Rule #8: Never take anything for granted
With so many girls living together under one roof, it was only a matter of time until they began to sync up and God help the males when they did. Trudging down the stairs in a pair of weathered black leggings and an oversized feminist t-shirt that read: NO UTERUS, NO OPINON! in bright red bubble letters, Toru felt like carving her uterus out with a spoon. The black and red t-shirt had been a gag present from her brother, Kenta, when she had first gotten her period a couple of years ago—he'd even decorated the neckline and sleeves in cartoonic blood drips like those on cliché halloween decorations.
As she dragged her feet from the kitchen (with hot wheat bag in hand) to the lounge area where the other afflicted girls had gathered; she spotted Asui's head of hair poking out from the blanket burrito she had wrapped herself in, and lay softly snoring up at Tokoyami's side. Across from them, Yaoyorozu sat aggressively sipping at her—one, two, three, four—fifth cup of tea (the used bags were piled high on her saucer) as she glared at everyone over the rim of the delicately decorated china. And finally Ochako who sat on the floor at her feet uncontrollably weeping over how green Midoriya's hair was (something which seemed to dumbfound the greenette, whose head lay in Ochako's lap as she fingered it)—at least that's what Toru could discern through the blubbering tears. It was a good thing it was a Saturday.
"You too, huh?" Toru grunted as she hugged her wheat bag to her stomach and collapsed onto the couch, practically climbing into Todoroki's lap as she did so. She tried to ignore the glare Yaoyorozu sent her way as she snuggled in close to the boy's warm chest, ignorant of his suddenly frozen form.
"It hurts, Toru!" Ochako whined pathetically, and when she lifted her head to look at the invisible girl Toru saw the tear tracks that ran down her rosy cheeks. Honestly, she was giving Midoriya a run for his money with those tears. "Make it stop!"
"There's no way that cramps hurt that bad!" Kaminari laughed, looking over at the pitiful girls from where he lounged in his pyjamas amongst his friends. At that, every girl in the room levelled him with a deathly glare that emanated such an aura that Toru was sure even Dark Shadow would have cowered. Kaminari certainly did.
"I'd rather carve my uterus out with a spoon" Toru deadpanned over Todoroki's shoulder.
"That's—uh" Sero stammered, paling at the sudden unity of all six girls in the room as Kaminari called them out. "That's a bit much, don't ya think?"
"A bit much, you say?" Yaoyorozu clanked her tea cup down on the occupied saucer as she sat up, pin-straight like someone had shoved a metal rod down her back. "Perhaps some…lessons for you are in order, then" Who knew Momo could be so bitchy?
"L-lessons?"
"Mum—mum made Shiro paint with my—my blood when I first got mine" Ochako sniffed, looking interested at the idea as her fingers continued to rake through Midoriya's green locks.
"Really?" Jiro perked up, leaning over the back of the couch next to Yaoyorozu's head. "How'd that go?"
"He couldn't—couldn't believe there were—were—were chunks in it! And—and he gagged a lot"
"Interesting" Yaoyorozu mused as many of the boys around them paled at the descriptions given.
"Ooh! We could do what I did to my brother!" Toru piped up as Todoroki furtively tried to figure out where to put his hands while she draped herself over him (Toru was rather clingy this time around).
"What—what did you do?" Ochako sniffed.
"I'd put tomato sauce in his pants and kicked him in the balls throughout random times of the day for an entire week" Toru replied.
"Eek!" Todoroki squeaked quietly in her ear, and she could've sworn that she saw his eyes widen out of the corner of her eyes.
"It was quite therapeutic, actually"
"That sounds quite enjoyable" Yaoyorozu smiled wickedly.
"But—but that's so much work! And I don't wanna move!" Ochako whined and the group of boys gathered seemed to share a collective sigh of relief.
"Yeah…"
There was a beat of silence as everyone seemed to let the matter go, returning to their friends as they continued to languish through the Saturday morning. Shifting again in Todoroki's lap, Toru felt her eyelids grow heavy as she listened to his heartbeat. With the gentle beat in her ears and the warmth from her wheat bag cuddled close, she felt herself drift closer to sleep even as the cramps plucked at her ovaries. It didn't last long. "Hey Toru?" Ochako murmured.
