Dual Fates
Chapter 25: Growing Hearts.
Blue eyes viewed the list as did everyone else, they all conversed and mumbled to themselves about their choices. Uviel's small hands clenched the paper when she took notice of all the supposed heroes, most- if not all of them, were scientists. Only a few weren't, however, one person's hero name made her breath hitch for but a second.
A strong pro hero she's heard of on the news a little, since, she was so focused on her gaming goals before joining U.A. Despite Almight having such a big heart, whose smile could brighten anyone's day and that everyone admired, there was one particular hero she had her eyes on when she was very small.
It was someone whose personality could almost be compared to hers...almost- and the fact that she felt like they deserved a lot more love than what they were given, drove her into seeing the good qualities of the hero.
"Hey, Saito, what agencies are you going to try?!" After Ochaco was done speaking with Midoriya, who was struggling with his air-chair, the brunette turned to face the cybergirl and beamed a bright smile.
"I- Um, well..." Nervous as could be, with a scratch to her cheek Uviel stammered and didn't know where to really start. "Uh, I have offers from... Genius, Nighteye, and- well the last one's very weird," the girl mumbled the last part; never had she ever, imagined seeing that name on the list and it even surprised Ochaco. The cybergirl ignored the others even though one of them was a really huge agency.
A prolonged gasp fell from the brunette's lips, as her brown eyes twinkled at the sight of a few strong agencies on the list. "Endeavor Office?! Genius, Nighteye, and..." the girl trailed off when she saw the last name on the list and it confused her. "Shinya Kamihara?!" As soon as the name was mentioned, an outburst of excitement filled the room when Uviel rose from her seat with admiration twinkling in her eyes.
"Shinya Kamihara's a very cool ninja who deserves way more attention! His Foldabody quirk is incredible, he can squeeze through the tightest of spaces and his level-mindedness is very admiring!" For once in her life, something she's kept hidden from everyone all this time was- not the love for Almight who's admired by all...but huge admiration for the Ninja hero Shinya. "He's like a ninja or rogue you'd see in an online game, very fast and precise!" Fists balled with eagerness, her stunning eyes never faltered when she spoke so highly about her idol.
"WAAH, that's so cool! I heard he's an incredible pro hero! I've never seen him but he sounds cool!" Ochaco pumped her fists with a large excited grin and couldn't help but jump like a hyper child.
"Whoa, Kamihara sent you an offer?!" Izuku was next to gush over the pro hero, not much longer did he lower his head to mumble about Shinya's quirk and other calculations that he did during his habit.
"That's amazing, Uviel!" A sharp-toothy grin appeared when Eijiro turned to face the girl. "I don't think he sends out offers very much, I haven't heard much about him either. To be honest, I figured you would have more scientists sending you offers. I never thought you admired any heroes either, that's awesome!" His bright smile and energy beamed when he spoke, however, that only made Saito sink further into her seat. He watched her lower her head and couldn't help but chuckle at how cute her embarrassment was.
"T- There was a ton. A lot of scientists, but none of them caught my eye until I saw his name," Though they were a little mumbled from having her head lowered, they heard her nonetheless and blinked confusedly. "Thirteen was one of the ones that sent me an offer, then Genius Office, Endeavor, and Sir Nighteye- but I wasn't expecting to see Kamihara," very slowly the girl rose back up with a gentle lift of the list.
Those blue hues stared in awe at the hero's name while quick flashbacks of her childhood resurfaced and showed countless moments of her reading newspapers or watching the news on T.V.
Her smaller self, who was covered in cybernetic lines and stayed in the darkness of her room like she still does to this day, had her mouth agape when she watched Shinya speak to a reporter. It wasn't long at all, maybe a couple of minutes before he disappeared to continue his hero duty.
Another memory of her reading a newspaper while she sat at a table and eating breakfast, there the hero was, being quoted during the conversations that the reporter had with him.
Why didn't I buy any stuff relating to that man? He's amazing! Damn, I could've gotten myself a snuggle pillow or a poster of him! Something! In her mind, the girl whined, with comical tears streaming down her cheeks and crinkling up the list unknowingly.
