Only note I have is that the west coast is having a hard time of it and if you could lend some support or donations to wildfire funds, that would be awesome!

anyway, lets jump in!

"I'm telling you, I've never been this exhausted!"

"Okay okay! I believe you! Now will you get off me?!"

Hyper Mina turned out just as terrifying as Akami had feared but really couldn't bring herself to care. The two of them talked well into the night and then woke up to do it all over again. Mina was subdued the next morning, finally crashing from the sugar high of the day before, but pulled Akami out into the world. The two of them spent hours running around the city, not caring where they were going. They did all the things kids should do with their friends, all the things Akami had been missing out on all these years.

Now back home with pockets full of sweets and strips of pictures from photo booths, the two of them were back at Mina's place. Dinner was over and they were settling down for the evening. Or rather, Mina was settling down on top of Akami. The smaller girl could have easily moved her, but she let her friend have her fun, enjoying being a normal teen for once in her life; instead she rolled her eyes as she complained and Mina giggled.

Eventually, Mina rolled off her back to lay on the floor next to her, "Have you thought about your new hero costume? Since you shelved the first one."

"Hmm…"Akami stared up at the ceiling, "not yet; I'm not very...fashionably inclined."

"Well…you're in luck," Mina stood and skipped over to her bookshelf, pulling out a sketchbook, "I have quite the artistic mind~"

A soft smile lit up Akami's face as her friend settled down next to her once more, "what would I do without you?" Her tone was sarcastic but her words rang sincere.

"Suffer, obviously," Mina replied, flipping to an empty page, "how do you feel about knee pads?"

The rest of the night was spent throwing ideas around and sketching–they went through so many pages, Akami promised herself that she was going to buy Mina a new sketchbook–and by morning, they had a working idea to turn into the school for review. The final draft was settled into Akami's backpack as the two friends got ready for school and ran to the train in the rain, huddling under Mina's jacket since Akami had forgotten her's at home.

The train was crowded this early but the two of them found a corner they could make their own, protecting each other against the crush. They talked about what to expect when they returned–Mina suspected a pop quiz–for several minutes before someone tapped on Mina's shoulder.

"Aren't you Ashido Mina?"

Mina turned so her back was to Akami in the corner–she knew how much her smaller friend hated crowds–and answered in a wary tone, "Yeah?"

Akami looked under her friend's arm at the woman asking. She wasn't anyone she recognized.

The woman brightened, "My daughter loved your fight! Yours and that blue girl who was your opponent." She laughed sheepishly, "I had to cover Hana's eyes at the end of her last fight but she seemed ok in the end."

"Oh that would be Akami," Mina reached back, dragging the smaller girl out, "my best friend! She's badass like that!"

"Mina…"

The woman smiled, "Congratulations on getting 3rd! Could I get an autograph from the two of you for my daughter? She wants to be a hero someday and she really looks up to you two."

They agreed, signing as well as they could on a moving train, and then were inundate with requests for autographs from the other riders who had watched the tournament. It was nice to get some recognition but Akami was glad when their stop came and they could sprint out into the rain to campus.

"I'll meet you at class, I'm going to turn in the designs you made for me."

Mina waved as she shook the rain out of her hair and Akami jogged to the teachers' lounge. Opening the door, she saw no teachers and swore softly; she wanted to turn this in before she forgot. Just as she was leaving, someone walked in.

It was the man she saw in Midoriya's hospital room and he looked nervous; his blond hair was a mess, as was his overly baggy suit.

"Oh...um...can I help you?" He stammered out.

"Um...are you a teacher here?" At his nod, she pulled out her designs, "could you give this to the costume department? I need to give it to them before class but...Aizawa-sensei isn't here."

"Of course, young A–" he quickly cut himself off, "uh what is your name?"

"Akami." No family name needed, "Are you new here?" It had been awhile since she had hung out in the teacher lounge.

"Y-yes, it's my first year here."

Akami smile, hoping to put the poor man at ease, "me too, for the most part. I thought I knew all the teacher's here, so it's nice to meet someone new."

"That's...very kind." The man looked at the paper's in his hands, "may I ask why you are changing your costume so early in the year?"

She looked at the ground, ashamed, "my old one reminds me of my mother, which I would rather not be. She uh…she is a villain and I'd rather not match."

