A/N: It feels so WEIRD finally posting these chapters after keeping them to myself for 3 years and editing them constantly omg

This is where I kinda start getting iffy about this specific point in the story. This was like, the ONE arc I actually sat down and took the time to outline and write down notes for (back in September-October of 2019 holy moly O-O) and it's so baked into the fic that I just couldn't see myself changing it. I'd like to think I've improved a lot as a writer since making this fic, but this arc is a part of it that affects future events which is why I never really wanted to let it go.

I've gone back and edited/changed bits and pieces of this upcoming arc to try and make it better so many times, at this point all I can say is I tried my best with all the upcoming chapters :,) Hope you'll still enjoy regardless ❤️

Art -

[Complete Gallery] Add /21axlkt3bolc to the DeviantArt Stash URL.

[Ch. 63] Add /21ltc7qfvony to the DeviantArt Stash URL.

"EEHHHH?!" Class 1-A cried out in surprise.

Yaoyorozu blushed, continuing to comb her fingers through her hair. "Do you all not want to…?" she asked sheepishly.

"No, no, Yaomomo!" Uraraka tried to reassure her, shaking her head rapidly. "It's just…" She trailed off, too in shock to finish her sentence.

Ojiro picked up for her. "Are you sure you want us to come, Yaoyorozu? All of us?"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Of course I do. You all are so wonderful, and… I want us all to go to the Philippines. Together. That's how I want to spend my birthday."

Iida hummed in thought, adjusting his glasses. "Your birthday falls in line with the days we have off from the upcoming holiday next week, so we wouldn't be missing anything. Not to mention, the bonding experience it'd be to travel together as a class. The companionship that'd bloom from it… Yes! It's perfect, Yaoyorozu-kun!"

Yaoyorozu breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing. "I'm glad you think so…"

"The only issue is getting permission," Iida mumbled, holding his chin.

"Ah, about that." Yaoyorozu took a slip of paper out of her pocket, unfolding it and holding it up. It was a signed permission slip. "I already talked with Aizawl-sensei. He said that as long as we're all okay with it, we can do it. Since it's out of the country, our chances of running into trouble are significantly lower because the people there won't know us. We'll also be guarded of course, by my family's security in the area, and Nix-sensei will be chaperoning for us. What decides whether we can go or not is if you all agree. It wouldn't feel right to me to take some and leave others behind, so…"

Everyone turned to look at Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Tokoyami.

"Are you guys okay with it?" Shouji asked, voicing the single thought in everyone else's minds. "Even with your work studies and all?"

Tokoyami placed his hand on his chest. "Hawks already informed me I would have that holiday off, so it shouldn't be an issue."

The other four looked between each other, their expressions contemplative. Hitomi wondered if something was going on between them.

"Well, none of us have been called in for a while," Midoriya said slowly, as if deliberating over each word. His thoughtful expression turned into one with a small smile. "But… we'll talk with them, to clarify things. It's really nice of you to offer this to us, Yaoyorozu-san."

"Yeah," Kirishima added on. "To go out of your way to treat us, even though it's your birthday…" He clenched his fist. "It's so generous! So… manly…!"

Tsuyu placed her finger on her chin as she shared a look with Uraraka. "We'll try finding out this weekend."

Uraraka nodded. "Even if it turns out we can't go, I'm sure your birthday will be something to remember, Yaomomo!"

The class then dispersed, talking about what they'd do if they were able to go. Hitomi watched the four work study students closely as they began walking away from the common area, taking in their serious expressions. Even Kirishima and Uraraka, who could be described as some of the most upbeat people of their class, looked lost in thought.

I hope their internships are going okay...

Mina sighed as she flopped onto Hitomi's lap, surprising Hitomi as she splayed her arms across the couch cushions.

"Mina?!"

"Hitomi!" Mina whined. "It feels like forever since I last saw you!"

