How to Tell the Truth
Friday - 7 Days Before Christmas
"You have really good taste in music, Roan."
Mina sat with her back against one of the wooden beams of the gazebo, picking at the lettuce in her half-eaten sandwich. Roan was stretched out one of the benches, a leg kicked up and eyes tracing the vines on the ceiling. His phone was propped up on his school bag between them, playing a soft, hip-hop melody produced by one of Mina's favorite artists.
He hadn't complained when she invaded his lunch period, carting her own food from the cafeteria. Instead, he silently turned on the music, turned his back to her, and ate the contents of his bento box without a word. Then, when he had finished, he sprawled out on the bench in the position he was in now, blue hair spilling over the edges of the bench like water, revealing his sharp features and yellow eyes.
He didn't respond to her pseudo-praise. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed a slow sigh—so long and gentle that it looked like he was falling asleep.
She knew he didn't like her bothering him at lunch time, and she also knew that she'd promised to stop, but…
"Did you… dinner… your brother and… shima?" He asked suddenly, speaking for the first time since she'd come out here.
She sat the sandwich down and stared at her shoelaces. "No… Principle Nezu wouldn't let him take us off campus, so we didn't get to go out."
He didn't say anything to this for a long time. Mina's chest felt heavy, the weight of her sadness a physical tug behind her ribs.
"...you want to talk about it?" he asked, surprising her.
Roan Fujinari? Asking her if she wanted to spill her feelings out to him? Was this reality or some wishful dream? Maybe she'd fallen asleep in class and was just imagining this. A world where someone cared about her pain.
She tugged on her shoelace. At first, she smiled. "Nah, I'm cool!" she said, even as the pain bit down harder. Then she caught motion in her periphery and glanced up again to see Roan rolling on his side to stare at her. His expression was hard, eyes narrowed and lips pursed, speaking volumes about his utter skepticism. She leaned back and sighed. "Okay… I'm not cool."
He was still staring, and it reminded her of yesterday. The way he'd looked at her when he was waiting for her to give the command to put on the fake boyfriend act.
"I should have told him how I felt yesterday," she said, honestly. "I had the chance and I just…" she sighed. "I'm just a big weenie."
"What do you want, Mina?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You're acting wishy-washy because you don't know what you want," he said, pointedly. "It's your indecision that's hurting you."
Her nose crinkled as fresh tears stung at her eyes, threatening to form. "I… What do you want, Roan?" she asked, trying to redirect the conversation away from her.
He turned his gaze back up at the ceiling. "To stay enrolled in U.A. High," he answered simply. "Or," he added after a long pause, "that's what I thought."
Mina leaned forward on her palms and cocked her head at him. "You changed your mind?"
"No." He sat up and let his hair fall over his face. "But my goal evolved. I don't want to do the bare minimum to avoid expulsion anymore. I want to ace this final. I want the results of my survey to be published, talked about on the news, and spread to every corner of Japan."
"Whoa." She raised her eyebrows, not sure she'd ever heard this kind of passion in his tone. "I thought you were too lazy to dream that big."
He scoffed and rolled his eyes, but a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "I know what I want," he continued. "That makes it easy for me to do whatever is necessary to achieve my goal."
"Like agreeing to be my fake boyfriend?"
He nodded, though he hid most of his expression behind his hair. "You have to figure out what you want, or you'll just be stuck every time you have a shot at making a change."
"I already told you! I want to make Kirishima jealous so that he'll want me instead of Kanzashi."
"Yeah right." She had a feeling he was rolling his eyes again, but she couldn't see them this time.
"I told you that's what I want!" she insisted, feeling anger flare up in her broken heart.
"Then, why didn't you touch me yesterday?"
His words hung strangely in the cool air. For a moment, they didn't make sense to her. They were unsettling and peculiar, ruffling up feelings she couldn't name in the farthest recesses of her mind. She shook her head. "What are you talking about? I'm not allowed to touch you, remember? Line six!"
"...didn't stop you… Hideshiro… yesterday morning." His voice got quiet again, maybe as an after-effect of the strange sentence he'd uttered.
"That was different! That guy was picking on you! I wanted to help!"
"Exactly," he countered, voice raising once more. "If you wanted to make that redhead jealous, you would have touched me like you did that morning when you wanted to help me."
"Ugh!" She stood up and stomped her foot. "I already told you, Roan! I couldn't fake it in front of Noritake or your project would be ruined! Don't you listen?!"
He shrugged. "I don't think making him jealous is what you really want."
"It's not your job to think, Ro-Ro!" she snapped. "It's your job to be my fake boyfriend when I need you to be!"
His expression twisted into something bitter.
"I…" she sat back down and stared at the floorboards. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "I just want him to see me, to care about this side of me, you know? The side that's mean and sad and petty… That's what I want."
