This really was a great idea. As much as Uraraka enjoys Deku and Iida's company, it's nice to get to know the other girls in her class. And Momo choosing to use her connections to get them additional coupons so they can really splurge without worrying about her monthly budget is just icing on top, pun intended.
"I'm so glad everyone decided to come" Uraraka says, grinning at Tsuyu, who seems just as pleased.
"Yeah. It' s nice to have a girls days out sometimes, ribbit."
"You got that right!"
Jiro immediately slips in between the two, slinging her arms around their shoulders.
"Can you imagine taking the boys to a place like this?" she snickers. "I've seen Sero and Kaminari at lunch, I don't even think they know how forks work."
Ashido joins them with a cackle. "Oh that's nothing. What about Blasty in a place like this?"
"Which is exactly why none of them were invited" Momo insists. "This is just for us today."
They're all chuckling as they reach the Cassima Cake Store, but Uraraka's smile fades when she notices a small group huddled outside the door. It's a girl about their age, with a young boy at her side, and a taller male leaning over her, braced against the wall.
"-Think you're playing hard to get a little too hard?" she hears him say, while the girl below him bristles.
"I already told you Mazo, I'm not interested in going out with you" she says.
"Hey, it's okay Kyo-chan, your brother's aren't here, you can be honest" he replies right back, and the young boy scowls.
"I'm still here! And big brother Tsuna will be here in minutes!"
Mazo glances in his direction, and rolls his eyes, but Kyoko quickly draws his attention back.
"It's Sasagawa, Mazo" she replies, face grim. "And Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi don't control me. It's still no."
Considering the way his eyes narrow, it's clearly not the answer her would-be suitor wants to hear.
"You're not that pretty Kyo-chan" he growls. "And considering your disability, you should be goddamned grateful I'm even giving you the time of day. When Shuto graduates next year, I'll be captain of the basketball team, and way out of your league, so why don't you appreciate your luck, leave the brat to tell your 'company' you had a rain check, and buy me a cake?"
"She said no!" the boy at her side snaps. "And you're ranked no.5 on the list of upperclassman Kyoko doesn't want to date!"
The male student's face is going dark, and while the girl is standing tall, there's no small amount of uncertainty crawling into her eyes. Behind her, Uraraka can feel Tsuyu and Jiro shaking with fury – she doesn't even want to know what the others look like. This can't be allowed to stand.
And so, with the power of solidarity that only woman know, Uraraka steps right in, hopping forward and slinging an arm around the girls shoulders.
"There you are!" she squeals, face full of false cheer. "I am sorry we were late. You weren't waiting too long right?"
The girl looks confused for approximately one tenth of a second, before she's throwing herself right into the act.
"Oh no, not at all!" she insists, with one of the most disarming grins Uraraka has ever witnessed. She's pretty sure she's blushing.
Her classmates thankfully, are quickly stepping up, and the boy is backing away, face paling when Ashido walks forward, hiding Uraraka and her new friend from view.
"Thanks for keeping our friend company" she says, in the most insincere voice the acid-throwing student can offer. "But I'm sure you have places to be now, yes?"
His eyes dart across the group of girls, and their UA uniforms, and proves that he has some survival instincts in quickly turning and heading off.
"I'll see you at school Sasagawa. You should still think about it!"
The young girl and boy both wait until the teen is a good distance down the street, before they both sigh, shoulders relaxing.
"Thank you so much" she says, slipping out from Uraraka's grasp. "I really wasn't sure how I could keep that from getting worse."
"You're ranked just under Tsuna for not being able to say no" the boy by her side comments, lifting up a large book Uraraka hadn't noticed at his feet, and the girl blushes.
"I know! But I can't help it! And I even said it this time. Twice even!"
"It's okay" Uraraka laughs. "Guys who can't take a hint are the worst."
"Amen to that" Momo mutters darkly.
"I'm Sasagawa Kyoko" the girl offers. "And this is Fuuta de Stella."
Fuuta smiles and waves. "Thanks for helping out. They normally wouldn't be bold, but Tsuna's late."
"Nice to meet you!" Uraraka replies. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka."
The rest of the girls quickly introduces themselves, and without discussing it, find themselves adding Kyoko and Fuuta to their group. It just doesn't seem right to leave them without escort until this 'Tsuna' arrives. She does vaguely wonder how they know each other though – even ignoring their names, there's absolutely no family resemblance whatsoever. Is Fuuta perhaps Tsuna's younger sibling?
