Chapter Text
“Mommy?” the young girl asked. “Can we go to the park?”
“How about… we have some lunch and then we get ready to go, okay?” the mother replied, opening the cupboard to find some food. “Maybe while we’re there you’ll make some friends. It’ll be good for you to know some people at your new school before you start.”
“Okay, mommy!” the girl grinned, taking her spot at the table. “What are you making?”
“Sandwiches,” the woman replied, cutting a slice off of a loaf of bread. “How about you go pick out a sweater while I make these, okay? It's pretty windy today.”
“Okay!” The girl stood up and ran into her room.
For a few moments all that could be heard was the mother softly humming to herself, the plates clinking as they were set onto the countertop, the soft crunch of a sandwich being squished together.
“Pink or purple?” the little girl asked from her room, breaking the soft ambience a bit.
“Oh, darling, I don’t know, which one do you like better?” the mother asked.
“I like the green one the most,” the girl answered.
“Why not wear the green one, then?” the mother questioned, setting the plates onto the table.
“Daddy says that green makes me look like a boy and I should wear more girly clothes,” the young girl frowned a bit.
“Well, your father isn’t here is he? He’s all the way back in America, baby. And, it doesn’t matter what colour you wear, it doesn’t make you any less of a girl does it? And, no matter what clothes you wear, I think being happy is more important than his opinion.” the mother reminded the girl. “Come eat, we’ll head out after okay? I think you should wear your rain boots with the bees on it, yeah? There’s lots of puddles out today, and I think they look cute with both your purple and your green sweater.”
“Okay, thank you mommy!” the girl smiled, sitting down and digging into her food.
“Of course, darling. Now, would you like carrot sticks or cucumber slices with that?” the mother asked, deciding to add a vegetable to their meal.
“Uhh… coomumber!!”
“Coming right up!”
XOXO
“Woah, slow down, silly, you haven’t been to the park around here yet, I don’t want you to get lost!” The mother lectured the little girl, who had been very much taking advantage of her rubber boots, and was running down the sidewalk splashing in as many puddles as she could. She was occasionally glancing down at her phone, awaiting a message from her lawyer.
“No, I have! Nana took me yesterday! I remember the way!” the girl corrected, very much going the wrong way. “I pinky promise!”
“I believe you, but sweetheart, the park is that way…” the mother chuckled slightly, gently taking her daughter’s hand, guiding her the right way. As the pair approached the park, the small girl’s excitement only grew, and she was beginning to buzz with anticipation.
“Mommy, when we get there, can you push me on the swings?” the girl asked.
“Of course, darling.” her mother responded. “If there’s other kids, I want you to try to talk to them, okay?”
“Yes, mommy…”
“That’s a good girl,” the mother praised.
They walked in silence for a few moments, the little girl continuing to happily jump through the puddles littered on the sidewalk. As they approached the gate the girl slowed down to observe the people enjoying the park.
The little girl gasped, “Mommy, look, someone brought their puppy!!”
“And, what a cute puppy it is,” the mother smiled softly. “Do you still want to go on the swings?”
“Yes, please!” the girl grinned, running into the park, toward the swing sets. The mother jogged behind her, tote bag in hand, in an attempt to keep up with her daughter. The girl sat down on the swing next to a young boy, about the same age as her. The girl waited patiently for her mother, watching her approach.
“Hi!” the boy next to her exclaimed excitedly, drawing her attention away from her mother.
“Hello!” she grinned.
“I’m Hanta Sero an’ I like heroes!” the boy grinned back.
“I’m Emma Smith, and I like butterflies!!” the girl responded.
“Oh, sweetheart, have you already made a friend?” the mother asked.
“Do you wanna play with me on the monkey bars?” Hanta asked.
“Sure!!” Emma agreed, hopping off the swings. “Mommy, I don’t need your help on the swings anymore!”
“Okay, be careful,” the mother lectured.
“I will!” the little girl agreed, running off after the little boy, toward the monkey bars.
Ms. Sakuta smiled to herself, “Maybe things will be fine here for her after all.” She sat on a nearby bench, and pulled out her book and her phone, as she knew that she (and, of course her family) would probably want pictures of this later.
