A/N: Hi, all! I hope winter break treated you well. Midterms are currently coming up for me, so the next chapter might take a little longer than I'd expect to complete. I'm really nervous, actually. I've never had a big test like this, unless you count the few I had in eighth grade.
Anyway, I'm really proud of this chapter. It's a little low on action, but I think that's understandable. There's a lot of problem solving and dialogue. Let me know how you guys feel in the reviews. Actually, I don't think I've said this yet: thank you all so much for the favorites and the follows and the reviews. I really, really appreciated it, and would've never expected this story to blow up!
- o - o - o - o -
When the elevator doors opened up, Asui was the first to get off, Jirou trailing just a few faint footsteps behind. Halfway down the hall was Uraraka, hiding her face behind her bangs as she hurriedly slipped through her dorm room door, trying her best to be sly, not to be seen by anyone. But that wasn't stopping Asui, an Asui so overly adamant and overcome with emotion that she'd do anything for her friend as she knew she needed her now, needed her more than ever. She knocked and knocked and knocked until her knuckles hurt, turning white around the edges and beginning to blister bright red, the pain almost unbearable.
"Ochako, ribbit, we just wanna talk. It's me, Tsuyu, and Kyoka's here too. We don't know what's going on, either. We're just here to help, ribbit. Please, you seem upset."
Uraraka buried her face in her bed sheets, Asui's prodding almost painful to hear. She wasn't ready to open up. She was confused, alone, unsure of anything she felt, unsure of anything Izuku felt. Was he just playing around with her, or was Mina the one making the mess?
Of course, she'd never expect something so vile, so heartless out of such a sweet boy like Izuku. He was her ride or die, her day one, whether he was in love with her or not, and she wouldn't have it any other way. One of the kindest boys she'd ever met, she'd never imagine him doing such a thing.
And so this entire ordeal came as a bit of a shock to her.
"Ochako, open up, will you? We're here for you, you know. We just wanna make sure you're okay." It was Jirou this time.
So, her desire for answers too strong, she hopped up out of bed and let the two of them in, tear-soaked eyes gone from once-prettily-white to deep red.
Asui didn't hesitate to hug her, and it was at that moment that Uraraka let it all out, the little hiccups to the big cries and the wailing, Asui's favorite pair of pajamas stained with salty tears that'd inevitably ended up trickling down the side of her shirt in consequence of going out of her way to comfort her. But she didn't care, and neither did Jirou, as she joined in immediately after, bringing Uraraka in close.
Jirou was conflicted, unsure of what was the right way to feel. Part of her thought she should have been downstairs with Mina, comforting who was one of her best friends, but she wasn't exactly sure what was going on between her and Izuku—especially after that kiss—and even though she loved Mina, she had a feeling she was the one who fucked it up. She really did have a tendency to do that. She didn't try to, and she was an incredible, vibrant kind of person, but she couldn't keep a secret to save her life, nor could she hide her feelings forever, often letting them slip far too early resulting in a crisis such as the one befolding before her.
"I don't understand," Uraraka started, a stutter bubbling up in the back of her throat. "Why'd Mina have to do that? Couldn't she have just kept quiet?"
"I agree," Asui croaked. "It's not fair to you, ribbit. But we'll never know what she's feeling until we ask. We don't know the whole story, ribbit. Maybe she had a reason for doing what she did."
"It's just killing me, Tsu. I don't know if Deku likes her back or… or anything! Nothing! I don't have a clue."
Asui shrugged. Jirou's shoulders stiffened, unable to hide the inevitable—she knew that they knew. They knew she knew far more than she was letting on.
"Kyoka, ribbit, do you know something?"
"Well, um, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think Mina might just be in love with him, too, Ochako. The way she looks at him and talks about him kind of gives it away." Her eyes widened, suddenly feeling as if she were taking sides. She wasn't. She was as neutral as neutral could be. But she wasn't sure if she was ready for Uraraka to know that, especially with Asui so clearly sticking up for her and rooting for her cause. And she didn't blame her; Mina's ideals were a little immoral. "B-But I don't know what Midoriya's feeling! I don't really talk to him, so, um, it'd be impossible for me to know."
That was a bit of a lie—Jirou knew. She'd had an inkling they were more than friends for quite a while now, just hadn't tied the knot yet.
