chapter 20

PRESENT
JUNE 24th, 10:30 AM

Shimamura knelt down to the ground to pick up a stack of books. She blew upwards to try to push her white bangs out of her eyesight, but it was no use. She stood and walked over to the bookshelf, starting to put them away neatly.

The two bedroom apartment was a mess. The living room had piles of books on the ground stacked up in tens and an empty bookshelf where they used to sit. The coffee table was completely empty with all its previous placeholders littered on the floor surrounding it. The kitchen was a bit neater, thankfully. But the living room was a living nightmare for Shimamura and Shinsou.

Since the recent earthquakes, everything had just been shaken all over the place. And as two pro heroes of a prominent mainstream agency, neither resident had time to clean up. So, they sort of just left everything everywhere.

Shimamura at least made the attempt some time in the last few days to take the books off the bookshelf and pile them up on the ground so they'd stop falling. Smart.

The only reason they're cleaning up now of all times was because they have a guest coming.

"Mina said her plane just landed!" Shinsou shouted to Shimamura from the other room.

"Alright. Come help please," she responded, quieter than him.

Mina Ashido—Shimamura's closest female friend besides Sayuri Uchiha—was coming to stay with them for the weekend. Since Deku sent out the invitations for his mini reunion, Mina's decided to come in from out of town on late notice to attend. But again... the earthquakes have been such a pain.

All of the hotels were booked up because of the earthquakes and the wreckage, so Shimamura and Shinsou offered up their place for Mina to stay. She said of course.

"You think she'll mind sleeping on the couch?"

Shima turned to see Shinsou walking into the living room from the kitchen. He was holding a disinfecting wipe to dust off some of the tables. She turned back to the bookshelf and kept stacking.

"Are you kidding? She'll love it if anything," Shimamura joked.

Shinsou shrugged from behind her. He knelt down and started swiffering down one of the tables. He brushed a hand through his fluffy purple hair.

"I haven't seen Mina since we graduated," Shinsou casually mentioned. "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Not really. I saw her once last year but that was it. She's been working in Kyushu since we got out of high school. I think something about environmental safety and hazards. She's big on that sort of thing nowadays." Shimamura said without really thinking. Her mind was focused on the books.

Shinsou laughed. "I'm sure Tokoyami is responsible for that."

"Yeah, probably." She didn't get the joke.

Shinsou glanced up at her from her lack of response. She was acting so bland right now. He stared at her for a second then sighed, standing upright and putting the wet cloth down.

"How much do you remember from high school?" Shinsou asked, walking over and standing just behind her. She didn't seem to notice his presence.

Shimamura shrugged her shoulders as she stood on her tiptoes to put a book on the very top shelf. "Quite a bit. As much as anyone else I suppose."

"Personally," Shinsou added, "I can't remember a whole lot. I remember bits and pieces from when I joined the Hero Course. But not much. Kaminari sticks out in most of my memories, unfortunately... What I do remember is how you and Bakugou used to try to keep your relationship a secret when you first got together. But you couldn't keep a secret from me to save your life... you definitely tried though." He chuckled.

Shimamura froze up momentarily. Her hand creased over the binding of a book, gripping onto it tightly. Her entire body tensed up at the sound of Bakugou's name.

Then she relaxed. Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath, and she began putting the books away again.

She laughed.

"I still can't seem to keep a secret from you."

Shinsou laughed with a slight smile. The one thing he always tried to do as Shimamura's best friend and roommate was to take some of her burdens off her shoulders. She was always so caught up in her mind, but he was one of the few that could take her out of it. Most of the time at least.

"It'd be the end of the world the day you actually manage to keep a secret from me," Shinsou shoved her shoulder jokingly as she tried to stack up another book.

She turned around and smiled at him. Her lips creased up into a strained smile. Her brilliant blue eyes sank into a whiter, cloudier shade of blue. As if a navy blue night sky suddenly turned to the brightest of days, with white clouds glancing the horizon. Her smile faded.

"Hey... you ok?" Shinsou asked.

