"Your mom did that?!"

Shirayuki winced at the other girl's exclamation and nodded slowly. "…it's…not as bad as it was though…"

"That's still not okay!" Ashido fumed and shook her head. "Yuki-chan, don't go anywhere with her again. I can't believe she did that to your face! There's no reason for that!"

She bowed her head, letting her hair fall to hide her face. Just mentioning a snippet of what had happened forced her to remember all that had occurred that night. Her mother had taken her and Todoroki to a restaurant for dinner. Everything seemed alright at first. Hikari was a little rude, but not nearly as cruel as she had been when Shirayuki was younger.

It was when she started to talk about a quirk marriage that Shirayuki suspected that something was wrong. Hikari spoke about her daughter marrying Endeavor's son and when she mentioned speaking to Todorki's father, the boy visibly tensed. Shirayuki then made a bold move. She told her mother that she was dating someone else and that she had no right to decide things for her.

Seconds after the words left her mouth, Hikari struck her across the face. Shirayuki was sent sprawling onto the floor and her mother coldly claimed that it was what her father would have wanted. That by speaking against Hikari, Shirayuki was showing disrespect toward her departed father.

The two teenagers were left alone at the restaurant after Hikari stormed out. Todoroki helped her stand and walked her home, but Shirayuki had been unable to face her grandmother. She was ashamed of having thought her mother had changed. It was only after Shinsou convinced her to leave her room that she actually told the old woman.

"…don't…tell anyone…please…" Her eyes filled with fresh tears, blurring her vision as she saw Ashido frown. Shirayuki tensed as her friend pulled her into a hug and she hesitantly hugged back.

"I promise; I won't tell anyone." The pink-haired girl drew back and saw Shirayuki try to carefully wipe away her tears without smudging the makeup on her cheek. "You know, Kirishima was the one that pointed out your bruise. I won't tell him what happened, but he looked pretty worried. You might want to tell him that you're alright."

She nodded and tried to calm herself down. Kaminari-kun bought lunch for me. I need to go back before it gets cold. I don't want to upset him. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let tranquility settle over her. Shirayuki put her mask back on and bowed slightly. "Th-thank you," she forced out.

Ashido grinned. "It's what friends are for! Next time you need something like that, just ask, okay? I'll help you out."

Friends. Shirayuki's pulse skipped a beat at the word and she began to smile behind her mask. The rest of the lunch period, she could feel her melancholic mood lifting. She ate her food without worry and thanked Kaminari over and over.

He smiled, seeing that he had helped to cheer her up. "No problem, Yuki-chan! You can make it up to me if you really want to though. I've been craving those cookies your grandma makes."

"…you…like those…?" They were simple cookies; nothing fancy. They were something that her grandmother used to always make with her when she first began to live with her. The cookies were linked to good memories. It made her heart feel kind of fluttery to know that someone enjoyed them as much as she did.

"Hey! I want to try some, too!" Kirishima chimed in.

Blushing faintly, she nodded once. "…I…could bring some tomorrow…"

"That would be great," her blond friend agreed.

"Hey, so…Yuki-chan, are you walking home with your boyfriend today?"

The other three turned to look at Kirishima curiously. Shirayuki's smile fell, though none of them could see it. She began to fidget with her hair band and shook her head. "…he's…busy today…he told me this morning…before and after school…"

"We should hang out then! I mean, if you want to. We could all meet up and get ice cream or something." The red-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck, his enthusiasm faltering when he realized how it sounded. "I mean, all of us can go. That's what I said."

A sheepish grin crossed Kaminari's face and Ashido raised an eyebrow. Shirayuki tilted her head a bit and saw a faint warmth rise to her classmate's face. "…that…sounds good…" she agreed.

"It does, right?!"

"I guess we could do that," Ashido replied with a nod. "We'll meet up at the ice cream place in Yuki-chan's neighborhood so she won't have to take the train, okay?"

Shift P.O.V

She loves me? Shinsou felt his pulse quicken as this thought crossed his mind yet again as he sat at his desk. His attention was still on the girl's words from the day before. Half-asleep or not, she had still said those words and they still had an effect on him. Each time he thought about it, his heart started to pound.

He first developed a crush on her in their last year of middle school. Back then, he simply watched her from a distance. She had been a nervous, timid person since he first met her so he was afraid of scaring her off.

