Darkest Before Dawn - 107

Chapter 107

[Toru Hagakure]

“Look, guys!” she exclaimed, pointing at a display to the side. It had a costume prototype that was only half visible, with pieces of it alternating between visible and invisible. It was set side by side with another that was there to show the invisible parts in a way that was… Well, perceivable. “I wonder if I could have a better costume using this?” she asked, considering that idea.

Currently, her “costume” was mostly just her hair, which was weaved into cloth for her. She wasn’t privy to all the details of the process involved, but it meant she couldn’t have anything too complex. That also meant that there wasn’t a lot of material to work with, admittedly. It was why her current equipment barely covered anything, uncomfortable as that was to think and even more so to move around in. From what she’d been told, it’d take a while to get something that covered most of her body, like what her classmates had.

“Probably,” Momo answered thoughtfully. “It’s not complete invisibility. There’s visible ripples in the space the suit occupies. Not quite as effective as your Quirk.”

“Could be an option so you’re not basically going around in a skimpy bikini though,” Kyoka added bluntly, earning herself an angry squawk from Momo.

“Hm, I’ll run the idea with the support course,” Toru mused out loud. Even if it wasn’t as good, her musically inclined friend wasn’t wrong. Speaking of musically inclined friends though…

She glanced back and saw Kazuki standing some distance away from the rest of the group. He wasn’t far enough for it to draw attention, but she’d noticed that he was always just that much further than the rest. It was like he was throwing a wall between himself and the group. She was also pretty sure she was the only one that had noticed other than Minoru, likely because she could look a lot more openly without even being noticed.

Or so she thought.

“He’s fine,” the vertically challenged boy told her a few displays later, apparently having noticed that she’d been looking at Kazuki. Toru was a little moved about that. People didn’t often notice her doing things, even when her clothes should give her away, which wasn’t the case at the moment.

It reminded her that yes, while the group was getting bigger and bigger, Kazuki, Minoru and her? They were the original ones. Ashido and Kirishima would be included in that, but… Well, they’d made their beds and now had to lie in them. Sucked to be them, but she wasn’t going to feel bad about it.

“What’s going on?” she asked, glancing to make sure everyone else was ahead of them. Behind them was Kazuki, who was apparently using them as a buffer this time to extend the space between him and everyone else. Not really close enough to hear them talk thoug-

“I just… needed a little space,” Kazuki was the one to answer.

-... Oops?

Maybe Toru wasn’t nearly as good at sneaking around as she thought?

That was a scary thought.

“I think I’m fine now though. I don’t wanna avoid you guys the whole day,” her crush told her, a weary, tentative smile on his face that made her feel like someone was squeezing her insides. Thankfully, Kazuki couldn’t pick up on that. She was sure he’d have mentioned that at some point if he could.

He would, right?

… Right?

“I just… I guess I’m feeling a little socially drained,” he continued and she tried to push away those totally reasonable fears. “Say, I feel like stopping somewhere for something to snack on, what do you guys say?”

“I think there was a stand close by? We can get something to eat on the way,” Minoru suggested and Kazuki considered that with a slow nod before nodding more firmly. That was all Toru needed to be on board, if she were honest.

“Sure thing. What was it?”

“They had wraps, I think.”

“Neat, I like those.”

“Hm, I’m… not that hungry,” Toru said and she really didn’t like how Minoru turned to look at her. “Do you think we could share one?”

“Sure thing, if they have something a little bigger than normal. I’m starving,” Kazuki answered, his smile less exhausted than his previous one, which only made its effects on her worse. Sure, he was an oblivious piece of… But Toru still liked him, because he somehow managed to make that as endearing as it was annoying.

It was kind of unfair, really.

“Wonder what kinds they have,” Kazuki mumbled as he stepped forward, reversing their roles and leaving Toru to be the one that was lagging behind the group. It allowed her to stare at him a little more though, so it wasn’t too bad. However, she wasn’t the only one to stay back.

“If it helps, I’m rooting for you,” Minoru commented and she turned towards him with her eyes shooting wide open. Not that the short boy could tell, but still. “No offense to Momo, but you were here first. And you stayed when the others left, that means something.”

