Metal Fatigue(Yoruhi)

I see you through the flood
See you through the fire
See you through the storms-a-raging

❧

One headpiece of an unfortunate drone was flying toward him, and Yoru caught it between dexterous fingers before it could collide with his face. The display in front of him was more than mesmerizing, and he could tell that at least half of the people gathered were similarly drawn to the sight.

He knew who the blonde girl was as soon as he caught a glimpse of her movements while walking through the training area to search for something to do. Not only was she a classmate, he also saw her on a certain meeting with the rest of the rescue participants, which, admittedly, could have gone a lot better than it did. But the most important was that this blonde left the best impression out of everyone present, and what he currently saw just made that impression that much better. She was a breathtaking sight while fighting, so it wasn’t a surprise she gathered an audience with her training exercise.

There was something in the background, a kind of desperation or anger that Yoru saw in her movements and fighting style. He wondered if that was the style she used all the time, or if she was just in the mood. He juggled the drone head in his hands before throwing it away and stepping forward a moment after Relena riled the audience up for a joined fight. Yoru wasn’t wearing his hero outfit, but something that was really similar to it – a prototype of short. Sleeveless red hoodie hugged his frame, his red pants reached just past his knees. Both pieces of clothing were accented by orange colors to match his eyes and flames. In the audience, he was probably the only one that dressed so lightly despite it being winter still. He wasn’t cold though. An inner heat-source kept him going even in a chill.

A lone drone walked up into the fighting ring to take the place of the defeated one, to keep the fight going. A flame crown burst into existence on Yoru’s forehead, the same orange color as his eyes. He leaped into the air, movements fluid and graceful, leaving behind a burst of harmless flames that even made a few people in the audience take a step back before they realized these flames did not burn. He landed just on top of the new drone, a flaming fist punching against its headpiece, the hotness of the flames melting the edges of its accents where it was made of a softer metal. It effectively stopped the drone in its tracks to pay attention to the new arrival instead of Relena. His jump already made the drone unbalanced, but after burning it, he kicked off of its shoulders, kicking it to the side and onto the ground. Yoru landed softly next to Relena, flames still licking both his arms.

“Doesn’t look like you need help, but it never hurts to even the odds out.” Three more of the drones walked up to them just as Yoru said that, and he thought, ‘Man, we still has the advantage here’. Let the lightshow start. He rushed forward again, targeting the drone on the far left.

words: 528 ● Relena Tsuruya ● Sorry it took me this long!

D-Rank Quirk - Purifying Flame
E-Rank Parkour (Maneuvers)
F-Rank Fire resistance
F-Rank Energized! (Stamina)
F-Rank Burn! (Ailment)
F-Rank Fierce Speedster (Speed)

I see you through the flood
See you through the fire
See you through the storms-a-raging

❧

Although he wasn’t expecting Relena to tell him off for joining her in such a flashy manner, he also didn’t expected her to tell him he was impressive. Getting praised, even if it was such a natural comment, was still a tad bit embarrassing. Yoru looked away to the side, his grin widening, ears getting red, but it seemed like the praise just energized him further instead of distracting him from the battleground. His flaming crown fluttered restlessly, just like the fire on his arms.

“Heh, exactly what I thought!” Was the last thing he said as a reply before he jumped in again with Relena to deal with the rest of the drones. He rushed the left one head on. He leaned forward, gaining speed that could be envied by any normal individual out there. But instead of attacking right away, he did what he did best, and changed direction at the last moment, just as he would have reached the battle machinery. Feinting, he stepped to the left, to end up on the furthest side, and a flaming right arm grabbed the drone’s, his foot moving to sweep its legs from under it and trip it forward, unbalancing it yet again. His fist followed, a burning left smashing against the drone’s back to dent it and effectively injure it in the process, taking it out of the count.

