The fact that Camie couldn't remember the last time she'd gone shopping was a sin.
With all the crazy hijinks that U.A. had been going through, other schools were finally starting to feel the aftershocks, and as number two, Shiketsu was a prime example. The public outcry for hero student safety had been at an all-time high since Kamino specifically, so now, Shiketsu was really starting to crack down on it, namely with students traveling anywhere without a chaperone of some kind.
"Such a drag." she couldn't help but think to herself. "And I thought the rules on dating were a buzzkill."
With how strict Shiketsu was, it was practically a circus act to get them to let her go out by herself since none of her classmates could or would go with her, especially since she herself had been targeted before. If there was one thing that she and Bakugou agreed on wholeheartedly, it was that the knife chick from the LoV sucked.
With that in mind, when she finally got permission to go shopping at one of the nicer, larger malls in Tokyo, she practically had glamor wafting from her lips as she walked, as if she was expecting to get jumped the moment she stepped outside. She may be a ditz, but if something went wrong this time, then she could kiss any freedom she might have in the future goodbye, and so could all of her homies.
She wasn't about to be that guy.
It was a particularly frigid winter afternoon, the wind nipping at Camie's cheeks as she quickly shuffled her way into the crowded mall. Christmas had never been as big of a thing in Japan as it was in the west, but Camie had always been fond of the holiday, pigging out on KFC and watching cheesy Hallmark movies with subtitles. Of course, she'd never felt like she celebrated it at the fullest, considering that it was the perfect time to spend with someone special and she was painfully single (again, Shiketsu was a buzzkill), but that didn't make the time spent by herself any less meaningful, at least potentially, so it was whatevs.
Civilians bustled about, aimlessly frolicking from store to store as the day drew on. Children played with their new toys while couples exchanged jewelry and trinkets and people of all ages crowded around the hero merch shops. Camie could see fellow teens gathering around the video game and clothing stores, and she couldn't help but think that they had the right idea.
She could have sworn that she heard familiar excited screeching, but it wouldn't be until a little later that she would put any names or faces to it.
Five large shopping bags draped over her arms from at least three different stores, Camie huffed fondly as she answered her ringing phone, Inasa's grinning face appearing in her contacts. "Y'ellow."
"Utsushimi!" he greeted loudly. "This is my mandatory hourly call to make sure that you're in good health during your outing! Again, I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to accompany you!"
"Yo, chill, bud." said Camie. "I get you were busy, really. We cool. Also, it hasn't been an hour since your last call yet. Also also, you can call me Camie."
"I just wanted to take an initiative! Your safety is important!"
Camie smiled. "Appresh the thought, my guy."
A shock of familiarity suddenly hit her peripheral, and Camie suddenly found herself backpedaling, practically moon-walking to where she was and leaning heavily to the side to see past the ebbing crowds. Her eyes eventually fell on a lonely bench, situated by a fountain filled to the brim with pennies and decorated in plastic greenery. The light of the late afternoon sun seemed to hit the spot just right, the unmistakable ash blonde color that had caught her eye almost washed out by the rays spilling into the mall plaza from the high sunroof sitting above their heads.
"Uh..." Camie started. "Hey, yo, is it cool if I call you back?"
"Of course-!" She almost felt bad for cutting him off like that, but frankly, she saw Inasa every day.
It wasn't every day that she saw either of her U.A. friends, especially since neither of them would know relationships if it bit 'em in the ass.
Elbowing her way through the crowd, she was able to find some breathing room once she got within a certain distance of him. Apparently, the guy emitted enough of a presence that the average Joe knew better than to get too close and would trip over themselves to steer clear of his personal bubble.
Because Bakugou Katsuki had one hell of a personal bubble.
"Yo, what's up, B." Camie greeted, sauntering up to stand by the bench. Normally, she'd have just sat down like she owned this joint, but the look in his eyes before she'd even opened her mouth had her pausing.
Apparently, he must have been really out of it, because if she didn't know any better, she'd say that he jumped, his glare swiveling to meet her gaze. Even with the sharp warning in the way the sun lit his crimson eyes like wildfires, there was a strange, foreign cloudiness to them that had alarm bells going off in Camie's head.
She may be a ditz, but she knew a thing or two about feelings.
