🌸Before You Read🌸

🌸Waring: This crackship is going to be something y'all didn't think you needed until you've read it.

🌸In my opinion...of ALL the crackships Shelby and I have between our OCs, this is one of my favorites. I wish we could expand on it more cuz honestly, this would be one of the sweetest ones ever!

🌸Random thought: I wonder what would've happened if certain characters would walk in and see this all happen?

🌸Oh whale, who knows. For now, enjoy the next part!

🌸Puppy Love🌸

Brothers can be so annoying.

That was the last thing many people would expect me to say, but it was true. Ollie and I still got into fights. I mean, he was my little brother. Before I had to move into the dorms, he'd refuse to listen to me when I said it was time to make dinner or if I asked for his help to clean up his toys, or action figures as he'd call them. It was never anything major. Usually, he'd forget about it within an hour.

After I had left for the dorms, he clung onto every conversation we had. Again, I didn't mind. I loved talking to my little brother because I missed him. Most days, I wished I could just go back home to visit him. I knew he felt that way too.

Except for today.

"I hate you!" Ollie screamed on the other end of the phone. "I'm never going to talk to you again."

"Ollie—" I tried stopping him from hanging up from the other end, but it was too late. He didn't want to listen to a single word I had to say.

My lips pressed together as I turned to look at where I was going. Ollie usually called me later in the day, so it caught me off guard when he called me before my usual training sessions with Raiden. Of course, he had to get into a huge argument with Mom about a certain project he was working on in school. It was the same project I had to do that caused the confusion of me wanting to be a Pro Hero when I got here.

The only difference was that while it was an accident I put down that I wanted to be a Pro Hero, he circled it with full confidence that he was going to be the next number one hero. Normally, I would have been very supportive of that. I always encouraged him to do whatever it was he wanted to. This was just different. Things just weren't the same with that topic.

"Tami, are you okay?"

I lifted my head to see a boy walking out of the gym, drenched in sweat. It shocked me that there was someone other than Raiden and I that would use the gym. Most people here would train together outside or would go to different facilities outside of U.A. to train in a different way. That was what Kita did to brush up on her muay thai, or what Misaki would do with her gymnastic skills.

My hand tightened around my phone as I slowly tucked it away in my pocket. Regardless of what happened, I needed to just push what happened between my brother and me away. He didn't mean what he said. He couldn't have.

So, why was it when he said he hated me, it stung so much?

"Yeah," I claimed, scratching the back of my neck. "I just...it's a long story."

Realizing I wasn't making eye-contact with the boy in front of me, I looked up, noticing Akiba's pale face looked almost like the ghost in the one cartoon Ollie would always watch. I gulped when I made that connection, especially since I kept hearing his voice repeating those three words in the back of my mind.

No, the last thing I needed to think about was Ollie, especially if my friend didn't look too good.

"Are you feeling okay? I can help you to Lumine's if you want," I suggested.

The boy shook his head. "I should be fine. Thanks though," he said as he started walking away. As he did, I noticed him stumble onto his own two feet, nearly falling face first into the ground. I didn't know what else to do but grab his arm, but that didn't help.

Instead of stopping him from falling face first into the ground, I ended up falling on top of him. His back was the only thing breaking my fall.

"I'm so sorry," I quickly apologized as I scattered off of him. "I didn't mean—I was just—are you okay?"

Akiba chuckled as my words failed, but he didn't make fun of it. Instead, he just sat up and shook his head.

"If anyone should be sorry, it's me. Maybe I need to sit down for a moment," Akiba suggested.

I nodded my head in agreement before I helped him up to his two feet. His arm wrapped around my shoulders for support as we tried finding a nearby bench. If it wasn't for the training room Raiden and I used, I would've brought him inside there. The only problem was that the room was clear of any benches or chairs. It seemed pointless for most students to even train there, but it was helpful for fighting one-on-one with Raiden.

Of course, I didn't know where any other benches were at. After weaving our way around the school for a couple of moments, we found one sitting next to the base of the staircase. Akiba quietly sat down, looking a bit better than he did before, but that didn't mean I wanted to risk it.

Looking around, I realized we weren't that far from Lumine's office. There were bathrooms just down the hall with lockers separating his office from where we were currently sitting. If we had gone down past those bathrooms, Lumine's office would be to the left.

