viii.

Their class had a group chat, one which Katsuki had left multiple times before on account of the fucking Ting! Ting! Ting! it produced at all hours of the night. But no matter. Kirishima always re-added him. And Mina always re-added him. So did Kaminari and Sero. And after having fought against it for the longest time, Katsuki had at last resigned himself to the fact of no escape and so simply muted the group instead of trying to flee from it.

Now, two extra numbers were added. It had been over a month already, but Katsuki had overheard in one or two conversations that the Clones' contact details were notoriously difficult to get a hold of. He couldn't decide which irked him more: the fact that the twins wouldn't give out their numbers, evading requests with quick-footed escapes and expert changes of subject as though they had something to hide, or the fact that people actually continued to ask for them.

Only when Four Eyes had insisted it was necessary for class morale (the fuck?) and the exchange of school-related information (the fuck? No one ever spoke about school shit on the group) did the Clones find themselves without any option other than to give up the numbers they so carefully kept to themselves.

And so here they were.

Ashido Mina: wELCOME to the GROUP Kururugi-chan & Kururugi-kun! ❤️❤️❤️

Kirishima Eijiro: :) :) :)

Katsuki scoffed.

FuCkInG Deku: But are those really their numbers?

Katsuki scoffed again – perhaps because it was habit by now to find fault in everything Deku said; or perhaps because Katsuki himself had been thinking the same thing. He wouldn't have put it past the twins to make up dud numbers.

Iida Tenya: Welcome Kururugis. Please note that this group is for school-related matters ONLY (e.g. homework, schedules, etc.). Please do not spam.

Within seconds, one of the Clones had left the group. Neither of them had profile pictures – if the contacts were really theirs – so it was hard to say which one. But within a few more seconds, the deserter was re-added and their thin veil of exclusivity vanished once again.

By now, the two of them were most likely in everybody's contacts. Clone 1. Clone 2. Katsuki saved them as such, Clone 1 being the one who'd left – and who tried fruitlessly to leave again before promptly being re-added. Apparently they wouldn't bother with a third try; what they would do though was set Katsuki's phone exploding with that godforsaken Ting! Ting! Ting!

Clone 2: Will do, Class President-san! No spam! :) ❤️ :)

Clone 1: Spamspamspamspam x infinity.

Clone 2: Does that count as spam?

Clone 1: Spam for days.

Clone 2: Oooh, here comes more spam! :D

Clone 1: Have even more spam (Clone 1 has sent a GIF).

Clone 1 & Clone 2 have been removed by Iida Tenya

Clone 1 & Clone 2 have been added by Ashido Mina

Katsuki revised the names he'd assigned them. Clone 1 became Kururugi Takashi. Clone 2 became Kururugi… No, Shitty Poodle… No. Kururugi Tsukiko.

Neither of them continued the spam tirade – and despite the initial irritation it had caused, trying as Katsuki was to fall asleep, he could not restrain a flimsy smirk. He read over the messages again, narrowing his eyes at the hearts and smiley faces as though they were secret codes. He turned off the screen and turned it back on to see if there were more messages. Which there weren't. And he was more annoyed by his disappointment than he was relieved.

He exited the group and, instead, opened the message screen for Kururugi Tsukiko. For a long time, perhaps a solid two or three minutes, Katsuki stared absently at the keypad. Not that he wanted to send her a message or anything. Not that his stomach jumped into his head when the Last Seen changed without warning to Online. He didn't know why her name spelled out at the top of the screen made his fingers grow restless, or why the empty chat history seemed to lay before him an impossible promise of… something. Nothing good.

But frankly, he had nothing better to do, and she was online and he was online – thus, it made sense that it wouldn't have been completely weird if he did message her. Even though he didn't exactly want to: he just wasn't falling asleep and needed something to pass the time.

He typed a message. He erased it. He typed it again and fiercely pressed send.

Bakugo Katsuki: Hey Shitty Poodle.

And she, after an excruciating few seconds which made Katsuki almost sweat, actually replied.

Kururugi Tsukiko: hi

Although.

That wasn't much of a response, and the lack of emojis happened to startle Katsuki greatly. Why, he wasn't sure, but he scowled at the colourless word as though it were an ugly smudge on his screen. Its shortness. The passive aggressive way it went unpunctuated. He typed again. Erased again. Typed, typed, erased.

Bakugo Katsuki: Why are you messaging me at this damn hour?

