💕4.9k+ words💕
Kemuri stared at her, her eyebrow somewhat up as she took a step back awkwardly. 'What am I supposed to do now?'
~3rd Person POV (Including Thoughts)~
Kemuri simply backed away, looking at the smiling pink girl in front of her.
Mina gulped before moving her hands to her sides, smiling awkwardly. "Uh, well it's nice to meet you, Eri's sister!"
Kemuri stayed away, only looking at her face and nodding. Instead of her usual, nonchalant expression, an emotionless look took over her face. 'Why is she so...lively?'
Mina's smile wavered ever so slightly from the girl's expressionless stare. The interaction was awkward to all those around, with some looking away from the scene while others were staring at the two, trying to figure out who would make the first move. Although that never happened.
This did, however, give the class time to take in Kemuri's appearance. She was wearing a baggy white T-shirt with a pair of baggy black pants with small stars on them. She had visible bandages wrapped around her both her arms and neck. She had on a plain black mask to cover the major scar on her lower face, though some small scars still visibly littered around. Her body leaned on the pair of crutches at her side, which supported her weight, allowing her to stand easier.
Kemuri noticed all the eyes on her as she looked down at her feet, her eyes darting, looking for anything to focus on and distract her. Her chest felt heavy, a feeling she was all too familiar with. She never had so many people looking at her, let alone people she'd never seen before. She was being thrown into a situation she had never thought would happen: being surrounded by others her age, others who were free their whole lives.
The awkward and uncomfortable silence was broken by a forced cough. "Uh- How about we go check out more of the games now that everyone's here again?"
Kemuri slowly looked up from the ground, seeing a boy who had bright red hair and eyes with a hand on Mina's shoulder. The class simultaneously agreed before starting to argue over which game to go to first.
Kemuri continued to stare at the redhead, who eventually felt her eyes on him. He looked away from the class debate and over to Kemuri, sending a smile and wave to her. She simply replied with a barely noticeable nod before looking over to Midoriya, who had an embarrassed face.
Mirio had called Eri over during the interaction, now playing rock-paper-scissors with her to distract her from the odd situation. Kemuri limped over to Midoriya, who had his hands covering his face.
She took the pen out of her pocket and poked Midoriya with it, quickly pulling him away from his thoughts and over to her.
"Kemuri! I'm so sorry that happened!" He said, his face filled with guilt from the interaction she had with his class. Even he knew it wasn't a good first impression.
Kemuri shrugged her shoulders before shaking her head, writing down on her small notepad. 'It's whatever. It was a better reaction than I thought would happen.'
Midoriya let out a sigh of relief, realizing that she didn't have very high expectations, which he understood, considering her...situation. He gave a small smile before standing up straight and looking over to his classmates.
Their debate on where to go had progressively turned into a full argument, which only happened because of a certain blonde trying to take over the conversation.
~Katsuki POV~
"We're not going to some dumbass scam games! We're going to do the damn Obstacle Course!" I yelled out, grabbing onto Dunce Face's collar and shaking him.
"WAA- Let go of me!!!!" He cried out, trying to pry my hand away from his collar. Raccoon Eyes' angry expression was replaced with laughter, while Dunce Face looked at her in betrayal.
I heard from behind me, "Woah okay- Bakugo calm down!" as a pair of arms locked under my own and dragged me back. Dunce Face took a step back and slapped Raccoon Eyes on the back of her head.
"Don't touch me, Shitty Hair!" I grunted out and ripped my arms away from him. I glared at him then back at Dunce Face, who was now 'scolding' Raccoon Eyes for laughing at him.
"I'm sure we can sort something out..You don't always have to yell you know.." I heard him mumble, walking over to the two idiots. "The hell did you just say to me?!" I yell again, begrudgingly following him.
