The next days crawled by at an agonizingly slow pace for Kaira. Her original determination to make up with Saotama disappeared like snow in summer when she realized she didn't know how. Her attempt at making some muffins for him turned into a test to see if the fire alarms still worked. Next, she wanted to write him something to let him know how sorry she was, but that felt impersonal and the coward's way out. She needed to face him personally, but talking to him turned into a labour in and of itself.
Saotama meanwhile kept up appearances. He was just as friendly to her as he'd always been, but conversations were short and he avoided her where he could, using class president business as an excuse to get away. And even if he would talk to her for more than a minute, she wouldn't know what to say. She never found the words that felt adequate.
In the end, Kaira couldn't do anything to reconcile with Tora and it ate away at her. She slept less and less and that began to affect her performance in school. She was less focused, made silly mistakes and her grades were starting to suffer.
All of this was, of course, not lost on the rest of the class.
"So, any luck?"
Teiden looked to each of his co-conspirators in turn.
Itsuki looked down in shame and sighed. "Nothing. Tora didn't telling me anything. He even got defensive when I pressed."
"He didn't tell me anything either." Tobuga looked as disappointed as Itsuki, her antennae hanging low.
"What about you, Tsuchioru? Did you fare better with Netsuka?"
"Sort of…?" Tsuchioru looked more confused than anything.
She wasn't exactly close to Netsuka, nobody was. In class she was usually all business. That had obviously changed. Something was haunting her.
Saotama's behaviour had also changed, if more subtly. He was still as friendly and social as before, but he was avoiding Netsuka as much as he could. There had been some back and forth between the two the last few weeks and some of them figured they were having eyes for each other and playing hard to get. That assumption completely disappeared with Netsuka's mood change.
So Denkyuu, Kirishima, Tobuga and Tsuchioru had decided to find out what had happened. Kirishima and Tobuga decided to talk with Saotama, being his two closest friends. Tsuchioru took it on herself to talk to Netsuka. They weren't super close, but Tsuchioru was a social butterfly. She would raise the least amount of suspicion if she approached Netsuka and wouldn't put her on the defensive.
"She almost burst into tears when I asked her what happened between her and Saotama. She didn't want to divulge anything, said it was her responsibility, but I did manage to deduce that she did or said something to Saotama that really upset him. My guess is Netsuka feels guilty and Saotama is actually angry with her."
"Hmmm, I'm not so sure about him being angry." Teiden spoke up, deep in thought.
"What makes you think that? He's avoiding Netsuka and refuses to talk about it to anyone."
"I did some talking with him too and he sounded more saddened than angry."
"How did you get him to open up to you?"
"He almost started yelling at me when I asked."
Both Itsuki and Yui looked at Teiden with surprise written all over their faces.
"He didn't open up. I found out with some prodding and reading body language. Whenever Netsuka gets mentioned his eyes drop ever so slightly and his usual fiddling stops. He's sad about something involving Netsuka and combining that with what Tsuchioru found out, it's become clear what happened."
Teiden's three accomplices were now looking at him in bewilderment, mouths open and eyes wide.
"What? My parents are psychiatrists. You pick up a lot just by listening at the dinner table." Teiden made it sound like analysing a person to the extent he's done was as normal as breathing.
Yui was to first to regain her composure. "Either way, we have a general idea what's happened between them, but we are no closer to solving this impasse between them."
"Can't we lock them in a room and force them to talk?"
"They're more likely to use their Quirks to break out than actually talk, Tsuchi."
"I might have an idea," Teiden put forward his plan, "We need to subtly push 'em together and get 'em to talk in a more natural environment. There's too much pressure on campus."
"Okay, and how do we do that?"
"We get the class together to go somewhere and try to get 'em alone."
Itsuki looked sceptical. "You sure that's gonna fly? Tora isn't stupid. He's going to catch on."
"I don't think Tora is the one we really have to push here. He's upset about whatever Netsuka did, but I believe he'd like to make up with her. I mean, come on! You've seen how he makes an effort to get along with everyone. He even talks with our seniors! No one does that! He's just too stubborn and Netsuka's too distraught and sleep-deprived, judging by the bags under her eyes."
"Fine, it's not like we've got a better idea. But where do we go?"
Tsuchioru slammed her hands on the table and jumped out of her chair. "The shopping mall! It's huge, so we can split up and have the two of them meet somewhere out of sight of everyone else and then they can talk alone."
