Chapter 15

"I mean, yes, you can make whatever and that's that, but… There has to be a way to improve on that, right? Something for you to work with," Kazuki pointed out as Yaoyorozu and him talked between each other. They were two of the five people currently in the room, the others being… The boy with the bird head, the one with the scar on his face and… 'Iida, was it? I should really start remembering everyone's names,' he thought to himself wryly.

"I mean," Yaoyorozu started, clearly having been influenced by his speech habit. "I've spent a lot of time studying different things I can make, to expand my options and such, since I need to know what I'm making in some detail, at the very least."

"Yeah, but there has to be a way to improve on that, right? To use less resources to make stuff or make it faster or something like that?" he suggested, frowning as he considered how he could apply his knowledge of his own Quirk to help her. "Like, I waste a lot of energy whenever I'm trying to make a Grimm that's not, you know, something I usually do, and the spending gets better with practice, same with the speed, if less so."

"Hm…" the girl hummed, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "I guess I could practice making specific items that might be more useful than others. Try to get better at making them?"

"That's what I'm talking about," Kazuki said, smiling as he finally managed to get the point across. "What I'm trying to say is, there's always something to get better at. I doubt you've reached the peak of your Quirk already, no offense."

"None taken," she waved off easily enough. "And you have a point, I guess. Something else to work on, then."

"Welcome to the club. I feel like my list of stuff to train and study is getting bigger and bigger as time goes by," he lamented, deflating on his seat before blinking and turning to the side when he felt someone poke his shoulder. Seeing nothing, he turned to the other side only to see Yaoyorozu grinning and holding back a laugh. She couldn't have been the one to… "Bubbly," he realized, looking behind himself and seeing the floating clothes there. "Of course," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey there, Creepy, Beauty, how's the morning going?" the invisible girl asked them, skipping a bit before bringing a chair so she could sit with them. That's how Kazuki found himself with Yaoyorozu at his right and Hagakure at his left.

"Just talking about how to better use our Quirks," Yaoyorozu answered, even through the slight embarrassment at the nickname that persisted even then. "Creepy was telling me about something he found out regarding his… reserves of negativity and then we started brainstorming on how I could improve my own practices."

"Aaaah, anything you guys can think of for me? You are a lot smarter, after all," the girl asked then, resting her elbows on the table and… seemingly her chin on her hands.

"Well, we'd have to know how your Quirk works, first of all," Kazuki replied, sharing a look with Yaoyorozu before they turned towards Hagakure once more.

"I was told I kind of… bend light around me unconsciously? I don't have much control of that… or at all, otherwise I would be visible… At least when I'm not doing hero stuff," Hagakure explained then, and her usually… Well, bubbly personality seemed to disappear. Mainly because she appeared quite sharply in Kazuki's sense, through sadness and frustration. It was so bad that it made him blink for a moment and his eyes widened. He was sure he'd never felt anything even close to that bad from the girl before.

'So, her invisibility is a bad topic, actually…' he realized, which made some sense after giving it some thought. She was always invisible, and that had to affect a person in some way, he supposed.

"Hm, maybe you can learn to get some control momentarily," Yaoyorozu suggested then, while he was otherwise distracted with Hagakure's emotions. "Even if it's just a second or so, photokinesis can be a really strong power."

"That's an idea, I guess," the invisible girl replied and Kazuki had to praise her in his mind. She was doing a great job at hiding how she was feeling, at least with her voice. He wondered if she was showing that on her face and they just couldn't see it. "I've tried to control it a lot before, but I never made much progress. I can keep trying though, I guess. Maybe I just have to try something different."

'Wonder if all she tried to do was… be visible,' Kazuki thought to himself before shaking his head.

"Hm, maybe it just allows you to bend light around you, or maybe it can let you bend it around other things. Could allow you to make other things invisible, your costume for one," he suggested, deciding that he'd stayed silent for long enough while deep in his own thoughts and guesses. "God knows we don't need to give perverts around the world more fuel," he added wryly. "Tiny has enough of that to go around."

"I'm not sure about that. I have tried to make other things invisible. It's not like I enjoy being naked in public, you know," Hagakure told him, sounding and feeling slightly offended. Understandably, her voice dropped to almost a whisper there at the end. "Guess I can join you on Quirk training and see how it goes."

"So, that's four of us. I know Tiny has some ideas to work through with his Quirk. You think we might go for a five out of five and have Rocky join?" Kazuki commented idly, his attention drifting off as he felt more and more people arriving at the school.

