A/N: This chapter does not follow the anime or manga story line, but thought it would be a fun few chapters!
Chapter 20: Crush
Katori and the other students all sit at their desks, slumped in their chairs with their heads propped up by their hands waiting for the day to end and their summer vacation to begin. They all eagerly wait, unable to listen to their final class instructions as they are minutes away from freedom until their summer camp training.
Mr. Aizawa drawls on, dragging the class with a sick satisfaction that he clearly gets from keeping the students from their freedom. Katori's eyes scan the room of the other students, noticing that none of them seem to be paying much attention either, and she impatiently bounces her leg until he finally releases the students.
Everyone jumps out of their seats so fast that she would have thought they all had lightning flash Quirks like Iida. She slings her bag over her shoulder and heads out of the classroom in the sea of bodies with the rest of her classmates.
"Hey Katori!" she hears her name being called out by Mina. She turns around to see her and Jiro heading towards Katori with Yaoyorozu and Uraraka following behind them. "There's a festival tonight celebrating the first day of summer, and we're all going as a class, then having a sleepover at Momo's house afterwards just us girls!" she tells her happily with a large smile that reaches her eyes. "Want to come?"
Katori smiles at the girls and nods at them, "Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun!" she tells them with excitement building in her chest.
Mina begins erupting in excitement, talking about all the things they will do at the sleepover when she notices Kirishima, Bakugo, and Kaminari encroach on their group. "Hey ladies!" Kirishima calls out with a wide sharp-tooth smile. "What are we talking about?"
"The festival tonight," Katori smiles up at him. "We are going there as a class, are you guys coming?" she asks them.
Kirishima looks back at Bakugo with his hand scratching at the back of his head, while the blonde glares at him with hateful eyes. "Uh, yeah, you guys?" she nods at him happily, ignoring Bakugo's hard glare.
"So, ugh about that…" the crimson boy awkwardly looks at Kaminari for guidance with something and the electric blonde shrugs at him. He turns back to the girls, "There's this super cool awesome thing I wanted to show Mina. Yaoyorozu, you should come too."
"Yeah, Jiro, Uraraka I got something to show you too!" Kaminari adds awkwardly while Bakugo rolls his eyes with his arms crossed over his chest.
"What is it?" Katori asks and the boys look at one another with awkward glances.
"It's kinda for them only…" Kirishima winces.
"What?" she asks confused.
Bakugo rolls his eyes once more, pushing past the two boys, "You're so bad at this," he growls at Kirishima and turning his attention to the girls. "Move it, extras! I got something to say to you," he says glaring down at Katori.
"Then say it," Katori challenges him with narrowing eyes.
"Oh!" Yaoyorozu perks up as understanding strikes only her. "Come on ladies, I forgot my purse and I need your help getting it!" she says dragging Mina and Uraraka by the fabric of their blazers as the girls flail in her grip.
"I'll help too!" Kirishima takes the moment to push past Katori with Kaminari following behind him as he grabs hold of Jiro to skirt them away.
Katori turns towards them, watching as Yaoyorozu whispers something to Mina that causes the pink girl to cheer at.
She furrows her brows at them in confusion when Bakugo shifts next to her, bringing her attention back to him. "That was weird," she murmurs.
"Tsk, idiots," Bakugo grunts under his breath. She turns to him, seeing his hard gaze on her that makes her feel uncomfortable.
"So, what did you want to say?" he opens his mouth to speak but she continues, "Are you going to apologize for the practical exams?"
"Apologize?" he erupts instead of saying what he was going to say. "Why the hell would I apologize?"
"Why would you apologize?" she repeats angrily. "For telling me I won't be a hero with my Quirk, for yelling at me and Midoriya and refusing to work with us, for throwing me across the field without my permission, for—"
"You kept draining my damn Quirk!" he rebuttals and they begin arguing over each other in incoherent shouts.
"Oh, this is not going well," Kirishima groans as they watch the two of them from the corner they look around.
"No not at all," Yaoyorozu shakes her head, grasping her hands to her chest.
"Should we go in there and stop them?" Uraraka asks.
"They're going to blow each other up," Mina adds.
"No, Bakugo's gotta do this on his own," Kirishima says as they all watch the outcome of the explosive fight.
"Would you shut up and listen to me!" Bakugo rages loudly over the girl. "I'm tryna ask you out!" Katori blinks at him, taking a step back from him in shock as his raging white eyes soften to a calmer disposition. He takes in a deep breath now that he has a moment of peace. "The festival. You should go with me. Like a date," he grumbles, not wanting to ask her out, but being forced by Kirishima who's convinced he has feelings for the damn nerd.
