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"Have a seat please." Principal Nezu offered to the two of them courteously before he sat down. Takaomi kept her hands above the table intertwining her fingers together. She had a bad habit of tapping when nervous and she was most definitely nervous.
"It'll be just one moment, the person we're waiting on should be here momentarily." The small man, or large rodent, was idly sorting and straightening a few papers to pass the time. Takaomi took a steadying breath to try and calm her nerves. She was sitting with her foster father in the principal's office of the U.A. High School going over the paperwork and recommendation letters. She wanted to fidget with her blouse as it was uncomfortable, but refrained.
The door to the office opened and in walked a man she hasn't seen in years. She knew he worked in this school but it's a bit of a surprise.
"Eraser Head?" She couldn't help but say aloud.
"Indeed. Mr. Aizawa, also known as Pro Hero: Eraser Head, is one of the first year homeroom teachers for our Hero Course." The principal confirmed. The man in question sat next to the principal quietly before looking to Sei on her left.
"Good afternoon." Short and to the point. Mr. Aizawa then looked at Takaomi, a moment of recognition dawned in his eyes. "Interesting to see you again. Especially here." The little principal nodded along with a pleasant smile.
"I'd say the same given what we've found in your records. Normally you wouldn't have gotten as far through the acceptance process with a background such as yours." The principal pulled a paper clipped stack of letters and thumped them on the table. "Although with the recommendations that have accompanied them, and the sheer amount of them, it was hard to overlook." She was surprised. The pile of letters was much larger than what she had expected. Sei wasn't shocked at all. Sei Shiro, Takaomi's foster father, was the one in charge of putting her paperwork through so of course he'd known. "Now with that being said we've hit a bit of a snag."
"What kind of 'snag'?" Sei's tone was polite, but he was prepared to fight for Takaomi's place in this school. Shortly after they opened Takaomi's acceptance letter they were called in to discuss it. Although they didn't know what else there was to discuss. Yet here they were.
"A bit of a clerical error, I'm afraid. You see, we've accidentally accepted more students than what we are accustomed to. The curriculum is set for twenty students per class, with Miss Aoki that would make twenty one." Principal Nezu pulled back the stack of letters neatly lining them up
"To put it plainly, that's your fault. You've already sent out the acceptance letter. To call us in here just to rescind that acceptance is insulting." Sei's brow creased but he did keep his body language calm. The normally tranquil blue in his eyes was more akin to a turbulent ocean.
"Who am I going up against?" All eyes turned to Takaomi when she spoke up. Like they weren't expecting her to say anything. "You said there were twenty seats and you accepted twenty one by mistake. Are you implying I was at the bottom of the list of applicants that made it? Or is there someone I'm competing against for the last seat?"
"Why not drop one of the students that wasn't admitted through recommendations?" Sei suggests.
"That's a separate thing." Mr. Aizawa spoke. "There are always thirty six seats open for the regular entrance examinees. The other four are left for those in the Recommended Exam. The issue lies with your ranking among those who were also recommended."
"So you're saying compared to those other four, I'm the weakest?" Takaomi's shoulders sagged more than she should have let them. She didn't want to accept it. She didn't want this to be the thing that stopped her. She squared her shoulders and looked imploringly at Principal Nezu and Mr. Aizawa. "Let me prove you wrong. Give me another test, a practical or anything. What is so special about the curriculum that it needs specifically twenty people? Are the classes divided into groups? Is there a partnering program? Let me be a solo student if I have to, if it's harder then so be it! Give me another chance to prove to you I'm worth this!" She made sure to keep her eyes on them, she didn't want to back down.
"Do you stand by that?" The principal laced his paws together giving her a searching look. "You're willing to work harder than the others to prove your place in this school?" She gave him an assured nod.
"Yes sir!" The silence again, but Mr. Aizawa and the principal looked at one another briefly. An unspoken conversation going on. Then Principal Nezu pulled a separate stack of papers out that was underneath the recommendation letters.
"I have here a collection of all the instances where you've been detained by authorities. Varying from vandalism, disturbing the peace, breaking an entering, theft, and truancy among others." Principal Nezu began to read. Sei reacted quickly, standing and slamming his hands on the table. The papers on the table floated briefly before going back to their places.
