Bonum et Malum: Quatervois

by FlightoftheStorm777

Two sides of the same coin, sisters Sora and Rikka fight to forge their own paths in a broken hero society, discovering redemption, family, friendship, and love along the way. Every story has two sides. This is Sora's.

24. Sparks

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sparks /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"TW: nightmares, PTSD/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Asi stood with her hands cupped around her mouth. Her mouth moved with a shout, but no sound reached Sora's ears. A bright flash illuminated the black, vacant space. Asi stood on the other side of the window, palms flattened against the glass. Rain streaked the window with water and flattened Asi's hair. She banged a fist against the glass and mouthed Sora's name, but no sound penetrated the barrier. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Stop, I'm in class," Sora said. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Lightning flashed outside. Asi flinched and beat her fists against the window more frantically. A silent scream tore past her lips. Sora held her sister's gaze. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Asi, stop. I'm in class. I don't want to talk to you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hurt spasmed across Asi's expression, and her hands lowered from their banging. Another flash of lightning sparked, but this time, it was inside the classroom. A loud boom blistered Sora's ears, and the force of the blast knocked her out of her seat and flat against the floor. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"No. It wasn't lightning. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"An explosion. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou jumped on top of Sora and fisted her shirt, lifting her back off the floor. One hand raised and sparked with firecrackers. "You tell your damn sister to shut it or I'll blow your head off, ya hear?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora widened her eyes and grasped at Bakugou's wrist. "I'm sorry, I couldn't stop her—" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou threw his head back and laughed. When he lowered his head, it was no longer Bakugou on top of her, but Rikka. Her face was blurry, as if Sora couldn't quite focus the lens of her eyes onto Rikka. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Couldn't stop her, could've, would've, should've," Rikka taunted. Her voice came out muffled and mechanized, as if she wore the helmet that went with her villain costume. "What kind of hero are you, if you couldn't even save me?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's eyes welled with tears. Beside them, Asi beat against the window so hard that her hands bled. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rikka's hands wrapped around Sora's throat. "None of this would've happened if you hadn't been born. This is all your fault!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Thunder boomed so loud that Sora's window vibrated, jolting her awake. Lightning flickered, and Sora's dorm room illuminated like a black-and-white snapshot. Thunder cracked, sending Sora's heart to her throat. In a mad scramble, she switched on the curtain lights draped along the edge of her wall. Instantly, the soft yellow lights illuminated her room, and her lungs deflated as they released a tense breath. Heart still trembling, Sora pulled her knees to her chest and gathered her wits. Sweat clung her T-shirt to her back and glazed her forehead. Tugging at the fabric, she aired herself out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Lightning flashed outside again, but the light in her room helped soften the harshness of it. Sora held her breath and braced for the thunder. When it struck, she still flinched, but it didn't send her heart galloping at the base of her throat. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Leaning to her nightstand, Sora unplugged her phone. Her heart sagged in her chest as three new notifications bannered on her screen. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"[2 New Messages from Asi] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Asi: How's dorm life treating you? [Delivered 2 1/2 weeks ago] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Asi: You left your sketchbook here. Want me to bring it up to school? [Delivered 8 days ago] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Asi: Hey! I heard you got injured in training today. Are you okay? [Delivered 3 days ago] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Asi: Hey. I know you need space, but can you at least let me know that you're okay? I'm worried about you. [Delivered at 11:07 pm] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Asi: You can't ghost me forever. [Delivered at 1:03 am] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's heart clenched. If Asi sent those texts that late, then Sora's distance from her really was eating away at her. Asi always went to bed at nine or nine-thirty. She was usually an early riser, too. She liked spending her mornings with her plants, and rarely sat up on her phone late at night. But Sora couldn't bring herself to respond. Not yet. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The other alert showed a text from the conversation bubble with her father. Heart stuttering, Sora opened the conversation, but there was no new message from her dad. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"[Message Send Failure]/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: right; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora: Hey. They're trying to narrow down suspects. Can you please /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"respond so that we can eliminate you? I know you didn't release my/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"name to the press. When it's safe, can we talk? /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"[Message Failed to Send 3 weeks ago]/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: right; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora: Are you okay? Why aren't you answering? /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Where are you? [Message Failed to Send 2 weeks ago] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: right; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora: Please just tell me you're okay [Message Failed to Send 1 week ago] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: right; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora: Was it you? [Message Failed to Send 2 days ago] /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: right; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora: Dad, please. Even if you did, can you please just /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"respond? Or let us know you're okay? Can you tell me/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"why? I just don't get why you'd do this. Please... ? Just /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"turn your phone on or unblock me? I just want to talk./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Can't I have that much? /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"[Message Failed to Send at 9:27 pm]/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The last message not going through didn't sting as much as the first one, but it still tightened the knot that had wrapped around Sora's stomach ever since her identity got leaked to the press. Sure, she sounded a little desperate and pathetic in the text, but part of her didn't care. She just wanted to talk to her dad. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"By now, her eyes no longer felt heavy with sleep. Most of her nightmare already faded from her memory, too. She could probably try and get some sleep, even with the thunder still raging outside. However, her mind remained scrambled and busy. There'd be no sleeping with it like that. So, Sora kicked off her covers and pulled on a sweatshirt and slippers before slipping out of her dorm room. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Tiptoeing past the other dorms, Sora made her way to the stairwell and trekked toward the main room of the dorms. Instead of heading toward the couch, she veered right around the corner toward the kitchen and directly into a hard body. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What the hell?" Bakugou's voice made Sora's stomach roll over. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Of all the people in Class 1-A to run into, why did it have to be /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"him/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"? Again? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry," Sora mumbled, backing away. Ever since they sparred and she said that embarrassing thing about her sister, she'd been trying to avoid Bakugou. She was mortified enough about what she said, and knowing his nosy ass, Bakugou wouldn't let her avoid explaining herself for long. Things felt different with Bakugou lately, too. They had ever since they got kidnapped together. Perhaps Sora read too much into it, but it certainly felt like Bakugou wasn't as harsh with her. Or maybe she wasn't as soft anymore. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Tch," Bakugou snorted, raising a water bottle to his lips, "watch where you're going, Sunshine." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry. Didn't expect anyone else to be awake."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why are you awake, anyway?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Frowning, Sora slipped past Bakugou and reached the fridge. "Same reason as you. Getting water."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It wasn't a total lie. Her throat was dry, and if she wasn't going to go back to sleep anyway, she should at least hydrate and work on some homework. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But Bakugou had a way of seeing through bullshit, and Sora felt the heat of his vermillion gaze on her as she bent over and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge. Her excuse for wanting water covered her real reason for even /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"being/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" awake, and Bakugou likely sensed that. Twirling around to let the fridge door fall shut on its own, Sora held Bakugou's narrowed stare as she cracked open the bottle. A puff of cold air washed over Sora's legs as the door shut with a soft thump. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou rolled his eyes and a low groan grumbled in his throat. "Don't tell me this is gonna be a regular thing, running into each other in the middle of the night." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora widened her eyes and placed a hand over her heart. "I didn't realize it was such an /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"awful/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" thing to see me." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Generally, Bakugou was a difficult person to read. In the darkness, however, where only his silhouette was visible, it was nearly impossible to discern what was going through his head. Bakugou took a sip from his water bottle. When he finished, he snorted. "It's because you're a pain in the ass." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I think /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"everyone/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" is a pain in the ass to you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou's shoulders tensed. "The hell's that supposed to mean?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You seem to dislike everyone, so it's kind of hard to tell when someone /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"doesn't/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" bother you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Maybe you're just bad at reading people." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That's possible," Sora allowed, too drained to playfully argue anymore. She just didn't have the mental capacity for banter. Asi's unanswered messages and her dad's M.I.A. status anchored the back of her mind, keeping her from choosing her words carefully. "I was raised by a villain and lived on the streets for a while, so my social skills might not be up to par with yours." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You lived on the /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"streets/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora stiffened. Crap. Why the hell did she say /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"that/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"? Every time she was around Bakugou, it was like she took her filter and threw it out the window! Heat crept up her neck. "Uh, yeah. Only for about a year, though." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Only," scoffed Bakugou. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A weird silence enveloped them. It wasn't quite uncomfortable or awkward, but Sora remained tense. She sensed that Bakugou wanted to say more, but he took his sweet time taking a drink from his water bottle. Sora busied herself with doing the same to give herself something to focus on. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She nearly choked when Bakugou broke the silence at last: "So, are you gonna explain why you thought I was your sister for some damn reason?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Coughing, Sora wiped the water that dribbled out of her mouth with her sleeve. "I had a concussion. You blasted me pretty hard into that wall." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because you didn't block it, idiot."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora sighed. "You're not going to drop it, are you?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It was a weird as hell thing to say. 'Course I'm not dropping it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora bit her lip. What was the harm in telling Bakugou? "I don't know… Just… The way you jumped at me… It was so vivid…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Huh?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I had a flashback of Rikka attacking me in the woods. I know I shouldn't let my past hold me back, but sometimes, I can't control it. Every time I want to move on, it feels like I /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"can't/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"For a moment, Sora was glad for the darkness as she leaned her head back. Tears pricked in her eyes. She did not want to cry, especially in front of Bakugou. She was okay with crying when sorrow weighed on her, but it irritated her to no end whenever she cried out of /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"anger/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That's something you have to figure out." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I know," Sora snapped, irritation flickering through her like lightning. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou tilted his head, and Sora tensed, waiting for him to yell at her or say something mean. Instead, his shoulders rose and fell with an indifferent shrug. But his body still held too much tension. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Something/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" bothered him and caused his muscles to remain tightly coiled. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora forced herself to relax. Taking a sip of water to cool her boiling blood, she shook off the rest of her tension. Bakugou got under her skin so /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"easily/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". He was so callous and brash— a terrible mix for her softness— that it caused her to compress like storm clouds gathering strength before breaking open and releasing a deluge. Would it kill him to be a bit softer? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But he was here, wasn't he? In the dark, alone. Talking to her instead of leaving, which he probably would've done if something weren't anchoring him to the spot. What weights did he carry in the back of his mind? What kept Bakugou awake? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's eyes stretched. Oh. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Oh/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;", she was an idiot. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It was no coincidence that the two of them were the only ones awake at this hour /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"twice/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're having nightmares too, aren't you?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou froze, water bottle raised to his lips, but he didn't drink. Sora's heart clenched for him. It could be so lonely dealing with nightmares in the dark— she knew from past experience— so it explained why Bakugou hadn't left her. His pride probably held him back from admitting it and seeking help, and he'd probably lash out if she was too forward with how she approached this, but she didn't want him to be alone. "You don't have to, but… I understand… Nightmares. So, if you ever want to talk about it—" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't need to voice every damn thought in my head like /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"you/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". Besides, there's nothing to talk about. I just wanted water." Bakugou finally took a sip. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"His words stung a little, and Sora stiffened. Maybe she was too forward, and perhaps she shouldn't have told him everything the other night, and maybe she shouldn't have offered to lend a listening ear to him… No. She refused to feel ashamed for showing kindness, even if Bakugou mocked her for it. He probably needed it the most. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Moving to stand right in front of him and stare directly into his eyes, Sora said, "Right… Well, my offer still stands in case you're ever down here for /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"water/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" again." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou's eyes stretched and glinted in the darkness. Even this close to him, Sora still couldn't make out the red color of his eyes. A frisson of satisfaction worked its way down Sora's spine like lightning branching across the sky as she headed toward the stairs. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As soon as she was out of sight of Bakugou, she let out a breath. He was intense, and calling him out—even subtly—was a risky endeavor, but his slight reaction was worth it. Besides, Bakugou often mistook Sora's kindness for weakness. She'd show him that there was nothing weak about being kind. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The next morning, Sora's classes dragged by. Only sleeping a few hours each night took a toll on her. Her eyes burned from staying open, and her eyelids grew heavier with each passing hour. By the time Present Mic's English class ended, Sora almost succeeded in sleeping with her eyes open. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When the bell rang for lunch, Sora flinched back into awareness. Crap. For the past few weeks, stepping foot into the cafeteria with the other students had been… uncomfortable. Even walking through the halls caused Sora to tense. No one had been outright rude to her yet, but it was clear that many distrusted her now that her secret was out. Most students just stared at her with vague looks of suspicion, but some muttered under their breath. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Villain's daughter/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" always slithered past their lips and constricted Sora's heart. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"On days where she was too tired or sad to deal with the looks and mutters, she ate in the classroom. No one in Class 1-A had noticed so far— and that kind of stung— as Sora usually pretended she needed to talk to Mr. Aizawa about something. But that excuse could only last her so long. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ashido skipped over to Sora's desk. "Oh, no you don't." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora frowned. "What am I doing?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're about to hide from the cafeteria again," said Ashido, placing her hands on her hips. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou slowed as he stood from his desk. Sora caught his eyes for a moment, but he looked away so fast that she wondered if she imagined it. He was gone before she had a chance to process anything in her tired state. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's face burned as she held Ashido's gaze. "I'm not—" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Don't try to deny it," said Jirou, sitting on Bakugou's vacant desk, "you're terrible at making excuses." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Tsu tapped her chin. "You don't need to be afraid of how people look at you, or if they say anything about you, ribbit. You have us." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah!" Uraraka punched the air. "We'll fight anyone who says anything bad about you!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Yaomomo placed a hand on her own cheek. "Well, we shouldn't get into fights, but you shouldn't eat alone!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora relaxed and smiled a little. "Thanks, guys." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""C'mon! I'm starving," said Hagakure, grabbing Sora by the arm— where the heck did she come from, anyway— and hauling her out of her seat. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora forced herself to relax and look ahead. She shouldn't hide from anyone. She was Vortex's daughter, yes, but only by blood. The other students at UA would never give her a chance to prove that if she hid from their stares. She couldn't allow herself to be shamed for something out of her control. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Still, Sora couldn't ignore the way a General Studies student flinched away from her when they both reached for the same tray. "Oh, sorry! You go ahead." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora hoped that she said it kindly, and smiled at the student. However, the girl grabbed the tray without looking at Sora and scrambled off. Some of the UA student body /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"feared/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" her. It didn't even matter that Sora held herself back so much. The fact that Vortex was her mother was enough to cause some people to cower. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou was right: She shouldn't care so much about what others thought of her. There were always going to be people afraid of her, no matter what she did to curb their discomfort. There were going to be people who sneered at her, who treated her differently because of her heritage, and it wouldn't matter how much she tried to change their minds. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It didn't matter how/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" small/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Sora made herself. Some people were just afraid of thunder. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora turned toward the girls' table, where Uraraka sat waving, a beacon in the sea of people. A smile tugged at Sora's lips as she made her way over to her friends. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Some people liked thunderstorms. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Squeezing next to Yaomomo and Uraraka, Sora grinned as Hagakure gushed about how a hot third year just bumped into her and apologized. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Guys, it was just so sweet!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't know, that seems very…" Sora trailed off. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Bare minimum?" Tsu offered. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Soda nearly came out of Jirou's nose as she snorted. Hagakure pouted and her clothes shifted as if she crossed her arms. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yes, we should all have higher standards for ourselves," said Yaomomo, placing a hand over her chest. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ugh, well, it's not like any of the boys from our class will notice us," said Hagakure. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora slowed her eating. Uraraka's cheeks turned pinker than usual, and she bowed her head, focusing on shoveling so much rice into her mouth that she couldn't talk even if she tried. Jirou wrinkled her nose. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why would you /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"want/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" any of the boys from class to notice us?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Your girl craves romance," sighed Hagakure dreamily. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I think we have plenty of time to worry about that," said Jirou. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah," Sora agreed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Most of the boys are too focused on becoming heroes, anyway," said Hagakure. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And we should be, too," said Yaomomo. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora nodded in agreement. Still, what she told Uraraka rang true: It was possible to have both, a life as a hero and love. But that didn't really matter. There was no one Sora was really interested in, anyway. She had much bigger problems to deal with than boys and girls she found attractive. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Liar/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;", a nasty thought sang in her head. Sora's heart tripped in her chest. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sure, she found Todoroki cute, but she didn't like him. Not that way. Besides, he hadn't really interacted with her since her secret got exposed, so even if she /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"did/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" like him— which she didn't— it wouldn't matter. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"And, sure, Bakugou had beautiful red eyes and was admirable in his pursuit to become Number One, but he was a little too rough around the edges. He probably thought her softness was annoying. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Uraraka," Sora piped up before Ashido could chime in on the subject of romance, "you trained with Gunhead, right?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Poor Uraraka's cheeks were still pinker than usual, but she looked relieved with the subject shift. She swallowed her food and nodded. "Mhm!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Do you think you could give me some tips on martial arts?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Uraraka widened her eyes. "Sure, but with your Quirk, I don't think you'll really need to know how to fight."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora furrowed her brow. Uraraka was wrong about that. Sora's Quirk wasn't versatile enough. She could be a heavy hitter like Bakugou and Todoroki, sure, but in situations that required more precision, she'd be a problem, not a help. "Well, after fighting against Toga, I feel like some of that training would come in handy." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sure! Next time we can pick partners, or after school, let's do it!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora beamed, turning to tune into the bits of conversation that she missed. Hagakure and Ashido discussed clothes, and then they shifted to music, which caused Jirou to chime in. Hagakure and Jirou fangirled over a new album coming out, and both girls nearly chomped Yaomomo's head off when she admitted to never having listened to that artist before. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I mostly listen to classical!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I mostly listen to classical/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"!" Jirou teased. "Yaomomo, c'mon. It's time to expand your musical horizons." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Yaomomo giggled behind her hand. "Okay, okay! I promise to give them a listen." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Come by my dorm and we can have a listen party," Jirou offered, her cheeks turning pink. "If you want." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sure, that sounds fun!" said Yaomomo. "We could study together." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Jirou shrugged. "Sure, no problem." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Speaking of dorms," said Ashido, shifting in her seat to peer at Tsu and Sora, "we still haven't seen your rooms!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, it's nothing special," Sora said. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Mine's mostly full of plants," said Tsu, "but you guys can come by anytime. I don't mind, ribbit." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Same," Sora offered. "I've got an open door policy." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Your door sign is so cute!" squealed Ashido. "Did you make it yourself?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah," said Sora, her face burning. "I-I can make you one, too." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Really? Yes, please! That would be amazing!