She was at the bar. Again.
"Yeah so then I was training with a girl from my class. We made a deal I'd help her with physical stuff if she helped me learn material composition and all that stupid complicated stuff. We were doing the fighting today and I think I did okay, not like I really know how to teach it. Anyway, I was round her's till seven something, then I went home and did some gymnastics. During the entrance exam I had to do an obstacle course and I feel like something requiring a lot of agility might come up again so I've been running and practising handsprings and stuff just in case."
It was like she had channelled Izuku through her. Her nerves that had once frozen her tongue were now making her overly chatty. After having such a fun time with Momo she just felt, so… light. When she arrived at the bar she was still feeling that high, and immediately sat down and instead of awkwardly trying to force a conversation she started talking non-stop about her day, even when she felt Tomura wrap his fingers around the arm she had offered him.
"And now, I am here. Still training. God, it's a lot of work!" Katsumi laughed.
Tomura hadn't said a word but simply stared at her as she chatted. Now she had finished talking, he continued to stay silent. The bin lid shutting and Kurogiri's footsteps as he walked back to the bar the single sounds that kept the room from being suffocated in total silence.
Katsumi cleared her throat, it looked like she would have to keep talking.
"Well-"
"You care that much about that hero shit?"
Katsumi blinked, he actually responded?
"Uh, no, it's not really 'cause of that. I just wanna get stronger, I guess." Liar.
Tomura continued to stare directly at her, it was quite uncomfortable, 'it' being that unmoving grey hand.
"You're buddy buddy with those wannabe hero classmates of yours though, aren't you?" He said it accusingly, as he rested his arm onto the bar.
"Well-"
"Speaking of the UA students," Kurogiri spoke up, surprising Katsumi. "Perhaps Miss Yagi could give us information on the quirks of her classmates."
Katsumi's heart froze, until now she hadn't even been asked to do anything that would really count as betraying anyone. She was just… withholding some information from people. But telling them that about her classmates? That could allow them to plan ways to exploit weaknesses in her classmates. Maybe even he might take an interest in one of them and want to take their quirk. God, what if they found out about Izuku's?
"Yeah well," Tomura shrugged, "we'll see them in action during the sports festival."
"Tomura Shigiraki," Kurogiri's eyes narrowed slightly, "you still are yet to give Ms Yagi an order. Might I remind you that she is here to provide information? She has that quirk Master gave to her, allow her to use it, with it she can easily steal documents from UA."
"I don't need her to do shit," Tomura spat, "I can do it myself."
"Uh, actually," Katsumi coughed, "I don't know how to use that quirk… so…"
Kurogiri turned to her.
"Miss Yagi I suggest you get to practising with it. The Master gifted it to you for a reason."
Katsumi inhaled sharply at the word 'Master'. It was not the first time he had used it, but it still made her feel sick- no angry. She really didn't know how to feel about Kurogiri, but his obvious loyalty to him was shifting her onto the side of disgust.
"Whatever," Tomura huffed before she had a chance to speak, "I don't even want her around. Stupid kid's just using me to get stronger."
Katsumi raised an eyebrow, talking to him reminded her of the time she babysat a friend's ten-year-old brother. Yet he was the one calling her a kid.
"Kid? You're not that much older." Katsumi snickered, "You still act the same age as before."
"Screw off."
"Speaking of age," Katsumi turned and gave Kurogiri a curt smile. "Thanks for waiting till after my birthday to take me to that man, I really appreciate you not ruining my birthday by dragging me into this shit too early."
Kurogiri didn't react to the obvious snark in her words. "The master ordered me to only make contact with you after you joined UA. It was an in-the-moment decision to offer you a portal then, as you seemed aware of my presence."
Katsumi frowned, "Well he probably shouldn't have had you stalking me if that was the plan. Of course, I'd notice."
"Following you wasn't the master's order."
"Huh?"
"There was no need to. The Master knew if you hadn't said anything yet, you wouldn't just because you returned to Japan. It was To-"
"Fuck off," Tomura's words came out in a hiss. Katsumi flinched slightly.
