BLOSSOMING HERO "THE EMOTIVE IRIS" SAVES YOUNG BOY FROM DANGER AND HYPOTHERMIA
The headline, and others similar to it, had found their way across every media platform and news site the next day. Of course, many of them had use the pun "blossoming" on her name. Every article also seemed to remind readers of her previous incidents; saving Shoto in the summer and the QuirKey incident. It was beginning to finally occur to her she might actually be some kind of real celebrity. And every media site had their own takes from their users:
What a fantastic feat for underdogs alike! In just a short time, she has really risen to the level of the rest of 2-A! You're real hero, Emotive Iris! You give hope to this world!
I hope Officer Hoshino is proud of the hero his daughter is becoming – I know I would be! What a courageous young lady!
Can you believe it? She used her own SOCKS to bandage that boy's arm, in freezing temperatures! I couldn't even do that, the bare minimum!
I never thought a latecomer could ever come close to the ability the rest of the 2-A class has but here she is!
A strange quirk that no one ever though could serve a superhero – and yet somehow, they helping in rescuing that boy!
"Please stop reading the comments," Kairi said as she paced across her dorm room. Looking for any sort of distraction, she fiddled with the cup of writing utensils and markers. "I thought we were never supposed to read them."
"I'm only reading you the positives," Shoto said, scanning through his phone as he lounged on Kairi's bed. "I was hoping it could encourage you."
"I don't need social media comments to finally tell me I'm finally better in every way."
"That isn't what I mean," Shoto said. "I just wanted you to know that people aren't viewing you as villain material anymore. You really are a hero and people are seeing that."
"But they're still comparing me to the rest of the class," she huffed, picking up the green teddy and her worn elephant. She dropped herself to the edge of the bed and hugged the animals tight to her. "I can't be good in my own right, it has to be in comparison to you all. I can't just be... me. I'm the underdog, I've excelled beyond what people expected of me. That's exactly it – what people expected of me. I can't just be 'An inspiration, a great hero!' Even laced within the comments there's still some discrimination because oh, my quirk was expected to be something that would make a villain or sexism because of course an emotional girl saved a boy, I must be wired to save children. Emotional, female. Of course that's what people think!" She slammed her exasperated arms against the bed. "Also, you said you're only reading the positive comments."
"There's a lot of them!" Shoto defended. Kairi shook her head, and beckoned him to hand over his phone. "Kairi..."
"Shoto, please..." With a heavy sigh, he passed over the phone. Her fingers continued to swipe through the list, furrowing firmly. Many of them did make her heart sing, which was very true. But the most glaring ones were the ones who maybe weren't the most good intended.
It's interesting how she's been at the center of these big events this last year. Also, has anyone noticed she is also with Shoto Todoroki, Endeavor's son and a rising hero in his own right? Think I might explore this for my next conspiracy video.
Damn shes hot look at that ass how do i get her to save me
Weaseled her way into class with a weak quirk, and now she's suddenly all over the news for the stupidest reason rescues? We never heard of her at UA before this. And you expect me to believe saving that boy was a work of heroics? Anybody could climb and move that fast. Fake fake fake this is all for fame. I bet she doesn't actually have a quirk, she's just really emotional. Also her father works with the police, who works with heroes, he must have pulled some strings.
Omg the Todoroki boy is always with her do you think they're dating?! Superhero power couple!
Without allmight the smallest hero thing makes the news huh
Obviously she's close with todroki they must be working together to get her attention
Thankfully, the comments were considerably less than the ones of admiration but they burned into her mind. Disgusted, she flung the phone with two fingers back at Shoto. Discomfort seeped into her, churning a mild sickness.
"There... are some yes. There always will be. People are terrible sexist pigs and just enjoy being contrary. These negative comments are ten percent of them, at best. The other ninety percent is completely in awe but what you've done! That's nowhere the amount of hate you got for QuirKey!"
"Well, some of that hate was valid," Kairi disputed. Shoto shook his head.
