"You wanna change your costume?"
The development studio on the first floor was completely empty, except for a short upper-class man with cropped grey hair. Due to how simple adjustment Katsumi wanted for her costume Aizawa Sensei had told her to just go and find a support student to work on it. Apparently, they got extra credit for any improvements or repairs they made to hero students' costumes, so any of them would be happy to help.
"Yeah, there's a cut out in the chest area I don't want. Would you be able to cover it?" Katsumi gently placed her briefcase on the table. "With white, preferably, and maybe make the backside longer?"
"Oh, sure!" The girl nodded, pulling the case towards her. "Sometimes, the costume makers can be a bit too flippant about making sure the wearer is comfortable and covered. We'll get it back to you by tomorrow!"
Katsumi thanked the girl and was about to leave when she called out to her.
"Also… uh," she laughed a little nervously, "I'm sorry for being nosy, but are you in class 1-A?"
Katsumi looked at the upperclassman suspiciously, "Yeah. Why?"
"Well," she started, adverting her gaze, "I heard that All Might's daughter is in the class!" She looked back at Katsumi, her eyes glinting. "Is that true?"
Katsumi stared blankly for a long moment, "Yeah."
"Wow really?" She marvelled, "I'm a big fan of his! My aunty worked with his agency as a designer for a while."
"That's cool…" Katsumi wondered where this was going.
"What's she like?" The student asked, scratching her neck as she looked away sheepishly, "Are you uh, friends with her."
Something in the way the girl was acting told Katsumi quite clearly she was already aware of who Katsumi was.
"If you wanna know so badly… I'm the girl."
"I knew it!" The girl gasped, clapping her hands together.
Katsumi deadpanned, "Was it the blondeness that gave it away?"
"No your eyes actually! They're really striking blue!"
A smirk crept its way onto Katsumi's lips. People knowing her as All Might's daughter would be annoying until it became old news. Then everyone would get bored of it and stop caring. Until then she'd just have to deal with it. At least this girl was nice.
"Coming through!"
The door swung open with a loud bang as a pink-haired girl flew in, the large cardboard box in her arms contents clanking as she rushed to the counter.
"Ah! Hatsume! Watch out will you!"
"Sorry!" The girl shouted, dropping the heavy box onto a workbench with a loud thud, "Too busy!"
Katsumi took that as her time to leave before she had to answer any questions.
/
Finally, she was alone with her thoughts. Goodness knows she had a lot to sift through. There had been little to no time all day to debrief herself on the previous night. She'd woken up late, her dad rushing her to get ready in fifteen minutes. Then she had spent the first few lessons learning the most horrendous equations ever- god she hated maths! After that, she spent most of lunch arguing with Iida until she excused herself to the costume department. At least she got to sit next to Izuku. The thing was she just didn't like talking to him as much with those other randos around and they were around, almost constantly.
Katsumi was keenly aware of the fact the time when she was hanging out with Izuku had been steadily decreasing since joining UA. Her preoccupation with a certain other dude was certainly not helping. The thing she kept telling herself was that as soon as she sorted her little problem out, when she completed her task, she would have all the time in the world to talk with Izuku… and maybe more. But until then-
"Katsumiii!"
In the half-empty corridors, Katsumi spun around as she heard a loud, excitable voice call out her name. Mina ran up to her, skidding slightly as she slowed down to join Katsumi.
"I wondered where you left to!" She grinned, slightly out of breath, "Whatcha' doing here?"
"Mina," Katsumi forced a smile, not like she didn't want to see the very pink girl- but she did really need some alone time. "I was just at the development studio getting my costume adjusted a little."
"Oh really? What, they make it weird? It looked good to me the other day."
"Nah," they kept walking, Katsumi was heading to class early, and she assumed Mina was too. "I just wanted some changes to my original design, does mean I'll have to wear the PE costume fo-"
"You two, why aren't you in the cafeteria?"
Katsumi yelped at the gruff voice of their homeroom teacher. She hadn't even seen him approaching
"What was that?" Mina whispered, trying to hold down a laugh.
"Um," Katsumi ignored Mina, looking up at Aizawa's bandaged face, "I was just talking to the costume department."
"And you Ashido?"
"Bathroom trip sir!" Mina saluted.
"Right, try not to wander round the halls. In the event of another break in you should be in the cafeteria with your classmates."
"Of course sir!" Mina grinned.
Aizawa nodded, his tired eyes peeking through the bandages, "Make you eat a good lunch too, it's important to fuel your body if you want to be successful in lessons."
