Hello again, everyone. Well, we've finally made it through the Sports Festival Arc, and now we delve into something in its own way much more challenging. We're now going into the first (almost) entirely original story arc since the conclusion of the New life Arc. I struggle to say that counts, considering we still saw pretty much all of the concurrent manga arcs that took place in that overall story arc already, but here, we're now dealing with a portion of the story that is going to be nearly entirely original material.
After the weight of everything we got to experience in the sports Festival Arc, I thought it would be best to give you all a chapter to serve as breathing room so that you and the characters can likewise get acclimated, in order to properly prepare yourselves for what's to come, because I'll tell you all now, I put an unbelievable amount of planning edits and all around restructuring to make this entire new arc work.
So with that all being said, I hope you all like what you end up reading here today, and if so, please, I would really appreciate it if you all took the time to leave an honest, constructive review to let me know how you think I'm doing so far.
I would also like to give a huge shoutout to my new Beta reader, Mizu Hikikomori, for helping me figure out how to better format these chapters in terms of paragraphs and dialogue, and just being an overall delight to work with.
My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters, the original events that surround them, and the alterations of canon events that occur as a direct result of their existence in this universe.
A/N: [[]] signifies that characters are contextually speaking Russian.
Chapter 20
Hanging Out
(Тусоваться)
Sunday morning. It had now been two days since the end of the Yuuei Sports Festival, and they had passed with a much-needed peace and quiet. Nikolay had thankfully managed to fully recover from his collective injuries from his final fight with Shoto Todoroki, just as Recovery Girl had said he would, and was back on his feet in tip-top shape, just waiting with bated breath (and some considerable anxiety, of course) for when he and his friends and classmates would finally receive their nominations for a Pro Hero internship.
However, that was for tomorrow. Today, the Bezpalov home was rife with a different kind of excitement: that of his father, Oleg. Yesterday, he had been helpfully informed by Headmaster Nezu that several of the tear-away contact slips for the notices he had put up all around the school, promoting his idea for a Surrogate Internship Training Program, had actually been taken. This meant that there was an actually considerable number of students who not only took notice, but were actually expressing interest as such. The only conundrum was that, since nobody had called yet, he honestly had no idea who to expect he would be helping train.
Of course, he could not deny that not knowing did add a flare of exciting mystery to the whole affair. He had no idea yet when the actual internship period was supposed to begin, so he potentially had plenty of time to more thoroughly prepare.
As Oleg anxiously paced around the living room, his blue eyes eventually drew to the crudely repaired ceramic figure of his wife, now standing atop a newly crafted shelf upon the wall, surrounded by her other recovered keepsakes, instead of being confined in the (now destroyed) old cabinet. Even through the cracks, the sight of her once again left a hitch in Oleg's chest as he felt a slight stinging begin behind his eyes; a deeply warming smile on his bearded face.
[[Oh, Lyuda, I wish you could be here to see how things are going. They've been turning out so much more splendidly than I ever could have initially hoped. And Kolya…oh, Kolya; Lyuda, you would be so, SO proud of him if you could see how far he's already managed to come. It's not just in his attitude, either; every day I see him pushing himself in his training, and every day I see him slowly but steadily improving and expanding the uses of his Quirk. And no matter how hard it gets, I never hear him speak of giving up, even when I see him get frustrated with a stumbling block he reaches. It's just as you always thought, my love; our boy really is proving he has what it takes to become a truly great Hero. I'm so proud of him…and I know you would be, too.]]
Knock, knock, knock
The pronounced wrapping at the front door jostled Oleg out of his thoughts, and immediately sent his eagerness through the roof, hardly any questions in his mind who it could be. Had the students who had taken the slips actually decided to come here and get a head start on his proposed training before school could get back into full gear? He could really only hope so. Better for him to start getting into his personal trainer role early, after all.
Taking a deep breath to re-steady himself, Oleg opened up and was visibly surprised, and delighted, to see Ochako Uraraka, Setsuna Tokage, Tooru Hagakure, Kyouka Jirou, Denki Kaminari, Eijirou Kirishima, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Minoru Mineta, all gathered up and down the steps to his front door. Primarily, Ochako looked considerably nervous, but the moment they saw the pleased look on their Quirk History teachers' face to see them, all the students visibly lit right back up. "I imagine I know why you're all here today, instead of going out and enjoying yourselves before your nominations are given tomorrow."
"Y-yes, Sensei. We saw the fliers for your new training program, for anybody who might not get nominated. We—"We saw it and thought it'd be crazy not to go for it at least once before the internships start! Even if we get nominated, training is still training!" Eijirous' enthusiastic cut-in rendered the initially meek Ochako silent, but soon his bravado was equally matched by Tetsutetsu, trying to shoulder his way past. "That's the spirit, Kirishima! Even if you did get a round further than me, there's no such thing as too much training, especially if I'm gonna be able to be able to beat you 1-A lot the next time we cross paths!"
The sight of the two nearly identical boys (at least in terms of Quirk and attitude) starting to push their heads against each others in another juvenile form of competitive spirit, was enough to elicit a booming laugh from their presiding teacher, as well as Denki and a few of the girls. "I swear, for students from two different classes, I would almost think you were long-lost brothers, you're so alike. All of you, please, come in."
The students all gratefully accepted, the newcomers marveling at the low key quaint décor of their teachers' home. "So, considering just what this program entails, I'm assuming you all came for the benefit of a little extra training before you get nominated by a potentially bigger Pro?"
At this, Eijirou was once again right at the forefront, unable to hide his childlike enthusiasm. "Whether that were the case or not, I'd be a damn fool not to try and get at least one day of personal training with such a manly Hero, Sensei!"
Once again, many couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at how obvious the red-headed boy was acting, while Ochako had her eyes on the floor out of embarrassment. "And after what you said to me after I lost my fight…for you to be offering something like this for anyone who wanted to take it…I wanted to sign up and try and improve as best I can, so I can be the Hero I want to be…just like you said I could be."
Compared to her and Eijirou, everyone else answered primarily around Olegs' initial guess, of wanting to get a head start on training before the nominations were given; with Setsuna expressing a desire to improve strategizing with the properties of her Quirk, Tooru and Kyouka wanting to try and learn how to fight better, and Denki wanting to try and learn how to better harness his Electricity. All of these answers were visibly more than satisfactory for Oleg as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.
"Well then, I can safely say you've all come to the right place. However, I trust you all realize by now that since I'll be helping you all learn how to better use and plan with your Quirks and handle yourselves in a fight, today isn't going to be like any boring study hall. I'm going to be pushing you all to your limits just like Aizawa-san or All Might would. So if you're all prepared for that, we can begin right now if you want."
"Uh, before we start, Sensei, where's Kolya-kun? It's still pretty early, and a day off. Is he still in bed?" "Yeah, Bezpalov-kun usually comes across so driven, I would've thought he'd be up and alert with training already." Tooru and Setsunas' mutual curiosity elicited another amused chuckle out of Oleg as he nudged his head towards one of the windows on the other side of the house. "Well…you're not wrong, malenkaya-Tokage."
[Nautilus Pompilius – Skovonnye Odnoy Tsepyu (Bound by One Chain)]
Nikolay tried to focus as much as he could, arms extended at his sides just in case. As much as the music on his ear buds blared, he tried to focus his mind towards one simple command: jump.
Ever since his two incidental foot-launches at the Sports Festival, Nikolay hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. If his father and Recovery Girl were right, and this was to be a permanent new extension of his Quirk, then he needed to try and get a handle on it. He had once thought controlling it through his hands would be impossible, and now it had become virtually as easy as walking and breathing. But for the life of him, he just could not get the hang of this, primarily because he couldn't get it to actually trigger.
He knew that both those times, he had found himself in what essentially amounted to a life-or-death situation, where fight-or-flight instincts had no choice but to kick in. Ever since he had woken up this morning, he had spent the last few hours in the backyard trying to mentally paint himself in those same scenarios again, trying to recreate that feeling of last-second desperation. And yet, no matter how well he could re-imagine every minute detail of those moments in his head, he could not trigger that gut reaction of every ounce of stored kinetic energy running down to his feet. 'Dammit, focus! What am I doing wrong? What else do I need? What good is a Quirk extension if I can't activate it on command? I can visualize and recall every single sense I felt back then, but there's just one thing I'm missing! Why else wouldn't it activate, no matter how much I'm trying to will it to?'
Jab!
BWOOOM!
Hindsight is a funny thing, when one stops to think about it. Nikolay hadn't even realized just how well and truly he had gotten himself absorbed in his own head, until after the sudden jabbing of a finger in the back of his head startled him so immensely, that the launching reaction he had been trying to activate all morning, finally did so and sent him flying straight up from where he stood; the spot now littered with the floating remnants of his shoes and half his pant legs.
Nikolay couldn't even relish in the fact that something had finally triggered it, before the realization that he was now freefalling back down came to mind, and he was in no position to try and correct himself to try and cushion his fall. The ground was returning fast, but just as he began to instinctively scream "Chyort (Shit)" in fear, he suddenly felt all that collected momentum, instantly vanish, without any of the bone-breaking impact he had been expecting.
As soon as he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by the admittedly relieved-looking smile of Ochako Uraraka, having clearly rushed in with her hand outstretched to touch him and take his gravity at the last second. As soon as they were both sure everything was okay, she hurriedly brought her hands together, returning Nikolays' gravity so he could land back on his feet.
"Nice save, Uraraka-san. You're really getting a lot more gung-ho with rushing in with your Quirk at the ready." Eijirou congratulated, finally drawing Nikolays' attention to find him and several of his other classmates and schoolmates rounding the corner to the backyard.
"Hey, everyone. I would ask why you're all here on a day off, but my dad at this point has pretty much given me some idea on why to expect visitors any time soon." At this, a few of the students couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at such forced casualness on his part.
"Hey, a day off means we can do whatever we please, right? Well, when someone as manly as Tunguska-sensei offers a chance for personal training, you'd be a fool not to go for it, you know?" Eijirou once again declared with gusto, this time earning an agreeing grin out of Tetsutetsu.
