Kyandi: Hello, everyone. Long time no hear, huh?
Halyn: Give her a second and she'll explain.
Kyandi: Okay, so the reason I haven't posted on this story in so long is not because I'm dropping the story. I promise you all, I love this story too much to drop it.
Halyn: She has a lot planned for this story.
Kyandi: Right. I'm only putting it on a back burner for now because I'm trying to finish off some of my other stories that have completed source material. I'm trying to whittle down the amount of ongoing stories I have.
Halyn: In case some of you haven't counted...that's too many.
Kyandi: Right. So, I promise, I plan on completing this story. I'm just trying to get some other stories out of the way first. I have been reading the manga as the English translated chapters are released and I have a lot planned for Halyn. You'll all have to wait and see.
Halyn: Until then, we hope this chapter will go a little ways to helping make up for our long time absence.
Kyandi: Right. So, everyone, please enjoy and review.
Halyn: Kyandi-sama does not own My Hero Academia.
Chapter 41 School Festival Start
Over the next few weeks, Halyn and her classmates put in a lot of work, balancing preparations for the school festival with their classwork. Halyn had so much on her plate and was so busy getting ready that she didn't even notice the increase of eyes on her.
Every time she left the dorm, or even when she was hanging out just outside the dorm, a teacher had their eyes on her. If not them, then Todoroki and Midoriya were keeping a close eye on her. Halyn didn't notice, or, if she did, she didn't show it, but someone else noticed.
Gabriel was growing increasingly annoyed with the constant supervision Halyn was under. It made having alone time with her impossible. Not that she really had the spare time at the moment to give him alone time. Between preparing as part of her class's band and getting ready for the pageant and balancing her school work, Halyn didn't have the extra time. She apologized to Gabriel, of course, but the boy insisted that he understood.
Then, at long last, came the night before the school festival.
"Gotta close up the gym, so let's do a final run!"
Halyn glanced over at the dancers on the stage from where she stood by the gym doors, watching as they went through one final run of the dance. She silently laughed to herself as Midoriya missed up, causing Mina to yell at him.
"In the beginning, we were nervous since we're all amateurs. The band and the dance squad are looking like real pros up there. Coach Ashido sure knows how to whip 'em into shape!" Sero remarked.
"Of course she'd give her all for something she loves!" Kirishima replied.
Picking up a piece of equipment that she was moving for the band, Halyn turned to carry it to the stage.
"Well, now I'm simply nervous." Yaoyorozu remarked.
"No weird ad-libbing tomorrow, okay?" Jirou added, turning to look at Bakugo and Kaminari as Halyn headed back to the doors. She was just bending to pick up another piece of equipment when the gym doors slammed open, the sudden appearance of Hound Dog causing Halyn to jump, making a noise like that of a startled cat.
"It's already...grrr...nine p.m.! Students gotta leave by nine...grrrr!" Hound Dog growled.
"Hound Dog-sensei!" Hound Dog jolted back as Halyn rounded on him, her tail sticking straight out, the fur all standing on end until it was bushed up to twice it's normal size. The girl let out a hiss, her shoulders stiff after having been startled like that. "How many times have I asked you not to barge in behind me like that!? One of these days, I'm going to claw your muzzle!"
Todoroki watched Halyn playfully flash her sharp claw-like nails at Hound Dog as the man apologized to her, rubbing the back of his neck. Regardless of what she said about not liking dogs, it was still amusing to watch her become startled and act like a cat before a dog when it came to Hound Dog. Halyn continued to playfully flash claws at Hound Dog, the man holding up his hands before him while her classmates quickly wrapped things up to close the gym. It was only until her classmates were heading out the door that she continued to tease Hound Dog, finally letting him off the hook when the last of her classmates slipped out the door.
Returning to the dorms, Halyn busied herself in her room for the next two hours or so, making sure she had everything ready for the next day. Once she was sure she was ready, she headed downstairs to get her a snack before she went to bed. She found her classmates still up and running about despite it almost being midnight.
