He's mad at me, isn't he? Shirayuki felt a tightening in her chest as she stared down at her phone's screen. No new messages. Not even a read receipt. It almost seemed like he might have shut his phone off or blocked her number. Though the thought of that happening was unbearable.

Around her, the girl's friends were talking about the sports festival and how excited they were for it. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, with the exception of herself and their explosive classmate. However, Shirayuki was too distracted by Shinsou's lack of responses to notice Bakugou's fouler than usual mood.

It was only when they approached the ice cream shop that her attention was brought from the phone screen to her surroundings. She felt warmth against her palm, fingers laced with hers. Shirayuki looked down at the hand holding onto hers and then up along his arm to his smiling face. Kirishima had been talking to the others and pondering what flavor of ice cream to get, but he had been holding her hand since they left her house.

He caught her looking and flushed pink, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "Hey, Yuki-chan, what flavor do you want? I'll buy yours."

"…ah…I…I couldn't…um…I'll get mine…thank you…I still appreciate it…" Behind her mask, she found herself smiling. Shinsou might be mad, but…at least I still have my friends. If I didn't have them, I don't know what I'd do.

"Like hell I'd let you get hers." Bakugou nudged past them both to the selection of flavors and glared down at the various options until he seemed satisfied. "I want that one," he said, pointing at one. "And she's gonna have this one."

"At least let her pick out her flavor," Kirishima argued.

"Shut up! I know what Ume likes. She's gonna like this one."

"Hey, so, what should we do after the sports festival? I feel like we should all go do something fun," Ashido spoke up, trying to redirect everyone's attention.

"What? Like a party?" Kaminari beamed, clearly excited by the idea.

"Nothing big. I mean, just like karaoke level celebrating or something. Maybe we could plan a whole day! What do you think, Yuki-chan? Or do you already have plans?"

Shirayuki had been checking her phone again and froze, blinking in surprise. "…oh…um…n-no…I don't have plans…" She and Shinsou had briefly discussed going somewhere together, but never made concrete plans. Now that he was no longer replying to her messages, she feared that he may be planning to break up with her. If he would just say something, the girl would feel just a little bit better.

Kirishima's hand gave hers a gentle squeeze and when she looked from the screen to her friend, he displayed a rather concerned expression. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"…y-yeah…sorry…um…" She pushed her phone into her pocket, guilt twisting in her gut. I'm making my friends worry. It isn't fair. I shouldn't bother them like this. Why can't I just stop worrying? If Shinsou-kun is mad at me…then all I can do is wait for him to tell me why and try to make things right. She tugged at her mask, drawing it up a bit more and adjusting it.

Ashido frowned and put a hand on her shoulder. "Yuki-chan, it's okay. You don't have to apologize."

"…ngh…" Biting her lip behind her mask, she could feel tears welling in her eyes. Her vision went blurry and she bowed her head. "…I…I need to go outside…I'm sorry…I won't be gone long…I just…ah…"

"It's fine. Take all the time you need. We'll come out soon," Kaminari assured her, smiling sweetly.

Shirayuki went outside just as the tears began to fall. They soaked into her mask and made it stick to her cheeks, but she refused to remove it. She anxiously fidgeted with the hairband on her wrist, not sure of what else to do. Shinsou usually comforted her when she felt this anxious, but this time he was ignoring her and causing her unease.

What should I do? If he's ignoring my messages, he would hate me if I went to his home to try to talk to him. Should I try to see him at school or will he just get angrier? Why won't he say anything? She trembled, choking back sobs as she slowly wrapped her arms around herself. The girl felt utterly helpless. Nothing she could do seemed like it would work.

Her heart was beating hard and fast, stomach beginning to hurt as if she had been punched. Panic, despair, confusion. It all blended into a sensation that made her just want to scream and run. The tears multiplied as she bowed her head, closing her eyes to try to calm herself.

"Ume!"

She jumped, startled by the sound of her classmate's voice right beside her ear. "…uh…wh-what…um…?"

Bakugou glared down at her, holding two ice cream cones. When he saw that she had been crying, his eyes narrowed further. He gave her a beckoning nod, mouth twisted into a scowl. "Come on."

"…what…?" Shirayuki looked past him and saw a bench. She hesitantly followed him, her stomach still aching and heart still pounding. There were still tears running down her face, Shinsou still heavily on her mind.

