21 - Kind words

Looking at herself in the mirror as she got ready, Nico couldn't keep her eyes from drifting down to the angry red bite mark on her neck. I am going to kill him next time I see him. She thought, digging around in the makeup bag in front of her. Damnit, I forgot to get a new concealer. Now what?

Thinking for a moment, she came up with an idea. Grabbing the pale purple kimono from the bed, Nico hurried down the hall to find Momo and Ochaco, if they didn't have what she needed then there wouldn't be anyone who could help.

"Come on, be awake please." Nico knocked on the door of their room. She looked down both ends of the halls to make sure no one was going to sneak up on her.

"Nico, you're later than normal. Is everything alright?" Momo asked as she opened the door, letting Nico slip in.

"I came to see if you had anything to cover this up." she pointed to her neck, "and since I'm running late I don't have time to run back to my room and finish getting dressed." she explained the kimono in her arms.

"We should have something for that," Ochaco said as she looked over to see what was going on. "You got something fancy planned with Bakugo today?"

"No, I get the honor of being a tour guide for a couple of my cousins, one of which is next in line to be head of the family so I have to be nice to him." Nico sighed, dropping down next Ochaco. "I don't know how long they're going to be around for, so I'm going to be busy with them until they head back home."

"That sucks, you were looking forward to relaxing while we're here and now you have to work."

"Yeah well, I couldn't throw Sakura at them without offering my help." Nico watched as Momo came back with a makeup bag, "Please tell me you have my shade of pale, it's impossible to find anyone else with the same skin tone."

"You're in luck, I just happen to have one." Momo held up the stick, "Something possessed me to get it just before we left."

"Finally someone is looking out for me." Nico cheered, "Once I get this covered up can you two help me get dressed? It'll go faster with more hands."

"We'd love to." Ochaco smiled as Momo nodded. "So Bakugo left you with a little gift last night?"

"Who else would it have been, it's not like I let strangers into my room." the two watched as Nico turned a bright red as she fled into the washroom.

Once she was dressed and ready to go, Nico went and joined her cousins and gave them a massive tour of the building and most of the grounds. While taking them through the building, Nico could feel some of her friends watching them from close by and would often place herself between Nagisa and Nori or moving so she was mostly blocked by something to prevent any of them taking pictures of her.

"Sakura keeps up to date with all the techn needs of her guests, each of the conference rooms are equipped with overhead projectors that can connect with phones, computers and even tablets." Nico explained as she led Nagisa and Nori around.

She had already shown them to most of the other amenities that the hotel had to offer and she was quickly running low on things to show them. At this rate they'll be gone in less than a day. Fuck yeah I'm good at this. She started to praise herself, but she should have known that it was going too smoothly.

"Everything sounds amazing, it's a good thing we managed to get rooms for an entire week." Nagisa said as they walked through the lobby. "But I was curious about the beach houses I spotted when we drove up, are they part of the hotel as well?"

"They share the public beach but the houses are privately owned." that was all she answered with. "I would have thought grandfather would have allowed you the use of the one owned by the main house instead of having rooms in the hotel itself." Nico paused and fell into step between the large boys.

"He offered, but I wanted to see what the service was like first hand." Nagisa noted her behaviour. "Maybe you should introduce us to your friends, since we are all here together at the same time."

"I don't know about that, I mean don't the pair of you have better things to do than that?" Nico started to panic internally, doing her best not to let them see that they had backed her into another corner. "What would make my friends so interesting?"

"I don't know, I mean you plan on spending a lot of your time with them so I think we should make sure that they are a good influence on you." Nori chimed in, "It might even be a good idea to have ties to heroes outside of the family, ones we know we can trust."

"I will see what I can do, but so help me if you make a mockery of me I will hunt you down and rip out your eyes." she warned them as Nagisa sped up a step just in time for her to hear the sound of a picture being taken. Snapping her head around just in time to see Denki and Kirishima duck around the corner. "If you'll excuse me, I have something I must deal with. I'll call you when I have made plans with everyone."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, we took care of everything already. All you have to do is meet us down here bright and early tomorrow morning." Nori said as he and Nagisa left Nico to her hunt.

