Chapter 11
Kazuki could barely sleep that night.
For once, that wasn't a bad thing, however. Instead of being kept up by his empathy feeding him emotions that kept his brain from drifting off, he was kept up by the giddy realization that he'd acted like a hero. He was still riding that high even the day after. He'd fallen asleep late and he'd woken up awfully early, but that was fine.
Being so… proud and happy was a new experience for Kazuki and he could safely say that he wouldn't mind if it stuck around. It wasn't going to happen, he knew, the foreign negative emotions that never left him well enough alone were already bringing his mood down little by little. However, he could very much enjoy the feeling while it lasted. He wasn't even affected by the kid that was very much intimidated and frightened by his looks as he walked by.
He wasn't sure anything could ruin his day anymore, all things considered. That might have been tempting Murphy, but Kazuki didn't even care all that much. If something bad happened, well, at least he'd enjoyed a good moment. Better than it happening when he was his usual "cheerful" self, he supposed.
With all that happiness though, came a fairly big amount of motivation.
Hence why, as soon as he arrived at the classroom, he sat down and pulled out a few books and a notebook. He was the first one there again, Kazuki noticed, which was a little surprising. There hadn't been any press outside to slow things down, after all. Then again, he'd arrived awfully early considering his messed up sleep schedule of the day.
After noticing that detail, however, he focused back on the task at hand. It wasn't homework or studying that he was working on though, or at least not directly. He guessed it could count as studying heroics, indirectly if nothing else. He did use the book for that class for it, after all.
What he was doing was research and theory work for future Grimm, however.
There was the crowd control project he had thought of a while back, which he had several ideas for. One of those had been of a bird, basing it off the Nevermore but focusing on the cries/singing of the animal group. However, reading through it, he didn't think it'd work quite as well as he imagined. His creatures still needed to breathe – even if that was a little weird, considering they were just constructs –, and having a continuous cry while flying wouldn't quite work out for that creation. It could still work if he had to stop before doing its thing but he'd put a pin on that.
Another thing he had in mind was using one of his other Grimm as a foundation instead. Like how he'd used the Beowolf to work off towards the Boarbatusk. Sure, they weren't much alike, but it was certainly closer than what the Imp or the Nevermore were and it was better to have a base and modify it from there than to try to work off something from the very beginning.
The question now was which of them to use. If he were honest though, Kazuki was partial to using the Imp. The Beowolf had already been used to work out the Boarbatusk, after all, so he felt like it would only be fair to allow another of his creations to have its moment to shine… It was a stupid reason, he knew. It wasn't logical or practical at all, but it was how he felt.
With that in mind, Kazuki imagined how to modify the Imp into what he needed. For one, he'd probably need bigger lungs. It wasn't supposed to be a fighter or anything like that, so maybe he could cut some corners and give it weaker limbs or something like that? Granted, he didn't really need to do that, so long as he had enough negativity at hand he could make whatever without having to worry about saving energy or anything like that.
However, he didn't like the idea that maybe one day he might be short on resources to make it. It could happen one day. Maintaining his Grimm out and about cost him energy. Forming them again and again when they were destroyed cost him energy and time. If he needed to make a particularly big Grimm for one reason or another, it cost him extra energy too.
He couldn't go around thinking he'd always have excess resources, not when he'd never quite pushed his power to the limits. Call him paranoid, but he didn't want to find himself out of juice when battling villains or when there were lives on the line. He already carried enough guilt with him to add more on top of that.
He was only making the new Grimm for one purpose only, crowd control. Everything else was pretty much unnecessary. Even then, Kazuki didn't want to completely leave it bereft of limbs, for example. So, he just planned to make them weaker. Barely able to walk, barely able to use its hands, but still better than nothing. One never knew, maybe he'd need that at some point. Dismissing the Grimm and making another was a bit of a hassle that might be better to do without at certain times.
'I think this is simple enough,' he mused with a frown, looking over his notes. He'd had to read up on biology a bunch to make sure he had the right information and "blueprints" as it were. He'd probably try and see if he could make that work during training that afternoon, unless his friends felt especially lazy and wanted to skip it for the day.
He wouldn't blame them, considering how miserable they'd felt the previous day. They were bound to feel even more sore that day. Then again, it wasn't like he could spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to make the new Grimm anyway. It wouldn't take him too much, so they could take the day to rest while he did that and then they could go out and do something else…
Kazuki smiled softly at his notebook, happy to know that he had friends. Actually friends that knew who he was and what he'd done and still wanted to hang around. He almost couldn't believe it, quite honestly.
'... Anyway,' he mused, closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly. He could ponder on those thoughts when he got bored during class or something. For the moment, he had stuff to work through.
With the crowd control Grimm somewhat decided, he could move on to a different project he'd come up with the previous day. After all, things would have been much easier if he could have had something to check on the situation inside the house better than just the vague feelings of his sense, right? Granted, he wasn't sure how… legal it was for him to peek into someone else's property, but he'd risk it if he was put in a situation like that.
… Maybe it'd be good to check with Aizawa or some other teacher though, just in case.
It didn't mean he couldn't work on the Grimm though.
That is, before the sound of someone clearing their throat made him jump where he sat. Looking up with wide eyes, he was met with the slightly uneasy expression on Yaoyorozu's face. The girl looked down and to the side, rubbing her arm with the opposite hand.
"Ah, sorry if I scared you, I just… Well, I got here and there was nobody else so…" she mumbled, seeming unsure of where she even wanted to go with her words. Kazuki focused on his senses, but all he got was nervousness, really. That and maybe a hint of loneliness. "Do you, um, need any help with that?"
Kazuki blinked at that, looking down at his stuff and then back at the girl.
"Uh… You know a lot about biology?" he asked, unsure. He didn't want to outright tell her no, after all. Yaoyorozu had decided to give him a chance, probably against her better judgment. So… He wanted to be nice, at least a little bit.
"Biology?" Yaoyorozu asked, this time being her turn to blink at him. "I thought you were working on heroics," she added, pointing at the book for that class before taking a good look at the others on his desk. "What's one to do with the other?"
"Uh, I think my creature creation works better if I have somewhat of an idea of what I'm doing. I don't need details, but the more I know the easier it is. And since I'm trying to work out other Grimm to add to the ones I have, I work through it with biology stuff," Kazuki explained. "And I got the heroics book too, in case it gives me ideas for stuff I might be able to cover with a Grimm."
"I see… So it's different from my Quirk," she said, biting her thumbnail thoughtfully. "I need to know exactly what I make, but then again, I think yours is less actual creation and just making vague constructs, somewhat abstract ones like Dark Shadow, right? That's what I'm guessing, at least. Interesting."
Distracted from his work, Kazuki leaned back.
"I'll admit I'm more knowledgeable in other topics, mainly ones more related to what I can do with my Quirk. Unfortunately, that sort of excludes living beings. I can make some organic matters, like wood and others, but actual, living things are out of the scope of my Quirk," she explained to him, sort of reminding him of how she'd spoken after the Battle Trials.
