Chapter 161 - Interlude II

Someone stopped in front of me, casting a shadow over my face.

"You're Shoto Todoroki, right ?"

Sitting on the ground with my legs in a V-shape and my fingers touching the tip of my shoes, I slowly looked up at the one talking to me.

His silhouette was blurred, overshadowed by the sun beating down on him from behind, but not so much that I couldn't see him.

Black hair, big smile, hands on his hips.

Less than five feet tall, non-threatening posture, unknown Quirk.

"Yes", I said, slowly rising to my feet. "Do you need something ?"

Probably the new kid Katsuki told me about the other day.

His smile widened.

"You're just as stiff as the others said you were"

I kept stretching, quietly watching him out of the corner of my eye.

Another traitor sent by All for One ? Or a pawn of the Commission ? Someone sent to kill me ?

In the background I saw Katsuki lift his head from the water cooler, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes darting between the newbie and I.

I don't recognise his smell.

Tokoyami and Inaza, who had been chatting on the court in front of me, stared at us with wide eyes.

"Yuei is crazy" The newcomer said, running his hand through his hair and looking around. "I thought getting into the curriculum was the Holy Grail, but apparently there's an Elite section too"

To the far right, much further away, the original 1-A students were jogging along the stadium track to warm up.

Séro turned his head towards us; his eyes widened, he elbowed Kirishima in the ribs, and then pointed at us with his chin.

"You're supposed to be the best, aren't you ? Your training has been cut back and you spend all your time getting physically fit and working on your Quirks"

I didn't answer, instead I put my hands on the floor between my legs and lowered my torso to stretch.

I could feel his gaze on the back of my neck; my muscles braced for a roll or a leap or a shunshin or whatever move was fast enough to allow me to throw myself out of reach of any attack and slit his throat in one smooth gesture.

"Can you tell me what happened at the summer camp ?"

My nails scraped the floor.

I straightened and continued to warm up.

The new guy suddenly crouched down with his hands on his thighs and it took all my self-control not to hit him square in the jaw.

"You ask questions, but I still don't know who you are"

My voice was neutral, calm, far from betraying my inner turmoil.

"Me ? Ah, thought you knew. I'm Yo Shindo, from Ketsubutsu. Well, formerly of Ketsubutsu, I mean, since I'm in Yuei now. Did you know there was a new guy ?"

"Hmm"

He blinked.

"The others weren't wrong when they compared you to some kind of Antarctic"

He turned his head to the side - towards the gathered students in 1-A - and I took the opportunity to spy on him, sharingan on.

"Why are they looking at us like that ? Weird as fuck", he muttered.

Shindo raised a friendly hand and smiled at them : Séro raised a hesitant hand and smiled uncertainly, and Kirishima looked at Shindo and then at me as if I was going to jump down his throat.

"Really weird"

He turned his head in my direction.

"Are they always like that ?"

I shrugged, as if to say, 'I don't know, never talk to them".

"It's true then, the 'Antarctica' thing. Anyway, the summer camp. Did something happen ?"

"What makes you think so ?" I asked nonchalantly, busy warming up my ankle.

"I saw Yuei's championship, and even though it was a while ago, I'm pretty sure there were at least three or four other people there. There was this girl too, you know ? Invisible or something. I remember the horrified look on my mum's face when she realised she was walking around naked all the time and that was what amounted to her Qurik"

I didn't answer.

He just stared at me.

"You're the quiet type, aren't you ? That's only cool in the movies. In real life you just look weird"

Today is a good day, because it's the last day Touya will ever live ; killing a teenager with your bare hands here and now would be a stupid mistake and beneath us.

"You get what I mean ? I've barely spoken and you're already doing it again. You can put on that 'nothing can touch me' face all you like, but everyone knows it's full steam ahead in there"

Once you start, no one can stop you, and once you put your heart in it, you won't be able to stop yourself.

He sighed in despair.

"Yuei was sold to me as the deal of a life, but I swear you're all weird. Between the other kids who look like mourners, who are always muttering and shut up as soon as I arrive, and the one whose name you're not allowed to pronounce, who play the distant, megalomaniacal dude with a dark past..."

I stopped stretching, preferring to put my hands back and lean on them to look at Shindo, head tilted back, chin up, eyes narrowed.

"Your dad, on the other hand, is super cool, like really cool. Too bad his reputation has taken such a hit lately. Honestly, even if I'd been offered an internship with him, I'd have had to say no, because being associated with Endeavour is clearly a career killer at the moment"

I must have made a strange face - or something in my body language must have given me away - because before I could even give in to the temptation to stand up and shove his mouth down his throat, Katsuki and Kirishima were already there.

"Shindo, buddy, what's up ?"

Kirishima put his arm around the teenager's shoulders, who crossed his arms and looked irritated, but didn't push him away.

"We're friends now ?"

Kirishima's smile - already tense - faded.