With his newly started attempts to stop ignoring the emotions his Quirk threw at him, he'd found himself more and more distracted. Trying to take in everything and also going about his day was proving to be a huge challenge. One that he was going to do his best to pass though…

Didn't mean he couldn't mentally complain about every single thing that broke his focus though. 'Why is it that my classmates seem to be the worst of the whole school when it comes to emotions?' he lamented to himself. Well, there was someone somewhere in the higher years that felt like absolute shit more often than not and there was the occasional spike here and there too, , but otherwise, he felt most of the strong feelings in the school coming from his own classroom.

'Speaking of…' he thought wryly as Bakugo entered the classroom, glaring at everyone just like usual. If the nervousness he felt entering his range was any indication, Midoriya was also on his way to the classroom. 'Oh joy,' he thought sarcastically. No offense to the green bundle of nerves, he was great and all, but his emotions were a mess.

"Creepy?" Hagakure called, breaking him from his musings for a bit.

"Sorry, I'm trying to… Well, trying to be better at sensing. It's… distracting," he apologized, running his fingers through his hair. "What did I miss?"

"We were talking about costume ideas and such, for changes… Well, Bubbly was talking about how the Support Course seems to have an idea they want to try to make her an actual costume, but that got us talking," Yaoyorozu answered, making him blink as he processed that together with a very frustrated student somewhere in the first year wing of the school.

"That's great. Don't take this the wrong way, but it is a bit uncomfortable for everyone involved that you don't have a proper costume," Kazuki told Hagakure, who felt more than a little uncomfortable just talking about that, apparently. "What else were you talking about? Are you thinking about changing your costume?" he asked then, turning towards Yaoyorozu.

"I had some ideas, yes. I'm also a bit uncomfortable with my own costume but it's the practical choice, really. I need to show more skin to be able to use my Quirk more effectively," she explained, rubbing her forearm with her opposite hand.

"That makes sense, but maybe you can have something that shows less… you know," he mumbled, waving a hand vaguely over his chest and drawing a grimace from the girl. "Wouldn't keeping your back open work better anyway?"

"That's an idea, I suppose. It's easier to access if I create it from where I can see, but an open back instead of front would give me more area to create from," Yaoyorozu agreed, looking thoughtful.

"Besides, don't your legs and arms give about the same area as the open area on your chest?" Hagakure pointed out and, judging by the look on the rich girl's face, their brainstorming was definitely yielding some results.

[}-o-{]

Kazuki found himself walking towards the training facilities after classes were over. He was alone, for once in the day, since he'd told his friends to go ahead without him. After all, he was walking really slowly and stopping every so often.

Why?

Well, because he'd come up with a way to try and train his sensing-multitasking. He was trying to walk while being aware of the people/emotions around him. If he focused too much on one or the other, he'd stop and then start walking again once he was ready. It was… It was a pain in the ass, but it was his first day doing that, so it was a bit soon to be casting judgment on how effective the method was.

Thus, he walked alone while trying to keep his mind split in two tasks. He got some odd looks from other students, of course, but he ignored them. He didn't know them, so they were irrelevant. Anyone whose opinion mattered to him would ask and have the reasoning for his strange behavior explained to them.

He was momentarily broken from his thoughts, his sensing and his walking when his phone called for his attention. Apparently, he had a new message, which was weird because he'd just got done telling a teacher where he'd be and his friends were supposed to be training already. Evidently, he should, maybe, get used to that kind of thing happening.

He blinked at the name on the screen, if it could be called that.

'Sadness,' he read, which might be a bit offensive for the person in question, but… Well, Kazuki didn't know what else to put there, really. 'I don't think you do,' the person seemed to have replied to his previous message, making him grimace.

'I don't know how I could prove it to you,' he wrote, pausing before sending it. 'Nobody deserves to be alone with their problems. I went through that, and I want to help people not to,' he added hesitantly and then he just clicked the button to send it. He didn't know if he was approaching this well, but… But he needed to try and help.

He'd talked about this new… project of sorts with Aizawa and the man had given him a bunch of new rules for what he was doing. It basically boiled down to not doing much of anything other than sending messages unless he talked with one of his minders previously. The man thought he was stupid, but he also agreed that it was good that he'd worried and done something about a potential problem. The only other thing he said was that if he wanted to do that again, he better talk with one of them even if it didn't seem that serious.

'Who are you?' said a message he got after taking only a few more steps towards the training facilities.

'Just someone that's gone through some stuff and wants to help,' he replied vaguely. One of the rules he'd been given, not that he'd have done that anyway, was not giving too much personal information, or at all, really. Like he was stupid enough to do something like that. Sure, him giving his phone number to a stranger was a bit stupid, he knew, but they needed help. Regardless, he knew very well what could and couldn't cause him trouble to do after his time in juvie.

If nothing else, he'd learned a thing or two regarding the criminal world in there.

