"So…are we still good for later today?" Yanagi inquired while nervously fiddling with the strap of her backpack.
"Yes." Tokoyami nodded his head. "We should be able to beat the crowd if we leave within the next two hours."
"Awesome." The girl said with a slight grin on her face.
"I guess I'll see you later then."
"Yeah."
The two hero students briefly looked at each other in awkward silence before Yanagi moved forward and hugged the 'dark shadow' user. Only remaining in that position for a few seconds before parting ways and heading toward their respective dorms. Leaving Yanagi to mull over her thoughts while she had some time to herself.
In truth, Yanagi had been waiting on this day for quite some time. The author of her current favorite manga series was having a book signing/meet and greet right here in Musutafu later on this afternoon. And Tokoyami had managed to secure the both of them a set of tickets to the event via his cousin who worked at the store. This was one of the rare opportunities for the silver-haired teen to actually indulge in a hobby that didn't involve video games and she was certainly looking forward to it.
'I wonder what I should wear.' The girl then thought to herself as she turned the corner around the 3-A building. 'Fumi-kun usually wears black, so maybe I should too- no, no, then that'll look like I'm trying too hard….'
It was only her second actual date with the guy and the 'poltergeist' user wasn't trying to embarrass herself in any way. The last thing she needed was for something to go wrong. Even if it was something little like a wardrobe choice, she wanted to ensure that her night turned out well.
"Man…this must be what Izuku and Setsuna always felt like when they started dating."
Speaking of which, Yanagi still needed to make sure that she came up with a good excuse as to where she was going to be tonight. Class 1-B was scheduled to have its monthly "movie night" and her absence was definitely going to be noticed. And the girl had a feeling that Tokage would be the first to start asking her unnecessary questions. Any slight misstep on her part would immediately blow the lid on her not-exactly-a-relationship-yet.
The girl did feel a bit bad about hiding this kind of thing a secret from her friends though. Especially when you consider that Tokage was a major reason for how this all started in the first place. However, it was her first time dabbling in any sort of romantic pursuits. So, Yanagi wanted to make sure that things went smoothly. And if Tokage got involved, smooth was the exact opposite of what she was going to get. She did consider telling Midoriya a couple of days ago, but considering how much time the two greenettes spent together the silver-haired teen didn't want to take the risk.
Hopefully, if things panned out the way that she wanted them to, Yanagi would be able to come clean to all of her friends about it in the near future. As much as she hated to admit it, she enjoyed the idea of being able to-
"Hey, Ghostface!" A familiar voice brought Yanagi's thoughts to a screeching halt.
The girl immediately turned her head to the left and was met with the sight of one Katsuki Bakugou angrily padding the ground towards her. And judging by the look on his face, whatever the guy wanted with her wasn't going to be pleasant. Then again, based on what she's heard about the 'explosion' quirk user, nothing he was involved in was ever pleasant. Or even remotely enjoyable for that matter.
"Can I help you?" The girl asked in a cautious but skeptical tone.
"You're friends with that loser Deku, aren't you?"
"Who- oh…you're talking about Izuku-kun, right?"
Yanagi would be lying if she said that she was a fan of the nickname that Bakugou had given to her friend. The way he used it almost made it sound like some sort of derogatory slur. Not only that, it was such a condescending way to refer to someone. And don't even get her started on the fact that the guy had just called her "Ghostface". Hell, at least Tokage's annoying nickname for her sounded cute…not that she would ever admit that out loud.
"I am."
"And why do you care if I'm friends with Izuku-kun?"
The expression that Bakugou gave her made it very clear to the girl that he did not like her tone. However, Yanagi couldn't bring herself to care about what he did or didn't like. And although she did have a slight amount of fear for the boy standing before her (Who wouldn't? The guy was a walking pack of dynamite after all.), she wasn't about to let him intimidate her. Yanagi may not have been the most powerful or impressive student in her class, but she certainly wasn't a pushover either.
"I have some questions about that little nerd, and you're going to give me answers."
"And what if I refuse?"
"Then I'll just need to put you in your place."
Yeah, that was definitely a threat. The kind that a hero student shouldn't be making towards another classmate, or to anyone for that matter. Yanagi was actually taken aback by the sheer audaciousness of the ashe blonde boy at that moment. He was clearly a man on a mission right now. And that mission was apparently important enough for him to think that he could threaten her in a public setting.
