Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 132:
"So this is what you meant by, 'study session?'" Hagakure asked, bumping her eyebrows up a few times not that anyone noticed. Her tone gave away her expression though, and Ashido stuck her tongue out playfully at her friend who ran over and pulled a pillow out from behind her back which showed the others gathered there that she knew what was happening from before she got there.
Sero laughed as the invisible girl pulled the pillow out from behind her pajamas. Most of them had at least dressed looking like they were going to study, and there were some backpacks off to the side of the room and books out and opened on the table in a common room of Class B's dorm. Sero leaned back into the bean bag chair he was sitting on again, and he put his arm back around the girl next to him who had leaned forward with him to grab a book when the door opened up. Pony Tsunotori leaned back into Sero who she had been going out with ever since his offer to tutor her in Japanese turned into something, more.
Ashido sat on the side of the couch closest to the bean bag chair, right next to the horned blonde who was her closest friend in Class B. She leaned forward closer to the invisible girl who ran over to the circle and popped a squat on the floor across from Ashido since the other seats on the couch were already taken. "Aw, you didn't bring Ojiro along?"
"Well, he said he'd come… but that we actually had to be studying," Hagakure said with a sigh.
"Oh come on! Tell him we are, because we really are! Right?" Ashido spun to the boys on her right side who both nodded in agreement, and Kosei Tsuburaba lifted up a pencil as if to show that it was true.
"Yes. This is totally not just, a 'hang-out sesh'," Tsunotori said.
Ashido spun to the girl next to her, "Nice one!" She had been working on teaching Pony how to translate sarcasm better into Japanese, and Pony smiled and laughed at Ashido's enthusiastic response to her attempt.
Sero glanced to his side at the two girls who laughed together, and he shook his head with a chuckle of his own. He had been nervous at first when Pony learned that he and Ashido had dated once, especially since he and the pink girl were still close friends and hung out a lot. Instead of getting jealous or upset about it though, he was much more startled as she went straight up to Ashido and started whispering to her to which Ashido had started whispering back while looking his way. Sero was grateful though at whatever Ashido had said that day though, as he had gotten closer to his girlfriend after that as if she liked him even more after what she had heard. He was glad the two had become friends too, though at this point it felt more like she was his girlfriend's friend more than she was his that Tsunotori was also friends with.
"Alright! I'll text him that!" Hagakure called out with a laugh herself. "He's been too stressed about midterms lately anyway. I keep telling him he'll do fine."
Sen Kaibara leaned back on the soft recliner chair in the common room, nodding along with the invisible girl though a bead of sweat was rolling down his face. I kind of thought we were actually going to study tonight though. I don't want to say anything about it, but maybe if Ojiro shows up looking to study we might actually get some in. Have to start off the third year better than last one. Grades really slipped after the Sports Festival last year, not that I didn't have a lot on my plate with Grandma, Shoda, my house, mom's injury… Hey, don't think about that stuff. That's what caused your grades to drop. Focus… that's kind of difficult, when cute girls in pajamas won't let me study. Kaibara felt like sighing yet at the same time a small grin cracked on his face at the thought.
"So Ashido," Kinoko Komori started from another couch she was sitting on the armrest of because of the three others already sitting on it when she came down. "Are you gonna stick with Midnight sensei this time, or what?"
Ashido let out a long, exasperated sigh and dropped her chin in her hands. That alone gave it away, and Komori grinned at the girl who started reluctantly, "No. I really liked interning with sensei, we're like totally friends now!" Ashido lifted her head up with a bigger smile while the Class B girl who asked her opened her eyes wide in surprise. "Buuut," Ashido continued and sighed again. "Sensei wants me to 'find someone more suitable to work with' or something," Ashido paraphrased and shook her head in exhausted frustration.
"How many heroes is that now?" Tsuburaba asked. He did not mean it in a mean way, he was just grinning because of the amazement at how many heroes they all had heard Ashido had interned with at this point. Ashido lifted both hands and started putting fingers down, then she just threw her arms up in the air as a few people started laughing at the need to count on her hands it was so many.
"Well you know, Sero's decided-" Tsunotori turned to Sero as she was saying it, and she saw the boy next to her with a sweat bead on the side of her face that made her big soft eyes grow wider in surprise and then guilt.
Sero squeezed the hand on Pony's other shoulder to show it didn't matter to him and he kept smiling, though everyone else in the circle was looking over at him in confusion and then surprise at the look on his face. Ashido, Hagakure, Sato, and Aoyama all looked at him in more surprise as they did not know what the blonde foreign exchange student was talking about. "Decided what?" Sato asked his floormate.
"Ahh, well," Sero scratched the back of his head hesitantly as he started. "It's not like it's official or anything, right now." Everyone was looking over at him now, and Sero shrugged before continuing, "After I graduate, I'm thinking of working at Swinging Hero: Ape Man's agency. During my internship, we did a joint operation with his agency and we really synched up well. He offered me a sidekick position as soon as I graduate, and I told him… well, I said hell yeah."
"Whoa," Sato's eyes widened and he pulled his head back. "So, you really are decided then?" Sero hesitated at the question and then nodded, figuring there was no point in being indecisive about telling people it any longer. "Are, we supposed to be getting offered jobs still in-"
"You know, I'm not too sure," Sero cut him off, as he had already been thinking about what Sato was about to ask him. "But it's not like it was an official offer or anything, and I can't even do it if I don't pass our classes this year."
"But that's awesome!" Hagakure exclaimed over at him. "That's the same kind of offer I-" Hagakure froze while leaning forward with her mouth open. Everyone in the circle turned to look over at the invisible girl in a pair of pajamas, and Hagakure pulled back and then grabbed her pillow and hugged it into her face feeling like an idiot. "AHhh!" She yelled into the pillow.
"Wait… really?" Ashido spun to her friend with huge eyes as she had not heard this from Hagakure either. She spun to Sero and then back again, and she leaned back on the couch with a flustered look. And I still can't hold down a single internship for longer than a month!
