A/N: I know it looks like I'm setting up a BakuKiri/Mari romance here, but I'm not. This is going to be an EXTREMELY slow burn. Sorry to disappoint; but we'll get there eventually.

Chapter 3

Monday dawned like usual; much to Mari's dismay. She had barely slept at all the night before and felt like her body was made of lead. She had spent most of the night thinking about what Mina said.

"She's crazy. Nothing is going on between Kiri and me. He's just one of my best friends; It's normal that I feel safe and secure with him…right?"

She made her way to the bathroom; glad to see Mina wasn't up yet. She couldn't handle the inevitable continuation of last night without at least two cups of coffee.

She looked at her reflection; sighing. Her hair was ratty again.

"I'm tempted to just cut it all off." She mumbled to herself. She glanced at the razor on the edge of the tub.

"I mean it's just hair..right?" She said; suddenly determined.

Quickly she pulled up a picture of what she had in mind on her phone and got to work. She carefully trimmed her hair so that it came to rest at her chin. Then she slowly shaved the side; being careful not to cut herself.

When she was done; she shook out her hair and looked up.

"Much better. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now."

Suddenly her phone pinged twice. She saw she had two messages; one from Mina and another from Kiri.

Mina: Morning roomie! You good in there? That's an awful lot of noise for a Monday morning ;p"

Mari scrunched her nose but texted back. "Yeah; I'm fine. You're still a menace though. ;p"

She could see Mina was typing so she checked the message from Kirishima.

Sharky: "Morning Oshiro! Hope you slept well. I slept like a rock."

Mari rolled her eyes as she got ready for the day; then shot back "You ALWAYS sleep like a rock; Kiri."

"Was that…a pun?"

"Only if you want it to be; hun."

Mari panicked after she saw what she had sent. She hadn't meant to add the nickname, but it slipped out. "Well; shit…"

She checked Mina's convo again. "You're having a girls' day with us Saturday. No excuses; I know where you live."

Mari pinched the bridge of her nose. This was already shaping up to be one of "those" weeks.

She took the elevator down to the common room and headed for the kitchen. She was so engrossed with her coffee; she didn't even hear Kirishima come up behind her.

"Morning Oshiro…although I guess I already said that." He looked at her hair "Dude! Your hair!"

Mari choked slightly on her coffee but recovered quickly. "Hey, Kiri! Yeah, it was time for a change. It's not perfect; I couldn't get the undercut close enough."

"Oh, that's easy! I can help you with that!"

She smiled "Thanks."

He winked at her. "No problem…hun."

Mari flushed. "I am so screwed."

She made her way to the classroom and put her bag down at her desk. Noticing the rest of the Bakusquad hanging around Bakugo's desk; she decided to join them.

She hoisted herself onto the top of his desk; sitting cros-legged.

Bakugo glared at her; "Get off my desk."

Mari stuck her tongue out at him. "Nah; it's comfortable up here. I think I'll stay like this for a bit." She leaned back; resting her head on his shoulder.

He pushed her off. "Go sit down; Short Stack."

"But I am sitting; Kaachan." She laughed at the face he gave her.

Mina gave her a look; but only said "I like your hair; Mari. Is that what you were up to this morning?"

Mari nodded. "Yeah; it was time for a change." She ran her hands through her shortened hair. "The undercut is a little jagged though. But Kiri said he'd help me fix it."

Mina smirked, but luckily Mari was saved by Mr. Aizawa coming in. "Alright; everyone. Let's get started." His eyes landed on Mari. "Mari; if you could kindly get off the top of Bakugo's desk, I'd like to have a word with you."

Mari paled. Was he going to tell her that they'd made a mistake and she wasn't supposed to be in Class A after all?

She stood in front of his desk. "Yes sir?"

"Don't look so panicked. I just wanted to tell you that I'm impressed with your progress. And to remind you to slow down when you need it."

Mari relaxed. "Yes; sir. Is that all?"

He handed her a slip of paper. "I also wanted to give you this. It's the date of your test and your interning assignment."

Mari's face lit up. "Thank you very much; sir!"

Aizawa gave her a small smile. "Just keep up the good work, and stay out of trouble. I already have two problem children; I don't need three."

She sat down at her desk and put the slip of paper in her bag. She'd look at it later.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, and it was over before she knew it.

She could feel herself practically dragging as she made her way to the dorm. She didn't even make it to her room before she passed out on the couch.

She hadn't even realized she fell asleep until she felt a nudge. "Wake up; sleepy head. Dinner time."

She sat up blinking. "Kiri? How long was I out for?"

"Not long; maybe thirty minutes. We were tempted to let you sleep. You're running yourself ragged with this test prep, aren't you?"

That woke Mari up and she sat up. "That reminds me; I got my test and interning assignments today!"

