Chapter 26: The Calm
Katori groans as her body pulls into consciousness. She feels her entire body ignite in wicked pain as she tries to move her head to survey her surroundings. Her hand tries to clutch her head, in an attempt to keep her skull from splitting open, but even her hands can't move from the massive pain she's in.
Her eyes finally open as they glance around the room, noticing that she is in a white and sterile looking room with bright offensive lighting. She grunts as her eyes adjust to the lighting of the room.
"You're awake," she hears the deep flat tone of Mr. Aizawa and her eyes instantly search for him.
"Where?" she questions weakly.
"You're still in the campgrounds," he returns quickly to her. "You're in the infirmary," he tells her.
"How long… have I been…" she struggles to finish.
"Only a day. There's no Recovery Girl here, so we had to let you heal yourself the old-fashioned way."
"Not really smart… testing the boundaries of our Quirks… if our healer isn't around," she grunts, finding the strength to be sassy at least.
He chuckles at her response, "You shouldn't rely on the old lady to be there and heal you after every fight. That's something you and Midoriya need to learn."
She smiles up at him, "Is Baku… is everyone okay?" she asks remembering the scuffs on their bodies from her attack.
"Todoroki and Midoriya had superficial wounds," he begins. "Bakugo sustained the most injuries, but after a few hours of rest here, he was released with no serious damage."
She groans, not eager to hear what the explosive boy has to say to her when they cross paths. "I told you I wasn't—"
"You were ready," he interjects strongly. "But you panicked as you did in the sport's festival," he assesses sternly. "You need to recognize that not all fights are going to go your way. Unlike Bakugo, you understand that there are people stronger than you, however, when you are placed in situations that are out of your control, you panic and lose control over your Quirk. You need to learn to step back, breathe, and focus on your power and your proper threshold of use, that way, you are not overusing it and bombing your classmates," he ends lightheartedly.
She tugs her lips downwards into a frown, understanding his words, but still feeling the guilt of hurting her classmates as she did.
She lifts herself into a seated position as Aizawa stands next to the bed she lays in. Her hair falls in front of her face and she notices that it is still white. She grabs a strand of hair from in front of her face and looks at it puzzlingly. "My hair is still white?" she asks looking up at him.
"Yeah," he tells her with no inflection in his voice. "It hasn't changed since your battle."
Katori gulps at the information, never having her hair remain white for this long and she wonders how long it will last. Her body was pushed farther than she's ever pushed herself in this last battle, but with her being out for about a day, it should have turned back by now.
"Katori," Aizawa begins, rubbing the back of his neck as he awkwardly stands next to her and keeping his eyes off of her. "You did really well out there. Despite what you may think, you had control of your Quirk and your power over the trio," he glances down at her and they both look at one another. "I'm proud of you," he tells her and her heart sinks into her stomach. "Watching you out there, I was so proud of you. You're growing so much here."
She puts her head down, feeling the sting of his words, because they are too painful to hear. This is becoming more and more difficult, and the closer she gets to Aizawa and the other students, the harder it is for her to pretend she's something she's not.
"Mr. Aizawa—" her voice cracks as she tries to find the words to tell him. Maybe if she tells him, he'll understand? Maybe they can figure out a way to keep her at UA? Maybe everyone will still accept her if she tells them now before she can do any damage?
"The other students are all eating," Mr. Aizawa speaks over her mumbled attempt to confess. His eyes are kind and he watches as her shoulders drop from their tight worry. "Why don't you go join the others? I'm sure they'll be excited to see you."
"Yeah," she says smiling up at him, and hiding her disappointment in not having the strength to confess to him.
Mr. Aizawa leads her to the outdoor seating area where the rest of her classmates shift around tables and stoves to prepare their food for the night. Everyone is working and moving in unison, and she smiles at everyone's teamwork together. She looks up at Aizawa for guidance, and he nods at her, encouraging her to join the others.
She smiles as she approaches her classmates, wringing her hands self-consciously as she looks around for where she might be needed. Her eyes land on Bakugo as he chops vegetables. He keeps his eyes on his task, and despite a bandage on the right side of his chin, he looks much better than he did after the explosion.
"Katori!" Kirishima calls out to the white-haired girl, waving her towards him. She smiles up at him, keeping her eyes on him and not Bakugo who looks up at her now. "You're awake! Are you feeling better?" the crimson boy asks her with a tilt of his head.
