitting his leg.

"Ha!" Rin's scales take the hit, so he decides it's the same thing and continues on.

Six balls flight right for Togeike. My obi flares out and captures them all, flinging them right back at Shishida, but he dives out of the way—leaving Kaibara to take the hit.

"NOOOOOO!" Awase's all dramatic about it. "Sen, buddy! Talk to me!"

"A…Avenge my honour." Kaibara does the whole 'dying' act, laying on the floor amidst all the chaos. I throw a ball at him just for the hell of it.

"Protect your injured at all costs!" Mr Kan's addition to the rules has the boys falling over themselves to defend their 'fallen' ally. Oh, this just got interesting.

8-8

We sit in class. All of us. Watching. Watching the beginning of the end for hero society play out live on the news.

The parliament building looms in the background as a slew of reporters talk about the vote going on just now. Mr Kan switches from one channel to the next, each time the reporter is talking about it, or the commentators in the studio talk about it. It's worded differently each time, but it always boils down to the same thing:

"Today's vote on the hero for hire bill will determine if the private sector can take heroes on as retainers, so that the who can afford it might have a personal army to protect their businesses, their workers, their homes, and their families. Here at JKYP, we're convinced this is nothing more than a means to cheapen the name of hero. With villains growing bold, now is the time for all of hero society to come together to put a swift end to their supposed uprising."

Hero for hire? That's mercenary work with a little more glitter.

"Back to you in the studio."

"The people of Japan are overwhelmingly against this, of course." The display switches off. Mr Kan paces back and forth. "Most everyone from Sapporo to Okinawa has been drowning their local representatives with complaints and demands to vote no. Recent polls even indicate that of the gernal populace, eighty-six percent are against this bill. The other fourteen are mostly upper class and, we believe, small time villains looking to besmirch the name of hero."

Only the clapping of Mr Kan's boots can be heard over the droning of yet more reporters from other classrooms.

"As such. I will ask you all once, and only once. By a show of hands. Who would use the name of hero to ingratiate themselves to anyone that would pay them enough?"

We all look around, wondering who is dumb enough to work their ass off to graduate, only for the sake of being some rich fuck's lapdog.

"Monoma?" Mr Kan calls the most likely to fall into such a trap.

"My loyalty isn't for sale." Monoma and I bump fists. "Besides. If things get that hard? Yanagi and Shishida would hook me up. I keep working for the good of Japan regardless of which path I pick."

I nod, agreeing I'd hook him up without batting an eyelash.

"Shishida. Thoughts on that stance?"

"Little different from taking a sidekick, Mr Kan." Shishida hits the nail on the head. "As long as Yanagi and I as loyal to society, as long as we fight to keep everyone safe. Then it doesn't matter if we hire on every struggling hero out there. All we do is ensure all noses point in the right direction."

"Then perhaps this will show you my concerns." Mr Kan points to remote at the display, flickering it to life once again.

"What do you make of all this?" the talking head asks her guest.

"Well. This can go two ways. Either this will allow the struggling heroes a stable income, thereby making them less susceptible to working for villains on the sly. Or it will reintroduce feudalism, where powerful families gather trained heroes under their command and swear fealty to the emperor. I see no issue with either notion, provided our society is kept safe from villains."

Those aren't the only options. And you negate how often coups took place under feudalism.

"And what of the chance that villains with enough money hire heroes directly?" Nail on the fucking head.

"Unlikely. If those villains have so much money, they could already have an army in the form of yakuza families and street gangs. This allows for upstanding citizenry to do the same, to keep us all safe."

I check the name. CEO of Honda motors. Asshole's showing his bias.

"So if, say, Reiko Yanagi of Yanagi Corporation were to hire heroes?" I cock an eyebrow, wondering what in the flying fuck I have to do with this. Here comes the anti-ghost sentiment. That shit is never late.

"You mean Princess Yurei? As I recall, she's a UA student and hero-in-training. Add the recent moves of Yanagi Corp to hire ex-convicts? What would this possibly do that she doesn't already have access to?"

"And Hitoshi Kaminara?" The talking head cocks and eyebrow. Why. Why is it they only ever choose fucking GLQ users to make these points? Is there a single GLQ user in the League of Villains? No. In the Shie Hassaikai? No. In Japanese Tudor? No. In the next hundred known villain organizations? No. But one fucking GLQ family? "His family is well off. And recently arrested and sentenced to life in Tartarus for domestic terrorism, hundreds of counts of murder in the first and second degree, slavery, human trafficking…the list goes on. Would you have others like Kaminara hire heroes?"

