As much as Toshinori didn't want to be there, he had to admit is was kinda nice to just relax for a little bit. Mountain Glenn had a pretty nice hospital with its comfy beds and warm meals, which 'Mister Kagemusha' was staying in over the weekend for the sake of observation after that attack in the tunnels.
Apparently looking like a dehydrated scarecrow had worried some of the doctors. Who'da imagined that?
He had to remind himself every now and again that he could use the rest after nearly wearing himself out, that everyone had things under control and the evildoers were routed. But he didn't like just sitting on his hind end while others had to pick up his slack, and all the unknowns about that 'Monochrome League' put him further on edge. Who were they? What did they want, aside from his head? It seemed a pretty lofty goal, wanting the head of the Symbol of Peace, but there didn't seem to be a logical explanation for the why.
And unlike so many other lowlifes that tried to kill him, that bunch had already proven they might be able to pull it off.
That birdbrain...thing that looked like a knockoff Grimm was hellaciously tough, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. They were smart enough to plan ahead, to bring a small army of mercenaries or fanatics or just greedy idiots, and the ones in charge had semblances that were too powerful for them to have just missed. In the end there were just too many unknowns, and all he could do was sit here like a useless piece of flotsam to get his strength back.
Strength he was losing in inches every day.
How long until he was utterly spent? How long until the last gasp finally gave out? Would it be a quiet whimper in the dark, or a loud whimper where it was nice and public? Knowing his luck, it'd probably be in the middle of some big event, and where would that leave the Symbol of Peace then, hm?
Some symbol he was.
As he sighed and tried to fight off his darkening mood, the sound of the opening door drew his attention. Even before the person was fully revealed, he knew her just from the shadow she cast on the floor. Hell, ask any Hunter on that continent and they'd probably be able to identify it.
Nobody, not nobody, forgot Glynda Goodwitch.
For a moment he felt like he was back in school, sick in bed when she stepped in, her expression cool and collected as she took him in, sighed, and shook her head. Heh. Guess it was familiar to her too. After a slow and dedicated roll her shoulder, to better accommodate the bag she had, she turned around to say some quick thanks to the nurse before she slipped the rest of the way inside. "One of these days, you will be the death of me." She said, though the lack of acid in her tone told him she wasn't quite exasperated with him yet.
"Ah. Sorry about the trouble, Glynda." Toshinori chuckled feebly, scratching the back of his head as she casually made her way over to a chair beside the bed. He hated the idea of aggravating her of all people, and not just because they were old teammates or the fact she was one of the strongest Huntswomen on this planet. It was because she's always been stuck looking after him, putting the pieces of his sorry butt back together when she wasn't being Ozpin's right hand or the staff's babysitter. Probably the hardest working woman in the four kingdoms, and he did what he did best and just added to her workload. Some friend he w-
"That's enough of that." Her voice snapped him out of his darkening thoughts, glasses glinting ominously in the overhead fluorescent lights as she reached into her bag and pulled out a knife..and a green apple? "I came here because you're my friend, not an obligation. So I would appreciate it if you didn't look like I was here to yell at you." With that said there was a flex of her power before the knife began to bite into the apple, slowly peeling it and floating out of the way as she leaned back over to pull her scroll out of her bag. It was oddly jarring to see her power being used so mundanely, when not even 12 hours ago she had charged after him into the underground with a swarm of Huntsmen at her heels, using her semblance like it was the bitch-slap of an angry god. Did she really not realize how casually intimidating she was?
'...this is Glynda. Of course she knows!'
"I also decided to share with you some footage you might enjoy from the tunnels' security cameras." After several quick taps on the scroll, she set it into his lap, letting him see the familiar face of Izuku Midoriya charging into battle. "From what I saw he lead the charge into four separate rooms, stopping several major threats against the city, as well as a small army of men and Grimm along the way." He couldn't look away from the screen as she spoke, but the definite pride in her tone just made him grin all the more. "All in all, I would say he acquitted himself most handily."
