The days turned into weeks, before the students knew it. Time blurred and blended into itself. It certainly was a fine start to proceedings for the two UA students. Shinsou and Reiko had started to interact far more regularly, if not on campus, then at Nekonomicon. Shinsou started to learn more about this girl than he had ever expected, and he was finding himself annoyingly captivated by her. Much like how Eraserhead was his favorite hero as a kid, Ectoplasm was hers. In addition, despite her more gothic inspired aesthetic, Reiko was something of a beach bunny. She didn't go often, due to classes and living in a more landlocked area. Much of her surfing lately had been on the web, looking for and even writing her own creepy pastas.

Research on Yokai and other supernatural phenomena was another hobby of hers, having varnished her room with merchandise based on the various creatures. Her surf board and long board rested behind her door, next to a rack of various albums. J-pop, surf rock, and post-punk/ goth rock made up a majority of her collection. Shinsou had never actually been in her room yet, but she had shown it via camera phone photos. It was certainly an interesting setup and the general studies student could certainly appreciate the aesthetic.

The ghost girl also liked scary movies and spooky stuff but had her limits. Ghosts? Fine. Monsters? Cool and good. Slasher films? If you wanted to know how to spook a ghost girl, Shinsou now knew. It was amusing to say the least when the girl had invited him over to watch some horror films. The boy even brought a few of his own, including the original Nightmare on Elm Street. They had to stop part way through when the girl latched onto him in fear.

After a moment of embarrassment and fluster on both ends, the teens decided to watch something else, like Ju-On. Shinsou was amused and confused by how Slashers in particular freaked her out, but he didn't push it any further than that.

The indigo-haired student also discovered that they had a shared love for haunted houses. Chainsaw wielding maniacs would startle her, but unsettling children and poltergeists? "That last one is my quirk. No big deal."

"Huh. Guess that makes my dream more attainable." Shinsou grinned softly, clutching two bags in his hand, holding purchases from a local record store known as Scorchies'. He had visited it often, though not as frequently as Jirou, or Reiko apparently for that matter. He had offered to hold her bag while she held her longboard, an unfair advantage in travel. The brainwashing boy turned to face his companion as he spoke, still slightly confused as to how he ended up her bag guy when he was the one with the powers of persuasion. He didn't have many complaints though, oddly.

"How so?" Reiko gazed back, her short gray hair moving slightly as it was brushed away from her eyes.

"You got in, right? We have more in common than I expected. So, it stands to reason if you can, I can."

"I guess. Not sure if I should take that as a vote of confidence." The gray-haired girl smiled gently.

"I've got no tricks up my sleeve. Take it however you want." The brainwashing boy hunched as he walked, his fluffy shock of hair bouncing as he moved along.

"This time." Reiko interjected, her deadpan voice barely concealing the playful mischief underneath. "And I'll take it as a compliment, if it's all the same."

Chuckling to himself, Shinsou shook his head and smiled. He was confident now that one day, he would take someone's spot in the hero program. He didn't care who it was. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He wouldn't mind being classmates with Jirou. He had built a decent friendship with the girl. Midoriya was alright, though he felt less allegiance to the green-haired boy. Reiko? He could get used to seeing her in class. A gentle blush filled the boy's cheeks.

Was this… a crush? He was being stupid. Of course, it was. It was rather too soon, especially for someone whom Jirou had once described as "a zombie in a goofy purple clown wig, but with a worse personality". Sometimes, Shinsou really loved his friends. He had to appreciate it. He was growing closer to some of the hero students. One part of his brain saw that as an in, something to exploit on the way to his dream. It would only be logical. Given how cutthroat and competitive things could get, he supposed it was, at least. However, he was growing soft, he supposed, having a soft spot for these girls in 1a and 1b. One was even like some sort of cool cousin, if not a slight pain in the ass. The other, well, he had been over that already.

"If you say so, gray. C'mon. Drinks are on me." Stepping forward, the Indigo-haired boy held onto his bag and Reiko's as they marched towards the cat café.

"I kind of wish you would use my name, but it's cool I have a pet name now." The blue-eyed girl spoke lowly. She kept pace with her friend, longboard firmly in hand.