"You got an offer for being a sidekick?" Tsuburaba asked the invisible girl who he had gotten farther than in the last Sports Festival. He had not received any such offers like Sero or Hagakure's, and he frowned a little after asking the girl who just pulled the pillow into her face harder. Perks of being Class A. He sighed and leaned back in his seat between Ashido and Hiryu Rin, and he asked the girl who finally lowered the pillow from her face, "Was it from Incognito?"
Hagakure put her pillow back on the floor and put her knees on top of it. She looked down at the floor and thought to herself, Way to get caught up in it. Incognito asked you not to say anything, baka. "Umm," Hagakure started, trying to come up with a good lie on the spot. How did Zach do it? She thought in frustration as a few seconds in and she still didn't have anything.
The door of Class B's building opened and Hagakure was glad attention was brought off of her. She turned her head and she started to smile as Ojiro walked in, saving her from the questions. Tsuburaba smirked as he saw Ojiro walking in, and he called over, "Hey Ojiro, so Hagakure's going to sidekick for Incognito huh? Are you going to as well?"
Ojiro looked to his girlfriend whose head spun back to the Class B boy on the couch across from her. Tsuburaba was already smirking back her way, while Ashido and Rin looked in at him in confusion as to why he would say that. Then Ashido spun back with a huge smirk popping up on her face as Ojiro asked, "You told them? I thought you said it was a secret?"
Hagakure face-palmed. "Ojiroooo," she started, and Ojiro glanced around in confusion at the looks on the faces of those around his girlfriend. Then his eyes opened wide and he spun back to Tsuburaba with an angrier look at what he realized just happened. "Hahh, it's fine," Hagakure fell onto her butt on the pillow, as she saw Ojiro actually looking mad there and Tsuburaba holding up his hands defensively though still holding back his laughter. "She did ask me not to go around telling people though, so if you guys could just like… I don't know. Anything that we do the press jumps all over so if they hear I made a choice like that-"
"That's what I was, thinking," Sero leaned his head to the side and looked behind Ojiro at the door to the building that the thick-tailed boy did not close. Sero's eyes widened and his heart fell, "Oh man."
"Ah! Midoriya!" Ashido called out at the boy who walked in behind Ojiro finally, holding some books in hand with his backpack over just his right shoulder.
Midoriya stepped in and immediately felt ten people staring at him with different levels of apprehension.
Oh man. It's Midoriya.
Ojiro you sly bastard.
Bring Midoriya and you make sure we're actually going to wind up studying, huh?
Nice play Ojiro, Kaibara thought, though he kept his expression similar to Sero's for a moment as he did not want it known how he actually wanted to study.
Ojiro looked to Hagakure wondering if she really was okay with what just happened, but she got bubbly again and scooted to the side to make room for him around a coffee table in the middle of the circle. "So what are we working on?" Ojiro asked while sitting down, taking his books out and looking over at Rin who had a book still on his lap from the last time someone walked in and he got it ready to make it look like he was studying.
Rin lifted his book and looked down at it. "English," he replied, in English.
"Yay!" Tsunotori called out, as if there was one subject they had to actually start studying she was glad it was her best. "Let's do it!"
Sero grinned too after a second, and he said in a confident way, "My English has been getting a whole lot better this past term. If there's one section I'm going to ace for sure," he said, and then he pulled Tsunotori into his side more with the arm he had around her, and the girl next to him smiled more as he was giving her the credit for that improvement. The first time Sero had offered to tutor her in Japanese, halfway through she offered right back to help him with his English too, and even though they were not tutoring anymore, Sero tried to speak her first language with her as often as he could.
Midoriya came over quicker after attention left him, though he still felt confused as to what most of those looks had been for. He looked around too after getting there though and his eyes widened at the comfortable clothes and even pajamas a few of them were wearing, the backpacks laying out on the sides of the room like they would be there for a while and out of the way of the sitting area, and the way they were all lounged out. "Wow, were you guys planning on an all-night study session?" Midoriya asked, feeling he was the least diligent for just coming to study because Ojiro texted him.
The others who had all felt they needed to study now because Midoriya got there started grinning at the question though. "Oh yeah," Ashido started, adapting quickly and leaning forward off the couch. "In fact, we've been going for a while straight now," Ashido started pushing her arms out in front of her like she needed to stretch.
Hagakure held a hand over her mouth to hold back laughter. Kaibara grimaced as he could see what was coming, while Tsuburaba caught on to what Ashido was doing and leaned back on their couch himself. "Yeah," Tsuburaba agreed. "I think it might be time for a break. You hear Sero's big plans for working at Ape Man's agency?" Tsuburaba asked, and he cracked a grin in Sero's direction while at the same time saying something interesting to keep them from studying.
Sero darted a look back at Tsuburaba at the same time, wishing the Class B boy had come up with something else though not necessarily upset since he was glad to just keep hanging for a bit when it looked like they really were about to start a long study session. "Wouldn't say big plans, but how about you Midoriya? You thinking of staying with Lemillion after you graduate?" Sero changed the topic quick and smirked himself after mentioning one of the most popular heroes in the country who he had fought against himself once back in his freshman year. "Saw you guys on the news the other day. You and Bakugo were, umm," Sero grinned more to cover half his face with his smile, and a bunch of the others around started grinning too at the press conference they had seen.
Midoriya got red cheeks though and looked away sheepishly feeling like he had just walked into a trap. The press was egging him on. Asking those kind of questions so soon after I beat- Midoriya grimaced as he thought about the big scene they wound up making, which Lemillion had scolded both of them for and threatened to fire them from their internships next time it happened. "Umm, I haven't, really decided yet," Midoriya began. He was responding to the first thing Sero said and trying to get his mind off of the news Sero added at the end, "But I think I may try starting my own agency instead, just like Togata senpai did. One of the reasons I wanted to go to his agency was to see how he did it."
"Gah, does everyone have plans for after graduation already except for me?" Ashido asked, throwing her head back in exasperation at all these big plans everyone was throwing out there not even one term into the third year.