"That's in the past. We've already gone over this during the interview process and it was forgiven then. There's no need to pull that out again!" Sei's jaw clenched as he tried to keep his cool and failed. They'd gone over Takaomi's juvenile record multiple times before she was even allowed to take the practical exam. Part of the reason she passed the interview was because of her reasoning as to why she did them. For them to bring it up yet again felt like they were using it as an excuse to invalidate her acceptance.
"We have gone over this, yes. But just as time goes on we cannot erase our pasts." Principal Nezu aligned the stack of recommendation letters to the juvenile record pile. The recommendation stack clearly doubled the size of the two. "Our good deeds do not cancel out the bad deeds we have done. It is a tough decision to make, and as an educator it pains my heart to even be in this situation." Sei sat back down slowly, coming to terms that his charge was about to be rejected by her school of choice. It was hard to argue facts. Angering those who you want to do you a favor is always ill advised. "That being said. I'm always one to humor an experiment."
"Excuse me?" Sei and Takaomi were now confused at the turn of the conversation.
"I'm going to be blunt with you. Mr. Aizawa's record of expelling students is historic. So honestly I see no reason why you shouldn't be in his class when the chances of the twenty seats dwindling to nothing is a possibility." The consistent jovial demeanor of Principal Nezu gave the feeling that everything was a little experiment to him. A scientist curious about how things will unfold when new scenarios are introduced. "Since you are technically an accepted student under Mr. Aizawa. He currently has the authority to either accept you or expel you as he sees fit. So I am leaving the situation up to him." Takaomi turned her focus to the daunting gaze of Eraser Head. A man who knows first hand the situations she had gotten into in the past. There was no sweet talking to him with a half truth about tragic orphaned street kids. This was the man that snatched her up during a gang fight and tossed her into the foster care system. Logically if she were him she wouldn't accept her either.
"I don't give many second chances, take this as your first one. I'll be seeing you in class at the start of term." His eyes were saying, 'don't disappoint me'. The bubble of excitement traveled up Takaomi's gut and showed brightly on her face. Her smile split from ear to ear with no way of hiding it.
"Yes sir!" She wasn't sure what compelled her to but she stood straight up out of her chair. Sei more casually stood up beside her and bowed respectfully. His hand landed on her head to make her bow along with him.
"Thank you so much for this opportunity." Coming up from the bow both Mr. Aizawa and the Principal had also stood. "I promise you that Takaomi will not let you down."
The first step they took outside the school gates Sei looked like someone cut his puppet strings. Slumping to the ground into his comfortable squat, making his dress pants wrinkle. His tie shortly came undone along with the first few buttons of his white dress shirt. He stuffed his tie into his pocket unbothered before running his hand through his hair to purposely mess it up. The man was in his mid thirties but still detested anything that involved formal attire.
"You okay there, Sei?" Takaomi squatted down next to him, her women's slacks more elastic and forgiving when she did. He turned his head and looked at her sideways.
"I'm damned peachy, kid. Let's go home so I can get out of this monkey suit." Rising to a more natural stance, his shoulders back but his hands in his pockets. He turned his head and cracked his neck on both sides. "I'm glad for you, seriously. You worked hard for this."
"That was a real emotional rollercoaster for a second there." She stood in a similar pose, although with the pockets being fake on her slacks she just positioned her hands on her hips. Hooking her thumbs through the belt loops. Sei had his phone out and was texting his wife.
"Hiromi's gonna make stew to celebrate. You can invite your little gang over too, I suppose." Sei said as a passing thought.
The house was a bustling festival of people. The Shiro's household consisted of Takaomi and five other foster children. Plus the added three of her Akuma gang. That made eleven people and a dog crammed into a kitchen dining room. A petite lady, a whole head shorter than Takaomi, set a large bowl of her favorite stew in front of her. Hiromi's black braid dangling a little too close to her food.
"Congratulations honey." Hiromi kissed the top of Takaomi's blue hair. Pulling her head into her chest for a brief one sided hug.
