Chapter 23 : Time to Go Plus Ultra!
Kukeiko is one strange girl. Izuku would say that during middle school, she would be very cold and always wore a poker face. When she first entered U.A., she was a very energetic girl, having a verg childish attitude, where the word "no" wasn't part of her vocabulary. And now, she was silent and cold. Izuku didn't seem worried, neither did he express any concerns about her behaviour. Many thought that the recent events where at fault for her sudden change. Even after all that Kukeiko has gone through, she was still top of her class and passionately working on her items.
Though these weren't the only rumors that were being discussed in the school. There was a recent car accident in the middle of the city whose victims were an adolescent and her mother. The news described the car crash to have been a brutal one. The victims' car was driving regularly when another one drove on a red light and violently crashed into one another. The daughter, a student who just got her hero license, was able to react fast enough to protect her mother, who got out with minor scratches. The student, on the other hand, took all the damage and the shards of glass that were found in her eyes took the girl's vision away.
"Imagine working on your dream for years... Blood, sweat and tears... And you're so close to achieving it. It almost seems that there's nothing stopping you from reaching your goal, and in a moment's notice, all of that hard work for nothing!"
As she heard this from a passing conversation, Kukeiko opened her mouth, ready to respond and correct whoever said that, but stopped herself.
'There's no such thing as hard work to go to waste.'
Thankfully, no one saw her attempt to talk. It was for the better.
"Have you heard about the car accident?", asked Mei as the two were working at the workshop that morning.
"Mhm"
"Poor girl. She must be so furstrated... All of that work for nothing."
"Why?", Kukeiko said in a clearer tone for the first time in a while.
"Well she can't be a hero anymore."
The student stared back at her friend, who was waiting for a response.
Kukeiko did nothing but smirk and get back to work.
During lunch, pairs of eyeballs where staring at Kukeiko. Not many knew about the License Exam Incident that made her take a break from her charismatic and lovely persona. The shift from 'happy' Kukeiko to 'sad' Kukeiko was mysterious. Ever since she became successful and people were contacting her for items, many grew green snakes around their minds. Next to Mei and Kukeiko, three students decided to join them: Momo, Ochacko, and Jiro.
'That was unexpected. Hopefully they don't ask about my behaviour. Nor about the recent news. Let this be just us eating. Hopefully I'll be able to eat faster.'
Momo and Kukeiko made eye contact. Kukeiko immediately looked right at her food.
"Man, everyone nowadays only talks about the latest gossips.", said Ochacko, breaking the ice.
"Mhm", Kukeiko responded firmly.
"How are things for you guys?", asked Mei.
"Hellish training.", said Ochako.
"But we're getting better!", reassured Momo.
"All Might also started helping us with perfecting our moves."
"That sounds cool.", replied Mei.
"Kukeiko. Tell us. How was living with Izuku before?"
"How it was?"
"Oh yeah! Great idea!", said Ochako.
"More or less a pain in the butt."
"Kukeiko! Don't be mean!"
The girls laughed nervously.
"Leaving the jokes aside, it was alright. He was somewhat of a pain because of his neverending stubbornness. I swear. If he wanted to do something, there's no way in changing his mind. Ever. Trust me. I tried."
All of the girls from the table burst out in laughter.
"I just remembered! On Izuku's... what was it? Fifth birthday? My father dressed up as All Might and pretended to be him."
"Awwww", said the other.
"And, of course, my father couldn't imitate All Might's voice exactly. So when he said the "I AM HERE!", Izuku started looking sad and... (laughing) sorry, he was adorable then.
(laughing)
He asked with a sad face:
'Are you okay All Might? You sound like you're sad.'"
The girls just burst into laughter so much so the tables nearby could hear very well.
"I actually thought All Might was sad.", chimed Izuku as he sat at the table.
Because of the unexpected response and tomato-like face, everyone at the table were just dying of laughter.
"I told you that'll cheer her up", said Izuku as the girls of 1-A and some of the boys were relaxing at the common room that evening.
The day before, the girls of 1-A were very worried for Kukeiko. She was down and they wanted to cheer her up, but didn't know what to do.
"Cheering Kukeiko up isn't that hard. Just talk to her.", said Izuku.
"About what? We don't really know what to ask her and we don't want her to feel uncomfortable."
"Just... Just let the conversation flow. At some point, I think she'll say something or bring up something up that'll make her and you feel better."
"Izuku... how can you be so calm about her...", started Ochako.
"Actually, Kukeiko used to be a very and cold and shy person. So she's acting like she always used to. One thing that hasn't changed is her talkative nature."
Izuku was smilling to the girls which reminded them of Kukeiko's smile.
"You actually thought that your father was All Might.", laughed Kaminari.
"I was a naive little kid!"
That evening, Kukeiko was still working on some remaining schoolwork and received an email came in:
"Dear Kukeiko Midoriya,
My name is Amaya Hasegawa. I am writing to ask you for help. You might have already heard about the car accident that has been sworming around the media. As you might know, I am the one who got blinded in the end. I've heard many wonderful things about you, including how good you are at making items. I was wondering whether you can help me. I will leave you links to some social media platforms so that it will be easier for us to communicate. I am looking forward to your response.
Thank you,
Amaya Hasegawa."
Kukeiko felt something sweet. Something fuzzy. Like she could see a glimmer of light in the dark tunnel.
But... Kukeiko looked at the carvings from her window and the bag of heavy medicine.
'Hopefully, I'll get to sleep today.
But whatever happens, I've got to go Plus Ultra!'