"Don't worry, I'm in the same boat," Sato mentioned over.
"Same here," Kaibara muttered.
"I will make my own agency too. The most dazzling one!" Aoyama called out, posing with two fingers in front of his eyes in a peace sign while Ashido gawked at him for having a plan.
"I am returning to my home country," Tsunotori said, as it seemed like everyone was chiming in. Sero was looking around at the others, but he froze after hearing that and turned his head slowly back to the girl next to him on the bean bag chair. Everyone looked over at her interestedly, though Ojiro and Ashido both noticed the way Sero suddenly looked at his girlfriend too. Tsunotori continued without noticing his expression shift though, "I do not have any offers, however I would like to live closer to my parents. I have not visited often enough and am feeling a little, homesick."
"Huh, and how do you say that in English?" Ashido asked her friend, cracking a smile at the expense of the others around her who saw what she was doing. Midoriya pulled out his English book as it seemed they were getting back to studying, and Ojiro lifted his lips into a smile too as he saw what Ashido just did.
Ojiro's smile was soft and he put a hand on Hagakure's back while he got out his English book to put on the coffee table in front of them. Good move, Ashido. No need to have that conversation here. Ojiro glanced back at Sero for a second and saw his friend and classmate had lowered his gaze down to the floor thoughtfully, and with some frustration too though he shook it from his face for now and just started getting into the English studying they were about to do. Ojiro looked next to him at the invisible girl who he saw was looking back at him by the angle of her body and clothes, and he wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was after hearing what Tsunotori said.
Hagakure pushed her back into Ojiro's hand a little and he knew she was thinking the same thing he was. He curled his hand into her back more though and the touch said all he needed to as he decided not to lean over and whisper what he wanted to add. He did not need to though, as she understood what he just thought as he was thinking it. I'm not going to any agency, where I have to be away from you. Don't hold back from going to Incognito's agency. I know it's what you want to do. I'll work my plans around that.
Hagakure looked back up at Ojiro after feeling what he was thinking at her. I love you, Mashirao.
Momo Yaoyorozu woke up early and could not get back to sleep. She knew she was going to have trouble doing so today, as she did the day before too though at a smaller scale. This whole time of year was rough, but this day was one where upon getting up she struggled to look at her wall calendar. Yaoyorozu did walk over to it and put a red X over the day's box though, right over June 3rd.
Yaoyorozu got ready and had the bathroom to herself as it was still early. She realized quickly that she was not going to be able to fall back asleep so she might as well just get up for real. Her shower lasted twice as long as usual though, and she only turned off the water because she heard a classmate come in. Yaoyorozu walked out with a towel and passed Uraraka who greeted her in some surprise, as the brown-haired girl had thought she woke up early herself that day but Yaoyorozu was already finished in the bathroom when she arrived. Uraraka watched her class vice-president walk off with a confused look at the short greeting Yaoyorozu gave her much less bubbly than usual.
Yaoyorozu went to class. She paid attention as best she could and took detailed notes as she did every day. She ate lunch quietly, and Ashido and Hagakure tried getting her into the conversation more only for Yaoyorozu to always zone out if it went on for more than a minute. Hagakure looked to Jirou at lunch to see if she knew what Yaoyorozu was doing, but the shorter dark-haired girl was pushing around her food with her fork and looking unfocused as she thought about the previous June. The invisible girl almost thought something had just happened, but she held back from asking which was a good move since there was nothing new that the two of them were feeling down about.
Jirou lifted her gaze to Yaoyorozu near the end of the lunch period. She opened her eyes wide, as she realized for the first time all day the way her best friend was looking. The reason she looked at Yaoyorozu was because she wondered why Momo had not asked her anything about her feelings today, as her closest friend was usually able to tell when she was being this down on herself. How could I be so selfish? Jirou felt like rubbing her forehead, but she just focused more on Momo now and started thinking quicker about how to fix the morning she had already wasted thinking about an idiot she had long since shoved from her mind.
Still, Jirou could not come up with anything by the time they had to go back to their classroom. She sat down and kept trying to think of ways to go talk to Yaoyorozu though, as it was a great method of keeping her mind off the blond villain in her memory who a year ago to that day, she had been going out with. Were they dating this early in June? I felt like they had just started, and it was only like a week in or so when Zach ended it. I should have noticed yesterday too, she was definitely off. Jirou scolded herself again but shifted her attention back to Ectoplasm as their lecture was on a subject she was not great in and could not lose focus completely on.
Yaoyorozu was doing great in this subject already though, and she had ample time to just stare over at an empty desk on the side of the room. Yaoyorozu looked at a seat that had remained empty for almost an entire year now. If Mother Russia had not gone back to Russia right after the Incident, would she have thrown your desk out the window like she did Kaminari's? Vrishnuku sensei never said anything about it and neither has All Might. I thought maybe, the desk was staying in here because we would have a new classmate like Shinso was in Class B… but instead it has just been an empty seat. As if you are missing, and that you would just come back to take that seat one day.
The end of the school day seemed to come much faster than usual. The entire day was rushing by Yaoyorozu instead of going slowly as she thought it would. The day that was supposed to be so important to her was in mid afternoon before she knew it. Yaoyorozu walked out of the back of the U.A. school building to head back to her dorm shortly after school ended. She had her eyes pointed forward and her head lifted high, but anyone who knew her could tell from a quick look that she was not her usual self.
Ahead of Yaoyorozu, Asui and Iida were walking both faced to the right and their tallest classmate with a mask covering the bottom half of his face. "I think it would have been better if it was more like the two of yours, not that I'm suggesting it was easier-"
"Was it really that bad?" Iida questioned in surprise. "At the Sports Festival, the standing ovation you were given when you were called up in the round of 32 by Present Mic was an amazing moment."
Shoji nodded his head slowly. "I agree. But the looks I receive just patrolling the streets normally, now that everyone knows. It's like, out of everyone who Zach brought back, I'm the only one who they made really famous over it happening. Maybe because we are all already famous, and since it happened at the Sports Festival too since I think everyone should know that Kirishima too… But I would have preferred it if it was never recorded."