"Cungerwats Taka!" Two of the triplets said from across the table.
"Yeah, congrads!" The other added a second later. The triplets, Mamoru the oldest, Minoru and Miroku the youngest. They were the most recent additions to the household. The Shiro's took in an adorable set of brothers with the same shade of dark blue hair and varying eyes of green. They were all nearly identical, save the conveniently placed birthmarks on their necks. Masaru Ito, more affectionately called Masa, came up behind the trio smiling. His short messy dandelion hair was a sharp contrast to their dark blue. Masa's quirk was a mutative one with monkey attributes. His large round ears pierced twice on both sides, his sideburns fuller but recently trimmed, his agility was amazing and most importantly his blonde monkey tail was long and dexterous.
"You gotta say it at the same time guys. Try again, ready and one, two, three...!" Under his instruction the three brothers still get it wrong with Miroku a second behind like always. It was closer though. "Good job guys, and good job Takaomi." He began clapping and got the little boys to clap with him. She exaggerated a bow to their applause. The triplets were super young and hadn't even discovered what their quirks were yet. Masa had grown to them like a moth to a flame. Tickled at the fact that their names started with an 'M' like him. He felt like their older brother in a way.
Masa had just recently turned eighteen. A highschool dropout who went right into the workforce but didn't climb any corporate ladders. Whereas Kuroi, the edgy crow-winged man who hovered in the archway because his wings were too big, was twenty. He'd graduated at least but likewise didn't excel professionally. Although he was skilled in many types of drinks and made decent tips at the bar.
"Thanks, man." Takaomi leaned back and looked to the archway where Kuroi was. The twenty three year old Kenzou lurking in the corner near him. Kenzou was a brute of a character, but only physically. His ram horns and red eyes seemed intimidating to those who first met him. "Thank you guys for being able to come out." She brought her legs up and sat cross legged.
"I'm here for Mrs. Shiro's stew just as much as I'm here for you, Taka." Kenzou said just as Hiromi passed him a large helping of stew. She playfully winked at him and smiled. Sei on the other side of the dining room groaned at the display.
"Babe, please don't flirt so blatantly in front of me." He shook his head while passing small bowls of stew to the triplets. They dug in with no hesitation and just as quickly began to make a mess. "Careful boys, don't waste that yummy stew. Ponta's waiting to steal it from you." The boys looked down under the table where the little terrier was indeed staring in anticipation. Her little nub of a tail wagging from side to side, her eyes wide. Ponta knew the boys dropped the most food and she was ready. At the end of the table sitting next to Sei was Kyo, another foster kid who was about to graduate high school. He was normally absent from the dinner table. His shifty yellow eyes darted from person to person. He was as tall as Sei but you couldn't tell by how hunched in he held himself. Layering clothes made it hard to see the green scales that only covered a portion of his body. Aside from his occasionally slit pupils and winding green tail, Takaomi wasn't really sure if he was a lizard heteromorph. He really kept to himself.
"Here Ponta, help yourself." Kyo spoke quietly as he spooned out a chunk of meat and held it under the table. Ponta happily jumped over and gobbled it up. Kyo's lip twitched back in a momentary smile, white pointed teeth poking out briefly.
"You shouldn't feed dogs human food, it's not good for them." Reiko said from Takaomi's left. She had joined the household after Kyo and before the triplets. All in all she looked like a normal middle school girl, light brown hair and brown eyes. She could honestly pass as Sei and Hiromi's biological child. Her quirk was a simple but useful one, Measurement. She is able to discern the size of things just by sight. Including exact distances, circumference, heights and width. So long as there was something to reference. "A little is okay though. Just with as much as the boys drop she's gonna get fat." Reiko patted her leg calling Ponta who bounded over. Reiko cooed and baby-talked the dog, squishing Ponta's little fuzzy cheeks. "You're gonna get fat, yes you are. You're going to turn into a fuzzy round ball."
"My Ponta is cute whether she gets fat or not." Sei proudly announced. Hiromi giggled and leaned against the kitchen counter near Masa. The two of them just held their own bowls and ate while standing. They all pleasantly enjoyed their stew in comfortable conversation for the rest of the night. It wasn't a grand celebration but it was still heartwarming that they were all able to gather like this.
