To Tell or Not to Tell

Btw, I'm not a fan of Monomo, but I really don't think he's this bad. I just needed a character to play the part, and he was the only one who wasn't a villain that would fit. If I did pick a villain, Uraraka would have more problems than just dealing with than just keeping her house.

Also to the person who sent me the review about different perspectives a while ago, you are definitely right and I am trying to put it into consideration more. However since this story needs to be completed quickly since it has already taken longer than I expected it to, I will be aware but I can't do as much editing as I'd like. Also I write the chapters far in advance so by the time I read the suggestion I'd already written a lot and I don't have time to go back and change it. I'll try to keep it in mind, thank you very much for the advice, but I can't guarantee that the chapters won't have that since many were written beforehand.

Thank you for the review though! They really encourage me to keep writing!

Uraraka felt the blood drain out of her face. And she had been having such a nice morning.

Monomo stood in her doorway, a smug smile on his face. There was no way he knew about her losing her job. No way. Yet there he stood, the day that it was due, in her doorway with a big smile of triumph on his face.

It had been almost two weeks since she'd lost her job, but she hadn't managed to find another one. Even with the extra shifts at the fire station, she hadn't been able to save up enough money to pay that month's due. The night before she had calculated the money to find she was only a few hundred dollars off of the final amount. Though she hated the idea, she would have to go to Momo or Midoriya and ask for a loan. She knew they'd give it without question, but her heart sank at the idea. If nothing else…at least she was comforted knowing she had such good friends that she knew she could rely on in these situations. It was too late to call them by the time she came to the realization, so she had promised she'd go in the morning. That morning she had eaten breakfast with Bakugou after calling Momo and Midoriya.

They had both said they would come over as soon as they could…but neither seemed too worried. Normally Momo would be frantic thinking that Uraraka had sacrificed eating or taken money out of her savings to pay for the monthly debt, while Midoriya would be worried about his friend and would come over in a flash. Surprisingly when they answered the call, both seemed rather at peace. They'd said they would come over of course, but neither sounded like they were in a rush. Should Uraraka be worried? When she'd mentioned the issue to Bakugou that morning while eating, he had said nothing. Which was odd of him to. Usually he jumped at the chance to insult Midoriya. But he had been silent as Uraraka ranted on, only to be interrupted by the knocking on the door. Expecting one of her friends, Uraraka had jumped from her chair and rushed to the door. Only to find her heart shattered when she swung it open to find the last person she wanted to see.

With a lazy glance around the doorway, Monomo said, "you look surprised to see me. Were you expecting anyone else?"

"I…Well…" She couldn't very well tell him that her friends were coming with the money she needed, could she? Well, not that he would care where it came from as long as he got it. "What are you doing here? A reminder again?"

"No," Monomo frowned. "I'm here for the month's amount." He raised an eyebrow. "You do have it right?"

What? "I-I have till the end of the day!" Uraraka exclaimed, so loud she was sure Bakugou would hear her from the kitchen. In the back of her head she heard the sound of a chair scraping across the ground. Bakugou standing. Good. If something went wrong, she needed to tell him what was happening.

Also, with fear starting to grip her, she realized she wanted him there to stand with her. After their combined fight against the stranger in the bar, it had been easier to see her relationship with Bakugou as a team. Someone to stand with her when things went wrong and help her get back up. At the moment, looking at the expression on Monomo's face, she needed that.

"No, it's when I come to collect," Monomo stated. Most of the time Uraraka would pay online or go into his office. He'd never come in person. Somehow he must have known Uraraka wouldn't be able to pay the amount on her own. "You don't have it then?" While he was trying, Uraraka could see that he barely avoided all-out laughing in victory. "What? That's so strange! I thought you said you would be able to meet every deadline. But you can't? The doesn't that mean the house is mine now?" It felt like her world was coming apart around her. No. No, he couldn't. Over just a few hours?

"I-I can pay! Just wait a bit okay? I can get most of the money, but my friend is coming now to pay the rest,"

"The deal says that at the end of each month if you can't pay the designated amount at least, then you forfeit the house to me." Monomo eyed the house greedily. Probably wondering just how much money he could get out of the house and the property when it was his. "Since you can't pay for it now, then that only means…"

"No!" Uraraka screamed earnestly. "The contract said nothing about hours. I have till the end of the day!" But in truth, she had no idea if that was true. If they were going by the end of the month, then the official date she should have paid was yesterday. For the last few months they had been fine with her paying a little late as long as she paid it. Perhaps because they thought she'd never be able to keep it up and would eventually have to give up the house. But as she got closer to the deadline, they started to panic. So they looked for any loopholes they could find. And that was one she couldn't beat. Time.

