Sometimes when life throws you punches, your first instinct is to punch life back.
Sometimes life dodges. And then life kicks you in the ass and knees you in the face when you're down. And then life steps on your chest, spits on you, and taunts you for missing the first punch.
So… how exactly did I get my ass kicked?
I guess it was the first Sports Festival. When Ochako Uraraka almost beat me. What a kick in the ass that was. But I wasn't gonna let that get me on the ground. Looking back at it now? Probably had one knee on the ground. That should've been the end of it, really, but I threw another punch.
Now… how did I get kneed in the face?
I remember this one. After the final exam I was rightfully pissed about how I only passed because Izuku sucker punched All-Might and got me outta there all in the last friggin' second. They made us watch the tapes to see how we could improve.
Then Uraraka just had to run her mouth about it.
Looking back on it, it's kinda weird how she was sorta just looking at me, seeing how pissed I was. Guess it doesn't matter; makes sense given that it was about Izuku.
But even after I told her to fuck off, after I kept shouting at her like I usually do, that airhead persisted. Like she had a death wish.
Then she…
The classroom felt as if it had gone dark: nighttime, all the windows covered. You know that feeling that crawls along your skin in utter darkness? Maybe it's the lack of direct sunlight, or much of any light bouncing off of you.
Lights go out and you're left completely blindsided. Your arm reaches out for a light. But it has to be quick. It must be… before the night can reach out for you. As long as a light bounces off the corners of your room, the night cannot hurt you.
But the night comes anyway.
The Earth keeps going around the Sun. Gravity. To defy the night would be to defy gravity…
But Katsuki Bakugou just so happens to know someone who can defy gravity.
And he saw her face, clear as day, shining like the full moon in the night sky. Light bouncing off like day. It must've been day, despite how the day fell down on him like night…
"Bakugou, you were so cool when we fought. But you're always like that with Deku. It's almost like… you're scared so you want to distance yourself from him. And so… you act all menacing like that… I mean, you were childhood friends, and now you're in the same class, so… I want you to stop yelling at each other and be friends again."
Oof, the gall on this girl… but she was right. She was right… and I yelled at her. And, wait, did she just call me… cool?
At that point I should have realized what exactly she was doing.
At that point I should have listened.
But I just threw another punch.
Then that shitty camping trip came along. What a shitty weekend. It was supposed to be a whole damn summer but obviously me being the main course, the League of Villains just couldn't leave ill enough alone.
But we managed to fight off the League of Villains, save the day, all that nonsense. Get branded as heroes. Again.
"Mystery Gang." Still a mystery how anyone thought that was a good name. I would've taken "Fab Four" or "The Main Characters." Throw in Todoroki and that guy with the glasses and you got yourself "The Big Six."
I guess I'm just putting off talking about…
Fuck. I guess I can say it. I was scared. And not just because of that girl, Himiko Toga. I'll never forget her name. Or her face. No matter how much I try.
I try to forget all of this. I was scared I might die, sure…
But… I kinda knew they weren't going to kill me.
I was scared that… I was scared that I would—
"HEY! EARTH TO BAKUGOU! COME IN, MAJOR BAKUGOU!"
Katsuki looked to his left to find Denki. He said nothing and weaved his way through the crowded venue.
"Gee," Denki said, "he didn't even pop a vein."
"He's in the zone," Mina said.
It was 6:03 PM, about an hour before the show, and most everyone with a ticket in their pocket was already there. Sure smelled like Teen Spirit. Sun would be going down by the time the show started, probably by design. Everyone had a funny glow to them, and not just because of where the sun was.
The tiki bar was stacked, mocktails up front and cocktails further down by the impromptu teachers' lounge. Ms. Joke was bothering Power Loader and that one teacher from Shiketsu about something. Power Loader was wearing his iconic "HOLE" shirt that Izuku cracked a smile at every time he saw it.
Ochako couldn't make out a darn word from any of the twenty or forty conversations battling for space inside her ears. Not that she really wanted to. Where were the others? Statistically speaking, she'd know about a quarter of the people here…
If Ochako's math was correct, Momo had bought 44 tickets. The entirety of Class 2-A and B, as well as a ticket for Mawata Fuwa, Hitoshi Shinsou, Maina Furasu, and of course… Mei Hatsume.
