Story is advancing well. Pacing is definitely something I'm going to have to work on.
If his first month living with Mei had felt like an eternity, the second one turned out to be the complete opposite. Between testing babies, studying, and cleaning the hangar from years of neglect, he had his hands full, and he couldn't have been happier. The cosmetic damage on his arm, shoulder, side, and back was mostly gone; only a few spots remained that wouldn't last much longer by his own estimation. His morning routine was keeping him in shape, and he could already feel himself getting stronger and faster while still maintaining the lithe profile that was best for his fighting style based around dodging and overall being quicker than his opponent. He was slowly getting accustomed to not looking like a skeleton; every time he saw himself in the mirror, he had to take a second to make sure it was him he was seeing.
As for Mei, he had the distinct feeling she was having the time of her life. She still spent an absurd amount of time working on her invention, but he didn't really expect anything else from her. He was just happy she had found some sort of middle ground between her creativity and taking care of herself. He'd noticed she was spending more time with him since her breakdown, and it usually took the form of sharing a blanket and doomscrolling through a series of videos from a show Mei loved. Some kind of nerdy comedy whose references flew over his head ninety percent of the time, leaving his friend to explain the joke to him, which in turn became a show in itself. He was endlessly entertained to hear her try to come up with new ways to dumb down the science behind the joke for him to understand what was happening on the screen. He even asked her to explain things he understood the few times it happened due to how excited she got when she could speak about what she loved. Ten out of ten would act dumb again.
There was only one thing that could be called a negative point in this past month. Something was going on with Mei, something his Quirk was warning him about, and he had no idea what it was. The emotional spectrum was something he was used to feeling every day of his life. Takuma had all his life to feel and classify the entire range of human emotion, both positive and negative. He'd encountered every emotion under the sun, and for the life of him, he couldn't understand what he was feeling.
It was stronger when they were close, but it was always there in the background. Even when he was cooking and she was on the other side of the hangar working, he could still feel it; somehow it never left her, and it was even stronger when they shared a hug and the tingling in her spine he was now accustomed to experiencing happened. He knew it was somehow linked to what she was feeling, but again, he was lost as to what it was.
His only working theory was that it was a feeling he hadn't ever been the target of before. Emotions had distinct tastes, and the only way he knew how to change it was to either be a third party or the target of said feeling. He knew it had to be on the positive since it had started growing; Mei was even friendlier and more tactile than she already was. And getting into her head and looking for the origin of what he experienced simply wasn't in the cards. Basic human decency was his first rule, and going into someone's head without a good reason would break that rule. Respecting the privacy and most intimate thoughts of the people around him was the second. If he didn't do it to random people, he certainly wasn't about to do it to her.
So he was stuck and had no idea what to do about it; letting it play out was the only real solution to his problem. It wasn't even a problem; the feeling was, in fact, something he'd grown to enjoy. It felt like a warm blanket over him, like someone had decided to turn him into the world's most comfortable burrito. He wasn't complaining; he just wanted to know how and why he felt that way. Asking Mei was the most direct and simplest way to deal with the situation, but he couldn't do this for multiple reasons. First, she could herself not be aware of said feeling, and calling her out on it might shock her and kill in the egg whatever was happening to her; second, he would have to question her about what she felt, which historically never goes well, and he certainly didn't want to appear like he was prying into her intimacy. He has tried everything to stop this feeling from touching his mind, and he could say with certainty he had no clue how to stop himself from feeling it; he had emptied his entire bag of tricks and came out with nothing to stop it.
In the end, the only way he could think of to deal with the problem was to wait and see. He was aware of it and could stop it from warping his thoughts easily enough; even if Mei couldn't be doing it on purpose, he had to keep an eye out just in case something slipped in.
"Half of these questions don't even make sense," Takuma complained after he was done answering the one hundred questions of the mock-up exam he had been working on for the last hour.
"It's the U.A entrance exam from two years ago; it is the standard for the most renowned University in Japan," Mei told him as she grabbed the answer sheet and started noting her work and his. "It's not meant to be easy."
"So that explains it."
"I clearly remember you telling me it was a copy of your school final from last year," he sighed a bit annoyed at his friend's deception.
"You wouldn't have done it if I told you it was for U.A.," she hummed nonchalantly, her focus was on the sheet of paper rather than on him, so the chance for her to pick up on his irritation was close to zero. "Just because you don't want to go there doesn't mean we can't see how you would do if you wanted to."
"Alright, but fair warning. I'm onto your deceitful scheme, you witch," he deadpanned, glaring a hole in her head, which she apparently found funny since she started giggling with a bright grin.
"It's for a good cause," she retorted as she started twirling her pen between her fingers. "And you can't tell me you're not at least curious to know how well you'd do on the practical exam made for the best of the best in Japan."
"She got me there."