"Geez, kid, if this'd been me I'd've been crowing from the rooftops." Yet again that boy surprised him in only the best ways. Looks like be broke more than a few of his fingers in the process, but damned if he didn't kick ass and take names. As that crossed his mind, another thought lingered. One that had stemmed from an older conversation he'd had with the boy. "The guys he hit; how are they doing?" It would seem like an odd question to most, worrying about the people that had tried to kill so many innocents, but she understood the underlying concern in his tone and thoughts.
Did he understand the weight of the power in his hands? In the thick of a life-or-death moment, did Izuku act in a way that truly befitted One for All?
This time he did manage to tear his gaze away from the screen, and felt the worry ebb from his mind when he saw the bemused smile curling her lips. "Nothing more than they deserved, I'd say. Bruising and some sprains from landing wrong, but the worst was a broken bone or two. As I said, he acquitted himself most handily."
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Glyn." He chuckled, apparently feeling well enough to abbreviate her name while she was feeling charitable. She didn't mind it in private, but that sort of thing in public would get one stuck upside down like a piñata until they learned their lesson. A lesson he and Todoroki had been forced to learn more than a few times back in school. Thankfully over the years he had at least learned one trick to stave off her possible wrath. Distraction! "So, any idea who these Monochrome jokers are?"
If she actually bought the distraction, he couldn't tell as she sighed, held out a hand, and caught the perfectly cut coil of apple skin as if finally fell free in one long strand. "Nothing as of yet. I've sent a message to Qrow, but he's out on a mission and isn't replying. As always with him, that could be either a good or bad thing." She sighed and took a bite of the discarded skin as her knife continued its work, cutting and sectioning the slowly spinning apple. "Bartholomew is looking into Monochrome cults, but I doubt he'll find much outside of some stuffy Atlesians with more lien then sense." She leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes, for just a split second looking as tired as she actually was before opening those striking emerald orbs and offering him a wry smirk. "I'm of the opinion they just took the name to sound intimidating, and wouldn't know monochrome from actual chrome."
...okay that was pretty funny, covering his mouth when he snickered in case he coughed up any blood and ruined the good mood. Hey! No immediate blood vomit! Maybe the rest was a good thing after all. "I dunno. I'm willing to bet they're being lead by some long-lost descendant or bastard child with a god complex, and are actually hidden in some doom fortress somewhere in old Mantle."
"Doom fortress?" Glynda snorted. "Really? You've been reading too many X-Ray comics. Why not a militarized iceberg while we're at it?"
"Because it'd be too cold?"
That got her to actually blink, then just stare at him for a long moment. Then, of all things, she actually chuckled, the sound so unexpected it actually sent Toshinori into snickers. Before either of them knew it, they were both trying not to laugh outright, even as she leaned against the railing on his bed and set down the neatly slices apple pieces, with the core casually dropping into the garbage. "Eat up before you say something even more absurd. I have more apples if you're hungry." With that she took another bite from the skin she'd claimed for herself, picked up one of the pieces with her power, and gently let it drift towards his head.
Normally he'd object to being babied, but it was from a place of caring, and he knew he was one of the privileged few to receive her dotage. So he bit into the apple, swallowed his pride, and just decided to really let himself relax for the time being. It was like Izuku said, he couldn't really do everything nor was he expected to. Things were being sorted out as best they could, and he knew he could trust the people handling it. So he needed to focus on making sure he recovered and was up to snuff when he was really needed, and maybe just enjoy this moment with his old friend.
And just like every other moment with the Good-but-Scary Witch, he wouldn't trade it for the world.
Weiss looked out over the crowd that surrounded the park in front of her, and groaned.
"How is it so hard to keep an eye on that girl. I swear, sometimes I think her brains are made of pancake batter."