Shimamura stayed silent for a moment. Her eyes stared forwards at the nothingness beyond her.

"Yeah..."

She's lying. But Shinsou already knew what to do before she even answered... but was only able to do what he needed because she answered.

Her arms went lax and the remaining three books she held in the crook of her arm fell to the ground. Her eyes dipped closed slightly and her head lulled. Her entire tense form just relaxed. Shinsou brainwashed her. But it was all for the best...

Shimamura's mind entered a new place. More vivid than the reality she was currently in. A memory...

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

A blond haired Bakugou and his fiery friend walked casually through the woods. The thick trees passing by slowly as they strolled through, taking a break from their quirk training. Not a sanctioned break, of course, but they had to get away for a little while.

It was summer and their "summer break" turned into an enduring week at the summer retreat/camp they were forced to go to. It was all in good spirits until they actually got there and began their training. None of the students expected it to be this hard.

"You're slow, dumb hair." Bakugou yelled back to Kirishima who was too busy admiring the scenery of the woods to keep up with his friend.

Kirishima huffed and jogged to catch up. He walked directly next to Bakugou who had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked. His crimson eyes trained on the path in front of him. How ironic.

"We should probably get back soon, Bakugou," Kirishima warned, "We might get in a lot of trouble if Tiger catches us slacking."

"He won't catch us. We've only been gone for two damn minutes. Shut up, will you?" Bakugou bit back.

Kirishima sighed and shrugged. "Fine, man. I'm just saying! If we stay out too long we'll end up training for double the amount of time that everyone else is! Then this break would be pointless, don't you think?"

Bakugou remained unresponsive. But Kirishima just kept on talking.

From a few feet away, the leaves attached to the trees quivered and shook, and some acorns fell as well. The entire trunk of the tree seemed to lean towards them then realign itself again. Glancing to the right, the trees just next to it—almost in a curved, straight line—moved in unison.

Bakugou stopped. Kirishima didn't. He was listing something on his fingers, too concentrated on his words to notice his surroundings. Bakugou reached forwards and latched onto the collar of his shirt.

Kirishima choked as he was suddenly stopped. "But that's jus—ECK—!"

"Pay attention."

Bakugou yanked on the shirt again, pulling Kirishima in line with him. They stood inches away from where the trees seemed to be pulsating. Kirishima finally noticed.

"Woah... what's that?"

Kirishima reached out to touch it but Bakugou slapped his wrist, hard. Kirishima winced.

"Don't touch it, dumbass."

"What do you think it is?"

Bakugou shrugged.

They stood there for a second, staring at the pulsating trees. Then Bakugou swiveled on his heel and started walking the perimeter of the strange occurrence. Kirishima hustled it catch up with him, questioning why they should be walking so close to whatever that was.

They walked for a dozen or so more yards until they found an opening in the trees. Bakugou rounded the corner and looked into the center of the pulsating area of trees, squinting to see such a far distance.

Standing about 30 yards from the pair was their Class 1-A teacher: Mr. Aizawa. He didn't seem to be doing anything... He was just standing there, with his back to Bakugou and Kirishima. His hair wasn't flying and neither was his scarves. He legitimately stood stiller than the moving trees encircling him.

But 15 yards past their teacher, there was another figure. A white haired girl in a navy blue sports bra and black leggings. There was a black choker around her neck but the coinciding black covers which usually strapped around her temples were missing from the contraption. She stood with her hands pressed to the sides of her head.

She tried to stay standing but her knees buckled, wobbling underneath her. Her eyes tightly shut as if the sun was too blinding. Her teeth clenched and her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't look to be concentrating. She looked in pain.

She let out a guttural scream with her teeth clenched. The trees surrounding her in a 70 yard circle pulsated in unison with her scream. The trees bent outwards, away from the girl and their teacher.

Shimamura was practicing her quirk with Mr. Aizawa.

"Is that—?" Kirishima started, but Bakugou was quick to answer him before he finished.

"Whitey."

Kirishima gave him a look, then stared back at Shimamura. "I never realized how far her quirk extended."