It was the weekend, and Hitomi was hanging out with the Bakusquad in the common area. She was thankful Bakugou had his license course lessons during these days, because without them, they might have noticed her odd behavior as of late.

Hitomi raised a brow, turning back to her phone. "I literally ate lunch with you and the girls yesterday."

"Yeaaah…" Mina droned, "but it seems like you've been so busy!"

Hitomi froze, praying Mina hadn't noticed how her legs tensed underneath her.

"O-Oh…?" Hitomi laughed sheepishly, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "How so?"

Kaminari hummed, sipping his juice. "It just seems like you've been distracted. We haven't seen you during breaks lately, y'know!" He suddenly spat out his juice, making Sero hiss as he covered his face. "Don't tell me you're seeing someone?!"

Hitomi's face turned red. "W-What gives you that idea?!" she spluttered.

Mina rolled over so she was facing Hitomi, giving her a mischievous smile as she scooted off Hitomi's lap to rest her head against the armrest. "I see~! Shy about having a boyfriend, huh?"

Kirishima's eyebrow raised, a small smile on his face. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Hitomi huffed, turning back to her phone. "There's no one. Trust me on that."

"Ehhh?" Kaminari said airily. "Confide in us, Hitomi!"

"There's nothing to share," Hitomi said, absentmindedly scrolling through a webpage. It was what she was looking at earlier before Mina had plopped herself into her lap; she'd been searching for ideas for her present to Yaoyorozu. "Besides… it's not my dating life we should be concerned about. How about you, Kam?"

Kaminari pointed at himself dumbly. "Me?"

"I saw you trying to flirt with that girl from 2-E on Thursday. She let you down gently, huh?" Hitomi shot him a joking smile.

Kaminari wailed, throwing his head back onto the backrest. "Don't remind me of that embarrassment!" he whined. "She was so pretty… I just wanted to take a chance."

Sero chuckled. "Too bad she already has a girlfriend!"

"Yeah…" Kaminari mused, smiling sheepishly. "I never had a chance to begin with," he laughed.

"Don't worry, young one!" Mina tutted.

"I'm older than you."

Mina wagged a finger at him, ignoring his comment. "You'll find someone eventually!"

Hitomi continued scrolling through her phone as her friends all continued to converse, trying to keep a frown from forming on her face.

Never had a chance to begin with, huh…?

That sounded familiar.

Hitomi continued to pull off her plan of avoidance for another week. This time, she had a real, legitimate excuse. She was getting Yaoyorozu's birthday present ready.

Before Hitomi knew it, they'd been given their four-day weekend for a holiday.

After confirming permission from their teachers and parents (Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tsuyu had said they were able to come along), with Hitomi's mom telling Hitomi to practice her Tagalog in the Philippines as much as she could, Class 1-A piled into Yaoyorozu's private family jet, off to Manila.

Hitomi was about to follow after Uraraka to sit with her, because as much as she loved the Bakusquad, with Bakugou around she didn't want to be there. Before she could, though, someone grabbed her.

"Let's sit over there!"

It was Mina.

Before Hitomi could protest, the pink girl was already dragging her towards a group of open seats, with the rest of the Bakusquad trailing after them.

No, no no no!

Not here! This is a four-hour flight…!

She was ushered into the window seat, with Mina plopping into the seat right next to her. Hitomi quickly turned to face the window, not wanting anyone to see how she was freaking out. She could only pray she wouldn't have to deal with...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a boy with ash blonde hair and red eyes drop into the seat across from her.

This motherfucker.

Hitomi went stiff, feeling like her throat had closed up.

Of course, of course Bakugou had to sit in the seat right across from her. The universe just loved to give her a hard time; it was silly of her to think she'd ever catch a break.

Hitomi had to do everything in her power not to look at him, keeping her eyes averted to the window.

She really hoped she wasn't blushing right now.

"Hitomi, you okay?"

That was Sero's voice. He was probably sitting next to the source of all her troubles.

