Chapter 10: Rest and Recovery
Eri:
In all her years as a nurse at UA, which in reality was only five, Eri had hardly seen a class as beat up as class 1A of this year. She was used to having an influx of students after the first year's first battle trials, but it was exceptionally large this year. She had two students with severe electricity burns, one with frostbite that refused to be treated properly, Mirio's daughter Takara had a bad burn, and then finally the last trial produced 2 students with respiratory illnesses and one that had both pneumonia, strep, a broken arm andome cracked ribs.
"You guys really did a number on each other," She muttered to herself, trying to shake away the guilt she felt not patching them all up entirely, but she needed to save use of her quirk for real emergencies, she was one of only a few operating pro's that had a quirk that could heal.
With a moist towel Eri pat the head of Saori Kaminari, she was surprised that the girl had actually hurt herself this bad, with an electricity quirk it was hard for her to have this sort of reaction. Eri supposed that Chargebolt himself was capable of this sort of reaction, though his fans loved it when he did that. Taking note of Saori's temperature, which was within healthy ranges at this point, Eri moved onto Tsuki.
At first glance it appeared she was in the same condition as Saori, which is exactly how she was treated. However now that Eri had the time to breath, she noticed a very big problem. Gingerly Eri lifted the sleeve of Tsuki's shirt and tapped the girl's prosthetic arm, the brief touch burned her finger.
"Just as I suspected," Putting on a pair of cloth gloves Eri carefully removed the prosthetic limb. The area surrounding the connector was burned, the air tinged with the scent of ozone. Eri put on her surgical mask and started applying burn gel to the burned areas. Luckily that seemed to be the extent of the shock and was easily healed, however she couldn't say the same about the prosthetic. The shocking likely destroyed the sensitive electronics contained inside, and left it a damaged husk. She would have to put in a formal inquiry to Principal Might to see if they could pay to replace it.
Next on her rounds was her self-proclaimed niece Takara Togata. From when she had first checked on her it was revealed she merely had a bad burn on her side, something that was treated in a similar manner to Tsuki's burns. She was still unconscious when Eri had treated her, but it was time for a check up.
Eri wasn't sure what she expected when she entered the room, but she was certainly not expecting to see her niece jumping on the expensive hospital bed. Yet there she was, bouncing up and down as if she were a child.
"Eri!" Takara stopped jumping and plopped on the bed wincing, which Eri could only imagine meant she had agitated her wound.
"Takara, I'm very disappointed," Eri shook her head as she grabbed the clipboard hung on the wall containing her critical information, "You do realize that this hospital bed is more than a month's allowance for you?"
"Oh oops," Takara chuckled, before she stuck out her tongue, "I guess I couldn't help myself."
"And why were you jumping on the bed? You're not four anymore," Eri scolded, as she started the check up, doing a few basic tests.
"I was just feeling so pumped up after the battle trial and I couldn't contain myself," She smiled as she looked at the television set up in the corner where some replays of the battle trials played, "Toshi did so great in his, and Himari did too, even if she did lose."
"Yes, Toshi-kun and Himari-chan are very skilled heroes," Eri idly commented as she completed a basic reflex test on Takara, "Though if they aren't careful they might end up in here like you."
"Oh you're such a tease Eri," Takara playfully shoved her, "You and I both know that Toshi's the one that will be in here the most."
"Well with how things have gone today, I'm not so sure he will be." Eri challenged with a smirk, "You're already here once, and he played it safe during his trial."
"Oh really? You think I'll make it back here more times than him?" Takara countered, sticking her tongue out in a teasing manner, "If he's anything like what I've heard about his dad, he'll just amp up his visits."
"Do you want to make a bet on it," Eri said, suddenly getting competitive, something she learned from Mirio.
"Yeah!" Takara stood up, and then tapped her chin, pondering for a moment, "Tell you what, if you win I'll give you all my candy apples from lunch next year!"
"Sounds like a deal," Eri playfully noogied Takara's head, "Alright, I give you a clean bill of health, just make sure you don't agitate that side too much, as much as I want to win that bet, I don't want to see you in here again."
