On Friday night, once everyone broke up the group talk, Setsuna immediately made way to her room, avoiding everyone's gaze as she quickly went up the stairs to the second floor. Closing the door quietly behind her, Setsuna walked over to her desk, sitting down in the green chair with a tired sigh. There was a part of her that wanted to just put the long conversation behind her, turn around and distract herself with some homework, or grab her laptop and turn on a movie while she bundled up underneath her sheets. Anything to distract her from what had happened during the last two hours. But instead, she turned to face her desk, laid down her arms, and plopped her head on the wooden surface, sighing quietly as she shut her eyes.

Everything that they had talked about kept rolling around in her head. Kinoko's tearful breakdown, Reiko's regret, Pony's confession, Ibara's sorrow, Yui's guilt ... they kept echoing around in her head like they were shouting in a cave, not letting up at all as she let out a shuddering breath. Each and every one of them ... they felt like this was their fault, but they shouldn't. They shouldn't, because all of this was hers.

Everything that had led up to today, making Izuku break their table and run away and get beat up by Itsuka and Vlad King's accusations ... they could all be traced back to her. She was the one who was responsible for all of this. She was the one who overheard Yui and him and wanted to get in on it. She was the one who blackmailed him into having sex with her, so that she could belittle and insult him just to satisfy her twisted kink. She was the one who subtly challenged Yui, who Izuku was already sleeping with, in a small, petty competition. She was the one who initiated the truth or dare game, just so Izuku could get some more confidence in the bedroom. She told Pony to just skip through the romantic parts to just fuck him (god, the fact that she knew Pony was interested and focused her on just fucking him was awful in and of itself). She didn't see the signs that Izuku was getting more and more uncomfortable about how the girls were treating him, only seeing him as an opportunity to get off. She ignored Itsuka's warnings, thought of her as just having a stick up her ass when she was the only one in the house actually talking sense.

Everything that happened today ... it was all her fault.

Setsuna couldn't help but sniffle a little, feeling some tears well in her eyes, but she roughly rubbed it away. She sat up, taking a deep breath to try to calm herself down, but for some reason, she couldn't. She tried to count up to a hundred, a tactic taught by her parents when she was young to try to calm herself, but she only got up to around twenty before she faltered, feeling her heart hammering in her chest, and slowly stopped counting. She tried to get up to grab her laptop, turn on anything to distract her from the hurt she was feeling, but as she reached for it, she faltered again, quietly pulling her hand back.

No matter what she tried to do, her heart wasn't in it. The memory of Izuku shouting at her, accusing her of playing with his emotions, would not go away. Setsuna stared vacantly at the floor for a few minutes, his yelling and how disappointed in them he had looked kept hammering at her. And then ... and then the confession. That he liked them all. That he ... liked her. As in, he was romantically interested in her. And ... and the only thing she thought, feeling tears swell in her eyes and begin to drip on her cheeks ...

... was that he was a liar.

Letting out a small sob, Setsuna threw herself onto her bed, grabbing the nearest pillow and burying her face in it. It was impossible, she bemoaned, impossible for him to like her. He might've in the past, when she was only starting to use him, but - but now? When she literally planned to make a sex schedule with everyone? Talking to everyone about it as though he weren't even in the room? Being shocked by the fact that he obviously had his own feelings about it?! And then he said that he had feelings for a selfish bitch like her?!

It was impossible. It was not possible. Setsuna let out a choked sob as she laid down on her stomach, pushing her face further into the pillow. The nicest boy she had ever met, used so callously by her, having enough of the games and yelling at her about all the horrible things she had done without thinking about the consequences, and then just ... told her that he liked her? As in, loved her?

It was ...

... it was impossible. So ... so she would have to stay away from everyone, especially Izuku. Give them space. Let them realize that Setsuna wasn't innocent in all of this. She was ... she was the bad guy here.

And bad guys don't deserve forgiveness.


Sunday was spent entirely in her room, not being able to summon the strength to go out and face her friends. She had laid in her bed all day, either staring at her ceiling with a look of desolation on her face, or trying to find anything else to distract her from the raging emotions in her heart. She tried to read, do homework, watch a movie, browse on her phone, anything, but the look of anger on Izuku's face, the disappointment he felt, it just wouldn't leave her alone. She didn't cry, at least, having cried her eyes out last night until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. She didn't bother going downstairs at all, scared of what she would find, only sending her eye and hand out to grab some food. She spied on Izuku and Itsuka recovering from their colds, being cared for by Ibara and Pony, and quickly made her exit. She had no idea where she even stood with her friends, and wasn't looking forward to interacting with them on Monday - she had a feeling that they didn't much like her anymore.

Once Monday inevitably rolled around, Setsuna left the house as quickly as she could, only giving a weak bye to the general direction of the table before she ducked out. She made way immediately to the classroom, sitting down at her desk and doing her homework. The day went by very slowly, being taken to the gym by Vlad King to practice their moves for the upcoming exam. Setsuna was chosen to spar with Sen, but she was so distracted he beat her easily, although she didn't really care. Once lunch rolled around, she quickly made way out of the classroom, wanting to avoid everyone. She spotted Reiko and Kinoko leading Izuku away from their classrooms, but didn't follow - she didn't really deserve to be in any of their company right now.

Once lunch was over, having spent it in some abandoned hallway far away from the class, the rest of the day dragged on just as slowly, probably due to how many thoughts were swirling around in her head. Thoughts of how much Izuku truly hated her, how the rest of the house probably despised her, how much she had fucked up everything, kept her from properly paying attention in class, staring at the blackboard blankly, not even noticing Monoma growling to himself a few seats away.

Finally, the school day wrapped up, the bell going off, but before anyone could stand up to go back to their houses, the door to Class 1B's classroom slid open, and a familiar figure stood in the doorframe, looking into the class and seeing who she was after looking straight at her.

"Very good!" Midnight nodded, a hand on her hip. "Tsunotori, Tokage, Kodai, Komori and Yanagi, follow me."

The girls wordlessly got up, ignoring the confused looks the guys were sending them, and followed their teacher out of the classroom. They knew that it was time for their punishment, and none of them complained, least of all Setsuna, who knew that they had this coming. As they slowly walked out of the classroom, they heard two footfalls behind her, and then heard Itsuka call out.

"Izuku!"