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The summer passed in the blink of an eye. The start of term and Takaomi was a conflicting mess of excitement and anxiety. The hem of her school blazer nearly frayed with how much she was twisting it in her fingers. Would Eraser Head actually make her work harder than the rest of the class? She did ask for it. Did the class count being uneven actually make that much of a difference? Was she actually going to be able to do what she said she'd do? This would be the day she found that out. Approaching the school gates she stopped to admire the massive facility.
"Okay Takaomi," She sighed. "Make a good first impression. Don't come off like a delinquent." She closed her eyes and rubbed her face vigorously to hype herself up. "Okay!" Eyes still closed she stepped forward and immediately bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry!" The clearly irritated boy glared down at her and grunted.
"Watch it!" The way he wore his uniform was almost disrespectfully casual and he wasn't even wearing his tie. Carrying himself with an air of superiority while looming over her. She glared back, ticked off even though it was her fault she stepped in front of him.
"Huh?" She sneered. "I apologized, asshole. It was an accident." He matched her sneer with one of his own before turning away in a huff. "Ah shit... Well there goes my first impressions."
She really hoped he wasn't someone she'd run into again during the day.
He was in her class.
Fuck.
She stopped in the doorway of the classroom once she saw him. Thankfully he didn't see her. She checked the class seating chart quickly and saw that she was assigned to the seat directly in front of him.
Double fuck.
His feet were propped up on his desk and he leaned back way too comfortably. When Takaomi got close enough to notice he narrowed his eyes at her and she stared back blankly.
"Don't fight him. You're expendable. Just bear it. He can't be that bad, he's in the Hero Course." Her sad internal pep talk not to choose violence didn't help much. Then another student with glasses passed by in a rush and began berating him about seating posture. The rest of the class couldn't help but watch the two go at it. She let her eyes wander to check out the others as she was blocked from her seat. A few meet her gaze with subtle looks of pity at her predicament. Takaomi glanced at her seating chart again to make sure she really had to sit there.
"Fuck..." She groaned. The student with the glasses had wandered off to the doorway to speak to another student. Leaving the guy she was trying to avoid to direct his attention back to her.
"You got a problem?" He grumbled and set his feet on the ground. She reeled in her urge to match his negativity and just shook her head. Setting her bag down sitting down to begin the school day.
Almost immediately after class started Aizawa had the students all change out for a test of quirks. Bakugo demonstrating how explosive his own ability was. Now it was time for the dash. The first group up for the dash were completely outdone by Ida. Aizawa was making them all run two at a time and eventually Takaomi was the last one standing.
"Aoki, you're up." Mr. Aizawa called her over. She didn't bother positioning and stood casually at the starting point. "Just begin and the robots will be able to give us an accurate time. Maybe."
"What's up with that, 'maybe'?"
"I wonder what her quirk is?"
"Why's she getting special attention?"
"Hold on, are there twenty one people in our class?"
Takaomi ignored them before taking a breath and holding it, the world freezing around her. A falling leaf in the distance hovering motionless in the air. Birds in flight suddenly still. Easily falling into a light jog without having to take another breath. It only took her a few seconds to pass the line. She released her breath at the end and turned to everyone, slightly out of breath. He looked down to a device in his hand that was synced to the robots.
"That's an annoying amount of zero's." Mr. Aizawa sighed then waved his hand in a beckoning gesture. "Come here." She blink over appearing right next to him in what seemed to be an instant. He didn't react but her classmates sure did.
"Holy cow! How'd she do that?"
"Does she have a teleportation quirk?"
"Those are rare."
"That's your score," He turned his tablet device to show her.
"That's a shit ton of zero's." She commented. "Wait, should that timer be nothing? I stopped time."
"Watch your language." He scolded without much bite. "Apparently you're not. You're more likely slowing time down. This isn't even the speed of lightning yet, it's close though. Now get ready for the next one." He slipped the device into his pocket. Ignoring her little crisis about what her quirk actually did. It was a big revelation on the first day. As she shuffled back to the group someone tapped her shoulder.
