Katsuki knows he told her - of course he told her, he's not an impolite ass (not towards her at least) - however, despite her light laughter alongside his, he can tell she isn't joking. Maimie Hana, truly had forgotten his name.

Fortunately, that seems like the only thing she forgot. Explaining why he'd come to her rescue and knew where she lived would've been the worst. Would she have yelled pedophile then? As much as it would have pained him, he sure as shit hopes so.

"Wanna snack?" Maimie asked.

Katsuki glances down, meeting the young girl's wide, never ending eyes. He has to look away. "You paying?"

"Ah…" - he feels her eyes fall from his face - "I don't have any money."

Katsuki can't help but huff a dry chuckle. "Joking. What'd ya have in mind, kid?"

Maimie shrugs in the corner of his eye, and it's like deja vu of when they first met. Except now the air is light and they aren't alone in his apartment second guessing if she was scared of him or not. This isn't like the last time, not in the slightest. Perhaps being out of the house and not around Midoriya's letter has helped his mood. He definitely felt lighter around her. Comfortable. Something he hadn't felt in a long ass time (and something he's still wondering if he even deserved).

It was her idea to eat, can he make a suggestion?

"What about a bento box? Ever had one of those?"

"I think so," it sounded like a question. "Is it good?"

Katsuki shrugs, "Never been to the joint before. It's new. Been wanting to try it."

"Okay," Maimie chirped with a smile, and Katsuki just noticed how faded the bruise seemed since they first met.

Good. Maybe they moved away from whoever put it there. However, the purple lining her eyes haven't faded. Perhaps he should steer her towards a convenience store instead, pay for a light snack and send her home so she can take a well deserved nap. She looks like she needs it more than he felt like he does.

Katsuki looks down at her, prepares to extend the alternative, but when she meets his eyes and smiles until her dimple is exposed, he suddenly can't bring himself to cut their time together short. He can tell she's already dead set on trying a bento, and he knows that if he makes the suggestion she'll agree and her mood will dampen. The idea of her smile disappearing from her face, those eyes turning away from him and downcast - he can't do it.

Instead, he says: "It's right across the street from the apartments. There's a stupid octopus thing dancing in front of it."

She gives a confused laugh, "A dancing octopus?"

He hates the smile he can feel creeping across his own face. "You'll know it when you see it."

She seems to take that at face value and they walk in a comfortable silence.

When they get to the restaurant, the mascot looks weird up close. Always looking down at it from his apartment, he didn't get to see how the costume is covered in a fuzzy felt, or how creepy its huge anime eyes seem to bore into his soul. Octo-Dog has its skateboard today, and Katsuki takes a moment to wonder if the tricks were to distract customers how ugly it is.

However, Maimie doesn't seem to see it that way. Stopped outside the restaurant to watch, with every trick her eyes light up in awe. Maimie's growing smile at seeing a kickflip brightens every minute of his day.

The mascot must've noticed their staring - Katsuki never sees too many passersby stop to watch from his dining room table - because its tricks start becoming more elaborate. It lands an ollie a few times, then switches to a kickflip. Maimie gasped in awe and clapped a few times at the display. Katsuki can't help but notice how she stood behind him. Only slightly, just enough to where her shoulder is almost pressing against his leg. He can feel his pant leg shuffle from her excited clapping. It is slightly alarming how much he doesn't mind. With his friend group now, it took him almost a year to let Kirishima casually rest his elbow on his shoulder, and two years to get used to Mina's hugs. To this day, he still tenses under their touch.

It took Maimie only a day, and if anything, he finds himself wishing to get closer to her.

She was scared, so fucking scared when he saved her from that disgrace of a human being not even twenty minutes ago. He could feel that fear radiating from her like an AC unit - frozen from fright, shaking in his arms - and that fear got to him as well. What if he hadn't been there? What if he was just a second too slow. Maimie Hana, the young girl across the hall, she'd be gone. But he was there, he did save her. He held her in his arms, tight against himself to the point where he thought he was hurting her; but her quaking fear never left, over flowing in the form of tears, and suddenly, there was no way he was letting her go.

No fucking way.

Not until she calmed down at least. Seeing that pain and fear when he did set her down, his heart felt like it was ripped right out of his chest. All too familiar wide green eyes crying all too familiar heavy tears which cascaded down all too familiar freckled cheeks… Never again.