Surprisingly, Bakugou seemed to realize the error of his ways and quickly tried to remedy his verbal faux pas. "What I meant to say is that if you answer my questions, I'll make it worth your while."
'Oh, this is going to be good.' The 'poltergeist' user thought while holding her usually calm expression. "And how would you do that?"
"I'll pay you."
"How much?"
"Ten thousand ye-."
"No deal." The girl said before the 'explosion' quirk user even had a chance to finish. "Sorry, but I'm not the kind of person who sells out her friends for a bit of cash."
"You little…" Bakugou angrily mumbled under his breath.
Once again, Bakugou was left wondering where these extras found the nerve to speak to him as if they were his equal. This pasty-faced cunt was obviously going to be difficult to deal with, but the ashe blonde teen had already foreseen something like this. Fortunately, Bakugou had a contingency plan in place just in case his initial plan to bribe the loser didn't work.
"Tell me something, why exactly are you friends with Deku anyway? Is it because you have the same quirk?"
Something in the back of Yanagi's mind was telling her not to answer that question. And the idea to just turn around and walk away certainly did cross her mind. However, the girl knew that giving the guy the cold shoulder would end with him causing some sort of scene. So, after a few seconds of thinking, Yanagi decided to answer the guy's questions while being as vague and annoying as possible.
"Yeah, I guess…" The 'poltergeist' user replied with a shrug. 'Let's just hurry up and get this over with. I still need to shower and get changed before meeting Fumi-kun.'
"Do you even know what kind of person he is?"
"He seems pretty cool to me."
Bakugou then smiled. The kind of feral smile that sent a slight shiver down Yanagi's back. It was amazing how the guy managed to look like a rabid dog with such a simple gesture.
"You wanna know a secret?" The boy asked before continuing to speak anyway. "Your friend, Deku, was working for the villains that attacked us back at the training camp. Their boss even healed all of his injuries as soon as we were taken to their base. And he helped him take down some of the heroes that came to rescue us."
Yanagi's eyes widen after hearing this. Not because she was shocked by what she heard, but because she was amazed at how Bakugou's version of events differed from what she already knew. Midoriya and Blizzard had long since told the girl about what happened during the aftermath of the training camp incident. She was well aware that her friend was mind-controlled and had to fight his sister while All Might battled the evil known as All for One. And how the fight basically ended with the both of them knocking each other out.
Of course, Yanagi wasn't the kind of person who would condemn someone for being forced to fight against their will. You'd have to be a total asshole to do something like that. And evidently, that exact kind of asshole was standing a few meters away from her.
"Really?" The girl decided to play along. She was definitely going to be telling Midoriya about this later. But for now, she was going to get as much information as she could.
"Yeah…" Bakugou kept smiling. "I hate to break it to you, Ghostface, but your friend is really a villain. He's just pretending to be on the side of heroes. Deku's actually working for the villains as an undercover agent. I don't know what his endgame is though."
-(o)-
"Achoo!" Yuga Aoyama sneezed just as he entered the dorms. The foreign-born boy silently hoped that he wasn't coming down with a cold.
-(o)-
For once, Yanagi's naturally stoic nature seemed to be working in her favor. "You can't be serious."
"I am." The boy replied. "He even managed to trick the faculty into thinking that he's on our side."
"Wow…and you're sure about that?"
"Beyond the shadow of a doubt. I saw him help those villains out with my own eyes. He even tried to attack All Might."
'Oh shit…this is actually a big problem.' The 'poltergeist' user thought to herself. The fact that Bakugou was confident enough to make accusations like this to other students was nothing short of crazy. The guy was literally accusing her best friend of being an undercover villain. This was definitely something that was going to have to be sorted out sooner rather than later. Because if Bakugou was bold enough to say this to her, then he was surely capable of saying it to others.
"Why are you telling me this?" The girl then asked.
"I just want my fellow students to be safe, that's all." Bakugou lied through his teeth. "The teachers may have already fallen under his spell, but that doesn't mean the students have to be at risk, right?"
"I see…"
"I think it would be best if you keep an eye on him. Who knows what he's doing behind closed doors? He could very well be putting you and the other extr- 1-B students in danger and you wouldn't even know it."
