Feyblue

Midnight Illusion Agency: An Urban Fantasy RP

Yo, Vita! How's it going?

This looks like a lot of fun, so I think I'll toss my hat in the ring for this one as well. If you don't mind - and assuming everyone else isn't already doing the same - I think I'll end up playing a Youkai - a Jorogumo, to be specific.

Looking forward to it~

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

Fumika, Haruka, Jett and Kenichi

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Fumika nodded repeatedly, returning each of Yoshida’s rather enthusiastic statements about the show with a very authoritative nod of affirmation. Her expression was still as serious as ever, but there was something about the way she looked, as if her bright blue eyes were sparkling in a way they usually didn’t. As he jumped energetically from one thing to the next, she made an admirable effort to keep pace - not just mentally, but physically as well, mimicking each pose he made in turn, and giving a rather sympathetic wince as he overexerted himself. Immediately, she dropped the little mirror game, and before she’d quite realized it herself, she had already taken two steps closer to him, her hand half-raised, uncertain whether it would be alright to reach out to him any further.

“...Are you-” She began, but trailed off into silence as he grinned and just kept talking, passing over his momentary slip-up as if it was nothing. Perhaps she should have allowed this to convince her that he really was fine, that nothing was wrong and everything was back to normal. And yet, she couldn’t do that. He’d been hurt somehow, and he wouldn’t - no, “couldn’t” - tell her why. And now he was trying to act like it hadn’t happened at all. Was it wrong of her to worry?

The clear look of concern in Fumika's eyes had momentarily shocked Kenichi. Not because he thought she was uncaring at all, but to some degree that was part of it--rather, it seemed a very intense and real emotion from the girl. Not just something she was imitating. He knew she had real emotions, but at this point he was more used to reading them in her hair's slight movements than in her face. For her to show something of her own...and specifically for him...

She stepped back, her hand dropping back to her side. As usual, she couldn’t find the answer. All she could do was listen and observe. Yoshida was happy with this, right? They might have been friends, but that didn’t give her any right to stick her nose into his private business and make a nuisance of herself. If Yoshida was satisfied, she would just have to be satisfied with this much as well.

So, she listened patiently in silence as he continued. She didn’t really have much experience with foreign movies and TV shows, so she took his word for it, but something he said stuck out to her, words immediately joining with an all-too-familiar question.

“‘What makes a Hero...’ I see. That is important. Haruka taught me that first.” She began by seemingly parroting him, but then shook her head, a slight smile crossing her face for just a moment as she answered cryptically. No, that wasn’t quite how she remembered the question going.

Then she showed Kenichi a new imitation, but he didn't quite know who it was she was imitating. And there was something different about this one too--because anyone could do an imitation. They might not be great at it, but anyone could memorize a line or a pose. This, however, was something deeper.

In other words, anyone could read a quote off a page or recite it from memory. Only someone who internalized it could make it part of their life, could live it. Or try to do so. And Fumika had done that with whatever this was. With whoever had given this to her. So this--

Unexpectedly, Fumika raised a hand once more before her face, sweeping it dramatically in front of her as she spoke with an energy and a power that was not her own, her voice echoing suddenly in the empty common room.

“Then, I ask of you: what is a Hero?”

She stared seriously at Yoshida, hand outstretched as if beckoning him, entirely still as if frozen in time, save for that single strand of hair atop her head that continued to wobble excitedly back and forth. Her faintly luminescent gaze was utterly fixed on his face, as if expectant of something. And yet, when the answer to her question came, it wasn’t from herself or from Yoshida, but rather...

--so this could only be from one person.

He started to reach out his own hand to her, just like she had done...although in his case it was almost a matter of being overcome by the sheer ~cool~ of the situation. But just then--

“A sword of justice against the wicked!” The bombastic, rougher, more tomboyish voice that answered her question in equally melodramatic form was unmistakable. Fumika’s gaze immediately swerved to the left, focusing on the side-door of the dorm’s common room, which swung quietly closed behind two figures. The shorter of the two was currently nudging the taller boy whose arm she was leaning against with a prodding elbow. “Oi, she stole my part and now we’re all out of order, so you get the third line. C’mon, hurry it up before you ruin my entrance.”

When they walked in and Jett heard the upbeat question that came from Fumika’s mouth he closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. Haruka mentioned teaching Fumika their ...well...her thing. But he kinda wished it wasn’t true. But soon Haruka pipped up even more upon hearing her favorite saying.

While he was enjoying Haruka leaning on him, he took the sharp elbow in stride. Wincing as only to the fact he knew what was coming up. He looked directly at Haruka as she quickly started with the second line with a blank look. After all these years… she was still into this? But her eyes had that sparkle again in them like they did before.

He sighed and closed his eyes upon her ‘request’ deciding to indulge her and while puffing his chest up half heartedly a flush of red come up on his cheeks as he was about to do this infront of Kenichi and Fumika. His cred was going to soon plummet after this. Kenichi, meanwhile, dropped his jaw as he clapped both hands to his cheeks. Then he recognized a third person, who added their own line...

