Chapter 74

"I wanna die," he grumbled, his voice somewhat muffled by his desk as he draped his body over it.

"But Kazuki, think of the thirsty MILFs!" Minoru exclaimed, deciding it was a good moment to tease him. Asshole used any chance he got to get the joke in. "Whatever will they do without their Monster Daddy?!" Why was he friends with him again?

"Told you it wasn't a good idea to stay up for the event," Toru commented mercilessly.

"I got the extra currency though," he replied, pushing himself up and giving both of them a smug look. He knew they were envious, after all. That was the reason they were both being little shits.

"Oh, shut up," his invisible friend mumbled under her breath and he was pretty sure she looked away. "You are gonna be smug about it forever, aren't you?"

"Or until I get bored," he answered, leaning back and keeping his grin on his face, if tiredly. Sure, he felt like just dropping on his desk and sleeping through classes, but that was a bit of a no-no. It might have been a bit of a miscalculation to stay up so late… but oh well, classes that day weren't even hero related, for the most part. He'd just have to make sure he was properly awake for the ones that were.

"So glad I don't play," Momo commented, looking between them, unimpressed.

"I might have to try it, if it's that good," Shoto said, for his part, looking rather curious.

"I mean, there's no need to go overboard, honestly," Kazuki said with a shrug. "Only reason I stayed up was because it'd already gotten late before I realized so I figured a little more wouldn't hurt," he explained, taking a deep breath in and letting it out wearily. "It was not a good decision."

"Evidently," Momo said, disappointment clear in her expression. She was really letting him have it, it seemed. Didn't she realize that he was already suffering for his mistakes? What more did she want from him? "Did you at least get the project for art class done?"

"Why do you think I was up late?" he asked with a tired, amused and also a little guilty smile.

"But you are good in art class," Momo pointed out, confused.

"I'm good when I can apply music. Everything else…" he trailed off then, waving his hand vaguely.

"I get you," Kyoka agreed with a nod. "And same, by the way. I almost wish I played that game. At least it'd have make the late night more worth it."

"Doing your homework should be more than enough to be worth it," Momo said, even more unimpressed than before.

"It's art class," Toru commented, even though she wasn't even one of those being reprimanded. "Don't look at me like that. Of all classes? Art's the one I don't think anyone cares about," she added defensively.

"I don't know, Midoriya's never bored in art class when we have to draw," Kazuki commented, making all of them turn to see the aforementioned boy scribbling something in one of his infamous notebooks. "No surprises there," he added, drawing nods from everyone. "We doing anything today, by the way?"

"You mean you aren't going straight to bed?" Kyoka asked with a half-smile and a raised eyebrow.

"That's what art class is-" Kazuki was interrupted by a sharp slap to the back of his head. "-for," he finished, his expression unchanged and his tone flat.

Momo huffed while everyone snickered.

"Now you know how it feels," Minoru added, for good measure.

"Anyway, if you guys want, we can go to my place and do whatever for a bit," Kazuki kept on talking. He felt more awake if he was doing something, he supposed. He wanted to try and get it together before classes started. Aizawa wouldn't appreciate him being half-asleep, he figured.

"Works for me," Minoru readily agreed with a shrug.

"I'll have to check with my sister, sorry," Shoto said. They were both bros like that, they answered almost instantly one way or another. The girls were more likely to take their time and think it over. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but Kazuki appreciated the quick answers, that was all.

"I should be able to go," Kyoka commented, more unsure after mulling it over, expectedly. She usually had to check with her parents to see if they needed help at home or with the store, after all. Toru and Momo replied more or less the same, if for different reasons.

And that was that, except… Kazuki paused and let his head drop back thoughtfully.

"Kazuki?" Kyoka asked, but he didn't answer her. Instead, he sighed, let his head and shoulders drop and then moved to stand up. His friends were kind of confused, he knew, but it'd clear up soon enough.

So, he pulled his emotions once again, the sharp focus of his mind that was brought with a certain combination. He was starting to ponder on the idea of practicing just that. It'd been a great help at several points in his life, after all, the latest of which had been the interview and it had gone well. Maybe it was worth working on, to have a set of emotions that helped instead of making things worse.

At the moment though, he had other things in mind.

"Mina!" he called, plastering his best smile on his face as he approached the aforementioned pink-skinned girl and her friend group. His voice seemed to catch her off guard, making her jump and all. "Sorry for cutting in, guys," he said as he reached them. "Just wanted to tell you that we are going to hang out at my place, if you wanna come along, same for you, Kirishima," he offered. He'd have offered the others but… He wasn't really friends with them. They didn't seem too offended about being left out, thankfully.

"Oh, um er… sure?" she replied, evidently trying to catch up with what's going on.

"You don't sound very sure," he commented, his grin turning a little teasing.

