Endeavor's battle was the topic of the whole school the next day. Everyone was talking about it on their way to school, in the corridors, and even in their classes. Yuu and Sora caught a few students re-acting a few scenes.
Even in their class, Kirishima was mimicking the man's final standing. " You think realizing Endeavor's son is our classmate would hold them back out of consideration but..." Sora looked worriedly at the door. She couldn't forget the sight of Todoroki that night. It was probably the first time she ever saw him disturbed like that.
" It won't change that what Endeavor had done was amazing." Yuu was skimming through his phone. " So many people ought to change their opinion on him eventually."
" Oh right." She said leaning her elbows on his desk. " And don't forget the pink-haired boy. He was the one cheering for him to the very end."
" Yep, it was thanks to that boy that the rest of the civilians managed to calm down at last." Whisper rubbed his chin.
All three of them snapped when Todoroki entered through the back door. Midoriya and Iida were the first to stroll to him, asking about his father.
" It sounds like he's not in a serious condition," The boy answered.
" Thank God." Midoriya and Sora chorused.
" You can be proud of your dad, huh, Todoroki?" Said Mineta.
" Yeah... that's true." And he took his seat. Yuu stared at his back, he could tell the boy still had complicated feelings about his father. It doesn't seem like something that could be forgotten easily. But surely, he was overcoming it.
" Hey, the bell rang a long time-" everyone looked at the front of the class as Aizawa walked in. He broke off when he realized everyone was already in their place. " All right. You need to stop playing around and be more aware of who you are."
" Who do you think is playing around!" Whisper objected and Yuu had to stuff him under the table to not bother the teacher again.
" From now on, we'll be kicking class up a notch, so be prepared. Now for today's homeroom-"
Suddenly an alarm blared off across the room along with two light bulbs that flung themselves out of the wall and flashed in red, casting a red hue on everything else. The blackboard was also covered in a warning. The whole class stood on edge for a second. "Emergency drill. Emergency drill: Hypothetical villains have infiltrated U.A. High School grounds. Hero course class 1A is requested to report."
" An emergency training." Yuu blinked up at their teacher.
" Is that what he meant by kicking the class a notch." Whisper phased through the desk.
" For a moment I thought it was true." Sora sighed.
The shelves built into the wall slid, ladened with their costumes. " Please change into your hero costumes and head to the scene as soon as possible."
The whole of them stood on their feet and Iida's voice rose. " Let's go, Hero Class 1A!"
" Yeah!"...
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Their drill took place on Ground Beta. Just as they reached there, they could see a pillar of smoke swirling and rising up in the distance.
Jiro, Shoji, and Koda, who were acting as the reconnaissance squad embarked on gathering intel. Which were the places that suffered the most damage, were there any victims, and whether there were any villains in the vicinity?
As the rest of them climbed down the building which was the start point, they got their report. " A collapsed building on fire." Sora looked at Iida. " No report of victims?"
" None at all." He shook his head." But first, we need to put out that fire."
Ashido and Hagakure used two large metal tubs to clobber both Mineta and Kaminari for ogling at Yaoyorozu as she began creating a large carriage for them.
Just as the firefighting squad was getting ready to head out, Koda informed them that a person was spotted swept away in the river.
Asui volunteered to go there along with Mineta. So Iida grasped the handle of the carriage now containing Asui, Mineta, Aoyama, Sato, Todoroki, and Tokoyami and rushed at full throttle towards the scene.
" Let's go too!" Midoriya told them and they rushed after Iida and the rest on foot, Sora following them across the sky to keep an eye out for any villains.
Just as Yuu attempted to go after them, he was grabbed by his hood and dragged away he almost choked on his breath. Looking back at the one towing him, he was surprised to see Bakugo, and he didn't know when but Kaminari was being dragged on his left too. " Bakugo-san!"
" What do you think you're doing, delinquent!" Whisper yelled.
" Just shut up and follow me!" He retorted.
"You're not going?" Kirishima asked him.
" What?" Kaminari tried to object at the way he was being handled.
" We're looking for villains," Bakugo stated calmly as he trod over to an abandoned car. " Leave the rescuing to the extras!"
" Huh?Huh?Huh!"
" I get that you're a muscle head who likes pounding things but why dragging poor Yuu here?!" Whisper exclaimed.
"Baggy eyes' senses are sharp he can be of help to identify their whereabouts." He said pushing Kaminari to the car. " Get that thing started."
" You're treating us like slaves!" Kaminari complained. " Why should I help you!?" Nevertheless, he took the driver seat and pulled some wires from under the steering wheel. " And why a car? We can run!? And you literally can fly!"
" We can't catch up with his fox on foot. Neither can I keep up with my explosions" Bakugo said tugging on Yuu's hood even more.
