#the chests would be too annoying as they're so many and aren't shown on the map once emptied

[homuraakemis]

I was really hoping to like Netflix ATLA, but there were just way too many things that I didn't like. I don't have any wish to debate any of this (so if you disagree please ignore or write your own post), I'm just writing this to gather my thoughts and get this off my chest (also this is very disorganized). So here's a list of some of the things that I didn't like about Netflix ATLA (there's probably more, but I won't remember them all right now):

-- Removing the sexism everywhere, then bringing it back when it's convenient: Sokka is not sexist, Yue can just break off her betrothal, but when the narrative needs Katara and Pakku to fight, the tribe is suddenly sexist again. There's no consistency. Sokka and Katara's conflict makes no sense without his sexism. They created a whole different conflict between Sokka thinking that Katara doesn't take him seriously and Katara thinking that Sokka treats her like a little girl, and it feels completely artificial. We aren't even shown scenes in which Sokka actually treats Katara as a little girl for this conflict between them to be believable. Sokka and Suki's relationship also doesn't work without his sexism and her humbling him. In NATLA, they seem to have some conflict for no reason over who's the better warrior, then Suki is super interested in Sokka for no reason and starts stalking him and looking at him with some really weird wide eyes all the time. We have nothing of the natural relationship they develop in the cartoon, in which Sokka slowly comes to respect her as a warrior and she warms up to him and he starts to act more humble (and they don't even have all that much development in the cartoon either, but the cartoon makes the relationship work much better). Also, I find it very annoying (and sexist) that they tried to absolve the sexist male characters of their character flaw of being sexist to make the audience like them more. Sokka is no longer sexist, and now June has a crush on Iroh, because how dare their precious Iroh be flawed and be a creep towards June, right? Better to just remove his flaw and make him blameless (/sarcasm).

-- Changing the Zuko, Azula and Ozai dynamic: It's very weird making Ozai praise Zuko so much. I know that by the end, they try to pass it off as Ozai "playing games" to motivate Azula, but it still comes off very weird, making it look like he favors Zuko over Azula. Azula is supposed to be the golden child. Zuko is supposed to be an utter failure in Ozai's eyes. If it was one scene of Ozai praising Zuko to manipulate Azula, it would be one thing, but they have several scenes of him praising Zuko, seemingly missing Zuko and being teary eyed as he burned Zuko, and it makes it seem like he thinks Zuko is strong and banished him only as a test to make him even stronger, instead of his actual reason in the cartoon (which is that he thinks Zuko is weak and a failure). And his constant criticisms of Azula are even weirder. Azula is the golden child! She's supposed to always have been praised for her talents (animation!Ozai AND comics!Ozai constantly praise Azula). I get that they're trying to show how Ozai was abusive and manipulative to both of his kids, but there are ways of showing this without completely changing Zuko and Azula's dynamic. You could have Azula being perfect most of the time with Ozai praising her, but then the one time she gets something wrong, you could have him say something threatening like "you don't want to end up like your weakling brother". This would have shown how Ozai manipulated Azula and why Azula feels like she constantly needs to please him (for fear of ever being treated like Zuko) without removing Azula's characterization as the perfect golden child that Ozai always saw as superior to Zuko.

-- Making Zuko fight his father (which is very thematically wrong) and making it canon in the live action the fanon headcanon that Zuko's scar is supposed to be a handprint with Ozai "tenderly" touching Zuko as he burns him (I hate this headcanon with a passion).

-- Making Ozai teary eyed as he burns Zuko (wtf).

-- Zuko doesn't lash out enough at his uncle and crew, they soften his flaws.

-- I didn't like the way they rewrote the war council scene or how Ozai gave Zuko permission to speak. I get that they were trying to show Ozai's disappointment in Zuko and how Zuko couldn't give a battle plan answer that Ozai approved, but it still felt off to me.

