Bakugo grinned furiously. He glared with deadly intent at the randomized match-ups on the bright screen in front of him.
His one-on-one battle would be the last of the first round, and who was he up against?
Ito Naoko.
He cracked his neck as he silently fumed, his mind racing a mile a minute with all the ways he would make her pay for her little stunt during the Cavalry Battle. He would utterly crush her spirits, make her beg for mercy, destroy her will to live, shred her life goals to pieces-
Kirishima and Ashido took a nervous step back as flames began manifesting around him.
The first round matches were all decidedly interesting in their own ways, from quick, overpowering victories to long, drawn out battles to the fight-turned-advertisement that was Iida vs. Hatsume. The seventh match, Asui vs Sero, was just picking up as eager spectators cheered for their favorite competitor. However, amidst all the excitement, Midoriya noticed Naoko was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't recall seeing her since the one-on-one matches began; she hadn't participated in the optional games either. For a moment, he thought Bakugo might have done something terrible to her during their downtime, shivering as he recalled how ballistic he had been at the end of the last event. He almost shook at the mere thought of having that glare directed at him. Before he could conjure up any more worst-case-scenarios, however, a loud announcement from Present Mic pulled him out of his spiraling imagination. He frantically shook the terrible thoughts from his head. Bakugo was an angry kind of person, sure, but was he violent?
Well, yes. But Midoriya was certain he wouldn't do anything like that!
That's right, he wouldn't!
...would he?
"Huh? Did you say something?" Uraraka asked curiously, tilting her head as she glanced over to him.
"N-no! Nothing at all!"
He sighed. He really needed to work on his mumbling habit.
"Congratulations, I saw your performance," the voice on the phone spoke evenly. There was a bit of static in the background.
"Yea?"
"I said I would be watching your progress, didn't I? You did well."
"Thanks."
There was some unintelligible chatter on the other end before the voice returned a few moments later. "Amnestica wants to speak to you."
She heard a slight shuffle.
"Hey, we saw you on TV just now," a girl's voice greeted casually.
"What do you think?"
"I don't know, looks kinda boring. It would be better if we were there, huh? You wouldn't have to hold back, and we could really have some fun."
"Planning to apply to UA, are we?"
"As if!" the girl snorted. "Oh hey, you're up next for this one-on-one thing, right?"
"Yea," she scoffed, leaning her head back as she stood lazily against the plain white wall. "If you think I was holding back before, just watch what I'm about to do next."
"Uh-oh. What are you planning?"
"You'll see; it's almost my turn anyways. Try not to lose your head, alright?"
"No promises! Ugh, I can't even imagine being you right now. That blonde you're up against seems like an entire asshole. And you have to live with him? I think I would have lost it ages ago."
"And that's why you don't get these kinds of jobs, Amnestica."
Muffled cheers thundered from the stadium above. She glanced up at the ceiling.
"Oh, looks like it's your time to shine."
"That's not exactly how I would put it," she sighed tiredly, "but yea."
"I would tell you to kick his ass, but I know sweet little Ito Naoko is too nice for something like that, huh?" the girl cooed, giggling childishly.
There was another shuffle on the other end.
"Get going now. You know what to do," the man's voice from earlier returned, the sound drawing her lips into a frown.
"Yea, bye."
And the line went dead.
"And Asui Tsuyu from the hero course is the winner! Such impressive agility and great use of her surroundings! You must be proud, Eraser Head!"
"Congratulations."
"Next up, for the eighth and final battle of the first round, we have two more 1-A students!"
The last two competitors entered from opposite sides of the arena, raging cheers erupting all around them.
"First is Bakugo Katsuki! He was kind of famous in middle school; this isn't the face of a normal person! His explosive quirk is sure to pack a punch against any opponent! Facing off against him is Ito Naoko! Her wind powers were a big blow to Bakugo during the Cavalry Battle, sweeping away a big chunk of his points at the last second and breezing right to second place! I'm a fan!"
"He looks… kinda upset, huh?" Ashido tilted her head worriedly.
Naoko's bright and cheery face appeared on the big screen in front of them, waving softly at the camera, and one screen over was Bakugo, shaking so furiously it looked like he was about to physically detonate.
"An exciting battle to be sure! Which one of these little heroes will move on to the quarterfinals? There's only one way to find out!"