" How rude." Kyubi manifested beside them, glaring down at Bakugo. " I'm no ordinary fox you know. I've got a name."
" It doesn't matter to me. Just find those villains." He said taking the passenger seat and folding his arms.
" The battery is busted. It needs to be charged." Kaminari spoke up. " Luckily that's something I'm good at."
" Good. Then drive!" Bakugo yelled.
" Eh? Me? But I don't even have a license!"
" Who cares! Just do it!" He yelled again as Kirishima got on the backseats.
" Oh man. You're really a handful." Kaminari groaned, biting on some wires and getting the engine started.
" Let's go, Kyubi." Yuu climbed on the Yokai's back. " We'll head out first, they'll keep up with us."
Kyubi glared one last time at Bakugo before tearing forward. She kicked the ground hard, used a traffic light pole as leverage to get to the nearest roof, and pressed on. The car behind them revved and started chasing after them...
________________
" The one playing the victim is Togata-senpai..." From her spot, Sora watched as Asui and Mineta managed to snatch him out of the river.
But suddenly they were blocked off her sight as an explosion erupted right from the same building Todoroki had frozen. " How..." Midoriya and the rest caught up with her just as she had to stop, hindered by the black smoke covering the sky.
" Sora-chan! Out of the way!" Sora flung herself away just as Ashido floated in her direction. Grasping a thread of Sero's tape, she swung herself in the air and splashed her acid around. " Team Rainy Day, let's go!"
The acid fell on the debris, melting them away in an instant. " I see, that way the fire won't spread."
Aoyama used his Navel Buffet to collapse a chunk of the burned building which fell on a portion of the blazing flame and put it out. And finally, with a swift move from Todoroki, he covered the whole area in ice again.
" Oh man, I didn't have a chance to help." Sora sighed as she lowered her altitude. It was then that her ears picked up something, a rustling of clothes. She turned to the source only to be hit by a certain spiraling energy and was sent knocking into Midoriya and the rest.
As she struggled up, she gritted her teeth in frustration. " I see. The smoke was to cover yourself from me as you approached us. You know my senses are strong so you figured I would spot you even if you're a mile away. Plus, seeing as you're floating, I wouldn't be able to hear you, right..." She looked up at the girl in a pink jersey who held Ashido hostage in Sero's tape. " Hado-san?"
" Don't tell me..." Everyone followed Sora's gaze to see Hado floating right before them.
" You figured me out? Do you remember? Have you forgotten? There are still villains around. Did you know that?"
" Hado-senpai is playing villain..." Said Midoriya.
" There's another... Villain here!" They all whirled back to see Amajiki standing behind them, wearing a yellow and white jersey with the number 2. But he didn't attack, he was murmuring something to himself before he turned around and strode down the way he came from. " I'm going home..."
He left!
" Amajiki-senpai is really going home..." Uraraka's arms fell limply before her as she couldn't believe his act.
" Is this okay...?" Ojiro questioned.
" I doubt so..." Sora sweat dropped.
It wasn't until Hado stopped him that he turned back to face them again. Are you sure about this? Sora found herself wondering inwardly.
Hado turned sharply behind her and shouted at the others behind the ice wall. " Hey, I thought I said not to move. Couldn't you hear me?"
She is looking away. Sora narrowed her eyes. " Toru-chan, Ochaco-chan..." She whispered to the girls behind her. " I'll cover you up..." Though she didn't look back at them she knew they nodded, getting her message. " What do you want, villain?" She shouted back at Amajiki, spreading her wings wide apart as though threatening him.
Amajiki narrowed his eyes for a moment, Sora thought he had seen past her idea, and Hado was trailing back towards them already. " I want to go home!" It took her all her will not to let her wings fall down at that statement.
" Then you should just go home..." Ojiro retorted.
"If I leave, then Hado-san will get mad at me." He told them. " Mirio said so too. He asked me to do what I could to help you guys become proper heroes as soon as possible."
All of this for us... nothing else expected from our upperclassmen.
Amajiki flung out two large brown wings. " That's why I can't go home!"
You almost went through... Sora sweated before taking a fighting pose as well as the rest of her friends when it was safe to move. Amajiki's eyes scanned them and she realized he was searching for Hagakure. But it's too late... She smirked.
" Ochaco-chan !"
" Release!"
And Hado was wrenched down as Ashido regained her weight. While they were falling, Hagakure caught her midair. Hado made an attempt to resist and tug on them but Hagakure's reflected light thwarted her, and even Amjiki had to shield himself from the light. And so Sero managed to wrap her in his tape and Yaoyorozu caught her in a net.