"Yes sir!"
Aizawa passed the girls without another word, Katsumi twisted her neck to look over her shoulder as she did so. He was just as bandaged as when he first came back. He was much more injured than Tomura, yet he seemed unfazed by it. The injuries were truly horrific if Recovery Girl couldn't heal him. The concept of taking a long time to heal was such a foreign idea to Katsumi, it seemed awful.
"Poor Sensei," Katsumi frowned.
"He acts all strict but he has a big heart," Mina snickered. "I still can't believe he's still teaching. He's such a pro! Hopefully he heals up soon and they can take those bandages off."
Katsumi smirked at the thought, "Can't wait."
"Yeah- wait what?"
Katsumi glanced at Mina. She was looking at her brow furrowed, her lips curling up slightly.
Oops.
"Huh?"
Mina cocked her head, "What do you mean?"
"About what?" Katsumi laughed a little awkwardly. She hadn't meant to say that the way she did.
Mina let out a giggle, "Why can't you wait for the bandages to come off?"
Katsumi's face began to warm up, "Cuz, I want him to get better…"
"Oh my god? Do you think he's hot!?"
"Shhh!" Katsumi grabbed Mina by the shoulders, looking around wildly, "Don't shout!"
"Reeeally?" Mina's mouth was wide open, eyes wide in shock and amusement. "Is that your type? He's so like- unkempt! Or I guess you think that makes him rugged?"
Katsumi groaned, letting the shorter girl go, "Don't you think he's hot?"
"Well- yeah I guess he's not bad looking," Mina said, though by her tone it seemed she didn't truly mean it. "I can I understand why someone would like him I guess. I'm just surprised you do."
Katsumi scoffed at that, "Why?"
Mina tapped a finger on her lips, "Well, I thought you liked the cute nerdy type."
"The hell would you think that for?" As soon as those words left Katsumi's mouth she knew she had made a mistake. "Actually no don't answer-"
"Cuz your fat crush on Midoriya!" Mina whispered, leaning close to Katsumi.
"Right well," Katsumi cleared her through, ignoring the encroaching heat on her cheeks, "there's your mistake. I don't have a crush on Izuku."
"Surreee," Mina nodded. They stopped talking for a brief moment as a couple of people passed them. As soon as they had Mina swayed towards the girl walking beside her to whisper in her ear.
"So what is your type then? Older guys?"
"Ugh," Katsumi moaned, throwing her head forwards dramatically as she came to terms with the conversation.
"No not really."
"What is it then? Midoriya and Sensei are so different I can't see the crossover!"
"Because I don't- ugh whatever."
"Just tell mee! What type of guys do you like?"
"Well- I mean like, hm I dunno actually. It's hard to describe."
"What hair colour, eye colour, height, physique, personality-"
"Okay yeah, I get it… hmm…" Katsumi clicked her tongue as she thought for a moment. "I like dark hair, bright eyes- like red or green-"
"Like Midoriya-"
"No. Well, I mean yeah I guess he does have nice eyes."
"Ooooo-"
"Nope! Don't even start."
"Aww he's not ugly Katsumi, he's kinda cute actually, but I'm guessing you're into more manly dudes. Or is it 'cuz he's shorter than you."
"No. I mean- I dunno."
"Ugh! Okay what's the number one thing you'd want in a partner?"
"I guess…" Katsumi hummed, thinking about it for a moment. "Someone who likes me. Someone who likes being around me. Someone who's number one is me, always."
"Thats so- ah! You're annoying!" Mina whined, totally unfulfilled by Katsumi's vague answers. "Surely Midoriya does right? You should like him! Okay if it's not that or his looks, is it his personality?"
"No." There was no real reason she didn't like him because, simply put, she did like him. Katsumi wasn't going to tell Mina that though, that was a slippery slope to Izuku finding out. "There's nothing wrong with him, I like him a lot, just not in that way."
"Alright…" Mina surrendered, utterly defeated.
Katsumi was curious about why Mina cared so much about it. Maybe she just wanted to use it as an opportunity to get closer to her, they all still had technically only just met. It was prime time to get close to people.
"Is there someone else?" Mina asked suddenly, jumping out in front of Katsumi, her energy seemingly magically rejuvenated in the short few moments
"Like who?" Katsumi scoffed, as she was forced to stop. She paused for a moment before she gave Mina a sly look, "What about you?"
"Me?" Mina blinked.