Panicking, Uraraka tried to stall, hoping her friends were closer than she knew they were. "P-Please wait, I have the money I promise!" Uraraka tried to think of something to say, not noticing the sound of footsteps getting closer. "I-If you would just wait,"

"I don't have to wait," Monomo interrupted. "From the looks of things you can't pay the designated amount when I am asking you to. And that means," his voice cut off abruptly. The smug look in his eyes was replaced with fear as a large shadow fell over Uraraka's form. "Y-You," he stuttered. Confused, Uraraka tilted her head back so she could see above her.

Bakugou stood in the doorway, barely a hairsbreadth behind Uraraka, with the angriest, most threatening expression Uraraka had ever seen. His arms were braced against the doorway around her, both giving her support and sending a clear message that Monomo was not allowed in. Uraraka was simply surprised and puzzled while it was there. She almost felt bad for Monomo, the one the gaze was directed at. And lesser man would have wet their pants just looking at him. At least she had to give Monomo credit for that. "W-w-what are you doing here…"

"I told you to stay away from this house," Bakugou growled. "Stop harassing my human!" He snapped, making Monomo flinch. "You're making her panic!"

His…human? His anything? "You two know each other?" she asked quite innocently. Monomo on the other hand looked terrified at the question while Bakugou growled in response.

"Yeah. And this f##$%r was warned to stay away after that," Bakugou explained, red eyes still glowering at the man. Uraraka almost had a heart attack. What exactly had happened? Bakugou hadn't caused another fight, had he?

Monomo, still trembling, gathered up his courage and stood straight. "W-well, as it appears this house now belongs to me. So it is you who needs to leave." Bakugou raised an eyebrow while Uraraka's mind returned to the subject at hand. She knew Bakugou had to understand the situation since she had mentioned that she had to pay a certain amount each month. But she didn't want him to have to worry about having a place to stay, especially after losing his first home.

"Look, I can get the money!" Uraraka interrupted the silent battle between the two of them. "This is my parent's house. It's mine by right! Even if it takes me a little longer, I should still be able to keep the house!"

For a moment, Monomo's smug look and genuine fear was marred with a bit of pity. "Miss, look," he explained with a softer tone than Uraraka had ever heard from him. "The company wants this house. If I don't go back right now with the money due, they are going to take it. Do you have the full amount right now or not?" If it had been another time, Uraraka would have appreciated the honesty. But at the moment she was so worried about her house that he couldn't see anything other than an enemy.

"I-I've got most of it," Uraraka tried to assure him, but the expression on his face said that wasn't enough. Desperately, she forced Bakugou to slacken his hold on the doorframe a bit so she could reach to the small table next to the doorway. "Look, see!" Uraraka held up the envelope that contained what money she had to pay off the amount. "I've got most of it here." She handed it to him, giving him the chance to count it out. "It's almost enough, just a bit,"

"It's not enough though." Monomo interrupted. Uraraka's heart sank as he looked up at her, smugness slowly returning. "The house is ours then."

"No! Just-just wait five minutes!" There was a shuffling from behind her, but Uraraka didn't look back. "You can't take my parents' house, they left this for me! I need to,"

"Here."

Bakugou's arm flung out next to Uraraka. Both Uraraka and Monomo looked at the hand in stunned silence. In his hand he held a wad of twenty dollar bills. The glare on his face remained as he held it for Uraraka to take. Ochaco, in shock, slowly turned so she could look him in the eye. Bakugou just stared back at her, as if thinking, what are you doing round-face? Take the f##$%g money. "What are you doing Uraraka? Take the f#$%#g money." Wow, pretty close.

