A/N:
I'm happy that I'm writing and that people like what I write.. So I am trying my best here.. But motivation is not always there for me but I have to power through it.
I am very sad to see many months of hard work go to waste so I'm trying to keep on writing, but it really makes me unmotivated to see other fanfictions going so well. I know mine is going really well, but.. Sometimes I wonder if this work is actually fun, you know?
I again fell to the thing that I swore that I wouldn't do: compare my writing with other people. Sigh. I'm trying not to look but it seems like I can't read other BNHA OC fanfictions now because I will get really unmotivated..!
It seems like I've lost the earlier (extreme) excitement that I had when I first watched BNHA and had first thought of this fanfiction and I'm trying to find it again as fast as I can. Aera and I are somewhat alike; I think that I don't like to make long-term commitments either.
But every successful person makes long-term commitments, and in the end, it's all worth it. I know that feeling. So I will just do it. Because I love this story and I wanted to write better in the first place to prepare for harder AP classes, the SAT, and college. XD
This week I really thank the four people that reviewed, favorited and followed this work..! You guys helped me at least write something that I had fun thinking and planning about!
Disclaimer: My Hero Academia belongs to Kokei Horikoshi..! I only own my OCs and this plot, along with my sister!
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Covering the walls and everything around us, blue frost immediately spread toward us within nanoseconds, the deadly ice thickening deeply on the floor as we began to fall back toward the ground. As I landed on both of my feet steadily, an unconscious shiver rippled through me as the room-temperature plummeted down to the zeroes. I turned right on time to see Minho slip on the ice.
Whipping out his tendons to steady himself, Minho managed to stand upright, panting while doing so. His mouth open, he gaped at the floor in total shock while holding out his arms for balance. "You… You were right..! How can he—?!"
"I told you. Okay, now that all of the floors are freaking frozen…" Shivering from the cold, I gritted my teeth as my mind whirred for a plan. B4 suddenly appeared, her turquoise wings flitting furiously as she hissed out, "Missile is on the fifth floor, right straight, left, and third room to the left…! Umihaku is with it…! Shōto-kun is on the fourth floor and he's coming down right now..!"
"Okay..!" I turned to Minho. "You heard it, right..?"
He frowned before responding, exhaling billowing white vapors. "Hear what..? All I could hear was tinkling noises. That's it."
WHAT?! He can't hear B4?!
..Maybe only I could hear them?!
I immediately shoved away my thought process as I concentrated on the matter that was before me. "The missile is on the fifth floor..! From the staircase, we have to go to our right, straight until we see a crossroad, go left, and it's in the third room to our left…! Umihaku is with it..!"
Hearing my words, Minho turned away to attempt to slide on the ice toward the staircase. Receiving a message from B2 who was tailing Shōto, I immediately stopped him with an arm, "No, you can't…! Shōto-kun is at the staircase right now..!"
Minho stared at me weirdly, bracing himself awkwardly while trying to keep his balance on the ice. "So..? We can just face him. It's two against one..!"
"No, he's going to freeze us immediately before we can do anything..! Up to our necks.! Also, you can't fight on ice..! I can because of my shoes, but you're going to slip and get hurt..!"
Seeing Minho hesitate, I said firmly, "Believe me if you want to win..!" Surprisingly, he stopped trying to drag himself on the ice with his tendons, and began to stare furiously at the wall with his intense gaze.
After a few seconds, he turned to me tentatively with a spark firing up in his eyes. "Can.. you ask your virus if.. there is a window inside the missile room?"
"..Okay..?" Mindlinking B6, who was spying on Heiakira, I asked her mentally the same question and immediately received a reply. "Yeah, there is. The room is on the side of the building, she says..!"
Minho wiped away a drop of sweat from his brow. "Also.. Can you ask your virus to find out the area right under the room? On this floor…?"
I stared at him in confusion. "You mean… you want me to find the place right underneath the missile room..? On this floor..?" Minho nodded and I answered firmly, "Yes. Yes, I can.. Why..?"
"Just find out the place. Now. Hurry."
I looked at him in puzzlement but obliged rapidly. "I'm assuming that you're cooking up a plan right now.." I muttered as I reached out my thoughts quickly to B6.
"B6. Stop spying on Umihaku. I need you to find the place right underneath the missile room, on the floor that I'm on. Hurry."
Receiving a message from B6 who had quickly done what I had ordered her to do, I said to Minho, "Okay. She found it."
"Ask where your virus is and how to get there. I'm going to tell you my plan once we get there." Once Minho finished his words hastily, I immediately asked B3 in my mind to lead us to where B6 was.
With a shimmer of cerulean wings, B3 emerged out of the wall in front of us and bade us forward with a flick of her antennae. I started to sprint on the ice with my reliable shoes, following her as she zoomed off through the hallways. Instead of running, Minho pulled himself through the air as fast as he could, attaching and detaching his tendons painstakingly on the frozen walls.
I received an alert from B2. "Shōto-kun is now on the first floor! I think he's assuming that you guys are stuck there in the ice! Hurry, we only have 9 minutes left…!"
"Shōto-kun is on the first floor.. But we never know when he might go up to our floor.. So we need to hurry..!" I panted out while running. Suddenly B3 pulled to a stop, her wings flaring wide. "Here's the place..!"
We had arrived on the other side of the building and ended up in a long hallway, surrounded by metal tiles. Suddenly, Minho looked extremely disappointed as he spun around very carefully, looking at every inch of the walls fiercely.
Noticing him cursing under his breath, I asked him, "Why? What's wrong? Tell me your plan now..!"
Looking immensely discouraged, Minho sighed as he placed a hand on the metal-tiled wall and immediately removed it because of the freezing ice. "I.. I was thinking that.. We could scale the side of the building outside and get inside the missile room without using the staircase. But.. there's no window here for us to get out of..!"
..Right!
Minho has his tendons! I was only thinking about my abilities, not thinking about both of ours in a range!
Deciphering his words fast, I sputtered in response while planting my feet firmly on the ice, "Are you crazy…?! Are you telling me to dangle in the air from five floors above the ground..?!"
"So what?" Minho shrugged defeatedly before almost slipping again on the ice. "We don't have a window to carry out that plan.. Let's just face that ice dude face to face. I'm looking forward to becoming a fucking popsicle."
"No, Minho..! We can still do that plan. It's very dangerous and hella risky, but it's freaking ingenious! I can never think of something like that.." The gears in my head turned as I whirled around to face the wall.
"What do you mean?! We can't-?!" I ignored Minho's exclamations and began to give out orders to my butterflies.
"B2, keep tailing Shōto-kun! Tell me immediately when he arrives at this floor. B6, return to watch on Heiakira! Tell me immediately if she looks out the window. The rest of you, go outside the building. See what the area looks like around the missile room."
"Alright!" All butterflies chorused in unison through my mindlink, then zipped off to their tasks.
Opening my eyes in my mindlink, I watched through my butterflies as they fluttered around the building. I was sure that my eyes were darting around, looking at invisible things but I immersed myself in the view that my butterflies provided without a second thought.
There was another building, right next to ours. It only had four floors, so its roof was right next to the missile room. Perfect.
"Minho, there is a building right next to us. Its roof is next to the missile room's window, so after using that building to climb up, we can just swing ourselves inside." I scanned the window through my viruses, and saw that Heiakira was guarding the missile, watching the doorway like a sentry. Her back was to the window.
My eyes were drawn to the window, and I spotted something on the metal frames of the window. My heart sank. "Dang it. There's no latch on the outside."
Minho stared at me as if I was speaking in tongues. "Yukimisaka, what are you talking about..?! You can't see—"
"Minho." I said while smirking at him. "If there's no window, then we make a window."
His face suddenly became filled with both understanding and confusion. "So, you're saying that… you're going to break the wall...?!"
I grinned. "Bingo."
"Fudgemallow Sticks! Shōto-kun is coming up the second floor..! He's furious!"
