The day of the sports festival was an insane day for Leizcio with a lot happening within a short amount of time. Fighting his own classmates in the tournament, accidentally giving Tokoyami a concussion, his father suddenly coming back and with his sister, suddenly not getting knocked out the first explosion Bakugo made, getting 3rd place in the tournament, suddenly being kidnapped by his father and forced to fight his sister, then beating him with his sister who now lives with him and Lavania.

"What the fuck." Is all Leizcio grumbled waking up. Recalling yesterday was a bit heavy on the mind considering it all. Not to mention exhausting as his body was still healing from the fight with Hisako. That also reminds him that he needs to get a new uniform as it got roughed up during that.

Changing into something casual, Leizcio goes out of his room and is greeted by pech at his feet rolling around the floor asking for pets. Obliging, Leizcio squats down and began rubbing pech's stomach as pech started to pur. A bit after, Hisako comes out of her room, surprising Leizcio but remembering that she lives here now.

"Morning Leizcio." Hisako says as she squats down as well, looking at pech.

"Morning, sleep well?" Leizcio asks as he stops petting pech so Hisako could.

"Yes, still a bit sore from yesterday. Also, where's your mother? I would've thought she would be here yesterday."

Leizcio paused for a moment looking blankly at the floor. Course, he can't blame Hisako for not knowing, she's only known Leizcio for less than a day. Taking a deep sigh, Leizcio explains to her.

"She passed away a few years ago so it's just me and my sister Lavania." Leizcio tells her.

"I see, my condolences."

"It's okay. Let's go see if Lavania needs help with anything alright?" Leizcio says quickly finding something to distract himself. Getting up, Leizcio heads downstairs as Hisako follows.

"Hey Leizcio, Hisako, are you two feeling better?" Lavania asks the two while she finishes making a drink for a customer.

"I'm feeling fine." The both of them respond simultaneously, Leizcio looking at Hisako in surprise and Hisako not sure why he's surprised when they just said the same at the same time.

"Okay that's good to hear. Leizcio, can you help Hisako finish up setting up her room?"

"Sure."

Leizcio and Hisako head back upstairs into what was now Hisako's room. Even though she hasn't been here long, the room already looked much more organized than Leizcio ever had his own. Then again, there wasn't much there, just the basics. Leizcio decides to sit on the bed and Hisako sits down in the chair across from him. An awkward energy fills the air, what do you say to someone you've never met before only to learn they're your sibling?

Breaking the silence, Hisako asks Leizcio a question.

"Leizcio, why did you go to UA? How come you weren't taken with me to train under Mashito?"

Sighing, Leizcio gets ready to give her the rundown.

"I was considered quirkless back when I was 4, that's why Mashito left us, Lavania didn't have a quirk and neither did I, so were just seen as trash. Up until a few months ago though, my quirk had manifested, and it allowed me to catch up with everyone else I guess."

Hisako nods, understanding what Leizcio is saying. Given his quirk, it'd make sense that it didn't manifest purely back then, going at those speeds as a kid would be harmful, so it could be that his body was adjusting to his quirk over time and just needed a fire lit under it to activate. But she still has one question.

"Why do you want to be a hero though?" Hisako was forced to enroll at Shiketsu because of Mashito, the only reason she knew why she'd become a hero was to continue the "legacy", but she hasn't found a real reason to be a hero.

"I want to be a hero because I want to save everyone. If I didn't get my quirk, I would've been going down the support gear path. I wanted to help people in any way I can and if I can help the heroes, I can help everyone. But now I can do both. And I got tired of just waiting to be one when everyone has had their quirk for so long."

Sure Leizcio still tinkered with the gear he made, but his quirk has given him what he wanted for so long, to have any form of power like everyone else and use it for the good of others. The whole reason why he went through with the vigilante act.

"I see... I guess I'm just now wondering why I want to be a hero or if I even want to be one." Hisako comments, admitting to not knowing. Leizcio takes a second to think of what to tell her.