"…Bakugou…" Her words came out slowly, to stunned to properly come up with the words she was looking for. "…Where did…did you get that?" Bakugou glanced down at her, impatiently waiting for her to just take the stupid money. But she wouldn't. "Is that the money from the insurance company?" Uraraka asked. "No, you need that-

"It's not." He interrupted quickly. Uraraka stared at him, surprise and confusion mixing in her eyes. "I got it from my job." Uraraka blinked. His job? He HAD a job? Since when? It was true, she noticed that the past few days he had been away longer than she expected, but she hadn't realized he'd found a job. Or was he just returning to the one that he had before the explosion?

"I…" Uraraka didn't know what to say. "I…I can't just take your…"

"I got it for you," Bakugou stated, startling her once again. "So just take it already." After a quick glare at an equally stunned Monomo he added, "I'm not giving it to him." So he would give it to her…so she could give it to him instead.

Touched, relieved and exhaustion over her panic all seemed to hit her at once. The smile she gave him was so relieved that Bakugou's heart skipped a beat. That worried him. Was his heart malfunctioning? "Thank you," Uraraka said, distracting him from his inner turmoil. Cautiously, as if it would disappear, Uraraka took the money that was hanging over her shoulder. With trembling fingers she counted out the amount she needed. "Ah, Bakugou, this is too much,"

"Then keep some of yours," Bakugou retorted. "I told you, I got that for you. Don't be stupid and give it back." Uraraka was so grateful she didn't even notice the insult. Her hands shook as she took the envelope back from Monomo who was too stunned to react. She took out quite a bit from her own stash in order to put the amount Bakugou had given her in. As Monomo counted the money Uraraka held her breath. He even double counted it, just to be sure, which made Uraraka panic even more.

Bakugou seemed to notice this and snarled at Monomo. "Get on with it!"

Monomo jumped. Just out of annoyance to Bakugou, he wanted to say that there wasn't enough. But the amount of money was the agreed amount. If he said no all that would do was make them count it out, prove him wrong and send him packing looking even more pitiful than he already did. So instead, he looked up to meet their eyes with what little smugness he could muster. "…I'll see you again next month." Then he turned away to leave.

"You'd better not!" Bakugou howled at his back as he walked away. Uraraka said nothing, watching in shock as Monomo headed back to his car. She had expected that it would be her having to walk away. But she was still in the house. Safe. Right where she belonged. And she had only one other person to thank.

When the car was gone, Bakugou pulled Uraraka back and slammed the door shut. "What a waste of space," Bakugou growled. "Whoever gave him permission to live on this earth ought to be crushed. Give me some time, then I'll be sure to destroy,"

Uraraka didn't give him the chance to speak. Faster than Bakugou could blink, Uraraka launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around him in the tightest hug imaginable. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Oh great. He broke his human. She looked up at him, her eyes wide and wet with hope and happiness. "I was so scared- thank you so much! I will repay every penny, I promise!"

"I-I…" Bakugou gulped. He…gulped? Oh great, he was broken too. Uraraka squealed, her smile so bright and open that Bakugou could have laughed at earth's star for even trying to be as bright as her. And that smile wasn't made for any of the pathetic humans. That smile was for him. Because he made her smile.

When Bakugou smiled, it was the first time Uraraka had seen it without any malice. "You're…welcome." Ah, so that money stuff really WAS worth it. Uraraka beamed, pulling herself tighter into Bakugou's chest. He felt his own cheeks begin to burn, and he wondered if he was starting to lose control of his transformation. Uraraka on the other hand took a bit to pull back and gaze thoughtfully at him. This man who was extremely rude, hated all her friends and seemed to have no disregard for the lives of others had just helped her save her home. Bakugou may have been terrible at speaking with his words. But his actions were enough to melt her heart.

"You're really not all that bad, are you?"

"What the f #k is that supposed to mean?"

Laughing, Uraraka swept the small tears of relief from her eyes. "Nothing."

"It had better- WHY THE F #K ARE YOU CRYING?"

…

Kirishima practically skipped through the earthen forests. They were strange and different, but in the time they had stayed he had grown to love the smell of the trees and the green of what Jiro called leaves. Especially when he wasn't walking through there alone.

At the moment he was rushing over to their ship, hidden through the forest trees. It was the blue cruiser, made specifically so it could blend in with large bodies of water. Aizawa and Mic had asked Kirishima to be back as soon as possible, but Kirishima wanted to make sure he was back into the human village even faster than that. Jiro, the human girl, had invited him to play those games with their primitive technology at her home again. The graphics and technology were annoying, but Kirishima could handle it! They were fun to play, and he loved watching her laugh when he got excited about the races. Someday, maybe he could take her to join him in an actual race!

