Forever || BNHA

~ Chapter 34 ~

I stare at Shoto blankly, not quite sure how to answer his question. I mean, he literally asked where I was.

I was saying hello to my old friend, Death. That's where I was.

"What do you mean?" I say, smiling nervously at Shoto.

Shoto raises his eyebrows in confusion, when he sees a cold sweat drop behind the back of my neck.

"You have a fish?"

"Chris, his name was Chris."

"...Right. You were absent because Chris passed away?"

Nah. I was absent because I was half dead.

But, I can't tell you that, because you'll question me even more.

I nod my head, looking towards my desk for a split second as I gather myself up, quickly removing any signs of nervousness on me. I turn my head back towards him, an innocent smile present on my face.

"Oh... I thought it was because I hurt you." He mumbles, looking towards the ground.

"Huh? When? Oh when you didn't respond to me? Haha, don't worry about that, Shoto. I totally forgot about it." I beam, making a brushing away gesture with my hand.

"Are you sure about that..."

I froze on my spot, smiling at Shoto stupidly as he looked at me in concern. Letting out a sigh, I slump forward.

"No. It was a big deal. Don't walk away when someone is apologizing, especially me. I spent my little 'vacation' overthinking about what was going to happen."

It wasn't just overthinking about you ignoring me. It was over thinking about you.

Your safety.

"I'm sorry Nora. I didn't know how to react. I just... I make bad decisions when I'm confused or upset." He sighed, looking forward. "I was confused at that time. Your words had me thinking..."

I raised an eyebrow as I waited for him to continue. Only to regret it when he finally spoke up.

"Who exactly are you?"

I should have not come to school today.

Or left class right away.

I felt the whole UA building crashing down on my head as I stared at Shoto.

I inhaled sharply, before exploding into small chuckles.

"I'm Mirko." I chuckled, lightly slapping Shoto's shoulders jokingly.

I immediately stopped laughing when Shoto looked at me in confusion. As if he actually believed that.

"What do you mean, who am I, Shoto? I'm Nora, Nora Azumi... remember?"

"Yeah, I know that. That's not exactly how I meant it." He quickly says, shaking his head at me. "But if you say that then... where did we meet when we were kids."

"... that's for you to figure out."

"Who takes care of you?"

So many questions, what's up with him all of a sudden.

I'm a professional liar, but for some reason, I am failing miserably at lying today. Maybe it's because I didn't get time to wear my lucky socks this morning.

Shoto looks at me eager for an answer, while my brain short circuited about ten times just trying to come up with one.

"I take care of her."

We both turn around to discover Mr. AIzawa standing near the podium, his sleeping bags in his hands, staring at us.

Shoto took a second to comprehend this, his face displaying a range of emotions. He suddenly turned to face me, a puzzled expression on his face.