When Things Were Simpler (BNHA Fanfic)

Ch.20 - Soulmates Have Spirit Animals Only They Can See

Ch.20 - Soulmates Have Spirit Animals Only They Can See

So, he'd gone along with the first couple of stages of Midoriya's plan and listened to the advice from the girls and Kaminari who had set them up with pretty much everything. Even Bakugou had managed to get Amelia to agree as well. He looked up as the door opened and two figures appeared.

The redhead blinked and looked around up and down the alley, confused for a moment until she saw the silhouette of her own companion for the evening waiting at the end.

"He got impatient standing around," Todoroki offered up as Bakugou shifted on his feet, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning back to glance at Amelia before looking back. He moved as though he'd walk off but caught himself and stayed put.

Sky watched as Amelia moved to follow Bakugou and vanished around the corner with him a moment later. That... left her with her own problems: namely in the form of the hero-in-training beside her.

"Um, is there anywhere you'd prefer to go?"

Sky tilted her head and found herself holding back a smile. Wow, she'd never seen a hero so stumbling in such an estranged way. Some part of it was endearing and the boy looked so lost. So, well, as easy as it would be to make this as terrible as possible for him... maybe she ought to give him a break. Still, it was strange for students of their age to be moving around this late at night.

She frowned a little, but managed to hide the concern from her face. "Isn't this going over your curfew?"

"Oh, that?" Todoroki was looking blankly at her, as though that was the last thing he'd expected her to think about. "We said we were going out on internship work."

"Guess that gives you a pass to be out at whatever hour you want." Sky mused lightly, and headed off down another side alley before there was a quiet mew from a window ledge above and two golden eyes watched them go. "Too curious? Well, so long as you don't cause a fuss, c'mon."

He watched as the cat dropped down onto her shoulder and took up a silent vigil there. "That's the same one with you on the first night."

"That he is."

"Is it a stray?" Strange, he hadn't seen any cats around the café or in these backstreets for a while. The look he got from the cat was laced with odd, as though the feline had understood everything he'd said.

Sky chuckled and nodded. "You could say that. A nosy stray." He wondered if it was the first sign of genuine amusement on her face as they took a turn and he realised she was heading for the train station.

For a while, words failed him, until Sky opened up her backpack and the cat slipped inside and he had to stop himself from staring as she took a train and he hopped along with her. In the moments before the cat had appeared, he'd caught a glimpse of a deep exhaustion that he could tell was from more than their illegal activities, but thought better than to ask about that when it'd vanished as though only a faint veneer.

It was early enough that everywhere was still reasonably busy and the trains jostled slightly as they hurtled on through the night. Sky was watching one of the windows quietly, and for a moment, Todoroki followed that look and it was an effort not to stare in wonder. Rather than seeing out, he could see swirling galaxies and stars that morphed into a dawn over hilltops. He blinked and it was gone. Sky offered no indication she'd seen it nor any explanation for it.

He hadn't noticed that he hadn't heard the stops mentioned when the train paused and people shifted on and off, nor that none of the signs were visible to him. With so many people around, he couldn't exactly start asking loaded questions either.