CHAPTER 2

Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall,
Musutafu, Tokyo Prefecture,
January 19

It was still January but the mall was already festive with Valentine merchandise. Red and pink dominated the scenery, ranging from flowers to chocolate boxes to plushy animals on the shop windows. Every store threw some kind of deals. Sentimental sappy songs echoed throughout the mall, a nagging reminder for the shoppers to spend their money on the merchandise because Valentine was *only* a month away.

The 4 friends from UA Class 1-B strolled between rows of stores. Two of them dragged their feet, a sure sign that they didn't want to be there. One tried to make use of the situation, even though he shared the sentiment with the other two. The other one, in contrast, was bouncing with excitement, dragging his friends deeper into the mall, which irritated them even more.

"Alright friends, Tsuyu Asui's birthday is coming up fast," Kosei Tsuburaba, the bouncy one among the four, announced with childlike gusto. "February 12! As we talked about, you have to help me finding the perfect gift for Asui, and in return, I will buy you lunch at Lunch Rush, you and your guest."

*Name: Kosei Tsuburaba
*Quirk: Solid Air
*He can make solid bubble to trap his enemy from air

"When we agreed to help you, we didn't agree to go with you," Yosetsu Awase grumbled. "This is not part of the deal. We would give you ideas, and you'd do the shopping yourself."

*Name: Yosetsu Awase
*Quirk: Weld
*He can combine things (organic and inorganic) at the atomic level

"I have a group study in 2 hours," Hiryu Rin added, looking at his watch. "You'd better make this quick or Shishida and Bondo are going to kick my butt."

*Name: Hiryu Rin
*Quirk: Scales
*He can turn his skin into strong, durable scales that functions as armor, and he can also shoot scales like projectiles

"Easy for you to say, because you are both experienced," Kosei rebuked his friend's aggravation. "I have no experience with girls. I don't know how to shop things to make a girl feel like she is the luckiest girl in the world!"

"Did you ask her what she wants?" Yosetsu chimed.

"Well, no. What's the point of giving her a birthday present if she knows what it is?"

"Doesn't she have a friend at Isamu Academy High School?" Hiryu suggested. "You can ask her."

"Yeah, sure, smartass!" Kosei sneered. "Do you have her number?"

"Why do I have her number? I'm not the one that's trying to date her friend!" Hiryu looked at his watch for the dozenth time. "I'll find you her number if we just get out of here and go back to UA!"

"This doesn't have to be overly complicated," Sen Kaibara, Kosei's best friend, tried to defuse the situation. "Something simple, just a gesture that you are thinking of her and make effort to make her special day special."

*Name: Sen Kaibara
*Quirk: Gyrate
*He can rotate his body parts at high speed like a drill

"Simple and she'll think I'm cheap," Kosei muttered. "I want something that's not too cheap, but not too expensive because I don't want her to think I am a snobbish rich dude. I want her to see it as a token of my goodwill, but not as a bribe to get in her pants. Well, I do want to get there, but not at this stage, so I want a gift that makes her think that I care for her a lot, that she thinks I am a great guy that she wants to be around all the time but not in bed, but in the future maybe she will want me to have children with her because I care enough to remember her birthday, so I care enough to be her husband and the father of her children…"

"Shinjirarenai…" Yosetsu rubbed his temple in exasperation.

"Dude, dude, listen to Kaibara," Hiryu interjected. "It does not matter what you buy! It matters that you remember her birthday. So just buy something! Anything! Then get the hell out of here!"

"You don't rush in this kind of thing!" Kosei snorted. "What, you guys bought cheap gifts for your girlfriend's birthday? Come on, let me hear it! What did you buy for your sweetie's birthday the first time?"

"Hair clip," Yosetsu stated.

"Pen," Hiryu added.

"1980 Polaroid Supercolor 635," Sen tuned in.

Yosetsu and Hiryu shot incredulous look at Sen. "How is that simple?"

"What?" Sen replied with a shrug. "It's a classic, and we both like cameras."

"Oh, thank you, Kaibara!" Yosetsu bemoaned. "Now he wants a classic but simple cheap thing but not too cheap that looks like an expensive junk but actually not!"

"I'd better call Shishida and Bondo…" Hiryu sighed exasperatedly while looking at his watch, again.