"That's a good idea! Tora isn't the shopping kind, but he won't refuse hanging out with the class, so he won't be in the shops all that much." Itsuki added. Everyone was getting invested into the idea.
"But how do we get Netsuka to him? She does like to look around in shops."
Everyone's faces scrunched in thought at Tobuga's words. Getting Netsuka to walk around in the foyer and find Tora was going to be trickier.
"Is there some kind of shop she doesn't like going?" Teiden suggested. "When she doesn't want to look around somewhere, you can suggest she walk around in the foyer and meet her wherever we decide to drop off Tora."
This time it was Yui who came with a solution. "Don't worry about that. I always have trouble finding clothes that don't bruise my wings, so I can take her to many stores without raising suspicion."
"Alright, we got a plan! Let's ask everyone tomorrow and we can go this weekend."
Itsuki stretched out his hand, palm facing downwards and motioned the others to do the same.
"Operation Get-Them-To-Make-Up is a go!"
"We really gotta work on your names..."
"Tora? I have been approached by some of our classmates, asking if we could do something outside of school together. We had the idea of going to the mall together on the weekend. Do you like that idea?"
"Sure! Sounds fun! I'll contact some guys and get the word spread around."
"Netsuka! We're going to the mall with everyone. Wanna join us. It's gonna be great fun!"
"I don't know, Tsuchioru… I'm not feeling too great…"
"I know you've got it hard with Saotama and all, but maybe this is what you need. Something to take your mind of things and who knows, maybe you find something to inspire you."
"Fine… I'll be there."
"Yay!"
Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall was enormous to put it mildly. It was mostly known for housing hundreds of clothing stores tailored to all kinds of Quirks, body types and mutations, but it was far from all there was. Arcades, restaurants and other stores selling everything from kitchen appliances to camping equipment could also be found everywhere in the mall.
Tora was one of the first to get there, but was quickly joined by Yui and slowly, everyone from their class trickled in. In the end, the entire class was standing together, even the less sociable students, like Cheikatsu and Tsume.
Nobody saw Kikai arrive, but suddenly her classmates saw her standing next to Kagaku. She was wearing a summer hat and a long, modest dress to hide as much of herself as she could. Despite that, Teiden thought she looked cute and let her know as much. Kikai's face turned red and she hid even more behind her deadpan friend, but Teiden saw a faint smile on her lips. The EMP teen mentally high fived himself. His personal little plan could begin.
When Netsuka arrived the atmosphere got a little colder for those that had gotten wind that something was going on between her and Tora. When Tora and Kaira saw each other, they both quickly averted their eyes and struck a conversation with someone else. Tsuchioru and Kirishima looked at each other with a pained expression on their faces. They knew it wasn't going to be that easy, but somewhere they had hoped getting them together out of class would at least start something.
Not long after, everyone was accounted for and the first years of the U.A. heroics course stormed the mall. Everyone broke off into smaller groups depending on what they needed and would meet up at the central fountain later on to grab dinner together. Itsuki, Teiden and Tora went looking for some shirts. Tora was wearing another old, oversized T-shirt and Teiden had remarked on it, concluding they had to look for something that actually fit him.
"Seriously dude. Do you have anything that fits? You don't grow when you use your Quirk, so you don't need your shirts to be that big, right?"
"I've told you before, Itsuki. I just like wearing loose clothes."
"Come on. There's loose and then there's whatever you're wearing. You're basically drowning in it!"
"Look!" Tora was wearing an annoyed expression when he turned to Teiden. "I like wearing bigger shirts, okay? Stop going on about it and let's find a store where I can buy something that suits your fancy then."
Both friends quickly backed down. Either this was a touchy subject, somehow, or whatever was happening between him and Netsuka was bothering him more than they had expected.
Tora sighed when he realized how much he'd raised his voice.
"I'm sorry. I just got a lot on my mind right now. Let's… Shall we look for something?"
"It's alright dude. We shouldn't push you like that. Let's look over here. They've got some good stuff."
"What about this? I think some soft red or coral would look good on you. It would provide a nice contrast with your skin."
"I guess it looks nice, but that one's got no hole for my tail."
Netsuka and Tobuga were perusing some clothing stores together. They both had unique needs, so they decided to looking for them together. Tobuga was showing Kaira some red short shorts that would fit her nicely, if not for a lack of a hole for her tail.
