Back in the room, All Might nods, watching the four of them carefully make their way out of the building. "A good lesson was there on how information and preparation can make the difference."
"That was almost as intense as our battle, Rara-chan!" Mina pipes up.
The green-haired teen snaps his head in her direction, bewildered. "Rara-chan?"
"Yeah!" She gestures to Ochako. "That's the nickname I gave her just now!"
Ochako blinks before laughing. "I've definitely never been called that before!"
"Good! Unique nicknames are the best!" She nods once to herself, assured she's right.
"There should be just one match left, right?" Hozarou asks.
Izuku nods, looking over at Bakugou. "You're next, right?"
The blonde smirks, stretching his arms out. "All Might just saved the best for last!"
"All Might-sensei," Iida corrects him.
"No one asked, Glasses," he retorts.
"Eijiro Kirishima and Katsuki Bakugo versus Toru Hagakure and Denki Kaminari!" Their teacher announces, having not heard.
Denki blinks, his shoulders slumping as realization sets in. "Oh dang, we're playing villains against those two?"
"Bad luck, I guess." The floating gloves fold in.
"I'd say!" He groans, covering his face. "And I don't have the right shoes yet, either…" He grumbles to her as they make their way out of the room.
"We got this!" Kirishima pumps a fist and grins at Bakugou.
"No shit," he retorts, smirking right back at him. "No way those two can stop us!"
The crude language doesn't seem to bother the other boy as they head out.
"So, plans," he says, flexing his hands with the grenade bracers around them. "If we go up against Bare Air, how do we handle her?"
He thinks on this. "How would we know she's there?"
"The capture tape can't turn invisible," he suggests, frowning a bit. "We need to stay vigilant."
"Right!" Kirishima thumps his fists together with a sharp grin.
Ahead of them, a similar conversation happens, thankfully outside their hearing range.
"So you said you had an idea?" Denki starts, voice low as he glances back over his shoulder.
"Well, we're pretty sure we can't take them head on, right?" Replies the air next to him.
"I'd try, but I would be too dumb to do much afterwards," he quietly admits, as if ashamed. "There's only so much electricity I can let out at a time."
"So you have a capacity?" she interprets.
"Yep." He thinks a bit. "Wait, no, it's if I release too much, my brain kinda fries."
"... minimum power remaining needed?"
He blinks. "…you lost me."
"Like... a backup generator?"
"I mean, I think there's not quite a limit to how much I have? It's hard to try when I can't think afterwards…"
"Maybe you can talk to our note boy after this." She offers, the two of them passing the threshold of the building in which they are to set up their defenses.
"I did, he suggested that my shoes were the problem?" He shrugs. "I'm not electrically grounded, apparently."
"Huh... maybe go barefoot for right now?" She guesses.
"Barefoot?" He thinks a bit. "Might work. At least we aren't fighting Todoroki-san, right?"
"Yeah... though definitely not in my top five to go against." She sheepishly laughs.
"Agreed." He grimaces, rubbing the back of his neck.
"So... we turn the tables and ambush them?"
"Might be a good idea," he says, nodding once.
"Alright, let me get sneaky then." She goes behind a corner, takes off her gloves and boots, and comes back.
Denki blinks, walking around the corner and seeing her clothes on the ground. "...wait, then where is she?"
"I'm right next to you!" She chirps.
He yells in surprise, turning around and staring wildly around. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Glad to know it works!" She laughs.
Frowning, he lifts his hand up and pokes forward, "Listen, you-" He cuts off when his finger bends slightly. He pokes a couple more times, brow furrowed slightly. "Is this your arm? Why does it feel…"
He feels a sudden slap to his hand. "Stop poking my ribs! I'm ticklish!"
"Right! Sorry!" He quickly stands up, picking up her discarded clothes and heading deeper into the building. "So how are you wearing fabric, exactly? And still invisible, I mean?"
"Apparently they used my hair or something to make it work with my quirk!" A part of him imagines her gesturing to herself or giving a thumbs up.
"What, like Midorya-san was babbling about yesterday?" He asks, looking for a good room to set up in.
"You'd have to be more specific."
"During toe touches," he clarifies, "when he turned into a ballerina."
"Hmm... still drawing a bit of a blank, but maybe we save that for after, yeah?"
"Right after he mind blasted us," he tries, even as he continues to follow what he assumes are her footsteps.
