All I heard for a moment was my heartbeat. The blood rushed through my ears and a lump grew in my throat. I looked to either side, stepping out of the lockers to examine the hallway, but I couldn't see the dark-haired boy anywhere. I reached a hesitant hand out to grab the vinyl figurine.

At some point between last night and today, Rocket had put the little Merida toy in my shoe locker.

My hands traced the curls, staring into the painted blue eyes. They were slightly askew, as was the case with most Mcdonald's toys. It brought a smile to my face, causing me to recall so many memories.

When did he get this? I thought, once again looking around. I knew it had to be Rocket; I had just told him about my preferred princesses. But does that mean he went back out to get it? Did he just have it? How many happy meals until he got it? Did he spend money on this?

My hands shook as the blood continued to pound at my ears. I blinked, remembering why I was here, to change shoes, as I tried to bat away the butterflies filling me up from the inside.

I was all too used to this feeling; it was one I had only recently sworn myself against. How dare it make another appearance like that? Sure, this wasn't the first time I had felt...something for Rocket, but it was never like this before. I was used to the slightly faster heartbeat, the smile I couldn't hide from him, but why was my heart now trying to hammer its way out of my chest?

I had been content to hide these feelings, figuring they'd fade eventually like they always do. But what I hadn't expected was for this to become another Akiba situation. I didn't even want to think of the pain I had gone through because I let my crush get too far. I couldn't bear the thought of making Rocket uncomfortable about it too.

We're friends, I begged my thundering heart. Stop making it weird.

I bent down to slip the toy into my backpack when a couple friends spotted me. One set of footsteps came skipping up to me.

"Whatcha got there?" Vivi asked.

I just nodded in greeting to her and Suki, holding the figurine out for them to see. It would make me look suspicious if I tried to hide it. "Just a little toy," I illused.

"This looks like that girl in one of your movies," the blue-haired girl recalled

"And you brought it to school with you?" Suki inquired, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Well, no," I responded, shaking my head. "It was in my locker, so I was just gonna put it away."

Vivi cracked a smile of questionable intent. "Who put it there?"

Before I could respond, Suki reached over to my locker. "There is a note." Sure enough, she pulled an index card out. I remembered that it was sitting under the toy, but in my shock, I'd nearly forgotten about it.

"What does it say?" My other friend asked, craning her neck to read. "'She even looks like you.' This is so sweet, but they didn't sign it."

The girls looked at me, and it was all I could do to just shrug. My pulse continued its relentless hammering. I put my hands in my pockets so they wouldn't see them shake.

"A secret admirer," Suki mused, turning the card over.

"Just wait 'till Sakura hears about this," Vivi snickered, elbowing me lightly.

"I don't think she needs to know quite yet," I protested, taking the card from Suki's outstretched hand. "For all we know, it was just a friend."

I tried to make myself believe those words, but a lump had formed in my throat. Thankfully I didn't have to speak around it, but I was still nervous about lying.

I wasn't even sure why I wasn't being truthful with them. I guessed it was just too soon after everything that had happened last semester. It would be sensible to have moved on, but moving on to a whole new guy seemed a little desperate to me. Besides, I still didn't know whether these feelings would fade or not. I figured I should give it time. There was no need to get everyone excited about it when I hardly knew what to make of it, myself.

Until that day, I hadn't even thought much of it. A simple elevation in heart rate wasn't enough for me to bat an eyelash, but seeing that little toy I had told him I wanted seemed like a catalyst to set my emotions on fire. I was struggling to dampen the flame.

"Maybe someone was playing a prank," I suggested, turning the toy over in my hands to show them. I tilted my head to the side and made an over-exaggerated pout. "Her eyes are lopsided."

"Someone compared you to this princess," Suki reasoned, raising an eyebrow. "Askew as she may be, I still believe being called a princess is a compliment."

I fought to school my features into mild interest, even as I was threatening to blush. Try as I might, I couldn't stop the thoughts from arising. I tried to think of harsh blizzards, but then I saw him opening the door for me. I tried to think of creepy graveyards, but I saw him leading me through, with no hesitation in his steps. I tried to think of puppies in animal shelters, but all I could see was his scared eyes when I had an anxiety attack that morning. When he saw I was struggling and tried his best to help.

