Chapter 10: The last day
Today's the last day Snow and Hayato stay in Luxerion. Snow has a test of his abilities in the 3 fields of training. Quirk usage,systema and freerunning/parkour the first test is quirk usage and systema he has to demonstrate his quirk and fighting style working in tandem. "Whenever you're ready Snow." Snow nods at his father and takes a deep breath and exhales. Snow stands in the middle of the training room in front of the training dummies. But these aren't ordinary training dummies, they're built with a system inside of them to fight back and emulate a person's reaction to these situations. Manikin if you will. "Alright let's do this." Hayato hits a button on the console and the manikins come to life and start to approach Snow. Snow assumes a stance and waits for his opportunity to strike. One of the manikinsthrows a punch and Snow ducks and retaliates with a rising elbow and grabs it by the shoulder and places one leg behind the dummy and throws it down using its own momentum against itself. Another manikin throws a punch and Snow catches the punch and knees the manikin in the stomach and delivers a quick elbow to the back of it's head knocking it down instantly. Snow then notices that 3 manikins are charging right at him and equipped with small knives. Snow readies his quirk and backsteps a good distance and throws icicles at their wrists to drop the knives. Unbeknownst to Snow he backed up into a manikin and got grabbed from behind. Snow quickly takes the manikin's arm and throws it over his shoulder and delivers a quick punch to the head. Snow then clasps his hands together and creates a shield and bashes two of the 3 manikins that were holding knives. All there is one left standing before him and Snow freezes it from the feet up only leaving the head exposed. Snow notices that he's done and wipes the sweat from his face. "How long did I take dad?" Snow is anxious about the answer hoping it would be faster than his previous time from week 1 of training.
"You did significantly better than your previous time Snow. You went from 3 minutes to a whole minute." "YES!" An insane amount of joy comes to Snow knowing that he's made significant progress. "It's all thanks to you dad I couldn't have done it without you." "No problem Snow and though there's still much to learn I'd say this month was a success on multiple fronts." Snow, curious about his last test, decides to ask his father how he would go about it. "So dad how are you going to test me on freerunning" "Well that's easy I set up an obstacle course right outside for you. I initially wanted it to be rooftop running and scaling buildings but we can't exactly do that in a public setting without making a scene. So this will have to do for now." Snow and Hayato walk out the building and head towards the back to where the obstacle course is.
The two are now looking at the obstacle course. It's filled with hurdle's to vault or slide under for varying heights, walls to either climb up or wall run on, and the finish is to run and jump to a rope to launch yourself across to the platform. "This should be easy but then again is there a twist dad?" "Nope no twist I had to assemble this today actually so there wasn't enough time to do what I wanted. This is a good test though since these things would be in a city environment more or less." Hayato walks over to the end and Snow stands at the start of course. Hayato takes out a racer's pistol and shoots it into the sky and Snow starts running. He runs down the field and vaults over the various hurdles and slides under the ones that require it. Snow approaches his first wall run and does it flawlessly. Snow continues his pace until he has to wall climb. He jumps to and latches onto the two rocks and starts to climb up. He notices that there's a gap between the next rock he needs to grab on and jumps to it and catches himself. Snow continues to climb and pulls himself up. Snow continues to run through until he reaches the end. Snow notices that he's coming up on the end and makes a sprint for the rope. Snow nears the jump and leaps to the rope and catches it. He swings himself back and forth to get some momentum,once he's picked up in speed he jumps off the rope and onto the platform. Snow looks over to his dad and gives him a thumbs up as he's trying to catch his breath. Hayato walks over to Snow with a cold water bottle and a hand towel to wipe his sweat off. "I think you need this." "Thanks." Snow takes the towel and starts to wipe his face and takes a swig from the water bottle. "So how'd I do" "Well you made it past the wall run so I'd say you passed." Snow thinks back to his many failed attempts of wall running and is slightly embarrassed as to the many times he's fallen. "W-well it's not exactly the easiest thing in the world." Hayato lets out a small laugh. "I guess you're right but jokes aside Snow,you did great." "Well I have an amazing teacher." Hayato smiles at Snow's compliment and decides to return the compliment . "Well I have an amazingly talented student." Hayato puts his arm behind Snow's back and the two walk to the training building and go into separate showers and get changed. After that the two walk out the building and back into Hayato's car and drive home to pack up for the trip back to Aptos.
Once packed up the two head out to the car and they plan on making two stops before leaving Luxerion. First was the Tsunemori's house. Once there Hayato rings the doorbell and is greeted by Kisara's mom and dad. "Hello you two. Today's your last day right?" "Yep and I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to you two." The four of them share a hug. "Always remember Hayato and this goes for you two Snow,you two are always welcomed here and can stop by anytime you feel like, ok?" The group breaks away and Hayato has a smile on his face. He knows that his parents love him and Snow but hearing it from Sakura makes it all the better. "Right,I'll make sure that the next time we visit I'll bring Saori and Kisara with me." "Can't wait for that. Have a safe trip you two." Hayato nods and the two walk to the car and wave goodbye before heading off to their second stop.