My smile disappeared off my face at the news. I told Minho briskly, "Shoto-kun's coming..! The window has no latch so we need someone to break it…. The glass is really thick though, so I should do it..! A punch with multiple glitches would work, I think…!"
"Okay." Eyes hardening with determination, Minho nodded at me. "Do it now. I'm ready."
At his words, I immediately went forward and placed a hand on the frozen wall. Cold speared through the flesh of my hand but I pressed it more strongly onto the wall despite it.
As the circuit-board patterns on my face glowed more strongly, I sensed the steel brackets inside the cement that were interlocked together with screws and bolts. A system.
Just a square. Tall and wide enough for both of us…!
With a deafening, empowering sensation rushing down my arms, a few of my butterflies swooped toward the wall and morphed into it seamlessly in seconds. Making completely sure of the measurements, I allowed my butterflies to weaken entirely the iron frames inside the cement wall.
Encased in ice, the wall glowed neon blue and rumbled violently under my hand, the cement and steel breaking away with an ear splitting roar. Watery sunlight glowed through the ice as the noise died away.
The thick ice stayed intact through the whole ordeal, and seeing it, I instinctively drew back a few steps. Pivoting on my heel, I turned my whole body, fixating the powerful force of my entire momentum into a roundhouse kick. As my foot swerved through the air toward the ice, I glitched every second, the force and velocity multiplied thrice more, doubled by the heaviness of my iron-platform shoe.
As I shielded my face from the shards with my arms, the ice shattered from the impact of my kick and came down with an almighty crash down the building's sides. Air exploded through the opening and hit both of us with a blast of cool air.
Spying his chance, Minho immediately slid forward toward the opening, using the frozen ground. As I unknowingly opened my mouth to yell out that he was going to slip and fall through the opening, he hooked on his tendons to the opening's edges and swung upward, his body disappearing from my sight. He then landed on the building's wall before us, and turned himself carefully around to face me while successfully not falling.
"Shōto-kun is here!" I heard B2 yelp painfully as our mindlink was cut off. A second later, Shōto emerged from the right end of the hallway and turned toward me darkly.
With a flash of cold fury in Shōto's eyes as he stood a few yards away from me, ice shot out from his foot and advanced within milli-seconds toward me in a huge wave of a glacier. My eyes widened in fear as I tried to glitch upward in a shaky aerial above the ice, but my feet faltered under me, unprepared for the mid-air tumble.
But suddenly something yanked me out of the way through the opening. A frigid caress of wind blew before me as I hung in the air, gasping as the ice sheet hurtled with a roar past the gaping hole before me with a bone-chilling gust of air.
Tiny shards of ice fell as the opening was now blocked by the glacier of ice that Shōto was trying to freeze me with.
"Are you okay..?!" I heard Minho's voice above me and looked up. Minho was above me with his arm extended, a tendon from his wrist joint holding me up as he looked down at me in alarm. I answered him quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine! Hurry, before he-"
Another wave of ice rushed through the building as Shōto realized our plan before we could move on to our next move. The ice spread upward at an alarming rate, and with sinking hearts, we watched the ice encase the missile room's window completely above us.
"We have 3 ½ minutes left!"
Oh no.
A punch won't do. I have to do something way more stronger…!
I felt the tendon around me tighten as Minho began to move upward speedily on the wall. "Yukimisaka, we're still doing this! When we arrive at the roof, you stay there while I'm going to jump onto the wall near the window! I'm going to swing you toward the window and you-"
"Kick the ice on the window and go in!" I finished his sentence for him, already catching on to what he was thinking. "Right!" He hollered out as a response when we reached the building's roof in seconds, the ice-encased window in front of us. Minho quickly let me down on the roof and already was gone, extending his tendons to latch himself above the window.
The ice on the window gleamed in front of me in the afternoon sun, dazzling my eyeballs with the reflected sun's glare.
11 feet. At least that's what it looked like. The space in between the two buildings.
The estimated length that I was going to swing across. And kick the ice and glass, making it break so both of us could go in.
Hella risky…! My subconscious shoved at me violently but I tried to wipe it out of the way. I wanted to win.
As I tried to prepare myself for the journey across, I noticed that the ice looked thick. Really thick. So thick that I couldn't even see through the ice the window that it was covering.
The ice is too thick! I don't think just swinging and kicking it wouldn't work! I would just only hit it with my foot and fail!
Deciding to change our plan last second, I yelled out, "Minho, the ice is too thick! You can't just swing me! I need to have the most maximal force possible!"
"Then what!?"
"Let go of me! Now!" At my words, Minho confusedly released his tendon wrapped around me. "Once I jump from the roof, you catch me and swing me toward the window!"
I would have go as far as possible away from this roof's edge! Then run back toward the missile room's building while glitching, gathering the most force and velocity that I can ever have, then jumping off the roof and doing a flying kick!
That's it! I just need to pull it off!
Glitching furiously with every pounding of my footsteps, I turned away from the building that Minho was hanging from and sprinted across the roof of the building that I was on, growing farther away from the building that had the missile. I skidded to a stop and spun around to face our practice building again.
Okay, Aera! You have to do this if you want to win!
.. But this is.. SO DANGEROUS! I never did this before!
I could slip and fa- No, Minho is going to catch me! He will!
While thinking of the foot-pattern that I needed for the maximum push-off, I yelled out with all my strength, "You better catch me, Minho!" Hardening my resolve and all of my steel-minded, reckless courage, I charged like lightning toward the roof's edge with a myriad of glitches. The open space loomed in front of me as I grew closer and closer.
The roof's edge thundered before me and at the last milli-second, I leaped off the edge with all the strength and speed I had. My heart beat thudded in my ears.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Twisting my body in mid-air, I tucked in my left leg while stretching out the other, more dominant leg. I desperately formed my body position into a flying side-kick; the best one I could ever form in the air.
As gravity started to take its hold, panicked thoughts overran my brain.
No. I'm about to fall.
Not again.
Flashes of the memory of my first experience of free-falling rolled through my time when I had my first conversation with Lady Imagination.
..Why do I need to be so reckless?!
But all of my panic-filled thoughts disappeared as I felt a tendon wrapping itself around me tightly, giving me unshakeable support. Hurtling toward the window like a pendulum, I unconsciously tucked my arms in and glitched as much as I could through the air. My heel made contact with the ice, and the ice-covered window gave way under my gigantic force.
The very thick ice shattered before me as I plowed through it with my steady foot, the glass also smashed under my strong velocity. Shards of both glass and ice flew everywhere, even toward my face.
Suddenly I was inside the room, my body sailing through the air as I tried to land on my feet. Distracted by the giant missile in front of me, I tried to glitch out my hand to tag it at the last second.
With her arm outstretched, Heiakira lunged forward as her teal-tinted bubble wrap wound itself around my leg before I could touch the missile. She yanked me across the floor without a word, sending me flying toward the wall.
As the bubble wrap unwrapped itself from my ankle, I panickedly tried to put my feet on the ground, skidding on the floor without any control while having only seconds before slamming into the wall.
A tendon grabbed me around my waist just as I was about to smash into the wall face-first and tugged me back, releasing me after as I was able to pin down my feet on the ground with steady legs.
Whirling around, I managed to duck with a glitch under Heiakira's attempt to bind me with her bubble wrap, and saw that Minho had managed to wrap his capture tape around her ankle a few seconds later with a tendon.
Now!
I lunged forward with a glitch, trying to tag the missile before Shōto arrived to stop us. Minho yelled as he too was charging toward the missile, and I alarmedly saw him out of the corner of my eye, getting trapped under a wave of ice behind me.
On a reflex I stumbled, pushing off the ground with a couple of glitches as ice almost encased my feet.
Shōto had arrived at the doorway to the room that all of us were in, radiating an ominous aura as he ruthlessly sent another towering wave of ice toward me as I landed again on the bumpy ice floor. Thinking quickly, I dove instinctively with glitches toward the missile with both of my arms stretched out.
..Please!
