"Saito..." Kamihara stared into curious blue hues with all the seriousness he could muster and trailed off for a moment; from the blinks of her eyes, he continued. "This is very important and I understand that you're living alone, that you have no parents," when he mentioned this, he watched how her head tilt down and a frown grew on her lips.
"Y- Yeah... I was pretty sure you already knew, but..." the cybergirl trailed off in thought, before returning her attention to the awesome ninja hero. "Why are you bringing this up?" She decided to ask, the matter itself was very confusing to her since it would normally be none of anyone's business.
Those gray eyes closed to take a moment, so he could find the right words to explain and answer her properly. "I... Would suggest adoption, however..." Upon hearing the ninja's words, Saito took a step back and froze in her spot, too astonished to run away. However, his next words stunned her the most, for his eyes bore into hers and made sure she knew he was serious. "Please give this some thought. Because-- I wish to be... Your father. I know how hard this must be to hear, but I want to make sure you're in a safe environment," he explained, and the fists, that were buried inside the creases of his folded arms, tightened in hopes of her accepting. "Oddly enough-- You remind me a little bit of myself when I was younger when I was your age, and before I ever became a pro hero. Throughout our internship, it felt like we've connected a little, and to know, that there are other ways to be a hero aside from fighting... I know adoption can be an act of heroism in a way," After a short pause in his sentence, his eyes opened back to her once more, and saw her awestruck gaze.
"The fight we had during your final exam, I felt like I understood you a little more. So, I wish to protect and be around you more. Taking Principle Nezu's place was because of how I felt, about your living situation. I am very concerned about you," After he finished, those blue hues he kept his eyes connected to, began to water up with emotion.
Flashes of the explosion to her home reoccurred in her mind and the death of her parents, the sirens wailing, all resurfaced. Even though she looked up to him a lot, ever since she was small, she couldn't shake the fear of that bomb at the mention of him being a parent to her.
I don't know... I don't know! I don't know! The hacker might use me to kill him! I might severely wound him! What if... What if the same thing happens to him, like what happened to my parents?! Pure panic filled her eyes at that moment and lost focus, for her attention moved from his gaze to staring into space. Countless thoughts swarmed like bees and devastation was hard to hide.
"Uviel..." his smooth and clear voice, quiet, the mention of her first name snapped her out of her thoughts. Fear-struck eyes bore into gray, concerned ones when she peeked back up at him. "You can take your time. There is no rush... As I said, I understand that this may be difficult for you to decide and I don't expect an answer right away. Please, give it some thought and let me know on your own time," a gentle placement of his hand on her head and a soft rub seemed to have pushed Saito to ask a question that drove her fear.
"W- What if the hacker uses me to try and kill you?! What if the same thing happens to you that my parents went through?!" Relentless tears fell down her cheeks the more she questioned and a small hand clenched the fabric of her clothing, from the emotional state she was getting into. "What if-- you get killed, because of me?!" After that, almost instantly, he pulled her into a warm and comforting embrace to try and soothe any kind of fear she had.
"I won't. Your parents weren't heroes, they were very skilled in sciences here at U.A., but if anyone tried to harm me... They would have to put forth an effort and not waste their time sending any henchmen," When he let go, he gave her another pat on her head. It was obvious, that a confident smile graced his lips behind that mask since his cheeks rose a little under his eyes. "I do have some other, important news for you," With that, Saito's tears were rubbed away using her arm, and gave him a silent nod.
"I did a little bit of research before you went to the mall yesterday. What I found was connected to the killers of your parents," His words, caused a gasp and utter disbelief to come from the girl, so he continued. "Tadami Yukimura, was the cause. It seems small traces outside of your old home were left behind, something that I found one day when I was near the building he demolished. Turned out-- someone tried to stop him outside of your home. A witness who lived across from your old home told me a strange man with a weird sword had stabbed a man's foot and locked him in place. They said they couldn't tell who it was because they hid inside their home and then they suddenly heard the explosion... I'm assuming that man was your father. Because the witness said, that the victims were gone and the ambulance found traces of a rapier that was pierced into the cement of the sidewalk and it was the same size as his blade's tip," explained the ninja who sighed and closed his eyes.
