Chapter Fourteen: Anticipation
Katsuki was pacing in his room, feet pounding loudly on the wood-slatted floor as he let out a string of curses worthy of a sailor. His hands were balled into fists at his sides and he was sweating so badly he thought something might explode in the next few minutes.
He couldn't believe the nerve of that girl, kissing him like that in his room. Her hands touching him like she had some right to do so. Her lips hot and needy…
The last week or so had been torture. Ever since those two kisses they shared, and especially since the one in his room that morning, it was all Katsuki thought about. It was like the stupid girl had hijacked his entire brain! He'd be sitting in class, trying not to doze off as Aizawa droned on, then BAM, he'd think about small arms locking around his neck. He'd be trying to fall asleep, just on the cusp of dreams and then SLAM, the memory of her fingers pulling the spikes of his hair would crash into his skull. He even thought about it during training with Kirishima, for fuck's sake. It was "HOWITZER" this, and "AP SHOT" that and then WHACK, he swore he could taste her lips again.
He was going to lose his mind.
"DAMMIT!" He kicked the wall, knocking off a set of nunchucks that hung there. They clattered loudly to the floor—he let them stay. He shouldn't be over here wasting his time thinking about some stupid kiss that shouldn't have even happened.
It's gotta be her quirk, he decided. She could put thoughts into his mind or something, force him to do stupid shit like kiss her. Like that mind-control freak from the Sports Festival. Yeah, that was it. She had two quirks, smashed into one like her best friend and labrador, Icy Hot. Mirror shit and mind control shit. There was no other explanation. He wouldn't have done it otherwise. He needed to work on blocking her quirk from his mind. He should go right over there and tell her that he knew her tricks and he wasn't going to fall for it anymore.
As soon as he'd made up his mind, someone knocked on his door.
It's her, he thought. Now, he wouldn't have to chase her down. He would just tell her flat out that he wanted nothing to do with her trickery, then slam the door right in her face. He would not try to kiss her again.
"HEY!" he snapped as soon as he pulled the door open. A shocked face stared back at him for a moment before pushing through the door and plopping right down on the bed. "GET THE HELL OUT!"
"But I need someone to talk to!" Kirishima whined. "I'm so bored!"
"GO TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE, I'M BUSY!"
Kirishima glanced around the room, which was bare other than the nunchucks that still lay on the floor, then gave Katsuki a look. "Busy doing what?" His tone said he didn't think Katsuki was doing anything at all.
"I gotta go find Aisla," he muttered in annoyance. "So, get out of here!"
"Ooh, gotta go find your girl, huh?" Kirishima snickered. "Sure wish I had a girlfriend to hang out with…"
Katsuki raged. "I DON'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!"
Kirishima gave him a confused look. "But you just said you were gonna go see Aisla?"
"AISLA'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND, YOU BRAINLESS BUFFOON!" he shouted. "I'M GOING TO TELL HER TO STOP PLAYING TRICKS ON ME! GO HANG OUT WITH RAINBOW HAIR!"
That would do the trick and get Kirishima out of here. The shitty-haired shark boy had been swooning over some upper class-chick he met in tutoring a couple of days ago. He'd fallen behind in his classes because he was a moron who couldn't juggle work studies and his education, and apparently, Katsuki wasn't a good enough mentor for him, so he'd been slinking off to the library after school. Every day it was, "she's so pretty" this, and "she's so smart," that—and Katsuki had his own girl problems to deal with, dammit!
Kirishima looked even more puzzled. "What are you talking about? I thought you two were dating now? And I already told you, Kanzashi's just my tutor. I'm pretty sure she's not into me anyway."
"WE'RE NOT DATING!" Katsuki shouted, ignoring the rest of his comment as well as Kirishima's dejected face.
"Oh, then I guess you won't care that she's hanging out with Todoroki right now," Kirishima said. "I'm pretty sure the word 'date' was thrown around in there somewhere…" He trailed off thoughtfully.
Katsuki was suddenly right in his face. "What did you say?!"
Kirishima's eyes widened. "Uh, which part? The part about your girlfriend hanging out with Todoroki? Or the part about Kanzashi—"
"GET OUT!" Katsuki roared.
For once, the stubborn redhead obeyed. He got to his feet and slumped toward the door with a muttered, "Just thought you'd want to know…"
He gave him a shove in the back with his foot and slammed the door shut.
Bastard, Katsuki silently raged. He doesn't know anything. Not that I care who she dates. I fucking knew she'd get with that icy hot freak when she was done obsessing over me.
