" Yuu?" The boy snapped as the girl by his side looked down at him. " You feeling alright?"
" Ah, I'm fine." The boy smiled softly at her.
" Then let's go. We ought to head to the eatery. Otherwise, we won't get a table." Yuu stood up and followed her. On their way to the eatery, he was pondering on it. Should he ask her about it? About how she feels about him? What did she like about Todoroki?
" Sora..." His quivering lips finally parted.
"Mhmm..." She merely hummed, still walking before him, not looking back at him. Yuu rubbed his hands uneasily, he didn't think asking her would be even harder than facing spirits and ghosts.
" Go on! Ask her already!" Whisper hissed in his ear. But of course that didn't escape Sora's sharp ears.
" Ask me what?" She said finally stopping and looking back at him, her head cocked to one side. " Are you sure you're fine Yuu, you don't seem so?"
" I'm fine." He affirmed. " Sora..."
" Shirogane." Sora blinked and looked back at the side just as Todoroki called her. " Could I... have a word with you?"
Sora hesitated, she looked back between the two boys. " Go on." Yuu nodded with a smile. " I'll get there first then."
Sora bowed her head, her hands clapped over it. " Sorry, I'll catch up soon." And she rushed over to Todoroki.
Yuu looked after them as they walked down the hallway. I know she is better off with him... He gazed as she turned to the other boy and smiled, talking nonchalantly. But why does my heart feel this heavy...
" Yuu..." Ignoring the ghost, Yuu continued to the eatery.
________________
" Why asking me of all people?" Sora raised an eyebrow.
" You were there with me during the internship and if anyone knows it best, it's you, after all, you could see auras. what do you think?" His eyes were fixed on her red ones.
This isn't a question you should ask me of all people. My answer would be yes of course. The girl sighed. Of course he wouldn't know that. But one thing she was sure off, his aura was the real thing. He was serious about it, even if he himself didn't show it. " Yes..." She told him...
________________
Unbeknownst to them, Hagakure had heard the whole thing and rushed over to the eatery. " I told you!" She shouted as she sat between Uraraka and Ashido. " Sora-chan has a crush on Todoroki-kun! And he asked her out too!"
" What!?" Both girls choked on their food and Jiro quickly passed them cups of water with her earphone jack.
" Hold on, what are you three talking about?" She asked but was ignored.
" I'm sure of it! I've heard them with my own ears! Todoroki-kun told her that she ought to have known since they had their internship together and Sora-chan said yes!" Hagakure was shouting her lungs out.
" But then... What about Seijin-kun?" Uraraka looked nervous.
" What about him?" Asked Jiro again.
" It seems Sora really didn't think of him any more than a childhood friend." Ashido looked down." And to think I talked big yesterday and had his hopes high."
" It wasn't your fault, Mina-chan," Hagakure reassured her.
" That's true, don't blame yourself." Uraraka put a hand on her shoulder.
" Anyone eager to explain anything to me?" Jiro grunted and so the girls told her everything about yesterday's talk and what Hagakure overheard.
" You're kidding me! What have you done!" She hissed at them.
" I didn't mean to," Ashido said.
" That's right, it wasn't her fault." Added Uraraka.
" No, that's not what I mean!" She looked over her shoulder and her earphone jack pointed over the row of hedges behind them. " Seijin is sitting at the table across!"
" Wha-" The girls tried to hold themselves from shouting just as Yuu stood up with his tray in hands, his food almost untouched...
_______________
" You're not fine!" Sora's voice permeated the living room that night. She stood up, her chair thrown to the ground and her face flushed with anger. " What's with that aura of yours?! I know exactly that you're not fine! Tell me what's bothering you!"
" It's-" But before Whisper could talk Yuu shoved him under the table.
" It's nothing, really. I'm just worried about the coming exams." Yuu smiled. "Let's continue our work."
" You? Scared of exams? Who do you pass me for, Yuu!?" The boy didn't answer. " You want to fool your childhood friend with that obvious lie! If there's something you enjoy it's quizzes and exams!"
" Sora... I'm fine... so please..."
" Not until you tell me what's wrong!" She insisted." This disturbed aura is something I can't gloss over! You ought to tell me! Aren't we friends?! I thought there were no secrets between us!"