"W- What? Y- Yukimura-- Serpentine, Haru's father killed..." At that moment, onto her knees, she fell and disbelief filled her eyes at how unexpected the news he had, was. The weight on her shoulders, of wanting to find her parent's killers felt like it was lifted but a new ten-tons replaced it. Did she know about this?! If she did, why didn't she tell me?! Was her father that secretive to where he wouldn't tell her and maybe that's why she wouldn't possibly know? Haru... Pure bewilderment, the same disbelief remained on her face as she stared into the space before her.
Kamihara saw how the shock on her face appeared and felt a clench in his throat, he knew it'd be painful to hear but knew it'd be better than hiding the truth. "That's all... I'll be escorting you to Golden Buns, to be sure you're safe. Please, try to relax for a while. Yukimura finally returned and I don't think she'd be happy to see that look on your face," a pat on her head, made her flinch slightly and peek her blue hues up to his gray ones. Reassurance could be seen despite the mask hiding most of his expression, but she was able to see his efforts of trying to cheer her up; even if it was a little bit, she could tell he cared about her.
With a simple nod, her attention moved back to the space she stared at before, very slowly she stood back and hesitance was inevitable. For she felt a little awkward, but appreciative of his approach and methods to stay closer. So, her tiny hands clenched a small piece of his shirt, and her head pressed against his chest. A shy hug, was something Edgeshot wasn't expecting, especially when a cracked voice came from her slightly muffled mouth. "Thank you," quiet, a few tears strayed from those pale cheeks before she stepped away from the stiffened ninja.
"Y- You're welcome. Now, shall we catch up to the others?" Once again, a gentle pat on her head was given before he walked past her.
"Yeah," Her answer was as simple as it could get, still quiet, but nonetheless appreciative, and followed after the pro hero. Thoughts of the hero's offer of adoption and the news of Haru's father killing her parents, all created a tornado of questions; her blue hues glued to his backside as they wandered down the hall of the hospital. He won't die, right? He won't die... He's a pro hero, he won't die as my parents did. He won't die... the cybergirl kept repeating that over and over in her head until thoughts of Yukimura came to mind again.
Har-Har... Did she know, or not? I'll have to ask her. A frown on her upper-black lips curled down the more she pondered.
~~~Hatsume~~~
The pinky hummed a delightful tune as she messed with some mechanical parts of one of her devices, a passive smile was on her face, and happiness radiated off of her frame. "I'm so happy Saito helped me! I actually passed! They were stunned and marveled at my baby when she used Kage!" Coed the girl, suppressing the faint squeal she made was difficult and was noticed by one of her assistants.
"Hatsume, I'm heading out. Don't stay too long," a random guy in her class sent her a wave goodbye after he saw her glance his way.
"Sure, okay!" A beaming grin grew on her lips, for her excitement about her inventions was unbearable to contain, and knowing that her classmate was used to it, he simply nodded. So, there he left, leaving the pinky alone to do her own thing.
After five minutes, when no one else came around, Hatsume started to pack up her things and was about to zip up her bag until... Heat, immense heat filled the room. Sweat began to trickle down her skin as breaths became harder to take, Hatsume panted and clenched her chest. Confusion made itself known in her yellow eyes when she began to shake, she could even hear her own heart pound rapidly against her ribs. "W- What's going on? Why is it so hot in here?" Quickly, her head whipped around to the temperature gauge near the clock in the classroom and gasped.
Eyes as wide as dinner plates, the heat had skyrocketed so far to where it was almost past the point of it being too deadly for a human being to withstand. So as fast as the girl could, she zipped up her bag and whirled around to run toward the door.
But-- someone was standing there, blocking it. A man, that gave her the stare of a killer, his attire made it difficult to see his face. The skin on his hands was as red as lava and those incomprehensible eyes bore into her own when her legs wobbled.