"I want you, Katsuki…You're my hero… I like you…"
"I DON'T LIKE YOU, DAMMIT!" he cried out to the empty room. The sound echoed back at him like a slap to the face. He cursed, kicked the nunchucks across the floor, then threw open the door.
Aisla was in her room with a sketchbook in her lap as she tried to copy a yellow rose that sat on her desk. It was in full bloom so every petal was bright and open—a willing muse. She squinted at the yellow flower for a moment before deciding on her next move. She would focus on the inside first, she thought, and try to capture the way the petals opened up one by one as if slowly revealing a secret within.
She was on her third petal when someone banged loudly on her door. She gave a start of surprise and nearly drew a line right down the center of her paper, but had miraculously jerked the pencil upward instead so that it flew across the room and under the desk.
"Come in," she called to whoever was out there. An image flashed through her mind where she thought maybe a villain was outside her door, but then, those people probably didn't knock first.
I shouldn't have watched that movie with Ochaco right before bed…
The door flew open and slammed against the wall behind it so hard that a picture of her family fell to the floor, glass shattering. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't even need to see who'd burst into her room. There was only one person who could make such a dramatic entrance.
"Could you be any—"
"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!"
Katsuki…
Aisla frowned. Katsuki stood just inside the doorway, fists clenched at his sides, teeth flashing dangerously in a snarl. His black shirt looked exceptionally wrinkled today, she noted, and wondered if he'd already been up training or if he'd simply slept in it and forgot to change.
"What do you mean?" she asked tiredly. She put her sketchbook down so she could stand. She didn't like sitting down when he was looming over her looking like a bomb about to go off. "I haven't even seen you all day."
She padded across the room to retrieve the pencil from under her desk. It had rolled pretty far underneath, so she smacked her head on the surface when she stood back up and ended up dropping the pencil again. She sighed and just let it stay there for now.
"I KNOW WHAT YOUR QUIRK DOES AND I WON'T FALL FOR IT ANYMORE!" Katsuki was shouting at her, loud enough to alert everyone in the building, or at least everyone on their floor.
She walked over and closed the door to muffle some of the sound. It was after ten in the morning so most of their classmates would already be up and about, but she didn't want the first thing they heard in the morning to be Katsuki Bakugo yelling.
"Of course you do," she said, leaning against the door. "You and I spar all the time."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was being especially ridiculous. Ever since they'd shared those kisses almost two weeks ago, he'd been acting strangely. He avoided her a lot more than he used to, and they hadn't trained together even once since then. She knew why, though. Part of it was simply that they were both busy with school and regular hero training, but the other part was that Katsuki felt embarrassed and didn't know what to do about his feelings toward her. She was under no delusions that he'd fallen in love with her, but there was something more than friendship lying beneath the surface of his mind. He wouldn't admit to it, but he did have feelings for her. His willing lips were proof enough of that.
"This isn't about your pathetic mirror quirk!" he snapped. "Agh!"
Agh? Had he ever made that sound before?
"YOU!" he pointed an accusatory finger at her.
"Me, Aisla," she said, straight-faced.
He ignored her sass. "We're gonna talk about this shit in private, where none of our damn classmates can eavesdrop!"
She arched an eyebrow at the order. "Oh? And where will we be discussing this matter?"
He dug in his pockets for a moment and produced a folded-up piece of paper. He shoved it into her hand. "AND YOU BETTER NOT BAIL, YOU GOT THAT, AISLA HARU?!"
Before she had time to even blink he was out the door and down the hall. She stood there for a long moment feeling confused. What was that boy talking about?
She unfolded the paper and found a campus release form with her name on it along with the allowed time frame and a destination.
"Sézanne Café from 7:00-9:00 P.M.?" she mused aloud. Was Katsuki Bakugo taking her…on a date? No, he wanted to yell at her about her quirk…or something. She wasn't entirely sure what he was so livid about this early in the morning. But a French cafè? That had to mean "date," didn't it? He wasn't really taking her somewhere like that just to yell at her, was he?
"What would I wear to something like this…?" she wondered, pacing the room as she considered her very limited wardrobe. She couldn't dress like it was a date because if it wasn't then she'd feel embarrassed, but if it was a date then she didn't want to show up in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. What if he wore a suit and tie and she was just rocking a tank top? That would be even more embarrassing.
She decided to ask her best friend for some advice.
She found his room easily and gave three hard knocks to the wood. She heard a loud sigh from behind the door and then the creak of a chair. His footsteps padded softly against the floor, then the door opened to reveal a very unenthused Shoto.
"No," he said immediately before she even had a chance to open her mouth.