Yuu's eyes swiveled away from hers. " I wonder about that..."
There was utter silence after that. Sora shut her mouth and sat back down, but none of them spoke to the other the whole time, keeping to themselves. It was different from the usual chats and laughter they always had. Everyone could see the change.
" What happened between them?" Sato asked, bringing a tray with cupcakes to Uraraka and the rest huddled around the TV. The girls exchanged worried looks before shaking their heads. If Yuu didn't want to talk about it himself, he wouldn't like them to.
After Sato finished distributing the cupcakes, he realized there were still two cakes left on the tray. " Did I forget someone, I'm sure I baked 22?"
"Oh, Todoroki isn't here tonight." Sora looked back at him. " His father was discharged today so his older sister asked him to come home to welcome him. Aizawa took him this evening."
" That's why I didn't see him around," Sero added.
" And the other is probably Midoriya's," Aoyama added. " He's training on his own again."
"Training is fine but he shouldn't overwork himself nor forget about his studies!" Iida shoved his arm up and down.
Even with everyone chattering around that night, the silence between Yuu and Sora was unbearable, neither for them nor for those close to them...
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" Okay, what have you done to him this time?" Kyubi's glare transfixed Whisper.
" Why do you think it's me? Why am I the bad guy here?" Both of them looked back at the boy sitting on a bench under one of the lampposts in front of the dorm, being a chilly night in the early Autumn, he had a shawl wrapped around him as he read from a notebook, his earphones dangling over his shoulders.
It was shortly after Yuu's Quirk was restored that Kyubi and Whisper began meeting at night for, some training as the ghost said. Yuu tagged along to overlook them and help when needed since the fox insisted on using her own energy for the training.
" Then mind explaining to me why he seems off. He didn't flip the page for 15 minutes. Yuu never gets stuck on a page for more than 5 minutes, be it math or literature."
Rubbing his head, Whisper looked away from their friend and spoke in a hushed voice. " It's complicated, you see..."
Yuu didn't bother at all looking up from his notebook. All he was thinking about was what he said to Sora. Maybe he had overstepped with that last phrase. She was just worried for him and he just as good as told her to be off. Something he would never say to his friend.
But there was the question. Were they friends anymore? Did she need him at all? Now that she had Todoroki, it would make sense that she would turn her back on him.
He snapped out of his thoughts when a shadow was cast down upon his book and he looked up, snatching one of his earphones. " Seijin-chan..." Asui approached him and tilted her head slightly to the right. " Mind if I join you?"
" Not at all." He smiled as he nudged to his right as though to tell her to settle. Asui accepted the invitation and sat down just as a gentle breeze blew against their faces.
" It's really chilly tonight."
" Summer is over after all."
" It felt like a blink." He looked at her and took notice of the coat she was wearing. " Does cold bother you?"
" Not as much yet. It would be troublesome in winter though, I might even fall asleep for days on end if not properly warmed." A moment of silence was interrupted only by Whisper and Kyubi's bickering. " Are you alright, Seijin-chan?"
" Eh?"
" It's unlike you and Sora-chan to give each other the cold shoulder. Many of us are quite worried about you two."
" I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you or Sora... It's just..." He didn't know how to put his own feelings in words and didn't know how to express them... Didn't know if he even should.
" Seijin-chan, if you feel burdened so feel free to say whatever you want. I'm here to listen." Asui's expression was of genuine concern. " I don't want to look away from a bothered friend again."
Taking a deep breath, Yuu looked over his shoulder. There, beyond the glass of the window, in the common area, Sora was chatting along with Ashido and the rest with her back facing him.
" I think... I've wished for something far away from my reach."
"Ribbit."
" I'm not sure what I should do from here... I don't even know what my own feelings are anymore and I don't think I can face anyone like this."
" I get that." Asui words were calm and sturdy, they held weight to them. " I felt like that once, when I failed to stop Midoriya-chan and the others from going to Kamino. I felt confused and, it was hard to sort out my own feelings. I didn't think I would be able to laugh with everyone that way. That's why, I wanted to confront them, tell them how I feel. It helped me out."
It won't work for me. I already know how Sora feels about me. No more than a childhood friend.