"Oh, it's you." he spat, his voice dripping with so much disdain that it sounded obnoxiously forced as his body slowly relaxed, no longer tightened like a spring as he slouched forward, head resting in his hand as he glared off into space. Camie, taking the lack of yelling and explosions as an invitation, plopped down next to him.
She didn't like how low his shoulders were sagged. Throughout the short time she'd known him, he'd always had bad posture, but this sort of slouching almost looked weirdly, uncharacteristically defeated, and she didn't like it. He was also oddly quiet, sitting here glaring at nothing instead of screaming in indignant rage for no good reason, and his presence was that much more subdued because of it.
She might not have known the guy for all that long compared to some, but from what she did know, this was straying pretty far from the norm.
"So, what's the occasion?" Camie started, the explosive teen not even bothering to look at her. She fought the urge to pout. "I didn't take you for the 'regular outings' type."
"'M not." he grumbled, his glare hardening to an impossible degree.
"Then what'cha doing here, then?" she asked, only for her face to light up a moment later. "Oh!" she gasped, slamming her fist into her open palm. "You're here with your fam!"
"They're not my 'fam'." he sneered, clearly not amused.
"You're squad, then."
"They're not my fucking squad."
Camie pursed her lips, letting the two of them stew in their silence before leaning back to stare up at the sunroof. "You seem upset."
"No shit, Sherlock."
"No, but like," She gestured vaguely at the open air. "More upset than usual."
He didn't say anything to that, simply pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged and crossing his arms almost protectively, expression pinched. Camie tilted her head. "Did something happen?"
"None of your business." he growled dangerously, and it almost reminded Camie of a cornered animal. "What the hell are you even doing here, anyway?"
"Shopping, fam!" she exclaimed, holding her bags up proudly. "Times have changed, my guy! With everything that's happened these last few months, I gotta get out whenever I can! All of us at Shiketsu aren't allowed out all that often, you know?"
Something changed in his expression, almost like the permanent spark in his eyes dimmed just the slightest bit, and even though he wasn't even looking at her, it was one of the most jarring things she'd ever seen. "Right." he muttered.
Ah.
A part of her wanted to backpedal, take the words back and maybe start this conversation over, because there were enough context clues beaming her in the back of the head that she could get some kind of picture about what she was dealing with. That, and she was in a similar situation at one point. It wasn't a fun thing to remember.
Still...
"You wanna talk about it?" she tried, testing the waters.
He remained silent. On one hand, it wasn't a clear 'fuck off', but on the other, you couldn't really talk about something without, you know, talking.
She finally let herself pout, sitting back on the uncomfortably stiff bench and watching him from her peripheral. He made no moves to leave, but he didn't turn either, remaining eerily quiet. So quiet, in fact, that some sick part of her brain asked if perhaps this was Toga Himiko.
Not now, Camie.
Watching wordlessly, she didn't like the way his face smoothed out, the soft, distant look in his eyes almost sad, contemplative. She'd say he looked much hotter when he was like this if it didn't make her so depressed. Glamor wafting aimlessly from her lips, Camie couldn't help the soft, mischievous smile that spread across her face, her hand hovering daintily by her mouth.
"Hey, Baku. Remember this?" she said, winking as he barely glanced her way and softly blowing pastel mist into her hand.
The mist swirled over her open palm as a familiar silhouette formed, sparkling heterochromatic eyes and a handsome smile greeting them as Camie's tried and true 'Prince Todoroki' illusion appeared.
"My darling," his soft tenor hung in the air, warming Camie's cheeks as the illusion held his hand out. "Even if all the oceans upon the Earth were to be brought together, it would still pale in comparison to all the love I have for you."
Camie grinned expectantly, her eyes brimming with mirth in the presence of 'Glamouroki', as Bakugou liked to call this particular illusion. Camie had felt almost warm and fuzzy when Todoroki, with an air of confused wonder, had told her that it was the first time he'd ever heard Bakugou laugh. In fact, he'd started to think that he couldn't.
Bakugou, in turn, stared blankly at the illusion, the awkward silence stretching out to impossible levels as Glamouroki held his position, not moving a muscle. Eventually, there was a soft snerk.
But then he turned away, his softened face from the small moment of entertainment looking almost...purely sad.
It made Camie freeze. Shit, this was serious.
Glamouroki had always been a winner, an instant classic. Every time she'd brought this particular illusion out, she'd always been able to pull a laugh out of the ash blonde. At this point, it was her secret weapon, her magic defuser for when other students in remedial classes would get on Bakugou's nerves and she was the closest person to him.