"I can't sleep!"
Kaminari was yelling this as he and Mineta ran around the common area. Halyn shook her head as she joined her friends, perching herself on the armrest of the couch where Mina and Kirishima were sitting.
"Keep it down! People're sleeping upstairs!" Mina yelled at the two.
"Mina, you're being just as loud as they are." Halyn told her.
"Everyone's sure in high spirits." Iida remarked as Mina apologized to Halyn.
"It's best not to think about it for now. If we start feeling nervous or shy, it'll hurt the performance. Once we're onstage, we just gotta roll with it and have fun!" Jiro told him.
"Speaking of which," All attention turned to Halyn, who gave her classmates a smile. "I'm going to have to duck out right after our performance tomorrow."
"Huh? Why?" Kaminari asked.
"Well...I guess I'm going to have to tell you guys." Halyn heaved a sigh, sheepishly rubbing at the back of her neck. "Well, you see...Principal Nezu thought it would be great if I could find something to distract me from everything that's going on, so he suggested that I compete in the beauty pageant. I'll have to rush from our show to get ready for it."
Stunned gazes landed on Halyn, who gave a nervous chuckle when all they did was stare. Even Todoroki stared at her in surprise. Midoriya, as the only one who knew about her taking part, was the only one not surprised. It took a moment for it sink before her classmates blew up.
"You're in the pageant!?"
"Uh, yeah, I am."
Halyn found herself bombarded by questions like what dress she was going to wear and what her talent was going to be, and various other questions that she had a hard time trying to keep up with. Halyn held her hands up in front of her when Kaminari and Mineta freaked out and got up in her face, Mineta demanding to know what kind of "sexy dress" she would be wearing.
"And this," Halyn planted a hand in Mineta's face, pushing him back away from her. "Is one of the reasons why I didn't say anything about me competing. If you're really that curious as to what my dress looks like, then you'll finish clean up quickly after the show tomorrow and watch the pageant. With that said...I'm off to bed."
Halyn hopped off the arm of the couch and rushed past Mineta and Kaminari before they could badger more answers out of her. Todoroki watched her as she made a dash for the elevator, vanishing within. Moments like that made him miss the days in which Halyn would have told him everything, would have shared with him her plans to take part in the pageant. Halyn really was giving him space, and if he was being honest...
He hated it.
He needed to figure things out, and soon, before she gave up on him completely.
-0-0-0-0-
The next morning, Halyn was up early, getting together her things for both the band performance and the pageant. She was out the door of the dorms before any of her classmates, flying past Midnight who had been stationed near the dorm in order to keep an eye on Halyn with Temple still on the loose. Midnight blinked for a moment, unsure what she had just seen fly past her in a streak of blue. When she figure it out, she hurried after Halyn, locating the girl only as she flew into the dressing room she would use later in the morning to drop off her dress.
Halyn called a quick greeting to the others in the room, leaving her things at the table she would use upon arriving before, once more, she was flying out of the door. Keeping up with her as she flew all over the place would be a task indeed, but Midnight was just glad that she wasn't using her teleportation quirk to move from place to place. She'd never keep up with the teenager then.
After dropping off her things for the pageant, Halyn hurried back to the dorms, meeting up with the members of the band. Yaoyorozu had a special made T-shirt waiting for her. Halyn changed into that and joined the band members as they gathered their gear.
"Almost time! Can't stop fidgeting!" Kaminari exclaimed excitedly, the boy unable to sit still.
"Be as serene as the water's surface, Kaminari." Yaoyorozu told him.
"Serene as water?" Tokoyami asked.
"Momo, you do know that water is hardly ever ripple free, right? Besides, it's Kaminari. I don't think you'll get him anywhere near that kind of state." Halyn told her, smiling at her.
Halyn helped with gathering their equipment while Jirou turned to Bakugo, insisting he go put on the band shirt. While the shirts were great and all, Halyn liked the dance outfits better. They were so cute. It made her kind of wish they had agreed on something a little more flashy for the band, but when she thought of the dress she would have to wear later that morning, Halyn was fine with the plain T-shirt.