"Alright, you know the rules, you two!" Midnight shouted, standing atop the referee's podium with a hand on her hip. "The match ends when one side steps out of the ring, becomes immobilized, or forfeits. We'll stop you if we see anything too extreme, so don't make me do any more work than I already have to, understood?"
"Understood!"
"Get on with it!"
"Then the battle starts in 3…
"2…
"1…
"Begin!"
Bakugo charged forward with his palms already alight with sparks. Reaching her in mere seconds, he swung at her with explosive force, missing by a hair as she narrowly dodged to the side. He drew back his other arm and shot out his hand, a deafening explosion aimed directly at her stomach. Naoko grabbed his arm and swung around behind him before he could make contact. Bakugo grit his teeth as he felt a breeze blow past him, quickly twisting around and charging at her again.
The crowd went silent.
Midnight blew her whistle.
"That's it!" she yelled, raising both hands.
He stopped abruptly and snapped his head towards her in confusion. "What the hell?" he growled, brows frowning.
He turned his eyes back to Naoko who now stood a distance away, still smiling like a dumbass and…
Standing behind the boundary line.
"What's this?! Ito Naoko has suddenly stepped out of the ring?!" Present Mic shouted, even louder than before, "Which must mean the winner is Bakugo Katsuki from class 1-A! That was disappointing!"
The stadium was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
"Hey! What was that?"
"That was no fun!"
"We want a real battle!"
"That's no hero!"
The whispers and groans from the audience quickly grew into shouts and obscenities, and soon the entire stadium was on their feet, hurling indistinct cries at the pair below.
"What the fuck was that?!" Bakugo demanded furiously. His burning eyes snapped to Naoko and his hands clenched so hard that his knuckles paled instantly.
Through the jeers of the thousands of dissatisfied onlookers, Naoko just smiled at him.
"Hey! Answer me!" he shouted, kicking off the ground. He charged at her, shouting in frustration as he leapt high into the air. With one hand bracing the other, red in his vision, he furiously unleashed an enormous blast directly at her.
The ground shook as three walls of concrete shot up in front of him, shattering with a boom as they took the full impact of the deafening explosion.
"That's enough! The match is over!" Cementoss shouted, but he could barely hear him through the blood pulsing in his ears.
"Fuck!" he screamed, slamming a fist into the ground as he trembled with frustration. He didn't seem to notice the concrete shattering beneath him or the blood running down his knuckles as he whipped around and ran back into the tunnel leading out of the arena.
"Hey! Stop!" Bakugo shouted.
Naoko paused in the middle of the bright white hallway and turned around curiously.
"Oh, Bakugo," she smiled, raising a friendly wave as he ran up to her. His enraged sneer caught her off guard.
"What's your fucking deal?!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb, fucking shithead! What the hell was that?!"
"Oh, you mean the match? Right, sorry! I didn't mean to step out of bounds- it was just an accident."
"Like hell it was! We weren't even close to the edge! Not even you're dumb enough to accidentally jump ten damn feet away!"
"Bakugo, maybe we should talk somewhere else," she smiled in concern as she moved to take a step forward.
"Don't you dare run away!" His hand clamped down on her wrist in a vice grip, forcefully yanking her back towards him.
"Ow, Bakugo, that h-"
"Shut up! You obviously stepped out on purpose! Fucking why?!"
"It really was just-"
"Drop the bullshit! It's not like you're fucking scared of me, so why the hell didn't you fight?!"
"Bakugo, let me go, it really hur-"
"Not 'till you answer-!"
"Hey."
His glare snapped up to see Todoroki staring at them from the end of the hall. The latter's eyes quickly glanced over the two before he stepped towards them.
"Piss off, half n' half bastard. This is none of your fucking business."
"Maybe you should take a step back," he stated with a slight frown, stopping just behind them.
Bakugo glared at the unwelcome intruder. He turned his scowl down to Naoko, but when he saw her wincing painfully, his eyes wavered for a moment, quickly releasing his grip as if she had burned him. He sneered and backed away, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned on his heels without another word.
Todoroki watched carefully as the blonde retreated down the hall. It wasn't until his back vanished from sight that he turned his eyes to Naoko.
"Are you ok?" he asked quietly, glancing down at the angry red handprint forming on her wrist.
"Yea… thanks," she frowned, gently rubbing her arm. Her wary eyes stared down the hall where Bakugo had just disappeared. "Um, sorry about that…"
"You're not the one who should be apologizing."
She breathed a shallow sigh, brows furrowing softly as her gaze fell to the ground. A moment of tense silence fell between them.