"So who were you waiting for?" Jiro asks with a grin as they enter the line – this promotion is apparently popular. "Is Tsuna your boyfriend?"
That makes Kyoko laugh, while Fuuta bites his lip.
"Oh no, nothing like that" she insists. "He's family. We go to the same school, but he got held up with cleaning duties and told me to go ahead. I think he might have gotten into some trouble on the way out, but I'm sure he'd call if he couldn't make it. He'll be here soon, right Fuuta?"
The girls frown as she glances down at the boy, who is nodding seriously.
"Everyone was pretty highly ranked for getting caught up today, but he wasn't at the top" he explains. "He'll definitely make it."
"I'm sorry, ranked?" Momo asks.
"Oh, it's my quirk" Fuuta says, heaving up the large book and patting the cover. "I can rank anything with 100% accuracy."
At that, he stops, before sighing and closing his eyes.
"But only when I am in the privacy of my own home and never to gain an unfair advantage in commercial or political markets" he continues, with the monotone of someone who has had the sentence recited to him constantly. Kyoko is giggling by the end.
"Hayato would be so proud" she tells him, and the boy's face reddens.
"Big brother Tsuna wouldn't let me leave the house until I could recite it by heart" he admits.
"Tsuna...where have I heard that name before?" Toru mutters to herself, while Momo is smiling at the boy.
"That's quite an impressive quirk" she compliments. "I bet it must be useful – did your parents tell you to recite that?"
Fuuta's smile, a dim little thing, thins out and he looks away.
"No. That was big brother Hayato" he tells them. "He make sure none of us does anything illegal, but he says my quirk is the biggest wildcard because it's a little compulsive."
"Compulsive?" Momo questions.
"He needs to rank things" Kyoko explains, as they all settle in line. "He gets antsy if he goes too long. Normally he can get by if he ranks silly things, like best cake stores, or which family member is going to be late today, but sometimes he starts doing it outside of the home, and that's..."
Awkward, Uraraka thinks. And illegal, if anyone spotted him doing it – although Uraraka doubts anyone in Musutafu would really stop someone from doing something as asinine as listing random odds.
She voices the suspicion, and Fuuta flushes red.
"Well, when I do it, I kind of make things around me...float?"
Tsuyu, who had been glancing at the cakes in the glass case by the counter, jerks up.
"Float?" she hacks. "Like, floaty float?"
Fuuta nods, and Uraraka winces.
"Oh, yeah, that would be hard to hide."
As someone who has a gravity related, five finger activation quirk, she's had more than one close call with quirk use, because making a bag of shopping or books just a little bit lighter is just so much easier sometimes. She can't imagine how much harder it is to resist a compulsive quirk where the gravity reaction is just a side effect.
"Why on earth would ranking things make things float?" Jiro asks, and Ashido snickers.
"Why does erasing quirks make Aizawa's hair float?" she counters. "Sometimes quirk effects are just weird."
Uraraka grins at that very true statement, and glances back over at Kyoko.
"Is it a common side effect in his family?" she asks. "Or a mutation from another quirk?"
Kyoko blinks, looking slightly panicked, but before she can answer, the line has cleared, and all questions are held off until cake and drink are in hand. Uraraka is delighted to find that amongst the more western concoctions is an utterly charming looking Japanese cheesecake, and a lemon flavoured chiffon – although she reluctantly passes it over for the chocolate cake roll. Ashido is definitely looking at the Japanese options too, though the rest of them are all fawning over the beautifully decorated western cakes. Kyoko happens to be looking at the options with the eye of cake connoisseur, and ordering a half dozen different slices with an almost terrifying frenzy, asking for all but Fuuta's requested chocolate cake and a single slice of strawberry shortcake to be boxed up.
"We did plan to make an afternoon of trying cakes" she explains while handing over the coupons. "But since Tsuna's so late, it's probably best if I take most of it home. That way everyone can try it. I know my sister was sad she couldn't make it, but there was a sale on the other side of town that only ran today, and she really wanted a certain dress."
"Ah, fashion or cake, the age old question that plagues all women" Jiro jokes as they sit down, plucking a strawberry from the top of her own confection. Kyoko grins back, spoon poking at her own dessert while Fuuta happily digs into his own.
"I hope Tsuna's okay though" she says. "When he's on his own, he has almost as much trouble as I do with classmates harassing him."
"That guy's been bothering you for a while, ribbit?" Tsuyu asks.
