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Eli felt bad, like extremely bad. She really hadn't meant to kick Aizawa like that, and she could've sworn she felt something crack underneath her foot. But, he told her he was okay, so she tried to believe him. And so she sat on some stairs in front of UA, having already changed back into her other clothes.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked a nice voice, making Eli turn around to see Shoji.
"Oh, hey, you're Shoji right?" she said, a small smile appearing on her face as she looked at him.
"Yeah, thanks for remembering," he said with a small huff of laughter as he looked at her bashfully.
"How could I forget? You stand out," she told him, intentionally doing so in a complimentary tone. He blushed a bit at that.
How he didn't know that he did stand out was a little weird to her though.
"Why weren't you at training today?" he asked, not being able to contain his curiosity.
"Oh! Mr.Aizawa was training me, he said I couldn't train with you guys because I don't have enough experience with my Quirk yet," she told him with a sheepish laugh. He chuckled briefly as he looked at her.
"Well, are you alright, I saw you look a little... sad," he told her, at that moment reminding her of what had happened.
"Well, we were training, and I kicked him really hard. I-I didn't mean to, it just sort of..." she trailed off with a sigh.
Shoji gave a concerned look as he took a step forward and sat next to her making her finally notice how large he was compared to her. She unconsciously sat up a bit.
"I understand... sometimes even my own strength gets beside me," he told her making her look at him with wide eyes.
"Oh yeah! I saw your results during the Quirk Assessment, you're a strong dude," she said giving him a genuine smile.
"T-thanks," he said, a small hint of a blush on his cheeks. Not that she could see it because of the mask he was wearing.
"I think you were great too, you're really fast Flower-san," he said with a nod, and cough to cover up his previous stutter.
"A-ah, just call me Eli. I know I said call me whatever, but it's still a little weird when people call me by my last name," she said as she gingerly rubbed the back of her neck, her fingers grazing the shaved portion.
"Okay, well call me Mezo, then," he said with a nod.
"R-really? Does this mean we can be friends? Or we don't have to be, that's alright too," she uttered out rapidly, embarrassed by her first statement about the possible new friendship.
"Sure, I don't see why we can't be friends," he replied with a nod, trying to keep himself from laughing at the girl beside him. She brightened up at that.
"This is great! You have no idea man, cause I think that Bakugo kid hates me," she said as she laughed at the glare he gave her the other day.
"I think he hates everyone," he said, and she chuckled again.
"So, how was ya hero training? Mr.Aizawa said ya'll have costumes and everything," she said turning her body to face him. He wanted to comment on her accent but shrugged as he turned towards her as well, leaning against a column near the staircase.
"It was fine. Midoriya broke his arm though," he replied with a shrug, looking away a bit, frustration clear in his eyes.
'Seems he always breaking something. That Quirk of his must be a pain,' Eli pondered.
"Hey, you good? Something happen or something?" she asked making him sigh once more before he shrugged a bit, deciding it couldn't hurt to tell her.
"We were divided into heroes and villains. The goal was to get the bomb from the villains, and I was a hero with Todoroki-kun, but during the match, he kind of just froze the entire building. I don't know, I just felt kind of... useless," Mezo explained, sighing even more.
"Well... that's alright," she answered making him look at her with curious eyes.
"How do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, I mean if the bomb was real it probably would've blown up being exposed to such a rapid change in temperature right, especially if it happened to be a chemically based bomb or something like that. Regardless though, I'm sure there are other situations where Todoroki's Quirk is deemed unnecessary," she told him with a nod as her eyes seemed to dart back and forth in concentration, almost as if she was thinking it through as she said it.
"And, I'm also sure there are situations where you're deemed the most necessary," she told him with a smile and a thumbs up.
He smiled softly, his chest warming from the kind words.
"Thank you, Eli-chan," he said, genuinely feeling a bit better.
"No need to thank me, Mezo, thank yourself. You guys are really admirable, have you always wanted to be a hero?" Eli asked him, curiosity getting the better of her as she thought about what she could write in her notebook later.
"Well, kind of... it's sort of out of spite. I do want to save as many people as possible and protect the people I care about, but as a kid with a Quirk like mine well..." Mezo trailed off and Eli just nodded in understanding.