“... Thanks,” Toru mumbled, a beaming smile tugging at her lips. Then she giggled. “This wouldn't have anything to do with how inconsolable Momo will be and that she’ll need a shoulder to cry on?”

“Sometimes I wonder how shitty you guys think I am,” Minoru replied flatly, which just made her giggle more. The boy’s expression shifted from annoyance to amused a second later. “Would it make me shitty if I don’t say no to that though?”

“Just don’t take advantage of anyone,” Toru told him, but her smile was vanishing even more than her body already was. “I think I’d appreciate a shoulder to cry on if I lose,” she added, feeling a cold hand around her heart at the mere idea. “No offense, but I wouldn’t jump into a relationship with you though.”

“None taken,” Minoru reassured her with a wave of his hand. “I help you and you help me?”

“I don’t know, Kazuki seems to have that covered now,” Toru replied, turning to give him the stink eye. If he thought she’d forgotten the whole thing with those girls from before, he had another thing coming.

“Ah, that… I mean, I was just helping him,” he mumbled, chuckling nervously and rubbing the back of his neck.

Toru just huffed and turned away to catch up with Kazuki.

“Toru, wait!” she heard from behind, but she just sped up her walking. “Toru!”

[}-o-{]

[Kazuki Endo]

“Really good,” he commented after gulping down the bite of his wrap he’d taken.

“My turn,” Toru said – read, demanded –, all but snatching the food from his hands. Momo seemed a little annoyed and even Kyoka was bleeding off some of it at times, but if they wanted a wrap so badly, they should have gotten one when Minoru and Kazuki did. “It is really good,” his invisible friend confirmed, her mouth still half full, which made him chuckle and Momo scold her.

“So, today was fun,” Kazuki said, glancing to the side and holding back a laugh as Toru took another bite off their wrap. So much for not being that hungry, huh? Well, good thing it was big enough to feed two people. “Anywhere else you guys want to visit?” he asked, turning to everyone else.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Momo said, and she sounded – and felt – like she regretted having to say that. “We have the party tonight and I have to attend. I can’t be too late to that. Part of the agreement I made with my parents,” she explained and he nodded with a grin.

“No problem. Hina says I should be early too, so that I can talk to everyone I need to,” he replied, sighing and rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn’t looking forward to that party, if he were completely honest. However, such was the nature of his life. He had to suffer before things got better. “What about you all?”

“Well, if you’re all leaving already, I guess we can go and get ready too,” Minoru answered with a shrug.

“It’s not manly to be late,” Eijiro said with utmost seriousness… and apparently not noticing how some of them rolled their eyes at him. “Maybe you can introduce us to some important people while we’re there,” the guy added, grinning widely at Kazuki and he returned the expression in kind.

“Maybe some hot gir-” Minoru went to say before getting smacked. “Hey!”

“Sure thing, guys,” Kazuki told them with a chuckle. Then he glanced away. “Remember that there’s no rush. Momo and I just need to be ready sooner, is all,” he added, waving his hand as if to disperse any worry they might have had about their schedule.

Hell, Momo likely had to go there later than he did. It was just that girls… Well, girls took longer to get ready. That was no secret. Although, he wasn’t one to talk. He’d need plenty of time if he wanted to look his best. He just wouldn’t take as much as Hina would. The woman was likely already getting started, if he had to guess.

“See you tonight, yeah?”

With that and little else, Kazuki found himself walking away from his friend group and through the streets of I-Island. In actuality, he’d left earlier than he probably could have. He was still kind of… dealing with the contradictory feeling of needing to be alone. Which was all kinds of odd. He’d kept to himself a whole lot that day, and yet…

It wasn’t quite what he wanted. A room all by himself and some music sounded heavenly at that moment. Alas, no such thing for him. Not even his destination after leaving his friends early had any kind of relief on that front. Something for when he got back home, he supposed. Then again, there was the school trip around the corner.

Kazuki just couldn’t catch a break, apparently.