Kurogiri paused for a moment, much less bothered by the sharp words than Katsumi, who had lost her train of thought completely from the unexpected outburst.
"Pardon?" Kurogiri asked.
"Piss off Kurogiri," Tomura almost seethed, clenching his fist as he stared at Kurogiri.
The man stared at him for a moment, "Are you asking me to leave?"
"Are you dumb?" His voice was laced with venom, "Yes, get out of here."
Katsumi was left speechless as she watched Kurogiri immediately walk away, disappearing into the corridor. She looked to Tomura, he sat facing forward, knuckles white from clenching his fists too hard.
It took her a few seconds to actually connect what had pissed him off so much. If it wasn't that man ordering Kurogiri to follow her around then of course it could only be-
"He's fucking annoying."
Katsumi blinked, turning her head to the side. Tomura was staring at her, the sound of tapping as he rocked his leg clearly indicated he was still annoyed, yet he was talking to her. She thought it best if she didn't comment further on the whole stalking thing.
Katsumi laughed lightly, trying to brighten the mood, "He acts like a babysitter."
"He's supposed to be a servant," Tomura spat, "he should just shut up."
Lips pursed Katsumi stayed quiet. She stared down at her thighs, and one semi-regenerated arm came into her view. The bone protruded and grew as the muscle slowly encased it, which made her quickly turn her gaze and head away.
She really was tired, the burst of energy she had was slowly burning itself out with its lack of fuel. She could get a little delirious when tired. If she started talking again she could stop herself from getting too tired, but she really didn't want to accidentally say something that would piss Tomura off right now.
"So, do you still play?"
It seemed she would have to talk anyway. As Katsumi looked up she wished the incredibly sensitive guy she was sitting next to didn't have his face, the most telling area of the body, covered. Gauging his emotions would be so much easier. But, from how his voice was just that slight touch softer than before, she thought he might not be angry with her, at that moment.
"Play what?"
"Video games," he shook his head, irritation rising in his voice, "Do you still play them?"
"Oh!" Katsumi felt her heart jump, god it was easy to piss him off. "Yeah, I do."
Tomura being angry at her was very different to someone like Bakugou. Bakugou getting pissed and shouting at her didn't even make her flinch, it was funny. Tomura's tone even getting a slight bit sharper made her heart freeze. She didn't care about what Bakugou thought of her, Tomura however, she needed him to like her. To trust her. It wasn't just that though, she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little scared of him. Or more specifically, what he was capable of. Bakugou may be an asshole but he obviously wasn't a bad person, he wouldn't do anything to hurt her, he knew where the limit was. He was raised in society. Tomura… he wasn't a bad person either, Katsumi knew that. But… Well if worse came to worst, she could probably beat him, restrain him or run away. But then what?
"So? Which ones?"
Shit, he sounded pissed. Was she supposed to keep talking? She had so many thoughts going on in her head, she needed to-
"God you wouldn't shut up a minute ago, now you're acting all awkward," he leaned back slightly, and Katsumi could feel the glare through that damned hand.
"Well you- ugh," Katsumi sighed, trying to let out some of the horrible stress and tension in her chest. "I dunno, I like JRPGs, I'm playing Persona 5- the Royal edition- at the moment." Her mind cleared enough for a moment for her to fish out that piece of information. God, she hadn't thought about that game in forever. Did she ever even finish that? No, she's been too damn busy.
"Oh, yeah I know that one."
"Ever played it?" Katsumi asked, trying her best to sound relaxed as she fiddled with the strings of her sweatpants.
"Nah," Tomura shrugged, "looks boring."
"What?" Her brow furrowed, "in what way?"
"Dunno," he responded absentmindedly, picking up a pack of cards that were left at the bar and turning them in his hand. "That type of game is just boring."
"How?" Katsumi pulled back slightly, how on earth was Persona boring? He was a League player, what did he know! "'Cause it's a social sim? Or do you not like role, roll- no that's not right…" She bounced her leg as she tried to remember the words, "Ugh! When the combat is like, taking turns!"
Tomura snorted, "Turn-based combat?"
"Yeah!" Katsumi exclaimed, "That's what I meant, haha."