”A...shield that...doesn’t falter?" He said in a voice just slightly over monotone as if he thought he knew the line but suddenly got confused And blanked the rest of it. His face only growing more red as He looked to Haruka with a look of ‘why do you do this to me…’

"OH MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Kenichi's hands dragged down his face like he was going to rip his own cheeks off. He turned to Fumika with childlike, glittering eyes. "THAT'S SO COOL YOU WERE TOTALLY IN SYNC EVEN THOUGH THEY MUST HAVE BEEN HAVING A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONVERSATION OR SOMETHING." Then he turned towards Haruka with the same look, his fists bobbing rapidly up and down as he practically bounced in place with budding energy. "HARUKA-SAN DO YOU GUYS DO THAT EVERY TIME YOU SEE EACH OTHER!? BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T YOU NEED TO!" And then he turned towards Jett, and all the energy went away. Shaking his head, he put a reassuring--if bandaged--hand on the teleporter's shoulder. He had to noticeably reach to do so but he put a great deal of effort into trying to ignore his own shortness.

"But Jett-kun, bro, the line is great but the delivery friggin' TANKED. It's gotta be more like...Well, I ain't good enough with words so I'll just show ya!"

Jett looked at the guy blankly… these two would get along Waaaaaay to well…. He shrugged off his arm and said “To be honest… It wasn’t even my line….” He said trying to make up a slight excuse under his breath.

He took a shallow breath, just enough to generate enough wind that his hair went Super-Saiyan-ish...Then he leaped up a full meter, doing a backflip onto the stair railing in a three-point crouch, and coming up with an upraised fist that punched out as if at an imaginary camera somewhere beyond the other three's shoulders.

"A FIST, THAT BREAKS THROUGH THE LIMIT!"

He stood there for a moment, exhaling through his nostrils to keep that dramatic breeze going...and then he grimaced again, more noticeably this time...and a few spots of blood started to well up under the bandages on his clenched hand. He quickly hid it, pretending that the motion was part of a turn away from the others as he--much more gingerly--climbed down the stairs the normal way.

"Ah, but I guess my finish needs work too, heh." he said, looking up with a sheepish grin. Then he blinked and seemed to return to normal, or whatever passed for normal with Kenichi. "Sorry guys, got overexcited there." He nodded to Haruka, "The name's Yoshida Kenichi." Then his gaze took her and Jett in equally, the memory of the last time he'd seen them talking tickling at his mind but quickly being washed away by the present moment. "Me and Motome-chan were just catchin' up! We'd just been talking about Kamen Rider when y'all walked in."

Haruka blinked, watching first in slight surprise and confusion - the blue-haired boy had, after all, recognized and addressed her immediately, despite the fact that they hadn’t really spoken during her prior visit. Of course, this wasn’t exactly hard to explain. Fumika had mentioned this particular boy, Yoshida Kenichi, several times before, and she had a feeling that she’d probably also told him about her. While she was glad to thus get introductions out of the way, that reputation of hers was still…

However, these thoughts were very quickly sidetracked as, unexpectedly, the boy not only jumped on board with their routine, he… added his own part? Haruka gave an enthusiastic nod, prodding the tomato-faced teleporter beside her once more in the ribs. Really, it was just too adorable how seriously he tried to take himself. Sure, this was, if you looked at it rationally, little more than a game of make believe she’d played as a kid… But really, what was so wrong with that? Fumika enjoyed it. That was enough for her, even without the rare treat of getting her childhood friend into a fuss. But seeing him to be the one to break for once? Ah, revenge was sweet, indeed.

“See?” She said with a smug grin. “He gets it. And seriously? You didn’t even keep the lines straight. The third line’s ‘A shield to protect the innocent.’ Then there’s all the stuff about not givin’ up at the end. You can’t just jump straight to the finish, or you’ll throw off everyone’s coordination!” She nodded several times to herself. “Mm-hm, mm-hm,” She declared theatrically, her posture going rigid as she did her best to waddle on her shaky plastic leg away from Jett such that she could get a better position, like a drill sergeant overseeing her regiment. “Even if we’re thrown out of order by our start, it’s important to be able to adapt to the situation! Agent Fumi, Yoshida-kun, you both pass with high marks! Squadron Vice-Commander Jett, you could stand to learn a lot from their shining example of dedication and enthusiasm!”

"Ha! If only we actually got graded on stuff like that in class." Kenichi crossed his arms--partially as he calmed down as the conversation became something more familiar, and partially to hide his bleeding hand. "Maybe then I wouldn't have to worry about flunking the academic parts." As he watched her interact with the others, Kenichi couldn't help but find himself curious. Both Fumika and Jett had known Haruka for a long time, while he had only known the two of them for a much shorter one. He knew he would probably be the odd one out in this conversation, and had to admit he coveted their familiarity. After all, his brand new school life had been thrown all out of whack--days that he should have spent making new friends, finding his place among this class of all-new faces and personalities, had instead been spent on a dark, lonely mountain...wrapped in chains...Don't think about it.

She gave a rather over-the-top laugh before slowly dropping the act and scratching the back of her head. “Hmm… now that I think about it, though, this is getting pretty difficult to keep track of. I mean, I guess I added Fumi to the lineup without your permission, Jett, so I can’t really complain about her bringing in a friend, but still… Working in more lines’ll be hard…” She narrowed her eyes as if scrutinizing the blue-haired boy closely. ”And I can’t help but feel like you’re tryin’ to set yourself up as competition for the Red Ranger spot…”

"Red Ranger? Nah." Kenichi shook his head, his grin growing somewhat softer and more resigned. "In a battle shonen, I'd totally be the Main Character! But for a sentai team? I'd have to be the Big Guy. The one that hits the hardest but is the dumbest, something like that." He waved the hand that wasn't bleeding with a nonchalant attitude towards his own self-depreciation. "I don't think I've got the chops for leadership."