Amajiki was too focused on her it was the best chance they had. Ojiro and Sora lunged at him and he flailed his tentacles at them, blocking them. Still, they kept on the combo attack and Amjiki was pushed back. He switched one of his hands to a clam but Sora easily broke it. " This is nothing at all!" She twirled, attempting a back kick but he called on a shield of crab shell on his hand and fended against it.
" That's enough!" His tentacles pulled on Ojiro's leg and held him up, Sora pulled back in time but was taken by surprise from behind, and she was also ensnared in his grasp.
From my blind spot! Does he know about my ability to see auras!? The grasp of the octopus was tightening around them. It doesn't matter.
" Now, Deku!" As Ojiro called, Midoriya bounced on the boy who was taken off by his sudden appearance. But Midoriya could not bring himself to hit an upperclassman. He stopped the punch an inch from him, asking him to surrender.
It would be nice if he did... Sora thought. But the Big Three were serious about training them and so Amjiki didn't hesitate at all to push Midoriya away with his wings and kick him hard. I thought so.
She gritted her teeth as she focused all her energy on her trapped wings. Harden them, more, more... Bring out more feathers! Amajiki winced in pain when the sharp feathers cut through his tentacles and blood trickled down. " Sorry... senpai... but I don't fancy being manhandled..." She said bringing even more feathers on her arms and legs and they tore through the skin of the octopus.
" I'm not letting you! Chemira Kraken!" Two gigantic tentacles shot out of his back, covered in the protective layer of crab shell and they wrapped around her, wringing her she felt as though being crushed. " First I'll take care of him."
" Deku-kun !" Uraraka yelled when the girl saw Amajiki lunging at him.
" I'll beat you!"
But then a blur of red rammed into him, knocking him off balance. " Red Riot!"
Something then jumped overhead, biting on the tentacles holding the hostages hard Amjiki had to let go of them.
Kyubi skidded to a halt, growling with the tentacles in her maw. " Tsukai..." Amajiki grunted as he struggled up.
"Yuu!"
" Sorry Senpai." The boy looked down at him, holding Sora in both arms. "I won't let you hurt Sora anymore!" His sentence earned him a strange look and smile from Ashido. "And it's no longer Tsukai, it's Reito."
Ojiro climbed up to his feet from where he had fallen. " Thanks."
" Don't thank us yet. He's coming, the star of the show." Kirishima told him.
" Now, Bakugo-san! Quick while we're holding him!"
" Don't order me!" Bakugo yelled from far away as a red car approached at high speed with him perched on its hood. " Your charging's too slow, Dunce Face!"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Kaminari mumbled with wires still stuck in his mouth.
With a blast, Bakugo lunged for Amjiki. The older boy shifted his clam-hand to tentacles and tried whipping at him but he changed direction and in an instant was behind him. " Game over!"
Even Yuu's heart skipped a beat when he saw Bakugo's face let alone Amajiki who was facing him. Propelling himself forward with another explosion, Bakugo knocked Amjiki to the ground, hand against his chest if he ever attempted to move.
" He's merciless." Yuu shivered.
" Does this mean, it's over?" Sora asked as Yuu let her down. As soon as the question left her mouth, an announcement was made.
" The drill is over. The drill is over."
" Not yet!" Everyone looked at Bakugo as he screamed. " Bastard, you went easy on me earlier, didn't you?!"
" No, that was because your face was-"
" Don't underestimate me! Besides, even if you're just acting, even if you're an upperclassman, villains are villains!"
" Too bad! Everyone! Get behind me!" Kyubi warned.
" My... enemy!" By the look of it, Amjiki embraced his fate already. "Die!" And there it was a large explosion that shook the ground. And Midoriya and the rest stepped out of the smoke, covered in soot and their hairs all scruffy.
Yuu peeked from behind Kyubi. " I wonder if Amajiki-senpai is alright..."
" If he is even alive." Added Whisper...
________________
Yuu took a seat on the sofa, a towel draped over his shoulders as he just finished a bath. To his surprise, something cold touched his face and his head snapped in that direction. Sora was smiling broadly at him, grasping in her hand a can of cola.
" Thanks." He said taking the can from her and she sat down beside him, smiling still.
" That's a thank you token."
" Eh? For what?"
" For saving me out there." She said popping hers open. " You were awesome."
" It's not like I really saved you. It was just a training," Yuu retorted.
" That doesn't change anything for me." She looked back at him. " I'm serious Yuu, you're awesome." Her gaze fell. " It's quite frustrating though, that I couldn't do anything myself there."
" Don't say that, Sora," Ashido added as they walked over to the two. " It was your plan right, to get Hado-senpai."
" You covered me with your wing so Amajiki-senpai wouldn't notice me slipping away." Hagakure joined in. " That was smart."
