My Hero Academia: The Useless Quirk Club
Chapter 3 - BBFS
"Ugh…"
There was something about the slow, slightly breezy Wednesday afternoon that made the mere administrative work longer, more tiring, and extremely unbearable. Both the brunette and black cat were in a state of lethargy as their spacious club room was void of any other presence other than their own. It was becoming pretty evident that their sorry state of an organization was not attracting the membership that was expected to keep it in business.
Yamato's small muzzle opened and stretched as a soft yawn escaped from it. His hand came up to cover it even though it was already too late to do so with his ears twitching slightly while he rolled his shoulders back. This caught the attention of the shorter male whose glasses were slowly falling off the bridge of his nose, intentionally letting his forehead fall on the slightly messy set of documents in front of him.
"Hanabimura Makoto… s-s-shut… ting dOwN…" Makoto voiced in a very odd tone, imitating speech that the cat beast attributed to AI technology. He grabbed an empty Manila folder, slowly rolling it in a tube and hitting the other teen's head lightly to wake him up. From the tail swishing back and forth behind the latter along with those thinly slitted aggressive eyes, it wouldn't take a genius to know that the black cat was starting to get pissy again, "We're not done yet. So, get your head out of… wherever it's been, and finish your part, so I can finally go home."
Makoto huffed as he glared back at his tsundere of a classmate. He raised his head up before leaning backwards, narrowing his eyes at the beast man across from him as the other male diligently ran his slitted golden eyes through the statements in Seishin Yuushou's document bundle. Who knew it was such a hassle trying to make your own club, especially for an organization that doesn't have any pre-set rules and responsibilities other than what were the obvious tasks reserved for the officers of the club.
'It's always the quiet ones…'
"These are for… tivities… field tri… Not my concern rig… now…"
'It's 'cause he's a cat, maybe? But that's offensive to think, right? Because he's not really JUST A CAT… Still, I wouldn't put it past hi- W-Why is he looking at me again?'
"You didn't consider that this idea of yours is going to take a lot of time and effort, hm?"
Despite such inquiries having significant underlying truths to them, the short brunette male refused to acknowledge some obvious major shortcomings on his part. Instead, he got up from his seat and made a beeline towards the club room's closet where he had what seemed to be a box weighing heavily in his slightly shaky arms. He almost dropped it if he wasn't careful walking up to a table at the farther end of the room.
Yamato, on the other hand, sat where he was, watching the other teen slowly unpack what looked to be that of an extremely expensive, modern, high-tech remake of a record player. Since Kyoto was just one of those places that lagged behind the rest of Japan and the world in terms of technological advancements, these finds were considered to be very valuable. It would even be worthwhile stealing something this precious.
The black cat got up almost as soon as he saw the device, instantly tranced by the whirring of the intricately-made machinery. This advanced version of what was essentially a record player resembled a sleek obsidian black turntable. It wasn't connected to a wall plug, but he could tell from the healthy glow of the LED lights running along the perimeter of where the platter was that it was functioning as well as it should.
"Battery-wise… where does it run on?"
"… Apparently what antique cars run on today!" Makoto had just taken out another machine, whirring in tandem with the turntable. All the boy had to do was place his finger on the drawer without minimal movement, the machine recognizing that the first top drawer should slot open. When it did, the inside displayed slots and slots of CD-sized 'records,' "Morikawa-san, WATCH THIS!"
As soon as he placed the record on the platter, the record itself expanded as a holographic version of the actual vinyl spread to fill in the whole platter. A holographic tonearm manifested as soon as the platter received its record.
"PLAY."
The machine obeyed as the record itself glowed specifically ocean-colored hues, emitting a colorful display based on its association with the emotions overlayed into the music. The song playing had a very distinct throwback to the 2017's, which was influenced by alternative and bluesy tunes that created psychedelic soundscapes with a surfer rock twist in its instrumentals. It had such a dreamy sound to it as the audio spread into the room in a reasonable volume. It was like it changed how loud it was depending on the noise in the room, catering to its listeners.