The bluenette didn't move, keeping her eyes glued outside. "I'm fine."

Please don't be looking at me, please don't be looking at me…

"You just seemed pretty stiff…" she heard Sero say. "Are you nervous about flying?"

"Oh, well, no!" Hitomi nervously laughed. "I can handle airplanes no problem!" She went silent, scared to say anything more in case her voice cracked.

The rest of the Bakusquad shared a look, before going on to their own things as they waited for the plane to take off.

…

Hitomi stared outside the window for half an hour.

And now she was bored. She wanted to find something to do, but she was too stiff and nervous to do something when the boy she liked was sitting right across from her.

Damn you, you stupid feelings…!

Hitomi finally turned away from the window, her gaze shifting to the floor. She reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone.

Thank god this plane has WiFi.

She opened her messaging app, going to the group chat between herself, Nari, and Yoshiho.

Me: guys, I'm ready to die rn

Nari: ?

Yoshihoﾐ: whats wrong

Nari : oh wait

Nari : hold up hold up lemme guess

Nari: airsickness? since ur on ur way to the Philippines right?

Me: nari no. that's you. I'm fine on planes.

Nari: fair DBLKFGDKJ

Me: its uh

Me: something else

Me: seating arrangements

Nari: HOLD UP

Nari: IS IT BAKUGOU? OMG ARE YOU SITTING NEXT TO BAKUGOU

Me: NO

Yoshiho: I'm confused

Hitomi's thumbs hovered over the keyboard, realizing she'd never actually told Yoshiho about her crush.

Well, I don't mind her knowing. She's all the way in Shiketsu after all, and what's more, I can trust her…

Before she could type anything, Nari had already sent another text.

Nari: omg hitomi can I tell her

Me: go nuts man

Nari: ok ok so. Yoshiho my GIRL

Yoshiho: ?

Nari: you know who bakugou is right?

Yoshiho: yeah. I see him at my provisional license course. I think one of my upperclassman was disqualified by him at the license exam actually.

Nari: ok, WELL

Nari: our little hitomi has a

Nari: CRUSH

Nari: ON

Nari: HIM!

Hitomi could feel her cheeks warming, realizing the amount of people who knew about her crush just went up from 1 to 2.

Yoshiho: …

Yoshiho: wasn't he the one who was in chains at the sports festival awards ceremony

Nari: YEAH THAT GUY

Nari: hitomi LIKES HIM

Yoshiho: I'm sorry but I have to question your tastes hitomi

Yoshiho: from what shishikura-senpai told me that guys crazy

Me: thats cause you guys have only seen him when he's all serious and fighting and stuff

Me: when he's not busy battling he can be… well a lot nicer than you guys think he is

Nari: of course you'd say that you lovesick loser

Nari: HITOMI THINKS HE HAS A NICE ASS SHE TOLD ME SO

The moment Hitomi read Nari's message, her mouth suddenly shouted "Shut up!" before she could stop herself. She looked up to see the Bakusquad staring at her, slapping a hand over her mouth.

She dared a glance at Bakugou, her eyes shifting towards him.

Bad idea.

He was staring at her, an almost surprised expression on his face. Hitomi could feel the judgement from his eyes-

"You good, Hitomi?" Kaminari suddenly said from across the aisle.

She flinched, feeling her cheeks flush as her grip tightened on her phone. "Eh?! Um- yeah, I'm fine…"

"You sure?" Kirishima asked, raising a brow. "You looked like you were going pretty crazy with your phone there…"

"Uh…" Hitomi abruptly stood up, stepping over Mina's feet. "Bathroom." She moved out of the aisle, nearly tripping as she made her way to the restroom.

The bluenette slammed the door shut, leaning back against it as she ran her hands down her face.

"Crap."

…

The Bakusquad stared at the bathroom door, perplexed looks on their faces.

"Well, that was weird," Sero said as he sat back in his seat.

