Haru nodded. "Do you have an entry on Overclock?"
"Of course. She is still popular despite retiring nearly 18 years ago. Most of the new heroes are compared to her. Let me see." Izuku rummaged through his bag.
Moments later, he handed him an old, worn notebook.
"This looks ancient. When did you make it? Why are there so many cuts on each line?"
"I made it when I was 7... I think? I have updated it multiple times, because my earlier assumptions or just conclusion was wrong."
Haru was taken aback. Seeing the notebook's condition and multiple cuts, which represented Izuku's skill progression, Haru had clearly underestimated his classmate's hobby.
"Let me see... Overclock should be the 67th entry. I updated it recently."
Haru flipped the page before settling on the entry. His lips twitched. "The last updated date is from 2 years ago. Is that 'recent'?"
Izuku blinked. "Oh? It's been two years already. Time really flies."
"This is pretty detailed. It's more advanced than the analysis of heroes on their respective wikis." Haru was seriously impressed. He might not have information of may heroes, but Overclock was one he knew deeply. So, he could see the exact depth, which he had missed earlier.
"Haha. It's not that great. I still have a lot to develop..." Izuku wasn't saying it out of humbleness or anything. He was consciously aware of his own shortcomings in that, which seems to increase the more he gained expertise in quirks.
The more he knows, the more he realises how little he actually knew about quirks.
"Is Overclock your favourite hero?" 'I heard somebody talk about Red Riot in class. Guess, retired heroes are still popular.'
"NO!"
The answer came a bit too fast and a bit too loud.
Izuku flinched.
"Sorry about that." Haru apologised.
"It's alright."
"She's not my favourite hero or anything. I was just curious." Haru quickly said.
"Alright."
Haru looked at him for a few seconds. "She's not my favourite hero. Okay? Please don't tell anyone about this conversation."
Izuku was confused about his reply, but he nodded anyway. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed."
That was the first time Izuku and Haru met.
***
"I couldn't save them..." Izuku almost had tears in his eyes.
BANG
"Then, let's save them now." Bakugo slammed the door open.
"Bakugo?"
"What are you saying? Did you hit your head?" Bakugo was the last person Kaminari expected to say something like this.
"Shut up, third-rate Pikachu. I am just doing it so that I don't owe that cheating bastard a favour." Small explosions came from Bakugo's hand, as he glared at Kaminari.
"How are you going to save them?" Ochaco looked at him in confusion.
"Actually, Bakugo and I were present here yesterday. We overheard the conversation between Yaoyorozu, the police and All Might. She had planted a tracker on that nomu."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
"In other words, Yaoyorozu could create a tracker?" Mineta voiced everyone's thoughts.
"This is too dangerous! This matter should be left to professionals," Ida tried to dissuade them.
"I fucking don't care." Bakugo ignored him.
"Deku, you can still save him. Are you going to come or not?" He looked directly at Midoriya.
"I..."
"Do you mean to go and rescue both of them yourselves?" Ida asked.
"Though neither of them were not main target, there's a high chance that they are still alive. At least, that's what I want to believe. Bakugo and I will go." Todoroki said in an air of finality.
"STOP MESSING AROUND. YOU ALL ARE NOT IN YOUR RIGHT MIND"
"Everyone, let's calm down." Shoji drew everyone's attention.
"I understand that Bakugo couldn't stand somebody getting kidnapped when saving him or Todorki's frustration of saving the two, only to have the other two of their classmates switched up, but this is not a decision you can make based on how you feel."
"This is too scary. Let's leave this to All Might." Aoyama nervously suggested.
Tsuyu then said. "I know we're all in shock from Haru and Toru's kidnapping, but let's be calm about this. No matter what we all are feeling, if you engage in battle... if you break rules like that, then your actions are no different from those of villains."
Her words pierced through everyone's hearts.
Bakugo's expression twisted. Just as he opened his mouth, the door opened.
"I am sorry to interrupt your conversation, but it's time for Midoriya's checkup." A doctor came, indirectly stopping this uncomfortable conversation.
Everyone started leaving while shooting a glance to Midoriya.
Izuku looked at Katsuki before the door shut.
'Deku, you can still save him. Are you going to come or not?'
***
Pov: Third-person Limited:: Toru Hagakure
"Toru-chan? You're new here, right? Let's play Hide-and-seek."
It was nearly the time when she had moved to a new kindergarten. She was around 4 then. For around a week, she's been part of her new class.
"Okay."
So, she participated in the game. Though she didn't show it, she wanted to show off in front of her new classmates by winning the game. After all, she had a quirk to be invisible, so she should technically win, right?
She hid in a closet, in one secluded corner.
And then, she waited. And waited.
RING RING RING
GROWL
Her stomach growled. 'It's already lunch time. What's taking them so long?'
She still didn't leave her hiding spot.
RING RING RING
The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch time and the start of nap time.
That's when Toru's patience ended. She exited her hiding spot and stormed straight to her classroom.
After reaching it, she looked around and found the girl who sat beside her. The same one who had invited her to play hide-and-seek.
"Hey! Why didn't you find me?"
The girl blinked. "Oh, Toru-chan! I felt like I was forgetting someone. It was you! I am sorryyyy"
Toru blinked. Then her chest tightened. The words felt hard to come out of her mouth. "It's alright."
Though the girl didn't have ill intentions, those words were something that Toru would never forget.
***
She was 6 when her mom got a promotion at her job. So, she was moving away, which means leaving her current kindergarten.
"I will miss you." The girl, the one who sits beside her, hugged her.
"Me too," Toru said, but her sad expression didn't reach her eyes.
She actually didn't feel any close attachment to her school.
She then moved to a different city, a different neighbourhood.
"Let's meet the neighbours. Maybe, we will find somebody your age." Her mom suggested.
Her mom's word came true. The couple beside them had two children. The youngest was the same age as her, a boy. He had a sister, two years older than them.
"I am Haru. What's your name? You are the first invisible girl I have seen. I can't even see your organs. Does this mean that anything that goes inside you is invisible? How does that work? Does your body become transparent, allowing the photons to pass through? If that's the case, then doesn't this mean that all your organs and tissues, and all that is mutated to be kind of transparent? Or maybe, you bend the light around you to gain invisibility. That would make your emitter type. Maybe another possibility is that you are kind of replicating whatever photons strike you from behind and sending them in their original path, creating a kind of camouflage kind of thing? Maybe..."
The boy really liked asking questions, and in bulk, too. Moreover, half of his words bounced above her head.
"Haru-kun... I didn't get any of what you said. What's a photon?"
'Is he like a nerd? Cheery-nerd type pokemon?'
Haru blinked. Then, his face turned thoughtful. "Do you know what light is?"
Toru nodded. "The thing that allows us to see, right."
"Yup, so the thing is, light kind of contains packets? Well, it kind of depends on the situation too, but in this case, it's like a packet, so when..." She surprisingly understood the concept and soon, whatever he was saying.
Her mom had previously tried to explain how her quirk worked, but Toru didn't understand it, as it was too complicated, and had used similar terms as Haru.
However, unlike her, Haru's explanation was pretty simple. Any 5-year-old could have understood that.
Toru, being a 6-year-old, naturally understood it.
That was her first meeting with Haru. Toru didn't think too much about it back then. She just labelled him as a 'smart, nerdy guy, who can explain things well.'
Then, she began her primary school alongside her neighbour.