He ignores me and starts talking to the rest of the class, trying to de-escalate the situation so we can finally go somewhere. I stood behind him, one hand in my pocket and the other holding my phone as I scrolled through it. My feed was full of Allmight videos, of course, but also spicy food recipes and recommendations. 'I searched up a recipe once and now my whole damn feed is full of food..' I rolled my eyes before groaning and looking up from my phone. I shoved it in my pocket, already bored.
I felt a pair of eyes staring at the back of my head, making my eyebrows furrow as I quickly turned my head to where I felt the eyes. Damn Deku was pointing at me while talking to the Brat's sister. I twitched my body as If I were going to hit him, despite being a few feet away.
"The hell are you pointing at, Nerd?! You talking shit about me!?" I asked while glaring at him. His eyes widened before he brought his hands back to his chest and shook his head.
"N-No, Kacchan..I was just telling Kemuri everyone's names...considering how no one really introduced themselves to her other than Ashido-san.." Deku says, his voice turning into a whisper as he finishes his sentence. I rolled my eyes and glanced over to the girl next to him. She was just standing there, staring at both me and Deku without a word with that annoying ass expressionless face. 'She looks like that damn Icy-Hot. Complete opposites to the Brat.' I thought to myself before turning away without a response.
'Where the hell did she even come from? No one's heard anything about her, besides Deku and the blondie, so why is she here now? With how much they avoided talking about her, I thought she was dead.' I thought to myself as I pretended to listen to the conversation in front of me. 'Whatever, why should I care?'
"Alright! It's settled then!" I heard Shitty Hair cheer as he puts a hand on my upper shoulder. "Got that, Bakugo?"
I glare at him and shrug his hand off. "No. I wasn't listening to your boring ass conversation." Shitty Hair looks at me in disbelief before he shakes his head.
"Man...Well, we decided we'll go around to look at all the games and stuff, then we'll go to the obstacle course you wanted to try!"
I glared, "HUH?!" I yelled at him, taking my hands out of my pockets as I strained my hands, making smoke come out. "I'm not playing some stupid games!"
"Ah, come on, Bakugo! It's just for a bit! We want Eri and her sister to enjoy themselves, and I don't think they'd want to watch us race each other. They've seen enough fighting, don't you think?" He said with a pleading look on his face, whispering the last part and tilting his head to where the Brats were.
I sucked my teeth with a 'tsk' and grumbled to myself, "Whatever. I don't care. Just hurry up." I shoved my hands in my pockets and kicked a rock that was under my shoe.
He pat my shoulder and walked off behind me, probably to talk to the damn Deku and the Brat's sister.
~3rd Person POV (Including Thoughts)~
"And the girl with short purple hair is Jiro Kyoka!" Midoriya says as he moves his hand over to Jiro, who is standing next to Yaoyorozu. Kemuri nodded her head after hearing the name of everyone in class 1-A.
"Midoriya!" Kirishima calls out, walking up to the two. "We finally decided where to go!" He said with a happy smile and a thumbs up.
"Huh? Oh, right! So, where are we going?"
"Everyone decided it was best to play some of the games, then we'll do that race Bakugo wanted to do!"
"Alright then!" The green-haired boy looks over to the girl next to him. "How does that sound, Kemuri?"
The girl looks up at him and shrugs, 'How should I know, I've never done this before.' She thought before looking back in front of her. 'I'm still trying to get used to all of this.'
Midoriya nods knowingly and turns to where Mirio and Eri are, "How about you guys? Does that sound good?"
Mirio, in a crouched position in front of Eri, looks up at the three and smiles, nodding his head. "Yep!"
"Yes! I want to play every game!!" Eri says with a big smile. Kemuri looks at her younger sister, seeing the smile she always wished for on her face. After everything that has happened to the two of them, she hopes that she'll keep that smile from now on. Without anyone saying another word, Kemuri walks over to Eri and opens her arms while standing straight. Eri knew what this meant and quickly ran into her sister's arms as Kemuri picked her up. She held her little sister in her free arm, still leaving her occupied arm alone.