"Again, if they have the money, they already control as much or more. What I advocated for is allowing upstanding citizenry the chance to do the same, so that we all will be kept safe."

"And what guidelines do you suggest be put into place to determine who is or isn't an upstanding citizen?" The talking head isn't letting it go. At all. "As you, of course, recall. Just over a month ago, heroes took down the slippery Shie Hassaikai, a long-standing Yakuza group. These are known villains. Tracked by police for decades, and kept slipping through the cracks. With such people among us. How do you explain it to the clerk at the store, to the cashier in the supermarket, why such power is being offered to would-be future yakuza?"

Ouch. This chick is hitting the nail with a fucking bazooka.

"You keep twisting my words. I argue only for upstanding citizens who would protect—"

The display flickers off and Mr Kan tosses the remote onto his desk.

"Assholes." The word slips off my tongue before I can help it. Not than my familiars and charms don't agree, but I'm the one who says it.

"Yo, VP. I get it, but—"

"No," I snap, turning to Monoma. "You won't get it. Not until every doe-eyed shit on every channel talks only about how your powers are practically designed for villains. Not until every study done on your quirk is about identifying you, locking you up, and keeping you in the gutter 'where you belong'. Not until there's a literal hate group gunning for you, like Ghost Busters. Or the Exorcists before them. Or Sanctity of Life before them. Or the next thousand arrogant fucks to come."

"Shinso." With one word, Monoma proves he does get it, if by proxy.

Sigh.

8-8

Another day, another interview. At least it's with Jirou Shimaoka from GLQ Daily. We sit in YCT Tower's restaurant, slurping our milkshakes, surrounded by our fellow ghosts, with Taeko curled up in my lap, snoozing her troubles away.

Shimaoka spent the day touring the facility, interviewing my employees, sitting in with a few of our classes. Now?

"What do you make of HFH?" Now's just the 'topic of the day' questions, so he can get a feel for who I am, while recording the conversation so he can, hopefully, keep me in context.

"It's a mistake. Whether good or ill intentions are behind it, nothing good will come from it."

"Oh?"

"I disagree with the anti-GLQ fear mongering, don't get me wrong. But the fact is, this will lead to the formation of a thousand little armies amidst an already brewing war. If it passes, it will do little other than legalize yakuza tactics."

Shimaoka slurps his milkshake, a cloud looming over him.

Fuck. "It passed. Didn't it."

"The Mikado vetoed it, but…"

I drown a sigh in sweetness.

"Would you consider such an endeavour? Starting an army to keep the peace?"

"As a hero-in-training, I answer to the Hero Public Safety Commission. Should I start my own agency, I would have a sort of army. However. We are subjected to checks and balances that HFH would never be able to coordinate."

"You're not answering my question."

"What do you want me to say? As a provisional hero licence holder it's my duty to uphold the law, to work with heroes, PSC, and police to bring villains to justice and to keep the citizens of our nation safe." His beady eyes flick towards my familiars, to my charms dangling from my earrings.

"Have you taken thralls?"

"No. Nor do I intend to. Furthermore. Each of my familiars was gifted to by the Pro Hero Edgeshot, to further my training. My charms were each handcrafted for me by Mei Hatsume, an up and coming hero outfitter. All my friends are either heroes-in-training, or associated with hero society."

I press a kiss to Taeko's brow.

"Not to mention wanting to give my little sister the best version of me."

Shimaoka stares, almost as if trying to dissect my motives. I don't blame him for being cautious. Not with the first GLQ hero coming out. Like it or don't, if I mess this up, I fuck public image of GLQ users across the board.

"Don't take my word for it. My actions speak for me. If you doubt that. Come back in six month. Six years. Six decades. And check again. You'll find only more of the same." Because I am not going to let anyone suffer as I suffered.

"What," his gaze softens, a little smile peaks out at last, "did you name them?"

8-8

I run, Jack Frost's touch cold against my naked face. Not the delicate speed as during morning and evening workouts. No, this is a break-neck pace even Fiona and the twins appreciate.

Winter looms right around the corner, and end of term exams with it. I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I know I'm not going to fail—I refuse to.

My phone beeps. Corrine's goggles pop down as she checks for me. Message from Uncle Shinya, ten minutes ago—why didn't I hear that? Are his texts as sneaky as he is?

Uncle Shinya: "Team training. 4:00."

Sigh. What else?

