I cannot express how deeply sorry I am for not being able to upload for almost a week at this point. I know that a week is nothing considering how long some authors on here go between uploads, but as you have gotten used to my consistency in uploading an average of every other day, I feel incredibly awful. It's a consistency I strive for, but the last week has been a mess. The last two weeks have been nothing but me constantly running to do stuff and then we ran into some family drama that sort of combusted. Having to do all that WHILE still struggling to write completely wore me out and after the family thing I went to, I just had to sit and take a couple days of self care and recover mentally before I took on anything. Thank you so much for your dedicated readership, I am incredibly grateful and I hope you understand.

It was the rare morning that Kairi was able to defeat her alarm immediately and jump from her bed. While her school uniform prevented her from laboring over her appearance too much, she swept over it to clear away any remaining wrinkles it may have collected. She plugged in her rarely used curling iron and hesitantly began to carefully work at her hair. It had grown quite a bit over the last several months, reaching her shoulder blades. She was always pretty girly, but never obsessed too much over her hair and never wore too much make-up. Yet, the insistent desire to attend to her looks as much as possible awoke her that morning. As inexperienced as she was, she wound the hot rod through her hair. When the curls bounced back, she gaped at the dramatic difference, and continued.

Once she had pulled her hair back with a bow, it didn't look too terrible. Lightly running her fingers through it evened out the curls a little bit. More dramatic colors around her eyes, extra brushes of blush, and a deeper shade of pink on her lips. Once she stepped back and look at her appearance, she winced. A pearl drop necklace her father gave her, the iris earrings, and an extra spritz of her perfume. If it weren't for the brightly shining blue streak, she would have thought she was staring at an image of her mother. It wasn't her.

"What the fuck am I doing?" she scoffed. Distress pulled her face into her hands. Shame caused her groan. A look at the clock. There was no point in wasting time trying to undo everything. Kairi took her bag and dragged it behind her, as she followed the descent of the steps.

"Oh my God!" Tsu exclaimed, looking up from the breakfast table when Kairi entered the kitchen area. Iida's eyes popped, and Momo covered her mouth. Uraraka and Izuku looked up for a moment, appearing shocked. Bakugo looked up for one second longer before returning to his bowl of rice quietly.

"I knew it, I look terrible," Kairi said, gnawing on the edge of her lip. Insecurities coiled around her.

"Non, non, mon amie, you look marvelous, truthfully!" Yuga greeted with a smile. "You always have looked lovely though."

"I guess you are wearing a little more make-up, ribbit," Tsu responded coolly. "I was simply surprised to see you awake. I don't remember the last time you woke up in time for breakfast."

"Is, erm... Shoto awake?" she dropped her voice as she slid into her seat across from Yuga, joining Momo and Tsu as she did. Momo dabbed at her mouth with a napkin before speaking.

"I haven't seen him come down yet, which is odd. Usually he's one of the first people down here."

"Yeah, and you're in time for breakfast," Tsu said, adding to the strange situation, holding a finger to her lip. "Did you two switch lives or something?"

"I need to talk to you three... about something..." Kairi whispered as she leaned across the table.

"Something happened at the festival!" Yuga sang softly between them. Red burst through Kairi's face. "Qui? I am correct!"

"Yes, and I... I need advice, okay! My mind is exploding and... I'm... I'm not sure... Look, we just need to talk! Away from Shoto!"

"You need to eat something first," Tsu said, with a strong authority. The girl left the table and strode into the kitchen, dishing out a plate with the few platters of food that awaited them.

"We can talk on the way into school," Momo nodded. "Shoto usually walks with us though, isn't he going to find that weird?"

"No, I'm sure he's figured out I'm going to talk to you." Yuga's chopsticks clattered against his bowl as he propped himself out of his chair.

"Wait, you mean to say whatever happened, Todoroki is aware of it?"

"Yes."

"Oooh, I am intrigued indeed!" Tsu returned with a plate. Her fingers pushed it in front of Kairi.

A sleep eyed Mineta slumped into the kitchen, giving his usual half wave to the class members that were in the kitchen. In mid walk, he stopped. Frozen, he stiffly spun. Bugged eyes turned to Kairi. He shifted his eyes as he took in her gussied appearance. Her foresight already predicting the avenue this reaction was going to take, Kairi covered her face again. The small boy dropped his jaw. He shook, unable to contain his excitement. A string of drool flowed from the edge of his lip. Entranced eyes stared.

"Hey, come on!" Kirishima called from the other side of the kitchen. "It's not very manly to stare like that!"

"I don't know, he's doing a pretty good job at that Kaminari impression," Bakugo said.

"Leave her alone, you creep!" Ashido hissed as she rose from her table. She slammed her chopsticks over his head, splintering them into a two pieces each. As if it was the kick he needed to draw him back out his trance, Mineta scurried away towards the kitchen. Kairi mouthed "thank you" to Ashido. Mineta tried sneak a glance or two as he collected his plate. Ashido smiled at Kairi, quickly changing her expression to a glare as she watched Mineta.

