Secret Base

Estelle watched as Kirishima continued to crush objects within his vicinity. She had set up an obstacle course to determine a more thorough outlook of his own strengths and weaknesses. A few of the classmates were behind her as they did their training, which Estelle had previously prepared for them all.

Rackets of hard work filled the gymnasium as Estelle continued to push them all to their limits. "Come on, guys, Pete could have done better! And he isn't even here anymore! Again!"

"Yes, captain!" the voices cried back.

"Tch, you are something else."

"Ruby? What are you doing here?" Estelle spoke out, turning to face the new arrival with raised brows.

"You skipped lunch. I brought you some food."

"Oh, thank you."

Sitting by her side on the bench, Bakugo gazed at Kirishima as he trained. The obstacle course was filled with different materials, and he could see her line of thinking by the placement of each obstacle. Estelle wanted to see how he would fair with using his quirk on different materials like metal, wood, earth and tough fibre. But that wasn't all. She also seemed to have placed blasters of tennis balls in opposite locations, so he would have to dodge effectively whilst using his strength.

"Why would he need to dodge if his body literally turns to rock?"

"Kirishima asked that as well. He can still get hurt; brunt force won't always work. He needs agility on his side to manoeuvre in different situations. What if he was holding a child, and he activates his quirk out of surprise? It wouldn't be intentional, but it could have a bad outcome. What if he was being targeted by a blast that could hurt him? he needs to be able to dodge, especially if he's multitasking. Villains will not wait until he's finished breaking a wall to strike."

"You've thought this through."

"As I do with everyone," Estelle responded bluntly as she took a bite of her burrito.

"So how come you won't train me like everyone else?" Bakugo questioned, the thought still roaming around his mind.

"You're already capable, and you're progressing well enough alone. These guys need the help, but don't worry; I'll get around to you eventually. It's just that they are the priority, so I want to make sure they are ready before I'm gone."

Feeling pride and satisfaction flood his bones, Bakugo gave Estelle a wide grin as he watched her eat his food. It felt good being recognised as better than everyone else, and he felt full on the fact Estelle was the one to say it. He almost felt conflicted because he wouldn't get to spend as much time with Estelle training because of it, but Bakugo knew it was selfish if he took all of her time.

"However, don't get big-headed with that. You still have a long way to go, but you're ahead of the game, so you'll be fine."

"Tch, I know."

"Smart boy."

Opening his mouth to respond, Bakugo growled when he was cut off. "Hey, Estelle. I can't seem to break the fibre!"

"Coming!" Estelle called back, finishing the last bite of her food before standing up. Lifting a brow at Bakugo, who followed her movements, Estelle was startled when his hand shifted to her head and ruffled her hair. She had been expecting a thump from the male, so the affectionate motion put her in for a loop.

Feeling heat rush to her cheeks, Estelle gaped at Bakugo with widened eyes as she stared at him. The blonde was looking away as he muttered, "I'll see you tonight, Lioness."

Nodding dumbly, she missed the redness of his cheeks as he turned away, too focused on the funny feeling within her. Shaking her head, she forced them aside to make her way to Kirishima. "The strands get tighter the more you add force; you need to use light hands."

"Why is this even here then!"

"To show you don't need brute force in every fight, you idiot!" Estelle barked back.

Bakugo heard the last of the conversation on the way out with a smirk on his lips. The fire within her seemed to grow by the day, and she wasn't as blank as she used to be. It was evident in how she spoke to the others in her class. He would even guess that Estelle hadn't even realised the change herself.

Strolling back into Heights Alliance, Estelle was frowning as she made her way into the dining room. The classmates were already there as they had finished training earlier. Estelle had done patrols after, which was light work considering the number of dark spirits had lessened for the time being. There were still random waves of attacks in completely spontaneous areas, but they were few and far between ever since Nyx had revealed himself.

Plopping down onto the seat, Estelle was treated by Shoto's expectant face as he held up a bowl of Soba. "Soba, buddy."

Sighing, Estelle shook her head at the innocent male before accepting the bowl. "Yeah...Thanks."

"You have to say it back."

"Huh?! Since when?" Estelle questioned, her head snapping back up in disbelief.

"Since now."

"No," Estelle blandly replied, her eyes lowering in stubbornness. The fight in her didn't last for long once she saw his expression remain blank, but his body language slumped in innocent disappointment. Feeling her heart clench a million ways to Sunday, the response slipped past her lips before she could stop it. "Ugh, fine."

