~~~~~~~~~~

"So, Tenya," Tensei began, leaning back in his wheelchair to look at his younger brother pushing him from behind. "How come I haven't seen Tora around? Didn't you say her little brother wanted to visit?"

Tenya flinched and Tensei narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"It's nothing," Tenya quickly replied. "We've both just been busy with finals coming up."

"Surely she could make a little time to bring her brother," Tensei smirked, giving his younger brother a mischievous look. "You know how much she loves her brother... Unless, something happened between you two?"

Tenya's face flushed red and he looked away, his hands clenching down on the handles of Tensei's wheelchair. Tensei's smirk widened, knowing he had hit the nail on the head.

"So something did happen," Tensei chuckled, amused by his straight-laced brother's flustered expression. "You can tell me anything, you know that right?"

"I know," Tenya mumbled. "But we'll figure it out ourselves... After exams."

Tensei rolled his eyes. "You can't push this off forever, you'll cause her to misunderstand if you do. You know better than anyone else what Tora is like, she's a tough girl on the outside but she's still human. You're blaming yourself for what happened, but she's probably blaming herself too."

"But it was my fault!" Tenya argued, raising his voice in frustration.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable," Tensei sighed. "But I could probably offer you some better advice if you told me what happened."

The brothers both went silent for a moment, the only sounds being Tenya's footsteps and the beeping of hospital equipment as he pushed Tensei's wheelchair down the hospital hallway.

"Promise you won't tell mom and dad?" Tenya nervously asked.

Tensei nodded. "Promise."

"I kissed Tora."

Tensei whistled, "I was kind of expecting her to make the first move, but then again, both of you are so dense. What happened after?"

"I panicked and left," Tenya replied, cringing at himself. "We haven't really talked since then."

"I swear on the name Ingenium that if you don't fix things with her by the time I'm discharged I'll go talk to her myself." Tensei threatened. "I may be in a wheelchair, but I still have my quirk. The only things that can stop me now are out of order elevators and stairs."

"Please don't." Tenya begged.

"Then you better talk to her before I get discharged." Tensei chuckled, grinning. "Now then, I have rehabilitation therapy to get to."

Tenya sighed to himself, continuing to push his brother's wheelchair down the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~

The electronic bell above the door chimed as I strut into the convenience store, grabbing the attention of the cashier. The familiar cashier looked up from the magazine he was reading, grinning when he recognized me.

"Piercings!" He exclaimed, leaning over the counter. "It's been ages since I last saw you! Where have you been?"

"Well being a full time student at UA is busy work," I replied, smirking. "But I guess you wouldn't know, right drop-out?"

"Ouch, right in the feelings." He gasped, dramatically grabbing his shirt where his heart is with both hands. He chuckled softly for a moment before asking a different question. "Where's your boyfriend? You used to come here with him all the time."

"We're just friends," I huffed, rolling my eyes. I couldn't help but be annoyed by yet another question about Tenya. "And we have exams coming up, so we've been busy."

"Isn't he a smart guy?" The clerk asked. "I know you've studied with him and your other friends before."

"Just drop it," I barked, a bit louder than I intended to. "Please."

The cashier smirked, holding his hands up in a 'I surrender' motion. "Alright, alright, sensitive topic I guess."

I turned away from the counter, heading to the snack aisle to get what I came here for. I spotted a yellow deal sticker and swiped two bags of barbecue chips from a shelf, before continuing on to the fridges. I opened the fridge and took two large cans of soda—one was my favourite soda, the other was Kuse's—and then retraced my steps back to the counter.

The cashier silently scanned my items, waiting a moment before telling me the total.

"No cigarettes today?" He quipped curiously.

I shook my head, reaching for my wallet. "I quit, my little brother hates the smell and my shitty lungs are making hero training a bitch."

"That's good," He grinned, taking the money I handed him before putting my drinks and snacks in a bag. "Make sure you don't start again."

"Yeah, I know," I sighed, taking the bag. "I don't need a human lighter to tell me to stop smoking."

"Never heard that one before," He chuckled, a small flame appearing on the tip of his index finger as he held it up. "Ten points for creativity."

I leaned over the counter and blew the flame out. "See you later, Fire Hazard."

"Come again!" He chirped.

I waved goodbye before leaving the store and heading home. I had made the trip to the convenience store and back so many times that I could probably do it with my eyes closed. Humming to myself softly I kept a hand in my pocket, holding onto my phone as I walked. I would've loved nothing more than to listen to music while I walked, but having headphones on in this area was like waving a giant sign that said, 'rob me, I'm an easy target' in bold red font.

Thankfully, I made it home safely. I carefully opened the window, climbing into the apartment from the fire escape stairs and shutting the window behind me.

"Kuse!" I called into the apartment. "I'm back!"

"Tora!" Kuse exclaimed, his head poking out of our room.

He ran to meet me, wrapping his arms around my waist and trapping me in a hug. I gently ruffled his hair, holding up the plastic bag from the convenience store in my other hand.

