3 Nejire

"How can I help you... Nejire?" His voice didn't betray any emotion, but the girl at the end of the phone could mysteriously guess what he was feeling.

"Oh! You seem excited about something is it from hearing my voice? By the way, were you thinking of me?" She said, her cheerful voice teasing the young man.

"Maybe, how do you know that by the way? I have things to do." He said, not understanding how she guessed that.

'A woman's intuition... really scary.' Kotei thought this woman has the talent to surprise him.

"Mhn... I don't think that you have much to do right now. Let's meet somewhere! We didn't see each other for more than a week!" She said, her voice full of energy, as usual.

"What do you mean by 'I don't have much to do'?" He asked, slightly dumbfounded by her shamelessness.

"Heh? You are quite talkative today, usually, you just would have said no and ended the call... and I would have come directly to your house. But you are talking a lot more! It certainly is refreshing, I like your voice!" She said, ignoring his previous question.

"... Some things happened and I-"

Cutting his sentence, she quickly said.

"Wait wait wait, I am coming right now, you will say this to me directly! I have a lot of things to say to you too you know? And what do you mean by 'some things'? No nevermind you will say it to me in a few minutes!"

"A few minutes?" He asked, scratching his head. "The distance between your house and mine take normally thirty minutes minimum..."

"I called your sister! We are currently coming and we can even see your house from down there!"

"You did what?" Once again, dumbfounded by this periwinkle woman.

He didn't know if it was because of the fusion of his quirk with his body or if she just was way too strong to make him talk. Either way, it wasn't something that he could call unpleasant. At least the new Kotei.

"See you soon!" She said, ending the call.

Kotei remained unmoving on his bed, lost in thought.

He knew that it is only a matter of time before she irrupted in his room and drown him with her questions. And knowing her, she would surely keep the conversation for a few hours, before dragging him somewhere else, then she would once again flood him with her infinity curiosity.

"Well, I should at least get presentable." He said, removing his shirt.

"What should I wear?" Asking himself this type of questions, he continued to search for a good outfit. Unfortunately, he did not hear the excited footstep nearing his room.

Still shirtless, he had a simple black shirt in his hands.

"It will do."

"Koteeeei~!" Suddenly, the door of his room opened wide, and a flying figure came colliding with him.

"?!" Surprised by the new presence in his room, he dropped his shirt and caught her with his arms.

"Nejire? You weren't kidding when you said that you were near." He said, looking at the older girl who was hugging him.

She then lifted her head to look at him, but a little thingy on his bare torso diverted her attention.

"What's this? What's this?" She asked, looking at the black hole swirling on his body.

"My quirk fused with my body, and this happened." He simply replied, looking at the tactile girl, poking all around his torso for other surprises.

"Is it safe?" She asked, her eyes glued onto it.

"I gue-"

Not waiting for her question to be answered, she plunged her hand in it.

"It's cold!" Removing her hand, she looked at her delicate hand, no changes being observed.

"..." Looking at the fearless girl, Kotei couldn't help but ask himself how she could be so full of life constantly.

She then stepped back to have a full look at his body.

"You thinned! And your hair changed its color too!" She said, poking his arms and face.

"How did you changed so much in so little time?" She finally asked him, sitting on his bed. She was still staring at him though.

"As I said earlier, my quirk fused it evolved so much that it fused with my body. I think that it is because my body couldn't keep up with it. So I became the quirk itself." He replied he said what was in his mind.

"Can you still control the gravity? Can you control it better? Can you do more than before? Is this black hole permanent?" Flooding him with her question, she kept asking with sparkling eyes.

On the other side, Kotei was only looking at her patiently. He was accustomed to her personality, and she was one of the few people not bothering him much.

"I still can do what I could before. I don't have better control since my quirk is more powerful. I can surely do more but I can't control it yet. Concerning the black hole, I guess it is, much like mutations quirks." He answered each one of her questions.

Listening to it until the end, she got sparkling eyes, like a kid eating his first candy.

"It's amazing! Do you think that you will have more mutation once you will control it? How does the black hole work? Why my hand didn't get shredded when I put it inside?"

A few minutes after answering each one of her questions, she seems quite satisfied.

"Kotei did you eat? I didn't! Let's go eat something right now!" She said, pulling Kotei by his hand.

"Wait, I didn't put my shirt yet." He said, going to pick it up.

"Quickly! I am dying of hunger here." She said waiting for him to exit the room.

While they were walking towards the garage of the manor, she asked him a last question, surely the most important.

"Is the change in your personality due to your quirk? You are a lot more talkative. It is so good, I am not the only one talking anymore!"

Not answering for a few seconds, he finally answered her question.

"I guess... I don't feel different at all, if not a lot better."

"Everyone is winning then!" She said, her bubbly voice echoing through the garage.

'He is different... not that it is a bad thing! I quite like this less serious Kotei. I find him...'

