Rule #38: Your case, your lead
"Y'know what we should do?" Sato proposed as he stared longingly into the sparse fridge. "We should have, like a celebratory dinner before exams tomorrow"
"Hm?" Toru perked up in interest at the thought; peering over the top of her book as she perched on a stool behind the breakfast counter. In front of her, Bakugou sat on the kitchen counter hunched over his bowl of cereal as he watched Kirishima and Sero animatedly argue over which of their favourite forgiven superheroes were better.
'Well, we have worked hard these last few weeks…" Todoroki agreed as he absently petted the fat cat sunning himself on the windowsill above the sink.
"Well, what do you wanna do?" Midoriya added from in between the heterochromatic and the explosive teen, "Yakitori, maybe?"
"Nah, I want it to be something special…" Sato denied, leaning against the fridge door in contemplation.
"I know a recipe for acorn noodles, if that's what you want…" Toru proposed, swinging her feet above the ground as she bookmarked her page.
"Acorn noodles?" Sato popped up from the fridge and turned to the invisible girl with knotted brows. A look of recognition flashing in his eyes at the words.
"Yeah, they're pretty good" She nodded, "They sold out at our school festival last year"
"Wait—the ones at Kunugigaoka Junior High reviewed by Yuji Norita the infamous food blogger?!" Sato gushed. "Those acorn noodles?!"
"Yeah…?"
"Yes! Absolutely yes! Oh my God! You have to tell me the recipe!" He squealed, bouncing up and down with barely contained excitement; much like how Mina did whenever she got excited over something.
"Uh…okay" Toru leant back slightly as Sato fangirled. "Sure"
"Y'know they're just noodles, right?" Bakugou slurped at the milk in his bowl and gaining a milkstache for his efforts.
"They're not just noodles! A fusion of natural elements and cooking so expertly woven together!" Sato spun to face the blonde with an aghast expression. It was the most expressive Toru had ever seen the quiet teen be. "They were the dark horse of the Kunugigaoka school festival! They're a top tier school with influence that rivals UA! Students from that school are insanely successful! Oh! I so wanted to try them when I heard about them and now I can~!"
"Uh…translation?" Kirishima blankly turned to the invisible girl.
"They're homemade noodles that taste good" She supplied.
"Oh, okay"
"Are they really that good?" Todoroki queried in interest.
"I mean, I guess—we sold out halfway through the third day, so general census says yes"
"I meant the school…"
"Oh, yeah, I guess"
"You went to a top tier school Hagakure?" Midoriya turned wide-eyed to the invisible girl as his tone flew up a few registers.
"Yeah, uh, Kunugigaoka's got quite the reputation" Toru scratched at her cheek absently, "But I was in the third class, so we were more or less shunted off to the side"
"What—?" Kirishima puzzled.
"You were a dropout, Sunshine?" Bakugou laughed, flinging his wet spoon around as he gestured with it. "What you do? Kick the wrong guy?"
"Eh, black sheep, y'know…" She shrugged noncommittally. She'd long gotten over the resentment about the corner the principal had forced them into. Besides, look where she was now; who's to say what would've happened if she hadn't been in 3E? Despite their treatment at the hands of the rest of the school body, 3E was undeniably her favourite year even with everything that had happened.
"C'me on! Let's go~!" Sato chirped, easily brushing over the rest of the conversation as he buzzed with excitement.
How did this happen again? Toru mused as she glanced up and down the train car at the gaggle of boys Sato had managed to scrounge up for the shopping excursion. Seated in front of the boys in one of the few spare seats, the invisible girl was able to watch as the pairs left and right moved and swayed with the movement of the train as it swung around the bends & corners. Kirishima practically clung to Bakugou who looked a little put-out by the action but did nothing to stop him as he gripped to the strap above his head. Next there was Midoriya (who was as equally short as she was) who clung to Todoroki's free hand in an attempt to stay upright, and finally there was Sato himself who stood in front of her, chatting her ear off.
It's probably a good thing Iida isn't here. Toru mused as her legs swung clear above the ground despite being seated (as per usual). The train—which was usually crowded no matter the day—felt like it was bulging in its capacity as people moved about the city that Sunday morning. He's usually pretty anal about this kind of thing. Toru nodded along politely to whatever Sato was saying (her jangling jingle bell earrings and purple sunglasses really the only thing to signify that she was listening). Across the way, an elderly couple were all rugged up against the brisk morning weather as they chatted about what they would find at the Street Market that morning, whilst a pair of lovebirds a little further down could barely keep their hands off of each other.