"It's... well it's something that takes time to know, but the moment that you feel your body yelling, telling you to go, run into fear, that's when you're ready."

Hisako, kind of understood what Leizcio told her, to be fair it was pretty vague even for Leizcio, but it was the best he could come up with at a moment's notice.

"Thanks Leizcio."

"Of course, I'm going to go into my room now if you don't mind." Leizcio says as he gets up from the bed, getting a nod from Hisako as he leaves and closes the door.

Heading back into his room, Leizcio throws himself onto the bed. He has that strange feeling of the body being tired but the mind sure as hell isn't. Looking at his phone, he starts looking through the news, noticing that the "Blur" hasn't been on there for a while luckily. There were also some videos already out of the sports festival, even managed to spot a highlight of himself during the Bakugo fight. Rewatching it, he's still stumped on what he did that saved him from the first big explosion. Before seeing it again, Leizcio suddenly gets a text.

It was from Yaoyorozu telling him that she was coming by soon.

"What?" Leizcio mumbled to himself looking at the text. He doesn't remember anything about Yaoyorozu coming over to visit the cafe.

Oh wait. He remembered talking to her about something before the whole Mashito mess. Something about coming to the cafe. Quickly replying with a sure, he racks his brain trying to remember the rest of the conversation. Looking at the time on his phone, he realizes that it's practically noon. That's what he told her about the cafe slowing down in terms of clients.

"Shit shit shit." Grabbing clothes from his drawer, he quickly takes a shower and gets ready, throwing on some casual clothes. A bit anxious since he doesn't usually ask people to come by. He double-checks himself in the mirror just to realize that he's overthinking it and heads downstairs.

Once he's downstairs, Leizcio sees Yaoyorozu entering the cafe waving at him.

"Hi Esperanza, how's your break going?" She asks as she sits down at one of the tables, Leizcio joining quickly.

"I got some well-deserved rest, so I'd say it's going pretty well about you?" Leizcio said wishing that was true. Didn't help that he barely got any sleep last night.

"That's good to hear, I've been doing fine, it feels good to get some time to relax. Also, this is quite the nice place, it has a comforting feeling to it." Yaoyorozu responds as she looks around the cafe. A smell of ground coffee, a small chatter as customers talked to each other and even some gathered around pech admiring the tabby cat in all his glory.

"Thanks! Oh that reminds me, do you want to order anything?" Leizcio said perking up and getting a menu of items and drinks. Leizcio always feels a bit of happiness when someone brings up how well the cafe makes someone feel, it was something he helped his sister build up, feeling a sense of pride when people enjoy it, whether it be their pastries or the cafe in general.

"What about the conchas? They look nice but I don't know what they are." As Yaoyorozu's attention is focused on the conchas featured on the menu. Glancing over at Leizcio, his eyes were practically sparkling. That's also the other thing, Leizcio is always happy to explain anything from his ethnicity to anyone.

"OH! They actually originated a really long time ago backwhenfrenchimmigrantswenttomexicoandexposedthemtolotsofingredientsfrommexicothat..."

"Uhhhhh." Was all Leizcio could utter trying to understand what just happened as Yaoyorozu also looked at him in confusion. He just started explaining it but his voice suddenly started... accelerating?

"Did you just make yourself speak faster?" Yaoyorozu curious as to his sudden change in voice.

"I think I did? I honestly have no clue." Leizcio says as he feels his throat questioning what just happened.

"Anyways, conchas were basically baked in Mexico but had influence from the French since it was during the colonial period of way back, resulting in a Mexican sweet bread that kinda looks like a seashell, hence the name concha!" Leizcio successfully explained without anything weird happening to his voice.

"It does sound interesting, can I get a few of those then?" She asks, a bit intrigued as to how they taste. Leizcio was a bit surprised to hear she wanted multiple but quickly remembered it's most likely her quirk affecting her.

"Course! You want anything to drink though?" Leizcio asks as he was about to get up out of his seat. However, asking this would immediately sit him back down as Yaoyorozu had noticed the teas the cafe served.