"Just how I am. I can call you Yanagi, if you want."

Reiko pondered as she put a finger to her pouty lips, a gray fringe covering her right eye. Shortly after, her fingers nimbly brushed the bang aside again.

"That works. How about Yanagrey? Or Greiko?"

"If I wanted to call you by your first name, I would call you by your first name." Shinsou scoffed.

"I take it you don't want to then."

"I…I never said that."

"You kind of did, yeah."

Reiko ran as she gently touched Shinsou's shoulder and hopped on her longboard after slapping it onto the ground. He should have expected such behavior from someone with a quirk called "poltergeist". Not as energetic as her green-haired classmate or the pink girl that Midoriya was dating, but that mischievous side of hers was apparent once you got to know her. She tended to be rather laid back and polite otherwise.

"Try to keep up, Hito." The gray-haired girl smiled as she threw up both hands in fists, sticking out only the thumb and pinky on both.

"Hey wait up! I didn't bring my bike" Shinsou ran faster than he had in some time. He wasn't out of shape by any means. The boy loved riding his bicycle everywhere. Marathon running still wasn't his forte though. Not that long boards were that hard to keep up with, but a head start on a hilly road was no fair.

"Reiko, slow down!" he barked in a low tone. His eyes widened. Had he used his quirk on her? He noticed her stop right when he said that. He didn't want to use it in public like this, especially not when he wasn't even a hero student, just general studies. He worried enough about people seeing him as a villain for his quirk. Using it so flippantly, against the law? It certainly did him no favors.

The girl stepped off her board and turned around, pouting in her default expression. What's more… was she blushing?

It was then that Shinsou blushed as well, deeper than before as he slapped his forehead. He used her first name. He hadn't even really known her that long. Was he really so soft that he was getting so casual with this girl. It had been, what, a month? Maybe even a few weeks? He didn't even know any more. What he knew is that he liked this, whatever they had going on. He didn't want to admit that readily, especially as he didn't want to be some reckless idiot who rushed forward. It was true though.

"Yanagi. I meant…" He watched her as she stood there, silent as a ghost. He would call it poetic if he hadn't realized how uncreative he was being.

"We can't both just stand around, Hito. It's cool. I called you by your first name too, remember?"

"I wish you wouldn't. We're not that close, Yanagi."

"Close enough to call each other nicknames. Close enough for first name basis. No need to be so harsh, dude." Reiko shrugged her shoulders, while keeping her trademark pose, arms tucked in front. Stomping on the tip of her board, the 1b student sent it skyward and shot out a hand, grabbing it casually and holding it over her shoulder. "These things happen."

"I'm still perplexed by how you made surfer goth a thing?" the boy sighed, resigning himself to the ridiculousness of it all.

"It's a thing? I never really noticed. I'd say you made it a thing. You named it."

"You embody it, Rei…gra…Yanagi." Shinsou sighed and shook his head. "Come on. We have fur babies to visit." He wasn't used to getting this flustered and losing his control, his cool. Then again, the teen boy deduced that any mystique he might have held was blown out of the water by the term "fur babies", not that he really cared about that, he supposed. The fluster? Sure. Calling cats exactly what they were? What was the problem with that?

"Funny how the scary brainwashing boy from gen ed unironically uses the term "fur babies". And yet you're still acting like you can't be soft." Her lips pursed into a gentle smile as she stepped out of the way and let Shinsou take the lead.

The wannabe hero student sighed, letting his shoulders slump and his lips pout a bit.

"Are you done teasing? You didn't strike me as the type."

"Nah. Not normally. That's more Tokage's thing. I'm just making an exception."

Before Shinsou could ask anything further, they had arrived back at Nekonomicon. Its familiar sign and one of the cats staring out the window were a dead giveaway. Opting not to lose one of her prized possessions, Reiko brought her board with her as Shinsou walked in and held the door for her.

"Who says chivalry is dead?" the ghost girl joked.

"If it was, you would just hold a séance for it. Come on Rei."

"Oh. We're moving rather fast…"

"You called me Hito. Come on, my arm's getting tired." Shinsou rolled his eyes, brushing his hair back with a smirk.