After leaving Inko Midoriya's home, team MNVW had somehow separated, and despite everyone's agreement to stay together until they actually met up with the rest of their group, they had found themselves separated. First they were split up into sets of partners, a massive crowd getting in between the four of them. This had left Weiss with the enviable task of trying to control Nora on her own. And she had thought she had done a good job of that.
...until Nora had seen sign for some of a sale those Ursa costumes. Within seconds, and Weiss had found herself on her own.
That had been half an hour ago. Weiss had been looking for her teammate for the entire time, and had somehow found herself three streets over, and standing what looks like a small park. And in that park, a crowd had formed, one with hundreds of people before a stage that seemed to have been erected over the past week. Not a ramshackle one mind you, but definitely an impermanent one.
"How am I going to find her in this crowd," the Schnee heiress growled at the back of her throat.
SCREECH!
Weiss came to a stop, and looked over at the stadium. They were clearly setting up the sound system, and it looked like a band was starting to come out. Fairly generic all things told, probably a band had just come in for the festival. There were more important things to worry about...like finding her partner.
"Nora!"
"Oh, WEISS!"
Weiss smiled, and turned backwards to where the voice of her teammate had originated, and then felt her stomach drop.
"WHAT ARE YOU WEARING!?"
Nora was wearing one of those onesies. But, she seemed to have opted not to buy not one of the Ursa onesies, that would have been bad enough, but had gone for the even more tacky and eye tormenting Toshinori outfit. The suit had two proud antenna standing up a full foot above Nora's head, the gold and red and blue seemed to mix in weird ways due to Nora not really fitting the outfit all that well. And worse of all, Nora had that stupid smile.
"AH HA HA!" Nora's hands were on her hips, and she had thrown her head back to give a hearty laugh, "NEVER FEAR! FOR I AM HERE!"
"You are going to take that off ri-"
"Oh Weiss."
Weiss stopped, and looked back over her shoulder (All the while wondering why everyone always called out to her as soon as her back is turned to them), and felt a sigh of relief come through her lips.
"Shoto," she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Finally, a voice of reason in the cacophony of madness.
"Weiss, Nora," he waved as he walked up to the two of them. He stared at them both blankly, and seemed thoroughly nonplussed, before coughing, and asking, "I thought you were both still with the rest of your team."
At the back of her mind, Weiss felt an unease return to her conciseness. She was forgetting something...
"We got separated," she shook her head, "Listen, Shoto, I need your help."
"With what?"
Well Weiss thought it would be obvious. The fact that her teammate was dressed as a clown, did Shoto not have eyes?
"Um, well," Weiss then motioned her head back towards her partner, "Don't you think that's a bit strange?"
Shoto looked at Nora, then looked back at Weiss.
"I don't follow."
'Oh right,' Weiss felt the sweat gather on the back of her head, and a vein begin to bulge on the front, 'I forgot. Your worse at social situations than Izuku is.'
"Doesn't that look terrible," Weiss asked, trying to lead Shoto to the correct decision, only to flinch at the derisive laugh from behind her.
"You just don't know good fashion when you see it," Nora declared, crossing her arms and smirking confidently. Weiss felt the perverse desire to get out the spray bottle increase greatly within her, though she pushed it down quickly. No reason to cause a scene in public. Any sort of news about Weiss having to discipline her teammate might reach her family, and she can already imagine the...reaction if they found out about some of the things Nora had lead her to do.
Team MNVW still refuses to speak of the Omelets Incident.
Even Nora.
"I would have to question that anyone would know more about fashion than the Heir to the SDC-"
Weiss felt tears run down her face, a wide smile splitting it in half as she clasped her hands in joy.
'Shoto you wonderful man. I could ki-'
"On the other hand, those outfits do seem popular," he continued, pointing to several other Onesies in the crowd, "So clearly you are merely attempting to participate fully in the local traditions. Therefore, I think we can put aside fashionability for the sake of cultural acceptance, don't you Weiss?"
