"I...can't feel my arms anymore..."
The h/c haired girl let out a groan as she allowed her body to lean over the counter, her face immediately releasing a smile once she felt the cool top. Suzuki simply shook her head from the entrance as she placed a box down. "I swear, you act as if picking up a few things are the end of the world," she called out, gaining a short, muffled noise from the younger. "At least if you're gonna keep laying over there, you could watch over my counter for a bit."
"But what if someone ends up coming in when you're gone?" The shorter girl lifted her head with a frown, pushing her arms underneath her chin so it was resting on it. Her cheeks were slightly puffed, hair hanging in front of her face messily. "Would you really leave a poor girl like me to fend for myself in this dangerous neighborhood?"
"I'm pretty sure half the people here respect you too much to let trouble come your way, kid. And don't start pulling that helpless bullshit with me. It doesn't work on people who already know what you can do," the woman let out with a laugh, the other groaning once again as her eyes closed in frustration. She made no motion to move away however, settling herself further behind the counter.
"For the last time Suzuki-san, I'm not a vigilante. That-" A pointed finger. "-was a one time thing and I-" Back to herself "would appreciate it if you remembered as such."
"What's your deal with the whole 'vigilante' thing anyway?" The older woman placed a hand on her hip, lifting a single brow. The younger moved her gaze to the side. "I get being scared of the cops and all that but I doubt they'll be able to do anything about it. It's not like they were doing anything out here to begin with. If they try to arrest you, I think they'll have more problems than before. Shouldn't you at least be happy with a little bit of the praise? Practically everyone here on this block likes you, you know."
"It isn't that simple."
"Seems pretty simple to me," Suzuki huffed. Seeing the younger girl shrug, the woman could only shake her head with a frown as she moved her hand back to the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't start anything while I'm gone. I love you but my stocks aren't going to last for very long if you manage to stir up anything."
"What are you, my mom?" Y/N huffed out, another laugh coming forth before it was muffled as the door closed. She sighed, picking herself back up from behind the counter with a stretch. Her arms were still rather buzzy from carrying some of the boxes in for Suzuki, fingers a bit tingly for her to notice but not enough for her to complain about. She probably should have expected as much, spending almost little time on exercising as she probably should have. It hadn't been one of her priorities, her main focus on finding a way back trumping all others quite soundly, and she was sort of coming to regret that decision. Perhaps she should start working on building herself up more? It would be pretty funny to see Midoriya's reaction if she somehow were to get abs. The boy would probably start freaking about.
She released a small chuckle at the thought, giving one finally stretch before making her way to the back to grab a broom, Suzuki mentioning something about needing to clean up earlier.
How long ago had it been since she had come to this world? It was nearing the end of the school year now and U.A would be sending their acceptance and rejection letters soon, so maybe a little over half a year? She hadn't really given much thought as to how long she would be planning to spend there, seeing as she was bound to find some way back home eventually. In a world of countless possibilities, the possibility of finding a way back to her own world was what held her together still. Sure, she had come to enjoy spending time with Midoriya and surprisingly her time with the number one hero, but it wasn't really wasn't really her. While she may have thought of them as friends, they only saw her as Masami, an extension of herself as she had come to decide. The moment she left, and she was planning on it, this world would probably still continue on without her. It was a story created by a person, not an actual world. They might have cared for her now but they were still bound to a plot, one that was always moments away from breaking apart if she didn't watch herself. Even if she were to want to get closer to them, it just wouldn't work out. There was still a boundary between them and that gap always seemed to hang over her whenever she saw them.
It wasn't as if she really wanted to be doing this either. She just happened to meet them by chance. A very suspicious chance but chance nonetheless. If this were any other circumstance, she would have probably taken the chance at getting to know them. But this wasn't any other circumstance. This wasn't just some story were she could live out her life the way she wanted. This was reality and reality was far more cruel than she was about things. Yes, she was happy to be given another chance at living but at the expense of another person was another problem (person? Was Masami a person? She was a character, definitely, but considering she was now in the universe she should probably start thinking of the girl as a person). Death had consequences and those consequences were in her other life. To just simply ignore the fact she had died and to go on with her life as if nothing had happened? To pretend that everything was fine? She had died. She had seem the way the boy's eyes had looked right as the truck had hit her. It felt disgusting. It felt like nothing. For that single moment, she had been nothing. Her life had been so easily taken away just as simple as that. Was she really just going to pretend like nothing had happened that day? Act like this whole situation is alright?
