Hatsuko was right when she said she knew the best ice cream place in town. After realizing my favorite flavor was vanilla, she asked if it was alright if I was willing to try something different with it and dragged me into a Mexican restaurant. I was glad she did as my spoon cut through the tan breading and slid into the creamy vanilla ice cream hidden inside. While it was a bit odd that ice cream could be both cold and hot—as the breading seemed a bit warm—it was by far one of the best things I had ever eaten.

"Told ya fried ice cream was going to be good, didn't I?" Hatsuko said right before she took another bite.

I nodded my head in agreement as I swallowed the bite of ice cream and breading in my mouth. It amazed me how the ice cream was cold all while being trapped inside a warm coating. Part of me wanted to know if Hatsuko knew how this was even possible, but I didn't ask. Instead, I just enjoyed it, cutting my spoon back into it for another bite.

"What did you think of the tamales you had last night?" Hatsuko asked. "From what Raiden told me, you seemed to have really enjoy them."

My face heated up, remembering what happened the previous night. The Yamamoto's weren't wrong. I did enjoy them, but it made me wonder if he told her about me eating them wrong. I mean, how was I supposed to know that the outside wasn't meant to be eaten? It looked like food, so it should've been edible, right?

"They were good," I told her. "Much better than what I normally have. Not saying that I don't like what I have at home. My mom's a great cook. Oh! And I don't mean that they were awful either. It's just, I—it was a nice change from school food and the normal food people eat. Not that it's strange or anything." I dropped my head, feeling the room warming up. Maybe I needed more ice cream rather than the fried coating. Dropping my spoon, I tore off the fried bit just before continuing my thought. "It was good."

Hatsuko chuckled. "You're too sweet! No worries, I know what you're getting at. Raiden told me about how you weren't a fan of Japanese food, so I was worried you wouldn't like the food we had."

"Did he, uh, tell you I'm—"

"American?" Hatsuko asked. "Yes, but I already knew. You don't really have an accent, but your name gives it away. It's a bit easier to point out than us since our dad is Japanese. I have some siblings that you can hardly tell have any hispanic in them, but Luz, Raiden, and I take after our Má too much. Or at least, look wise we do."

"That's cool," I said, looking down at my plate. There wasn't much of the frozen treat left. If I wanted to, I could've scooped up the rest and ate it, but I didn't. For some reason, her bringing up her family's heritage caused me to lose my appetite.

My parents were both American. That was still true, or at least, I was certain he was still American. At the same time, I didn't know about his side of the family. Sure, I did, but it wasn't anything like I had expected it to be. Then again, I thought my—no. I don't think I could ever really consider him my dad, not when he turned out to be a villain.

It still didn't make sense how he could become a villain. He was a hero. Even though he was thought to be dead, and the hero society shunned him for that—which didn't make any sense—he should've taken that time to be a better person. But he became a villain.

Why would a hero turn into a villain?

"Hey Hatsuko. I got your text," a familiar voice greeted, before pausing. "Uh hi, Tami."

I looked up to see the youngest Yamamoto standing there. He was wearing his school uniform, with the blazer unbuttoned and the tie missing. His dark colored backpack slouched onto one shoulder as he looked at me.

"Hey Raiden! We were just talking about you, weren't we Tami?" Hatsuko asked as she scooted down into a different chair so that he would have the chance to sit across from me. I lowered my head, feeling the heat rising to my cheeks. Of all things she could've said or done, that was by far the worst.

This is payback for being rude when I talked about her brother, isn't it? I thought to myself.

"You're making her uncomfortable," Raiden mumbled. "Don't listen to her. She's always this embarrassing. At least Sakura and Kaito are going to meet up here in a bit, so you don't have to worry about dealing with Hatsuko for very long."

I looked up at Raiden as he slid into the chair his sister was sitting in before he slipped off his backpack. He didn't make eye contact as the waiter quickly came over and asked if he wanted anything. It was probably best due to how embarrassed his sister had made me. Looking over at her, I could see her smiling at the two of us.

