\\ The Next Day //
\\ At School //
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"Hey, did you hear on the news this morning some big villain was at the train station causing a scene!?" Riku kicked off the loud discussion in the back of the class.
"Yeah! I heard a new Hero named Mount Lady showed up!" Jin said while pointing at his phone.
As they continued going on about the fight, Hitoshi and I got ourselves seated by our desks up front. He heard the commotion and gave me a look.
"If only they knew," he said softly and I hummed in reply.
"Yo! Otani and Shinso!" Riku then came to our desks, dragging the others with him. "Did you see the news? Can't believe some villain did that to start a scene," he showed us his phone.
I looked down at the screen and saw the news article about the dude in my vision. I tried to act surprised by opening my eyes a bit wide and forming a small "o" with my mouth.
"Woah, that's a shame. Hope those people didn't get hell from their bosses," I replied in a convincing tone.
"Yeah. They were lucky a Hero with a gigantification quirk dealt with that villain with a similar quirk!" He replied while making a fist.
"Yeah, super lucky," I muttered, knowing full well my description of the big villain helped Sir Nighteye dispatch the right Hero for the job.
Riku started rambling on some more about the villain along with our classmates before excusing himself and going back to his seat. He gave a little wave at me in the process, and I got the vibe that he had a crush on me. Even Hitoshi saw it, and he shook his head tiredly, but I laughed at his gesture.
We had all come a long way from the first day of school.
As the day carried on, I kept thinking about the other half of my vision. I told Sir Nighteye every detail and knew I shouldn't worry, but something still didn't sit right in my stomach.
My vision revealed that the sludge villain would rob a store then he got away, then he attacked the kids in the alley a couple blocks away. It didn't add up but Sir Nighteye reassured me it would be prevented.
When the school bells finally rang, Hitoshi and I fell into our training mode, heading straight to the front of school so my aunt could pick us up. She greeted us cheerfully as she always did, we hopped in, and we enjoyed the drive as she asked us how was school.
In the middle of our conversation, I felt that strange feeling again.
I looked around at the other cars. I searched for anything out of the ordinary. When I came up empty, I shrugged it off and continued staring out the window.
Little did I know that at that moment a fanboy had been saved by his number one Hero and it marked the start of his story.
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\\ A Few Days Later //
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After training that day, we found out on the news that All Might himself showed up and saved the kids from the sludge villain. It was a shock considering All Might hardly worked in this area and I didn't expect Sir Nighteye to dispatch him seeing as they weren't really speaking anymore. In the end, I suspected it was a coincidence and was just glad the kids were saved.
The two kids who just so happened to be in my future class.
The kids in our school the next day were beyond excited when they heard that All Might was basically in town even though the incident took place about forty five minutes away from here. It pained me to hear they were more excited about the Number One Hero than two kids their age almost dying by the hands of a villain, but such is life in a Hero Society.
Even though a few days had passed, there was still a buzz about All Might and it kind of got annoying. Hitoshi and I loved the Hero, but sometimes kids our age took it a bit too far. Nevertheless, we continued our usual routine as always and once class was finished we headed to my aunts.
The only difference was that today Sir Nighteye had time off and he wanted to see how far I'd come.
When we finally arrived at my aunts, we spotted the familiar black hair and tired eyes of Mr. Aizawa standing by the edge of the driveway. And towering next to him was Sir Nighteye.
After she parked and turned off the car, we hopped out and gave respectful greetings to our mentors.
"Hi Mr. Aizawa, hi Sir Nighteye," Hitoshi and I said practically in unison.
"Hi," Mr. Aizawa tiredly replied.
"Hello. It's been a while since I've seen you two, have you improved your techniques?" Sir Nighteye asked.
"Yes!" We said in unison.
"I think I've innovated your perceptive defense style," I proudly added.
"Oh really? I'll be the judge of that," he retorted while approaching me.
He then kneeled in front of me and rested a hand on my shoulder while maintaining eye contact. I knew he was activating his quirk to see if it worked on me. This was like a handshake of sorts we always shared before I trained with him.
"Back at it again, Nighteye?" My aunt laughed as she watched our exchange along with the others.
He gave a nod in reply. I patiently waited as he then sighed and looked down at the ground in defeat.
"I will never get used to that," he let out a lighthearted laugh while letting go of my shoulder.
"It will never work," I remind him with a confident smile.
"Never is a strong word. I still think it can work on you, I just have to keep trying my luck," he countered with complete denial and fixed his glasses.
"Okay boomer," I giggled, but once again nobody understood the slang. "Oh sorry, that phrase won't come out for another year," I apologized.
"What's a boomer?" I heard Mr. Aizawa mutter to Hitoshi.
