MHA: Outcasts - Hijinks

Side Story 9 - Gossip

U.A.'s lunch room. The loudest and most dangerous place in the school. Classes had their lunch at different times. Third year was first, second second, etc. Mostly it was to keep everyone from destroying each other in line while waiting for food, but it was also to make sure others had room to talk outside of class. This is the place where most interactions occurred. Some students strategized their next fight, others did homework, but most sat and passed gossip.

2-B in particular loved to do exactly the latter.

"Did you guys hear about the U.A. Ghost?" Kuroki Akiho asked four of her classmates, standing in front of their booth in the lunchroom. It was a month into dorms, so rumors surrounding the school were at their most potent. The flame haired girl's expression was excited, almost as if she was about to burst with information.

"U.A. Ghost?" Hado Inoru asked, rolling her eyes. "Don't tell me you believe in that sort of thing Kuroki." Hado was her classmate in 2-B, the younger sister of Hado Nejire. She was rather practical, unlike her friend who shrugged and stuck out her tongue.

"So what if I do?" Kuroki asked, adding "Not like it hurts anyone". She sat right next to Denshi Keisanki, well known computer whiz and know-it-all of their grade.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Ghosts aren't real." He said matter-of-factly. "They're a figment of your imagination designed to intimid-"

"Oh shut up Keisanki." Shinohara Hikaru snapped, joining the other 4 at the table with her food plate smashing into Genta's. Her amber eyes glimmering with excitement. "Go on, is there a new story?"

Rumors of the U.A. Ghost started when the dorms also started. There was a popular idea that sometimes you could spot someone moving in the trees late at night when everyone else was asleep. Some students made it their goal to stay up all night and catch them, but those days seem to be the ones where they're nowhere to be found. After a month of searching, most had given up their all-nighters and finally went to sleep. However there was always a sighting every now and then, so the news was usually quick and loud.

"Apparently she was seen in the courtyard again last night!" Kuroki smirked, clasping her hands together and leaning over the table. "It's rumored that she's haunting between there and the training grounds."

"Was the courtyard built on her grave?" Hikaru added on to her story, acting shocked when Kuroki pondered the thought for a moment.

"Nobody knows.." she mumbled ominously. "She seems to move aimlessly whenever someone sees her. I'd like to believe that she's searching for something." She moved her hands to her ears, wiggling her fingers to emit a scary tone. Inoru sighed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.

"Searching for what?" She asked, almost not wanting an answer. Her friend, Konpeito Shuga, piped up from behind them.

"Maybe a long lost lover?" She said, clearly listening in to the conversation prior to joining the table. Hikaru and Kuroki let out a sigh, annoyed that a ghost would be looking for something that useless. Shuga bit her tongue, sitting next to Kuroki with a huff. "Oh come on, you guys know I love romance."

The students were somewhat split after that. Some of them wanted to re-launch the investigations that they had prior, others were less confident that there was any ghost at all.

"We should set up a camera in one of the windows!" Hikaru said, making a camera flash with her hands.

"Oh that's a good idea.." Kuroki agreed, taking out her phone and seeing what she could buy online.

"I've heard her skin shifts in the light. We might not catch her with a basic lens." Konpeito added, glancing over at Kuroki's phone and pointing out a cute camera with pink accents like her hair.