Funnily enough, the gaggle of teenagers were headed in the same direction—the Street Market, that is—each bundled up in their own clothes and a recipe list scribbled down on her hand. Toru's eyes trailed over each of the boys, her mind not quite connecting her classmates with the teens in front of her. Just as with the childish idea that teachers slept at school, it was a little odd seeing her classmates outside of class—even though they had been living in the same building for some time now. It was not just that however, it appeared that of the six of them, Bakugou was the best dressed (something which he likely owed to his parents working in the fashion industry) in the denim jacket and slim joggers. Todoroki was next in an open brown peacoat, jeans and matching scarf. Which admittedly, was a little odd to see on the fire-ice user.
Shouldn't Todoroki be impervious to the cold? Toru thought as her gaze drifted over to Midoriya who bore several layers, one of which was his iconic basic tee which read: CLEAN SHIRT. Kirishima wore a bleached denim jacket lined with fluffy sherpa. His razor sharp hair had been stuffed inside a slouchy beanie, leaving small tufts to escape here and there and matched the salmon t-shirt he wore beneath. Lastly there was Sato who had bundled himself into a multicoloured puffer vest and an alumni hoodie (likely from his junior high). In fact, compared to the boys Toru felt a little underdressed. Where the boys had dressed to impress, Toru had dressed for comfort.
Aside from her sunglasses and bell earrings, the invisible girl had pulled on a grey pinafore dress overtop of a plain blouse and a pair of graphic tights; plus one of her mother's old garishly-patterned sweaters that enveloped her small frame like a blanket. All-in-all, she more or less stood out like a sore thumb amongst the boys—not that she totally cared. All people would see was a jumble floating clothes anyway and that always turned heads. Tapping on her shoulder brought Toru out of her thoughts in time to see that they had finally reached their stop. Filing after Sato, the invisible girl plucked up her bag and wove her way through the crowd towards the platform where they met up with the others.
"So where is this thing anyway?" Kirishima walked arm-in-arm with Bakugou as the gaggle of teenagers traipsed through the train station and off in the direction of the street market.
"Uh, not far" Toru replied over Sato's incessant mutterings that just seemed to flow together into one long string of excitement. The street market in question was something that she had visited often over the past year whilst living with her grandparents (not so much now that Gramps had moved into the retirement home though), and skirted pretty close to the Yoshiwara district where their apartment was located. Admittedly, she was a little nervous bringing her classmates so close to the area (Todoroki didn't really need any more reason to suspect her of being some kind of Yakuza princess), but she preferred shopping there anyway.
With each and every step closer to the neon-clad streets, she felt herself relax slightly despite herself; in comparison the boys on her arm grew tenser with each step. It certainly didn't help things when they passed by one of the street-facing windows displaying scantily-dressed women like mannequins. "What are they…?" Midoriya's voice rose several octaves as they trundled by, each of the boys flushing several shades of red at the elder women who leered down at them.
"What's that in your voice, Mido~riya?" Toru teased, spinning on her heel to face the blushing boys as they went.
"Wha—what's what in my voice?" The greenette's eyes darted around looking anywhere but the women now behind them or the invisible girl in front.
"Oh my God! You think she's pretty!" Toru grinned, clearly having fun with them.
"What—! I never said that!"
"Ooh! You totally do! So, go say hi, lover boy!"
"Look! The—the light's green! L-let's go!" Midoriya raced forward, intent on getting as far away from the storefront as quickly as possible.
"That was mean" Todoroki murmured in her ear as she slowed a little while crossing the street.
"It was just a joke" Toru shrugged in reply, not seeing anything wrong with what she had said. It was pretty tame compared to the things the girls discussed outside of the classroom or the things they had talked about in 3-E. It's not like she had suggested they go and fuck or something.