Yamato backed away; eyes focused on the turntable before finding his way to his seat. It was quite easy for the shorter brunette to realize that this may have been the best decision he's made in a while… finally earning himself a lack of glaring and irritated sighing from his Vice President.
I think I like when it rains
You told me to go to the light
And what it's like to feel your pain
Now I'm okay if you're alright
I start to wonder why I came
I dreamed of things you said to me
We stayed at your place while it rains
We talk and we laugh and watch TV
And I couldn't find the words
I couldn't think of what to say
And all that I can do is stop
And think about the day
When all we used to dream about was meeting after school
And we would go on home and start right back again
The black cat seemed to perk up as he recognized the song. There was something about how Yamato reacted to it though that made Makoto convinced that the other male was reminiscing about something… or someone…
I think I like when it rains
Call up some friends and have some fun
Oh Lord, I wish things were the same, nowadays
We'd go back to your place when we're done
And I got nothing else to blame
I wish the words would come to me
We stay at your place while it rains
We party while your mom is asleep
And I couldn't find the words
I couldn't think of what to say
And all that I can do is stop and think about the days
When all we used to dream about was meeting after school
And we would go on home and start back again
There was an overwhelming peace that filled the spacious room as the two quietly listened to the song. Both were seated lazily on the table as the corners of the documents were lifted up a few times by the wind that blew through the curtains. Soft rays of mellow orange sunlight filtered through the windows.
Makoto stood up, grabbing a bunch of the paper documents before choosing to lay down on the floor. Somehow, Yamato hadn't paid any attention to whatever odd stuff he did nor did the beast man chide him for being too weird. In fact, when he did wonder what his Vice President was up to and sat up to observe the cat beast, he watched the other boy focus his slitted gaze on his phone as if in the process of typing something.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
And I couldn't find the words
I couldn't think of what to say
And all that I can do is stop think and about the days
When all we used to dream about
Was meeting after school
And we would go on home and start back again
We would go on home and start back again
The brunette shrugged, laid down again, and closed his eyes with the intention to take a nap, which was followed by the cat beast finally standing up and walking towards the window while carrying his chair to set it down near the area, "I miss her…"
The often-quiet cat beast sat with his front facing the back of the chair and his phone still held by his clawed hand. Given how distracted he was, he only realized then that the song had been playing nonstop.
He slowly turned around, leaning back on his chair and staring at the ceiling and closing his eyes, sighing because he knew that he could be spending his damn afternoon doing something else with his time. It wasn't just the name… This club didn't offer much incentive to attract enough students. It didn't even have any worthwhile activities planned out throughout the year. Obviously, there weren't a lot of people wanting to join their club - which makes him question why Hanabimura wouldn't just give the idea a rest.
He crossed his arms, licking his muzzle before pinching the bridge of his nose, finding the solemn, older instrumental tunes pretty dreamy. He, no sooner than Makoto had, felt himself almost sleepy, just now realizing then that the stupid brunette was relentless when it came to making this club a perpetual reality.
For the meantime, he had no choice but to do his part regardless of the shame that might result in his direct involvement in this particular club's affairs.
"…"
He may never really know why Makoto was so intent in running his own club, but he concluded that this pitiful classmate of his would need his help… better than being thought of as lesser than by most backward-minded Japanese at the time.
Yamato scanned through the names in his contacts, tilting his head and sighing as he faced the window again just as another breeze ran through his black fur.
Mom (+81 0773 9709 3797)
Dad (+81 0773 9079 5572)
Ayato-nii-san (+81 0423 7306 5374)
+ERO (+81 0425 7779 9839)
Just as his thumb hovered over the green 'CALL' button feature, an unexpected guest appeared - it was the Seishin Yuushou's older janitor. He had accidentally pressed the touchscreen button, looking down as he almost tripped when he tried to turn and greet the man and almost forgetting to effectively cancel the call, "Uh- F-F…"
"It's late, you two… a lot of your peers are already on their way home…"
The cat beast immediately grabbed Hanabimura, a constant beeping that started from the device wrapped around his wrist. The short brunette woke up as he turned to Yamato just as the black cat fiddled with the beeping 'wristwatch' device. Yamato started to grab the scattered documents that moved around the floor due to the wind, standing up and bowing towards the older janitor as an apology. He refused to believe that they didn't cause the man trouble for not being prompt in leaving the club room. It was obvious that they had to start packing up. On their way out, Yamato had asked for the key to the club room's closet, where the duo then stored the high-tech record player and the CD-sized record automated cabinet inside.
