venomous;

nymph: last dream you remember?

here!

heracles: have you ever had a dream come true?

“getting into u.y.?” she’s slightly unsure but she continues, “i mean i don’t want to consider it a dream because i think that i would mean that i didn’t have confidence in myself to get accepted in the first place... but...” she trails off — no, it really was a dream come through.

delphi: are you currently doing anything to pursue your dreams?

dionysus: are you and extrovert or an introvert?

“i'm an extrovert.” she decides, nodding her head once confidently. “i don’t know, really. i guess that’s what most people see me as based on how loud and outspoken i usually am. but i just get excited at times. that’s all, really.”

bident: what is your favorite way to spend free time?

“i don’t think i can choose for this one. i mean, i just love going to cafes. other than that, i also adore training with my quirk — trying to see what i can do with it and all that. oh! and i’ve also started baking, so there’s that too!”

tartarus: what’s a short term goal you hope to achieve?

artemis: what do you first notice about new people?

she grins, “i would say their smile. it’s simple, i know. but i think it says quite a lot about their character. other than that, i would say their eyes. you can tell a lot about someone from that. i don’t know i always found it easy to presume whether someone is inherently kind or not from those.”

minotaur: last time you were truly happy?

here!

actaeon: tell about a memory you wish to forget.

cyclops: last time you cried?

here!

theseus: what is your worst regret?

"i live my life without regrets,” she stops, before cracking a smile. “that’s what i would like to say, but that’s certainly not the case. i have many regrets but most of them aren’t really that serious. the only one i can think of right now would be not looking at where i was going and walking right into the classroom door, when the teacher was already inside”

lyre: what are your top three favorite songs?

actaeon: tell about a memory you wish to forget.

she eyebrows knit together instantly and she already knows her answer, but she gathers herself before speaking. “it would be when my quirk first showed itself. i mean, don’t get me wrong, i love it, i really do,” she glances at her hands for a moment, “but i just hoped that it manifested in another way...”

agamemnon: what is an achievement you’re proud of?

“it would definitely be getting into u.y.!” she doesn’t hesitate even for a second, that answer coming to her mind immediately once it was asked. “at first i was scared that my grandmother wouldn’t decide to move here, or that i might not even be accepted. but it all worked out in the end!”

hippolytus: tell an experience you will never forget.

lyre: what are your top three favorite songs?

“top three?” she repeats, pausing to carefully think through it. “i mean better better by day6 would have to be one of my most played songs. then, i guess i would say ‘are you bored yet?’ by the wallows and lastly, ‘it's not living (if it's not with you)’ by the 1975.”

sparta: do you have a bucket list? if so, what’s on it?

cyclops: last time you cried?

“but i don’t think crying is necessarily a bad thing,” she quickly explains, “it’s just a way to release pent-up stress, you know.” and after she feels like she has justified herself enough, she answers, “it’ll probably have to be last night, in the shower. i couldn’t get the correct answer.”

minotaur: last time you were truly happy?

“i’m always happy!” she says, a tinge of defensiveness seeping through. she doesn’t allow herself to dwell on the question. “why wouldn’t i be? i’m surrounded by my friends, in my dream school, i mean, life’s perfect, really.”

nymph: last dream you remember?

“it would have to be me getting top in class for math. and that’s how i knew i was dreaming, because if that day ever happens...” she shrugs, shaking her head in disbelief, “i don’t even know what to say...”

satyr: last time you couldn’t stop laughing?

sensing the defensiveness and the sheepishness in her laugh, jaehan cracks a fond little smile and pats the top of her head. “nothing to be ashamed of, young grasshopper. if you weren’t already hooked on them now, you would be by your third year,” he chirps. “at least now you can start building a tolerance.”

the smile turns a little wry at her sort-of compliment. sometimes it felt as much like another weight around his shoulders, but he supposes it’s nice to feel useful to someone. his older brother had always done all the looking-out for him; to be able to do that for someone else now, it’s a welcome change. “nah, i like the sugar, but i guess i never warmed up to the taste? i like coffee m…” he watches in mild awe as she takes the first gulp without a problem, almost distracted enough to run into the door.

“uh, i feel like i shouldn’t say i don’t know, so i’m going to say absolutely yes, it will,” he says solemnly. “besides, i believe in you! you can melt down this thing no problem.” he shakes the skateboard in the sky with one hand and reaches for his turn with the energy drink with the other. 

like the coward he is, he just takes a little sip– and tears immediately spring in his eyes as he fights to keep it down. “oh, f– that’s gross, how did you drink that?!”

she rolls her eyes when he pats her head but it feels comforting, in a way — not that she would let anyone know. the way he speaks, and how dignified and sincere his words sound, makes her feel even more relieved. furthermore, to have his confirmation did make her feel like she was capable of doing so. “well then, i will do my best!” she grins, exulting, glowing with contentment. staring at him as he takes a sip of the drink, she can’t stop herself from snickering at his reaction.

she takes a moment to calm herself down, before taking the drink back from him. then, she takes another gulp, swallowing with ease — or at least that was what it seemed like — on the inside, she could feel her body cringe as the liquid makes its way down her throat. “with determination.” she answers with ardour, before wiggling her eyebrows as she begins to tease jaehan, “it seems like the roles have changed. you have a lot to learn from me, young grasshopper.”

