❝ 継続は力なり。❞

EYES NARROWING, the blond huffs. "How the hell do you know that it's me, Dumbo?"

"You always smell sweet." Yue shrugs. "Maybe even like caramel, I'm not sure."

All Bakugou can do is stare at her appearance. Both appalled and stunned by her out-washed eyes and milky hair. He gulps. The flame of culpability in his chest rises, eating him up inside.

"Move, Fireball." He puts his balled fists into his pants, spinning around to get her to class. "You'll have to listen to me from now on."

"What? No." She immediately declines, face scrunching up at the irritating command. "I'm waiting for my guardian to finally pick me up. I can't check my watch, but that person sure as hell is late."

He clicks his tongue, scoffing. "Newsflash, Dumbo, I'm your guardian."

"Funny. Now move along before my guardian will be scared away by the scowl you probably have on your stupid face again." The white-haired girl dismisses him by a hand.

Indeed, he's scowling—but it's simply his mostly worn expression. "I'm not joking. And you better hurry now before I get late to class because of you."

Yue blinks while processing the unbelievable facts. "But... I was told that my guardian volunteered... You sure were forced to look after me, then."

"Why? Do you think I wouldn't volunteer?" asks Bakugou in irritation.

"Yeah." She shrugs casually.

Few heavy breaths escape him, trying to control himself. "Start walking now!" demands the male.

"How the hell do you think I'm supposed to lead the way with my eyes! In case you haven't noticed, I'm blind" Yue retorts sharply, pulling her under-eye areas down to stress her saying. 

At that he can simply blink, muttering curse words under his breath while beginning to strut forward. Bakugou mutters in a low tone, "Just stay behind me, dumb-ass."

Finally, the two agree on something. Both of them stay silent while Bakugou walks in front of her, sometimes glancing over his shoulder to make sure she isn't trailing behind too much or lost. She is able to follow him by the sweet scent that seems to always linger around him.

"Fucking great. We're late." Another scoff is blown into the air by him, knocking on the door while doing that.

Bakugou enters the classroom first, already receiving teasing complaints from his classmates. But all of them silence as soon as Yue steps foot into the room, stunned and shocked.

"Sh-Shi—"

"SHIROHONO-SAN!"

All of a sudden, the entirety of the class throw themselves at her, yelling thousands of sweet and relieved words that come out as inaudible to her.

Said girl is laying on the floor now, clutching her head. Her cheeks are dusted with a soft pink because of the sudden attention as a coy smile plays on her lips.

In fear of colliding against anyone and hurting them, she stays in a seated position until they have calmed down.

"If you guys don't move away, she's going to stay there the whole day. May I remind you that she still can't see," states Aizawa as a matter-of-fact, his words slicing through the chaos of his students.

With widened eyes, they mutter apologies and immediately help Yue back up.

Kaminari exclaims out of nowhere, "You look like Neji!"

"Really, dude?" mutters Kirishima while Sero smacks the back of the blonde's head.

Chuckling, Yue waves a reassuring hand at the two friends. She then turns toward Kaminari, smiling, "I know, right? If I had my blue hair right now, I'd straight-up be Hinata."

A lovestruck expression spreads across Kaminari's face, mouth gaping open at the beautiful sound that just left her smiling lips. He's not the only one, though; the whole class is simply astonished by Yue's lightheartedness—even considering her disabled condition.

To see her in this state after being like an unapproachable stone is a mystery to them.

"It's great that you can join class again, Shirohono." Aizawa brings the attention back to him, causing her to spin around at his voice. "But, please, let's start the lesson now. I have something entertaining for you guys."

"Of course, sensei." Yue bows her head. "I apologize."

Just to have Bakugou turn her around by shoulders roughly, so that she can really face their teacher now. "You were bowing at a wall, dumb-ass."

"Oh..." Sheepishly, she scratches the back of her head.

They soon sit back down on their seats. Yaoyorozu helps Yue finding hers, since she's her table-neighbor. "The small break has had positive effects on you, Shiro-san," says the black-haired girl, smiling. "I'm glad to see you happy."

As a response, Yue mirrors her smile. "It did."

Yue feels the unusual warmth in her chest. But, this time, it doesn't feel forced—or worse; as if someone flicked a switch on. In fact, she feels welcomed; at the right place.

There are no voices in her head. None from the past expressions she used to hear everyday like a broken record-player; playing over and over again, finding no end in the constantly spiraling wheel. Now, there is no voice in her head that tells her what to do, when to speak, and when to listen.

