CHAPTER 2.

UNLOCKING THE DOOR

The next day, I felt uneasy all day. I couldn't concentrate on my homework or my training. Being exposed of my actions upset me, as well as failing to demonstrate control of my Quirk. Every element of me was a failure.

But Tsuyu was an unexpected ally. She kept on asking me throughout the day how I was feeling, and she reported no changes in her emotions as well. Her concern for me caused me to suspect that she'd been infatuated, but after I used a heavy dose on her, there should have been dramatic changes noticeable.

We agreed to meet at the pond again at midnight.

Until then, I had been suffering at the campus, doing exercises under the tutelage of Midnight. She tried to help me with brainstorming uses for my Quirk, specifically in the field of talking criminals out of dangerous acts, such as holding hostages or committing suicide. Her ideas were so vast, and she seemed to come up with endless scenarios. Her creativity was astounding. I possessed no such talent.

When I finally returned to the dorms, Deku came to take a seat next to me at one point. "Hey, Eko. Have you been feeling okay lately?"

I turned in surprise. "Fine. Why?"

The green-haired hero raised an eyebrow. "It feels like you're always melancholy. I know we don't really know each other that well yet, but I just wanted to offer my friendship. Ochaco and the others have told me lots of good things about you."

Every time I heard things like that, it only made me feel worse. After several moments of silence, Deku nodded and made his exit. I feared that if I interacted with him at all, I'd use my Quirk unintentionally, although based off of how Deku was acting, it felt like I already had.

My mind was on Tsuyu. Perhaps my quirk really had worked without me knowing. She wouldn't notice the difference in her feelings. But I felt like I would see her change. Yet, I saw nothing. So, then I wondered if my Quirk was affecting everyone everywhere around me. Maybe I was oozing out that energy to anyone caught in my vicinity. I was so unlikeable, yet no one ever told me bad things. Not even Eraserhead, who had the power to remove my power. Even if he removed my Quirk, it's effects would still remain working on him. There was no way to turn my Quirk off.

Except perhaps to speak to no one.

It was a long day, and at midnight I exited the dorm to begin the trip outside. At some point, Tsuyu had vanished, leaving me to wonder what she'd been up to once classes were done. Maybe it was unrelated to our encounter last night, but I couldn't help but imagine that it was.

I was the first to arrive at the pond. Once there, I sat alone, weighing the chances that she decided not to show up. But she did, a few minutes later, bundled up in a thick sweater this time. She even admitted her tardiness had been from her taking time to locate an ideal source of warmth.

We sat next to each other, and I was loaded with questions. "How are you feeling?" Just to start.

"Fine," she answered simply. "Same as yesterday."

"I don't understand..." my other questions seemed pointless. "Maybe I should try again."

"Don't. It's fine." Tsuyu held a hand up, then placed it soothingly on my shoulder. "I think it's not working because I'm aware that you're doing it. That's got to be the reason."

"I guess." My disappointment and confusion were difficult to measure accurately.

But Tsuyu presented a friendly smile, and gently kicked her feet over the hill above the pond. "Do you have feelings for anyone else in the class?"

We'd already gotten past much of our secrets, at least amongst each other. "No." As I recalled what she told me previously, it felt rude not to inquire. "What about you?"

She paused, almost about to keep quiet. Instead, she went for it. "I like you, Eko."

As flattering as it was, I felt unworthy and uninterested. But something drew me to her. "Even after what I did? It was really scummy."

"Well..." she looked like she wanted to steer clear of my controversies, and yet she was bold enough to confront me from the start. "You decided to try."

"Try?"

"To try and experience things. To try and get your desire flowing. And that's not a scummy thing to do. But now you know that you have a Quirk that can be abused. So, you must be responsible with it." She tensed up, appearing worried about my response. "Will you do that? That is all I ask."

I nodded and managed a relieved smile. "I will."

"I'm glad to hear it." She smiled and held her head down, although not enough to fully conceal her red cheeks. "Well... even though your power didn't work on me... I wanted to ask you out on a date."

The way things had taken place with us had been unpredictable from the start. Before answering, I reached my hand over, gently lifted her head, and looked closely into her eyes. "You sure it's not from my Quirk?"

"I wanted to ask you out before we even met. When I saw you in class, sitting quietly, enjoying your own solitude. I wanted to ask you questions, but I was afraid because I've never approached another guy before. Somehow, after our conversation last night, I felt like we burst through all the ice. And I felt comfortable confessing my feelings to you."

Even with her bravery, I was still me. "Tsuyu, I don't think you should waste your time on me. I truly know nothing about relationships, and pretty much nothing about my Quirk either. After what's happened, I would prefer to keep that door locked. I don't know how to not screw it up."

She had so much intrigue in her eyes. Her lips parted slightly, and she tucked in her tongue, as if she were doing her best to look less like a frog... and more like a lady. "If you are rejecting me, then I will accept your decision. But if you're holding back because you are truly afraid of taking that chance with your power, then I'd like to volunteer to help you figure it out. It doesn't feel right for you to hide your entire life, not when you've got a very powerful gift that could be used for great deeds in the world."

