"Hmmm..."
"Yo, Nejire." Haya prodded once she finished with a sip of a strawberry smoothie. The two girls were sitting out on the patio of a smoothie location, the electric wielding female curious towards something that has been re-occurring several times since they've been out and about in the city. "You okay over there? Head's been stuck in the clouds for who knows how many times today."
"Hrmmm, yeah it's nothing bad." Hado replied and plopped her head onto her leaning right palm. She wore a simple light purple hoodie over her U.A shirt, still keeping the green skirt on since she found it to be cozy and comfortable. "Just been thinking about something is all, can't seem to get it out of my head."
"Lemme guess, did cowlick accidentally phase through Amajiki's floor again and show up in your room butt naked?"
"Noooooo, silly. That can't happen anymore because he lost his Quirk remember?"
"Oh, shit I forgot about that. I thought he would be taking it a lot harder but dude seems like he's unphased by it. I would be crying out so many tears that the Niagara Falls would look like a simple cup of water."
Hado giggled and reached for a small white foam cup containing a mango and pineapple smoothie, sipping from a red straw then placing the beverage down onto the red table. "Well I wouldn't expect anything less from someone like Mirio. It's his attitude and personality that make him easy to get along with after all, but no I'm not thinking about him. I'm actually thinking about Midoriya."
"The walking bedhead?" Haya asked. "What's got you tied up over him?"
"I'm so curious as to why he would lie to me and say that he didn't vote when he was the first one to vote. You know I actually went to one of my friends who was in charge of counting the votes and Mirio was right. Midoriya was the very first person to vote for me, but, why wouldn't he tell me that? I wouldn't make fun of him for it or embarrass him because of it."
"Well you say that now but then again you have to think about HIS state of mind at the time. Wouldn't you think it's a little embarrassing if you told a girl that you were THE first person to vote for her? And considering how known you are throughout U.A I doubt he wouldn't find it hard to get the jitters. Why don't you ask him?"
"I would but then he'd probably ask how I found out that he voted for me, then he might end up getting upset at Mirio for telling the truth. I don't wanna cause any trouble for anybody. Midoriya seems like a really nice guy though so maybe he has a good reason for lying to me, or, maybe he doesn't. I-I don't know I'm probably overthinking this."
"Probably." Haya shrugged. "Or maybe you do have a reason to be thinking about it. I've never spoken to him outside of that one time when we were all in the green room but he doesn't seem to be the kind of guy to have any sort of bad juju inside of him. His cheeks are too chubby and a Rottweiler puppy is more intimidating looking than he is."
"I like puppies." Hado chimed. "Puppies are cute and they're chubby. Chubby means extra floof for me to play with."
"Hmph, floof. Sure Nejire whatever you say, and if you're so curious as to why he lied can't you ask those two girls you used to be sidekicks with? They're in his class after all and I'm sure maybe they'd be able to give you some thought."
"Eh I could but I don't wanna bother anybody, Uraraka and Asui probably have stuff to do anyways so I'd more than likely just be a bother. Is okay doe. I'll worry about it later. You don't think he's scared of me right?"
"Oh-PBBBBTTT HAHAha! Whoo! That's a good joke Nejire I'll give you props for that one. Ohhhhh man. Scared of you."
"What? I think I can be pretty scary at times."
"Yeah and Midnight isn't the definition of what it means to be sexy."
"Midnight's pretty."
"Not the point of what I said but okay. Look, you're better off not thinking about this for now. Next time you see him just ask him up front, I'm sure he'll give you an honest answer if you ask for it. And if he has something to hide then we'll beat the crap out of him until he gives it up. Dibs on the potato sack and baseball bat."
"Noooo, we're not gonna kidnap him Yuyu that's mean." Hado chuckled. "Stuff like that is scary, and traumatizing. I dunno maybe it's just me wanting to have a real conversation with him or something. Mirio always says that Midoriya's a friendly person to get along with plus I REEEEALLY wanna know what's going on with that Quirk. I mean have you seen the level of progress he's made so far this year?"
