Chapter 126:
"Hey Creati!"
Momo Yaoyorozu turned her head to the side of the hall and looked in surprise at a couple of first years watching her go by with huge smiles on their faces. A couple of girls who saw Yaoyorozu turn towards them spun to each other and nodded with those smiles and then ran up to the taller girl. A short girl who had light pink skin and the snout of a pig ran up on Momo's right side, and her friend who had dark hair like Yaoyorozu came up on her senpai's left. "You were so amazing in that fight last week!" The darker haired girl on Yaoyorozu's left started, leaning up to the taller girl who smiled back nervously and started to thank her.
"And that press conference you were just so, and your costume is just so, wow," the pink girl pulled her face away when Yaoyorozu looked at her after she stammered like that. She spun and started walking backwards next to Yaoyorozu though, and she had a really nervous look on her face before saying, "I really look up to you." The girl spun back around and ran the other way as soon as the words left her lips.
"Mimi, aahh," the darker-haired first year spun around and then started jogging back the other way after Yaoyorozu had stopped in the hall and turned around with a look on her face like she had done something wrong. "Don't mind her. Anyway, you're awesome! I'm Azure!" The black-haired girl starting to run after her friend kept stopping and looking back over her shoulder to add more to her upperclassman who looked more confused but started raising a hand and waved back at the girl who waved a hand rapidly her way.
Yaoyorozu looked back forward, and everyone else in the hallway was looking towards her. Oh my, she started walking forward again and stood up straight as she did. She lifted her head high and walked as if she did not notice everyone looking her way, but she could see them looking towards her and talking all around. They were not being mean as they did it, and a lot of them were smiling like those other girls had been at the tall girl with great curves even in her school uniform. Her hair was tied back in a spiky ponytail, as usual, and she did not think much was different about herself from a couple of weeks back. This is… I want to blame the new commercial. I never should have agreed to that just for Uwabami-san's sake. I should have known she was pleading just to get me in there; she was not as desperate as she seemed over the phone.
"I can't believe she's just another student here at U.A. like us," a boy on Momo's right side said a bit too loudly to his classmate in the general course of the first years. "She's more like a Goddess."
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Yaoyorozu's face and she picked up her pace towards the back door of the school. Was it the press conference after the fight last week? Mina said that I had acted so, "pure" was it? I did not know the fight was being recorded though. Now they are calling me humble on the news and, and I must stay composed. In the eyes of the public and my peers I must always collect myself in a manner befitting that of a hero.
Yaoyorozu slowed down a bit as she reminded herself to relax. She was almost at the back door of the high school, when those doors opened up and a large group of people started inside. Yaoyorozu stopped and then she wished she had been just a little faster, as the six guys who just entered all looked at her with wide eyes while their conversations cut off. "Whoa- I mean, hey Creati." The guy who was in front of the group started. He had red skin and was taller than Momo by over a foot, and he had two horns sticking out of the back of his skull curving to either side.
They were all third years, and they were all in the hero course too which was clear as they all had their costumes on. And they all smiled at the younger girl by a year who greeted her upperclassmen politely.
So cute.
What a babe.
How have I never talked to her the past two years?
"Saw you at that internship last week. You really kicked those villains' asses."
"It was some great hero work."
"Ah, thank you very much senpai."
"Hey you guys, mind clearing the doorway," a hand went onto the shoulder of the older boy on Yaoyorozu's right side. The third-year behind his classmate moved his friend to the side and then looked in a bit of surprise at the girl they were all facing just inside the hall. The black haired eighteen year old turned his gaze on the red-skinned guy on his right, "I'm not the only one you're holding up. Come on Rylo, let's get-"
"Oh it's fine, Nagiso-senpai," Yaoyorozu began to the boy who was trying to make room for her to get out. As much as she appreciated it, she also did not want to insult her other upperclassmen who she was talking to. She was too nice to mention that she was actually heading back to her dorm in a bit of a rush, so she just smiled and asked, "Where are you all heading off to?"
"Going on patrol with Cementoss," Nagiso replied. "Though we say that, it's more like we just head out on patrol on our own."
"How so?"