It wasn't exactly a secret amongst the teachers, so he could find out easily but it didn't feel good to say.

A hand on her shoulder made her look up at the tall but emanciated man, "the fact that you are here sets you apart from her, young Akami. Changing your costume would be necessary only for your own comfort, because nobody here would ever compare you to your mother."

Those words from this strange teacher affected her in a way she didn't expect; she blinked away stray tears as she smiled up at him, "thank you, um…."

"Uh...Toshinori."

"Thank you, Toshinori-sensei."

"Of course, young Akami." Toshinori looked at the clock, "you better run to class; I'll make sure your designs reach the right hands."

With a quick goodbye–and an assurance that he would tell the costume department that Mina drew her design–Akami sprinted to class.

The classroom was as chaotic as normal in the morning.

"It's different when they broadcast the matches on TV after all, huh?" Mina complained at her desk, "So many people talked to us on the way here!"

Akami walked up behind her, "Too many in my opinion."

I understand why papa wants to be quiet about his work...

"Yeah," Kirishima said, "they talked to me, too!"

"People were staring at me, too," Hagakure said, swinging back and forth, "It was kind of embarrassing!"

Sero slumped on his desk, sadly, "I had some elementary schoolers suddenly tell me, "don't worry about it.""

"Don't worry about it!" said Tsu

Akami snorted as Sero groaned and wandered over to her desk. Bakugo was at his desk sulking and ignored her.

The door opened.

"Goodmorning," drawled out Shota.

The class replied, "good morning!"

"Aizawa-sensei," called out Tsu, "your bandages are gone. I'm glad!"

Akami finally looked up and saw Shota not covered in bandages for the first time in weeks. She smiled; he must have gotten them off over the weekend.

Shota frowed, scratching his cheek, "the old lady went overboard with her treatment. More importantly, we're having a special hero informatics class today."

Tension immediately filled the room.

Maybe Mina was right about that pop quiz.

"Code names." He said without much fanfare, "You'll be coming up with hero names."

Chaos ensued as the class cheered and Akami breathed a sigh of relief–she was not ready for a quiz–but was quickly silenced by a glare from Shota.

He continued, "this relates to the pro hero draft. The draft starts in earnest in the second and third years, after students have gained experience and can become immediate assets to the pros. In other words, for them to extend offers to first years like you shows they are personally interested in your future potential. These offers are often cancelled if that interest dies down by graduation."

"Adults are so selfish," Mineta said, frustrated.

Akami rolled her eyes, "Heros are pragmatic."

"So we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, huh?" piped up Hagakure.

Shota nodded, "that's right. And here are the totals for those with offers.

Akami nearly choked on her own spit as she saw the list. Todoroki was at the top–unsurprisingly–with 4123 offers and Bakugo was a close-ish second with 3556 offers but that wasn't what stunned her; she was in third with 2981 offers. The rest of the class was far lower or offerless

Mina was offerless and Akami hazarded a glance back at her friend, who was looking at the board with her jaw dropped.

"In other years, it's been more spread out, but all eyes were on these three this year," Shota knocked on the board.

"Gah," Kaminari's forehead hit his desk, "there's such a big difference!"

"Those pros don't know a good thing when they see one!" Aoyama muttered.

"Todoroki's first and Bakugo's second…" Jiro mused.

Kirishima added to her statement, "It's the opposite of their placement in the festival."

And I'm sitting quite comfortably in third, Akami thought, ….again.

"Some people are too scared to ask for a guy who had to be restrained on the podium."

"What're the pros scared of?!" Bakugo turned to yell at Sero, who tried to duck behind his desk.

Akami laughed, "yeah, what are they scared of? Bakugo isn't scary at all."

A hand grabbed the back of her collar, pulling her back. She leaned her head back to look at Bakugo upside down, brow raised.

He leaned close to growl at her, "What'd you say?"

"You. Aren't. Scary," she said, only vaguely aware of the class holding its breath, ready to hold them back or run, depending on the situation and person.

"Bakugo, Akami!" Shota barked at them, "Knock it off."

"Sorry, Aizawa-sensei," they chorused together as he let her jacket go and she settled back into her seat.

