Trigger warning: one instance of cursing
To say that Yaoyorozu's house was nice was an understatement. Sora had never entered such luxury, and standing outside the wrought iron gate, clutching the items for a fun night planned with the girls, Sora couldn't help but feel a little out of place. If Yaoyorozu ever visited Sora's apartment… Yikes.
"Wow," Uraraka said beside Sora, gazing up at the mansion. "Oh, hey, Raijin."
"Hey," Sora greeted. "I'm glad you're here. I didn't want to go up to the door alone."
"I totally understand that!" Uraraka laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. They stepped past the gates and wandered up to the house, admiring the manicured lawn. Rosebushes lined the walkway. On either side of the front door stood two large urns. Uraraka rang the doorbell.
Yaoyorozu answered it and beamed. "Hey, guys! You were the last ones we were waiting on. Come in!"
Sora and Uraraka stepped inside. The light wood floors gleamed as if they'd just been polished.
"Whoa… Your house is beautiful," Sora murmured. A grand staircase yawned before them, twisting toward the upper levels. To the left and right were doorways leading into undoubtedly lavish rooms.
"What is your life?" Uraraka gaped.
Yaomomo blushed. "Thank you! This way; we're staying in the media room!"
She led the way up the grand staircase. Down the hall stood a door that led into said media room. The walls were painted a dark navy. Arranged in a semicircle sat comfy leather seats. They faced the only white wall—which would be the screen for movies—and on the floor sat Tsu, Ashido, Jirou, and Hagakure. Lining the back wall behind the chairs stood a long table. Arranged on top of it were bowls of snacks. Yaomomo tried to make it look pretty and aesthetically pleasing as she placed Sora and Uraraka's offerings upon it. Sora and Uraraka set their bags with the others' underneath the table and joined their friends on the floor.
When Yaomomo finished, she clapped her hands together. "Okay, so what do we want to do first? Are you guys hungry? We can cook something, though it looks like we have plenty of snacks so we probably don't want to eat a real meal, but if you guys want to eat—"
"Momo," laughed Jirou, "give us a sec to answer."
"Oh! Sorry!" Yaomomo grinned sheepishly.
"Oh! I know!" Ashido jumped up. "Let's do each other's hair and makeup and paint our nails!"
"Yeah, and girl talk!" agreed Hagakure.
"I'll get some of my stuff," said Yaomomo. She left and returned with a basket of hair products—curling iron, straightener, hair pins, the works—as well as a bag of makeup.
"Can you guys teach me how to do it?" Sora asked. "I know the basics, but…"
"Yeah, Ashido, how'd you do that winged eyeliner thing?" Uraraka queried. "I'm so bad it, and yours looked really good the other day."
"I got you!" Ashido grinned. "I want to curl Yaomomo's hair. And Tsu! You both would look so pretty!"
"Not that you guys don't look pretty now," cut in Hagakure. "Jirou, can I paint your nails?"
"Okay, but no pink," said Jirou, rolling her eyes. But a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"I'm pulling up a 'would you rather' game on my phone," said Ashido. "I'll do Uraraka's makeup first."
"I want to watch," said Sora, scooting to sit beside Ashido, who faced Uraraka. "I wear a little bit of makeup, but my sister sucks at it so she never really buys me any."
"Okay, so I'm using going to go with pink eyeshadow for her because pink just looks so cute for her." Ashido opened up an eyeshadow palette.
As she waited for her curling iron to heat up, Yaomomo sectioned off Tsu's hair while Hagakure showed off several dark nail polish colors to Jirou. Ashido dusted a matte pink shade in the crease of Uraraka's eyelids.
"Does anyone care if I play some music?" Jirou queried.
"Oh, you have the best taste in music," approved Hagakure. Jirou pressed play and some upbeat music filled the room. Then, Hagakure got to work on Jirou's nails.
"Okay, so, Tsu—would you rather be able to see ten minutes or a hundred and fifty years into the future?" Ashido read off her phone before picking a sparkly pink to go on Uraraka's eyes.
Tsu tapped her chin as Yaomomo began curling a section of her hair. "Probably ten minutes since that would be more useful in everyday life."
"Oh, you'd be unstoppable as a hero!" said Hagakure.
"Yeah, like you'd have your frog Quirk, but also wham, you can predict what someone is about to do!" said Jirou.
"Ask me next!" cried Hagakure.
"Would you rather be able to freeze time or travel in time?" Ashido asked.