"We split up in groups of two," Rylo started to the girl he spun back to after frowning at Nagiso for a minute there.
Yaoyorozu looked at the red teen in some confusion, and Nagiso continued for his classmate who did not explain that well. "Cementoss lets us do our own patrols. He's probably watching us from somewhere, though I think he might just go off and take a break. He knows we can handle ourselves after all."
"Not that you can't-" one of Nagiso's classmates on his right started, holding up his hands in front of him and waving all five of them at the girl who looked his way in surprise as she was not expecting that sudden outburst.
"No one was saying she couldn't," another of them started, but Nagiso was already turning back with wider eyes like he thought he might've offended her there.
"No, it is true that our class is watched closer than that," Yaoyorozu said before Nagiso could say anything. "I hope we can prove ourselves to the faculty to be granted that freedom as well. I am sure it is a great experience for training for real patrols once we are heroes."
What an answer!
Truly the Queen of Class A is before us.
"Heh, after that show you put on last week I don't see how else you could prove it to them," Nagiso started. Yaoyorozu got a sheepish and semi-embarrassed look on her face that he had seen it too, but Nagiso just grinned more and then shook his head before starting forward and to the side of the girl he had been speaking to. "Come on guys. Let's not keep the teach waiting any longer. See ya later, Yaoyorozu," he finished as he was walking past the girl.
Yaoyorozu turned with a smile again and she nodded her head at him. She had felt more relaxed talking to the upperclassmen after he stepped in, and she added to her third year friend, "Enjoy your patrol. Nagiso-senpai."
"Hey wait up!"
"See you, Creati."
"Have a, nice day?"
"Nice meeting… um, bye."
Yaoyorozu let out a long relieved sigh once the group had gone past farther down the hall. She stepped into the doorway and paused for a second though, looking over her shoulder and towards the upperclassmen behind her. She watched as one of them threw an arm around Nagiso's head and put him in a headlock, and they were all being loud and laughing with each other about something. As one of them started looking back her way, she spun her head forward and finished leaving the school building. Nagiso-senpai was, rather nice. He didn't treat me different like the other students in other years, and even our own outside of Classes A and B. It is a good thing not everyone has started to treat me like a… celebrity. Ahh, I should not have done that commercial.
"Ah-ha! Haa," Zach stomped his right leg down and spun with his left and another grunt. He spun-kicked to his right where a man just appeared only to already be in mid-sprint around Zach to the right. Zach's kick missed behind him and he stomped that leg down hard while spinning his entire body with another grunt, and he brought his left leg up around into the path of the man running towards it now. The pale-skinned man in all black turned into a bat and rose over Zach's leg, moving away at the same time to increase the distance as he returned to his human form.
"You will never hit me like that-" Drac pulled back again and dodged another kick, then he started running to the right to circle the boy who watched his incredible speed with eyes that flashed red when Drac sped up like that. Death stomped forward and kicked a leg after Drac but the man sped up more and then turned into a bat and sped to Death's right side, only to run another way as Death spun a kick towards him while turning that way. Drac turned into a bat again and flew behind Death's back. His mouth was opened as he was transforming back into a human in a transformation that was almost instant.
Dracard the Deadly started opening his eyes a lot wider than his mouth though, as a leg flew out behind Death and planted a foot straight into Drac's chest when his feet had not even touched on the ground yet. Drac's chest was still broadening to its full size when the kick slammed into him, and that meant he did not have as much weight in his body yet. The kick sent Drac flying backwards ten feet flat onto his back, though he rolled backwards after hitting the ground and pressed his palms into the floor below his head as he was coming over it. He pushed himself up into a backflip from his roll and then slowly lowered down to his feet with his arms down at his sides and his fingers twitching.
"That kick was, different," Drac began. "How did you know I would appear exactly there? Can those eyes see out the back of your head?"
"I knew where you were going to appear the three times before it too," Zach started, while his red eyes turned back to hazel and he took some deep breaths to calm his breathing. Drac's eyebrows lifted up and he cracked a smirk with the right corner of his lip as the younger man continued, "I only kept following you with my eyes, turning each way after you were appearing each time, so you wouldn't notice I caught your pattern already."