"I... guess you have questions too," she spoke slowly, a forced smile on her lips.
"That can wait."
She shifted uncomfortably as she felt his heavy gaze press into her.
"Oh, ok."
"Do you want me to walk you back to the others?"
"Um, no, it's alright. You're up next, aren't you? You should hurry before they disqualify you for being late," she smiled jokingly, nudging him towards the arena entrance.
He peered down at her with a slight frown. He wasn't convinced, but he didn't quite know what to do. "Are you sure?"
"Yea, don't worry about me- I'm good. Now go! And good luck!" she grinned, awkwardly patting his arm.
Todoroki nodded slowly, watching as she waved to him before turning and shuffling back towards the class seating area.
His eyes lingered for a moment longer after she slipped out of view. With a sigh, he turned and continued towards the arena's entrance, the events of the brief previous match still replaying in his mind.
Naoko did not join the others in the audience, nor did she return to class after the conclusion of the festival. It wasn't until the sun had begun to set that she returned home, smiling apologetically as she was met by a very anxious couple.
Needless to say, dinner was awkward that night. The usually upbeat girl was quiet through most of it; though she smiled and occasionally made lighthearted conversation, her cheerful grins were stiff and the faint bruise on her wrist did not escape their worried eyes. Even Bakugo, who normally couldn't last ten minutes without yelling obscenities at one of them, remained silent, eyes glued to his plate.
After Naoko excused herself from the table, she returned to her room and quietly changed out of her uniform. She turned the lights off, despite it still being too early to go to sleep, and laid down with a sigh.
Her phone buzzed from somewhere, drawing an irritated huff from her lips. Half paying attention, she patted around for a bit before finally locating the device where she had tossed it earlier.
16 new messages
She sighed and reluctantly tapped the notification. The screen flashed white for a second.
Her eyes scanned down the list; most of the messages were from a few hours ago, around the time of the end of her match, all asking if she was alright and if she would be coming back. The corner of her lip ticked downwards as she scolded herself for not noticing earlier. She supposed it was a little late, but she replied anyways, cheerfully apologizing for disappearing so suddenly and reassuring them she was perfectly fine.
Having answered most of the messages, she opened up the last one that had come in moments ago.
Bakugo grinned furiously. He glared with deadly intent at the randomized match-ups on the bright screen in front of him.
His one-on-one battle would be the last of the first round, and who was he up against?
Ito Naoko.
He cracked his neck as he silently fumed, his mind racing a mile a minute with all the ways he would make her pay for her little stunt during the Cavalry Battle. He would utterly crush her spirits, make her beg for mercy, destroy her will to live, shred her life goals to pieces-
Kirishima and Ashido took a nervous step back as flames began manifesting around him.
The first round matches were all decidedly interesting in their own ways, from quick, overpowering victories to long, drawn out battles to the fight-turned-advertisement that was Iida vs. Hatsume. The seventh match, Asui vs Sero, was just picking up as eager spectators cheered for their favorite competitor. However, amidst all the excitement, Midoriya noticed Naoko was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't recall seeing her since the one-on-one matches began; she hadn't participated in the optional games either. For a moment, he thought Bakugo might have done something terrible to her during their downtime, shivering as he recalled how ballistic he had been at the end of the last event. He almost shook at the mere thought of having that glare directed at him. Before he could conjure up any more worst-case-scenarios, however, a loud announcement from Present Mic pulled him out of his spiraling imagination. He frantically shook the terrible thoughts from his head. Bakugo was an angry kind of person, sure, but was he violent?
Well, yes. But Midoriya was certain he wouldn't do anything like that!
That's right, he wouldn't!
...would he?
"Huh? Did you say something?" Uraraka asked curiously, tilting her head as she glanced over to him.
"N-no! Nothing at all!"
He sighed. He really needed to work on his mumbling habit.
"Congratulations, I saw your performance," the voice on the phone spoke evenly. There was a bit of static in the background.
"Yea?"
"I said I would be watching your progress, didn't I? You did well."
"Thanks."
There was some unintelligible chatter on the other end before the voice returned a few moments later. "Amnestica wants to speak to you."
She heard a slight shuffle.
"Hey, we saw you on TV just now," a girl's voice greeted casually.
"What do you think?"
"I don't know, looks kinda boring. It would be better if we were there, huh? You wouldn't have to hold back, and we could really have some fun."
