See: smol announcement in the author's note!


Chapter Twenty-One: Mysteries

It had been a quiet, fine evening which felt like any other mundane day.

But if one cared for the specifics, it had been the third day of the Yuuei Hero Internships when the news went wild over the arrest of the Hero Killer.

"Yesterday, there was a large scale disturbance in the town of Hosu which was believed to be instigated by three villains. Over sixty people were injured and the damage to the town was extensive- "

Stain's blood-covered visage was bound and heavily restrained as the man in question was led away by the police, white eyes narrowed with an intensity that was only hidden by his pitch-black hair. The reporter carried on as the image was shown across the screen, and an uneasy feeling bubbled up within the pits of her stomach.

" - reportedly, the Number Two Hero, Endeavour had arrived on the scene just in time to apprehend the Hero Killer, saving the lives of three Yuuei students- "

Shit.

What were the odds? If she remembered clearly, Iida was the one who had gotten off at Hosu station for his internship with the Normal Hero, Manual. How had the other two students come into the equation?

Morie's phone vibrated suddenly as the news continued flashing on the television screen. The successive messages startled her, but upon noticing that it was from the Bakusquad group, she hurried to open them.

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pinky: yo, yall! did you get the text from midoriya? I just realised he was calling us for help… I just asked and he sent a text to all his contacts apparently

Tape Man: Yeah, dude i was so confused. But to think they were actually in danger :(

pikachu: yeahhh same man! someone uploaded a video of the hero killer too, have you guys seen it?

pinky: yup! he's terrifying ngl

pinky: and another update! todoroki and iida are the other two that got caught up into this, they're recovering in hospital now.

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Morie stared at her phone, with the realisation hitting her that she never got a text from Midoriya because she didn't have his number. 'Shame on you,' she internally smacked herself with a groan. Midoriya was ironically one of the first few people in the class she had met.

It was pretty much her own doing anyway, as she had hardly been proactive in expanding her social circle, in both real life and online. Being more reserved, reaching out to other people outside of her social circle was not a habit for her; it made her worry if she came across anti-social at times or if the Bakusquad seemed to be 'exclusive' - which was certainly not the case considering how effortlessly friendly the other members were. Was it just her?

1-A would never be as petty as my classmates from Sakurazawa... Her head shook itself profusely as she quickly told herself off. The girl then frowned over the incoming texts from Mina, her dark eyes considering the trio who had gotten themselves into this mess.

Midoriya getting involved was somehow not all that surprising, with the amount of weird shit the poor boy seemed to get mixed up with. The peculiar circumstances he had enrolled into Yuuei under made her hold a kind of respect for him; heck, the first day she met him he had charged head on into a villain fight even though his quirk didn't seem to have manifested back then.

Todoroki and Iida surprised her though - they had always struck her as more rule-abiding... never mind, scratch that. Iida was the one who strictly stuck to the rules. The son of Endeavour just seemed like he did not care too much about anything.

Worry ate at her however as her mind buzzed in wonder over what went down with the Hero Killer. It all seemed strange to her - how the three of them had seemingly escaped from their internships resulting in an encounter with the Hero Killer; perhaps the pro-Heroes they were with had been preoccupied by the Nomus that had appeared at the same time?

Nevertheless, facing a seasoned, full-fledged killer must have been terrifying - as talented as her classmates were, they were still mere first-years. An unwitting sigh escaped her as she began to play around with her phone, staring blankly into space.

Chika was on the sofa beside her, watching the news with a solemn expression on his face. She had not bothered to hide her thoughts so her father probably had already gotten the gist of what had happened, that it was her very own classmates who had been attacked.

"Sure is a dangerous time to be a Hero," the man remarked light-heartedly, rubbing the brown stubble on his chin as if he was deep in thought. His heavier undertone was not missed as he sent her a pointed raised-eye glance.