Shoto gazed at her with innocent interest as he waited for her to finally say the words back to him.

"Cheers, Soba buddy."

"Soba buddies." He repeated like he was finalising a deal Estelle had no idea she was a part of. Hiding her sweatdrop, Estelle pivoted to start eating her food.

When she was halfway through her meal, she found out what she had signed up for. "Since we are official, we should try another soba place soon."

"Huh?" Estelle was startled midway into another bite.

"Yes, that sounds good. We shall do that," Shoto nodded, completely ignoring her answer.

"I did not agree to that," Estelle started, leaning back on her chair with a glower.

"But, you said we were soba buddies."

"Shoto..."

"So, we have to try more soba places. Don't worry; I'll handle the details. I still have my father's credit card."

Slumping over her plate, Estelle tried to interrupt him to bring him down to earth. But the relentless male was too involved in his Soba planning to listen. Shaking her head in exasperation, Estelle went back to finish her meal.

"Thank you, Momo."

"Ah, it's fine! I was making some for myself anyway!" The teen waved off, holding a mug of hers as she sat down opposite Estelle's couch.

Placing her mug on the table, Estelle picked up her colouring pencil to continue splashing within her book. She had gotten through many pages, and she considered putting it down as she was getting through it quickly. But she couldn't help herself; colouring was so relaxing for her mind that it was almost addictive.

"Can I join?" Momo questioned softly, gazing at Estelle with a foreign emotion that the female couldn't pinpoint.

Estelle couldn't find a reason to decline. Flickering her eyes up, she shrugged and nodded. Offering a beaming smile, Momo stood back up to join Estelle on the other side of the desk, so she had her bubble and waited for her to pull out another book from her bag. "Here you go."

"Thank you!"

Peaceful silence rang out in the room, the only sound being the scratching of the pencils on the paper. It lulled the two of them into a dream as they continued working on their art pieces. Estelle almost felt silly for doing her colouring in such an open space; wasn't it weird for her to be engrossed in childish things? Shouldn't she be more focused on the important stuff? Like getting back home and destroying Nyx?

The sudden wave of crashing guilt bore down at her, and Estelle didn't even realise Momo had noticed she had ceased colouring. The student was watching her with worried eyes as Estelle stared down at the paper with a concentrated expression, her pursed lips and anxious eyes showing a hidden depth that those around didn't get to see as often.

"What is it?"

"I don't know why I'm focusing on something so childish. I will stop now," Estelle voiced matter-of-factly before closing her book.

"No, no! You don't have to! It's okay to like stuff like this!"

"Huh. Really?"

"Of course! There's nothing strange about it. There's no age to colouring," Momo added sweetly.

"Oh. Well, thank you," Estelle answered, seeming to come back to herself. A sudden thought in her mind caused her to perk up, "Oh! By the way, what's a date?"

"Huh!?" Momo returned in astonishment, halting the scribbling to stare at the female with broadened eyes. "Why are you asking?"

"Someone had mentioned it, but I had no idea what that meant. I only just remembered now."

"Oh, a date is a more modern term for courting? So when two people want to get to know each other romantically, they go on an outing. Or when they're official like boyfriend and girlfriend, they're just spending time together."

"Oh," Estelle replied, still processing the term in her brain.

Looking back at it now, would her and Bakugo's outings be classed as a date? Then again, he said that it wasn't one, so that mustn't be it. But Estelle could not help the internal squeeze her body was experiencing right now; it was strange.

Why did the thought make her all types of strange emotions? It was like a whirlwind of everything that it became impossible to comprehend. Still, it was frustrating for the girl because there was no way she was experiencing anything else for the blonde beside a platonic relationship. She had to stop herself from whacking her face to snap out of it, not wanting to scare the teen sitting across from her. Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Estelle tried everything she could to get rid of the heat in her body.

The red flush was evident to Momo as she scanned her. Eyeing Estelle bite her lip as her fingers twiddled around the pencil, she had an idea of what was causing the turmoil inside her. Not wanting to spook her, Momo softly asked, "Is this about Bakugo?"

"Huh!" Estelle startled before shaking her head too quickly that it didn't seem truthful, "No! It's just a strange concept, is all."

Flinching when Momo's hand landed back on hers, Estelle gazed into her eyes only to find empathy. "I know it's all new to you. But, it's okay to like someone romantically."