Setsuna stopped for a second, briefly taken aback, before she slowly turned her head to look. She saw Itsuka and Ibara approaching Izuku, who looked around in surprise as the two girls jogged over to him. Behind them, Mina's eyes were open with interest, looking like she was about to tease him only for Ochako to appear out of nowhere, swatting her head with a growl and dragging her and Kyouka (where had she come from?) away by the ears, ignoring the girls' protests as she went somewhere to chew them out, for some reason or another. Meanwhile, Mineta was crying tears of jealousy, being dragged away by the tape Sero had wrapped around him.

"I was wondering if you wanted to walk back with us," Itsuka explained as she approached their roommate, twirling a hand through her hair. "Ibara's gonna get started on dinner soon, so I thought we'd go to the house together."

"Y-yeah! Sounds great, Its - Its - Itsuka!" Izuku managed to say, going bright red. "I, uh, actually thought of something I wanted to talk to you guys about."

Together, the trio walked down the halls, chatting about something or another. Setsuna felt guilt bubbling in her chest, and another ugly emotion in her stomach as she saw how close Izuku and Itsuka were to each other. Shoving it down, Setsuna knew she had no right to feel this way, and quickly turned around to catch up with the rest of the girls, heading for their well-deserved punishment.

Midnight led them to an empty classroom, opening the door wide and gesturing for them to go in. The girls trooped in, glancing around. The front five desks each had a large stack of paper on the surface, hundreds of papers there. Beside them were pencils and a small piece of paper, with a bunch of sentences typed neatly on them. Without being prompted, the girls sat down at each desk, avoiding each others' gazes as they looked down at the written piece of paper. Reading it, each of the girls felt their moods sour, guessing what was about to happen as Midnight shut the door and strolled to the front podium, being sure to fix each girl with a look of disappointment.

"Now, then, girls, Vlad King let me know what has happened," the R-rated heroine started, being sure to sweeten up her voice. It did nothing to assure them, only making it clear that Midnight was holding back a lot of venom in her words. "And I want to start by saying that I am very disappointed with you all. Using Midoriya like that, disregarding his feelings while doing so ..." the teacher let out a sigh. "... we can't stop you all from sleeping with him - it would be hypocritical, since we know that there has to be some houses here with roommates in relationships already. We know that dating is allowed here, and we can't exactly spy on you guys in the house - but the fact that you all thought it was okay to use Midoriya for sex, without any regard for his personal feelings, is unacceptable."

The girls kept quiet, feeling guilt building up within them the more Midnight spoke to them.

"I would like you all to imagine, just for a second, if the roles were reversed," Midnight continued. "If you all went into some house filled with guys, used by them as a sex toy without any regards to your feelings - wouldn't that be awful? Wouldn't you want to make sure that didn't happen to you? Wouldn't that be a blow to your self-esteem, feeling terrible about being used by five different guys for the sheer purpose of pleasure?"

None of the girls answered, but slowly nodded.

"Do you understand the double standards here? If us teachers would punish the guys for using a girl like that, wouldn't it make sense for us to give you the same punishments?"

Again, the girls nodded. Midnight sighed, and turned to Pony, gesturing to the small card in front of her.

"Tsunotori," Midnight requested, the smaller girl jumping a bit when directly addressed by the pro heroine, "on the card in front of you, please read the definition of 'consent'."

"Er ..." Pony cleared her throat, glancing at the page in front of her, and read aloud: "'Permission for something to happen or agreement to do something'."

"Very good!" Midnight nodded, then turned to Yui. "Now, Kodai, please read the definition of 'duress'."

Yui didn't bother hesitating like Pony, picking up the page and reading aloud, in a monotone voice, "Duress is pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act they ordinarily would not perform."

"Very well read," Midnight clapped her hands together, pointing to the several stacks of paper in front of each girl, "Now, in order for us to trust you with Midoriya, I would like you all to write these two definitions over and over again, for the duration of the next two hours. You will write each definition, one after the other, for the next three weeks until your detentions are over. Only after that, I believe that you'll know the definitions by heart, and will never, ever forget them."

The girls glanced at the stacks, then Kinoko raised her hand a bit meekly.

"Er -" she cleared her throat, "can I ask how many times today we'll be writing this?"

"Until I'm satisfied," Midnight's smile did not leave her face, but it did sharpen, "and then we'll pick up on it tomorrow until your punishments are over."

The girls glanced down at the papers again, feeling a bit foreboding that this was going to be a very long two hours, but Setsuna wordlessly picked up her pencil, sliding the paper with the definitions on top of them, and got to work, writing down the definition of duress and consent. Midnight nodded at her when she got started, and one by one, the other girls picked up their pencils, sliding a piece of paper to them, and began scribbling.

This went on for two whole hours, the room silent except for the scratching of pencil on paper. Midnight sat by the desk, watching each of them as they worked, as though looking for any sign of weakness. None of them showed it, only wincing slightly as their wrists became sore from writing as more time went on. By the end of the first hour, everyone's hands were cramping, the girls letting out small noises of discomfort from the soreness, but none of them complained or tried to get out of it, knowing that compared to what else Midnight could have cooked up, this would be much preferable. Setsuna herself didn't look up at all, making sure that her writing came off as neat as she could.

After two hours, Midnight called out, "Alright, that should be enough for now. Please bring up all the papers you wrote on."

The girls wordlessly scooped up the multiple pages decorated front and back with the definitions, and brought them to Midnight, handing them to her. After she collected them, she nodded briskly and put them down in a neat pile. "We will resume this tomorrow after classes, and then for the next three weeks. You'll have weekends off, of course, but remember," she was sure to look each of them in the eye, not a trace of playfulness on her face at all, "this could be much, much worse. You are excused."

Nodding, the girls filed out, leaving Midnight by herself. Wordlessly, each of the girls began making their way back to the house. They rubbed their hands and wrists, wincing slightly in pain, but if any of them wanted to complain, they kept it to themselves. Reiko and Kinoko didn't walk together, the mushroom girl choosing to walk with Pony. Reiko and Yui also walked together, neither girl looking at the other as they massaged their wrist. That left Setsuna in the back, looking down at her feet, and feeling that the punishment Midnight gave them could have been worse. It could have been much worse.

... it should have been worse.


In the blink of an eye, Tuesday and Wednesday passed, with the girls returning to Midnight's classroom to write out the definitions of duress and consent. If any of them were complaining, they did it secretly on their own, as they wordlessly worked on Midnight's punishment. In the meanwhile, Setsuna continued to stick exclusively to her room, not wanting to bother any of her friends - if they were her friends anymore, that was, or they decided that they wanted nothing to do with her, which she definitely couldn't blame them for. She no longer joined them for dinner, instead sticking around in her room and waiting for the girls go up to their rooms before grabbing something to eat from the cabinets.

