Welcome back to this warm fwuff story. Get some milk and cookies along with this sweet chapter. :]
Beta: emplatinum
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The conclusion to the mission was lackluster. With the abundance of information provided by Sir Nighteye (and an unnamed anonymous helper), the heroes were able to safely apprehend every criminal found in the base.
When the raid was concluded—and it looked as though only Mirio and I had an easy time, as our comrades had their fair share of bumps and bruises—the students of U.A. were first sent to the nearest police station to fill out paperwork, before returning to the dorms in the late evening.
I finished as quickly as I could, completing my paperwork and interview first, so that I could check up on Eri.
Eri and Shōto were still in Aizawa's apartment. A television show was playing quietly in the background while Shōto sat back on the couch. Eri was curled up in a blanket, snoozing cutely beside Shōto.
Given the time it didn't surprise me to find the child asleep.
"Thanks for watching Eri-chan," I told Shōto, carefully picking Eri up from the couch and holding her in my arms. Since she was already changed into her pajamas, I'd go ahead and tuck her into bed. Aizawa would be taking a while longer at the scene, so I'd stay until he returned.
Shōto rubbed at his eyes. "It's not an issue."
I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "It's appreciated, though."
Shōto ducked his head, scratching the back of his neck. "Mn…"
Moving quietly through the apartment, I headed to Eri's room. I got her situated in bed, taking care not to disturb her. She murmured something in her sleep, rolled over and buried her face in her pillow as I pulled the blankets over her. It was so painfully adorable I wanted to smoosh her cheeks. While I was in her room, I picked up some discarded toys and put them away before stepping back out into the living room where Shōto was waiting for me.
"K-Kiyo-chan," Shōto said suddenly, walking forward quickly.
"Yes—?"
Upon reaching me Shōto abruptly kissed my cheek. "Good job today."
Instantly, my face reddened, eyes widening as I spluttered. Leaping forward in a burst of butterflies and adrenaline, my heart got caught in my throat, preventing any noise from escaping. I could only stand there, wide-eyed and blushing brightly as Shōto's own face started to mirror mine.
Eventually, the embarrassment became too much for the flustered Shōto, and he hurriedly left.
'Wh-What?'
I had kissed Shōto on the cheek plenty of times before, but he had never, ever—
'What was that?'
A little squeak popped out of me and I buried my burning face in my hands.
'What was that?!'
◟(◕◡◕❀)
It took Aizawa another three hours to return, during which I spent my time vigorously cleaning his apartment in a vain attempt to keep my mind from drifting back to… back to…
'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.'
Aizawa returned to his apartment to find me on my knees, furiously scrubbing at a nonexistent stain on his kitchen floor. He simply stood there for a couple of minutes, watching me work with an exasperated expression on his face before he finally said, "Get out. Go to bed."
I eep'd, scrambling up onto my feet. "I'll—I'll put these away first—"
"Get. Out."
"Y-Yes, sir," I squeaked, teleporting to my room and flopping onto my bed.
Or what I thought was my bed.
Turned out to be Ochaco because in my frazzled state I had teleported to her room instead.
"AH—sorry!" I yelped, scrambling off a surprised Ochaco.
"Oof. It's okay, what's going on Kiyo-chan?" Ochaco asked, sitting up from her bed. She was changed into some cute pink pajamas with hearts on it, and from the looks of it, she had been relaxing in her bed and playing with her phone. She rubbed at her eyes for a couple of seconds until she got a good look at me. "Whoa. You're really red. You okay, Kiyo-chan?"
I opened my mouth to say something, closed it, tried again, but ended up shaking my head and burying my face in my hands.
"You look like one of those anime girls from a romcom," Ochaco observed, then gasped. "Something happened with Shōto!"
I let out a squeal of embarrassment similar to what a pterodactyl scream must have sounded like. It was loud enough that Mina came knocking on Ochaco's dorm room door within the minute. My reaction must have greatly amused Ocacho because she was laughing hysterically as she stumbled out of her bed to open the door.
"I heard the scream," Mina said, stepping in. She took one look at me and her expression morphed into what I could only describe as a cartoonishly gleeful smirk. "Oh-HO?!"
"I—I—I—should go," I stammered out, refusing to meet their gazes. Unfortunately for me, I was so flustered that I forgot to move my legs properly and ended up just falling out of Ochaco's bed and face-planting into the carpet.
A soft whine escaped me as the girls giggled and circled me.
"I think our little Kiyo-chan has a story to tell us," Ochaco cooed.
"Why I think you're absolutely right!" Mina chortled.
"Mercy," I whimpered.
◟(◕◡◕❀)
After such an insanely busy Saturday, you'd think I'd take a break on Sunday to relax before school started back up, right?
