This chapter features the song We Are Warriors by Avril Lavigne and Can You Hear Me by UNSECRET Young Summer.

Rui walked to the karaoke bar from home, just wanting to relax after a rough day. Saving the day and helping people was nothing new to her, but seeing Katsuki after four years didn't go well.

'I don't know what I was expecting...' she thought to herself, sighing.

As she drew nearer to the karaoke bar, thunder sounded in the distance and she could feel the density of the moisture in the air thicken. She took a deep breath and smiled, having grown really fond of the rain and finding comfort in the smell of petrichor- in fact it was one of her most favorite scents.

"Rui!"

Rui smiled and waved, seeing Mina and Ochaco approaching the entrance. "Hey, guys."

"I heard you had a run-in with Bakugo," Mina said, her brow furrowed with worry. "How are you doing? You OK?"

Rui sighed. "I honestly don't know. It was nice to see him again, but... I don't know what I was expecting after leaving things the way we did..."

Mina hugged her. "It'll work out one way or another. Besides, you have us if you ever need to talk."

"I know, Mina." Rui smiled, hugging her best friend back.

"Now, let's get inside and have some fun!"

Katsuki trudged his way down the street, having been dragged out for drinks with Eijiro. Over the years, they had become best friends and Katsuki counted himself lucky to have such a good friend stick by his side for so long. No matter how angry Katsuki got or how many hurtful things he said or did out of anger, Eijiro stuck by him- finding a way to calm him down and make him see things from a different perspective.

As he made his way towards the bar Eijiro had invited him to, Katsuki could hear the crack of thunder sounding off in the distance.

'It's going to rain soon.'

He counted the seconds until the next crack of thunder, calculating how far away the storm was, and when he realized what he was doing, he stopped and sighed- reminded of that time with Rui when they went to see that horror movie four years ago.

'What am I doing...?'

"Hey, Bakugo!"

Katsuki looked up and saw Eijiro waving him over from where he stood outside of the bar.

"Hey."

Eijiro offered him his usually cheerful grin. "Rough day, huh?"

Katsuki shrugged. "I guess."

"Well, let's get some drinks and we can talk about it."

Katsuki followed Eijiro inside, seeing that the bar was also host to karaoke. "We're not going to be doing karaoke, are we?"

Eijiro chuckled. "Nah, not unless you want to. We're just here for the drinks."

Katsuki followed Eijiro to the bar, taking a seat on one of the stools. As they ordered their drinks and waited for the bartender, Katsuki could hear someone singing in the back as a door opened.

'Huh, they're not half bad.'

"Here you go, gentlemen."

Katsuki took his glass of whiskey in hand and felt the smokey, smooth caramel-colored liquor slide over his tongue. He sat there with Eijiro for a while, just talking about how their day went, until someone came up to the bar and to order some drinks.

"Hey, Toru, what's up!"

Katsuki looked over, seeing his old classmate Toru Hagakure standing at the bar next to Eijiro.

"Hey guys, I didn't know you'd be coming here, too."

"You here for the drinks or for the karaoke?"

"Both, actually. We have a room in the back. You guys are welcome to join us if you'd like."

"Sure, that'd be fun." Eijiro turned to Katsuki. "Wanna go hang out with the others?"

Katsuki shrugged. "I'm not singing."

"It'll be so great to have everyone together again! Well, most everyone that is."

Katsuki could feel how much Toru was smiling and followed Eijiro as Toru led the way to the karaoke room. As they neared the room, Katsuki could hear a woman singing and wondered who it was.

"We'll pick our battles 'cause we know we're gonna win the war. We're not rattled 'cause we've shattered all of this before. Steadier than steal 'cause we're ready with our shields and swords. Back on the saddle 'cause we gathered all our strength for more. And we won't bow, we won't break. No we're not afraid to do whatever it takes. We'll never bow, we'll never break 'cause we're warriors, we'll fight for our lives like soldiers, all through the night and we won't give up, we will survive. We're warriors and we're stronger, that's why we're alive. We will conquer time after time. We'll never falter, we will survive. We are warriors, we are warriors."

