Austin lay sprawled across the couch in the common area of the dorms, snoring softly after the particularly rough day of training they had had the day previous. After a few hours of watching TV, he fell asleep on the couch, not even having the energy to go up to his room to go to sleep. He was awoken when the soft rays of the sun came filtering in from the nearby windows. He blearily rubbed his eyes, and stretched, his feet and head hanging uncomfortably off the sides of the relatively small couch.

He groaned. "Man, I really shouldn't sleep on the couch like that. Not great for my back."

He stood up, and looked around, before deciding that he should make his way to the kitchen. He was still dressed in the shorts and shirt he had put on after school the day before, a little damp from sleeping on the couch. He grabbed a bowl, and poured himself a bowl of cereal, before plopping down at the table, and slowly beginning to munch on it. He pulled out his phone, and noticed that it was only about 7:30. Thankfully, it was Saturday, so they didn't have any school. As he scrolled through varying social medias on his phone, he heard a set of footsteps coming towards the kitchen and common room. He waited to see who was coming down so early, figuring either James or Lloyd, since the two of them usually got up early to train-separately, of course. When the familiar shoulder-length brown hair of his friend Abel came around the corner, he was surprised. The boy had a neutral expression on his face, and was listening to music, with his hands in his pockets. Not long after Austin had spotted him, he made eye contact with the tall boy. His eyes lit up, and he grinned, taking one of his earphones out as he did.

"Oh hey bud! What're you doing up so early."

Austin swallowed the mouthful of cereal he had. "I fell asleep on the couch. Just woke up, and decided to get some breakfast. What about you? You usually don't get up this early."

Abel rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, I was actually heading out."

Before the tall blonde could ask where he was headed, Abel snapped his fingers.

"Oh, there's an idea! Why don't you tag along? You don't have anything to do today, huh?"

Austin tapped his chin. While he wanted to say something about the assumption that he didn't have anything going on, Abel was unfortunately correct.

He shrugged. "Yeah, sure why not. Lemme finish my cereal, and go get some fresh clothes on."

Abel grinned. "No problem dude, I should probably grab something too."

The boy walked over to the fridge, and began to rummage through its contents, and Austin quickly finished off the rest of his cereal, and downed the milk in the bowl, sighing in relief once the contents of the bowl had been drained. He stood up, and Abel waved at him from halfway inside the refridgerator.

"Have fun up there."

Austin rolled his eyes, and smiled. "You too."

Abel chuckled, and Austin made his way up to his room to change clothes.

He came back down in a fresh white t-shirt, a nice crisp pair of khaki shorts, and a light jacket, in case it was chilly out. It was January after all. Abel was leaning back in his chair, legs propped up on the table, scrolling through his phone absentmindedly. Once he saw Austin, he let the chair down, and stood up.

"You ready?"

Austin nodded, and the two exited the dorms. Thankfully, it was pretty sunny out, and moderate temperature outside. Gotta love California winter.

The tall blonde looked at his shorter, brunette friend.

"So, where exactly are we going?"

Abel grinned. "Well, that's a surprise. But first, I gotta make a run by the convenience store."

The venomous boy frowned. "Alright then, keep your secrets."

Abel grinned, and they pushed forward, changing the subject, and making small talk about various things on their journey to wherever it was they were headed.

"I'm telling you dude, Mister Deku has got something up his sleeve."

Austin browesed the various candy bars in the store, before deciding he didn't want anything.

"I have to admit, it is kind of weird how secretive everyone is being about his quirk. It's probably nothing to worry about though."

Abel shrugged. "And you may be right, but I have a weird feeling about it."

Abel checked out at the counter, buying a six pack of the off-brand Cherry Limeade soda that they had stocked there. Austin looked over to him as they exited the convenience store.

"So, where to next, oh mysterious mister?"

The rocker boy grinned. "You're fixing to see."

As they walked, Austin noticed the surrounding area to get slightly bleaker, and he got a strange feeling in his chest. They passed by a church, and then walked in a large fenced in area.

"Dude...why are we at a graveyard?"

Abel didn't say anything, merely forging forward, an unreadable expression on his face.

Suddenly, they stopped, and Austin felt kind of uneasy.

"Hey man, seriously, you're kinda freaking me out."

Abel chuckled, and looked over. "Hey man, what day is it today?"

Austin gave him a strange look. "January 8th. Why?"

All Abel did was nod his head to what was sitting in front of him. Austin lowered himself to get a better look, and his eyes widened when he saw the tombstone.

Seth Townshend

March 20th, 2020-January 8th 2032

Beloved By Many

Austin looked up, suddenly feeling bad for feeling freaked out.

"Ah dude, I'm sorry I didn't-"

Abel laughed. "Dude, don't worry about it. I wanted to freak you out."

He sighed, and plopped down in front of the grave. He looked up at his taller friend, and motioned for him to take a seat beside him. He busted open the six-pack, and took a swig, sighing in pleasure from the drink.

"Yeah, today's the anniversery of my friend's death. Crazy to think its been a whole 3 years since it happened."

Austin nodded, and took one of the drinks for himself. "Yeah, I guess. Why bring me out here though?"

Abel gave him a strange look. "Well, I wanted my old best friend to meet my new best friend of course! Ah, well I guess that's kind of morbid way to put it, huh?"

Austin was quiet for a moment, before chuckling. "No, no I get it."

The two drank in silence for a moment, before Abel spoke again.

"You know man, I was depressed for like a whole year. If not for my folks, things would be a lot different than they are now. I wouldn't have even enrolled in USAHS and met all you guys. And man, it's been great."

Abel looked Austin dead in the eyes. "I'm proud to call you my friend. And one day, we're going to be a hell of a team."

Austin felt his heart sieze. He wasn't used to such honest compliments coming his way very often. He gave Abel a coy grin though.

"I say we're pretty awesome already."

Abel let out a laugh, and gave his signature sideways grin. "Hell yeah, dude, hell yeah."

He then turned to the gravestone. "You hear that, bud? I finally got me someone that's gonna make it to the top with me."

He stood up, and Austin joined him. "It's gonna be a long way if you wanna rock and roll."

Abel let out another laugh. "Oh man, that's rich. You've definitely been hanging out with me!"

The tall blonde chuckled. "Yeah, maybe a little too much."

The brunette shrugged. "Nah, you've still got at least 3 levels of rock and roll jokes before you're on my level."

The two chuckled, and he grabbed one of the drinks, opening it and pouring it out near the grave of his friend. He smiled softly.

"I really am glad that I met you guys. I know Seth would've liked you all too. We would've been like the three musketeers!"

Austin nodded. "I would've loved to have met him."

They sat in silence for a moment, before Abel turned around, hands behind his head.

"Well, that's enough depressing stuff for me today! Let's say you and me hit up the arcade, and break some high scores, huh?"

Austin chuckled at the sudden shift in mood. "Well, as long as you're paying."

The rocker teen waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, don't worry about it dude, I know how to treat a lady right."

The two laughed, and left the graveyard, closer from the experience.

This one shot was made up by Nick Foolery the creator of Abel in the USAHS series. Please go by to read his story that I have mentioned called "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)". Also, if you haven't read the SYOC that we all have submitted these characters to please read Christoph Andretti's "Your Hero Academia: An American Life"