It was only five days since she'd last thought about it, but it felt more like three months. How much did Momo spend? A little over half a million yen? No biggie. No biggie at all when you're practically made of money.
The biggie, of course, was Mei Hatsume. Her name even rhymed. Why? Rhyming names, a name like Mei Hatsume, oughta be forbade. Pain. Shame.
"Ochako," Tsu said.
"Huh?"
"You're doing that thing that usually only Izuku does."
"Oh," Ochako looked around to see they were standing still like sea stacks in a sea of swimming sardines.
She turned her head around, twisting as far as she could, for any sign of Izuku or Katsuki. None. Not even familiar faces. Just strangers.
"I just… I'm just nervous about meeting people, you know?"
Ochako's eyes fell to the sand beneath her feet. Billions of grains of sand. Rough alone. Soft together. Kinda like—
"Is it about Mei Hatsume?" Tsu asked—blurted out.
"WHAT? No, where'd you get an idea like that?"
"You kept saying her name, ribbit."
Ochako looked Tsu in the eye, then tried peeking over the heads of all the people taller than her, then back at Tsu.
With a shallow huff, Ochako crossed her arms and closed her eyes.
"I'm not mad at her or anything," Ochako said, tapping her arm, "I'm just… okay I am a little mad at her for… being weird. Around Izuku."
When she opened her eyes, she found Tsu with her thinking finger on her chin.
"Oh," she said, "I thought you were jealous about her—"
"MELONS! WHO WANTS MELONS?"
"DAMMIT SERO!" Ochako found herself shouting.
Turning in Hanta's direction, she found him holding about five modestly-sized cantaloupes in his arms.
"What? It's melons."
"How are you going to eat them, dummy?"
"With my mouth, of course. Now do you want one or not?"
"No thank you," Ochako turned away, "have you seen Izuku or Kacchan? Or anyone from our class?"
"Shouji's here," he said with a glance to the side, "oh yeah, I saw Iida and Sato in the back. Must've been helping with the catering or something."
"Oh yeah!" Ochako suddenly sprung up out of her rut, "Gosh, I totally forgot Tenya volunteered to organize everything. I wonder what exactly he's doing. Hey, we should go check on him!"
"Okay," Tsu said, ready to follow Ochako wherever she might get lost.
"Uh," Ochako's eyes floated back to Hanta, who was still standing there with his prized melons, "could you maybe… help us get backstage?"
Hanta's face went blank, which was weird because his face was already pretty blank, but the longer he stared at Ochako the more it felt like he was checking her out instead of actually thinking about it—
"Sorry," he finally said, "they only let in people with a backstage pass."
"Then how did you get backstage?"
"They let me in."
"How?"
…
"They… moved aside."
"Sero."
"Alriiiight, sheesh," Hanta rolled his eyes very far back, "they let me in because of my connections."
Earlier Ochako had unconsciously mimicked Izuku's loud thinking. Now it was time to mimic Katsuki's excessive arm crossing.
"So this whole time you could've just said we could go right in?"
"Yes."
"Come on, Tsu," Ochako sighed, making a pointed effort to really squeeze and shove past Hanta.
"Ow," he said, without the slightest hint of actual hurt.
Ochako and Tsu retreated to the 'avenue' circling around the general admission floor, the bar off their left. Most of the traffic was going the opposite way so Ochako grabbed a hold of Tsu's hand with her pinkie raised.
"Psst, should I just float us over there?"
Tsu gave her a 'bad idea' look and furrowed her lips.
"I don't think we're allowed to use our Quirks here."
Ochako gulped and braced the rapid current of people walking into them. She barreled forward with her hand still grasping Tsu's. Quirk or not, she was going to get them backstage.
Flashes of all different colors and colorful insults flew by as Ochako tried her best not to fly by.
But in no time, they had reached the green room. Off in a secluded corner of the venue, guarded by two rather burly men in black suits. One quite tall, the other not so much.
"Um, e-excuse me," Ochako tried, "we're friends of Tenya Iida. Um… could you—"
The taller gentleman bared his teeth and put a hand to his earpiece.
"Kids," he growled, "say they're 'friends of Tenya Iida.'"
As he waited for a response, Ochako gulped at the sound of her racing heart. But beyond that, she someone managed to grasp the irony of her situation: she never wanted to prod, and imagined it'd be Mina who would. Funny how things like that work out.
"Your names?" the guard asked.
