Chapter Twenty
~Yuto's POV~
Early the next morning saw the four Nara cousins on the runway at a private airfield outside of Mustafu. A lone private jet waited for them as Shina drove up in one of their fancier jeeps. With all the baggage that his sisters had packed 'just in case' they had had to take more bags than they usually would have. It was fine though, Yuto thought, this was technically a vacation for them before they went into brutal training the next week. It was just a few days at a floating island that also doubled as a resort if necessary.
"Alright guys, get your bags and let's get on the plane." Shina called when she stopped the car. Yuto gratefully opened his door, got out and stretched in the morning air. He wasn't happy to wake up so early in the morning, but he didn't fight it when his siblings continued to push him along to get his bags onto the plane. Once he'd sat down in one of the plush chairs, out came his Nintendo and the world faded as he attempted to kill zombies with plants.
"How long is this flight again?" James asked with a yawn from his spot across Yuto. Despite his yawn, Yuto could see how tense he was due to the way his ear was twitching just slightly.
"It's only about two hours. If the wind is with us, maybe less." Shina assured, eyeing their Neko boy, as she got comfortable in her seat.
"Can I please take my meds now?" Kana asked nervously.
"Wait and eat something first. You're going to need something in your stomach before you take it otherwise you're going to either get really sick or you'll pass out five minutes after taking." Shina stated.
"I'm okay with passing out."
"It's a fifty-fifty Kana." Yuto stated. "Just eat something first."
"But-" Kana's face twisted in disgust.
"No 'but's' Kana." Shina stated sternly. Kana sighed and slumped back. Yuto felt for his cousins, they didn't fly very well. James was always nervous about the take off and landing sensations but Kana, she really didn't like to fly and often they had to drug her in order to stand it. Most of their travel was through Kana but I-island's security was different, and they needed to take a plane. (Not to mention they technically weren't supposed to use their Quirks until they received their Hero Licenses.)
"What to drink miss?" The nice woman asked. Shina gave a friendly smile to her, obviously easing the attendant's nerves. Yuto didn't think he'd ever seen this attendant before and reasoned that she must be a new hire.
"Kana and James get Raspberry tea and Yuto gets Powerade. I'll take coffee." Kana and James raised their hands, so the attendant was able to tell who they were. She nodded eagerly and from the look on her face, she was obviously relieved that they weren't the stuck-up wealthy people. Yuto had met a few of those previously and he'd resolved too not be like them.
"And anything to eat?" Shina hummed in thought. Yuto decided to help as Shina didn't really eat breakfast unless they made her.
"Pancakes?" Yuto asked hopefully pausing his game. Shina nodded.
"Pancakes, waffles and if you have it some cinnamon buns." The woman nodded.
"Very well miss. We should be clear for take off in the next ten minutes. As soon as we reach cruising altitude I will bring your food and drinks."
"Can you by any chance bring something right now?" Shina asked. "Kana doesn't fly well and she needs to eat a little something before we take off."
"Oh sure of course." The woman smiled before she went to grab something.
"Thank you!" The four Nara's chorused before they went to their own entertainments. Yuto glanced around briefly to see Shina taking out her laptop, Kana popping in her earbuds and scrolling through her phone to try and relax, and James with one ear bud in his ear, his phone in one hand and a pillow he was unconsciously kneading in the other. Yuto felt a sigh of relief go through him as he realized, Kana was right. They wouldn't have to pretend to be 'good future heroes' for this upcoming trip. It was just going to be them and a bunch of techs for the next two days. A wry smile settled on his face as he went back to playing with his Nintendo. He didn't pay much attention to anything else before taking off as there were some zombies that needed to die.
"I see the Island." Kana sleepily announced. Yuto blinked, coming up from his digital massacre to look out the window that had the view of the island.
"Good job druggie, you saw that." James patted Kana's head who grumbled before she sleepily turned in her chair to go back to sleep. The attendant came out and announced.
"We will be landing in the next ten minutes. Please put away your devices and buckle up. I will come around for your dishes."
"Alright guys, remember, I-island is a safe haven for using your powers but don't go overboard." Shina instructed. Yuto clicked his Nintendo off and put it in his bag before he handed James his dishes. Kana was shaken awake and given some caffeine tea to wake up. Yuto wondered if Shina had drugged Kana a bit too much since it was only a short two hour flight. Kana did wake up enough to groggily hand her dishes to Shina who piled their dishes together for easy one stop pick up. Yuto buckled in and waited to feel the familiar tingles of the plane losing altitude.