Eri giggled while Kemuri hugged her, slowly walking back over to Midoriya. He looked at the two with a big smile. Kirishima watched the two, having a sentimental look on his face before also smiling.
"I think we should go now, the area closes in 2 hours," Mirio says as he stands back up, dusting off his clothing. Kirishima looks at him and nods, sending another smile to the four and running back to the group of classmates.
"Guys! Let's start going now, it's getting pretty late." A string of cheers came from the class as they all made their way to the game section.
As the four started following the rest of the class, Eri pulled on Kemuris' shirt. When she looks down at the girl, Eri points to the smaller group of friends towards the front of the class group. The group consisted of Uraraka Ochako, Asui Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu Momo, Jiro Kyoka, and Hagakure Toru. The girls' were laughing and messing with each other as Asui was showing them something on her phone.
"I want to go to Ms. Uraraka! She's really nice!" Kemuri looks at the group and then back to Eri. 'Ms. Uraraka? I think Midoriya mentioned her, but I don't remember who she is...' She thought to herself but nodded at Eri as she slowly made her way over to the group.
'Are they really nice though? It could be an act, or because it's Eri...Maybe I should just let Eri go by herself; but that's just plain dangerous to let her be with them alone, I still don't know their intentions...I'll just be there to look out for her safety..' The older sister thought to herself as she was now behind the group of girls.
The five still hadn't noticed Kemuri behind them, even with the noise her crutch made when it hit the ground, until Eri spoke to them, "Ms. Uraraka! We're behind you!" She laughed, finding it funny that they hadn't noticed.
The five all flinched and quickly turned around. "Oh-! Woah, you two were so quiet, we didn't even notice you were there!" Uraraka said, putting a hand over her heart and taking a deep breath. Eri laughed again and asked to be put down, which Kemuri did hesitantly.
Eri stood in front of the girl and looked up at her as she put her hand on Eri's head, making Kemuri put her guard up, in case anything were to happen. "Did you like the show, Eri?"
The younger girl nodded her head, "Yes! It looked so pretty!" Uraraka smiled, "I'm glad! We wanted to make it extra special, just for you!"
As the two of them chatted, the other girls slowly came into conversation with Kemuri standing off to the side, watching.
'They're awfully touchy...But it doesn't seem to affect Eri negatively. They all seem so close to her, and she's so comfortable with them...I guess she really has grown used to them in the past month or so..' Kemuri thought to herself.
She was so caught up in her thoughts, that she didn't notice the pink-haired girl with a group of boys behind her coming into the conversation. She crouched down to Eri's level and began talking to her, saying how she would love to do her hair and dress her up.
'Eri used to hate being touched by others..The only one she'd let near her willingly was me...At least, it was. I guess she's found her own group of people..I just hope they love her enough to protect her, just as much as I do. And I'll make sure that they'll never hurt her. Her smile just came back after however many years, and I plan on doing anything in my power to protect it.'
It had been almost 3 minutes of Kemuri being zoned out; that was until someone finally snapped her out of it.
She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, resulting in her grabbing the wrist of the person and flinching backward, pushing the hand away from her aggressively as she glared at the person. The force of her moving so abruptly and sloppy movement caused her crutch to fall on the ground next to her since her main focus was on the person who touched her. Standing in front of her stood a familiar redhead.
Kirishima stared at the girl with wide eyes before he relaxed, slowly moving his hand back to himself and putting them up in a non-defensive way to show he wasn't planning anything. "Sorry..! I didn't mean to scare you! You kind of zoned out and didn't realize the group started walking again." He said with a sheepish smile on his face and pointed towards the group.
Kemuri continued to glare at him, keeping her hand balled in a fist. 'Where the hell did he come from?? I didn't even hear him!' Despite the harsh glare from the girl in front of him, Kirishima kept his smile, not looking like he felt threatened at all.
