After having finished healing the turbo hero's legs, Recovery Girl decided to give Ingenium a shot of her quirk on his non-fatal but still painful wounds that hadn't fully healed themselves so the turbo hero could return to hero work sooner than anticipated. The young esper and school nurse decided to silently make their way out of the hospital after Recovery Girl informed the doctors of Ingenium's recovered state, for they knew that the media would be soon to follow. The two said their farewells, and the family once again gave their sincerest gratitude. Right now, the family was all sitting together at Tensei's hospital bed, eagerly conversing and still brimming with optimism.
"I still can't believe that this is really happening," the father said, "Our son can really walk again."
"That means that I must give you back the title of "Ingenium"," Tenya added with no sense of disappointment; he still had long ways to go before he could really become worthy of that name.
Tensei let out another soft chuckle from his lips. "At least for now, little brother. I can't wait to see how my sidekicks react when they learn that the hero Ingenium is gonna be back at work! Looks like there's at least one of the Hero Killer's victims who didn't stay down."
Tenya's body momentarily tensed up at the mention of his name. "Tensei, the Hero Killer, what's your opinion of him?" Now that his brother's spine had been fixed and he could fully walk again, the teenager felt a small seed of doubt start to sprout in his mind. Though Stain had told Tenya to apologize to Tensei on his behalf, the teenager had told neither his brother nor anyone else in his family about what really happened that night.
Their father came forward with his own strong opinion before his eldest son could. "I can't sympathize with a cruel man like that, someone who targeted and mercilessly killed many good heroes like that, as if he alone decides who's worthy enough to be a hero. Who was he to decide that you weren't worthy of being called a real hero and crippling you like that? There's no excuse."
The older brother was not expecting Tenya to come forward with such a question, though he fully understood why his family would hold such vehement hatred against the man than . "Well, he's a killer who hurt a lot of people, and anyone would find that reprehensible. However, after seeing some news stories about his past and his reasoning, I can see what his overall goal was in trying to change society. In that sense, it's understandable why some people would look up to him, but he still went about his goals the wrong way. I just wish he could've seen that before he took down so many good heroes."
Tenya began to shift uncomfortably in his seat. "... and what if he did realize his mistakes? What if he came to understand his methods were wrong and felt remorse for his actions?"
"Well, if that really did happen, I think it'd be good to know that he was able to come to his senses, but come on." Ingenium let out a soft chuckle of amusement, "The idea that someone with such ideals and who already killed so many people on his mission to change society is just crazy talk. There's no way that someone like that could change their views!" The hero waited for Tenya to wholeheartedly agree or make some sort of humorous quip of how ridiculous the concept he brought up really was, but he was puzzled when his brother gave no response and shifted his body further away from his seat while awkwardly staring out into the distance.
"Right? Tenya?" The two parents could see this sudden change of demeanor coming from their youngest son and were bewildered by the cause of it.
"Tenya? Is there something you have to say?" his father asked.
The spectacled teenager impatiently tapped his foot, for he found it difficult to actually bring this up and stayed quiet for a few more seconds. "You're all aware of the story regarding the Hero Killer's arrest, that I, along with four of my other classmates and a group of seven pro pro heroes, encountered the Hero Killer before Hawks singlehandedly apprehended him. Well... that was just a false story to cover up the truth about what really happened that night." The Iida family felt their curiosity spike, all of them unsure where this was leading.
Tenya sagged his shoulders and lowered his head. "That night, I went to confront the Hero Killer myself." The other family members gasped. "I wanted to avenge you, brother, and so consumed by that anger, I acted recklessly, allowing the Hero Killer to easily dominate me. It was only thanks to the arrival of my friends that I was spared from death that night." All the members of the family felt their faces twist with shock and horror.
"One of the friends who helped me was none other than Kageyama, but instead of choosing to try and apprehend the Hero Killer, his first reaction was to..." Tenya's fingers tensed up, "To talk to him. Kageyama talked to Stain to try and get him to give up on his mission and instead focus on improving society by changing "false" heroes. For almost the entire fight, Kageyama attempted to get through to the Hero Killer, and near the end of the fight was when Hawks came in. But as soon as he arrived, Stain simply... surrendered." The shock spreading in the room was enough to get all three Iidas to jerk their bodies back.
"Kageyama's words somehow managed to get Stain to completely abandon his previous principles. He expressed sincere remorse for the crimes he'd committed. He even apologized to me for everything he'd done..." The blue-haired teenager now turned to his older brother. "And he told me to tell you that he was truly sorry for crippling you. He willingly chose to give himself up to the authorities and accept the punishment for his crimes." Tenya looked at his family and could tell this was a very deep and surprising blow to all of them.