"Planning to apply to UA, are we?"
"As if!" the girl snorted. "Oh hey, you're up next for this one-on-one thing, right?"
"Yea," she scoffed, leaning her head back as she stood lazily against the plain white wall. "If you think I was holding back before, just watch what I'm about to do next."
"Uh-oh. What are you planning?"
"You'll see; it's almost my turn anyways. Try not to lose your head, alright?"
"No promises! Ugh, I can't even imagine being you right now. That blonde you're up against seems like an entire asshole. And you have to live with him? I think I would have lost it ages ago."
"And that's why you don't get these kinds of jobs, Amnestica."
Muffled cheers thundered from the stadium above. She glanced up at the ceiling.
"Oh, looks like it's your time to shine."
"That's not exactly how I would put it," she sighed tiredly, "but yea."
"I would tell you to kick his ass, but I know sweet little Ito Naoko is too nice for something like that, huh?" the girl cooed, giggling childishly.
There was another shuffle on the other end.
"Get going now. You know what to do," the man's voice from earlier returned, the sound drawing her lips into a frown.
"Yea, bye."
And the line went dead.
"And Asui Tsuyu from the hero course is the winner! Such impressive agility and great use of her surroundings! You must be proud, Eraser Head!"
"Congratulations."
"Next up, for the eighth and final battle of the first round, we have two more 1-A students!"
The last two competitors entered from opposite sides of the arena, raging cheers erupting all around them.
"First is Bakugo Katsuki! He was kind of famous in middle school; this isn't the face of a normal person! His explosive quirk is sure to pack a punch against any opponent! Facing off against him is Ito Naoko! Her wind powers were a big blow to Bakugo during the Cavalry Battle, sweeping away a big chunk of his points at the last second and breezing right to second place! I'm a fan!"
"He looks… kinda upset, huh?" Ashido tilted her head worriedly.
Naoko's bright and cheery face appeared on the big screen in front of them, waving softly at the camera, and one screen over was Bakugo, shaking so furiously it looked like he was about to physically detonate.
"An exciting battle to be sure! Which one of these little heroes will move on to the quarterfinals? There's only one way to find out!"
"Alright, you know the rules, you two!" Midnight shouted, standing atop the referee's podium with a hand on her hip. "The match ends when one side steps out of the ring, becomes immobilized, or forfeits. We'll stop you if we see anything too extreme, so don't make me do any more work than I already have to, understood?"
"Understood!"
"Get on with it!"
"Then the battle starts in 3…
"2…
"1…
"Begin!"
Bakugo charged forward with his palms already alight with sparks. Reaching her in mere seconds, he swung at her with explosive force, missing by a hair as she narrowly dodged to the side. He drew back his other arm and shot out his hand, a deafening explosion aimed directly at her stomach. Naoko grabbed his arm and swung around behind him before he could make contact. Bakugo grit his teeth as he felt a breeze blow past him, quickly twisting around and charging at her again.
The crowd went silent.
Midnight blew her whistle.
"That's it!" she yelled, raising both hands.
He stopped abruptly and snapped his head towards her in confusion. "What the hell?" he growled, brows frowning.
He turned his eyes back to Naoko who now stood a distance away, still smiling like a dumbass and…
Standing behind the boundary line.
"What's this?! Ito Naoko has suddenly stepped out of the ring?!" Present Mic shouted, even louder than before, "Which must mean the winner is Bakugo Katsuki from class 1-A! That was disappointing!"
The stadium was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
"Hey! What was that?"
"That was no fun!"
"We want a real battle!"
"That's no hero!"
The whispers and groans from the audience quickly grew into shouts and obscenities, and soon the entire stadium was on their feet, hurling indistinct cries at the pair below.
"What the fuck was that?!" Bakugo demanded furiously. His burning eyes snapped to Naoko and his hands clenched so hard that his knuckles paled instantly.
Through the jeers of the thousands of dissatisfied onlookers, Naoko just smiled at him.
"Hey! Answer me!" he shouted, kicking off the ground. He charged at her, shouting in frustration as he leapt high into the air. With one hand bracing the other, red in his vision, he furiously unleashed an enormous blast directly at her.
The ground shook as three walls of concrete shot up in front of him, shattering with a boom as they took the full impact of the deafening explosion.
"That's enough! The match is over!" Cementoss shouted, but he could barely hear him through the blood pulsing in his ears.
