"Gentlemen, I managed to get ourselves a secret weapon. I call this new mission, 'Movie Night.'"

"Movie Night?" Kirishima asks, intrigued.

Ashido hadn't even washed herself off after work before making this call. "Yep. Remember that villain you fought a few weeks ago, Ei? The one who could make everything opposite? Wavy-chan was there with you, wasn't she? Hado Nejire?"

"Yeah, she delivered the final blow. It was so manly!"

"I bet. Anyway, I decided to hit her up, and she's coming with us to see a movie. Kirishima, I need you to invite Bakugou and mention Camie, but don't mention Hado. See, Hado will be an important piece, but I'll get into that later. Tokoyami, this is what I have in mind for you."

Tokoyami nods, ready for his instructions.

"We need to get Bakugou more involved with Camie," Ashido explains. "Blatantly telling him Camie likes him is a bad idea, but what we can do is hint at it. Get me?"

"I suppose so… is that what I am merely accomplishing?"

"No, not you, but Dark Shadow. This way it won't seem too obvious, but it'll hopefully give that big push we need in order to make the deadline."

"You are quite the organized one, Ashido."

"Thanks! Mind if I tell Dark Shadow a few things?"

Three weeks remain.

"Hey, hey, what kinda villains do you deal with? I've seen you on TV once or twice, you're really pretty! I like your hero costume, who tailored it? Do you get asked out a lot?!"

The previews are much more interesting than what Nejire's asking, if Camie's honest with herself, but who is she to turn down girl talk? Nobody recognizes her with her flawless disguise anyway. If a sunhat and shades is all it takes to conceal her identity, she'd have put even more thought into her outfit for today. An hour had already been spent figuring out which shirt gave Bakugou the best view of her chest, but he hasn't seemed to notice yet…

"Totes. Tons of guys asked me out," she answers, twirling her hair.

"Whooaa, cool!" beams Nejire. Her eyes shine with childish exuberance. "Are they cute guys? Are you dating any of them?"

"Nah fam, I ain't dating anybody…"

"Aww, what? How come?"

"I just don't like 'em that way."

"Huhh… I get what you mean. I've been with a few people before, but they weren't the one, you know? Like they just don't fit into your categories! If that makes sense… but Tamacchi is different."

"'Tamacchi'?"

"Oh," recalling Ashido's warning, Nejire quiets down for what could be the first time in her life. "Suneater. His name is Tamaki Amajiki, but I like to call him Tamacchi. Or, wait, could Tamajiki work, too?"

Nejire's sweet. Camie wishes the movie would start already, or at least be given some time to herself to talk to Bakugou, but damn, Nejire just won't stop. She minds, thank you very much!

"Eh, doesn't matter," the woman continues. "My point is, there's plenty of fish in the sea! Don't worry about it! Someday you'll find—oh!" and just like that, Nejire's sentence is replaced with the worst thing possible, the one thing Camie was hoping to avoid here, "I just got an idea! Why don't you and Bakugou get together?!"

…Did she have to say that so loud?!

Does she have to be so straightforward?!

Camie flares, realizing Bakugou is looking their way after hearing his name. Nejire's blindingly bright eyes gleam at the suggestion, "He hasn't dated anyone before! You two could b—"

Nejire's been on dangerous missions, but none of them can compare to the aura surrounding Camie with her hand slapped over her mouth. Putting on the gentlest grin possible, Camie grits out, "Yo, I lowkey think Ashido wants to chat now. K?"

Nejire blinks.

…

Then smiles.

"Ooh, okay!" She turns to Ashido and joins her conversation with Kirishima, leaving Camie to catch a breather and think for herself. Finally. Now she can finally talk to Bakugou aga—

Her heart drops when the lights decide to dim at the worst possible time.

Damn it!

Might as well enjoy the movie, then…

Bakugou can't enjoy the movie.

Can Bird Brain get his parrot under control already?! Here he is, gripping the armrests in vexation, trying his best to focus on the big screen, but every five seconds he hears a dumbass comment along the lines of:

"She has nice tits, huh?"

Like I care!

Popcorn crumbles in his fist. "Tokoyami…" he growls as low as possible, immediately getting the bird's attention. His face must have been that of a demon's, because Tokoyami flinches at the sight. "Get your bird back in its cage."