With that, the two teens entered.

X

"Hey. Kind of a weird question. And a scary one too."

"First off, other than slasher films and that blonde loudmouth in your class, not sure what could possibly scare you."

Shinsou took a swig of coffee, cats on either side of him like some sort of feline deity. Truly, he was king of cats. It was his third cup, and yet he still looked like it hadn't fully kicked in yet. Reiko, similarly, looked unaffected by her drinks, being on her second cappuccino, customized with the cream in the shape of a ghost cat. The baristas were very talented and passionate for a bunch of gloomy looking people in black. They were always rather friendly though, possibly because Shinsou was one of them, as was Reiko. The indigo haired boy took another sip, finishing his cup and putting it down as a curious calico crawled into his lap for mandatory affection. "

Villain attacks, maybe. Second off, this probably isn't a good sign, but I'll bite anyway. Shoot."

Reiko was capable of emoting, as Shinsou had seen in fleeting moments. However, her face tended to remain in an almost perpetual expression, punctuated by the way she held her arms like a traditional depiction of spirits in folklore. The girl's emotions were betrayed, though, by the color in her cheeks and the shifting of her eyes.

"right, so…" Reiko once again reached for her hair. It was something Shinsou had noticed but never paid much mind to, even as it increased in frequency.

Relaxing in her seat and taking a moment to compose herself, Reiko exhaled, feeling as if her quirk might activate accidentally and cause her to phase through the chair otherwise.

"You have friends in gen ed, right?"

Shinsou blinked. That wasn't the oddest question he had heard and it sure as heck wasn't scary. Maybe from Reiko's perspective, but he couldn't see how.

"Yeah. I have a nice group of friends in my class. Even fell in with some of you hero students." The boy reclined, stroking the cat in his lap, pondering deeply. How was that a scary question.

"Right…do you…well, do you like any of them? I mean…are you seeing anyone?"

Reiko blushed deeper, eyes closing in a seemingly uncharacteristic anxiety. It painted a picture of a normally aloof girl dealing with something tricky. That's when it hit Shinsou. Ok, now he saw how it was scary. A blush crept across the boy's face as he looked back at the girl, then at the cat in his lap.

"Huh… are you…"

Shinsou paused for what seemed like eons to both he and Reiko. Neither moved a muscle or spoke a word until finally, his lips pursed into a smile, growing toothier as it went on.

"Talk about fast, huh?"

Reiko looked back up at the boy she had grown fond of, head cocked to the side.

"Pardon?"

"I mean, you call me by my first name, or a short version of it. You want me to do the same. I have seen you smile more around me than you have probably smiled any time I walked by you just casually. Now you're asking this." Shinsou shook his head, leaning forward to look his friend straight in her deep blue eyes.

"Look. Not that I'm not flattered. But logically, this is way too fast. Plus, we're kinda moving quick, huh? Plus, I'm not even a hero student."

"I guess…. The gen ed thing isn't a big deal to me. We both go to UA and you're the coolest boy I've met. So…that's something." Her gaze lingered before drifting to the floor. "Guess you're right about the timing though."

Shinsou stared at the ceiling. The atmosphere of this place always calmed him down, gave him a place to relax outside of his room. While not as palatial as the hero dorms, Shinsou still lived on campus, though he had a roommate, another gen ed student. Saving space and what not. Regardless, there was something about this café, whether it be the décor, the theme, the music, or the cats, that made things more evident. Perhaps it was all four. Shinsou liked to think so. It was with this clarity that the gen ed student with dreams of heroism looked back down at Reiko.

"Yeah. We're still kids. Figuring things out. Like, what's to say this will work?"

Reiko seemed crestfallen but did her best to maintain that same face she always wore, getting up as if she was ready to go. She still hoped they could be friends. In fact, that is what the ghost girl fully expected. She could live with it, but it didn't make it hurt or disappoint any less.

"Yeah. I hear you. Guess I should get going then."

Quirking an eyebrow, Shinsou looked Reiko over. He wasn't finished. Not by a long shot. Still, she seemed defeated.