"I am glad no one knows still," Tsuyu started. She looked at the boy next to her appreciatively and added, "I know Iida, somehow it was released that you were, and I'm sorry about that-"
"I told my family, and I was not very specific to the others that they do not tell," Iida started. "Do not worry," he added to the shorter girl at his left side. "It is still just rumors. And," he turned back to Shoji, "I do not have to deal with those kind of looks, which I am sorry you do have to see." Every time people see Shoji, or Tentacole, they will be thinking of Zach. That is unfair to him, yet it is thanks to Zach that Shoji is still here with us. Iida stared ahead and he lowered his gaze to the street for a second, his eyes unblocked as he no longer had a need to wear glasses which he thought about every day.
I, Iida started thinking to himself, as the two he was walking with quieted down there as well. I believe, we will not see you again. I used to think that it would not be long before you were found, but it, it just doesn't seem likely anymore. We all still feel your absence, Zach, but it feels permanent now. More so even than Kaminari's, because each of us believes that he may show his face to us again. I believe I will face my killer. But you… You're gone for good.
Yaoyorozu had looked forward at her classmates who were not too quiet in their conversation. She looked back though as she heard someone call up to her, and she gave her friend behind her a small smile as Jirou jogged up to her side. The two of them walked back to the dorms together, and though Yaoyorozu said that she was feeling tired when Jirou asked, Jirou pushed to come hang out and Yaoyorozu relented and allowed her friend to come to her room.
Jirou felt relieved that Yaoyorozu said yes, then she grimaced as soon as her taller friend was not looking. She realized that Momo only agreed because her friend must have thought that she was having problems of her own and wanted to help her. I want to help you, Momo. Come on. Don't look at me like that, so sadly yet still trying to help. Jirou went into Yaoyorozu's room and dropped right onto her huge comfy bed. She stared up at the ceiling, and then she lifted her head up and smiled at her friend who was looking her way confusedly and even more so at that look. "Rough day, huh?" Jirou said, and then she fell back onto the bed and let out a long sigh while staring up at the ceiling. "Want to talk about it?"
Yaoyorozu stared at her friend with wide eyes for a few seconds, then she sat down at her desk chair and lowered her eyes to the floor. Did I misread the atmosphere? Am I- is she here to help… Yaoyorozu lifted her eyes with a sadder look than the strong one she just put on to start helping her friend. "Yeah," she whispered, then she froze as she said it before even thinking about what she was saying.
Jirou nodded her head without lifting up, as laying there like that without making eye contact she thought would make it easier for her friend to talk without feeling she was being watched. Should I try looking her in the eyes? I feel like Softy always does, and she knows what she's doing. She helped me a lot. Maybe… but I'm not a therapist. I'm her friend. I don't want to therap-ize her or nothing. I just, I just want her to talk to me-
"Today, June third," Yaoyorozu whispered. "It's the day we…" She trailed off and had trouble saying it. She wanted to stop but Jirou was still laying there on her bed. She had started a sentence, and now she knew she had to end it, and she wanted to end it too. Yaoyorozu took in a breath and then said just as softly, "A year ago today, Zach he-" she paused and she pursed her lips, wondering if she could continue to her friend who had been for so long against anything related to Zach. Jirou just kept laying there though, and she nodded her head again for Momo to continue. "We kissed," Yaoyorozu whispered.
Jirou stared up at the ceiling and her eyes opened wide. Today? You know, the date? I don't know the date that- but I don't care about him. I don't care about it. It doesn't matter to me. Pushing him out of my mind is part of what I needed… You remember the exact day? "Your first kiss?" Jirou questioned softly.
Yaoyorozu nodded, and Jirou lifted her head and upper body because she did not hear a response and had to look for that head nod. Yaoyorozu continued once her friend had lifted her upper body and they made eye contact, "It was, amazing. He poured his heart out to me and I- the things he said, the beauty he said he saw in this world even after so much had…" Yaoyorozu thought about that kiss and all the feelings she had felt that night a year ago to that day. She clenched her eyes shut though after a few seconds of imagining it, as other thoughts of that month pushed into her head. "Last June was the worst month of my life, yet it started as the best."
Jirou lowered her eyes down to the floor. Her legs dangled off of Momo's big bed, and she said while looking down at the floor below her feet, "So you still-"
"I'll always care about him, Kyoka," Yaoyorozu started, but she was shaking her head when her shorter friend lifted her gaze up to her. "But I have moved on. It's just, days like this. A time like this when, when memories of him are so strong in my head. It just makes me sad."
"Yeah," Jirou whispered. Me too? I don't know. It makes me angry more than anything. Angry that you're making Momo sad right now… If, if you're even- but even if you're not! Even if you already, died… That doesn't excuse it at all. I'm still mad at you. Idiot. Bastard. "Me too," Jirou whispered, her voice sounding like she meant it against her thoughts at that moment. Liar. You were a liar. The entire time-
"How much I wish at a time like today, that it was a year ago," Yaoyorozu started. Jirou looked back at her and they made eye contact. Yaoyorozu lifted her gaze to the ceiling, and the beautiful girl with long black hair said in a quiet voice, "The four of us together were always so, happy. So much changed. I really think though, that those were the best times. The greatest times of our childhoods."
"You really consider us kids back then? After USJ alone, I kind of felt like we were adults already," Jirou countered, trying to just gloss over the 'four of us' comment. Bringing up USJ just made her think of the four of them even more though, their group who had become so close that day in their first years and had stayed like that until not even a year ago. "But definitely after the Sports Festival," Jirou added, as going back that far may have been a stretch to call herself an adult for that long.
"I think so," Yaoyorozu replied, sticking with what she said. "I don't think it was until last June that we really, lost the last piece of… Even after his betrayal, it wasn't until the forest where we still had…" Yaoyorozu sighed as she kept having to trail off, unable to make full thoughts while thinking about these emotional things. "That night in the forest, really was nice. The games, the fire," Yaoyorozu got softer and she lowered her gaze to the floor. "I don't plan on getting like this again on the anniversary of that day, so I want to just get it out of the way now. So I don't have to waste June all, all jumbled up inside."