"Your quirk is pretty cool, is it a teleportation quirk?" She asked brightly.
"No, it's officially marked down as Time Manipulation." She answered, trying not to worry about it. The whole point of a hero course was to delve more into people's quirks after all. These discoveries were bound to happen.
"That sounds awesome! So you can control time? Can you go forward? Back? Like rewind stuff?" The bright girl pointed in different directions speaking with her hands.
"No, nothing like that. I can just stop-or rather-really really slow time down." Takaomi held a hand out in a fist and Mina hit it with her own. "I'm Takaomi Aoki."
"Mina Ashido, nice to meet ya." She smiled and they decided to partner up for the remainder of the aptitude test.
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The cafeteria was huge in comparison to my middle school, there were so many options from quick grab and go meals as well as hot lunches. A good number of vending machines as well. Takaomi realized she could spend much of her allowance here.
"This place is ridiculously awesome isn't it?" Mina bumped her elbow against Takaomi's in a friendly manner. She was already holding a tray of food. Takaomi was too busy ogling everything. "When you get your food, come sit by me. Toru and I saved a table."
"Oh, okay." Takaomi managed to mutter before joining a line. She wasn't sure which line it was but she ended up with some hot noodle dish with vegetables. It took a minute or so to locate Mina, but thankfully her pink head was easier to spot in a crowd. Takaomi held her breath and all movement stopped. Using that to easily maneuver her way to the table before just appearing in the seat opposite her classmate. The girl Toru was sitting next to Mina, nothing but a floating uniform.
"Whoa! Where'd you come from? Oh, you're the one who teleported in class today." Toru surmised.
"Aoki's got Time Manipulation. It's not Teleportation." Mina corrected. Takaomi held up a hand to stop them.
"Just Takaomi is fine, I like things more casual. Can I call you Mina instead of Ashido?" Takaomi asked. Mina nodded enthusiastically.
"Sure thing, I'm kinda the same. So Takaomi, this is Toru Hagakure." Mina gestured to the floating uniform. Takaomi knew her of course as they were in the same class.
"Just Toru is fine with me too." Toru wiggled cutely in lieu of any face or hand expressions. "What middle school did you come from Takaomi?" Toru asked. The girls fell into comfortable conversation. Eventually the day came to an end and Takaomi walked out with Mina and Toru.
"Do you guys take the train to get here?" Mina asks while adjusting her backpack.
"I do, do you?" Toru bounced when she spoke.
"I don't." Takaomi replied. "But I walk past the station to get home. I don't live too far from here actually."
"Do you maybe want to stop for a bite to eat? There's this cute taiyaki stand right in front of the east side entrance to the train station. I've always wanted to try it!" Toru had moved to stand in front of them while walking backwards. Takaomi shrugged and smiled at where she assumed her head was.
"Sure, I'm game." Takaomi pulled out her phone expertly and brought up an image of a cutely decorated food stand with waffle fish. "If you mean the Sweet'ums Taiyaki food cart then I know exactly what you're talking about. I love their Bavarian cream flavor."
"That's the place! What about you, Mina? You in?" Toru's sleeves came up as if she was clasping her hands in front of her face.
"I'm totally down for some yummy snacks, let's go!" Mina pumped her fist in the air and they all marched off to the train station. The three of them sat on a bench enjoying the different flavors they got. Sharing bites and picking favorites. Takaomi was trying hard not to stare at Toru as she ate.
"It's just.. Disappearing?"
"They're all good, I can't decide on a favorite." Mina smiled and finished her own, thankfully breaking Takaomi out of whatever trance she fell into. She didn't want to offend but she had never met an invisible person before. "We'll have to come back and try more next time." A guitar solo begins rocking out from Takaomi's blazer pocket.
"Oh, sorry guys. One second." She answered without looking. "Hello?" It was Kenzou asking if she was out of school yet. He'd apparently wanted to take her out to lunch with the guys. "Oh! Wait, are you guys at the house? Sorry, I went out with some classmates. We're just at the station though so I'm not far."