"Right, sorry. Yes. I'm free," she replied this time, more confidently.

"I can't, sorry. Maybe another time?" Kirishima answered, for his part, sounding and feeling genuinely apologetic about that. He just waved it off though.

"No worries. Next time," he said with a nod.

And with that, Kazuki had done his part for his friendship with Mina and Kirishima, just like she had hers. Now they'd need to see how things went but… Well, he was pretty happy that she wanted to actually try. The least he could do was meet her halfway.

[}-o-{]

"That meeting was so long," he all but whined.

"It was the usual meeting though," Itsuka commented, confused as they walked through the halls of U.A.

"Don't mind him," Momo told her primly. "He's just suffering from the consequences of his own actions."

"Oh…kay?" the red-head replied, evidently confused. Kazuki pondered the merits of explaining or just continuing to drag his feet miserably. He'd tested his "ideal emotion mix" idea through the day and he'd had some success, but it was a little complicated to strike the right balance at times. Maybe it was because he was tired, or maybe it was for some other reason. Extended periods of time certainly weren't easy though, but that was sort of expected.

In the end, he decided to go for the simpler half-truth.

"I stayed up too late last night, art project," he explained, drawing an understanding ah from the girl.

"And a game event, apparently," Momo said, ratting him out without a hint of guilt or shame. She was so mean that day, honestly. Had Kazuki annoyed her in some way or was she just that angry at him for being irresponsible?

"Snitches get stitches, you know?" he asked, getting a roll of the girl's eyes.

"I guess that makes sense," Itsuka commented from the side, not quite understanding, by the looks of it. She didn't seem to take that badly though. "So, you doing anything after training?" she asked, seemingly deciding that it was better to change subject and call it a day. He honestly agreed with that, really.

He almost turned to look at Momo when her emotions spiked, but he let her be. He was pretty sure that she was mad that others weren't scolding him as much as her. Considering Itsuka was a class president too, maybe Momo had thought she'd take her side.

Or maybe it was because she'd confirmed she couldn't hang out after class. It sucked, but it was what it was. Not everyone had as much free time and as little responsibilities as he did.

The "benefits" of having no family, he thought wryly.

"We're gonna hang out at my place, Minoru, Kyoka, Mina and I. So far, that is," he answered with a slight smile. He might take a nap at one of the training facility's benches, with how he was going. Either that, or get himself an energy drink or a coffee. Not that those helped much, but still. "You can come if you want."

"You sure?" Itsuka asked, her expression showing her doubts if not as much as her emotions did. "I don't know about that. I think I might be a bit out of place there."

"It's my place and I'm inviting you," he answered with a shrug. "I'm not gonna force you, but I doubt you'll have much of a problem. Mina's basically new in the group," he explained further. It wasn't like he didn't understand where she was coming from. He'd come across similar problems before, like with Togeike.

He hadn't quite experienced that before yet, but he wasn't looking forward to it. It felt like it sucked, just from what he got second-hand. At least he'd be there to try and smooth things over if they did have problems. With any luck though, things would go well.

'Look at me, being all positive and shit,' he thought wryly. 'Uwabami and Inui would be so proud.'

"Just think it over. I'm sure you have to check if you can. So, just call or send a message if you decide to come, yeah?" he offered, giving her an out if she really didn't want to go. He'd rather have more friends around and all, but he didn't want to make them uncomfortable or anything.

"Right, thank you for inviting anyway," Itsuka said, feeling a little nervous but the smile on her face seemed genuine enough for Kazuki. "I appreciate it. I'll see if I can go."

"Hope you can," he told her with a grin of his own. "So, anything you two are training on?" he asked, noticing that Momo's emotions were getting worse. Not that he blamed her. She'd basically been out of the conversation, since she wasn't going to his place after school and that was basically that.

"I have some items that I want to get used to creating, so I'll be practicing that," the rich girl answered, her negativity lessening now that she wasn't being excluded. "Other than that, training as usual."

"Just training as usual for me," was Itsuka's response, grinning. "Not much new I can try out with my Quirk, but I try to push a little in different directions when I can come up with something," she added, a little bitterly even if it didn't show neither on her expression nor her voice. Kazuki knew though, but he refrained from pointing that out. Maybe he could try to come up with something for her to try out.

"I'm still thinking over some new Grimm, but for now it's just regular training. I want to increase the number I can make and my speed," he explained, for his part. Sure, having more types of Grimm to call upon was great and all, but he felt that quantity could be a quality of its own. He had good variety at the moment, so maybe he could try to focus on being able to summon more of those.

That way, he might be able to more efficiently make use of the different Grimm he had at his disposal.

Or so he felt, at least.

"We could spar again," Itsuka commented and he grimaced. Evidently, she'd seen that coming, because she was entirely too amused. "You are not scared, are you?"