"Will do," Takara wiggled her way out of the noogie and kissed Eri on the cheek, "Thanks Auntie!" With that Takara gathered her things and left, probably off to go talk Toshi into some dangerous training session.
Checking her list one last time Eri marked off Itami, he had made it very clear that he didn't want her treating his frostbite, so she let him off with very specific instructions of how to care for it, though from the way he was acting, she expected him to ignore them entirely. The next name on her list was Eiko.
"I-I'm so sorry Backtrack-sensei," Eiko Shishikura, the girl who had taken the most damage from the battle trials, apologized as soon as she entered the room, a feat in and of itself. Most people weren't up and talking after getting a limb broken so severely, much less someone in her condition, "I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble." Eiko weakly coughed, Eri frowned, but knew that she would recover, her quirk prevented her from dying to illness. However she wished she could have rewound her more to remove the illness, but the best she could do was rewinding to as the bones broke, so they were more fractured and not fully broken. It would give her only a week or two before they healed fully, but she had to conserve her quirk for a crisis.
"It's not your fault Shishikura-san," Eri dabbed her head with a damp towel, sucking away some of the heat, "You were practicing, and with most of your class as the children of heroes, I'm surprised we haven't seen more of them."
"Backtrack-sensei?" Eiko spoke up once again, calling her attention back to the girl, "Nishiya-san and Iida-san? How are they?"
"They're doing fine, I've got them on the proper medications so they'll recover in a few days." Eri explained, a touch of concern dotting her face, "But you don't have to worry about them, just focus on recovering yourself."
"I can help them recover," Eri froze, she had to turn and look back at Eiko. Was it possible that her quirk in both ways? Making someone sick and healthy? If that were the case then Eri might make a valuable intern come the sports festival, "My quirk, it lets me remove the diseases I gave them."
Rubbing her horn, a nervous habit she had developed while going through medical school at the same time as hero school, Eri checked frowned. She was glad that Eiko was offering, and it would certainly help her save time, but she was worried that the girl might push herself too far and end up in a worse condition.
"I'm not sure that's the best idea," Eri looked at Eiko's patient summary, "With your condition I'm afraid that it might set you over the edge."
"A-are you certain Sensei?" Eiko prodded again, this time giving a puppy dog look, something Eri had seen plenty of times before and was desensitized to.
"No, and that's my final answer Eiko-chan, I want you to make a full recovery," Eri said as she put her foot down, turning away and checking her list for the last two students, Masaki and Katsumi.
She came to the room with them, and she felt her stomach drop, she actually couldn't use her quirk on them unless she rewound them to right before they got sick, if she only did it partially, they'd have to fight the full course of the disease again. So she put them on proper treatments, Katsumi's was worse than Masaki's, and as such she had given her the proper antibiotics already.
"Is Shishikura-san alright?" Masaki spoke up from his place on the bed, he was sitting up, his golden hair splayed out around him.
"You really don't need to worry about that right now Nishiya-san," Eri patted his head, taking his temperature as she did so, "You've got to recover, you really aren't in the position to worry about her."
"But I have to know," Masaki struggled against her, but one firm, yet loving, look from her set him back, "S-sorry ma'am."
"Don't worry about her, she's just fine, her broken bones will heal," Eri handed him an apple, "Eat up, you'll need your strength later."
"Thank you Backtrack-sensei," Masaki bowed his head and smiled as he took a bite of his apple.
Eri had to admit, Masaki's sincerity touched her heart. He was so worried about Eiko, even though he was in a bad position himself. Eri frowned, she was being too hard on them, they were children of heroes, and as such they had hearts of heroes. No matter how bad off they were, someone else was always in more need.
She stood up and headed to Eiko's room room, where the girl was still laying in her bed, though she was reading one of the medical textbooks Eri had left on a nearby table, it was high level, higher than some college textbooks, but Eiko seemed to be understanding it quite well.