During that time, Setsuna got to observe discreetly how the girls were working to fix their relationships with Izuku. The boy sat down with Pony in front of the TV, watching some anime they picked, giggling over the weird jokes. At night, she peaked out the window, and saw Izuku crawling underneath Itsuka's bike, the orange-haired girl giving him advise on how to work. While she didn't see how Reiko and Kinoko were working to make things up to him, she did see him talking to both of them from time to time, a small smile on his face while they hung out. She would occasionally hear Ibara and him hang out in the kitchen while they cooked, but would also peak out the window early in the morning to see them watering her garden. The only mystery was Yui, who seemed to be mimicking Setsuna and staying as far away from Izuku as possible.

Right now, as Thursday night rolled around, Setsuna sighed as she got dressed in her comfy clothes, waving her hand around. After three long days of writing the same definitions over and over, her hand continued to cramp, but she dared not complain about it, knowing that she deserved it. Tying her hair in a bun, she sent her eye out to scout the kitchen, making sure that it was empty before she got some food.

Today had been particularly awful. The girls seemed to know that she needed some space, so they had kept to themselves ... but the guys didn't get a hint, best exemplified when Jurota came over to her desk and asked her what was wrong. She had quickly brushed him off, a bit louder than she intended as though she were a few seconds from shouting at him. Immediately after yelling at him, she had realized what she had done and apologized, feeing awful for shouting at her classmate unprovoked, and left the classroom to find somewhere private to eat. But now, for some reason, those thoughts just kept swirling in her head, after her eye confirmed that no one was downstairs in the dark kitchen.

As she left her room to go downstairs, she could feel the awful feeling in her gut intensify with each step. Three long days of avoiding everyone, especially the boy who's heart she broke, was continuing to knaw at her like there was some monster in her chest eating its way out. She had thought that giving them all some space from her would help them and her. But the fact that she had shouted at one of her classmates, someone who had nothing to do with what she was going through, made her sick to her stomach.

This ... this wasn't working, Setsuna sighed as she finally reached the dark kitchen, turning on the kitchen light so she could see while her eye slid back into place. This avoiding everyone, trying to make sure they didn't see her - it was only making her feel worse. No one was talking to her, seemingly content with giving her space, and her own thoughts swirling around in her head were killing her. She reached for her box of dino-crackers, feeling a sense of emptiness as she pulled the box down onto the counter.

She had no idea what she needed to do. She wanted ... she wanted some sort of confirmation of what to do going forward. She needed to know that what she was doing wasn't working, what she needed to do instead of hiding ...

... but ... but wouldn't that mean Izuku would have to tell her he hated her? She let out a shuddering breath at the thought. She was still recovering from his shouting on Friday, every word that came from his mouth stabbed her in the heart -and they were all well deserved. What she needed ... she leaned against the counter, taking a small breath. What she needed ... was confirmation that he hated her. That her thoughts that she was hopeless, that she couldn't get his forgiveness, weren't unfounded.

And the only way to do that, to find out that she was a lost cause ...

... was for him to tell her himself. She needed to hear from his own lips the confirmation that what she feared - that he secretly loathed her, and didn't want anything to do with her - weren't just some random thoughts in her head, and had some basis in reality. And it couldn't be through a door or through a phone - she needed to hear it directly from him, face to face.

Without thinking, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, pulling up Izuku's number, and quickly typed in a message.

YOU

hey

can we talk

After waiting for about a minute, standing in the kitchen while leaning on the counter, she saw that his status went to 'read', and she gulped, looking down and hoping to high hell that he answered. She saw him typing out a response, and held her breath, her heart hammering as she waited for him to tell her to fuck off. But ...

BITCH ;)

Sure!

what about?

Setsuna stared at the nickname for a few seconds, remembering that it was her little nickname for whenever they were together. It was supposed to be a naughty term of endearment - but now, staring at it, it made her sick to her stomach. She quickly went into the settings and reset his name to 'Midoriya', not trusting herself to make any kind of nickname for him, and feeling like she didn't have the right to give him a cutesy name. She let out a little breath of anticipation, knowing that this was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever gone through, and quickly typed out another message.

YOU

meet me outside

Nodding, Setsuna put her phone back into her pocket and made way towards the front door, not bothering to turn on the light. She glanced down and saw that she was still dressed in her comfy clothes, nothing she would normally wear outside - but she didn't have the energy to get changed, and after thinking about where she wanted to go, she knew that there wouldn't be much chance of anyone walking in on them.

After putting on her shoe and bending over to get on the other one, she heard footsteps on the stairs, and glanced up to see Izuku stepping into the living room, dressed in his white t-shirt that said 'Flannel', and a pair of black shorts. He looked a bit unsure, and a bit intimidated to be there, but he took a subtle deep breath and approached her, which made her immediately drop her attention back down to the ground, unable to look the boy she hurt so badly in the eye.

"Hey," she muttered.

"Er - hey," Izuku waved weakly at her, which only made her feel worse. God, he was so adorable, why the fuck did she think he'd be okay with her using him like that?! "You - what did you wanna talk about?"

Setsuna was tempted to just come outright and say it, but she didn't feel comfortable doing this here. Not where anyone could come down the stairs and get dragged back into this mess. Luckily, she knew where to go - the place she would go to to train her quirk, a large open field where they could do this uninterrupted.

"Outside," she gestured with her head, turning to the door and opening it wide, exposing them to the warm summer night. "We're not going far."

"Er - okay. Let's go."

With that, Setsuna walked out into the night, trying hard not to crack so early. She just needed to take him to the field, ask her question, and get the confirmation that he wouldn't actually forgive her. And then ... and then that would be that.


And now here they were, walking down the driveway, passing Itsuka's parked bike and out onto the sidewalk. It was pitch black, the only lights coming from the moon overhead and the streetlamps showing the path towards the school. Setsuna didn't look back at Izuku as the two walked down the street, the green-haired girl walking a bit faster than Izuku to keep ahead of him. The boy himself was starting to feel more than a little nervous - her posture and the way she was carrying herself filled him with foreboding.

"Er - Tokage," Izuku asked, hoping to get her attention, but the girl didn't turn back at all. "Can - can I ask where we're going?"

"Not far," was her only answer, and Izuku couldn't help but purse his lips somewhat in worry. She wasn't acting like her usual goofy self at all, and that only made him feel a bit more anxious. Before he could ask her anything else, she suddenly veered off the sidewalk, going on the grass and continuing down a field. Izuku gulped, but followed her anyway. He saw the large open field ahead and really hoped that this wouldn't turn into another fight - or at least, it would be restricted to a verbal one, if he had no choice. He really didn't want to have to fight any more of his classmates.