-- Also, why would Ozai just… decide to let the 41st division live just because Zuko argued for them? The whole point was that Zuko's opinion didn't matter to Ozai. It doesn't make sense to me that Ozai changed his plans to sacrifice the division just because Zuko spoke up. Not only it messes up with his original battle plans that he was so defensive about and was outraged that Zuko "disrespected", this also would make him look weak before his generals, because it's him giving his disrespectful son exactly what he wanted. It really makes no sense to me. I know they did it to make Zuko look more "heroic", and to make the crew finally respect him, but Zuko didn't need this to be more heroic, he was already heroic simply for speaking up for them. As for his crew coming to respect him, it should have come from his own actions, like in the animation, where Zuko actually realizes how badly he had been treating his crew and actually does right by them by thinking of their safety in the storm. The animation actually gives him character growth, in which Zuko reflects on his bad actions and changes. In NATLA, Iroh just tells the crew that they should respect Zuko because he saved them, and Zuko doesn't have to grow or self reflect on his treatment of his crew at all.

-- Badly choreographed fight scenes. The benders are constantly making unnecessary moves to bend (like they're charging up or something), which doesn't feel organic. In several moments they pose for long moments in the middle of the fight, and the opponents just stand there watching them pose. In fact, there are several moments where an opponent just waits there while our heroes do a bunch of random dance movements to summon their element instead of just attacking them in the middle of their dance.

-- I got more used to the costumes as I watched, but some of them still feel like cosplay.

-- A lot of dialogue is clunky and awkward. Gyatso telling Aang he is the Avatar is blunt, and Aang is given no time to react or emote about this heavy burden that was suddenly placed on him. Gran Gran starts an exposition about how the four nations used to live in harmony and how Aang is special and the Avatar out of nowhere, before she has any evidence to make her actually believe this. For all she knows he's just a random airbender.

-- The acting is also not the best. Not as bad as I was expecting from what we were shown in the trailer, but not really very good. People randomly scream to make points sometimes (especially the Avatars).

-- Aang no longer runs away from his responsibility, he just goes on a ride to clear his head and ends up trapped in a block of ice. Oops! Not his fault! We can't have our main character have any major flaws that he needs to overcome, right? We can't show a kid having a natural reaction to having such a responsibility thrust upon him, nooo, we need him to be a perfect hero from the start. Who needs character development? Better to just remove Aang's character arc.

-- Katara comes up with the name Team Avatar? Not Sokka? WHY?

-- So… Koh just… lets everybody go because he got back a toy with the face of his mother? Seriously? And why did Roku take that from him in the first place? What was the point? Taking the totem made him weaker or something? And what's Roku's connection to Koh? shouldn't this have been Kuruk? Also, how did Aang know that he shouldn't show emotion when facing Koh? I don't remember anyone telling him this, but maybe I'm just forgetting it.

-- Hakoda's characterization was just butchered. He was always a supportive father, why the fuck is he talking about Sokka like that? Also, animation!Hakoda would never let Sokka pass a test if he wasn't ready. He left Sokka behind because he wasn't old enough for war, and he explicitly tells this to Sokka. He doesn't soften the blow, he doesn't praise Sokka for something that Sokka didn't earn. Yet Netflix!Hakoda is ok with giving his son unearned rewards.

-- Yue's death scene was better and more emotional in the Shyamalan movie than in the Netflix show, LMAO.

-- Zuko AND the show making such a big deal out of that notebook was really weird.

-- Weirdly, the show was supposed to be "more adult" and yet it still uses the same children's cartoon logic. Zuko swings his sword at people? Not a drop of blood (or at least, I don't remember seeing it). Aang throws people off the wall when he and the Blue Spirit are escaping? Nobody dies.

-- So Katara just learns everything on her own? No training, no help from a master, she just goes from barely being able to move water (even less than her animated counterpart was able to do) to being some great master in less than a year with the help of one scroll and her experience running from firebenders? And Aang goes to the North to train in waterbending and yet we don't see him have a single lesson? He doesn't even TRY to waterbend the entire season?

-- Also, Aang REFUSES to support Katara against Pakku??? He was her strongest supporter in the animation, he says he won't train with Pakku if he doesn't teach Katara, and yet in the Netflix show they make him have his existential crisis at this point, completely butchering the Kataang dynamic?

-- They removed the scene of Iroh telling Zuko that he sees Zuko as his own!!! WHY?

-- I dislike the Z/utara ship bait. It literally serves no purpose to the plot, it only serves the purpose of throwing a bone to the shippers and inflaming the ship wars in the fandom.

-- Mai slipping up and defending Zuko to Azula, and then quickly correcting herself when Azula glares at her was good. But Mai physically stopping Azula from burning someone is way too much defiance for her at this point in the story.