"Is that what Mr. Aizawa gave you? Have you looked at it yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet; I kind of forgot about it." She grabbed it out of her bag. "Now let's see… according to this, my test is… Friday! Wow, that's fast. And as for my intern assignment, I got…Edgeshot!"

She could feel the stress starting to leak from her body. "Finally moving forward."

She hadn't even noticed Kirishima had gone to grab them both some of the omurice Bakugo had made. "Normally; we're not allowed to eat on the couch, but I think this calls for an exception." He handed her one of the bowls and sat beside her. Instinctively; she rested her head on his shoulder. "I guess this means our Sunday study sessions are over."

"We'll find something else to do." She said; her eyes closed. "It'll give me more time to hang out with everyone. I think they're a little jealous that you and Bakugo have been 'hoarding' me to yourselves."

"I guess we have been monopolizing you a bit." Kirishima blushed; rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh hush; you've been helping me study and spar; I think the others will understand. Besides, Mina's dragging me out for a girls' day on Saturday. Apparently I don't have a choice."

"Yeah; that's Mina alright. She's always been like that."

"That's right! You two went to middle school together! I'll have to see if she has any embarrassing stories."

Kirishima nudged her. "Noo; don't. I wasn't the same person in middle school; it's embarrassing."

She giggled. "Don't worry; Kiri. I'm just kidding. Now; I believe you mentioned helping me with my hair?"

Mari looked around the bathroom that Kirishima shared with Bakugo. It was easy to see the difference between the two just by looking around. Bakugo's side was chaos incarnate; bottles of various things all over the counter, while Kiri's was organized with multiple storage caddies that were filled with all sorts of hair products and half empty bottles of dye.

She picked one up; quirking an eyebrow at her friend.

"Oh; yeah. This isn't my natural color. My hair is black, naturally."

Mari scrunched her nose, trying to picture Kiri with black hair. "Nope; I don't buy it."

He huffed and pulled his hair out of the bun he'd tied it back into. "See for yourself; my roots are coming in." He tipped his head to show her the scattering of black streaks.

"I stand corrected. Do you fix it yourself?"

"Normally; but sometimes Mina helps." He picked up a straight razor from his drawer. "Now you have to sit completely still for this. I don't want to cut you."

Mari was tempted to freeze herself so she could essentially be a statue; but decided against it.

Minutes passed in silence before Kirishima spoke again. "So; you've been roped into one of Mina's infamous girls' days. Are you going to be okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Mari asked; completely relaxed with Kirishima's hands in her hair.

"Because they tend to be very…girly. Like nail paint; makeup; the works."

"Kiri; sweetie, YOU paint your nails." She said, looking at the bright red chipped polish on his fingers.

"True; but I just want to be sure you're in the right headspace for it. I don't want it to cause dysphoria or anything."

She blinked. "Have you…have you been researching non-binary?" She laughed. "There HAS to be a better way to phrase that…"

Kirishima chuckled as well. "Agreed; but I have. After our talk during the first sparring session; I decided to read about it so I could make sure you were comfortable."

Mari could feel her eyes start to well up. "Thanks Kiri; that means a lot."

He heard her sniffle. "Hey! Don't cry! I mean it; it wouldn't be very manly of me to invalidate your identity. So if you do need a way out; just text me. Like "code red" or something." He put the razor down. "Okay; I think you're good."

Mari turned to face the mirror and her face lit up. Not only had he fixed her undercut; he'd evened out her asymmetrical bob as well. "Holy crap; it looks amazing!" She threw her arms around him. "You're honestly the best; Sharky. It looks a million times better."

He hugged her back; "Honestly; it's not that big of a deal. One of my moms runs a salon, so I could probably do this in my sleep."

"Let's not test that theory; shall we?" Mari joked. "What does your other mom do?"

"Oh, she's an artist. She paints beautiful paintings and sells them at galleries."

"That sounds amazing. I'd love to meet them one day."

"Sure! I bet they'd love you. It'll be a nice change from Blasty-bro."

"I can only imagine." She looked at her phone. "Oh gosh! Is it that late already?! I have to get to bed!"

She could see the disappointment on Kiri's face. "I know; I like spending time with you too. But we both need our sleep. It's gonna be a long week." She stood up, brushing the stray hairs off her lap. "Besides; I'll see you in the morning. Bright and early." She followed him out the door and they walked to her room. "Walking me to my door, too. What a gentleman." She leaned against said door; smirking.

"What can I say? My moms raised me right." Kiri said with a sweeping bow.

"Are you going to kiss my hand next?" Miri clapped her hands over her mouth. "I didn't say that. I'm going to go to bed before I continue to put my foot in my mouth. Goodnight."

She hurried inside her room and closed the door. She sank to the floor and leaned her head against the door. "Yep; definitely screwed."