"Mm, he went from crunching his own bones like they were candy bars to not crunching his bones anymore so that's already a positive." Haya stated. "I haven't seen what kind of new stuff he could do for myself but hey, if what they say is true about him managing to take down a super strong mafia boss? Then yeah, dude's got some wicked power. Maybe if he's not busy when we get back to campus you can ask him some questions while you have the chance."
"Hmm, okie-dokie! You wanna come with me?"
"No but I am gonna make sure that you at least make it to his dorm building and remember why you went there in the first place."
-
Strolling along the concrete pathways of U.A, Togata hummed to himself while carrying a small plastic bag in his right hand containing all kinds of snacks. Unfortunately Eri would be occupied with something for the entirety of the day which meant he had one less thing to help pass the time, but nonetheless he wasn't one to pass up on any alone time. He was really putting aside that one movie a friend of his had told him about and since he has an open schedule for the remaining half what better way than to kick back and enjoy his movie. Though, much like his periwinkle friend Togata had been wondering about something all day.
Midoriya. Why did he lie about the vote?
The blonde scrunched his lips and tried to think back to days prior that may give him the answer he's looking for. He doesn't remember Midoriya saying anything that would spark any interest towards Hado and Togata doesn't remember the first year giving any looks or gestures suggesting he had eyes for the girl. So unless this was some kind of secret crush thing that Midoriya had going on the blonde had no idea what other reason there may be for lying. There was no way he could've been scared of Hado, could he? Togata can speak from experience that it takes quite a lot in order to make the girl irritated or angry, but when that anger does come out everybody's running for shelter. Thank Kami for his Permeation.
On his journey back to the 3-B dorm building Togata spotted an individual wearing the track uniform sitting by themselves on a bench way off in the distance, their back facing towards him and somewhat hunched over. It didn't take a genius to know who that set of green hair belonged to as he stretched across a smile on his face and began to jog towards the person.
Inhaling through the nose and out through his mouth, Midoriya sat in the butterfly pose on the bench, using his elbows to push his legs further apart and get a good stretch. The weather outside was perfect for a casual jog like the one he's about to go on right now and what with all of his assignments done for the day he can flop onto his bed after a shower. But that's for later, for now he'll enjoy this time to himself with nothing but the lowering sun off in the horizon.
The last groupings of birds still flying about.
The small breeze sifting through his hair.
The face of Togata looking up at him from beneath the bench.
The warm feeling in his legs as he further presses down with his elbows.
How limbered his body will feel and the blood rushing through him once he takes off on the jog.
The...
....
...now wait a minute.
His brain pausing and all central processing grinding to a halt Midoriya had to slowly look down to the ground to make sure he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating. Once his gaze fell onto the face of a smiling blonde he blinked twice and blinked hard, seeing the smiling face blink back at him with eyebrows jumping up. "Hi!"
"Uh, Togata-senpai? What are you doing?"
"Just slithering my way over here to see what you're up to." The third year slithered out from underneath the bench much like a snake would and hopped onto his feet in front of the first year. "Hey buddy!"
"Hello. Is there something you need from me?"
"Nah, I was just heading back to my dorm building when I saw you over here. I thought you were bummed out so I thought of doing like a funny skit or something but I guess you're not sad like I thought you were."
"Oh, no. I was just stretching out before I go on a jog. Sorry if it looked like I was sad from a distance."
"Well as long as you're not crying or down in the dumps then it's all good. Oh by the way, is it alright if I talk to you really quickly?"
"Yeah sure."
"Sooo, I heard you had a chance to speak with Nejire yesterday."
"Hado?" Midoriya asked. "Y-Yeah I did she came with me to the green room because she forgot her phone, I think. I can't remember why she went but yeah I spoke to her. Why?"
"Tell her you were the first one to vote for her?"