"What is the plan when we land?" Yuto asked seeing James tail flick with nervous energy at feeling the plane land. James was always nervous about flying, any chance to distract him was appreciated.
"Selene will meet us at the airport and take us to get checked in to the hotel. After that she'll take us to see Naomi and see what goodies she's made recently." Shina stated. "Of course, we'll probably have an early dinner and go to bed after that, unless you three feel the urge to go swimming?"
"Yes!" Yuto called happily. In Yuto's opinion, they did not go swimming enough. Considering how often he and Shina loved to swim, he silently wondered if they had a water Quirk user in their family.
"It's vacation for a reason." James ground out. Yuto laughed partially at his brother's obvious discomfort but also because the feeling of the plane lowering sent a thrilling tingle through him. Nothing more was said as the plane landed on I-Island. When the plane finally came to a stop after touching down, Yuto was quick to unbuckle himself and grab his bags to get off the plane. The bright sunlight reflecting off the white stone tarmac was nearly blinding but the strong breeze of the ocean from behind them, made the temperature surprisingly comfortable. Yuto sighed, being on an island this bright meant he wouldn't be able to use his shadows much. He was okay with this; he didn't anticipate anything that would require him to use his Quirk anyway.
"Hi guys!" The cheerful voice came, drawing Yuto's eyes down to see a familiar tanned woman that looked to be of Hispanic origin. Her thick black hair was curled enough to look like it had been done up while she wore a comfortable business casual suit.
"Hey Sel!" He greeted as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Yuto walked down the stairs and gave Selene a two fingered salute. "How are you?"
"I'm good. You got tall Yuto!" He smiled. "James, oh gosh you got very tall. You're taller than I am now. And Kana! You're so pretty."
"Please no compliments." Kana stated with a blush on her face. Selene laughed. When Shina came down Selene started talking.
"It's been a while since I last heard from you Shina. I'm glad I was able to convince you to come and visit. I have so many people I want to introduce you to but that can wait until the Gala tomorrow night. Right now, I just want to get you guys checked in, I know it was a short flight, but you don't want to be luging your bags around all day!"
"Can we get something to eat first?" James asked.
"Oh no problem!" Selene smiled apologetically. "I know once we get on a roll with the new technology, we're probably going to want to play with it all day." They followed Selene through the airport terminal to get inspected before being allowed into the island. Yuto vaguely worried if security would catch them as frauds but, true to form, they got through without incident. Exiting the Terminal H-G to the inside of I-Island was shocking. Yuto had to take a moment as the impressive sight of I-island's attractions and buildings stunned him. Neon glowing music notes were floating through the air as the colorful buildings of the islands interior made him think of a theme park.
"Whoa!" James and Yuto breathed.
"Pretty colors!" Kana gasped in awe.
"I will admit, this place is as beautiful as I remembered." Shina sighed.
"Yeah, it's truly one of a kind." Sel stated. She gave them a moment before gently pulling their attention back to reality. "I apologize for interrupting you guys, but we should get going."
"Right." Shina pulled the three of them along physically by grabbing their sleeves. "Let's go guys, we have three more days of awe-inspiring things to see."
~Shina's POV~
Entering the Lab of Naomi was stunning as she had multiple gadgets and machines perched all over, taking up every inch of space. There was just enough room to move around the room in a single file line. Somewhere in the middle of the machinery maze, Naomi was shouting out orders.
"I need the Dark Ray machine to be sent to the hall so it can be displayed, this should have been sent down yesterday!"
"I'll send it right now ma'am." A rushing of footsteps sounded before a young man came into view. "Oh Selene, uh Naomi is just back this way. I have to get past you all."
"Alright everyone let this clearly harassed intern get past." Shina called with a smirk. The intern blushed as everyone got to one side, allowing some room for him to slide past.
"Selene?" The voice of slight aggravation belonged to a small slender woman of Chinese descent. Her short black hair complimented her pale skin and deep brown eyes nicely. Her eyes widened in surprise when Shina came into view before a brilliant smile spread across her face. "Shina!"