E/c eyes dropped as she gripped the broom, stopping.
She didn't know how she felt about that.
The sound of bells ringing broke her train of thought, causing her to blankly turn her head to see who had come in. Her grip lessened on the broom.
"Soma?"
"Y-Yagi-san..." she managed to let out, a small gulp. Her throat suddenly felt incredibly dry as she stared at the man, barely able to suppress the way her body felt so cold within that second. She gave an airy laugh, her grip tightening once more around the broom while a tight smile made its way on her face. "What a surprise. Suzuki-san stepped out for a few minutes so I offered to handle the shop while she was gone."
He was still for a few seconds, seeming to hold back something, before he finally spoke up. "A shame that I just missed her. I'm happy we ran into each other though. It's been a while since we've last talked."
"We talked right before the entrance exam?"
"I was referring to in person."
"Oh," she let out, earning a tired smile. "I suppose it has been a while since we last met. How are you?"
"I'm doing good," he admitted, the female nodding. She went back to sweeping up the area as he continued talking. "My schedule has been a bit busy lately so I haven't been able to go out as much as I used to."
"Make sure you're not pushing yourself too hard. I know I tend to have a hard time relaxing when I'm busy but it helps out a lot to take breaks."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." A small laugh. "I heard U.A has started sending out their acceptance letters."
"And rejection, but you heard correctly. I'm still waiting on mine if that's what your trying to ask about."
"Ah, I see. I do at least hope it comes soon. I'm ashamed to admit, but I was looking forward to hearing your results since you spent so much time on it."
"Please don't expect too much of me. I highly doubt I was able to pass the practical portion of the exam," she sighed. "There's only so much I can do when placed in that type of situation. My score was practically set in stone even before it began."
"Didn't you at least do well on the written portion? I'm sure that could help your score."
"Even if I did, it wouldn't do much. There are people who've been training for this type of stuff their whole life who are better candidates than me. I just barely made it on time the day of."
"You really must work on your outlook, Soma."
"Bite me."
The man faltered in place with his mouth agape right when the door opened, the girl sticking out her tongue as she ducked behind one of the small aisles. He had become flustered, Suzuki looking towards him in confusion as she placed another box down. "You broke him," she muttered, eyes intently catching the man's attempts at composing himself. All he managed to do however, was give a short cough. "Kid what did you do?"
"He can't believe how unbelievably cheap your goods are," Y/N said.
All Might coughed even more.
"Hurry up and fix this!" Suzuki called out, the h/c haired girl coming out shortly upon being called. She stared dumbly as the woman came over, the old hag lightly hitting the smaller on the head. "I leave you alone and this is what happens! And you were going on about being some poor girl before! Like hell this is poor!"
"But I am poor Suzuki-san," the teen said with closed eyes, forcing a sniff. "I'm a poor girl living all alone in the big city and only receive money from my parents once a month. I hardly know how to cook Suzuki-san. Woe is me."
Another whack, much harder. "Cut! It! Out! Didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?!"
"Ah-" Cough. "There's no need!"
The woman looked over along with Y/N at the blond as his cough settled down, a laugh emitting. He smiled as he looked over at the two, the younger slightly flinching at how much his expression had softened. "Soma just caught me off guard, that's all. I wasn't aware she could act like this."
O h.
Perhaps it was because she was unprepared to hear such a thing, but Y/N could feel her cheeks heat up at the observation, head involuntarily shrinking into her own body. She held the broom in front of herself, her eyes darting to the right at a hastened pace. Her fingers tapped against the object, making sure the hero wouldn't be able to enter her line of sight from where he was standing. "My apologies if I offended," she muttered out. "I don't know what came over me."