"Shishikura-san, I have changed my mind," Eri announced, drawing the girl's attention, "But this will be done on my rules, I want to ensure that you have the safest possible environment. So you'll be using a wheelchair and I'll be right by your side, ready to rewind you should anything go awry."
"R-right of course," Eiko smiled, putting away the textbook, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Now come here," Eri carefully helped Eiko into a wheelchair and got the IV cart. Wheeling her to the room that Katsumi and Masaki shared.
Masaki looked and gasped in surprise as Eiko was wheeled into the room"Eiko, what are you doing!" Masaki went to stand, but was stopped by a firm look from Eri, "You shouldn't be up, Eri said you're still injured."
"I...I have something to do…" Eri wheeled her over to Masaki's bedside and Eiko touched his head, relief spreading across his face, "There," She placed her hand on Katsumi's head and Eri noticed that the sleeping girl's breathing steadied, "All better now."
"That's amazing Shishikura-san," Eri complimented as she set Eiko down next to a nearby bed, quickly turning to Katsumi and taking her temperature.
"My throat feels completely better, that's what." Masaki jumped up, "I feel perfectly fine!"
"I...I just removed their diseases," Eiko explained with a wave of her hand, "It's...just something my quirk does."
"That's great, that means I get to go now right?" Masaki smiled at Eri hopefully, "I mean, since I'm no longer sick and all right?"
Eri looks at the Masaki and then Katsumi, "I'll be keeping you and Katsumi here for a few more hours, just to see if you relapse."
"Now come with me missy," Eri took Eiko and wheeled her out of the room, "Let's get you some bedrest, like you're supposed to have."
"I-I'm sorry," Eiko blushed and coughed at the same time, Eri frowning as she sat Eiko down.
"Don't be," Eri gently rubbed Eiko's shoulder, "I've read your file, I know what you're going through, just take it easy and you'll turn out to be a great hero someday."
Masaki:
True to her word Masaki and Katsumi were released from the nurses office only a few hours later, she had given them a clean bill of health. He had to hand it to her and Eiko, he felt completely better almost as if he had never been sick.
"Hey Iida-san," Masaki turned to Katsumi, the blue haired heroine was staring at her hands, but she turned to him.
"What is it Nishiya-san?" She replied, straight and to the point.
"I was thinking, since our team won the battle trial without losing a single team member we should celebrate." Masaki smiled, his beautiful azure eyes twinkling with excitement, "It could be like our very first dorm party."
"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Katsumi shook her head, her eyes blank, "Not after what we did to Shishikura-san."
"Come on Iida-san, it's not like we tried to hurt her that much," He attempted to blow off the situation, he wasn't exactly lying.
"But I did," Katsumi frowned, her brow furrowing in frustration, "This isn't what being a hero is about, it's about saving people, not hurting them." She shook her head, getting up, "My parents would be disappointed." She mumbled under her breath, "I'll be going to my room, don't bother me."
"Sheesh, I'll leave you alone," Masaki waved her off, going to change into his own clothes. His uniform was left in the locker room, so he made a stop there, changing out of his hero costume. He always found that being the only one in the school made him feel uneasy. He quickly made his way out and back to the dorm rooms. He needed to check out his other teammate, from how he acted during the battle trial he figured the bird headed boy would be down for a celebration.
Masaki whistled as he strolled towards the elevator at the center of the commons room, his eyes darting around the room, taking in the entire room. It wasn't exactly full, a few of his classmates were around. Toshi and his friends were lazing about on the couches, watching a hero movie, he saw Sayo in the kitchen baking some kind of pastries, and Betatsu sat at the counter, stealing the occasional glance at him. He checked the elevator and saw that the lift was stuck on the third floor, and probably would be for a while, breathing in the heavenly smells of the pastries Sayo was baking, so he stepped his way towards the kitchen, he'd try it later.
"That smells delicious, what is it?" Masaki asked, taking a seat next to Betatsu. Sayo looked at him blankly and didn't respond for the longest time, and as the silence wore on he swore he heard Betatsu whimper and say something about him being delicious, though he couldn't be sure about that.