"Yeah," she says clearing her throat looking around at everyone working around her. "Anything I can help with, Eijiro?" she asks him with a soft smile.
His eyes light up, "Yeah you can help cut vegetables!" he says with a wide smile, handing her a knife and cutting board that are strategically placed next to Bakugo.
'Of course that's where he wants me.'
She notices that Bakugo is cutting the vegetables at a lightning speed, and he clearly doesn't need any help, not to mention the blonde sneers at his crimson friend at the mention of helping him, but she doesn't argue and steps to stand next to Bakugo, taking the knife in her hand and grabbing a carrot.
Kirishima smiles wildly, proud of his 'smooth' wingman moves and steps away to allow the lovebirds a moment alone.
She begins cutting a lot slower than Bakugo, and focuses on not chopping off her fingers. She glances over at Bakugo, only to notice his eyes already on her, and she sheepishly looks away, glaring down at her carrot as if it were the most exciting thing that she's ever seen in her life.
He turns his head away from her, and she glances back up at him, noticing the bandage on his jaw and feeling bad for being the person responsible. "I'm sorry about… that," she says awkwardly as she points at his jaw.
"Don't apologize," he returns with a stern tone. "You gave it your all. It's about damn time," he grumbles. She turns away from him to continue chopping and he speaks up once more, "You need to focus on controlling your Quirk so you don't overuse it," he tells her in a much calmer tone, echoing Aizawa's sentiments. "Cuz I like your black hair better," he adds quietly as his gaze falls away from her.
Her cheeks burn red and when she peaks a glance at him through the corners of her eyes, she notices that he too blushes at his words.
She looks up, noticing Mina wildly poking Jiro and pointing at Katori and Bakugo as they stand closely next to one another. Katori shakes her head with a slight smile touching her lips and moves her eyes from the excited girls.
She turns her attention to the explosive boy as he continues to chop vegetables. "Don't tell me you're a good cook on top of having an amazing Quirk and being great at carnival games?" she teases him and he simply huffs back at her. "Unless this is your way of poisoning all of us with that spicy garbage you call food?" He grins as he glances down at her and she continues, "Do you just not like tasting your food? Or are you a masochist that likes to constantly be in pain?"
"Try it, and we'll see," he challenges her.
"No thanks, I've seen how red your face gets when you eat that!" she smiles wildly at him, nudging him playfully with her hip.
He blinks down at his task, keeping his eyes on the vegetables and not the flirtatious act of the girl. 'She's such a nerd, what's wrong with her?'
Once they are all finished preparing dinner, Katori sits down between Jiro and Bakugo. Kaminari sits next to Jiro, with Kirishima sitting across from him. Mina sits next to Kirishima, with Sero sitting next to her and across from Katori.
She watches as Bakugo slurps on the ramen he's made for himself, noting the bloodred broth from the spices that he put into his meal. She looks down at her bowl, noticing the stark contrast between the two of them as hers holds a tannish color.
Bakugo glances over at her, seeing her lingering eyes staring at his food. He turns to her pushing the bowl in front of her. She shakes her head at him and he rolls his eyes at her, "Try it, Copy-Paste," he barks at her. "Don't be a wimp."
She glances around at the table as Kirishima quietly surveys them through the corner of his eyes, smiling wildly as he watches his two friends come together.
Katori reluctantly dips her chopsticks into his broth, swirling around a few noodles before she pulls out a mouthful of food and digs in. Instantly when the noodles hit her tongue, she feels her entire mouth set ablaze. She reluctantly swallows the spicy food as it stings down her throat.
"Yuck!" she animatedly cries out with her tongue out, panting at the heat. She fans her face and instantly grabs for her water as Bakugo begins manically laughing at her pain.
"That wasn't even spicy, you wimp!" he yells at her as she gulps down her drink and his.
"Ugh I feel like my insides are exploding!" she grumbles. "Why do you do this to yourself?" she yells at him.
"Because it tastes good," he tells her in a matter-of-fact tone, and she shakes her head as there is nothing good about this taste. Bakugo nudges her with his elbow as she did her hip earlier and she begins blushing once more at his flirtatious touch. This time Kirishima notices and smiles a sharp-toothed smile so large, it takes up the entirety of his face.
It takes a while for Katori's mouth to not feel like it is actively on fire from her one bite, but she finds her company with Bakugo and the others keeping her mind off of the sensation.
They all laugh and speak with one another about their hobbies, their goals after graduating, and what type of hero they would like to be.