maybe jungwon should have thought it through a bit more before he impulsively decided to head over to her table, but he was known to be a bit impulsive at times. though, he was always quick to find a solution, and majority of the time things never escalated further.

back when he was a student, he never had random strangers walking up to him and offering him another drink while he studied away, eyes aching and droopy from just how long he had been there for. the countless drinks he had began to ware off quicker and quicker, and before he knew it, his eyes were on the brink of closing. but hopefully, he’d be able to ease the girls worries, even if it was a little bit.

nodding his head, jungwon nods, bows slightly before placing his drink on the table. hands latching onto the chair, he lifts it gently, pulling it out to avoid the horrible squeaking sound of the bottom of the legs scraping across the floor. he could remember that sound clearly. “i hope you enjoy it.” jungwon responds, forcing a sheepish smile onto his face, in attempts to avoid himself from appearing as awkward as he felt. yeah, he definitely should have thought this through. he can’t help but chuckle lightly at the words hyeran speaks, shaking his head as he reaches for his drink. “maths was my enemy when i was a student, so i can’t judge at all.” he hopes his smile is comforting, enough to relax her worries or nerves. “don’t worry about it. honestly, when i was in your position, i sometimes needed someone to tell me to take a break and sit back.”

her eyes are trained on him as he takes a seat, noting how cautious he moved. hyeran was starting to get accustomed to his presence and if the way he smiled signalled anything about his character, she was beginning to trust him — she’ll find out whether this was a stupid decision or not soon. finally, she builds the courage, taking a sip of the drink. she didn’t know what she was expecting but it tastes normal. she wasn’t wrong about her first impressions of him after all.

“well then, that’s good to know that i’m not the only one that struggled with this stupid subject.” she glares at her textbook as if it could fight back. then, she looks up at him, warmth filling up her heart at his words. they were kind and reassuring, with not a hint of exploitation. she knows it wasn’t the right time to feel sentimental, but with the way he said it, or perhaps it was all the effort he took into checking if she was alright slowly clicking into place in her mind. whatever it was, it made her feel comforted.

“i will always volunteer when free food is involved.” kiwoo’s overenthusiastic smile about getting to possibly gorge himself on some home-baked goods quickly dropped at the mention of eggshells though. “okay i will always volunteer when free food is involved as long as we have a pact that you don’t give me food poisoning. i do not need that.” sticking his tongue out in mock disgust before taking another sip of his drink with a small smile. “i’ll take you once we’ve settled back into school, it will be fun.”

“it’s nice, this might have to be our new go-to café. it would be easier with how close it is to campus.” smirking a little as he watches her cock her head, returning the gesture by inclining his own in the opposite direction. pretending to think over the question seriously. “hm, it might just be enough repayment for it. though i think another cookie may be in order. i did a lot of teleporting hyeran and even if you’re just small its soooo hard~”

"i promise you that i will try my best to ensure that you don’t get sick afterwards,” she nods her head once, voice filled with determination. “but if anything happens...” she trails off, avoiding meeting his eyes about as she purposely leaves out the last part of her sentence. hearing about their plans made her even more excited. the places that kiwoo brought her to always made her feel a sense of solace — but perhaps it was just kiwoo’s presence that made those places even more alluring and charming.

Shik turned to the girl. Her apology, this time, sounded sincere. They could see the struggle it took to keep from saying something more brash and insulting. Shik had to give it to the girl, she had gumption. They weren’t exactly the easiest person to approach, especially when they were in a bad mood. Shik could be quite intimidating, but that didn’t seem to have an effect on this kid.

“It’s fine,” Shik finally responded. Their features relaxed into something more calm, irritation slightly lessened by the girl’s apology. “As long as you know better. Don’t worry about the groceries. I’m annoyed that I’ll have to serve less-than-perfect produce today, but I’d never make a child pay for my supplies. I have some morals.”

The chef paused, an idea coming to mind. They smiled pleasantly, but a mischievous light glinted in Shik’s eyes. “If you somehow manage to waltz into my restaurant, I’ll just expect you to do clean-up duty that day as payment. That’s only if you find my restaurant;  don’t really want to serve someone who’s irritated me.”

Shik collected their bags after paying and waved at the girl without looking back, “Consider it a debt I have yet to collect.”

her shoulders relax, hearing them accept her apology. she only hoped that they would stop their speech there. it almost seemed like they had a penchant for infuriating her, perhaps it was the way they spoke or just their damn tone. whatever it was, their biting words forced her to restrain herself from another outburst. she nods at their words, resolving to concede once more. jaws clenched, she fakes a smile, her balled-up fists placed behind her back. “of course,” she hesitatingly replies, the words taste sour in her mouth and she hates that feeling.

she would have to be extra careful when visiting new restaurants from now on. if it came from anyone else, she would have accepted it as a silly joke, but since it came from someone as unreasonable as them, she could only expect the worst. besides, who did they think they were, assuming that she would even want them to serve her?