'-ck your ass you socially-dumb, mouth-breathing, ungrateful piece of sh-"
Weiss's inner insults and Nora's sheering were suddenly cut off, as the speakers began to blare up.
"Hello Mountain Glenn!" The voice, male though high pitched, stated, "Are you ready to Rock!?"
The crowd, and Nora, cheered wildly. They cheered for what seemed to be a full minute, before finally settling down. Then, when the sound was gone, the first bit of music began to play. It was on a piano, and it took Weiss a few seconds to recognize that song...
"Oh no."
"ALRIGHT!" Nora began to wave her arms in the air, "I love this song!"
"Of course you do," Weiss, grabbed Nora, "Too bad we have to-" she then looked around, and realized that the three of them had quickly been surrounded and in general swallowed by the crowd, "-go?"
Weiss knew she was doomed. Not just because it was that song, the bane of the entire Atlesian Court, but because it wasn't just coming from the speakers. The crowd around her was singing too.
Including her wonderful partner. Nora, Weiss had found out long ago, couldn't actually sing, but would rather shout at the top of her lungs, and claim that was "Singing". And it was...
...in the same way that a six week rotten apple would technically count as food.
"I hate this song so much."
"Why?"
Weiss looked back at Shoto with a glare that she was sure could turn a man to stone. Unfortunately, she was not a gorgon, and Weiss would be forced to explain this to him.
"First of all, it is definitely simple," The song had slowed to the piano again, "You hear the piano. That is a simple four chord structure. The simplest and most basic song structure of the past century. You write those chords, and you are saying, 'I don't care about complexity or music as a medium'."
She then continued, "And the rest of the song is just like that. It's mostly cheesy lyrics that are put on by people who only want to reach the largest crowd, and get them to buy a record or download them on their scroll. The Lyrics don't actually mean anything on their own artistic level beyond getting a cheap connection to the audience."
The crowd cheered wildly, as Weiss threw up her hands in frustration as the singer inserted Mountain Glenn directly into the lyrics.
"See what I mean. They can just change the lyrics just go get the crowd to cheer," she rubbed her temples , "The replacement lyrics don't even scan well at all!"
Shoto looked back up at the stands, and then over at Weiss again. Weiss grumbled once more.
"I think I can see your point, at least a bit."
"A bit," Weiss huffed, Glaring up at the stage, "Shoto, this stuff," she refused to refer to it as music, "Is the very thing I fought against in all my time training as a singer in the Atlesian Circuit. It is cheap-seat, heart on your sleeve, completely unrefined schlock!"
"You are right," Shoto nodded. Then he added a question.
"And what's wrong with that?"
"Wha?"
The guitar had started up. The strings started on two close together chords, but surely moved apart until they were quite distinct, only stopping when the drums were slammed to live.
"What's wrong with trying to reach the crowd?" Shoto looked out at the cheering crowd, many people waving their arms in the air, just as Nora was.
"Wel-"
"After all," Shoto continued, a wistful look appearing in his eyes, "Isn't that what Toshinori Yagi does best? Isn't that what he showed us the greatest gift we as Huntsmen can provide to the people of this broken world, the inspiration and hope to overcome all the evil that surrounds us?"
"Yes, but," Weiss found herself fumbling, trying to reestablish her argument.
"I mean," Shoto continued, "They do seem quite good at it. It's quite clear that they put a lot of thought in how this song would go. It doesn't seem to be just thrown together."
"Well yes," Weiss nodded, "The instrument's don't really form together into some unlistenable sludge or anything. And the songwriter does understand the way around rhyming lyrics," she stopped, and looked down again, "And yes, the structure of the song is impressive, with the chorus only actually being sung once in the whole song, at the end, but-"
"But...?"
"But-"
Weiss listened to the drawers roar to life alongside the guitar and bass. She could tell every individual note that they were playing, and it brought back memories of her training. Of her studying the classics, of learning the circles of fifths, and general theory. Of the hours she had worked attempting to write her own concertos, one day to be truly honed into her own. And most of all, she thought of her father listening to records of the current big performances, and the very next day, her being assigned those specific pieces, with the tutors being given the express order to make sure she could do it even better.