Unlike Relena’s, Yoru’s style was more about disarming, evading, and then damaging by blunt strikes and burns. He couldn’t cut a drone in half, but the heat and the wild orange fire was enough of a show for the audience to cheer for. Yoru was pure energy and instinct, never-ending movements and a sparking spirit. He was aware of Relena’s movements, the power and elegance of the solid light she created and struck her opponent with. It was a lightshow that matched his own, while the damage she caused was all the more visible in the aftermath.

Once she dealt with her own opponent, Yoru expected her to move to the third just as he did. She seemed to be just ready for that. “One strike for the last one! Come on!” He called for her to make sure they were on the same page. There was no point in either of them taking down this one alone. It should be done together to rile the crowd up further. Let them know that the Yuuei students weren’t only strong, but perfect at improvisation and teamwork, just as it should be. Let them all see that these youngsters will be the heroes to protect everyone from villains later on. Le the two of them be inspiration for the shier, less battle-oriented students out there.

Aiding his legs’ muscles, a burst of his flames helped him jump into the air, his feet lighting up in the same trademark flames that were that of the Flame Lord’s. In the air, as if he was flying freely, he spun his body around with the help of his fire bursts, gaining momentum to deliver a well-aimed kick to the back of the last drone’s head. Just as promised, it would be down in one strike from the two of them if Relena was ready to deliver a similarly timed attack, making this the perfect ending for a spontaneous teamwork exercise.

words: 555 ● Relena Tsuruya ● Make it flashy!

D-Rank Quirk - Purifying Flame
E-Rank Parkour (Maneuvers)
F-Rank Fire resistance
F-Rank Energized! (Stamina)
F-Rank Burn! (Ailment)
F-Rank Fierce Speedster (Speed)

I see you through the flood
See you through the fire
See you through the storms-a-raging

❧

They showed a flawless display of a team attack, if Yoru was to say so himself. His fire burned just as bright as Relena’s own light, and their timing was so on spot that the drone had no chance of winning. A bright spark was all it needed, and Yoru matched Relena’s battle cry with his own shout as they ended the fight with a decisive blow.

He landed with his back to Relena, even unknowingly matching her stance. Fire was kicked up in his wake when his feet touched the ground. As he stood and whirled around, his fire extinguished with a motion of his arms, only leaving his flame crown alive, shining and proud, just like the grin he wore after their fight.

“Man, that was awesome!” He raised both his hands up, palms toward Relena to urge her for a double high-five. She was incredible, the way she so fluidly fought no matter if she was alone or teamed up with another person in the ring. She was not even fazed that someone else joined her to fight, and it was especially impressive that she was able to keep up with his movements at all. Not many could do that anymore, especially among the newer students. Even the cheer from the crowd told him they were both pretty amazing out there, and were successful in riling the audience up.

Only Relena’s praise brought out a completely different side of his personality. His eyes shifted to the side, ears burned red from the words and a hand moved to scratch the back of his head, to distract him with something from the kind words offered. “I-it’s nothing really. I dunno what you expected anyway. But wow!” He grinned again, turning back to her. “You really wrecked them! That light weapon was so awesome, these things didn’t stand a chance! Feel like I wasn’t even needed here.”

Looking back around at the drones, Yoru had to admit the drones might not have been made to withstand this kind of power. Two already lost their heads, one courtesy to Relena, the other to both their combined attacks, another one was in pieces, while the last one had a shiny little dent on its back. All of them were out of order now. He scratched his chin in thought, one arm in front of his chest in a half-cross, holding his other elbow. “Maybe we went a little bit too aggressive but. I mean. These are drones. So being a wee bit showy can’t hurt.”

He turned, as if suddenly getting an idea, and urged Relena out of the fighting ring and away from the mechanical corpses. “How about getting out’a here before they make us clean the mess up? Hurry!” His mischievous smile and glinting eyes could tell her he was still pretty high on adrenaline from the fight, if the still present flaming crown didn’t make it obvious already. It wouldn’t be extinguished for a while, not until he either calmed down, or something happened to dampen his mood.

words: 510 ● Relena Tsuruya ● Victory!