"Oh! I remember now! Yeah... I think it was something like that." She nods.
Of course, being invisible, he doesn't see this. He pauses in a big, open room. "Do you think this is a good place for me?" He asks, glancing around the place.
"I mean, they can see you, but you'll see them, right?"
"Yeah," he says, nodding once. He sits down and starts taking off his socks and shoes. "Where do we put the bomb?" He asks, looking around fruitlessly for her.
"Hmm… somewhere distracting but hard to get to so I can sneak up on them…"
"Is there a basement?" He asks, humming thoughtfully.
"Maybe? We didn't exactly get a map."
"It's strange, though, if there were, since none of the others used one," he points out.
"Yeah... maybe there isn't one then."
He sighs, looking up at the ceiling. "I guess your best option might be a higher floor?"
She answers thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'll go find a place, you stay here and think of how to be distracting?"
"Sure thing. I'll leave the gloves and boots next to me so they think you're in here." He drops them on the floor, making it seem like they were removed in a hurry.
"Gotcha!"
He gives a thumbs up with his back to the door leading further in. "Let's do our best!"
"We got this!" she echoes his energy before things go silent once more.
He rocks back and forth on his heels, looking around the room a bit. His inability to be still was a detriment in a normal setting, much less when he was trying to be patient. "…wonder if this place has proper wiring…"
Back in the viewing room, Izuku and Ochako stand together, the former eyeing the screens. "Any idea where she might be?"
Ochako shakes her head. "No, she took off her boots too. I guess she's keeping the tape in a pocket or something?"
"Maybe she's got it in her mouth!" Mina says, smirking a bit. "Food disappears the moment she gets it past her lips, after all!"
All Might chuckles at the outside the box thinking.
"Oh, it looks like Bakugou is pouring some liquid out of his gauntlets?" She continues, pointing at the camera on the hero team outside.
Izuku narrows his eyes a bit at this. "…I think that's his sweat."
"Blegh," Jiro pulls a face.
He waves his hand's frantically. "No, see, the sweat from his palms is nitroglycerin! That's how he makes explosions."
There's a few simultaneous 'ohhh's and Hozarou saying. "That makes sense now."
Momo blinks. "So if he doesn't sweat, then he can't make explosions?"
"How would you stop sweating?" Ochako asks.
She points at Todoroki as subtly as she can.
"Oh... not really something I can use then." She says quietly.
"Could also try striking fast and hard," Mina suggests. "Prevent him from working up a sweat."
"Hmm… you knew him from before all this, right?" Ochako asks Izuku. "Do you think it'd work?"
"You'd have to prevent him from firing off that first explosion," he mutters, thinking aloud, "since he can use that to build up more sweat..."
"Not easy to take someone out in one shot." Tsu comments, having arrived back with the others.
"Could force him into a situation that he couldn't win," Tokoyami says, walking in beside her.
"What would that even be?" Jiro asks. "He seems like he'd fight anything."
"If his explosions would only hurt himself," he says as an example.
Hozarou nods sagely at this. "Oh yeah, scalded my hands a few times like that."
"So, what, just tie his hands together?" Mina says, uncertain.
"I feel like that'll make him creative." Ochako says with narrowed eyes. "I don't think he'd give up without trying all kinds of things."
"Why are we discussing this?" Izuku mutters, flustered. "Aren't we supposed to be watching their match?"
Manga answers. "Because they hadn't really gotten going yet-" he's cut off as a screen suddenly flashes, "oh! There we go!"
Momo watches, delicately cupping her chin. "They're rushing through the building, without checking the side rooms. Are they trying to go for a capture the villains victory?"
"Maybe? No one else did." Tsu puts a finger to her own chin in thought.
"Aside from Midoriya-san and Yaoyorozu-san," Ojiro tries to point out.
"Then I think the others splitting up might have been a good idea," Mina says, nodding once. "If they're searching for Hagakure-chan, then that makes their job harder, right?"
Jiro nods. "You have to try and find her without seeing her."
"Probably easy for you, though," Mina says, looking over the cameras. "Super hearing and… what is Kaminari-san up to?" She gestures at one of the cameras, where the teen is pulling wires out of the walls.
"... super charging?" Ochako guesses.
"Do these buildings have functioning electricity?" Mina asks All Might, hopping over to him.
