Katsuki let out a sigh of annoyance as he stepped back out into the hallway. He was mentally exhausted from having to deal with so many people in such short order, and yet another person was walking along just outside of the dorm room door. A specific face that brought with it a whole host of negative feelings that had temporarily slipped Katsuki's mind until that moment.
"Oh! Hi there!" Nejire offered with a wave and cheery smile. She slowed to a stop, and Katsuki couldn't help but think that if he had been just a few minutes faster or slower with Minoru, he wouldn't be dealing with the young woman. Nejire was wearing her skintight hero suit, and two spiral horns of hair accentuated her otherwise plain style. She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice as she checked either side of the hallway to make sure no one else was within earshot. "It's been a few days… have you read the report?"
"…yeah," Katsuki replied, keeping his voice low as well. "We're not exactly alone, though. Don't say anything else."
"Minoru Mineta!" the diminutive boy chimed in as he rushed out from the dorm room door, closing it behind himself.
Minoru immediately offered his hand, which Nejire took with a smile. She either didn't notice or didn't care that Minoru was staring directly at her chest. Katsuki did.
"Nice to meet you both," Nejire declared as she took a step back, trying to appear as though she was looking over Katsuki with fresh eyes. "Anything I can help with on this floor? Amajiki will be around soon, too, but he's… on a call at the moment. A business call."
Katsuki understood what Nejire meant immediately as she gave him a meaningful look.
"No, we've got everything under control," Katsuki insisted before Minoru had a chance to say anything. He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, and soon found Tsuyu power walking toward the group from farther down the hall. "But we should probably talk later."
"Yeah, we probably should," Nejire agreed as she let go of Minoru's hand and turned her attention to the approaching heroine. "Tonight's no good. Tomorrow, maybe?"
"Sure," Katsuki said as Tsuyu arrived.
"We should talk later, too!" Minoru tried, only to be promptly ignored while Nejire took Tsuyu's hand.
"Tsuyu Asui," the girl said in a nasally voice, her eyes even wider than they usually were. "You're… Supercoil…"
"I am, yeah," Nejire said sweetly. "Congratulations on making it into U.A., Miss Asui."
"Call me Tsu," Tsuyu insisted with a small bow. "It's an honor. I'm… a bit of a fan."
"Oh, well… I'm sure sometime soon, I'll be a fan of yours, too!" Nejire replied. "Amajiki, Togata, and I will be helping score your initial rankings. It'll be fun to see what all of you can do!"
"…initial rankings?" Katsuki asked, only for Nejire to realize her mistake and bring a hand up to her mouth.
"…oh. Right. I've said too much," the girl said with a smirk and a wink at Katsuki. "Don't worry about it… but be ready for anything once classes start. Only a few short days…"
"We will be," Tsuyu asserted. "I won't let you down."
"I'm sure you won't. Hey, let me give you my number," Nejire offered as she produced a pad of paper and pen from one of the pouches along her belt. "If any of you ever need anything, don't hesitate to text me. I'm sure having a third-year student for any questions would be helpful."
"Yes, it would," Minoru agreed all too quickly. "I'm gonna have a lot of questions…"
"And I'll have answers… for some of them," Nejire teased as she tore off a sheet of paper and handed it to Katsuki. "Feel free to share my number with the rest of 1-A, Bakugo. And… I mean what I said. Anything. Any hour."
Katsuki noticed that Tsuyu's brow had gone up at the odd intonation, and angled the paper such that only he could see what was written. Upon the sheet were three numbers- one large at the top, with two others labeled M.T. and T.A. beneath it in smaller print. Katsuki nodded in understanding and stuffed the paper into his pocket before either of the others could get a good look at it.
"…yeah. I will. Thanks."
Minoru reached for Katsuki's pocket, only to have his hand slapped away.
"You'll get it when you earn it."
"I'm gonna go check in with the other incoming classes, but I'm just a text away," Nejire reminded as she walked past with a wave. "Good luck, you guys!"
Tsuyu returned the wave and Katsuki stepped in between Minoru's line of sight and Nejire's backside while shooting the shorter boy a glare.