"Seems like you're pretty much of the same mindset anyway, Kolya-san. Didn't think we'd find you out here training this early, especially after how roughed up you were by the end." Denki pointed out, just as Oleg came around the corner behind them with a fresh pair of new pants and shoes at the ready. "Yeah. I've been trying to get the hang of those foot launches I did during the tournament. I can get the picture in my head of when it happened, but no matter how much I try to will it, I just can't get it to work on command."
"Hold on, is he serious?! You launched yourself like a damn human rocket, twice, beat Shiozaki-san because of it…and both times were by complete accident?!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed, his naturally aggressive sounding voice making it impossible to tell if he was in disbelief, or genuinely angry at this realization.
Denki, all the while, looked to finally be reaching the same conclusion Eijirou had days ago, that Nikolays' display of humility after his second win, was genuine, and with that came his own look of shock, quickly followed by an especially intense one from Minoru as well. "Geez, you're almost exactly like Midoriya! You end up looking cool doing things, even by complete accident! It's just not fair, dammit!"
Nikolay could only answer all his schoolmates with another awkward shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you all. It's apparently a pretty recent development of my Quirk, hence why I've been trying to get the hang of using it, but like I said, I can't get it to fire on command like I can with my hands. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."
At this, Setsuna looked to be thinking rather hard as she looked the Russian boy up and down. "Well, my trying to get your attention clearly did something that set it off. You said you've been trying to visualize both the moments it activated. Maybe you got so wrapped up in your head trying to revisit it, that I ended up giving you enough of a startle like what you felt back then. I mean, both times you were pretty much just about to get devastated by an attack, and anybody would instinctively panic, even for a moment, in that kind of situation. So maybe it's triggered by an intense emotional state, even briefly."
Nikolay, Oleg and all the other students looked at the green-haired girl with visible amazement on their faces, while she just gave a casual fanged smirk. "What? We all saw the same tournament fights, right? It just makes sense, doesn't it?" Nikolay began instinctively nodding in agreement, it did make sense. It didn't help with his control issue, but it made sense.
"So, you guys are all here, that's great. But what are you going to do when tomorrow comes, and it turns out you all got nominated?" Nobody, not even Oleg, could immediately come up with an answer, simply because they all knew what a very real possibility it was. In all honesty, there was something that almost felt inherently cruel about taking part in something their teacher was going so far out of his way to offer, only to go for something else after only one time.
"Well, I very much doubt it's going to be like you'll all be sent off to your internships as soon as you get your nominations, so we'll try to make the most out of what time we'd still have after the fact." Oleg finally declared, to which all the students thankfully looked to be in full agreement, all letting out a similar supportive cheer and pumped fist in the air in response.
"Well, in that case, I should probably leave you all to it. I certainly don't want to take up your time together…unless maybe you all think I should join in? I mean, I didn't make it into the Top Three of the Festival, either." Nikolay finally stated, visibly at a point of indecision on what was best, while Ochako, Eijirou, Denki, Setsuna and Tooru all looked to be in favor of the idea (as hard as that was to tell on the latter).
"Don't give yourself too little credit, Bezpalov-san. You still ended up making it into the Big Four, that's a pretty lofty title in itself, you know. Four of the most beloved bands in the world back in the 1980's shared that moniker. Maybe once you think you're done with what's on that player I gave you, I can put another one together so you can see what I mean."* Kyouka offered surprisingly forwardly, her onyx eyes nudging toward the ear buds still hanging around his neck.
"Slow down for a minute, Kolya. You only just finished healing up from your wounds yesterday. That aside, you put yourself through the wringer for the entirety of the Festival, and contrary to what many of you here might believe, but continuously pushing yourselves through non-stop training isn't going to help you improve any faster." Considering what he was preparing the gathered students for, it was quite surprising for them and Nikolay to hear Oleg say this.
"But Dad, if that's the case, then what am I supposed to do?" With that, Oleg took a heavy breath. "I know things have been going so fast lately, Kolya, but I think with what you went through in order to make it as far into the Festival as you did, as your father, I think it's safe to say you deserve a day to relax, ease your nerves and mind and just enjoy yourself."
Switching his gaze from his father to his peers, Nikolay was surprised to see many were clearly beginning to see Olegs' point; and frankly, so was he the more he thought about it. What good was training his Quirk going to be if he was going to leave himself too physically exhausted and battered to put it to any real use? "Alright. Do you think maybe we'd be able to maybe plan a way for me to join in next time, depending how much time we have before the internships start?"
At this, Oleg visibly brightened up, as did Ochako and Eijirou. "Of course, Kolya. Of course. Now, please, get yourself suited back up and go out on the town, have some fun, be a boy your age for once. You've earned it." Sensing the eagerness in his fathers' voice to finally get his training program started, and with a newly lightened heart, Nikolay bid his friends and schoolmates farewell and hurriedly made his out the way they came to get out of his now ragged remnants once called pants.
As soon as he was sure Nikolay had made his way, Oleg turned back to his volunteer pupils, a new air of eagerness and intensity beginning to form on his rugged face. "Now then, everyone, you all came here by your own free will, so let's get started with our lesson plan for today, shall we?"
[Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World]
Nikolay had certainly left home with a considerable energy to his step, but by the time he had reached the nearest park, he found his excitement dampened by a lack of any concrete plan. What did he know about actually going out on the town and enjoying himself? From coming to this country, everything had essentially been training, studying, fighting and now competing. He'd never had a genuine moment of this kind of solace, with the actual freedom to choose what to do with it.
At least sitting here on a park bench, taking in the sight of the crystal clear blue skies and the luscious greenery in the late morning sun was nice and pleasant. Listening to one of the English-language songs on his gift music player wasn't a bad touch, either. The detention periods going over the material for Present Mics' English class had slowly but surely been coming together, as Nikolay could at least partially grasp the most basic of English sentences now, and some of the songs Kyouka had put on here made for great word practice material at the very least.
Still, he knew he couldn't just sit here listening to music all day. Who was there that he could possibly contact (now that he had a good few of his friends' numbers on his phone) who wouldn't likely already be doing something of their own on their last day off?
As Nikolay began to pull out his cellphone to try and go down the list, his vision was swiftly and suddenly obscured from behind, but his momentary state of surprise was instantly swept away when he heard an unmistakably cheerful voice musically chime: "Guess who?"
Thankfully he didn't need to guess, as his surprise intruder immediately removed their hands from over his eyes, and he quickly turned back over his shoulder to find the always sunny smile of Mina Ashido standing over him, her fluffy pink hair and slightly lighter pink skin almost radiant in the morning sun; dressed in a tan dress skirt and a light blue t-shirt with no shoulders, with the black shoulder straps of a tank top going over her shoulders from underneath.
"Good morning, Mina. What are the odds of running into each other all the way out here?" Nikolay asked with a casual smile while Mina hurriedly stepped around the bench and sat right next to him, clearly just as happy to see the Russian boy as he was to see her.
"Clearly they're pretty good, since I was actually just on my way over to your house to see if you were free and maybe wanted to hang out. I didn't think I'd find you out here all by yourself, though. What's up?" Nikolay simply sat back against the bench to look at the pretty deep blue of the sky, a relaxed smile on his fair face.
"My dad put up fliers for a surrogate internship training program around the school, so any students that didn't get any nominations could volunteer for a similar kind of training. A good number of our schoolmates actually showed up today to get a head start on it, just in case they do end up getting nominated tomorrow. I thought of maybe joining in, but dad wanted me to go out and have fun after all the things I went through at the Sports Festival. The only problem is that I…well, I've never done something like spend time having fun before. I've only been spending so much of my time outside of school either studying or training, so I'm not entirely sure what all there is to do in this city. Honestly makes me feel like that much more of an outsider."
However, contrary to Nikolays' momentary lamentation, when he looked, he saw Minas' always smiling face was now positively beaming with a joyous realization as she suddenly turned to look him in the eye eagerly. "Kolya-kun, don't you know what this is? This is a second chance to do things over right this time!"
Nikolay didn't even try to hide the confusion on his face, urging her to clarify. "The first time we tried to do something fun together, it turned into that whole…well, that really bad accident at your house and…well, what followed after that; but now? This is our chance to finally spend our day off together, and hang out and have fun the old-fashioned way, just like friends are supposed to!"
Thankfully, he seemed to be following her train of thought much better, and best of all, looked to be in immediate agreement to what she was suggesting, driving Mina to give an utterly adorable giggle of excitement as she brought Nikolay back to his feet right alongside her. "So what exactly did you have in mind?" he immediately asked.
"Oh, c'mon, Kolya-kun, where's the fun in having everything planned out? Just going with the flow is half the fun of hanging out with your friends. I'm gonna show you exactly what I mean, firsthand. Prepare yourself, Kolya-kun, because this is officially a Mina Ashido Day-Off Extravaganza Guarantee: I'm going to help you finally and officially learn how to loosen up and just learn to have fun, plain and simple! Come with me and let me be your guide!"
Before Nikolay could even react, Mina had suddenly taken his hand in her own, and was already eagerly heading for the park exit, heading further into the city proper. At first, all he could focus on was just how soft and warm Minas' hand was. This had been far from the first time they had held hands, but those had almost all been as signs of emotional and moral support. This felt indescribably different and incredibly nice on a wholly different level.
After that had all registered in his head, all Nikolay could think then, was that he truly did have no better alternatives on how to spend the day, and he certainly didn't want to spend it by himself. To be able to just go out and share this kind of experience with Mina of all people sounded infinitely more preferable.
After a short while of walking into the more downtown shopping district of Musutafu, Mina had finally brought them to a stop in front of a pretty distinct-looking clothing store, with the windows displays showing off all kinds of (in Nikolays' eyes) outlandish modern fashion displays. The eagerness on Minas' smiling face was clear as a fresh spring, but Nikolay still couldn't help but feel the need to ask: "What exactly are we doing here?"
Minas' smile never even flinched as she pointed to the store like it was the most obvious answer in the world: "You know, Kolya-kun, other than that tracksuit you wore at the Entrance Exam, outside of school, all I've ever seen you wear is this old green jacket and these black pants of yours." As she pointed this out, Nikolay couldn't help but rub the back of his head in embarrassment as he looked at his own reflection in the window, still dressed in the same Red Army winter jacket he had since the day he first came to Japan. It was certainly getting more and more uncomfortable to wear now that the weather was truly starting to warm up, finally.