"Yeah, she seems off…" Kirishima added, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I'm sure it's nothing we need to worry about," Mina waved off. "Based on her reaction, it's most definitely a guy."

"What do you mean?" Kaminari asked.

Mina smirked, holding a finger up. "Didn't you see how she was reacting to her phone, or how much she was typing? She was blushing. Hitomi's so adorable!" Mina gushed.

Sero leaned forward in his seat, resting his chin on his hand. "I don't see how that means a guy is involved."

"Oh, Sero, Sero," Mina tutted. "Trust me. I know these things."

"Right…"

…

Hitomi was in the bathroom for half an hour.

She had spent that time sitting on top of the toilet cover, her leg bouncing as she was erratically texting Nari and Yoshiho about what had happened earlier.

She'd only left when Yaoyorozu had knocked on the door, asking if she was alright. Hitomi told her she was fine, embarrassed as she opened the door and apologizing for hogging the bathroom for so long.

The trek back to her seat felt like a walk of shame.

She could feel her friends' stares as she sat back in her seat, wanting to find the nearest possible hole to crawl into and die in.

The closest thing to that she could do, though, was pull her hood over her face and sink lower into her seat. She sifted through her backpack sheepishly, pulling out a bottle of water and twisting the cap off.

As she sighed, she felt Mina place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hitomi…" Mina began as Hitomi started drinking her water, "you don't need to feel embarrassed if you had to go Number Two."

Hitomi spat out all the water in her mouth at Mina's words.

And unfortunately, Bakugou was sitting right across from her.

"What the fuck?!" he growled, staring down at his now damp shirt as water dripped down his face.

Hitomi hit her chest, coughing out the remains of the water she'd choked on. She stared at Bakugou with wide eyes, her cheeks beginning to heat up. "Oh- Oh shit!"

She looked through her bag erratically, her hands shaky as she fished out the hand towel she'd packed inside. Hitomi stood up from her seat, fretting over what she'd done.

"Bakugou, I'm so sorry…!"

The blonde tugged at his shirt, glaring down at his clothes. "Christ, are you fucking kidding me?! What the hell?"

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Her face was probably as red as a tomato now. She wanted to sink into that hole she was looking for so bad. "I- uh-"

She stared at the towel in her hand before tossing it into his lap. "Just- Just use that…! Sorry!"

Hitomi bit her lip, stumbling out into the aisle and making a beeline for the door that led to the other compartment of the jet, where their chaperone and the other half of the class was situated.

She shoved the door open and slammed it shut behind her, her mind an erratic and flustered mess.

Mina, you stupid, stupid idiot! I can't believe you just said that in front of everyone and made me do… that!

Hitomi found herself sinking into the open seat next to Todoroki, holding her face in shame.

She needed some space to cope with the embarrassment that had just happened.

"Kanetsukabe-san?" she heard Midoriya pipe up. "I thought you were sitting with Kacchan and the others… everything okay?"

"...I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Hitomi's hands moved away from her face, brushing her bangs back. "Well, actually, not really… but I will be later, though. It's not- It's not that big of a deal. Thanks for your concern…"

Midoriya and Uraraka shared a look, giving Hitomi one last cautious glance before leaving her be.

Having this crush, Hitomi decided, was the absolute worst.

A/N: From what I remember I originally got the whole idea of the whole "Class 1-A goes on a trip" when my family went camping to a lake house in 2019 with some family friends! Like I remember I was sitting on the porch staring at the lake and thought hey, what if I wrote about something like this? So now you kinda got a peek into my thought process of how I wrote this fic (aka almost no planning at all lmaooo) I think I was also partially inspired by another old fic I read where the class went on a trip together because of Momo, but its been so long I can't remember it anymore TAT

Also I don't know about y'all, but it's very easy to tell the difference between art I made in 2020 compared to 2022 XD My anatomy used to look very "squished" if you know what I mean