Shirayuki watched her classmate cross the room to close her door, her pulse starting to quicken. She had never had a friend over so late before. Not that this was ever possible before she entered high school. She was also pretty sure she had never had a boy in her room with the door closed before.

"…why…did you come through the window…?" she finally asked.

Bakugou glared over his shoulder, a hand lifting to tug his hood forward more. As he turned back to her, he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I didn't wanna deal with your grandma. I know that old lady doesn't like me. Pisses me off."

He…knows? The girl bowed her head, very self-conscious about how wide her frown was. She wanted to put a mask on, but she was unsure of how long he planned to stay. Peeking up at him through her dark violet hair, she saw that he actually looked almost hurt for a second. Does it really bother him that much?

The boy scowled when he noticed her looking and trudged over to her bed, lingering beside it. His eyes roamed over the various stuffed animals and fixed his glare on the kitten one. The scowl lifted into a smirk. "Which one's your favorite?" he demanded.

Face turning pink with embarrassment, she lifted a trembling hand to push her hair behind her ear. "…I-I…um…the dragon…the big dragon…is actually my favorite…" she confessed.

"What? This one?" He picked it up and examined it, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell? Why's this one your favorite? I gave you a cat one! You love cats!"

"…my grandmother…gave me that one when I moved…b-because I had trouble making friends…and…my mother…had left me…" It hurt to talk about it. Shirayuki had not even told Shinsou about the significance of the dragon stuffed animal.

He stared at it for a moment longer before putting it down. The intensity was gone from his gaze now. His shoulders slouched a bit as he tugged at his hood. Bakugou put his back to her, turning to face her bookshelf. "What'd you do today?"

What…? She nervously toyed with her hairband and half-shrugged to herself. "…I…did some patrolling with my senpai…and Fat Gum…but n-nothing exciting…" Her eyes were cast down as she spoke, her pulse still rapid from having a boy in her room so late. "…did you…um…I mean…wh-what did you…do today…?"

"Doesn't matter." He tried to growl this, but there was still a note of defeat in his tone. He sat on the edge of her bed, glaring up at her when she simply stared. "What the hell are you doing? Sit down. It's your room."

"…r-right…um…" Shirayuki moved toward her desk to get her chair.

"Sit next to me! Do I have to spell it out for you?!"

"…s-sorry…" The girl timidly seated herself beside him, but kept a distance of at least two feet. Her head was down, her fingers anxiously tugging at the hairband around her wrist and teeth closing on the inside of her cheek. He's upset, she realized. Whatever he was upset about before…he's still upset about it. What should I do? I feel bad, but…I don't…I don't want to upset him more by bringing it up…but I've never seen him look this way.

The anger had quickly faded from his expression and now he just looked mildly irritated as well as tired. As if he rarely stayed up this late. "We're going out so why the hell would you sit somewhere else?"

"…we're…not…" She shook her head and slouched a little more, knowing that it was useless to argue. It had never helped before so it was doubtful he would listen now. Instead of focusing on this, she focused on the boy's expression again. "…Bakugou-kun, are you…okay…?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" The demand came in the form of a growl.

"…I just…um…w-well you…seem kind of…down…" Shirayuki felt anxiety forming a lump in her throat, but fought to swallow it. Her hands rested on her knees and her fingertips dug at her skin as she summoned forth some courage. "Bakugou-kun, we're friends and I'm…here for you, if you want to talk! I don't like seeing you look this way!"

Shift P.O.V

It had been a rough couple of days. Not only had Best Jeanist more or less destroyed his hair with the horrific combing and styling, but he had yet to do anything heroic or impressive. When he went patrolling, he had hoped to at least catch a purse snatcher or something, but nothing happened. The most memorable thing had been some dumb kids making fun of him at one point.

He started feeling not like his usual self and he hated it. It made him almost feel weak and that made his stomach turn. His plan, when his day had ended with Best Jeanist, was to go to his girlfriend's house and just stay there until he felt better. As much as he hated to admit it, seeing her did make him feel less irritated. Even if he was having to hide his atrocious hairstyle under his hood.

Bakugou knew he had no reason to be surprised. After all, she liked him. He saw it their first day of high school. Out of everyone in class, she was the most impressed by his quirk. When he showed it off, he saw her eyes widen and could see a faint pinkness in her face.

Every time he got anywhere near her after that, she got nervous and fidgeted. So she obviously liked him. Which was perfect because he realized that he really liked her. He liked her weird, shy smiles. He liked the quiet way she laughed and the way she tried to hide it. He liked listening to her talk about something she was passionate about and seeing the look in her eyes when she was petting a cat. He even liked it when she got angry and shouted at him.