Asui seemed to catch on to what he was thinking. " You can do it at your own pace. But you need to confront Sora-chan in the end. No matter what's making you feel that way, it won't get cleared away unless you talk to her."
Yuu looked back at her, a sad smile on his face. " Thanks Asu- Tsuyu-chan... But I'm fine. It will be cleared out with time. It is not like something I should have realized in the first place."
" Ribbit?" Asui cocked her head to the side, a slight hint of confusion palpable on her face.
________________
It's fine... he told himself again and again. He didn't need her to love him back, Sora was still his best friend, at least for him. It didn't matter if she didn't think so. He still cared for her enough not to overstep.
" Are you sure you don't want to confront her?" Whisper gazed down at him from the ceiling.
Yuu stirred in his bed so he was facing him. " I don't want. And you better not talk about it too."
" But..."
" It's alright, Whisper." Yuu shifted again, covering his face with the blanket. " I didn't expect it to be me in the first place."
"You're undervaluing yourself, kid," Whisper murmured.
" Maybe I just..." Yuu closed his eyes. " ... thought too highly of myself for a moment."
It was for the better. He thought. He didn't want to worry Sora again, he had to forget all about it. He would just stand by her side and cheer for her, that's how he always had been... But why did his heart still feel heavy?...
________________
The next day was pretty cold, November was nearing its end and December was upon them, so the afternoon felt chilly. Sora had pulled a medium feathery cape on her shoulders to keep herself warm. Looking at the other girls getting warmed up, she didn't even want to imagine how it was for Hagakure.
Yuu didn't have to change anything about his, it was warm after all. " Everyone mostly has changed their costumes over the year." He noted.
" True, after all, when we first designed them, we based them on things we wanted, but now that we experienced fights firsthand, it became what we need rather than what we want," Sora murmured.
The two were, on talking terms not to say the least. Sora understood that Yuu didn't feel comfortable sharing whatever he was bothered about with her. She had no right to berate him for that, she thought.
Yuu tried his best to forget about the whole thing. It wasn't something that should have happened in the first place. He shouldn't have liked her at all. And he was better off if he didn't realize it. Dang it, Ashido-san. It was probably the first time he ever swore at someone in his life. And he regretted it afterward.
They both snapped back to reality as a familiar voice called. " What is he doing here..." Groaned Whisper as he looked in the direction of the sound only to see the whole of class B standing there before them, led by none other than Monoma.
" We're having a training together, remember," Iida told him.
"Eh? It was today?" Sora blinked. She didn't expect that.
Monoma stepped forth, flaunting around a survey that, according to him, was describing how people had liked their play rather than class A's concert. " Is that true?" Sora turned to her friend.
Yuu hummed in thoughts. " Since it's dubbed 'my research', it hardly could serve as a reference."
" That boy, he just wants to show everyone how good class B is, huh? Then let's fight and we will see who is better for sure!" Sora and Yuu held onto the ghost's arms to prevent him from beginning a brawl.
This time around, as Monoma continued to rant, Kendo didn't have to act, for Aizawa dealt with the boy, strangling him with his cloth.
" It would have been better if that boy actually ended under Aizawa." Whisper huffed. " That way, he wouldn't have been that jealous of class A after all."
" And be our classmate, no way in hell!" Mineta shouted.
" I would trade you for him any time, Mineta-chan." All the girls sided with Asui in this.
Their conversation was cut short as the teacher claimed someone was going to join them for the training. The two classes were taken aback by the appearance of Shinso on the training ground. " Shinso Hiroshi, who wants to transfer into the hero course."
" He doesn't even have a costume," Whisper muttered.
" They can't make him one until he transfers," Yuu whispered. " Though that cloth..."
"It's the same as Aizawa-sensei..." Sora noted.
" I've already fought against some of you during the sports festival, but saying we're friends just because we've fought before... I'm not into good sportsmanship like that."
" This isn't exactly a nice introduction so far." Whisper groaned.
" I'm already dozens of steps behind you all. Sorry, but I'm desperate for this. I want to become a proper hero and use my Quirk to help others." His look felt a little harder at that. " All of you here are walls that I must overcome. I'm not planning on being friends. Thanks for having me."
A wave of applause rose from both classes. " Despite it being a tad on the harsh side, he really deserves respect for how far he has reached," Sora told the ghost who was still folding his arm. Begrudgingly he clapped too.