He looks down at his feet, unable to see at the dumbfounded look on her stupid face.
Her eyes are wide and she cannot help but just blink at him as her body is still on edge from fighting with him just a moment ago.
"Come on, Katori, say yes," Kirishima encourages her under his breath from down the hall.
"A date?" she asks and his eyes finally land back on hers. They linger there for a moment and she realizes that he is not messing with her, and this is not some sick joke. "Are you joking?" she asks him seriously, honestly wanting to know if he is messing with her.
"Does it look like I'm joking with you?" he asks her flatly with no amusement in his tone at her response.
"It's just… you'd be a terrible date," she responds matter-of-fact.
"I'd be a great date!" he erupts as his signature raging eyes return.
"Yeah right!" she laughs, finding humor in the situation.
"I'll prove it to you, damnit!" he yells at her. "It's going to be the best date you've ever had, Copy-Paste! Be ready! You're gunna die!" he promises her as he turns from her and stomps down the hallway, leaving her standing in the hallway, mouth slightly agape at the confusing situation.
"Well… I guess it's a start," Uraraka responds confusingly at the encounter.
The girls join her with large smiles and Katori can't think straight, still fully muddled by the entire conversation she just had with the hot-headed blonde. The girls fawn over her, bombarding her about what she's going to wear and what they will do with her hair and she cannot help but stay in a haze of confusion.
She hears Kirishima mention that they will meet up with them somewhere at the festival and he will bring Bakugo, but she doesn't seem to remember what he tells her as everything just blurs in a cloud.
They head to Yaoyorozu's house where Katori finally clears her head at what has just transpired as the girls sit in Yaoyorozu's bedroom. "I thought it was sweet," Uraraka says bringing Katori out of her mind.
"He said she was going to die," Jiro deadpans skeptically, seeing nothing sweet about Bakugo's execution.
"Sweet in his own way," Uraraka corrects herself.
"Oh, what are you going to wear!" Mina excitedly turns to Katori.
She pulls herself from her thoughts and looks at the pink girl and shrugs, "I don't know, pants and a tee?"
"What?" she shrieks, "No you have to wear something super cute!"
Katori shrugs, "I don't know, I've never been on a date before."
"That's so cute!" Mina coos and the other girls awkwardly smile, admitting without words that they too have never been on a date. "Momo, let me see what you've got! We are going to make our girl look fantastic!" she announces as the girls enter the large room that Yaoyorozu calls her closet.
"Woah, this is the size of my house," Uraraka awkwardly walks amongst the clothes.
"I don't think this is necessary," Katori tells them. "It's just Bakugo."
Yaoyorozu turns to her with soft eyes, "Satsuma, he clearly likes you. He had the courage to ask you out, so clearly this means a lot to him."
Katori groans, "I don't know, it's Bakugo, is he even capable of feelings that aren't murder and explosions?"
"He's obviously got some feelings about you too!" Mina sings and Katori lights up red at her comment. "Oh, that's perfect, Momo!" she swoons as the black-haired girl pulls out a short yellow sundress with small flowers all over it.
She pulls out the dress and places it atop Katori's body to measure its length. Katori looks down at the dress that sticks to her with furrowed brows. "It's so short," she complains, "It's so impractical!"
"Impractical?" Mina grumbles, "You're not going to be fighting villains!"
"I mean, you never know!" Katori adds and the girls all giggle while Yaoyorozu commands her to try it on.
She rolls her eyes and heads to the bathroom where she slips on the dress. She looks at herself in the mirror as the dress hugs her curves in a flattering way. It is a short-sleeved A-line dress that hugs in at her waist and flares out at her hips, stopping well above her knee.
She twirls a bit around the mirror to inspect the dress at all angles. She bends down, testing the dress' length to see she does not have much room to bend down before flashing all of Japan. She groans at the dress, knowing that it is pretty, but feeling far too uncomfortable in it.
She steps out of the bathroom where the girls wait for her. They all light up when they see her enter the room. She holds herself tightly as she hugs her arms into her body. She hides the hand-shaped scar from Shigaraki behind her own hand as she looks at the girls.
"It's perfect!" Mina tells her.
"It's impractical," Katori retorts.
"No, it's perfect!" she presses. "His jaw is going to drop to the floor!" she sings with a small dance.