"I want to be a chivalrous hero like Crimson Riot!" Kirishima tells them. "He protects those around him with tact and respect. He's so manly!"
"I'll probably be a sidekick, working for a reconnaissance agency with my Quirk," Jiro tells them.
"You can be more than a sidekick!" Kaminari encourages her, which has the purple-haired girl blushing. "Though you're welcome to be my sidekick," the blonde boy winks at her.
She immediately grows red and angry at his comment, "You're not getting any hero work with that empty head of yours!" she says flicking him in the head as he calls out to her.
"What's your plan, Katori?" Kaminari asks with a wide smile as he turns from Jiro. "We all know Bakugo's lame plan."
"Nothing lame about being Number One, extra," Bakugo deadpans.
The electric blonde looks away from his explosive friend with a smile on his face as he turns to the white-haired girl. She looks around the table, noticing everyone's eyes on her and waiting for her answer. She notices Bakugo stiffen in her peripheral and she wonders what is going on in his head.
"I don't think I can be much of a top contender with a Quirk like mine," she says thoughtfully and Bakugo turns his head away from hers. "I fully rely on another hero for my Quirk to activate. I will never be able to do a solo mission or work outside of a team, so I'll probably end up a sidekick."
"I don't know," Kirishima jumps in quickly before the dread can fill the room. "Look at that explosion you created! That was wild! No sidekick could do something like that."
She shrugs her shoulders, never really thinking much of the idea of being a hero since she was brought up surrounded by villains. "It doesn't really bother me," she tells him with a soft smile. "Maybe I'll be a sidekick for one of you guys?" she says looking around the table. "Then you won't be able to get rid of me!" she giggles and the mood of the table shifts to a happier one.
Later that night the girls all settle down in their rooms, nestling into their sheets as they prepare themselves for bed. Katori tries to keep her eyes off of Mina, knowing that the pink girl looks at her with wide happy eyes, but the white-haired girl foolishly believes that if she keeps her eyes off of her, she will leave her alone.
"Satsuma," Uraraka begins lightly, "I've been meaning to ask why your hair is still white? Usually, it changes back by now."
"Well with an attack like that one today, I imagine it took a lot out of you," Tsu croaks out up at the white-haired girl.
"I don't know why," Katori admits honestly as she grasps onto her snowy locks. "The longest it's been white was after the sport's festival until now. I just hope it turns back…" she lingers for a moment, contemplating what she will do if it never goes back.
"She only wants it to go back because Bakugo said he liked her hair black!" Mina teases her as the white-haired girl turns red with embarrassment.
"What? Bakugo said that?" Yaoyorozu gleams.
"Yup!" Mina adds with an overexaggerated nod. "You should've seen the two of them! Red as a tomato!"
"That's not what he meant by that!" Katori frantically tries to explain. "He just wants me to be better with my Quirk so he can fight me more!"
"Sure, okay, that's totally what he meant!" the pink girl says sarcastically as she winks at Katori.
"I'm just happy that you're giving him another chance," Hagakure says with excitement in her tone. "You two are so cute together!" she swoons.
Katori groans as she buries her face in the palms of her hands. "Can we talk about something else, please?"
"Oh, how about a game of Truth or Dare?" Mina offers with jumping excitement.
The girls cheer and they all gather together cross-legged in a circle, eager to play the silly game. They begin with harmless demands like daring the other to smell their feet, or do impressions of one another until they figure out who they are impersonating.
They dare Jiro to sing without music to accompany her and despite her insecurity, she sounds amazing.
Hagakure admits that her biggest fear is spiders and Mina devilishly conspires to put a spider in her sheets while she sleeps.
Yaoyorozu is dared to allow the girls to change her hair style and though they consider giving her a silly hairstyle, they end up giving her two French braids that make her look just as beautiful with any other hair style.
Tsu is dared to eat a fly that was buzzing around in the cabin, and to everyone's shock, she's not as disturbed by the act as they expected.
Uraraka tells the girls about her top traits that she looks for a in a boy, and when she tells them honesty, kindness, and humor; Mina can't help but remind the girl that those traits are all prominent in Midoriya, which makes the girl blush uncontrollably.
Mina is dared to walk outside and howl as loudly as she can and without hesitation, the girl jumps from her seat and runs out into the cold air to howl like a wild animal. The girls stifle back their laughter as the entire woods must have heard her deafening howl.