"Snickerdoodles," Sayo finally replied, breaking the awkward silence that had formed, "Why do you ask?"
"Well I was wondering if I could get a taste of one," Once again he swore he heard Betatsu mumble something under her breath, but couldn't tell hide or tail of what it was.
"I'm sorry, these are for someone else," Sayo simply stated as she scooped the last of cookies onto a plate and wrapped it up with a cute bow. Pulling out her phone she took a picture of it with a soft smile and activated her quirk. Masaki watched as black smoke billowed out of her and formed a small portal that she put the cookies through.
"Wow, that's pretty amazing Ido-san," Masaki smiled, once again hearing Betatsu mumble something.
"Thank you Nishiya-san," Sayo replied swiftly, turning back to her baking project, "But I've got more orders to fill."
"Oh, you've got a job?" Masaki asked, it was highly unusual, almost no students had them these days, much less a hero student. He wasn't one to judge though, maybe she needed more spending cash.
"Yes, I work for my mother's bakery," Sayo informed, starting the baking of another batch of snickerdoodles.
"That's cool," Masaki smiled, leaning towards her, taking in another deep breath of the sweet smelling pastries, "Do you think I could get some if I helped?"
"No," Sayo stated plainly, ignoring any of the friendliness he layered his voice with, "Like I said they're for customers, I make exactly enough, never any more."
"Aw come on, I'm having a celebration tonight," Masaki played his best card, the desperate cute guy, throwing puppy dog eyes her way, it always worked in a cinch, "They look so hot and delicious."
"I said no."
"You look hot and delicious," Betatsu suddenly erupted, her face bright red.
"What did you say Mineta-san?" Masaki turned to her, the girl covering her face in complete embarrassment.
"I-I Uh, Uh, Um, nevermind!" She shot up running away, skipping the elevator entirely and making a b-line to the stairs.
"What's her problem?" Sayo commented, looking at where Betatsu had run off to.
"I'm not sure," Masaki pursed his lips, now he knew for sure she was definitely saying something about him, but that didn't matter right now, he had more pressing matters, "Are you sure that I can't help and get something out of this?"
"Nishiya-san, I said no once, and I'll say it again," She glared at him, her chocolatey brown eyes glowing gold as mist started to form around her, "No."
"Alright, alright," Masaki got up and rubbed the back of his head, "I'll get going, thanks for talking though."
"Whatever," Sayo ignored him and went back to baking, the cold shoulder she gave him sending chills down his spine.
Masaki headed to the elevator once again, this time it opened right away as he approached. Toshi was there as well, apparently the movie had finished and he was headed back to his room. The blue haired boy didn't notice his approach, and Masaki patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey Midoriya-san, great job during the battle trials," Masaki happily commented, Toshi visibly jumping at the touch.
"Oh, uh, Nishya-san, what's up?" Toshi nervously turned away from Masaki, sweat beading his forehead.
"I just wanted to congratulate you on your win," Masaki smiled, though it seemed to do nothing, his normal cheerful demeanor couldn't do anything to put Toshi at ease, "You know, I'll be celebrating with Tokoyami-san tonight, maybe you could join us."
"Y-yeah that sounds great," Toshi responded anxiously, rubbing the back of his head as he backed away, more sweat beading on his face, "B-but Sensei assigned us some homework, and I, uh, want to get that done, s-so maybe if I have time after that?"
"Sure, sounds like a plan," Masaki gave him a thumbs up, "See you then."
"Y-yeah," Toshi kept backing away from Masaki, "S-see you then." He turned to leave, heading out of the dorm rooms, leaving Masaki in the elevator alone.
"What was that about?" Masaki frowned, he didn't know much about Toshi, but he did know that was very out of character for him, and then he left in the opposite direction of his room? "Maybe he forgot something in the classroom."
Toshi:
"Flames, blue flames, that's all I can think about when I see him," Toshi complained, or maybe vented was the better word, either way he was getting off his chest. He hated that he felt this way about Masaki, he could tell Masaki was a good guy, but ever since he saw Masaki put his quirk to use, he could only see the flames. The same azure flames that tortured his nightmares and haunted his dreams.