This thought was on his mind as he jumped into the ship. His mood was dragged down as he entered the tense atmosphere around him. Aizawa was sitting at the control desk, going over the information they had already found. Mic was playing with a number of electronic contraptions that he'd bought with that 'money' he'd told Kirishima about. It was a good idea to bring him. He knew a whole lot more about the planet than Kirishima had ever been able to learn from the files they'd skimmed over. He wouldn't have been able to talk to Jiro at all if it weren't for him.

And Aizawa would have been even more stressed than he already was, that was certain. "Okay, so let's figure this out. The explosion that caused damage to their building a few moon cycles ago was likely Bakugou arriving. We don't know what happened to him after or where he is in the village-city," he corrected himself when Mic glanced up. "And there have been a number of citing's of a blond man going around taking metal pieces and electronic devices. If this is Bakugou, and it probably is, this means that he is able to disguise his true form. If not the humans would be going on a rampage."

"Hey hey hey!" Mic hollered, breaking both Aizawa and Kirishima's eardrums. "I thought you said this guy was built to destroy. Other than the apartment, nothing's been destroyed! These-" he gestured to the little screen machines, "News reporters have said nothing about him."

"And what does he want all the metal pieces for?" Kirishima piped in. "Is he building something? He's got to have a place to build it in secret if no one has noticed it yet. Or has he made allies on this planet? I know we thought it was unlikely but,"

"I don't KNOW Kirishima!" Aizawa yelled at him. "Bakugou is in this city doing-something that could get him in even more trouble than he already is and could cause the lives of hundreds but we don't even have a clue where he is or what he is doing! The boy should be being shown that he has a chance to do more but as far as we know he could be creating a slave army right now. I know he can be better, but he just leaves without even giving me the chance to-" Aizawa cut himself off when he noticed that the aliens around him were both staring. He gave a deep sigh, then turned back to his desk. "I…Don't know."

Present Mic said nothing. Kirishima wanted to kick himself for not remembering just how much stress Aizawa had been putting himself under these last few weeks. He felt it was his job to make sure Bakugou got another chance at life. But he just ran off before Aizawa could give him that chance.

In an attempt to cheer him up Bakugou spoke up. "He's slated for execution though, right? I guess he can't get himself in any more trouble than that." It was a cheap shot, ignoring the fact that others could suffer because of him. But Aizawa let out a humourless laugh which at least relaxed Bakugou a bit.

Kirishima pitied Aizawa. He didn't understand exactly the relationship between him and Bakugou, but when he had asked Kirishima in person to be their soldier, he knew something was up. All the reports classified Bakugou as a dangerous threat who could kill without a second thought. Endeavor, when checking Kirishima over to make sure he was qualified, made sure he understood that the creature was to be brought in for execution. That he was not to speak to him, engage with him or listen to him in any way. Bring him in, give him to the elites, then go to the next mission.

But Aizawa had told him a different story. He didn't deny that Bakugou was dangerous, or that he could kill without a second thought. But he believed that he had never been given another option. Aizawa had said that he thought if Bakugou Katsuki was trained to think alternatively, then he could be an asset, not a threat. Apparently he had refrained from attacking him and that gave Aizawa hope.

Unfortunately, not even Present Mic seemed to believe him. Kirishima wasn't sure. He hadn't been there when the creature was getting tried, or when he escaped. But he knew Aizawa. He had been one of the ones to help Kirishima become an intergalactic soldier and gave him contacts with the best teachers. Aizawa may have had his faults, but he was usually a good judge of character. And someone who could give others a second chance when no one else would was really manly in Kirishima's books.

Kirishima knew that Aizawa wanted to the one to find Bakugou, and as soon as possible. Kirishima had his orders, and he couldn't be sure he wouldn't follow them. Present Mic was…still not sure his friend was right about this guy. He'd seen a lot of the damage Bakugou had done to the ship and thought his friend was being a bit to idealistic. Aizawa had to get to Bakugou soon, before he did something that would ruin his chances. Stop him BEFORE he destroyed anything or lives were lost. He still wanted to give him a chance. If he couldn't stop him before that, then Aizawa had no hope of convincing the council to change their decision.

