Hey guys! Major shoutout to everyone who followed and favorited; you guys are amazing and I love writing for an audience! I'm glad people enjoy my writing and it's been a while since I was actually passionate about writing something. I also wanted to ask, if you guys wanted me to write versions of the movies with Leinei and if that's something you'd want to see. It wouldn't be included in this story, but separate spin off fics so that it doesn't interfere with the main story I'm attempting to tell here. Also, if you're a Black Clover fan, I'd suggest checking out my fic Spade Blue! Kal is adorable and Belzeb is even better.

Music suggestions for this chapter: Count On Me by Bruno Mars


Leinei sighs softly as she pulls her hair out of her uniform shirt, standing in front of the locker in the changing room with the other girls. The festival for the first years was finally over, Bakugo, Shoto, and Tokoyami having taken the top three spots after a fierce competition. She would be lying if her heart didn't race watching those fights, the adrenaline having put her on the edge of her seat. Her throat was sore from cheering for her classmates, and her face hurt from smiling.

"I think this is the most I've seen you smile yet," Mina laughs as they walk out of the locker room. The pink girl pokes her cheek, twisting her finger this way and that. Leinei laughs and swats at her hand.

"Who wouldn't be smiling after seeing those fights?" she asks, a bounce in her step. "Oh, crap, I need to find Katsu and the others. I'll see you later, Mina!"

"See ya! I'm gonna go get autographs from the pros!"

"Have fun with that!"

They head in opposite directions, Leinei holding her school bag on her shoulder as she walks around near where the changing rooms for the boys were. It was quieter in there than the girl's rooms, but she could hear some clanging as if someone were punching a locker door. She hesitates for a moment, her smile faltering.

Should I knock? Would that even be okay to do? I mean…

She looks either way down the halls, her face starting to flush. No one was coming from either end, just her standing in front of the door. She swallows, shaking her head and raising a hand to knock.

"Hello?" she calls, knocking twice with the back of her hand. "Is everything okay?"

"Go away!"

Well that's definitely Bakugo's voice.

"Katsu, is everything okay?" she asks, pushing the door open and shielding her eyes with her other hand as she slips in. The door swings shut behind her. "I heard clanging and hitting, and I was worried."

"What the hell is wrong with you?! This is the boy's changing rooms! Get out!" he yells at her. She slowly lowers her hand, seeing him in a black tank top and his uniform pants. His right eye twitched as he glared at her, but his eyes were puffy and bloodshot, as if he had been crying. His first place medal was on the ground, dented in the bottom, as if he'd thrown it.

"Is everything okay?" she asks, walking over to the medal and picking it up, using the side of her hand to dust it off. He plops down on the bench, holding his head as he stares at the ground. She glanced around, seeing all of the other lockers already emptied and closed, like the others had left before him. Her heart sinks a bit as she sits next to him, setting her bag on the floor. His hands had moved to cover his face.

"You need to go away," he says, his voice muffled by his palms. She shakes her head and leans forward, her hair falling to hang over the floor. "I mean it, Short Stack. I don't want to deal with your dumbass-"

"What's wrong, Katsuki?" she asks softly, touching his arm and flinching as she feels the rage, the sadness, the self hatred in his system. "You did amazing out there, you won-"

"Shut up."

"Katsu-"

"Don't come in here acting like you know me, because you don't," he snaps at her, pushing her hand off him and standing up. He pulls his uniform shirt on and snatches the medal out of her hand, letting it hang by the ribbon at his side. His crimson eyes were watery, his bottom lip trembling. Leinei sits there patiently, her chest hurting at the self hatred and rage radiating off of him. He holds the medal up to look at it for a moment before throwing it at the wall behind her.

"I don't deserve that stupid fucking medal!" he growls. "I didn't win-that damn nerd got Icy Hot to go all out on him, and I couldn't even get him to fucking focus on me! I'm better than damn Deku and yet-yet-"

"Katsu, your fight against Shochan was amazing," she assures, standing up and pulling her sleeves down over her hands. He scoffs and buttons his shirt up, leaving it untucked. He doesn't look at her, staring at the lockers to the side by the door. "Why do you think you didn't win?"

"Stop talking."

"Is that why they muzzled you? Because you were yelling at Shochan for a rematch? For him to use his flames? Katsuki, you still won. A win is a win-"

"I wanted my win to be absolute!" he yells at her, causing her to stumble back a step out of surprise. "I wanted no one to be able to dispute that my win is a fluke, and it is!I know it is, so what the hell does it matter?"

