Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy.
Neo Infinity - No problem, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I liked Two Heroes as well (Melissa is one of my favourite characters) and I hope you enjoy my interpretation of it. Unfortunately, you have to wait for it in the next chapter. Thanks for reading.
RubixJr - Thank you so much. This chapter is going to be a nice fluff filled one, because I haven't written one in a while. Hope you'll enjoy it.
djinn - I thought so too. I had to think hard how Lewis and Jiro would have to work together without diminishing Jiro's importance. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Lelouch of Zero - Thank you so much. It goes to show that Lewis still has so much more to learn at his time at U.A. Also Mina and Karminari are capable heroes...as long as they don't work together. They have very similar personalities and I find that people who are like that, when faced with a certain task, are dead set on a certain path which may not always be the best. While people with conflicting or balanced personalities are forced to work harder together to find a solution. I'm sure the exam would be different if Mina/Karminari was with Momo or Iida. Thanks for reading.
wellingtonlucas282 - No problem, glad you enjoyed it.
Deathknight999 - Oh how amazing! I'm so happy you are enjoying it, thank you so much. The next few chapters are certainly going to be interesting so I hope you enjoy them.
Guest - Thanks so much, hope you like this chapter just as well.
Freddielebron - I'm going to respond to each of your reviews one at a time.
1 - First of all, calm down. It's just a story. Also I already mentioned why he couldn't get back to the campus in the story.
2 - It's call trauma. I believed I also explained this in the story.
3 - I mean I hope not, because it can be used a derogatory term.
4 - Going around killing things is not really heroic, even if they are technically 'dead'. I think you missed the point in this chapter.
5 - Great, really helpful.
6 - In chapter 245 of My Hero Academia, Hawks gives the same book to Midoryia, Todoroki and Bakugo. Even says he is recommending it to all his acquaintances and fellow heroes. Not one of them, despite being intelligent heroes, ever said how this was linked to the MLA or said anything suspicious about it. Midoryia even said that he must be doing 'missionary work'. So I am not going off canon as you so wrongfully accuse me of.
Let's say you get a copy of 'The Communist Manifesto' in the post. An old fashion book that had links to past tragedies and was important part of human society in the 20th century. Is it weird to get this out of the blue? Yes. Are you going to assume that this was an elaborate plan for the communists to rise up once again and take over modern society with a violent uprising with support by a terrorist group? No! Because why would you think that.
I only mentioned it because to foreshadow future events and how Lewis is linked into it. That's all. Why would Lewis do anything else with it?
There's literally no reason to get upset over it, because, again, it's just a story.
7 - A little literal, but ok.
8 - I mean I have to make this story interesting.
In conclusion, please think before you write your reviews. There's no need to swear either; it just means I don't take you seriously.
Eavise - That sounds really sweet. Thanks so much, I'll definitely write it. Thank you for reading.
Chapter 28: The Invitation
'Pro-heroes are the heart of modern society.
They defeat evil on a daily basis, they protect those who cannot defend themselves, and they make sure they everything is running smoothly for a better tomorrow. However, how do these pro-heroes get so powerful? How can we understand their quirks? And, most of all, how can we improve these heroes' quirks in order to improve society?
There is only one place where these questions can be answered: I-Island.
Built and invested by pro-hero companies around the world, I-Island is dedicated to the study of quirkology and the development of technical gear and gadgets to benefit the work of heroes. This floating research facility is home to over ten thousand scientists and engineers, as well as their families, across the globe who can conduct their research without fear of villain attacks. With its state of the art security system, there has never been any incident since the island's creation.
Not only is it the most technological advance place on the planet, but it also harbours many great attractions for you to enjoy. From sandy beaches to grand museums, from shopping districts to measure activities; I-Island has got it all.
To congratulate you on your hard work at the U.A Sports Festival, Mr Lewis Fleetwood, our event organisers would like to invite you to here for a three days before attending I-Island's Formal Gala held on the 20th July. See all your favourite heroes, enjoy all our leashes activities and be spellbound by the wonders of future technology. More details and your tickets can be found within the envelope.
We eagerly wait for your attendance, Mr Fleetwood, and cannot wait for you to enjoy the spectacular I-Island.'
Lewis sat on his sofa and stared in bewilderment at the projection displayed in front of him, which was currently showing the I-Islands logo with the ginormous island city shown from above in the background.
Fair to say, Lewis was not expecting this when he got home after completing his finals. He had found the letter as he stepped through the door and found the projection disc, the same U.A use to announce he got in, inside the letter. Intrigued, he started it and the projection disc played a slide show of different areas of the island whilst giving the message. It was more like an advert then a invitation.
Eventually, the projection disc switched itself off and Lewis was left staring at the opposite wall in silence.
"...I-Island..." he uttered, "...I'm invited...to go to...I-Island..."
...
...
...
...
Suddenly, Lewis sprang up from his sofa and pumped his fist in the air.
"Amazing! I'm going to I-Island!" he shouted in glee before he remembered that he had neighbours and stopping immediately.
From a young age, Lewis has always wanted to go to I-Island. There were so much technology to see in action and the many famous heroes who visit there. Not only that, but it had always fascinated him to see such an amazing place where crime isn't an issue and people can live and work peacefully. His uncle always muttered about it being a 'gated community' and how fake it all seems. Lewis admits that he has a point but he'll never admit that to him.
"I need to pack. Like right now...err...um...a list! I need to make a list now," he said giddily as he made an pen and notepad appear in his hands, "let's see, I need clothes...obviously...oh and formal clothes for the party...notebooks...a lot of notebooks if I'm going to be taking notes on what is there..."
He trailed off when he realised something; why would they invite him for coming third in the Sports Festival. Sure it was great, but it's far from winning it.
Lewis slumped back on the sofa, the excitement having left and replaced with scepticism. He opened the letter and read the extra information and study the tickets well.
'I mean...it looks official. It has a seal and everything,' he thought as he studied the letter, 'I can probably check with the airline to see if the tickets are legit,' he read the letter again, 'It doesn't go into much detail about who is organising it. It just says they'll pick me up at the terminal and take me to my hotel room. It's really strange. It feels a little...too good to be true.'
Lewis hummed in worry. According to the letter, he will need to send a reply on whether he'll be attending by sending an email address. He wondered if he could ask them some questions about it before he could accept. The deadline for accepting the invitation was at the end of this week, so he didn't have to make up his mind now. He'll contact his uncle and maybe ask Aizawa if he wasn't busy.
Nodding in satisfaction, Lewis placed the letter and projection disc on the table so he won't forget about it, deciding he could deal with it later once he had felt ready to accept.
This was an amazing opportunity...but something seemed odd about it.
He shrugged it off for now and decided to have a shower.
