green smog

box 54

Tw: ooc Monoma

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A loud yawn left Zihao's mouth as him and Aizawa walked side by side from the conference room. Much to everyone's surprise the teenager managed to stay awake throughout the entire meeting. Not much was said other than small remarks about the student's improvement. For the entire two hours they were tasked with watching the battle against 1-A and 1-B and then taking note of any differences that can be noticed since the beginning of the year. Or in other words, a time for Zihao to gloat about the student's improvements thanks to him.

Their footsteps echoed in the large corridor as they passed a wall of windows. Students would quickly give them a curt bow before rushing past them. "Shinsou, reminds me of someone..." Aizawa said hesitantly. It was no lie, even Present Mic made a comment about it. While the indigo hair kid did act more like Aizawa, there was no denying the fact that they all had Shirakumo in their minds. Or perhaps it was just the two pro-heroes who thought that way. "Is that why you brought him into the class?" 

Zihao's eyes bored into the ground in front of his feet, watching as the ground moved backwards. "Come on Ai, we have somewhere to be." Ignoring the question, he continues forward, not showing any emotion on his face. As if he knew the answer yet refused to acknowledge the truth.

"At least answer me one thing, do you miss your father?" The questioned seemed to linger in the air, leaving behind a bitter taste in their mouths. But Aizawa had to know, maybe for his own sanity, but he couldn't keep wandering. He had to know if he was the only one still mourning the lost.

The younger of the two halted for a second, so briefly anyone else would have missed it. "Who wouldn't? But I cannot say I wish for him to return." A human cannot force themselves to feel a certain way, but they can acknowledge the lack of emotion they have.

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A drop of sweat fell from Eri's forehead as she looked at the loud blonde from 1-B, running behind Mirio's legs, she uses him as a human shield. Only the top of her head could be seen as she held onto his leg. "It's the dark side... of U.A.!" Her voice came out meek. 

"HA HA HA! What EVER COULD THE GIRL MEAN BY THAT? HM? WHAT'S SHE SAYING, EXACTLY?!" Monoma laughs as he poses, his arm points at Eri while his body is turned away from her.

Pointing back at him, Mirio replies with his usual upbeat tone, "During the school festival, I told her you were U.A.'s dark side!" 

"NONSENSE! I WALK THE PATH OF JUSTICE AND NO OTHER!!"

"Um... anyone know why we're all here?" Midoriya interrupts nervously.

Rolling their eyes in synch, Aizawa and Zihao walk closer to the dorms, watching the entire ordeal go down. "Midoriya, Togata, thanks for coming. Monoma's going to lend us a hand but I figured Eri could use some emotional support while he's around." Aizawa offered them a short wave, mostly just towards Eri but he guesses the boys count too.

"IS THAT HOW LITTLE YOU PEOPLE THINK OF ME?! HA HA HA!" With Monoma's eyes still closed, he failed to recognize the addition of someone other than Aizawa.

Letting out a poof of smoke from annoyance, Zihao flicked Monoma's forehead. "Blondie, shut up." Neito took a second to register the voice before freezing. It couldn't be, could it? The guy who slammed the door in his face on the first month of school?

Slowly opening his eyes, he was met face to face with Zihao who wore an annoyed expression. He could feel the color draining from his face as only one thought ran through his mind, 'I'm dropping out.'

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"Hm... yes. A 'blank.' I'm sorry to disappoint you, Eraserhead." Neito held the newly ground horn on his head while smiling apologetically. He was really hoping to be of some use, and to impress Zihao, but to mostly be of some help. 

Aizawa scratched the side of his head, "Right. Too bad."

"You wanted him to copy Eri's quirk, why?!"

"And what do you mean by 'blank' Monoma?" 

Monoma smiled down at Eri nicely -perhaps this was his own way of saying it wasn't her fault- before replying. "She's the same type of quirk as you, with your type of quirk something has to be stored up. My quirk only copies the bare-bones essence of a quirk. But if the copied ability needs to convert some stockpiled resource into energy, then I won't be able to replicate whatever is accumulated. It's an issue I run into every now and then, and the reason I couldn't copy yours or L/n's." Offering her one last glance, the first year finally stands up. 

A warm hand is placed on his shoulder before he could do anything else, "you did good kid, thanks for that." Zihao whispered just loud enough for Monoma to hear before moving to pick Eri up.

"But why copy Eri's quirk?" Mirio perked up.

Zihao shrugged while adjusting Eri on his hip, the younger girl began burying her face in his shoulder to avoid the eyes of everyone else in the room. "We don't want Eri to have to learn how to adjust to her quirk alone, we thought if blondie could copy it then he could teach her. We all know how difficult it can be to learn to use a power you aren't used to." He responded, but the last sentence was mostly directed towards Eri who looked to be on the brink of tears. Gently flicking Eri's forehead, Zihao smiled down at her. "Don't give me that face kid, you'll do great no matter what. And even when you make a mistake or two, I'll still be proud of you." 

"Exactly! We'll all be right by your side!" Mirio cheered as he threw his arm into the air.

It became a joke that Monoma would have like a crush on Zihao and I just kept it because I find it funny. It's more like an admiration thing anyway.

Act 4, or chapter 55, will begin on chapter 242 of the manga. This chapter just covered chapter 217.