"More like it's a dangerous time to be living," came her dry retort, earning herself a telepathic 'whack!' in the forehead by their sofa cushion. With a scowl, the dark-haired girl hurled the cushion back at her father - it was times like these where the difference in generational humor was real. The younger generation seemed to have a shared sense of self-depreciating humour that the older ones would never understand.

As the news flash ended and the television was switched off, the house was once again filled with silence. Morie's attention was turned back to the phone in her hand that she was absentmindedly fidgeting with.

Locating the newest not-friend added to her phone, the girl began to hesitantly type up a message, staring for the longest time before she could bring herself to hit the 'send' button. Perhaps her abrupt message would come across as creepy or random, but at the moment her concern rode over any reservations she might have had.

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rie: Hey, I heard about what happened. Are you alright?

rie: Also I don't suppose you know how midoriya and iida are doing? I realised I don't have their numbers,,,

Todoroki Shouto: Yeah, thanks for asking.

Todoroki Shouto: [sent an image]

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In bewilderment, Morie peered down at her phone screen, feeling somewhat wary before she moved to download the image.

Immediately, she could make out the fluffy-haired Midoriya and a stern-faced Iida nearby, seated on respective hospital beds. They were smiling, looking worn and beaten up, but the green-haired boy was hesitantly flashing a peace sign; the bespectacled class president on the other hand had his face scrunched up stiffly in an awkward attempt to grin. While there was no sign of the Ice and Fire user himself, there was a blurry smudge at the edge of the camera which suggested that his fingers had been blocking a fraction of the lens.

The dark-haired girl couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. Precious dorks, that's what they were.

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rie: Ahaha cute, glad you guys seem okay!

rie: Would hate to trouble you guys after what happened, but could I suggest to Iida that we create a class group chat?

rie: Personally would like to be more in touch with what's going on in class, and I was thinking that it would be easier for news to be relayed as well

Todoroki Shouto: Iida thinks it's a good idea.

Todoroki Shouto: ... we offered to help add people but he's too fast.

rie: Aww man thanks,,, I'm excited!

Todoroki Shouto: It's fine.

Todoroki Shouto: (thumbs up)

rie: ,,,

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Mere moments later, she was added to the new group 'Class 1-A'. Almost immediately, there was an explosion of messages from the Bakusquad group.

Pikachu: omg ABOUT DAMN TIME

pinky: yAS

pinky: we need a name less boring than class 1-A tho! imma ask iida to make me an admin

pinky: noooo he said he wants the name to be proper:(

rie: Aww man maybe we should suggest a name to him directly? If it's good he'll probably consider it

Pikachu: LMAO 'class A for aizawa'

rie: 'aizawa & all might'

rie: 'Bane of monoma's existence'

rie: We gon die if they see this

pinky: sHIT HAHAHA

Tape man: Yknow, you should takethis to the class chat

pinky: hehehe will do;)

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The chaotic energy was stronger than ever; she could already see it. At the very least, Morie could have more contacts now (by extension future friends), so this was thoroughly a win-win situation for her.

Bzt!

Once more her phone vibrated, and she was surprised when Todoroki's name popped up on her screen again.

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Todoroki Shouto: Sorry.

Todoroki Shouto: What is ",,," supposed to mean?

Morie stared a little at the message, feeling a bit dumbfounded. She honestly had no idea where she had picked that up (from Ren, probably.) How was she going to explain that it was just a texting style, without making it too awkward?

Oh, Todoroki. You precious boy.

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(•̀o•́)ง(•̀o•́)ง(•̀o•́)ง

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Most internships involved the employers going relatively easy on students - apparently, not here at Coriolis' Office.

Training was so damn brutal.

(That was saying a lot, since Morie had grown up being trained by Minamoto Chika. It was also worth mentioning that during these sessions, Morie discovered Hikaru shared uncanny resemblances with her father- at least, in terms of his sadistic qualities.)

First came the physical conditioning training sessions, where their endurance were increased through means of set training regimes. Then came one-on-one battle scenarios made possible with the use of Hikaru's Illusion quirk, where he drilled into them various self-defense moves.