-- Katara breaking Aang out of the ice because the's pulling a canoe instead of because she was angry not only is a bad adaptation of Katara's character, but it doesn't look realistic that her doing such gentle motions is going to break the iceberg.

-- Katara doesn't learn how to heal. She doesn't learn it on her own and she has only a 10 second lesson before she decides to move on and leave the class. Like... how is she going to heal her friends and bring Aang back to life next season?

-- Sozin's comet didn't seem like it was very powerful, we don't see the firebenders producing huge amounts of fire like in the cartoon.

All of that being said, it wasn't the worst adaptation ever. It was ok, and there were a few things here and there that I really liked. The sets were fantastic, it really brought all those locations to life. The animals looked amazing as well. I loved seeing a little bit of the Air Nomads, and they gave a good explanation of why Sozin was able to wipe most of them out in a single blow (because they were all in the Southern Air Temple for the comet festival). Lu Ten's funeral was really good. I was disappointed at Zuko's scar from the trailers, because I felt like there was no texture to it, but some shots show that there is some texture, so I ended up being ok with the scar in the end, even if still a bit disappointed that it was smaller than the original. I actually thought they made an ok job of mixing up the Omashu, Jet and Northern Air Temple storylines, even if sometimes it felt rushed (and I agree with the decision to mix them up, they couldn't have all these stories as disconnected short stories in the middle of 50 minute episodes). I was ok with Bumi's characterization (or change in characterization), but that's mostly because I don't really like Bumi in the original cartoon (his decision to let the Fire nation take Omashu because neutral jing always seemed nonsensical to me, so him being nonsensical and a bit crazy in NATLA is something I don't have much of a problem with), so it's really more of a personal opinion and I get that some people might not have liked the way they portrayed Bumi. Finally, I thought the first four episodes were acceptable, but the last four were bad.

So it's not like there was nothing that I liked, but it was a mixed bag. Overall, it didn't excite me all that much. Still, I hope people like it enough to get it renewed for another season, first because I do have hope that they learn from their mistakes and criticisms and make a better season 2, and second because I really want Netflix ATLA to bring hype to the Avatar universe so that Avatar Studios can be hyped and successful.

[tu-mint]

“The Lemonade” Guy Pt. 1

When Jade realizes her feelings for a certain schoolmate go beyond a friendship, she makes a tremendous effort to rid herself of it.

Song Inspo(s): Wicked Games - Kiana Lede; I Won’t Say I’m In Love - Hercules

International AU!

Word Count: 4k+

~

There was rarely ever something Jade tried to avoid other than the topic of Manu. The reactions that came upon his death were much too triggering to her anger, and she refused to allow that level of rage to overcome her again; thankfully this was not the case. Now while that was a relief, the actual issue being avoided proved to be almost as troubling, and the foreign girl did not realize the matter until recently.

UA High was bustling with noise and movement, people curious about the UA students from different parts of the world. Jade was blessed to have been shown secret entrances and passageways by Ren as to avoid news reporters. While it wasn’t anything she wasn’t unfamiliar with, the second year student knew uncomfortable and personal questions would turn up if given the chance, so she decided staying in the shadows would be safe for now. Stepping onto school grounds, Jade found Maeda, Kubo and Ren chatting with two students she could not recognize. One was a girl with long cyan hair and a bright expression, and the other a boy with his head turned away from the trio. Hm...maybe they're new kids? It was difficult to tell whether or not they were around the same age as her, but Jade concluded they were older looking at their height. The girl craned her neck to look over her shoulder then gasped loudly.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshisthisher?!" She sped towards the international student and stretched a hand outward, grinning widely. "Nejire Hado, third year here at the original UA! You must be Jade, I was just asking your friends about you, and I heard you were from Los Angeles! Tell me what it's like! Is the food really good? What about the school? Is it different from the UA here? Ooh, what about your father? Is it true about him being a Pro Hero? What's his quirk? Is it like yours? Wha--"

"Easy Hado, she just got here," Ren intervened with a light chuckle. "Well, she already introduced herself, so that leaves the guy hiding behind her, Tamaki Amajiki, also a third year student. He's a bit shy as you can see." Jade leaned on her side to find the indigo haired male from earlier, head hung low and arms crossed tightly. She gave a small smile when he peeked up from the locks curtaining his face, pleased when he gave a single nod.

"It's nice to meet you both," chirped the foreign girl with a bow to which Hado squealed.