"Midoriya's not here." Todoroki said suddenly, making Halyn look up and around for their green-haired classmate.
"He's gone to purchase rope." Aoyama replied.
"He's taking a long time though, isn't he?" Todoroki asked, Mina calling for him to go over the sequence one last time.
Halyn had to agree. She had been up when Midoriya had left the dorms hours ago. It made her wonder if he had gotten held up with his morning training or if he had ran into some kind of problem while out getting the rope. She really hoped that it was the former instead of the latter, but she also knew that Midoriya had a bad habit of attracting trouble.
She was forced to leave the train of thought as they started moving things and setting up. As they ran through the plan for the show one last time was when Halyn's nerves started setting in. She had never sang in front of a crowd before. Granted, she was only a back-up singer, but it did little to calm the butterflies suddenly clamoring around in her gut. Then came Present Mic's over the loud speakers to announce the start of the festival.
"Good moorrrnin'! Hey, guys! Hope you're ready, cuz it's finally time! Today's the day when class, year and department don't matter-we're all just here to cut loose! Now say it with me, everyone. Let the UA school festival beeegiinn!"
Halyn got to work, keeping herself busy until their show was to start. When Aizawa and Mirio showed up with Eri, Halyn went flying to the little girl, scooping her up to give her a hug.
"Hello, Eri! Are you ready to see our show?" Halyn asked the child as she propped her on her hip.
"Yeah."
"I'm sure you'll like it." Halyn turned to Mirio then. "Will the two of you be going to watch the pageant afterward? You can come cheer me and Hadou-senpai on."
"Yeah, we'll be there. Can't wait to see what you came up with for it." Mirio told her.
"Let's just say it took a lot of practice and a very particular type of dress." Halyn replied, smiling back at him. "Gabriel is excited to come and see it too."
"Oh, he's going to watch?"
Something about the way Mirio said that, Aizawa sneaking a look over at them, had Halyn raising a single eyebrow at them.
"Of course he is. Why? Is something wrong?" Halyn asked.
"Oh, no, nothing. I just thought he'd be busy like most of the Support Course students are with their own project displays." Mirio assured her.
"Oh, well, the big project he was working on, he did in collaboration with his friend and fellow classmate, Richard. Richard will look after their project so that Gabriel can come watch. We haven't seen each other is three years so we're trying not to miss out on moments like this with each other." Halyn told him, smiling happily.
It was easy to tell that the girl was happy to have an old friend back in her life, her tail curling in joy behind her. Yaoyorozu called her then to help with something and Halyn turned to Eri, promising to see her after the pageant before taking off. Mirio, much like Midoriya, didn't like the way Gabriel looked at Halyn and shared a look with Aizawa. Neither would say anything to Halyn about their suspicions.
Halyn, though curious about the looks some people got on their faces when Gabriel was brought up, chalked it up to the others being uneasy around someone they didn't know after all they had been through in the last few months. If she was being honest, though, she didn't want to believe that they thought badly of Gabriel who had been her only friend during a very tough time in her life. She forced herself to focus on the task ahead and was glad to see Midoriya show up at the last possible second.
Getting up on the stage, Halyn gave her hands a shake, her tambourine gripped under one arm. Taking a deep breath, she stepped up to the mic along side Jirou, giving the other girl a reassuring smile as she leaned to the side so the mic didn't pick up her voice yet.
"Let's do our best, Kyoka."
Jirou gave her a nod as they all got ready. The lights came on, spotlights focusing on the band and dance squad as Bakugo, literally, started them off with a bang. While they had all agreed that they had to be flashy to hook the crowd, Halyn thought Bakugo could have held back just a little bit, but, then again, it was Bakugo after all and the boy didn't know how to hold back.
