Chapter 6 - Imperfect Consequences
"Rock."
"Metal."
"Rock."
"Metal."
'Boop' Yuki's finger poked Jiro's cheek, ceasing the endless debate between her and Kaminari. She had listened furrowly to both their arguments over which genre of music was better, and while the 'Metal' that Kaminari described was leaning toward 'Rock' he remained true to his side, while Jiro, the actual musical one among them, argued the opposite, of course, Yuki took Jiro's side since she liked Rock better. 'When you boil it down, they're the same'
Both gawked at her, and she immediately regretted it as both glared back at her with a fierce fire around them, Jiro's eyes drilling into Yuki's mask, even as she held up a white flag shakily. "They are clearly different!" Both barked back, then looked to one another, then huffed
Yuki popped up another note. 'Eh, tomato-tomato just agree to disagree before you pop blood vessels'
Even with their dispute over, Jiro stopped them both, eyebrow quirked. "Hey, wonder what's going on down there?" Her finger jabbed in the direction of UA's entrance, a large crowd in full commotion blocked the gateway, spouting amongst themselves with mics and cameras shoved before some of their classmates. Jiro shuddered, anxiously playing with her earphone jack. "Great, the media's here..."
Even Kaminari looked apprehensive, his hands behind his head. "This could be a problem to get through, and I'm not looking forward to being late to another of Mr. Aizawa's classes." All three trembled at the fear of such a fate. This would be troublesome, passing by the desperate students and nosy cameramen with flashing lights and constant attention will provide endless torture.
Suddenly, Yuki got an idea, eyes blinking with a sly gaze toward her friends. They both blinked, dumbfounded by whatever she had planned, so with a click of her fingers she felt SIVA course through her blood and down to her muscles.
"HEADS UP~!" The crowd all but dialuted to a murmur at the outcry. From behind them lurched a large body of red lightning that tore across the wave of reporters, scaring them as some ducked and provided a clearer entry into the school grounds
Jiro and Kaminari held onto Yuki for dear life as she broke the pavement upon landing, using the force to propel them up and over the crowd in a flash, her hidden smile only displayed through her actions as the trio dove into the safety of the school, sliding to a halt as the energy dissipated, nanites fading away as Yuki took a prideful bow toward her adoring audience, with Jiro laughing beside her, bumping knuckles together while Kaminari grinned, patting Yuki's back.
"Sorry about that, but if we're late our teacher will have our heads!" Kaminari waved back while catching up to Jiro and Yuki, all three of them happy to have shown off to the nosy crowd outside
Mission | Successful | Proceed
For a second, however, her gaze drifted among the crowd behind them, uncertainty blanketing her for a moment as they entered the building.
Now within the safety of class 1-A, Mr. Aizawa gave the rundown of yesterday's combat training, something Yuki didn't much mind to given how it went first-hand. He did say for Kacchan to stop being sour he lost despite the sacrifices it took Yuki and Izuku to win, again, something Yuki didn't much mind since that was yesterday, he did point out that Izuku had to control his power since the excuse of him unable to control his Quirk, was in fact, getting old.
"Azuru," The mute perked up in her seat, locking eyes with the mundane hero. "Despite the events that unfolded during the lesson you and Iida performed the best, keeping to your goals and remaining calm under pressure, well done both of you."
Yuki bowed her head respectfully while Iida did the same but thanked him vocally. With that, he looked away from his notes. "Let's get down to business, your first task will decide your future."
Everyone paled with worry, and Yuki hit her head off the desk. "Not another Quirk Assessment Test?" They all echoed the same thought
"You all need to pick a Class Representative." The wave of fear and anxiety washed away with relief in-toe
"Oh good, just normal school stuff..." The collective sigh soon erupted into chaos, with Yuki rolling her eyes as she leaned back on her chair with her arms resting behind her head. "Hmm, so they thought I'd spring another Test on them." He wore a ghost of a smile at that
"Here we go, the corruption begins..." Yuki hummed at the thought
"In a typical school setting a representative wouldn't be this big of a deal, and yet here at UA it meant you had the charisma of a good leader and that made for a good impression later down your career as a hero." Izuku pondered at how everyone started to bicker amongst themselves, all with the exception of Yuki, who sat with a pen spinning on her finger. "Is she going to sit this out?"