Netsuka's clothing needed to be fire-proof or at the very least heat-resistant as well as accommodate her tail, a somewhat rare combination that forced her to custom order things or settle for one of the two properties.
Wings were not such a rarity that Tobuga had trouble finding shirts and dresses that had holes in the back, but most of those garments were made with leather or feathered wings in mind. Her wings were more fragile and as such she needed to be cautious with what she bought.
They didn't find anything suiting their needs and tastes and soon they were again walking around the mall, looking for another store that caught their eye.
A buzzing from her handbag signalled that Yui's phone had received a message. It was from Denkyuu.
We've dropped Tora near the Eisley Bar and All You Can Play Arcade.
Yui knew what to do, but how would she get Netsuka to not want to join her in a store? Netsuka had shown little hesitance to look in every shop the moth girl pointed at. What was something Netsuka didn't like?
A dress store! Netsuka was tomboyish. She had voiced several times she didn't like the skirts they had to wear for the school uniform and would much prefer to wear the trousers the boys wore. Outside of class her choice of activities and attire did lean more towards the masculine with rough, combat-focused sports and loose-fitting clothes. Yes, a dress store would be something she would be averse to entering.
"Can we go look in there?" Yui pointed to the first dress store she saw. It looked gaudier than she liked, but maybe that would make Netsuka even more reluctant to enter.
"You really want to check there? You know how much I hate those frilly things."
"I do, but they sell softer fabrics that are better for my wings. I won't be long. How about I go in and we meet up in a while? I know a store near the Eisley Bar that I'm sure you would like. How about we meet there?"
"Um… okay…? I'll see you there."
Tobuga seemed eager to drop Netsuka off somewhere. Was she that much of a burden to shop with or was her mood dragging her friend down?
Normally she would protest and defiantly join her just to spite trying to get rid of her, but today she felt more compliant. She dragged herself to where she was to meet up with Tobuga. During the walk, thoughts began to enter her mind. Thoughts about Saotama.
He was clearly still mad at her. He wouldn't even look at her when she arrived at the mall. She still needed to find a way to make it up to him, but she was running out of ideas and she hadn't found anything in the mall yet. Granted, she'd only looked for clothes together with Tobuga. Maybe she could use this time to look around and find something for Saotama.
Tora was sitting on bench, lost in thought. Next to him, in a bag, was a shirt he'd bought with some pressuring from Teiden and Itsuki. They were now looking for something acid-resistant for Itsuki to wear. Tora had opted out and was waiting for them to finish, so they could go to the arcade and have some fun.
For now though, Tora was thinking about Netsuka. Ever since their fight that night, they hardly talked. Tora figured she would apologize or try to make it up to him somehow, but it never came. The blue girl talked to him a few times, but the conversation was strained and awkward. She didn't join him at breakfast, dinner or walking to school. Did she really think he had some ulterior motive to trying to be friends with her? If she really thought that way about him it would be better to just cut his losses and accept that she wasn't going to like him. But did she dislike him? Netsuka hadn't exactly made that clear. She still tried to talk to him and he caught her shooting glances at him in class. This was all so confusing. Was all of high school going to be like that or did he just happen to find the one person who was making it all confusing?
"Well well well, look who it is."
Tora's eyes widened. He recognized the voice and looked up to confirm his fears.
Kaira sighed. Nothing. She'd found nothing that she could use as a gift for Saotama. She also realized she didn't even know what he liked. All she knew was that he liked cooking and wanted to be a hero. They'd known each other for two months now and that was all she knew. It was pathetic if she were honest. She'd been distant to her dormmate, because of her suspicions, but they turned out to be unfounded and now she was bearing the consequences of it in more ways than one.
She turned a corner to where the Eisley Bar was supposed to be. In front of it, she saw the person she was tormenting herself over sitting on a bench with two kids his age standing in front of him. Kaira didn't recognize them. They were not from U.A. The first had leathery wings sticking out of his back and the other had crystals poking out of his elbows. Maybe Saotama knew them from middle school?
As she approached, she noticed something was off. The two unknown teens were laughing, but Saotama looked like he didn't want to be there. His shoulders hung low and his eyes were darting around. He was fiddling with his thumbs and did not say a word while the two strangers kept talking to each other.
Kaira felt her blood boil when she figured out who they were. Bullies. They were Saotama's old middle school bullies and it turned out they hadn't had enough torment in during those years. They were back for more.
