Twenty pages filled, front and back. Characters etched in a rush and resulting in some regretfully poorly worded sentences. Kairi winced, struggling to read the next word. What kind of use were her notes going to be if she couldn't read them? The responsibilities of this role was growing bigger by the day, and it had been two weeks since they had really begun to plan this project. Roles had been chosen and decided. Details had been discussed. Motives for each character had been laid out. Momo and Iida were hard at work with the clues and evidence after they collecting everyone's input. The correct responses were drafted and the semblance of a script they were loosely working off of was written. The students were instructed to get to know their characters and become them, know them well. The stress was beginning to push against Kairi, roughly.

In addition to becoming familiar with this character, she had to remember to keep her emotions in check. That was often a daily struggle but it had become more difficult what with the Shoto issue in tow. Working beside and acting as his newlywed wife was going to test her emotions in ways unknown; in addition she would need to keep herself under control so she wouldn't disrupt the emotions of the guests. She needed to ensure they had a good time and enjoyed their project. Thankfully, Iida and Momo had promised that with each set they would draw a new scenario. With each scenario, the only people who would be informed about the real killer would Momo, Iida, and the actual killer if it was not one of them. This took some stress off Kairi as she was certain her emotions couldn't give anything away if she wasn't the killer. She decided not to think about how it would be if she was.

Aside from that all that, she had her regular schoolwork and was going to be needing to start thinking about the foods she was going to be making. As it was for a school project for the festival, she had access to the home economics kitchen and simply needed to ask the school for the ingredients she would need. The plate was piling, but it was welcome in a sense. Focusing on memorizing the traits of her characters, homework, and the recipes helped to draw her mind away from the complications with Shoto. Of course that was when she wasn't in the room with him. The students stayed after almost every day to work hard on their project and he was always nearby. School, which sometimes included light training, staying after for a couple of hours to work on the project, going to the dorm, supper, homework, spending more time working on the project, bed. There was little time to think about him if he wasn't near – so she only had to worry about him during breaks at school and the two hours. It was a little manageable at least. Those two hours quickly became the most dreaded part of her day and also the part she looked forward to the most. She was a mess.

Since they were following tropes and stereotypes of murder mysteries in media, it was of course a regular English setting. Fearing they would once again expect her to be an expert on all things English, Kairi immediately tried to make herself invisible from the rest of them. Thankfully, someone seemed to pick up on this and avoided her. So Kairi's character was a noblewoman of upper class society, becoming a Lady when she married the Lord. As long as they picked accurate names to reflect vintage English names, they were allowed to choose their own. Through some back and forth, Shoto and Kairi decided on the family name of Thorncott. It was preposterously ridiculous, which fit in perfect with the silliness of the tropes they were implementing. Despite how much Kairi made fun of Shoto for it, he had decided on the name Lord Tobias Thorncott. Immediately, Kairi knew she wanted to claim the name Iris Thorncott. Shoto asked her how she came to that decision so quickly, but she couldn't answer. While she flourished red, it was a little unclear to her why she wanted that name.

Kairi leaned across her desk, positioned in that stupid circle again. "Optimal for equal eye contact and participation!" Iida declared, even though half the class chose to be wait staff and had no need to pay as close attention. Discussion droned on further. They were planning on having practice runs in a week. That would mean needing to track down a proper costume together. And since she was going to be a proper, elegant noblewoman attending a fancy party... that was going to be some kind of gown. Just another element to add to her overloading list. Kairi's finger swiped through her calendar. It had been over three weeks since her last appointment with her therapist; and she desperately needed one. But there was no time. They were too far into this for her to back out and everyone was relying on her. She couldn't sacrifice any time.

The angry of her phone's notification paused the discussion, and her chest whipped with embarrassment. Kairi retrieved her phone and sheepishly gave an apologetically look across the circle. When they continued on, she picked up her phone and opened the news alert that had come through. Her eyebrows propped at the headline and she hurriedly tapped at Shoto's shoulder.

"What?" he whispered over to her.

"It's QuirKey. Apparently they've announced the first successful recipient. An eighteen year old girl who was originally quirkless." Kairi tilted her phone his direction, so he could get a better look at her. She rolled her thumb further down the article. "Looks like she received ice powers."

"Huh..." he muttered thoughtfully. The center of his brow wrinkled. "She chose ice powers because she wanted to be like Elsa?"

"Guess so."

"I hope she understands it's going to take awhile before she understands how to use it. She may become more like Elsa than she originally bargained for and may have trouble controlling it."

"It says that she's going to be working with a trainer and she's going to go through some quirk counseling," Kairi said, reading over the remainder of the contents. She frowned. "She says she's happy though and she wants to do whatever she can to help people... I don't know... maybe QuirKey isn't actually doing anything ethically questionable." Shoto shrugged, but didn't look convinced.

