CHAPTER 14

I left the stadium and settled to wait for my companions near the entrance. All-Might and Endeavor went ahead of me. Shoto, Inasa, Bakugo and Camie were already on their way out. Their voices narrowly an earshot from mine.

"I thought about it and I decided that I really like you! Our personalities are compatible too." After spending half a day together, the two of them seemed closer than before.

"Is that so?" Shoto plainly replied.

"Bakugo is handsome as long as he doesn't talk. Could you not talk?" Camie added. I chortled. Even Camie thinks he's good looking except when he opens his mouth.

"Shut up!" Bakugo naturally shut Camie down.

"Congratulations, everyone!" I beamed happily.

"Yu-chan! Aren't you proud of me? I was nervous on our way here but it all went as planned!" Inasa ran towards me and gave me a hug.

"I can't breathe…" His hug was tighter than ever.

"Ooops sorry! I got carried away. Haha! My apologies Todo-… Yu-chan, I mean." Inasa uttered more cautious of how he talks. Bakugo didn't seem to notice this and walked past me leaving us behind. The rest of us followed while Shoto and I walked side by side at the very back.

"You did a great job today!" I smiled at Shoto.

"Thank you." Shoto said smiling back at me. I looked sideways to hide my flustered face. Shoto looks incredibly gorgeous when he smiles.

"School has been busy after the licensing exam. I'm sorry if I we didn't get to talk more after." Shoto continued prolonging a conversation with me.

The following days right after the first round, Shoto would occasionally send me a message asking how I was. Having a proper conversation with him after so many years of awkward messaging was still new to me. Though I am glad that our friendship is gradually returning to how it was.

"Nah, that's alright. I was literally knocked out after the exams." It's true that I've been sleeping for days. His mood started to change.

"I'm sorry about-" His head lowered down.

I immediately cut him off. "Hey, don't worry about that anymore! The licensing exam was exhausting in general. I was sleeping like a log the past days." I smiled at him. He looked relieved.

The sight of Alll-Might, Endeavor, Present-Mic, Shishikura-senpai and our sensei at Shiketsu greeted us. They were huddled together outside the stadium.

"I understand. We'll discuss it on our side." All-Might was talking to our sensei and Shishikura.

"What's wrong Shishikura?" Camie stood closer to our purple-head senior. "You're talking to All Might. How symbolic. What are you chatting about? Is it about life?"

"We're discussing you, you idiot!" Shishikura screamed right at Camie's still innocent face.

"Really? That doesn't sound good." Camie responded cluelessly.

"It's about how rare the League of Villains attack schools other than UA. Shiketsu and UA have never had any special relationship. We were discussing cooperation and exchanging intelligence." Sensei finally filled us in. "After all, it's unknown why they attacked Utsushimi. We hope that we can track them better if we cooperate."

"That's definitely not good." Camie remarked.

"We also discussed the possibility of holding training together." Shishikura-senpai added.

"I'll beat you up next time." Bakugo challenged directly at Shishikura.

"You're still as boorish as before! Whose side are you on?" Our senpai went on a rampage lecturing Bakugo.

"I don't accept your criticism." Bakugo flatly replied with an annoyed face.

I looked at Shoto with a curious face. He quickly grasped what I was wondering about.

"Your senpai, Utsushimi. She can't recall being in the licensing exam last time. But as you remember, she was there, right?"

"Yeah… Someone pretended to be her?" I answered in shock. "But it didn't feel like another person." I remember having a conversation with her that day. Chatting with Camie-san won't answer my question after all. It's a good thing the matter was discussed while all of are here.

"League of Villains. But we still don't know what exactly there plan is. So be careful, just in case." Shoto stared at me for a long time. Our gaze broke when Endeavor called out his name. We both looked at the No.1 Hero.

"Shoto. I haven't see you in a while." Endeavor seemed cold-blooded for as long as I can remember, but his tone was different when he uttered his son's name. Soft and caring. "You've changed quite a lot." Enji-san was about to pat his dual-haired son only to be rejected. Shoto automatically hit Endeavor's palm with the back of his hand not letting it stroke him.

"Don't touch me." Shoto said dismissing his father's words.

"Shoto-" I said nudging his arm.

"It's alright, Yuriko." Endeavor looked at me. His intimidating facade failing to conceal his emotions. He gazed at his hand and balled it into a fist. I felt Inasa's presence a foot behind me witnessing the awkward situation.

"You make me proud." Endeavor's words were honest. It would take enough courage to speak to Shoto like that. Especially to someone who has been stern his whole life. This isn't the Endeavor I used to know.

Shoto wasn't as accepting as I've expected him to be. He went through a lot. A single day won't change his feelings towards his father.

"Having said that…" Endeavor continued, "I'll become a hero you're proud of, the No.1 Hero you can proclaim to be your dad, the one you can admit is outstanding."

"Whatever." Shoto turned his back against his father not saying anything further.

Woah… I didn't know Enji-san is capable of saying those words. Even Inasa was on the brink of tears. He had to smack himself in the face to get a grip of his emotions.

When Shoto walked away, Endeavor's attention was shifted to me. He spoke quietly, cautiously scanning our surrounding so that no one can hear. "I've been hard on him so I understand why he acts that way." It was silent for a while until he talked again. It looks as though he was finding the right words to say.

"My behavior back then wasn't acceptable either. I apologize if I have hurt you in any way, Yuriko." He half-smiled but he's apology was genuine.

"Enji-san…." was all I could mutter.

"I know we're supposed to take care of you. Shoto is supposed to take care of you, hence your betrothal. But can I ask you to do the same for him?"