Her smile began to falter after a couple moments when Tomura made no move to respond. Just staring.
"So," Katsumi cleared her throat, "uh, is that the bit you don't like?"
Again, he just stared at her. Holy shit this was annoying, why couldn't he have a normal conversation without being so damn creepy! Her heart was beating quickly again, she pursed her lips as she glanced down, away from his burning hidden stare.
"Yeah. Same reason for those Pokemon games."
"Uh-" Katsumi inhaled sharply as she looked back up. "You- there is more to it than the combat. I swear it's good, I play on easy mode so-"
"The hell's the point of that?"
Katsumi scoffed, this was actually kinda annoying her, "Because it's the social bits I like! The fighting's fun but the story and hanging out with the characters is the best bit."
Tomura scratched at his neck, "That sounds… even more boring."
"The hell-" Katsumi stopped herself, taking in a deep breath in and out.
"I don't think you quite understand the game," she laughed through grit teeth, eyebrows raised. "You see it's not all about gameplay. The story is good too. It's all about fighting for what you think is right and against corruption-"
"Sounds shit."
Katsumi blinked slowly at him. He was so annoying! He had no idea about the game, he was forming an opinion with basically no information! That was his problem. He didn't know anything! The only people who told him stuff were that man and his lap dog Kurogiri! She had to show him that he could be wrong. Starting with a video game seemed good, fitting even. She couldn't start with the concept of taking a life right of the bat, she needed to start small. It helped she very much wanted to convince him of the quality of the game anyway.
"It's not shit," she smiled, attempting to seem unbothered, "you can't say that when you know nothing about it!"
"I know enough."
"It's a hundred-hour game!" She exclaimed, "You know like- one percent of it!"
Tomura chuckled then, and not in the way he did last time when he threatened her. It was simply an amused chuckle.
"No story game should be that long."
Katsumi stared at him for a long moment. Then she smirked and leaned back, resting against the table.
"Okay, let me tell you the premise and you tell me if you think it sounds interesting."
"Whatever."
"So basically it starts with the main character getting arrested because this man said he assaulted him but really he was just trying to protect a woman the man was threatening. And then because of that, he gets sent to Tokyo on probation."
"That's dumb," Tomura rested his arm on the bar, "why would they arrest him for that?"
"Exactly! And basically everyone literally treats him like absolute garbage because they think he's a delinquent but he meets this guy- Ryuji- who also gets profiled as a delinquent and they-"
"Profiled?"
Katsumi frowned, "Yeah?"
"Why you tryna use fancy words?"
"That's not a- ugh," Katsumi shook her head, "keep quiet I'm telling you the plot."
"What?"
Katsumi elected to ignore the slight threat in his tone and continued, "Well they are going to school and end up in this other world where there is this castle and are captured by guards but then the main character awakens his persona and-"
"- then after the asshole teacher confesses what he did the group decide they want to keep stealing hearts and find a new target." Katsumi paused to take a long sip from her glass of water. "That's the first arc of the game. The next target is this painter guy who's actually stealing the paintings from his students and-"
"-so the public are arguing if what they are doing is right which like- yeah it is. The first guy definitely should have just been killed but Ann didn't want to kill him which is totally fair because to have that weight on you that you actually killed someone would be horrible. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah but they don't even kill the people so-"
"-no but oh my god the exploration of the castles is so fun. But the social bit is my fav. Like you basically hang out with people to get different like buffs and abilities and it is literally my favourite part-"
"-oh my god! It's so annoying though cuz once you get to level ten with the girls you get the option to date them and I feel so bad rejecting them like seriously. Honestly, I was tryna figure out who would be the best for Joker but I ended up picking-"
"-so then you find out the guy from the beginning is this corrupt politician. He's actually so evil I wanted to them to kill him but there's obviously no option for that-"
"-people start not believing the phantom thieves are even real which is so dumb and annoying. Like the whole games about the youth being ignored and marginalised but damn the like public in the game really annoys me cause they literally do nothing of use and-"
"-but when I finished it the first time I actually cried. Literally one hundred hours were spent on that game and it was sooo worth it. I really didn't want it to end it was so good, like yeah I could go replay it- I am with the new version- but it's not the same as the first time… Y'know what I mean?"
