THIS STORY IS DISCONTINUED
(Please stop reading this damn book and read one of my original pieces, yall are killing me.)
Kiriko Hara has always been alone, maybe not physically, but emotionally. Especially after an incident a couple of years back th...
I walked into the room where Yaoyorozu and Todoroki were waiting, we can't really do much until everyone else is finished, which leaves just me and them. They're talking to eachother in the bland room.
I honestly wish I would've just stayed on the bus or with recovery girl when she checked me over because I'm just awkwardly sat in the corner. I mean, Yaoyorozu seems to be enjoying Icey hot's company. Okay, so maybe the miniscule amount of time I've spent in Bakugou's presence has effected me more than I'd like to admit. I have no idea how Kirishima does it.
"Thank you," Yaoyorozu says after a moment of silence to Todoroki.
"For what?" He says bluntly, clearly genuinely lost.
"For everything you said. You helped me realise that I'm not as weak as I thought, you even believed in me way back when we didn't even speak, so thank you."
Todoroki seems stunned to silence, like completely and utterly taken back before muttering a quiet "you're welcome".
A sudden pang of a very negative emotion hits me. It's quick and fades as quickly as it came, but it was there, and that's concerning on another level. It's not an emotion I'm familiar with either, so I just push it off and decide to ask Ryu about it later.
I plug my earphones into my phone and begin to try and ignore their conversations as much as possible. The good thing about having deep set, zip up pockets on your hero costume is being able to have my phone on me and not worry about losing it. I was very practical about my costume design.
I'm rhythmically tapping my foot on the floor to my music. Sadness quickly washes over me though when I realise that it's one of of Aiko's favourite songs. Well it was, god that sounds so fucking weird.
I rest my head against the wall behind me and sigh out. She's really gone, it's been weeks since her death and I've managed to push most of my feelings aside by drowning in work so I don't actually have to face them. But the exams are over now, meaning my excuse to Ryu and Akamine isn't going to work as well anymore.
I don't want to acknowledge that I have to get over it. With the distraction of the exams out of the way, I'm going to end up fully relying on Ryu to pull me through, which isn't fair on him at all.
Despite only thinking about her for a split second, my heart is grasped by an aching numb sensation. I don't know what to do.
Mina was there for me during what happened and she tried her best to cheer me up. Of course Todoroki also knew, but he doesn't seem sure about how to help so he just kind of left me to it, only asking if I was okay every now and then. Not going to lie, that stung a tiny bit.
"Hara?" I'm suddenly full alert as my name is apparently the only thing that catches my attention. I turn and see Todoroki looking at me expectantly and Yaoyorozu looking between me and him.
"Sorry, what?" I say, pulling one of my earphones out of my ear. "I didn't hear you."
"I was just saying how impressive those tricks over yours were." I'm taken back by his positive words. "We saw you on the screens when we were sent for the once over by recovery girl and I saw you climb up the factory wall."
"Yeah!" Yaoyorozu suddenly jumps in the conversation, shifting Todoroki's atte tion back to her. "You scaled that building like it was nothing, how ever did you learn to do that?"
Both of them are blankly looking at me, expecting a response. I feel my anxiety levels raise as these two are some of the top people of the class and their attention's on me.
"Uh," great start, "my friend taught me how to always get out of a situation even if it means climbing up a several storey building."
"Friend?" Todoroki cocks his eyebrow at me. "You mean Ryu, right?"
"Yep, I sure do."
"Ryu?" Yaoyorozu looks between us, clearly confused as to how he knows who I'm on about. I guess on the outside it looks like me and Todoroki never talk, and whilst we don't really in class, he's one of the few people that have some kind of insight into my life.
"He's probably the person I'm closest to." I say, for some reason this completely gains Todoroki's attention for a split second, I could tell because the energy in the air shifted for a second and his expression changed slightly, only to return to normal. "Even though he's a twat at the best of times." I say jokingly, but fondly.
"How old is Ryu?" Todoroki asks. What an odd question.
"He's twenty."
"I see. But doesn't that mean he's too young to have taught you from a young age?"
"Well I was trained by my stepdad a fair bit, but also a friend of Ryu's who's five years older then him called Natsuki, we all trained together. Honestly she worked us to the bone on most days with her, but I'd didn't see her that often once Ryu turned sixteen and took it upon himself to train me on his own."
"That means you would've been eleven." Todoroki steps slightly closer to me, which means he's paying more attention to me than Yaoyorozu, and she seems to notice.
"Yes, I was eleven when Ryu started training me but I've been training since I was four. First with my stepdad and then with Natsuki and Ryu, then just Ryu." It hits me how bizarre it is that these two, the couple that got in on recommendation, are asking me about my past training. "Why do you ask?"
"Like Todoroki said, your tricks are incredibly impressive." There's a long pause between Yaoyorozu's words. "I was wondering if you could help me improve my fighting skills."
I'm dumbfounded. Completely and utterly dumbfounded.
"Uhhhhhhhh," I struggle to find words, "I'd love to, but I'm a shit teacher, just ask Mina." I let out a dry laugh and rub the back of my neck. "You'll have to ask Ryu if you want to be properly trained."
"I see." She mutters quietly.
"I'd like to trian with Ryu some time." Todoroki says, resulting in both me and Yaoyorozu staring at him. "He seems like an interesting and skilled character."
"Interesting? You can say that again." I mutter under my breath. After a second I realise I need to contact Ryu and tell him about my exam. "Anyway, I best tell him how I've done. Excuse me." I mutter, trying to seem as polite as possible. Next to Yaoyorozu I feel like a literal peasant, my language and phrasing doesn't exactly help.
I walk to the side and lean on a wall as other people come into the room. I don't pay attention to who it is, I'm too busy listening to the ringing.
"Kid!" Ryu screams down the phone as soon as he picks up. "How'd it go? Did you pass? What did you have to do? Did you get hurt? Was it robots?"
"Woah." I say, overwhelmed by everything that he's asking me. "One at a time," I take a breath, "I passed, it went fine, I was up against Akamine but I managed, no robots and apart from a slightly bruised knee, I'm fine."
"You passed?" He goes quiet for a moment. Did he not want me to pass? What's the problem here? "Fuck yeah! I knew you would! I'm so fuckin proud of you mate."
"I know."
"You're gonna rule the world one day kid, I bet on it. You're gonna be a great fuckin hero. I gotta go now, so I'll see you when you get home. Bye!" He hangs up on me and I smile at my phone.
If I don't have anyone else, I know I have him. Ryu Ito, all round asshat and evil genius, but that doesn't matter. At least he's proud of me.