“Hanta! I bet you couldn’t get all the way across!” the girl challenged.
“I can!” the boy replied, as he used his protruding elbows to shoot tape around the bars and pull himself across. “See I did it!”
“No fair! You cheated!” the girl pouted.
“Did not!”
“Did too! You used your quirk!” the girl said.
“Well, it’s not cheating if my quirk is a part of me!” the boy replied, quite wisely for a four year old.
“Yes is, ‘cause my quirk can’t help me do the monkey bars!” the girl insisted.
“What’s your quirk?” he asked.
“Oh, I can breath underwater, it’s not really cool like yours…” the girl chuckled shyly.
“WOAH! That’s so cool! You’re like a real life mermaid!” the boy grinned. “I don’t really know what my quirk can do, it’s not too useful, I can shoot this tape stuff out of my arms…”
“Woahhhh….” the girl gasped. “No. You’re totally wrong! That’s so cool! Mine's just scary!”
The boy blushed shyly, “Thank you…”
“Of course!”
From the bench twenty feet away, the mother was watching her little girl play and argue with pride, her book long forgotten about. When they moved back to Japan, she’d been unnecessarily nervous. Emma’s japanese had it’s rough patches, and she didn’t know anyone her own age. Sure, she had her mother living down the street happy to babysit at any point, but she felt guilty constantly taking advantage of her and she didn’t have anyone else to keep an eye on the four year old while she was at work. She considered herself awfully lucky in some aspects. For one, it was a lot easier than she thought it’d be to move her entire life (and her daughter’s) back to her home country, and she was able to get a child support agreement easier than most parents in her situation.
The mother was engrossed in her thoughts, and didn’t notice another woman approaching.
“Are you that girl’s mother?” the woman asked, sitting down next to the mother.
“Yes, I am. I’m Haru Sakata, and you are?” she introduced herself.
“Oh! I’m Hayami Sero, I’m the little boy over there’s mum,” she introduced.
“It’s great to meet you!” Haru grinned.
“It’s a pleasure!” Mrs. Sero chuckled. “I’m just glad Hanta is finally opening up a bit.”
“I was so worried that Emma wouldn’t make any friends, if I’m being honest. We just moved here, so she doesn’t really know anyone,” Sakata chuckled awkwardly.
“Oh! Yes, well do you have any idea what school you’re going to enroll her in?” Mrs. Sero asked, curiously.
“Well, I was kind of hoping that she’d make some friends before we decide that,” Sakata shrugged.
“Well, here’s my number, we’ll keep in touch, yeah?” Mrs. Sero prompted. “Hanta and I have to head home, but it was nice meeting you.”
“It was my pleasure,” she smiled. “Hope to run into you two again.”
“Well, we live just down the street, so we frequent this park quite a bit.”
“Really? We also live nearby! What street do you live on?” Haru asked, feeling hopeful.
“Cherry Street!” Mrs. Sero smiled.
“Ooh! We live on the corner of Cherry Street and Wahne Road!”
“Oh, that’s great! You have my number, we should definitely chat more!”
“Alright, I’ll just grab Hanta, we really should be going.”
“It was great meeting you!” Haru chuckled.
None of them were aware at the time, but that meeting was single handedly responsible for lifetime friendships, full of chaos and fun. And, that was more than any of them could ever hope to wish for.
XOXO
“Emma, sweetheart, baby. I’m sorry. I know you want to stay with me, but mommy has to go to work,” Haru smiled sadly, embracing her daughter in a reassuring hug. “You’re gonna spend the day with Hanta and Mrs. Sero, you’re gonna have a great day. If you ask nicely, I’m sure Hanta’s mom would take you guys to the park or put on a movie.”
The girl wiped her tears with a sniffle. “R-really?”
“Really,” confirmed Haru, who sat down to close the velcro on her daughter’s shoes. “I promise. And, mommy will be done with work as soon as she can, okay?”
“Okay, mommy…” the little girl nodded along.
After a moment of hesitation, Haru stood up, picking her daughter up to rest on her hip. “Alright, let’s get going before I’m late. You grabbed your teddy, right?”