"So tell me, how does this make you feel?" Brainstorm, aka Hitoshi Shinso, asked, Toshi wasn't exactly sure why they had picked him for the job, but he was glad that he was picked, but Brainstorm listened well and knew what to say when he needed it.
"I don't know," Toshi sighed, all that he could feel was fear, and it wasn't the flames that scared him the most, it was the fact that Dabi might have a child. He was probably just being paranoid, there were plenty of people with fire quirks, maybe even some with blue flames, but something was different about Masaki's, they triggered the memories. It made him feel the flames, the way they burned his skin. His hand idly rubbed the scar on his collarbone, the very same scar that Dabi gave him years ago.
"I guess I feel frustrated, I don't want to hate him, but I can't help that," Toshi frowned, he could already feel the tears welling up in his eyes, "I feel like I hate myself, I'm afraid Masaki might be just like Dabi. I know he isn't, but deep down, somewhere in my heart I can't shake that feeling."
"And this is all because his fire is blue, am I correct?" Brainstorm prodded, his monotone voice being a surprisingly good asset for this job, Toshi merely nodded his response, "You're associating the nature of his quirk with his own nature. I can't say I'm not surprised, they do have similar quirks after all, but I've been in the same boat before. When I was in Middle School I was often treated similarly because of my quirk."
"Really? But you're an amazing hero Sensei!" Toshi protested, seeming more offended at the idea than Brainstorm himself, "That's just stupid."
"Exactly my point," The underground hero pointed his pen at Toshi as if it were his finger, "You're treating Masaki the same way. I know you don't want to, but you've got to look past his quirk and see the person on the inside."
"R-right," Toshi frowned, his hands were clenched on his lap, beads of sweat dotting them, he was frustrated. He knew what Brainstorm was saying was correct, but the part of him that was still the little boy trapped in Dabi's dungeon, and that terrified little kid couldn't let go, "I-I'll see what I can do."
"Good," Brainstorm wrote some things down on his notepad and looked back up at Toshi, his eyes peering out from over his reading glasses, "Now I want you to come back here once a week to talk with me, it doesn't matter if you're feeling fine or not, I need to talk with you."
"R-right, of course," Toshi nodded as he wiped at his eyes, getting rid of any hints of tears, as he stood up getting ready to leave, "See you next week Sensei."
"Goodbye Midoriya-san," Brainstorm waved at him as he left, leaving Toshi to his thoughts.
He's right, I'm being too harsh on him, Toshi thought to himself as he shuffled along back to the dorms, the cool night air nipping at his exposed skin. He always liked nights like this, they helped him think clearly, ever since his kidnapping he always prefered the cold, it reminded him he was alive and offered relief to his still sometimes aching scar. As was common with stressful situations Toshi's hand idly rubbed the scar, something he was proud to say was still a secret, not even Himari or Takara knew about it.
Toshi looked up from his sadly shuffling feet, seeing a bench in the distance. If I go back to the dorms now Masaki will expect me to be at his party, but I'm not sure I can face him just yet. Toshi headed to the bench, it wasn't far from the dorms, just across the street. He was close enough that he could be back in time for curfew, but far enough that he probably shouldn't be seen.
Taking a seat on the bench Toshi pulled out his phone, checking up on the latest hero news, he knew he checked right after the movie he had watched with Himari and Takara, but he always liked to be in the loop. There was nothing new in the hero news, Shoto had taken down a villain, already becoming a fan favorite after returning to Japan, Dynamight had ramped up the amount of takedowns since Shoto returned, one of his notable cases being a villain that could turn things inside out. While there wasn't anything new in hero news, there was something that caught Toshi's eye, a new vigilante was operating, there was almost no information on them, but it was quite odd, almost no one was doing vigilante work these days, becoming a hero was easier than ever. He knew that it meant whoever was doing it, they didn't want their face known.