He nods. "They do, mostly for the lights and cameras."
"Are they on separate circuits?" Izuku asks, watching as Denki sends electricity through the wires to make the lights start flickering.
"Correct! We even have backup systems for the cameras as they are for both your learning and safety."
"That's good," he says, relaxing slightly as the room Denki is in has most of the lights go out.
The pro hero switches on night vision for the camera. They can see the blonde boy stumbling around a bit, quite clearly not thinking this through. His arms move rather erratically, and he seems to get lost in the large room.
"Well, on one hand, by the time the others show up, his eyes will have had time to adjust." Hozarou says.
"At least until he uses his electricity again," Momo points out. "That could be bright, and make his location known."
"True, but he'll have time to aim."
They watch the boy reach a wall and start feeling along it, as if searching for a switch. His hands lower to what appears to be an outlet, then immediately pulls away.
"By the way, Kirishima's quirk is defensive right, does that affect his electrical resistance?" Ochako asks.
"…I have no idea," Izuku says, slowly descending into a mutter storm.
"I think we're about to find out." Jiro points to a screen.
Bakugou barges into the room, almost instantly stopping when met with darkness. He holds up his hands, frowning as he stares into the shadows, the bright light of the hallway at his back.
Kirishima charges up a moment later, his shape looking very angular. He makes a few steps into the room.
A few sparks come from one corner, and Bakugou turns, quickly blasting the spot.
Mina stares on in confusion. "Where's he aiming? Kaminari-san's by the exit…"
"He did mess with the wiring, maybe it's doing something?" Ochacco theorizes.
Sparks come from the left of Kirishima. He aims a punch solidly at the spot. He promptly gets zapped.
Izuku perks up. "Is Kaminari-san using wires? How? Did he bring them with him or pull them out of the walls?"
"Let's see if you can figure it out." All Might says vaguely with a chuckle.
"If they're from the walls, then they couldn't possibly allow a strong current through them," Momo says with absolute certainty.
"Huh? But outlets can have enough current to spark right?" Hozarou asks.
"But he just zapped Kirishima-san," she points out.
"And they both knocked out Kaminari-san," Shoda says, pointing at the screens.
They then see a tiny speck on the screen appear just behind the two as they look to the fallen.
"I guess the wires weren't enough to stop them," Mina muses. "Oh, at least Bakugou-san is checking Kaminari-san!"
Momo follows where the pink girl is pointing. "…he's prodding him with his boot. I'm more curious about that speck on the screen…"
"I think that's our missing girl." Tsuyu says just before the speck extends into a line and loops itself around Kirishima's waist.
Bakugou whirls around and lets loose an explosion, just short of where the tape originated from but far enough to stop it from being completed.
Kirishima flinches, though whether it's from the explosion of the shriek that followed is unknown. Either way, he seems unscathed.
The brash blonde tugs Kirishima away, glancing around wildly. "Damn, Bare Air disappeared. We've got to go somewhere we can see better!"
"Got it! She can't stop us if we try to charge out!" The redhead raises his hands defensively.
Meanwhile, the observation room can see more barely visible bits of tape being laid as tripwires.
Bakugou nods, turning and letting out another blast of bright light to illuminate the way, bright enough to make Tokoyami in the viewing room cringe.
Those in the viewing room can barely catch the tape wheel disappearing.
"I'll clear the way. The bomb isn't in this room." He nudges Kirishima back and lets out one more explosion, sending the wires still on the floor flying, catching a few pieces of tape as they do so.
"Well, there goes that." Jiro mutters.
"Kacchan is a lot more observant than people give him credit for," Izuku says, smiling a bit.
"Bad news for someone relying on hiding from them." She twirls one of her ear jacks around a finger.
"He still doesn't know where she is, exactly," Mina points out. "She could try to surprise him as he's making noise. Like footsteps. Or, you know, explosions."
"She'll need to have swiftness." Shiozaki adds.
"Very much so," Mina agrees, calling out to the screens, "Go, Haru-chan!"
Iida gives her a confused look. "Haru-chan?"
She waves a hand in his face. "Hagakure and Toru, does it really matter? Beat Boom Boy!"
Bakugou visibly becomes annoyed on the screens.
In another screen, they see rapid movement as a net is crafted from the tape.
Izuku cups his chin, thinking about this. "That is rather clever. I wonder where…" He trails off, tapping his cheek and muttering to himself.