Now being put on the spot like that, Ochako lost too much air to gulp again—
"Tsuyu Asui and Ochako Uraraka," Tsu said loud and clear.
"Tsuyu Asui and Ochako Uraraka," the guard repeated… "step right in."
The two guards moved aside and Ochako felt her inner self float away as she remembered the rumors that Hawks would be here; along with the Wild, Wild Pussycats.
She gulped once more as the door opened to the green room.
"Thank you," she managed to squeak out to the guards before being shoved in.
She could hear one of them groan.
The green room was quite fancy. Not very green, though. The floor in front was a dark and shiny wood but in the back there was an area with an olive green carpet floor and—
"AH! HAWKS!"
"Hm?" he mumbled from the green area, sinking into a rather expensive-looking purple lounge chair.
"Uh, sorry for shouting," Ochako said, stepping forward, "I just didn't expect you to be there."
"Okay, that's fine," Hawks grasped his cellphone but didn't look at it.
Tsu looked around the room like Hawks was the least interesting thing in the world. Ochako would've looked around to avoid making eye contact, as if it was forbidden by the law to look at a celebrity for too long. But him being here was too weird for her to just look away.
The one thing that really got her attention was the new costume. It was so much better than the old one. Those wacky colorful tights were not doing it for anyone. This new look? The black and yellow? The jacket? Perfectamundo.
"Wait," Hawks looked back up at them, "you two… Tsuragamae's been looking for you."
"Oh," Ochako looked for any other doors in the room, "where is he?"
"Iida was in the dressing room. Tsuragamae was here a while ago. Top secret hero stuff. Not sure where he's off to now. Dressing room's there."
Hawks pointed to a door on the far end of the room labeled "DRESSING ROOM."
"Tenya's gonna be on stage?!" Ochako gasped.
"No," Hawks said with a smirk, "Ingenium's gonna be on stage."
"Right, speaking of, I'm digging the new look!"
Hawks looked down at himself like the "new look" was news to him.
"Oh, yeah, thanks. You weren't supposed to see it just yet. I was… supposed to be revealing it tonight. Just don't tell anyone, okay?"
"I guess Sero saw your new look too," Tsu finally contributed to the conversation.
"Sero? Not sure who that is but… no one but you and some of the Pros have seen the new look. When I talked with Tsuragamae and Iida, I was in my underwear."
Ochako laughed at the image until she realized what exactly the image was. Then she scooted over to the dressing room.
"I guess we'll see you on stage," Tsu said as she followed Ochako out.
Once they were in the dressing room, Ochako took as much as a breather as she could before she needed to do anything else.
"That was weird," Tsu said.
And just like that, 'take a breather' time was over. The two girls quickly found Tenya Iida sitting in front of a mirror with his armor already on. The helmet was sitting in front of him on the desk.
Seeing him like this was like seeing a celebrity in the flesh… interesting. Ochako took the thought a step back, Ingenium being a household name, Hawks being on the other side of that door.
Seeing Tenya again after nearly a week was a breath of fresh air. 'Take a breather' time was back.
"Uraraka! Asui!"
'Take a breather' time was over.
"Hey Iida! Long time no see, huh?" Ochako plopped down into the chair next to him.
"Um, yes," Tenya looked distracted, "it's refreshing to see you two again, but… I'm afraid I'm very busy. It's been quite the week."
"Are you okay, Iida? You look pretty stressed out." Tsu asked.
"Yeah," Ochako said, "we just wanted to check up on you."
Tenya pushed up his glasses.
"A volunteer must take every opportunity he can to show his worth to the community. With how low on staff we've been, I had to—"
"Don't work too hard!" Ochako interrupted, "I mean… go easy on yourself. There's only one Ingenium."
"Hm? Uraraka…"
"Actually, Iida's technically the fourth Ingenium," Tsu said.
"I am aware that Hawks is in the other room," Tenya said, certainly ignoring her, "I will be on stage with him during the Super FriendsShowcase just before the set."
Ochako stifled a laugh at "Super Friends" coming out in Tenya's overly serious, dramatic tone. Unfortunately, he caught her before she could catch herself.
"Oh come on!" Ochako shook her head and fists, "Mystery Gang? Super Friends? Who comes up with these names?"
"I believe it was All-Might who decided on 'Super Friends.' I'm not sure who coined 'Mystery Gang,'" Tenya rubbed his chin, the history of these groups and their names being of utmost interest.