After about another minute of walking, Setsuna stopped right in the center of the field, turning around to look at Izuku with those same tired eyes. Izuku gulped again and stopped just a bit short in front of her. Thankfully the moon was shining pretty brightly tonight, so both of them could easily be seen by one another. Setsuna noticed how nervous he looked, let out a tired little sigh.

"Relax," she said, "it's not like I dragged you out here to beat you up or anything."

"Wouldn't be the first time that happened," Izuku mumbled.

"Anyway," Setsuna looked away again, finding it very hard to face the boy, "I ... I wanted to talk to you."

"Er - yeah," Izuku nodded slowly, shifting back and forth on his feet. "Uh ... what's up?"

Setsuna didn't answer immediately, instead turning back to look at her feet. Izuku waited for a few moments, wanting her to go at her own pace ... until a minute passed and nothing. Then another. Three minutes passed, and Setsuna continued to study the ground. At this point, Izuku, feeling more than a little awkward, looked a bit closer, and saw that her face had froze into a grimace, staring vacantly at the ground with her mouth in a thin line. If Izuku didn't know any better, he almost thought that she was about to be sick.

"Er - Tokage -?"

"Do you hate me?"

Izuku blinked, taken aback by the words that finally left her lips. She had said them so quietly, Izuku almost didn't hear them. But then he realized what she actually said, and his eyes widened a bit. Did he ... did he hate her? Of course not! Why would she - wait. Wait, wait, wait. Izuku suddenly remembered how distant she had been all week, how she had been avoiding everyone in the house and in class, according to Itsuka. Maybe ...

"... um, Tokage? Why are you -?"

"Just tell me." Setsuna said shortly, and Izuku winced slightly. There really was no putting off this answer. So he took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves, and answered:

"No. No, I don't hate you."

There was another pause, as though Setsuna was slowly digesting his answer. And then ...

"... why not?"

"Er - I'm sorry, what?"

"Why don't you hate me?" She asked lowly, her voice pretty much drained of every emotion. It was so unlike her that it practically gave Izuku whiplash. "I ... I treated you like shit. I'm awful to you. I - I avoided you all week. And - and you don't hate me?" she shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. It shouldn't. You - you should hate the utter shit out of me. I'm the reason you got hurt so much."

"Tokage ..."

"So - so I don't believe you." She finally glanced at him, and Izuku was taken aback by the fact that, while not having any expression on her face, there were fresh tears in her eyes. "I - I don't believe that you don't hate me. Please ... please just tell me the truth."

"I ... what?" Izuku shook his head briefly, confused. "I - I did! I don't hate you, Tokage."

"Bullshit."

"It's not -"

"It's bullshit!" Setsuna suddenly snapped, and Izuku's eyes widened as she finally turned to him with her expression finally changing. There was nothing but anger and pain on her face, and her hands were balled into fists as her voice wobbled. "Stop being so nice, stop being so understanding, and just tell me the truth! I've been such a piece of shit to you, there's no way that you actually like me! So just cut the shit and tell me the truth!"

"I am telling you the truth." Izuku felt an unexpected bolt of anger in his stomach, and took a step forward. "I don't hate you. I like -"

"Don't fucking say it!" Setsuna yelled suddenly, scaring him. "Don't say that you like me! I don't believe you!"

"I - Tokage, wh - what is going on?" Izuku tried to ask her, feeling an odd mixture of confused, angered and concerned. "Why - why don't you think I - I like you?"

"Because you can't."

"That's - that's not an answer."

"Yes, it is!" Setsuna insisted, taking a step forward. "I didn't do anything to justify you liking me! I blackmailed you into having sex with me, I degraded you the whole time, I manipulated you into having sex with the other girls! I was about to make a fucking schedule so we could all fuck you at different times, like you weren't even a person! I hurt you so much you fucking snapped and yelled at everyone! I did that! You're -" She couldn't suppress a sob now, her tears finally escaping and trailing down her cheeks. "You're the nicest guy in either of our classes, and I broke your heart! You're the kindest person I've ever met and I hurt you so bad you screamed at us! I'm - you have no fucking idea how much I - I hate myself that I made you feel like we didn't like you!"

Now Setsuna couldn't help but begin to sob in earnest, hunching over and grabbing her chest as though her heart were in pain. It hurt Izuku to see her like this, wanting to comfort her, but he forced himself to hold back, letting her vent. It was obvious that she had been holding back on this all week, and he wanted her to let it all out.

"And when - when you came back, all bruised and bloody, I - I knew that was my fault! I shoved Itsuka to the side too! She told me how much it would hurt you to use you like this and I just ignored her! And - and then you hear me just sell you off, like you're not even a person, just a dildo I pass along to the other girls. I didn't think about how much that would've hurt you - and why the hell didn't I?! You're so soft, so kind, so caring, and I thought you'd be okay with just being used?! What the fuck is wrong with me?! So please, please stop acting like I'm like the other girls, who can actually make it up to you, because I'm not! I'm the bad guy here! So please, stop pretending and tell me how much you hate me!"

Setsuna took a few seconds to finally breathe, her throat a bit raw from all of the yelling, and Izuku let her try to calm down. He was feeling several emotions running throughout him - pity for how much this must've been hurting her, sadness that she really thought he secretly loathed her, anger that she assumed he was lying. So Izuku took a deep breath, knowing that this was not going to be resolved without more yelling, and spoke once she finally caught her breath.

"I ... am not going to lie to you," Izuku started, and Setsuna was quick to look back up, the tears on her face not stopping, "when ... when this all started ... I wasn't really sure what to do. I - I just slept with Kodai and I thought that I betrayed Vlad King's trust. Then ... then you teased me that you knew, and - and then we slept together. I'm ... I'm not going to lie, how we got together was ... it was a bit weird. And - and the way you pushed me towards the other girls ... it made me more than a bit sad. It - it made me feel awful."

Setsuna let out a hiccup, but she nodded, hearing exactly what she wanted. Izuku pursed his lips, trying hard not to show any outward emotion.

"Then ... then came the schedule. I - I don't think you would've seriously pushed for it, but ... but it was the last straw. That was what broke me. At that moment, I was angry at everyone - and I was really angry at you. You're right, that - that a lot of this was your - it could be considered your fault. If you - if you hadn't pushed everyone on me, if you just let things go, we wouldn't be here. This ... this is your fault."

