Shirayuki's fourth day as an intern was uneventful. She patrolled with Fat Gum and Amajiki. She tried her best to be louder and more direct when she spoke. However, she was still dwelling on the previous day's failure.
Sitting beside her upperclassman, waiting for the train to reach her station, the girl frowned behind her mask. My father…never would have fallen for a trap like that. Would he? I should have fought harder. If Amajiki-senpai didn't reach me when he did…I could have really been hurt.
Next to her, the older teenager had his head bowed as well and seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. His hands were starting to slowly curl into fists, eyes narrowed upon the floor as he tried to summon forth some courage. "Yuki."
She jumped a little, having almost forgotten that he was there. "…y-yes…?"
"Tomorrow is your last day…s-so I wanted to tell you…" Amajiki's face was turning pink and the warm hue extended to the tips of his pointed ears. "I-it's been nice…working with you. I'll probably graduate before you start your work study, but…if I'm working at the Fat Gum agency, I really hope we'll work together again."
Her mouth curved into a wide smile behind her mask and she felt a tightening in her chest. "…I…I like working with you, too…T-Tamaki, you're…really cool…your quirk is amazing and…it can't be easy to master, but you handle it well and…you've helped me so many times…I c-can't thank you enough…" She bowed in her seat, her eyes growing a bit watery.
He frowned and leaned forward more so his hair fell over his eyes. "Y-you're…cool, too. For someone your age, you understand your own quirk really well."
"…n-no, I…have a long ways to go, still…if I ever want to be as good as my father was…I want to make him proud…"
They reached their stop and the two students exited the train. Walking side by side, Shirayuki kept her head down so that her dark violet hair fell to partially obscure her face. Behind her mask, she was frowning once more. I have to get better. To make my father proud. To make Grandma and Fat Gum proud, too!
Amajiki looked over now, watching her. He could see it in her eyes. She was happy from his compliment, but she was obviously worried, too. "But Calorie Blast had a different quirk," he started.
"His personality was different, too. Yuki…you won't be the same kind of hero he was. You can't; you're such different people. But…you're still going to be great." He took a deep breath as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Yuki, this is…difficult. I just…I like-"
"Targets sighted! There's no escape this time!"
Shirayuki jolted as she felt a sudden, warm hug from behind and released a muffled squeak from behind her mask. Wide crimson eyes lifted toward Amajiki in alarm, but he seemed only a little surprised. More than anything, he seemed a bit embarrassed as Togata slung an arm around his shoulders. Togata-senpai? So…?
"Gotcha! That was such a cute noise! Do it again! Do it again!" Nejire hugged Shirayuki a little bit tighter and giggled.
"Mirio?" Amajiki gave his friend a questioning look.
"Tomorrow is Yuki's last day interning, right? We didn't get to go for dinner last time so let's go tonight. You're not busy, right, Yuki?"
Seeing that sunny, hopeful smile made it difficult to refuse the offer. "…I just…um…I-I'll have to call my grandmother…and let her know…"
He beamed and gave her a thumbs up. "Go ahead! We can wait!"
When she called her grandmother, the old woman was ecstatic to hear that she was going out with friends. Still, Shirayuki felt guilty about not eating with her grandmother. She promised herself that she would bake some sweets for her on her day off to make it up to her.
Nervousness made her stomach do flips as she found herself seated beside Nejire, across from Togata and Amajiki. The restaurant Togata chose was kind of popular, but he swore the food was really good. Not that Shirayuki had much of an appetite. She ordered something simple and kept her head down as she listened to the others talk.
Friends…with third year students. They're all going to graduate and they'll be joining hero agencies at the end of the school year. She lifted her gaze to look at Togata through her dark hair. He was smiling and seemed to be telling a story about something that happened while he was patrolling that day. Whatever it was, it was so funny that he was actually having trouble getting the words out between laughing.
At her side, Nejire was grinning and trying to suppress her own laughter at the story. She seemed to be completely at ease and her confidence made Shirayuki feel a flicker of envy. Across from Nejire, Amajiki was staring at Togata and the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly as if he was struggling to not smile.
"Oh! Hey, we need to exchange numbers before I forget! Yuki, what's your number?" The blond upperclassman gave her a cheerful look as he pulled his phone from his pocket.
She blinked slowly and tilted her head slightly. "…my number…?"
"So we can keep in touch. In case we want to hang out." He gave her a reassuring smile, seeing her confusion. "We're still going to be friends, even if your internship ends, right?"
