Total Command

Chapter 72: All warfare is based on deception

Yui was more perceptive than people gave her credit for.

She had to be; how else was she going to be the most sparkling one of her class if she did not know where the spotlights were coming from?

She smiled cryptically, looking at her teammate. Jirou Kyoka. She was worried too much about her outward appearance, too concerned with how everyone else saw her, about how she saw herself.

Maybe that's why she hadn't taken the plunge yet. Confess the love she clearly had for the resident man. Maybe just the smallest push would get her to react...

"Earth to Aoyama?" Kyoka huffed and waved her hand in front of the blonde. "Are you still here?"

"Oui, my purple friend," she said with a wink, a sparkle manifesting in the air between them.

"How-" Kyoka mumbled looking at the sparkle before letting go of the crime against logic and reality. "Don't call me that- did you hear my plan?"

"Lull our target into a false sense of safety by missing my fabulous navel beam, then use the structure of the battle arena for our victory, oui~," Yui said, adjusting her frankly massive glasses that complimented her look so well. "But, I have a question, Violette. "

"Just cause you say it in French doesn't mean I'm okay with it," Kyoka hissed under her breath, not bothering to make her gripe more vocal. She didn't have the energy to deal with Yui's eccentricities before taking on fucking Edgeshot. "What is it?"

"Why have you not confessed, mon cherie ?"

Kyoka's face grew red-hot in an instant, heart starting to beat rapidly against her chest. Flashes of Izuku accepting the confession flashing through her mind. It's not! Like that! "I don't have a crush on him!"

Yui's smile grew thinner and sharper somehow, making it even more like the letter V. "But, I hadn't even mentioned him, let alone a crush . Did you, by chance... think about Midoriya just now?"

By now, the red facepaint of Kyoka's hero costume was no longer visible against her blushing cheeks. "I- you..."

Yui smiled even sharper, another sparkle shooting off as she winked, kiting a hand through her long blonde hair as she did so. "You were too obvious, mon amie ."

This smug French shit. Kyoka grumbled, before taking a deep breath to center herself. She wasn't about to pull a Bakugou over Yui teasing her about the little crush she had on the green-haired guy...

And his stupid big smile and bigger biceps... Or those eyes that sparkled whenever she did something sorta cool in front of him...

Her heart rate spiked again, causing the punk-hero to hiss under her breath. Stupid emotions...

Hey, wait a minute... she grabbed one of her jacks feeling the vibrations of her pulse against her index finger and thumb. Louder and faster than her resting heart rate, by a lot. Usually, she jogged in place for a while to get her heart beating this fast for stronger attacks, but if she could just...

...Am I really planning on using my crush for an attack?

"We should move before Edgeshot decides that attacking us is easier than defending the gate."

Kyoka's eye twitched in annoyance and she looked at the sparkly blonde for a long moment. When Yui's expression didn't change, she sighed hard enough that her chest ached. Fuck it, it's the best idea I've got. "You're right. Let's move before she acclimates to the limiter or somethin'."