Two weeks left, and the pressure was suffocating. Shoto had asked her if she wanted to work privately with him to make sure they knew their characters and the relationship between them felt genuine. Kairi left him without much of answer, terrified about what sort of possibilities that situation could allow to happen. From the beginning this felt as if it was a horrible idea, and now it was proving to be nearly impossible. She was going to break, she knew it.

"Hold still for just a moment," Momo sighed once again, trying to pull on the zipper at Kairi's back. With stress surmounting everything, Kairi had continued to fidget worse than ever, making this shopping trip rather difficult. Worse still was how she could hear in her friend's tone the emotional weight she was putting on her. She could feel her agitation and there was nothing to be done. Usually, Momo was so good about ignoring the emotions for the most part – but there wasn't a shortage of tasks for Momo either. Happily, she had agreed to help Kairi find a dress for this project even though there was a stack of other items for her to tend to. She even wanted to bring Kairi and treat her to a more upscale boutique but Kairi said no, feeling more comfortable in a thrift store. The clothes may have had more of an authentic vintage look which she used to try and get Momo to agree going with her. Momo also could quite clearly feel how such a shop would make her uncomfortable. Sitting on one of their couches would feel a crime and even though her father made enough money for them to be comfortable, they were still pretty frugal with many things. The only time a Hoshino would be caught dead in one of the designer boutiques would be if there was a crime and her father had to investigate. With little explanation, Momo agreed to heading with Kairi to a thrift store.

While Kairi immediately headed to where the gowns often were, Momo was fascinated by some of the older pieces, wondering what some things were and shocked that prices were so cheap. She didn't understand the organization and was impressed by the eclectic assortment of items in the store. After shouting back at her, Momo joined her again and helped her find some pieces that would work.

"Okay, well this one is... a bit baggy around the waist..." she politely told Kairi as she looked at her in the mirror.

"A bit?" Kairi snorted, and fluffed the front of the loose fabric. "It makes me look pregnant, Momo!"

"Ah, well... Okay, that's true. But that's fixable right?"

"And the shoulders are insane," she hissed, shaking her head. With a hand, she motioned for Momo to remove it. "Not this one. Next."

"That's four nos and one maybe..." Momo said, helping with the zipper again. She shot Kairi a look as she tried to shift awkwardly in her step. Kairi gulped and forced herself to stiffen, giving her friend a moment to unleash the dress from her.

"I'm excited for the festival... but I'll be happy when this is over."

"It is proving to be more work than I anticipated, but I think the visitors will have fun with it." Kairi stepped out and reached for the ghastly pink one. It was a horrid dusty tone, but the style felt right.

"How are the scenarios coming together?" she asked, trying her hardest to distract herself from the unpleasantness of constant changing dresses and avoiding any discussion about Shoto.

"I think Iida and I have them all in place by now. Clues and observations have all been decided on and we're just making sure they all work together correctly and fit each character. It's been exhausting, I haven't been able to get the proper amount of sleep for this. I'm glad the teachers have decided to be light on our hero training." Kairi nodded, though a part of her disagreed. Maybe tougher exercises would have allowed for more distractions and she could have all but forgotten about Shoto outside of working with him.

"Yeah... oh god, this one has buttons..." she moaned, pulling on the sleeves. "That feels like an instant no."

"Just give a chance, Kairi," Momo said, pulling at the sides and moving her fingers over the snaps at the back.

"Buttons just feel less secure," she said, feeling the snug of the fabric just below her chest. Widened pupils expanded at her visage in the mirror. Her hand reached to cover the front of her dress, ample cheeks reddening. "Flat out no. Get this off me, Momo."

"Why, what's...?" She leaned over and snickered at the reflection. "Oh! Oh I see..."

The dress had something of a lower front but as Kairi had only a moderately sized bosom, it hadn't seemed to be that much of a big deal on the rack. Except now it seemed as if something about the fabric was designed to give her a boost, making her assets look quite a bit larger.

"This dress is hideous, has buttons, and will not be school appropriate!" Her panicked voice cried while Momo began to work at the buttons on her back, as quick as she could. "Hurry please, I don't want this thing on me!" her pulse knocked against her, surging with desperation.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Kairi!" Her voice was sharp enough to cut through her, causing Kairi to feel a slice of guilt. "We're in a dressing room just us, and it's not as if Shoto is standing right here looking at you!"

"It's not about Shoto!" she said. Though, it was a lie. A good part of it was Shoto. The image of standing beside him wearing that was what sailed through her brain the minute she saw it. Momo just quirked a brow, feeling the guilt in that lie, before she finished the dress. Kairi slinked out of it and took the next navy one from Momo.

