Dual Fates
Chapter 26: Unexpected Date?!
It was nighttime, with the moon high and the stars bright, crickets happy enough to sing their songs outside. However, Uviel's fingers tapped at the buttons on her controller as she sat there wandering aimlessly in Stargazers. It was clear that boredom was getting the better of her, with her eyes half-lidded and her shoulders slouched as she made her character spin in circles rather quickly. The stick on her controller was being abused by her thumb the faster she made it spin in a perfect 360.
Her blue hues watched her character do the same and had a small glint of amusement spark when she saw her character's scarf flail abnormally. A tiny smirk played at her lips when she let out a giggle, even more so, when the scarf began to stretch unnaturally around her character and almost made her look like a mummy. Even the bow on her digital backside abnormally shook, while the hood on her head was hard to see.
What she wasn't expecting was for a male character in the arena to approach her, clad in red and black Knight armor and a large, spiky great sword that emitted a radiant glow. Abruptly, she stopped her character's relentless spins and fully faced the Knight. Uviel had to get a better look at the name and eventually came to recognize the armor, it was Kirishima. "Shit! He saw me being stupid!" devastation fell over her face as she stared at the one boy she couldn't pass.
Kirishima's character performed an emote that made him do a hearty laugh, which only made the redhead heavily blush and bury her face behind the controller. Seriously, of all times? He chose to appear when I'm goofing off? her irritated thoughts echoed. It was strange though, he stopped moving as if he went afk, but, her confusion was soon replaced with a bit of surprise when her phone began to ring.
Quickly, as it laid next to her sounding off its alarm, her pale hand picked it up and laid it between her ear and shoulder. "H- Hey," nervous beyond measure, her cheeks burned while her character idly stood there with her arms folded.
"Hey! I couldn't help but notice you were spinning like mad! What were you trying to do? Oh- I also sent you a rank challenge and a friend request!" hearing his energetic voice fill her ears only made her heart ram against her ribs faster. That didn't stop her from opening her friends' list and checking the friend invitations tab. Quickly, she confirmed it and took her time answering the boy.
"I- I was just watching my scarf wig-out. It was glitching like crazy when I was turning her and just decided to, um...make her spin faster. It was funny, the scarf kept wrapping around my character so much that I couldn't see her and my bow kept spazzing. It was worth the amusement.~" Saito did her best to conceal her giggle and not too much longer did she navigate to the rank challenge window to the right of her screen. There she saw Eijiro's request, it made her heart flutter and more nervousness well up inside.
"Hahahaha!" That was all she could hear from her phone. The girl's eyes watched his character hop up and down, eventually leading up to him doing the same thing to his Knight. Making him spin rapidly in place and causing his red cape to glitch beyond control, now it was Uviel's turn to laugh.
"Hahaha, see?! It looks so stupid!" She nearly dropped her controller when his cape became so stiff, that it was only him spinning and not the cap anymore. The girl could hear his laughter grow harsher at the glitch, which only made hers worse.
Saito couldn't help but fall backward and laugh, tears brimmed her eyes all the while, and not too much longer did she too join him. They couldn't stop laughing at both of their character's glitches, pieces of their clothing flailing, unnaturally stretching and becoming stiff. Eventually, the amusement wore off, so did their laughter as they calmed down and only had a few giggles were left to escape.
"That was priceless," her words came out quietly and temptation grew the longer she gazed upon the challenge request he sent. "Alright, so- Let's see, from the many fights we were in, more than half of my strategies failed against you. You're an o-p tank, you shouldn't be able to deal so much damage to me. Your defense is your offense, so I don't know how you're able to pull all of that power out of your butt as you did in our previous matches," Uviel mentioned with a calculative stare glued to his character.
"I'm one of the best Red Knights in the game! I know some skill combos that can raise my damage, not many people know about it except for a few that are stronger than me. I don't know why they don't fight the ranks. So, ready-up! Say go, when you're ready after you accept the challenge!" his words made it clear that he was excited.
Uviel could hear the grin in his voice, that toothy, beaming smile that she always seem to blush over. With a simple nod to herself, the request was approved and a five-second countdown in bold numbers on her screen appeared. When it hit zero, they both hurried to either end of the arena for some space. "Hey, uh, did you know there was a crowd of players on their flying mounts, watching?" her question made Kirishima make a quick, confused hum and watched as his Knight turned to look.