She crossed her arms. "I didn't even say anything!"
"You didn't have to. I heard your little lover's dispute all the way up the stairs and through the door."
Aisla pouted. "It wasn't a lover's anything," she muttered.
"Point is, you're here to ask me for advice," he stated matter-of-factly.
She opened her mouth to argue. He raised an eyebrow. She blew out a sharp breath instead. "Come on, Roki!" she pleaded, eyelashes batting. "You're my best friend. I need you!"
"No," he repeated more firmly. "Go ask one of the girls for boyfriend advice."
She pulled out the form Katsuki had given her and shook it out in front of him.
He squinted at it for a moment. "Oh, interesting."
"SEE!" she shook the paper again. "Is this supposed to be a date or what? He told me to meet him here because he wants to talk to me about my quirk where no one can overhear us. But this is a restaurant and a nice one at that. Not the fanciest place ever but still much nicer than would be necessary for the type of meeting that Bakugo says we're having."
"I see your dilemma," Shoto acquiesced.
"So, what do I do?" she cried. "I don't know if he thinks this is a date or not and I don't want to look stupid!"
Shoto shrugged. "Who the hell knows what goes on inside Mr. Explosion Murder's mind? To him, this is about as close to a proposal as you'll ever get."
She brightened. "You think?"
"Yeah, sure. Now, go talk to one of your girlfriends," he said, and shut the door right in her face.
She probably deserved that but still… Shoto thought this could be a date, so was that what it really was?
Okay, Aisla, think. It might not be a date, but it could be. If it is, you need to be prepared. Assuming it has potential to maybe, possibly, probably be a date, you need an outfit. Who do you talk to when you need fashion advice?
"Mina!" she gasped, but then groaned when she remembered that Mina's brother had come to sign her off-campus today and she wasn't going to be back until curfew. Who else, who else! Ochaco wasn't a good idea because she tended to dress down whenever she got the chance. Tsu liked cute things but probably wouldn't be any help when it came to what she should wear for a date with Bakugo. And she couldn't go to Hagakure because she had the biggest mouth out of all the girls and the whole school would know about her maybe-not-possibly-probably date with Katsuki Bakugo. Jiro was too punk-goth, Momo would probably try to dress her in something that cost more than her parents' house, so who was left?!
That's right. There's always her. She was known around school as the "soup kitchen for the fashion-starved," or by her name: Kinuhana Kanzashi. A second-year girl whose hair could be cut into any fabric, and who took on charity cases like Aisla during fashion emergencies.
And a possible date with Bakugo was definitely an emergency.
She wasn't sure of the exact room number but she knew it was the second-year, support class dormitory. All she had to do was consult one of the girls inside and they happily gave her the appropriate room. She followed their directions until she came across a door with a flowery door plate that read "Welcome" in elegant script. It looked handmade and Aisla passively wondered if maybe she should commission one for her own door.
She knocked on the door and waited for a response. It opened wide and a pair of surprised silver eyes met hers.
"Hello…Haru, right? First-year hero-course?"
"Kanzashi! I need your help!" Aisla walked right inside without being invited and started pacing around the small room. "I don't know what to do!"
Kanzashi had long blonde hair that grew at an exceptional rate and was constantly shifting colors. The word around UA was that she was the person to go to for clothes. Like Momo, she could create things in an instant, though she was limited by her hair length and could only make fabrics. Unlike Momo, Kanzashi had no moral qualms about throwing off the balance of the economy by giving people new outfits. Aisla barely knew the other girl, but she was desperate. She seemed nice enough when she saw her in the hallways or in the cafeteria, and anyone who talked about her spoke of how generous she was, even if she was a little shy at times.
"What's going on?" she asked Aisla as she let the door close behind them. "Are you alright?"
"I know we don't know each other very well, or at all, but I need your advice!" Aisla fretted. "It's Bakugo."
The other blonde frowned. She looked at the sewing machine on her desk and the half-finished piece of fabric under its needle somewhat wistfully as she thought. "He's the one that won the first year Sports Festival. The scary one with the sort of…atrocious attitude? Is he hurt or something?"
"No! He wants to take me on a date!"
Silver eyes widened. "Oh… Oh! He's got a quirk to match his personality." Her expression turned sympathetic. "I'm sorry. This must be difficult for you."
"Exactly!" Aisla agreed. "You have to help me!"
Another frown. "Do you need me to help you turn him down or…?" She gave Aisla an expression that said she didn't want to talk or do anything else involving Katsuki Bakugo.
"No, I need clothing advice!" Aisla exclaimed. "I heard you're an expert in this matter so I was hoping you could help me out. What should I wear?"