"It just breaks my heart to see anybody with such a small selection of outfits to wear, but especially my friends. Before we can do anything else, Kolya-kun, you need to learn how to dress more stylishly and expressively." The absolute enthusiasm in Minas' voice was unmistakable, but that did little to nothing for Nikolays' instinctive embarrassment at what she was suggesting.
"I don't know about this kind of stuff, though, Mina. I've never gone…clothes shopping before. That's not really the kind of thing boys do, you know?" To his chagrin, however, he was immediately met with an especially amused laughter from Mina as she tried to catch her breath from laughing so hard, all while never letting go of the young Russians' hand even once.
"I'm sorry, Kolya-kun. It's just that you…you sounded almost exactly like Kirishima for a second there. I can't wait to tell him the next time I see him. Now come on, let's go inside. I'm here to help you out, remember? Just name me any of your favorite colors and we can work from there." With that, she excitedly ushered him inside, giggling with anticipation the entire way.
It was an utter rush from the moment they stepped in, as Mina was continuously guiding Nikolay by the hand, grabbing and piling on the first bits and pieces of clothing she could find in every section they went through, while the boy in her hand struggled to try and name a multitude of colors he liked.
After nearly ten minutes of this, Mina finally came to a stop in front of a row of changing booths, with a whole pile of assorted clothes resting on her free arm, before she began excitedly ushering Nikolay into the nearest booth. "Okay, Kolya-kun, go ahead and try anything you like on and let's see how you look. I promise you're going to be feeling like a whole new person in these." It was clear as day her inner fashion-enthusiast was firing on all cylinders right now, but Nikolay couldn't deny that there was something about her enthusiasm for this that felt somewhat infectious, as he no longer could deny a sense of curiosity how he would look in the end.
Of course, once he was alone in the booth and looking over the frankly ridiculous amounts of rather exquisite or well-made clothes sitting on the shelf beside him, his mind immediately couldn't help but ponder the eternal question in places like this: 'How on earth am I going to afford even half this stuff?' Of course, the idea that he was going to actually buy any of these things was a big assumption on his part. At least experimenting for the fun of it would be enough, if just for the sake of humoring her.
Of course, curiosity could only avoid turning into embarrassment for so long, as after several minutes of trying to put together something that felt even remotely cohesive with each other, Nikolay sucked in a breath through his teeth and finally stepped out, trying to avoid making eye contact with a patiently waiting and excited Mina. Of course, her eyes widened and her smile only grew that much more when she saw the Russian boy step out in what looked like a gray t-shirt under a light red hoodie with a light fur trim around the hood, skinny light blue jeans, actual tennis shoes, and even a dark green beanie atop his head with another light tuft of fur at the top.
"Oh. My. Gosh! You look great, Kolya-kun! See? Don't you feel so much better in something more stylish? You've gotta be feeling a lot less hot underneath it, at the least!" Mina asked enthusiastically, almost hopping on her feet with satisfaction, all the while giving her clearly embarrassed Russian friend a supportive thumb up.
He still couldn't bring himself to share in the mood, though. "I feel utterly ridiculous in a getup like this. I don't even feel like I'm in my own skin right now."
"Oh, come on, Kolya-kun, you look really cool! Trust me, give it some time and you'll definitely get used to it. Soon, you'll be able to pick out outfits that can help you express yourself even better! And besides, throwing random things together and seeing how they come out as one is half the fun of clothes shopping!" Despite the complete faith she had in that statement, Nikolay still didn't hesitate to retreat back into the changing booth, and back into his regular clothes.
"Well, be that as it may, I still don't think I can afford all of these anyway, so it might be a while before I really start branching out, you know?" Saying this as he stepped back out with clothes in hand, he was momentarily surprised that Mina didn't look even the least bit perturbed, as she swiftly took the load off his hands and still eagerly made her way for the nearest cashier.
"Remember what I said, Kolya-kun? Today is about helping you learn to loosen up and have fun; you know, not have to worry about every little thing! That's why I'm buying all these for you! I'm helping you get a head start on the self-expression front!"
This statement of intent smacked Nikolay upside the head harder than he ever thought it would, as he hurried after Mina, trying to rightfully find the right words to meet that with. "Mina, a-are you serious? I would never ask you to do something like that."
As she finally reached the cashier, who had seen the two coming from a mile away, Minas' confident smile was still as permanent as day and night. "You don't have to. Besides, my parents actually sent me some extra spending money, since they were so proud of me making it as far into the Festival as I did. So please, I'm happy to do this much for you."
Despite her saying this, Nikolay still looked noticeably uncomfortable with this. He had come to understand that it was not good to be out with others and have them pay for you. No matter how she could word this, it simply didn't sit right with him inside. It was simply too bad he didn't realize the remorseful look he was making on his face, as Mina started giggling in amusement as she paid. "You know something, Kolya-kun? I don't know how you do it, but you somehow manage to look even cuter than usual when you look all pouty like that." This was more than enough to make the boy stand tall and try to look as neutral as possible, lest she start laughing at his face again.
As soon as everything had been paid for, Mina finally convinced Nikolay to go through with the rest as he hurriedly put in his address for everything to be sent to; all the while hoping his father wouldn't notice and decide to peek of his own accord.
Once that was all taken care of, Mina once again took Nikolays' hand and they were soon back out on the bustling streets. "Okay…so we just made a huge addition to my personal wardrobe. What else is there you like to do for fun?" he asked, even if he knew how pointless that was if she was really simply going with whatever she could spot at random that seemed like fun. Unbeknownst to him, Mina had already found their next destination. He had failed to notice, as the sound for the advertisements on the large screens on all the buildings meshed together, but Mina had quickly noticed a particular advertisement playing, promoting the recent opening of a new amusement park in the Musutafu City area, right next to the ocean. The best part was that since it was still in its first weekend of having been open, it was allowing free admission for guests this weekend only.
As soon as the ad had listed which routes by bus or train to take in order to get there, she thanked whatever force in the universe was clearly on their side, as she immediately spotted a nearby bus, with its next destination being the station right next to that very same park.
"Come on, Kolya-kun, this next part is gonna be amazing! I'm finally gonna be able to keep that Mina Ashido promise I made you at USJ! Get ready for your very first theme park visit!" She announced it as if she were crying out from the mountaintops, and was practically bouncing with every step as she kept leading Nikolay by the hand for the bus. This time, the boy had no willingness to protest or talk her out of it. Now this sounded like a much more universal idea of fun, only made much more so by his curiosity as to just what was waiting for them. Soon enough, the bus began to roll forward, and they were finally on their way.
"And so, everyone, having now gone over these last three historical examples, what is the most important thing to consider when going into a situation not only involving more than one normal criminal or Villain, but also civilians as well? As malenkiye (little; plural) Tetsutetsu and Kirishima have demonstrated to us, it is not how hard and fast you can take them out of the equation. When a situation involves the general public Heroes are supposed to protect, direct aggression is the very last thing you should ever consider going through with. So, can anyone answer that?"
Oleg's study plan for the day had been starting out smoothly, but as he had quickly come to learn, asking his students to come up with answers to his hypothetical scenarios was leaving a considerable amount to be desired. For a few moments, everyone seemed to be mutually clueless, until it was Setsuna who finally raised her hand, with the burly Russian silently giving her the go-ahead to answer.
"Two things: first, you need to consider who is on your team to begin with. Heroes can't effectively know how to handle a situation if we don't even know the ins-and-outs of our teammates' Quirks. That's what all our previous rescue tests have been about, so that we can get to know what situations each other are best suited toward. If you're in a situation with more than one opponent and the civilian public is involved, you'd be better suited to have Heroes with Quirks geared more towards either diversion or pacification, rather than just outright aggression or brute strength."
Oleg's subsequent applause was almost deafening, leaving the reptile-like girl grinning with satisfaction, while Ochako and Kyouka were likewise anxiously poring over their own notes. Finally, it was the gravity girl who had her hand up next. "Yes, malenkaya Uraraka; can you tell us what the other most important thing to consider is?"
"Y-yes, Sensei. Um…you need to consider how you utilize you and your teams' Quirks in a way that can both guarantee everyones' safety and ensure the least amount of damage, whether it be to bystanders or property." Again, another hearty round of applause, just as Kyouka finally got her hand up just before Tooru followed a second later.
"Yes, malenkaya Jirou. Can you perhaps tell us why Heroes must consider such measures? And for those of you who may think you have the answer, it may not be as obvious as you would initially think." With the teacher giving the go-ahead, Kyouka cleared her throat and sat up straight.
"It's because we're not only trying to protect people and keep bystanders from getting hurt, or their honest businesses being destroyed by the actions of either Villains or Heroes. It's because Heroes have to constantly maintain the publics' faith and trust in them and what they stand for. They need to be able to feel like they can live safely at all times, and not just when danger looms. If Heroes act recklessly and get people hurt or businesses and homes destroyed in the crossfire, it damages that general trust."
All was silent but for a moment, before Oleg rose up from his chair, once more towering over all his young charges. "I couldn't have said it any better myself. Well done, malenkaya Jirou. That is one of the most important things you kids can all take to heart in your time as students before you step out into the world as real Pro Heroes. Know that while the public at large may cheer you on and support and thank you, they are also constantly watching you. If you make even a single slip-up that gets someone else hurt, or gets someones' livelihood destroyed, that very same public will turn on you like a pack of rabid dogs, to the point where you will never be able to fully regain that trust you once had, no matter how much you improve at handling yourselves in a situation. As long as you all remember this, and most importantly, take it to heart, you will be one step ahead, and therefore much better prepared."
Everyone thankfully looked to be taking these words, this especially heavy warning, to heart. Oleg nodded in clear approval of this before sitting himself back down. "Now then, the first and foremost thing you kids can do in order to prepare yourself for this aspect of the job, is know how to properly gauge, measure and improve the perimeters of your Quirks from where they currently stand right now. And thankfully, after observing many of you throughout the Sports Festival, I think I have a pretty good idea of how many of your Quirks really function already."
With this, he suddenly shot back up from his chair, before suddenly pointing two mighty fingers at a visibly surprised Eijirou and Tetsutetsu. "Malenkiye Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, your two Quirks are virtually identical, both in terms of utility, AND vulnerability. Malenkii Kirishima, due to the fact that you lost your fight in the tournament due to being subjected to a constant point-blank barrage of malenkii Bakugos' explosions, it stands to reason that your Hardening Quirk is only at its most effective if you're not subjected to continuous blows, because otherwise your durability gradually weakens, does it not?"