Nope.
With Aizawa's permission, I teleported out to the farm Sunday morning to assess the reconstruction and help out where I could. To my incredulous surprise, the farm was already well on its way to being rebuilt. The gardens had been tended to, and all the hay had been harvested. Checking in with my neighbors, it wasn't hard to figure out that they had been steadily working on it in their free time.
"You'll always have a home here, Kiyo-chan," they told me.
"How could we not lend a hand? Your Baba and Papa would scold us in the afterlife otherwise!"
"That old place has been needing some touch-ups. We would have had to do this in a couple of years, anyway."
They were blase about it, dismissing their kindness as something to be expected but it was—
Terribly bittersweet.
It made me wish it wasn't necessary, while overwhelmingly grateful that they were still helping me.
They were polite enough to ignore any tears that escaped my traitorous eyes.
◟(◕◡◕❀)
The warmth of the summer slowly marched into the refreshingly cool weather of October. For the first time in a while it finally felt like we had a sense of normalcy. Classes went by without incident, there were no more large missions looming over us, and everyone in the class was able to wholly concentrate on our assigned tasks.
After classes, I would watch over Eri—usually with the assistance of one of my friends. The sweet girl waddled after me like a baby duck and it was incredibly hard not to pick her up and carry her around everywhere I went. She smiled widely with every kiss on the cheek and tight hug, and when one of us praised her she'd turn redder than a strawberry and bashfully look away.
There were still moments of breakdown. A voice raised too suddenly, an accidental cut, or something small and unnoticeable to my eyes would trigger a reaction. She would shut down, dissociating from her environment as she disconnected her emotions. There was nothing I could do to ease this healing process—only time and her will to get better could do that. When she experienced these dark reactions, I held her in my arms and kissed the top of her head. Sometimes I would read to her, and other times I would sing her a lullaby that Baba and Papa used to sing to me.
She had good days, and she had bad days.
She was the product of years of systematic abuse. She needed love and patience.
She needed hope.
(Something we have plenty to give.)
One sunny day Aizawa unenthusiastically told us we would begin preparing for the U.A. school festival. The reaction from the class was infectious cheer.
School festival, huh? I mused to myself, pulling out a clean notebook and heading to the front of the classroom. Tenya got up after me, carrying a notebook of his own. As the class representatives, we would have to lead the discussion.
I hadn't been to a school festival before, so I had to admit I was more than a touch excited!
'I hope I can bring Eri-chan,' I thought.
With a clap of my hands, I drew the students' attention to the front of the room. "Okay, guys! Let's pick out an idea for now, okay? Would anyone like to offer up a suggestion?"
"MAID CAFE!" Denki practically screeched, hopping up from his chair.
"THINK BIGGER, KAMINARI! STRIP CLU—" Mineta was abruptly cut off by Tsuyu hog-tying him with a spar blanket and tossing him to the side.
"Ah—Ocha-chan?" I said, nodding toward Ochaco who had her hand raised. I had now turned toward the whiteboard and was writing down each enthusiastic suggestion that was being rapidly thrown out:
Ideas:
-Maid Cafe
-Mochi Stand
-Arm Wrestling Competition
-Haunted House
-Dance
-Petting Zoo
-Banquet for disciples of darkness
-Sparkling Show
-Open Mic Comedy
-Presentation on Hometown History
-Deathmatch
-Takoyaki Stall
-Asian Cafe
-Martial Arts Demo
-Study Party
-Hero Quiz Show
-Handmade Soba Noodle Stall
-Frog Choir
-Pastry sale
With that many options we had to narrow it down further, so Momo suggested, "Eliminate the unreasonable and infeasible, and nonspecific ones."
I began to cross out the ones mentioned, and Denki added, "Get rid of Hometown History Presentation, that's too boring."
"And we're always having study parties."
"Couldn't we combine all the food options into one?"
"Soba noodles don't really go together with pastries…"
"Wait," Mina cut in, raising her voice above everyone else as she looked me dead in the eye. "Pastry shop… does that include Baba's sugar cookies?"
"Er… yes, if that's what you want," I answered, brushing down on my skirt. "But I don't know if we should do a food stall. There are plenty of people with allergies and it's hard to say what kind of food would be to everyone's tastes."
That somehow triggered a heated debate about food stalls versus cafés that resulted in eating up the class's allotted time. Aizawa told us we had to come up with an idea by tomorrow morning, or he'd pick the idea. I had seen first hand what he picked in the previous years. Every time the class failed to decide on something he'd make them do a quiet space.
With the class dismissed, we returned to the dormitory to finish the discussion on what our class should do.