Setsuna quickly nodded again, tears still dripping down her face as she heard what she wanted to hear. Izuku studied her for a few more seconds, a storm of emotions within him, as she accepted the blame for everything. But ...

"... but I don't hate you."

Setsuna's hiccupping and crying almost immediately ceased, staring at the ground with wide eyes, before she wiped her gaze straight to his face, seeing his look of understanding on his face.

"I - I don't hate you, Tokage. I never have, and I never will." Izuku gave her a soft smile. "I - I'm really angry at you, and I think that you have a lot to make up for - but I could never hate you. I like you. I always have. So please, please don't - don't accept the blame for everything, because as much as you want to be the bad guy here, you aren't. Everyone shares the blame. Tsunotori, Kodai, Yanagi, Komori, Shiozaki, Kendou, even me. There isn't a bad guy here. We're all to blame for this. You might've encouraged a lot of this to happen, but at the end of the day, everyone chose to take advantage of me. So please, stop putting everything on your shoulders, and come back. Stop hiding in your room and come and hang out with us."

Izuku let himself fall silent, letting Setsuna digest what he said. As angry as he was at her, due to the way she goaded everyone to sleep with him, he couldn't stand there and let her wallow in self-hatred. That, and if she continued blaming herself, she may never be able to move on like the rest of the girls were trying to. He let her stare off to the side for a few minutes, thinking, before she suddenly shook her head, her lips thinning into a line.

"No," she muttered, before looking back up at him. "No, no, I can't - no. This - this is all my fault. Stop - stop pretending like I'm not."

"Tokage, you're not -"

"I am!" She suddenly shouted, making Izuku jump a bit. The tears continued to streak down her cheeks as she denied his words with all her might. "I'm the bad guy here! Everything is my fault! I couldn't leave well enough alone, and I pushed everyone on you! Itsuka kept telling me not to do it, but I refused to listen! I had no fucking idea how much it was hurting you when it should've been so obvious, because I had my head so far up my own ass I couldn't see it!"

She grabbed her hair in both hands, practically pulling it from the frustration. "You should fucking hate me! You should tell me to go fuck myself! I don't deserve your forgiveness at all, so why are you offering it to me?! Come one, tell me to screw off! Tell me to leave you alone! Tell me that you never want to see me again! Please, stop being nice and tell me how much you hate me!"

Izuku stared at the despairing girl in front of him, feeling tears well up in his eyes as pity and sorrow overtook him, staring at the girl as she broke down in front of him. She wasn't going to accept any other answer from him - she wanted to be the villain of this situation, he realized numbly, and wouldn't accept any other substitute. There was a part of him, a deep, ugly feeling that weirdly sounded by Kacchan, that was satisfied with what he was seeing, thinking it great to see her readily accept the blame for the entire situation. But ... but every other part of him refused to see her as the sole responsibility. And she needed to know that.

"I'm ... I'm not going to tell you to fuck off, Tokage. I won't."

"Pars - Midoriya!"

"Tokage, I won't."

Setsuna stared up at him for a few seconds, her breath coming out in jitters as tears continued to run down her face, a bit of snot coming out of her nose. She looked more unsure of herself than Izuku had ever seen her, as though having no idea of what to do any more. Izuku had to physically suppress the sudden need to bring her into his arms and hug her, seeing that she just needed something to comfort her - but it would be inappropriate. But before he could speak up, tell her more about how this wasn't entirely her fault, and how she could fix it, her expression hardened, and she glared up at him, more tears streaking down her cheeks.

"What do I have to do, then?" She demanded, balling her fists. "Do I have to beat you up? Hurt you? Tell me what I have to do to make you hate me."

"Wh - what?"

"Tell me what I have to do to make you hate me," She repeated, taking a step forward and trying to look tough despite the tears and snot clinging on her face, "I'm not accepting anything nice about me as an answer. I - I need to be the one responsible. Please, just tell me what you need me to do to make you hate me."

Izuku blinked, staring at her as though she grew a second head, and felt the pit in his stomach clench painfully. She was - she wasn't going to accept anything nice about her as an answer. She wanted him to hate her, needed him to hate her. But ... but he shook his head, making Setsuna let out a tense breath.

"You ... you can't," Izuku looked away, trying hard not to start crying himself - he wondered how on earth he had toughed it out so far. "You - you can't make me hate you. Nothing you say can make me hate you."

Setsuna stared at him for a few seconds, breathing hard through her nose, before her glare intensified and she roughly wiped her face with her sleeve.

"I used you." She snapped, and Izuku blinked, looking around at her in confusion. "I used you for sex. That's all I wanted from you. That's everything I wanted from you, and it was so easy how you gave it to me. I toyed with you. I got to insult you. Everything you said during your speech about me was true. I just used you for my sick kicks."

Izuku stared at her in shock, letting out a shuddering breath at the sudden venomous words she spat at him as she continued glaring up at him. The words she just spoke hit him straight in the chest, as though she had stabbed him with them. There was a part of him that felt like crying at the harsh words that just escaped her mouth, and the ugly part of him felt enraged, tempted to shout back at her. And yet ...

"I ... I don't believe you."

"I pushed everyone on you so you'd get better at sex. That's all I did this for. So you could be a better lover. All I wanted was for you to get better so I'd have more fun."

"I ... no, I don't believe that."

"It's the truth!" Setsuna yelled again, balling her hands to fists. "You're nothing but a walking, talking dildo to me! I don't care anything about your feelings or all that shit! All you did was make me feel bad for something we had going on! So stop pretending that you actually like me, that you have feelings for me, because that's utter horseshit!"

"No." Izuku finally managed to steady his voice, her words hurting him, but he refused to buckle. "I don't believe you. You - you wouldn't be doing this if I was nothing to you. You wouldn't have dragged me outside to talk if all I was to you was walking and talking entertainment. We wouldn't be out here talking, you wouldn't be - you wouldn't be yelling at me about how much I'm supposed to hate you. I - I know that I mean something to you, Tokage. Just like - just like how you mean something to me."

Setsuna let out a small scream of frustration, clenching her hands into tight fists as she stomped on the ground, and then ran straight up to Izuku, one of her fists flying. It hit him directly in the chest, making him wince slightly - she was training to be a hero, so obviously her hits would hurt - but stood there as she started beating on his chest, grunting and panting raggedly as she went to town. It was obvious after the first few punches, however, that she had lost strength in her hits, only hitting him weakly in frustration as she started crying uncontrollably, her hair shadowing her eyes as her hits grew weaker and weaker.

