"…Sayuri-chan…?" Shirayuki was surprised to find her cousin in the sitting room with her grandmother. She was preparing to leave for the school, for the summer training camp, but her steps slowed when she spotted her cousin.
The young woman offered a smile in greeting. She was sitting on the couch between her daughter and Shirayuki's grandmother, but the man she had first appeared with was nowhere to be seen. "Ume! Thanks for helping with Emi while I was gone. I owe you one."
Shirayuki stepped into the room, her bag slung over her shoulder, and frowned behind her pale blue mask. "…are you…leaving…?"
"Sayuri's going to stay for a while," her grandmother explained.
"I figured I'd stick around for a bit," Sayuri elaborated. "My boyfriend's kind of busy for the next few days so I've got some time to kill. And Emi likes it here, right, Emi?" At her side, the little girl nodded shyly. "So we're going to be here while you're at your summer training camp."
"…ah…okay, um…" She bit the inside of her cheek and stepped closer. "…if…if Emi-chan wants to…she can use my room while I'm gone…I have stuffed animals and…the bed is probably more comfortable than the couch…"
As she spoke to her cousin, there was a knock at the front door. Her grandmother shuffled around her to go answer it and soon returned with a smile. "Ume, one of your friends is here. That nice boy Kirishima."
"…oh…um…o-okay…" She bowed and said her farewell to her cousin, the little girl, and her grandmother. Stepping outside, Shirayuki was greeted with Kirishima's grin. She smiled back at him from behind her mask, but there was an odd feeling in her gut. A heavy sort of feeling that she tried to dismiss as her being nervous about being away from home for so long.
"Man, I'm really excited for this! I was pretty worried that Aizawa-sensei was going to change his mind about letting everybody go! I still can't believe I failed. There's always next time, though, right?" He casually reached over to hold her hand and turned to start walking toward the gate.
"…you…tried really hard, though…and you did okay on the written part…" she argued quietly. Shirayuki's eyes widened a little when she saw a figure emerge from around the solid part of the fence. Her pulse quickened and her steps slowed as her crimson eyes met another pair of crimson eyes. "…B-Bakugou…?"
"Why the hell are you holding her hand?" he growled, gripping one of the bars of the gate. His glower focusing on the red-haired boy that was walking with Shirayuki. As soon as they were through the gate, he snatched her other hand and scowled across her at Kirishima.
"C'mon. Just chill out. She's my friend, too."
Bakugou tugged at her arm sharply to pull her closer to him and pushed his way between the other two teenagers. Gripping her hand tightly in his, wearing a fierce expression, but there was a faint hint of pink tinging his cheeks. "Why were you ignoring me? You know how many times I tried calling you in the past two days?" he demanded.
"…my phone died…" She frowned behind her mask and rummaged in her bag with her free hand for some of the shells she got as souvenirs. "…um…I-I went to the ocean and…I brought back some gifts…"
Kirishima accepted one of the shells with a smile. "Awww! Thanks, Yuki. Hey, next time we should all go together. What do you think, Bakugou? The whole group could go to a waterpark or something. That'd be fun, right?"
"Whatever."
The girl lowered her head, feeling him squeeze her hand tighter before loosening his grip to a gentle hold. His hand…feels really warm. It's warmer than Kirishima's. She glanced over at the blond boy and her posture changed a bit as she began to hunch her shoulders.
Her free hand lifted to the butterfly necklace that Amajiki had given her the night he confessed his feelings. Feeling the slight grooves in the stone and the thick, dark-colored cord that the pendant hung on around her neck. Tamaki…I really like him. I want to date him and he asked me out. I said "yes", but…Bakugou. How can I make him understand? He…didn't even accept it when I was dating Shinsou-kun.
They were a few streets away from her house. Kirishima was talking about how excited he was for the training camp. Bakugou was yawning. When Shirayuki's shoulder collided with someone else's, she was knocked back a few steps. She winced at the contact and glanced up briefly before she started to bow and apologize. She remembered the last few times she accidentally bumped into someone; how annoyed those people had gotten and how someone else always had to step in to defend her.
The pale-haired man looked down at her with a coldness from within the hood of his long white coat. For a moment, it seemed like he was angry. Like he was going to snap at her. As he looked her up and down, he seemed to decide that Shirayuki was not worth his anger and his mouth took on a small, joyless smile. "Better watch where you're going next time."
"What the hell's your problem?! You were the one that bumped into her!" Bakugou snarled. As the man walked away from them, he bristled with outrage. "Yeah! Run away, you damn creep! You're lucky we've got somewhere to be or I'd-!"
"Bakugou, dude, calm down! You can't just freak out on a civilian like that," Kirishima remarked.
"He's the asshole that almost knocked her into the street! Whatever! Like I even care!" His grip tightened on Shirayuki's hand for a moment before he actually looked over at her. "You okay?" When he asked this, his tone changed. Dropping the rage and sounding almost concerned.
"…I-I'm fine…" she mumbled, her face turning red. I need to keep my head up when I walk, she told herself. I need to be braver and face everything. That's…what heroes do. They don't hide.
When they got to the school, Ashido immediately pulled her away from the boys and grinned when she saw the butterfly necklace. "Yuki, you've got to tell me about your beach trip! What did you guys do? What did you eat? Did you eat a lot of awesome stuff? Did you get seashells? And you've got to tell me where you got that necklace from! It's adorable!"