"Wow, you look like you really want to join," Mez spoke up not too far from her and held his widened gaze upon her admiring eyes. When he saw her give a nod without so much as a glance his way, he concluded that the girl was dead-set on the idea.
It's official! I'm joining Kamihara! EEEEEE! Hahahaha! Her inner fan-girl squealed on the inside, while the outside, her feet rapidly stomped with excitement, and a childish grin couldn't help but form. Kirishima was awestruck at her behavior, he never thought he'd ever see such a lively expression like that aside from the time when they spoke about Stargazers Online. At that moment, she circled the guy's name and put the paper in her bag for later.
Time passed, perhaps five minutes, and everyone was practically gone save for a couple. Izuku was about to head out until Uraraka asked if they could walk home together, she even turned to look for Iida who apparently was no longer there. "He probably decided on where he wants to do his internship and went to turn it into the staff room," Izu answered the brunette when he was about to open the door, but was soon stopped when a bulky Almight came rushing to the side.
"I am here! In a bizarre position!" Almight was leaned over with his fists clenched and heavy winds whistling behind him. His occurrence even made Uviel fall out of her seat with a quick squeak from the jump-scare.
"Wh- What's the matter?! Why are you in such a hurry?!" Midoriya's question only received a hand gesturing for him to follow, when he heard the teacher whisper. Just like that, they left, leaving poor Uraraka and another in the room with the cybergirl.
"Hey, Saito! I don't live too far from you so... Would you like to, uh-" Kirishima rose from his seat after looking over his list and saw that everyone left already. It was time to go home, Ochaco peeked over to the boy who couldn't help but notice how nervous he became. "Walk together? I mean, Ochaco wanted to just now, so she sort of gave me the...idea," large tints on his cheeks were obvious as he rubbed the back of his head and averted his red gaze to the side.
"It's a great idea, is it okay if I tag along? It'd be a fun way to chat and get to know each other more!" Her bright smile made the air lighter, but, more or less awkward since the boy wanted to be alone with Uvi.
"S- Sure. I don't mind... I guess. Wait, Midoriya might still be at the entrance of the school. You might be able to catch up to him; after all, you wanted to walk with him right?" After mentioning that, she watched as the girl heavily blushed and gave a quick nod. "We- can hang out at some time, though," Shyly, Saito took out her phone from her bag and a piece of paper before jotting down her number. "Feel free to call me, or something; whenever you want to chat," Uvi wasn't used to this, though she knew the brunette enough to give her a number, it just felt awkward to her to want to take a step further into friendship.
"Yes, okay! I'd love that!" Uraraka beamed brighter this time, happy to know that she was allowed to call her now, and ran over to get the number. "We can chat tonight if you want! I'll give you a call!" It was easy to say that she was excited, for both being able to hang out with Izuku and chat with Uviel.
With a small smile, Uvi couldn't help but nod and watch her run to catch up with Midoriya. Inside Kirishima's mind though, he was thanking the heavens above for the grand opportunity to walk with the girl he likes.
Moments later, as they strode down the hall in awkward silence, her heart continued to ram against her ribs the more she thought about the two of them being alone. "Um... So, I couldn't help but overhear Shoji mention that you already had the idea of accepting Kamihara's offer. Wanna head over to turn your list in?" his curious eyes bore into blue ones that viewed the floor's passing creases from each tile.
"Yeah, I'd like that...! I, uh, can't wait to meet him in person! He's so stealthy, he's so cool.~" A moment's pause ensued when Kiri attempted to open his mouth to speak, but, stopped when something mournful came from her. "I'm really excited to meet him, yeah but- Haru, she missed out on her chance at getting any offers when she ran out on the festival. I miss her so much, why didn't she stop when I asked her to?! She wouldn't have gotten kidnapped if she just stopped for a minute and talked to me! Why?! Her father's such an ass!" After that, Eijiro watched with a slightly gaping mouth, listening to her rant on and on about Haru's situation as her anger began to show the more her fingers twitched.