"And she's respectful! Ah, such an intriguing new person to meet--oh! I have to introduce you to Mirio, you'll love him, most girls do. Now where is he--" She scampered away with Tamaki in tow, slipping into the sea of students and staff members. Jade watched on with a scowl on her face. Most girls do? What is she trynna say, that I'm gonna be part of some bandwagon? She felt a hand on her shoulder pulling her out of her thoughts.

"She didn't mean it like that," came Ren's voice again. "Hado has a very blunt and unconventional way of speech, don’t mind her."

"It's something she can work on considering she wants to pursue becoming a Pro Hero," Maeda interjected, her tone flat but firm. Jade hummed in agreement and looked amongst the other pupils. Upon seeing the many faces, her eyes became fixed on one that stood out.

In a large crowd of females stood a tall and bulky male, his smile gleaming and proud. He appeared to be speaking to them, a round of giggles following soon after whatever he’d said. There were a few international students Jade recognized taking pictures with him and handing him slips of paper, presumably with some kind of social contact on it. That must be who the girl was talking about seeing he has an entire--wait a minute! It wasn’t until he looked up that she realized why the male seemed familiar. That’s the guy who I ran into at the entrance! The one who gave me that stupid nickna--

“Gemstone!” 

Jade cursed inwardly as he advanced in her direction. She glanced at the entourage behind him, their faces surprised or annoyed, and it didn’t help that some of them were now moving closer too. Her feet were glued in place as the male stood before her, a cheeky grin evident on his face. Blonde hair, blue eyes, nice body...definitely the same guy from the first day.

”Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten my name already,” he chuckled, crossing his arms. Jade noted how the gesture made his already defined muscles tighten. An odd tension arose in her abdomen, but she quickly dismissed it and cleared her throat.

”Togata if I remember correctly.” The foreign girl bowed, remembering her manners. It was best to keep a respectful image considering the person before her was not only older, but one of the most skilled students attending the original UA. “It's good to s—“

”Togata, I need some help getting to my classes," a voice suddenly cut in. It came as a realization to Jade that a majority of the girls from earlier were now surrounding them. The person who had spoken was an international student herself, but she didn't look too pleased that all the attention was on someone else. Her hand crawled up Togata's arm in a suggestive manner before resting at his shoulder. "I'm not too familiar with UA Japan's complex," she continued, "so it would help a lot."

"Ooh wait, I think I need help too!" someone else from the crowd piped.

"I do as well!"

"Me too!"

Soon numerous hands were tugging at the tall male with pleads and demands of showing them around the school. Jade watched as Togata weakly smiled and tried to talk amongst the bunch with reason; it proved useless as they continued to grab at him from every direction. An unusual feeling rushed to her torso again, but something felt much different from earlier. In place was a strong stinging sensation, not enough to hurt but enough to generate irritation. What in the hell--

"Something wrong, Lofota?" Maeda's voice snapped Jade back into reality. Ren and Kubo were before her, curiosity etched on their features. From her peripheral line of vision she could see the bulky third year being dragged away with a familiar cyan and indigo haired duo following close behind.

"We saw Togata and his groupies approach you, but you looked as if you were ready to jump at one of them," Kubo remarked. "I personally don't mind, just give me a heads up next time so I can record it for memories." Maeda rolled her eyes at this.

Jade chuckled and shook her head. "It wasn't anything like that, guys, I think my mind was just occupied with something else. Let's try and get to class before news reporters start breaking through the gates." She walked alongside the trio and listened to them explain UA Japan's school system and the events that were set throughout the year. Despite her nonchalant attitude, the sting remained in Jade's stomach; she figured it would go away after some medication and rest.

~

It took a little over a month for the second year to realize that the peculiar feelings in her system were not an overnight situation. Jade took matters into her own hands and recorded when her stomach fell into any eccentric sensation, noting what, when and how much she ate and any possible patterns. When food appeared to be free of guilt, she tried looking at her sleep patterns and clothing for clues but was met with the same result. Her concern had caught Ren's attention when the medic pupil found her seated on a hospital bed speaking to Recovery Girl.