Katori looks over at the other girls for them to say something and save her, but they all swoon at her dress and she can tell that she will not be able to convince them otherwise. They begin swarming her as they work on her hair and makeup.
She feels overwhelmed by their close proximity to her face as they pick and prod at her, but she has no room to fight back against them. It is clear that they are more excited about tonight than she is.
It takes hours, and Katori is unsure what could have possibly taken them so long to make her look nice. She uses minimal makeup in her day-to-day routine, and her UA uniform does not give her much to think about when it comes to her clothes, with her hair always either down and straight or tightly pulled back in a bun to hide her Quirk's activation.
But when they turn her to the mirror, she is returned by the image of someone she hardly recognizes. Her makeup is still natural, but they've made her eyes look bigger with winged eyeliner and her lashes fan out thicker and farther. Her hair is curled and tied up in a high ponytail with a black and yellow bow that falls down the length of her curled hair, while wisps of baby hairs frame her face.
Her eyes travel from her face, down the length of the dress to stop on her forearm where the large pinkish scar stains her body. She contemplates asking them to cover it up with makeup, but she knows there is not much that can be done with it, so she will just have to endure.
After the other girls get ready for their night, they all pile into Yaoyorozu's car and are taken to the festival by her driver. She sits in the car uncomfortably shielding her scar as the girls all erupt around her with booming voices about what rides they will go on, what food they will eat, and what games they will play.
Katori can't help but be trapped in her head with how the night will play out since she has never been on a date. What will they do together? Will the others be around, or is he going to pull her away to be alone? What if they have nothing to say to one another? What if she gets sick from the food? What if… she panics as the thought cracks her skull. 'What if he tries to kiss me?'
Katori's heart races in her chest as it beats wildly, uncomfortably misbalancing the regular rhythm of her heart. Katori's face burns red hot with embarrassment as she thinks about Bakugo trying to kiss her. She has never kissed anyone before, and no one has ever tried for fear of what her father would do to them if he found out, so the idea that she will be faced with his impending lips on hers frightens her beyond belief.
They all exit the car and Katori's eyes scan the other girls and their outfits. She notices Mina in a light blue jumpsuit that compliments her pink skin. Jiro wears a tattered band tee with a black skirt and maroon ripped stockings. Yaoyorozu wears a pale pink blouse with a ruffled red skirt. And Uraraka wears a plain blue shirt with jean shorts and black stockings underneath.
She groans to herself at each girl, seeing that she is way overdressed compared to the rest of them.
They approach the front gate of the festival where they pay and enter the courtyard as a group. They find Midoriya, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Iida looking around and they join the four of them.
"Oh, hey guys!" Midoriya calls out to them waving at the group of girls.
They join them and Katori grabs onto her arm, covering her scar. She has never really been self-conscious of the scar before, but with being in a dress she is uncomfortable in, she finds more eyes on her, and the pink mark seems to be beaming against her skin.
She stands next to Todoroki who turns towards her. "You look nice," he tells her in a flat tone.
Her cheeks heat up and she looks up at him with a shaky smile, "Thanks Todoroki, you do too," she tells him, noticing that he looks handsome as he wears an unbuttoned light blue shirt with a white undershirt and blue jeans.
She turns when she notices Aoyama, Sero, Kaminari, and Mineta join the rest of them. Mineta stands next to her, shaking violently as he looks up at her. She glances down at him with narrowed eyes and he smiles devilishly at her. "I can almost see up your skirt from this angle."
"I will kick you in the face, you little perv," she growls at him.
"Oh, please do, I'll get a better look if you lift your—" before he can finish, Tsu slaps him in the face with her tongue as she joins the group with Hagakure, Ojiro, Koda, and Sato.
"Sorry we're late!" Katori's heart races when she hears Kirishima's rough voice call out to the group. She turns around to see him running towards the group with Bakugo following behind with slugged shoulders and hands dug deeply in his pockets.
When her eyes land on him she notices that he wears a plain olive-green V-neck shirt and black jeans. His face is turned away from her as a prominent scowl presses to his lips and his brows furrow in annoyance. It's clear in his body language that he would rather be anywhere but here, and she finds herself feeling the same.
He turns his head towards her when they approach them and she notices his eyes widen a bit at the sight of her, only to quickly dart away as he purses his lips into a scowl.
Her heart drops at his reaction of her as she clutches desperately onto the hard-shaped scar, and she begins questioning if she's trying too hard.
A/N: Hope you enjoy! What do you think the date has in store for Bakugo and Katori? Let me know in the comments!