And so they went straight for the crux of the training. They had to split into five groups per class. Of course, two of the five groups would be having an extra member and would be conducting battles among the teams. As usual, the teams will be picked by drawing balls with the team number from two labeled boxes one for each class.
" What about him?" Whisper asked pointing a finger at Shinso.
" Shinso will be practicing twice." Explained Vlad. " Once in a class A team, and once in a class B team."
" But wouldn't there be a possibility of a team getting six members, shroom?" Komori added.
"We'll exclude the teams with five members already," Aizawa replied. " And just like you've experienced during your battle training, if you're a five-member team, you'll be out when you're four members short, no matter what."
" The situation for this training will be heroes acting to surround a villain group and capture them." Vald pointed at them." Think of the other team as villains! You'll win once you capture four people!"
Yuu and Sora ignored Iida's disorientation over which role he should assume and proceeded to ask. " Capture the villains as in, how?"
Vald looked back at Yuu. " In each team's base camp, there is a super cute prison. Once you imprison your opponent that will count as capture. No matter how it's done, if you enter the cage it counts as a point."
Yuu and Sora didn't mess on that. So if you get thrown into your own prison it counts as a point, though you won't be imprisoned. They ought to be careful with that one catch.
The teams were then drawn, Asui, Koda, Kaminari, and Kirishima were facing Shiozaki, Shishida, Tsuburaba, and Rin.
Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, and Tokoyami were up against Kendo, Komori, Kuroiro, Fukidashi, and Ai.
Todroki, Shoji, Ojiro, Iida, and Sora's team was running against Tetsutetsu, Tsunotori, Kaibara, and Honenuki.
Bakugo, Jiro, Sero, Sato, and Yuu were facing Tokage, Awase, Bond, Kamakiri and Tobi.
Midoriya, Mineta, Ashido and Uraraka's opponents were Monoma, Kodai, Shoda, and Yanagi.
After eliminating the teams with five members already, all that was left was for Shinso to draw and he did, landing on number 1 for class A and 5 for B. " He will be fighting along Asui-san..." said Yuu.
" And against Midoriya..." noted Sora.
" Speaking of that..." he looked back at the ash blonde who seemed about to explode with rage himself and gulped. " How did I end up with him on the same team...?"
" Baggy eyes, don't you dare drop dead in the middle of the battle! I'll kill you then!" Bakugo shouted. " And all of you extras, don't you think of holding me back!" For an instant, Sora thought she saw Tokage smirking.
" You'll start at your base camp," Vlad explained further. " The time limit is 20 minutes."
" If there's no decisive victory within the time limit, then whoever has the most captures will be the winner. Else it would be a draw, no matter how many were left standing." Aizawa added.
" It's not a match till death!" Bakugo growled.
" What are you angry about!" Cried Whisper.
" So, if we have each two members taken out, though we still have three on the scene, it will end as a draw," Sora told Todoroki.
"That's basically how it's. That's the handicap for having 5 members after all." He stated just as Ashido pointed to the arrival of All Might and Midnight as they joined them to watch over the training.
The horn was blown and the first match started rather slow on the side of class A's team. They were moving carefully while trying to predict their opponents' plan and come up with their own.
" Who do you think will win?" Having grown tired of the long silence between them, Whisper asked and Yuu tilted his head to the side, considering it.
" It's hard to tell." He looked up at the screen. " There are Kaminari-san and Shiozaki-san who are more like natural enemies. They have Shishida-san's offense and Tsuburaba-san's defense so class B seems to have a well-balanced team. Not to mention Rin-san's long-range attack."
" But we have Kirishima-kun's hardening on our side," Sora noted. " Tsuyu-chan's skills are not to be reckoned either and so is Koda-kun's intel gathering. Add Shinso-kun's Quirk and they're quite balanced too."
" Still, we don't know much about Shinso-san's fighting skills. And they all know his Quirk so using it will be hard." Yuu rubbed his chin. " In the end, it will all come down to the plan."
Shishida and Tsuburaba had already ambushed the other team, imprisoned Koda in a box of fortified air, and made for Kaminari. But Shishida fell numb and Yuu's eyes widened. " The mask was a voice changer?!"