Eijirou was clearly reluctant to have to admit something as unmanly as weakness to one of the teachers he admired the most, but just as quickly realized lying would be even worse, and so ultimately nodded in confirmed resignation. "And malenkii Tetsutetsu, you and Kirishima are completely matched in strength, and yet even after withstanding a continuous beating in your fight, you ultimately ended up losing in a standard arm-wrestling contest. That tells me that the strength and durability of your Iron Quirk is also finite, isn't it? Can you tell us why?"
The other sharp-toothed boy grimaced in similar stubborn resistance, but considering that Eijirou had ultimately caved, he grunted in frustration. "Dammit. It's because my Quirk relies on a constant intake of iron in my diet. As long as I have a good helping of it at the start of the day, my Quirk is at its peak, but if I don't keep it up gradually, it eventually begins to weaken. That's why I lost."
Before anyone else could say anything, Oleg was suddenly on a roll, pointing from one student to the next. "Malenkii Mineta, the adhesiveness of your hair spheres is dependant on your overall physical health, such as what you most recently eat. Malenkii Kaminari, the electrical synapses of your brain gradually rebuild your electricity, but every time you use it, you end up short circuiting your brain for at least an hour, and as such become a vegetable. Malenkaya Tokage, you're able to remotely control any piece of you detached from your main body, and are currently able to control up to fifty separate pieces of yourself. Malenkaya Uraraka, over-exertion in using your Quirk, whether it be from overuse, or forcing yourself to remove the gravity from an especially heavy object, leaves you physically nauseous; an outright detriment if you ever find yourself caught in another life-or-death situation like at USJ. The point I'm making here, is that you all have very distinct limitations on what your Quirks are capable of doing. But tell me this: were you all born with these distinct limitations, or did you work yourselves up to where they are right now?"
All the students visibly perked up at this question, all visibly shaken, albeit in a good way, by the encouraging smile beneath Olegs' thick beard. "That's what I thought. Your Quirks all started out with much worse limitations when they first manifested, but through constant training, practice, and hardships, you've all managed to strengthen and broaden your limitations to where they are now. And if you could already bring them to their current level, then you can most assuredly boost them even further. Before you can start to worry about maintaining your intended public image as Pro Heroes, cementing your understanding of the appropriate uses, situations and limitations of your Quirks is the most pivotal thing. And today, we're going to have some physical training in the backyard so that we can properly observe and gauge the exact limitation of what your Quirks are able to do as of right now."
Just as he began to get up and head for the door, Minoru was now the one to suddenly bring an objecting hand up: "Sensei, isn't this pretty much the exact opposite of what you told Bezpalov-san earlier? You said nonstop training wouldn't make us improve any faster." Oleg looked back to his grape-haired student with a still-confident grin.
"I never said anything about pushing you all further today. This is simply for the sake of seeing what your current limits are, so we can figure out how to proceed from there. Now if no one has any objections, shall we go outside and commence the sparring?"
As soon as the bus had come to a stop, it was impossible to even miss the nearby amusement park, as the towering rides and the ambient sounds of laughter and music could be heard all around. "Come on, Kolya-kun, this is gonna be SO MUCH FUN!" Mina exclaimed with all the eagerness and excitement in the world as she still led Nikolay through the gates by the hand, and he was frankly mesmerized at everything there was to behold.
It was a far cry from any of the ancient old theme parks from centuries ago he had seen pictures of, but it was also far from the dinkier examples he had seen in photos from the United States, as well. It fell somewhere in between, with just the right amount of extravagant colors and music, droves of people and their children going this way and that, the kids laughing excitedly all the way, and the air was filled with the veritable bouquet of all kinds of foods.
Mina was like a child in a candy store as she took it all in, her eyes glistening with joy like two obsidians with sparkles of gold. Nikolay, all the while, found himself being physically overwhelmed by the sheer sensory overload the place was giving him. The fact they were barely inside and already being treated to such sights was, honestly, a touch overwhelming for a newcomer to such things like him. Thankfully, Mina was just as alert as she was enraptured with childlike eagerness, as she quickly helped nudge Nikolay back to reality. "I know it seems like a lot to take in at first. But trust me, you'll get used to it in time. Now c'mon, Kolya-kun, there's so much to see and do here, I can already tell! We've got all day, let's live it to the fullest!"
Without even missing a beat, her attention fell to the nearby towering roller coaster, and the cacophony of excited screams from the people riding it. "Oh, wow! You haven't lived until you've gotten to ride a roller coaster, Kolya-kun! Let's go, I promise you, you're gonna have the time of your life on one of these!" She was already making an anxious beeline for it, with Nikolay loyally keeping pace, but the more he looked to the sheer scale of it, and kept hearing the guests screams while riding, the more he felt his stomach twisting in knots.
He was half-ready to ask if she was really sure about doing this, hoping she would perhaps take the hint he wasn't entirely comfortable with it, but when he saw the sheer joy on her face that they were finally getting to spend time together like this, the words just as quickly died in his throat. What better way could he have potentially killed the meaning to this day than to not simply go with the flow, like she said, and see what happens?
When they finally reached the front of the line, the park employee manning the gate seemed to light up when he saw the two teens in particular. "Hey, I recognize you two! You were competing at the Sports Festival on Friday, weren't you? Yeah, you're that kid who got blown up three times in a row at the race! Man, that school must have really good doctors if you were back on your feet so soon after."
Nikolay tried to smile, his embarrassment for why he was recognized completely obvious, but Mina was simply happy that they had clearly made such an impression. Soon after, they were through and set up in the very front car of the coaster. Once they were completely strapped in, the whole thing was already being pulled up the ramp, every mechanical tick of the track making Nikolays' already nervous pulse increase.
"Just hold on tight and get ready, Kolya-kun! This is gonna be such a blast!" What he would have given in that moment to have Minas' enthusiasm, as they only seemed to go higher and higher before finally reaching the very peak of the first rise.
Seeing how high up they were, and at the plethora of twists, turns and loops they were about to go racing through, Nikolay felt all the color leave his already fair face, his hands gripping the safety bar over his shoulders for dear white-knuckled life. "Bozhe, pomogi mne (God help me)."
The moment the coaster finally began to descend at breakneck speed, it was all over. Nikolay couldn't even summon up the scream that was still continuing to build in his chest. All he could do was hang on, and let the sheer wind friction against his face bring the tears from his eyes. If he hadn't been trying so hard not to black out from the overall stress, he would've sworn the turns and flips and loops were giving him the worst case of whiplash. And all the while, from beginning to end, all he could hear beside the wind was Minas' ecstatic, fun-loving laughter as she just had the biggest laughing smile on her pink face; loving absolutely every last solitary moment of it.
By the time it was finally over and they had gotten off and out the exit, Nikolay couldn't even walk straight, let alone see straight. One would've almost thought the boy was intoxicated, he was swerving this way and that while trying to walk. All the while, Mina couldn't help but laugh at his outwardly ridiculous display. "See, didn't I say it would be fun, Kolya-kun? Once the dizziness wears off, I'll bet you'll want to go again, no question!"
However, that confident enthusiasm of hers was quickly dashed away, when the very next thing Nikolay did was somehow twirl and hobble his way to the nearest trash can, and proceeded to heave into it, absolutely nothing exaggerated or fake about it.
By the time he had finally done what needed to be done to get his head back on straight, he was met with a now exceptionally apologetic-looking Mina, even if she still had a smile of (now) embarrassment on her face. "Okay…so maybe that kind of high-octane thrill ride stuff isn't really your thing after all. I'm sorry for forcing you, Kolya-kun. If you didn't want to go, I would've been okay with that."
Now that he no longer felt dangerously close to losing what little was still in his stomach, Nikolay was able to look Mina in the eyes with an apologetic air of his own. "No. you wanted to take me to a place like this since I'd never been to one before. I didn't think I was gonna have such a bad reaction to something like that. I just wanted to try and go with the flow, like you said. I'm sorry if this just made things weird or uncomfortable."
"No, of course not; don't be silly, Kolya-kun. Not everything in theme parks is for everybody. At least giving it one try is enough. We can still check out the rest, there's plenty of other stuff we can do. We can just make sure to avoid the more extreme stuff from now on." To Nikolays' relief, there didn't seem to be one visible or audible trace of resentment in Minas' voice to know he wasn't as high energy as she was when it came to rides. Bless her heart; she was willing to accommodate his comfort zone for virtually everything with the utmost sincerity.
From there, the rest of their time in the theme park went much, much smoother. What rides they agreed to go on from there, while far from boring, didn't run the risk of making Nikolay black out, while still managing to be energetic and fun for Minas' tastes as well. They had both proven quite particular to spinning tea cups, bumper cars and a more high speed variant of the carousel, especially.
At one point on the latter specifically, even amid the pre-recorded music playing as they bounced up and down in circles, taking in the laughter and enjoyment of everybody else around them, Mina could have sworn from the bottom of her heart, that she could hear Nikolays' voice singing actual words along to the music. It certainly wasn't Japanese, and it didn't sound like any English she had ever heard, so that only left one option. If she remembered to, if they would continue having this much fun for the rest of the day, she knew she would need to know just what that music was that would actually get him to drop his self-consciousness enough to sing out loud.
Of likewise noteworthy mention was their experience with the gaming booths. Stories from abroad had left Nikolay inherently skeptical of the kinds of people that ran games at places like carnivals, fairs and the like, as they had a particularly nasty reputation for rigging their games in order to bleed their contestants dry of every last cent.
And yet, there wasn't a single person here that even remotely fit that bill. Everyone was courteous, patient, and more than happy to show him how everything was done. He wanted to know, especially, when he saw how Minas' eyes would just light up with a childlike glow of wanting whenever she saw the almost saccharine cute stuffed animals and plushies on the prize racks.
Of course, Nikolay knew he needed to pace himself carefully, not just for the minuscule amount of money he had on hand to begin with, but also to avoid risking getting impatient or frustrated whenever he lost, and risk putting his Quirk behind his attempts at playing, potentially destroying whichever booth they were at. This overall experience had ultimately proven a right boon in terms of helping him learn to further said patience.
