If Yaoyorozu were to be honest with herself, she had absolutely no idea how to deal with the current situation at hand, and it technically didn't even involve her.

Even heading back to the dorms after their afternoon heroics classes, she couldn't help but bite her lip and walk with her eyes towards her feet. One part of her was dutifully reminding her that she had absolutely nothing to do with any of this and should stay out of it. The other was harshly reprimanding her for her inaction to defend a classmate.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Kendou questioned with concern painting her face. "She seems pretty upset."

"She will be fine. I'm sure." Yaoyorozu responded, more so to herself to calm her guilt than anything. "Ashido is both strong and resilient. If she is still upset tomorrow, I'll make sure that something is done about it."

Kendou nodded, glancing over at the aforementioned student, practically dragging herself back to the dorm with a mixture of sadness and frustration. "If you say so. That guy shouldn't be worth all this trouble, anyway."

Yaoyorozu hadn't gotten confirmation about Ashido's little crush until yesterday. The boy was in class 1-D, if she remembered correctly, and he was very handsome. When he'd transferred from another school, though she couldn't remember which one, many of the girls and boy within the student body were head over heels for him. Yaoyorozu herself had to admit that her cheeks had heated the first time she'd seen him, though she didn't dwell on it for long. She remembered that a few of the girls from class 1-B would talk about him constantly, how he was so kind and charming, though none of them ever got the chance to talk to him themselves.

After a while, Ashido would join their gossip about the new pretty boy during lunchtime, which just felt strange. No one was used to seeing the acid quirk user spend so much time away from 'her boys', as she'd started to refer to them as. The four would sit in their usual place in the cafeteria, with Kaminari and Kirishima keeping the energy up in Ashido's absence while Sero threw snarky jabs at them. Bakugou would stay quiet for the most part, though every once in a while, he would either explode in a storm of curses and crude language as expected of him or throw a comment out under his breath that would gain a strong positive reaction from the other three.

Eventually, most of the girls got over their respective fleeting feelings for the new student, but Ashido would still blush when he walked by and giggle when he did something cute. When he helped a guy up when he fell, even after he'd insulted him, Ashido was grinning from ear to ear. Other students would claim to have seen him getting cats out of trees or doing favors for the elderly, and Ashido soaked it all in. He just seemed like such a nice person.

That seemed to be the thing that Ashido liked the most about him when she finally admitted to her crush during a girl's night. "He's just such a good guy, you know? You'd think that someone that graceful and dreamy would actually be super vain or something, but he's just so sweet to everybody!"

Hagakure squealed. "You should totally ask him out!"

Ashido's face turned from pink to crimson red. "What!? I mean, I want to, but, you know..."

"Didn't you say that it felt like it was just the two of you in the room when you first saw him? It's love at first sight! Maybe it's meant to be!"

"Oh, that's so cute!" Uraraka giggled. "You really should say something. You wouldn't want to miss your opportunity!"

"Riiiight." Ashido said smugly. "And when are you going to confess, huh, Uraraka?"

Uraraka's expression switched from amusement to horror instantly. "W-W-What are you talking about!?"

Ashido hummed. "Oh, you know..." She suddenly jumped to her feet, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "How about this? I'll confess to my crush if you promise to confess to yours afterward!"

"Ashido!"

"It's a deal, then!" Ashido cheered enthusiastically as the girls all split up to head for bed.

"And you better keep your end of the deal." Ashido said to Uraraka, winking, as the other three girls continued chatting as they left the room.

"But Ashido! I don't have a crush, honest! Deku and I are just really good friends and nothing more!"

"Oh?" Ashido gave her a Cheshire grin. "I never mentioned Midoriya."

Uraraka blanched. Yaoyorozu chose not to say anything for her sake.

And so, the next day, taking a deep breath to steel herself, Ashido approached the object of her affections during lunch and, more shyly than usual, confessed her love to him and asked him out with hopeful eyes and a kind smile filled with adoration.

And he absolutely tore into her.

Yaoyorozu couldn't help but cringe at the memory, the boy standing over her and smugly throwing every obscenity he could think of at her as if she'd seriously offended him. Apparently, the guy had some sort of grudge against hero students, something about them thinking that they rule the world or something along those lines, and the pure satisfaction that crossed his features as Ashido did everything in her power to not cry and further humiliate herself made Yaoyorozu feel ill. Clenching her fists and biting into her lip with enough pressure to draw blood, Ashido stood her ground all the way until the bell rang, refusing to run until he walked away first.