"Mm?" Toru hummed, raising her brows in question, but still didn't open her eyes.
"Do you have spare tampons?"
"Uh, I'm not sure" Toru hauled her eyes open with much effort. "I'll have to check. Are you all out?"
"Nearly"
"Okay, hang on" Toru didn't get up, instead she turned to rest her chin on Todoroki's shoulder as her eyes darted towards the kitchen where Mina had disappeared to, alongside Jiro. "HEY MINA!"
"Yeah?" Mina called back, her loud voice echoing out with its usual exuberance as Todoroki winced at the loud voice suddenly in his ear.
"DO WE HAVE ANY MORE TAMPONS?"
"Ugh! Ew!" Mineta gagged, not-so-quietly.
"What?" Yaoyorozu snapped, narrowed eyes rising to meet the grape-haired boy.
"N-nothing!" Mineta squeaked as he scampered away.
"Mm~hm"
"Uh, WE'LL NEED TO GET SOME MORE!" Mina called back.
"KAY, THANKS!" Toru tucked her head underneath Todoroki's chin with a sigh as she turned back around. "Guess we're going shopping today. Yay"
"I could've done that…" Ochako pouted as the invisible girl curled up.
"Uh, we—we can do it" Midoriya stammered, looking both eager to get out of Ochako's grip and happy with petting.
"That's sweet, Midoriya, but you don't even know what you're looking for" Toru hummed.
"Perhaps if you were to write it down?" Tokoyami suggested.
"Eh…"
"You'd probably manage to blow up the store" Yaoyorozu snarked as she returned to her tea.
"That's not fair" Tokoyami replied.
"Tell me I'm wrong. Go on"
"Uh…"
"Exactly"
"We're not that bad" Midoriya pouted from the floor.
"You burnt water"
"That was one time!"
"Yeah, how did you do that, by the way?" Toru agreed.
"Uh—uh, well, you see…"
"You didn't have to all come" Toru groused as she pursued the aisles of the grocery store with handwritten list in hand and a quartet of boys trailing after her like lost puppies. She could already feel the headache building—or was it the PMS?
"Yeah, well, it was this or listen to Uraraka wail over shoes" Bakugou snarked as he turned to inspect the array of sour sweets, with hands stuffed into his jacket.
"So Momo's 'lessons' had nothing to do with it, then?" She quirked a brow as Kirishima plucked several bags of konpeito sweets from the shelf and plopped them into the basket.
"Of course not!"
"Did she really mean that?" Midoriya piped up, peering around Todoroki who stood staring gleefully at the pocky on sale. "Yaoyorozu, I mean"
"With the labour simulator?" Toru replied, fiddling with the ends of her long sweater sleeves. "I mean probably not, but maybe. It really depends on how much Kaminari and Mineta pissed her off; which I guess, wouldn't take much at the moment"
"So?"
"So yeah, maybe"
"But she's—she's not gonna make us do it, right? Right?"
"Depends on how much you bug her"
"Scary…"
"Don't be such a wuss, ya damn nerd!" Bakugou snapped, predictably turning on the greenette as Kirishima tried to placate his friend.
Rolling her eyes, Toru pocketed the pocky that Todoroki had been salivating over and moved onto the personal care aisle, where the sanitary section was located. "Now…" She mused, glancing over the list in her hand as she scanned the shelves. "What do we need?"
"Wah! There's so many!" Midoriya gasped, staring wide-eyed at all the colourful packages that lined the shelves as the boys joined her in the same aisle.
"What are these even for?" Kirishima turned to the invisible girl in confusion as he held up a delicately decorated Diva cup. "Do you drink from it or something?"
"Eurgh! No" Toru laughed. "That's a Diva cup, you like, stick it up & in and it just sits there"
"W-what?"
"You good there, Midoriya?" Toru turned to the greenette as he inspected a packet of pads and rambled on about how to best apply them. Usually, she would be embarrassed by the numerous odd looks they were receiving from the public, but at this point in time, she didn't give a fuck. "Midoriya?"
"…Like a giant band-aid? How does it work?" The greenette's ramblings turning a little possessed and somewhat frightening.