Octo-Dog's board roles from under it. The mascot lands on its ass in a dramatic cartoon frenzy with his legs kicked up in the air and everything. Katsuki laughs, and laughs and doesn't stop until he's doubled over and holding his sides. This day's getting better!

A gentle tug on his sleeve, Katsuki calms down enough to see that Maimie doesn't think it's funny. Standing straight with a few huffing chuckles, Katsuki walks towards Octo-Dog - the stupid thing's body language embarrassed as it rubs its ass and refuses to look Katsuki's way - and digs in his pocket. He gave Mina all of the fives he had, so he settled for five ones. Octo-Dog perks up and accepts the money. Maimie also looks up at him, pleased, and he can't find it within himself to hate the warmth spreading through his chest. To that, he reacts the same way this happens when he's with his group of dumbasses: he tisks, trying to hide it.

Katuski turns back to Maimie, the little girl so close he almost steps on her and it subtly startles him. Harsh words buddle in his throat, a familiar quick reaction whenever he's caught off guard, but he swallows it down and breathes deep like Dr. Amalee once instructed. He's settled in seconds - a new record he might add - and gently coxes Maimie to turn around with a light hand on her backpack and leads her towards the door.

"Come on," he grumbles, the held back harsh words left a bitter taste in his mouth. It's easily forgotten when he grabs the door, holds it open for her, and she easily walks under his arm like it was routine. (And maybe it was, maybe her father wasn't always an asshole.)

When they step inside, Katsuki relaxes at the rush of warmth on his face. It's enough to make his nose run but the heat was more than welcome; and going by Maimie's reaction - shoulders sagging, arms wrapped around herself loosening - she didn't seem to mind, either. Katsuki had been wondering when her teeth would start chattering on their way over. He's happy to bring her somewhere warm as they stop at the Wait To Be Seated sign.

The inside of the bento joint was nothing too special - at least, not in the sense that they were trying hard to make the place look high end. That seems to be the standard, nowadays. If it isn't McDonalds or a food court in a shopping mall, everyone tried to make their restaurant fancy. It was suffocating.

Benji-san's Bento Boxes - the name of the joint going by the huge banter written in bold kanji on the wall opposite of him - isn't.

There is a decent sized dining area with a few booths lining the longest wall and large blacktop tables with clunky wooden chairs. There weren't real lights built into the ceiling, at least they aren't turned on, instead there are long strands of lights going from one end of the restaurant to the other. They're wrapped around thick wooden beams to keep from bowing between pillars too much and emitted a bright white light that reminds him of American Christmas lights. The walls are covered in pictures of past happy customers, a few larger prints are framed of the same girl - middle school age - and is probably the owner's daughter, niece or family friend. Under all the pictures are bare brick walls that Katuski suspects is just wallpaper. The dining room isn't too cluttered with how all the customers are spread out and easy chatter fills the space. He can hear a hint of music but not the lyrics if there were any.

Comfortable, is Katsuki's final assessment. Inviting.

"Welcome," a short woman presumably in her thirties or forties greets. The crows feet in the corners of her eyes crease with her smile. Short black hair just above her shoulders sway with gray and white strands.

Too happy. Too excited to be working. Too sweet.

Katsuki grinds his teeth at the feeling of them rotting.

"How many?" Wrinkles - he ignores her name tag - asks.

"Just two." Katsuki unconsciously spares a glance at Maimie, for a second he hates himself for it. The girl's still behind his leg, shoulder fully pressed against the back of his thigh. Her eyes are full of wonder as they bounce around the new environment. It takes her longer to absorb it all but the moment she does, her eyes shine.

Winkles grabs a single laminated menu, a kid cup full of what looks like heavily used crayons and smiles as she says, "Then follow me."

Katsuki feels the slight tug on the waistband of his coat and doesn't have to look down to know Maimie is pinching it as they walk. The restaurant only holds a few customers, maybe to Maimie it seems full. Is she scared? One glance over his shoulder hushes his worries. Maimie is still looking around but it's not out of nerves. Katsuki can't fathom why she's holding on to him, then, but he doesn't swat her hand away.

They're guided towards a booth and before Katsuki could complain about how dusty the table is, Wrinkles quickly explains. "Don't worry," she says, probably sensing Katsuki's grudge. "The table is actually covered in chalk paint. Here, sweetie," she sets the kid cup down before the menu and Katsuki realizes it's actually chalk. "My name is Haru and I'll be your server. I'll give you guys a couple of minutes to look over the menu."

