It took much less time than Bakugou would have liked. He never took his hand away until the very end, trying to prolong the moment of touch as much as possible. What had suddenly occurred to him earlier seemed to be nothing more than an illusion. With Midoriya standing right next to him, how could there be a barrier between them? Bakugou turned his head. A few freckles caught his eye, jumping happily across her ruddy cheeks. Midoriya was talking enthusiastically about something. But he didn't seem to be listening.

"I heard that he was acquainted with the Almighty when he was young," Midoriya exclaimed. She turned around to meet Bakugou's gaze. "Kacchan?"

Looking into Midoriya's face, Bakugou moved even closer. How long had it been since he had looked at her like that? It seemed as if she had always been there for him. As if he did not have to think about it every time, but now, there was something strange about her appearance. When had there been such a glow of self-confidence in her eyes? Was she always like that?

"You're scaring me, Kacchan," Midoriya said with a step away from Bakugou. "What's wrong with you today?"

"Never mind," Bakugou replied, slapping Midoriya on the forehead. "Let's not go inside."

"Where to?"

Instead of answering, Bakugou led them to a nearby bench. Light from the dormitory windows fell on the ground in front of them. Midoriya also put her arm around Bakugou's shoulder and smiled.

"You're strange."

Midoriya freed herself from Bakugou's arms and straightened her legs, stretching slightly.

"Aizawa-sensei is so sure that we'll make it," Midoriya pressed her knees to her chest. "This will be our next step towards becoming professional heroes. We have such a chance in front of us, will we be able to take it? "

Bakugou put his hand on Midoriya's head and rubbed her hair lightly. Izuku looked up and looked at her friend questioningly.

"Sometimes, you think too much," he said and stared ahead.

Midoriya smiled and looked in the same direction.

"You're right."

For about ten minutes, Bakugou and Midoriya sat in silence, reluctant to ruin the moment. The sun was sinking even lower, painting the surroundings in dark colours. The clouds were gathering, accompanied by a cool breeze. They cast an unpleasant shadow over the land.

"What do you think about inviting Nakayama-kun to the dinner your mother is having?" Midoriya decided to say anyway. She looked at Bakugou with her head resting on her knees. He, who had been leaning back on the bench, jumped up.

"What?!" he shouted. "No, of course not, have you gone completely mad? I don't want him in my house either."

"But why?" Midoriya waved her arms, trying to show that she disagreed with him. "I think it will bring him closer to telling us everything!"

"Why would that be necessary when we already know everything?" Bakugou leaned back on the bench and grumbled reluctantly.

"No, you don't understand," Midoriya shook her head. "He can't and doesn't want to admit that he has problems controlling his quirk. Don't I know what it's like..."

Midoriya stumbled at the last sentence and fell silent, lowering her head. She looked at her hand, clenching and unclenching it a few times.

"It took me a while to learn how to use One for All and not break bones all the time," Midoriya said, pronouncing the name of the quirk so that even Bakugou could barely hear it.

"Argh," Bakugou scratched his head and gave up. "Fine, if that's the way you want it."

"Kacchan, it's not what I want, it's what we have to do for him."

"Yeah, yeah, you're such a pain," Bakugou squeezed Midoriya's cheeks with his hands and looked into her eyes. "What am I supposed to do with you, eh?"

"Leave me alone, Kacchan," Midoriya brushed him off and moved to the side. "You're really weird today."

Midoriya sneezed. Bakugou leaned closer again and put his hand on her forehead.

"You're getting sick," Katsuki muttered reluctantly. "I warned you!"

" "You didn't!" Midoriya tried to push Bakugou away from her, but he wouldn't let her go so easily.

"I told you I wouldn't help you if you got sick," Bakugou mumbled reluctantly, poking Midoriya in the forehead.

"Come on, Kacchan," Midoriya waved and got up from her seat. "Let's go inside, it's getting cold."

There was still half a week to go before the coveted weekend. Bakugou and Midoriya concentrated on studying and convincing Nakayama to join them. Though it was Izuku who was actually persuading him, and Bakugou sighing unhappily beside him, still not quite agreeing with the idea.

"Okay," Nakayama finally agreed. Midoriya clapped her hands happily and smiled.

"Thanks, I'm sure this will help."

Bakugou was not happy at the thought of Nakayama joining them, but one couldn't help but notice that his mood had improved. And indeed, Midoriya's remark that he was behaving strangely and unaccustomedly was not unfounded. Since their last conversation, he had hardly left Midoriya's side. In fact, it seemed as if the opposite was true. The number of times they trained together had multiplied and sometimes, Izuku caught long, studying glances at her. On the other hand, they stopped doing their usual things. Bakugou deliberately avoided Midoriya's room and ignored her requests to come. They stopped talking about heroes, and in fact, their conversations seemed to have dwindled again. It was as if Bakugou was hiding something and did not want to share it with her friend.

Midoriya walked up the stairs, looking forward to seeing her mother. The weekend came and there she was, standing on the doorstep of her flat, hesitating to ring the bell. There was a moment of confusion, but how uncomfortable that moment became. What was she so afraid of?

"Izuku, darling!" cried Inko, hugging her daughter as soon as she stepped inside. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Me too, mummy," Midoriya smiled back. "We have another person joining us today. He's our ward, you might say."

"I will be happy to meet him. Take off your shoes and come in quickly."

Midoriya took off her shoes and stopped at the mirror to adjust her clothes.

"Oh, your hair has grown back so much," Inko said with a shake of her head. "I can't see you at all, so I don't even notice it."

Midoriya looked at herself and was surprised to see that her mother was right. Her hair had never changed since she was a child. Usually, her curly hair had just rested on her shoulders, sometimes in a low ponytail, but now it had fallen far below its usual length.

"Indeed," Izuku murmured quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I hadn't noticed."