Years of having his feet kissed by others gave Bakugou a horrible impression of how convincing he really was in the eyes of others. In his mind, all he had to do was tell the girl to keep her eyes peeled for any suspicious activity from Deku and she would gladly do it simply because he said so. That's how it always worked for him in the past. So why wouldn't it now?
'I get it now, he wants me to spy on Izuku-kun.' The girl quickly figured out where this was all going. 'I'm guessing he's trying to cause some sort of disturbance in our class and blame Izuku for it. Or he's trying to get me to relay information for him.'
Yanagi opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the sound of her text notification going off. The girl then pulled out her phone and took a moment to read the message. It was just a simple text from Awase asking the girl if he could borrow her notes again, but the timing couldn't have been better for her. This was exactly what she needed to get away from Bakugou as soon as possible.
"Well…this has certainly been interesting…I appreciate you giving me this information. I've…got a lot to think about."
"I'm sure you do." Bakugou replied with yet another toothy grin.
The girl then briefly waved her phone in her hand. "Anyway, I need to make this call. See you around, Bakugou-san."
Yanagi didn't even wait for the 'explosion' quirk user to respond before turning on her heels and making a beeline straight for the 1-B dorm while placing her phone up to her ear and pretending to call someone. Whatever the hell Bakugou had planned had to be something bad. And of course, MIdoriya was at the center of it. The guy was gunning for the 'telekinesis' user ever since the start of the school year. In her opinion, whatever scheme Bakugou had cooked up needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
'Looks like I got my point across.' Bakugou told himself as he watched the 1-B girl walk away. Now that he was able to plant the seed of doubt in her mind, it was only a matter of time before the other 1-B extras found out about what that bastard Deku really was. And when they did, that green-haired villain was finally going to get what was coming to him.
Unfortunately for Bakugou, the 'explosion' quirk user failed to consider what might happen if Yanagi didn't do as he pleased. And why would he? He was Katsuki Bakugou, the most talented and gifted student at the school. Whatever he said was the truth. And the simple truth of the matter was that he was going to take down a villain. A villain that everyone ignored for no good reason.
'Just you wait, Deku, once your loser friends turn on you it's only a matter of time before you get exposed. Now then, onto that annoying girlfriend of his….'
-(o)-
[U.A. Principal's Office]
"Well, I can't wait to see what comes of this." Nezu said with a smile on his face as he sipped on a cup of tea.
The nondescript mammal had just gotten done watching the curious interaction between Katsuki Bakugou and Reiko Yanagi on his security monitor and couldn't help but wonder what the 'explosion' quirk had planned with this little stunt of his. The boy was on a mission to "expose" Midoriya for being an agent of the villains, that much was obvious. But, how he chose to go about it certainly had the gears turning in the man's head.
"It looks like he's trying to plant the seeds of distrust among those close to Midoriya-kun." Nezu surmized in between sips. "Judging by the fact that he went after Yanagi-kun first, I'm guessing that he's expecting her to be the first domino to fall since she's one of the closest people to him."
It wasn't a bad strategy in Nezu's opinion. Such a scheme has worked out in favor of many people throughout history. However, Bakugou's execution was flawed. He should've gone after one of Midoriya's other friends first before making on move on the 'poltergeist' user. Someone like Awase or Tsunotori would've been a slightly better option for this particular plan. At least that's what Nezu personally believed.
"I am curious to see how this plays out though. I'm also interested in seeing how Midoriya-kun responds to this provocation after Yanagi-kun tells him about this. But I'm guessing she won't do that until after her date with Tokoyami-kun is over with."
Although the man had more than enough reason to step in and shut down this impending fiasco, Nezu just found it too entertaining to do so at the moment. So for now he was going to let his students handle this on their own. They were training to be heroes after all, so eventually they were going to have to learn how to navigate through the discourse that often occurs within the hero ranks. And this seemed like a rather fine way to give them a bit of experience on that front. Besides, he could always step in if things got a bit too out of hand.
'I am going to need to find a suitable enough punishment for Bakugou-kun once this is over with.' The unidentified mammal thought to himself before leaning back in his chair. 'I already have a few ideas in mind, but I'll hold off on it until I see how this gets resolved. Either way, Inui-kun is going to have to clear out some space on his schedule.'