Jirou nodded her head back when Yaoyorozu lifted her head. "Yeah," she agreed, an understanding look on her face at her friend's look. "That was, a nice night, while it lasted." Jirou paused after opening her mouth to continue with something that made her smile for a moment, frowning instead and cursing in her head for what she had almost said. Then her eyes bulged and she stared into Momo's eyes with them as her friend said exactly what she was just about to.
"Remember right before he walked off? Separating himself from us, so that Raijin could do the same?" Jirou nodded back at her after her initial stunned reaction. Yaoyorozu smiled as Jirou remembered that and seemed to be thinking about it already. "That moment when he joked about, how he was going to use the bathroom. I think about it a lot, you know? How he knew that was the last time he would see us like that, and us see him in that way. Maybe he thought that he wouldn't have any time for a goodbye later too, and that was how he wanted us to remember him, since he didn't know Backfire would be there." Jirou started pulling her head back and her eyes shook more as she stared at her friend who was speaking faster each second. "Why was that his goodbye? Joking about peeing on a tree? But then, he went on and shouted all those things for us to hear. And maybe it was because he couldn't care less if we all heard it, but what if there was another reason? Did he want to tell us something? He said goodbye to me, told me that he was leaving this time because, because he made that promise after he went and saved Kaminari!" Yaoyorozu was panting but she stopped and opened her eyes wide at Jirou's look back at her.
The taller girl pulled back in her desk chair, then she opened her mouth to continue fast but froze again. She froze, and she bowed her head a bit and started shaking it. "He just-" she said it quietly and then trailed off again. Yaoyorozu closed her eyes and she took in a deep breath. "I never said it before, but, I just wish… I just wish that I had," she bit down on her bottom lip and stopped herself. "I wish, I had told him goodbye. When he said it to me, and to us… no one said it back." Yaoyorozu lifted her eyes back up to Jirou's shocked ones. "Because none of us saw it coming or were prepared to say it like he was. If I had another chance though, I would have told him."
The room was quiet for a few moments, and then Yaoyorozu whispered, "That's what he would have wanted." Jirou got a confused look on her face, and then her heart started pounding faster as Yaoyorozu looked in her eyes and said, "When he was dying, he told Midoriya to say goodbye. That, friends should be able to say goodbye to each other. That we wouldn't want to regret it." Yaoyorozu thought back on the boy dying in front of her, how he had begged Midoriya to say it. He was afraid Midoriya would regret not saying it, and they would never see each other again. I wish you had said that this time. Maybe I would have realized it then. Maybe, I would have said goodbye.
"They're starting up a new class for it next term?" Sero asked, looking over at the taller teen sitting across the room from him on another couch of their common room. "Who's teaching it? You know?"
Shoji shook his head in response as he had only heard so much about it. Uraraka was sitting on Sero's side, Shoji had the opposite couch to himself, and the middle couch had Todoroki and Midoriya sitting on it focused on the conversation but also glancing at the screen and the news story that led to this conversation. Uraraka leaned back on her couch and said with a relieved look, "I'm glad. Teaching people is really hard."
"You had to-" Midoriya began, and Uraraka turned her head and looked over his way. Midoriya paused, then he leaned forward on his couch and asked interestedly, "At your internship? Do you have to teach people?"
Uraraka smiled after a second of looking back into Deku's eyes, and she nodded her head a couple times. "There've been two classes scheduled during the times I've been there. Flailsafe wanted me to help out, but it's harder than you'd think. Since each person has different unique Quirks, and some are just way out there! Some are really difficult to even think of how you could train them, but Flailsafe's always really good at coming up with methods."
"Haha, I felt like they were pretty quick at our training camp too, our first years," Sero mentioned. "Though I guess they probably had some time to prepare too."
"Well, Flailsafe also had a list of the people who applied for his classes, and they put their Quirks down on the sheet too. That way we were able to get some equipment ready beforehand for people who needed it." Uraraka scratched the back of her head and added sheepishly, "But he sent a small group to me, bigger the second time, and told me just 'train them' without any other directives. I really wasn't expecting that," A bead of sweat rolled down Uraraka's face as she imagined eight adults staring her down waiting for instruction as she stood there nervously before them.
"Teaching's becoming part of the job," Midoriya said, humming to himself and scratching his chin as he thought about it. "So it makes sense that U.A. would add in classes to teach us to better teach the public how to safely use their Quirks for self-defense. I thought maybe only a few people would start training after Lifebringer's Law passed, but those initial numbers just grew so much more."
"Luckily, the first news stories surrounding civilians using their Quirks after the law was passed were all good ones," Shoji said, adding onto what Midoriya was saying as he had thought about it himself before too. "Defending themselves from villains, and not using trained Quirks for selfish actions. Not that there haven't been stories of those kinds of people too."
"I don't know how I'd feel if someone I helped train wound up doing something really bad," Uraraka started in a hesitant way. "I don't want it to make me regret helping these people, but can you imagine…"
Sero's eyes had lowered down to the floor for the last few seconds as the others continued talking. He turned to the tv when he brought them back up, not wanting anyone to see that look he knew just covered his face. Man, what's up with me lately? It's gotta be this June fever going around. But, these guys don't even seem to notice. Midoriya just mentioned 'Lifebringer's Law' and no one even reacted. Sero's eyes darkened while he kept staring at the tv, but to Uraraka it just looked like he had focused in on something and she turned to the screen herself.
Midoriya turned up the volume with the remote between him and Todoroki. They stared at the reporter and the person she was interviewing, and when the volume came up they heard the interviewee continue, "…all the way from Hokkaido. Huge Hands has always been a hero I've looked up to since I was a kid though, so it was worth the flight down to Kyushu for some lessons from him specifically. Look, or wait," the man who lifted his hands hesitated and brought them back down, and he just said with a small grin, "Well I can't show you here, but our Quirks really are similar! It was great meeting him and being able to learn how to use my own huge hands straight from Huge Hands!"