Of course they did, Nico sighed as she tracked down her stalkers. "You two better have a good explanation for following me." she caught them by the backs of their shirts when they tried to run.

"Bakugo asked us to keep an eye on you, in case those two tried to pull something funny." Kirishima explained as quickly as he could.

"And there may have been a bounty out for a picture of you all dressed up." Denki added as Kirishima punched him in the arm.

"Phones, now." she dropped them and held out her hands. They handed them over without a second thought, they had heard how ruthless Nico could be and really didn't feel like testing her. "You are smart for not pushing your luck." she deleted the pictures they had managed to get.

"You're not going to kill us?" Denki asked as he caught his phone when she tossed it back.

"No, not today." Nico turned on her heel and started to walk away, before giving her final warning. "But I would sleep with one eye open for a while."

Bakugo had been waiting all day to get a message from anyone in the class that Nico was in trouble and needed back up, but no such message came across his phone, not even a picture that he had offered to pay for.

"Dude you have one pissed off girlfriend now." Kirishima said as he came into their room. "Denki went and opened his mouth and now she seems to be on a warpath."

"Should have known that's what you meant by 'you're dead'." Bakugo showed his terrified roommate the message. "I guess house cat deleted any pictures you got?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know that she sent a message from my phone. I didn't know she could get that scary." Kirishima flopped onto his bed. "I don't know if you heard but the whole class has been asked to meet in the lobby tomorrow morning."

"Yeah I heard, it seems Nico's cousins want to get to know us." Bakugo kept scrolling through his phone, "Not to sure about it, but might as well see what it is they really want."

As morning rolled around Bakugo was a little worried that Nico was really pissed with him since he didn't hear from her all night.

They gathered together in the lobby after breakfast, "I want to thank you all for coming," Nagisa greeted everyone. "I know this is your class trip and I appreciate all of you taking time out of your busy schedules."

"Nori, what is going on?" Nico whispered to him, "Why does everyone look like they're ready for a brawl?"

Without a second thought, Nagisa continued. "Now I know I said this was just a friendly competition, but really this is to see if any of you are really worthy of being close with our dear Nicole." Both Bakugo and Nico could see the quick glare Nagisa shot Bakugo's direction. "So those who still want to can stay but don't feel forced to stay."

No one moved, they had become a family by this point and none of them would turn their backs on one of their own. "Good to see all of you know the meaning of camaraderie. But let's see how long it can last against us, in pairs you'll come at Nori and me and you'll only have to land a single hit to get our approval."

"We're uneven numbers." Nico voiced her objection, "how is that fair?" she had a feeling something was about to happen that she wasn't going to like. "And just where would this be taking place?"

"You're not participating, so that makes their numbers even." Nagisa turned on her with a smirk, "And I have a place already set up outside so we don't have to worry about damaging the building. Do you have any other objections?"

Nico held her ground, "You know that the pair of you are damn near impossible to compete with, you call that fair?"

"That's why I said they only have to land one hit, I'd be amazed if any of them can do that." Nagisa turned back to her classmates, "If you're all ready to start, let's move outside."

They headed out to a huge netted off area of the beach which was gaining a lot of attention from the rest of the guests. "A little overkill, don't you think Nagisa?" Nico asked as she noticed the look he was sharing with Nori.

"Not at all, I know some of your friends have very destructive abilities, I'm just looking out for the safety of everyone here." he gave her a fake smile again, "Now I have a spot picked out for you to watch from, go and get yourself comfortable."

"I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, I'll be watching closely so don't try any of you dirty tricks." she warned him before going to sit where he had pointed.

Slowly Nagisa and Nori made their way through her friends and classmates until it was just Bakugo and Izuku left standing. "Well now, best for last as they say." Nagisa taunted as the boys stared each other down. "Nicole believes a lot in you two, but from what our grandfather said you're just dragging her down."

"You have no clue what you're talking about. We've been a team since the beginning of the school year, if anything she's made us better." Bakugo snapped as Nori sneered at the comeback.