"And then a very strong kick when I think I am in your blind spot," Drac said, shaking his head once and then smirking more. All of the spin kicks following me around. I was going to say that he needed to lead me, aim where I was going, not where I am. "It seems even a gap of a few hundred years has not kept me from learning from you. That was a marvelous kick, Death."
"I'm glad it connected," Zach said. "You're fast. I can barely keep up."
"Yet you do."
"Ready for another round? Go ahead and attack this time too, I want to focus more on defense out of Nightmare-"
"Actually Death, I think it is time I got some rest as well," Drac said, raising a hand and patting it over his mouth like he was yawning.
He doesn't sound too tired. Does he even sleep at night? He's a vamp… "Alright." Zach looked around the training area of The Cloak that was empty except for the two of them. "I think I'm going to stay and do some weight training on my own then."
"You should always use a spotter," Drac said, though the man was turning away at the same time and heading for the gap in the wall. He walked into the hall and said with a glance back Death's way. "Enjoy your night, Commander."
His English voice got thick with his accent that Zach had learned, and guessed beforehand, was Romanian. Zach watched him go and then he let out a deeper breath before shaking his head and turning to the weight area. Why's he gotta say stuff in that voice? It's creepy as hell. And I can't tell what he's thinking half the time. Geez, at least he's a nice guy. Though if you're going to mention how I need a spotter, then you should offer to be one. Not that I wanted him to spot me… Drac. He's high up there. Myself, Exodus, then probably Jetflame. Mark could be, depending on the situation though. Then Gentle, maybe bump him higher in Lover Mode. Then Drac? He's definitely the most experienced. Though, Eloper's got that mastery over her Quirk I've never seen so perfected before…
Zach went over to one of the weight machines and he sat back on it. He adjusted the weight, frowning as he had to go down from whoever the last person who used it had it set on. I don't know about making Drac into a Squad Leader though. He disappears sometimes. He brings communications with him, and I get that he can fly and probably hasn't been reined in for a few centuries… How do I know I can trust him? The only other person I know close to being that old is Eziano Mozcaccio. That's probably why I'm apprehensive. Did Eziano lose his humanity because he's lived for so long? Do people lose the value of human life after reaching a certain age? Drac says he found meaning again, but he's lost it before. He could lose it again. The way he reacted to those test subjects thanking us yesterday was strange. He did not get emotional at all, but maybe he can't, or maybe he's used to seeing things like that?
Zach did a few sets working on his chest, then he moved on to a machine for a shoulder workout. He put his hands up on the sides of his shoulders and grabbed the handles, and he strained himself on the first one before continuing with a dozen more reps in a tough first set. I need a new squad for big fights. There's no need to have so many people on each squad. And I can manage more than eight squads at a time. If I split it up too, make different squads with different members in them I can fix some of the problems about not having certain Quirks matched with others when the time comes. Explaining all the switches one by one during battles is not efficient enough. Zach started up on another set and he ground his teeth as he had just increased the weight, but he powered through while his mind continued to think about other things. I want everything ready for Friday's attack. Perfecting the strategies so we don't lose anyone else. Having backup plans ready for when the first ones fall through, if they do. Always plan as if they will. Think constantly. Forge ahead.
He finished his sets for his shoulder workout, then he checked the tablet he pulled off his waist. Two hours until I'm back at full. Hold off just a little longer. Don't get impatient again, it will just waste more time. Zach lowered his tablet down but did not attach it to his waist. He put it on a black workout bench next to him, then he reached to the hem of his tight shirt and pulled that up and off his head. Zach glanced down at his own upper body for a few seconds. He was five foot ten, his pecs were defined as were his abs below, and there were scars all over them. Zach heard screams in his ears as he stared down at a scar on his lower right side splitting through his stomach, and then he looked near it at a diagonal one on the same side. Gentle's face appeared in his mind, and Zach shook his head of those thoughts before getting down on the floor and putting his hands behind his head.