She sighs and steps over the bench, picking up the medal and dusting it off again. She comes back and picks up her bag. He watches her, anger still in his eyes, but confusion tilting her head. She starts to walk to the door, stopping when she has her hand on the handle.

"Are you coming or what?" she asks. He picks up his bag and closes the locker door, following her out. They walk down the nearly empty halls, her spinning the medal around her finger.

"Where are we going, Short Stack?" he asks.

"Somewhere. You'll see," she replies, glancing at him over her shoulder. He sighs and looks at the window as they walk. Even now the girl was a mystery to him, surprising him with whatever bullshit she was trying to do. Her purple hair swayed with each step, tangled and knotted from the event she participated in, and the cheerleading. But she didn't seem to care that much, still spinning that damn medal around her finger.

They walked to one of the gyms, her dropping her bag by the door and making sure no one else was in there before closing the door behind them. Bakugo did the same, slouching his shoulders as he looked at her. She stops spinning the medal around her finger, throwing it up and catching it by the ribbon with a smirk. He watches her with an eyebrow perked.

"What are you doing, Short Stack?"

"You said that you didn't earn this medal," she says, holding it up. "So, I'm going to change that. That's what friends do for each other, isn't it?"

"Who said we were friends?" he grumbles, but starting to stretch regardless. He wanted to smile, but he was still upset at the way his battle against Shoto ended up. And he didn't want her to know how much this meant to him.

"So, rules are, no quirks," she tells him, holding a finger up. "I would rather not see Recovery Girl again, or get either one of us in trouble for fighting without a teacher present. No hitting below the belt. First person to be pinned, or give up, loses."

"Can you even fight?"

"I can do a lot you guys don't know about," she promises, tossing the medal over to their bags and readying herself into a fighting stance. Bakugo snorts, lowering himself before launching himself forward with a right hook. She slips out of the way, ducking down and kicking his leg from under him. He staggers, leaning forward and flipping back onto his feet. She just shrugs with her hands up, smiling.

"That was just a fluke," he growls, coming at her again. This time, he feints with the right hook, grinning as she falls for it and he drives his knee into her gut. She gasps, grabbing tight to leg before driving her head into his stomach. He coughs and shoves her off, wiping his mouth as she falls to the ground and gets back up.

"Okay, maybe you can fight a little bit," he remarks, smirking as she coughs and wipes her mouth. She nods, smiling as he comes at her again. He aims for her stomach again, only for her to grab his arm and turn on her heel, attempting to throw him and misjudging his weight. He manages to regain his footing, turning her grab around and tossing her on the ground, face first. His knee was pressed between her shoulders, him holding her arm up and out. She pants, her cheek pressed into the ground. Her heart was beating so fast, she felt it bouncing off the floor.

"See?" she manages to get out. "You win, fair and square."

He blinks twice, confused before letting her up. She sits on her knees, rolling her shoulder back and feeling it pop. Bakugo tilts his head as she stands up, walking over to the medal and picking it up. She holds it out to him.

"You won. You earned it. I know I'm not the same as winning against Shochan, but you're the undisputed winner here. So, even if you don't want to admit you won the Sports Festival, you can say you won against me."

He grits his teeth, coming out and snatching it from her hand. She chuckles, picking up her bag and smiling at him. A small blush comes over his cheeks seeing that gentle smile, the way her eyes sparkle.

"Congratulations, Katsu," she tells him, tilting her head. "You did amazing today. I can't wait to see you get better."

"Yeah whatever," he growls, walking past her before stopping at the door. He turns back to her and holds his phone out. "Put your stupid number into it. I can add you to the group chat with me, Shitty Hair, and Sparky."

"You're in a group chat?" she asks, taking his phone and adding her number into it. "I don't know whether to be impressed or proud."

"Shut up! I'm just doing it because Sparky wanted me to!"

"And why couldn't Kaminari do it himself?"

"I don't know! Stop asking stupid questions!"

She laughs and hands him his phone back, patting his shoulder as she walks past him. He blushes again, punching her name in as 'Short Stack' before locking his phone. Maybe she's not so bad.