"I'm sure Izuku knows," Tsu said, to which Tenya raised his head.
"Where is Midoriya?" he asked.
"Wandered off somewhere," Ochako said.
"And… Bakugou?"
Tenya didn't seem to be blushing but his face did get a little red as he lowered it ever so slightly.
"Katsuki is…"
Just as "Katsuki" fell from Ochako's mouth, Tenya tensed up. Tightened his fists. His face went darker than it had before. Something was catching up to him.
Ochako had seen that face a lot this last week. A thousand thoughts but only one mouth.
She already knew it when she woke up this morning: Saturday wasn't going to make the week go away.
"…he's trying."
When Tenya looked at Ochako, her mind stopped flipping through pages of thoughts and focused on his expression.
He didn't believe her.
…
Katsuki waited outside the restroom for Izuku, pacing around as strangers passed by. There wasn't much on his mind as he did, just shadows and shades of confusion. Nerve? Anxiety? Anxiety? Anxiety? Damn Saturdays.
Hurry up, Deku…
Like a summoning spell! Izuku stumbled out of the restroom and nearly walked right into Katsuki like he was a blonde wall.
"Oh!"
"There you are," Katsuki grabbed him by the shoulder, "where the hell are Ochako and Tsu?"
"I don't know, they…"
Izuku looked around as if that would help. Maybe it would, it'd be a simple fun coincidence if they just showed up as he looked. But most things can't be simple fun.
"…they were in the crowded area earlier, I just came here, you were with them I thought."
"I was," Katsuki tried not to spit too much, "then I got distracted and lost 'em."
"Okay, let's go find them."
Simple.
The two boys walked around the venue, from the concrete to the sand to the boardwalk back to the concrete then back to the sand again. Ochako and Tsu were nowhere to be found.
Somewhere around the tiki bar, they found Hanta trying to get rid of what looked like cantaloupes.
"I'm not asking for money, I'm just asking that you take one."
"Oi! Where the hell'd you get those?"
"Someone gave them to me," Hanta said, "you got a knife on you?"
"No," Katsuki looked over at whoever he was pushing the melons onto, "don't accept anything from him. Anyway… where the hell is everyone?"
Hanta groaned, handing one of the melons to a complete stranger.
"Uraraka and Asui went backstage," he said, "Shouji is… somewhere… and I think I saw Hado and Haya… there."
He nodded his head upward, hands still full with melons. Izuku and Katsuki turned to see Nejire and Yuyu, hand in hand, headed straight for them. From this far, they could already see Nejire's bright smile lighting up the entire arena.
"Hey! Midoriya and Bakugou!" Nejire shouted and waved over the crowd.
"Nejire!" Izuku shouted back, "Hey, where's Mirio and Tamaki?"
"Oh," Nejire cleared her throat, "you mean Lemillion and Suneater? They're off fighting crime in Tokyo. Really busy these days!"
"Why aren't you by their side?" Hanta felt the need to butt in, "Big Three, huh? Big Two, more like."
Katsuki gave him a sour glare but resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. For the melons' sake, of course.
"Oh, well, Yuyu and I really wanted to see the Pussycats, you know, so we decided to stop by. We knew you'd all be here and we obviously wouldn't miss a chance to see all you lovely people again."
Izuku couldn't help but feel a little jealous. The Big Three had graduated. Well on their way to being Pro Heroes!
"What about you?" Katsuki pointed to Yuyu, "Do you talk?"
"Grr," she growled, "just a bit mad about you almost burning Nejire's hair off, is all, no big deal."
"It didn't happen so move on."
"He's a bit pissy, too," Hanta said.
"What's wrong?" Nejire asked, only wanting to be helpful.
A scene was not about to happen. A good scolding could wait. Katsuki let it slip, for now.
"Kinda got stuck with this asshole," he said.
"Tsu and Ochako went backstage, apparently," Izuku added.
"Oh," Yuyu said, "yeah, we saw them just a minute ago."
"THERE YOU ARE!"
They all turned around to confirm who that came from: Mina.
"Where ought we be?" Hanta asked.
"Over there," Mina pointed across the crowd to a bamboo canopy by some torches, "VIP area for the Hero Courses!"
"We'll stick around here," Nejire said with a wave goodbye, "nice seeing you again, though!"
"Bye, Nejire!" Izuku waved.