"That's fine, thanks for offering anyway," he replied with a half-smile as he looked towards his books. Then, as if just realizing, he checked the time on his phone. Fortunately, he had enough time to try and research some more for other Grimm projects. He probably wouldn't get very far, but that was fine. He just needed to make some progress and then continue back home. He seemed to have at least one somewhat figured out so he could try during training, which was good enough for the day.
"I mean, maybe I can help. It might not be my focus, but I pride myself in my intelligence," Yaoyorozu said, and Kazuki was slightly surprised by how… Not eager, but determined she sounded. "As class representatives, we should have a good relationship with each other, shouldn't we? I think helping each other could be a good first step."
"I don't think that's how it works," he replied with a wry smile. "But I appreciate all the help I can get," he added when he felt a spike of nervousness and sadness from her. "Also… You don't mind, that I'm the vice-president?" he asked, now being his turn to be apprehensive.
"I'm… not sure how I feel about that," she told him honestly, hesitating for a moment. "However, the teachers haven't said anything and I've got to admit that you did a good job regarding the incident with the press… Even if you could have done so without the crude language."
"Did I ever tell you what my Quirk does?" he asked then, drawing another blink from the girl. He honestly didn't remember if he had told Yaoyorozu. He had better stuff to keep track of than that, he felt. "Besides the creature creation? I can sense negative emotions around me. They fill me as if I was feeling them myself. It's what I use to fuel my Grimm creation," he explained for what felt like the hundredth time. Maybe he could make a card explaining that or something. It was an amusing thought, if nothing else.
"I… see, I… Yes, you had mentioned it. I seem to have forgotten that, however. I apologize," Yaoyorozu replied slowly, and he felt her uncertainty grow. Then it changed into something else that Kazuki hated. Pity. Of all things, he was sure he hated pity more than he hated being feared or any of that. "That… explains some things," she added.
"Yeah. It does," he commented, sitting straight once more and looking down at his notes. He was pretty sure that conversation was done and she'd move on to other things. The sooner Kazuki could distract himself from her emotions, the better.
'Ok, so, the idea is something that can help me take a look around places. Feeling through Grimm is weird, but maybe I can make something specifically so that it's not weird…'he mused. Maybe an owl or something like that? It didn't quite feel right, but it'd make sense for something that was supposed to be a separate pair of eyes for him. Maybe he could come up with something that felt better. Gut feelings usually worked when it came to his power.
"So, um," Yaoyorozu said, breaking him from his newly recovered focus. "Do you want some help or not? You never… Answered," she asked, already having placed a chair next to his desk. Where she sat, she fidgeted with her hands on her lap, not quite meeting Kazuki's gaze.
"I mean…" he started, before trailing off. She was already sitting there, so it'd be kinda rude to ask her to go away, right? Sure, he'd have to put up with her emotions, and all that but… She was giving him a chance. She deserved one in turn, right? "Sure."
He smiled lightly as the girl beamed at him for a moment. Her bad emotions all but vanished from his sense, which was nice. They weren't completely gone, but they were almost nothing. Very easily ignored, that was for sure, which was all Kazuki cared about most times.
Then she cleared her throat and schooled her features.
"So, what were you working on?" she asked, looking at the books on his desk as if they were going to give her a clue. Kazuki nodded then, trying to grasp at the train of thought he'd had before.
"So, what I wanted is some kind of scout…" he started.
[}-o-{]
Things hadn't gotten better.
That's what Kazuki learned once classes actually started. Yaoyorozu and him had almost messed up by getting too caught up in their little conversation regarding his possible Grimm building. She hadn't known a whole lot regarding biology, but she was certainly creative with her ideas. He guessed it made sense, considering her Quirk.
Fortunately for them, Hagakure had arrived just in time to save their skins and remind them that, indeed, there were classes to be had. Wouldn't have made a very good impression if the class president and vice-president were too caught up on other stuff right as classes were supposed to start. As it was, Kazuki barely had enough time to put everything back in his bag.
The real problem came with classes and having his focus broken. That meant he had a front row seat to feel Ashido's apprehension and Kirishima's discomfort. The fact that the latter was sitting right next to him certainly wasn't helping matters either. It was a nightmare, quite honestly. 'I knew this was gonna happen. I need to focus on something else,'he told himself, glaring at his notebook, at the blackboard, at the teacher. Everything else was much more important than sensing how those two were feel-
'Fucking hell,' he thought to himself, closing his eyes and grimacing.
Why was it so hard, all of a sudden? Kazuki had years upon years of experience ignoring other people's feelings. He had more than enough practice on how to keep himself distracted from his senses. He shouldn't be having so much difficulty ignoring two people. Hell, they weren't even close to some of the things he'd sensed in the past and he'd ignored those too.
So, why?
He sighed quietly before resigning himself. Even if he couldn't keep those two out of his mind, Kazuki couldn't let this already start ruining his studies. Classes had barely started, but that didn't mean he could just slack off. He needed to do well in class.
So, he stopped trying to push Ashido and Kirishima out of his mind. Instead, he let them be, he let the emotions wash over him. So what if he felt shitty? That was nothing new to him. He could do his thing in class while dealing with that, he could. 'Don't ignore it, just go on,' he told himself.
'And the day had started so fucking well,' he thought to himself wryly. Funnily enough, that was what improved his mood a little. After all, it reminded him of how happy he'd been at the start of the day, how motivated he was, how enthusiastic he was. More importantly, it reminded him of why that was.
He could be a hero.
He had been a hero.
Maybe not everything was going well for Kazuki, but overall… Things were going much better than he'd ever hoped they would, before and after Nezu's offer. So what if he'd come across a few setbacks and some things had crumbled down in his hands? Not everything was lost and there were good things to think about too.
So what if Ashido seemed to be afraid of him now? Mineta had stuck to him like one of his Quirk's spheres. So what if Kirishima seemed to want to be anywhere but next to him? Hagakure seemed to be perfectly fine with him.
Besides all that, he was at U.A. to be a hero first. Having friends would be good and all, but that wasn't why he was there. He was there to study, to learn, to practice and get better. He was there to be a hero, to be the one to help people like he'd always wanted someone to help him.
With his determination returned, Kazuki powered through and did his best to focus on his classes. Sure, it was a struggle and it sucked, but he could manage it. He had to manage it. Failure wasn't an option. He would succeed, because he wanted to and because he could succeed.
Nothing else mattered.
[}-o-{]
Lunch break was upon them and Kazuki had told Tiny and Bubbly to go ahead while he gathered a few books and a notebook. He wanted to get some more work done while he was motivated. He was pretty sure the energy that was now flooding him after the events of the previous day would leave him soon enough. Better to make the most of it while he still had it, after all.
Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't work on stuff and also chat with his friends, right? At least he could try. Besides, who knew, maybe the others would have some insight or say just the right thing to inspire him. All could happen in the world if he could find friends as nice as the ones he did.