Uraraka glanced back to her side when she saw the dark look on Sero's face that did not seem to match the tone of the news' piece. The look on his face made her start to frown sadly too. I thought he was acting too, okay. After just breaking up with Pony. Uraraka looked back at the screen as she thought Sero was about to see her. I mean, Pony is 18 and he's still 17, Jirou could be right about older women and… but it was still just a couple of months' difference. I thought they were really good together. I wonder what happened?
I've seen the way Yaoyorozu's been looking lately, so at least it's not just me, Sero tried to get into the story on the news, but there were too many mentions of the name of the law the story was based around. And others too, or maybe I'm just imagining other people are too. Everyone's forgetting about him though. It feels like, at least. But a year ago, right around now, was that day.
"Would you guys have done that for anyone?" Uraraka asked, looking around at her friends and making Sero lift his head to see what she was talking about. He glanced back at the screen and saw the same two still doing an interview, and he realized what she was asking. Uraraka replied to her own question first, "I would definitely have traveled just to go to Ryukyu's agency. If I didn't have a provisional license or anything, and I still hadn't interned with her before… Though I guess it took interning with her before I really, thought of her as the coolest hero."
Sero leaned back on the couch and rose his eyes to the ceiling. A hero I'd specifically go to?
"Well I'd pick-"
"All Might?" Shoji, Todoroki, Sero, and Uraraka all finished at the same time.
Midoriya froze with his mouth open, and he closed it with a bead of sweat rolling down his face at how predictable he was. "Haha, yeah," he admitted with a scratch of the back of his head. "How about you Todoroki?" Midoriya asked, looking at his friend on his side who had been pretty quiet for a while but just spoke up there to call him out on picking All Might.
Todoroki glanced at Midoriya and then back at the tv. He hesitated while silent for a few seconds, and then he shook his head without saying anything. Midoriya turned back towards Sero to ask him, while still wondering himself who Todoroki might have just thought about picking there. The green-haired boy stopped though at Sero's expression, and he asked, "Hey, Sero. Are you, feeling alright?"
Sero looked back over at Midoriya, and he cracked a small smile at his classmate. He let out an exhale as it was clear from their looks they had caught him making a weird face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just been a little down in the dumps lately."
"I heard about you and Pony," Uraraka began quietly. "Sorry about that."
"Yeah, me too," Sero said, leaning back on his couch again and sighing disappointedly. "It's just, she wants to go home and I want to stay in Japan, and we talked, and why drag things out if you know there's got to be an expiration date to it? You know?" He said, while shrugging his shoulders and just keeping a small smile that made it look like he could get over this himself without help. Uraraka nodded in agreement with the way he saw things, not wanting to pry much more into it though getting confused as him not seeming that sad over it made her wonder what he was really looking like that for.
"If I had to pick though," Sero continued. "A hero I look up to more than any other, well," Sero lifted the right corner of his lips. He rose his left hand and held it out to the right side of his body, then he dragged it across his front while opening his hand up like he was spreading out a name. "Then, Lifebringer." He smiled more as he said it, but the entire room was silent afterwards and Sero lowered his gaze down feeling like an idiot for saying that.
Uraraka stared at the boy on her side with her eyes huge. Her question as to why he was actually looking down was answered and she felt like an idiot herself for not realizing it sooner considering the conversation they were having about Lifebringer's Law. Shoji's eyes got darker across the couches but they just shifted down to the floor, while Todoroki's dark eyes did focus on Sero in an annoyed way at what he just said. Midoriya pulled back a little at what Sero said, then his eyes just got softer with some pity but still the determination he had when he usually thought of Zach.
"He's not a hero, Sero," Midoriya said. His voice was firm and Sero flinched while staring down at the floor, his smile dropping.
Sero's smile dropped first sadly and in surprise at what Midoriya just said. Then his teeth clenched and his fists balled at his sides for a moment too. He rose his gaze, then he froze at Midoriya's strong look back at him. That look made Sero's fists unclench, but it made him get back to the look he had a minute ago just thinking about him. "You remember a year ago, right?" Sero asked. Midoriya frowned more and he did not want to answer; he did not want to talk about this at all.
"Move on," Todoroki said. It was curt, and short, and he just looked back to the tv himself like that was the end of it.
"Hey, I've moved on," Sero held up his hands defensively and his tone shifted back to its regular one. It felt like the mood was shifting back, but Sero continued, "It just, makes me sad thinking about it. And how can I not at a time like this?" He asked it, wondering how the others were not thinking about it, how they were not feeling the same things he was right now. His eyes focused specifically on the middle couch and on Midoriya and Todoroki who were the least upset out of all of them, which made him even more frustrated and his eyes to lower down again. "I've- I had never been more sad in my entire life, than a year ago."
Uraraka nodded her head, and Shoji lowered his gaze down less darkly but just in agreement with what Sero was saying. No one had talked about it yet since June started, but Shoji had felt a difference in the atmosphere around them too. Neither Todoroki nor Midoriya wanted to admit it, but the two of them had felt it too and Midoriya even nodded along with what Sero said, agreeing with what he said there. He froze his nods though as Sero continued, "Not when Kaminari betrayed us, or the times after when I thought about how we had been together during the Sports Festival and he slipped away for a few minutes…" Sero grit his teeth, and Todoroki looked to him again, no upset look in his eyes this time as he remembered that night when Sero told him that with so much regret and anger mixed with the grief in his eyes.
"Or all the other times he and I were together as friends. And not when Zach left either, that night in the forest wasn't… it was sad but…" Sero grit his teeth and then he released and let out a breath while shaking his head. He glanced around again, and then his eyes shifted back to the middle couch and stopped on the two boys there. "There were a lot of things that made me sad, but the night of when Kaminari betrayed us, when I heard Zach breaking down in his room to Yaoyorozu after he had torn it apart, after he had barred the door to keep me from going in and trying to help him." Sero paused and he grit his teeth again. He started grinding them, while Uraraka and Shoji stared over at him with big eyes, while the other two stared at Sero thinking about the same night and what they had heard together. Sato had been there too, but he had not been able to listen to all of it and had to storm away before it was over. The three of them had been there the whole time though, yet the other two staring at Sero watched as his face twisted in so much more emotion than they were feeling at the memory of it.