" Well, it was certainly nothing compared to Bakugo-kun and Todoroki." She smiled.
" Speaking of that delinquent, I don't see him around?" Whisper said whirling his head.
" Neither is Deku-kun." Uraraka noted.
" Bakugo-kun is in detention for the explosion he caused earlier," Hagakure added.
" And Midoriya-san said he would be late because he needed to train some more," said Yuu.
" Shirogane." Sora looked back just as Todoroki strolled over to them. " Can you help me out with the English project?"
" Sure thing. Let us head up then, it would be calmer," she said standing up and walking alongside him to the lift before they were gone.
" Geez, I was going to ask her to help me out first, Todoroki." Ashido groaned.
" Don't worry, Sora will help eventually." The boy smiled softly. " That's the kind of person she is."
Ashido leaned forward so that she was looking Yuu in the eyes it made him uncomfortable. She pointed her forefinger between his eyes. " Seijin, you're in love with Sora." Hagakure and Uraraka looked back in utter bewilderment at the bold way Ashido said it.
"Mina-chan!?"
" What? It's about time someone cleared things up." She retorted.
" In love with her?" Yuu tilted his head, befuddled that Whisper wanted so badly to bang the boy's head on the table.
" You're so close to her."
"Because we've been childhood friends."
" You're concerned about her." Ashido jumped over the armset and settling on the other sofa, faced him. " You're always trying to protect her. And you would stop at nothing even if it meant getting hurt to keep her safe, right?"
Yuu looked up as though considering it. " But... I would do the same for any of you." Truly, class 1A was the first class where felt he belonged, no one ever made fun of him or bullied him, and they all cared for him, so it was no exaggeration at all that he would stop at nothing for their sake.
" That's not it." Ashido groaned as she ruffled her hair while Hagakure and Uraraka sat beside her. " How to put it? When you're with her you're so happy. Your heart begins to beat fast and you would want to stay with her forever. You can't stop looking at her. You don't want to leave her side at all. You don't want her out of your sight. Isn't that true?"
Yuu's eyes widened with a fraction. " That... is true..."
" That, my friend, is called being in love." Ashido summed. " You've just been denying it this whole time."
" I..." Yuu looked down, his face flushing slightly. " I... love Sora...?"
Whisper seemed as though a heavenly light was cast upon him he was shedding tears of happiness. " Thank you, Ashido, for bringing this one up. I've been trying to make this fool admit it for so long now. I've grown tired of them friend-zoning each other."
" It isn't anything new for any of us," Uraraka added. " We know you guys are beyond just being close childhood friends. It was so clear. How you didn't realize it yourself until now?"
" Wait...I thought Sora-chan had a crush on Todoroki-kun..." And Hagakure blurted before she could hold herself back.
They were still for a moment before Uraraka and Ashido glared back at her, eyes bulging out. "What!?" Hagakure had no way of taking what she said back and had to continue.
" Because..." By the way her sleeves were moving back and forth, it seemed she was fiddling with her forefingers. " I've seen it multiple times... Sora-chan looking at Todoroki-kun and smiling, even after their internship, they seemed even closer... I thought maybe she had a crush on him. Not to forget what she had said during the training camp."
Yuu could recall it too. When asked who was the most impressive boy in their class, her answer was Todoroki. She didn't even consider Yuu, saying he was her childhood friend, no more, that they didn't like each other in that way at all. Well she was wrong, by the sound of it, he seemed to like her for too long, just didn't realize it. As for her...
He never considered that idea before, he had always been glad to have Sora beside him, he was satisfied with just glancing at her back as she flew before him. He thought they would stay close friends and trust each other with everything. He had never thought that a day may come when Sora would choose someone else to depend on, someone else to share everything with.
Someone else...
For an instant, his heart felt a little heavier than usual. His look cast down at that. " I see..." Of course she would choose Todoroki over him, he was capable, he was strong, and he never trembled in fear. He was everything Yuu wasn't... He was like Yuusuke, blessed with everything Yuu was denied. So why shouldn't she?
" Wait, Seijin," Ashido called. " It's not set in stone yet. They're just speculations. Right?" She gave Hagakure a warning glare.
" Right! That was just my own opinion!" Hagakure seemed to nod feverishly.
"It's all right." Yuu looked up at them and smiled softly. " It's fine. Even if it was that way, I wouldn't have stood in her way."
" Seijin-kun..." Uraraka's look softened as she gazed upon him.
" Sorry, Seijin..." Ashido lowered her head. " I shouldn't have brought all that stuff up..."
" No, it's fine, really." Yuu waved his hand at her. " Thanks, Ashido-san, for letting me realize it."
And with that said, Yuu left them and headed to his room with one thought in his head. He was indeed, in love with Sora...