"Yeah, whatever. Thanks," Katsuki waves her off and he doesn't watch her walk away as his attention turns to Maimie across the booth. The girl is already looking at him, wide eyed and all - did he have something on his face?

"What?"

She keeps looking - examining, Katsuki realizes - then glances at the menu as if she wasn't just staring straight into his soul.

Those Goddamn eyes.

"I'm hungry," she diverts and it prickles up his spine in slight annoyance. He wants to scream, Just tell me! but then she'll startle, maybe cry and never ever want to see him again.

"No shit, that's why we're here."

She cracks a smile and Katsuki moves his attention to the menu, as well. He shifts it sideways so they can both see and scans until he spots the kids menu at the very bottom. His index finger taps as he reads only five options.

Maimie hums at her choices. For a moment, Katsuki wonders if she can read, or at least needs help. He's not quite sure what year she's in or exactly how old she is but what he does know is that she's young and might not be as advanced as he was when he was around her age. Katsuki had always been a prodigy - Dr. Amalee said that all the praise for his powerful Quirk and good grades is most likely a huge factor of his immense pride - and throughout the entirety of his elementary, middle, and high school career, he'd never been afraid of expressing how superior he was to his peers. If he were younger, maybe he would've made fun of her - and if she was an adult like he is, maybe he would've now too - but he's not and she's not and there's no excuses now.

So, despite the impatience poking his temple, he waits, until: "Does the teriyaki chicken have peppers in it?"

"Like the chicken itself or are you asking if the bento comes with peppers?"

"Yes."

The poking turns to knocking. He ignores it with a deep inhale through the nose - something about it makes Maimie smile. Is she trying to irritate him on purpose?

"Why?" he grovels with no bite.

"Because I'm allergic."

"Well, you have an EpiPen, or somethin'?"

She picks around the chalk cup and shrugs.

Something within him drops to his stomach. "What - What do you mean ya don't know?!"

The dining room stills and everything quiets. He feels it, then. Every set of eyes in the joint on him and what was once the best feeling in the world in his youth is the worst. It makes his skin crawl and his hair stand on end. There's no way they know. There's no way just one glance and they immediately know who he is and what he's done - but once upon a time they did. And they're judging him all over again.

"I think I lost it in the move."

Katsuki's eyes bounce to Maimie, fortunately, she isn't looking at him like everyone else. When she speaks, she's drawing, comfortable despite his outburst, as though it never happened and that no one is looking their way. For a moment, he envies her confidence.

At her casual tone, the dining room throws itself back in to motion. A suspicious calm washes over Katsuki - his anxieties wiped away too quickly to be natural. His eyes sweep the room. No one is looking at him anymore and Maimie's gaze keeps to what she's drawing.

He really is pathetic, sometimes, isn't he. Paranoid and pathetic.

He lets the topic go with the pit in his stomach still ever present. He'll ask about the peppers as soon as Wrinkles comes to take their order. Which, he can see her walking up to them from another table, pocket book open, pen in hand and a smile plastered on her face.

When she stops at their table, Katsuki cuts off her greeting before she can even start. "Does the kid's teriyaki chicken have peppers in it, or what?"

Wrinkles blinks once, twice, and the annoying knocking on his temple is back when she finally opens her mouth. "Not the teriyaki chicken. Is there an allergy?" she asks, glancing between them.

"No shit," he barks.

Wrinkle's eye twitches, her smile faltering but ever present. Good. The woman turns to Maimie, choosing to ignore Katsuki - which he isn't too sure he's happy about. "He said the kid's teriyaki, right? What peppers are you allergic to, hun?"

Maimie shrinks. No matter how subtle, Katsuki still sees it. The young girl's voice goes softer than usual. "Um, all of them, I think."

Katsuki feels the same surprise Wrinkles expresses, but doesn't show it. Questions immediately wrap around his mind and squeeze tight.

"Oh! OK. Not a problem, hun. I'll be sure to tell the kitchen to separate your dish from the others, just in case."

Now Maimie's withering is obvious as she hunches her shoulders and makes herself small. He hates it.

"Sorry."

Katsuki cuts off Wrinkles again. "Don't apologize for shit you can't control."

Her eyes lower to her drawing with a hint of a smile. "Mkay."

Wrinkles starts scribbling on her notepad. "Alright, so one kids teriyaki chicken bento, and for you, Sir?"