"You're just being a kid. There's hardly any need to apologize for that," he assured. The girl only continued tapping the broom, slightly beginning to bite her bottom lip. "It was actually quite nice to see you comfortable for once."
"You should see the kid whenever nobody else is here. She's hardly as decent as she makes herself out to be," Suzuki huffed. The woman casually strolled over, snatching the broom back from the younger with ease. "She has absolutely no respect for anyone! Do you know how many insults she says when nobody is watching her? And don't get me started on what she does during her free time. I mean, what kid thinks hanging around some old woman is fun?"
"S-Suzuki-san!" Y/N hastily hissed but the woman hadn't stopped.
"Don't even let her fool you with he whole vigilante thing! 'I'm not a vigilante' my ass! She says one thing then goes around and does the other. She says she isn't doing anything but she practically has the whole neighborhood wrapped around her fingers! The amount of times she's practically pulled my ear off by talking about some hero or their quirk! Hell, I bet you she could write a full fledge paper right now if you gave her the chance. But the fact she can't even cook or act like a respectable student for a few seconds? Just what kind of damn things are you learning anyway? I know full-well your school isn't teaching you this stuff!"
"It's just a hobby! A hobby!" The girl could feel her cheeks burning as Suzuki turned on her heel with a huff, All Might laughing in the background. The young girl sighed, her shoulders deflating as a hand went to move a piece of hair out of her face. Her eyes refused to meet the two. "Can we please just stop ruining my credibility for a moment? I'm so sorry that I give you a hard time but it isn't my fault! I'm always at home and barely have anything to entertain myself with! What else can I do other than going outside and seeing heroes?" A frustrated sigh. "I won't ever pull that stuff again so please, stop talking about me for a moment..."
The h/c hair girl could still feel the lingering heat, feeling the stares of the other occupants still on her. She shifted, rubbing her arm a bit as her foot tapped against the ground. She attempted to bite her bottom lip again but stopped herself just as quickly as the notion had come to her, shifting uncomfortably once more. Her own breathing remained constant with the silence, only bringing more attention to just how long the other two had been staring at her.
Eventually, Suzuki had broken the air with a sigh, causing the teenager to jump in place as her head jerked to attention. "I'm heading to the back. Don't mess anything up while I'm gone."
"You're leaving again- Um, alright." The h/c haired girl wanted to say more, her mouth already moving to form another sentence, but she was quickly cut off by a wave of the hand from the woman as she walked to the back, leaving the fidgeting teen with the civilian hero. She frowned, rubbing the back of her neck as her eyes were downcast, barely noticing when the blond had stepped closer to her. She jumped once more upon feeling a pat on her back, startled by the sudden gesture.
"I'm guessing we teased you too much?" He gave a more sincere smile her way, looking apologetic. "It's my fault the topic got brought up. I'm sorry."
She paused. "You...really don't have to apologize for anything..." she began, a small gulp. "I understand Suzuki-san means well and while I do appreciate you both like me...No, I was out of line. My apologies for speaking like that, I got lost in the moment." Another tap of her foot, her eyes barely meeting the hero's face.
"Were you possibly embarrassed, Soma?"
"I would think so?" Her sentence sounded more like a question that anything, the girl wincing at the slip. "I'm not used to people talking about me in such a fond manner. Usually when people talk about me, they mention something about how uptight I always appear to be. The comments you and Suzuki-san were making caught me off guard for a moment there and I wasn't sure how to react." She sighed, letting herself relax a bit despite the foulness that was in the very back of her throat. "I'll apologize to Suzuki-san when she gets back if it makes you feel any better. I...honestly hold a lot of respect for her not to do so."
She expected him to say something along to lines of needing to improve herself again, something about her needing to relax because she was just a kid and apparently she needed to act like one more. He wasn't always the best at comforting but he did try his best, something she could at least give him credit for.
What she did not expect however, was to be met with a hand patting her head.
