Flea

Chapter Sixteen

Maeve KNEW Hitoshi was up first. Against Midoriya, of all people. Yet she hadn't gone to give him encouragement. They were on in two minutes, so she moved at a dead sprint to the waiting rooms. Shinso was just heading to the entrance into the stadium when the nurse barrelled into him, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

"Just wanted t- to say good luck," she gasped, out of breath herself. Shinso looked down at her, surprised and pleasantly touched. He'd thought she'd forgotten about him. The boy hesitantly placed his arms around the tiny girl giving him a bear hug. He was tall enough that he could easily rest his chin on the top of her silver head. For some reason, the thought made his pale cheeks flush. Shinso was very glad his Dad was probably back safely in his seat by now and his emotions were masked by the crowd. It would make things.. Awkward.

Maeve was really nice, and not even in an insufferable way. It was like she was able to connect with and find something special in anyone. Seriously, they'd be walking down the corridor and she'd be stopped at every corner by older students coming up to her asking for help, or just wanting a chat. The nurse had mastered the names of everyone in first year from A to K in the first week and there were already randoms just coming up and hugging her, saying they'd had a bad day and needed it. She'd confided in him that new students were always a bit slow to warm up to her because of her sense of humour, but they'd get past it in a few months. The squirts always did.

Nobody outside of his family had ever, in his memory, accepted him quirk and all. Everyone tensed up when they talked him. They thought he didn't notice. He did. Which was why the nurse was such a breath of fresh air. It actually seemed like she enjoyed spending time with him, which was practically giddying. It often seemed like she wouldn't shut up, giving no regard to the fact he could brainwash her at any moment. So it was normal that he wanted to spend time with her as well, right? Shinso wasn't one hundred percent sure how the whole friend business worked.

As Maeve pulled away, she gave him a bright grin despite how exhausted she must be.
"Just keep shouting abuse at him until he replies and if that doesn't work go for the crotch."
Shinso nodded, willing to take any advice at this point. 

"Thanks Maeve, that's definitely how I want to make my debut on live television. Hero course staff would love it." The purple haired boy's palms were slick with sweat and his heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to abandon ship. 

"Oh, they would, trust me. Midnight would be aroused. Mic would love the entertainment value. Aizawa would just enjoy seeing your unorthodox technique." 

Shinso couldn't form a reply he was so nervous, just making an embarrassing grunting sound. He was pretty good at insulting people, the guy was honestly banking on that. Maybe he should just employ her strategy and be done with it. This would be fine. Completely swell. Fineee.

"Please welcome to the newly made arena (thanks Cementoss, what a legend), Izuku Midoriya and Hitoshi Shinsoooooo!!" 

Maeve patted his back and gave Shinso a push out the door when his legs became useless jelly underneath him. 

"Just do your best!" She called. He scratched the back of his neck as he began striding out into the sunlight. 

"And for gods sake this is a media event. Grin like you just made out with Miruko or Hawks or whoever floats your boat," the nurse hissed. Shinso gave a choking noise of surprise, and attempted a bashful smile. The crowd's roar overpowered the muffled slap Maeve's gloved palm made with her forehead. 

Whoever floated his boat?

As Hitoshi climbed into the arena, only two people knew whom his mind had, in its panic, instantly flown to. Dr Shinso raised an eyebrow, a very impressive display of emotion, as he immediately drew focus away from his son's thoughts.