As the black-haired assistant sat by the side of the room, lazily cleaning off his glasses, the brown-haired girl bit down on her lips as she lowered herself for her 40th push up, feeling her arms turning to jelly. Her insides were practically on fire. Feeling her breath shudder out in a shaky gasp, she took a moment to collect herself, still feeling the strain in her arms.

As much as Hikaru had appeared to be a kind gentleman at first glance, no, just no- she couldn't have been more wrong. Appearances were so deceiving, and she felt almost lied to. The following few days were more than enough for her impression of him to make a whole one-eighty change.

They had gone into personal physical conditioning, now. Shinsou had completed his training first - and while it might have been her imagination, Hikaru had seemed particularly fixated on Shinsou - something that was logical to her. Both of them relied more on battles of wit, considering the natures of their quirk.

In the meantime, though? Morie was stuck in her seemingly endless physical training course.

"Getting tired? Well, Shinsou-kun didn't stop until I told him to." The bespectacled man commented off-handedly. He shot her an irritating grin, and she suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that he was probably acting this way to annoy her on purpose.

Resisting the urge to chuck something at him, Morie continued bearing with the onslaught of exercises. Hikaru notably became less of an ass the moment she completed her designated number of Russian Twists. His blue eyes flicked to her in amusement as his shoulders gave a slow, deliberate shrug.

"Don't give me that look, miss Continental," he remarked, and silently she marveled at how innocuous he managed to make himself sound. "Boss lady was the one who put me in charge of physical training- it was her who arranged this entire program for you kids, in fact."

Sighing, the brown-haired girl shook off her fatigue, ears perking up at the mention of her mother. For some reason, she got the nagging feeling that Hikaru was surveying her for a reaction, so she simply continued stretching out her legs and arms.

"... why do you call her that?" Morie mumbled. "Boss lady, I mean."

Hikaru rose up from his corner, sweeping his dark, charcoal-like strands back lazily.

"We call her that 'cause we want to," his mouth was set in a large grin at that point. "For me, I have a lot of respect for her - she's like, the only reason I made it this far."

Dark eyes flitted towards the older man with poorly-concealed curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to be a hero then, but didn't have any means," he stated simply. "Coriolis was just a Hero doing her job, but she didn't have any obligation to help me at all. Looking back, I might have been dead if it weren't for her."

"Oh."

His words were vague enough, though she got the gist of the emotions that churned under his calm surface. Her eyes widened as a warm feeling grew in the pits of her stomach at the thought of her mother.

I didn't know that.

Hikaru's sky blue eyes settled on her, and he reached up a hand to adjust his glasses. "Yeah, I owe her my life. When we first met, she told me that I had to be brave if I wanted to be like my favorite hero. So I've been... trying."

The conversation was veering now into uncomfortable personal territory, and Morie sensed that the black-haired assistant would not be willing to disclose more than he had already had. Sitting up, the girl grabbed a nearby towel and began to wipe off her face, deliberating seeking to change the topic to something less heavy.

"So, who's the favorite hero you're talking about?"

The black-haired assistant let out a drawn-out, exaggerated sigh. Then a smile crossed his face as he clapped his hands together in enthusiasm, and he suddenly reminded her of an old man excited to share his tale.

"Oh boy, don't get me started! You younger ones probably have never heard of him - he's called the Magician."

Indeed, the name rang a bell but Morie didn't know much about him (after all, no one did), which admittedly wounded her pride as a self-proclaimed Hero nerd. Her head tilted and she gestured for him to continue.

"He was one of the coolest, you know? He apprehended villains so fast that no one could ever wrap their mind around what his quirk was - he was truly a mystery," a faraway look flashed over his eyes. "But he disappeared without a trace. I think it's been more than ten years."

Hikaru sent a meaningful look her way.