"Yeah, it's true that we weren't very nice to you..."

Shindo rolled his eyes.

Katsuki stood next to me, hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped, eyes narrowed.

"Did you want something ?"

Shindo glared at Katsuki.

"What ? Jealous that I'm talking to your girlfriend ?"

Katsuki frowned, opened his mouth and closed it again.

Kirishima looked increasingly worried, his nervous eyes darting between Katchan and I.

I smiled, my irritation fading, and decided to enjoy the show.

"Are you retarded or are you doing this on purpose ?"

Ah, now that's the Katchan I know.

- "Sorry" Shindo wheezed, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "Your girlfriend is the little one with the big red cheeks, right ? You having a threesome or something ?"

I was on my feet before Katsuki had even finished clenching his fist, a hand on his shoulder more to hold him back than to calm him down.

Shindo blinked slowly, stupidly, his head taking so long to turn towards me that I could have snapped his neck three times.

"How-"

"You complain that no one is nice to you yet you spend your time making people hate the fuck out of you"

He looked at me in surprise, then suddenly smiled, losing his little bully persona.

"Ah, did you really take that badly ? Sorry, it's just that being the new kid and new encounters have never really been my thing. And frankly, you're all so tight-knit" He pressed his hands together "That it's hard to fit in without imposing. My dad always tells me that trying to get inside people's heads is never the answer, but I didn't know how to get you to stop treating me like a piece of furniture"

He scratched his hair, suddenly shy, his cheeks flushed.

Kirishima looked at him with big, wet eyes.

"Shindo..."

"You're all so different from the ones I saw at the championship... Anyway, I'm sorry if I was too harsh, I didn't mean to be"

I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised by his sudden openness.

He turned to Katsuki.

- "Sorry for joking about your girlfriend, I didn't intend to be mean or anything like that. No hard feelings, eh ?"

Kirishima, his eyes as round as saucers, looked at Katchan.

I waited for him to scowl in disgust or reject the idea of going out with her - or even to punch Shinto just for having a punchable face.

"... yeah"

Hands back in his pockets, Katsuki turned on his heels and headed back to the water cooler.

He had still ignored the outstretched hand.

Shindo sighed.

"Universal truth that you should never talk about girlfriends..."

He shook his head in disappointment, then turned and walked back to the gathered 1-A students, who were still watching the exchange like the group of voyeurs they were.

Kirishima looked at Katsuki with round eyes, then blinked slowly at me, waiting for a reaction.

Despite everything that had happened, Kirishima never looked at me with concern or fear. Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't nurturing any worry concerning me, but he never treated me any differently than anyone else.

He was a nice guy.

I liked him.

"... no comment"

He nodded and followed Shindo.

"Hey"

He stopped and turned to me.

"About what Shindo said about Katsuki... keep it to yourself, okay ? And make sure he doesn't spread it around"

Uraraka might have been a traitor of the highest order, Katsuki still seemed to... tolerate her.

Even though I wanted to get rid of her as soon as the All for One problem was solved, that didn't mean that I wanted to take away Katsuki's (despicable) happiness until it was necessary.

"So they really... ? Okay, no problem"

He walked away.

I followed Katsuki, who turned his head towards me, then slowed down so that I could catch up with him.

"You didn't have to interfere" I said.

Katsuki snorted.

"And maybe I should have watched you ram his head into the ground ?"

"I had no intention of ramming his head in the ground"

He clicked his tongue against his palate.

- "I don't know if you are aware of this, but I am neither a pacifist nor a patient person ; seeing someone even worse than myself in both areas is as fascinating as it is frightening. I only have to look at you to know when it's time to act"

I opened my mouth to retort, but nothing came out.

Wait, am I really worse than...?

Ok, maybe I wasn't Buddha reborn, but I could still be patient when I wanted to be - at least more than Katsuki.

Like when- when...

Nothing came.

Holy shit, I'm worse than Katsuki.

His face lit up as the realisation dawned on me, as if he could read my mind.

- "Wait, you really thought you were more patient than me ?

"I can be patient when I need to be" I defended myself.

"We've known each other for about six months and if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that you're the least patient guy in the world"

"I am patient," I stressed. "Supporting Hawks takes at least that much out of someone"

The number of times I'd dreamt of strangling him for blowing his smoke in my face without actually doing it had to earn me at least a place in record books for eternity.

- "...okay, that's pretty true, but you're still not a patient guy, and that's something I - the most impulsive guy in the world - have to tell you"

We continued bickering like old hags until I punched him in the shoulder, we decided to have a spar and I washed the floor with him.

He wasn't very happy.

But I'd still won.

*

Author's note :

Hope you're ready everyone, starting from chapter 163 we'll really get to the meat of the story - and it'll be the beginning of the end for Part 2.

I am very excited for us to get there.

Check the story's P@treon Nar_cisseENG if you want to read ahead and support the story.

And as always, see you in the next update everyone !