After some time of just staring at each other, Kemuri finally relaxed her hands, letting go of the fist she had once held. She looked away from the male she was glaring at and down to the floor, where her fallen crutch had laid. She let out a quiet sigh before slowly starting to crouch down.
"No, wait! You're healing, right? You shouldn't be bending down so much, especially after holding Eri!" The boy blurted out, quickly walking to the side of her and grabbing her crutch before she could fully crouch down.
"Here! We wouldn't want your injuries getting worse." He smiled, handing the crutch over to her.
Kemuri's confused gaze switched between looking at the crutch in front of her and Kirishima.
'Why is he being so nice..?' She thought to herself as she cautiously moved her hand to grab it. The second she felt the metal in her hand, she gripped it, pulled it towards her, and took a step backward.
She quickly moved the crutch under her arm, feeling a sense of relief washing over her as she had something to support her up again.
"There you go!" "We should probably start going with the others now before they notice we weren't behind them." He said with, again, a smile, moving his head towards the class, who was only a few feet away.
Kemuri looked at him, then back at the ground as she nodded. She adjusted the crutch and began to walk after the class, keeping her eyes on the ground. She heard footsteps next to her before she looked at the boy next to her, confused.
Kirishima had started walking next to her in silence, ignoring the fact that she was walking much slower than the others due to her limp. He had noticed that the only people the girl "talked" to was Midoriya and her little sister, only really nodding to Mirio and flat-out ignoring Ashido when she tried to introduce herself.
'I'm sure she didn't mean it rudely. She seemed more cautious than angry..I kind of feel bad for her..The girls unknowingly left her out of the conversation when they saw her holding Eri. I know they didn't mean it and were just happy to see Eri, but I can't help but want to give Eri's sister some company. She's been through just as much.' He thought to himself as he walked next to her, keeping a smile on his face.
He noticed the fact that she was looking at him and decided to look back at her. "Oh yeah, I haven't told you my name yet!" He blurted out.
Kemuri still just stared at him, confused as to why he was walking with her. 'He could be up there with his class...Why is he slowing down to walk next to me? He better not try to pull anything..'
"I'm Kirishima Eijiro! And uh-" He stopped for a second, trying to think of what to say before he continued, "My quirks Hardening! I can harden any part of my body and it's like a shield!" He said, a proud tone overtaking his calm voice.
Kemuri mentally noted his name and quirk as she nodded, this time looking in front of her instead of the floor.
The walk was silent for a while, the two just walking side by side, although Kemuri kept the distance intact.
"Hey, so- What's your name? It feels weird just calling you 'Eri's Sister'.." He said, breaking the silence between the two with a small awkward laugh.
Kemuri slowly turned her head to him with a raised eyebrow. 'I can't really tell you, my hand's occupied.' She replied mentally, even though she knew he couldn't understand. She didn't understand why she felt the need to even answer him, though she did. She pointed to her neck with her free hand and waved her hand sideways, signaling that she 'couldn't' talk.
Kirishimas' mouth formed an 'o' shape as he nodded and looked away embarrassed, now understanding why Kemuri hadn't spoken at all. 'Come on..I should have known that!' He thought, scolding himself mentally.
Kemuri saw his face and knew what he was thinking. Without a second thought, she stopped walking and pulled out her notepad and pen. 'Why am I even doing this? Not like he has to know my name...It's not even my real one..' She thought to herself. Regardless of that, she still wrote in the notepad, then handed it over to Kirishima, who had stopped next to her when he realized she stopped moving.
To avoid getting too close to him, she waited until he held out his hand and dropped it into it. He looked down at the paper where there was a single word: 'Kemuri.'
Kirishima looked up at her and smiled, nodding his head, "It's nice to meet you, Kemuri!"
Kemuri nodded her head and continued to walk. 'That was unnecessary. There was no point in really telling him, it's not like I'm going to see them again.'
The red-haired boy followed after her, a stupid smile still on his face. 'She actually responded; I think that's a good thing!'