Marking it down Toshi shut his phone and looked up at the stars, or what little stars there were in the sky, the lights of Mustafu drowning most of them out. He did enjoy seeing those that he could, it reminded him that even in the darkest of nights, there will always be light shining through.
"I never pegged you as the stargazing type Candy floss," The familiar voice of his friend brought him back to reality, Kenji was standing there with his characteristic grin plastered on his face, "Then again it has been a few years, there are lots of things we've got to catch up on."
"Kenji, what's up?" Toshi smiled at his childhood friend, he had gotten the chance to catch up with him since they started class, but they hadn't the chance to really sit down and talk until now., "Why are you out here, did you not get invited to Masaki's party?"
"No, I did, but I'm looking for you actually," Kenji took a seat next to Toshi and put his arm around Toshi's shoulder, looking up at the stars.
"W-what? Why?" Toshi looked over at him, a bit of disbelief showing on his face, to which Kenji just smiled at.
"Yeah, I heard about what happened with Masaki, and well people got talking," Kenji gave Toshi a look of concern, "I know this is about Dabi."
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about Kenji," Toshi immediately discounted his statement, he knew that Kenji knew about what he went through, but he didn't want to bother his friend with his problem.
"Toshi, I'm not an idiot," Kenji gave him a stern look, his usually jovial eyes getting suddenly intense, "He's got blue fire just like Dabi, it wasn't hard to put two and two together."
"Y-yeah it's about Dabi," Toshi hung his head dejected, he didn't want to trouble Kenji with this, "But it's nothing really, I already talked with Brainstorm-sensei about it."
"I'm sure you did, and I'm not gonna act like I'm a therapist or something, but you really got to talk about this, bottling things up is not good for your health."
"Right, right," Toshi sighed, Kenji's right, I'm too quiet about this, I barely made it to Brainstorm in time to not have a breakdown.
"So tell me Toshi, you into Himari or what?" Kenji playfully teased as Toshi's face exploded in a bright red blush.
"N-no, of course not." Toshi lied through his teeth, he totally had a crush on her, as far back as he could remember he had liked her. The way she smiled, the way she laughed, everything about her was perfect.
"Come on Toshi I know you better than that, don't lie to my face," Kenji laughed pushing Toshi's shoulder, "She's cute I get it, don't be embarrassed by that."
"Y-yeah I like her," Toshi hung his head in defeat, blushing like a fool in love, because that's because that's what he was.
"That's cool dude, I totally support that," Kenji smiled again, slapping Toshi on the back, "Now get on in there, I hear she's at Masaki's little shindig."
"I-I uh don't think that's a good idea," Toshi nervously rubbed the back of his head, "I-If Masaki's there I don't think I'll keep it together."
"Fair enough," Kenji sighed, patting Toshi on the back, "I'll get going then, have fun thinking in the dark." With that Kenji stood and left, leaving Toshi alone to his thoughts.
Itami:
"But you can use your Quirk to repair my cells, right?"
"Yes, I can, but my answer is still no."
"Oh, come ooooon!" Itami groaned, hanging his head. "I wanna feel that destructive Quirk hitting me, is that so wrong?"
"Y'know we're in the middle of a party, right?" Shusa motioned around them, exasperation evident on his face. "That's not just something I can just do here."
"So you mean we'll do it some other time, Tetsutetsu-san? After the party, maybe?!"
"You're impossible, Toyomitsu-san…" Shusa shook his head. "Fine, how about this? If you don't bug me about this for the rest of the night, I'll consider giving this a try."
"Really, you mean it?!"
"Sure. Now, how about you go out there and enjoy this party?"
"I can do that!" Itami began walking away from Shusa, waving as he left. "But don't forget, you promised!"
"Hold on, Toyomitsu-san, I only said I would-!"
Shusa's protests got drowned out as Itami wandered further away from him, glancing about the party.
He had to hand it to Masaki, he'd said he was going to make it a big party once word started spreading, and just him and Yuudai had managed to set up enough tables and gather enough snacks to make it into that. They'd also managed to talk most of the students into joining, with only eight students not eager to join the party - mostly the more antisocial students, but both Katsumi and Toshinori were no-shows, too.