Asui was the first to let go. "Ocha, ribbit, you need to talk to him."
Without a shoulder to cry on, Ochako felt barren, naked, her emotions instantly out there for all the world to see. She was suddenly so self-conscious. She leaned back into Asui, unable to look anywhere else but at her. "I-I know, but I'm scared. He's gonna tell me he likes her, Tsu. He's gonna tell me he likes Mina."
Jirou, tired of Uraraka's sorry, sour attitude, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her toward her, finally letting the two to see eye to eye. "Listen, Ochako. You're being a baby. You're stronger than this. All you gotta do is talk to him, and if he really is two-timing you with another girl, he doesn't deserve you. But you don't know that yet. Now stop being all sad and go figure it out for yourself before you start making all these assumptions."
Uraraka wiped her cheeks dry, eyes suddenly losing their sorrowful shimmer. A few lasting tears dribbled down her cheeks and her chin, staining her once-dry skin and leaving her with nothing but a pure and innocent face. She felt new, fresh. "Kyoka, you're a lifesaver, you know that? Both of you are."
She brought the two of them in for a hug, coming together as one and leaving sorrow and sadness in their wake.
- o - o - o -
"Midoriya."
"What? What do you want?"
"Can we talk? Please, I— I want to explain."
Izuku craned his neck back, Mina's fingertips holding onto the hem of his shirt harder than she ever had before. His classmates were busying themselves with other things, no longer necessarily paying attention to him. He'd been in the limelight for quite some time now, everyone a bit shaken up from recent events, but thankfully the buzz was beginning to wear off, as people had started to stop approaching him left and right.
"What, Ashido? What's there to explain?" he said, suddenly toning it down a notch. He realized that after all that'd happened, he was probably coming at her a bit too hard, being a bit brutal by not hearing her out. "You went off and did"—he blushed bright red—"that, which totally screwed up the relationship I had with Uraraka, or whatever was going on between us, and now what am I supposed to tell her? I was working up the nerve, okay? You only gave me three days."
A vein popped, Mina gearing up to go off on him, scold him for his own idiocy. "Stop lying to yourself, Midoriya. You weren't gonna tell her, and you know that." She poked her pointer finger in the center of his chest, prodding once, twice, three times. "You don't need me to get that through to you. You'll just never accept it.
And you're trying to tell me that you and Ochako had a relationship? If so, it fell apart pretty quickly, I guess. What, were you really just playing around with my feelings, too? Which one of us do you want, Midoriya? Pick one. You can't have both."
"You, Ashido. I-It's you, and it's always been you. You know that, you know that good and well, so stop questioning it. The issue here has nothing to do with that or Uraraka's and my relationship. It's why you can't keep a secret to save your life."
Where was sweet Izuku, sweet like sugary sherbert and cinnamon and strawberry shortcake, the Izuku she loved? The Izuku standing before her was making her sad, making her want to cry. A hitch could be heard in her voice. "I know," she sighed. "I can't keep my mouth shut, I know. Say it again, why don't you? But at the rate you were going I would've had to keep quiet forever, and you and I both know I couldn't do that. What we were doing was already wrong. Now imagine if we'd dragged it on."
Izuku was relentless. "Yeah, sure, but you didn't have to do it in front of everyone. That was my first… my first…"
She covered her mouth. "Oh. Um, I— I had no idea."
"Yeah. Why? Was it not yours?"
"No. I kinda kissed a guy in middle school."
"Oh."
With a reaction like that, she felt she owed him an explanation. "It wasn't a big deal! It was our third year and all, and we weren't dating for long, and it just kinda happened. We broke up not long after. It was quick. And bad, if I'm being honest."
She couldn't help but notice his eyebrows were furrowed, nose all wrinkled and scrunched up, lips turned down into a frown. She was only serving to make things worse. It would've been easier if she'd just kept her mouth shut. "Okay," he said, sighing slightly, the slow exhale in his last breath killing her, the kicker when she was already down.
She held onto the hem of his shirt. "Midori, what're we gonna do?" she said, a certain nullness, calmness in her voice she hadn't had before.
"I don't know, Ashido. Sounds like a you problem."
"Wow."
He looked back at her. "What?"