An inhumane squeak came from her, the man holding back a chuckle as her cheeks once again brimmed brightly in the store. "Yagi-san?" she sputtered out, her voice uneven and her shoulders tense. Her e/c eyes shakily looked towards him in nervousness. He met her with a small smile.
"You're a good kid."
For most of her life, Y/N had never been one to openly fish for compliments. As much as she enjoyed them and the feelings that came with them, she knew it was better to not grow to expect them wherever she went. So to hear such a thing from the mouth of the number one hero, let alone for simply doing what she always did?
It was rather weird to say the least.
"Ah," he finally released, placing his hand back down. She watched curiously, her body slightly stiffened from the familiar act. "You know a young boy named Midoriya Izuku, correct? I remember him mentioning your name over the phone."
She raised a brow, slowly nodding her head. "It seems you remember him from the phone call still," the h/c haired girl settled on. "I hope he said nothing bad about me to you."
"Not at all! I just had to wonder..." The blond paused for a second, appearing to be contemplating something momentarily. "How did you two meet? It didn't seem like you went to the same school and he stated you two had just met that day. Did anything happen?"
"How we met?" the girl muttered to herself, her brows furrowing. "We just simply ran into each other that morning, that's all. But I don't see why you would be interested in knowing how I met him. Is there anything important about our meeting?"
"Just my curiosity. Suzuki mentioned you didn't have many friends your age so I was wondering what made Midoriya stick out to you." Her brows only furrowed further as he managed to give out a small smile. "Would you mind humoring me for a second?"
"Somehow, I feel as if Midoriya-san must have given you enough information about our meeting for you to want to question me. He isn't much of a person to keep that type of information away if you were to ask."
"You are correct about that...He was quite worried about you when he called and eager to answer any of my questions. But your views could differ from him," he said. "People are not always going to understand your intentions right away unless you explain them. Midoriya might have gone along with you but you must understand why I would wonder what was running through your head at that time."
"...Yeah, I understand what you mean," she finally gave out, her shoulders dragging down. She sighed, shaking her head as a frown erupted onto her face. "Forgive me for being a bit defensive. I suppose I'm still a bit uneasy from before."
"Take your time."
"Right, Midoriya-san...The landlady in charge of the apartment I've been living at had mentioned there was a villain running about the city that morning and it sparked my interest. I was walking around in hopes of maybe catching a glimpse of the chase but as you can tell, that was probably not the best thing to have done." She paused, thinking for a second. "Midoriya-san happened to bump into me while I was walking around. He didn't want to leave me alone so I ended up letting him tag along with me and, well, you can probably guess how that ended."
"I didn't take you to be that type of person," he admitted, the girl huffing shortly after.
"I'm not," she retorted quickly. "If he hadn't insisted on apologizing to me, I would have probably left without another word and ended our interaction right there. However, I will admit that talking with someone else my age wasn't...completely terrible..." A shrug. "Maybe I ended up feeling bad for him. He told me he was quirkless, you know? Wasn't even a bad person, he just got dealt with some bad cards. I don't think I'm the type of person who would do something just because I'm sympathetic but deciphering oneself can always prove difficult."
"Even if it was sympathy, you ended up gaining a friend from it."
"A friend...Sympathy isn't always a good thing. If Midoriya-san found out the only reason I hung out with him that day was because I felt bad, I'm sure he would be devastated. If I was in that type of position, I would instantly want to remove myself from that situation as quickly as I could."
"And yet when you have had all the chances to stop talking to him, you didn't."
H/c hair was once again patted, the girl feeling herself tense up once more from the unexpectedness. He simple watched with gentle eyes, removing his hand from her head once she begun to try and move away. "From the sounds of things," he began, "it seems to me that you don't realize what you were doing."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You claim you did everything out of sympathy and that Midoriya should feel bad because of it, right? But listening to you after hearing the events from the young boy, it sounds to me as if he doesn't feel that way at all. You say you only allowed him to go along with you because he wouldn't leave you alone, but you also made it so he wouldn't need to feel sorry later. You've even done something similar when we first met as well. You could have rejected my offer but you didn't. You went along with it. And it isn't because you felt sympathy Soma." Her hands hit the broom a bit, eyes drifting away mutely.