"Fuck!" he screamed, slamming a fist into the ground as he trembled with frustration. He didn't seem to notice the concrete shattering beneath him or the blood running down his knuckles as he whipped around and ran back into the tunnel leading out of the arena.
"Hey! Stop!" Bakugo shouted.
Naoko paused in the middle of the bright white hallway and turned around curiously.
"Oh, Bakugo," she smiled, raising a friendly wave as he ran up to her. His enraged sneer caught her off guard.
"What's your fucking deal?!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb, fucking shithead! What the hell was that?!"
"Oh, you mean the match? Right, sorry! I didn't mean to step out of bounds- it was just an accident."
"Like hell it was! We weren't even close to the edge! Not even you're dumb enough to accidentally jump ten damn feet away!"
"Bakugo, maybe we should talk somewhere else," she smiled in concern as she moved to take a step forward.
"Don't you dare run away!" His hand clamped down on her wrist in a vice grip, forcefully yanking her back towards him.
"Ow, Bakugo, that h-"
"Shut up! You obviously stepped out on purpose! Fucking why?!"
"It really was just-"
"Drop the bullshit! It's not like you're fucking scared of me, so why the hell didn't you fight?!"
"Bakugo, let me go, it really hur-"
"Not 'till you answer-!"
"Hey."
His glare snapped up to see Todoroki staring at them from the end of the hall. The latter's eyes quickly glanced over the two before he stepped towards them.
"Piss off, half n' half bastard. This is none of your fucking business."
"Maybe you should take a step back," he stated with a slight frown, stopping just behind them.
Bakugo glared at the unwelcome intruder. He turned his scowl down to Naoko, but when he saw her wincing painfully, his eyes wavered for a moment, quickly releasing his grip as if she had burned him. He sneered and backed away, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned on his heels without another word.
Todoroki watched carefully as the blonde retreated down the hall. It wasn't until his back vanished from sight that he turned his eyes to Naoko.
"Are you ok?" he asked quietly, glancing down at the angry red handprint forming on her wrist.
"Yea… thanks," she frowned, gently rubbing her arm. Her wary eyes stared down the hall where Bakugo had just disappeared. "Um, sorry about that…"
"You're not the one who should be apologizing."
She breathed a shallow sigh, brows furrowing softly as her gaze fell to the ground. A moment of tense silence fell between them.
"I... guess you have questions too," she spoke slowly, a forced smile on her lips.
"That can wait."
She shifted uncomfortably as she felt his heavy gaze press into her.
"Oh, ok."
"Do you want me to walk you back to the others?"
"Um, no, it's alright. You're up next, aren't you? You should hurry before they disqualify you for being late," she smiled jokingly, nudging him towards the arena entrance.
He peered down at her with a slight frown. He wasn't convinced, but he didn't quite know what to do. "Are you sure?"
"Yea, don't worry about me- I'm good. Now go! And good luck!" she grinned, awkwardly patting his arm.
Todoroki nodded slowly, watching as she waved to him before turning and shuffling back towards the class seating area.
His eyes lingered for a moment longer after she slipped out of view. With a sigh, he turned and continued towards the arena's entrance, the events of the brief previous match still replaying in his mind.
Naoko did not join the others in the audience, nor did she return to class after the conclusion of the festival. It wasn't until the sun had begun to set that she returned home, smiling apologetically as she was met by a very anxious couple.
Needless to say, dinner was awkward that night. The usually upbeat girl was quiet through most of it; though she smiled and occasionally made lighthearted conversation, her cheerful grins were stiff and the faint bruise on her wrist did not escape their worried eyes. Even Bakugo, who normally couldn't last ten minutes without yelling obscenities at one of them, remained silent, eyes glued to his plate.
After Naoko excused herself from the table, she returned to her room and quietly changed out of her uniform. She turned the lights off, despite it still being too early to go to sleep, and laid down with a sigh.
Her phone buzzed from somewhere, drawing an irritated huff from her lips. Half paying attention, she patted around for a bit before finally locating the device where she had tossed it earlier.
16 new messages
She sighed and reluctantly tapped the notification. The screen flashed white for a second.
Her eyes scanned down the list; most of the messages were from a few hours ago, around the time of the end of her match, all asking if she was alright and if she would be coming back. The corner of her lip ticked downwards as she scolded herself for not noticing earlier. She supposed it was a little late, but she replied anyways, cheerfully apologizing for disappearing so suddenly and reassuring them she was perfectly fine.