"Creepy!" someone called and his good mood was dashed instantly. Stopping where he was in the middle of the corridor, he took a deep breath in and let his shoulders drop. Then, turning around, he faced Kirishima and all his discomfort. If Kazuki made him so uncomfortable he should just have kept avoiding him, for fuck's sake.
"Can I help you, Kirishima?" he asked, already wanting to be done with the conversation, even if it hadn't actually started. At his words, the redhead winced and he felt a pang of hurt. Kazuki couldn't bring himself to care too much. He'd hurt more than that because of the whole mess.
"I just…" Kirishima started before stopping and visibly struggling to find the words to say whatever it was he wanted to. Frustration was added to the teenager's emotions on his sense, but eventually he sighed. "I know it probably doesn't mean much, but I wanted to explain… what I can, at least."
"I'm all ears," Kazuki said flatly.
"I… don't know the whole story," Kirishima mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just know that something about your… case caught her attention, Mina's, and not in a good way. She's not…!" he added quickly before pausing. "She's not afraid of you or anything, I don't think. Pinky… Mina's not like that," he corrected, replacing the nickname with a somewhat saddened expression. "I don't blame you for what happened, Endo, and I don't think Mina does either. But… I have to stick with Mina. We've been friends since forever so… I just wanted to… Well, let you know that."
Kazuki, for his part, stared at the boy for a long moment.
Then he snorted weakly.
"Doesn't change much for me, does it?" he asked despondently. "I still lost two friends because of what I did, regardless," he added. "Don't worry about it, man. This is no surprise for me. I kinda expected things to go about this "well", I'd say. At least there's still Mineta and Hagakure. All in all, I surpassed my own wildest hopes," he said with a weary smile. "I don't hold this against you, Kirishima. I don't even hold it against Ashido… See you in class."
With that, Kazuki turned and continued walking towards the lunch hall. He could feel Kirishima staying where he'd been standing, feeling increasingly worse. It sucked, and he didn't understand but… That was life. He just needed to keep going, focus on the good, ignore the bad and do as best he could.
So, doing his best to push all that interaction and everything that was related to it aside, Kazuki continued walking towards the lunch hall. Once there, he'd distract himself with something, be it his Grimm projects, or his friends. Hell, he'd even take being distracted with a bunch of stranger's shitty emotions at that point. He was thatdesperate to get away from the bitter thoughts in his head.
Once he reached his destination though and picked up his meal, he blinked as he found Mineta and Hagakure sitting on a table. Now, that was perfectly fine, of course. However, the strange part was the other person that was sitting with them. Walking slowly, he finally took a seat next to his more vertically challenged friend.
"Sorry for the delay, guys," he said, sensing the third person at the table feeling increasingly nervous as they picked at their food. "I got held up for a bit," he added, finally relaxing a little now that he could at least sit down. "It seems I missed something."
"Yeah, Yaoyorozu asked to sit with us today," Mineta said, looking like this was the happiest day of his life. "Can you believe it?"
"Somehow, you seem too happy, man, it's kinda creepy," Kazuki mumbled, bringing some food to his mouth as he considered the shorter boy. "And that's saying something coming from me."
"Should have seen him before then, he was worse," Hagakure pointed out, giggling. "We also already decided a nickname for Yaoyorozu," the girl announced and Kazuki wasn't feeling too confident about that considering the embarrassment he felt coming from Yaoyorozu. "She's Hotty."
He blinked.
Then he turned to Mineta and fixed him with an unimpressed expression.
"Hey, it wasn't me. It was Bubbly!" the boy protested, pointing towards the invisible girl. To that, Kazuki sent a baffled expression towards the apparent actual culprit.
"What? It fits!" she defended herself, before starting to giggle.
"... I mean, you are not wrong, but still…" he muttered before sighing before turning to the class president, who looked and felt pretty out of place and uncomfortable. She also seemed to be very embarrassed and getting worse, if the increasingly red cheeks were any indication. "We can come up with some other nickname for you, if you want. I'm guessing you know theirs and mine is Creepy, in case they didn't tell you."
"They did," Yaoyorozu replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "And I don't mind the nickname," she added then, although Kazuki wasn't too sure how true that was, considering her emotions. Still, if she wasn't going to argue against it…
"Just, don't feel like you have to put up with it if you don't like it. We had to discuss Bubbly's nickname for a bit, for example," he said, pointing towards the aforementioned invisible girl. "Doesn't Beauty at least sound more… respectful?"
"Eh, it works too," Hagakure agreed, giggling. "Might help discourage Tiny here from being dumb too, I guess."
"Hey!" Mineta protested.
"Either way, welcome to our group, I guess," Kazuki said, turning his attention back to Yaoyorozu. "Can't promise we won't be a bunch of weirdos."
"Hey, speak for yourself, mister!" Hagakure told him, pointing a finger at him… Or so he guessed.
Judging by Yaoyorozu's small smile though, it seemed that she wouldn't have a problem with them.
Chapter 12
All Might wasn't getting better and Kazuki knew it. He could feel the man walking around in just as much pain as he'd been before. 'Why hasn't Recovery Girl healed him or something?' he wondered as he walked through the corridors of U.A. If the Number One hero was intent on staying like that for whatever reason, then Kazuki had half a mind to go and ask him what the fuck was going on. That shit was difficult to ignore by itself, nevermind having a whole lot of other things coming his way too. Going through his days with All Might's presence like that was going to be hard, he could already tell…
But then again, this was the Number One hero so… Kazuki didn't know if it'd be a good idea to actually go and ask. There was probably a reason for that and if he was hiding it then… Yeah, maybe it was better to stay put.
'God, it's fucking awful though,' he mused with a grimace before they finally made it to the school gym and training grounds. As they did so though, he grimaced. There was Kirishima already working on some machines and there was a guy that looked remarkably like him working out too.
"I'll go straight to work with my Quirk," he commented, starting to move before his companions answered.
"I'll go too," Mineta called from behind him, starting a little jog to catch up and walk beside Kazuki. "Don't feel like working out just yet either," the short guy commented casually. Behind them, Hagakure and Yaoyorozu called that they would be on the treadmills for a bit, to which both boys waved and gave their own affirmations.
"You know you can be friends with them, right?" Kazuki commented, drawing a wry grin from Mineta.
"I know, but… I don't get why they are doing what they do, so I prefer to stay away from them too," the shorter boy answered with a shrug. "Honestly, it's dumb. You were a kid, everyone messes up with their Quirks as kids. It's just that I've got a bunch of embarrassing stories and you… Well, that…" he muttered, waving vaguely and awkwardly towards Kazuki.
"I guess…" the white-haired teenager replied, looking forward. "Most people don't see it that way," he added, looking around.
There were other people training all over the place now, it seemed. Certainly more people around than the previous day, which he guessed made sense. Not only were they a little further into the school year, but the previous day had been a bit of a mess with the press thing and such. Kazuki and his friends couldn't be the only ones to decide that training was a good idea when they were going to have to fight for their lives and others' in the future, after all.
Fortunately, there was enough space on the Quirk training grounds though.
