"𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜
𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎.

𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜
𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕."

- 𝚌. 𝚓.

26.


A girl with rosy-pink skin and equally pink curly hair was muscling her way through the crowd, dragging Kirishima behind her.

Oh, wait, that must be Mina.
She's so cute!

"Hi!" She beamed "Your dress is so cute!"

"Oh, thank you—"

"I'm Mina!"

"Nice to meet you, Mina. I'm Reiko." I replied with a smile

Fuck, I'm so awkward.

I'm not used to being friends with girls. I've always been one of the guys. Girls have never liked me much, so this is new.

"Kiri has told me so much about you! Sorry its taken us so long to meet." She said, before leaning in closer to me and lowering her voice "But, I have to admit, I didn't think Bakugou's girlfriend would be as pretty as you are."

hahahaha... his what?

We shared a laugh.

"Alright, guys." Deku said "Lets head in."


About an hour into it, and a couple of whiskey's later, Bakugou finally loosened up and actually looked like he might be having, dare I say it, fun. In fact, everyone was starting to relax a bit. Its unbelievably nice to see him laughing with his friends and enjoying himself—he's always handsome, but that brooding scowl rarely leaves his face.

It seems to make his smile all the more incredible when I get to see it.

"Reiiiko-chan?" Mina sang

"Oh! Huh?"

I was standing around the bar with all of the other girls, trying not to make a complete ass of myself.

"I see you over there, daydreaming about your man." Mina teased as she poured me another sake.

"My what?! I wasn't!" I protested

"Yeah, suuure." She replied, rolling her eyes "You've got it bad."

We clinked our cups together and took the shots. The cool, smooth liquor went down quickly and eased my mind a bit.

"But something is going on with you guys though, right?" Momo chimed in "Its cute to see Bakugou-kun all googly-eyed over someone. We didn't think he had it in him."

"Thats what everybody says." I laughed

"Well, have you met him?" Uraraka giggled "He's not exactly the cuddly, googly-eyed type."

"This is true..."

I glanced in his direction once more. We caught each other's eye, which didn't surprise me. I don't know what it is, but I can usually tell when we're going to look at each other now. I think we've become really sensitive to each other's energy.

I get this lightness in my chest and... I don't know.

He showed me a typical, devilish, Kacchan smirk and waved before going back to his conversation.

"SEE?!" Mina exclaimed "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"We're just... close."

"Yeah, I bet you are." Momo said with a wink

"Well, whats up with you and Kirishima-kun, Mina?" I asked, desperately trying to get the attention off of myself "You two seem pretty damn cozy."

"Well, we've been on and off since high school." She said

"Stop trying to sound cool, Mina-chan. You know it's mostly been 'on'!" Uraraka laughed

"Whatever, Mrs. Izuku!" Mina taunted

Uraraka's face is adorable, its very... round and childlike. Her cheeks flushed bright pink.

"They're basically perfect." Momo added, lazily stirring her drink with a straw "Been together since sophomore year of highschool."

"And you're with Todoroki-kun, right, Momo?" I asked

"Shouto and I? W-W-Well... We've only been dating officially for a few months..."

This is a lot of information to keep straight when you're drunk.

Okay so, the couples are: Deku and Uraraka. Todoroki and Momo. Kirishima and Mina. Jiro, who I met a little earlier, and Denki... then Froppy and Toko... bird guy? I can't remember his name...

I think?
Was that right? I think that was right. I don't know what's happening.

"Wait! Thats not fair!" Uraraka pouted "Reiko-chan, you know all about our love lives and all we know is that you and Bakugou-kun are 'close'. What does that even mean?"

I shrugged.

"It means it's nothing!"

"You having fun?" Bakugou's husky voice said close to my ear.

It made me jump slightly, I didn't see him walk over.

"Mhmm..." I hummed "You?"

"Yeah, these nerds aren't too bad, I guess." He replied before taking a sip from his glass "Plus, I like seeing you have a good time."

He used his free hand to flirtatiously play with mine—he'd lace our fingers together, let go, sometimes just resting his palm against mine. My head was swimming in a sea of sake. So, despite the fact that I know Bakugou would never show this kind of PDA in front of his friends unless he was drunk, I reveled in it.

I knew people were watching.
He knew people were watching.
We just didn't care, and it was so beautiful.

"Drunk yet?" I teased "You're being wayyy flirty, kid."

"Stop calling me kid..." He grumbled "And maybe a little. So what about it, dammit?"

My eyes peeked over at the girls, who were all giving me very knowing looks.

"Oh, nothing. Just thought you'd be better at drinking than this." I joked

"Tch. You wanna challenge me, dumbass? You're on."