I exhaled long and slow, forcing these thoughts to the back of my head. Take a chill pill, I told myself. Stop overreacting.

Placing the toy in my backpack, I changed my shoes and followed my friends to the second-year heroics corridor.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

The support kids wanted to blow off some steam after their benchmark exam, so they decided to go to an arcade in the city. I had agreed to go with them, but I wasn't expecting Rocket to be the only one outside when I finally opened the door.

"They ran ahead," Rocket signed immediately upon seeing me. I nodded, forcing myself to keep a level head. I knew what this afternoon would entail, hanging out with him and all, but I wasn't expecting to be one-on-one with him so soon.

"That's okay." I fell into step with him as we began walking between the buildings. It took every ounce of self-control to not glance over, but I found myself watching out of my periphery anyways. We had walked all the way to the gates of campus before I felt the need to address the elephant in the room. "I found the toy. Thank you."

His head jerked down in a nod as he gave me a sideways smile. He had explained to me just yesterday that his Tourette's set off bad tics in fluorescent light. I pondered whether or not the same was to be said about late afternoon light. I squinted at the horizon, the soon-to-be setting sun glinting off the waves, and considered it a real possibility.

"You're welcome. I hope you like it."

"I do," I signed, nodding earnestly. I took in a deeper breath, trying to ease the heavy weight in my chest. "She is one of my favorites after all." Resisting the urge to ask him when he got it, I shoved my hands in my pockets. A subtle sign that I was done with the conversation for now. He seemed to notice, doing the same.

It didn't take long for that to change, though. When we reached the bottom of the hill, he decided to continue on. "So how was your day?"

Okay, simple enough question, I told myself. Something a friend would ask. He's just making conversation. "It went alright. But the teachers are really pushing us to learn new things after we've forgotten all the old." Rocket nodded sagely, his black curls bouncing with the movement. "What about you? How do you feel about the test?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, seeming to think it over. "I don't think I did horribly, but it just took so long."

"Long enough that everybody needs a break on the second day of school?" My question received a smile in response. I breathed through the flutter in my chest and focused on his words.

"An arcade day is always welcome."

I was about to ask him about his favorite arcade games when a window shattered across the street. My attention was immediately drawn to the sound. I caught a glimpse of a large bearded man jumping through the window of a jewelry store.

People ran screaming as he brandished a katana in his right hand, its blade dripping red. Except...no, his right hand was a katana. He slung a bag over his shoulder and his left hand transformed too, glowing in a silvery blue light until it became a gleaming blade as well.

I pushed Rocket back to an alleyway. "Stay here," I told him. His honey eyes searched my face, swirling with panic. If he wanted to say something, I didn't give him the chance as I dropped my bag at his feet and ran off across traffic.

The man had the shop owner backed up to a lamppost and I had to make a couple of observations in only a moment: there were still people in the store, that blood had to have come from somewhere, and there's a family in this car parked in front of him.

The store owner ducked as the villain sliced clean through the lamp, sparks flying and not caring where it landed. I illused a barrage of noise as it fell, changing its course to land between vehicles, blocking off the road. The sound drew his attention, giving the owner a chance to shuffle back. The burly man raised a katana towards the retreating person without even looking in his direction. I had only a split second to illuse sound to hold the blade in place. He struggled against it long enough for the man to get well out of range.

The villain sneered at me. "Whaddya, think you can take me, little girl?"

We had been taught many things in our heroics class, including how to fight someone with a weapon. I knew this would be different since the sword was actually a part of him and I couldn't make him drop it. Not to mention, he's dual-wielding; it would be difficult to get in close.

To the man, I only leveled my stare. I would have to make quick work of him so I could go investigate whoever he had stabbed. Illusing violins into him, I watched as he groaned and stumbled, then I took cautious steps toward the damaged storefront.

But my basic move did nothing to stop him. He kept pushing through the discomfort, something only a few people I've met can do, and I knew I had to change my strategy. I released my hold on the violins, letting him pick up only a little bit of speed toward me before hitting him with a massive crash to the head.