Halyn took a deep breath as her lyrics came up, joining Jirou in harmony, the jingle of her tambourine tapping against her hip helping her keep her time. With her sharper eyesight, Halyn could just make Eri out past the shine of stage lights. She watched the girl's face as Midoriya and Aoyama jumped into action, Midoriya heaving Aoyama up into the air to make him into a human firecracker of sorts. As Midoriya moved off stage and behind the curtains, everyone prepared for the big finale.
Halyn fixed her eyes on Eri's little face as Aoyama was hoist into the air, everyone adding in their final touch to create a grand display. Halyn nearly choked on her lyrics, her chest tightening with joy and relief when Eri threw her hands into the air with the biggest smile on her face Halyn had ever seen. Halyn knew how difficult it was to throw off the clinging shadow of her past oppressor even long after she was free of him. It had taken her a long time to smile again, too. To see the smile bright on Eri's face, Halyn had to fight back tears.
When the festival was over, Halyn was going to give her the biggest hug ever.
As soon as the show was over, Halyn passed her tambourine over to Kaminari and flew off the stage. She completely missed the fact that one of Ectoplasm's clones followed her as she hurried back to the dressing room in order to get ready.
The rest of Class A, with Mirio and Eri tagging along, reached the pageant stage just in time to witness the end of Kendo's martial arts display, her pretty dress torn along the hem. Next came a third year from the support class with her own big and flashy display featuring her technical skills fashioned in the shape of her own face. After her came Hadou. The girl, wearing a feathery looking dress, put on a display of her quirk, making her look like a pure and innocent fairy to the viewing crowd. She gave them a dreamy dance through the sky before landing back on the stage.
After her, came Halyn.
As Halyn stepped out on the stage, surprised looks fell on the faces of those who watched. Platforms set at different heights around the crowd and stage, were raised then in preparation for Halyn's show. It had many of those watching, wondering what the girl had planned.
Halyn stepped up to the center of the stage dressed in a halter styled, backless dress of that went from white at the high neck to a soft petal pink around the waist, to a crimson red along the hem. The skirt hung loosely around her thighs, the right side parted to show the white, thigh-length thighs she wore underneath with little bows lacing up the side. Ribbons of matching crimson red woven down her legs down to her bare feet where they tied into big bows at her ankles. Figureless gloves of the same white-to-pink-to-red pattern as he dress reached up to her biceps where more bows were tied, strands of translucent beads hanging from the bows.
Halyn's hair had been pinned back on the left side, strands of those same translucent beads woven through her hair and hanging from her earlobes. Sunlight danced through those beads, making her blue hair appear as if it was glittering in the afternoon sun. There were even more strands weaving down the length of her tail, the little accessories glittering in the sunlight as her tail swayed.
Upon coming to a stop in the center of the stage, Halyn gave them a graceful curtsy before music started to play. The sound of xylophones filled the air as the instrumental started. It started off soft and gentle, Halyn moving fluidly to the beat. It was almost like watching a ballerina on the stage, the glittering of sunlight in the beads adding to the air of grace and beauty she brought to the stage. As she moved, her movements grew in complexity, flames starting to lick up the length of her arms as she activated Touch of Fire.
The flames grew, showing that the gloves she was wearing must have been made from special material because the flames never went past them. As the flames grew brighter, their light was reflected in t beads, turning them an array of red, orange and yellow. It was a stunning display, but a little over a minute into the music, it slowed to a quiet stop for the breath of a second. Halyn came to a stand still in the middle of the stage in that breath.
In the next second, the tempo of the music suddenly doubled, drums joining in. In a flash of electricity, Halyn vanished, reappearing on one of the platforms. Her dance moves, like the music, increased in speed and size, the girl zapping from one platform to the next to add the flash of white and purple from the electricity to the array of hues from her flames. The more she moved, the more she got into the dance, a smile spreading across her face.