And then she thought back to the record she had just received. Her old ri-no, she did not have that low self-esteem. That little jealous witch had been given a classic of the ages, and yet had shown to be completely incapable of handling it. She had only managed to hold on because of a large number of little pieces of assistance, like a microphone in a small theater, allowing her to even come within a fraction of success. And yet she had been praised up and down for it. A mediocre performance of high art was all it took to earn high praise of the Atlesian court.
And here...well honestly, the singer's voice would never be accepted at an Atlesian Court. Too...wrong to do any of the classics.
And yet he was perfect for the song. He hit the notes, absolutely correctly, moved to the next line with the music at the exact right moment. He kept the microphone at the appropriate distance, and it was quite clear that he was only using it at all because he was singing to the open night.
The singer...no, the performer was perfect for that lowbrow song. He clearly understood the music he was singing, and the way he was writing the melody and lyrics together to form...music.
She looked over at Nora. While originally Nora had been shouting her singing, she had seemed to join in with the rest of the crowd. While she was still smiling, however, Weiss could also see tears begin to form at the sides of her partner's eyes, and tried to guess what connection the song would have to her. But, knowing that Nora had come from some backwater village with limited communication access, she could almost guess that the song would probably only begin to matter to her after she and Ren had returned to civilization. Or perhaps she had known someone with the record before the tragedy befell her hometown.
She looked back over to Shoto, and she noticed his mouth was moving with the words of everyone else. He was still clearly too shy to really start openly singing, but still, even doing so quietly was a big step on his social development.
The guitar started up, taking center stage, with the drums providing a bit of backing sound. The song is still stupid. It's still cheesy. It still aimed right at her heart without out any real consideration about what it was trying to say. There was absolutely no place for it in the high place of the Atlesian court.
And yet, for all Weiss's long built up resistance came crashing down with the next word the singer said. And to part of her eternal shame, Weiss sang the chorus with the crowd.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"That was so great!" Nora danced around in front of both Shoto and Weiss, who both looked wistfully at their friend as though she were a child they were tasked with looking after. They had just gotten out of the concert, and were on their way to meet up with the rest of their group.
"Shoto," Weiss finally said, when she thought that she could see that Nora was out of earshot, "Thank you."
"Oh...what for?"
"For making me look at myself in a way I should have, but often fail too."
"Oh."
The two continued to walk, trying to figure out what to say next.
"You're welcome."
"I think...I think," Weiss finally caught what she wanted to say, "That this is important to me, because it means that there is one less place that my father is next to me. One less place where his judgment matters."
"Ah," Shoto kept walking, "I didn't do anything wrong this time, did I?"
"No, no," Weiss chuckled, "I will tell you if you do anything out of line. Deal?"
"Deal."
Weiss smiled, feeling a bit warmer all of the sudden, which was kind of weird while standing next to an ice user. Three seconds later, the two had caught up to Nora, who was looking at Weiss with a small smirk on her lips.
"What?"
"Oh," Nora seemed caught off guard, before turning around, "Just was enjoying the fact that I was right about a song and you were wrong."
"Whatever."
Still though. That was new. Perhaps there was a record store in Vale that she could go to try and listen to some new music like this. Allow her to spread her wings beyond the old Atlesian Classics. Maybe start out with some more respected stuff, then move on down.
After all. She had enjoyed this last song, so who knows, Schlock might just be her thing.
Lie Ren was rather tolerant when it came to Izuku Midoriya's occasional difficulties with people. If anything, it was a nice contrast to the bluntness some of his team members exhibited or the way Nora would straight-out ask him everything, no matter how blunt or out of the world it may be. But even Lie Ren's patience had his limits - and watching the young boy from Mountain Glenn circle around the question he apparently wanted to ask him for a good five minutes - had already crossed that line.