"She can't really carry that with her." Ochako observes.
"No, but with Bakugou letting off so many bursts of light, he's ruining their night vision," Momo points out.
"Revelry in the dark," Tokoyami whispers.
"Does that count for one such as her who can thrive in both?" His vine partner asks.
He blinks owlishly at her, having not expected her to hear. "…such a boon should not be taken lightly, true."
"You lost me." Jiro says, deadpan.
"Chuuni-san," Mina says with a giggle, making Tokoyami turn away from her.
Ochako laughs at that. "How do you even keep up with all those names?"
"Practice," she says, grinning impishly. "You want to give me one, too, Rara-chan?"
"I'm not sure I can live up to the bar you set." She admits.
"Take your time," she says, chuckling softly.
She goes quiet, murmuring not unlike the boy she's near, though slower and more understandable.
"Hagakure-san nearly caught Kirishima-san," Iida announces, as he was still looking at the screen.
"Huh?" She looks up quickly.
"Bakugou accidentally tripped his friend, it seems, and that made the net miss him completely," Ojiro says, arms crossed.
"It might come down to the timer again." Hozarou muses.
"Maybe-" Izuku stops when Bakugou wraps his hand around something unseen, a roll of tape inches from his wrist. "Never mind, Kacchan just caught her."
They see his arm getting jerked and twisted in different ways as she tries to escape.
Kirishima gets up to help, but struggles to know where to aim and settles on getting his own tape out.
Katsuki holds on with a firm grip, pointing behind Eijiro at the net that Toru tossed at him earlier.
He goes for it as they see Bakugo's arm suddenly try to dart downward.
Suddenly all three are zapped, as Kaminari awoke, saw no one had put tape on him, and hurried to take the two out of commission with a wide-area attack.
Kirishima slams his hand into a wall, lodging it in as his muscles contract and harden, making him like a statue.
Bakugou lets out explosions, injuring Toru's wrist as he blindly fires at Kaminari, who is too addled to dodge.
There's a few gasps from observation as the smoke obscures things, but All Might is quick on the intercom as he speaks. "Halt! This match is called a draw due to injuries on both sides!"
Bakugou collapses, body still twitching from being shocked like that. The class can see the frustration on his face, but he knows there's nothing he can do about it.
"All of you hold there for a moment and we'll get you to the nurse." All Might turns from the intercom to the rest of the class. "Consider this a good lesson on friendly fire. Damage to your own side can be just as devastating as that from your enemies."
Izuku nods, eyes wide as he stares at the screen. "…so many of my Pokémon could do that same thing," he whispers.
All Might continues. "This is also why control of your quirk not only helps you, but those around you as well."
"Right," Iida says, completely agreeing with their teacher.
"Good, I think that will end our practical for today. I hope you all have much to think about after this."
Mina raises her hand. "Like how all out attacks leave you open to attacks as well?"
"Precisely." He points to her. "So those are best left when you know they will get the job done, or need something drastic to change the situation."
"Also you need to be aware of what's going on," Izuku points out. "Kaminari-san didn't realize Hagakure-san was there, and caused her to get hurt by acting rashly."
"I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to realize she's there." Ochako muses. "That's kind of the point."
"Kacchan was clearly holding on to something invisible, which was holding the tape," he points out.
"I guess." She nods sheepishly.
"Wasn't it also dark?" Mina points out. "We had the camera on night vision the whole time."
Hozarou nods at this. "It would've just looked like a scuffle."
"Either way, one must exercise better situational awareness, and keep contact with their allies!" Iida says, chopping away.
"Good." All Might points once more. "And peer discussion like this helps you all realize the reasoning behind such things." He turns to the intercom and mutters something to the helpers about not forgetting the invisible one.
"Shouldn't we bring this up with the ones making the mistake?" Izuku says, mildly concerned.
"Even Kaminari probably figured out what went wrong there." Jiro remarks.
"Does he even know that the match was called a tie?" Mina asks, looking at the screen.
"Depends how awake they were." the punk girl replies.
They watch him stumble out of the room, holding his head and an arm draped around-
"Oh, he's got Hagakure-san," Izuku says absently.
A few staff bots help them towards the nurse's office.
"That was nice of him," Mina says, smiling a bit.