Onto her knees, she fell, desperately holding onto her chest for dear life and trying her hardest to breathe. The air in the room was being suffocated by the immense heat the odd man gave off and it ended up busting some glass in the process. All she could feel was heat biting at her skin and his intensity...
At least, she concluded it was a man first-hand, considering his outfit was so skin tight and almost a blinding yellow that it made it difficult to know who it was. The only thing she knew was that he had a very athletic build, a creepy stare that killers would have and that the outfit covered the entirety of his body except for his gaze, and hands.
There was no indication of a mouth, however, his pupils looked as though they were plus signs, stretching far across his eyeball up and down to where she couldn't see any ends.
Alarms had started blaring in both of their ears when red lights flashed wildly, alerting any staff or teachers who may still be there that a fire had suddenly taken place. Attention staff and all students, a fire has started in class H-1; please evacuate! I repeat-- from there, it continued, and gasps for air hadn't faltered once as she fell onto her side.
Suddenly, a fire grew when some of the machinery sparked, which didn't stop the creepy man in the yellow, full-body, jumpsuit. Very slowly, he stepped back, rather satisfied with his actions, and forced himself to turn into heatwaves in the air, then entered the vents. Now he was gone and Hatsume was left alone in the overwhelming heat that no human should have to bear.
Drool leaked from her lips and spots appeared in her vision, the air was hard to take in... However, when she saw 13 come sprinting into the room, she quickly picked the girl up and hurried back out. Several other staff ran in afterward to see the temperature and what caused the issue, but Mei knew... Who caused it. A stranger, a killer, a villain had somehow sneaked into U.A...
~~~Uviel~~~
The streets were lively this time and the sun peeked through the slightly gray clouds that loomed over the area where Golden Buns was; the smell of rain was hard to ignore. Uviel opened the doors to the cafe and searched for her friends, taking a mental note that there weren't a lot of people inside.
Relief and a glint of happiness sparked on her face when she spotted Haru, Eijiro, and Shinso all gathered at a booth near the window. Her smile broadened sweetly at the sight, for she recalled how it was only her and Har-Har sitting there before she became a U.A student. I'm happy, I made more friends. That booth doesn't feel as lonely now, even though Haru and I were the only ones sharing it before. It's... Nice. She pondered as she stood in the doorway and felt Kage inch closer to her, who followed her from the school's entrance.
"Tectonic, should I wait outside?" Questioned the floating sphere, seeing that he was too big to get through the doors and the round part of his body barely touched her backside.
"Huh? Oh-- Yeah, it'd be best. You might scare some customers here, too. Just sit on top of the roof until we're done, okay? We can still talk telepathically... I still think it's friggin cool that we can," her smile never faltered when she answered and moved her attention to the robot.
"Very well.~" A delighted tone, Kage was happy with whatever decision Uviel would make and hovered his way to the top.
"Hey, um... Edgeshot?" This time Saito wanted to speak to her idol hero, which she couldn't find. I could've sworn he was right behind me. He was escorting me. After a couple of blinks, the cybergirl turned to Kirishima's voice when he called out to her and waved his hand.
"OOI! Uviel!" His beaming grin, and eyes full of energy, met hers, which lit up with excitement. Quickly, he watched her jog over to the booth and set her bag on the top of the table. "How'd it go?! What did Edgeshot need to talk to you about?" his harmless question caused the girl to shyly giggle and softly scratch at her cheek.
"Eheheh, it's... Sort of personal. B- But, anyway!" As fast as she could, the subject was changed when her attention moved over to a snickering Haru and it gave her the impression that her friend was up to something. "What are you laughing about?" A sweatdrop, and a frown, all appeared when she questioned the brunette next.
"Oh-- nothing!" Giggled the snake girl, for she nonchalantly bit into a hard-boiled egg and sipped at her Lemon Splash drink. "By the way! I decided to try the Lemon Splash! It's so good! Grape Bomb is probably my favorite though.~" The girl cooed and giggled slightly, for she recalled how she wanted to try the Lemon Splash, once before. "Come on, sit! I can call over the waitress for you!" Her once mischievous and guilty expression was replaced with a beaming smile, however, UV-Ray had other plans.
