As the second day of her internship came to an end Nejire couldn't help feeling pretty happy with herself.
She'd been able to hover over ten feet today! And if she managed to learn how to filter her energy more evenly all over to keep from flying off in the wrong direction again then she might be able to 'fly' for real.
The thought of which made her downright giddy because of how much energy it would use up.
If she was able to use it for long enough, then she might be able to read some books for fun again.
Flying would take a lot of her energy so if she was able to snag one of the longer patrol beats then she might be able to even sit down and read some of the longer books she had on her Wishlist.
Plus, she was also able to convince one of Ryukyu sidekicks to go out with her the day before and she found some materials to try and make something for Deku-Sensei.
Nejire didn't know what she would make for him yet, but she'd come up with something.
So, she allowed herself to have a bit more bounce in her step as she and Ryukyu were wrapping up their patrol for the day.
Maybe she'd had to re-review her current book Wishlist when she got back, it had been some time since she looked at the list.
Nejire might also try some more flying practice after patrol to let her read the next chapter of the book series her Obaachan let her borrow, she really wanted to finish that one before the turn of the century if she could help it.
The sound of her comms turning on broke her away from her thoughts.
"Hey this is FG, need some backup over by the good ramen place, the one with the otter mascot. Alpha Delta escalated. Have E.M.T.s waiting." Fatgum asked.
Nejire stiffened up her head whipping to the direction where the shop would be, Fatgum had taken a selfie at the shop with Jiki, and it was a fairly popular spot because of the mascot and wasn't more than a few miles away.
Not waiting for permission Nejire kicked off the ground and 'jumped' again to reach the nearest roof top, leaping from the rooftops towards the spot with the fastest possible path.
"Acknowledged FG, Ryu and Spark responding. ETA 1 minute and counting." Nejire answered right away already halfway there.
Well, she was, her mentor might take another minute or two to arrive on scene.
Nejire landed quietly on a building quick to scan the street below to get a better idea of what was going on.
She spotted a woman standing in the middle of the street, bright red hair glowing from quirk use with the ends pointed at the terrified little girl in her arms, Fatgum looked like he was trying to talk the woman down and Jiki was handling the crowd control as best he could with another sidekick.
Nejire examined the woman, her hysterics going in one ear and out the other, but Nejire could see an opening to grab the little girl since the woman was so focused on Fatgum.
She moved over to a building to be behind the woman and slightly to her right as quietly as she could manage and then took a deep breath, running her plan through her head before she crouched down readying herself to launch herself.
Then Nejire jumped, gilding through the air her body turning over so that she was upside down by the time she was over the woman, and just like she hoped the loud screech of her jump was enough to distract the woman.
Once the woman started to look up Nejire was thankfully at the right angle she released another concentrated mass of energy, launching her directly at the woman with another screech from her tearing through the air and Nejire didn't hesitate to kick her in the face.
Not with too much force mind you, just enough to knock loose a few teeth but more importantly loosen her grip on the girl and also make the glow to her hair dissipate.
Nejire grabbed the girl in a hug and jumped with a burst of energy, using the woman as a springboard to send her and the girl back into the air, doing a flip mid-air before ending up back on the ground.
Taking a moment she looked around, seeing she was back by Jiki Nejire checked the little girl was alright, and while dizzy the girl seemed alright to be handed off to Jiki while she backed up Fatgum.
"Sorry for the scare there kiddo, I'm gonna go help Gum-San over there, think you can stay with my friend Sunny here for a moment or two?" Nejire softly asked the girl as she handed her over to Jiki.
"Y-yes?" the girl mumbled not really following what had happened with how fast everything was going.
Nejire though took the uncertain answer and ran with it, jumping back in the action, literally so as she 'flew' over Fatgum in the nick of time to release the spiral of energy her quirk was named for at the enraged woman's own energy blasts.
There wasn't much of a battle though as Ryukyu just had to put her hand on the woman while still in her dragon form to pin the woman and she was able to put Fatgum's handcuffs on the woman.
Quirk deactivated she was easy to restrain so Nejire turned her attention back to Jiki and the little girl.
Said little girl was starting up at her with awestruck eyes.
"Heya you! You, okay? That must have been-" Nejire tried to ask the girl, but the girl interrupted her.
"You have a quirk like me?" the girl questioned making Nejire freeze, heart skipping a beat.
Then before she could ask for clarity the girl's long straight black hair started to glow bright yellow and curled up, floating little spirals filled with some type of energy.
Nejire was flooded with relief, and she masked her exhale with a string of delighted bubbly laughter as she clapped for the girl.
"We do! That's so cool what you just did with your hair, and so pretty too!" Nejire praised "Can you do anything else with your hair or just make it soft and pretty like this?" she asked in order to distract the little girl as she and Jiki moved to the ambulance that had arrived.
She was able to keep the girl's attention on her as she was checked over by one of the E. , Jiki helping by making her some flowers to braid into the girl's hair.
Though not for too long after both of their mentors came over to them and they were pulled away from the ambulance to talk.
"That was some good work there Sparkler!" Fatgum praised beaming at her.
"It was, however, you shouldn't have run off on your own like that." Ryukyu said and Nejire rubbed the back of her head.
"Sorry Ryu-Sensei, I promise not to do it again." Nejire apologized rubbing the back of her neck.
Ryukyu sighed, with a small smile on her face as she put her hand on Nejire's shoulder.
"It's good you have initiative Sparkler, but you can't make choices like that on your own when you're working with others." Ryukyu instructed.
"Yes, Ryu-Sensei, I understand." Nejire promised nodding her head.
The sound of Fatgum's phone buzzing drew everyone's attention.