The little information they had about the person they assumed was Bakugou involved him causing fights, being watched by the police, and gathering pieces of metal. Best case scenario? He was trying to build a ship to escape the planet, or some form of a surveillance device to learn more about the earthlings. Worst case scenario? It was a weapon.

Kirishima wished he hadn't brought it up. "You know, it may be a good thing that we haven't found anything yet," Kirishima offered. Both Mic and Aizawa turned to him like he was insane. "I mean, other than the explosion, we haven't heard of that much damage other than a few hurt humans. No one is hurt and there hasn't been much destruction. That's a good sign right?"

"Or it just means he's waiting for his moment or planning something for later." Aizawa grumbled, always the optimist.

"Hey, we can't think like that," Kirishima said, hands reaching out as if to hug hum, but slowly falling back to his sides.

For a minute, Aizawa said nothing. He recognized that Kirishima was trying to cheer him up, but knew there was nothing to be said other than we've found Bakugou, he hasn't done anything and the council has decided to pardon him! So with that option out of the way, Aizawa decided there was no point in making Kirishima worry. "Has your human got any information?" He asked.

At least Shouta talking again encouraged Kirishima. "She says the humans still haven't figured out what caused the explosion, but I doubt they ever will if it was his pod self-destructing like we thought. She says that there hasn't been anything different other than Uraraka paying for the house, Todoroki apparently asking her about Yaoyorozu…" he trailed off when even Present Mic looked up from the screens to stare at him.

"What?"

It took Kirishima a second to figure out what they were asking about. "Oh, those are friends of Jiro's. It's not really relevant to our mission."

Aizawa tilted his head in confusion. "Why are you collecting that data?"

Kirishima hesitated, not sure how the attention suddenly turned on him. "It's not…especially helpful to the mission…But it's important to keep up relationships with humans, right? By remembering this stuff, it shows I care!" Kirishima didn't mention that Aizawa had originally stated that there was no point in talking to humans in the first place. "It's for the mission."

"Uh-huh," Present Mic interrupted, a devious knowing look on his face. "I think that our little soldier is just getting feelings for his human girllllll. She your girlfrienddd?" Aizawa hissed. What were they, newborns? Did they want to complain that they didn't get the blue meat instead of the red meat now?

Their soldier on the other hand tilted his head to the side. "What? Of course she's my girlfriend!"

Both Present Mic and Aizawa nearly fell out of their chairs. "You've started dating her?" Mic screamed, ignoring both his friends desperately covering their ears.

When he recovered Kirishima frowned. "Huh? What's a date?" His reaction quickly calmed the two aliens down.

"Oh. Nah Kirishima, girlfriend is a human term that refers to their female lover. Dating is how they humans court each other." Oh, Lover! That made sense. Well, the term 'girlfriend' sounded weird, but if that was how it worked…

"So if I did… 'Dating' with her, then she'd be my lover? Or, eh, girlfriend?" His question caught Mic off-guard. For once he was silent. It was rare to see their earthern culture specialist be at a loss for words. Kirishima wasn't sure what he'd said that had caught him off-guard. Confused, he turned to Aizawa for answers, only to find that his friendly alien partner was just as serious as he was.

Aizawa actually turned his chair so that he was facing Kirishima, the looming threat that Kirishima didn't want to hear what he said hanging over him. "…theoretically yes, but...That is not going to happen, right?" Kirishima scrunched his nose in confusion. "…Kirishima, you're blending into this world better than I expected. But this…relationship can't last." He paused to make sure Kirishima was paying attention. Only that glance was what gave Aizawa the chance to see Kirishima's sunny exterior starting to fade. "You know that, right? Relationships with people in worlds that aren't even a level 3 planet is illegal. And in case you have forgotten, we have a mission. You can keep up this friendship in order to get information, but anything other than that would just hurt you and the human. You know you can't stay here Kirishima,"

"I know." Kirishima interrupted Aizawa. "…Believe me, I know." That had been one of the main things that they engrained into soldiers heads when they were training. Have a romantic relationship with a member of an underdeveloped world wasn't at the top of their importance but it was illegal in their politics. They were people who did not even know about the existence of other species, so have a relationship of them was considered taking advantage of their lack of knowledge. Even as he made the friendship with Jiro, he had reminded himself that it had to be a brief, shallow friendship at the most.

