Compulsion

Chapter 40: A Silent Night

"Man... My stomach nearly shot out of my throat..."

That was what Midoriya groaned as he, alongside Shinso and Mina, made the trek to the nearby train station. She held a sympathetic smile, patting his shoulder. Though, it was clear she was holding back some form of laughter. Shinso tossed out snark to break the thin barrier. "Yeah, but you accepted your fate halfway through." His eyes widened. "It started with shock." His face turned flat. "But then, you were like, 'Aw, well'..."

It was super effective. "Bwahahahahaha!" She shook her head, giggling. "I can totally see it!"

"That was you," jabbed Midoriya.

Shinso shook his head. "Nope. I was screaming the whole way down. The whole way."

"Yeah... Midoriya was too busy straddling a table to hear that," said Mina.

Shinso coughed, "Do what to a huh?"

Midoriya spun. "Hey! I was not... s-straddling anything. I was on a table."

Mina put her hands up in surrender.

"Did the table enjoy it?" asked Shinso.

"E-Enjoy i-it!?" stammered out Midoriya as his face turned bright red.

She reached over and smacked Shinso's shoulder. "HEY! Stop it! We're not there yet! You can't say that!"

"Aw, shit, sorry."

Midoriya covered his face with his hands, shaking his head.

Mina crossed her arms. "Look at you did!"

"Turned a broccoli into a tomato." Shinso shrugged, "You know, they called that alchemy back in the day."

Midoriya's voice was muffled by his hands. "Alchemy's about altering base metals and states of matter, you idiot..."

She nudged him. "You would know."

As they neared the steps of the station, they heard the tell-tale screech of the arriving train. "Oh, crap, that's our train!" cried Shinso.

"Go, go, go!" shouted Mina as the trio broke into a sprint.

Smiles were painted on their faces as they leapt through the doors, chuckling between pants.

"Phew... That would've been annoying," said Shinso.

Mina giggled, "Yeah..."

After a moment of silence, Midoriya added, "This is the right train, though? Right?"

Shinso and Mina's faces contorted, "Uh..."

"What train are we on?" questioned Midoriya as, almost on queue, the station's automated PA told everyone to stand out of the way of the closing doors.

The pair of them started to spin around, looking for some sign. "Uh! Um... Uh..."

Shinso cried, "We're good!" He pointed to a sign on the wall as the doors closed. "That's the right train number."

"Don't scare us like that!" said Mina, punching Midoriya's shoulder.

"S-Sorry. We didn't exactly check on the way up."

"How many stops are you guys anyway?" asked Shinso.

Midoriya's face contorted, "Three, pretty sure?"

"Yeppers," said Mina.

"You?" offered Midoriya to Shinso.

"Second."

"It's really nice being so close to home for these internships," said Mina. "I'd hate having to travel all the way back to Shiketsu everyday."