In other words, it didn't work, and it never...didn't work.
Camie frowned. "Shit, man. You sad."
"Fuck off." he snarled. "If you have nothing useful to say, then get lost."
Camie, in fact, did not get lost.
Staring down at her hands, Camie wracked her brain for ideas. Glamouroki had always been such a hit that she hadn't ever thought to come up with a backup plan, and now, that was really coming back to bite her. She was a one-hit-wonder, a one-trick pony.
In that case, she'd have to get creative. After all, heroes ended up in tight situations all the time. Being a problem solver was an important skill in this particular business.
"Hey, Baku." she started, lightly elbowing him. He didn't budge. "Bakuuuuuu."
"What?" he growled, teeth bared as if he might actually try to bite her.
"Who were those two that you always complained about dancing around each other?" she asked. "Er, I mean, one danced around the other and the other just makes fun of him?"
Bakugou glared at her, deadpan. "Sparky and Earlobes?"
"Yeah, yellow guy and purple chick." she grinned. "Okay, okay. So..."
With a puff of smoke, Camie spoke with an obnoxiously deep voice. "This is the story of a man."
She cupped her hands as the illusions formed before them, two familiar figures appearing before their very eyes. Camie didn't know the two as well as she knew Bakugou or Todoroki, but she supposed that it didn't particularly matter in this scenario.
In the illusion, the two figures, dressed in royal attire, stood facing each other, yellow uncharacteristically stoic and purple even more uncharacteristically tearful.
"My love!" Jirou called out desperately, and Bakugou snorted loudly. "Please, I'm begging you!"
Like a scene from a bad soap opera or a shitty knockoff Shakespeare play, Kaminari turned away with an exaggerated gesture, a sparkling tear in his eye as Jirou reached for him. "Believe me when I say that you are the only one I could ever love! Nothing in the universe, not even death himself, could ever take me from your side!"
Now, there was a particular way, Camie learned, that Bakugou's face would contort when he was trying not to laugh, and it was the kind of face that made it impossible not to snerk or snort if you applied enough pressure. Either way, the way Bakugou was trying to force himself to breathe evenly was a good sign that Camie was on the right track.
So, she raised the stakes. After all, laughter was simply a reaction to stimuli that the brain couldn't fully process. That's what Shishikura snapped at her at some point, anyway.
"Wait!" another pleading voice suddenly rang out, and Bakugou was gawking in disbelief as a dashing prince in bright red appeared in a dramatic flare of shimmering smoke.
"That is not true!" 'Prince Kirishima' proclaimed, his sharp teeth gleaming in the light. "For no matter how fair a maiden, none could possibly love you as I!"
Camie had never paused an illusion mid-scene, but there wasn't much choice when her audience was doubled over instead of paying attention.
Camie watched in fascinated amusement as Bakugou coughed, so caught off guard that he nearly choked. For a moment, she wondered if he might actually suffocate, but then he was clearing his throat, the edges of his mouth twitching dangerously.
"What-" he coughed. "What the fuck."
Her own mouth quirked up into a jovial grin, she let the illusion continue to play out, the princess Jirou throwing herself onto Kaminari in tears. "No! My love, I would climb mountains and cross oceans for you!"
"If my love for you were a sea," the Kirishima illusion shouted, taking Kaminari's hand. "Then it would be far deeper and wider than all of the oceans on Earth combined!"
"It would take me a thousand love songs to truly tell you how deep my love runs for you!"
"I would fight a thousand armies just to have you standing forever by my side!"
The two continued to trade declarations of love, a battle of poetic words as Camie's smile only grew. By the way Bakugou's lips wobbled, he was fighting back his own, even in the face of the absolute lunacy he was witnessing.
"Cease this!" Kaminari suddenly ordered, his expression grim. "Please, forgive me. I believe every word that you have proclaimed, but I beg you for forgiveness, for my heart already belongs to another." With a dramatic flair, he left the two in silence, rushing into the arms of another figure as the new arrival literally swept the prince Kaminari off his feet.
And with that, he was tilted back as if the follower in a waltz, looking up like a lovesick puppy into the eyes of Glamour-fucking-roki.
And that was the breaking point.