"Uh, right…" Toru moved over to the end of the aisle where a section of 'How to' pamphlets sat snuggled together. Grabbing a couple from the stand, she returned to the confused boys and shoved the pamphlets into their hands, replacing whatever items they had held previously. "Read this"
"Periods for Dummies" Bakugou read over Kirishima's shoulder. "What is this shit?"
"All the shit you need to know"
Thankfully that seemed to preoccupy the boys for the time being as they moved about the store, collecting everything that they needed. Occasionally Midoriya or Kirishima would ask a question or exclaim that what they read wasn't—couldn't be possible, but for the most part they were well-behaved. Why do I feel like a babysitter? Toru thought as she pursued the selection of Supies (super-sized fruits and vegetables), looking for the blueberries that Asui had requested. Off to the side, Todoroki appeared to be inspecting the tomatoes with pale features, as if what he had read somehow correlated to the fruit.
Midoriya seemed glued to the pamphlet in his hands and his index fingers repeatedly tapped at the edges of the paper as he made mental notes, like he did whenever he didn't have his notebook. In turn, Kirishima could be seen squatting between the bananas and mumbling how it was "So manly!" as he clutched to his stomach like he'd somehow miraculously gotten his own. Which left Bakugou who was steadily glaring at his friend like he was an idiot, but Toru could see the edges of the crumpled pamphlet sticking out of his pocket as he contemplated on whether not he should kick Kirishima. Idiots.
Turning back to the task at hand, Toru tried to ignore the cramping in her gut as she reached for a couple of the Supies' blueberries that sat nestled between the other berries—they were about the size of a regular watermelon, so she figured they only needed one or two—before someone bumped into her. "Oops! Sorry!" They apologised, retreating a little.
"It's fine" Toru sighed as she regained her balance and turned to the person garbed in a cozy-looking sweater dress. "Oh, hey Lani"
Tsuragamae Lani was a pretty second year student at UA and another member of this year's Dancing for Delinquents class. Taking after her father, the police chief, Lani's Quirk manifested itself in the form of her canine-like attributes; such as the golden Labrador head now grinning back at her. "Toru?" Lani grinned, "It's good to see you! What are you doing here?"
"You mean besides buying groceries?"
"Uh, yeah, besides that"
"Just taking the pups for a walk" Toru nodded towards the quartet of boys who were not-so-subtly eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Ooh! They're so cute!" Lani cooed, sharing a wicked grin with the invisible girl as the pair watched Bakugou grow more and more agitated with each remark. It was like they were just waiting for the volcano to explode. Despite their teasing nature, both Todoroki and Midoriya blushed at the praise—Todoroki especially when Lani pinched his cheek. "And whose this cutie-pie?"
"Uh" Toru tried to smother her laugh, although the joy could easily be heard in her tone as she watched her friend paw at the heterochromatic boy. "That's Todoroki, the green one is Midoriya—"
"—Hi" Midoriya waved shyly.
"—The red one on the floor is Kirishima and the blonde is Bakugou. Boys, this is Tsuragamae, she's a friend of mine"
"Tsuragamae?" Midoriya's brows knotted in thought. "Like the police chief?"
"Yeah, he's my father" Lani sighed. "And so overprotective! You shoulda seen his reaction when he first saw the UA uniform! Ooh! speaking of! Toru!"
"Yes…?" Toru replied a little warily as Lani spun to face her.
"I just heard that Hinata is nearly done with the costume designs!"
"Ooh! Yay!" Toru grinned. "Wait—Designs? As in plural?"
"Yeah, apparently, he went a little overboard. Again" Lani sighed fondly. "So, Midnight-Sensei wants us to try them all on and pick which ones we like best"
"Are we gonna do it at practise on Monday, or after?"
Together the pair of girls chatted together as they moved easily about the store on their way to the cashiers, with the quartet of boys trailing after them."Uh, well, we still have to sort out that spin sequence; so after I think?" Lani mused.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see"
"Yeah. Why so bothered though? Got something going on?"
"Nah, Sensei's just really pedantic about the whole curfew thing; like the other night when Tokoyami went to put out the rubbish, Sensei nearly ripped him a new one. It's like he thinks we're plotting world domination or something"
"Oh? Is this in the dorms?"
