NeonHorizon: Someone's gaining some confidence today, happy readers!

The second that Shirayuki emerged from her house, he could tell that something was wrong. She was keeping her eyes lowered, but Shinsou saw how red the whites of her eyes looked. She's trying not to cry, he realized. What happened to her? His gaze shifted to the house and narrowed. Did her classmate upset her?

"…sorry…Shinsou…um…so what did you…want to talk about…?" Her voice shook as she continued her internal battle to not start crying.

He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he should change his plans for the evening. The boy wanted to help her. He wanted to do something to make her feel better. It honestly hurt Shinsou to see the girl looking so melancholic. "Let's just…go for a walk," he finally suggested.

"…ah…a walk…um…it's kind of late…"

"Sorry. If you don't like the dark-" Shinsou saw her shake her head, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve. She had changed clothes before going out to meet with him so the girl was wearing a dark red sweater and black shorts with boots. "I'll hold your hand," he offered, reaching his hand out to her.

The girl's face flushed pink and she finally lifted her eyes to his. "…th-thank you…um…but we…we can't stay out too late…please…"

Although he disliked how worried she sounded, he gave her a nod. Taking her hand, Shinsou began to lead her down the sidewalk. As they walked, his thoughts ranged from what he had planned to the various possible reasons for why she looked so upset. This was not just sorrow that he saw in her expression; it was sadness and anger.

"Shirayuki…did something happen?"

Her hand tensed in his, fingertips digging at the top of his hand. "…I…ah..m-my grandmother…tonight, she…she told me that…my mother…is coming back to Japan…for the sports festival…"

Shinsou's frown deepened upon hearing this. He had never met her mother. Despite having been in the same class as Shirayuki since they were nine years old, he had never even seen Shirayuki's mother. Any time there was an event for parents at school, the only person to show up was Shirayuki's grandmother. He knew very little about the woman, but he did remember her grandmother mentioning that she was unkind to Shirayuki.

"You know, you don't have to talk to her," he pointed out, trying to make her feel better. "Just because she wants to see you, it doesn't mean that you have to speak to her. If she upsets you…you don't even have to let her meet with you."

"…she's my mother…"

"That doesn't give her the right to make you feel bad." Shinsou ran a hand over his hair and watched her from the corner of his eye. "I don't like to see you upset. If she does something to make you cry, I can't promise that I won't do something."

This was not an empty promise. That day that she had gone out with her classmates, he had followed to make sure that she was going to be alright. When those kids from their junior high had made fun of her, Shinsou had done something that he was not entirely proud of. Something that she could never know about.

Offering a small smile, he turned to look down at her. "After the sports festival, we should go on another date. Just the two of us. We can go wherever you want, Shirayuki. Even if it's far; we can take a train."

The girl wiped at her eyes with her free hand and nodded. When she looked up at him again, her eyes showed her smile even though her mask hid her mouth. "…Shinsou…thank you…"

That look was all it took to make his heart skip a beat. Facing forward again, he tried to maintain a cool look, but when he saw her looking so happy, it was hard to not become flustered. "If you need to talk, I'm here. Don't forget that."

Shift P.O.V

"…where are we…walking to…?" Shirayuki had been so preoccupied with thinking about the upcoming visit from her mother that she found herself surprised when she saw the oncoming forest.

A sheepish sort of expression crossed her boyfriend's face as he rubbed the back of his neck. "The sports festival is coming up so I wanted to practice my quirk, but…I thought of a way that I can help you, too."

"…a…way to help me…?" She tilted her head slightly, puzzled. But we can't spar the way that I did with Kirishima-kun. If I try to hit him with a calorie blast…it would really hurt him.

He led her into the forest, not offering an answer. The hold on her hand was gentle and warm so she still trusted him. Shinsou was always concerned about her wellbeing so she was sure that whatever he intended, it would not be something that could potentially upset her.

When they had gone a decent distance into the forest, Shinsou finally turned toward her and hooked his fingers through the strings of her mask. He gently lowered it, meeting her wide crimson eyes with his placid indigo gaze. "Do you think I could ever do something that would make you hate me?"

The question was beyond puzzling. "…n-no…I couldn't hate…" She had intended to reach for his hand again, but her body refused to move. Staring at the boy, she knew that he had used his quirk on her.

