Chapter 13

Armed with a new quirk that she still wasn't quite confident with, she decided it was time to venture out to the park once more. It was the same day of the week and time as the last time she had gone, and she assumed Bakugo and Izuku would be there again. She had been tormented by the way she had snapped at Izuku that day after he had tried to check if she was okay. The uncomfortable thought of possibly being on his bad side had lingered for too long and she felt the strong need to rectify it somehow, even though he probably hadn't minded that much. She didn't want a bad impression to be the only thing Izuku remembered her if she were to one day be involved with his shenanigans.

Giving herself a small pep talk in the mirror, she worked up the courage to ask Aizawa to take her to the park. She hadn't asked for much since she started living with them, so she saw no reason for him to refuse her small request.

"Hi Aizawa-san," she said politely. "I was just wondering … could I go to the park today?" When Aizawa didn't respond immediately, Kaori hurriedly added, "I think I remember the way to the park, so you don't have to come with me if you're busy. I'll be okay on my own." She secretly hoped he wouldn't insist on tagging along. If Bakugo was there and she got beat up, she'd rather not have Aizawa be witness to it again.

"And have a repeat of what happened last time?" he asked dryly, grabbing a jacket from a nearby chair. "We leave in five minutes."

Kaori opened her mouth to protest, but stopped after thinking through it for a second. It was probably for the best. Accidentally force choking Bakugo would be catastrophic even if she hated him, and she wasn't confident enough in her self-control not to do that. "Okay," she said, dashing off to get ready.

Precisely five minutes later, the two were dressed and ready to go. She could feel her heart beat frantically on the way over to the park at the prospect of meeting Izuku and Bakugo again. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking, and she told herself that Izuku might not even be there in an attempt to calm herself. It didn't work.

"What's wrong?" Aizawa asked as they stepped out of the apartment. He was looking down at her with what looked like concern, and Kaori squinted, trying to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Nothing," she said, rubbing her sweaty palms against her shirt.

"If it's about that boy, you don't have to worry. He won't do anything to you again," he said.

Kaori smiled. Maybe he wasn't as stoic as he tried to look. "That just sounds like you killed him," she said, before frowning. "Wait. You didn't, right?" Thinking back to the incident, she couldn't remember if Aizawa had said anything to Bakugo after scaring him. Had he gone off on his own time to talk to him?

"Of course not," he said, sounding offended.

"That's what they all say," Kaori said skeptically, eyeing Aizawa with suspicion, who merely sighed and looked away.

She would never admit it to anyone, but Bakugo still intimidated the hell out of her. His explosions were no joke, and in the hands of an angry, badly mannered four-year-old, was infinitely more dangerous. Kaori shivered at the thought of a teenage Bakugo if he was like this now. How had Izuku managed to deal with him for so long without a quirk? She had to give it to him, he had guts.

Kaori still wasn't sure if the path of a hero was the correct one for her anymore, but she definitely did not want to deal with Bakugo in UA if she did end up there. She preferred her limbs intact, thank you very much.

Unlike the last time she was at the park, she ignored all the adorable dogs and made a beeline towards the playground. Aizawa followed closely behind, his long strides easily eclipsing her own. Giving the area a quick scan, her eyes found the bright green hair of Izuku who was sitting alone at the sandpit. Bakugo was nowhere in sight. Kaori sighed in relief, her anxiety receding.

"Go on then," Aizawa told her. "I'll be here if you need me. Remember not to go too far away from here, okay? You must stay within my line of sight at all times."

"Yeah, yeah," Kaori said dismissively, her eyes focused on Izuku. Her heart was starting to beat quicker now as her anxiety grew. This was the main character of the show! Was it really okay for her to go talk to him so casually? It didn't seem right, somehow.

"Even if you're just going to the bathroom," he continued, interrupting Kaori's line of thought.

"What? Are you gonna follow me in there too?" Kaori snarked back before she could think twice. Why was he so insistent on this? She could take care of herself, and she thought he knew that.

"I mean it. If you can't do that, we're going home," he said sternly. "Understand?"

"Yeah, sorry," she said, impatiently tapping her foot. "Can I go now?"

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at her but nodded. "Have fun," he said stiffly.

Immediately, she scampered off in Izuku's direction, his warning already forgotten.

Skidding to a halt in front of a startled Izuku, she smiled in the friendliest manner she could manage. When was the last time she had made a friend? She couldn't remember.

"Hi there," she greeted. "We meet again."