"Yeah, well, most people are idiots anyway," Mineta commented, making Kazuki snort. "What? It's true… So," he started then, as they reached one of the emptier spots in the area. The closest student to where they were was a girl that seemed to be manipulating small objects around her and moving them around with hand gestures. "What are you gonna work with first?"
"Well, I have a new Grimm I wanna try making. Somehow, I doubt it'll be as easy as the Boarbatusk, but I have time," Kazuki mused. Closing his eyes for a moment, he noticed that there were plenty of people around to fuel his attempts this time. For one, All Might was still in the building, and that was plenty enough pain to work with. On top of that, the people training were feeling the exhaustion and pain of the exercises, on top of some frustration sometimes. And further away there were also some people that he could feel. "At least I have more negativity to work with… shitty as that is to say."
"Hm, well, I think I'll work on that thing I told you, about bouncing on Pop Off to move around. Just… don't laugh when I fall on my face and stuff, yeah?" Mineta asked, and judging by the emotions rolling off of him, he didn't actually mean it as a joke as much as he made it sound. He was seriously apprehensive and nervous. It took Kazuki off guard a little, that was about as high as his friend's negative emotions had ever gotten.
"I won't," he replied seriously. It didn't seem like a good time to make a joke then and there, really. His response seemed to catch Mineta off guard, if his widened eyes were any indication. Then they narrowed at him and his face colored a little as he felt a wave of embarrassment.
Evidently, Mineta had realized that Kazuki picked up on what he'd tried to keep hidden before. He didn't say anything though, no complaints about minding his own business nor accusations. He just gave a slight nod and moved a little away before starting setting up some of his Pop Off spheres.
Kazuki looked at him for a moment before turning and seeing Hagakure and Yaoyorozu already jogging on top of the machines on the other side of the training facility. 'Time to get to work myself, I guess,' he mused, rolling his shoulders. Focusing on the empty space in front of him, he delved into his own self, diving for the reserve of negativity once more.
Thus started the process of trying to shape his new Grimm.
Just like with the Boarbatusk, and really any of his current creature selection, it was a matter of failing and trying once more. The thing would, at the start, come up entirely too similar to the Imp. Which wouldn't be bad in itself, but the Imps were too thin, their lungs too weak, to really follow through with the purpose of the new Grimm he wanted.
So, he started shaping once more, taking away the energy from the limbs of the creature and sending it to its chest. It was… complicated, especially because his mind seemed to go on reflex to do the same thing it always did by forming an Imp. Slowly though, try after try, he managed to make progress in the right direction. First came the thinner, weaker limbs, then the bigger torso housing the larger lungs. The horns of the Imp were taken away too at some point he didn't even notice, but it was likely when he'd been pulling energy from the limbs.
Eventually, the nightmare come to life was ready, more or less as Kazuki had envisioned. As he looked at the thing, he wondered not for the first time why they all needed to look so… So fucking frightening. What he wouldn't give to make something cute or friendly, but his power just didn't like that. He'd already tried when he'd made the Beowolves. After all, those had come from his attempts to make a nice dog and… Well, he hadn't quite succeeded, obviously.
'I guess making them with negative emotions influences how they turn out,' he mused to himself, walking around the new creature, inspecting it to see if he'd missed any mistake. Seeing as it didn't seem to be the case, he looked around at other students. Apparently, he'd spent more time than he'd thought, because he could see Mineta, Hagakure and Yaoyorozu on the sparring rings.
Kazuki blinked.
'Huh, interesting,' he mused. There were few people in the training facility now, it seemed. The girl that was moving stuff around before was now on the machines. Kirishima and the guy that looked similar to him were still working out. There was a guy that reminded Kazuki of a praying mantis practicing hits against a punching bag too. Other than them, there were a handful of other students but they didn't really catch his attention.
With the place mostly empty, he decided to give the new creation a test run. After all, it could look fine, but it needed to do the one task it was made for right, otherwise it'd be back to working on it. Kazuki really hoped it would work, because if not it'd be difficult to know when he was doing things right or not if there was no visual cue for it.
With a deep breath in, he mentally commanded the thing.
Instantly, the vaguely humanoid thing opened its mouth and let out a wailing sound that shook him a little. It was loud, for sure, but it wasn't quite what he was going for. It was louder than the Beowolves, for sure, but… It wasn't enough, he thought. It was for crowd control and as it was, it wouldn't do much of that in a panicking crowd bigger than the one from the previous day.
Clicking his tongue, he considered what to do. The creation had worked, he knew. Maybe he could make changes for it to have even bigger lungs and so on, but… That didn't feel right and besides, it would require more energy and-
"Did you throw Bakugo's anger into that? That was one loud shout," he heard, making him blink and turn towards Mineta and the girls.
"Maybe Midoriya's nerves or fear? It didn't feel angry enough to be Bakugo," Hagakure pointed out. Next to them, Yaoyorozu stood awkwardly, likely not wanting to insult their classmates. She was nice like that, Kazuki supposed.
"It's not like that," he replied to his friends with a wry smile before regarding the Grimm for a long moment. "It doesn't work like that, really. I just take every… thing…" he started saying before trailing off. "I usually pull from everything," he said then, frowning and staring intently at the Grimm. "But I've never tried to use specific emotions before…"
Instantly, he dismissed the creature and closed his eyes. There was plenty of energy in him still, considering he had plenty to recharge with around before. Not so much then but oh well, maybe he could pull it off with what he had. Checking the pool, he tried to see if there was any way to differentiate between emotions. At first sight, and as far as he knew, it was all mixed into one thing but… looking carefully, looking deeper, he saw something different.
It was very small, but it was noticeable, like the stars in the night sky. He tried to see what that was about, but he couldn't quite make out the details in the sea of negativity. He looked, and looked some more, as if that would force the strange feeling of it all to make sense. What was that?
"Creepy?" someone called, making him open his eyes and blink "You okay, man?" Mineta asked, looking at him curiously. "You just closed your eyes and stood there doing nothing for like, ten minutes."
"Six minutes," Yaoyorozu corrected, making both boys and Hagakure turn towards her. "I just… uh, checked," she mumbled, looking away as her cheeks turned red and Kazuki felt embarrassment coming from her.
"I just… Had never tried to use specific feelings for my Grimm," he told them, running his fingers through his hair. "I thought maybe that could maybe do something I didn't know about happen but… Well, I'll have to look into it. I tried to look into the negativity I have but it was… weird."
"Hm," Hagakure hummed, taking some skipping steps towards him and around. "Using your Quirk in a different way, huh? As if you needed to become more unfair, Creepy."
"I know, right?" Mineta asked, with a despairing expression. Although, Kazuki did feel the envy that came from him. Maybe he'd have to talk with the guy. He wasn't liking the picture that was forming in his head much.
"I just… never really tried to learn how to use my Quirk much," he admitted, bringing a hand up to massage the back of his neck. "Didn't have many chances either but also… Well, I didn't like using my Quirk either. I just trained myself to ignore it, mostly. Now… I guess I'm sort of starting from scratch, really," he said, looking at his Grimm, which was still around.