It feels peculiar, but absolutely peaceful at that. Yue can finally be herself after struggling. Finally, she can open her mouth and speak without the insecurities eating her brain up after a long, long awaited time.

Utterly and sincerely, she's at peace.

"It's time to formulate your codenames. Your Hero names."

Immediately, the class erupts in cheers and smiles. "Oh, my God! Yes! Now this is makin' my chest swell!"

"This is related to the draft nominations by Pros I mentioned the other day," continues Aizawa. "The nominations will truly start mattering after you've gained some experience and your adaptable fighting ability is judged during your sophomore and senior years."

"In other words, the nominations you're getting this year are more akin to expressions of 'interest' in your future potential." He curtly nods while talking. "And it's not rare that that interest dries up by graduation or is simply unilaterally dropped."

Then, their teacher shows the tally of nominations on the blackboard, which makes Yue sigh; obviously unable to read it.

"Typically, the results are more balanced. But, this year, the attention leaned more towards three of you."

All of her classmates start yelling around in either despair or joy. Yue purses her lips, bitter that everyone can read it except for her.

You brought this to yourself, dumb-ass.

"You have more than three-thousand nominations, Shirohono-kun!" says Yaoyorozu with a sweet beam on her face, which causes her to jolt awake. "As expected!"

Huh? Her eyes widen, still comprehending the unexpected news. "Woah..." mutters the said girl in shock.

Aizawa furthermore explains that his class needs hero names for their upcoming internships. "Of course, placeholder names are fine, too, but something appropriate..."

"Because if not, it'll be hell from there!" A new voice has been added to the conversation. Yue's eyes perk up, recognizing it as Midnight's voice. "The names you pick are the names that the world will know you as!"

Before Aizawa leaves, he adds, "The way your futures end up will approach the image projected by the names you choose. It's all down to that old phrase: 'Names and natures often agree.'"

Fifteen minutes are then given for the students to decide their names. Deep in thought, Shirohono taps the pen against her head.

Various of ideas are floating freely in her head, but, in the end, she's found the perfect choice. Swiftly, Yue scribbles it down.

With a swift gaze, her table-neighbor stares at the funny-looking sight. "You're writing on your desk," mutters Todoroki impassively.

Alarmed, her lips part ajar. The pen falls out of her hand, hiding the scribbled spot by the sign. She releases an elongated exhale. Discrimination.

"I cannot stop twinkling!"

An amused smile spreads across Yue's lips.

"Call me 'Alien Queen'!" exclaims Mina excitedly. The snowy girl can't see it, but she's sure that Ashido is smiling widely.

"Ever since elementary school, I've known what I want my name to be," Asui states, holding her sign up. "Froppy!"

Sounds like a yoghurt company. Cute.

"Red Riot!" A proud expression is on Kirishima's face as he presents his codename.

"Funny. Reminds me of Crimson Riot." Yue chuckles lightly, but Kirishima's exhilarated eyes soon find her. "Yeah! He's retro, but the kind of hero image I'm aiming for is just like Crimson!"

More and more tries of her classmates pass by. Unfortunately, they all fail - being either too long or too dull.

"Shirohono, it's your turn," Midnight announces.

Nodding, she stands up. Not even a second later, her feet stumble over the legs of her desk and collide against it, making many students gasp in fright. "I'm fine," murmurs Yue, trying to hide the fresh pain in her knee by a forced chuckle.

"Can't even walk straight," a low voice grumbles immediately. Bakugou stands up and walks over to her struggling state.

As he's standing beside Yue, he puts two neat fingers behind her head. "Just walk and listen to my commands, dumb-ass."

"Once I can see again, I'll show you what happens when you command me around all the time, you damn roach," mutters Yue in response.

She detests the feeling of being dependent on someone else, and Bakugou's aura simply radiates the adoration of having the irritated girl wrapped around his fingers.

He only laughs in an almost degrading manner. "Yeah, yeah. Move now."

Sero comments, "You know that you can simply lead the way in a nicer way, right? Considering that you're the reason why she's blind—"

"Shut the hell up, Long-Teeth!" The blonde yells defensively in an instant.

While the class is whispering among themselves, Yue positions herself behind the desk with Bakugou's help, who stands a few meters beside her with crossed arms and his trademarked sneer—ready to assist her back to her desk once she's finished.