"I understand how ludicrous it sounds, but I saw it all unfold right before my eyes." All three listening family members were processing what they'd heard in their own way, while Tenya decided to express his own thoughts on the matter.
"Though I'll be eternally grateful to Kageyama for giving your legs back, even now, I cannot help but still hold some animosity for what he did, trying to help a man who hurt so many people and nearly ended your hero career."
"Hold on there, Tenya. You need to be giving Kageyama WAY more credit." The younger brother was put off by the rising tone in Tensei's voice. "What he did... that's perhaps the most unbelievable and amazing thing I've ever heard. To be able to actually talk to a villain, reach deep inside their hearts and bring out their humanity through just words, it's unreal. I was saying just seconds ago that the idea of a villain with such strong convictions changing their ways was impossible, and here you are telling me that's exactly what Kageyama did with Stain. I've never done anything remotely close to that with any villain. The power to change others... in the right hands, it can be a tool that can bring out the best in people and inspire them. And that's the power that Kageyama seems to hold in his hands, something that he's used to change even his enemies. In a way, you could say he's more of a hero than anyone..."
The gravity and admiration in his older brother's words was palpable for Tenya, and he stewed on those words for a few moments. Perhaps his brother had a point, and he was placing unnecessary anger towards his friend. "Maybe your words ring true. Besides, it isn't fair of me to hold any animosity towards Kageyama after the miracle he gave us. But even so... I still cannot forgive the Hero Killer.
"To forgive him would be to act as though he did nothing wrong, to completely forget about his actions, and in my opinion, that would be an insult to you, brother. The fact remains that he still hurt you, and he killed many others. Kageyama blessed us with giving your legs, but he should have never even had to heal you in the first place. What he did to you... it cannot be forgiven."
Tensei could hear the hatred in his younger brother's voice: he understood that Tenya's hatred for Stain ran much deeper than it ever did for Tensei, and that such hatred wouldn't be easy to root out. It was because of that hatred that Tenya couldn't accept Stain's change or apology, while Tensei could. The hero internally sighed: it seemed forgiveness was still not an option for his younger brother.
Things began to settle back to normal after Shigeo finished healing Tenya's spine. Naturally, Ingenium was all over the news, with reporters who were once saying it was the end of Ingenium's hero career were now eagerly discussing his return to the hero scene. Similarly, all of Tenya's classmates congratulated their class president for his elder brother's recovery, and all of them could note that Tenya's optimism and joy were now brighter than ever.
Now, the next big battle that the esper and his classmates had to face was the midterms and upcoming finals. Their homeroom teacher explained that those who didn't pass their final exam would be forced to attend summer school and wouldn't be able to attend the big summer training course planned for the hero course.
Unfortunately for the esper, the first big trek, the midterms, did not go so well for him. All the time he'd spent with the Body Improvement Club, his morning exercises with Midoriya, training his healing abilities, and sparring sessions with All Might gave him little opportunity to do any hard studying, and his already average intellectual skills did nothing to help him through this. Shigeo was sitting silently with the rest of the class as Mr. Aizawa finished things for the day.
"Alright, that's it for class today. There's only one week until your final exams begin, and I'm sure you're all studying constantly, correct? Remember, don't neglect your training. The written exam is only one portion of the exam. There's also the practical portion to concern yourselves with. Good luck." The homeroom teacher closed the door, and the students immediately blurted out their thoughts.
"I've barely even taken notes this semester!" Both Mina and Denki exclaimed their frustration at placing in the bottom two for the class midterms. Shigeo shared their frustration and lowered his head in shame. He'd placed 18th in the class for the midterms: there were just so many different topics it covered that the esper hadn't studied for, that he just couldn't wrap his head around easily, and All Might couldn't really do much to help him in this regard.
"Yea, I've been so busy, I haven't been able to get around to studying that much," muttered Shigeo.
"Hey, come on you three!" Izuku attempted to lift their spirits up, "You've all still got time to study! That way we'll all get to go to the training camp together!" The psychic smiled to himself: unlike him, his friend managed to place number four in their class. In terms of intellect, Shigeo and Izuku were still far apart in the eyes of the esper.
"Don't worry about it, you three. I can catch you up to speed on the important topics if you want." The vice president of Class 1-A offered up her assistance to the three classmates, which all of them eagerly accepted. Mob knew that this was someone who knew what she was doing: she'd placed first in the entire class, and the gap in intellect between him and Yaoyorozu was even greater than it was with Midoriya.
"That'd be awesome," said Shigeo.
As it happened, there were a few other students who wanted to hop on the bandwagon that the three lowest-scoring classmates were on right now.
"I've been studying, but could you help me out too?" said Jirou, "I'm having some trouble understanding quadratic functions."
"Really?"
"Tutor me, please! Classical Japanese is killing me!" Sero said while clasping his hands together in a begging fashion.