Almost colliding with the missile with my face, I managed to grasp the ice covered paper-mache rods of the giant missile as the tsunami of ice slammed against my body, sheathing me helpless with ice against the bulky projectile. I gasped, both from pain and relief as I was frozen to the missile.
YES! WE DID IT!
"3.. 2… 1… And 0..! The 'hero' team wins!"
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After getting free from the ice, all four of us returned to the monitor room to receive our grading on our performance. Coming to a stop before All Might and the others, I shivered as the basement air blew through my clothes, the melted residue of the ice disappearing on my costume.
Facing everyone proudly, All Might put his hands on his hips and declared to us fervidly, "Well I'd say…! The MVP in this battle was Minho..!"
Leaning forward in her frog-like position, Tsuyu put a gloved finger to her chin and asked out quietly with curiosity, "But wouldn't it be Yukimisaka, instead, kero? She was the one that secured the missile."
"Yeah..! From what I saw, shouldn't she be the MVP? Smashing the window and all!" Mina stated loudly, miming a punch in the air enthusiastically with an imp-like grin. I grinned at both of them in thanks, but I knew that Minho had reacted way better than me in the battle.
...The kids here are hella smart.
More smarter than me..! Or anyone my age in my world!
I thought that the level of smartness was because the author was an adult and he had planned for them to be this good, but it's not….! Proven by Minho..
..I know that Mina and some of the others may be 'study-dumb' but… I know in combat, they are hella strategic and have the reflexes already! More than me or anyone my age!
I somewhat was able to have the reflexes to an extent because I had literally trained for every spare minute for 10 years!
I don't know if my experience, instincts, and reflexes have carried over to Ainiru's body.. But I guess if I fight someone longer and more in a sparring way, I will find out…!
The number one hero grinned at us knowingly. "Hmm, I wonder why? Why Minho? Does anyone know?"
It's as if.. These kids here have the fighting instincts already from birth, with no effort! More smarter, more tougher, more stronger… a better, evolved version of the original Homo-sapiens species..!
I mentally smacked my head. Well duh obviously, they are super-humans after all!
But.. It kind of makes me feel as if I'm an old phone model, staring at the new, shiny and improved smartphone.
I'm not sure what this feeling is.
I dislike it.
As expected, Momo raised her hand, asserting her dominance once more to prove that she was the smartest person in Class 1-A. I inwardly grinned to myself, feeling very proud of my best friend even though she was about to criticize me heavily. All Might nodded for her to start, expecting a big analysis of the battle.
"It is because Lee managed to adapt most quickly to the situation, and was the biggest key component in their victory. He was the one who came up with the successful plan first, and without him, Ainiru would have never been able to reach the missile room in the first place." Momo unfolded her arms and continued, her dark eyes shining smartly.
"From what I had observed, Todoroki-san clearly had the expectation that Ainiru and Lee-san were going to get frozen by his ice. However, the two had evaded it despite the alarming circumstances. That expectation was the key reason why Ainiru and Lee-san were able to evade capture, and also gave them time to improvise on their next move. If Todoroki-san had thought of the possibility that they had eluded his ice faster, he would have been able to capture them since they were on the second floor. That was the main fault with Todoroki-san's thinking."
Momo took a pause for breath and began to say her analysis for Heiakira. "As for Umihaku-san, she reacted very quickly to the situation of Ainiru and Lee-san unexpectedly coming in through the window, which is a quality that every pro-hero needs to have. Her only fault was that she had failed to hold both of them off long enough."
Momo turned to look at me as I nervously grinned at her. "For Ainiru… She could have been the MVP in this battle because she was the reason why she and Lee-san had evaded the ice. She was also adept at meeting Lee-san's thinking, but from what I suspect, her biggest fault was that she had thought of the range of her own quirk only, when she was supposed to think of ranges of both of Lee-san's and her quirk. If Lee-san was not there to tell her of his plan, she would have been captured by Todoroki-san, or the time would have run out, and she would have lost. That is the main reason why she is not the MVP."
With her magnificent ponytail swishing as she explained to us, Momo held out a hand toward Minho, who stiffened beside me as everyone's eyes moved to him.
"As for Lee-san, although Ainiru would have expected the ice attack from the start, he did not, which is clear from his reaction. But he formed a counter-strategy according to the attack quickly and envisioned how he and Ainiru would be able to get into the missile room without any combat with Todoroki-san. To put it simply, he was able to think out of the box unlike Ainiru. Since his very risky and dangerous plan had worked, this is a rare moment where his plan could have applied in real-life situations, even though this is only a training exercise with exploitable constraints."
All Might gave her thumbs up, signaling that she had again nailed what he was to say. "I would also like to say that the 'villain' team did an excellent job of rebutting the efforts of the 'hero' team! And as for Yukimisaka and Minho, they had also done a very good job of using their surroundings! However, I suggest being very careful while pulling off dangerous stunts like that, Yukimisaka!"
I nodded, greatly relieved that my grading was over. "Yes, Sensei! Of course!"
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After the bell had rang, signaling the end of the day, I stood up and walked to my locker in the back of the classroom as the others began to laze about, striking up conversations with each other about the battles that had happened a few hours ago. I began to pile up my textbooks into my backpack, thinking about the amount of homework that I had and how much time I had so I could be on the ice rink and also train.
" 'Misaka! You're leaving this early?" Sato asked me while swiveling around in his chair. Turning to him, I swung my backpack onto my back and answered him brightly: "Yeah, my father is expecting me to come home early even though I wanted to stay here..!"
...Because my fake school just ended an hour ago, and it takes me almost a whole hour to get home! It would be considered suspicious if I come a few hours late, even though my arrival home would be during the hours of 'club time'!
Sato had been one of the classmates who had come up to me after my battle was finished, and I had been appreciative of the friendly and enthusiastic compliments that he had offered after the 'look' that Shōto had given me in a flash of a second when the battle had ended.
Shōto was absolutely pissed at me. Cue the nervous laughter.
"Ah, I see. See you tomorrow, 'Misaka!" Sato nodded at me as a goodbye before going forward to speak to Koda.
After artfully saluting them with two fingers as a good-bye while grinning, I walked to the door, my backpack heavy on the back as Momo joined me midway.
"Momo, can we stop by a nearby crepe shop by the subway today? Please..?! Can we?! I just need a strawberry crepe to fulfill my happiness for today..?!" As Momo stepped through the door to exit out of our classroom, I pleaded with her playfully with a pout.
"Ainiru, who knows what kind of things they might put in those crepes..?!" Momo shook her head firmly. "No, it is up to me to keep you healthy. Besides, I am pretty sure that you're going to eat more than one…!"
The door slid shut behind us as I waved happily at Kirishima, Mina and the others goodbye as they called out a cheerful farewell to both of us. "C'mon, Momo! I promise I'm only going to eat one! I need to go home fast anyway because of the time that I need to change..!"
The sunlight shone its rays down on me and Momo as we exited our building while bantering lightly. I blinked while passing the founders' busts, suddenly dizzy and seeing black-spots in my vision as we walked down the stairs. "Dang, today's really bright, isn't it?"
"It is really bright, considering it is only April.." Momo mused aloud as we walked across the cobblestones of the walkway. I turned to Momo. "...Do you think it's weird that I'm the only one who wears knee-high socks among the girls? I mean, of course I have no problem with it but it's a tad bit awkwa-"
"Ainiru." I stopped while walking, the familiar, curt voice registering in my ears. ...Wait, is it who I think it is?!
I turned on my heel uneasily along with Momo, only to see Shōto a few feet away from me. His cold gray and turquoise eyes glared at me, even though Shōto's face was totally expressionless as he faced Momo and I.
Concealing my spiking anxiety a few seconds later, I brushed a stray hair strand behind my ear as I spoke without a second beat, "..Oh! Hi, Shōto-kun..! Does someone need me?"
...WHY?! Why is he suddenly doing this?! Why?! Is he really that pissed at me?!
If he's this pissed at me, there might be a possibility that he might tell Otousan that I'm freaking attending UA!
