A/N: A bit of a filler chapter so enjoy two chapters this time around! Let me know what you all think so far! Someone's starting to catch feelings!
Chapter 17: Lingering Stares
Katori stifles back an audible laugh as she looks onto Bakugo's combed over hair as his blood seers in utter hatred at the teasing of his classmates. Kirishima and Sero on the other hand, do not hold back their laughs as they cackle at their friend's hairstyle sync and carry throughout the room.
"Holy crap! What the heck, Bakugo!" they both roar in unison.
"Stop laughing," Bakugo seethes, "My hair's gotten used to this, and I can't get it back the right way!" This doesn't halt their laughter and Bakugo continues, "Do you not hear me? I'll kill you!" he threatens weakly.
"I'd like to see you try, pretty boy," Sero laughs.
Katori approaches the scene, hiding her smile behind her fingertips pressed to her lips. "Come on you guys, don't be mean. I think it looks great!" she lies, trying to hold back her laughter. "I wanna feel it," she says extending her arm to his head.
"Don't touch it! You'll ruin it!" he barks at her as Best Jeanist did to him so many times over the week, however, as he does this, the hair springs back into its characteristic unruly spikes.
"Hey there it goes!" Kirishima and Sero yell out as Katori is unable to hold in her laugh and doubles over in winded cackles while Bakugo erupts into a string of threats.
Katori turns away from them with a smile on her face, when she notices that Midoriya is watching them from afar. She approaches the green-haired boy with a smile on her face, "How was your internship?" she asks him, knowing that he similarly had a last-minute recruitment.
"Oh, it was incredible!" he begins with animated gestures, "Gran Torino was an amazing mentor! He showed me how to control my Quirk better, and now I am much more nimble and agile without hurting myself!" he says happily.
"That's great, Midoriya," she says, with the conversation in the bar at the back of her mind. She doesn't allow the memory of the intimidating man on the TV breach her skull for long.
"Your internship was with Mr. Aizawa?" he asks her and she nods at him.
"Yeah, it was intense," she laughs awkwardly as she scratches at the back of her head. "He kept throwing dirt in my eyes and made me run around the campus. There were moments I wished I was fighting Bakugo instead."
"Any time, any place, Copy-Paste!" Bakugo growls at her. "Only this time, you give it your all!" He growls at her and she glances away from him.
They have not spoken to one another since the sports festival, and she feels awkward around him. He doesn't seem to be holding any resentment towards her for almost killing him, but for walking out in the fight. She just feels as though she can't explain to him what was going on in her mind at the time, and with that weighing her down, she feels uncomfortable speaking to him as if it never happened.
"I'm excited to see what everyone's learned from their internships," Katori says to the green-haired boy as she is eager to use the control that Aizawa taught her.
"If you wanna talk about the ones who really changed, it was those three," Kaminari says nodding at Todoroki, Iida, and Midoriya.
"Oh yeah, the Hero Killer!" Sero perks up.
"Glad you guys made it back alive, seriously!" Kirishima says, understanding the severity of the issue they faced.
Everyone begins surrounding the three of them, expressing their concerns and praising Endeavor for arriving to save the three of them in the knick of time.
Katori notices the expression on Todoroki's face, recognizing it as dejection at their praise for his father. She thinks back on Aizawa's recollection of her father's interactions with Endeavor, and she questions if the flamed pro hero was in fact the one who took down the Hero Killer, or if it was the three of them, and he came in to take the glory. She wouldn't put it past the man with everything that she knows now.
"Have you heard what they've been saying about the Hero Killer?" Ojiro mentions, "They say that he was working with the League of Villains. Can you imagine how scary the USJ attack would be if he was there?"
He shivers at the idea and Katori thinks about her father and his teaming up with the League of Villains. She thinks about their new recruits and how hostile they are with one another, not wanting to think what they would be like if they were around the students again.
"Have you seen that video that's going around the internet?" Kaminari asks. "He's a villain for sure, but he's tenacious. He's almost kinda cool, don'tcha think?"
"Kaminari!" Midoriya scolds him, glancing over at Iida.
Kaminari apologizes, covering his mouth at his stupid words considering the Hero Killer forced Iida's brother into retirement. His eyes dart around back and forth, brows pressing together in shock and shame at his words as everyone looks at him adversely.
"No, it's fine," Iida begins, "It's true, he's quite a tenacious villain. I understand why people might think he is cool. But instead of helping the world, his beliefs led him to cold-blooded murder. No matter his motives, killing cannot be condoned."
Katori glances down at the ground, feeling a weight pressing on her chest. She thinks about her father's rise into villainy, and how he killed in the name of justice in his eyes. She still finds herself torn on the decision, understanding her father's disillusionment with the justice system, but also understanding Aizawa and now Iida's points that to put justice in your own hands is not very heroic.
She can't help but question what path she wants to take. She feels hatred burn in her heart for her mother's death, and wants the smiling hero to pay for giving her no other option. But there is also all the things she is learning at UA that are pushing her in the opposite direction.
