Chapter 52

'Day hasn't even started yet and I'm already so done with it,' Kazuki thought as he walked through the small crowd of reporters outside his school. This time, it was Midnight and Present Mic that were tasked with helping him even get inside the place. They were doing a great job but they were certainly no All Might and it showed.

Ultimately, even if it was significantly slower than the day before, they all stepped inside U.A.

"Thank you," he said once they were fully away from the public, gritting his teeth.

"Don't mention it, listener," Present Mic reassured him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "It's what we are here for, taking care of you kids," he added with a thumbs up and a grin.

"It's the least we can do, considering everything," Midnight continued with a kind smile.

"Now, I have a class to teach," Yamada commented, looking Kazuki up and down as if checking he was alright. "You are fine, right? I can stay if-"

"No, it's fine. I can take it from here," he told his teacher. It was enough that he had to be escorted into the school. There was no need to inconvenience others more than he already was. "Thank you, again, I really appreciate it."

"Seriously, don't worry about it, kid," Present Mic waved off as he started walking down the corridor.

Closing his eyes, Kazuki took a deep breath in. 'One. Two. Three. Four. Five,' he thought to himself, before letting the air out slowly. 'Five. Four. Three. Two. One.' It wasn't enough to get him back to normal, but it still helped with his messy thoughts for a bit.

Then he resolved to just get to the classroom, his friends would help him calm down and ground him back in the routine. That was the plan, at least, because Midnight seemed to have a different one herself. He'd half expected for her to have left with Present Mic, but she didn't look to be in any hurry to go anywhere. Instead, she just stood there, where she'd been before, calm expression on her face.

"Everything alright?" she asked after a moment, tilting her head slightly.

"I- Yes, I'm fine," he answered, unsure if she needed something or if she wanted to tell him something. Had the school come up with something for him, a solution or maybe some more restrictions or something? They probably had to cover themselves more firmly now that he was a known student of the institution. "Is something the matter or…?"

"Just… thinking, I guess," the woman answered slowly. "I wasn't very well received when I started making public appearances," she commented idly and he blinked at the out of the blue statement. Sure, he knew a bit about that. What growing boy didn't, really? He'd admit to not knowing the specifics though.

Unsurprisingly, people in juvie weren't very interested in discussing that when they brought her up.

"It's obviously very different to what's happening to you, but as someone that has had to deal with bad PR before, I think you should consider giving them what they want," she advised and he shuddered at the mere thought. With a sympathetic smile, she continued. "They'll keep coming up with their theories and they'll often be worse than the truth. The school is doing what it can, but they'll never leave you alone until you talk. Think of them like… bullies, in a way. They'll never leave you be until you stand up for yourself."

"That's… depressing," he replied and she chuckled, but there didn't seem to be any amusement there.

"Yeah, it is," she admitted with a nod. "But that's the world more often than not, right?"

"Don't I know it," he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "Any tips?"

"Be direct, clear and if you hesitate, I think you should explain why. They'll think you are lying if you don't," she explained to him. "I'm not telling you to spill your guts for them, but you have to be sure of yourself."

"So, truths or half-truths. Yeah. Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to avoid the truth when I need to," he commented, drawing a confused expression from the woman. That's when he realized that it was mostly his friends that thought that. "Nevermind. Thank you for the advice… I know it's a bother to escort me but I don't know if I can… handle them just yet," he added then, waving his hand in the direction of the entrance.

"I didn't tell you this so you'd rush there. Nor did I do so because I don't want to help you either," she reassured him. "I just think it'd help you, but I could be wrong. As I said, I certainly don't have experience dealing with your kind of PR issues, I'm afraid to say."

"I appreciate the help anyway. I think I need all that I can get," Kazuki replied with a sigh before pausing. "What's your favorite animal?"

"That came a bit out of nowhere, don't you think?" she asked back, more than a little confused.

"Humor me."

"... I think I prefer felines to anything else, have a cat myself and all," she answered after a moment of thought. To that, Kazuki hummed. "Any reason for that question?"

"Just curious," he replied with a nod. "Well, I think I've taken enough of your time."

"Nonsense," she waved off once more. "If you need anything, anything at all, just come to one of us. Chances are that we'll be happy to help, and if for some reason whoever you go to doesn't, just come looking for me or go to Inui. I hear you two get along."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, again."

"Take care of yourself, Endo," Midnight told him before they went their separate ways.

'Felines, huh?'

[}-o-{]

The group ate in silence, only occasionally making a comment here and there.

After all, they were all rather busy. Each of them had left space to their side to check on something, that something being their list of options for internships. More specifically, their Midoriya Edition analysis of their options, really. The green-haired boy had gone above and beyond what anyone could have expected of him and had given everyone a very in depth analysis of the school's provided list while also offering personalized ones for those that had actual offers outside of those offers.