There had been a commotion at one of the nearby tables, and as Yaoyorozu passed by with her head hung low, she turned to see both Bakugou and Kirishima looking as if they were about to commit mass homicide, the distinct difference being that Kirishima had self-control, holding the former down tightly while Kaminari and Sero stood behind them, ready to stop either of them if Kirishima happened to change his mind.

Ashido remained fairly quiet for the rest of the day, trying and failing to keep up her normal bubbly presence to lift the mood back up, though it was painfully obvious how much she was pushing herself. When heroics classes came around, she paired up with Kirishima, whom she stayed glued to until the end of the school day. Yaoyorozu never found out exactly what they talked about, but the pink girl had a little bit more of a skip in her step than before, even if she still seemed down, so she'd have to find a way to personally thank him for whatever he said, either way.

That evening was equally quiet, Ashido squeezing herself between Kaminari and Sero as they played a competitive first-person shooter of some kind. Other classmates floated around the common room as well, sending looks of sympathy Ashido's way. Ashido would send them a fake grin in return before nuzzling up to one of the boys next to her. Sometimes, Yaoyorozu couldn't help but marvel at the closeness of Ashido's friend group.

For multiple reasons.

Bakugou was also being uncharacteristically quiet, choosing to make himself scarce and avoid conflict by hiding out in the kitchen and making something that smelled absolutely heavenly. Of course, it didn't really work, since Uraraka, Kirishima, Jirou, and Todoroki had all wandered over at some point to badger him about sharing. They were all quickly thrown out of the kitchen with a flurry of vulgar slang that Yaoyorozu hadn't even heard before. Midoriya looked tempted to try as well, but probably already knew what the outcome would be and chose not to cause a war.

Since it was a school night, Iida was quick to enforce curfew and usher everyone upstairs to their dorm rooms. Yaoyorozu was happy to oblige, sleep pulling lightly at the edges of her eyes. Squeezing into her tight space that was her room, she quickly changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, a small tinge of guilt still gnawing at her gut.

As it turns out, that small tinge of guilt gnawing at her gut grew as she tossed and turned in her search for sleep as if it were a rampaging dark shadow until she couldn't handle it anymore. Glancing at her clock, it was only about midnight, so she hadn't lost too much sleep. Flopping over again, she could no longer deny her need for water and rolled out of bed to find herself a glass.

The hallway was quiet that night, the only lights being someone's phone shining from under a door every so often and those across the campus outside. Yaoyorozu carefully dragged her feet down the girl's wing. The silence was oddly deafening in the dead of night, and it did nothing for her overactive mind as she replayed the entire one-sided conversation that had taken place that day in the cafeteria. Though she didn't hear every word that was said, the disdain on his face was so prominent, and so painfully unnecessary.

Ashido never deserved that. She was growing to be such a wonderful hero.

The common room lights were on. Yaoyorozu's eyebrows dipped in confusion as she crept towards the entrance.

"Aww, but it's such a pretty shade!"

"Fucking- You have enough pink as it is! We're using yellow."

"Can it at least be the canary yellow?"

"Hell no! It clashes too much with literally everything else ever. The gold one matches your eyes, so it'll look much better."

"Aww, you've looked into my eyes? Are they pretty~?"

"SHUT-"

Yaoyorozu peered into the common room to find quite the peculiar sight. The TV was playing some action anime at a low volume while the kitchen sink was absolutely filled to the brim with multiple pots, pans, and enough dishes to have been used to feed an army. The coffee table was littered with several nail products such as nail polish, polish removal, clippers, and files, along with trash like used tissues and cotton balls. Next to the couch was a bag of untouched makeup and hair products.

Ashido was leaning into the couch, a look of genuine serenity painted underneath her face mask as she happily inspected her hands, her index and ring fingernails adorned with sleek coats of shiny jet black. Looking at her toes, cotton stuff neatly in between them, the beautiful black nail polish was painted onto her big, middle, and pinky toes with a level of perfection that looked practiced. At the thought, Yaoyorozu couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprise as she glanced over at Bakugou, sitting cross-legged on the floor fumbling with a bottle of bright gold nail polish with a look on his face that wasn't nearly as intense as his usual glare.