Having answered most of the messages, she opened up the last one that had come in moments ago.
Tragic Backstory (7:39 PM):
Is your arm alright?
Naoko (7:41 PM):
Ofccc
Thanks!
And sorry about earlier
I'm all good :))))
Tragic Backstory (7:41 PM):
That's good to hear.
And please use less smiley faces.
Naoko (7:42 PM):
hnnngg?g?
:))))))))))
Tragic Backstory (7:42 PM):
:( Naoko (7:42 PM):
Wait no don't be sad
I take it back
:)
Tragic Backstory (7:42 PM):
:)
Naoko (7:42 PM):
hahaha
By the way, thanks for helping me out back there
It means a lot and I know you didn't have to
Tragic Backstory (7:43 PM):
There's no need to thank me. It would have been wrong to ignore it.
I'm not that mean.
Naoko (7:43 PM):
You're the best, Todoroki ;_;
Tragic Backstory (7:43 PM):
I try.
By the way, there's no class for the next two days.
I believe you missed the announcement, so I'm not sure if you heard.
Naoko (7:43 PM):
Oh nice!
hngg I would have showed up tomorrow ;;-;;
Thanks for letting me know
Tragic Backstory (7:44 PM):
Of course.
Naoko (7:44 PM):
So are you going to do anything fun while we're off?
Tragic Backstory (7:44 PM):
I plan to visit my mother tomorrow.
Naoko (7:44 PM):
👀👀👀👀
Tragic Backstory (7:44 PM):
I'm sorry, what does that mean?
Naoko (7:44 PM):
It means! character development!
But seriously that's great!
I'm really happy for you
And I'm sure she'll be happy to see you too :))
Tragic Backstory (7:44 PM):
I hope so
Naoko (7:45 PM):
Don't worry about it too much!
Let's talk about something else
Congratulations on getting second place!
I caught the end of the broadcast
Tragic Backstory (7:45 PM):
You weren't there? Did you leave early?
Naoko (7:45 PM):
haha a little
But I saw your second match
My favorite part was the fire :))
And I know you don't like to use it, but maybe I hope to see it more?
Tragic Backstory (7:46 PM):
I see
Naoko (7:46 PM):
Sorry I know it might be out of line to say this
And I swear I'm not usually the type to get all serious!
But I think it's hard to hate part of yourself
And I know it's hard to get over it too
But since it's a part of you either way, I think being ok with yourself is better than trying to change
So I hope you don't have to anymore
Haha but I don't know much you can honestly just ignore me!
Tragic Backstory (8:00 PM):
No
It's fine
It's kind of funny, actually
Someone else also said that to me today
Naoko (8:01 PM):
oops
well I guess I'm late haha
Tragic Backstory (8:01 PM):
No, I appreciate your thoughts
It sounds like you speak from experience?
Naoko (8:01 PM):
whoops looks like even you can be wrong sometimes
Don't worry I wont tell ;))
haha but really I'm just spouting what comes to mind
Don't give me too much credit :)
Tragic Backstory (8:02 PM):
Oh, ok.
Since we're talking about the matches, can I ask what happened in yours?
Naoko (8:04 PM):
haha
Yea ofc!
Really it was just an accident
I landed farther away than I expected
Tragic Backstory (8:04 PM):
I see
If that's what you're going with, then I won't pry
But it didn't really look that way.
Naoko (8:05 PM):
haha
Tragic Backstory (8:05 PM):
If you ever want to talk about it, just let me know.
Naoko (8:05 PM):
Thanks
That's why you're my favorite, Todoroki :)))))))
Tragic Backstory (8:05 PM):
You're welcome
That's too many smiles
Naoko (8:05 PM):
hngghhhh
:))?
Tragic Backstory (8:05 PM):
Better
But only a little :)
Naoko smiled as they spoke for a while longer, much more than they ever would have in person, about this, that, and the other. It was odd how he seemed to be putting some effort into their largely-pointless conversation, considering his usual withdrawn demeanor, but it was fun; she was glad for it. Fortunately, he never brought up the situation with Bakugo, something she was also thankful for.
As the minutes ticked by, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier until it became difficult to look at the too-bright screen. She rubbed her eyes, apologizing in advance if she fell asleep without warning, before almost immediately falling asleep.
Her phone still glowed softly in her hand.
Tragic Backstory (2:26 AM):
Hello?
That was fast
Sorry for keeping you up late, I hope you sleep well