The Hero Equipment Exhibit hall shimmered under the sleek luminescent ceiling, its walls lined with capsules and holograms of legendary tools and support gear. Visitors murmured excitedly, awed by the rotating hologram of the first-ever flight suit used by Jetstream Hero: Airstrike. Others gathered around the special "U.A. Tech Wing" showcase, which celebrated the inventions born from U.A. High School's finest Support Course alumni.
Kurokami Tenshin stood alone, his small figure dwarfed by the glass display of Ingenium's Original Gauntlet Blades. His eyes, normally wide with childlike excitement, remained fixed—almost frozen—not with joy but with a strange, blank stillness.
His phone buzzed.
📩 [Group Chat: 1-A Representatives]Iida: "Fellow classmates, your invitations have been distributed to your hotel rooms. Please check with the front desk if you haven't received yours by 5:00PM. Be prepared and punctual for the reception at 6:30PM sharp!"
Kuro looked down, read it, and gave his usual smile.
"Okay~ Sounds good, Iida." He whispered, though no one was near enough to hear him.
And yet, despite the smile that curved his lips, the moment passed without even a flicker of genuine emotion.
He returned to the display. A family—a mother, father, and their laughing young daughter—stood to his right. The child pointed excitedly at a replica of Best Jeanist's Fiber Cannon Gloves, her voice high and delighted.
"Mom! Look! He said his pants are stronger than steel!"
Kuro watched, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, his smile faded. His eyes dropped to the floor, then to his own reflection in the polished glass. His voice, too quiet for anyone to hear, trembled.
"...Maybe if I never chased this dream... maybe I'd have that too. A place to belong. A reason to rest."
He looked down at his hands—calloused, bruised, and laced faintly with glowing purple veins of warm Ki. Not a normal kid's hands. Not anymore.
"But… what would I do if I wasn't chasing something impossible?"
He knew the answer.
"I'd be bored to death."
But the words rang hollow even to himself.
🚶♀️ Uraraka's Entrance – Just Behind the Display Room
Ochaco Uraraka, wandering the exhibit with an eager bounce in her step, slowed when she caught a glimpse of familiar spiky hair and a black martial gi. "Oh! That's Kuro!" she thought.
With a smile, she approached, ready to greet her classmate—her light in the often serious whirlwind that was Class 1-A.
But as she got closer, her smile faded.
Kuro was just standing there.
Still.
Silent.
Expressionless.
There was something deeply wrong about it—his eyes. They weren't his. They didn't sparkle, didn't shift. They were dull. Empty. Like he wasn't really here. Like something vital had been unplugged.
Ochaco stopped a few feet away, suddenly unsure. She blinked, trying to convince herself it was a trick of the light.
"Kuro…?"
In that instant, his eyes turned to her.
And lit up.
"Heyyyyyy~" he said, bright and playful as ever, his voice snapping into a cheery rhythm. "Didn't know you liked staring at guys that much, Uraraka. If I knew, I would've worn my cooler gi."
She blinked again. He was back to his usual self, chipper and mischievous.
"H-Huh?! What are you talking about?! I wasn't staring— I just thought you were, like... you looked kind of... off."
"Off? Nope!" Kuro chirped. "This is just my normal face! Super-normal, totally happy face! See?" He grinned wider, raising a peace sign to his cheek.
Ochaco tilted her head, not buying it. "I don't know… You looked really—like, really—sad. It was kinda creepy. Like you weren't you."
Kuro laughed. "What? Sad? Nah, nah, nah. I don't really do the whole 'thinking' thing. That's for people with free time, like you. I'm too awesome to feel sad."
Before she could say more—
"Ah! There you are!" came Yaoyorozu's polite voice.
"Uraraka, you ran off," Kyoka Jirou added, mildly annoyed. "We thought you got kidnapped or found another cute dress to obsess over."
"Or both," Yaoyorozu teased lightly.
Kuro turned, raising both hands like a kid caught sneaking candy. "Oh no~ I've been discovered~"
Jirou smirked. "You hanging out with Kuro again? You're gonna catch whatever weird virus makes him float randomly."
"I am not weird!" Kuro declared proudly, floating a few centimeters off the ground in that exact moment.
Everyone laughed—except Ochaco.
She smiled along with them, but she kept sneaking glances at Kuro.
He was joking. Laughing. His glow returned. His eyes sparkled again.
But in her heart, she couldn't shake it.
"No one's that cheerful all the time…"
"Right?"
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[Auther: Yo! It's been so many chapters so I should get to the more important plot twists.]