"I am a warrior; romance isn't even in my vocabulary."

"It is now, so there's no reason to shut it out."

"I can think of plenty."

"Maybe so, but you deserve happiness. Even if it's not within this world, you do."

"Thank you, Momo."

"Hello?"

"Hey, Alien princess! It's me, your favourite bird!"

Estelle instantly hung up the phone, a sickly feeling in her stomach from his cheesy and horrible fucking answer. A few moments later, the device in her hand buzzed once again.

"No fair! That was mean!"

"What do you want?"

"Do you mind coming out to meet me? I have someone I want you to meet."

"Hm? Give me a location."

Estelle remained besides Hawks as they trailed on the outskirts of the woods. The hero was rambling away as Estelle listened on, confusion in her bones as she followed along. Why was she here?

Cutting him off, Estelle butted into his random conversation about an old lady he had saved earlier in the day. "I don't really care how attractive she was for an older female; why am I here?"

Getting a little more serious, Hawks finally began to explain. "I was with Dabi the other day, and we bumped into Nyx. The league is quite uneasy with him around; it's quite obvious they want nothing to do with him. But, something struck me when he was talking. He spoke about some sort of base, and being the curious cracker I am, I trailed him from a distance."

"That was dangerous."

"Eh, it's part of the job. I couldn't get close enough without being detected, but what I found was even more strange."

"Go on."

"He had dark spirits around him, which wasn't odd considering all of your reports I've read."

"Nosy."

"Excuse me! I was just being prepared, considering I'd have to bump into the guy during my super-secret spy work!"

"Hmpt."

"...Anyways, it wasn't only dark spirits. But, light ones."

Halting from shock, Estelle widened her eyes as she snapped her head back to the serious hero. Her tone demonstrated disbelief as she prodded further, "You're not kidding?"

"No. But the light spirits definitely weren't there out of their own volition. Some were caged up, and others were following orders. It was like they were enslaved."

Furrowing her brows in thought, it immediately clicked for Estelle. "I met some ghouls a while back who had informed me of a dark spirit wreaking havoc in the spirit villages. I assumed they were collateral damage, but he's using them."

"Any idea why?"

"Light and dark spirits are opposites, and they both have abilities that the other side does not have. He is likely using them for their gifts, but the scope is too big to know what for."

"Right. When I was leaving, I found someone else in the area. I spoke to them for a bit, and they mentioned your name. We should be near the clearing now."

Picking up the pace with anticipation, Estelle and Hawks trudged forwards as they entered the meadow. Her eyes broadened at the spirit that stood outside of a tent. Halting from disbelief, Estelle rushed forward to meet the girl in the middle.

"Iris?" A bewildered Estelle uttered, her mouth slightly open from the curveball life had just thrown at her.

The female who stood in the clearing was tiny, like a child. She looked like an average human kid; the only feature setting her apart was the shimmering and almost invisible pointed wings behind her. The light spirit gave no response as she lifted her hand to her chest with four fingers, the thumb tucked in behind her palm. Standing tall, she finally vocalised.

"General."

"At ease," Estelle grunted, hating that the female was using formalities. Estelle's shoulders relaxed once Iri's stance returned to normal, and a wide grin appeared on her face.

"General! Oh, my gods! Look at you! Beautiful as ever! I missed you!"

"You haven't changed. Give me a report."

"Not much to say! Crazy spirit has been attacking villages for ages, and then light spirits have started disappearing suddenly! A troop had been looking into it, and I joined them! But the spirit noticed us and managed to drag me along! The troop followed, so I would assume that they would be able to find me!"

"Do you know where the bridge is? The point he had dragged you through?"

"No, general! I only know it was up high!"

"Great," Estelle glowered, knowing nothing was ever easy in her life.

"Where are we?!"

"In a different world. I have a job for you, lieutenant."

"Sure!"

"Stay here; keep an eye out for more light spirits. Build camp, and try to watch Nyx."

"Roger, General! But, I also have questions!"

"Of course you do," Estelle sighed, knowing she would be there for a while with the overly-curious spirit.

"Look at the three of us! Winged gods and goddesses! We should start a club!" Hawks jumped in, waving his wings about like a five-year-old.

"Totally! What's a club?" Iris cheered enthusiastically.

"Shut up, Hawks."

"You wound me, General Alien Princess!"

"I will throttle you."