For some reason, seeing the look on her face made my stomach plummet. She had something planned here, and whatever it was, I didn't like it.

"Yelp, would you look at the time," Hatsuko said once the waiter was gone. She stood up, grabbing her wallet that she had sitting next to her plate of finished fried ice cream. "I probably should head into Dad's agency before he gets too suspicious. You know how he is."

"Good luck," Raiden said with a serious tone. "You're going to need it."

Hatsuko winked at her brother. "Oh, like I need any help."

Her younger brother shook his head. "Really? This is Dad we're talking about. One mistake and we're dead."

The hero smirked. "Oh, don't worry about me. I can handle it, no worries," she said before looking at me. A devious smirk snuck onto her face before she looked back at her brother. "Además, al menos yo fuí el rango primero en mi clase. Tú no puedes llegar a los diez primrose," she said before looking at me. "Pero entonces, es posible que tienes algunas competencia seriosa."

I froze for a moment, wondering what she meant by all that. The only thing I could gather from it was that it struck a nerve with Raiden. He snapped his head to say something back, but his sister had somehow managed to make it halfway across the restaurant.

Raiden didn't go after her like I thought he would've. Instead, he just let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"La voy a matar," he muttered.

Even though I wasn't sure what he said, it somehow sent shivers down my spine. I looked down at the last bite of my fried ice cream, seeing the inside had started to melt onto the plate. The situation felt a bit awkward that I decided to pick up my spoon and mess with the remainder of it, even if I wasn't hungry.

A sigh escaped Raiden's lips as he shook his head. "Sorry you had to put up with her for so long. I would've come by sooner, but Mom made me go to school. Like I said, Kaito and Sakura are coming. They're just dropping off your brother."

My eyes widened. "Ollie! He's not going to be home alone, is he?" I asked.

The boy smirked as he shook his head. "Don't worry. From what they told me, they're dropping him off at Sakura's house. Kaito offered as his little sister about his age, but Sakura wouldn't let him."

I sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I'll have to make sure I pay her parents a visit to tell them how grateful I am."

"Sure they're just doing what any of us would do," Raiden explained.

There was a moment of silence after that. I lowered my head, trying to think of something to say, but I had nothing. In the past twenty-four hours, I had seen a whole different side to Raiden that I never imagined seeing. Even now, he was being caring, which was a trait I didn't think he even had.

It made me wonder where the harshness went.

Thinking about it, I remembered what his sister said at the doctor's office. She didn't disagree when I told her that she was much different than her brother. The only thing she said was that he was just competitive.

Part of me wanted to ask, but I wasn't sure how. I mean, I didn't want to put him in an uncomfortable position. I felt like I already had with everything that happened last night and this morning. The last thing this guy probably wanted me to do was show up at his doorstep with nowhere to go, forcing him to have to be nice.

But he was nice. He didn't even make fun of me or tried to lighten the situation like his sister did, or what Kaito would have done. Then again, his sister was a tad different. Not that she was different in a bad way, but she wasn't someone I was used to being around. It amazed me how she went from being light hearted to annoying Raiden so much that he nearly attacked her.

Which made me wonder...

"What was it your sister said before she left?" I asked.

Raiden's neutral expression washed away as he started to look annoyed. The moment I saw his expression change, I started to realize how bad of an idea it was to even ask.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that. It's just that she seemed to look at me as if she was talking about me and it just, well, it just doesn't stomach well that I could be a burden or anything. I understand if I am, I just—"

"Shut up," Raiden grumbled, causing me to stop.

It seemed to be just in time as the waiter came back with some weird dish. Raiden nodded his head as the waiter left. I didn't dare move a muscle the entire time as I was afraid of what he'd do.

When the coast was clear, he looked back at me.