Hanta tried sneaking away before Katsuki could notice—
"Pissy, huh? You can forget any birthday gifts from me."
"Hey," Mina tried whispering, "why'd you run off earlier?"
"To get away from Charge-Dolt, why do you think?"
"Just worried."
Katsuki grabbed her hand as the crowd thickened around them. He checked and double-checked for Izuku and Hanta's presence. He wouldn't ask them to hold hands, or hold his hand… not that that would be a bad thing—
"YOU SAID YOU KNEW WHERE TO FIND ALL THE CUTE GUYS, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
Izuku knew that voice anywhere in a crowd. And her bright and pink hair would be easy to spot… if he could see over everyone's heads.
"Shit. The other Pinky and the Brain," Katsuki sighed.
Coming around a clearing of the crowd, much like an actual forest, the makeshift group of four found two predators stalking their prey. Maneaters. Hitoshi Shinsou and Mei Hatsume.
"Shinsou! Hatsume!" Izuku shouted at the back of their heads.
As they turned around, Katsuki wished he'd done the same. But it was far too late. Here he was, staring down the beasts.
"Hey-oh!" Mina waved, "Whatcha two up to?"
"Manhunting," Mei said with absolute finality, "kinda busy right now."
"It's more of a… all-inclusive buffet for me," Hitoshi said with a creak of his hand.
"Jeez," Katsuki said, "that all you pervs think about?"
Mina gave him a sharp side jab. At the exact same time, Izuku walked up beside Hitoshi and stared out at the crowd.
Izuku looked him up and down. In the last few months, Hitoshi really came out of his shell. He always seemed so reserved but on the inside he was just this talkative, funny guy.
When he met Mei, the two became good friends. Katsuki came to calling them "Pinky and the Brain," something he'd already picked out for Mina and Eijirou, but he felt it fit them just as well. Whoever was Pinky and whoever was The Brain tended to fluctuate.
Hitoshi must've had to reel Mei in a lot. Especially if she wasn't being as handsy with Izuku as she usually was.
"I like your shirt," Izuku said.
Hitoshi looked down at his buttoned-down summer shirt, so colorful and bright. Like himself on the inside but on the outside. Izuku suddenly understood what fashion was—
"Hey, where's the girl you're always hanging out with?"
"Ugh," Mei grunted, "you mean Uraraka?"
"No, the one with the long hair."
"Asui," Katsuki said, "her and Uraraka went backstage, apparently… where's Hanta?"
"Talking with Sato," Mina pointed them out in the crowd.
Rikido was holding a box of cupcakes that looked rather delicious. Hanta was trying to grab one but Rikido kept swiping his hand away, pointing toward the VIP area.
"Okay, c'mon," Mina said, tugging at Katsuki's shirt, "those cupcakes look delicious."
"Fine, whatever. See you on the other side of the moon, Peter Pan."
"Hey," Hitoshi stopped him, "is Sero single?"
Katsuki looked over at Hanta and Rikido again. Hanta had the box of cupcakes held high up over his head, his eyes fixed on the bottom of it.
"Obviously."
Getting into the Hero Course VIP area was quite simple: tell the adult your name. Unsurprisingly, all four of the students had made it through. How they managed to not figure this out earlier was beyond Katsuki. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed about it. Needing Mina's help.
"The cupcakes are for the whole school," Hanta said, "Sato's just gotta put everyone's names on them."
"Sweet," Mina said.
Katsuki looked around, trying to avoid counting heads and instead take in the 'ambiance' or the 'décor' or whatever. The floor was covered with thin mats of some sort covering what must've been ugly gray stone. There were two 'middles' of the area, each with three colorful bamboo couches and a matching coffee table in the center. The closer 'middle' seemed to have been taken up by the more important members of Class 2-A…
Denki and Eijirou were standing, playing that dumb thumb game while Toru, Kyoka, Shoto, and Momo were sitting on one of the couches doing absolutely nothing.
Mezou Shouji and Fumikage Tokoyami were doing much of the same on one of the other couches. The third couch was empty.
Yuga and Neito were on the floor by the coffee table playing some kind of card game.
"Slim Shady!" Katsuki shouted Neito's way, "You made it, huh?"
When Neito faced him, he instantly regretted saying anything.
"Monoma." That would be a great word to add to the dictionary—
"How've you been, Bakugou?" he asked, eerily polite.