"Don't ask me, she knows these things," Hitoshi held his hands up in reply.
"Great. More terms I have to find out from my students in the future," he sighed heavily.
My aunt and I overheard his comment and giggled. I wanted to spare him and tell him and the others what it meant, but I decided against it.
"Let's all head inside now," my aunt announced while taking the lead.
Our party of five followed her and arrived at the private training room. Since the adults were already wearing their excercise clothes under their outfits, it was only Hitoshi and I that needed to change. Afterwards, we met up with our mentors on separate large training mats; Hitoshi faced off against Mr. Aizawa and I faced off with Sir Nighteye.
"You both have improved and the exams are around the corner, so we decided it's time for a test," Mr. Aizawa revealed while getting into his stance, causing Hitoshi to do the same.
"Yes, like Aizawa said, today we will be evaluating your skill, speed, endurance, strength, offense and defense," Sir Nighteye added and took a fighting stance.
I dropped all forms of friendliness and got into my stance as well.
"Now, let's see how far you've come," he added in a more serious tone.
"Begin!" My aunt popped a little streamer toy and triggered the fights.
Since Sir Nighteye didn't know my moves, he was at a slight disadvantage. However, since he was a Pro, he could predict my moves either way if I wasn't tactical enough. With that said, he decided to make the first move and advance forward.
I knew every move he would make, so I side stepped him. Unfortunately, he read into my move and immediately spun on his heel to try to land a kick. But once again, I knew his intentions and dodged by ducking with a splits then quickly side tumbled to put distance between us.
"Awesome job Rini!" My aunt cheered in the background.
I smiled at her praise and continued dodging Sir Nighteye's attempts effortlessly. He'd throw punch after punch, and I'd duck, weave, and sidestep them all.
"Good defense, you really did perfect my technique" he noted while he continued advancing. "But how good are you with offense?" He abruptly stopped and gestured with his hands to come at him.
I smiled to myself knowing I already won this fight prior to starting. It wasn't ego, I just knew the outcome.
With that confident smile still stuck on my face, I advanced and began the convoluted process of predicting his moves then returning my own. I took steps forward and he'd dodge them with ease despite not having any knowledge from his quirk to help him. He was a Pro, that was for sure.
I hadn't landed a hit on him yet so I enacted my next phase. I started using my wits and gymnastics. I switched moves and started throwing in dynamic twists, roundhouse or spin kicks, and more.
Sir Nighteye started getting overwhelmed. He tried to match my speed, my ferocity, my moves with his own but I wasn't giving him enough time to react.
Then finally, I won.
With an overwhelming leg sweep to make him step back and lose his balance, followed by a quick spin-around kick, he tumbled and landed on his back a good few feet away. He took a moment to gather his senses while I stayed in my stance steadying my breath.
During our fight, Hitoshi had his own with Mr. Aizawa. I saw in my periphery how he and Mr Aizawa circled each other plenty of times. He'd throw a punch, Hitoshi would dodge and step back. When Hitoshi tried to land a kick, he'd block and throw him off. Neither of them took the lead and I figured it was Mr Aizawa testing Hitoshi's will and courage to take him down, AKA confronting his idol.
Eventually, Hitoshi got the idea and took initiative. He started throwing punches, strategizing each move with a quick follow up move. Mr. Aizawa looked like he was predicting them well and did not hold anything back as he landed a strong punch on him. Hitoshi stumbled backwards but quickly regained his composure and jumped back into the fight.
Kicks, punches, tumbles, flips, and all sorts of moves were unleashed from both of them. Until Hitoshi used his wits and figured out Mr. Aizawa's flaw. The experienced Pro Hero tended to hop backwards with his left foot so Hitoshi took advantage of that.
With a fake attempt at a punch, Mr. Aizawa hopped backward and Hitoshi immediately took the opening. He threw in a spin kick and he avoided that too, but as soon as he planted both feet on the ground he spun one more time and landed a kick. Almost the same way I took down Sir Nighteye.
Mr. Aizawa looked stunned and he lost his balance enough to stumble. Hitoshi stood triumphantly over his mentor and he waited respectfully to get back on his feet. Their fight finished just a couple seconds after mine, so Sir Nighteye was back on his feet giving me a praiseworthy look. I returned a smile and looked over at Hitoshi who was also smiling at his victory.
We won.
Hitoshi and I bowed at our mentors after they stood in front of us. Mr. Aizawa then took the lead and started our evaluation. . . But he stated it rather bluntly.
"Congratulations, you passed."
A few seconds passed and when he didn't sound like he was going to say anything more, my aunt walked over.
"Really Shota?" She scolded him.
As she repeatedly tried smacking him, he kept flinching. The scene was rather comedic.