Kazuki almost felt bad about putting all that work on the guy, but he seemed to be genuinely happy about it, for whatever reason. Besides some weariness, Midoriya seemed to be enjoying himself while helping them out. 'Well, that's a hero if there ever was one,' he thought wryly, but he wasn't even joking. He'd have been very annoyed if this much shit had been thrown at him to deal with, regardless of how useful it was for others. He had his own list to think over without having to worry about anyone else's.

And Midoriya had a ridiculous amount of offers himself, which only made the effort he'd put on everyone else that much more impressive.

As it was, now that everyone had their own analysis, they were all going over the stuff their classmate had given them. From what Kazuki had heard and seen on his own, some heroes had been crossed out because there was a better option that could do the same as them but better. Some others had been highlighted in red to mark that they were bad choices unless one of the noted specific things were something that they really wanted to work on. There was analysis and comparison on how they could help with their Quirk usage, PR, hero work in general and so on too.

Kazuki was very seriously considering gathering money with the rest of the class and paying Midoriya.

The guy deserved that.

Closing his eyes and massaging his eyelids, he took a moment to actually give attention to his lunch. Taking a deep breath in, he went over his options in his head instead. It wasn't like he had many options and most of them had been scratched. He was thinking about thanking them for the chance anyway even if he didn't pick them though. Every offer was very much appreciated, after all.

The point was that he more or less knew by heart what each option was and what they could offer him already.

Knowing all that hadn't helped much with his indecision though. Sure, it'd helped scratch out some, but there wasn't any obvious choice still. Some of the options that he'd been unsure about remained the same. They had their pros and cons and Midoriya had only made that worse. Not that he'd tell the guy, obviously. It wasn't his fault.

With a sigh, Kazuki decided to distract himself half-forming mini-grimm in the shadow of his hand over the table. He was careful to cup his fingers well so that nobody could see it though. Last thing he needed was to get into trouble for using his Quirk.

Besides, he could almost feel the glares on the back of his head.

Evidently, not all students were ok with him being in the school. He could feel the emotions rolling off some of them even without having caught more than a few "looks" directed his way. It was inevitable, he supposed, but it still sucked. Not everyone could be on his side, not everyone would be against him. The good with the bad, he supposed. 'Like usual.'

"I'm disappointed… and I'm also sorry."

'You and me both, mum,' Kazuki thought to himself, sighing. Bringing his glass to his lips, he noticed that the drink didn't taste like anything. Much like the food, really, which just sucked. Lunch Rush's stuff was just about the best thing he'd ever eaten in his life… 'Even managed to ruin that, somehow…' he thought, an empty smile on his face as he set the glass back down. 'Credit where credit is due, mum, you are good at being an absolute witch.'

With his lunch half eaten, Kazuki ended up pushing the tray away and focusing on his internships once more.

"You aren't eating that?" Mineta asked, something half-chewed in his mouth.

"Go ahead, Tiny," he told him with a small half-smile and a wave of his hand. Almost immediately, his friend started utterly destroying what was left of his lunch. "How are you that small if you eat like that, man?"

"I'm still growing," Mineta grumbled, still speaking with his mouth full.

"Would it kill you to close your mouth when you eat?" Jiro asked, rolling her eyes, disgust rolling off of her and Yaoyorozu. Hagakure seemed strangely ok with those "manners" but Kazuki didn't dwell on that too much.

"Maybe the beads take away from him? Kinda like how Yaoyorozu's Quirk works?" he commented, tilting his head curiously. That seemed to make everyone pause and turn towards Mineta, who was frozen with his fork midway between Kazuki's tray and his mouth.

"But then…"

"That makes sense," Yaoyorozu commented thoughtfully, looking at their friend. "Maybe that's why he eats so much without it really going anywhere."

"... Are you saying my Quirk made me a midget?" his friend asked, wide-eyed and dropping his fork to his own tray as he considered that theory. "That… Could that happen?"

"I mean, you are the one with the Quirk, anyone ever tell you if that could happen or if it's something else entirely?" Kazuki asked, raising an eyebrow. Judging by the increasingly disturbed expression on his friend, no, nobody had mentioned anything of the sort. "Maybe… pay a visit to Recovery Girl?"

"Yeah, I think I should do that," Mineta mumbled.

"Look at the bright side, Tiny," Hagakure told him then. "At least you are on time to try and fix it. As you said, you are still growing."

"Yeah. Yeah, you are right!" Mineta exclaimed, smile back in place. "I'll get this fixed and I'll be the tallest in the class."

"Maybe that's looking too much at the bright side, Tiny," Jiro commented drily.

"Do you think he'll be average height?" Kazuki asked her.

"At best," Jiro answered with a nod before both of them shared a look and a chuckle.

"Why do I hang out with you?"