Since they began dating, his feelings had deepened considerably. He liked everything about Shirayuki; her shy little smiles, her love of animals, the way her voice got a bit higher when she talked about something she enjoyed, how adamant she was about pet safety, and her enthusiasm when it came to food. Each little thing, he found cute. Each little thing made him happy.

Having never felt so strongly about a girl before, Shinsou had no idea if this was what it felt like to be in love. He was still young. People their age tended to date in high school, but grow apart as they got older. A sad, painful reality. The idea of falling in love with her, only to lose her after graduation, made him frown.

The boy bowed his head and scribbled something in the margin of his notes, trying to focus on the lesson and failing. Until he knew if this was love, he would feel guilt gnawing at him. More painful than the thought of loving and losing her was the thought of her loving him, but him being unable to feel the same way.

Shift P.O.V

Shinsou…isn't responding. Her shoulders drooped, a frown tugging at her lips. Sitting on her bed, Shirayuki stared at her phone screen and contemplated calling him. I don't want to bother him. Did I do something wrong though? He isn't even replying now.

Falling onto her back on the bed, she reached for her dragon plush and hugged it to her chest. Closing her eyes, the girl tried to remember everything that she had said and done the previous day. Searching her memory for anything that might have offended him in some way.

She had refused to let him into her room and he used his quirk to make her finally open the door. That was one thing that could have potentially upset him. He had taken a nap with her and when they woke up, they watched movies and ate snacks in the siting room.

I should have just let him in, she thought mournfully. Now he's mad at me. I know it. I was just…I didn't want him to see my bruise. Shirayuki heard her grandmother talking to someone and pushed herself to sit up.

Footsteps approached her door and finally there was a knock. Her heart began to race as she got up to answer it and when she saw Kirishima's smile, she was not disappointed. As much as she wanted to see Shinsou, her friends were being incredibly supportive in trying to cheer her up.

"…you…you're early…um…I thought we were…going to meet there…?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," he confessed. The boy looked past her into the room and his smile grew. "You have, like, four cats on your bed."

She looked over her shoulder and blushed with embarrassment. "…y-yes…I…let them kind of take over…" she admitted.

"You really love cats, huh? Is that a dragon stuffed animal? That's pretty cool!" Kirishima saw her begin to fidget and frowned, looking a bit guilty. "Uh…so sorry about that thing at lunch. I just…well you looked kind of down and…I know you probably didn't want anyone to see that mark. Sorry! I shouldn't even bring it up! I just wanted to apologize for-!"

"N-no!" Shirayuki saw his eyes widen and bowed her head. "…um…I…I was happy…that Ashido-chan helped me…and…um…y-you're the only one…that noticed so…I wanted to say thank you…"

The boy flushed pink and turned his head to the side, looking away. "I just wanted to help," he muttered, embarrassed. "Um...okay, listen. So I wanted to give this to you this morning and I know the timing is really bad, but here!" He drew forth something from his pocket and held it out to her, still unable to look at her.

She stared down at the offering, hesitantly reaching out to take it. The gift was a high quality chocolate bar with caramel filling, but there was a carefully folded note tied to it with a piece of yarn. Taking it in both hands, she tilted her head slightly. "…thank you…Kirishima-kun…"

His face was turning as red as his hair now and he glanced toward her. "Wait until tonight to read it, okay? I'm not ready for you to read it yet."

"…okay…?" Shirayuki set it on her desk and felt her stomach growl at the very thought of enjoying the chocolate bar. It was a brand that she knew to be extremely good and it tended to be a bit pricey. The thought that he had gone to the trouble of getting her such a gift made her feel both happy and a bit guilty. "…I…don't have a gift for you…"

Kirishima held up his hands and smiled. "It's fine! Don't worry about giving me anything, okay? I wanted you to have something really good. Just promise that you'll read the note tonight."

"…ah…alright…"

"Ume? Dear, you have another a visitor," her grandmother called. She shuffled along to Shirayuki's door and displayed a rather sour expression. "It's that rude young man that took the black kitten. Do you want me to send him away?"

Shirayuki felt her heart drop into her stomach and she hurriedly put on one of her masks. He won't go away if Grandma just tells him to. She could still remember the time that Bakugou showed up at her window and demanded that she go with him for vocal training. "…i-it's okay…um…we were…actually going to meet Ashido-chan and Kaminari-kun…so…"

"Don't worry, Granny. I'll protect Yuki-chan," Kirishima assured the old woman. He grinned and took his friend by the hand, leading her to the door.

"…th-thank you…Kirishima-kun…"