Her apprehension towards Saotama and how to approach him disappeared. If there was one thing she hated it was bullies. As long as she can remember she hated those that picked on the weak and she stood up to them. It was the main reason why she wanted to be a Hero. Villains were just bullies who couldn't get past their 'glory days' of elementary school. Kaira stomped towards the trio.
"Hey! What are you two bothering him for!"
Both bullies turned their head to look at Kaira and the boy with the leather wings spoke up. He had a smug look on his face that made Kaira grind her teeth.
"Oh look! The charity case has a girlfriend. I didn't know the fund paid people to like you."
"Please leave her out of this!"
Saotama spoke up for the first time since Kaira had spotted him. His eyes filled with desperation as he begged his bullies to leave her alone.
"So you do know her," the winged boy fully turned toward Kaira, "Why does a cute girl like you hang out with a charity case like Saotama. Jokatsu and I are studying at Ketsubutsu. Won't you rather hang out with some heroes?"
He extended his hand for Kaira to take. She stared at it as if trying to ignite it with her glare.
"He's not my boyfriend. Saotama is studying at U.A., like me, and I can already tell he's twice the hero you two'll ever be."
The winged boy's confident smile turned into a scowl when it became clear Kaira wasn't impressed with his advances.
"I didn't know U.A. had pity spots these days. They've really gone downhill, haven't they?" He turned back to Saotama. "Or did you have to beg? Maybe some 'favours' for the principal?"
"Hey Chiku. Look at the girl. She's shooting lighting at you. She looks like a little thundercloud with her blue skin."
Kaira was clenching her jaw so hard she could break her teeth. Her hands were balled into fists and her eyes were burning a hole in the winged boy's forehead, who apparently was called Chiku.
"Leave. Him. Alone."
"Or what? Why don't you move along, little thundercloud. We'll get to you – Ooof!"
Chiku doubled over grabbing his stomach, where Kaira's fist had hit him. He fell to his knees gasping for air and dry-heaving.
"You bitch," Jokatsu yelled, "You can't use your Quirk in public! Just wait till the police and U.A. find out." The crystals at his elbows spread across his arms and hands, ready to protect him.
"I didn't. Now get lost before I do. You won't be able to talk to the police for a few weeks when I get angry."
She hoped the bullies didn't call her bluff. She just barely used her Quirk. Enough to leave an impact, but not enough to make it clear she used it. Taking on both of them was going to be tricky without using her Quirk or getting into trouble, but she was not going to back down. She never did.
Thankfully, they bought it. Confidence completely gone, Chiku scrambled to his feet and yelled at Jokatsu they had to get out of here. Kaira watched them run off, breathing heavily. Not because of the punch, she barely put enough power behind it. The stress from the last week was finally ebbing away. Finally doing something she felt good about helped her relax and all the frustration had come out in yelling at the bullies and even though she held back, the punch channelled a lot of her problems into it.
After a few seconds of calming down, she became aware that someone was still sitting on the bench next to her. Saotama had been quiet throughout the altercation, save from pleading his bullies to leave Kaira alone. He was now looking at Kaira with a mix of astonishment and satisfaction on his face.
Kaira knelt down, putting her at Saotama's eye level.
"Are you alright? Did they do anything to you?"
"No, they… I'm fine. They didn't touch me."
"Guys you knew from middle school?"
"Yeah, and elementary school," Saotama sighed, "they've been singling me out since they knew me."
"Why did they call you charity case?" Kaira sat down next to Saotama on the bench, "That sounds like an oddly specific name to harass you with. If you're okay with talking about it."
Her nervousness talking to Saotama was returning, but the subject of bullies kept her focused.
Saotama sighed again, deeper this time and looked at his feet. "My family isn't exactly well off, as you've probably noticed," He pulled at his oversized shirt to emphasize his point. "so a lot of people have looked down on me. Going from pity to mockery and, sometimes, continued bullying. I'd hoped going to high school might change them, but some people never change I guess."
"I'm sorry that happened to you…" Kaira sat down next to the bullied boy.
"It's okay. It doesn't bother me," Tora chuckled, "but still, thanks for helping me out."
"Of course. It was… the right thing to do."