"How do you have this many options for tea?" Yaoyorozu questions as she looks at all the combinations possible on the menu.

"Easy, we have a selection of herbs to choose from, but if you're not well-versed in which herbs would go well together for your taste, we also have pre-selected ones!" Leizcio explains pointing at the tea section of the menu.

Analyzing the options, Yaoyorozu decided that she'd get the Canela tea, a simple but strong cinnamon tea. Leizcio got up and went to prepare the teas, having thought of having a lavender-based one himself. As those were steeping and getting flavor, Leizcio went to go get the conchas, he comes back to the table but is immediately called out by someone.

"Esperanza! How're you're doing!" It was none other than his other middle school friend, Iro Hamada. Leizcio hasn't seen him since they parted ways. Quickly putting the conchas down on the table.

"Hamada! I've been doing well! How've you been?"

"I've been good, but someone forgot to tell me they got into UA!" Hamada says as he lightly punches Leizcio which hurt Leizcio a bit more than usual due to yesterday but he was fine.

"Heh my fault, but what're you doing here?"

"I figured I'd drop by and visit! Especially after seeing you earn 3rd place in the tournament! Lots of people from our old middle school talked about it dude!" Hamada said pulling out his phone showing Leizcio's sudden mini-fame as the speedster of UA.

"Nice! And you're always welcome to visit!" Leizcio gives him a side hug that Hamada returns which reminds him of something.

"Oh excuse my rudeness! Hamada, meet Ya-"

"Yaoyorozu! You did amazing out there! I'm Iro Hamada!" Hamada says surprising both Yaoyorozu and Leizcio.

"Oh... well thank you. Nice to meet you!" Yaoyorozu said, hesitant to taking the compliment, almost as if she felt it wasn't deserved.

"Why don't you join us Hamada, do you want anything?" Leizcio asked as he brought another chair over to the table where he was sitting with Yaoyorozu.

"I'll join for a bit but I won't get anything since I'm only here for a short bit." Hamada told Leizcio as he took a seat. Leizcio was a bit confused since Hamada would stay for a bit at the cafe during middle school. That actually raises the question...

"Hamada, where did you end up going to high school?" Leizcio asked taking a sip out of his lavender tea.

"Shiketsu High!" Pulling out a hat with a gilded S symbol on it from the backpack he had and put it on his head.

"Wait you got in and you didn't tell me?" Leizcio asked giving Hamada a light punch on the shoulder congratulating him.

"Yeah! I can't believe it myself but we're finally going to be heroes Esperanza!" Hamada exclaimed with a wide grin on his face. Leizcio had a large smile on his face too. Sure him and Hamada might not be as close as he is with Ochaco, but he's still a great friend, and seeing your friends happy can be one of the greatest joys. Heck, even Yaoyorozu smiled seeing the two cheer each other on, happiness is contagious, especially with those two.

"Oh Esperanza that reminds me, have you heard of anything new of the "Blur" recently yet?" Hamada asks him as he looks through his phone searching for something to show Leizcio.

Leizcio's eyes suddenly widened in anxiety as it was brought up out of nowhere. Especially mentioning this around one of his friends. Luckily "Blur" has faded for now, but leave it up to Hamada to keep track of his vigilante alias, he's been watching "Blur" since the beginning.

"What do you mean Blur?" Yaoyorozu asked wanting to know more. Unbeknownst to Hamda and her, Leizcio is mentally panicking.

"You don't know the Blur?! He's like one of the coolest vigilantes to have been around!" Hamada says with pride, Leizcio feeling semi-flattered but still very nervous. He'll just have to take over for this one.

"The Blur is apparently a vigilante who operates at night saving others. They also fight villains but mostly prioritize saving others. The reason why they're called the Blur though is that nobody has been able to get a good photo of them." Leizcio says trying his best to make sure he explained as little as possible without being stupid and revealing it's him.

