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How does someone like Ouma even spend his holidays? The question became a hot topic of conversation almost as quickly as it passed the original asker’s lips. It had everyone talking, even the teachers.
“He probably walks up and down the street and kicks every puppy he sees,” Kaito scoffed at the beginning of class one day.
“Oh come on Kaito,” Kaede sighed. “Ouma may be...well how should I put this? Ouma may be a bit of an asshole, but not that big of one. Who knows? Maybe he spends time with family.”
Miu let out a hearty laugh. “Wouldn’t it be hilarious if that dick had no family?”
“Hilarious?!” Shuichi looked horrified. “That’d be depressing.”
“I believe that Ouma must spend his holidays in deep prayer!” Angie gleefully said.
Rantaro chuckled. “Please... The only time that the words ‘Ouma’ and ‘pray’ should go in the same sentence is if the word ‘doesn’t’ is between them.”
It was at that moment that the very same boy that they had been talking about walked into the classroom, taking his seat.
Ms. Fukawa glared upon him immediately. “Why are you late?” she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. “T-This is the third time in a row!”
“I was just busy,” he said, shrugging.
“That’s not an explanation. Busy with what?”
“Hmm, don’t really feel like telling you!” He flashed her the same smile that he flashes everyone, the one that makes you want to slap him.
“W-Whatever...” She knew there was no point in arguing with someone like him. It would be a waste of her breath that she could spend scolding Yasuhiro later for whatever he’ll have done this time. “Don’t let it happen again though. If it does, I’ll have to send you to Principal Naegi’s office!”
He sat down without saying anything else, but he looked a little disappointed that he couldn’t manage to get a rise out of the teacher for refusing to tell her why he was late.
Everyone else stared at him. He was extremely weird, childish, and mysterious alright, bordering on being a rude, annoying asshat. No one could figure him out. He was just as secretive and deceitful as when they had started attending New Hope’s Peak Academy at the beginning of the year.
As soon as the day was over, Ouma hurried off to do god knows what, leaving all his other classmates to talk.
“I wonder what he’s doing all the time that causes him to be late in the morning and have to leave so fast in the afternoon...” Shuichi stared in his wake.
Kaito spoke up. “Okay, raise your hand if you kind of feel like following him after school tomorrow!”
Practically everyone raised their hand. It seemed like a plan was forming. Eventually, they decided that it would be hard for 15 people to basically stalk 1 person though, so they decided to pick the most trustworthy people to follow him. It was decided that Kaede, Shuichi, Rantaro, and Tsumugi would go.
The next day was a rinse and repeat of the last, with Ouma running off again at the end.
Kaede nodded to the other 3 who would go with her to follow him, and they set off.
Ouma ended up going into a certain part of the nearby town that they had never been in before. It was honestly a creepy sort of area and very dark, but that allowed them to hide easily.
“Why do you think he’s in this area?” Shuichi asked the others quietly.
“Maybe he has a secret anime obsession,” Tsumugi speculated. “He’s embarrassed by it so he goes to an obscure place to watch it and hide his merchandise.”
The rest of them highly doubted something so outlandish.
They watched as Ouma turned into a dark alley, and hesitantly, they followed him.
“I don’t like this place,” Kaede shivered. “Maybe he’s doing some shady drug deals.”
Now that seemed more likely.
It seemed like both their assumptions were going a bit down the wrong track though, because Ouma had stepped into a part of the alley where there was a bit of furniture and other things. And then they noticed there were other people there.
They were especially surprised with the situation when they noticed that they all wore the same type of clothes that Ouma normally wore, with the checkered scarves and everything.
They couldn’t see any of their faces though, because all of them were wearing masks.
They all talked about random things and laughed with Ouma with for quite a while, before he hugged them all and told them he had to go, but that he’d be back in the morning.
The group followed Ouma as he left, and once he was out of the alleyway, he paused, smirking. “Shuichi, Kaede, Rantaro, Tsumugi? You can come out now.”
They all jumped as they heard their names and realized they’d been caught. Slowly, they stepped out of their hiding spot and approached him.
“Ooh! To think that I have stalkers! This is truly terrifying!” Ouma put on a face of fear, but Shuichi saw through.
“Your fear is a lie, right?” he asked Ouma.
“Aww, you saw right through me!” Ouma whined.
“Who were those people?” Rantaro asked him.
Ouma grinned brightly. “None other than some members of my suuuper secret evil organization that I told you all about!”
They walked for a while through the town, piecing it together. “Are they who you’re seeing so often? Why?” Kaede asked him.
Ouma wore a suddenly very serious look on him face, his voice growing dark. “Because, they’re my only family, and I worry about them hanging out in there while I’m at Hope’s Peak. I just thought I should see them more, seeing that the holidays are growing near.”
There was a small silence while they drank that in. “Aww, that’s really sweet Ouma.” Tsumugi gushed a bit.
“Just kidding!” Ouma’s face lit up into a smile again.
“It was a lie?!”
“Of course I need to see them often! I’m their amaaazing leader! I need to check up on what kind of progress they’re making.”
They all groaned in frustration. This had gotten them nowhere. Even though they did follow Ouma, they were still getting nothing but lies.
At the end of the day, they felt defeated. He was just as much of a mystery as before.
Christmas came around the corner soon enough for Ouma, and on that day, he went back to the alleyway yet again.
That way he could spend Christmas with the only people he truly felt he could trust and confide in; his family.