Not only anger towards the father but to Haru as well. "What was she thinking when she ran off like that?! Shinso came into the Principal's office and told us that he nearly got killed by her father if it wasn't for her trying to protect him! He is such an ass! Kidnapping her like that too, abusing her the way he does and shit!" The angrier she became, the more swearing fell from her lips and Eijiro was too stunned at the words coming from her mouth. Not the swearing, really, since he has to hear that much from Bakugo, but to hear her vent to him at all was a good sign of friendship.
"Speaking of which!" Eijiro gave her a bright smile when he whirled around to walk backward and view her frustrated hues. "I still haven't forgotten about my promise! After you turn in, let's go look for her! Since she was kidnapped, then they need as many capable heroes as they can get to help find her!" A fist-pumped, shark-like teeth grinning, he almost tripped over his own feet with a sound of panic coming from him and had to quickly shift to avoid falling.
He couldn't help but hear the faint giggles to his side, so the boy tried to hide his embarrassment; moving his eyes to the floor and his hand rubbing the side of his head.
"Sorry, but I think that'll have to wait- Um, Principal Nezu and Mr. Aizawa told me not to go since he'd more than likely kill me as soon as I'd open the front door if they were home. Dang, I never got to tell them where their house was at!" With a stomp of her foot, the girl pouted with a quick groan escaping.
Just before Kirishima could reply, they reached the office where many turned in their selections and stood before a desk where Aizawa was at. In silence, they both stared at the teacher who looked through the offer lists from other students; that was until his dark eyes met two other pairs. "Are you here to turn in?" questioning, he watched as Uviel stepped forward and lifted her list to him.
"Yeah, I- I chose Kamihara," The girl felt a bit awkward at the mention of his name but excited regardless. Her blue hues saw him take the paper when he plopped the others down, all she received was a simple nod and a hum.
The next thing she knew, an address on a piece of paper was received only a couple of moments later. "Just make sure when you come back to school, to bring your costume," As if on cue, a nod came from the girl, and not but a few minutes later did Eijiro and her leave. Though as soon as they did two pro heroes came in and one with a cloak began to chat with the teacher.
Later, the two were walking down a sidewalk in silence. Every once in a while a citizen would pass by with a quick glance of awe at the students, most likely because they were in the tournament and on the big screen.
Despite the heavy worries weighing on her heart, she couldn't help but feel her own cheeks heat up from knowing that they were alone. Fidgeting, her hands fiddled with the hoodie that laid over her forearms during their trek, and her school bag was held tight against her chest behind it.
"Hey, you want to hang out on Stargazers?! We did both agree to fight each other on there again, haha!" Nervousness was obvious on his face, he could hear his own heart pounding against his ribs; an excited grin grew when he asked as his red eyes filled with a child-like eagerness.
Her face turned as red as a tomato when she noticed his adorable behavior, his rosy tints, and childish excitement made the girl gush over him on the inside. "Sure...!" Agreeing, a cute but hidden smile formed when she tried to hide it behind her bangs.
"Awesome! You need to teach me a few things! It's so cool that you're Rank-Bane! I mean, It's not every day you get to run into a well-known player on Stargazers in real life, hahaha!" Upon his eyes closing, his grin broadened and his now clenched fists trembled with energy that he could hardly keep in. Even though he's mentioned that before at the end of the tournament, he couldn't help but to repeat it.
"You're- Pretty awesome yourself, since I can't ever seem to get past you in the ranks," A shy peek to the side past her bangs, her blue hues watched him fluster from her compliment when he averted his gaze and scratched his cheek.
"T- Thanks-" Although with the fluster appearing, it was quickly covered up by a glint of excitement when he roared. Both fists raising high, he jumped alongside her strides and kept going on about how fun it was going to be. "This is gonna be so great! It'll be a battle of ranks, to see who reaches the top!" As he spoke, both of his tight fists thrust in front of him as though he were mimicking straight punches from martial arts. "We'll have to call each other, then! You still have my number, right?!" his head whipped around to face her with, still yet, that grin full of energy that she couldn't stop admiring.