..No. Shōto isn't the type to do that. Definitely. I don't know how I know, but I know for sure that he doesn't go out of his way to be that petty…!
"...Is a word possible?" said Shōto flatly after a few seconds of silence, his eyes full with cold ire. I innocently looked up at him while screaming in my head in befuddlement.
"Oh.. um, okay... Momo, you can go ahead…! I'll catch up with you later..!" I sent a reassuring expression to Momo as she gave me an Are you sure look at me. A silent conversation ensued between the two of us in a lick of a second, and Momo surprisingly backed down.
"...I'm going to wait over there, Ainiru." Observing me and Shōto with an unreadable flicker of her onyx eyes, Momo finally tilted her head at the entrance. I smiled nervously at her in response. "Okay…!"
As Momo began to walk toward the entrance hesitantly, Shōto turned and began to walk to the cluster of trees a few yards away. I wrung my hands as I began to follow him reluctantly, adruptively recalling with the large amount of wrath and fury that flooded in his hetero-chromic eyes when he had realized that we had won.
Fudgemallow Sticks?! Why does he want to talk to me?! WHY?! This never happened at all!
Never! ..I was the one who always had to talk first, just to get a freaking tiny response!
Shōto stopped in front of me as I noticed that Momo was peering at us keenly while standing in front of the entrance's wall from outside, instead of being inside the courtyard. I turned my gaze toward Shōto, curious to hear what he had to say to me.
"..Why are you here?" He stated his question indifferently, his mouth immediately returning into a thin line.
..?!
I tilted my head questioningly, an innocent gleam taking over my eyes as I put on a dumb front, a front that I knew the people expected from me because of my airy and optimistic vibe. "... I just took the practical exam and got accepted. Like how usual, um, un-recommended students do."
As his stony eyes narrowed at me, extremely not amused by my attempt at beating around the bush, my smile evolved to be spritely and imp-like. "Why? Were you not happy to see your oldest childhood friend attending the same school as you? I thought you would be."
It was the weirdest and rarest expression that I had ever seen on a person; Shōto glowered at me with his eyes only, while his facial expression was totally blank.
Feeling as if he was utilizing silence as strong pressure to make me spill more details, I let my eyes flicker upward across the healthy branches of the tree right next to us. I took a pause for breath, almost suffocating from the pressure-filled atmosphere unconsciously.
..Should I tell?
I mean, I don't have to! He already knows that my family extremely disapproves of me being here.. Can he not piece it together?!
..Then again, he is one of Ainiru's most closest friends. Used to be.
I know for sure that Ainiru wanted to be close friends with him again. To an extent, I admit that too, excluding 'Ainiru's feelings'. Like, who wouldn't want to be close friends with a famous character?!
...But it always feels so weird whenever I look at him or am close to him distance-wise! It's like my body gives the reaction of 'butterflies' even though I know absolutely that I don't like Shōto more than just 'friends'...!
But Ainiru's brain and body remembers, which clashes with my soul and my feelings!
Which I hated from the start! Even till now! I want my body to be in sync with what I actually feel!
...But what can I do?
Before I knew it, I gave in under the pressure.
"Fine, fine, fine... If you must know... " Sighing resignedly, I folded my arms while making complete eye-contact with Shōto, hoping that my veneer of calm would hold throughout this whole stress of a confession.
"I noticed that you didn't use your fire at all during our missile battle today." Shōto's face darkened significantly as I smiled at him knowingly, unruffled by his silent probing. "That's your act of defiance against your old man, huh?"
I chuckled nervously to myself before continuing on with an air of expressiveness. "You can think of my acceptance into UA... the same way. I thought it would be perfect, considering that all my male family members drool at the thought of attending UA. Can you just imagine the faces that my father and brothers would have? If I can just take a picture once they find out...!"
Scrunching up my face in false concentration, I pantomimed with my hands as if I was taking a picture of something as I grinned at the imagined photo like the Cheshire cat. Much-needed satisfaction flooded me at the thought of my long-dreamed fantasy.
"And when that happens… that will be my greatest act of defiance and revenge for all their injustices done to me." Satisfied at how my explanation had turned out, I shrugged my shoulders calmly as I looked down and lifted one of my legs to sweep at the twigs and dried berries on the grass-covered ground. "So yeah. You get it?"
Finishing with my explanation, I looked up to see Shōto opening his mouth, only to be interrupted by a very familiar voice that echoed across the empty courtyard.
"Kacchan!"
?!
I whirled around to search with frantic eyes across the courtyard. There before Shōto and I, was Bakugou at a close distance, standing on the walkway as Deku raced toward him as speedily as he could, his left arm in a cast. NO!
FUDGEMALLOW STICKS! I remember this scene! Deku is going to confess to Bakugou that his quirk was given to him!
Aaaaaaa!
What the hell do I do!
I stared panickedly at Shōto, my eyes darting around everywhere. I was in complete disarray of deciding what to do. Shōto stared down at me in slight puzzlement.
NOOO! Shōto's here!
But Bakugou needs to know! I can't just wave out my hand to say hi loudly, to show that I was about to overhear OFA!
"I can't say much. But you should know this, at least..!" Deku murmured somewhat quietly, but it was enough for Shōto and I to overhear.
Shootie Pie! Can't he see us?! I received my answer as Midoriya's green eyes looked around the courtyard in a quick survey but his eyes never stopped on the two of us. The trees are covering his view of us! Dang it!
Fuc- No, Fudgemallow Sticks! WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?!
Deku took a deep breath. "My quirk w-"
Hell with it!
Deciding in a span of a second, I glitched forward in a step and stood on my toes in a flash, and hurriedly clamped my hands over Shōto's ears so that he couldn't hear the rest of Midoriya's sentence. I scrunched up my eyes in total embarrassment.
Forgive me for laying my hands on you, Shōto, but you can't hear this! At all!
"-as given by someone else." Thank goodness!
I opened my eyes, only to see Shōto staring back at me in slight outrage and confusion. I shut them again, feeling my face flushing from the roots of my wine-colored hair.
I.. think it's okay to let go?!
Hesitantly opening my eyes, I slightly lessened the strength of my hands, and re-clamped them harder in panic as Deku began to explain his confession.
"-an't even use it right, yet… This borrowed power.. It's still pretty useless to me..!" As Deku continued on to a stunned-speechless Bakugou, a rarely bewildered Shōto put his hands around my arms and began to pull down my arms, but I strengthened my arms more and gave a harsh shake of my head for him to stop.
Don't talk, Shōto! I begged panickedly through my eyes, hoping that he got the message. Don't talk! Just don't talk!
Finally as All Might suddenly appeared out of nowhere, I finally unclamped my hands and was about to let them down until Shōto had opened his mouth.
In another irrational act of panic, I put a finger to his lips, and shushed him silently with my other hand while desperately mouthing Be Quiet! Shut up! Shut up! Be Quiet!
Shōto closed his mouth, clamming up in total befuddlement at the unexpectancy of my actions. As All Might finally stopped talking with Deku and when the two had finally dispersed from our view, I finally relaxed and let my hand fall to my side, bracing myself for Shōto's reaction. My knees shook slightly with bottled-up stress.
Before he could say anything, I stated apologetically with my hands wildly moving in the air, "I'm sorry, Shōto-kun! I really had to do that! I can't tell you the reason why but please understand me, okay?! Please?!"
Cursing profusely in my head as I looked down at my watch, I shouldered my backpack and nervously grinned at him. "And since our conversation is finished.. I'm sorry but I reeeally need to go home. Fast. So bye! Hope you have a nice day!"
I pivoted on my heel to run across the courtyard, feeling like an absolute mess and an idiot as I skidded through the entrance arch, only to find Momo staring down at the ground.
?!
Oh my gosh, I forgot about you, Momo! Aaaaaa!
WHAT IF SHE HEARD EVERYTHING?!
"Momo?!" I expressed in shock as I backpedaled a step, feeling immense horror at the thought that someone else had overheard Deku's and Bakugou's conversation despite my embarrassing efforts in trying to make sure that no one other than me heard.