"Just like Midoriya, I'm sure Suzuki is extremely grateful to have you around here. She may overexaggerate sometimes but she does mean well with what she says. Even the people around this area seem to appreciate you being here. You might not notice anything, but you really have impacted the people around you. Not all people are not going to feel bad just because of sympathy. You'd be surprised at how many people are grateful for those who go out of their way to help others, even if the reasoning may be something simple." He shook his head a bit. "I stand by my words. You really must work on yourself. You and Midoriya share a fair amount of qualities with one another and are both easily held back by your outlooks. You'd be a great hero if you would just look at yourself without any judgments."
"But I'm quirkless," she hummed out. "No matter how much I could want to be a hero or how much I might show the qualities of one, it isn't realistic."
For whatever reason, that caused him to stop. For a few seconds, the air suddenly felt heavier than when she had been alone those previous minutes and it felt like all the world was focused on that sole moment. She stole a gaze at the man and for that time, all she was met with was a face muddled with emotions she could not read no matter how much she may have tried.
"Sometimes it's okay to dream big."
And in that moment, she couldn't help but think about all the reasons he was wrong.
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Ringing.
"Hello?"
"AHA! So you've finally picked up my calls!"
"Oh, Monoma-san. You're quite energetic this afternoon
," Y/N let out, grimacing a bit at the boisterous laughing coming from the other side of the line. She slightly moved the phone away from her ear, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly. "My apologies for not responding earlier, I had some previous arrangements with a friend of mine."
"You actually have friends other than me? Well, I suppose it's alright now that you're finished. You should really learn to respond faster though," he replied cooly, causing the girl to roll her eyes.
"So what do you need? You seemed pretty insistent about me answering if the missed phone calls mean anything."
"Am I not allowed to call one of my friends because I want to check up on them? How could you think of me so lowly!"
"No, you're not. I genuinely enjoy spending my time alone without any interferences and I would like to keep it that way. Also, you've left a barrage of miss calls that I couldn't exactly ignore."
He laughed again, much more calmer than before. "I guess that is true. Alright. I was planning on going to the movies this weekend and was wondering if you would like to come along. The theatre I go to does re-runs on the older movies sometimes and they were planning on showing a couple hero flicks. You're into action things, aren't you?"
"The movies?" she repeated softly with a hum. "I suppose I could give some of my time but...why exactly are you asking me? I'm not the most interesting of people to hang out with."
"Your opinions hardly mean anything."
"The feelings mutual."
"I found it interesting and you were the first person who came to mind when I was thinking about going. Take it or leave it, I really just need an answer."
"Then I should be able to go," she affirmed quickly before stopping. "Ah, actually, do you mind if I invite a friend? He's really into hero movies and I think you might like him. He was also trying out for the hero course."
"Eh?" His voice was dragged out, causing a small laugh to leave the girl as she rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about the same person who forcefully made you take the exam, would you?"
"It wasn't forcefully," she refuted. "I was simply there to give him moral support. That's it."
"You leave a lot to be suggested there Soma-san. But I guess he could come along since you're so desperate to invite him. I'm not as cruel as you to ignore someone when they're in trouble, after all."
"I'm five seconds away from hanging up on you."
"Hah! You would never hang up on me! But if you're inviting someone else, I think it's only fair we ask Hatsume-san as well, don't you? It would be pretty rude to leave her out of the loop."
"I don't mind. I haven't seen her ever since the exam so maybe a check up would be nice."
"She has been quite busy, hasn't she? Sadly, it seems she's isn't busy enough to ignore us entirely."
"She has quite the personality over text." The girl moved around a bit, placing the male on speaker as she quickly tapped around towards her messages. "Give me a few seconds while I give her a heads up about everything."