Jun: "We're still on for studying later?"

Corinne quickly texts back. "Definitely. Can you come earlier? Got team training in the AM."

Jun: "Sure. 8?"

8-8

"Rules. No quirk usage." Good. I need more non-quirk training. "No weapons or tools." Fair. My hand-to-hand has gotten better. "And you need to get to the finish in under a minute, or you do it . You'll go first."

I walk up to the twenty metre tall wall, already plotting my climb. A sharp whistle. I jump and scale the wall quickly, dropping down on Shosai, just to mess with him, and roll under Momoko's swing. Kenta comes with his padded bat, swinging for the fence. Vaulting over him and using him for a springboard, I dive over three othes and come to a rolling crouch and dive thorugh Shosai's legs? How'd he…?

Whatever.

I make a mad dash for the 'building' and use the window sills as a make-shift ladder, ducking into the upper window. The damn torch is missing. Instead, Uncle Shinya leans against the wall on the far end, arms crossed. My visible eyebrow cocks, he points up.

Fuck.

I make for the window and jump up another floor, only to find Uncle Shinya in the same spot against the wall. He points up again. I ball my fists, but make for the window and climb up to the next floor again. Where Uncle Shinya could theoretically be expected to be, there's only a single glow torch—no fire hazard this way. I grab it and dive straight out the window, taking a tumble and rolling on the floor, already beset by the boys.

Ducking and weaving through the madness and, by some miracle not getting hit, I make it back to the wall and vault up, climbing one-handed to not drop the torch.

By the time my feet touch the mat on the other side, Uncle Shinya's already there. "Two minutes eighteen seconds."

Don't curse. Don't complain. Don't sight. Just nod. Nod and hand him the torch, you fucking idiot.

"Unn." I hand him the torch. "I'll do better next time."

"Good. Kendo! You're up! Same rules!"

8-8

Momoko dashes for me. I parry with Fantine, in sword-form, and lash a kick at her knee. Even with my leg brace ramping up the power, she barely seems to notice and flings her head at my nose for a head-butt.

I ghost and back off—less than half a second, so it won't affect me too much.

"You've gotten rusty."

"Unn." No point in denying it. My body doesn't react as quickly as I like.

"Don't worry. We'll get you back in shape." She smiles. A smile that reminds me of a predator closing in on its prey.

"Hey. I was in a coma, you know."

"All the more reason." Smile grows, mischief in her eyes. I whimper.

8-8

The room is ginormous. No natural lighting, thankfully. Little tables crowd around an open bar in the far corner, with lounge chairs scattered about the place.

White walls hold up the cobalt blue ceiling, easily twenty metres up. And the non-slip rubber tiles, beige if you please. Not sure about the colour pallet, but an Olympic sized swimming pool is just better for working out.

"I'm not sure I wanna ask." Earjack's hand grips her hip as she tosses her towel and bag onto a chair. Not sure what that's about, but it's really not my business anyway. "But I'm grateful all the same."

Ibara gives me a questioning look. I give her a look right back and tilt my head in Earjack's direction—you ask her. Setsuna and Yui roll their eyes, obviously not getting involved, and teasing an amused giggle out of Togeike.

"Alright, girls, let's get changed." Itsuka does her usual thing: organizing. "Remember to stretch properly before just diving in. And no quirk usage! Or you'll be explaining to Baroness Shishida yourself why her pool got messed up!"

Yui and Setsuna wrap their arms around my elbows, escorting me into the ladies' room to get changed—if also dragging Iromi along, before she chickens out. Sigh.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," I complain, knowing the guilty party knows who she is. The changing room isn't the type with cubicles and privacy doors—just one large room with shower heads sticking out of the wall over in the corner, with some shelves for 'storage'.

"Hey, it's only fair." Iromi's usually pale face is bright pink. She fishes out her one-piece suit that matches mine. "Dragging me shopping just because Kajiyama…"

A snort jumps up as the door opens behind us—Pony and Komori walk in, dragging Class A's girls along. Yaoyorzu and Hagakure stroll right in, plopping their bags on empty spots on the shelf. Pinkie's right behind them, with Asui and Uraraka. Earjack takes up the read.

By the time they've even fished out their things, I'm already wearing my one-piece, and bitching about hot fucking revealing it is—not the front, mind you! It's the back. Unlike the speedo suit I never wore for gym in middle school, this one has a gaping hole in the back, essientially looking like a skimpy sports bra and granny knickers from behind. That means showing off not just my dandelion skin, but my new scars as well.

