This Time

Chapter 14

The next couple of days were free days for the first years, and while Yagi had told me I was welcome to come watch the second years' sports festival at Yūei, I elected to stay home and watch it on the television. Curled up on the plush sofa with a blanket, a glass of wine, and a bag of chips, I was good to go.

It was a little strange being home alone all day (and it didn't escape my notice that I already thought of Yagi's place as 'home'), and while of course I'd spent time here without the hero being present, it was usual to be here this long without him. After last night, I was having to come to terms with just how bad I had it for the guy, and it was probably for the best I had a break from him.

I'd almost kissed him for fuck's sake.

The kiss on the cheek had been bad enough, but luckily I seemed to have gotten away with it. Still, I needed to get ahold of myself - it was entirely unacceptable how much I wanted to jump his bones, and spending every night in his arms wasn't helping matters any. If the mission didn't kill me, then this agonizing sexual tension would.

My disgraceful human urges aside, last night had actually been a good bit of progress - All Might was willing to open up more, and even if he hadn't taken that step yet, I had faith in him to at least try. That was all I could ask, really. I understood his trepidation and knew that lowering those walls wasn't easy by any means, but hearing him say he wanted me to get to know him better and that he trusted me... it gave me a warm feeling that I wanted to hold on to as long as I could.

The second years' sports festival was definitely more action packed than the first years' the previous day, but I was surprised to realize that these kids weren't really that far ahead of class 1A, and in some cases I was pretty sure my classmates would have won against the upperclassmen anyway. The younger hero course students already were far ahead of what the usual was, and I was unsure how to feel about that. It was good that they were able to engage in combat at the level they were now, but at the same time it was sad that they'd been forced to learn it so fast - they were still only children, after all. I'd been in the same sort of spot at their age, and I regretted missing that bit of childhood.

All Might presented at the awards ceremony again, and it was almost bizarre to see him on television anymore. I'd gotten so used to him as a person, it's like I'd forgotten how to see him as a celebrity. It was rarer for me to see him in his muscle form these days, and usually I only saw it when we were in class. He was always louder, and more boisterous in his hero form, and I knew that really it was just another wall. I couldn't help but wonder if he'd truly been this animated when he was younger, or if it had just been a face for the cameras the whole time.

He came home late again that night, but in a better mood than the previous day, and we chatted about the student's performances easily while we ate dinner. I hadn't brought up yesterday or Midoriya again, and neither had he; if he wanted to talk about it, I'd let him broach the subject first.

The third day of the sports festival was much more entertaining, and I was very impressed with what I saw from the third years. All of them were likely to be great heroes, and it was a treat to see each of them in action. As the program was wrapping up on the tv, a message came through on my phone. Mina had created a group chat with the entire class it seemed, and I groaned my loathing for group messages. Instantly I put my phone on silent as other students started to chime into the conversation. Apparently, Mina was trying to get everyone together to hang out before class resumed tomorrow, and while I liked my classmates, I wasn't excited about the idea of spending my free time this evening with a group of fifteen year olds.

'I'm busy tonight,' I put in the chat as my sole contribution, and didn't look at the messages again after that.

However, now that I'd lied and said I had plans, I found myself in the rare instance when I actually did want to go out. Go figure. I snorted ironically and pulled up my laptop, searching some of the nearby restaurants. Maybe Yagi would be okay with eating out for dinner?