Unknown Location
In a darkened room, a man shrouded by darkness sat at his desk typing on a laptop. Suddenly, his phone pinged in his pocket and he immediately took it out to read the text he received. It read:
'Has he accepted?'
The man clicked on another tab on his laptop, looked at the email inbox. He saw that it was empty, except for some junk emails he had yet to delete, before turning back to his phone and typing back a reply.
'Not yet.'
After a few seconds, his phone pinged again.
'Ok. We gave him a week, so he might take time to reply. Carry on planning for the thing and keep me notified."
The man replied that he will before going back to his laptop.
Class 1A
It was the next day and the letter from I-Island was still on Lewis' mind. He called the airline and found that his ticket was genuine. He then called his uncle, but other then sending him a copy of the details written in the letter for him to check himself, there was not much he could do. He did raise the possibility that it was some sort of scam, but Lewis thought it was too elaborate for anything of the sort.
He walked into the half-filled classroom and spotted Bakugo angrily staring outside the window. Suddenly he got an idea.
'Hey, if I got one then Bakugo definitely would have received one. Why don't I ask him,' he thought as he made his way to him.
However, as he approached Bakugo noticed his reflection in the window and snapped his head towards, "What the hell you want! It's too early to deal with your bull crap! Go bother someone else!"
Lewis instantly turned on his heel and headed towards Shoko at the back of the classroom.
'...Hey, if I got one then Shoko definitely would have received one. Why don't I ask her,' he decided drearily.
He was about to approach her when he felt somebody suddenly wrap their arms around his wrist and hug him tightly, "Morning Neko-chan!" Mina greeted cheerfully, "How are you!?"
Lewis almost gasped when he felt Mina's breasts push into his back. Although he did like the feeling, he managed to get out of Mina's tight grip and face her.
"Mina don't do that," he scolded, trying to fight the blush forming on his face.
She rolled her eyes in amusement, "Aww don't be like that."
He heard an annoyed hum behind him, causing him to look over his shoulder to see Shoko glaring at Mina much to his confusion.
"Anyway, I've got something for you," Mina said before she took off her rucksack and rummaged through it before pulling out a box of chocolates and offering it to him, "These are for you to say thank you for helping me with the exam. I made these myself."
"Those are clearly store brought," Jiro remarked impassively, looking over her shoulder at them.
Lewis, however, didn't mind and took them with a grateful smile, "Thanks Mina. But you really didn't have to do that. I honestly didn't do much. You were the one who completed the exam."
"I know, but..." she trailed off slightly. She looked like she was about to say something else, but instead she grinned and blushed slightly, "...just take my thanks," she giggled, "I'm trying to thank you here."
"Yeah, do the good thing and take our thanks," Karminari added as he interjected himself into the conversation.
"Hey! Don't leech of my present," Mina complained.
The blond boy ignored her and patted Lewis on the shoulder, "If it wasn't for you, we would have been one of them."
He pointed his thumb over towards the other side of the classroom where Kirishima, Sero and Sato standing. They looked as if they were in mourning; their eyes were covered in shadows and they were staring down at the ground in sadness. It took Lewis a while to remember that they were the only ones out of the class that failed the practical exam, making them unable to go to camp.
"How humiliating," Sato muttered to himself.
"We should have probably planned further ahead," Kirishima softly said.
"I just know I failed," Sero sighed, "I was knocked out and Mineta had to drag me out of there. I did nothing worthwhile."
Karminari and Mina, however, beamed in delight, an shining aura emitting from them.
"I'm so glad I'm not in there place," Karminari said.
"I know right," Mina agreed.
"Are you two really in a position to be gloating?" Lewis remarked.
Suddenly, the door to the classroom slammed open and Aizawa stepped in, shooting a glare at all his students.
"In your seats now," he ordered, making everybody rush to the assigned desks. Once they were sat down, Aizawa continued from his podium, "Congratulations on the exams. It seems most of you have passed and are able to go to summer camp. However, it would seem that we have some failures which is disappointing," he said, causing three students to slouch in their seats, "Kirishima, Sero, Sato. We will go over what went wrong after school today."
"I know it," Sero muttered in despair.
Karminari looked over his left shoulder at him and gave him a thumbs up, "Hey, don't worry. We'll think of you guys when we're around the camp fire."
Aizawa's eyes landed on the blond-haired boy, "Karminari...you also failed the exam."
The colour drained away from his face as soon as he said that. He slowly turned to the front; a look of distress on his face, "W-what?" he stammered, "But we totally won the exam. Mina defeated the principal and I helped. How could you fail me for that?"
The teacher glared at him, "I didn't say you failed the practical. Your score on the writing test was just under a passing grade, meaning you failed. You are the same boat as the others. See me after school as well so we can discuss what went wrong."
Karminari slumped in his chair; a distant look in his eyes, "Yeah...that makes sense."
Aizawa then turned his eyes towards Mina who flinched in response, "Ashido," he said, making her gulp in fear.
"Yes...sir," she uttered, scared that he was going to say that she failed as well.
He glared at her for a few seconds before he said, "Next time, inform a teacher that you're going to be late. The examiners were waiting for you and we had no idea where you are."
The pink-haired girl blinked in surprise at what he said before she simply nodded in response.
"Good," Aizawa said as he looked away, "Otherwise congratulations. You've made significant improvement since the mid-terms."
Mina released a breath of air that she was unaware she was holding in. She couldn't be any more relieved. Her dark eyes looked to the back of the classroom to where Lewis was sitting as another blush appeared on her face, followed by a broad smile as she thought about him.
"Anyway," Aizawa continued, "In regards to the students who failed..." he slowly said as the four boys tensed in dread, "...you're all going to summer training camp as well."
"WHAT A TWIST!" the boys yelled in their heads, their moods turning 180 degrees.
"Wait, everybody is going," Lewis asked, "Even the people who failed."
Aizawa nodded, "As the 'villains' in this test, we teachers came up with assignments perfectly suited to all of you. Ones that would give you a chances to devise winning strategies. If we hadn't, none of you would have stood a chance. The aim of the exam was to push you to your limits and out of your comfort zone. Something you wouldn't have achieved with battle robots. Those who failed alert us to the students who need more training," he gave them all a wild grin, "This was another rational deception!"
"Another rational deception!" the class shouted.
Despite the fact they had been lie to...once again, Kirishima, Karminari, Sero and Sato leaped up from their seats and cheered in joy, ecstatic that they are allowed to go to the summer camp. Lewis sighed in relief and looked over his class; seeing everybody so happy filled him with delight. He hated to see anybody excluded from the rest just because of a test.
"However," Aizawa's voice cut through the miniature celebration like a knife, causing everybody to freeze, "A failure is still a failure. You four will be receiving supplementary lessons while at camp and, to be honest, they are far worse than summer school."
The joyful mood ended quickly as the four boys hung their heads in despair and gloomily stared at the floor. Lewis gave them a sympathetic smile and sweat dropped at the roller-coaster of emotions they were experiencing.