"Wow, you're right! A few are my guildmates, but I don't know who the others are. They must be here to watch our characters fight! The infamous Rank-Bane and Manly Knight! You're two ranks away from achieving the highest one if you beat me!" excitement laced his voice over the phone before he turned his Knight to face her again.
"Well, I won't stop until I do!" newfound determination, filled her blue eyes after her character's bow was taken off of her back and prepared for the fight. I know what to do now! His evasive maneuvers are swift, but if I stun him, I should be able to defeat him! A Stealth Archer's skill cooldowns are kind of lengthy but we have quite a few stuns and immobilizing attacks that I can use one at a time. So- instead of wasting my skills as soon as he's stunned, I need to attack a few times then give him some space before he grapples me. From there, I should be able to find openings and stun him every time he tries to use one of his self—healing skills. I need to keep him from using the shock-absorption skill that heals him every time he gets hit. It's like- the biggest pain in my ass every time I fight him! In her mind she spoke, agitation was clear as she paced her character from side to side.
"I can tell your planning. You're pacing, haha!" A blush tinted her cheeks when she made her Archer halt and her eyes narrow with annoyance.
Okay, I just need to keep an eye out for his shock-absorption, if I can stun him before he manages to fully cast it, it'll give him a long cooldown that he'd have to wait for again and it'll give me more openings. I won't have to worry too much after that. Once again her thoughts echoed and not too much longer did her lips open to speak.
"Go!" as fast as possible, her fingers tapped at her controller and her eyes appeared as focused as they were during the sports festival. Seconds turned into minutes in their match, with her constantly trying to stun him with one skill at a time, and on occasion, she'd mess up when her timing was off. His shock-absorption would heal him each time she'd strike, so she had to keep her distance long enough for the skill to wear off.
Using her stealth skill to hide in the shadows, the girl's character remained crouched as beads of sweat rolled down the girl's pale forehead. Manly Knight had his greatsword up to use as a shield, making only one possible opening for her to strike. However, she knew better, the only opening he has will be what his eyes would stay focused on. Being as good a Knight as he is, she doubted he'd let his backside go unattended.
They were both surprisingly quiet, so focused on each other, though when he turned around it was a dead give-away to where his attention was truly at. He's looking around for me, he's not watching his back! YES! Combo-time! In her mind she rejoiced, using a high-jump skill to make her character hover behind his Knight and pulled an arrow back. A stun to keep him from turning around, then poison arrows, fire arrows, an aerial strike of multiple arrows descending like rain and dealing a massive amount of damage.
As soon as her character landed, Kirishima shouted over the phone and roared a battle cry. "AAAH! My health! Two attacks that damage overtime?!" his scream of devastation echoed as she watched him bolt after her with his radiating great sword charging an attack.
They both watched each other, eyes on his health that was dropping like a rock from the poison and fire, eating at his HP. The girl stood there and used a skill that charged with whipping fire around the bow, hoping that Kiri's charging attack wouldn't reach her before the poison and fire finally took him.
"AAAH!" Another battle cry escaped the boy on the phone and just barely did he reach her with his charged attack, then, they both released their attacks. Well, would have, if that split-second didn't save her in time. The poison and fire finally took the Knight's life, interrupting the charged strike and forcing his character to fall face-first before her Archer's feet.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH! WOOOOOOOOO! THAT WAS SO CLOOOOOOOOSE! OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" Uviel screamed and laughed with a raise of her controller. Pure glee washed over her face at finally passing Kirishima, the Knight she had so much trouble with in the past.
"UVIEL, THAT WAS SO CLOSE! WHOA, HAHAHAHA!" Now they were both laughing, at this point, their cheers almost resembled best buddies watching a football game.
~~~Later that night~~~
"Wow, I can' believe I finally passed you after all this time," over the phone she spoke, her relieved smile graced her black upper lips as thoughts swarmed her mind.