"Fine, you're right," he conceded, with a sigh. "But for this trickery, tonight we're going to eat some green."
"No salad!" she begged with an overly dramatic tone.
"Yes, salad," he denied, and he loved watching the mock expression of horror on her face right before she stuck her tongue out at him.
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms while waiting for her to finish. Takuma was keenly aware his academic knowledge wasn't the best; with the life he lived, it had never been his most important concern; staying alive was. So he didn't expect a good grade, nor a decent one if he was honest with himself. Studying with Mei had helped him remember some of the things he had learned during his year of online schooling, but based on how much he struggled with some of her homework, he knew it didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.
After a few more minutes, Mei put the pen down. "Not bad, not terrible," she stated before handing him his grade.
"Thirty-six," he deadpanned. "How is that not terrible?"
"Most schools don't offer a curriculum in line with what U.A. teaches in their first year. Students who try for U.A. without supplementary lessons or hard work reach between twenty and thirty points in the actual test."
It took him a second to register what she was telling him. "Wait... are you telling me my grade is a bit better than a lazy student coasting by?"
"Yep! Now imagine what you could do if you focused on your studies and tried for the hero course?!" she was quick to say as she started vibrating in her chair. "You could totally make it in, and with those kick-ass moves of yours, the practical should be just a walk in the park."
"Or they could take one look at me and arrest me for being a Vigilante," he said, reminding her of his last stint in the spotlight. "Mei, there's no way I'm getting anywhere near U.A. without a battalion of Pro-Heroes jumping at the opportunity to add me to their body count."
"They wouldn't do that; they're Heroes!" Mei denied vehemently. "And you don't know if you are classified as a Vigilante; maybe we could find a way to check?!"
"Even if I'm not classified as a Vigilante, if I'm put in a situation where I can't leave or isolate myself at will, then it's just going to be a question of time before I get hurt. You haven't seen the damage losing control in a populated area can do."
He watched his friend's excitement deflate like a balloon, looking at her lap for a second before staring at him again with a sad expression he didn't enjoy seeing on her. "Then what do you want to do?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly, taking a second to gather his thoughts before continuing. "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do; I've been surviving for so long, so focused on making it to the end of the day without ever thinking farther than a week, two at best. I've been with you for the past two months, and I've asked myself this question more times than I can count. And I still have no answer. I just... I just don't know what to do."
He didn't dare look her in the eye; he didn't want to see her reaction. Mei was someone with a drive, someone with a goal and a dream that pushed ever forward. Takuma was the total opposite; he had nothing that could compare to that, nothing that pushed him to be better each day. He was just there, hanging around, trying to stay alive, but now that he didn't have to try so hard to stay alive, he had no idea what to do with himself.
Mei stood up from her chair and walked next to him before hugging him; still seated, he was now the one resting his head against her chest. "Then maybe it's the perfect time to roll the dice and see where you end up."
He hugged her back, letting his arm rest against the small of her back. "I wish it was so simple; with my Quirk, I can't just take a chance and hope for the best. What if something bad happens."
"What if something good happens?"
Hope, that wasn't something he had. Expecting the worst out of everything and anyone, now that was closer to how he lived his life. Maybe-of course-U.A. could be an option.
"Maybe," he said as he tried to parse through the wave of nausea that was assaulting him. "I'll think about it," he added, hoping giving in for now would make her drop the subject until he had the time to deliberate if it was a good idea or not.
Why did he feel like he was dying? They were just talking; is something happening?
Quirk? Check.
Body? Nothing.
Mei?
Her heart was beating quite fast, and he was surprised he hadn't noticed it sooner; her mind was going through so many emotions in quick succession he wouldn't have been able to pick them apart even if he had taken a peek inside her head. One thing for sure was that the tingling in her spine was back, even stronger than before, like a slowly building need that came roaring back to life when they were close in the way they were right now. It was fascinating. And he was bathed in the emotion she felt so much he found his eyes fluttering as he brought her closer to him. He was warm, he was safe. He didn't know what was happening, but he couldn't say he minded too much.
"Thanks," he said after regaining the ability to think.
Her heartbeat even faster. "Wh-what for?"
"Scraping me off the street," he whispered, the memory of his injury replaying in his head. "I don't know what I'm doing and even less where I'm going. I just know meeting you was the best thing that happened to me in a long time."
Her hand fell on the back of his head, anxiety rose at the thought of what she would have felt if she had chosen to put her hand on the back of his neck. The multiple scars and proof of his tendency to harm himself when his Quirk became too much wasn't a subject he wanted to brush, ever.
She brought him close in turn, and he swore he heard her breath hitch as she rested her chin on the crown of his head. "I'm glad I met you too," she whispered, high enough for him to hear, and Takuma didn't think she knew how much he yearned to hear that.