Izuku slowly felt his hand tremble upward but froze at the sensation of eyes peering in his direction. His hand shot down, seeing Yuki looking with only a slight tilt of her head, after a moment of uneasiness between them she looked away. "What was that about? Did she not want me to try for the position?"
"Everyone silence, please!" Iida shot up from his desk, hand risen high to attract everyone's attention from their inner arguments. "The Class Representative duty is to lead others, that's not something just anyone can do, you first must have the trust of every student in the classroom! Therefore the most logical solution is to handle this democratically, we will hold an election to choose our leader!"
'It's pretty god-damn obvious you want us to vote for you :3' Yuki's note wiggled in front of his slightly quaking form, as everyone else laughed at her answer to everyone's thoughts
"Seems I have been called out but my point stands." Iida sighed, turning to see the mirthful gaze on Yuki as she flip elegantly from her desk to Jiro's, stepping down with a T-pose
"Is this really the best idea?" Kaminari's concern over the vote was sound, given how obvious everyone's desires were
"We've only known each other for a few days how do we know who we can trust?" The girl with green hair and a frog-like appearance, Asui added, with Kirishima humming in thought
"Besides, everyone will just vote for themselves." Again, a valid point so with her hands off her hips, Yuki held up a larger note on an A4 sheet for the rest to view, her finger tapping the paper inquisitively
'Given how some of us have only just started to find those we can commune with me might as well go off of the results of experience' Yuki then flipped the page over. 'Either vote for yourselves or for the person you believe would be the most deserving of the title based on what you've seen of them'
"How does she write them so fast?" Everyone blurted out, causing the mute to blink before retreating to stand near Izuku's desk to try and seem less visible
"Whatever you do just decide before my nap's over..." Mr. Aizawa had already zipped up his sleeping bag and comically tilted over like a log and onto the floor, leaving the class to begin the pole, while Yuki felt a wave of wariness run down her back
"Why do I feel I just signed my own warrant for servitude?"
The results were in. And static droned in Yuki's head with a small whiff of smoke from her head.
Izuku Midoriya - 3 Points
Momo Yaoyorozu - 2 Points
Azuru Yuki - 2 Points
"How did I get three votes!?" Izuku blurted out shakily, while Yuki merely slumped in her chair with relief although seeing Izuku turn pale had her brow knitted with worry, this could be bad... or maybe not? He was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, nope, he's screwed with that nervous nature of his
"Okay you idiots, who voted for him!?" Kacchan yelled, his spiky glare sent Yuki's way, only to see her middle finger raised to him. "You wanna go, Mute!?" At that prospect her fingers snapped open with a buzz of red lightning, eyes narrowed
"What, you honestly think anyone was going to vote for you?" Sero pointed out casually, but Yuki saw it, the whistling that emanated from Ocha, dangerous waters indeed
"A single vote, I feared this would happen, but I can't argue with the system I chose," Iida practically trembled with disappointment, and Yuki's eyes curved sadly. Guess it was all for nothing
"That begs the question, who voted for you if you didn't vote for yourself?" Asui inquired while some murmured among themselves
"You knew it would have been better to vote for yourself, right? What were you trying to prove?" Sato tacked on, just as a paper airplane soared over their heads, poking Iida in the forehead. He didn't need to open it to see the handwriting on the wings
'Guess who?' Several pairs of eyes located Yuki to his left, her arms crossed with her head down dully. To her it was between him and Momo, both were excellent choices so she just flipped a coin, this was the result. She gave him an honest gaze, shrugging as he looked crossed between defeat and appreciation
"While I appreciate the vote why didn't you vote for yourself?" Iida was now curious over her vote than his own, and so she shrugged then with a flat look pointed to her throat. "While I understand that your inability to talk would prove to be a weakness you are clearly the most trusted among our peers."
