Habemus New Chapter!
Hahahaha, even though February was short, was it a long wait?
Anyway, here we are my loves: with the long awaited chapter 3 of this story!
*Imaginary applause *Engraved applause* *More imaginary applause*
And following the recent tradition, I'll make a small announcement before moving on to the chapter:
Unfortunately I still can't get a Beta to help me clean up my translation. Which led me to wonder, "Should I pause it until I find one? Or do I keep posting so readers don't hang up on me?" Now that I look at it, it's obvious I made the right choice hahaha.
Anyway I continue to have an open position for Beta Reader in English, French, Portuguese and Italian translation.
PLEASE HELP ME!
Just to avoid confusion I need a person to whom I can pass the translated document before uploading it and can clean up and/or correct any grammatical or spelling errors there may be. The Beta package comes with multiple benefits: you will be able to read the chapters before anyone else. You'll be mentioned in the author's notes with a huge thank you. And if you call within the next fifteen minutes you will receive a nice sleeve on the occasion of your OTP n_n (hahaha sorry, I couldn't resist).
Now, with that ready, let's move on to the next chapter!
Chapter 3:
"Daily Rutine-Where does Togata go?"
After a week in her new residence, Izuku was quite clear about the routines in that house. And it all started around seven in the morning, as he brushed his teeth he could hear Todoroki walking down the hall knocking on everyone's door. Well, actually he only knocked on his own door, after all his new guest always got up early; with Togata and Hatsume it was more like a daily morning battle. The first one hated getting up early and the second one, well actually he didn't have it very clear; he only saw the girl during meals, the rest of the time he spent locked up in the garage.
-And apparently she was deaf too, since she could not hear anyone but Todoroki.
And that was all the talk you could hear during the meal. Or did Todoroki's snorts count as talk?
After breakfast, everyone would get into Todoroki's car to be taken to their respective daily activities. The first one was Togata who, despite being in summer, had to attend private classes since he was very behind with his studies so Todoroki always left him in front of the institute with a stern warning look. The next was Hatsume, who was always carrying a backpack that sounded like it was full of tools and was attending some sort of mechanics course:
-Why doesn't he force them to train," asked Izuku that Monday, once only the two of them were left in the room? Well, Togata doesn't need it, and besides, there's that mania of his..." I add, recalling the nudist tendencies of the blond. It was uncomfortable, and a lot of it-and I guess Hatsume would turn a treadmill into some kind of killer robot.
The redheaded driver only looked back at him in the mirror. That's how his talks always were.
Finally, there were two who went to train at the gym, which, by the way, belonged to Todoroki. After all, their fame did not lie exclusively with one firm. It was more about winning five mixed-arts championships in the UltimateFightingChampionship or UFC, for short in a way that everyone can remember. And that was good, it was great and something Izuku could respect. After all, it takes a lot of courage to let them broadcast on TV the way they beat you in a swimsuit.
-Good morning, Endeavor-sama! What I couldn't stand was standing next to the redhead every time they came in. As soon as Todoroki and Izuku set foot inside, everyone welcomed them with a formal greeting and a bow. Employees and customers included.
-Good morning - I greet Todoroki as he courteously responds to the time he is heading for his destination.
The building was divided into four floors, which were specifically assigned. Starting from the bottom were the reception, the manager's office, which Izuku did not know, and the bathrooms; the second floor was where all the exercise machines, weights, bars and so on were located, as well as the showers as well. Moving on to the third floor were four fairly spacious rooms, with mirror walls facing the Spinin, Aerobics and Zumba. Finally the fourth floor, which like Todoroki's house had the traditional Japanese design that made it Midoriya's personal hell: a Dojo.
And not because he disliked the tatami, nor because the heating was on at 38° which in passing did not help to ignore the smells of the place, nor because he was there under the stoic gaze of Todoroki all the time. No. Everything was relatively easy to ignore, except the heat. He definitely preferred the coolness of an air conditioner.
-As soon as they arrived, a red-haired teenager approached and greeted his teacher with a bow. -Scattered throughout the space were at least a dozen more teenagers, some chatting, others practicing among themselves or simply waiting, lying down with their backpacks as a pillow-Ah, Midoriya, good morning.
-Good morning-I'm just answering the question. It was hard to be sarcastic when you were revered-but you forgot the "sama.
-Go change-order Todoroki before heading to his place at the head of the dojo as everyone rushes to form lines in front of the master.
As he changed his clothes for the karategui in the bathrooms, Izuku could hear the rest of his "companions" greeting. And taking advantage of the holy privacy provided by the tiles and the toilets, she was able to admit, internally, that all this was not turning out to be as fateful as she had imagined on the first day. That is, he just had to ignore the growing smell of sweat and it was almost easy. When he came out, ready to go, with his white belt tied around his waist, everyone was paired up to start stretching.
