"Where are you off to this morning, young ones?" All Might cocked his head.
"Just the mall," I tried to smile at him, but it dropped into a frown. "My phone got destroyed in the raid the other day; I'll be picking up a replacement."
"We need some retail therapy too," Mina smiled, "that was totes too stressful!"
"Why don't we give you all a ride? We'll drive right by it on our way to the remedial classes." All Might offered.
"That would be amazing – thanks, All Might, Present Mic!" Mina chimed. I followed Mina, Kaminari, Kirishima, Jiro, and Uraraka onto the bus. Katsuki and Todoroki had taken the first row, sitting in the seats farthest apart. Katsuki's gaze met mine, and I froze for a moment. Mina reached back, grabbed the strap of my cross-body bag, and pulled me deeper into the bus to sit beside her. Kirishima sat with Katsuki up front while Kaminari sat with Jiro. Mina, Kaminari, and Jiro kept up the conversation while Uraraka and I were still emotionally spent. We pulled up to the mall shortly after, Present Mic sending us off with a shout.
"First things first, to get Satoshi a replacement phone. How can you go so long without one?" Kaminari shrugged as we headed towards the electronics store.
"It might take a bit – I'll join you all later." I offered, fiddling with the strap of my bag.
Mina shook her head, hooking her arm with mine. "Nuh-uh. We can't let you get another garbage phone. This is the time to upgrade! Plus, it's gotta be cute." I nodded, letting her lead the way. I had funds to spend on a phone rather than the free option that came with the plan this time. We entered the store; they helped to pick out a smartphone with better specifications, and more durability, than my previous one. I could also break down the phone easily – the wiring was similar and easy to replicate. I chose a simple matte black case with three grey moon phases down the centre. Due to how destroyed the circuitry was, there was no way to save any data on that device. We left the store, Mina pulling us to a popular fast fashion store.
I sat outside the changing rooms with Kirishima and Uraraka while Mina, Kaminari, and Jiro tried some outfits. I scrolled through the messages that had come in after we hooked up my number to the SIM card. Katsuki had messaged me repeatedly on Friday to make sure I was okay. I saved his contact's name and sent him a message. Redemption had even messaged me to make sure I was okay as well.
M: I'm okay. My phone was destroyed in the raid, and I just picked up a new one. Would we be able to work on combat skills together?
I logged into our class' group chat and then downloaded any missing applications.
R: Way to keep me worried! Had to call Eraser to make sure you weren't dead! Let me see what I can do to make training happen. Glad you're okay.
M: I finally figured out that Ultimate Defence too.
R: No way! That's my Polaris!
Most of my applications were already downloaded – man, this processor is fast. I logged into Instagram and my email.
"At least we only have a few more days of supplementary classes now," Kirishima sighed, leaning back on his hands. "It'll be nice spending time with everyone again now that our work-studies are cancelled." I stiffened. No more work study.
"Yeah," Uraraka agreed. "But I liked getting away from school for a bit; Tsu and I were learning a lot from Ryukyu. I hope we can start them up again later."
"Did either of you understand how to do that worksheet Aizawa emailed out? I couldn't get past the first question."
"I couldn't even start. What about you, Makoto?"
I looked up to Uraraka's expectant and smiling face. "I can help you with it."
"We're lucky to have such a smart friend," Kirishima smiled, nudging me with his elbow.
"Someone help me zip this up," Mina groaned from a stall, "please!"
Kirishima stood and made his way for the stall. "Coming!" I watched as Mina opened the curtain for Kirishima, and he walked right in.
I blinked, turning to Uraraka. "Are Mina and Kirishima together?"
"You just noticed?" She smiled and tilted her head. "They've been dating since the summer started. They both had a crush on the other in middle school but didn't do anything until now. They're so cute together, don't you think?" I agreed. I saw Mina's feet turn towards Kirishima's. She rose on her toes for a moment before dropping back onto her heels. She pushed Kirishima out, and he returned to his seat. Once they were done trying on and purchasing anything, we continued onto the music store for Jiro before stopping at the food court to grab some lunch. Tsu, Jiro, and Uraraka were still in line, waiting for their order at the onigiri bar. Kaminari had already eaten half of his pizza while Kirishima and Mina shared a combo platter of Chinese. I stirred my iced coffee as they conversed. I wasn't hungry.