"What happened to cutting out your bullshit?"
"She is not in our class," Minoru protested. "I'm allowed to look! Besides, I didn't say anything creepy! It's not my fault that I'm at roughly every girl's chest level!"
Tsuyu let out an uncharacteristic sigh of disgust harsh enough to cause Katsuki to raise a brow before she began walking down the hall alone.
"…let's just go."
"Hey, wait!" Minoru tried as he dodged around Katsuki to catch the girl's attention.
"…what, Mineta?" Tsuyu asked as she gave Katsuki a tired look.
"I… want to apologize for how I might have come off earlier," Minoru said slowly, doing his best to keep his eyes above Tsuyu's chest. "But not yet."
"What the hell do you mean not yet?" Katsuki grumbled as he folded his arms while looming over Minoru from behind.
"I think it'd be better for all of the girls to hear it from me. Not just you," Minoru explained. "So… a quick sorry now, and a better one in a few minutes?"
Tsuyu's expression relaxed slightly as she held Minoru's gaze, almost daring him to allow it to fixate on anything but her face. It didn't.
"…okay," Tsuyu said hesitantly. "But Hagakure and Jiro will need to hear it again later. Hagakure's… busy, and Jiro doesn't seem to be in her dorm."
"Damn it," Katsuki said softly, earning a confused look from the other two heroes-in-training. He blinked in confusion before his nose twitched. "What?"
"…nothin'," Minoru said with a knowing smirk. "C'mon, let's head to where the pizza's at."
"My room," Tsuyu declared as she took the lead down the hall. "So… I guess you'll just be talking to Kan and I, for now."
"Yeah, that's fine," Minoru said with a shrug. "I already pissed her off, too, and she's… intense."
"…she is a little intense," Tsuyu agreed. "But I like her, so far."
"Maybe she'll know what's going on with these 'rankings'," Katsuki considered. "After all, she has inside info about U.A. and hasn't minded sharing it with us so far."
"Good call," Tsuyu praised as the trio passed Jiro's door and made it to the corner. "She's been really helpful so far. Have you two seen the lounge yet?"
"Lounge? We have a lounge?" Minoru asked.
"I haven't," Katsuki admitted as he brought up the rear into the aforementioned room. "Not until now…"
Where the hallway with Minoru and Kyoka's dorms ended was a wide, open space with long, dark blue leather couches in a "U" shape around a wide coffee table. Up against the wall between the hallways of dorms was a massive flat-screen T.V. mounted to a bracket above the ground, with a set of bathroom doors on either side labeled 'male' and 'female'. Opposite the television was a large wall of windows looking out over campus, alongside smaller couch setups, decorative plants, and tables situated in each corner next to the glass. Right in the middle of the ceiling-high windows was a door out to a balcony, which had a table and several more chairs set up before the barricade and railing.
"Whoa, sweet," Minoru declared as he ran a hand along the blue leather backing of one of the couches. "Definitely going to be spending some time out here."
"I'd imagine all of us will be," Tsuyu considered as she slowly made her way across the room and toward the hallway that housed her dormitory. "Lots of room for just about anything. Do the bathrooms run all the way through the connecting wall?"
Katsuki stopped just in front of the men's room and pulled open the door before leaning inside. Several stalls were set up to his right alongside a few urinals, while curtained shower cubicles were lined up beyond. On the opposite wall was a row of sinks embedded into a marble countertop, each with its own mirror. All the way across the bathroom was another door identical to the one that Katsuki was holding.
"Looks that way, yeah," Katsuki confirmed as he closed the door once again. "This place is like a 5-star hotel…"
"For the price of admission? It should be," Minoru reminded. "U.A. isn't cheap."
"Which… actually makes me wonder about something," Tsuyu said cryptically. "But maybe that's something best left unsaid."
"Scholarships," Minoru announced as he joined her on the other side of the lounge. "That's how I got in."