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, just tell me what colors and things you want on it, and I can make you one. I'll have to get some new supplies, though." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'll pay for them, obviously," said Ashido. "And I want pink!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We can sit down and I can sketch some ideas with you," Sora offered, helping Yaomomo clear the table as the bell rang. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, that sounds great!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After leaving the cafeteria, the girls headed for the locker rooms to change into their hero costumes for training. Sora's costume was still quite plain and not what she wanted, but it served its purpose, at least. As a finishing touch, she redid her braid, ensuring that it was tight and secure before leaving the locker room. The entirety of 1-A boarded a shuttle, which took them to the USJ. Sora dozed off on the short drive. She really needed to get her nightmares under control, otherwise she'd end up being useless. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She was done being useless. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Once inside the USJ, Class 1-A gathered around Ms. Midnight, who pressed her knuckles into her cheeks. "I can't get over how amazing you guys look! Anyway, listen up, children! Today, you'll be practicing both rescue and proper victim care and procedure. Remember, civilians are always your top priority. But, in some situations, you won't be able to focus on every civilian. Your responsibilities will be pulled every which way! If there's a building that collapsed, and you're helping civilians, you might have to prioritize who to help first. Today's exercise will deal with those kinds of questions. You'll be split into groups of three and will be sent off to a different section of the USJ to search and care for survivors. Each group will have three survivors to rescue and recover. Once you rescue them, you'll bring them to the first-aid check in here. Ready?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ready!" Class 1-A chorused. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"While Ms. Midnight split the class up into groups, Sora stifled a yawn. Bleariness blurred her vision every time she blinked. Eating should've replenished her energy, but it seemed that little cat nap on the shuttle only reminded her how /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"tired/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" she actually felt. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sora? Are you okay?" Uraraka's face appeared in Sora's field of view so suddenly that Sora backtracked directly into another person. When she turned around, Todoroki peered down at her, eyes wide. If Vortex showed up suddenly and struck Sora down with lightning at this very moment, she wouldn't complain. Scrambling away from Todoroki, Sora laughed nervously. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry, must've zoned out pretty hard for a second there." Stroking her braid, Sora offered Uraraka a chagrined smile. "Did I… Did I miss something?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're a team," said Todoroki. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're supposed to be in the Landslide Zone," added Uraraka, her eyebrows squishing together. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Did you not hear Ms. Midnight?" Todoroki asked, leading the way to the Landslide Zone. He said it in his usual neutral tone, but the words still stung and made Sora's skin burn. Great. Now she looked like an idiot in front of Todoroki. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora squeezed her hands into fists and then flexed her fingers at her sides. She missed all of that? Damn. She really needed to pull herself together. Her classmates counted on her, and she refused to let them down. "Yeah…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Must've been some daydream, huh?" Uraraka laughed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You could say that," Sora replied. Truthfully, there had been nothing going on inside Sora's head. She wasn't sure if a daydream would've been better or worse than the void. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When they reached the Landslide Zone, they found the basin covered in debris and wreckage, as if a real landslide had already plowed its way through the area. One of the walls of the basin, which was usually jagged with rocks to climb on, had caved in. A streak of soft dirt spilled into the basin. Rocks and boulders lay piled atop one another. Dirt that looked too soft to stand on littered the ground. The few trees that once stood in the Zone had been ripped completely out of the earth, leaving gaping, root-filled holes. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh boy," breathed Uraraka. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Looks a little different than the last time we were here, huh?" Sora said to Todoroki. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"His eyes stretched a little. "Oh. Yeah." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora faced the wreckage. Even getting down into the basin to search for civilians would prove challenging, as there was no way to tell if they could trust the ground underneath them. It seemed her teammates had realized the same problem. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We can't climb down from here," said Uraraka. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And the ground down there won't be too reliable, either," said Todoroki. "But I can give us something solid to stand on." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora frowned. "I can get us down if Uraraka makes both of you weightless. Hold on." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Uraraka touched Todoroki's hand, and he floated off the ground a few inches. Uraraka followed suit. Before they could float too high, Sora grabbed their wrists to anchor them. Looping her arms through Uraraka's and Todoroki's, Sora used a gust of wind to lift them off the ground. Then, she let the wind carry them toward the ground. As they descended, Uraraka prepared to release hers and Todoroki's weightlessness. When they were only a few feet above the ground, she touched the tips of her fingers together, and the trio dropped to the ground heavily. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As soon as Todoroki's feet touched the earth, ice spread out around them to form solid ground. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We should split up to search for the survivors," Uraraka suggested. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But stay close enough in case we need to regroup for an emergency. Knowing UA, this isn't just a search and rescue exercise," Sora added. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, good idea," Todoroki agreed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora smiled to herself as warmth blossomed in her chest from his praise. At least he still thought of them as friends, despite everything. Setting her face with a determined frown, Sora set off to search for survivors. The group split up, picking their way carefully on the uneven ground. Parts of the ground shifted and sank when Sora put her weight on it, so she moved around it. She stuck to climbing on heavier rocks. For a few minutes, the trio found nothing. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then, Uraraka called, "Over here!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Using the wind to help her bound across the Zone, Sora hurried over to Uraraka, who crouched before two large stones leaning against one another. Partially buried under dirt and rocks was a dummy. Todoroki skated over with his ice. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Listen," Uraraka breathed, pointing at the two large rocks leaning on one another. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the rocks blocked the entrance to a tunnel. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A faint cry sounded from within. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The other survivors must be down there," said Todoroki. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I didn't think these dummies made noise," said Uraraka, peering down at the partially-buried dummy. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Crouching to help Uraraka dig the dummy out, Sora tilted her head. "I think some of them have recording devices stitched inside." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""UA certainly likes to make these training sessions as realistic as possible," said Uraraka. She groaned as she tugged the dummy out of the debris, sweat beading on her forehead. Sora pulled under the dummy's armpit. The thing weighed as much as a grown man to simulate further realism. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We should focus on moving this person out of harm's way, and then work on moving the debris," Sora suggested. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki narrowed his eyes. "We need to be careful about how we move the debris, so that we don't cause any further collapses."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Right," agreed Uraraka. "We also need a base for the survivors." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Here, hand him to me, I'll carry him—" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki froze as the ground trembled underneath their feet. Sora placed her hands flat against the earth to steady herself as the shaking grew more intense. Uraraka widened her eyes at something behind them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Guys, look out!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Above them, the ledge gave way as another avalanche of rocks tumbled toward them. As fast as lightning, Todoroki stomped the ground with his right foot, and an ice wall shot upward to shield them from the landslide. However, some of the rocks and debris crashing toward them shattered the thinner parts of the ice wall, sending boulders and chunks of ice plummeting toward them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Leaping forward, Sora thrust her hands out and a gale shot toward the falling assailants and knocked them away. The effort caused her to pant, and little sparks of lightning danced around her fingertips. Sora widened her eyes. The last time something like /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"that/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" happened… Sora dropped her hands to her sides quickly. She couldn't afford to get distracted. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The pressure from Todoroki's ice wall shielding them from the landslide caused another avalanche to spill from the side. Todoroki threw up another glacier to protect them, this one much bigger and stronger. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We need to think of something!" Todoroki said, his voice strained. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Civilians are the priority! Should we break open the debris?" Uraraka asked, gesturing to the collapsed tunnel./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It could cause all of it to collapse and we still have two survivors left," Sora responded, furrowing her brow./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Not if I make the upper levels float!" Uraraka cried, tapping the slabs of rock at the entrance. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora widened her eyes. "Todoroki, you keep that at bay!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Got it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Following Uraraka, Sora helped move some of the debris out of the way. "If we can provide an opening, I can go in and grab survivors. You get them to safety." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Uraraka bit her lip. "But what if it collapses? There won't be anyone to make sure /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"you/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" get out."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I will," Todoroki promised, eyes narrowed and nose scrunched as he reinforced his first ice wall. The ground jerked and rumbled again, promising another landslide./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We have to hurry!" Sora shouted. Uraraka and Sora shoved the large pieces of debris out of the way, sending them floating above them. A narrow entrance to the tunnel greeted them. Sora crawled inside the dark space and dragged herself toward the faint crying from within. The ground trembled, sending dirt raining down on her. Heart punching up her throat, she continued crawling. She wasn't normally claustrophobic, but this wasn't exactly a /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"comforting/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" space to be in. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eventually, the tunnel opened up into more of a cavern. Sora scrambled over the rocks until she reached the source of the crying. A child-sized dummy nestled between two large rocks repeated the same cry loudly. Squatting beside it, Sora switched off the crying to protect her ears and scooped up the child. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're safe now," Sora promised, feeling a little ridiculous for talking to it. But hey, they were supposed to be practicing victim care, too. Soothing was part of that, even for dummies. "Let's go find the other one." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It didn't take long to find the other dummy. It was sprawled at the end of the cavern. A large slab of rock crushed its legs. There was no way Sora could move that on her own. To make matters worse, the slab of rock also supported part of the crumbling ceiling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'll be right back!" Sora promised the dummy. She hurried back to the main tunnel and awkwardly crawled out, moving a few inches at a time and then dragging the child dummy to catch up with her. When she emerged, Uraraka had returned from moving the first dummy to safety, and was making some of the debris weightless so that Sora could get out easier. Todoroki still focused on his ice walls, which appeared to have broken in several places. Dirt spilled over the top on one of the walls as more and more debris built behind them. If Todoroki's ice couldn't hold back the landslide, then they'd all be crushed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Frost covered Todoroki's right side, and patches of it sparkled on his cheek. "I've done the best I can do, but all we're doing is building a dam that's about to break. We need a better plan." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""There's one more survivor," said Sora, shouldering the child-sized dummy, "but they're trapped under this huge slab of concrete that I can't move on my own." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm on it!" Uraraka said, but Sora caught her by the wrist./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""If you move that piece, the whole thing will come crashing down." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A frown puckered Uraraka's brow, and Todoroki turned his attention to Sora. "You've got a plan, don't you?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Not a solid one. I think all three of us have to get the last one. If Todoroki can support the ceiling with ice, Uraraka can make the concrete weightless, and I can grab the civilian." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Let's go!" Uraraka replied./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Using the wind to carry her, Sora brought the dummy to a safe spot outside of the basin and set it down carefully. Then, she returned to her friends. The three of them crawled through the tunnel until they reached the cavern./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki created some ice to brace the walls around them. He looked around as the ground shook again, and dirt sprinkled down on them. "We'll have to get out of here fast." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I can help with that," Sora assured him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Uraraka placed her hands against the slab, and it bobbed up. Crouching, Sora gently tugged the dummy out from underneath the debris. It weighed the same as a grown man, so Sora gritted her teeth as she dragged it slowly. Todoroki knelt to help her, though some of his ice pillars cracked and he jumped up to make more. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The ceiling shook, and they all froze. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Another wave's coming. We have to move." Todoroki dropped beside Sora to help drag the dummy up. He and Sora shouldered the dummy and walked together. Uraraka hurried along with them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then, the ground lurched so violently that Sora almost fell to the ground. Dust and sand sprayed down on them, and a rushing noise roared behind them. Uraraka widened her eyes. "We need to move faster!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Tapping the dummy to make it lighter, Uraraka hiccupped a little. She was making too many things float at once. Sora grabbed her by the elbow and urged her forward. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I've got him!" Todoroki shouted, taking the dummy. Sora looped an arm around Uraraka and the two of them followed Todoroki. Behind them, some of the ceiling caved in. Ahead, the light indicating the exit narrowed as debris crumbled in front of it, gradually blocking their only escape. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Summoning a mighty blast of wind to knock the debris out of the way, Sora heaved for breath. Lightning arced over her arms and her heart seized a little as Uraraka yelped at the sudden electricity. Dread washed over Sora, cold and prickling./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki burst out of the tunnel first, and then turned to help drag Uraraka out. He extended a hand to Sora, who accepted his help. Todoroki pulled, and Sora kicked her way out of the crumbling tunnel. Uraraka tapped Todoroki, Sora, and herself. The three of them— along with the dummy— floated upward. Gripping Uraraka and Todoroki's hands, Sora created a gust of wind to carry them up and out of the basin just as Todoroki's ice walls crumbled under the weight of the avalanche. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The three of them took a few moments to catch their breath on the ledge. Sora worried at her lip as Uraraka winced and clutched her side. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Uraraka, I am so sorry, are you okay?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What happened?" Todoroki panted, his brow furrowing as he glanced at Uraraka./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I-I don't know, I must've misjudged how much power I put behind that last blast of wind and I shocked Uraraka," Sora said, her stomach clenching. She'd /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"hurt/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" one of her best friends. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm fine! It just surprised me, that's all," said Uraraka, smiling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's stomach twisted. What the hell was happening with her Quirk today? Was it her exhaustion, or something worse? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After gathering the three dummies, Sora trekked back to where Ms. Midnight waited for Class 1-A to finish their training exercise. Midoriya, Yaomomo, and Tsu were already seated by the entrance of the USJ, looking worn out but uninjured. As Sora, Uraraka, and Todoroki turned in their dummies, Ms. Midnight congratulated them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Next time, though, you won't know how many survivors you'll have, so you'll need to search faster," she said with a wink. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As if today's exercise hadn't been stressful /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"enough/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That was a good strategy down there, Raijin."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's face heated as she caught Todoroki's gaze. Dirt and dust littered his hero uniform and hair. Pieces of red hair mixed with the white, but he was still so /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"pretty/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh," Sora replied, cringing inwardly at the way her voice came out as a squeak, "thank you! You were really great out there too, by the way. I don't think we would've done half as well as we did if you hadn't been there." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki's eyebrows lifted. "Thanks." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora wanted to get far away from Todoroki. He stared at her too intently, and his eyes were too pretty. She couldn't afford to like anyone, not when she had such astronomical problems like her damn /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Quirk/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" getting out of control. She really needed to get some sleep. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sora." Mr. Aizawa's voice gave Sora an excuse to tear her eyes away from Todoroki, but the grim lock of his lips made her heart sink. Could she ever catch a break? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Trying not to let worry eat away at her heart, Sora followed Mr. Aizawa outside of the USJ. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I just wanted to update you. We checked the location you gave us for your father, but he was gone." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's heart stuttered. "Gone how?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Mr. Aizawa's brow pinched slightly. "All of his things were gone. The hotel said he checked out in a hurry."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora's stomach twisted and she bowed her head. "Oh." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Of course she wouldn't want her father to have been hurt or taken by Vortex, but if he left of his own free will, then… Then it was highly likely that he /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"was/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" the one who leaked her identity to the press, or that he at least had something to hide. He never even said goodbye. He hadn't even asked if she was okay after being kidnapped by /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"villains/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It hurt, and Sora's eyes prickled with tears, but she blinked hard to rejuvenate herself. Lifting her head, she asked, "Did that reporter say anything?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No. They pride themselves on protecting the anonymity of their sources, even if the life of a student is in danger." Mr. Aizawa didn't even try to disguise the bitterness in his tone. "We're looking for Tadashi. As soon as we find him, you'll be the first to know." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you, Mr. Aizawa." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He nodded, and then frowned at her. "How is the class treating you?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Everyone's been great. Really." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Mr. Aizawa dipped his head, and his scarf hid his mouth. Sora suspected that he might be trying to hide a small smile. But when he lifted his head, his expression was as serious as ever. "Good. And your sister?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora blinked. "What about her?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""She called the other day to check on you, which means/span span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"you've/span span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"been ignoring her calls." Mr. Aizawa gave Sora a very pointed look, and she found herself unable to meet his gaze. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't know what to say to her right now," Sora muttered, hugging herself. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Mr. Aizawa sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "At least say /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"something/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" to appease her for a little bit. I can't put out every fire for you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora nodded, her throat too thick with emotion to answer right away. She swallowed and lifted her head. "Okay. Thank you for all your help." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Mr. Aizawa tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora flinched and stroked her messy braid. "I have been… here and there." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Are you sure you don't need to talk to someone? UA will take care of your psychological needs." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hot blood rushed to Sora's cheeks. How come /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" wasn't getting asked this? Had she really shown everyone that she was just weak and useless her whole time at UA? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm fine. I'm just… getting used to the dorms." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Mr. Aizawa probably sensed the lie, but he didn't push her. "Very well. You can go meet up with the rest of class." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With a nod, Sora scurried back inside, though she kept stroking her braid, hardly paying attention as Ms. Midnight discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each group. Maybe she should've mentioned her Quirk's malfunctions to Mr. Aizawa, and maybe she shouldn't have gotten defensive when he asked if she needed to talk to someone. She /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"was/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" having terrible nightmares that kept her from sleeping, and that was clearly taking a toll on her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But Bakugou was having nightmares too, so why wasn't /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" struggling?/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After school, Sora trailed behind the rest of the class as they walked back to their dorms. All she wanted to do was close herself in her room and paint to forget her problems, but it seemed like her problems weren't going to let her do that. Mr. Aizawa and Asi had a point; Sora couldn't avoid talking to Asi forever. Besides, Asi might have some suggestions for Sora since she'd witnessed Sora's Quirk malfunction like this before… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Little sparks of electricity zinged at her fingertips. Sora wrung out her hands, shaking off the lightning like droplets of water. "/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Damn it/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Raijin?" Todoroki's voice jerked Sora's attention from her hands to him. He stood in the center of the walkway, halfway turned toward her. The rest of the class was far ahead. Sora tried to ignore the way her heart perked up knowing that Todoroki stopped to wait for her. He was just really nice, that was all. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora picked up her dreadful pace to catch up to him. They fell in step together but made no effort to catch up to the rest of the class. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Plastering on a smile, Sora chirped, "Hey, Todoroki. What's up?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki's brow furrowed. "Are you okay?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"His words struck Sora's heart like a thunderclap. She wanted to break apart and tell him everything on her mind, but she held it all back. It wasn't fair to Todoroki for her to dump all her problems on him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… There's just a lot on my mind." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki nodded, and he looked ahead; his lips pursed like he held back a question. Then, he said: "Can I ask you something?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, sure." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Todoroki stopped walking and faced Sora. Her stomach flip-flopped. What bothered Todoroki so much that he needed to stop and talk to Sora face-to-face? Was he about to tell her he didn't want to be friends anymore because of her mother and what happened with Uraraka? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""When we were at the hospital in Hosu, you told me that you were the result of a Quirk pairing, after I told you about my parents. Was that a lie?" Todoroki's usual dry tone cracked a little. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora widened her eyes. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That's/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" what he was concerned about? That she used his backstory as a stepping stone for her own? Or that she lied to get close to him? "What? Todoroki, no. I told you as much as I could. I wanted to be honest with everyone. With you. I'm sorry if it felt like I was just using you, but… When you told me that, I wanted to tell you about my parents because… I don't know, maybe you'd feel less alone." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh. Thank you." Todoroki resumed walking. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He was quiet for a bit, as if he didn't know what else to say. Sora offered him a small smile as they walked. "Anytime." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry for doubting you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sora shrugged and smiled, but her heart tightened. "It's okay." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"At this point, doubt in her and her abilities was nothing new to her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"*** /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Silence stretched between Shouto and Raijin as they maintained a dreadfully slow pace to the dorms. Raijin dragged her feet, as if she was in no hurry. Or, Shouto suspected, she was too tired to really put much effort into her walk. She'd done really well in training today, but her classroom devotion seemed lackluster. With the way she walked with her head bowed and shoulders hunched, Raijin acted like a storm cloud hovered over her, dumping perpetual rain onto her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto always kind of liked the rain. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Silence never bothered Shouto until now. Knowing that Raijin hadn't lied to him about being the result of a Quirk breeding lifted a weight off his shoulders, like his ice melting off his body after overusing his Quirk. Of course, knowing that Raijin suffered a childhood similar to his knotted his stomach. He wouldn't wish that upon anyone, especially not a friend. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin usually illuminated the room like a sun, beaming at him and touching everything with soft light. Today, however, her eyes clouded with a foggy, heavy sadness. He could practically feel the storm gathering within her, compressing until it would inevitably burst in a downpour of thunder and lightning. He knew because he used to see that look on his own face. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He knew because he suffered the same way. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But he wasn't a sun like Raijin. He was made of walls of ice, so cold to the touch it /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"burned/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;", too solid to break through. How was he supposed to provide warmth the same way Raijin did? How could he shine light when he hid behind ice? And he didn't want to burn her with words that were too fiery, either. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Once, when he was a little boy, he found a koi fish flopping on the ground beside a pond. Some boys had scooped it out and left it on the side of the pond to suffocate, laughing as it struggled with wet slaps against the pavement. Shouto's mother had squatted down and picked it up before dropping it back into the water. She'd then scolded the boys and told Shouto not to be like them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He felt like that fish now, floundering and flopping for something to say, but this time, his mother was not around to help him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But Raijin took a deep breath and said, "Did you get into a lot of trouble for going after Bakugou and me?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Thank goodness for her ability to fill the holes in conversation when Shouto fumbled. Still, his heart sagged in his chest at the change in subject. He wanted to know more of Raijin's past, to see which pieces of it mirrored his own. It must've been a harrowing experience, yet Raijin was still /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"sunlight/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto wanted to kick himself for not knowing how to open up more, for struggling to express all the tangled thoughts in his mind. How had Raijin turned out so differently from him? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin looked at him; the space between her brows puckered with a frown. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Crap. He never answered her question. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No," he managed, "it wasn't that bad." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Good. I'd hate for you to be in a lot of trouble because of me." Raijin bowed her head, focusing on her shoes as she walked. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Endeavor's warning about Shouto needing to practice care in who he hung out with resurfaced in his mind. Shouto shoved Endeavor away like he usually did. He didn't give a damn what his old man had to say about Raijin. She'd been a good friend to him so far. Even now, she treated him kindly despite him doubting her, and she risked telling part of her secret to him back in Hosu because she didn't want /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"him/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" to feel alone. She had trusted him back then, despite hardly knowing him. Maybe it was naive of her, but if that was her only sin, then there was nothing to worry about. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin had done nothing but welcome him, constantly blasting him with sunlight to melt his ice. She even invited him along on a traditional outing with her sister because he didn't want to go home and couldn't see his mom that day. Huh. He kind of missed that day at the museum, looking at the dinosaur bones. "Have you and your sister gone to any more museums lately?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin looked at him and then stroked her braid, though it wasn't much of a braid anymore. "No. I'm not allowed to leave UA's campus without supervision for a while, anyway." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh." A pang of sympathy stabbed through him. At least he could still visit his mother, but Raijin couldn't even partake in family outings with her sister. "That must be hard, being away from your sister so much now." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin stroked her braid again, merely messing it up even more. "Yeah… I haven't really been talking to her much lately." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Are you mad at her for some reason?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin stopped to face Shouto. Heights Alliance loomed over them, its windows gleaming in the afternoon sun. Shifting her weight from one hip to the other, Raijin lifted her gaze to meet Shouto's. Their blue matched the sky's. "You know how I said my sister Rikka got left behind?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Asi is the one who chose to do that." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Stomach lurching, Shouto widened his eyes, once again rendered speechless around Raijin. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""She told me that Rikka chose to stay behind. All these years, I thought that Rikka wanted to stay with our mother. I thought that maybe she was dead, because the way we survived was with each other. I thought that without us, Rikka /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"would/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" be dead. Deep down, part of me hoped she was, because then she wouldn't suffer anymore. We could've been a family, all of us. But Asi left Rikka /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"behind/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"." Raijin looked away, tears glimmering in her eyes like fat raindrops. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"An eerie, icy feeling prickled in Shouto's skin like needles as Touya's face swam in his mind. Touya, dead and ash because their father pushed him too hard. Touya blazed brightly and then snuffed out because Endeavor pitted the Todoroki siblings against one another. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto wanted to tell Raijin about Touya. He didn't want her to feel alone, either. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But Touya's story wasn't a secret he could tell. Ironically, Raijin was probably the only person who could understand /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"why/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" he couldn't tell her about his brother. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm sorry. That must be difficult." The words felt empty and stupid, too small and insignificant compared to the weight of Raijin's problems. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin shrugged. "I don't know. I just need time to process everything, I guess. Anyway, sorry for rambling about me and all my problems." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With a raise of his eyebrows, Shouto stiffened as Raijin turned toward Heights Alliance, ready to head inside. But he couldn't let the conversation end like /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"this/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". Before he even registered making the decision, Shouto reached out and grabbed Raijin's wrist. "Don't feel bad." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's eyes widened, and in the direct sunlight, her eyes appeared transparent, like the shallows of the sea, with sunlight streaming through the water. "Thanks for letting me vent. How have you been? I mean, I know we've been around each other recently, but we haven't really talked since the training camp." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto blinked. How had he /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"been/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"? He wasn't sure. He couldn't identify all the emotions swirling inside him, only that many of them hadn't felt /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"good/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". And he really didn't want to change the subject again, but Raijin seemed ready to move on. He knew how that felt, in a way. Maybe she was like him, in that she wanted to connect and open up to people, but reached a wall at a certain point. Shouto couldn't seem to break his own down. He frowned a little. "I suppose I've been okay." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's brow curved as concern worked its way across her face. "Todoroki, you never have to talk about anything you're not comfortable with. I never want you to feel pressured to talk about something you're not ready for just because I don't have a filter and ramble about all of my problems." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto held her gaze, and then tilted his head slightly. Damn it, why couldn't he just tell her about how he struggled with emotions, even though he wanted to connect? "Thank you, Raijin." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's smile was a delicate twitch at the corners. She let out an awkward laugh. "You're, uh, still holding onto me." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto wasn't sure why heat rushed to his face as he realized that his hand was still clasped gently around Raijin's wrist. "Oh. Sorry." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He let go quickly, as if he'd touched a hot stove./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin chuckled as she led the way inside. "It's okay. C'mon, before Iida gets onto us for loitering." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto hummed in agreement, his face still too warm. What the hell was wrong with him? He sighed as he headed up to his room to listen to some classical music and work on homework before dinner. Maybe that would help him clear his head. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"However, he only got halfway through his maths homework before a knock sounded on his door. Frowning, Shouto answered it to find Sero standing in the hall with his hands in his pockets. "Oh, Sero. Do you need something?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're on dish duty this week, Todoroki. Just making sure you didn't forget." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I didn't. Are they done cooking dinner already?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, but you, me, and Kaminari are also on cooking duty next week. I was thinking it'd be a good idea to meet up and decide what we wanna cook. We'll need to go to the store this weekend, too." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, sure. Where's Kaminari?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Probably his dorm." Sero's eyes widened as he looked at something behind Shouto. "You read /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Attack on Titan/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto turned. On his bookshelf on the back wall of his dorm were a myriad of books. Some manga, some fiction, some nonfiction. How Sero managed to make out the /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Attack on Titan/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" manga spines among the others, Shouto had no idea. "Oh. Yeah. Do you?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah! I'm seriously behind, though. I haven't gotten a chance to buy the latest volumes."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto tilted his head. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"This/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" was something he could help with. "I'm caught up; would you like to borrow mine?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sero grinned. "You mean it?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto walked over to his shelf. Why would he ever joke about something so trivial? "Sure. Which ones do you need?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sero spouted off the volumes, and Shouto pulled them off the shelf and handed them in a stack to Sero, who grinned again. He smacked Shouto on the back. "You're not so bad, Todoroki." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto blinked. Did people think he /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"was/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" bad? "Thanks." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sero patted Shouto's back a little gentler. "C'mon. Let's go talk to Kaminari about what we wanna cook next week." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sero led the way to Kaminari's dorm on the third floor. Kaminari's door sat ajar, allowing anyone who walked by free access to his room. Regardless, Sero still tapped his knuckles against the door to announce his and Shouto's arrival./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kaminari sat cross-legged on the floor, a game controller in hand. His face brightened as he saw Sero and Shouto. After pausing his game, Kaminari jumped to his feet and extended his arms. "Hey, hey! Welcome to my humble abode. Have a seat, take a load off, help yourself to some—" He grabbed a basket off the desk and thrust it in front of Shouto and Sero— "/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"snacks/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Dude, there's only Sour Ooze Tubes in here." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kaminari snatched the basket away from Sero's raised hand. "Fine. None for you." He set the basket of colorful tubes of liquid sour candy onto the desk and faced them. "What's up?