'Well, at least we're all going to camp,' he thought.
Later, after home room was over and Aizawa had left, the students were looking over the camp manuals that he left for them. Lewis was looking over the packing list; seeing everything that was required for the trip. It was a long list and he was unsure he had most of the stuff needed and, judging by the reactions of his fellow classmates, they were thinking the same.
"This seems a lot for one week of training," Iida hummed as he looked over the list nearby.
"I don't even have a bathing suit," Karminari muttered.
"I need night-vision goggles," Mineta told himself.
'Note to self,' Lewis thought as he glared at the shorter boy, 'Get Aizawa to enforce a bag check before we leave.'
"Hey! I've got an idea!" Hagakure called out, catching everyone's attention, "Since we're off tomorrow and tests are over why don't we all go shopping together as a class?"
Everybody thought about it for a few seconds before they all unanimously agreed.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Momo commented.
"I think it'll be the first time we did something as a class," Midoryia added.
"That sounds like fun!" Mina cheered excitedly.
Kirishima leaned over and patted Bakugo on his shoulder, "Hey, you wanna come too!"
"Hell no!" Bakugo spat, "Like I waste my time with all of you."
Lewis rolled his eyes at his typical behaviour before turning to Shoko, who had been silent the whole time, "Are you coming with us, Shoko?"
Must to his disappointment, she shook her head, "I can't. I have to do something tomorrow."
He looked around the classroom, making sure nobody is listening to their conversation before he leaned in and whispered, "Are you visiting your mum again? If so, tell her I said hi."
Shoko shook her head again, "No," she said, annoyance evident in her tone, "My father has summoned me to his agency," she tightened her fists in anger, "Why can't that bastard leave me alone."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Lewis softly said, "You have my phone number so call me if you want to talk or anything. Who knows, maybe it's a good thing."
Shoko's face soften slightly as she glanced up at him, "I doubt it. But thanks, I will."
THUNK!
"HEY CLASS 1A! WHAT DID YOU GET ON YOUR EXAM RESULTS, HUH!?" the entire class turned to see Monoma outside looking in through their window, his eyes were wild and he had a crazy smile on his face, "LET ME GUESS! YOU ALL FAILED, HUH! WELL, EVERYBODY BUT ONE PERSON IN CLASS B HAVE PASSED! THAT'S 95% OF OUR CLASS! I BET YOU WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A SUCSEES RATE THAT-" he stopped suddenly and turned to look at somebody to his right, the manic expression changing into one of fear "Oh Kendo, what are you doing here? You see, I'm not going to their class; I'm just simply taking a walk around the groun-" he stopped again and took off running as if his life was on the line, "NO! PLEASE DON'T HIT ME AGAIN!"
He was quickly followed by the red-haired girl, her hand raised above her head as she chased after him.
As the class watched the chase outside their window, Lewis hummed happily, "Nice to know that Class B is also coming to camp with us."
Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall
It was the next day and the large shopping mall was abuzz with activity. It was by far that largest shopping centre Lewis has been to, far bigger then the ones back in Oxford. It had four levels of shops, stalls and boutiques; selling everything like clothing, books, food and electronics. Being the weekend, the place was completely packed with eager shoppers looking for the latest summer fashion or simply window shopping. All of Class 1A (except for Shoko and Bakugo) were wearing casual clothing and standing in the middle of it all, trying to stay together and not get swept up in the crowds.
"...stores have to do more than simply cater to body types that differ by quirk," Lewis looked around and spotted Midoryia staring into space, muttering to himself as he drifted further and further away from the others, "They also need designs for all ages from teens to seniors. No wonder this place draws so many customers..."
Lewis sighed, rolled his eyes in amusement as he pushed through the crowds and grabbed onto his rucksack, pulling him back to the others, "Please try not to get lost. This is supposed to be a relaxing shopping trip."
"It's a lot busy then I imagined," Iida said before he turned to the rest of his classmates, "I suggest that we split up and form groups with specific goals. Those who need hiking supplies go in one group, those who need swimsuits go in another and etc. It is more effective then going as one group."
"Yeah, good idea," Kirishima agreed, "Anybody going to the sports shop, I'm going to pick up more training weights."
"I'll go with you," Ojiro said.
One by one, the entire class began to split into groups of two, three or four. Lewis looked around, wondering who he should go with when he felt a hand tap his shoulder.
"Hi sweetie, want to go with me," Hagakure asked cutely.
Lewis was surprised for a few seconds before he nodded, "Yeah su-"
But before he could reply, another voice cut him off.
"Hey Fleetwood. You wanna join me," Jiro asked coolly as she walked up to him.
Again, he was prevented from replying when Mina wrapped her arms around his, "Hey Neko-chan. Let's go shoe shopping together."
"Fleetwood," Momo called out with a friendly wave, "I was wondering if you- oh," she uttered when she noticed the other girls, "Oh dear, it seems we all had the same idea."
"It seems so," Jiro muttered, "So what should we do."
"Well, it's improper to just fight over Fleetwood. So why don't we all go as one group," Momo suggested, "What shops does everybody want to go to?"
"An camping and outdoor activities store," Momo replied.
"I need hiking boots," Mina said.
"Pharmacy," Jiro answered.
"Toy shop," Hagakure finally said.
Momo frowned slightly, "I believe those shops are too far away from each other," she looked over the crowd of shoppers, "and the mall is getting more crowded."
"Well, that's alright," Lewis said, "I can quickly get across the mall and meet all of you at the shops you want to go to. I doubt security will notice with the amount of people about."
"Great," Hagakure said before she slipped her invisible hand into his, "Let's go."
She began to lead him away, but Mina kept a hold on him, "Wait a moment. Why do you get to go first?"
"Err...because I asked first. Isn't that right, sweetie?"
"Well, I mean-" Lewis stammered.
"But you're only going to a toy shop," Jiro pointed out, "Aren't you a little old for that sort of stuff?"
"Hey!" the invisible cried, "I'm picking up games that everybody can play on the bus ride there and I need some help choosing."
Jiro rolled her eyes, "That isn't what I call an essential item," she turned to Lewis, "You need medical supplies and stuff like that. Let's get it out of the way."
Lewis frowned, "I guess-"
"That sounds boring," Mina sighed, "This is supposed to be a fun shopping trip."
"No, it's not. We here to pick up things for our trip," Jiro pointed out.
"Whatever," Mina said before she hugged Lewis' arm even tighter, "After we pick out our shoes, why don't we go to the food court and get some bubble tea. My treat."
Hagakure stomped her foot in anger, "Hey, don't bribe him. Why don't you stop hogging him for five seconds."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hagakure's right," Jiro piped up, "You have been acting more possessive of him lately. He doesn't belong to you."
"I never said he does!"