Sero shook his head, his teeth grinding harder at the thought of that night and the things he heard. "'I don't have a family,'" Sero started. I've never forgotten a word. How could I? I've never heard despair like that. I've never heard, anything so horrible… Sero's face covered in darkness, while the others stared at him in shock as he sounded like he was speaking direct quotes. Uraraka felt her heart break in two just from that line alone, not realizing that Sero was about to continue and he was not just saying the saddest thing he had heard from the start. Sero did continue though, "'He was the family I chose, when I had nothing. I trusted him. And he used me. Lied to me. Betrayed me. All for what? To win?'" Sero had to take in a breath, gasping it in as he had almost not been able to make all that out.
He just started saying it to the others without warning, and none of them could tell him to stop it. Midoriya had pushed it from his mind, but hearing it again he felt his chest pounding. He heard Sero's voice overlapping with another, and that other voice had a tone in it that Sero could not imitate no matter how sad Sero was just repeating it. The first time they had heard it was still a hundred times worse.
Todoroki had not forgotten, but he turned the other way as Sero and just ground his own teeth at what he was hearing. It doesn't excuse it. He 'lied' to you? You, you were lying to me the entire time-
Sero's fists clenched as he continued in a shaking voice, "'I loved him.'" Todoroki's thoughts cut off and his eyes closed. Sero whispered, "'He was, my best friend. And-'" Sero's clenched teeth opened up to gasp a breath, but he clenched them hard again before he could. "'And he killed my family,'" he finally gasped out, so much pain in his voice. Uraraka lifted an arm to her eyes and rubbed it over them. Sero saw that and he shook his own head, trying to stop, but he heard that sentence echo in his head again and again. He said after a few seconds, "At that moment, I had never been more sad. It crushed me. And that was really Zach," he added, lifting his voice and raising his head to look at the center couch. "I know it was actually him, he wasn't lying. You guys know that right?"
Midoriya and Todoroki looked back at Sero, and the other two glanced their ways realizing that they had already heard what Sero had just recited. Uraraka stared at Deku with her eyes big, and his gaze shifted to her for a second before dropping down with a pained look at the way she looked at him. Midoriya rose his eyes back to Sero to say something, but Sero continued too fast, "Zach said it to Raijin that night in the forest, that for one night he really did break down. So everything we heard that night was really from Zach's heart." Sero pursed his lips, and then in a sudden shift of mood his lips curled up at the corners and he started smiling despite his wet eyes that he rubbed once in a quick way.
"That's why I smiled after the Lifebringer Incident," he told the others who were so surprised by his sudden mood switch. "When we got back on the bus." The others remembered hearing Sero and Kirishima arguing near the back, and most of them had agreed with Kirishima and had felt Sero was not taking what just happened seriously at the time. Sero continued to smile now though, and he continued, "Because I thought Zach was so cool, and I was so glad that Zach was able to get past all that, that he pushed on. After what I heard that night, everything he was going through and all the other things we didn't even know about, he kept going. I know I never would have been able to do it." Sero said that in a self-degrading way yet he kept smiling, accepting easily that he was not strong enough to handle something like that.
"So yeah, Lifebringer's still a hero," Sero said, countering what Midoriya said to him and staring the green-haired boy straight in the eyes as he said it. "At least to me. I think Zach's one of the coolest heroes out there, and I continue to believe that whatever Zach's doing right now, that he's helping just as much as the heroes are in making this world a…" Sero paused and he smiled in a soft way. He got up out of his seat, and his voice was softer as he finished, "A 'beautiful' place." He was softer as he said that, as he did not know if anyone else would even understand he was still referencing Zach there. He got even quieter while finishing, turning away since he had made it weird and did not want to sit around there any longer. Sero walked out of the common room, whispering, "Say whatever you want, I look up to Zach more than anyone."
A/N Awww. Lol thanks for reading! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter full of U.A. and some feels for Zach. Time rushes on and we've just about hit a year since Zach left U.A. for his new life. Really looking forward to the next few chapters and I'm already into the next one rn, going to keep writing and hopefully get it out by tomorrow. I'm supposed to be doing a bunch of thesis work this next week... but for the next few days I want to get this next arc out! 4 Leave a review below telling me what you think, comments, questions, predictions for what's coming! Since no reviews last time, I'll do double this time and include some older ones:
Todorokiii chapter 130 . Jan 13
I really thought that Zach would make a scene at the Sports Festival, making his presence known to everyone that Death is in Japan. Everyone would be so shook especially his former classmates watching him fight with Endeavor and other heroes. Then Momo and Zach would have a small reunion, but no there is none. I'm not complaining, (that's stupid especially you put so much effort to reach this far) what you've done with chapter was great and very realistic but I really thought there would be something epic to happen. Oh well, a fan could always dream.
Anyway, looking forward for the next update, I mean I've waited for days and kept checking if there are anyway updates, wondering if you're dead since I was used to the everyday update or every other day update or the update thrice in a day, something like that. Just wanted to say that I'm happy that you updated, I quickly ditched studying for my exams tomorrow. Thank you for your motivation.
Hope you weren't too distracted that you bombed the test! Haha thanks for the review and I'm really glad you're loving the story. I kind of realized that I made it out like there was going to be an epic scene like that the way the chapter before it was finished, almost changed some things up to make one of those but it would've messed with the big plans for Death going ahead so I kept with what I've got going here. Glad you liked the chapter anyway though, and hope you enjoyed the new one!
Alpha Eclipse chapter 130 . Jan 13
This is good and loooooong. I feel like this can go far.
Oh yeah, there's still a lot left in this story. Thanks for reviewing!