Katsumi's arm had completely regrown itself during the time Katsumi had spent talking.
She only noticed it after she subconsciously went to stroke her hair away from her face. As she brought her hand down she stared at it for a moment before her mind processed what it was seeing.
"Oh…"
Katsumi looked up from her hand to the guy sitting before her. Of course, she couldn't see his expression, so she just waited for the inevitable pissed-off comment. God, she had told him to shut up and he had, he was about to go off on her.
"Sorry."
He hadn't said anything yet, and she thought she could at least soften the blow a little by apologising.
"I haven't talked to anyone about that game before, I got a little carried away," Katsumi laughed nervously for a moment before she shut herself up.
"What you play it on?"
"What?"
"What do you play it on?" Tomura repeated, his voice rising slightly.
"Oh-" Katsumi blinked, "Uh, PlayStation."
"...pfft."
Katsumi shut her mouth, she hadn't even realised it had been hanging open.
"...What?"
"Seriously?" He asked, amused. "Console?" He shook his head, "Get a PC."
He was not mad.
He wasn't mad.
Katsumi could cry with relief. Good lord she was so tired, she was being way too emotional. She was so relieved he wasn't screaming at her that it took her a moment to even process the words that he had said.
"Wait," Katsumi pulled back and her brows furrowed, "what's wrong with console?"
"PCs are better in literally every way."
Katsumi scoffed, "Literally how?"
Tomura leaned back, tapping his fingers against some pack of cards left on the bar, "There are more games on a PC. You can't pirate on a console, there's no mods either."
"Yeah well-" she shook her head, feeling strangely protective of her consoles. "You got into games because of a DS! Why go dissing consoles when you owe the fact you're into games to it."
He scoffed, "I don't owe a console anything."
"Okay sure," Katsumi conceded. She hesitated a moment before she spoke, "You owe me then."
"You're delusional, I didn't even like it that much."
"What a lie!" She shook her head, did he even remember anything? "You'd hog it like crazy!" She laughed, "I'm surprised you let me leave with it!"
That was too much. She visibly winced as soon as she said it, Tomura didn't say anything, but Katsumi thought she saw his fingers twitch.
"Um, right," Katsumi exhaled, they would have to talk about it at some point. "Actually, Tomura, I've been meaning to say that, well. Thank you. For letting me leave."
She couldn't say that while looking at that hand clasped over his face, she had to look away. Did that make it seem insincere? She hoped not.
"Yeah, whatever."
Katsumi swallowed, trying to physically push down the horrible weight inside her. She looked up and Tomura was facing away again, fiddling with the pack of cards, pinky finger up. His face, what expression did it wear? She could barely remember what he looked like. She really wanted to see his face. How was she supposed to come to any real understanding with him without seeing his face?
"Can you take it off?"
"What?"
Katsumi's voice had come out softer than she had meant it to, much softer than she ever really spoke. Tomura replied with the same blunt, endlessly annoyed tone.
"The hand," Katsumi straightened herself out, composing herself before she doubled down. "It's strange to have a conversation with someone whose face you can't see."
"That was a conversation?" He scoffed, dropping the cards down and turning towards her. "You were just talking at me."
"Well! I-" Katsumi cringed, seriously though, he was the one going cold every few words. "C'mon, what is the point of wearing it?" She asked, some of the softness from before returning, this time purposeful. "You didn't really wear it back then, nothings ch-"
She couldn't honestly say nothing had changed, that would be a lie, and she owed him more than getting lied to.
"I would like to talk to you without it."
Tomura stayed silent for a moment. He turned his head away, "I'm not taking it off."
"Please, Tomura."
"No."
"Please."
"Not for you."
"C'mon!" Katsumi almost whined.
"Fuck off."
Katsumi pressed her hands together and bowed in her chair, "Pretty please!"
"Huh?" He scoffed, "I don't speak English."
"Ugh." Katsumi scowled, looking up, "please!"
"Fuck off."