[}-o-{]

His grimm rose and rushed at Todoroki, getting frozen or burnt.

They'd been doing that again and again for around half an hour already. Kazuki had already cycled over his entire repertoire of creatures that didn't require him to pull on the emotion nodes in his negativity pool. Some might call it repetitive and not very effective training, but he disagreed.

For one, it allowed him to have a simple job to do, which helped him have less worries about controlling the grimm. For another, he was working on pushing the limits of his grimm creation. He wanted to make more of them and faster too. The second part was progressing, he felt. The first… not so much, but he wasn't too worried.

He knew his mind wasn't in it as it should, so Kazuki was fine having any progress made, really.

"I'm disappointed," he heard his mother say once more as he tried to continue training. "I'm disappointed," she repeated, and his focused expression twitched. "I'm disappointed." His eyebrows twisted into a frown as he directed a glare forward. "I'm disappointed."

The negativity in him flowed more and more and the grimm formed… but they didn't form faster, they just grew more erratic, more aggressive. They weren't getting better. He wasn't getting better. He was failing.

"I'm disappointed."

'Shut up,' he told the voice in his head as he tried to push harder. He could do it, surely. He'd been getting better ever since he got out. He was obviously not trying hard enough. 'Come on, come on… Seventh,' he thought with a grin as another grimm was added to his maximum so far.

And he was in control.

'Take that, witch!' he thought, victorious. 'I'll show you! I can make more. I can be more!'

"Endo!" a voice called then, as he tried to push for the eighth and he froze.

'Fuck,' he cursed internally, dismissing the grimm and letting all the air in his lungs out with a frustrated sigh. '... Or maybe I can't, I guess,' he added to himself, deflating where he stood as he ran his fingers through his hair. 'God, I'm pathetic.'

"Everything ok?" Jiro asked from his side, being the one to keep an eye on him at that moment. She was the best at keeping her worries out of her face and her voice, but that didn't help her much against Kazuki. He gave her a weary look.

"Yeah, I'm just… I'm not feeling great, I guess," he answered with a shrug. "We are taking a break, Frosty. That fine?!" he called towards where the other boy was working on thawing the ice left over from his Quirk.

"Yes. I'll just go do physical training then," the half and half boy answered with a nod. Well, it was a relief to know that he hadn't annoyed his training partner.

"You can stop babysitting me," Kazuki told Jiro then, stretching as he tried to push the bad emotions out of his body. It didn't work, but at least it meant that he wasn't just standing there, feeling terrible. "I'll just… sit down for a bit."

"You sure? I can stay if you want to talk or whatever," Jiro offered and he knew she meant it. He didn't feel like talking though, at least not the kind she was referring to. He'd rather just… try and forget… everything. So, he shook his head. "Ok, we'll be over there if you need us, just call."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

So, there he remained, sitting by himself. Somehow, even when he turned his brain off, he still felt like shit in a way that had nothing to do with his Quirk. He just felt so… bad all the time. Even when he was having a good time, he'd eventually remember. He'd get a flash in his mind, and everything would crash down once more.

'Inui must be having a field day with me,' he thought, sighing.

"I guess it's break time?" a voice called from his side and Kazuki turned to see Monoma standing there with his trademark smirk in place. "Here I thought I'd get a rematch. Did you tire yourself out against flame and ice over there, Boss?"

"Something like that," Kazuki answered with a weak shrug. "I guess I'm not at the top of my game just yet."

"Yeah, the Sports Festival was… something, wasn't it?" the blonde said, surprising him with the way he just deflated before taking the seat on the bench next to Kazuki. It was at that moment that he realized the continuous stream of exhaustion that came from him. It had blended well with the rest of the people in the training facilities, especially when Kazuki wasn't paying close attention.

"Tell me about it."

"Yeah, I guess you had it worse than everyone else," Monoma acknowledged with a nod. "Sorry."

"I don't have a monopoly on feeling shitty. Don't worry about it," he waved off easily. "So, wanted to train more?"

"Not really, but it'd feel like a waste not to, you know?" the blonde asked, the exhaustion turning into a sort of overwhelmed feeling that Kazuki was very familiar with. "I'd rather be at home curled up on my bed and letting the days pass by."

"Same, man, same."

"... I shouldn't have copied a fourth Quirk for the finals," Monoma admitted, making him turn towards him. "It was a dumb decision. I knew it was too much, but I just… I wanted to win so badly. I wanted to show everyone…"

"You did great."

"You are damn right I did," the blonde boasted, getting a chuckle out of Kazuki. "But I guess I didn't realize how badly I wanted it until after I'd done that and… I don't know why. I didn't have the same reasons you did and you deserved that win, needed it more than me-"

"Deserving and needing are two different things," Kazuki said, a weary smile on his face. "I'm happy you pushed me like that. It makes the win more impressive, you know?"