Big Fan of Death chapter 130 . Jan 13
Are class 3-A and "Zach" ever gonna meet up, like ever.
Is Death even Zach btw, im getting a lil confused lol
Possibly... no spoilers! And yeah he is, though seems like he's pretty good at confusing everybody and making them think he's not, considering he made Endeavor question it... (and you). XD
Super Power Sensei chapter 130 . Jan 14
Not how I expected to chapter to go. I wanted to at least read the final fight of the festival.
7,042 people died last year(70 chapters ago)? That's more than 9/11. You'd think with so many deaths, some family members of our class A would have also bit the bullet.
The fact Zach was even thinking about killing those officials and Endeavor was understandable yet off putting. Even he realized he shouldn't do something like that so he decided to leave even quicker which is good. This shows he's ALWAYS careful with his power.
Shichi Koi asks what would peace built on so many bodies bring? My initial response was to ask him(if he existed) if he knew HOW ANY of the countries and societies today were created...ALL OF THEM were built on bodies.
Continue on with your life and writing quality content for hardcore fans like us to enjoy!
Not even 200 AoD members vs. OVER 9000 VILLIANS with technology that matches theirs(I know it was "over 8000" but DBZ references lol)...AND...THE AoD...STILL CAME OUT ON TOP! Zach is fucking legendary yet so few know of his greatness. How long will that last I wonder?
Morale is clearly at an all time low for the AoD. Members may still be irritated by Rebel's antics but I can see he's actually trying to stay positive and boost morale. Apparently La Brava needed to be revived and you can bet Gentle was NOT HAPPY about that.
I also have to wonder though...how will they bounce back when their support is low and public image scared? Or maybe they won't bounce back but evolve into something greater. This line from Zach really hits it home..."We haven't seen it yet, but what we have already done is about to start something. We've laid the foundation, for the better world we all want. And now is the time to build on that." Another iconic quote from a great person.
Finally, a U.A. faculty perspective on Zach though I always knew Midnight thought highly of him. Don't forget who Zach was and where he came from U.A.
First off, just want to say I love how long your reviews are. It really seems like you're into the world that I've built in this story, which is awesome because there's a reason I spend so much time on world building. In the attack on the Sports Festival we saw buildings coming down left and right, the crowded stadium getting bombed like crazy, there was definitely more damage than 9/11. Only reason it's actually that low is because of people having super powers and the presence of heroes all over the place minimizing what could have been a whole lot worse (and let's not forget Zach bringing a couple dozen people back to life too). All the stuff you brought up is awesome too. So many ideas for how the AoD could build a better world, technology, bases, etc. Anyone can suggest stuff to me in the reviews, a lot of the time if I do see something I think is super awesome I throw it into my stories, though sometimes when I've already established my end point and set up the plot to reach that point it's tough to add in more cool ideas I think of afterwards. As much world building as I do, there are always going to be more questions I didn't touch on specifically, such as food for Life City and where they're getting their satellite footage from, so I'd say use your imagination on some of those logistical things that I skimmed over, and that they will possibly get explanations later on the more we see that stuff. There were not even 100 AoD members, Rebel's got those positive antics and you're free to interpret however y'all want but there's also the fact that he and Rampart weren't at those battles to be able to still be acting like that, then again knowing that he's the most positive there now he could def be trying to raise spirits. Nice picking up on La Brava not being thought about by Mark... Anyway, cut out some of those 2 reviews just to keep word count more genuine, though I tried touching on most of it. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
Naruffoku chapter 132 . Jan 15
Eraser and Midnight are the same age and they started teaching the kids in their late 20s, so Midnight should be around 30 years old.
Apart from that, wow, so AoD got ambushed by these guys at China and then they turned it around?
I feel bad for Zach, but now I kind of get the kind of guy he is. It's not just that he doesn't want to sleep or relax, his past does haunt him... but just not his dad and his mom as much, when he's comparing it to AoD
Yeah I knew her age from just her wiki page when you Google her, but it was Ashido's thoughts which was why she was confused over it and didn't want to ask. Zach's had a rough time of it all around, it just kind of depends on what the terrible thing of the day is for him to focus on ;( But the AoD does flip things on those villains, and he manages to keep some of his Army alive. Thanks for the reviews!
Lief 17 chapter 131 . Jan 16
Reading this chapter was crushing!I feel like I was playing a survival rpg and had my save data corrupted. Things just went 180 with the AOD and I'm looking forward to how they can bounce back from this. Btw I thought zombieman was immortal, how did he almost die from poison the 1st time?
After so many chapters of building up the party and leveling all the characters, bam! Yeah I can see how it feels like that, and it's rough on all of us (Zach mostly). We'll see if/how they can bounce back. Zombieman said he couldn't die, but clearly he never tried whatever method managed to kill him. Maybe the poison also had a Quirk dampener aspect inside it which is what killed him the first time so that Zach could bring him back, which is what made him impossible for Death to kill the second time. We still don't know how they did it the second time either, but I left most of that battle ambiguous with it only seen through dialogue and occasional thoughts to describe what Zach had seen that day. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
lolmyster42 chapter 131 . 12h ago
*Sees Cloak destroyed*
Mark: "The weakening of villains following our world loop was nothing but a smokescreen... I heard explosions, then... gah! They played us like a damn fiddle!" -reaches over and shakes Zach's shoulders- "Give it back! This isn't right! That was ours! We built it, damn it...!"
No joke I've had this one very specific Metal Gear reference on the back burner ever since the Cloak was introduced in the event it got destroyed. But hey, plans for a new Cloak. Because money donated from what backers are left for giant bleeding-edge flying mobile bases gets dolled out like lollipops apparently.
Awesome reference! XD Feel you on that money thing, and though Zach's trying to rush it out of Rebel, his support guy's gotta remind him that things might not go so fast with a lack of funding. Time's flying by story-wise now though, so we'll see what's up with that... soon! Thanks everyone for the reviews, I'm really glad you're so into this story, and I'll try to get out some more chapters this weekend before my semester starts back up again!