Never

7. Bonding

Lady : Excuse me, could you please give me directions to the station ?

Me : Go straight to the city Hall, then turn right and you'll see it.

Lady : Thank you young ones, you're very kind. You're saving me, it's rare to find someone knowing sign language, so two at once is quite a miracle !

Huh ? I turn toward Shinso, who turns to me at the same time, both of us in the middle of signing a « you welcome ».

Shinso and I : You can sign ?!

The lady chuckles seeing our stupefied faces, thanks us and leaves. We stare at each other for a while, then suddenly a chuckle escape me, and become a full giggle. Shinso deadpans, which make me laughs even harder.

Shinso : What is so funny ?

Me : For three days we've been struggling to communicate, writing on a peace of paper, while we could both sign from the beginning ! And we find out about it like... like THIS ! It's just ridiculous !

He stares at me for a moment then chuckles, looking away. And before we can understand we're both laughing our asses off, siting on the sidewalk.

When we eventually calm down we share a smile. I haven't had a laugh like that for... years ? I must have been six. Seeing Shinso's face it must be the same for him. And to say it started because of something so stupide and insignificant. So simple.

Me : Would you like to spend some time together ? Or do you prefer to go home ?

His face darkens. He seems to internally struggle, then signs.

Shinso : Where would you like to go ?

Me : The beach ? There is no-one there.

Shinso : Dagobah beach ? It's a waste dump !

Me : There is a touristic street not far, we could buy an ice cream then go to the beach, it would be calm, nobody would come to look for us there. And I'm curious to see what we can find among the scums.

Shinso : Society's scums ?

I snigger. Dark humor huh ? It fits him.

Me : So ? I pay the ice-creams.

Shinso : Ok. I don't have anything better to do anyway.

I snort. As if. So, we go to the beach, buy ice creams to a little shop that has seen better days, then go among the piles of trash. We find a couch and sit there to eat our ice creams in front of the waves.

Then, as I was finishing to lick the stick of my magnum, Shinso turned to me.

Shinso : I've been wondering for a while... the rumors say that you flee by jumping through the window every lunch break and afternoon, but we're at the third floor, so is it true ?

I simply nod, but he seems dubious. So I get up, quickly scan our surrounding, then start to climb a pile of trash. Shinso tries to stop me, but by the time he notices I'm already meters above the ground.

When I reach the top I'm on a tower slightly unstable, around three floors above ground, a bit higher than the window of my classroom. Shinso down there looks at me with a mix of fear, curiosity and shit-she-is-completely-nuts. I smile at him and gesture him to step away, then aim for a clean zone and jump.

I land in a roulade on the sand, get up and dust myself, without a scratch. I turn toward Shinso, who looks at me with wide eyes, the remainder of his ice cream melting on his hand.

Shinso : Where did you learn that ?!

Me : I lived in the streets for a few years before being found and adopted by my father. There I learned to escape any dangers and to fight. Would you like me to teach you ? We could train together !

He hesitated a moment. Then is gaze became resolute and he nodded. I smile at him, genuinely exited. I had a friend !

Shinso's POV

It's been two weeks since I met Aizawa. I still have troubles believing it. Every morning we would met at the gate and go together to class. We were superbly ignored by our respective tormentors, but we were still hiding every lunch break in a different place.

Now she would always bring two meals to give me one. At first I protested, but ever since she forcefully fed me I would accept it without trouble. It took me a few days to get used to having one real meal per day.

And even more. For after the class, from 5pm to 8pm we trained at the beach, then go eating an ice cream, and every morning she would bring me pancakes. I alway kept leftovers for the weekend, it was lifesaving.

For the training, we had planned it together. First warmups, where I would try to imitate her since she had more experience, and visibly was more skilled. Then we would run for half an hour, trying to go as far as possible, and Aizawa always had to come back to join me since I barely made half of her distance.

After that she was teaching me how to climb the trash towers and jump from them, starting at two to three meters, then going higher and higher. After almost two weeks of training I could jump from the second floor without much trouble, and was starting to climb the towers quite well. Never as fast as Aizawa though.

Then we would clean the beach. I pointed out that it would be a good bodybuilding exercice and she instantly agreed, planning the best way to do so, since each object requires us to use different muscles. It was quite satisfying to know that we were contributing in cleaning the beach. It was a bit as if we were heroes.

Afterwards we would come back by running, then end the training with a swimming session. Again, it was Aizawa that bought me a swimsuit since I never had one because of financial issues. It was supposed to be training, but looked more like a game, at least for her. I would try to catch her, and her to escape me. I haven been able to even graze her yet.

After all this we would go buy an ice cream and take a walk, signing or simply staying silent. None of us ever talked, but we were both confortable when in each other's company. Even if I swear that none of us knew when it happened.

Today was Friday. I was packing my stuff with impatience. I had merciless aches due to training but I liked it, it meant that it was working. I could even see my strength, speed and stamina slowly increase. Plus, I liked this moments spent with Aizawa, it was nice to have a friend with whom I could relax, talk and laugh. My dark humor was rubbing on her.

But as I was getting ready to leave, roots came out of the ground to catch my feet. I looked up and saw Bark. And he wasn't alone.