The drive to Jiro's grandparents house wasn't long, taking them only about thirty minutes to reach the farm house.
Driving in. Eleanor parked the car just in front of the house.
She glanced back at the two children. "So judging by the lack of vehicles at home, I'd assume your parents and grandparents aren't at home." She asked the girl
Jiro nodded stiffly. "W…well, my parents are probably with my grandparents at the farm."
"So you chose this as the perfect opportunity to plan your…escapades." Eleanor questioned, raising a brow.
The girls face turned beet red as she nodded bashfully at the answer.
Eleanor felt herself chuckled. Oh the similarities between the two were quite entertaining. She thought
Shaking her head once more, "Well, this journey was quite tedious for me and I'm feeling quite parched. You do have tea right?"
Jiro nodded.
Eleanor got down from the car followed by the two
The girl nodded, before speaking. "Thank you, ma'am for the–"
"Oh, please ma'am makes me feel older than I already am. Just call me Eleanor dear." Eleanor said with a gentle smile.
Jiro nodded, "O…oh, okay. Thank you Eleanor."
"Good."
So the three entered the house.
***
The house wasn't anything special, at least that's what Jiro felt.
It was as simple as a farm house could get. Not that she didn't like it per say. She just didn't have strong feelings towards the house.
But now that she had someone whom she cherished a lot. The house felt maybe that just a tad bit better…in her opinion.
Jiro quickly went to the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. Before remembering, there wasn't much left as her parents went out.
Her brow twitched in annoyance before she quickly found some tea bags and prepared a simple tea.
She took it to the living room where Max and his grandmother were in.
"Here Ma'am. I don't know what exact kind you like, so I just made whatever." Jiro internally cringed. She had been taking cooking lessons, but beverages wasn't one of her priorities…at least that was before.
The woman smiled nonetheless. "It's okay dear. Thank you for the tea." She raised the tea and took a sip.
In the woman's presence, it felt like Jiro was in front of royalty. The woman exuded that kind of air around her, but she also seemed very kind and gentle like an elderly sage.
Jiro sat down beside Max.
"So, when will your guardians be back then?" Eleanor asked.
"Well, ma'a—Eleanor," she quickly caught herself before continuing, "My folks with my parents down to the farm. They tend to stay for quite a bit before coming back. So I'll say they'll be back in a few hours."
Eleanor nodded. "Okay then, well, it seems we'll be in your company then. Now, I'm sure you two aren't particularly excited being in an old woman's company. So, run along."
The two hesitated for a bit. They had wanted some chance to talk some things out, but haven't exactly found the chance to…
Eleanor chuckled at the sight, "It's okay you two. Now run along."
So the two left. Jiro going upstairs with Max following her. They…had some talk.
***
"So yeah, welcome to my room or whatever." Jiro shrugged as the two entered. She paused, pointing at his feet. "Oi, shoes off."
Max chuckled at his friends behavior. "Oh, sorry." Taking his shoes off, he entered.
Flopping on her bed, Jiro let out a lazy groan.
Following suit, Max flopped on a beam bag, adjacent to her bed.
The two were silent, just enjoying the fact that the other person was still there…next to them.
Jiro sat up, "So when'd you think the lockdowns gonna end. I'm the last person that would want to go back to school, but one's gotta know."
He shrugged before adding. "Though, my grandma says it shouldn't be long."
Jiro nodded. "Sweet then." Then moments later, she spoke again. "You started your applications for U.A…who am I kidding, you must have already applied haven't you?"
A chuckle echoed from Max's chest. "Yeah…yeah."
A somber silence fell on the two.
"Look Max…I know I've said it already and I really don't want to sound like a broken record. But…I'm really sorry about your parents."
Max nodded, "Thanks Jiro."
"But what could've caused the disaster? A bomb? But a bomb doesn't come in the shape of a literal giant hand." She questioned.
Of course Max wouldn't blame her. Taking a deep breath, Max stared at Jiro. His eyes, contemplative.
"Uhm, Max, you good?" She asked.
"Yeah…" Max blurted out. But said after moments. "Jiro, I…I have something to tell you."
Jiro's eyebrows creased in worry. "Okay, Max, everything good?"
He nodded. Pausing, he deliberated in his head, but came to the simple conclusion. He couldn't not tell her. She was basically he's dearest friend. Maybe only friend. She had been there since the very beginning, and not telling her felt like a breaking of trust.
"Jiro, the thing that caused that incident wasn't any natural disaster. At least not any normal one. It was caused….by a single person."
"What?!" she blurted out, shocked.
So Max told her everything, not leaving out any bit of information. He trusted her that much.
"...so that's basically everything." Max concluded. He leaned back on the chair feeling like a weight had come off his shoulders. He knew he probably shouldn't have told anyone this, but telling Jiro just felt right. She was his friend, she had to know.
Jiro leaned back. He could tell the talk was a lot to take in. He was in a similar state just days ago. It wasn't something someone just took in passing.
"That…that was a lot." She admitted. "No, that was more than a lot. Just wow." she held her head, almost like she was trying to contain the sheer weight of the information.
Max nodded, "Yeah."
"So we have a whole other organization just out there somewhere in the world looking for these…stones and are willing to do anything to get them."
"Yeah." Max fists tightened as purple eyes flashed in his memory. He shook them off.
She breathed once again. She then stared at Max with a calm gaze. "I want to help."
Max eyes widened slightly. He was about to refute before she cut him off.
"Nope Max, you don't get to tell me to stay out of this. Not after dumping all this garbage on me." She folded her arms. "Besides, it seems you tend to forget that I also want to be a hero and I'll be facing all kinds of dangers, what's one more."
"No Jiro, you don't understand. This people aren't just any ordinary villains They're…monsters." he shivered. Having only interacted with…him. He couldn't imagine what the others were like.
"So what. So what if they're not ordinary villains. If you're in this so am I."
"Jiro–"
"Have you forgotten our promise." She cut him off again.
Of course Max didn't forget that promise. He would always remember it. He shook his head.
"We promised each other to become great heroes together, no matter what. We'll always have each other's back." Then her familiar smirk made way to her face. "So whether you like it or not, I'm in all this jumbled up mess. You got that?"
Max let out a chuckle. "You really have a way with words, you know that?"
She let out a snort, "It is a charming quality of mine, I know." her face turned serious. "So you know I'm not going to let this go."
Max sighed, she was right. When Jiro had set her mind on something, changing her mind was like trying to lift the sky—an impossible task to accomplish.
"Well, I can't stop you." Max chuckled.
"Damn right you can't."
"But now that you know, you'll have to speak with my grandmother about all this."