"How was school?" Reina asks as Leinei walks into the house, taking her sneakers off to leave them by the door. Reina was dressed in a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt, her face still flushed from the heat and being in her suit all day. Leinei sighs and plops on the couch next to her, setting her bag on the floor. The redhead smiles as her sister lays her head on her shoulder.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" she asks softly, Reina turning her head to look at her. Her heart breaks seeing her sister's sad blue eyes. "That you're proud of me?"

"I'm very proud of you," she promises, shifting so she can hug her tightly and rest her chin on her head. "You were amazing out there; not many other students got a callout from their teachers today."

"Not many other students collapsed after the first event either," she mutters. Reina flicks her forehead, pulling away a little as Leinei looks up at her. "What was that for?"

"Because you did amazing today," she assures. "You need some more endurance training, but nothing that can't be fixed. And the fact you were able to gather some control of your quirk in a week, that's amazing to me. You're amazing."

Leinei blinks tears from her eyes, pushing away from Reina and picking her bag up. She couldn't think straight, couldn't stand to look at her perfect sister. Couldn't stand to feel the mixture of pride, of love, of guilt, of whatever else her sister was feeling in this moment. Why did she feel guilty talking to her? Why can't she just-why can't she just feel pride and love? Maybe then she could believe her.

"Lei…"

"I have some homework to do," she says, her voice thick. "I'm gonna go on a run before that. Um, I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, well I'm making soba for dinner tonight. Did you want anything particular with it?"

"Whatever you think is fine," she replies, walking upstairs with her bag and setting it on the bed. She heard vibrating in her bag, checking the pockets and seeing at least five new messages in the group chat Bakugo had added her into. She sits on the bed, opening the chat.

Sparky: {Eyyy, we finally got Salinsa up here! Hiiii!}

Shitty Hair: {Salinsaaaaa! You should totally come hang out with us!}

Sparky: {oh heck yeah! There's a new karaoke place that just opened up! Whatcha say Bakubro?}

Lord Explosion Murder: {No.}

Shitty Hair: {Oh cmon on, Bakubro! Salinsa, talk some sense into him! We should all totally go!}

She smiles, seeing the messages. A few more popped up from Kaminari and Kirishima, asking her to talk some sense into him. She debates what to write back, not used to having someone to text.

Short Stack: {Sorry, guys. I'm not really available to go there either. Maybe we should get a study group going? Since midterms should be coming up soon.}

Sparky: {oh god don't remind me! Bakugooo, you'll help me right? Right?}

Shitty Hair: {Oh yeah, there's that weird summer camp thing we get to go to if we pass. The study group thing is a great idea, Salinsa!}

Lord Explosion Murder: {If you need a study group, then you're just dumb. I study alone, dumbasses.}

Sparky: {fine. I'll just ask Yaoyorozu.}

Shitty Hair: {Come on, Bakubrooo! Salinsa, you'll help us study right?}

Short Stack: {Well, I suggested it. It would be messed up if I didn't.}

Sparky: {Salinsa, you're a goddess :'D}

Short Stack: {I really wouldn't go that far. Katsu, you're welcome to join us.}

Lord Explosion Murder: {Tch.}

Shitty Hair: {Cmon, Bakubro! It's Salinsa! She's awesome and super manly!}

Lord Explosion Murder: {Fine. I guess we can meet at my house next weekend for our first session.}

Sparky: {heck yeah!}

Shitty Hair: {Whooo! So manly we get to all study together! Should we bring snacks?}

Short Stack: {I'll have to ask my sister, but it sounds like a lot of fun! I have to go on a run now, but I can talk later. Bye guys!}

Shitty Hair: {See ya Salinsa!}

Sparky: {Byee! Be safe!}

Leinei smiles and sets her phone down, jittering a bit and resisting the urge to do the happy dance Keigo does when he gets freshly fried chicken. She lets out a slow breath, before getting up and changing into a pair of running shorts and a long sleeved shirt. She put her hair up as she was heading back downstairs, still smiling. Reina was still on the couch, looking up when she saw Leinei putting her shoes on.

"Be back in time for dinner, okay?" she asks. "Do you have your phone on you?"

"No, did you want me to take it?" Leinei responds, looking up from tying her shoes. Reina nods and she heads back upstairs to swipe it off her bed. Her sister is standing when she comes back down.

"Be careful, please. There's a villain on the loose attacking people, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine," she assures, opening the door. "I'll see you when I'm done, bye Reina."

"Bye Lei."