chapter 14
Shouto glared at his father, his hand in Sakura's under the cover of the table, his jaw clenched.
Sakura looked from Shouto to his father, to his sister, then back to Shouto. The tension in the room was intense. Sakura cleared her throat.
"Thank you for inviting me to dinner again Fuyumi. It was very thoughtful of you." Sakura broke the silence in an effort to alleviate her own uncertainty.
Fuyumi nodded quickly in Sakura's direction without making eye contact, her eyes on her father.
"How long have you and my son known one another girl?" Endevor addressed Sakura for the first time since he had met them on the sidewalk.
"Well…" Sakura began but stopped when Shouto squeezed her hand hard.
"Don't call her 'girl', I'm sure you know her name even if you haven't met yet. Have you been following me?" Shouto glared at his father.
"No, but of course I wanted to know about...well, the police the other day…" Endeavour started then stopped.
Fuyumi's eyes darted from her brother to her father at the dinner table. This was incredibly awkward. She couldn't recall the last time their father had eaten dinner with her, much less with both her and her brother.
"Shouto, I have good news." Endeavour looked at his son. Waited, but Shouto just continued to glare at him. "Good news for both you and Sakura."
"I spoke to principal Nezu at UA today. I've received permission for your girlfriend to take the entrance exam with you this Friday like you asked." Endeavour's eyes moved from his son to his girlfriend. "Her parents just need to sign this waiver for her to participate."
Sakura looked at the piece of paper Shouto's father slid across the table to her with a frown. Parents? Sakura looked from the piece of paper on the table to Shouto. She didn't have any parents here. How silly of her, of course the school would want paperwork signed and completed for her to attend their school, for her to participate in the exam.
"Thank you but I won't be able to…" Sakura began but was cut off by Shouto, he knew this was going to happen, and was ready for it.
"Sakura's parents are not in the country with her, she is here alone." Shouto bit the inside of his cheek when Sakura kicked him underneath the table. "They are not available to sign that form."
"Well that puts a wrench in your plans Shouto, you know she can't attend UA without her parent's or guardian's consent." Endeavor looked down at the paper. He had listened to principal Nezu drone on and on about quirk limiters and quirk suppressant drugs in the news for this opportunity, all for Shouto's girlfriend because his son had asked him for it. Shouto never asked him for anything.
Shouto took a deep breath, and he hoped Sakura would forgive him for what he was about to do, if not...well, at least they would both get what they wanted he would just have to deal with her anger later.
"She's a runaway." Shouto bit his tongue as Sakura kicked him again under the table, harder.
"I'm not a runaway." Sakura began but was shushed by Shouto's hand over her mouth as she started to pull away from him.
"I want her to go to UA. I will pay her tuition. I have enough in the bank and…" Shouto fell back and off his cushion as Sakura hit him hard in the head with a closed fist.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Shouto." Sakura picked him up by his collar, giving him a little shake, for emphasis..
Endeavour watched his son's girlfriend shake his son like a pillow and not the 165lb male that he was
"Sakura, you have to trust me because…" Ice spread out along the wall behind Shouto, down the wall and across the floor, locking Sakura in place as he twisted his body from her grip. Backing away from her with his hands out in front of him, he tried to calm her down as his father watched and his sister backed up against the kitchen wall. "Sakura please, I want to make sure you get your answers. You said you wanted to know more about…"
Sakura pushed chakra to her legs, pulled one leg up breaking Shouto's ice from her other foot.
"Stop making decisions for me alone. Stop giving me things I never asked for." Sakura had both of her hands on her hips. "I'm leaving."
"Sakura, just listen to me okay." Shouto tried to grab her arm before she could leave the kitchen but she was too fast. She was already out the door and heading for the foyer as he stepped past his father and chased her down the hall.
Sakura stuffed her feet into her boots, threw back the front door to Shouto's house and walked outside. Pushing chakra to the soles of her feet she leapt into the air, intending to jump to the roof of the next house but Shouto crouched down in his front yard, placed his palm to the ground and sent a stream of ice upward, trapping Sakura's feet in it's cold embrace.
Not waiting for his next move, Sakura broke the ice that bound her feet with the side of her hands, dropped to the ground in front of him, her hands up and at the ready.
"You wanted to see my quirk right? Isn't that what you said to me?" Sakura infused her right fist with just enough chakra to make an impression, bent forward and...
"Oh shit." Shouto fell to his knees as Sakura punched the ground, the grass and paving stones rolled out from the point of impact in waves, making him lose his balance.
"Shit." Endeavour, who had come out to assist his son, echoed Shouto. "That's some quirk. It reminds me of…"
...an hour later.
"I'm sorry." Sakura bowed her head to Endeavour. "I ruined your home. I'll help repair it, and do whatever I can to make up for it."
Endeavour had been impressed with what he had seen in their courtyard the other night, but this display of power from such a seemingly fragile little girl was beyond his wildest dreams.