Ojiro approached the vice president with a tilted head and closed eyes. "Is there room for one more? I'm afraid I'm falling behind a bit."
"Pretty please?" the three said in unison to further their case. The young girl was flattered by their request, her cheeks tinting with red while her eyes sparkled and sher brought her hands near her mouth.
"This is wonderful!" Yaoyorozu shot out of her chair and stretched her arms high into the air. "Yes, let's do it!"
"Alright!"
"Ok, we'll hold a study session at my residence over the weekend!"
"Seriously? I can't wait to see your fancy digs!" an excited Ashido remarked.
Though none of his classmates could see it, Mob was actually excited by this prospect as well. He'd be studying together with six of his classmates over the weekend at one of their houses: in his eyes, this was also a sort of social gathering. That meant he could use the opportunity not only to study, but to get better acquainted with his other classmates with whom he hadn't interacted much and even potentially improve his social skills as well.
Yaoyorozu decided to start everything for this study session as soon as possible. "I must call mother and have her prepare the great hall for us to set up! It'll be the perfect spot! What kind of tea does everyone like? I'll have her make sure we're stocked! In my family, we always drink Harrods of Wedgewood, so if you have any other preferences, let me know! When we're finished, you'll all be model students! I'll make it my personal duty to push you forward!" All six in the new study group stood quietly and were all taken aback by the elation and jubilance with which she was speaking, but Shigeo was the only one who wasn't able to find anything wrong with what she was saying. His limited social skills made him incapable of understanding that it was slightly inappropriate to reveal her wealth in front of others, so as it happened, poor social skills were something these two shared in common.
With class dismissed, all of the students headed to the cafeteria. Mob sat alongside Izuku, Tenya, Shoto, Ochaco, and Tsuyu, who discussed what the final exam would have in store for them. While discussing this, Neito Monoma had come in, acting arrogant and condescending as usual, deriding the four students who'd faced the Hero Killer and viewing it was proof that Class 1-A only liked it when they were in the spotlight. However, Kendo came in and knocked him out, apologizing to them for his rude behavior while informing them of some intel she'd gotten from a friend who was a few grades up. According to her, the final exam would be combat against robots.
After lunch, the students who'd heard about this decided to tell the rest of their classmates. Kaminari and Ashido, the two people in last place for the midterms, found this to be a relief.
"This'll be so easy if it's just against robots!" Kaminari said.
"What awesome news!" Ashido said.
"Why're you acting so excited?" Shoji asked, "You both still have a hard time controlling your quirks."
"Yea, but I can let loose with robots!"
"Melting them'll be a cinch for me!"
"We'll definitely be able to go to the camp!" they both said in unison
"What does it matter if it's actual people or robots?" Katsuki, unlike the two of them, found this fact to be irrelevant and detracting from the point that Shoji had made before. "Why're you morons so excited?"
Kaminari furrowed his eyebrows and pointed angrily at his classmate. "Hey, who're you callin' a moron?"
"Shut up!" His fiery attitude managed to silence the two of them. "You need to learn how to control your quirks, got it? Hey Deku!" Already riled up, the hot-headed teenager decided to address the other issues that had been on his mind.
"I'm not sure what's going on with your power, but I saw how you're using it now, and I want you to know: it's seriously pissing me off!" The room suddenly grew very tense, old wounds opening up and the air rife with hostility. "We'll be getting individual scores in the finals, new rankings, so we'll all know exactly where we stand! I'll show you how much better I am!
"Todoroki, don't think you're safe either! And bowl-cut!" The teenager's red eyes burned with even greater anger, his veins throbbing as he pointed at the esper.
"I swear that somehow, I'm gonna find a way to beat you! I'll kill you and show you that at the end of the day, I've surpassed you!" Though everyone else in the room was put off and uneasy with Bakugo's declaration of wars, Shigeo was the sole exception. The esper had changed from his earlier time in the year: the impatience and irritation he once held toward Bakugo had now disappeared, and he now chose to view his classmate as a fiercely determined friend who wanted to achieve greatness. This was why he took no offense towards any of Bakugo's statements, and instead replied with a warm smile.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how much stronger you've gotten."
Katsuki's head jerked backward in shock and confusion, his frustration beginning to boil up inside him. "The hell kinda response is that? I swear, I don't get you at all! You make me sick!" The teenager fiercely stormed out the room and slammed the door behind him. Why the hell was he still acting so friendly with him? How the hell could anyone be such a goody two-shoes? It pissed him off to no end!
"That's new," said Tsu, "Usually I'd expect you to be more sullen or disapproving of Bakugo."
