Kota And Kiko

Estelle met the work-study students outside UA with Mr Aizawa, Mirio and Tamaki. They had all explained the next steps with Eri, who was now going to stay at UA to keep her powers in check going forward. Estelle had offered her support in training and supervising Eri when needed and was responded to by Mr Aizawa.

"She has an attachment to you, so we'll most likely need it."

Giving the nod of agreement, the students offered their support in settling in.

"No, go back to your dorms. You're going to have visitors."

Estelle didn't care for whoever was arriving, so she mainly spent the day hunting for spirits. The amounts were ever-increasing, but Estelle took solace because they remained in the woods and weren't affecting the others.

It was evening by the times Estelle made it back to Heights Alliance. She received a phone call during dinner from the class to arrive back, but Estelle was so overrun that she apologised before hanging up.

Walking through the doors of Height's Alliance. Estelle heard a familiar voice ring out in the air. "Where is Estelle?"

Turning her head down with a weary smile, Estelle grunted out a "Look behind you."

Estelle watched as the child froze and turned slowly to face Estelle. Without wasting a beat, the little boy barrelled into the tired girl, effectively toppling her as he encased as much as he could into a hug.

Estelle let out a slow chuckle and slid her hand into his hair; his hat knocked over from the topple. Giving his head a rub, Estelle shook her head fondly before frowning at the tremble in his frame.

"Shh, Ko. I'm here, kid."

Slowly, Kota raised his head to show his teary eyes. His body trembled as he tried to speak. "I was so scared when I saw the fight at Kamino Ward. I thought you were gonna die as they did!"

Gripping onto Kota tighter, Estelle rocked her body back and forth as she tried to console him. "Didn't I tell you before? I ain't going anywhere, kiddo."

A few minutes later, the little boy got his shaking and crying under control. Estelle's heart ached for him as he tried to pull himself together. She didn't think about the effect this might have had on Kota. She should have been more proactive.

Leaving her grasp for a few moments, Kota shakenly lifted his hand to remove the bracelet off his wrist. Ignoring the gasps of recognition from those around her, Estelle placed her hand over Kota's as he held the bracelet in his grasp.

"You know, that bracelet was given to me by a dear friend of mine. He reminds me a lot of you. Brave and strong. Keep it."

"Wha?! No! You said it was a promise that you'll come back, and you did."

"I know, and that promise has been fulfilled. Look, I made another one. Keep it; I know he would have wanted you to have that one."

"You know when he was watching the fight at Kamino Ward. He held onto that bracelet for dear life." Mandalay added softly.

Estelle's heart hurt from the words, and she gave another soft smile to the child back in her arms. "See, I knew I chose the right person to keep it safe for me."

Kota's bottom lip shook from the words as he gripped onto the piece of jewellery tightly. Halting his emotions, it was clear that something had caught his attention, "You said that a friend gave it to you; who was he?"

Estelle's gaze turned forlorn as she stared down at the bracelet in his hands. "His name was Kiko; he was the first friend I ever made."

Those around the room leaned closer to listen to Estelle's words. Her sadness caught their attention like a moth to a flame.

"What happened?" He asked curiously, wondering about the gift she had given to him so quickly.

Estelle avoided the question for a moment, turning her head up to face the pussycats. "Do you have time?"

Shaking their head, they murmured, "We have to visit class 1B, but we'll leave him to you, and you can drop him off at the entrance at ten."

Nodding her head in agreement, Estele allowed the class and Mr Aizawa to say their goodbyes to the pussycats as she led Kota to the living room couch. She could feel the class's uncertainty of the next step, as they didn't want to breach her privacy but were also curious enough to want to know the story themselves.

Thankfully, Estelle relieved their worries as she turned to face the students and teacher standing by the door. Turning to them, she murmured, "You can choose to join me or leave me. That is your choice."

Slowly, silent and unsure, the class trickled in as they placed themselves around the room to hear the story. "Rather than telling you, I'm going to show you. Luckily, I know a neat trick for this. Close your eyes."

The class followed her ask until she requested them to open their eyes. But, to their surprise, instead of UA's common room. They were sitting around an unknown forest. Panic began to rise at the unexpected change.

"Don't worry, You're still at UA. You are viewing my memories."

Understanding gripped at them. These were Estelle's memories, the thing they asked to see so long ago but were so quickly rejected. It was strange to see how far they had come for Estelle to allow them to catch a glimpse of her life.

"Watch."