Looking in front of them, Kemuri saw that the group had stopped in front of a food stall, where Ashido was stealing Kamimari's wallet, stating that he 'owed her for messing up her room.'
Kirishima laughed at his friends' antics and stopped a few feet from the group, although no one seemed to notice the two of them coming because of the loud noise from passersby.
Kemuri expected Kirishima to walk away now that they reunited with his friends but it never seemed to happen as the boy turned to her. Looking at him in confusion, he held out her notepad that he had yet to give back. "Here! You kinda started walking before I could give it back," He said with a laugh.
Kemuri stared at her notepad and nodded, holding out her hand for him to drop it in. Complying with her wants, he placed it on her hand, making sure not to touch her so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable.
"So...Is there anything you wanna do? Food? Games?" He asked, looking into Kemuri's eye with genuine interest. 'I hope I'm not making her uncomfortable...Maybe she'd feel better talking to another girl?'
Kemuri looks down and shrugs her shoulders. 'Why is he asking me what I want to do? Shouldn't he just go back to his class?' Nevertheless, she took out her pen and wrote on her notepad, turning it to Kirishima once she was done.
'I don't know. I only came here for Eri, so I don't know what any of these things are.'
Kirishima stared at the page for a moment before he brought his gaze back up to her face, an unreadable look on his face. "You've never been to a festival??"
Kemuri, not wanting to explain her situation to a boy she met not even half an hour ago, shook her head and put her notepad down.
Kirishima's mouth suddenly opened as he looked away and lightly shook his head, the corners of his mouth upturning into a smile. "We have to play some of the games then!" He blurts out, looking back at her.
A surprised and confused look overtook her eyes as she tilted her head.
"I promise it'll be fun! You might get some prizes if you win the game!" He tries to convince her but keeps his tone calm, not wanting to sound like he's pressuring her.
She doesn't respond though, the voice in her head distracting her. 'Why is he still talking to me? Doesn't he have somewhere else to be... He might be nice, and he kinda reminds me of Midoriya, but it's not like I can just outright trust him. I mean hell, both of them were nice to me before and after they did shit.' She thought, slightly grimacing at the reminder of the two men who kidnapped her. Just as Kemuri was going to respond with a shake of her head, she was interrupted.
"Kirishima! Kemuri! You're back!" The overly energetic pink-haired girl greeted, running over to the two with a taiyaki in her hand and Eri following by her side. Ashido had learned Kemuri's name from Eri, who was talking nonstop about her older sister when she was with the other girls.
"Are you going to play the games with us, Kemuri?" Eri asked, walking up to her sister and hugging her leg softly, making sure to not hurt her injuries.
Kemuri looks between the older kids in front of her and her younger sister before she slowly rests her free hand on Eri's head, tapping it so she looks up at her. When Eri does so, Kemuri nods her head, knowing that if she didn't play, Eri wouldn't want to either. Eri smiles happily and points to the game behind them. "Can we play that one??" She asks as she lets go of her sister's legs.
Ashido answers her question, knowing that Kemuri wouldn't be able to, "Of course! You can play any game you want!" A smile was plastered on her face as she looked over to Kemuri, making sure she was okay with this as well, to which Kemuri responded with a small nod. Although they are small gestures, Ashido and Kirishima are doing their best to make sure Kemuri feels as safe as Eri does.
Ashido puts a hand on Eri's back, leading her to run towards the game when she sees the rest of the class also going over to it.
Kemuri quietly sighs as she stops leaning on her crutch, getting ready to start walking again. Kirishima notices this and looks toward her, "Does it hurt to walk? We can go sit if you'd like?"
Kemuri responds without looking at him, shaking her head. 'Just tiring. I haven't walked this much before.' Although he did not know what she thought exactly, he pieced the parts together and nodded.
The two began walking towards the rest of the class, Kirishima making sure to adjust his speed to still be next to Kemuri and even remembering to keep some distance between them.