"Are you kidding me?" She pulled tighter on such a thin fabric, the only way she knew to get his attention, nails digging in the back of his skin. "What's wrong with you? Where's the Midoriya I like? The one whose sweet and kind and doesn't say stuff like that, stuff to make me feel bad. Asshole move, you know."
"Ashido, I'm just— I'm just confused, okay? And overwhelmed." A tear trickled down his cheek. "I'm sorry, and I know that's not an excuse. I'm acting like a jerk, I know. Just, can I have some space? We're not working out anything by being like this."
And so she abided by his wishes. "Okay," she said, and as he brought up his hand to wipe his face dry, she knew too that nothing was going to come out of continuously battering back and forth at each other, both clearly too stubborn to back down. They needed some time alone. Maybe some time to talk to Uraraka, even.
Mina headed upstairs while Izuku stayed down. She felt a little awkward, Uraraka's dorm just down the hallway, but she decided for now she'd ignore that fact and not stir up any trouble.
As soon as the door was shut, she plopped down onto her bed, burying her head beneath her pillow and wanting nothing more than to cry, bathe in a bath full of her own tears. This happened sometimes—she'd be in desperate need of letting it all out, letting the waterworks flow freely, but she wouldn't be able to, like something was stopping her, like even though she felt she had all of these emotions building up, she couldn't seem to let them go. They were just stuck in this void, trapped in her mind with nowhere and no one to turn to. And then, eventually, with the worst possible timing, she'd finally reach her breaking point—an outlet for her anger and frustration and sadness and sorrow—and she'd cry and cry and cry until her eyes would run dry.
This was apparently one of those times.
It was half an hour after sneaking downstairs for a shower that she all of a sudden just released, breaking down on the cold hardwood tiles of her tattered and tired bedroom floor. Why? She didn't know. Just one thought about this mess she'd made set her off. One intrusive intuition about all of her negative qualities, the ones that'd gotten her sucked into such a pitiful situation in the first place, had led her here, wailing with her head in her hands and her knees freezing off on the floor of an overly air conditioned room, especially for the start of spring. She didn't have the dedication to go over and turn it off.
She began to mumble to herself, call herself names: bitch, dumbass, idiot, asshole, and the list went on.
She knew she didn't deserve this. She was human; humans made mistakes. You'd have to be a fool not to believe such a thing. But this was one mistake humans—nobody—should've made. These were easily the most reprehensible kinds of mistakes, the most shamed. And she didn't blame anyone for that. What she'd done was wrong—really, really wrong, and she regretted it and beat herself up over it up until she could no longer hear about it without wanting to wince woefully in pain—but that also didn't mean something as simple as an apology would fix it, either. She wasn't getting out of this easily.
Not that she wanted to. She wanted to make things right, address the dilemma head-on, the way it should've been addressed a long time ago—and maybe if she had done that in the first place, she wouldn't be stuck in this absurd position right now.
But how? she thought. Where do I begin? She was utterly dumbfounded, completely clueless.
A knock at her door sounded her awake.
She wiped her eyes dry, standing up slowly, one foot at a time, hoping that maybe in savoring those last few seconds, her face would get a little less red and it'd become a little less obvious that she'd been crying. The last thing she wanted was to look like she was pitying herself over something that she'd done.
Upon turning the doorknob, Jirou could be seen standing a little impatiently outside the doorway. "Can I come in?" she asked.
Mina smiled, suddenly caring a lot less about her physical appearance. Jirou was someone she could trust. "Sure," she said, closing the door behind her.
Jirou took one deep breath in and one deep breath out. "Mina. What in God's name were you thinking?"
She began bawling. "Kyoka, I don't know. I-I regret it, I really do, and I wish I could go back and fix it but I can't!" Before she could say anymore, Jirou had her arms around her, pulling her in close. Mina stood surprised for a second before relaxing into her shoulders, crying a bit more. "Kyoka, I— I screwed up."
"Mina, It's okay. Yeah, you did, but everybody does it. I just want to know what happened. I was at Ochako's earlier and she wouldn't tell me a thing. Everyone's confused, y'know."
"Ochako's? Was she talking about me?"
Jirou gave her a look. "Mina, you know that's none of your business. For Ochako's sake."