"On a…date?" she confirmed. Aisla nodded emphatically. "With Katsuki Bakugo, Lord Explosion Murder himself?" Another frantic nod. "What you're saying is…you want to go on a date with him. Now your being here makes sense." Kanzashi shrugged. "Alright, where is he taking you?"
Aisla showed her the paper Katsuki had given her.
Kanzashi arched an eyebrow. "Well, this isn't much of a dating proposal but…I think I can work with this. You're both blonde, so I have to think about colors that will compliment you… Can't have you clashing with him, but I don't know what he's going to wear, which makes it difficult…If I just focus on you, your hair, eye color, skin tone… I've got it!"
She found a pair of scissors in her nightstand and hacked off a good chunk of her hair. Within seconds, she'd produced a simple white short-sleeved dress with a geometric pattern that went to about knee-length. It was more elegant than a sundress but had a similar vibe to it. It was also made of thicker material.
"I think semi-formal is the way to go," Kanzashi said as she held up the dress. "Then you're prepared for the case in which Bakugo tells you it isn't actually a date, but if it is then you still look cute. Pair this with some flats, though. Heels would be overkill."
Aisla beamed over at her. "Thanks, Kinuhana!"
The other girl blinked in surprise at the use of her first name but smiled in return after a moment. "Yeah, no problem. Good luck…Aisla."
"Thanks! And…sorry about your hair," she offered in apology to the now cropped look the girl had going for her.
Kinuhana absentmindedly brushed the short strands with her fingers and shrugged. "It's fine, it'll grow back by this evening. It needed a trim anyway."
Aisla bid her goodbye, then took the dress back to her room to get ready for her date.
Katsuki was in the clearing, taking his anger out on the trees. He practiced kicking and hitting, and worked on movements he could use in battle. He used his blasters to help his body do quick flips and turns in the air. He tried meditating again but when he started to fall asleep got right back into action. He was just working on an exceptionally high flip when his phone rang out loudly from across the clearing. He swore, grumbled something about Aisla being impatient, then remembered she didn't even have his phone number.
He crossed the small area and retrieved the phone from his bag. "WHAT?" he demanded as soon as he picked up the call.
"DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE LIKE THAT, KATSUKI!" his mother yelled back. "I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THAT, YOU DAMN BRAT!"
"WELL, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, I'M BUSY!" he roared in return, pacing around the clearing in anger once again. He kicked up dirt as he did, coating his shoes and ankles in dust.
"Your great grandfather Hironori is in town and wishes to see you," she explained in an even tone. "And your presence is non-negotiable."
Sézanne Café… Aisla…
"I'M NOT GOING, OKAY? I HAVE PLANS!"
"THE HELL YOU DO, KATSUKI BAKUGO!" she argued. "You'll be at the house tonight by five o'clock or I will personally come to your school and drag you out by your ear! And I'll bring all your baby pictures to share with your friends."
Katsuki stopped pacing and gripped the phone tightly in his hand, teeth clenching against the words that wanted to come out. He wanted to tell her to go to hell and that he didn't care if great-grandpa Hironori or anyone else was in town. He had plans, dammit! But he knew she wasn't giving him an empty threat. She would one-hundred percent walk right into UA and do exactly what she said she would.
Teeth still clamped tightly he said, "I'll be there."
"I can make that work…" he mumbled to himself as he started walking back toward the dorms. "Great-grandpa Fartface doesn't even like me. I bet I can be in and out within an hour. Then I can make up some excuse about homework or curfew."
A text chimed on his phone as he was trying to come up with a decent excuse to leave early. He knew it would be his mother again and almost ignored the message, but if she was already threatening to come to the school then he didn't want to leave anything to chance.
"Katsuki, I'm having an outfit sent over for you. You left it in your closet when you went to UA. You will wear what I send and you'd better not be late!"
Katsuki growled audibly. She was dressing him now? He couldn't even remember the last time she did that. He knew what outfit she was talking about, too. It was a formal style his mom always made him wear to family events, or church on the rare occasions they attended services.
He could picture the black fitted slacks and the maroon button up top his mom always made him button all the way to the collar. He remembered the constant nagging he received every time the bottom came untucked and how she would personally try to fix it for him in front of everyone like he was a toddler. He hated wearing that outfit and every occasion that required it.
True to her word, within the hour his outfit arrived. He'd just come back from the shower and found the familiar garment bag hung on the other side of his door. With a grumbled curse, Katsuki snatched the bag and tossed it onto the bed. It was just past three now so he had time before he'd be forced to put it on. Maybe he could get away with telling his mother that the thing hadn't been delivered. He knew that was too much to hope for. She would definitely have something worse waiting for him at home.