His hands swung upwards, slicing at the invisible force as it vanished. It had only hit him back a step, causing him to run into the severed light post as it continued sparking. I knew that if I could rush in close and lay a hand on him, I could illuse directly into his body. There were many problems with that plan though. His swords were only one, his sheer weight and strength were another. I'd be totally out of my league.

But I didn't need to worry.

A costumed figure skidded to a stop by his side, her crazed smile curling across her face like the Cheshire Cat's. "Hey there!" She chirped, sinking into a fighting stance while throwing a nod in my direction.

The man figured he'd take his shot at getting both of us while we were distracted, but she hopped aside on silent feet and delivered a strong left hook to the villain's unguarded face. His head whipped to the side from the force, sending him stumbling back onto the sidewalk. His right katana barely missed my face. I leaned back to avoid its arcing path.

He grabbed his jaw and leveled an outright murderous glare at the hero who merely zipped between his twin blades and headbutted him so hard he collapsed onto the pavement. The woman began to secure his limbs as the katanas morphed back into fleshy hands.

"Nice work out there, Maestro," she praised, smiling up at me. Her deep brown eyes swirled as they flicked around and went in and out of focus. I recognized her as the Coffee Bean Hero: Chemex, as indicated by her coffee-filter-inspired outfit.

"You know who I am?" I illused, stepping closer. Her breath smelled strongly of coffee.

She continued to look around, big eyes taking in every detail. "Of course, I love all your videos online. We should probably take care of the woman in there. An ambulance will arrive in 53 seconds."

I blinked, trying to follow. She hopped between trains of thought like a spring-loaded rabbit.

She stood and beckoned me through the unhinged door of the jewelry store. A woman was hiding behind the counter, clutching her bleeding arm. The hero returned the bag the man had taken and checked on the employee.

"How did you see that?" I asked, in a bit of awe.

She pointed around the room, to a mirror on the left wall, a case still intact on the right and a sapphire necklace on the far wall. "Reflections. Just like how I can see the ambulance around that corner by the reflection in the electronics shop door."

I poked my head out the window and glanced down the street. The electronics shop in question was at least four blocks away. Between the cars, people, and constant swinging of the door, I couldn't imagine how she saw that, but I supposed those were the perks of having a quirk like hers.

My eyes found Rocket's across the street. I knew that I should help Chemex with the villain report, but I also didn't want him waiting over there too long.

"Hey," I illused, getting her attention. It was odd, seeing her eyes look at everything, only occasionally glancing my way to let me know she was listening. "I kinda have a thing..."

I gestured over my shoulder across the street, to which she smiled. "Of course, have fun on your date."

I frantically shook my head, feeling my face burning. "It's not like that," I assured her. "We're not dating."

Her eyes focused on me almost fully, which was even more unnerving. I took a deep breath and stepped to the side, standing in the way of Rocket's line of sight. I didn't know what Chemex saw on my face, but I didn't want him to see her response.

"But you want to?" She asked quietly, eyes narrowing. If she had smirked, I would've acted more defensive, but it was the way that her expression seemed genuinely curious that made me want to open up.

I blinked, looking away. "I don't know," I illused honestly.

Her smile was soft and fond. She put a hand on my shoulder and ushered me out. "Why don't you go find out, huh? And hey," her eyes continued their frantic search of our surroundings. "Be sure to consider me when looking into work studies this year. I think we'd have a good time, yeah?"

Her eyes found me once more and she smiled, waving me off as I wound my way between the parked emergency vehicles. As I approached my friend, I gave him what I hoped was a relieved smile.

I stooped to the ground and picked up my bag. When I met his eyes, something in my heart fractured.

His irises glistened in the setting sun like sunflowers petrified in amber. I sucked in a breath, seeing the fragile fear that he couldn't seem to hide.

If it were me, I wouldn't have wanted anyone to point it out, nor look so concerned, so I relaxed my face, choosing to continue on with our day as normal.

I signed, "So, arcade?"

Chapter 14 is dedicated to Maz1135