"Being rude is never valid. It wasn't just your quirk, though that helped the situation. Your training this year has finally helped you find some control of your quirk, and you were able to command your emotions. You held onto your calm despite everything else in you freaking out and got that boy to calm down enough to help him. But, it wasn't just your quirk. You utilized skills you learned in class; you've polished your finesse in climbing, your ability has increased, your deduction of your own body movement is now nearly precise. And, you applied the first aid skills we learned in class and responded to him quickly, to get him the help he needed. By the way, how did you know hypothermia was beginning to set in? I don't recall us learning about that."
"I ended up memorizing everything we were expected to cover and continued to study, going beyond what was necessary. I didn't learn too much more than everyone else but hypothermia was so basic I ended up covering over it." Shoto blinked, several times. His mouth fell open.
"You studied beyond what we were supposed to know?"
"It was really fascinating and I thought it would be useful to know. Turned out, it was." It had clicked. Kairi froze as the currents in her mind zapped together, an epiphany rising from the fusion of her thoughts. Shoto lifted his brows, watching the way her expression altered. He could feel the spark of euphoria building. He slowly sat up, inching towards her.
"Something just occurred to you," he stated.
"Shoto..." She extended a hand, and he took it automatically. Patiently, he waited. "This is beyond just doing schoolwork and working to get good grades."
"Yes, it is," he stated plainly. "I assure you not even Iida went as far as studying the properties of hypothermia." While she continued to stare at the wall across from them, a shocked expression in her eyes, Shoto's grin broke onto his face. Joyous pride swell in him as he made to kiss the back of her hand. "You've discovered something, haven't you? A passion."
"I haven't done any internships thanks to my inability to do well in the sports festival. I have tried to seek out a kind of apprenticeship or a smaller internship on my own but none of the ones I found were of any interest to me. What if I'm seeking the wrong things? I'm looking at combatant heroes mostly. However even the ones who aren't strictly fighting seem to be more about advertising than marketing. I want to be a rescue hero yes – shouldn't that mean I should focus my attention beyond advanced first aid?"
"What do you mean?"
"I need to go further than what we're learning Shoto. I'm not saying I want to spend years and years going to medical school. Being out in the field is what I want. I want to work alongside other heroes, work as a team, be a partner to someone. But I think I want to spend my efforts studying what I excel at, what interests me, rather than spending too much time focusing on more than is necessary in fighting. I don't just want to save someone from an apartment that needs refurbishing. I wish I had the tools necessary on me to bandage him up. I wish I had been able to clean him up quick to avoid infection. I wish I had the proper tools to bandage that boy, to have been able to do most of the work before the ambulance reached us. I knew some things of course, but... I want to do... more. Shoto, I want to further study ways to rescue people from various situations. My quirk came in handy being able to get that boy to calm down so he could listen to me. What if I also had some counseling training?" She paused and looked at him, as if waiting for confirmation. He simply remained quiet, waiting for her to continue. "So many incidents are made worse by a person's panic. The number one cause of drowning is panic. If someone is anxious, flailing could make a situation worse. If I can channel my quirk in order to influence others for good, get them to listen and be calm. Maybe if they're in a dangerous home situation, I could use my quirk to make them feel safe and help them out of it."
"So you want to use your quirk to help with counsel?" Shoto said.
"Yes, but more than that. If I'm going to use my abilities in rescuing, in helping calm a person down, using empathy to help mediate situations I want to go even further." She leapt from her bed, suddenly energizing by her new revelations. "I want to apprentice under Thirteen, if I am able. Even more than that, when UA is done, I think I may want to take some nursing classes and learn how to counsel others. I mean, I guess I probably sound unqualified considering I have to see a counselor myself..." He tilted his head, baffled by her comment.
"Why would that not qualify you? Do you think doctors don't also need to see doctors? Counselors have tough issues they struggle to deal with themselves. That doesn't make them unqualified."