"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to Snow." "No dad I want. It wouldn't feel right if I didn't say goodbye to Aya." The two walk out of the car and enter the cemetery to find Aya's tombstone. Once there Hayato kneels down and kisses his index and middle finger and places them on Aya's grave and Snow does the same as well. "Goodbye for now mom,I'll make sure to come back much sooner than last time." Hayato and Snow get up and before they leave, Snow decides to make an ice spider lily and places it on Aya's grave. Hayato notices the gesture and smiles at Snow. Snow turns around and sees his father's teary eyed smile and gives him a hug. "Thank you Snow." The two leave the cemetery and are now on their way to Aptos.
Back in Aptos Saori was planning a small welcome back party for Snow and Hayato unbeknownst to them. Currently she's in the kitchen with Saya helping with cake decorating but is interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. "I'll be right back Saya." "Ok." Saori puts down the piping bag and wipes her hands on a nearby towel and heads to the door. She opens it and sees Kisara on the other side of the door. "Hi Kisara, glad you could make it." "Of course I'd be here, someone's gotta torment Hayato when he gets back." The two laugh and Saori welcomes Kisara into her house and takes her to the kitchen. "Hi Saya." "Oh hi Kisara." Saori takes off her apron and hands it over to Kisara so she could finish setting up a mini stage in their backyard for Snow to perform on. "Kisara help out Saya with the decorating I need to finish up something in the backyard." "Oh, sure." Saori makes her way to the backyard and now it's just Kisara and Saya alone in the kitchen. To break the silence Kisara decides to ask Saya a question. "Hey Saya, who's idea was this?" "It was actually mine. At first I didn't want to because Snow was only gone for a month but I thought it would be nice to welcome him back with a surprise." "How nice of you Saya,Snow's gonna love it." "You think so?" "Of course he will, especially since you came up with the idea. Who made the cake, Saya?" "I did. Saori made the frosting and I wanted to do the designing." "So you're scoring girlfriend points then?" "K-Kisara!" Saya's face has a shade of red around her cheeks from the blushing. "Teen love is so adorable Saya' baked him a cake and Snow will eventually sing to her for a special occasion. These two might deny it all they want but they have something special." "Joking aside Saya, The fact you put so much effort into this show's how much you care about Snow. You're the greatest friend he could ever ask for and maybe a great girlfriend." Saya stays silent due to her embarrassment and the two continue to decorate the cake.
After one long drive Hayato and Snow are now entering the city and driving down a familiar street to the neighborhood they live in. Saori sees Hayato's car pull up to the driveway through the window and quickly tells Saya and Kisara to take off their aprons and all 3 of them head to the living room to join Yukina and Akatsuki to surprise Snow and Hayato. Hayato and Snow walk out of the car and Hayato opens the trunk and takes out their luggage and heads to the front door. Hayato was hesitant at first to open the door because he got a strange feeling, a sixth sense when Saori plans a surprise. "Hey dad everything alright?" "Huh, oh sorry I just had a feeling, nothing to worry about Snow." Hayato opened the door and the two were greeted by a loud surprise by the group of 5. "SURPRISE!" "This sixth sense never fails." Hayato was unfazed by the surprise but Snow was pleasantly surprised by it. Saori walks towards Hayato and Snow gives them a big hug. "I missed you two so much. I know it's only been a month but it felt like forever." "I missed you too mom." "Good to be back, Saori." The three break away from the embrace and Saori helps take their luggage to their respective rooms but tells Snow to leave his guitar out. "I can already see where this is going. It's ok Snow, it's only family and friends, not a whole crowd of 50 people." Once the luggage was put away everyone sat down at the dinner table enjoying a meal cooked by Saori and Akatsuki. "I missed your cooking so much mom." Kisara takes the moment to make a quick jab at Hayato's cooking in the past. "So you had to suffer through his cooking for a month huh." "Actually dad made some pretty good meals while we were there in Luxerion." "Wait WHAT!" "Yeah I was just as surprised as you for as long as I can remember dad has never picked up a pot or a pan until 2 weeks ago." Kisara is amazed and yet defeated because she lost a bet to Saori. Kisara takes out her wallet and hands Saori some money while letting out a big sigh. "I should've believed you, Saori." "Wait Kisara you made a bet against me." "Well not that I didn't have faith in you Hayato but,who am I kidding of course I didn't believe you. Let's just change the subject." Hayato let out a laugh upon what he heard. "This made my day. But anywho did you plan this Saori?" "No I didn't, it was actually Saya's idea." The attention is now focused on Saya and she starts to have a shade of red on her face. "Well I just wanted Snow to have a warm welcome back to Aptos is all." Yukina decides to have some fun with the situation. "Why Snow, in particular Saya,hmmmmm." Snow and Saya have a bright shade of red from Yukina's comment. "M-mom!" All of the adults at the table laugh in unison from Snow and Saya's embarrassment and enjoy the rest of their dinner. Snow talks about the various places they went to in Luxerion and Hayato chimes in here and there.