"Now, now ladies," Momo said calmly, noticing the argument about to break out, "Why don't we let Fleetwood decided. Besides this is his shopping trip as well."
They all turned their eyes on him expectedly, causing him to flinch slightly. Lewis couldn't choose; of course, he's more then happy to go with all of them, but he can't decide on one person if it means disappointing the others.
"Err...well..."
"Ladies, ladies ladies," a new voice broke the tense atmosphere. They all look around and down to see Mineta strutting towards them with a cheesy smile on his face, "There's no need to argue, I've got the solution right here," he closed his eyes arrogantly, "Why don't I'll throw my hat in the ring; that way you have two suitors to fight over. Or even better, Fleetwood takes one of you while I'll take the other three. How does that sound?"
...
...
...
...
"May I suggest a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament to decided the order," Momo said.
"Yep," Jiro, Hagakure and Mina agreed at the same time.
"Anything's better then going with Mineta," Mina commented as they began the tournament.
Mineta's face dropped as they completely ignored him and moved away while Lewis looked on in amusement. The taller boy looked down at him with a small smile.
"Thanks Mineta. How did you know that was going to stop them from arguing?"
The shorter boy growled and began to cry, "Damn you, pretty boy. Why can't I be fought over like a toy?"
"Do you even hear yourself!?"
Endeavour's Hero Agency
Meanwhile, in the office of the number two pro-hero Endeavour, one of the many sidekicks employed at the agency stood rigidly before her bosses desk. She was a young woman in her mid twenties with long, flaming green hair, fair skin, red eyes and her vicious smirk which showed off all of her pointed teeth. She wore light grey mini dress and skirt, black boots with knee-high socks and a mask that covered most of her face. On her belt there is a temperature gauge and a fire extinguisher. Sitting at his desk across from her was the hulking form of Endeavour, whose flames were at a bearable height, indicating that he was in a more calmer mood, much to her relief.
"You called for me, boss?" she asked passionately, eager to hear what the pro-hero had to say.
Endeavour nodded firmly while his hands clasped together on his desk, "Indeed, I do Burnin'. I have a very important mission for you. A mission that only you can do."
Burnin's grin widened in excitement, 'A personal mission from Endeavour! Hell yeah! He must see me as far superior then those other losers,' she thought before she saluted him, "No problem, boss. I can take on anything you throw at me. What is it? You want me to track down a villain? Or infiltrate a gang? Oh! Oh! I'm going to go undercover at Tartarus and interrogate a notorious prisoner!"
"No nothing like that," Endeavour cut her off before he gave her a serious look, "I need you go on holiday with my daughter."
...
...
...
...
Burnin' blinked in surprise; the proud smirk dropping into a confused frown as she processed what he had said.
This was not what she had in mind.
"Sir?" she questioned.
Endeavour responded with a curt nod, "The organisers at I-Island had requested my attendance at their gala they are going to hold over the summer. However, I'm too busy to leave my agency at the moment so I'm planning to give the ticket to Shoko in my place. It will teach her the value of meeting fellow heroes and establishing her dominance over them," he explained to the bewildered sidekick, "Although, Shoko is required to take a plus one with her; which is where you come in, Burnin'. You will be her plus one to I-Island."
Burnin' cocked her her head in puzzlement, "Err...why am I the only person here who could do this mission?"
"The yearly quarter is coming to an end and you still have holiday days you need to use. If you don't take them then you'll lose them and, by law, I will have to pay you for overtime."
"Oh right," the young hero murmured at the rather mundane explanation before her face brightened in realisation, "Oh, I get it. So you want me to be her bodyguard. No probl-"
"Of course I don't!" Endeavour suddenly roared, making her jump in fear, "You think my Shoko is inept at protecting herself! I taught her everything she needs to know!"
"Sorry! Sorry!" Burnin' immediately apologised, "She can protect herself. I wasn't doubting her...you...anybody."
"Good," Endeavour hummed, calming himself down.
"So, what will I'll be doing, sir?"
"You will be evaluating and recoding her actions during her stay at I-Island," he told her.
"So...you want me to spy on her for you?"
"HOW DARE YOU!" Endeavour roared once more, his flames getting dangerously high, "DO YOU THINK I DON'T TRUST MY OWN DAUGHTER!? I ONLY WANT YOU TO KEEP TABS ON WHAT SHE DOES, WHERE SHE GOES AND WHO SHE MEETS AT ALL TIMES AND REPORT BACK TO ME WITH THE RESULTS!"
'That...sure sounds like spying,' Burnin' thought with a sweat drop before she cleared her throat, "Right. I've gotcha boss. You can rely on me. I'll just get my ticket from you and I'll-"
"You will not be getting your ticket from me," Endeavour cut her off as his flames died once more, "Shoko is coming in later and I want her to think that I'm not ordering you to go with her. If she does then she'll get suspicious and will deny the tickets and they'll go to waste and it will make my agency look bad," his eyes narrowed seriously, "You will need to get her to invite you to go with her."
Burnin' felt a migraine forming as soon as he said that, "So, to make things clear, boss," she said, "you want me to get your daughter, a person who I have barely spoken to or interacted with, to invite me on her holiday and to record every little thing she does back to you; without making it look like I'm her bodyguard or rousing her suspicion of your plan...using the few vacation days I have left."
"Yes," Endeavour said, cocking a fiery eyebrow, "will that be a problem?"
"...no sir," she answered, trying her best to not sound miserable as she did so.
Hiking and Camping Shop
The winner of the miniature tournament was Momo and she, being the most sensible girl of the group, wasted no time to go to the nearest camping and hiking shop. Lewis was quite pleased as he needed to get some stuff from there as well. However, while he was able to gather what he needed in only a few minutes, Momo was struggling.
He found her, much to his confusion, down an aisle selling a collection of single-person tents. She was staring intensely at every single one, examining and muttering to herself. He raised an eyebrow and walked up to her.
"Err...Yaoyorozu, what are you doing?" he asked curiously.
Without looking up, she answered, "I'm contemplating which one of these to take," she pointed at one, "You see this one has sufficient insulation then the others," she pointed at the next one, "while this one has lighter tenting poles and less storage areas so it is easier to carry," she pointed at the next one, "while this one is much more comfortable flooring and has a vestibule," she hummed to herself, "perhaps I should sacrifice comfort for practicality. Although, it would be convenient to have a vestibule-"
"I'm sorry," Lewis interrupted, "I don't think I'm following you."
Momo stopped her mumbling and looked up at him, "Oh, of course. My apologies. A vestibule is a compartment in the tent, separate from the main body, where you can store boots or gear you don't want in the main body-"
"No, no. I mean why are you buying a tent? I'm fairly sure everybody is staying in cabins based on what Aizawa has written on the requirement list."
