Unknown Future

Estelle was still recovering from the festival yesterday. She didn't remember the last time she had smiled that much. Yes, she had a fantastic time with the animals, but it was an internal joy. This felt different as she watched the little girl who beamed beautifully throughout the day. It was like Eri forced Estelle to follow along unconsciously; it was strange for the teen.

She was spending some time with the class as they enjoyed this weeks sugertime. She was sitting by Momo as they discussed Nona's cafe and the different types of tea and coffee they preferred. The class had pretty much ignored them for that conversation, a sweatdrop over their heads when they realised they couldn't understand a word that they were saying.

It was only when Kirishima had stepped forward, his plate of sweets in his hands, that Estelle looked up for the female next to her. Raising an inquisitive brow, Kirishima blushed pink as his free hand rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I ask you something?"

Furrowing her brows at the nervousness of the redhead's face, Estelle gave a nod of agreement as the class began to notice the interaction. "So, uh, I'm not sure how to phrase this..."

"Are you okay?" Estelle asked in concern, her eyes scanning his frame to see if there was any indication of what he was talking about. Estelle was clueless; this was highly random.

"Huh?! Oh, yeah! Don't worry about me! It's just- I've been thinking about this lately, and I was wondering...At the fight during Kamino Ward, the gym and Pete leaving. I noticed that when spirits passed on, it was like they turned into dust. Why is that?"

Oh, that was not what Estelle was expecting. Nodding her head in agreement, Estelle gave a slight smile of praise. "You have a keen eye. Those connected to the spirit world do not die like normal humans whose bodies are laid to rest at a funeral. Instead, we fade, and we drift off into the afterlife."

The class were quiet as they listened to her words. They had noticed this fact themselves, but they never thought anything of it and just assumed it was another aspect of the spirit world that they did not understand. But why was Kirishima bringing this up?

"Well, you see. I kinda figured that. But, you're a Cambion, which means you're a part of the spirit world too, right?"

Giving Kirishima an inquisitive look, Estelle internally wondered why this was a question he was fretting about. Why did it matter how they went into the afterlife? Of all things to be concerned about, why this?

"Cambions are a little different since we still have some human in us. We fade out slower than full-fledged spirits or ghouls. It's why Cambions are dark spirits choice in dinner, well, besides the fact we taste good. Everyone else immediately fades out before they can even begin feeding. Why do you ask?"

"So, if something were to happen to you, you would just disappear?"

'Oh.'

"Yes, that is correct," Estelle murmured softly, her eyes flickering to the students with uneasiness.

Silence deafened the room as the students tried to comprehend Estelle's words.

"Wait, so that means we would never know?!" Momo questioned with broadened eyes, finally snapping out of his stilled state. Her words seemed to have burst the rest of their class out of their own daze. Their voices raised as they immediately turned to each other in an attempt to be heard. Scowling at the noise, Estelle allowed herself a few moments to catch some of the words they were yelling.

"What the fuck?"

"I mean, it makes sense; it's not like she could be the exception to the rule."

"But, still. How would we even know if Estelle is alive or dead!?"

The longer their words of concern and worry droned on. Estelle put aside her befuddlement from the whole experience and allowed herself to feel the humour building up inside. Estelle let out a small laugh and caught the class's attention as they turned to her with dumbfounded faces and appaled eyes.

"What the hell are you laughing about?! This is serious!" Bakugo growled out, his eyes death staring at her with increased fervour.

Shaking her head with a small smile, Estelle felt the confidence of her following statement. "Again, you are worrying like I am not a soldier. You do not need to. Because I will not disgrace myself to a death like that. How pitiful. After all that fighting I did to survive - do you really think I would accept death like that? The only thing I will accept is natural causes. So relax; the only reason I'll be gone is when I find the bridge."

It was an unexpected answer for class 1A. The more the students thought about it, the more it made sense. Her relaxed and confident demeanour put them at ease, and they all shared a smile in relief. Sometimes, they forget Estelle had a lot more experience than they did. She never mentions her past unless necessary, making it easy to do so.

Like, Estelle actually fought in a war they had no idea about. That in on itself is no easy feat. They had seen her take down spirits with ease and how she looked like a hardened warrior whilst doing so. Estelle was battle strong, and it was easy to notice if you just paid attention. They guessed it was the fact they'd seen Estelle dressed in a nightgown more than anything else recently that made their thoughts clouded. She looked innocent and childlike sometimes without her armour.

"Yeah, your right, Estelle," Izuku started with a closed-eyed smile. "We just got worried there for a sec."

"But, you don't know the future?" Jiro added with uncertainty, feeling a bit low that she had to damper the conversation again.

Turning to face the girl with an easy tilt to her lip. Estelle understood her reasoning and nodded her head. "That is true, of course. But, I know myself. I have gotten this far, and it will not be how it ends."

"We believe you."

"I'm not going to disappear, you know?"

"Tch, I know."

"So, why are you gripping onto me so tightly?"

"How can you be so sure?" Bakugo asked, ignoring her previous question as he glared down at the female on his lap.

Giving a deep sigh, Estelle gave the blonde a look before shaking her head. "Nothing has changed; death is death. The only thing that differs is that my body doesn't remain."

