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All his life, Kirishima has had the fortune to be surrounded with things that are full of life, vibrant. He’s wondered where we would be without them far too many times to count. He still doesn’t have the answer to it, much as he tries, but he thinks it’s safe to assume that it wouldn’t be here in UA, around the people who dare to exist and bloom so ferociously.
Maybe it’s exactly because he’s had this privilege all his life that his heart aches for those who have not, like the girl before him.
They’re making crafts for the UA craft exchange fair, where each class will set up stalls that put crafts on display. The people who visit the fair are free to take any of the crafts that catch their eyes away with them. With Eri under Aizawa’s care, she was automatically included in 1A’s crafting session. It’s supposed to be a light-hearted celebration — where people pour a bit of their kindness and care into simple pieces of art. It’s supposed to be an occasion for telling the people who come by and take the crafts as they please that “I may not know you, but I hope these simple crafts make your day a little brighter.”
Kirishima has been looking forward to this, mostly because of how the occasion manages to make even the simplest of gestures feel so significant. Full of life. Vibrant. Like all things he likes. Yet, here with Eri, who has never heard of even the simplest of crafts, Kirishima feels a wave of sorrow wash over him.
“Origami?” he tries, desperately realising he was running out of viable options, but not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.
Eri’s gaze flits between her surroundings and the square coloured papers in Kirishima’s hands, her fingers intertwined. Hesitantly, she asks, “What are those?”
“They are a craft where people fold pieces of papers to create items,” he tells her, holding out a dainty paper crane. “Have you made any origami crafts before, Eri?” he asks her, trying to sound as nonchalant as he can, but still, he sees her anxiously pale.
“Oh,” she says in a tiny voice. “Is this something that most people have done before? I really don’t know much about normal experiences in the outside world. Sorry.”
“No,” Kirishima quickly replies, shaking his hands at her. ”Not at all! It’s only popular within some communities, so it’s totally normal to have never tried it before. Isn’t that right,” he says, elbowing Midoriya to his right.
A flicker of wordless understanding passes between them there, and Midoriya speaks. “Yeah, Eri! I’ve never done this before. We can learn together. I know Uraraka and Tsuyu have experience with making these crafts.”
Reassured, Eri visibly cheers up, accepting a pink piece of paper that Kirishima holds out to her. She studies the paper for a moment, then looks up at Kirishima and Midoriya. “Okay, I’m ready to learn. Where do I start?”
Kirishima beams at her, then holds out a hand. Together, they cross the hall room with Midoriya closely following behind, where Tsuyu and Uraraka were already in the process of sorting the papers out by colour.
“Hello, any chance we can stay here and learn?” Midoriya asks, but he’s already looking for a place for himself and Eri among the mountains of scattered paper.
Instead of answering his question, Uraraka’s attention is fully held by Eri. “Ahh, Eri! Are you here to learn how to make origami?”
“Y-yes. I don’t know how to make origami because I’ve never tried, but...” she replies shyly at first, then with determination, “-but I promise I’ll do my best to learn!”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine, Eri-chan, don’t worry.” Tsuyu shifts to allow a place for her to sit down, and Eri settles in. “I see Kirishima has already given you some coloured paper. You can start from making a dog, like this.” Deftly, she folds the squared paper into half to form a triangle, then folds the two tips of the longer end down to make a face with two ears. “See?” she tells Eri. “If you draw two eyes and a nose, you’ll have a dog, just like this. It’s not too hard, is it?”
Kirishima watches Eri’s eyes shine in excitement. “I think I can do that,” she earnestly replies, then gets to work. “You just have to fold it in half, then two ears,” Eri murmurs, her small hands gently thumbing the edges of the paper. Then, she holds it up to show everyone. “Like this!”
“That’s right, Eri! You’re such a fast learner!” Uraraka cheers, clasping her hands together. “You can also use different colours to make different kinds of dogs. This is mine where I used a white piece of paper and added dark spots to it when I was done. Now, it’s a dalmatian.”
Eri holds her palm out and Uraraka passes the dalmatian to her. “C-can you teach me how to draw this?” she asks.
The girls get to work, and from all the way here, Kirishima watches contently. They’d been right to take Eri to Uraraka and Tsuyu, he thinks. The two girls knew how to fulfil Eri’s requests and better than Kirishima or Midoriya could have on their own.
Charmed by the sight, Kirishima smiles, feeling the warmth in his heart spread. Origami has always been a niche hobby that he enjoyed. They’re crafted from paper, often taking the shape of flowers or animals, and yet there’s something oddly charming about the way that with love and joy, life is breathed into these pieces of paper, then taking the form of these creatures that weren’t here a moment ago.
There’s something particularly heartwrenching about Eri admitting that she didn’t know much about origami, nor all the other common crafts. To Kirishima, crafts like these have always been traditions that carried plenty of significance despite their simple essence. The lining up of the edges of the paper, the carefulness of pressing down every fold, making sure to preserve the intricacy of it all.
There’s nothing remotely lively or vibrant about the nature of these paper crafts, and yet, Kirishima sees love among it all. He wonders if that’s what draws him to it.
To hear Eri being deprived of this all leaves a sour feeling in Kirishima’s mouth. It feels like Eri has been denied the same kind of love and vibrancy that has always been Kirishima’s life, and it leaves him wanting to do more to compensate for what she never had.
“Eri, have you heard of the myth of the thousand paper crane?” he asks. “It’s said that a wish is granted to anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes.”
Hearing his words, she looks up from the task she has in hand. “A wish?” She asks. “Will it come true, no matter what I ask for?”
Kirishima smiles at her. “It’s a myth — I cannot tell for sure whether it’s true or not, but I do know that paper cranes are always seen as a blessing to the people. If we manage to make a thousand paper cranes between all of us in time for the fair, it means we will still get to see a lot of happy faces at the fair!”
“We get to make many people happy?” she echoes, then turns her gaze to Midoriya. “Can we learn how to make some paper cranes so we can make people happy?”
Midoriya nods enthusiastically. “Of course! Giving hope to everyone around us, making people smile. That’s exactly what a hero does, right?”
“If we have a thousand to make, better get started.” Tsuyu cuts in, somehow producing a huge stack of papers from nowhere. Setting them down, she continues, “Everyone says paper cranes are rather easy to make. While I agree with that, I still think it’s difficult to make paper cranes look pretty . Sometimes that makes a lot of difference.”
“Don’t worry,” Eri chirps. “I’ve had practise now — I’m confident I can figure out how to make it work!”
Uraraka gives her a light bump on the shoulder. “That’s a great attitude to have, Eri! I’m really glad you’re enjoying yourself with these crafts.”
“Everyone has been so kind and patient with me all this while from the rescue up till now. I’ve always wanted to do something in return but never knew what I could do. If making a paper crane can bring to other people the kind of hope you bring to me, I want to do it too!”
To think about it, origami and papercrafts are probably the tips of the iceberg of what Eri has missed out on in her childhood. Her life has been painted over with murky shades of grey, but here today, the luminance in her eyes feels like the first splash of colour among it all. She has all the time in the world to catch up, and Kirishima wonders if he’ll be lucky enough to witness it by her side.
“Heck yeah,” his face splits into a grin. “Let’s do this, Eri!”