Izuku hurries out the door, applying a patch with a red plus sign on his left pectoral. He hopes that he'll make it down in time to help his classmates and friends feel better.
"As for those of you that aren't nurse volunteers," All Might speaks up, "Let's gather back at the classroom. We can review it there."
"Yes, sensei!" The class choruses.
Kaminari stumbles into the men's changing room, his head still fuzzy from overuse of his quirk. He braces a hand against the wall, feeling his way along as he muses that taking off his shoes did in fact help with how much he can release. He nods, reaffirming his vow to be better.
His hand slips beneath a paper, and he blinks, staring at the strange, out of place poster. He would have passed over it entirely, but his middle two fingers press down into some kind of indent, getting stuck.
With a quiet grumble, he takes the poster down with the hand not in the trap. An eyebrow raises, staring at the perfectly circular hole that had ensnared his fingers, wiggling them and feeling plaster with the very tips of them. "...strange. Did someone try to hide their quirk misfire?"
Regardless of what it is, his fingers are still caught. He tries to wiggle them free, the odd angle making the side of his head press against the wall.
"You'd think everyone else had quick strip outfits with how fast they got out of here…" he can hear a feminine voice.
He immediately perks up as he places that voice, smacking his palm against the wall. "Hey! Jiro! Can you hear me?"
"Gah!" He hears a startled yelp before she snaps back. "That you Kaminari? Didn't realize these walls were so thin."
"Actually, my hand's kinda stuck in the wall? I found a hole behind a poster and now my ear's kinda forced against these tiles…" He wiggles his fingers, only able to move the tip of his middle one. "It feels really deep, though. I don't know if I can get it out without hurting myself."
"… how did you even? Ugh, I'm guessing you're alone in there?"
"Yeah, I kinda got back after everyone else changed? I did sort of zap myself silly…" He chuckles self-deprecatingly.
"You were dealt a bad hand and you did your best." She replies, voice getting closer. "Maybe I can vibrate your fingers out... here, tap a few times with your other hand, not too hard, I've got my buds on the wall."
"Right," he says, tapping the first part to Shave and a Haircut. "I was trying, since…" He trails off, frowning pensively, trying to get his still-muddy thoughts in order. "…you know how I went back for my shoes after the fitness exam?"
"Was that why? I thought you got turned around." He hears her getting closer.
"I took them off and it helped with my quirk, not really important." He waves his free hand briefly, then starts tapping again, this time the William Tell Overture. "…did you know Aizawa-sensei expelled last year's class?"
"Really? So he was he joking when he said… he was joking? I honestly can't tell- wait, is this it?" He feels her tap the wall. "Some kind of… is this a peep hole? I swear no locker room is safe."
He stands there, awkwardly staring at the hole his fingers are currently stuck in. "...can you see my fingers? How thick is this wall? We're telling someone about this, right?"
"Yes, I don't know, and yes." She answers in order. "Here, maybe I can…" he feels something jab the end of his finger.
"…huh. I expected that to hurt more," he admits. "Anyways, I heard him and All Might discussing it… apparently he would've kicked us out if we didn't show potential."
"That's twisted!" She hisses, jabbing harder. "Is that doing anything?"
"Ow!" He yelps, tugging hard but only moving slightly. "Mostly hurting me! Who made this dumb thing?"
"A pervert I bet." She growls, frustrations combining. "Can you take your ear off the wall?"
"Sure." He pulls his head away, his body sort of forced to touch the wall by his position. "But yeah, you saw how I was on the bottom of that list… I need to work hard, prove that I can be better." He sighs in annoyance. "Which means I have to learn."
"I think you can do it. You know you need to, and you want to. That's where they always say it starts right?" He barely hears her say before the whole wall pulses with a large reverberation.
He practically bounds away, wide-eyed with shock. "Woah! Damn, Jiro, your jacks are powerful!" He pumps his fist, grinning in excitement. "Awesome!" Then his gaze falls to his closed fist, and he blinks. "Oh, and my hand's free. Thank you!"
"You can thank me by helping me pick out a new speaker, you big doof." Comes a not unkind answer. "It didn't break your finger right? Because what I used on my end got fried."
Kaminari tilts his head, staring at the wall as If trying to see through it. "Wait, you didn't just use your jacks directly? What got fried?"
"My travel speaker. My jacks can take in sound well, but to project it I need stuff to use."