Once done eating, Saori washes the dishes with the help of Akatsuki and Kisara goes into the kitchen to grab the cake that Saya baked. Once she brought it out Snow ask's Kisara did she bake it. "Kisara, did you bake that cake?" "No, that was Saya. She even did the designs on it and Saori just helped decorate the cake." Snow looks at Saya to thank her. The two share eye contact for a bit until Saya quickly breaks away to not be as embarrassed. "Thank you Saya it looks great." Kisara cuts a piece for Snow and grabs his fork and takes a bite from the cake. "And it tastes great too Saya. When did you learn to bake?" "My dad taught me while you were gone." "Thank goodness it turned out great." Everyone enjoys the cake and compliments Saya for the accomplishment. Once done Saori takes Snow into the kitchen to try and convince Snow to perform for her and everybody else. "So Snow will you do it." "Sure mom I kinda knew I had to sing again because you told me to leave my guitar out." Saori gives Snow a quick hug from the excitement. "Mom, I need you to take everyone outside while I do some quick exercises." "No problem Snow. I can't wait to hear you sing in person. I'm just so proud of you." Saori hurries out of the kitchen to get everyone outside. Snow starts to do voice exercise to prepare himself and also psyches himself up to not have a self-doubting moment like he did back in Luxerion. "You've got this Snow. You've got this." Once done with the exercise and morale boosting Snow heads outside with his guitar in hand and notices a small wooden stage for him to stand on.
Snow stands up on the stage and puts the guitar strap on and takes a pic from his pocket. Everyone stares in attention and Snow starts to play. Everyone was surprised by Snow. Not because they doubted his musical talent more so they didn't know that he could sing. Saori is recording Snow to have this memory forever. Once done singing Snow bows and starts to talk about the song he sung. "So that was Hibana by Kankaku pierrot. I really liked the song and I'm sure this was a surprise to all of you that yes I do sing. But I would've never had a push to bring this to light if it wasn't for my dad. And I'm grateful for him not only for being a great dad but also for being so supportive and wanting to push me out of my shell." Snow smiles and Hayato and Hayato smiles back and walks up on stage to give Snow a hug. "Alright stop trying to make me cry in front of all of these people Snow." Everyone laughs at that statement and Saori quickly takes a picture of Hayato and Snow together on stage to also keep this memory forever. A few minutes pass and everyone is back inside talking and Snow takes Saya into the kitchen to thank her for this small party. "I just want to say thank you Saya. You didn't have to do this but you did." "I-it was nothing Snow really. That's what friends are for." Saya has a bright shade of red on her face from Snow's quickly changes the conversation; so she doesn't look like a tomato the entire time. "So when did you learn to sing Snow? I always knew you played guitar but never sang." "More or less self taught and a couple of youtube videos helped me out." Snow says while bashfully scratching the back of his head. "Self taught? That didn't look like self taught Snow. That was like professional level stuff." Snow has a slight shade of red on his face. "I wouldn't say professional level Saya but thank you for the compliment." "Just do it Saya. Why am I so nervous to hug Snow? I've done it plenty of times as a kid." Saya gives Snow a hug and Snow is taken back from the sudden hug and stands stiff as a pole in her arms. To not make the moment more awkward than it already is, Snow quickly returns the hug and the two break away from the embrace and try not to make eye contact from what just happened. "Why am I so nervous when I'm around Saya? I've known her my entire life." The two walk back to the living room to not stay in the kitchen any longer than they need to. The families enjoyed the rest of the night until it was time to leave. Everyone said their goodbyes and headed home. Snow, wanting to head to bed from the exhaustion he was feeling from the tests and having to sing, he goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. "Today was great. I made significant progress in my training and was able to calm my nerves down. I'm only going to get better from here." Once Snow is done brushing his teeth and going into a change of clothes he goes to the living room to say goodnight to his mom and dad. "Goodnight dad." "Goodnight Snow." The couple said in unison. "Oh and Snow, don't worry about waking up early, we'll resume training later on. We want you to actually enjoy your vacation while you can." "Are you sure dad?" "Yeah,me and your mother have been planning some of the things we're going to do this summer like the amusement park that opens up in a week." "Is it ok that Saya can come" "Of course she and her parents are coming along. Don't want to leave your girlfriend alone bored at home." "D-dad!" Snow's face returns to a similar shade of red from when Saya hugged him. Hayato lets out a laugh and Saori gets up from the couch to give her son a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead before he heads to bed. "At least you aren't making jokes mom." "I could ever do that to my son,besides Hayato and Kisara torture you enough as it is. Sweet dreams Snow." Snow gives his mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek and heads to his bedroom and lays down on his bed and falls fast asleep.
Author's Note:
So for the next chapter I'm debating on doing summer stories which would be a compilation of things Snow did during the summer or just jump straight to the start of high school. Let me know what you guys would rather prefer. But other than that this was a nice chapter to write as a closer to Luxerion and show Snow's progress. There were some things I wanted to add but I decided against it for the fight scene. I wanted Snow to show off more of what he can do with his quirk but I think there's a better chapter to show it. So that's it for now guys hope you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully I'll find out what I want to do with the next chapter in the next couple of days. Take care until then!