Mezo didn't know why he was spilling how he was, but he found himself very comfortable around the girl.
"Is that maybe why you wear the mask?" she asked, and he sighed while nodding.
"Yeah, I get that, well, kind of. When you're told a whole lotta bullshit as a kid, it can really mess with you, so honestly, even if you're doing it out of spite I still think you'll do great at this hero thing! Not that I'd judge you if you chose a different career path, but the fact that you're trying gives you an A in my book," she said smiling at him gently.
Mezo's ears turned pink, and he smiled gently, and Eli could see the small indents of his smile through his mask.
"What about you, are you trying to be a hero?" Mezo asked, immediately regretting it when he saw the look on her face.
"You don't have to-" he tried, but Eli cut him off.
"No, no it's fine. It's just, I've been getting that question a lot lately. Honestly, I think it'd be nice to do something good for once. I just don't think I'd be the right one for the job you know?" she asked, but he just quirked an eyebrow.
"Why don't you think you'd be the right one?" Mezo asked. She shrugged a bit as she sighed.
"I don't know. I've only wanted to do one thing my whole life and it's still all I want to do. I just... I just don't want to start this whole hero thing and then randomly get bored of it or suddenly decide it ain't for me," Eli explained with a sigh as she rubbed her palms against her thighs hastily.
"So what?" he asked. Eli turned to him with a confused look in her cat-like eyes.
"I mean... if you chose to do something else along the line, that's you're decision. Plus, not everybody that goes to hero school ends up a hero," Mezo told her with a small shrug.
"T-they don't!? They don't! Ugh, I'm so stupid!" Eli exclaimed, shooting up from her position sitting on the stairs with a look of realization.
"Um-" Mezo tried, but he was cut off.
"I've been thinking about this whole hero thing like it's some sort pre-determined destiny thing when really, it's like studying to be a lawyer or something! In school, you can change your major at any point!" Eli said with a large smile on her face as she looked up to a now standing Mezo.
"Wait a minute, so you weren't worried about how hard it was, you were worried about not committing to it?" he asked and she nodded excitedly as she clapped her hands.
"Oh not really, if it's hard, it's hard, and if I die, I die. It is what it is," Eli shrugged off without a care, which made Mezo's eyes widen a bit.
Eli was a little concerned about not being able to write all the stories she wanted to if she died, but she figured if she were dead she wouldn't care anymore, and that was that. Mezo was kind of questioning her sanity at her contentions regarding her own demise.
"Oh! I left my notebooks in the classroom! Well, it was really nice making a new friend, thank you for everything Mezo. I'll see you tomorrow, get home safe!" she cheered, throwing herself into his arms for a hug before she ran off.
With a small blush on his cheeks, he watched her go, clutching his beating heart before he took a good long breath and turned around, walking home.
'She already seems pretty nice,' Mezo thought idly about his new friend.
Eli rushed through the halls back to class 1A, hoping that no one had touched her notebooks, but kids were nosey so she wasn't sure what to expect. When she made it, she quietly slid open the door to see the class chattering amongst themselves.
She pushed the door open a bit, hoping to go unnoticed by the class, but of course, luck was just not on her side.
"Flower-chan!" Mina said loudly.
'I don't know why I thought that would work,' Eli sighed in her head.
"O-oh, hey Mina," she gave a little wave, rushing quickly to the little desk to see her notebooks sitting there, untouched.
With a sigh of relief, she grabbed her notebooks and held them to her chest.
"Why weren't you at hero training?" Kirishima asked making her turn to him.
"Mr.Aizawa was training me, why did something happen? I-I mean I heard Midoriya broke his arm, but that seems rather normal," she asked, a little concerned.
Eli was rather caring towards those younger than her. She knew how hard things got, especially since kids don't have the same amount of control over their lives as adults do. Not only that, she highly doubted they truly understood the weight of their career path, or maybe she didn't truly understand it. And if her child soldier theory was correct, well...
"No, but we got to train with All Might today!" Denki said with a bright smile, making Eli squint a bit.