“if you’re worried about that, i can cook it extra well just to be safe,” he teases. (it was kind of inherently a threat, but he doesn’t mean for it to be one.) he watches her assess the can, surprised when she admits to drinking energy drinks.

“really? you do?” now it’s his turn to scrutinize her, a laugh threatening to escape. “actually, i don’t know why i’m so surprised because it explains a lot. i just thought you’d be a coffee person.” however, since he has no right to speak any more on that, he shakes his head and takes the energy drink to the counter. he pays for it, which brings him an unreasonable pinch of giddiness – there were exactly two reasons why he worked, and those were to be able to pay for things for friends and to be able to indulge himself in science. this happened to be a happy overlap of the two.

“you can have some of my twenty-four hours. the last time i had one of these, i felt like a fruit fly stuck in a window,” he declares when it’s all paid for, shaking the can in front of hyeran with a little hum. “want first honors?”

“explains a lot huh,” she nods along to her words, raising her eyebrows in wonderment. was that a good or bad thing? — she’d ask him about that later when she had the chance. “to be fair,” hyeran explains herself almost instantly, defending her pride from his judgements, “it just depends on the mood, you know.” soon after those words leave her mouth, she realises it doesn’t do much to preserve her dignity and laughs it off, somewhat embarrassed.

“really?” she tries to hide the surprise in her voice, as it is coupled with a sense of genuinity, “i mean, i would’ve thought that such a genius inventor like yourself would practically live on these drinks.”

kiha was away from the agency this week, something that he was a little glad for too considering it gave him time to focus on his studies a little more. exams were way off and so was the official licensing one too, but sometimes it still felt like he was behind. which would probably be funny to hear to anyone considering kiha was definitely one of the top third years when it came to the academics part of the hero course. but it was a nice refresher to be in the group of third years that were helping out the first years for a lesson too. by now he’d met and spoken to a fair few as well from the last time he’d seen them.

at this point though, kiha was just waiting in the gym with the others whilst they all went off to different parts or groups of people, whilst kiha milled about. he was almost surprised to hearing a female call out for him, but he turned, smiling softly when he saw a familiar face. “you too. is your training going well?” he could remember her from the last time anyway, as well as the few times he’d encountered her in the halls or just about. she was nice, he could see her determination shine through almost always too. “well that is what we’re here for,” he laughed softly, adjusting his costume for a moment and nodding. “so sparring it is.”

“training has been good! i’ve been learning a lot more since applying your advice, so i think that i’ve been making good progress so far,” she nods as she recounted. her cheeks flushed in embarrassment for a moment, taking in his words, but she quickly brushes it off and laughs along with him.

sparring was never her favourite activity, especially if it was without the use of quirks. while she understood how beneficial it would be especially in situations where they might be rendered quirkless for a while, it relied on sheer accuracy and precision to ensure that each punch or kick hits your partner exactly at where it was supposed to hit, which she couldn’t see herself becoming proficient in. still, she made sure to fully utilise each practice session, and this time wasn’t an exception.

before, class had begun, woohyun had sheepishly confessed his suspicions to the heroics teacher: “maybe the principal is grooming me to be a teacher here someday?” out of habit, he reached up and scratched the back of his head before slipping his hand into the pocket of his hero costume. his intuition tells him that principal king’s recent knack for inviting woohyun to be a guest lecturer is to lure him back to u.y. but woohyun isn’t willing to give up being a full-time pro hero just yet.

secretly, though, he’s grown fond of the u.y students. and he likes teaching. and, like most u.y graduates, the heroics courses were some of his favorite classes when he was a confused, idealistic seventeen-year-old wannabe hero. he can only assume the same of today’s youth.

ah, youth. he leisurely whistles a nursery tune, daring hyeran to come get him. he already took down the other student, anyway.

shit! when he turns and sees dozens of darts flying towards him, woohyun snaps back to reality from his daydream. the darts almost do him in, but if there’s anything that the public knows angel for, it’s that he’s fast. and agile. so fast that he often leaves his sidekicks in the dust. so, he’s out of the way in a jiffy, wings carrying him to the roof of a nearby building.

but he has to admit, “you almost got me.” the slightest crack of a smile spreads across his face, and he lets out the breath he was holding in. though his heart is still beating kind of quickly, his exterior is even and calm, as per usual. woohyun raises his wrists: “gonna get me?”

it wasn’t unexpected that he would have avoided that, but she was hoping that it would have at least caused a little damage. she shakes the slight disappointment off — that would have been too easy. besides, this just gave her an even greater chance to put her quirk on display. yet, when she hears his admission, her heart swelled with pride. there’s a small grin on her face before she hides it, formulating another plan in her head. “i’ll get you on the next attack,” she assures, after settling her emotions and reminding herself to be level-headed.

the final poison dart she had left would have to be her finishing blow, leaving him paralysed for just enough time for her to handcuff him and win. but she was still uncertain about what steps she needed to take to force him into that vulnerable position.

inwardly grimacing, she looks at him standing on the roof. she wasn’t suitable for fighting in the air, so she would have to find some way to get him to come down. at the same time, the clock was counting down — with only seventeen minutes left she would have to act fast.