Ashido hummed thoughtfully. "Where did you learn how to do this so well, anyway?"

"You'd be surprised what you pick up when your parents are in the fashion industry, of all things." Bakugou commented matter-of-factly.

"Fashion!? Really?" Ashido laughed.

"Yep. Old man's a designer and the hag's a model. They met on a job."

She laughed even harder. "Ha! So that's why you got so mad about Kirishima's outfit that one time!"

"Fucking crocs..."

Ashido's giggles diminished as Bakugou finished applying the first coats on the rest of her toes. With a sigh, Ashido leaned further into the couch and stared blankly at the ceiling. Bakugou paused for a moment, glancing up at her, before turning back to the task at hand.

"Stop thinking about it." he snarled. "He's not worth shit."

"I know... It just...hurts. Rejection hurts."

With a pinch in his brows, Bakugou suddenly looked uncharacteristically unsure. Yaoyorozu could see the gears turning all the way from here, and she couldn't help but wonder what could possibly be running through his mind right now.

He growled. "Well, you just- I mean,- Er, it's all..." After another pause, he let out a frustrated groan and violently scratched at his scalp. "I'm shit at this whole 'reassurance' thing. Give me a sec."

Ashido choked on air, trying to catch her breath between her coughs and barely contained laughter. Bakugou chose to ignore her and apply the next coat. Once Ashido had calmed down, they continued to sit in silence, and suddenly, Yaoyorozu realized just how much of a breach in privacy this was. Deciding that she could just create her own cup and a filter for tap water, she backed off to make her leave when she heard a sniffle.

"Oh, now what?" Bakugou groaned in annoyance.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that...you're such a good friend, Blasty."

"Hah?!"

"Hey, once you're done with my nails and we take this mask off, could you do my hair?" Ashido asked giddily, completely changing the subject, as Bakugou continued his work.

"Why the fuck would I do your hair right before you go to bed and ruin it?"

"Please? And maybe you could come to a girls' night and do everyone's hair and makeup!"

"Okay, back the fuck up, Raccoon Eyes, 'cause you're taking it too far. Absolutely not."

"Even if we invited Kirishima?"

"Ashido."

"Okay, okay." Ashido backed down with a deep pout, before returning to her usual smile that Yaoyorozu had been starting to miss. "Oh yeah, and Blasty? Please don't go on a warpath tomorrow, 'cause I don't want you getting into more trouble with the school than you already do, so beating the shit outta someone isn't an option here."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bakugou."

"You say something?"

It was Ashido's turn to groan, though she was grinning. Yaoyorozu finally made herself crawl away and return to her room at this point, quiet as to not ruin this rare act of kindness for Ashido's sake. After cleaning herself up and finally quenching her thirst, she crawled back into bed and found sleep much more easily than before.

The next morning was an interesting one, Yaoyorozu mused, as every single head turned to the elevator as the resident acid quirk user marched her way through with her chin up and confidence in every step. Her hair, despite its usual curliness, was very nicely combed, her bangs pulled back with an adorable black martian-themed hair clip. Lightly added dark purple eyeshadow and a thin line of eyeliner put a nice emphasis on her eyes, along with darkened, but obviously completely natural, eyelashes. A very light pink blush made her cheeks look as if they were glowing, nicely complemented by the sparkly gloss on her lips and coating her black and golden fingernails.

From breakfast all the way through the school day, the majority of the heroics department students were gushing over how absolutely gorgeous Ashido looked that day. Yaoyorozu spent a lot of time along with Hagakure, Uraraka, Kendou, and a couple of other class 1-B girls that she wasn't as familiar with as they bugged her about sharing her secrets of how she got her makeup to look so perfect.

"I had a little help." was the closest she ever came to revealing anything.

During lunch that day, as Yaoyorozu was passing by Ashido at her usual table with her usual boys, she overheard Kaminari snicker.

"Hey, look who's staring~."

Yaoyorozu glanced over to see him, staring at Ashido from his table with a look of shock and something else as a group of other girls continued to talk and flirt, though it all fell on deaf ears. Sero started cackling like a madman as Kaminari ran off somewhere more discreet to try and snap a good picture to make fun of, while Kirishima was practically glowing with a toothy grin that almost looked smug.

And Yaoyorozu didn't miss the solid high five from under the table.