"Yeah, I'm shocked too! I mean, the way you were constantly trying to fight me- I knew you'd pass me sooner or later. Good job, Uviel! Next time, I'll be the one hitting the highest rank!" Kiri wasn't the least upset about losing, in fact, it seemed to have encouraged him more to keep pushing. "Just knowing I have more to learn about the Knight makes me want to keep fighting. Your determination to fight me in our previous matches was so manly!" his words only made the girl's cheeks brighten and a cute smile to form.
"You know... I think I'm starting to understand why you keep saying manly, now; it's because the word sounds tough, strong, and-" before she could continue, the boy cut her off with his own, surprising words.
"Uviel- You're manly. I'm not saying that to insult, I'm saying that you're tough, you're strong and brave! You're super smart too, that just adds to all of your awesome qualities! You're really pretty and-" just before he finished his sentence, her eyes widened with astonishment, and could tell he was trying to catch himself.
I'm- I'm pretty? her thoughts swarmed after that as her bright cheeks worsened the more she thought about what he said. The long silence that fell between the two was proof enough that they were both blushing heavily over the other. Awkward, long quietness, which seemed to have lasted for five minutes or so until he spoke again.
"H- Hey, do you wanna um... Grab breakfast in the- the morning?! I- uh, can pay," his nervousness made the stutter in his voice sound adorable to her, she couldn't help but feel the same way.
"S- Sure," with a hesitant breath, she accepted and pressed the top of her phone against her lips to hide her ever-growing smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, then? I- It's late," quietly spoken, her question only made a shy chuckle escape Eijiro.
"Yeah! Goodnight!" excitement filled his voice before a moments' pause and hung up. Now the girl was to herself again, she couldn't help but scream on the inside and hug her phone.
After a while of laying there, she called Uraraka and chatted for a good thirty minutes about what happened. The 1v1 match in Stargazers Online with Eijiro, her finally passing him after all this time, and telling her about how they were going to grab breakfast in the morning before seeing Mr. Aizawa about their costumes and heading to their pro heroes.
They went back and forth about the latter, how excited they were to meet up with a pro. When they were done talking, Uviel was in bed and staring at her phone that sat on the nightstand. "That was a fun chat, she was so energetic- Just like...Haru, in a way," a sigh left her lips after her best friend came to mind.
Rolling over with an arm over her forehead and her blue hues viewing the ceiling, she tried to shake those thoughts so as to not ruin her good mood. "Uviel, stop worrying so much- That's what she'd say in this situation at least, she's so positive," after a moment of silence when her eyes closed, a small smile formed. Her pale hand inched to her chest and gripped the spot where her heart thumped, it was difficult to ignore the pounding in her ribs after what Kiri said.
She was looking forward to tomorrow more than anything now, eating breakfast with the one boy she had a crush on and that Haru had to open her eyes to even notice; her cheeks remained red the more she saw his face in her head. "I hope he likes the costume Haru helped me make long ago. I'd have to talk to Hastume about it though, have her help me set it all up," tiredness was taking over her mind the more she talked and her voice grew fainter, sleep was unavoidable.
~~~Morning~~~
Texting, Uviel's fingers tapped at the screen to send messages to Kirishima while she walked. Asking about Golden Buns and if he had been there or not, all she got for a reply was a starry-gazed emote that made her giggle. Her bag lightly bounced against her hip from her steps, watching as a few rushed messages were sent from the boy.
"Really? He's never heard of it?" a cute smile graced her lips when she chose to answer a question. Haru and I hung out over there once... a whisper of thought echoed, though she chose not to let it bother her too much since she knew her best friend would be saved.
After she saw his text, her eyes lit up with hope and her smile widened; he seemed rather excited about eating at a new place. Next, she decided to text Uraraka, letting her know that she was eating with Kiri and had to wake up earlier than usual. Although it was a rush, she managed to do so before her usual time.
However, something occurred to her- The fact that Nezu wasn't at her house like he was before, sort of worried her considering he mentioned he'd watch her after school hours. "I wonder why he wasn't there," her question remained unanswered, it was strange for the Principal to say one thing and not do it. "I'll have to ask him later, I guess." with that, time passed and she soon arrived at Golden Buns.