“Yes, mommy!”
“Cool, let’s go.”
Haru slid on her shoes, before walking out the door, making sure to grab her keys and lock it behind them. When she made it to the sidewalk she set Emma down beside her, making sure to intertwine the young girl’s hand with her own to guide her as they walked.
When they got down the street to the brown brick home with the tire swing out front (yes, this was the descriptor Hayami gave them to find the house), Hanta was quick to run out the front door, still in his ‘Spiderman’ pajamas, as he was beyond excited for the day. Emma, of course, was also extremely excited, so without a second thought, she let go of her mother’s hand and ran up their laneway to her friend.
“Hanta!”
“Emma”
“Hi Ms. Sakuta!” the young boy waved excitedly.
“Hello, Sero,” she greeted politely. “How are you this morning?”
“I’m really good ‘cuz I’m really excited!!” he beamed.
“Oh that’s good! I’m glad to hear it!” she smiled. “Alright, I’ll talk to your mother for a quick second, then I’ll be off to work. Emma, please behave yourself. Mind your manners.”
“Yes mom…” grumbled Emma.
And so, Haru went inside to go find Mrs. Sero, and the kids were left to their own devices. Probably not the best decision, but hindsight is the best prescription isn’t it?
“Come on! I have a treehouse in the backyard!” Hanta pulled her behind him. “The ladder is kinda hard to climb buts I can do it like Spiderman!”
“Woah, that's so cool!” Emma grinned. “Is your mommy really okay with that though?”
“I don’t know, I've never asked her,” the small boy shrugged. “It’s okay! I’m always careful! See?”
Hanta shot some tape out of his elbows, and wrapped it on a branch, before the sticky white strip retracted pulling the boy up, he looked down below him. “See? I’m good at this!”
“Your quirk is so cool…”
“I can come down and grab you, too!” the boy proudly said, lowering himself back down the tree to grab her.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Emma hesitated.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s fine!” shrugged Hanta.
You see, while Hanta’s tape was quite useful, he was still quite young and his quirk hadn’t fully developed yet, so while he was perfectly capable of lifting himself, holding up both of them was a different story. The tape ripped, and sent them falling into the grass with a loud thud.
The children were sprawled out on the plush, green grass and they started cackling.
“Oh my god, Emma!”
“I know!”
“I’m sorry, I thought I could do it,” he apologized, an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck.
Emma giggled, beaming, “It’s okay! That was fun!”
“Does anywhere hurt?” he asked, concerned.
“No, I’m okay, Hanta.”
XOXO
“Mrs. Sero?” Emma asked. “Can we go to the beach?”
“Why do you wanna go to the beach all the time? Beaches are dumb…” Hanta grumbled. He was still a bit annoyed about the last time they’d gone to the beach, he’d left with his tape dispensers full of sand. “Can we go for ice cream instead.”
“No they aren’t!” she argued back. “Beaches aren’t dumb!”
“Yes, they are! They’re sandy and it's always too hot!” he complained.
“Well, if you two want to go anywhere you have to stop arguing,” Mrs. Sero chuckled, as the pair got quiet. “Let’s compromise. There’s an ice cream stand at the beach. Is that okay?”
“Yes!” they yelled in sync.
“Okay. Go put your bathing suits on and grab the sand toys. I’ll grab the towels and the wagon, okay?” she smiled.
“Yay!” the both yelled, running down the hall.
Emma grabbed her baby blue one-piece bathing suit and ran into the bathroom to change. She quickly stripped off her clothes and pulled the bathing suit on. As an after-thought, she put her jean shorts back on over it, before opening the door to see Hanta in his black swim trunks, his arms full sand toys. She grabbed a plastic bucket from his hands.
“Come on… hurry up!” she urged.
“Fine…” he sighed.
When they opened the back door, Mrs. Sero was there packing a beach-bag with towels and sunscreen, and she also had grabbed the wagon from the garage. “Climb in!”
On the way there, the pair decided to keep themselves occupied by playing I spy. It was a creative game, with few repeats. Not only were the kids occupied, but it entertained Mrs. Sero.