"...why?" he asked, the word barely audible.
"I don't know. Because I'm the jealous one, I guess! It's not fair that Kanzashi gets all this special treatment and her hair is all glowy yellow and I have to be stuck being sad all the time! Doesn't everyone want to be loved for who they are deep down? Even you want that, don't you?"
"No," he said, defensiveness in his tone. "I don't care what people think of me."
"Whatever!" she laughed. "I see right through your emo-boy act, y'know? You say you hate people, but you want them to hear you and see all your creative ideas and opinions. You're just as insecure as a teenage girl, deep down." She winked at him.
He finally stood up, his lips pulled down in a scowl. He crouched to pick up his phone and turned the music off, leaving the space around them deathly quiet for a long time. "Listen… I don't care who you like or how you manage your personal life. But as your… acquaintance, I want to tell you that you're wasting your time and you're going to get hurt even worse before our contract is up. That redhead is too simple-minded to give you what you want."
"Oh yeah?" She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him as he descended the steps of the gazebo. "How can you be so sure, grumpy-pants?"
He paused, back turned to her. "Because he doesn't watch you the way you watch him."
Mina was too stunned to reply. She could only watch, fresh tears falling down her cheeks, as he walked away.
I can't take this anymore…
She looked up, three desks in front of her, at the back of her bobbing head. She was spinning a pencil in her fingers, body tensed as she waited for the bell to ring. Head turning repeatedly to look at the door.
She wants to run to him.
But Ochaco still didn't understand why.
Ashido's behavior over the past two weeks had been so erratic, so unpredictable, that Ochaco was starting to wonder if she really knew her at all. Every time she tried to reach out to help her, Ashido pulled away. And now, with the addition of the random business course student from Class 1-J, things were getting weird.
The bell rang and Ashido jumped to her feet, already out the door before it had finished chiming. Ochaco steeled herself. This was it. There was no backing out. She couldn't let this go on any longer.
She picked up her bag and started for the door, just to hear Mr. Aizawa's voice call out to her.
"Yes, Mr. Aizawa?" She bowed in front of his desk and awaited further instruction.
"The Student Council President reached out to me this afternoon and asked if they can borrow you this weekend," he said with an exhausted sigh. "They decided that since no one is allowed to go home for the holidays, they're going to decorate the campus. They want to use your quirk for some of the heavy lifting. If you're interested, then go to the student council office tomorrow morning at ten. If not, then do whatever you want, I don't really care."
Ochaco nodded in determination. "I'd love to help out! I'll be there!"
He nodded in understanding before waving her off.
She hurried into the packed hallway, but of course, Ashido was already out of sight. "Dang it," she huffed, before making her way toward the west exit.
"U-Uraraka, wait up!"
She stopped in her tracks, heat flushing through her body as she heard Deku's voice. He was by her side a moment later, panting for breath as if he'd ran to catch up with her. This thought made little butterflies of excitement flutter in her chest.
"H-Hey!" He scratched the back of his head, his freckled face shaded pink. "C-Can I walk back to the dorm with you?"
She blinked as warmth touched her cheeks. "Don't you usually go train after school?" she asked.
"Y-Yeah, but um… Well, you see, I left my gym bag in my room because our gym class got canceled, so I have to go back and get it before I go on my afternoon jog and I thought that, you know since we live in the same dorm and everything, that it would make sense if we walked back together a-as f-friends since we live together and everything. U-Um, I mean—live in the same dorm! N-not together as in we live together, but as in we reside at the same place! Y-Yeah, that!"
His flustered behavior only heightened her own embarrassment. He'd been acting like this a lot lately, and she didn't know what it meant. Was Deku always this awkward when he was trying to make friends? Or was it… No, Ochaco, you can't think that! She smacked her cheeks, earning her a concerned look from the boy. "I'd love that, Deku! But…" she thought of pink curls and horns. "I actually need to talk to Ashido about something right now."
"O-Oh, I see… That's cool! That's… totally cool…" he lowered his head, his cheeks turning rouge.
"I'm really sorry!" She put her hands up. "I want to spend time with you, I really do! Maybe we could hang out this weekend?"
"Yeah! Totally!" He grinned, that awkward, Deku grin of his. But then he just stood there, still awkward, still smiling.
"Okay, then…" Ochaco smiled back. "I'm going to find Ashido now! See you later!"
"R-Right. Later."
She stepped around him and continued toward the exit. She'd only taken a few steps however when she heard his voice call out to her.
"Uraraka, wait!"
She spun on her heel and stared at him. He was digging in his bag, hands shaking and cheeks scarlet. A few moments later he procured a thin, rectangular box. With his head down and eyes squinted shut, he held it out to her.