Ever since the exam, she had been in frequent contact with the engineering girl and flamboyant boy, the two being quite responsive over text. She hadn't exactly been able to see the two in person since then, but Mei was often energetic enough to explain her current projects she had been working on. True to her words, the pinkette had created a group chat for the three after the exam had ended and had been keeping it running ever since.
It almost made Y/N wonder how much time the girl had to herself to be doing all these things.
"Mm, alright," the girl hummed out as she finished typing out her message, hitting the send. She quickly backed out of the app as soon as she had done so, not expecting a reply anytime soon. As much as Mei talked over text, the female still spent a considerable amount of time to herself as well, most of her responses arriving at ungodly times in the night and morning. "You can check if you want, it's in the group chat."
"Just came through," he practically sung out. A few taps were heard over the other end followed by something she couldn't quite make out. "Your way of texting never ceases to amaze me Soma-san. Tell me, just what type of people did you grow up around? Your text looks exactly like a business email."
"Suddenly I regret agreeing to go with you," e/c eyes glared at no one in particular. "If you're so dissatisfied by the way I write, you should have stopped me when I was sending it in the first place. And for you information, there is nothing wrong with the people I grew up around. They were perfectly normal, probably even more than you."
"You claim that while sounding like some old woman at the same time."
"Why does that seem to be the reoccurring census between you all," she muttered under her breath before sighing. "I'm working on it. Give me a break."
"Now she sounds exhausted as well," the male chided. Really, if there wasn't a phone separating the two of them, she probably would have slugged him by now. "I suppose as your friend, it's my duty to help you out."
"What does that even mean."
"Since your efforts are clearly amounting to nothing, I've decided to take it upon myself to make sure you know how to act like a normal person."
"Excuse me-" "Ah, you really are so helpless, aren't you? But don't worry! By the first day of school, you'll finally be able to talk like a normal person. We'll have to start meeting more in person but I'm sure you don't mind since we're friends."
"Monoma-" "Make sure to tell your friend about the movie soon if you plan on bringing him with us! I would rather not plan anything last minute after all."
"You asshole, listen to me-" Her voice was strained as she felt her eye twitch, her ears only being met with silence from the other end. Her hand slowly lowered the phone down to her side, her eyes refusing to meet anything else as she continued starring forward.
"That son of a bitch."
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A/N;
this was a lot more character interaction than I expected lmao
finally got this chapter out and finished my freshmen orientation for college (^0^) !! now that i don't have to worry about ap classes and got a little more leniency with my schedule, i can hopefully get back to this. i've been meaning to post this chapter way earlier than this but i couldn't get past the all might section because it felt incomplete before and had a bit of drain from bnha. i managed to fix it a bit so that it sounds a bit better and reached the same end goal but all might feeling mighty ooc right now sad pog but what matters is i got this out now so im a bit happy. also my bnha motivation slightly came back?????? recent chapters ain't healthy because hot woman got blowed up unu slightly glad about the recent chapter though because of the interaction between midoriya and chisaki. im gonna say it hear, i really hate chisaki as a person but like him as a villain. he kind of weird man, ngl
anyway, movie date that isnt a movie date with monoma, mei, and midoriya soon and some more filler. i want to have some more interactions with the three before i finally get to the first day of ua because this is a slow burn and im being slow as hell. gotta build her up before i introduce shinso again homies
still no set update schedule, im just gonna say outflat im writing this when i feel like it. as much as i love writing this, the chapters have been a lot more difficult to write out because of the fact im not the best at writing the characters in character. you put a perfectionist together with a procrastinator and you got me ^^; i posted this on archive under the same name as my account here during my break thing. in case anything happens to this fic, it'll at least be on there !! i really enjoy writing this for you guys, even if im barely on anymore. my wattpad is basically dead from notification spams on the other book which im glad you all still seem to enjoy :D i know not all people are probably not going to give this a chance because its been slow but if you have, thank you so much. the only reason i can continue this is because people enjoy the story so thank you all so much, i really cant express how thankful i am except by putting it at the end of every a/n <3
i think thats all from me right now so see y'all