‘Did I anger a deity somehow?’ he wondered, letting out a weary sigh. That is, before he noticed someone approaching him. Contrary to what the day had led him to believe, it wasn’t a girl. Those had been really uncomfortable, for the most part, but also kind of nice at times. This time though, it was a little girl – the distinction was important –, with asiatic features for a change too.

“You made doggies,” she pointed out, her expression flat and he nodded. She was Japanese, thankfully. Having to rely on English wasn’t helping how mentally exhausted he felt, especially when the people he had to talk with knew about as much English as he did, if that.

Back to the girl though, she was talking about his beowolves, he guessed. Hearing those be called doggies was hilarious, but children could be funny that way. Especially considering she wasn’t talking about his baby series, or so he imagined. She had seen one of his recordings in I-Expo, right? Surely she didn’t remember him from the Sports Festival or the hospital visit, right?

“Can you make doggies now?” she asked, looking up at him with an impassive expression that reminded him of… Shoto, kind of, or maybe Tsu. Yeah, Tsu sounded more accurate.

“I can’t,” he answered apologetically. He almost grimaced when a surprising amount of disappointment flooded her. How to salvage the situation though? He didn’t want to just turn her away… “I’m sorry,” he started with, just to be sure. “But maybe I can do something else. You like dogs, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Ok, don’t tell anyone, alright?” he asked her, giving her a friendly smile and glancing around. There was a woman looking at them from the side, similar enough to the girl that he imagined she was a relative of some kind. Likely her mother, he guessed. Other than her, nobody seemed to be paying them too much attention. So, when the girl nodded, hope shining in her eyes, he grinned at her. “Look down,” he told her, flexing his Quirk.

Taking a hold of his shadows, he started shaping them into his best approximation of dogs at her feet. The attempt wasn’t great, but it seemed to be good enough to make the girl happy. That was good enough for him, he decided.

And maybe he was still tired, but he wasn’t feeling quite as bad.

There was something great about making children happy, he guessed.

He was not telling anyone that though.

The Monster Daddy meme had gone far enough already.

[}-o-{]

“Sorry, guys. I got held back by a kid,” he said, plastering his most apologetic look on his face as he walked into a cafe. There, he grinned at two of the waiters and then moved to take a seat at one of the tables. Those two waiters looked at him, very unimpressed.

“Took you long enough, Boss,” Neito told him, approaching him while Chikuchi walked away, towards the counter. “She’s gonna place your order. We can guess,” he explained, grinning at Kazuki’s raised eyebrows. “Did you eat?”

“Yeah, I was just going to get something to drink,” he answered, still a little taken aback.

“Got it,” Neito replied before he moved to take a seat across from Kazuki. The question at the tip of his tongue must have shown on his face, because the blonde beat him to it. “Chikuchi will tell them that we’ll take a break. We did warn them that we would whenever you dropped here.”

“Isn’t that going to cause trouble?” he asked, hesitant. Surely a cafe couldn’t afford to just… lose two waiters at the drop of a hat. Or did they have some kind of back up plan?

“It’s fine. The owner said they’d push their grandson to work here while we take our break,” Neito reassured, waving off his concern. “So, how was the Expo? Chikuchi and I were checking some of the pictures you sent, some of those support devices were…”

“Something, that’s what they were,” Kazuki’s second-in-command said, joining the conversation as she went about setting cups of coffee for herself and Neito and a smoothie for Kazuki himself. “And wait a second, would you?” she hissed at them, before moving away to leave the tray she’d used at the counter. “... Now,” she told them as she took her own seat. “There’s some crazy things on this island, but I’m sure Mei will find something she can turn into a baby of hers.”

“What can’t that girl turn into a baby?” Neito asked dryly, which was fair enough.

“Anything you guys are interested in?” Kazuki asked, leaning back and letting himself relax. It wasn’t as easy as it was being with Hina, but Neito and Chikuchi felt less… exhausting than his friend group. No offense to them, but his friends kind of needed effort, he wanted them to like him and to have a good time and all.

With the club people… it felt more like business. They were friends, but it was fine if they didn’t act like friends, if that made any sense. As much as he hadn’t seeked them out, his friends had been people he wanted to keep around him. He tried for them.