She made a circle of the platforms, leaping from the last one back to the stage, her bare feet never ceasing in their movement. As she reached the center of the stage once more, the music slowed back down, obviously building to it's climax. Halyn did a slow turn, blue, tiger-striped fur growing up her legs and stretching up to her arms and neck before reaching her face in the course of the turn. Concentrating the power of her flames, she spread them past the gloves until they caught on her dress, the fabric going up in smoke as the flames covered her body.
Just as the music was building to it's exploding point, Halyn's legs bent, folding under her before sending her rocketing into the air. As the the big finale clash of the instrumental came, Halyn, much like a human firecracker, exploded in the sky, safely away from onlookers. Flames faded into the air around her as she dropped back down to the stage, landing lightly on her feet. She now stood before them in a body suit much like the dress she had been wearing that fit her form like a second skin and glittered and rippled with reds and oranges much like her flames had.
Placing one foot behind the others, Halyn bowed to the crowd who erupted into loud cheers. Standing up straight, she waved to the crowd with a smile bright on her face before walking off the stage to the announcer calling her performance "elegant and explosive".
"Submit your votes now! Results will be announced at five, at the final event!" came the announcement.
Halyn's classmates met the girl as she was leaving backstage, still dressed in the body suit. Eri came running up to her, Halyn greeting her with big hug. The little girl was excitedly telling Halyn all about her impressions of both the Class A performance as well as Halyn's talent display. Seeing the big smile on Eri's face, Halyn couldn't help but smile in return, hugging the girl tightly once more.
"I'm glad you liked it, Eri." Halyn told her, Eri smiling happily as Mirio and the others joined them. Halyn reached back, removing a pin from her hair from which dangled a short strand of the beads. She tucked the pin into Eri's hair. "Here you go. I want you to have this."
Eri thanked her, reaching up to touch the beads. The child made a noise of surprise when she found the beads were still pleasantly warm from Halyn's flames.
"That was an amazing performance, Halyn!" Mirio said, joining them, the others agreeing.
"Thanks! It was quite the task finding time to practice without anyone knowing. Not the mention the support items I had to request for it took some time. These gloves, the body suit, as well as the beads and ribbons are all made from special material." Halyn explained, placing Eri back on her feet.
"I'd say it was worth it."
Halyn whipped around as another voice joined the conversation. Eri ducked behind Mirio's legs as Gabriel approached them, smiling at Halyn who greeted him with a smile in return and a hug.
"Thank you, you're sweet. Did you get to see my class's performance, too?" she asked him.
"I did. You're singing has always been pretty, but it paired really well with that of your classmate." Gabriel told her.
"Kyoka has a wonderful singing voice, doesn't she?" Halyn gave Jirou a smile, making the other girl blush. "Everyone worked hard on that performance."
"I can tell. It was great. If you're free, how about we hit some of the stalls?" Gabriel asked.
"Oh, sorry, but I already promised Aizawa-sensei that I'd help keep an eye on Eri. She's really looking forward to the candied apples." Halyn told him.
"I see." Gabriel's eyes fell to Eri, who ducked even further behind Mirio's legs when the look in his eyes, for just a moment, turned dark. "Well, there's nothing that can be done about that. I probably should be returning to Richard anyway. You have fun."
"Of course. I'll see you at the final event, alright?" Halyn replied brightly.
"Of course. By the way," Gabriel reached out and, ever so gently, took hold of Halyn's tail, his fingers ghosting over the strands of beads woven around it's length. "I like the beads. They look great on you."
Halyn beamed at him, not pulling her tail away from him as she did with pretty much everyone who tried to touch it. Those standing around Todoroki took two giant steps away from the boy when he silently fumed as Gabriel gave the end of Halyn's tail a kiss in parting. Halyn, either oblivious to or ignoring Todoroki's obvious jealousy, waved to Gabriel before she turned to Eri, holding her hand out to the child.
"Let's go get you some candied apples, okay?"
With Gabriel gone, Eri came out from behind Mirio, taking Halyn's offered hand as she nodded in anticipation for the candied apples.
"Crepes, too, please!" Uraraka added.