Everyone turns silent as they await her choice impatiently.

"Azurno."

One single word causes the whole class to erupt
in screams that are filled with question-marks. "What does that mean, Shirohono?" asks Midnight, curious.

"It's the combination of the two words 'azure' and 'inferno.'" She shrugs casually. "My Quirk is fire—an inferno—which is blue—a synonym for azure."

"Sweet and creative!" Midnight comments, smiling widely. "I like it!"

Azurno.

The reasoning she's named isn't exactly the root of her choice. It was simply a gut feeling—as if the name is destined to be.

Bakugou leads the sightless girl back to her seat after that, while repeatedly telling her to 'not touch him in any way and to keep her distance,' to which she can only chuckle teasingly; doing exactly those things out of pure and evil provocation.

"Shoto."

"Really creative," counters Yue, nodding in false enthusiasm. "I wonder how he came up with that."

The boy sends her a calm yet also slightly triggered expression, which she can obviously not see. He states at her with empty eyes.

It's not that she's mean. She simply loves to throw sarcastic and sly remarks into the air—especially at Todoroki to get a reaction out of him. Yue can't wrap her head around why, but she enjoys provoking the aloof boy. All she does is wait for a counterattack from him, which, sadly, never happens.

"King of Explodo-Kills."

What the actual fuck.

Waves of laughter bubble up in her chest, quickly holding her hand up to stifle it. She snorts soundly, causing Bakugou to immediately yell, "What are you laughing at, you damn Fireball? I'll blast you up!"

Now, she's laughing loudly, clutching her stomach. His threats are simply so hilarious and entertaining to her—seeing him like a small Pomeranian with anger management issues that is yelling at a wall—which is the reason as to why she can't hold herself back anymore.

The class is in awe as they witness her soothing sounds of joy and amusement, smiling to themselves. "Good job, Bakugou!" Kirishima winks, holding his thumbs upward.

"What the hell are you saying, Weird-Hair?!" His voice rises even more, making her laughter do as well. He keeps on shouting, until Midnight advises him to sit back down on his seat.

Man, I wish I could see his angered face with my own eyes. She wipes the tears of joy from the corners of her eyes.

"Tenya."

Though a frown is soon on her face as she hears Iida's decision. To say that Yue secretly admires him is clear to say, so she's sort of concerned as to why he's chosen something so plain.

Yet the whole class silences as Midoriya shows his name. Shirohono sighs. "You know what, this is discriminative toward blind people..."

"A-Ah, I apologize, Shirohono-kun!" Broccoli is swift to apologize, cheeks reddened. "I chose Deku."

Deku?

"Up until now, I didn't like it at all. But a certain someone changed the meaning of this word for me and blew my world wide open... I was so happy." He begins beaming an adorable smile. "This will be my hero name."

Take that, Bakugou. A grin plays on her lips, arms folded over her chest in an almost proud way.

After choosing the names, the class ends. The shrill sound of the bell ringing indicates the time for lunch, causing the students to leave the classroom.

"Oi, Fireball, stand up." Hands in his pockets, Bakugou halts in front of her.

Following his voice, she then shakes her head toward the direction. "You can go. I'm not hungry."

A lofty expression plants on his face, eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. "I don't care. You have to follow me around, and I want to go to the cafeteria to eat, so we're going to the cafeteria to eat."

With a loud sigh, Yue repeats, "You can go, I'm not holding you up. I'll be waiting for you here until you're finished."

"Why the hell do you always have the need to disagree with me?"

Another swift sigh is exhaled by her at his angered question, to which she retorts teasingly, "Why do you?"

The sound of him clenching his teeth until it starts jarring can be heard, resulting Yue to hold in her snort—amused by his reaction. "Stand up now or—"

"Or what?" challenges the white-haired girl, head tilted to the side.

"Or I'll blast you there!" He holds his fist up, his last amount of patience completely faded by now, nostrils flaring.

A false layer of hurt is on her face, touching the spot over her heart softly. "You're really going to fight a blind, weak girl? How disgraceful..."

"You know damn well that you're not weak," mutters Bakugou lowly—more to himself than to her—but she still notices it.

Thus, her eyebrows rise, stunned. Incoherently, Yue blinks.

A small, accomplished grin forms on her lips, looking down to hide it. "You know what? I'll go to the cafeteria with you."

"Not like you had another chance, anyway," he counters.