Which was kind of sad, if he really thought about it.

'If you say so,' the person on the other side told him, and he was pretty sure that was that. With a deep breath in as he read and re-read the message, Kazuki wondered if he was even helping. There wasn't much he could do in regards to this situation, but… Well, he hated feeling so powerless.

'I'm here if you need to talk,' he sent then, feeling stupid. He didn't know what else to do though. He was going by what he'd have liked to be told back in the day and… He'd been a child at the time. He didn't know how accurate that experience would be in this case, but it was all he had to go by, so it'd have to do.

He hoped it'd do, at least.

With a deep breath in, he continued walking. If nothing else, that brief interaction with the mystery person had raised his motivation at getting better with his sensing powers. He didn't know if he was helping, but if he got better, maybe he could have better luck in the future with such instances. If nothing else, it'd help with cases such as the one that he'd alerted the heroes towards too.

So, doing his absolute best to split his attention between walking and sensing, Kazuki traveled through the halls of his school. It was easier said than done, especially when he tried to also pay attention to what his other senses were picking up on. 'God, breaking the habit of ignoring feelings is gonna be hard,' he lamented to himself.

However, it was what it was. He would just have to do his best to correct that in a new direction. It felt terribly wasteful, to have spent so much time doing something he'd now dismiss. Then again, being able to ignore his sense to an extent might come in handy at some point, he supposed, but still… It'd probably have been better to prepare to actually deal with the emotions instead of pushing them aside…

No use crying over spilt milk though.

'There's nothing I can do now. I would have never seen myself here, so there was no way I'd prepare for life as a hero,' he mused as he continued walking, pausing as his focus was broken once more. Recovering it with a deep breath in and closing his eyes for a second, he resumed his walk. 'I'm here to get better, and that's what I'll do. No shortcuts for me. Life's not that kind.'

[}-o-{]

"Ouch, Rocky, I thought we were friends," Kazuki grumbled.

"I said I was sorry!" Jiro told him, managing to sound both angry and apologetic. Feeling like that too, which was also interesting.

"If you say so," he mumbled, pushing his tongue against his busted lip and grimacing a little. "And nevermind all the bruises Beauty left all over me. I'm suddenly regretting being the best at close combat in our group. Can I give that spot to Tiny?" he asked.

"Wait, what?" Mineta exclaimed, suddenly paling as all the girls turned to look at him, the visible ones narrowing their eyes. "That's not how it works, Creepy," he added, looking and feeling very nervous all of a sudden. "Tell him, girls… Girls?"

"Take it as one more reason to stop being so fucking obvious about how perverted you are, yeah?" Kazuki mused out loud. "Believe it or not, it doesn't seem to go well with girls and getting them to like you."

"Oh, come on," the vertically challenged teenager protested.

"Anyway," Kazuki continued. "Where are we going again? I want some ice-cream. Might help with the busted lip Rocky-"

"Sounds good," Jiro interrupted, eye twitching in annoyance. "You won't shut up about it, will you?"

"I will, once it heals… Maybe," he said, drawing a groan from the girl.

"Ice cream sounds good though," Hagakure said, sounding and looking – as much as she could look anything – quite content as she skipped next to them. "Oh, I know a place!" she announced then, and even though he couldn't see her face, Kazuki was sure she was looking quite excited as she clapped her hands. "And we can go help Creepy get some plants for his place too, there's a nice store nearby for that."

"Really?" he asked, now feeling a little excited too.

"Yep," the invisible girl answered simply. "Follow me, gang, we have an ice cream parlor to visit," she announced, raising an arm to point forward.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am," he replied with an amused smile as he traded a look with the others. All except Yaoyorozu, who seemed to have things to do back home, so she couldn't join them that day.

"You know what you'll buy? I thought you were thinking that over," Mineta asked, looking up at him curiously.

"Eh, I made a list with suggestions," he answered, pulling out his phone and waving it. "Besides, I guess I can check what's there and see if something catches my attention."

"You made a list?" Mineta said, grinning and seemingly amused.

"Sure did. I didn't want to forget anything," Kazuki replied enthusiastically. "It'll be nice to add some stuff to my apartment. The more I think about it, the more depressing it is to see it so bare."

"I guess," his friend said then, his expression falling. Kazuki picked up on the pity he was feeling then, but he decided to ignore it. It dampened his mood, for sure but-

"I don't suppose we can forget I said that, can we?" Kazuki asked, feeling the same pity coming from both Hagakure and Jiro. "Honestly, can we do this and be happy that I'll go to an apartment with more color? Please?"

"And it'll be the most colorful apartment ever, I promise," the invisible girl declared, grabbing his arm and dragging him forward. "You can bet on that, Creepy, or my name isn't Toru Hagakure."