"Great until now," he said, "kinda easy to forget you're in the Hero Course."
"Bakugou, mon ami," Yuga started but never went anywhere.
'Mon ami…'
"I mean… hey," Katsuki tried again, "long time no see."
Neito's eyes darted around like he'd be found out for some kind of crime, until he looked back at Katsuki with a humbled whimper. But much less a whimper in his voice, a whimper in his expression. There was another one Katsuki had no word for.
"Heh, yeah…"
Katsuki looked around for any sign of Itsuka, Kousei, or Yui.
"The squad finally ditched you? I mean… shit, got lost or something?"
Izuku gave him a confused side-glance that he almost immediately noticed.
What is Kacchan doing?
"Don't look at me like that," Katsuki whispered from the side of his mouth.
"Um," Neito rubbed his neck, "they're here. Just… Tsuburaba was getting drinks. Itsuka, um, uh, and Kodai are—"
Katsuki's focus hopped off Neito's train of speech when he crashed into "Itsuka," like he was embarrassed about calling her by her name. He never found out exactly what they were doing but it didn't matter.
After a second of staring at the ground, he nodded and trailed off to the couch.
"Where's Ojiro?" he asked the empty space on the couch.
"Getting drinks with Mineta," Toru said, "why?"
"Wondering," Katsuki's focus broke again and wandered off to the crowds, looking for any sign of Ochako and Tsu.
"Like I said," Hanta interrupted his search, "they went backstage to see Iida."
Katsuki groaned and gritted his teeth.
"We got a little distracted," he decided on saying, "they probably don't know we're here, which worries me."
Mina winked and nodded.
"You got something to say, Pinky?"
"Nope," she shook her head as if trying to get something out of her hair.
"Yeah," Hanta said, "I was backstage earlier, actually—"
"I guess they let just about anyone in now, huh?" Denki said.
Katsuki tried his best… not to laugh.
"No!" Hanta shouted, "They let me in because of my connections."
"Hawks didn't remember you," a voice that sounded a lot like Tsu—
"There you are," Katsuki sighed as he saw Ochako and Tsu sneak up behind Hanta.
"Wait," Toru squeaked, "Hawks is here? The rumors were true?!"
"Yep," Ochako said, "we talked with him."
"Did you see Iida?" Izuku asked.
"Yep," Tsu said, "he's pretty busy so he probably won't be seeing any more guests."
"Oh."
"But you got to see him," Denki pointed out.
"We kinda interrupted him," Ochako said, "he's fine, he's just under a lot of stress right now."
That shithead, Katsuki thought, fast-tracking his way to being a Pro. What a fucking poser. Smart, shithead poser. Perfect golden boy. I should be the one doing all this low-stakes volunteer work. I would if it wasn't boring as sin. Ingenium… that must've made things a lot easier for him.
Forget Deku. Forget Todoroki—
Katsuki, almost instinctively, turned his head to find Shoto among the Hero Course. There… sitting on the couch. Sleeping. Against Momo's shoulder.
Todoroki's actually kinda cute when—fuck no, that one's not happening.
"You wanna sit? I'll go find Ojiro," Toru politely offered, and got out of her seat next to Kyoka.
Katsuki looked over at Ochako but she only nodded for him to take the seat. So he did.
Denki looked up from his thumbs to see him sit down next to Kyoka. He gulped slowly before having his left thumb squeezed by Eijirou.
"YOW! Damn it, you know that hurts a lot more than it looks?!"
As he was saying that, his eyes went back to Katsuki and Kyoka sitting next to each other on the couch. Like it was meant for both things…
"Just give him a shock," Kyoka suggested, "just a little one."
"I'm not using my Quirk," Eijirou said, "he's just a little softie."
"He is using his Quirk, mind you," Denki said loudly, "unlike Eijirou here, I do not cheat."
"What?!" Kyoka shouted and laughed so suddenly, Katsuki almost fell off the couch, "REALLY? Every time we're playing on Sero's GameCube, Kaminari tries glitching the console to try to get an edge in. But—heh—every time, I catch him 'cause he suddenly gets worse at playing the actual game. He sucks at cheating."
"Yeah," Hanta said with a drop in his tone and face, "I told him not to do that."
"Hey," Denki said straight to Katsuki, "why don't you try this?"
"Where did you say Kendo and Kodai were?" Katsuki asked Neito.