"Now what?" he growled, glancing at the clock once more. He had an awkward amount of time and wasn't sure what to do with it. If he was late, his mom would show up at the school, if he was early, he'd have to endure an even longer torture session.
His stomach growled as if in answer; he had forgotten to eat lunch. It was too late for a meal so he decided to grab a snack from the kitchen downstairs before he had to leave, hoping there would be some granola bars or fruit he could take up to his room. Instead, he found Sweet Tooth and Bird Brain chatting quietly with one another. They looked up at his approach and nodded.
"Bakugo," Tokoyami greeted.
"Want to try my new dish?" Sato offered, pushing a covered plate his way.
"I'm just grabbing a snack, dammit!" Katsuki snapped at them.
"They're sweet buns," Tokoyami stated matter-of-factly.
"FINE, GIVE ME ONE!" Katsuki pulled off the cover and grabbed one of the golden buns before stomping back up to his room.
He ate the snack while pacing the small area of his room and glaring at the clock every time his eyes passed over the numbers. It was getting closer to the time he would need to leave, making his agitation increase with each passing minute. All he wanted was to burn the clock into a pile of ash and forget this whole event.
Stop being such a damn crybaby, he told himself. Just get this shit over with so you can get back to the dorm!
Despite his internal encouragement, he took his time changing into the shirt and slacks, slipping on some black socks, and brushing his teeth. He did not comb his hair because he didn't give a damn what his great-grandfather thought about his spiky locks. He'd probably gone blind from old age by now anyway.
At four-thirty, Katsuki headed out of the dorm to meet the car his mother had sent for him. He scowled the entire walk down the stairs and out the front door. He ignored Kirishima asking where he was going and if he needed a wingman, and didn't look at the giggling girls in the corner of the room, huddling together around someone's laptop. He stormed right past Deku who was outside punching the air or some shit, and showed the front gate guard the appropriate paperwork his mother had texted to him.
Out front was a sleek black car he recognized as his great-grandfather's. He only hoped the old man wasn't inside. He hadn't been able to drive for years but even before that he'd had a driver to take him places because that was the type of rich prick he was. Katsuki hated being chauffeured around. When he got his license, he'd drive his damn self around.
One of the dark tinted windows rolled down at his approach. Fartface himself sat inside, looking as close to death as the last time Katsuki had seen him. His hair was nothing more than a few gray wisps and his face was so sunken in he almost didn't have eyes anymore. He looked similar to All Might's weakened form, Katsuki realized, only this version looked white as a ghost and just as unwelcome.
"Hello, Katsuki," he wheezed, red eyes glowering. "Get in the car."
A/N: Good morning, friends! I trust you all had a splendid week! As for me, my car was in the shop for two days, causing me to miss work. Fortunately, they were able to fix it right up and we're good as new! I hope everyone else had a better week and you're all ready for the weekend!
OH, how many of you saw the new My Hero Academia movie? We went and saw it last Saturday and it was AMAZING! Definitely one of my favorite ones, if not THE favorite of the three movies. They stepped up their game for that one. Good storyline, very well fleshed-out new characters. I loved it!
Further, Mr. Hironori, Katsuki's great-grandfather, is a character I completely pulled out of my rear while writing this little mini arc. If Katsuki already HAS a great-grandfather somewhere in the manga, I have yet to reach that part! So, for the purpose of this small arc, I created this character!
Kinuhana Kanzashi is a character that does NOT belong to me. I borrowed her from another story that belongs to my wonderful editor and best friend in the world, yellowchikadee. Kinuhana is an OC she created for her story, The Ribbon and it's sexy spin-off, The Ribbon Untied. She also features Aisla in her stories as Katsuki's girlfriend. We were writing our stories simultaneously, so they share a lot of the same aspects as well as timeline. They aren't EXACTLY the same, but we did try to make them as close as possible while still staying true to our own stories. Check her out if you want another good read!
Reviews:
That horse girl luka: Thank you so much! I appreciate that!
LilFoxDemon666: Aww this comment was so sweet! I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying it enough to read even with that concern! If it helps, I have EIGHTY completed chapters and I'm still writing, so there's plenty more to come! And thank you for saying that about my OC. That's one of the best compliments!
kibaschick: Thank you so much! I love him, too! I don't even know why, but he's definitely one of my favorite characters! He's an angry hothead, but he's awesome!
Betareader: yellowchikadee
Test Audience: yellowchikadee; Ashteriax