Haruka raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. “Eh, whatever, we can iron out the details later. Although it seems like Fumi’s already told you plenty about me, the name’s Harukaze Haruka. It’s fine to call me whatever, though.”

Jett raised a finger and quickly added as he leaned in with a smirk.“There's also Bunny, and rabbit….” His smirk growing as he looked at Haruka’s rapidly reddening face and widening eyes.

“H-huuuh?! I thought I told you not-” For just a moment, her exclamation of surprise and stammering reply sounded surprisingly girly, but just as quickly, this momentarily uncharacteristic “softness” of tone was immediately replaced by a more familiar one as she quite pointedly cleared her throat. “A-and who the hell are you calling ‘bunny?’ Like I need some lame, cutesy nickname like that!” She retorted angrily, crossing her arms and turning up her chin as if refusing to even look at him… which, however, she did not two seconds later, giving him a scathing sidelong glare.

As the two bickered back and forth, Kenichi watched with an expression that begged for popcorn. Although he had worried about not connecting with the three on the same level, he now found himself beginning to pick up more and more on the subtleties between them. Haruka was definitely a "Red Ranger," but Jett didn't seem to buy the act--though Kenichi didn't think it was a falsehood at all--and his teasing seemed to purposefully call her out. Or rather...he was intentionally poking holes in that image. Not in a mean way, but still...Nonetheless, it didn't seem like Haruka was going to let whatever this other side of herself was show without a fight. And it might get nasty.

Jett shrugged seemingly unfazed by her angry tone and glare. Tempted to flick her pigtails once again but he didn’t. He thought her reaction was cute, and this only egged him on, gaining that upper hand once again. He placed a finger on his lips and though for a second. “I wouldn’t call it ‘lame’.... Buuuut if we are going for ranks here… We can always call you General of-”

With an echoing clatter, a plastic, artificial heel swiftly collided with Jett’s shin, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Jett grunted in pain, as he lifted the leg into his left hand, hopping on one leg slightly as he rubbed it. His mouth was open as if he was going to say ow… and it did come a few seconds later. ”Owwwwww” holy hell this girl could kick just as hard with a plastic leg.

Haruka smiled all-too-cheerfully, giving an exaggerated and tremendously cheeky grin as if she hadn’t the slightest idea how her artificial foot had just somehow ended up kicking him. “Hey, hey Jett, I just remembered a really funny story! There was this kid I knew back in school who had this crazy plan. You see, he thought that if he could just manage to steal a ca-” Jett’s eyes went wide, for a moment and then turned into a death glare similar to Haruka’s. quickly added, ” I’m sure there was a girl with him in this story as well… She had a funny name too… what was it? He said with a look of one playing chicken. Mutual destruction was ok with him.

“Oh sure, but that’s not even the funny part. The funny part is how that boy thought that doing all that would somehow get him noticed by-”

A violently sizzling ball of golden hair appeared out of thin air and interposed itself unexpectedly between them, pushing both of them gently backwards. Haruka, off balance, stumbled slightly, only to be caught in an equally sudden tackle hug and pulled slightly away. The copy in between them spread its arms like the referee in a cage match pulling two combatants apart, and while perching her head on top of that of her rather baffled friend, Fumika gave Jett a very serious look, eyes flashing with a bright green glow before fading back to blue as the copy between them dissolved.

“No fighting,” She declared firmly.

Haruka shrank a little, awkwardly returning her friend’s hug. “Right… Sorry about that, Fumi. Don’t worry. We’re not really fighting anymore. That was just a bad joke.”

“Really?” Fumika asked, drawing back slightly and cocking her head to the side. Haruka nodded. “Oh… Okay.”

Kenichi blinked. Fumika had jumped right in the middle of things, which from his experience didn't quite seem like her. And...had she basically just glomped (damn how old was that meme now) Haruka? Kenichi blinked again. That wasn't all that unusual, right? They were friends, had been friends for a long time. Of course Fumika was going to be more comfortable with Haruka. Even if she didn't usually show all that much emotion, much less physical affection...not even with him, even though they seemed to have really hit it off already...in fact he could only remember like two different times when he had actually touched her--but why was that bothering him in the first place!?

Jett was surprised when he was pushed back by Fumika, or her copy that is. It was clear she thought they were really fighting again...like before. Though while it was cleared up in a few sentences, he still scratched his head. A slight annoyance that their little banter was cut short, but he said nothing.

The dark-haired girl cleared her throat. “Right… Where were we? Basically, you can call me whatever so long as it ain’t dumb.” Satisfied with her newly established criteria, she concluded her rather irreverent introduction and carried on. Really, it was almost astonishing how quickly she recovered her composure after losing it so completely. She must have been used to this…

“Anyway, back to your… uh… suggestion, Yoshida... wouldn’t it be a little weighty throwing out a big speech like that every time we happened to bump into each other? Like, it’s cool to have a thing and all, but I think a simple ‘Yo!’ would probably be more convenient, eh?” Haruka motioned casually over her shoulder at her rather fluffy friend, who had quickly resumed hugging her and perching her chin atop the shorter girl’s head. “Besides,” She added slyly. “I don’t think Fumi here would like waiting that long. She’d probably get impatient and tackle me halfway through the first line.”