Now her explanation was too fundamentally sound for me to disregard. That and I did honestly feel some sort of attraction to her. Ultimately, there were no forces telling me 'NO' and yet there were lots of forces going 'YES'. Therefore, I chose to go. "All right. I'll go with you on a date."

"Kero," she chirped happily.

It was a long week. The entire time, the teachers grilled me for not working hard enough. My physicals improved at first, but I was eventually exhausted and losing steam by Friday. Now at my worst, I succumbed to using my Quirk on them, so they'd stop giving me so much difficulty. It was out of exhaustion that I did so... but I still felt guilty.

No matter where I went, any interaction with others was a temptation to use my quirk. Having something to relieve me of worries was powerful, and with so many woes in my everyday life, it was essentially impossible not to depend on it. But that was preventing me from building strength. Therefore, it was a continuum of futility.

Finally, it was Sunday, and I met with Tsuyu for our date. She was wearing a dark blue dress with short skirt, revealing tan legs and dark brown shoes. Unlike me, in my ordinary black shirt and pants, she was dressed well for our date, opting to give it all she had.

Once we met up, she looked me up and down curiously. I expected her to grill me for my choice of attire. "You look good," was what she told me instead.

"Uh... thanks." I took a gulp of air. "You look good, too. Great, actually. Never seen you wear a dress before."

Her cheeks reddened and she toyed with the skirts of her wear. "Yeah, it's just something I had for special occasions. Guess I haven't really worn it before." With that out of the way, she held her hands together in front of her. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah. I found a place that seems nice."

My knowledge of dates was pretty much useless. But I did look up nice locations for dinner and found a good seafood diner where you catch your own fish. Considering her Frog Quirk, I felt like seafood would be a fitting theme, although maybe that didn't make any sense as I revisited it. Upon our arrival, she did smile at the sight of it. And when we entered, we caught the fish ourselves with reels, and then went to our table.

At last, I was able to catch my breath. It felt like I was surrounded the entire evening. "Is this what dates are like?" I couldn't help asking. "Too stressful."

"I'm having fun, though," Tsuyu pointed out calmly. "You don't like it here?"

"I don't like having to be on stage for other people."

"I mean, no one is bothering us. You don't have to get stressed over it. But if you really are uncomfortable, we can just leave."

It was obvious she was trying to be considerate of my feelings, and she was working to support my discomfort. That motivated me to stop wallowing. "No, no way. I'm just being weird. I promise to chill out."

Tsuyu smiled in a reassuring manner. "Well okay. But seriously, if it gets bad just let me know."

The night progressed, and I found that I was actually calming down considerably. Tsuyu was quite shy, compared to me at least. We both struggled to bounce conversations back and forth, but things went smoothly anyway. Her composure when she smiled released me from most of my stress.

Our two plates of halibut delivered in good taste, and I paid the check myself, using yen I got from working a past internship. It wasn't like I was rich, but it felt like the right thing to do. Once we finished dinner, Tsuyu was concerned for me, noticing that the bill was pricey. I insisted it was fine, and she finally accepted it... as she wrapped around my left arm to escort me outside.

Once we were in the cool night air, Tsuyu led me over to a bench. "Let's sit down for a bit."

It wasn't exactly the same as the pond, but it served the same purpose for us. As we sat, Tsuyu held onto my arm, as if once she let go, she would lose me forever. I tried to keep my gaze away from her, thinking I would upset her if I appeared disinterested. Even now, I found stress hitting me, but it had been simmering down since dinner. I could actually say I was relaxed now.

"You stopped tensing up," she mentioned.

"I didn't know I was tensing up."

"Well... it's okay. I was just pointing it out."

I nodded and tried to figure out my next move. I ended up reaching for her hair, silly as it sounded, with the hand on the arm she was holding. I kind of wanted to free my arm, but she maintained her grip on it anyway.

"My hair is a mess," she commented.

"It looks fine," I assured her.

"So... you like it?"

I noticed the setup. "I just think it looks fine."

"So satisfactory?"

I grinned. "I'm not drawn to things. But there's nothing negative to report on your hair. Fair enough?"

Her eyes flickered. "You really don't need to lie about how you feel. I can't resist asking you things because I'm interested in you."

"I wasn't lying." Or was I? I had difficulty narrowing in on the specifics.

Meanwhile, Tsuyu continued to cling onto my arm. "I think you have a sexy chin."

I could feel my eyes widen. "A sexy chin? Really?"

"And face. Eyes. Teeth. And your hair, too."

"So, you are physically attracted to me?"

"Of that, I'm certain." Her shyness was vanishing now that she got the ball rolling.

As for me, I remained stubborn. "I think you're cute... but I don't have much in the way of feelings. I've never been harboring those kinds of feelings."