Nezu then went back to doing his regularly scheduled checks of the campus' security system. Hopefully, the rest of the students weren't engaging in any more unnecessary drama. But, when you run a school full of hormonally-challenged teenagers with superpowers a wish like that might as well have been a waste. At least the man could say that there was never a dull moment at his school though, that much was certain.
[Later That Night]
"All I'm saying is that I don't get how people back then thought special effects of that quality were any good?" Tokage said with a shrug.
"To be fair…" Midoriya interjected. "People back then didn't have quirks and technology that could produce realistic effects on camera. They were just working with what they had."
"Eh, I still say it looked pretty low-effort."
Midoriya couldn't help but laugh at his girlfriend's comment. Honestly, the boy had no clue that the girl was so critical of old-school cinema. She always seemed to enjoy those old dinosaur movies that they watched whenever they had their "date nights" in the dorms.
The young couple had just gotten back to Tokage's room after finishing up with their class movie night. This week's feature was a pre-quirk-era science fiction flick called "The Matrix" which was picked out by Tsubaraba. Overall, everyone enjoyed the movie for what it was. But the outdated special effects did earn a few jokes from Awase and Kamakiri.
"Anyways…" Tokage then said while stretching her arms above her head. "We don't have anything planned for this weekend, do we?"
"I don't think so. Why?"
"My dad wanted me to come and hang out with him on Sunday. He finally has a few days off thanks to the Detnerat people that he's been working with taking a trip to Deika city for some conference or whatever. So I guess he wants to have a bit of father-daughter bonding time."
"That's nice." Midoriya replied. "I remember you saying that he works a lot. I'm glad that he's finally got some time off."
Tokage rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess…"
Midoriya may not have been the best at reading people, but the greenette did know his girlfriend well enough to see that she wasn't too pleased by this. "Is something wrong?"
Tokage briefly considered whether or not she should talk about this with the boy. Mainly because she didn't want him to think she was being childish. But after a few seconds, the girl decided to just come clean.
"It's just…I used to really hate it when I was growing up because my dad worked so much. Even before we moved into the dorms I would barely see him throughout the week because he was always in his office. At most, I'd only see him on Wednesdays and that was because it was a short workday for him."
"I see." Midoriya nodded while giving the girl his undivided attention.
"Hell, Aunt Nemu's seen him more in the past three months than I have in the last six! I know that I should be happy that I get to actually spend some time with him, but…I just don't want things to be awkward between us. He's my dad, but sometimes I feel like I barely know the guy."
Midoriya was getting ready to respond, but Tokage cut him off by continuing to talk.
"Yes, yes, I know...I completely understand how tough it is to be a single father raising two kids. And that he slaved away at his job for all those years just to make sure that me and my sister had a roof over our heads. But part of me just can't help but resent him for almost never being home. Y'know what I mean?"
"I get it." Midoriya replied, shocking the girl. "It's kinda the same with me and my mom. Honestly, I've always had a hard time talking to her about even the littlest things. And it got so much worse after I ran away from home. Sometimes it just feels like there's a wall between us that I can't get through."
"That's exactly it!" Tokage sat up and pointed at the boy. "Every time my dad and I try to talk it always feels so…stiff. Like we're two strangers that only run into each other every now and then."
"Does your sister feel the same way?"
"Nah." Tokage shook her head. "Nee-chan's always been the type to just take it in stride. And she's always called me out for being childish about it. I can't really say she's wrong though. I just wish he had more time for me when I was little. And now that he's actually making an effort to do that it just feels…weird for some reason."
Midoriya briefly pondered over what he could say to his girlfriend, but after a couple of seconds, he settled on something he thought sounded like the right answer. The boy then did something unexpected. He leaned over to use his right hand to grab Tokage's left. The boy then interlocked their fingers together while looking the girl right in the eye.
Of course, Tokage couldn't help but blush at the sudden action. Especially since she totally wasn't expecting it. The girl couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about the boy had changed ever since the whole Derlicta incident. He was a lot more assertive in moments like these compared to when they first got together. Not that she was complaining though, quite the opposite actually. Although she very much enjoyed taking the lead on all the romantic stuff, Tokage more than appreciated being on the receiving end every once in a while.
