Katsuki walked around town, trying to clear his head. He wanted to forget about Rui getting hit on by another guy, about her accepting his invitation to dinner, everything. The more he tried to push it out of his mind, though, the more he thought about it and the more it bothered him.

His phone started to vibrate in his pocket and when he looked to see who it was, he saw that it was Eijiro calling.

"What do you want, Eijiro?"

"Dude, I gotta tell you something but you gotta promise you won't get too upset."

"Just spit it out, alright?"

"I just saw Rui at Kusanagi Diner with some random guy and I'm telling you, it looked like a date."

Katsuki stopped in his tracks. 'Kusanagi isn't far from here.'

"Bakugo? You still there?"

"You're sure it was her?"

"I'm sure, I mean that blue hair of hers is kinda hard to mistake." Eijiro paused a moment before continuing. "You're kinda scaring me, you good?"

"I'm fine," Katsuki replied, having gone silent for a moment while trying to keep his emotions in check and avoid a public outburst. "I gotta go, but, thanks..."

"Uh, sure, no problem. Talk to you later, and don't do anything stupid?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Katsuki said, then hung up with Eijiro and went on his way.

Rui sat with Itsuki as they enjoyed dinner at Kusanagi Diner, a place that was humble and quaint- even as its name held a more divine inspiration- and was home to several traditional Japanese dishes.

As they ate their meals, Rui found that Itsuki- while seemingly a sweet guy- was rather boring. The conversation ran dry and the man only seemed to want to talk about himself and his work, showing no interest in anything Rui might have to say. She wanted to escape the dismal company, but she didn't want to be rude- after all, the man had invited her to dinner to thank her for saving him. It was a first for her and she was happy to accept his offer, but she was beginning to regret that decision more and more as the evening dragged on.

By the time they had finished their dinner and paid for everything- Rui a bit irritated that Itsuki made her pay even though he was the one to invite her- it was well past 9pm and Rui was desperate to get home and away from his company.

"I really must be getting home," she said as politely as she could. "I have a long day scheduled tomorrow."

"Of course, of course."

Rui made to turn away, but Itsuki had stepped closer to her and leaned forward as though he expected a goodbye kiss. "What are you doing?"

Itsuki looked down at her, confused. "I was trying to kiss you goodbye."

"Why?"

"Because we had chemistry in there," Itsuki replied, gesturing back towards the diner.

"'Chemistry'? I hardly think that you could call whatever that was chemistry."

"I don't understand."

Rui sighed. "Look, Itsuki, you seem like a decent guy, but you really need to get a clue. We don't know each other well enough to even hold hands."

"That's no reason for you to be rude while we're on a date."

Rui was beginning to feel uncomfortable around him, but she kept it together a little bit longer. "I'm the one being rude? You were the one who was more concerned with talking about yourself and your work to even give me a chance to say a word, then you had to audacity to make me pay for dinner when you were the one who asked me to dinner."

"Wow, you're a bitch, too?"

"Excuse me?" Rui made to retort, but then she saw the blood drain from Itsuki's face and heard a familiar and surprisingly welcome voice behind her as a warm hand come to rest on her shoulder.

"Watch who you're calling a bitch."

"Y-You again?" Itsuki stepped back, beginning to panic.

Rui looked back to find Katsuki standing just behind her.

"I suggest you get out of here and leave her alone before I beat you to a bloody pulp," Katsuki threatened, his glare deepening.

"W-What are you, her boyfriend?" Itsuki tried to challenge, but when he saw Katsuki raise his hand and saw the sparks beginning to dance in his palm, he balked and took off running.

Rui sighed with relief and looked up at Katsuki. "Thanks."

"Whatever." Katsuki just shrugged off her thanks and started walking away. He stopped a few paces from her and turned back to look at her. "You coming?"

"Where are we going?"

"I'm walking you home in case that creep shows up again. Besides, it's getting late."

"I think you scared him off for good."

"Not taking any chances."

Rui eyed him for a moment, then sighed and caught up to him- falling in step beside him. They walked in silence for quite a while before Rui broke the silence.

"What were you doing there?"

"Where?"

"At the diner."

"I was just passing by when I saw that moron trying to kiss you."

Rui looked up at him, brow raised. "And what, thought I needed rescuing?"

Katsuki glanced at her. "Didn't you?"

"I mean, sure, but what about him trying to kiss me made you think that I needed to be rescued?" Rui waited for a reply, but when none came and she noticed how quickly he averted his gaze, she began to wonder. "Wait, were... were you jealous?"

"Like I have a reason to be jealous." Katsuki stopped and turned towards her as she crossed her arms.

Rui rolled her eyes. "Well from where I'm standing, it almost seems like you can't stand the idea of me being around other guys."

Katsuki rolled his eyes in turn and scoffed at her. "Why would I care? It's your life."

"I'm starting to wonder whether you do care or not," Rui said. "Every time Itsuki showed up, you gave him the death glare and scared him off then proceeded to ignore me more than you were before."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Rui stepped closer to him. "Really? Because you do the same thing with any other guy that I talk to at work except for Gunhead."

"You're just imagining things."

"That's your defense? I'm 'imagining things'?" Rui rolled her eyes and shook her head as she turned away from him, sighing. "Why do I even bother...? You're never going to change."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed. "Why does it even matter to you what I think? Why should you care?"

"Because I-" Rui stopped herself, realizing that she was about to blurt out that she was still in love with him. She looked away and readjusted the purse strap on her shoulder. "Nothing, it doesn't matter anyway..."

Katsuki watched as she started to walk away, but he wasn't going to let her get away. "No, what were you going to say?"

Rui tried to ignore him and picked up her pace a bit more. 'I can't believe I almost told him...'

"Don't ignore me."

Rui shot him a glare and dropped a small cup's worth of water onto his head, distracting him long enough to hop onto her water board and hurry off towards the nearby pond.

"I hate it when she does that..!" Katsuki wiped the water from his eyes and looked around, seeing Rui disappear over the treetops nearby.

Rui sighed as she reached the soft dirt path that ran along the perimeter of the pond. She stepped down from her water board, depositing the water back into her bracelets, then walked along the path in hopes that she'd have enough of a moment's peace to collect her thoughts.