For lunch, they were serving rice with beef soup as well as a side of corn salad, it looked and smelt amazing. Yaoyorozu had asked for extra everything, piling the food onto her plate. Katsumi didn't even know they could do that and couldn't be bothered to go back and ask for more. She made a mental note to ask to get double next time.
''Damn,' she looked at the girl's tray a little jealous, 'You have way more than me, I should have asked for extra too!''
Yaoyorozu smiled at the pouting girl sitting before her, "I'm just glad the food here is alright. I have to eat a lot as my quirk's power comes from the molecular structure of my fat cells."
"Really?!" Katsumi quickly swallowed the mouthful of rice she had just put into her mouth, "Me too! Well, somethin' similar."
Yaoyorozu's eyes lit up, "What a coincidence!"
"I know right? I should have gotten more food seeing as we're doing battles next."
"Are we? Aizawa Sensei only mentioned heroics training."
"Yeah, we're doing two v two battles with All Might."
"All Might?" Yaoyorozu raised a finger to her chin, "So the number one hero really is teaching at UA… how do you know?"
Katsumi licked her bottom lip, should she just come out and say it? No, instead she grinned grinned, bright blue eyes narrowing, "I'll tell you but on one condition."
"What?"
"I wasn't here yesterday, I have no clue about the types of people I'm dealing with in this class, that puts me at a big disadvantage," she hummed. "Tell me everyone's quirks, you seem like the typa person to take notice of things like that."
Yaoyorozu exhaled, amused, "Obviously I would take notice, we're competing as individuals as well as as a class. But don't you also have the advantage of others not knowing your quirk? How about I tell you what I know about our classmates as long as you tell me about your quirk too."
Cheeky, that let her get an advantage over the rest of her classmates while nullifying the advantage Katsumi had on her. She was really taking this seriously, Katsumi had almost forgotten her classmates were there because they had a strong drive to be heroes.
"Okay deal."
Izuku moped at the other side of the lunch hall absentmindedly poking at his food, only half-listening to Uraraka and Iida.
"Mmm, the food is so good!' Uraraka hummed in delight, 'The fact it's free makes it all the more better!"
"I agree, lunch rushes cooking it truly divine! Right Midoriya?"
"Uh, yeah."
They looked at him worriedly, then at each other. They hadn't known each other for long but it was plain to see that he was feeling pretty down.
"Uh, Deku?" Uraraka spoke up, "Are you still upset about what you said to Yagi?"
Iida cleared his throat, feeling a little guilty about instigating the conversation that led to his new friend's mood, "I apologise, I am the one who started the conversation and put her on edge-"
"No no!" Izuku waved his hands frantically, " It's not your fault! I'm okay, honestly."
"In that case, I must admit, it probably wasn't the most tactful thing to say to a woman, you may want to think your words over before speaking in future."
Izuku flushed in embarrassment, "I- well, she's never actually got mad at me before,'' he sighed, things had been so weird since her birthday.
"It seemed more that she was annoyed than mad," Uraraka chimed in sweetly, "I'm sure she'll forgive you. You two seem to know each other well after all!"
"Ah yes, how do you two know each other? I don't remember seeing her with you at the entrance exams." Iida mused, it had been on his mind since their conversation.
"That's because she was recommended, she didn't go to my middle school so she wouldn't have sat with me anyway." Izuku chose to reply to the latter question, not sure on what to say about how they met.
"She was recommended? Wow, she must be really strong!"
"Huh, to be recommended you have to have strong physical capabilities, high grades and outstanding references. Perhaps I misjudged her…" It would be the second time in recent memory Iida had done that.
"She's smarter than she seems," Izuku admitted, "she didn't know the Japanese school system well, so I tutored her for the exam. Honestly, she's smarter than me, she understood everything so quickly, it's just she's lazy about it."
"Where'd she get the references from?" Uraraka wanted to know. "Are her parents American heroes or something?"
"Uh! Well ah," Izuku fumbled, "um…"
"You don't have to say anything, it wouldn't be right to spread information like that without the subject's consent."
Their bubbly friend's round face went pink, "Oh yeah! Sorry, I didn't think about that."
"No it's fine, she'd probably be fine with it, just well, I don't want to give her another reason to be mad at me right now."
Iida frowned at the freckled boy's downcast expression, he seemed quite touched by an easily fixable situation.
"Midoriya, if you don't mind me asking, you two seem to be quite close, is your relationship strictly platonic or-"
"Oh!" Izukus's face flared up, snapping up to interrupt him, "We're just friends!"
Iida raised an eyebrow, "I see."