"I mean, I guess..." she mumbled, lighting up red with embarrassment as her fingers fumbled together. "It's just something that I'm worried people will concern themselves with."
"They can go fuck themselves then," he replied casually. Shoto sighed and slipped off the bed to pull her to himself. Slowly, Kairi wrapped her arms around his back. His hand patted the top of her head as he took in her scent, losing himself in it. "I think you are absolutely right. I have seen you become more involved with the studies of rescue tactics and plunge into readings about simple medical procedures in a way I have only ever seen you do for your devoted fandoms. And you care about people. Even those who never showed to care about you." He pulled away, extending one finger to lift her chin. Her chest fluttered at the gaze he poured into her. "Do it. You're already pouring your heart into it. You're more than qualified for this line of work. There's enough fighters in this class, but I can't recall a single person has enjoyed hearing how to properly wrap a wound like you have. And I'm here to support you all the way." Her cheeks filled with a smile, just before she gave him a tight squeeze.
"I'm going to do it then. I'm going to talk to Thirteen, see if there's anyway she can help me. Recovery Girl might also be able to give me some lessons on some more basic medical stuff. It's sad we only have another week of these classes."
"It's a good thing you're going to be seeking out more opportunities then." He pulled away from her, and looked back at his phone, still on the page of social media comments. Shoto smirked. "'The Emotive Iris', you say? I think I recall your hero name being Mood Swinger."
"Oh, I was never fully committed to that name. I just needed something. I thought it was a good name at the time, because you know, mood swings. I already get enough sexist comments on being an 'emotional girl'. I think I made mention once on social media about being The Mood Swinger and that was a complete shitstorm. You know how many people thought that must mean my quirk is always being on my period?" Shoto grimaced.
"I'm guessing every one of these comments were old men."
"A few young ones, but yes you are correct. I don't need to encourage the stereotype. It's not like I've become well known till... recently. So I decided I thought I would just change my hero name. I've become quite fond of irises lately." The golden light in her eyes sparkled, endeared by his smirk as he turned away. His cheeks filled with red.
"Ah, yes..." he chuckled, looking over at the plastered iris that still hung on her wall. "I find myself drawn in by them as well. Especially warm amber ones, staring back at me." He looked back, locking his gaze once more to her eyes. Her heart sped, unable to break away from her despite how wildly it flew.
"Stop!" she yelled, quickly turning back away. His words were too infectious, an affectionate disease spreading throughout and causing her to fill with a deep fluster. "You're just... Why are you so...?"
"What?" he chuckled. "Would you rather me say that only a giant nerd would know at the top of their head that 'iris' also happens to be an old-fashioned term for a banner or symbol?"
"Yes, because maybe that wouldn't make me the color of beets."
"I do like beets, very much." His flirting was becoming too much, especially when he made to reach for her again. The burning of his touch was quickly becoming addicting. While she still twitched and the feel of him when he held her or touched her face, it was all very welcome. Her mind raced as she considered her usual anxieties, if this was what he really wanted. But she needed to trust him, as so many around her had told her. Slowly, that trust was becoming easier as her doubt faded with every day. Even so, things with them were still very earlier and it was still shocking to find him stroking her hair or entwining his fingers with hers. Foreign and surprising, but every bit intoxicating and she could never get enough of him. She would have been happy just having friends, just knowing there were people she could rely on. But this was far more of a blessing than she ever thought she could be worthy of. He was astounding, he was magic, he was home.
Another brush of his finger up her arm, and she could already feel herself becoming easily distracted. Her want grew, but the sensible part of her slapped it away.
"Ah, n-no, stop, Shoto!" she said quickly. As he always did, he dropped his arm, stepping away. It still left her flabbergasted, no matter how many times he did that. Even though he could feel her want, to just stay in his arms, and it was no doubt causing him to want as well, he stopped all together. Her mind spun, disbelieving once more that he was able to separate his own sense from her feelings. "You give me any more attention and I will struggle to allow us to leave this room. Isao is waiting for us at the hospital. We promised him. We can't be late."