-Midoriya! -Who had even managed to make a friend. He was the same boy who had welcomed them before, with long, bright red hair.
-Ask that when I have a choice, Kirishima-Responded Izuku with cynicism. And for some reason I didn't understand his comments always made the redhead laugh, making it easy to notice the row of sharp pieces he had for teeth.
Although I would be lying if I said it was all about mere sympathy. Actually the main reason was to please his guardian. Did he have to learn to socialize? That was a battle he could easily give up; after all, resisting would only bring him trouble, perhaps even a visit to a counselor or therapist. The very thought of it gave her a raging headache.
-It hurts.
-Come on, get down more! Aren't you a man? Instead, just playing with his little friends ensured him a safe floor to walk on. Although I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy making Kirishima suffer because of her lack of flexibility.
After the stretches, the physical training began, which that day consisted of a circuit of four stages, each one located at one end of the training space. Then everyone was divided into four groups and placed at each of the stations; depending on where they were, they had two minutes to perform the respective exercise. Basically it was just push-ups, sit-ups and jumps, nothing out of the ordinary. However, Todoroki's demands and inflexible attitude made the experience a real hell, and he was sure that the bastard master was contributing to all the heating with his quirk.
-Yamet! That's it for today, say hello...-By midday and the end of the training everyone was eager to go straight to the showers -Thank you for your work!
As the training ended the whole dojo was flooded with the bustle of tired and smelly teenagers. Some went straight to open the windows to let in some breeze, although most chose to go straight to the showers to wash and change their clothes. And while Izuku shared that view, she preferred to wait by the window for everyone to come out first.
-Todoroki approached him while enjoying a gentle breeze. He came with wet hair and buttoned up his jacket, as he went straight to his agency after training.
-I'll just go to the park and read. After the third day of her stay she got permission from her guardian to go and explore the city, after all it was a new place and she needed to learn how to move around there. So while Todoroki was going to work he had the afternoon off to basically do whatever he wanted. Within the law of course:
-Already, here. To his surprise Todoroki had taken out his wallet and handed him several bills, which Izuku looked at with some trepidation.
-Mmm, thank you-it was the first time he had ever received money from one of his guardians; it made him feel uncomfortable, and out of place.
-Jmp- Once again he received a snort from Todoroki. Only this time there was something different, as if he kept something to himself-Return before dinner.
For some reason that last one sounded very unconvincing. But he wasn't interested in what was going through that guy's head anyway, he just thanked the gesture once more before heading off to take a shower as well.
Five minutes later the cold water was hitting her back and she felt quite well, she took her time to soap and rinse her hair, as well as to wipe all the sweat off her body. When he came out, he had a towel tied around his waist while another towel had just dried his torso and hair. She rummaged through her backpack until she found her deodorant and cheap lotion, which she was about to run out of. Ready and dressed, he proceeded to leave his judoguide in the laundry room, a special service of the gym for young members.
When I was ready and on my way out, I was weighing up the possibilities of using that extra money. It wasn't much but, I was used to not spending it on anything so I could save it and gather it for something I really wanted. But what?
-Hey, Midoriya, he was coming out of the elevator into the lobby, deep in thought, when someone else called him. As he looked up, he noticed Kirishima waving to him:
-He asked, "What's going on?" He reached out to the redhead and the other two boys who were with him:
-We're going to the video games, do you want to come? -He offered with that typical smiling expression of his.
-He repeated in confusion.
-Come on, it's summer...-I'll take another one of the guys: Denki Kaminari. Just a little taller than Izuku, blond but with a lock of black hair, he was easy to recognize because the others were constantly asking him to charge their phones with his quirk - what else can we do?
-I'm not very familiar with the subject," explained the green-haired man, holding a hand to the back of his head and smiling ruefully. It was true, I could count on my fingers the times I had stepped into an arcade. Which Kaminari found unusual. But as the blond man told the green-eyed man about the amazing new games they had at the mall for the season, the third boy with them looked at the green-eyed man:
-Tsk-Chisto angry as he stood up and turned around to get out of there. However, the only one who noticed it was the redhead, who rushed to catch up with him:
-Hey Katsuki, wait...-They were already out on the street when he finally managed to grab him by the shoulder-Where are you going? I thought we were going to the Arc together.
-Drop dead." He was abruptly interrupted as a slap made him let go.
-Aff, I'm just trying to be nice." Kirishima defended himself, very used to the aggressive attitude of his partner and best friend. But he received another angry look in response. Bakugo turned around and began to walk away with that strange walk he had every time he got angrier than usual. He barely crossed the corner when Kaminari and Midoriya also came out:
-and pachinko! If you get enough chips there are amazing prizes-
-I don't know, I think I prefer simulators. Games of chance bore me.