Yaoyorozu was a bit interested but Hamada was a tiny bit confused since he doesn't remember Leizcio to be someone who payed attention to hero news since it didn't catch his interest before.

"How'd you describe them so well?" Hamada asks curious about his friend's sudden knowledge.

Shit

"Uh... They're pretty cool? Takes lots of guts to do what they do!" Leizcio half-asses a lie, hoping that the two buy it.

"Yeah you're right!" Hamada says instantly trusting in Leizcio.

"How so? They are doing morally right things but it's also illegal." Yaoyorozu brings it up, making Leizcio internally sweat. Hamada looks like he's about to say something that might be a bit intense so Leizcio quickly intervenes.

"This is rich coming from me since I'm no law-breaker but some laws get in the way of saving others. Sure there might be pros around and of course, they can handle those situations. But what about when there are no pros around? Someone has to give hope to those people. The Blur is someone who does that."

The two looked at Leizcio surprised and now Leizcio is terrified for his soul, ready to put his hands out and have cuffs slapped onto him. But it was rather the opposite.

"That is a valid point, and if they don't actively seek violence, then they are doing the community a service." Yaoyorozu says nodding in agreement.

"Esperanza gets it!" Was all Hamada said, Leizcio bringing up the points he wanted to say. However, he looked at his phone, and his face had fallen to a flat emotion.

"I gotta go now Esperanza, I got training in an hour. I'll come by again soon though!" Hamada said as he gave Leizcio a sidehug.

"Of course, you're always welcome here Hamada, see you again soon!" Leizcio says as he waves bye to his friend. While he gave him the panic attack of his life, it was nice seeing him again.

"Esperanza, these conchas taste great! How do you and your sister do it?" Yaoyorozu asked as she finished her last concha.

"Sorry, can't say. It was my grandmother's recipe passed down to me and my sister!" Leizcio says as he grabs himself a few conchas.

The two ended up talking to each other for quite a bit, the two asking simple questions or their opinion on teas as it was something Yaoyorozu was clearly passionate about. The same went with Leizcio and pastries. As the clouds startled to settle in and customers slowly left one by one, the two were still at it talking to each other.

"Wait so you've done etiquette training before?"

"Indeed, but it was very boring and time-consuming. Glad that's over with though."

The two both looked outside to realize that it was starting to get dark and were both surprised how fast the time had gone by.

"Do you already have a ride Yaoyorozu?"

"Yes, no need to worry. They were closeby so they'll be here soon." Yaoyorozu confirmed as she checked her phone to make sure. The two decided to clean up their table meanwhile as Yaoyorozu waited for her ride. She also wasn't lying when she meant soon as a... Limo? pulled over in front of the cafe.

"Ah my ride is here. Thank you for today Esperanza, it was nice to spend time relaxing with a friend." Yaoyorozu says with a smile on her face.

"Same here! And what I said to Hamada applies to you too Yaoyorozu, you're always welcome here so don't be afraid to drop by if you want more conchas or to try out teas!" Leizcio said with a smile on his face as well.

"Thank you Esperanza. See you in class!" Yaoyorozu said as she waved bye to him while exiting the cafe. Leizcio waved bye as well and saw the limo drive off into the distance. While all that was nice and relaxing, it sure as hell drained his social battery.

"Leizcio, can you help me finish cleaning up the cafe?" Lavania says as she and Hisako start cleaning tables. Leizcio doesn't respond as he immediately starts to get to work and clean up the cafe at normal speeds. Leizcio just felt more relaxed so he decided to go at "normal" speeds.

When they finished cleaning, the three of them head upstairs ready to check-in for the night. As Leizcio threw himself onto bed and checked out. Lavania tucking herself into bed and falling asleep, Hisako was the one who couldn't sleep quite yet.

She got to see Leizcio and his friends talk with each other, laughter, teasing, smiles, and even small arguments. Even with his sister Lavania. It leaves Hisako with a small smile on her face that she now has the chance to be herself and make friends so she can be happy like Leizcio and his friends.

Chapter 23

END