The beef bento sounds amazing, but - "I'll take the adult teriyaki chicken." - the menu says it has grilled peppers as a side dish. What's the extent of her allergy? Is it also a contact allergy - not just consumption based? He's not taking that risk. "And make sure it's prepared with the kid's."

"Can do!" Wrinkles scribbles down his order. "And drinks?"

"Water. Kid?"

Stiffening over her drawing, she glanced up to Katsuki. Huge eyes pour into his. In a gentle gruff, he asks: "Anything to drink?"

"Uh," her eyes wonder to Wrinkles, "Water? Please?"

"Of course. Alrighty, I'll be back with the waters and your food should be ready in no time."

"Sure," Katsuki dismisses and ignores her as she bows her head and leaves. His attention turns to Maimie's drawing. "What's it?"

"A work in progress."

The immediate whip makes him chuckle. "What's it supposed to be then?"

"Supposed to be Yogo-sha."

She leans back and Katsuki folds over the table, crossed arms holding his weight, and examines the drawing. It is not Yogo-sha. Two pale yellow blobs are stacked, one bigger than the other and six shaky ovals - three on each side - attach at the top, the middle and the bottom. At first glance, it looks like a fat ant missing its head.

His eyes meet Maimie's and the girl looks like she's holding her breath waiting for him to say something. It's shit, isn't going to cut it. He settles for a confirming nod and: " 'Is a work in progress, alright."

"Hey!" she squeals, but she's smiling and her dimple is showing and he's grinning ear to ear.

"Here," he picks a random chalk stick from the cup - pink - and reaches over. In seconds the beheaded ant has a face consisting of eyes - one as an X - a triangle nose and a long frown. Above its head, chuckling, Katsuki writes, Just Kill Me.

"No! Yogo-sha!" Maimie shouts - yet laughing all the same - and smears the writing with her jacket sleeve.

When Katsuki feels the eyes of everyone peeking their way again, the dread doesn't come. The young girl's struggle to erase the words and the frown is too distracting. In fact, he doesn't even notice when Wrinkles returns with their waters - as well as napkins and silverware - until she's already walking away.

"Fix it! Fix it!"

He shushes her and a tiny hand flies to her mouth. It doesn't stop her giggles, though. "Okay. Okay. Look," - he wads a napkin, dips it in his water and rings it before putting it to the smudges. "It's coming off, see."

When he's done, she fans the face to dry faster and replaces the frown with a smile that stretched past its nose and touched its eyes. It isn't hardly the improvement she thinks it is. It's creepy with how shaky the exaggerated grin is, complemented by its one X for an eye. If the real Yogo-sha looked like that - deformed and gagged - he'd be nightmare fuel. The new Annabell or Chucky.

"Much better!" Maimie exclaims.

"Sure. Sure." Katsuki grins slyly, leaning back. For a breath, he absorbs the young girl's smile like the sun. Then: "So is school as shitty as I remember?"

Maimie goes back to coloring something else and there's no hesitance in her heavy sigh. "If your school was as boring as mine, then I guess."

"A prodigy, eh?"

"No. This school is just slow."

Katsuki truly laughs. "So, everyone's a stupid little shit, is what you're saying."

Her startled look up and gaping mouth pulled another few chuckles from his chest. She sputters, "Wha- What? No! No! I didn't mean slow as in-! I learned everything already from my last school, so it's boring right now. That's all!"

"Sure, sure." He's calm now, arms wrapped around his aching sides. "So, just how slow is this school compared to your old one?"

"Well," Tapping her chin, her eyes traveled up, up, up until they're on the ceiling. "Today there was a spelling test. One of the challenge words was 'kitchen'."

"And that's too easy," Katsuki assumes, picking up his water glass.

"K-I-T-C-H-E-N. Kitchen."

Around an ice cube, he nods. "See. Easy. So what were your challenge words at your old school?"

Maimie straightens as a smile dimples her cheek. "My favorite is 'photosynthesis'."

Genuinely surprised, he says without thinking: "No fuckin' way you have that on the top of your head."

She squares her shoulders. "P-H-O-T-O-S-Y-N-T-H-E-S-I-S. Photosynthesis."

"Yeah. And what's it mean?"

"It's when plants take in sunlight and carbon dia-dios-dioxide" - her brief frustration is diminished with the proper pronunciation of the word - "and that makes them give off oxygen."

He takes a moment, hidden under the guise of sipping on his water, and is thoroughly impressed. "Just what fuckin' year are you in?"

"Second."