"Hon, I've ran multiple scans and checkups and found nothing," sighed the elder. "Your health is in great shape and according to your own data, it seems like you're doing just fine. Maybe try laying down, it seems this issue with your tummy is stressing you out." Jade complied wordlessly, but Ren could see that she was still in heavy thought. When Recovery Girl exited the office, she took a seat beside the bed and peered up. "Thinkin' real hard over there, aren't you?"

Jade turned on her side with a groan. "I just wanna figure out what the hell is wrong with me, it's starting to piss me off."

"What've you been doing?"

"School, hero training, eating, sleeping, the usual."

"Any foods you can think of that caused that pain?"

"No, but that's the weird part!" The foreign student sat up and pulled a leg to her chest. "This feeling I keep getting, it doesn't hurt. It just--it doesn't...I never had this before, but I'm not sure if that means I'm doing something wrong that's causing my body to react the way it does."

Ren arched her brows in search of an answer. "Can you maybe describe this 'feeling' by comparing it to something? Or perhaps using a metaphor? Just so I can understand this better."

"It...well, there's usually two kinds of reactions. At one point, my abdomen feels light but constricted, like it can't take anything in because everything is squeezed out. When that happens, I also feel my heart rate pick up, and my body feels overheated." The medic nodded and gestured to continue. "The second feeling is more like a stinging one, or like a burn--yeah, burning would be a more accurate comparison. When my stomach gets like that, I get really annoyed, but there's only so much I can do when the problem is internal. I tend to get more of the first reaction than I do the second, if that helps."

It was an interesting explanation given, and Ren understood why Recovery Girl struggled a bit providing help. She was quiet for a long time, but just as her friend was about to speak, she asked another question: "Does this ever happen around a specific time? Specific person? Maybe a certain group of people or things?"

Jade blinked before lying down again, her attention focused on the ceiling. Is there somebody or something always near me when this happens? She reeled through all the faces and names she'd ever interacted with, staff members, students, strangers, but no exact nouns came to mind that she could recall triggering this reaction. The foreign student shook her head.

"Huh, well...what's the earliest you recall first feeling these sensations?"

"I think the earliest I felt it was when I was talking to Togata and--" Almost immediately the rest of Jade's sentence died on her tongue. Ren quickly caught the abrupt end and tried to make understanding of what had just happened. The memory was clear as day in her mind, meeting Hado and Amajiki, Togata walking up to her with immaculate bulging muscles, the crowd of female students hauling him away and the indefinable feelings in her abdomen, it all began to click. However, looking over the details of that time, Jade realized that the sensations ultimately activated when she was around--

"Togata."

She whipped her head in surprise.

"Togata is the cause behind your odd abdominal feelings," Ren smiled, "which tells me this is definitely not a medical issue." She bit back a laugh at the disbelief on Jade's face. It seemed she understood what was being implied as she began shaking her head feverently.

"No no no and no, you better not say what I think you're about to say, Ishikawa."

"Aw, c'mon now Jade, you can't be upset at me! I was just trying to help you understand the cause of your stomach issues, looks like it was just butterflies the whole time."

The foreign student grimaced. "Ren, please don't."

"But it's actually cute! I personally think that you both--"

"REN I GET IT, STOP."

Jade sat in irritation until her friend ceased laughing, then hopped off the bed and brushed off her uniform. The medic pupil stood up immediately and pulled her into a hug, chuckling lightly. "Well, now that we found the root of the issue, what are you gonna do? Am I helping you plan a confession?"

"I'm gonna get rid of it.” Ren's snickering stopped. Jade's face and tone was enough to say she wasn't kidding.

"Heh, I uh...I don't think I heard you correctly?"

"Get rid of it. I'll just distance myself from Togata so that my mind can adjust it's thoughts towards him." She hurried after her friend down the hallway. Students buzzed around them, lively chatter and activity surrounding the pair.

"Wait a minute Jade, I'm not understanding how this is being helpful."

"Ren, the more time I am not near him or able to visibly see him, I'm more than a hundred percent sure that whatever these annoying feelings are will dissipate. When that happens, I can go back to being in the guy's presence without any weird aura surrounding me, but until then, I'm following a strict 'No Togata' routine."

The medic student scoffed in amusement. "Routine? Jade, that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard a UA student say. I say just let it happen and see where it goes from there. Who knows, maybe he possibly could return--"

"Ah--" Jade stopped and held a hand up. "I'm gonna stop you there for two reasons. One, the sole reason anyone should attend this school is to pursue some kind of a career, and this applies especially to me. I was sent here as a representative because UA Los Angeles trusts me to execute and display my skills as a potential Pro Hero, not to go messin' around with Japan's kids, let alone the top students. I have an entire city depending on me, Ren, I can't mess this up." She sighed and took in another breath. "Two, if anything, I am far from his type."