He watched how Haruka reacted to Fumika hugging her...completely different with how she treated him. Much more softer. Which he admitted is a given with Fumika, the personification of innocence. But he couldn’t help but feel like…

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess." Kenichi snapped himself back to reality as Haruka spoke. He glanced off to one side because he couldn't remember if he had actually been staring at the two of them cuddled up together or not. "I still think it's pretty neat, though. I have a bit I do with the "Main Character" stuff cause I think being high-energy at the intro like that takes pressure off people who're more reserved, ya know, but..." He turned back to them with a genuine grin now. "Mostly, I think it's the way you both immediately went with it. Not just cool lines and poses, but that...bond, I guess?" He thumbed his nose, forgetting that the hand he used now had blood splotches covering his knuckles. "Seein' people with connections like that, that's the whole reason Heroes exist, ain't it? To protect those smiles!"

He did mean those words...but as he suddenly noticed and then tried to hide his hand again, he couldn't help but remember the things he was trying not to think about, and how they made him feel. To Kenichi, being a Hero did not mean being "a shield to protect the innocent." Haruka's allegory was much more accurate...but rather than a sword "against the wicked," Kenichi just wanted to be...A sword that cuts evil out like the cancer it is.

Jett turned to Kenichi. Noticing the bloody knuckles...and after really looking at him, he could see he was pretty ragged. But putting on a show that he was perfectly fine. Despite the fact he was bleeding. Which begged the question...where the hell did he disappear for the last week. “Speaking of the ‘main character’ where the hell did you run off to this past week? Did you get bumped down to 1-B?” He knew damn well he didn’t but a little jab slipped in there. He never had the chance to take him on in the second exam. Which he wanted to...despite not having his quirk.

He turned towards him to give him his full attention, but suddenly he vanished in a puff of black smoke. Appearing once again on the back of the couch...off balanced off course and toppling over the side of it. Quickly coming back to his feet, trying to cover up the fact that just happened. Despite everyone seeing it. He gritted his teeth as he walked back over to the three. Trying not to look at Haruka who would probably give him shit about it in any second.

Fumika had seemingly been content to remain silent as the others spoke. After all, she was bad at things like making small talk, and her friends had seemed to be enjoying themselves. This was good enough, right? She didn’t need to worry about saying anything too complicated for her to understand. She could just listen and observe, recording this moment like she had all such moments that had come before it, without interfering or dragging the others down. This was fine. She was happy like this. Listening to such kind people was more than good enough.

And yet, it wasn’t good enough, because even though he tried to hide it, even though he tried to act normal, even though he wouldn’t tell her anything but that she didn’t have to worry, even when she didn’t use her eyes… Even then, she could still see it clearly…!

“Yoshida, your hand-” Fumika murmured quietly, letting go of Haruka and taking a step forward, her eyes flashing red and her bangs violently fluffing out to either side as static flashed from strand to strand between them. Her perpetually straight face had composed itself into a serious frown, and as her eyes returned to blue, they seemed somehow sad for a moment.

Of course, she’d analyzed the damage. His bones hadn’t re-fractured themselves or shifted out of joint - a surprise, considering how much he’d been moving around - but the surface level of skin which looked to have been either stitched or glued back together at some point - she couldn’t tell which - had quite predictably broken from over exertion. The rest of his body seemed intact… but if he kept behaving like he was now, how long would that last? She didn’t understand it. His behavior made no sense. He knew he was hurt, right? And she knew, and surely everyone else could tell too! So why was he acting like he wasn’t when it would mean only causing himself more pain? Why wasn’t he worried about it at all? Why didn’t he want her to worry about it either? Someone had to, and if he wasn’t going to take care of himself, then she…

Then she would do what, exactly? She was an observer. Complicated things like this weren’t hers to interfere in. She wasn’t good at expressing things, or saying what needed to be said. If it was just a matter of listening, then she’d be fine, but-!

...But that wasn’t good enough. That wasn’t good enough at all. Something needed to be said, and Yoshida wasn’t saying it, and nobody else was saying it either. Surely, Haruka could have said something… If someone important to her was behaving strangely like this, then surely, she’d say something like… Something like…

“Oi. Idiot. What the hell’s wrong with your Quirk?” The abrasive, irreverent voice of her tomboyish friend, mentor, and hero snapped her to attention as Haruka turned to face the wayward teleporter who was now, quite suddenly, on the other side of the room. “I thought you were just screwing with me when you kept popping up right behind me earlier, but this is way worse than that. I haven’t seen you flickering all over the place like this since we were kids.” She crossed her arms and stared him down with a frown that was somewhere between angry and concerned. It seemed very much like she wanted to tease him about it, but something stopped her… Something that Fumika recognized as a sentiment very similar to her own.

If it was Haruka, then that definitely had to be… it wasn’t wrong. It couldn’t have been. In that case-!

So, turning back towards Yoshida, Fumika crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes, and stared him down with a sad, angry frown. With her quiet, serious voice, she at last gave vent to her frustration the only way she knew how, borrowing the words she couldn’t come up with herself.

“Yoshida, you idiot.”

Midnight Sun: Last Song Over the Horizon

IT'S TIME.

Better finish that bio, I guess. :P

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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Reassured by Yoshida's answer, Fumika's slight frown softened back into her usual impassive expression, and the knot of hair atop her head slowly unwound itself once more into its usual crescent shape, bobbing back and forth as she contemplated his words. He seemed... happy. Her answer must have been a good one. She'd done it right after all, and hadn't been a nuisance. That was one weight off her shoulders. But then what did he mean about her comfort zone? True, she did feel a little less uneasy now, but that didn't really have anything to do with her. That was just because he was...