"You saying it like that is kind of annoying."

Kazuki just turned to look at Monoma with a grin.

"Now you know how everyone else feels about you."

The blonde's eye twitched.

[}-o-{]

"Boss!"

'Are they going to call me that forever?' Kazuki wondered as he looked at the overexcited pink-haired girl jump move towards him.

"Finally came to make babies with me?!"

"Phrasing, Hatsume," he replied, giving her an unimpressed look. Not that it seemed to affect her at all, given the way she didn't even react like he'd spoken at all. Instead, she circled around him, looking him up and down and probably imagining a dozen pieces of equipment she could throw on him.

"Are you?! Are you?!"

Kazuki sighed.

"Yes, I'm here to talk about support equipment," he answered, already thinking that visiting the Support Course area was a bad idea. "I wasn't sure if I could come and talk shop with you guys, but-"

"You totally can!" she said, scandalized and not letting him finish.

"Yeah, I know," he told her, his lips quirking up. Maybe she was a little over the top, but one thing in Hatsume's favor was that she didn't seem to feel bad all that much… or at all. Kazuki didn't remember if he'd ever felt any negativity coming from her, actually. "So-"

"What did you have in mind, Boss?!" she asked him, bouncing on her feet and looking at him with bright, curious eyes. Some distance behind her, Kazuki saw Power Loader chuckling while he sighed again. "You have the best ideas!"

"I don't know about that," he replied, still with a slight smile on his lips. At least she was enthusiastic, even if she was also exhausting. "I was thinking of something that would help me if I have to fight and I can't use my grimm. I'm basically Quirkless Human number fortytwo if it comes to that, so I'd like to have something else on me to help, just in case."

"I have like a ton of baby ideas for that! Come on!" she exclaimed excitedly, taking his arm and dragging him to a sort of workshop-drawing desk combo. Apparently, where the hero course had training facilities, the support course had stations like those to tinker away. Or so was the picture that he was getting.

"So, what do you think would work the best?" he asked, unsure of where to begin. "I have some ideas, but it's mostly vague stuff. I kind of need someone with a better idea of how this all works and what can actually be done to come up with the specifics."

"Fear not, Boss! I got you!" Hatsume reassured him, preening proudly. That is, before she opened her mouth again. Immediately after that, there was a barrage of words being thrown Kazuki's way that he barely could follow, let alone understand. He managed to get the gist of it though…

And what he could catch sounded great.

Granted, Hatsume sounded like a mad scientist throughout her whole speech, but that was fine. Kazuki could ignore that because he knew that her things worked. Maybe some were a little odd, but they worked and that was what was important. As she talked away, she showed him a bunch of contraptions that more or less worked with what he had in mind but not really. Fortunately, he had the presence of mind not to let her strap them on him.

They didn't sound too safe to use and he'd rather not be the one to test them… at least not then and there.

Once she was done trying to force him to use some piece of equipment or another that she had laid around came the actual talk. He started bouncing ideas on her head while she tried to put everything together into something usable. He wanted something light, since he didn't have anything to help him move around with a set of armor like Iida's for example. He also wanted something that would help him fight if he needed to get to it himself. Some weapons would work, he supposed, but he'd rather something that would boost his already existing hand-to-hand skills.

"Sounds like some simple gauntlets and boots would work, but that's boring." He decided not to point out that he'd kind of already ordered something like that. Somehow he didn't think that would be a good idea. "I can come up with something better," Hatsume said, narrowing her eyes and for the first time some annoyance bled into her feelings. Not too much though and she seemed to bounce back almost instantly.

She certainly had a lot of ideas under the pink hair, because she went on another long speech about all the things she could add to that "boring" idea of equipment. Granted, not all of her ideas were good, but she had a lot of them. From downright silly to concerningly lethal and everything in between, anything was possible and the sky was the limit, as far as Hatsume was concerned.

So, Kazuki had to cut in at some points to keep her sort of grounded without crippling her creativity. It was, however, at one point when he mentioned the pouches on his belt and how gauntlets would have to account for him using the supplies in those and such that she paused. There was a long moment of silence then before she turned towards him. Her smile wasn't as wide as it had been before, nor was she shaking in place out of excitement.

Somehow, she managed to make that look even more manic than before.

"I told you, Boss!" she mumbled, reaching for a piece of paper and starting to sketch away. "You have the best ideas!"

"I do?" he asked, blinking in confusion.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Another day in the life, but several things happened. Maybe it wasn't the most plot driven chapter of all time, but I'm happy with it. All the scenes look fine to me and I'm not very concerned about any of them. That's not something that happens often, so I'll be happy with that while it lasts.

I hope you liked 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: Probably already asked this question somewhere, but meh, dogs or cats? I'm more of a dog person myself.

See you.