Zach put his legs up on the bench next to him, but after a while of doing sit-ups he stopped and stood up. He looked around and then walked over to a large workout machine with different set-ups on all four sides. At the top of one side was a long pull-up bar attaching to another machine that looked the same as it a few meters away. Zach jumped up and he grabbed the bar, did a couple of pull-ups, then he hoisted himself up higher and climbed onto the bar. He sat down on it and tucked his legs around it after resting them off the bar, and then he leaned his body back and back until he was hanging upside-down. Better, he thought, as he started doing sit-ups which strained his body more than the kind he was doing before.
Zach did a few sets and then sat back up fully and onto the bar. He dropped down from it and wiped some sweat from his forehead. The sweat had been dripping up his body, and the droplets turned and slid down the other way. One sliding down the middle of his chest between his pecs turned and traced a diagonal scar down towards his left side, only to cut back to the right on another scar crossing that one. Zach felt it and he just wiped a sweaty arm across the front of his body before turning towards the wall and some free weights he was going to go grab. As he looked that way though, he froze and stared towards the entrance to the training room where someone was standing.
Darling walked into the training room. "How did I know you were going to be here?" She asked with a bright smile at the boy whose shirtless body her eyes darted all around at. She was wearing a bathrobe and she sauntered into the room towards Death who wiped some more sweat from his face while looking towards her.
"Just getting some, training…" Zach trailed off at the look on Darling's face as she came closer to him. Her brown hair fell straight behind her down below her shoulder-blades, and her green eyes stared deep into his while she shrugged her shoulders. The bathrobe dropped from her body and left her naked in front of the boy who went red in the face and turned to the side. "If you're not here for training, go away, Darling."
"That was an accident," Darling said. "Besides, I did come to train. Can you help me, with some aerobic activity?"
"That was an accident huh? I'm sure it was," Zach said, trying hard to ignore the last thing she said. He turned more and started over towards the free weights, "You should get a tighter bathrobe, so it doesn't fall again."
His suggestion fell on deaf ears, and Zach pulled his head back as Darling just bounced across the room with springs in her legs that turned back to normal after landing in front of him. She leaned forward towards him and rose her head with her eyes half-closed and full of lust. "I love you, Death. You know my body is yours. Only yours."
Zach held his hands out and pushed Darling back by her shoulders. "Your body is your own. I need to train." Zach let go and stepped to the side, and he walked past the girl whose face fell. "Go put your clothes on," Zach said under his breath, while grabbing a couple of 50 pound weights off the rack.
Darling turned the other way back to the exit. She had looked at Death's back wishing he would turn back around, but he stood facing the weight rack as he started doing curls with the free weights. Darling looked down at the floor and she sniffled in once, and she reached down and grabbed her bathrobe with a shaky hand.
Hold strong. Keep the cold shoulder. Don't, don't turn- Zach looked over his shoulder and he pursed his lips. "Darling, I'm sorry." The girl near the gap in the wall spun back around towards him with her eyes lighting up. "But we have to focus on the mission," Zach continued, saying it sternly and as serious as he could to show this was still over.
Darling nodded at him, "I understand. I'll um, let you, keep training," she put her bathrobe back on and then hurried out of the room.
Zach watched her go then he looked down at the floor again. "Ahhh," he let out a sigh and shook his head once. At least she wasn't as upset. That was, creepy. So creepy. Just creepy. Zach started doing another set of curls, and he ground his teeth as the weights were heavy and he was doing a lot of reps. "Ah, haa, ah, uh- ugh, ah," Zach grimaced and glanced down at his black pants as he continued to do his curls. It's a good thing these pants are so tight.
"Gahhh I still don't get it!" Ashido ran her hands up through her wavy hair and shook her head around in frustration.
"Calm down," Jirou said, in a tone like Ashido was making a big deal out of nothing. "We still have over a week before finals."
"And I still don't get calculus at all!" Ashido exclaimed back.
"Do not worry, Mina," Yaoyorozu began to the pink girl on her right. Ashido spun with a worried look on her face, but Yaoyorozu smiled reassuringly at her, "Let us keep studying hard over the next few days. I am sure you will get a hang of it."
"Sn, sn, Yao-momo!" Ashido exclaimed in relief and joy.