When the words escaped her mouth, she understood why Saotama had helped her so often. Like she felt the need to stop bullies whenever she saw them, he felt the need to care for people when he could. It was the reason why he wanted to be a Hero and even if he wouldn't cut it as a Hero, he would keep doing it. She wanted to stop bullies and Villains and he wanted to protect and take care of people and by questioning his friendliness, she was questioning his very reason for wanting to become a Hero.
"I think I finally understand why you take care of me like you do." This was the perfect moment. She had to make up with Saotama. She didn't know what exactly to say and just let her mouth move on its own. "I'm sorry for what I said and I'm sorry that I doubted your intentions, not just with interacting with me, but your drive for becoming a Hero." She turned to look at Saotama, so he could see she meant every word she said. "In the two months we've known each other you've probably been the best friend I've had. I hope… I don't want this to go away. Can you forgive me?"
Kaira felt her tear ducts starting to act up, but she kept them under control. She didn't want to seem desperate. She was, but she didn't want her desperation to affect his answer.
Saotama didn't immediately respond. He looked out in front of him, mulling something over in his head. Kaira felt her momentary conviction begin to waver. Was he trying to let her down gently?
The brown-haired hero-in-training put his hands on his knees and pushed himself off of the bench.
"Of course I forgive you," He turned around to reveal a wide smile gracing his face, "I was afraid you didn't want to talk to me anymore. I'm happy you felt as bad about this as I did."
Kaira shot up and before she knew what she was doing her arms were wrapped around Saotama's torso in a tight hug. When she realized what she was doing, she quickly let go.
"S-Sorry. I kinda let myself go there." Looking down in embarrassment, she could feel her face burning up. This kind of affection was unbecoming of her, especially in the middle of a public space.
She felt the warmth of a hand patting her head. She looked back up to see Saotama's smile had changed into a full, toothy grin. "It's been a rough week. Bottled up emotions have to get out at some point." He pointed with the thumb of his other hand over his shoulder. "I think we both could use some ice cream. How about it? My treat."
Kaira nodded enthusiastically and followed Tora. "Yeah! I want chocolate fudge!"
Tora laughed. "Alright, I'm getting some vanilla."
"That's so plain!"
"I like vanilla!"
Kaira and Tora ate their ice cream, talked and laughed like they never had a fight to begin with. It felt like they were even closer than they ever were before. Kaira felt at ease, finally fully accepting that Tora had no ulterior motives and just liked the role of being the big brother.
"What are you two doing hiding in the bushes like that?"
Teiden was looking at a rather suspicious scene. Tsuchioru and Itsuki were hiding behind some planters looking at something he couldn't see.
"They're just too precious!" Tsuchioru squeaked. She could not contain her excitement, squirming in place.
"Who?"
"Netsuka and Saotama. They've made up and are eating ice cream together. They're like a young couple!"
"It worked? Awesome! Lemme see."
Teiden sat next to the two onlookers and pushed some leaves aside to look at the fruits of their labour.
Netsuka and Tora were sitting on a bench talking, holding the last bits of their ice cream cones in their hands. Netsuka still looked tired, but for the first time in a while she was smiling and laughing. Tora looked about the same as before, but the fact that he was talking to Netsuka and not trying to get away was proof enough.
It had worked! And possibly even better than expected. They looked closer than they'd ever been.
"Good job, guys. We did it." Teiden gave Itsuki and Tsuchioru a fist bump. "I'm gonna go and enjoy the rest of our shopping spree without worry now. You guys enjoy peeping at them."
The two students realized how they looked hiding in the planters like they were and quickly got up and walked along.
"What do we do now? I don't want to interrupt them even though I agreed to meet up with Tora."
Tsuchioru shrugged, "Let them. Let's go have some fun. Wanna go to the arcade? I bet I can beat you at Dance Dance Revolution!"
"Oh, you're on!"
Kirishima and Tsuchioru ran off, their competitive spirit ignited.
Teiden was walking along, softly whistling to himself. Today was turning out great. They were having fun at the mall with the whole class, summer was starting so the weather was just about perfect and he'd just seen Tora and Netsuka make up. All that was left was his own personal plan.
When he proposed the idea it hadn't occurred to him yet that Kikai would be there too, but when he later realized the whole class would be there, he also realized that she was part of that group. It was then that he saw an opportunity to get closer to his crush.
Over the weeks since Kikai first talked to him, Teiden's interest in the shy girl had evolved into a veritable crush. He'd found in the girl just about everything that he was not.