"Midoriya, you didn't get any!" Mineta yelled, "They're scared of you 'cause of the crazy way you were fighting."

Akami sighed, seeing that he was right. Mineta's prediction from the hospital room came true and she hated it. None of the pros knew the situation but they knew the results and it showed.

Hell, only four of us know the full story of his fight with Todoroki and yet the rest know it was important.

"Keeping these results in mind," Shota continues as if they hadn't interrupted him for several moments, "whether or not anyone asked for you, you will all be participating in internships with pros. At USJ, you already got to experience combat with real villains, but it will be meaningful training for you to see pros at work firsthand."

The class focused once more.

"Well, these hero names are temporary but if you're not serious about it–"

The door slammed open, "–You'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight cut Shota off, "Because a lot of hero names used by students become recognized by society, and they end up becoming professional hero names!"

"Well, that's how it is…" Shota said with a shrug, "so Midnight will be making sure your names are okay. I can't do stuff like that."

Akami snorted, knowing the story of how he got his hero name; Hizashi liked to tell it when Shota wasn't there to stop him.

"When you give yourself a name, you get a more concrete image of what you want to be like in the future, and you can get closer to it. This is what it means when they say "Names and nature do often agree." Like All Might, for example."

He passed out small white boards and dry erase pens for them to write their chosen names on.

Ok so I want something interesting that doesn't give away all my powers right off the bat.

Mina had suggested Berserker but that didn't feel right. Akami wanted to accept her Quirk but that was a bit much.

Though maybe something similar?

Inspiration struck as she went through similar words in her head.

"Okay," Midnight called after a few silent moments of thinking, "let's start presenting names starting with those who are ready."

Aoyama quickly strode to the front with a florist, holding up his board, "Shining hero: I can not stop twinkling! Which means you can't stop my sparkles!"

There were a few claps but most of the class sat there confused. The names weren't supposed to be sentences, right?

Midnight grabbed his board and made some changes, "It'll be easier to use if you take out the "I" and shorten the "can not" to "can't.""

"You're right, mademoiselle."

Mina nearly sprinted past Aoyama as he took his seat, "then, I'll go next! Alien Queen!"

"Are you trying something with acidic blood?" Midnight asked, incredulously, "I wouldn't if I were you!"

"Dang it…"

Akami caught Mina's eye and smiled reassuringly. Mina smiled back and then brightened, scribbling down another idea furiously.

Tsu raised her hand, "then can I go next?"

"Go ahead, Tsu!" Midnight said, stepping to the side for her.

"I've had this in mind since i was in elementary school." Tsu said once she got to the front, turning over her board, "Rainy Season Hero: Froppy."

Midnight was ecstatic, "that's so cute! And it seems friendly. I like it!"

And the class agreed, chanting Froppy happily until Tsu sat back down with a satisfied smile.

Kirishima darted to the front before anyone could try, slamming his board down, "Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!"

"Oh," Midnight's eyes sparkled, "you're paying homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot, right?"

"Yes. it's pretty old fashioned, but the hero image i'm going for is Crimson himself."

A knowing smirk played on Midnight's lips, "If you're bearing a name you admire, it'll come with that much more pressure."

"I'm prepared for that!"

Kirishima seemed to breathe life into the class; not only were they looking for something funny or cute, they wanted something that meant something, something to live up to.

Taking a deep breath, Akami stood at her desk.

"Akami, do you have a name ready?"

"I do."

Walking up to the podium, she felt the eyes of the class on her and mentally kicked herself; if she could survive a widely televised tournament, she could survive this. She looked out over the classroom, noting how everyone seemed to hold their breath in anticipation.

"I'm not quite sure what type of hero I'm going to be," Akami started, "but I don't want to run from the nature of my quirk anymore. So…" she flipped over the board to show the name she chose, saying with a shy smile, "I plan to raise a little hell for the villains of the world as Hellion."

"Hmmm...it's bold, brash, tells the world that you're not someone to mess with…" Midnight took far longer than Akami's nerves could handle thinking over the name, before brightening, "I like it!"

Feeling near boneless with relief, Akami staggered over to collapse into her seat with a sigh as the class cheered. She smiled as she lay her cheek on her desk to listen to the others get up to announce their names.