"Okay, looks like patrol finished at just the right time." Fatgum mentioned pulling out his phone and checking it.
"Hey, what do you kids say you let us handle the talking to officers and you two go get something to eat? There's a new sushi place I've been meaning to try, just around the corner over there." Fatgum suggested pulling out and handing Jiki a card before walking back over to the scene.
"Fatgum- Honestly that man," Ryukyu said only to shake her head and turn to Nejire.
"You might as well go, I'll come get you as soon as I'm done so keep your comms on." Ryukyu told Nejire.
"Aye-aye Ryu-Sensei! Come on Sunny, quickly before she changes her mind." Nejire replied beaming as she saluted Ryukyu, then dragged Jiki away with her to look for the sushi place that Fatgum mentioned.
Jiki sputtered a bit but didn't really fight her, just pointing out that she was about to take the wrong turn and had to go left not right.
It wasn't that hard to find the place, it had neon sushi pieces in the display window and was thankfully still open, so Nejire ordered a taster platter for herself and some of the things she knew Jiki liked to go.
The place had a fairly busy atmosphere and while she might enjoy this place, she was certain it was a bit too overwhelming for Jiki at the moment, so instead she took their food and led Jiki up to the roof of a nearby building and decided to eat there with him.
"Mm, this place has some pretty good clams right Jiki-Chan?" Nejire asked, kicking her feet to relieve some built up energy.
Jiki for his part, nodded focusing more on the rice cakes he was nibbling on, though she did notice that Jiki was a bit more down-trodden than normal.
"Hey Jiki-Chan, you okay?" Nejire asked "I mean I know the whole Oz-Chan thing is still bugging you, but I don't know, it feels like that isn't the only thing on your mind right now." Nejire added on quickly waving her hands, not wanting Jiki to overcomplicate her words.
Jiki didn't wince like he would have before if she'd him asked him so bluntly, but he still ducked his head and shuffled his feet from his nerves.
Then Jiki sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"I, I'm just wondering if I s-should really be here." Jiki answered, rubbing his thumb over the rice cake in his hands.
"Pfft, is that all? Of course you do, Jiki. Why wouldn't you?" Nejire snorted playfully dismissing the thought with just a wave of her hand.
"But do I really? I was barely able to help keep the crowds back with Lock-Jaw-San and I didn't even do anything to help deal with the w-woman even though she was threatening to kill Mizuki-Chan a-and-" Jiki questioned, hunching in on himself and trembling as he got teary eyed.
"Jiki-Chan!" Nejire said, well more like shouted but not quite that loud.
But it worked to get her friend's attention.
"Jiki-Chan, which hero do you think I look up to the most?" Nejire asked him.
Jiki blinked surprised by the sudden question, then his mouth opened and closed a couple of times, answers coming and being dismissed too fast for him to say any of their names.
"You are Jiki-Chan." Nejire answered.
Jiki's jaw certainly would have hit the floor if it wasn't so firmly attached to his face.
"M- Me?!" Jiki sputtered, completely taken aback as he stared at her in disbelief "Wha- Why!?" Jiki managed to ask through his uncooperative vocal cords.
Nejire smiled and chuckled softly, looking over the edge of the roof where dozens of lights from neon signs and other city lights decorated the sky instead of stars.
"Because you're here, Jiki." she said before turning back to him.
Jiki was probably the most anxious person she had ever met, and a lot of the synonyms for anxiety fit him pretty well.
Scared, overly fearful, terrified... all three of those words could be used to describe Jiki, but never once did she ever think that Jiki was a coward.
Because Jiki didn't have to be here, he could have taken over his family's shrine and lived a much easier life without stressing himself to an early grave.
But Jiki was here, simply because he wanted to help people even though he was nearly scared to death every single day.
And while he had his doubts, Jiki ultimately chose to stay in the hero course and was doing his best to become a good hero when he didn't have too.
"I've seen how far you've come since our first day at U.A. Jiki-Chan, I know just how much all of this scares you to the point of burying your head in the nearest wall but you're still here with me Jiki-Chan." Nejire argued waving her hand off to the side with no real purpose.
"How could I not admire someone who's strong enough to face their greatest fears every day and somehow make it out still standing?" Nejire asked.
Her question, while rhetorical, seemed to really have struck a chord with Jiki.
"Do... do you really think I'm strong?" he said barely above a whisper.
Nejire just smiled back.
"Of course, Jiki-Chan, you're easily the strongest person I've ever met in my whole life, and that's including that time when I met All Might at a meet-and-greet when I was nine." Nejire promised with a self-assured nod.
Jiki's eyes welled up with tears and Nejire couldn't really help herself from going over to Jiki's side and hugging him.
"Just you wait Jiki-Chan, you're going to be one of the greatest heroes in the world. They'll be talking about you for hundreds of thousands of years." Nejire told him.
*I'll make sure they will.* Nejire promised in her mind as Jiki hugged her back, burying his face in her shoulder.
Afterall, what would be the point of living for eternity if you couldn't make your friends into living legends the world would never forget?
It would be the least Nejire could do to honor her friends by making their stories as immortal as she was and ensure they'd never fade away.
Nejire: Constantly hiding her existential dread of outliving of everything she will ever love behind a energetic demeanor and overworking herself to make as many memories as she can when she's not jaded yet like her grandmother
Nejire: Tries to become a hero to get rid of enough energy to live somewhat normally
Nejire: Meets Amajiki via similar sunshine child Mirio
Amajiki: Afraid of his own shadow but somehow over powering his near crippling fear to help others instead of running for the hills, and he's still able to muster up a smile for his friends
Nejire with wide eyes and then points to Amajiki and whispers: This, this is the person I aspire to be