100: 𝙳𝚒𝚗𝚘 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎
Zoey was right. Karon really wasn't ever home anymore.
And that made Nova nervous. But she couldn't not show up for this, she had to meet with Jirou and get this project over with.
So she decided to take Zoey with her. Going early to read over the Essay and talk with her sister. Nova sat her down in the kids section of the public library.
"Alright, they have games and comic books and puzzles. I don't know how long it'll take, but are you okay with sitting here while we're working?" Nova asked, handing over a book or two she thought would interest Zoey.
"Are you guys friends?" Zoey asked, completely ignoring what Nova asked.
"I um... We're classmates. I don't know her that well. But you don't have to worry about that okay?"
"Why can't I sit with you guys?" She asked. Nova looked around nervously.
"I just... We don't need to be distracted by you talking. And you'll get bored anyways." Nova said, it was only partly true.
"I'll get bored here too." Zoey mumbled.
"Just come get me if you REALLY need anything. And please remember these books belong to the Library. And you can't take them home. Okay?" Nova said, looked nervously down at the report by Jirou. She had already read most of it, but wanted to skin through it again.
"Nova... I'm sorry... I'm doing better, I won't take anything." Zoey said with a small frown.. her big eyes seemed to be very upset. Almost shining as she pouted.
Nova hated having to remind her not to steal. But after her stunt at the Iida's, she couldn't afford not to. Zoey had broken her trust, sure Nova had forgiven her. But she still has to be cautious. Even if it meant bringing the mood down.
"I know. Just remember okay?"
Nova stood as Zoey nodded and eventually walked away into the tables in the research section. It wasn't that far away. And the kids section was tucked into a corner, so Nova knew Zoey couldn't walk out any exit without being seen by her.
Nova skimmed the pages of the short report. It was written similarly to how she had done her own. Split into parts. Every other supposedly written by each student.
Nova's were mainly a regurgitation of facts. It was detached and impersonal, but not rude. Whereas Jirou's covered emotional aspects of Earworm's life. Her family, her marriage, funeral and other connections Nova knew nothing about.
Four rolled around, then five more minutes. Nova began to worry that Jirou just decided not to show up at all. Which wouldn't be good for either of them.
But then Nova saw the girl walk from behind a few shelves. To her surprise it wasn't even from the entrance...
Jirou had been in the you h adults section the whole time. Probably before Nova and Zoey even got there. Nova felt bad, as though she was supposed to go find her.
"H-hi-" Nova stammered as Jirou took a seat. The girl didn't say anything at first, purposely keeping her head down to cover her eyes.
She still wouldn't look at her.
But then she reached into her jacket and pulled out Nova's report.
"How did you write this?" Jirou's voice sounded off. Nova was completely taken about.
"What do you mean... I-i just did some digging through records and-"
"No that's not what I-" her voice cracked and she looked up at Nova who just realized how red and damp her cheeks were.
She was... Crying.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry are you okay? I'll leave!" Nova immediately stammered in panic.
"No! H-how did you know how it felt? How could you write this? I was just so... I don't understand how you knew all this. The report it felt so real and it-it-" Jirou put it on the table and then put her head in her hands. Sobbing.
"I don't know! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you even more Jirou, please I-I please I shouldn't have written the report for you I just didn't want us to fail-" Nova said in fear. She tried to keep her voice down while waving her arms and standing up over Jirou. Who was now hunched over and crying into her hands.
"I-It was..." Jirou whispered, wiping her nose after crying for a few long moments. She looked up at Nova.
"It was... Really beautiful."
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"Are you sure it's a good idea for them to be alone?"
"Believe me, they need to talk it out." Mina waved Kaminari off, skimming through the romance books infront of her.
"But she looked so upset... What if something happens? What if they fight?" Kirishima asked, holding a few books for the others. Not that they really intended to check them out, really they were just there to support Jirou. And to possibly get lunch afterwards.
Their friend group had plans on hanging out, but Jirou had to cancel because of the report. Instead of ditching her they decided to just hang out in the library with her for a couple hours.