"Do you have to go?" Mina asked. Takaomi shrugged with an uncertain smile. She didn't really have to, the guys could wait. Not that they wanted to by the sounds of it. Masa was whining in the background about starving. Takaomi passed on her location so that the guys could pick her up.
"I didn't know you had plans, sorry." Toru apologized.
"Don't be. I didn't know I had plans either. My friends sorta just decided for me." Falling back into the seat on the bench she finished her taiyaki in one massive bite. The size of the treats were actually decent. She wasn't sure if she'd eat much at dinner with the guys. "What were we talking about again?" They picked up some topics of conversation and got into it. Toru was very expressive for someone without a face. Mina started playing music from her phone, an up and coming band called Yellow Mirror. A nice blend of pop and alternative. Takaomi had a few of their tracks on her running playlist.
"Oh, this one is new! I think they're coming out with a music video for this one soon." Toru requested the specific song and Mina changed it. Guitar strums echoed before a pause of anticipation. Mina hopped up from her seat recognizing the intro.
"'Blood tongues' is the best one! It just makes me want to move!" Mina twirled, swaying from one foot to the other along following the beat. Toru clapped and hyped her up while she danced before turning up the music. Her phone speakers were doing the best they could.
"Come on, don't just sit there." Mina slid toward Takaomi before pulling her to her feet. Takaomi stood awkwardly and swiveled her head to those around them. They were in front of a busy train station and there were curious onlookers. "Let them watch, it'll make their day." Mina hip bumped Takaomi to get her started. She tried copying Mina's moves but it's clear who was more experienced. Takaomi was clunky and stiff but eventually loosened up. "That's it, Takaomi. Shake it!"
"Me too!" Toru stood and then it was just three high schoolers dancing around to blaring cellphone music. Life was simple.
"You look like you're having fun." A deep voice powered over the music as it neared the end.
"Eep!" Toru was caught off guard, jumping into Takaomi. She didn't know where to grab and sorta just became a wall so Toru didn't faceplant into the concrete. Mina swiftly stepped between the newcomer and them.
"Loads! Song's over though, do you need something Mister?" Mina sounded cheery but Takaomi got the feeling that's just how she deals with every situation. The two of them standing on their own, Takaomi glanced through Toru. It was Kenzou. He was wearing his black leather biker jacket, some dark scuffed up jeans and worn brown work boots. The man was built like a brick wall with a looming seven and a half feet of intimidation. His curled ram horns cast a shadow over his completely red eyes. Only one of his goat ears were pierced, a chain connecting the two piercings.
"I'm fine. I just came for my friend." He motioned his large hand in Takaomi's direction.
"Hey, Ken." Takaomi walked around Mina and into the man's massive arms. Kenzou lifted her easily off the ground. Squeezing her much like a child would a teddy bear and even cooing about it.
"You look adorable in that uniform." Fishing out his cell phone from his jacket and quickly snapping a picture. Takaomi lazily raised a hand and flicked the camera off with a smile before the flash. "That'll be perfect, really captures your personality."
"You dick. Is that for Aka?" Takaomi asked as he turned the camera so she could see. It was kind of flattering, just offensive. "Beautiful. Next time you visit him he's gonna think I'm still a hooligan." His massive hand ruffled her hair, making it irritatingly messy.
"If the shoe fits..." He grinned cheekily. "You make it sound like you grew out of it?"
"Oh, a friend of yours?" Toru stood beside Mina. Takaomi gave up detangling and quickly pulled her hair into a basic ponytail.
"Yeah," She sidestepped to introduce them all. "This is Kenzou, a close friend of mine. Kenzou, these are my classmates. Mina Ashido and Toru Hagakure."
"Nice to meet you," Toru's shirt bent forward in what looked like a bow. Mina just beamed up at him, her eyes twinkling.
"I love your horns, dude!" She took a brave step forward staring right at them. The curling ram horns started near the back of his head circling around before turning up to a point above his temple.
"Oh? Um, I like yours too?" He chuckled before squatting down, putting him at eye level with them. "Mine get in the way a lot. Your horns are cute though. I bet they're a lot easier to deal with."