"Sounds great!" Halyn agreed, heading off with Eri hanging from her hand and Uraraka and Asui on either side of her. Midoriya, Mirio and Aizawa brought up the rear, all three silently casting glances towards Gabriel who was staring holes in the back of Halyn's head.
The three males followed as the girls decided what stalls to stop at. They watched as, with smiles on their faces, Halyn and Eri excitedly moved from snack stall to the next, the two sharing many snacks and Halyn absolutely gushing every time Eri smiled at her. It was easy to tell that Halyn had become completely attached to Eri and it wasn't hard to see why. They were able to find any candied apples and, at one point, Midoriya left them for a little bit, but they didn't let that hamper their fun.
Halyn insisted on stopping by the technical display by the support classes to see both the project Gabriel and Richard had been working as well as Hatsume's "babies"., but with how crowded it was, after waving to the three, they moved on.
During their wandering, Halyn took Eri to a few different game stalls to play games. While Eri wasn't the best, Halyn managed to win just about any prize Eri really wanted. Among those prizes was a pair of bracelets made up of clear beads with a vivid pink center, a apple blossom charm hanging from them. Halyn gave one bracelet to Eri, tightening the draw string so it fit comfortably around the child's wrist, and put the other on her own wrist. She promised Eri that the bracelets were to show that they were "sisters-by-circumstance" and that she would cherish the bracelet because he knew that Eri had the other one.
It made Halyn's day when Eri gave her a teary eyed hug.
Aizawa knew, at that moment, that he would never be able to completely separate the two.
Halyn would always have a part in Eri's life.
At the final event, they gathered with the other where it was announced that Hadou had won the pageant with Halyn as her first runner-up. Halyn wasn't really upset with the results and was among one of the loudest cheering for Hadou as she accepted her crown. When it was all said and over with, Midoriya and Halyn saw Aizawa, Mirio and Eri to the school gate.
"Thanks for coming today! We had fun, right?!" Midoriya asked.
"Yeah..."
Midoriya and Halyn shared a look, both able to tell that Eri was feeling down now that the whole thing was over. Smiling, Midoriya bent forward to put his eyes on level with Eri's.
"Eri, look...surprise!"
Eri's eyes widened when Midoriya held out a candied apple to her.
"A candy apple! Someone was selling them?! I looked everywhere!" Mirio exclaimed.
"It didn't look like there'd be any, based on the program, so I picked up the ingredients when I went shopping. They're easier to make than I thought! The convenience store didn't have red food dye, but Sato lent me some." Midoriya explained.
Halyn crouched in front of Eri, giving the girl a smile as she stared down at the apple in her hands.
"Isn't that great, Eri? Deku promised you a candy apple and you got one. Why don't you give it a try?" Halyn prompted.
Eri took a bite of the candy apple and the sweetest smile curled her lips, making Halyn's tail curl with joy.
"Extra sweet!" Eri exclaimed.
"I can always make more, so look forward to it." Midoriya told her.
Halyn stood as Aizawa lead Mirio and Eri off down the road. She and Midoriya waved until the three vanished from sight. When they were gone, Halyn braced her hands on her hips.
"Well, today was a greatly productive day in my opinion." Halyn remarked.
"Yeah, it was." Midoriya agreed.
"Come on. Keep me company as I grab my stuff from the pageant dressing room?" Halyn asked.
"Sure."
The set out, talking about the fun day they'd had as they headed back to the dressing room. Halyn grabbed her bag and they headed back for the dorm. They were just nearing the dorm when someone stepped into their path. Midoriya's smile faded when he saw Gabriel waiting for them to approach. Halyn saw him and smiled brighter, hurrying over to his side. He greeted Halyn happily and then turned a polite smile on Midoriya that Midoriya was sure didn't reach his eyes. It was almost as if Gabriel was putting on a polite façade for Halyn's sake.
"Were you waiting for me?" Halyn was asking Gabriel as Midoriya joined them.
"I was. I didn't expect you to have someone with you. You must be Midoriya." Gabriel said, greeting Midoriya.