A couple of more twists and turns later, Toru led the group towards the crowded alleyway lined with stalls of every shape and size. Some stalls erupted from the front of their adjacent stores whilst others stood alone selling their bits and bobs to the passing public. Layers of food stood ready and waiting beneath a fog of spices & incense, and multicoloured lantern-littered bunting that lined the canopies. The cosy little nook was a far cry from any of the grocery stores in central Musutafu; certainly far different from the one she had taken the boys to on their most recent period run.
"Aah!" Sato stared wide-eyed at the spectacle before him like a child on Christmas. His excitement was almost palpable by this point.
"I still don't see why we couldn't go to one closer to the dorms" Bakugou grumbled as he shoved his hands into his pockets, eyes roving over the display before them with a very different demeanour firmly in place. Toru still wasn't quite sure how Sato had convinced the fiery blonde to come along on their shopping trip; sure she knew that he, Midoriya and Todoroki usually did so together with Kirishima occasionally tagging along to keep the blonde in line, but still.
"Cause I like this one" Toru replied childishly as she inspected a nearby stall with its earthen yams right at the front. She didn't have to look to know that the blonde was likely glaring at her in reply, he was rather predictable like that.
Soon enough the early morning crowds began to thicken as the early morning chill settled into something a little warmer and the early risers were replaced with the night owls clearly sent out on a grocery run far too early for their liking. The invisible girl grin unabashedly at a young man across from her who looked like he had been pulled backwards through a hedge as he paid for his things. By this point, the gaggle of teenagers had spread out amongst the stalls just browsing the items offered to them, and somehow silently breaking off into pairs at some point to do so. Sato had remained by her side as the two discussed food like Midoriya did his heroes and haggled over prices with the stall owners. Although not a certified foodie herself, Toru loved food—what teenager didn't?—& enjoyed baking here and there. In the end, wasn't that kinda the same thing?
At some point Kirishima had pulled Bakugou over to the hole-in-the-wall magic shop which sold all the stereotypical items one might associate with such a hobby. Toru had never seen Bakugou look so patient before, especially when she spotted the pair in one of the windows trying to pull a Chinese finger trap off of the red head's fingers. A little further down found Todoroki and Midoriya hidden away amongst the towering piles of books of some ancient second-hand bookstore. From what she could see, the greenette and sequestered himself amongst the shelves of retro comic books (most pertaining to the heroes of old) with sparkly eyes of wonder. The heterochromatic teen meanwhile, appeared to be consumed in some kind of science-fiction novel, if the cover was anything to go by.
Tugging the hover wagon behind her as she went. The hoverboard (already ladled with several bags of vegetables) technology lay strapped to the undercarriage of the little red wagon and replaced the rickety little trundler wheels, allowing for easier movements. It also helped that the item shrank and grew on command to fit into your pocket and so on. "G'morning Mrs Saito!" Toru greeted the wrinkly old woman as she parked herself in front of the butchery.
"Ah, a g'morning to you too" Mrs Saito replied, baring a gummy smile at the pair of teens. "What can I do you for?"
"Uh…" Toru spared a glance towards the list of ingredients scribbled on her hand. "Pork bones, please"
"Pork bones? Ma, doing something special today, are we? With your boyfriend, perhaps?" Her gleaming eyes tracked over to Sato who choked at the comment.
"Uh, n-no, no! He's not my boyfriend!" Toru spluttered, stumbling over her words a little in her hasty reply. "We—we've got an important exam tomorrow! And—and we wanted to do something special for our friends—!"
"Of course, of course!" Mrs Saito agreed easily, her smile never wavering. Toru knew her cheeks had flushed in embarrassment at the old lady's words at first, and then again, even more so at the tone she had used in her reply. "I'll be right back, dearie"
Whilst the little old lady shuffled back inside the adjacent shop that the stall backed on to Toru and Sato remained awkwardly outside, rocking on their heels and resolutely turned away from each other. It wasn't until Toru felt something land on her shoulder that she turned to face the taller boy, assuming that he had placed his hand there to get her attention. It wasn't. Her scream bounced off of the alley's walls and echoed around them as she leapt backwards, practically falling over herself as she mounted the hover wagon in an effort to get away from the large fuzzy arachnid that had been perched on her shoulder.