"Are we interrupting?" Shina asked with a rare true smile.
"Of course not!" Naomi sputtered as she waved at the machines all around her. "I just needed this last machine to have been sent to the Expo's display room last night to showcase it today, but it's fine. I can actually show you what it does as well as a few of the other machines."
"Go for it." Shina smiled. Over the next few hours Naomi and Selene demonstrated the various machines and their uses. Some were more streamlined versions of other already existing machines that already existed in the world, surprisingly there were a few new machines that Naomi had created that were based off of the Nara clans own quirks. Shina was surprised that this and asked to Naomi about it.
"Oh, I hope you don't mind. It's just, your Quirks were good foundations to build from." Naomi stated. "Like the Invisible Suit." Naomi pulled open a panel where a white suit was presented. Naomi started typing into the keyboard and the container started to thrum before suddenly it got bright. Shina felt the light particles being absorbed by her own skin as the suit seemed to be doing something similar, where it wavered before disappearing.
"Whoa." The kids breathed.
"That does kind of look like your invisibility Shina." Yuto spoke up.
"It takes a while though." Kana said. "Shina can turn invisible faster. But I suppose that's due to practice."
"Were working on it. This is actually much faster than we had it going last week." Selene stated.
"Who else have you been inspired by?" Shina asked curiously. Naomi started talking a mile a minute.
"Well we couldn't do everyone. Yuto's powers themselves are a bit outside our range due to them being shadows. Kana's powers for teleportation did inspire us to try and make some portals. So far we are only able to make small portals and we can only send non-sentient objects through. With help from Professor Lockwood at California's Science Division, we are working through the science. I'm hopeful we'll have some progress on this soon. As for James," Naomi smiled before she took them to another panel. "We had some interns play around with his claw makeup. They even went to far as to make this," Naomi pulled out a headband that had ear buds on the ends. The most amusing part was the black cat ears on top it. "If you put the headband on and insert the buds into your ears, you'll be able to hear 10X what you can hear now. And these," She pulled out some contacts. "These are my favorite, they're contacts but they go far beyond any regular contacts. They allow you to see up to 10X the distance you'd normally see and are still clearer than any binoculars you could buy."
"Now that, I'd pay to see." Shina grinned.
"I can get you a prototype. But I did want to show you guys some of the tech our interns did develop. Selene said she thinks it would help you guys in your work." Shina and the kids gathered round as Naomi showed them a whole set of gadgets.
When they left the lab finally it was nearing 8pm and the kids were tired. Shina opted to have dinner brought to their rooms while they relaxed. She promised they could go swimming either the next night or the night after that as the expo really was something they didn't want to miss.
The next morning saw the four Nara's on their own visiting the Expo attractions that had caught their attention the day before. Selene and Naomi would see them at the Gala that night so they were on their own for now. The plan was to just stroll casually through the exhibits and see what other scientists had made. Since the kids had access to use their Quirks they wore their Hero uniforms while Shina merely dressed causal in jeans and a light blouse. She even pulled her hair into a messy bun to keep it from attracting too much attention, just in case.
The first exhibit was an underwater/sea themed exhibit with a lot of nautical gear and suits. The next was all about gear for creating lightning or using lightning as a basis to create some pretty inventive weaponry. Shina had fun in the 'illusion' exhibit as Naomi's invisibility suit was on display as well as the 'Healthcare' exhibit as Shina was able to take some notes on those to ask Naomi about them later. Kana's favorite exhibit was the music hall that used sound to power gear or emitted high frequencies that had James wincing in pain. James and Yuto didn't have a favorite as the entire expo held a bit of everything they were interested in.
"Man, I can't believe how much tech is here." James grinned as he viewed the last machine in the current hall. "If I had more time in the garage to help Yuto build, we'd have so much more help in the house."
"Robots we could use for training or helping to clean or do the chores!" Yuto agreed.
"Sure 'help'." Shina said. "Claude and the maids do more work cleaning up the 'errors' that you three put out. Besides, if you made fully functioning robots with interactive learning AI, what would the staff do?"
"You know Maria and the other maids watch Telenovelas most of the day. Jon Von is always reading at the gates and Chef Wolfe pre-cooks our meals. He's been exploring Japan since we got there." Kana stated.