"Kiri come here! You try it!" Kaminari yelled out, waving his friend over. Kirishima gives Kemuri a quick smile and runs over to his friend. The game was one where cans were stacked on top of one another and you were given a bean bag to throw at them. The prizes varied from a bag of candy to soft plush toys, depending on how many cups you dropped. If you dropped all 6 on your first try, you get a large prize, if you knock them all down after your second try, you get a medium prize, if you don't drop them all down after both tries, you get a small prize.
Kemuri slowly made her way to the group, staying towards the corner of the booth and watching as Eri got ready to throw the small bean bag in her hand.
As she threw the bean bag, she hit the base of the cans, but due to the small amount of force, she got down half of the cans on her first try. Kemuri softly smiled at her sister's small pout before it was changed to a determined look, wanting to get a plushy toy key chain. On her second throw, she was able to knock down the remaining cans. With a happy cheer, Eri called out to Kemuri to help her, "Kemuri! Which one should I pick?"
Kemuri made her way over to her little sister as she looked at the assortment of keychains she could pick:
After some thinking and debating if Eri should get the black cat keychain or the white cat keychain, Kemuri pointed to the plushy cat at the top left. It had white fluffy fur and bright blue eyes. Eri giggled as the worker placed the keychain in front of Eri. Kemuri moved Eri away from the front of the booth to give the other people a chance to play.
"Kemuri? Where do I put it? I don't want it to get ruined.." Eri asked, delicately holding the plush in her hand. Kemuri thought for a second before she held out her hand. Eri placed it in her hand as Kemuri placed the crutch down on the floor next to her, out of the way. She slowly crouched down, ignoring the sore feeling in her body. She played with the clip of the keychain, trying to figure out how to open it. When she finally got it, she held onto the small bag Eri had with her. She gently clipped the keychain onto her bag, moving her hand away when she was done, and pointing to it so Eri could see it.
"Woah! Thank you, Kemuri, it's so cute!" Eri giggled, playing with the cat that was now on her bag. She placed her bag back to her side and hugged Kemuri tightly, which she reciprocated, having a small smile on her face. Kemuri was the first to pull away, patting Eri's head as she backed away. She grabbed her crutch and used it to help her get up. Eri happily just played with the cat plushy on her bag, being as gentle as if it were a real cat. After finally getting up comfortably, Kemuri leaned her body weight on her crutch, watching Eri play with her new keychain.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Kemuri quickly looked forward, where she saw Kirishima walking up to the two of them. "Hey Kemuri, hey Eri! Did you have fun playing the game?" He asked Eri with a bright smile.
Eri nodded her head and showed off the keychain that was now connected to her bag. "Mhm! I got a kitty keychain! Kemuri helped me pick it!"
Kirishima let out a small laugh, "Woah! What a coincidence!" With both the girls looking at him confused, he pulled out another cat keychain, the black cat that Kemuri was debating on picking. "They're almost complete opposites aren't they?"
"I think they match!" Eri blurts out happily, looking up to Kemuri, checking if she agrees. When she sees Kemuri give her a small nod, Eri looks back at Kirishima and nods, copying her older sister.
Kirishima laughed at the two. "Hm, well if that's the case," he pauses before looking over to Kemuri, holding out the keychain in his hand, "I think you should have this!"
Kemuri looked at him surprised, switching her view back and forth between the keychain and Kirishima.
"I think you should match with Eri, they remind me of the two of you!" He says, a smile spreading across his face.
'Complete opposites..but they match...I guess it is like me and Eri.' Kemuri slowly held out her hand, letting Kirishima drop the cat into her hand as he put his hands back to his side. Eri giggles happily, cheering that they match.
Kemuri has a small smile behind her mask as she loops the keychain onto one of her pants' pockets'. 'Guess Kirishima isn't too bad...' She thought to herself as Eri hugged her leg, placing her hand on Eri's head.