"Kacchan, I'm joking—"

"I'm not!"

"I was afraid you'd say that shit." I sighed

He leaned against the bar.

"2 sake shots, doubles." He said to the bartender

Nooo, why does everything have to be a competition with him?

"Oh, got a little friendly competition going on here?" Kirishima chimed in

"No, this is not a competition, its not friendly, and I hate him." I replied

"C'mon guys, lets all get in on this!"

"Nooo! Kirishima, we aren't—"

Surprisingly, everyone gathered around and started ordering double-shots. I felt like I was in the damn twilight zone.

"Uuugh..." I groaned "This is not going end well."


Update: Everyone is wasted. Including me.

"Reiko-chanReiko-chanReiko-chan..." Deku slurred "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Um... Sure, whats on your mind, dude?"

"I'm really, really happy for you."

Huh...?

I was a little puzzled as I looked up at the tall, emerald haired young man in front of me. He looked so different from the picture I saw in that yearbook. Puberty must have hit him like a freight train full of rocks. He stands at about 6'1" now, close to Bakugou's height—6'2". He was leaning up against the bar for stability. I think it was actually the only thing holding his drunk ass up.

"Thank you..? What do you mean though?" I asked, confused

"I'm happy... you make Kacchan happy. I'm happy thaaat... you've come so far—everything you've been through—all the criti... critisim? Critisisssii..?"

I laughed really hard at the fact that he was having such a hard time with that word.

Jesus. We all drank way too much.

"Criticism?" I assisted

"Yes! Yes." He rejoiced "The criticism you face... you didn't give up and... I know we don't know each other all that well, but, I think what you're doing is awesome. You'll be a great hero someday soon."

I raised my eyebrows. I know alcohol gives you the courage to say whats on your mind, or maybe it just removes your filter, but I wasn't surprised that the only thing a drunk Deku had to say to me was positive.

I grinned at him. Honestly, I felt really honored to hear him say that.

"Thank you, Deku-kun." I said "You and Kacchan have known each other a long time, haven't you?"

"Since we were really little. I gave him that nickname, and he gave me mine."

"He told me... Look, I know that he's pretty fucking rude to you sometimes, well, I mean not always, its kind of weird actually..."

He chuckled

"Yeah, our friendship is... different. We're rivals, but Kacchan is always someone I'll look up to."

"Oi!" Bakugou's drunken voice called out "Whatthehelldoyouthink... you're doing talking to her? Damn nerd."

He slung his arm around my shoulder and shot a harsh glare in Deku's direction.

"Relax. Everything's fiiine, Kacchan." I slurred "Its fine, its fine. We were just chatting."

"Oh, yeah? What about?"

"Stop scowling! Don't complain when you're 30 and you have forehead wrinkles. They'll be your own fault."

"I'll just tell everyone you're the fucking reason I have wrinkles. It's the damn truth." He laughed

I looked back at Deku, who was grinning like crazy.

Wait, is he saying that I'll still be hanging around him in 10 years...?

We were all too drunk and tired to stay out until the bar closed. So, we called it a night around 1AM. We said goodnight to everyone, I exchanged numbers with a few people, and we made sure everyone got to their respective rides home before Bakugou got us a car back to his place.

"You guys sure you don't wanna catch a ride with us?!" Kirishima shouted from his Uber

"We'll be fine!" I insisted

"Reiko-chan! I'll text you!" Mina added

"Okay! Goodniiight!"

"Goodnight, guys." Bakugou said

We watched the car drive off until it eventually disappeared around the corner. Well, I tried to, but everything seems so hazy and wobbly.

I looked up at the night sky. There was no moon, no stars, just a dark canvas waiting to be painted on. It was an oddly cool night for August, too. The breeze was strong and a little chilly.

"You cold?" He asked, the tinge of rose on his cheeks was as bright as ever, I'm sure mine was as well.

I nodded. He pulled one hand out of his pocket, palm-up. I watched his quirk come to life—from a warm orange glow, all the way to a stable, crackly blaze, like a tiny fireplace. I'd seen my own quirk do something similar many times, but there was something about the way his worked that seemed so oddly beautiful. He rested his opposite hand on the small of my back and kissed my forehead.

The fire's light on his skin was mesmerizing. I feel like I know his face so well now, every curve, every line... and it still makes me swoon.

His warmth makes me feel untouchable.

"You're so damn beautiful, Rei."

I giggled.

"You really think so?"

"Well, yeah, thats why I said it, dumbass." He hiccuped

"You are... probably the most beautiful man I've ever seen, even though you annoy the hell out of me."