"No, it's okay. I'll order at the register," A thumb pointing to the front of a short line, was what they saw before she sluggishly turned to leave.
"I can order it for you!" In a rush, after he put his hamburger down, Eijiro jolted out of his seat and ran around to get in front of her. "Why don't you sit and chat with Yukimura for a bit?" reassuring and trusting, he seemed, therefore her head nodded and a small smile graced her lips; he couldn't help but gush over her cute, burning cheeks. "Sweet, I have money on me. Yukimura said you'd probably want a burger or something?" Curious, a brow lifted after he blinked.
"Y- Yeah, and thanks," It was hard to look him straight in the eye, the embarrassment, from having his eyes upon her made her face light up with crimson, and her attention moved to the floor.
As soon as he whipped around to the nearby counters where people ordered food, Saito faced their booth and her feet trekked over to them. "Dude... What did you say to everyone? I don't like your grin," a frown, and suspicion arose in her mind when she noticed Har-Har almost bursting out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Oh-- come on, you know!~" Suddenly, after her outburst and ignoring Shinso's curious stare, the snake leaned towards her best friend with a hand that covered the other side of her mouth. "Just advice.~ Kirishima wanted to know something and I can't tell you either," mischievous giggles escaped her lips, even more so when she sensed heat rise in Uviel. Yukimura knew what that heat was, it was obvious, but Hitoshi nearly smirked at the redness covering the entirety of the cybergirl's face.
"T- T- T- That's, not fair!" Now the lighter redhead was annoyed and purely aggravated that her best friend, despite being so close, wouldn't tell her. Advice?! What kind of advice?! Why would Eijiro ask for advice?! Especially from my best friend?! Her mind was full of tornadoes of retaliative thoughts over the same subject. Her face became so hot to the point where it looked like she was about to pass out.
"Saito, don't puke," A teasing grin from Hitoshi and snickering from Haru, did not help her situation.
"Yeah, don't faint either. You should sit down," This time, Kiri's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and felt his strong, warm hands, on her shoulders when he pushed her to sit. Utterly surprised, she was, when her butt landed on the seat. Those awestruck blue hues bore into red ones when he sat across from her and grinned his bright smile. "Wow, you really need to eat something then, if you're getting dizzy!" Pink dusted his cheeks, for he was delighted to be able to take care of her somehow.
"It wasn't anything weird, you know? If was just about your bir-" Before Hitoshi couldn't finish his sentence, Haru's hand slapped against his mouth and her head got in his way.
"Yeah! Don't worry! I'm planning something out to make up for how I was, so it's a surprise!" Her giant, toothy grin shone when her eyes closed. Har-Har had something up her sleeve that she didn't want to reveal to her best friend, her plan, the surprise.
"O- Oh- kay. Well..." began the cybergirl as she shifted in her seat and nervously peeked at Kiri on occasion. His attention was on the waitress that kept delivering peoples' meals so she was able to get a nice view of his face. It was difficult to hide the crimson on her own, so glancing at him and back down was all she could do.
Hitoshi's eyes lit up with astonishment, the closeness of her head to his face and her odd but intoxicating scent almost put him into a trance. Those surprised eyes soon became half-lidded when he smelled more and more of it, the longer she sat there.
What is this smell? It's not perfume or anything... Is it? Shinso's question lingered in his mind for a while, it wasn't too much longer until his gaze closed to focus on the aromatic scent he was entranced by. It seemed not only Uviel's cheeks were red, but Shinso's as well, for he felt heat rise to his face.
As soon as her head leaned back and her blind eyes moved to his closed ones, astonishment filled her face. She could feel it, the heat, she could hear his heart, and it only made confusion rise. What's wrong with him? Is he sick? Wait... Does he like Uviel?! Dude, there's going to be a- before her thoughts continued, the boy's words snapped her to reality when his eyes opened to meet hers.
"Are you going to move? You're too close," A frown on his lips, his crimson cheeks remained and finally he looked away from the sheer embarrassment of their closeness.