The girl was soon sitting at one of the booths that she and Haru sat at before. Her eyes full of pain stared endlessly at the opposite seat across from her, recalling the moments they shared. "I miss her..." a whisper fell from her lips when she spoke. What she wasn't expecting was for Eijiro's voice to reach her ears, at the entrance of the place.
"Uviel!" Kirishima, in all of his energetic and beaming glory, ran to her with the warmest smile that she still can't seem to get used to; warming, full of life, sharp teeth baring with vigor. Once he reached her, he plopped down next to her and wouldn't stop staring at her beautiful blue hues.
"H- Hey!" nervousness fell over her like heavy rainfall, she couldn't stop her cheeks from turning crimson when she saw his amazing red eyes.
"Listen, um- About the sports festival! I wanted to keep asking you more about your past, but I didn't want to keep prying either! Um...is it okay if I ask?" very considerate, hope sparkled in his eyes as worry etched itself on his face.
It'd be useless to avoid the subject, he already knew a lot about her best friend and the unnamed villain who has yet to be caught. About her parents dying in the explosion, and the depressing life she lived before joining U.A. There was no real need to avoid telling him now, so she did, the girl opened her lips to speak but it was hard to find the words.
"W- What did you want to know?" Saito managed to finally spit out, albeit rather hesitant, nonetheless his grin fell and his eyes appeared more serious.
"How did you become a cyborg? I know this is probably something personal to ask and I'm sorry if it is, but I really want to know," his concern was evident when he asked, she knew he was being genuine.
"S- Sure..." a simple nod, the girl's eyes moved to view the table, she didn't know where to really start. A lump in her throat was swallowed after bringing up old memories she didn't want to resurface.
"I was small when I was playing in the street. My mom and dad always kept trying to stop me from chasing my favorite ball when it was getting too close to the road. When I was just at the edge of it, a couple of drunk people in a car swerved their vehicle to use me as target practice. They used quirks to try and snipe me, but they failed to realize that their quirk was poisonous. So, when I got ran over after they shot me, my parents called the police and an ambulance," the girl gave a moments' pause before continuing with a shaky breath.
"All I could remember was being riddled with pain all over my body and on the inside. Being poisoned and having my bones wrecked, I couldn't even scream because it hurt so bad..." her voice trailed off when it began to quiver, and wobbly words soon continued after managing to calm herself.
Kirishima's eyes reflected sympathy, during her moments' silence, but grew surprised from her next words. "I almost died. My lungs were threatening to give in since my ribs were a little damaged. So, my parents paid a cybernetic doctor to save my life. He was kind enough to replace my limbs with cybernetics and patched up my ribs, my parents were so happy.- but after that-" again she stopped for a minute, the girl remembered the laughter and insults she received growing up after all of that.
"I'm sure from what I told you about my experience with other people, that you can put two and two together- I was made fun of after that, quirkless, and I lost...my parents," All was quiet now, her mind was lost in her own past memories as they flashed through her eyes like a movie.
He saw the pain in her eyes, her losses, everything now. A harsh slam to the table was what spooked her out of her thoughts and he watched as her gaze met his. He was standing and looking down at her with a strict stare, although, it was soon replaced with a supportive grin; out of his seat and beaming with hope, he jerked a thumb to himself. "Yes, that happened, but look! Now you have new friends! You have...m- me! So don't worry, whoever that bastard was for killing your parents, will be found in no time! I'm sure of it! For all we know, it could've been a hired killer! Don't lose hope, Uviel. We'll catch that bastard and we'll make him pay for what they did to you," the boy did his best to encourage and reassure her.
Her blue hues widened with recognition, she could have just told Nezu that she wanted to hunt the man down. It never dawned on her until now, all thanks to Eijiro and his beaming courage, his manliness, him just being himself. "Y- You're right! I need to stop dwelling on that and actually do something about it. I- Won't be a coward anymore like I vowed during the festival! I'll ask Principal Nezu when I have time!" the determination in her eyes made his red ones spark with admiration.
Excitement was clear on his features and pink tints painted his cheeks at her burst of enthusiasm. "Hey, can I order you a surprise here?! We're almost late for school so I'd like to get you something!" Even though he didn't know what there was on the menu, he wanted to make her eyes come to life with something deliciously sweet.