They liked it…

Akami nearly got up and cheered as Mina stood in front of them all and proudly declared herself "Pinky!" but instead shared a knowing look with her friend and clapped along with the rest of the class. She also joined the class in their disbelief at Bakugo's declaration of "King Explosion Murder."

"You probably shouldn't use something like that," Midnight said.

"Why not?!"

"You should be Explosion Boy!" Kirishima yelled from his seat.

"Shut up, Shitty Hair!"

Akami laughed in her seat, smothering it to a snicker as Bakugo fumed past her to his seat; he didn't say anything other than "tch…" as he glared at her out of the corner of his eye.

Mina hurried up, yelling, "PINKI!" and Akami felt a wave of love for her friend as Midnight approved.

After Mina, Uraraka skipped to the front, "this is what I thought of: Uravity."

Midnight clapped, "Sounds stylish! Choosing hero names is going more smoothly than I thought it would! All that's left is Bakugo–who needs to rethink his–and Iida. And Midoriya, right?"

Iida quietly rose from his seat to hold up his board. A soft murmur went through the class as they saw the hero name he picked: Tenya.

"You're using your first name, too?" Midnight asked

Iida nodded and shuffled to his seat once more without a word.

Akami watched him take his seat as marker squeaks filled the air as Bakugo scribbled angrily behind her.

Did something happen?

"Midoriya, are you ready?"

Midoriya's head snapped up from his board at Midnight's voice, "Y-yes!" He took a deep breath before turning the board to the class.

The room was quiet for a moment as they took it in..

Deku.

"Are you really okay with that?" Kaminari finally asked.

Kirishima chimed in, "You might be called that forever, you know."

A soft, nervous grin spread on Midoriya's face, "Yeah. I didn't like this name until now. But someone changed the meaning of it, and that had a huge impact on me."

Good to see him gain some confidence, Akami thought, giving Midoriya a high-five as he passed.

Bakugo stormed past Midoriya with determination, accidentally knocking her hand to the side as she tried to get it out of the way of his rampage. He slammed his board down on the podium, growling out loudly, "LORD EXPLOSION MURDER!"

And Midnight shot him down immediately, "No, that's still no good."

Akami snorted. As he passed, she asked, "Did you think the king part was the problem?"

"Shut the fuck up!"

She continued to chuckle as he took his seat with a huff and they all took a breath: Besides Bakugo, that was everyone.

Shota clambered out of his sleeping bag, looking like he very much wanted to sleep more, "Now that everyone's decided on their hero names, we'll go back to talking about the internships. They will last a week. As for where you'll have them, those who had offers from pros will be given your own lists, so you can choose from those yourself. Those of you who didn't get offers will choose from among forty agencies around the country that will be accepting our interns. They all work in different places and have different specialties."

Midnight added to his explanation, "for example, Thirteen would be focused on rescues from accidents and disasters more than fighting villains."

Shota nodded, "think carefully before you choose."

Stacks of paper–some thicker than others–were handed out to the class and the room immediately began to buzz with quiet conversation.

"Turn in your choices before the weekend," Shota said as Midnight turned to leave and he followed.

"We've only got two days?!" Kaminari yelled.

"Make your decision effectively. Dismissed," and with that, Shota slammed the door.

The room was both filled with excitement and quiet as everyone poured over the names they were given.

Looking at her list, Akami saw that most of the pros had similar Quirks to hers, which wasn't surprising; super strength Quirks weren't uncommon nor were ones that focused on self healing. Speed was another on there as well as Heros who specialized in fighting–both one on one and crowds–but none of them caught her eye. She wasn't sure why but none of them felt right.

She blinked in surprise when she saw a name she knew well by now: Endeavor.

Why in the world would he send me an offer? Is it strength; is that all he wants? Endeavor saw me lose–to his son no less–and he doesn't seem like the forgiving kind. We don't even have similar quirks...

The question of why plagued her mind for ages.

"Hey guys," Mina was really the first to break the silence as she pouted at her short list, "have you decided what pro agency you're going to yet?"

Akami ignored Mineta's answer, sure that it had no merit anyway.

Ojiro joined the group near her, "Ashido, you made it pretty far in the tournament, too. It's weird you didn't give you any offers…"

Mina sighed, "you said it…"

"If I could give you some of mine, I would, Pinki…" Akami said as she wandered over to console her friend.