She scoffs dryly. "Yeah, yeah. Just lead the way, Hedgehog

"Don't tell me what to do, Fireball!"

"Don't you want to eat anything, Shiro?" asks Kirishima, his mouth stuffed with rice.

At that, she waves her hands around dismissively, a shy smile tracing her lips. "Ah, no. I'm not hungry."

"I'm going to be honest, Shirohono-san," says Sero now, gaining her attention. "You had us all fooled. The whole class really thought that your Quirk was simply blue fire. You did a great job at hiding it!"

Her head falls, fidgeting with her fingers. "It wasn't supposed to slip in the first place," she murmurs to herself, but it's too quiet for the others to hear it.

"But as you collapsed to the ground, we were all worried..." Mina states, causing her eyes to widen. "We immediately went to look after you, but Edgeshot told us to stay outside..."

A look of puzzlement and doubt paints her low-casted face, the emotions in her eyes leaving her and causing the white color to stay blank. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Chuckling, Kirishima questions.

Again, she repeats it, but with more elaboration this time, "Why were you guys worried?"

The words aren't rough nor cold—rather light and puzzled—simply lacking understanding of the situation. Yue gulps, eyebrows furrowed.

"Because you're our friend, Shiro."

Dazed, her eyes whip to Kaminari's voice.

Friend?

Yue believes that words are strong—that they can overwhelm and wound people at the same time. Yet, this time, those words are her anchor in the deep, dark ocean she's so lost in.

Soon on, her cheeks heat up, just at the same time as her heart flutters. "I never really had any friends..." admits the coy girl sheepishly, her feet dangling underneath the table.

In unison, the group glances in between each other. "Why?"

"I had to train a lot and wasn't really allowed to go outside..." Yue shrugs.

Rule number three: Don't reveal anything about your past.

Swiftly, she changes the subject, before anyone could ask any further questions. "W-Well, at least I'm back at school now..."

"Honestly, I never thought that Bakugou would do the job of taking care of you, Shiro-san," says Kaminari while letting out a laugh.

Instead of responding with an irritated shout, the said boy stays silent. Because of that, Yue's eyebrows furrow slightly. "I didn't, either."

"Even though it is quite valid," Sero adds. "Considering that it's fault as to why you're blind now. Will you ever be able to see again?"

Due to his firstly said accusation, her frown deepens. Yue—puzzled—mutters to herself in a whisper, which no one's ears capture, "His fault...?"

"I would feel so bad if I did that, Shirohono. I wouldn't know how to react." Mina sends her an empathetic look, but then smiles again as her gaze lands back on the awfully silent blonde. "But Bakugou seems to be handling it well!"

More and more, Bakugou sinks deeper down in his seat, his stare fixated on the table. It seems like he's deep in thought, disconnected from the outside world and bind to his mind.

Suddenly, alarming signals are sent from Yue's feet,
making her jump.

While the others shoot her confused gazes, all she can focus on is that her seismic sense has reacted to something. The vibrations from her feet cause her to have a vague image of how the group is seated. But, as quick as it comes, it disappears again.

Yue is still deeply shocked, yet also happy. It's not broken. A relieved sigh escapes her, but that breath hitches in her throat as another wave of vibrations hit her—this time, though, more engrossed on one person in particular.

Not wasting another thought, Yue grabs Bakugou by his collar and drags him away from the group.

Even as she's bumping into people because of her still blinded eyes, she continues. He keeps on yelling at her, but she ignores his complaints.

"You damn Fireball, don't fucking touch me—"

"Listen!" Her thick voice slices through the air, cutting him off, as they're standing in the middle of the hallway that's abandoned by humans. "You need to train with me!"

Out of a pistol, he retorts, "What? Hell no!"

"You have to!" It's almost beggarly now, eyes big. "If you train with me, I'll be able to sense things again, which leads to me being able to live without depending on you."

Then, she begins rambling, saying her thoughts out loud, "I've figured it all out now! You are the reason why it was blocked in the first place, so you have to unlock it now, too! I don't know how or why, though, but we'll figure that out over time..."

"What the hell are you saying?" His confused but also irritated saying cuts her off.

Shirohono pushes him away from her by a few meters. "Walk towards me!" she says while being on the other side of the hallway.

"I'm not listening to your dann commands—"

"Please."

Because of one single word, he silences. It may not seem necessarily changing to others, but he's aware that she would never beg someone to do something—not even if it's a life-or-death situation. That's just how stubborn she is.