Her heart pounded so hard in her chest that she felt like she was about to lose control of her quirk and drift away. She stared at the gift and his trembling fingers, then delicately reached out to take it. "Deku… are these chocolates?" She fanned her face to try to control the steam that must have been billowing off her skin.
"Yeah…" He straightened up and tried to make eye contact with her. "It's almost Christmas, so I thought… I-I um… I just wanted to show you… h-how special you are to me. Y-You know, as a friend! Y-You're… a really awesome girl, Uraraka."
She bit her lip to contain the squeal of glee that almost escaped her mouth. "That's super sweet of you, Deku! You're really special to me too, you know?" She realized with horror what she'd just said. "A-As a friend, too! You're amazing, Deku!"
His eyes lit up in that childlike way that endeared him to her more than he could possibly know. Relief and joy touched every inch of his expression. "Thanks, Uraraka… Um, I'd still like to hang out with you this weekend, if you want to! You can… text me! If you want…"
"Okay! I will!" She smiled. "I promise!"
"Cool! Sweet! That's… totally cool! Okay, I'll let you find… I'll um… I'll see you later, bye!"
She watched with a giggle as he darted in the opposite direction, toward the east exit.
You shouldn't put all these ideas in my head, Deku. I don't know what to do with them.
She smacked her cheeks again, then let out a loud breath. "Right! Stay focused, Ochaco!" She put the box of chocolates in her bag before making her way outside.
She turned the corner to the spot where Fujinari usually met up with Ashido. Of course, since Mr. Aizawa and Deku had held her up, the targets in question were already long-gone. She had to be quick, or else Fujinari would be on his way to his own dorm.
She made her way to Heights Alliance, eyes peeled in case she ran into the business-course student on his way back. She was surprised when she didn't catch sight of either him or Ashido, even after stepping inside the dorm.
"Have you seen Mina?" she asked Asui, who had settled down in the living room.
"No, she hasn't come in yet."
"Dang it…" Ochaco frowned before going back outside. She had to find them. She wasn't going to sit idly by any longer.
Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a flash of pink. Her vision drifted into the tree line, and she could have sworn she saw movement. Determined, she ran toward the forest.
Come on, Ashido… Where are you? Why are you acting like this?
She weaved through the trees, following her instincts. Then, she was sure she saw the swish of a coat-tail, followed by the familiar sound of laughter. A few moments later, she caught sight of a structure in a clearing beyond. It looked like the skeleton of an old shed or something, covered in vines and flowers that were out of season.
"Sorry!" Ashido was laughing, clutching her stomach before she collapsed on the floor of the old building. "I guess we should have known that some of Noritake's friends would troll you! I hope they didn't spam your website too hard!"
The blue-haired boy laughed too, a quiet, melodic sound. "It's fine," he mumbled. "I anticipated bogus answers on some of the questionnaires. At least he spread the word to his campus."
"See? Aren't I the best hype girl ever?!"
"I'm sure I could have found someone less obnoxious," he answered.
"That's so mean, Ro-Ro!"
They both froze as Ochaco stepped onto the bottom stair. She walked a couple more steps until she stood in the entryway, her eyes flicking back and forth between them.
Ashido jumped to her feet, black eyes wide. Fujinari hung his head and shook dark hair in front of his eyes while releasing a long sigh.
"Uraraka?! What are you doing here?"
Ochaco's hands were shaking. She balled them into fists and kept her head held high. "Ashido, I want to know the truth! I want to know what's going on with you and…" she looked at the strange boy.
"I already told you! He's my boyfriend~ Can't you tell?" Her friend sat on the bench next to the boy. "We came out here to spend some time together!"
Ochaco could see it somewhere in the depths of her friend's expression. She was lying. Again. And it hurt.
"Stop it, Mina." Betrayal and anger morphed into tears of sorrow. Ochaco sniffled as she tried to stand her ground. "Stop lying to me. I thought we were friends! What did I do to make you think that you can't trust me anymore?"
Ashido's eyes widened. Fujinari scooted away from her, turning his gaze out into the forest.
"But I'm not…"
"Shut up, Mina." Fujinari growled. "She's not an idiot."
"But I…" Ashido hung her head. "I'm sorry, Ochaco."
"Can you please just tell me what's going on? I want to help you. I don't want you to go through this alone."
Ashido didn't answer, and every moment of silence felt like a mile of distance between them. All those nights spent up giggling in each other's rooms, talking about their likes and dislikes, hopes and fears. It was all starting to feel like a sham.
"She's using me to make a boy jealous," Fujinari said.
"Roan!" Ashido stared at him with her mouth agape. "You're breaking the contract you know?!"
He shrugged, then continued to stare at the forest floor.
"Is this about Kirishima?" Ochaco asked.