And in the end, it turned out not to be for nothing, as at the final booth they decided to try out, a simplistic matter of throwing a baseball and knocking down a pyramid of empty bottles, Nikolay had finally managed to get lucky; striking down one after another in a series of dead-center bulls-eyes, and thus winning Mina a large, fluffy sheep plushie nearly half her size, and only a slightly lighter shade of pink in general.
Nevertheless, the fact he had ultimately managed to pull through like this for her had been enough for Mina to pull him into yet another joyous, grateful hug (plushie still in hand), no matter how many other people were around and naturally drawn into watching.
And in fact, that had only gone to further prove how much of an impression they had made, since they could both distinctly hear a majority of people from all across the park up until this very moment, mutter their recognition of Nikolay and Mina from the Festival. But now, seeing the two young teens in the middle of such an enthusiastic embrace, brought the commentary to a whole other level.
"Isn't that the one foreign kid from the Festival? The one who actually threw away his shot at winning that race to save that pink girl? Yeah, the one hugging him right now. Wow, you'd think they were boyfriend and girlfriend even before the Festival for her to be hugging him that tight. Oh stop it, I think it's adorable. Yeah, first he actually sacrifices winning to save her, then they form that kickass team in the cavalry battle, and now this? It almost feels like watching a real-life fairytale, you know?"
By this point, neither Nikolay nor Mina could ignore the passersby commentary, both of them blushing heavily with embarrassment at just some of the words being thrown around. Without another word needing to be said, they were already racing for the nearest exit to the park, right back to the bus station from before; Nikolay trying to catch his breath, not from the run, but from the utter rate at which his heart had been racing, listening to some of the things people were saying about him and Mina.
"Well…running commentary aside…how did you like your very first theme park visit, Kolya-kun? I hope the…well, coaster and the crowd aside, I hope it was fun for you." Despite the embarrassment evident in her smile, Minas' desire for this day turning out the way she had hoped, was still crystal clear.
To that, Nikolay could finally smile in earnest again: "More than I ever expected it would be, to be honest. Thank you for taking me to see it all, Mina."
That affirmation made Mina smile brighter than anything else had so far today, but before either of them could say anything, both their stomachs decided to take that opportunity to growl simultaneously, leaving both teens visibly embarrassed all over again. "I guess it has been a while since either of us ate anything, huh? That coaster mishap probably didn't help, either. Don't worry, I know just the place we can go."
The pep injected right back in her step, Mina eagerly took Kolyas' hand in her own once again, and soon they were back on the next bus heading back into central Musutafu City; the now late afternoon sun beginning to finally start descending to ring in the early evening.
Oleg had taken to overseeing the one-on-one sparring matches the students had set up with each other for the last couple of hours. And thus far, he could confidently say that what he had been observing from each of them, at least as far as the limitations and properties of their Quirks went, was quite satisfactory.
"You're doing well in keeping malenkaya Hagakure from getting too close to you, malenkii Kaminari. Remember, keeping in mind exactly how much of your electricity to disperse in order to incapacitate your opponent, but not short circuit your brain, is the lesson you need to be focusing on the most today. Not every attack involving your Quirk needs to be all or nothing."
From the first fight between Denki and Tooru, Oleg then turned his attention to the rather chaotic fight made up entirely of keep-away tactics between Setsuna and Minoru. "Malenkaya Tokage, the fact you can separate your body into up to 50 individually remote-controlled pieces, and can have each and every one of them pack a wallop, gives you a natural advantage in battle, whether it be against a single or multiple opponents. Malenkii Mineta, your reflexes and sense of aim for knowing where to throw your hair in order to either weigh down any one of your opponents' pieces, or bind them together and thus throw off her intended attack pattern, is likewise an excellent means of crowd control. However, you cannot hope to win a fight by continuously deflecting their attacks. You eventually need to bring the fight to them; and unfortunately, the naturally finite nature of your Quirk puts you in a position where you're best served ending a fight as quickly as possible. We will need to find a way to work with that."
Moving ever onward, his eyes then fell on Ochako and Eijirou in the middle of their duel. Unfortunately, they seemed to be at something of a stalemate, as all Ochako could do was avoid Eijirous' hardened attacks, and his reflexes were keeping her from getting close enough to take his gravity away. To see this constant back-and-forth, Oleg finally decided to step in, signaling for a time out.
"Clearly your two Quirks, coupled with the disparity in your melee skills, don't exactly leave much room to see your limits. Malenkii Kirishima, I want you to swap places with malenkaya Jirou and spar with malenkii Tetsutetsu. We need to test and see exactly how much of a physical barrage the two of you are able to take before your respective Quirks start to weaken." Eijirou gave an enthusiastic bow of understanding and thanks to Oleg before hurriedly rushing to his 1-B rival. Now all that was left was Ochako.
"Malenkaya Uraraka, do you perhaps have any notable close-quarters-combat training? A means to actually physically fight your opponent if you're able to get close enough?" To his surprise, the brown-haired girl timidly shook her head in embarrassment. "N-no, Sensei. I never had a reason to. I only ever really tried to practice with my Quirk, make it so I could lift heavier objects. Last time I tried to check, the maximum weight I can hold before getting woozy is a little under 200 pounds, by the western weighing system, at least."
Oleg ran his large fingers through his beard as he pondered this. "Perhaps we could try to find a way to help you implement some more grapple-based martial arts with your Quirk, nothing too fancy. Your effectiveness in a fight could multiply tenfold in no time if you could find a way to remove your opponents' gravity for short periods of time, enough so you can at least get into a position to grapple them and take them down, return their gravity at just the right moment so they can either fall, or you can drive into them at just the right angle to take the wind or the lights right out of them. Having to only use it in short bursts should really help you avoid getting into a state of nausea so quickly if you have to do any considerably heavy zero gravity lifting."
Ochakos' eyes widened with agreement and anticipation at the suggestion. "That could be really useful, Sensei! It'd be a lot better than just running in, trying to take gravity away from debris and hoping I don't get hit somewhere along the way. But what kind of martial arts could I learn that would be good for that?"
Her question was immediately answered by a knowing grin on Olegs' face. "Leave that to me, malenkaya Uraraka. I've been teaching Kolya that grappling fighting style you all saw him use against malenkii Todoroki during the tournament. I could easily teach you and everyone else here the same thing; it's much simpler than you would think."
With this, he gave a piercing whistle, drawing the attention of all his students. "If anyone would like to step up and learn some grappling combat techniques, feel free to step forward. If you don't feel ready, that's perfectly fine. But simply standing your ground and trading blows and seeing who goes down first won't get you through the majority of battles. You need to know how to use your Quirks, gravity, leverage, and momentum all in tandem, in order to take your opponents down as quickly and efficiently as possible. This is one of the reasons why we're trying to gauge the boundaries of all your Quirks right now, so that you can all better calculate exactly how far you can push yourselves, and therefore know exactly how much punishment you can afford to take in a real fight.
"This isn't about pushing yourselves leaps and bounds beyond your limitations. You need to push your respective thresholds along inch by inch. It's a time consuming process, but one that you will see reaps great results in the end. Now then, who wants to step up and learn some good old-fashioned Russian Sambo?"
As soon as the bus had taken them back to downtown Musutafu, fortunately enough right around the edge of the area Nikolay had come to know was near where Mina actually lived; he found his hunger had only grown that much more restless. "Had I known today was going to be so eventful, I would've had a bigger breakfast. So what exactly did you have in mind?" He finally asked as they soon found themselves skirting the outside of another quaint little park area.
As soon as he had asked, however, the two rounded a corner to find what looked like a single food stand nestled comfortably on the sidewalk, with a quaint number of people lined up in front of it. As soon as they had laid eyes on it, both teens smelt an absolutely delectable aroma emanating from it, and Mina was already hurrying over to get in line with Nikolay in tow. "Have you ever had takoyaki before, Kolya-kun?"
"I'd heard of it plenty of times, but no." His answer was straightforward and blunt, but the look of utter surprise on Minas' face made it sound like he had admitted something she could scarcely comprehend.
"How is that even possible? You've been living in Japan for almost seven months now, and you've never had takoyaki before? Well, you're lucky I'm here, Kolya-kun, because you're about to have your mind blown. Takoyaki after a long day of fun is one of the best things ever, almost as good as okra and natto together."
The line was thankfully moving quite fast, and soon enough they found themselves at the front, before Nikolay suddenly stepped in just as Mina began to speak up. "Mina, please, at least let me pay for this. I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't cover something for us today." It was clear how serious he was about wanting to return the favor, and so she happily let him do so, and before long, the two were making their way into the park and seating themselves at a bench, with a fresh rectangular platter of takoyaki with provided little toothpicks in hand.
"Well, thank you for the food, Kolya-kun. I'll bet that's gonna make these taste even better." She was clearly teasing him with that sentiment, but that didn't stop Nikolay from blushing all the same. Without another word, Mina poked one of the toothpicks into the first little ball of fried octopus and eagerly popped it into her mouth. It was like her hair stood on end as a faint squeal of delight emanated from within as she savored it. Now that simply wanted to make Nikolay get his first taste of the ones he had specifically ordered, based on the cooks' personal recommendation, even more.
However, while he was in the process of popping his first one into his mouth, Mina realized at the very last second, the light green paste-like substance that had been very lightly dabbed onto it. "Kolya-kun, wait, that's-!"
But it was too late. From the moment his mouth closed upon it, the heat of the takoyaki itself paled in comparison to the unholy burning that suddenly filled his entire mouth. Nikolay couldn't even open his mouth to speak, having no choice but to force himself to swallow it, while his ordinarily fair face quickly grew a very dark shade of red, with little beads of heat-induced sweat forming all over.
"Oh, Kolya-kun, you shouldn't have let the cook decide what to make you, you should've just gone regular like I did! That stuff he added is wasabi, really spicy stuff! Oh, man, are you okay?" The fact that Mina managed to sound so genuinely concerned while also trying to resist the urge to laugh, did not help with Nikolays' panicked state of mind, as he still couldn't bring himself to speak. Finally, it grew to a heat he simply could not take, as he finally let out a pained cry and made a mad dash for the nearest water fountain he could find; his pink best friend hot on his heels, while still laughing all the way.