...Because of him? Now that she thought about it, that really was strange. If anyone else had been pressing her like this, she wouldn't have known what to do. If it had been Haruka, she'd probably just have given as simple an answer as possible and then quickly asked her something in return to bring the conversation back to something simpler. That was the simple solution - the path of least resistance. But she hadn't actually even considered doing that. Why was that? It wasn't like she'd come to talk to him specifically with the intention of telling him things that weren't relevant to him, that shouldn't have interested him, that, by all logical standards, should have just been bothersome to him. And yet, her first impulse when he'd asked her had been to tell him completely, despite all that. What was more bizarre, now that she'd said it and he'd smiled at her, she felt... happy? That smile. There was something contagious about it, and she'd begun mimicking it without even thinking. Because it was Yoshida - because he was smiling - because he was finally here, talking to her again... Something about all of that made her heart feel very warm.

Like an exceedingly fluffy mirror image of Yoshida himself, Fumika crossed her arms, and her head bobbed from one side to the other as he tilted his inquisitively to punctuate his question. She answered immediately, without any of the hesitation that had marked her earlier words.

"It was called Kamen Rider Wizard," She answered seriously, her choice of words making it rather obvious that she wasn't exactly as familiar with pop-culture as Yoshida himself. As she continued speaking, her unchanging tone of complete composure made it somewhat difficult to tell what exactly she'd thought of it. She rattled off a rather unexpected play-by-play analysis of what seemed to be the first episode she'd seen, her antenna twitching back and forth as she spoke with astonishing speed. It was a little hard to tell, given that her expression was a somewhat uncanny imitation of Kenichi's own, and her actual tone of speaking hadn't changed but... Whether she expressed it or not, she had been really into the show, hadn't she?

"The villains looked very strange, but it was still very cool. There was a a horned one, and his evil minions attacked the police in a big warehouse, but then this boy came in on a motorbike and sent them all flying, then fought back with a magic gun that shot silver bullets, so the horned one shot a fireball at him and there was a really big explosion, but then the boy sucked in all the fire with magic and came out in a hero costume and posed like - bam!" She struck a suitably flashy pose, sweeping out her left arm to one side, her hair fanning out behind her and curling to either side around her legs in what might have been her best attempt at imitating a coat fluttering dramatically in the wind. Slowly, she took a step forward, bringing her arm down before raising it slowly, deliberately, to one side of her face, and giving an icy, almost comically serious stare from behind it.

"'It's... showtime!'" She quoted, her voice low, each syllable emphasized to the extreme with an inflection that obviously wasn't her own.

...There was a prolonged silence. Her hair twitched uneasily back and forth. Her hand flopped anticlimactically down to her side and her intense expression immediately relaxed into a blank stare. She cleared her throat, and when she spoke, her voice was back to its calm, measured, methodical tones - just like always.

"Sorry. That was probably a very bad explanation. However, it was a very enjoyable show," She concluded earnestly.

@Zeroth

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #c9c916 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #3F9CB1


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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 ||007236
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She was finally starting to relax. It wasn’t difficult anymore. She could really… She could really afford to be herself. She didn’t have to worry about what he’d think, or what he’d say. Everything was going to be alright. She could finally tell him the truth, and then… No matter what he might say, she swore she wouldn’t regret it. IT would be difficult, but... It was the least she could do to be honest now after hiding so much for so long.

Well, perhaps not everything. There was still the matter of her greatest lie to set straight… And when that particular truth came to light, everything would have to change. But if she was hated, then it was no more than she deserved, anyway.

She sighed. Why was she thinking about this now? Even if that was the real reason why she’d allowed herself to be dragged along... No, no. This wouldn’t do. As a certain friend of hers would say, “A computer works best addressing one problem at a time.” There was still time before she’d have to tell the truth, so for now… couldn’t she be at least a little selfish? Couldn’t she enjoy this moment a little while longer?

No. No she could not. She stared in disbelief as Jett cheerfully denied her heartfelt request, throwing her own words back into her face. Was he… was he really still angry at her? Had he just been waiting all this time for her to let her guard down so he could hit her where it hurt? While she couldn’t claim that his pettiness was unjustified, still… How could he be so heartless? She opened her mouth, spluttering wordlessly as she tried to muster some kind of response, but he just grinned and laughed it off as a joke. Why… How... What… She gritted her teeth, her brow furrowing in a firm frown as her lips pursed themselves resolutely into an angry pout.

”You jerk…!” She tried to sound angry, but honestly, she was so relieved that her momentary fears had been unfounded that it was difficult to sound at all authoritative. And then he followed it up by saying such a stupidly earnest thing, and giving that damned smile like he always did… She made a herculean effort not to blush. This wasn’t good… He’d see right through her for sure.

“Even though I was being serious… Why can’t you just answer normally?” She grumbled, but he didn’t seem overly inclined to listen, and suggested that they go back. She supposed that was the reason why she’d come here… There wasn’t that much time left before school would be starting back home, and before they could return, she had wanted to spend at least one free day hanging out with Fumika. It was the best thing she could think of to encourage her, not even to mention…

One thing at a time.

“Fine… Let’s- Hey, what are you doing…?!”