"She voted for Iida, then how did I get three votes?" Izuku pondered, though it stung a bit she didn't vote for him he was sure Yuki had a good reason for the decision, right? "What's up with her today?"
'While that's debatable you're a stickler for the rules, and formal to a 'T', to me, your professionalism is what I think our crazy class needs from time-to-time, not just from our teachers' Her explanation earned unanimous nods of approval, even as Jiro poked her side
"Well, even so, don't put yourself down, you can be quite the thinker yourself, this morning comes to mind." Jiro smirked knowingly, while Kaminari looking back at her with his own approving nod
"Yeah, you seriously saved our asses from that mob outside, thanks!" The attention and praise finally got to her senses as Yuki slowly slumped lower into her seat, enough to hide half her mask under the desk
With that in mind, Mr. Aizawa finally slumped back up a bit, still not bothering to move from his sleeping bag. "Alright, the Class Rep is Midoriya, and our Deputy is Yaoyorozu." After that, he slithered back down to the floor. "This ought to be interesting..."
Izuku felt it, his nerves were a mess, while he probably couldn't strain a confident expression against the overwhelming pressure now sitting upon his shoulders, combined with how distant Yuki looked it didn't help him focus at all. He should just wait until lunch to ask but he couldn't shake the feeling he needed to talk with her, every few minutes her eyes drifted to the windows, then back with a sigh.
"Yuki... what's wrong?" "Really? Uh, it's not a mistake?" Izuku's mind and mouth had different opinions
"What is that...? Why do I feel... wrong?" Yuki continued to pester her own thoughts, shoveling rice into her mouth while sinking deeper into her own mind
"Uh, you good?" She jumped at Jiro's touch, eyes blinking back at her with the chopsticks poking out from under her mask. She decided to sit with Jiro, Kaminari, Sero, and Yaoyorozu toady, given how she hadn't yet gotten the former two to agree to disagree yet, and she had a feeling Izuku wanted to ask about the vote, she didn't want to be mean but her head was swimming with uneasiness ever since she arrived and until it was gone she had to focus. Jiro smiled with a snort. "You don't look as intimidating with chopsticks sticking out from your mask like a walrus."
Yuki pouted under her mask, prying the sticks from her lips while poking at the remains of her rice. Yaoyorozu spoke up, a frown fixed to her face. "I don't mean to pry, but you've been distant all morning expect for when we did the vote, is something on your mind?"
"I thought I was alone there, but yeah, even when you tossed the note to Iida you looked bummed out," Kaminari added toward the question, putting Yuki back on the uncomfortable spot, so to ease their minds she sighed and poked her notebook, drawing their eyes
'Nothing, I've just been out of it today, nothing really, just one of those days and jadda-jadda-jadda' Her answer was enforced by her poking Jiro with her chopsticks, exciting a dull frown from the girl as she defended with her own chopsticks, the two locked in a battle as their hands flicked the sticks in the air between them, battling for the upperhand
Jiro grinned. "Oh yeah, she's fine..." Suddenly, Yuki robbed her of a piece of chicken, devouring it before she could make a retort. "You sneaky little-" She robbed something of Yuki's in return, the two glaring at one another playfully
Kaminari laughed, taking a sip of his drink. "You guys are so weird, must be a girl thing- Ack!" An earphone jack jabbed him in the neck, causing him to nearly fall over from the muscle spasm, all while Yaoyurozu tried to hold back a laugh
"Of course you pick now to say the wrong thing to the wrong girls," Sero chuckled, with some of their classmates a few seats down noticing and laughing
"That aside, yes, I believe you are fine, Yuki, but if you ever need to talk we'll listen." She smiled happily while Yuki nodded sternly, spinning her chopsticks around if anything she was stylish at hiding her concerns, with a little thievery too
This made four more people Yuki found herself trusting some more, if not for Izuku she'd be a little less reserved to trust so quickly, but he was kind, funny, and honest to her all the time. Which only made the guilt in her chest bubble at how unfair she was toward him in return.