"You may be wondering why I'm telling you all this. But I think it would do you good to know that there was a point in time since All Might, where even a quirk that couldn't be seen was arguably as powerful. People like me remembered him for his presence in rescue operations, back when Japan was still in chaos. All in all, the quirk never matters as much as the person who wields it."

… she certainly hadn't expected that turn in the conversation.

"It's… complicated," the brown-haired girl muttered in admission after a few moments of stunned silence. Her insecurities and resentment towards Pressure was surfaced again as it fell into place that maybe she was the one with a problem.

Dark eyes glanced up to focus on him. "Thanks for the advice, though I didn't know I was that easy to read."

The black-haired assistant shrugged. "Well, you aren't. I'm just brilliant at guessing."

"Lucky you, I guess," she responded back dryly, resisting the urge to laugh in good humour.

There was a sudden, sharp rap on the door. Shinsou stepped inside the room, his expression set in a poker-face. He nodded his head towards Hikaru's direction curtly, before his dark eyes shifted onto Morie, seated on the ground nearby.

"It's our lunch break now. Coriolis didn't say anything about what comes after, though."

"Oops, did I overshoot?" Hikaru got up, dusting himself off. He hastily put on his black spectacles before waving away the two interns. "Go ahead, miss Continental -be back in an hour, the two of you! Have fun on your lunch date!"

The brown-haired girl sputtered at that, quickly excusing herself and hurrying out of the room after her blue-haired companion. The grin now wiped from his face, Hikaru watched the duo disappear from sight, before turning to stare up at the ceiling as he mulled in his thoughts.

"If I had to guess, the boss called you and Shinsou-kun here for very similar reasons," the Illusion user remarked out loud to no one in particular. It was a bad habit of his, talking out loud just so that he could hear himself; one that he had picked up over the years to remind him of his own presence when his Illusion made it so easy for him to go unnoticed. "It's probably the reason why she decided to recruit me back then, too."

There was something else that he had neglected to mention to the dark-haired girl: the Magician had not just been any Hero.

In truth, he had been a sidekick - probably one of the most influential sidekicks in the Hero field, one of the few who managed to break out from the others and become almost as distinguishable as the Hero they followed.

And to be even more specific - in a distant time long ago, the Magician had been Coriolis' one and only sidekick.

It was his one wish in life to meet the mysterious man who had made him strive to turn his life around. Perhaps one day, he would finally garner up the courage to ask the Boss about her former sidekick and his alleged disappearance.

(Hikaru had his own suspicions, of course. But there was a time and place for everything, and his speculations could wait for another time.)

Cleaning up the room, the coal-haired assistant made to exit the room. His crisp footsteps thudded into nonexistence, and the door swung close behind him.

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ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

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Throwing back a quick swig of water, Morie made sure she looked somewhat presentable as she grabbed her purse and approached Shinsou, who had been waiting for her by the side of the main doors.

"Sorry for the wait," the girl bowed her head sheepishly. "Do you think they want anything?"

"They would have told us." Shinsou shook his head, already pushing past the doors to step outside the building. There was an almost inaudible pitter-patter of her footsteps as she trailed after him, trying to keep up with his long strides. It seemed that he had noticed this, for almost immediately his walking pace slowed itself to align with hers so they were side by side once more.

(She appreciated that.)

"So what do you want to eat?" The girl piped up with a glance towards her companion.

"Anything is fine," came the cobalt-haired boy's response.

Morie sighed inwardly - she didn't mind the short replies, yet she did feel pressured to keep talking out of habit, just to fill the silence.

Over the past few days, she had gathered that Shinsou did not seem like he would appreciate meaningless small talk (a sentiment she returned.) That didn't go to say that he was someone not enjoyable to be around - he was a comfortable presence to her.

It was why the brown-haired girl opted to remain silent, instead inspecting the row of shop houses they were currently walking past.

"Hm, what about the udon shop we went to on our first day?" She suggested, pointing out the shop as they turned the corner. "It was pretty cheap. The food was good, too."

