Rule #15e: You do what you have to for family

When evening fell after Toru had finally finished unpacking the last of her boxes, she fell back onto her made bed as she let the sounds of Thirsty Merc wash over her. Blinking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that lay scattered across the ceiling, she sighed happily at how the fairy lights strung up around the room twinkled against them and cast the room in a soft glow.

Now decorated to her liking, the dorm room gave off a cozy feeling that she enjoyed—especially since she had painted the back wall (the one surrounding the balcony) a nice lavender colour. Off in the corner the remnants of the cardboard boxes which had been squashed down and piled next to the door so she would hopefully remember to recycle them or put them away at some point.

At some point during the afternoon—after the class had returned from their dinner outing—she had exchanged her school uniform for her brother's oversized football shirt that was tucked into a pair of silky periwinkle pyjama shorts and sat beneath her unzipped PE tracksuit jacket. The knee-high multicoloured woollen socks she had pulled on later, now slouched around her calves and made for a very odd, but comfortable outfit.

A knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts & Toru answered it to find Mina & the other girls standing there as promised, each in their own loungewear. Sharing a smile with the pinkette, she followed after the girls as they made their way down to the first floor for snacks & to find something to do. "What do you think we should we do now?" Mina asked as they descended the stairs.

"I dunno" Toru shrugged, "Personally, I don't wanna run around at the moment, but we should still do something fun!"

"Ooh, I kinda wanna see what everyone's rooms look like! Do you think they'd let us?" Jiro asked.

"We could do some kind of competition! That'd be fun!" Ochako added, eyes blazing in competitiveness.

"But what if they don't want to do it?" Yaoyorozu piped up from the back.

"Well, they don't all have to join in" Toru replied over her shoulder, "Don't you wanna do something stupid like this for the fun of it? And it'd be kinda nice to stuff like before" She didn't need to clarify what she meant, they all knew.

Turning the corner into the main room, they found some of the guys lounging around as they relaxed after unpacking everything. "…could've died, but it's kinda exciting to be living here!" Kaminari was saying, now back to normal.

"Mmhm!" Midoriya nodded.

"A unified class! It's the perfect way to increase our cooperation and discipline! How smart!" Iida exclaimed.

"So you never relax, do you?" Kirishima asked over the back of the couch.

"Hiya boys!" Mina interjected, announcing their presences, "All done with your rooms?"

"Yep! We're just unwinding now!" Kaminari replied with a thumbs up.

"Well, the girls & I have been talking and—" Mina started.

"—We have a great idea!" Toru ended.

"Let's go around & see who has the coolest room!"

"…Huh?" All the boys seemed to grow cold at the idea, but the girls steamrolled on with Toru & Mina at the helm.

A panicky Midoriya was first up, waving his arms and screeching like a banshee as his door was opened to reveal what he didn't want them to see. "AHHH! WAIT! NO! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE—!" Midoriya panicked needlessly.

"Ahh!"

"It's All Might!"

"It's like a shrine!"

"He's everywhere!"

"You're such a fanboy!" The girls chorused their reactions as the group peered into the room to find All Might merchandise plastered across the walls & tucked into every corner. From the bedspread to the curtains, there was All Might everywhere you looked.

"Well, I admire him…" Midoriya trailed off in embarrassment "This is embarrassing!"

"Does this mean they're judging our rooms too?" Kaminari questioned quietly.

"Probably…" Sero replied, "It could end up being a good time, couldn't it?"

Next was Tokoyami—with some 'help' from Mina & Toru— he opened up his room to them. It was much darker than Midoriya's had been; and glowing a hazy violet. A variety of cult-like items were strung up about the place & a sword sat in the corner. The only normal part of his room, was the array of photos sitting on his dresser.

"So dark & scary!"

"You fiends!" Tokoyami muttered as they inspected his room.

"Oh man! I had a keychain like this when I was in middle school!" Kirishima plucked up a gothic-looking cross keychain.

"So this is how boy's like to decorate…" Mina mused.

"Please leave!" Tokoyami pleaded.

"A sword?! So cool!"

"Awe!" Toru cooed over the framed picture she had found of (presumably) a young Tokoyami with a chick head, happily riding the shoulders of one of his parents, (Toru couldn't quite tell due to the feathers). "Is this you? It's so cute!"

"GET OUT!"

Aoyama proudly presented his shiny room next. Everything seemed to sparkle, whether due to the material the items were constructed of, the giant disco ball in the center of the ceiling, the spotlights bordering the room or the many, many mirrors plastered on the walls. Even the suit of armour in the corner of the room gleamed. "Aren't you dazzled?"

"Shiny!"

"Ah! My eyes!"

"So bright!"

"No, no, no!" Aoyama corrected charmingly, "It's not shiny, it's: mag-ni-fique!"