"I know, but what happens if we're going to train by camping in the woods for the night. That sounds like something Mr Aizawa will get us to do," Momo said firmly "I need to be prepared for any occasion that may arise. That's why I composed my own list."
She took out a notepad from out of her pocket and passed it to him. Lewis looked down and flicked through it. He sweat dropped when he saw that page after page was filled with a list of equipment, necessities and other objects. Some of them made sense like sun screen, hiking boots and bug repellent. While others were oddly specific items that were not necessary at all like abseiling gear and a machete used for cutting through thick foliage. It looked like she intended to trek through the Amazon rainforest then go to a summer camp in the countryside.
Lewis gave her an unsure look, "What do you need a 'laser-guided sling shot' for?"
"I researched that it was effective for deterring bears from approaching your campsit-" she stopped mid-sentence as she realised what she was saying and bowed her head in depression, "I am overthinking again, aren't I?"
"A little."
Momo sighed sadly, "Have I really leaned nothing? And I was going to buy one of each item for everybody in class as well. How can I be so foolish?" she muttered as she bowed her head.
She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder and blushed slightly at Lewis' comforting smile, "Hey, it's fine. Things like this takes time. Besides you've got me and the rest of the class to rely on, just as much as we rely on you. Why don't we go over the list once again and take out all the...unnecessary items."
Momo looked away a little shyly, "I...suppose we can."
"Good," Lewis said with a little chuckle, "Were you really going to buy one of each item for everybody in class."
"Yes, of course. I can't have my classmates issuing out on anything essential."
Lewis chuckled lightly, "That's really sweet of you. Thank you."
Momo blushed again and looked away to hide the happy smile spreading across her face.
A while later and it was Jiro's turn and they were looking through a pharmacy. Jiro was searching for sunscreen while Lewis was picking up some supplies to replenish his First Aid Kit. He hummed happily to himself as he picked out an assortment of bandages and antiseptic cream while Jiro looked over at him curiously.
"I don't think I've ever seen anybody so happy picking up medical supplies," she commented.
Lewis gave her a bashful smile, "Well, Aizawa mentioned that training is going to be really intense so I have to be ready to step in at any time. I can't wait!"
"You make it sound like you want us to get injured," she said with a sweat drop.
"What? Oh no, no, no," he immediately denied, now hearing how bad that sounded, "It's just that ever since I got in U.A, I feel like it's all about fighting villains and doing simulations. It's just nice to do the reason why I wanted to become a hero in the first place."
Jiro gave him a small smile, "I get you. But did it never occur to you to become a doctor or a surgeon."
Lewis shrugged, "It did, but I think I prefer being a hero," he said with a bright smile before his face turned slightly grey as he looked down at the floor, "besides I've seen enough medical programmes to know that I'm not cut out for the difficult stuff."
"Fair...enough," Jiro uttered in slight concern at his rather grim features.
Lewis straightened himself up, "I'm going to get some conditioner. I'll be right back."
Jiro watched him leave and giggled to herself.
"You two make a lovely couple."
She jumped in surprise when somebody spoke behind her and turned around to see one of the employees of the shop, looking down at her with a friendly smile. She was an pretty woman in her late twenties with long blond hair, fair skin and brown eyes. Her face was covered in a layer of make-up including lipstick, eyeshadow, blusher and her fingernails were painted as well. She also wore a flowery perfume so powerful that it stung Jiro's nose and made her wince a little.
"So how long have you been dating, hmm?" the woman who, according to her name tag, was called Chiyo, "A year? A month? Or have you just recently got together?"
"W-what?" Jiro stammered, "No, we're not dating. He's just my classmate."
Chiyo's eyes lit up, "Oho, so you're at that stage, huh? Oh, how sweet. In my opinion, you should snag him now before any other girl can get a chance."
Jiro blushed at that, "I'm not at any stage. We're just friends, that's all."
"Well, the secret to attracting any man is how you present yourself..."
"You've completely ignored me!"
"...Tell me..." Chiyo continued, "...what's your daily skin routine?"
Jiro gave her an incredulous look, "I...use moisturiser...sometimes."
Chiyo blinked her long lashed at her in surprise, "Just moisturiser. How often?"
"Whenever I have time in the morning. If I'm late for school or can't be bothered then I-"
"Oh good gracious!" the employee dramatically cried, "Good thing I've found you. I'm going to make you into a total knockout."
Jiro cringed slightly and took a step back, "Thanks, but I don't think make up is my thing-"
Follow me," the employee said urgently before grabbing her wrist and dragging her through the shop.
"Hey!" Jiro shouted in protest, but they was little she could do. She was unusually strong.
She finally led her to the cosmetics aisle of the pharmacy to a small booth and was practically shoved into a chair.
"Let's see," Chiyo hummed as retrieved a make-up kit from behind the booth and opening it up, "Let's start with your fingernails, shall we. I sense you're one of those punk rocker chicks, right?"
"Well, I mean..."
"Good. I think this navy blue should suit you," she interrupted once again, before she grabbed her hand and placed it on the booth's table, "Once you're done, you can totally impress your crush, all thanks to me."
"I'm fairly sure you're only doing this so you get me to buy your products," Jiro muttered as she reluctantly let the employee paint her nail, 'I hope this washes off easily,' she thought.
Chiyo ignored once more and continued painting her nails. After a few minutes, she was done.
"There you are!" the employee declared, "That looks totally gorgeous on you."
Jiro, who had been miserably looking at everything but her, looked down at her hands and her eyes widened slightly, "Huh, that's not half bad," she admitted as she admired her nails, "It looks pretty cool. I can't believe I've never done this before."
"See, I told you," Chiyo giggled with a bright smile.
A small smile crept onto Jiro's face, 'Maybe, she's not so bad, after all. Just a little excitable."
Chiyo giggled once again before her face became serious, "Now let's move onto the next stage."
"N-next stage?" Jiro uttered, the smile dropping from her face.
BANG!
Jiro jumped in surprise as Chiyo slammed an even larger make-up kit onto the booth to which she began pulling an assortment of tools and other products.
"Yes, now we have to work on those eyes off you. They're very pretty, but they just need to be more pronounced. I've just got the eyeliner and mascara to help you achieve that. I know you're going to adore it. Then we're going to work on your complexion, organise your skin routine, and maybe even dye your hair a little. Because I like you, I'll give you a 20% discount on all my lipstick range. How does that sou-"
She looked up from her kit, but stopped when she noticed that Jiro was no longer in her seat. She looked around in confusion before frowning slightly.
"Strange. Why would she run from a great deal?"
Meanwhile, the U.A student was crouched behind an aisle, trying to keep hidden from the mad woman. After a few seconds, she sighed in relief.
"Thank god I got out of there while I still can," she muttered.
"Jiro?"
She yelped in surprise and turned around to see Lewis looking down at her curiously.