He was reluctant to name it just yet. It wasn't finished. It didn't feel finished. His Grimm always sort of… clicked at some point, where he'd know he got what he was looking for. Even if his Beowolf and Imp had ended up being completely different from what he was trying to make, they'd still felt finished when he got them, like puzzle pieces finally falling into place.
"Hey," someone called, making Kazuki and his group of friends turn to the side. There was the guy from before, the praying mantis boy that had been practicing combat. "Can that thing fight?"
"Yeah? Not very well, but it can. Why?" Kazuki replied, blinking.
"I want to fight someone but my Quirk is sort of… dangerous. But I saw you making that thing from nothing, so I thought it might be okay to fight it," the guy said bluntly, somewhat annoyed too. Kazuki could feel his temper raising for some reason.
"Huh, I mean-"
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself?" Yaoyorozu asked, feeling both slightly nervous and irritated, from what Kazuki could pick up.
"Right, Togaru Kamakiri," the boy said, nodding towards them. There was a round of introductions then that only served to make his already bad mood worse, apparently. "So, about that fight?" he asked, now much more curt.
"I mean, you can, but," Kazuki started, before pausing for a second and then grinning. "I can do you one better, give me a second," he said, before making the project Grimm disappear and then starting to make a new one. A Beowolf, to be exact, was the one to next appear from his shadow. "Better, right?"
"Oh, you have no idea," Kamakiri replied, his temper cooling down as he grinned just as widely as Kazuki. This would be great practice for fighting with his Grimm, he knew and besides… His shadow extended once more and a Boarbatusk took form. "It gets better and better, huh?" the boy commented, sounding positively ecstatic, even laughing as a new Beowolf appeared next. "How many can you make?" he asked.
"Just the three, so that's about it. Besides, I just want to try that one a bit," Kazuki replied, pointing at the Boarbatusk. "And if it's too much for you, that's fine. If it's not enough… Well, I'll just need to train more."
"I think we are gonna be great friends, Endo," Kamakiri said, laughing once more as blades extended from his arms and he took a stance. A second later, the first Beowolf rushed towards him. And so, the spar had begun.
"So… he's Edgy, right?" Hagakure asked, sounding like she was holding back her own laughter.
"Definitely," Kazuki agreed with a chuckle.
[}-o-{]
Later that day, back in his apartment, Kazuki sat on the floor with his legs crossed. He was once more focusing his mind on delving inside his reserves of negativity. It was an unpleasant feeling, to have that wash over, around and inside his mind, but he wanted to know what the fuck those small things he could feel in there were. They had to be something, right?
So, he kept looking for a way to get answers. He was blindly moving his arms around a room, trying to find his way. He felt like he was trying to listen for something and he didn't know if it was just his imagination or if there was actually something there. It was frustrating, but he kept going.
Kazuki didn't know how long he'd spent doing that by the time he made any kind of progress. For the faintest, shortest moment, he seemed to manage to touch on one of those many spots in his reserves. Instantly, he felt pain, sharp and through his whole body.
Twitching, he took a deep breath in, as soon as he'd moved, as soon as he'd pulled away… the pain had disappeared. Only a single moment, less than a second, of pain, that's all it had been. 'Now, that was unpleasant,' he thought, breathing slowly to calm himself down.
Unpleasant but progress in the end. Kazuki was sure that those little things were exactly what he'd been looking for before. Specific emotions floating around in the sea of negativity that formed inside him. 'So, if I want to try to use a specific feeling, I need to learn how to do this without torturing myself,' he mused, sighing.
'Nothing about my power can be nice, can it?' he thought wryly as he stood up and stretched a little. God, he needed something to calm himself down and relax. 'Time for a cup of tea and maybe play a bit of that gacha game…' he decided walking towards the kitchen.
As he did that though, he did his best to take in emotions coming his way to improve his sensing. He was doing his best to stop just ignoring them as best he could, at least outside of school. He kinda needed to in order to really be able to pay attention to classes and such. Same back home when he had to do homework. He'd have liked to dedicate more time to that but…
'Little by little, Kazuki,' he reminded himself. Things were just getting started, he didn't need to rush things. Hell, he was still in his first week of school. There was no need to already push himself too hard. And still… he felt like he had to. Otherwise, it was like he was throwing away opportunities, wasting his one chance to do something with his life. His one chance of doing anything at all ever since he was-
He sighed.
'Calm down,' he told himself. He had years to improve and train and generally get better at all things hero. He just needed to take it easy and take one step at a time. He only had so much time in his day and… Well, maybe he could have some more if he didn't hang out with his friends after school, of course.
Maybe it was selfish of him, but he didn't want to do that. It was nice, to feel like a normal teenager for once in his life. It was great to know that he had friends, for the first time, and they even knew who he was. So, he would enjoy it as much as he could without hurting his chances to succeed in his path.
With what felt like the hundredth sigh that day, he looked around his apartment. 'Wow, this is fucking depressing,'Kazuki thought. He hadn't cared much about how empty and plain his place was before. He'd been too preoccupied with the Entrance Exam and then his first few days at U.A. Now that things seemed to be settling though…
Well, it was a little – a lot – sad to see his place so… So hollow.
'I need to add stuff here, make this place look less like… this,' he thought. He didn't have many ideas though. Maybe he could set up some training equipment but that didn't sound like it'd be a great improvement on what he already had and he was likely to just use the gear at school. Some shelves for books would be nice but… Not really all that good either to make the place feel better.
The game he was playing on his phone courtesy of Mineta might have some merchandise, he supposed, but that didn't feel right either. Something else, maybe? But what? There wasn't anything that he liked all that much but maybe he could put some things together. He'd have to talk with his friends, maybe they'd have ideas…
He was thinking about asking for advice to decorate his place.
'God, I'm pathetic,' he groaned, letting his head fall forehead first on the table. And yet, what else could he do? He didn't even know what normal people put around their place, what would be weird and what wouldn't? 'I just want this place to have a little more life… Huh, that could be good. Maybe some plants?' he wondered, looking around. He could set up some near the window, right? Something colorful, with flowers, but not too much though, normal plants could do too…
'Yeah, I like the sound of that,' he mused, a slight smile on his face.
He jumped a little when his phone vibrated in his hands as a message arrived. He didn't think he'd gotten many of those without it being a reply from one of his minders, really. Checking what that was about, he blinked.
Apparently, he'd been added to a group with Mineta, Hagakure and Yaoyorozu by the invisible girl herself.
"I can't get this song out of my head, help!" the girl announced immediately afterwards, making him blink again. The message was followed by a link to a video that he imagined was the song in question. Clicking it, he listened to the music, nodding along with the tune. 'Yeah, that's catchy,' he mused, now understanding the problem.
Looking at the video though, he wondered when had been the last time he'd listened to music for himself instead of just it being there for some other reason. Had he everactively listened to music? Idly he started looking for stuff, going from song to song. With that in mind, he decided on a reply.
Before that though, he chuckled, seeing a message from Mineta cursing Hagakure for reminding him of the song. Yaoyorozu, for her part, seemed to… not know what to say, really.