A light tint of pink dusted over the top of the first year's cheeks as he looked down in embarrassment. "I-I didn't, actually. I told her I didn't vote."
"What? Why?"
"I uh...I-I got, scared."
"Scared?! Of Nejire?! Dude she's like the sweetest person in this school how could you be scared of her?"
Midoriya remained silent for the question, his eyes frantically looking over every centimeter of space in front of him while retaining the coloring on his cheeks. Togata squinted in observation and slowly began to formulate the speculation that perhaps the boy wasn't scared of Hado through fright or horror. Maybe he was scared of her through a different means of not telling the truth. The blush on his face? The fidgeting in his seat and the look of wanting to disappear off the Earth? Once the puzzle had been formed in his mind his open mouth quickly turned into a large smile.
"Waiiiiit a minute...WAIIIIIT A MINUTE."
"Togata-senpai-"
"Hoh! I know what's going on!"
"SENPAI WAIT-"
"YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HER DON'T YOU?!"
"SHHHH! P-PLEASE!"
Togata waddled over to the bench and instantly sat down beside Midoriya with a large grin. "So am I right or am I right?"
Midoriya sighed and looked around at their surroundings wanting to see if anybody was near. Thankfully, there wasn't. But even with the absence of any human life around he still spoke in a quiet voice to preserve privacy. "I don't...I don't have a crush, per say. I-It's more so just a...a liking, to her."
"Hey heyyyyy there's nothing to be embarrassed about that, and if you're scared that I might spill this to her don't worry. I wouldn't wanna muck up anything that might take place, so you ain't gotta worry about me. Wow, Nejire huh? That's a surprise since you never said anything about her."
"I-It's not something that I dwell on that much but, yeah. Yeah I have a liking to her I mean who wouldn't y-you know? She's pretty and nice and upbeat along with being positive. Her assertiveness kinda reminds me of a friend of mine in the Support Department but that's probably because she's curious about a lot of stuff."
"So when did this happen?"
"When you three first walked into my classroom. I-I recognized who you were to be the weird face that showed up when I was taking out the trash, but then, after you walked in was Hado. And, that's kinda where it started. I've never really looked at girls before mainly because I just wanna focus on being the best hero that I can be but something about Hado caught my eye. I-I'm not saying all the other girls in school are ugly or unattractive of course since they're all pretty in their own way."
"I get what ya mean." Togata said. "So I guess Nejire's your type huh? Ya gonna try and take your chance? Huh, huh?"
Midoriya chuckled at the elbow nudges coming from his senior before sighing glumly. "No, I won't. Like I said this isn't a crush sort of thing that I have for her it's more so me noticing her when she's around. But, even if, and let's say if for now, even if this was a deeper thing I still wouldn't take my chances with her. She wouldn't like me."
"Never know till ya try, if you wanna try for it obviously. Personally I think Nejire would get along with you you're a cool guy, and with that Quirk of yours she's gonna have a field day."
"Mm, I don't know-"
"What was that about Nejire?"
"AHH!/Oh hey!" The two boys had different reactions to the voice of Haya intruding from behind them accompanied by the girl in question. Midoriya looked down to the ground out of embarrassment from screaming whilst Togata grinned over his right shoulder. "Hey Yuyu hey Nejire."
"Hello!" The Big 3 girl beamed. "Whatcha guys doing?"
"Hanging out. Haha get it?! Cause, cause my feet are hanging off the bench."
"Oh hahaha I haven't heard that one before." Haya stated blandly. "Real comedian over here."
"Thanks!"
"Anyways, reason why we came over here is because Nejire wants to talk to this not so giant beanstalk here. I'm just here to make sure she didn't forget."
"Wait-whuh?" Midoriya muttered and whipping around to face the girls. "M-Me?"
"Yeah you. Come on cowlick let's leave 'em alone."
"Huh?! Wait!"
