LUMINARY [bnha]

Chapter 7 - Second String

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A measured knock came from Tsukiko's door, jolting her from her journaling.

She frantically hid her journal—climbing onto her bed, popping up the loose tile in her ceiling, and shoving the locked tome into the dark—before smoothing over her sleep-mussed hair and taking a steeled breath. Considering the hour, she expected it to be either breakfast or an early Izuku at her door, and the thought of seeing him for the first time since the interview sent tingles up her spine.

Was she supposed to act like everything was normal, exactly the same as before her birthday? Would they kiss again? Would he want to? What changed between them? How was she supposed to treat him like her bodyguard when he was so much more?

Tsukiko schooled her face into something neutral and semi-calm before answering the insistent knock. There was no point in worrying about it. They made a plan, and she'd stick to that.

To her surprise, neither Izuku or breakfast waited at her door; rather, one of her mother's pages—a child of thirteen or fourteen, maybe—stood before her in the Omega Tower's uniform, all black with a silver crescent moon sewn to the breast of their shirt. They bowed at the waist and said, "You have a visitor in the garden, Luminary Tsukiko."

She frowned. "This early?"

"Yes," they answered. "And it's urgent. If you'll follow me." They scuttled off down the hallway, leaving Tsuki in her doorway to decide on a change of clothes, but she had no time. She shoved her feet into her penguin slippers and jogged down the hall after the page, her curiosity getting the best of her.

They slipped into the elevator and rode down in silence to the bottom floor together. Even though Tsukiko knew exactly where the garden was, she followed the page there to avoid getting them in trouble with her mother. The last thing she needed— no, the last thing any of them needed was to rile her mother up this early in the morning.

In the center of the Omega Tower, a massive garden flourished. The ceiling of the garden opened up to the sky, allowing rain to pour inside and sun to beam down throughout the year; the rest of the building could look down into it from above, glass surrounding the garden from the ground floor to the skyscraper's roof. Tsukiko liked the silence of the garden, but knowing there could be eyes on her at any given time made it hard for her to linger there, especially in the winter when all of the plants were hibernating.

She preferred other spaces in the building that were safer.

At the stained glass and reinforced steel door to the garden, the page bowed yet again, leaving as Tsukiko entered and dismissed them with a wave. She paused just inside, hiding beneath a canopy of skeletal cherry blossom branches, bare from winter's grasp. Gray light shone down from the blanket of sleet-colored sky.

Shivering and pulling her navy blue moon-print pajamas tighter around her chest, Tsukiko assumed whoever called for her was waiting at the small, white gazebo in the center of the winding trails, the only part of the garden truly hidden from wandering eyes. But from the door to the gazebo was a long, cold stretch of empty path. Crossing her arms over her chest, Tsukiko shrugged her shoulders up to her ears and speed-walked through the sickly garden.

"Took you long enough, brat."

The familiar voice made Tsukiko smile. As she ascended the steps to the gazebo, she finally raised her gaze, and found none other than Katsuki Bakugo leaning against one of the railings. He wore comfortable clothes—a black hoodie, gray sweatpants, and sneakers that cost more than a new car—but his crossed arms, unwavering glare, and tight scowl made Tsukiko think something was wrong.