Izuku's head shot up, and he glanced around as if he thought Kaori was talking to someone else. Once he was sure he was the only person here, he turned back to face Kaori with uncertainty. "H-hi. Uh. You're the girl who Kacchan pushed," he said stutteringly as his face colored.

"Yep, that's me," she said with a wince. "He isn't with you this time?"

"Oh. Um… Kacchan is grounded. And um, I'm sorry for what he did last week. He can be a little mean sometimes." His voice was filled with sincerity, making Kaori feel guilty once more for snapping at him last time.

"It's okay, you didn't do anything. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't mean to snap at you," she said, making a face. "And I don't think I've introduced myself yet. I'm Kaori. Nice to meet you." Kaori stuck her hand out awkwardly, hoping it wasn't too sweaty.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya," he said and shook her hand gingerly. Kaori winced inwardly at the grubby feeling of his hands; she needed to go wash her hands now.

"So um, Baku- I mean, Kacchan is grounded? What for?"

"I dunno. My mom didn't tell me."

"Oh," she said, trying to hide her glee. "Not gonna lie, that's a huge relief."

"Is that guy the one who stopped Kacchan last time? He's your dad, right?" He pointed at Aizawa. "His quirk is really cool. What's it do?" There was a glint of curiosity in his eyes, and he looked as if he was trying to hold back from asking more.

"No, he's not my dad." She glanced over at Aizawa uncertainly, wondering if it was alright for her to talk about his quirk. "He can erase quirks temporarily, that's why your friend couldn't use his quirk."

"Wow!" Izuku's eyes were as wide as saucers. "That sounds amazing!" He looked over at Aizawa who was sitting at the bench, his eyes shining with interest.

"It is, I guess."

"Just think of the things he can do with it. If he's super good at fighting, he'll never lose. Do you know how he activates it?" he asked excitedly.

"Eye contact, I think," she said. She hadn't thought about it much, but Aizawa was a rather strong hero. It was easy to forget since she always sees him lie around the house doing nothing or sleep.

Izuku nodded slowly. "Then…what about your quirk?" Izuku asked.

Kaori hesitated. "I can control air, but it's really hard to make it go the direction I want. I'm not very good with it."

"Can I see?" He looked at Kaori with such an excited and hopeful expression that she couldn't find it in herself to say no.

"I don't think I'm supposed to be using my quirk in public, but sure," she said. "Try not to be too disappointed." Carefully, she tugged at the air molecules around them, increasing and decreasing them at random as gently as she could. A small, pathetic whoosh sounded, barely louder than a fart. It grazed Izuku's hair, blowing it backward and messing it up. Kaori giggled. "Sorry. Told you my control was bad."

"Woah." Izuku looked impressed, more than he should be at that abysmal attempt. "That's so cool Kaori. What else can you do with it? Can you push things with it?"

"Yeah a little bit, I haven't tried too much though, Aizawa doesn't let me do anything with it at home."

"If I had a quirk, I'd be trying to figure everything out. Please, can you let me figure some of the stuff out for you?" he begged, his love for analysis peeking out from behind his shyness. "I love studying hero quirks. And also Kacchan's."

Kaori hesitated. "I don't know. It could be dangerous, and I don't want to hurt you by accident. Aizawa-san keeps drilling that into me, and it's rubbed off on me a little."

"Oh… Okay then." He looked so disappointed it made Kaori's guilty even though she didn't think it was the wrong thing to say.

"Maybe when I get a bit better with my quirk," she offered placatingly.

He nodded and seemingly brightened up a little bit. "Promise?"

Unable to resist his charm, Kaori nodded. She had to admit, Izuku was a cute kid.

"Okay," Izuku said happily turning back to his sandbox. "Wanna play with me? We can build a sandcastle."

Kaori looked down at the sandpit, nauseously imagining all sorts of nasty things that could be in there. She most certainly didn't want to touch any part of it — she'd much rather check out what the rest of the park had to offer. She glanced over at Aizawa and saw, to her surprise, that Inko was sitting next to him and they were engaged in conversation. Aizawa didn't even look annoyed! Perhaps he was talking shit about Kaori — she wouldn't put it past him.

Kaori turned back to Izuku, deciding to take the chance while Aizawa was preoccupied to go somewhere else. He was so overbearing that she had no doubt he'd deem the other parts of the park as a danger zone and try to stop her. "Let's walk around. The park looks big but I haven't been able to see anything other than the playground, and I'm curious."