Having been throughly blinded enough the girls moved on to Ojiro's room next, completely bypassing Mineta's room as if it had never existed. The boy was perverted enough on his own, they could only imagine the true horrors that lay within if they entered. Not much had been done to Ojiro's room they found, save for a few personal touches here and there, but the blonde presented the room nonetheless.

"Oh! It's so barren here!"

"Did you move anything in at all?"

"Please tell me you just haven't unpacked yet?"

"Um, if we're done here, then let's go" Ojiro smiled, though with each comment his tail drooped and Toru couldn't help but feel like she kicked a puppy.

Next was Iida, who had systematically lined one wall with textbooks on seemingly every subject & another with endless rows of glasses. Other than that, his room remained bland and boring. "Whoa! It looks like a library in here!"

"That's the class rep for you"

"You'll find nothing odd in here!" Iida declared, practically begging them to find something.

"You have so many glasses!" Ochako laughed, finding it right away.

"Of course I do! I expect them all to be destroyed during training!"

Kaminari's room reminded Toru of Kenta's bedroom when they were younger: the 'manly' items spread about the room and the essentials either tightly packed away or strewn about as if there was no such thing as drawers or a closet. The comments on his room were less than stellar.

"Really?"

"This is the store in the mall I'd avoid"

"What? It's perfect!" Kaminari defended.

Following that was Koda's room. Soft and sweet was probably the best way to describe his room; pea green splashed here and there with soft edges on everything (sans the drawers), probably so his rabbit didn't injure itself. The bed itself was occupied by two plushies: a teddy bear & a giraffe plus a couple of Aizawa's cats: Kuro & Momo.

"He has a rabbit!"

"So cute!"

"Hey! No fair! We don't get pets!" Kaminari complained as Kuro hopped from the bed and wove between the girls' legs before coming to stop in front of Todoroki who knelt to pet him. "You're trying to buy the judges' love!"

"Man this sucks!" Kaminari whined as the group of boys then traipsed along the corridor behind the girls.

"Hey, what a coincidence! I don't feel great! At all" Ojiro agreed.

"Same here" Nodded Tokoyami.

"Et moi" Aoyama added.

"That's because the boys are the only ones that are getting picked on!" Mineta decreed leading the charge of boys, "They said it was a contest to see who had the coolest dorm room…But what about them? We have to see the girls' rooms to tell which ones best! Their interior design skills should be held at the same standards as ours, maybe even higher! Show us those dorms!"

"…I'm into it!" Mina cheered.

"Huh?" Jiro gasped.

"Okay, like, so what are the rules? Are we figuring out who has the best taste in the class? Or the overall coolest?"

"We're actually doing this?"

"Uh…this doesn't have to be a contest" Ojiro piped up.

"Well, we'll figure it out later! Let's go!"

"Let's see, who else is on the fourth floor?" Ochako puzzled. "It's Bakugou, Kirishima & Shoji, isn't it?"

"Where is Bakugou, anyway?" Iida pursued.

"Ah, he thought all this was lame so he went back to his room to sleep" Kirishima supplied sheepishly, "I could use some z's too actually…"

"Then we'll do your room next!" Toru chirped, interested to see how the redhead decorated his dorm room.

"You can sleep all you want after!" Mina added.

"Not that I care, but you might not get what I'm going for—" Kirishima warned as he opened the door to reveal motivational posters, figurines & a punching bag. "—A den of manliness!"

"Hm!'

"If I found out my boyfriend had a room like this, I'd probably walk away"

"So bold! Makes me wanna workout!"

"You got it!"

"Next up! Shoji!"

"You're not gonna find anything interesting here" Shoji warned. And boy was he right, the room was completely bare save for a futon & a small desk—not even the closet had been cleared out.

"Uh…more like nothing at all, dude"

"Did you take stuff out?"

"So you're a minimalist, huh?" Todoroki turned to Shoji.

"I've just never understood why someone would wanna fill their room with useless junk" Shoji shrugged.

"Guys like this always have a super pervy side!" Mineta mumbled deliriously as he searched through the folds of the futon for some kind of evidence. The others had no qualms leaving him there as they headed off to the next room.

"Next floor!" Toru sang, pressing the button for the elevator.

"We'll start with Sero!" Mina cheered.

"Are we seriously doing everyone?" Sero questioned, though he hid a secretive smile at the thought. He had good reason to. The interior of his bedroom was decorated in an exotic mix of tribal patterns & nomadic furniture.

"Wow!"

"Exotic!"

"How lovely!"

"Sero, I didn't peg you for someone who'd like this kinda stuff" Jiro commented.

"Hehehe! Yep! That's me! Always the wild card!" Sero chuckled.

