Chapter Forty-Three

On the day of our graduation, Shiori and I both walk the stage with pride and the joy that courses through me is one that has been unmatched thus far. In the crowd of proud parents and friends, I can see my father, better than he's looked in years, smiling and waving. Grandpa stands beside him, much smaller than I ever remembered him being, but he's smiling too. We did it. The last few days have been spent with a bundle of nerves in my stomach as we all tried to prepare for today, but as I stand with all of my friends, my sister by my side, and a graduation robe draped over my shoulders, I feel nothing but the rush of success.

"Congratulations, heroes. You passed" Aizawa announces and he's met by cheers and eruptions of laughter. Everyone around me howls in celebration and I throw my hands up with them.

"We did it!" Shiori cheers. I grin at her, smile wider than it's ever been.

"We did" I agree. I feel like I'm on top of the world. From here, we can go anywhere. From here... there are plenty of pro heroes in attendance today too, most of them here to support their own students, and in the back I can see a towering Endeavor. I smile at him, finding that I hope he's proud of me. Somewhere in there, underneath all of his grumpiness and anger, I hope he can find the room... to be proud of both of us. I look over at Shoto and as if sensing my stare, he looks back at me, smiling kindly.

Once the ceremony ends, all of us are swept up in the exit, each of us finding our families and sharing in the joy of our latest achievements. Dad hugs me and Shiori, tearing up with pride and Grandpa goes on and on about all the things we'll need to watch out for now that we'll be out on our own.

"Are you sure you two don't want to stay with me for a while? I'm sure your father wouldn't mind" Grandpa says, smiling warmly. Shiori and I both grin at him then each other.

"We're sure, Gramps" I reply and Shiori nods.

"Besides, we already had all of our stuff moved to the new place. All that's left is to get it inside and unpack it once we get there" she adds. Grandpa just sighs.

"Well, alright" he concedes and Dad smiles.

"Do you girls need any help with that?" he wonders and we both shrug.

"Sure, Dad" Shiori agrees and I nod.

"Yeah, that would be great! But, we were gonna head out with everyone after for a bite. Did you two wanna come?" I wonder, but Dad shakes his head, chuckling a bit.

"I should get Grandpa home before too long, then I'll just wait for you at your place" he assures us. My heart squeezes, but I'm glad he's here and glad he'll be spending some time with us at home too.

"Oh wait, here. I'll give you my keys so you can at least wait inside" I say, fishing them out of my pocket. Shiori frowns at me.

"Seriously?" she demands. I laugh.

"What? Now I don't have to carry a purse" I say, sticking my hands back into the shockingly deep pockets of my dress. Shiori smirks.

"Because purses are so heavy" she says. I make a face at her.

"I don't like carrying things" I insist and she laughs this time. I grin. Things finally feel normal between us, but somehow, a better kind of normal. A healthier one.

"Okay, girls. Don't be too late and be safe" Dad says and the two of us nod, hugging him and our grandfather goodbye before we leave with most of our class. On the way out, we all chat excitedly and Shiori and I both manage to find our respective dates. Shinsou blends in easily, reaching down to grab Shiori's hand and looking into her eyes with a softer look than I've ever seen him wear. I roll my eyes, looking back at my own date and smiling at him. Damn, he's hot.

"What?" he snaps, but his attitude is about as off putting as a small child. I grab his hand anyway, feeling comfortable and confident in my short blue cotton dress, even as it flutters around me. Katsuki's face reddens a bit.

"You look good like that" I say, motioning to his robe hanging open to reveal a nice button up over a pair of dress pants. Yeah... damn good. He looks away, scoffing even though he holds my hand a bit tighter.

"Stop saying things like that" he mutters, but I can't help it. Not when he looks so... attractive.

"I'll think about it" I reply as we all head out.

"See you there?" Shiori calls to me and I give her a thumbs up.

"See you there!" I call out before Katsuki and I get into the back of Kirishima's car.

"You guys ready?" he asks, sounding excited. Katsuki leans forward, a warning look on his face.

"Don't drive like an idiot this time, dumbass!" he commands. Kirishima just laughs, putting the car in drive.

"Don't be such a buzz kill, man! Let's go!" he hollers and when we take off, Katsuki's face grows exponentially more worried and pissed off. I laugh, body pressing back into the seat. Katsuki's an angry mess the entire way to the restaurant, but the way I see it, Kirishima's been dying to let loose in this thing since the day he got it and why shouldn't he? We just graduated! We all deserve a little freedom.

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Our graduation party went off without a hitch, all of us spending just a few hours together unwinding and celebrating the latest victory. We ended up taking a million and one photos, most of us running up a decent amount of storage on our phones and a couple of us laughing when Yaoyorozu pulled out a professional grade camera for a couple group shots. I got a zillion different photos on my phone of me and Katsuki, laughing every time I caught him yelling at me or reaching for the phone and savoring the look on his face when I caught one of me kissing his cheek.

Shiori spent a lot of time with Shinsou, the two of them constantly wrapped in conversations that I don't think even an earthquake could pry them out of. It was hard not to smile at them, wondering if they noticed how absorbed they were in each other, but when they finally did participate in group activities, it was mostly Shiori helping him to integrate with the rest of us. Deku and Ochaco took it upon themselves to get a giant dessert for the lot of us and Iida was extremely diligent in making sure none of us were drinking anything alcoholic, squinting suspiciously at those of us laughing a little too hard. Kirishima and Ashido got pretty cozy during the whole ordeal and Kaminari spent a majority of the time doing parlor tricks with his quirk, making all of us laugh and joke around. All around, it was a class party that couldn't be forgotten, even the students from the other classes took part in the festivities and by the end of it, some of them were even closer to us than before.