"You just really enjoy kicking my ass, don't you?"

"Language," Momo chided him instantly and he rolled his eyes tiredly.

"I know, I know."

[}-o-{]

"So, this is the famous aquarium I heard so much about, huh?" Itsuka said from beside Mina, both girls looking through the front glass of his fish tank. It made Kazuki sort of nervous, if he were honest. He liked his aquarium alright, but he knew it wasn't what one would expect when hearing about it.

There were few actual fish to see and those that were there would often hide behind or in between rocks and pieces of wood. It made for a more natural look, but when people heard "fish tank" or "aquarium" they expected to be able to see the actual fish. They expected a display, not a more natural-ish habitat.

"It's not all that," he mumbled, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck.

"It's actually beautiful," Mina told him, sounding… kind of strange. She was usually very energetic, sort of like Toru. At that moment, she almost sounded… in awe. But that couldn't be, right? "And it's actually kind of fun to look for where they are all hiding," she added, a grin spreading on her face. That was more what he'd expected.

"Right?" Itsuka readily agreed.

It seemed that the two "outsiders" were settling in well. Maybe he'd been right and having two instead of only one had helped smooth things over. He was pretty sure that without Mina or Itsuka, the other girl would have been a little more out of place.

"Glad you like it," he replied, beaming. He really was. He knew his hobbies weren't what one would call normal, so it was nice to see that they didn't think it was weird or anything. "So, what do you guys want to do? I have some games and cards. I can make some snacks too, if you are feeling hungry."

"Please and thank you," Minoru told him from where he sat at the table with him and Kyoka. "I'm starving."

"When are you not?" Kyoka asked with a smirk that soon shifted into something softer. "How's that diet going?"

"Well, I think. Too early to tell, but Recovery Girl says it's going well," the boy said casually with a shrug. Kazuki could tell that he was hiding plenty of nerves and doubts though, together with the smallest hint of desperation. Evidently, he really wanted it all to work out and be able to grow a little taller. Not that he didn't get it. He understood perfectly well that wish to be more normal, to stand out less.

"Right, anything I should know for what to prepare?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He'd heard some things so far, but he hadn't really properly asked. Had never really had a reason to, he supposed. Just like Kazuki himself hadn't really gone into detail about his own new diet with his friends… except Itsuka, since she'd been there.

"Eh, whatever works. Don't wanna be picky," Minoru commented, squirming on his seat a little. Evidently, he didn't want to be a bother and that was reflected on his… everything.

"Hey, you have to take care of yourself, man. Just tell me already," Kazuki replied, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe you can tell everyone? That way if we invite you for dinner or something we can keep that in mind," Kyoka pointed out and Kazuki tilted his head.

"I should do that, too, actually," he mused out loud, reaching for his phone. "I'll send my diet to the group, yeah?"

"Speaking of, who should I even go to for one for me?" Kyoka asked, looking between them. "Recovery Girl?"

"Maybe Lunch Rush? I imagine he knows more than just how to prepare good meals. The school menu is pretty great," Kazuki answered with a shrug. "You can check about that with Inui. He is the student counselor."

"I dunno, sometimes he sounds more like a therapist," Kyuoka commented with a wry smile, but he could tell she didn't mean anything by that. Especially because there was a small pang of guilt in her emotions, as if she realized that maybe it wasn't a good thing to say.

"He can be that too, but he's not only that," he replied simply. "So, Minoru, come on."

"Ugh, fine," his vertically challenged friend grumbled, picking up his own phone and fiddling with it until he sent his diet to the group much like Kazuki himself did.

"Neat. I think I have some of this stuff around," he mumbled, turning and walking towards the kitchen. That is, before a yawn made him pause. "Anyone want coffee? I'm gonna make myself some."

"I'll take you up on that," Kyoka answered.

"I could drink some," Itsuka called from where she continued looking at his aquarium with Mina.

"You want anything yourselves? Minoru, Mina?"

"Some juice would be fine."

"Same."

"Ok then," he said, cracking his neck and moving to the kitchen to get started. It'd been a long-ish day, but he'd gotten through it and things were pretty calm. His session with Inui had gone well and he was starting to feel more… calm.

Not quite good. He was still dealing with bouts of paranoia, but he was following Inui's advice to take a moment and calm down. That had been the actual reason he stayed up late, really. He just hadn't been able to get his mind to shut the fuck up. So, he'd gotten back up, done some homework, listened to music and watched his plants, his fish tank and his photos with his friends.

It had been a long night, but he felt a little better through the day.

Still though, he hoped he'd find healthier ways to deal with it, because he rather doubted the teachers would be patient with him for long. He was pretty sure Snipe had wanted to nail him with a piece of chalk at one point when he'd been dozing off in his class. On the other hand, Midnight had been pretty chill.