"I can show you around," Izuku offered. "Kacchan and I hang out here all the time, and I know it super well."

She hoped Aizawa wouldn't be too angry she left the playground without telling him. It was only the park anyway. What could go wrong? She'd be back before he even noticed, and perhaps if she was able to do it without getting into any trouble, he'd trust her enough to go off on her own next time.

"Lead the way," she said, throwing Aizawa one last glance.

They marched out of the playground, and into the small grove of trees a small distance away. It looked like a nature trail, like those you would find in a scenic national park. It was shockingly big, for a park that was in the middle of an urban area. She understood why so many people came here now.

Eventually, Kaori started losing track of their bearings. The park was just too big, and her sense of direction was too horrible. She hoped Izuku knew the park as well as he said he did, or they'd never be able to get back to their original spot. She could only imagine Aizawa's reaction if they got stranded.

"We're getting to my favorite spot now," Izuku announced as they slowly trekked through the trail. "There's usually not a lot of people here too."

As soon as he said that, the trees thinned out and opened up to a large clearing. Kaori gasped, stunned once more by how large the area was.

Kaori followed Izuku slowly as he walked closer. Looking around, she spotted a small sign next to the wide field of grass. Making her way towards it, she tried to read it, only to find that all the words were foreign to her. It only piqued her curiosity further as her brain went wild imagining what it might say, ranging from "Danger! Red ants" to "Watch out for sinkholes". Who knew what kind of dangers quirked society held?

"Stay off the grass," Izuku read, and Kaori's hopes and dreams were dashed. Her reading comprehension was worse than another four-year-old. Maybe it would do her some good to take Aizawa up on his offer to teach her more Japanese.

"Oh… that's a lot more boring than what I was imagining."

Before Izuku could respond, Kaori's eyes zeroed on a set of muddy footprints on the grass, one seemingly made by a large pair of shoes and the other a paw print. "Hey look!" Kaori said, pointing. "Footprints!"

Izuku followed her outstretched finger with anxious eyes. "Someone wasn't following the rules on the sign," he said. "Why would they do that?"

"Dogs can't read," Kaori told him, feeling even more inferior.

"No, the person," he said.

"Maybe he was looking for his dog?" Kaori suggested.

"I guess," Izuku said uncertainly, crouching down next to the grass.

"Let's follow it!" Without waiting for a response, Kaori took a step onto the grass, leaving her own small footprint behind on the mushy earth. "Maybe there'll be something interesting." She wasn't sure why she cared all that much, but it wasn't like there was a whole lot to do in such an open field anyway.

"Kaori!" Izuku sounded scandalized. "But mom said we should follow the rules all the time. The sign is probably there for a reason."

"It's okay Izuku," she said, stopping and turning towards Izuku. "See, no hero has teleported over to tell me off yet." The sudden unhappy thought of Aizawa appearing out of nowhere and shouting at her sent chills down her spine, and she shivered. If he ever found out, she'd just pretend like she didn't know what the sign said.

Izuku frowned, biting his lip anxiously, but hesitantly followed her.

Just when she thought the grassy expense couldn't possibly get any bigger, she saw a small gazebo next to a trail.

A man, wearing black, was standing in the middle of it, watching Izuku and Kaori's approach serenely. There was a small dog sitting at his feet, his tail wagging. Kaori squinted. There were splotches of mud at the dog's paws! The conclusion of this was a lot more uninteresting than she was imagining, but she wasn't sure what she should've expected.

"Izuku! Look! I think that's the dog," she said, pointing.

"Do you think that's the man who walked on the grass?" Izuku asked.

"Who cares?" she replied, already making her way to the man.

As she got closer, she noticed several things about him at once. He had striking blue eyes and she was taken aback by the sheer brightness of them. They looked even brighter than her own, and she stared at them, momentarily dazed. He was also wearing a suit with a tie, but it looked unkempt and the tie was askew. Why bother dressing up if he was just going to look messy anyway? And why bother with nice clothes when he was at a public park?

"Hi," she said to the man hesitantly, mentally waving away her pesky questions. She didn't think it would be polite to ask.

"Hello kids," the man said. "It's a nice day out, isn't it?"

"I'm Kaori," she told him. Izuku shot her a worried glance as if judging her for giving her name out to strangers. However, the man didn't feel like a stranger to Kaori somehow, even though she was sure they had never met before. There was something very familiar about him that she couldn't quite place. "Is that dog yours?" The dog came over to sniff Izuku and her before returning to the man's side.

