By the time Katsuki and Rui arrived at the movie theater, there was only ten seconds between each flash of lightning and crash of thunder and tiny droplets began tapping against the townscape.

"Huh, looks like you were right." Katsuki said, looking up at the very grey sky.

"Told you." Rui replied, smugly.

"Told who what?"

They looked over to see Mina, Eijiro, Denki, Rikido Sato, Hanta, and Toru joining them.

"Hey guys, glad you made it OK." Rui smiled as she greeted them.

"You guys just get here, too?"

"Yeah. Lucky, too, with the rain starting up. Hopefully it won't be too bad on the way home."

"Well let's get our tickets and hurry inside!"

Rui and Katsuki followed after the others, Rui paying for both of their tickets and Katsuki paying for their snacks.

"I hope you don't think this counts as 'dinner'." Rui teased as Katsuki took the tub of popcorn from the clerk.

Katsuki smirked and leaned in to reply, "Oh no, I've got something different in mind for that."

Rui felt her face erupt as his smirk grew and he planted the tub of popcorn into her arms before walking off to join Eijiro and the other guys.

Mina and Toru saw this little interaction, exchanged very giddy smiles, then rushed over to Rui and demanded answers.

"What. was. that?"

"Are you guys like a thing now?"

Rui wanted to retreat into herself and hide somewhere where she could just brew over her currently whirling emotions. "Um... I..." She glanced over at Katsuki for a brief moment, then tore her gaze from him when he noticed. "We should find our seats." She turned away from the girls and started heading towards their theater section, double checking her seat number.

Mina and Toru hurried to catch up to her.

"Come on, Rui, talk to us!"

"W-We're not together. We've barely started being friends again."

"So what was that then?"

Rui sighed, feeling incredibly hot still. "Katsuki and I made a bet, I won, so now he owes me dinner."

"What kind of bet?"

"He bet that it wasn't true that counting the seconds between each flash of lightning and sound of thunder divided by five would tell you how far away a storm was."

"That's what it was?"

"I know, it's pretty silly, but I sorta raised the challenge and he accepted it."

"What would have happened if he won?"

"I owed him dinner instead."

"Wow."

"That's actually pretty cute."

"I know, right?" Mina sighed, offering Rui a reassuring smile. "Look, don't sweat it, OK? It's not like it's a date or anything." She paused when she saw Rui's expression. "Is it?"

"N-No..?"

"Oh my gosh, do you want it to be?"

"M-Maybe..?"

"I knew it! You do like him!"

"Shhh! Do you want the whole town to hear you?"

"Hehe, sorry. But, Rui, that's awesome! Have you told him yet?"

Rui shook her head. "Like I said, we barely started being friends again. What if he doesn't feel the same way? Then it could ruin our friendship and I don't want that to happen again."

They found their seats and started filling them, lucky to have them all practically right next to each other.

"I say just let things run their course. It's not like you're going anywhere." Mina said, leaning over the back of the seat next to Rui from where she sat behind her.

"That's the thing, though. My work study ends when your final exams do. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stay in town after that..."

"Damn, that sucks."

"Maybe see how dinner with him goes and decide from there if you should tell him or not." Toru suggested. "Personally, I think you should tell him, regardless."

"Tell who what?"

Rui looked up as Katsuki and Eijiro finally joined them- Eijiro's arms just as loaded with snacks as Denki and Rikido's were.

"Oh nothing. That's a lot of snacks, Eijiro, are you going to be able to finish all of that?"

"You betcha! Besides, there's plenty to go around if anyone wants to share."

"Ooo, sure, I'll take you up on that."

"Yeah, me too. Dude, trade me spots?"

Rui giggled as she watched everyone interacting together, then turned her attention to Katsuki as he offered her a drink.

"Here, thought you might get thirsty. You still like cherry, right?"

"Thank you." Rui took the drink and set it in her cup holder. "You remembered?"

Katsuki shrugged. "Remember those popsicles we used to eat as kids? Cherry was your favorite. Kind of hard to forget when that was all you ever wanted."

Rui's blush returned in full force and she was grateful that the lights were dimming as the movie previews started. "It was, and watermelon was yours."

Katsuki took his seat next to Rui and leaned back. "Remember that one night we camped out in my backyard?"

Rui smiled. "When we had s'mores and lit sparklers in the street?"

"Yeah, and my mom made tonkatsu donburi for dinner."

"That was the summer before my dad died." Rui said with a sigh. "I wish I had had more summers like that with you and Izuku."

"We definitely missed you. Deku cried for days."

Rui chuckled. "From what your mother told me, so did you."

Katsuki slunk back in his seat. "I did not."

Rui smiled. "If it makes you feel better, I cried, too. Not just because my dad had just died, but because I missed you and Izuku so much. You guys were my only friends." She glanced back at Mina and the others, her smile growing. "But since taking the work study, not only did I get my two childhood friends back, I also made plenty of new ones."

"You definitely fit in around here, that's for sure."

"Shh, guys, the movie's starting!"

Rui and Katsuki were surprised to find that the horror movie wasn't as cliche and cheesy as they thought it would be. There were plenty of jump scares and during one of the scariest scenes, Rui was practically clinging to Katsuki's arm until it was over. When she realized what she had been doing, she blushed and shied away- trying to focus on the movie.

Katsuki found that he didn't mind the contact, but what got him blushing most from it was how she was pressed against him. When she shied away, he noticed that he was almost disappointed.

The movie was just over an hour long and by the time it was over, everyone was thrilled for it to be done.

"That was soooo scary!"

Rui and Katsuki walked with the others as they filed out of the theater and neither of them would look at the other.

"Hey, look guys, the rain stopped!"

"Yeah, but there's still thunder so it could come back."

"We should all try to get home before it does."

"Sounds good. Hey, we should do something else this weekend."

"Yeah, totally! I heard there's a group discount at the community pool. Wanna check it out?"

"Sure, that sounds fun. Let's figure out the details tomorrow?"

"Perfect, text you tomorrow, then!"

"Alright, see you later, guys!"

Rui and Katsuki waved as everyone started going their separate ways before heading towards their bus stop. They got about half way there before the rain started to pick up and they opened their umbrellas- Katsuki holding Rui's as she pulled her jacket on.

"Wow, it's really coming down." Rui noted, looking out from beneath her umbrella.

"Let's hope the bus isn't late."

"Even if it is, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"If it weren't for your quirk, I'd think you were a total weirdo for liking water so much."

Rui stuck out her tongue. "I'd love water even if it weren't part of my quirk." She closed her eyes and listened to the rain as it poured down from dark skies. "There's something calming about water. When it's raining, if you close your eyes and just listen, it's almost like everything else around you just stands still."

Katsuki watched her a moment or two before closing his eyes and listening. He stood there for a bit, noting the calm silence behind the rain.

"See?"

"More like hear."

Rui rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. "Smart ass."

"Beats being a dumb ass."

Rui giggled at that and checked her watch. "The bus is late. What do you want to do?"

"Feel like taking a walk?"

Rui looked at him with brow raised in mock disbelief. "You want to go for a walk in the rain?"

"Hey, if you don't want to, fine. We can just sit here, waiting bored for the bus that may or may not show up."

"I didn't say no, in fact I think it's a splendid idea. I'm more stunned that you offered."

Katsuki gestured towards their route home with a smirk. "After you then."