'If he keeps this up the two of us might end up doing something irresponsible.' The girl said to herself before shaking those thoughts out of her head. 'No, not yet. But soon…yeah...soon.'
Midoriya then began to speak. "I think that you should look at this as an opportunity. You know, a chance to start fresh and clear the air. I don't think you can necessarily make up for lost time, but you can start over. Plus, I think that you should just tell your dad how you feel. I'm sure he'd understand."
Yeah, that was certainly the most logical and mature way to go about things. But it was honestly easier said than done. Tokage may have presented herself to the world as an extroverted open-book type of person, but in reality, she had a hard time expressing herself and being honest at the strangest times. And this was definitely one of those times. Besides, what could she even say to her father that didn't make her sound like a bratty child?
"Yeah…you're right." The girl conceded with a smile.
"And for the record, I don't think you're being childish."
In response to that, Tokage leaned down and placed her lips on Midoriya's. The two proceeded to spend the next thirty seconds engaging in a light makeout session before the girl found herself sliding her hand up the boy's shirt. The 'lizard tail splitter' user was well aware that her boyfriend wasn't going to stop her from escalating the situation so it was her responsibility to calm things down. The only problem was that she wasn't really in the mood to do that.
The two greenettes then briefly separated to give themselves some air. However, Tokage was now feeling a bit braver than usual. The girl then positioned herself right under Midoriya's shoulder and proceeded to place her free hand right on top of his chest. Both of the two teens had red faces but only one of them was content with sticking to lip-locking right now.
'Fuck it, no time like the present, right?' Was the justification that Toakge chose to go with before daring to bring up this particular topic. 'Besides, I still have those condoms that Aunt Nemuri gave me when we moved into the dorms. So we should be good.'
With all the bravery that the girl could muster, Tokage once again sat up from her bed. The girl then took a second to shake the nerves out of her system before putting on her best "sexy face" and setting her sights on the green-haired cinnamon roll currently underneath her.
"Hey, Izuku…"
"Yeah?" The boy replied, a bit confused at the girl's sudden change of demeanor.
"Hypothetically speaking…" She began while slowly dragging her hand up his abdomen and towards his chest. "What would you do if I said that I wanted to-"
The girl was cut off by the sudden sound of multiple text notifications coming from Midoirya's phone in rapid succession. Without so much as a thought, the boy turned his head to see who the messages were coming from and immediately sat up when he read the messages that appeared on his lock screen.
-(o)-
Ghost: Big problem.
Ghost: We need to talk.
Ghost: Are you busy?
Rabbit: Kind of. Why?
Rabbit: Is something wrong?
Ghost: Where are you?
Rabbit: Setsuna's room.
Ghost: I'm coming over.
Ghost: It's important.
Rabbit: Okay.
A/N: First things first, I was planning on getting this chapter out much sooner than this, but one of my classes ended up taking longer than I expected. So, sorry to those of you who were waiting for the next update. Like I said before, I mostly write these chapters when I have some free time and I've had very little of that over the last three weeks. I'll try to be more consistent in the future, but I can't make any promises.
1. As some of you may have noticed, there's a bit of a background plot going on in the story right now. I'm still trying to properly interweave canon events with what I've already established by myself, but I'm finding it rather difficult right now. All I can say is that the whole MLA/League of Villains thing will be addressed either next chapter or the chapter after that. With a few…monkey wrenches…thrown in that might change the overall outcome of events.
2. I find myself in a weird spot. My last two stories had similar endings for Bakugou's character, so I'm trying to switch it up this time just to keep things fresh. But it's hard to do so in a way that I think people will find satisfying. I'm currently torn between three options but I plan to have that resolved before posting the next update. Whenever that may be….
3. I noticed that a few of the stories I follow on both and AO3 have been flooded with random hate comments recently. Don't get me wrong, I am open to all forms of criticism and have no problem letting people hate what I've written so far. But some of these people have been flat-out disrespectful from what I've seen. All I ask is for those of you who feel the need to criticize my story to do so in a way that's civil and respectful.
Anyways, thank you guys so much for taking the time out of your busy lives to read this trainwreck of a fanfic. Feel free to leave a comment on how you felt about this chapter. I hope that you all have a wonderful day!