"That was anti-climactic but I expected that," I giggled under my breath to Hitoshi.
Sir Nighteye fixed his glasses onto his nose and picked up where Mr. Aizawa left off.
"Well, you both displayed a great understanding of combat skill and used all the techniques we taught you over the years. Rini, you proved to have a mastery over perceptive combat. Well done," he said with a genuine smile.
I gave a happy, proud nod in reply.
My aunt then released Mr Aizawa from her scolding and he sighed.
"And for you Hitoshi, you did well in your defense and preemptive attacks. You need a bit more work on advancing offensively, but you have more skill than Pro Heros I've worked with. Good job," he evaluated in his tired-but-proud tone.
Hitoshi gave a respectful nod in response.
"Good job you two!" My aunty then rushed to give us a group hug, something I was used to but Hitoshi still had to get used to it.
I embraced her hug while Hitoshi awkwardly stood like a plank with his arms at his sides. She squeezed us for a solid thirty seconds and then released us.
"You two are going to pass. I know it. And not because Rini said so, but because you worked hard," she added in her teacher tone.
"Your ready," Mr. Aizawa added with Sir Nighteye nodding in approval.
We shared happy smiles and gleaming eyes of pride. We had come a long way. Two plus years of training and we were nearly already Pro level. Sir Nighteye and Mr. Aizawa had just deemed us that skilled.
After our evaluation, we continued training as per usual until the sun started to kiss the horizon. Our mentors helped us focus on anymore weaknesses we had and ended on a good note. When we finished up, we got our stuff packed up and ready to go then headed outside.
Sir Nighteye had came in his own ride so he was about to say his farewell and hop in, but then I recalled the sludge villain incident. I wanted to know if he actually dispatched All Might that day, so I left Hitoshi and the others behind and walked up to my mentor. The others were a slight distance away so they couldn't fully hear our conversation.
"Um, Sir Nighteye?" I timidly began. He turned around then rested a hand on the door ajar and gave me his full attention so I continued. "About the sludge villain incident. . . Did you send All Might?"
Straight to the point. No beating around the bush. He and I both knew the value of time in a conversation so he understood and answered. Though I noticed his hidden sadness behind his eyes when he spoke.
"Actually, I didn't. He was heading in that ward already and just happened to be there at the right place right time. The other Heroes were who I tipped off and dispatched in that area."
I hummed in reply and looked down at the ground briefly in deep thought.
"Why do you ask?" He added in a tone similar to a dad.
"No particular reason. . . But if I'm to be completely honest. . . I hoped you were the one to send him because I know you two aren't talking or on speaking terms so I hoped you two were patching things up," I revealed unequivocally.
Sir Nighteye opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it and looked away. He lowered his head and cleared his throat, trying to gather some resolve.
"I. . . I can never anticipate anything when it comes to you young Rini," he quietly said while giving a short, sad chuckle. "I wish I had a heads up to prepare myself for this conversation, but you already know how this conversation will turn out, don't you?"
He was right, I did have some knowledge about this conversation but I wanted to hear it from the horses mouth so to speak.
I gave a nod in reply, and he sighed.
"Right. Well. . . We sadly won't be speaking to each other for a while."
"Why?" I pressed, accidentally sounding a bit too blunt.
The others caught on to our extended conversation too, so they awkwardly stood patiently in the background.
Sir Nighteye furrowed his brows and gave me a look. I quickly added in a meek voice:
"I mean- sorry, it's just you guys were best friends, partners, you took on villains together fighting side by side. . . But now you aren't. I guess hearing that All Might had took down the villain I warned you about the day before made me think you told him. But that was just a coincidence. And sometimes I feel like when I mention his name, you look at me differently, so I wanted to know if your friendship ending was because of something. . . I did?" I rambled on until the words fell out of my mouth.
Up until that point, I hadn't realized I was holding onto the feeling that their friendship ending had something to do with me. The day he came to my house unannounced stuck to me and I assumed I was the cause for something bad behind the scenes.
Which was basically true since I didn't know the real reason was because of my failure to predict his fight with All For One.
At this, Sir Nighteye gave me a sad look. He wanted to tell me the truth, I could see it in his eyes, but he hid that story regarding All Mights fight and injury behind those glared lenses.
"I'm sorry for making you think that, but I assure you that the end of our friendship did not have anything to do with you, young Rini. We came to a respectful understanding, went our separate ways, and I created my own agency. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Time does that to people. So trust me when I say that it was not your fault," he said with a calm smile.
But he lied.
And once again, like a naive kid, I bought that lie.
"Oh okay. . . Sorry for bothering you about it," I casted my gaze to the ground and mumbled.
