Dancing Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ellowyn's POV-
   As we are walking out class and heading towards lunch, Bakugou comes up to me. "Hey, want to study after school?"

   "Yeah of course. But to be honest I'm a bit caught off guard." I reply.

   "Why?" He asks.

   "You've just been a bit weird lately. I thought you were mad at me.'

   "Why the fuck would you think that?"

   "I don't know. Maybe because no one in our class has been contacted by pro heroes and the incident at the ball that was my fault is probably why."

   He shakes his head. "Fuck no. None of that's your fault. Monoma being a douche caused all of that. Also, I haven't been mad. Just busy."

   "Okay, I'm glad to know. I was kinda worried. Anyways, I definitely do need to study but I'll probably be an hour or two late. I have to go an interview after school."

   "An interview?"

   "Yeah. I'm going to try to clear up everything with the press."

   Bakugou nods. "Good luck. No matter what happens, just remember that you were justified in everything you did that night."

   I smile and respond, "Thanks Baku."

...

   After school, I'm about to walk out of the school when I hear a familiar voice call after me. I turn to see Kaminari and say, "Hey Kaminari, what's up?"

   He slows and catches his breath before saying, "I just need to tell you thank you."

   "For what?" I ask confusedly.

   "I heard why you did what you did to Monoma. Thank you."

   "Oh, yeah. Of course."

   "No, really. It means more to me than you know, so thank you."

   "It's no problem, Kaminari. I have to go but I'll talk to you later."

   He nods. "Okay, see you around."

   I walk away with a smile and newfound motivation.

...

   When I arrive at the cafe for the interview, a camera has already been set up. Todoroki introduces me to the interviewer and within minutes it begins. I sit across from him as he begins to ask questions. "So, walk me through what happened that night?"

   "Well, all of my class was hanging out together but I noticed Midoriya was missing. When I asked where he was, everyone told me that he went to get a drink but he had been gone for a really long time so I went to go look for him. When I found him he was talking with Monoma and as I approached them I heard Monoma harassing Midoriya and calling him homophobic slurs and eventually it escalated to the point that he poured his punch out onto Deku."

   "And your response was to pour the bowl of punch out onto Monoma?"

   "Yes. I know personally how harmful harassment like that can be so seeing that happen made me really angry that people like him think that they're fit to be professional heroes."

   "You said that you know the harms of harassment like that personally? How so?"

   I fidget with my skirt nervously and pray that it isn't in the camera shot. "When I was in middle school, my girlfriend and I were relentlessly harassed for dating for years. At that age, I had really no way to protect her because I didn't have my quirk yet. Eventually it pushed her to take her own life."