She blushed, seeming to only focus on how I called her 'cute.' "So then... you think feelings could emerge?"

"I can't imagine myself falling in love… with anyone. I've always been really unfeeling."

"And yet, your quirk is Infatuation. Have you ever thought about the irony in that?"

"Well… I guess I haven't thought about that." That got me to reconsider my foundations.

"I have another theory." She released my arm and faced me head-on to really concentrate on her explanation. "I think your Quirk gets people to fall for you... but for it to work, it drains you of your desire to fall for others."

I couldn't resist a chuckle. "Interesting." It really was. Interesting... and a bit depressing to imagine.

"So, you're never going to reach an equal balance with another person if you use your Quirk, because you just lose your passion in the process." I must have given away my dissatisfaction because she waved her hands apologetically. "It's just a theory, Eko."

"No, it's fine. Maybe you're right." With that in mind, something else ran through my mind. "And maybe my powers are working on you after all. And so, you're infatuated with me."

"But I felt this way about you from the moment I first laid eyes on you... before we met."

"What if that's why my Quirk won't work? You already like me, and so my powers won't be effective."

"I like these theories," she mentioned with a smile. And then she let out a tiny ribbit and looked away bashfully. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"It's just... the Frog Quirk sort of comes out sometimes. It's just... embarrassing I guess."

"That's just part of who you are," I told her calmly. "It's your superpowers. They've gotten you far in life. And you're still young."

"Are you just trying to be nice to me? Or do you really think that?"

I tilted my head to the side. "You really don't believe me?"

"Well... I guess I do. I'm just being skeptical. I should become more confident."

I nodded and gave a grin. "Guess that makes two of us."

Suddenly, Tsuyu moved away from me, motioning to a commotion arising over in front of a restaurant down the block. There was a crowd of people gathered, yelling at each other over some incident. "I think there's trouble over there," she announced. "We should go help."

I glanced over in surprise. "Really?"

"I have an obligation to," she confirmed her intentions. And with that, she leaped over to the scene, even while wearing her nice dress.

"Oh shit, she's serious." I leaped to my feet and rushed to catch up. Moments later, the group of people had split into two, and were about to fight. I spotted Tsuyu getting into the middle, using her tongue to keep the angry onlookers from clashing. But seeing her in the middle of a potential hazard got me stressed, as I realized she could get hurt in that position.

From there, things just happened. "Everyone stop fighting," I announced, holding both arms up. "There's nothing to fight about. Everything's cool. It's a good day."

Tsuyu turned her gaze to me, looking afraid, but then it happened. The people nodded and simmered down, as the storm was coming to a stop. They started mentioning me and my suggestion, even praising me without knowing my name. It was clear that my Quirk had taken effect. And this the conflict was quelled.

A few minutes later, the crowd dispersed, and Tsuyu walked hesitantly over to me. "That was your power? Wasn't it?"

There was no point in denying it. I nodded.

"Your power is a really good one." While I stood in bewilderment, she walked into me, delivering a comforting hug.

"You were really brave," I complimented her. "You rushed to the scene."

"But I was kind of reckless," she admitted. "The circumstances surrounding those people were more challenging to address than I had realized at the time."

As we left, she stayed under my arm and against my shoulder. Our walk down the street was mostly quiet now, even with that brief incident having just occurred. In truth, I'd been afraid myself. It felt as though something bad was going to happen, but that I had just barely averted it. If Tsuyu hadn't run over, I never would have gotten involved. So that's what it takes to be a hero. Tsuyu had it in her, even with her shy nature. Now I understood the surface of her potential. But only the surface.

What about me? They wanted me to be a hero. That's why I was recruited to class 1-A. But what if my quirk is the only reason that I made it here? If I influenced people with it unconsciously, then that could be why I was given this rare opportunity. Maybe I didn't really deserve it.

In fact, it was completely obvious that I didn't deserve to be here.

At some point, Tsuyu must have noticed my mood change. "You're unhappy?"

"I'm disappointed. In myself."

"Why?"

"I'm not a hero. I don't belong with your class."

She stopped us from walking so we could face each other. "After you just performed that heroic act, you suddenly don't think you belong?"

"Tsuyu, that wasn't a heroic act. I just manipulated their minds. I've been doing that to people for years. It's the reason I got put into your class. I can't even measure how much it's carried me. It's only fair to credit all of my success to this power. My growth is not genuine."

Tsuyu shook her head. "You're being hard on yourself. It has to be one or the other. Either your power isn't developed much yet, so the teachers believe in your potential legitimately, or else you've successfully influenced everyone with your Quirk, thus proving you are in command of this great power. The only way you can fail now is if you quit."

When she was done, I felt foolish. After an embarrassed chuckle, I nodded graciously, causing her to grin and return into my arms. In fact, she brought her head forward, close to my face, staring up into my eyes. She wanted a kiss... but I didn't give it. This entire evening was overwhelming to me. Too much too fast. After several moments, she smiled in subtle disappointment and took her head away.