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Every night it’s the same. At ten o’clock sharp, nighttime starts at Hope’s Peak Academy. For most, that doesn’t mean much. The dining hall closes, students are expected to be on campus or risk getting chewed out by the head of security, and “quiet hours” are in effect. Which, considering all the dorms are soundproofed, means you can be as loud as you want.
Some go to bed. Some stay up till two am, and some already went to bed at eight. Such is life at Hope’s Peak. For Shuichi, every night is the same.
He puts on his workout clothes, laces his sneakers, and races off to the courtyard. The night air is cool, the breeze is chilly but not unbearable, and the stars sparkle above like gemstones on a cave ceiling. The world is at peace and Shuichi is too as he rushes up to his friends and starts working out.
Push-ups, sit-ups, and frog squats. Jogs around the courtyard and burpees. Shuichi used to be the kid who read during recess. Who sat on the swingset and rocked back and forth as he lost himself to the mysteries on the page. Who got picked next to last for teams and got out early in dodgeball just to sit on the bleachers and page through his favorite novel. Himiko once joked he was the kind to make friends with maps instead of real people, and though he denied it at the time he can’t deny that one of his favorite books back then was a fictional travel journal, with intricate maps of completely fake places. Places that, if he imagined hard enough, he could almost believe were real.
But times change and people change and now Shuichi’s in the courtyard lagging way behind Maki as they do push-ups in the night, catching up to Kaito as he starts to get distracted by the twinkling balls of fire in the sky.
“The sky’s so clear today,” he breaths, “Look! There’s mars!”
It’s a toss-up whether Maki will ridicule him for losing focus or let him go. Whether she’ll shake her head and roll her eyes or stop and stare for a moment. If her pace will slow, movements stop, and she’ll look up into the night and stare. Stare as Kaito rambles on about constellations and planets and moons like their the most fascinating things in the world. Stare as her eyes gloss over and the galaxy begins to reflect in her iris.
Today is one of those days, as she pauses (a whole thirty push-ups ahead of him) and maneuvers herself onto her back like Kaito.
“I’m done,” she states, and though it’s true it’s spoken as though she’s justifying herself.
Shuichi is far from done, but he can’t help but look up at the sky too. At the blues and purples and blacks that make up the night, and the balls of white so small yet so very giant. So far away that they’ve become nothing more than a canvas for the artistic and a flashlight for the night walkers.
It’s a beauty he rarely took the time to appreciate before Kaito. And one he’s forever thankful Kaito introduced him to.
“You still have twenty-nine push-ups,” Maki states, and Shuichi can’t help but laugh.
“I know, I know,” he pants, focusing back on the task at hand.
“You’re almost there,” she tells him and it’s as much an observation as it is a reassurance.
“Yeah! You got this sidekick!” Kaito smiles.
Maki gives him a look, “You’re not done either.”
“Wha- I’m getting to it!”
“Then get to it.”
It’s nice. Spending his nights with Maki and Kaito. Far too often Shuichi would find his nights plagued with intrusive thoughts. The dark of the night encroached on him and dredged up every horrible thought and memory. His sleep was restless, his mood spiraled, and the sound of his alarm woke him up bleary and tired.
Now he went to bed exhausted in a good way. The soreness of his body a welcoming feeling that left his sleep dreamless. He woke up refreshed. Renewed. As if the night of stillness had actually accomplished its job.
“Oh! I just remembered. Hey Maki roll, what do you think of adding some sparring to our nightly training?”
“I think I would kick both your asses.”
“Well, don’t get cocky.”
“It’s not cockiness if it’s a fact.”
Shuichi laughs, as his arms shake from exertion, “She’s right, Kaito.”
Kaito huffs, “Well then, in that case, you could train Shuichi! That way you two sidekicks could learn from each other!”
Maki shakes her head, but there’s a smile on her face, “You sure you don’t need to be trained too? I bet you can’t even throw a punch without breaking your hand.”
“Don’t underestimate the Luminary of the Stars! I could take on the universe itself in a fight!”
Maki stands up and gets into a fighting stance, “Prove it.”
“You’re on!”
Maki knows he doesn’t stand a chance. Shuichi knows he doesn’t. Likely Kaito even knows that he’s no match for Maki, and yet they spar anyway. Shuichi watches as Kaito throws a punch, only for Maki to catch it and use his momentum to throw him to the ground. He grunts on impact but smiles up at her as if she didn’t just kick his ass. Then he springs up and comes at her again.
It’s pointless, but then again, maybe it’s not. Maybe there’s something to be said for the sparring, as Shuichi finally finishes his set of push-ups only to get roped into the “fight,” Maki calmly explaining the correct stance and maneuvering his body into the right positions as Kaito subtly backs out of the lesson and goes to finish up his remaining push-ups. As if his intention all along was to get the two of them practicing together.
And perhaps it was. Perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps he was just in one of those moods where he wanted to test his skills. When he’d swear up and down that he could beat Maki in a race, only to see just how fast she really could be. Or when he’d engage Tenko in a fight just to bear witness to how strong she could be when her hatred for men collided with her physical prowess.
Regardless, Shuichi couldn’t help feeling fulfilled as Maki taught him the correct way to punch. As Kaito finally finished up his push-ups and attempted to surprise Maki with a sneak attack, only to get blocked with pinpoint precision. As Kaito chimed in from where he’d landed in the grass, casually declaring that Shuichi “avenge him” as if to encourage him to fully put his heart and soul into the workout.
He did. He sparred with Maki under the light of the stars, emboldened by Kaito’s words and edged on by Maki’s smile. And as Kaito lost himself to the sky again, tracing the constellations that only he recall, Shuichi decided that every hardship he had ever faced before was worth it. If only because of tonight. Because of his friends and the sweat beading down his forehead. Because, under the moon’s glow, he could say with one hundred percent certainty that he was happy.
And more than that? He could tell that Kaito and Maki were happy too.