The club though? That hadn’t quite been forced on him, but it was close enough to that. He hadn’t wanted the club to be a thing. They had. He hadn’t wanted to be the Boss. They had. Half the stuff they did wasn’t at all part of Kazuki’s plans or anything.

Which was hilarious, because he was supposed to be – again – the Boss.

All in all, it led to him feeling less pressured. Because if they were going to ignore what he said and do whatever they wanted, then he could just relax and see how things went. He appreciated that, but he did feel bad for… Well, for not feeling that free with his friends. It made him feel guilty, for some reason.

“Other than that, not really. Everything else that caught my attention was too much,” Chikuchi finished answering his question and he was grateful for the fact that he’d mastered multitasking well enough after so much training with his Quirk. The skill allowed him to let his thoughts wander and also listen to her while she talked… Although, truth be told, he’d only caught half of what she said.

“We can start small, doesn’t mean we can’t keep our eyes in the future,” he told her with a smile. “So, note it down, even if it’s impossible now. We can revisit it if we get rich in the future.”

“Well, you’re going to be a movie star, so it might not be impossible for long,” Neito commented with a chuckle and Kazuki joined him. Was it bad that the club knew about that and not his friends? He kind of wanted to surprise those. The club though, kind of needed to know, considering he was planning on injecting quite a bit of his money into it. Keage, if no one else, needed to know so that he could start working with the numbers.

“What about you, Boss? Had fun?” Neito asked, eyebrow raised.

“The games and challenges were fun, yeah,” he answered with a slight smile. Then he took a sip from his smoothie and smiled a little wider as he savoured the soft but sweet flavor. It was a very good smoothie. ‘Passion fruit? Neat,’ he thought, trying to place some of the fruits in the drink. “Set a record or two,” he added, somewhat proud of that and even more so when that feeling was reflected a little on his friends.

It made him happier to know that they were proud of him doing that than the achievement itself, honestly.

“Are you going to try out some of them? You have your costumes, right?” he asked then, looking between the two of them. “Surely you can get some time away from the job. Otherwise I’m not seeing the point of taking it.”

“Well, some extra cash doesn’t hurt,” Neito pointed out, but that was hardly much of a benefit. They’d taken the jobs to get to I-Island. The trip there cost them about as much as they would be earning, really.

“But yeah, we can get a few hours tomorrow and the day after. Today was probably the busiest it’ll be for now, or so the owner told us,” Chikuchi explained and he nodded.

“I’m gonna beat your records, Boss. Just to let you know,” Neito commented and Kazuki chuckled.

“Maybe we can make a competition out of it,” he replied with a grin.

[}-o-{]

“Recovered a little?” Hina asked him, likely noticing that he wasn’t quite as… upset wasn’t the word but he couldn’t think of a different one that fit. All in all, she was right, he had recharged his social battery a little by just… sitting there at the cafe with a smoothie in hand. He’d ended up drinking three and Chikuchi and Neito had mostly kept the conversation going on their own.

Kazuki wondered if they’d noticed that he was feeling kind of down.

Maybe he should do something nice for them. Neito would appreciate any kind of spotlight he could be put in and Chikuchi wanted to get better above all else. So, maybe he could set Neito up to show off more during their training sessions back at UA and maybe he could give Chikuchi more time to brainstorm Quirk ideas and such.

“I’m feeling a little better, yeah,” he said, although to say he was fine would be a lie. Still, with a deep breath in, he channeled emotions in a certain mix. “I’ll be fine for this, if that worried you,” he added, his tone shifting the smallest bit.

“Are you channeling?” Hina asked, eyes narrowed and arms crossed.

“Just a bit, to kickstart myself,” he answered, giving her a small smile. “I’m not channeling anymore. It was just a shot, if you will, to kick to the side the rest of the mess that are my emotions right now,” he explained, cracking his neck and stretching a little. “So, anything I should know before going in?”

