"Yuna, wake up, we're almost there."
Yuna groaned and opened her eyes to Kaminari lightly shaking her. It took her a second to process where she was before she sat up straight and rubbed her eyes, "When did I fall asleep?"
"Like, after 20 minutes," Kaminari answered. "You know, if you were too tired to come, you didn't have to."
Yuna shook her head, "I'm fine."
The train pulled to a stop and after a minute, Yuna followed Kaminari off the train.
Once they exited the train station, Yuna was instantly reminded of trips to Tokyo from years ago, before she got her quirk. The loud sounds of cars and people filled her ears as crowds of people walked by.
Yuna smiled as she remembered coming to Tokyo with her parents when she was little, "I remember coming here a long time ago."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, but..." Yuna's smile was replaced with a frown. After she got her quirk, her life changed from being a quirkless nobody to someone who really had the ability to become a hero. She had devoted nearly every second of her time to learning how to use her quirk and getting stronger. Whenever her parents had suggested going where, even just for a weekend, Yuna had refused. She was always scared of being weaker than everyone else. Of turning into the pathetic person her grandparents thought her to be.
"But what?" Kaminari questioned, snapping Yuna out of her thoughts before she could start to dwell on negative things.
Yuna shook her head, "It's just been a really long time since I've been here."
"Oh, well I was here with some of my friends from middle school last year, so," Kaminari moved to stand in front of her and held his hand out, "I'll be your personal tour guide, my lady."
Yuna laughed, and lightly knocked his hand away, "Because I'm so sure following you around won't end in us getting lost."
"Hey! It won't!" Kaminari argued.
Yuna shook her head and Kaminari let out a huff before the two of them started to make their way to the first location on Kaminari's improvised list, Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. Since there was a food court in the mall and it was nearing lunchtime Yuna let Kaminari drag her around the mall from store to store, offering to buy her outfits that Yuna quickly refused before they went to get lunch. While they were going from store to store, both of them had gotten recognized multiple times by random people they walked by. Yuna had found it very strange being complimented by random strangers. But she had ignored the uncomfortable feeling she had been getting every time someone came up to her when they went to get lunch.
"Are you sure I can't consider this our first date?" Kaminari questioned as Yuna took a bite of the ramen she had got. Yuna glared at him and he raised his hands defensively. "Just saying. I paid for tickets here, and lunch and I'm gonna end up paying for most of the other stuff we do too."
"What other stuff?" Yuna asked.
"Well, I was thinking we could go to the Skytree," Kaminari said.
Yuna hummed, "The Skytree? I don't think I've ever been up there."
"Really?" Kaminari asked, earning a nod from Yuna. "Wow, did you only ever stay at your house and train? That's so boring."
"When you go five extra years of not having any special powers you want to make up for that time," Yuna growled. "Besides, I have people I need to prove wrong."
Kaminari groaned, "So what? If you have to prove something to them then they're not worth your time. You probably made up for the time you missed a long time ago. You're way stronger than nearly half of our class. At least in my opinion."
"Yeah, well, you have a pretty obvious crush on me and are an idiot, so I think your opinion is a little biased and, therefore, invalid," Yuna retorted a little jokingly.
"What? No. My opinions are completely unbiased and valid. Trust me." Kaminari said, crossing his arms. "And for the record, this is quite literally our first date. But that doesn't change the fact that my options are unbiased."
"Ok, first, this is not a date," Yuna started.
"We're at the mall, hanging out and I bought you food. And will possibly buy you dinner," Kaminari interrupted. "How is it not a date?"
Yuna rolled her eyes, "It just not."
"I think you're just trying to hide your real feelings for me," Kaminari argued flirtatiously, setting his chopsticks down and leaning back into his chair.
"Alright, fine," Yuna said, making Kaminari perk up. "You wanna know my feelings for you? I feel that you're a flirtatious idiot that got his hopes up."
Kaminari's head hung down and let out a disappointed sigh. He lightly shook his head before looking up at her. "Listen, one of these days, you'll realize how much you like me, and by that time, it'll be too late."
"Sure, whatever you want to tell yourself," Yuna replied with a small laugh. "Because I'm sure the day will come when girls start flocking around you."
"It will!" Kaminari exclaimed.
Yuna rolled her eyes, but she had a smile on her face. There were very few people who were able to make her feel this relaxed. Yuna had a feeling that if she was there with anyone else, then she would've been stressing out over all the time she was wasting, but the thought had only crossed her mind once. They had barely done anything and she was having a good time. She didn't even mind Kaminari's stupid attempts to flirt with her.