Lifting her face to look at his face, she saw that he was smiling, he was appreciating being in her company, and she appreciates it too.

'... Cute.' She thought. Seeing him smile was quite a rare sight. And it was always making her blush.

Looking at the small blush on her face, Kotei couldn't help but be a little mesmerized by her shy smile.

'I remember... the first time I saw this smile.'

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

[It's rewind time]

Three years ago, a silver-haired boy could be seen sitting calmly on a bench, in a park. He was looking at the sky, an absent look plastered on his face.

Surrounding him, a melancholic aura reflecting his mind's state.

"Can I sit there?" A gentle voice took him out from his thoughts, causing him to turn his head at the person.

The voice belonged to a young girl, a little older than him.

She had periwinkle hair, reaching all the way down to her knees, twisting around itself at her waist and curving inwards around her legs. She is a fair-skinned girl with average height for her age. Her eyes were full of curiosity.

Nodding at her, he turned his head back toward the sky. He didn't have any intention to befriend the unknown girl.

"Is your hair's color a mutation of your quirk?"

Disturbed once again by her voice, he turned to look at her once again. His eyes weren't filled with boredom, but a slight confusion, not understanding why she would ask such questions to perfect strangers.

"No." Replying, he didn't turn his head this time, he seems to understand what she wanted.

"I am Nejire Hado by the way!" She said, extending her hands towards him.

Looking at her extended hand then to her face full of hope, he reluctantly shook it.

"Kotei Juryoku."

They then took back their hands and each look at the sky. The silence settling down once again.

"Why are you sad?" She suddenly asked, her voice interrupting the diverse thoughts of Kotei once again.

Looking at her with a hint of confusion and shock, he asked her, without replying to her question.

"... Your quirk?"

Understanding the nature of his question, she replied with a wide smile.

"Not at all! It just that you have this aura around you, you know?"

'I don't know if she is sincerely asking this because she is curious, or because she had ulterior motives.'

Not hearing a reply from him, she just reiterated her question.

"So... Why are you sad? Talking about it is way better than just keeping it inside you know?!" She declared, smiling at him once again.

Taking a few seconds to think, he finally said.

"I don't really know you, why should I share my past with you?"

"Because it is the first step to be friends!"

Widening his eyes at her, he didn't know how to take this sentence. He knew that she genuinely means it.

A part of him was dumbfounded at the fact that she just wanted to be his friend, out of the blue.

Another part was just... happy. He didn't quite understand why, but he was from hearing her saying that she wanted to be his friend.

"My.... friend? Why?" He asked her, not very sure if he did not imagine things.

Confirming her words, she said, "Yes your friend! You seem to need someone to talk to! I will be happy to help you." Her bubbly voice, immersing him in silence.

He doesn't have any true friends, the majority of kids in his school were only interested because his family was rich and because he got a powerful quirk. So hearing that from a stranger, who's intention was devoid of any ulterior motive was quite refreshing.

"I see... then." He said, standing up, he turns towards her and bowed to her. Expressing his truest gratitude for her.

"Huh?" Surprised to see the not too talkative boy suddenly bow to her, she tried to stop him from bowing to her.

"Thank you. You will be my first friend, I will be in your care Hado-chan." He said, still not stopping to bow.

"Ahh! Stop bowing Juryoku-kun! Friends don't bow to each other." She said, helping him to rise.

Straightening up, he saw one of the most beautiful sight he ever witnessed. Nejire's face was a bit red, embarrassed to have made him bow to her. But the smile on her face spoke for her. She was really happy to have helped him.

"Here's take my number!" She suddenly said, giving him a piece of paper that he took in his hand.

"I don't have the time to stay more! Please call me immediately when you will get back home! I still didn't hear why you were sad." She said, jogging towards where she came from.

Looking at her departing figure, he spoke to himself.

"Thank you for having been here at this moment... losing myself in the past, isn't a good idea. Not when I finally got a goal." He said, his eyes lifting toward the sky.

"The sky is darkening, how long did we stay here?"

Unknowingly to him, he also undirectly help Nejire to make a choice about her future.

When she saw the smile on his face when he bowed to her, she couldn't help but feel really warmed up. He was so grateful to have been helped, that he showed her a side of him that she could imagine due to his personality, few people knew.

'I will do that! I will help people by resolving their problems!' She thought, the smile on her face only widening at the thought of seeing the smile Kotei had a few minutes earlier.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"Let's gooo!" Nejire yelled her arms above her head.

They were currently driving towards one restaurant, where they would eat and talk about diverse things.

The car they were in was a Lamborghini convertible. It was surprising to see Kotei drive such a car at a young age right? It was simply the fact that he was rich which permitted him to do so. That and the fact that the policemen did not dare arrest him since he was pretty impressive.