Tenya, myself, and Momo sat on one of the couches in the common room, and Tenya went over the remaining suggestions that he had typed up on his laptop. The rest of our classmates were scattered about the common room, some simultaneously working on homework while others were quietly talking amongst themselves. I had grabbed Eri immediately after changing out of my school uniform and the adorable little cutie patootie happily sat on my lap, content in listening to our conversation and being in our presence.
Tenya said, "Now that I've calmed down and thought about it… Aizawa-sensei mentioned how the other classes are stressed out. Whatever we plan ought to help defuse the stress in some way."
Momo and I nodded at this. Eri cocked her head, her big eyes assessing us as we conversed.
"Retaining high stress levels could cause excess fatigue," I agreed.
"Yes, if we ever hope to become heroes we can't very well ignore a problem we had a hand in causing," Momo murmured, shifting her weight on the couch. "While I'm sure Kiyo-chan's baking would be appreciated by many, we can't expect it to satisfy everyone."
"Not everyone has a sweet tooth, and some might be gluten intolerant," I added. "I think it would be best if I just make the cookies for our class and our actual activity should provide some kind of service."
"Then some kind of interaction? Like a maid café, petting zoo, or haunted house?" Momo tapped on her chin, tilting her head in a downright adorable manner.
"I like petting zoos," Eri contributed, her hands curling around my arms as she adjusted her seating in my lap. I reflexively bent my head down to kiss the top of her head and she preened under the affection.
"A petting zoo would have to adhere to a strict hygiene standard, though," Tenya kindly pointed out. "I don't think we could safely handle it."
Eri puffed up her cheeks like a red balloon but didn't argue.
"What about open mic comedy?" Momo suggested.
"Putting amateur performers on the spot sounds like it could cause an anxiety attack," I uneasily pointed out, recalling my own surprise from Nezu at the Sports Festival.
Mina flopped down on the chair opposite us, clutching onto a pillow. "We could all just dance, that'd be fun."
Shōto stood up from his chair further away, approaching the group and asking, "Why not dancing, then?"
"Talk about unexpected help," Mina teased.
"Can I see this?" Shōto asked, gesturing to Tenya's laptop that had been placed on the coffee table. At Tenya's nod, he pulled open Google and started a search. "I'm looking for this one thing… forgot what's it called… people going crazy onstage. Yeah, here it is."
Shōto had pulled up a video of an energetic concert, the band and listeners going absolutely insane to the beat of the music and lights.
"I didn't expect this from you, Todoroki-kun!" Tenya exclaimed.
'This is a boy that relaxes from skydiving,' I thought with a shake of my head. Something as tame as a rave wouldn't faze him.
"When did you go and become a party animal?" Mineta demanded from the other side of the common room.
Shōto shook his head. "I didn't. I just think they're right—we should put together an event that everyone can enjoy and de-stress from."
"But we're still asking amateurs to perform—won't they get stressed out?" Sero worried.
Mina hopped up from her chair with a fist pump. "I can teach 'em!"
"The weirdest amateur here mastered those steps in less than a day, Ashido-kun's a bona fide teacher!"
Mineta loudly interrupted, "Wait, you buncha noobs, dance means rhythm! Rhythm means sound! The club goers always want the freshest beat!"
"And when it comes to music…"
Everyone now turned to Jirō, who flushed and stumbled back with a "Wh-What?"
Toru gleefully ran over to Jirō, throwing her arms around her. "We can play live music on your instruments."
"W-Wait a minute!"
"What's wrong? You're really good at playing and teaching people how to play. You always look like you're having a lot of fun when you play music. I want to hear you play."
"It's really only a hobby," Jirō murmured, bashfully playing with her earjacks. "Honestly, I don't think it's something I can boast about publicly."
Denki confidently strode forward, moving close to meet Jirō's hesitant gaze head on. He declared, "It's super cool to be able to play so many instruments."
Koji enthusiastically added in his soft voice, "It's a technique that might be able to make people smile. I think that's definitely something you can say isn't a simple hobby."
Their praise landed a critical hit on Jirō and she fidgeted as she said, "After hearing all that, saying no wouldn't be rockin' at all, would it?"
"It's decided then!" I declared. "We'll do a live performance and dance concert."
◟(◕◡◕❀)
With a decision made, the roles were picked out next. The class was divided into three groups: effects, dance, and band. There was some back and forth on who would be doing what, but everyone came to a satisfying agreement.
As we neared the school festival, every weekend was taken up by training and preparation. On one Saturday, though, I was allowed out of dance practice to show Eri around the school since she hadn't been to a festival before. She was curious to see how all the students were setting up.
