Ch. 12
As the next couple of days pass, Ami settles back into the calm rhythm of burying herself in her studies again. Her talk with Bakugo had originally stressed her out but she was choosing to focus on the fact that he was in a better mood now. He'd actually started talking to her again in class a little and had texted her a day ago asking if she wanted to start back training with him.
She'd said yes.
Kirishima continues to walk to and from class with her as usual, talking about their in-city training until they're set on and distracted by new assignments. They start back their normal routine of sitting at lunch together and sharing snacks when they're at school, and she begins to genuinely see why Bakugo had thought they were dating before.
We probably look like we're attached at the hip by this point.
On Friday she gets a text from Mina to join her, Kaminari, and Kirishima in Sero's room to play video games. When she gets there, having already told Kirishima about parts of her talk with Bakugo three days prior, it comes as no surprise to her when he turns to her and nods at her phone with a request.
"Hey Ami, can you message Bakugo and ask him if he wants to come hang out?"
She nods and picks up her phone, only hesitating for a moment before sending off the text. He had said he would come to whatever they invited him to next, and she secretly hoped he'd keep his promise. She wanted to spend some time around him that wasn't mandatory again.
"So Ami," Kirishima says, pulling her attention from her phone. "You still going to the party Mina's throwing tomorrow? We invited some people from class 3-B so Kinoko's going to be there."
"Oh really?"
The starry-eyed brunette had crossed paths with her earlier in the week in UA's library and they'd bonded over their mutual love of books, flora, and fungi. They'd exchanged numbers but hadn't had much time to talk during the week since then.
"Obviously she's going to go," Mina interjects, her voice mock-offended. "Ami's my plus one and I put too much work into her outfit for her to change her mind now."
"You don't bring a 'plus one' to a party you're throwing." Sero snorts softly.
"Of course I'm going," Ami playfully nudges Kirishima with her elbow. "Why? You want to dance with me or something, Eijiro?"
He laughs and bumps her back lightly, "Damn right! What kind of man would I be if I didn't ask my favorite lady to dance?"
Ami scoffs and gives him a grin, "Oh so I'm your 'favorite lady' now?"
"After I saw the way you fight, hell yeah."
"I'll keep my dance card open then." She jokes.
"Oh!" Mina takes and pulls her hands, pulling Ami up out of her chair. "I still need to show you the dress I picked out for you!"
Ami took pride in her fashion sense outside of school, but Mina had practically begged her to let her pick out her dress. Apparently Mina had a "vision" that she refused to let pass, so after letting Mina pout for a few minutes Ami had given her a yes.
"You're going to love it, I swear. I also have a super pretty idea for your hair." She says, tugging on one of Ami's pigtails.
Ami winces slightly when one of her curls catches in the elastic. "Super pretty like how?" She asks with a laugh, swatting Mina's hand away lightly.
"You always wear high ponytails or pigtails. So I figured... why not just wear it down?"
"Because my hair is a wild mess and it takes a whole bottle of conditioner to tame on a good day."
Mina pouts and fluffs out Ami's hair, "We'll find another way then. It was so pretty when we went swimming and you let it down."
"Yeah but I almost broke my neck getting out of the pool because it's 5 tons heavier when it's wet."
"You're so negative."
"But she's not wrong." Sero chimes in. "Mi hermanita's hair weighs 10 pounds wet damn near. A head full of wet hair equals a broken neck."
"Exactly. So I'm not negative, I'm being honest. But it's your call." She'd already agreed to give Mina free reign anyway. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."
"My cousins have hair as thick as yours, so trust me, I got this. I have a simple idea that'll make us both happy." Mina pulls Ami into her closet. "Anyway, the dress." She reaches up to unzip a garment bag that hangs from a hook on her closet wall, revealing the dress.
Ami's eyes widen and she immediately feels herself grin, actually feeling genuinely excited for the first time since the party had been mentioned. "Mina, you fucking rock."