D-Rank Quirk - Purifying Flame
E-Rank Parkour (Maneuvers)
F-Rank Fire resistance
F-Rank Energized! (Stamina)
F-Rank Burn! (Ailment)
F-Rank Fierce Speedster (Speed)

I see you through the flood
See you through the fire
See you through the storms-a-raging

❧

That high-five was the best ending they could have. That, and the laugh he heard from her. When watching her fighting style, when she fought alone, Yoru suspected some strain, some trouble behind it. But seeing her genuinely happy and excited made him feel better too. “Pft, I dunno.” He snorted, shrugging with a smile that was a bit too full of himself than necessary. “I could keep up with most of the students here, tho.” He never really considered himself strong, but he knew he was a formidable fighter when it came down to it. That much was at least obvious, but part of it was thanks to the street-fighting he did way before coming to U.A.

They certainly left behind a sight, and if nothing else, the crowd, the smoke and the faint smell of burned metal would attract a supervisor here. While none of them seemed to be worried about it too much, Relena was almost proud of the scrap of metal they amassed in a span of a few minutes, and Yoru could not agree more. Except he remembered their principal was a military veteran. So he pushed Relena’s shoulder to get them out and away from the training ground even before she managed to finish her sentence.

“They made me and Ryuu clean up the pool on the first week when the school opened. I am not taking my chances anymore, better ditch before a teacher finds us!” He added as an afterthought, backing up his little worry about the mess they are leaving behind. But it did not seem he had to justify his actions to Relena – she took his hand and led the way even without that, and Yoru followed without another word. He shifted his body forward to take the lead halfway past the guests of the festival, avoiding collision like a pro.

He felt light and happy. Relieved. This was a nostalgic feeling from back when he was still part of a gang and the team ran through the city, boasting their parkour skills for everyone to see. This was the same. It was a welcomed extra that he was able to see his blonde classmate smile. Her girly giggles and hearty laughs were so much better than the tears he saw on the rescue meeting before, but even then there was so much emotion in her that they were overflowing. She was passion, light and fire, and those were all the things Yoru appreciated in life.

He huffed when Relena thought they were far away from the warzone and stopped. The sudden loss of her grip on his hand caught him by surprise as cold wind rushed through his fingers. He did not understand why she acted the way she did, wide-eyed and stutter-y, as if something happened that she would never be able to tell her family about. “Why are you apologizing?” He even tilted his head, confusion drawing his brows together under his still lit flame crown. Yoru was a being of emotion and instinct, driven by heart rather than mind, and so, awkward shifts in the mood simply fell off of his armor of obliviousness. He could not quite decipher why Relena might be embarrassed, but his simple mind might actually help ease some of the awkwardness she felt. Yoru could care less about holding hands when he threw an arm around his friends all the time. Fire users were the ones with the warmest of touches, after all.

“Eh, no need. I can get you ice cream if you want, tho. In exchange for butting into your training, or something.” He leaned on Relena’s shoulder with his right for a moment while talking, then turned to the vendor to see what kind of sweets they had. They seemed to sell the old school kind of ice cream, little balls of cold wonder. He checked through what they offered and then glanced at Relena, hopefully still around and not intent on buying food for him. “You seem like a fruity kind of girl for me. Or vanilla. Which kind do you want?” He was all about chocolate, stracciatella and lemon, if he had a choice in the matter

He would order and buy before he could have any second thoughts about the ice cream, before it would remind him of a certain old classmate, and before he remembered he will have to eat it under a minute if he did not want it to melt in his hands.

words: 751 ● Relena Tsuruya ● Too dumb to feel awkward

D-Rank Quirk - Purifying Flame
E-Rank Parkour (Maneuvers)
F-Rank Fire resistance
F-Rank Energized! (Stamina)
F-Rank Burn! (Ailment)
F-Rank Fierce Speedster (Speed)

I see you through the flood
See you through the fire
See you through the storms-a-raging

❧

Relena had no idea how close that mental image was to the truth, but Yoru could at least say he got a best friend out of the involuntary pool-scrubbing, if nothing else.