But Dark Shadow replies, "Hey, I'm just being honest! Fumi's not doing anything wrong! I like movies too, ya know!"

Bakugou scowls. "Then shut your mouth or I'll blast you—"

"Don't you think it would be a bad idea to make a scene in here? You went through the trouble of coming here, right? Also, that sunhat looked great on her, huh?"

Bakugou is going to lose his mind.

"I don't care what the hell she wears, why's it your business anyway?"

Tokoyami only turns away and broods when Dark Shadow answers, "Like I said, I'm being honest! These are my own thoughts, and you kinda have to agree with me here, don't you? Didja know that broad ranks in the top 40s?"

Of course he knows that, why the hell wouldn't he? Camie's told him already, anyway. When did this bird learn to talk so much?

Bakugou tries his best to block out the cacophony, but the mass of darkness just keeps going on and on, making ridiculous statements about either Camie or himself. Talking about her looks and distracting him from the movie, sometimes even tricking him into looking at her, making him remember why he came along in the first place.

Because she's here. But she hasn't said a word to him, and vice versa.

Even though talking to her at the park one-on-one was something he didn't hate. She's not the worst person to hang around. Better than getting asked if he's dated anyone over and over again… not that he'd like to talk to her again…

The movie itself isn't bad, yet he missed almost half of it because of Dark Shadow, but he got used to ignoring it after a while. It apparently decided to be silent from now on, because it's been a while since it last spoke. Good riddan—

"Hey, can you get me some popcorn?"

THAT'S IT.

The amount of rage Bakugou feels is a shock to the heart. Like a volcano erupting, he turns his crimson eyes to the grinning shadow, grumbling, "SURE," as he then takes a fist and hurls it into the popcorn bucket at his side, grabbing a fierce handful of…

…

…?

"Ay…"

He's just realized what he's caught.

Camie simultaneously went for the popcorn just as he did. She's frozen, red-faced, with a nervous grin plastered onto her. Her hand is encased inside his. She only stares at them for a moment or two before looking at him in the eyes again, uttering a quaky:

"Hi…"

…

…!

Bakugou snaps back to reality and lets go of her, quickly nodding as an apology. She merely laughs before returning to her original position in her seat. All lingering effects of anger completely vanished from Bakugou. Like some kind of black magic, he can't seem to bring himself to say anything after that.

He just… held her hand.

…

He just held her hand.

That's all it was. It was a pure accident. That bastard shadow knew. He timed it perfectly so the dart landed on the bullseye. The proof comes from Dark Shadow snickering in his ear, following with questions about how it felt.

And it triggers his next thought. His honest thought.

It felt soft.

Something in his chest tightens.

Her hand was really soft. Why's her hand so fucking smooth?

It's completely different from when he last shook hands with her at that puppy mill raid a while back, when all the grime and germs gathered on her skin, turning it rough and callused.

What the hell is happening?

Why's he suddenly so short of breath?

Did touching her hand really get his heart racing? Why? It's echoing in his ears, louder than any explosion he's let off in his life.

She didn't even flinch.

She just said 'hi' and grinned.

Bakugou goes to take one more look at her to process this issue. Something isn't right with him here, normally being in contact other people doesn't make him this… confused. What the hell is this feeling? What did she do to him?! It's like he can't even breathe right anymore! How does an accident turn into this?

"Hi, again…"

Oh.

He's staring right at her. She's staring right back at him, smiling like she's at gunpoint. He turns away at lightning speed.

!

What the…?!

Is it him, or did she appear more attractive than usual?! And he'd been staring at her! He's looked at her plenty of times before, right in the eyes too, but why's she suddenly so… different?! She didn't look like that at the park! Did she?

Was she always like that?

Was Dark Shadow right?

What the hell's going on?

And why's it feel like he's burning alive?

Unfortunately for him, the questions will have to wait. The movie's over. The lights brighten and everyone's standing up to leave. Dark Shadow is thankfully long gone, despite never getting his popcorn.

Yet.

Mysteriously, everything in Bakugou's head returns to normal. Like nothing even happened, Bakugou's mind regains its usual path. Looking at Camie again doesn't make him… feel whatever he just felt moments ago. Was all of that a hallucination? Did her quirk go haywire?

…What was that feeling?

It's just a consideration, but Bakugou may have lost his mind.