“I spy with my little eye… Something yellow!”
“OH! OH! OH! Is it Ms. Baker’s flowers?!”
“YES!”
“Good one!”
“I spy with my little eye… something that is… blue!”
“Is it my mommy’s shirt?”
“YES!”
“Oh ok. I spy with my little eye something that is… red.”
“Is it the wagon?”
“Uh huh!”
“Boring… I spy with my little eye something that is… white!”
“The sidewalk?”
“No….”
“The clouds.”
“The clouds!!”
“Alright… We’re almost there!” Hanta’s mother announced with a slight giggle.
When they arrived at the beach, both kids were excited, Hanta getting hyped on the way. Emma immediately jumped out of the wagon, running to the water, not going very deep yet. Hanta followed her lead, getting out, grabbing the buckets and sand toys so he could build a sand castle. Hayami sighed anxiously, knowing it wouldn’t be long before Emma went deeper into the ocean than someone her age should, taking advantage of her quirk. She was glad the girl was having a great time, and was glad she was getting the opportunity to explore her quirk further, but it bothered her that if something went wrong, it would be too late by the time she would see.
“Emma,” Hanta called out, dragging out the ‘a’ at the end. “Can you find me seashells?” he asked. “Please.”
“I’ll find stuff for your sand castle!” she agreed proudly, going under the water.
This. This was her favorite place in the world, she was under the sea, amongst the fish and the seaweed. She could see the bubbles occasionally floating to the beautiful rippled surface. She could feel the current flow past her if she got deep enough. But, for now, her goal was to find sea shells.
As she swam along the sandy bottom, she could see the fish swimming away around her, she could even see some coral way off in the distance. The sun’s rays felt nice, shining through the water, hitting her skin. Jackpot!
She came back to the surface a few moments later, carrying some shells, along with a starfish she’d poached. She’d mostly gathered some common lightning whelks, but also carried a few others.
“Woah! You found so many!” Hanta gasped. “These are perfect !”
“I found a really good spot!” she grinned in response.
“Good job! Those shells are very pretty,” Hayami praised, looking up from her book. “Wow! Your sand castle looks really cool, bud.”
“Thanks, mommy.”
XOXO
“Hanta! Can you braid my hair? It’s in my face!” Emma asked, annoyed with the stray hair that refused to stay out of her face or tucked behind her ears.
“Yeah, yeah. Sure,” Hanta sighed. “You have a hair tie right?”
“Always,” Emma nodded, handing him the black elastic band.
And so, Hanta got to work weaving Emma’s wavy rusty coloured, auburn locks together. They sat under the shade of a tree on the playground at school. When he finished, he twisted the black hair elastic around the end of the braid, before standing up and brushing off his knees.
“Alright, let’s go back to the swings before Mr. Brown decides recess is over!” Sero yells.
“Good idea!” Emma agrees, and the pair runs back to the swingset as fast as their eight-year-old legs could carry them. When they got there, they had a contest to see who could swing higher. It was a tie.
“Aw man…”
It wasn’t long after that when the teacher blew the whistle, signaling that recess was over. As they lined up for headcount, Emma asked, “Hanta? Can you pinky promise me we stay like this together forever?”
“Duh! What else would we be like?” Hanta rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know. My mommy says that people often separate as they grow up. She’s a therapist. She’s smart,” she shrugged.
“Yeah, but we’re not like other people,” Hanta exclaimed proudly.
“Shh…”
“Sorry, Mr. Brown!” the duo apologized, bowing politely.
“Alright class, let’s head inside and get started on the math questions on the board.”
“I hate multiplication…” Emma mumbled, crossing her arms in a silent protest.
“So do I.” he agreed, but the duo still went inside with no further protest, the feeling of the air conditioning sending goosebumps down their skin.
XOXO
“Alright class! Settle down, please take your seats,” the teacher requested, adjusting her glasses. “I know you are all thinking about getting out of here for summer break, but we need to do something first.”
The class of middle schoolers looked at each other, confused. The occasional questioning whisper filled the room.