"Alright, alright, let's make it quick and simple," Sen said. "What do you know about Tsuyu Asui?"

Kosei paused a moment, trying to formulate intelligible sentences, but in the end, he fell to quintessential teenage boy vernacular. "She's… hot!"

"Hot," Sen mused. "Then buy her a blanket. Or a warm jacket."

"Why jacket or blanket?" Kosei couldn't figure out where Sen was going.

"Asui has affinity to a frog," Sen said. "Frogs hibernate in winter. So is Asui. She is hindered a lot in cold weather. To enable her to keep up with the others, she needs warm clothes. There. It is not too cheap but not too expensive, and it shows that you care enough for her that you think about what she needs instead of what she likes."

"Hey man, that's great! Thank you! See, guys? This is how good friend should be!" Kosei beamed for a few seconds, then returned to his overthinking, annoying self. "But she should already have many blankets and jackets, shouldn't she? How's it special if I give her something that she already has in abundance?"

"Oh ferrchrissake, Tsuburaba! Just buy something!" Yosetsu started to lose his patience.

"Fine, let's do it this way," Sen tried to find a way to satisfy his demanding friend. "We'll walk through this mall once. Just once. If you see something that speaks to you, anything that you think Tsuyu Asui would appreciate, we buy it. If not, we go home and buy something from Amazon. Deal?"

"Yeah… alright, but you still have to give me advice," Kosei relented.

"Well then, maybe there's hope for your study group," Yosetsu elbowed Hiryu.

"Yeah, unless he can't make up his mind," Hiryu tossed his arms in the air.

The foursome started to walk through the corridor when Chika's voice blared from inside Yosetsu's pocket, belting out Omoi Yo Hitotsu Ni Nare in 100-decibel outburst.

"Sorry… sorry… sorry…" Yosetsu scrambled his phone, then turned his back on his friends. "Sorry, I have to take this." He tapped the receive button. "Yes, Babe?"

"Hey! What are you doing next weekend?" Chika's voice echoed through the speaker.

"Uhm, I don't know," Yosetsu shielded his phone from his friend. "I don't have anything planned. Maybe hang out with friends, play mobile games, thinking of you…"

"Aqours is invited to perform on NYK Stella Polaris in front of Japan Diet member! Wasshoi!"

"Hey, that's great! I'm happy for you! You work really hard for Aqours, and now it starts to bear fruit. I'm very proud of you!"

"We can bring a guest. Can you come with me?"

Yosetsu froze for a few seconds. "Me? On a ship?"

"Yes, Silly!" Chika burst into bubbliness. "Three-day cruise around Japan, for free! Well, I have to work, but I don't work all the time. We'll have some fun! Lots of fun! So you're coming?"

"Of course! Of course I'm coming! Three-day free cruise with the hottest school idol in Japan, how could I miss it?"

"This is so exciting! The ship will be docked at Awashima Pier, so when you arrive at Numazu Train Station, take the bus to Awashima Hotel. You may even take Awashima Hotel shuttle. If the driver gives you a hard time, tell him you're with Aqours. I'll meet you at the ship. Can't wait to see you! Ja ne!"

"Ja ne," Yosetsu turned off the phone. He put his phone in his pocket, then regrouped with his friends, who was waiting for him with annoyed stares. "Well, I'm going on a 3-day cruise next weekend."

"We all know you are dating a celebrity," Hiryu muttered with bile in his voice. "You don't have to rub it in."

"I'm not rubbing anything in! You asked! If you don't like the answer, don't ask the question!" Yosetsu fought back.

"I didn't ask anything!" Hiryu fumed.

"Neither did I!" Kosei tuned in. "What? You think we are interested in your private life?"

"Guys, guys, are we talking, or are we shopping?" Sen interjected, annoyed at his friends who kept bickering over petty things. "It'll take a long time for us to return to UA if we keep fighting over trivial matter."

"Alright, then let's get this over with!" Kosei led the way. "In 30 minutes, I will have the perfect gift for Tsuyu Asui's birthday! And she and I will simply fly away."

Translation

Shinjirarenai: incredible, unbelievable

Wasshoi: Yaay!

Ja ne: see you later