"What was it said earlier though, Rei? Chill out? I mean, you also said I was guilty of familiarity as much as you were. Logic can't hold all the answers can it?" his cheeks burned, and his heart skipped a little. Shinsou was shocked he was doing this. However, contrary to that, he supposed it only made sense.

"Nah. I'm not seeing anyone. I could though."

Reiko paused, looking back at him with her cheeks bright pink. Was this real? Was this a trick? Of course, it wasn't. He might have been manipulative just a tad in the sports festival, and his quirk was one associated with villains, but the gray-haired girl had learned in her short time of knowing this boy that he was better than that, even if he didn't quite realize that himself.

"You sure? You don't have to. I mean…"

A hand gripped Reiko's, shaky and sweaty and firm, yet gentle and sure. At least, as sure as a teenager's hand could be. The body the hand was attached to had lost its cargo, the formerly sleepy calico that had made its residence on the brainwashing boy's lap. Easy come, easy go. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want to. I mean, you're giving me a shot, right? It wouldn't be heroic to not afford you the same."

The girl's eyes were wider than usual. Her mind was racing as a wave of happiness crashed into the girl, knocking her off her mental surf board. Reiko was in total wipe-out.

"Rei? Gray? You okay?" Shinsou asked, concern and confusion in his dry voice. The fact that the boy rhymed three times in a row was not lost on him, and it earned an internal groan.

"Yeah, just drinking it all in…including those sick rhymes." A gentle smile crept across her face as she gripped the boy's hand.

"I just hope you're doing it because you like me and not to be a hero." Reiko joked, though the concern was in the back of her head. Even hero students got insecure over normal stuff like growing up.

"That did kind of sound bad, huh?" Shinsou stroked his hair once more and looked down. He could do this. Baby steps, Hitoshi. He kept telling himself. Just breathe. He exhaled and continued.

"I'm not great at this, ok? I have had other things on my minds."

"I've noticed. I can relate though. Part of why I almost didn't bring this up." The 1b girl walked closer, looking up at the taller teen with the fluffy indigo locks. She chuckled lightly.

"I mean, if you're sure."

"Positive, Rei. Cheesy as this is, you gave me hope that I could do this. Become a hero. You really lifted my spirits…"

This level of openness and sincerity could be alien to the boy who kept things under wraps most time. He had confessed to Midoriya, but only because they had been in a heated battle and his dreams were on the line. This felt different, better even. He could talk to Midoriya, he supposed. Jirou, for sure, though mostly in quips and a sort of quiet emo solidarity. Reiko? He was willing to go a bit further; anxiety and awkwardness be damned.

The girl's face was red now and her eyes sort of sparkled as some old post-punk song played over the speakers. Finally, gazing at the boy she liked, Reiko broke her normally dead faced expression and let out a soft laugh, growing louder the longer it went on. Now Shinsou was confused, possibly even insulted.

"Did…Did I say something?

A sudden realization hit as his previous words played back in his head. He looked at the girl with the ghostly quirk.

"Lifted my spirits…"

Shinsou slapped his forehead and sighed, letting out an exasperated chuckle of his own.

"God. Damn. It."

"Rhyming and puns? You surprise me." Reiko smiled, tugging gently on the boy's arm as she picked up her board and gestured to their bags, now a subject of curiosity for the cat café's inhabitants.

"C'mon. Let's go."

"Alright, Rei. Let me just say goodbye to my buds."

"Fur enough." Reiko shrugged."

"Stop it…" Shinsou, once again, could have used his quirk. He wouldn't. Not with innocents, not without a license, and certainly not with her. She was his friend, his kindred spirit and now, even he had to gulp a bit. She was his girlfriend. He might not have been a hero student yet, but things were certainly looking up.

"You punned first. I'm good now. Let's go." Content with herself and her situation, Reiko relaxed and leaned her arm gently against her date's.

The two teenagers said goodbye to the furry feline residents and the far less furry staff before exiting the building and heading for UA campus. The two had entered as friends and exited as more. Stranger things had happened, they supposed.

Who knew what the future held. Reiko and Shinsou sure didn't. They did know one thing, though. They would find out together.