"Oh, Ainiru..!" Momo raised her head and smiled at me. A bit falteringly though, I noticed with a jolt. "Are you finished with your discussion with Todoroki-san?"
I slowly nodded, scrutinizing her from head to toe for any weird behavior. "Yeah.. I am. Did.. you hear.. anything?"
Please! Please say no! Please!
Reaching upwards, Momo redid her ponytail with an elastic while laughing gently. "Ainiru.. You look so pale..! Why..? Were you worried that your oldest best friend was going to eavesdrop?" Momo teased lightly, which she only did when she was in a good mood.
Before I could ask her anything, she continued, "This lady suddenly walked up to me and was asking if I was attending UA..! She was complimenting me and all before Bakugou-san came and…" She trailed off, her eyes shifting uncomfortably.
Inferring by her disapproving tone and by the coping state that I knew that Bakugo was in, I raised my eyebrows at her comically and finished her sentence. "And snarled at you guys?"
Momo nodded, a bit miffed if I should say. "... I do not know how he keeps such a high temper running all the time. Very rude, and unbecoming of a pro-hero if he graduates from our school."
Wondering if to investigate more closely if she had heard, I began to walk fast, trying to make it to the subway as fast as possible. Guess I can't eat strawberry crepes today.. Dang it. Maybe tomorrow?
Momo followed me as I put a forced skip to my walk, trying to act as if everything was just peachy. "...Momo, so what did the lady look like? What did she say?"
I should.. start off from somewhere nonchalant and start digging deeper! But not enough so that Momo picks up on it and gets hurt!
"She was an office-worker if I judge by her dark bun, and red lipstick.." Momo thought aloud as we strode on. I froze, the blood in my heart curdling to ice. "Wait, what?!.. Did she.. have … violet.. eyes..?!"
Momo turned to me questioningly, puzzled at my reaction. "No.. If I remember correctly, she did not."
I put a hand to my chest, relieved like no other. "Oh, really? Thank goodness..!" My heart was freaking about to explode!
Thank goodness it's not Lady Imagination..!
"But.. she kind of had a flash of the color, I think..? In her eyes..? I was not sure when I had seen it. Must have been a trick of the light.."
?!
My smile drained from my face, cold lightning tingling furiously through my whole body as if I had accidentally bit down on a metal spoon. "Oh."
"Why? Is something bothering you, Ainiru?"
"Oh, no..! Nothing's wrong! ...What did she say, again?"
.
.
The Next Day
Although I was a bit shaken after Lady Imagination's alert, I had inferred from the comments later in the evening that I had at least a few days before the USJ attack. A jab of pain in between my sore shoulder blades reminded me that I was constantly on edge.
Trying to distract myself, I met up with Momo at a subway stop that UA was closest to and ate multiple dango sticks in an effort to cheer myself up. Food was a constant stress-reliever, even in my world when I was preparing for a tournament or sparring.
I burped while walking with Momo, who gave me a grave glance at my unladylike behavior. "Whoops, sorry. Please excuse me. Those dango sticks were sooo good! One food item off my list to try out!"
Momo sighed as she adjusted her backpack straps but said lightly, "When did you become such a big eater, Ainiru! It is as if you have the stomach of a different person!"
I blanched at her words but managed to respond, hurriedly reassuring myself that Momo did not know that it was me, Aera, instead of Ainiru. "What? We can both be big-eaters! We can both pig out on food, instead you always eating alone because I always finish first-"
Speechless, I stopped walking, gobsmacked at the huge crowd of reporters, cameramen, and media, almost all but piling on top of each other in front of our school's entrance while trying desperately to get a word with the students that walked in front of us.
Shoot! I forgot about the media break-in!
My eyes grew wide as I spotted the huge cameras that the reporters had. No! Otousan can't see me online or in the newspaper! He would definitely know that it's freaking me!
Fudgemallow Sticks!
"Momo!" I held her arm frantically as words spilled out of my mouth like a flood. "Can you create a disguise for me?! Please?! I can't get myself caught on camera! My otousan might notice me!"
Momo barely even blinked before she quickly swung off her backpack and handed it to me. As she took her uniform jacket off, she muttered sharply, "Glasses..! And a cloth mask..!"
I interjected hurriedly, bouncing up and down from the panic that ping-ponged inside me. "Maybe a wig, if possible! Please, I promise I will buy you something to eat, okay?! I-"
"It's fine…! Just put these on..!" Momo stressed as she speedily handed me a pair of circle specs that had popped out of her exposed arm with a multi-colored shimmer. I hurriedly put them on, realizing that the lenses were just glass.
After slinging on the black mask across my cheeks and ears, I swiftly tucked in my short wine-colored hair, covered by a wig that had long and straight, blue-black hair. Fudgemallow Sticks! Here they come!
"Miss..! You two misses are part of UA's hero course, aren't you two?! What can you say about All Might teaching you?!"
"Miss, please answer my question! What can you feel and predict about how All Might will teach you throughout the year?!"
As the reporters caught sight of us and rushed toward us, I stayed silent as Momo handled the reporters fast and cuttingly.
"-his lessons are very insightful and I am absolutely honored to be part of the class that he is teaching. That is all. I am very apologetic that we have to tell you this, but we need to see our homeroom teacher immediately. So.. please excuse us..!"
As Momo bowed to the reporters, I falteringly bowed my head also and turned away from the reporters in extreme relief. The reporters exploded in outbursts as we tried to flee as soon as possible.
"Wait, what about the blue-haired lady? She didn't say a thing!" I heard a journalist yell out with a twinge of desperation in her voice. I ignored her while walking forward toward the entrance, but suddenly, I felt a rustle of air above my head.
?!
Feeling instantly that something was wrong, my arms reached up as I hesitantly patted the top of my hair with my hands while being terribly confused. All I felt was the top of my own hair rustling under my fingers.
?!
I whirled around with panic, only to see the shell-shocked journalist, holding out my wig with a trembling hand in extreme surprise.
The surrounding media gawked in complete shock.
?!
The journalist unleashed an ear-piercing shriek and dropped my wig as if it was a hot potato. The wig fell to the ground with an innocent plop.
"Kyaaaaa! Her hair came off!"
At her shriek, I immediately ducked with an instinctual glitch to crouch down underneath the view of the cameras. Aaaaaa! DON'T FILM ME!
Another broad-shouldered cameraman started to yell hysterically at the misunderstood scene and the whole crowd of media dissolved into chaos, driven to panic and confusion at the sight of my detached hair. The journalist kept on shrieking as she batted at the empty air with her hands.
As I crouched down and tried to weave through the stampeding legs of the reporters and camera-people, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my poor wig got trampled. Oh no! My poor wig!
Making it out safely from the crowd of disoriented reporters and media, I managed to scramble through the entrance, scurry past the nearby perplexed students, and swing myself inside one of the main doors.
A few seconds later after I caught my breath, I peeked outside. In the midst of confused reporters, there was Momo, pushing aside the media with her arms as she called out concernedly, along with heart-felt apologies to the reporters, "Ainiru! Where are you?!"
I wildly waved my hand to catch her attention and as she caught sight of me, I frantically waved her over to show her that I was safely inside. Uttering apologies and gently pushing through the crowd, Momo speed-walked through the entrance and managed to make it through the door that I held out for her, with an exhausted sigh of relief.
As we both became silent, I took a deep breath.. and started laughing like crazy.
"Momo-! Have you seen that lady's face-?! Oh my gosh, what just happened-!?"
Uncontrollable laughter began to split my sides as the surrounding students stared and whispered while walking at my obnoxious guffawing. I held my stomach, feeling as if it was about to explode with the amount of laughter that I was holding.
The lady's face was PRICELESS!
Putting a hand on the wall, I stopped to catch my breath after busting a gut so hard.. But as I saw that Momo was trying to keep her composure seriously, pressing her lips firmly while trying desperately not to laugh herself, peals of loud laughter again burst out of me.