I sigh, combing my hair back into a ponytail and working in a scrunchie to tame it.

If Iromi didn't need the boost in confidence…?

"Alright!" Togeike flashes me a peace sign, towel already draped over her shoulder. "Let's get to stretching!"

"Unn." Kinoko nods, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around her waist for some reason. Her one-piece is for more modest than my own—giving Ibara competition kind of modest. But she still wants to cover her middle? Well, to be fair, I'm tempted to wear my towel like a burrito. But Pony just drapes her towel over her forearm, showing off her modest bikini… sorta modest bikini…uh, modest for a bikini. Not sure how modest strings can be. I'd die from embarrassement just thinking about wearing it, but it covers all the important bits with room for error.

"You're not swimming in that, are you?" Ibara asks. I nod fervently, completely agreeing with the complaint.

"Of course I am." She shows her mostly naked hip—I think she means to draw attention to the elaborate knot, but all I see is a very naked side with two strings. Hmm, no side-boob; more modest than some I've seen. "Special knot momma taught me."

I shiver. A one-piece is embarrassing enough. Still, I rush over to help Iromi tuck properly—since I'm the only one that can help without actually touching anything. It takes a few tries—more than a few tries…We eventually agree it's as good as it's going to get, and resist the urge to go full-burrito on our way out.

As we exit, Fiona and the twins already have their swimsuits on. "Why did you girls change out here?" I ask, honestly curious.

Fiona whines about her fur covering everything and to stop drawing attention to it. If she were human, I'd think her whole head would be beet red. Still wearing a bikini there, pumpkin.

Victoria went with a far more modest speedo one-piece. I'm so glad the store catered to canids. Arguably, any one-piece would cover her nipples, given where they are. But this one covers most of her back and front, leaving only her, tail, legs, and head exposed.

Zia doesn't bother with a swimsuit, or propriety. She's already in the water paddling about and meowing about us being too slow—exhibitionist that she is.

Julius, on the other hand, is wearing swimming trunks with his tail sticking straight up and wagging excitedly, eyes trained on the water.

And Emily? She's wearing a matching one-piece to mine, with her towel worn over her shoulders. But she flatly refuses to go into the water just now, so she walks over to an unclaimed lounge chair and sprawls out over it, already licking her fur.

"What? Shishida said the pool's heated." My words tick everyone's eyebrow higher. But Emily just yips and complains about the water stinking of chlorine. Well, that's human pools for you. I turn my attention to my mice and my charms, asking them to stay with Emily as I puff up one of the rodent condos—the one with all their exercise equipment, so they can work out. Fiona's kind enough to hover it over to Emily's chair for me while I get to stretching.

Well. While Victoria, Julius, and I get to stretching. Fiona mostly just struts about on her hinds, doing little twirls like she's a ballerina.

Fantine hovers over me, glaring every which way with her blade-link eyes to ensure no one's looking our way. Granted, we already got rid of the perverted gnome, but…better safe than sorry.

Curiously, the boys are alreay in the water, midway through a contest of skill to see who'll get to the other side first.

"Boys," Iromi complains, mid-stretch.

"I know, right." Togeike rolls her eyes.

I nod fervently.

"If they're busy with that, they won't bother us," Ibara points out, folding herself over her leg to stretch properly. True. Better for us.

"You say that like we don't have a bear and two wolves to maul any perverts." Hagakure is…doing something. Her bikini top goes side to side, for some reason. Not sure what she's stretching, but that isn't any exercise I know.

Setsuna flashes her usual cocky grin, dark joy in her eyes. "It's Emily you have to worry about. She's vindictive."

Well. Emily and Fantine. I don't openly disagree, though.

Meows draw my attention to the edge of the pool Zia stands on her hinds, pawing the air as she asks what's taking us so long.

"Alright, Ms Impatient." I stand and offer Iromi a hand up, subtly checking that everything's still…packaged right for her.

8-8

Twenty laps. Thirty. Fifty. The girls and I aren't competitive about it, not in the way the boys are. We compete with ourselves, with our previous records, with the person we used to be—not each other. We're too busy encouraging each other to compete.

Well. Other than Ibara and Yaoyurozu—they seem to be going lap for lap, trying to outdo each other. As bad or worse than the boys. We nudge the pair into the boys' lanes with their over the top shit, which cools Ibara's tits enough to get back to actual fucking training.

Victoria's still giggling about it almost a half hour later, having spied Ibara's WTF face when she noticed all the girls quietly steering her and her equally bull-headed comepetitor into what's been dubbed 'boy space'.