"Maybe before, I would've been, but not anymore," replied Shigeo, the small smile on his face still remaining, "It's hard to see it, but he's changing, one step at a time, and I'll patiently wait to see him become better." The hostile atmosphere that had been brewing from Katsuki's declaration of war was managing to clear up with Shigeo's optimism and hope for the future.
Sitting on the train by himself, Shigeo Kageyama was waiting until he got to his next stop. Today would be the first day of his study session with his friends, and it was also a chance to see where Yaoyorozu lived. He couldn't help but feel slightly curious about what kind of house she lived in, though he imagined it would look rather nice.
After a few more minutes of sitting in silence, the train finally pulled into the next station, and the esper got off, though his next task would be getting to her house. As it happened, he wouldn't be doing it alone, as all five of his classmates were standing near the exit of the station, all wearing casual clothing.
"Kageyama! Over here!" Mina waved Shigeo over to the group. "All of us met up here at the station, and thought we'd wait till you got here."
"You didn't have to do that," the esper replied, "Did I keep you waiting long?"
"Nah, it's only been like five minutes," Kaminari assured, "Now come on! I can't wait to see Yaoyorozu's digs!"
Jirou held her phone out to get a good idea of what streets they'd be walking on. "I've got her address on my phone. Follow me."
The six students all began their journey though the streets, but they didn't stumble upon too many people as they marched as a group, allowing them to create a casual conversation amongst them.
"Man, I sure hope Yaoyorozu knows what she's doing," Kaminari said, "If I bomb the written exam, there's no way I can make up for it in the practical exam."
"Come on, Kaminari, stop acting like a baby," Jirou retorted, her tongue sharp as ever, "Trust me, Yaomomo's got us covered."
"Even if the written exam doesn't go too well, I'm sure that's not gonna be a problem for Kageyama," said Sero, "Thrashing robots around is just a piece of cake for you."
"I guess so," muttered Shigeo, "Still, that doesn't mean I wanna just ignore the written exam and not study hard for it. Studying's been hard for me these past few weeks."
The tailed student decided to speak up. "Yea, I've seen you working out with the new club you made. A ton of our classmates've joined up and do those exercises together." Ojiro began to crack a small smile. "You know, I've spending a lot of time at the gym by myself. But why do that when I can work out with company?" He lightly tapped the esper on the shoulder. "Is it too late for any new members?"
As with previous members, after a momentary bout of surprise came one of his small smiles, something that was becoming more common the more time he spent with his friends. "Of course it's not."
"Hey guys. It says we're here, but..." Jirou stopped at the middle of a large, gated doorway.
"Is this really the place," Ojiro asked, "Looks like an embassy or something."
Jirou double-checked the map on her phone to make sure she wasn't mistaken. "Yea, this is the place."
Sero stood with his mouth agape. "I knew she had cash, but I never knew she was this loaded."
The gate began to slowly open with a smoothness befitting its magnificent design.
"Miss Jirou, Miss Ashido, Mr. Kaminari, Mr. Ojiro, Mr. Sero and Mr. Kageyama, I presume?" Standing behind the gate was a shortly built man with gentle facial features and delicate attire. Though an elderly man, his posture gave the presence of a much younger and energetic youth, eager to serve the guests however he could.
"Welcome, one and all. I am Uchimura, the Yaoyorozu's household's butler. Miss Momo has been waiting for your visit, so please come in."
"S-sure," the esper replied. The six students all awkwardly followed behind the butler. Ashido and Kaminari gawked at the high society vibe the estate was emitting and the fact they were being led by a real-life butler. Meanwhile, the others took in the breath-taking scenery before them, walking through a stunning and manicured garden the size of a small forest. Honestly, mansion wasn't enough to describe this place. It was like a castle, the same you'd find in the most ancient and lavished parts of Europe.
"Welcome." They reached the entrance of the mansion, where they were met with a group of maids, something that Kaminari took in with a dorkish smile. The visitors were too stunned to speak when a woman who looked like the mirror image of Yaoyorozu as an adult came from deep within the house.
"Hello there! I'm Mrs. Yaoyorozu. How wonderful to meet my Momo's dear friends..." The mother observed all of the young students and focused her eyes on the bowl-haired teenager. "You're Kageyama! I recognize you from the Sports Festival, the one who chose my daughter to be on her team for the Cavalry Battle. My Momo's told me everything about you and that club of yours."
"Oh..." Shigeo felt a tinge of red flare up on his cheeks. Yaoyorozu's mother was giving off such a pleasant and warm aura while speaking so highly of Mob; it was very similar to how Todoroki's mother had reacted when he first visited her.
"Well, I'm just so pleased that Momo's made so many friends! She's making preparations for you in the auditorium."
"Shall I...?" began Uchimaru.