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We thought we should come up with what we're gonna cook next week." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, yeah! The cooking crew." Kaminari wiggled his fingers and Sero frowned. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We're not calling ourselves that." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kaminari dropped his hands with a little pout. "No fun. Alright, what should we do? Somethin' easy?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Something /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"healthy/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". You have disgusting eating habits, man." Sero eyed the sour candy tubes, and Kaminari scowled. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto tilted his head. "What about miso chicken?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, that's pretty easy!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And chicken's healthy…" Sero tapped his chin and shrugged. "Yeah, that works. That was… easier than I thought it'd be." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Are we done?" Shouto asked Sero. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Aw, leaving already?" Kaminari said, sitting on his bed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We have homework tonight." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We have homework basically /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"every/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" night." Kaminari fell back on his pillows and crossed his ankles. "That shouldn't stop you from hanging out sometime, Todoroki." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto's eyes stretched. They wanted to hang out… with /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"him/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"? "Oh." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sero patted Shouto on the back. "Don't feel pressured to do it right now. Just some time, okay?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, sure." Shouto sidled out of the room as Sero and Kaminari sat down to game. As he turned toward the stairwell, he passed Raijin. She waved at him and flashed him a brilliant smile that warmed Shouto from the inside out./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, Todoroki!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Raijin," Shouto greeted with a nod. "I thought your dorm was on the fourth floor?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin widened her eyes. "It is. I haven't seen all the girls' dorms yet, so I'm on my way to check it out. Your dorm's on the fifth floor, right?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What are you doing down here?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, Sero, Kaminari, and I have cooking duty next week. We wanted to meet and figure out what to make." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Way to plan ahead. Well, see you at dinner!" Raijin waved again and spun on her heel to continue her trek down the hall. Huh. Hadn't she been down and tired only an hour ago? Maybe she took a nap and felt refreshed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As Shouto resumed his homework, his thoughts circled back to Raijin. For some reason, he couldn't push the image of her radiant smile out of his mind. She cast such a warm light upon him, the kind of sunlight that flowers turned their petaled faces toward. While she smiled like she'd swallowed the sun, her eyes promised a gentle rain. Shouto could bask in her warmth, but he never minded the rain. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He always did like the rain. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Iida called for dinner, pulling Shouto from his thoughts, and he left his room with a growling stomach. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Yaoyorozu, Asui, and Uraraka made salmon, ginger, and soba stir fry for dinner. Shouto wrinkled his nose at the hot noodles, but he was sure his friends did a good job. The salmon was probably Yaoyorozu's idea, as that was a more expensive dish than what Uraraka could afford on her own. Everyone grabbed a bowl and filed in line and served themselves. Shouto sat at a table with Sero, Kaminari, and Aoyama. Rather than contributing to Kaminari and Sero's conversation about a new video game coming out, Shouto tried to focus on eating. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's soft laughter pulled Shouto's attention toward her. She sat with the other girls, and they joked and chatted excitedly about a new hero-themed ice cream store opening up nearby. Raijin looked happier than she had earlier, her eyes squinting shut as she laughed and covered her mouth with her fingers. She had combed out her braid, leaving her thick waves free to frame her face. She looked quite pretty like that. Well, she was pretty no matter how she wore her hair, but the different style was a nice change of pace. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"About halfway through dinner, Iida stood. "Everyone, I have an announcement! This Saturday night, we're going to have a movie night! We all deserve a little fun, and a bit of camaraderie in celebration of our new living situation! Yaoyorozu is going to pass around slips of paper and pens. Write a movie suggestion down, and we'll draw a slip at random. Whichever movie wins, we'll watch Saturday!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto slurped hot noodles up slowly as Kaminari and Sero argued over which movie they should scribble onto the slips of paper Yaoyorozu passed around. Shouto was in no hurry to write a suggestion because he didn't /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"have/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" one. He hadn't seen many movies, and hadn't kept up with the latest releases. His focus on becoming a hero, and his childhood, prevented him from really watching movies. There were better things to do in his spare time, he supposed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Although, there had been that one time at dinner after training at the pool where Kaminari, Kirishima, and Ashido seemed personally offended that Shouto and Raijin hadn't seen all of the Disney movies. Pen hovering over the blank slip, Shouto glanced up at Kaminari and Sero. "For someone who hasn't watched any Disney movies, what would you guys recommend someone watch first?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kaminari and Sero stopped talking and gaped at Shouto for a second, who held their gaze, unbothered. Kaminari stroked his chin dramatically. "Hmmm… Well, the classics are, well, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"classic/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;", but they're pretty old."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah… And not everyone's gonna want to watch a princess movie. Not sure I'm in the mood to see/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" somebody/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" be a pervert over the princesses and ruin my childhood." Sero jerked his head in Mineta's direction. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kaminari tapped his chin and then lit up. "Oh, I know!/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Lion King/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, that's a great one! Write down /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Lion King/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;", Todoroki." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto nodded and scribbled it down. "Thanks." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sure thing!" Kaminari grinned. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Iida called for everyone's attention once the bowl of slips got passed to him. "Everyone, I'm going to draw now!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Closing his eyes, Iida put his hand in the bowl, rummaging around for a second. Then, he withdrew a slip and unfolded it. Iida furrowed his brow as he read it: "/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spirit: Stallion… of the Cimarron/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What?!" Bakugou yells. "Who the hell suggested that?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kaminari snickered and clung to Sero, who could barely contain his laughter. Kaminari lifted a hand, laughing too hard to speak. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What are you, a closeted horse girl?" Bakugou yelled from across the room. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, what's wrong with that?" Yaoyorozu protested. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm not watchin' the horse movie!" Bakugou snapped. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Kaminari won the draw fair and square, Bakugou," said Iida, setting the bowl down. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spirit's /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"a classic!" Kirishima added. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I've never seen it," said Raijin quietly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Neither have I," said Shouto. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin glanced at him from her table and a slight twitch of her lips tugged at the corners of her mouth. Shouto returned it, and Raijin looked away quickly, as if his gesture stung her. Had he done something wrong? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""See? We have people here who haven't even seen the classics. We should make sure they get a chance to see them!" exclaimed Iida. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I like /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spirit/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"!" piped up Koda. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou relented, though he glowered with his arms crossed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto turned to Kaminari. "Why is it funny that you picked that movie?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because it's meme-worthy," Kaminari replied with a wink. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto puckered his brow. Meme-worthy? He knew in general what memes were, of course. Kaminari sent them in the Class 1-A group chat every now and then, as did Ashido, Sero, and Kirishima. However, Shouto had never really understood them, or paid enough attention to them /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"to/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" understand them. At this point, he wasn't sure he wanted to. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"For the next two days, Mr. Aizawa instructed the class to condition and work on evolving their Quirks. Shouto found himself unable to focus as he usually did. Midoriya surpassed him during track, and Raijin kept up with him during an obstacle training course. Determination set her brow as she climbed past him, and her eyes blazed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had forgotten that the sun was not just a gentle warmth, pale and soft in the morning. The sun burned, too. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto picked a secluded spot to train his Quirk. He'd been focusing on evolving it to the point where he could use his flames and ice at the same time. Nearby, Raijin and Uraraka trained on a gym mat. They refrained from using their Quirks, instead focusing on martial arts. Uraraka managed to take Raijin down several times, but Raijin always got back onto her feet, and that determined furrow of her brow never wavered. Bruises and scrapes littered her arms and she sported a busted lip the next day in class. But she pushed on. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The next time they got to pick partners, Raijin picked Kaminari. Shouto continued working alone, but he couldn't help but pause and admire Raijin's tenacity. Thunder pealed everytime Raijin used a blast of weak blue-white lightning. She was still holding back some, but at least she wasn't refusing to use her abilities. At least, not around Kaminari, who could handle her lightning better than anyone. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"By the end of the day, Raijin's arms appeared blackened and charred with burns, but the injuries didn't seem as bad as they had in the past. Perhaps her Quirk was finally evolving, enabling Raijin to handle higher voltages. A small smile worked its way onto Shouto's mouth as his chest swelled with pride. Only several weeks ago, Raijin fretted about not keeping up with the rest of the class. Now, Shouto needed to work harder to keep up with /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"her/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"At last, the Class 1-A movie night rolled around, and everyone piled in the lounge. Pillows, blankets, extra chairs, and even Kota's bean bag littered the floor. The lucky few who scored seats on the sofas— Bakugou, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sero— lounged about grinning and roughhousing a bit. Raijin sat on the floor next to Uraraka and Tsu. Shouto picked a spot on the floor beside Midoriya and Iida. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I can't believe we're watching this fucking movie right now," Bakugou grumbled, sitting on the couch right behind Raijin. How Kirishima managed to convince Bakugou to stay, Shouto had no idea./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"At last, the movie started. Sero and Kaminari guffawed at each other. Shouto wasn't sure what was so funny about the movie. It was set in America, and he didn't know much about Raijin's home, except a general overview. Breath hitching, Shouto couldn't stop his eyes from sliding in Raijin's direction. An inquisitive pinch pulled at her brow as she focused on the movie. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Did she miss America? She hardly ever talked about it, and it was her homeland. He hadn't ever asked her what part of America she was from, nor had he asked about the differences between his country and hers. He couldn't imagine living her life: Escaping her villainous mother, leaving behind her own country, moving to Japan, learning a whole new language… There was still so much about her that remained shrouded. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin glanced his way suddenly, and Shouto turned away as if she'd struck him with her lightning. He hadn't meant to stare at her. He really needed to work on not staring when he got lost in the dark hallways of his own mind. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto tried to watch the movie seriously, but Kaminari and Sero cracked jokes throughout. Not enough to disrupt the film, but enough to break the tension every so often. They called a cougar that appeared in the first thirty minutes of the movie an "off-brand Simba," which earned them several laughs, but Shouto didn't get the joke. To his relief, Raijin didn't seem to get it, either. At least they weren't alone in their befuddlement. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The movie was quite heartwarming, though it was sad in some parts where Spirit kept getting separated from his loved ones. Overall, Shouto enjoyed the movie a lot more than he thought he would, and Raijin looked quite enraptured by it, too. Maybe he should watch more movies in the future. He and Raijin had quite a few "classics" to catch up on, thanks to their crummy childhoods. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After the movie, Iida ushered everyone up. "Alright, everybody, if you brought one of your pillows or blankets down here, take it back to your dorm. Get some sleep, everyone!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Somebody wake Bakugou," called Yaoyorozu, eyeing Bakugou apprehensively./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kirishima grinned as he stood from the couch and stretched. "I got it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"While everyone worked on cleaning up, Bakugou sneered, "I can't believe we watched that movie." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"? What's this 'we?' You fell asleep within the first thirty minutes like an old man!" Raijin countered./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto's lips twitched. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bakugou rounded on her. "Huh? The hell did you just say to me, idiot?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin didn't seem too concerned about Bakugou glaring at her like that, but Shouto lingered in the lounge, acting as if he were rearranging some of the couch cushions. Raijin could fight her own battles, certainly, and personally, Shouto would like to see her beat Bakugou one day. But he stuck around just in case. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Bakugou, it's late. Let's not start any altercations this evening," Iida stepped in, silencing Bakugou before he could throw another insult Raijin's way. Bakugou scowled at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him. Flinching back, Bakugou did little to disguise his disgust. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto smirked to himself and headed upstairs, too sleepy to stick around any longer. Yeah, Raijin could handle her own. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"In class the next week, a cloud rolled over Raijin. She sat with her head bowed or her shoulders hunched. She doodled in her notebook. From Shouto's position, he couldn't make out what she drew. However, sometimes, Raijin's eyes appeared distant and unfocused and dark circles shadowed them. Occasionally, Shouto caught her head bobbing as she struggled to stay awake. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Stomach lurching, Shouto's eyes widened. Raijin wasn't sleeping enough./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"In hero training, she still gave it her all. Every so often, a bolt of blue-white lightning branched toward the ceiling, and a crack of thunder trembled the ground and reverberated against Shouto's eardrums. He never thought that the sound of thunder would bring a small smile to his face, but Raijin had changed the meaning of storms. Upon closer inspection, however, Raijin appeared sloppy. She stumbled during combat, and needed to pause for a break more often. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Concern settled on Shouto's brow and constricted his lungs. Raijin's lack of sleep clearly affected her ability to work hard. So, why was she pushing herself so much? Or had Shouto read too much into all of this? It wouldn't be the first time he misinterpreted someone's behavior. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He couldn't shake the feeling that despite Raijin's bubbliness, dark storm clouds gathered underneath the surface of her sun-glowing smile. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Still, his inability to approach Raijin stalled Shouto. Sometimes, Raijin made him feel like the rain did: clean, bone-soaked, and vulnerable. Fortunately for him, Raijin sought him out after class one day. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto sat in the lounge, working on some homework, when Raijin walked up to him. The shadows under her eyes appeared darker, and Shouto's stomach clenched at the sight. What haunted her in the darkness? What kept her awake? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Raijin," Shouto greeted when Raijin failed to say anything, "do you need something?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin snapped out of her daze. "I, uh, I was going to ask if you wanted to go for a walk with me, but if you're busy, it's okay." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Now?" The sunset burned the blue of the sky away with brilliant oranges and pinks. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah. The girls got permission to get ice cream, but I couldn't go. You don't have to, I just thought I'd offer." Raijin offered him a sad smile. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto closed his homework into his textbook and stood. He could always finish it later. "Sure."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin brightened a little. The two of them stepped out of the dorm and took the path that circled the school grounds. Occasionally, they passed another student on the trail. Some whispered to each other as they passed, but they were all too far away and quiet to hear. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thanks for coming with me." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Did you want to talk to me for some reason?" Shouto asked, his heart clenching. He hadn't considered that this might not be a pleasant walk with a friend, but an intervention of some kind. Raijin had avoided his gaze a couple of times lately, so maybe… Maybe he had done something wrong by staring at her. His stomach churned. Crap. Did she think he was like Mineta? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The slight pucker of Raijin's brow and the way worry creased the skin around her mouth told Shouto that this /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"wasn't/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" just a pleasant stroll. Something clearly bothered her, but any words Shouto wanted to say locked in his throat. His chest tightened further, and for a moment, he worried that it might crush his heart. Maybe he /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"should/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" see Recovery Girl—/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I wanted to ask you something," Raijin admitted. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Okay," Shouto said, slowing his pace. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You avoided using your left side for a while… I won't ask why, because that's personal, and if this is too personal, you can tell me to screw off or something—" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm not Bakugou," Shouto pointed out. "I'd just tell you if I didn't want to talk about it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin let out a soft, breathy laugh like wind whispering through the tree branches. Warmth brushed Shouto's cheeks. He didn't really make people laugh or smile, not in the same way Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido did. Whenever he did manage to make people laugh, it was usually an accident. It felt…/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" good/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" to be the cause of someone's smile or laugh. It reminded him of the kind of hero he wanted to be— someone who made others feel safe whenever he arrived. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, um, can I ask how you handle using your left side? I… I don't mean to pry, but I feel like that wasn't an easy decision for you, and… And sometimes, I see you looking at your left hand and you seem so lost in thought, so it must not be an easy decision still." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto stopped in his tracks. Raijin faced him. Her brow puckered as she held his gaze, and her hands went to stroke a chunk of hair. She noticed that much just by paying attention to him? In the past, he might've felt uncomfortable by someone noticing this about him. It /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"was/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" deeply personal. But now, Shouto /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"craved/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" the vulnerability. He'd always wanted to connect with friends deep down, but now that he'd begun healing and moving on from the blood in his past, he wanted rain to wash him clean. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's light wasn't just warm and welcoming. It burned, too. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It wasn't easy," Shouto admitted. He flexed the fingers of his left hand. He'd told Midoriya about how his mother snapped and poured boiling water onto his face, but later, he regretted sharing something so personal with someone he barely knew. It could've gone poorly, so it was lucky that it had been Midoriya hearing about Shouto's past. Midoriya was a friend, sure, but… Well, oversharing was sometimes a bad habit of Shouto's, one that Raijin struggled with, too. Raijin assured him that he didn't need to tell her the reason why he didn't use his left side, but would she understand if he didn't? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Something told Shouto that Raijin would understand without him saying anything about his past. Still, she had shared so much with him. She'd shed light on his darkness, giving him something to crawl towards. She was a lighthouse in a stormy sea, reaching out to him when he wanted to retreat and drown in the hollow blue of loneliness. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It made sense now, why Raijin opened up to him about her mother in Hosu, despite the risks to her. That feeling of longing to connect with someone, to make them feel less alone, spurred Shouto on. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I told you a little about my father," said Shouto. Raijin flattened her lips and nodded. "How he trained me to surpass All Might, how he married my mother and had children just so that he could have a child like me. How I've always hated him for that." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I remember," Raijin said gently. "That's why you rejected your left side, isn't it?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah," said Shouto. "That, and… other reasons." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"His insides quivered. Suddenly, the idea of opening up to Raijin seemed daunting. What if she didn't understand? What if she decided he was too broken to remain friends with? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Todoroki, if you don't want to say, you don't have to." Raijin's voice sounded like it came from the other end of a tunnel, even though she stood right in front of him. But her soft call was enough to draw him out of his panicked, tangled thoughts. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto lifted his head and held Raijin's gaze. Maybe she didn't want to know about his past. She had enough problems of her own; who was he to add to that? But the way she looked at him told him to continue. "I wanted to show my father that I could be a hero without using his Quirk. But during the Sports Festival, Midoriya encouraged me that it was my own Quirk. Something about what he said triggered a memory of my mother telling me something similar. I started seeing her again, and I've been working to overcome my past. It's not easy. But I think if we stay true to ourselves, we can do it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We?" Raijin queried, her brow furrowing. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto stiffened. Perhaps he had overstepped…? No. Raijin needed to hear this, just like he needed to hear it from Midoriya. "You're using more of your Quirk, but you're still holding back." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin looked at her hands. "I still haven't come to terms with all of it, I guess." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The dark clouds swirled in her eyes once more. Shouto's heart /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"hurt/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" for her. He knew how it felt to reject aspects of his Quirk, to hate that part of himself. He still struggled with his left side at times. Some mornings, he couldn't even face himself in the mirror. He couldn't imagine the storms that must torment Raijin. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Endeavor forced him to train as a child and pushed him to his limits until he hated his own father. And Endeavor even claimed to /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"love/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Shouto. But what had it been like for Raijin, living with a villain with a similar mindset as Endeavor? They were alike in that they were both born of a Quirk pairing intended to create powerful children, but they were set on completely different paths. Endeavor wanted Shouto to surpass All Might, and Raijin's mother wanted her to be a /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"villain/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You hate your own Quirk." It wasn't a question. Shouto figured that, if Raijin were anything like him, she must despise her Quirk at least on some level. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's eyes snapped to him. Then, her face shadowed, like a cloud rolling in front of the sun. "Sometimes, yeah. I do." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because it reminds you too much of your mother." Shouto's fingers brushed the puckered edge of his scar. "It's your Quirk, not your mother's." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you, Todoroki," said Raijin, her voice tight, "but my feelings toward my Quirk are a little more complicated than that." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto tilted his head. "Oh." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Why had Midoriya's words worked for him, but not Raijin? What did Midoriya have that Shouto didn't? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A cold tingle washed down his back. It wasn't just Midoriya's words that helped him, it was his actions, which helped trigger Shouto's /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"memories/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You want to be a hero, don't you? You're not just here to hide from Vortex?" Shouto asked. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin glowered at him. The air buzzed like the moment before a lightning strike. "Of course I do." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Then why do you hold back so much?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin rolled her eyes and turned away from him, and Shouto swore sparks of electricity shimmered around her hands, but it was gone before he could determine if he imagined it or not. "I've already explained this." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto took a few long strides to catch up to Raijin. "I'm sorry if I've overstepped. I've been where you are, Raijin." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She stopped and looked at him. "I know you're trying to help, I just… I'm scared." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because I don't want you to think I'm a bad person." Raijin rubbed her arms and looked away from Shouto. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why would I think that?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because, I…" She lifted her head; tears welled in her eyes. "Because Class 1-A is important to me. All of you guys are, and you're one of my best friends. There's a /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"reason/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I'm terrified of my own Quirk, and I don't want any of you to be afraid of it, too." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto's mind froze for a moment. Raijin thought so highly of him? He wasn't just a friend? She considered him one of her /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"best/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" friends? He wasn't sure he'd done much to earn that title. But he wasn't going to deny that, either. "No one thinks you're a villain, or that you have a villainous Quirk." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because you don't know everything about me," said Raijin quietly, still avoiding his gaze. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'd like to," said Shouto. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's gaze snapped to meet his at last, and lightning raced through his veins. For a moment, he thought maybe Raijin zapped him, but she wasn't touching him, and her Quirk hadn't activated. "Really?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto nodded. "Don't friends know things about each other?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, they do," said Raijin. The corner of her mouth twitched for a moment, and then she looked away. "My Quirk hasn't been kind to me or other people. Sometimes, it's hard to visualize using this Quirk for good when it's so /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"destructive/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". I've… I've /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"hurt/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" people before." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto's stomach twisted. He couldn't imagine Raijin hurting /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"anybody/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". He'd hurt people, too— the villains at the USJ could've frozen to death if he let them— and they would have to hurt people as heroes. There was a certain irony to that notion, hurting people to save them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What do you mean?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin hugged herself, and when she spoke, her voice shook, and she refused to meet Shouto's eyes. "I've nearly killed innocent people because /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" lost control. Vortex wanted me to hurt them. If I didn't obey, she either hurt me or my sisters. And she always pushed me into incredibly stressful environments to strengthen my Quirk." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Evolutionary Events," Shouto guessed, and Raijin's eyes flicked to his before she nodded. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah." Raijin turned away from him and walked a few steps, though her pace was so slow it was easy to catch up to her. "I nearly killed Rikka once. My Quirk has nearly killed /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"me/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" a few times. It's hard not to be terrified of it sometimes." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry I'm not much help," Shouto muttered. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, you are," said Raijin, offering him a small smile. Even while upset, she tried to show him kindness. "You've always been inspiring to me. You're working so hard to overcome your past and develop your left side. It's kind of amazing. Not kind of. It /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"is/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" amazing." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin's words sent heat through Shouto, sparking in his chest and spreading like a forest fire up his neck and to his cheeks. He turned his face away from her. "Thank you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But that was all he could say. All the words Shouto wanted to say, the encouragement he wanted to offer, locked in his throat. Raijin needed someone to encourage her, to inspire her to pursue her full potential. Raijin was definitely capable and had potential to become a great hero, but she let her past hold her back. But how could he relay everything he wanted to say when he didn't even know how to say it? Why did he have to be such a wall of ice?/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How could he help her come to terms with her Quirk? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was afraid of my flames once, too," Shouto admitted, his heart tightening in his chest. Raijin looked at him, her brow curving with concern again. He stared ahead, still feeling her gaze upon him, but not wanting to meet it. "Not in the same way that you fear yours, but… I guess that's why I hated my left side so much. I was afraid of it. It reminded me too much of my father. You know my mother isn't well. It's because of /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"him/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". He pushed her to a breaking point, and she called my left side unbearable before pouring boiling water on my face." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The words spilled out without Shouto really meaning to say them. Stomach twisting painfully, Shouto refused to look in Raijin's direction as she stopped to face him. A lump swelled in his throat, burning as if he'd swallowed hot coal. What if this was too much for her? What if their pasts kept them from remaining friends, even though they came from common ground? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Todoroki, I…" Raijin shifted her weight, and Shouto bowed his head. His heart punched against his ribs as he awaited her response. "Can I… Can I give you a hug?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto's head jerked up and his eyes widened. The way Raijin looked at him made his heart soften. He'd never been looked at with so much/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" tenderness/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". Throat still too thick to form words, Shouto nodded. Raijin smiled slightly and then wrapped her arms around him. Shouto went rigid under her touch, his eyes wide for a moment before relaxing into the embrace. He felt a little awkward, but Raijin didn't linger around him too long. She backed away, avoiding his gaze. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Thank you for telling me about that," she murmured. "I know that wasn't easy for you to talk about." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto rubbed the back of his neck, his face feeling uncomfortably warm. "Sure." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin indicated with her head for him to walk with her. Neither of them spoke for several seconds, but the silence did not bother Shouto this time. His heart felt lighter, and the feeling of Raijin's arms around him clung to his skin like smoke. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I always thought your dad did that to you," Raijin admitted after a while. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto clenched his fists. "I blame him for it, not my mom. I forgave her." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You really are kind, Todoroki." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin stared ahead, avoiding Shouto's gaze. His lips parted, and the warm feeling in his chest intensified, spreading to his skin and up his neck. She believed he was on the path to becoming the kind of hero— the kind of man— he wanted to be, and she didn't even know it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You don't seem to hate your mom," Shouto pointed out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin met his gaze at last. "I'm scared of her. Fear is a kind of hatred, I think." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto faced the nearly-set sun. He wasn't entirely sure what Raijin meant, but he supposed he understood her a little better. They'd both been raised in terrible households, but Shouto let his fear fester into hatred, turning him cold. Raijin nursed her fear until it turned on herself, gnawing away at her like a dog on a bone. Somehow, that made her kind, and she believed /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" was kind, though he wasn't really sure how she thought that of him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Maybe I just need to learn to love my Quirk," sighed Raijin, leaning her head back. The sun bronzed her skin in this light. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto's eyes stretched. Learn to love their Quirks… Maybe that was the answer. They needed to reframe the way they perceived their Quirks. Midoriya helped Shouto realize that during the Sports Festival by reminding Shouto it was his Quirk, not his father's. What really started that journey was confronting his mother, though. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah," Shouto agreed. "It helped to talk to my mom and forgive her. I started using my left side more after that." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""After you started /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"healing/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, I suppose." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With a sigh, Raijin turned to him with a smile that brought that weird, soft feeling back into his chest. "Thank you for walking with me. This has been nice." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It has?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah." Raijin nudged his arm with her shoulder as they walked along the trail. "I like hanging out with you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto's cheeks burned. What the hell was wrong with him? "I like hanging out with you, too." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin raised a brow at him. "Really?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She beamed and faced straight ahead. "So, what did you think of the movie?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The abrupt subject change raised Shouto's eyebrows, but he played along. "/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spirit/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"? I liked it, though I don't understand why Kaminari and Sero found it so funny." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin giggled like bumblebees bouncing from flower to flower. It made Shouto's lips twitch. "Me neither! At this point, I'm too afraid to ask." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'll do it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're a brave soul." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Do you think it's a bad reason?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, I just feel like we'll be opening a can of worms." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shouto tilted his head. Some of Raijin's phrasings were odd, though it was probably her American ways leaking into her speech. She'd been to so many places, and he wanted to ask about them. Still, casual conversation perplexed him. He hadn't really had any friends to go on walks with and just /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"talk/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" to. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Speaking of worms," Raijin paused in her tracks to crouch before a worm inching its way across the pathway. "It's dangerous for you, little guy." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Without a second thought, Raijin scooped it up and placed it in the grass. Then, she grimaced at her hands, nose wrinkling. Shouto couldn't help the soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Yeah, Raijin had a heart big enough to be a hero. If only she had enough courage to face her past. Maybe Shouto couldn't inspire her with his words like Midoriya did for him. Words without actions to follow through meant nothing, anyway. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Next time we can pick our partners, would you like to train together?" Shouto blurted out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin raised her eyebrows. "You /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"want/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" to train with me?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah." It wasn't that big of a deal; they'd trained together before. "We can work to overcome our pasts together." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her eyes stretched before her expression softened. "Thank you, Todoroki." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sure," Shouto choked around the tight feeling in his chest. "Let's head back. We've got homework." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Raijin agreed, and the two of them fell in step once again, enjoying the dusk's gentle glow, kissed with autumn's promise. Shouto was glad for the silence once more. He really needed to see Recovery Girl if these weird symptoms kept happening. But what if it was all just in his head? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"*** /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hey, guys! Sorry it's been a while! Work has been really busy, I was focusing on some other fics, and then I got sick, blah blah blah… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'EB Garamond',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Lots of stuff happened in this chapter, and we didn't even get to Bakugou! He'll be around next chapter… I wanted to catch up with my awkward beans lmfao. Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave some feedback, I love hearing from you guys! 3/span/p