Chapter 15
As I got off the train, I happened to see Deku. How did I miss him when I walked to the station? Either way, I watched as he pulled out a foldable skateboard and road off. When he did take up riding? And while I watched him, I wonder how I would bring up what I learned yesterday. Maybe there's a reason he has to be very secretive about his quirk. Whatever it was, I will get answers today.
The morning went by smoothly, but it was at lunch that I was confused. Sitting in front of me were shitty hair and raccoon eyes. At first, I was ready to leave the table when I remembered what happened yesterday. Even when everything past losing to Deku was a blur, I do recall talking to these two idiots. But what really got me was the third person. "What the hell?"
Even though they were talking a little fast for me, I was still able to keep up. At least they don't mumble like Deku. Not to mention, I was impressed with spark plug's quirk. And if I'm training with them, then I would be able to learn their weakness. Maybe I will be able to use them to my advantage. Or not having need of Deku's notes.
Lunch was nosier than I was used to, but somehow I felt comfortable. These three didn't try praising me for my quirk. In fact, after what happened yesterday, the focus wasn't on me. Instead, they were asking for my help. They needed me? And that somehow had me feeling weird. At least, a good kind of weird. I like it.
While heading out of the lunch room, I noticed something off. Looking over at Deku, I could see he hasn't eaten. Damn, nerd! Even in high school, do I have to remind you to take care of yourself! It gets tiring to worry about you. I stormed my way over and forced him to sit back down. "Hey! Leave Deku alone!"
I looked to round face, and she immediately sat back down. If these two idiots are going to call themselves Deku's friends, they better start acting like it. Once I saw that Deku ate I removed my hand and started again to leave the lunchroom.
The rest of the day seemed to go by quickly. And when it came time to leave class, the 3 idiots walked over to my desk. "Got any plans for after school?" I tried to look past raccoon eyes as I noticed that Deku was heading out.
"Yeah." Shitty hair started to talk, but I didn't hear a word he said. Instead, I was already on the move to get going.
"Are we still up for training this Saturday?"
I looked over my shoulders at the idiots. "My place." With that, I left class. It wasn't hard to catch up to Deku. But I did notice he was in a hurry. "Nerd." He looked back and smiled at me. And before I could say anything, he started to run. What the hell? I quickly tried to catch up. When we got to the shoe lockers, he tried to replace his shoes with his sneakers quickly. And I did the same. I then watched as he dropped her foldable skateboard before running out of the school.
I grabbed his board as I continued to chase him. That's when I saw he had a second board. Wait a minute. I unfolded the board in my hand and tried to catch up to him. Deku was laughing the whole time as we rode down a couple of blocks. It was somewhat of a hassle when he did random turns, yet I still caught up. It wasn't until he turned into an ally that I felt something was really off.
When I turned into the ally, Deku was not even there. I did see that a dumpster lid was open. Do I fall for the same trap? That's when I hear something was coming my way. So I ran and jumped into the dumpster and closed the lid. When I was inside, I felt something cover my mouth. "Shh." Deku?
As I stood quiet, I could hear footsteps outside the dumpster. "I could have sworn I saw him go this way. Could I be seeing things at my age?" Was that All Might? I tried my best not to panic, as I still could hear foots making their way toward me. That was until I heard other voices. "Oh, hello, officers. There's no trouble. I simply thought I saw a villain nearby and wanted to check."
Soon the footstep started to fade into nothingness. After a moment, when I was sure I heard nothing, I bit whatever was covering my mouth. "Ow, Kacchan." I fucking knew it. "Just hold on for one more moment. The police are going to come back." How did he know that? "It never fails. Whenever All Might is in the area, the police always double-check where he said he saw something." That's when I heard footsteps again.
This time around, the footsteps left just as fast as they came. With that, I felt movement behind me before I saw that Deku opened the dumpster's lid. We then both climbed out. After making sure no trash was on us, I smacked the nerd behind the head. "What was that all about?" He just looked at me for a moment before grabbing the boards from the dumpster. "Hold on, nerd. We have to talk."
He just handed back the board I was using and got on his. "Then come on." With that, I followed Deku wherever he was trying to lead me. It took us a while, but he brought me over to a storage company. I watched as he pulled out an ID and showed it to the front desk. "Where is unit 87?" The lady behind the corner just looked at him before telling us the unit was on the third floor. "Thank you."
Once we got to unit 87, I watched as Deku got a key and opened it. He then turned on a switch, and the lights came on. "What the hell, nerd?" Inside the unit was a set of orange beanbag chairs and some lockers that lined one wall. "When were you able to get a place like this?"
Deku pulled me into the unit and closed the door behind me. "At the moment, I can't tell you Kacchan. But I will, eventually." I then watched him go to one of the lockers and pulled out some drinks. "Water?"
I grabbed the bottle from his hand and went to sit on one of the beanbag chairs. "Why was All Might chasing us?"
"I don't know. But after yesterday, I had a feeling he would be watching us. I'm glad you were able to tell that I needed you to follow me. You're so amazing, Kacchan." Deku had the biggest smile as he sat in the other beanbag chair. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"
I took a chug at some water before I continued to look around the storage unit. "After what you told me, I decided to check something online." I looked to Deku and saw how he was looking at his water bottle. "I found an interesting article about a war." He didn't seem to move from his position. I just hope I was wrong. "It had to do with some freak who was able to take and give quirks. Do you know anything like that?" The nerd nodded, but he still wasn't looking at me. "Another article talked about a potential brother and the two soldiers who found him."
"Soldiers?" That's when Deku finally looked at me.
"This power that was given to you, do you know much about it?" Deku shook his head. "Do you know its history?" Again, he shook his head. "What do you know about it?"