"Ignoring me, I see," Denki said, having his right thumb squeezed by Eijirou, "OW! That's it! I'm done here."
Neito smiled at his competition. Class B would do just fine. Speaking of Class B, he turned around to look for them.
Katsuki turned around in the couch to get a better view of the area, just now realizing how big it actually was. In the crowd, he did recognize a few of the students from Class 2-B, but couldn't quite remember any of their names. Somewhere in there, he saw Koji Koda.
Finally, he spotted Itsuka and Yui.
"I'm gonna go say 'hi,'" Ochako said, and started off—
"Hey! Drinks?" she heard Kousei say.
Either some teacher gave him the go-ahead or he was being out of line because he was carrying the drinks in a makeshift tray made out of solid air. There didn't look to be forty drinks. Probably around fifteen.
"I saw Ojiro and Mineta over there," he said, "dude was straight up begging on his knees for Ms. Joke to let him try a real cocktail."
"His game's all wrong," Denki said, "uh, I mean… wow… alcohol doesn't even taste that good anyway so… yeah."
Izuku caught Kousei stare off in the direction Ochako went for a moment. Something in his face changed. But Izuku didn't follow his eyes.
"Gotta, um," Kousei pointed behind him with his eyes to the ground, "yep, see the restroom. Don't wait up, there's more where that came from…"
And he trailed off in two directions.
Hanta sat between Mezou and Fumikage, leaving space for one more on that couch.
Izuku, Tsu, and Mina made the third couch useful.
Katsuki checked his watch: 6:36 PM.
"Starts in about half an hour," he announced.
"You sound tired," Eijirou said as he made his way to the couch next to Mina.
"What? I'm supposed to be in bed in about three hours, of course I'm tired."
"You okay, man?"
They were now looking at each other straight on from across the coffee table.
"Fine-tastic, fucking…"
Mina laughed, but not too harshly, and slapped her hand onto Eijirou's knee. Her gaze faltered from Katsuki and fell somewhere on the floor. Eijirou put his arm around her.
Now if only Tsu would put her head on Izuku's shoulder… or something. Katsuki felt like slapping himself for finding the couch across from him so damn cute. Then again, Hanta was looking quite cute sitting between Mezou and Fumikage. And then there was this couch. Damn Shoto and Momo…
"Hey," he heard Denki's voice pitch in.
He looked up to see him standing right above him, hands tapping at his hips impatiently.
"Mind if I… scoot in?"
Katsuki looked to his left at Kyoka, then back up at Denki.
Were they even together? He hoped so. He always thought they were cute.
"Okay," Katsuki got up and sat on the floor with the two other blonde boys.
"Half an hour," Izuku said as he sipped something from a big, pineapple-shaped cup. Or was it an actual pineapple?
Tsu looked up at him as if he was a lot more interesting than the weird cups. Sometimes, he was.
"There's gonna be a show before the show," she said.
"Mm?" Izuku almost choked on his drink, "Really? What kind of show?"
"Oops, I wasn't supposed to say anything."
"So jelly you got to go backstage," Mina loud-whispered.
"It wasn't that interesting, anyway."
"But you got to see Iida, at least," Izuku said.
"Wait!" Katsuki sprung up, but not to his feet, "Shit, we were supposed to talk with Tsuragamae, right?"
"Oh! I totally forgot! Did you see him, Tsu?"
"No, actually, Hawks said he didn't even know where he went."
"Actually," Yuga said, "I saw Monsieur Tsuragamae speaking with Madame Joke earlier… the matter looked to be quite serious. I wouldn't imagine disturbing them."
It must be more serious than I thought… if he's talking to Ms. Joke about it. I wonder if he's talked with All-Might about it.
"Oh man," Eijirou rubbed his neck, "I wonder what that's all about."
Izuku gulped down all the liquid in his mouth, mostly thanks to the strange drink he was surprised was non-alcoholic. It was strangely bitter but not bad tasting. If it was alcoholic, he might end up spilling it…
As long as no one suspects anything, they won't ask questions.
"What's what all about?"
Izuku looked up at Ochako, standing over the 'cute couples couch,' facing Eijirou's concern.
"It's nothing," Neito said, as if it actually was nothing, "I need a break, Aoyama."
Neito rose from the floor with such grace that Izuku felt some hope that it'd be enough to distract everyone. Every move he made, the movements of a concerto. A simple wave, an invitation to waltz.