When they joined Kirishima this excuse to Bakugo with an improvised lie. Kaminari paid no attention to him and kept babbling on about those modern headphones on the Arcade prize wall he had his eye on; but Izuku couldn't get past the little drop of sweat that slipped down Kirishima's temple, or the little wrinkles between her eyebrows. They couldn't fool him:
-"Some things are never different"-he thought bitterly about keeping his smile on.
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By the end of the afternoon Izuku was back in the house. When he crossed the gate he could see that Todoroki's car was already parked in front of the garage, he still didn't understand why he never kept it inside. After all, in the open, the painting wouldn't last long. But leaving that aside, someone held him by the back:
-Hey Midoriya, can you lend me some money? Togata had made a nasty habit of taking him by surprise whenever he could. Mainly by putting his arms behind him and lifting him off the ground, which reminded him how much he hated being so small:
-And to make matters worse with his damned Permeability it was useless to try to hit him. Luckily, he had discovered a technique that never failed: biting-Chump!
If the eldest wanted to keep him in restraints, he had to leave his tangible arms, which was the only vulnerable point to attack. He may have been small, but he had enough lack of pride to resort to such tricks. The only bad thing was that he always ended up falling on his ass. But once he was free, he'd rush to check his pockets and make sure he had everything, from his wallet to those mints he bought at the Arcade.
-Agh, gross, you drooled all over my arm...-Mirio complained as he cleaned up with his shirt.
-If it bothers you so much, stop nagging. I respect the green eye while it's shaking its pants.
-Don't even dream of accusing me-The blond one came forward. He was wearing a simple black cotton t-shirt and worn-out jeans, plus a backpack on his back which was hanging from one of his left shoulder straps.
-Sure, I'd find something to blackmail him with some other time.
-Ah that's a bummer-Acoto Togata walking beside him with his hands in his pockets-She always screams when she's in the house.
"-If you didn't walk around naked all the time it would be different," Izuku thought with some sarcasm. But leaving aside the lost battle of commenting out loud, his thinking was not entirely wrong. In fact, among the four people who resided there, none of them communicated, and Todoroki's screams counted as nothing more than simple hearing pollution. And of all of them the worst was:
-Not even trying," Togata noticed the green eye staring at the garage door, which had a strange sign on it.
-I'm curious, how long does she stay in there? Since her arrival to that house, the hairy one was the only one I saw coming through that door, and except for the meals, she was never seen anywhere. In response Togata shrugged his shoulders as he spoke:
-Who knows, a spaceship to return to his planet? I'm kidding, although as usual his attempts at comedy were a complete failure.
-When the joke is good, see...
-You know, I never know if you're serious-I mean the blonde, alluding to the constant sardonic tone in Izuku's voice-it's confusing, and somewhat chilling-I add a hint of humor.
Izuku was about to answer something about it, but just then something else forced both of them to back off and that was that the garage door burst open letting out a dense cloud of smoke and a very dirty hairy one covered with grease:
-Ahh damn, he was so close...-He muttered to himself as he rubbed his head, maybe out of a blow or frustration. Anyway, all he did was cover half his face with a handkerchief and went back inside closing the door behind him. At no time did he notice the presence of the two boys who were also in the hall, in different states of alarm:
-Shouldn't we...?
-But Togata's response did not lessen his anxiety. Had he set fire to the house before? Anyway, he was a little thirsty, so he went to the kitchen to get something fresh to drink.
-I ask something confused while I was looking in the fridge.
-When you arrived, you had a very strange face," explained Mirio, sitting by the kitchen counter and leaning on his arms. And although he couldn't see anything but Izuku's back, he could guess that his question disturbed the little green guy quite a bit.
-I couldn't win anything at the Arcade. -It was Izuku's response, once again with her carefree expression while there was a can of peach soda.
-Aha..." The blond man didn't believe him at all. "So, what's it like to train with Todoroki?" He asked with some sarcasm. Enough to give away his intention:
-Hell, the subject is a walking radiator. How was summer school? -It was his counter-answer. An obvious attempt to deflect the conversation, and the end of Togata's interrogation. After all, Izuku had regained his composure and would show nothing but his sardonic and challenging attitude.
-Ah nothing special..." answered the blond man standing up. "I'm going out, if Todoroki asks tell him I went for a walk.
-If you tell me what you're really going to do, I'll make up a more plausible excuse. It was like negotiating with a gangster:
-I'll stick with my weak excuse. It's a good thing I already had experience in the field. He just turned around and walked out of the kitchen, his limit was just one cheater at a time. And he had had enough of his boss.
To be continued...
*Pre-recorded fanfare*.
And once again we've reached the end of another chapter of this story... Waoh, that sounded like a soap opera host hahaha
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it: I'm looking for a Beta Reader to help me correct the details in the chapters. In the meantime, please bear with me while I find one n/n
On the other hand, don't forget that reviews are part of the healthy nourishment for every author.
See you in a month my loves!