He couldn't really confirm it, but he thought she might have used her Quirk on him just to get it over with.

If she had, then he was grateful. That nap had been just what he needed.

'Right, food,' he told himself, focusing back on the present. Maybe spending some time with friends would make the night easier. He hoped that'd be the case.

[}-o-{]

"So, how are things going?" he heard, his phone pressed against his ear. "Well, I hope. I've kept an eye on things and they look that way to me, in case you were wondering."

"Yea, no complaints here," he replied, laying on his bed and looking up at the ceiling. His friends had left some time ago and he'd been just playing games. Then the call had happened and there he was. "I'm actually kind of happy."

"Kind of?" she asked and he smiled a weak smile.

"I dunno. It's still awkward for me," he tried to explain, probably doing a terrible job at it. She didn't point that out though, thankfully. "I'm glad you called, by the way. I thought we might talk a lot less after the internship was over and all."

"As if you could get rid of me that easily," Maeda told him, but her words were soft. "I thought it might be a bit of a bother, to call so much, but you seemed to like that."

"I do," he confirmed without an ounce of shame. "It's weird, to have people that care. I appreciate any and all chances to have that."

"... Glad to hear that," she said, doing a terrible job at disguising her pity.

"How are things over there? Everything ok?" he asked, because he'd checked and… "I saw that you were having some trouble."

"No trouble at all," she waved off instantly. "Some people got pissy, but I'm dealing with them. If they don't like my choices, they can just be on their way. Don't worry your handsome little head, Kazuki. I've got this. It's really no trouble at all."

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

"Positive," she told him and he wished she were there in person so that he'd be able to read her emotions to check. Alas, he'd have to take her word for it. "On a somewhat related note, I thought this'd be a good moment to tell you why I was asking for all those videos and pictures," she continued and he perked up a little.

It'd been a little odd, that she'd asked for pictures and videos of his plants, his aquarium, his apartment in general and so on. He trusted her though, but that didn't stop him from being curious. It seemed like he'd finally get some answers, thankfully.

"So, how do you feel about delving into social media?" she asked and he immediately winced.

"... Do I have to?" he asked, feeling like a child saying he didn't want to eat his veggies.

"You don't have to, of course," she told him, but he was far from reassured. He knew, after all, that- "But it'd certainly help." -that was coming. Because of course it was.

To that, he groaned. He really didn't want to. Social media sounded like literal hell to him, especially for him. God knew he expected people would come at him with pitchforks and torches if he ever stepped into that particular world. What good could Maeda possibly expect to come from that?

"... I'm listening," he said, regardless of what he thought. Because he was just a first year student. What did he know? Uwabami had done wonders for his situation, to the point that he could almost forget said situation existed. For the moment, that is, but he was hopeful it could last at least a little. He had to believe she knew what she was doing.

"So, what I'm thinking is that you could let people see another side of you. They know what you did, they've heard of you, but they've seen very little of Kazuki Endo as a hero-in-training and as a person. Especially as a person," Maeda explained patiently and he listened, much as he didn't want to. "You could let them see more of those latter facts. What you do when you aren't in front of a camera with reporters asking questions. What you do at school and training. What you do in your free time."

"I mean, I hear you… but would that be worth the mess that'll come my way? Because you can't tell me there won't be backlash from this," he replied. He didn't want to doubt her, he really didn't, but he wanted to know that she'd thought of everything. He wanted… reassurances.

"I believe it would, especially if you do it right, which is kind of the main worry here, but I can help you there," she told him, but that didn't really convince him much. "Think of it like ads, just different. Ads put a product in people's minds, so when they need to choose, they'll think about that and not the other options. This is similar, except that we'll be putting your good or normal side in people's heads, instead of the Rampage and the controversy."

"I understand that," Kazuki said with a hesitant nod. "But still. I'm barely recovering from this thing with the press. I don't know if I can deal with this particular can of worms right now."

"You would definitely face the ugly side of society head on," Maeda told him bluntly, but she continued before he could get a word in. "But there's no need for you to actually deal with it yourself."

"I'm… not sure I'm following," he mumbled, frowning.

"I'm not going to throw you to the wolves, Kazuki. Have some faith," she told him, sounding pretty confident. He decided to try and follow that confidence… at least for the moment. "Here's what I think you can do…"

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Well, a pretty chill chapter all things considered, even with that last part being… I hesitate to call that plot-ish, actually. Not sure how to look at it. Either way, Kazuki had a fairly good – if sleepy – day and had a good time.

I'm sure this isn't the prelude to bad things.

It'll be fine, guys. Promise.

Also, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you use social media? The only thing I use is Discord, if it counts. Other than that, closest thing to it is me checking FFN's twitter account whenever the site has issues. Which, by the way, has been pretty active as of late. Almost makes me think they are actually starting to take care of the site.

See you.