"No, allow me," answered Mrs. Yaoyorozu, motioning the kids into the inner corridors. They followed behind her with a more relaxed pace than before, but they were still in awe at the floral wallpaper, marble floor, and beautiful paintings that ordained the walls.
"It's like the Palace of Versailles... not that I've ever been there," muttered Ojiro.
"This is probably the closest you'll get to it," replied Sero.
"Totally..."
The walk to the auditorium was surprisingly short, and upon entering the room, they could see why it was called an auditorium. The vast space had a light red carpet, with contrasting yellow curtains with a floral pattern. In the center of this room, there was a very long table with more than two dozen chairs and a chandelier hanging several feet above them. A few feet away from the table, there was a large whiteboard with several black markers.
"Go on, take a seat, all of you." The students did as requested and all sat together near the closest end of the table.
"You all just sit there, and I'll get Momo. I'll be quick!" The gentle mother exited the room with a slight brisk in her steps, leaving the six students to continue sitting in silence, basking in the surroundings.
"Man, I couldn't feel any more out of place right now," Ojiro remarked, breaking the silence.
"No kidding," Sero replied, a sweat mark falling down his face. The students heard a cart rolling down the hallway. They turned to find their friend pushing a cart which held multiple tea cups and pastries for the friends to enjoy. They could feel the same gentle, delightful aura emanating from Yaoyorozu they'd felt from her mother, which put all of them at ease.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, everything's perfect." All the teenagers responded in unison with identical faces of bliss except for Kageyama, who was still somewhat tongue-tied.
"I'm sorry I couldn't meet you at the front, but I was just getting everything ready. Here, let me pour some tea for all of you." Yaoyorozu put all the cups out for her friends and poured the tea out for them, the steam and fragrance rising into the air. The esper, being the polite gentleman he was, took the first sip, and found the drink to be a more delectable refreshment than he'd anticipated. Yaoyorozu sure knew her tea.
"Without anymore delays, let's begin the tutoring!" The jubilant teenager took out a notebook she'd carried with her on the cart, full of the notes and planning for this study session she'd made to ensure an optimal retention of the knowledge. "I've laid out an outline of all the topics we've gone over so far this semester. I've also plotted out how much time should be invested on each subject based on each of your areas of difficulty. I'll be using the whiteboard to help explain any problems that you might encounter. So let's begin with mathematics."
"Great..." The esper sighed and lowered his head. "Math's probably one of my worst subjects. I can just never get the trigonometric equations right."
"Come on. Chin up, Kageyama." Jirou gently nudged the esper in the arm. "I get the feeling. You and I're in the same boat here. It's why we're here, after all." Shigeo was touched by her small gesture of support and felt his lips turn upward. He'd almost never really interacted with Jirou or anyone else here; hopefully, this tutoring session would be the chance for them to all come closer together.
The past several days had been even better than Kageyama could've wished for. The effort and dedication that Yaoyorozu had put into making these study plans really showed, and she'd taken the time with each of them to thoroughly discuss and explain the vital concepts. With mathematics, Yaoyorozu had several practice problems prepared for both Mob and Jirou to utilize the trigonometric and quadratic functions, and the two of them had managed to bond over their shared difficulty with mathematics. At the same time, he'd also gotten the chance to talk more with the guys of the group. For instance, Ojiro would ask Mob the kind of exercises he created for the Body Improvement Club and even compare the heaviest they lifted for each of the different exercises. There were even a few times during break sessions that Ojiro decided to get physical and do some basic exercises. The best one was when they had a push-up contest with all four of the guys, something that Ashido decided to join in as well. Though it had been a close call, Kageyama managed to win the contest and prevailed over Ojiro.
At the same time, Yaoyorozu's mother would occasionally come in and check on them to make sure they had everything, sometimes bringing them sweets. The first time she'd done this, however, the cookies had been a terrible mix of sweet and sour, though none of them dared mentioin that to her. They all knew she was just trying to do her best to make them as comfortable as possible. Even with that, the six of them still enjoyed her company, so-much-so that Jirou and Ashido had decided to give her a nickname: Yaomama, almost identical to the nickname they used to refer to Yaoyorozu. Because of all these things, Mob was finding his time there to be quite the experience.
It was now the day before the written exam, and the last day of their study session. Most of the group members had already finished their problems for the night, and were each bidding their teacher farewell.
"Yaomomo, thanks a ton!" said Ashido, "I couldn't have done it without your awesome teaching skills!" Yaoyorozu blushed at her words, obviously pleased to know she'd been such a help.
"Yo Kageyama, aren't you coming along?" asked Kaminari.
"I've still got a few more questions to finish," he replied, "It'll probably take me a few more minutes."
"K then." The five students all left, leaving Kageyama to finish his problems. Yaoyorozu went over to the whiteboard and took one of the markers.