But things went downhill when she started reading Nova's report.
Denki could have sworn she was about to cry, but she didn't tell them what was in the report.
"They can work it out. Plus I don't think Nova is much of a fighter." Mina said with a frown. Handing am interesting book over to Kirishima to carry for her.
"She's the best fighter in our class." Denki pointed out.
"Bullshit..." Bakugou mumbled under his breath. Being suspiciously quiet. They hadn't expected him to be so well behaved.
"Shh no cursing in the library." Kirishima said with a small smile. Bakugou rolled his eyes.
"I can say whatever the fuck I want. As long as it's quiet." He hissed. "What are we even doing here? I'm fucking sitting down."
"You should read this book, it's really good." Mina said, passing over one of her romances.
Bakugou scoffed. "Yeah right... Like if ever read anything like that." He crossed his arms and glanced to the side.
Mina looked totally unconvinced, but dropped it. "Yeah sure." She tucked the book back into the shelf.
"I wanna play computer games." Denki whined. "Words hurt me."
"Dumbass."
"Bet I can beat you at the dinosaur game." Kaminari challenged Bakugou.
"What dinosaur game?!" He snapped, but he didn't seem willing to back away from the challenge.
"The one that pops up when Google doesn't load."
"The fucking chrome game?!"
"What? Ya scared?"
"You're fucking on. I'll kill you Duracell."
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
"Fuck... I'm dizzy." Kaminari whined.
"He just keeps going. Your reaction time is totally insane bro!" Kirishima said, leaning over Bakugou's shoulder as he absolutely destroyed Kaminari's high score.
"I'll beat you! Just give me another shot!"
"Get off me morons! I'm trying to beat the damn game!" Bakugou threw an elbow while rapidly tapping the key to make his dino jump over each of the quickly approaching cacti.
"Is that even possible?" Mina asked, skimming a book boredly. Looking for spice without actually reading the content.
"I can beat anything." Bakugou mumbled, clicking the button with extreme concentration.
"You didn't beat my sister."
"Ah!! Jeez where the fuck did you come from?!" Kaminari yelped and jumped to the side when he saw the small child standing right beside him.
She had walked up to their little group without hesitation and just stood there patiently.
"What the f- Damn it! You made me die you brat-"
"Stop cursing!!!" Mina immediately lectured, covering Denki and Bakugou's mouths.
"And yelling. You guys know you're supposed to be quiet in libraries... Right?" Zoey whispered, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Shhh"
"Who are you?!" Bakugou hissed, his tone slightly lower.
"Don't be mean, that's not manly." Kirishima frowned at him disapprovingly.
"You're Nova's little sister!" Mina gasped. "I remember you!"
"Yeah! You followed us around that one day we got ice cream." Zoey pointed at her and smiled. "That was funny."
"You did what now?"
"Haha! Kids and their imaginations!" Mina fake laughed in panic as Kirishima and the rest of the group looked at her in confusion. "You're adorable, what's your name again? Susie?"
"I'm Zoey." She frowned at the name Susie. But then smiled Brightly. "I like your color. Pinks my favorite."
"You're so sweet!" Mina gushed, hugging her immediately. "Thank you!"
"So... You're here with Nova?" Kirishima asked, getting on her level.
"Mhm. She didn't want to leave me at home alone. I got bored in the kids section and you guys are very loud." Zoey shrugged.
"Sorry about that. Bakugou just gets excited sometimes." The teen said with a smile, crouching by her.
"...Yeah. It's annoying." Zoey said, slowly reaching up a hand to touch Kirishima's hair. She didn't ask for permission, not that he minded. She pat his gelled hair with a smile.
"What did you just say? Go back to your mommy you little brat!" Bakugou snapped.
"My mommy is in jail." Zoey said with a straight face. Hand still on Kirishima's head.
"Da- darn in Bakugou!" Denki hissed.
"You should really be careful what you say to people." Zoey lectured with a small frown.
Bakugou fumed but kept his mouth shut.