"Neither did I."

Shimamura groaned and collapsed to her knees. Her hands fell from her temples and the pulsating ceased immediately. She heaved great breaths, staring at the barren, dirt ground. Aizawa gave her an order to stand up and try again. Surprisingly, she found the strength to stand and restart whatever she had been doing prior to falling down.

Her hands pressed to her head again and the energy blast from the Final Exam of the last semester erupted from her form. Not energy, per say, more like emotion. Every little thing she could feel just exploding from her very being. Like a nuclear weapon that no one could predict until it hits.

Bakugou scoffed lowly. Kirishima glanced at his friend.

"What's on your mind, man?" He asked.

Bakugou shook his head. "She has a hard time controlling her quirk. That's why she never uses it."

Kirishima blinked. "I think she's just scared of using it. You saw what she did to Miyata and Miss Arima at the Exam..." Kirishima seemed to trail off.

They could both picture every little thing that happened that day. Not only from their tests, but from Miyata and Shimamura's as well. The way Shimamura tore through a retired pro and her fellow classmate like it was nothing. She collapsed afterwards... but she left such an impact on the fight that it was irrelevant.

Why be afraid of power when you can use it? That's the only thing Bakugou didn't understand.

"She's weak. Pathetic." Bakugou growled.

"Hey..." Kirishima frowned. "Don't be like that. She's just as strong as any of us." He seemed to repeat the same line over and over again whenever he defended Shimamura from Bakugou's insults, even when she wasn't around.

"Hmph."

Bakugou wasn't having it.

Once more, Shimamura collapsed to her knees. Aizawa's hair suddenly rose around him and canceled out Shimamura's powerful quirk. Her eyes lull slightly but she fought the urge to faint. She shakily took a knee then stood up on her feet again.

Aizawa walked over to her and his hair fell. He said something to her—something unheard by Bakugou and Kirishima—and she nodded in response. She ushered an audible "I'll try" and took another breath. Aizawa started walking back towards the camp while Shimamura stood and stayed behind momentarily. She cocked her head to the side.

Bakugou couldn't understand what she was doing until he noticed her eyes staring at something. Someone.

Them.

Her mouth creased into an unsteady frown. Her eyes squinted to see them standing about 45 yards out. They weren't supposed to be here. They weren't supposed to see that.

They weren't supposed to see her.

Shimamura didn't have the strength to rush or run away. Instead, she casually picked up her jacket resting across a rock nearby, and headed in the direction of the camp. Coincidentally, directly towards where Bakugou and Kirishima stood.

Kirishima rushed up to her, apologizing profusely. His hands pressed together and his head bowed to her as his words started to become jumbled.

But she paid him no mind. She ignored him, never even making eye contact. When she got to Bakugou, she managed to do worse.

Her dim blue eyes give him a once over and a death glare, piercing his cold heart. He snarled at her but she didn't give him a second glance. She turned away and bumped his shoulder as she walked past. Bakugou glared. Neither said a word.

And Kirishima followed her all the way back to camp, trailing hardly a foot behind her, apologizing the whole time. He knew he was in the wrong. Bakugou knew too. But he'd never admit to it.

If anything... he just opened up Pandora's box and let loose a monster he never should have looked for.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KN—

Shimamura's eyes blinked repeatedly. The memory that had resurfaced vanished just as quickly. She stood dazed... confused. Her brilliant blue eyes fluttering as her mind readjusted.

"Shimaaaa!"

Someone ran up and suddenly hugged Shimamura around the shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace. Reactionary, Shimamura patted them on the back. Who...?

"Ashido's here," a male voice—Shinsou—said from behind Shimamura.

Shimamura blinked again. When did she come in? Then she donned a smile and laughed. Her voice was strained for some reason. As if she had been screaming.

"M-mina..." Shimamura tried to muster more volume but was unable.

The pink haired pro hero nearly strangled Shimamura in the hug. Shimamura tried to laugh it off.

But the past is a difficult thing to shake away...