They went home pretty late that day, but Yamato couldn't help but accuse Makoto of being a nuisance. His tail hung low, not once forgetting that they were given a sort of look by the old janitor that made him feel so conscious of himself, "You… Aren't you embarrassed?"
Meanwhile, the negative remarks the brunette had been receiving made him think that Yamato was a tsundere all along in addition to creating a rather accurate mental image of a hissing cat he found in the street once.
"Of course not! Nothing will stop me. Not you or anyone else. I have great plans for our club, and at the end of the day, I can only believe in myself!" In spite of the failure both of them can easily gauge from the lack of members accounted for in their first week, Makoto assures the other male that he was still confident that the tides would turn, stating those words rather ambitiously as he rubbed the back of his neck since he slept in a weird position earlier.
Makoto still had his glasses on, pushing it up his nose as he puffed his chest and held out his hand towards Yamato, making the cat stare at it with slowly dilating pupils.
"!"
Those golden eyes slowly turned back into slits as Makoto examined the cat's face and grinned as he nonchalantly dusted his hands together, trying not to think about how awkward the rejection to his handshake was.
"Let's… be BFFS."
"Eww. No." Yamato huffed, slowly turning to leave.
"No. Wait a minute! It stands for something else, so hear me out." Makoto grabbed the side of his glasses, fixing them in place as he grinned an even larger smirk, like he was trying so hard to contain himself from saying it.
"It means… BEST BUDDIES FOR SURE!"
Yamato froze in his steps and turned to look at the boy with thick glasses, bewildered out of his mind… For some unusual reason, he decided to accept that Hanabimura Makoto was just that kind of person, choosing to hold out his hand this time with the realization that he usually attracted the stranger types of personalities in his life for the most part, "Pfft!"
He found it hilarious how bad this guy's naming system works, "You… I… Eh… I don't know what other choice I have..."
Makoto blinked at him with a rather confused expression at first as he shook the cat beast's hand, which soon melted to that of a slight irritation as he began laughing alongside the soft chuckles that came from an astounded Yamato - still reeling from the fact that this guy was just bad at naming things.
"You're THE idiot - for NOT realizing you… y-y-you signed on the wrong line! HAHA!"
Yamato was not too happy about hearing that, pulling his hand away as his ear twitched angrily. "You sly mother-"
"You so deserve it, you… you f-freaking tsundere!"
"Tsundere? And by the way, it's FUCK-ing, genius. F.U.C.K."
"Freak you! And I don't have to listen to anything you say!"
The two walked alongside each other, equally frustrated with each other… but both boys could feel like a connection had formed, whether they wanted it to or not.
"You wanna eat something, Morikawa-san? My treat!"
"… Sure…"
Kyoto, Japan - A City Lagging Behind a Technology Dominated World
Despite the ever-increasing presence of efficient and durable technological advancements penetrating all aspects of life for its modern-day citizens around the globe, Kyoto remains one of the cities that are not offering cybernetic bio modifications to its populace - a trend that began immediately after a global transformation of the Quirk Laws and social structure in most countries following the Siege of Kyoto and many other Beast Wars happening in a global scale at the time.
Kyoto, surprisingly, doesn't react to this technological stagnation in a negative light, choosing to further showcase and profit in what Japan's older era - around the 2020s - was like. However, even with Kyoto's municipal government's efforts to preserve the antiquity of the city, state-of-the-art technological innovations still find their way in its streets and slowly taints Kyoto's 'old soul'.
Thank you for waiting, but Chapter Three is finally done!
Eyyy! I did it, my guys! I got another chapter out. But enough celebrating, I'll just remind you again that the deadline for this SYOC is November 10th! I'm hoping I could finally include a few or all of the accepted characters in the next chapter.
Thank you for reading this series as always.
Until next time, fam!