"Travel, duh!" said Hagakure. "Like, I could go to the future! Or, if something happened, I could go back and fix it!"
"Two time-related questions?" Uraraka pouted.
"Sorry, that was an accident!" Ashido grinned. "Okay, Jirou, would you rather sing everything you say or dance everywhere you go?"
"Uh…" Jirou's cheeks reddened. "Dance."
"Really?" Yaomomo demanded. "You have a beautiful voice!"
Sora tilted her head. "You can sing?"
"Yeah! She's got an amazing voice!" Yaomomo insisted.
"The voice of an actual angel," agreed Hagakure.
Jirou's redness deepened. "Uh, thanks."
"I can't believe I didn't know this," Sora smacked her forehead. "I'm a terrible friend."
"No!" Jirou insisted. "I just don't like singing in front of people sometimes."
"Yeah, I don't know if I'd like singing in front of a crowd," said Uraraka.
"Okay, Sora, pay attention," said Ashido. Sora drew her attention back to Uraraka's makeup.
"Oh, that's a good question! What's everyone's secret talent?" Hagakure queried.
"I like to act like I'm extending the waterline," explained Ashido, pointing at Uraraka's waterline as she stared up at the ceiling. "And you just take your eyeliner and draw… Extend as long as you want, but I like to use the eyebrow as a guide. See?"
"Whoa," Sora breathed. "You make it look so easy!"
"And then you bring it down," said Ashido, sticking her tongue out to focus.
"My secret talent," said Hagakure, now that she wasn't focused solely on Jirou's nails, "is that I am good at cosplaying and doing cosplay makeup! I've gotten good at doing it on other people and such because I can't really do it for myself… But yeah! It's super fun getting likes and comments on my cosplays!"
"Where do you post your stuff?" Jirou asked.
"I have a separate Instagram from my main account!"
"Oh, let me give you a follow!" Uraraka cried, opening her phone.
"Tsu, what's your secret talent?" Ashido asked.
"I don't really have any secret talents," said Tsu.
"No hobbies or things you're good at?" Sora pressed.
Tsu tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I know a lot about herpetology. I studied it some to understand my Quirk better. I'm also really into gardening."
"That's amazing! What kind of things do you grow?" Sora said.
"Well, I grow some of my own vegetables at home, but my mom and I are working on making a butterfly garden."
"My sister and I have lots of plants in our apartment. We've never been able to have our own garden because we moved around so much, but I would love to do that one day."
"Maybe one day I can show you my garden," said Tsu, beaming. She titled her head back to glance up at Yaomomo, who focused on curling a section of Tsu's shiny hair. "What about you, Yaomomo?"
"I craft," said Yaomomo. "I like pottery and making my own knickknacks and dishes!"
"Couldn't you do that with your Quirk?" Jirou queried, pausing mid-blow on her nails.
"Well, yes, but I like doing things with my hands. Plus, it helps me with my Quirk! Knowing how to create things with my hands helps me understand my Quirk better!"
"Fair enough," said Jirou. "Okay, so, Uraraka. What's your special talent or whatever?"
"Well… After my internship, I've gotten into self-defense stuff! I box now!"
"We stan strong women," said Hagakure.
"You should teach us to beat someone up!" added Ashido. "Sora, sit in front of me. I want to do your makeup now!"
"All done, Tsu!" announced Yaomomo.
Sora twisted around. Tsu's dark green hair danced into shiny curls. Tsu's cheeks turned pink as the girls cooed about how she looked pretty. They praised Ashido's work on Uraraka, who grinned as she sat before Yaomomo to get her hair done.
"We know Jirou can sing," said Hagakure. "Anything else?"
"I play the guitar and drums." Jirou shrugged. "I dabble in other instruments."
"Whelp, now I feel worthless," said Uraraka, her shoulders slumping. "Is there anything you people can't do?"
"Math," Sora said.
Jirou laughed. "Dude, same. Sometimes in class, I feel like Kaminari when he short circuits."
Hagakure giggled. "Poor Kaminari! He's not here to defend himself!"
"Close your eyes," said Ashido. Sora obeyed, but flinched back when an object touched her eyes. "Oh, sorry, did I poke your eye?"
"No, sorry! I've never had someone do my makeup before."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I just do really basic stuff. My sister doesn't like makeup, remember?"
"She doesn't let you have any?"
"She does, she just never taught me. We never played around with it."