With a jerk of his head, the duo entered the shop at the same time. Morie's eyes widened in astonishment, however as her dark eyes instantly made out a familiar figure with heavily gelled-down, ash-blonde hair. Her hand nudged Shinsou slightly, and his dark eyes narrowed as they landed on the figure. Moments later, he sighed, as if already anticipating the headache that would inevitably come.

"Do whatever you want," he stated, sounding indifferent.

The brown-haired girl looked up at him appraisingly. "... you sure about that? We can always go somewhere else."

"It's fine," Shinsou reiterated, his expression giving nothing away. His dark eyes met hers briefly. "He's your friend, right?"

To which Morie blinked.

"Classmates," she corrected automatically, and the blue-haired boy raised his shoulders in a slow shrug.

"Same difference." His dark purple eyes trained themselves onto the blond boy before them. "Shall we?"

The girl nodded slowly. A moment of hesitation later, she hurried over to the corner of the little shop, feeling her companion follow closely behind her.

Morie came to a halt, and decided to speak before self-consciousness overcame her.

"Hey, Bakugou," she greeted softly. "Mind if we join you?"

Red eyes shifted up towards her, narrowing slightly as they settled on the blue-haired boy next to her. After a short staring contest, his eyes settled back on the bowl of curry udon in front of him.

"Tch. Do whatever you want," he responded. She considered that lack of vocalised death threats to be a good sign - honestly, the response she had expected was more of a 'hell no! Get the fuck out of here!'. The conclusion she came to was that Bakugou just did not give a shit about social norms; sitting together was after all no indication that they were friends.

I swear though, it's like that phrase is a staple in every guy's dictionary. Or maybe these two are more similar than they think?

Following a mumbled 'thanks', Morie took a seat across the (former) Mr Spiky Hair, with Shinsou following suit beside her.

The tension hung thick in the air, only being disrupted by the arrival of their steaming bowls of udon. The brown-haired girl took it upon herself to pass chopsticks to Shinsou, as well as discreetly sliding Bakugou a napkin when she noticed that he was getting curry all over his mouth (which he grudgingly accepted with a glare and a huff.)

"Thanks for the meal," her voice uttered out, the gesture mirrored by Shinsou.

As Morie helped herself to the food, the brown-haired girl stole glances at her companions, wanting to talk but not wanting to unintentionally exacerbate the situation. The only thing on her mind distracting her from this awkward predicament was the delicious food, a bowl of curry udon generously topped with sliced, stir-fried beef - it was truly a value for money.

"Washroom," Shinsou excused himself abruptly, getting up and trudging off without a second of pause. Morie stared after him briefly, before directing her attention back to the ash blonde sitting across the table. Much to her surprise, she found herself attempting to strike up a conversation with him.

"So what brings you here, Bakugou? I thought your office was across town."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she almost regretted speaking at all - Morie could have sworn that she saw a vein instantly bulge in his forehead ominously. Surprisingly, he did not explode at her, instead gritting his teeth and chewing on his udon with a new aggressive fervour.

"Obviously to get away from Best Jeanist and his damn bunch of losers." He growled out, clearly ticked off, his scowl deepening with every word. In a futile attempt, one of his hands contemptuously clawed at his shiny, gelled and very much stifled-looking hair. "This internship is so fucking shitty. They're always talking too damn much or trying to load more of their shitty gel into my hair."

Take a shot every time Bakugou calls something 'shitty', Morie coughed to cover up her laugh, but Bakugou was too sharp. He shot her a red-eyed glare.

"The fuck are you laughing at, dipshit?"

Shit. I'm actually a shitty person for laughing at him when he's ranting.

Dark eyes met his and she shook her head hastily, feeling a bout of sympathy for him. "Sorry, it's nothing. Just that I hope Best Jeanist does actually teach you something by the end of this week."