Unsurprisingly, the sudden noise had scared anyone in close vicinity (that was until they saw what had scared her, before they returned to whatever had preoccupied them beforehand with a hidden/knowing smile on their lips). Sato jumped a good foot in the air, whilst their remaining classmates erupted from their respective stores (Kirishima still locked inside the finger trap) and rushed over to find Toru atop the little wagon as she cowered away from the robotic spider on the ground and a little kid practically pissing himself in the doorway of the butchery. "HOSHI!" Toru cried, turning to the cackling boy as the remote controlled spider wandered back over to him. "YOU SUCK!"
"Haha! That's—ha!—that's never not funny!" Hoshi wheezed, the corners of his eyes filling with tears from laughing so hard. His floppy blonde hair covered the majority of his face as he clutched onto his belly, shielding the splatter of freckles decorating his cheeks and nose.
"A spider?" Bakugou jerked an unamused eyebrow in her direction. The tenseness that had been present when they had arrived, bled from their statures as they saw that their classmate was fine. "Really?"
"…Don't like spiders" Toru mumbled bashfully as she slowly dismounted from the wagon and returned to the stall front with shoulders up around her ears as Hoshi's laughter trickled off, but his mischievous grin remained.
"What's that? Five for me and three for you?"
"I should set you on fire!" Toru replied playfully as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"But you love me!" Hoshi grinned, sauntering back into the butchery as he ducked beneath his grandmother's outstretched arms, taking the whack to the back of the head with much grace.
"Nngh!" She childishly stuck her tongue out at his retreating back just as Mrs Saito returned with the pork bones in hand. As the pair went about finishing up the purchase, the boys filtered back out into the crowds, a little less tense than what they had been a few moments ago.
"Hey! Watch it!" Snapped Bakugou, pulling Toru from her goodbyes in time to see the little girl who had bumped into the blonde scurry by. She didn't need to be an assassin to know what the kid had done. And from the irate expression now spreading across the blonde's features, it was likely that he had discovered too, albeit a little slower. So it was with practised movements that the invisible girl easily stuck her foot out as the little girl passed her by, tripping her. Toru tried to ignore the eyes on her as she pretended to help the girl to her feet and used the brief moment in which the girl's hands were free from the deep pockets of her oversized All Might hoodie, to slip her own fingers inside and retrieve Bakugou's wallet from its confines. After waving off the now irate girl, Toru slipped the pinched wallet back into the blonde's pocket as if it had never disappeared. "Wha—?" Bakugou's gaze snapped towards the invisible girl as she quickly went about situating the bag of pork bones amongst the rest of the groceries.
"You should be more careful" Toru replied absently over her shoulder.
"How did you—?" Kirishima puzzled, peering over Bakugou's shoulder.
"The Yoshiwara district's, like, two blocks over" She shrugged as if it were obvious. "Pickpockets are the least of your worries out here"
"Wait! What?"
"Ooh! Acorns! Yes!" She made a show of glancing over towards a nearby stall selling nuts of all kinds as she pushed passed the pair and easily dismissed any more complaints or further inquiries.
"Hagakure—!"
"—And in bulk? Don't mind if I do!"
Back at the dorms, Sato easily took command of the kitchen and set to work tasking his classmates with various chores. Iida's newly acquired vegetable peeling skills (courtesy of the training camp some weeks previous) and Bakugou's surprisingly precise chopping skills were put to the test when the pair of boys were tasked with peeling and slicing the various vegetables for the broth and noodles. Meanwhile, Mina, Ochako and Asui sat peeling the large amount of acorns the teens had purchased. Occasionally the bowl of peeled acorns would be moved over to Kirishima, who was having great fun beating them into a paste.
Next in the production line was the dough itself, this job had been allocated to Toru whose arms were starting to tire from all the kneading she was doing. When the dough was done, it was then passed over to Sato and Todoroki, who took great care in feeding the dough through little rotund noodle machine Sato had magically produced from the depths of his room. And lastly there was Yaoyorozu who had taken on the role of creating the broth (under careful instructions) with the idea that her elegant palate would be able to distinguish the right balance needed.
Chatter moulded with the crackle of the radio and laughter of her peers as they cooked together, filling the room with a kind of contentedness that usually only came with making something by your own hand. it certainly helped that it smelled great. The delicious aroma of the different components of the meal floated about the lower levels of the dorm building making several stomachs growl and mouths water. Toru had no doubt that every last morsel of the noodles would be devoured that night.