Grumbling at the fact Bakugo's fingernails were digging deeper into her hip. Estelle heard the blonde mutter, "Yeah, I know. It's just freaking weird."

Looking up at the rubies staring ahead, Estelle lifted her arm to put her hand on his face to garner his attention. It was when he finally looked down that she spoke. "Do you doubt my abilities?"

"No," He grumbled back.

"So, then stop concerning yourself with a scenario that isn't going to happen. Capiche?"

"Yeah yeah."

Sighing, Estelle faced the window to gaze out at the darkness. Feeling the urge for something different, she turned to the aggressive male. Shifting to stand up, Estelle gave him an annoyed glance when his hand gripped her waist tighter to stop her from moving.

"The hell you think you're doing?" He grunted out with a glower.

Rolling her eyes, Estelle snarked back. "I'm going to say hi to Mineta."

"The fuck!?"

Letting out a laugh, Estelle held her stomach at the flabbergasted look on Bakugo's face. Shaking her head, she answered, "You idiot. I'm just going to watch the stars."

Grumbling still, Bakugo finally let go of the female as she stood up. Ignoring his question on why she wanted to do this now, Estelle headed out the back doors of heights alliance.

Bakugo remained on the couch, sitting there with furrowed brows as he gazed out of the window. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, he began to grow a glare as a single thought entered his mind. 'Why the hell didn't she invite me?'

The silence droned on as Bakugo fidgeted on the couch. His thoughts were in a muddle like they usually were when they came to Estelle. He didn't understand the current situation himself. But all he knew was that he enjoyed nights like these.

Ever since he met Estelle, his attention was caught by her. It was fucking aggravating, especially at first. All Bakugo wanted to do was blow her up and bring her down a peg when they trained together. Instead, Estelle beat his ass and then had the audacity to tell him everything he did wrong. He couldn't believe it, and it wired him up even more.

How did he get here? Wasn't the original plan to focus only on being number one? Why was he so adamant about being there for her? He had no clue. It didn't matter; he was here now. He didn't half-ass anything.

Her presence soothed him more than anything else had ever done. He had been told many times growing up that he had issues with anger management. He never actually put any effort into doing anything about it; he didn't care what they thought. But, with Estelle, the bubbling anger simmering dulled the most it had ever been. Strangely, Bakugo found that he liked it.

Snarling at the neverending thoughts of conflict and confusion. Bakugo stood up from the couch and stomped his way out of the backdoors of height's alliance. Finding Estelle sitting on the porch, he heard her say, "Surprised it took you that long to follow."

"Shut up." He grumbled back, taking a seat by her and turning his head to face the stars.

The sounds of hooting owls rang out in the background as the view of another city could be seen in the distance. It was cold outside, but Estelle didn't care. Her eyes remained fixed on the sky above her, distant from the world around her.

Bakugo's eyes remained on Estelle as she viewed the night sky. The moon was out, and it shed light on her face that made her look supernatural. She was otherworldly, and it fit her more than any other picture he had ever seen of her. His mouth dried slightly from the sight, and he had to force himself to look back up at the sky before she noticed.

"Y'know, I'd like to be a star when I die."

Flicking his gaze back to Estelle, he landed a harsher nudge than he intended to as he muttered, "Why the hell a star?"

Chuckling slightly, Estelle answered, "Because I'd be alone, but I'd be able to watch over those I knew. Plus, I'll never get the chance to travel. So, it would be nice to see other parts of the world."

Frowning, Bakugo felt a low irritation burning at his gut. Why was she thinking about death now of all times? Especially after all the conversations surrounding it today. Voicing out his thoughts, he was gifted with a shake of her head.

"No, it's nothing to do with today's conversation. I'm just voicing my thoughts out loud; ignore me."

"Tch, how can I when we're the only two people insane enough to sit out in this cold?!"

Raising an eyebrow, Estelle gave a playful smirk to the blonde. "Oh! If you hate it that much, I won't stop you from leaving."

Feeling like there was some sort of hidden test in her phrase. Bakugo scoffed with a shake of his head. "You ain't getting rid of me that easily."

"You saw right through that, didn't you?"

"Tch, of course, I did, Lioness. You're quite vocal about being a loner."

"Shut up", Estelle laughed, nudging him back lightly.

"How come you'll never travel? That sounds a lot better than living a solitary life in the woods."

"It's one of the terms placed on me. Neighbouring countries would try to recruit me to their side. There would be a public outcry that I was being let free. There's too much risk. I accepted it, of course; I just wanted to be left alone."

"That's fucking bullshit. Are you seriously telling me that people are keeping you trapped like that after you saved them?"

Shrugging, Estelle bluntly stated, "I don't blame them. People fear the unknown, and people crave power. I chose the best solution to avoid as much of that as possible."

"Still fucking ridiculous. "

"It's fine, Ruby."

"Tch, clearly you wanted to travel if you chose to be a goddamn star when you died! It's not fine."

"It's okay. Trust me. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good."

"Why are you so adamant about going back there then?"

"Ruby, no matter the downsides of my world. It's where I belong."

Feeling a frustration he could not describe, Bakugo scoffed before giving a light shake of disappointment. She would forever be stubborn in that regard. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Come on, it's freezing outside. Any longer, and you'll be snotting over me by morning."

"Hmm."