In the midst of heartbreak, new bonds are forged.
At the end of their first year at UA High, the students rely on their tight friendships and hard work to get through finals. New alliances and friendships are made between the outgoing hero classes a...
However, we kept in touch. I figured he'd be a bit lonely in that big house of his, but that wasn't the only reason behind it. Conversations always just flowed easily between us. Not to mention the number of times I'd get a message horribly misspelled and I knew it would be Cleo. She certainly was peppy, nothing like the regal, intimidating force to be reckoned with that I had expected.
Eventually, throughout my conversations with the spirit, I'd get a clearer texted apology, and I knew Rocket had retrieved his phone. It left many times to talk about everything and nothing. Our chats ranged everywhere from school to where we would draw the line of "food" on a desert island. Books to candy preferences. I didn't know the last time I had read a book, but the conversation had somehow gone on for at least an hour.
As I moved into the 2-B dorms for the spring semester, I found myself most excited to reunite with Rocket and the rest of his friends. I never got time to see them the first night back, but it was good to catch up with my heroics friends.
As usual, we had (mostly) all contributed to a big potluck between 2-A and 2-B. We all shared in the shock that we were second years already.
There was unspoken stress about the new school year; the first year had been hard enough. Surely, it would only get more difficult moving forward. With work studies coming up, we didn't know how much time we'd be able to have for moments like this.
Throughout the night, I hung out with friends, challenged Vivi and Misaki to a round of Just Dance, and had an all-around good time.
Before I fell asleep that night, I laid up in my bed, texting Rocket. We had started by agreeing on a lunch table to meet with the rest of his friends, but we soon began to tell stories of the night.
I learned of the spontaneous bot battle after some intense bragging took place. It was late into the night before we both agreed we should turn in.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰
When I opened my phone to turn off my alarm the next morning, the first thing I saw was our goodnight text from the night before. I smiled to myself, knowing I would be able to see lots of friends that day. That is if our teachers didn't run us ragged on the first day of the semester.
I showered and tugged on my uniform, bounding out to the kitchen to make myself toast.
"You're chipper," Sakura observed, smirking as she cupped a steaming mug of fragrant tea. "Wouldn't expect you of all people to be looking forward to school."
My hand stilled as I went to push the toast down. Her eyes danced like leaves in the summer sun. I realized that I was in an uncharacteristically good mood for my first morning back. The anxieties flurrying around my stomach had seemed to ease for the moment.
I shrugged, not quite knowing what to tell her. "I think it's easier 'cause I'm used to it all." Sakura was probably the only one in my class that knew how much my anxious thoughts could make mornings difficult, considering her room was right next to my own. "I really missed all of you. I'm glad to be back."
"Me too," the girl replied in all seriousness, putting down her drink. "As much as I love my moms and their shop, being around all those flowers is killer on my allergies."
Students had been trickling in for breakfast, so a sleepy murmur hummed in the air. I prepared my toast and made my way over to Sakura's table, mentally preparing and hyping myself up for the first day.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰
My shoes squeaked against the cafeteria floors. The bright lights were too cheerful for me at the moment. First years were all nervously glancing around, trying to find a seat with potential friends. I just kept walking to the lunch line.
Did I think today would be all syllabi and recap?
Yes.
Was I horribly wrong?
Hell yes.
I hadn't even looked at my notes all winter, but we were suddenly thrown into all new units and my brain couldn't keep up. At this point, the only thing keeping me going was the promise of afternoon Hero training and...
"Koto!"
I turned to see the tall pinkette raising her metal hand in salutation. I smiled and nodded my head at Rose, making note of where they were all seated.
My new friends.
I grabbed my tray and traversed my way through the chaotic cafeteria. On any normal day, people would have easily found their seats by now, but of course, this was no normal day. Third years tried to claim their preferred seats from previous years, first years tried to make a statement about their friend groups for the year. All in all, it was a mess I would be happy to be rid of.
A first-year ran straight in front of me, causing me to swerve and trip on my own feet. I thankfully was able to right myself, in the process, leveling a cold, hard, second-year warning look at the student. From where I was glaring, silver eyes blinked in my periphery.
Akiba was walking by my target table and paused long enough to check in with me. "Are you alright?" He asked, watching as I walked past.
"Yes, thank you," I illused in reply. I smiled, an unending sea of emotions boiling in me.
My heartbeat still increased, but gone were the horrible heart-wrenching pain and the butterflies that accompanied it. Even still, I couldn't help but look at him in admiration. After all, he stopped to make sure I was okay. I may've been upset at first about his rejection, but I could still be glad that he was being so nice to me, right? It wasn't like he was being mean or trying to avoid me because I had made him uncomfortable. And he never tried to overcompensate. He was just consistent in being a great friend to me and everyone else in the heroics class.
The smile I received in return was genuine as he held up his hand in farewell. "Stay safe, Yamada."
My face still felt heated as I sat down, feeling my heart thundering along. I tried to take some deep breaths, telling myself it was just from my near fall, not from our brief conversation.
But I reminded myself where I was and my smile shined anew, greeting the friends I hadn't seen for months.
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