"I know none of this." Shina stated grimly. "And I will now forget you ever said these things in 3,2,1."
"You've joined them in the Telenovela marathons." Yuto stated with a grin.
"Poor Alejandro, his brother Rodrigo did not deserve that push down the elevator shaft." Shina sniffed dramatically.
"Oh please!" Kana gasped in outrage. "Rodrigo deserved worse than that fall for what he did to Isabella and Hector."
"And he had the audacity to propose to Camilla? After her sister's kidnapping? I mean talk about insensitive." James stated. "But the real villain of 'Roses of Our Youth' is hands down Guadalupe. She's been the mastermind behind everything."
"She has not!" Shina interrupted. "She's trying her best being the matriarch of the De la Cruz family."
"Yeah she didn't have anything to do with Alejandro's hospital stay in season 4 through 5 and certainly didn't have anything to do with Camilla and Isabella being trapped on that island. Oh and not to mention-" Kana's tirade was cut short by a call of her name.
"Kana?!" The Nara family stopped mid rant and as one, looked to the side where a small café was. Sitting at a table were two brunette girls and a blond while a familiar boy with green hair was standing behind them with a blond boy and a purple haired… was it hair? Shina wasn't sure but assumed he was a schoolmate as he was wearing a waiter's uniform but seemed familiar with the UA students.
"Momo?" James called.
"Crap I thought we'd be free of UA." Kana muttered under her breath. Shina immediately understood and mentally prepared to go along with whatever stories the kids had told about her.
"Just go with it." Shina ordered. "Be friendly."
"It is you James!" Momo, the brunette with spiky hair in a ponytail stood up. "We weren't expecting to see you guys here."
"Yeah we didn't think anyone would be here." Kana stated with a friendly smile before she blinked and introduced Shina while James and Yuto watched. "Uh, Shina," Shina hummed with a friendly smile to the UA students. "This is Momo and Jiro," The smaller brunette with earphone jacks on her ears gave a nod. "You know Midoriya and Iida,"
"Hello girls! And Midoriya, Iida, we met at the hospital during the Internships." Shina nodded, remembering the two boys who didn't looks as banged up as they had been then. "I'm glad you two are healed up. I myself despise being in the hospital for any amount of time."
"It is good to meet you properly miss." Iida bowed formally making Shina sweat drop at his manners. "I apologize for our past appearance."
"It's no problem Iida. I'm just glad to see you up and about. You too Midoriya? Was it?"
"Uh yes that's me. Hello again miss!" Midoriya waved shyly.
"This is Denki my friend." Shina nodded to him. She tilted her head at how awestruck he seemed. The look on his face was overshadowed when Shina caught the obviously lecherous look in the smaller boy with his. Kana it too seemed to catch up on this as her expression soured. "And this is Denki's friend Mineta."
"I see."
"One second!" The purple ball headed boy squeaked as he grabbed Denki, Midoriya, James and Yuto and pulled them away to huddle. Shina turned her attention to the girls instead.
"It's nice to meet some of the kids' friends. I'm Shina Nara, I'm their older cousin/guardian. It's nice to meet you all.
"Oh it's lovely to meet you as well." Momo smiled. "James had told me about you."
"I apologize, I don't think the kids were expecting to see anyone from UA here." Shina stated. "If we'd known I would have insisted the kids meet up with you guys if they wanted." A loud scream sounded making everyone look to see James and Yuto whacking Mineta and Denki on the head with angry expressions on their faces. Midoriya seemed to be trying to alleviate the issue so the girls went back to talking amongst themselves. Shina wondered how often this sort of thing happened if they were used to it.
"We didn't know either!" Kana protested. "Which, how did you guys get here?"
"I received an invitation because my father is a shareholder in some of the expo's sponsor companies." Momo answered. "I had a few extras and I asked the other girls if they wanted to come. I would have asked you but I figured you wouldn't want to come. I apologize for my assumption Kana."
"Oh no problem." Kana insisted. "Shina is actually a sponsor as well for one of our scientist friends and her team of interns so she was invited and we naturally came as we love all things technology."
"And your other friends?" Shina asked noting there were only three girls. "Are they here as well or, pardon my phrasing, did they not make the cut?"
"They're actually at the hotel room." Jiro spoke. "We weren't able to get everyone into the expo for the early passes, so we gambled for it. Mina, Tsu and Hagakure will get to come in tomorrow."