The fabric is a deep, sparkly red with a rounded V-neckline keyhole opening in the front and a hip slit up one side. The dress is floor length, and Ami worries it's too long for a moment until Mina pulls out a pair of matching red heels.
"Red's your color, so I decided to work off of it. And since it's a halter dress with that little choker-looking piece around your neck, you don't have to wear a necklace. I do have some pretty earrings picked out though, and I've got this idea for ombre matte and glitter eyeshadow that'll seal the deal." Mina hands her the shoes. "You'll have all eyes on you when you step out."
Ami looks up at the dress again and then to the heels in her hand. All eyes on me, huh?...
Maybe it was stupid, but there was really only one pair of eyes she was hoping to see on her.
As if on cue, a knock on the door shakes her out of her thoughts. She'd completely forgotten to check to see if Bakugo had agreed to come over. She pulls out her phone only to see a text from him that she'd received almost ten minutes ago, simply reading "Sure, be there soon.".
Mina takes the shoes from her hands and sits them under the garment bag, zipping it up before ushering Ami out of the closet. "Let's keep that a secret."
Ami takes her seat again and watches Mina as she opens the door and lets Bakugo in, making his promise fulfilled.
His eyes scan the room quickly before locking with hers. He gives her a knowing smile before coming over to tug lightly on her pigtail and greet the guys. "So, who's up for getting their ass kicked in Mario Kart?" He asks.
Immediately protests and playful jeers go up from the boys, making Ami laugh.
And just like that, things are back to normal.
"I don't see why I have to fucking come to this stupid ass party." Katsuki mutters. He had been trapped in Kaminari's room for the last two hours while the guys got ready. Yesterday as they were leaving Sero's room, Mina had ambushed him with the news and how she expected for him to be there. Apparently it had been planned for a while, but she'd neglected to mention it when they'd been talking a few nights prior.
"Because, you've been sulking in your room for weeks and it's about time you stopped." Sero replies, straightening his tie in the mirror. "Besides, we need to make good memories to outweigh all the bad ones. Like Mina said."
Katsuki scoffs and leans back against the wall. He didn't really feel like dealing a party today. His mood had been shit due to stress and this wasn't going to make it any better. He'd been doing his best keep it cool around Ami, but unfortunately -between his head when he was alone and when he was physically around her- it wasn't going as smoothly as he'd hoped it would.
"It'll be fun, man! You especially need something fun." Kirishima adds, looking over at him. He'd been his normal cheerful, upbeat self so it was clear he hadn't heard everything about the talk Katsuki'd had with Ami.
Good.
Bristling slightly, Katsuki crosses his arms and looks away. He was happy his friend was officially eliminated as competition, but he still felt guilty for how he'd treated him when he thought he was. Thankfully now, he was sure that his negative feelings were just because he wasn't in the mood to deal with his friends' cheerful attitudes. And the damn party. And his nerves.
"You guys ready to head down?" Kaminari asks, stepping into his shoes by the door. "I can already hear the music."
The party was being held in the common room since it was the only space big enough in the dorm building to hold both Class A and B and have space left over for shit like party activities and food tables. Mina had apparently gotten Yaoyorozu's help with decorating and with that fact in mind, he knew what to expect.
Bakugo looks down at the black dress shirt, red tie, and black pants he was forced into. "I guess so. Let's just get this over with."
When they reach the common room, Katsuki has to admit he's a little impressed.
The simple space had been rigged with lights and speakers, streamers and tables full of food and drinks, and all the furniture had been moved to clear the floor where people were already dancing and talking. Blackout curtains cover the windows, blocking out all the outside light so that the strobe lights inside the building could shine at their brightest. Even in the near dark, he could see that the kids from Class 3-B were already there. Some were talking with his class and others were talking amongst themselves at the food tables over their plates. The bass from the loud music blasting through the speakers drowns out the conversation, but the smiles on everyone's faces speak for them. Looks like everyone was having a good time.
Katsuki's eyes scan the crown before he can stop himself, and they settle when they find Ami.