"A- Ah... Sorry, haha!" Instantly, Haru sat straight in her seat again and rubbed the back of her neck. It was awkward, to say the least, to know that how he reacted was actually from their lack of space, which caused her tan cheeks to light up.
"Here you are, one cheesy bacon burger with some fries and a Grande Fizz!" A waitress-- blonde, cheerful, and lively, came over with a small tray full of her food and put one thing in front of the cybergirl at a time.
"T- Thanks," a cute smile, small and shy, Saito's nod was enough to let the waitress know that she was grateful. After a moment of wishing the girl a good time while she ate and left, the lighter redhead decided to take a bite or two of her food. "And, thanks, Eijiro..." her cheeks burned like hellfire once again, only to hear his contagious laughter in return.
"Haha, no problem! I'm just glad I picked something out that you like when I ordered a burger," he could hear his heartbeat in his ears, it made it hard for him to keep watching her adorable shyness and her tiny smiles. GAAAH I can't stand this! Why does she have to be so unintentionally cute?! Damn it! Inside his mind, a mental image of himself tearing at a napkin with his teeth appeared, and let comical tears stream down his cheeks. I can't believe my chance at the mall was ruined! I guess-- I'll have to try again. Again, he pondered, unaware that the very girl he liked was gawking at his silly expression.
"You okay?" Quiet, shy, yet worried, UV-Ray watched how his silly expression which nearly tried to mimic the mental image he had, turned into one with slight anger.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine! Sorry, I was... Angry about something. I lost my chance at something and I still can't get over it," After he explained, both Haru and Hitoshi watched the two as Uviel leaned closer to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Those red eyes met blue ones, and despite their now incredibly red faces, her kind smile nearly made him tumble and completely lose balance; especially from her next words.
"Dude, don't worry. I'm sure there will be another time. Damn, even I miss chances and they're mostly from Stargazers Online... Well, maybe, in real life too," this time Uviel sat up straight again and fidgeted in her seat.
"Alright, you two! Let's eat up! Cause, tonight is very special and it involves a surprise for my bestie! Hitoshi-- you're coming along too. I'm gonna need your help with something," Har-Har's tan finger pointed at the purple-haired boy, who simply blinked confusedly and gave her a questioning hum.
"Help with... What?" That was all he was able to say before she pulled out her phone and showed him a list of things to do, from a notepad app.
"Max does things for me since I can't see, he's a navigational AI app that supports blind people and even types in things that I say, for me!" Her toothy grin beamed when she explained and let him take his time reading the list.
"Wow... That's actually kinda cool. Where can I get this app?" This time, he pulled out his phone and opened the app store to try and find Max.
"You have to buy it. Uviel bought it to help me and I'm so happy she did! I've been using it ever since, even before I entered U.A.~ It's in the App Store but it's pricey, so not a lot of people buy it," Happy, Yukimura was delighted that someone else was interested in the AI App and couldn't prevent the couple of giggles that escaped.
"Ah- I found it. Yeah, that's a lot, it won't be hard to save up for it, at least," His grin graced his lips, even more so when he looked back up at her beaming face.
"Haha, awesome! We could be Max buddies!" her phone was soon placed back into her pocket and that expression of hers never faltered. Warm, energetic, alive, bright, positive, there was so much about her he couldn't and didn't want to erase from his mind. However, her darker side worried him, but they both agreed to fight off their darkness together and keep moving forward so the best thing to look at is who she is; he knew her darker side wasn't her.
Time passed and they took their time eating, so when they were leaving Golden Buns, a voice near the door caught everyone's attention. "Saito..." Kamihara, who stood with his arms on either side, watched as she looked over and halted in her step. "I received word from 13, that someone attacked Hatsume. She's with Recovery Girl as we speak, so she has some questions for you. It doesn't have to be now, but maybe tomorrow since you've had a big day. Go rest, I'll escort you home," explained and demanded the ninja, who caused many faces to become awestruck.
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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter!~ Don't forget to leave a comment, I'm always happy to hear from my readers! \o/