"She had her cat attacked and it took the two of you almost five minutes to get her loose, then while she is still in a weakened condition you let her run off and fight alone." Nori pointed out, repeating what had happened as if he had been there. "What would you have done if she had fallen? You would have been down a team member and you wouldn't have known."

Nico could see that they were trying to get under Bakugo's skin and unfortunately it was working. "Don't be a dumbass now, keep calm and ignore their words." she tried to coach from her seat knowing that she couldn't be heard.

"You weren't even there, so what do you know. Nico is the best thing that ever happened to our class and I won't let you look down on her just because of some mistakes made in the past by someone else." Bakugo pushed back against them, it was clear that he was at his breaking point and finally took a swing.

It was pretty clear that he wasn't going to make contact as Nagisa took a step back. "So she told you about her mother, that must me the two of you are close, but I have to ask just how close?"

"That is none of your damn business, what does it even matter to you?" Bakugo snapped as Izuku blocked a kick from Nori. "You're just going to terrorize her regardless so why even bother with all this."

"You're smarter than you look," Nagisa smirked, which pissed Bakugo off even more. "I might just have a use for you after all." he shifted into a massive ice blue lynx and pounced at Bakugo.

Nico had known her cousin was up to something and had leapt in to intervene. She pulled Bakugo back out of the way as hard as she could then shifted into her cat form and stood her ground in front of the much bigger wild cat, hissing and growling to get him to back off.

They just stood and stared at each other, Nico's deep red fur standing on end to make herself look bigger and Nagisa looming over her looking like he was getting ready to snap down and bite her in half.

It was at this point that an all too familiar scarf came flying out of nowhere and wrapped around the bigger cat. "I think you've proven your point, now you can leave my students alone." Aizawa said as he and a couple if the other teachers appeared.

Nagisa let out a low warning growl at the older man, but Aizawa didn't back down. "You don't scare me and I know exactly how to handle your family's quirk, so unless you feel like dying today you'll back off."

"Come on Nagisa, no point in making a mess of things. Grandfather told us not to start fights we can't finish." Nori said as Nagisa shifted back. "You can pick this up another time."

"You're right," he agreed, shifting his gaze from Nico, who was still growling at him, to Bakugo, "Sometime soon we'll finish this."

"Any time." Bakugo spat as Nico's cousins walked off. "House cat, you all right?" he noticed that she hadn't shifted back and was still hissing a little.

She didn't move, just watched and waited unless she couldn't smell them anymore before turning to look up at him. "Why'd you jump in like that? I could have taken him."

"No you couldn't have, he was going to rip into you." Nico snapped as she changed back, "If I hadn't jumped in then you'd be a bloody stain on the ground. Nagisa had every intention of putting up down for good and you let him bait you into blindly fighting, moron."

Bakugo was shocked for a moment, he hadn't realized just how close he had come to dying. "There's no way he could have taken me down, I'm better than that." he tried playing it off, but knew he had made a mistake when Nico pushed past him.

"Jackass, it's that kind of overconfidence that will get you killed one of these days." was all she said as she went to check on Izuku. "You alright, I know Nori can pack a lot of power when he's trying to keep someone off of Nagisa." she looked his arm over.

"I'm fine, maybe a little tender later. Are you really sure that Nagisa was going to tear Kacchan apart?" Izuku asked as he could feel his old friend's burning glare.

"One hundred percent, that's why he didn't shift until now." she looked over to her boyfriend, "Talk to him because if I try to I might claw his eyes out. Make him see how close he came to meeting his maker today."

"I'll try but you know just as well as I do he won't listen to anyone." Nico nodded her agreement with him before leaving, she needed some time alone to get over the tremors that were taking over her body.

Nagisa and Nori had left the next morning, and Nico started to relax again and after spending a few days with her friends and making up with Bakugo, Nico went to go see her father's aunt and uncle, bringing Bakugo along with her. "What is with all the trees around here? It's like they're out of season or something." He noted all flower bearing trees were in bloom when they shouldn't be.