"O-of course," he stammered, regaining his composure. Then he smirked devilishly. "Just carve out some time for me this weekend. No homework allowed."
"You're a bad influence, Shoto Todoroki!" she laughed while held the door open.
"Says the girl who introduced me to Seawall and now I have to set several alarms to get myself off the game."
"Is that blamed on the game or your reluctance to leave the girl you're playing with?" Shoto remained silent while he shut the door behind them. They laughed their way out of the dorm room but once in view of their classmates, they were deliberate in keeping a small distance between them. Kairi gave a small wave to those in the common area just before they exited the room dorm. A thick silence filled the area, the sound of Hagakure flipping through a magazine the only noise present. An awkward few seconds passed before anyone spoke.
"Well that's just great!" Bakugo hissed as he slammed his fist against the arm rest of the couch. Hagakure's form moved in a way that indicated she must be looking his direction. Kirishima lifted his eyes from his phone, exiting out of a video about the importance of stretching before working out. "As if Icy Hot's attitude and Hoshino's mood projection's weren't annoying enough."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kirishima asked. Tokoyami pushed aside the door leading into the entry. He turned his head behind him, watching the two classmates disappear together down the road. He held the door open for Jiro, walking in slowly behind him.
"Curious. It would seem something in their souls has resurrected each other," said Tokoyami.
"I don't understand," Jiro said, looking back through the window as if searching for something she missed. "Are we watching Hoshino and Todoroki for something?"
"Are you and Kirishima really so incompetent you are missing something so obvious?" Mineta interjected, wandering in from the kitchen as he held a carbonated drink in his hand.
"I don't understand what's going on either," Hagakure said.
"You have to be an idiot, are you telling me you didn't feel those strange feelings?!" Bakugo scoffed.
"Feel it?" Mineta said condescendingly. "I saw it plain as day."
"Todoroki smiles a lot around her lately," said Tokoyami.
"Well, he always has. They're best friends!" Hagakure said.
"Oh sweet, naïve, Hagakure..." Mineta proudly walked the length of the room to where she said, reaching to pat where he assumed her head was. "No no... They walked out of here 2.3 inches further apart than usual. They both looked around quickly as if hoping not be caught and taking notice to where everyone is sitting and where they're looking. I wasn't paying too much attention to Todoroki, but Hoshino was holding herself very stiff as one does when their nervous or guilty. But their lips also shook, trying to keep themselves from smiling too much lest they be given away."
"Wh... what...?" Jiro said. Bakugo grunted and launched himself from the couch.
"The runt is trying to say it's obvious they're secretly together. Now I have to deal with that range of emotion in the classroom and those stupid looks across the room."
"You think?" Kirishima asked, looking back to the door. "I dunno, I think it's kind of neat. Good for them, really." Bakugo glared at Kirishima.
"If that really is the case..." Jiro said, heading further into the room. "I'm glad it's Todoroki."
"Yeah? Why is that?" said Mineta.
"No one understands Hoshino like Todoroki. And not many people have looked past Hoshino's quirk and treated her like a person. In addition, not many people have seen Todoroki beyond being Endeavor's son, or a star celebrity, or a handsome face. From the start they've seemed to just know each other's rhythm and how to treat each other and understood without speaking the kind of person the other needed," Jiro said, reciting her observations. "That's good, they really deserve each other."
"It even brings a little warmth to my heart," Tokoyami agreed. The room fell quiet once again, as the others considered the possibility of them as a couple. Even Bakugo fell silent, seeming to utter a strange noise that sounded something similar to approval.
You all have been so kind and patient to me, and I am very lucky to have the readers I have. I know my uploads have slowed a little bit as of late and I am sorry for that. I am pretty exhausted and my mental health isn't the greatest right now in this moment in time, and I really apologize for the effect that has had on my writing. I love you and I am so grateful to you!