"Yeah, they're pretty swish—a lot nicer than the old ones, that's for sure"
"Is that so? Well, we'll just have to see for ourselves, won't we?"
"Wha—I wasn't volunteering!"
"Now you are~!"
"Hey! Lani!"
"Bye~bye Toru, see ya on Monday! I'm already looking forward to seeing the pups again!"
"I'M NOT A DOG!" Bakugou finally exploded as the group exited the store.
"Of course not, puppy" Lani pouted patronisingly as she petted him on the head much to his annoyance.
"G'OFF!"
"Careful!" Toru laughed as she ignored Bakugou's glare. "That one bites!"
"Haha! See ya Monday, Toru!" Lani waved as she disappeared.
"See ya, Lani!"
"What the hell was that about? Who was that bitch?" Bakugou demanded as the group began to trundle back to the dorms.
"Hm? Oh Lani? We dance together" Toru hummed as they crossed the road.
"You dance, Hagakure?" Midoriya pursued.
"Mm, we're s'posed to be performing at the School festival this year"
"School festival?"
"Yeah, it's still a fair ways away, but there's still so much to do—Midnight-Sensei runs the classes, but we have to do the costumes and the props and stuff"
"That's still pretty cool" Kirishima commented.
"Mm"
The midday sun had fallen into its afternoon perch by the time the quintet had returned to the UA dorms, laden down with grocery bags. And boy, were they in for a surprise. "…I wasn't going to kill him!" Yaoyorozu's voice floated in down the hall as they exchanged their shoes for slippers. "Just maim him a little!"
"Hm?" Toru followed the voice into lounge area where she found a sight to behold.
Yaoyorozu hung suspended in mid-air whilst Dark Shadow gripped tightly to her waist as she glared evilly down at the boys who had stayed behind—Mineta in particular—and now lay all jumbled about the place. Aizawa's cats lay here and there, many of whom had chosen their classmates as their perches as they lay about in the sun without a care in the world. Are they…? Toru wondered as she passed by a painted Kaminari and Sero who were slumped over each other next to the coffee table that bore the remnants of a make-up battle. If she was being honest, it almost looked like a bomb had gone off with the way that everything was scattered about.
"Fun day?" Toru asked while she left the quartet of boys standing gobsmacked in the doorway, stepping over Iida's prone form as she laid the groceries down on the kitchen counter
"Oh yeah" Mina grinned, joining her in the kitchen. "Momo finally broke out the labour pain simulator and we tortured the boys!"
"Aw man! I wanted to see that!"
"Don't worry, I got it all on video!" Jiro chimed in.
"Cool"
"Why do you have two giant blueberries?" Mina asked, peering inside. As if in answer, Asui appeared at her shoulder.
"Did—did you get 'em?" Asui yawned, coming over to inspect the grocery bags as she scrubbed at her tired eyes, while Toru unpacked them.
"Tsu love blueberries" Toru replied as if it were obvious. Pulling out the Supies, she handed them to the frog-girl who beamed and immediately hugged the fruit to her chest.
"Did you get my tea?" Yaoyorozu called from her perch still up in the air.
"Uh, I could only get Pams, sorry"
"I guess that's fine" Yaoyorozu sighed as Dark Shadow finally let her down. Clearly it wasn't fine, but it was highly unlikely that the local grocery store would sell the fancy tea that the rich girl was used to anyway.
"Um…?" Ochako slumped against the breakfast counter as her eyes scanned the items already laid out.
"…And chocolate for Ochako" Toru turned to the pained brunette who eagerly snatched the golden-wrapped chocolate from her hands and quickly tore into her prize with fervency.
"Plus tampons for Africa" Mina added, ever curious."So…how was the trip to the store?"
"Eh…it wasn't so bad. I ended up just giving them those Periods for Dummies pamphlets they have"
"They still have those?"
"Apparently" Toru shrugged. "Mostly it just felt like I was babysitting or something"
"So" Jiro popped into the kitchen where all the girls now gathered, before Mina could go off on another tangent. She waved her phone—the one that presumably held the footage from their day of 'torture'—in the air with a grin. "Movie night?"