Continuing to keep them in suspense, she worked at the food in front of. Breakfast was helping to quiet the anxiety in her. At least to a level that she was finding it tolerable to sit with again.

"Can we go? Please?" she pleaded. The soles of her feet burned with the desire to flee.

"Sure, if you're okay with not waiting for Shoto," Momo said. Kairi nodded and the four of them gathered together from the table. Just as they urgently made for the door, Shoto met them half way. Surprise caught him for an instant, and then he gathered himself. A rhythm pounded out in Kairi's sternum at his sudden appearance.

"You're up early," he said, unable to break away from her eyes. She nodded.

"We're heading to school," Kairi plainly stated.

"Oh... right now?" he asked. Was that a different cologne he was wearing? It was a deeper scent, more earthy. Rain against the earth in the deep woods, with notes of smoke. Her nostrils tingled, unsure how she felt about this new scent.

"Y-yeah. I want to talk to them. About... you know."

"Oh. Oh! Right, um... I'll see you at school then." Awkwardly nodding, Kairi pulled herself away from him. As fast as possible, she zipped through the door. Just before Tsu let it close behind the group, they could hear a fragment of Shoto speaking loudly; "Mineta, if you don't stop staring, I'll will use my quirk to remove your...!" The door shut.

"So, um..." When she began, her voice pitched up. A frenzy of emotions wound her tight, squeezing out her words. Swallows and butterflies angrily fought within her soul. She tapped her fingers together. "To make this short. Shoto likes me, apparently. I told him I like him. Annnddd then we... kissed!"

"RIBBIT?!"

"Félicitations!"

"You... kissed?" Their responses piled on top of each other. Yuga flew to Kairi in a hug, his face warm and bright with glee.

"Just I mean... super light like... it was super gentle, we weren't sure what we doing if I'm honest but we spent the night just... being together and talking and... I don't know what's going on?"

"We wondered how long it would take you!" Yuga said as they continued down the walk.

"What do you mean 'wondered'? For me to tell him?" Kairi said.

"Ah, Aoyama!" Momo scoffed with a roll of her eyes. She shook her head in defeat. "We've known for a while he's liked you." A missile exploded inside Kairi.

"Excuse me?"

"He never told us but we could tell."

"What do you mean you could tell?!"

"He wasn't exactly hiding it," Yuga said. "He was très evident." Kairi blinked, amber eyes large. "The boy was going beyond what friends do. He was being a little too intimate with you. As Todoroki isn't a terribly intimate person to begin with, it was very clear."

"And no one said anything?" Her voice cracked as horror took over her voice.

"We figured it was your business," Momo said. "We didn't want to get in the middle of anything or jump to any conclusions. We thought you would hate it if we intervened." The offense wore away as it was replaced by a tender gratefulness. A smile found her face while she looked at them. It was nice, to be continually be reminded of their sensitivity and what good friends they were.

"Well, that was... the correct call. Thank you... um, but! The is-issue..." She tensed again, clutching her bag tightly. "How do I know that he really likes me? What if it's my quirk?"

"Allow me to chime in," Yuga began proudly, puffing his chest. "When the boys are split from the girls, Todoroki speaks very rarely. Half the time when he does speak, it's focused on you. He smiles at his phone when he texts you."

"He asked me questions about what to get you from Christmas," Momo said.

"When we're practicing our hero tactics, he is more tense watching you from the sidelines than anyone else," said Tsu.

"When you're not around, you're the one on his mind, guaranteed. There is no way it is just your quirk!" Yuga ended his words with a wink, as if that would add credibility to his words. Doubt flopped around inside Kairi.

"Are you sure that's not just some conditioning, some manipulation, some..."

"Kairi," Momo interrupted. They stopped just before the school's doors. The four of them gathered on the path, staring at their frantic friend. She rested a hand on her arm. "I understand you're worried. If you weren't, we would actually be concerned. You are correct that this quirk of yours could carry chance for manipulation. And in anyone else it very well might. But you are so incredibly careful with how you approach things, knowing your quirk. You're in tune to your emotions and Shoto is able to keep his calm even when you're... not. It's possible he can identify the difference between your emotions and his, he's had a better handle on them than some of us. But we've all been able to keep ourselves composed when you're not... terribly calm. We feel it but just from knowing you, being around you, becoming familiar with your quirk... being your friends. Over time we have grown to strengthen ourselves and know what our own feelings are."

"Yeah. We're so familiar with it now, it's easier to manage," Tsu added.

"I don't think it's as much of a danger as you believe it to be mon cherie," Yuga said. "And Todoroki is a fine gentleman, and you're very cautious to make sure your quirk isn't manipulating anyone."