"Kageyama, tell me the problems so I can write them on the whiteboard, and we can go over them together."
"Sure thing." The esper listed out the last remaining trigonometric questions that he'd gotten stuck on, and Yaoyorozu proceeded to go through each of them one step at a time.
"If you want to find the value of csc, which Pythagorean identity would you use based on all the information given beforehand?"
"1 + cot^2 = csc^2?"
"Right! Square root the value, then you'll find csc!" The esper laid out the square root formula on his notebook and managed to solve the problem.
"Great work, Kageyama! You've significantly improved from the start of our session!"
"Well, I have you to thank for my improvement." Seeing that he'd finished all of his problems, Mob closed his notebook and started to pack his things.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hold on." Yaoyorozu held out a hand to stop him from packing. For some reason, the girl felt that it wasn't right to just simply end the night so casually like this, not for a friend like Kageyama. "If you'd like, I could give you a tour of my house."
41%
The esper felt his body freeze up: he hadn't expected this at all! During this entire week of studying, he'd always been spending it with the group, and Yaoyorozu had been tutoring them each in the shared space. He'd never had any one-on-one time with her! He wasn't prepared for this at all! At the same time, it felt rude to simply deny her request, so with a momentary difficulty, Mob gave her an answer.
"S-S-Sure thing."
"Fantastic! Follow me!" The two friends walked through the luxurious mansion. Since it was so late at night, many of the maids and butlers had already gone home, leaving the two of them to wander through the labyrinth of corridors by themselves. Standing beside Yaoyorozu, Shigeo Kageyama's eyes were glued to the floor, while his cheeks were tinged with a light shade of red. The esper felt so awkward right now: he had no idea what to say, what kind of conversation to start up with her, what to talk about. There was still so much about girls he didn't know, and it left him completely clueless for what to do right now!
Yaoyorozu noticed his friend's expression, but thanks to some of her own social awkwardness, she had no idea what the cause of it was. "Are you alright, Kageyama? Do you need me to get you a pastry or a drink."
"N-no, no, I'm perfectly fine," replied Mob. Come on! He had to think of something to say! "So... this house is pretty big." Shigeo mentally slapped himself. What kind of statement was that?
"Yes, it is rather grandiose. It took quite a while for me to get the structure of the house paved into my mind; Jirou and Ashido were equally lost when they ventured through the house." The first stop they came to was a kitchen that may as well have belonged to a restaurant.
"Here's the main kitchen, where the maids cooked the pastries and sweets for us this week." The two of them took some more time walking through the mansion until they goto the next room.
"Here's the swimming pool, where I'll sometimes do laps as part of my physical training." The esper was in awe at the size of the pool, several dozen meters in length and several meters in width. "Nearby, we also have a sauna where you can relax, and a very nice hot tub to relax after having finished your laps in the pool. And you can see through those windows, the door leading into that room is our game room, where we have a pool table, ping-pong table, darts, and other games. My father and I will sometimes play pool and ping-pong, and while I can accurately calculate the angles for pool, I'm still rather mediocre when it comes to ping-pong."
After having seen those areas, Shigeo and Momo went up a flight of stairs, and the next room they came across was a similarly humongous room filled with a very large, fancy bed with four posts on each corner of the bed, allowing curtains to be hung up incase Yaoyorozu ever wanted to keep the light out. Along the walls were long shelves stacked with hundreds upon hundreds of thick books and encyclopedias. Shigeo looked to his right, and felt his mouth slightly gape open when he saw her closet, which was almost the size of his apartment room.
"My quirk isn't very easy to use. It takes a deep understanding of the object's molecular structure and atomic composition, so I had to read many of these books in order to learn many of the items I need to create. Most of my youth was spent working on mastering my quirk. The first object I successfully made was a Russian matryoshka doll, though even this took many tries and a lot of studying."
Though impressed by her intellect, there was something else that he took from it, and something he took wandering through her house in general. "Training your power as a kid, living in such a big house... did you ever feel lonely?"
Momo's hands went up to her lips; he was able to identify the internal pain that she felt so easily? The young girl dropped her hand, revealing slightly upturned lips contrasted with a slightly dimmed light in her eyes. "I have to admit, there were several times where loneliness lingered in my heart. The time and effort I put into training never gave me too many chances to interact with other people my age or really understand how to best make friends..." Suddenly, the light dimness in her eyes disappeared, and the corners of her mouth extended even more.
"Which is exactly why I'm extremely grateful to have had the chance to make new friends at U.A. High, and having them by my side has felt... fulfilling, like something inside me that was missing has started to fill up."
What chance was there that two people with such different backgrounds and such different strengths and weaknesses could share the same desire for friendship, the same feeling of loneliness? For Mob, just knowing that they had these things in common created a deeper sense of empathy for her, and it somehow allowed whatever tension he had before to loosen up.