I laughed even harder as Momo broke her composure and began to shake with laughter while covering her open mouth with a hand politely. As I fell to my knees while dissolving into laughter at how Momo was laughing, I faintly heard Midoriya above me as I almost all but collapsed onto the floor.
"M-Misaka-san..! Y-Yaoyorozu-san..! H-Hello..! ...W-what h-happened..!? I-I saw the reporters s-suddenly…!"
"Nothing, Midoriya..! It's just that-" Cracking up again at Deku's face of total confusion, I broke out between chortles, "-I just got wig-snatched!"
.
.
"Good work with yesterday's battle training. I've looked over your grades and evaluations." Aizawa-Sensei uttered as he placed a thick stack of papers that landed on his desk with a big heave of air. "Bakugo. Grow up already. Stop wasting your talent."
The hot-headed blonde stiffened indignantly as he bit out a sentence grudgingly in response. "..Got it."
Aizawa-sensei turned his piercing gaze on Midoriya, who jolted guiltily. "And.. It seems that Midoriya has ended another day with a broken arm."
As Aizawa-Sensei continued on with his whetted but encouraging comments to Midoriya, I reached out and tapped Sero on the shoulder. As the black-haired boy turned around slightly to hear what I had to say, I whispered out, "Aizawa-Sensei seems to be okay despite the media…! Do you think the media is still out there..?"
Ugh, I wish they will be gone before school ends! I know for sure that they will come again!
"I don't know.." responded Sero, who also lowered his voice to a whisper. "It is a bit annoying sinc-"
"Hanta. Yukimisaka." My cheeks flushed as Aizawa-Sensei admonished both of us. Aizawa-Sensei has the ears of a bat, I swear!
I straightened up in my seat as I apologized softly, "...Sorry." Sero also murmured out an apology.
Aizawa-Sensei observed me with his inky, blood-shot eyes as I swallowed nervously. "And Yukimisaka. I advise you not to be reckless. Be careful. I do not need another troublemaker in my class."
I nodded in response as my stomach gurgled nervously. "Yes, Sensei. I'll be careful."
"Now on to Homeroom business. Sorry for the sudden announcement but today.." I heard everyone around me taking a noticeable, horrified intake of breath as they expected a brutal pop quiz or something worse.
..Is it what I think it wou-
"You will be picking a class president." At this, everyone immediately began to raise a hubbub of voices, each one clamoring about their want to become class president. Ah. Called it.
"I wanna be president! Lemme do it!" Kirishima shot up in his seat as Mineta declared out pervertedly, "In my administration, girls would have to show 30 cm of thigh!"
Almost everyone had stood up while raising their hand eagerly, but I instead leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms calmly. Midoriya and Momo would be picked, of course!
...But.. again, what if the future changes again! Iida needs to be class-president! It's a fixture in the plot!
If someone else is class-president.. How will the future change more?!
Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Minho was giving me a look. I called out to him while shrugging at him, "What, Minho?"
"..Don't you want to become president.? With your attitude..." Minho muttered self-consciously, almost to himself as he folded his hands together on the surface of his desk.
I grinned at him while shaking my head. "Nope! Someone better than me would obviously take the role, even if I wanted to…!"
"If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion that.." Iida staggeringly stated his next sentence while bending a bit forward while standing, as if it pained him immensely to say so, "..That our true leader should be chosen by election..!"
Still holding her hand up high, Heiakira stated out a bit protestingly, "Come on, Iida..! This is a classroom, not a congress!
I gulped. Shoot, since there will be an election.. WHO DO I VOTE FOR!?
Since Momo is my freaking best friend, it is absolute law that I should support her! But.. I remember that Momo was one vote away from Midoriya, and that was how she had been vice-president!
And Midoriya needs to be class-president, so that he would later allow Iida to be president!
But.. What if someone new also votes for Momo! I looked agitatedly around the classroom to look at Heiakira, Minho, and Seinare in turn. Minho is from my middle school! Surely he would know that Momo had been our class president!
Shootie Pie! WHO THE HELL do I VOTE FOR?!
.
.
Stressed out immensely by such a small matter, I had hurriedly written down Momo's name on my paper, then crossed it out like a scatter-brain and wrote down Midoriya's name.
Wavering by my loyalty to my best friend, I had next crossed out Midoriya's name, and finally decided with a dissatisfied huff that my vote was going cryptic. I wasn't going to name anyone on my paper. No one.
As I hesitatingly put in my paper inside the box, the one that had both names crossed out on it, thoughts swam heavily in my mind.
I mean, technically I did write down Momo's name on my paper..! I technically am casting my vote for her, except that the person who's going to unfold my paper would perceive my vote as crossed out..!
What am I thinking?! Am I making weird, implausible excuses for what I'm doing?!
Gosh, I feel so guilty…! Masking my turbulent feelings, I smiled at Momo as I walked back to my seat. I hope.. That the original results would come out!
Even though Momo would be disappointed…! I felt a very sharp twinge in my heart at the thought.
Lady Imagination, I'm calling your bluff! Let's see how influencing you are!
.
.
"Momo, cheer up! You're at least vice-president!" I said to Momo, whose smile seemed to be marred by a crease of disappointment. Seinare nodded while walking beside us.
Thank goodness that things stayed the same, except that.. One person more each voted for Deku and Momo! So the results stayed the same but the votes didn't!
Thank goodness!
The three of us were heading to lunch but I couldn't stop thinking about what was supposed to be taking place a few minutes later. The media crashes in!
My butterflies appeared in a swirl, activated by my shielded nervosity. B9 alighted on my shoulder, whispering frantically as the nearby students oohed and aahed at the sight of my butterflies.
"What if Momo finds out that we didn't vote for her..?! And what if.. It's not the media this time?!"
I hushed her through our mind-link. I know, B9! But let's see what actually happens before trying to play a guessing game with the future!
"Yukimisaka..!" Midnight-Sensei purred out as she strolled through the hallway confidently, not even caring if the nearby male students were ogling at her hour-glass figure as she passed by them. "No quirks in the hallway..!"
I stopped in my tracks and laughed lightly as I faced one of the characters in My Hero Academia that I was most fond of. "Midnight-Sensei..! Sorry, my quirk's activation gets out of control sometimes..! My viruses sometimes come out and refuse to return even though I tell them to..!"
"Ohhh, I see..!" Midnight-Sensei patted my shoulder affirmingly with a manicured hand. "Turn off your quirk as soon as possible then, okay sweetie..? Rules are the rules after all..!"
"I will, Sensei..!" I replied back brightly, feeling a touch of a heavy feeling dampening my heart at the sight of my teacher.
No, don't let your memories ruin this..! This is the present!
Reaching the cafeteria, I picked out a humble bowl of Japanese curry and rice, feeling as if I needed some semblance of comfort food. Both Korean and Japanese curry tasted comfortingly the same to my tastebuds, and reminded me of happy childhood memories.
"Hmm. Where should we sit?" I asked Momo and Seinare, the latter shrugging her shoulders. Craning my head over the heads of multiple students, I spotted Minho, sitting next to Koda and Sato in a far off table. "Oh, let's go over there!"
Minho's table is the farthest away from the exit. The distance should be enough for Momo and Seinare to take time while running to the exit! It would be safer if it's only the media…!
But at the same time, it might be bad if… Shigaraki attacks. Right here at UA.
...Nah, Shigaraki is not that stupid! That's very unlikely!
I hope.
Momo and Seinare followed me as I weaved through the tables, coming to a stop enthusiastically as the three boys turned toward me while eating. "Hey guys! Mind if we sit here?"
Without hearing a reply first, I immediately sat down on the seat that I had chosen, which was next to Minho. Shaking his head at my shamelessness, Minho answered me with a tone that I had never heard from him, "You didn't hear our answers, did you? Because yes, I do mind."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I opened my mouth to retort back but noticed a surprising mischievous glint in his light gray eyes. "You! Ugh, fine! Want me to leave then?!" Minho snickered lightly at my answer and shook his head 'no' as Sato gave his permission to Momo who was still standing politely.