"Out with it, Midoriya. It can't be that difficult, can it? You're probably just over thinking things. Just ask away."
"Ok, then I'll just spill it out."
Izuku looked around to ensure no-one else was listening in.
"Ren, would you dance with me?"
"Of course... huh?"
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Are you sure this is safe, Ren?"
"I assure you, the rest of my teammates is off for at least an hour or two. Todoroki is off to train his Semblance and Bakugou is training Ruby in close combat. No way he'd let her rest after a mere hour."
Izuku nodded, his doubts cleared.
"So basically, Weiss and you stopped meeting for her to teach you dancing, ever since you beat her in that sparring match in that somewhat... embarrassing manner?" Ren inquired.
Izuku immediately had a look of guilt on his face, so the young ninja quickly spoke on.
"But I thought you two managed to patch up that problem since a good while already?"
"We did, but at first it still felt a little too awkward to ask her to pick it up again. With me touching her while dancing, I felt it would remind her about the spar. I felt it was too early, that I should maybe let that wound to her pride heal a little more first, before ripping off the band-aid."
Ren nodded, that sounded like a worthwhile consideration, given what he knew about the Schnee heir's demeanor.
"But then I started thinking I should still try to improve my skills on my own during that down time, if only to ensure what little I learned wouldn't dull due to me not using it."
Lie Ren chuckled, but figured that really fit Izuku Midoriya. Always the perfectionist, so dedicated to improving himself, yet so quickly to discount almost anything he already mastered. Reminding him to not belittle his skills would probably be pointless. Ren quickly jerked one of his knees to participate in a more difficult maneuver. Due to his upbringing he had gotten some skills at dancing, both as preparation to improve a mere growing child's developing coordination and in preparation for his future role as the head of his family household as the heir of his name and lineage.
"Also I thought Weiss might be pleasantly surprised if I put in that extra effort. Which might dull any rough edges still left from the incident."
"I believe others might call that fishing for brownie points with her, wouldn't they, Izuku?"
Izuku nodded sheepishly.
"But to train dancing, you really need a partner. And at that point I was thinking how I never really danced with anyone but Weiss, which isn't enough to truly hone a skill, to not even speak about mastering it."
"You seemed to be quite up to the task when it came to Yang Xiao-Long during Pyrrha's birthday party."
"That was different, it was a spur of the moment thing and I really only used exactly what Weiss taught me and took Yang by surprise to boot."
Ren couldn't deny that. He briefly wondered if it really was just surprise or something more that allowed Izuku Midoriya to basically sweep the girl off her feet like he had done back then.
"Asking a girl to train with me by myself is something entirely different as well, since they might take it to mean something else, especially if I'd get all embarrassed and fidgety about asking. Heck, Blake thought I wanted to ask her out during initiation, when I only wanted to ask for directions because I was so nervous talking to her."
Lie Ren just nodded. Though an attractive girl like Blake used to being hit on was probably part of it as well, he could easily imagine the scene.
"And so, if asking a girl was out, that logically only left asking a boy. And when it came to dexterity and grace of movement, you definitely would be among the first of any people I could think of. Also, if I went by process of elimination it was still the same result. Tenya was out because I can't picture him dancing at all and he's got a certain nervous activity to his motions that would probably make it really awkward for me to try to match up to. I'm really not good enough to tackle that kind of difficulty yet. Todoroki doesn't seem the type either, but considering his lineage might have still been a candidate. But I really don't know him that well yet and his upbringing seems a sore topic with him in general."
Ren was aware of Izuku glancing at him, an unspoken question in his eyes. But it wasn't Ren's place to talk about that, even less as an actual friend of Todoroki who was more aware of the true scope, so he simply nodded to confirm Izuku's estimation, but reveal nothing else.
"Plus, Weiss and him just had some kind of falling out apparently, so I really don't know how either of them would have taken it and I wouldn't dream of hurting their chance to patch things up. And Kacchan..."