"So you're not a runaway, but you are alone aren't you?" He asked the pink haired girl who was still bowing before him, the protective shadow of his son hovering over her. He had to get her into UA somehow. With such a powerful quirk like hers...her and Shouto would be...
"Yes." Sakura looked up into his eyes, meeting him calculating look for calculating look.
Endeavour's brow raised. He snorted. She hadn't been bowing in fear, he realized, she had been bowing out of genuine regret. She wasn't intimidated by him, unlike most people.
"I see." He looked at his son. "I will pay for her to go to UA. Keep your money Shouto, for your future."
"What about the papers? The waiver and her quirk registration?" Shouto asked his father suspiciously. "Surely you have a plan for that?"
"As you so bluntly put it to me on the phone yesterday Shouto, I'm the Number Two Hero. The title comes with privileges that aren't extended to those in the lower ranks." His father sighed. "You two, go train, make sure you're ready for your exam."
He turned his back to them and crossed his arms over his chest, taking in the damage. "I'll take care of this. I'm sure one of our bothersome neighbors has already called the police on us, again."
Shouto took Sakura by the hand and pulled. She didn't need much prompting. Quickly, they walked out the front door, through the yard, past the damaged earth and unlocked the gate.
"Let's go to the market and get some food." Shouto suggested. "Since we probably aren't going to get to eat at the house now. My father won't want us there when the police arrive." He explained.
"I'm sorry about your house Shouto but you shouldn't have…" He cut her off mid sentence.
"My father wouldn't have helped you if he didn't think you were worth it. I had to give him something more to see than the sparring he witnessed last night. Don't act like you didn't know he was there. I know you knew he was watching us." Shouto pulled her closer to his side as the sidewalk became more crowded.
"I knew." Sakura watched Shouto out of the corner of her eye as they entered the market district. "I didn't know that you did though."
Shouto shrugged.
"So, you planned that, didn't you? You instigated that fight with me on purpose didn't you?" She understood. Laughing a little and shaking her head, she had to hand it to him. She had fallen for it.
"I never pegged you for a manipulator, Shouto." Her thoughts went to Akasuna again. She pushed her chakra to her fingertips, thinned it and watched as strings formed, broke apart and fell. "Like a puppet master." She muttered under her breath.
"I want you with me at UA and I was willing to do anything to get you there. It's just easier if the old man thinks it was his idea instead of mine." Shouto all but confessed to manipulating his father into not only ensuring Sakura had a position for the exam, but her tuition paid for as well.
"I couldn't think of a better way around the quirk registration board." He told her honestly. "Money can only get you so much. I needed my father's influence to sway the board. I'm sorry I used you like that, but I was doing it for you, for us."
"Quirk registration board?" Sakura asked, starting to understand how many moving parts were needed to be in place for her to go to UA.
"Most people register their quirks with the quirk registration board around the age of five when their quirks manifest. Typically your parent or guardian does it for you, but you don't have any parents here or a guardian, so your quirk isn't registered." He explained. "You have to have a registered quirk in order to go to UA."
"Ah, more rules." She understood. It was one of those registration requirements Shi had told her about. "So your dad, can he really do all of that for me, I mean isn't that illegal or something?"
Shouto laughed a humorless laugh. "Illegal'' isn't a word my father is familiar with Sakura. He does what he wants, whatever he wants to get whatever he desires"
Sakura looked down at their joined hands. What had Kurogiri said to her?
"You will find, young kunoichi, that the heroes and villains in this world are not as they seem. Labels here are easily given, while their definitions, take a bit more time to discern."
"I think I'm starting to understand a little more about your world, Shouto." Sakura watched a group of giggling school girls make puppy eyes at Shouto as they walked by. She was also beginning to see why Shouto acted the way he did sometimes, trying to control the situation, by controlling her. "I'm finding that it isn't quite as different as mine as I had originally thought it was."
Shouto looked down at Sakura. Her eyes were downcast and her shoulders were slumped. She almost seemed disappointed.
"Hey." Shouto lifted her chin with his fingers. "I know it wasn't the best way to get what we wanted, but it worked. You'll get to go to UA now, you'll get your answers Sakura." His two toned eyes looked into hers. This was what she wanted wasn't it? He had done this for her and she didn't seem satisfied, he didn't understand.
It didn't sit well with her, it felt wrong, but this was Shouto's world and his father was a hero wasn't he? Who was she to say what was right or wrong, when she thought the people this world considered villains, were decent people.
Sakura looked Shouto in the eyes, his fingers still under her chin, and tried to smile at him. "I'm sorry. I guess I don't feel right accepting more charity from you."
"It's okay. It isn't charity. I'm selfish. I want you there, probably more than you want your answers, besides, he owes me, this is the least that bastard can do for me" He hugged her, pulling her to him.
She said he didn't have to ask to hold her hand, so he could hug her whenever he wanted to right? "It's going to be okay, you'll see. My father and I have some dark issues, but that does not need to extend to you. Trust me when I tell you this isn't charity."