The man smiled knowingly. "No, I think someone else lost this poor thing. I'm merely looking after him until the owner comes."

"Were you the one who walked on the grass?" Izuku asked suddenly.

"Izuku! Are you still on that?"

"The sign said—" Izuku protested.

"If you're referring to the footprints, I'm afraid to say I don't know who it was. I don't like it when my feet touch the ground, so I use my quirk as much as I can." Kaori glanced at his feet, and sure enough, it wasn't touching the ground. Instead, he was standing an inch or two above it.

"You can levitate!" she exclaimed. "My dad could too! Just a lot higher."

He laughed, and in an instant, dropped down to the floor. "No, I'm not levitating. I am merely solidifying the air under me and stepping on that."

Izuku looked amazed, and Kaori felt the same awe. "An air quirk," she breathed. "I have one too!"

"Is that so?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. There was a faint interest in his eyes, but Kaori didn't sense any malice from him.

Kaori nodded. "I don't think I can solidify it like you, though." She tried to shove down the small tendril of envy that had flared up from seeing a quirk like her dad's. Why couldn't hers be like that too?

"It is a rather specific quirk," he said.

"Can you make things out of solid air? Use them as projectiles? Or… or … could you fly with them?" Izuku asked, his eyes still shining with awe. He looked completely focused like he was trying to think of every possible application from what little information he had.

"Hmm… I don't know. Can I? I'd have to try," the man said, a small smile playing on his face. Kaori studied him, trying to see if he was being serious or just playing along with Izuku.

Izuku looked stunned, much like when Kaori had told him she hadn't done much experimentation. "But… it's such a cool quirk!"

"Oh, I think it's time for you two to go," he said, his gaze landing on something behind Kaori and Izuku. "See you around." He gave Kaori a meaningful stare. Kaori frowned. Who was this man?

Before Kaori could say anything else, she heard Aizawa's voice faintly. "Kaori! There you are!" Spinning around, she saw him standing with Inko distantly, whose face was red and distraught. Izuku's face turned red as well and he started to run towards her. Kaori winced and followed; she was not looking forward to this.

Aizawa stopped in front of Kaori, his arms folded against his chest. He stared down at Kaori for a bit, as if checking if she was alright. "What are you guys doing all the way out here?" Aizawa asked, his voice laced with disapproval and relief. "I thought I told you very clearly not to stray!"

"Never mind that!" she said. "Look! That man over there had a quirk like mine. He could make air solid and stand on it."

"What man?" Aizawa asked, looking at the direction Kaori was pointing.

"That o—!" She turned to look, but the man wasn't there anymore. How did he leave so quickly? She frowned, feeling the slight sting of disappointment. She wanted to know a bit more about his quirk. "I swear he was just there! There was a dog with him too! See! The dog is still there. He said he found him and was watching the dog for the owner."

"Are you talking to random people you see now?" Aizawa sighed. "Didn't anyone teach you about stranger danger? Just because he has a dog with him doesn't mean he's trustworthy."

"You're too uptight," she complained. "We're in a public space in the middle of the day, nothing bad will happen."

Aizawa rubbed his temples, looking exhausted. "Kaori-chan. Please. Why do you never listen to me?"

"Okay, okay, sorry. I won't talk to strangers again," she mumbled, feeling her guilt grow. "Happy?" It wasn't exactly a habit of hers to talk to random people, but there was something about the man that interested him. Somehow, she didn't think Aizawa would take that as an excuse.

"Very," he responded.

Kaori looked over to find Inko smothering Izuku with a huge hug. A small lump formed at the back of her throat; it still stung a little to watch families interact so affectionately. She missed it.

"Let's go find the owner of the dog then," Aizawa said, his exasperation evaporating instantly.

It didn't take long for them to find the dog's owner, and after a few rounds of thanks and apologies, Kaori had completed her good deed of the day.

"We should hang out again sometime. Wanna be friends Izuku?" Kaori asked. The sky was darkening, and Kaori could see Aizawa impatiently tapping his foot from her peripheral vision. She should hurry it up.

"Friends?" Izuku looked dazed. "You'd want to be friends with me?"

"Yeah," she said, frowning. "Why wouldn't I?"

"No, I just—" His eyes looked close to watering, and Kaori instantly felt terrible. "I mean, I do want to be friends."