"That's the spirit," Kazuki replied with a half-smile. Sure, there was still pity there, but at least he'd managed to make it diminish. 'Just take the win,' he told himself. 'Maybe I'll have to be more careful in the future.'

[}-o-{]

Kazuki sat at his apartment, looking at the arrangement of plants he'd just set in the small balcony. It was mostly flower plants and succulents with the occasionally odd one out here and there. All in all, he'd spent most of his allowance on that, but honestly, with food and such already provided to him, he wasn't sure what else he could have used it on…

Well, he could have used it on outings with his friends, for sure, but he'd just have to pass up on those for the moment. It wouldn't be a great loss, considering they spent a lot of time together at school and training afterwards. '... Who am I kidding, it still sucks,' he thought to himself, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world.

After all, the new addition to his… home, if he could call it that, was rather nice. It certainly made him feel better while he was there. It didn't feel quite as… oppressive and depressing anymore. There was something very nice about having the colorful, lively things within sight.

With a grin, he looked at his phone, where his friends had been messaging again. Hagakure had asked him for a picture of his new garden, apparently. Kazuki was all too happy to comply, if he was honest.

It was silly and not much in the grand scheme of things, but he still was so very proud and happy of the little collection of plants. He smiled like an idiot as he took a few photographs of the colorful little things and then sent them to his group of friends. As he did so, he sat on the ground near them while his grin became something smaller, softer, but no less content.

'Things are looking up, it seems,' he thought to himself. When was the last time he'd been so… Happy? He had some measure of freedom, he had a dream, he had friends…

He extended his hand to softly touch one of the flower petals next to him.

'Things are looking up,' he repeated in his mind. Despite that, he couldn't help but feel like the other shoe would drop at some point. Regardless, he'd enjoy things while they lasted.

It was still more than he'd had before, after all.

[}-o-{]

[Mina Ashido]

She laid on her bed, hugging her pillow.

How many nights did that make, two? It felt like a lot longer since she'd learned who Cree- Endo was. It felt like forever since she'd learned that one of her friends had caused a massacre, ending the lives of many people and affecting those of many others. Someone that had hurt…

She barely could keep her mind off of that fact through the day and even back home.

The worst part was, however, that she didn't know how to feel about that. Should she feel angry? Disgusted? Because she didn't. All she felt was conflicted. Her many talks with their friends didn't help matters either.

"What's going on, Pinky?" Hagakure had asked her one day. "Creepy feels really bad about all of these. He puts on a strong front but we can see it. You know he's not bad, right?"

Did she know he wasn't bad? They'd known each other for how long? Was that long enough to determine if someone was good or bad, really?

"Mina, what's going on?" Eijiro had asked her once, while walking back from school. "I just want to understand, that's all," he'd reassured her. And yet, Mina hadn't had an answer for him.

After all, even she couldn't figure out what was going on with her. How should she feel? What should she do? Should she say something to someone? Should she just continue like nothing had happened? What should she do?

She didn't know…

"The fuck is wrong with you two!" Mineta had shouted at them and the little boy's words hit them like they came from a giant. "You know Endo! He's good! The guy couldn't truly hurt someone if his life depended on it! Haven't you ever had a slip up with your Quirks?!"

"It's not the same," Mina had replied lamely, flinching at the look on the purple-haired boy.

"You know what? Fine," Mineta had told them and the shift in his expression had somehow managed to be even worse than before. "And people say I am disgusting…"

Her eyes stung as she tried to bury her face on the pillow she held against her chest. She wanted to go back to their little group. It hurt to see them keep going, now with Yaoyorozu and Jiro added to it. It hurt to know that she could be with them, chatting and laughing and training. Instead, she barely could be in the same room as them without feeling like a piece of shit.

She so wanted to, but… but she couldn't.

Screaming into her pillow, Mina decided to do something. She'd been there feeling sorry for herself for long enough. She needed to decide on what to do already or she'd go crazy. For that, however, she needed to have a talk with someone…

She was scared of how that would go, but she was going to be a hero.

She couldn't very well be afraid of talking with someone.

So, Mina left her room and moved through her house until she found who she was looking for.

"Mum, can we talk?"

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Well, there's some talking, some going out and Endo got a garden of his own going now. Neat, right? I'm sure it'll brighten up his days and all. It'll be nice for the poor bastard.

Oh, and there's the Mina part, I guess.

In all seriousness, that last part is the one that has me a little worried. I'm not sure how well I've been able to convey her character, what she's feeling and such. I didn't want to info dump stuff, but being subtle and the whole "show don't tell" thing is harder to do than it is to say.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you have plants of your own? I have a few pots with succulents.

See you.