"Y- Yeah!" relieved she was, happy to feel motivation about the matter and the change of subject. A cute smile replaced her frown after her eyes closed from the sudden glee she felt. In an instant she saw him bolt for the register, watching as he stood there pondering on what to order. He's so sweet... in her mind, she spoke. A tiny fist rose to clench her shirt, the girl was no longer wearing her hoodie and it felt rather good not to.
Not too much later did he return with two trays, one with a breakfast burger and the other was a strawberry parfait with bits of other fruits inside. It put her into a state of awe, never in her life had she noticed that it was on the menu. "Strawberry?" instantly she grabbed the parfait, with a spoonful of it reaching her lips she beamed with delight.
Her cheeks lit up and a faint moan at its taste escaped her lips, the flavor sent her taste buds on a wild ride. "This is so good!" exclaimed the girl who caused Kiri to stare in shock at her behavior.
"I'm happy you like it! Hahaha!" the darker redhead was relieved to know that she never had it before, his bright smile let out a laugh.
After a while, they were both heading to U.A and were just reaching the gate. He wanted to give her a good time, to help her relax so as to not over-stress herself about Yukimura. They had a great time hanging out, laughter and talk of Stargazers Online made the whole trip to school worth the while.
Though a text buzzed her phone and it caught her attention. Saito's hand pulled her phone out from her bag and saw that the message came from Ochaco, who was straight-up surprised. When her eyes read it, her face burned a bright red and her own thoughts swarmed like bees in a hive. We went on a date?! She said that was like- a date?! A date?! We- we went on a... now she was in utter shock, her thoughts went from a hive of bees to a twister.
"Hey, your face is red! Are you okay?" Concern washed over Kiri's face when he leaned over from the side to see.
"EE-! Yeah, I- I'm okay!" the girl jumped and clicked her phone to its lock screen to quickly put it back into her bag. "Hey, I gotta head to the Principal about something, and Hastume real quick about my rocket boots! I'll- see you later?" that question only caused confusion to show on his face, nonetheless, a nod was given and he watched as the girl trekked to the double doors.
Even though he was confused, a relief was shown after he smiled. He wanted nothing more than to keep making her grin and look happy somehow, he knew why too, he liked her. What he wasn't expecting was for a familiar voice to reach his ears from behind, it was Tetsu's.
His red eyes peeked over his shoulder to see the boy rushing up to him and grinning like mad. "Kirishima!" as soon as he caught up to him, he pulled a- some sort of letter...out of his bag and gave him a challenge-initiating stare. "I'm going to do it! If you won't, I will! I'm going to cheer her on before we leave for the pro heroes and give her this!" with his hand raising, he showed him the sealed letter in hopes of spiking Kirishima's sportsmanship.
"Hahaha! She and I ate breakfast this morning before coming to school. What's that letter for, anyway?" Eijiro's toothy grin showed just how confident he felt, however, his curiosity grew when he asked. Even though he asked her to eat with him, not once did the thought of it being a date ever occur.
"A man's not a man if he doesn't confess his feelings!" with a fist giving Kiri a friendly punt to his shoulder, he turned and headed through the gate. One hand gripping onto his hip and then the other fiddling with the letter, making it tap his shoulder.
Those words echoed through the darker redhead's mind like a broken record, he was a little surprised to hear that from him. "You already confessed though!" Confusion on his face, his voice rose to gain the boy's attention just to receive a fist pumped into the air for a reply. With a sigh and a rub to his neck, he pondered about the cybergirl who always seemed to catch his attention.
Her beautiful red hair, those entrancing blue eyes, her adorable smile, and flushed cheeks. How excited she'd get when talking about Stargazers Online, her smarts, her recent bravery, and her change of heart. He loved watching her change and pull herself out of that dark cage she used to encase herself in. He felt like his encouragement was really helping her, just thinking about how great she was made his heart flutter, and a heartwarming grin grew over his lips.
A fist tightening, his smile never faltering and his cheeks remaining red at the thought, showed how determined he was to continue supporting her. I want to keep making her smile! It's so sad to see her cry, she's done so much of that already. In the past and since she arrived in U.A; so seeing her smiling more than crying just makes me want to keep doing it! I want her to be happy! his thoughts echoed, with just as much energy as if it were spoken out loud.