Cubicity

Chapter 43: Spring Arrives

"It's too fast," Eri stated with irritation.

"You're actually pretty quick, Eri-chan. It's your technique that needs work. Here let me show you," Tooru explained. She took the net from the smaller girl and approached her target slowly. She then lunged forward and, once caught, made a circular motion with her wrist so that the sweep net's bottom came over the top of the frame, sealing off the mouth of the net. "See? Now they can't fly or jump out as they did before."

"What did you get?"

Hagakure pulled out a small green bug as she stated, "Grasshopper."

The child's face looked slightly disgusted at the result.

Tooru let the grass muncher back on the ground before saying, "Oh, don't give me that look. Grasshoppers are considered lucky."

Eri's eyes lit up as she asked, "So like cats?"

"Exactly!"

Hagakure handed the net back to the child, and she then looked around for a new target.

"Gotta say, I didn't think Hagakure-san would be the kind of person to be into bug catching," Aizawa stated.

To his left came Midoriya's voice. "Me neither. She's never brought it up before."

"Well, she's definitely having more success than I was before. I'm glad you two came along."

"We just noticed you struggling and felt like we should see what was going on."

Eraserhead sighed before saying, "This morning, Eri-chan noticed all the butterflies outside her window during her lessons and insisted on seeing them. Of course, anytime she got close, they flew away, so I thought, why not use a net. Though you saw, our efforts were pretty dismal."

Izuku chuckled before saying, "She's really into the spring mood, it seems."

"Experiencing the seasons is a new experience for her. I'm sure the same will happen in the summer." Shota then looked at his student and said, "I'll have to thank Hagakure-san later for giving us some privacy."

The boy gave a worrying look at his teacher.

"It's nothing nefarious, I assure you; we just don't get these moments often, and it's been a while." Aizawa's gaze hardened, though, as he said, "Especially since you've been going out at night with a certain Vigilante."

"Oh, that. I'm guessing All Might-sensei informed you?"

"Actually, your mentor failed to mention it until your last trip," the man said with irritation in his voice. "And only because I was curious as to why you had been given permission to leave school grounds twice recently. I don't know how I missed it the first time."

Midoriya gulped. "Do you not approve?"

Aizawa rubbed the temple of his head with his right hand as he explained, "In the end, it turned out fine, so far, but I still expect to be in the know. Ever since I was first informed of One For All, I've mostly been kept in the loop." He then looked over at the girls as he asked, "Does Hagakure-chan like her new suit and gadgets?"

Izuku's head sank as he answered, "I haven't given them to her yet."

"Why?"

The boy looked away from his teacher as he tapped his index fingers together. "To give as a present for White Day."

After a long exhale, Shota stated, "I should have known." He then crossed his arms as he said, "Well, at least she'll have some time with it before the term ends, I suppose."