All of a sudden she started sobbing, crying once more. "Kyoka, I'm sorry for always being so nosy and talking so much and always getting in the middle of everything. A-And I know I can't keep a secret, and I'm so, so sorry for screwing everything up, and if I've ever done anything to hurt you in the past, I—"
"Mina, you're fine. It's all fine. It's gonna be okay. I'm here for you, and I love you, and even though this might be one of your… worst, most memorable screwups, you have so, so many positive points about you to outweigh it: You're funny, friendly, great at helping others. You're a great Hero, too. You just gotta talk this out with people and maybe take away some of the tension and find a way to get over it, and it'll all be alright."
"I love you, you know that?"
"Yes, I know," Jirou smiled, cheeks rosy red. "Now, would you mind telling me what happened exactly so I can give you some advice?"
And so Mina rehashed each bit of the story from beginning to end, minus some of the miniscule details, starting with when she was teaching him how to slow dance all the way up until they were more than just friends to when she decided it'd be a bright idea to kiss him in front of the entirety of Class 1-A during some dumb game of Truth or Dare. She realized how silly it sounded out loud, how stupid she was for sticking up for herself. It was time to face the facts: she was the fool. Not Izuku, not Uraraka, not anybody else. Only her.
"Sounds like you need to talk to Ochako. She's the most confused. Midoriya knows what's going on; he can wait. The issue is with her."
Mina groaned. "Kyoka, I'm scared. She's gonna murder me."
Fed up with Mina feigning fear, Jirou crossed her arms, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she'll be mad—that's a given. But there's nothing you can do about that. You screwed up. You're gonna have to face the consequences. Don't talk to her and she'll lose all respect for you."
"So what do I do? Call her? Talk to her in person?"
"I'd start over the phone, in case things don't go well. You can hold off on Midoriya for a while. He probably needs time to cool off. Let me ask you one thing: Do you want to be with him? Do you want to start a relationship?"
"Yes!"
And Mina knew she'd have to hop over huge hurdles to even stand a chance at winning him back, but she wanted it more than anything. She knew now that she was in a compromising position, a position that could easily lead Izuku to leave his feelings by the wayside and forget about them entirely, but she still wanted to try. She wasn't giving up, not until it was certain. They could work. Even though it was messy, it might work.
"Okay, then you're gonna have to apologize. Explain yourself and everything you're feeling to each of them, no holds barred. At the very least they'll respect you, and there's a chance they'll forgive you as well."
Mina brought Jirou back into her benevolent embrace, missing the most comforting feeling of having someone to hold, the warmth it brought her incomparable to anything else. Her skin was soft, silky, milky white. It was a bit of a contrast from Izuku's rough patches and scabrous scars, but she liked it anyway, just as much.
"I love you, Kyoka. I love you a whole lot."
Jirou held down her laugh. "I love you too."
Eventually, she made her way out of Mina's room, leaving Mina to figure the rest out for herself. In her hand she held her phone, staring helplessly down at Uraraka's contact. Hands shaking, she typed, Hey. I really want to talk to you about this, either in person or on FaceTime. I understand if you're not ready. Just shoot me a text when you get this, and let me know if you're down to talk.
After reading it over a few times, she pressed send.
Uraraka was quick to respond. I'll FaceTime you. Give me a sec.
All of a sudden, Mina's phone was ringing—once, twice, three, four times—and then the realization set in: Uraraka was on the other line. Taking a deep breath, Mina double-checked that Uraraka wouldn't be able to see her face quite yet and reluctantly took the call.
- o - o - o -Izuku wasn't used to getting so many mean looks. Mineta was a main source, Kaminari and Kirishima a close second. All he wanted to do was to be able to relax on the couch without hearing his name for once, for every which corner he would turn there would be someone whispering something subtle or glancing his way.
He hadn't treated himself to ice cream once in the last three weeks. He usually tried to keep a relatively balanced diet, lots of fruits and vegetables and a variety of different kinds of fish, but today, he thought, could be a cheat day. He needed it more than most.
He couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. It'd been his first, and he had next to no time to prepare, and part of him couldn't get mad at Mina for it because in reality, he really, really liked it, even though he wasn't supposed to. He assumed it'd brought a lot pain to Uraraka, though, judging by her reaction, and he couldn't let himself get elated over something like that.