"Y- Yeah! I...do. I'll give you a call. I'm expecting one from Ochaco too, I don't know when though but she said later tonight," It felt so weird for her to say that, since, she's never really talked with anyone other than Haru. Though, now that she has two other people to chat with over the phone, the girl was beginning to get a little more used to it. I'd like to chat with Ochaco too, she seems cool. Pondering on the idea, her hand pulled out the phone from her bag to check her contacts list.
~~~Haru~~~
In a chair, bound by ropes that she can't snap or tear herself out of, the girl's head was hanging low facing her lap. Those brown bangs hid most parts of her face and created a shadow underneath, she wasn't happy at all with where she was at.
"Yukimura," a familiar voice she's heard before rang through her ears as a pair of feet shuffled around her. "Muni's payment, here," she could hear the movement of his hand when it lifted and the soft crinkling of money being handed to her father, it sickened her.
"Hm-" a deep humph echoed from her father's snake lips when he took the money and lifted his suitcase. What sounded like a thud to her, she assumed the case was plopped onto a counter of some kind and heard her father's feet brush against the hard floor.
With a click of a lock, a hidden compartment to the side of his suitcase opened and the crinkling of the bills was soon muffled when they were put inside the compartment. When she heard another click, the brunette assumed that it was locked again. Her once passive frown grew deeper and her fists clenched tightly within the restraints of the ropes, she hated him so much; but the twisting, mixed emotions kept her from fleeing from him.
"Wow, she's pretty! Such long hair and bangs!" A lighter voice that Haru assumed was a girl's, chirped happily and felt the vibrations of her feet pad across the floor. A smell of something sweet, an aroma of some kind, and faint breaths near her face, she was able to tell that the girl was close. "Cool, she really is blind! Her eyes are all hazy! And you said she was about to kill someone at the tournament?! Oh and killed that innocent man who was walking past the alley?!" the girl's words caused Haru's blind hues to widen with surprise and her breath to hitch for only a second.
They know about that?! How?! I didn't smell, hear, or see anyone nearby when I killed that man! How could they have possibly kno- in her mind, her frantic thoughts ran around searching for answers until something came to mind. The rain- I can't smell anyone around very well in the rain so maybe that's how! Once again, she panicked, allowing her mouth to gape and her gaze to show fear.
"After seeing that and her denying my invitation, Muni gave me her money to pay her father to bring her here," a voice, almost a whisper, was what she heard before on the rooftop when she was confronted by a shady man and it made her face light up with recognition.
"Why, though? She's trying to become a hero instead, why bring her to our league when she could easily give our location away if she were to ever get free?" A male's voice questioned, as, what sounded like to her the cleaning of glass considering the squeaking she heard, he washed a dish.
"Because..." Tomura began before she heard his feet shift to face the other who spoke. "She's struggling against her own villainous blood, denying who she truly is and I believe that helping her would not only benefit her father but us as well; her power can be of use to us. However, Muni saw that her plan was going to fail the moment she panicked in the tournament," once he explained, the girl heard his footsteps grow closer and felt movement from his hand.
The sound of air waving when he lifted it, a soft touch to her cheek, one of his fingers moved to lift her head up by her chin and made sure not to put any other finger on her.
His red eyes bore into blind ones for the longest time, although feeling a small tinge of fear, he knew it wasn't anything serious compared to her more developed quirk. "If you continue to deny who you are, I'll make sure I bring it out with force..." his softly spoken words were sickening and menacing, however, it wasn't enough to make her feel uncomfortable any more than she already was.
"Haha, yeah, just try and see if you can dude. I've been fighting this for as long as I can remember, nothing you say or do will-" For a moment, almost an instant, she felt his finger press a little harder onto her chin and a slight tingling sensation filled her senses.
"Hm? It should be working..." Tomura's confused eyes glued themselves to her, now, slightly crusted chin before removing his hand and taking a good look at it.
"Snakeskin is hard to penetrate, hers is a lot softer than mine but it still keeps her skin from getting severely damaged," Tadami spoke up after his rapier was unsheathed and a cloth was taken out to clean the blade. "A small touch like what you did won't do anything..." Grumbling with anger, he finished wiping it and quickly put it back in its sheath.