In a flash, Mina latched onto her side, hugging her tight, "you're so sweet, Aoi-chan~"

"Ack! Not so tight!"

Uraraka laughed at their antics before turning to Midoriya, "Deku, have you decided already?"

Midoriya was too stuck in a mutter loop to notice all the attention that turned his way. They all sighed.

Aoyama shook his head with a sparkle, "some things never change, huh?"

"Yup!" Uraraka nodded with a giggle.

Finally, Midoriya snapped out of it, looking at their group, "Oh, sorry! I was lost in thought…"

As usually, Akami thought with a giggle.

Tsu cocked her head at him, "you're really thinking carefully about this, huh?"

"I've already decided!"

Everyone whipped around to look at Uraraka.

Midoriya's eyes widened, "Really?!"

Ojiro leaned back into the core of the group, "where?"

"Battle Hero: Gunhead's Agency," Uraraka said with a grin.

"Huh? Gunhead's a huge battle type!" Midoriya said, reaching as if to pull out one of his many hero notebooks, "You're going there, Uraraka?"

Uraraka nodded, "Yup! I got an offer from them!"

"Really? I totally thought you were trying to be a hero like thirteen."

"Ultimately, yes. But fighting Bakugo at the sports festival made me think: the stronger I get," Uraraka punched the air, "the more possibilities I'll have! If I only do what I want, I'll have a narrower perspective!"

"I see…"

"Smart." Akami nodded approvingly, slipping back into her own thoughts, "Focus on your weakness to reinforce your strengths, right?"

"Yeah!" Uraraka said, before turning to Midoriya, concerned, "But more importantly, this has been bothering me for a while, but Midoriya...you're trembling, aren't you?"

Akami tuned out as Midoriya explained his air chair, mentally sighing to herself about how Midoriya needed to take a break from training someday. Looking at her long list, she scanned it again; this time thinking on what she lacked that they could teach her, rather than her strengths that they could cultivate.

By the end of lunch, she had narrowed it down quite a bit; there were only a few who could teach her something new and then there was always the question of Endeavor that she couldn't figure out an answer to.

The day went quickly after that. Everyone was so focused on their lists that no information was taken in that day and the teachers knew it; most of the class periods were filled by simple work and quiet reading time. Before long, the final bell rang and Akami left without much ado, saying goodbye to Mina before jogging to the first train home. Luckily the rain had stopped for the day; her mind was so preoccupied, she was unaware of most of her surroundings until she was through her front door, slipping off her shoes.

"I'm home…"

There was an extra pair of shoes at the door.

Red alerts sounded in her brain; the only person who would come by unexpectedly was Hizashi and he made himself known to everyone in a ten block radius when he did. Whoever it was, wanted to be quiet. But what intruder would take their shoes off at the door? A figure in her kitchen that was decidedly not Aizawa caught her eye. Akami went on the defensive, sneaking towards the doorway, tiptoeing around cat shaped obstacles laid out on the floor. Peeking in, she saw a head of purple hair and long arms taking down plates from the cupboard.

"Shinsou?!"

The purple haired boy turned, his eyes sleep deprived as always, "huh…"

Akami stood awkwardly in the doorway, "What are you doing?"

He looked at the plates in his hands, "Setting the table?"

"No! I mean, what are you doing in my house?!" Akami stalked towards him to get in his face, completely forgetting that he was quite a bit taller than her. She angrily took the plates from his hands to set them on the table.

"Oooh… Aizawa-sensei said his daughter would be home soon;" he cocked his head to the side, "didn't think it would be you."

"You didn't answer my question."

"No, I didn't."

Hands free of plates, Akami spun to grab Shinsou by the collar to drag him down to her level, eyes flashing red, "Listen here, you little shit–"

"Funny how you call me little," he drawled out, unthreatened, "when you have to drag me down a foot."

Akami was contemplating punching him as a reply when the front door opened.

"I'm home. Oh, Aka's here?" Shota's quiet voice carried into the kitchen, "That's early."

Immediately letting Shinsou go, Akami jogged to the kitchen doorway, "Papa, care to explain what's going on here?"

"Not particularly," Shota stood at the door, holding up a bag of take out for her to grab so he could take his shoes off.