"I mean yeah. They're kinda bendy too." She reached up and flicked one of her little horns, it was a bit stiff but bent like a twig. Kenzou laughed and grabbed a hold of one of his much larger horns.
"I can't say mine are that flexible, they're strong though. I can pick stuff up with them if I want to. I don't let them get that big, I gotta file them down occasionally." He stood back up. His hands resting in his back pockets, thumbs hooked over the fabric. "Anyways, I don't mean to cut your time short."
"Oh that's okay, we were only getting a snack anyways." Toru picked up her bag from the bench along with Mina's.
"No worries, horn-buddy." Mina took her bag from Toru. "See ya around Takaomi." Her and Mina said their goodbyes and walked into the train station.
"Horn buddies?" Kenzou smiled down at Takaomi, seeming to question her new choice in friends. Takaomi just shrugged.
"I dunno, she likes horns I guess. I just met her today." She shouldered her own bag and left with Kenzou. He'd parked his motorcycle just off the street. Kenzou started the bike, letting it idle for a moment. He went to hand Takaomi her helmet but paused.
"Wait, you're wearing a skirt.." Then he shrugged off his jacket before tossing it over her head. "Wear this for now." The jacket swallowed her. She was able to keep her backpack on and zip it up with it still coming down to her knees. She heard a clicking noise followed by a flash. "You look hilarious right now." He tapped a few buttons and Takaomi felt her pocket vibrate with an incoming message. She assumed he sent it to the group chat.
"Gee thanks..." She was used to riding with the guys, she just hadn't done so in a skirt before. Her legs were cold. Takaomi considered borrowing leggings from Reiko until she bought her own. Bare legs under a skirt wasn't something she was fond of. In middle school she was allowed to wear her gym track pants under her skirt. UA didn't seem too fond of the idea.
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When they arrived at the Shiro's she was quickly herded upstairs to change. Throwing clothes on without much thought, Takaomi came back downstairs in a graphic oversized shirt and loose fitted jeans.
"Finally!" Masaru huffed and slung an arm around her shoulders. Further guiding her toward the front door. A displeased Sei was leaning in the kitchen archway and cleared his throat before the guys could get her out the door. "We're borrowing her for the evening, she'll be back before ten."
"We're going to the ramen shop by the mall, Mr. Shiro." Kuroi said more politely. "I doubt we're going anywhere else, but if we do I'll message you." Sei just nodded at him and walked back into the kitchen.
"I call Backpack." Masa sounded off quickly. He easily leapt over his motorcycle to stand on its left side. Starting the engine and letting it idle. Takaomi blinked into existence beside him, already holding her helmet. "You ready, Backpack? I'm gonna try and get some sparks off the exit ramp this time."
"Not with a passenger you're not." Kenzou spoke in a warning tone. "Don't kill Taka on her first day of school." A dark wing opened up between Masa and Takaomi before pushing her away from him.
"If he's going to eat asphalt, let him do it alone." Kuroi said, "Ride with me, Taka." Kuroi threw his leg over and then brought his wings more in front of him. This allowed Takaomi room to get her foot on the back peg and swing over. She scooted forward and wrapped her arms around his torso snuggly. Then his wings curled back acting like a secondary shield. All three of them had more street style bikes with their own little personalizations. Kenzou's bike was a standard frame and almost all stock except he'd had it raised to make up for his height. The exhaust aftermarket and mean looking. Masa's motorcycle looked both loved and abused at the same time, like a dog eared book read too many times. His rattle-can paint job covered the scrapes and battle scars from attempted stunts. The recent little smiley face with X's for eyes on his gas tank. Kuroi's bike was the same model as Masa's but was stretched, the back tire larger. They were kind enough to ride out of the neighborhood quietly, but when they got to the highway they took off. Masa popping a wheelie and taking the lead position.
The three motorcycles revving through the parking garage were unnecessarily loud. Mostly Masa being an idiot because he liked hearing his engine echo. They garnered a few glares from passing pedestrians and parked in the dashed lines where they were clearly not supposed to park. Although no one had said anything about it yet. Together they headed to a familiar haunt, Pop's Ramen Shop.