It thankfully hadn't been long after, that Nikolay had learned the hard way just how awful water really was for a painful spiciness in the mouth. However, the heat had at least now died down enough on its own where he could speak again, albeit in a wheeze.
Since the whole mishap, Mina had decided to have them round off today with something she knew for a fact couldn't possibly go wrong. And so with that, she had decided to take Nikolay to a nearby department store that seemed far more spacious and pristine than the title would have suggested. It was a useful reminder for Nikolay that such places differed tremendously from the same kind of places with the title in America, from what he had heard and read.
The two were currently sitting at a single table on the edge of one of the pearly white plazas the whole building seemed to be made up of. People were once again hustling and bustling this way and that, but thankfully not everybody was stopping to watch the two of them like back at the amusement park. There were still people clearly looking at the two teens from across, obviously recognizing them from the Festival, but fortunately nobody seemed to want to draw unnecessary attention to them this time.
"I'm sorry again, Kolya-kun. I should've warned you about stuff like wasabi before. I just didn't think he was gonna add it on when you asked for his recommendation. Heck, I wasn't expecting you to be that adventurous right off the bat, anyway." Nikolay tried to laugh to meet her good-humored view on the whole mishap, but from the look on his once again fair face, it was clear that it still hurt to do so.
"I thought he would just give me the regular, since I'd said it was my first time. That'll teach me to be vague, I suppose. If anything, I guess this just makes me regret the fact that so much of my homes' cooking doesn't incorporate heavy duty spices like that. Maybe if they did, I'd have built up a tolerance by now."
As he laid back in his chair, Nikolay momentarily looked down to the two glasses of water sitting on their table, having to actively resist the urge to grab and drink it to do away with the lingering burn still in his mouth. "Would've been nice if people had told me water's actually a bad thing for spice burns a long time ago, too." Despite all of this, Mina was simply grateful that, in lieu of his still lingering oral pains, Nikolay seemed to be in humorous, and therefore good, spirits again. The last thing she ever would have wanted was for this whole ultimately amazing day to end on a genuinely sour note.
At that moment, a single female server suddenly approached the two, placing a single large and elaborately decorative-looking ice cream sundae between them, a smile on her face to match their own. "Sorry for the wait. I hope you both enjoy it. Seeing you two compete at the Festival on TV, you guys blew me away. You've both certainly earned this." Nikolay and Mina both gave her the deserved thanks, and were soon once more left to themselves, looking at their soon-to-be shared dessert with both hunger and admiration for how nicely put together it was.
"A perfect end to a perfect day off. Ice cream's always been my favorite thing to wash spicy foods down with. What about you, Kolya-kun?" Mina asked as she already began getting her first bite, before noticing the Russian across from her was still simply looking it over with a glimmer of wonder in his green eyes. "Oh, please don't tell me you've never even had ice cream before, I don't think my heart could take something that sad."
"No, of course I have. I've just never seen it put together in a way to make it look so well-crafted as well as delicious." Mina couldn't help but giggle in amusement once more to see him essentially admiring something so intensely, but thankfully another rumbling from his stomach soon snapped him out of it, and soon they were both finally partaking.
The way Nikolays' eyes widened and his whole face seemed to just light up with the first bite, struck an especially strong chord in Mina, as she felt the most affectionate smile start spreading across her face, with a really pleasant warmth in her chest as well. To watch the boy who had either looked so sad, troubled or serious most of the time, finally loosen up and have such a genuinely childlike happy smile on his face for what felt like the first time; it was practically what she had always been longing to see from him since the day they'd first met. And to finally see it with her own eyes left Mina feeling a happiness inside that she couldn't rightfully recall ever experiencing before.
As Nikolay kept savoring every single delectable bite, he soon noticed that Mina had stopped eating and was instead just looking at him with a warm smile on her face that sent a strangely pleasant shiver up and down his spine. "W-what's up? Did I get some on my face?"
Another adorable giggle as Mina realized she had inadvertently been staring before taking her next bite. "No, no. I'm just…it just makes me so happy to see you smiling like that, finally. I finally got to see you loosen up, enjoy yourself and just be able to smile without a care in the world, and that…that's what I've wanted to see for a while now."
Nikolay could feel his face growing warmer as he couldn't bring himself to take his eyes off of her as well. "Yes. Well…I have you to thank for a lot of that, Mina. If it hadn't been for you always trying to support me and cheer me on, I don't think I'd be anything like this right now. I'd probably still be that scared, angry version of myself from before."
As he began to reach for another bite, he momentarily twitched when Mina began to lean slightly forward, an encouraging glimmer in her golden irises. "Kolya-kun, you played a much bigger part in all of that than you're giving yourself credit for. You were able to get better because you actively made the choice to try and get better. That is so huge. Making that choice is half the effort of getting along with other people. And if you've already come this far, I know you'll be able to make even more friends so much easier."
Nikolays' grateful smile grew that much more as Mina realized how much closer she was leaning in, hurriedly pulling herself back with an amused, yet embarrassed, chuckle before the two hurriedly took another bite respectively to ease the awkwardness of the moment. However, that deeper, warm smile quickly returned to her pink face as she eventually brought her gaze back to him. "Missteps aside, I'm really, really glad I got to spend today with you like this, Kolya-kun. Times like this are what spending time and having fun with friends is all about…and I'm glad I could be here to help you like that."
Nikolay for the first time today was at the ready to answer anything Mina could have said, as he gladly met her gaze in return, a deeply grateful smile on his face as the words just came on their own: "I'm glad you're here too, Mina. You're the single best friend I ever could've asked for…and I can't thank you enough for everything you've done to help me up to this point. Balshoy spasibo (Thank you so much)."
Minas' naturally pink skin was the only thing to keep him from seeing how much his words of honest gratitude were making her blush in response.
It wasn't long after that the two teens had finished off the last of their shared sundae, and were soon on their way for the exit, when a passing glance to the side brought Mina to a sudden stop. "Oh my gosh…Kolya-kun, we HAVE to do this before anything else." When Nikolay looked to see what had gotten her attention, his eyes fell on a single inconspicuous photo booth resting against the wall.
The shimmering in Minas' eyes already said it loud and clear, but when she looked back, there was no way she could resist: "We've just GOTTA have something to permanently remember today by! Come on, this'll be so much fun!"
Nikolay had long since given up trying to talk the pink girl out of anything she set her heart or mind to, and soon they were seated rather close next to each other in the tiny booth as Mina hurriedly pushed all the buttons necessary to get the machine up and running. "Okay, so these things take five photos for a single strip, so we can do whatever we want until those five pictures are up. They even give a little countdown in case you change your mind at the last second and want to get ready."
Just as she'd said, the screen in front of them suddenly began counting down from 5, spurring Nikolay and Mina to try and get into position and think of something. "Okay, how about we start simple, smile and the victory sign?"
Nikolay was too nervous and unfamiliar with these things to protest, so he simply followed her lead as reflected on screen. They both quickly formed the 'V for Victory' sign with their respective pointing and middle fingers; only whereas Minas' smile was big and joyous, Nikolay couldn't get over his awkwardness and was barely able to lift even one corner of his mouth. The fact that Mina had raised her other hand in the same signal right behind Nikolays' head, simulating a tiny pair of pink bunny ears, did not help.
Click!
The instant the sound had been made, Mina burst out laughing, almost to the point of having tears in her black-gold eyes. "Oh, what was that, Kolya-kun? That was barely even a smirk, let alone a smile. Come on, you were doing it so well earlier."
Despite her laughter, Nikolay once again couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes. "I've never done something like this before, Mina; I don't know what to do."
Despite that weak-willed protest, Mina was on a roll, as she suddenly swapped places with him on their seat, holding his fair face in her hands as they made eye contact once more. All the while, she still had that big cheeky smile on her face that just seemed to fit her down to the letter. "Aw, it's easy, Kolya-kun. Here, I can help."
With that, Mina suddenly lightly pinched onto Nikolays' admittedly soft cheeks, and began just barely pulling them to try and help him form a smile, only further encouraged by the embarrassed laughter he couldn't help but answer her with in reaction to this utterly weird sensation. And Mina simply couldn't help but laugh all the while. "Ooh, you're just so cute, Kolya-kun! I didn't think your cheeks would be so soft! With your skin being so fair, too, you and Urara-chan actually kind of look alike, that way."
Click!
The sudden sound of the camera going off again spurred both of them into realizing they had inadvertently just wasted one of their five photos. With that, Mina finally let go of Nikolays' cheeks before sitting herself back down next to him. "Okay, third time, no more pinching, I promise! Let's maybe try something cute?"
Already with an idea in mind, Mina rested her chin on her open hands; the sweetest smile on her face, while Nikolay tried to think of something similar he could do that wouldn't leave him looking utterly ridiculous.
However, just when he ultimately relented to doing the same thing as her, a passing glance in her direction made Nikolay suddenly notice a single stray ladybug perched on one of Minas' horns, and from the utterly casual smile on her face, she clearly hadn't noticed. Chances were the little thing had gotten in her hair back at the park.
Momentarily distracted from everything else, Nikolay instinctively reached up with a pointing finger to try and get the ladybug off without hurting it, but he ended up bringing his hand forward a fraction of an inch too close, and ended up accidentally nudging Minas' left horn, causing it to just barely bend back at his touch, and immediately earning a particularly high squeak out of Mina; her eyes as wide as he'd ever seen, her hands now clasped to her cheeks in surprise, and her pink face now almost strawberry red with blush.
Click!
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Mina! I didn't meant to do that, honest! I didn't think it would bend like that, but I was just trying to get a ladybug off it! You're not hurt, are you?" Nikolay was borderline frantic while Mina was still holding her hands to her still rosy cheeks, visibly trying to calm herself.
"I-I'm okay, Kolya-kun, really. It doesn't hurt. My horns, they're…they're just really sensitive, and…it just feels really weird when they get touched, so I prefer people don't do it. I don't if I can help it."
Nikolay felt utterly terrible, feeling as though he had crossed some unspoken and irreversible boundary. "I'm sorry. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea—," he apologized once more before starting to make his way out of the photo booth.