"Nothing as forward as that before" Kyoko admits. "But he's not the only one. Normally they don't try anything at school, but when I'm alone, they suddenly get bolder. They all act like I should jump at the chance to date anyone."
"He was saying something weird like that" Toru muses. "Something about a disability?"
"It's not a disability" Kyoko mutters, stabbing her cake with a little too much force. "It's nothing of the sort."
"What isn't?" Uraraka asks, and then winces.
"Ah, I mean, you don't need to tell us if you don't-"
"No, no, it's fine" Kyoko insists, and scowls.
"It's because I'm quirkless" she tells them. "Apparently that makes me a 'charity case' and I should be grateful to get any attention that isn't from my family."
Uraraka's jaw is on the floor, and judging from the looks around the table, she's not the only one. Tsuyu even goes the extra mile, hands slamming on the table and standing up in indignation.
"What!
"That's outrageous!" Jiro scoffs, and Uraraka completely agrees. "You're not even allowed to use quirks unless you've got a licence! A quirk doesn't make you any better or worse than the next person!"
It's clearly the right thing to say, because Kyoko's scowl melts into that smile Uraraka had fallen victim to earlier.
"Exactly" she says. "But people at school at like I've told them I'm missing a limb. I'm grateful I have my family around, or I'd probably do something I'd regret."
"What's is like?" Ashido asks, looking somewhat hesitant. "I mean, it was never something I-"
She vaguely gestures at herself. "-Was ever going to have to worry about, but I've always wondered how it is to not have a quirk in this day and age."
Tsuyu and Jiro both look somewhat curious, while Toru is leaning on the table and Momo's eyes are torn between her manners insisting they change the subject and the scholarly curiosity that also wants an answer. Uraraka admits she probably doesn't look much better – while she knows Deku's late quirk meant he grew up quirkless, he clearly doesn't like talking about it, and it's never been a question she would ever dare ask.
Kyoko at least, doesn't seem upset at the question, instead leaning back and frowning.
"Um...I'm not sure if I'm really the best person to ask" she admits. "I know Musutafu sees a lot of accidental or random quirk use and not having one is a weird thing here, but in the town I grew up in, people with flashy powers were really regulated. Until I was fourteen, I almost never saw quirks in action. Not having a quirk was more or less the same as having one a lot of the time. Coming here and suddenly having it matter...it's very different."
"But...surely you saw them some times" Momo insists. "I mean, you said you had a brother. You must have seen him use his quirk-"
She bites off. "Or...is he also..."
"Oh, no, he has one" Kyoko replies. "But its an enhancing kind that's always on? So I never really noticed it."
She frowns at that. "I guess...the only thing I know is different about having power and not, is everyone wants to...coddle you. Even when my brother and friends were in danger, they would constantly lie to me. They didn't want me to worry, or be upset that I couldn't help out. But it hurt more that they didn't tell me."
"Danger?" Momo asks, frowning at the sentence.
Kyoko smiles. "Let's just say there's a very good reason we all moved to Musutafu," she explains.
"The fact that I didn't know what was going on was so frustrating, because I knew something was. I'm not stupid. Even when Tsuna did come clean, I knew I couldn't help him any more than I already was. But at least then I knew what was happening. I wasn't just living in my own little world, oblivious to what they were going through. Just because I can't fight, doesn't mean I can't help."
"Wow, I'm so sorry" Uraraka offers.
"Don't be. They know better now" Kyoko insists. "Even if Brother took a little while to warm up to the idea."
A bright and cheery tune suddenly cuts through the air, emanating from Kyoko's bag. Before Uraraka can register that it's a ringtone, Kyoko's already rifling through and grabbing the phone.
"Yamamoto, is everything okay?" she asks the caller. "Yes I'm...ah. I thought something like that had happened. Is everyone else there? Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I'll wait for him and we'll both be home soon."
She drops the call, and glances at the box on the table with apologetic smile.
"Probably a good thing I got these to go. Tsuna's not going to be in the mood to be away from home too long."
"So Tsuna's your brother?" Tsuyu asks. "But...wait-"
She's frowning, and Uraraka ponders on the story. Kyoko has called Tsuna family, and mentioned 'home' suggesting they live together, but she's also referred to someone by 'Brother,' and Fuuta referred to Tsuna earlier as-"
"Wait...Fuuta, you said Tsuna was your brother...but you also said he's your brother Kyoko? But you have different names, so-"
"We're fostered" Kyoko explains.
"Obviously" Fuuta replies, digging into his cake. "I'm not even Japanese."