"Shit, kid. Give you a few years and you'll be a walking fuckin' dictionary."

Maimie shrugs, back to coloring, as if she hadn't just blown his mind. Hell, she's much smarter than he was at her age. If he was a prodigy, she deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

Jokingly, he said, "Just what stuck up school were you in before you moved?"

"Well, um." Her proud demeanor changes - shoulders slouched and eyes averted. "I forgot the name."

And isn't that a lie if he's ever heard one.

Katsuki wants to push and prod. Not quite demanding she tell him why she's lying, somewhere between that and encouraging telling the truth. Yet the way she's sitting now - closed off and avoiding his gaze - feels like he's back at square one. Weren't they just having a good time? Weren't they just laughing over something stupid like a shit chalk drawing and how she'd annihilate any competition at a spelling bee? It's not as if he asked about the mysterious disappearance of her mother - which, those questions he's determined to find answers to. Now that he thinks about it, when they first met, she didn't even remember where or how far away her hometown was. Not to mention, she wasn't joking about forgetting his name completely.

His eyes fly to her short hair. Is there a reason why it was cut so short?

So many questions. So many goddamn questions, his head is starting to hurt.

He forces his face to relax from its frown - which takes a moment of effort - and changes the topic. "What're you drawin' now?"

She relaxes and he wishes she'd look up at him as she speaks, "You. And me."

Intrigued, he shifts forward again. "Oh yeah?"

Maimie's arms quickly snake around the drawing, blocking his view as she hunches forward and she's finally looking at him. Fortunately, her eyes aren't hazed over like he worried they'd be. She wanted the topic change too.

"It's not ready yet."

Katsuki raises his hands in surrender, a grin creeping on his face. "Alright. I get it."

Just then, he notices Wrinkles approaching their table with two boxes in hand. Her almost genuine smile annoys him more than her fake one.

"All right. Two teriyaki chicken bentos peppers free - one kid size for the little lady. Careful. They're hot."

As she slides the boxes in front of them, Maimie doesn't move her arms from her drawing. When her bento gets close enough, the young girl reaches and before Katsuki can echo Wrinkle's warning, Maimie grabs the box. Maimie's yelp and sudden jump is startling, but Katsuki pushes it away.

"Shit, kid, she told you it was hot," he says, reaching his hands towards her. "Here, give 'em." She stops shaking out her hand and leans in to place it in Katsuki's. He holds it gently, palm up and blows on her fingers.

Mamie is small, obviously, but her hand is tiny in his own. Her fingers are still chubby with baby fat and the joints connecting her fingers to her palm were covered in old blisters probably from playground monkey bars. It just barely covers his whole palm, and he just knew that if he held her hand, his would devour hers.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm just really hungry."

"No, I'm sorry," Wrinkles apologies, bowing. "I'll go grab a small bag of ice."

When Wrinkles leaves, Katsuki stops blowing and notes the pads of all four of her fingers and her thumb are a brilliant red. No obvious swelling. "Don't worry," he says. "It's just a surface burn. Is it pulsating?"

"No."

"Good. Don't keep quiet if it does."

She nods.

Wrinkles swiftly returns with crushed ice in a small zip lock and another apology. The meal went on with a comfortable silence as they ate and the occasional challenge to see what Maimie can spell off the top of her head. Katsuki finds himself thoroughly impressed with every spelling she got correct and didn't hold it against her when she couldn't. The more she talked, the more he figured out she had a slight lisp with her H's and Y's. He didn't know if she knew, but he didn't care enough to point it out.

When she'd ask him a question, it was usually about what he used to do after school - "A few of my classmates and I used to go toad hunting in the wooded area behind the school." - and what his favorite color was - "Haven't thought about it." - but she truly caught him off guard when she asked what he was doing walking around town. His lame ass excuse was: "Just some business with a friend." It isn't completely a lie, he visited Mina and they talked. However, there's no way he's going to tell her that after he saw Mina he went to the library to rent a computer and worked on his novel to pass the time until she got out of school. He'll never tell her that as soon as he realized the hour, he was in a rush to make it to the gates on time to catch her leaving and secretly walk her back.

And before he knows it, their meal is done, payed for, and now he just waits for Maimie as she uses the restroom. When she leaves, he finally has the chance to peek at her drawing. It'd been on his mind ever since she told him vaguely what it was. Who it was, rather. He pushes aside her empty box and quickly slaps his hand over his creeping smile. It's Maimie and himself as crudely drawn stick figures. One is much taller than the other with big spiky hair and angry eyebrows. The other has shorter spiky hair than Katsuki's person with a wide smile and a bunny blob in one hand. The reason for his disgusting smile is because the two stick figures are holding hands.