They feared that angering such a man could lead them to lose their job, meanwhile, Kotei just did not care about such measly things. He knew that with a little money they would easily let him go, and if it weren't enough, his last name was enough to give him immunity.

A few minutes later, they stopped before an expensive french restaurant.

Seeing the car stopping in front of them, the valets widened their eyes.

The two young men almost fought to approach the car. They knew that the one having the luck to drive it to the parking was an insane bastard.

In the end, one of them caught the flying keys from Kotei. The young man who caught it was looking at his colleague as if he won at the lottery.

'I hope it explodes in your ass, shitty bastard!' The other one thought, looking at his colleague sitting inside the luxurious sport car.

"A french restaurant I am so excited!" She said, pulling her cru- friend by his hands inside the expensive restaurant.

Going through the doors, they immediately met with the receptionist.

She was in her early twenties and was fairly beautiful.

She looked at Nejire and noticed that she was casually clothed, not elegant enough to eat here, even if she was beautiful. She was almost ready to throw her out, however she turned to look at the person accompanying her. She immediately changed her mind.

How couldn't she recognize him? Even if he changed the color of his hair and thinned, she still could recognize one of the most wealthy regulars of this restaurant. Kotei Juryoku, one of the most handsome young man she ever saw, without counting his older brother who often came with him.

"Look look Kotei-kun! A miniature Eiffel Tower!" She said, approaching the statue. "Let's take a picture later."

"Why not." He replied to her before he turned to look at the receptionist.

"A table for two, mister Juryoku?" She asked, giving him her most radiant smile.

"Yes."

Following her, until a simple table for two at the windows, they sat and the woman got away, giving them time to choose.

"This place is really amazing! Do you come often?" She asked, looking at the menu.

"Yeah, at least once a month maybe. I know the owner, Philippe Etchebest. A good guy, even though he is a little crude with his words."

-*-*-*-

A few minutes later, they chose and ordered.

"I will take the beef bourguignon with a simple cocktail." Nejire answered, finally having come to a decision.

"I will take the same thing." Kotei simply said.

Some time passed where Nejire told him what happened since the last time they met.

"So Mirio got pushed on his ass! Hahaha!" She laughed, accompanied by Kotei's laugh.

"Excuse me, here are your two orders. Bon appetit." The server said, giving them their two orders.

An hour later, they finished eating and got ready to leave the restaurant.

Paying the addition with his black card, Kotei was leaving the restaurant, a happy Nejire following him.

"Wait! We didn't take the picture." She said, remembering to immortalize the moment.

She then turned towards the nearest person who happened to be walking past them.

Looking at the black-haired girl tied into a weird ponytail, she gave her her phone.

"Please take a picture of us!" She asked, still as energetic as always.

"Okay." The girl replied, getting ready to take it.

Kotei and Nejire stood side to side in the picture, with the right arm of Kotei on her shoulder, while she was embracing him with her left arm, hugging his stomach.

They truly looked like a young couple.

-*-*-*-

"Thanks for the pictures!" Nejire thanked the girl and turned to Kotei, making him sign that she was ready to leave.

A few moments later, they were in the car, driving towards Nejire's house.

"It was a great day wasn't it?" He asked her, looking at her from the corner of the eye. Even if she didn't say it, she was quite tired.

"Yeah, I really appreciate the fact that the great Kotei was much more talkative today you know?" She said, slightly teasing him.

"... I appreciate it too. Don't worry miss pro-hero."

"Heeh~" Weekly punching his shoulder, she faked to pout.

"Here we are." He said, stopping in front of a regular house.

"You don't come to greet my parents?" She asked it was a thing that he usually does.

"I still have somewhere else to go. If I go there, your mother will make me stay for a long time." He said, scratching his head.

"Hihi, that's true she would do that." She then, leaving the car.

"Today was really great, let me recompense you mister perfect..." She said, leaning toward him.

She then kissed his cheek for a few seconds before she ended it and turned around, walking toward her house.

"?!" Being shocked by the suddenness of the scene, Kotei didn't have any time to react. His hand reached for his cheek, where he touched the place she kissed, he found that it was really wet.

Looking at her, she turned around to look at him, her finger placed on her mouth. The setting sun behind her was adding a touch of beauty to his sight, burning itself onto his very retina.

"It was but a small gift..." She said, before walking towards the house, disappearing inside.

Being left alone in his car, Kotei couldn't help but touch his wet cheek.

"... If it isn't interesting." He said, looking the last time where she disappeared, before he drove his car, towards where he is coming from.

Inside the house of the Hado, just behind the door, a crouching periwinkled-haired girl could be seen. Her face had the shade of a deep red.

'I kissed him! I kissed him! Now he will take me for a weird girl!! No pulls yourself together Nejire, there is no way that Kotei-kun could think that of you, maybe he even liked it.' She thought, walking towards the shower, where she would get rid of her frustration.