But then they'd started talking. Then he'd seen how flustered she got over the smallest compliments or kind gestures. Her laugh when he did something goofy like try to pick up those animals she called pigeons. How excited she was while playing those racing games or talking about music made by humans Kirishima had never heard of. They went to tour the city, the area she lived in, the place she worked, all these precious things that

Eventually Krishima started to think that what was supposed to be a shallow friendship had become something that meant so much more to him. And despite the law telling him it was wrong, his heart yearned for more.

He knew these humans were smart! It wasn't like he was trying to date a teenager, she was his age in years. They were great people, all of the ones that Jiro introduced him to! Maybe they didn't have the same extensive knowledge of the universe, but most of them showed the capabilities of understanding it all! It wasn't their fault that they happened to be born into a species that wasn't technologically advanced enough yet. But they were capable of interacting with other species. They were smart emotionally and mentally. He didn't want to trick or hold any power over Jiro. He wanted to learn all about her world and teach her all about his.

Just not telling her who he was was critical to them gaining information.

And despite the fact that Kirishima had been the one to remind others of that, he was the one wishing he could find a way to just tell her everything.

…

After their conversation, Kirishima had decided he needed some air. Both Aizawa and Present Mic tried to tell him to stay at the ship, but Kirishima assured them he was fine. He just needed to go for a walk. Clear his head and…Maybe make some decisions.

What he knew about interspatial relationships with residents of worlds below a world 3 level was nothing new to him. He'd found that the easiest part of his training to get through. Since he'd never cared about relationships, he never even gave much thought to it. The fact that he was even struggling with the law would have made his past self-drop their jaw in shock. Every time he stopped to think about this, he felt guilty. Not just that he wanted to break the law, but that it was a reminder of what he was doing.

Jiro had been honest with him. Whenever he asked a question she would answer him honestly. He doubted she even thought about lying to him. But every time she wanted to learn more about him, his answers were so vague he sometimes had to lay on top of the space ship and star at the stars while wishing that gravity would fail and he'd be flung into space like a comet. He wasn't a good liar! He hated lying! He just wanted to tell her absolutely everything he could. Sometimes he had to cover his mouth to stop from completely spilling everything and everything about the whole universe.

What was worse? After Jiro had been opening up to him about how she felt like she wasn't doing enough with her life, she smiled up at him with her cheeks a light shade of pink. Y-you know, I'm really glad I went to the music store that day. I'm glad I've got someone I can be so honest with that I trust.

Kirishima wanted to die.

With a groan, Kirishima ran his hands across his face and forced himself to focus on his path. Only then did he realize where his legs had carried him. Kirishima found himself standing in front of Jiro's home building she called an apartment. Inwardly he cursed himself. Why had he walked there? Had his body unconsciously brought him to the first and last place he wanted to be? Of course he wanted to see her. But he knew his responsibilities said that when he saw her, he would have to make a big decision. Though it wasn't very manly, Kirishima took a step back to turn away.

"Kirishima!" Oh no.

Turning, he caught sight of Jiro walking down the streets, a bag of food in the paper bag. Instantly he double checked to make sure he had transformed properly. Every time he went back to see her, Kirishima had to remind himself to hide his features enough to appear human. His pointed teeth, red eyes, skin the same thickness of metal and sizzling hair wouldn't go away, but he could at least hide the rest. His skin that was normally near transparent with red undertones was turned pale to match the other humans. His hands which were usually pointed into claws were softened just enough so that only the nails were pointy. Thankfully humans always wore coverings over their tops, because if not they would see that his chest was not just a faded transparent colour but completely transparent with a glowing layer of heat that hid his inner organs and got extremely bright around his heart. That would have been pretty difficult to explain…Not to mention the three cuts along each side of his neck which let him breath through smoke, low oxygen levels and underwater. Yeah, that would be pretty hard too.

But he wouldn't ever have the chance.

Right. He needed to talk to her. He couldn't continue lying to her like this. Even if that meant he couldn't see her then…She'd be better off that way.

Oh why did she have to turn such a nice shade of red on her cheeks when she saw him? And that shy smile was going to be the death of him.

On his planet everyone had red hair and eyes and the layer below their skin on their chest was the red of flames. But the way humans did it, slowly turn a brighter shade of red at their pudgy cheeks when they were embarrassed, hot or too happy? It was the cutest thing Kirishima had ever seen! No one from his planet was capable of doing that.