"Was out for obvious reasons, like exploding the skin of your face for even asking?"
"Yeah, pretty much that. Also he can never hear about this either or he'd never let me live it down."
"I suppose you're right in that regard. Plus, I doubt Bakugo has any elegant bone in his body to begin with. You forgot someone though. From what I've heard he's quite popular with some of the ladies outside of our social circle and supposed to be a good dancer."
"Who?", Izuku immediately inquired, nearly botching his footwork. While one dancing partner was good and well, having another with a different style and demeanor would be even better!
"Oh, it's someone you know and who surely feels like he owes you something."
Izuku looked at him, still puzzled.
"I'm sure one Cardin Winchester really wouldn't mind having a dance with you.", Ren closed off.
Izuku just stared at Ren blankly, who did his best to hide his chuckle.
"You know, just because I'm used to it due to being in a team with Nora, it really doesn't mean I'm enough of a masochist to actively seek being hit with a steel hammer."
The chuckle wasn't hidden anymore.
"Ren, your footwork is surprisingly good, probably better than mine! Nevertheless, if Cardin knew about your involvement in the toilet case, that it was that light step of yours that did him in, he'd probably be happy to have that special sort of dancing lesson with you as his priority. Honestly, if we plan to let someone break both of our legs, I'd think Nora would forever hold it against the two of us if we let someone else beside her do the deed."
Ren smiled at that, knowingly.
"You're right. Nora can get pretty jealous at times..."
Ren suddenly noticed a sound.
Nora Valkyrie stood in the door, her expression a mixture of shock and an eerie smile. How long the girl had she been standing there none of the two boys could say for sure. Nor when she had even developed the kind of stealth that had allowed her to stay unnoticed until now. Wait, was that a string of drool on the edge of her mouth?
"Soooooo, you two... I have no real idea what's going on here. But let's talk business. Who's gonna bribe me so I forget telling everyone else what happened in here? I demand pancakes, but I'm sure that isn't all the combined efforts of two skilled young boys like you can come up with to satisfy little old me.
"Also, who said you two should stop what you were doing? Keep going while we barter, I'll just get myself a nice and comfy chair."
The door closed with a sound of damnation as the two young boys gripped each other tighter at the fright at what they may have unleashed.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Blake sat on the top of the building, holding her scroll. Rewatching the video she had just taken for the third time already.
"I should delete this. I promised Izuku not to stalk him anymore."
She watched Izuku whirl Lie Ren around, the other boy repaying the debt in kind a minute later. Despite how queasy and nervous Izuku could be, he could look quite determined, even dominant, while dancing. Just like back then, when he had managed to dance Yang of all people into embarrassed and silent submissiveness.
"But this is pure gold. And technically I wasn't stalking him, quite the opposite, I was trying to catch Lie Ren and tell him I stopped following Izuku and that I wouldn't share any info with him anymore. Not my fault I checked from the window if he was alone in that room or not. Not my fault I stumbled over this juicy little scene."
Kinda funny how she never found anything to bribe Izuku with over the course of weeks, but just the moment she stopped even wanting to find anything, she hit pay dirt by accident.
"I mean, it's not really a bad thing, is it? I'm not even planning on using it, this really is just for my personal enjoyme... err, collection. Not like it would hurt anybody, right?"
Blake realized it was a little silly to loudly talk to herself. But she also realized no one was arguing against that logic. Which totally made this the right thing to do, didn't it? Her voice of reason and her conscience apparently shared that sentiment, or at least some of her more eccentric tastes, and stayed silent.
Way to go, inner Blake!
"Oh, who am I kidding, that's a keeper if I've ever seen one. Frickin' archived."
E/N: GoodWitchy Women by Preventer, Schlock By Wind-Waker, and Training Montage by Vandalgyon
-Shovern
You all know the song!
-Wind-Waker.
She took the midnight train going aaanyywhereeee!~~
-Shovern