However, Mina had just as quickly gotten herself back to normal, and already was gently grabbing onto the cuff of his jacket, gently pulling him back in and sitting him back down on her right again. "Kolya-kun, please, don't worry so much about it; its okay. There was no way you could've known. I mean, you never had a reason to ask, so I never had a reason to tell you. But now we both know, and we can just move on from it, okay?"
As reassuring as her words were, Nikolay still looked a touch guilty, earning a momentary puffed-up pout from her. But, just as quickly, that pout turned back into another cheeky grin, as an idea suddenly came to mind. "I think I know what can finally put a real smile back on that face."
Before Nikolay could even look to ask what she meant, Mina suddenly scooted in that couple of inches closer and brought her slender pink arms over his shoulders, pulling him into an especially close-knit hug, to the point that she was happily rubbing her cheek up against his own. The fact that she was giggling happily the entire time, even childishly saying "rub-rub" throughout as she did so, finally broke through the last of Nikolays' awkward shell. Finally, his face was adorned with a bright and humorous smile of his own as he pretended to try and fight back against her continuous cheek rubbing.
Click!
The sound once again got both teens' attention, and with it came the realization that they now had one final photo to go.
"Okay, okay, last one. Let's just try and do regular smiles this time. No more tricks, no more accidents. Pinky swear." Mina held up her little finger just to prove her point, but Nikolay was still trying to get out the last of his laughter, unable to meet her in kind; although the fact it was from laughter of his own enjoyment made it all okay with her.
The countdown finally began, with only five seconds until their last picture would be taken. They sat straight shoulder-to-shoulder, looking straight into the camera with the most genuinely happy smiles on their faces. As she mentally counted down the seconds, Mina could feel her chest growing warmer with satisfaction and joy at the smile of genuine enjoyment and happiness on Nikolays' face.
She chanced another glance to the screen and saw they now had only one second left. At that moment, an instantaneous idea sparked in her head, one that dominated every last bit of her with total impulse.
As Nikolay mentally counted down from the final second, he suddenly felt the soft warmth of Minas' index finger and thumb gently hold onto his jaw line, only tilting his head ever slightly in her direction to the left. And before he could even open his mouth to ask what she was doing—
Chyuu!
Out of the corner of his eye he saw her fluffy pink hair lean in towards him, right before he suddenly felt a sensation of indescribably nice warmth, softness, and only the slightest sensation of wetness, gently press against his cheek; sending an immediate electrical-like sensation up and down his entire body. When he saw the reflection in the screen in the last moment before the camera shutter clicked, he saw something that made his heart momentarily stop, and nearly ignite his face from the inside out with flustered heat:
Mina Ashido, while still holding his chin in her fingers, was leaning in and, still with a warm and affectionate smile on her blushing pink face, was pressing her lips against his cheek, giving Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov his first ever honest kiss.
Click!
The instant the sound had been heard, Mina broke the kiss with the sweetest giggle he'd heard from her yet, and was already eagerly stepping out of the booth, while Nikolay remained stone still where he sat; his entire face as red as a beet, and every possible sound he could make reduced to dead silence in his throat. Seconds later, Mina had to practically pull him out by the collar of his jacket; else he would have stayed there all night.
Still holding his hand once he was out, Mina looked excitedly as the five-panel strip of their photos was quickly printed out, which she snatched up with exceptional anticipation, looking over all their pictures with a warm smile of pure satisfaction. "Oh, Kolya-kun…keepers, every last one of them!"
With that resonating declaration, she began to head for the store exit like before, but now Nikolay had finally managed to shake off the shellshock just enough to finally formulate words: "W-what—w-what the hell was that back there, Mina?! I thought you said no more tricks, it was just gonna be normal pictures!" His devastating sense of fluster was the one thing keeping him from maintaining a sense of calm, as his tone came out far more shocked and loud than he had hoped it would.
While definitely expecting him to have a reaction akin to this, Mina couldn't stop smiling to save her life in the aftermath of what had just happened. "Hey, I had to say something to get you to ease those nerves. It's like they say: 'All's fair when it comes to the last picture on the strip.'"
"All right, I don't know who 'they' are, but I can guarantee 'they' don't say that! Come on, we're going back and doing it again, completely normal this time!" By now, Nikolay was actually trying to pull back, but Mina stood firm where she was, chuckling amusedly at his emotionally shaken display. "Oh, boo, Kolya-kun, that's no fun! We go back and do it again, that just takes the honesty out of it. These right here; these are way more meaningful. They just capture the moment so much better. That's why I'm keeping these: a permanent reminder of our very first honest day of hanging out together."
Nikolay felt his heart plummet as he practically had to chase after Mina as she stepped back out onto the sidewalk into the much more pleasant cool air of late evening. "Mina, please, I'm begging you right now, don't keep those pictures! I look completely ridiculous in them!"
Minas' satisfied smile only seemed to become much more so to hear him say as much. "I don't know, I think they capture your natural boyish cuteness really well, especially the last one. C'mon, Kolya-kun, I'm not going to go around showing them to everyone at school, if that's what you're worried about. These will just be a personal keepsake between us. Pinky swear."
This time, Mina craftily swooped her hand down and up, expertly hooking Nikolays' pinkie finger around her own, officially sealing the deal with a chuckle of accomplishment, while Nikolay could barely even mumble in agreement. And with that, they were once more on their way to wherever the night could take them next.
However, as she periodically looked to her Russian best friend still managing to keep to her pace, Mina could just see the gears turning in his troubled-looking green eyes. And unfortunately for him, given what had just happened, his face wasn't nearly subtle enough to keep her from figuring out just what he was wondering. "In case you are wondering what I think you are, the answer is 'no.'"
Nikolay was thankfully stirred out of his head, looking in confusion only to be met with another cheeky smile. "What I did back there, for the final picture. I can imagine what you must be thinking, and the answer is no: I haven't done that with any of my other male friends."
She had been expecting that answer to bring him back down, but instead it only served to leave the young Russian even more confused. "Well, then why with me? What makes me so special?"
Mina almost wanted to laugh that he would actually be asking such a thing after all this time. "I don't know. Maybe I finally just couldn't help myself, since you're just so cute. Or maybe that was me finally paying you back for helping me out back at the Obstacle Race. Whichever answer feels more appropriate to you, maybe that's the reason." Nikolay had to resist the urge to groan his frustration at such a double-sided non-answer, while Mina was almost out of breath from laughing so much over the last few minutes.
The continuous back-and-forth between sincerity and teasing, on top of the emotional maelstrom he was still reeling in ultimately proved too much, as Nikolay son spotted a nearby bus taking on passengers, with the destination being not too far from his home. "Actually, you know what, Mina? It is actually getting pretty dark, and we do still have school tomorrow…and who knows what else, so I should actually be heading home. Are there any bus stops where they would be heading where you live? I could at least still walk you there if you want."
"Aww, that's really sweet of you, Kolya-kun, but that's okay. My place isn't even three blocks away, I could easily jog that. But you're right; you should go home and get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow, so I hope I'll see you nice and rested when we meet in class, okay?" Nikolay didn't dare admit out loud how his still-ongoing state of fluster was probably going to keep him from getting anything close to sleep, not to mention probably leave him feeling just as awkward in class tomorrow, but the sentiment was appreciated nonetheless.
Before he could start to head for the bus, however, Mina suddenly closed the distance and met him with one last warm, affectionate hug. "Thank you for joining in on all this with me, Kolya-kun. I really did have a fantastic day."
Nikolay couldn't think of what to say, and after forcefully swallowing his awkwardness, held Mina close in return, which expressed all the likewise gratitude he felt for today that she wanted to hear. With that, the two best friends finally parted ways, and Nikolay hurried onto the bus just before it finally began to roll on.
The ride back home had thankfully brought with it the peace and quiet Nikolay needed to finally shake off the last of his fluster, and by the time he was finally back in front of his house, he felt virtually as good as new. And so, with a newly regained spring in his step, he stepped back inside, only to be met with the unexpected, albeit pleasant, image of Oleg and virtually all of Nikolays' schoolmates from this morning, with the exception of Minoru Mineta, seated around the dining room table with pizza, almost resembling some bizarre kind of family picture.
"Ah, Kolya, you're finally back! Welcome home! I was just about ready to call and see if you were coming back any time soon. Come, sit with us! You must've had a really eventful day to be gone so long." Olegs' hearty greeting and invitation to his son was accompanied with many likewise invitations from all the students, while Nikolay was still mentally processing such an unexpectedly wholesome get-together to be waiting for him. "Um…yeah, thank you. What is all this? I thought today was about studying and training."
"Ah, well, we did all that and then some throughout today. Everyone had been working so hard, not just today, but for the past month of the school year and the Festival, I feel everyone had earned some respite and good food." As the burly Russian once again offered his son the one remaining empty seat, Eijirou and Tetsutetsu were likewise starting to get in on it. "Yeah, take a load off and get in on this, Kolya-san. Tetsutetsu-san just showed me how real men eat this stuff."
"Damn right! Nothing puts hair on someones' chest better than a healthy dressing of wasabi. You gotta fight through the burn in order to really toughen up!" The instant the dreaded W-word came out of Tetsutetsus' mouth, however, everyone immediately saw the color leave Nikolays' face, as he instinctively took a big step back.
Desperate to try and steer the conversation away from the two boys trying to pressure him into eating something so unholy, Nikolay once again realized the whole groups' one missing person. "Where did Mineta-san go? Dad, don't tell me your training regimen already proved too much for him." At the mention of the diminutive grape-haired boy, however, Oleg and all the girls' expressions noticeably darkened, much to his surprise.
"Malenkii Mineta…misbehaved quite a bit today. He's to keep doing push-ups in the backyard until he learns some proper manners when in someone elses' house." Nikolay was visibly frightened to hear his father suddenly speaking with such deathly seriousness, only to be offset by Denki barely stifling a chuckle of his own amusement. "Oh, man, I couldn't believe it when it happened, Kolya-san. Mineta, I kid you not, at one point actually asked Sensei if he had any connections, or knew anybody with connections, back in Russia who could actually get him a mail-order-bride! I thought I was either gonna die trying not to laugh, or I thought Sensei was legit gonna flatten him!"
