"So, what's on the schedule for today?" Keigo asked between bites of cereal.
"Well I was going to meet with Bakugou and Midoriya. All Might will probably be there too. Then I was going to train with Mirio. He asked me to spar with him the other day." Sanyu said, "I have a session with Inue to talk about facing my nightmares. That's about it.".
"A busy Saturday." The pro hero observed. "I've got a shift today, so I'm afraid it'll be just you at home Tao.".
"Oh don't worry about me." Tao said with an overly innocent smile. "I'll make my own fun. I'm sure I can manage it.".
"What are you planning?" Sanyu asked, smiling at the man. Tao fluttered his eyelashes.
"Planning? Me? Never!".
Both Keigo and Sanyu laughed. "Just don't get yourself into anything too troublesome or too public. We've already got the entire U.A staff convinced we're dating. The last thing we need is for the whole of Japan to think we're seeing each other.".
Sanyu watched as Tao's expression displayed a tiny, itty bitty bit of hurt before he broke out in a smile.
"Well people are gonna think what they're gonna think." He said with a laugh. Sanyu sent his uncle a concerned look but Tao didn't respond to it.
Later before Sanyu left he decided to ask. "Why were you upset?".
Tao sighed. "You're too young to understand this-" "I'm not 12 anymore." Sanyu interrupted. "Okay, fine. Maybe you are old enough to understand that feelings are complicated. People have a lot of them and they're not always wanted.".
"You think Keigo doesn't want your feelings?" "I don't want my feelings kid.".
Sanyu tilted his head to the side, confused. Tao's face softened to something almost sad. "No matter who it is I like, they're not gonna like me that way. They could be like Keigo-gay as the day is long-and no matter what I'm not even an option.".
"I thought he was more mad that he wasn't actually with you." Sanyu pointed out. Tao sighed heavily and smiled at the boy.
"Oh, you should ask Mirio if he wants to train with you while you meet with Bakugou and Midoriya, they're going to be training anyway. You need to be with Mirio at the same time. Trust me and Korean tradition on this one." The man said.
Sanyu had learned long ago not to ask why this all had to happen, but he did anyway. Tao whispered something in mandarin into his ear that made the boy blush furiously before he shrugged his jacket onto his sleeves awkwardly and dashed out the door.
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Of course Sanyu followed Tao's advice. It always worked out. But it was a bit strange to show up to the gym last since he didn't live on campus and see Mirio, Bakugou, Midoriya and All Might all staring at him.
"Sanyu!" All Might said, not bothering with formalities, "It's great to see you again. I was hoping we could talk after you finish your session and I get a chance to observe Black Whip up close?".
"Is that what you're calling it?" The boy asked under his breath. "That's what the quirk's original user called it." All Might murmured back. Sanyu's eyebrows shot up for a second before he schooled his expression.
"We'll have a long conversation then." He said simply before directing his attention at the place where Mirio was stretching.
Honestly he liked Mirio's hair now more than he liked it usually. Like this it was fluffy and unstyled. Cuter. The teen blushed at just the thought of thinking of someone as cute. How was he supposed to survive all of this?
"Hiya Sanyu!" The older teen said with a wide smile and a wave. Sanyu gave him a small wave in return and dropped his bag and jacket before making his way over to the sparring ring to stretch.
He bent forwards to touch his toes and Mirio laughed as his entire vision was swamped with black. His hair was all over the place these days.
"You gonna fight me or your bangs?" Mirio teased. Sanyu pouted at him a little. "Do you want me to tie it back for you?" He suggested, "It's okay if you don't want me touching it but-uh-Eri keeps asking for more complicated styles and I've got to practice, you know?".
Sanyu agreed easily and Mirio sat down behind him as he did almost a complete split. He still had a fair bit of stretching to go.
Toshinori watched the scene with fond eyes. Mirio was concentrating intensely on the braid he was putting Sanyu's hair in all while Sanyu continued on with stretching, not a care in the world.