Her explanation on the apology was rubbing him the wrong way for the sole reason she mentioned she did not have any friends. What was that about? “Well then, think about it this way. You have one more friend than what you started the day with.” He paused. “Actually, you know what? Make it two. I am sure Ryuu liked the way you talked back at the meeting, so you can consider him a friend too. I will just kick him if he says otherwise.” A cheeky grin appeared on his face as he leaned forward, close to Relena’s nose, probably too close for comfort. “Who stole away who now?” He fell back with a tilt of his head, still somewhat confused about the blush on her face but considered it to be caused by their little battle, and instead decided to focus on their main goal here: the ice cream!

Strawberry. A fruit. He knew it! His grin that followed this realization quickly softened into a smile when he noticed her shining, literally glowing. It even paled the sun’s rays and lightened her features, giving a more prominent outline to her blonde hair and light skin as well. This glow was what drew Yoru in even when he saw her kill drones in the battle arena with solidified light, and he couldn’t take his eyes away until it was his turn to order and pay. He got his chocolate-lemon duo and gave the necessary money to the vendor and backed up, already licking at the ice cream to prevent it melting too soon.

Him being busy eating the ice cream at least gave him the time to listen to her without much interruption. Much. “You seem to be doing fine for me. I mean, I am weird too, but everyone is weird. You know what happened at the meeting, so really, you are way better at people-ing than some of us. You are at least nice.” He complimented her off-handedly, as if it was just natural and not at all a special thing to say.

The cone of ice cream faltered in his hand as the lemon already started melting from his body heat and drizzled off on its side. “Why are you talking about romance novels now?” He stared at her for a few moments, expression nearly horrified by the probability of talking about sappy novels with a girl out in the open while eating ice cream. Somehow that mental image was wrong, but he did not know why. Luckily, she caught on and explained herself again, which made him sigh in relief. He went back to lick the melting ice cream as fast as possible to still enjoy its flavor.

“No offense taken. As I have said, you are fine.” His chocolate was mostly gone by this time, but that annoying lemon was still melting. Dang it. “Instead of explaining yourself, you can just act the way you want. If people can’t take the time to figure you out, they are not worth dealing with either.” It might have been a weird advice taking into account everything that happened on the rescue meeting, but that time, Yoru wasn’t exactly focusing on making friends. He was more focused on redirecting harm from his best friend, so he gave no chance for Emi or anyone else to know their personality better. He had priorities, and established friendships were always on top of his list.

Instead of sitting down, he just put one leg on the bench and rested his arms on it while keeping the melting ice cream in check. “Man, where is Frigiman when you need him.” He muttered. If nothing else, Maxi was at least useful to have around when eating ice cream. It certainly held out longer with the walking freezer around.

He hummed approvingly as Relena admitted she had to be more outspeaking. That was always a good start. Being straightforward can make life easier, though at the same time, wearing one’s heart on their sleeve can cause hurt much easier as well. Yoru nearly sputtered when Relena mentioned him again. “Kind? Me? I mean, have you seen me? Come on, even you know you are just making things up now.” He turned his head to the other side, hoping his red ears were conveniently hidden by his mess of hair.

He only turned back when she started talking about the rescue operation, and watched her carefully for the truth. Looking down at her, he could feel the determination and resolve emanating from her even on top of the light her body was giving out.

He grinned, reaching out to lock that pinky with his own. “Right back at you. I will not accept any half-assed attempt at the rescue operations, you have to give it your all. Go big, or go home!” He shook Relena’s hand. “Shine bright out there and show them the 1-A pride!”

With the blood oath done, Yoru also sat down on the bench sideways, facing Relena, one leg pulled up and resting on its surface, while the other planted on the ground beside it. His ice cream was nearly gone, only a little bit of cone and lemon flavor remaining.

