Hikari: 『Volume 2 - Omakes』

◆Go! Operation: MOFKAFIL II◇

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Katsuki stated. His face heated up when glanced at her inquisitive expression. He turned his gaze to the ground, his muscles tensing up. "They're clearly trying... to get you and Deku together. If they constantly throw us into these situations together, it's bound to make that nerd jealous enough to confess or some crap. It's easy to get to soft guys like him like that."

"What?" Miyuki asked, taking aback.

"You've called each other by your first names since school began. You both admire All Might to the point you both hang around him nearly every day. When he gets injured, you're the first one there to make sure he's okay. When things heat up in an argument or a fight, no matter what, you always take his side. Not to mention..." he pursed his lips, his gut twisting into knots as he looked up at her from beneath his hair. "You two are always clinging to each other like dirt on a boot. It's really gross!"

Of all the analogies you could've used... Miyuki thought, sweatdropping. I don't think I want to find out who's the dirt and who's the boot. But...

"That's crazy," she responded, cheeks flushing a dark pink. "I don't think of him like that at all. Izuku is my friend, just like you are and Shoto-Kun, Yaoyorozu-Chan, Ashido-Chan, and everyone are..." Miyuki trailed off, eyes softening. "Really, I haven't had time for love or anything romantic at all with school and exams taking up a lot of my time... and the villains relentlessly wreaking havoc on us, too..."

Katsuki watched as she brushed her fingers through her hair, coming to a stop at the slightly choppy bits just beneath her chin. He scowled, recognising that that small piece of her taken away when she tried to save him during the training camp was something that would leave a large and lasting scar on her heart. Her mind, too, he felt, noticing the way her eyes dimmed a little.

"But what about you? You've got a shelf full of manga about these kinds of things. It's why you were able to figure out... or deduce, what was going on. Right?" She tilted her head, smiling softly. "Haven't you ever wanted to explore what those feelings would be like for yourself?"

"...Don't have time for that crap, either," he replied, looking down, brows furrowing as he spoke. "Not like I would do something so dumb if I had, anyway. I'm going to be the number one hero one day, so that means everyone around me is my rival - especially you, Pe - Miyuki."

"In that case... I'm glad I get to compete on the same level with someone as determined as you are," she said, her smile fading slightly as she shivered. "You're so stubborn about everything, and you've never let the voices of those around you get to you. It's why... you've always been getting so much stronger so fast. I really... envy you for that."

His eyes widened, taken aback by her confession. The light in her palm flickered before she regained control, her fingers trembling a little from the action.

"What makes you think you've got any right to envy?" He responded, causing her to look up at him in surprise, but he still refused to look at her. His eyes narrowed. "You've got a Quirk - Quirks - that let you do just about anything you want. What're you being all insecure about?"

Miyuki pursed her lips, a crease forming between her brows as his words sunk in.

"What do I have to be insecure about...? I never asked to be born with so much power. Even so, I..." Her hand balled into a fist in her lap, heart lurching as a memory surged forth. "Power without control... isn't strong. I learnt that when I started school and we had to introduce ourselves in front of everyone on the first day. We had to say our names and show our Quirks. When my turn came, I lost control of the darkness in the room... you wouldn't believe how horrified everyone was to witness their own shadows come to life like that, flying around the room like ghosts and phantoms and things they didn't want to see.