"He'd better!" Bakugou replied in a scoff, gritting his teeth together. "I don't need to hear another goddamned word about how I need to be reformed."

Morie almost choked on her udon. "Wait, what? He said that?"

Her grumpy companion sent her a sharp look which clearly stated 'bitch, don't make me repeat myself.'

For once, the dark-haired girl was at a lost for words. That choice of words coming from the Fifth Hero* seemed harsh even to her. She could definitely see where Best Jeanist was coming from - as much as she liked him as a Hero (because he was a gentleman, duh), it seemed arrogant to a degree to say that to a Hero-in-training. Especially when the Hero had probably only ever seen Bakugou on television before.

"I mean," she began truthfully, and his eyes seemed to instinctively narrow. Under his red-eyed stare, however, she lost her nerve and her voice grew softer as she mumbled out something. "Idon'tthinkyouneedtobereformed."

"Speak the fuck up, dipshit." Bakugou bit out, stabbing one of his chopsticks into a piece of meat impatiently.

"I said," Morie repeated herself in spite of the alarm bells already going off in her head. "I don't think you need to be reformed."

Perhaps that was not what Bakugou expected to hear, for his red eyes merely fixed on hers in a narrowed glower.

When the now smooth-haired boy did not explode immediately, she somehow sought out the confidence to continue her ramble.

"Uh, so you're kinda short-tempered," the girl stated matter-of-factly. His fuse promptly popped (even though what she said was possibly the greatest understatement of the century) and her hands flailed upwards, signalling him to let her continue. "But that's just your thing. You're kinda inspiring in your own way - it's refreshing to see."

A brief moment of silence passed; Morie's dark eyes were resting on him, carefully surveying his face for a reaction. Then-

"... bitch, did I ask?" His red eyes rolled his eyes snarkily, and she could only shrug in response.

Just boosting your ego for today because you sound like you need it for once.

A satisfied grin did flash over Bakugou's features momentarily, however, as he continued on with his tirade. "Can't fucking wait to see the look on his face when I become Number One."

... I forgot to mention that you're also hilariously immature.

Honestly, she was just grateful that he seemed to be getting better when it came to receiving candid opinions - maybe he was just getting used to her trying to be his personal advisor and spewing her brand of bullshit by now.

"Hold up - important question," Morie's hand raised itself seriously as if she was asking for permission to speak. Then she pointed out, an eyebrow raised. "Can you even see his face under all that hair and denim?"

Bakugou snorted out loud. He deadass just snorted, causing his brown-haired neighbour to stare at him dumbfoundedly for a moment - what the hell was that noise, even? Was this guy actually incapable of laughing normally?

'Stay tuned to find out, folks,' her inner voice drawled out sardonically.

Morie's hand slapped itself over her mouth as she giggled at that thought. Bakugou would absolutely murder her if he knew what was running through her mind now, and she greatly valued her life.

"Oi, what the hell are you laughing at now?!"

Oops. Too late.

Morie removed her hand from her mouth hurriedly, and her dark eyes fixed on his with a flat stare.

"Nothing, man. I was just thinking that it's nice to see you," her poker-face gave way to a smile. Honestly? The Pressure user was not pulling his leg at all - more so than expected, she had genuinely enjoyed this fleeting conversation (if it could be considered one, at least.)

The blonde boy almost choked on his udon, and if possible his smoldering glare nearly intensified.

Morie resisted the urge to roll her eyes as he made some indecipherable angry noises and reached out to down a gulp of water. After which, his eyes promptly hardened into a glare, and he bristled, looking very much like a pissed off cat.

"Fuck off!"

(There was the tiniest bit of satisfaction as she wondered if Bakugou switched from 'fuck you' to 'fuck off' because of the amazing comeback she had thrown at him a while ago.)

"You're no fun," the girl sighed out loud, even as her eyes glimmered with mirth. She was now eyeing his ridiculous side-parting, marveling incredulously at the sheen his ash blonde strands had taken on from the sheer amount of hair gel that was applied. "You gotta be careful to wash that out properly by the way, or it's gonna build up. Take it from someone who uses hair gel too."