Estelle was pretty young; she looked to be about eight years old. She walked through the woods with her large katana that seemed too big for her petite but toned body. The woods looked different from normal ones; the trees and bark moved like they were alive as they shifted like the waves of music.

As she trailed through the lumber, the young Estelle bumped into a small and frail boy about her own age. The little boy was frightened as he huddled to hide in some dead bark from a fallen tree. She had recognised that he was a bit skittish of her and raised her hands into the air to show she was harmless.

She was anything but.

But, she wouldn't hurt the child. Walking up to him slowly, Estelle introduced herself. "Hey, my name is Estelle. It's nice to meet you; what's your name?"

The boy peeked out from between the bark, muttering his name, "Kiko."

"Hello Kiko, what are you doing all the way out here?" Estelle asked with kindness, a hidden panic in her eyes as her head checked the area. She relaxed slightly when nothing was found and turned her full attention to the child.

"The light village didn't like me, so they threw me out. I was just looking for some food."

Estelle felt sympathetic towards the boy and gestured for him to sit down. Gathering a couple of dry sticks, she placed them down between them and threw a tiny ball of fire at it. The makeshift fire pit roared to life, causing the boy to jump, but he immediately forced himself to relax. Taking out leaves and other vegetable-like food, Estelle offered him the meal.

He immediately dug in, eating ravenously as Estelle quietly watched. Once he was done, Kiko sat back in relief, muttering a quick "Thank you."

Estelle shook her head. "It's fine, but you better get going. I don't want any adults seeing you here."

Kiko quirked his head in question but didn't voice anything. Slowly nodding, he stood up and left. Estelle departed soon after, a furrow to her brow as she thought about the only person who seemed just like her.

The next day, Estelle was hunting again. She was exhausted after cutting down three house-sized slithertongues but forced herself to keep going. Holding her bow in place, ready to shoot. Estelle was surprised by the new arrival she nearly pierced.

Estelle found Kiko sleeping nearby the place she met him yesterday. Walking up to him quickly, she grabbed the boy's collar, shaking him awake and stared down at him. There was rising panic in her body language as she spoke, "You shouldn't be here."

"I have nowhere else to go," Kiko muttered back sadly.

"Anywhere but here, it isn't safe."

"I am with you, though, right? You helped me yesterday!" the boy responded confidently, a bright beam in his eyes.

Estelle shook her head in dismay. "I can't be your bodyguard Kiko; you need to leave."

The boy ignored her. "Do you have food? I'm hungry again."

Estelle sighed, putting her head down in exasperation before nodding and making another makeshift fire pit. Cooking some leaf soup, Kiko sat down happily and ate his grub.

Estelle observed him with pursed lips before he interrupted the silence. "Van we be fwends?"

Estelle looked down at her knife; this was really dangerous. If anybody found out - he would be dead. Her heart really felt for him, he had nowhere to go, and she was lonely; she had never had anybody in her life like this before.

She sighed as she stared at her knife. "This is a bad idea, kid."

"We're practically the same age!"

"Shut up, kid."

"So can we be fri-" he continued but was cut off as a human-like creature crashed through the trees. Estelle cursed herself for not paying attention and jumped into action, shooting off multiple fire arrows with the help of her fire abilities.

Finding that it wasn't working, Estelle used her earth bending to lift the ground around the creature to make walls. She barricaded the beast within the mud barriers before slamming her katana through it. Effectively stabbing it through the heart.

Sighing in satisfaction, she quickly turned to Kiko and checked him over to make sure he wasn't hurt. Realising that he was fine, Estelle slumped slightly in relief.

The boy grinned broadly at the girl. "See! You can protect me, friend!"

Estelle shook her head almost fondly before ruffling his hair. "Whatever you say, kid. Just stay out of sight and run if you see any adults. Got it?"

The boy nodded eagerly and said his goodbyes for the day. As Estelle was leaving, she heard him shout, "I'll see you, tomorrow friend! Don't be late!"

Estelle had an unnoticeable smile on her face as she made her way home.

"You aren't part of the dead. You also aren't one of the creatures who roam here. You're like me!"

"I am."

"Cool!"

"Hey! Estelle. You always look so angry. Come on! Give me a smile !"

"Smile?"

"Yeah! Like this!"

Estelle tried to copy the boy's movements but only managed to come out with a grimace. Kiko sweatdropped at the action before shaking his head. "Come on! You can do better than that! Haven't you ever smiled before?!"

"No. I haven't."

"Oh. Don't worry! We'll get there!"

"I'll stab you."