Itami was hoping to talk to Masaki - given that his ability to transform into a dragon looked like a get some of that pain he so desired - but Itami noticed that he was busy chatting with Yuudai. He changed course, looking around for someone else to talk to about the possibility of testing their Quirks out on him. He recalled a few others had some pretty strong Quirks, which definitely could put his threshold to the test.
What eventually managed to catch his eye was a familiar red-orange hair by herself with a canned drink, having recognized her from their battle trial. He quickly stepped over the girl, tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, Todoroki-san! Glad to see you here!"
Makoto turned around, recognizing him quickly. "Oh, Toyomitsu-san!" She quickly looked him over, then smiled with what looked like relief after she was done. "I'm so glad to see you're out of the nurse's office, I was so worried when they'd carted you off! You really took the full force of my ice, after all!"
"Yeah I did! It was so awesome, Todoroki-san! See, look, I even got to keep a spot!" He pulled up his shirt, revealing a portion of his skin that still looked rather darkened.
Makoto grimaced at the sight and his words, glancing up at him with a worried expression on her face. "That still looks pretty bad, Toyomitsu-san. Are you sure you should be out of the nurse's office like this?"
Itami nodded. "Of course! My Quirk makes all that pain irrelevant, anyway! If anything, it's the best thing ever!" He reached over to the spot, pressing on it; that ever-delicious feeling of pain immediately shot throughout his body, making him squeal with delight. "Oooh, it's the best, Todoroki-san! Thank you so much!"
Makoto rubbed the back of her head. "That's kinda weird, Toyomitsu-san." She cleared her throat and kept her eyes focused on him, refusing to let her eyes glance even in the general direction of that spot. "Well, it's good to see you're doing better now, Toyomitsu-san! Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I wanted to talk about you giving me a shot of that Dry Ice Quirk again!"
"...excuse me?"
Itami nodded excitedly, patting his chest. "Yeah, your Quirk was so intense during the match, it was like I was in heaven! It normally takes so much to knock me out like that, but you did a great job there, Todoroki-san! You gotta give me another helping of it!"
"Okay, you're being very weird now, Toyomitsu-san." She crossed her arms, frowning. "What exactly is with you?"
"I told you, it's just the best feeling ever, taking on all those powerful Quirks!" He was all but drooling at the thought of that. "You've given me one of the biggest jolts ever, I gotta try it again!"
Makoto backed up slightly. "Y-you have fun with that, Toyomitsu-san."
Just at that moment, Sayo appeared in the midst of the party, calling out to them while carrying a large plate of cookies. She placed the plate on a table. "Here's that delivery of cookies you were so keen on getting, Nishiya-san," she said as she shot a look at Masaki, one most everyone at that party either missed or didn't understand.
"I think I'll go help Sayo with those! See you later, Toyomitsu-san!" She darted around Itami, speeding over to busy herself with helping Sayo.
Itami watched her leave, frowning. Looks like that avenue was a bust. That small taste was so enticing, but it seemed she was really not into that idea - for now, anyway. Nevertheless, there were still plenty others to seek out at the party.
It didn't take too long for Itami to spot yet another familiar figure from their battle, that black hair, tanned skin, and large figure unmistakeable. He immediately rushed over to the figure, patting him on the back. "Hey, Sasaki-san! Glad to see you here!"
The large teenager turned around, grinning as he recognized Itami. "Hey, Toyomitsu-san, you crazy hit-taker! Good to see you on your feet again!"
Itami grinned in return, raising his shirt for the second time that night to reveal that spot leftover from Makoto's attack. "Got a cool bit of a leftover from that, too, Sasaki-san! But I'm feeling great as ever!"
"Whoa, that's pretty nasty!" Kojiro grimaced at the mark, before looking at Itami directly. "Well, good to hear it all the same! What can I do for you?"
"I want you to hit me, as hard as you can!"
"What?"
"You're really strong as is, and your Quirk makes you even stronger, right? I want you to go all in, just gimme a really good hit!"