"Come on, I have to show you my favorite part of the house!" The two of them went through the house with a much faster and much livelier skip in their step then a few seconds ago.
Standing at the edge of the pond, Yaoyorozu's mother was admiring the lush greenery and the breathtaking view around her. After having said goodbye to her daughter's friends, she realized that Kageyama was missing from the group. When she went to go check on him and Momo, she found that they'd both gone. Assuming that her daughter had taken Kageyama to look more inside the house, Momo's mother decided to pass the remaining time relaxing in the garden.
She always enjoyed walking through the garden in her free time, and oftentimes, when they were alone, she and her husband would walk through the garden, where he'd pick a nearby flower for her and tuck it in her ear. She always loved it when he did that. Then, near the end of their walk, they would sit on a large hill surrounded by flowers of many varying colors, where they'd admire the clear blue sky, the bright sunlight reflecting off the pond. She'd also shared many special moments in this garden with her daughter, the two of them planting several of the flowers in the different sections of the garden. Her heart would always be touched when she saw how beautifully those flowers would bloom. They were truly some of the best moments of her day.
The mother piqued her head up when she heard the sound of footsteps and her daughter's voice coming from nearby. She went behind a corner and peered her head to see Momo and her friend walking together through the garden. The mother felt a burgeoning sense of curiosity building up inside of her: now what exactly were those two doing out here at night? Unable to resist her curiosity, the mother sat silently and listened in to what they were saying.
"I only saw part of the garden when walking to your front door, but I never knew it was amazing..." the esper muttered.
Momo's face brightened like a bulb. "Yes; my mother and I planted many of the flowers you see here. Tulips, orchids, roses, dahlias, lotus flowers, we'd do our best to fill our garden with such a large variety of flowers." The young girl took a few paces towards a bushel of large flowers with a double bloom, pink and white petals contrasted with a yellow center. "These asters are my favorite."
The young girl took a few steps up the hill and relaxed her body to look up at the stars, with the esper following her lead. "My mother and father often come to sit on this spot. They just gaze up at the sky in silence."
"I see why they would. It's just so beautiful..." The esper's favorite hobby was simply relaxing and gazing up at the sky, and with this scenery, it made the experience all-the-more enjoyable. He looked up at the moon, glistening with a bright grey light which reflected amazingly onto the pond.
"Hey look, a cloud." The esper pointed up to a lone cloud floating several hundred feet in the sky. In fact, Mob decided to make things a little more interesting. He lifted his hand up, and using his psychic powers, he transformed the shapeless cloud into a nearly identical shape of an aster. Yaoyorozu's onyx eyes gleamed in awe, her mouth opening up with a child-like fascination.
"Kageyama, that's so amazing!" she said. The esper was delighted to see it had brought that kind of reaction to his friend. After that, the two continued to sit in silence, admiring the lush scenery and the sounds of nature surrounding both of them. After about thirty seconds of this silence, Mob decided to express the thoughts currently most prevalent in his mind.
"Thank you again for all your help," the esper said, "You really did your best to teach me and the rest of us, and I appreciate it. Actually, if it might not be too much trouble for you, could I come to you again for help with schoolwork?" The young girl's eyes broke away from the sky, surprised at his sudden request. "You know, if I ever have some problems with my assignments. Seeing how easily you taught us all made me see how much more work I have to do if I want to be good at my studies and improve myself in that area. Would that be alright with you?"
Though taking a few seconds to recover from the shock, the esper was relieved to see no trace of disagreement or disapproval on her face. "I'd be delighted to help you with your studies. Just come talk to me, and I'll lend whatever help you need."
"You really are amazing, Yaoyorozu." The young girl beamed with delight, but that bright expression was quickly beginning to hamper away, and the esper instantly noticed it.
"You're giving me more credit than I deserve. I'm not nearly as great as you think."
"What're you talking about?" he said, shocked that she could ever say that about herself.
"I..." Momo opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself at the last second. "It's nothing."
"Yaoyorozu, you can talk to me. If there's something that's bothering you, please don't be afraid to tell me." The black-haired girl sighed and drooped her head, relenting to the esper's request.
"I might be able to perform well in academics, but in terms of the practical skills and abilities a hero needs, I'm sorely lacking. To tell you the truth, I've been dependent on you for most of my successes. During the battle trial, you were the one who was able to distract and detain Shoji, who was quick enough to immobilize both of them. I was entirely relying on your powers to succeed. And there was the Cavalry battle: you protected the ten million points with your barrier the entire time, and I only passed onto the third round because you chose me as a teammate. Then, when it was my turn to fight, I couldn't do anything against Tokoyami's Dark Shadow. I'm... nothing compared to you."