"Okay! Let's keep moving!" Toru called from the doorway.

"Next is Todoroki's room, right?" Yaoyorozu stated hopefully.

I wonder if it'll be anything like his father's agency? Toru thought as Todoroki pulled open his door.

"Let's get this over with" He drawled, "It's late"

"GAH!" The entire group was shocked at what they found inside. Compared to the modern interiors of his classmates, Todoroki's room was decorated like something straight out of the history books—complete with tatami mats on the floor & sliding screen doors facing the balcony. There was even a bamboo plant in the corner.

"So traditional!"

"It was even built differently!"

"We've got these kind of floor mats at home, they're much more comfortable than hardwood" Todoroki explained.

"THIS ISN'T YOUR HOUSE!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"HOW DID YOU REMODEL THIS ENTIRE ROOM IN JUST ONE DAY?!" Mineta cried.

"With hard work"

"…You are a beast"

"He'll make such a good Pro…!" Mina sighed, moving onto the next room.

"Pretty boys always have tricks up their sleeves!" Sato groused.

"Okay, next! The last of the guys is…"

"Me…"

Sato's room looked more like a kitchen and a bedroom had a baby: the bed & desk were stuffed into one corner and the pantry, microwave oven & fridge filled most of the space. There was even a set of green oven mitts hanging off of the side of the pantry. "Anyway, it's a pretty boring room…" Sato laughed nervously as he showed his peers.

"All of them are after Todoroki's" Kirishima replied. "Something smells good though, what is it?"

"Oh crap! I forgot about that!" Hurrying over to the oven, Sato hurriedly stuffed his hands into the oven mitts & pulled out what was inside. "I finished unpacking really early, so I started to bake a cake, thought we could all eat it together. It hasn't been iced yet, but…want some?"

"YES!" The girls chorused, pushing their way to the front of the pack.

"THE STRONG GUY'S AN EXPERT BAKER?!" Kaminari & Mineta cried.

"It's delicious!"

"So fluffy!"

"I could eat it everyday!"

"Forget Sero, this is unexpected!"

"I think it's great that you have such a fun hobby Sato! Would you bake something to go with my tea one day?"

"Uh…I seriously did not expect this reaction!" Sato bled crimson as the girls chowed down on his cake and praised his skills. "It's mostly training for my sugar Quirk, store bought sweets can get pricey"

Taking the elevator back down to the third floor, the girls led the charge through the second round of room inspections. "That's it for the boys! Now onto the girls!" Toru chirped, popping out of the elevator alongside an equally excitable Mina.

"Aw man! That's so many rooms!" Jiro complained half-heartedly, "Shouldn't we turn in?"

"C'me on Jiro! Live a little!" Mina replied.

"It's kinda embarrassing…" Jiro opened her door first, to reveal what lay inside. It's like a music store threw up in here. Toru thought as she peered in to find all manner of instruments laying about the room.

"Whoa! You've got so many instruments!"

"It's because Jiro's totally punk rock!"

"Can you play all these?" Ochako asked over her shoulder.

"Yeah, at least a little" Jiro replied softly as she fiddled with her earjacks.

"You're room's girlier than this" Kaminari commented to Aoyama.

"Because I've got style!" Aoyama posed. Inevitably, the two became plugged into Jiro's earjacks and electrocuted for their comments.

"We're done here!" Jiro dragged the two outside with the others following warily behind.

"Next is me!" Toru sang, skipping over to her door and swinging it open. "Welcome in guys, what d'ya think?" Stepping inside, Toru couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious as she saw her room through the eyes of her peers for the first time. The wooden floor was covered by the handmade rug (stitched together using several squares of free carpet samples). Her bed—occupied by her ragdoll octopus plushie & several crocheted blankets— had been pushed up against the glass sliding doors leading out onto the balcony, which in turn had been covered by shutter blinds. Through the partially opened blinds, you could see the silhouettes of the potted plants hanging from the balcony above hers as well as the ones that lined the balcony railing.

On the left-hand wall sat her dresser, desk and other storage whilst the right-hand wall had been dedicated to numerous photos of family & friends. Plus a section of wall that had been painted with blackboard paint, allowing her to write little messages as needed. Dividing the two sections sat a simple full-length mirror.

The entire room had been illuminated by the fairy lights running the circumference of the room & the giant cylindrical orange lava lamp sat at the foot of her bed. The cherry on top of the proverbial cake was the smattering of glow-in-the-dark stars that covered her dark ceiling & the lavender feature wall framing the balcony.

"It's so cozy!"

"It feels a lot bigger too!"

"Hey! Is that Shinso?"

"Where?"

"There!"

"Oh! So cute! You're both so little!"

"Ohmygod! Toru!" Ochako squealed as she inspected one of the many photos plastered to the wall, "Is that Mase Haruna?"