Shinsou took a few steps back and his mouth drew into a rather guilty frown. His hands slid into his pockets as he seemed to mentally prepare himself for what was to come. "Scream."

Shirayuki's lips parted, a long shriek tearing its way up her throat and piercing through the otherwise silent forest. She felt tears spring to her eyes as the sound continued, pushing her vocal cords to maintain the volume. When she needed to take a breath, she hoped that it would be the end, but then the order came again. Another scream, but louder.

As much as she wanted to stop, as embarrassed as she was, the girl was unable to keep her mouth closed. Her face was beginning to turn red as she braced for a third scream. When he finally stopped using his quirk, Shirayuki was trembling and fell to her knees on the ground. Panting, she kept her head bowed and avoided his gaze.

He walked back to her and crouched down, holding out a hand to offer to help her up. Seeing how red her face was and observing the tears that dotted the ground beneath her, Shinsou frowned. "I'm sorry. I wanted to help you so you won't need your classmate to-"

"Shinsou." Her voice sounded hoarse, but her words were steady. Shirayuki's eyes lifted to his and she gave him a shaky smile. "Thank you…for helping."

Shinsou smiled back and took her hand. He stood, bringing her with him, and was surprised to find her throwing her arms around his neck. A laugh escaped her as she hugged him and he gladly put his own arms around her waist. He had feared she might hate him for pushing her this way, for forcing her to test her limits, but she seemed genuinely grateful.

When she stepped back, Shirayuki coughed into her fist and frowned. Her throat hurt worse than before, but she was glad that he had made her raise her voice. It brought her one step closer to being more confident and speaking louder. The girl coughed a bit more and shook her head. "…I-I need…something to drink…"

He led her through the forest to the street once more and Shinsou guided her to the nearest convenience store. He went inside, leaving her out near the sidewalk while she coughed. Two bottles of tea and a small bag of cookies were purchased.

The girl was still coughing as a chilled bottle was pressed against her cheek. Shirayuki had been looking across the street at something and jumped when this happened, releasing a small squeak of surprise. When she turned to look, she saw Shinsou's eyes widened and a faint tinge of pink in his cheeks. "…ah…Sh-Shinsou…what is it?"

"That noise you made. Um…it was cute." He waited for her to take the bottle and then turned his head to the side, trying to hide his blush.

"…I was…just surprised…" she argued, removing the cap from the tea. She took several gulps from the bottle before returning her gaze to the thing across the street. Shirayuki had seen a small, dark shape near the bushes and had been watching it to see if it would move. She almost wondered if it was just something that had been dropped there.

It started moving and the fading sunlight caught something on it that glinted. Before Shirayuki could go to investigate, the shape began to cross the street and rubbed against her shins, meowing. A kitten! She instantly crouched down to scoop them up, not wanting to leave them near a street, and that was when she spotted the spiky collar and nametag.

Shinsou put a finger beneath the tag as the cat rubbed its head against Shirayuki's chin. "Who would name a cat Slasher?"

The girl's heart felt as though it dropped into her stomach. Lifting the kitten so she could see the tag, she saw "Slasher" engraved in the metal as well as the address of her classmate. How did you get out? Does Bakugou-kun know that you're here? She held the kitten to her chest and turned to Shinsou with a frown. "…this kitten…was adopted by a classmate…um…I'm going to…return him so…go on without me…"

"I can go with you," he offered.

"…I…I'm trying to become a hero…so…I need to do this myself…" She bowed to him and she was about to pull her mask up again, but hesitated. Standing on tiptoe, the girl pressed her lips to his cheek and then fixed her mask. "…thank you…for your help tonight…"

As she ran down the sidewalk, Shirayuki's heart was beating a panicked rhythm. She worried about what might have happened to the kitten if she had not been there at the right time. She was getting ready to actually scold her classmate when she saw him. Not many things could anger her, but irresponsible pet ownership was something she could not tolerate.

Reaching the apartment, the girl summoned forth some courage and knocked. It was soon opened by a vaguely familiar woman with spiky ash blonde hair. Shirayuki held up the kitten, about to explain everything.

The woman's eyes widened and then she half-grinned. "Hey, Katsuki! Guess who found your cat!" she called over her shoulder. Opening the door wider, she beckoned to the girl. "Come on in, kid. What was your name?"

"…Sh-Shirayuki Ume…but…I can't really stay…"

"What? Come on! You came all this way; it won't hurt to stay for some tea!"