The girls all laugh as they scurry back into their cabin while Mina plops back in her seat. "All right Katori, you're next!"
"Truth," Katori says sitting next to the pink girl.
"Are you in love with Bakugo?" she wickedly asks.
"Dare," Katori responds with a shake of her head, refusing to answer.
"I dare you to kiss Bakugo!" she cries wildly as all the girls gasp at her dare.
"Truth!" Katori shrieks with widened eyes at the girl's wild dare.
"Nope," she says shaking her head with her eyes closed. "You already said dare."
"But I said truth first!" she whines.
"A dare is a dare! Everyone else did theirs," she challenges her.
"Yeah but…" Katori looks at the other girls, chest pounding with fear as they all look at her expectantly.
"Unless you'd rather kiss Todoroki?" Mina adds with a wicked smile captivating her face.
Katori's face grows madly red with embarrassment. "They are probably sleeping anyway!" Katori tries to rationalize.
"Not after that howl," Hagakure mentions with a laugh.
"It's either kiss Bakugo, or ask Mineta out on a date!" Mina adds with a defiant fold of her arms over her chest while the rest of the girls respond with a collective "ohhh".
Katori's eyes widen as she looks at all of them with a pained expression. "Fine, I pick Mineta," she groans as all the girls laugh while some ask her what she's thinking.
They all get up out of their respective seats and head outside, looking for the boys. Katori's hands shake as she questions what the hell she's doing. To her dismay when they walk towards the boy's cabin, they notice Iida, Kirishima, Sero, Sato, and Bakugo all standing outside.
"Hey boys!" Mina calls out in a singsong voice as she skips towards them.
"Oh hey!" Kirishima waves at her. "Did you guys hear that creepy howl just a minute ago? It sounded like an animal was dying!"
"No, it sounded like a powerful lioness!" Mina growls at him with gritted teeth. "But that's beside the point. Where's Mineta? Katori has something to ask him."
"Uh?" Kirishima grunts, "Mineta?" he asks glancing over at Katori who sinks her head into her shoulders.
"Yup!" she says popping the P. "He's not sleeping right?"
"No, he's just inside," he lazily points over his shoulder.
"Can you be a doll and get him? It's really important and time sensitive," she smiles with eyes closed like crescent moons.
"Mina," Katori groans.
"I'll fetch him right away!" Iida says taking on the task as he quickly turns from the girls, completely oblivious to Katori's dread.
Kirishima awkwardly laughs as Bakugo glares at Katori through the corners of his eyes curiously. She looks up at the blonde, feeling her heart thumping in her chest wildly.
"I'm not going out there! There's some crazed animal, what if it swipes me away!" Mineta's voice calls out from inside. "Satsuma?" he questions after Iida informs him that Katori wishes to speak to him.
The purple boy comes running out, putting on a 'sultry' look on his face as he runs towards the white-haired girl. "Iida tells me you desperately want to speak with me?" he asks wiggling his brows at her.
Katori instinctively backs away from the boy who encroaches on her space. "Umm, I…" she stumbles, gulping at the proximity of him and begging Mina with her eyes to make this stop.
"Well?" he asks her, stepping towards her.
Her eyes move from Mineta's to Kirishima who watches the exchange with a confused glare, while Bakugo has lost interest in the conversation and turns to return to the cabin with his hands in his pant pockets.
Katori's heart races and she closes her eyes, swallowing away her fears and stepping away from Mineta. "Bakugo wait," she croaks out as the blonde turns towards her.
Before he can turn fully towards her, she launches herself at him, lifting herself to the tips of her toes to meet at his face level, then grabbing the sides of his face with both hands as she presses her lips hard against his.
Kirishima's jaw drops as he takes a step back from the two, while Bakugo remains frozen by her assault on his lips. The blonde's eyes widen as he looks onto the girl attached at his lips whose brows are scrunched and her eyes shut tightly.
He doesn't have a moment to react to her as she pulls away from him, hot and red with pure embarrassment as she looks up at the shocked gaze on the boy's face. She swiftly turns on her heels and hurriedly flees from him before anyone can say a thing to her.
Kirishima's mouth is still left agape from the act as the girls giggle and run after their embarrassed friend.
"No fair," Mineta grumbles as he stomps inside the cabin. "Why does Bakugo get all the action!"
A/N: They finally kissed! What do you think of the story so far? How do you think things will pan out with the League hanging around the corner? Please leave a review to let me know what you think!