"No, your fine. I should apologize for making it seem that way. I guess whenever you mention his name I do feel a bit sad, but it was never directed at you nor was it your fault. I'm sorry."
I looked up at him and gave a nod, showing I acknowledged his apology. He offered a fatherly smile in return and decided to stoop on one knee before offering his fist to bump as a farewell.
"You will make a fine Hero one day. Never doubt yourself."
I met his fist with my own and smiled.
"Thank you. I won't."
Then with that, he left, sending a curt wave to the others on the way out.
As soon as his car disappeared, Hitoshi came to my side and pulled on my wrist.
"Time to go," he said quietly, and I hummed before following him back to my aunts car.
Since Mr. Aizawa was still present, we waved goodbye to him and he returned the gesture and got into his car. We watched as he rolled out of the driveway while my aunt got the car started. Soon enough, we were leaving too into the cool cloudy night, the crescent moon illuminating the streets during the drive.
Hitoshi didn't ask me about what Sir Nighteye and I talked about, so I assumed he overhead parts of it and didn't need to question. So the ride was pleasantly silent.
However, I took one thing away from our conversation.
"Time does that to people."
Time was a concept, a nonliving, intangible force that dictated the rules of our existence and experiences. I could perceive its next move, sure, but it was still mysterious and predictably unpredictable. So when Sir Nighteye, my mentor who I've known since I was six, said that it caused people to drift apart, I pondered my own life and what it would do to me. . . Specifically if it would cause Hitoshi, my best friend, to drift away from me.
The thought scared me. But I pushed it to the back of my mind.
When we got home, we told our parents the great news regarding Mr. Aizawa and Sir Nighteye's unexpected evaluation. They praised us and celebrated our small achievement with happy smiles. Our mentors opinions meant a lot not only because it told us we had a fighting chance in UA's exam, but we also had a chance in the real world as Heroes.
Which meant the world to us.
And we faced the written exam with that confidence.
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\\ Months Later //
\\ At Rini's Home //
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"Okay, do you have everything packed? You have your change of clothes? Are you nervous? You probably aren't because you already know your future," my mom rambled on as she looked me over a dozen times while my dad stood to the side cracking up.
"Mooommm I am fine," I reassured her for the tenth time and started swatting her hands.
My dad couldn't help but let out a laugh as he got this all on camera. We were at the front door of the house waiting on Hitoshi and his parents. They said they'd meet us here before sending us off to the bus stop.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I just wanted to make sure you were all set. I know you can see everything before it happens but sometimes I notice you get forgetful," she sighed and let go.
I rolled my eyes playfully and gestured to myself.
"Bag, check. Clothes, check. ID card, check. I'm good mom. I'm going to be late. Hitoshi is probably behind me already," I then jabbed my thumb over my shoulder.
On cue, he suddenly appeared behind me and made his way over with his parents.
"Hey!" He waved us down with his parents in tow.
"See," I added, my thumb still pointing in their direction.
My mom sighed while my dad humorously laughed at my comedic timing. Hitoshi and his parents made it to us and we all shared happy greetings. They joked about Hitoshi and I being kids seemingly yesterday and now here we were ready to start high school.
My mom and his mom started to shed tears while Hitoshi and I - including our fathers - tried to get them to stop. Our families were so close it was heartwarming and funny to see the effects we had on one another.
"We are so proud of you two," my dad then announced before giving us warm pats on the back.
"You worked so hard and it's because of your hard work you'll do great," Hitoshi's dad added.
Meanwhile, our mothers were sniffling back tears. They couldn't form words so instead they engulfed Hitoshi and I into a big group hug.
"God, we're not going off to war!" Hitoshi sassed while trying to get away from his mom.
"He's right. Shouldn't you all be going to your jobs?" I added with a laugh.
Our moms suddenly let us go and both pulled on our ears. He and I started saying "ow" over and over again as they scolded us.
"Just let us enjoy this moment, will ya?" Hitoshi's mom sassed back at her son.
"Seeing our babies all grown up and ready for high school is big for us, okay?" My mom added.
We sighed and apologized, then they let us go. We rubbed our ears and bit back sarcastic remarks, opting for silence. Then with one final wave, our parents sent us off.
"You'll do great!"
"Knock em dead!"
"Love you!"
"Bye honey bunny!"
Hitoshi and I gave one final smile then turned and headed for the bus stop.
"See you later!" We waved at them.
And just like that, we were off. We got on the bus, arrived at our stop, and suddenly found ourselves walking up the tall hillside that had the gleaming high school sat atop it.
With small nervous smiles stuck on our faces, Hitoshi and I stared at the entrance of the famous, top Hero course school in the country.
UA.
We finally made it.
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