"Is there anywhere you want to check out?" Kaminari turned his attention to me.
I shrugged, "I don't think so?"
Mina hummed. "Random question – Makoto – have you ever straightened your hair before? I wonder how long it would be."
That question caught me off guard. "Oh? I've never straightened it before."
Mina gasped, clapping her hands together. "Can we please?"
"Sure?" I took a sip of my coffee. Katsuki and I spent most of the night awake, talking. He was no doubt insufferable at their provisional license class. He had told me about his friendship with Midoriya and how he used to bully him incessantly. How jealous he was of Midoriya and how he was working on rebuilding that friendship with him now.
"Oh!" Kaminari lit up, "we gotta hit the bookstore. I forgot Mineta asked me to check on a series for him." Kirishima put his chopsticks down and leaned back in his chair on his phone. I tapped the side of my cup as Mina and Kaminari conversed. My phone vibrated.
Kiri: Are you dating Bakugo?
My eyes snapped up to meet Kirishima's. He smiled.
M: Did he tell you?
Kiri: Nope.
I locked my screen and put my phone on the table. Jiro, Tsu, and Uraraka joined us at the table, excitedly chatting about the fillings in their onigiris. My phone vibrated again.
Kiri: He told me to fuck off when I asked this morning ^_^'. I won't tell anyone if you don't want to yet.
M: We're still figuring it out.
"Did you get some good news, Kirishima," Uraraka asked. I looked up to see the massive smile on his face.
Kirishima chuckled, slipping his phone into his pocket. "Great news. What flavour is that - that smells good?"
"It's red bean." She replied. I nervously drank my coffee as the others conversed. Kirishima was Katsuki's best friend – if anyone were going to figure it out, it would be him. If Akari were still at school, I would have told her regardless of what was happening between us. Everyone finished their lunches and cleaned up, going to the bookstore on the way out of the mall. Kaminari immediately headed to the wrapped manga. I wandered the shelves, eyeing the thousands of covers. I stopped mid-step – recognizing a title on Katsuki's shelves. I ran a finger over the spines. He had the first eight volumes. They had the ninth. I purchased the copy, and we headed back to school. Mineta was out of luck, the shopkeeper refused to sell Kaminari the manga.
"Oh, let's go there!" Mina pointed to Spencer's. Kirishima and I stood outside the store while the others shopped.
Kirishima adjusted the bags he held for Mina. "Took him long enough to finally confess." He laughed. I flushed, turning towards my friend. "You two were up late last night too – Bakugo sure was cranky."
"We were just talking." I averted my gaze to the tiled floor. "I couldn't sleep after what happened to Sir." We stood in uncomfortable silence for a while.
"Was he the one who kissed you at the boot camp?"
"N-no! No one did at the boot camp."
"Why did you get so flustered when I asked you?"
I bit my lip. Did Katsuki tell him he had asked me that question? "I realized I liked him then."
"We should go on a double date sometime." He smiled down at me. "After you two tell everyone, you're dating."
I ran my tongue along my molars. It was weird hearing someone else say we were dating.
"Wait. Have you two even been on a date yet?" His jaw fell.
"Maybe?" What did Katsuki consider a date? He took me out for curry after work a few times. Was the movie with Kirishima a date? What about when he came to my house in the middle of the night? Were the days we spent with each other in our rooms studying or watching movies a date?
"Has he asked you to go on a date?" I shook my head.
[B&M]
My phone rang. I lowered my foot, huffing, and answered the call. "Hello?" My skin was red and sore.
"Where are you?" Katsuki spoke, his feet padding against the ground. Was he already back from his extra class?
"Gym C." I wheezed.
He was quiet for a moment. "How long have you been at that?"
I shrugged. "A few hours." I had lost track of time.
"You need to rest." Katsuki snapped before he hung up. I replayed my music, put my phone back into my shorts, and continued practising my different kicks on the punching bag. Instead of hitting the bag every time, I would phase my leg through every few kicks and use it to transition to the other leg. I had been able to land blows to Death Wish and Overhaul, but none of them had done any real damage.