She took it, "But you're going to and you still shouldn't be using your arms so much."

He waved her off, walking into the kitchen, "I meant what I said at the tournament; the entrance exam overlooked Shinsou's Quirk–overlooked all mental Quirks–and he's going to need some training if he's going to keep up with you lot."

"Keep up with…" Akami shook her head, "what are you talking about?"

"I'm going to train him to join the hero course."

Akami frowned, "you mean to replace someone in our class."

"In one of the classes," Shota agreed with a nod.

"It's not that I don't think he should be given a shot–though I haven't seen much from him–everyone in those classes has earned their spot. To have that taken from beneath them…" Akami shook her head, "maybe UA needs more hero classes."

Neither of them argued against that as they got ready for dinner.

Dinner was quiet but not as awkward as she would have thought; each of the three of them was in their own thoughts and didn't realize how silent the room was except for the clack of chopsticks. Towards the end, Akami had made a decision.

Well...I'm going to have to tell him eventually. While answering the Endeavor question is tempting...

"I'm taking an internship with Ms. Joke."

Shota set his chopsticks down hard, "why would you do this to me?"

Akami stood to meet his mostly joking anger, "why would you do this to me?" She gestured at Shinso before looking at him, "No offence."

Shinso shrugs, "some taken." He seemed content to watch the mock argument in silence.

Breathing out a huff of a laugh, Akami turned back to her guardian, "I know she isn't your favorite person, but I feel like she's who I need to be with." with a smile, she continued, "I won't tell her you're my guardian, if you'd like; I think that would just distract everyone involved."

"That would be appreciated. Now," Shota stood up, "I have grading to do. Shinsou, I'll give you a ride home after that."

"Thank you."

Akami got up to do dishes, hip checking Shota softly out of the way so he wouldn't try to help, "what grading could you possibly have? We haven't had any work in over a week."

"Grading," Shota nudged her back as she finished, "now leave me alone, brat. Both of you, shoo"

Akami led Shinsou to the only other room they could hang out in as Shota took over the living room: her room. They sat on her bed awkwardly. Shinsou looked around her room as she waited for him to talk.

Eventually, the silence was too much and Akami felt compelled to speak, "soo...is it only answering questions or is it replying to you in general?"

Shinsou's tired eyes met hers, "wouldn't you like to know?"

She couldn't help angrily saying, "actually I would li–" and suddenly Shinsou was flicking her in the forehead. Akami could tell she was missing some time and she scowled, "I hate you."

one of her orange cat, Shouga, jumped up on Shinsou's lap with a chirp and settled down. He pet the fluffy lump with a sense of smugness, "your cat likes me."

Throwing her hands into the air and falling back onto her back, Akami yelled, "My entire family is betraying me today!"

"I'm just that likeable," the deadpan look in Shinsou's eyes told her he was joking.

"I guess how 'likable' you are is a boon for your quirk, huh?" Akami leaned back into her pillows, "You can get people to answer anything if you piss them off enough."

"Only people stupid enough to take the bait. Are you going to?"

She pointly didn't this time, instead she waited a moment for the power of the question to dissipate before mumbling, "you shouldn't use your quirk on classmates."

Shinsou scratched Shouga under his chin and didn't answer but she could see the regret in his eyes. The silence stretched on as the two of them sat there on her bed but it didn't feel uncomfortable this time. Akami realized not only was this the first time she had ever had a boy in her room, it was the first time she had had anyone her age in her room at all. She felt a sense of accomplishment, despite the boy who inspired it, who she was determined to not like.

She sat up, "I'm going to go get some snacks. Come; I don't want to leave you in my room."

"Don't trust me?" Shinsou would have been the picture of innocence–fluffy menace asleep on his lap and everything–if he wasn't tiredly glaring at her.

Akami raised a brow, "Considering all of our interactions have been aggressive, yeah not that much. Come on."

This led to yet another argument and Shota kicking them out because "I have grading to do. If you can't be quiet, go elsewhere!"

They continued to argue as they left to walk to a shopping center, determined to get snacks; Akami made the decision that she was going to go get crepes and that Shinsou could follow her if he wanted to.

"I blame you," Shinsou said as soon as they were out of earshot of the door.