Toru opened the door and stepped inside, Eijiro and Katsuki close behind her. Katsuki looked at who was singing and saw Mina and Rui standing up on stage. As the door closed behind them, Mina had finished singing and Rui took her turn.

"Like Vikings we'll be fighting through the day and night, we'll be marching through the darkness till the morning light. Even when it's harder like the armor you will see us shine. No we won't stop and we won't drop until the victory's ours. No we won't bow, we won't break. No we're not afraid to do whatever it takes. We'll never bow, we'll never break 'cause we're warriors, we'll fight for our lives like soldiers, all through the night and we won't give up, we will survive. We are warriors and we're stronger, that's why we're alive. We will conquer time after time. We'll never falter, we will survive. We are warriors."

Katsuki leaned back against the wall, staying close to the door. He watched as Mina and Rui both sang the next part, seeing them both having a great time.

"Oh, you can't shoot us down, you can't stop us now, we've got a whole damn army. Oh, you can't break us down, you can't take us out, this will be behind us 'cause we're warriors, we'll fight for our lives like soldiers, all through the night and we won't give up, we will survive. We are warriors and we're stronger, that's why we're alive. We will conquer time after time. We'll never falter, we will survive. We are warriors."

Katsuki watched as Mina and Rui left the stage to give the next person a turn. He noticed that while Mina's style had more or less stayed the same over the years, Rui's had become a bit more mature. While Mina wore a black crop top under a yellow button-down shirt and jean shorts with black ankle boots, Rui wore a white off the shoulder top with royal blue leggings and white strappy heels. He watched as they sat back down with their friends- Ochaco, Tsu, and Momo among them- and saw how happy they seemed.

"Hey, guys, look who I found!" Toru said as she reached their table.

"Hey, Kirishima!"

"Hey, what's up?"

Katsuki watched as Eijiro slid right into a seat without a care in the world. 'Should I join them..?' he wondered, then noticed Eijiro waving him over. He sighed and went to join the others.

"What's up, Bakugo?" Hanta greeted.

"'Sup."

Rui glanced over when she heard Hanta say Katsuki's name, seeing him take a seat in the corner near their table. When she found his gaze, she looked away- unsure how to handle being around him.

"Hey, Rui, want another peach sangria?"

Rui looked to Mina and nodded. "Sure, that sounds great." She offered her friend a smile and watched her take the other orders of drinks before hurrying off to place them.

A few more patrons went up onto the stage and performed their songs, but Rui was lost in thought and didn't pay them much attention.

"Rui, you're up next." Ochaco said, leaning in and nudging her friend's arm gently.

"Oh, right."

Katsuki watched as Rui went up on stage, sitting back in his chair as she wrapped her hands around the mic as the song started.

"Calling out like a flair gun, drifting in an empty sea, feeling like a lonely one. I wanna know you're listening. If I'm talking to myself, I'm gonna find somebody else. Tell me can you hear me? I need you to hear me, screaming out so loud, but my words don't make a sound. Tell me can you hear me? Is anybody listening? Didn't wanna let you go, didn't wanna walk away with everything you didn't know, and everything left to say. I'm talking to myself, I'm gonna find somebody else. Tell me can you hear me? I need you to hear me, screaming out so loud, but my words don't make a sound. Tell me can you hear me? Is anybody listening?"

As Rui sang, Katsuki found himself admiring her voice and feeling the song hit a bit close to home. 'Why did she pick that song in particular?' he wondered. He watched as Rui left the stage, offering a smile to the next participant as she passed him on the stairs. He kept his gaze on her as she rejoined the group, taking a sip from her drink and talking with Mina and the others. When she shifted her gaze to him, he held it for a moment before looking away and taking another drink of whiskey.

After another hour of drinks and songs, everyone started to disperse and head on home- hugging each other and waving goodbye as they parted ways. Rui and Katsuki were the last ones to leave the bar, putting them in a rather awkward situation.