"First off, you're not a burden, or useless, or someone we don't want around. Trust me, I'll let you know as soon as I want you out of my sight," Raiden growled, before sighing and lightening his tone a bit. "As for my sister, yeah, she did talk about you, but not directly."

"Wha-what do you mean by that?" I asked, pulling my hands off the table and around my arms as I felt the air growing colder in the restaurant. While it was nice outside, it was starting to cool down inside. Maybe it wasn't because of the air as much as it was for the ice cream that I had.

Luckily, Raiden didn't seem to notice. "She sees potential in you, calling you good competition. Let's make this clear, you're not. You're still at the bottom of the class, but she had to remind me I wasn't exactly at the top either."

"Oh," I said, feeling guilty. "If I dropped out, would—"

"Why would you drop out?" Raiden questioned. "My rank would still be the same, even if you were gone. Besides, that has nothing to do with it, especially since you're working hard to be a hero like the rest of our class."

...working hard to be a hero like the rest of our class, I stopped listening to him when he said that. While I did, I stared at what was sitting on his plate, just so I could distract myself. There was rice piled up on one side of the place with some type of red sauce spilt on it. Not the entire pile of rice was coated with it, but rather, just the bit that was touching the tamale looking thing. It wasn't a tamale though. I could tell by the way Raiden stuck his fork into the dish and plopped whatever that was in his mouth. If it was a tamale, he wouldn't have eaten the wrapping.

Unless they took it off at restaurants. I wouldn't be surprised if they did for some reason as it looked like a tamale without the corn husk.

Not wanting to watch him eat anymore, I slumped back in my chair and started moving my hands up and down my arms. My mind went back to what he had said. For the past two months, I had lied to everyone about wanting to be in U.A. without giving them a second to think I didn't want to be a hero. Maybe, with everything that had happened, it would give me some sort of excuse to get out of it. At the same time, the way Raiden made it sound, it wouldn't be enough.

Why did people want to become heroes if they could get hurt?

Something hit my face causing me to jump. I looked down at the table, realizing Raiden must've moved my plate as his blazer was rolled up in a ball in front of me. Looking up, Raiden just picked up his fork and pointed to it. He was no longer wearing it, showing off his button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Well?" he asked.

"D-d-did you say something?" I asked.

Raiden sighed. "Geez, you weren't even listening, were you? The least you can do is wear that so you're not distracted by the cold."

I hung my head as I slowly grabbed the blazer and wrapped it around me. The sleeves were twice the size of my own arms that I had to roll them up in order for my hands to be seen. Looking down at it, I knew that if I stood up, the bottom of the blazer would reach just below my butt.

Despite how long it was, the coat was pretty warm and in a good way too. I looked away from Raiden as I slowly buttoned some of the buttons, keeping the heat closer to me. From what I expected, I thought his blazer would be coated in sweat on the inside or cold. It wasn't like that at all.

"Just...just don't quit if you have the heart for it," Raiden softly told me. It was so unlike him that I snapped my head up, noticing that half of his food had mysteriously disappeared. He was no longer eating it as he kept poking his fork at it. "My whole life, I had to live with my dad telling me I wouldn't make it, that my Quirk wouldn't be enough."

My eyes widened. "That's awful!"

Raiden shrugged. "I believed him for a moment. I'm sure Hatsuko didn't think twice about telling you this, but the only reason our parents married was because of a Quirk Marriage. They thought with Mom's Lightning Quirk and Dad's Ultra Strength Quirk, they'd at least get a child who'd have both, like that old myth about the demigod who was both strong and summon lightning."

My mouth fell when he said that. Quirk marriages were almost loveless marriages. Heroes would get together and try to find someone who could create this better Quirk with their kids. Being that most kids inherit a Quirk like one of their parents, it takes a while for both traits to show up.

From what I had heard, children who didn't inherit both Quirks weren't considered good enough. They weren't in the marriage for the right reason, which could sometimes lead to neglect and abuse in the household. I always wondered how Quirk Marriages were even legal even when that was common knowledge.