Maybe, his hand devouring hers isn't as much of a far fetched idea as he thought.

His phone rings, bringing him from this thoughts as he fishes it from his pocket and groans when he sees the caller ID. He debates answering - he's been having such a nice day - but accepts it anyway.

"What?"

"Someone's in a good mood today," Cece purrs through the phone.

Katsuki takes a deep breath, reminding himself that he's in a restaurant and can't lose his temper with witnesses. "Did you read the damned thing, or not?"

"Oh. I read it alright. One question, though."

"What-"

"Why didn't you tell me Midoriya Izuku wrote you a letter?!"

Because I was too busy falling apart to think about it.

Because it had completely slipped my mind.

Because I needed time to process before actually writing it.

Because

Because

"Because your reaction is too fucking funny, that's why." He spots Maimie making her way back to their table and quickly replaces the bento box over the drawing. "Did you actually need something 'cause I'm kind of busy."

He stands from the booth, shrugging back on his jacket and backpack, watching Maimie silently doing the same. Catching her few curious glances up at him.

"Oh, yes. You have an appointment to speak at a bullying awareness assembly tomorrow."

Dread latches on but he's been doing these types of assemblies for a while now. He's handled these types of nerves before.

"Where?"

"Matsunoki Elementary."

Katsuki freezes in the middle of handing Maimie Yogo-sha before she can forget him, and his eyes latch on to the emblem ironed to the young girl's shirt. The heated restaurant suddenly plummets to below zero. He's wet, is he sweating? His palms are damp - hazardously - and he quickly swipes them on his pants.

Keeping what's left of his composure, he grunts out, "Year?"

"The principal wants a whole school assembly, but you'll also be talking with the third years exclusively."

He takes a deep breath when he catches Maimie staring at him, her eyes brows pinched in deep worry. Fuck, why does she have to look at him like that with those eyes? He gently shoos her to turn around and pushes her forward towards the door.

"Time?"

"Be there by ten. Are you alright? You don't sound like yourself-"

"Got it. Don't call again."

Katsuki hangs up, clutching his phone tight as he continues gently nudging Maimie towards the door, ignoring Wrinkles' goodbye and trying to keep his cool as they step out to the busier sidewalk. He feels guilty for doing it, but he doesn't give Maimie the chance to stop and ogle at Octo-Dog again and just continues walking. With a few more deep breaths, he slows down and lets go of Maimie's backpack. Feeling guilty all over again for practically dragging her out like that.

"Sorry, kid, was just..."

Just what? Just didn't want to break down in front of a whole bunch of strangers? Just want to get home as fast as I can and try not to accidentally look you in the eye tomorrow during the assembly?

Before he can think of something better to say than the truth, Maimie shrugs. "It's okay. It was getting pretty stuffy in there, wasn't it? The fresh air feels nice."

"Yeah," his shoulders sag, relieved that she didn't seem to mind his immediate need to escape. "Pretty stuffy."

Maimie's quiet for a few steps until, "That call was… pretty important, right?"

Katsuki grimaces. Of course he can't just write off that call as too stuffy, as well. He clears his throat, "Yeah. Tomorrow I have a meeting, of sorts."

"For your job? Are you nervous?"

She's looking up at him. He knows she's looking up at him. But he can't look back at her, can't look into those deep never ending eyes that always seem to know things they shouldn't.

He decides to tell her so he's not bombarded by questions when he walks her back home after school tomorrow. "It's at your school. I'm helping host an assembly."

"We have an assembly tomorrow?"

"Guess so."

"Well," she takes his hand as they cross the street - as if it's perfectly normal - and doesn't let go even when they're safely on the other side, "My school's boring but everyone's nice. So no need to be scared."

"Hey, I'm not scared."

How could he be when she's holding two of his fingers - because that's all she can fit in her tiny fist - as he watches her smile grow until her dimple shows. Her happiness doesn't match the darkness adoring her eyes or the bruise that still lingers and Katsuki is grateful she can still smile despite them.

He's not scared. If anything, he's worried. If Maimie's school is requesting Katsuki show up for an entire school assembly, that means her school's not as nice as she says it is.

The bruise on her face… What if Maimie is being bullied?