“Not really. Everyone is different, so trying to give you a guideline would be pointless,” his mentor explained and he straightened a little. Even if she said that, he doubted Hina wouldn’t have something to say that he’d need to pay attention to. “Just follow my lead if someone starts an unexpected conversation. Otherwise, I’ll give you some info whenever we’re approaching someone,” Hina told him and he nodded, committing that to memory.

“I can work with that, probably,” he replied, taking a deep breath in. “Are we going for anyone in particular?”

“Well, some of my contacts in the show industry, for sure. I don’t know that many people in the international hero scene, but I do know some people and they’ll help us out, like Katelyn, although she’ll be going by-”

“Cow Lady, yes, I remember,” he interrupted, rolling his eyes. Sure, his memory was shit at times, but it wasn’t that bad.

“There’ll probably be business people, Quirk researchers and equipment manufacturers, but those are lower in the priority list, unless you changed your mind?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. But he had not, in fact, changed his mind.

Mei was likely to go ballistic if he so much as hinted that he’d work with some other tinkerer. As for businesses and researchers… he didn’t see the point. He wasn’t an ad guy, that was more Itsuka’s thing. He didn’t think there was much else he could offer a company. And researchers he had even less of an idea.

The fact that Hina hadn’t corrected him when he’d organized and listed off the priorities was reassuring though.

“Well, we’re ready then,” she told him and they walked into the big hall. He set his expression into the best mask he knew how to use. Casually, he adjusted his suit. It was mostly just black and red, no white anywhere unlike with his costume. Black pants, black shoes, black tie, red details here and there and a blood red shirt, that’s what he used that night and… Well, Hina said it looked okay, so he guessed he’d trust her once more. “This way,” his mentor said and he dutifully followed after her.

Eyes turned in their direction, but he did his best to ignore them. It wouldn’t do to cower under the gazes. That’d just ruin everything before they could even get started. He’d just let Hina do her thing and try not to ruin anything in the meantime.

For the first few encounters, that worked well enough. Some ad discussions, some possible series guest appearances, another movie opportunity, those kinds of things were discussed in between casual words. Frankly, Kazuki found it all very uncomfortable, awkward, especially knowing that it could all happen, very likely. Or so was the case if he were to trust Hina, and he did, to an extent.

“You’re doing great.”

“I’m hardly doing anything,” he replied dryly, taking one of the small snacks from the tray of a waiter that passed by. As he did, he scanned the room to see if his friends were around. Surely Momo was already, right? She’d said she had to arrive early and the party was about to get started properly soon. “I just stand there and nod.”

“But you do so very well,” Hina told him before giggling at his unimpressed expression. Before anything else could be said though, they were interrupted by an announcement coming from the speakers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to I-Expo’s reception party,” they heard and both of them turned towards the small stage that had been set up on one side of the hall. “Let’s hear some welcoming words from Japan’s number one hero, All Might. But first, a round of applause!” and people followed that happily. The guy might be the number one hero of their country, but that didn’t mean he was a nobody outside of it, not at all. Especially in America, from what Kazuki had learned through some rambling sessions with Midoriya in class and in training.

“Thank you for the invitation. I am All Might,” the Number One hero said after moving to the stage and in front of the microphone. Funnily enough, that was the quietest Kazuki had ever heard him talk. “I don’t like to be formal, so-”

Whatever else he was going to say though, was interrupted by a loud buzz as the gigantic screen behind All Might changed from soft blue and I-Expo display to much sharper and bright red text.

A single word flashed for all of them to see.

EMERGENCY.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, in the spirit of not insulting anyone’s intelligence, I won’t pretend you guys didn’t see that coming.

Instead, I’ll talk about how I decided to use the time pre-attack on other characters so far, throwing some PoV and generally having them around. I’m not a fan of how this movie has a lot of 1-A students on I-Island for no reason whatsoever, but I’ll admit that it’s convenient for me, even if I had to replace some people here and there. Besides, I didn’t feel like adding a bunch of OC heroes from other nations. I wish the movie had, sure, but I’m not a fan of using OCs too much myself, so… yeah.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter all the same.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you have a pet? I have none, but I’ve been daydreaming about getting a fish tank setup for entirely too long. I might finally go for it soon.

See you.