"And you're Gabriel-kun. Nice to meet you."
Midoriya offered his hand for Gabriel to shake. The look Gabriel gave the hand was almost one of disgust, the other young man obviously objected to touching it. Halyn quickly covered for him, stepping up to his side and giving Midoriya an apologetic smile.
"Gabriel really doesn't like being touched by those he doesn't really know, Deku." Halyn explained vaguely.
"Oh, sorry." Midoriya withdrew his hand, giving Gabriel an apologetic smile. "I didn't know."
"It's fine." Gabriel assured him, waving it off before shifting his attention back to Halyn, his expression softening. "I was kind of hoping to catch you alone. Do you want to take a walk with m-"
"She can't!"
Midoriya's outburst had both Gabriel and Halyn turning to look at him, the former with a dark look and the latter with a look of confusion.
"Deku?" Halyn asked.
"Wh-what I mean is that with everything that happened with your last work study, the teachers want you hurry back to the dorm. Even Aizawa-sensei said to hurry back." Midoriya said, quickly covering for himself.
"Oh, he's right." Halyn deflated as she turned disappointed eyes on Gabriel. "I'm sorry, Gabriel, but he's right. If I don't got back now, I'll get him and you both in trouble too."
"It's fine. We'll plan for another time, then. Good night, kleine tigerin." Gabriel told her, leaning down to place a chaste kiss on the top of her head.
In that position, where Halyn couldn't see his face, Gabriel shot Midoriya a look that the boy couldn't quite read. He wished Halyn another good night and took off. Halyn waved after him before turning to continue on to the dorm with Midoriya. Midoriya, despite not wanting to upset Halyn, decided then was the best time to question her a little on Gabriel.
"Ha-chan."
"Yes?"
"Um...how well do you know Gabriel-kun?" Midoriya asked.
"Well, I've known him for years. I met him after the whole Flame Lash incident. He was the only friend I had during that time. Granted, we kind of lost touch during middle school but that was my fault." Halyn told him, heaving a sigh.
"Your fault?"
"When it came time to pick middle schools, I decided that the hero route was the way I wanted to take. In Italy, we can start hero courses in middle school. So, instead of going to the same middle school as Gabriel and getting three more years with him before jumping into hero training, I went to a school with a specialized hero course. Then I chose to come to Japan to UA. I knew he wasn't too thrilled with the choice of me leaving, but Gabriel really is a good friend. He just wants me to be happy." Halyn explained.
"You don't think he's a little...intense?" Midoriya asked.
That actually made Halyn smile.
"If you knew him like I do, you'd get why. Gabriel belonged to the same group therapy as me when we were children. His parents were both killed by a villain when he was little and the man used his mother's body to taunt him. That kind of thing takes it's toll, Deku. Gabriel really isn't a bad person. A little clingy and possessive, but after all he's been through, I'm not surprised. It's just not easy for him to make friends. Once you get to know him, you'll see." Halyn assured him, smiling brightly.
Midoriya knew in that moment that Halyn would be able to see the possibility of Gabriel being a bad person unless it was proven before her eyes. Midoriya really hoped it didn't come to that. He really would hate to see her get her heart broken. That being said, Gabriel put him on edge and if there was one thing that all their encounters with villains had taught him, it was that when that instinct reared it's head, it was best to listen to it.
He just really didn't want to have to hurt his friend.
If only he knew what the next few weeks would bring.
END
Kyandi: I just love the relationship between you and Eri. It's so cute.
Halyn: Eri is a adorable and I see a lot of myself in her.
Kyandi: I know. I didn't exactly plan for that when I first made your back story, but it worked out in my favor.
Halyn: That happens a lot with you, doesn't it?
Kyandi: Apparently. I have had quite a bit of luck with my plotting in the past.
Halyn: It works for you.
Kyandi: Yep. Well, it's after midnight here and I'm ready for bed, so everyone enjoy and review.
Halyn: We'll try to return with another chapter soon.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!