"Great," Kaori said. "Now sign here with your blood to complete the contract." She pulled out a wet wipe from out of her pocket, trying her best to look serious.

"What?" Izuku backed off a bit, a look of alarm on his face. He eyed both her and the wipe suspiciously.

"Kidding. You don't have to take this whole friend thing too seriously. If anything, I should be the one to be happy you're willing to be friends with me, not the other way around."

"But I don't have a quirk and you do."

"Like I said, I didn't even have mine until a few days ago." She shrugged. "And quite frankly, I don't think I turned into a different person after my quirk manifested. I don't see why people make it out to be such a big deal. We're both still human."

Izuku looked scandalized. "Big deal? With your quirk, you can be a hero! I wish I had one, even if it wasn't strong. I want to be a hero too, like All Might." He pulled out a shabby-looking All Might figurine and waved it in front of Kaori.

Kaori kicked at the dirt, struggling to think of a response. She had been right, even Izuku, a damn four-year-old was having preconceived expectations of her just based on a quirk. "But I might not be a hero, there are other professions in the world that are just as good," she said uncertainly, parroting Aizawa.

"I know," he said, looking gloomy. "But I want to be a hero."

"Right. I'm sure you will. I'm just trying to say that you being quirkless doesn't make me think less of you." She wondered if she would still be saying the same thing if she didn't know about Izuku from the show.

Izuku nodded solemnly. "You really think I can?"

"Yeah. I do," she said. "Now, let's go home. I think Aizawa-san's going to blow a fuse if I make him wait even more." She looked pointedly at Aizawa, who had started talking to Inko again. Kaori again, was curious as to what they were talking about for him to have been so engaged. At Izuku's nod, she walked over to him.

"Kaori-chan? Are you ready to go?" Aizawa asked.

She nodded. "Bye Izuku," she said. "See you around."

"Bye!" he said cheerfully, holding on to his mom's arm.

"It was nice talking to you Aizawa-san," Inko said, beaming at them. "And Kaori…"

With that, they went their separate ways. Kaori wondered if she'd see Izuku again. Hopefully, she would, or her dumb speech about heroics would be wasted.

"Nice kid you met today," Aizawa said. "Is he the same boy from last week?"

"Yep," Kaori said cheerily, still thrilled at being able to befriend the main character to the series so easily. "He's great, isn't he?"

"Hm…" Aizawa grunted. "I guess."

"You really don't like kids, huh?" she said.

"I … do," he said, a bit too slowly to sound convincing.

They walked in silence for a bit, and for the first time, Kaori found she wasn't too bothered by it. She was slowly getting used to Aizawa's quiet presence.

"Kaori-chan," he said suddenly, his voice uncharacteristically uncertain.

"Hm? What is it?" She craned her head to look up at him curiously, trying to decipher his stoic expression.

"Is there something about me that you don't like? I can't help but notice you react differently with me than with Hizashi. If he had asked you to stay put today, would you have still run off?"

Kaori gaped. What was this? Aizawa feeling insecure? She never thought she'd see it happen. "That's not it. I just didn't want to bother you when we were only wandering around. Izuku said he knew his way around anyway."

"You seem so mature sometimes that I forget how young you are, then you do something like today and completely ignore my request. It makes me think that you are purposely trying to annoy me, or something."

"Was that how it seemed? I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Was it such a big deal for her to have gone off on her own today? It didn't feel like it, but from Aizawa's reaction, it was like she had done something horrible. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Aizawa's expression cleared a little from her words, and he nodded. "I know it might seem that way, but bad things happen all the time, no matter where you are. I was worried that you got kidnapped or worse when you just vanished like that. I won't be able to save you if you were far away and someone tried to grab you."

"That would never happen," she said lightly. "But okay, I'll be more careful." When nothing out of the ordinary happened after the incident, she thought it was safe to assume she wasn't the intended target. Aizawa probably still thought she was in danger if he was so paranoid, but he was a hero, and it was his job to always be paranoid and alert.

"Thank you." Aizawa still didn't look completely convinced, but Kaori was just happy he wasn't nagging anymore. She didn't regret talking to the strange man at all — he was interesting, and she wished she had a bit more time to ask about his quirk. Hopefully next time she visited the park she'd be able to find him again. She'd just have to make sure Aizawa doesn't find out.

Yeahh so this was very late, but I'm trying :( Hope everyone enjoyed this more chill and slow chapter. Next chapter soonish, maybe. No promises.