"No problemo!" The blonde third year tried to roll off the side of the bench and flip into the air but instead made a fool of himself by faceplanting into the grass. He recovered with a hop and trotted away from the bench, but not before peeking back around and giving a thumbs up, a wink and several eyebrow raises towards Midoriya.
'WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!'
Midoriya watched as Togata high stepped off into the distance alongside Haya, leaving him and the one girl he didn't want to face alone in the open clearing. He exhaled and turned back around to see Hado smiling silently at him with her signature positive grin. It was a bit creepy knowing she just stared at him with her beady blue eyes but due to his secret emotions he can overlook the creepy factor and dub it as cute. "Uh, h-hello Senpai."
"Hiya." She chirped with a wave. "Sorry that we scared ya, guess we should've said something before showing up out of the blue. Whoops. Is it okay if I sit next to you?"
"I don't mind."
"Thank you. Say, if you don't mind me asking what were you two talking about? I heard my name being said."
"U-UH...w-we were talking about yesterday and how well you did on the Miss Con pageant! You were really good out there heh."
"Aw thanks! I still can't believe that it happened yesterday, geez I can already feel the excitement bubbling up inside me like it happened only minutes ago. That feeling is definitely something that I am not going to forget for a reeeeeeally long time. Speaking of the Miss Con event I wanted to ask you something."
'Oh great.'
"Sooooo, my friend was one of the people responsible for counting up the votes, and something popped up that I thought I should mention. Yesterday when we were heading to the green room you told me that you didn't vote but when they showed all the people who participated in the event the tolls on who voted for them, your name popped up for mine. As the very first one. Did somebody vote for you or what happened?"
Midoriya sighed and ran a hand from the front of his hair to the back. He doesn't know what's more embarrassing, the fact that he's about to admit he lied to her yesterday or admitting he was the very first person to vote for her name in the pageant. In their rights they were about the same depending on who was being asked, and lying didn't leave a good taste in his mouth. Even yesterday it made him feel a bit off in lying about the vote. Then again considering the mindset he has about the girl he didn't want to make himself look like an absolute creep.
Oh hey, did you know I was the very person to vote for you? Yeah I practically ran towards the voting booths to put my vote in just for you.
Creepy if somebody asked him for his opinion.
"No Hado-senpai. It wasn't a mistake." He admitted. "I-I lied to you yesterday when I said I didn't vote, I'm sorry."
"So, you were the first person to vote for me?" She asked, and he nodded. "Well, why didn't you tell me? I wasn't going to do anything with it if anything I would've thanked you for supporting me."
"I felt weird about it. I know that sounds silly to be a reason about lying for it but, I'm not lying this time. There's not really much else of an explanation that I can give for you."
"Oh, I see. Well in any case I just want you to know that I hope you don't feel embarrassed about it, it's your vote that helped me win the title in the end and I couldn't have done it without ya! It means a lot to me Midoriya so thank you."
"Yeah. Don't mention it."
"I know this is a really big shift in topics but how are you holding up after the Work Studies?"
"I'm doing good, so far at least." Midoriya replied. "It still hasn't settled with me that Sir Nighteye is gone, for some reason in the back of his mind I thought that since he worked with All Might he would he invulnerable or something. I-I don't know but I'm still going strong."
"That's what matters." Hado stated. "As long as you keep that head of yours up at all times we're gonna be A-Okay! Hey hey quick question. Before Sir Nighteye who did you study under during your internships? At the Sports Festival you were all breaking your arms and fingers and stuff but after that you didn't."
"My internship? Oh, uh maybe you remember him maybe you don't but he was there during the intelligence meeting when all of the agencies grouped together. Gran Torino? He sat next to Eraserhead."
"Gran Torino, Gran Torino..." Hado hummed with her right cheek pouting and eyebrows furrowed down as she tried to form a picture in her mind. No matter what face she made Midoriya couldn't help but think about how cute she always looked, her periwinkle hair with similarly shaded eyes made the color pop right off of her. After a moment to herself she snapped her fingers. "Oh wait a minute! That short guy with the yellow cape and boots?"