"Granny likes to keep the flowers around a little longer, says that it prettier this way." Nico looked up, "but you should see it in the winter, all the trees lit up with fairy lights." she came to a stop in front of a small house. "I'm going to warn you that things might get a little crazy once we go inside, please don't hold them against me."

Nico didn't explain what she meant, just walked up to the door and knocked before opening it up. "Granny, Gramps. Anyone around?" she called as they walked in.

"Is that our little Nikky I hear?" an elderly woman came into the entrance, wiping her hands on her apron. "Aden come see this, you're not going to believe what I'm seeing." she called into the house, her green hair whipping around her.

"Granny, please I've told you to call me Nico." Nico flattened her ears, feeling a little embarrassed. They were joined by an older man with greying hair, "Gramps please tell her again."

"Rhetta you heard the girl," Aden scolded his wife before catching sight of Bakugo. "And just who are you?" His silver eyes scanning the teen carefully. "Nico, sweetie I think a stray followed you in."

Turning to see what he was talking about, Nico fought a smile. "Gramps he's not a stray." She did her best to keep a straight face. "This is Katsuki, the one I wrote about."

Rhetta slipped past Nico and got a closer look at Bakugo. "You didn't say anything about him being this handsome." she nodded her approval. "You are a very lucky boy to have caught our Nikky's eye."

"Can we finish coming in so you can continue your inspection." Nico said as she stepped out of her shoes. "We don't have a lot of time since we have to be back in a few hours."

"Well it's a good thing I made a big lunch then." Rhetta said as she ushered the teens in, "You two need to tell us all about how school is going, and just how you two got together."

"I told you everything already granny, please let's not talk about that." Nico groaned as she joined Aden at the small table in the dining room. "How has your garden been coming along?" she asked hoping to change the subject.

"You know my garden is just fine, as it is every time you ask." Rhetta answered as she went back to the kitchen. "Aden, you always have better luck getting her to open up, see what you can get from her."

Nico looked at the older man, "Rhetta my dear, leave the girl alone. She'll tell you everything when she's ready." he said as Nico mouthed 'thank you' to him. "But how is school been treating you? I know your mother's family is hard to get along with."

"Understatement," Bakugo scoffed, "I swear they're all bullies except for Nick and Nina."

"Those two are the only good ones, taking Nikky in like they did." Rhetta returned with a tray in her hands, Nico jumped up and helped her. "Bless them for going out of their way to make sure that she grows up with a somewhat normal life."

"They've been great." Nico agreed, "But I would have liked it more if I could have stayed with you." she started setting the dishes on the table as Rhetta came up next to her.

"And we would have kept you if we could have." Rhetta said, stroking Nico's hair, "But you needed to learn how to control that beast of yours and we just didn't know enough to help you."

"I would figured it out on my own, but you do have a point I guess." Nico sighed as she put the tray on a small cabinet, "So what has been going on since the last time I managed to come for a visit?" she asked rejoining the table and started gossiping with Rhetta.

They stayed until it started getting dark and both teens received a warning message from Aizawa about getting back soon or they would have detention for a month. "I'll try to come back as soon as I can." Nico promised from the front gate as they left.

"Door will always be open for both of you." Rhetta called after them.

"I think they like me." Bakugo grinned as they headed back to the hotel. "I think the next break we get from school the two of us come for a longer visit."

"I'd like that a lot." Nico smiled back at him, "and I know granny would too, she'd brag to all the neighbours about us for days after."

"Alright then, it's a deal then." he took her hand and wove their fingers together. "I think I could get used to coming out here."

"Good because gramps really like you and actually had nothing but kind words about you." Nico wrapped herself around his arm, "They liked you a lot, so if I don't bring you back with me there's going to be a lot of questions."

"Well at least one side of your family likes me." he missed having her all to himself. "I just wish we had more time before Aizawa comes looking for us."

"Some time soon we'll have all the time in the world, so I think I can wait till then." Nico happily sighed as they walked. "I really don't want to be on the receiving end of his detentions, I know he'll make life hell because of the glitter."

"Then let's make sure that we don't give him reason to get his revenge just yet." he waved down a taxi and they rode the rest of the way making plans for their next visit the entire way.