*RIIIIIIIIIIIIING!*
| | WARNING: LEVEL THREE SECURITY BREACH | |
All five of them sat up straight at the buzz of the alarm, the cafeteria immediately threw into a panic at the sudden announcement.
Warning | Campus Intruders | Media
"Of course it was, why would it be anything else?" Yuki shook her head, finding today to be far more annoying then yesterday. 'The media broke in, now we've got a panic on our hands'
"But if that's the case then how come everyone's going crazy?" Sero asked, all of them moving in a unanimous decision to act
"They probably haven't heard the details so mostly everyone is assuming 'a worst-case scenario', this could end up backfiring." Yaoyurozu detailed warily, some people shoving past their group as the five stuck close together
"We need to calm everyone down, now!" Before any of them could object, Kaminari took off toward the hallways, with the four of them in-toe. They had to get the situation under control but how? With everyone not knowing the situation people would end up hurt at this rate, something they needed to resolve before any incidents occur
In a matter of seconds, their group was divided into the crowd, all being swept away by the sea of students too frenzied to even investigate the view outside, something Yuki had a clear view of, the media were storming the outer entrance, and to her shock, the gateway was a pile of black rubble behind them, how did they manage to breakdown so much metal without anyone noticing? Did someone with a Quirk do that?
Yuki could barely think let alone act with the kicks and shoves that pulled her into the crowd, yelling and talk had all but silenced the majority of the masses that had figured out the truth. Stifling her irritation over being used like a ragdoll, Yuki crouched and, with a fluid kick of her heels, dove between legs and narrowly avoided kicks as she body rolled out and into a vacant hallway, thankfully without anyone infesting the darker corridor.
Despite finally granted the chance to sigh with relief, an eerie sensation tickled the back of Yuki's neck, followed by a heavy breathe directly behind her, on instinct she jolted back, spinning while her eyes glowed red, small sparks snapping between her fingertips.
"Tell me, are you the real thing?" A robotic, echoed voice rang like ice despite the racket of students yelling and shoving, but within the dark hallway Yuki came face-to-face with someone entirely different that had her against the wall, looking down at her with a smooth voice of steel
He was wrapped up in a black cloak, bandaged arms, and legs with tall, steel-capped boots. Everything he wore reminded Yuki of Mr. Aizawa but unlike her mentor the aura that he gave off had her shaken, it was so unusual and had her activate SIVA immediately, but a hand promptly squeezed her wrist with enough force to make her wince, did he have a strength Quirk?
His hood covered his face but a mask of silver greeted her with thin, crimson eyes staring back, like a twisted form of a jack o' lantern. He breathed heavily, leaning closer to her while pinning her stomach with his right arm, metal grazing her blazer. "I'll ask again, are you the real thing or not?"
Yuki, despite feeling something cold coming over her, kept her nerves in-check and flicked a note between them. 'I don't know who you are or what you want, but let go or else I'll-' Her note was thrown away and his left hand let go of her wrist and soon moved to tickle under her neck, grazing her throat with chilling fingers, causing her to shiver
"It does not matter, I will know soon if you are the real thing or not, either way, you will die." His words cut deep and true, it was a threat but one she felt he'd be sure to carry out, and that made her eyes dilate, her heart thumping against her ribs in vain to attack, she wanted to but could barely form a fist with shaking. "You will pave the course of events, with or without your life, others will fall in that path."