Shift P.O.V
"Shinsou-kun! I'm so sorry, but Ume isn't home yet."
"Oh…okay. Sorry to bother you, Shirayuki-san." He rubbed the back of his neck and reached for his phone to check the time. I thought she'd be home by now. Maybe I was too eager. Frowning, he released a sigh and prepared to head home.
"Do you want to wait for her? She should be home soon. Knowing Ume, she won't want to be out for too long."
"Out?" Shinsou waited for her to unlock the gate and followed her to the house. Did she go somewhere with her friends from class? The thought left him feeling a little disheartened. Sort of lonely.
The old woman nodded as she ushered him into the house. "She called me from the station. I guess some older students asked her to go somewhere for dinner to celebrate. You know tomorrow's her last day of interning. I'm sure she's excited to get back to normal school. You know how crowds bother her. She's been like that ever since she was little.
"I remember one time when she was just a tiny, little thing. Umetarou and her mother took her to a festival and poor Ume got separated from them in the crowd. My son searched everywhere for her all night and finally found her asleep behind the shrine with a stray cat on her lap! Can you believe that?"
He could not help but half-smile. It was pretty easy for him to believe. He remembered how Ume looked when she transferred to his elementary school, years ago. Exactly the sort of child that would run away from the crowd and befriend a stray cat on temple grounds.
Shirayuki's grandmother bustled around the kitchen and fixed him a plate of food while telling him a few more stories about when Shirayuki was very young. "You know, I used to worry about her. When she said she wanted to try for UA, I was afraid she might struggle. She's so quiet sometimes. But she's really come out of her shell this year! I think it all started around the time you became friends!"
Hearing this made him frown slightly, feeling his heart beat a little faster. Did I help her? He had not thought about this before. He had focused most of his attention on how he felt about her, about their relationship.
Since they became close, she had seemed to gather more and more friends. Which was frustrating sometimes. Perhaps she was gaining confidence and he had just failed to notice. Guilt started to settle in the pit of his stomach and he lowered his head, staring down at his meal as he absently moved the food around with his chopsticks.
Shirayuki was interning with a hero agency, working with a third year student. She had a group of friends from class. She was trying hard to make herself better so she could become a hero like her father had been. Trying to make her dream come true.
Meanwhile, he was still in general studies. Trying, but struggling. Shinsou felt an increasing loneliness growing in his heart. A fear came with it. Fear that she would continue to move forward and he would be left behind. I'll work harder, he promised himself as he resumed eating. I'll get into the hero course. No matter what it takes. I'm going to move forward with her.
Shift P.O.V
"…I'm home…" Shirayuki heard her grandmother call to her from the sitting room and went to see her, carrying a plastic shopping bag. Upon leaving the restaurant, she had mentioned feeling guilty about her grandmother eating alone so her upperclassmen insisted on helping her put together a bag of gifts to make up for it. It was an odd assortment since four people had added to it, but at least one of the gifts was bound to cheer her up.
"Ume! We've got a visitor. See, Shinsou-kun? Didn't I tell you she would be home soon?"
Her heart skipped a beat when she heard that name and she quickened her steps. Sure enough, Shinsou was sitting on the couch with her grandmother. A cat was sprawled across his lap, purring contentedly as he ran his fingers along its dark fur. When his soft indigo eyes lifted and met her crimson ones, the boy half-smiled. "…Sh-Shinsou…"
"I wanted to see how your internship was going," he admitted. Shinsou carefully stood, moving the cat off of his lap, and looked at her bag. He raised an eyebrow and nodded toward her grandmother in a silent question.
"…ah…right…Grandma, I…brought you some gifts…from me and my upperclassmen…um…" Shirayuki was blushing pink behind her mask as she felt Shinsou still looking at her. "…is it…okay if we talk in my room…?"
"What's this?" The elderly woman accepted the bag and beamed. "Aren't these lovely? Well, I suppose it should be alright. Keep your door open, though."
Even though they were not longer dating, Shirayuki still felt a fluttery sensation in her chest when she looked at the boy. She led the way to her room, trying to calm herself by taking slow, even breaths. I…need to be better at controlling my nervousness, she told herself. Heroes don't get nervous. Do they?
Shinsou walked along behind her and waited patiently while she tidied her room. When he was finally able to enter, he seemed to immediately focus on the kitten stuffed animal on her bed. He crossed the room and sat on the edge of Shirayuki's bed, lifting the plush toy to look it over. "So…how have you been?"
"…I've…been really busy…um…wh-what have you been doing at school…?"