Seinare had just gone ahead and sat next to me, already digging into her katsudon. With a resounding crunch into her fried pork cutlet, she spoke between chews, "What do you guys think we're going to do for our afternoon class?"
"I can tell that it's going to be awesome!" Kirishima suddenly appeared out of nowhere and sat beside Seinare, who grinned at him pleasantly. Uplifted from my worry by my friends' presence, I stated aloud my opinion as I began to mix my curry and rice together, steam arising from the dish.
"I don't know. Maybe an emergency response? Maybe first aid? That would be fun to learn!" I inhaled multiple spoonfuls of the tasty rice joyously at a alarmingly fast rate, sprinkling ground pepper all over the rice to awaken the flavor as everyone began to laugh and talk around me.
"It could be. After all, it is only the first few days," commented Momo insightfully as she picked through her white rice with her chopsticks daintily. Chewing and swallowing with her mouth closed, she wiped her mouth with a napkin politely, while I just chowed down with no worries about how I looked. Food was all that I could know and see at this moment.
Sato leaned forward enthusiastically as Seinare nodded in agreement. "If it's first aid, Shūzenji would be really good at that! Just a pill from her and everyone's done!" Seinare laughed as she ate some slices of vinegar-dipped yellow radish.
Suddenly, Minho's face darkened strongly as someone passed by our table. Alarmed by how he had stiffened up so fast, I immediately turned to look at the person, and found that it was actually two people that he was glaring icily at. A boy and a girl.
Huh. The boy's hair color is familiar!
As the boy leaned downward to speak into the girl's ear, I recognized the boy's side-profile with a jolt of shock. It's… Iromidaru! Iromidaru-Senpai!
The older student used to bully Minho so badly!
Listening intently at what Iromidaru was whispering into her ear, the girl turned her head to look at Minho, who was frozen to his seat beside me.
With the rest of her face serenely calm, only her painted lips curled into a small, disparaging smirk as she nonchalantly looked toward us with cold condescension.
Why is she smirking at us?! No, actually.. It's aimed at Minho!
With a scornful flip of her long hair, the intimidating scarlet-haired girl turned away and began to stride forward through the tables, away from us and with Iromidaru following after her.
My butterflies flying around me in a well-controlled frenzy, I immediately turned in my seat to see Minho's reaction, only to see that blood had drained from his face, leaving it to be bone-white pale as he held the table's edge in a death-grip.
"Minho.. Are you okay? Why was she smirking at you..?! And that.. That was Irom-"
"Yukimisaka. Don't." Releasing his hand, Minho resumed eating as if nothing was wrong, but I noticed that his other hand was trembling slightly underneath the table.
"What's wrong, Lee?" Krishima asked him concernedly, not knowing what was the problem but noticing instead that something was wrong. Everyone stopped talking, chewing their food as they looked at Minho curiously.
Minho shook his head, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "Nothing. And.. call me Minho. Lee sounds weird."
You call that 'Nothing'?! I opened my mouth in outrage, but closed it grudgingly as Minho shot me a look. A pleading/warning look.
Momo watched all of this observingly, and made a silent conversation with me with our eyes. Mindful of the situation that Minho was in, I asked her with an expression not to say anything. The ever-flowing conversation continued, after a sudden hum of background chatter when everyone had stopped talking.
Leaving literally ¾ of his food on his plate, Minho tried to stand up a few minutes later. I reached out to grab his boney wrist to stop him as I stared at his plate in horror. the celadon green-haired boy looked down at me with a hastily-concealed flinch.
It was noticeable to me so I let go of him gently, my concern seeping through my voice heavily. "You're just leaving after eating this little? C'mon, Minho..! You're so thin, you need to eat more..!"
"As if I don't know that already.." Almost inaudible, I heard Minho mutter to himself bitterly before stating to me, "I'm full. I'll be in the classroom."
With my concern raging under my skin, I watched Minho walk away from the table with his platter, later seeing his sunken shoulders sag down despairingly as my friends' eyes left him. It was as if the whole weight of the world was lying on his shoulders.
...I should ask him through my usual text messages! I hope he actually answers, unlike the '.' he always gives me..!
Suddenly an ear-splitting shriek of a siren reached my ears as I clamped my hands over my ears in icy surprise. My friends recoiled at the sound, their bowls sloshing and their platters rattling with the sudden movement.
"The alarm?!" Kirishima said loudly with shock while picking up his fallen chopsticks from the ground.
A robotic woman's voice answered his question. "Security Level 3 has been broken. All students. Please evacuate in an orderly manner."
Even though I had known that this was going to happen, something went wrong inside me. I couldn't move. I was frozen to my seat, my blood jittery through my veins, the marrow of my bones hollow as my mind recalled the first time… that lockdown had happened in my world.
In my school.
Now, both of my schools.
My butterflies stopped fluttering their wings and shattered to millions of pieces, a reaction that happened when I was extremely overwhelmed by my emotions, my thoughts, or simply.. anything.
..Why is this happening?!
This never happened during all these years here?!
The shards of their wings rained down on me as Momo tugged on my arm. My friends hurriedly told me to get up. "Ainiru..! Ainiru..! We have to go..!" Momo exclaimed calmly while gently shaking me.
Breathe. In! Out!
Break out of this. This is nothing!
Come on, Aera! You're stronger than this! STAND UP!
You have to see if it's only the media or not!
But why can't I.. breathe?
I can't breathe-, can't breathe-, can'tbreathe-, can'tbreathe-
Panting heavily, my breaths stuttered out of me so quickly as tears welled in my eyes. I felt that my heart was about to burst as my hands exploded with jittery pangs of blood.
("Esperanza?!" Another gunshot then rang throughout the air, so loud that I clapped my hands to my ears. Why is it so close!? ...The shooter must be coming our way!
"Aera! He saw me! All the classroom doors are closed!" She gasped out, frantically glancing at the door that she came through. "He's coming after me!")
" 'Misaka! Snap out of it!" I heard Kirishima's voice resounding through the murkiness that my ears were producing as he snapped his fingers in front of me. "Yaoyorozu! Shūzenji! What's wrong with her?!"
Seinare's voice suddenly echoed by my side. " Her eyes are glazed.. She's pale and shaking..! I think she's going through a flashback..! Yaoyorozu, what incident did 'Misaka go through?!"
"She almost got hurt by a villain a few years ago..!"
PTSD-, mycar-accident-, It'sthesame-
"Yukimisaka! Get up now!" Minho suddenly appeared, and tried to haul me to my feet with his arms. I didn't budge at all, despite that he was using all his strength.
(Aera, I've been teaching you this your entire life. Remember it everywhere you go, will you?)
Tears streaking down my face, I recalled my mom's voice but with a shattering heart, I realized that her voice was fading in my head. I could barely remember what she sounded like. A trace of only a whisper.
But instead, I remembered clearly what she said.
As hallucinations floated in and out of my vision, I whispered a random mantra that popped up in my fogged mind hoarsely, "It's-fine, 's-fine.I'm-fine.I'm-fine.I'm-alive."
Sato frantically looked between me and the others who were trying to leave. Koda had left. "Esperanza? Who's Esperanza?"
"Who the fuck is Esperanza?" I heard Minho ask Momo hurriedly, still trying to haul me to my feet.
Pushing apart my lips, Seinare unceremoniously shoved a pill inside my mouth. I numbly felt the pill's smooth surface brush against my tongue. "Eat this..! Hurry!"
After the pill melted in my mouth, suddenly the panic died away, calm washing ashore in my mind. The darkness lifted from my chest, and I could finally breathe. The foggy sensation in my head slowly began to disappear as I slowly stood up from my seat, helped by both Minho, Momo and Kirishima.
"Are you okay, 'Misaka?! We have to go now!" Kirishima tried to urge me into running toward the exit finally, and pulled by Minho and Momo, I was numbly running along beside them, stumbling over my own two feet clumsily while having no sense of direction.