I didn't know what to say. Take care of him? How? All I was able to manage was a nod. I felt a heavy but warm pat on my shoulder right after. Just then, I saw Inasa walking towards us.

"Endeavor! I will always support you." Inasa might have even grown a soft spot for Endeavor seeing such turn of events.

"Thank you." Endeavor smiled.

Inasa and I were about to part ways with UA when he suddenly mentioned the upcoming festival in school.

"Yu-chan, should we invite UA to our school festival next week?"

Oh right. Even after all the hero related activities in school, just like any other high school, Shiketsu also scheduled normal school events.

"Shoto-kun…" The school festival has slipped my mind because of the licensing exam. Maybe inviting the whole hero class in UA wasn't a bad idea.

"Oy! Todoroki-san, Bakugo-san! You should come and visit Shiketsu! We'll have our school festival next week! It will be so much fun!" Inasa butted in wrapping both his arms around the two boys.

Shoto looked at me tilting his head on one side while Bakugo struggled to push himself off Inasa.

"Uhmm… I honestly forgot about the school event. But you are all welcome to visit us in Shiketsu! You can invite the whole class too!"

"It will be so much fun! Our class is in charge of a maid cafe! I bet we will earn lots of money this year since Yu-chan's there!" Inasa exclaimed with so much excitement.

"Maid cafe?" Shoto curiously asked.

"You know? Where the cute and hot girls serve food to whoever visits the booth!" I know a lot of pretty girls in Shiketsu! I can set you up Bakugo!" Inasa laughed without any care in the world. He left out the idea of setting up his new found friend.

Shoto's eyes never left my brown ones. Why am I getting nervous all of a sudden? Should have I told him? Should I ask his permission? Am I committing something against our fixed marriage? My mind was in a daze out of overthinking.

"I don't need you to set me up!" Bakugo yelled.

"Of course, these two are going to attract so many girls. I'm sure of that." Camie commented.

Attract so many girls? Should I still invite Shoto? Argh… What is wrong with me?!

"If you're worried about the girls' costumes, don't be. Shiketsu doesn't allow them to wear revealing ones. You just have to marvel at their beauty." Inasa winked. I know he's relaying that detail specifically to Shoto.

Is he worried of what I'm gonna wear? But why would I even think he's worried?

"Okay, I'll be there." Shoto said looking convinced. And relieved.

I was finally able to think clearly. But I felt stupid over-scrutinizing things. Shoto and I are in a betrothal. But it doesn't necessarily mean that we have feelings for each other.

Yuriko, you're friends. You're just friends. Don't make it a big deal. I felt a kick in my stomach as I'm reminded of that thought.

"Great! Let us know how many are going so I can prepare your tickets!" I said smiling at Shoto trying to look composed. "Are you going… Bakugo?"

"I don't think Bakugo has time for that…" Shishikura interrupted. "The way I see it, he just thinks of fighting all the -"

"I'm going." Bakugo replied right away.

All eyes were on the spiky blonde. It didn't take much time to convince him. I initially though he'd pass.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE EXCITING!" Inasa said out loud. "We'll see you at Shiketsu then!" Inasa waved at the two UA students. He walked away with Shishikura and Camie while I stayed behind for a while.

"I'll see you both next week! I hope the others can come too! Send me a message about the tickets, Shoto!" I waved at them before following my schoolmates.

Finally, a normal school event. It just struck me that I haven't had any interactions with Shoto during my whole high school life. All we ever did was meet outside school. I walked beside Inasa as we returned to school, our senpais just ahead of us.

"Somebody's happy…" Inasa nudged my arm.

"Shhhh…"

"It wasn't that loud." He retorted.

I chuckled. "You may not notice, Inasa-kun, but you're not capable of speaking in a soft tone."

"I am… not. Yeah, you're right. I try to be wary though."

"You try your best at times, I admit." We entered the train and found empty seats.

"Did you see Shoto's reaction when I said 'maid cafe'? He almost flipped out. I don't think he's ready to see you in a revealing costume." Inasa laughed out loud.

So much for being wary. He covered his mouth as I glared at him.

"I don't think he felt that way. Maybe he was contemplating whether to go or not."

"Aw, come on, Yuriko. I should know. I'm a guy. Plus, you're he's bride-to-be. Being protective comes along with it." Inasa surveyed his surrounding and made sure that Camie and Shishikura was seated far away from us.

"Would he be protective of someone he sees as a friend?" I curiously asked.

"I'm your friend. And I'm protective of you." Inasa winked. "But Todoroki's different. He's scary when he goes overprotective mode."

"What are you saying?"

"It's true! He glared at me every time I put my arm around your shoulder. He surveyed Bakugo all the time whenever that rowdy guy looks at you."

"Looks at me?" I looked at Inasa with a puzzled expression. "When did Bakugo he look at me?"

"Duh… Every time you're around. And then there's that time during the exam. You are so naive, Yu-chan."

I saw Bakugo gazed at my direction when I was sitting at the bleachers. Did he really? But why?

"He was just glancing over at All-Might. You know he wants to show-off all the time." I rejected the idea internally shaking my head.

"Whatever you say. I'm sure of what I saw down there." Inasa crossed his arms. "It's fun to see them having a mental battle though. I wonder what Shoto would do if he realized that- Ow!"

"Stop making up stories. Our stop's here. Let's go." I pulled Inasa by his ear. We alighted the train with yelps echoing in the platform.


A/N: More Yuriko - Shoto interactions in the following updates (plus Bakugo) HAHAHA.