She'd had her suspicions. It was too weird, Ashido suddenly being on the rebound after getting her heart broken by Kirishima. And she'd seen the mock contract on her desk. The strange terms she'd written out for Fujinari to agree to. But Ochaco didn't understand why.
"It's…" Ashido groaned. "Okay, yeah. Me and Roan made a deal. I'm helping him with his school project and he's helping me by pretending to be my boyfriend until Christmas so I can make Kirishima jealous."
Ochaco stared at her. "Why didn't you tell me? You kept acting like you were fine, but you were still in so much pain…"
Ashido put her face in her hands. "Cuz I'm being totally petty! And you're such a good person, Ochaco I knew you wouldn't be cool with it!"
"I'm not," Ochaco agreed. "But I would have helped you. I'm your friend. At least… I thought I was…"
Fujinari stood up with his bag. "...let you… sort this out…"
"Don't leave!" Ashido gripped his bag strap, desperation in her eyes that reminded Ochaco of a wounded animal. "Roan, please…"
The boy hesitated, then simply stood there, neither proceeding toward the entryway nor sitting back down.
"So, what's your big plan?" Ochaco asked. "How do you think you'll make Kirishima jealous?"
Ashido glanced up at Roan, guilt on her face. "He's gonna take me to the Christmas party. When Kirishima sees us together—"
"Then he'll think you have a boyfriend and he won't care because he already has a girlfriend," Ochaco said.
"I already know it's stupid, but I have to try! I want him to notice me for once, Ochaco! I'm tired of being everyone's peppy little sister!"
Ochaco stared at her in confusion. "Peppy little sister?" Was that how Ashido saw herself? As a minor gag-character in her friend's lives? A one-dimensional person used to motivate and lift people's spirits?
Had she forgotten when Ochaco caught her destroying Jiro's student ID card with a pair of scissors after the other girl embarrassed her during training? Or the time they watched animal rescue shows on Ashido's computer until the other girl was sobbing, wishing she could rescue every fluffy cat and dog in Japan? What about when Ashido admitted that she was so scared of rejection that it made her sick sometimes since her mom had walked out on her and Noritake?
Ochaco had seen her petty, sad, passionate, and scared. Never once had she thought of her as a 'peppy little sister.'
"I can't help you lie to Kirishima," she said, finally. "What you're doing is wrong."
"That's why I didn't tell you, okay? I wasn't asking for your help!"
"You should just tell him the truth. You should tell everyone the truth."
Ashido shook her head, adamantly. "It's too late for that. Besides, me and Ro-Ro have a deal."
Ochaco looked at the boy, noting the way his lips were pinched together, his expression carefully maintained in a poker face. "You're okay with this, Fujinari? With letting her use you and lie to everyone? With letting her get herself hurt?"
He tensed, his lip twitching at the last question. At last, he shrugged before drooping his shoulders again. "I don't care. I need to ace my project. What she does or who she lies to… isn't my concern."
Ochaco couldn't believe his answer. She couldn't believe any of this. "Mina..." she stared at the floor. "If you're not going to tell Kirishima the truth, then… I will."
Ashido was lunging for her in an instant. Her hands grasped Ochaco's and her golden eyes were screaming with panic. "N-No! You can't do that!"
"If he knows the truth, then this can all be over with and you can move on. I hate seeing you like this, Mina. It hurts me, too."
"Please, don't tell him! There's only one week until Christmas, okay? I have to do this!"
Ochaco measured the look of desperation on her friend's face. She looked up to find Fujinari looking at her too, with worry in his own expression. Of course, if Ochaco spilled the beans to Kirishima, Fujinari would be at risk of their contract being broken too. Both of them… they were like cornered kittens and puppies from the rescue shows on tv, desperate and feral.
"Okay…" she said, finally. "I won't… But if he asks me outright, then I won't lie, alright? And I still think this is wrong."
"Thank you, Ochaco!" Ashido wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace. "Everything's gonna be cool, kay? Just wait, by New Year's, me and Kirishima are gonna be a power couple and Roan's gonna have the highest grade in class and everything will be perfect!"
No, Mina. That's not how this will end and we both know it. We all know it.
"Okay." She hugged her back. "Listen… even though I can't support your plan, I'm still here for you if you want to talk. I mean it, Mina. I won't leave you."
Ashido leaned back, tears streaking her cheeks. "Thanks, friend! You're the bestest bff I've ever had!"
Oh, Mina… I just hope you don't regret this as much as I think you will.
A/N: I know, no one asked for all the teenage angst. Don't fret my dears, next week we'll have some happy, adorable fluff (yes, Roan is capable of creating fluff... I think)~ Also, please don't mind my inconsistent use of first names between some of the characters. I forgot that the girls refer to each other by first name in the anime and I was trying to do it based on relationship. Hopefully it's not too annoying.