Just as Shinso made to attack he was imprisoned too and Shishida was waken up. Kaminari charged forward and the moment the beast caught him he electrified him to which Shishida had flung him away.
Asui used the moment of confusion to capture Tsuburaba and take him to jail while the beast was still raging on.
Kirishima came back on his feet, freed Koda from his prison, then they tried to stop Shishida from following the girl but were captured instead. He pelted Kirishima into the sky and the boy was soon caught in Shiozaki's vines. And so it was one point for each team.
Shishida chose to back off when Asui and Kaminari went for him and the other two went to help Shinso while they had the chance.
" His reactions are a bit off," stated Sora. " He could've secured Shishida hadn't he dithered."
" Ah. He still hesitates before acting." Yuu agreed. From a little further, Uraraka and the girls exchanged relieved smiles to see the two were talking normally again. Or at least, they were trying.
Having secured Koda, class B had 2 points now.
Vlad took on the responsibility of commenting on the match, yet he was mostly cheering for his class. Monoma relished that while Ashido started a protest group against him which Sora was more than glad to join.
" There are three Asuis heading our way!" Shishida's voice came through the large TV. Only Midoriya and Mineta managed to make sense of his words.
" A mucus?" Yuu and Sora approached them while whispering, piqued by what they overheard.
Midoriya nodded. " She put it on the other two to cover their smell!"
" Even we almost forgot about it, so there's no way class B would think of it!"
" I see, it's a good strategy against Shishida's nose," Whisper remarked.
" And by the way they're moving, it seems they know exactly where the enemy is." Yuu noticed.
" Right! I saw one of Kaminari-kun's pointers get stuck to Shishida-kun's pants!" Sora recalled." So they're following it."
However, as they reached the point, they were surprised to see it swarming with veins. They discussed their plan for a moment before Kaminari offered himself as a beat.
Focusing on the boy with the lightning Quirk, it was an opening. Shinso brainwashed Shiozaki and Asui retrieved her before Rin could wake her up while Shishida ran away. " They're losing their teamwork." Yuu's eyes narrowed at the screen. " That's just how scary Shinso's ability is."
Asui finished up with Rin and threw him at Shishida who was attacking Shinso to which they were knocked out almost immediately. Using the brainwashed Shiozaki, they managed to capture their opponent, and the match ended with class A's win.
" He maybe was lacking in terms of close combat, but Tsuyu-chan and Kaminari-kun managed to cover for him," Sora stated.
" Still, he has the guts. I bet you anything he would make a good hero in the future." Whisper smirked.
Both classes were required to witness the critiques. Sora could tell Asui and Kirishima were the most serious out of all of them. They know exactly the change a split second of indecisiveness can make on the outcome of a fight. Yuu thought. He too experienced it during the previous months what's with all the fuss with the League.
After seeing the first team's fight, the rest of them realized they had to have a plan ready to use down on the battlefield. So both Sora and Yuu joined their teams. Iida, Todoroki, Ojiro, Shoji, and Sora were busy trying to recall their opponents' Quirks and what they gathered about them during the sports festival.
Baguko on the other hand wasn't keen on having a plan set. " You bastards! Don't get in my way!" Was his only words. " It's mine! By me! For me!" They sat down all disappointed for they couldn't get a single useful word out of the boy.
" I thought he would get a little better after that fight with Midoriya..." Whisper shook his head tiredly and face-palmed himself. " How are we going to deal with him..."
It wasn't long until Vlad called on top of his lungs for the teams of the second round. " It's Yao-momo against Itsuka-chan... I wonder how it would end up. Both of them are smart and capable after all," Sora muttered.
" Right, you know that Kendo girl after all," Whisper stated.
" Not just that I know her, she is a friend," said Sora. " And I know for a fact that she is strong-willed and wouldn't be defeated easily."
Yuu looked back at both teams as they went for their allocated camps. " Yaoyorozu-san's team will be facing a five-member team, I wonder if she can handle that?"
" She will." Yuu looked back at Todoroki standing beside him and his neck craned towards the screen, watching with an unfazed face. "Yaoyorozu can deal with that. I'm sure she already has an operation in mind."
" Operation?" Murmured Whisper.
Yuu's eyes flicked to the screen...