"So... you think he... really does... like me?" Choosing to believe even for a moment caused somersaults within her soul. A bounce found her step as she rocked in place. "Like, genuine, for real?"

"Almost all of his posts online, especially lately, have been affiliated with you in some way," Tsu said. "If I recall, a lot of those occurred when you weren't near him."

"He likes me..." Kairi echoed. The words sounded hollow and ethereal to her. "He actually likes me..." Tsu gestured for them to head aside. In a daze, she floated behind them, listening to the continuing conversation.

"Knowing how the two of you are, I also don't think you have anything to worry about anything happening between the two of you," Momo said. "You're both genuine, honest, and are concerned about the other's wants. You're constantly checking in on the other and won't proceed unless the other is okay with it. Talk things out, and go slow. But that's what I would tell anyone."

"The most important thing you need is trust," Yuga added quietly. "If anything is going to happen between you two, you will need to learn to trust each other. You need to trust that he is genuine when he says yes or no. You need to believe that he is being honest if you want this to work. And he needs to trust you as well."

"You've given your trust over to Bakugo, even for a moment," Tsu reminded with a grin. "I don't imagine it will be hard for you to do that with Todoroki."

Warmer and lighter, she carried herself into the classroom. Skipping on their words, the advice settled in nicely. Suddenly, it felt completely possible. Doable. Even likely, that she could take on this task and might actually be able to have something, with something. With Shoto. A wild girlish feeling rose in her. For the first time in her life she entertained having a real relationship. No doubt, that trust would come easily with him. There was no one she trusted more, other than her father. If they moved slowly and took it one step at a time, she could definitely grow in their relationship. It could be possibly. They could be... something. Together.

"Uhh," was the only thing Izuku could find to say. "I guess... good for you?"

"I just mean, how do I approach her? How do I assure her these are my real feelings?" Shoto asked as the two of them walked together. Uraraka hung back at some distance, following Ashido and Hagakure that day.

"Tell her?"

"It's a little more complicated with Kairi. For multiple reasons she struggles to believe it."

"I don't know then. I mean, I don't have a lot of experience with girls."

"What about Uraraka?" His green hairs stood on end as his face filled with blood.

"What about her? What does she have to do with this?"

"Aren't you...?"

"No, no Ochaco is just a really good friend, I'm not attracted to her! I mean, not that she's unattractive, she's actually really pretty and I suppose if anything were to happen with us it wouldn't be the end of the world, it might actually be pretty nice but it's not like I'm trying to pursue anything with her, she's definitely doesn't seem like she wants anything to happen and I'm not going to make her...!" His usual rambling had become more harried this time, sentences colliding into each other. Shoto breathed hopelessly. He pulled as his collar as the cold air nipped around them.

"Don't worry about, Midoriya," he dismissed. "I thought you might have an idea since you seem to have all the right ideas?" Izuku stopped his flailing.

"Huh? Really?" Shoto shrugged. Izuku watched his feet. "Well, it's as I said, I don't really know much of anything. I can give you the basics; respecting her and putting her before yourself. But I feel those are obvious answers. I guess the only thing you can do is go it slowly and earn her trust. Let her see that she doesn't have anything to worry about. Nothing is going to happen without her trusting you. I guess it's kind of like getting a stray animal to trust you..." He lost himself to his diverting thoughts again, causing Shoto to roll his eyes. "You have to work at it every day, maybe set out a little food every day and little by little, they will come to you. Of course, that analogy doesn't make sense as Kairi is already best friends with him so some of that foundation is already in place. Maybe it's more like playing piano if you're an experienced pianist but you're working on a new piece. You may understand the melody but it's going to take a few pieces before you're experienced in it that you don't need any notes..."

"I get it, Izuku," he groaned again.

"Oh? Oh, sorry," he chuckled. "I guess that doesn't help."

"It helps confirm things I was already considering. Slowly, building up trust." He nodded to himself. "I can do that. Do me a favor though – keep this between us. I'm sure Aoyama, Yaomomo, and Tsu know. But if and until anything with is official, I think Kairi might like to keep this quiet."

"Uh, sure, of course." They entered the building, as the last few of the students shuffled inside.

Kairi watched him take his seat, admiring the elegance with which he fell into it. As the class buzzed with conversation; a paper airplane zipped over their heads. Bakugo was bellowing about something again. Sero and Sato hovered over Koda as he played some game on his phone. Uraraka laughed with Hagakure and Ashido. The room went on, but they couldn't tear their attention away from each other. Her grin expanded into a soft laugh. The light caught the mirth-filled glistening in her eyes. He smiled back. Another private conversation between them, unbeknownst to everyone else. Something was happening. She clutched at her chest, fighting against the jittering hysterics. Pride, a happy warmth exploded from her chest. Hope. Trust.

It was the first time in her memory her emotional cocktail held nothing but good feelings all around.