Now, as Shiori and I head back to our new apartment, the two of us giggling uncontrollably, I show her one of my favorite photos of the night. Katsuki is storming towards the camera, red faced and irritated, a pouty Kirishima chasing after him and a shocked Ashido in the background. Shiori laughs, covering her face.

"What is he even doing?" she wheezes and I shake my head, failing to wipe the smile off my face.

"Kirishima held his hand because I told him to and Katsuki got big mad about it. I thought his face was gonna explode" I chortle, stomach aching with it. Shiori snickers.

"What about that one!" she exclaims, pointing at the next one in my camera roll. I flip to it, giggling at the photo of All Might, gaping at Deku in disbelief as he did his best impression of the former number one hero.

"I don't know if he was offended or proud" I joke and Shiori laughs.

"That was so fun... we should do that again" she says and I grin, nodding enthusiastically.

"Definitely. I can't imagine we'll grow too far apart" I reply as the two of us walk inside the building and up the stairs towards our apartment. We carry on a bit as we walk, the two of us still high on the elation from the party, but we both pause when we get to our door, each of us tilting our heads in confusion.

"Did they forget to bring our stuff?" I ask, but Shiori shakes her head.

"That can't be right. They sent me a confirmation with a photo and everything. All of our stuff was here before we even went to the party" she replies. I purse my lips as we start inside.

"You don't think someone stole it, do you?" I wonder. Shiori gives me a look, but I can tell she's a bit worried about it, that is, until we get inside. Once we close the door behind us, the two of us stare around the apartment in shocked surprise.

Everything inside is neat, clean, and freshly unpacked. All of the furniture is decorated with personal touches, the kitchen is lightly stocked, and the fridge even has a few photos attached to it by magnets. I shake my head, surprised by the fact that there aren't even any boxes lying around... in fact... the place looks spotless.

"Do you think... Dad?" I breathe, stunned. Shiori just blinks, eyes wide.

"There's no way... that fast?" she replies, but I can't think of anything else. Suddenly our dad comes out of the back of the apartment, still drying his hands.

"Oh, you're home" he smiles warmly at the two of us.

"Dad, hey. Did you do all of this?" I ask and he nods happily.

"I hope it looks nice" he replies and Shiori gapes.

"Dad, it looks great. Thank you" she says, a warmth in her expression for him that neither of us has had in a long time. I smile too, grateful for his help.

"Sit, sit! I ordered dessert for us" Dad says, taking a seat on our small couch and unwrapping the sweet treats. I practically drool at the tiny cakes, eyes gleaming.

"Dad" I gush and I know he knows what I'm trying to say. He chuckles, motioning for us to dig in.

"These look expensive, are you sure?" Shiori says, sounding just as careful as usual. Dad laughs lightly and nods his head, pushing a cake towards her.

"Eat, eat. Grandpa helped out" he tells us. Without further ado, the three of us dig into the tiny pastries, all of us laughing and talking about what comes next. As expected, both of us plan on working for the hero agencies that mentored us while we studied at UA and of course, our father keeps talking about how proud he is of us both. The two of us beam with pride and I can tell that Shiori is feeling the same way that I am.

After our mother was killed, our father fell apart at the seams. He did the best that he could to raise us and take care of us, but without her... he became a shell of himself. He was never quite able to become the father we'd known growing up and after some time, it was almost like he couldn't even remember that person. We did our best to cope with it, but home was never quite the same again. We didn't have nights like these, but tonight... tonight Shiori and I smile at each other, the two of us listening to the sound of our father's laughter like it's the sweetest sound in the world.

"Come on, Kaida, you can't possibly want more! You just ate two!" Shiori says when I try to steal half of Dad's cake. I stick my tongue out, eliciting more laughter from him.

"You always did love your sweets" he jokes, shaking his head. Shiori rolls her eyes.

"Don't encourage her, she's gonna go into a frosting coma" she says flatly, but I can see the humor in her eyes. Who cares about a frosting coma? Tonight, I'm treating myself. I eat the other half of his cake, ignoring the laughter that it inspires.

"Come on, fiend. Let's wash up" Shiori sighs, smiling at me anyway. I smile back and agree, helping her grab the dishes from the small table and walking with her into the kitchen to wash them. I place everything in the sink and start to clean them while my sister offers our dad something to drink. Looking around at the place brings another smile to my face as I scrub the plates and put them aside to dry. Dad really went all out with the kitchen, setting everything up in similar places to the way he used to at the old house back in America. It hits home to see it, but instead of feeling a twinge of pain, I feel the comfort of familiarity. I smile to myself as I dry my hands and turn to go back into the living room when I see a vase of flowers on the kitchen counter. I tilt my head, staring at the stunning gathering of violet, red, and white snapdragons arranged perfectly and precisely.

"Dad? Did you... get us flowers?" I call out as Shiori reenters the kitchen. I look back at her, earning a curious look. It looks like there's a card sticking out of the top and a small cheesy smile spreads across my face as I wonder what kind of message Dad decided to leave for us. I walk across the room and grab the small paper just as he enters, laughing sheepishly.

"Ah, I forgot... it was a friend of yours, Kaida. He stopped by after I got here. He even helped me to unpack and said he'd see you real soon. He was such a sweet man" he tells us and as I open the card, my blood runs cold, eyes widening as I stare at the scrawl across the middle of it. My heart stops, world spinning. No... no it can't be. I look up at Shiori, fear paralyzing me to the spot. Shiori's face falls and I can see understanding come into her eyes.

"It's..." I breathe as she comes to take the card from my hand, reading it for herself. Her hands start to shake and I know the feeling. My whole body aches and my stomach feels sicker than ever. When Shiori looks back up at me, her eyes are glassy and I can tell we're both having the same thoughts and fears and all of it is inspired by just seven little words.

I'll be seeing you again, little dragon.