“You’re about half way through your last year here, so before you leave for summer break, we’d like to go over some of your options so that when you get back you can begin to choose schools to apply to.” The teacher explained, cheerfully. “Now, I understand that a lot of you want to take the hero route?”
The class erupted into cheers, interrupting the poor teacher. Emma glanced at the group sitting around her. Hanta was with them, out of his seat cheering at the mention of applying to a hero school. She glanced around the room, making eye contact with the other students who’d remained in their seats. A civilization would need more than heroes to function. The people still sitting, accompanied by a couple dozen hopeless dreamers who didn’t pass any entrance exams to hero schools, were who would do the rest.
Heroes were no doubt an important part of modern society, but the world also needed… doctors and farmers. Grocery store employees and truck drivers. Actors and firefighters. Factory workers and pilots. Scientists and therapists… and models.
And, that’s what Emma wanted to do. Be a model. It may not be the most useful job, and she knew that, but it was her goal. And, it was attainable to her.
“Alright, children, please settle down so I can continue,” the teacher chuckled. “While there are lots of potential future heroes here, there’s so much more you could do, and not everyone dreams of the hero route. I want you all to have chosen two schools to apply to, as well as a backup public school by the time you all get back from break.”
The idle chatter once more filled the classroom.
“NOW!” She attempted to gather everyone’s attention. “I want to go around the room, and tell everyone what you want to be when you grow up.”
“I want to be a hero!”
“I want to be a nurse…” a girl spoke up quietly.
“I wanna be a hero, just like All Might!”
“I’m gon’ be a hero!” a boy said, his hands planted firmly on his hips.
“I want to be a mom.”
“I want to be a teacher.”
“I would like to be a hero.”
“I wanna be a hero, just like Spiderman!” Hanta explained.
“I… I wanna be a model.”
The room went silent for a brief moment, and the air in the room shifted. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest choice for Emma to announce this to a room full of middle schoolers, who would no doubt be talking about it on the blacktop during break, but she was told to, and she wasn’t about to lie.
“I want to be a hero who helps people!”
“I’m gonna be a hero!”
“HERO!” A kid screamed.
“I’m gonna try to get into UA and be a really great hero!”
“I want to be a YouTuber.”
“I wanna be a lawyer.”
“I want to be a really cool hero.”
“I want to be a therapist.” A boy smiled.
“I’m gonna be a great hero, just like Endeavor and All Might!”
“Well, that sounds like a lot of future heroes, as well as some other very promising dreams,” the teacher smiled, sorting through the entrance exam preps he was given for the students to consider.
XOXO
“So… you’re really serious about the hero thing?” Emma asked, as she crawled into their treehouse to find him doing a workout routine - at that moment, he was doing sit ups. Just like she’d been finding him nearly everyday, as the physical part of the UA entrance exam approached.
“Hell yeah. I’m gonna be so cool,” he grinned, wiping his forehead of the sweat, which had started to drip down his face. “You’re serious about modeling?”
“Yeah.”
“You’d be good at it. Speaking of cool, do you want a drink?” he asked, whipping out a bottle of beer from their mini fridge.
Emma stared at the bottle for a second, and then stared at Sero for a moment, her eyes wide in disbelief.
“Hanta… Where did you get that…?” she questioned, her brows gradually furrowing tighter and tighter.
He shrugged, “My dad. He keeps giving me a bunch . Said they’d make me look cool.”
“Idiot, we’re fifteen-” she reminded.
“So?” he chuckled, cracking the bottle, taking a hefty swig. “Dork.”
“Loser.”
“Don’t die,” she rolled her eyes. “I just wanted to come say ‘hi’ before my nail appointment.”
“Didn’t you get your nails done the other day… Wait and yesterday?” he questioned.
“No, that was my lashes,” she chuckled, climbing down the ladder. “And yesterday was just a dumb doctor's appointment, something, something, something, girl stuff.”
“What, so like, period stuff?” Hanta rolled his eyes playfully, although there was no distaste in his words, just the affection that comes with being friends with someone for that many years.
“Close enough.” she huffed. “I’ll be at your game later. Don’t show up wasted.”
“Whatever. I won’t,” he rolled his eyes.