"I'm sorry I snapped," she said as she gave her the dress.

"No, it's... it's fine. Things are intense right now. We're usually training to be heroes not working on a massive class project where everyone is expected to participate and work together. We just happened to choose one that requires a little more thought and planning than other classes might have come up with. Also more food and scenery."

"It is... quite a bit of work..." Momo said, hesitating to avoid reveal how much work it actually was on the side of the class rep and vice class rep's sides. She pulled at the sides of the dress and easily pulled the zipper to where it stopped – right at the small of her back. "Though, you have it the toughest."

"I don't think that's fair to say," Kairi said, frowning at herself in the reflection. The blue satin clung close to her body, fitting her form. It was a higher neck, collar stopping just below her collarbone. She spun, gasping at the low back and brightening again. "You're doing a lot, more than you usually do. Both you and Iida, except Iida seems to thrive on pressure. I worry about him sometimes."

"Maybe but at least this is usual school stuff..." Momo said. She pulled on Kairi's arm, spinning her slightly. "This one is kind of nice."

"Eh."

"I just mean you are... stepping outside of your comfort zone. Trying to jump in and participate, more than you were even ask to. Playing a major part and you've agreed to help cook? Especially when I know you probably want nothing more than to just disappear in the background." The last words rang true. Kairi wanted to just be another body in the room, getting the grade. But something inspired her to participate, a force pulling at her to be a part of it all. To stand out a little more, to want to please her classmates and help them out wherever she could. Even though it was stacking up and growing heavy on everything else. Something kept urging her on, providing her with a want to do this. It also helped that... she had several supporters on her side. Momo and Tsu were her biggest supporters of course, but Yuga and Izuku were also always rooting her on. Momo was there for every stop of it. Yuga was certain she was going to be so fantastic, she would blow everyone away. Tsu promised her everyone was there to support her no matter what she did. That they knew she had the ability to do all of this, but even if she messed up or even if she decided to step away from it, they would still support her and not hold anything against her. Izuku had no doubt she was going to nail every part of it. And then... there was Shoto.

For everything, he had helped her the whole way through. He had asked if she wanted to work on things privately, and she ran away terrified because she didn't know how to be around him normally anymore. He was constantly asking about certain elements of his character were okay with her whether it was important to her character or not. Sometimes he suggested things for their interactions together and he always ran it by her first. He was constantly checking in with how her own work was going; if the responsibility was too much for her, if she needed any help with her homework, if there was anything he could do to make things easier. And with each question her heart raced a little faster and she liked him just a little more. The feelings were all becoming a mess of tangled embarrassment, shock, and a strange elated high every time he even got in the proximity of her. Even when the responsibilities were getting to the point of just being too much. He was there, right by her side. Waiting with her to talk things out, employing any methods he knew would help her calm down. He would try to reach for her hand, knowing that something about feeling skin against her own helped, but lately she had continued to draw away. He never questioned it, and just did everything according to her own comfort. He would count with her. He would drop a blanket on her. He would speak quietly with her. While this event stressed her out more than she dreamed it would, he was there to guide her through everything and move at her pace. Yet every time he mentioned switching roles with some else, her body gripped with dread and she immediately told him no. She had to go through with it. For her friends, her classmates. She had to help bring this fun experience to others, even those she didn't know. She had to do it for Shoto, already locked in on a role that was directly connected to his. Most of all, she had to do it for herself. To prove she could. To know she could succeed in something impossible, stressful, and come out of it knowing she succeeded. Her quirk needed this, her emotions needed this. This was as much of an emotional exercise for her than anything else. It was vital she do this.

"I do," Kairi replied. "But I can't..."

"I... can't imagine what you're dealing with," Momo said with as much empathy as she could. "But knowing how tough this is for you, and you're going through it anyway, and finding the strength to stop yourself before you hit a breakdown... you have no idea how strong you are, Kairi. And I admire that. So much. In so many ways you are a stronger hero than many of us." Kairi blinked, a few touched droplets rising to her eyes. Swallowing a response that was otherwise self-deprecating, she merely reached over and squeezed her friend.

"I'm... not going to lie. Shoto has actually... helped a lot..." Kairi whispered, a pleased grin growing on her lips. "He's been a huge part of what's helped me get through this." Momo posed a question in her eyes, but remained silent. "My friends all have. Shoto, yes... but you, Tsu, Yuga, Izuku... the whole class in many ways. It's a support I never had and it's already changed me in ways I never expected. I think my strength for doing this has come from a lot of you."

"Oh, give yourself some more credit than that, Hoshino!" Momo laughed, playfully punching her exposed shoulder. "This strength was always there, you just needed to find the right people to find it." She leaned against her, taking in the form of the dress in the mirror. High neckline, sleeves. A length that clung close to her legs, sleek in design except for the small flow in the skirt past her knees. "This looks rather nice on you. Honestly, it does."

