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Eli was basically in the backyard UA. She'd already lugged all the furniture she planned to clean up two flights of stairs and piled them together near a water hose she found. She had rented some cleaning equipment that was supposed to arrive at UA today, and thankfully it did.
She knew she could just throw the sofa covering in the wash, but she knew with how long it was sitting in there it probably needed to soak. She once had a part-time job as a maid at a hotel, it was pretty good money, but the workload was ridiculous so she quickly cut and run once she got a job at the library at her University.
So, she got to work like she said she would. She removed the covering and set them in a big bucket she asked the janitor for. (Nezu gave her a little badge so people wouldn't be suspicious of her).
She filled it with some hot water (she stole the tea kettle from the teacher's lounge) and borax and some vinegar. She set it to the side as she got to work cleaning the tables. She scrapped things she didn't want to think about, and scrubbed the front, sides, and legs of the tables. The top was wood so she had ordered some lavender oil to make her wood polish and a wad of sandpaper.
She would have rented a sander for an hour but she really was not sure of her ability to use it.
Plus she didn't really have anyone to ask (idiot).
The wind against her neck was nice and she found herself weirdly energized as she sanded the table furiously.
And peaking around the corner, Mirio could help but be curious.
He'd been walking with Nejire and Tamaki when he heard the sound of light music being played. It'd be one thing if it was a song that he had some semblance of, but this sound didn't even sound remotely like anything he heard.
Eli was listening to all the music she'd missed in her years, including all the movie soundtracks she missed.
It didn't take her long to have the idea of looking up how many Marvel movies had been made in over 200 years, and she immediately was delighted to watch Wakanda Forever by herself after she'd been looking forward to seeing it with Louis back home.
The winds around her shifted a bit and the bobbing of her head halted as she turned around to see the familiar eyes of Mirio.
"Dude, no need to be a creep, how ya been man!?" she called out with a smile and a wave.
Mirio, embarrassed, rubbed the back of his head and stepped out.
"Hey Eli-chan, I've been alright, sorry about that," he said, his cheeks red as resisted the urge to avoid her gaze
"Mirio?" they heard and it was at that moment that realization dawned on the boy before her. He'd been walking WITH them.
Around the corner came Tamaki and Nejire, two people whom Eli had never met.
'Damn, is purple that common a hair color here?' she questioned mentally.
"Oh, uhm, hi?" she said awkwardly at the two.
She was covered in vinegar and suds. The shorts she'd worn were dirty and so were her shoes. She had on a simple Nirvana shirt and her wings were puffed out in embarrassment. She also wasn't sure about the state of her face given the fact that it was rather warm today.
Not the best first impression but crashing through the ceiling of his classroom and head-butting him didn't stop Dad from adopting her, so Eli shrugged.
Plus, it'd be fine if she didn't just knock them out like she did Mirio.
Neijire gaped as she remembered who she was.
"You're the one who took out that Nomu aren't you?!" she asked excitedly, her hands balling into fists near her chest. Stars shined in her eyes and suddenly she was an inch from Eli's face and Eli was trying to calm the state of her heart at the girl.
"Uhm, yeah, sure," she said, her face feeling hot.
'She's pretty,' they both thought.
The winds around them grew and suddenly Eli was flustered all over again as she finally took a step back.
"Yea, I'm Eli, you must be the partners Mirio was talking about?" Eli said, turning slightly to look at the thirst only to find him leaning against a wall with his forehead pressing against it.
'Partners in more ways than one,' Nejire thought.
"Yeah your boy is back there breaking down," she said pointing at him.
"Not that I mind, but you know, thought you guys should know," Eli said, fiddling with the canister of vinegar in her hands.
"Oh, he does that all the time, you don't have to worry about it really," Neijire said with a wave of her hands.
"She's right about that, he should be able to stand in front of you in a couple of days," Mirio said thoughtfully. He smiled at his friend briefly before turning back to Eli.
"Oh, excuse me, I'm Nejire Hadou, 3rd year UA student," the girl said as she put her hand out to shake.
Eli smiled gently and shook her hand.
"Nice meeting you," she said, her cheeks still flush, but less nervous now that she wasn't so close.
"That's Tamaki Amajiki," Mirio pointed out, chuckling as he saw the boy curl into himself against the wall.
"Hm, well what are you guys up to? I know you're seniors, but shouldn't you be in class?" she asked.
She was pretty sure that class was still in session, and if it wasn't and she hadn't eaten, she didn't want to get drop-kicked by Hitoshi.