"Hm?" Toru hummed, coming over to see the photo she was pointing to. It was one that had been taken during camp last year, where Rio, Toru & Kayano were posing with the Anti-Sensei guns. "Oh Kay? Yeah, we were classmates"

"You know Mase Haruna and you didn't tell us?!" Mina turned on the girl.

"What are you talking about?" Toru puzzled, "You met her at I-island, you all did"

"Huh?"

"She was the girl with the green and brown hair…y'know the one that grew tentacles outta her neck?"

"What?! You're telling me we met Mase Haruna and we didn't even know it?!"

"If it helps, she said she thought you guys were cool…" Toru hedged.

"She thought we were co~ol!" Ochako sighed happily, day dreaming much like Midoriya did with…any hero, really.

"Hey To~ru?" Jiro smirked cattily as she pointed to a picture of her and her brother at the beach, "Is this your boy~friend?"

"Ewwwwww! No!" Toru scrunched her nose up in disgust. "That's my brother!"
"Wow! He's so fit!" Mina drooled.

"Hey! No! Brothers are off limits!" Toru spun around with a finger pointed towards her friend.

"C'me on Toru, sharing is caring!"

"I'm not sharing my brother! Besides, it'd never work"

"Why?"

" 'Cause he's unapologetically, flamboyantly, flamingly gay"

"Oh" Mina paused for a moment, "You should get that on a t-shirt. C'me on, we can do mine next! Ta da! Isn't it super cute?"

Mina's room was decorated in a multitude of pink, purple and black patterns ranging from animal prints to polka dots. Toru thought this is probably what a stereotypical teenage girl's bedroom would look like, if she was honest.

"Whoa!"

"It's so…pink!"

"And fuzzy!"

Ochako's was next and seemed a little dismal in compared to the others—something she was well aware of, it seemed. A few personal touches were placed here and there, and some of the furniture had been rearranged, but that was about it. "Yeah, it's not very interesting, I know" Ochako apologised.

"Oh"

"Is this okay? It feels dirty seeing so many girls' rooms up close" Ojiro turned to Tokoyami. "This is their private space"

"Forbidden gardens…" Tokoyami muttered, making Toru eye him warily. Eurgh! That sounds so wrong!

"Next is Asui" Midoriya stood out in the hall with Kaminari & Sero as the others drifted out of Ochako's bedroom.

"Wait, where is Tsu?" Sero asked, looking around the hallway."Haven't seen 'er"

"Oh! She wasn't feeling too good, so she's in her room" Ochako supplied, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Well, we shouldn't bother her" Kaminari replied as Ochako spared a look over her shoulder at Asui's closed door. "She can show us later when she's feeling better"

"The last one up is Yaoyorozu, right?" Sero led the group towards the girl's dorm.

"The thing is I maybe…miscalculated a few things" Yaoyorozu cracked her door a little, and stood there nervously, not quite opening it fully as she explained. "My room's a little bit more cramped than I intended and maybe not as creative as some of yours"

"THAT BED IS HUGE!" Kaminari gaped, staring at the four-postered bed like it was something fit for a princess. "YOU CAN'T EVEN WALK IN HERE!"

"It's my furniture from home, so I thought it fit" She defended, "I had no idea how small these dorm rooms would end up being"

Sometimes I forget how rich she really is. Toru thought wide-eyed.


"And now…without further ado! Here are the results of the first best room competition—minus Bakugou & Tsu—drum roll please!" Mina pumped up the class for the final results of the competition. They were once again back in the living room and all piled around one of the couches. Toru, herself, was fighting the vestiges of sleep that pulled at her lids as she leant against the back of the couch, waiting for her friend to announce the winner. "With a total of five votes, the overwhelming winner of this totally awesome contest is:…Sato!"

"Huh?" Sato pointed to himself in disbelief at the news.

"By the way, all the girls voted for you because that cake was delicious! I want some more!"

"Thats why?!"

"YOU VILLAIN! Kaminari & Mineta turned on the boy, "ASPIRING HEROES SHOULDN'T RESORT TO BRIBERY!"

"It wasn't on purpose! What the heck!"
"Is it over? Can I sleep now?" Todoroki yawned.

"Yes! And since you cake don't forget to brush your teeth!" Iida replied. Todoroki was only able to get so far before Ochako's voice pulled him to a stop.

"Hey! Todoroki! Wait a minute!" She called. "Deku & Iida, you too, Momo, Kirishima you have a sec? It's really important"

I wonder what's that all about? Toru yawned as she watched the six of them disappear out the door & into the night. I hope everything's okay… With her thoughts turning from her peers in the dark to the munted little All Might USB memory stick tucked away in her jewellery box, she made her way upstairs to bed.