His fingers trailed away from her neck, moving to worm under her mask, and Yuki nearly felt her knees buckle as his metallic fingers continued to graze her cheek and lips, all while her throat begged to scream, to cry out to anyone but she couldn't, in the panic no-one could see them, she was paralyzed and couldn't breathe at all.
"All Might, Mr. Aizawa, Akame... Izuku... help me!" The minutes felt like hours, and her breathing started to become ragged and uneven by the time he let her go, moving back to see her barely stand on her own two feet, eyes pinpricks and shaking with sweat pouring down her neck. His heavy footsteps slowly left her alone and afraid, trembling like a little girl all over again
"Consume. Enhance. Replicate." Those last three words and his presence over her faded like a weight of a thousand by the time she shambled back into the hallway, now no longer a disaster thanks to someone calming the students down, but Yuki shambled through them, bumping into a few people while her eyes followed her feet
*Thud*
Both Yuki and someone else stumbled back, the person she ran into grunted as her eyes drifted up to see Mr. Aizawa looking as irritated as ever, especially since Yuki bumped into him on her way... anywhere from that hallway, from that man and his voice, from everything that made her skin crawl so much so SIVA could barely aid her.
"Watch where you walk, Azuru," Aizawa muttered to his student, seeing her gaze back at him, hands shaking in vain to gain some form of control. "She seems shaken up? A few crowds and chaos wouldn't do that to her."
Aizawa couldn't tell what the girl was thinking or see her face given the mask, but her glowing eyes never returned to normal, and by how she was stumbling through the crowd she was clearly lost in thought. What he didn't expect was for her bodyweight to crash into his, arms closing around him tightly as her body shook like a leaf, causing the rather introverted man to pause and consider her action.
He couldn't really make a reply so instead, he just patted her on the back while her face remained buried against his shirt, whatever had her this scared wasn't some nosy reporters or a crowd of annoying students, the headstrong girl was no longer optimistic.
"Alright, come on, back to class already," Aizawa ushered her forward, seeing her perk up a little while no longer trembling. "Azuru, don't let whatever it is cloud your head, you don't need to tell me or anyone, but don't let it remain that way forever, got it?" She gave him a solemn nod, his hand pushing her ahead of him to get her back in motion. "Damn kids will give me grey hair at this rate."
"Thank you, Grumpy Aizawa." Yuki smiled a little, her mind couldn't let go of that figure or his intimidating aura, but she'd be damned to let it lord over her. She was scared, knowing he got in via the chaos but why go for her? He said the same exact words as SIVA would say, did he know? Or was this some fluke? So many variables and taking Mr. Aizawa's advice she'd let it rest until she knew she was safe, though having a scary teacher beside you did help in that regard. "SIVA..."
Unknown | Threat Level | Unknown
That hadn't helped her relax any sooner.
The day had come to an end, while the afternoon went on without a hitch and Iida now nominated by Izuku to be the Class Rep, Yuki... wasn't there, she was present but made no notion of her attention being on the lessons, even for the hero lesson she had barely kept her attention straight after her encounter with whoever it was that infiltrated the school, cornering Yuki in particular, she was scared, her goosebumps hadn't vanished at all as her mind continued to run through everything on a loop.
Izuku had noticed her actions, how distant she was from the classes, even he wasn't paying attention to some of the inner details of their afternoon class, now his concern had morphed to worry, he could see it, some sharp sounds made her tremble, Yuki was scared of something but he couldn't place it. Was it the chaos? No, she never had a problem with chaos given her fight with Kacchan. Did it relate to her attitude through-out the day? Maybe, but he hadn't gotten the chance to ask, she didn't sit with him, Ochaco and Iida before the news invaded the school grounds.
"Yuki, why haven't you made any mention to a teacher yet? What's bothering you?" Izuku wished she could somehow hear his thoughts but there he sat, unable to do a thing but wait as his best friend writhed in her own fear over something he had no clue how to go about asking. His brow furrowed in anger, he was still unable to help even now
"Yuki~!" Izuku waved to her, running away from Iida and Ochaco to catch up to her, she never walked home alone, so why now? She only hesitated once but kept moving, surprising him as he sprinted to meet her stride. "Yuki, please wait!"