He was going to miss that when he left.

Unable to run away, Kirishima simply waited as Jiro jogged over to him. "Hey, what's up? I thought we weren't meeting till later?" Right. He'd forgotten about their plans together.

"I know. But I just…happened to be around, so…" He gave that sheepish smile that made Jiro's heart skip a beat. "Are you busy?"

"N-no! Course not!" That came out way too quickly. Smooth Jiro, she berated herself. While cringing inside, she opened the door to the lobby. "Come on, we'll play some games. I hope you like dollar store ramen, cause that was all I was gonna eat." Kirishima had no idea what that was, but as long as it wasn't poison he really didn't care.

Jiro led him to the elevator, inwardly having her own little battle with herself. He's here early. Why is he here early? I was planning on having some time to calm down, to think over what I was going to say? Jiro silently cursed Momo for even getting the idea in her head in the first place. Oh gosh, am I realllly going to do this? She moaned to herself.

As they got in the elevator, Kirishima could feel Jiro's body temperature begin to rise. He hadn't done anything yet, so he couldn't figure out what had startled her. The species from his planet were based around strength and heat, which meant that not only was his body build to be physically stronger in battle, but it radiated heat from his hair and chest. On the plus side, he was able to sense the heat in others. For most alien species, this meant nothing, but humans were warm-blooded. It had become the perfect tell when he and Aizawa had gone around questioning humans. "Are you okay?" He asked, making Jiro jump. "Your heat-ah, you look kind of nervous." He found out the hard way that human's couldn't sense the heat in others unless touching them. Once they had been questioning one girl who had been giving Aizawa a few dreamy looks. Kirishima had mentioned that her body was overheating and the women got so embarrassed she didn't answer any more of their questions.

"Y-yeah…" Jiro stuttered, fingering the necklace of a skull around her neck. "I…Actually, can I ask you something?" Her own breath caught as she said it.

What are you doing? There's no way someone as cool as him would be interested in someone like you! Maybe. Yeah, that was the voice that Jiro let run her thoughts a lot lately. But her friends put other little voices in her head. Jiro, you are absolutely wonderful! He'd be lucky to have you! Momo had told her. Come on, you're so cool Jiro! You play video games, love rock music, and can magically find ways to never get your headphones all tied up! What else could a guy want? Said Kaminari, but she wasn't sure how reliable he was. You'll only get a no if you never say anything, Uraraka had advised her. There was enough voices in her head telling her to go for it so that her own was at least quiet enough to let her take the chance.

Kirishima's heart froze. Oh gosh. He already had important stuff to figure out. Now she had something she needed to discuss? "Sure," he asked, barely containing a fearful squeal. "What's up?"

"Uh…" Jiro ran one hand through her hair in frustration. "Oh man, this is gonna sound so stupid. L-look, do you wanna…I don't know, just…Go get a coffee sometime?"

"Coffee?" he asked. Jiro misinterpreted what he was confused about and went on.

"O-Or it doesn't have to be coffee! It could be dinner…or even brunch or something with food because it seems like all happy events seem to involve food," She added, a little sarcastic at the end. Kirishima had to bite his lip to keep from smiling. While he loved her deadpan humor, he could tell she was trying to be as serious as possible. "W-what I'm trying to say," She stopped to take a deep breath. "W-w-would you…uh….wannagooutonadatewithmesometime?" She sped through her words so fast that she doubted he caught them. A part of her hoped he didn't.

Unfortunately for her, his particular species was known for being adaptable to different situations. Often their skin was tough to combat any potential danger. When it got to loud, like around present Mic, he was able to adapt to nullify the effects of his noise. When it was quiet, like around Jiro who got flustered and nervous a lot, Kirishima automatically adjusted his ears so he could understand when she was speaking to quickly or to quietly. And he had caught every word perfectly.