"Speaking of, any song recommendations? Maybe that'll make you think of something else, Bubbly," Kazuki sent. His smile widened as a list started forming, with all three of his new friends jumping to that topic. "Thanks, guys," he sent them then, looking for a notebook to write down all the recommendations. He'd be going through them in his own time.
Which was good, because he didn't know how, but things had spiraled a little and the three had already gotten into a discussion regarding music genres, it seemed. Kazuki settled to hear some songs and just read as they argued. It wasn't like he had an opinion on that topic anyway.
So, he listened to music, he read his friends' conversation and he let his mind wander a little, following the strands of negativity that reached him. Somehow, it wasn't as bad as other times, he felt. He wasn't sure why that was the case, but he wasn't complaining, that was for sure. He'd take the win for once and let things be. It was a peaceful moment and he wanted to enjoy it.
A peaceful moment that didn't last.
He was maybe two songs in when he felt someone enter his range. 'All Might,' he recognized instantly. That man might just be the only one Kazuki could recognize instantly through his senses. That pain was very characteristic, after all. He groaned, rubbing his chest with one hand as the man moved.
It didn't take him long to figure out that the Number One hero was coming in his general direction. He'd admit to being nervous about that. The man hadn't said anything to him, really. He hadn't even shown anything through emotions that he could pick up, really. Had something slipped past him before? Was that it? But what, how-
The man was nervous, and that only confused Kazuki more than before. What could the Number One Hero be nervous about? Especially… Maybe he was going somewhere else? He had to be, right? Only, it didn't seem to be the case. The more time passed, the more it seemed like the man was coming straight to his place.
Kazuki looked to the side, as All Might got close enough that he had to be somewhere outside his apartment. Maybe he was going to visit one of his minders though? That had to be i-
Someone knocked on his door.
Gulping, he took a deep breath in and then moved to open the door.
"Yes?" he greeted hesitantly. "All… Might?" he added, blinking at the man outside. That was definitely the feeling of All Might's pain, he couldn't have been wrong. So… Who the fuck was this man? The guy looked like a skeleton with skin for God's sake!
"We have some things to talk about, Young Endo," All Mightsaid.
"What the fuck?"
Chapter 13
"I-Er, can I offer you something? I don't have much but… Er, I have coffee, pretty sure there was tea somewhere and, um, water?" Kazuki asked, unsure of what to do with All Might in his apartment. And that wasn't even taking into account whatever weird shit was going on with the man's body and the pain he was feeling.
"Water would be fine, Young Endo," the man said and Kazuki scrambled to get a pair of glasses and a pitcher with water that he had in the fridge. "You must have many questions," the hero commented when the younger man had already set everything on the table.
"That's an, er, an understatement, sir," he mumbled, unsure of what to do. Why was All Might at his place? Why was All Might at his place and looking like that? "Er, can I… like, get you something to eat? I think I have snacks somewhere in the cupboards."
"That's not necessary," the man said, looking about as unsure as Kazuki felt. That was a small reassurance, at least. Misery loved company, after all. He'd know. "As for your questions… I can't promise that I'll answer them, but I do have some things to talk about with you, Young Endo."
"That's alright," he muttered, not even sure if he really wanted answers. He was sure he'd have heard no end of news regarding All Might's situation if it were public knowledge. Which meant that he was actually being let in on a secret. A secret that was most definitely a big deal.
"I was informed that you are capable of sensing pain from others," All Might told him and he blinked. 'Oh… So that's why?' he wondered, grateful for the extra piece for the puzzle. "This, if not something you'd have learned about eventually, is something you'd have been curious about. I think it's fair that I save you the worries and possible reckless actions."
Did All Might think Kazuki would have looked into that? He'd likely have asked the man himself and gone along with whatever they said, even if it was an obvious lie. He was in no position to push his luck in any way, quite honestly.
"I don't think I can afford to be curious, or at least do something about it, sir," Kazuki told the man with a wry smile. That didn't seem to reassure the man any, if the sad smile he gave was any indication.
"Be that as it may," the hero replied then, making Kazuki grin bitterly. It spoke volumes that the man didn't try to deny his statement. "I thought it better to let you know that I sustained a very serious injury some years ago. I've never been able to recover from that, and thus… my current situation," All Might said, gesturing towards himself.
"So… I guess I'll have to get used to the pain, huh?" Kazuki mumbled, and it was getting increasingly more difficult to ignore the aforementioned feeling. Especially with how important it was to the conversation at hand and how closeAll Might was. To that, the hero sitting across the table from him grimaced.
"I'm sorry about that, Young Endo, but I can't do anything regarding this… issue," All Might told him, to which he grinned somewhat sadly and somewhat resigned, waving off the man's worries. He was the one that felt like he was dying all the time, Kazuki only got it when he was around, and probably not quite as badly. "As you can probably guess, my condition is a secret. I'd be very grateful if you were to keep this under wraps for me. It'd cause… quite a few problems if it became public knowledge."
"I understand. I won't say a word," he promised, feeling his chest start to rebel against him from pain that wasn't even his. Gulping down, to keep his stomach from emptying, he chuckled wearily. "Who'd believe a villain kid about such a thing anyway?" he asked bitterly.
"Aizawa informed me of what you did," All Might said, making him blink at the sudden change in subject. "I've met many villains in my life, Young Endo, and you are not one of them. You are a hero. Never let anyone tell you otherwise."
"I… Thank you, sir," he mumbled, his hands wrapped around the glass of water that he hadn't even sipped at just yet. All Might did though, which went to show who was the one most comfortable with the current situation. "That means a lot… Especially coming from you."
"... I know the world isn't a bright enough place for you to officially become one without trouble, Young Endo," All Might said then, making Kazuki's eyes open wide. "I have faith, however, that you'll push through all that and manage to go far in our career."
"That's a lot of trust you have in me," Kazuki mumbled, his eyes dropping to his still untouched glass of water. "Especially for someone that hasn't really… met me before now."
"Just because we haven't interacted directly doesn't mean I don't know you, Young Endo," the man commented, coughing a little in his mouth. Kazuki, for his part, grimaced at the spike of pain that shot through his chest. "I'm sorry," the hero apologized, clearly noticing the teenager's reaction. "Nezu has everyone keeping an eye on you, Young Endo."
"I'm sure," Kazuki replied with a sardonic smile.
"Not for the reasons you might expect, however," All Might continued, grinning slightly. "He has great expectations regarding you, Young Endo. With that in mind, he likes to know how you do in classes and even outside of them. It's… Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen him so interested in someone. Nor has any of the other teachers, from what I've heard."
"That's… nice to know?" Kazuki answered, unsure if that was really how he should be taking that. At least they weren't paranoid about him going on another… rampage, he supposed. 'Or maybe he's lying and they are doing that?' a voice whispered at the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside.
"... We are not your enemy, Young Endo," All Might told him, and Kazuki wondered if something had shown on his face. It was likely, he supposed. "Believe me when I say that there's many people that want to see you succeed."