Bakugou scoffs, but starts walking, nonetheless.

Sadly, no vibrations are given from her feet. Her shoulders slouch in defeat. But the thoughts of Bakugou being the root of the whole scenario causes her passion to be lifted again.

"Continue! Don't stop until I tell you to!" If it were not for her light and non-commanding tone, he would've fought her right then and there. He still scowls while uttering curse words under his breath, though.

"This is bullshit," mutters the crimson-eyed boy.

Seconds pass by, but no words for him to halt are given from her—simply waiting for a signal patiently.

Now, Bakugou is mere inches away from her form, but she still doesn't sense anything. Yue exhales pensively as he stares down at her, neither of them saying a single word.

"Weird. I could've sworn that there were signals..." She places her chin on her fingers, exhaling calmly.

Uncountable possibilities and reasons dash through her head like a runner on a marathon; about to reach the goal, but struggling while doing so. Yue is sure that she isn't in the wrong, but that something isn't right, either.

All Bakugou can do is stare at her contemplative figure, which doesn't even notice both his elongated gaze and the proximity—oblivious to it.

Little by little, flames of shame light up inside of him, firing him up until there's nothing left but guilt and regret. He clamps his fists tightly, turning them white-knuckled, while also having his jaw clenched in nothing else but growing irritation.

The more he stares at her oblivious form, the more his anger rises.

Not at her, though. At himself.

Wind is knocked out of her lungs as she can feel the vibrations beneath her feet, sending appalled signals all the way up to her body. Shocked, she looks up at him, her seismic sense causing her to have an image of how her surroundings look like.

"Bakugou—"

"Why the hell aren't you mad at me?!" His utterly exasperated voice slices the slightly serene atmosphere they once shared, silencing her immediately. "Why don't you fight me?!"

Perplexed, she stammers, "Why should I—?"

"I fucking turned you blind!" He grabs her shoulders, pressing them deeper into the window until it starts aching. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

All Yue can do is listen wide-eyed. With every passing word, his voice turns raspier, almost weaker. "I saw your fucking scars and that damn injury beneath your chest! Why didn't you fucking tell anyone! How couldn't you stop before it all happened? Why did you have to wait until I turned you blind, you fucking dumb-ass!"

Her heartbeat raises because of all the things he's revealing. He knows too much.

A small, inaudible gasp escapes her at the new discovery. He feels... guilty.

"Bakugou, it's not your fault—"

"Shut the hell up!" Now, he's onto grabbing her collars, pulling and pushing her around. "How could you act so calm about the fact that you can't see anymore! That I'm the reason as to why you can never see again!"

Even though she's been trying to compose herself in this scenario, she can't help her own irritation at his doubting self. So, Yue harshly pushes him away, freeing herself from his grip. "Listen, you stubborn piece of shit!"

For the first time, her voice rises, and he's actually able to be the cause of her complete loss of composure—yelling after being calm and apathetic about everything for many, many years.

"It's not your damn fault that I'm blind! It's temporary, okay? After a week or two, I'll be able to see again! So stop feeling fucking guilty over something you have nothing to do with! I'm the fucking reason why! It's me, not you! Get over your damn self!"

What a discovery the two are making about themselves. Priceless.

"It's in my Quirk, okay?" Her voice has turned into its usual lightness again, breathing heavily. "If I have everything under control again, nothing like that will happen again. I may be sightless now, yes, but that's not for a long time. Most important of all, it's not your fault... I've just been triggered at that moment."

Swallowing the huge lump in her throat, she exhales shakily. "In all actuality, I'm sorry... I-I could've done stuff that would've ended things deadly... I'm sorry for putting you in that situation. I still have no control over myself, and I'm sorry..."

There is a silence right after.

None of them think of breaking the calm after the storm. They stand there, unmoving.

The two stubborn students have learned things about each other that would've rather been left unsaid in their own point of views.

But the heaviness on their chests were simply unbearable, causing them to feel lighter at heart after revealing one of their darkest truths.

Obviously, they won't ever mention it again. And if anyone of them did, it would be time for a rematch.

They have way too much of an ego and underlying competitiveness toward each other to ever slip something so vulnerable about themselves. To have anyone else see them as weak would be the death to both of them—one thing they can agree on, after all.

Still, deep down, there is a relieving warmth in their chests about the discovery they've made about each other.

FUN-FACT: Yue has always dreamed of going to the observatory with a friend. It's one of her biggest dreams.