When she brought up that he seemed upset, he felt his pulse quicken and he scowled. Lowering his head a little, he tried to hide the fact that his face was heating up to a faint shade of pink. It was humiliating. "You noticed, huh?" There was no reason to hide it. This was Shirayuki Ume; she would never tell anyone.

"…s-so is there…anything I can do…?"

His eyes shifted to the side and he noticed the distance between them. Why's she sitting over there? Damn it! Just sit next to me! The boy's hand darted out and grabbed hers, forcing her to move a bit closer to keep from falling over. "You wanna help me?" he demanded.

Her face was rapidly turning red now. "…I…um…wh-what do you…?"

Being this close, sitting on her bed, with the door closed, all alone, made his pulse speed up even more. It definitely did not help that she was now sitting closer to him and giving him that timid, innocent stare that made him want to get even closer. His free hand lifted to his hood abruptly and he yanked it back, exposing his smooth, flat hair. "Fix this, Ume."

Shift P.O.V

Shirayuki felt herself paling as she stared at his hair. "…you…you want me to f-fix your hair…?"

"What's the problem?! Just do it!"

How…do I fix that? She was mentally trying to puzzle through the request and how she could try to fix it. This was a scary situation because she could only imagine how angry Bakugou would be if she made it worse.

He growled and grabbed her other hand. The boy pulled her closer and moved his grip to her wrists, before forcibly running her fingers through his hair over and over, ruffling it and trying to restore its usual chaotic fluffiness. When he seemed satisfied, he pulled her hands away from his hair and glared up at her. "There! It's fixed!"

Her face went bright red as she realized how close he was to her now. "…B-Bakugou-kun…um…why…?" Both of her wrists were still being held by his hands and the heat of his skin against hers did not go unnoticed. He's…still holding my hands. And he's…sitting on my bed…She blinked, noticing a pink tint to his face. Is he…?

"What're you blushing about, Ume?" he demanded.

"…y-you're…really close…um…"

The boy smirked and tugged her wrists toward him sharply, pulling her closer. "You want me to give you something to really blush about?"

"…ah…n-no…I mean…um…I'm just…I've n-never…h-had someone…over this late and that's…that's why I'm…" Shirayuki was not pulled forward more. Instead, he leaned up and smashed his lips against hers. The girl's eyes widened and her stomach felt like it did a flip. The sudden kiss broke as quickly as it began.

"I've gotta go." He stood abruptly and released her hands, turning away. "Don't tell anybody about this, got it?" Bakugou looked over his shoulder at her to make sure she agreed. She was simply staring at him with wide, crimson eyes. "Good. I'm gonna come back tomorrow so don't make me wait around again."

Shirayuki was still shocked after the kiss. She stood frozen in place as she watched him leave through the window, unable to completely process what had just happened. When she finally moved, it was to open her bedroom door. Immediately, two cats trotted in to seek attention.

The girl fell onto her back on her bed, closing her eyes and feeling exhausted from the day's events. I was…almost hit by a van…and had to be saved by a normal citizen…because I was looking at Bakugou-kun and now…he…She covered her mouth and felt her face heating up with a blush again. The past times he had kissed her, she had been absolutely terrified. For some reason, this time was different.

There was no actual fear. Just nervousness. A weird feeling in her chest, but not exactly butterflies. Shirayuki jolted as a cat, one of the chubbiest cats in the house, hopped up onto her stomach. Her eyes opened and met the cat's vibrant green stare. Its face was inches from hers and it yowled before butting its head against her cheek.

Tomorrow…tomorrow will be different. She closed her eyes again and carefully ran her fingers over the cat's silky fur. Tomorrow…I'll be braver. I have to be! I'm…going to be a hero like my father. And he…wouldn't be scared.

The next morning, she ate breakfast quickly with the intention of rushing to Fat Gum's agency to get an early start. She wanted to get stronger, braver. Her rush did not go unnoticed by her grandmother.

"Goodness, Ume! You seem much better today! Do you have to eat so quickly, though? You're scarfing that food down like it's going to disappear!" She laughed gently and shook her head. "So much like Umetarou during his internship."

"…Grandma, I…want to be like he was…I want to be a strong, friendly hero..." Shirayuki quickly finished her meal and cleared her place before grabbing her costume case and bag. She hurried out the door, but nearly tripped when she found the definition of a strong, friendly hero waiting near her gate with Amajiki.

Togata beamed when he saw her and waved. "Hey, Yuki! We're here to walk with you to the station! Come on, Tamaki! Say good morning!"