"I got some snacks, for studying," I grinned, snickering as I watched Kuse eye the bag curiously. "And before you ask; yes you can have some."

"Yay!" Kuse giggled, releasing me from our hug.

"Let's go to our room," I said, beginning to walk to our shared room. "You can read comics while I study."

Kuse nodded, excitedly scurrying back to our room. He sat down on his bed with his legs crossed, his fingers drumming across his knees as he waited for me to sit down and hand out the snacks. I sat down at the only desk in our room, placing the bag on the desk in front of me. I pulled out Kuse's soda and chips and handed them to him, chuckling as he eagerly ripped into the chips and cracked open his soda.

I opened my textbook and notes, taking out a pencil and tapping it against the desk as I read through my notes. Eventually we fell into a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the occasional flip of a page or rustling of a chip bag. Unfortunately I didn't seem to be absorbing any of what I was reading, my thoughts were too loud and I couldn't concentrate.

I slumped forward onto my desk with a groan, resting my head on my open textbook. I sat there for a moment, debating if I should just call it a day because I couldn't focus. I felt a soft tap on my shoulder and turned my head, my gaze meeting Kuse's concerned ice blue eyes.

"Don't give up!" Kuse chirped, causing me to feel a little guilty for entertaining the idea of giving up. "I made you a good luck charm!"

I sat up, smiling at my younger brother. "A good luck charm?"

Kuse nodded eagerly, holding out his clenched fist. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand."

"Alright." I chuckled, closing my eyes and holding out my palm face up as Kuse instructed.

A small, flat object landed in my palm and I could immediately tell it was metal. The familiar cool feeling and tingling in my palm gave it away. Because my quirk only works on metal, I'm very familiar with how metal feels, it's like my quirk is letting me know what I can and can't use my quirk on.

"Okay, open your eyes!" Kuse ordered.

I opened my eyes, curiously examining the charm Kuse had made for me. It was the head of a small, horned creature with a long snout, about the size of a 100 yen coin and flat. It didn't have any etched details to give any clues to what it was, but I assumed it was a dragon because of the horns.

"Today I learned about symbols of good luck! In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck, and in China dragons are symbols of good luck and success!" Kuse explained. "So I made you a good luck dragon!"

"It's perfect," I grinned, ruffling his hair. "But can I add just one thing?"

Kuse looked curious as to what I wanted to do but nodded.

Using my quirk, I made a small hole in between the dragon charm's horns and swiped a paperclip off my desk. Once again using my quirk, I thickened the paper clip a bit, shortening it lengthwise and turning it into a small metal loop. I thread the dragon charm onto the metal loop, attaching it to the simple metal chain that I was wearing as a bracelet.

"Tada!" I exclaimed, holding out my wrist to display the dragon charm. "Now I have my own charm bracelet."

Kuse smiled for a moment before his expression turned serious. "Tora... When can we go visit Tensei? You said we could go when you got back."

"Soon," I answered hesitantly, my muscles becoming rigid as I remembered my promise to Kuse. "Tenya and I are just a little too busy with exams right now."

"But, how soon is soon?" Kuse asked, rubbing his thumbs against eachother with his hands clasped together.

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. "When exams are over."

"But when is that?" Kuse persisted.

My response to his innocent question was regrettable and totally uncalled for, something I would feel guilty about for a long time.

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed, slamming my fist down on the desk.

Kuse flinched, slowly taking a step back. Tears pooled in his eyes, but I didn't see a single one roll down his cheek.

"H-hey, Kuse... I'm sorry about that," I stuttered, standing up and taking a step towards him. "I'm just super stressed and-"

I cut myself off when I saw Kuse take another step back. I had messed up. I had snapped at the one person who cares about me most, and the person who idolizes me.

"Leave me alone." Kuse demanded, his voice unwavering despite the tears in his eyes.

I couldn't do anything except nod, watching as Kuse quietly left the room. I fell onto my bed, grabbing my hair out of frustration before rolling over onto my pillow.

I screamed several colourful words into my pillow before finally calming down. I rolled onto my back again, reaching for the ceiling with my hands and staring at the dragon charm on my bracelet while I caught my breath.

If there was one thing that my outburst had made me realize, it was that I needed to fix things with Tenya. I had turned into a much grumpier bitch than usual and Kuse didn't deserve to be subjected to that.

How was I going to fix things with Tenya?

Not a fucking clue.

What I did know is that my own ego was definitely going to be getting in the way.

A/N

We made it to chapter 50 guys! Thank you so much to all the people who have read all the way up to here and those of you who have patiently waited for updates! I appreciate y'alls support! I'll be posting a one shot in my One Shots book to celebrate! Not sure when it'll be done but I'll let you guys know when it's published!

Remember to leave comments, I enjoy reading your comments and reactions!

Also the convenience store guy finally makes an appearance! Decided to add a little bit with him because it's been a long time! Will he ever be named? Who knows, I'm open to hearing name suggestions.