"Itsuka! Drinks."
It wasn't a mistake. It couldn't have been. To look that way… Izuku began to remember the one-way conversation he'd had with Kousei Tsuburaba a few days ago.
Following the direction of the conductor, Izuku could hear the music that Kousei didn't want to hear: Yui Kodai and Sen Kaibara.
It was never any of his business.
But…
Even when it's none of their business…
"Where are you going, ribbit?"
…taking on the problems of others…
"I'm gonna go find Tsuburaba."
…is what heroes do.
Izuku began to wonder if Kousei had left the venue altogether. There was no sign of him in general admission, the hallways, the restroom, anywhere. But he wasn't going to give up. If it meant leaving the concert, he would.
The sun was making its final stretch before bed, ready to retreat beyond the sea. The sky and sand couldn't settle between shades of pink or shades of orange.
There, on the beach facing the setting sun, away from prying eyes, Kousei sat alone with his eyes on the sea.
What was on his mind? Besides Yui Kodai and Sen Kaibara and no Kousei Tsuburaba?
Izuku sat down next to him.
"Midoriya?"
He didn't sound like he was crying. But not everyone cries when they're sad. Sometimes they just fake a smile.
"You just disappeared on us, Tsuburaba, I just… wanted to check on you."
"I'm fine."
…
"Okay," Izuku stumbled, but he wasn't going to stop, "I just wanted to make sure. I… I know what it's like, you know. To… like someone and… not know what to do."
"Tsuyu?"
Izuku was not going to blush. He was going to admit it.
"Yes."
"Yeah, and is Tsuyu is already with someone, huh? Well, is she?"
"N-no—"
"You see the difference between us, Midoriya? You still have a chance and I… I blew mine. Sen's just the PERFECT GUY, huh? He'd make a much better boyfriend than Kousei Tsuburaba, huh?! What the hell is WRONG with me?!"
The sudden damburst of Kousei's thoughts in words caught Izuku in a surprise riptide that kept his voice down…
…Izuku smiled. As bright and true and he could try. Try. So that Kousei could smile—
"Believe me, I'm fine. Really. I'm feeling great. There's nothing wrong with me."
Even as his voice failed, he never cried. He only faked a smile.
"I'm alright."
54,526 words came back from just the two.
All the fear that Izuku Midoriya had felt those past five days, nine hours, twenty-eight minutes and seven seconds came crashing in at once like the tide.
He could no longer smile. And that terrified him.
This was a battle he had no hope of winning…
…
…
…
Did that damn nerd REALLY forget the time All-Might beat the shit out of that villain without smiling?!
When bad comes to worse, when all feels hopeless… there's nothing left to fear!
When that villain had us pinned against the wall, I didn't keep quiet!
"HEY! WE'RE RIGHT HERE!"
So why should Izuku stay quiet when someone needs help?!
And don't get me wrong, I am afraid. Of a lot of things. But that's exactly why I have hope. Hope that I can makes things right. Because I don't wanna find out what will happen if I don't!
And even if I can't, even if I lose…
A society without cheer and humor…
I TRIED MY BEST, IZUKU MIDORIYA!
…will not have…
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!
The Kacchan inside Izuku's head was right…
…a bright future.
"TICKLE FIGHT!"
"Huh?! Ooh-whoa! Hey! HAHAHA! STOP THAT!"
"TICKLE, TICKLE, TICKLE!"
"Hey! Hah! Ha! What's gotten into you, Midoriya?"
Izuku laughed at his own silly idea, then couldn't stop laughing.
"You okay, dude?" he heard Kousei… laugh!
He stopped just for a moment to catch a breath. Izuku almost apologized for laughing like that. But then he remembered what Eijirou said, and felt inspired:
"You have such an awesome smile, Tsuburaba!"
"Oh, uh… thanks," Kousei rubbed the back of neck, maybe a bit embarrassed, certainly a little red in the face, but…
Izuku often struggled to read people's faces. But he knew. He wasn't faking that smile.
"Hey! There's someone I want you to meet before the show starts!"
"Sure," Kousei nodded as he got up, lending Izuku a hand.
As the two boys headed back to the venue, their backs to the sun, they began to hear the shouts and cheers of the distant crowd…
"It's funny," Kousei said, "for a moment there, it sounded like that was meant for us."