"Well, you've confirmed that there's more than just myself, so that's nice," Kazuki commented idly as he finally took a sip from his glass. Somehow, the water tasted bitter to him. "Now I just have to actually do it."
"As someone that once thought he couldn't do it… Never let someone tell you that you can't make it," All Might told him with a grin that reminded Kazuki just who he was talking too. Despite knowing that it was the Number One hero sitting across from him, it had been difficult to extrapolate the heroic figure with the skeletal man in front of him. Then and there though, it was difficult not to do it.
"Thank you."
[}-o-{]
"So, you liked my recommendations?" Yaoyorozu asked him the next morning, her eyes all but shining… for whatever reason. "I'm glad!"
"So I see," Kazuki commented with a slight grin that soon turned slightly nervous. "I just… I mean, I like it, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I'll be listening to it a lot. It's not really… my style, if that makes sense."
"Hm, well, at least you didn't say it was boring," the girl commented, deflating a little. "Those two have no taste at all, honestly," she mumbled then, huffing, which caused him to chuckle.
"I mean, everybody likes different stuff. I'm not sure I liked the stuff that Tiny and Bubbly recommended either, really," Kazuki replied with a shrug. "It all sounds neat and all but… I don't know. Guess I'll have to keep looking to see if I find what my favorite music is."
He was honestly looking forward to that. How long had it been since he'd last done something like that? Do something for the hell of it, for fun? It was sort of exciting, to have such a thing to do with his time besides training or studying. Doing something for himself, just for entertainment and such, it was… nice.
Kazuki guessed it was why he was having so much fun playing the games Mineta recommended. Granted, he'd mostly stuck with the first gacha but he still tried out anything the little guy told him about, really. They were all nice to waste some time when he felt like taking a break from working on stuff.
They were also nice to keep his mind away from the fact that he now knew a secret that was more or less a national one. He could only imagine what the world would react like if the actual condition of All Might was revealed to the public. He could only imagine the mess that would come afterwards, when the villains of Japan learned that their biggest deterrent was crippled.
'Nobody's getting that secret from me, that's for sure,'Kazuki thought to himself.
"You must really like that game," Yaoyorozu commented with a curiosity tilt of her head as she watched him play. "I don't see the appeal, personally."
"I mean… It's simple, and I can do it whenever. Doesn't really need much thought or anything, which helps. I play it when I feel like taking a break and such, mostly, after all," he told her with a shrug. "Does that make sense?"
"... I think?"
"Are you gonna play too, Beauty?" Hagakure asked then, making Yaoyorozu and Kazuki jump where they sat. "Hehe," the girl giggled at their reaction, before skipping and taking another nearby seat. "I started too, and I gotta say, it's better than I thought it'd be."
"What'd you get with the first ten pulls?" he asked, before the three of them paused again, watching as Mineta entered the classroom at that moment. "Hey, Tiny, nobody stepped on you today, right?" Kazuki asked. It was more because he refused to let the little guy live it down, at least for the moment.
He didn't expect the spike of embarrassment and anger that reached him. With his eyes widening at the slight reddening of Mineta's face, Kazuki made a quick decision. He kept his mouth shut. That seemed to surprise some of the emotions out of the short teenager, for some reason. Honestly, with how awful the guy had felt at that moment… He didn't feel like poking fun at that, that was all.
"I'm still wondering if that actually happened," Hagakure commented with another giggle. "That's something for another time. Tiny, Creepy, I need help with this level!" she announced dramatically, pulling her phone from her pocket.
"Which one?... Oh, that one," Mineta said, blinking as the device was thrust at his face. "That's because you gotta use one of the special characters. The ones that can push enemies off the map."
Hagakure blinked.
"You can do that?" she asked, visibly confused.
"I know, right?" Kazuki commented. "I reacted about the same. I've done my best to check the general gist of what every character I have can do since I realized that."
"But there's many of them," Hagakure whined.
Blinking, Kazuki's eyes darted to the side, where he sensed Yaoyorozu start feeling… sad, envious. 'Left out,' he put together in his mind. That made sense and he was having none of that,
"On an unrelated note, I was talking with Beauty before. The recommendations you gave were good and all, but I don't think they are for me," Kazuki told them, tilting his head to gesture at the girl in question. He almost grinned when he felt the emotions fade away from her. "So, I was thinking I'll have to keep looking for my own thing, you know? Any other kinds of music you'd recommend?"
"Did you say music?" a new voice asked, and all four of them blinked and turned to the side. There stood a girl, shuffling on her feet as she grew nervous under their gazes. Noticing – and feeling – that, Kazuki decided to say something before she started feeling worse.
"Yeah, I'm kinda looking for a… favorite, I guess. I've never been one to listen to it too much," he explained. That was more of a lie than anything, but he guessed it was a bit weird if he didn't even know what type of music he liked. At least without giving an actual explanation, which he didn't feel like doing.
"Have you tried listening to rock?" the girl asked and Kazuki blinked at the almost excited look on her face.
"Er," he mumbled, looking around at his friend group. They proved to be useless, ultimately, looking about as confused as he felt. Well, all but Hagakure. If he were to judge things from how her uniform was shaking and the sounds that came from her direction, Kazuki would be that she was holding back her laughter. 'See if I take it easy on you if we get to spar again,' he grumbled to himself before looking back at the girl, who seemed to have stepped even closer than before. Leaning back a bit, he finally gave her an answer. "No?" he said hesitantly.
"I can recommend you a bunch of bands, would you prefer something relaxed or something more powerful? Maybe somewhere in between?" she asked in quick succession, making him blink with wide eyes.
"Eh, the latter? I don't think I'm into heavy metal and such," he commented. Suddenly, there was a loud screech as the girl grabbed a chair and dragged it next to him. Sitting there, she looked both giddy and determined, which was an odd mix. Especially because he was fairly sure he had never seen such an expression on her face.
Then again, they hadn't interacted much… if at all.
"That's fine, I'll give you some recs from that too. There's a lot of different stuff, I'm sure I can find something you'll like," the girl told him, and it was still taking him aback how much she seemed to be into that. It seemed that he'd found a music – rock? – enthusiast… To say the least. "Er… That is… If you want?" she asked then, growing more nervous and embarrassed.
Apparently, she'd finally realized that she'd been acting a little oddly.
"Sure, it'd be nice to have something to listen to while I do other stuff, like studying or training," Kazuki said with a slight grin. "Er, Kazuki Endo, nice to meet you," he added, feeling slightly awkward. Mostly because he didn't remember her name.
"Kyoka Jiro," she replied easily enough, before grinning widely at him. "And I'm sure I can find some kind of rock that you'll like."
Somehow, Kazuki was sure there was an "or else" that went unsaid there at the end. Also somehow, he didn't mind. He was kind of excited. He wasn't lying when he said he wanted to find some music that he could truly enjoy listening to, after all.
"So, um… Rocky?" he heard Yaoyorozu mumble quietly to the side as Kazuki started taking notes regarding the bands that Jiro suggested to him.
"Definitely," both Mineta and Hagakure replied at the same time.