She was shy, smart and unsure of herself, while he was one of the most social people in their class, he was pretty sure of where he stood on his way to becoming a hero and while he wasn't an idiot, his academics were only a middling success.
All in all, Teiden both looked up to the plain-looking girl and found her endearing. He was astonished when she could give an encyclopedic review of most subjects they talked about, and he chuckled when she stopped mid-sentence to apologize for her 'rambling'.
He also just loved how she reacted to any type of compliment. Whenever someone explicitly spoke positive of her, she quickly became flustered. Red and stuttering more than usual, she then tried to downplay any compliment given to her. Though she did always have the faintest of smiles on her lips when she did. She liked the positive attention, but was clearly not used to it. Teiden wondered what had brought that kind of reaction about.
And yet, there were things about the girl that puzzled him. Teiden was very good at reading body language and with that knowledge he saw that Kikai's was off. She had the basic reactions. She turned red when flustered, she smiled when she excitedly talked about school and she furrowed her brow when she was lost in thought, but other, subtler tells were completely absent. She didn't have any subconscious eye movement, she had no tics and her body didn't twitch in the slightest.
Denkyuu figured it was part of her Quirk. Maybe having an iron skin suppressed small movements, but it intrigued him. It made Kikai harder to read in detail, but it also made her all the more fascinating.
It didn't take long to find what he was looking for. The mall was calm today, so finding people was easy. In a computer hardware store he found Kagaku with Kikai right behind her. Most interactions with Kikai had stayed surface level, talking during lunch was most of what they did, but now he could spend some time with her outside of school.
Kagaku was 'speaking' to a laptop while Kikai looked on, unsure of what she should do.
"Hello ladies. How are you doing?" Teiden approached the two girls with a smile and a wave, carefully manoeuvring between the electronics so his Quirk wouldn't destroy anything.
Kikai gave a small 'eep' out of surprise, but Kagaku answered calmly, her voice, as usual, betraying no emotions.
"Greetings Denkyuu. I'm looking for some upgrades for my computer at home."
"Found anything good yet?"
"The clerk is looking in the back for me."
"I see," Teiden then turned to the second girl, who had not said a thing yet and tried not to look at him while still stealing glances at him, "And what about you, Kikai? Just tagging along?"
"Y-Yeah, There's… I-I don't have anything I want to buy, so I joined Kagaku."
At that moment the clerk entered the store again via a door that no doubt led to some back room storage and told Kagaku that he couldn't find the piece she was looking for, but he could call another store of the chain to see if they had it in stock. Kagaku agreed to the idea.
"You two can go and look around the mall. I think I'll be here for a while longer."
"A-a-are you sure. I can stay…"
"No, go do something with Denkyuu. I can take care of myself."
"If you're sure. Come one, Kikai."
Teiden reached for her hand, but she pulled it away, to her chest, when he got close.
"O-okay, Do you… Where do you want to go?"
Teiden expected her to be anxious about grabbing her wrist, but he didn't expect her to react so sudden, almost violently. She pulled her hand back like it got dunked in boiling water and her reaction took the wind out of his sails.
"I… um… We could go looking for shoes. I could use a new pair."
Kikai quietly nodded. "I'll follow you."
Teiden and Kikai walked out of the computer store and along the balcony. Teiden didn't really need new shoes. He'd just blurted it out to get moving and out of the awkward situation, but the awkwardness didn't recede. They were now sauntering along in an uncomfortable silence. Teiden's back was slouched over and he had his hands shoved in his pockets, while his crush followed him with a stiff gait. The neon blue haired boy decided to just explore the mall and see where they would end up.
As they went, Teiden, observant as he was, noticed his companion had a strange sway in her walk. She inched closer and closer to him over the course of a few minutes. Close enough to hide behind him like she usually did when she was with Kagaku. But when she got within a foot of him, she suddenly jumped back, as if struck by lightning. This cycle kept going, with the shy girl trying to get closer, but seemingly unable to do so.
Teiden figured her habits with her usual friend were still at work, but she wasn't comfortable getting as close to him as she was with Kagaku. It was very clear that she wasn't at ease around him still. Her eyes darted between the various shops they passed and other people on their shopping trips like a cornered animal looking for a way out. He had to address it.
"Hey Kikai. If you don't want to hang out with me, that's fine. You can go back to Kagaku."