"No, you won't!"

"Hey, Estelle. I made you something."

"What is it?" the female questioned as she sharpened her blade with a rock.

"It's a bracelet! A promise! That one day, I'll protect you just like you have done for me!"

"You don't need to do that," Estelle muttered back, halting her blade work to gaze at the male.

"I want to! Look, I'll show you how to make it. You can give it to your precious ones!"

"Precious ones?"

"Yeah, the ones that you care for! The one's you want to protect!" Kiko shouted proudly, an innocent smile on his face.

"You...care for me?"

"Duh! Where have you been for the last few moons!?"

"Thank you."

"Estelle, why do I have to run when adults are around?"

"Because they will hurt you. You should really leave, y'know."

"Never! I will face any adversary for my friend!"

"Hmpt, you're more like a nuisance."

"Hey!"

"I had two brothers, y'know. I hope they're doing okay."

"I'm sure they are, kid; I'm sure they are."

"Kiko!"

"What?!"

"Will you please stop that?!" Estelle scowled, watching as Kiko played with her bow and arrows.

"Sorry, sis!"

"Wha?"

Estelle stood in front of a group of ghouls in a soldier-like stance. Her face was solemn as her weapons were strapped to her back. The atmosphere was tense and filled with a heaviness that could not be described. A man stood directly in front of her; he looked like a leader. His face was fierce with scars, and he held himself in the same way as the child stood in front of him.

The man looked down at her almost kindly before saying, "I know this is out of the ordinary from your normal training, but I have something I would like to teach you myself. Follow me."

"Yes, sir."

Following him out into the woods, they walked in silence as they plunged deeper into the forest. Estelle was surprised as she was never allowed to go this far in but didn't comment. The further they walked through the woods, the more concerned the young girl seemed to get.

The class watched in confusion as Estelle was led to a clearing with the man behind her. What was strange about the scene was that a part of the memory was completely blurred out. They could only describe it as censorship.

Their blood ran cold at the expression on Estelle's face in the memory. It was a stark difference from how they had ever seen it. It was a mixture of fear, horror, shock and disbelief. They knew that a child's face should never look like that; the sheer mix of her emotions made their skin crawl.

The only person who seemed to witness the whole scene was Mr Aizawa; his face was frozen wide-eyed in astonishment from the sight in front of him.

The sight of a beast could be seen; it was the size of a building. It looked almost human as it slowly crawled its way to Estelle. To their astonishment, Estelle quickly blurred it out from memory too. They soon understood why.

A hand patted her shoulder, causing the girl to wince as the man's head leaned down to whisper into her ear. The unsympathetic voice stated, "This is what happens when you make friends; you are multum magna occisio machina. Remember this. Now, kill the beast and make your way back home yourself."

The man walked off as Estelle brought up her katana with shaking hands.

With a battle cry, Estelle jumped into the fray. Tears fell from her eyes as fury exploded from her frame. The earth-shattering noise of the giant roared back in response.

Estelle ended the memory for everyone at this point. She didn't want them to see what happened after, the sheer sorrow she had experienced. That would be for Estelle alone. They didn't need to see her like that; nobody did.

The room was silent when the memory had finished for everyone in the room. The class were speechless, but luckily now wasn't the time to speak. Kota turned to face Estelle with tearful eyes. "You never said we looked similar either. He seemed like a good friend."

Estelle's hand shook as she brushed a lock of hair behind the boys head. Giving a kind smile, she expressed, "He was, and you are too."

Lunging into another hug, Kota murmured resolutely as he stared at the bracelet on his wrist, "I'll protect it with my life."

A pain-filled smile filled Estelle's expression as she reciprocated his affection. Holding onto the boy tightly, Estelle muttered, "And I'll protect you with mine."

Slowly standing up, Estelle was well aware time with Kota was reaching its end. Picking the boy up, Estelle allowed him to koala hug her as she left Heights Alliance. Humming and rubbing his back, Estelle said her goodbyes to Kota and the pussycats at the entrance in private.

Back at the common room, the class were still taking in what they had just witnessed. Turning to a silent Mr Aizawa, they asked, "What was blurred out?"

"Kiko was dead. The giant was eating him." He answered back candidly; Ignoring the sick expressions on the student's faces. "Estelle had informed me that showing her memories like this was like reliving them herself; I would suggest that you leave here tonight and not overwhelm her with questions. What you have seen is only a fraction of the injustice that Estelle lived through. Be patient and understanding, got it?"

"Yes, sir."