Later in the day, Katori and the rest of the students suit up in their costumes to meet with All Might at another colossal training ground, where the blonde hero informs them that they will continue their basic hero training. He explains to the students that they will compete in a race to locate and save him from a hidden location and return him to safety. The first student to retrieve All Might wins.
For the first round Midoriya, Iida, Mina, Sero, and Ojiro are to compete. Kirishima and the others begin placing their bets on who will win the first round. Katori sits next to Kaminari and Kirishima as she thinks for a moment on who will win.
"On any other day, I would say Iida has any race in his bag, but he's been hurt recently," she places her fingers to her lips thoughtfully. "I think Sero has this in the bag. He can use his tape to fling himself towards All Might with all these pipes around."
"Deku is going to come in dead last, that's for certain," Bakugo grunts behind them and Katori glances back at his hard-pressed glare.
All Might announces they begin and as expected, Sero begins launching himself from pipe to pipe with his tape. He takes the lead and Katori watches with excited eyes as her friends improve their Quirks.
In a flash, a green spark presses forward to take the first place spot. Katori's eyes widen when she notices the flash is Midoriya as he jumps from pipe to pipe with unmatchable speed. Her mouth is left agape as Kirishima, Kaminari, and Mineta all perk up near her, seeing the same.
She watches as he propels himself through the air with fast well-timed jumps. She feels a pit growing in her stomach when she recognizes the movement of his quick jumps. She turns around to Bakugo, seeing that he notices as she does, that Midoriya is using his moves. She can see the look in his eyes and the downturn tugging of his lips into a prominent scowl. He begins to sear as he grinds his teeth and she looks away from the boiling boy.
Katori watches Midoriya places himself at the lead as he effortlessly launches himself from pipe to pipe with a smile on his face. He is not hurting his body and he is able to control his Quirk. She grits her teeth behind her lips at the sight of him, seeing that the power that was given to him by All Might is growing, and soon he will have full control over it.
In the end, Sero ends up winning the race after Midoriya slips on a pipe and knocks himself out. Katori moves towards Bakugo who continues to simmer in annoyance. "Let me guess," she begins quietly, "You thought picking the highest-ranking hero on your list would get you closer to Number One?" she guesses and he doesn't engage her. "Best Jeanist doesn't have a Quirk like you do. You should have picked someone with a similar power and values to yours if you wanted to—"
"I didn't ask for your advice, Copy-Paste," Bakugo growls at her, "So beat it."
"Whatever, Bakugo," she says in a deflated tone. "I was just trying to help," he says walking away from him as the blonde turns his head to watch her leave.
After the day's training the girls all head to the locker rooms where they change out of their hero costumes. She listens in on Tsu and Uraraka discussing the day's events, and Katori can't help but notice how much Uraraka swoons over Midoriya. "Deku was amazing!" she coos, "The way that he jumped from those pipes without breaking a bone! He has learned so much! He's truly one of a kind!"
"You're practically as red as a tomato talking about Midoriya like that," Jiro mentions before Katori can think to tease the girl.
"What me?" Uraraka points at herself with eyes as large as dinner plates. "What that's nonsense!" she panics, "I was just telling Tsu how much Deku's improved," she says trying to regain the narrative.
"Yeah, by calling him 'amazing' and 'one of a kind'?" she deadpans skeptically.
"Well, I think we are all amazing, right?" she begins shaking as a red blush covers her cheeks and nose.
"Come on, Jiro," Mina begins. "You can't tease Uraraka with how much you like Kaminari."
"What are you talking about?" she returns with a low tone while her head sinks into her shoulders. "I don't like that idiot," she returns.
"We all see the way you tease him," she sings at her.
"Yeah…well…" she begins panicking, eyes flashing around at the girls that smile at her, until her eyes land on Katori. "What about Satsuma? She's totally falling for Bakugo!"
Katori practically pulls a muscle laughing at this. "Are you kidding me? Bakugo? I'd rather have dirt thrown in my eyes for the rest of my life!"
"Oh, now that you mention it, their eyes do linger when they look at each other," Mina says with her index finger against her smiling cheek.
Katori's heart begins to race as her face flushes with heat. "Bakugo is a psycho!" she tries to defend herself but they are not buying it with how red she is. "He's infuriating, and stupid, and annoying, and—" she glances around at each of the girls to see that the more she speaks of him, the less they're convinced. "Yeah, well, Hagakure is totally into Ojiro!" she panics as she moves the direction onward.
"Oh, I totally am!" the invisible girl admits as she jumps with joy, or at least they think she does. "He is so cute!" she beams and everyone begins laughing. "Do you think he likes me too?" Jiro nods happily and the invisible girl cheers.
"I think we can all admit that there are some cuties in our class." Mina says with a wide smile. "Todoroki being the top of the list," she adds and all the girls agree in unison with a strong, "Oh yeah!"
Katori finds herself smiling largely at their conversation, feeling closer with the girls as they tease one another. She is happy that she is making closer friendships with the girls, since she has focused most of her attention on Kirishima and Bakugo.
She blushes when she thinks of Bakugo and how Jiro assumes she is falling for him.
'I am not falling for him. He is just my friend. And barely even that. He drives me crazy. And not in a romantic way!'