His breath catches.
Ami stands near the wall with Mina, laughing. Her long curls hang to the small of her bare back, half up in a ponytail and half down, accented with what looks like tiny little roses nestled into her hair and hanging from her ears. As she moves, the light reflects gently off of sparkles on the corners of her eyes and in the dark red fabric of the -fucking skin tight- dress she wears, revealing a slit that reaches up to her hip. Equally sparkly heels peek out from the slit, giving her a boost of height.
Fuck.
He'd be lying if he said tearing his eyes away was easy, but he manages it, averting them to the floor. That's short lived however, when Kirishima leaves his side and weaves through the dancing bodies on the floor to grab a drink from the table before going to stand next to Ami.
When she turns around to greet him he hands her the cup and says something that makes her laugh. Not one of those small laughs she'd do whenever someone in class said something funny, but the kind of laugh that tips her head back. Kirishima grins proudly in response and says something to Mina before seemingly getting pulled into whatever the girls were talking about prior.
Then for a moment, Ami's eyes meet his as she looks across the floor directly to where he stands. It's brief, but she looks him up and down for a second too long before smiling shyly.
Katsuki realizes he'd been holding his breath, so he releases it, holds his hand up half-heartedly, and turns away. He wanted more than anything to cross the floor with the same ease Kirishima had and wrap her up in his arms, an urge he'd come to know more intimately than he was comfortable with recently. He goes to sit on the couch at the opposite edge of the room instead and forces himself to watch the people dancing on the floor.
This was such a bad idea, he thinks. I should've just stayed in my room.
Mina had been sure that things would go well if he'd come, but in what capacity he hadn't been sure. He wasn't really one for dancing. Never was. The most he'd ever danced was at events his parents attended for their company years ago, and even then it was only out of a sense of obligation. Now he just felt out of place among his schoolmates, watching them have fun from the corner of the room while his shit mood took over.
The song changes and he hears Mina's squeal across the floor, making him flinch.
She's so fucking loud. He looks up and watches her pull Ami and Kirishima onto the floor to dance with her. He doesn't mean to watch -really- but when Ami tugs on Eijiro's tie and pulls him closer as they dance, he can't do anything but force himself to look away again.
Why the fuck did he care so much? It's not like they were dating, so there wasn't any legitimate reason for him to feel... off, like this. He found himself frequently trying to challenge the feelings that had bubbled over for her to see if they were as persistent as she was. Tried to talk himself out of it by reminded himself of why she originally got on his nerves so much.
She was a clumsy, bossy know-it-all with a smart mouth and an attitude that pissed him off to no end, but not having her around had felt... off. Being at odds had felt wrong. When she wasn't on his nerves, she was... sweet. Funny, even. He had accepted a while ago that he really did like just being around her. At the start, he had convinced himself that he just missed her company only because he was used to training with her every other day, but that had only been part of it in the end. Not being around her that much even still now that they'd patched things up was what was leaving him with this feeling as of late.
The song switches again and he once again finds his eyes drawn back to where she dances with Kirishima on the dancefloor. Mina had pulled some kid from class 3-B over to dance with her, leaving the pair more or less on their own.
Ami was laughing, Kirishima spinning her around in a circle and dramatically dipping her to make her laugh harder. When she's standing again he basically has to hold her up to keep her upright. She looked like she was having a lot of fun.
Mina confirmed Ami doesn't like him like you thought. Chill the fuck out.
The feeling in his gut makes him scowl despite this. For whatever the fuck reason he didn't feel the relief that he wanted, and it pissed him off because he didn't get why. He wasn't used to feeling less than confident and he hated it, so it was easier to deny, deny, deny, than it was to face what this could really be. Katsuki had gotten pretty good at controlling his emotions, but this whole situation had thrown him off to the point that he was being made to face some hard truths:
He was jealous.
The simultaneous realization and admittance is a slap to the face.
He never got jealous.