"Well, I'm glad I'm here to be your first," said Ashido. Sora grinned and relaxed, letting Ashido work her magic. "I'm feeling neutral tones for you. Earthy stuff. How does that sound?"
"I trust your judgment."
"Raijin, what's your secret talent?" Tsu asked.
"Oh, I know!" cried Yaomomo. "She draws."
"Yeah, I paint and draw," said Sora. "And I embroider some of my own clothes."
"I wanna see!" Hagakure cried.
"I'll show you guys later. I packed a pair of pants where I embroidered little cacti on the back pockets."
"Cute!" Hagakure squealed. "Oh, Ashido, what's your secret talent, besides being a goddess when it comes to makeup?"
"I can dance!" Ashido sang. "Oh my gosh, later, we should learn some dances!"
"Dances?" Jirou sounded like she'd rather jump out a window.
Sora giggled. "That would be fun! Just don't judge me if I'm bad."
"No judgment zone," said Ashido. "Okay, I'm dying to know. Who do you guys think is the cutest boy in class?"
"Mineta," joked Sora.
"Ew! That little perv?" Hagakure shrieked.
Sora laughed. "I'm kidding!"
"Thank heavens," said Yaomomo. "He's so… ugh."
"Sorry, bad joke," Sora said, still chuckling.
"In all seriousness, I think Todoroki's the most handsome boy in our class," said Ashido.
"He is very capable," said Yaomomo.
"But he has no emotion," Jirou muttered. "I can never tell what he's feeling."
Sora tensed. Based off her interactions with Todoroki, he didn't know how to process what he was feeling half the time. He struck Sora as lonely, like he hadn't had a happy childhood. He'd pretty much told Sora that himself. "I think he's just awkward."
Wow, great defense of your friend, Sora. She wanted to smack herself but refrained from doing so.
"I don't really think anyone's that cute," said Uraraka, her voice a higher octave than normal. Sora bit back a smile.
"Ojirou's cute," said Hagakure.
"Yeah, don't you two hang out a lot?" Jirou queried. "Anything going on?"
"No, not like that!" Hagakure cried frantically. "I mean, he's cute! But we're not like that! Besides, what about Ashido? She's around Kirishima a lot!"
"And Sero," said Tsu.
"And Bakugou," added Uraraka.
"Please, Jirou hangs out with us, too!" Ashido laughed.
"Bakugou's cute," said Sora. "But only when he's not yelling at me."
"Yeah, I definitely didn't envy you for the final," said Jirou.
"It was tough," Sora agreed. "But we pulled through."
"Look up, Raijin," instructed Ashido.
Sora obeyed and tried to remain as still as possible while Ashido drew winged eyeliner on her. "You guys can call me Sora. I know the family name thing is important here, but… We're friends."
"Sora," Ashido tried.
"Oh, I forget that you didn't grow up here," said Yaomomo. "In America, you go by your given name, right?"
"Yeah," said Sora. "I never corrected you guys because I knew it was a cultural difference, but I prefer Sora."
"Just correct us if we mess up," said Ashido. "Okay, you're done! How do you like it?"
Holding a mirror up to her face, Sora examined Ashido's work. She looked like herself, but fierce. She grinned at herself. "I look incredible! Thank you, Ashido."
"Of course!" Ashido beamed. "Who's next?"
While Ashido did Yaomomo's makeup, Sora gathered with the other girls to show off pictures of their hobbies. Jirou and Sora broke into the snacks first, munching on hot Cheetos and watching music videos. As soon as everyone was glammed up, the girls decided to go downstairs to Yaomomo's elaborate kitchen to bake cookies.
Ashido played some music and blared it while Yaomomo, Uraraka, and Tsu focused on the cookie batter. Jirou sat on the counter while Ashido tried teaching Hagakure and Sora a dance.
"No, put your weight in your heels and then shake your butt like this," said Ashido, demonstrating.
Sora giggled and tried.
"There you go! You're getting it! Hagakure, you need to work on it a bit."
"I have no butt!" wailed Hagakure, though her voice pirouetted with laughter.
"Wait, before you move onto that part, you have to Free Willy it," giggled Ashido. Jirou snorted from her place on the counter as Ashido spread her arms back and puffed out her chest. "Then you hit the floor!"
Sora's sides hurt from laughing so much. Her throat burned and tears dampened her eyelashes. But she couldn't quit laughing. Watching Hagakure attempt to learn the dance was killing her.