Jirou sweatdropped at Ashido's complete switch in attitude right there as she started smiling again and agreeing with Momo that they would definitely be ready in time. If you paid more attention in class you'd understand it just fine… not that I'm doing any better in English, Jirou thought the second part with a grimace. She looked up though at the orange sky as it was getting late in the day. They just left the school's library and were heading back for their dorm, and the three girls were still wearing their school uniforms since they had never gone back yet after classes ended.
As the three girls were talking and walking back to their dorm, Ashido looked down the road and spotted someone running their way from farther past their own dorm even. As they got closer to Class 2-A's building, the tall boy running their way became clearer to Ashido who smiled as she recognized who it was. "Hey!" Ashido waved a hand towards the boy, and she jumped once and called to him, "Nagiso-senpai!"
The teen running their way was wearing a red hoodie, the hood bunched up behind his neck. He had in a pair of earphones, but he reached up and took them out as he slowed and started jogging towards the girls. "Hello Nagiso-senpai," Yaoyorozu greeted once he had stopped in front of them.
Nagiso looked at Yaoyorozu and then got a bit of a nervous look on his face for a second. He shoved his headphones down into his pockets and said, "Oh hey. How's it going? You girls just leaving class now?"
"Studying for finals," Jirou replied simply. This is that Nagiso guy? Jelloman, huh?
"Calculus is hard," Ashido moaned.
Nagiso laughed and he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you'll get it though…" he started sounding reassuring there for a moment but his eyes shifted back to Yaoyorozu and he trailed off. "Hey um, Yaoyorozu. You got a minute actually?"
The three girls looked surprised by their upperclassman's question. Yaoyorozu smiled though after a second and she nodded her head, "Of course." She looked back and forth at Jirou and Ashido, "I'll be right behind you."
"Ah, alright," Ashido said. She turned back to Nagiso questioningly for a second but then shrugged and said in a mock-annoyed way, "Guess I can't hear this. Super secret stuff huh?" She smiled at the upperclassman while walking past him, showing she was not actually annoyed which Nagiso smiled back at her for.
Jirou headed forward too, and she said, "Nice to meet you, Nagiso-senpai."
"Likewise, Jirou," Nagiso replied.
Jirou was not surprised he knew her name. Very few people did not know her name or the names of any of the famous Class A students in all of Japan. It had gotten to the point that the last few times she had tried introducing herself to people they would always cut her off and talk all about how they'd heard of her before. Jirou looked back after walking past the third-year who walked closer to Yaoyorozu and then motioned forward while asking if she would walk with him for a moment. What's he doing? Oh, ohhh, Jirou spotted a look on Ashido's face next to her and she realized what was going on with the two walking away from them.
Ashido had a sad look on her face. She watched Yaoyorozu start walking away with the third-year, and she pursed her lips more. Momo doesn't know why… I wish it was me. Nagiso's, a great guy. He's our senpai, and he'll be a hero soon, and… Seeing Yaoyorozu walking away with a guy like that had Ashido looking down at the floor sadly though, and she turned to Jirou with that look still on her face. Jirou frowned and turned around, humphing like she did not know why they should be upset there.
"…so every year after finals, but before graduation, there's a dance for upperclassmen in their final term," Nagiso continued to the girl next to him who nodded as she listened to him. Momo started slowing down though and her eyes widened which Nagiso noticed and started smiling at the sight of her understanding. They stopped in the road with no one around them, and Nagiso turned fully to the girl a few inches shorter than him. "Yeah, and for our, U.A. prom, we're allowed to ask people from other years too. Not just our own. So, I wanted to ask…"
Zach stirred in his bed and his eyes parted open. His alarm was not going off, and the ship did not feel like it was under attack. Zach lifted his head a bit though and looked into Darling's eyes as she leaned over him. I would have woken up if she tried kissing me. I did wake up though. She's just-
Darling leaned forward more as Zach woke up and looked into her eyes. She was smiling brightly, and her eyes shook as she pursed her lips in that big smile. She put her hands down on Zach's sides and she said as she pried her pursed lips apart, "I'm so happy, you're alright." Zach looked at her in surprise and then as he sat up, Darling threw her arms around his sides and hugged him. Zach felt some lingering pain in his stomach, and in his right leg, and especially on his collarbone on his left side. He rose up his right arm and wrapped it around her back, then he slowly rose his left and rested a hand on the back of her head.