"No!" Kikai looked as taken aback herself as Teiden by the force with which she denied his suggestion. She quickly looked at the ground again, her hands intertwined in front of her waist. "No, I-I want to hang out with you. You've b-been so nice to m-m-me, introducing me to your f-friends and going out of your way to help m-me. I-I'm j-just not used to all this."
Thinking about it, it made sense. She was so skittish, she probably didn't have many friends in middle school and those she had were most likely as shy as she was. Going shopping did not seem like something she did often. Maybe something calmer would be more up her alley.
"How about we get something to drink instead? I know a calm, little teahouse nearby. We can go there?"
The girl nodded without looking up. "I'd like that."
The duo walked onwards with a slight change of course. Once they arrived at the teahouse, they both ordered something and sat down. Conversation was strained, but the awkwardness was disappearing and Kikai was visibly relaxing over time. When Teiden finally got his crush to laugh, he felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest. It was a small, gentle giggle, like she was holding herself back from laughing out loud, but that made it all the more endearing to the lovestruck teen. He was beginning to realize that his simple crush was developing into something more.
They kept talking until the time had come for everyone to return home. Kikai looked down when Teiden told her they should go back to the central area to meet up with everyone.
"Don't worry! We can do this again! Don't have to bring the entire class every time, so it'll be easier to arrange something."
Kikai gladly agreed. "I hope I can convince father to let me go again."
"You did today. I'm sure you can do so again. You're smart."
Kikai cheeks reddened at the remark.
While walking back to the gathering point, Kikai once again inched closer to Teiden, but this time she did not back away. She stayed close to him. As close as she dared anyway. Teiden carefully tried grabbing her hand, but she again pulled it away when he did. He guessed she wasn't comfortable with that yet. But he was making progress.
"Whew, that was a day-and-a-half." Tora stretched his arms and back. He and Kaira were walking back to the dormitory after they had said goodbye to everyone else. Thankfully, curfew wasn't as strict as it used to be. Else they would've gotten an earful from one of the teachers when they entered campus with their student cards.
It had been exhausting. After their ice cream, the both of them had spent some time window shopping, only for Tora to be called on by Yui. Some of their classmates were starting to misbehave, showing their Quirks off in public. They may be aspirant Heroes, but they didn't have provisional licences yet, so using their Quirks publicly was still illegal and as class president, it was Tora's job to make sure his friends behaved whenever they did something as a class activity.
"I still can't believe they set us up like that." Tsuchioru's and Tobuga's lack of surprise when they learned they'd made up, made Kaira suspicious and after some pressing, they had confessed to their plan. The short girl wasn't sure what to think of it. She appreciated their help with getting her to talk to Tora, but she didn't like being manipulated like that.
"I had a feeling they were planning something. It's not like Teiden and Itsuki to drop me off like they did." Of course he knew, Tora wasn't an academic, but he was smart in other ways, mostly people ways. She'd found him to be a good judge of character, though that judgement could sometimes be clouded by his want to help whenever and wherever he could.
"Welp, here we are," Tora yawned when they entered the common room of their dorm building, "I gotta do some more studying for tomorrow and then I'm crawling into bed. I'm knackered!"
"Yeah, I'll be going to bed soon too. Just gonna stay here and relax for a bit longer."
"Alright, goodnight Kaira."
"'Night."
Tora walked up the staircase to his room while Kaira plopped down on a couch and turned on the TV. When she found nothing interesting, her thoughts began to take the forefront. All this time she'd been worried Tora hated her for what she said, only for him to be worried about the same thing with her. She chuckled to herself. She usually was proud to stay as calm as her Quirk allowed in times of stress, but she really dropped the ball on this one.
Thankfully, everything came up roses. They'd made up and now were probably closer than they'd been the last two months. She also learned something new about her friend. A new facet to his already diverse personality.
It also just made sense. He had plenty of younger siblings. She guessed he was the oldest of six if she remembered Tora's stories correctly. If they weren't swimming in money, his family couldn't afford a nanny to take care of the younger kids while the parents were away. The logical step would be for Tora to take care of his many brothers and sisters, amplifying his caring nature even more.
But there was more and Kaira blushed when she thought back on it. A small simple gesture, but also a sign of trust, respect and acknowledgement of their friendship. Tora had called her by her first name.
Been a while since the last chapter. Things are starting to move again here, so my duties have started coming back.
I would also like to thank people for the first few reviews. Always feels good to know people enjoy what I write.