"Oh we have a free period, we usually use it to train or study, but today we decided we take a walk," Mirio explained. Eli nodded in understanding.
"What are you doing out here, Eli-chan?" Nejire asked, looking around at all the stuff around her.
"Oh, I'm cleaning all this stuff off. I was just getting ready to make some wood polish, then I was gonna clean the rest of the couch. I'm trying to finish all of this before lunch, Hitoshi will kill me if I miss lunch," she said with a sheepish laugh, before being pushed slightly forward.
The wind tickled her back and neck and she almost hissed as she swatted away her invisible foe, only to hear their childish laughter filter in and out of her ears.
"Oh, is this what Aizawa-sensei has you doing?" Mirio asked curiously, his confusion growing as she shook her head.
"No, Principal Nezu," she replied.
Her vague answer was the product of her not being sure if this was something she was allowed to talk about in the room with students. She wasn't one to care enough to actually follow the rules, mostly because for the majority of her life, the law felt more like a suggestion.
And this idea was only enforced by the sentencing of some of her foster parents.
"Do you need any help then? So, you can avoid Hitoshi's wrath?" Mirio asked, Nejiri sparking with excitement as she nodded her head in agreement.
"Yeah, we can clean, and Mirio is really strong! And he may not look at it, but Tamaki is really good at detail cleaning," Nejire whispered the last part making Eli look back over at Tamaki briefly with a chuckle.
"Oh, trust, I believe you," she replied.
'Now that I think about it, it probably won't just be Hitoshi... what if he brings everybody and they fucking jump me?' Eli pondered.
She couldn't put it past them.
"W-well, uhm," she started despite her wanting thoughts. She was never one to ask for help so outwardly, even if the person had offered such help.
"If it's okay? I don't want to take away your free period," Eli said with a nod.
"Of course, plus, Mirio tells us that he's trained with you several times," Nejire said, throwing an inconspicuous smirk at Mirio whose face flooded with embarrassment for the second time.
"So we've all been waiting to meet you, even Tama-chan," Nejire winked cutely.
Eli coughed and her eyes went back and forth between Mirio and Nejire as she had some weird, TV-14-rated thoughts about the two.
"Well, as long as you are alright with it," she replied.
With that, Nejire watched with curious and star-struck eyes as Eli made her wood polish. She mixed some vinegar, olive oil (she'd stolen from the cabinet at home), and some of the lavender oil she had so that it would smell good. Together they wiped the table down as best they could with the spray until it was nice and shiny.
Despite not speaking a word to her, Tamaki had taken to rinsing out the couch coverings and scrubbing the remaining spots with a toothbrush and other cleaning supplies. The boy had an odd look on his face compared to the 'If you breathe too close to me I might have a seizure' expression he had earlier. It was a rather intense dedication to cleaning, it honestly sort of reminded her of how Dad always looked when she was training with him.
Eli and Nejire sat in the grass beside each other, watching as they worked. Mirio had the steam cleaner and was sitting crisscross behind the couch as he went up and down to such all the nasty stuff out of the fabric.
"Thank you again, I really appreciate it," Eli told her genuinely, smiling with a nod.
Nejire wore a small blush on her cheeks as she smiled in return.
"Of course, what are friends for," she says.
Eli cheesed and the wind around her began to blow furiously as laughs filtered in and ears, almost teasing her.
"Ah shut up," she muttered as she unconsciously swiped her hand at the winds.
"Huh?" Nejire said, quirking an eyebrow as she watched the girl's eyes swipe to the side with a glare at something she didn't see. Flinching, Eli looked at her with wide eyes before a sheepish smile came to her face.
"It's uh my Quirk?" Eli said, the wind blowing blew around her just enough for the now short curls on top of her head to shift and her eye to squint at the air pressure.
Instantly interested, Nejire turned her body to face hers.
"Well, I fly, right?" Eli said, awkwardly gesturing to the massive wings that sat behind her.
"Ever since I got my Quirk, the winds have been helping me to understand how everything works. They're kind of like people, they can get annoying too," Eli shrugged a bit.
The winds howled, and bickering filled her ears.
'Us?! Annoying?!" they said, all the while ruffling her feathers and pushing her short curls all over the place, all making Eli sigh as they proceeded to prove her point.
Nejire giggled as she saw how ruffled her feathers got, and giggled even more when Eli start to reposition them unconsciously.
Eli snapped from her contorted position and looked at the girl with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"No, no, it's okay," the girl laughed.