"Right, from what you've said it seems like the ones to look out for are Bakugou, Todoroki and… well you Yaoyorozu."
The raven-haired girl dabbed her mouth with a napkin, trying to hide a smile, "I suppose I am quite strong, though I have much room for improvement.
Katsumi stifled a chuckle at the girl's attempt at modesty while clearly being very pleased with the compliment.
"Anyway, now you know about our classmate's abilities, it's your turn to keep your side of the deal."
"Yeah yeah,' Katsumi nodded, "I'll be fair. My quirk's a transformation type, I can manipulate the form of my body's living cells, both growing new ones and transforming their material. I mostly use it for turning my limbs into weapons or stretching my arms or whatever. The annoying thing is that I gotta know the chemical makeup of-"
Yaoyorozu gasped, "Me too!" Katsumi jerked a little at the outburst of energy, the girl opposite noticed, coughing into her hand and settling back before she continued. "As in I have to know the chemical makeup to create the objects I make."
"Oh my god!'' Katsumi leaned in forwards, hands clapping together in front of her, "That's freaking amazing! I thought it was cool that we both have food as fuel now this too?! It's totally fate that we got sat next to together!''
"More the alphabet,'' Yaoyorozu giggled, relieved her classmate shared her excitement. Katsumi grinned as she leaned back.
"But seriously, that's crazy,'' she ran her thumb across her bottom lip as she scooted her chair closer, "We so need to get together and study materials- well I have a feeling you know more than me so more you teaching me."
"Teaching is one of the best ways to learn! I would be delighted to."
"Hey I'll pay you back for it as well," Katsumi added, "I don't know how good you are at hand-to-hand combat but it's my speciality, I'd be happy to spar with you anytime!"
"Ah, that is an area I am lacking slightly, I may take you up on that offer," Yaoyorozu said thoughtfully.
"Yeah well just watch me later when we're fighting, I didn't get recommended for nothing."
"Of course," Yaoyorozu clicked her tongue as she remembered the original point of their deal, "Oh I almost forgot-" Katsumi went back to the little amount of food left on her plate as Yaoyorozu leaned in, lowering her voice, "When did you find out about All Might teaching us?"
"Oh,' Katsumi shrugged, taking a bite of food, "he told me."
"Who?" Yaoyorozu furrowed her brow as she whispered.
Katsumi covered her mouth with her hand as she chewed, "All Might."
Yaoyorozu looked at her with a confused expression, "When?"
"Last night."
Yaoyorozu prided herself on being insightful and observant, still, she had to stare at her classmate in front of her for a long moment before it clicked. The blonde hair, tan skin, bright blue eyes, the note she had given Aizawa Sensei that seemingly cleared her for being late, the fact the Present Mic knew her name and that she was from America.
"Are you…" she furrowed her brow, slightly hesitant, "related to him?"
"Ding ding!" Katsumi swallowed her food and waved her chopsticks in the air, "He's my Pops."
Lips parted and dark eyes wide Yaoyorozu shook her head, "I can't believe I hadn't worked that out as soon as you mentioned you knew he was here, actually the fact he is teaching here should have been a hint! He must be here to support you, right?"
"Uh," Katsumi dropped her chopsticks onto her bowl, "the other way round, he convinced me to go for the hero program last summer which is why I moved here from the States. I've been training with him since."
"I see," the pale girl mused, stroking her chin, "Wow, All Might huh… For some reason I've never thought of him as someone who'd have a family, he's more myth than man."
"Yeah well I doubt he did either," the mystery of how her parents got together was a question she had wondered about for a long time. "It's not like he was involved much, he wasn't even married to my Mum and she moved us to America when I was eight. I didn't see him much till last year when I actually moved over here."
Yaoyorozu parted her lips slightly, sensing that it was a slightly sensitive topic, "Parents with important jobs are difficult," she could relate to that at least, "you understand why they can't see you much but it's still hurtful."
"Yeah then add seeing his face plastered everywhere," Katsumi laughed. Funny that a couple of months ago the same conversation ended with tears. She didn't have the luxury of being so weak anymore.
"So, you got in from recommendations too, what's your family like?"
"Ah, my father is in the automobile business," Yaoyorozu spoke carefully, "the company makes engines and such. My mother is a mathematician and overviews the accounting side while my father is more interested in business meetings."
"So they own the company?"
"Yes, I'll admit I am well-off, I am incredibly grateful for it as it allowed them to send me to a very good middle school which is where I got my references."
Katsumi smirked and shook her head, "It's okay, you don't have to be humble about your family with me. My Dad's the number one hero and my Mum's from old money. Plus she owns a magazine."
