Fighting Fears

Chapter 22

Winter's POV

"So, everyone remembers the plan?" I asked. The group nodded. Said plan was to resume our lives as we usually did, but now we had a secret communication system. Sewn into the ties of the school uniforms was a high-tech waterproof microphone and speaker. All we had to do to activate it was gently press on the tie, obviously making it look like we were just adjusting our outfit, and it would turn on or off. Somehow the mechanism worked so if it was a distress signal, triggered by keywords, it wouldn't patch anyone else's voice through back to you, instead, sending out a location tracker to everyone's phone. They could hear what you said, and what each other said, but you wouldn't hear them. That was part of the 'secret', this way your opponent wouldn't know you had called for help. Everyone had one in or on part of their hero costumes as well. It was a simple plan, really, but was necessary.

The plane was bound to land soon, so everyone headed back to their seats. The boys both seemed quiet for the rest of the flight, which struck me as odd, for Kirishima anyways. He always had something to chat about. Sensing they weren't in the mood for talking, I stayed silent.

Hopefully, they'll be willing to talk about this before anything happens. We can't risk losing focus during a fight.

~~~

Todoroki's POV

Where am I?

I looked around curiously, not recognizing where I was. There wasn't any civilization, just... land... everywhere. The scene was gorgeous. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" A charming, warm and calming voice spoke from my side. I turned to see a young male teen standing next to me. "Who-" "My name's Kasey."

No wonder he looked familiar!

I realized just who was standing beside me. "Y-You're..." "Winter's brother. Yeah." He smiled faintly, just enough to show the same feline-like canine teeth that Winter had. Kasey had the same ears and tail that she did, too. Except, his fur was a deer fur-tan, the inside of his fluffy ears a beautiful purple that matched his eyes. Kasey had thick white hair, slightly longer than mine. "Why-Where-" "I called you here. It took a long time for me to be able to do this, and I had to manage to call you during an uninterrupted dream, no nightmares. Besides, Winter had built her walls up pretty high, I had to wait for her to accept you all as friends." Kasey sat down. Figuring I was supposed to, I sat as well. "You should know what you're about to run headfirst into," Kasey began. "Winter was right. She was only five when it happened. She managed to make it out alive... as did... our parents. I hate myself for not doing anything sooner, but, the only thing I could do was make sure Winter found the world of heroes." He said. "But... if you were in the same household, how did you know about heroes?" I questioned.

"That's actually an easy answer. I was downstairs, one night when I looked outside. I thought I was seeing things, thinking that someone was hiding closeby. But, when I looked closer, I saw someone. They looked forwards. Straight into my eyes. Somehow, despite the fact that I could most definitely not lip-read, I understood what they were saying. They said 'This will end. Because I am here.'" Kasey looked towards me. "All Might..." My voice trailed off. "Yeah. I didn't know that at the time, but the more attention I paid towards my parents, the more I figured out about him. Unfortunately, the more I listened the more they realized I was listening. However, what they didn't realize, was that I was teaching Winter while they tortured victims. I taught her that the heroes were the good guys. I don't think I needed to teach her though. She had a good heart, right from the start. So when I was dying, there was only one thing left for me to do." He looked away for a moment. "I told her something."

"Go find them." The two of us said in sync. Kasey turned to me, a look of surprise in his eyes. "How do you-" "She told us." I flatly replied. "Ah. That makes sense." Kasey chuckled, smiling.

How can a smile be so warm and comforting?

I thought to myself. We sat silently, watching over the view in front of us. Finally, Kasey spoke again.

"I suppose you're wondering what exactly I'm asking you to do." He said. "A little," I replied honestly. "There's not much I'm able to say. I can't see the future, I just know that there will be something. Something that's going to change your lives, for better or worse. All I ask you to do is fight. Give it all you've got. And whatever happens, don't try to stop Winter." Kasey's eyes glowed with an emotion I couldn't read. "What do you mean by that? What's she planning on doing?" I frowned. "I don't know. But whatever she does, you can't stop her. She's got to fix whatever she feels she has to on her own." "But what do I do if-" "I don't care if she fights 50 people at once. You stay the hell away. Winter cares about you more than you know."

Did he refer to just me?

"O-Okay." "Good. Now please. Be there for her."