Unfortunately, knowing how heroes can be, I don't think there was any way they could stop people from Quirk Marriages.

"They tried time and time again, and by the time they had Luz, they told our parents to stop having kids. Mom had developed some sort of disease that if she were to have another kid, she'd be the one to suffer the consequences," Raiden explained. "Neither her or Dad listened as they were both determined to make it happen."

"But your mom, I mean, wasn't she the woman who—" I started.

"Yes," Raiden confirmed. "But she still lost her Quirk once she had me. It took everyone by surprise as she used to be a Pro Hero in Mexico, ranking in the top five at one point too. Her Quirk should've been strong enough to take on whatever virus she had, but she still lost it the moment I was born. Without a Quirk, my parents couldn't have another kid; not when they couldn't get the results they wanted. It sucks for them knowing I was their eighth and final attempt.

"That's why I try and do my best. I need to prove to my dad that I can still be a Pro Hero like Hatsuko, even if I don't have both Quirks, or a mutated one. I've got to prove that I have what it takes. If I'd listen to what Dad had told me every day, that I should give up, that I should quit while I'm ahead, I wouldn't have made it into U.A. One day, I'll prove that he's wrong, just like how you'll prove to those villains that you aren't weak. You're strong, and you will get through this."

My eyes widened at Raiden's speech. Whether this was the one he gave before he threw his blazer at me or not, I would never know, but it explained so much. That was what his sister meant by competitive. It wasn't that Raiden wanted to tear down others. He just wanted to prove that he had it in him to make a good Pro Hero.

It was people like him that needed to become heroes. People who defied the odds and overcome any obstacles, those were the real heroes. Raiden did his best to do what he needed to do to reach his dreams.

What was I doing to reach mine? Maybe it was time to stop pretending. I opened my mouth to tell Raiden how I truly felt, but I was interrupted by a pair of voices screaming my name. We turned our heads to see Kaito, Sakura, and my little brother standing on the other side of the restaurant.

Ollie!

I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and looked at my little brother wearing his plain uniform, finished with the pin that shined on the lapel of his polo. His eyes widened as he saw me before the smile came crashing down on his face.

"Tami!" He squealed before he pushed past Kaito and Sakura to come running towards me with his arms spread out wide. Before he could get to me, I knelt down and widened my arms, just in time for him to come crashing into me.

"Ollie, you're okay," I realized as I squeezed him closer to me.

"Duh," he replied as he let go pointing to his pin. "I have to be if I'm going to be like you and go to U.A."

Hearing him say that felt like a punch to the stomach. I looked down at the ground, remembering what I was going to say to Raiden. It was people like him who belonged at U.A, not me. After hearing his story, I knew I had to stop pretending.

"Tami-tan, it's going to be alright," I heard Sakura say. "The teachers at U.A. aren't expecting you to come back right away, so you have time to recover from whatever you went through."

"Yeah, and Ape-X extended our project, so you don't have to worry about—" Katio started to say.

But I couldn't take it hearing what they had to say anymore. For the first time, I had to say how I felt about everything.

"I don't want to go back to U.A," I told them as I closed my eyes as I was afraid to see what they all might think. "I don't want to train to become a hero."

"Tami, what are you—" Kaito started before I snapped my head up at him and shook my head.

"I don't want to be a hero," I told them. "I never wanted to be a hero because I'm no hero."

Author's Note:

Roll Credits!

...JK! We've still got less than 10 chapters to go (wow, I'm realizing how long this story is, thank you all for your continued support!)

And it seems like Tami has finally come out to her closest friends (and Ollie) about not wanting to be a hero. Oof. That couldn't have been easy. For this week's question, I want to know, how would you react if one of your friends said something like Tami did?

Character Spotlight: Sakura Sakai
Quirk: Common Vine
Likes: Shopping

Song: All That We Are by Audiomachine