"We're also the only ones who have to attend the gala later tonight." Momo stated. "Will you be there Kana?"
"Yes," Kana answered as James and Yuto came back from harming the blond and purple ball headed kid. Shina would have to ask them what constituted that beating. "James and Yuto are looking forward to wearing their suits."
"Are not." James sighed. Shina smiled and winked at the girls.
"He's lying, he likes to dress up in suits so long as he doesn't have to actually dance." James gave her a look that had Shina and the girls laughing. A loud boom from behind them had everyone reacting.
"What was that?" Shina and the blond girl ran after the UA students as they took off to what looked like a large pile of rocks surrounded by an arena that held a surprisingly small amount of people who were watching the ongoing events calmly. When Shina was able to get a good look at what was going on she relaxed. It was a simulation with robot pieces lying all over as smoke billowed from various points on the mountain. The smoke cleared to show a red-haired boy with large red gears on his shoulders.
"Kiri?" Kana asked.
"I didn't expect to see him here."
"I'm guessing that's another UA student?" The blond girl spoke.
"Yeah he's in the same class as us." Midoriya answered. Shina mentally assessed the boy and committed him to memory. If Kana knew who he was and was familiar enough to give him a nickname then he was someone she'd have to keep an eye on, same as the blond-haired Denki boy.
"Please welcome our next challenger!" A familiar blond bomber walked, or swaggered in Shina's opinion, out, taking center stage.
"Is that Bakugou?" One of the girls asked.
"Kachan?"
"Yeah that's him." James stated. Shina caught the tone of competitiveness in his voice. She wondered if James had been playing nice at school or not as this seemed like a familiar competitor for him. Shina watched in amazement as the blond took off at the robots, completely annihilating them in only a matter of seconds. Shina supposed he was one of the main ones that she'd have to warn Shigaraki about.
"Look at that time! Only 15 seconds!"
"Wow, he's good." The blond girl murmured.
"Yeah no doubt about that." Shina said before she blinked. "I'm sorry I didn't get your name in the introductions." She gave a friendly smile.
"Oh no problem. I'm Melissa. I live here on I-island with my father. I'm not a hero, obviously." Shina liked this girl.
"I'm not either, as you can probably tell from the way I'm dressed." Shina indicated her casual clothing. "Are you a scientist here or are you still in school?"
"I'm-" They were interrupted as the blond boy jumped on the railing, angry and growling at Midoriya in what seemed to be for simply existing. Shina was speechless to continue the conversation as the blond raged and the other UA students seemed to act like this was a familiar occurrence.
"Yeah this happens a lot." James mumbled coming up behind Shina. "Bakugou's a special bean."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" The blond yelled glaring at James who only smirked at him.
"I said Midoriya can beat your score no sweat!" Shina smacked James' head.
"James!" He snickered at stirring the pot as Midoriya was then harassed to get in the arena to beat Bakugou. "Quit trying to pick a fight."
"What? He likes it. If there was no one to challenge him then he'd get bored." James responded. Shina sighed but laid the conversation to rest as Midoriya started. His Quirk blew back a gale of wind that almost toppled the MC as she yelled out 'start'. Shina's eyes were quick to catch his slight hesitation before he hit the first robot. He didn't break any bones from using his Quirk but it looked like he was still working to get it under control from how he was hesitating. Still, he was able to complete the course in 16 seconds.
"I know that look." Yuto whispered when James went to haggle Bakugou. "You saw his hesitance too right?"
"From what I witnessed at the Sports Festival, he couldn't use his Quirk without breaking his bones. I see he's been working on that but still, it's like he's holding back." Yuto nodded. "We've noticed the same things as well. It should be in the reports." Shina gave him a look that had him chuckling. "Yeah we write a lot of small incomplete notes."
"You don't say. I'm tempted to ask you guys to just give me a verbal recording." Shina muttered. The MC's voice calling out caught Shina's attention as a large slate of ice appeared.
"THIS IS INSANE! 14 SECONDS!" Shina assessed the boy's body language. Something about it niggled her brain, like she'd seen something familiar, but she couldn't place it. When he stood up a small spark went off in her brain but before she could analyze it, Bakugou set off a loud bomb so close to her that Shina flinched, and she lost the spark of familiarity.
