Infectious

ch. 13

a/n: reminder that all English is in bold (except for the phone notifications lol, those are in Japanese)

Chapter Thirteen;;- An Important Phone Call

[name]'s stomach knotted. They really left a voicemail? Her finger hovered over it, her mind racing. What could they want?

After a moment of thought, she shook her head. She didn't need this right now. [name] held down the power button and turned the phone all the way off.

The announcements continued overhead, the constant stream of Yamada's commentary almost making her feel more at ease despite the unease she had just felt. [name] started walking around again, listening closely to the events around her again.

There wasn't much time left in the second stage. Somehow, [name] had managed to completely zone out for twelve minutes while she stood there staring at her phone, probably looking like a complete dork. She hung her head in embarrassment, even though no one saw it.

[name] had missed a lot, but from the sounds of it, her class was doing exceptionally well. Those kids never failed to amaze her-- really, they were fucking crazy. Aren't they supposed to be fifteen? When she was fifteen she just made a bunch of dick jokes and failed algebra two twice.

"We'll proceed to the afternoon portion after a one-hour lunch break! See you then!!" Yamada voiced boomed over the overhead speakers. But there was also a closeness to his voice.

She looked around, her eyes almost immediately falling on the door labeled 'broadcasting room.' [name] opened the door and peeked in, smiling when she met eyes with Yamada.

"Hey, Eraserhead, wanna grab some food?" Yamada asked, walking towards [name].

Aizawa started climbing inside his sleeping bag. "I'm taking a nap."

Yamada looked disappointed, so [name] raised her hand jokingly. "I'll take you up on that offer, if the invitation extends to me."

His eyes brightened. "Woo! Yeah, 'course it does." Yamada grinned widely, exiting the broadcasting room side-by-side with [name]. "Did you need something though?"

[name] shook her head. "No, I was just wandering around and ended up by the broadcasting room. Figured I'd pop in and see what was up."

"That's right, you didn't really have anything to do, did you?"

Another head shake. "Nope. To be honest, I was a bit bored. I understand how important Yuuei's sports festivals are, but I really don't get other schools' sports festivals. We don't have anything like that in America."

Yamada nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'd always be happy to explain if you wanted me to."

[name] smiled. "Thanks, but the information is kind of useless." She shrugged and stretched her arms above her head. "I mean, it's not like I'll be attending any other ones besides Yuuei's."

He quirked his lips in a half-smile and lifted his shoulders in his own small shrug. "Makes sense."

They chatted about whatever came to mind for a little while on their way to the staff room. When they entered, the cigarette smell had already passed and the heroes that had been doing stuff during the festival were milling about and talking to each other.

The heroes that hadn't been doing anything during the events (like Mt Lady, Vlad King, Kamui Woods) had left, probably to let the busy ones have a rest. There was some food provided for them.

With some food in front of her, [name] sat between Kayama and Yamada, Cementoss sitting across from her.

The lunch was a welcome distraction from the phone calls she had received earlier. Surrounded by people who wanted to be around her, cracking jokes and talking about whatever they wanted to, [name] felt more at ease than she had probably in the three and a half years since she had moved to Japan. It became nearly impossible for [name] to wipe the grin off her face, even when everyone's laughter faded.