The soft pattering of rain on the streets resonated with Rui's humming as she and Katsuki walked home. They talked about the movie, about possibly going to the pool with the others, and what else they could do over the weekend.

"This is nice." Rui said after a while.

"What?"

"This." She gestured between them. "I've missed this: talking with you, hanging out, having fun."

Katsuki chuckled and looked up at the small clearing of clouds in the sky. "Yeah, me too."

"I hope we can stay friends this time. I don't ever want to lose that bond again."

Katsuki watched Rui a moment, wondering what was going through her head. "Why wouldn't we stay friends?"

Rui shrugged. "I don't know, something might happen or be said that could ruin everything." She sighed. "I guess I'm just worried about losing you again after just getting you back."

'Rui...'

"At any rate, I'm glad things are looking up for us. Hey, wanna see something cool?"

Katsuki raised a brow and looked at her, intrigued. "Cool, huh? Sure, why not?"

Rui smiled and skipped ahead a few feet before stopping and taking a meditative stance.

Katsuki watched as her eyes closed and she took a deep breath, standing still for a few moments. 'Nothing's happening.' he thought, but then he noticed the water around Rui shifting and swirling about. 'What the hell?' He watched the water circle around Rui, dancing in little waves before coming to a halt as it hovered just above the sidewalk. He looked up at Rui, seeing her open her eyes and smile at him before stepping up onto the water like it was a solid platform.

"What do you think?"

"How are you doing that?" Katsuki asked, watching her circle around him on the water as if she were riding a surf board or something of the like.

"It brings new meaning to the term 'water boarding', right?" Rui giggled, showing off her little trick. "It doesn't really have a name, but it's something I figured out how to do when I was just starting to learn how to control my quirk." She circled around him a few more times, then stopped in front of him and offered him a hand up. "Wanna take it for a spin?"

"What? You're crazy if you think I'm getting on that thing."

"Come on, Kacchan, it's not like I'm going to drop you. Besides, I've been doing this for years. You can trust me."

Katsuki was surprised that she used his childhood nickname and hesitated for a few moments before finally giving in. "Screw it, what's the worst that can happen anyway?"

Rui helped him up onto the platform. "You should hold on tight." She winked, then propelled them forward- taking them high over the rooftops to look out over the entire townscape. She giggled when Katsuki threw an arm around her waist to steady himself and her smile grew when she saw the awe in his eyes as he looked around them.

"This is amazing..." Katsuki mused, seeing the whole of Musutafu spread out around them.

"Look, Katsuki, a rainbow!"

Katsuki looked where Rui pointed and saw the evening sunlight peeking through the clouds, illuminating a brilliant rainbow as it stretched from one end of town to the next. "Wow."

Rui smiled, taking them a little further along on their path before setting them back down. As they reached the second bus stop from their homes, her "water board" dissipated and they dropped just a few inches onto the sidewalk.

"Where are we?"

"A couple bus stops from home."

"That didn't take long."

Rui chuckled. "It's a great mode of transportation."

"Why don't you use it more often?"

"Why don't you use your burst shots to fly around more often?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Point taken."

"I can only do it when it's raining or there's a rather large quantity of water that I have access to. So if we were at a lake, I'd be able to do it, or maybe at the pool if it were big enough." Rui closed her umbrella and arced her hand over her head. "I can also do this."

Katsuki looked up to see that Rui had formed some sort of barrier above them. He reached out from under his umbrella and felt no rain coming through it. "Wow."

"I've been trying to figure out how to make a bigger barrier for combat purposes, but a barrier of that magnitude takes a lot of energy out of me and requires quite a deal of concentration to maintain."

"That would be useful for support and defense." Katsuki noted.

"Yeah, but I'm wondering if there's a way I could potentially use it for offense as well. You know, just in case something happens?"

"Who knows? You just gotta keep working at it."

"I know."

They had kept walking as they talked, Katsuki closing his umbrella as well as Rui kept up the barrier. When they reached his house, Rui handed him the umbrella she borrowed and bid him a good night before hurrying across the street to her apartment building- lowering her barrier just as she made it to the stairwell.

Katsuki watched as she waved from her floor before heading inside himself, calling out as he slipped out of his shoes and set the umbrellas in the stand.

"How was the movie, dear?" Mitsuki asked, coming out of the kitchen with a mug of tea in hand.

"It was alright."

"I made some tea, if you'd like some."

"Sure, but I need another shower."

"Alright, well I can bring it up in a bit and leave it on your desk for you when you're ready."

"Thanks."

Katsuki went upstairs to change out of his wet clothes and take a nice, long, hot shower to wash away the ache from the cold rain. He pressed his head against the shower wall, thinking back on the events of the night.

'Why did I tease her so much about owing her dinner? It's not like it's a date or anything... and it's barely been a week since she came back, so why..? Why do I feel so at ease around her..? What is it..?'