'Jesus, fuck do they feed these kids? Rainbows?' Eli wondered.
"Oh? Who's All Might?" Eli asked.
Nothing could've prepared her for how the entire class fucking exploded as if she'd just committed a war crime.
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Eli sat on the couch of the living room across from an asleep Aizawa.
Hizashi and Hitosh stood in front of her, with knowing grins on their faces as they stared at her.
"So, what is it?" Eli finally asked. Her hands clasped together tightly, but she took care not to pierce her hands with her nails, something she'd did the other day with resulted in the palms of her hands now being bandaged when Hizashi noticed.
"We have a small surprise for you!" Hizashi said with a small excited clap of his hands.
"But you have to promise not to freak out," Hitoshi said pointing a finger at her.
"That's a large request, my friend," she said with a sigh, chuckling softly when she saw Hitoshi roll his eyes.
"Okay, okay," Hizashi borderline squealed as he scurried out of the living room and went over to the hallway where he retrieved a brown paper bag and brought it over, Eli noticing he was intentionally covering the labeling.
So, as Eli watched with curious eyes, as he handed her the bag and she looked inside only for a huge gasp to release.
"No you didn't," she said with shaky hands, looking back and forth between them, the bag, and to a now groggily awake Aizawa.
"You didn't have to..." she trailed off as she slowly pulled out the white rectangular box with a small hitch of her breath, another above it containing a soft grey case.
Tears welled in her eyes as she clutched the box to her chest before she set it aside, and stood up. No one could say anything as she threw herself at them. Hizashi let out a triumphant laugh as he wrapped an arm around Hitoshi and her, and Hitoshi blushed wildly before he chuckled and hugged her back.
"Thank you, thank you," she said, even if it was muffled.
"Do I get a thank you?" Eli heard Aizawa grumble to himself, which caused the same effect, her happily wrapping her arms around him as he let out a huff of surprise.
"Thank you, Mr.Aizawa," she said, small hot tears trickling down her face.
Ignoring the small discomfort he felt in his torso from the bandages he had around him, he covered up the small smile that was coming onto his face and wrapped a lazy arm around her.
"Just call me Shouta kid," he said.
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"Can you believe it Hito?! They got me a laptop! I thought they were just kidding," Eli exclaimed to her oblivious fish who just swam around in his tank, catching the small food particles that Eli had poured in minutes before.
Nonetheless, she smiled at her fish, bending down to squat in front of his tank with a wild grin on her face.
"This time is pretty great huh? I mean, the people are just so nice. It freaked me out a little, but honestly, I really wish I was born 18 years ago and not 200 years ago," she exclaimed happily before standing up and looking over at her laptop, which sat at the desk, still unopened.
"I think I'll open it up later, I mean I don't want to get too excited and break it," she muttered to Hito, the fish still swimming around happily.
Eli chose to believe that, that was his response.
"For now..." she trailed off, thinking about what'd she do for now.
Sighing quietly, she smiled sadly at one of the drawers to the desk in front of her before she walked over to the desk and pulled out a picture. It was the same picture she'd asked to keep from the box they took from her at UA.
Kneeling, she set the picture in front of her and smile at it.
"Hé les mamans," she spoke, her hands frantically signing the same things.
("Hi moms,")
Her moms, well the foster moms, Elise and Mia Flower. They never adopted her, but they wanted to, but their lives were cut shorter than expected.
Elise was a French immigrant, and since she grew up speaking little English she preferred speaking French in her home, even if that meant teaching Eli how to speak it. Mia on the other hand was deaf, and how they ended up together considering such a huge language barrier was a trip on its own, but they made it work.
Mia studied french and successfully learned to read her wife's lips even when she was ranting and feverishly going back and forth between languages, and Elise perfected her English so that it was easier for her to learn ESL.
"Je suis désolé, mais je ne pense plus pouvoir visiter, given I've found myself hundreds of years in the future," Eli said with a small chuckle, her hand signing as well.
("I'm sorry, I don't think I can visit anymore,")
It felt right to sign when she spoke to them, after over two years of doing it. And going back and forth between French and the apparent Japanese she was speaking seemed natural since she often did it to give her mom an easier time when it came to lip-reading.