"Oh, cool." He tilts his head. "Sorry it got fried freeing me. I'll get changed, and we can get you a new speaker after school?" He offers, starting to feel awkward talking to a wall.
"Sounds good, come on then, we don't want to be late. I'm covering up the hole on our side."
"And I'll go with you later to tell Aizawa-Sensei." He nods to himself as he puts the poster back in its place. "Don't want the wrong people finding this, right?" He thinks to her outfit, fighting to force down his blush. "Then again, if it's Jiro…" He shakes his head, pressing on the tape with more force than necessary. "No, don't be a creep," he quietly scolds himself, turning to go get changed.
A few minutes later finds him stumbling out of the locker room, trying to figure out how his tie came undone and how to tie it up once more. In his haste, he nearly collides with Jiro, awkwardly turning his body to avoid her. "Shoot! Sorry!"
A firm hand goes to his shoulder, ending with him with his back to her. "You aren't still loopy, right?"
"Yeah, I guess I am." He turns, laughing at himself and rubbing his neck. "Guess it's not easy to heal that, huh?"
"Maybe…" she doesn't quite meet his eyes. "Just be careful what you say, okay?"
Denki blinks, standing there just a moment. "I mean, I can try? When I go overboard, I don't really have control of what I say and do…"
He sees one jack become slightly pink before she quickly speaks. "Let's just go before we're late!"
"Right! Gotta make sure no one suffers from perverts!" He gives her a thumbs up before walking away, scratching his head. "Hope we have time to get back to class…"
"Well, come on," She pulls up next to him. "I'll make sure you don't get lost."
He chuckles, glancing at her with a smile. "I'll probably need it. Thanks."
In another part of UA, other students seem to have had a decidedly less exciting day. "I thought school would be a little different once we got to this level, but it's all still the same." Himiko Toga pouts as she walks down the hallway towards the lockers.
"How long until we can join the hero course?" Shinso grumbles beside her, hands in his pockets.
"I think that's not in the orientation packet, but we can probably look it up." She nudges him. "Planning to move up on day three?"
"I want to not be called a villain anymore," he says flatly, side-eyeing a student that walks past while glaring at him. "Only way to do that is to become a hero."
"Not gonna aim for neutral? Be student council president? That's usually someone pretty goody-two-shoes." She asks.
"And have people accuse me of stealing votes?" He huffs, shaking his head. "Not likely."
"You can be a real downer, you know?" She blows a raspberry.
"And yet you're still my friend." He looks down at the ground for a couple seconds. "…thank you."
She smiles and playfully nudges him. "Spooky friends together, right?"
He stumbles slightly, giving her a wry smile in response. "Sure. Spooky friends."
"There we go." She looks ahead to see the lockers, heading for hers and loosening her tie.
"Hey, you damn cat," a familiar voice says behind her, though with barely any heat to it. It's still enough to cause Shinso to groan in annoyance.
She turns, arms halfway in a sweater she pulled from her locker. "Hey Bakugou! Somethin' up?"
He frowns a bit more, then tries to straighten out his face. "Come with me." He gives a pointed stare at the purple-haired student beside her. "Alone."
Shinso rolls his eyes, getting his shoes on. "Whatever. See you tomorrow, Toga."
"By Shin-shin!" She waves to him.
He huffs out a quiet laugh and walks away, leaving the two of them alone.
Bakugou crosses his arms, glaring down at them as he tries to figure out a way to word this without messing up.
She finishes putting on her sweater, humming to herself as she dons her shoes after.
"…you're purposely taking your time, aren't you." It's less a question and more a slightly sulking statement.
"I figured you don't like being rushed." She says with a smirk.
He glares at her without any real heat. "…whatever. About lunch."
"It's a bit late for that, but I could go for a snack." She chirps. "Or should we make plans?"
He slams the locker beside her head, leaning in with a scowl. "God damn it, I'm trying to be serious," his voice comes out like a rumble of thunder. He lifts a finger and points it at her nose. "Raccoon Eyes isn't allowed. Horns isn't allowed. You are. Anyone else will get a beat down."
She tilts her head at him, those eyes he names her after blinking as she reads him. Suddenly they widen. "Oh! What I call you!"
He nods, trying to force his lips into a straight line. "Yes. Glad we're clear on that." He lets his hand drop from the locker to her shoulder, patting it once. "Knew you were smart, you damn cat." He smirks at her and turns to leave.
