Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

SUMMONERS: SPECTRAL SUPPORT [1/5]

An explosion sounded across the cafeteria. Tamashii didn't bother looking: it was likely just some kid with an explosion Quirk trying to be like Ground Zero. He kept his betrayed hazel eyes locked onto his so-called friend for a moment longer before he gave up and sighed, resting his elbow on the table and propping up his head in his palm. There was still a fair amount of time before lunch ended, but the three of them didn't really have anything better to do than sit there.

"Can we see it?" Datto asked with his mouth full, spraying food across the table and pointing at the girl with his chopsticks whilst still jamming food inside him with the other hand.

Aya wrinkled her nose, clutching her sketchbook and leaning back out of the line of fire. She met his gaze with a glare, dipping her finger into a light brown paint and jabbing it onto the paper a little more aggressively, her hair, eyes, and freckles shifting to that hue. A droplet of paint splashed onto the table, but rapidly slid across the flat surface and crawled onto the page where it belonged.

"You're disgusting," Tamashii told his friend, lips curved into a smirk and tone slightly mirthful.

"How dare you," Datto mumbled, nearly incoherent, masticated mush visible inside his mouth as he indignantly poked his chopsticks towards his friend. "I'm the epitome of class and beauty."

"Right," he responded, sarcasm palpable. "Since you ate our desserts, you owe it to us to return the dishes. It's only fair."

The boy squinted, lips pursed as he chewed, expression positively mutinous. He didn't once break eye contact as he finished the last of his stolen meals, glare growing more bitter as he slowly collected the dishes, carefully piling them onto a tray and gradually standing up without looking away. Even as he made his way across the cafeteria he barely averted his gaze, only looking around to check that he wasn't about to bump into anyone and incur their wrath. Datto placed down the tray and dumped the dishes, meeting his friend's eyes once more as he raised one hand, middle finger flipped.

Unfortunately, there were several tables with people between the two boys. A few older students noticed the gesture and stood up, worryingly tall and beefy, postures aggressive and clearly ready to fight. Datto froze up, blinked his blue eyes, then sprinted from the room with the other kids in his wake.

Tamashii snorted and turned back around in his chair. Aya's thick eyebrows were furrowed, a sure sign of her intensifying focus that indicated she was nearly finished. Her hair graduated from red to brown to grey as she rapidly added the final touches, a long pause falling as her finger hovered above the page for a moment, then she deactivated her Quirk, let her shoulders relax, and flipped the sketchbook around to show him.

It was a breathtakingly realistic painting of him. He was looking off to the side, hazel gaze glinting in warm light, shadows casting under his rounded jaw. His light brown hair, twisted up in a perfect plait as always, trailed over his shoulder, settling atop the white school t-shirt. Paler lines twirled and wrapped around the caramel-toned skin of his exposed arms, etching out symbols and patterns that could almost be described as runes. He looked powerful and handsome, two words he hadn't thought to apply to himself until that moment.

No matter how many times she shared her stunning art, he was always awed by her talents.

"It's nice, Aya-chan," Tamashii said awkwardly, hands stilling on the tabletop before he could grab the sketchbook. "Really nice. I like it."

Aya stared at him, full lips curving into a pleased smile before she dipped her head, almost bashfully. She flipped her sketchbook back around to face her, gazing proudly at her creation for a moment longer before snapping it shut and slipping it back into her blue, paint-splatter-patterned bag. Both of them stood up simultaneously, grabbing their things and walking together towards the door.