[}-o-{]
'I like this one,' he mused, nodding along with the rhythm of the song that played on the earbuds that Jiro had lent him. It was a little strange, but the girl was very enthusiastic about finding bands – if not just songs – that he'd like enough to actually listen to. Far be it for him to criticize that of her though, especially considering that it played in his favor.
As for Jiro and the rest of his friend group, they had gone ahead towards the school's training facilities. All except Mineta, who had told them to go ahead, that he had something to do. However, Kazuki had decided to wait for the guy outside the classroom. Mainly because he'd felt some grim feeling from Mineta that he couldn't quite place at the moment.
Now, standing outside of the classroom, he could feel anger from him, at the same time as he felt some uncomfortable emotion from someone else, some awkwardness, some embarrassment… a lot of shame. Considering that Kazuki knew who was still in the classroom with Mineta… Well, he wasn't sure how to feel about things, but he appreciated the fact that his friend felt the need to do something at all.
Kazuki looked up at the ceiling above him, letting the music fill his mind for a moment. It was surprisingly effective at keeping other emotions at bay. Or maybe it was better to say that it… dulled his sense. Suddenly, the emotions weren't quite as overwhelming. They were there, but it was like he'd been looking around during the brightest day while almost blinding himself and suddenly he was wearing sunglasses.
He wasn't quite sure that analogy was a good one, but it was always strange to describe how his sense worked to begin with. It was like explaining how to see, or how to hear, it just… happened. There was no easy way to do so. It just worked, and that was it.
'Definitely getting myself some headphones as soon as I can… Wonder if I can pass them as support gear,' he thought to himself, grinning slightly. Unfortunately, he rather doubted that it would be a good idea. Good as it was to help him deal with his sense, crossing out his hearing like that was definitely a no-no, he was sure. A true shame, that, but he'd just have to deal with it. It was certainly not the worst thing in the world, even if it sucked.
'Yeah, this band is definitely a good one,' Kazuki thought to himself with a half-smile when another song started playing and he quite liked it too. He was going to look up the band more thoroughly once he was back home.
For the moment, his grin turned into a slightly annoyed grimace when he felt the anger in the classroom spike. A moment later, it seemed to fade away almost completely, replaced with disappointment and disgust. Opening his eyes again, he saw Mineta step outside the classroom and pause as he saw Kazuki there.
"You didn't need to wait for me, Creepy," the teenager told him once he took off the earbuds. At that, Kazuki simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, I guess I was too obvious," Mineta grumbled after huffing.
"Not that much, I imagine. The others didn't seem to notice, so I guess it's just me having better insight," Kazuki replied with a weak chuckle as he tapped his temple with his finger.
"Your power is annoying," Mineta muttered with a very annoyed look that was only slightly mimicked by what Kazuki could sense from him. He just gave his friend a weary smile.
"Don't I know it?" he commented, turning to look forward as the two of them moved to join the girls at the gym. For a long moment, he didn't say anything, mainly because he had little to say. Also because if he did say anything, it'd likely be related to what had just happened in the classroom and he didn't feel like doing so.
Fortunately, Mineta decided to break the silence before it could fully turn into an uncomfortable one.
"I don't get it. They seemed like a good bunch. They were nice, they didn't discriminate, and they were… they were friendly and smart," Mineta said and this time the scowl on his face perfectly fit the anger that Kazuki could feel. "The fuck are they doing?"
"Not everyone is as understanding as you, man," Kazuki told him with a sad smile on his face. "Besides, even if they are as you thought they were… Well, you don't know everything about them. They might have their reasons."
"What reasons could one possibly-?"
"One hundred thirteen," Kazuki said, looking ahead and resolutely keeping his expression blank. "The Black Rampage directly hurt a total of one hundred thirteen people," he clarified. "Have you considered that maybe Ashido knows… or knew one of those people?" he asked his short friend. "For all we know, I might have killed one of her relatives."
"I… That's…" Mineta stammered, and Kazuki sensed him starting to feel bad about the whole thing.
"Can I be honest with you, Mineta?" he asked him. "I didn't think I'd have friends here. I thought everyone would be too… scared, or disgusted, to be in a class with someone like me. So… Honestly? It's already a win to just have you, and Hagakure, and Yaoyorozu."
"... You are annoying and a bit of an asshole," his friend told him, making him grin. There were literally no bad emotions to be felt from his friend at that moment, except maybe a slight sadness. Was Mineta pitying him? "But that shit wasn't your fault, man. Do you know how many times I messed up with my shitty Quirk? I bet everyone messed up at some point too. You just… were really unlucky with how it went for you."
"That's one way of looking at it," Kazuki commented with a nod. "The fact remains that it was… bad, to understate things. It was bad and I know it. I'll take the blame for it, because it was my fault. I'm not sure I want people to not blame me. I just want them to… I just want a chance to prove I can be more than that."
"... Well, now you have that, don't you?" Mineta asked. "You can be a kick ass hero with that Quirk, man. You seem pretty in control to me, so I'm sure people will realize that sooner or later. You'll have chicks throwing themselves at you in no time at all. I'm kind of envious."
Kazuki chuckled to himself, noticing that he wasn't even lying.
"You've got your priorities, right?" he asked, still laughing. "Perverted little shit. But I can only hope, man. I don't think it'll quite go like that. My looks never really helped me make friends. I don't imagine it'll go better with girls," he added, his mind calling for a pause as the topic of the conversation changed.
Wasn't that… sort of normal conversation? He wouldn't know, but he thought it was, at least. It was… nice, he supposed. 'I'm getting to do a lot of things I never did before,' he thought to himself. If for that reason alone, he was grateful for the chance he was given. Maybe he didn't have absolute freedom, but… Well, he felt free enough, at least.
"Eh, you look kinda edgy, but I'm sure there's chicks out there that are into that," Mineta commented bitterly as he looked at Kazuki. "At least you aren't a kid-sized with a weird ass hair Quirk," the boy added, clicking his tongue. He could feel the negativity rolling off of his friend then and there and he decided that wouldn't do.
"I mean, you look a little weird, but it's not that bad, Tiny," Kazuki replied. "I'm sure you'll get your own fans whenever you become a hero if you do a good job. Well, that and if you, you know, get a decent costume and don't show how messed up your mind is."
"Gee, thanks, Creepy," Mineta said, but the subsiding emotions were good enough for Kazuki to be happy with his partial success. "And I've already sent the request for the costume change. For the moment, I decided on a simple thing first, so it should be ready whenever we have to use them again."
"Nice, now you have to curve those… tendencies of yours," Kazuki pointed out with a shake of his head. "Although, I imagine that'll be more difficult for you, huh?"
"Creepy, how am I supposed to not admire beauty when I see it? Have you seen the girls in our class?" Mineta despaired, throwing his hands up in the air.
"I mean, you're not wrong, but still," Kazuki answered with a chuckle. Then, as they walked, his expression shifted into a soft smile. "Thanks, Mineta."
"Don't mention it, Endo. That's what friends are for, right?"
"... Right."