Katori groans when she tries to talk herself out of liking Bakugo. She doesn't know what she feels for him. There are moments that he looks at her and she can't help but look away. And then there are moments when he confuses her, and she wonders if he even likes her at all. She shakes her head of the idea. She is not here to make friends, and she is not here to discover her feelings for Bakugo or anyone else for that matter. She is here for her father.
"Do you hear that?" Jiro asks, touching the wall and listening in. She is quiet and after a moment she jumps, her earlobes bouncing upwards in the air. "That little perv!" she calls out as she shoves one of her ear jacks into a small hole in the wall.
The girls glance over at her with confusion until they hear the sound of Mineta's shrieks and Iida's yelling from the adjacent wall. "I think we can all admit that none of us like that little perv!" Yaoyorozu says and again all the girls agree in unison with a strong, "Oh yeah!"
Katori giggles as she finishes getting dressed into her school uniform. She steps into her shoes and slings her backpack over her shoulder, waving goodbye to the girls that remain in the locker room.
She pushes the door of the room and rounds the corner when she accidently bumps into someone. She looks up and before she can apologize, he's already yelling, "Watch where you're going, Copy-Paste!"
"Right back at you, loser!" she shouts back to him, rubbing her head from crashing into his hard skull. She looks up at him and her purple eyes meet his red ones. They linger there for a moment and her eyes dart from one to the other, waiting for him to say something to her but he doesn't.
She suddenly hears Mina's words about their lingering eyes and she quickly pulls her head down, feeling her face flush at the idea.
He rolls his eyes and turns away from her, walking in the opposite direction of her. She turns her head back to watch him, when she notices that he does the same. Their eyes lock once more, before he turns his head away from her, making her wonder why he would turn to watch her after he left.
She looks over at the doorway of the women's restroom to see Jiro hiding her giggle behind her fingertips, while Mina has her arms crossed over her chest with a knowing smile and a shake of the head. Katori pulls her eyes away from the girls, grabbing the straps of her backpack and briskly fleeing the scene with red hot embarrassment flooding her face.
The following day before entering the classroom, Mr. Aizawa steps Katori aside in the hallway. "Katori," he grunts and she looks up at the tired man as he scratches the back of his head, eyes glued to the floor as he speaks with her.
"In the interest of having you remain a student here at UA and Mr. Nezu out of the loop, I've chosen not to inform the principal of your living situation," he begins with a lowered tone.
"Okay," she responds, blinking up at him.
His bloodshot eyes land on hers and she can tell that her informing him that she's sleeping on campus is really bothering him. "I am working out a solution for a better arrangement, but for the time being, I do have a spare bedroom."
She blinks at him once more, expecting him to continue, but he instead lingers on his final words. Her eyes search his to read why he is offering her this. Is this a trap? If she refuses, will he assume she is working with her father during her time away? If she agrees, will she be able to slip out and see her father again?
She gulps as she responds, "Thank you, Mr. Aizawa, for the offer," she begins. "But I wouldn't want to intrude on your life. I'm accustomed to sleeping in less than desirable areas, and to be quite honest, the couches aren't half bad," she says shooting him an awkward smile.
He nods at her, face completely unreadable and she wonders if she answered incorrectly. "Nonetheless, we will need a more permanent living situation moving forward, since Principal Nezu will not be keen on the idea of you sleeping on the couches should it arise."
"Yes, Sir," she says with a nod.
"So, I will arrange for something soon, and in the meantime, know the offer always stands."
"Thank you, Mr. Aizawa. I really appreciate it," she tells him truthfully. If the offer is genuine, it is a kind gesture that she doesn't take lightly.
"Alright, get to class; you're late," he says adopting his looming disposition.
"So are you," she returns with a cheeky grin.
After a typical lecture, Katori and the rest of the students are given ominous words from their teacher to take the midterms seriously as they approach their practical exams. He informs them that they will be heading to a training camp during the summer to practice their Quirks, and any students that fail will need to participate in summer school. Once Aizawa leaves, the class erupts into explosive conversations about their scores and placements within the class.
Katori is tied for 4th in the class with Midoriya, and is not too worried about her stance. She figures she can study a bit more to move up, but she is comfortable where she is at for the written piece of the exam, with her biggest worry being the practical piece of it, as her Quirk all depends on the use of someone else's.
She watches as everyone panics and asks for Yaoyorozu to help them study for their written portions. Kirishima turns towards her, seeing the paper that reads her stance in the class. "Wow, you're forth in our class?" he asks her. "I think I might have to study more," he says smiling at her with crescent moon eyes as he shows her his stance at 15th.
"I'd be happy to study with you," she offers to him with a genuine smile.
"You think I don't know enough?" Bakugo approaches them with a white hatred in his eyes. "Maybe I'll beat the information into your thick skull!" he threatens him.
"I'm counting on it!" Kirishima looks up at him from his desk. "But it's always good to get different teaching methods, so I'll use you both!" he says happily.
Her eyes glance up at the red-hot eyes of the explosive blonde. His gaze flashes to hers, and she can't help but falter her gaze from his with the knowledge that her stare lingers on his. "Yeah whatever," Bakugo grunts as he grabs his bag. "Let's go."