Kick at hip height to the bag, slight retreat, kick head height on the bag, slight retreat, and finish with a kick at abdomen level through the bag. Pivot on my foot, bring my kicking foot down to balance, then repeat on the other side. I yelped when an arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me away from the bag. They lifted me up with ease. I pulled out my earbuds and swiveled my head. "- ignore me, dumbass!" Katsuki dropped me on the bench with my water bottle and shoes.
"Sorry," I met his gaze, "I had my earbuds in."
Katsuki rolled his eyes and knelt in front of me. "Your ankles are going to bruise. Why'd you take your shoes off?" He handed me my water bottle.
I took the water. "I wanted to practice phasing while attacking, and I can't break down myself with that material yet."
"Drink." Katsuki narrowed his eyes. "Should ask for your boots next time. What the hell happened to your hair?"
I stopped mid-sip. Katsuki reached out and grabbed a lock of my pin-straight hair. "Mina asked if she could straighten it earlier."
He grunted, turning around in front of me. "We're going back." He stretched his arms as if preparing to have me on his back.
"I can walk," I quickly declined.
"Stop trying to pretend your ankles don't hurt!" Katsuki snapped, looking back at me over his shoulder. "How many times do I have to tell you to take care of your damn self? If you won't do it, then I have to!" I stared at my ankles. They were swelling from the hundreds of kicks I had landed on the punching bag. Having to keep the laces untied from the swelling, I put my shoes on, grabbed my water bottle, and hesitantly got on his back. His hands gripped at the bare skin of my thighs before we left the gym. Katsuki let out a yawn.
"I'm sorry for keeping you up so late last night," I chewed on my cheek. "But thank you for that."
"Just sleep at a decent hour tonight," Katsuki grunted. We turned onto the path to the dorms. "You didn't get much sleep at the few nights either." I let my head rest on his shoulder. He was right. I had been so anxious about participating in such an important mission the night before the raid that I had barely slept. Add in the grief at the hospital from Sir's passing – I was running on fumes.
"Right," I titled my head, pressing my forehead into his shoulder. We continued in silence until we got to our dormitory. I broke down my hand to open the door for us. Thankfully, no one was in the common space or kitchen. Everyone must be out for the weekend or hanging out in their rooms. I pressed the button for my floor and opened the door to my dorm. He set me down on my bed and took my shoes off for me. The skin on my ankles was already forming a light bruise. My hits weren't as hard as I wanted them to be – but they did hurt from the repetition.
Katsuki held my ankles in his hands, examining them momentarily before standing. "I'm going to get you some ice."
"Hey, Katsuki, can you please pass me my bag?" He picked up the cross-body bag I had worn today and dropped it beside me on the bed before heading down to the kitchen. I pulled out the novel I had bought for him and moved my bag off the bed. Katsuki came back moments later with an icepack. "I saw this today and grabbed it for you."
I watched as he paused, his eyes scanning over the book's cover. "How'd you know I liked that series?" He picked up my legs and placed them on my bed, reaching behind me for a pillow.
"I saw it on your bookshelf," I paused for a moment as Katsuki propped my ankles up on the pillow and set the ice on top. I could not feel the ice, again. "I only remember seeing up to volume eight – I hope I got you the right one."
Katsuki leaned in and took the book from my hands – his lips contacted mine in the same motion. It was soft and hesitant. He pulled back, "thanks." He sat on my bed, back against the wall and pulled me down into his lap. I froze. My head was resting in Katsuki's lap. "Sleep." He opened the book, settling in.
[B&M]
"Eri said that she wants to see Midoriya," Tsu asked beside me, tapping her pen against her chin.
"Yes. More specifically, she seems concerned about him and Togata." Aizawa spoke from the front of the supplementary classroom. "Apparently this is her only request since she gained consciousness. So, we're obliging her. I'll drive the three of us over during lunch tomorrow."
"Why isn't Eri asking for Satoshi too?" Midoriya turned in his seat to eye me. "She did most of the work before we even got there." I didn't. He and Miro had done that.