While Denki clearly found the whole recollection funny as hell, none of the girls reflected any of that same humor. Setsuna, especially, looked quite miffed when she finally spoke up: "At least you only had to hear what a little pervert he is, Kaminari-kun. The last straw was during sparring practice. Mineta and I were set up as opponents, and the little creep actually used one of his hair balls to hitch a ride onto my arm right as I called it back, all so he could try and cop a feel on me. He's lucky Sensei decided to step in, otherwise I'd have put him in the hospital myself."
Nikolay had half a mind to call Setsuna out on getting mad at someone being a pervert, thinking back distinctly to her little extra-close hugging stunt during the Cavalry Battle, but considering what other company was here, he ultimately found it best to keep that to himself.
Another momentary glance to his father left Nikolay suddenly wide-eyed with surprise, as he saw a single band-aid adorning his brow just above his right eye. "Whoa, Dad, what happened to your face?"
Instead of the embarrassment or confusion he had been expecting from the older man, Oleg instead answered with a hearty laugh of what sounded like honest pride. "Ah, you can credit this little scratch to malenkaya Uraraka. I decided to train the kids in some of the Sambo and other grapple fighting styles I've been teaching you so they could have that to infuse in combat alongside their Quirks. It turns out she's a very fast learner. I wanted her to figure out a way to use it to take an opponent bigger than her down, while only using her Zero Gravity at its barest minimum, and…well, she managed to do exactly that after a half dozen tries. She actually genuinely took me down for a second; hence this."
It was impossible to tell if Ochakos' intensified blushing was out of embarrassment for actually leaving a mark on their teacher, or out of genuine pride in herself at receiving such praise. Either way, it was a very nice change to see her smiling so much despite that, especially when Tooru, Kyouka, Setsuna, Eijirou, Denki and Tetsutetsu likewise raised their glasses in congratulations for their peer.
"Oh, Kolya, before I forget, a package actually arrived for you earlier; I have it sitting in your room. I couldn't help but notice it was from a clothing store in town. What exactly did you do today?" The rest of the kids likewise couldn't help but perk up in curiosity now that Oleg had gotten it out in the open.
Nikolay knew he couldn't feign ignorance with all of them, so he ultimately sighed with resignation. "Okay. I actually ran into Mina at the park shortly after I left, and we kinda spent the whole day together."
Nikolay could just feel the trouble brewing in the air, as Ochako, Kyouka, Setsuna and Tooru once again exchanged sly knowing smiles with each other, and Denki was even shooting a knowing smirk at Eijirou, who simply rolled his eyes at the blonde boys' less-than-subtle suggestion with that face. "Well, that definitely explains you actually getting clothes, of all things. Ashido could honestly make any ragtag ensemble of random threads look good with enough motivation."
"So was that all you did, Kolya-kun? Come on, there's gotta be more to your first date with Mina-chan than that!" Tooru suddenly asked with the subtlety of a brick to the face, nearly making Ochako choke on her drink, and Nikolays' hair stand on end.
"It was not a date, Hagakure-san! We just hung out, checked out a new amusement park by the ocean, ate…and…it-it was NOT a date!" The further he spoke, the more Nikolay realized what kind of trap he was in. His face was almost like a tomato by the time he finally told the invisible girls' suggestion off, deliberately trying to ignore the smirks Setsuna and Kyouka had on their faces.
"Okay, okay, Kolya. So, date or no date, would you say you had a good day off in the end?" Olegs' simple yet loaded question left Nikolay momentarily silent. He couldn't help but start to think back on the day as a whole, and while most of it left him with that pleasant warmth in the pit of his chest, there was also some growing frustration bubbling up with it as well.
"You know…I don't know how to answer that. I mean, Mina is amazing, she's the best friend I could've ever asked for, and that's among plenty of great people I feel I can call my friends now. But God…it is SO HARD for me to actually get a consistent bead on her. I can never truly tell when she's being completely sincere, or when she's just getting me to lower my guard so she can start teasing me. I mean, I know there's no malice behind it, but it just feels so confusing, and it happens so often, and I just wish she would be straight with me consistently and just-!"
BZZZZT!
The sudden humming of his cellphone in his pocket rendered Nikolays' quickly growing rambling silent, allowing him to realize how much of a spectacle he was about to make of himself. "Hang on, I'll be right back."
Retreating back to his bedroom, Nikolay immediately noticed the very same package from the clothing store sitting comfortably on the foot of his bed. Immediately after he pulled out his phone, he felt a momentary flare-up of heat on his scalp when he saw the humming was from a recently received series of text messages from Mina herself. Realizing he couldn't rightfully not at least read them, he opened them up and read through them with the utmost intent.
'Hey, Kolya-kun! Hope I'm not interrupting anything!
'Hey, I'm sorry for springing that on you without warning, back at the photo booth. I can only imagine what that must've gotten you thinking, and I don't want you to think I'm playing around with you. I really did have a blast hanging out with you today, and I really, really hope we can do it again sometime soon.
'I know I pretty much took the lead all day, so if it makes you feel any better, how about the next time we can hang out, we do whatever it is you want to do? You won't hear any complaints from me. There's no such thing as time wasted when you're spending it with your friends.
'Also, after thinking about it more, I couldn't justify keeping those photos for myself, so here's a copy for you. I had entered for a copy to be sent to my phone as well as printed when we started out, just in case.
'If you're too embarrassed by any of them to hang onto, that's okay. Maybe we could take better ones next time ;)
'See you in class tomorrow, Kolya-kun! Sweet dreams!'
Afterwards was a small block of numerous emojis he was frankly too mentally exhausted to even try deciphering the meanings of. After that, however, was a crystal clear copy of all five of their photos.
At first Nikolay was frankly too embarrassed to look, but eventually unable to resist, he gave them a look over again…and this time felt a distinct tugging sensation in his chest. Looking at the unfiltered joy on Minas' face in practically each one, and seeing the pure emotion on his own, from embarrassment to enjoyment to fluster, he couldn't help but think about what Mina had said. These pictures captured the Gods'-honest-truth of these irreplaceable moments that they alone got to share together, an immortalization of their very first real time spending time together, with no dangers or emotional baggage or school to weigh down on their shoulders.
These pictures were fragments of a truly carefree time between them, and gazing on them now left Nikolay feeling…very nice; especially as he focused particularly on the final picture, looking upon the blushing smile still on Minas' face as she caught a visibly side-lined Nikolay with a spontaneous kiss on the cheek. He soon found himself instinctively reaching up to that spot of his left cheek with his free hand, still able to recall the entire sensation, and the complete electric tremor it sent up and down his entire body when he felt it.
Finally, with his heart feeling so much lighter, Nikolay finally got himself to text Mina back with a single message that conveyed everything he wanted to say: 'I'd really like to do something like this again soon, too. See you tomorrow, Mina…and thank you…for being my best friend…and for everything else with it.'
It was only a momentary remembrance of just who else was just outside his bedroom door that reminded Nikolay to head back out, lest he run the risk of Oleg poking his head in and seeing that last picture for himself. Tucking the phone underneath his pillow, Nikolay hurried back out to the dining room, making sure not to come out too hastily, lest he inspire any curiosity or suspicion from the others.
"Sorry about that. You know what; I think I will have some of that. Gotta build a tolerance to spicy foods eventually, right?" Eijirou, Denki and Tetsutetsu were particularly thrilled to finally see the young Russian stepping up to bat as he finally took his place at the table.
At the same time, Oleg simply looked proud to see his son had managed to get past his momentary frustration already without any help from him or anybody else, as far as he knew. "So, Kolya, back to where we were before: would you say today was a good day?"
Nikolay took that one moment to think back on everything he'd gotten to experience today and all with his best friend in the world by his side. For an instant, he once again felt that sensation on his cheek, but once again refrained from reaching up, instead answering his father and all his peers with a deeply satisfied smile. "Yes…yes, it was."
Musutafu City Harbor was as filled with the nonstop hustle and bustle of dockhands and crewmen going from place to place to either load or unload cargo from and onto the myriad of ships docking and departing, as it ever was every day and night. That was why nobody ever paid a second thought to the noticeably foreign-looking man with short black hair with faint streaks of gray, dressed almost entirely in black, still wearing his sunglasses even in the dark of night.
At last…at long, long last, he had made: Japan, the place that would be host to his greatest hunt of all.
The typically heavy smorgasbord of smells associated with the docks and the harbors didn't even begin to register to the man as he made a beeline for the exiting road that would begin to lead out to the nearby city of Musutafu. The captain never told him they needed to dock elsewhere, so for all intents and purposes, everything was going exactly as he had planned.
As he stepped out through the exit gate onto the singular road, he took the time to take a deep, steadying breath, taking in the crisp cool nighttime air. However, that wasn't what he was really taking in.
From the moment they had docked, he could feel it utterly thick in the air like an atmospheric molasses: the scent of Quirk-users of varying levels of power in nearly countless numbers. So it really was true; outside of Russia (thanks to him and the government), 80% of the rest of the worlds' population were born with Quirks, and he could practically taste it, let alone smell it.
It was more than euphoric; it was like the ultimate high, getting to breathe in even the lingering scent of it that had permeated the very air. He could scarcely imagine what it would feel like if he got to take in their personal taste, and dedicate it to his instinctual tracking memory like so many others. It had been far too long since he had gotten to take in such a plethora of delicious scents.
However, he couldn't allow himself to be distracted. There was still one scent in particular he could smell stronger than ever now; enough to stand out above even everything else. He took in another breath to take in the scent that, even nearly seven months on, might as well have been just left here yesterday. His whole body trembled from head to toe with delight as it filled every last one of his senses, putting the single biggest and most anticipatory smile on his face. He could practically feel its trail tethered around him like a thread; the bloody red thread of fate, so to speak.
[[Oooooh…oh, Tunguska…I've finally got you in my sights. No matter where you try to go…you can't run…and you can't hide. Not from me. Not anymore.]]
And there is the newest chapter, and the official beginning of the long awaited and fully original Vukodlak Arc! I can't wait for you all to see what's to come!
If you liked what you read here today, please be so kind as to leave an honest, constructive review.
Stay safe, have a great rest of your week, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 05/01!
* This is a reference to the encompassing title of the four biggest thrash metal bands of the 80's: Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth. Some are definitely better than others, but they all deserve the title of 'The Big Four', just like the top four of the tournament did.