"Your hair looks like my sister's." Zoey said, letting go of Kirishima's head.
"It's pretty cool right?" Kirishima asked with a smile.
"Why are you guys here? To play games?" Zoey asked, climbing onto a chair and sitting down.
She didn't feel like sitting alone in a library. This colorful group of kids was far more interesting than any book or puzzle she could play.
"We're here for our friend." Mina explained with a smile. Watching Zoey carfully. She was the cutest little girl Mina had ever seen, sweet too. With pink cheeks and golden hair. Her tiny wings made her look like an angel.
An angel with mismatched long pink and rainbow socks and heart overalls.
"Ooooh. The one Nova is doing school with? Sounds boring. I never have to do reports with other people." Zoey's said, absently tapping on the keys of a locked computer.
"You will someday." Denki sighed.
"That's true... I wanna go to UA like Nova. And you guys!" Zoey said with a big smile.
"That'll be totally awesome! I'm sure you'd do great Zoey." Kirishima smiled.
Of course he had no idea what her quirk was. But he knew that at her age, he would have loved for someone to be encouraging to his dreams. It was the manly thing to do.
"Mhm!" Zoey nodded happily. "I'm really fast, and sneaky!"
"That's for sure..." Denki whispered. Still thinking about how she almost appeared beside him. Without him even noticing.
"Do you want to go to UA because of Nova?" Mina asked curiously. Zoey nodded.
"Yeah! I wanna be cool just like her!"
"I wish my little sister was that sweet." Kaminari mumbled.
"Isn't she like... Four?" Mina asked.
He pouted and crossed his arms.
"Yeah, but still. She could stand to be more encouraging."
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
The crying had ended. Then surprisingly... They talked through it.
Jirou apologized. She said that she had felt horrible all year over how she acted in the bathroom. That she regretted it.
She saw Nova with her little sister. She heard Nova when she offered to leave for no reason other than Jirou's comfort.
Nova was genuinely good, while Jirou was awful.
She had been too nervous to say sorry, she thought Nova would hate her.
Then the sports festival rolled around and she had felt a different type of sick. Not fear of Nova's face, but horror over what happened to her. She realized that she wasn't that much different from the people who attacked her.
Guilt destroyed her.
Jirou couldn't look at Nova. But not out of fear, but out of regret and guilt.
And now, this report. This beautifully written report, based supposedly in Jirou's own perspective made everything in her snap.
"How... How did you know how it felt?" Jirou asked, blowing her nose into one of Nova's tissues.
"I... Um..." Nova looked away. She couldn't tell her that's how she felt when her father died. It wouldn't be fair.
How could she feel the same why an Rikko's death and Jirou did about her cousin's?
When Rikko was the one who killed her?
Jirou would definitely hate her then.
"I've... Lost people. That's how I felt... I figured... It might not have been much different for you." She said slowly, staying away from her Father and his name.
"I'm sorry..." Jirou whispered. Nova shook her head.
Too many people were apologizing to her, it made her nervous.
"Please... You don't have to be sorry. I'm glad we... Talked about it." She said slowly, patting her lightly on the back.
"How are you so nice?" Jirou sniffled. "I don't deserve it. No one does. You have every right to be mad you know. The same thing happened when Kirishima called you manly. Even if it was on accident, it was still mean."
Nova looked down at the table.
"I guess... You can't help how you feel about me. I can't blame you for being scared, and I understand why. I'm not entitled to being liked. I can't be mad at you for having an opinion." Nova said slowly.
"But you're a person. You are entitled to being treated like one. A-and you shouldn't be villianized. It's not fair." Jirou shook her head.
"I guess not... But that's okay." Nova shrugged sadly. "I'm used to things being like that."
"That's sad..."
"...I guess so." Nova said with a frown. Looking at her notebook. "We should um... Get started. So we can be done before it's too dark... If you're okay with that."
Nova knew her change in subject was obvious. But neither girl seemed to have a problem with it.
Aizawa was right, they both had two well done reports and lots of information on the subject...
It wouldn't take them long.
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