Shina sighed as he raged at the two-toned boy wondering if she could by any chance convince the kids to leave with her now. The Expo was going on until 6pm and they were going to get back to the hotel to get ready at that time for the gala.
"Shina?" Kana called to her. Shina looked up to see Kana's pleading face.
"Would you mind if we stayed with our classmates for the rest of the expo?" Shina knew Kana was begging her to say no and come up with some kind of an excuse to get out of it but, Shina figured this was a good chance as any to mess with the kids. They had been hoping to get some 'freedom' from their current mission as 'friends of UA'. Shina could sympathize but the evil portion of her couldn't pass up the opportunity to mess with them.
"We can stay with them." Shina smiled wide as she saw the hope in Kana's eyes die. "I'd like to get to know your classmates better. Melissa and I were talking about her life here on the island. I was hoping to talk with her a bit more about that if you don't mind?" Here Shina looked to Melissa who gave her another smile.
"No I don't mind. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have."
"Perfect!" Shina felt her smile get sharper as she saw Kana deflate. Internally half of Shina was cackling maniacally while the other portion was also sympathizing and apologizing profusely.
~James' POV~
Spending the rest of the afternoon with his UA friends and the Nara clan was surreal as James felt like both worlds were colliding. It honestly wasn't too bad. He had his doubts when Ochako asked about their personal life, but Shina had it covered with a smooth lie that wasn't too far off from the truth. James had to admire Shina for that flawlessness. But then, he supposed after 6 years she was used to it.
Since Shina was 'Quirkless' she and Melissa had that 'bond' that reassured their friendship as the day wore on. Shina also got along well with the rest of the UA students. It helped that Yuto, Kana and James included her and Melissa in on their UA conversations which made them laugh and comment on how those plans and ideas came about in their training.
"This was a pretty great day." Momo commented as the expo's closing announcements started to play.
"Oh it's 6pm already?" Shina glanced at her phone. "We should get going guys. We have to get ready for the expo's gala tonight. Are you guys attending that?" She asked the UA students.
"Yes we should be there." Jiro answered.
"I will indeed be in attendance." Iida spoke.
"You know if we're all going we should meet up before the party and go in together." Momo stated. "I mean, it's not like any of us know the people attending this. They'll probably all be older people. No offense Shina."
"None taken." Shina laughed. "If you guys want to meet up before the party it's up to you." Shina said looking at James, Yuto and Kana. "I unfortunately do have to get there on time as I need to meet up with Naomi and Selene so they can introduce me to the other scientists they want me to sponsor."
"You sound so smart saying all that." Kana said teasingly. Shina stuck out her tongue making James chuckle.
"If it's okay with you guys we can meet up with you." James offered. "Yuto can escort Shina down."
"Sure, it's not a problem." Yuto smiled at Shina.
"You don't have to escort me." Shina stated with a slight frown.
"Now now, Shina, we need to make sure no perverts accost you or try and sway you from your purity." Yuto spoke in a dignified manner. "It would be an impropriety to allow someone as pretty as you to go alone. I won't have it."
"Hear hear!" Kana snickered.
"Do you do this a lot?" Ochako asked in amusement.
"Every chance we get." James smirked. "So what time is the best time to meet you guys and where should we meet?"
"I will text you the location but if you can meet us there at 5:30 sharp, we should be good." Iida answered. A ding on James' cell let him know he had a text. He pulled out his phone and looked at the address.
"Man you're effecient Iida." James stated. "We'll meet you guys there once we're dressed."
"We should go and check on Denki and Mineta and give them those extra tickets to the party." Ochako said. "They should be off now that the expo is closing for the night." James kept his mouth shut about inviting the perverted grape head. He'd just keep a close eye on that boy. And Denki.
"Bye guys!" Jiro called as they walked away.
"You guys good to get dressed?" Shina asked.
"Yep." James turned on his heel and started walking to the hotel. "We can't have Selene and Naomi wait on Shina. Plus you take forever doing your hair and make up."
"I do not!" Shina called.
"You sit on a throne of lies." James called back. "Staring down at your court of liars and thieves with cold intelligence. Your red hair shining as a warning to all who cross your path." Yuto and Shina laughed as he continued.
"Alright you've been watching too much fantasy/drama." Kana laughed.