So with promises to bake Baba's sugar cookies as compensation for ditching practice, I was let out of training and showed Eri around the campus. While on our tour, we ran into Mirio who happily ran over to us.
"Hi kohai!" Mirio chirped, giving me a blinding grin. "Ah, little Eri-chan, hi!"
"Hi senpai," I returned, adjusting Eri in my arms so Eri could properly greet Mirio. "I'm taking Eri-chan around the school. What're you doing?"
"Grabbing some things for Hado-kun," Mirio explained. "She's entered the beauty pageant this year—hey you should join, too!"
My cheeks warmed, and my stomach did a little flip-flop. Working at a maid café for a few years had certainly helped build up my self-esteem about my appearance—customers would gladly refer to me as cute—but it was still a little embarrassing being complimented so bluntly. I couldn't resist ducking my face into Eri's hair to hide my reddening face. "I dunno about that, senpai."
Mirio laughed heartily at my reaction, clapping me on the back in a gesture of affection. "C'mon kohai! You're adorable, I bet you'd at least get runner-up."
"Ehh—"
"'Course I can't say anyone other than Hado-kun will win since she's one of my best friends," Mirio added as an afterthought.
"Ehhhhhhh—"
"Come on," Mirio encouraged.
"What's a beauty pageant?" Eri asked, looking up at Mirio.
"It's a contest to vote for the, um, the prettiest girl," I hesitantly explained to Eri. There was a lot more to such an event than that, but that should be enough of an explanation for someone as young as Eri.
"Then you should win!" Eri declared with the confidence only a child could have.
"Ahhh," I let out a long sigh, having trouble meeting Eri's sweet gaze. "Mmm… ehhh… well, um, I guess it could be fun."
Nemuri would probably have a field day if I told her.
'It might actually be fun.'
I hadn't put on a silly dress and entertained people since Nezu made me quit my job at the café. It might not have always been the best job, but I genuinely learned to have fun there. Mock flirting and joking around with the customers, playing make-believe in cosplay costumes the manager made, and getting little kids to laugh and overly stressed parents to finally relax had been a delight. Perhaps the pageant wasn't exactly like the café, but it wasn't too dissimilar.
I found myself smiling. 'Maybe for talent, I should be a waitress? Heh-heh.'
As long as the pageant didn't go on at the same time as the performance I could squeak it in.
'I bet I could get Eri to try on dresses for me if I go shopping for dresses,' I gleefully thought to myself, already picturing my adorable Eri in princess-like attire.
Mirio gave me a thumbs up. "Great! Let's get you signed up then."
"Okay, okay."
◟(◕◡◕❀)
A couple of hours later my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out. I flipped it open to read a message from Nemuri.
What's this I hear about my little Kiyo-chan being in a pageant? (✪㉨✪)
My face twisted up on its own, and I reflexively squeezed Eri's hand causing the young girl to look up at me in curiosity. She had decided she was ready to walk on her own for the rest of the tour, scrounging up more confidence the more she saw how lively and kind the other students were.
ಠ_ಠ It hasn't even been two hours since I signed up. How do you already know?
Nemuri: Come now, a lady has her sources. Do you have your outfits picked out?
Me: Has not even been two hours since I signed up.
Nemuri: Good. I'll pick everything out for you, don't you worry my little cherry blossom~
Me: MERCY
Nemuri: I know you haven't had time to buy new clothes. Relax~ Let your big sister handle this. ( 。◑౪◑。 )
Me: MERCY PLEASE.
Nemuri:(✪㉨✪)(✪㉨✪)(✪㉨✪)(✪㉨✪)(✪㉨✪)(✪㉨✪)
With a sigh, I conceded. It's not like I'd have much time to go shopping in between class, homework, setting up for the school festival, and smothering Eri with the love she so rightly deserved. Nemuri could be… mature, but surely she wouldn't force such outfits on a minor? No, of course not. I was being silly worrying about that.
Pocketing my phone, I looked down at Eri who was looking back up at me with an intrigued expression. "Who was that?"
"That was Midnight-sensei," I told her. "She's going to help pick out my outfits for the contest."
"Oh! She picked out my clothes," Eri proudly told me, making me smile in return.
"And you look very adorable in them," I said, bending down to kiss the top of her head. "How about we head back for dinner now?"
"Yes, please!"
"If you eat all your vegetables we can make candied apples for dessert."
She gasped, echoing me, "Candied apples!?"
"Candied apples," I promised her.
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The Eri-not-healing-Deku-plot-hole will be acknowledged in the next chapter, don't worry. :]
Answer: The Ranger Apprentice series has me leaning towards longbows.
Question: What would be your dream team from My Hero Academia?
Reviews are love!