We continue our laps, setting a gruelling pace to really push ourselves. Three hours and still going strong.

"What have those girls been eating?" Shinso asks. Emily stops her preening long enough to listen in to their conversation—just in case.

"Hmm?" Monoma lays his elbow on Shinso's shoulder. "Determination, mostly. It's all the rage." And like that, Monoma dives right back into the pool to continues his laps. Emily isn't too surprised when Shinso dives in after him.

Unsurprisingly, Bakugo and Midoriya are still going at it—racing back and forth and 'just barely' not using their quirks to gain a subtle advantage over the other. Sigh. Why don't they just admit they want to tongue wrestly and get it over with.

What strikes me as odd, is how their redhead claims a seat, beside Todoroki. The two have their eyes trained on the pool—on Midoriya and Bakugo. Uh, what…?

Don't get distracted! You still have your laps!

I dive deep, do an underwater spin, and kick off, trailing behind Togeike as we make our way back to finish this lap.

Emily gets curious, so she saunters over to the two redheads. Err, the one and a half redheads.

"You're the lucky one," Kirishima complains. "At least you're strong enough to keep up with him. I've…gotten used to seeing Bakugo's back."

"Is that so." Todoroki leans back, looking up at the ceiling. No, his nose points to the ceiling, his gaze wanders to Uraraka.

"You got it all twisted, man. That's a one-sided thing." Kirishima sounds sure. Well, it's not like I know the intricacies of Class A's social dynamic.

"Is that so." Is that…hope in his eyes?

"Come on." Kirishima stands, stretching side to side. "Ain't my style to sit around and mope." Carrot top runs and dives right into the lane, not two metres behind Bakugo. Huh. Coincidence?

8-8

"I still can't believe you talked me into this." I stand before the mirror, working my gold cufflinks. My tie still looks frumpy, on purpose. The silver doesn't really match my maroon suit or my black lether shoes.

Jun mostly ignores me as she and Taeko peruse the collection of perfumes and body sprays to decide which they want to use tonight. Their matching pink evening gowns and black roses braided into their hair takes my breath away; not that I'm going to complain less about this.

"I spent all day with them."

Again, my complaints fall on deaf ears. Jun and Tae agree on one of the more fragrant bottles and Jun spritzes a bit on both of their flowers, before turning to me. Fuck me red lips quirk up, inky eyes peer out from behind heavy lids.

Alabaster hand reaches out and loosens my tie, reworking it to perfection before carefully tucking it into my waistcoat and buttoning my jacket.

"I want this." Jun's simple words rob me of all hope of resistance. She fixes my eye patch and twirls a lock of my hair into a little point to cover it. My hands hind their way to her waist, pulling her into me. Fingers work their way into my hair as a content sigh kisses my ear.

"Do I," cheeks warm, "get something in return?"

"Maybe. If you ask nicely."

"I want to announce it." I hold her tighter, needing her warmth more than whatever look she wanted to pull back to give me. "I don't want people theorizing or guessing at or wondering. I want them to know that if we're going to the theatre, it's a date. A date-date. A don't interrupt me for anything short of an emergency or I'll ruin your night kind of date."

"Are you…?" She pulls back again, nervously biting her pouty lip.

"I…" Gods. What words could ever pin this down? "I rest in your arms."

Laughter lights up her face, her cheeks puffing up to show how hard she fights to hide it. "The snoring kind of gave that away."

"Hey!"

"You totally snore." Taeko takes her side.

Warm hands cup my cheeks. Laughter falls away, stolen along with my breath.

Our lips meet.

A little peck. We are running a bit late, after all.

I…I like the taste of her, the feel of her. The addictive warmth of her breath on my face that calms me and and entices me.

It quickly graduates to a gently tugging my hair, nibbling on my lip, making my knees weak, I don't care if the kid's watching, air isn't that important kiss.

And the only reason why we stop…? It isn't because of Taeko's giggling. Rather, we're both smiling so hard we can't work out lips well enough to continue.

My fingers graze her back, needing to feel her under my touch.

"Unn." A little nod.

Growling—three tummies strong.

"We, uh…should pro—"

Even with Taeko climbing up my side, I steal one last kiss.

"Siiiiiiiiiiis. Come on. We're starving."

"Unn."

8-8

End Chapter 36

8-8

A/N: Next chapter is going to...expand on a few underlying threads. I hope you're ready ^_^