And Mina. Oh, Mina. What was he supposed to do with her? He couldn't get her out of his head. A mush of emotions—anger, irritation, guilt, confusion, devotion—were mixing around in his mind, stirring up the pot, and he wasn't sure what, if any, was the right one to feel. Granted, he sure did build up a lot of irritability, and he should've, since she screwed up his love life and his relationship with Uraraka and probably lost a lot of respect from his classmates, people who were most important to him, but he also couldn't help feeling regret, too. Why hadn't he just manned up, told Uraraka the truth? This whole thing could have easily been avoided.
And, of course, he still really, really liked her, more than words could describe.
Now, on a whole different note, what was he supposed to say to Uraraka? He'd deceived her, technically cheated on her, heartlessly made a fool out of her. It wasn't like he could turn back time and go fix it. He'd have to figure it out himself. Mina was the one he wanted—he could admit that now—but he still hoped he could have at least a little bit of a relationship with Uraraka, be as best of friends with her as he had been before. He didn't want her romantically, not anymore. At the very least he could admit he loved her platonically, maybe even make amends.
But that wasn't enough for her. That wasn't what she wanted. He'd have to break such saddening news to one of his closest and kindest friends, and he absolutely despised every second of it. He prayed that at the very least she'd be accepting of the truth, the feelings he couldn't and wouldn't change, maybe even understand them.
He didn't like her that way. He never had.
Mineta growling at him knocked him out of his head space.
"Midoriya, you lucky bastard! Uraraka and Ashido in the same night? You could've left some for us!"
Flailing his hands wildly out in front of him, he was held back by Kaminari holding him by the collar of his shirt. Izuku sighed. It was honestly quite sad that Mineta thought this was a good thing.
After a little while longer of hanging around downstairs and conversing with a few of his classmates—those that were willing to talk to him, that was—Izuku decided it was finally time to call it a night, heading up to his dorm where he would inevitably end up getting no sleep, instead spending his time laying around in bed, his mind running endlessly in circles.
- o - o - o -
It was awkward at first, neither of the two girls talking.
Uraraka started with a simple "hello." Mina appreciated the greeting, a little apprehensive to say hi back.
"So, um, I just wanted to get this out of the way," Mina started. "When I k-kissed Midoriya, I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that, um, I have feelings for him too, and I couldn't really hide them any longer. It wasn't meant to put you down in any way or make you feel bad. And I know I should have gone to you when I first realized I had feelings for him, but I was honestly too scared. And that's all my fault."
Uraraka took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. "Okay, but I just don't get why you had to kiss him like that, on the lips. I mean, Toru said the cheek was fine, didn't she?"
Mina could easily hear the frustration in her voice, like a soda can about to burst. Uraraka continued. "It's like you were trying to rub it in. You even took his first kiss from me, Mina, and you're not even dating him."
"Ochako, I don't want to fight."
"Yeah, obviously. I don't want to either. But it's gonna end up happening because I have questions that I want answered."
"Would you rather talk about this in person?" Mina asked. They were right down the hall from each other, after all.
"I mean, my eyes are all red and I look really bad right now, so not really."
Mina had begun to get a little too comfortable with whom she would usually call one of her best friends, showing her hair to her and her horns and even her eyes every once in a while, but now, after that sly little comment, she seriously wished she'd just stayed in the shadows. She vanished, biting her nails nervously, knowing that Uraraka was upset because of something she did, something she screwed up on, one of her many, many wrongdoings. She was surprised Uraraka hadn't gone rogue on her yet.
She decided it was about time she answered her question. "Um, well, I don't really know, to be honest. I guess I was just kind of fed up with hiding what we had, and in the heat of the moment I wasn't thinking in the right headspace. I know it's wrong, and I really, really regret it. If I'd been given more time I would've kissed Kirishima. Please, Ocha, if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, tell me."
"What do you mean 'we had?' Mina, you're not telling me you and Deku were more than just friends, are you?"
Her silence was deafening, anything but music to her ears.
"Right?"
Mina swallowed her pride. Once again she'd let the wrong thing slip. "Um, well…"
"And you didn't tell me?" Uraraka was mad. Really, really mad.
"Well, it wasn't exactly like that! Yes, we admitted we had feelings for each other, but we didn't act on them until then. We didn't want to hurt you. I mean, it was really all me, but that's beside the point. Tonight was our first kiss."