He didn't care about the surprised eyes from Shigaraki when he took his suitcase and headed toward the exit. A simple placement of his hat onto his head, those black eyes were hidden beneath the edge of it and his cane made a light tap against the floor. "If you and Muni are going to have her here then I'll leave for a while, I have business somewhere else," again, doing as he said, his footfalls grew closer to the exit until Tomura's words stopped him.
"Are you implying that I won't be able to kill her easily?" His feet drew closer to Tadami's as he approached with a menacing aura. "Are you saying, that your hide is stronger than hers and that I-" Just when he was about to finish, he saw those black eyes stare into his over his shoulder and flicked the end of his cane up, to reveal the glinting metal of his blade.
"I'm not implying anything, I'm just stating the damn facts so you'd know about it in the future. If you hurt her, then so be it- it'd only be a means to discipline her into accepting her true self but if you kill her..." as he trailed off and fully faced the man, that had a large white hand grasping his face, his black pupils sharpened into slits and his sclera turned white.
His quirk, similar to Haru's, froze Shigaraki in place with a fear-striking glare. "You'll be right behind her." With little to no sound, he disappeared in the air with impressive speed and left his daughter there. The door was so quick to open and close, that all they heard was a quick thwack to show that it was ever moved at all.
For a moment he thought he was truly going to be killed, but alas he wasn't; he simply stood there barely able to move a muscle and when he felt the relief of having control of his limbs after Tadami left, those red hues moved to view astonished hazed ones. "If he is able to cast such fear, as you had during your match with that boy..." he began and trekked slowly towards her.
"That could explain the weird sense of fear I felt when I looked into your blind eyes. It makes me wonder why Muni wanted you here in the first place if her plan supposedly failed. I simply saw this as an opportunity to help you accept yourself and be of use to us," it was strange to him, for once there was someone that he couldn't kill with a single touch of his fingers.
Very slowly did his fingers trace down her surprisingly soft and tan skin, finding it mesmerizing when he felt its smoothness. "Your skin was much rougher seconds ago, are you able to control the density of your snake hide?" his question only made the girl grin mischievously and chuckle at his words.
"Hehehe, obviously! I can only make it so thick though for so long, but, I'm not telling you how long exactly or how thick.~ Cause, you gotta have thick skin of your own to handle all the details I'd have to give share with you!" giggles from her lips, her straight stare, her tongue stuck out teasingly before her chuckles turned into laughter.
Shigaraki felt the need to chuckle at her little joke but was willed down as soon as it appeared. What he wasn't expecting, was a beaming, toothy smile and a shut of her eyes to what she said next. "Haha, your asses are going to get kicked.~" It didn't seem to bother him though, she just heard his clothes rustle as he stood up straighter and gazed upon her strange attitude.
"You're drowning in your own pain, you fight yourself, your true self is just trying to break free and yet- You're brushing it off as something minuscule with a happy mask?" Confusion could be heard when he asked and unbeknownst to the girl, the others also stood puzzled at her behavior.
"Yuhuh!" Haru gave him a reply that many would hear from a child, but, she wasn't done just yet. "It's never good to dwell on dark shit, you know. You gotta try and move forward no matter how hard the chains around your feet yank you back. At least, you'd need to if your father was the shittiest and nastiest parent alive that gives you scars to remember," Her once toothy, gleeful grin fell into a sadistic one after her answer and her familiar dark expression returned tenfold. "Do you want to see how a blind girl can fight?~" In a low, ominous voice, she asked and felt a shift in his movement when he stepped back to ponder on her words.
"Strange, but interesting," Not long after did his nails begin to dig into his dry skin around his neck, he was contemplating on what she said and a faint bubble of anger rose when he thought about it.
"Do you want a drink?" Shigaraki thought it was weird to hear him offer such a stupid thing, but the male's voice from behind Tomura did nonetheless.
"Nah, I'm good! Thanks though! I'd love some hard-boiled eggs though. Oh- and some pocky!" Another bright smile formed with a quick close of her eyes. The only question right now that lingered in her mind, a quick thought, was-
Who's this Muni person? her monologue, full of confusion, echoed.