The chances of him being there were slim, but maybe there'd be a way to contact him there, I thought to myself. I didn't tell Akiba my plan as I turned around to head down, but something wrapped around my wrist, stopping me. When I turned back, I realized it was Akiba. He still sat on the bench, but he leaned forward, stopping me from going any further.

"Can you just stay with me for a bit," Akiba asked. "I'm feeling better, but I wouldn't mind some company."

I looked down at Akiba, noticing his face was starting to look flushed. Red patches started to spread across his face, making him not look okay at all. He needed to see Lumine. Honestly, I didn't want him to get sick or come down with something serious like the Quirk Flu.

At the same time, feeling his hand wrap tightly around my wrist as if I was going to leave him forever, well, I knew it'd be pointless. After all, Akiba's Quirk allowed him to do a lot. One of those things was that he could hold me back with his psychic powers. Not wanting to deal with that, I sighed, swinging my drawstring bag off my shoulders as I saw beside him.

For a moment, we didn't say much. Then again, I wasn't really sure what to say to him in the first place. Akiba was a quiet guy. Sure, he talked and would start conversations, but that was usually if Kita was around. Being a General Studies student, I wasn't exactly sure what to even say.

So, I busied myself. I opened up my bag and tried to dig up something I thought was in there. When my hand finally grabbed onto the spare bottle of water that was inside, I felt Akiba leaning into me. His head dropped onto my shoulder.

My entire body froze at that moment as I looked over at him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get Lumine?" I asked as I pulled the bottle of water and handed it to him. He grabbed it, and when he did, I took my free hand, pressing it to his forehead. My hand didn't even last three seconds as the heat was too much for me to handle. In that short amount of time, I could feel the sweat sticking to his forehead.

"Yeah," Akiba assured me, offering half a smile. "I did just get done with some training, so it's probably just that."

Embarrassment washed over me as I wiped my hand against my sweatpants and looked away. Of course, that was probably all that it was. The sweat, the heat coming off of his face, his sudden look of exhaustion, the boy probably just overworked himself or something.

Luckily, Akiba didn't dwell on that fact as he just leaned against me. I would have shook him off, but something vibrated in my pockets. Feeling the tingle, my mind quickly went to Ollie.

Did he decide to call me back, so he could apologize, I thought to myself. I really hoped that was the case that I pulled my phone out to see a text.

It wasn't from my brother.

Akiba seemed to perk up a bit as the thought crossed my mind that he pushed himself off of me. I could see his eyes glancing over at me as I covered the screen of my phone.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

My lips pressed together as I closed my eyes. "Yeah. It was just a kid in my class asking about the history homework that's due in a couple of days. It's nothing important."

It wasn't my brother, I thought.

"You want to talk about it?" Akiba asked. "You seemed a bit upset with that phone call you were on earlier."

I turned my head, wondering how in the world he knew. It wasn't like we were particularly close in our friend group. Despite wondering how he knew, I noticed the boy shift, reminding me of another part of his Quirk, a part that I usually tried to avoid at all cost.

It wasn't like I could say anything different. He probably already knew, so I just clasped my hands together and rubbed my thumbs against each other, feeling the soft ridges on them.

"You'll probably think it's silly, maybe even impossible," I told him, "but my brother and I never get into fights."

"That doesn't sound silly at all," Akiba said, which shocked me a bit as I glanced over at him. His gray eyes were staring at me, but they softened as they did. Realizing I was making eye contact, he gave a soft smile to match his gaze. "I remember seeing him at Siblings Day. He seemed to really idolize you."

Heat rose to my cheeks as he said that. It was kind of hard not to see how Ollie acted that day. He was beaming, asking everyone about their Quirk, and was just beyond excited to be there. It wasn't that he idolized me. An honest mistake to make with everything that happened, sure, but still, he was just head over heels with the Quirks around me.

"Well, apparently he doesn't anymore," I told Akiba, looking back down at my thumbs. "He told me he hated me."

In the corner of my eyes, I could see Akiba shaking his head. "I'm sure that's not true," the boy assured. "Siblings say a lot of things they don't mean when they get upset. I can't tell you how many of my siblings will say that when one of us refuses to do chores."

His comment made me chuckle. "I didn't realize you had siblings," I realized, glancing over at him. "What are they like?"