Shift P.O.V

He hated this feeling. It was not something that he was used to experiencing, but here it was. Seeing her cry stirred something within him. A strong desire to protect her, to make the tears stop. Although, he had seen it earlier that day.

Since that morning, she had seemed down about something. Bakugou had no desire to bring it up in front of everyone else, though. His plan had been to go to her house after school to confront her about it. If someone was bullying her or making her upset, he decided that he would take action. No one was going to make his girl cry.

She was sitting beside him on the bench now, trembling and crying. Practically hiccupping. Bakugou had seen her upset before, but never to this extent. It frustrated him and he was now determined to make her feel better. Holding out the ice cream he bought for her, he frowned. "Here. I got you this."

The girl accepted the cone from him and stared at it, crimson eyes shining wetly. "…th-thank…you…" she mumbled.

He began eating his own frozen treat, slouching a bit on his side of the bench and watching her from the corner of his eye. She was just sitting there, staring at the sweet. With a frustrated growl, he reached over and pulled down her mask. "I got that for you! Eat it before it melts!"

"…r-right…I'm sorry…" Shirayuki's pale pink lips parted and she began licking the ice cream.

As he watched, he saw a flush of pink rise to her cheeks and her mouth curled into a faint smile. "You like that?"

"…y-yeah…it's…this is really good…"

Bakugou leaned back in his seat, smirking with satisfaction. "Damn right it is! I picked that out 'cause I knew you'd like it!" He was proud of himself now. Of course she would like the flavor he picked out. She should be impressed! I know her way better than she thinks! I know her way better than that shitty hair!

She continued to enjoy the ice cream, the smile not once leaving her face. The way she took such delight in something so simple was one of the things he liked about her. It was just ice cream, but it was enough to push her sadness away. Not just ice cream, but every time she ate. She always had this sparkle to her eyes as if she had just stumbled across the best thing in the world. He hated it, but it was undeniably cute.

"Quit crying, got it?" He saw her bow her head, clearly embarrassed that he had seen her in such a troubled state. "So whose ass do I have to kick?"

The girl paused in her eating, eyes going wide. "…ah…what…?"

"If someone pissed you off and made you cry, tell me who it was so I can kick their ass! I'm not gonna let someone get away with that!" Bakugou turned to glare and saw her tears beginning to form again. "Damn it. Whatever. I'll find out anyway."

Turning to look at her, he felt his anger spike. Not because she was crying. It was because he saw something odd. A pale sort of smudge over a dark patch. He recognized that color immediately and knew what he was looking at. She had a bruise on her cheek and had tried to cover it with makeup.

What the hell?! Who hit her? The boy gritted his teeth, wanting to punch something. Wanting to find whoever did this to her so he could punch their face in. However, instead of sprinting off to do this, he resolved to do something else. Moving closer to her, he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and pulled the girl against his side so her leg pressed against his.

"…w-wait…"

"Quit squirming! You want me to really give you something to blush about?"

Shift P.O.V

Is he…is Bakugou-kun…trying to cheer me up? It was an odd thought and she almost wanted to dismiss it entirely, but all signs pointed to this being his attempt at making her feel better. He bought her ice cream, even picked out a really delicious flavor for her, and then came outside to keep her company until the others came out. The warmth against her side made her blush red, but it did comfort her in an odd sort of way.

"There you are, Yuki-chan! Hey, check out the flavor I got! It's got cookie pieces in it!" Kirishima excitedly sat on her other side, completely ignoring the arm that was wrapped around her shoulders.

"…that…that looks delicious…" Her eyes went wide upon seeing the ice cream. It was vanilla, but had swirls of chocolate ribbon and pieces of chocolate chip cookies. Just the sight of it made her feel like she might drool.

"Wow! Yours looks pretty good, too! Hey, can I have a taste? You can have a bite of mine, if you want." The red-haired boy held out his ice cream toward her, grinning and displaying his sharp teeth.

"…ah…o-okay…just…um…h-here…" Shirayuki leaned down a bit, taking a lick from the side and lower than where he had already bitten into it. Blushing crimson as her eyes, she savored the sweet flavor and the creamy yet crunchy texture. "…it's…it's really good, Kirishima-kun…"

"Okay! Now me!" His free hand took her wrist and lifted her cone up to his face. The boy licked directly from the top, where she had been eating from just seconds ago. He saw her blushing and his grin grew. "Yours tastes awesome, Yuki!"