Izuku stared at her in pity, feeling some tears escape his eyes at last. All of this ... he supposed he should feel angry that she was acting like she was the most despicable person in the world, disgusted that she wouldn't listen to him at all, roll his eyes at her insistence that she deserved to be written off as a lost cause ... but the truth was that he just felt sad. He felt sad that she had been thinking these awful thoughts, and that they had plagued her all week with no one to turn to. He knew at least that this didn't require a fight, as he didn't feel like fighting one of his roommates right now. But ... but he still had no idea what to do to comfort her. He had no idea how to stop these thoughts of hers, other than ...

Izuku wrinkled his brow at the sudden impulse, and tried to shake it away. There was more than a likely chance of it backfiring on him, making her feel worse. But as he felt her hits to his chest weaken even more, the sound of her crying hitting him where it hurt, he suddenly remembered their first actual time together. The first actual time that they had sex. She had done her degrading, kinky insults, and while at the time they had excited him more, once they were done he could feel a small tinge of hurt as he got dressed. Then she gave him a small smile leaned up to his face, and he had felt much better.

If that had worked ... then maybe ... Izuku glanced back down at her as she as she finally stopped hitting him ineffectively, grabbing the front of his shirt tightly and staring at the ground with despair on her face.

"Why?" she asked brokenly, her voice cracking in several places. "Why don't you hate me? I - I treated you like shit. I used you. I just - I didn't think about you as a friend. Why ... why do you like someone like me?"

Izuku looked down on her head, letting out a small tense breath, before he spoke. He knew what he had to do - he knew how it could backfire, and how it could send the opposite message - but at this point, he didn't see any other way to calm her down.

"Because ... because I know that you didn't mean for it to go that far," he muttered, bringing his head down to that it almost laid on top of hers, talking into her green hair. "I know that you weren't being intentionally mean, Tokage. I think - I think that you only did that because you weren't thinking of the consequences. I mean - I know K-Kendou told you not to, but - but if I asked you to stop, like - like asked you to stop having sex with me - would you?"

Setsuna couldn't answer vocally, but she did nod her head once. Izuku nodded as well.

"I - I thought so. Tokage, I'll - I'll admit that I'm angry at you. Everything you said ... about taking advantage of me, of making me feel awful, of making me feel small ... it ... you weren't wrong. I am angry at you for all that stuff."

"Then ..." Setsuna gulped, and looked up, desperation written all over her face. "Then why are you -?"

Izuku, seeing the opportunity to finally do this, took a deep breath, screwed his eyes shut, and leaned in. Setsuna's eyes widened as Izuku gave her a soft kiss, raising a hand to cup the back of her head. Izuku didn't go for their usual hard kisses, tongues invading their mouths, something that would lead to kinky sexy times - he wanted this to be softer, less sensual, more loving. He brought his other hand to rub her back, only pressing his lips against hers, before he finally disconnected, opening his eyes and continuing to rub her back in a soothing manner.

"But ..." he took a deep breath, "... but I don't hate you, because I know what you're really like. You ... you did get carried away with what we were doing, and you may have hurt my feelings during our time together ... but what we had was special. I felt ... whenever you teased me, I didn't feel like I did back in junior high, when everyone was making fun of me. I knew ... I knew that you were coming from a good place. I know that you're a good person. You aren't the bad guy."

"I'm ..."

"You're not," Izuku insisted, "you aren't a bad person. I do like you. Both - both as a person, and someone I - I like-like," he couldn't help but blush at that, despite the serious conversation. "I will never hate you. Because ... because as much as you hurt me, you also made me feel special. I'm ... I'm still angry at you, and I meant what I said last Friday - concentrate on being my friend rather than someone focused on sex - and I can't forgive you that easily. But ... but it's better than standing around and hating yourself, right? Making yourself feel bad? Isn't it?"

Setsuna stayed silent for a few moments, digesting his words while her tears started to slow, looking vacant, before nodding slightly. Izuku gave her a small smile, glancing down at her lips, and then shuddered, making her look back up as he closed his eyes.

"I'm - I'm sorry, I know what I said, but -" he couldn't even finish that sentence, instead bending over to kiss her again, suddenly craving the need for those touches. He knew he had taken her by surprise again, but for some reason, he couldn't care. The feeling of someone's lips on his - he realized how much he had missed it. But ... but that wasn't normal, right? Why did this feel like nirvana?

Before he could think any more about it, he suddenly became aware that she started pushing her lips back on his. He squinted his eyes open, seeing her tear-filled eyes slowly shut, and her arms were brought up to wrap around his waist. Again, this wasn't like their usual kisses - there was no roughness or tongue-wrestling or biting, rather it was a soft pressing of lips, a far more intimate feeling than their usual bouts. And that's where they stood in the middle of the empty field, the moon shining over them as they slowly kissed.

Finally, they disconnected, panting slightly from the lack of air, and Setsuna opened her eyes gently.

"I thought you said ..." she whispered, "... that there wasn't going to be anything like this anymore."

"I - I said there wasn't going to be anymore sexual stuff," Izuku shrugged, rubbing her back, "and - and this isn't meant to be sexual. It's - it's more of a - I'm - I guess I'm - clarifying my interest?"

"... clarifying your interest," Setsuna said, raising an eyebrow. He was relieved, however, that that sad, despairing look was fading off her face.

"I mean, I was going to kiss you one more time," Izuku blushed, glancing away, "but if you're saying you don't want to ..."

Setsuna gave him another few seconds of deadpan staring, before she let out a small sigh. "Fuck it. One more for the road."

Izuku let out a small huff of amusement, and leaned back in, giving her the third kiss of the evening. Like before, he wanted to make sure that this wasn't like the last few times they kissed - where it was leadup to sex, where it was more her dominating him. He wanted this to be more ... innocent. Like he said to her, a clarification of interest. He did feel a little bad with this being the second time he broke his promise to himself, but seeing how much this was hurting her, he couldn't resist. Setsuna definitely seemed like she needed it, raising her arms to wrap around his neck and returning the soft pushing of lips.

After another few moments, they broke apart (Setsuna not being able to resist planting another tiny kiss to the corner of his mouth before she went), and both of them backed away, taking a few steady breaths. Both of their hands were still on each other's hips, though, and Izuku couldn't help but shudder from an unexpected feeling from her hands on him. It wasn't a bad feeling, quite the opposite. It felt ... strangely good. Before he could think more on it, though, Setsuna sighed.

"... I'm sorry," she mumbled, eyes downcast. "I - I'm sorry."