"Annoying," Akiba answered, not missing a beat. "But they're family. They wouldn't be the same otherwise. We've gotten into plenty of fights, but no matter what it was about or how serious they were, we'd always make up. That's why I wouldn't worry about your little brother. You guys will make up. Though, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of fight did you get into with your brother?"

My head dropped back down to stare at my fingers. Before I could even get my thoughts together to tell him, I noticed a scab bulging out of my skin. Not sure as to how it got there, I took my left thumb and started scratching it. I knew it wasn't good to do so, but it was the only thing to distract me from what was about to happen.

After all, I knew Akiba wouldn't get where I was coming from. He was a Pro Hero Student.

At the same time, he also said he has siblings who fought a lot.

"Ollie's always wanted to become a Pro Hero," I told Akiba as my nail tore under the scab and ripped it off the skin. "Which is fine and all, but after—uh, well, I guess you don't really know, but uh, we—we had an incident where..."

How was I supposed to say it without Akiba figuring everything out? I thought to myself as I twisted the remainder of the scab off, exposing the light colored blood underneath it. It didn't hurt. I mean, I've dealt with worse, a lot worse. So much worse that I didn't really feel anything.

But the pain I had endured back then, I just couldn't say a word in front of Akiba. I wasn't sure if it was because of his Quirk or what, but he was pretty good at figuring things out. Almost too good if you asked me.

A hand reached out in front of me, distracting me from the distraction I had created. I turned my head to see Akiba still sitting beside me. He didn't seem to be getting better as his face was still red, but like he said earlier, he started to look healthier. Back when he fell, he didn't seem to see straight. Now, his gray eyes refused to break eye contact when I looked at him.

"Would it be easier if you showed it to me?" he offered. "Maybe then, I could have a better idea as to what happened, and you wouldn't have to say a word about it."

My lips pressed against each other for a bit, debating on whether to show him what happened or not. All I had to do was remember it, and he'd just see it, right? It all seemed too easy, like it was too good to be true.

Maybe it was. There had to be something else to it, but that was probably me overthinking it. I mean, Akiba was a friend. He probably knew how uncomfortable it was that he thought this was a better option.

I smiled for a split second before I gently placed my hand into his and closed my eyes. Images rushed into my head of that night, the night I snuck into a villains hideout place to find Ollie. His face was messy, covered with tears and other things too gross to mention. He hadn't even been gone for long, but I had been.

It was a memory I wanted to forget, but for some odd reason, once I started thinking about it, the images just kept replaying in my brain nonstop. His body trembled inside my arms as he wailed. All I ever wanted to do was protect him, but I had to wait for the heroes to come to do that.

They seemed to have come almost all too late as Ollie and I were forced to stand on top of the rooftop. The man standing beside me threatened what would happen if I didn't help. My eyes were glued onto Ollie, who was being held by a broad shouldered man, much stronger than he was. I was useless. Even though people praised me for my Quirk, I couldn't do anything to save my little brother.

Before I could show Akiba anything more, I pulled my hands away from him. I knew the next part of the memory would probably help him understand best as to why I was so afraid of what my brother could become, but I couldn't show that to Akiba. The few friends that knew the truth about who I was seemed to understand, but I wasn't sure if he would be the same way.

So instead of showing him all of the fear I had endured that night, I told him.

"The heroes showed up," I told him, "but only seconds away from everything taking a turn for the worse. He didn't seem to want to be a hero after that, but after Sibling Weekend, he just...I don't know. It was like he had completely forgotten about that day, like it never happened.

"Don't get me wrong," I said, waving my hands in front. "It's nothing against heroes, honestly! I know they're just doing their best, but Ollie, I just want him to think for a moment what being a hero could mean."

Akiba shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. "You don't need to apologize. I understand where you're coming from. Those heroes should have come to help you two out sooner, instead of waiting for a grand entrance."

I scratched the back of my neck. To be honest, I never thought of that night like that. While I never had the thought crossed my mind, Akiba had a point. They promised to be right behind me, but they weren't.

The boy sighed. "To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of heroes either," he explained, taking me off guard, "but you also can't force someone to change their views."

While a part of me wanted to ask Akiba why he didn't like heroes, I didn't. There was something I felt like I needed to clear up first.

"I'm not forcing Ollie to see things my way though," I told Akiba. "I'm just...I don't know. I just don't want something bad to happen to him again."