"You seem really into this crush stuff. Might it be because someone in our class has caught your eye?"
"I wish!" she giggled, her expression was slightly strange though, Katsumi would have to remember that. "I mean we don't really know each other that well," she said quickly as she moved back to the side, the pair beginning their walk again, "You and Midoriya on the other hand-"
"Ugh!" Katsumi groaned, how were they still talking about that? She glanced around to check if anyone was in earshot before leaning towards Mina and aggressively whispering, "I don't know our teacher that well and I still have the hots for him! You could totally think one of our classmates is hot!"
Mina laughed, "Seriously? You really think Sensei is that good-looking?"
Katsumi scowed at Mina as she blocked her attempt to switch the conversation to her.
"Yes. Wait," Katsumi froze for a second, "lemme be clear- you can't tell anyone that."
"Of course," Mina snickered, making Katsumi sweat a little. "Seriously though, there's hotter teachers than Aizawa Sensei."
"Oh," Katsumi scoffed, "like who?"
Mina hummed, taking a moment to think, "Vlad King's got cool spiky hair, he's mega buff too and fangs!"
"Nah," Katsumi shook her head, "I don't like buff guy's all that much."
"Really? But- wait," Mina giggled, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Now I'm thinking about it, I totally know who the hottest teacher is."
"Ms Midnight doesn't count. We're talking men."
"Duh! No, if you really think about it, the teacher with the best personality, looks, aura… smile," she grinned, and Katsumi felt very worried.
"The hottest teachers gotta be All Might!"
The sound Katsumi made was a kin to the dying breath of an old man, a deep, guttural sound of fear, disgust, horror. She stopped walking completely, standing in the middle of the empty corridor, eyes wide as she stared at the grinning pink girl, black eyes full of glee. She shook her head slowly as the Mina nodded, her toothy grin wide.
"Yeah," she doubled down, "I remember seeing a picture of him back when he was in the UA sports festival- a total smash! Or Detroit smash I should say."
"No. No Mina," Katsum stared, "you don't mean that."
"I mean- objectively-"
Katsumi's hand rose to her chest, "Mina," she called her friend's name, begging for mercy, "he's like fifty now."
Mina shrugged, "Fine wine. I'd hit."
Katsumi choked, clutching at her heart. "He's- he's- my dad," she almost pleaded with her, "You don't mean it."
Mina's giggles turned to loud laughter as Katsumi took a step towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, staring as wide-eyed as a shell-shocked soldier.
"Take it back… please."
;;
"Katsumi, are you feeling okay?"
"Hm?"
Katsumi looked up from the floor and stepped away from the wall she had been leaning on.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, you ready?"
Momo nodded, brow furrowed, determined, "Yes I- wait actually-" Momo shook her head, "I have boxing gloves! I made them not too long ago. Do you want me to get them?"
Katsumi blinked before smiling, "Hell yeah!"
"Okay!" She turned around quickly, "I'll only be a moment."
"I'll be waiting!" Katsumi called after her.
Momo hurried out of the gym room, leaving Katsumi alone.
Katsumi knew Momo was rich but wow, her house exceeded all expectations. The gym she had was even bigger than the one she had at her father's house. There was enough room in the middle to lay out a huge mat for Momo's close combat lesson.
It was quite a bit of pressure to teach someone else how to fight, especially when the person wasn't really a beginner and smart enough to tell if you messed up. Katsumi was pretty sure she remembered enough of how her teacher back in America went about explaining. She shouldn't look like she had no idea what she was doing. Fighting was one thing but teaching someone else? She'd never really tried it, barring the time she'd shown Izuku how to throw a punch.
She hoped she wouldn't be too distracted. Surely when she got into it, it would be fine but as the seconds ticked on, and it was getting closer and closer to the time she would have to go back to the bar…
Damnit, she had planned on not going today, but she chickened out of telling him. When he had called out to her, that was the perfect time but- Damn. Hearing that name messed her up.
She supposed it wouldn't be all that bad. There would still be time to go see him, but she was about to burn all her energy fighting with Momo. She really didn't want to do any regeneration after that, but what other excuse was there to go? Besides he expected it. Ugh, this was never going to get easier, was it? At least now she could start building up her rapport with him, one step closer.
"Okay, I'm back!" Momo smiled, a pair of boxing gloves and pads held in her arms. Katsumi immediately snapped out of her thoughts.
"Right," she smiled and stepped forward, "let's do this then!"