"That… isn't what I meant," Tsuyu admitted as she put a finger up to her lips. "But that might be the answer all the same…"
"Anyway," Katsuki interrupted as he walked over to his classmates and toward Tsuyu's dorm. "Let's get this 'apology' over with. And the 'hanging out' part over with. And the rest of it. I've still gotta help Aki move all his shit up a billion flights of stairs…"
"We'll all help," Tsuyu reassured as she opened her door, letting the smell of pizza waft into the hallway. "After all, you helped me. Hey, Jiro!"
Katsuki let out a small breath that he wasn't aware he had been holding at the sight of the girl. Kyoka was near the doorway to the dorm, sitting upon one of the beds next to Amaya.
"Hey, Tsu," the girl replied. "Bakugo."
"Hey," Katsuki replied as he made his way into the dorm and leaned against the back of the couch. "When did you get here?"
"Just now," Kyoka answered. "I figured I'd come and see who else was around, and then I heard you two were looking for me, so… I guess it worked out."
"It did," Tsuyu declared as she sat on Amaya's other side. "We only found Mineta. Iida is still busy. I'm guessing Hagakure never showed up?"
"Who knows?" Amaya joked. "She could be here watching us right now. Naked, in that corner over there."
Eijiro followed Amaya's finger past the pizza boxes sitting upon the countertop to the corner of the room with a nervous look upon his face.
"Why naked?"
"Well… wouldn't she have to be?" Daisuke replied in a sleepy voice, his words coming from the couch as he lounged atop the cushions, out of sight of the rest of the group. "We've seen her as a floating uniform before, so if she was gonna be totally invisible… she'd have to be naked. Maybe that'll be her hero suit. The ultimate in stealth technology- constant public nudity."
"See? He gets it," Amaya said with a smirk. "What a Quirk. I'd love to go around flashing everyone without a care in the world."
"…okay, seriously?" Minoru asked as he looked over at Bakugo. "This is so not fair."
"I don't want to hear it," Katsuki growled. "Do it."
"Do what?" Kyoka asked, looking back and forth between the two boys.
"Fine, fine," Minoru said as he hopped up onto the bed opposite the girls. "Hey, ladies…"
"Eugh," Amaya interrupted with a scowl. "Hey ladies? We're not in a nightclub. We have names, you know."
"…Kan, Jiro, and… Tsu," Minoru tried again as he brought a hand up to the back of his head and scratched nervously. "I just wanted to say I'm… sorry if I've come off as like… a creepy perv. That's not who I am."
An awkward silence fell over the room as the girls exchanged looks, seemingly having a silent conversation. Tsuyu looked uncomfortable, Amaya seemed more amused than anything, and Kyoka simply looked confused.
"…alright, fine, that's kinda who I am, okay!?" Minoru admitted, going red in the face as he threw his arms out to the sides. "But I'll… rein it in, around you guys! Especially since I barely know you all, and we're supposed to be a team. I wasn't trying to creep you guys out, or anything. Seriously. I just… I like girls, okay? Maybe I got a little… overeager."
Katsuki put his face in his hand, while Eijiro laughed nervously and moved into the kitchenette.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Amaya said as she leaned forward slightly and shifted her voice to a husky tease. "I like girls, too."
Minoru blinked, well aware that he was being baited.
"I… uh, you do?"
"Yeah. I do," Amaya confirmed as she leaned back and crossed her legs. "And guys. And I'm also a bit of a perv… but there's a difference between being a perv and being creepy. Staring at our tits, talking about us to our faces, and making passes out of nowhere? Not great, dude. Dirty jokes, anecdotes, and talking about sex when it's the topic of conversation? Different story. Learn to toe the line, and we won't have any problems. If you want to get filthy with me, I don't mind… but make sure you know what you're getting into, and that you can keep up. Otherwise, you'll be the one that ends up uncomfortable, shorty."
Minoru bit his lower lip, unsure what to say.
"Uh… for both of you, please don't do that," Tsuyu requested as she kept her eyes on the floor. "Not with me. I'm not interested in that… stuff. Especially out of nowhere."
"Sure…" Minoru said, sounding a bit deflated as he looked over to Kyoka. "And how do you feel about it?"