"I understand where you're coming from, but it's not good to force your ideals onto him. The more you do that, the more you're just going to push him away," Akiba explained.

The more I was just going to push him away...his words continued to echo inside my brain after he said that. I didn't want to push Ollie away. All I wanted was for him to be safe.

Even though I wanted to disagree with Akiba, I couldn't. I turned my head away from him as I leaned back on the wall behind us. My head tilted up so I could see the white ceiling tiles hanging above me. Honestly, I wish I would've counted all the tiles that I could see, but instead, I couldn't stop thinking about what Akiba said to me.

Two months, that was how long it took for Kaito and I to become friends again after he tried to force me to see things away. I couldn't go near him during those two months because I knew he needed some space to think it over. All he wanted was for me to become a Pro Hero. All I wanted was to be anything but that.

If I continued to do the same thing with Ollie, would things turn out worse for us?

"It's hard," I whispered under my breath.

"It's going to be hard," Akiba said, "but when it comes to the ones we love, then it's worth it to see them happy."

My eyes closed when he said that as my lips pressed together for a moment. No wonder Ollie hated me. I just kept pushing him away every time I tried to make him understand where I was coming from. All I wanted was for Ollie to be safe. Was that really too much to ask?

When it came to what Ollie wanted, yes.

"I'm a horrible big sister," I muttered.

Long fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulling it away until those fingers started to intertwine with mine. It took me off guard that I opened my eyes to look at Akiba. He held my hand between us as he offered a small smile. Seeing it, I realized I wasn't just an awful sister; I was an awful friend too. We sat here because Akiba wasn't feeling well. His cheeks were still pink from earlier. Even his hand sweated in between my fingertips.

Maybe Akiba wasn't feeling so well if he decided to grab my hand out of nowhere, I thought to myself. I really needed to get him to Lumine's and fast.

His hand gently squeezed mine as he looked at me. "You're not an awful person, Tami. You're kind and very caring. If anything, you're perfect."

Akiba's words were so surprising that I felt the heat rising to my cheeks. The only difference was that it wasn't because of a small fever. It was the compliments he was giving that was becoming too much.

I knew Akiba heard what I was thinking at that moment as he took his free hand and tucked some of my blonde hair behind my ear. It took me by surprise, but there was nothing I could say or do, especially since I had an awful feeling he could already tell what I was thinking before I did.

The boy gave a small chuckle. "You know, your eyes are really pretty," he said, staring right into them. "They're so kind that I—"

"Tami! Akiba! Move!" a voice shouted from a distance.

I pulled myself away from Akiba as I stood up. My head snapped down the hallways to see Raiden sprinting down the hall. For a moment, I thought I wasn't seeing things correctly because I had never seen his face so red before. Sweat poured down the sides of his face as I could hear his breaths shortened as he did.

Wait, I was supposed to train with him today, I realized as he started to draw near. Here I was, blowing him off because of what happened to Akiba. I should've just taken him straight to Lumine's rather than bother him with my own problems. Then, he could've gotten better, and Raiden wouldn't have to wait and train on his own. He usually trained on his own before I even got there, but never a whole lot.

And never with someone else. Just seconds after seeing him turn down the hallway Akiba and I were in, a girl with short pink hair came flying behind him. Her eyes locked onto Raiden, and she tried to catch up with him.

No, that wasn't quite it.

"Don't be a coward, Yamamoto. Come back here and fight me!" she called.

My eyes widened as I heard her say that. Kita Yukimura, the girl chasing Raiden, was in the Hero Department just like Raiden and Akiba were, and she was just as competitive as Raiden was. I just didn't think they'd be running and acting like this.

Just what was going on?

🌸End of Part 2 🌸

🌸Chapter Question 🌸
What do you think is going on with Raiden and Kita? And what do you think of Tami and Akiba?

🌸Quick shoutout to aBitGrim for creating this beautiful piece of fanart of LoveStruck Tami seen below!! Thank you so much for creating something so pretty!!🌸

🌸Character Spotlight: Hikaru Akiba 🌸
Book: Kita's Legacy
Likes: Reading

🌸Character Spotlight: Tami Smith 🌸
Book: I'm No Hero
Likes: Baking

Song: Better, Together, Forever by Team Astro