Shirayuki had managed to get her blushing under control on the walk to the school, but now it returned full-force. "…it's, um, it's a gift…from…"
Ashido's eyes widened and she gripped Shirayuki's shoulders. Her smile spread even further and a faint redness rose to her already pink cheeks. "Yuki! That's so sweet! You have to tell me all of the details! That settles it; you're sitting next to me on the bus! I won't take "no" for an answer! I can't wait to hear-!"
"Back off." An arm slung around Shirayuki from behind and tugged her backwards. "Ume's sitting next to me."
The pink-haired girl pouted. "No fair!"
"She's my girlfriend, damn it! Why the hell would she sit with someone else?!" He pulled her closer and glared at Ashido, who was completely unfazed.
"…I…I kind of want to sit with Ashido-chan…" Shirayuki protested. "…I…walked here with you and…I haven't seen her since…since we all went shopping together…I just…"
His arm tightened around her. "You've been avoiding me since summer break started. I'm not letting you get away again. You're sitting with me whether you like it or not, Ume."
Kirishima and Kaminari were drawn over to the three when they heard Bakugou's growl, shortly followed by Sero wandering over to join them. The conversation shifted from seating arrangements to the summer training camp. What they were expecting, what kind of activities everyone was hoping for.
When it actually came time for everyone to board the bus, Shirayuki's hand was gripped by Bakugou and she found herself seated between him and a window. Safe from being bumped by her classmates moving up and down the aisle, but also trapped sitting next to the grumpy blond boy. He slouched in his seat and kept her hand in his as he pulled out his phone to start scrolling.
She closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath to keep herself calm. I need to be brave. I should've stood up for myself. And I need to tell him…that I want to date Tamaki. I can't let this continue. Her phone chimed softly with a message and she struggled to dig it out of her pocket.
Her eyes widened as she found a few messages. It seemed like her three upperclassmen had timed this, almost. There was an encouraging message from Togata where he told her how great she was going to do at camp and wishing that she had a good time. A message from Nejire where she was excited and talking about her first summer training camp. Finally, a message from Amajiki.
The boy was telling her to be safe, but also wishing for her to have fun in his own timid and sweet way. His message ended with a question about possibly meeting up before classes started again. The girl's heart felt fluttery and light as she read through his message, unable to stop smiling behind her mask.
She was typing a response when she felt eyes on her and jolted. Shirayuki lifted her gaze and found Ashido beaming down at her from where she was leaning over the back of the seat in front of hers. The pink-haired girl gave her a sheepish little wave and she almost sighed in relief.
"Shirayuki." The monotone voice came from behind her and caused the girl to tip her head back, meeting a pair of mismatched eyes. Todoroki was leaning over the back of her seat, extending his phone toward her. "I wanted to show you this. I saw this when I was shopping. Would my cat like this?"
"What the hell's your problem, half and half? Stop talking to my-!"
"Oh! What is it? Is it that bed we saw? I thought about getting one for my cat, but I wasn't sure if he'd use it. Um…Shirayuki-chan? Do your cats usually like using beds or do they prefer boxes? I've seen a lot of videos where they seem like they prefer boxes, but…" Midoriya chimed in from his seat behind Bakugou; completely ignoring the annoyed aura coming off of the blond.
Cats were one of the few things that she felt confident about. She was still very quiet, but Shirayuki was more than happy to answer their questions and give them advice on proper cat care. When Todoroki asked for some pictures of his cat, she was glad to send them to him. However, she could feel Bakugou glaring as she exchanged numbers with Todoroki and Midoriya.
When he finally snapped at the others to back off, Shirayuki sank lower in her seat and clutched her phone with both hands. "…they just…wanted advice…" she mumbled, looking away from him.
"I'm sick of you ignoring me," he growled. "You kept avoiding me and you ignored my calls and now you're talking to everyone else except for me. Pisses me off. Just-" Bakugou saw the way she was huddled away from him, saw the wet sheen of her eyes even when she tried to hide her face behind her long violet hair. He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair, slouching.
"…I…n-need to say something…"
"You should've told me you wanted to go somewhere. I would've taken you instead of letting you go off with those extras."
"…they're my friends…" she protested. "…and I wanted to go with them…"
"It pisses me off. You keep talking to everyone else and you're not even looking at me! Just look at me, damn it!"
She winced as a hand gripped a strand of her hair and tugged. Shirayuki turned to look over at him, trying to keep herself from letting her nervousness take over again. I have to tell him. I want to date Tamaki. I have to say something.
Bakugou's glare started to soften and he glanced away. "Don't start crying over it," he muttered. An arm slung around her shoulder to pull her against his side and he scowled when Ashido peeked at them over the back of her seat. "Mind your own business!"
"…I need to…tell you something, Bakugou…I, um, I was…"
"What're you saying? Speak up."
She took a deep breath and lifted a hand to lower her mask. Wanting to be brave. Wanting him to take her seriously. "…m-my upperclassman…from Fat Gum's agency…he asked me out…when we went to the beach and I…I said "yes"…um…I want to go out with him…and I-I needed to tell you that…I'm…I am…going to go out with him…because I really like him…"
He was silent for a long moment. Glaring straight ahead at the seat in front of him. Finally, his arm tightened around her and he smirked. "What the hell? Is this some kind of joke?"
"…n-no…I'm serious, Bakugou, I…I want to…" Shirayuki flinched when his head turned. That smirk, that glare, now fully focused in her direction.
"You think I'm just gonna take that like some extra?"
"…when you asked me out…"
"I didn't ask anything," he growled as his smirk fell. "I said we were going out and we're still going out. And we're not gonna stop going out until I say so."
She frowned back at him. "…I…B-Bakugou, please…"