Really, she should have known better, but when he’d simply taken her hand, she hadn’t actually felt that inclined to resist. After all, he wasn’t putting that much force on it. He wasn’t taking pity on her. To be sure, it was unexpected, but, honestly, she’d been elated for the small fraction of a second before he just as suddenly placed it upon his arm as a support… then snatched her crutch away right when she was distracted. Tugging on his arm, she tried to reach to grab it, but his arms were a great deal longer than hers, and he was at least a head taller, which would have make it difficult to reach even if she didn’t have to lean on him to keep her stupid fake leg from losing balance and letting her fall flat on her face. And to top it all off, why did he have to be so close?! Clinging to him like this was the last thing she wanted! ...Well, maybe not the last thing but- No, that wasn’t the point! Not like this! Definitely not like this!

“What the hell is your problem!? Give that back! I swear, I’m gonna friggin’ kick you if you keep this up!” She glared up at him, her eyes flashing with an impotent rage. “S… Stop grinning like that! This isn’t funny, Jett! Give me back my crutch!” Unable to reach around him, she gave up on the endeavor, and instead settled for unleashing a rain of rather feeble punches upon his head. In all honesty, she was still so weak from her hospitalization that they were probably little more than a mild inconvenience to him, but the resistance was gratifying to her in her present situation nevertheless.

Jett was expecting this type of reaction, and it was what he was hoping for, her slight flush covered up with an attempt to be angry at him, which turned into some weak punches upon his head. But it was all cute to him. He simply stood there and took it for a moment. ”I’m not laughing at your situation. I’m trying to help. But your little outburst is cute. It's hard not to smile at that.” He said as he held the crutch out to his side.

To be honest there was multiple reasons he did this, but he couldn’t share all of them. He rested the crutch to his right, out of her reach and raised his hand up to block her punches. You wanted to walk right?!” He asked very seriously as he looked at her with narrowed eyes feinting wincing at her blows. Then walk. Let me help you when you need it, but this crutch...is uh...a crutch in your development. He said, knowing it sounded stupid. Duh it was a crutch. So he added to his explanation. ”It’s been six months, since you lost your leg right? I’ve heard people where walking on their own in 3 or so. I know you can do it without it. So walk with me. He said with a warm smile, trying to show he was being as serious and supportive as he could.

Haruka slowly lowered her upraised fist. “...Didn’t you hear me before?” She asked quietly. “I wanted to walk on my own. Without troubling anybody else. If you’re going to be my support, then you might as well just teleport us both there, or get me a wheelchair and push. Leaning on you like this isn’t getting me anywhere.” She sighed, the fight gone from her voice. Now that he’d deigned to be serious, it would just be childish to continue bickering. “Besides, it’s not that simple. Do you know how many of these legs I’ve gone through? This one’s my fourth. It’s because every time I try to walk without a crutch, I get a little too used to it and stop holding back. If I put even the slightest amount of weight on this and let my Quirk slip even a little… You know how it is. Either I’m not using it at all, or it all comes out full blast. If I tried to go faster than tiptoeing, I’d overbalance myself, and that’s if I was lucky, not even to mention...”

Jett raised his hand to stop her. ”I understand, But if you want to walk again without any support, you’re going to have to sacrifice more legs. You’re going to have to learn how to regulate your quirk more, and that doesn’t come from relying on a crutch. Knowing you will be safe by not breaking your leg. Four legs or Four Hundred, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you don’t become reliant on this crutch. Yeah you’re going to fall a lot, and you’re going to have to rely on others for support, but it’s not weakness if you keep on pushing yourself till you don't fall, or rely on others. That’s strength. That’s the strength I always saw in you Haruka, that strength I admired since I met you.”

He took a few steps away, picking up the crutch as he did. He looked back to her expectantly. Well? Shall we? Just to the dorm building, then I'll give your crutch back.

Haruka let go of his sleeve as he pulled away and sighed. “...Please give it back to me.” She was no longer pleading or yelling at him, merely making a polite request. Her expression seemed slightly downcast… or was she angry? She was biting the inside of her lip, and looked grave.

Jett looked at her long and hard for a moment. Before allowing his head to fall with his own sigh...perhaps he pushed a little too much. Trying to make up for the last six months in the last six minutes. He slowly moved back to her and set it just infront of her, not looking at her in the eye. Haruka nodded, took hold of it… and then promptly let it go. It clattered to the ground between them, and she stepped gingerly, cautiously over it. Her footing was unsteady, but as she teetered on the verge of stumbling, she turned around, and supported herself by leaning directly against him without any apparent hesitation.

“Hold me up for a sec, will ya?”

His eyes shot open with surprise when she allowed it to fall, he watched as she slowly stepped over it and turned her back to him. He resisted the urge to reach out and stop her from falling, but she then leaned back against his chest, causing his face to somehow get really warm.

When she asked for him to hold her up for a second, he immediately complied. Placing his hands on both of her arms. Wondering what she was trying to do. He received an answer a moment later as, the joints of her artificial leg clattering slightly with the strain suddenly placed upon it, she raised her foot up and brought it down on the crutch. The wood gave way in an instant, and it snapped like a twig as a crack spread out beneath it in the pavement. She looked up at him, the lines of energy created by her Quirk glowing a pale gray as they ran up her cheeks and framed her burning amber eyes. She stuck out her tongue and grinned cheekily.

“Idioooot~! You thought I was gonna chicken out, didn’tcha!” She jeered in a sing-song voice, relishing at the chance to finally turn the tables on him. That disappointed look on his face, and now that disbelieving stare he was giving her… She’d repaid him in full for his teasing earlier!