"Oh, yes of course," Yaoyorozu laughed, a little embarrassed, "I've been reminding myself to be humble as not everyone here comes from such a privileged upbringing."
Something about that irked Katsumi, a little unfoundedly maybe. She definitely did have a privileged upbringing yes, in many ways. She was given every opportunity and more, her parents' money and influence even provided her with a clean slate after that one especially bad screw-up. Most people would have been marked from an arrest like that for the rest of their lives.
She understood that sure, still, she was miserable for most of her upbringing, and because of that she didn't feel very privileged. That and the people that bestowed her such privilege, her parents, were people Katsumi had hated for a long time. Her mother especially, who was the one that actually 'raised' her, afforded her all her nice clothes and enrolled her in a good school. Katsumi had been adamantly rejecting her for a long time.
At a certain point, around the time she entered her teenage years, she had put her hatred for her dad on the back burner. While her mum was constantly annoying and upsetting her, his absence was more forgivable, something she'd forget about for months at a time.
His absence had become the norm, and his presence was a novelty, when your local supermarket stops selling your favourite snack so the only time you can get them is when you're out of town. Something once common becomes more special. At least thinking like that was soothing, in reality, it was nothing like that, and such comparison only emphasised the pain of her situation. The bond between a parent and a child is so innate and fundamental that a person's relationship or lack thereof with their parents will shape every part of them, very different from not being able to find a type of food in the supermarket.
Still, it was impossible to dwell on things forever. The hurt and anger were still ever present but simply shoved to the back of her mind with all the other shameful, rotted parts of herself.
"Yeah, we're lucky," Katsumi replied, chewing at her thumbnail, her normally long colourful nails unpainted and short.
"So your mother owns a magazine?" Yaoyorozu continued, smiling elegantly, "How interesting, an American one I suppose?"
Katsumi nodded, "Mhm, Noa Fashion or something."
Yaoyorozu gasped, a hand rising to her chest, "You're not joking are you?"
"Dude, is it really that known here?" shaking her head Katsumi laughed, "Izuku's mum knew her too and she just modelled over here."
She had mentioned that without thinking, and she didn't let herself think any more about what she said. There was no reason to think about anything to do with Izuku at the moment.
"You're mother is Noa!? No wonder All Might-"
"Don't shout." It was rare for Katsumi to be the one telling someone to be quiet, though it was more the possible content of her new friend's words than the volume that bothered her,
"Haha, sorry," Yaoyorozu smoothed her dark hair at her temple, "well yes, it's published here in Japan. I must admit, I use the Noa catalogue quite often for choosing my personal wardrobe… My mother introduced it to me, she was a fan of Noa when she was younger."
"I would offer to introduce you guys to her next time she comes here," Katsumi leaned against her hand as she poked at her food, "but I would rather talk to her as little as possible."
"Too strict? My mother can be like that sometimes, it does come from a place of love though." Smiling gently Yaoyorozu tried to lighten Katsumi's mood, she had a feeling the turn to the topic of family was agitating her.
"Nah, well yes but it's more- ugh I dunno," Katsumi stopped before she tripped over her tongue anymore. They sat in silence for a couple of moments.
Yaoyorozu pursed her lips, it would be best to switch the conversation topic, "The food here is good isn't it…"
The girl in front of her looked up, her previously sombre expression flat. Not responding she simply stared at her blankly, Yaoyorozu felt her face heat up, eyes involuntarily looking away from her gaze. Katsumi's lips curled upwards, a faint smile gracing her face. Her eyes sparkled as she pressed her lips together tightly, biting the inside of her lip as the smile grew. Suddenly her head went back down, face hidden from her frowning classmate. The blonde girl's shoulders began to tremble, confusing Yaoyorozu further. All at once Katsumi burst out in laughter, throwing back her head as she laughed. It startled Yaoyorozu, she didn't think she had said anything that funny.
Katsumi wiped away a tear that had formed at the corner of her eye, still giggling between breaths, "Oh wow."
"I'm sorry did I-"
"Nah, nah, it's just your face," she continued giggling, "You looked so awkward!"
If it wasn't before Yaoyorozu's face was burning now, "Well, I was at a bit of a loss about what to say."
"No kidding!" Katsumi breathed out, "Oh, I haven't talked to a girl in so long. Are we allowed our phones out here- oh whatever let me write down my number for you!"
"Oh, okay!" Yaoyorozu's eyes widened as Katsumi picked up her bag, rummaging for a pen and paper, "I'll message you later so you have mine."