"His type? How can you even know that if you only ever said hi to the guy like, three times?"

"Context clues. If it isn't directly in front of you, look at everything around to find your answer."

Ren deadpanned. "And what exactly did you look at to find your answer?"

"Upbeat, lively girls," Jade replied as if it should've been an obvious answer. The pair entered the cafeteria which was more cramped than usual. Staff members were present, most likely by Nezu's word to have travelling students feel more welcomed. All Might stood among the teachers with a countless number of admirers already circled around him, all different years, sizes and appearances. A certain green haired boy appeared to be of his utmost interest as he practically shouted in the student's face. Ren chuckled at the sight, but she noticed her friend's attention was focused elsewhere.

Her gaze was closed in on a table swallowed by a swarm of students. Some were people from earlier that were practically throwing themselves at Togata, and it seemed no different as he sat at the center of the table enjoying his lunch. Hado was seated across from him, her expression as bright as ever, and beside them was a shaking Amajiki, his head rested against the structure’s surface. His nervous movements ceased, however, and Ren smiled seeing the cyan haired girl had slipped her hand into his, returning to her conversation with ease. Jade also noticed the subtle gesture, but she wouldn't help feeling a pang of annoyance at the audience surrounding the blonde boy. She didn't realize she was watching so intensely until his eyes crossed the room to meet hers. Crap! Immediately Jade looked away, unsure if she was more embarrassed about getting caught or feeling irked over a guy. You're here to represent your school, show your worth of an upcoming Pro Hero. Stop getting distracted! Distance! "Ren, let's get some lunch. I'm sure Tokoyami and the others are awaiting your presence."

"Our presence." Jade smiled as they strode across the cafeteria. The medic always made sure she felt included no matter what the situation was; it eased her thoughts greatly, which was something she needed.

~

Another month passed and Jade had almost become like a second Maeda, so intently focused during school hours and hero training. Even on off days, the international student went about her own activities, only ever seen for meals or rest. Her bond remained close with Ren, Maeda and Kubo in various ways, however, and she was present whenever a hangout commenced, so it seemed like everything was completely fine. Ren's teasing had become more discreet (much to Jade's relief) and she created a codename for the blonde third year.

"'The lemonade'?" Jade cringed. The two met up for a walk through town one day, and it seemed safe enough to discuss the matter since they weren't near school grounds.

"I think it's pretty subtle, and keeping the word 'the' in the codename would have people assuming we're actually talking about a beverage. Plus," the medic eyed her friend, "the guy is a tall glass of lemonade if I do say so myself, heh."

"Ren don't--"

"Lemonade sounds good right about now." She froze. It took everything in the foreign girl to not begin speed walking as soon as she heard the familiar upbeat voice behind her. From the look on her friend's face, Jade's assumption of Togata's presence was true. Unfortunately true. She slowly turned around, a faux smile in place until her eyes fell upon something hiding behind the male.

It was a little girl, she could tell that much, with long snowy locks spilling from behind Togata's calf. The child peeked up from her spot, red irises meeting Jade's indigo ones. The foreign girl was locked in place as she suddenly recalled her family. She thought of her parents' cooking and singing, her brothers' livelihood for sports, but she was especially reminded of her sister. Youngest and the only other girl in the line of siblings, they did a lot together. From shopping together to painting to singing to sightseeing, Jade realized how much she'd missed them. The exchange of words between Ren and Togata were a muffed noise as she crouched down, entrapped by the little stranger.

"I'm Jade, it's nice to meet you." The words slipped out like butter, and thankfully it didn't seem to frighten or discomfort the child. She looked up to the male for approval, then stepped forward and let his hand go. 

"My name is Eri, it's nice to meet you too," she squeaked with a bow. Jade was awestruck by her politeness and shifted onto her knees to bow in return. When they both straightened up, Eri bore a wide smile and returned to Togata's side.

