Latibule

37 - ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ɪ-ɪꜱʟᴀɴᴅ!

Previously on Latibule:

"That's so cool!" I beamed, the yellow fog all around me starting to glimmer. "When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

My eyes went wide. "Tomorrow?!"

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Latibule — Chapter 37///Welcome To I-Island!

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Getting through security was such a hassle but it was to be expected, considering that the most important discoveries about quirks were right on that island.

"Woah," I gasped, looking over the island from my place on top of a staircase.

"Indeed," my father chimed before grabbing onto my shoulder to guide me where we needed to go. "We can look around for a bit but then your mother and I will have to go to a meeting."

"That's alright, I can handle myself," I assured, looking at my father. He and mom were wearing formal clothes — mom wore a blouse with a pencil skirt and dad wore a suit — and I was wearing my hero costume.

"So where do you want to go?" mom asked. "The I-Expo's not yet opened but they already have all the attractions up."

"We could go to the center of the Island," I suggested. "Or anywhere else, really. Everything here looks like a lot of fun."

"Then how about we go to a café," mom said. "It was a long flight and your father and I have to discuss some things before the meeting so you can go look around during that."

"Yeah, sure," I said and we started walking. We were almost there when something caught my attention. I stopped for a moment and, of course, my father noticed.

"We can go get a table and you can stay here to watch," he told me.

"Yeah, thanks," I said, offhandedly.

Just as they left, an explosion sounded and the screens that I'd just managed to focus on filled with dust.

"A clearance time of 33 seconds — he's in eighth place!"

The screens cleared. Is that—

"Kirishima?"

I looked across the viewing platform, searching for the source of the voice. My eyes widened. Are those—

"Please welcome our new challenger!"

"Kacchan?!"

I gasped out loud, taking a step back. It almost seemed as if our whole class was here.

"The villain attack course has been reset! Ready... go!"

Bakugou blasted around, moving faster than he had last time I'd seen him.

The air around me changed from a light brown to beige as I realized I'd forgotten to text him that I was leaving. Then again, I hadn't checked my phone since my parents told me the news so maybe he had forgotten to text me, too.

The colors in the air became more prominent as I focused on them and I remembered that I'd have to tell my parents sooner or later. I'd been putting it off because I didn't want to distract them during their business but now that I realized what I'd been doing, I felt quilt nibble at my heart.

"Only 15 seconds! First place!"

I pushed myself off of the railing and started making my way towards my classmates.

"Hey, isn't that Midoriya on the stands?" I heard Kirishima.

That, of course, triggered Bakugou into flying up. "What are you doing here, Deku?"

"Hey, there, Kacchan, maybe you should calm down—"

"Don't you tell me what to do!"

"Bakugou, behave yourself!" Iida cut in.

I cleared my throat, sentences silent and heads turn. "Hi, guys."

Uraraka looked as if she was about to faint. "You're here, too?"

"Yeah, speaking of that, I should probably get back to my parents," I said. "They're at a café right now but we should probably go and search for our hotel."

"Bye!" Midoriya called.

"See you in the evening!" Uraraka added.

The evening? I thought, walking back through the hall. A pair of footsteps followed me.

"What are you doing on the Island?"

"My parents got invited," I answered, secretly glad I'd gotten the explosive boy on my tail because if probability was on our side, Todoroki probably showed up a second after we left and beat Bakugou's score, which would've led into another fight... I turned my head to look at the blond. He was calmer than he'd been minutes before. "I could ask you the same."

"I won the Sports Festival, duh."

"And Kirishima's your guest, I presume."

Bakugou shrugged. "I texted you first but you didn't answer and I wasn't about to let the invitation go to waste."

I chuckled. "Fair enough."

We walked in silence for a few minutes. "I'm actually pretty glad to see you here," I admitted. "My parents have a bunch of meetings and I was actually a bit afraid that I'd be bored."

"Bored?" Bakugou snorted. "In a place like this?"

I shook my head with a small laugh. "I know, right."

Bakugou sighed, mulling over his next sentence. "I'm glad you're here, too."

My insides churned. "You are?"

"Yeah, Kirishima's cheeriness was starting to make me regret my life decisions."

I laughed lightly before the two of us were enveloped in a comfortable silence. Then I spotted my parents at a café and nodded to them. "I should probably..."

"Yeah, go ahead," Bakugou nodded. "I'll wait for Kirishima."

I smiled. "See you around, Katsuki."

"See you."