"Oh, don't judge me if I'm bad," Hagakure mocked Sora. "Sora then proceeds to throw it back like she's done this all her life."
Sora cackled, making Jirou and Ashido laugh. Even Yaomomo paused in putting dough on a baking sheet.
"Whose laugh is that?"
Sora didn't answer, instead laughing harder. Ashido giggled, and Hagakure stopped trying to learn the dance so that she could laugh at Sora's hideous cackle.
"I've never heard you laugh like that, Sora," said Tsu, grinning.
Sora heaved for breath, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "My ugly laugh came out, sorry."
She wiped the tears off her face and took a moment to catch her breath. Her friends burst into giggles. Sora grinned until her cheeks hurt. She'd never laughed so hard in her laugh. Or, it'd been a really long time since she had. Finally, she felt at home. Happy.
After baking cookies and dancing in the kitchen, the girls returned upstairs, where they played some board games. Sora taught them a card game that she and Asi used to play, back when they lived in a single bedroom apartment with no TV. That was only a year and a half ago, back when they had just decided that maybe Sora should try and get into a hero school in Japan, because the Pro Hero society there was far better than in other parts of the world. That was back before they felt safe settling down for longer than a few months.
Now, Sora lived in an apartment with her own room, and got to keep all her paintings. Sometimes, she wondered how many people had picked up her paintings out of the garbage and kept them. Now, she could keep them and treasure them at home. Looking at the people surrounding her, Sora's chest expanded with warmth. Asi had always told her that sometimes, you get to choose your family. That bonds are stronger than the blood you share with someone. Sora understood what she meant.
In the morning, the girls sat at Yaomomo's breakfast table. They all agreed to go to the park to train for a bit, and then they'd part ways for the day. Sora dressed in workout clothes and walked in step with Ashido on the way to the park.
After training, Sora and the girls gathered around Yaomomo, who claimed to have an announcement.
"My parents have an invitation to attend the I-Island Expo in a few weeks. I have three extra tickets to attend the event. I'd like for you guys to come! We could get a hotel room and have fun! Only ones with tickets can get into the early access event, but it'll be open to the public the day after, and we could all go and have fun! I was thinking you guys could draw straws to give everyone a fair chance at getting a ticket."
"What's I-Island?" Sora queried.
"It's an island where scientists and their families live to conduct research on Quirks and create support items," explained Yaomomo. "I-Expo is an event where scientists showcase their work. The tickets I have are for the early access event. We should all go to I-Expo! Whoever wins the tickets gets to go to the early access event with me, though. But it would still be lots of fun!"
"Yeah, this sounds great!" Tsu agreed.
"I've only ever read about I-Island and the Expo," said Jirou, twirling her cords around her fingers. "Doesn't the early access event have like some formal party?"
"Yep!" said Yaomomo, beaming. "If you win a ticket, you have to make sure you get a formal dress!"
"Oh, I hope I win a ticket!" squealed Hagakure.
"An excuse to wear a pretty dress? Sign me up!" Ashido bounced up and down.
Yaomomo held out straws. They all looked even. Everyone took a turn drawing. Ashido and Hagakure pouted when they realized their straws were extremely short.
"Aw, man," Ashido bowed her head.
The straw in Sora's hand surpassed Tsu's in length, but it was shorter than Uraraka's and Jirou's. Which meant…
"I get to go?" Sora looked at Yaomomo, who beamed and nodded.
"Of course, you'll have to make sure it's okay with your parents," said Yaomomo, looking at the other girls. "But don't worry about plane tickets. I'll send the details in our group chat."
"Oh, this is going to be so fun!" Uraraka cried. "I don't think I have a formal dress, though…"
"I have one!" Hagakure offered. "You should come over and try it on!"
Sora twirled the straw in her hands. Asi had a formal gown—though Sora didn't know why her sister had one—but it would show some of Sora's scars. Rubbing the back of her neck, Sora let out a soft huff. It wouldn't be too bad. Her scars weren't terrible—enough to raise some questions and catch some looks—but she didn't exactly like showing them off.
After training and drawing straws, Sora, Tsu, and Uraraka parted ways with the rest of the girls. The three of them had signed up for the extra course and needed to get to UA.
"I'm glad we all decided to take this class together," said Uraraka.
"Me too," said Tsu. "I'd hate to be alone."
"I'm sure we won't be the only ones," said Sora. They stopped right outside their classroom. "It feels weird being here when the halls are empty."
"Yeah," agreed Uraraka. "Like a ghost town."