Kojiro blinked, before leaning in closer to Itami, lowering his voice. "You sure you're okay, Toyomitsu-san? Cold not hurting your brain or anything?"
Itami shook his head, smiling. "Nah, I'm good as can be! Just really want someone to get a good hit in!"
"You're real crazy, man." He frowned, backing away from him. "Why would I do something like that here, though? Socking you in the jaw will send my reputation plummeting!"
"No, no, you'll be fine!" Itami grinned widely, patting his chest. "I know some of the girls here have been checking you out ever since they saw your Quirk in action, and I know they'd just love a demonstration of what your Quirk can do! And my Quirk means I'll be just fine if you do it!" Now he was leaning in, his excitement evident in his voice. "C'mon, Sasaki-san, you know those girls would love to see it!"
Kojiro frowned, really looking torn by the scenario presented to him. "...you're sure I won't get any side eye from the ladies? Nobody's gonna think I'm beating you up pointlessly?"
Itami shook his head. "It'll be fine, Sasaki-san! We'll let everyone know we're going to show off our Quirks, so we'll be fine! No way anyone's going to get mad at you, I promise!"
Kojiro looked as if that internal war continued for a few seconds more, but eventually, he nodded. "You're really, really crazy, Toyomitsu-san. But what the hell, if the ladies will love it, let's give them a show! Center of the room and everything!"
As Kojiro and he started making their way towards the center of the room, Itami started letting his imagination run wild with the ideas of what taking a full-power blow from Kojiro would feel like. The very thought of it made him feel all kinds of tingy, his body ready for the upcoming ecstasy of that delicious feeling that was just a few seconds away…
Phanuel:
Phanuel's head was splitting, no matter the amount of alcohol he drank it wouldn't go away. He regretted that he had to resort to the forbidden drink, it was one of the things that wasn't explicitly restricted, but he didn't like drinking it. However when Lucifer had his nights, things changed and he needed to drown out the pain he felt for Lucifer's victims. His ideology conflicted directly with Lucifer's, but they had to work together. While their methods differed, they had the same end goal. With a groan he took another swig of the drink.
"Oh don't be such a poor sport Phanuel," Lucifer taunted from the dark corners, his saccharine voice giving Phanuel a headache, "You know I had to kill them."
"No you didn't," Phanuel retorted sharply, his eyes narrowing in disgust, "Those heroes didn't deserve death, they were upholding the peace."
"The peace maintained by authoritarian rule and fear tactics," Lucifer complained, chuckling sinisterly, "I know you hate that, heroes being used as a tool of the government, enforcers instead of saviors."
"While I agree with the sentiment," Phanuel downed another shot of the sake, "Your methods are most deplorable indeed."
"Give up on it Phanuel," Lucifer taunted some more, probably hoping to strike a cord with his self righteous partner, "You know it's how I operate, I don't complain about the villains you axe, heck I even helped with some of them."
"Help that I did not ask for," Phanuel spat out in disgust, finishing off the bottle of sake, "And you did it sloppily, how many civilian casualties did you cause?"
"Around a hundred," Lucifer casually counted, before blowing it off entirely, "But that wasn't my fault, they shouldn't have been at the fight."
"They were innocents!" Phanuel shouts at Lucifer, throwing the empty bottle at the wall, exploding in a beautiful shatter of glass, "What's the reason we do anything if they get hurt?!"
"They weren't innocent, they were participating in that sort of indulgence," Lucifer explained nonchalantly, "If they weren't there they would have lived."
"They hadn't hurt anyone," Phanuel growled, getting up from the bar and stumbling away, the alcohol finally beginning to give him a buzz, "Leave me alone you madman!" Phanuel stomps out of the room,"You're a monster."
A/N: Well I'm sorry it took a while guys, but I have to give some credit to KingOfStories01, which I must say is a pretty good name for him, as he helped me with this chapter again. I'll be trying to have a biweekly release because life is busy. If I don't it might be a weekly release and that'll make you all happy. Well that's it, Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!