"Is that really all you wanted to say?" She leans forward to peek around his side.
He stops, giving her a puzzled frown. "…oh, right, Raccoon Eyes said you were jealous of Horns? I don't have any fucking idea where she got that from."
She looks up as she thinks. "Oh right... I mean, I don't know about jealous, but I thought it was cute that you and she have almost your own special language."
He slowly blinks, frown deepening. "We were speaking in English. She's not good at Japanese, so Deku and I are helping her."
"Ahh, that explains it. I barely scraped by in that class."
He stares at her for a moment before sighing, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Do you want me to teach you, as well?"
She waves a hand. "Nah! I'll be okay! It's probably more important she learn Japanese first."
"Just take the fucking lessons," he grumbles, raising his eyes to the ceiling. "Keep your eyes on us and learn at the same time. Simple fucking solution."
"Pushy pushy... well, thanks!" She grins widely. "Glad you still have time for me outside your class."
"How else will I make sure you're worth Deku's time?" He retorts, eyes narrowed at her.
Her own gaze narrows back at him even as her smile stays. "You'd be surprised what I'd do to prove that."
"Oh?" He steps back towards her, grinning cockily. "Is that a challenge?"
"Have something in mind?" She meets his expression.
He points in her face again. "You'll see. Go to the beach this weekend. We'll see how confident you are then."
She suddenly beams. "Sure thing! See you there?"
"Of course," he says, waving over his shoulder at her. "Who else would be testing you?"
She giggles to herself, but nods. "Alright, see you then!"
He says nothing, just giving a single nod without turning around. He walks away, leaving her by herself.
"I knew it!"
Not entirely by herself, it seems, as Mina pokes out of the adjoining hallway in the opposite direction Katsuki went in. "Love triangle!"
"Huh?" Toga tilts her head. "Where?"
She points an accusing finger. "You, Tsunotori, and Bakugou!"
She blinks before laughing, a true giggle fit that has her holding her stomach.
Ashido just stands there, slowly lowering her finger with a bewildered stare on her face.
Toga calms down after a minute, wiping her eyes. "Woo! Oh, that was a good laugh." Another giggle comes out. "Thanks for that!"
"…you're welcome?" She says awkwardly. "I'm lost, do you not consider yourself part of that?"
"Well, I haven't really talked to her yet, so I don't know." She grins. "If she can get past Boom Boy's pointy outside, she's probably worth knowing."
"Well… she seems nice," she says, trying to keep up with the conversation.
Toga nods, walking closer to her, eyes glinting in the light of the staircase.. "So... are you an expert?"
"…maybe?" She looks around, her body tense as if she'd walked into the lion's den.
"Really?!" She claps her hands once, jumping on the spot. "Mind if I ask you some things, then?"
Mina flinches at the sound, trying to relax, certain she is imagining the sensation of a tiger nearby. "Sure?"
"How do you know if you're in a love triangle?" She tilts her head and looks quizzical.
She blinks, much of her anxiety slipping away due to the new question. "Well... you and another want to spend time with the same person, you get butterflies in your belly when you think of them..." She shrugs, distinctly awkward about having to describe the feeling of affection.
Toga thinks on this. "What if you feel that for more than one person?"
Mina pauses, her brow furrowed slightly. "…I guess you could feel that for more than one person, but you should probably figure out who you'd want to spend your life with." She leans closer. "Love triangles are fun to think about, but it would be difficult to keep up as an actual relationship."
"Well, I'm not in a rush, and I do like fun." She grins. "Do you have a favorite?"
"Favorite?" She pulls back, confused. "What, like a favorite person?"
"A favorite love triangle!" She chirps back, eyes sparkling.
Mina blinks, thinking a bit. "...they haven't really interacted much in public, but Hawks, Mirko, and Ryukyu?"
"Huh… I don't know some of those." Toga settles on a bench and rests her head on a hand. "What makes you think they're a thing?"
She joins her, smiling and feeling more at ease. "Well for starters, Mirko and Hawks like to make jabs at each other…"
Okay, apologies for this taking longer to upload than expected, but I kind of injured my arm. Typing isn't the easiest at the moment.
Please let me know what you guys think!
Also, I am considering publishing the character study I did of Bakugou for this story. Should that be a new story, or just another chapter of this one?
Thank you, and have a nice day!