They stepped into the classroom. Iida chopped his hands through the air, berating Bakugou for saying something rude to Midoriya while Todoroki watched, looking rather uninterested. Sora's steps faltered. The last time she'd seen Bakugou was at the beach, but all of Class 1-A had been there to distract the both of them from their last conversation together.
"You heard me. I said no. We're not friends. In fact, you're very mean to me more often than not. I am not obligated to tell you anything just because you think you're entitled to it! I'll find someone else to help me train." She shoved past Bakugou, intent on making him move for her. Too many people moved for him, but she wasn't going to let him bully her. She made a point to be kind, but she wasn't about to let Bakugou take advantage of that. She'd been scared for too long, and she was tired, so tired, of being afraid and not defending herself.
Taking a deep breath, Sora squared her shoulders and headed directly to her desk. Todoroki turned toward her when she sat down.
"Hey, Todoroki!" Sora chirped.
He offered her a tiny twitch of his lips. "Hey."
"How are you today?"
"I'm fine, thank you," said Todoroki. "I have to apologize."
"What? Why?"
"I never gave you your cookie container back, and my mom gave it to me the other day. I didn't know you'd be taking this class too, otherwise I would've brought it."
"Oh, it's no big deal! Just bring it next time we train. Honestly, I kind of forgot about it." Sora smiled at Todoroki.
He nodded and looked away, hair hanging in his face. A shadow fell over Sora's desk. Bakugou towered over her, and he kicked her desk's leg for emphasis. "You asked Icy Hot to help you train?"
Sora's cheeks flushed. "Yeah, why?"
"I'd be better to teach you," Bakugou snorted. "I've seen what you're capable of."
Sora folded her arms. "Look, I know you like to prove you're the best or whatever, but that's not my problem. You didn't want to help me train, and Todoroki accepted when I asked. So far, training with him is going just fine."
"Oh yeah?" Bakugou smirked.
"Yeah," snapped Sora. The chatter in the room quieted, but Sora glowered at Bakugou. Her stomach trembled as she held his vermillion glare, but she refused to back down. She couldn't be a sunny day all the time. Her mother was right about one thing: Sora was a storm. "At least Todoroki isn't mean to me."
"Tch. You're just too sensitive, Raijin." Bakugou rolled his eyes and turned his back to her, as if that ended the conversation.
Sora widened her eyes. Hot anger slammed against her ribs. Her heartbeat thundered in her blood. How dare he act like he had no responsibility in the way he treated others? That her reaction—hurt feelings—to the rude things he said were just a result of her being sensitive? To think she baked cookies for him! "You know what, Bakugou?"
Bakugou turned, looking bored. "What?"
Sora gritted her teeth and dug her fingernails into her palms until it hurt. "Maybe I'm not too sensitive. Maybe you're just a dickhead!"
Bakugou's eyes stretched and his smirk—for the tiniest split second—faltered.
"Raijin, language!" gasped Iida. "You should conduct yourself more professionally on behalf of Class 1-A!"
Sora's face heated up as she felt the eyes of everyone on her. But she held Bakugou's gaze. He bared his teeth at her like a dog, and clenched his fists. "What the hell did you just say to me, extra?"
"Kacchan, come on," pleaded Midoriya. "She didn't mean it—"
"Oh no, I meant it," said Sora. She remained seated. She wasn't going to get into a fight with Bakugou. At least, not a physical one.
"Guys—" said Uraraka.
"What's going on?" Mr. Aizawa asked from the doorway.
Sora's heart lurched up to her throat. Crap. Was she about to get into trouble? Or worse, kicked out of the extra credit course? In front of everyone?
"Nothing," growled Bakugou, taking a seat. The tension didn't leave his shoulders.
Mr. Aizawa lifted a brow. "Okay, then. We should get started."
Sora felt the eyes of the others on her, and her face warmed again. Did they think less of her now? She hid her face from Todoroki, not wanting to see the look of disappointment on his face. It hadn't been very heroic of her to say that to Bakugou, and she was trying to prove she had what it took. Would Todoroki retract his offer to help her train?
Scowling at the back of Bakugou's head, Sora tried to pay attention to what Mr. Aizawa said about the training exercise they'd partake in for the extra credit course. Stupid Bakugou, being rude and making her angry. What was it with him and getting under her skin?
Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this fluffy chapter! Next up, I-Island... (There will be Two Heroes movie spoilers in that chapter!)