Uraraka's eyes were a lot more glossy than usual, losing their soft touch. "So you two were more than just friends." She no longer hid her face from the screen. "Mina, I-I need some time to think. I— I want to talk to Deku first."
"Okay, that's fine. Midoriya was planning on telling you, y'know. I'm the one who messed it up."
She knew the last thing she should do now was throw herself under the bus, but for once in her life she actually deserved it—nothing more, nothing less. She'd been an ass, made a fool of herself and her friends, and now she was paying the price.
"You could've let him tell me."
Of course, Mina was expecting this. Uraraka sure was deeply in love with him to not notice he'd made a mistake. Or maybe she had, and she was much more focused on Mina because, well, nothing would hinder the sight she had of him in her eyes—sweet, kind, strong, perfect in every which way. Love could be disastrous like that, and it often wasn't until you were with a person for long that you started to pick up on their flaws and accept them, the fact that they weren't perfect, but human like everyone else. They made misjudgements, missteps, had their own set of faults they often liked to keep hidden from the world.
Izuku wasn't foolproof. Mina knew that. She knew Uraraka did, too, but sometimes, even though it was easy to understand, it was especially hard to endure, to condone, to accept something so sad could be true. Sometimes, she thought, Uraraka might've looked past each inadequacy and imperfection to fulfill her own fantasy of having a completely right and just Izuku, one all to herself. Mina didn't judge her for that, as in a way, she did the same.
"Well, O-Ochako, I doubted he'd ever bring it up to you—"
Uraraka must've realized she was starting to get a little ahead of herself. "But— You know what? Actually, nevermind. I'm just confused, is all. I don't know the whole story. I regret not talking to Deku a long time ago. I want to hear it from him."
"You sure? I can explain."
Uraraka's cheeks were a lot more rosy than usual, and not in a good way. "Mina, I'm sorry, but no. Not now. You kissed the guy you knew I was in love with, basically took him away from me, and now you're expecting me to just be fine with it? No. I need time. I want to talk to Deku. Maybe he'll be honest about what happened and not skirt around the details just to save himself."
She covered her mouth, suddenly seeing the malicious intent behind her words. "Sorry if that sounded mean, but those are just my feelings."
Uraraka was like that—always apologizing for things she didn't do. She had every right to be rude; she'd been double-crossed, duped, neglected, thrown by the wayside like a piece of flaming hot garbage. Mina really wished she could do the same, but she could sometimes be a little more ill-mannered than Uraraka, a little more easily set off. The only reason she wasn't today was because this was really all her fault. She had nothing to argue, nobody on her side.
But Uraraka was also often defensive. She'd get angry and then apologize but still stand by what she'd supported originally. She believed in what she fought for, she just didn't believe in being mean about it. It was one of the things Mina respected most about her.
"Okay. You do you, then," Mina started, sighing slightly. Although she wished to remain calm, Uraraka's previous comment had gotten to her, leaving room for a bit of spite and animosity to build up, accumulate deep down inside. "Just, Ochako, know that I never wanted to like him like that. It just kind of happened, and to be honest, I really wish it hadn't." She winced. That was a lie. A lie she wasn't willing to take back. "I can't just turn off my feelings. It's not my fault he started to like me. And I'll tell you the truth if you want to know. I won't hide anything from you. It's kinda sad you think I would."
"Well, I mean, Mina, you kind of allowed it to happen. And it isn't that hard to believe you'd do so since you literally did it five minutes ago."
"Okay, just, do you want to talk to Midoriya? We're not getting anywhere by doing this."
"Yes. Mina, don't get me wrong, I want to work this out with you. We're really good friends, and we work well together, but"—she sniffled, once again an indication that she'd been crying—"I can't right now. I'm not over this. I'm still upset, and I'm thinking I will be for a while. Actually, I don't know if I'll ever be able to get over this. I don't know how long it'll take."
Mina let out the liveliest sigh of relief. The malice was gone; the ill-intention wasn't nearly as prominent as it was before. Things were calming down.
But, on second thought, upon hearing the intensity, the reality in Uraraka's words, she thought she was going to break.
She didn't want to be friends anymore.
At least not for now.
How long would that last? A day? A week? A month? Maybe even longer—possibly forever?