"…A date." Jiro flushed immediately and covered her face with both hands. She wished she wasn't such a schoolgirl. She was twenty four! Wasn't the ideal scenario that when she was at that age she didn't get flustered about dating anymore? Or that she was some super cool boss girl that could ask anyone she wanted out? Oh gosh, why couldn't she not be such a dork? Ugh…

While Jiro went through her emotional turmoil, Kirishima's body felt like he had just jumped into a volcano. A date? As in the courting thing that Present Mic had been talking about? As in, she was trying to court him? Romantically? One side of his head was leaping for joy. Yes! She likes me to! We can do this! The other side was returning to the dilemma he had been planning on talking about with her that very day. She's HUMAN. You can't do that! That is illegal! You want to be in a relationship where you can't even tell her who your parents are? With someone who probably doesn't know the Fires of Rebirth celebration? How are you going to explain this to Aizawa? He really hated the sensible part of his brain for having so many good points.

But if…if she was asking him out, then he was just going along with his cover, right? That was what Aizawa would call a loophole right?

Anything other than that would just hurt you and the human.

Kirishima didn't want to hurt Jiro. He didn't want to feel the pain that he knew would come when he had to leave. But…he was already pretty deep in anyway, right? How much of a difference would it make if he just continued the path he was going to take? Before he left, before he would have to end it all and never see her again, they ought to make the most of their time together, right? For better or for worse, Kirishima always had a habit of following his emotional side rather than his logical side.

Ignoring the little voice in his head that said it was a bad idea, Kirishima grinned so wide that it revealed his pointed teeth. "Yeah!"

Jiro was snapped out of her momentary depression so fast it had to be a world record. "Y-Yeah?"

"A date! That's what lovers do, right?"

Jiro nearly had a heart-attack. "O-one date doesn't make us lovers!" Instantly Kirishima's face fell. Embarrassed, but also a little flattered, she added, "I mean…it could in the future." Do not make eye contact, do not make eye contact! His smile could make a crying baby laugh, do not look into his eyes!

"Yes!" Kirishima whooped while pumping a fist in the air, making Jiro's face turn an even brighter shade of red. "Awesome! That sounds manly! Let's do a date!"

"Ah, go on a date," Jiro corrected him even though he didn't hear her. She couldn't do anything to take that adorable smile off of his face if she tried. Kirishima was still a big red ball of sunshine as the elevator dinged and they got off on Jiro's floor. Jiro, who was still as red as a sunset, tried to calm down the conversation a bit. "Oh, hey, Uraraka was able to pay of the house this month!"

It seemed to work and Kirshima's excitement faded enough to speak. "That's great!"

"Yeah, that guest of hers was willing to pay off what she couldn't. He even got a job just to help her. How awesome is that?"

"Sounds really manly," Kirishima agreed, though was starting to get annoyed with Jiro praising someone else so fondly.

"I know. I mean, I feel pretty bad that I didn't like him before now. When Uraraka told me she was letting him stay at her house after the apartment building exploded, I thought she was out of her mind for letting a stranger no one seemed to know stay with her. And he had been wearing this weird costume to, like a cosplay or something. And after he took her dad's record player for some ship he's apparently building in the backyard, I wanted her to kick him out!" Jiro shook her head, still a little miffed about that whole thing. "But turns out he's not as bad as I thought…Or he thinks he's going to be staying long enough that he needs to pay rent." That made Jiro pause as she contemplated that. "Man…if that's so, Uraraka's going to need to get used to having a housemate. Really, I don't know why she didn't think about that when she first got her parents' house. It could have been good…"

As Jiro trailed off, Kirishima on the other hand was at red alert. Weird costume? Ship building? Came from the apartment that exploded yet no one seemed to know him? HIM? Kirishima was getting an odd feeling about this stranger, with suspicions that he hoped he was wrong about. "Has he…gotten into any fights?" It took Jiro a minute to realize that he had backtracked back to Uraraka's housemate.

After giving him an odd look she said, "Oddly specific, but yeah actually. Remember, he's the one who was their when Uraraka got fired. Uraraka said both of them were in the fight but if you ask me…" As she talked about it, she remembered another conversation she had had with Uraraka. "You know, Uraraka was saying that he does a lot of the stuff you do? Maybe you're both from the same country. Where are you from again?"

Instantly Kirishima felt that pang of guilt as he rushed to come up with an answer. "Ah…real far away. Small country. Doubt you heard of it. But, uh, what's his name?" Guilt could wait. Besides, if this was going where he was thinking it was, Kirishima thought Aizawa would forgive him.

"His name is Bakugou Katsuki. Any chance you know him?"

"…Yeah, I think so. Any chance I could meet him?"