"Is everything alright? You look...distressed," he asked in concern.
She cleared her throat and straightened herself out, before she began twirling one of her earphone jacks around her finger, "I'm fine. I was actually looking for you. You've been a while."
Lewis hummed at the answer before he noticed something, "Jiro did you have your nails painted?"
Her eyes widened as she looked down at her hand, "Err...well..."
'She seems shy about it. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up,' Lewis thought, noticing how awkward she looked, 'I should compliment them. I don't want to make her think I'm interrogating her,' he decided before he cleared his throat, "They look...really good. It suits you."
Jiro, who was trying to formulate a single sentence, looked up at him in shock, "You think so?"
"Yeah. Sorry, I've just never seen your fingernails painted before."
"Well...make-up is not really my style," she muttered.
Fearing that he offended her, Lewis immediately raised his hands in defence, "That's alright. I really like your style. You're...really cool...no matter what you do."
Jiro blushed heavily at that and turned her face away, "Thanks...that means a lot to me," she told him before she turned away from him, "I think we should go pay for our stuff."
"Right. Yes," Lewis agreed as they began to walk towards the checkout on the other side of the shop.
Secretly, the purple-haired girl glanced up Lewis; a small smile on her lips, 'You're pretty cool yourself, Fleetwood,' she thought.
She made a mental note to come back and get the jar of nail polish.
Later on, Lewis and Mina were heading out of the shoe store with a couple of bags each. If he had to guess, Mina couldn't be happier. She was practically skipping besides him as they walked down the corridor.
"I can't believe we got that deal," she cheered, "Not only are those boots super cute, but they're practical. I can't wait to pick out the clothes for me to wear with them."
Lewis chuckled, "They did look good on you. Thanks for choosing out something for me. You have a better sense of style then I do."
"I've just got years of experience, that's all," she said before she spotted a booth down the corridor, "Aw, no way. It's one of those photo booths. How retro! Let's go in."
"Oh, but I need to meet Hagakure," Lewis reminded as she led him to the booth by the arm.
"It'll only take a second. Come on," she giggled cutely as they got in.
Mina put in the money, closed the curtain and pressed the right buttons for the system to start. Once she was done, she instantly wrapped her arm around his and smiled broadly.
"Ready?" she asked as the countdown appeared on the screen, "Smile."
Lewis smiled awkwardly for the camera, feeling a little bit flustered for being in such a small booth with Mina by his side. As soon as the countdown reached zero, the camera in front of them flashed brightly. Lewis and Mina were taken back by this and blinked a few times in order to see again.
"Is it me or is the flash a bit too powerful?" Lewis asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"It must be really old or something," Mina said before she looked up at the screen and seeing the countdown, "Oh, get ready for the second one."
They posed again and once more the flash was so bright that it blinded them for a second or two. By the third photo, the two had gotten use to the flash and were less bothered by it. The fourth and final photo was coming up and Lewis prepared himself for the flash one more.
3...
2...
1...
...and then camera flashed once again.
But something happened. For a split second, as soon as the camera took the photo, he felt something press against his left cheek. It was a soft sensation and it may his cheek feel warm. It sent shivers down his spine and goose bumps appeared on his arms. It was such a brilliant feeling that Lewis was left spellbound for a few seconds as he tried to process what happened. There was no denying what it was; he was sure of it.
Mina Ashido had kissed him.
He turned down to look at her in surprise to see if there was any evidence to what she did. Although, much to his confusion, Mina was busily rubbing her eyes from the bright flash. Her cheeks were not blushing and she was not looking up at him. She was not even standing on her toes in order to reach him. After a few seconds of mindless staring, he saw finally recover and look up at him with an amused smile.
"Sorry about that. That last one surprised me."
Lewis blinked absently at her before he found his voice, "W-what for?"
"Oh, I jumped and hit you with one of my horns," she explained, much to his shock, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
His eyes glanced up to the horns on her head in disbelief, 'I mean...it is possible,' he thought before he answered, "Err...no. You just grazed my cheek."
"Whoops! Sorry," she said as she reached up and rubbed his cheek to sooth any pain she caused, "Alright, you can go now. Don't keep Toru waiting/"
It took a moment to realise what she said, but, as soon as he did, his eyes widened, "Oh right, yeah," they got out of the booth and he began walking away in a slight daze, "Thanks Mina. See you later."
"Bye!" she called back with a friendly wave.
Lewis walked down the corridor and made his way through the crowds. His hand reached up to his cheek and touched the area before he shook his head.
'How stupid of me. Of course, it was her horn. Why on Earth would she kiss me,' he thought, 'Why did it feel so good, though?'
Mina watched him leave through the crowds before turning back to the photo booth. Eventually, the photos popped out of the slot in the side of the machine and she instantly took them and looked over to the last one in the film. She smiled when she saw the photo of her clearly kissing an unsuspecting Lewis on the cheek, feeling glad that she was able to not only time it right, but get away with it. She slipped the photos into her purse and walked away with a purple blush on her face and a tingling sensation on her lips.
Lewis reappeared not too far away from the entrance to the toy shop where he was supposed to meet Hagakure. He looked around for any sight of her; eventually finding her not too far away down the corridor at a claw machine. Judging by how she was bent over the controls, her invisible face almost pressed up against the glass, she was using all her concentration in order to win a giraffe stuffed toy.
"Come on, come on," she muttered to herself as she watched the claw descended upon the giraffe before it tightened its fingers around its neck. Once the claw ascended again, with the stuffed toy with it grasp, Hagakure jumped and pumped her fists in the air victoriously, "Yes!"
The claw carried the toy over to the deposit chute and dropped it in...and then it got stuck.
"No! Damn it!" Hagakure sighed in frustration.
However, before her eyes, she saw the giraffe toy shift slightly as if something was pulling on it down into the chute. It moved again and again until it finally dislodged itself and fell into the chute. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Lewis holding up the toy for her with a bright smile.
"Technically you won it so here you go," he said offering it to her.
Hagakure squealed in delight as she accepted the toy and hugged it to her chest, "It's so cute and soft. Thank you so much."
"No problem," he told her as they began walking towards the shop, "I didn't know you liked stuffed toys."
"Yeah, I've been collecting them since I was young. I know. It's a little immature," she giggled.
"I guess to some people, but if you like it then there's no harm," he told her honestly, "besides, I think it's…umm…kind of cute."
Hagakure giggled, "Aww thanks. That's-"
Lewis' suddenly reached out in front of Hagakure, making her jump at the action, and stopped the shopping bag that was about to hit her face. The owner of the bag, a man who was significantly taller then either of them, looked down in annoyance at having his possessions grabbed as he walked by.
"Hey, what are you-"
"Err…sorry," Lewis apologised, before pointing at Hagakure, "but you were about to hit my friend in the face."