'Ah,' He thought, 'Young love'.
Young love was common, but that didn't make it any less precious. It came before the heart knew how to defend itself, everything raw and exposed. And in this world, with someone who knew about his past, Sanyu was nothing but raw and exposed.
He then turned his attention back to where Bakugou was screaming at Midoriya, attempting to spook him into using Black Whip. Much less loving, but rivalries were precious too in their own way.
Mirio reached for Sanyu's shoulder but he was easily brushed off. Sanyu jerked his left leg just so and bent his arm at just the right angle. Mirio fell forwards. From the outside it must have looked like they just bumped into each other while walking.
The older teen rubbed his cheek where it had connected with the floor. "Thanks for the bruise, sunshine." He said with a laugh. Then he stopped. Oh no. The pet name had just slipped out. He hadn't even meant to say it!
Right as he was about to apologize he saw Sanyu smiling softly with slightly pink cheeks. Maybe he was okay with it? He didn't say anything and he looked happy, so Mirio just left it.
Sunshine...it suited Sanyu. Sure, he looked edgy and a little gloomy from the outside, but really he was bright.
Mirio pushed himself off the mat and got back into his fighting pose. "Alright, let's do this!" He said with passion. Sanyu gave him a half smile and came at him swinging.
---------- --------- ----------- -------- ---------- ----------
Sanyu's discussion with All Might, Bakugou and Midoriya had been tense to say the least. He was awkward around the blond-they still hadn't spoken since the 'incident'. But Toshinori did his best to have it flow as seamlessly as possible.
They had concluded that it was the previous users of One For All reaching out. That something big was happening with All For One that was affecting it and that they had to figure it out quickly.
Sanyu didn't like it one bit. It felt like day by day something unseen was chipping away at the peace he had found here. At the peace Toshinori had dedicated his life to keeping.
He didn't want to fight another war but it seemed like one was brewing.
Sanyu had even suggested that he visit All For One in prison like Toshinori did, but he wouldn't be able to get the security clearance needed to speak with him without revealing his identity, if All For One hadn't blabbed about it to the guards yet that is. Then again who would believe him? Sanyu was nothing but a flash on a news feed.
When he exited the office, he was surprised to see Mirio standing there. "You're still here?" He asked, confused. Mirio smiled sheepishly.
"You looked tense when All Might called you into that meeting, so I decided to head back and shower. I made you some hot chocolate to drink. I'll uh-I could walk you to your therapy appointment, if you don't mind that is!".
Sanyu smiled a little at the two steaming travel mugs in Mirio's hands. "We should walk together." He said. Darn it. The words never quite came out the way he wanted them too.
Still, Mirio got the idea and handed him one of the mugs before walking beside him.
As they walked through the halls, Sanyu caught sight of something through the window.
"Ah! It's snowing!" Mirio said, rushing over to press his face against the glass. Suddenly it all made sense. The 'korean tradition' thing Tao was going on about that morning.
Sanyu remembered what he had whispered to him before he left.
'你想要真爱与否'
'Do you want true love or not?'.
There was a Korean thing-call it what you will. Superstition, folktale, belief. But it boiled down to the fact that if you watched the first snow with the person you liked, true love would blossom.
Sanyu became aware of this tradition after spending time with Tao and Whisp in Korea on a mission in December not unlike this one.
He looked at Mirio, who smiled back at him and said something about the snow. Sanyu took a sip of his hot chocolate and smiled behind the mug.
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This chapter's a little chaotic because I am very tired while writing it but still!
I was almost not going to finish the chapter but I was so close I decided to finish it off and post it anyways. I try not to update too many things at the same time as I post a finale chapter (I just completed 'Just My Luck') because it puts me in a weird sentimental mood, but that was kind of perfect for this.
We've finally gotten to the pet names! This is going to be adorable.
But there's also this new power and something sinister lingering on the horizon.
Can our hero find love and conquer evil at the same time?
Stay tuned to find out!
(Oh I love being dramatic!)