Nejire was being carried like a princess by a strange man who was slowly walking through a bloodied battle field.
Although the entire landscape screamed at her that something was wrong, strangely, Nejire felt safe.
She looked up to meet his face, only to see a golden domino mask shrouding his features, and when he stared down at her… and his crimson pupils met hers, Nejire suddenly felt lightheaded.
His lips parted in a smile, and then came a subtle whisper.
"Nejire?"
Nejire blinked once, then twice.
She was in a pure white room, the overhead light casting a bright glow over them. The windows were open, a light breeze ruffling the white linen curtains.
The first thing she smelled was the lingering smell of disinfectant, mixed up with bleach and spirits.
And the first person she saw was Mirio who was seated on the bed, wrapped up in bandages all around.
"Nejire?"
She was silent.
'What type of dream was that??' she mused as she stared into space.
"Nej?"
"Mirio! I think something is wrong with me!" she said, her eyes moist with tears.
"Hmmm?" Mirio smiled. "What is the problem?"
"I keep having these weird dreams!" Nejire complained, floating above her chair with her quirk and over to the other side of the bed where she grabbed an apple.
She bit into it and sighed.
"I mean, this can't be normal right? These weird dreams…"
Mirio stroked his chin as he stared at her, which made Nejire smile.
'It's good to see he's doing alright…'
When Mirio was first brought to the hospital, he could hardly move his body and was unconscious for a very long time.
All because he had protected her…
Nejire's mind went back to that moment and she smiled faintly.
Meanwhile, Mirio was still trying to figure out what Nejire was talking about. "What was the dream about?"
"Iyada! I can't tell you that."
"Hmm… so it's a dream you cannot tell me about." Mirio took a few seconds to think about it before falling back to his bed.
"I have no idea."
Nejire sighed as she continued floating. "Mirio, don't you think it's weird?"
"What is weird?"
"That midnight vigilante guy…"
She paused briefly.
"They are classifying him as a high priority villain now because he attacked the teachers, but he didn't badly injure any of them."
Nejire understood that he had indeed committed a crime. But there were some things that just didn't make sense…
'Why did he leave the students unharmed?'
And most importantly…
"Why did he save us?"
Mirio breathed out a sigh as he stared at the ceiling. According to what Nejire had told him, he was the only reason they were even alive.
They technically owed him their lives and Mirio found it difficult to hate a man who had saved them.
But still…
His shoulders relaxed. "I don't know…"
It was hard for them to classify him as a villain, but at the same time, he was far from a hero.
"I guess we'll be seeing him more in the future, let's get ready for that time," he suggested.
It would be foolish to think he was on their side only to get stabbed in the back.
One thing was clear, he was not a man that could be trusted.
That was Mirio's stand. But Nejire was a little different, she had been the one directly saved after all.
"I guess his plans will be obvious soon—"
Knock Knock
Nejire's words were interrupted by a light knock on the door.
'Who could that be?'
She floated to the door and unlocked it, her eyes brightening up when she saw the person at the other end.
"Kyle?"
He was holding a gift basket in one hand while his second hand was in his pocket.
"What's up, Nejire?"
Nejire smiled and stepped from the door to let him in.
"What's up, Mirio?" Kyle greeted as he walked in, placing the basket on the table.
"Good morning, Kyle! I didn't think you would have time to visit—"
Shuffle shuffle…
Mirio and Kyle turned at the same time to see Nejire digging into the gift basket.
She paused and stared at them. "What?"
They both looked away.
•••
'It looks like he's okay…' Kyle thought as he watched Mirio.
He was an important business partner, and there would be many more opportunities to make money off UA, so his safety was important.
And they had somewhat become friends? So Kyle wasn't too keen on attending anyone's funeral.
"By the way, Kyle, think about this…" Nejire said as she munched on popcorn.
"A friend of mine in another country got saved by a guy… a vigilante. But now, that same vigilante is being branded a villain by the heroes of her country."
She paused to swallow before continuing.
"But the vigilante saved her and her friend, and has helped another class as well in the past. Do you think he's a bad guy? Or is he just misunderstood?"
Kyle relaxed deeper into his chair then narrowed his eyes as he mused.
'How can she even say that with a straight face.'
'She is definitely talking about me isn't she? Me, misunderstood? Well, that is a first.'
It was not strange to hear he was being branded a villain after assaulting the teachers, but it seemed some people still had high opinions of him.
After all, without his help, Pulse would have killed at least three heroes!
Kyle folded his hands across his chest, a smug smile on his face. They should be thanking him, not branding him a dirty villain.
"Kyle?" Mirio called out.
"Huh? Oh, he's misunderstood of course!" Kyle said with more passion than necessary.
"You should... Erm, your friend should try to get to know him better, who knows? He may turn out to be a very handsome, kindhearted guy."
He paused.
"Well, maybe not kindhearted…"
Nejire smiled. "Exactly!"
While Mirio gave him a blank stare. "Well, that was a very specific description, Hahaha—"
"Anyways, I brought your favourite snack, Nejire." Kyle quickly cut in.
"Wait, really?! Mirio, do you want one?" Nejire quickly got up and practically sprinted to the basket.
'Nice save…' he thought, then he smirked as he recalled Nejire's poorly disguised question.
'Good, good…'
If he was to win over public opinion, he would need a few heroes on his side.
The Big Three was the perfect place to start.
"Tell me more about this your… friend…"
Nejire furrowed her brows. "She's been having weird dreams recently."
"Oh, is that so? What type of dreams?"
"She told me not to tell a soul…"
"Come on, I'll keep it a secret, trust me."
"No!"
- — - — —
Big announcement!
Some of you might already know, but I have started a new novel, an original this time.
I've decided to give it a go once more, and I hope you guys will love it and support me.
Adding it to your library? I appreciate you.
Reading it and commenting? Wow, you're a real one.
A review? Damn, that's is gold ;)
Thank you for all your support thus far!
Name: The Elven Evolution: Starting with 1 Million SSSR Skills