"Okay." Sakura spoke into his shoulder as he continued to hug her. What else could she say? They both had things they couldn't tell one another, he had told her that before. She thought he had said it out of respect and understanding for her own situation but now, after what had just happened she was starting to see he had his own demons in his closet.
It still didn't make her feel any better about his father paying her tuition. She would have to find a way to pay him back after she got the information she needed. With any luck, she wouldn't have to attend school for very long.
As it was, Shouto had been correct. Shouto's father was a man of his word.
Two days later, Sakura stood beside Shouto, along with several other applicants, as they waited for the doors to Ground Beta to open.
The night before, while she was eating dinner with Shouto and his sister, their father called. Apparently Sakura's quirk had already been registered as a two level quirk. One as a power up quirk and the other a healing quirk.
When Shouto asked his father who had registered her, who's name was on the registration as her guardian, Endeavor told him it was marked classified, that he didn't know.
Dinner had been awkward after that. Sakura seemed to be deep in thought, murmuring half vague answers, as Shouto had tried to question her quietly whenever his sister left the room.
Sakura's walk home was even quieter. Shouto had hardly spoken two words to her after dinner. She understood his silence, his body language. He was angry, closed off and cold. He thought she had lied to him. She hadn't of course, she didn't know who had registered her, but the only other people she knew here was Shigaraki and his master.
She could understand why Shouto was upset, but he had been the one to tell her she didn't have to tell him everything, that he wouldn't ask her to answer questions she didn't want to, so he couldn't hold it against her. Shouldn't, but he did.
"Shouto." Sakura reached for his hand. It was stiff in her embrace. "I don't know who registered me with the quirk board, really I don't." She tried to tell him for the second time that day.
"It's fine." Shouto squeezed her hand. It was fine, all that mattered was that they both passed this exam, and that they both got into UA. She had lied to him, she wasn't alone, she had someone powerful in her corner helping her, most likely the same man that had given her that gold IC card. She had lied to him, but it was okay.
It was ok, he kept telling himself.
"At least my father can still pay for your tuition." He told her.
"Yeah." Sakura looked down at her hand. His larger hand engulfed hers. "About that Shouto…"
"Quiet." He pulled his hand back from hers. "We're starting."
The gigantic double doors to Ground Beta opened up wide before them, but Sakura only had eyes for Shouto. He was being cold to her, cold like she had seen him be cold to his father.
Sakura didn't like this. He was acting like a child. Sakura swallowed. Of course he was. He was a child. She forgot that sometimes. Shouto acted so mature for his age, for someone that grew up in a world where sixteen year old's were children, she often forgot their differences.
He was pouting.
Two men stepped out in front of the line of waiting applicants, one wore all black, a cream scarf longer than Sakura had ever seen wrapped round and round his neck. The other man had a microphone in front of his face, he too wore black, his yellow hair sprayed, glued or gelled, whipped back past the end of his head.
The yellow haired man introduced himself as, Present Mic and began to tell them in a very loud very obnoxious voice that they would be running a race, an obstacle course race and would be judged on how they encountered, overcame and subdued each of the obstacles UA threw at them.
So, not like the chunin exams, Sakura thought to herself, her face drawn up in a pensive sort of determination.
"I'll be right beside you Sakura. Don't worry." Shouto misunderstood her pensive expression for nerves and took pity on her. Yes he was upset she had lied to him, yes he wanted to know the truth, but they both needed to concentrate on what was really important right now, getting into UA.. "I'll help you if you need it."
Wasn't he mad at her just a minute ago? Now he cares again? Fire and ice indeed, she rolled her eyes at him.
"You're very confusing Shouto, you know that?" Sakura stretched her arms above her head and cracked her back. A race would be nothing to her, obstacles or not. "One minute you're upset with me, the next you want to help me pass this test."
She wasn't wrong, but she wasn't right either.
It wasn't that he was mad at her, not really mad, she was wrong about that, he didn't know how to process his emotions, so yeah, maybe he had seemed like he was mad, he was bothered, upset and...okay maybe he was a little mad. "I don't understand a lot of the things going on around you Sakura, or why you do certain things you do, like insisting on living in the woods instead of…"
"Get ready!" Present Mic yelled loudly. "Get set!"
"This isn't the time to talk about this but I do want to talk when this is over. You want to go to UA to find answers to your questions. Well, I want a few answers too." Shouto watched her watch him, ignoring the people around them. "So make sure you pass this test."
Sakura snorted. "You don't have to worry about that."
"Go!" Present Mic yelled loudly, vibrating the ground around them.
A buzzer went off over their heads signaling the start of the race. Shouto took off on a sheet of ice as Sakura darted past him, her feet barely touching the ground.
"This is going to be a piece of cake." Sakura laughed, leaving everyone else, including Shouto, behind her.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Shouto blinked. He didn't know if he was more impressed with her speed, or pissed that she had kept it from him.