The taller man looked down and squinted his eyes at where he was pointing before he eyes widened when he spotted the floating clothing.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there," he apologised.
"It's fine," she said, waving her hand dismissively, "It's pretty packed I here, so I understand."
The man apologised once again before taking his leave, muttering to himself how he should be more careful. Lewis waved goodbye to him and was a of to continue walking to the toy shop when Hagakure grabbed onto his sleeve.
"Is something wrong?" he asked in worry, looking down at where he face should be.
"Well, no," she shyly said, "It's just that…err…thanks."
Lewis frowned slightly, "No problem, I just saw the bag coming and I-"
"No, not that," she interrupted, "just thanks for looking out for me and everything. I know you and other guys in class have to pay more attention when I'm around. Usually people would just run into me or step on my foot or just ignore me like that vendor Sports Festival. I know it's not there fault, with me being invisible, but it's still frustrating. I try to be as lively and loud as I can because that's the only way people notice me. So I'm grateful you guys are taking extra special care of me," she told him as she rubbed the back of head anxiously, "It must be annoying being around me, huh? I must be quite a burden." she joked with a small giggle.
Lewis blinked in shock before he gave her a serious look," Hagakure, as far as I know, the class and I have not been given you any special treatment of you just because of your quirk," he told her, making her step back surprise, "sure, at first, we had to be careful because we weren't used to you yet. But now I don't even notice you being invisible. I interact with you like I would with anybody else. You're part of the class and our friend; we just see you as…well you. And your certainly not a burden nor annoying, so please don't think like that."
Hagakure was about to protest when she noticed something for the first time in her life. Usually, when people talked to her, they attempt to look at her face but they never quite do it. Some of them go to high and look at her forehead; others go too low and stare at her chin and others, the worst sort of people, just look down at her clothes because that's they only thing they see. This was probably the first time anybody has actually make eye contact with her.
Complete eye contact; as if he could actually see her.
It was a little unnerving for her at first, but it didn't take her long to get used to it and begin to like it. In fact, she loved it. She had never experienced anything like this before and it made her shiver in happiness.
'Has…has he always done this?' she thought to herself as she began to blush.
Lewis gave her a smile that almost made her melt where she stood and squeeze the stuffed toy tighter, "Are you feeling better?"
"Um...yeah, thanks," she said before they began walking together again. She glanced up at him and smiled slyly, "Hey, Fleetwood. Do you mind calling me Toru from now on. You know, since you call Mina by her first name."
"Oh really, are you sure?"
Toru giggled and poked his shoulder teasingly, "What? You can carry a naked girl, but you get shy calling me by my first name."
Lewis was about to defend himself when the words got caught in his mouth. His head snapped to her in alarm.
"Wait what? When did I do that?"
Toru gave him a curious look, "Remember the training we did with the other students and everybody turned into a zombies you carried me when I sprained my leg."
Lewis stared at her for a few seconds before he laughed, "Oh I see. That's funny," he said much to her confusion, "I mean, I get why everybody would assume that, but it's stupid really. Why would you go around completely naked. By the way, I would quite like to see the suit you wear. Did you have get it personally made by a company or is it woven from your hair, because I know somebody who has his suit made out of his hair and-"
"A suit," Toru uttered as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Huh, that's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?"
Lewis froze in place as the wheels in his head began to turn, "You do...wear an invisible suit as your hero costume...right?"
"If I did, do you think my shoes and gloves would be invisible as well," she pointed out.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Lewis felt his entire world fall down around him as he finally realised, "Oh...you don't wear a hero costume," he uttered as Toru nodded slowly. Suddenly Lewis grabbed the sides of head in panic, "Wait! So all this time! You-" he yelled.
Toru laughed at his reaction, "Yep! Did you really not know? Wow, how embarrassing."
Lewis stumbled backwards and sat down on a nearby bench, "Oh my goodness! How did I not know? But what happens if it rains? All this time you could have been injured. You're not wearing any sort of protection. Oh God, I did carry you. What if I touched inappropriately? You can't be completely naked there are so many-" he mumbled to himself, causing Toru to sweat drop.
"I have no idea what you're saying," she said, "but please try to calm down."
Suddenly, as Lewis was in mid-crisis mode, a siren rang throughout the whole mall, making everybody stop and look around and wondered what is going on.
"Attention customers," a serious sounding voice called out throughout the tannoy, "a villain has been spotted in the area. Please calmly vacate the nearest exit. Thank you."
Lewis broke away from his panic and looked up, watching everybody make their way to the exits, "Huh? There was a villain here."
"I didn't notice anything," Toru added, "it must have been a small altercation or something. But why would they evacuate the entire mall."
"I don't know. Let's leave and find the rest of the class. For some reason, I feel like something bad has happened," Lewis said before he and Toru followed the crowd of people to the exit.
Once they were out, they searched everywhere for their friends amongst the newly evacuated people with little success. Lewis frowned in concern when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and found that Shoko was calling him.
"Shoko's calling me," he informed, "sorry it could be important."
"That's fine," she replied, "I was thinking of splitting up and covering more ground."
"Good idea. See you in a while," he said, waving to her as she jogged away.
Once she had left, Lewis answered the call as he walked to nearby bench and sat down, "Hello?"
Endeavour's Hero Agency
A Few Minutes Earlier
Burnin' wore her usual challenging smirk as she made her way across the busy sidekicks' office. It had been a long day for her. On top of Endeavour giving her seemingly impossible task, she had to break up an altercation at a local supermarket, arrest some punks graffitiing and doing a ton of paper work. Despite all of this, Burnin' would never admit she was tired. Being tired was for wimps, anyway.
She walked up to her colleague's desk and sat on the edge of it. Her colleague, a slim man with bandages covering his entire head wearing a dark red flack jacket and a black short sleeved shirt, looked up from his computer at her through his bandages and frowned disapprovingly.
"I really wish you stop sitting on my desk. Just pull up a chair," he muttered.
Burnin' shrugged, "Nah, more effort. Have you got the Atari case file, Kido? I need to check somethin'."
"You're sitting on it," he muttered before looking down at his computer screen.
The female sidekick looked down and pulled the file out from under her, "Nice. After this, I'm going to go out on patrol aga..."
Ding!
Burnin' looked up at the sound of the elevator from across the room. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Shoko step out and make away across the office towards Endeavour's office. The student wore the same stony expression as she did when she interned a few months ago. She barely spoke a word to her then, so didn't have high hopes of succeeding now.
"Crap," Burnin' muttered as she jumped off the desk and waited for Shoko to walk by. Once she was close enough, she shot her her signature smirk, "Hey Todoroki. What's up? Haven't seen you in a while."
Shoko stopped next to her, "Hello. I guess it has been a while."
"Great," Burnin' said.
"Yes," Shoko plainly replied.
...
...
...
...
"So...err...how's school treating ya?"