Everyone is suddenly very focused on their cake, and Uraraka bites her lip. Obviously the two aren't related, but you shouldn't just come out and say that. She thought that maybe Kyoko had been babysitting or something. Who are they to judge any family-
However, everyone jerks up when they hear a laugh, and find both Fuuta and Kyoko chuckling.
"You don't need to be so embarrassed" Kyoko assures them. "We've never considered it something to be ashamed of."
"Yamamato and Tsuna and everyone is much better than what I had before" Fuuta admits with confidence.
Kyoko nods. "There's seven of us total. Most of us are around the same age, Fuuta's the youngest, but he was getting fostered with Tsuna before Yamamoto took us all in, so there was never any question of him coming" she explains. And my brother – my biological one, Ryohei, he's with us too, so it's really great."
"Sounds like a big family, ribbit" Tsuyu comments. "That must be nice."
"It is" Kyoko replies. "Except in the morning when everyone wants a shower."
Uraraka, well aware that Tsuyu has two siblings and a family full of water-oriented quirks, grins at the solemn nod the frog girl gives at the comment.
"I can't believe he took in so many" Toru says. "Were you all at the same orphanage or something? Was there a major villain incident in your town?"
"No...actually, my parents are still alive" Kyoko explains, and falters. Fuuta immediately glances up, and tugs on her arm.
"Kyoko..."
She brushes off his concern. "It's okay Fuuta. It is what it is."
"Don't tell me they gave you up because you were quirkless" Ashido questions, and raises her hands in defence when the whole table glares at her.
"Ashido!"
"Sorry, sorry!" she yelps. Kyoko watches in shock, before shaking her head.
"No! No, no, no, nothing like that" she assures them. "Don't get me wrong, they weren't abusive or anything. It's just...they liked the idea of children, more than they liked actually having them. They didn't really know what to do with us once we were there."
Her eyes dim a little, and she glances down at Fuuta, whose clutching his book and watching her with a sad expression.
"Brother's always been headstrong, he'd get into fights and they wouldn't care. Even when his opponents were far too big and they hurt him. I had to beg him to stop. They barely noticed. Not intentionally, but other things just seemed more important. At some point I started being more Brother's parent than his sister, because I knew they'd forget to make enough dinner for us, or not notice that we needed new uniforms, or even restock the first aid cabinet because Brother always ran through it with training. There was just so much with their work and hobbies that we just never seemed to be a priority. Eventually, when I got old enough, I convinced them to give us a bank account with an automatic deposit in case they 'forgot,' and I took care of it. That was just how it was."
She sighs.
"I guess...I never really realised how little we mattered until..."
"Kyoko..." Fuuta whispers, and the girl clams up, mulling over the words.
"Until?" Uraraka coaxes.
"There was an incident" Kyoko explains. "I can't really talk about it but, me and my friends, we all got abducted."
"What!" the table shrieks in unison, and blush at the foul looks that come their way. Kyoko's hands are immediately up, trying to calm them down.
"It's not as bad as it...well, it was but….don't worry, it's all good now. Anyway, we were gone a while, and while everything worked out, everyone was fine, when we got home."
Her shoulders slumped, and she looked away.
"My parents...they hadn't even realised we were gone.
Uraraka feels her heart clench, and Tsuyu gives out a small, sad sound.
"Brother...brother I could almost understand," Kyoko continues. "He's the kind of person who would go on a training trip and forget to tell them. But I always came home. To make sure everything was okay. To be gone weeks, and for them to not even call the school to check if I was attending..."
It's funny, there's no talk of violence or crime, but Uraraka's heart is breaking at the...injustice of it all. She's known the girl in front of her all of thirty minutes but it's clear to anyone with eyes that Kyoko is a kind, sweet girl, who probably doesn't ask for much from life. Especially considering she's been giving a bad hand as one of the 20%.
Uraraka's family have always had to pinch pennies. She's acutely aware of how much they had to sacrifice to give her a chance at her dreams. But they have always been there for her, its a gift that no amount of money could buy. That's the way families are supposed to be.
It hurts, to be reminded that her blessings are not always universal.
Kyoko's eyes are dark, but the veil seems to lift as her story finishes up.
"Well, after that, when I learned Yamamoto was taking custody of the others, I asked him to talk to my parents. I'm not even sure if they knew what they were signing, but they didn't protest, and here we are. The rambunctious group that opened a restaurant and live our lives to the fullest."
"Restaurant?" Toru repeats, only to gasp, thrusting an arm in front of her.