"That it was handed down from one person to another."
"Are you able to tell me who gave it to you? And why?" Deku shook his head. I let out a sigh. "I won't ask any more questions. But," I stood up and walked over to him. I pinched his right cheek. "You better master that power. Because I want a fair fight. You got lucky yesterday."
Deku then smiled and let out a short giggle. "I'll do my best, Kacchan. After all," I removed my hand, and he stood up. "I can't fail if I don't try."
"That's bull crap." I couldn't help but smirk as I grabbed him by the collar and pushed him back. "There's only victory and nothing else." With that said, we both left the storage place and made our way to the station. Come the next day, something felt odd. Besides Deku catching up on hero news and learning that All Might has been dealing with villains all morning. There were also the reporters at the school entrance, who were super annoying. Then when the alarms went off during lunch. I wasn't liking whatever was going on. Especially knowing my class was going to do another training exercise today.
…
Once we got back after lunch, the rest of the classes went by smoothly. But during homeroom, Mr. Aizawa handed out sheets that informed us about the training exercise that was happening tomorrow. As the class cheered, I had a strange feeling. Especially with how I felt I was being watched. After what happened yesterday, I started to question something. How did All Might know me and Kacchan were talking at the entrance? And how did he know what I told him?
As I walked out of class, I tried my best to keep a steady pace. It would be best if I didn't seem suspicious. That was until I heard someone was behind me. "Nerd." When he said my name, I felt my heart racing. That's when I had an idea. Knowing Kacchan, he's going to want to talk with me. Especially with how he seemed to be in a good mood; compared to yesterday. Maybe this is my chance.
I started speeding from one block to another. If I knew Kacchan, he would be able to keep up with me. It made me grateful that I had a spare skateboard with me. Before long, I spotted some police officers and zipped in front of them. "Watch it, kid!" Good. They were looking at me. I then went to the alleyway and saw an open dumpster. Kacchan, you better take the hint.
It wasn't long before a certain blonde boy jumped into the dumpster. I quickly covered his mouth the moment the dumpster's lid closed. "Shh." As I listened for footsteps, I was horrified when I heard All Might. So, he was following me. This isn't good. What's worse was that I had dragged Kacchan into this. Kacchan… Oh, god! I'm holding Kacchan!
Realizing this, my face was on fire, and I could feel my heart beating in my ears. But I tried to stay calm. There is no time for panic. Once we made it to the storage unit, I was once again trying not to panic. Even though I was completely alone with Kacchan. Before my mind started to wander into dangerous territory, I went to grab a few drinks. "Why was All Might chasing us?"
"I don't know." I watched as Kacchan took large gulps from his water bottle as I spoke. It was very hard to look at him without my face feeling on fire. It didn't help when he unbutton more of his shirt to cool off. Thankfully this unit had an air conditioner. So it didn't take long for us to start feeling cool. I tried my best to remind myself that Kacchan wanted to speak to me about something. "You're so amazing, Kacchan. So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"
As he took another gulp of water, he looked away from me. "After what you told me yesterday, I decided to check something online." Wow! Kacchan is so smart. Wait! I quickly looked at my own water bottle as I waited for what I knew was coming. He then went about telling me what he found. Which was something about a war. And from the sounds of it, it was similar to what All Might had told me. But there was something that threw me off.
"Soldiers?" Kacchan looked at me and nodded. He looked back at the door of the unit. He then asked me questions I did not and could not answer at this time. But maybe answering that last question would give him some clue without saying too much. After all, I'm not too sure if I could tell him without All Might finding out. "That it was handed down from one person to another."
"Are you able to tell me who gave it to you? And why?" I quickly shook my head. As much as I wish to tell him, I wasn't sure if it was safe. Please, Kacchan, I hope you know I'm not trying to lie to you. "I won't ask any more questions." That was a relief. "But." I watched as Kacchan walked over to me. As he did, my heart started to race again, and my face began to burn. He then pinched my cheek as he looked me in the eyes. "You better master that power. Because I want a fair fight. You got lucky yesterday."
"I'll do my best, Kacchan. After all," I couldn't help but giggle as I stood up. I tried not to focus too much on the fact that we were inches apart. But with a deep breath, I looked into Kacchan's amazing red eyes. "I can't fail if I don't try."
"That's bull crap." I watched as Kacchan smirked at me before pushing me back. "There's only victory and nothing else." The way Kacchan looked as he stood over me made him look even more like a hero. And he was so right. I have no choice but to win.
As we made our way to the station, I couldn't stop giggling. Not only was I able to tell Kacchan something, but I also had the chance to just be with him. That's when a troubling thought crossed my mind. There was no way I would be able to tell him. After all, there's a chance this is all pointless. Especially with what mom always had told me. If not for the fact that she was my mother, nobody else would want me. It didn't help whenever she cried saying things about how if only I were normal, she could have looked forward to being a grandmother.
Mom would constantly bring up how I did nothing outside of talking about heroes. Many times, she had shamed me for liking things that did not match what she envisioned for me. From how I dress to the way I behaved. Sometimes it was downright painful to hear her call me stupid and say that no woman would want me. She even argued that I needed to stop being friends with Kacchan. All because he had a better future than me. Her words just plagued my every waking thought.
And as I watched Kacchan from behind, I felt scared. Is there something wrong with me? Is it really that wrong to want something so badly to the point that it hurts? My chest started to hurt as I tried to catch my breath. I just needed to keep it together. There's no point in crying about this now. I have to focus on one thing at a time. Taking another deep breath, I tried to remind myself that I will become a hero first. Whatever happens after that could wait.