Yuna stared at Kaminari as he made another failed attempt to flirt with her. She didn't really know if she did like Kaminari in that way or if she just found him a fun friend to hang around. But she wasn't sure he liked her either. Even with his flirting and attempts to get her to go out with him, she had seen him do it with every other girl in her class. Yuna wouldn't be shocked if Kaminari just thought of her as a pretty friend instead of actually liking her.
Besides, Yuna didn't have time to waste with dating. She had better ways to spend her time.
"Hey, so, what time do you need to be home?" Kaminari asked, pulling Yuna out of her thoughts.
"Uh, we should probably leave before the sun starts going down. My mom probably doesn't want me out past dark." Yuna answered. "Why?"
"Just wanted to know. Because if that's the case, let's go to the Skytree now." Kaminari said.
"Ok, sure."
They finished their food and Kaminari led Yuna to the Skytree. They stopped every so often so Kaminari could point at something in a store window and make a stupid comment that either made Yuna laugh or roll her eyes.
"There it is," Kaminari said when they approached the Skytree. It was just a tall tower that Yuna knew had a large observation deck at the top, but for some reason, it seemed familiar.
"Cool," Yuna muttered in response.
Yuna followed Kaminari into the Skytree, getting stopped by a few people who recognized them from the sports festival on the way. They got stuck on an elevator with a boy that reminded Yuna exactly of Midoriya. He wouldn't stop talking the whole minute rid to the top of the Skytree. Though, thankfully, they had quickly gotten away from him when they made it to the observation deck.
"Oh, wow," Yuna mumbled, as she stared out the large windows.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Kaminari said. Yuna nodded as she stared down at the forest of gray buildings. She could see the Kitajukken river from where she was standing. It was surprisingly beautiful. It made the world seem so small. Like all of her problems were so small.
And it all seemed strangely familiar.
"I-... I've been up here before..." Yuna muttered, causing Kaminari to look at her in confusion. "At night. I remember thinking that the building lights looked like stars. I... Was with my grandparents... When I was five. Right before... before we... we found out about my quirk..."
Kaminari stared at her and Yuna took a deep breath. She didn't know how she could recall the memory from more than ten years ago, but she did. Those first few years of her life had been the only ones where her grandparents hadn't thought of her as a failure. They had loved her then. And she had loved them.
"I don't get it..." Yuna mumbled as tears started to prick her eyes. She turned to Kaminari, who looked at her with concern. "Why do people let quirks be the reason they hate someone? Why do people judge others just because of their quirk or when they got it? I don't get it. I just don't..."
A sob escaped Yuna's throat and tears fell down her cheeks. She didn't get it. People let quirks control them instead of them controlling the quirks. Quirks dictated every part of their society. The second you don't have one or are left waiting years to get one was when society rejected you. Even people you thought were close to you would reject you. Yuna was looked at as a disappointment all because she didn't get her powers right away.
Yuna felt Kaminari pull her into a hug, sharing a comforting warmth as she silently cried into his shoulder. After a second, she said, "My aunt because a villain because people thought she was worthless. All because she didn't get a quirk right away. They drove her so crazy. Now she's- she's a villain! Why do people do things like that? Why would my grandparents let themselves drive their own daughter so crazy she'd want to become a villain? It doesn't make sense. It just doesn't."
Kaminari didn't respond. Yuna was sure he had no idea how to respond. But she didn't mind his silence. His warmth was enough. And if he had said something sympathetic like 'I understand' or 'I know how you feel' it just would've made her more upset. Because he didn't know. No one knew. No one knew what it was like to have to wait years to get something nearly everyone else got when they were four. No one but her aunt and other late bloomers around the world.
Even quirkless people didn't know what it was like. At least they didn't have to deal with the pain of waiting. Waiting to be given some power that they were promised but won't come for years. And when it did, everyone else had already had their powers for years. They knew what their quirks were and how to use them. Late bloomers didn't get to show off their cool power to friends in elementary school. And by the time Yuna had gotten her quirk, all of her friends had left her for being powerless. She had no one to share her special power with. Only her parents had ever cared about her. Her parents and her villain aunt.
"Let's go," Yuna muttered, pushing away from Kaminari and whipping her tears. "I wanna go home."
"Yeah, ok," Kaminari said with a small frown.
Yuna silently followed him out of the Skytree and back to the train station, where they started their two-and-a-half-hour train ride in silence.