"Okay," Izuku nodded, understanding. "Is this about ..."

"Everything," she clarified. "Everything. Seducing you, setting you up with everyone, ignoring your feelings, hurting you so bad. Dragging you out here yelling about how much you hate me. I was - I was so obsessed with being the bad guy, I ignored that - I just wanted to justify that I'm the worst. But - but I was just ignoring the problem and trying to avoid dealing with it. I'm - I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Izuku sighed, rubbing some circles on her hips with his thumbs. "I'd - I'd say I forgive you, but ... but I made a promise to myself. That you guys would have to work for it. I - I'm sorry I can't forgive you."

Setsuna looked at him for a few moments, then couldn't help but smirk a little. "You're sorry that I'm sorry?"

"Er - wait, what?" Izuku blinked, confused. "I - I said I'm sorry for not accepting your apology - wait." He turned to the side, wrinkling his brow in confusion while a small smile graced Setsuna's lips as she watched him figure out how that worked, knowing that she got him with her little mind game. "I'm - I'm sorry that I can't ... I'm sorry that I can't accept your apology ... I'm sorry that I ... wait, I'm sorry that I can't forgive you. There! That's what I meant in the first place!" Izuku turned back to her, grinning. "I'm sorry that I can't forgive you."

Setsuna couldn't help but start laughing, doubling over in giggles. It was probably the stress of the last few days, all the mental anguish she had been pouring onto herself, which made the situation even funnier. Izuku had watched her laugh for a minute or so, happy that she was back to normal ... until a minute stretched to five, and Setsuna started huffing in pain from the laugher. That's when Izuku grew concerned, trying to help her stay straight up and not die from laughter.

Finally, Setsuna's giggles faded away, and she managed to stand up right, rubbing her face to wipe away the leftover tears. Izuku stood relatively close by, in case she fell apart again, but she seemed to have managed to get control of herself, sighing a bit.

"Do you, uh, feel better?" Izuku asked, a bit timidly.

"Not ... not really," Setsuna sighed, not really wanting to lie to him anymore. Better to be honest. "I still got a lot of shit to deal with. But - but I think that this definitely helped. At least I know what to do now."

"Eh? What's that?"

"Well, everyone's gotta work to fix things, but I'm the one with the most to fix." Setsuna nodded to herself, slowly feeling her usual peppy self come back. "So I'm gonna be the best freaking roommate you've ever had."

"Er - the best?"

"Hell yeah!" She pumped a fist in the air, giving him a shark grin. "We're gonna have it all! Sleepovers! Hang outs! The works! You and me are hitting the mall at some point, because your fashion sucks!"

"My -?!" Izuku balked, whipping his gaze down to his t-shirt. "What's wrong with my fashion?"

"Honey, I'm not sure if you noticed, but you wore a shirt with the word 'bedsheets' on it the first night you moved in, and I had to stop Reiko from strangling you."

"She hates my shirts?!"

"She hates bad puns in general, so yes," Setsuna patted his hair, making him smile, "but besides that! You and me are going to be the bestest of friends! We'll do movie night, game night, homework - homework." She stopped short, eyes going wide. "I forgot about Vlad King's homework. I was gonna do that tonight. Shit."

Izuku couldn't help but snort, which prompted Setsuna to hit him half-heartedly as they wordlessly started walking back to the dorms, a bit closer than before. As they walked, however, Setsuna quickly stepped over, wrapping an arm around him and laying her head against his shoulder. Izuku shuddered a bit from the feeling, not really knowing why - but it wasn't out of discomfort.

"I really am sorry," she mumbled, hugging his side as they returned to the house, "for everything."

"I know," Izuku nodded, leaning slightly down to put his cheek against her hair.

They were silent all the way back to the house, walking with Setsuna's arm wrapped around him, both evidently needing a bit of physical comfort. While Setsuna silently thought a bit more about what she was going to do going forward, Izuku, meanwhile, let out a small sigh of comfort from how closely she was pressed to him. Which ... made him think.

Why was he so comfortable right now? Normally he'd like the hug, of course - all his life, the most hugs he'd ever received was from his mother, so anyone showing him physical affection was pretty rare. But ... but why did this feel so good? Her arm wrapped around him, her pressed into his side, her head on his shoulder? Why did it feel like he had missed this?

"So," Setsuna finally said, shaking Izuku out of his thoughts. "Prez is calling you by your first name, huh?"

"Erk!"

"When'd that happen?" Setsuna had a small smile on her face, showing that she was only teasing. Thank goodness, too - Izuku wasn't ready for any huge accusations of favoritism between their friends.

"W-well, she said that - well, we were close, and -"

"Relax," she chuckled, a much softer expression on her face than usual. "I was just ... I was just wondering if I could call you Parsley again. I know that nickname might be ... connected to some bad memories. I can just call you Midoriya, if you want."

"Er - no, it's okay, you can call me Parsley," Izuku nodded, but then a thought suddenly came to him, and he couldn't help but blush. "Er - actually ..."

"Huh?"

"If ... if you wanted ... if you wanted to ... call me ... my first name ... you ..."

Setsuna raised her head to study his blushing face for a few moments, then snorted. "Nah. Parsley's my nickname. Like how Uraraka calls you Deku. I'm not giving that up."

"O-oh." Izuku gulped nervously, looking away. "O-okay."

Before he could say anything else though, Setsuna disconnected her hand and brought it to his opposite cheek, pushing his face to look at her again. She was wearing a more confident smirk, although if Izuku looked closely in the light from the streetlamps, he could see a dusting of pink.

"Although ... if you wanted to call me Setsuna ... I wouldn't mind."

"S-?! Set -?!"

"Relax, big boy," she grinned, "I'm not expecting you to -"

"Hey."

Both Izuku and Setsuna jumped, whirling around. They hadn't realized that they already made it back to the house during their little walk of silence, seeing the light on the front porch on, which they definitely hadn't turned on when they left. Sitting out front on the steps was Itsuka, dressed up in pajamas with her hair down from its usual ponytail, holding a can of soda in her hand, obviously enjoying the warm night. She saw them walk by the house and called out to them, seeing them laughing and talking about something, which was a relief to her - seeing Setsuna's moody and depressed state the last week had hurt her, and now looking at her with a smile on her face made her feel so much better.

"Er - hey," Izuku gave her a weak wave, feeling awkward. "Were - were you waiting for us?"

"No," Itsuka shook her head, standing up, "I was just out here for a bit 'cause I couldn't sleep. I assume everything's good with you two?"