“Is the strawberry any good? Lemme get a taste.” He was already leaning forward, harmless flame crown still shining, to lick at whatever amount of ice cream Relena still had with her, uncaring about social boundaries and personal auras even though she had just told him moments ago she wasn’t exactly comfortable with physicality. That was a bad habit, Yoru being too direct with people he barely knew. He was even ready to wrestle for a lick. Well, not really. But the intention was there.

words: 988 ● Relena Tsuruya ● Give him a lick!

D-Rank Quirk - Purifying Flame
E-Rank Parkour (Maneuvers)
F-Rank Fire resistance
F-Rank Energized! (Stamina)
F-Rank Burn! (Ailment)
F-Rank Fierce Speedster (Speed)

I see you through the flood
See you through the fire
See you through the storms-a-raging

❧

Despite being standoffish, as she had said, Relena was incredibly responsive. That, for Yoru, made communication much easier. With people who hid their feelings behind a poker-face, like Ryuu, he had to trust their honesty to get along with, as was the case with his best friend. But with people who could be as responsive as Relena ended up to be, he could easily gauge if he made a mistake in a move or didn’t. Usually, he could care less if he hurt someone’s feelings, but when it came to friends, it made him happy to know his personality is well-received.

It was also good to know that his words were having an effect on her. Relena seemed to really think about the things he said, which made it all the more worthy. He was not good at giving advice – he usually just told people to do what he thought was right rather than tell them to do what was best for them. In most cases, it just did not work out. But maybe she could get some benefit out of this.

The pinky vow was done, and it seemed to fire Relena up even more than she appeared the first time she offered. Her words, however, barely made any sense to him, and he had to laugh and furrow his brows at her. “What kind of logic is that?” But his words were nearly muffled and breathy from the laugh, though he got his bearings back once he plopped down on the bench next to her.

Leaning forward to taste Relena’s ice cream, he was half expecting an angry retort, the ice cream disappearing out of his reach, or Relena standing to get away as he got too close. He certainly did not expect to have ice cream showed into his face. Literally. He halted in the movement, leaning slightly back to at all see what was happening, because he suddenly only saw pink and nothing else. The cream was melting already, and even the one that got on his nose was softening by the moment. Yoru was cross eyed as he stared at the pinkness, comically sticking his tongue out to lick it – and of course, failing miserably –, and it was Relena’s voice that made him look back at her.

Her laugh was hearty, honest, and contagious. Yoru found himself laughing as well, although definitely softer than she did, because come on, he just had cold cream shoved into his face. “You little!” He growled, laugh turning into a smirk without any mirth behind it. “This is what I get for asking nicely?” He did not, even he knew that, but it was still in his nature to playfully berate her for it. He doubted she heard it from her laugh either way. But this laugh was the most fitting for her, perfectly matching the shine she was giving of, and Yoru couldn’t help but wait until she was done, dumb smile still on his face, nose pink from the strawberry, staring at her brightness.

Then air was caught in his lungs.

He could feel the soft lips, the warm breath on his skin, the touch of something precious, then panic set into a pair of emerald eyes before he could even make a reaction that was more than his dumb, wide-eyed face and lack of voice. She was moving, sudden and swift, and he was sure he had the physical capability to reach out and stop her, be fast and precise enough to catch her wrist so she won’t go. But his brain failed him, as even he needed at least some brain cells to operate his reflexes. “What? But---“ He had no smarter things to say, and by the time he could feel the wind on his skin again, she already turned her back and ran.

He felt he could breathe again. No. Maybe he breathed for the first time in what seemed to be ages.

He jumped to his feet too late. She was already out of sight, and so he had no opportunity to ask her about what had just happened. Because seriously, what had just happened?!?!

His nose was still pink, and he made no move to wipe it off.

words: 708 ● Relena Tsuruya ● END, because Yoru just brain-farted, and let Relena run away!!!

D-Rank Quirk - Purifying Flame
E-Rank Parkour (Maneuvers)
F-Rank Fire resistance
F-Rank Energized! (Stamina)
F-Rank Burn! (Ailment)
F-Rank Fierce Speedster (Speed)