"But, Hizashi and Shouta are really nice. They're the Shinosou-Yamada-Aizawas, et ils m'ont accueilli après je sois tombé par le plafond d'une de luer sales de classe," she said, a playful smile still on her lips, her hand not hesitating as she signed.
("And they took me in after I fell through the ceiling of one of their classrooms,")
"They're real nice, and I've never had a real Dad before but I think this will be nice. Granted, I don't expect them to adopt me or anything, but I figure it could help my writing! Vous saves à quel point je suis nul d'écrire des chiffres de père," Eli chuckled as she stared at the picture, sadness pricking her eyes.
("You guys know how I suck at writing father figures,")
As she looked at the photo, she began to realize how similar her moms were to Shouta and Hizashi. Her mom, Mia was super adventurous, and she loved to take Eli out hiking, or on random beach days, and on her forest escapade so that she could study different mushrooms and frogs. Elise, her mama, was very different. She liked the quiet, loved reading, and cherished tea. She was a little chaotic, but that was typically only when a book frustrated her beyond belief.
"You know, they're kind of like you guys, so different from each other but I can tell they love each other, just like I could tell that you guys loved each other," she smiled kindly at the photo as she signed.
"I say this every time we talk, but I really miss you guys, but maybe I'll be able to see you guys again. You guys know I have trouble with religion, but maybe we could just be together again... Je ne pense pas queue ça me dérangerait où," Eli said, a sad smile still playing on her lips.
("I don't think I'd mind where,")
"Désolé de vous avoir gardé, mais je vous aime les gars. Respose-toi bien," she said/signed before picking the picture up, kissing the picture softly before placing the photo back in the drawer.
("Sorry for keeping you, but I love you guys. Rest well,")
Not wanting to be caught up in the sad thoughts that came with daydreaming about what was once a happy family, Eli shook her head of the chilly thoughts.
She decided to shower, knowing that Hitoshi was doing his homework. She did so quickly, pondering on chopping all of her hair off before she got up when she felt clean. She did her normal routine and slipped on a large shirt with cuts in the back for her wings and a pair of sweats along with some socks.
Walking over to her window, she suddenly felt a little sad.
Assuming it was her talk with her moms, she decided to just open the window, hoping some fresh air would do her some good. Right as the window opened, the wind rushed in, chilling her but making her chuckle at the feeling of the wind holding her.
It really did feel like the wind was her friend, how it gently conversated with her, though not saying a thing at all. Somehow, Eli felt like she understood it, and her wing wrapped around her almost as if her body was greeting the wind as well.
"We've missed you!" giggled an array of childlike voices that caressed her ears making Eli jump, frightened.
"Y-you're alive?" she questioned quietly to herself.
"We've really missed you," the echo of the different voices, the same childish laughter following.
"Maybe.... maybe this a Quirk thing," Eli questioned quietly to herself.
She couldn't bring herself to actually be afraid of the new occurrence, instead choosing to enjoy it. The wind didn't feel like another entity, it felt like an extra part of her very being. A lost part that Eli didn't even realize was missing.
She enjoyed the feeling, still, she knew that she had to be the only person or one of the only people able to communicate with the wind. If it wasn't so, she was sure that they would have brought this up when she was being interrogated the first time.
"Are you, part of my Quirk?" she asked aloud, hoping for an answer.
"Yes! We, the winds are your allies," whispered the voices again, an excited tone ringing in her ear.
"Was that you during the Quirk test?" she asked, pure curiosity oozing out of her.
"Yes, the winds exist everywhere we're allowed the flow," the voices told her.
Eli smiled to herself, still feeling as though she was being hugged.
"Like the winds, you Eli are capable of all things, shifting through life and changing, remaining stagnant, raging through your paths when you are allowed to do what you're meant," the voices told her in a hushed whisper, the childish tone diminishing, sounded more adult-like as they continued.
"What am I meant to do?" she asked, her head turning to look around for someone she knew wasn't there.
"Flow,"
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3519 words.
i never thought that this book would get attention, but i'm seeing the votes roll in and i'm getting excited.