Ting!

Kururugi Tsukiko: ? ? ? ? ?

Ting!

Kururugi Tsukiko: you messaged me first !?

Bakugo Katsuki: Well fuck me, wrong number. Bye.

She read it and didn't reply. And for perhaps the first time in his life, Katsuki felt tremendously stupid with pinpricks of warmth across his face and an irrational sense of having been cheated. Which, naturally, was her fault. Her and that emotionless 'hi'. Was it because he hadn't stopped calling her Shitty Poodle? Childish. Had she had a bad day? It wasn't his burden to bear if she had. And besides, if she could send smiley faces and hearts to the group chat, she could send him a fucking smiley too. Or even a capitalized Hi.

Discarding his phone onto the side table, smacking his head back down into the pillow, Katsuki crossed his arms tightly over his chest and stared out into his room's stale darkness. What sort of sleepless idiocy had driven him to message her? He could have messaged anyone. He could have messaged FuCkInG Deku! But no. It had to be little miss Kururugi Tsukiko.

Katsuki snatched his phone again and edited her contact details. Kururugi Tsukiko was changed to Shitty Poodle in his phonebook.

A passive aggressive 'fuck you' like her unpunctuated, no-emoji 'hi'.


Mina tried hard to catch a glimpse of Tsukiko's phone screen, of what it was that had made her face drop into the prettiest little scowl ever known to man. Pouty lips. Crinkled nose and delicate, furrowed brow. Something on the group? While Tsukiko spent an age typing, typing, typing furiously, Mina checked her own messages – nope, nothing on the group.

Just moments ago, they'd been having a conversation about their math homework – Tsukiko and Mina, often finding themselves squealing with delight over their similarities in opinion, both agreed that math was the devil and Western religion was a necessary evil to quell the wickedness of science and numbers. Frankly, it had been a super conversation. But then Tsukiko's phone had dinged and checking it, she'd gone pink. Pink as bubblegum, making Mina's suspicions flare excitably. She'd watched Tsukiko. Tsukiko had watched her phone, looking feverish and disbelieving as though it were about to jump from her hand.

She typed with a vengeance. She typed with an uptight flush which flared and receded in flowery shades. And even when the messages stopped coming through, Tsukiko continued to type until at last Mina realised she wasn't actually sending any of it.

"Need some help there?" Mina grinned.

Tsukiko paused. She glared at her screen for a while and then at Mina, features dropping into a sullen frown which looked odd for all its foreignness compared to the usual smile which Mina liked so much. "Bakugo-kun just messaged me," Tsukiko said grimly, making Mina's eyes go wide. "But then he said it was the wrong number and he… You know what, just look."

Mina looked gladly, and though she could scarcely believe her eyes, she restrained a gasp.

Bakugo never texted anybody! Except maybe Kirishima. And even then, he definitely wasn't the one initiating the conversations.

"He said it was the wrong number," Tsukiko said, looking embarrassed.

"But he knew he was messaging you. He even called you Shitty Poodle," Mina cooed, voice raising to make her words sound like a question. Which they were, in a way – but not a question Tsukiko would be able to answer. "What are you going to say now?"

"Dunno." A dainty shrug. "He said bye. But I kind of want to tell him… you know…"

Mina leaned in, ears pricked to attention. "What?"

"I kind of want to tell him to piss off."

Playfully and with a mocking gasp, Mina squashed Tsukiko's cheeks between her palms so that those thin little lips went pouty again, so that her eyes grew wide and curious. "Kururugi-chan!" Mina cried exaggeratedly, feeling herself float upon excitement at such new developments. Bakugo messaging a girl. Being an idiot naturally, but messaging a girl! "Don't let foul Bakugo-kun rub off on you like this! It'll only make him tease you more."

"But why does he tease me in the first place?" Tsukiko whined, the words coming out rumpled and sweet as Mina continued to squeeze her cheeks.

"Same reason he teases everyone." Mina jumped up from her bed, where she and Tsukiko had spent the evening lounging about as they made rough attempts to complete their homework. She spun on tip-toe, and wagged her finger in a very grown-up gesture. As though to point out the obviousness of the fact – for indeed, it was obvious to anyone who cared to pay attention. Really as obvious as the likes of Bakugo could get. It wasn't much of course, but Mina had seen things. Things! "He wants you to notice him."

Tsukiko pulled a face as though she'd licked a lemon.