Watching her talk like this, seeing the broken look on her face, it was something that he was all-too-familiar with. It was the demeanor of someone who had absolutely no confidence in themselves, the ones who viewed themselves as nobodies. It was exactly the way he viewed himself for so long. But she wasn't the same! She had no reason to feel this way about herself!
"No, that's not true at all!" Momo looked back at her friend and let out a light gasp. "Yaoyorozu, the only reason we won the battle trial was because of you. You were the one who came up with the plan to defend the weapon. You were quick enough to react to their attacks and came up with just the right object to disorient them each time. If it was just me by myself, I would've just been frozen to the ground, distracted by Shoji while Todoroki got the bomb. The entire time, I was just following your orders, because you can make plans and use your brain in way more ways than I ever could.
"During the class president election, I voted for Midoriya, but it was a really hard split between him and you. Because I knew what you could do, how you could lead as the class president, how reliable you could be. I chose you to be on my team for the Cavalry battle because I knew that if something went wrong or some quirk surprised me, you'd think of the right plan and the right object to counter it."
The esper inched nominally closer, his dull eyes slowly glistening. "Yaoyorozu, you're one of the most incredible people I've ever met. Never doubt that." She was breathless: never in her life had anyone ever given her such praise, such confidence in her. He truly believed that she was an intelligent, capable student who'd become a spectacular hero. Even when she thought of herself as nothing, he was giving all the reasons why he thought she was one-of-a-kind. Her heart began to burst with an onslaught of emotions. Her onyx eyes glistened, welling up with tears as her lips began to tremble. Upon feeling her body's reaction, Yaoyorozu covered her mouth and closed her eyes, making sure he couldn't see her face at all by looking away. How could she react like this in front of him? It was so pathetic!
"Hey." Shigeo reached out and took her hand, and when opening her eyes, she was baffled that his face had only become more gentle. "You don't have to be afraid to show your feelings in front of me." Her breath stilled when the smile on his face widened. "It's okay to cry."
This time, Yaoyorozu couldn't stop nor made any attempt to stop the tears, letting the droplets roll down her face. She dropped her hand, allowing Mob to see her trembling lips. She let out a few light sobs as she stared deep into her friend's eyes, before she managed to muster up enough control of herself to give Shigeo a smile of her own.
"Thank you so much." For a split second, nothing else existed. The sky, the garden, the noises of nature, they vanished as the two of them stood there on that hill, letting themselves be lost in the moment. Alas, that fraction of a moment was cut short far too quickly. The young girl's eyes went down, and a light blush crept up on her cheeks. Mob wondered exactly what she was blushing at, but understood when he too looked down and saw his hand intwined with hers. The light tinge of red on Yaoyorozu's cheeks was dwarfed by the pink color staining his entire face. He felt his heart was about to beat out of his chest. He'd been so caught up in speaking to her that he hadn't even noticed his hand! It was as if it'd moved on its own, acted reflexively to the situation! There was no way a girl would like having their hand taken like that! He'd gone too far!
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Shigeo bolted up from his seated spot and took several scurried steps back. "I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to take your hand like that! I've overstayed my welcome! I'll be going now!" The bowl-haired student didn't even want to bother navigating the labyrinth of a mansion: his hair stood up, and his aura flared to life. "I'll see you at school tomorrow! Tell your mom I said thank you for her hospitality, and that I really enjoyed her cooking!"
"Kageyama, wait!" Without another word, Mob flew off into sky and left before Yaoyorozu could stop him. The young girl watched him soar off into the sky, the light blush on her cheeks still burning nominally. She stared off into darkened sky, before she picked up the sound of faint sniffles. Yaoyorozu turned around and felt her entire body jerk back when she saw her mother coming from around the corner with tears welled up in her eyes and a sniffling nose.
"Mother? You were there the whole time?"
"I'm sorry, Momo. I saw the two of you walking alone through the garden and I just couldn't help but listen to what you two were saying." The mother approached her daugher and wrapped her in a tender hug. "Kageyama was absolutely right: you're a talented, outstanding and beautiful young lady, and I won't allow you to think otherwise." The young teenager looked up at her mother's tender face and wrapped her arms around her waist. After a few seconds of this embrace, Momo's mother broke free of the hug though still held her daughter at arms-length, staring off into the sky where Kageyama had just flown off.
"I really like that boy. He has such an unbelievably sweet and gentle heart. In case he does ever want to come study with you, try to bring him back here. Your father will definitely want to meet him when I tell him about what happened."
"Right." The young girl stared at the hand that Shigeo had held and placed it over her heart. She was so lucky to have a friend like him.
Finally getting a serious MobxMomo moment! We'll see how this relationship develops in the future, and you'll see just what's in store for Shigeo and Izuku in the final exams for Chapter 31!