"Me?!" she turned to him, walking sideways to keep up, "It's my house!"

"You're the louder of us."

"You're the annoyinger of us."

He leveled an unimpressed look at her, "It's more annoying."

She didn't dignify that with an answer–even if he was right–instead opting to jog ahead; he kept pace easily with his longer legs, to her annoyance. The two of them made their way down the street in silence. About ten minutes into their walk, she heard her name from behind her. She spun–nearly bumping into Shinsou–to see Kirishima waving enthusiastically at her and Bakugo scowling next to him, as if he very much didn't want to be there.

Akami waved back as she and Shinsou waited for them.

"Hello, Kiri!" She said as they got closer, "Where are you headed?"

"Hey, Aka-chan! Just wandering around. I don't think I've ever seen you off campus," Kirishima said, jogging up to the pair of them.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, right?"

"Woah!" Kirishima looked at Shinsou as if he finally noticed he was there, "the guy who threatened our class is your boyfriend, Aka-chan?"

"What?!" Akami scrunched her nose at the idea, "Fuck no!"

At the same time, Shinsou said, "why would I date such a crass girl?"

Akami rounded on him, poking him in the chest, "excuse you! I am a fucking delight and you would be lucky." She crossed her arms over her chest, "But I have better taste than to date a moron like you, asshole!"

Shinso gestured to her like she had proven his point.

"Is this guy bothering you, Blueberry?" came a quietly angry voice to the side of the group and she turned to see Bakugo glaring daggers at Shinsou. It was then that she realised that he hadn't said anything this entire time. She could see his clenched fist at his side and knew he would have less qualms than her about punching Shinsou, even if she didn't understand why he was so angry.

She had to stop that from happening...no matter how much she would like to do it herself.

Akami sighed, "no no, he's not. He's...well I guess a family friend would be the best way to put it. Shinso is irritating, annoying, and an asshole who gets on my last nerve but...he's alright, I guess."

Shinsou raised a brow at her words, "you're so nice to me."

Akami stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to the others, "do you two want to come with us to get crepes? We got kicked out cause our arguing was bothering my dad as he did his grading. Having someone to talk to that isn't this dick would be nice."

"I don't know why I'm still here," Shinsou said as he continued their route, as if he didn't care if they followed, while Kirishima agreed for both Bakugo and himself.

Akami fell into step with Shinsou, "Because I am amazing company," she replied with false haughtiness, "...and you need Papa to give you a ride home."

"I could take a train."

"And yet you're still here."

The four of them walked to the shopping district; Akami and Kirishima chatted at the center of the group with Shinsou and Bakugo walking on either side of them in different types of silences; Bakugo, angry as always and Shinsou, bored. They all ordered their snacks–Akami got a crepe filled with mocha chip gelato and brown sugar–and agreed to wander to a park to eat. Akami watched Kirishima chat Shinsou's ear off, leaving her to walk next to an uncharacteristically quiet Bakugo.

"Sooo…." She started after a few minutes of silence, "internships! Pretty exciting, huh?"

Bakugo gave no physical indication he heard her other than looking at her out the corner of his eye, saying, "what are you doing?"

"Making conversation?" Akami shrugged, feeling oddly shy, "It's been awhile since we've walked to the train together; maybe I missed the angry silence. The silences I've been in lately have been far too companionable. It's not right…"

"Tch...my walk home has been nice and fucking quiet, for once."

Akami laughed, "It's horrible, isn't it? What's the point of other people if you can't pointedly ignore each other as you walk in the same direction?" Bakugo pointedly ignored her as they walked the same direction and she rolled her eyes with an easy smile, "so have any ideas of who you are going to intern with?"

For a second, she wondered if he would ignore her again–or better yet, yell at her for prying –but he forever continued to surprise her as he simply answered, "Best Jeanist."

She snorted, "Of course you would go for the top, Mr. King Explosion Murder–or was it Lord Explosion Murder?"

"Oh shut the fuck up, Hellion."

She liked the way her hero name sounded out loud, but she wasn't going to tell Bakugo that, "What? No blueberry?" He glared and she laughed again, "I guess you have to switch it up some times; though I gave you this one, so I will expect better in the future."

They walked in silence for a few moments, listening to the conversation in front of them while Shinsou looked like he would rather be anywhere but there, when Bakugo chose to speak again.