"Okay." She was saying okay a lot lately. "I understand. I wouldn't be able to forgive me, either."
"Yeah. Don't blame you. Well, I mean— Sorry. I didn't mean it like that, but... You get the point."
Uraraka did mean it like that. Mina didn't know for sure, but if she was in her position she'd surely say something similar. She couldn't get mad at her for it. "Yeah. Okay, well, see you."
Uraraka appeared on screen for just a second, a tear trickling delicately down her cheek. The moment she realized she'd been seen, she abruptly shied away. "Okay. Bye then, I guess."
The moment the call was cut off, Mina hid her head in her hands, crying.
- o - o - o -Around eleven o'clock that night, Izuku could be seen rolling over to the other side of his bed in the iMessage app, staring blankly down at Uraraka's contact. He started to type something. Hey. Do you wanna talk? I know you're probably not awake right now, but how about tomorrow? You must want an explanation.
He sent it. After a few minutes of waiting around without a response, he assumed she was probably asleep, and decided that maybe going to bed was best for him too.
That was, if he could find a comfortable position. It took him a while, but eventually, curled up in a tight little ball, he finally managed to close his eyes, drifting off into one of the lightest sleeps of his life.
- o - o - o -Craving a midnight snack, Mina made her way downstairs, knowing full and well that it being half past midnight meant that if she were to get caught, she'd be in some serious trouble with Mr. Aizawa. But she was hungry—what else could she do? And she also couldn't sleep.
Rubbing her eyes, she hopped off the elevator, barely able to notice Kirishima poking his head out of the corner of the kitchen. "Hey, Eijirou. What're you doing up?"
"Could say the same for you. Couldn't fall asleep, I guess. Bored."
"You're just down here because your bored? You know how much trouble you could get in, right?"
He went wide-eyed, looked at her funny. "Well, then, what's your excuse?"
"Hungry. Tacos."
"You came down here for tacos?"
She smiled a radiant smile, one filled with confidence and exhilaration. "Yes."
Under his breath, Kirishima managed to mutter, "How is that any better?" Then, he suddenly got serious. "Mina, you almost outed me today."
"I know. But, Eijirou, you know I'd never do that to you."
"It doesn't matter. You were close."
"So, what? Are you mad at me for it?" she asked.
"Yes."
She could feel her blood pressure rising. "Eijirou, I messed up, okay? I can't keep my mouth shut. I'm just as bad, if not worse than Kaminari. I might be the worst in the class. I mean, even on FaceTime today with Ochako I said some stuff I probably shouldn't have. I don't know what my problem is, but let me at least say I'm sorry."
"Relax, Mina, please." Kirishima didn't know how to handle her. "It's gonna get better. Just now work on fixing it. You can learn from this. I've made mistakes, Uraraka's made mistakes, Midoriya's made mistakes. Yours might've just been… a little bit bad."
She huffed, gritted her teeth. "Yup. Just a bit."
A moment of silence, and then, "Does that mean you forgive me?"
Kirishima put his hands over her shoulders, met her eyes. "Yes. I'm over it, at least. Just be careful from now on."
"Okay."
He brought her in for a hug, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in tight. Her second—no, third hug of the day, if the one with Izuku earlier counted—and she was absolutely and undeniably living for it. Human contact, condolence in general, was something seriously so underrated. If she ever got the chance to be with Izuku, it'd be one of the first things she'd do. Just cleanse him of everything that'd happened, hold onto him for a while.
Kirishima let go, his messy ruby red hair brushing by the sides of her face. He looked different when it wasn't all gelled up, horns sticking out at the sides like they usually did at school. She kind of liked it down. He should wear it that way more often.
She decided now was the time to say something she'd wanted to say since at least the beginning of their time together at U.A, maybe even longer. "Eijirou, I'm lucky to have you as a friend."
He smiled a genuine smile, teeth uneven and jagged and a bit too sharp at each edge. It was a miracle to her how they managed to stay so perfectly pearly white, standing out against the dreary darkness of the bland common room kitchen and couch. It was almost innocent, in a way. "You too."
Pulling his phone out of his back pocket, Kirishima checked the time, went wide-eyed when he realized he really ought to head up to bed by now. Mina made her tacos, ate them quickly, and decided to do the same, finally falling asleep for what would be the first time that night.