"Gosh, Gemstone, thought you were ignoring me for a sec." Reality hit the foreign girl immediately when she met the blonde's gaze, and her stomach felt tight again. Damn it, not now! Calm down, breathe, breathe, don't overreact. She stumbled getting back on her feet and managed a sheepish expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized more aggressively than she meant to. "I was just so surprised seeing you with a kid, and she just--"

"Oh? Do you think I'm not good with kids?" He raised a brow. 

Crap, why does he have to look cute doing that. "I never said that," Jade rolled her eyes. "I was just surprised seeing you outside of your whole entourage, that's all." She cursed at her choice of words. Now I just sound like I'm hating on him.

"My entourage? Sounds like someone's a bit jealous."

"Ha! Boy, ain't nothin' to be jealous of." The second year held her ground as the bulky male challenged her with a smirk. Ren cleared her throat, acknowledging her presence and causing Jade to force herself back. She didn't realize how close she'd gotten to him during their small banter, but it was definitely closer than what she was comfortable with. "Ren, uh, I believe you were talking about something, yes?"

The medic peered over in amusement. "Yeah, I was talking about lemonade, which since you're here Togata with little Eri, I believe we can all get some together." Damn you, Ren!

Eri gasped before tugging on the male's sleeve. "Can we please, Mirio?"  The sight made Jade's heart swell, and she couldn't be upset if it was an adorable child asking to accompany them. He beamed down at her and nodded his head.

"Ladies, you may lead the way." During the walk to a mini cafe Ren knew of (thanks to Tokoyami), Jade observed how attentive and caring Togata was with Eri, playing games or cracking jokes that made her laugh. Citizens passing commented on their closeness in adoration, many praising the third year for looking after the child with such passion. Even when there were those who tried to flirt with him, the boy paid them no mind and brushed off their efforts. Jade didn't know him too well, but she knew it would be difficult to want to be away from the guy, especially after seeing this side of him, away from the crowds, away from the hero limelight. Togata truly was someone to admire. A familiar tightness returned to her torso, but for now, she was okay with it.

She was pleased being able spend time with Eri herself, learning more about her likes and hobbies. A lot of what the young girl enjoyed Jade discovered was also liked by her sister. "What's her name?" the child asked, munching on a pastry. The horn atop her head glimmered in the sun while she finished up coloring a drawing.

"Her name is Carolei," the international student smiled, "but my family and I just call her Lei."

Eri dropped her coloring utensil on the table and leaned forward. "Can I call her Lei, too?" Jade looked around as though someone was listening to their conversation, then nodded with a wink, much to the child’s delight. They giggled and chatted, forgetting about time and enjoying getting to know one another. The second year felt as though she wasn't in Japan, but back in America with the people she'd cared about and loved; it felt good to bathe in the comfort and reminisce of home. Someone had gripped the back of Jade’s chair; she turned assuming it was Ren until she was face to face with a broad chest and the strong aroma of musk. Her heartbeat boomed in her head and she slowly turned back to Eri, allowing her nerves to calm. Ren bit back a laugh, but a tug on Jade’s hand distracted her from making a slick comment.

"Jade," said Eri in a small voice, "I have to leave now, but...do you think we can hang out another time?"

A sudden idea popped into the second year's mind at the young girl’s request. With a kind smile, she squeezed Eri's hand reassuringly. "We'll have plenty more days to hang out, hon, just me and you."

"Ouch, and what about me, Gemstone?" Togata whined, a hand on his chest in offense.

"Ah, I'd rather not be attacked by your fangirls. Besides, you have Amajiki and Hado to hang out with, and I know you see Eri almost every day." Both parties waved goodbye before continuing on their own paths. Ren and Jade were in a comfortable silence until the medic let out a sigh.

"You literally just missed your opportunity."

"Girl, what? If anything, I'd say I just opened the door for an opportunity."

"Opportunity for what? You literally shut the guy down."

"With good reason," the foreign student argued. She wasn't rude in her response to the older boy, and it was honest! The last thing Jade needed was rumors tainting her name simply for the fact that she hung out with one of the big three alone, especially if they were of the opposite sex. "Anyways, back to the opportunity I was talking about. I think Eri can help me out with this."

~

Happy New Years everyone! Thought I would just drop by with this little piece since I have been lagging quite a bit lol, anywho, just a little bit of love for our favorite blonde boy since I don’t see too much on him. Be safe everyone! Like, comment & share!

OC Creds to: @gureii (Ren, Maeda, Kubo