His hand caught her shoulder, and he felt it, the tension in her arm as it softly relaxed. Her head kept itself low, unable to look at him which only confirmed his worry. With a soft voice, he moved in front of her. "Yuki... please, tell what's wrong? Did something happen during the break-in?" She didn't make any notion, so he pressed his lips into a fine line, eyes stern. "You didn't respond, so I'm either right... or something has you frightened."
Her head shook slowly, pulling away from his hand, eyes locked to the ground. She didn't want to pile it on Izuku, she was just shaken up, he didn't need her to be dead weight right now. Even so, despite her slow shakes and side-stepping he kept getting in her way, finally drawing her eyes up, angular and pressed closer to his own. The glare had his mouth go ajar, eyes blinking as she stepped closer.
'Izuku, I know you care but please, not now' Simple, bold words, enough to make him step back a bit while footsteps clapped behind them. She was angry, but she didn't have anything to project it to, so Izuku became that target and one he'd be right now. She pressed her thumb to the next line forcibly.'Not... now'
He remained where he was, fists clenched. "I'm not moving, I won't turn away when I can be helping someone." That had her gaze shift, analyzing his posture while his heart rate increased in her scan, he meant it, he wasn't going to move. Just like when he fought Kacchan, he was unsure, but he didn't move an inch. That, finally had her eyes revert to normal. "Yuki, what happened, you can talk to us, let me help you."
He didn't want to push her, he felt he had no right to force someone to open up their concerns or secrets to him, but Yuki... she was different, the first real friend and person that trusted him in his life, he wanted that, to be able to take on her frustrations and concerns and help her smile. Her smile... he never lost that image from his head, he'd be lying if he didn't wish to see that smile again.
Iida and Ochaco watched carefully and with amazement at their interactions, ending with Yuki slowly lowering her head against his shoulder, burying her head deeper into his arm while his cheeks burned brightly, knowing that his friends were watching not far behind. He wanted to move away but the weight of her head against his arm, how she nestled her head against his body made him realize how frightened she truly was, almost exactly like the day she shared her secret about her Quirk or technical lack of one.
Gingerly, he sat his left hand on her shoulder, holding her softly while they stood motionless for a minute, only the soft sound of her breaths making any noise between them. In only that short breath her body had relaxed, lifting off his shoulder with curved eyes, fist tapped against his chest in thanks, so with a plain smile he copied her and placed his fist to her heart.
"Are you okay, Yuki?" Iida finally spoke up, receiving a steady nod from her. "That's good, I had neglected to bring it up but I did notice how distant you were from class today, I was going to bring it but Midoriya here asked me to leave it to him, and I see that was the right call."
Ochaco stepped closer, cupping Yuki's hands in her own. "You shouldn't keep your emotions all bottled up, it's not healthy." Yuki nodded again, offering them a note
'Today has thrown me through a loop, so thank you, and sorry for being so dejected toward all of you' In seconds of the note being read, the three of them were pulled into Yuki's arms as the girl held onto her friends tightly as though they'd slip from her embrace. Izuku's blush didn't fade, Iida looked taken back, while Ochaco smiled brightly and returned the kind guestre
"You guys are awesome." Yuki only wished, that for once in so many years that the feeling in her heart and the thoughts in her head could be heard out loud
To Be Continued...
Things are heating up, trust and fear are now tipped on scales. Yuki's got more to worry about than just the typical line of villains. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the chapters I bet you've been waiting for, Plus Ultra!
Next Chapter Go Beyond, Perfection!
The next day and class 1-A are taken for the entire day to the USJ for rescue training. With the class abuzz, Yuki's previous day still tacked into her mind, and the rising peril ahead, everyone will have to go beyond to survive.