“It’s my policy to never half-ass anything. If it’s in my way, then I’ll just break it to bits and figure my own path out later.” Saying that much was easy, but really, there still was a problem to be accounted for here. As her Quirk’s energy faded out once more, she turned slightly, placing a hand on his sleeve and speaking in a slightly softer voice.

“And… I guess… I don’t mind being helped a little bit, if it’s you.” She stared him seriously in the face. ”But you’re the one who asked for this, so don’t you dare back down on your offer, alright?”

Jett was definitely quite surprised when she snapped her own crutch in half. As she looked at him and stuck her tongue at him, he couldn’t help but smile. There she was. He simply nodded as she jeered at him.

He watched as she took his sleeve and turned slightly towards him. He didn’t realize his face was still red from having her so close to him, especially when she looked up at him with her head against his chest.

He nodded and said, ”I wouldn’t have offered If I wasn’t totally serious about it.” He said with a confident smile.

“Good.” She nodded, evidently having gotten over her earlier trepidation, and feeling quite satisfied with herself. “Then your first task for helping me is to pick those pieces up, because…” Haruka gave a sheepish grin. “I don’t think I can stoop that far without falling on my face, and I just… kind of realized I have no idea where the nearest trash can is.”

Jett laughed, I’m half tempted to see you try... he said as he bent down next to her, picking up the pieces. ”How is it I’m always the one to clean up your messes? he added with a joking tone as he stood back up after picking up all the pieces.

Haruka frowned for a moment, but then seemed to brighten and shot him a sly grin in return. “Don’t even get started on that,” She said with an oddly smug tone. “I can think of plenty of times where you were the one dragging me head-first into trouble. For example, I seem to remember this one incident… Something about a car?”

He simply narrowed his eyes at her as she brought up a car. He didn’t say anything as he took a deep breath and slipped some of the smaller pieces into his pockets and shifted it around so he could hold all the pieces in one bundle. ”Ready then...General?”

“Indeed!” She responded with gusto, standing a bit more rigidly upright and giving a rather bombastic laugh. However, after this show of bravado in response to her old title, she stopped suddenly, and seemed to think about it for a moment. “Although, I guess there’s no real point in me holding onto that stupid title anymore, is there? Even if I did become a hero, ‘General of Spring Winds’ would make a pretty stupid name. Man, what was I even thinking?” She gave a slight laugh, and seemed to be on the verge of saying something else, but thought better of it and shook her head.

“Well, whatever. Fumi’s probably waiting, so let’s head over and say hi.” She shrugged, then blinked. “Actually, that raises a different question. How do you know Fumi so well, anyway?” Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me… you weren’t hitting on her, were you?”

Jett pulled his head back, clearly hurt by her statement… I NEV…. He thought back to all their encounters. Putting his finger to his lips as he racked his brain. Then nodding once he confirmed with himself. I’ve never! Flirted with Fumika. She’s just like a little sister ya know? She’s in my class, That’s how I know her.

“Like a little sister, huh?” Haruka gave a slightly wry smile. “I think I know what you mean.” She shook her head slightly. “Well, I’m glad. How has she been doing? With everyone, I mean. It seemed fine when we were at dinner, but… She’s been properly getting along with everyone, hasn’t she? She hasn’t gotten into any fights, or ignored anyone - anything like that?” Her questions came one right after the other, spoken in the tone of a voice one might expect a concerned mother to use.

He smiled as he looked at her in a new light. I don’t know exactly, I’ve been busy with other stuff. All I know is that the entire class respects her, she put up a hell of a fight in the two exams we had so far. I think she might have a little thing for Takeshi Yashiro, she’s been his shadow for a bit. But it seems he enjoys her company… Sadly I’ve been dealing with my own things and havent’ really had the chance to really hang out with her as much as I wanted to.” He said contemplating. She's an adorable tough cookie…

Haruka squinted at him a bit, seeming a bit skeptical, then shrugged somewhat dismissively. “I think you may be exaggerating a bit. It’s probably just because she doesn’t like stepping out of her comfort zone, so she prefers to stay in people’s shadows, as you put it. Still… That’s good to know.” She smiled again. “So she’s been working just as hard as ever, then... I’m proud of her. Under different circumstances… I think she’d have been a great addition to our team, y’know?” She grinned, raising a hand and cracking her knuckles. “‘I ask of you: What is a Hero?!’” She recited in a suitably dramatic voice, only to cut herself off as her balance began to wobble slightly, and she swiftly dropped her posturing and caught herself on Jett’s sleeve once again.

“Actually, I taught her our whole routine. The poses, speeches… everything we came up with as kids. We trained together, and she said one day she was going to be my sidekick, once we made our break as heroes together. And when the accident happened, the very first thing she said to me was that she’d become a hero in my place.” She sighed quietly. “She’s a good girl. But, you know, her saying that made me want to slap her across the face. Like, ‘If you don’t want to do it, then don’t! Don’t become a hero if your heart’s not in it.’ Something like… like that.” She trailed off, giving an awkward chuckle. “I don’t know. I was never good at telling her the things I think now, looking back, she really needed to hear. Guess I’m a pretty terrible role model, huh?”