"I know you can't stop fighting, but after all those injuries I wish you would rest longer," Darling whispered, pulling her head back from his chest for a second and looking up into his eyes. Zach held his bare right hand on Darling's back and he rubbed it around to reassure the girl still holding him by his sides. He held her without being afraid of hurting her, and he smiled softly at the girl for a second before shaking his head at what she was saying to him.
Zach slid his legs off the side of the bed and had to push Darling away to start getting up. "Wait! Don't get up because I-"
"I need to get up anyway. Tell me what's happened while I slept," Zach said, continuing with an order before she could try and get him to lay down again.
Darling nodded and replied immediately after hearing that in Zach's commanding tone, "We got the information out of them. Then Gentle brought those villains to the authorities nearby before escaping fast since heroes actually tried laying a trap for him."
Zach nodded and felt satisfied by that answer. That's what I was hoping would be done by the time I woke up. So it's better I got up now. Zach turned to the girl after looking in the mirror across his room from his bed for a moment. He looked at Darling and saw she still looked worried, and Zach said while looking into her green eyes, "Thank you, for watching over me."
"I always will," Darling replied, stepping closer to Zach and twisting her right foot down on the floor with a shy look in her eyes. She lifted her gaze back up and whispered, "Because I love you with my whole heart." Zach looked back at her and his lips lifted into a smile of his own, and when Darling stepped closer he didn't turn away or step back...
"'No?'" Nagiso stared at the girl in front of him with his bottom lip lowered and his face shocked by the reply he just heard.
"I'm sorry, Nagiso-senpai. It's not that I don't- I'm flattered that you would ask me. But, I don't think, I can't…" Yaoyorozu's face looked genuinely apologetic, but she shook her head again at her upperclassman who started clenching his fists in anger.
"Why- I shouldn't have-" Nagiso ground his teeth and he shook his head once at the girl as she opened her mouth to try and explain. "Just don't. I don't care anymore. I shouldn't have asked you." Nagiso turned and he reached down to pull his headphones out of his pockets. "Sorry to waste your time," he spat out in frustration, "princess."
"Wh- Nagiso-sen-" Yaoyorozu stared in as much shock as Nagiso had looked at her in a few seconds ago when she declined his offer to come to prom with him. He was storming off and looked really upset, but Yaoyorozu started frowning and she shook her own head. He acted like a jerk. Just because- it was an offer! He should have… Yaoyorozu turned and started heading back towards her dorm with an upset look on her face of her own. There's no excuse for the, for the way he acted! It's not my fault. I just said "no" to a yes or no question. I just… why did I say "no?"
Yaoyorozu slowed down in the road and her frown deepened more but did not look any angrier. Her eyes lifted up to the sky that was less orange now and more black. I just thought of us as friends. That's all, and that's why… Yaoyorozu looked sadly up at the moon in the dimming sky.
"I love you too," Zach said. The brown haired girl stepping towards him froze in place and her eyes sparkled as she smiled so much at the boy smiling in front of her.
Darling dove forward and she threw her arms out to the sides as she leapt towards Zach with her eyes closed and her face looking euphoric. Zach held his arms out and caught her, but he lowered her down and held her back as she tried throwing herself on him. Darling looked up at his face and Zach shook his head at her which started to make her huge smile go down. "I care more about you than anyone, Darling," Zach said, and he brought the girl he held back at arm's length into an embrace again. He hugged her and listened as the girl who started hugging him back told him how much she cared about him too.
The beautiful girl hugging Zach wanted more, and he could hear it as she told him how much she cared what it was she really wanted in this embrace. Zach frowned though as he heard her talk about how she cared about him with her whole body again. His eyes shifted towards the window of his private quarters, out into the dark sky that was starting to get lit up by the rising sun. He looked out into the distance though at a round full moon that was starting to fade. He stared at it with sad eyes and thought, Momo.
A/N ;)