"It's pretty tight though."

"Is it too small? Can you breathe?" Momo said, double checking the tag on the back.

"No, it's my size..." Her cheeks warmed. She wore leggings around the house and she was no stranger to clothes fitting closer to her body on occasion. But there was something about this dress. There was a little dirt on the hem and the possibility of dirt in other spots considering it was a dress in a thrift store. Thankfully the color was dark that nothing really showed and they had planned to get it dry cleaned anyway. Aside from the minor dirt, it was rather nice and something fitting the role she was playing. No, it was the issue of wearing something elegant, that held so close to her form... around Shoto. It caused her neck to flare with anxious heat. It illustrated her body in ways that made her uncomfortable to think about around him... but it did work. Part of her hoped the last dress to try would hang on her loser and cover her more, but a look over it already pushed down that pit in her stomach. It didn't look promising. She turned again, sighing at the back. "It's just... I'm not used to dresses holding so close to me. And then there's... the back. That can't be school appropriate."

"Well, I mean..." Momo reddened. "I'm allowed to wear my hero costume..."

"That's different. Your skin needs to be exposed. A hero school is going to be lenient about hero costumes as long as you have a valid reason, which you do. This has nothing to do with my quirk or being a hero."

"You would definitely need to wear a different bra," she said, frowning. "But I see your point. It's an easy fix though. Once dry cleaned, maybe your housekeeper could stitch a panel on the back. Extra fabric might be too much, but some lacework would look nice and it would be decent enough for the school." Kairi huffed patiently, stepping out of the dress.

"I don't have a housekeeper, Momo. A lot of people don't," she reminded her, as calmly as possible.

"Ohh..." she said, growing shyly quiet and hooking the dress back on its hanger. "Right, I... forgot. I'm sorry, I... I can see if mine will do it!" Kairi paused.

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"It's no problem!" The silver dress was far too puffy, ruched in odd spots, and stiff on her. Instantly recognizing it as a no, Kairi discarded the rest of the dresses and she worked with Momo to find some fitting shoes. Breathing deeply as soon as they stepped out of the door with her purchases, Kairi took in the open air again. People passed by, but it didn't feel as stuffy as the store had been. Momo took the dress bag from her.

"I'll get it dry cleaned for you. I know the best place. And then I'll politely ask if I can have the back altered. I should have it for you before the festival!"

"Momo..." Her center filled with bursting gratitude, throwing herself at her friend. Lightly, she squeezed her, feeling light and warm. "You're amazing." She only shook her head and the two of them headed down towards the block. Momo paused, taking time to snap a picture of the two of them together. Kairi's smile was genuine this time, glad to know Momo and have her as a friend, grateful for everything she was doing. While she played around in her Instagram, Kairi removed her phone as well, checking her messages she had received while in the store.

Wait until you see the decorations I have chosen for the project! The classroom is going to l'air si beau you won't even recognize it when I am done! – Yuga

Kairi giggled, flipping through the photos he had sent of the paper ornaments that looked like chandeliers, ornately colored fabric, serving ware, candles, and other pieces of antique objects he had found to represent the classic murder mystery setting. Of course, in every photo he had posed in some way to show off his illustrious hair and handsome face.

Looks good. I'm sure it will be fantastic! – Kairi.

Another alert. Momo tagged her in the photo. She smiled and dismissed it. Next alert; news report of a second QuirKey recipient. A 34 year old male. A demolitions expert who originally had a quirk where his hands could produce strips of bubble wrap if he wanted. He received an explosive quirk, thinking that could better suit him to the job and talked extensively about the mental assessment he had to take and the therapy he had to have to decide if he was responsible enough to have the quirk. With the promise he would only use it after he received the proper counseling and only in the parameters of his job and safely, he was allowed to have the quirk, and had yet to report the results of it. Kairi furrowed her brow in interest and read the article aloud to Momo, who also had little to say but was left with much thought. She messaged it quickly to Shoto, asking his thoughts, and then continued on the street. She laughed with her friend, and followed her into a nearby ice cream shop.

While she stood in line, her phone pinged again, a notification on Momo's post. From Shoto.

Immediately, she pulled it up. He liked it, as he seemed to do with nearly everything she was tagged it. But he also left comment.

The picture was just of her and Momo smiling on the street with the comment: moodyriri and I just found her the perfect dress for the culture festival, and having a blast spending the day with her!

Meanwhile, Shoto said:

Can't wait to see how it looks on you :)

Her feet tapped quickly against the floor of the shop, eager to spoon some ice cream down to silence the screaming in her heart.