"…I don't know," Kyoka said as she looked away and began to loop one of her earlobe jacks around a finger with a nervous chuckle. "I… don't really mind that kind of thing, but… there's a line. Just… don't push it. We'll probably be fine, but I'll let you know if you go too far. That goes for everyone here. I don't want anyone to feel like they can't talk about certain things when I'm around, but it's really… case-by-case? I guess?"
"Got it," Minoru said uneasily. "So… yeah. Sorry. I'll keep all that in mind."
"…it's okay," Tsuyu offered as she met Minoru's eyes, though her smile was a bit strained. "We're all under pressure and nervous, and not quite ourselves. Everyone's dealing with it in their own way."
"One other thing," Amaya said as she slowly spread her wings, the rings pierced into their membranes jingling pleasantly as she let the limbs wrap around Tsuyu and Kyoka's shoulders. "If I find out you're making these two uncomfortable, or, god help you, if you ever touch them without their consent? I'll twist your balls until they pop. Are we clear?"
"…crystal…" Minoru said in a small voice.
"Hey," Daisuke interjected as he raised his hand to be seen over the back of the couch. "What about the guys, here? Some of us probably aren't comfortable with constant sex-talk either. Or some of us could be gay. Or bi."
"…are you?" Minoru asked.
"Does it fucking matter?" Amaya seethed with narrowed eyes before Daisuke had a chance to answer. "If he wanted you to know, he would've said so."
"I didn't mean anything by it!" Minoru insisted as he scooted backward a few inches. "I swear! I just… I dunno, I'm curious! I'm bi! I was just asking!"
"Do we really have to do this right now?" Katsuki asked as he shifted in place, growing more and more visibly uncomfortable by the second. "If we're also getting dragged into this… I don't care what you talk about around me. If it bothers me for whatever reason, I'll just tell you to shut the hell up, and then, you'd better shut the hell up. End of discussion."
Eijiro cleared his throat from his place in the kitchen, where he was setting out paper plates.
"I… uh, Mina Ashido from 1-B and I are… we're a thing, as I'm sure most of you guys know, so… I-I don't mind talking about whatever, but just… don't talk about her when it comes anything sex-related? Or her and I? That's my line. Don't cross that, and we're good."
"Noted," Minoru acknowledged. "And uh… Aki? I wasn't trying to be an asshole, dude…"
There was silence for a moment as everyone but Katsuki turned their attention to the back of the couch. Daisuke just stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what he wanted to say.
"…it's fine, but I don't feel like getting into it right now. When it comes to talking, I guess it depends on the context, but I'm not interested in a lot of… 'guy stuff.' Don't ask me which heroine is the hottest, or whatever. I'd also really appreciate it if you didn't cover our dorm in porn. Please?"
"I won't," Minoru agreed, already trying to work out what 'cover' entailed and how much was too much. "I'll reel it in. God, this is awkward…"
"Actually… this is a good conversation to have, if we're going to end up living with each other for years," Kyoka chimed in. "I'm sure things will change over time, but sexuality is one of those topics that's a little… precarious. It's a good thing to have some idea where we all stand at the outset. And… thanks for the apology, even if I wasn't really all that offended."
"Moving on," Katsuki said as he stepped forward. "Let's just drop it entirely, pretend this never happened, and get to the pizza."
"I'm with him," Amaya agreed as she folded her wings back in and stood from the bed. "All of this talk about sex is making me hungry."
Tsuyu smiled nervously as she put her face in her hand.
"Can this get any more awkward?"
"Yeah, probably," Daisuke considered as he finally sat up, his hair a staticky mess. "But let's find something else to talk about before it starts up again."
"…like initial rankings," Katsuki offered. "Nejire Hado let slip that the Big Three are going to be… 'scoring us' somehow once classes start up. Know anything about that, Kan?"
All eyes turned to Amaya, and for once, she appeared incredibly confused.
"…initial rankings? I have no idea what that means…"
Author's Note:
The first of many rollercoaster conversations among Class 1-A.
-RD