"It's fine."
...
...
...
...
"Have you...err...get a new haircut or something?" Burnin' asked desperately, "It looks different."
"No. This is what it usually looks like," Shoko simply said, "Is Endeavour in? I've been ordered to come here."
Burnin' sighed and pointed at the door to her boss' office, "Yeah, he's in."
"Thank you," she simply said before, walking away.
As soon as entered the office, Burnin' bowed her head in disappointment, while Kido just gave her a curious look.
"What...was that all about?" he asked.
Burnin' sighed, "Was that awkward? That felt awkward?"
"It certainly looked awkward from where I'm sitting."
Burnin' proceeded to explain to Kido what their boss had ordered her to do; from making it look like Endeavour wasn't forcing her to have a bodyguard to trying to convince Shoko to invite her. At the end of it, the bandaged sidekick could only laugh at her situation.
"It ain't funny!" the flame haired woman yelled, "If I can't follow a direct order from the boss then can I even call myself a hero? My pride is at stake."
Kido eventually calm down and shook his head at her, "I can't help it. It's such a ridiculous task. How on earth are you going to carry it out?"
"The boss said that she the plus one is mandatory and she's likely to pick the most capable person she sees; like me," she said pointing to herself, causing Kido to roll his eyes, "All I need to do is show that I'm-" she stopped when, out of the corner of her eye, the door to Endeavour's office opened and Shoko stepped out. She leaned of the desk, trying to look natural as possible for when she walks past, "Oh yeah, Paris sounds nice. I'm glad you had a good time there."
"Huh? What are you talking ab-" Kido said before Burnin' cut him off.
"I, personally, would go somewhere more tropical like an island somewhere," she loudly said as Shoko approached them, "Oh how I wish I was on holiday right now. I have some time off in a few days, but I can't think of anywhere I can go," she turned to Shoko as she walked past with a grin, "Hey, Todoroki do you know anyway that-"
However before she could finish, Shoko had taken her phone out of her pocket and began to dial in a number, completely ignoring Burnin'. The sidekick stared blankly as her boss' daughter pressed the phone to her ear and stepped into the elevator.
"Hello Fleetwood," she heard her say as the doors slid shut, "Would you like to go to I-Island with me?"
Burnin' stared in disbelief at the elevator, her eye twitching in irritation. Kido reached up and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"I think more is at stake then your pride, Burnin'."
Outside Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall
"Pardon me?" Lewis asked as he sat on the bench.
"Would you like to go to I-Island with me?" Shoko repeated on the other end, "Oh, right sorry. There's an etiquette I need to follow. Hello, how are you?"
Lewis smiled slightly in amusement, "I'm perfectly fine, thank you. Although, our shopping trip was cut short," he said, looking over the crowd, "A villain has been spotted and we needed to evacuate."
"Oh," Shoko uttered in surprise, "Are you alright? You didn't run into this villain, right?"
"No, I'm fine. Didn't see a thing."
"I see. Then Midoryia must be involved somehow. Whenever there's trouble, it's either you or him...or both."
Lewis sweat dropped at that, "I guess so. We're trying to find Midoryia now" he explained, earning a small hum from the stoic girl, "Anyway, what were you saying about I-Island?" he asked before he remembered his own letter, "Did you get a letter as well? For being a runner-up in the Sports Festival?"
"No," she answered plainly, "My father was offered tickets for some sort of event. I thought he was going ask me to be his plus one and was about to set the tickets on fire...so I was quite surprised when he gave them to me. So, would you like to go? You don't have to if you don't want to."
Lewis rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Thank you so much. Was there nobody else you wanted to invite?"
"Well, Burnin', one of my father's sidekicks, happen to mention that she wanted a holiday...but I didn't want to bother her by asking her to come to I-Island. She should enjoy her holiday by going somewhere she wants to go to."
Lewis frowned in suspicion, "Shoko are you sure she wasn't hinting that she wanted to be your plus one? It seemed a little convenient that she says that."
He heard her pause for a few seconds and Lewis could tell she was thinking it over in her head.
...
...
...
"No, I don't think so," she eventually answered, "I think I would have noticed."
Lewis smiled, "Great. You're getting really good at social interactions. I'm proud of you," he said, unknowingly making Shoko smile a little, "Anyway, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can. I was about to talk to you about this yesterday, but I completely forgot."
"Right. You mentioned you received a letter."
Lewis proceeded to tell her about the letter I-Island supposedly had sent him; he told her everything from the presentation to how oddly vague it was.
"That is...unusual," Shoko said, "Do you think it's a trap or some sort."
"It doesn't look like a trap and I've checked everywhere I can to make sure it's real. But I don't know, I feel like something is strange about it."
He heard her hum thoughtfully on the other end, "Can you tell me the time of your arrival and where you are landing?" she requested and he proceeded to do so, "I'm going to get my father to change our landing time and day to the one in your letter while you'll accept the invitation. If you travel with me and then immediately head to the terminal you're supposed to meet the organisers, then you'll have me to back you up just in case it is a trap. I'm sure they'll understand."
Lewis eyebrows raised at that, "You'll do that for me."
"Of course. It also means you still get to be my plus one. Have you even flown in a private jet before?"
"Nope and I'm really excited now," he said before he spotted some of his classmates not too far away, "Oh, I've spotted our class. Thank you Shoko. That's really kind of you."
"I was..." she seemed like she was about to say something, but stopped herself, "...it's no problem. Goodbye Fleetwood."
"Bye," he said before he ended the call and jogged towards his classmates, feeling like a weight have been lifted from his shoulders.
Now, no matter happens, he can still enjoy the wonders of I-Island.
Unknown location
Back in the darkened room, the man was looking over some blueprints for some sort of vault when he saw an email alert pop on his screen. He clicked on his inbox tabbed and read the email that was sent to him. A wicked smirk appeared on his face as soon as he finished before he got on his phone and began to type a text message.
'He's accepted it. Should arrive at the right time and place.'
He sent the message and after a few seconds he got a reply.
'Perfect. Let's start the preparations for when he arrives. We'll then take him back to the HQ ready for Plan B.'
The man grunted in approval before he packed up his items as he left the room. He needed to ready the rest of the gang and make sure everything is in place for his landing.
The difficult part was over, they had managed to convince him to come to the I-Island. Now all was left was to kidnap Lewis Fleetwood without raising any suspicion.
Thank you for reading. A nice little chapter before we get into the Two Heroes arc.
Lewis and Shoko are going to I-Island, but who are the mysterious people and what do they want with Lewis.
Find out next time :)
Omake
"See," Hagakure said, showing Lewis the cover page of issue 368 of 'My Hero Academia', "I've been naked this whole time. Can't believe you haven't noticed."
Lewis held his hands over his eyes and turned away in embarrassment, "I get it! I get it! Just please stop showing me."