"Uh - yeah," Izuku nodded as they walked up the driveway, noticing that Setsuna seemed to shrink a bit as they walked up. Which made sense to him - the two of them settled things between them, Setsuna determined to make it up to Izuku now, but obviously the dinosaur loving girl didn't know where she stood with the rest of her roommates - especially the one she purposefully spited and insulted. Itsuka, for her part, didn't look angry to see her - rather, she seemed glad.

"Hey," Setsuna said shyly, glancing away, but jumped when Itsuka hopped down from the front porch, putting the can of soda down, and immediately pulled her in for a hug. The green girl froze for only a few seconds, before letting out a sigh and wrapping her arms back around her, squeezing. Izuku stood a bit to the side, letting them hug it out, before Itsuka finally separated from her, holding her shoulders and giving her a little smile.

"Wanna have a girl night?" she asked. "I need someone to paint my nails."

Setsuna let out a small little laugh, and nodded. "Sounds great, Prez."

Together, the girls turned to walk back into the house, smiling at Izuku as they went, and he gave them a good natured wave as they went inside. Once the door closed, Izuku let out a small sigh, rubbing a hand through his hair, and decided to grab something to drink before going to bed, walked back inside the house.

As he closed the front door, turning off the porch light, he let out a sigh of comfort, knowing that he did the best he could tonight. The more he thought about it, the less he felt guilty for kissing Setsuna - she obviously needed something to confirm that he didn't hate her, and that was the only logical thing he could've thought of at the time. Sure, he might've been able to find something else if he had thought about it more - but at the time, he just wanted to make sure she didn't blame herself for this anymore than she had to, and jumped to the quickest way to do that. At the very least, Izuku could sleep comfortably tonight, knowing that he helped Setsuna out - as he turned to the couch absentmindedly, he thought about how Setsuna would make it up to him -

- and caught sight of a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him in the darkness.

It was very lucky that Izuku didn't let out a high-pitched scream, only staring at the eyes staring vacantly at him in brief horror as he felt himself freeze in place. What - what was that?! Those pair of scary eyes staring at him in the dark?! What the heck?! Before he could decided on if he was going to go into fight or flight, there was a shifting of clothes on the loveseat, and the lamp beside the furniture turned on.

"Midoriya?" Reiko blinked up at him, looking confused in her pair of pajamas. "Why are you just standing there? And why are you bent over?"

Izuku let out a tense breath, grabbing his knees while he tried to calm down from the mini heart attack he just had. It was just Reiko. He forgot that, strangely unrelated to her quirk, her eyes would somehow glow in the dark. She had joked before that it was because of her deals with the devil, or it was a side effect of her quirk, but in reality, she said that it was just weird. Weird enough that if Izuku wasn't careful, he would think that there was some kind of monster waiting for him in the dark.

"Are you alright?" Reiko leaned back in her seat, her hands folded in her lap. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Er - I guess I did," Izuku sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as he calmed down from the scare. "Wh - what are you still up for?"

"I'm ... I was thinking," Reiko admitted, glancing away uncomfortably, "I've been having a lot of time to think to myself lately, and I'm afraid that it has been cutting into my sleep schedule. I planned to sit down here while I thought."

"Oh?" Izuku blinked, looking over at her in concern. "Is there - is there anything I can help you with?"

"Er - no, not really," This time the ghost girl was looking fully away from Izuku, but he could spot a hint of red on her cheeks, easily picked out due to her pale skin. Izuku furrowed his brow, and without thinking, walked over and sat on the loveseat beside her.

"Is ... is it about Friday?" Izuku inquired, and saw Reiko cringe somewhat, making him feel regretful for poking his nose into it. "I - you don't have to say if it is, but - but if it's something I did, I wanna hear. It's - it wouldn't sit right with me if I made something worse for you - well, more worse than I already have."

Reiko studied the wall for a few seconds, before letting out small exhale.

"Well, if ... if I'm being honest," she hesitated for a second, before shaking her head. "You are correct. It - it does have something to do with you."

"O-oh. W-well, if - if you wanted to talk to me about it, I - I'd be willing to listen."

For a few more seconds, they sat in silence, Izuku glancing at his silver-haired roommate before glancing away, while Reiko continued to study the wall. Finally, she looked away, studying the small table in the middle of the living room with a forlon expression.

"I'm ... I'm sorry, Midoriya," Reiko sighed as she pouted, "I'm ... the truth is ... the truth is that I'm afraid that I wasn't honest with you when we met up for lunch on Monday."

"H-huh?" Izuku looked at her in concern, a tight sensation suddenly gripping his chest as she leaned forward, continue to stare at the table, anywhere but him.

"Kinoko and I ... we went for a very long walk on Saturday, to discuss everything that had happened," Reiko confessed, a look of remorse on her face. "We spent several hours talking about what happened, how we would make it up to you, and the such. The truth is ... well, we ended up talking a bit about you during our discussion. And ... and your confession. I ... hope that it is not inappropriate to confess to you that both Kinoko and I find you very attractive - both emotionally and physically."

Izuku felt himself blush a little - it was still so jarring to think that both Pony and Ibara had feelings for him, even if he purposefully didn't think about it - and the fact that the other girls did find him attractive in other ways than just physical threw him for a loop every time. Still, he was still feeling a bit frightened about what Reiko had to say. "It's - it's okay. Just ... am I the reason you took a break?"

"... I'll admit, yes. But not for the reason you think."

"Er - what do you mean?"

"I mean," Reiko sighed, closing her eyes, "that both Kinoko and I asked each other a question about you, and neither of us were able to answer it. We decided to take a break after that to reevaluate ourselves."

"I ... what - what was the question?"

Reiko didn't answer for a few seconds, evidently mulling over how to phrase this. Finally, she let out another long sigh, and opened her eyes, turning over to finally look at him in the eye as she spoke.

"We asked ourselves ... if you ended up asking one of us out ... and it was a choice between you and each other ... who would we choose?" She looked away, her eyes misting. "And ... neither of us could answer that question."

Hey guys! This is 3PeopleInACoat! I got a few messages asking if this is legitimately me, and I can confirm that it is so XD I only just recently remembered that I haven't posted this story on this site while I was writing it, so I did decide to go on a massive posting spree. I'm glad that you all have liked this story so far! Now that we're caught up, I plan to update this fic every Sunday evening/Monday morning from here on out. If you're interested in reading this story on AO3, you can check it out at /works/27673661/chapters/67721522, along with any other story I've written. You can also follow me on Tumblr at .com, or on Twitter: 3peopleinacoat. Thank you all so much for reading, and see you next time!