Mirio was laughing loudly beside Tamaki, who only sat blushing as he went at the already cleaned creases of the couch with a toothbrush.
"So are they..?" Eli began to ask.
"Oh? Yea..." Nejire said with a chuckle.
'I knew it was too good to be true,' Eli thought.
"Well, there goes that," she said with a shrug.
Eli wasn't delusional enough to think she didn't have a crush on him, in fact, she had at least 3 crushes back home. None of them ever really led anywhere, but she knew that the crush itself existed.
"...We're all actually, uhm," Nejire blushed in small embarrassment.
Their relationship was maybe 4 months strong, but it didn't stop her from being embarrassed when she talked about it.
"Oh, OH, I am so sorry, that was disrespectful wasn't it-- I promise I'm not a homewrecker I-" Eli's frantic rant was cut off by laughing, and she looked at Nejire's flushed face and joyful smile.
"No, it's okay, really. There are three of us, so, before any of us knew we were open to another, there had to be a third party right? I joined 2 months ago, but they have been together for 4, so I get it, trust me," Nejire said.
At home, Nejire had an entire month's worth of journal entries, all degrading and chastising herself for having a crush on not one, but two guys, who were together of all things. She even avoided them for about two weeks before their concern blew through the roof and they demanded an explanation for her absence.
Two weeks, and three dates later, Neijire found herself in a loving relationship.
"Still, I feel-" she was cut off by yelling, familiar yelling.
"OI FRUITCAKE? IT'S LUNCH AND THAT PURPLE-HAIRED LOSER IS LOOKING FOR YOU!"
A couple of floors up, Eli could see Bakugo hanging out the window ceil of the building behind him.
"Shit! I'm late, uh, thank you again, let me lay this tarp," Eli scampered to get up almost tripping before she hastily made her way to the blue tarps she had folded on the side, throwing them over the furniture, aside from the table since the gloss still needed to dry.
Now, try as she may, Eli was not graceful. She wasn't naturally gentle, in fact, she often had to remind herself to be so, especially with the new strength that she had. Even before coming to this time, Louis always called her heavy-handed, which was probably why she was able to stand Ren's training as well.
You could see the muscle in her arms as she threw the stuff over and Mirio couldn't help but notice Nejire blushing ever so slightly as Eli squatted down to lift one side of the couch and drag it underneath the shade of the building before doing the opposite with the table.
Her new short hair allowed every single muscle in her face to be noticeable, her cat-like eyes squinting and her jaw clenching as she moved the furniture with little thought to it.
Tamaki didn't have the time to hide in a corner before she was in front of him. He appreciated her quiet work and her lack of attention to him. But there was attention. She walked with the couch in a half circle, completely avoiding his body, and pulled it toward her to avoid his hand on the grass.
That put him right near her legs, which moved with a strong, but rough formation.
She wiped her forehead when she was done and stretched her back out before turning to the three with a small smile on her face as her feet paddled up in down as the clock continued to tick in the back of her mind.
She didn't mind tardiness, but her own was unacceptable.
"Uhm, thank you guys again. I can get you lunch as a thank you or you know anything you want to do. Or uh, maybe we can... hm, well whatever, whatever you guys want is good with me, but I gotta go before Hitoshi kicks the shit out of me," she said rather frantically, her eyes darting from all the furniture to back and forth between the three pairs of eyes.
Suddenly her wings were spread out then she leaped high in the air and with one flap of her wings she caught the bottom of the window where Bakugo still stuck his head out.
"C'mon, I don't want to hear his mouth anymore," Katsuki gruffed out, grabbing the back of her shirt to drag her in, only to get swatted away.
"Yeah, that means a lot coming from you,"
"HEY!"
You could hear the heavy sounds of their footsteps and her laughter as she faded away.
...
Mirio looked at Nejire, a dreamy smile sitting on his lips.
"So?"
She didn't say anything as she continued to stare at the open window, with a vivid blush on her cheeks, her lips slightly parted, her heart beating faster...
Mirio chuckled and looked over at Tamaki, who sported a smaller one, but it wasn't like he could hide the way his grip on the corner of Mirio's shirt had loosened.
His hand had relaxed without him knowing it, leaving Mirio to do the only thing he could do in this situation.
Laugh.
Laugh and lean back on his palms with a sigh.
"I told you so,"
2769 words.
im actually very surprised that i went this route tbh, like it thought about it earlier but i never would've imagine i'd push for 4
toodles