No one had shit that he wanted, not even Izuku, and yet... the feeling still persisted.
Though it was a... relief, to finally put a name to what he was feeling, it left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He was over here sulking like a fucking child over a stupid ass crush. A crush that was making him jealous of his best damn friend. Jealous that while he was so fucking afraid to confront his feelings, wasting opportunities to get closer to her, Kirishima was getting to know her better than Katsuki had ever tried to himself. Trying to ask Mina what he wanted to know about Ami had been a cop-out. Like a fucking coward.
Right then, Ami leans up on her toes and presses a quick kiss to Eijiro's cheek before saying something and walking off of the dancefloor with him not too far behind.
His gut twists and he pushes himself to his feet, crossing the floor in a matter of seconds to walk outside into the evening air. The sun was low in the sky, casting a faint light over the school grounds. Katsuki sits on the stairs and rakes his fingers through his hair, grunting in frustration. He didn't know what the fuck to do other than take a deep breath and try to calm the anger starting to bubble over inside of him.
The door behind him opens a few minutes later after he more or less gets his emotions under control. It shuts softly before footsteps come up behind him almost cautiously. He doesn't look up or even tell them to go away when they sit beside him either. When the person speaks, however, he internally groans.
"You ok?" It's Kirishima.
Oh fucking great. "I'm fine." Katsuki mutters, staring at the stairs beneath his feet. A pit opens up in his stomach, one he quickly realizes is filled with anxiety.
"You don't look like it dude. Why'd you come outside? I was about to come check on you when I saw you walk out here."
Would telling him even do anything at this point? Kirishima hadn't mentioned feeling any kind of way about Ami, but he was still hesitant. Because what if?...
When he doesn't reply immediately, Eijiro sighs. "Listen man, I know we haven't been talking as much as we normally do, but you can still talk to me. I'm still your be-"
"I think I have fucking feelings for Ami." Katsuki spits out, cutting him off. "And have for... a while."
At first Kirishima doesn't reply, but when Katsuki looks up at him, he's smiling.
Katsuki looks back down at his shoes, irritated now at his friend's positive mood change. As if he hadn't just dropped a truth that made him feel so vulnerable he wanted to immediately snatch the words back and bury them again. "If you like her or some shit then I'll back off, I just wanted to be honest with you since you deserve that much from me since I've been a shit friend lately."
"Dude, no. I don't like Ami like that."
Katsuki's head snaps back up and he looks at his friend in confusion, "You... don't?"
"Nah man, she's really cool and all but it's not like that." Kirishima looks out towards the trees and leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "Besides, it's super obvious that you have a thing for her. To me, at least."
Katsuki clenches and unclenches his jaw before speaking again. "Obvi-," He looks away for a second before turning his whole body to face Kirishima. "What about the shit from a few minutes ago?"
Eijiro shrugs, "Ami's just really affectionate honestly, and the dancing was just dancing. Nothing more than that."
"And all the walking to and from class together? What about you hanging out with her after class?"
"She seemed kinda sad so I started hanging out with her to cheer her up. We just clicked after that."
Katsuki internally slaps himself. This whole time he could've solved his own hang-up by just asking. Instead he sulked and let it get to him until he started having one-sided problems his best friend.
"You should really talk to her." Kirishima adds after a moment.
"Yeah because I'm so fucking great at talking about my feelings." Katsuki scoffs.
The redhead stands up to head back inside. "I know, but maybe that's because you've been ignoring them? Maybe try not doing that. See where it gets you."
Once he's alone again, Katsuki stands up and looks back towards the door, suddenly filled with nerves. On one hand, embracing these emotions would finally answer whether or not this crush was one sided, and if it was he could finally move on with his damn life. On the other hand, if he didn't talk to her and kept hiding his he felt, he'd never know if it was or not.
Why the fuck does this have to be so hard?
He sighs and turns to walk back in, making a decision before he even grabs the doorhandle.
Tomorrow he'd talk to her. It was time to end this.