"Shuddap, you sound like my damn old man," Bakugou grumbled, resentfully eyeing his own hair. He gave his tongue a sharp click, and his crimson gaze snapped to her. "And stop telling me what to do, dipshit!"

Clearly disgruntled, the boy took the chance to slurp up a final bite of udon before chugging down some miso soup like he hadn't had water in days. His poor chopsticks were violently slammed downwards as he pushed himself up from the table, sauntering off without so much as another word.

Morie watched the grumpy guy leave, her dark almond eyes glimmering in amusement - Bakugou Katsuki was truly a cranky, living meme. Without a doubt, he was occasionally terrifying and a certified Asshole, but she could definitely see why the pure-hearted Kirishima liked him so damn much.

She turned back to continue her own meal - but with a pause, she glanced at the seat next to her, wanting to apologise to her original lunch buddy for the awkward situation he was shoved into. It was only then did she realise that the seat was in fact, still empty.

… Shinsou has been in the bathroom for a while now. Should she be concerned?

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[just for laughs. presenting to you my favorite personal headcanon.]

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Shinsou was sitting, quietly cursing the world. In particular Minamoto, for bringing him coffee every morning - even he would feel bad turning someone like her down.

He sighed inwardly. Of all the free coffee selections, she just had to pick latte. There was a reason why he only had expressos without sugar; he avoided milk almost religiously knowing the disastrous effect it had on him.

Admitting that he had the runs was embarrassing to say the least, even for someone as blunt as him. Vaguely wondering what excuse he should give Minamoto when he eventually made it back, he sighed once more as his stomach cramped up in another round of pain.

Maybe he should have just told Minamoto that he could not consume milk in the first place. Maybe he should stop accepting the coffee she brought him. He had brought this upon himself, hadn't he?

In mild exasperation, Shinsou sighed. Being lactose-intolerant would be the death of him.

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(*_*)(*_*)(*_*)

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A/N:

tldr; A meme chapter with plot.

*Best Jeanist is Fifth Hero here, since I wrote this before the introduction of Hawks.

There are 2 types of lactose-intolerant people in the world. Those like Shinsou who actively avoid milk, and those like me who love dairy products too much to stop consuming it, in spite of the pain. Honestly, the idea came from Shinsou reminding me of a cat. And guess what, cats are lactose intolerant :D

I hope you liked this chapter. My favourite part going on internships was always going for lunches with the other interns and trying to make friends with them. Also BakuRie convos are always fun for me to write, especially now that Rie knows how easy it is to tease him. And also, I think Bakuboi going to Best Jeanist was hilarious, and I always thought it may be a sore spot for Bakugou to be nominated because he was deemed a problem, and not because of his skills. In general, writing Rie trying to be social is fun because well, she did not have a lot of friends, and doesn't know that there are a lot of things that people wouldn't normally say in a conversation (aka, a lot of well-meant but misleading comments.)

Also, I'm sorry if you don't like the large text portions for this chapter! I find texting an integral part of teenage culture honestly, and thought it would be suitable (not to mention I think class 1-A in a chat group would be hilarious.) Do let me know if there's anything I can do to make it easier to read, though.

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smol announcement! SD has hit 1k follows and I'm very grateful! So I decided to do a thing because I thought it would be fun - do send in suggestions for wild group chat name ideas for 1-A! You can send as many ideas as you want, I'll select a name (with credit of course) and the winner gets to pick a one-shot idea (any trope, any pairing) for the SD-verse ahaha (it'll be posted either as part of the actual story in SD or as a chapter in Kerosene Hearts.)

I look forward to your ideas hehe! Open until the next chapter comes out - which really might take a while. Things are getting rough again, and so far I haven't edited the drafts for the chapters after this.

Let me know what you think! And as always, thank you so much for reading. Take care!

- C