The sharp, loud belly laugh that rang out actually made her jump, the illusion dissipating in her surprise. It was an ugly laugh, one that cared for nothing and no one and simply made itself known to the world whether it was wanted or not. Camie was surprised, forcing back her own giggles as Bakugou once again doubled over in rare, unrestrained laughter that his laugh somehow reminded her of the teen himself.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" he wheezed an octave too high, and Camie couldn't help the laugh that made its way out of her own mouth, absolutely enthralled by Bakugou's amusement as if she hadn't seen it a handful of times before.
Maybe because, in some twisted way, it was special, like seeing people like Todoroki or Shishikura laugh the same way, open and unconcerned with the world around them, caught up in a single moment where the world wasn't weighing down on them and they could be happy, even if they couldn't tell you why.
Even if it was because of stimuli that the brain couldn't fully process.
Camie wasn't sure how long they sat there, chortling like idiots over an inside joke that literally nobody else would find nearly as amusing. "You feeling better, B?"
"Hah?" was the knee-jerk response. Bakugou wasn't even looking at her as he fought to regain his composure.
Camie watched him for a moment, her eyes soft as she smiled to herself. "Ah, nothing. 'S not important."
A shock of electric blonde caught her eye.
Camie blinked, almost believing that she'd somehow reactivated her quirk by mistake when she leaned to the side, staring blankly at a familiar yellow figure. She'd recognized all of the 'Bakusquad' from pictures that Bakugou would begrudgingly show her after remedial classes when one of them, namely the pink one, would spam them to their group chat after taking them for shits and giggles.
The only one that Bakugou had that they hadn't sent him themselves was one of the four of them clustered around a table at an Indian restaurant, where Bakugou's dad apparently knew the owner, so he got his wife to take the picture with her phone while Bakugou himself wasn't present so he could have it without them knowing. It was the single cutest story that Camie had ever heard and she'd teased him relentlessly about it for weeks afterward.
Yellow guy, Kaminari, was watching them silently, wringing his hands in a nervous manner with an unreadable expression. Camie tilted her head, almost questioning, but Kaminari simply looked away, biting his lip.
A part of her didn't want to ruin the moment, since it sure seemed like this had something to do with Bakugou's more somber mood from earlier, but at the same time...
"Hey, B." she started, catching his attention just as he calmed down. With his composure regained, she gestured her head towards the other blonde, Bakugou's expression almost instantly reverting to its normal resting bitch face as he turned, meeting Kaminari's lingering gaze almost instantly.
Camie wasn't sure what the following telepathic conversation entailed, but a moment later, Kaminari tentatively approached them, looking almost sheepish as he rubbed his arm absentmindedly. "Hey." he said, sounding unsure.
Bakugou was silent for a moment, his eyes narrow, but then, he jutted a thumb at Camie. "This is Camie," he suddenly said, startling his classmate. "That weird ass clown from remedial classes I told you fuckers about."
Kaminari's mouth opened and closed, searching for words, and when he found them, he simply smiled at her. "Hi! I thought you looked familiar!"
"What's poppin'." she greeted, to which Kaminari smiled even brighter.
It dimmed when he turned back to Bakugou, his face hardening with determination. "Listen, about what Ashido said-"
"Don't." Bakugou warned.
Kaminari shook his head. "No, listen. She feels really bad about it. Like, she's been sobbing in the little bathroom by the jewelry store this whole time and she won't come out. She feels awful, man."
Bakugou's frown deepened. "She shouldn't." he growled, looking away with a fierce glare. "The shit I said to her was just as fucked and I took things out on her first."
The two stared at each other for a long time after that, the silence shifting from awkward to comfortable as Kaminari's eyes softened. "Maybe you could tell her that? It'd mean a lot more coming from you."
Bakugou huffed. "Sounds like something Kirishima would say."
"Well, he'd be right."
It took another moment before Bakugou finally stood up, Camie following suit as he began to stock off. Behind him, Kaminari turned back to her, giving her a thumbs up and mouthing a big 'thank you'. Camie could only wink in return, Kaminari having a little skip in his step afterward. However, before they got too far, Camie couldn't help but call out. "Hey, B!"
Bakugou turned, giving her a suspicious glare as she smiled at him. "We should do this again sometime."
Bakugou's glare didn't waver, but he didn't snarl at her either, simply turning away with one hand in his pocket and vaguely waving in her general direction with the other. "Maybe."
"Dope."
For all intents and purposes, Camie considered that a win.