Before my deadened eyes, crowds of panicking students were rushing forward and were pushing and shoving each other, clogging up the main exit like a overflowing sewer drain.
What..?
What.. Am..
What.. Am.. I.. ?
...What..am..I...doing..?
It was as if I was watching the whole scene unfold on the screen of my own mind, as if I was some spectator to my own vision. As if I was half-awake, half-asleep. Lucid. Suddenly, a sharpened dagger of clarity sliced cleanly through the movie screen as Seinare's pill's effects worked overtime in my body, and I did a faltering double take at what I was seeing. I was running, thundering closer and closer to the panic-filled exit, even though I knew that the break-in could have been only the media.. or worse.
NO! I NEED TO FIND OUT IF IT'S THE MEDIA!
Realizing with a cold start, I stabbed my heels down on the floor, stopping with all my strength as Minho and Momo tried to pull me along. "Yukimisaka, what the fuck are you doing?!" yelled out Minho, extremely surprised as I tried to detach their wrists desperately with my arms and with all my strength. Their hands were like iron clampers on my arms, but with a strong yank, they fell away. With surprise and calm both warring on her face, Momo exclaimed, "Ainiru! What are you doing?! We have to go!
My other friends stopped running and turned to face me as I looked up at them stubbornly and gave them a stiff response, "No, you guys! I need to make sure of something!"
Without giving a warning, I turned and ran, hearing my friends cry out at my unexpected action. Sprinting through the tables while dodging chairs with glitches, I stopped at the ends of the cafeteria, furiously scanning the walls of the cafeteria. I need to see outside through a window or something!
Almost tripping on a chair, I turned around and around to see that there was no windows that overlooked the main entrance. Fudgemallow Sticks!
"Yukimisaka! What the fuck are you doing?! The exit is that way!" yelled out Minho as he, Momo, Kirishima, Seinare, and Sato caught up with me, sputtering out comments.
I didn't answer him, realizing that I could have just sended out my butterflies from the start. Luckily, enough time had passed so they could regenerate themselves now, after being shattered under the weight of my emotions and my state. "B1-10, search the main entrance! Report back to me what you see!"
My viruses darted off in a blue-colored flash and responded back with, "It's only the reporters! Thank goodness!"
My nervosity was anesthetized as I received their message through the mind-link. "You guys, it's just the media! They broke in; not villains!"
"Really?! I thought it would be villains or something!" Kirishima voiced loudly with relief as Seinare, Momo, and Sato were filled with stress-relieved exclamations, but Minho still asked me persistently, "Are you sure..?! Are you sure it's the media?!"
I met his eyes firmly. "Yes, it is..! My viruses don't lie to me!"
Thank goodness that it's just the freakin' media!
I thought it might be a villain attack but it happened just like in the plot!
Now… I swallowed nervously, remembering that it was because of Shigaraki that the media had gotten in. Which meant that Shigaraki was probably planning for his next move.
To the next event.
The USJ Attack.
Welp. I'm so dead…!
.
.
A/N: Truthfully, I am downhearted that people barely read and like my fanfiction. But I'm still grateful to you guys, and the people who still had to read this author's note. Hardly anyone followed and favorited except for four people, so I was really, really disappointed even though it was only days away since I had posted the last chapter. I think I checked my emails like 100 times during the span of days with few responses.. But it's fine, even though my writing spree is slowing a lot. XD (I'm weeping inside, haha)
Anyway, I'm not sure when I could post the next chapter. It's for the USJ attack, and I don't really remember what happened. So I would have to re-watch the anime again and plan thoroughly for what Aera would be doing during the attack. Nice..! XD (Maybe I'll just get too tired and rely on the manga.)
My thoughts on this chapter:
I first thought that having Aera and Minho winning against Shōto would be quite unrealistic and Mary-Suelike, so I was originally trying to make them lose. Every writer these days has an immense fear of making their characters a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu, me included obviously, but they go much too far, making their character a bit boring and bland in people's eyes.
My sister says that main characters need to be a right blend of both MarySue/GaryStu and an actual, realistic person to get people's attention and liking, and I think that is true. What do you guys think of Aera? Is she a Mary Sue or not? Maybe the right amount of both, hopefully? I would like to know your opinion, haha..!
But.. Here's the reasons that I tried to reason myself with while planning out the battle..!
1. Since Shōto knew that Ainiru could not train to become a hero, he thought that she didn't have the experience with her quirk as much as he did. Obviously, compare two and ½ years of experience with almost 10 years..! That definitely makes a difference. But he underestimated Aera. If Aera was just Ainiru, I'm definitely sure that she lost to him.
2. As I thought of it, Aera did train as much as Shōto in her first life. When he started at 4, she started at 6, but ended at 16. To me, there is a difference in training when you actually want to do it with all your heart, and being forced to your very limit like Shōto. That's the reason why she was able to avoid getting encased in Shōto's ice until the last second, because she did train her reflexes to the very end for years, surprising everyone by doing so.
3. Also, if you knew the limits and abilities of your opponent, would you want to lose by acting as if you don't know anything? Of course not! To me, and also Aera, it would be stupid to lose a battle knowingly when you have the chance to overthrow the obvious outcome.
4. It wasn't Aera that who made the plan within seconds. It was Minho, not her. Originally I was thinking of making her the one to think of it, but thought it was too Mary Sue-like. Plus, I'm almost the same age as Aera, and I certainly cannot think like that within seconds. (It took me a full thirty minutes in the morning to plan the battle with fully concentrated thinking..!)
- I thought that the scene where 'Aera rushes off to make sure if it was the media' was off at first. I mean, in an alarming situation like that, wouldn't you think about your safety first? I thought of writing that Kirishima and the others, except for Momo, continued going toward the exit when Aera started running off somewhere else, but I realized that I was thinking in the terms of the thinking in our world XD. I felt that Kirishima and the others, who are all training to be heroes, wouldn't just abandon their friend and classmate when there's an emergency. Especially when she just had a PTSD flashback. So I just wrote the scene above while following my reasoning.
- It may seem that um, the wig-snatching incident might have been a bit too dramatic, but remember that this is a world of quirks! Anything could happen, especially if Aera could detach her hair from her scalp, for example. XD. Many of the reporters thought that her actual hair got ripped off, forgetting the fact that there was still hair on her head, even when it was colored differently. Even though they see a lot of shocking stuff, I think they would still be shocked by something like that. They are still humans, after all, XD. This scene was my first attempt at writing humor and I wasn't sure if you guys would laugh at it though while writing, haha..!
- Also that scene where Aera clamps her hands around Shōto's ears... I did not think about that scene until I was writing it. I was not planning that at all, but when I realized that my ready-made plan of 'making Shōto confront Aera after the battle' was soo used for other OCs, I had to change it. Because of the change, this scene was only logical and I realized when I had just about to write the scene XD. It was very funny to write, haha! I also know that Shōto isn't the type to make confrontations like that, but that's only reasonable if he didn't know Ainiru in the first place. I'm pretty sure that he only did that because he was comfortable with Ainiru (to an extent), since they did know and see each other for the past ten years or so.
-Also, I'm not sure if I wrote the PTSD scene very well. I'm hoping that I wouldn't offend anyone who has PTSD, but I did research the symptoms while I was writing it and before. (I think I've read a lot of PTSD articles..)
Thanks to Psycho-Jellybean, Zdraco, ScribbleGuy and VillainousArkGrebin for following and favoriting this work! I love you guys! T-T (Through this very disappointing week, sigh)
To Psycho-Jellybean:
Thank you for bringing my dejected spirits from the ground! I needed your review so much. I'm not sure how long my writing habits will last (not very long, considering the way my motivation is going..) But I will try to write at least something fun for the while.. Haha! (P.S. I love you, thank you again!)
To the rest of the readers: Any thoughts? Any expectations? Any analyses? Just spew them all! As long as you like! Please Review! I need them to get motivated!