Old Habits

Chapter One

“So much has changed...” The light female voice was full of awe as deep blue eyes gazed up at the imposing gates of U.A High. Raven hair fluttered in the wind, a few stray cherry blossoms tangling in the inky locks. Tucking a lock behind her ear she let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding.

She felt silly, here she was getting all nervous and giddy like it was her first day all over again. No, that had been years ago...she was no longer that shy little school girl. No, she was a pro hero, while not nearly as well known as the top five, but she was up there. She came in at number six, though due to her dislike of the limelight the tabloids had respected her privacy. She mused it was more or less due to her fellow colleagues. Enji, while not a great public speaker, really knew how to get his point across...

Shaking her head at the thought of the gruff man she began her trek down the all to familiar path that led to the main office. Her arms clasped behind her back as she hummed a light tune under her breath, thankful that some things about her old stomping grounds had not changed. 

“Oh wow...” She paused as a photo on the wall caught her gaze. Moving closer to it she could only smile fondly, her fingers smoothing over the cold glass. It was a photo of her class graduation. It felt like so very long ago, though it wasn’t really that long ago. She was after all just a few months shy of entering her thirties. 

Midnight loved to remind her of that, thirty was not the end of the world though. So she really wished the other woman would stop trying to pressure her to find a man and settle down. She really could not handle another blind date. She knew Midnight meant well but she was perfectly fine with being single, though now that she was leaving behind her pro hero career to focus on teaching she mused that maybe she would keep humoring the other woman.

“Ah, Ms. Higurashi! I’m glad to see you made it.” Snapping back to the here and now she gave a light cough as she turned to face who had spoken, a light flush on her cheeks. A smile bloomed on her face as she gazed down at her new employer, bowing her head in greeting.

“Principal Nezu, so good to see you. At least this time it's not for a scolding.” The humor in her voice was light and it caused him to give a light laugh.

Back when she had attended school he had been a teacher, her home room one at that, and often the poor young girl had found herself dragged into the trouble caused by the top two students. The two had been like oil and water even back then, and Kagome had become the buffer between the two.

The three had made up the original big three. 

And while their paths were no longer so intricately entwined he was glad to see that all three of them were doing well in their lives, it meant he had done his job properly and he would continue to do so with each new class of heroes that graced his school.

“Yes, it usually was that way because of you three.” Nezu smiled with amusement as he looked at the grown woman before him. 

“Now though you may be helping to scold the students who remind you of yourself.” Kagome let a laugh out at this. It would be ironic if she would do so, but she was going to be a teacher, so she would probably have to scold a student once or twice...probably more than that but it would happen. 

“Come. We can chat more in my office.” Kagome followed after him, but not before she looked at the photo one more time, a smile blossoming on her face as she followed after the principal.