"Yeah, hmph. That's him."
"Wow! You know, I was actually surprised that somebody of his age showed up to the meeting but if Sir Nighteye himself invited Gran Torino then that must say a lot about him."
"You're right about that." The boy commented. "Gran Torino is a lot tougher than he looks and without him I wouldn't be where I am now. His help during the internships made me take a huge leap with my power and I wanna keep improving on it as time goes on. I won't always have Eri's Quirk to help me the way she did during the raid, so I need to keep training up my body to it's max output."
"Yeah I need my Quirk to be super DUUPER strong too." Hado mimicked an explosion above her head with fingers twiddling down towards the end of it. "Maybe, maybe if I can concentrate hard enough I can make an explosion? WA-POWW! Or, or BOOOOM! It's probably silly to think about but it's still fun to do it anyways."
Midoriya chuckled. "Well, your Quirk siphons off of your vitality right? M-Maybe if you can somehow figure out a way to amp the energy output of your Quirk it might be able to create explosive properties? Perhaps not thinking about it in terms of how much you release from your palms but thinking about it in terms of the voltage or the kinetic energy bouncing around. I-I don't know the full specifics about your Quirk though so maybe I'm wrong but you can always try some stuff out for yourself."
"Ryukyu's helped me out a lot with my Quirk and I can't wait for the Work Studies to resume so I can be alongside her again. It's gonna be a bit weird not being able to suit up and head to her office for a while but I'm sure I'll be able to find something that can keep me occupied until then. Ooh! I can start collecting lilies."
"Lilies? Like, like the flower?"
"Yeah! I love lilies, they're really pretty and there's so many colors that they can be picked from. Orange, white, pink and yellow, purple and white. I have a teeny flower pot on my balcony that has a nice bunch of white and pink lilies, reminds me of how pretty this world can be and keeps my mind off the bad stuff."
"Oh. That sounds nice. You're right about the absence of the Work Study program, those who were enrolled in it might have to find a temporary hobby or focus on their Quirks by themselves. I-I can't really say that I would miss it since I haven't had much time out on the field like you have Senpai but even with this one that I've gone through I know now what it's like to be a sidekick. The risks and the rewards, it's a lot to take in at first."
"You'll get used to it, you pretty much have to if you wanna go pro. But you have plenty of time to grow since you're a first year and by the time you graduate I bet you and all your other classmates are gonna be the next big hitters."
"Let's hope so."
"Hey, Midoriya?"
"Hmm?" The boy hummed. "Yeah?"
A breeze whisked across the campus of U.A, holding enough force to push several strands of hair into the girl's face. Hado brushed the hair behind her right ear and unknowingly strengthened Midoriya's taste for girls like her. A positive mindset, nice and caring to those around her, a pretty face that would make any smart guy day dream on a whim. It's already hard enough for him to keep still on the bench and not want to implode on his own feelings but for somebody like Hado he might just do it out of his own free will. That's if she'll even think about guys like him in the first place. He doubts it but, it never hurt a man to dream.
"I mean it when I say I hope you're not embarrassed about your vote." She smiled. "Thanks for supporting me."
"U-Uh, yeah...no problem."
"Well, I should be going. Looks like you were about to take off on a run before I showed up, sorry about that. Have a good night Midoriya."
Hado hopped off of the bench and started on her journey back towards her appropriate dorm building. Midoriya watched as the long waterfall of blue hair swayed back and forth with each step until it finally disappeared in the distance. Once he was clear of company he sighed and took several moments to himself in order to calm down. For a simple liking of her, this is taking a toll on his mind. But he knows that this emotional state of his will never bloom into something more, they'll always remain as a junior-senior duo. Nothing more than that unfortunately.
Ignoring the deep feeling in his stomach he slipped on a pair of earbuds and took off on his run. Trying his best to not think about any impossible futures.