"Eri's not worried about Satoshi." Aizawa returned to his lecture. I swallowed and returned to my notes. Why would she worry about me? I hadn't been hurt in the raid. I had a similar power to her captor, after all – I must have been super scary to her. "Now close your books – you all missed a pop quiz." Kirishima and Uraraka groaned. The pop quiz was not that bad – it was basic hero informatics. Midoriya was the first to finish.
"Are we done yet," Kirishima groaned, slumping back in his chair.
Aizawa sighed. "Yes, that's all for today. Satoshi – stay behind." I froze momentarily before packing up my supplies.
"We'll wait outside for you so we can walk back together," Midoriya smiled, heading out the door with the others. I dropped my pencil case in my bag.
"You signed up for the beauty pageant," Aizawa stated, crossing his arms. What?
I recoiled back. "No. I didn't."
"Then someone signed you up." He picked up a package of papers and handed them to me. "All the rules are in there, including the practice schedule. The first meeting is after classes tomorrow."
I shook my head, "I don't want to participate-"
"It's too late to withdraw." He dropped the package in front of me. "I'm sure a few of your classmates will help you." With that, he slunk right out of the room. I bit my lip, picked up the package, and joined my classmates in the hall.
"What did Aizawa want," Tsu asked as we left the school.
I hung my head. "Apparently someone entered me the beauty pageant – and I can't get out of it." Why would someone enter me in the pageant? They probably just wanted to laugh at me.
"You're going to stun the competition," Kirishima laughed. "We'll help you get ready for the competition."
Uraraka took the package from my hands, quickly reviewing the pages. "Oh! Looks like you need three dresses and a swimsuit." A swimsuit?
"Yaomomo will have a good idea for a bathing suit," Tsu smiled. A bathing suit?
We walked up to our dorm. "We need to go to the mall this weekend and try on all the dresses!" Uraraka crumpled the edges of the package.
"I'm not a fan of dresses," Uraraka handed the package back to me before walking up the steps of our dormitory.
"We're going to put on a concert for everyone," Kaminari shouted as we entered the dorm. Our classmates got us up to speed on what we had missed while we were in our supplementary classes.
"Yaoyorozu and Jiro make sense…" Kirishima crossed his arms.
"But Bakugo on drums, that's kind of…" Uraraka droned.
"Shocking," Hagakure finished. Katsuki barked at them. I did not know that Katsuki could play an instrument. What else did we not know about each other?
"Who's going to sing," Tsu asked. Everyone immediately began debating who should sing. After a few awful auditions – Jiro was unanimously agreed on. Tokoyami and Kaminari would be our guitars. Others were already excitedly discussing being on the dance or special effects teams.
"Come join the dance team Makoto!" Mina begged, grasping my hand.
"Sorry, but I'm not a dancer. I think I'll join the special effects team." I apologized; my shoulders stiffened. My pulse quickened from imagining being on stage in front of people dancing.
"I can teach you," Mina pouted.
Sero put his arm over my shoulders, "too bad, Ashido – she's made up her mind! She's ours."
"Makoto," Mina cried as Sero pried me away from her. Sero stuck his tongue out at her before laughing. His arm rested on my shoulders, pulling me into himself. I froze, turning my gaze to where Katsuki sat at the drums. He was glaring at Sero, a broken drumstick in his hands. Momo was going to need to make a lot of extra drumsticks.
"Beauty pageant information," Sero read over me. I quickly pressed the package into my chest, my eyes burning into the floor. "No way – you entered the contest?"
I shook my head. "Someone else entered me…"
Mineta snickered. "You're welcome, boys." My eyes snapped up to Mineta's shit-eating grin. My cheeks burned from embarrassment.
"That's low, man," Kirishima frowned. "Makoto would have entered if she wanted to."
Kaminari agreed with him. "Just because we all want to see her in a swimsuit doesn't mean we go behind her back."
"That's so not cool, man," Jiro groaned. "Can you get out of it since someone else signed you up?" I sucked in my bottom lip and shook my head.
"Can I be your stylist?" Yaomomo's eyes twinkled, a large smile on her face.