"What about you?" his tone was stilted, awkward, "who are you going to intern with…" he grimaced.

Akami smiled teasingly up at him, "Making conversation is harder than it seems, isn't it?"

"Will you just shut up and answer me?"

Her eyes went wide and she said, in an innocent tone, "But how will I answer you if I shut up?"

He saw through her immediately as always and just glared till she answered.

Akami's mock innocence fell away as she sighed, "I'm interning with Ms. Joke; I'll be turning in the paperwork tomorrow."

Bakugo snorted, unbelieving, "There had to be someone higher in the charts you could have picked."

She nearly told him about Endeavor but that felt too much like bragging; especially since the offer never tempted her...she was just curious. And Bakugo was probably the only one who understood why she hated the man in its entirety, so why bring him up?

Instead she deflected his point to annoy him, as usual.

"Awww Bakugo, you worried about my prospects?"

"Oh fuck off."

Shrugging, Akami looked up at him, "nearly everyone else on the list I got would be able to make me stronger in a physical sense, but that's not my problem now, is it? I just…" she smiled softly, trying to ignore lightness in her chest as Bakugo listened, not a trace of judgment in his eyes, just his normal glare, "I feel like she could teach me a different type of strength I lack. I just hope it's not a mistake."

"Tch…" Bakugo looked away, "you'll do fine."

She was about to ask how he knew she would be fine and why he cared when she heard Kirishima call them.

"Aka-chan! Bakugo!" Kirishima waved from quite a bit ahead, "catch up, we're almost there!"

The two teens hadn't even realized they had stopped walking and, awkwardly avoiding each other's eyes, they jogged to catch up to the other two. Shinsou firmly placed himself at her side, using her as a buffer between him and Kirishima. The rest of their time was simultaneously awkward and fun. Akami had a blast chatting with Kirishima and arguing with Shinsou–who was proving as entertaining as he was irritating–but Bakugo said the bare minimum for the next hour; instead he chose to simmer at the edge of their group until they parted ways.

They walked together until their paths diverged.

"Well, we're this way" Akami pointed up a side road, "and I'm sure my dad is wondering where we are."

"It was nice hanging out, Aka-chan," Kirishima said, "we should do it again sometime!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh heaven help me…" Shinsou breathed at her side.

Akami turned to glare, poking him in the shoulder, "You're not invited then."

Kirishima laughed at the two of them before saying his goodbyes and leaving with his friend. Bakugo already left without a word, walking away from the group down the road.

"Hey!" Akami called out at Bakugo's back as Kirishima jogged to catch up to him, "don't be a stranger, asshole!"

Bakugo didn't stop or look back but he lifted one hand from his pockets to wave lazily and Akami grinned in triumph.

Turning, she caught Shinsou staring at her weirdly, "what? Something on my face?"

"No," Shinsou turned to walk back to her apartment, "I just wonder if he knows you look at him like that."

"Who?" Akami felt rooted to the ground, "what?"

He chuckled at her extremely puzzled face before jogging towards the apartment with Akami was hot on his heels demanding he explain himself.

Awww Akami made another friend and Bakugo is jealous~

Aka's crepe order is actually my order! If you're ever in San Francisco, go to Sophie's Crepes; they are so good!

Personal note: Shouga means Ginger, which was my old cat's name. I got him when he was a month old when I was 5. He died a couple years ago at the age of 20 but he will always be my baby and I shall immortalize him in fic!

M: I'm always glad to hear you enjoyed it~

Theeejuniper: awww shucks~ I'm happy to be writing your fave my hero fic!

Winddemon: 1) Mineta literally grabbed Tsu's boob in USJ. It was played off as a gag and I laughed when she drowned cause that's what perv characters deserve but that very much did happen. This is a Mineta hate zone. And 2) my answers to your last two points boil down to "I forgot about that till I was almost done writing the scene but spent far too long writing this to switch it up now." Since I am the author, I'm chalking up the Todoroki fire thing to him overthinking more and more as the festival continued and Endeavor yelling out getting into his head, making him unable to fight with fire. I had a hard time with their fight–I knew how I wanted it to end and that's it–and really didn't want to rewrite it T-T

Babybird196: ask and you shall receive~