Jett raised an eyebrow when she mentioned she would have would have been a great addition to the team, glancing at her as she shifted and started to go into the embarrassing monologue that she forced him to memorize. He grimaced at the thought of having to do it here, but she was cut off by her balance. Which he sighed inwardly in relief. He always found it so embarrassing to do..and only did it to stop her from nagging him. She was being generous with the ‘everything we came up with as kids.’ almost all of it was her. He smiled at the memories even though they hurt mentally.

But then she mentioned she taught Fumika all those lines and poses. And he just couldn’t see it. Maybe a little but the thought was funny. He looked to her as she mentioned she was a terrible role model. He thought for a moment to find the right thing to say. He shrugged. “I agree… terrible. Breaking into schools and skipping class and sleeping in a bush… “ He said with a smirk before adding. “ I think you taking her under your wing and teaching her those embarrassing poses and speeches is what made you a terrible role model. But that aside, she seems to be doing awesome here… even if she’s an odd duck, you might have put her on the path she needed to be on. Nothing wrong with that…”

Haruka didn’t respond immediately, and her eyes seemed suddenly fixated once more on the ground beneath her as she walked. For a moment, the air between them was as tense as it was silent, before she finally spoke in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. “I’m not so sure about that.” She sighed quietly. “Don’t you think it’s strange?” She asked at last, looking up to Jett with a surprisingly earnest expression. “You’ve hung out together with her a lot, right? But… have you ever seen her actually doing anything outside of classes? I’ve been keeping in touch with her constantly myself, and she hasn’t told me about anything except her training, what projects she’s been working on, the things she’s learned in class… That sort of stuff.” She seemed to be anticipating some kind of response, but evidently didn’t get the reaction she’d been hoping for, as a moment later she sighed once again and lowered her head. “I don’t know. I just worry about her, because I… I got her into all this, right? Even I can’t really tell what she’s thinking, or what she wants… If she’s just doing all this for me, then I...” She trailed off again. “Never mind.”

He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her when she said she didn’t know about that. Before he could ask what she meant she went on to explain. He tried to think of things she did outside of class...admittedly he wasn’t really looking for her as he had his own quirk issue dragging on his mind. But he couldn’t really think of anything off the top of his head. His lips twisted to the side of his face as he realized somewhat of what she was saying.

He looked over to Haruka for a moment. It was nice to see her like this, worried about someone like this. She seemed to have matured….Perhaps only a little… but still it put a dorky smile on his face. He reached up and flicked her pigtail gently, something he always did to get her attention… and he really enjoyed flicking them just because. “Well why don’t you ask her then? She seems to be one who will give you a straight answer. Though… sometimes…” He trailed off as he looked into Haruka’s eyes. “Sometimes we do stuff for someone else. Because we want to in our hearts.”

He thought back to all those things they did together as kids. All those embarrassing moments and new things he tried. Was to make her happy...which...in turn made him happy. He turned red slightly and rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know… But what I do know, is if you just taaaalk to her about it.” He said poking her side gently. “You don’t have to worry as much about her.”

Haruka nudged him back, grumbling under her breath, but then nodded. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I know that much already,” She said with a sigh. “I guess I just… don’t really know how to break it to her that I’m not the kind of person she thinks I am.” She lowered her shoulders with a slight shrug, but forced a smile and kept on walking toward the dorms, side by side with her old friend. “I guess there’s no point worrying about it now. There’s still time for that. For now, I just want to make sure she’s happy. Making up for the things I did and didn’t say can come later.”

Jett when she nudged him back, he allowed himself to almost be pushed over, exaggerating the amount of push she gave him. Then slowly tilted back onto both feet after a moment. He then straightened his back and shoulders when she said he was right. In a joking smug face of, ‘of course i’m right.’ though it went away when she added that she should tell her how she really was He cocked his head to the side… perhaps Fumika took it quite literal when Haruka acted like a dork with her moves and stances. Was it that she was referring too? Did she not have a tsundre side while dealing with Fumika? Would make sense as she was a fluff of tough cookies. Few could actually handle Haruka’s real personality… well… to his knowledge, only he could. But he didn’t know how much Fumika witnessed.

Hmmm I don’t know… you’re not quite the same Haruka I remember…” he said with a smile in a casual voice. “Its kinda cute how you worry about Fumika, kinda like a big sister. I haven’t seen that side of you.” He looked at her and smiled even more. A genuine smile, which even his eyes joined in. ”I think you are just being too hard on yourself. No matter what you do, you seem to leave a lasting impression with those you befriend.”

Haruka frowned somewhat, and seemed torn, but if she had her doubts about what Jett said, she evidently decided not to elaborate upon them, answering only in a somewhat cryptic manner. “I guess so… I just hope that impression is a good one.” As usual, she’d ended up dancing around the thing she worried about most - even more than she’d worried about Jett ending up hating her. After all, only her feelings were at risk of being disappointed in that situation. She could live with that. Her problems had always been her own. It was best that way. But, if her own actions were to blame for Fumika’s problems, then that would be a different story. Of course, there was very little “if” about it. The girl thought the world of her - that much was obvious. But how much could she actually live up to that unrealistic opinion, when really, she’d just been-

No. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that. The truth could come later. Not yet. She wasn’t ready to risk her hatred, too. Just a little more time. She wanted to spend just a little more time being happy. Of course it was selfish, but when wasn’t she a selfish person? So, for just a little while longer, she pushed her fears out of her mind, hoped, and prayed for the best.

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

I'm still here, too. I was just waiting on Sloth to post, but if need be, I can put up a Luka post without him.