Because Toru is given a strangled squawk.
"Takesushi" she announces. "You live and work at Takesushi! Your 'Tsuna' is the super-talented no-sports guy?"
Kyoko blinks.
"Eh?"
"Toru, what are you talking about?" Momo questions, and the invisible girl suddenly flies into a frantic explanation.
"One time when I was walking home with Ojiro and Kaminari, we ran into a friend of Ojiro's who goes to Seirin! They ended up talking about this guy with a really awesome quirk that wouldn't join the teams. I found out later that he and his family lived at that sushi restaurant, the new sushi place all the teachers love, right?"
Kyoko laughs, though it seems more nervous than anything.
"They do seem to pop up a lot."
"Oh! I knew you looked familiar!" Momo says, face lighting up. "I've ordered sushi from there before. It was quite satisfactory, you were the greeter, yes?"
The girl looks a lot more relaxed now, and grins back. "Yes. Everyone says I'm a natural at it. Please come back soon, I'll make a point to remember you."
"Ooh, class sushi trip anyone?" Jiro asks, and suddenly everyone is talking dates and favourite types.
Before they can come up with anything concrete, the bell for the entrance chimes, and Kyoko's face lights up, hand reaching up as Fuuta jumps from the chair to meet the new arrival.
"Tsuna!"
The table quiets, and Uraraka quickly swings her head, blushing a little when she realises nobody at the table had been particularly subtle.
He's...underwhelming, she thinks. Short, with a truly spectacular mess of hair and panicked eyes – although that might just be due to the number of girls currently staring at him. To be honest, he looks a little stressed, though his body relaxes when Fuuta wraps his arms around his waist and looks up with genuine admiration.
"Are you okay big brother?"
"Huh?" he says, before apparently realising where he is and rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry, sorry!" he offers. "I came as soon as I could."
He seems to brush off the nerves and heads over the table, though he only has eyes for Kyoko.
"I'm so sorry I'm late" he apologises. "I hope you didn't wait for me."
"It's okay" Kyoko assures him, standing up and presenting the cake box. "I got it to go."
Tsuna frowns.
"Are you sure?"
Kyoko grins. "Of course. Besides, if your phone's been off and you're this late, Hayato is going to be a mess. It's probably best we go home before he comes here."
Tsuna blanches, and gives a reluctant nod.
"Yeah...yeah you're right. To be honest I haven't felt good all day. I'll be better when I see everyone. It's been a weird afternoon."
He and Fuuta immediately head for the door, and Kyoko glances back.
"It was nice meeting you all" she says. "Come by Takesushi sometime!"
"I could rank you!" Fuuta offers, and his eyes go wide.
"Ooh, ranking by firepower, or ranking by potential, or maybe popularity..."
"Ack, Fuuta!" Tsuna blusters, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and ushering him out. "Not outside, not outside!"
Kyoko winces, holding her face in one hand.
"Oh, and he's been doing so well too. Better get going. But I meant it about Takesushi, I can introduce you to my sister too."
She gives a final wave and follows her siblings out the door.
"Interesting family" Tsuyu comments, and Uraraka nods, only to jerk as Toru slams her fist on the table.
"Nooo! I didn't get to grill Tsuna about his super quirk!" she whines.
"Super...quirk?" Uraraka questions.
Toru...well it's hard to tell, but she's pretty sure the invisible girl nods. And then precedes to tell them all about the conversation she'd had some weeks back regarding Ojiro's classmate and their mystery gifted student.
"Are you sure it was him though?" Ashido asks once the girl had finished talking. "I mean, he didn't really look like much. Him being some kind of prodigy seems a reach."
"Well, you could say that about Deku" Uraraka argues. "You could even argue it about me or Momo."
After all, in the class of quirk users, Momo is the only female with no major mutations. And even then, Uraraka's finger pads are easy to overlook.
"That is a valid point" Momo offers. "One would not think our teacher was a hero at first glance, no?"
Ashido succumbs at that point, looking thoughtful.
"Well, we'll just have to do some researching of our own when we visit Takesushi" she says, grinning over the table. Momo grins back and claps her hands.
"Perfect!" she says. "Maybe we can even book a large booth and get a deal on some platters if we bring the whole class."
Uraraka lights up.
Now that, sounds like an excellent plan.
She wonders if Deku and Iida like sushi?
Not much in the way of plot - mostly me coming up with a backstory for why the Sasagawa's - who arguably DID have family - came along with everyone else.
Next up? Recovery Girl.